ijidi-october-2019-cover.png special issue: volume 3 i number 4 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion 0ctober2019 introductory article t he central roles of information in health justice, part 2: consumer health information justice and the connections between health, ability, and literacy beth st. jean, gagan jindal, yuting liao, & paul t. jaeger articles health insurance literacy and health disparities in the united states: a literature review emily vardell t he lived experience of work and career among individuals with bipolar disorder: a phenomenological study of discussion forum narratives susan rathbun-grubb food justice in the public library : information, resources, and meals noah lenstra & christine d'arpa special sections back to the future: library book clubs for individuals with intellectual disability matthew conner & leah plocharczyk targeting autism in libraries: a comprehensive and collaborative training program for librarians ruth \i. small, suzanne schriar, & mary pelich kelly health justice i part 2 give us vision, lest we perish: engaging disability at the national library of jamaica abigail henry, nicole prawl, & beverley lashley al so featuring b o ok reviews edited b y nordaa. bell journal credits acknowledgement we thank dr. beth st. jean, gagan jindal, yuting liao, and dr. paul t. jaeger of the ischool at the university of maryland, for their help with the editorial process for this issue. editor-in-chief dr. keren dali associate editors dr. paul t. jaeger dr. nadia caidi senior managing editors leah brochu laina kelly managing editors michelle de agostini karen kettnich stephanie santiful jeffrey sowder cara b. stone zach valdes book review editor norda a. bell graphic designer kevin j. mallary ijidi logo created by craig taylor image credit: "cherry blossoms" by norda a. bell the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion ijidi january 2020 cover and credits special issue engaging disability: social science perspectives on information and inclusion kim m. thompson, guest editor editorial socializing engagement: from words to action kim m. thompson articles narrative, objects, and the construction of the self: how we might remember when we have forgotten lynne c. howarth dementia friendly memory institutions: designing a future for remembering lynne c. howarth investigating the link between unemployment and disability: lexically ambiguous words and fixed formulaic sequences in job ads for academic reference librarians mirah j. dow, brady d. lund, & william k. douthit library computer workstations for inclusive college student populations brady c. cross book reviews edited by norda a. bell dr. keren dali, editor-in-chief january 2020 special section – opinion serving a forgotten population: those with alzheimer’s & other dementias mary beth riedner, tysha shay, & kayla kuni what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass”: an exploration of inclusion, identity, and information work shanna hollich special section – reports from the field creating an authentic experience: a study in comic books, accessibility, and the visually impaired reader rachel s. osolen & leah brochu inclusive library service to individuals with mental illnesses and disorders michelle green volume 4 | number 1 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion journal credits editor-in-chief dr. keren dali associate editors dr. nadia caidi dr. mirah dow dr. vanessa irvin senior managing editors leah brochu laina kelly managing editors michelle de agostini stephanie santiful jeffrey sowder cara b. stone zach valdes book review editor norda a. bell graphic designer kevin j. mallary ijidi logo created by craig taylor image credit: cc by “xenolith split thrice” by mike beauregard https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/31856336@n03/4927978819/ this jawn right here called street lit the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38154 this jawn right here called street lit vanessa irvin, university of hawaii at manoa, usa keywords: hip-hop; libraries; literacy; poetry publication type: special section creative this jawn right here called street lit this jawn, street lit, is story: … stories that come from real lives lived on avenues, sidewalks, and corners interwoven, intersecting, and connected as crossroads on the stage of life, … stories about human beings who walk, talk, and think, laugh, cry, and drink, fight, make love and raise kids, sometimes right on stoops and porches under the stars of night, … stories about communities where money can be seemingly scarce or found flowing underground a mainstream economy...as above, so below. this jawn, street lit, is truth: … truths remembered and told creatively, realistically, authentically, uncompromisingly, and unapologetically ... because street lit fictions are necessary, … truths for the thick-boned and thick-skinned ... told in everyday language by everyday writers, thinkers, dreamers, ex-cons and wifeys with voices screaming to be heard...and so they scream, … truths readers read, and see, and hear, and feel, and listen to in libraries, in schools, and passed hand-to-hand like contrabanded literary combat in the street, broadsides now code. this jawn, street lit, is audacious: … for people from the hood who document stories as an expression of the spectrum of life as it is lived, everywhere, … for authors to read their own lives and then to write that shit out from the abyss of melanated imaginations...morphing reality into memory so it doesn't have to be lived or survived anymore, … for readers to see their lives reflected in story, as they gasp, laugh, ooo, and ahhh, shucks … as readers breathe … while heightening their literacy practices by osmosis, the act of reading realized. this jawn, street lit, is magical: … for authors of hip hop who create literature as life in text, … for scholars of hip hop who arrive at the revelation, “i think they call that jawn “genre,” … and, for all of us, the practitioners of hip hop, readers of the stories of life. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi this jawn right here called street lit the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38154 80 vanessa irvin (irvinv@hawaii.edu) is an associate professor with the library and information science program at the university of hawaii at manoa, honolulu, hawaii. she is the current editor-in-chief of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi mailto:irvinv@hawaii.edu this jawn right here called street lit building welcoming communities: durham libraries engage diversity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ building welcoming communities: durham libraries engage diversity durham library partners in diversity (dlpd) keywords: diversity; durham (ontario, canada); collaborative; coordination; positive space; welcoming communities publication type: poster abstract public libraries are one of the last free shared spaces in a community. at their best, public libraries provide a positive space for diverse communities to come together, learn, share, and shape their communities. they play a critical, though sometimes overlooked, role in the settlement and integration of newcomers. public library staff in durham region have joined together to create welcoming communities for diverse populations across the region. through representation on the local diversity and immigration partnership council, membership with the welcome centre immigrant services sites, engagement in public health priority neighbourhood strategic initiatives, shared programming, joint positive space and cultural competency training for all library staff, and a myriad of other joint program initiatives, public libraries in durham are intentionally engaging, supporting, and learning from the diverse populations that make u p the region (and beyond!). with a population of 645,000, durham region lies to the east of the city of toronto and is part of the greater toronto area (gta). the region is growing in both population numbers and in diversity. it is made up of eight municipalities and each of those municipalities has a public library system. in 2009, representatives from the eight durham libraries came together to better coordinate multilingual library collections across the region. the scope of the group quickly expanded to include multicultural joint programming initiatives and training. it morphed again in 2015 to include “big-d” diversity, a greater involvement in policy development and an expanded focus on all-staff training opportunities. this change in scope is reflected in the name of the collaborative, durham library partners in diversity (dlpd). this poster presentation provides details on the growth of the dlpd collaborative and highlights the joint programming and community-wide initiatives. it also shares the impacts the collaborative has had on member organizations as well as on the community at large. durham library partners in diversity (dlpd) is a network of public library professionals from the eight municipal library systems in durham region, ontario plus representation from the local immigration partnership (lip). the dlpd provides opportunities for members’ professional development, and opportunities to collaborate on research or activities aimed http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, building welcoming communities: durham libraries engage diversity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ at improving multicultural services to diverse populations in durham region libraries. note: any inquiries regarding this poster should be directed to: sabrina yung, chair of the dlpd, manager of community engagement, pickering public library, email: sabrinay@picnet.org. 97 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, mailto:sabrinay@picnet.org the everyday life information behaviour of immigrants: a case of bangladeshi women the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the everyday life information behaviour of immigrants: a case of bangladeshi women nafiz zaman shuva, western university, canada keywords: barriers to information access; canada; everyday life information behaviour of immigrants; sources of information; women immigrants publication type: poster abstract immigrants need information at various stages of their settlement. for immigrants, lack of timely relevant information before and after arrival may lead to social isolation, depression, and dissatisfaction with their lives in their host countries. several studies (e.g., caidi, allard, & quirke, 2010; esses & meadianu, 2012) recognize the importance of timely information for efficient settlement of immigrants. employing a qualitative research approach, i conducted 22 semi-structured interviews to acquire information on various aspects of bangladeshi immigrant women’s lives including everyday life information behaviour in bangladesh and in canada, their settlement information needs, political participation in canada, public library use, and awareness about their rights in canada. in this poster, i present the everyday life information behaviour of bangladeshi women immigrants who participated in this study. it is evident in my study that migration has substantially affected the everyday information behaviour of bangladeshi women immigrants. quite a few participants clearly indicated that the everyday life information behaviour in canada compared to bangladesh is completely different. based on the results of the current study, i have identified that local systems, family responsibilities, language, education, dependency on family members, unemployment/intention to change jobs, and social interactions heavily affect immigrants’ everyday life information behaviour in canada. for example, bangladeshi immigrants who participated in the study did not look for weather and transportation updates when they were in bangladesh, but after moving to canada or countries where the local systems support the real-time update of weather and transport, they always require it. moreover, due to sociocultural patterns, immigrant women hailing from bangladesh had less administrative responsibilities and worries compared to here in canada. furthermore, many immigrants were not regular users of the internet when they were in bangladesh, but after moving to canada, they have adopted frequent use of it. it is further evident in my study that the information needs reported by bangladeshi immigrant women are very much connected with their everyday life practices. the study found that immigrants create their own small world (chatman, 1991) in their host c ountries and seek information and help from people in their small world. the study also found the high dependency of bangladeshi immigrant women on family members and friends for satisfying their day-to-day information needs. it is also evident in the study that savolainen’s (1995) everyday life information seeking (elis) model may not be suitable to capture the information practices of various immigrant groups (especially newcomers) due to migrational http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, information behaviour of immigrants the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ effects. immigrants may have a completely different set of everyday life information needs compared to their early life in their home country before migrating to a new country. they may have to compromise their long-practiced habits due to several factors including unemployment and depression. based on the results of my pilot study, i propose an everyday life information behaviour model to capture the everyday life information behaviour of immigrants and to posit the connection between everyday life information behaviour of immigrants and their social integration and settlement. the model illustrates core factors affecting everyday life information needs as well as the core everyday life information needs of bangladeshi immigrant women. these factors are shown to feed into levels of information seeking anxiety, to support or respond to certain kinds of information grounds, and to construct or mediate certain barriers to information access. furthermore, all of these factors are shown to suggest a continuum of social integration for my participants. the following references were consulted in the preparation of the abstract and poster. caidi, n., allard, d., & quirke, l. (2010). information practices of immigrants. annual review of information science and technology, 44(1), 491–531. chatman, e. a. (1991). life in a small world: applicability of gratification theory to information seeking behavior. journal of the american society for information science, 42(6), 438– 449. esses, v.m. & medianu, s. (2012). integration barriers and information as a solution: report based on literature covering 2005-2011 inclusive. retrieved from http://p2pcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/integration-barriers-andinfomation-as-a-solution.pdf savolainen, r. (1995). everyday life information seeking: approaching information seeking in the context of way of life. library & information science research, 17(3), 259-94. nafiz zaman shuva (nshuva@uwo.ca) is a ph.d. candidate in the faculty of information and media studies at western university, london, ontario, canada. he is an assistant professor (on study leave) in the department of information science and library management at the university of dhaka, bangladesh. nafiz holds two masters in library and information science — one from the university of dhaka and other from the three european universities in norway, estonia, and italy (erasmus mundus program). nafiz’s doctoral study seeks to understand the transitional information practices of immigrants in canada and the role of information in their canadian lives, looking in particular at the information practices that occur between pre-arrival and after arrival information needs and seeking related to settlement into canada. nafiz is the founder president of the bangladesh association of young researchers (bayr) and is one of the asis&t (sig-iii) international paper contest winners of 2004. his research revolves around information practices, the role of information in society, digital inclusion, digital libraries, public libraries, and open access. 103 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://p2pcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/integration-barriers-and-infomation-as-a-solution.pdf http://p2pcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/integration-barriers-and-infomation-as-a-solution.pdf the following references were consulted in the preparation of the abstract and poster. ). young activists and the public library: facilitating democracy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38260 ijidi: book review walter, v. (2020). young activists and the public library: facilitating democracy. american library association. isbn-13: 978-0838947388 (paperback). 128 pp. $45.99 us. reviewer: allee monheim, university of washington libraries, usa book review editors: halie kerns, suny canton, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: activism; children’s librarianship; library programming; youth librarianship publication type: book review the public library is central to the civic engagement of its community, but how can it be used to develop civic literacy and encourage civic engagement in its young people? virginia walter’s young activists and the public library (2020) provides an in-depth look at how public libraries can help facilitate this development and offers a resource list for collection development and programming around the topic. virginia walter is a veteran of public libraries, and in particular children and youth librarianship, and she brings her wealth of experience and knowledge to bear on this topic. the result is an accessible book with practical and practicable ideas for libraries to foster civic engagement and activism in their younger patrons. the first three chapters of this book contain a wealth of information and a detailed framework for the concept of civic literacy and engagement for young people. walter does an excellent job in dividing the concepts up by grade or age group. this feels like a very natural division and allows walter to break down where the different age groups are at in terms of development and state standard curriculum, both of which inform what they need to get out of the programming for it to have an impact. i found these sections to be incredibly informative and applicable to my own work. though i do not work in a public library, my work as a public service librarian puts me in close contact with local middle and high schools in seattle to coordinate research visits and field trips to special collections. these visits are typically centered around a history project and/or specific topic in their class curriculum, and i found discussions about how to structure activities for maximum engagement and impact to be extremely informative. i will certainly be going back to those sections when it comes time to plan these types of visits next so i can apply some of the principles outlined in these chapters. walter provides a list of resources at the end of chapter 2 (section titled, “booktalks as sources of civic information”) and in chapter 4 (“resources for civic literacy”), and these are the sections of the book i think will be most useful for those who work in public libraries. though walter says the provided resources are not comprehensive by any means, these two sections provide an abundance of information that would enable any library to begin creating programming around civic engagement and/or to grow their collection on the topic. there is one large piece of the conversation that is notably missing from walter’s discussion of civic engagement and activism, and that is the concept of critical librarianship. walter stresses t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index young activists and the public library 83 the importance of being a “value neutral in our presentation of information” (walter, 2020, p. 22). it is counterintuitive to cast libraries as neutral spaces while at the same time advocating for libraries to develop programming to inspire activism and civic engagement, which are inherently partisan actions. whether libraries or information can ever truly be neutral has been a topic of discussion throughout the profession for some time. for example, the disrupting whiteness in libraries and librarianship: a reading list (strand, 2019), maintained by university of wisconsin-madison, provides a wealth of resources on the topic—the earliest of which was published in 2001. critical librarianship is not a new concept, and neither is anti-racism. though anti-racism did not enter the common vocabulary until recently, there are many related concepts (civil rights, intersectionality, anti-discrimination, liberation, equality, etc.) that are not addressed in the theoretical portions of the book either—except to acknowledge that “the whole concept of civic engagement carries more than a hint of liberal political ideology,” before going on to warn libraries “not to overstep our bounds as providers of neutral information” (walters, 2020, p. viii). neutrality benefits and reinforces white supremacist culture. an institution cannot be neutral and authentically engage in activism, nor does the presence of activist programming negate an institution’s role in upholding white supremacist culture. furthermore, speaking from my own position as a queer, jewish woman, i find it difficult to imagine members of a marginalized community feeling at all welcome in a library with this philosophy, let alone feeling comfortable enough to engage in any activist programming. i do feel strongly that omitting critical librarianship in the theoretical portions of this book is an oversight. but i also think it is important to highlight that this book was published in 2020. in the latter half of 2020, we have experienced a pandemic, the black lives matter protests, rampant police brutality, and a steep increase in hate crimes against asian-american and pacific islanders (spurred on by mis/disinformation spread by political leaders). then, 2021 opened with an insurrection. choosing not to actively engage with anti-racism, particularly in conversations around activism, is privilege. but to say that this book was written in a different time, even if that different time was only two years ago, would be a gross understatement. young activists and the public library is still a useful book. there is still ample information about child development and state curriculum standards, as well as good suggestions for how libraries can be partners in civic education. this information will be incredibly useful to librarians working with students in these age groups. walter’s list of collection resources and suggested book talks is still extremely robust and covers a wide range of topics from civil rights to the environment and the content is diverse and provides many potential avenues for activism. it is flawed, but the practical sections of the book have a great deal to offer anyone looking to incorporate activism and civic engagement into their collections and programming. references strand, k. j. (2019). disrupting whiteness in libraries and librarianship: a reading list. university of wisconsin-madison libraries. https://www.library.wisc.edu/gwslibrarian/bibliographies/disrupting-whiteness-inlibraries/ allee monheim (she/her/hers) (amonheim@uw.edu) is the public service librarian for special collections at the university of washington. she has been working in libraries and archives for over 15 years and received her mlis in information organization from the university of wisconsin, milwaukee in 2016. the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38260 https://www.library.wisc.edu/gwslibrarian/bibliographies/disrupting-whiteness-in-libraries/ https://www.library.wisc.edu/gwslibrarian/bibliographies/disrupting-whiteness-in-libraries/ https://www.library.wisc.edu/gwslibrarian/bibliographies/disrupting-whiteness-in-libraries/ https://www.library.wisc.edu/gwslibrarian/bibliographies/disrupting-whiteness-in-libraries/ mailto:amonheim@uw.edu empowering academic librarians in their quest for social justice and recognition in academia the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ empowering academic librarians in their quest for social justice and recognition in academia ahmed alwan, california state university, northridge joy m. doan, northwestern university julieta garcia, california state university, northridge keywords: academic libraries; microaggressions; social justice publication type: poster abstract academic librarians aspire to develop collegial partnerships with teaching faculty. many academic librarians, however, have expressed frustration about maltreatment by some teaching faculty that could be construed as microaggressive. the principal investigators hypothesized that this treatment may stem from a difference in perceived status between academic librarians and teaching faculty. to test this hypothesis, the researchers distributed a survey in early 2016 to academic librarians in the united states and canada to determine how, where, why, and when academic librarians experience status -based microaggressions when dealing with teaching faculty. currently, the principal investigators have analyzed and disseminated analysis of the quantitative data from the survey, however, we are now in the process of examining the qualitative data. the quantitative data indicated that status-based microaggressions are not endemic, but do exist to a level that is concerning and can lead to diminished collaborative efforts. the purpose of the current phase of the research project is to analyze the qualitative data to see if these findings are substantiated. we believe that the qualitative data will provide us with a much richer insight into the anecdotal evidence and experiences of academic librarians and status -based microaggressions. the results of this research have th e potential to greatly impact the ways in which academic librarians interact with teaching faculty. many library and information science (lis) professionals are ill equipped to effectively deal with status based microaggressive interactions with teaching faculty and are forced to learn on the job with little to no training. this type of training would be a beneficial component of mlis education. in an effort to encourage student participation in this project and to provide insight into the relationship that can exist between academic librarians and teaching faculty, the principal investigators applied for a grant that would allow us to hire an mlis graduate student to assist in the analysis of the qualitative data set. the student would be responsible for utilizing software to analyze the data sets, would have the opportunity to collaborate on any resulting publication and presentations, and would enter the scholarly conversation on a topic that is controversial within the field of library science. the aim of this poster is twofold. firstly, we hope to share the preliminary results of the http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, empowering academic librarians international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ qualitative analysis thus far. secondly, the poster will showcase how the hiring of a graduate student serves not only to further the research on status-based microaggressions, but also as an example of how mentoring can bring new mlis graduates into ongoing scholarly conversations within the field of lis. the following references were consulted in the preparation of the abstract and poster. alabi, j. (2015). racial microaggressions in academic libraries: results of a survey of minority and non-minority librarians. the journal of academic librarianship, 41(1), 47-53. badke, w. b. (2005). can't get no respect: helping faculty to understand the educational power of information literacy. reference librarian, 43(89/90), 63-80. budd, j. m. (2005). the changing academic library. chicago, il: american library association. christiansen, l., stombler, m., & thaxton, l. (2004). a report on librarian-faculty relations from a sociological perspective. the journal of academic librarianship, 30(2), 116-121. pierce, c. (1970). offensive mechanisms. in f.b. barbour (ed.), the black seventies (pp. 265182). boston, ma: porter sargent publishers. sue, d. w. (2010). microaggressions and marginality: manifestation, dynamics, and impact. hoboken, n.j.: wiley. ahmed alwan (ahmed.alwan@csun.edu) is faculty at california state university, northridge (csun) and a research, instruction and outreach librarian in the oviatt library. in the most recent years leading up to his appointment at csun, ahmed was the information literacy librarian at the american university of sharjah in the united arab emirates. ahmed has a bachelor of arts degree in history and religious studies from york university, and a master of information science degree from the university of toronto. joy m. doan (joymdoan@northwestern.edu) is a music research and instruction librarian at northwestern university. prior to joining the library faculty at northwestern, joy held positions at california state university, northridge (csun) as a research, instruction and outreach librarian and the university of california, los angeles (ucla), where she served as the music inquiry and research librarian. joy holds a bachelor of arts in english literature and music from the university of michigan, an m.a. in music history from case western reserve university, and a master of library and information science degree from san jose state university. julieta garcia (julieta.garcia@csun.edu) currently works at california state university, northridge (csun) as a member of the special collections and archives, processing material for the international guitar research archives (igra). she is in the process of completing her master in library information science degree at san jose state university and received her bachelor of arts degree in psychology. in an attempt to continuously develop her knowledge in the archival field, julieta attends conferences such as society of california archivists and the society of american archivists, and is involved with community organizations like la as subject (laas) and la archives collective (laac). 87 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, ahmed.alwan@csun.edu mailto:joymdoan@northwestern.edu mailto:julieta.garcia@csun.edu the following references were consulted in the preparation of the abstract and poster. book review: digital literacy unpacked the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33000 ijidi: book review reedy, k., & parker, j. (eds.). (2018). digital literacy unpacked. london: facet publishing. isbn 9781783301973. 240 pp. $59.95 us. reviewer: faith a. rusk, university of the district of columbia, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: copyright; curriculum development; digital competencies; digital literacy; digital skills; staff development publication type: book review hat do we mean when we talk about digital literacy? most of the chapters in digital literacy unpacked offer a definition or framework through which they discuss digital literacy (or literacies, or digital skills, or digital competencies, and even information literacy). the multiple definitions and frameworks could be useful to many in their research, and the book provides a lot of fodder for anyone hoping to make an argument for work around digital literacy at their institution. the definitions provided vary, but most include the idea that digital literacy is more than just computer skills—it is a broader ability to navigate and interact with information digitally; to find it, evaluate it, and use it as part of school, work, and life. secker’s opening chapter nicely begins the book by discussing the differences in terms and the challenges presented by the overlap in definitions and a lack of clear understanding of terms. the book touches on digital literacy in a wide range of contexts and is not limited solely to education settings. the diverse considerations of the topic are appreciated. several chapters discuss digital literacy for employees rather than students (nicholls; killen; inskip; fraser with reedy; cheuk & reedy), with one chapter (cheuk & reedy) even focusing on staff digital literacy in a non-academic workplace, which is a perspective that is not often discussed in conversations about digital literacy, but is no less important. this chapter reinforces the idea that digital literacy is a life skill and not just an academic skill. the case studies, research, and discussions contained in the book are organized into four parts, which provide limited structure to the collection, but the organization is loose at best. for example, part ii, “learning in a digital world”, contains chapters discussing digital literacy in educational contexts—but that is true for many of the chapters in the book outside of part ii as well. part iii, “developing staff digital literacies”, contains what one would expect, but several of the chapters in parts i and iv also discuss staff. the chapters range widely in their coverage, which is a strength of the book, and perhaps explains the slight lack of organization. outside of the given structure, there are common themes that run throughout the book. one theme is integrating digital tools and skills in “authentic and meaningful ways,” (p. 203) be it in a single course, embedded throughout the curriculum, into professional development, or into office workflows (walton, childs, estatiev, hetherington & jugo; groom & o’connell; secker; bennett, & folley; nerantzi & jackson; cheuk & reedy; micklethwaite). this important idea runs throughout these chapters and offers w https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital literacy unpacked the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33000 several examples and options for incorporating digital literacy. there is also an emphasis on partnerships, collaborations, and relationships woven throughout the text (nicholls; killen; secker; nerantzi & jackson; fraser with reedy; cheuk & reedy; micklethwaite). integrating digital literacy in these meaningful ways cannot happen in silos, and there is frequent discussion of potential collaborators and allies. in the 21st century digital society, digital literacy is a powerful tool for inclusion, and this case is made repeatedly throughout the book in many different contexts. this, however, assumes access. issues of access to technology and the internet are only peripherally included within the book. speaking from an american context, access to technology is generally stratified by socioeconomics and assumptions about access, especially among students, which can lead to incomplete conversations around digital literacy. for a truly inclusive examination of digital literacy, access must be a part of the conversation. one chapter of note is walton, childs, estatiev, hetherington and jugo’s discussion of using an online platform to have students make artifacts (comics) to retell a particular story or text. as a result, students developed digital skills while creating engagement with the text and ensuring reading comprehension. it is an excellent case study of integrating digital literacy into the curriculum to engage students and support classroom content, rather than separating digital skills into a standalone lesson. bennett and folley as well as nerantzi and jackson discuss engaging instructors with digital literacy. bennett and folley highlight their curriculum development workshop to help faculty think about where and how to incorporate digital literacy. nerantzi and jackson detail a google plus professional development community that allowed faculty to explore and experiment with new technologies in order to expand their own digital literacy, and then expand their pedagogy to include not only new tools, but also opportunities for students to develop their digital literacy. fraser and reedy’s work discuss any staff that work with students, not just instructors. they address a major redevelopment of technology in schools in leicester, writing that “one of the key determinants of students’ exposure to the use of technology in the classroom is the skills and confidence of educators” (p. 157), so staff development was a major aspect of the project. nicholls’s chapter also discusses the role that non-academic staff can play in supporting digital literacy, arguing that service staff (such as librarian staff and it staff) is particularly wellplaced to provide support for students and instructors around digital literacy. lastly, it is important to mention morrison’s chapter on copyright and digital literacy. a discussion of copyright in the digital age is not something i expected to find in this book. but understanding copyright implications of digital content, and the sharing of that content, is an important aspect of digital literacy, so it is a welcome and necessary inclusion in this text. while there is diversity in the approaches to digital literacy discussed, from elementary students to higher education to faculty to non-academic staff, all of the chapters are from a u.k. perspective. the text assumes familiarity with the structure and language of u.k. educational institutions, and while the content is still applicable to a canadian and/or american audience, it does not provide a broader international perspective. furthermore, throughout the book, there is little discussion of lack of access to a computer or the internet, and the role access plays in conversations about digital literacy. from an american 100 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital literacy unpacked the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33000 perspective, this is a large gap in the discussion; readers from areas with less technology penetration may find this to be a significant limitation. the target audience seems to be primarily librarians, but i would argue that this book might be useful to those outside the discipline as well. with the emphasis on collaboration and relationship building, instructors could read and benefit from some of the case studies included and find willing partners in their libraries. additionally, several of the chapters could provide inspiration for anyone seeking to increase digital literacy in their workplace. this compilation of writings on digital literacy has something for everyone, but it is unlikely that everyone will want everything in this book. editors katherine reedy and jo parker acknowledge this, stating that the “book is intended to be used flexibly according to need” (p. xxvii). it covers a lot of ground, but does not have much holding it together, thus i believe most readers will find more value in seeking out the chapters that are most relevant to them and their work. faith a. rusk (faith.rusk@udc.edu ) is the information literacy instruction librarian at the university of the district of columbia in washington, dc, where she teaches information literacy across all subjects. her research interests include increasing faculty engagement with information and digital literacy, active learning in library instruction, and how we teach with technology. she received her mls from the university of maryland, college park. 101 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:faith.rusk@udc.edu mailto:faith.rusk@udc.edu https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index book review: algorithms of oppression: how search engines reinforce racism the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi ijidi: book review noble, s. u. (2018). algorithms of oppression: how search engines reinforce racism. new york: nyu press. isbn 9781479837243. 256 pp. $28 us. reviewer: kelly m. hoffman, university of maryland, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: algorithmic bias; algorithms; racism; retrieval; search engines publication type: book review magine that every time you search the internet using a term describing a group you belong to, the first page of results is full of pornographic sites or mug shots. perhaps you do not have to imagine. this happened to author safiya u. noble in 2010 when she attempted to find fun online activities for her stepdaughter and nieces using the query “black girls.” although google “fixed” the results of that particular query, the shocking and not-at-all ageappropriate search results inspired the writing of algorithms of oppression: how search engines reinforce racism. noble uses close readings of search results, news reports, anecdotes, and case studies to analyze the biases and phenomena she discusses in each chapter. noble’s expertise in both sociology and library and information science, as well as her lifelong interest in the social ramifications of information communication technologies, are evident throughout the book. noble argues that algorithms are not the bias-free machines we often expect. rather, they are systems built by individuals who are biased (as all humans are) and not terribly diverse (silicon valley is notoriously dominated by white and asian males) for a non -neutral corporate purpose (to generate advertising revenue). these influences create conditions in which systemic racism can be reinforced and amplified by algorithmically -selected google search results. noble writes from what she terms a “black feminist technologies studies” (bfts) approach, which acts as a lens through which to view gender, race, identity, and power in media, rather than focusing on traditional topics like technology consumption a nd usage (p. 171172). the book focuses almost exclusively on google, since the company has a virtual monopoly on internet searches, but the problems she discusses are relevant to many other applications of algorithmic ranking, categorization, and decision -making; from sites reviewing local businesses to social media newsfeeds. in the expansive introduction and first chapter, noble familiarizes the reader with the commercial context of search engines as well as the concept of algorithmic bias and racism and the impact they have on marginalized communities. she critiques the belief that the racism and misogyny that so often appear online as suggested terms (such as “why are black women so... angry” vs. “why are white women so... pretty”) or relevant search results (sexual images as results for “black girls” or images of white and only white women as results for “beautiful”) are merely attributable to the users of the system, absolving algorithms and systems of all responsibility—as google has claimed. she points out that google is perfectly capable of optimizing its algorithms for commercial purposes, and could i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi algorithms of oppression the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi turn that same power toward changing the racist narratives appearing in search results if they wanted to, rather than subjecting minority groups to whatever perceptions are illustrated in the majority of searches. it is not that google cannot ensure better representation of minority groups in its search results—it is that the company rarely has an incentive to do so, short of bad press. even then, google has used stopgaps and half measures rather than critically evaluating its system (for instance, noble recounts th at when the anti-defamation league criticized the anti-semitic sites that appeared on the first page of results for “jew”, google’s response was to add a link to a disclaimer on the results page). in chapter 2, noble discusses the commodification of both information and identity, driven by neoliberalism’s singular focus on profits. describing the power of search results to direct public attention to particular sources, narratives, or values, she questions the wisdom of taking information-related decisions out of the hands of humans and putting them entirely into the realm of profit-driven corporate entities. the rest of the chapters are more narrowly focused. chapter 3 presents an argument that search results can frame your perception of an entire group or c ommunity, using white supremacist and mass shooter dylann roof as a case study. before murdering nine members of a black church in south carolina, roof described in an online manifesto how a web search for “black on white crime” led him to a set of results that helped radicalize him. as this case illustrates, misrepresentation of minority groups is not “just” offensive and hurtful—it can be a matter of life and death. librarians will be familiar with the concepts presented in chapter 5, which talks about the values driving any attempt to classify and categorize people. algorithms run behind the scenes, making the processes behind classification more invisible and more difficult to critique than, say, a racist subject heading in a library catalog that is viewable to all. noble calls for the development of alternative ways to search the internet, such as, involving the expertise of librarians and journalists in order to provide the public with only the best, unbiased information. chapter 6 takes a big-picture view of “information culture” in society, questioning the future of information when its value is increasingly determined solely and automatically by attention and clicks. she suggests that there should be regulation to prevent the harm that is done by the biased representation of groups in search results. in conclusion, noble encourages further research using the bfts approach she demonstrated in order to develop unconventional and radical responses to, and solutions for, the inequities reinforced by uncritical use of technology. the conclusion also looks to other areas where algorithms influence or even erase identity, using yelp’s impact on businesses as an example. an interview with the owner of an african american hair salon that had thrived on word-of-mouth in the black community for decades revealed that, without investing the time and money to appear high in yelp’s search results, it is now as if her business does not exist. noble offers little in the way of tangible solutions to the problems raised, instead highlighting potential directions and starting points for research. this is understandable, given the newness of the issues, but to have no clear answers after such an effective description of the problems is somewhat frustrating. many of noble’s more concrete suggestions focus on regulation as a solution; she even hints that a search engine analog to the u.s. federal communications commission’s (fcc) decency standards (which regulate permissible language, violence, and 139 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi algorithms of oppression the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi sexual and other content in the media) might be useful (while acknowledging that such regulation would be highly controversial). given the current administration’s interest in regulating against the perceived liberal bias of search engines and social media, the idea of giving the u.s. federal government more control over the representation of minority groups may make some readers queasy. algorithms of oppression is a good read for anyone interested in how bias can be expressed by lines of code. even those already familiar with the issue will find new insight in the connections and impacts noble outlines. the book is accessible even to those who are not well-versed in the technology of search engines. it assumes that readers have a basic understanding of how search engines, algorithms, and machine learning operate, which one can easily learn from a few short youtube videos. no matter how much or little you know about algorithms and critical theory this book will make for an enlightening read. kelly m. hoffman (kmhinmd@umd.edu) is a doctoral candidate at the college of information studies at the university of maryland. she earned an mls from the university of maryland in 2007 and worked as a systems librarian and knowledge manager before returning to the college to research algorithmic literacy and information personalization. her dissertation research focuses on the role algorithms play in information behavior and access. 140 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi mailto:kmhinmd@umd.edu reading through the lens of diversity: responses, practices, traditions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32590 reading through the lens of diversity: responses, practices, traditions vanessa irvin, guest editor keywords: diversity; editorial; librarianship; reading; response publication type: editorial editorial n inseparable part of the universal journey of life is the experience of "reading the world" (freire & macedo, 1987, p. 50). our worlds are full of meaning and significance for all of us. feeling, responding, and reflecting on an experience typically beg us, as human beings, to record it, to connect the past and the present as a way of sustaining memory, which then allows us to anticipate the future. recorded memory is an inheritance of sorts, for our families, neighbors, and even strangers. cultural record, based on unique ways of living and doing, can come in a myriad of formats: print, electronic, and oral; as objects of nature and as images of the body. while honoring the theme of this special issue, an ongoing question for me, as guest editor, was: what does it mean to put the concepts of reading and diversity together in the context of librarianship and information disciplines and practices? are we talking about diverse perspectives on the practice of reading, or are we approaching the idea of reading through the lens of diverse life experiences and perceptions of the world? the articles in this issue cover a spectrum of ways that reflect the idea of diversity and reading in library and information spaces, in community spaces, and also in our personal and spiritual spaces, both visible and unseen. when we think about diversity, the concept that parallels it is the notion of multiplicity: when we are talking about diversity, we are talking about multiplicity. thus, this issue’s theme, “diversity & reading,” is expressed in a cluster of papers that regard reading as a multiplicity of the human experience: the reading of the self, the reading of readers, librarians as readers and facilitators of the reading experience, and the reading of the body embedded in various spaces and time in continuums of history/heritage. this vision gives new meaning to the idea of record, extending it from the habitual western manifestations of records (texts, books) to broader cultural expressions (weave patterns, tattoos, artifacts) where communities connect social acts and social life to the practice of reading. as a result, this issue combines research articles and experience-based pieces that underscore the multiplicity of the human experience that librarians and information professionals should consider in the context of reading practices in various settings. the issue opens with the research article by denice adkins, jenny bossaller, and heather moulaison-sandy, which explores a method that librarians can employ in order to learn from readers’ book reviews of multicultural literature; this method enables librarians to describe and a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading through the lens of diversity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32590 categorize multicultural fiction more accurately and authentically. their methodology of text mining of reader book reviews from amazon.com helps to record and document collective consciousness that readers develop through reading. the authors then consider how readergenerated metadata can help librarians make more meaningful professional choices. this study demonstrates the effectiveness of in-depth engagement with readers’ responses in a digital environment for gaining insight into what readers commonly see, question, and enjoy in the process of reading. while the first article of the issue considers how librarians can incorporate reading preferences into the selection of library materials, emily knox’s article takes a look at the ways in which readers convey their dislikes and objections; stories presented in fiction and nonfiction books transcend printed pages and challenge readers’ beliefs and established values. knox calls on us to consider what “people [are] reading into diverse/multicultural books” and to recognize the multiplicity of reader responses, or outcomes of reading. these outcomes can range from blissful responses (sumara, 1996) to book banning and censorship, as knox argues. sarah evans looks at the reading practices of immigrant teens who frequent a public library to illustrate the multiple ways in which library staff can promote and support reading practices of newly arrived readers. evans’ research encourages us to view library practitioners as intellectually curious, caring, and empathetic professionals who can engage readers through participation, not prescriptive actions. research articles are followed by the special section titled “around the world: information, spirituality, culture.” it features m. elena clariza’s piece, which reflects the inclusive and expanded definition of reading as a practice that can occur in a multiplicity of forms and contexts. clariza’s paper focuses on the embodiment of reading in filipino culture, and reading as an interactive and iterative practice that derives from multiple aspects of the lived experience, traditions, and ancestral knowledge. in her beautifully illustrated article, clariza discusses two indigenous traditions from the philippines—body tattooing and fabric weaving—that constitute indigenous authentic, historical, and holistic forms of reading. clariza sheds light on the multiplicity of ways in which reading is honored, sustained, and preserved in indigenous cultures as both utilitarian and sacred. by doing so, the author takes steps toward decolonizing our perceptions of reading practices and urges us to recognize and legitimize recorded experiences in multiple forms, beyond textual symbols. in the “reports from the field” section, we have two articles that report on the reading practices from formal and informal spaces. valerie brett shaindlin argues that cultural heritage institutions (e.g., archives and museums) are “identity-generating institutions that both preserve and perpetuate ideology and culture.” shaindlin then ponders: whose identity? whose ideology? whose culture? the author goes on to explore a differentiation between modern and post-modern museums, reminding archivists and information professionals of the importance of embracing equitable models of presenting artifacts and developing programs. in turn, ellen gilbert reports on a community-based reading program that has been engaging community members through the discursive and transformative process. the people & stories / gente y cuentos project has had a positive impact on immigrants in new jersey for decades. the program honors the orality of caribbean spanish culture alongside the group-oriented reading of texts in spanish and then in english, to facilitate language learning. gilbert’s piece proves that the collective act of reading is a powerful model in community building and relationship 2 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading through the lens of diversity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32590 development. it is my hope that this special issue is regarded as a meaningful contribution to the ongoing discourse in library and information science (lis) that allow us to continue being comprehensive in our definitions, conceptualizations, and experiences related to reading practices, diversity of literatures and traditions, identities of readers, and reflections on library services. the research herein represents an encouraging record that underscores the strength of lis as a field that is theoretically framed to be responsive to community needs, reflective about librarian professional practices, innovative in library services, and inclusive of reading traditions across the world. lifelong learning extending beyond academia and classroom into the wider world may be one of our profession’s hallmarks, but it is also our professional responsibility. in this vein, i hope that publications presented herein inspire us to continuously embrace the diversity of reading in practice, research, and tradition. references freire, p., & macedo, d. (1987). literacy: reading the word and the world. new york, ny: bergin & garvey. sumara, d. j. (1996). private readings in public: schooling the literary imagination. new york, ny: peter lang. vanessa irvin (irvinv@hawaii.edu) is an assistant professor of library and information science (lis) with the university of hawai‘i-mānoa’s lis program. dr. irvin is a career-public librarian who has transitioned into scholarly research, focusing on cultural competency in public librarianship. as principal investigator of a three-year institute of museum and library services funded program, irvin is working with professionals and cultural practitioners from hui ‘ekolu (“three groups” in hawaiian): the native hawaiian library, the hawai‘i state public library system, and the university of hawai‘i lis program, to devise and implement a culturally-centered professional development model for public librarians serving in libraries located in indigenous and native contexts. 3 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index file:///c:/users/lainakelly/downloads/irvinv@hawaii.edu references urgent archives: enacting liberatory memory work the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38233 ijidi: book review caswell, m. (2021). urgent archives: enacting liberatory memory work. routledge. isbn-13: 978-036742727. 142 pp. $160.00 us (hardcopy) | $41.60 us (e-book) reviewer: katrina cohen-palacios, york university libraries clara thomas archives and special collections, canada book review editors: halie kerns, suny canton, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: community archives; critical archival studies; liberatory memory work publication type: book review n urgent archives: enacting liberatory memory, michelle caswell draws upon over a decade of experience working with and studying community archives to urge archivists to centre professional practice with anti-racist actions which embrace and uplift liberatory frameworks rather than reinforce and uphold a singular perspective. essentially, archival praxis is currently based on the problematic understanding with, “white and hetero normative temporalities [that] insist on the futurity and fixity of records and construct the uses of records as steps on a linear progress narrative toward a post-racial white future” (p. 94). the book “provides us with new language to describe the ethical obligations of memory workers, and shifts us from a cruel and cold neutrality to a messy engaged commitment to co-liberation” and urgently “challenges those of us involved in community-based archives to move beyond the politics of more robust representation [...] toward a liberatory activation of records that catalyzes their creation and use to dismantle systems of temporal, affective, and material oppression” (p. 22). urgent archives can be divided into two thematic halves: the first primes the reader with comparisons of varying concepts of time such as white-heteronormative progress linear models and cyclical temporality; the second defines the limitations of applying linear models to archives and the potentialities of reimagined, inclusive approaches to archivy. different methodologies are employed throughout each chapter in order to achieve the book’s objectives and broader message. the book’s introduction, “community archives: assimilation, integration, or resistance?”, starts with outlining the author’s positionality, the trajectory that brought her career to archival studies, the shoestring-grassroots history of the south asian american digital archive (saada), and how the book came to be. for those unfamiliar with caswell, she is an associate professor of archival studies in the department of information studies at the university of california whose work is grounded in critical archival studies, co-founder of saada with samip mallick, and lead organizer of the archivists against history repeating itself collective. i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index urgent archives the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38233 88 in chapter one, “a matter of time: archival temporalities,” urgent archives refers to the cyclical conceptions of time exemplified by hindu, sioux, nishnaabeg, afro-futurist, and queer temporalities. it then shifts to examine white, christian, heteronormative ideas of linear time and how it is embedded in western archival theory; and the temporality in archives emphasizes the fixity of records to preserve the past for the future. this framework perpetuates a form of “chronoviolence” as it relieves the archivist from recognizing and disrupting contemporary power imbalances as they must wait for some imaginary future to activate the archive (p. 38). the second chapter, “community archives interrupting time,” demonstrates how cyclical temporality in archives, or “corollary moments” of time swinging both back and forth, is manifested in corollary records which “[document] reoccurring moments in time in which the same or similar oppressions get repeated” (p. 53). this argument is supported by examples from empirical observations and transcripts of lgbtq2+ and poc community archive focus group interviews (the lambda archives, la historia society, little tokyo historical society, and the southeast asian archive). these excerpts reveal how outreach initiatives connect records to communities which can potentially build community between generations to interrupt these cycles of oppression and challenge the linear progress narratives often presented by archives. to actually dismantle structures of oppression, the third chapter, titled “from representation to activation,” suggests framing archival operations in the pursuit of liberatory memory work. this is where caswell connects her previous writings on “symbolic annihilation” and “representational belonging” to introduce “liberatory appraisal”: collecting records “to build political consciousness and action” (p. 81). three of saada’s 2020 outreach initiatives related to the presidential election, the global social uprisings in support of black lives, and the crisis of the ongoing pandemic are provided as case studies to explain the impact of these abstract concepts. in the final chapter, “imagining liberatory memory work,” urgent archives leans on speculation as a research methodology to imagine a new world of archival practice that defies the trope of a passive, neutral archivist. archivists must embody the role of liberatory memory workers and activate records, dismantle oppressive systems, and build liberatory futures (p. 93). key aspects of this work include an ethical obligation to prioritize “chronoautonomy (the ability of minoritized communities to build archives based on their own temporalities), self-recognition (the affective response to seeing oneself robustly represented), and the redistribution of resources to repair ongoing harms” (p. 94). with the breadth and nuanced topics covered in urgent archives, the book does its best to address any potential misinterpretations, concerns, and weaknesses. it includes definitions and rationales for selected terminology, such as “minoritized,” employed throughout the book. the power and privileges associated with the author’s positionality a s a tenured, white scholar involved with community archives is problematized and contextualized; caswell also recognizes the need to self-critique her writings that replicated linear and “future-oriented models of use” models (p. 38; p. 40). while the defi nition of urgency as a characteristic of white supremacy culture (okun, 2021) is discussed in relation to the book’s urgent call to action, it ultimately left this reader wanting a little more. additionally, caswell acknowledges the disconnect between the communities represented in the methodological data throughout urgent archives and the temporal epistemologies highlighted in the first https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index urgent archives the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38233 89 chapter. in this chapter, the author’s attempt to balance covering the broad range of material and keeping the book’s page length to a reasonable size is evident. this approach may have rendered some sections of the book more accessible to scholars, rather than practicing community and institutional archivists, who may pick up the book. perhaps understanding this, caswell provides introductory information where necessary to broaden her targeted audience. one should note that the findings derived from the california -centric data and reference material from the global north, including the citations of many bipoc and lgbtq+ archivists, may not necessarily apply to their geopolitical locale. while presumably written for the white gaze of the professional field, caswell’s message has the potential to further conservations (and action!) on reevaluating and repositioning the dominant ideologies that permeate a globalized western archival theory. minoritized archivists still in the process of unlearning might be interested in reading urgent archives to delve into critical archival studies. that said, readers should heed caswell’s remin ders that education is not an end-goal and "instead positing that disrupting oppression in the now is its own reward” (p. 22). references okun, t. (2021). sense of urgency. white supremacy culture. https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/urgency.html (originally published as: okun, t., & jones, k. (2000). white supremacy culture. dismantling racism: a workbook for social change groups. change work. https://resourcegeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2016-drworksworkbook.pdf ) katrina cohen-palacios (kcohenp@yorku.ca) is an archivist at the york university libraries clara thomas archives and special collections; an academic archive which has partnered with the portuguese canadian history project since 2009, the hellenic heritage foundation greek canadian archives since 2014, the egypt migrations: a public humanities project since 2016, and the regent park film festival’s home made visible project from 2017 to 2020. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/urgency.html https://resourcegeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2016-drworks-workbook.pdf https://resourcegeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2016-drworks-workbook.pdf mailto:kcohenp@yorku.ca book review: relevance and irrelevance: theories, factors and challenges the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32952 ijidi: book review strassheim, j., & nasu, h., (eds.). (2018). relevance and irrelevance: theories, factors, and challenges. berlin: de gruyter. isbn 9783110470185. 306 pp. $126.99 us. reviewer: roberta montepeloso, sapienza università di roma, italy book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: accessibility; interdisciplinary field; languages; mixed methods; relevance publication type: book review ccess to information is one of the most relevant issues of contemporary society. not only does knowledge potentially impacts the economic growth of countries, but it is also crucial to personal development. the internet and the open access movement has the potential to make data available to all, but not everyone is able to gain the same level of knowledge from the internet. there are still barriers to overcome, especially in terms of a digital and cultural divide. the gap between people who can access and manage online information resources, and those who can’t, continues to perpetuate inequality, and could potentially give rise to new forms of inequality and exclusion. for this reason, the role of information organizations (such as libraries, archives, museums, and schools) as change agents is crucial. just as important as information literacy programming, librarians' management of knowledge are examples of actions which strengthen citizens’ competencies and allow for digital inclusion. this is just one of the ethical issues related to relevance that are addressed in relevance and irrelevance: theories, factors, and challenges, released as part of de gruyter’s series age of access? grundfragen der informationsgesellschaft. this unique collection of original essays provides a fascinating discussion on the notion of “relevance” from different traditions and disciplines. the term “relevance” is a common word often used today, and, according to the oxford dictionary, expresses “the quality or state of being closely connected or appropriate” (as göran sonesson suggests in his contribution, p. 21). in a nutshell, relevance involves “selectivity” which helps shape our experiences and actions as well as to help us draw the line between information that we need and those we do not want to access (or we cannot access). relevance and irrelevance are central in disciplines as diverse as philosophy, soc iology, information sciences, linguistics, and education. but despite the broad interest raised by this subject, an interdisciplinary book-length treatment of the topic has not been published before. to fill the gap, jan strassheim and hisashi nasu have gathered research from 15 researchers (emeritus, full, and associate professors; phd and post-doctoral researchers) from nine countries across north and south america, asia, and europe,and representing seven disciplines (philosophy, sociology, psychology, library and information sciences, semiotic, history, and law). the selection of papers is indicative of the variety of work on relevance and irrelevance. one of the strong points of the book is that it combines theoretical and practical aspects of the subject with a successful mix of theories, case studies, and empirical findings. examples and anecdotes from daily life (online and offline), as well as tables and illustrations, help a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index relevance and irrelevance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32952 readers to grasp the concepts. the contributions are arranged in three section s: theories, factors, and challenges. each chapter includes a very useful abstract, and key references for further reading. in the first section, the authors critically discuss theories of relevance/irrelevance, including sperber and wilson’s relevance theory (rt). in the second, the researchers analyze the implementations of these concepts and their manifestations in actual settings, such as the creation of a virtual profile (the essay by franciso yus) or the process of reading (in the work by david n. rapp and matthew t. mccrudden). in the third part, “challenges”, chapters elucidate practical, ethical, and political aspects related to relevance and its counterpart, irrelevance. the book’s useful preface lays the groundwork with a brief overview of the main approaches to the topic (from the pioneering work of alfred schütz to sperber and wilson's relevance theory; from the library and information sciences perspectives to linguistics and epistemology). i recommend a first reading of the entire book, one chapter after another, and then a second consultation of specific essays, depending on what the reader is looking for. the preface should not be skipped, but instead, read in continuity with the last essay written by the same author. despite what we might expect, aspects of relevancy and irrelevancy are not only limited to academic topics. in our daily life, we often reflect on what is irrelevant/relevant in a given situation. we repeatedly ask questions such as: which aspect of a seemingly innocuous remark offended this person so much? furthermore, by communicating with others, we frequently deal with relevance's problem. for example, if we would like to know what time the train leaves, we would formulate a question in a way that would be relevant for the station-master to help find the information requested. likewise, they would develop an answer according to what they thought would be of relevance to us: if the train departure is scheduled for 4:28 pm, the station-master would not round the time up to 4:30 pm. in normal circumstances, for example, we make the same effort for decoding non-verbal movements. in the absence of, or, in addition to verbal communication, gestures, facial expressions, voice intonation, and mimicry could convey our partner's desires or requests and could facilitate the interpretation of their behavior (e.g., why do they open a book and start reading when we are going to start an argument?). who gets to decide what is relevant? which point of view is accepted? these are questions concerning the social attribution of relevance and are posed by some of the contributors. even just the management of the unstructured results of an internet search —an ordinary activity taken as an example in several essays—shows on the one hand that finding relevant knowledge has become a more central issue today (cf. p. 162). on the other hand, the in depth analysis of the interpretation process of these data reveals that it is not only a mind's selecting activity, but a goal-directed process influenced by our expectations, interests, and preferences (as stressed by strassheim), which seems to be consistent with the corpus of knowledge shared within a community (as argued in chapter 8). what happens to what is left out, the “irrelevant”? in contrast t o most approaches to the subject of relevancy, this book focuses also on the concept of irrelevancy. for instance, francesco yus argues that what is considered as irrelevant is of equal importance to those living in an information society. in this sense, communication within digital environments helps us to understand why some apparently irrelevant acts garner great attention from online users. that is the case of uploaded content (a post, a photo, or a video) that, by remaining unnoticed, could contribute to the so called “fear of missing out” (fomo) phenomenon. several of these ir/relevant events have an impact on an individual's self132 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index relevance and irrelevance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32952 concept, but not only in a negative sense. sometimes, the fact that some things or actions go unnoticed or slip through other's sight could be a chance for a shy person to re-negotiate their personal image online (cf. p. 135). another issue that could illustrate the dynamic relationship between relevance and irrelevance is the interesting issue of dog waste left in public spa ces. starting from their observations in some european countries, ana horta and matthias gross noticed that for several reasons this problem is deemed irrelevant to some. however, dog excrement is a source of pollution and a nuisance to the community. horta and gross analyzed the behavior of dog owners; some had embodied the habit of always picking up their dog’s waste, while others did it only when they were prompted by the presence of someone else, but then discarded the wrapped poop to the ground when no body was watching. thus, not cleaning up after one's own dog’s waste can be assumed to be a strategic construction of irrelevance. by examining different strategies in the use of the relevant and the irrelevant, the researchers bring to light practices of creating, hiding, and maintaining conditions of relevance. of note to ijidi readers is that the authors also recognize the value of diversity. putting myself into the reader's shoes, i find the attention to languages and linguistic differences very interesting. although we all feel intuitively what is relevant for us, in the sense of what guides us in everyday life, it is not always obvious that we have a specific term in our lexicon which defines such a phenomenon. for example, in the french language, the old french adjective “relevant” has disappeared in favor of “pertinent”, whereas in japanese there are several terms to express the nuances of relevancy, instead of a unique word coextensive with the english noun. perhaps given the different provenance of the authors, the book pays great attention to the linguistic differences, and this is another remarkable aspect of the book. professors, scholars, students, librarians, and all the other readers will notice that the volume encourages the comparison of different cultures and languages, the hybridization of approaches related to the themes, and the mixing of methods. this tome’s authors and editors agree that “relevance studies” is a fruitful interdisciplinary field and they eventually invite researchers to continue the debate on this issue. in my opinion, there could be no better conclusion for this book. roberta montepeloso (roberta.montepeloso@uniroma1.it) is a phd student in documentation studies, linguistics and literature at the department of letters and modern cultures, sapienza università di roma, italy. she studied philosophy at università degli studi di torino and holds a post-graduate diploma at the scuola di specializzazione in beni archivistici e librari (school for advanced study in archival and library science, sapienza università di roma). her research interest is on the social impact of public libraries (methods and procedures for assessing the outcome of library services on groups or individuals). 133 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:roberta.montepeloso@uniroma1.it book review: measuring research: what everyone needs to know the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32996 ijidi: book review sugimoto, c. r., & larivière, v. (2018). measuring research: what everyone needs to know. new york, ny: oxford university press. isbn 9780190640125. 149 pp. $16.95 us. reviewer: norda a. bell, york university, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: bibliometrics; citation indexes; impact factors; inequality; research impact; research measurement publication type: book review “the allocation of resources on the basis of highly correlated metrics can exacerbate the matthew effect and create barriers for underrepresented populations to receive due rewards and resources... however, it is a privilege of the elite to both create and reject indicators. those who are well served by indicators generate cumulative advantage that propels them into the future. it is often those who are marginalized or are displaced by indicators who would benefit most from, but have the least opportunity to generate new metrics. the inequalities created and perpetuated by indicators must be responsibly addressed by the scientific community.” (p. 129) easuring research: what everyone needs to know (2018) by cassidy r. sugimoto and vincent larivière draws our attention to a rarely discussed aspect of diversity and inclusion in academic environments—inherent inequalities in research metrics that afford advantages to some groups while under-privileging others. the limitations of data and the biases of tools used to measure research are part and parcel of scholarly communication. measuring research impact is not without its challenges, complexities, and controversies, especially in a neoliberal academic environment with a reward system largely reliant on metrics. tenure and promotion, awards, funding, and even further recognition are based on citation counts or bibliometrics. however, traditional metrics serve some groups better than others. with the introduction of more accessible metric tools and the removal of analysts from the data and research evaluation, how can researchers, funders, and administrators interpret research indicators meaningfully and responsibly in an era of ranking, metrics, and performance evaluation in higher education? this book aims to describe “the ways in which these indicators are constructed, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they should be interpreted and used” (p. 1), focusing largely on bibliometrics and problematizing some of the ways research indicators are being used as proxies for research impact or research quality. in four chapters, each with headings in the form of questions, the authors attempt to outline what everyone needs to know about measuring research. chapter 1 (“the basics”) lays out the historical and theoretical foundations of measuring research as well as addressing such questions as “why measure research?”, “what is an indicator?” and “what are the data sources for measuring research?”. readers learn bibliometric data are skewed; a minority of researchers (20%) publish the majority of research (80%) (p. 11). inherent inequality and disparities exist in an academic system which rewards the already prestigious and well-cited scholars (known as the matthew effect, or the “rich get m https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index measuring research: what everyone needs to know the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32996 richer”) and penalizes female scholars, junior researchers, and precarious academic workers who tend to be less cited (the matilda effect, or “the poor get poorer”). chapter 2 (“the data”), provides a general overview of citation indexes and covers the development of key databases web of science (wos) and scopus, as well as the freely available google scholar citations. however, accessibility might be an issue for readers from international and smaller sized institutions or libraries that may not have access to these subscription databases. the authors compare these three databases with plenty of statistics on their size and coverage of materials as well as their strengths and limitations. the answer to the question, “what are the cultural biases of data sources?” will be of interest to ijidi readers. it is refreshing to read that “data sources for research indicators are not value-neutral. rather, they are the products of historical, political, economic, and social contexts” (p. 38). it is important to understand these contexts. biases in coverage by language and geography abound with 95% of wos indexed papers written in english and the majority (nearly 25%) of authors are from the u.s. in both scopus and wos. a comparative analysis of wos’ and scopus’ coverage of authors by country, by the language of publication, and by discipline finds that scopus has better non-western coverage and chinese language papers than wos. despite a lack of transparency regarding its data, google scholar citations shows some evidence of this english language-bias as well. this chapter also highlights the problem of important national or local journals (e.g., in health or education) that may not have a high international impact, but are nonetheless of great significance domestically; it also describes the challenges of disciplinary classification and definitions across wos and scopus. in addition to language and geographic biases, disciplinary and format biases exist. science and biomedicine are better represented than social sciences and humanities publications. similarly, journal articles are better covered than other formats, such as books and conference papers. better representation leads to more visibility of research and, inevitably, to more citations of particular works than others. how does one translate research activity into measurable units (or indicators)? chapter 3 (“the indicators”) is the heart of the book, with 23 questions centred on specific research indicators and metrics, including the journal impact factor, eigenfactor score, scimago journal rank, hindex, and altmetrics (or alternative metrics); it reviews how each one is constructed and how to approach interpreting them. interpretation can be challenging as impact indicators were traditionally based on bibliometric data from citation indexes. what is problematic when relying on this data (or counting citations) as a proxy for research impact is that often the results are dependent on the type of data used, which can be inherently biased, flawed, and incomplete. furthermore, researchers are often not measuring what they think they are measuring. the authors demonstrate how difficult it is to actually “capture and operationalize” (p. 64) impact. through very detailed examples and discussions, we learn that citations are indicators of usage, not necessarily impact or quality. similarly, altmetrics, or alternative metrics, do not measure impact, but rather attention. the authors emphasize the importance of understanding what concepts are actually being measured and address some myths around measuring impact. the final chapter (“the big picture”) is thought-provoking as it examines the current scholarly communication landscape and the role of stakeholders such as academics, administrators, and funding agencies, and the adverse effects of measurement; in particular, it draws our attention to the fact that, in an incentivized world of academia, “research measurement has cultivated in scholars a ‘taste for rankings’ over a ‘taste for science’” (p. 127). the authors caution that 107 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index measuring research: what everyone needs to know the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32996 measuring research at the individual level (author) is dangerous given the limitations of data and biases of tools. the authors also implore the scientific community to assess new data and tools and become knowledgeable of the inner workings of the indicators used, their limitations, and especially what they actually measure. i believe that this is especially important for those who are disadvantaged by traditional metrics: women, racialized groups, precarious academics, researchers from the global south, those who publish in languages other than english, and in academic disciplines outside of science, technology, engineering, and health or medicine (stem). unfortunately, given the proprietary nature of many of these tools (e.g., wos, scopus, citescore, journal citation reports, and altmetrics) access to them for examination are limited to only those affiliated with large institutions or libraries, and/or those residing in western countries, in short, those who can afford access to these tools; this leaves readers and researchers in the global south and/or in smaller, cash-strapped institutions, disadvantaged. surprisingly, the authors, hailing from the u.s. and canada, address neither this limitation nor issues of access to these tools. “how do scholars measure research impact around the world?” would have been an interesting additional question to pose in the final chapter, especially for ijidi readers. this is a very useful introductory text. after reading this book, readers will have an informed and in-depth knowledge of the history, structure, and limitations of wos and scopus, and various research metrics (both traditional and alternative). however, the readability of the text was an issue; the book is text-heavy, especially if you read it cover-to-cover. however, readers looking for quick answers to specific questions and reading this book selectively may not encounter the same challenge. there are many comparisons of the wos and scopus coverage throughout the book, but these are often textual. a chart providing an overview of these comparisons, perhaps with the addition of google scholar, would have been useful for improving readability, as would have using colours. however, this may have impacted the cost of the book (a reasonable $16.95 us for the paperback). the list of further readings is also useful for readers wishing to read up more on some of the fascinating studies and works mentioned in the main text. overall, this book serves its purpose as an introductory text to research measurement. issues of diversity and equality in scholarly communication and biases in well-established tools are seldom addressed, and this book fills the need. this text is highly recommended for library students, librarians, and scholars interested in understanding scholarly communication and research metrics at a foundational level. it is equally important for all who are inherently disadvantaged by metrics. it is vital to have a basic understanding of how these tools are constructed, what research is “counted,” and what is invisible. once this is known, underrepresented groups, namely women, racialized persons, global south authors, precarious academics, authors writing in languages other than english, and non-stem researchers can counter the narratives told by traditional metrics to help mitigate some of these disadvantages. norda bell (nordam@yorku.ca) is scholarly publishing librarian at york university. she is subject specialist for social work, human rights and equity studies, and linguistics & applied linguistics. her current research focus includes diversity and equity in libraries, scholarly communications, and the representation of visible minorities in online spaces (wikipedia and wikidata). 108 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:nordam@yorku.ca mailto:nordam@yorku.ca https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index book review: diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in museums the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.33047 ijidi: book review cole, j. b., & lott, l. l. (eds.). (2019). diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in museums. american alliance of museums. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. isbn 9781538118627. 182 pp. $35 us. reviewer: valerie brett shaindlin, university of hawaiʻi, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: accessibility; cultural heritage; diversity and inclusion; equity; museology publication type: book review espite a longtime vocalized support for diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (deai) in the museum field, a disappointing lack of progress persists. most museum professionals, when asked, generally say they support deai—yet most museum professionals, board members, and visitors are wealthy and white, and exhibitions lag in representation and accuracy. why? diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in museums addresses this disparity between intention and action (or theory and practice) in the museum field. in 17 chapters, contributors examine the administrative issues and social aspects of museum professionals, visitors, and exhibits, from historical, contemporaneous, and forward-looking perspectives. they attempt to answer the question, “why do challenges of inequity and inaccessibility in museums persist?” (p. ix). many of the contributors reflect on long careers spent in the museum field, musing on what has and has not changed over the years. they all agree that pro-deai rhetoric is in ample supply—and has been, for quite a while now—while action sadly remains lackluster or, in some cases, totally absent. some feel that change is in each individual museum professional’s hands; some think that change will not occur without a coordinated and holistic group effort; and others believe change will never happen unless it is imposed externally (e.g., through legislation or grant requirements). while intellectual, political, and financial commitment will all be required to successfully diversify the profession, most agree that lack of funding is not the real problem. additionally, there is no longer a real human resource pipeline problem (there is a diverse candidate pool; although some point out that unpaid internships still serve as a barrier to entry for those who cannot afford to work unpaid). the real issue, it seems, is one of will: not only are deai issues usually put on the back burner in museums, but the institution itself was originally built by and for the homogenous elite and is still largely run by wealthy (and overwhelmingly white and male) boards and trustees. yes, there have been gains in diversity hiring in museums, but many of the authors point out that these hires are, unfortunately, usually low on the totem pole—and when the only diverse employees serve as security guards and maintenance staff, it can send the message that the museum is not meant for an inclusive staff or audience. the contributors agree that museums have much to gain by increasing the diversity of the staff, visitors, and exhibits. they point out that the u.s. is poised to become a majority d https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in museums the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1) 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.33047 minority country (and therefore if museums fail to become more inclusive, they will become financially unviable); women are more philanthropic than men, despite still being underrepresented in exhibits and on boards; and differently-abled people should be welcomed not only as visitors, but as subjects of exhibits, as they have much to offer in terms of experience and creativity. disability is not a barrier; society and expectations are. many of the contributors point out that museums influence society, which means they are in a unique position to either maintain the status quo or promote justice. (society also influences museums, which is how we ended up with colonial/racist/sexist/ableist cultural institutions to begin with.) a few of the proposed solutions to the lingering deai issues in museums include bias training; power sharing; making websites accessible; designing exhibits in collaboration with underrepresented communities; making all aspects of the museum dialogic; accommodating neurodiverse visitors and staff; and increasing the visibility and representation of women, people of color, lgbt+, and indigenous people in exhibits. one of several books published this year in the american alliance of museums (aam) series, diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in museums is classified as a book for professionals, but aims to be a resource for anyone interested in diversity fieldwork. the thin, edited book covers myriad and serious material without succumbing to density or slog. while there are many common themes, ideas, and issues, the book does not read as repetitive. although intended for a professional readership, it would make an excellent text for any graduate-level museum studies course; it is one of the few professional books to successfully combine practical advice with academic considerations. because the contributors take a holistic approach to remedying the museum field’s diversity problem, their ideas ought to be shared generously with the next generation of aspiring museum professionals—they will be necessary components of and agents for the institutional ch ange called for by these authors. perhaps partially due to the practicality of the book, it is quite readable; it is written for professionals but is accessible for even undergraduate -level students who already know they are interested in museum work. overall, the book is well-written, with minimal variability in writing quality across authors. the book is comprised of essays, speeches, and reports, and is divided into four parts: “a call to action;” “diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion strategies;” “the necessity and power of first person voices;” and “personal journeys.” it includes bibliographical references, an index, and four appendices (diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion definitions; the andrew w. mellon foundation art museum staff demographic survey; museum board leadership report excerpt – the people; and selected resources). there is a good range and fairly-even spread of topics in terms of which specific type/s of deai each essay attends to. i identified six categories across 17 chapters: deai/general (5); disability (2); indigeneity (2); lgbtq+ (1); race/ethnicity (6); and women (1). the race/ethnicity category can be further broken down into four subcategories: gene ral (3); black (1); latinx (1); and white (1). half of the chapters (8 out of 17, or 47%) are either reprints or adapted from previously-delivered remarks. some of the chapters are in explicit conversation; for example, chapter 2 (“museums, racism, and the inclusiveness chasm” by carlos tortolero) is essentially a critique of chapter 1 (“flies in the buttermilk: museums, diversity, and the will to change” by lonnie g. bunch iii). (tortolero criticizes bunch for never actually invoking the term “racism” despite providing several clear-cut examples of it.) a common thread throughout the book is that museum professionals have been espousing deai for quite some time, but now must actually do something about it —at this point, excuses 135 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in museums the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1) 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.33047 are unacceptable. the problem is both structural and personal, and it is urgent. since this is a book about diversity and inclusion, it is imperative to also consider the contributor and editor demographics. all of the identities discussed in the book are represented by the contributors. the overall background and expertise of the authors and editors are impressive, making the collection authoritative; many of the contributors are at the pinnacle of their careers. the co-editors, johnnetta betsch cole and laura l. lott, have long and distinguished careers in museums, and lott currently serves as the president and ceo of aam. they each also contributed a chapter (cole’s covers deai/general and lott’s deals with race/general). although intended to be an analysis of what can be learned from those who have long been observing, experiencing, and writing about deai issues in museums, the book would have benefitted from at least one contribution from an emerging, rather than seasoned, professional—especially since it intends to be an intergenerational dialogue. an identity that was not explicitly addressed, that is both timely and important, is the t in lgbtq+: transgender. however, the relevance and importance of this book cannot be understated, and it is an impressive accompaniment to aam’s online collection of deai resources (american alliance of museums, 2019). diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in museums promises to be a guide for a new generation of museum leaders; it might be more accurately described as a retroactive reckoning, but nevertheless, it delivers. the lessons of the past are imperative for the future, and it inspires hope that current museum thought leaders have the willingness to be both self-reflective and honest. museums are embedded in practically every town and city in america, and therefore most libraries would do well to purchase this book. libraries that have a museology collection, or support museology academic or professional program s, as well as libraries that are connected to museums, should also consider purchasing this book. references american alliance of museums. (2019). diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion resources. retrieved from https://www.aam-us.org/programs/resource-library/diversity-equityaccessibility-and-inclusion-resources/ valerie brett shaindlin (vshaindl@hawaii.edu) is an information database specialist at the university of hawaiʻi cancer center. in 2018 she graduated from the library and information science (lis) program at the university of hawaiʻi-mānoa in honolulu. her research focuses on intersectional feminism, cultural institutions, and social justice. shaindlin earned her undergraduate degree in management and business from skidmore college in saratoga springs, new york, with two minors: international affairs and early childhood education. she has seven years’ professional experience in business administration, management, and marketing/public relations, and is also an experienced registered yoga teacher. find her online @valeriebrett and valeriebrett.com. 136 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.aam-us.org/programs/resource-library/diversity-equity-accessibility-and-inclusion-resources/ https://www.aam-us.org/programs/resource-library/diversity-equity-accessibility-and-inclusion-resources/ mailto:vshaindl@hawaii.edu references library services and early literacy approaches in public libraries for deaf and hard of hearing children the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ library services and early literacy approaches in public libraries for deaf and hard of hearing children bobbie bushman, university of north texas keywords: deaf/hard of hearing (d/hoh) patrons; early literacy; library services to children; patrons with disabilities publication type: poster abstract children’s librarians are challenged to provide inclusive programming in today’s public libraries. there is a current trend in public libraries to provide special needs programming for children. this poster focuses on library programming for deaf and hard of hearing (d/hoh) children who visit u.s. public libraries. the american library association (ala) states that hearing children need to know six pre-reading skills to be ready to read; however, some of these pre-reading skills focus on singing or rhyming, which are difficult for d/hoh children. this grounded theory research studies the programs, services, and story times that are implemented and modified for d/hoh children in u.s. public libraries. this study began with sending out a recruitment script and questionnaire, which reached nearly 500 medium to large sized u.s. public libraries. fifteen participants volunteered to be interviewed, and eleven were interviewed. interviews were analyzed using open and axial coding, which is typical in grounded theory. preliminary data and a review of literature on literacy acquisition for d/hoh children suggested that d/hoh children do not progress in four of the pre-reading skills outlined in the ala’s early literacy program, every child ready to read (ecrr), in the same way that hearing children do. phonological awareness is largely not utilized by d/hoh children in learning to read. d/hoh children are also likely to build vocabulary, develop print motivation, and approach narrative skills differently than hearing children. this grounded theory research developed the model of successful library services and modifications for d/hoh children to explain which services, early literacy instruction, staff training and programs public libraries provide to children who are d/hoh. this research project also inquires about what kinds of modifications are made to serve d/hoh children and what the impetus was for providing library services to deaf children. the first stage of the model highlights staff attitude as being warm and welcoming, taking initiative, and not seeing d/hoh as a disability. the second stage described the impetus for providing services as encountering a d/hoh patron in the library, knowing a disabled person in a librarian’s personal life, or by encountering a nearby agency that serves d/hoh. in the third stage, librarians made accommodations by being inclusive in programming, providing asl programming, or facilitating visual phonics instruction in place of phonological awareness instruction. in the fourth and final stage, this model reported outcomes such as educating both hearing and d/hoh individuals and building a sense of community. http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, services and approaches for deaf and hard of hearing children the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the following references were consulted in the preparation of the abstract and poster. allen, t., letteri, a., choi, s., & dang, d. (2014). early visual language exposure and emergent literacy in preschool deaf children: findings from a national longitudinal study. american annals of the deaf, 159(4), 346–358. aram, d., most, t., & simon, a. (2008). early literacy of kindergartners with hearing impairment: the role of mother-child collaborative writing. topics in early childhood special education, 28(1), 31-41. aram, d., most, t., & maylift, h. (2006). contributions of mother-child storybook and joint writing to literacy development in kindergartens with hearing loss. language, speech and hearing services in schools, 37(3), 209-223. banks, c. (2004). all kinds of flowers grow here: the children’s place for children with special needs at brooklyn public library. children and libraries, 2(1), 5-10. bealalverez, j., lederberg, a. & easterbrooks, s. (2011). grapheme-phoneme acquisition in deaf preschoolers. journal of deaf studies and deaf education, 16(4), 1-22. bergeron, j., lederberg, a., easterbrooks, s., miller, e., & connor, c. (2009). building the alphabetic principle in young children who are deaf or hard of hearing. the volta review, 109(2), 87-119. blue, e., & pace d. (2011). ud and udl: paving the way toward inclusion and independence in the school library. knowledge quest 39(3), 48-55. center for disease control and prevention (2015). hearing loss in children: treatment and intervention services. retrieved june 14, 2016 from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hearingloss/treatment.html. colin, s., magnan, a., ecalle, j., & leybaert, j. (2007). relation between deaf children's phonological skills in kindergarten and word recognition in the first grade. journal of psychology and psychiatry, 48(2), 139-146. dostal, h., & wolbers, k. a. (2014). developing language and writing skills of deaf and hard of hearing students: a simultaneous approach. literacy research and instruction, 53(3), 245-268 easterbrooks, s. r. & beal-alvarez, j. (2013). literacy instructions for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. new york, ny: oxford university press. anonymous. (2006). editorial: educational practices and assessments. american annals of the deaf, 151(5), 461-463. american library association (2011). every child ready to read. retrieved october 17, 2011, from http://www.everychildreadytoread.org/ gilliver, m., cupples, l., ching, t., leigh, g. & gunnourie, m. (2016). developing sound skills for reading: teaching phonological awareness to preschoolers with hearing loss. journal of deaf studies and deaf education, 21(3), 268-279. gioia, b. (2001). the emergent language and literacy experiences of three deaf preschoolers. 90 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, services and approaches for deaf and hard of hearing children the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ international journal of disability, development, and education, 48(4) 411-428. goldin-meadow, s. & mayberry, r. (2001) how do profoundly deaf children learn to read? learning disabilities research and practice, 16(4), 222-229. golos, d. (2010). literacy behaviors of deaf preschoolers during video viewing. sign language studies, 11(1), 76-99. hands, a. s., & johnson, a. (2012). lighting the way: grant applications showcase range of programming ideas. children and libraries, 10(2), 56-57. harrington, m., desjardin, j., & shea, l. (2010). relationships between early child factors and school readiness skills in young children with hearing loss. communication disorders quarterly, 32(1), 50-62. hoffman, m., & wang, y. (2010). the use of graphic representations of sign language in leveled texts to support deaf readers. american annals for the deaf, 155(2), 131-136. humphries, t., kushalnagar, p., mathur, g., napoli, d. j., padden, c., rathmann, c., & smith, s. r. (2012). language acquisition for deaf children: reducing the harms of zero tolerance to the use of alternative approaches. harm reduction journal, 9(1), 16. kaderavek, j. n., & pakulski, l. a. (2007). mother-child storybook interactions: literacy orientation of preschoolers with hearing impairment. journal of early childhood literacy, 7(1), 49-72. kleeck, a., & schuele, c. (2010). historical perspectives on literacy in early childhood. american journal of speech-language pathology, 19(4), 341-355. kyle, f., & harris, m. (2010). predictors of reading development in deaf children: a 3-year longitudinal study. journal of experimental child psychology, 107(3), 229-243. lajoie, l. (2003). embracing the silence: how librarians can help deaf children develop their reading skills. library journal. retrieved from lj.libraryjournal.com/2003/08/ljarchives/embracing-the-silence/ luckner, j. (2013). using the dynamic indicators of basic early literacy skills with students who are deaf or hard of hearing: perspectives of a panel of experts. american annals of the deaf, 158(1), 7-19. luckner, j., bruce, s., & ferrell, k. (2016). summary of the communication and literacy evidence-based practices for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, visually impaired, and deafblind. communication disorders quarterly, 37(4), 225-241. macmilian, k. (2003). signs of success: asl access opens the door between deaf and hearing. public libraries 42(1), 17-9. mccaffrey, m. (2004). the missing link. school library journal, 50(9), 48-9. mccaffrey, m. (2004). great books in sign language. school library journal, 50(12), 30. mounty, j., pucci, c., & harmon, k. (2014). how deaf american sign language/english bilingual children become proficient readers: an emic perspective. journal of deaf studies and deaf education, 19(3), 333-346. 91 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, lj.libraryjournal.com/2003/08/ljarchives/embracing-the-silence/ services and approaches for deaf and hard of hearing children the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ nail, s. (2008). asl tales bridges the gap between deaf and hearing children. canadian library association, 54(6), 280-285. narr, r. (2006). teaching phonological awareness with deaf and hard of hearing children. teaching exceptional children, 38(4), 53-58. national center for educational statistics. (2016, may). children with youth disabilities. retrieved june 12, 2016 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgg.asp national center for education statistics (2003). national assessment of adult literacy. retrieved july 19, 2016 from http://nces.ed.gov/naal/kf_demographics.asp national center for learning disabilities. (2013). screening tools. get ready to read! retrieved october 17, 2013 from http://www.getreadytoread.org/screening-tools/ national institute on deafness and other communication disorders. (2016, june 17). hearing, ear infections, and deafness. retrieved july 23, 2016, from https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing-ear-infections-deafness noland, a. (2003). how cleveland serves the deaf community. public libraries, 42(1), 20-1. pinellas public library cooperate (2016). deaf literary center: a bridge to the world of information. retrieved from http://www.pplc.us/dlc/about.shtml plessow-wolfson, s., & epstein, f. (2005). the experience of story-reading: deaf children and hearing mothers' interaction at story time. american annals of the deaf, 150(4), 369-78. public library association & association for library service to children. (2011). every child ready to read: a workshop for library staff [powerpoint slides]. retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/northeastlibrarysystem/every-child-ready-to-read-2ndedition-9529975 robertson, l., dow, g., & hainzinger, s. (2006). story retelling patterns among children with and without hearing loss: effects of repeated practice and parent-child attunement. the volta review, 106(2), 147-70. rodriguez, r., & reed, m. (2003). our deaf family needs to read, too. public libraries, 42(1), 3841. rottenberg, c. (2001). a deaf child learns to read. american annals of the deaf, 146(3), 270-75. smith, a. & wang, y. (2010). the impact of visual phonics on the phonological awareness and speech production of a study who is deaf: a case study. american annals of the deaf, 155(2), 124-130. stobbart, c. & alant, e. (2008). home based literacy experiences of severely to profoundly deaf preschoolers and their hearing parents. journal of developmental and physical disabilities, 20(2), 139-53. strong, m., & prinz, p. m. (1997). a study of the relationship between american sign language and english literacy. journal of deaf studies and deaf education, 2(1), 37-46. syverud, s. m., guardino, c., & selnick, d. n. (2009). teaching phonological skills to a deaf first grader: a promising strategy. american annals of the deaf, 154(4), 382-388. 92 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.slideshare.net/northeastlibrarysystem/every-child-ready-to-read-2nd-edition-9529975 http://www.slideshare.net/northeastlibrarysystem/every-child-ready-to-read-2nd-edition-9529975 services and approaches for deaf and hard of hearing children the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ toscano, r. m., mckee, b., & lepoutre, d. (2002). success with academic english: reflections of deaf college students. american annals of the deaf, 147(1), 5-23. webb, m. l., & lederberg, a. r. (2014). measuring phonological awareness in deaf and hard-ofhearing children. journal of speech, language & hearing research, 57(1), 131-142. wemett, l. (2007). the building bridges project: library services to youth with disabilities. children and libraries, 5(3), 15-20. white, b. (2011). the world in words and pictures: how graphic novels can help to increase the reading comprehension for students with hearing loss. knowledge quest, 39(3), 18-25. wolf, m. (2007). proust and the squid: the story of science and the reading brain. new york, ny: harpercollins. woolsey, m., satterfield, s., & roberson, l. (2006). visual phonics: an english code buster? american annals of the deaf, 151(4), 452-7. world health organization (2015). deafness and hearing loss. retrieved may 12, 2016 from http://www.who.int/topics/deafness/en/ bobbie bushman (bobbie.bushman@unt.edu) received her bachelor’s of science in psychology in 2001 from missouri state university in springfield, mo, and worked as social worker for the mentally ill and deaf. after receiving her master’s of library and information science in 2008 from the university of missouri in columbia, mo, bobbie discovered her passion in libraries while working as youth services manager at the midtown carnegie library branch of the springfieldgreene county library in springfield, mo. she left that position in 2010 to pursue her ph.d. in information science and learning technologies from the university of missouri in columbia, mo. bobbie is currently the houston-based program coordinator and information science lecturer at the university of north texas in denton, tx. she has taught classes with an emphasis on public libraries, services to children and young adults, and services to marginalized and special needs populations. bobbie has completed research about library services to children with disabilities and early literacy approaches in the library for deaf/hard of hearing children. she has presented at other conferences on the topics such as the invisible minority: lgbtq teens and their literature. 93 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, mailto:bobbie.bushman@unt.edu the following references were consulted in the preparation of the abstract and poster. seeking employment in a non-native language: online information-seeking behavior of refugees in germany the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33144 seeking employment in a non-native language: online information-seeking behavior of refugees in germany juliane köhler, humboldt-universität zu berlin, germany abstract in 2015, over a million refugees arrived in germany. after settling into their new environments, these refugees needed to find employment. the search for work, and the orientation to the german job market, increasingly takes place on the internet requiring language skills and digital competence. the purpose of this study is to examine the online information seeking strategies of refugees in germany and barriers that affect a successful search. the study builds on data collected from an online study with seven refugees solving different tasks. search queries for each participant were recorded and analyzed using an approach of both the mixed and grounded theory method. participants did not follow any observable systematic strategy but relied on supporting tools such as the search engine for providing suggestions or corrections and translation websites. participants mainly used three formulation tactics: copying, suggestions, and autonomous formulating. the formulation of the query seemed to be the most challenging to the participants. keywords: employment seeking; information seeking behavior; refugees; web searching publication type: special section publication introduction n 2015, germany welcomed over one million people fleeing from war, hunger, poverty, and other violations of their human rights (geiger, 2016; unhcr the un refugee agency, 2018). refugees face the major challenge of finding information to navigate everyday life situations (caidi & allard, 2005; lloyd, 2015; oduntan & ruthven, 2019). language barriers complicate the information search and therefore immigrants and refugees tend to ask their social network for information rather than searching the internet (atiso et al., 2018; shoham & kaufman strauss, 2007; hakim silvio, 2006). moreover, employment in germany is mostly sought and advertised over the internet (weitzel et al., 2017). thus, refugees need to have sufficient online-searching and information literacy skills to discover job offers that suit their abilities. to determine barriers refugees might face while searching the web, stiller and trkulja (2018) conducted a labbased experiment with seven refugees to assess their digital skills. the study at hand, which is based on a bachelor thesis (köhler, 2018), builds on this data to analyze the information seeking behavior of seven participants. a video screen capture of the online interactions of the participants is the basis for answering the following research questions: (rq 1) which information seeking strategies do participants use? i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi seeking employment in a non-native language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33144 (rq 2) what barriers affect successful searching? to answer the first research question, an information seeking strategy is defined as a sense of a specific plan someone follows while seeking information. similarly, marchionini (1989) provides this definition: “the execution […] of an individual’s information-seeking system for a particular information problem is considered an information-seeking strategy [emphasis appeared in the original text] (iss)”(p. 56). as can be seen in the following literature review, there is a lack of studies of refugees’ information seeking strategies. literature review even though information science research can contribute to migrant information behavior literature, german literature lacks studies in this area. one of the few studies in germany with focus on migrant information behavior evaluated the digital skills of seven refugees (stiller & trkulja, 2018). the study at hand reused their collected data. studies of immigrants worldwide do not provide universally applicable results. immigrants cannot be seen as a homogenous group (caidi et al., 2010). their needs and challenges might differ from the needs and challenges of immigrants in other countries. studies address the analysis of the information needs of refugees (lloyd et al., 2013; lloyd, 2014; oduntan & ruthven, 2017), as well as which meaning information has to them and how they seek it (obodoruku, 2017). obodoruku (2017) observed that most refugees are seeking information, but what they find usually does not match their information need. furthermore, current information science research strongly suggests that immigrants primarily use their social networks to obtain information (atiso et al., 2018; shoham & kaufman strauss, 2007; hakim silvio, 2006), along with using the internet (oduntan & ruthven, 2017). the use of the internet can prove to be difficult when searching in a second language. al-wreikat et al. (2015), as well as chu et al. (2015), discovered that the information seeking behavior and the information needs of the participants differ in their second language compared to searching in their mother tongue. the participants follow more strategies in their native language and according to chu et al. (2012) the queries are more often reformulated when the participants use a non-native language. moreover, rózsa et al. (2015) and brazier and harvey (2017) report that their participants feel unsure when searching in a second language and have trouble evaluating search results. most studies point out that declining search quality is not only linked to the language barriers but also to differences in cultures and norms (chu et al., 2012; rózsa et al., 2015; brazier & harvey, 2017). study design the data for this study is part of a broader study by stiller and trkulja (2018) on the assessment of digital skills of refugees. stiller and trkulja (2018) conducted a lab-based experiment with seven refugees from syria and iraq to assess their digital skills. all participants possess a residence permit for germany and a german-language-level of at least b1 (“cef levels”, n.d.), which equals an “intermediate low – mid” on the scale of the american council of teaching of foreign language (academia tica, n.d.). this language level is deemed as sufficient by the german government for everyday life interactions (bundesamt für migration und flüchtlinge, 2013). the participants had to solve nine online tasks that were divided into four groups: operational, formal, information, and strategic tasks, following the framework of van deursen 109 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi seeking employment in a non-native language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33144 and van dijk (2009, 2014). the activities, such as inputs on the computer, were recorded as video files with no audio tracks. the recorded videos were analyzed using a mixed-method-approach. the qualitative data was evaluated using a grounded theory approach (glaser, 1978 as cited in urquhart, 2013, p. 23). the screen recordings were transcribed containing the queries posed by the participants and the results displayed by the search engine. additionally, clickstream-like lists were developed. the quantitative data was drawn from both the transcripts and the clickstream-like lists. it includes time spent on search engines and websites, how often mistakes were corrected, how many queries were formulated, how much time was needed for the formulation, what kind of search query was used, and so on. following an approximate grounded theory method by glaser (1978 as cited in urquhart, 2013), open, selective, and theoretical codes were created based on the transcripts. no more data was collected after developing the first draft of a theory. one aspect of the study was the analysis of the queries based on the following concepts: • search query: the input of the participant into the search bar of the search engine in form of a string of terms (jansen et al., 2009). • term: “[a] series of characters within a query separated by white space or other separator” (jansen et al., 2009, p. 1361). findings all participants used google as their primary search engine. in total, there were 183 search queries entered. on average, the more difficult the task, the more queries were used, more websites visited, and more time spent on them. only the task type “formal” is an exception. the average values per task type are depicted in figure 1. participants used “suggestions”, “copying”, and “autonomous formulation” as tactics for query formulation. a query formulated autonomously does not use any copied terms or suggestions of the search engine. thus, if a query that used one of the other two formulation tactics was later altered autonomously, it was still not counted as autonomous formulation. all but one participant accepted at least 50% of the suggestions by the search engine such as “did you mean”, “including results for”, and “searches related to” (“suggestions”); 35.5% of all queries contained terms copied from either the task itself or websites the participants had visited (“copying”). the participants formulated the query by themselves only 38 times (“autonomous formulation”). in addition, terms were copied to the query 65 times and suggestions—while entering the query— figure 1. average values per task type. 110 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi seeking employment in a non-native language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33144 were used 45 times. the individual use of query formulation tactics per participant is depicted in figure 2. the participants mainly formulated new queries (123 queries; 67.2%). moreover, 35.5% were altered. most often queries were specified, which means that at least one term was added to the query or at least one term of the query was changed to a term with a restrictive meaning (rieh & xie, 2006). moreover, the queries often contained language mistakes such as misspellings, wrong word forms, or irrelevant aspects. corrections were made for only seven of the search queries. even so, it was mostly done automatically by the search engine or through suggestions given by the search engine. discussion and implications the goal of this study was to determine the participants’ information seeking strategies and the challenges they face while searching online. a clear strategy in the form of a plan could not be found. however, we noticed a strong reliance by participants on suggestions and corrections made by the search engine (marchionini, 1989). any suggestions made by the search engine were readily accepted and the copied text was not shortened to improve the search quality. however, the participants did not seem to follow a specific self-developed plan and rather reacted to the responses of the search engine. they used translation websites for key passages needed for tasks and often copied words to use as query terms. the normal search process is hence backed by the use of supporting tools. one clear barrier to successful searching is a lack of sufficient language skills. this was especially visible during the query formulation. the formulation of the information need in the form of a query was seemingly the most challenging aspect for the participants. the formulation tactic of “copying” as a means of avoiding mistakes was often observed. it is also possible that this tactic was employed because it saves time and is simply more convenient. figure 2. query formulation tactics per participant. 111 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi seeking employment in a non-native language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33144 the best searchers (among the seven participants) copied more terms than the other participants and made less mistakes. this might be explained by higher-level german language skills or a more efficient use of supporting tools such as translation websites or recommendations by the search engine. whenever a query was altered by the participants, it was mostly made to be more specific. this is in accordance to findings by rieh and xie (2006), chu et al. (2012) and jansen et al. (2009). the participants seemed to get search results that were too generic. komlodi et al. (2011) found that the search quality decreases when searching in a non-native language. this is probably the case for our study participants as well, since their queries contained language mistakes which led to insufficient search results. furthermore, several studies report that immigrants find employment through their personal networks rather than online (atiso et al., 2018; brücker et al., 2016). therefore, using the internet for finding work might have been completely new to the participants and they might have felt unsure during the search process (rózsa et al., 2015). this in turn, could be another barrier that influenced successful searching. to summarize, most of the observed difficulties were due to language and possibly cultural barriers (i.e., misspellings or language difficulties, such as a lack of understanding). this could explain why the participants did not often formulate queries by themselves, but rather repeatedly accepted suggestions from the search engine and copied words taken from the task or from query terms found on the websites. the use of supporting tools, like translation websites and suggestion of the search engine, is the most noticeable feature of the participant’s search strategy. due to the observed barriers that affect a successful search, more guidance and orientation for the refugees regarding online employment-seeking are deemed not only desirable but necessary. such guidance could be in the form of an information literacy class or personal counseling sessions. more research needs to be conducted to advance our understanding of these important issues, and to improve social and economic inclusion of refugees. references academia tica. (n.d.). actfl vs. cefr: framework standards comparison. https://www.academiatica.com/actfl-vs-cefr-framework-standards-comparison/ al-wreikat, a., rafferty, p., & foster, a. (2015). cross-language information seeking behaviour english vs arabic. library review, 64(6/7), 446-467. https://doi.org/10.1108/lr-042015-0044 atiso, k., kammer, j., & adkins, d. (2018). the information needs of the ghanaian immigrant. information and learning science, 119(5/6), 317-329. https://doi.org/10.1108/ils-022018-0013 brazier, d., & harvey, m. (2017). strangers in a strange land: a study of second language speakers searching for e-services. proceedings of the 2017 conference on conference human information interaction and retrieval (281-284). acm digital library. https://doi.org/10.1145/3020165.3022133 112 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://www.academiatica.com/actfl-vs-cefr-framework-standards-comparison/ https://doi.org/10.1108/lr-04-2015-0044 https://doi.org/10.1108/lr-04-2015-0044 https://doi.org/10.1108/ils-02-2018-0013 https://doi.org/10.1108/ils-02-2018-0013 https://doi.org/10.1145/3020165.3022133 seeking employment in a non-native language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33144 brücker, h., rother, n., & schupp, j. (eds.). 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(2012). an exploratory study on search behavior in different languages. proceedings of the 4th information interaction in context symposium, 318-321. https://doi.org/10.1145/2362724.2362784 chu, p., komlodi, a., & rózsa, g. (2015). online search in english as a non-native language. proceedings of the association for information science and technology, 52(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2015.145052010040 geiger, k. (2016, 20 june). nur ein land nimmt mehr flüchtlinge auf als deutschland. welt. https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article156356943/nur-ein-land-nimmt-mehrfluechtlinge-auf-als-deutschland.html glaser, b. g. (1978). theoretical sensitivity: advances in the methodology of grounded theory. the sociology press. hakim silvio, d. (2006). the information needs and information seeking behaviour of immigrant southern sudanese youth in the city of london, ontario: an exploratory study. library review, 55(4), 259-266. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530610660807 jansen, b. j., booth, d. l., & spink, a. (2009). patterns of query reformulation during web searching. journal of the american society for information science and technology, 60(7), 1358-1371. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21071 köhler, j. (2018). rechercheverhalten von geflüchteten – eine videoanalyse [unpublished bachelor’s thesis]. humboldt-universität zu berlin, berlin, germany. komlodi, a., jozsa, e., koles, m., & hercegfi, k. (2011). search quality differences in native and foreign language searching. proceedings of the human-computer information retrieval. https://2cdbf7b4-a-62cb3a1a-s113 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi http://hdl.handle.net/10419/149124 https://web.archive.org/web/20190224135440/http:/www.bamf.de/de/infothek/traegerintegrationskurse/paedagogisches/abschlusspruefung/abschlusspruefung-node.html#doc1367404bodytext6 https://web.archive.org/web/20190224135440/http:/www.bamf.de/de/infothek/traegerintegrationskurse/paedagogisches/abschlusspruefung/abschlusspruefung-node.html#doc1367404bodytext6 https://web.archive.org/web/20190224135440/http:/www.bamf.de/de/infothek/traegerintegrationskurse/paedagogisches/abschlusspruefung/abschlusspruefung-node.html#doc1367404bodytext6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2005.04.003 https://doi.org/10.1002/aris.2010.1440440118 https://www.examenglish.com/cefr/cefr.php https://doi.org/10.1145/2362724.2362784 https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2015.145052010040 https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article156356943/nur-ein-land-nimmt-mehr-fluechtlinge-auf-als-deutschland.html https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article156356943/nur-ein-land-nimmt-mehr-fluechtlinge-auf-als-deutschland.html https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530610660807 https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21071 https://2cdbf7b4-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/hcirworkshop/p_komlodi_et_al_hcir2011_submission_28.pdf seeking employment in a non-native language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33144 sites.googlegroups.com/site/hcirworkshop/p_komlodi_et_al_hcir2011_submission_28.p df lloyd, a. (2014). building information resilience: how do resettling refugees connect with health information in regional landscapes – implications for health literacy. australian academic & research libraries, 45(1), 48-66. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048623.2014.884916 lloyd, a. (2015). stranger in a strange land; enabling information resilience in resettlement landscapes. journal of documentation, 71(5), 1029-1042. https://doi.org/10.1108/jd04-2014-0065 lloyd, a., kennan, m. a., thompson, k. m., & qayyum, a. (2013). connecting with new information landscapes: information literacy practices of refugees. journal of documentation, 69(1), 121-144. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220411311295351 marchionini, g. (1989). information‐seeking strategies of novices using a full‐text electronic encyclopedia. journal of the american society for information science, 40(1), 54-66. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1097-4571(198901)40:1%3c54::aid-asi6%3e3.0.co;2-r obodoruku, b. (2017). refugees’ information seeking in nyarugusu camp, tanzania [paper presentation]. ifla wlic 2018 — kuala lumpur, malaysia — transform libraries, transform societies. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/2139 oduntan, o., & ruthven, i. (2017). investigating the information gaps in refugee integration. proceedings of the association for information science and technology, 54(1), 308-317. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2017.14505401034 oduntan, o., & ruthven, i. (2019). the information needs matrix: a navigational guide for refugee integration. information processing & management, 56(3), 791-808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2018.12.001 rieh, s. y., & xie, h. (i.) (2006). analysis of multiple query reformulations on the web: the interactive information retrieval context. information processing & management, 42(3), 751-768. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2005.05.005 rózsa, g., komlodi, a., & chu, p. (2015). online searching in english as a foreign language. proceedings of the 24th international conference on world wide web, 875-880. https://doi.org/10.1145/2740908.2743007 shoham, s., & kaufman strauss, s. (2007). information needs of north american immigrants to israel. journal of information, communication and ethics in society, 5(2/3), 185-205. https://doi.org/10.1108/14779960710837641 stiller, j., & trkulja, v. (2018). assessing digital skills of refugee migrants during job orientation in germany. in g. chowdhury, j. mcleod, v. gillet, & p. willet (eds.), transforming digital worlds, iconference 2018: lecture notes in computer science (vol. 10766, pp. 527-536): springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78105-1_58 unhcr the un refugee agency. (2018). unhcr statistics. https://www.unhcr.org/refugee114 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://2cdbf7b4-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/hcirworkshop/p_komlodi_et_al_hcir2011_submission_28.pdf https://2cdbf7b4-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/hcirworkshop/p_komlodi_et_al_hcir2011_submission_28.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/00048623.2014.884916 https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-04-2014-0065 https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-04-2014-0065 https://doi.org/10.1108/00220411311295351 https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1097-4571(198901)40:1%3c54::aid-asi6%3e3.0.co;2-r http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/2139 https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2017.14505401034 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2018.12.001 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2005.05.005 https://doi.org/10.1145/2740908.2743007 https://doi.org/10.1108/14779960710837641 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78105-1_58 https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/ seeking employment in a non-native language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33144 statistics/ urquhart, c. (2013). grounded theory for qualitative research: a practical guide. sage. van deursen, a. j. a. m., & van dijk, j. a. g. m. (2009). improving digital skills for the use of online public information and services. government information quarterly, 26(2), 333340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2008.11.002 van deursen, a. j. a. m., & van dijk, j. a. g. m. (2014). digital skills: unlocking the information society. palgrave macmillan. weitzel, t., laumer, s., maier, c., oehlhorn, c., wirth, j., & weinert, c. (2017). themenspecial 2017: bewerbung der zukunft – ausgewählte ergebnisse der recruiting trends 2017, einer empirischen studie mit den top-1.000-unternehmen aus deutschland, 1.000 unternehmen aus dem mittelstand in deutschland sowie den top300-unternehmen aus der branche it, und der bewerbungspraxis 2017, einer empirischen studie mit über 3.400 kandidaten. https://www.unibamberg.de/fileadmin/uni/fakultaeten/wiai_lehrstuehle/isdl/5_bewerbung_der_zukun ft_20170210_web.pdf juliane köhler (j.koehler@hu-berlin.de) studies at the berlin school of library and information science of the humboldt-universität zu berlin, pursuing her master’s degree in information science. furthermore, she works as a student assistant in the department for information behavior at the same school. she finished her undergraduate degree with her bachelor thesis “information seeking behavior of refugees a video analysis”. the thesis was a great milestone in her life, with which she discovered her strong interest in information behavior research. however, since she also enjoys the topics of information retrieval, she would like to engage in more research concerning information retrieval, in order to further specify her research interests. 115 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2008.11.002 https://www.uni-bamberg.de/fileadmin/uni/fakultaeten/wiai_lehrstuehle/isdl/5_bewerbung_der_zukunft_20170210_web.pdf https://www.uni-bamberg.de/fileadmin/uni/fakultaeten/wiai_lehrstuehle/isdl/5_bewerbung_der_zukunft_20170210_web.pdf https://www.uni-bamberg.de/fileadmin/uni/fakultaeten/wiai_lehrstuehle/isdl/5_bewerbung_der_zukunft_20170210_web.pdf mailto:j.koehler@hu-berlin.de introduction literature review study design findings discussion and implications references ijidi january 2019 cover and credits editorials avoiding a senseless endurance test: hidden disabilities and interviewing in lis keren dali articles library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu andrew b. wertheimer & noriko asato pilgrimage to hajj: an information journey nadia caidi together we read, together we learn: examining book clubs as a means of connecting lis to a feminist diversity ethic laila brown representative library collections as a response to the institutional oppression of lgbtq youth of color jeanie austin the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth rachel wexelbaum special section — reports from the field patchworking library services for invisiblized youth rae-anne montague & joseph a. coyle also featuring book reviews edited by norda a. bell dr. keren dali, editor-in-chief january 2019 volume 3 | number 1 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion journal credits editor-in-chief dr. keren dali associate editors dr. paul t. jaeger dr. nadia caidi senior managing editors leah brochu laina kelly managing editors karen kettnich stephanie santiful jeffrey sowder cara b. stone zach valdes book review editor norda a. bell graphic designer kevin j. mallary ijidi logo created by craig taylor image credit: “garden” by leah brochu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion diversifying music collections by design: responding to the needs of iranian music researchers in north america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ diversifying music collections by design: responding to the needs of iranian music researchers in north america houman behzadi, university of toronto blair kuntz, university of toronto keywords: collections, diversity, iranian, music, persian language publication type: poster abstract this poster provided an overview of a collection building project at the university of toronto (u of t) music library. the undertaking was a response to the increasing interest in iranian studies, and, particularly iranian music, at u of t. the music library hosts the largest academic music collection in canada including electronic, print, and audio-visual resources from many world regions. nonetheless, its collection remains primarily eurocentric. the project, therefore, addresses a perceived gap by collecting materials from an endangered musical culture. behzadi and kuntz explained the tools used to select and acquire the materials. these included the identification of the key titles missing from the utl collections, consulting persian language catalogues and bibliographies, and two trips to iran. they also discussed the challenges involved in providing access to this collection. in the end, behzadi and kuntz discussed potential ways of promoting the collection and bringing it to the attention of library users at the faculty of music and beyond. the following reference was consulted in the preparation of the abstract and poster. behzadi, h. (2017). building a collection of iranian music at the university of toronto music library. caml review/revue de l'acbm, 44(3). houman behzadi (houman.behzadi@utoronto.ca) is the music collection development librarian at the university of toronto music library. he is the chair of the caml collections committee and a member of the music library association’s resource sharing and collection development committee. his research surrounds the future of music collections in canada, especially in connection with the recent devaluation of the canadian dollar. blair kuntz (blair.kuntz@utoronto.ca) has been the near and middle eastern studies librarian at the university of toronto since 2003. he catalogs and performs collection development for arabic, turkish and persian-language materials. 88 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, the following reference was consulted in the preparation of the abstract and poster. ijidi october 2018 cover and credits volume 3 | issue 3 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion the information needs of individuals affected by harmful gambling in ireland crystal fulton scenarios of health engagement experiences and health justice in rural libraries bharat mehra; everette scott sikes; vandana singh same tricks, new name: the iaaf’s new 2018 testosterone regulation policy for female athletes anna posbergh creating a culture of equity: building awareness within the montgomery county department of health and human services surbhi sardana articles introductory article health justice part 1 special issue july 2019 the central roles of information in health justice, part 1: toward a new field of consumer health information justice beth st. jean; gagan jindal; yuting liao; paul t. jaeger work experiences, accommodations, and information in the context of fibromyalgia: a literature review and conceptual synthesis annie t. chen; holly carpenter; mary grace flaherty special section: health justice in policy journal credits acknowledgement we thank dr. beth st. jean, gagan jindal, yuting liao, and dr. paul t. jaeger of the ischool at the university of maryland, for their help with the editorial process for this issue. editor-in-chief dr. keren dali associate editors dr. paul t. jaeger dr. nadia caidi senior managing editors leah brochu laina kelly managing editors michelle de agostini karen kettnich stephanie santiful jeffrey sowder cara b. stone zach valdes book review editor norda a. bell graphic designer kevin j. mallary ijidi logo created by craig taylor image credit: “unity” by kevin j. mallary the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32998 targeting autism in libraries: a comprehensive and collaborative training program for librarians ruth v. small, syracuse university, usa suzanne schriar, illinois state library, usa mary pelich kelly, the autism program of illinois, usa abstract this article describes the targeting autism program, funded by multiple grants from the institute of museum & library services (imls). this program was created to provide free training to the librarians of the state of illinois on providing quality services and programs to patrons with autism. the state library of illinois leads the project, in partnership with dominican university and syracuse university and in collaboration with dozens of autismrelated organizations. the targeting autism program has included a variety of educational opportunities—in-person annual forums, group workshops, follow-up individualized coaching, webinars, blogs, and an online self-paced, in-depth training program for individuals or groups through project enable (expanding non-discriminatory access to librarians everywhere) to librarians in illinois and beyond. the program is a model for the development of similar programs both nationally and internationally. keywords: autism; libraries; training publication type: special section publication introduction he 2010 u.s. census reported that more than 56 million people (close to 20% of the population) have a disability (brault, 2012, p. 4). one in six children in the u.s. has a developmental disability (e.g., attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, intellectual disability) (centers for disease control and prevention [cdc], 2018), constituting large, neurodiverse populations within our schools and communities. library and information science research indicates that many librarians lack the appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitudes for providing effective library and information programs, services, and resources for people with disabilities (e.g., nelson, 1996; small, snyder & parker, 2009) even though research also indicates that many librarians want and are actively seeking training in this area (small, myhill, and herring-harrington, 2015). in response to this research, several efforts have been made by a variety of individuals and organizations to provide disabilities training to librarians. this article tells the story of one such effort, a comprehensive program focused on library services to people with autism in the state of illinois. aptly named targeting autism, this t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index targeting autism in libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32998 program has had an impact that goes far beyond its borders, influencing library programs and services across the u.s. and serving as a model to other such efforts both nationally and internationally. background the targeting autism initiative was conceived by suzanne schriar, associate director, illinois state library, in 2013 to address the need for accommodations and relevant library programming that would serve to increase library engagement among autistic residents and their families. the life-enhancing mission of libraries combined with the large incidence of autism in the united states challenges libraries to adapt programming and library services to meet the needs of our increasingly neurodiverse world. the importance of ensuring that all libraries become inclusive of individuals whose disabilities are not physically visible is increasing as the numbers of autistic individuals continue to rise. in 2014, according to the cdc (2018), the incidence is reported as 1 in 59 births. still, many more people are impacted when family members and those with autism and no formal diagnosis are considered. during 2013, an online search was conducted at the illinois state library to discover the extent to which libraries throughout the nation were actively engaged in accommodating and providing programming that specifically addresses the needs of residents impacted by autism. the noteworthy, model initiatives were few and they are identified below: • libraries and autism: we’re connected – a model new jersey program that began in 2008 through a collaboration between scotch plains public library and fanwood public library. the program was designed to help patrons with autism have a more comfortable and positive library experience. • project enable (expanding non-discriminatory access by librarians everywhere) – an imls funded project which began at syracuse university in 2011 as an initiative to provide in-depth disabilities training to school librarians. project enable has grown and is now a free, foundational training site, designed for all types of librarians, worldwide, to help them gain the knowledge and skills needed to create inclusive and accessible libraries that meet the needs of all people. • project pals – an imls funded project which began at florida state university in 2013 as an education program to improve information services for patrons with autism living in the florida panhandle. pals has expanded nationally, providing access to a free selfpaced autism training course. • snails (special needs and inclusive library services) – a networking group made up of professionals from the chicago-area public libraries. since 2013, through collaboration and training, snails has supported the efforts of over 40 public libraries in providing specialized services and programs to children and teens with disabilities. in addition to the online search, the illinois state library conducted a survey to determine if illinois librarians saw a need for training about autism and how to better serve autistic individuals and family members. of 202 respondents to the survey, only 55 (27.2%) reported that their libraries provided any special services to patrons with autism. the survey results also pointed to an interest in convening a forum for furthering the discussion on the need for better 79 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://librariesandautism.org/ https://projectenable.syr.edu/ https://pals.cci.fsu.edu/ https://www.railslibraries.info/community/groups/special-needs-and-inclusive-library-services http://librariesandautism.org/ https://projectenable.syr.edu/ https://pals.cci.fsu.edu/ https://www.railslibraries.info/community/groups/special-needs-and-inclusive-library-services https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index targeting autism in libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32998 training and ways that the library community could foster additional collaboration and support. getting started pursuant to the research results, the illinois state library applied for and received an imls national leadership grant, targeting autism: a national forum on serving library patrons on the spectrum. in 2015 and 2016, two informational face-to-face forums were convened in springfield, il that were designed to: (a) help participants gain a basic understanding of autism; (b) discuss the role of libraries in serving autistic individuals and family members; (c) share expertise and resources; and (d) initiate multi-stakeholder collaboration in the design of programming and services to increase the value and use of libraries with the autism community. although focused on illinois librarians, some librarians from other states traveled to springfield to attend. librarians, service providers, teachers, and self-advocates participated in the forums. presentations by numerous authors and subject experts informed the conversations. librarians learned how to conduct needs assessments in their communities. they gained a deeper understanding of the importance of partnering with community stakeholders and disabilities advocates to engage residents impacted by autism and ensure accessibility and optimal accommodations. figure 1. dr. ruth small, professor and director of project enable at syracuse university, shares information about project enable to the 2015 targeting autism forum about online training for librarians. [reproduced by permission] in addition, librarians learned that there is a need for more of the following: • reliable information resources for parents; • support groups; • employment services; • proliferation of inclusive spaces; 52 [9.34%] 505 [90.66% ] 36 [7.13%] 108 [21.39% ] 98 [19.41% ] 139 [27.52% ] 113 [22.38% ] 11 [2.18%] 0 200 400 600 skipped questions answered… 65+ 55-64 45-54 35-44 26-34 22-25 80 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index targeting autism in libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32998 • more intervention in schools; • job fairs and interview skills mentoring; • teen social groups; • collaboration between schools and libraries; • doctors referring families to libraries for information and to guide them to resources; • intern programs at libraries for autistic residents; • assistive technology training in libraries; • more welcoming, sensory friendly, calming libraries; • more quiet spaces and noise cancelling headphone available in libraries; • more visible supports in libraries; and • more use of social stories. as one illinois public librarian stated, “by raising my awareness, the program has created another advocate for our autistic patrons. building a better library [autism] collection to include books for kids and parents, creating quiet spaces/sensory spaces has improved my library services.” figure 2. a panel of autistic librarians shared their experiences at the 2018 targeting autism forum. left to right: charlie remy, u. of chattanooga (tn); gyasi burks-abbott, lend (ma); stephanie diorio, hoboken public library (nj); erin miller, cudahy family library (wi); russ bonanno, ceo, lifedesigns (in), panel moderator. [reproduced by permission] 81 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index targeting autism in libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32998 next steps the success of the targeting autism forums led to a second imls grant to provide a series of face-to-face autism training workshops, library site visits, and consultations throughout illinois. in addition, webinars, annual forums, and the creation of a comprehensive online autism training module with syracuse university’s project enable training website would increase the size and scope of the project. to achieve these ambitious objectives, the illinois state library partnered with dominican university and syracuse university on an imls laura bush 21st century librarian grant project titled, targeting autism: a comprehensive training and education program for librarians. annual forums continued to be held in springfield, il in 2017 and 2018. because much of the data pointed to a lack of independence and a high rate of unemployment of young adults with autism (sparrow, 2018), the forums included a greater focus on the population of autistic youth who have aged out of legally mandated support services. autism self-advocates, such as michael john carley, kerry magro and morénike giwa onaiwu shared their personal challenges and advice for living a satisfying and independent life. both years included a panel of autistic librarians sharing personal stories about their work experience and their views regarding selfdisclosure to their boss and/or colleagues. the panel at the 2018 forum shared their thoughts about how libraries can improve the hiring process for people with autism. a combined total of 320 librarians attended all four forums from 2015 to 2019. the impact of these forums is evidenced by the following comment from a forum attendee, “i drive from lexington, kentucky because of how crucial this information & professional development is. . . . i’ve taken this knowledge and applied it to employee sensitivity training.” partnering with dominican university over a two-year period beginning in 2017, the targeting autism project in partnership with dominican university conducted a series of five intensive two-day autism workshops for libraries throughout illinois. the workshop content focused on understanding the general characteristics of autism, including behavioral, communication, and issues with social functioning. in addition, the concept of universal design and the responsibility of librarians to comply with the americans with disabilities act (ada) for non-physical disabilities were also addressed. best library practices were shared for adapting physical spaces, providing sensoryfriendly programming, and meeting the resource needs for families impacted by autism. these in-person sessions also provided an opportunity for librarians to network and encouraged communication to continue beyond the workshop and through the targeting autism discussion listserv and online social media sites. the overall goal was to ensure that libraries implement changes that offer the type of environment, programming and resources needed to increase engagement of their growing neurodiverse patron population. the 47 librarians who attended these sessions shared their newly gained knowledge with their colleagues and committed to making at least one change to a program, service, or to their facility that would make their library more welcoming and engaging for their autistic patrons. follow-up library visits and consultations were provided to ensure that the education spread beyond the participants who attended the workshops and to ensure that training resulted in positive outcomes. 82 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index targeting autism in libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32998 figure 3. mary pelich kelly, coordinator, the autism program of illinois and trainer for the targeting autism workshops, delivers a talk, “a mother’s journey: raising a son with autism,” to attendees at the 2016 targeting autism forum. the train-the-trainer workshops have borne remarkable results. librarians trained during these workshops have developed lasting collaborations through sharing ideas and resources to improve accessibility and services for neurodiverse patrons. all of the libraries that have received follow-up consultations or site visits have begun or accomplished at least one actionable goal that makes their libraries more inclusive. libraries throughout the chicago area have made changes to their facilities by creating quiet rooms or low-sensory spaces for individuals to relax and reset. many now provide accessible accommodations such as noise canceling headphones and fidgets for use in the library and during sensory-friendly programming. several libraries also provide autism resources and collections for the community and one has created “calming kits” that are frequently borrowed by teachers, families, and community groups. two public libraries accomplished a great deal toward ensuring inclusivity, culminating in presenting their best-practices to the 2018 targeting autism forum attendees. one public library located in northern illinois has provided autism training for their board of directors and staff on inclusive best-practices in the library. librarians created their own “autism-friendly” logo, which is displayed on the front doors of their library and on library materials and throughout the library. they also created an autism resource center with rotating collections. in addition, partnerships were formed with several nearby libraries to offer weekly sensory programming for families. to date, this library has created and offered several calm-down spaces for use by patrons of all ages and abilities. the director of a rural public library in illinois has developed collaborative relationships with an autism parent group, local schools, community organizations, and businesses in two counties in southeastern illinois to find ways to serve the unmet needs of autistic youth and families in the region. here, the library acts as the conduit for outreach and inclusive programming that takes place throughout the region, providing services that would otherwise be unavailable. 83 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index targeting autism in libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32998 finally, a public library in southern illinois employs one individual with autism who meticulously cleans the library each week. in addition, following the training workshop in 2018, library staff created a social story for patrons with autism and other developmental disabilities. utilizing universal design principles, it is currently being expanded into a variety of social stories designed to meet the needs of autistic patrons with varying abilities and to provide a valuable resource to assist their many japanese speaking patrons with using the library. staff has also begun a monthly sensory story hour, which is attended by 60 to 75 children from throughout the rural southern illinois region. their successful inclusive initiatives were featured in a poster session at the 2019 targeting autism forum. a comment by an illinois public librarian sums up reaction to these workshops. “before the train-the-trainer workshop, i knew next to nothing about serving patrons with autism. i am still learning, but i am so glad that targeting autism started me on the path to better serving all of our library patrons.” partnering with syracuse university syracuse university’s project enable (expanding non-discriminatory access by librarians everywhere), a recipient of four successive awards from the imls laura bush 21st century librarian grants program beginning in 2010 (including one in partnership with targeting autism), launched a free and comprehensive, multimedia self-paced online disabilities training program for librarians in 2012 (https://projectenable.syr.edu). project enable’s approach to disabilities training takes a more general perspective through five learning modules covering broad topics such as disabilities awareness, laws and policies, assistive technologies, and creating inclusive and accessible libraries and library programs and services for people with disabilities. free registration for the project enable training is required for the purpose of collecting more detailed usage statistics. in addition to text, each module contains photos, videos, interactive games, activities, thinking challenges, active links to other resources, note-taking capability (saved to each registered trainee’s personal space), assessments, and references. an optional pre-assessment and postassessment for the site’s overall training allows the user to determine his or her learning progress. options for individual learning or group learning are built into project enable’s training. an instructor or library director can register a group or class and monitor the progress of participants throughout the training. several library and information science (lis) pre-service librarian preparation programs have used project enable as part or all of a graduate-level course or program and librarian trainer and library directors have used it to support face-toface training or for professional development credits. in addition, the site has a freely accessible database containing more than 1,000 searchable items and a blog addressing timely issues and authored by disabilities experts, library practitioners, and others. when invited to partner with the illinois state library (isl) and dominican university on the targeting autism proposal to imls in 2015, the project enable team realized that, for the first time, it had the opportunity to turn its attention to developing online training on a specific disability, autism. while isl and dominican were devoting their efforts and resources to providing face-to-face forums, workshops, and coaching to illinois librarians, project enable focused on providing an online, self-paced version of the training, within project enable, that could be used to support and as follow-up to the face-to-face training, as well as offering borderless and extended access to the training to librarians everywhere. 84 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index targeting autism in libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32998 the online learning module on autism that was developed in project enable, “targeting autism in libraries,” was intended to replicate and represent as much as possible of the content covered in the face-to-face training. but the advantages of online learning (e.g., flexible learning time, unlimited use of content) also allowed the project enable team to build on and expand the amount and depth of content far beyond what is possible in the targeting autism face-to-face learning, while also including extra support and interactive content (e.g., videos, exercises). in addition, online training offered instant access to thousands of relevant online resources for trainees who wished to learn more about a topic of interest. it also provided the opportunity for the targeting autism project to potentially reach thousands more librarians worldwide. as the training design began, it became clear, almost immediately, that this module would be significantly different than the other five modules in project enable. while following the general format of the other modules, the autism module required the inclusion of so much content that it needed to be broken up into six topics. these topics, some of which were as comprehensive as full project enable modules, were • what is autism? • diagnosis and characteristics of autism; • creating an autism-friendly library; • autism-friendly library and information programs, services and resources; • partnering with the greater community to support children and adults with autism; and • library support and opportunities: employment of people on the spectrum. while other sections of project enable have one brief learning assessment at the end of each module, the autism module has a brief quiz at the end of each topic (a total of six quizzes in the autism module) and a module quiz specifically for trainees who wished to only participate in the autism training. questions also were added to the overall project enable preand postassessments for trainees who decide to tackle all six of its learning modules. all scores are automatically saved to the trainee’s personal space. current status the popularity of the annual forums led to the illinois state library’s decision to fund a 2019 targeting autism forum, held in river forest, il at dominican university. a major focus of this year’s forum was autism and civil/human rights. this topic addressed the urgency of what it means to be inclusive in an increasingly neurodiverse world. autistic self-advocates spoke of the limitations of the medical model, which serves to focus on changing people rather than affirming their autism as an identity that encompasses individual learning styles and talents. further, accommodations for behavioral and sensory challenges, while necessary, are not synonymous with inclusion. 85 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index targeting autism in libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32998 figure 3. suzanne schriar, illinois state library and director of targeting autism, welcomes attendees to the 2018 targeting autism forum. forum participants learned of the need for neurodiversity libraries and library collections to: (a) curate and provide access to a collection of information, materials, and resources on autism acceptance and neurodiversity; (b) amplify autistic voices; (c) reflect the goals of the neurodiversity movement and paradigm, as well as, the larger disability rights and disability justice movements; (d) fight stigma, ableism, oppression, and inaccessibility; (e) celebrate autistic culture & autistic pride; and (f) promote inclusive schools and communities. the “targeting autism in libraries” module in project enable continues to be improved and enhanced. to date, 540 new librarians have registered to participate in the autism training module in project enable in the year since the module was launched. the syracuse team, in partnership with infopeople, was recently awarded a fourth imls grant to add new, unique opportunities for individual librarians who are seeking ways to educate themselves in library services to patrons with disabilities and for library directors who wish to provide in-house disabilities training to their staff. the future training efforts provided by professional organizations and consortia (e.g., american library association, infopeople), by individual libraries and systems, and by efforts like the ones described above have put a dent into the need for training in the area of libraries and disabilities. but the need is still great and there is evidence that one-time training may not be enough for many trainees to feel competent and confident. continual revision and enhancement of existing training, new ways to market alternative, multiple training options, 86 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index targeting autism in libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32998 reinforcement of learning through a range of methods, programs and activities, and providing a selection of customizable train-the-trainer resources to support individual libraries and library systems that wish to develop and offer their own, in-house training for their staffs are some potential ways of addressing that need. finally, the ubiquity of autism throughout the world coupled with global access to information, training, and networking via interactive social sites has challenged the targeting autism team to extend the geographic scope and universal relevancy of its autism education efforts. to date, the targeting autism blog has been viewed in 109 countries. all forum presentations have been recorded and are freely available online via the blog (https://targetingautismlibs.com/) and the targeting autism youtube channel. people impacted by autism from canada, trinity college in dublin, and as far as the volta region of ghana, to name just a few, have reached out with questions for the team. in addition, past forums have included a variety of international presenters from countries such as france, trinidad and ghana, as well as speakers describing current barriers present in diverse religious and ethnic communities, including african american, latinx/hispanic, and muslim populations. attendees have learned about unique and shared cultural stigmas, misconceptions, and stereotypes about autism. increasingly, the demands of our global community require that the implementation and dissemination of an autism education model be applicable and freely accessible throughout the world. toward that end, we will continue to promote the global reach of autism education and provide support to libraries and library users regardless of where they reside. acknowledgements targeting autism and project enable were funded in part by grants from the institute of museum and library services. references brault, m.w. (2012, july). americans with disabilities: 2010, household economic studies, report number p70-131, united states census bureau. https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2012/demo/p70-131.pdf centers for disease control and prevention (2018). data & statistics on autism spectrum disorder. retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html nelson, p. p. (1996). library services for people with disabilities: results of a survey. bulletin of the medical library association, 84(3), 397-401. small, r.v., myhill, w. n., & herring-harrington, l. (2015). developing accessible libraries and inclusive librarians: an update and examples from practice. in b. wentz, p.t. jaeger, & j. c. bertot, (eds.), accessibility for persons with disabilities and the inclusive future 87 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://targetingautismlibs.com/ https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2012/demo/p70-131.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html https://targetingautismlibs.com/ https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2012/demo/p70-131.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index targeting autism in libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32998 of libraries (pp. 73-88). london, uk: emerald. small, r. v., snyder, j., & parker, k. (2009). the impact of new york's school libraries on student achievement and motivation: phase i. school library research, 12, 1-29. sparrow, m. (2018, february 26). why is the autistic unemployment rate so high? retrieved from http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2018/02/why-is-autistic-unemploymentrate-so.html ruth v. small (drruth@syr.edu) is laura j. & l. douglas meredith professor emerita and research professor at the school of information studies (ischool) at syracuse university. dr. small’s research focuses on the motivational underpinnings of human behavior in information contexts. her work has earned her the 2001 carroll preston baber research award from the american library association and the 1997 highsmith innovative research award from the america association of school librarians. she has authored or co-authored over 100 publications, including eight books. ruth was co-editor of school library research and currently serves on the editorial board of the international journal on information, diversity and inclusion. she has been pi or co-pi on more than 30 grant-funded projects (including serving as pi on targeting autism), awarded by a variety of federal government agencies and foundations. ruth has also received five teaching awards, including the meredith professorship, syracuse university’s highest teaching honor. suzanne schriar (sschriar@ilsos.gov) is the associate director of library automation & technology at the illinois state library. she has also served as the principal investigator on the imls funded national leadership grant, targeting autism: a national forum on serving library patrons on the spectrum and on the imls laura bush 21st century librarian grant, targeting autism: a comprehensive training and education program for librarian. with support from the illinois state library and the secretary of state and state librarian, jesse white, suzanne is instrumental in planning the annual targeting autism forum for librarians, service providers and autism advocates. mary pelich kelly (mary.pelich33@gmail.com) is statewide coordinator of the autism program of illinois and serves as president of the board of directors of autism support of central illinois and secretary of the board of directors of the arc of illinois. in her role as lead trainer for the targeting autism project, she provided training, consultation, and individual coaching to librarians on developing and implementing services and programs for patrons with autism. 88 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2018/02/why-is-autistic-unemployment-rate-so.html http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2018/02/why-is-autistic-unemployment-rate-so.html mailto:mary.pelich33@gmail.com http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2018/02/why-is-autistic-unemployment-rate-so.html http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2018/02/why-is-autistic-unemployment-rate-so.html mailto:mary.pelich33@gmail.com https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index introduction background getting started next steps partnering with dominican university partnering with syracuse university current status the future acknowledgements references indigenous information literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38268 ijidi: book review chong, r. (2022). indigenous information literacy. kwantlen polytechnic university press. 978-1-989864-53-1 (ebook). cc by-nc-nd 4.0. https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/indigenousinformationliteracy/ reviewer: lilly hoi sze ho, library & archives nt, australia book review editors: halie kerns, suny canton, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: aboriginal information literacy; first nations; indigenous information literacy; indigenous nation education publication type: book review nformation literacy is a well-established concept in mainstream library and information science discourse but has yet to capture the knowledge systems of first nations people. indigenous information literacy, by rachel chong, is an open educational resource (oer) text which outlines protocols and guidelines for readers who work with indigenous information sources. the book is suitable for international readers who wish to source and evaluate indigenous print and oral sources while following best principles with integrity and respect. the book also provides a broad view of indigenous foundations and approaches for evaluating indigenous resources. this publication would be a valuable addition to indigenous collections in cultural institutions and national or state libraries. indigenous information literacy begins with a territorial acknowledgment and is then divided into six chapters that provide a functional approach to indigenous resources in academic research. written in workbook format, a reflective exercise is provided at the end of each section, inviting readers to take an inquiry-based overview of the content of each section. considering the book’s layout, i suggest the author choose either “part i” or “chapter 1” for all chapters and re-number the sections such as 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 in each chapter, including the territorial acknowledgement. this structure will improve the overall look and feel of the book format and avoid the confusion of references in each chapter. chong’s writing is clear and understandable, with links to online videos supporting the text—an alternative that some readers may prefer. chong’s step-by-step approach benefits graduate students or library practitioners who are at the beginning of their careers and are seeking a general knowledge of the indigenous context and information literacy in academic research. however, the book’s title is too brief to identify the readership. the author should consider adding a subtitle to provide a more detailed content description. chong self-identifies as a member of métis, an indigenous people of british columbia, from where the book’s background is focused. the way she looks at indigenous information literacy is a i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38268 https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/indigenousinformationliteracy/ indigenous information literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38268 2 respectful approach to acquiring knowledge assets within indigenous communities. indigenous peoples of the world are highly diverse, and examples given in the book may not always apply to first nations people the reader is familiar with, but will provide stimulation for framing the issues. providing a wide range of voices and perspectives is not chong’s priority. still, the context of chapter 2, “evaluating indigenous sources for credibility,” and chapter 6, “elder citation,” are closely relevant to any international readers interested in diversity and inclusion. the concepts of indigenous nations’ ownership and copyright of oral traditions raised in chapter 2 are complex issues that are relevant worldwide. readers may wish to develop a more profound knowledge of these areas and the issues raised in british columbia. the topic of citation of indigenous oral sources is discussed in chapter 6, revealing that it has not yet been incorporated into apa, mla, or chicago styles. readers who are specialists in this area will find the topic exciting but may hold different views of the appropriate citation of first nations elders and knowledge keepers. chong provides a valuable foundation for further discussion on the critical topic of the copyright of indigenous oral materials and citation of elders. chapter 4 focuses on the research process of indigenous resources. international readers may be interested in the tri-council policy statement: ethical conduct for research involving humans (tcps2) in canada because ethics requirements vary among countries. chapter 5 defines elders and knowledge keepers, the various protocols for approaching an elder, and examples of credible elder online information. these two chapters are useful for international readers engaging for the first time in indigenous research. chapters 1 and 3 are general information on the author and finding indigenous resources in the kwantlen polytechnic university library, which may be less interesting to international readers. lilly hoi sze ho (she/her/hers) (lillyho@gmail.com) is an assistant director of collections and content at library & archives nt in australia. she holds master’s degrees in information & knowledge management from the university of technology sydney in australia and applied mathematics for science & technology from the hong kong polytechnic university in hong kong sar. she is interested in diversity and inclusion, particularly in the topics of indigenous peoples and contexts in higher and tertiary education. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38268 mailto:lillyho@gmail.com creating a culture of equity: building awareness within the montgomery county department of health and human services the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32966 creating a culture of equity: building awareness within the montgomery county department of health and human services surbhi sardana, montgomery county department of health and human services, maryland, usa abstract the robert wood johnson foundation recognizes montgomery county as the county with the best health outcomes, length of life, and quality of life in all of maryland. while impressive, the overall statistics do not reflect the disparities among certain population groups in the county. as a major provider of safety net health and social services to county residents, the montgomery county department of health and human services (mcdhhs) wants to empower staff to think and act differently to generate better outcomes for disadvantaged communities. among the many phases toward building an equity value driven organization, the department felt that cultivating a common understanding and buy-in from all levels of staff is critical to a cultural shift. in 2014, a comprehensive workshop was implemented to raise awareness and encourage courageous conversations. the workshop seeks to create a common understanding of equity, its principles and applied strategies, and provide department staff with the tools to treat their colleagues, customers, and clients more equitably. to date, 828 staff, contractors, and community partners have completed the workshop and 47 staff members have trained as workshop peer facilitators. this paper will explore in more detail the information-related factors and processes present in the workshop and their equity impact on the department’s practices. keywords: employee training; equity; health justice; local health department publication type: special section publication introduction ontgomery county, maryland is a large urban/suburban county with a population of one million plus residents. as a majority-minority county, it is unique in its cultural and ethnic diversity. census data shows that over 55% of residents identify with a race/ethnicity other than non-hispanic white. almost one-third of county residents are foreign-born, hailing mostly from asia, africa, and latin america. based on these statistics, it is not surprising that almost 40% of county residents speak a language other than english at home. (robert wood johnson foundation, 2017). montgomery county is also perceived as a well-educated, affluent county producing top health outcome ratings. the robert wood johnson foundation (2017) ranks the county number one in the state for health outcomes such as quality of life, health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environmental factors. while impressive, the overall statistics do not reflect the disparities among certain population groups within the county. subpopulations reveal significant differences in health outcomes as well as barriers to access to care. county m https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index creating a culture of equity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32966 ratings and census data can mask the patterns of poverty, lack of self-sufficiency, uninsured rates, housing burden and other social determinants affecting disadvantaged communities in the county. indeed, there are many underlying causes to the disparate statistics. as a major provider of safety net health and social services to county residents, the montgomery county department of health and human services (mcdhhs) aims to empower staff to generate better, more equitable outcomes for disadvantaged communities by challenging assumptions and using a more holistic lens to understand social, political, and environmental impacts on communities. in 2009, the department began to look at adopting an equity and social justice frame to guide its transformation. among the many phases toward building an equity value driven organization, the department felt that cultivating a common understanding and buy-in from all levels of staff was critical to a cultural shift leading to the development of the “creating a culture of equity” workshop. to explore the challenges and rewards of offering this workshop, this article will begin with a literature review to outline the magnitude of this issue across the u.s. it will then discuss some of the details of planning and executing this workshop, so other organizations can use this information and incorporate it into their employee training program. finally, it will present future directions and ideas regarding the expansion of this program. literature review health disparities, determinants of wellbeing, and inequities have long been researched and reported at length by various mediums. disparities based on race, socioeconomic status (ses), geography, age, sexual orientation, disability status, language, citizenship status, and many other characteristics persist in the u.s. (orgera & artiga, 2018). these disparities become inequitable if they are avoidable, unfair, and unjust (whitehead, 1992), and lead to “systematic differences in the health status of different population groups” (world health organization, 2017). in the u.s., there are significant disparities steeped in racial and ethnic differences. the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) reports the infant mortality rate was 2.8 times higher among non-hispanic black mothers than among non-hispanic asian or pacific islander mothers in 2015. in 2016, low infant birthweight was also more prevalent among non-hispanic black mothers and puerto rican mothers than any other racial or ethnic group. between 2006 and 2016, life expectancy for non-hispanic blacks was seven years less than the highest life expectancy group among hispanics (national center for health statistics, 2018). the existence of severe racial and ethnic disparities in the u.s. is not disputed; however, these statistics should not undermine differences in health status based on other characteristics. in achieving health equity, the longterm vision of public health practitioners is to reduce or eliminate disparities that are avoidable and unfair. health disparities and inequities are inextricably linked with “social, economic, or environmental disadvantage,” or in other words, the determinants of health (u.s. department of health and human services, office of disease prevention and health promotion, n.d.). in fact, healthy people 2020 added societal determinants of health to their health promotion and disease prevention objectives. societal determinants of health consider the interaction between physical and social conditions, in addition to policies made across governmental and non-governmental 102 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index creating a culture of equity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32966 sectors (secretary’s advisory committee on national health promotion and disease prevention objectives for 2020, 2010). local health departments (lhds) are in a strategic position to impact the determinants of health and wellbeing, as they are connected to the community they serve and understand the local “assets, needs and culture” (sokol et. al, 2017, p. 118). the big cities health coalition is a “forum for the leaders of america’s largest metropolitan health departments to exchange strategies and jointly address issues to promote and protect the health and safety” of the public (big cities health coalition, n.d.). for members of the big cities health coalition, health equity is a high priority and the determinants of health are an “optimal approach” to health improvements (narain et al., 2018). however, perceived barriers to health equity within lhds include “limited training and guidance on how to conduct this type of work” (narain et al., 2018, p. 342). the commitment and skills needed to promote health equity can trickle down the organization, from the top down. strong leaders who are “effective at managing change” can encourage work units to actively work towards health equity (furtado et al., 2018, p. 44). nonetheless, the siloed nature of equity work can be limiting to organizational change. often, health equity is viewed as the work of minority health, health equity, and health disparities centers within a department. isolating health equity work can perpetuate the perception that non-community health staff, such as administrative, information technology, contracts, and fiscal staff, do not play a role in improving the health of the community (furtado et al., 2018). however, as the american public health association (apha) states, health equity is “a framework within which public health practitioners from all disciplines can work” (2015). in order to create this framework, lhds must build “knowledge, understanding and capacity” to achieve health equity (apha, 2015). health equity toolkits for lhd implementation are available. the bay area regional health inequities initiative (barhii) created a toolkit for its coalition of san francisco bay area public health departments. the organization self-assessment for addressing health inequities toolkit provides lhds with a guide to “identify the skills, organizational practices and infrastructure needed to address health equity” (barhii, 2010). the national association of county & city health officials (naccho) published their health equity and social justice program to “advance the capacity of lhds to confront the root causes of inequities in the distribution of disease and illness” (2016). the program includes a web-based course, toolkit, and a handbook. this paper explores an equity training conducted by the montgomery county department of health and human services in maryland in order to create knowledge and understanding of health equity concepts among department staff. “creating a culture of equity” workshop in 2014, a comprehensive workshop was implemented to raise awareness and encourage courageous conversations. the workshop seeks to create a common understanding of equity, its principles and applied strategies, and provide department staff with an equity lens to use in their daily work. this paper will explore in more detail the information-related factors and processes presented in the workshop and the resulting equity impact on the department’s practices. 103 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index creating a culture of equity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32966 developing the workshop curriculum mcdhhs contacted commonhealth action to begin equity work in the department. commonhealth action is a non-profit based in washington d.c. that “tailor[s] learning experiences, group processes, and organizational planning” to help organizations “map, manage, measure, and master their change” (commonhealth action. n.d.) in pursuit of health equity. as a result of this relationship, the department completed a logic model in 2012 that outlined an intent to provide training to management and staff on the equity principles and social determinants of health. in 2013, commonhealth action provided the department with a training curriculum. the logic model and the training both arose from the theory of change. the theory of change is an approach by which a program or intervention achieves long-term goals “through a logical sequence of intermediate outcomes” (lund, lee, breuer, & de silva, 2016, p. 2). the theory uses a “backwards mapping approach” in which long-term goals are first identified, then the series of actions, activities, and shortand mid-term outcomes needed to achieve the long-term goals are determined. for the “creating a culture of equity” workshop, the identified goals are listed below: 1. create awareness and expand knowledge about equity amongst all levels of staff within the department. 2. provide staff with the language to communicate with colleagues, partners, and clients about equity. 3. create a shared understanding of equity amongst mcdhhs leadership and staff and apply strategies with regards to policies, practices, procedures, and infrastructure. 4. build a cohort of staff that will be able to expand the capacity of equity champions in the department. 5. encourage a culture to support innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning throughout the department. the objectives for this workshop include: 1. establish a shared language to support communication, knowledge sharing, and collaboration amongst colleagues, partners, and clients. 2. recognize the impacts of the determinants of well-being and equity on the individuals and community you serve in montgomery county. 3. apply strategies for putting equity into practice. 4. transfer this equity knowledge practice and experience to colleagues and partners. the first draft of this training curriculum was presented to the department’s senior leadership team (slt) as a pilot. after extensive feedback from the slt, the department took on the 104 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index creating a culture of equity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32966 responsibility of revising and updating the curriculum to better suit the staff’s needs. after much revision, the training was presented to department staff and management in 2014. implementing the workshop curriculum recruitment before implementation of the workshop could begin, facilitators were recruited and trained on the curriculum material in february and march of 2014. all workshop peer facilitators are department staff who volunteer their time to the equity cause. recruitment of peer facilitators creates a better vehicle for sustainable learning. the facilitators undergo extensive coaching before each workshop and dedicate hours of research to equity and other related concepts. advertisement the center for continuous learning (ccl) program catalog advertises trainings for department staff, contractors, and community partners. the ccl program offers “board-approved continuing education classes for social workers and therapists, as well as non-credit courses” (montgomery county government, office of human resources, n.d.). email distribution lists and word of mouth are additional mediums for advertisement of the workshop. the curriculum the “creating a culture of equity” workshop is a one-day training available to department staff and montgomery county partners led by the department staff volunteers. the workshop facilitators use different methods for adult learning, such as training and facilitation methods along with audio and visual learning. handouts, video clips, powerpoint slides, group discussions and group activities are all integrated to create a well-rounded experience. the workshop is divided into four modules: modules 1 and 2 set the stage for modules 3 and 4. the first two modules are deemed “training” or “teaching” modules. peer facilitators create a common language and understanding of equity that is continuously reinforced throughout the day. modules 3 and 4 encourage staff to consider how their clients and customers in montgomery county experience inequities. workshop staff work collaboratively to discuss strategies within their “sphere of influence” that can positively impact outcomes for a client. many areas within the county are impacted by poverty, housing burdens, and uninsurance rates. county staff encounter many of these clients as social work cases, therapy patients, and as applicants for government benefits. module 1. peer facilitators lay out the goals and objectives and seek agreement on a basic set of ground rules for all participants and facilitators to follow. as stated earlier, module 1 begins to cultivate a common language and understanding of equity concepts including equity lens, equity vs. equality, perspective transformation, community, and social determinants of health and wellbeing. module 1 utilizes different teaching methods to explain conceptual terms. for example, peer facilitators illustrate the difference between equality and equity in two major ways: the first method invites participants to partake in a storytelling experience by which participants are treated “equally” and discuss what a more equitable situation could look like. in the second 105 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index creating a culture of equity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32966 method, facilitators explain a popular image of three boys of varying heights attempting to watch a baseball game over a wooden fence. in the first image, each boy is given a box on which he can stand to see the game (equality), yet the shortest boy is still unable to view the game. in the second image, the tallest boy is not given a box he can see clearly over the fence without the support. the medium-height boy only needs one box support to see over the fence. the shortest boy receives the greatest number of supports to see the game. this is explained as equity everyone’s needs are considered in the distribution of resources. in the last image, the wooden fence is replaced by a steel fence that allows all boys to clearly view the game without supports. facilitators explain this image as the removal of structural or systemic barriers that can be accomplished through buy-in at all levels, and through implementation of equitable policies. module 2. module 2 continues to build upon the equity concepts from module 1. module 2 looks at disparities vs. inequities, defines disproportionalities and illustrates the impact of social determinants of health within the county. module 2 also incorporates a “place matters” video clip from the 2008 docuseries unnatural causes (california newsreel & vital pictures, inc., 2008). the video is effective at explaining the health impact of neighborhood and community factors in low-income communities like richmond, california. facilitators use the video as a segue into the social determinants of health affecting county residents. in other words, through this video, facilitators try to explain how “place matters” plays out in montgomery county (u.s. census bureau. n.d.). other materials used in module 2 are statistics from the american community survey that illustrate the patterns of poverty, lack of education, impact of long commutes, housing burden, and uninsured rates across montgomery county. statistics are transformed from data into a visual story via color-coded maps that are effective at depicting the patterns of social determinants across the county. these patterns explain the daily challenges vulnerable county populations face, many of whom department staff see in their office for various social services. module 3. module 3 begins with a brief review of milestones in the history of civil rights in the u.s. the history gives context to the concept of the existing “-isms” in society, such as racism or sexism, and to the idea of privilege and oppression in the contemporary society. in this portion, two video clips on race and racism in the u.s. often spur discussions of personal and professional experiences (foster & stephenson, 2015). workshop participants often use these experiences to raise awareness of the societal realities of disadvantaged populations. the idea of privilege and oppression leads participants into an interactive activity titled “the walk.” in a visually palpable way, “the walk” allows participants to experience the advantages and disadvantages society affords to different groups of people. participants are asked to selfidentify based on a list of characteristics. for each category, participants are asked to take a step forward or backward to signify an advantage or disadvantage in society, depending on the specific characteristic they self-identify with. “the walk” allows participants to reflect not only on their own access to personal privilege or experience of oppression, but also the situations facing their clients and customers. participants walk in the shoes of entire communities in montgomery county that share similar characteristics, experiences, and barriers. module 4. module 4 is the final and culminating module of the workshop. the intent is to provide 106 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index creating a culture of equity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32966 department staff with the tools and strategies to apply equity to their work. module 4 occurs in three group activities mirroring the sort of teamwork staff may encounter in their workplace. the first activity asks staff to identify the areas they feel are of the highest concern or priority in their community or clients’ perspectives, in their local county-wide perspective, and in their personal perspective. this exercise affirms the importance of aligning these perspectives for the benefit of the community. in order to alleviate or solve the concerns facing the county, identifying the underlying social determinants is an important step. the next activity takes a deeper dive into the challenges facing the community. real-time scenarios that have been observed in the county are provided to staff. utilization of data and scenarios from staff’s own work environment encourages staff buy-in at all levels. staff are then tasked with the challenge of getting to the root cause of these scenarios using a technique often used in the business community titled “but why” (community tool box, n.d.). the goal of this technique is to understand the inequity further upstream, leading to the identification of relevant social determinant(s) affecting the community or individual. this technique encourages staff to think about all the possible concerns and stressors facing their client(s), in addition to the prevalent issue they are addressing. the last exercise asks staff to brainstorm a few strategies within their sphere of influence that could positively impact the scenarios from the previous activity. the goal of this exercise is to encourage staff to start thinking about small changes in their own work that could positively impact their client’s or customer’s challenges. although not all staff have the ability to change or implement policies, there are small steps that can effect change at all levels. participants have suggested increased collaboration and integration across service areas, access to reduced fees for services, and bus tokens to reduce the burden of transportation costs as just a few of the strategies that can be acted upon. impact and next steps evaluations ccl issues a standard evaluation for all the classes and trainings under its purview. since the implementation of the “creating a culture of equity” workshop, evaluations have been collected from program participants. ccl requires completed evaluations to be returned to them in a report after each workshop. the evaluations are not mandatory for participants, although they are highly encouraged. the evaluations include three main sections: (a) rating scale from 1 to 5 to evaluate each facilitator; (b) rating scale from 1 to 5 to evaluate participant experience; and (c) open-ended questions to solicit comments. the evaluations are compiled in a report at the end of the calendar year and the results are communicated to all facilitators and team staff. end-of-year reports were compiled for each year the workshop was implemented with the exception of 2017, due to staff turnover. much of the feedback from the evaluations as well as the continued level of participation in these courses (which often leads to registration waiting lists) indicate that department staff and partners want to hear and learn about equity concerns in the community. a sample of frequent responses to the open-ended questions are provided below. 1. what did you find most useful in today’s session? 107 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index creating a culture of equity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32966 • “the privilege walk was an eye opener.” • “the ‘but why’ technique was useful.” • “the videos provided a helpful visual learning tool.” 2. what aspects of the content/presentation would you suggest changing or improving? • “nothing.” • “i would suggest more time for discussion with and among the audience.” 3. what information, strategies, or techniques will you apply? • “asking ‘but why?’ when clients come in order to get to the root causes.” • “all of it.” • “encourage staff to use their equity lens.” 4. what other learning on this topic or other topics would enhance your job performance? • “more application methods.” challenges over the course of the development and implementation phases of this workshop, three major challenges were identified. the department has worked scrupulously to transform the training to be more inclusive of all health and social justice issues. the original versions of the curriculum revolved around the concept of racial equity; however, the department has acknowledged that many other societal and systemic factors in addition to race affect the community. as such, collaboration and input from various individuals in the department with various roles was collected to revise the training. to this day, the curriculum continues to evolve to address the concerns and priorities of the community. one of the strengths of this workshop is its highly adaptive nature. the content can be changed to reflect new and different equity concerns. another challenge is retention of peer facilitators. as is often heard about governmental organizations, time and resources are limited. peer facilitation requires a dedication of time in addition to the facilitators’ full-time positions. retention of talented facilitators is an ongoing conversation because the training would not be the success it is today without the dedication of staff. the third challenge is achieving buy-in at all levels of the department. although a significant proportion of staff, contractors, and partners have attended the workshop, there are still a significant number of individuals who have not. even among some previous attendees, there remains some misinformation or doubt regarding the importance of equity. other methods to achieve greater understanding of equity principles will need to be considered. 108 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index creating a culture of equity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32966 limitations this training has been implemented for a local health department in a very unique county. the diversity in montgomery county is not paralleled everywhere across the u.s. or the globe. as such, the content of the training may not be suitable for all settings in terms of applicable content, comprehension level, length, and language. however, the basic equity principles and idea of fairness for all is a tenet that can be accepted across cultures, geographies, and languages. a strength of this training is the flexible nature of the content. facilitators or training coordinators in other settings can easily mold the basic information, information processes, and information mediums to reflect the societies they are addressing. another limitation that is important to address are the ccl evaluations. as mentioned earlier, the evaluations are not mandatory which can impact the response rate and the quality of responses, such as participant comments on the qualitative questions. next steps from 2014 through 2018, over one-third of the 1,700 mcdhhs staff members have completed the “creating a culture of equity” workshop and 47 members have been trained as workshop peer facilitators. a total of 33 workshops have been conducted reaching 828 participants, including mcdhhs staff, contractors, and community partners. to accommodate staff that are unable to leave their desk to attend a whole day training, the workshop is now also available virtually as a pre-scheduled live webinar for which staff can register to attend through ccl. the county’s partners are also increasingly interested in partaking in the workshop experience. the department has been receiving regular external requests for various elements of this presentation. portions of the “creating a culture of equity” workshop have been incorporated into the department’s “new employee orientation” since mid-2016 to introduce employees to the concept and to reinforce the culture of equity in the department. the department will continue to offer the workshop to staff and community partners for as long as the demand for the training remains. the department is also looking to expand its breadth of equity-related trainings and tools. as such, equity toolkits that will help to operationalize equity are being developed. further trainings on hot topic issues, such as implicit bias, are also in the planning process. although comprehensive, the workshop is just one of a series of actions to integrate equity into the department’s work. other methods to continue to build awareness and to develop practical tools to support staff in integrating equity in their daily work are being planned in the next phase of the equity journey. dissemination of data, equity terms and principles, and the “but why” technique are only the first steps to instituting long-lasting, equitable change. acknowledgements i would like to extend my gratitude to betty lam, chief of office of community affairs and elena alvarado, contractor for office of community affairs for their writing assistance and feedback that greatly improved the manuscript. 109 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index creating a culture of equity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32966 references american public health association (apha). 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(2018, august 08). disparities in health and health care: five key questions and answers. retrieved from https://www.kff.org/disparities-policy/issuebrief/disparities-in-health-and-health-care-five-key-questions-and-answers/ robert wood johnson foundation. (2017). county health rankings: montgomery county, maryland. retrieved from http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/maryland/2018/rankings/montgomery/cou nty/outcomes/overall/snapshot secretary’s advisory committee on national health promotion and disease prevention objectives for 2020. (2010, july 26). healthy people 2020: an opportunity to address societal determinants of health in the united states. retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2010/hp2020/advisory/societaldeterminantshealth.ht m sokol, r., moracco, b., nelson, s., rushing, j., singletary, t., stanley, k., & stein, a. (2017). how local health departments work towards health equity. evaluation and program planning, 65, 117-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2017.08.002 foster, b., & stephenson, m. (directors). (2015). a conversation with white people on race [video file]. the new york times (producer). retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000003773643/a-conversation-withwhite-people-on-race.html u.s. census bureau. (n.d.). american factfinder. retrieved from http://factfinder.census.gov u.s. department of health and human services, office of disease prevention and health promotion. (n.d.). healthy people 2020. retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov whitehead, m. (1992). the concepts and principles of equity and health. international journal of health services, 22(3), 429-445. https://doi.org/10.2190%2f986l-lhq6-2vte-yrrn world health organization. (2017, april 21). 10 facts on health inequities and their causes. retrieved from https://www.who.int/features/factfiles/health_inequities/en/ surbhi sardana (surbhi.sardana@montgomerycountymd.gov) is a community health program coordinator for the montgomery county department of health and human services in maryland. as a program coordinator, surbhi provides support for the equity training titled, “creating a culture of equity” which encourages conversations about equitable practices in the workplace and with community members. she also supports the equity work group and the leadership institute for equity and elimination of disparities that work to expand the equity and social justice framework the department has adopted. surbhi is also a candidate for a master of public health from the university of maryland, college park. 111 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus17.pdf https://www.kff.org/disparities-policy/issue-brief/disparities-in-health-and-health-care-five-key-questions-and-answers/ https://www.kff.org/disparities-policy/issue-brief/disparities-in-health-and-health-care-five-key-questions-and-answers/ http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/maryland/2018/rankings/montgomery/county/outcomes/overall/snapshot http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/maryland/2018/rankings/montgomery/county/outcomes/overall/snapshot https://www.healthypeople.gov/2010/hp2020/advisory/societaldeterminantshealth.htm https://www.healthypeople.gov/2010/hp2020/advisory/societaldeterminantshealth.htm https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2017.08.002 https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000003773643/a-conversation-with-white-people-on-race.html https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000003773643/a-conversation-with-white-people-on-race.html http://factfinder.census.gov/ http://www.healthypeople.gov/ https://doi.org/10.2190%2f986l-lhq6-2vte-yrrn https://www.who.int/features/factfiles/health_inequities/en/ mailto:surbhi.sardana@montgomerycountymd.gov introduction literature review “creating a culture of equity” workshop developing the workshop curriculum implementing the workshop curriculum recruitment advertisement the curriculum impact and next steps evaluations challenges limitations next steps acknowledgements references unsettling our practices: decolonizing description at the university of alberta libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ unsettling our practices: decolonizing description at the university of alberta libraries sharon farnel, university of alberta libraries denise koufogiannakis, university of alberta libraries ian bigelow, university of alberta libraries anne carr-wiggin, university of alberta libraries debbie feisst, university of alberta libraries kayla lar-son, university of alberta libraries sheila laroque, university of alberta libraries keywords: academic libraries; cataloguing; decolonization; metadata; lis practice publication type: poster abstract post-secondary educational institutions figure large in the calls to action of the truth and reconciliation commission (2015) for the important role they can, and must, play in advancing reconciliation in canada. for as justice murray sinclair, chair of the commission, reminds us, the educational system has contributed to the negative relationship between indigenous and nonindigenous peoples in canada, and it is the educational system that will help us change that relationship (2015). libraries, as sites of learning in and of themselves as well as key units within post-secondary institutions, have a responsibility and opportunity to contribute to reconciliation through collaborations and partnerships but also, and perhaps more importantly, through their own initiatives. the canadian federation of library associations (2016) recognizes this role, and has created a truth and reconciliation committee to “promote initiatives in all types of libraries to advance reconciliation by supporting the trc calls to action and to promote collaboration in these issues across the canadian library communities” (p. 1). the university of alberta, like many institutions, has taken up the commission’s calls to action. the recently approved institutional strategic plan, for the public good (2016), affirms that the university is “committed to respectful relations with first nations, métis, and inuit peoples” (p. 8), and includes as an objective to “develop, in consultation and collaboration with internal and external community stakeholders, a thoughtful, respectful, meaningful, and sustainable response to the report of the truth and reconciliation commission of canada” (p. 8). while the university of alberta libraries (ual) has a long history of engaging with indigenous individuals and communities in partnerships, service provision, and professional placements, we recognized one foundational aspect of our work which had yet to be fully interrogated with regard to improving service to our indigenous users: our descriptive practices for all of our collections, including those locally digitized. like most large academic libraries in north america, ual currently relies heavily on library of congress subject headings (lcsh) and library of congress classification (lcc) for subject access to both our print and digital collections. while the use of lc standards comes with many http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, unsettling our practices the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ recognized advantages, it understandably causes challenges in terms of adequate and appropriate representation of the canadian context. increasingly, descriptive metadata is the first, most frequent, and in some cases the only interaction point between us and our users (schaffner, 2009). and so it is vital that all of our users can see themselves appropriately and respectfully represented in our metadata records. the fact that this is not always the case, particularly with the use of standard vocabularies in describing indigenous peoples, is certainly well documented (duarte & belarde-lewis, 2015; moulaison & bossaller, 2016; tomren, 2003). in the fall of 2016, ual struck a decolonizing description working group to investigate, define, and propose a plan of action for how we could more accurately, appropriately, and respectfully represent indigenous peoples and contexts through our descriptive metadata practices. the group included members from technical and public service, as well as ual’s coordinator of indigenous initiatives and an indigenous intern (mlis student). over the course of its term (approximately seven months), the group undertook several core activities. a literature review sought out publications or presentations describing practical implementations of reformed or customized descriptive practices within an academic library. an environmental scan was aimed at discovering similar initiatives proposed or under way in institutions across canada, and to seek opportunities for collaborations and partnerships. an analysis of metadata from the ils and local digital/digitized collections was used to estimate the scope of work required to enhance existing metadata, and to revise workflows for metadata yet to be created. these activities revealed that while there were few examples of implementation of substantial reforms within canadian academic libraries, the university of british columbia’s substantial work at the xwi7xwa library being the exception, there was great interest in undertaking reforms, and a sense that the ground for such reforms is more fertile that it ever has been. the importance of focusing on one’s local context was recognized, and the notion of regional work combining into something national was often expressed. armed with this enhanced understanding and seeing opportunities for collaboration, the working group will submit a set of recommendations to ual’s senior leadership team this april. the symposium paper will provide an overview of the activities and findings of the working group, a summary of the recommendations and the rationale behind them, and report on projects and activities under way or planned since the group’s report was submitted. the following references were consulted in the preparation of the abstract and poster. canadian federation of library associations. (2016). truth and reconciliation committee charter. retrieved from http://cfla-fcab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/committeecharter-truth-and-reconciliation-committee-approved.pdf duarte, m. e., & belarde-lewis, m. (2015). imagining: creating spaces for indigenous ontologies. cataloging & classification quarterly, 53(5/6), 677-702. moulaison, s. h., & bossaller, j. (2016, august). the moral imperative of subject access to indigenous knowledge: considerations and alternative paths. paper presented at ifla world library and information congress. columbus, oh. retrieved from http://library.ifla.org/1327/ schaffner, j. (2009). the metadata is the interface: better description for better discovery of archives and special collections, synthesized from user studies. dublin, oh: oclc 99 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://cfla-fcab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/committee-charter-truth-and-reconciliation-committee-approved.pdf http://cfla-fcab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/committee-charter-truth-and-reconciliation-committee-approved.pdf http://library.ifla.org/1327/ unsettling our practices the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ research. retrieved from http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/publications/library/2009/2009-06.pdf sinclair, m. (n.d.). what is reconciliation? [video file]. retrieved from https://vimeo.com/25389165 tomren, h. (2003). classification, bias, and american indian materials. unpublished paper. retrieved from http://ailasacc.pbworks.com/f/biasclassification2004.pdf truth and reconciliation commission of canada. (2015). calls to action. retrieved from http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/file/2015/findings/calls_to_action_english 2.pdf university of alberta. (2016). for the public good. retrieved from https://d1pbog36rugm0t.cloudfront.net/-/media/isp/finaldoc/12885institutionalstrategicplan33final.pdf sharon farnel (sharon.farnel@ualberta.ca) is metadata coordinator at the university of alberta libraries, and a part-time interdisciplinary phd student researching the development of a framework for designing and applying culturally aware and appropriate metadata in digital libraries. denise koufogiannakis (denise.koufogiannakis@ualberta.ca) is associate university librarian responsible for collection strategies, bibliographic services, and access services at the university of alberta. she holds an mlis from the university of alberta, and a phd in information studies from aberystwyth university. ian bigelow (bigelow@ualberta.ca) is the cataloguing coordinator at the university of alberta libraries and is currently a member of the canadian linked data initiative metadata working group and the pcc task group on uri in marc. anne carr-wiggin (anne.carr-wiggin@ualberta.ca) is neos manager, and coordinates indigenous initiatives at the university of alberta libraries. she also serves on the guiding council of rise (reconciliation in solidarity edmonton) and is a team co-lead on the cfla-fcab truth and reconciliation committee. debbie feisst (debbie.feisst@ualberta.ca) is acting head at the ht coutts education & physical education library, university of alberta, where she specializes in secondary education and the faculty of education’s aboriginal teacher education program (atep). kayla lar-son (verbicky@ualberta.ca) is a metis student currently enrolled in the master of library studies, university of alberta. interested in issues of diversity, human rights, intellectual freedom, social responsibility and libraries, and alternative forms of knowing, kayla is part of the de-colonizing description working group, which focuses on implementing the recommendations of the truth and reconciliation commission within the uofa libraries. she is also an indigenous intern in rutherford library, uofa, who works actively with indigenous students through library information sessions at the aboriginal student services center and participates in indigenous and diversity initiatives off-campus. she brings a treasured firsthand perspective into the discussion of diversity, empowerment, and traditional knowledge. sheila laroque (laroque@ualberta.ca) is an academic resident librarian in bibliographic services at the university of alberta libraries. sheila is originally from saskatoon, saskatchewan, where she finished her ba at the university of saskatchewan in 2010. she finished her mi from 100 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/publications/library/2009/2009-06.pdf https://vimeo.com/25389165 http://ailasacc.pbworks.com/f/biasclassification2004.pdf http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/file/2015/findings/calls_to_action_english2.pdf http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/file/2015/findings/calls_to_action_english2.pdf https://d1pbog36rugm0t.cloudfront.net/-/media/isp/final-doc/12885institutionalstrategicplan33final.pdf https://d1pbog36rugm0t.cloudfront.net/-/media/isp/final-doc/12885institutionalstrategicplan33final.pdf mailto:sharon.farnel@ualberta.ca mailto:denise.koufogiannakis@ualberta.ca mailto:bigelow@ualberta.ca mailto:anne.carr-wiggin@ualberta.ca mailto:debbie.feisst@ualberta.ca mailto:laroque@ualberta.ca unsettling our practices the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the university of toronto’s ischool in 2016. she is happy to be in edmonton; a city with more than one professional sports team, but still back home in treaty 6 territory. 101 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, the following references were consulted in the preparation of the abstract and poster. book review: archives and special collections as sites of contestation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36804 ijidi: book review kandiuk, m. (ed.). (2020). archives and special collections as sites of contestation. library juice press. isbn 9781634000628. 520 pp. $35 us. reviewer: alyssa v. loera, california state polytechnic university, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: archival studies; critical practice; decolonization; social justice; special collections and archives publication type: book review ur words are only as good as our actions, and the performances we deliver in the name of social justice, are useless unless our practices align. archives and special collections, destinations of memory and materiality, often exist in stasis both through the spaces they contain and the methods they employ. the reasons for this are almost too practical. it is expensive to change. it is hard to change. we have always done it like this and changing would be disrespectful to our archivist and special collections librarian ancestors. being critical of practices so deeply rooted takes work. actively dismantling these practices through practical actions, even more so. archives and special collections as sites of contestation is a large volume of essays (17 in total) brought together under themes of social justice, community archives, hegemonic structures, systemic racism, critical archival theories, critical practices, and more. the essays unfold varying approaches to challenging the structures of special collections and archives, often in reproducible and enlightening ways. the book concerns, in varying degrees, the colonial roots of archives and special collections, and how those roots branch into acquisition, curation, description, access, discovery, physical space, and exhibitions. some essays are more radical than others, in that they suggest fundamentally restructuring existing paradigms and fully removing foundations of special collections and archives theory. others on the contrary suggest sets of measured approaches, often within the familiar workflows, toolkits, and standards that are already in existence. as an example, one essay may discuss a new way of utilizing a tried-and-true metadata schema in service of inclusivity or discovery, whereas another essay confronts the roots of metadata terminology and fin ding existing schema to be too limiting to support real efforts in equity, diversity, and inclusion. what is at times jarring about the book is not the progression or shift in topics, but in the shift of approaches each author takes to deliver their work. some essays, such as “the gentlemen’s ghost: patriarchal eurocentric legacies in special collections design” by jesse ryan erickson reads from a very academic lens while others, such as “sensitive materials in the special collection: some considerations” by daniel german, reads more informally and as a simplified call to action. the former essay deems special collections and archives as exclusive, gentlemanly spaces or as spaces intended to assimilate the “other” rather than as the author states, “imagine the alternative” (p. 146). erickson carefully dissects the obsession with tradition that plagues these spaces, drawing lucid connections to individualism, capitalism, and the over-rarification of research. on the contrary, the latter o https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index archives and special collections as sites of contestation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36804 essay is a more general guide to making decisions about sensitive materials that enter archives and special collections or are being considered for acquisition. the definition of sensitivity is applied to matters related to privacy, personal information, of high -market value, legally problematic (e.g., copyright, subpoenas) or considered delicate. erickson defines “delicate” as items that are obscene, or gross, however, the author also chooses to connect the term to traditional knowledge that is acquired in a problematic or disrespectful manner. these two essays contrast so deeply, with one author carefully dismantling the modern issues with space and the other pushing the reader to “…be ready to act in a manner that will not embarrass your institution.” (p. 167). the stories and use cases in this book are rarely reductive, and as a result, this book as a whole is practical and offers much depth of information for any special collections and archives practitioner. francois dansereau’s “men, masculinities, and the archives” discusses the theme of archival pluralism and the possibility of deconstructing hegemonic masculinity to thus enact newly founded archival theories (e.g., discarding the rigidity of provenance). like many of the other authors, dansereau cites verne harris, marika cifor, stacy wood, michelle caswell and a wealth of scholars who are known for their criticality of traditional archival theories. there is an overarching sense that this book is aimed to question current practices and to acknowledge that archives and special collections are not neutral. grappling with one’s biases of course takes effort and constant revision, which is discussed in dept h both in dansereau’s article and in “ethical cataloging and racism in special collection” by elizabeth hobart. hobart takes themselves to task about their own past approaches to cataloging and the racially motivated fragility they exhibited as a budding cataloger. the author then determines how, in practice, those records could be described using an approach that is not colorblind or feigning neutrality. hobart’s vulnerability in this essay is refreshing, and genuine. additionally, hobart talks about the practical applications behind improving discovery of collections so they may be accessed by more than just the lifelong academic, altogether offering a practical example of opposing historically exclusive practices ingrained in past cataloging practices. margarita vargas-betancourt, jessica l. english, melissa jerome and angelibel soto also write of inclusive discovery methods in “contesting colonial library practices of accessibility and representation”. the authors address bilingual access points and meta data creation as it relates to caribbean and circum-caribbean (described by the authors as “mainland regions that contain caribbean culture” (p. 389)) collections and the institutional counterparts which maintain, host, and/or own them. to demonstrate a departure from the “conception of libraries as factories” (p. 406) view, the authors provide context surrounding a set of projects that are open access, based in shared governance, and have taken the next steps in developing a process for adding bilingual metadata. some challenges the authors deconstruct include finding well-developed spanish language subject headings and finding inconsistencies in existing spanish metadata projects. in doing so they uncover the gaps in existing tools and practices, as well as a lack of inclusivity in the creation of metadata for collections (i.e., many of the sources they found were created by european and north american institutions, some institutions were described as not having the language skills available in -house to construct bilingual metadata, and so forth). the volume contains an excellent index as well as a complete list of author bios. what seems to be missing is an acknowledgement of positionality from each author, and how the interplay of their race, background, status may affect their perspective and biases. some authors seem 246 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index archives and special collections as sites of contestation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36804 to speak from the perspective of the institution, while others in protest of it, which makes for an intriguing juxtaposition, but also reveals an at times timid movement toward reinvention. though, on a more progressive note, many of the authors touch on postcustodial practices and the importance of supporting community archives, as well as the role archivists play in accountability of an institution, to recognize past discretions and not whitewash histories. overall, this volume is insightful in terms of how special collections and archives have been sites of contestation or should be, and it offers a strong stepping-stone towards the practical restructuring of specific areas in the field. this title is recommended to practitioners working in the library information science field, with an emphasis on special collections and archives. early professionals would benefit from the progressive outlooks put forth by each author, whereas mid to longtime professionals would surely be able to apply some of the practical solutions. because the book ends up touching on so many aspects of cultural heritage (acquisition, descriptions, outreach, metadata, exhibition, preservation, and space) it may best be suited for the individual that is looking for a holistic review of the state of special collections and archives, as related to social justice, critical librarianship, and ethics. alyssa loera (avloera@cpp.edu) is a librarian and information technology specialist living in los angeles, california on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional territory of the tongva/gabrieliño peoples. she received her mlis from the university of north texas, and a b.a. in international development studies (with a minor in film & television) from ucla. she works as the digital services & technology librarian for the california state polytechnic university, pomona and has been working in libraries and archives for 14 years, with most of that time spent in academic environments. alyssa’s research interests include information systems, scholarly communication, digital collections, digital repositories, and how technology pervades human and non-human life. alyssa is also deeply interested in making, creating, building, and forming radical futures through the continued dismantling of supremacist structures (in libraries and beyond). 247 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:avloera@cpp.edu the central roles of information in health justice, part 1: toward a new field of “consumer health information justice” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32961 the central roles of information in health justice, part 1: toward a new field of consumer health information justice beth st. jean, university of maryland, college park, usa gagan jindal, university of maryland, college park, usa yuting liao, university of maryland, college park, usa paul t. jaeger, university of maryland, college park, usa keywords: consumer health information behavior; consumer health information justice; health disparities; health justice; health literacy; information access publication type: introductory article introduction “of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in physical death.” dr. martin luther king, jr., 1966 (galarneau, 2018) lthough more than 50 years have passed since dr. martin luther king, jr. spoke these words, health justice—the recognition and fulfillment of the moral entitlement of every individual to a sufficient and equitable capability to be healthy (venkatapuram, 2011)— remains just a distant goal, both in the u.s. and around the globe. individuals and communities who experience various forms of social injustice, such as poverty, inadequate education, and insufficient health insurance, along with the limited access to resources and opportunities that frequently accompany these injustices, face higher rates of illness, injury and premature death (levy & sidel, 2013). however, information professionals and information, as both resources in and of themselves and as stepping stones that enable people to become aware of and able to take advantage of opportunities, have tremendous potential to play fundamental roles in contributing to much-needed progress toward health justice. information professionals and information are central to ensuring that all people have access to the resources and opportunities they need in order to be able to live a long and healthy life. health disparities and health injustice are widespread both between and within countries throughout the world (lee et al., 2015; ruger, 2004; world health organization [who], 2011). furthermore, there is some evidence that, rather than making progress toward equity and health justice, health injustice only continues to become more widespread across our nation. one way in which we may gauge health equity (or health disparities) in a society is to look at differences in life expectancy. research has consistently shown that u.s. residents who are wealthier, better educated, and white live 10–15 years longer, on average. for example, one study (chetty et al., 2016) found that 40-year-old men in the top 1% income bracket have a life expectancy 15 years greater than 40-year-old men in the bottom 1% income bracket (87.3 vs. 72.7 years). the pattern is similar for 40-year-old women—those in the highest 1% income bracket have a life expectancy 10 years greater than those in the bottom 1% income bracket (88.9 vs. 78.8 years). another study (olshansky et al., 2012) identified analogous differences in life expectancy based on people’s a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the central roles of information in health justice, part 1 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32961 educational attainment and race, finding that white americans with at least 16 years of education by the time they were 25 had a life expectancy of 10.3 (for females) to 14.2 (for males) years greater than african americans with less than 12 years of education by this age. most concerningly, both chetty et al. (2016) and olshansky et al. (2012) found that these gaps in life expectancy have only continued to widen over time. these disparities in life expectancy provide very clear evidence of health injustice, and such health inequities have been found to be largely caused by the social determinants of health; that is, “the conditions in which persons are born, grow, live, work and age” (who, 2011, p. 2). these conditions certainly include health care systems (lee et al., 2015); however, they extend far beyond, encompassing all aspects of an individual’s life. thus, in order to achieve social justice with respect to health, our focus needs to be on the much broader “right to health and human flourishing” (or, more specifically, the right to “health capabilities,” which includes, at a minimum, the abilities to avoid premature death and preventable disease), rather than on the much narrower “right to healthcare” (ruger, 2004, 2006a, 2006b). the capabilities approach to health justice (venkatapuram, 2011) is an adaptation of indian economist and philosopher amartya sen’s (1993) broader “capability approach to well-being and advantage,” which posits that the primary criterion for evaluating an individual’s well-being is “his or her actual ability to achieve various valuable functionings as a part of living” (p. 30). adapting sen’s capability approach for the health context, venkatapuram (2011) defines health justice as a “moral right to the capability to be healthy” (p. 19), specifying that this capability must be both sufficient and equitable. venkatapuram points out that this entitlement to the capability to be healthy is not to specific health outcomes (as this would be impossible), but to the social bases of the capability to be healthy. describing how the capability to be healthy relies on both individual determinants (behaviors as well as biological endowments and needs that change across one’s life stages) and societal determinants (physical environment and social conditions). venkatapuram emphasizes that every individual has a “moral claim to the practically possible and permissible social interventions into those four determinants in order to produce a [capability to be healthy] that is commensurate with equal human dignity in the modern world” (p. 19). venkatapuram also emphasizes that we have social obligations to, at the very minimum, not constrain an individual’s capability to be healthy, but also to do what we are able (given our own individual abilities and powers) to address the consequences of any past harms to an individual’s capability to be healthy and to protect, sustain, promote, and restore every individual’s capability to be healthy. going well beyond the who’s (1946) definition of health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (p. 1), venkatapuram (2011) draws on aristotle’s concept of eudaimonia to conceptualize health as an individual’s abilities that enable them to flourish. he further specifies that the capability to be healthy is a meta-capability that comprises the various abilities one needs to do so. applying the capabilities approach specifically to the lives of women in developing countries, nussbaum (2000) specifies 10 central human capabilities: 1. being able to live a normal lifespan. 2. having good health. 3. being able to maintain bodily integrity. 4. being able to use one’s senses, imagine, think, and reason (and to do so in an informed way). 5. having emotions and emotional attachments. 2 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the central roles of information in health justice, part 1 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32961 6. being able to “form a conception of the good” (p. 79) and plan one’s life. 7. having social affiliations that are meaningful and respectful. 8. having concern for other species. 9. being able to laugh, play, and enjoy oneself. 10. having control over one’s material & political environment. nussbaum emphasizes that society cannot provide these capabilities themselves, only the social bases for each capability. she further points out that, under the capabilities approach, society must “make up for differences in starting point that are caused by natural endowment or by power” (p. 81). to have a sufficient and equitable capability to be healthy, one needs fair and equitable access to a wide array of resources and opportunities, particularly information (as nussbaum [2000] specifically calls out in her fourth central human capability). predating and fundamentally underpinning dr. martin luther king, jr.’s 1966 remarks, the who’s 1946 constitution states, “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition” (p. 1). the who (2017) specifically mentions information as one of the “underlying determinants of health,” stating: “achieving the right to health is both central to, and dependent upon, the realisation of other human rights, to food, housing, work, education, information, and participation.” similarly, general comment no. 14 (“the right to the highest attainable standard of health”) of the united nations committee on economic, social and cultural rights (2000) outlined four essential elements of the right to health, including: (1) availability of health and health care facilities, goods, and services; (2) accessibility; (3) acceptability of health facilities, goods, and services, particularly in terms of being culturally respectful and sensitive to people’s needs; and (4) quality of health facilities, goods, and services. the committee further breaks down accessibility into four dimensions: (a) non-discrimination; (b) physical accessibility; (c) economic accessibility; and (d) information accessibility. regarding the latter, the committee specifies that information accessibility includes “the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas concerning health issues” (p. 4), and goes on to emphasize, “this general comment gives particular emphasis to access to information because of the special importance of this issue in relation to health” (p. 18). information is very clearly one of the central resources to which one needs both physical and intellectual access in order to have a sufficient and equitable capability to be healthy. central to the rampant health inequities and the lack of health justice in the u.s. are interrelated disparities in access to health information and limitations in health literacy. health literacy is “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health care decisions” (ratzan & parker, 2000). nearly 90% of adults in the u.s. have a below-proficient level of health literacy (kutner, greenberg, jin, & paulsen, 2006). disadvantaged populations, including those who have lower incomes, are less well educated, are older, belong to a minority population, or who are immigrants, are much more likely to have limited health literacy (nn/lm, n.d.). limited health literacy levels, in turn, have been found to strongly correlate with reduced likelihood of getting preventative health care, poorer self-reported health status, higher rates of hospitalization, greater use of emergency services, and poorer health outcomes (institute of medicine, 2004). for example, schillinger et al. (2002) point specifically to poor health literacy as a likely contributor to the greater diabetes-related problems experienced by people with type 2 diabetes who are disadvantaged. another study (st. jean, jindal, & liao, 2017; liao, jindal, & st. jean, 3 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the central roles of information in health justice, part 1 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32961 2018) found that the same disadvantaged populations who are more likely to have limited health literacy are also more likely to prefer to avoid health-related information. underscoring the central tie between low health literacy and health disparities, as well as the fundamental roles that can be played by information in creating or reducing health inequities and health injustice, weiss (2007) reports that low health literacy has been found to be a stronger predictor of one’s health than one’s age, race, educational attainment, employment status, and income. this special issue is part 1 of a pair of special issues of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion that focus on this important topic of health justice, particularly focusing on the various types of information-related factors and processes that are central to the achievement of health justice, such as information access, information needs, health literacy, information provision, and consumer health information behavior (chib). as the consumer health movement has accelerated over the past few decades and patients are increasingly taking responsibility for their own health, recognition of the central role of information access and chib in influencing people’s health trajectories and outcomes has steadily grown. chib, which encompasses people’s health-related information needs as well as the activities in which they engage (or not) in order to find, assess, manage, and use information to maintain or improve their health, can have profound consequences for one’s health trajectory, quality of life, and health outcomes. as johnson (2014) explains, “the scope and nature of the information on which to base [health-related] judgments, the repertoire of alternative courses of action known to the searcher, and ultimately the action taken are affected by individuals’ information-seeking behaviors” (p. 709). the decisions an individual makes and the actions that they do or do not take fundamentally rely on their awareness and access to information sources and their healthrelated information behaviors. in turn, their decisions and actions (or inaction) influence their health trajectories and their ultimate health outcomes, profoundly shaping their experiences of health (in)justice. the current ijidi special issue this issue brings together researchers who focus specifically on health justice and/or social justice within a health-related context. the central focus is on the various types of informationrelated factors and processes that are central to the achievement of health justice, such as the health information needs of disadvantaged and/or marginalized populations; their health information seeking and use practices; and the provision of health information to these populations. submissions examining closely related issues, such as information access, health literacy, health communication, use and usability of consumer health information technology, patient experience, stigma, information poverty, information avoidance and so forth were also welcomed. our impetus for this special issue was that much of the work in this space is currently scattered across multiple disciplines and many different journals within each of these disciplines. it is hoped that this special issue provides an opportunity for readers and researchers to come together in one space to learn about and share their work on this very important topic. the three articles and two special section papers that comprise this special issue focus on a wide range of factors that directly relate to health justice, including information access issues, equity concerns, health disparities, and health-related public library programs to improve health outcomes among disadvantaged populations. the first paper focuses on the potential roles of unfulfilled information needs and limited health literacy levels in individuals’ experiences of health injustice. in “the information needs of 4 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the central roles of information in health justice, part 1 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32961 individuals affected by harmful gambling in ireland,” crystal fulton describes the helpand information-seeking behaviors of recovering gamblers in ireland. drawing on in-depth interviews with a range of stakeholders, including recovering gamblers, their family members and friends, and addiction counselors who help people affected by harmful gambling, fulton identified a range of barriers to gamblers’ and their family members’ helpand information-seeking, including perceptions of shame and stigma and the inaccessibility or non-existence of the information and help that they needed. fulton’s study participants called for increased regulation of gambling through national legislation; the development of resources and services for people harmed by (or at risk of harm from) gambling; and increased dialogue and education about gambling in order to raise public awareness of potential harm from gambling and to reduce shame and stigma around this issue. the next article focuses individuals experiencing health (in)justice in the workplace. in “work experiences, accommodations, and information in the context of fibromyalgia: a literature review and conceptual synthesis,” annie t. chen, holly carpenter, and mary grace flaherty explore the literature focusing on the work experiences of fibromyalgia patients, the types of challenges they face in the workplace, and the types of work accommodations that can prove beneficial for them. chen et al. provide a conceptual synthesis, identifying several gaps in the literature pertaining to the information needs and seeking of, and the information resources used by, fibromyalgia patients as they engage in workplace self-advocacy and strive to secure any needed work accommodations. in conclusion, chen et al. call for additional research focusing on the information seeking behavior of fibromyalgia patients as they seek work accommodations, as well as the involvement of all concerned stakeholders (including employees, employers, and service providers) in the accommodations process. the final article details the ways in which public health agencies work to promote health justice. “scenarios of health engagement experiences and health justice in rural libraries,” written by bharat mehra, everette scott sikes, and vandana singh, describes the health engagement experiences of 15 rural librarians in the southern and central appalachian (sca) region. drawing on their semi-structured interviews with these librarians, mehra et al. use scenarios as a health justice tool to counteract past unfair, marginalizing representations that paint the sca rural belt in a deficit light. taking instead a constructive asset recognition approach, the authors spotlight the sca rural librarians’ examples of their health activities in community engagement across 11 different domains. librarians described offering a wide array of health-related programming, often in collaboration with various types of partners (e.g., government agencies, university extension services, hospitals, businesses, community organizations), including summer feeding programs, dental screening workshops, health information materials for particular population subgroups (such as teens, elderly, or spanish-speakers), walking clubs, health fairs, baby care classes, aging with disability classes, domestic violence counseling, health insurance informational sessions, mental health kiosks, and so forth. mehra et al. describe some of the challenges in community-engaged rural health, such as limited resource availability and lack of public awareness of these offerings. in conclusion, these authors highlight some of the important impacts of these library-led community-engaged health programs, including exponentially increasing attendance and community members who have improved health literacy skills and who are more empowered and better equipped to live active and healthy lives. the two papers in the special section, entitled “health justice in policy,” offer examinations of health justice issues raised in the application of relevant policies. “same tricks, new name: the iaaf’s new 2018 testosterone regulation policy for female athletes” by anna posbergh examines 5 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the central roles of information in health justice, part 1 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32961 gender classification within professional athletics. posbergh discusses the international association of athletics federation’s (iaaf) “eligibility regulations for female classification,” making the case that this policy prioritizes scientific knowledge and discriminates against athletes whose gender identity does not fit within the socially constructed gender binary through its use of testosterone levels to define athletes as either male or female. under this new regulation, an athlete is not permitted to compete against other women unless she is recognized by law as either female or intersex and unless she continuously maintains a blood testosterone level of less than five nanomoles per liter. drawing on foucault’s (1978) concept of biopower, posbergh argues that this policy is an attempt to regulate athletes’ (particularly female athletes’) bodies and that it contributes to the unjust and inequitable treatment of intersex athletes. in “creating a culture of equity: building awareness within the montgomery county department of health and human services (mcdhhs),” surbhi sardana (community health program coordinator for mcdhhs) describes the design and implementation of a comprehensive workshop that aims to increase awareness and knowledge about equity among department staff and enable them to treat their clients, customers, and colleagues more equitably. sardana points out that the rosy health outcome statistics about montgomery county, md (a majority-minority, large urban/suburban county in maryland) mask the barriers in access to health care and health disparities experienced by certain population groups in the county. the goal of the “creating a culture of equity” workshop is to empower department staff to work toward better and more equitable health outcomes for disadvantaged communities in the county. sardana describes the impacts of this well-attended workshop, as well as a few of the challenges that have arisen. in conclusion, sardana describes some of the department’s recent and next steps with regard to the workshop and the promotion of health justice in the county, including their plan to develop equity toolkits and trainings on hot topics, such as implicit bias. moving forward all of the papers in these two companion special issues will help to establish a firm foundation for an emerging area of consumer health information behavior research and information professional practice, which we term consumer health information justice (chij). the potential to achieve health justice rests necessarily on a wide array of information-related factors. people certainly do not have a sufficient and equitable capability to live a long and healthy life if they are not aware of trustworthy sources of health information, if they lack access to such information, if they’re unaware of or unable to articulate their health-related information needs, if they have limited health literacy, and so forth. people’s information behaviors (which are fundamentally influenced by all of these underlying factors), encompassing their information seeking and information avoidance behaviors, their information use and their information nonuse and so forth, all play a central role in shaping people’s potential and actual health trajectories, as well as their ultimate health outcomes. thus, information-related factors play a fundamental role in whether, and to what extent, an individual will experience health injustice. fortunately, nearly all of these information-related factors are malleable and we, as both individuals and information professionals, have an opportunity and a responsibility to help to shape these factors so as to optimize every individual’s capability to be healthy and to flourish. the concept of chij is part of a growing recognition of information access as a central and foundational aspect of social justice. social justice is based on the principles of fairness, respect, and equity for all members of a community (sensoy & diangelo, 2012). as information and related 6 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the central roles of information in health justice, part 1 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32961 technologies—and the necessary literacies to use them effectively—have become increasingly essential to education, employment, social interaction, and civic participation, information is increasingly understood as a key to social justice for both individuals and communities (jaeger, taylor, & gorham, 2015). the achievement of equality, however, requires more than finding a way to accomplish equal distribution of resources or opportunities, as different needs and social contexts may require greater interventions for certain groups to achieve equality (cramme & diamond, 2009, nieto, 2010). information professionals, as the profession most knowledgeable and passionate about making information available and understandable, are finding ever-larger and more creative ways to employ information and technologies to promote social justice in their communities (gorham, taylor, & jaeger, 2016). in the overall health context, these activities range from health literacy courses to community health nurses being employed by public libraries. information professionals have very valuable and directly relevant expertise and experience that can be drawn upon to improve every individual’s capability to be healthy, thereby enabling us to move much closer toward health justice. drawing on the four essential elements of the right to health set forth by the united nations committee on economic, social and cultural rights (2000), we can work to increase the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality of health information for all individuals. we can do so both by directly improving people’s access to trustworthy health-related information and by working with them to improve their health literacy skills so they are better able to find, understand, assess, manage, share, and make use of this information. in taking these steps, we can help to reduce the barriers that patients encounter, such as in their attempts to obtain healthcare coverage, find a trusted healthcare provider, and learning how to maintain and manage their health. removing these barriers, in turn, will enable individuals to make better informed decisions around all aspects of their health. individuals will be able to develop their own expertise and better work with their health care providers to make collaborative choices about their health and their care, taking into consideration their own preferences and priorities. in addition to strategies that involve working directly with individuals, we can also work to decrease health disparities by addressing deeply embedded structural and institutional barriers that can negatively impact vulnerable populations, constraining their capability to be healthy and their ability to flourish. references chetty, r., stepner, m., abraham, s., lin, s., scuderi, b., turner, n., bergeron, a., cutler, d. (2016). the association between income and life expectancy in the united states, 2001-2014. journal of the american medical association, 315(16), 1750–1766. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.4226 cramme, o., & diamond, p. (2009). rethinking social justice in the global age. in o. cramme & p. diamond (eds.), social justice in the global age (pp. 3-20). cambridge, uk: polity press. foucault, m. (1978). the history of sexuality. new york, ny: pantheon books. galarneau, c. (2018). getting king’s words right. journal of health care for the poor and underserved, 29(1), 5-8. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2018.0001 7 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2018.0001 the central roles of information in health justice, part 1 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32961 gorham, u., taylor, n. g., & jaeger, p. t. (eds.). (2016). perspectives on libraries as institutions of human rights and social justice. bingley, uk: emerald. institute of medicine. (2004). health literacy: a prescription to end confusion. washington, dc: the national academies press. jaeger, p. t., taylor, n. g., & gorham, u. (2015). libraries, human rights, and social justice: enabling access and promoting inclusion. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. johnson, j. d. (2014). health-related information seeking: is it worth it? information processing & management, 50(5), 708–717. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2014.06.001 kutner, m., greenberg, e., jin, y., & paulsen c. (2006). the health literacy of america’s adults: results from the 2003 national assessment of adult literacy (nces 2006–483). washington, dc: u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. lee, h., kim, s., demarco, r., aronowitz, t., mtengezo, j., kang, y., & fitzpatrick, j. j. (2015). recognizing global disparities in health and in health transitions in the 21st century: what can nurses do? applied nursing research, 28(1), 60-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2014.09.004 levy, b. s., & sidel, v. w. (2013). social injustice and public health (2nd ed.). new york, ny: oxford university press. liao, y., jindal, g., & st. jean, b. (2018). the role of self-efficacy in cancer information avoidance. in international conference on information (pp. 498-508). new york, ny: springer, cham. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78105-1_54 national network of libraries of medicine (nn/lm). (n.d.). health literacy. retrieved from https://nnlm.gov/initiatives/topics/health-literacy nieto, s. (2010). forward. in t. k. chapman & n. hobbel (eds.), social justice pedagogy across the curriculum: the practice of freedom (pp. ix-x). new york, ny: routledge. nussbaum, m. c. (2000). women and human development: the capabilities approach. new york, ny: cambridge university press. olshansky, s. j., antonucci, t., berkman, l., binstock, r. h., boersch-supan, a., cacioppo, j., … & rowe, j. (2012). differences in life expectancy due to race and educational differences are widening and may not catch up. health affairs, 31(8), 1803–1813. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0746 ratzan, s. c., & parker, r. m. (2000). introduction. in c. r. selden, m. zorn, s. c. ratzan, & r. m. parker (eds.), national library of medicine current bibliographies in medicine: health literacy. nlm pub. no. cbm 2000-1. bethesda, md: national institutes of health, u.s. department of health and human services. ruger, j. p. (2004). health and social justice. the lancet, 364(9439), 1075-1080. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2fs0140-6736(04)17064-5 8 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2014.06.001 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2014.09.004 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78105-1_54 https://nnlm.gov/initiatives/topics/health-literacy https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0746 https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2fs0140-6736(04)17064-5 the central roles of information in health justice, part 1 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32961 ruger, j. p. (2006a). health, capability, and justice: toward a new paradigm of health ethics, policy and law. cornell journal of law & public policy, 15(2), 403-482. ruger, j. p. (2006b). toward a theory of a right to health: capability and incompletely theorized agreements. yale journal of law & the humanities, 18(2), 3. schillinger, d., grumach, k., piette, j., wang, f., osmond, d., daher, c., palacios, j., diaz sullivan, g., & bindman, a. b. (2002). association of health literacy with diabetes outcomes. journal of the american medical association, 288(4), 475-482. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.288.4.475 sen, a. (1993). capability and well-being. in m. c. nussbaum & a. sen (eds.), the quality of life (pp. 30-66). new york, ny: oxford university press. sensoy, o., & diangelo, r. (2012). is everyone really equal?: an introduction to key concepts in social justice education. new york, ny: teachers college press. st. jean, b., jindal, g., & liao, y. (2017). is ignorance really bliss?: exploring the interrelationships among information avoidance, health literacy and health justice. proceedings of the association for information science and technology, 54(1), 394-404. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2017.14505401043 united nations committee on economic, social and cultural rights. (2000). substantive issues arising in the implementation of the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights: general comment no. 14. the right to the highest attainable standard of health (article 12 of the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights). retrieved from https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/download.aspx?symbolno=e %2fc.12%2f2000%2f4&lang=en venkatapuram, s. (2011). health justice: an argument from the capabilities approach. malden, ma: polity press. weiss, b. d. (2007). health literacy and patient safety: help patients understand (2nd ed.). american medical association foundation and american medical association. retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20180414201755/https://med.fsu.edu/userfiles/file/ah ec_health_clinicians_manual.pdf world health organization (who). (1946). constitution of the world health organization. retrieved from http://apps.who.int/gb/bd/pdf/bd47/en/constitution-en.pdf?ua=1 world health organization (who). (2011). closing the gap: policy into practice on social determinants of health. world conference on social determinants of health, rio de janeiro, brazil, october 19-21, 2011. retrieved from https://www.who.int/sdhconference/discussion-paper-en.pdf world health organization (who). (2017). human rights and health. retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/human-rights-and-health 9 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.288.4.475 https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2017.14505401043 https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/download.aspx?symbolno=e%2fc.12%2f2000%2f4&lang=en https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/download.aspx?symbolno=e%2fc.12%2f2000%2f4&lang=en https://web.archive.org/web/20180414201755/https:/med.fsu.edu/userfiles/file/ahec_health_clinicians_manual.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20180414201755/https:/med.fsu.edu/userfiles/file/ahec_health_clinicians_manual.pdf http://apps.who.int/gb/bd/pdf/bd47/en/constitution-en.pdf?ua=1 https://www.who.int/sdhconference/discussion-paper-en.pdf https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/human-rights-and-health the central roles of information in health justice, part 1 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32961 beth st. jean (bstjean@umd.edu) is an associate professor in the college of information studies at the university of maryland, college park, usa. she is also the assistant director of the information policy and access center (ipac) and an affiliate faculty member of the horowitz center for health literacy (http://sph.umd.edu/center/hchl). dr. st. jean's research aims to improve people's long-term health outlooks by exploring the important interrelationships between their health-related information behaviors, health literacy, health-related selfefficacy, and health behaviors. she has worked with both adults and children over the past several years. in collaboration with her colleague, dr. mega subramaniam, dr. st. jean codeveloped the nlm-funded hackhealth after-school program (http://hackhealth.umd.edu/) to help improve disadvantaged middle school students’ health-related self-efficacy and their digital health literacy skills. dr. st. jean’s most recent research focuses on the concept of health justice, particularly aiming to identify the information-related causes of, and potential solutions to, health disparities. gagan jindal (gjindal@umd.edu) is a doctoral candidate in the college of information studies at the university of maryland, college park, usa. her research interests include the information behaviors of people who have chronic illnesses, how patients connect offline using new and existing technologies, and other related areas of consumer health informatics. prior to joining the ischool, gagan worked as a research analyst in the health informatics division at norc at the university of chicago in bethesda, maryland and as a program associate for a mobile health start-up, vibrent health, in fairfax, virginia. she holds a master of public health with a concentration in global and community health from the george mason university, fairfax virginia. yuting liao (yliao598@umd.edu) is a ph.d. candidate in information studies at the university of maryland, college park. she leverages both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore human experiences interacting with social technology. her studies focus on the issue of privacy and how people make information disclosure decisions in various socio-technical contexts, from fitness trackers to conversational ai to online social networks, with the goal of inspiring technology design to improve service and experiences in the healthcare domain. yuting holds a master’s degree in communication, culture & technology from georgetown university and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communication from the renmin university of china. paul t. jaeger (pjaeger@umd.edu) is professor, diversity & inclusion officer, and co-director of the master of library and information science (mlis) program of the college of information studies, as well as co-director of the information policy and access center (ipac) at the university of maryland. he is the author of more than one hundred and eighty journal articles and book chapters, along with sixteen books. dr. jaeger is co-editor of library quarterly, editor of advances in librarianship, and associate editor of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion. he is the founder of the conference on inclusion and diversity in library and information science (cidlis) and is the co-founder of the umd disability summit. in 2014, he received the library journal/alise excellence in teaching award. 10 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:bstjean@umd.edu http://sph.umd.edu/center/hchl http://hackhealth.umd.edu/ mailto:gjindal@umd.edu) mailto:yliao598@umd.edu mailto:pjaeger@umd.edu introduction the current ijidi special issue moving forward references book review: digital dominance: the power of google, amazon, facebook, and apple the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.33062 ijidi: book review moore, m., & tambini, d. (eds.). (2018). digital dominance: the power of google, amazon, facebook, and apple. new york, ny: oxford university press. isbn 9780190845117. 440 pp. $34.95 us. reviewer: basheerhamad shadrach, india book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: digital infrastructure; information and communication technology; internet; new media; social media platform publication type: book review arc andreesen, the co-founder of the search engine netscape, stated, “the spread of computers and the internet will put jobs in two categories: people who tell computers what to do, and people who are told by computers what to do.” (mullaney, 2012) andreesen also warned that companies in every industry needed to assume that a software revolution was coming. people have access to smart phones while lacking access to other resources—water, health services, sanitation, food, and markets. there is, therefore, this possibility that digital technologies—software, hardware, applications, the world wide web and the internet—could enable these same people access to resources digital technology’s impact on society is apparent at the economic, social and political levels around the globe. their actions, thoughts, conduct, and communication on the internet is impacting society both positively and negatively. digital dominance: the power of google, amazon, facebook, and apple, edited by moore and tambini, is an attempt to decipher these tech giants’ digital effects on society, the economy and politics, as well as to explore if and how these dominant players influence these arenas. in addition to exploring if and how digital technologies have come to serve and/or dominate human lives, the book also explains the google, amazon, facebook, apple and microsoft (gafa-m) factor in this struggle. the gafa-m as the five largest digital companies, are here to stay and will continue to impact humanity and the lives of individuals. the authors in this edited collection attempt to answer the prime question posed in the book, “will the market end the tech giants’ digital dominance?” (p.24). although there are many articles and books that attempt to delve into the implications and questions around the dominance of google and facebook (such as linares, 2015; desjardins, 2016, 2018; szramiak, 2017), moore and tambini introduce the conversation o n the need for maintaining a healthy discourse around the issue while also strongly highlighting the democratic decline and the government-industry nexus that undermine the basic principles of the web. when the world wide web was created in 1989, inventor tim berners-lee envisioned the web as a global information sharing platform. thirty years later, the web has created greater opportunities, given marginalised people a voice and has altered our lives, --and to a great extent--making our lives easier. on the other hand, the web has also introduced countless m https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index book review: digital dominance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.33062 problems, including that of scamming, criminalisation, and hate speech; in addition to challenges associated with the pure commercialisation of the platform and attempts to centralise the web as a dominant force. in his own words, at the 30th anniversary event of the world wide web in london, berners-lee lists the rise of wikipedia and blogs as among the most unexpected, yet wonderful things. but he also acknowledges that he “couldn’t have predicted some nasty things” (ranger, 2019), noting the rise of the giant corporation who now control much of the web. noting these detrimental effects, berners-lee is compelled to once again remind users of the intended basic principles of the web he created in the form of a manifesto or contract. the preamble to the contract for the web proposed by berners-lee reads as such: “the web was designed to bring people together and make knowledge freely available. everyone has a role to play to ensure the web serves humanity and help protect the open web as a public good and a basic right for everyone” (ranger, 2019). berners -lee is inviting national governments, companies, and citizens to sign this contract to ensure the principles are honoured by everyone who uses the web. tim berners-lee calls for companies to make the internet accessible and affordable to all people globally; respect consumers’ privacy and personal data; and, develop technologies that support the best in humanity but also challenge the worst aspects, whereby making the web a true public good. this poses the questions: when would the internet become fully accessible and affordable to the 50% of the world that do not currently have the means to access? when would these people have access to what they need and be ‘true participants’, shaping their own lives rather than being influenced by gafa-m companies’ agenda? would these companies survive and evolve into a business model which does not exploit privacy and personal data? should only a handful of companies develop technologies and survive in the marketplace? how can we resist their dominance over the millions of small and local companies and web entrepreneurs? although moore and tambini do not offer any concrete answers to these questions, they do explore the evolution of this digital dominance and the development of the gafa-m factor while also predicting that these dominant players can only be eclipsed rather than displaced. how have the gafa-m factor maintained their dominance? various reasons include the shortcomings of anti-trust policies leading to the dominance of web platforms; the inadequacies of competition law that lead to data becoming the new lucrative commodity akin to ‘oil;’ and, the challenges posed by end-to-end services offered by companies such as amazon. digital dominance is also evident in society through the emergence of new information intermediaries replacing the traditional ones and the biases these new intermediaries could bring about, and how they are able to set the agenda for the world ; arguably monitoring online content and surveilling citizens and ultimately endangering freedom of speech on the internet. there is also the emerging struggle between the dominant press and the independent journalism the web has the potential to offer. digital dominance is also evident in politics where social media can undermine a political election’s legitimacy, manipulating people’s minds at important junctures of critical decision-making. the book also explores the misinformation factor, perpetuated by the culture of spreading fake news as witnessed in the uk referendum and the us elections in 138 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index book review: digital dominance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.33062 2016 undermining the credibility of social media. digital dominance has much to offer to those who are eager to understand the politics and political economy of the web, and the tensions between the commercial web and the democratic web originally envisioned by tim berners-lee. the book also exposes the rise of these tech giants’ platforms and their growing influence on the media landscape. the impact they are making in terms of the personal recommendations and the algorithmic filtering of users’ information online are nothing but intrusive and an invasion of privacy. not only are users’ web behaviours captured every second, they are also profiled for targeted mar keting, or, in certain cases, the opposite--targeted exclusion from news access. if and when a state decides to enforce a total digital ‘black out,’ it can raise national security concerns and do so. it is not just the gafa-m factor that is in serious discussion today, but also several other applications, including that of the deep fake video app that made the rounds earlier this september. the need for undertaking numerous efforts such as promoting digital literacy are now having to be scaled to that of promoting media and information literacy (mil) and the fight against the dynamic fake news menace the world is facing today. organisations such as the international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla) and unesco are undertaking certain concerted efforts to mainstream mil in the daily lives of citizens, and by introducing the curriculum in formal and informal educational settings. information poverty, a phenomenon that grips the developing world, has now made life much more challenging with the abundance of information, both authentic and unauthentic and many a times, purported misinformation too. the role of traditional infomediaries is of paramount importance today and these roles are increasingly rendered artificial intelligence systems that benefit from deep learning, machine learning, and big-data analytics. each of these tech giants is investing in these streams with a view to regain their control and dominance of the web. this book, therefore, is a great and timely read for all policymakers who are striving to develop knowledge-based economies around the world. infomediaries such as the content gatekeepers, librarians, journalists, and educators will find this a “must read”. this work may also help agents of the dominant gafa-m companies determine their own future course of actions, to address the concerns raised. in the backdrop of the complex world that we live in, digital dominance: the power of google, amazon, facebook, and apple, offers all readers the opportunity to learn about how the entire digital infrastructure is controlled by corporations while also posing many unanswered questions facing the future of the web. while a large number of users of social media today in the developing world are oblivious to the various con cerns raised in the book, it is important for those who are at the helm of digital policymaking and t who are concerned with issues around internet governance to read this book without fail. references principles for a contract for the web. (2019). retrieved from https://contractfortheweb.org/ desjardins, j. (2016, december 9). the dominance of google and facebook in one chart. 139 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://contractfortheweb.org/ book review: digital dominance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.33062 retrieved from https://www.visualcapitalist.com/dominance-google-and-facebookone-chart/ desjardins, j. (2018, april 20). this chart reveals google’s true dominance over the web. retrieved from https://www.visualcapitalist.com/this-chart-reveals-googles-truedominance-over-the-web/ linares, m. (2015, september 18). facebook’s dominance deepens. retrieved from https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/digitaliberties/facebook-dominance-deepens/ mullaney, m. (2012). job fight: haves vs. the have-nots. usa today. retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/business/story/2012/09/16/jobs-fight-havesvs-the-have-nots/57778406/1 ranger, s. (2019, march 13). the web in 30 years? it’ll be beyond our imagination, says tim berners-lee. retrieved from https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-web-in-30-years-itllbe-beyond-our-imagination-says-tim-berners-lee/ szramiak, j. (2017, june 21). 5 eye-popping charts that explain apple’s dominance. retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/5-eye-popping-charts-that-explain-applesdominance-2017-6 basheerhamad shadrach (shaddy@shadrach.in) has been an information professional for over three decades, largely interested in rural informatics and pro-poor information access. his research and work revolve around the role of infomediaries in meeting the knowledge demands of the poorest of the poor in order for them to escape the poverty trap through their own capabilities and based on informed decisions. dr. shadrach earned his phd for proposing a new methodology to assess the impact of pro-poor information services from loughborough university, uk. he is largely involved in research work in areas such as skills development, appropriate technologies, ict for development and internet governance. in all these, he tries to locate the role of public libraries and the role staff could play in improving the lives of people they serve. 140 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.visualcapitalist.com/dominance-google-and-facebook-one-chart/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/dominance-google-and-facebook-one-chart/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/this-chart-reveals-googles-true-dominance-over-the-web/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/this-chart-reveals-googles-true-dominance-over-the-web/ https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/digitaliberties/facebook-dominance-deepens/ http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/business/story/2012/09/16/jobs-fight-haves-vs-the-have-nots/57778406/1 http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/business/story/2012/09/16/jobs-fight-haves-vs-the-have-nots/57778406/1 https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-web-in-30-years-itll-be-beyond-our-imagination-says-tim-berners-lee/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-web-in-30-years-itll-be-beyond-our-imagination-says-tim-berners-lee/ https://www.businessinsider.com/5-eye-popping-charts-that-explain-apples-dominance-2017-6 https://www.businessinsider.com/5-eye-popping-charts-that-explain-apples-dominance-2017-6 mailto:shaddy@shadrach.in references a new model for accessible formats in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ a new model for accessible formats in the public library kim johnson, public library services branch, government of alberta sabina iseli-otto, national network for equitable library service (nnels), canada keywords: accessible format; format shift; print disability; public library; user-driven publication type: poster abstract those of us in the library community and the literary community, both as providers and content creators, know how important books are for readers. books offer the opportunity for lifelong learning, community-building, and recreation as well as for political engagement and opportunities for civil discourse. people who are unable to access traditional formats because of a print disability should have access to books as tools of pleasure and revolution in the same way that typical readers do. yet, it is estimated that only 5-7% of published material is available in accessible formats. furthermore, people with print disabilities have a complex relationship with public libraries, as the public library has not always been empowered to meet their needs or to be able to treat them as any other patron. the national network for equitable library service (nnels, https://nnels.ca/) offers a technologically forward, democratic, and participatory network that aims to address these inequities. nnels is an online public library of books in accessible formats for readers with print or perceptual disabilities. the canadian copyright act (1985) defines a perceptual disability as a disability that prevents or inhibits a person from reading or hearing a literary, musical, dramatic or artistic work in its original format and includes such a disability resulting from • (a) severe or total impairment of sight or hearing or the inability to focus or move one’s eyes, • (b) the inability to hold or manipulate a book, or • (c) an impairment relating to comprehension. nnels produces accessible format books in a distributed network, using open-source technology to offer a user-driven digital service for public library users with print disabilities. instead of creating a collection for people with print disabilities based on assumptions about what they would like to read, the nnels team records and format-shifts material that people with print disabilities have requested. the emphasis on user-driven production puts curation and demand directly in the hands of the user and offers unique ways of consulting and engaging people with print disabilities to build a service that works for their needs while enabling them to feel like every other public library user. nnels represents a world-first approach in both its technology (open source; authentication) and in its approach (user-driven collection development). nnels is a distributed network that empowers libraries to be part of production and communication and service delivery. nnels also takes the network principle seriously: individual volunteers may on their own, or as a library project, record books for the nnels collection. anyone is welcome to record a book for http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, a new model for accessible formats in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ nnels. all of these materials (library-created or nnels-created) are added to the nnels repository to build a collection as unique in its diversity as its users are in their reading preferences. since its inception in 2014, nnels has built a collection of over 11,000 items. nnels has been able to offer its users access to award-winning books in accessible formats on the same day they are released (for example, the governor general’s shortlist, cbc canada reads long list, etc.). additionally, nnels has been able to produce in a timely manner accessible copies of documents that are crucial to civil discourse and political engagement, such as the truth and reconciliation reports (produced in accessible format in both french and english thanks to hundreds of hours of work from the nnels staff), many indigenous-authored works, as well as provincial government documents. nnels also makes available material that is often overlooked, such as medical information and instructional books. in a perfect world, all published material would be available in any format a reader requires, but we are not there yet. nnels is working with libraries, service providers, and volunteers to build a sustainable model that will address this inequity and that puts the power in the hands of the user. our poster presents an overview of the nnels initiative and describes how this model has the potential to revolutionize public library service for people with disabilities, as a tool for empowerment beyond engagement. the poster also lays out the challenges and opportunities within this model and describes the speculations on how the model has the potential to address other kinds of diversity challenges in public libraries. the following references were consulted in the preparation of the abstract and poster. the canadian copyright act. (1985). copyright act, r.s.c c. c-42., § 2. retrieved from http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-42/page-1.html. the national network for equitable library service: the canadian accessible library system (nnels). retrieved from https://nnels.ca/. kim johnson (kimberly.johnson@gov.ab.ca) is a consultant for the public library services branch with the government of alberta. kim works on resource sharing initiatives, such as alberta-wide borrowing, interlibrary loan, and library services for people with print disabilities. sabina iseli-otto (sabina@nnels.ca) is the public services librarian for the national network for equitable library service (nnels). sabina works with librarians across canada to help provide material in accessible formats for patrons with print disabilities. if you call the nnels help line, chances are you will reach sabina (and she will be happy to talk to you!). she is also interested in bicycles, her dog chelsea, and everything related to expanding the information commons. 95 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-42/page-1.html kimberly.johnson@gov.ab.ca sabina@nnels.ca the following references were consulted in the preparation of the abstract and poster. here the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38152 here akua naru, mellon arts & practitioner fellow at the center for the study of race, indigeneity, & transnational migration, yale university, usa keywords: black life; hip hop; poetry publication type: special section creative here here where the spirits lay but never rest their tongues dry as rust, untamed thirst a bottomless belly vengeful and scorned woven to those lost at shore those the land yawned and stretched for, always slightly out of reach here the bayou. the lake. the river bend. in the neck of earth. at the seams and sea our bodies braided and tethered. mangled, and strewn, stolen and stranded, here. in the houses our mothers built, in the waters of their names, we bathe, wade and wail our tears licked and counted. the salt of their sweat the pain a tomb, the suffering a cross, too bloody a burden to bear the price. a debt beyond what one can pay. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi here the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38152 82 we’re here on this day, in this place, limbs stretched east and west, right here in the desecrated body unforgotten, the wounded heart healed and claimed, the forsaken prayer, answered, the violated space restored, yes. in this blue-black, mahogany, ebony, onyx skin where god lurks and lulls the weary head. akua naru (akua_naru@brown.edu) is a hip hop artist, producer, activist, and scholar from new haven, ct, who theorizes the myriad experiences of black women through rhyme along a sonic spectrum from jazz to soul. she has released four albums: “...the journey aflame (2011),” “live & aflame sessions (2012),” “the miner’s canary (2015),” and “the blackest joy (2018)” – three of which were on the label she co-founded, the urban era. naru has performed hundreds of shows in more than fifty countries across five continents with her six-piece band. she has been invited to lecture at harvard university, university of oxford, cornell university, princeton university, fordham university, university of cologne (germany), ahfad university for women (sudan), and pivot point college (china), among countless others. naru was the 2018-19 nasir jones fellow at the hutchins center for african & african american research (harvard university) and a race & media fellow at the center for the study of race and ethnicity in america (csrea) at brown university (2019-21). she is currently a mellon arts & practitioner fellow at the center for the study of race, indigeneity, and transnational migration at yale university. in addition, naru is the founder & artistic director of the keeper project, the first archive to focus on women's work throughout five decades of hip hop history, permanently housed at the center for digital scholarship at brown university library. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:akua_naru@brown.edu here the central roles of information in health justice, part 2: consumer health information justice and the connections between health, ability, and literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33057 the central roles of information in health justice, part 2: consumer health information justice and the connections between health, ability, and literacy beth st. jean, university of maryland, college park, usa gagan jindal, university of maryland, college park, usa yuting liao, university of maryland, college park, usa paul t. jaeger, university of maryland, college park, usa keywords: consumer health information behavior; consumer health information justice; health disparities; health justice; health literacy; information access publication type: introductory article introduction his issue is the second of a pair of special issues of the international journal of information, diversity, and inclusion devoted to consumer health information behavior (chib). papers in these two issues explore a range of interactions and institutions involved as people seek and use information related to issues of health. chib plays a major role in the health trajectories and health outcomes, encompassing information needs in conjunction with activities to access and use health information. the introductory paper to the previous special issue details the foundational concepts and goals of the two issues (st. jean, jindal, liao, & jaeger, 2019). the heart of both of these special issues is the belief that information literacy and information professionals are essential parts of access to and understanding of the health information that is so vital to quality and length of life. widespread disparities in access to health care and health information impact many populations worldwide. information professionals and information institutions can play an important role in overcoming these disparities by providing access to resources, promoting health information literacy, and empowering people seeking health information. the papers in this issue and its companion issue focus on topics of behavior central to achievement of health justice, such as information access, information needs, information provision, and health literacy, as well as chib itself. this special issue broadens the range of subjects being discussed to also include issues of disability. while usually treated as separate research spaces, information behavior in terms of health and disability are closely related; for a disabled person, consumer health information behavior is likely inextricably linked to information behavior related to their disability. in the overall context of information institutions, programs and resources used to provide information and meet information needs related to health will also be central to meeting information needs related to many disabilities. the current ijidi special issue the goal of this second special issue, as well as the preceding companion issue, is to bring t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the central roles of information in health justice, part 2 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33057 together researchers who focus specifically on health justice and/or social justice within a health-related context. the central focus is on the various types of information-related factors and processes that are central to the achievement of health justice, such as the health information needs of disadvantaged and/or marginalized populations; their health information seeking and use practices; and the provision of health information to these populations. submissions examining closely related issues, such as information access, health literacy, health communication, use/usability of consumer health information technology, patient experience, stigma, information poverty, information avoidance, etc. were also welcomed. the impetus for these twinned special issues was that much of the work in this space is currently scattered across multiple disciplines and many different journals within each of these disciplines. it is hoped that this special issue, along with its preceding companion issue, provides an opportunity for readers and researchers to come together in one space to learn about and share their work on this very important topic. the three articles and three special section papers that comprise this second special issue explore intersections of health information and health justice in the contexts of insurance, online forums, and libraries. in fact, four of the six papers focus the myriad vibrant roles that libraries play in promoting social justice in terms of health and ability. the first article, emily vardell’s “health insurance literacy and health disparities in the united states: a literature review,” explores the literature on health insurance literacy, particularly focusing on the ways in which limited health literacy skills exacerbate health disparities. vardell covers the important topics of health insurance awareness; health literacy and health insurance literacy measures; and the readability of health insurance materials. in conclusion, she builds on two health insurance literacy models [mccormack, bann, uhrig, berkman, and rudd’s (2009) conceptual framework for health insurance literacy and paez et al.’s (2014) health insurance literacy conceptual model], as well as two health insurance decision-making models [klinkman’s (1991) the consumer choice of health care plan framework and sainfort and booske’s (1996) conceptual framework of consumer selection of health plans], to propose a model of her own, the integrated framework for health insurance literacy. this framework is offered as a guide for future research studies exploring the connections between demographic factors on the one hand, and health coverage and health status on the other, particularly as mediated by an individual’s health insurance literacy skills. in the next article, susan rathbun-grubb’s “the lived experience of work and career among individuals with bipolar disorder: a phenomenological study of discussion forum narratives,” reports her investigation into the ways in which people with bipolar disorder (bd) discuss work and career issues in public online support forums. rathbun-grubb found that 7% of the 572 posts she retrieved from four different bd forums pertained to work and career issues. through in vivo coding, rathbun-grubb identified the following main themes: (1) work and career histories; (2) bd symptoms at work; (3) needs for coping at work; (4) the importance of work as a part of a healthy life; (5) disclosure of the illness; and (6) recommendations offered by other contributors to the forum. rathbun-grubb found that the narratives contained in these posts suggested that contributors to the forum wanted to work and have successful careers, but that their symptoms, as well as encountering stigmatization from both themselves and others in their workplace, sometimes negatively impacted their ability to succeed in the workplace. she further notes the potential danger of sharing and disclosing in the workplace versus turning to the relative safety of online mental health forums for seeking and providing both empathy and advice. 2 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the central roles of information in health justice, part 2 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33057 the third and final research article, “food justice in the public library: information, resources, and meals,” noah lenstra and christine d’arpa describe the many ways in which u.s. public libraries participate in the food justice movement. lenstra and d’arpa identify four overarching categories of food justice activities at u.s. public libraries: (1) distributing food at the library (e.g., summer meal programs, such as california’s “lunch at the library” initiative); (2) teaching and enabling community-based agriculture (e.g., gardening classes; seed exchanges); (3) teaching how to cook, prepare, and eat healthy foods (e.g., cooking and nutrition classes, such as the sonoma county public library’s “healthy living at your library” and free library of philadelphia’s “culinary literacy center”); and (4) supporting existing food justice efforts in their local communities (e.g., wilton public library’s program offered in collaboration with the local women, infants, and children (wic) office, “snacks in stacks”; miami (oh) public library’s nutrition demonstrations at local farmers markets). within each of these categories, the authors describe in detail some of the many ways in which public libraries are contributing to food justice through the programming they offer to their local communities. in conclusion, lenstra and d’arpa call for further research into public libraries’ and librarians’ contributions to the food justice movement, both in the u.s. and abroad, as well as enhancements to library and information science (lis) curricula to better prepare students to participate in, and lead, the health justice movement within and across the diverse communities they will serve. the three special section papers all examine programs in libraries designed to promote inclusion in terms of health and ability for different populations who frequently are underserved in terms of health information. each of these papers represents one of the many unique ways in which libraries can simultaneously promote empowerment with information and inclusion in society. “back to the future: library book clubs for individuals with intellectual disability (id)” by matthew conner and leah plocharczyk explains the context for library services for individuals with intellectual disabilities, providing a case study and preliminary data on new efforts in the field. focusing on public libraries, school media centers, and academic libraries—libraries that are connected with the educational system—this article identifies gaps in attention to supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities, who may have difficulty using library services and accessing its collections. by comparing data between the case study and similar book clubs at public libraries throughout the nation, the article develops a profile of what these book clubs are doing and how successful they are. the second special section paper, “targeting autism in libraries: a comprehensive and collaborative training program for librarians” by ruth v. small, suzanne schriar, and mary pelich kelly reports findings from grants from the institute of museum & library services. the targeting autism program is a multi-institutional collaboration created to provide free training to the librarians of the state of illinois on providing quality services and programs to patrons with autism. in partnership with dominican university and syracuse university and in collaboration with dozens of autism-related organizations, the program has offered in-person annual forums, group workshops, follow-up individualized coaching, and self-paced, online in-depth training to the librarians in illinois and beyond. the final section paper is “give us vision, lest we perish: engaging disability at the national library of jamaica” by abigail henry, nicole prawl, beverly lashley, and dionne moiten. this paper details a program by the national library of jamaica to promote accessibility to all members of the nation, regardless of disability or physical limitations. this paper discusses a 2018 initiative to enhance engagement of persons with disabilities through a sign language 3 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the central roles of information in health justice, part 2 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33057 training initiative for staff, which is part of a wider initiative to improve accessibility at the national library of jamaica for both staff and users. with a workforce that includes employees with disabilities, the national library of jamaica has, for some time, been engaged in the work of improving inclusion and engagement of persons with disabilities. moving forward hopefully, the combination of papers in these two special issues will help to build a larger discourse about and explorations of the breadth and boundaries of consumer health information behavior. in the introductory article to the preceding special issue, we suggest that one of the future frames for considering these issues could be framing them in terms of equity and inclusion, an idea which we labelled consumer health information justice. regardless of the contours that this area of discourse ultimately follows, issues of consumer health information behavior will remain an essential area of study, as people will always need to access and understand information about their health. a soon-to-be published special issue of this journal—guest edited by dr. kim thompson of the university of south carolina—will delve further into issues of disability. references st. jean, b., jindal, g., liao, y. & jaeger, p. t. (2019). the central roles of information in health justice, part 1: toward a new field of “consumer health information justice.” international journal of information, diversity, and inclusion, 3(3). https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32961 beth st. jean (bstjean@umd.edu) is an associate professor in the college of information studies at the university of maryland, college park, usa. she is also the assistant director of the information policy and access center (ipac) and an affiliate faculty member of the horowitz center for health literacy (http://sph.umd.edu/center/hchl). dr. st. jean's research aims to improve people's long-term health outlooks by exploring the important interrelationships between their health-related information behaviors, health literacy, health-related selfefficacy, and health behaviors. she has worked with both adults and children over the past several years. in collaboration with her colleague, dr. mega subramaniam, dr. st. jean codeveloped the nlm-funded hackhealth after-school program (http://hackhealth.umd.edu/) to help improve disadvantaged middle school students’ health-related self-efficacy and their digital health literacy skills. dr. st. jean’s most recent research focuses on the concept of health justice, particularly aiming to identify the information-related causes of, and potential solutions to, health disparities. gagan jindal (gjindal@umd.edu) is a doctoral candidate in the college of information studies at the university of maryland, college park, usa. her research interests include the information behaviors of people who have chronic illnesses, how patients connect offline using new and existing technologies, and other related areas of consumer health informatics. prior to joining the ischool, gagan worked as a research analyst in the health informatics division at norc at the university of chicago in bethesda, maryland and as a program associate for a mobile health 4 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32961 mailto:bstjean@umd.edu http://sph.umd.edu/center/hchl http://hackhealth.umd.edu/ mailto:gjindal@umd.edu) the central roles of information in health justice, part 2 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33057 start-up, vibrent health, in fairfax, virginia. she holds a master of public health with a concentration in global and community health from the george mason university, fairfax virginia. yuting liao (yliao598@umd.edu) is a ph.d. candidate in information studies at the university of maryland, college park. she leverages both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore human experiences interacting with social technology. her studies focus on the issue of privacy and how people make information disclosure decisions in various socio-technical contexts, from fitness trackers to conversational ai to online social networks, with the goal of inspiring technology design to improve service and experiences in the healthcare domain. yuting holds a master’s degree in communication, culture & technology from georgetown university and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communication from the renmin university of china. paul t. jaeger (pjaeger@umd.edu) is professor, diversity & inclusion officer, and co-director of the master of library and information science (mlis) program of the college of information studies, as well as co-director of the information policy and access center (ipac) at the university of maryland. he is the author of more than one hundred and eighty journal articles and book chapters, along with sixteen books. dr. jaeger is co-editor of library quarterly, editor of advances in librarianship, and associate editor of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion. he is the founder of the conference on inclusion and diversity in library and information science (cidlis) and is the co-founder of the umd disability summit. in 2014, he received the library journal/alise excellence in teaching award. 5 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:yliao598@umd.edu mailto:pjaeger@umd.edu introduction the current ijidi special issue moving forward references together we read, together we learn: examining book clubs as a means of connecting lis to a feminist diversity ethic(q1) the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn: examining book clubs as a means of connecting lis to a feminist diversity ethic laila brown, university of hawai‘i at mānoa, usa abstract this article examines the significance of dialogic exploration of feminist and diversity-oriented texts in book clubs consisting of library and information science (lis) master’s students at the university of hawai‘i at mānoa. through this research, i sought to achieve an understanding of how participation in book clubs that espouse a feminist or diversity ethic inspire members to create deeper, more insightful connections between these values and lis. while the two book clubs under study began as separate entities with distinct memberships, participants’ dual membership increased over time. the initially distinct ideals of each book club—feminism and diversity—coalesced, and a new value schema emerged in common between the two: a feminist diversity ethic. a feminist diversity ethic is a form of intersectional feminism that values experiential knowledge, the multifaceted nature of identity, respectful communication, caring, and orientation toward social justice as a means of dismantling interlocking systems of oppression. in the book clubs, this ethic encouraged the proactive search for exposure to diverse cultural and experiential paradigms through texts and stories of lived experience. emphasis on this ethic informed book club members’ approach to lis in several ways: first, it challenged participants to define diversity and its importance in lis; second, it fostered the deconstruction of the notion of the other; and third, it enabled participants to actualize a feminist diversity ethic within the structure of the book clubs, thus preparing them to continue this ethic in their future roles as lis practitioners. keywords: book clubs; diversity; feminism; feminist diversity ethic; librarianship publication type: research article ooks can be addictive, just as book clubs can be. beard and thi-beard (2008) affirm that “reading a book is no mere act of consumption. it is a constitutive act, bound to other acts like writing, conversation, dress, travel, art, labor, and other acts that constitute the self” (p. 333). reading is, furthermore, a generative act. this research, which focuses on collaborative discussion in two book clubs, demonstrates a nearly insatiable desire among readers to generate conversation about their reading: to ruminate on what they loved about the text and to express what they disliked, to see the text through another’s perspective, and to continue the dialogue even after they have reached the book’s final page and closed the cover. beard and thi-beard (2008) confirm that “we need to recognize that readers select texts that cultivate their identities: their places in various social institutions and in various ideological formations” (p. 333). indeed, readers who engage in intentional reading practices employ text to gain knowledge and situate their learning within a broader realm of knowing. the deliberate exploration of text, especially when bound to the critical inquiry that can occur in book clubs, influences readers’ values, philosophy, and, ultimately, identity. b https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi this study focuses on two book clubs, both initiated by and consisting of students enrolled in the library and information science (lis) program at the university of hawai‘i at mānoa (uhm). the first was the books by women book club (bbwbc), premised on the feminist ideal and named after the group’s mandate to focus on books written by women. while this group employed no formalized working definition of feminism, its principles and practices aligned with intersectional feminism1 (crenshaw, 1989) and were established in recognition of the continuing systematic marginalization of women. in their own way, to counteract the publishing and book reviewing disparity between men and women (king and clark, 2018), bbwbc members sought to support women writers by dedicating time to their work. in doing so, participants simultaneously increased their own exposure to women-authored texts and their awareness of the unequal status quo of the publishing industry. beyond this single criterion for book selection (which appl ied to all but one book during the research period), bbwbc texts were deliberately inclusive: members selected books of a variety of genres and viewpoints written by and about women of various cultures, ethnicities, nationalities and places of residence, sexual orientations, ages, socioeconomic statuses, religions, experiences, and cis, trans, and genderqueer identities. the second book club this study examines was the uhm lis book club (lisbc). this group was a collaborative project started by two student groups at uhm: the lis diversity council and the progressive librarians’ guild (uhm chapter). this book club aimed to use reading and discussion to foster the uhm lis community, and to encourage a progressive commitment to social justice in lis via an appreciation of diversity. while most of the bbwbc texts were novels that could be considered pleasure reading, the lisbc texts tended to be more academic in nature and more visibly related to lis. participation in both book clubs was voluntary—members elected to read and meet of their own volition. while the two book clubs began as separate and distinct groups, they started to converge as my data collection progressed. because of the social interconnectedness of the uhm lis community, some participants who were initially members of only one of the book clubs became aware of— and decided to join—the other as well, which can serve as a testament to the captivating nature of book clubs. more striking than the degree of membership confluence was the fact that participants referenced the respective values—feminism and diversity—of each book club with increasing frequency in the meetings of both. because the textual content and discussion for the bbwbc and the lisbc were increasingly informed by each other’s values, the resulting framework merged these values into a new schema—a feminist diversity ethic—which recognizes the interconnectedness of feminism and diversity (bunch, 1992; o’brien hallstein, 1999). i define a feminist diversity ethic as a form of intersectional feminism that values experiential knowledge, the multifaceted nature of identity, respectful communication, caring, and orientation toward social justice as a means of dismantling interlocking systems of oppression. bell hooks (1989) argues: feminism, as liberation struggle, must exist apart from and as a part of the larger struggle to eradicate domination in all its forms. we must understand that patriarchal domination shares an ideological foundation with racism and other forms of group oppression, and that there is no hope that it can be eradicated while these systems remain intact (p. 22). a feminist diversity ethic aligns with hooks’ assertion, and maintains an embrace of diversity as an effective means of subverting and negating oppressions. while the feminist bbwbc contributed a focus particularly on gender and sex, the diversity and progressivism-oriented lisbc contributed a focus on cultural paradigms and identity. as these two groups began to 78 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi influence each other, these two value sets came to bolster the intersectional framework with which participants interpreted feminist and diverse textual content. commenting on the intentional selection of books for the inclusion of intersectional and feminist themes, one study participant shared: i think it does change the discussion because we are a lot more aware of that issue going in, so when we look at the plot we look at it from a feminist perspective and not just as “oh, i like this character”; “this plot is interesting”; but “what does this say about society and about the author who is writing it, and about how we react to these things?” indeed, their intentional reading practice became lived experience that in turn influenced members’ perspectives. the book clubs’ emphasis on a feminist diversity ethic informed members’ approach to lis in several key ways: first, it challenged participants to define diversity and its importance in lis; second, it fostered the deconstruction of the notion of the other; and third, it enabled participants to actualize a feminist diversity ethic within the book clubs, thus preparing them to continue enacting this ethic in their future roles as lis professionals. with this study, i hoped to better understand the meaning and significance of participation in book clubs as a tool of educational, personal, and professional development. the world of scholarly research is rich with studies demonstrating the transformative nature of book clubs but markedly lacks studies exploring the experience of librarians in book clubs. this is surprising considering that librarians work closely with books and other media and that librarians serve as frequent facilitators of book clubs as part of their library programming (irvin morris, 2012). i was especially interested in the experience of lis students in book clubs, as an educational journey through an lis master’s program is a pivotal time in their professional lives. an lis program is a transitional stage whereby students progress from non-professionals or paraprofessionals toward the role of a professional librarian. exposed to the pedagogy of lis and cognate disciplines, students are deeply immersed in the theory of the field without having achieved the status of a professional librarian. within this liminal state, students are often just beginning to formulate and contextualize their professional lis philosophies. the experiences students have in an lis program have the potential to play an influential role in shaping their professional convictions and philosophies, and thus can reverberate throughout their entire careers. background i approach the exploration of text in the social sphere—specifically in book clubs—through a social constructivist framework. social constructivism is primarily concerned with the construction of meaning by individuals and groups. it is a theory of relativism, which holds that all meaning and knowledge are human constructions and that the objective truth is an impossibility. au (1998) explicates that in the social constructivist framework, “communication or discourse processes are compared to processes of building, and generative acts” (p. 300). rosenblatt’s (1968) transactional approach to reader response theory is a natural extension of social constructivism to the realm of literature and reading. rosenblatt established that readers engage in a transaction with text, whereby their interpretation of the text is informed by their personal experiences and patterns of thought. according to rosenblatt, it is through this interaction between reader and text that unique meaning is engendered (1968). thus, reading text presents an opportunity for the exploration of the internal self. if we extend this concept into the social, 79 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi interpersonal realm, we see that when we engage others in conversation about text, we can explore our personal responses to literature in the context of the lived experiences and philosophies of others, in addition to our own. vygotsky’s (1978) zone of proximal development (zpd), in conjunction with rosenblatt’s transactional reader response concepts, provides an additional theoretical foundation to explain how group discussions of literature, in which individuals share their unique experiences with text, offer new insights into participating individuals and ultimately propel them to deeper, more dynamic understandings of text and self. vygotsky understands the zpd as the space between one’s actual developmental level (ability to independently problem-solve) and one’s potential developmental level (ability to problem-solve with guidance from or collaboration with a more capable other). when applied to reader response theory, the zpd would exist between initial individual perceptions of a text and collaborative discussion of it with another. book clubs construct a situation in which all members may potentially occupy both the teacher and the learner role at once, simultaneously traversing and helping others across the zpd to arrive at new understandings of literature through discussion. many studies affirm that book clubs bring great benefits for their participants (kooy, 2006; fajardo, 2010; polleck, 2010; polleck, 2011). they provide participants with an inquiry-based experience in which dialogue—a collaborative interaction with texts and each other—enables new ways of seeing and relating to one’s world. kooy (2006) advances this argument in relation to the teaching profession. her study demonstrates that interactions in book clubs composed of teachers constitute a mode of praxis. her teacher participants were inspired by text to ruminate on their experiences engaging with real life situations in their professional spheres, and then to enact new teaching approaches based on the ideas presented in book club discussions. in a similar vein, morris et al. (2006) and irvin morris (2012) connect the benefits of book club participation to lis professional praxis. they emphasize that the librarian facilitation of book clubs enables the formation of closer connections with and deeper understanding of library patron communities. this, in turn, empowers librarians in their professional identities and in their roles as community advocates. book club interactions are advantageous to a range of participants—from casual readers to those invested in intensive professional praxis. what benefits can book clubs yield specifically for lis students? this population is important to consider because, at the beginning of their lis careers, students simultaneously engage with the established theory and practice of the lis profession and seek to define their roles within it. in the following sections, i aim to investigate the experience of emerging lis professionals at an especially pivotal time in their professional lives. methods data collection took place over four months, from april to august 2018. i conducted participant observations in a total of five book club meetings: two in bbwbc, two in the lisbc, and one final session in which both groups decided to meet together. each book club met about once a month, with an average of four attendees per meeting. meetings typically lasted between two and three hours. during my data collection, the lisbc read blind spot: the hidden biases of good people by mahzarin r. banaji and anthony g. greenwald (2013), americanah by chimamanda ngozi adichie (2013), and feminist pedagogy for library instruction by maria t. accardi (2013). the bbwbc read the year of magical thinking by joan didion (2007), a darker shade of magic by v. e. schwab (2015), freshwater by akwaeke emezi (2018), and redefining realness: my path to womanhood, identity, love & so much more by janet mock (2014). 80 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi i conducted individual interviews with six core book club members—those whose participation was most regular. three of the interviewees were members of bbwbc only, one was a member of lisbc only, and two maintained memberships in both groups. although there were two or three book club members in each group who participated on a semi-regular basis, i aimed to select regular participants as my interviewees. since they consistently read the selected texts and attended the meetings, i believed that their accounts would be the most representative of the book clubs’ importance and their influence on students and students’ professional practice. all participant observation sessions and individual interviews were audio-recorded. after each interaction, i transcribed the recordings and then read and analyzed them. each time i analyzed a new transcript, i would also re-read and re-analyze the earlier transcripts, so that i could understand them as a cohesive body of data. this process aided the discovery of thematic topics in participants’ conversations and modes of communication among participants. this reading and re-reading aided in data triangulation and also helped me to ensure consistency in data collection and interpretation. my participant observations and field note-taking allowed me to address my research questions contextually, as i became a first-hand witness to the processes, dynamics, and conversations of the book clubs. in complementary fashion, my interviews allowed my study participants to address my questions directly and openly, in their own words. i had been a member of the bbwbc since its first meeting in the spring of 2017 and began my participant observation with the lisbc at its inaugural meeting in the spring of 2018. central to ethnographic participant observation is the engagement of the researcher in the same processes they are studying and observing. as i assumed the role of a researcher and initiated my data collection, i adopted a less active role in book club discussions than i would have, had i not been conducting research. i did so in order to refrain from unduly influencing the course of dialogue. in an effort to fairly situate my claims, i am forthcoming about the possibility that my role as a participant observer strengthened book club members’ commitment to a feminist diversity ethic, simply because i asked them to think about and articulate convictions developed in and through book club membership. i am confident, however, that through participation in book clubs, the value internalization would have occurred in any case, even without my presence; however, my research presence may have made these processes more explicit or expedited. as a member of both book clubs, i was personally involved with both of my research populations. on the one hand, this presented an advantage because i already had access to these groups and was uniquely positioned to understand the context from which participants drew. on the other hand, however, this close involvement had the potential to become a barrier to fair and measured data interpretation. i was personally invested in these communities and deeply related to their core values. as a result, i had to consider the degree to which this would influence my perspective. i took special care to triangulate my findings; to control bias in data interpretation by engaging in a reflective journaling practice whereby, once a month, i responded to the same questions that i asked my interviewees. this allowed me to compare my responses to those of my interviewees and to evaluate how my perspective shifted over time. while acknowledging that total objectivity was impossible, i resolved to engage in reflective practices through which i continually examined my own convictions to remain aware of them at all times and to ensure that potential bias was minimized. finally, to protect participant confidentiality, i refer to my participants using pseudonyms. 81 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi results through this research, i sought to achieve an understanding of the creative, constitutive, and generative processes of bbwbc and the lisbc. the results of this study underscore three broad essential elements of student participation in these value-driven lis book clubs: defining diversity, deconstructing the other, and embodying a feminist diversity ethic. the members of these book clubs defined and mastered a feminist diversity ethic. this ethic challenged them to elucidate diversity and its importance to them and to the field of lis; to develop empathy and reject the idea of the other; and then to actually apply a feminist diversity philosophy to their interpersonal relationships, critical thinking, and the way in which they connected book club activities to their future professional practice. in subsequent sections, direct quotes from the observed meetings and interviews will illustrate the creative process of book club participation in members’ own words. since participants selected particular books specifically for their ability to advance conversations on feminism and diversity, it was clear that they approached their individual reading practice with these values at heart. during the observed meetings, participants expressed the ways in which they connected textual content to their own lived experiences, values, and ideas, and eagerly listened to each other’s contributions. participants would often relate stories of their own personal and professional experiences brought to mind by the texts under discussion. for example, discussing joan didion’s the year of magical thinking, one book club member shared how reading about didion’s experience with grief had helped her to better understand her own partner’s emotions related to an ailing parent. similarly, a conversation on chimamanda ngozi adichie’s americanah—whose protagonist is the strong, witty, and opinionated ifemelu— prompted participants to discuss how challenging it can be to approach people who have ideas that are antithetical to their own. one participant told an anecdote from her library internship, regretting that she did not advocate for open access in a conversation with a librarian who was dismissive of the idea. although on the surface level, the conversation in meetings may have seemed to shift from topic to topic, at times, veering off substantially from the text in question, participants were actually creating a rich web of dialogue that contributed to their understandings of textual content. even tangentially, participants were using the unique knowledge they had amassed through lived experience to push each other to deeper understandings of textual content. through this process of sharing, participants also came to understand each other better, and to see more clearly how their personal experience had shaped everyone’s worldviews. defining diversity participants’ exploration of diverse books was enhanced by their own multifaceted identities and diversity, which they came to understand in more holistic, comprehensive terms. all of the members of both book clubs were women—a factor that, alone, placed them outside the mainstream, dominant culture (accardi, 2013). aside from this shared characteristic, participants were different in many ways. their ages ranged from mid-20s to mid-40s; they had spent varying lengths of time in the lis program (from two to four semesters at the start of data collection); and they came from diverse educational backgrounds, including literature, social work, fashion design, international relations, and business. three of the six interviewees had already earned another master’s degree. moreover, participants were able to contribute diverse life experiences and cultural knowledge which derived from the geographic diversity of their places of origin, including various u.s. states, east asia, south asia, the caribbean, and europe. two participants who had lived their entire lives in hawai‘i provided unique perspectives on their 82 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi locality and relationships with hawai‘i, remarkable for its demographic diversity. members were also able to offer multiple perspectives informed by the diversity of personal identities, sexual orientations, ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds, and experiences with homelessness. although participants enjoyed a higher level of education than is typical of the hawai‘i population (research and economic analysis division, hawaii state department of business, economic development and tourism, 2016), hawai‘i’s diverse character was otherwise well represented by this group. one member, selma, attributed the learning she was able to accomplish within the book clubs to the manifold identities of her book club peers: i have learned that i have a lot to learn. it helps that we have a diverse little group in terms of sexual orientation, age, educational background, et cetera. those different experiences make me learn a lot and it helps me to learn why people had different reactions to books than i did. it gives me ideas or considerations i wouldn’t have or didn’t come to on my own. selma credited the book clubs not for their surface-level representation of diversity, but for the ability of diverse perspectives to impel readers toward more comprehensive understandings of both text and human experiences. rather than accepting surface-level conceptions of diversity, the book clubs encouraged members to advance their personal definitions of diversity, expanding and refining where necessary, so that their new thoughtful and comprehensive understandings would carry weight, engender new commitment, and likely have a lasting impact on how they approach their lis work. while they may not always gain the same access to others’ stories as they did in the tight-knit book club communities, participants will have a deeper appreciation of other people’s unique stories and diverse individual identities. reading, however, is a sure way to gain access to stories, experiences, and ideas that others choose to share. it is an immersive experience that allows readers to temporarily inhabit the minds, imagination, and lifeworlds of others (real and fictional characters; narrators; authors; etc.). as a result, reading is an effective channel by which readers can learn to recognize the multidimensional nature of our distinct and varied identities beyond surface-level diversity characteristics (irvin, 2016). those who acquire a deep appreciation and mastery of reading have an opportunity to remedy the widely internalized tendency to judge others based on observable characteristics. an opportunity to look beyond the surface allowed participants to examine more closely the values with which they identified, and to reflexively question where they came from, and why. book club conversations elucidated that a single term, “feminism,” for example, can have widely different interpretations by different people. exposure to multiple interpretations of the same term encouraged critical and reflective thinking. “diversity” has proven to be a particularly tricky term, and some participants commented that the more frequently the term is used, the less it means. when pennelope and i were discussing the concept in our interview, she related it to her learning from an lis class: we were talking about this [in class]; how “diversity” becomes this catch phrase that starts to lose its meaning the more you use it. so when we’re talking about diversity, we’re talking about anything outside of what is—what has been—a mainstream perspective; so like cisgender, white, straight, male gaze, i guess. it’s such a wide 83 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi all-encompassing thing for such a tiny word. selma, for instance, refused to settle for a single, final definition of diversity, emphasizing instead the need for the term to be inclusive and flexible: “i feel like you need to take a kaleidoscopic view of it because there are so many ways to be diverse that i don’t think it can be just reduced to one trait or characteristic.” in this conversation, i asked selma whether she felt that her definition of feminism, too, had morphed throughout her book club participation. she began to discuss how the book clubs often challenged her notions of feminism. as a result of participating in the book clubs, she said, her take on feminism had become more fluid. one of the bbwbc texts, book of joan by lidia yuknavitch, is a dystopian science fiction novel that questions and problematizes the significance of sex and gender. in the book, following a near total destruction of the earth, the few surviving humans have transformed into entirely sexless beings whose skin has blanched to an almost transparent white. they live above the desecrated planet suspended on a platform called ciel. selma described book of joan as “one of, if not the most, overtly feminist books that we’ve read.” selma, who identifies strongly as a feminist, was surprised at her own reaction to the text. she shared that that was the book i hated. . . . i would say that i think it challenged my view of feminism, because i'm still not sure why i was so averse to that book. i guess it's made me seek out different viewpoints than my own. . . . i know we [book club members] all agree on basic things, like we are all feminists, but i guess it's made me more aware of the possibility for gray area within it, or nuance within it. commenting on the book’s treatment of sex and gender issues, selma continued: it made me think way more about trans stuff. trans people, trans rights, trans issues and trans portrayal in media. i’ve definitely encountered that and thought about it more from this book club . . . than probably ever before. the bbwbc focus on gender and sex initially inspired members to listen only to women’s voices; however, their evolving principle of inclusivity later prompted them to search for authors who existed beyond the heteronormative. following book of joan, bbwbc opted to read two books in tandem for a subsequent meeting. the first was akwaeke emezi’s freshwater, which technically broke bbwbc’s rule of reading only women-authored texts but was praised by the members for many reasons. in this autobiographical novel (emezi, n.d.), ada, a human girl, is born with spirit entities who are cognizant and active within her mind. as she grows up, these entities crystallize into more powerful selves who assume increasing control over ada. through her protagonist, emezi reveals much of herself. we learn that emezi does not identify only as human, but also as ọgbanje, an ọdịnanị term for a malicious spirit that plagues the human family into which it is born. in her essay entitled “transition” (2018), emezi writes: “i exist separate from the inaccurate concept of gender as a binary; without the stricture of those categories, i don’t even have to think about my gender. alone, there’s just me, and i see myself clearly.” members were appreciative of such narrative paradigms. for the same meeting, bbwbc decided to combine their reading of freshwater with the reading of redefining realness: my path to womanhood, identity, love & so much more by janet mock, which did not fall in the category of works authored by women. in this stunning memoir, transgender rights activist janet mock relays her story of arriving at her identity and becoming self-empowered. 84 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi bbwbc members purposefully selected texts that included portrayals of women with equally diverse empowered identities. then in meetings, the way that women with such an array of experiential knowledge shared their interpretations of texts made these texts even more powerful. the texts became an inspiration for participants to stretch their ideas of feminism and diversity to new, more inclusive dimensions. moreover, it was important that participants consider the ideas of feminism and diversity in tandem, as book club members came to recognize their interconnectedness and mutual dependency. a focus on diversity contributed to an intersectional understanding of feminism. a focus on feminism contributed to the validation of experiential knowledge and equity. these new, complementary understandings of feminism and diversity bolstered participants’ ability to critically evaluate written materials. as a result, they felt that it would translate into a valuable skill in professional practice that will help them, in the future, to better evaluate library resources for the equitable and respectful representation of diverse perspectives. on this topic, romy shared that participation in the book clubs was “encouraging us to think more critically about all aspects of lis and how we can make sure that we are being inclusive and promoting diversity.” in line with balderrama’s (2000) assertion that “appropriate tension and constructive conflict can occur if we are willing to go through it rather than around it” (p. 207), the book club members chose to openly engage with questions of identity, privilege, and equity with the intention of developing and strengthening their critical thinking. deconstructing the other reading and subsequent discussions of texts related to diversity and feminism can mitigate the effect of othering, whereby individuals construct artificial boundaries between different groups of people. beyond recognizing more expanded and elastic definitions of diversity, the book clubs allowed members to collectively step out of their own comfort zones. bossaller, adkins, and thompson (2010) explain that even the best intentions of being inclusive do not prevent people from acting “through the mores and values” of their own culture (p. 33). dissociating from their own worldview may be a near-universal challenge for those seeking to embrace a diversity ethic. the book club members engaged in critical, reflective, and reflexive reading as a means of overcoming this challenge. despite diverse backgrounds, participants nevertheless recognized that they must be proactive and tenacious in order to see beyond their own limited perspectives. they realized that continuous and concerted effort is required in order to get out of the “bubble.” books selected for reading enabled participants to deconstruct the artificial barriers between the familiar and the unfamiliar, thereby dismantling the notion of the other. on this topic, pennelope was especially enthusiastic about her book club reading experience: i think i read somewhere that it’s easier to change views when you’re lookin g at fiction because you empathize with the character so it’s kind of like walking a mile in someone’s shoes kind of thing. and as opposed to like, looking at a textbook and looking outside in, you’d be looking inside out at an issue, which i feel like may be we should do, because that’s why patrons go to the library, right? . . . it’s easy to forget that the books aren’t just like these physical objects, they’re like an experience for the users. so . . . how can we look at the issues from the user perspective? but also, how can we use these to change things for the community from this perspective where people can empathize? 85 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi at once, pennelope considered the influence that an intentional reading practice had on her own ability to think empathically, and then applied this notion to an imagined library community. she asked how lis professionals could effectively support a reading practice that would foster empathy and the deconstruction of the other on a larger scale. in one bbwbc example, the “other” took the form of joan didion, an author and a narrator of the nonfiction book the year of magical thinking. this narrative challenged participants to reconsider some of their own anxieties and judgements. in this book, didion takes us through an intimate account of the year following the death of her husband, john gregory dunne. the year of magical thinking was so valuable because didion countered the tendency of mainstream american society to avoid discussing death, dying, and grieving in relaying her intimate processes facing these realities. while engaging with these topics initially made most participants uneasy, participants ultimately affirmed that the processes of reading and discussing the text alleviated their discomfort. rather than reacting with fear, as they did at first, participants seemed pleased to arrive at a profound appreciation of didion’s invitation to meditate on death and grief and to experience them through her story. as selma said, “i wish there were more books like this because i think it’s super important just to know. this is such a private experience, normally.” by allowing participants to express anxieties provoked by reading in a receptive and encouraging environment, book club discussion worked to alleviate participants’ fears. participants believed that the remarkable change in their willingness to engage these topics would translate into an increased ability to empathize with those experiencing loss and grief. there was overwhelming agreement among bbwbc that our cultural norm is to feel encumbered and inconvenienced by others’ feelings of sadness, and thus to avoid them. the group seemed to agree that, in the future, they would be able to empathize more easily with those who grieve. in more general terms, bbwbc members found an intentional reading practice to be an effective way of enhancing their capacity for empathy and of breaking down the barriers between self and other. similarly, the lisbc accepted a challenge to critically examine their own views by reading and discussing blind spot: the hidden biases of good people by mahzarin r. banaji and anthony g. greenwald. in this nonfiction text, the authors explain implicit bias—the idea that all of us have biases of which we are not aware; these biases may influence our behavior toward certain groups of people. the group collectively argued that it is important to recognize our bias in order to find a way of changing our exclusionary thinking into more inclusive one. selma stressed a physiological basis for understanding bias, saying that “it’s the way that the brain works, because you have to learn how to operate within a system.” by engaging with texts espousing diverse perspectives, participants sought to familiarize themselves with alternate “systems” and integrate the variant thinking into their own. selma elaborated, “i think this [blind spot] is a good book for librarians because . . . it really comes down to exposure.” she argued that it is “so easy to vilify what you don’t know. and as soon as you can humanize something, it’s just totally different.” this was a central shared aim of both book clubs: to become comfortable with the unfamiliar—a process that transforms the “other” into something relatable, which is especially crucial in people-oriented professions like lis. embodying a feminist diversity ethic by intentionally ruminating on feminism and diversity—their meanings and implications— participants became better prepared to incorporate these ethics into their professional practice. the book club processes moved these values from the realm of theory to the realm of practice. 86 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi in our interview, when i asked pennelope whether she would have approached lis with feminist and diversity lenses without the book club experience, she replied: probably, but . . . it would be a more empty answer without the book clubs, because we’ve had all these discussions. i think you can say it and think that you’re going to do those things in the profession, but when you have these discussions on the regular , it changes those words, i hope, into action. moreover, the structure of the book clubs as co-curricular, alternative learning spaces represented an embodiment of a feminist diversity ethic. akira, for example, described bbwbc as having “a very calm and relaxed atmosphere where i can interact with my peers in a more informal setting than a classroom.” indeed, largely because of their feminist frameworks, the book clubs facilitated friendships in ways that the traditional classroom does not. the social structure of the book clubs was lateral; some members took a more active role in logistical organization than others but everyone enjoyed equal opportunities to contribute to conversations and exchange knowledge and experiences. central to an embodiment of a feminist diversity ethic was the respectful way in which book club members related to one another. according to noddings (1984), an ethic of care emphasizes interpersonal relationships rooted in receptivity and responsiveness. in the book club context, an ethic of care and the sharing of personal narratives had a reciprocal effect whereby both mutually reinforced other another. participants approached each other with care and compassion from the start, laying the foundation that enabled all participants to feel comfortable enough to share and dialogue with each other while creating personal connections. although participants did not always agree with each other, they did feel that they trusted each other enough to have a respectful and constructive conversation and share personal stories. as romy commented, one of my favorite things about books is sometimes it feels like i read a completely different book than someone else, just because our perspectives on it are so different—it’s almost a completely different story. and i know everyone brings in their own life experience and their own professional experience, so everyone is going to have something different—a different interpretation, or take, on it. sharing implies vulnerability because it requires revealing personal details about people’s lives and experiences, and it is particularly important to have trusted individuals at the discussion table. sharing, in turn, reinforced a sense of intimacy within the group. the system was selfreinforcing and demonstrated to participants how a feminist diversity ethic can successfully enhance group learning. discussion and ideas for future research while i initially viewed the small number of participants in my study as a limitation, through the process of participant observation and data analysis, i ultimately came to understand it to be an advantage: fewer individuals at select meetings enabled those who were present to engage in more focused conversation on certain topics. this study illustrates that book clubs composed of a small number of participants may present environments conducive to conversation and learning, especially for those who are hesitant or shy about participating in larger social groups. similar studies, however, have included greater numbers of participants, and have been successful in making more generalizable conclusions as a result. smith’s (1996) study of book 87 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi club interactions, for instance, included two book clubs comprised of six and 12 individuals, respectively. beach and yussen (2011), who sought to identify factors that contribute to the enduring nature of book clubs, studied two book groups, comprised of seven and nine individuals, respectively. in these two examples, sample sizes were large enough to support the legitimacy of the authors’ conclusions, but still sufficiently small that they allowed for in-depth content analysis of interviews, thus producing rich, valuable insight on the process-oriented questions of the researchers. seeking to emulate the success of smith, beach, and yussen, my future studies might aim to consult a greater number of participants, ideally across a longer time period, in order to better understand the dynamics of book clubs and their influence on future professional careers. follow up studies could additionally seek to conduct comparative interviews or surveys in the crosssection of lis-oriented book clubs, in different lis programs, and/or among professional librarians. they could also follow up on the professional activities of current book club participants. this could lend credibility to the proposition that student book clubs make a significant contribution to their professional development and future careers. during the meetings, participants often discussed the potential influence of the “echo chamber effect” upon group opinions. participants were concerned that surrounding themselves only with like-minded individuals could lead to a limited view of the world, whereby personal opinions are simply reflected back rather than challenged. to counter the potential effect of the echo chamber, future studies could explore book clubs composed of lis students or librarians who adhere to different and even conflicting philosophical perspectives. conclusion because the bbwbc and the lisbc together encouraged the juxtaposition of divergent and nuanced ideas derived from both texts and lived experiences, participants learned to become more intellectually critical and more thoughtful as human beings. these two characteristics will certainly help them in the future, as they start practicing reference services, readers’ advisory, collection management, and community advocacy; it will also aid their collaboration with colleagues. i will note that participants’ willingness to engage with diverse content may have been encouraged by the broader cultural context of hawai‘i, of which ethnic and cultural diversity are integral and essential parts. however, even outside of hawai’i, book clubs that emphasize diverse contents and respectful dialogue can be effective means of encouraging empathy toward and the appreciation of similarities and differences in the human experience and professional practice. book clubs composed of diverse members and privileging multiple voices and individual stories are uniquely positioned to contribute to participants’ inclusive thinking and critical thinking. reading, in turn, is an effective entry point into diversity discussions, which can be strengthened by adding feminist perspectives with their integral values of caring, compassion, and equality. acknowledgements i would like to thank dr. vanessa irvin for her guidance throughout the research process, and dr. rich gazan and thomas fielding for their insightful feedback on drafts of this article. i would also like to thank the ijidi reviewers and dr. keren dali for their suggestions for improving this paper and for offering their inspired ideas on directions for future research. 88 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi endnotes 1 intersectional feminism acknowledges that overlapping identities—such as race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, class, age, and ability—are interconnected. it seeks to understand how interlocking systems of power marginalize socially stratified, interwoven identities. with a focus on intersectionality, feminism becomes more inclusive. references accardi, m. t. (2013). feminist pedagogy for library instruction. sacramento, ca: library juice press. au, k. h. (1998). social constructivism and the school literacy learning of students of diverse backgrounds. journal of literacy research, 30(2), 297-319. balderrama, s. r. (2000). this trend called diversity. library trends, 49(1), 194-214. beach, r., & yussen, s. (2011). practices of productive adult book clubs. journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 55(2), 121-131. beard, d., & thi-beard, k. v. (2008). rethinking the book: new theories for readers’ advisory. reference & user services quarterly, 47(4), 331–335. bossaller, j., adkins, d., & thompson, k. m. (2010). critical theory, libraries and culture. progressive librarian, 34-35, 25-38. bunch, c. (1992). a global perspective on feminist ethics and diversity. in e. b. cole & s. coultrap-mcquin (eds.), explorations in feminist ethics: theory and practice (pp. 176185). bloomington, in: indiana university press. crenshaw, k. (1989). demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: a black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. university of chicago legal forum, 1989(1), 139-167. emezi, a. (n.d.). biography. retrieved from https://www.akwaeke.com/biography emezi, a. (2018). transition. retrieved from https://bit.ly/2e1s4we fajardo, a. (2010). book clubs: not just for public libraries. college & undergraduate libraries, 17(1), 65-69. hooks, bell. (1989). talking back: thinking feminist, thinking black. boston: south end press. irvin, v. (2016). gazing the diversity stance in north america: bringing practitioner inquiry into the lis classroom. journal of education for library and information science, 57(2), 151-160. irvin morris, v. (2012). reading in mirrors: using street literature to facilitate practitioner 89 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi together we read, together we learn the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi inquiry with urban public service librarians (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from proquest dissertations & theses global. (3538166) king, a., & clark, s. (2018, june 17). the 2017 vida count. retrieved from http://www.vidaweb.org/the-2017-vida-count/#highlights kooy, m. (2006). telling stories in book clubs: women teachers and professional development. new york: springer science+business media. morris, v., hughes-hassell, s., agosto, d. p., & cottman, d. t. (2006). street lit flying off teen fiction bookshelves in philadelphia public libraries. young adult library services, 5(1), 16–23. noddings, n. (1984). caring: a feminine approach to ethics and moral education. berkeley: university of california. o’brien hallstein, d. l. (1999). a postmodern caring: feminist standpoint theories, revisioned caring, and communication ethics. western journal of communication, 63(1), 32-56. polleck, j. (2010). creating transformational spaces: high school book clubs with inner-city adolescent females. high school journal, 93(2), 50-68. polleck, j. (2011). adolescent literature book clubs: a forum for cultivation of peer relationships with urban adolescent females. the alan review, 39(1), 76-93. research and economic analysis division, hawaii state department of business, economic development and tourism. (2016). education attainment in hawaii [pdf file]. retrieved from https://bit.ly/2cgi9dj rosenblatt, l. (1968). literature as exploration. new york: noble and noble. smith, m. w. (1996). conversations about literature outside classrooms: how adults talk about books in their book clubs. journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 40(3), 180-86. vygotsky, l. s. (1981). mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. laila brown (lailab@hawaii.edu) is a library & information science master’s candidate at the university of hawai‘i at mānoa. her thesis research focused on how participation in book clubs that espouse a feminist and/or diversity ethic inspire lis students to create deeper, more insightful connections between feminism, diversity, and lis. a strong proponent of book clubs and a member of several herself, laila brown hopes to continue further research in this vein. she is an advocate for open access and particularly enjoys working with special library collections. she received a b.a. in anthropology and b.a. in international relations from the university of southern california. 90 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi mailto:lailab@hawaii.edu background methods results defining diversity deconstructing the other discussion and ideas for future research conclusion acknowledgements endnotes references silencing stories: challenges to diverse books the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 silencing stories: challenges to diverse books emily j. m. knox, university of illinois at urbana-champaign, usa abstract this research expands on a previous discourse analysis of censorship on challenges to diverse books through more robust analysis of the challenge cases. the article specifically focuses on two common themes found in the arguments that book challengers give for the redaction, restriction, relocation, and removal of diverse titles in and from school curricula, school libraries, and public library collections in the u.s. the article begins with a working definition of diverse books and a brief overview of the campaign to increase their publication and circulation in the u.s. an overview of previous research on general book challenges and challenges to diverse literature is provided, as well as the methodology for analysis. the article concludes with a discussion of recommendations for protecting access to diverse books in public libraries and schools. keywords: book banning; censorship; diverse books; intellectual freedom; reading practices publication type: research article introduction ince the young adult novel the hate u give was published in february 2017, author angie thomas has received much praise. the book stayed at the top of the new york times young adult bestseller list for almost a year and received glowing accolades from many review outlets. sometimes dubbed a black lives matter book (canfield, 2018), the hate u give is a gripping tale that centers on an african american female protagonist, starr, whose best friend khalil is killed by a white police officer when khalil drives them home from a party. starr is deeply affected by khalil’s death and eventually becomes part of the movement to fight against injustice in the u.s. along with effusive reviews, the hate u give has also been the subject of controversy since its publication for various reasons such as “being ‘pervasively vulgar’ and for the depiction of drug use, profanity, and offensive language” (gomez, 2018). for example, in 2017, the katy (texas) independent school district removed the book from its school libraries after a parent complained about the language used in the book (aragon, 2017).1 in the summer of 2018, the fraternal order of police tri-county lodge #3 in the state of south carolina objected to the book’s inclusion in a local high school summer reading list because they felt the novel promotes “negativity towards the police” (leah, 2018). for the year 2017, the hate u give was one of the 10 most challenged books according to the american library association’s office for intellectual freedom (ala oif, 2017). one of the things that the hate u give has in common with all but one other book on the ala oif’s 2017 most challenged books list is that it is a story about a non-majority protagonist and s https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 focuses on what might be called “diversity.” while the number one book on the oif list, jay asher’s thirteen reasons why (2007), focuses on the suicide of a white teenage girl, the other books on the list center on members of diverse populations. such titles include i am jazz by jessica herthel and jazz jennings (2014), which discusses gender identity. and tango makes three, (a perennial entry on the oif list) written by peter parnell and justin richardson (2005), features penguins in a same-sex relationship. harper lee’s to kill a mockingbird (1960) discusses race in the segregated u.s. south. george by alex gino (2015) centers on a transgender child. drama by rina telgemeier (2012) includes lesbian-, gay-, bisexual-, transgender-, and queer (lgbtq) identified characters. the kite runner by khaled hosseini (2003) is set in afghanistan, a majority-muslim country invaded by the u.s., and focuses on an oppressed minority. the summary for sex is a funny word by cory silverberg (2015) is also on the 2017 oif list. on the author’s website, the book is declared to be “an essential resource about bodies, gender, and sexuality for children ages 8 to 10 as well as their parents and caregivers” (“sex is a funny word,” n.d.) and includes descriptions of different gender and sexual identities. finally, the protagonist in the perennially challenged text the absolutely true diary of a part-time indian by sherman alexie is a native american boy who decides to leave his reservation to attend the local predominately white high school. of these 10 titles listed on the oif’s “top 10 most challenged books of 2017,” nine out of the 10 titles listed include characters with diverse identities. malinda lo, an author and co-creator of the we need diverse books (wndb) campaign, completed a study (2014) that found that book challengers often target publications that feature diverse protagonists. lo’s research focused on recent ala banned/challenged book lists: the top 100 banned/challenged books, 2000–2009 and the oif top ten challenged books lists for 2010–2013. in 2016, i offered a brief expansion of lo’s research, which further confirmed and substantiated lo’s original findings (knox, 2016). this article offers more robust analysis of the challenge cases. i specifically focus on two common themes found in the arguments that book challengers give for the redaction, restriction, relocation, and removal of diverse titles in and from school curricula, school libraries, and public library collections in the u.s. discussion begins with a working definition of the concept of “diverse books” and a brief overview of the campaign to increase publication and circulation of diverse books in the u.s. an overview of previous research on book challenges in general and challenges to diverse literature more specifically is offered, as well as the methodology for analysis of the challenge cases. next, the article presents two common themes in the discourse of challengers of diverse books. finally, recommendations are offered for protecting access to diverse books in public libraries and schools. diverse books and book challenges the current american usage of the term “diverse” is a bit of a catchall, but the definition used by we need diverse books (wndb) provides an excellent working definition. wndb (diversebooks.org) is a grassroots, nonprofit advocacy organization based in the united states that primarily focuses on encouraging the publishing industry to solicit and distribute books for young people that reflect all human lives. their programs include awards, grants, and research. wndb defines diversity as “lgbtqia, native, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities*, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities” (https://diversebooks.org/aboutwndb/).the asterisk in the definition is further defined to include a broadened view of the term “disability.” wndb (n.d.) states that disability “includes but is not limited to physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, chronic conditions, and mental illnesses 25 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.diversebooks.org/ https://diversebooks.org/about-wndb/ https://diversebooks.org/about-wndb/ silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 (this may also include addiction).” this full definition for “diversity” is the definition ascribed for the research presented here. although it is taken as a given by some, it is still important to discuss why the accessibility of diverse books is important. at the most fundamental level, diverse books accomplish what all books do—allow people to be introduced to various ideas, theories, people, and cultures. however, books about diverse characters have two special roles to play. first, they allow all human beings to see themselves reflected in books, and second, they allow everyone to learn about people who are not like themselves. this argument is rooted in the “mirrors and windows” theory of reading that was first introduced by rudine sims bishop. bishop (1990) noted that a book “could help us understand each other better by helping to change our attitudes towards difference” (p. xi). the importance of diverse books for all was also powerfully described by chimamanda ngozi adichie’s ted talk (2009) on the “danger of a single story”: so that is how to create a single story, show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become. it is impossible to talk about the single story without talking about power. there is a word, an igbo word, that i think about whenever i think about the power structures of the world, and it is "nkali." it's a noun that loosely translates to "to be greater than another." like our economic and political worlds, stories too are defined by the principle of nkali: how they are told, who tells them, when they're told, how many stories are told, are really dependent on power. (09:26) adichie demonstrates why it is imperative that diverse books remain accessible to all. without them, human beings are bound by single stories that can constrain lives. it should be noted that not very many diverse books are published in the u.s. in the first place, but this disparity is especially true of books published for children and youth. the cooperative children’s book center (ccbc) found that out of 3,700 books for children published in the u.s., about 25% had main characters or subjects who were people of color or where people of color were prominently featured (n.d.). using the ccbc’s terminology, 340 books were about africans/african americans, 72 were about american indians/first nations, 310 texts were about asian pacific/asian pacific americans, and 216 titles were about latinxs (ccbc, n.d.). given that 75% of children’s books published in 2017 were focused on non-diverse stories or topics, it is a significant concern that diverse books featuring various cultural groups are so prevalent on banned and challenged booklists, especially when one considers that these book challenges do not include other types of diversity such as gender diversity or people with disabilities. for the purposes of this research, the term “challenge” refers to the process of formally requesting that a book be in some way removed from a school curriculum, school library collection, or public school collection. “challenge” is used because the books are not always censored or formally removed from the curriculum or collection. in the u.s., although there are local and institutional differences, written policy usually provides procedural guidelines for challenge cases. formal complaints are typically made by filling out a “request for reconsideration” form, which is then submitted to the institution. these requests may be escalated up the administrative ladder to a governing board. sometimes the requests culminate in a hearing in which the merits of the book are debated publicly. generally, the board makes a final decision regarding the status of the book in the institution. 26 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 book challenges can be included under what might broadly be called censorship practices, which include the redaction of text, the restriction of books to only certain age groups, the relocation of a book to another section of the library collection, or the removal of a book from the collection, entirely. redaction, restriction, relocation and removal of books from circulation in publicly accessible libraries are all censorship practices. it is also important to note that, for this study, “challenge” also refers to requests that books no longer be accessible to their intended age groups. as will be noted in the analysis section, the question of “intended age group” can be highly contested. previous research previous research on diverse books has primarily focused on questions regarding creation and publication. for example, a recent article by shea et al. (2018) discusses whether or not more diverse books are published by the “big five” u.s. corporate publishers (hachette, harpercollins, macmillan, penguin random house, and simon & schuster) or by independent publishing companies. they found that the big five are no less likely than independent publishers to publish diverse books (p. 217). other research focuses on library collection development policies, like warsinske’s (2016) overview of the availability and accessibility of multicultural picture books in library catalogs and databases such as novelist. mabbott (2017) discusses the history and development of the wndb campaign. to date, there is very little research on challenges to, or censorship of, diverse books in the u.s. as noted, lo’s (2014) study found that diverse books are often the targets of challenges in public libraries and schools in disproportionate numbers. she states: “it’s clear to me that books that fall outside the white, straight, abled mainstream are challenged more often than books that do not destabilize the status quo.” pen america (2016) published a wide-ranging report on diverse books. the “challenged books” section focuses on the 2012 challenge to beloved in fairfax county, virginia, which eventually led to a 2016 bill in the virginia legislature regarding “sexually explicit content” in the classroom (p. 9). in previous research (knox, 2015), i found that challenges reduce children’s access to books that feature protagonists who do not fit within various cultural norms in american society. the analysis in this article further states the case of the previous research cited by focusing not just on how many and which diverse books are challenged, but why people brought challenges in the first place. methodology this article centers on why and how people construct arguments against reading certain materials. this “discourse of censorship” is distinctive for its opposition to arguments for “freedom” that permeate american culture and society. by analyzing challengers’ arguments, it is possible to see how access to information is impeded through the use of language and symbolic power (bourdieu, 1991). book challenges can be understood as a type of reading practice. with this understanding in mind, this analysis is grounded in the social construction theory of berger and luckmann (1966) and schutz and luckmann (1973). according to berger, schutz and luckmann, language is the most important element for the construction, transmission, and maintenance of knowledge in society. one of the methods for this process is the development of “stocks of knowledge” which are used to frame interactions in the everyday world. “typical actions” and “types” compose these stocks of knowledge. typical actions can be characterized as maps for “getting things 27 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 done” in everyday life while types are constructions of objects that are incomplete, abstractive, relative yet still relevant. the analysis discussed below focuses on the typical action of interpreting text and “the book” as a type of object. since this research discusses how diversity is challenged and constructed in the u.s., it is important to discuss critical race theory (crt). crt originated in the legal field and centers on the relationship between power, race, and racism. delgado and stefanic (2012) write that crt “questions the very foundations of the liberal order including equality theory, legal reasoning, enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law” (p. 3). mabbott (2017) also makes the relationship between diverse books and crt with the argument that wndb fulfills essential tenets of crt through acknowledgment of “experiential knowledge” and having an “interdisciplinary” perspective” (p. 510-11). orozco (2011) discusses the “literal and (assumed) rational translations” employed by the dismantled tucson (arizona) unified school district’s mexican american studies program, where some of the program’s opponents did not give credit to “emotive interpretations” and argued that only literal translations are “sensible and reasonable” (p. 827). orozco’s work shows how the interpretive strategies of text that are used against diverse books can also be linked to issues of race and power. as will be discussed in the analysis below, this “common sense” interpretation is used throughout the discourse of people who challenge books that center on diverse identities as a whole. procedures arguments against diverse books in the study came from documents including forms, emails, and letters from the challengers that were produced through the course of challenge cases. these were obtained through state public records act requests. twenty-seven requests were sent to administrative boards across the u.s. and 11 usable responses that included the challengers’ own voices were received (see appendix). the books were all from the 2016 and 2017 ala banned books field reports by robert doyle (2016, 2017). one case, the virginia beloved case, is included because, even though it started in 2012, it continued into 2016 and was included in the field report for that year. meeting minutes were excluded since they contain only paraphrases of arguments. although all 11 responses were analyzed, most of the arguments below come from four cases which had a wide range of people involved in the challenges. the first is the virginia beloved case described above. the second is the 2017 challenge against alexie sherman’s the absolutely true diary of part-time indian in the new london-spice school district in minnesota. third is a 2016 challenge to the bluest eye in northville public schools in michigan. the fourth case, also from 2017, focuses on this day in june by gayle pitman at the west chicago public library in west chicago, illinois. in order to find common themes in these arguments, i employ discourse analysis to focus on how challengers’ arguments communicate “the constitution and construction of the world in the concrete use of signs and the underlying structural patterns or rules for the production of meaning” (keller, 2012, p. 2). all of the challengers’ arguments were analyzed for common themes using atlas.ti software for qualitative research. the analysis is an example of what keller (2012) calls culturalist discourse which focuses on how people combine symbolic power and language to effect change. codes were applied at a paragraph level for context and paragraphs often received more than one code. coding was an iterative process and both previous research and the discourse itself provided codes for analysis. in particular, i analyze how people name 28 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 themselves (e.g., as taxpayers, parents) and thereby invoke their own symbolic power and how they discuss the practice of reading. themes in the discourse of challengers to diverse books the discourse of censorship, as noted, combines symbolic power and language to effect change in the world. when people bring challenges against diverse books, the arguments are similar to those against non-diverse books, but they have a different valence. this is because the arguments made against the books often target elements that are constitutive to life as a member of a nonmajority group. some of the more common themes in all challenges include the moral decline of society, the importance of institutional support for parenting, and indoctrination (knox, 2015, 2017). two themes are presented below that characterize the arguments made against diverse books. the first focuses on the theme of “unsuitable for age group.” this reason is often given in many challenge cases but, as will be demonstrated below, has special resonance when applied to diverse books. the second theme is “provide an alternative.” this argument is difficult to respond to when used against diverse books for two reasons. first, as noted above, there are not many diverse books published. second, the requests for alternatives often focus on essential aspects of diversity that challengers prefer not to be included in replacement texts. note that only representative quotations are given for each theme. identifying information only refers to the administrative body for the case and, when more than one person is challenging the book, the date of the letter, form, or email are given (see appendix). a time stamp was also noted for multiple emails. theme 1: unsuitable for age group one of the primary arguments that diverse book challengers make is that the book is not age appropriate. i have noted before (knox, 2015) that age suitability is strongly tied to constructions of innocence in children. as stated above, this particular argument has a different resonance when discussing diverse books. what does it mean to have a book that discusses slavery in the u.s. but not its more horrific aspects? for example, here is an argument against beloved by toni morrison: throughout beloved, there is a pervasive, repetitious pattern of gratuitous “mature” content or themes that are not age appropriate for high school students. “age appropriateness” should not be construed as an attempt to unnecessarily shelter or protect students from human depravity or disturbing events that have occurred throughout history. rather, “age appropriateness” in this context, refers to the extraordinary graphic examples of mature and sexual themes, infanticide and profanity the author has chosen to include in her novel. (fairfax request exhibit a, attachment b, 2012) slavery was a moral horror and it is difficult to discuss “human depravity or disturbing events” without employing some of the literary devices that the challenger lists. the sentence below in some respects argues against the entire essential theme of beloved: this book is not age appropriate for high school students and is patently offensive 29 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 and obscene throughout the book. unconscionable acts of bestiality and graphic rape scenes pervade the entirety of the book in addition to a brutal murder of an infant child. (fairfax appeal letter, 2012) the author’s summary includes the description, “the hideous logic of slavery.” while the horrors of slavery are revealed, two additional themes that are referenced throughout the book are omitted. the reoccurring themes of deviant sexual behavior and a graphic, gruesome murder of an infant baby are as much a part of the story as the horrific effects of slavery. in fact, there are approximately eight references to bestiality (sex with cows and goats), 29 references to a violent graphic rape, 38 references to breasts, and 12 references to reproductive organs. (fairfax request exhibit a, attachment b, 2012) note that enumeration of portions of the text that are considered problematic are common in the discourse of censorship. movie ratings are used as proxies for age appropriateness in challengers’ discourse. for example, a challenger states that the hate u give should only be for teenagers older than 17 since the movie based on the book will be rated r. the following answer responds to the question: for what age group would you recommend this resource?: >17 years of age. this book is currently being made into a movie and the movie guild is projecting an r rating for the film due to language and violence. (katy isd request, 2017) below, morrison’s the bluest eye is equated to a pornographic movie as an argument for removing it from the school curriculum. i compare the bluest eye book to an xxx rated movie – not r. children should not be reading the book as it is developmentally inappropriate. an r rating would require a parental warning. since parents trust the schools to take care of their most prized little ones, they do not expect this kind of book. a warning has to be extremely obvious upon sign up of the class, and when the book comes up for reading. a few words in the course guide will not be adequate, nor will a note going home. (northville public schools, proposed resolution from challenger, 2016) as i have argued elsewhere (knox, 2015): “the mpaa’s system offers parents a marker regarding the content of a particular movie and many parents use the ratings as a benchmark for determining whether or not their children may watch a movie. the presence of the ratings system creates a sense of order and safety with regard to movies” (p. 129). this is because reading is often seen as being the same as viewing. here the argument is about morrison’s the bluest eye: finally, if the scenes of graphic pedophilic and extramarital sex described in this book would not be appropriate to view on the screen in the classroom, then they shouldn't be read in a novel. reading these accounts on the page create the same mental images that occur when viewing movies. the book is actually more offensive because it describes both the mental and emotional state of the character along with the visual cues of the act itself. (northville public schools, april 7, 2016 9:25 pm) pornography arguments are somewhat similar to movie rating arguments as they use an already established structure for restricting information: 30 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 you have to be 18 to buy porn. in the book it makes everything serious a joke. it’s not fact or sex ed. (new london spicer request, may 12, 2017) regardless of how highly acclaimed ms. morrison is as an author, this work of literature is pornographic and completely inappropriate for a classroom setting. if these exact same words were written in a playboy magazine or on a porn website, they would never be allowed into the classroom. being written in a novel does not change the content or make it any more appropriate for our children. (new london spicer request, april 12, 2016) it should be noted that there is special emphasis on age-appropriateness for books that center on lgbtq people and issues. this is not surprising as some argue that any discussion of such topics is necessarily about sexual matters. here are three arguments, made by different challengers, against this day in june by gayle pitman: please remove “this day in june” from our children’s book section. it is very disturbing and not suitable for young children as early as 3 finding this on our shelves. (west chicago public library form, august 7, 2017) the book, out this month, aims to teach children respect and understanding of lgbt people and families by showcasing a pride parade of facts on its pages. the book also includes age-specific advice to parents and caregivers on how to talk to children and even teenagers about sexual orientation and gender identity. i demand that this book be moved to the education section of the library, not showcased in the children’s fiction section. (west chicago public library form, august 21, 2017) this book is not age appropriate. my reasons are two-fold: for some time i’ve been discouraged by the content of the children’s section of west chicago public library, noticing a trend away from the classics and tried-and-true literature i’ve come to know and love which i desire to pass onto my homeschooled children, and towards a preponderance of occult fantasy literature which i don’t want my children to read. when i heard that this book was being added to the collection, my discouragement became more frustrated. second, i feel strongly that adult human sexuality is not an appropriate topic for children’s books, no matter what the “orientation” of the adults in question may be. heterosexual, homosexual, lesbian, gay, straight, transgender, these are not appropriate topics for the developing young minds of children. (west chicago public library statement, august 28, 2017) it is, of course, impossible for a book on lgbtq topics not to discuss human sexuality in some respects because, by definition, this is an integral part of the lgbq—if not the t—experience. also note that these arguments take the viewpoint that books about heterosexual and genderconforming children do not discuss human sexuality. the argument below has an interesting twist that demonstrates this conundrum. the challenger argues that the book is age appropriate and therefore not okay: i was surprised to find that the book is dedicated to explaining to very young children what a gay pride parade is about. it features men holding hands, women wearing bras 31 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 with no shirt, men wearing leather, as well as men in drag. despite believing the topics covered in this book are inappropriate for my daughters at their young age, this book was right on their level. (west chicago public library form, july 19, 2017) for this challenger, children simply should not be introduced to non-dominant sexual and gender identities. theme 2: something (anything) else would be better related to the idea that books are inappropriate even when they discuss topics that are essential to diverse identities is the argument that another book would be able to convey the same story. this, of course, relates to adichie’s idea of the single story—that any story about someone who has a non-dominant identity will suffice. this argument can be seen in the quotation below: in terms of materials that ghetto-ize blacks, we have that more than covered in northville, and we need to treat african americans equally and have books that detail good things they have done. martin luther king is not the only african american person that has even[sic] done anything great. how about gifted hands by dr. ben carson – a detroit native that became a world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon and recently ran for president of the united states? an excellent book about overcoming poverty and the importance of learning. developing minds are heavily impacted by the books they read. let’s give them some great messages to learn from. a true literary analysis of the bluest eye, which is not pulitzer prize winning as was said last week, by the way, could be made when a brain is fully developed, and the reader has had more life experiences. reading the book as a teen, especially all the graphic descriptions of child rape, can be many things other than educationally helpful to a child. (northville public schools proposed resolution, april 12, 2016) here the challenger argues that the african american experience is a single story. ben carson’s memoir is similar and would convey the same message as morrison’s the bluest eye even though one is non-fiction, the other fiction, one discusses a year in a young girl’s life, the other a man’s journey to adulthood. in the following quotation, the challenger states that since other works are suitable for children to read for the assignment, then the bluest eye should simply be removed from the curriculum: first of all, there are many valuable works of literature that could be substituted for this book. mr. cronin said that students who choose to opt‐out of reading “the bluest eye” will have two or more choices of texts to substitute from. so, there are obviously many options that will offer students a comparable learning experience without exposing them to the graphic, explicit, sexually dysfunctional acts this book portrays as enjoyable and pleasurable. it isn’t about legally banning the bluest eye, but about changing the curriculum in order to protect our children. (northville public schools email, april 7, 2016) this argument presents a problem for teachers and librarians. the bluest eye is the preferred text but due to the coercive nature of curricula and parental involvement, other books can be used. however, the presence of this alternative provides a structure for arguing for the removal 32 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 of the targeted book altogether. in general challengers tend to recommend books that are banal. although these books have their place, they rarely grapple with the human condition: toot and puddle, the cat in the hat, curious george, goodnight moon, amelia bedelia, these books and other like them deal with themes of friendship of children, what happens when children make a mess and parents aren't there to see how horrible it is right away, curiosity which sometimes leads to trouble but is resolved in the end, comical exploits of someone who doesn't understand language and colloquial expression quite yet…these are appropriate topics for children's literature. (west chicago public library statement, august 28, 2017) overall the themes in this discourse of censorship against diverse books center on the idea that an entirely different story should be told, one that does not necessarily tell the truth of what it means to be a person with minority identity. for example, the following quotations discuss alexie’s book: we have no problem with students reading a novel about how a young person overcame the challenges of physical disabilities, bullying, a dysfunctional family, and difficult situations on his indian reservation and how he ultimately achieved a successful career. we object to this book, however, because it contains gratuitous and unnecessary passages describing masturbation, profanity, and taking god's name in vain. parents have the right to teach their own values to their children regarding these topics and have no assurance that a classroom teacher would teach those same values (new london-spicer letter, may 8, 2017). please instruct the eighth-grade teacher to replace “the absolutely true diary of a parttime indian" with a similar book that does not contain passages that conflict with the traditional family values held by many in this community (new london-spicer letter 2, may 8, 2017). i do not believe we send our young minds to be victimized to read such immoral drivel. problems on the rez. [sic] can be brought forth in many other ways. it is totally abhorrent that i must come forward on this. it should never have been a part of the curriculum (new london spicer form, may 15, 2017) i am not looking to discredit life on the reservation. i am against the language used (new london-spicer request, may 15, 2017). these arguments all demonstrate the contradictory notion that, yes, there is hardship when one lives on a reservation, but it should not be portrayed in a realistic manner. as with morrison’s books, it is difficult to think of how “physical disabilities, bullying, a dysfunctional family, and difficult situations” would be portrayed without aspects of the story that are objectionable to challengers. the question of the nature of truth is often part of challengers’ discourse. elsewhere (knox, 2015), i have demonstrated that challengers tend to make a strong correlation between the written word and truth. in essence, challengers of all types tend to argue that the books must contain moral truths. in addition, fiction is seen as “untrue” and therefore not as valuable as 33 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 nonfiction. this argument is found in the quotation below: furthermore, the fact that beloved is fictional and that there is little to no documentary evidence to suggest that sexual perversity and infanticide existed on such a grand scale during the time of slavery than at other times in history, fcps should find this novel inappropriate for high school students. if fcps believes that it is important for students to understand slavery and appreciate the role of infanticide throughout history from roman times, biblical times and even today in modern day china, then these topics should be addressed without the fictional references to gratuitous sex. (fairfax request exhibit a, attachment b, 2012) this challenger also states the following “although the likely intended messages of the dehumanization of slavery are likely to come across clearly, the book also brings up many issues of sexuality, including rape and bestiality” (fairfax request exhibit a, attachment b, 2012). for many, these concepts are inherently combined. it is not surprising that, as the above challenger notes “sexuality is used as a form of power and control by many characters in the book, and sexuality is a major subject matter in the book.” this power and control were, of course, integral to the institution of slavery. without books that grapple with these subjects, the voices of members of diverse populations are removed from society. silenced stories during banned books week 2018, entertainment weekly (ew) published a short interview of the hate u give’s author, angie thomas. ew’s david canfield (2018) stated there was “hardly a better novel to discuss” than the hate u give. after reviewing the katy, texas, challenge case and offering some background on what people find objectionable about the book. canfield noted: thomas believes it’s too important to ignore and reminds that the book is written for and targeted to an adolescent audience. ‘we have to have discussions about police brutality. . . . honestly, there is a fear among some parents— i’ll just say it: white parents— who say, ‘i’m not sure my child is ready for this,’ thomas explains. ‘the fact is, black parents are [needing] to have these conversations with their 9-and 10-year-olds about the subject matter in this book. i need white children to be aware of that.’ (2018) one of the most striking aspects of challengers’ arguments against diverse books is that, generally speaking, the topic of the book is fine, but—according to the challenger—the story should be presented in some other way that does not really engage the topic. this stipulation is less true of books that center on lgbtq protagonists where challengers argue that the topic should simply not be addressed at all. as demonstrated throughout the themes discussed above, what the challengers want is a sanitized view of diverse peoples’ stories—one that does not take into account what it means to have a non-dominant identity in american society. although challengers are clearly driven by their concern for children, if their requests are granted, the challenge results in the silencing of diverse voices. it is incumbent upon librarians and teachers to protect diverse voices in their libraries and schools. as shannon oltmann (2017) notes “having diverse perspectives represented in one’s library can help fulfill the ideal of intellectual freedom” (p. 415). this can be accomplished in two different ways. first, it is important to recommit to the principle of supporting intellectual freedom. support for intellectual freedom is codified in the ala code of ethics and library bill 34 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 of rights. second, be sure to have robust policies that reflect this principle. the intellectual freedom manual (magi et al., 2015) recommends five policies that every library should have: one for collection development and resource reconsideration, another policy for use of meeting rooms and exhibit spaces, an internet use policy, a policy concerning user privacy and confidentiality, and finally, a user behavior and library use policy. most important for protecting diverse voices are the collection development and resource reconsideration policies. these actions are imperative for ensuring that people are exposed to more than just a “single story” (adichie, 2009). the lives of “lgbtqia, native, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities*, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities” (wndb, n.d.) must be told. all people deserve both windows and mirrors that describe the human condition and that cannot be accomplished when diverse voices are silenced. endnotes 1 the book was returned to katy independent school district shelves in january 2018. appendix foia requests book date of challenge state administrative body documents received absolutely true diary of a part-time indian 2017 il alton high school policy, meeting minutes, emails iqbal 2016 tx argyle independent school district no response my world history 2017 fl brevard county no responsive documents the hate u give 2018 sc charleston county schools no responsive documents jacob's new dress 2017 nc charlotte mecklenburg schools emails, meeting notes tyrell 2016 va chesterfield county public schools no response push 2016 va chesterfield county public schools no response dope sick 2016 va chesterfield county public schools no response absolutely true diary of a part-time indian 2017 ca cornejo valley unified school district board video absolutely true diary of a part-time indian 2017 nv democracy prep no responsive documents buck 2107 md digital harbor high school no responsive documents (only response) a lesson before dying 2017 fl dixie county challenge form 35 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 book date of challenge state administrative body documents received bad boy 2017 fl duval county challenge form beloved 2016 va fairfax county public schools challenge, emails, response morris micklewhite and the tangerine dress 2016 mi forest hills public school district no response you're in the wrong bathroom 2017 il geneva public library challenge, board docs the hate u give 2017 tx katy independent school district challenge form i know why the caged bird sings 2016 il lemont illinois high school district 210 emails go tell it on the mountain 2016 il lemont illinois high school district 210 emails the god of small things 2016 il lemont illinois high school district 210 emails the land 2016 fl marion county public schools no response absolutely true diary of a part-time indian 2017 mn new london-spicer school district forms, emails the bluest eye 2017 nc north buncome high school meeting notes, request for reconsideration the bluest eye 2016 mi northville public schools forms, emails, resolution the perks of being a wallflower 2016 fl pasco middle school emails liberation of gabriel king 2017 fl pinellas country emails i am jazz 2017 ca rocklin academy no responsive documents red: a crayon story 2017 ca rocklin academy no responsive documents absolutely true diary of a part-time indian 2017 wi sauk prairie schools emails is he a girl? 2017 nc union county public school district no response george 2017 ks wichita school district no responsive documents this day in june 2017 il west chicago public library emails 28 requests 11 responses 36 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 references adichie, c. n. (2009). the danger of a single story. retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story alexie, s. (2007). the absolutely true diary of a part-time indian. new york, ny: little, brown. american library association office for intellectual freedom. (2017, april 6). top 10 most challenged books of 2017: resources & graphics. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/nlw-top10 aragon, r.-a. (2017, december 6). katy isd pulls book from junior high, high school libraries. retrieved from https://www.click2houston.com/news/katy-isd-pulls-book-from-juniorhigh-high-school-libraries asher, j. (2007). thirteen reasons why. new york, ny: razorbill. berger, p. l., & luckmann, t. (1966). the social construction of reality. new york, ny: anchor books. bishop, r. s. (1990). mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. perspectives, 6(3), ix–xi. bourdieu, p. (1991). language and symbolic power (g. raymond, trans.). cambridge, ma: harvard university press. canfield, d. (2018, september 26). the hate u give author angie thomas on why it’s wrong to ban her black lives matter novel. retrieved from https://ew.com/books/2018/09/26/angie-thomas-banned-books-week/ cooperative children’s book center. (n.d.). publishing statistics on children’s books about people of color and first/native nations and by people of color and first/native nations authors and illustrators. retrieved from http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp delgado, r., & stefancic, j. (2012). critical race theory: an introduction (2nd ed.). new york, ny: new york university press. doyle, r. p. (2016). field report 2016: banned and challenged books. chicago, il: american library association. doyle, r. p. (2017). field report 2017: banned and challenged books. chicago, il: american library association. gino, a. (2015). george. new york, ny: scholastic press. gomez, b. (2018, september 6). banned spotlight: the hate u give. retrieved from https://bannedbooksweek.org/banned-spotlight-the-hate-u-give/ herthel, j., & jennings, j. (2014). i am jazz. new york, ny: dial. hosseini, k. (2003). the kite runner. london, uk: bloomsbury. 37 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/nlw-top10 https://www.click2houston.com/news/katy-isd-pulls-book-from-junior-high-high-school-libraries https://www.click2houston.com/news/katy-isd-pulls-book-from-junior-high-high-school-libraries https://ew.com/books/2018/09/26/angie-thomas-banned-books-week/ http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp https://bannedbooksweek.org/banned-spotlight-the-hate-u-give/ silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 keller, r. (2012). doing discourse research: an introduction for social scientists. thousand oaks, ca: sage. knox, e. j. m. (2015). book banning in 21st-century america. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. knox, e. (2016, september 29). banned books are often diverse books. check the stats. retrieved from http://www.slj.com/?detailstory=banned-books-are-often-diversebooks-check-the-stats knox, e. j. m. (2017). indoctrination and common sense interpretation of texts: the tucson unified school district book banning. journal of intellectual freedom & privacy, 2(2), 11–22. leah, r. (2018, july 11). south carolina cops vs. "the hate u give": police challenge books over police brutality content. retrieved from https://www.salon.com/2018/07/11/southcarolina-cops-vs-the-hate-u-give-police-challenge-books-over-police-brutality-content/ lee, h. (1960). to kill a mockingbird. philadelphia, pa: j. b. lippincott. lo, m. (2014, september 18). book challenges suppress diversity. retrieved from http://www.diversityinya.com/2014/09/book-challenges-suppress-diversity/ mabbott, c. (2017). the we need diverse books campaign and critical race theory: charlemae rollins and the call for diverse children’s books. library trends, 65(4), 508–522. magi, t. j. & garnar, m. (2015). intellectual freedom manual. chicago, il: american library association. morrison, t. (1970). the bluest eye. new york, ny: holt, rinehart & winston. oltmann, s. (2017). creating space at the table: intellectual freedom can bolster diverse voices. the library quarterly, 87(4), 410–418. orozco, r. a. (2011). ‘it is certainly strange…’: attacks on ethnic studies and whiteness as property. journal of education policy, 26(6), 819–838. parnell, p., & richardson, j. (2005). and tango makes three. new york, ny: simon & schuster. pen america. (2016, august 31). missing from the shelf: book challenges and lack of diversity in children’s literature. retrieved from https://pen.org/missing-from-the-shelf-bookchallenges-and-lack-of-diversity-in-childrens-literature/ pitman, g. (2014). this day in june. washington, dc: magination press. schutz, a., & luckmann, t. (1973). the structures of the life world. evanston, il: northwestern university press. sex is a funny word. (n.d.). retrieved from https://www.corysilverberg.com/sex-is-a-funnyword/ 38 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.slj.com/?detailstory=banned-books-are-often-diverse-books-check-the-stats http://www.slj.com/?detailstory=banned-books-are-often-diverse-books-check-the-stats https://www.salon.com/2018/07/11/south-carolina-cops-vs-the-hate-u-give-police-challenge-books-over-police-brutality-content/ https://www.salon.com/2018/07/11/south-carolina-cops-vs-the-hate-u-give-police-challenge-books-over-police-brutality-content/ http://www.diversityinya.com/2014/09/book-challenges-suppress-diversity/ https://pen.org/missing-from-the-shelf-book-challenges-and-lack-of-diversity-in-childrens-literature/ https://pen.org/missing-from-the-shelf-book-challenges-and-lack-of-diversity-in-childrens-literature/ https://www.corysilverberg.com/sex-is-a-funny-word/ https://www.corysilverberg.com/sex-is-a-funny-word/ silencing stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32592 shea, n., mulvihill, g., la bianca, v., & hanchar, a. (2018). who is publishing diverse books best? publishing research quarterly, 34(2), 207–217. silverberg, c. (2015). sex is a funny word: a book about bodies, feelings, and you. new york, ny: seven stories press. telgemeier, r. (2012). drama. new york, ny: graphix. thomas, a. (2017). the hate u give. new york, ny: balzer + bray. warinske, a. s. (2016). missing multiculturalism: finding diverse picture books for a library collection. against the grain, 28(4), 25–26. we need diverse books. (n.d.). about wndb. retrieved from https://diversebooks.org/aboutwndb/ emily j. m. knox (knox@illinois.edu) is an associate professor in the school of information sciences at the university of illinois at urbana-champaign. her research interests include information access, intellectual freedom and censorship, information ethics, information policy, and the intersection of print culture and reading practices. her research has been published in the library quarterly, library and information science research, and the journal of intellectual freedom and privacy. emily serves on the boards of the association for information science & technology (asis&t), freedom to read foundation and the national coalition against censorship. 39 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://diversebooks.org/about-wndb/ https://diversebooks.org/about-wndb/ mailto:knox@illinois.edu introduction diverse books and book challenges previous research methodology procedures themes in the discourse of challengers to diverse books theme 1: unsuitable for age group theme 2: something (anything) else would be better silenced stories endnotes appendix foia requests references health insurance literacy and health disparities in the united states: a literature review the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33012 health insurance literacy and health disparities in the united states: a literature review emily vardell, emporia state university, usa abstract this paper presents a literature review of health insurance literacy with a focus on specialized populations in the u.s. and how limited health literacy skills exacerbate health disparities. this discussion places this issue within the context of contemporary u.s. health care reform and makes connections between health insurance coverage and health disparities. this overview of the research on health insurance literacy covers research across the health insurance spectrum, from awareness of health insurance options to assessments of health literacy skills in specific populations as well as from readability of health insurance informational materials to the availability of multilingual services. in exploring the demographic variables associated with lower health insurance literacy skills, this paper reviews the body of current research in this area to make connections between populations more likely to have unequal access to health care and how having limited skills in navigating the u.s. health care system may compound these disparities. in addition, this paper proposes an integrated framework for health insurance literacy as a method for further studying the connections between demographic factors, health coverage, health status, and health insurance literacy skills. keywords: health disparities; health information; health insurance literacy; health justice publication type: review article background n the u.s., private health insurance is the most common mechanism by which individuals protect themselves from the tremendously high costs of medical care due to severe illness or accident (kaiser family foundation, 2008). when an individual has health insurance, the person can use this coverage to subsidize the cost of a visit to their physician. in the case of a physician visit, the insurance company will pay a portion of the cost (sometimes dependent on whether the physician is in the insurance company's preferred network) and the individual will pay a remaining portion (i.e., a copay). employer-sponsored insurance (esi) is the most common way individuals are insured in the u.s., with 150 million americans obtaining employer-sponsored coverage each year (kaiser family foundation, 2016). esi is an economically effective system in that it allows companies to have a diverse group of people (often of mixed ages and health statuses) and provides a convenient risk pool. this reduces administrative costs and allows employees to cancel out each other’s risk. health care coverage in the u.s. is unique to the country; most other industrialized nations have a national health care system with universal coverage. for example, in the united kingdom, coverage is universal with the majority of funding coming from general taxation and a smaller amount coming from a payroll tax for national insurance. approximately 10.5% of the population i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index health insurance literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33012 in the u.k. also has private voluntary insurance, seen as a method for obtaining more rapid access to care (thorlby & arora, 2019). similarly, germany has mandatory health coverage with competing, not-for-profit, nongovernmental health insurance funds options as well as private health insurance. in japan, citizens are covered with a universal statutory health insurance system with a majority of the population also obtaining private health insurance in a supplementary capacity. israel's national health insurance system automatically covers citizens and permanent residents, all of whom select from four competing, nonprofit plans. each year, americans with esi must select their preferred insurance coverage option from a handful of choices made available to them through their employers. these decisions are often made with only summary of benefits and coverage (sbc) forms as guides. sbc forms are designed to provide standardized information about different options to enable employees to select their optimal option. assessments of health insurance informational materials have demonstrated high literacy demands (pati et al., 2012; vardell, 2013), indicating that individuals with lower health literacy levels may not have the skills necessary to interpret sbc forms. in addition, there is a growing trend in u.s. health care to encourage healthy individuals to enroll in consumer-directed health plans. consumer-directed health plans (cdhps), or low copay, high deductible plans, require enrollees to compare costs between providers and treatment options. those who do not have high levels of health insurance literacy may not have the skills to participate effectively in a consumer-directed health plan, leading to potential diminished ability to save on health care costs. underpinning health insurance choice research is the idea that individuals should select the health care coverage that matches their anticipated health care utilization. health insurance companies should, in a fair market, compete to attract subscribers with a financially competitive offering. however, consumers are often unable to select what can be considered their most financially appropriate option given their anticipated health care costs. consequently, the competition in the market is minimized and “naïve consumers pay prices substantially above marginal cost, and effectively subsidize sophisticated consumers who are able to exploit the mispricing” (loewenstein et al., 2013, p. 851). if an individual pays a regular monthly premium for coverage that far exceeds their anticipated cost, they are not getting the maximum value for their money. on the other hand, if an individual selects health insurance coverage that offsets more of the costs to the consumer (an ideal design for those who require minimal health care services) and then uses a high level of health care services, they will pay higher medical bills than if they had selected a coverage option that required higher monthly premiums but lower costs at the point-of-care. individuals may also demonstrate preferences to pay different types of costs (vardell, 2017); for example, some individuals demonstrate a preference for paying a deductible over paying a monthly premium, even if from an objective observer a different plan would be more fiscally appropriate. employees have been making health insurance decisions for many years, and now the affordable care act (aca) has brought the issues of health insurance literacy to the spotlight. through the aca, millions of previously uninsured persons are making health insurance choices and using health care coverage for the first time, and americans with employer-sponsored insurance have seen a change in coverage benefits (patient protection & affordable care act, 2010). while health literacy and its ramifications on understanding general health information have 7 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index health insurance literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33012 been studied extensively (paasche-orlow, parker, gazmararian, nielsen-bohlman, & rudd, 2005), only a limited amount of research has been focused on health insurance literacy. in fact, though it may seem apparent that many individuals lack clear understanding of their health insurance, it is a “widely perceived but poorly documented problem” (loewenstein et al., 2013, p. 851). one of the first formally proposed definitions of health insurance literacy describes it as “the extent to which consumers can make informed purchase and use decisions” (kim, braun, & williams, 2013, p. 3). for the 77 million adults with basic or below basic health literacy (kutner, greenburg, jin, & paulsen, 2006), their ability to procure appropriate levels of health insurance coverage and interact with the health care system successfully may be limited. initial research in this area has shown that health insurance information materials are not written with low-literacy users in mind (pati et al., 2012; vardell, 2013). patients may have difficulties navigating the intricacies of health insurance demands, such as selecting a physician within the insurance company’s preferred network, understanding what types of care are included at no extra cost (e.g., preventive services), and considering using prescription medications that are on the insurance company’s preferred list of medications. participants in vardell’s 2017 study revealed delaying or avoiding care due to high medical care costs and not understanding what coverage was included in their insurance plans. connections between health insurance coverage and health disparities access to health insurance and health care coverage are vital in addressing health disparities. a study of citizens in massachusetts demonstrated overall improvements in individuals’ selfassessed health following massachusetts’ health care reform which required universal coverage of all citizens and which is an antecedent model for the affordable care act (courtemanche & zapata, 2014). physical health, mental health, joint disorders, and body mass index were all demonstrated to improve following health care reform. in addition, the improvements were strongest for people with lower incomes, nonwhites, and near-elderly adults, many of whom have been shown to be more greatly affected by health disparities. this initial study by courtemanche and zapata demonstrates promise for health care reform as a method for reducing health care disparities. however, the disconnect between insurance plan literacy demands and the literacy levels of enrollees may increase health disparities and health care costs among a large portion of the population (miller, 2007). the connection between health care reform and health insurance literacy is highlighted in this quote from the u.s. department of health and human services (2008): “the success of health system reform will depend in large part on the capacity of individuals, families, and communities to make informed decisions about their health” (p. 7). health care reform is a significant piece in addressing health disparities, but improving consumer health insurance literacy may be equally essential. methods to explore the connection between health insurance literacy and health disparities, the author conducted a literature review, which is presented in this paper. related terms including health insurance, health policy, and health literacy were searched in pubmed, web of science, lexisnexis, rand publication database, business source complete, and pais international. articles were reviewed individually to determine relevance. in addition, the author used web of knowledge to perform citation chaining of the most relevant articles, identifying additional 8 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index health insurance literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33012 articles for inclusion. literature review this literature review will discuss literacy concerns across the health insurance process, beginning with awareness of health insurance and followed by a discussion of large-scale assessments of health insurance literacy. a discussion of the literacy demands in the health insurance process, with a focus on the readability of health insurance informational materials and forms, will follow. awareness of health insurance the first step in effective use of the health care system is awareness of the available resources. federman et al. (2009) conducted a study of inner-city seniors to determine awareness of pharmaceutical cost-assistance programs, such as medicaid supplemental programs. the researchers interviewed inner-city seniors about their awareness of programs, participation in health insurance presentations, and other demographic factors. male gender, black race, inadequate health literacy (measured using the short test of functional health literacy in adults), and receiving care in a clinic setting (as opposed to private or group practice) were associated with low awareness of cost-assistance programs. study participants who had heard a live presentation about health insurance were more likely to be aware of such programs. the authors suggest that their findings support the “use of live presentations, in addition to health literacy materials and messages, [as] . . . important strategies in promoting knowledge of and enrollment in state and federal pharmaceutical cost-assistance programs for low-income seniors” (p. 127-129). this study underscores the importance of first knowing that programs exist. a lack of knowledge about such programs, particularly among african-americans and those accessing care in public clinics, could further exacerbate unequal access to health care coverage and access that has already been identified among minority populations (u.s. department of health and human services, 2001). measurements of health literacy and health insurance literacy in addition to assessing awareness of health insurance, researchers have also assessed health insurance skills using a variety of metrics and approaches outlined in this section. in large studies of health insurance literacy levels, individuals who struggled the most with understanding health care are more likely to be 65 years or older and/or ethnic minorities (kutner et al., 2006; mccormack, bann, uhrig, berkman, & rudd, 2009). these studies also show mixed results in regards to the role of gender in health insurance literacy levels. additional populations identified as more likely to have lower levels of health literacy levels include those having spoken a language besides english prior to formal education (kutner et al, 2006), adults from a lower socio-economic level and those who reported a lower health status (mccormack et al., 2009); individuals with lower levels of education, younger americans, and the uninsured (norton, hamel, and brodie, 2014). in the 2003 national assessment of adult literacy (naal, the largest-scale measurement of health literacy in the united states to date), more than one quarter of the population with employerbased insurance demonstrated little to no “simple and concrete literacy skills” (kutner et al., 2006, p. 5). while the greatest percentage of adults with employer, military, or private insurance had intermediate or proficient health literacy, individuals with u.s. government-sponsored 9 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index health insurance literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33012 medicare, medicaid, or no insurance had the greatest percentage of below basic health literacy (more than half of that population had basic or below basic health literacy skills; 25% had basic health literacy and 28% had below basic literacy). this statistic demonstrates the compounding nature of health disparities; not only do these individuals have limited access to health care, but they also have lower skill levels for interacting in the system effectively. in addition, individuals who struggle the most with understanding health care information were more likely to be 65 years or older, male, african american or hispanic, and/or have spoken another language besides english prior to formal education. mccormack et al. (2009) used principles of financial literacy, coupled with previous research on health literacy, to examine health insurance literacy in their study sample of 1,202 medicare beneficiaries participating in the longitudinal medicare current beneficiary survey. their group created a two-part instrument to assess health insurance literacy, including questions designed to gauge prior knowledge and familiarity with health insurance terminology and questions aimed at assessing proficiency using the medicare insurance system (as their focus was on older adults). in the proficiency exercises designed by mccormack et al. (2009), the questions requiring interpretation of the medicare explanation of benefits form proved to be the most difficult. the authors demonstrated that “certain vulnerable subgroups also had significantly lower levels of health insurance literacy relative to their counterparts” (p. 236), including adults over the age of 85, women, ethnic minorities, adults from a lower socio-economic level, and those who reported a lower health status. a 2005 systematic review of health literacy research corroborates these 2009 findings, as it demonstrated that lower levels of health literacy are associated with levels of education, ethnicity, and age; however, the systematic review also demonstrated that lower health literacy is not associated with gender or measurement instrument (paasche-orlow et al., 2005). the relationship between gender and health insurance literacy may require additional research due to conflicting findings, some of which show males with lower health insurance literacy (federman et al, 2009; kutner et al., 2006; politi et al., 2014), while others show women with lower levels (mccormack et al., 2009). politi et al. (2014) examined 51 uninsured adults’ (mostly low-income and african-american) health insurance literacy and preferences using semi-structured interviews. the participants demonstrated minimal understanding of common health insurance terminology (coinsurance, deductible, out-of-pocket maximum, prior authorization, and formulary were the least familiar terms). participants with no previous history of health insurance demonstrated lower health insurance literacy than those who had previously been insured. in addition, their study demonstrated that those with lower general health literacy also had poorer understanding of insurance-specific topics. in an examination of the strategies that participants used to understand health insurance terms, politi et al. observed that about half of their participants connected concepts from non-health contexts to understand the terminology. for example, participants recognized the term “deductible” from car insurance and “referral” from searching for jobs. these results suggest that providing context around terminology may aid in understanding these complex concepts. in 2014, norton, hamel, and brodie at the kaiser family foundation conducted a large-scale assessment of americans’ familiarity with health insurance terms and concepts by surveying 1,292 u.s. adults. overall, 52% of the public were able to answer 7 out of 10 questions correctly. however, 28% answered four or fewer questions correctly, 8% gave no correct answers, and only 10 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index health insurance literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33012 4% answered all 10 questions correctly. the questions that drew upon individuals’ numeracy skills to calculate out-of-pocket expenses proved to be the most difficult. demographically, individuals with lower levels of education, younger americans, and the uninsured scored lower on the health insurance literacy quiz. their findings of younger americans scoring lower on health insurance literacy suggests the need for additional research in this area, as the majority of health insurance literacy research has not included this population in their studies and have instead identified older age as relating to lower health insurance literacy skills. relatedly, wong et al. (2015) used semi-structured interview techniques to assess young adults’ understanding of health insurance terms and to identify participants’ perceived advantages and disadvantages of obtaining health insurance coverage. in their participant group of 33 young adults between the ages of 19 and 30, participants demonstrated poor health insurance literacy skills, with 48% incorrectly defining deductible and 78% incorrectly defining coinsurance. when the researchers asked participants to self-rate their ability to understand health insurance terminology, confidence was poorly correlated with true understanding of the concepts. costsharing concepts, such as deductibles, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket maximums were particularly confusing for their group of participants. readability of health insurance materials in addition to broader measurements of health insurance literacy, researchers have also assessed the readability of health insurance materials and individuals’ interactions with these resources. yin et al. (2009) extracted data from the 2003 naal to explore the ability of parents of young children to fill out health insurance forms. in this population of 6,100 parents, 68.4% were unable to complete a health insurance form properly, and 65.9% were unable to calculate the annual cost of a health insurance policy on the basis of family size. perhaps it follows logically that the parents with below-basic health literacy were more likely to have a child without health insurance in their household. the authors conclude that given the large proportion of u.s. parents with low health literacy, “decreasing literacy demands on parents, including simplification of health insurance and other medical forms . . . is needed to decrease healthcare access barriers for children and . . . ameliorate existing child health disparities” (p. s289). researchers have also assessed the reading levels of medicaid and other health care plan applications. pati et al. (2012) examined compliance of medicaid-renewal applications to the established state reading level guidelines. as of 2008, 45 states had reading level guidelines for the medicaid-related materials, yet 24 (52.2%) of the states failed to meet their own guidelines on three readability tests (the flesch-kincaid grade level index, developed by the u.s. navy to indicate how difficult a passage is to understand; new fog count, a revised and easier-to-use version of the flesch-kincaid; and forcast, the only readability test not designed for running narrative and instead suitable for measuring the readability of forms). as the authors emphasize, “complying with established reading level guidelines for medicaid-related materials is one simplification strategy that should be implemented to improve access” (p. 297). wallace, devoe, and hansen (2011) conducted a more holistic assessment of children’s health insurance program (chip) applications by assessing reading demands, layout characteristics, and document complexity. they assessed these characteristics of online english-language (n = 50) and spanish-language (n = 39) medicaid/chip enrollment applications through lexile analyzer (to assess reading demands), the user-friendliness tool (to assess layout), and the pmose/ikirsch scale (to assess document complexity). while the low-literacy guidelines state that applications 11 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index health insurance literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33012 should be written at a 6th grade or lower reading level and using a font of 12 points or larger, the results showed that the application ‘‘signature’’ pages were written at a high school reading level and only five enrollment applications (5.6%) consistently used a 12-point or larger font size throughout. wallace et al. determined that document complexity was above recommended levels, with the majority of the applications ranking highly difficult. in addition, the authors noted that to increase access for all populations, every state should provide an online spanishlanguage version of the medicaid/chip enrollment application, whereas at the time of their study only 39 of the states provided a spanish-language version. to address these demonstrated gaps, gazmararian, beditz, pisano, and carreón (2010), comprising a team of researchers from emory university and america’s health insurance plans, sought to develop a health literacy assessment tool for health plans. gazmararian et al. designed the tool to serve as a benchmark to address the “magnitude and consequences of low health literacy . . . [and] the role health plans are playing and the activities they undertake to address this problem” (p. 93). the areas of focus were identified through discussion with health plan representatives and a brief survey of health plans. through this work they proposed six main areas of evaluation: information for members/navigation, member services/communication, web navigation, forms, nurse call line, and nurse case/disease management. they conducted a pilot study of their assessment tool on eight health plans. after incorporating reactions from this pilot study, the researchers launched the full assessment tool in 2009 (emory university, 2010). lawson, carreón, veselovskiy, and escarce (2011) explored the role of culturally and linguistically appropriate services (clas) in health insurance literacy. they surveyed 123 health plans about collecting language preference data and determined that 74.0% of health plans collected language data on preferred and primary languages (commercial 60.0%, medicaid 89.1%, medicare 91.7%). nearly all of the health plans reported offering language services, including interpretation services via phone, multilingual informational handouts, and access to bilingual providers. the authors suggested that the “availability of a full range of culturally and linguistically appropriate health care services is essential for overcoming barriers and accessing timely care” (p. e479). providing these types of services is one way in which health disparities might be addressed in populations in which english is not the native language. beyond challenges with the readability of materials, there may be a lack of appropriate information for specific populations that are more likely to face health disparities due to their health status. in lindner, rowland, spurlock, dorn, & davis’ (2018) study of disability advocates, participants highlighted a lack of information to help people with disabilities understand specific plan characteristics and choose the most appropriate plan. in some reported cases, individuals with disabilities often selected plans that minimized monthly premiums without recognizing this would lead to higher copayments and, therefore, restricted health care access. those creating health insurance informational materials should assess not only the readability of provided materials but also the information available for those in specific populations that may require specialized medical care. proposing an integrated framework for health insurance literacy there are currently two published models of health insurance literacy. mccormack et al.’s (2009) conceptual framework for health insurance literacy focuses more on specific, individual background characteristics, such as health status and demographics (including age, education, race, and culture), that might be identified as traits attributed to differences in health insurance 12 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index health insurance literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33012 literacy skills (e.g., lower levels of education has been shown to be correlated with lower health insurance literacy levels). paez et al.’s (2014) health insurance literacy conceptual model includes more domain-specific tasks, such as completing health insurance forms, calculating cost-sharing, and other insurance-related skills to model the concept. barnes, hanoch, and rice (2015) stress the multi-dimensionality of this topic, stating that health insurance literacy is “likely influenced by cognitive abilities consumers possess (e.g., numeracy) and the amount of information available in the decision environment” (p. 60). it may be necessary to combine multiple models to create a fuller picture of health insurance literacy, understanding both the individual characteristics as well as individual abilities that form an individual’s health insurance literacy. mccormack et al.’s conceptual framework for health insurance literacy using data collected from 1,202 medicare beneficiaries, mccormack et al. (2009) developed a conceptual framework for health insurance literacy to "integrate a range of healthand insurance-related variables" (p. 227). their model includes factors such as health status, age, education, race, culture, financial literacy, numeracy, health literacy, and health care decisionmaking. the inclusion of demographic factors supports further research into the connections between aspects such as age, education, race, and culture and the ability to interact with health insurance materials. since mccormack et al.’s conclusions were drawn from a population of older adults, only 12.7% of whom were under age 65, further studies should be conducted to extend the implications to a wider group. the framework developed by mccormack et al. is novel in that it was the first to model health insurance literacy. in addition, it combines multiple facets, such as demographic factors, financial literacy, and health literacy, building on strong areas of research ripe for further exploration in a new context. paez et al.’s health insurance literacy conceptual model paez et al. (2014) created a health insurance literacy conceptual model which identifies knowledge, information seeking, document literacy, and cognitive skills as the four domains that impact individuals’ health insurance literacy, with self-efficacy as an underlying domain. these domains were identified through a combination of a literature review, key informant interviews, and a stakeholder group of subject experts. they are operationalized in paez et al.’s health insurance literacy measure, which is comprised of four scales: two designed to assess individuals’ self-efficacy in choosing a health insurance plan and two that assess self-efficacy and past behavior navigating and using health insurance. integrated framework for health insurance literacy in an effort to propose a framework that would represent the multi-faceted nature of this topic, the author created an integrated framework for health insurance literacy (see figure 1). this integrated framework includes the demographic variables explored in the research described in this literature review. it also combines existing relevant models: the two health insurance literacy models discussed above (mccormack et al.’s conceptual framework for health insurance literacy [2009] and paez et al.’s health insurance literacy conceptual model [2014]) and two health insurance decision-making models (klinkman’s the consumer’s choice of health care plan framework [1991] and sainfort and booske’s conceptual framework of consumer selection of health plans [1996]). 13 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index health insurance literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33012 klinkman’s framework focuses on the relationships among guarantor (i.e., insurance companies), employer, and consumer. it includes the steps taken by employers who select between available options to determine what they will offer their employees. it also includes the interactions between the consumer, the menu of available choices selected by the employer, and the consumer’s ultimate choice. sainfort and booske (1996) built on the work by klinkman and other health insurance researchers to create a conceptual framework of consumer selection of health plans that features a hypothesized relationship between background variables, health plan choice elements, and health plan information. both of these frameworks point to the important role that the health insurance plans themselves play in the process individuals undergo when making a choice between the plans available to them. figure 1. integrated framework for health insurance literacy this framework was created through identifying common characteristics in the models (e.g., demographic variables, health-related variables), as well as common relationships (e.g., relationship between background characteristics and literacy levels). the integrated framework begins with an individual’s background characteristics, including demographic variables (identified in health insurance literacy research and previous models to play a role in an individual’s abilities and skills) and health-related variables, including factors identified by previous research as playing a role in an individual’s health insurance literacy skills such as previous health insurance utilization (norton et al., 2014; politi et al., 2014) and health status (mccormack et al., 2009). 14 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index health insurance literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33012 the integrated framework then demonstrates the relationship between an individual’s traits (i.e., demographic and health-related variables) and their ability to use a health insurance literacy skill set, echoing the identified relationship between health disparities and health insurance literacy outlined in this literature review. that is, the framework proposes that an individual’s own, specific background characteristics lead to their health insurance knowledge and skills and literacy skills. the specific inclusion of gender, age, education, and race is designed to encourage the continued exploration of these demographic variables and their relationship with health insurance literacy to identify potential sources of health disparities. the framework also depicts the impact that available health plan characteristics and information play on an individual’s ability to use their skills effectively. health plan characteristics play both a direct role in the decision making process (as the health plan types and benefits packages are what individuals have to choose from) but also a role in the individual’s ability to draw on their health insurance literacy knowledge and skills. for example, the presence of multiple plan types (i.e., multiple plan characteristics) may impact an individual’s ability to use their health insurance literacy skill set; that is, it may be easier to compare between two preferred provider organizations (ppos) and less feasible to compare between a ppo and a cdhp. in addition, if an individual does not have access to helpful information sources, they may not be able to identify definitions and make the necessary summaries and comparisons to select an appropriate insurance choice. the inclusion of these aspects in the integrated framework is also supported by research on the role that the readability of insurance materials plays in health insurance literacy, explored earlier in this literature review. a potential area for librarians and information professionals to lend their expertise is to advocate for easy-to-read, multilingual insurance materials and to provide access to resources that assist individuals in understanding health insurance information and making selections between their available choices. limitations this paper focuses on health insurance literacy research conducted in the united states. the majority of citizens in the u.s. face a high level of demand to make choices between a select number of options (either through employer sponsored insurance or the health insurance marketplace), making health care coverage in the u.s. different from many other developed countries. thus, most health insurance literacy research has been conducted with a u.s. national focus. health insurance literacy research conducted in other countries is outside of the scope of this particular paper as other health care systems place less demand on individuals to select between options and most often offer a national insurance coverage as a default option. more research is needed to compare health insurance literacy trends in other developed countries. health insurance choice research, discussed briefly here, operates on the assumption that there is a fiscally appropriate coverage option for individuals and then assesses whether they are able to identify which coverage option is most appropriate. this research may fail to recognize individual preferences for payment structures; some individuals may prefer to pay more money up front to cover all possible scenarios whereas others may wish to keep more of their paycheck and pay more when a health need arises. relatedly, individuals have different risk tolerance levels, which most certainly also play a role when considering health insurance options. it should be acknowledged that health insurance literacy skills are larger than simply selecting the most fiscally appropriate coverage option from a list of choices. 15 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index health insurance literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33012 lastly, not all individuals have a choice when it comes to health insurance. individuals may have coverage through medicare (which is limited by age eligibility), medicaid (limited by income), and other sources (e.g., a single option through their employer) that prohibit the opportunity to select between available choices. additional research should be conducted to explore health insurance literacy in individuals who are asked to navigate health insurance (such as enroll in and use coverage) without having a choice between different coverage options. conclusion understanding the variables that affect health insurance literacy is just the beginning. health insurance literacy concerns also extend beyond selecting a health insurance coverage option. once individuals are insured, their health insurance literacy levels may dictate how effectively they are able to navigate the health care system. for example, if an individual unwittingly uses an out-of-network physician or hospital, it could cost the person thousands of dollars more than selecting health care providers within the insurer’s network. as levitt (2015) underscores “the lack of health insurance literacy (and numeracy) has important implications for how effectively people use health care services and their insurance” (p. 556). for those with lower levels of income, the potential to pay larger amounts of money for coverage or care due to limited health insurance literacy skills compounds financial and health disparities. demographic differences in health insurance literacy skills have been explored in several studies (federman et al, 2009; kutner et al., 2006; mccormack et al., 2009; politi et al., 2014) pointing to an opportunity to create targeted outreach to populations at highest risk of having lower health insurance comprehension and navigation skills, including racial and ethnic minorities, lower socio-economic status, age, and insurance coverage status. when considering these populations in tandem with populations more likely to be impacted by health disparities, the overlap indicates an opportunity for further research and exploration to better understand the connections between health insurance literacy and health disparities. this literature review identified research that explored awareness of health insurance, measurements of health insurance literacy, and readability of health insurance materials. by focusing on the relationship between individual demographic backgrounds and health insurance literacy abilities, this review aimed to connect health disparities directly with health insurance literacy. the integrated framework for health insurance literacy is proposed as a method for further studying the impact that demographic factors have on health coverage and health status through individuals’ health insurance literacy skills. references barnes, a. j., hanoch, y., & rice, t. 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(2014). development of the health insurance literacy measure (hilm): conceptualizing and measuring consumer ability to choose and use private health insurance. journal of health communication, 19(supplement 2), 225-239. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080%2f10810730.2014.936568 pati, s., kavanagh, j. e., bhatt, s. k., wong, a. t., noonan, k., & cnaan, a. (2012). reading level of medicaid renewal applications. academic pediatrics, 12(4), 297–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2012.04.008 patient protection and affordable care act, public law 148, 111th cong., 2nd sess. (2010). politi, m.c., kaphingst, k.a., kreuter, m., shacham, e., lovell, m.c., mcbride, t. (2014). knowledge of health insurance terminology and details among the uninsured. medical care research and review, 71(1), 85-98. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077558713505327 sainfort, f. & booske, b. c. (1996). role of information in consumer selection of health plans. health care financing review, 18(1), 31-54. thorlby, r. & arora, s. 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(2017). health insurance literacy: how people understand and make health 18 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2009.01138.x https://doi.org/10.1080/15265160701638587 http://kff.org/health-reform/poll-finding/assessing-americans-familiarity-with-health-insurance-terms-and-concepts/ http://kff.org/health-reform/poll-finding/assessing-americans-familiarity-with-health-insurance-terms-and-concepts/ https://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2fj.1525-1497.2005.40245.x https://dx.doi.org/10.1080%2f10810730.2014.936568 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2012.04.008 https://doi.org/10.1177/1077558713505327 https://international.commonwealthfund.org/countries/england/ https://health.gov/communication/literacy/issuebrief/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc3878945/ health insurance literacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33012 insurance purchase decisions (doctoral dissertation). available from proquest dissertations & theses global. (10283966) wallace, l. s., devoe, j. e., & hansen, j. s. (2011). assessment of children’s public health insurance program enrollment applications: a health literacy perspective. journal of pediatric health care: official publication of national association of pediatric nurse associates & practitioners, 25(2), 133–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2010.11.009 wong, c. a., asch, d. a., vinoya, c. m., ford, c. a., baker, t., town, r., & merchant, r. m. (2015). seeing health insurance and healthcare.gov through the eyes of young adults. journal of adolescent health, 57(2), 137-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.04.017 yin, h. s., johnson, m., mendelsohn, a. l., abrams, m. a., sanders, l. m., & dreyer, b. p. (2009). the health literacy of parents in the united states: a nationally representative study. pediatrics, 124(supplement 3), s289–298. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.20091162e emily vardell (evardell@emporia.edu) is an assistant professor in the school of library and information management at emporia state university. she teaches graduate courses on the foundations of library and information science, research methods, reference, consumer health, and health sciences librarianship. her research interests are in the area of health information behavior with a focus on health insurance literacy and how people make health insurance decisions. dr. vardell earned her phd from the school of information and library science (sils) at the university of north carolina at chapel hill in 2017 and her master of library science degree from texas woman’s university in 2007. dr. vardell has received grants from the medical library association and the national network of libraries of medicine, been awarded the beta phi mu eugene garfield doctoral dissertation fellowship, and served as a fulbright scholar in vienna, austria. 19 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2010.11.009 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.04.017 https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2009-1162e https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2009-1162e background connections between health insurance coverage and health disparities methods literature review awareness of health insurance measurements of health literacy and health insurance literacy readability of health insurance materials proposing an integrated framework for health insurance literacy mccormack et al.’s conceptual framework for health insurance literacy paez et al.’s health insurance literacy conceptual model integrated framework for health insurance literacy limitations conclusion references ijidi october 2018 cover and credits volume 2 | issue 4 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state university’s archives of appalachia laura e. smith an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion at a metropolitan library in the southeastern u.s. liz movius “culture fit” as “anti-diversity”: avoiding human resources decisions that disadvantage the brightest keren dali emerging voices in diversity and inclusion leadership: applications of the strategic diversity manifesto bharat mehra shades of silver: applying the strategic diversity manifesto to tennessee’s knox county office on aging joseph winberry efforts to overcome homelessness in the pruitt branch of the nashville public library olivia g forehand articles editorials also featuring book reviews edited by norda a. bell from diversity theory to diversity in action bharat mehra, guest editor special issue october 2018 dr. keren dali, editor-in-chief journal credits editor-in-chief dr. keren dali associate editors dr. paul t. jaeger dr. nadia caidi senior managing editors leah brochu laina kelly managing editors karen kettnich dr. lilith lee stephanie santiful jeffrey sowder cara b. stone zach valdes book review editor norda a. bell graphic designer kevin j. mallary ijidi logo created by craig taylor image credit: “unity” by kevin j. mallary the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion book review: automating inequality: how high-tech tools profile, police, and punish the poor the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ ijidi: book review eubanks, v. (2018). automating inequality: how high-tech tools profile, police, and punish the poor. new york: st. martin’s. isbn 978-1-2500-743-17. 272 pp. $26.99 us. reviewer: dawn betts-green, florida state university, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: automation; data; poverty; surveillance publication type: book review ith technological ubiquity and improvements comes the misguided notion that automated systems are more objective and less prone to error than the human element. while this may be true with calculations, when it comes to decisions involving the multilayered human experience, it becomes abundantly clear that this is not universally true. increasingly, there has been a push for higher levels of automation and decreasing human involvement in the provision of government services such as social security, veterans’ benefits, and welfare. automation provides a way to slash payroll spending and, ostensibly, improve services by making them more objective, and, ultimately, reduce the instance and possibility of fraud. despite this intention, the systems designed to manage food stamps, housing assistance, and many other services accessed by the poor seem only to increase difficulties faced by the very people the services were designed to help. virginia eubanks traces this embracing of technology in terms of poverty services back to the idea of scientific charity and casework. during the 19th and early 20th centuries, caseworkers spent a great deal of time identifying and separating the “deserving poor” from the “unworthy poor.” eubanks refers to josiah quincy iii’s 1821 definitions of the “impotent” and “able” poor, which divided them into those that were unable to work (e.g., infants and the physically disabled) and those that were able yet were “just shirking” (17). using these definitions, the only people who were deemed worthy to receive aid were those completely incapable of work, regardless of their circumstances. she notes that “our new digital tools spring from [these] punitive, moralistic views of poverty” (16) which grew directly out of the scientific casework movement, and its mission to use data-driven methods and standardized criteria to evaluate need—an idea meant to improve service work from the poorhouse model used for centuries prior to this time. poorhouses, operating in the u.s. since the early 1600s, were the primary mechanism the government used to regulate poverty. poor people were sent to--some voluntarily entered- poorhouses in order to receive aid, but these institutions were intentionally harsh in order to deter people from entering as a form of escape. families were separated, and those who had civil rights (white men) had none while living in the poorhouse. those who ran the poorhouses often found ways to personally profit from the labor of the inmates, and government funding for the institutions eventually dwindled. consequently, a more efficient and less expensive model of aid was needed, ultimately engendering the scientific charity movement. under this model, the poor were no longer spoken of as families or people in need or to be helped, but instead, “cases” to be solved. this lens dehumanized the problems experienced by the poor and further distanced caseworkers from those they were attempting to help. this provided fertile ground for w http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, automating inequality the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ ideas such as eugenics to take hold as well as perpetuated the notion that the poor needed to be policed in order to be worthy of the help proffered by the state. in addition to the dehumanization and criminalization of the poor, ideals of what a worthy family unit looked like also solidified. particularly with new deal programs, white male earners were privileged and presented as the only really desirable head of household, making women’s work, nonwhite families, and family units without the “traditional” structure suspect in terms of need and worth. these groups were seen as part of the “undeserving” poor, which, in the present, results in the close monitoring and reporting of these families for supposed infractions that may go unnoticed in more “traditional” family units. eubanks divides the book into chapters focusing on individual cases of automation gone wrong and its harmful effects to the poor. while each case addresses its own specific problems and concerns, the primary thread weaving through them all is the process and problem of dehumanization. the implementation of systems in indiana designed for medical and state assistance, in california for homeless assistance, and in pennsylvania for child abuse reporting distanced needy families and individuals from the very people trained to evaluate individual cases and situations to determine and distribute assistance. in each case, the people seeking help are treated only as a set of data. this data is then run through algorithms designed by computer scientists with very little, if any, training at all in the nuances of evaluating human situations. for example, in the case of the child abuse reporting system, there is very little ability to override the inclusion of reports. human caseworkers can separate false or obviously vindictive reports from those actively needing investigation, but the automated system includes all reports, regardless of veracity, inflating the need of one family over others that may actually warrant monitoring. these reports, whether true or not, are tracked through all of the household members and maintained so that if anyone applies for assistance in the future, the entirety of that history is attached and is factored in the decision for assistance. regardless of whether it was a simple need for food stamps when they were a small child, these records affect scores given to applicants for aid by the system. a past use of welfare or aid of any kind flags the individual and the family unit for monitoring; thereby artificially driving up applicants’ need scores and flagging them for surveillance. systems like these rely completely on the information entered, and so assessments are based on criteria that, yes, can be indicators of child neglect or abuse, chronic homelessness, or situational health risks, but can also simply be indicators of poverty. this can often lead to the criminalization of homeless populations and of poor parents, creating situations in which they become less “worthy” of assistance because the very reasons they need help are seen as criminal and self-inflicted based on scores calculated by the systems. for example, the data suggests that you are chronically in need of government assistance because you demonstrate consistent markers of poor parenting and life skills. however, this data is only pulled from interactions with government agencies. families in higher income classes may also demonstrate the same markers, but, unlike the poor, they have access to private helping professionals and services such as therapists, recovery programs, and child service workers, which are not tracked or reported by the government. eubanks has written here a useful primer, not only for those in academia researching issues around information systems and access and poverty studies, but also for the general public interested in these topics. in order to improve the situations outlined, those working with and under these systems should be able to grasp the historical and current functioning of the systems. 88 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, automating inequality the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ this work is accessible, an attribute not found in many academic studies, but is of immense value for both general and academic readers. the author does not ignore the implications and problems identified from her research, but instead calls for better collaboration between the system designers and end users, in this case social workers, to ensure that algorithms and systems can better accommodate nuanced and situational need. it is difficult to imagine a way to correct the problems eubanks so eloquently outlines in this book. automation and technology are not going to fade away; they will, in fact, increase exponentially in coming years. the only solutions lie in shifting our notions of poverty and technology. as the author explains, technology is not neutral. these systems are designed by fallible humans and can be improved by increasing understanding of the intended end users and beneficiaries of the systems and reminding the designers that their systems are “not aimed at data points, probabilities, or patterns, but at human beings” (213). we must also, as a society, shift the rhetoric about poverty. the poor and impoverished are not “a people apart,” living in distant, separate areas of the world, entirely divorced from the economic and daily interests of “normal” people. poverty is also not a monolithic entity full of people who caused their situation by neglect or apathy; it is a “borderland” (205), adjacent to every single person regardless of socioeconomic status, beliefs, or political leanings. it is “we” rather than “us vs. them.” finally, as with so many problems, one of the most important solutions is to listen to the people the systems are being designed to help. designing systems with a “savior” mentality will not benefit anyone save the egos of those employing it. dawn betts-green (cdb07f@my.fsu.edu) is a phd candidate in information at florida state university's ischool. her dissertation focuses on lgbtq resources and patrons in rural libraries in the u.s. south. her research interests include diversity in lis education; graphic novels; intellectual freedom; social justice and radical librarianship; young adult and children’s services; rural and small public libraries in the u.s. south; and information needs of diverse populations. she is also a point foundation lgbtq scholar. 89 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, mailto:cdb07f@my.fsu.edu designing for diversity and designing for disability: new opportunities for libraries to expand their support and advocacy for people with disabilities international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ designing for diversity and designing for disability: new opportunities for libraries to expand their support and advocacy for people with disabilities paul t. jaeger, university of maryland abstract libraries have a long history of support for and commitment to disabled people, far longer than most other public institutions in society. in some communities in north america, dedicated library services for disabled people have been prov ided without interruption for over a hundred years. as the social and political climate becomes, once again, increasingly difficult for and hostile to disabled people, libraries have the opportunity to bring more focus to disability in the design of their own programs and to expand their roles as advocates and allies of disabled people beyond the walls of the library. this article is written in the context of the u.s. and focuses primarily on the current u.s. situation, though a few international examples are also used to illustrate key points. while the u.s. is the primary focus, the implications and relevance of many discussed issues will resonate with the global community and echo the concerns of disabled individuals and library and information science professionals in other countries. keywords: advocacy; disability; library services; politics; policy publication type: research article welcome to crippled america he 2016 presidential election in the u.s. was unnerving for many diverse and disadvantaged populations, and disabled people were not left out. throughout the course of the campaign, disabled people were either simply ignored or tokenized in online forums, like facebook groups, with one notable exception (cork, jaeger, jette, & ebrahimoff, 2016). the exception, of course, won the election after being repeatedly recorded mocking disabled people, subsequently denying that he mocked disabled people in spite of the recordings, blaming disabled people for violence (cork et al., 2016), and also issuing a campaign book entitled crippled america (trump, 2015), an obvious slur against disabled people. while we could have experienced campaign rhetoric celebrating the 25th anniversary of the passage of the americans with disabilities act (ada; 42 u.s.c.a. 12101 et seq.) in 2015 and demanding more progress for the roughly 20% of the u.s. population who identify as disabled (brault, 2012), disabled people instead were treated to being ignored, infantilized, ridiculed, or demonized. the new presidential administration has reinforced this perception of working to deny the civil rights of disabled people by appointing a secretary of education who has publicly asserted that she believes that states should not be required to provide a public education to disabled students; appointing a supreme court justice who has ruled that disability rights laws should be enforced as minimally as possible; and proposing a budget that slashed funding for many social services and institutions that are central to the lives of many disabled people, from medicaid to health research and from food assistance to public libraries (achenbach & sun, 2017; davidson, 2017; t http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, designing for diversity and designing for disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ douglass, gorham, hill, hoffman, jaeger, jindal, & st. jean, 2017; jaeger, gorham, taylor, sarin, & kettnich, 2017; snell, paletta, & debonis, 2017; strauss, 2017a, 2017b, 2017c). the administration has even gone to great lengths to remove information that provides guidance about the rights of disabled people from government websites (balingit, 2017). the standby fantasy of moving to canada, entertained by those offended by the new presidential administration, is out of reach for many disabled people in the u.s., as canada uses eugenicsbased immigration standards that are designed to keep out disabled people, even those who already have a job lined up when trying to immigrate (zaikowski, 2017). even if disability were not a barrier to entry, such immigration would not seem to be much of an improvement for disabled people in the u.s., at least based on the description of disabled canadians as “absent citizens” in their own country due to systematic oppression through policy and politics in canada (prince, 2009). as glum as the situation may seem for disabled people in the u.s., it is really a much more global problem. welcome to wherever you are in brief, the history of disability encompasses socially accepted infanticide of children born with disabilities; persistent and extreme desexualizing of disabled people; limitation of employment opportunities at various times to beggar, circus freak, clown, slave, or prostitute; the eugenics movement; forced institutionalization; being left starving and unhoused; being classified as not human or without a soul; not being counted in census data; being hidden or killed; and so much other vile treatment around the world and throughout recorded history (for overviews of this history, see albrecht, seelman, & bury, 2001; hirschmann, & linker, 2015; jaeger & bowman, 2005; longmore & umansky, 2000; reilly, 1991; stiker, 1999). it is worth remembering that in times of heightened nationalism, disabled people are particularly vulnerable as a group and can quickly become the quintessence of otherness. in nazi germany, for example, disabled people were the first group targeted for elimination because the government determined that their elimination was actually widely supported by the public. the german government did public opinion polling and found that there was little resistance to the extermination of people with disabilities—only 20% said “no, under any circumstances” (andre, 2003, n.p.). the subsequent german law on euthanasia for the incurably ill authorized the extermination of people who “desire an end to their suffering due to incurable illness, or who are incapable of productive existence as a result of incurable chronic ailment” and referred to people with disabilities as having a “worthless life” or being “unworthy of life” (andre, 2003, n.p.). the sterilization and euthanasia program was called “t4,” and it led to the sterilization of more than 400,000 and extermination of more than 300,000 europeans with disabilities in the 1930s (knittel, 2015). the organs of those who had been euthanized were often harvested by scientists for research purposes (friedlander, 1995). while there is no reason to expect a return to those levels of horror, the extreme possibilities are always useful to keep in mind. news stories from other countries in recent years have also served to highlight the unique isolation of disabled persons in the current national and global political climates. when a man in japan publicly informed government employees that he planned to kill disabled people, no one did anything stop him, and he eventually killed several dozen disabled people (willingham, 2016). aside from the abject horror of the crime and the apathy shown toward disabled people in japan, the world’s reaction—or a lack thereof—was just as resounding. for example, twitter users, who notoriously create a hashtag and campaign around almost everything, could not even muster a hashtag for a mass slaughter of disabled people in japan. the lack of response on twitter demonstrates the ignorance about and the absence of empathy for disability, which caused one author to label the worldwide situation as “disability erasure” (willingham, 2016, n.p.). 53 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, designing for diversity and designing for disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ erasure in percentages the recent census numbers from the u.s. census bureau suggest that 54.4 million americans have a disability, which is 18.7% of the overall population, making it the largest minority group in the u.s. in part due to an aging population, the number of individuals with some type of disability is anticipated to grow even further (brault, 2012). in many other nations, disabled people are also a major—if not the largest—minority population; the total number of disabled people worldwide is estimated to be one billion people, or 15% of the world’s population (world bank, 2017). disabled people are hardly alone in feeling discomfort and anxiety in the current political climate in the u.s. however, even with the exceptional levels of exclusion that disabled people faced before american society embraced the politics of fear and hatred, the current environment is uniquely hostile to disabled people. in the u.s., disabled people “win” most of the statistics that no group wants to win. for many years, disabled people have been the population with the highest percentage living in poverty, the highest percentage unemployed, the lowest percentage graduating from high school, the lowest percentage graduating from college, and the lowest percentage with home internet access, among many other depressing figures (for a detailed overview of these data, see cork et al., 2016; jaeger, 2013, 2015). the casual dehumanization of disabled people is hardly new; there are many disabled people alive today who were forcibly sterilized by the state, a practice that continued into the 1970s in the u.s. and other nations, and in some nations into this millennium (bulmer, 2003; gillham, 2001; pfieffer, 1999). even when disabled people have achieved a recognition of their rights, the end result is not necessarily equitable; an example is the separate but unequal education afforded to many disabled public school students who are placed in “special” education (jaeger & bowman, 2002, 2005). now, however, this dehumanization is coupled with a public campaign and a presidency that seem to have left resentment and hatred tattooed onto the air that we breathe. making diversity more inclusive a key step in the inclusion of disabled people is greater recognition that the concept of disability—as well as the accompanying disadvantages and exclusions—is very much a creation of society. in much of the past and present discourse, disability has been seen through the lens of the so-called medical, or individual, model, whereby it is defined as an individual characteristic or, rather, an individual deficiency or impediment. this model, however, “typically ignore[s] the impact of social and physical environments, even though these factors have the potential to facilitate or preclude functioning in a given role” (shigaki, anderson, howald, henson, & gregg, 2012, p. 560, citing smart, 2001). under this way of thinking, disabled people have deficiencies that they must compensate for and adapt to societal expectations (stroman, 2003). the medical model still reflects the way that disability is viewed in the majority of nations (prince, 2009). rather than focusing on individual differences as the root of disability, social models of disability take environmental influences into account (e.g., shigaki et al., 2012), and, viewed through their lens, disability is created by societies. that is to say, “[t]o a large extent, disability is a social construct” (schmetzke, 2002, p. 135). the move to a social model perspective has proven an instrumental tool in advocacy for disabled people, as it has helped to translate disability issues and experiences into broader contexts of civil rights and human rights (bagenstos, 2009; crouser, 2009; johnson, 2006). disability reflects the “natural physical, social, and cultural variability” of living things (scotch 54 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, designing for diversity and designing for disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ & schriner, 1997, p. 154) and has been present in every human culture through time (scheer & gross, 1998). there is no reason that certain differences are deemed disabilities and others are not, except for the fact that society has defined them as such. some differences, like the ability to throw an oblong ball a long distance while not being knocked over by large people trying to tackle you, are deemed worthy of adulation and heaps of cash. others are deemed unusual but not really worth paying much attention to in most contexts, like hair color or freckles. yet, certain differences become disabilities—physical or cognitive differences that are treated as social stigmas and detriments (jaeger & bowman, 2002). decisions about what is normal and what is not then serve to classify and represent disabled people and to determine how society, in general, relates to them. the processes, regulations, and perceptions that guide the treatment of disabled persons in society create a history and a lived experience that binds individuals together as a culture of disabled people (jaeger & bowman, 2005). one of the oddly unifying elements of the disability experience is the general exclusion of disability from broader conversations about diversity. in many social contexts, such as education, disability is almost wholly removed from conversations about diversity; for example, disability is absent from diversity discussions, programs, and courses at most universities as well as from diversity training courses for the private sector (davis, 2011). in one sense, this is highly ironic because disability is very diverse within itself and encompasses an enormous range of different conditions. simply put, no type of diversity is more diverse than disability. yet, in practice and application, disability is enormously isolated. many institutions view diversity as a value to embrace, promoting greater inclusion in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, orientation, and perhaps a few other characteristics. disability, though, is often pushed aside and thought about as a matter of legal compliance. this distinction is most significant, as it means many institutions continue to functionally and effectively ignore disabled people, and the current political climate seems to be aggressively fostering disregard for disabled people. enter libraries in contrast to this awful treatment of disability, consider libraries. many disabled individuals rely on libraries as a source of materials in accessible formats, as the only place in the community offering free internet access and literacy education (with available assistive technologies), and as an institution that prioritized the rights of disabled people long before they came to be recognized by other parts and agencies of u.s. society. libraries have long included disabled people as their community members. with their programs for facilitating the education, participation, empowerment, and inclusion of disabled people though information access and literacy, the activities of libraries fit firmly within the goals of the social model of disability. the history of libraries serving people with disabilities is, in fact, long and distinguished, stretching back to the 1850s in the u.s. (bertot & jaeger, 2015; jaeger, wentz, & bertot, 2015a; wentz, jaeger, & bertot, 2015). libraries were often the first social or government institutions in many communities across the nation to resist the dehumanization of disabled people and to provide services that promoted their rights and equality in the community. the inclusion of disabled persons in libraries took place before people with disabilities gained basic rights in many other contexts, from the right to have an education or employment to the fundamental right to go outside and appear in public. many u.s. cities in the 19th and 20th centuries had “ugly laws” that mandated that persons who were maimed, disfigured, or otherwise obviously disabled were not allowed in public view in community spaces, such as sidewalks, parks, and public buildings, including libraries in some places (burgdorf & burgdorf, 1976; siebers, 2003). 55 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, designing for diversity and designing for disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the establishment of the first american library association (ala) committee for services to people with disabilities in 1906 cemented the national leadership of libraries in the struggle for the inclusion of persons with disabilities. soon after, following the guidance of the ala, federal and state governments began to create special libraries of materials intended for people with disabilities, while libraries all over the nation started to build collections in new formats, such as records and talking books. in the social climate of the 1920s and 1930s, when eugenics laws in many states were promoting the mass sterilization of people with disabilities, libraries were formalizing and expanding their service to disabled patrons. in 1961, the ala crafted the first of a series of field-wide standards to ensure equal service to persons with disabilities. within 20 years, public, school, and academic libraries had clear standards and mandates for services for individuals with disabilities, for accessible building designs, and for inclusive materials and services. the comprehensive “library services for people with disabilities policy” (ala, 2001) is now more than 15 years old. the practice of librarianship has continued to advance access for patrons with disabilities in light of changing needs and technologies. the adoption of the internet in libraries led to more inclusive and accessible services for people with disabilities and became part of the discourse about library websites, online resources, digital libraries, and assistive technologies; by the same token, accessibility has asserted its place in broader discussions of inclusive library services (jaeger, wentz, & bertot, 2015b). a recent meta-analysis of all studies of web accessibility showed that the highest average levels of accessibility of websites are in libraries; the web presences of primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, government agencies, nonprofits, and corporations are all significantly less accessible on average than those of libraries (jaeger, 2012). today, libraries stand as the most inclusive community institution in u.s. society. while public libraries are the ones that may seem most connected to disabled people, it is found throughout the field. law libraries, for example, not only find innovative ways to make legal materials accessible, but they are often leaders in promoting accessibility within law schools (knight, 2017). as such, they serve as an example of a profession that is currently an ally and could become a significant partner in communication and advocacy. librarianship has always been a politicized profession working to ensure inclusion; however, it has generally been quietly political (jaeger & sarin, 2016a, 2016b). given the very long engagement of libraries with promoting the rights and inclusion of disabled people, libraries seem like an ideal institution to partner with in the context of wider advocacy efforts. and the current political climate makes it imperative that people with disabilities have allies and advocates. “nothing about us without us” when what is now section 504 of the rehabilitation act (29 u.s.c.a. 701 et seq.) was originally passed in 1973, it represented the first comprehensive set of legal rights and protections for disabled people in the u.s. (fleischer & zames, 2001). the law represented a “transformation” of the status of disabled people in the u.s. by establishing “full social participation as a civil right” (scotch, 2001, p. 3). based on the civil rights act of 1964 (42 u.s.c.a. 1971 et seq.), which guaranteed freedom from government discrimination based on race, color, and national origin, section 504 of the rehabilitation act marked the first time disabled people were viewed under the law as full citizens in the u.s.—or at least it would have been if the law had been implemented. president nixon signed the law and then promptly did nothing to enable its enactment and enforcement. without the creation of regulations or guidelines for enforcement, the law was an empty statement, and even a successful lawsuit in federal courts did not sway the nixon, ford, or carter administrations to implement it (bowe, 1979; fleischer & zames, 2001; jaeger & bowman, 2002; longmore, 2003). in fact, the carter administration’s response to the 56 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, designing for diversity and designing for disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ court order was to threaten to issue guidelines that would strip the law of all of its power (shapiro, 1993). finally, a series of high-profile, creative, and coordinated protests in 1977 by a wide range of disability organizations and people with many different disabilities made the government act. innovative actions, like wheelchair blockades of the home driveways of high-ranking officials in the carter administration, and more traditional protests, like occupations of government buildings around the country, gained media and public attention. the protest that won the day, however, was the occupation of the department of health, education, and welfare office building in san francisco, where 60 people with numerous types of physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities held the building for 25 days. the federal government cut off food, water, and communication but did offer punch and cookies and other demeaning incentives to leave (heumann, 1979). the protestors were supported by a network that included mcdonald’s, safeway, the black panthers, various unions, and local and state politicians, who worked together to slip in food, water, information, and medical supplies to the protestors and bring out their messages (barnartt & scotch, 2001; longmore, 2003). as the san francisco occupation was a major national story, the u.s. congress held a televised hearing on the carter administration’s opposition to the rehabilitation act. to respond to congressional inquiries, the administration sent a low-level official who explained that they planned to implement the law with changes such as exempting educational and health buildings from being accessible and excluding students with disabilities from general education (longmore, 2003). the public filleting of this low-ranking official by members of congress as well as a public airing of the absurdity of the administration’s stance, presented against the backdrop of the san francisco occupation, finally forced the carter administration to implement the law in a way that did not dilute its impact. little more than a decade later, the ada was being considered by congress. the law was designed to extend the rights of people with disabilities into more settings, such as employment, shopping, travel, state and local government services, and universities. many corporations, business advocacy groups, and conservative politicians lined up against the proposed law. however, once again, coordination was central to getting the law approved. advocates focused less on gaining attention through the media coverage of protests and instead emphasized coordinated lobbying by disability advocacy groups (shapiro, 1994). the few targeted protests highlighted specific kinds of discrimination in dramatic ways, like wheelchair users and others with mobility impairments crawling up the front stairs of buildings that lacked a ramp or other accessibility features (fleischer & zames, 2001). as with the rehabilitation act protests, the key to success in getting the ada passed and signed into law was collaboration between different advocacy groups and people with a range of disabilities. the main message and rallying cry of these protests was “nothing about us, without us.” this slogan encapsulated the many ways in which prejudice toward disabled people is manifested and counteracted: on the one hand, the desire of the benevolent to make decisions for others and the ongoing paternalism that leads able-bodied people to profit—both literally and metaphorically—from disability and, on the other hand, the desire to be treated equitably and to have a political voice that makes disabled people central to decisions about disability policy. yet, these successes were also facilitated by many allies who did not ignore disability or exclude it from the range of human diversity. with the changes now occurring in the nationalist, trumpian political landscape, the help of allies and advocates, like libraries, will be most welcome in trying to change the narrative about and treatment of disabled people. 57 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, designing for diversity and designing for disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ libraries as long-term allies of disabled people as detailed above, libraries and the field of library and information science have traditionally viewed disabled people as members of the community and have focused on a form of diversity and inclusion that encompasses disability. a great range of programs, materials, and services intended for disabled people can be found at all types of libraries, with the oldest continuous programs reaching back to the mid-1800s. in truth, libraries have long been active supporters of disabled people and their inclusion in society. this history is central to the development of libraries, and it is a story that should be better known. support from libraries predates the legal rights detailed above by more than a century. in 1835, a lending service for materials for the blind was already available throughout new england, and the formalized creation of collections of materials in braille began widely in 1868 (charlson, 2000). print materials for the blind also became part of many school library collections in the mid-1800s, and collections of materials in alternate formats were standard in larger public libraries by the early 1900s (brown, 1971; lovejoy, 1983). the library of congress’s reading room for the blind opened in 1897 (library of congress, 1898). the american library association (ala) founded a committee for library work with the blind in 1906 (lovejoy, 1983). talking books and talking book machines were commonly available to patrons with disabilities by the 1920s, with such books available first as records, then tapes, then discs, and now as digital files (majeska, 1988; neiland & thuronyi, 1994). in this same time frame, the federal government and state governments began to create special libraries of materials specifically for people with disabilities. in 1904, u.s. postal regulations were altered so that “free matter for the blind or handicapped” could be shipped for free (st. john, 1957). the national library service (nls) was established in 1931 and has relied on libraries as its backbone, with public libraries serving as regional and subregional libraries, distribution points, and referral services for the nls (dziedzic, 1983). in 1961, the ala crafted the first of a series of standards to ensure equal service for patrons with disabilities. within 20 years, public libraries, school libraries, and academic libraries all had clear standards and mandates regarding accessible building design and inclusive materials and services for patrons with disabilities (dziedzic, 1983; gibson, 1977; vasi, 1983; vellman & miller, 1983). following the ala’s lead, the majority of public, academic, and school library mission statements articulate a commitment to equal access and services for all patrons, explicitly including people with disabilities. in most cases, these statements are now many decades old (gibson, 1977). most of these libraries have also been long committed to the acquisition of new assistive technologies as they become available—braille materials, large-print materials, talking books, reading machines, video enlargement, screen readers, e-books, and screen magnifiers, among much else (mcnulty, 2004). and the aforementioned early adoption and wide embrace of the internet by libraries facilitated the availability of web-based services and technologies to disabled people, with libraries often being the only freely available access point for assistive technologies and accessible computing in many communities (jaeger, 2012). now, inclusion of disabled people is usually an explicitly stated part of library missions, and, among ala-accredited master’s programs awarding master of library science or master of library and information science degrees, knowledge of the legal rights of and the issues of service to patrons with disabilities is a required aspect of the curriculum (walling, 2004). the ala website features many recommendations, guidelines, and best practices for serving disabled patrons (www.ala.org/tools/guidelines/standardsguidelines), though much of the terminology could clearly use an update. the comprehensive accessibility of the program to disabled students is 58 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.ala.org/tools/guidelines/standardsguidelines designing for diversity and designing for disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ part of the ala accreditation standards for master of library and information science programs (council of the american library association, 2008). and while the preceding discussion has focused primarily on the u.s., the connection between libraries and the inclusion of people with disabilities has long and deep roots in many other nations as well (lewis, 1983). increasing library advocacy for disabled people the history of interactions between libraries and disabled people emphatically demonstrates that libraries and librarianship have been and continue to be strong allies of disabled people, providing support, opportunities, and engagement that are often missing from other sectors of society. this commitment, of course, is not evenly applied across the field, and there are many opportunities to improve and strengthen this commitment to the inclusion of disabled people. thinking field-wide about ways to improve these connections between libraries and disabled people is extremely important in light of the increasing social and political hostility to disabled people. few other societal institutions give much thought or effort to the inclusion of this group, and none have a lineage as venerable as libraries. libraries are currently essential places of access and inclusion for disabled people. the next step for libraries—in order to truly further the inclusion of disabled people—is to become advocates, arguing for changes both within libraries and in the broader community to improve the treatment of disabled people in society. libraries have a legacy of contributions and commitment to social justice, and the inclusion of disabled people is an area in which there are many opportunities for promoting broader change. some key possibilities within the library and its services include the following: • ensure collections accurately represent disabled people, • build collections to challenge prevailing social constructions about disability, • incorporate issues of disability into more areas of outreach, partnership building, and community engagement to help create greater awareness of disability in the community, and • foster new forums for making disability included more in the community. all library activities related to disability can be enhanced by interviewing disabled people and incorporating those perspectives directly into development and refinement of such activities (pionke, 2017; pionke & manson, 2017). helpfully, there is a growing number of resources available with ideas, strategies, and best practices for libraries, including multiple recently published or soon to-be-published books of essays on disability in libraries and the broader contexts of social justice (e.g., copeland, in press; epstein, in press; gorham, taylor, & jaeger, 2016; wentz, jaeger, & bertot, 2015). different kinds of libraries will also provide different avenues for influencing the inclusion of disabled people. the direct interactions between public libraries and their communities may seem to provide the most opportunities for impact, but each type of library can influence its own communities. as noted above, law libraries have taken a leadership role in promoting accessibility within law schools (knight, 2017). in other kinds of special libraries, similar leadership is possible in other professional settings. academic libraries have opportunities within the larger campus community to promote inclusive programming for community members with disabilities, emphasize disability issues in collection building and displays, and create research guides related to disability scholarship, among much else. 59 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, designing for diversity and designing for disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ this increased advocacy can also extend into master of library and information science (mlis) education programs as well as other degree programs at information schools. accessibility and disability issues are regularly taught in mlis programs, but the greater contributions could come in teaching beyond the ala requirements by offering advanced courses on accessibility and training information professionals to be ready to build born-accessible programs and services and advocate for equity for disabled people. by making other community members more aware of the services and programs for disabled people, and the social and political barriers that make such services and programs necessary, libraries could actively educate other community members about disability. and by advancing the notion of disability as a core part of diversity, libraries could also be working to shift how others think about diversity. a greater emphasis on advocacy could also move into the policy-making arena. while librarians have been generally reticent to engage in discussions of policy-making (jaeger, gorham, bertot, & sarin, 2014; jaeger & sarin, 2016a, 2016b), the area of disability is a space in which libraries have a great amount of expertise and historical commitment. the lessons from libraries could greatly inform thinking about disability in policy. in a great many ways, libraries and library and information science (lis) education are extremely well-positioned to become prominent allies of and advocates for disabled people. as some people in and outside the field wonder about the ongoing relevance of libraries, this topic points emphatically to why libraries and the field of lis are more relevant than ever. we provide information, we promote inclusion and equity, and we foster rights. acknowledgements the author is ineluctably grateful for the suggestions and keen insights of the reviewers in helping translate a scattered keynote talk into this paper. references achenbach, j., & sun, h. l. 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(2017). disability inclusion overview. retrieved from www.worldbank.org/en/topic/disability zaikowski, c. (2017, february 3). canada is a progressive immigration dream—unless you have a disability. washington post. retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/02/03/canada-is-aprogressive-immigration-policy-dream-unless-you-have-a-disability paul t. jaeger, ph.d., j.d., is professor, diversity & inclusion officer, and director of the master of library and information science (mlis) program of the college of information studies and codirector of the information policy and access center (ipac) at the university of maryland. he is the author of more than 170 journal articles and book chapters, as well as more than a dozen books. his research has been funded by the institute of museum & library services, the national science foundation, and the bill & melinda gates foundation, among others. dr. jaeger is editor of library quarterly, editor of advances in librarianship, and associate editor of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion. he is founder of the conference on inclusion and 65 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/01/17/betsy-devos-confused-about-federal-law-protecting-students-with-disabilities https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/01/17/betsy-devos-confused-about-federal-law-protecting-students-with-disabilities https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/04/07/why-the-word-merely-turned-many-advocates-for-students-with-disabilities-against-gorsuch https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/04/07/why-the-word-merely-turned-many-advocates-for-students-with-disabilities-against-gorsuch https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/01/28/the-telling-letter-betsy-devos-wrote-to-clarify-her-position-on-u-s-disabilities-law https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/01/28/the-telling-letter-betsy-devos-wrote-to-clarify-her-position-on-u-s-disabilities-law http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2016/07/27/killer-of-disabled-people-in-japan-announced-his-intentions-months-ago/#1954b64c2942 http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2016/07/27/killer-of-disabled-people-in-japan-announced-his-intentions-months-ago/#1954b64c2942 http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/disability https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/02/03/canada-is-a-progressive-immigration-policy-dream-unless-you-have-a-disability https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/02/03/canada-is-a-progressive-immigration-policy-dream-unless-you-have-a-disability designing for diversity and designing for disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ diversity in library and information science (cidlis), and co-founder of the umd disability summit. in 2014, he received the library journal/alise excellence in teaching award. 66 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, welcome to crippled america welcome to wherever you are erasure in percentages making diversity more inclusive enter libraries “nothing about us without us” libraries as long-term allies of disabled people increasing library advocacy for disabled people acknowledgements references reading museum exhibits: visitors’ reading of exhibits in cultural heritage institutions and museums the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 reading museum exhibits: visitors’ reading of exhibits in cultural heritage institutions and museums valerie brett shaindlin, university of hawai‘i at mānoa, usa abstract the article draws upon theoretical concepts from museology and cultural, indigenous, and feminist theories to explore intersections between diversity and reading in cultural heritage institutions and museums (chim). these sites are important identity-generating institutions that both preserve and perpetuate ideology and culture. visitors read and “read into” exhibits—which are often primarily visual; it is therefore crucial for chims to practice self-awareness in how they do, or do not, make information legible. modern museums were reformist, generalized, authoritative, monologic, and definitive arbiters of culture; in these spaces, visitors necessarily read information in a cognitively passive manner. postmodern museums, at their best, are pedagogical, decentralized, constructive, dialogic, and representative of diverse voices, experiences, and perspectives. postmodern museums invite visitors to engage with, and sometimes even collaborate with, or contribute to, exhibits. in both instances, visitors are asked to “read” the exhibits, but in the former, reading is a unidirectional, and therefore final, transmission; in the latter, reading is a discursive, transformative process, with potential to empower. the article proposes a non-proscriptive, indigenous, and intersectional feminist paradigm as a more equitable information-framing model for chim. keywords: feminism; identity; institutions; museology; museum exhibits publication type: conceptual article introduction ultural heritage institutions and museums (hereafter referred to as chim) are important identity-generating sites that both preserve and perpetuate dominant, mainstream society’s ideology and culture. visitors read and “read into” exhibits—which are often primarily visual—in these spaces. across multiple contexts and through various methods of representation and omission, chim exert control over culture, both explicitly and implicitly. contradictorily, some professionals working in chim choose to identify these institutions as neutral spaces whose missions are to impartially preserve and display data and artifacts. despite these claims of neutrality, the ways in which chim do or do not make information legible is, in reality, inherently political. therefore, it is crucial for the people working in and directing chim to incorporate self-awareness in their praxis. chim are inherently political because they are inextricable from their context. in turn, context and politics invariably change over time because they exist in relation to, and are constantly interacting with, the societies from which they emerge and to which they contribute. this c https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 ongoing and reciprocal process preserves, generates, and disseminates information about people, and therefore affects, and is impacted by, identity production. visitors have not always been invited to participate in the dialogue between chim and society. in fact, for many decades, curators positioned museum exhibits as unilateral arbiters of culture, thinking of themselves and their work as objective, authoritative, and of superior taste (macdonald, 2011). this attitude served to bestow control solely on those employed by the chim, at the necessary exclusion of museum visitors, especially visitors who may be marginalized in society. chim are inherently discursive pedagogical institutions that reflect, curate, and generate normative cultural ideas. the old (modernist) museology model’s structure (especially in the u.s.) is based on the white (shim, 2015), western, judeo-christian patriarchy, while the new (postmodernist) museology happily, if slowly, moves toward decolonization and an overarching vision more in line with contemporary, intersectional, and more inclusive feminist theory (hooper-greenhill, 2000; message, 2006; shim, 2015). the traditional, or old, chim model (hereafter referred to as the modern chim), is a monolithic voice that is broad, reformist, generalized, and authoritative, while the new chim model (hereafter referred to as the postmodern chim) is composed of diverse voices, specific, dialogic, decentralized, and collaborative. in this paper, drawing upon feminist and indigenous museum scholarship, i aim to demonstrate how institutional discrimination and inequitable representation is a historical and structural challenge that, unfortunately, sometimes, can still be read in museums today. i suggest an indigenized, collaborative, and intersectional feminist solution to the problem. the modern model the chim acquired its modern form during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when governments identified culture—habits, morals, beliefs, and manners—as in dire need of transformation and regulation, especially among the subordinate classes (bennett, 1995). modern chim intended to reform society and perpetuated a centralized and exclusionary power structure. what was regarded as appropriate for pedagogic content was tightly controlled by curatorial and academic professionalism, the expectations of governing bodies, and the broader social and cultural networks of male clubs, groups, and societies (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 130). modern cultural institutions attempted to “regulate the performative aspects of their visitors’ conduct” (bennett, 1995, p. 6). the history of chim interweaves with the implications of power dynamics between three spheres: cultural institutions, government, and “the people” (bennett, 1995, p. 109). tensions between and among these spheres persisted throughout the formation of the modern chim and ultimately resulted in curators excluding many peoples from exhibits and transmitting unilateral information about “subordinate” groups of people to “subordinate” groups of people (e.g., indigenous people, anyone non-white, women, etc.). chim curators, directors, and other professionals preserved their own authoritative, institutional power through exclusion, which they exerted through three primary strategies: making information legible to only a select few; overt othering; and romanticization of the past/locating the past as definitively distinct from the present (bennet, 1995). 64 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 legibility visitors can treat exhibits like texts, in that they can subject them to a critical reading (crang, 2003). this can be an intentional effort or a subconscious, organic process, and can be highly subjective, albeit educational. for this reason, it is imperative that chim professionals strive to make exhibits as legible as possible for their intended audience. in the modern period, chim professionals did the opposite: they designed institutions that were monolithic, exclusive, and disciplinary. the modern chim was patriarchal; it “intended to be encyclopedic, to draw together a complete collection, to act as a universal archive” (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 126). however, through a transmission pedagogical approach, chim reduced what ought to be a multidimensional, complex, ambiguous, and fluid process, to a singular, unilateral, and finite trajectory or method of communicating a piece of information or message (hooper-greenhill, 2000). in this inequitable dynamic, the communicator—the chim educator, curator, and/or exhibit designer—has total control, since that person is selecting, defining, and managing the message, and therefore acts as a power broker in a very limited, linear, and one-sided transaction. the receiver (or visitor) in this situation is considered only insofar as they are judged to have correctly received the communicator’s controlled and singular message; therefore, the receiver is cognitively passive (hooper-greenhill, 2000). in this transmission pedagogical model, knowledge was employed as a disciplinary apparatus, used to objectify experience itself, serving as a weaponization of pedagogy to deny subjectivity, and therefore diversity and agency. the resulting relationship between communicator and receiver is an inequitable power dynamic in which certain receivers (visitors) can “see” or “read” what others cannot. a person might be fluent in a subtle and invisible language (such as theory), that is inaccessible to those who have not been educated in that specific method of interpretation. the modern chim therefore had a dual and contradictory nature: while intentionally designed to function as reforming or homogenizing spaces (socially elevating the lower classes through education and exposure to “culture”), modern chim in practice served to differentiate the elites, who quickly adopted the spaces as their own (bennett, 1995). while simultaneously commodifying themselves and serving as instruments of the institution, elites further cemented their status by performing their education and knowledge in museum spaces, reinforcing the subtle (and invisible) language of an inequitable power dynamic in which information is—purposely or not—only legible to certain people (bennett, 1995). while the elites were fluent in the socially constructed canons (literary, art history, etc.) and the language of the academy, that language did and often still does exclude less educated people, who have simply not been taught how to read specific methods of thought or academic disciplines. any attempt to reform the museum to make it more politically fair must therefore include instruction so that these “invisible orders of significance it constructs” (bennett, 1995, p. 173) can be equitably distributed amongst all the social classes and levels of education. exclusion through othering a second way that groups of people are systemically excluded from chim is through the process of othering. the construction of the “public” as a polite and “rational” space was predicated upon the simultaneous construction of a “negatively coded other sphere. . . from which it might be differentiated” (bennett, 1995, p. 28). this same mechanism applies to gender construction: “origins only make sense to the extent that they are differentiated from that which they produce as derivatives” (butler, 1991, p. 22). sex and sexual practices are constituted by the very 65 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 possibilities that they exclude (butler, 1991, p. 25): the concept of man can only exist because of its perceived opposite (woman) and heterosexuality can only exist because it can be defined through its differentiation from the other (homosexuality). the other is always necessarily positioned as deviant, and this reductive opposition produces false binaries and rigid identities. othering also precludes multiple or diverse subjectivities, experiences, or interpretations. both the false gender binary and the modern chim dichotomy (the presentation of a polite public vs. a negatively-coded other) reinforces the white heteronormative patriarchy, which defines itself by that which it is not, and therefore necessarily excludes and prohibits non-conforming identities and narratives. nationalism similarly maintains hegemonic control by creating an “‘us versus them’ (self/other) construct” (e. kosasa, 2008, p. 212). the other in modern society predictably was—and arguably remains—anyone who is not a white man (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 41). this is not only wrong and exclusionary in terms of equitable and accurate representation in chim, but is in fact harmful, because “relations of gender, ethnicity and class become embedded within the structures of collections; attitudes to the ‘other’ inform perceptions of the ‘self’” (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 9). the british museum is an example of this complicit complexity: a large and prominent national museum founded in 1753, it “remains an imperial institution in a post-imperial world” (duthie, 2011, p. 23). they have refused dozens of requests for the repatriation of wrongfully taken items, from such countries as greece, egypt, and nigeria; these continued enactments of imperialistic philosophy, principles, attitudes, and ethics reflect a group of professionals unwilling to dismantle the exclusionary othering practices of their institution (duthie, 2011). othering and the lack of (or mis-) representation reinforces existing hegemony and oppressive structures with those in power at chim. chim power brokers often read representation and receive feedback that allows them to confirm and internalize their “innate” superiority, while marginalized persons who are typically not in positions of power at chim, simultaneously internalize their “innate” inferiority through reading inaccuracies, omissions, and/or blatant discrimination in exhibits, displays, and programs. the fact that these supposed “innate” traits are false and socially-constructed does not really matter if they are sufficiently perpetuated and reinforced through inaccurate or prejudiced portrayal (or erasure). representation is “realized in and through its performance” (bennett, 1995, p. 43), and because the repetition of this performance is necessary to define identity, identity “runs the risk of becoming de-instituted at every interval” (butler, 1991, p. 24). group identity and culture are similarly socially constructed, and therefore require constant affirmation through repetition of (re)presentation (duncan, 1994). presented in chim, ideologies “create the reference points from which people define who they are” and “locate their place in society” (e. kosasa, 2008, p. 212). because repetitive performance and representation produce identity, the people behind the modern chim wielded the power to preserve or destroy the identities of entire cultures and peoples. luckily, this problem contains its own solution. the complex interplay between ideology and institutions shows up—and is legible—in representation and omission, and subsequently further reinforces itself through this very legitimization, vis-à-vis visibility or readability of cultural histories, artifacts, and exhibits. the process in which hegemony and ideology self-perpetuate is both a threat to agency and empowerment and an opportunity for both, because not only are objects and materiality unstable (hooper-greenhill, 2000) due to their relational context and meaning, but so is identity. something that is inherently unstable is easier to dismantle. 66 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 the problem with the “past” culture is “used” within society, especially in chim, since “collections and exhibitions embody ideas and values” (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 3). this two-way communication between ideology and cultural representation is iterative and is thusly important because modern chim were used to communicate “universal laws [...] presented in formal and authoritative ways to undifferentiated mass audiences” (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 2). these “universal” ideas and values were exclusionary (sexist, racist, homophobic, etc.); universality was intentionally and unintentionally weaponized to displace the specific histories of non-white peoples, which is why a specificity-oriented approach is imperative for a more just vision and intentionality for chim. institutions’ desire for universality can result in an intentional romanticization of the past—and, importantly, the people who lived then—in order to create a coherent and cohesive metanarrative of a state, region, or people. reading a place through the lens of one’s own desires is a “discursive violence” (turnbull & ferguson, 1997, p. 97); it is also, unfortunately, usually successful as a strategy, mainly because there is nostalgia associated with the past (bennett, 1995). history museums in particular tend to sentimentalize the past rather than portray people in their true complexity (bennett, 1995, p. 110); even chim that claim to be “of the people,” or about their people, actually present people through the biased lens of the dominant culture (bennett, 1995, p. 111). hence, the chim curators, who intend to “neutrally” portray a region’s history, in actuality, display their own prejudiced perspectives, which are, in turn, unique to their own contexts and temporalities. the habit of oversimplification in chim is both a cause and a result of creating exhibits and spaces that are “frozen” in time (bennett, 1995, p. 113). these frozen exhibits can be called dead: by being frozen in the past, they are lifeless and static. clearly demarcating the past from the present is a misguided practice that disallows any potential for change, growth, or variability. this kind of time slotting creates an environment that alienates groups and individuals by closing off the possibility for interaction, contribution, or dialogue between the museum and its community or communities. this practice is particularly unfortunate when reverberations and repercussions from the past persist today (e.g., institutional racism), and chim fail to link those current situations to their historical origins. such failure is equivalent to misrepresentation. it is true that the past is that which has already occurred, so it is in a way inert or final, but chim visitors and participant/observers exist in an ever-changing, mobile, and fluid “now” or present moment, which reopens the past to new possibilities for interpretation and understanding, particularly in relation to situations concerning representation. while the past itself might not change, response to the past is ever-changing due to memory or a connective relatability, both of which can activate a dynamic interaction with the present. the present is a constant movement, change, or reorientation toward history; in each moment we are no longer in the past moment, and we are not yet in the future moment, and this existential process is inherently and necessarily eternally ongoing. because each moment is as such a new beginning, possibility is endless, and room opens up for multiple subjectivities, identities, and interpretations. the “truth” is inherently slippery, and our perspectives ought to, and do, constantly change; that cycle is, in fact, the learning process. if chim are to be pedagogical, they therefore cannot create closed-off exhibits frozen in time. the context in which we attempt to understand and analyze the past is very messy and complicated, and underscores the necessity of commensurately complex, “living” exhibits that are dynamic and 67 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 dialogic. the master narratives or “universal stories” of the modern chim were intended to validate simplification and contextualization of the ‘real’ world into a more manageable representation (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 24). however, this approach is counterproductive to the members of society, especially those belonging to marginalized groups. in reality, there is no one absolute truth, and if it appears to be the case, it is likely because the dominant social group has successfully monopolized the narrative. whether through the nation’s metanarrative or exclusion from it, “material culture is vital to community identities” (cooper, 2008, p. 84). by producing and reinforcing an oversimplified master narrative, chim continue to function paternalistically, serving to illustrate the nation state in a way that, even when inclusive, is also supposed to be elevated in taste (i.e., “high culture”). such elitism continues to reproduce class division and the (oversimplified and therefore misleading) metanarrative. singular narratives are reinforced through persistent production or what has been identified as repetitive or continuous performativity. production is performed through control of images, artifacts, and other audiovisual representation (and it is imperative to remember that what is not shown, or what is suppressed, is just as important as what is displayed). in chim, marginalized or minority beliefs and practices are vulnerable for this reason (cooper, 2008). the solution to this problem is its inverse: create and introduce diverse and complex narratives. stories in all formats can supportively substantiate people’s lives; by reading another person’s or people’s story/history, such as in an exhibit, visitors can realize that their own stories are similarly worthy of being both shared and read (minister, 1991). the postmodern model new museology moves away from the previous ideological hegemony of authoritarianism, colonialism/imperialism, and transmissional pedagogy toward nuanced, often complicated, and sometimes even conflicting narratives, ideas, and representations. chim professionals achieve this through a remarkably new approach: inviting collaborative input from diverse members of the community. while it might not be difficult to imagine the inclusion of the very people represented in chim, it is, in fact, a radical departure from past praxis. in the past, chim, unfortunately, normalized deep-seated power relations of advantage and disadvantage by making them visible. luckily, in the postmodern phase, even chim that in the past silenced multiple points of view and dominated the same cultures they claimed to celebrate are striving to become more self-reflexive, inclusive, and collaborative. this is largely thanks to dedicated and visionary professionals. however, tensions remain between the colonizers and the colonized, even in the postcolonial era. many of these sites retain discriminatory presentations, features, practices, and remnants from their hierarchical, patriarchal, colonial pasts. the “new” rhetoric of the postmodern chim is sometimes only aspirational or declarative, and not fully realized in practice (message, 2006). if the modern period produced a concept that was exclusionary, disciplinary, transmissive, authoritative, and presenting the “truth” as a monolithic and homogenous message, the new museum (message, 2006), or the synonymous post-museum (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 8), emerges from the postmodern period. key characteristics of the truly new chim are its small size (which means it does not attempt to be encyclopedic); an acknowledgement of its political 68 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 context and function, or an acknowledgement that nothing is or can be neutral; self-reflexivity; fluidity and flexibility; the lack of completion, resulting in the ever-present potential for change, growth, and dialogue; multiple voices or points of view; and inclusivity (message, 2006). the museum ought to be a tool that can provide “comfort, inspiration, perspective and role models” (abram, 2002, p. 128). authoritative presentation is not the same as dialogue, and chim professionals ought to make their intentions explicit throughout their programming, materials, hiring practices, policies, services, displays, and exhibits. along with community engagement, the transparency of chim goals and objectives would shift some agency to the visitor and offer a more respectful approach, as opposed to the previously mentioned misguided belief that the public cannot comprehend complexity. such transparency would allow the chim to guide the conversation in a less authoritative way by clearly stating its goals and describing the larger context in which discussion can take place, before even presenting the narrative and/or artifacts. institutional transparency also reduces illegibility by providing contextualizing materials and information to visitors. a successful example of new chim praxis is currently available in the san diego museum of man; a label on the door to the ancient egypt exhibit reads “this exhibit displays mummified remains.” this explicitly warns those whose spiritual beliefs disallow them from entering spaces that contain human remains. another plaque on the wall inside the exhibit partially reads, “in 2017 the museum of man enacted a new policy, and will no longer display human remains without receiving permission from the individual, their relatives, or ancestors.” their website elaborates: over the past year, we removed the remains of six people from display in this gallery. they were moved next door, to a sanctuary space, where they are being cared for along with the remains of more than 5,000 other people currently held in the museum’s collections. many of these human remains were taken decades ago from excavated cemetery sites for the purposes of research, education, and display. this was generally done without permission from the deceased, their family, or descendant community—the standard practice at the time. . . the museum of man recognizes that all people should have the right to decide how their bodies, and those of their relatives and ancestors, will be treated after death. for each of the individuals whose remains are held at this museum, we will seek out descendants with whom we can consult on how to best care for the remains of their forbearers [sic]. (museum of man, 2018) this policy, and the discussion about adopting it, recognizes the contributions of those earlier generations of curators and archaeologists who worked with high ideals and for the good of humanity under the ethical standards of their day. the policy reflects an evolving understanding of best practice for our institution: one that views all people as having the right to determine what happens to the remains of their ancestors. (museum of man, 2019) on the other hand, one example of a new chim that is successfully specific and diverse, but still inadvertently perpetuates institutional erasure of indigenous peoples, is the japanese cultural center of hawaiʻi (jcc). the jcc obscures indigenous displacement and disenfranchisement visà-vis this exhibit text: “in the 50 years following world war ii, significant changes resulted in all ethnic groups becoming part of the political process.” this text is overly simplistic and universalizing as it fails to specify that native hawaiians have the right to self-determination 69 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 under international law “because their nation was invaded and annexed by a colonial country, the united states,” and that some indigenous scholars believe that “japanese settlers, in particular, have ascended to the ruling class and compete with the haole (whites) to control the colony of hawaiʻi” (yoshinaga & kosasa, 2008, p. 295). however, a positive example is also found in the same exhibit. in the section about japanese plantation workers, a quote from a “proplantation historian” is included. this provides not only a multidimensional perspective regarding labor relations, but also explicitly communicates to the visitors that this is just one of several stances. it also rejects neutrality and makes information more legible to a broader audience, by explicitly identifying the political stance of the person quoted. explicit text that communicates the nature of the information and the intention of the museum is useful and inclusive. however, beyond words, objects—items displayed or not displayed—are also read by the visitor. in chim, visitors may consciously or subconsciously absorb narratives created by the spatial relationship of one gallery and/or object to another, or those “implicit in labeling, lighting, or sound” (mason, 2011, p. 26). chim are cultural stewards and influencers, able to guide the way we feel and think; in this sense, culture is constructivist (hooper-greenhill, 2000). museum artifacts can be called cultural symbols because they contain their own power to shape identities and values at multiple levels. therefore, chim are instrumental in the perpetuation or potential disruption of existing social values and paradigms. indigenizing the museum new chim ought to focus on indigenizing in an effort to satisfy multiple, and possibly even conflicting, interests. the new chim intends to serve its local communities, as well as the global exchange of ideas and dialogue, by continuing to grapple publicly with difficult issues of decolonization and power as related to the past, present, and future. indigenous resistance to american settler colonialism has been broad, and inclusive of chim; decolonization in chim has started with challenges to colonial misrepresentation (steinman, 2016). the concept of the new chim has its roots in indigenous activism. native communities attempt to indigenize the institution of the museum by developing community or cultural centers (cooper, 2008). updating or correcting erroneous or misleading exhibit information requires collaborative reflexivity and dialogue. happily, forward-thinking chim “are increasingly focused on providing better responses to community concerns” (cooper, 2008, p. 36). however, corrections and breakthroughs do not necessarily become sustainable; vigilance and protests by community members “must be periodic in order to keep moving forward” (cooper, 2008, p. 58). simply paying lip service to inclusion does not mean that chim staff have succeeded in creating a more inclusive or collaborative space, and sometimes words and actions become muddled. for example, the national museum of the american indian “says it is a center of living cultures, not a museum,” despite the fact that “museum” is in the name (smith, 2009, p. 186). similarly, simply correcting inaccuracies within existing exhibits, while important, might not be enough. others cannot necessarily be fit into structures that are already coded as their opposite; the structures themselves might need to be changed (beard, 2017), which is why it makes sense that indigenous communities are already reimagining chim as community centers. the concept of museum does not fit easily into traditional american indian practices (hoarding is not a desirable trait, written labels stand in opposition to oral traditions, self-description does not fit a life of humility, intervention in the life cycle of 70 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 material opposes the native idea that nature’s cycle is best, etc.). (cooper, 2008, p. 137) even taken for granted is the western culture’s privileging of visual information and seeing in museums (k. kosasa, 2008, p. 206). a creative solution was demonstrated by the royal bc museum in victoria, when they used audio to display 34 distinct indigenous, regional languages in their “our living languages” exhibit (june 2014-june 2017), created in partnership with first peoples’ cultural council and advisors from nations around the province. the bernice pauahi bishop museum in honolulu, the largest natural and cultural history institution in polynesia (editors of encyclopaedia britannica, 2013), encourages visitors to an interactive experience via their sleepover/museum after dark program: children can tour the hawaiian hall and participate in hands-on activities (bishop museum, 2018). this program invites students to take ownership of the space by temporarily occupying it, while hands-on activities de-privilege visual-only, unilateral knowledge transmission (passive reading), instead allowing for a collaborative learning process. however, bishop museum (which has a somewhat fraught past, including insensitive and inappropriate handling of issues and offenses that were raised by some of its native hawaiian employees), is charging $25-$50 per student for this experience; the educational staff could make the program more inclusive by offering free admission for all children, or a one-price admission fee for groups, which would make the tour accessible to native hawaiian students. reimagining chim will necessarily require the involvement of diverse groups and individuals, and incorporation of multiple viewpoints. producing events and exhibits as “conjoint dynamic processes” (cooper, 2008, p. 152) enables the incorporation and representation of diverse voices and perspectives. solutions to problems created by a white, patriarchal worldview must be solved by input from non-white, non-patriarchal stakeholders. narratives are crucial, and people ought to be able to tell their own stories, both collectively and individually. additionally, who has or does not have access to cultural artifacts matters. unfortunately, “museums have been telling the controlling culture’s limiting version of the native story. . . they have been hoarding the material culture of indigenous peoples, preventing us from experiencing an intimacy with our own pasts” (cooper, 2008, p. 2). generally, native narratives have been told from outsiders’ perspective. chim must increase involvement of native people in the interpretation, presentation, and stewardship of their culture and history; such collaboration and sharing of agency would decrease the unfair current power dynamic, and increase the healing of communities that have been—and still are—adversely impacted by colonization (hooper-greenhill, 2000; cooper, 2008; smith, 2008; lonetree, 2009). to combat old injustices, which have historically been covered up rather than acknowledged, museums “can enable the recasting of the present” by making visible acts, ideas, and events from the past (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 50). the abbe museum of wabanaki art, history, and culture in maine, explicitly states on the homepage of its website that it collaborates with the native members of its community to share their stories. their statement also explicitly acknowledges difficult truths and reaffirms the continuity between past and present: we are in the homeland of the wabanaki, the people of the dawn. we extend our respect and gratitude to the many indigenous people and their ancestors whose rich histories and vibrant communities include the abenaki, maliseet, micmac, passamaquoddy, and penobscot nations and all of the native communities who have 71 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 lived here for thousands of generations in what is known today as maine, new england, and the canadian maritimes. we make this acknowledgement aware of continual violations of water, territorial rights, and sacred sites in the wabanaki homeland. the abbe is honored to collaborate with the wabanaki as they share their stories. (abbe museum, 2018) the abbe museum’s curator of education is a member of the algonquin first nation of kitigan zibi anishinabeg in quebec, and her team collaborated with schools in the wabanaki communities to provide an educational opportunity for the indigenous communities the museum serves. the museum provided students the opportunity to learn about the cosmos through a hands-on photography project, using telescopes owned by the harvard-smithsonian center for astrophysics. “youth capture the colorful cosmos ii: star stories of the dawnland,” the resulting exhibit, features the children’s photographs. amy lonetree (2012), an enrolled citizen of the ho-chunk nation of wisconsin and an associate professor of history at the university of california, santa cruz, has identified the ziibiwing center of anishinabe culture and lifeways as an example of a successfully indigenized chim. by the saginaw chippewa indian tribe of michigan, the exhibitions and cultural programming designed by the team at the ziibiwing center engage directly and explicitly with historical trauma and “unresolved grief;” this is an intentional choice and meant to encourage a healing process for native people (lonetree, 2012, p. 125). some of the items in the ziibiwing center were repatriated from larger, colonial institutions, and the staff rooted the entire design of the space in their tribe’s culture, using clear and coherent presentation of native prophecies (oral tradition) to introduce knowledge and narrative to visitors (lonetree, 2012). information is legible to a more inclusive audience via audio zones (in the anishinabe language) and text, presented in both english and the anishinabe language (lonetree, 2012). the space is empowering because it is legible to all, rooted in the community, created by the community, and reflexively subjective. it is never too late for a historically exclusionary chim to incorporate new strategies and correct course. a label on the wall at the peabody museum of archaeology and ethnology in boston partially reads: since the founding of the peabody museum in 1867, the museum’s exhibitions have reflected changing approaches and attitudes about how to represent native americans. this main exhibit hall has seen many renovations through the years, the most recent of which is “continuity and change,” which traces native american societies from late prehistoric times to the present. . . . these contemporary exhibits are the product of close collaboration between the peabody museum and various native american communities. these partnerships have helped the museum to enrich ethnographic, historical, and archaeological exhibits with new perspectives that reflect native american voices. this label addresses the problems with modern chim outlined in this paper. it acknowledges past discriminatory practices and views, and attributes them to a larger temporal context (although it could have been more explicit in labeling past views as harmful and/or problematic). it presents a continuous narrative linking the past to the present, thus demonstrating unequivocally that native americans are very much still alive and present today. it makes information legible by explicitly communicating to the visitors the process behind producing museum exhibits; and 72 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 it employs collaboration between diverse and multiple voices and perspectives, particularly the historically marginalized. since decolonization is a process, employees who wish to contribute to a more equitable future for chim can always do more. one potential area that requires attention is the collection documentation strategy: “even in collaborative, inclusive atmospheres, museum catalogs are often the last places to see change” (turner, 2015, p. 659). an additional area of concern is that docents’ training lags behind other visitor-facing educational initiatives (murphy, 2018). research has been done to gauge visitors’ interpretations of exhibits (horton, 2006; peacock, 2011; sedmak & brezovec, 2017), but more can be done to specifically measure whether changes to make chim more inclusive result in attracting additional diverse groups of visitors. an intersectional feminist approach chim clearly have the potential to be places of diversity, inclusion, exchange, and possibility, but the modern model is a dead-end. luckily, the problem contains its own solution. the very same tools of oppression that enable the discriminatory and disciplinary structure can also be employed to dismantle it. “culture can transmit dominant values, but can also be seen as a site of resistance where dominant shared codes may be disrupted or displaced and where alternative shared codes can be produced” (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 13). definitions and differences are neither finite nor absolute. a feminist approach to redistributing power in chim would include responsiveness, mutually nurturing partnerships, and diversity (hooper-greenhill, 2000) rather than upholding the unattainable, exclusionary, and misleading values of objectivity, neutrality, rationality, and distance. contextualization is crucial and means viewing things in terms of their relations with other beings, items, and factors. contexts are often described in feminist theory as assemblages. they are moving, changing, fluid, interconnected networks, systems, or structures of being. assemblages are crucial to theorization because subjects, struggles, and relationships cannot be removed from their contexts, and “contexts have a direct bearing on the form, content, practice and normative orientation” of society (leckie & buschman, 2010, p. vii). similarly, chim exist within contexts and assemblages, and new chim “often seek reinvigoration via contextualization” (message, 2006, p. 25). all knowledge is similarly contextual, as it “depends on the standpoint of the knower” (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 77). subjectivities are always relative, which means, try as they may, chim can never fully control the visitor’s experience or reading of exhibits. the word “reading” evokes written materials, such as books; however, any information that is processed by the brain via the senses can be said to be read. “read” is both noun and verb; something can be passively read, but the reader is always necessarily active. read, the verb, refers to figuring something out, considering, or discovering; it signifies an exchange taking place, one to which the reader necessarily brings something. chim perpetuate the dominant societal ideology; unfortunately, throughout history, sexist ideas about gender have united men across race, ability, and especially class divisions. successful systems of oppression, such as the patriarchy, produce individuals willing to continually strive toward beliefs and habits that benefit and sustain the system that constrains them and others (weeks, 2011). considering that chim have been products of and contributors to the continuation of the patriarchy, it is no surprise that many have helped perpetuate this oppressive and misrepresentative system. acceptance and acknowledgement of the past is a basis for 73 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 approaching and manifesting the future (weeks, 2011); indeed, the acceptance of what is required is the preliminary stage of change or growth. this is why refusal to collectively acknowledge the imperialist, racist, and sexist past on the part of some professionals is holding chim back from reaching their full potential. addressing “the human needs for shared ownership, belonging, justice, and empowerment” can be a major challenge for some chim professionals, even those working with community representatives (fouseki, 2010, p. 180). if chim professionals wish to make their institutions socially inclusive, they must keep at it, and recognize and acknowledge past injustices, while incorporating multiple perspectives, moving forward. chim professionals must take on issues of identity and culture (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 2). it is imperative that they take a new approach toward engagement or collaboration and multiple viewpoints, because interpretation is a dynamic process, and one that is “not singular, but multiple” (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 5) and deriving from a range of starting points. professionals who work in and contribute to chim can recognize the “diverse, fluid, and multiple nature” of their own subjectivities and community membership, but often overlook it when they “engage uncritically with other communities” (atalay, 2012, p. 82). chim professionals ought to try to fuse concepts of narrative, identity, and difference via interpretive strategies to push back against the “borders of dominant cultural practices” (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 140) and negotiate these contested borders where both conflict and possibilities are rife. one goal of chim, both past and present, is to give institutional shape to individual and collective values; unfortunately, american chim have largely ignored the feminist movement since its inception (glaser & zenetou, 1994, p. 3). feminism is a social justice movement that asserts equality and a non-binary, non-prescriptive, flexible vision of the sexes, and the belief that multiple forms of oppression exist and intersect in various ways, creating complex assemblages and causing myriad unique experiences of discrimination. additionally, our society, chim included, is better at attending to the problem of individual wrongdoers, than the systems in which they operate and from which they derive their power (weeks, 2011). this is unfortunate since, to solve many of our social problems, an overhaul of systems, not individuals, is required. this is why a feminist future for chim is potentially productive and would need to be spearheaded by the people working there; “power can be used to further democratic possibilities, or it can be used to uphold exclusionary values” (hoopergreenhill, 2000, p. 162). the systemic overhaul required is not limited to exhibit design. to ameliorate relationships between chim and communities, there must be the dedicated hiring of indigenous people (turner, 2015) and members of other marginalized groups, as well as explicit institutional support (budgets, policies, etc.) for their education and continued career success. intersectional feminism is a potentially productive and equitable future for museums because it is intolerant of myriad social injustices, considers context, examines structures, embraces specificity and dialogue, and provides space for imagining possibilities. it encourages living culture, flexibility, diversity, and dialogue. the future of chim ought to be one of possibility; prescription would reproduce the singular and authoritative paradigm of the past. while cooper, hooper-greenhill, message, and the other writers cited in this paper provide fantastic ideas for the way forward, chim ought to be wary of one-size-fits-all approaches, as they risk reinforcing/reinstating the monolithic model of the modern era. 74 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 rather, by drawing on these and other scholars for inspiration, chim might be better able to serve their communities and society at large. one way to do so is by embracing a feminist goal and, therefore, allowing space for more possibilities, including but not limited to the concepts of the newor post-chim. this feminism must be intersectional because systems of power and oppression are inextricably linked. intersectionality removes opposition and dismantles false binaries because it deals with “both/and,” rather than “either/or” (crenshaw, 1991). it allows for complexity and creates the space for multiple and, sometimes, conflicting voices, perspectives, and experiences. this is critical because “museums can be powerful identity-defining machines” (duncan, 1994, p. 101) and “the interpretation of visual culture has political implications; it may be used to open or close possibilities for individuals, groups or communities” (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 8). meanings are plural rather than singular (hooper-greenhill, 2000). similarly, our communities and identities are, decidedly, not singular. so why should our chim be? conclusion in modern chim, visitors often read information in a cognitively passive manner. postmodern chim, at their best, are pedagogical, decentralized, constructive, dialogic, and representative of diverse voices, experiences, and perspectives. postmodern chim invite visitors to engage, collaborate, or contribute to exhibits. in both instances, visitors are asked to “read” the exhibits, but in the former, reading is a unidirectional, and therefore final, transmission; in the latter, reading is a discursive, transformative process (hooper-greenhill, 2000). chim might aim for participation and/or experience-based pedagogical models, in which curators and educators design exhibits not to transmit knowledge, but to encourage co-creation through collaboration and interactive processes (sandvik, 2013). neutrality is a myth and chim employees (trustees, directors, curators, interns, and all other staff members) must actively reject it. chim are neither neutral nor transparent sheltering spaces that they are often claimed to be (duncan, 1994). since all individuals and groups have different ways of reading the world, chim are inherently political and contested sites. every lens through which the world is interpreted is, in a way, created. the senses do not read; the brain reads. vision is synonymous with interpretation. since perspective tints vision, context is critical; meanings “may be fixed provisionally, but are susceptible to being changed as the interpretive frameworks change” (hooper-greenhill, 2000, p. 9) and each individual perspective is a unique interpretive framework. the method of representation and contextual information provided (or not provided) within an exhibition creates a secondary, but no less important, interpretive framework. as such, exhibitions are inherently complex and multi-layered experiences, and the lack of context can equate to misrepresentation. chim of the past, unfortunately, normalized deep-seated power relations of advantage and disadvantage by making them visible through intentional and unintentional choices on the part of museum professionals. as humans, we think through complex ideas using words and objects as tools to illustrate the ungraspable or theoretical. similarly, chim illuminate the intangibles of our reality, reflecting ourselves back to us, at our best and at our worst. chim are unique in that the people who create, manage, and work in them both represent and produce society and culture. this powerful position means that these people and spaces are both reflective and reinforcing; they are both a product of their context and a producer of the reality in which they reside. by materially and textually curating and presenting the values and norms of society, chim 75 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 also affect the trajectory of history through their simultaneous indication and construction of truths. as such, chim professionals are inherently engaged with their communities, whether or not they choose to listen. chim thus may provide a useful mirror for past and current inequalities, but they also contain the potential to correct injustices going forward. whether the people behind them choose to acknowledge and accept it or not, chim has a great responsibility to take a social justice stance (shim, 2015) or, otherwise, risk perpetuating the existing paradigms of oppression. references abbe museum. 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(2019). policy on the curation of human remains at the san diego museum of man. retrieved from https://www.museumofman.org/collections/policy-curationhuman-remains-san-diego-museum-man/ peacock, p. k. (2011). interpreting a past: presenting gender history at living history sites in ontario (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from from proquest dissertations and theses global. (nr78416) sandvik, k. (2013). playful museums: mobile audiences and exhibitions as game experiences. paper presented at nordmedia, oslo, norway. retrieved from https://forskning.ku.dk/find-en-forsker/?pure=en/publications/id(1826424d-1f4d-4e068e6d-f3a7e15cef2d).html sedmak, g., & brezovec, a. (2017). visitors’ preferences for museum interpretation: identifying and targeting market segments. academica turistica, 10(2), 141-150. shim, j. y. (2015). museums taking steps forward: pedagogical apparatus requiring strategic preparation for controversial art. multicultural education review, 7(1-2), 99-107. smith, p.c. (2008). critical reflections on the our peoples exhibit: a curator’s perspective. in a. lonetree, & a. cobb (eds.), the national museum of the american indian: critical conversations (pp. 131-143). lincoln, ne: university of nebraska press. smith, p. c. (2009). everything you know about indians is wrong. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. steinman, e. w. (2016). decolonization not inclusion: indigenous resistance to american settler colonialism. sociology of race and ethnicity, 2(2), 219-236. turnbull, p., & ferguson, k. e. (1997). military presence/missionary past: the historical construction of masculine order and feminine hawaii. women in hawai‘i: sites, identities, and voices, 38, 96-107. turner, h. (2015). decolonizing ethnographic documentation: a critical history of the early museum catalogs at the smithsonian's national museum of natural history. cataloging & classification quarterly, 53(5-6), 658-676. weeks, k. (2011). the problem with work: feminism, marxism, antiwork politics, and postwork imaginaries. durham, nc: duke university press. yoshinaga, i. & kosasa, e. (2008). local japanese women for justice (ljwj) speak out against daniel inouye and the jacl. in c. fujikane & j. y. okamura (eds.), asian settler colonialism: from local governance to the habits of everyday life in hawaiʻi (pp. 294306). honolulu, hi: university of hawaiʻi press. 78 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.museumofman.org/exhibits/ancient-egypt/ https://www.museumofman.org/collections/policy-curation-human-remains-san-diego-museum-man/ https://www.museumofman.org/collections/policy-curation-human-remains-san-diego-museum-man/ https://forskning.ku.dk/find-en-forsker/?pure=en/publications/id(1826424d-1f4d-4e06-8e6d-f3a7e15cef2d).html https://forskning.ku.dk/find-en-forsker/?pure=en/publications/id(1826424d-1f4d-4e06-8e6d-f3a7e15cef2d).html reading museum exhibits the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32594 valerie brett shaindlin (vshaindl@hawaii.edu) is a recently graduated librarian from the library and information science program at the university of hawaiʻi-mānoa in honolulu, hawaiʻi. shaindlin is interested in intersectional feminism, cultural institutions, and social justice. she earned her undergraduate degree in management and business from skidmore college, in saratoga springs, new york, with two minors: international affairs and early childhood education. shaindlin has experience in business administration, management, and marketing/public relations, and is also a registered yoga teacher. find her online @valeriebrett. 79 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:vshaindl@hawaii.edu introduction the modern model legibility exclusion through othering the problem with the “past” the postmodern model indigenizing the museum an intersectional feminist approach conclusion references the global drumbeat: permeations of hip hop across diverse information worlds the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38230 the global drumbeat: permeations of hip hop across diverse information worlds kafi kumasi, wayne state university, usa andré brock, georgia institute of technology, usa abstract this article outlines the scope and significance of a special issue of the international journal of information, diversity & inclusion (ijidi) dedicated to exploring the intersections of hip hop and the field of library and information sciences. the co-guest editors, kafi kumasi and andré brock, describe their respective research trajectories to help illuminate what constitutes a hip hop epistemology of lis knowledge. this issue demonstrates that there are many robust conceptual access points for better understanding the lis field through the lens of hip hop including areas like computational neuroscience, copyright, and data science. the research articles are complimented by: two reports from the field; a creative section, which includes three poems; and a book review of two hip hop themed texts. keywords: computational neuroscience; copyright; data storytelling; editorial; hip hop; library cultural programming publication type: editorial introduction he title of this special issue employs the terms “global drumbeat” and “information worlds” to connect hip hop to the field of library and information sciences (lis). first, global drumbeat recognizes the liberatory, spiritual, and celebratory african roots of hip hop, an american-born music form that has become global as the most revenue-generating genre of all music types (mcintyre, 2017). historically, a drum’s beat signifies a primal cultural response that traditional societies worldwide use to privilege sound as an informational tool to heighten communication, knowledge, and kinship. in africa, drums hold a deeper, more symbolic and historical significance than other cultures (gaines, 2018). the drum heralds home-coming and home-going; drums accompany religious rites and rituals, calling ancestral spirits. the drum also heralds political activity. a case in point, following the 1739 stono rebellion, american colonial governments, fearful of enslaved rebellions and uprisings, outlawed enslaved africans from using drums for ceremonies, entertainment, or communication (stanley, 2020). second, the term “information worlds” connects hip hop to lis because hip hop was birthed in a similar “small world” information context that elfreda chapman (1999), an african american lis scholar, discussed in her “life in the round” theory that she developed from her study of the everyday information behaviors of prison populations. indicative of a life in the round, hip hop represents a small information world that contains its own unique cultural norms which have t about:blank the global drumbeat the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38230 2 been codified into nine elements: breaking, emceeing, graffiti art, deejaying, beatboxing, street fashion, street language, street knowledge, and street entrepreneurship (e.g., trade and business) (krs-one, as cited in charoun, 2018). to be sure, hip hop means much more than rap music in today’s society. as pioneer rapper krs-one noted, “hip hop is not just a music, it is an attitude, an awareness, a way to view the world” (krs-one, as cited in charoun, 2018). although hip hop started within the informal, small world information contexts of day parties in the bronx (new york, u.s.) during the 1970s, the genre has developed a much broader bordercrossing capacity than suggested in chatman’s theory. the crossover appeal of hip hop as “black cool” (walker & gates, 2012) permeates everything from mainstream television advertisements like the kroger company’s playing of flo rida’s song “low” to tell customers how to get the lowest prices on fresh products, to president barack obama gesturing to “brush his shoulders off” to give a nod to an urban colloquialism popularized by rapper jay-z. the imprint of hip hop can be found in every major modern culture well beyond urban black america, from asia to europe, south america, and every corner of the earth. in this sense, hip hop’s ability to permeate and permute diverse information worlds in an amoeba-like fashion speaks to its powerfully compelling message about agency and aesthetics. in the scientific sense, amoebas do not form into a single taxonomic group; instead, they are found in every major lineage of eukaryotes. like an amoeba, hip hop has a unique ability to extend, retract, and to most notably reshape the normative behaviors that occur in diverse information worlds. figure 1. “the global drumbeat.” ghanaian drums. source: africa travel times, 2020. [used with permission.] about:blank the global drumbeat the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38230 3 scope and significance as the articles in this special issue demonstrate, there are multiple entry points for understanding the intersections of hip hop and the field of lis. our goal with guest editing this special issue is to illuminate how hip hop, as a cultural art form, can afford lis scholars fresh new ways of constructing knowledge. this call is especially pertinent in areas that have grown stagnant due to the same theoretical lenses being applied to study the same kind of research problems in the lis field. in short, we call for lis scholars to leverage hip hop as a way to bring a “brand new flava in ya ear,” as the late rapper craig mack said in his hit record, flava in ya ear (1994). we are considering the question: what constitutes a hip hop epistemology of knowledge in lis? to help understand this phenomenon, we offer examples from our respective points of entry as guest editors of this special issue. kafi kumasi’s recent work, “getting inflomation” (2021), connects hip hop culture to a range of understudied yet highly creative youth information behaviors that are often overlooked within mainstream scholarly discourse. kumasi contends that this oversight mirrors how hip hop’s contribution to humanity has been undervalued, mainly due to systemic racism. only recently have hip hop’s black and latinx founders begun to receive proper recognition for the many technological advances they pioneered in music (e.g., sampling, breakbeat engineering techniques) and the broader impact that hip hop’s black cultural aesthetic has had on mainstream america’s collective identity formation (chideya, 1999). to that end, kumasi’s research affirms and celebrates the culturally specific literacies that hip hop culture has spawned within black and brown youth communities. looking forward, her work aims to show how new media takes on hip hop culture’s black aesthetic, discourse, and technical infrastructure–not the reverse. kumasi’s inflomation model is an analytic framework that features three descriptive categories: rhythm, rhyme, and remix (r3). the r3 categories capture a range of creative information practices that contemporary youth engage in during their everyday lives and especially in digital spaces. kumasi argues that these practices can be better understood by juxtaposing them to one or more of the nine elements of hip hop. as kumasi explains in her 2018 article, “inflomation: a model for exploring information behavior through hip hop”, this framework was developed in response to the cultural blind spots detected within a report of youth digital media practices called homagohanging out, messing around, geeking out: kids living and learning with new media (ito, 2010). in particular, kumasi (2018) suggests that homago’s descriptive categories “hanging out” and “messing around” are culturally incongruent with the racialized realities of being a youth of color. many youths of color are not granted the same presumption of childhood innocence and naiveté as their white counterparts when they are “hanging out” or “messing around” (groenke et al., 2015). instead, youths of color are disproportionately killed by police or other so-called “authority” figures with impunity despite being unarmed and in spaces they have every right to occupy. therefore, kumasi intentionally chose language derived from hip hop culture (e.g., vibin’, flowin’, jammin’) to describe the information behaviors outlined in her r3 framework. in this sense, a hip hop epistemology of lis might entail scholars intentionally using culturally congruent naming conventions in their analytic frameworks that fall within black english vernacular (bev) to study youth information behaviors. about:blank the global drumbeat the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38230 4 further, what distinguishes some of the most renowned rappers is their ability to weave complex concepts together with a level of verbal dexterity that simultaneously uses bev combined with clever literary devices while telling a story with an engaging vibe that moves the crowd. harnessing this sort of engagement was one of kumasi’s goals in her recent book chapter (2021) entitled, “getting inflomation”: a critical race theory tale from the school library,” which is featured in the groundbreaking book knowledge justice disrupting library and information studies through critical race theory (leung & lopez-mcknight, eds., 2021). with “getting inflomation” (2021), kumasi leveraged one of hip hop’s most endemic practices– storytelling–to connect k-12 school library pedagogy to the academic body of knowledge known as critical race theory (crt). influenced by hip hop’s appropriative ethos, kumasi samples a literary technique from a fictional text that uses artifacts to construct its narrative. the protagonist in kumasi’s story, jamal, is a high school senior who wears locs, listens to hip hop music, and is a harvard-bound scholar-athlete. the artifacts kumasi used to build jamal’s story ranged from text messages and tweets to official k-12 and college-level correspondences. these popular artifacts of communication speak to hip hop’s ability to reflect what is happening in contemporary times. kumasi foregrounds jamal’s voice to disrupt stereotypes that suggest black males who embody hip hop sensibilities could not also unpack dense crt concepts such as “whiteness as property” in their everyday interactions with teachers, school librarians, family, and friends. kumasi’s chapter was well-received among her lis graduate students and colleagues, leaving her confident that hip hop epistemologies can enrich and enliven lis scholarly discourses into the future. andre brock’s research has recently turned towards theorizing black informational identity, specifically through black digital and cultural expertise. in his book, distributed blackness (2020), brock contends that there are a set of beliefs, or “technoculture”, powering black identity formation through technology use, design, and dissemination: blackness, intersectionality, invention/style, america/the african black diaspora, modernity, and the future. for this issue, invention and style directly reference hip-hop’s capacity for aesthetic invention, innovation, and information transfer. the matrix element of invention/style comes directly from brock’s research into black digital cultures; invention is as essential to black technoculture as it is to black culture’s aesthetic influence in the west overall. black aesthetics are intensely libidinal and performative, drawing as they do on black sociality, the communitarian ethos of diasporic blackness, and the libidinous concept of “excess of life” as redress for the depredations of modernity and labor capitalism. these qualities also distinguish black technological practice from western technological practice—that is, for black technoculture, utility and efficiency are not the ultimate aims. in the black technocultural matrix, there is a close analogue between black technoculture and black music genres. for example, brock cites ronald walcott’s explanation that the music genre, the blues, is a genre that is “a struggle to order that space into a distinctive and comprehensive style, a style all the more distinctive for its unstinting generosity of spirit and unfailing faithfulness to the complexities of human experience; and comprehensive because it is the product of a vision that accommodates a tragicomic sensibility” (walcott, 1972, p. 10, as cited in brock, 2020). if this sounds nothing like the rationalistic and imperialist aims of western and american racial ideology, that is no accident. the blues are in dialogue with western aims not as resistance or accommodation but as relation. hip hop functions in a similar fashion. walcott’s definition of style also includes how persona and style can become understood as a control over space and time: style is “to inhabit so completely the space one does have, and to inhabit it so about:blank the global drumbeat the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38230 5 individually, that one does not need to go outward toward the corridor of time to discover possibility. for one has found it, in one’s own depths” (walcott, 1972, p. 11, as cited in brock 2020). brock finds that same blues spirit and style as the essence of hip hop. roadmap to the issue in this issue, three authors (kakimoto, lund, and eglash) contribute conceptual papers that “flip the script” of the traditional approach of studying the user in the life of the library towards, instead, analyzing “the library in the life of the user” (weigand, 2003). together, kakimoto, lund, and eglash make unique connections between hip hop and domains of knowledge that are more tangentially tied to lis, such as copyright (kakimoto), data storytelling (lund), and perhaps most peripherally, computational neuroscience (eglash). by contrast, anderson et al. and kabongo et al. represent reports from the field that make explicit connections between hip hop and lis, focusing on library programs that take place within brick-and-mortar spaces and fit within the traditional “library as place” concept (buschman & leckie, 2007). as guest editors, we deliberated on how to classify the conceptual articles and whether the designation of “research” would be fitting since they do not report on the results of research conducted in a traditional scientific fashion. however, due to the fact that hip hop has its own rich ontoepistemological knowledge construction process that is rooted in ethnoknowledge and cultural practices that are not often sanctioned in mainstream scholarly venues, we reasoned that these articles merit the designation of “research” as a way to further deconstruct disciplinary barriers to build new knowledges around the study of hip hop and lis. for example, in brady lund’s article, “the art of (data) storytelling: hip hop innovation and bringing a social justice mindset to data science and visualization”, he contends that the beauty of the art of data storytelling is its power to promote social justice themes by reflecting on the effectiveness of narrative in hip hop music. despite data science being a nascent field within lis, lund points out that lis scholars have numerous means to analyze the data they work with (e.g., patron statistics, finances, subscriptions) in more informative and creative ways. using hip hop lyrics to bolster his claims, lund addresses the hidden bias that can easily creep into data storytelling as information organizations become increasingly data-driven and certain narratives emerge above others due to the systemic inequities among those who are analyzing the data. ron eglash’s article, “hip hop as computational neuroscience: how the hood hacked our global rhythmic nervous system”, conceptualizes several complex concepts that bring a unique information science approach to understanding music and the analog versus digital division that hip hop artists experimented with in deliberate ways. eglash draws from the field of computational neuroscience to unpack how hip hop innovators pioneered new sounds (e.g., breakbeats, scratches, and remixes) such that the artists effectively rewired the world’s global rhythmic nervous system for new cognitive, cultural, and political alignments and (notably afrofuturistic) sensibilities. eglash presents a variety of mathematical models as evidence to support his thesis that hip hop independently created a set of cognitive-acoustic practices and terminologies that merged left-brain digital communication and right-brain analog communication in ways not previously performed. third, and finally from the set of conceptually oriented pieces, is krystal kakimoto’s article, “copyright remix (it’s tricky): sampling to revitalize u.s. copyright law”. this article brings a necessary perspective to ongoing conversations about music ownership and sharpens the critical analysis around hip hop’s methodological investments. the article reads as both a brief primer about:blank the global drumbeat the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38230 6 on copyright law and a call to action for readers to reimagine the existing copyright laws in music, which require payment to create new work in relation to art, which has different reuse standards. in the reports from the field section, we feature two articles that bring a hip hop flair to the idea of fieldwork, which is traditionally defined as work done outside of a lab or classroom setting. the anderson et al. and kabongo et al. articles advance the idea of fieldwork by highlighting the different ways formal and informal learning can happen in third spaces that center around notions of community building, entertainment, and lifelong learning. jill anderson, ralph mcdaniels, and kim mcneil capers’ article, “the power of hip hop and the library: narrative, echoing the global in the local, and connection”, explores the value and complexities of hip hop beyond the music by presenting three new themes in relation to queens (ny) public library hip hop programming. notably, one of the authors, ralph mcdaniels, is a legendary dj, vj, producer, and pioneer hip-hop personality known as "uncle" ralph mcdaniels (braiker, 2022). uncle ralph is currently serving as the inaugural queens library hip hop coordinator. moving from the public library to the academic library, jonathan kabongo, craig arthur, and freddy paige’s article outlines a program called dusty & digital media literacy workshops: vtditc’s replicable approach to teaching the hip hop arts. kabongo, arthur, and paige provide a sample lesson from a large, extensive set of more than 150 community-based media literacy workshops designed, taught, and assessed with the vtditc community in the past half-decade. the authors share their equipment choices and annotations for the lessons shared that can help demystify teaching hip hop arts for non-practitioners and practitioners alike. embedded in the vtditc model is the idea that one’s personal interests are worthy of academic study. this article complements the conceptual pieces in this special issue nicely because it provides entry-level coverage of key concepts such as digital and analog formats, which lend towards greater accessibility in understanding hip hop applications to lifelong learning initiatives in libraries. moreover, the authors list the technologies used to carry out the lessons and invite correspondence from readers to keep the metaphorical global drumbeat of hip hop flowing in the lis scholarly community. because hip hop is such an intertextual art form, this special issue would not be complete without text being expressed as the artistic contributions of three poems and a compelling book review of two recently published hip hop themed texts. the poems are an essential contribution because street language and street knowledge are two of the nine elements of hip hop. poetry in hip hop is a street language that communicates and translates street knowledge in such a way that one’s being is expressed as agency and identity in rap, lyrics, cipher, song, and literature. poetry threads an intersectionality between hip hop and lis; poetry is an essential knowledge-based literary form that articulates identity, experience, and story. for example, vanessa irvin, a career-long public librarian, lis scholar, and author of the award-winning lis text, the readers advisory guide to street lit (ala editions, 2012), contributes the poem “this jawn right here called street lit” which paints a vision of what text feels like when lived. the poem “here” is a powerful, quiet storm contributed by akua naru, an american black woman who has made a name for herself as europe’s premier female hip hop mc with four albums (produced 2012-2018) to her credit thus far. naru has served as a nasir jones fellow, hutchins center for african & african american research, harvard university (2018-19), a race and media fellow as well as artist-inresidence at the center for the study of race and ethnicity in america, brown university (20192021), and is currently serving as the 2022 mellon artist/practitioner fellow at the yale center about:blank the global drumbeat the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38230 7 for the study of race, indigeneity, and transnational migration. michelle jones, the head of reference services and professor of library science at columbus state university in georgia (u.s.), contributes a very meaningful piece entitled “hood dreams: literacy 4 survival”, which is an apt punctuation to the theme of our special issue. jones’ poem encapsulates the intimate connection that hip hop has with literacy practices in libraries, highlighting the importance of information being represented fairly and correctly in black life. jose guererro, a cataloging librarian from california (u.s.), reviews two books that deal with sampling, rap, and hip hop writ large. the first book is jarett kobek’s do everything wrong! xxxtentacion against the world (we heard you like books, 2018) described by guerrero as “a short but challenging book on a very challenging individual.” the second is zach schonfeld’s 24carat black’s ghetto: misfortune’s wealth (bloomsbury academic, 2020), which is the story of an obscure band and album that are now staple-sampling material. readers can glean insights from these texts on issues of race, economic exploitation, and ethical concerns around digital archives. additional resources while editing this special issue, we came across several hip hop and lis resources that leave us feeling confident that cross-fertilization is happening between these seemingly disparate knowledge domains (e.g., leach, 2008; the hip hop library consortium, 2017; boston, 2020). we are especially pleased to see the work happening at the library of congress (loc) with the innovator in residence program (see https://labs.loc.gov/about/opportunities/innovator-inresidence-program). namely, in fy 2020, data visualization artist, brian foo, was named library of congress’ innovator in residence. during his residency, foo created the application citizen dj, which enables the public to discover and create from the loc’s free-to-use sound collections (library of congress, 2020). also, marcyliena morgan, founder of the hip hop archive and research institute (hari) (which currently lives at harvard university) is currently featuring a new collection, the classic crates collection. this collection features 200 of the most influential hip hop albums in their original vinyl format (see http://hiphoparchive.org/projects/classiccrates). georgia (u.s.) tech’s digital integrative liberal arts center houses the hip hop 2020 makerspace, which is “an interactive hip hop inspired digital archive that guides users through a series of ‘storied spaces’ representative of hip hop’s cultural impact, its transglobal sociopolitical influence, its canonical contributions to black media studies and its pedagogical sensibilities in k-12 and post-secondary humanities instruction” (see, https://dilac.iac.gatech.edu/dilacprojects/hip-hop-archive). makiba foster, manager of the african american research library and cultural center (aarlcc) for broward county (florida, u.s.) libraries, secured grant funding for a project called archiving the black web, which, as a national forum, “is an urgent call to action to address these (access) issues with the goal of establishing a more equitable and accessible web archiving practice that can more effectively document the black experience online” (see https://archivingtheblackweb.org/). readers might also consult a bibliographic resource entitled “hip hop & libraries”, curated by a lis graduate student, wes schumaker, wayne state university (detroit, mi, usa) (see https://sites.google.com/view/hhlsitedraft042621/home). about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank https://sites.google.com/view/hhlsitedraft042621/home the global drumbeat the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38230 8 acknowledgments the guest editors and the ijidi editorial team would like to thank the african travel times for their permission to use their image of ghanaian drums from their article, “ghana and its many famous drums”, by attm, published may 21, 2020, at https://africantraveltimes.com/ghanaand-its-many-famous-drums/2020/05/21/05/02/3840/. we appreciate the generosity of the editors at the african travel times. references boston, a. (2020). hip-hop librarianship for scholarly communication: an approach to introducing topics. journal of new librarianship, 4(1), 1–62. https://newlibs.org/index.php/jonl/article/view/643 braiker, b. (2022, march 7). ralph mcdaniels and the story of 'video music box': 'we really made brooklyn hot’. brooklyn magazine. https://www.bkmag.com/2022/03/07/ralphmcdaniels-and-the-story-of-video-music-box-we-really-made-brooklyn-hot/ brock, jr., a. (2020). distributed blackness: african american cybercultures. new york university press. buschman, j. e., & leckie, g. j. (eds.). (2007). the library as place: history, community, and culture. (foreword by w. a. wiegand & j. c. bertot). libraries unlimited. chideya, f. (1999). the color of our future. william morrow and company. charoun, l. (2018, august 7). knowledge: hip hop culture’s fifth element. breakreate. (tunisia). https://www.thebreakreate.com/knowledge-hip-hop-culturesfifth-element/ chatman, e. a. (1999). a theory of life in the round. journal of the american society for information science, 50(3), 207–17. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)10974571(1999)50:3<207::aid-asi3>3.0.co;2-8 gaines, j. h. (2018). learning literacy through the rhetorical function of the drum: the locus of sound, symbolism, and reflection. the international journal of literacies, 25(1), 27– 40. https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-0136/cgp/v25i01/27-40 groenke, s. l., haddix, m., glenn, w. j., kirkland, d. e., price-dennis, d., & coleman-king, c. (2015). disrupting and dismantling the dominant vision of youth of color. english journal, 104(3), 35-40. hip hop librarian consortium. (2017). hip hop librarianship: leaders of the new school: a comprehensive bibliography. https://hiphoplibrarianship.wordpress.com/ ito, m. (2010). hanging out, messing around, and geeking out: kids living and learning with new media. mit press. about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank https://hiphoplibrarianship.wordpress.com/ the global drumbeat the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38230 9 kumasi, k. (2021). “getting inflomation”: a critical race theory tale from the school library. in s. leung & j. r. lopez-mcknight, j.(eds.), knowledge justice: disrupting library and information studies through critical race theory (pp. 299-315). mit press. kumasi, k. d. (2018). inflomation: a model for exploring information behavior through hip hop. the journal of research on libraries and young adults, 9(1), 18. https://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/inflomation_kumasi.pdf kobek, j. (2018). do every thing wrong!: xxxtentacion against the world. we heard you like books. leach, a. (2008). “one day it’ll all make sense”: hip-hop and rap resources for music librarians. notes (music library association), 65(1), 9–37. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/243971 library of congress. (2020). citizen dj. https://labs.loc.gov/work/experiments/citizen-dj/ mack, c. (1994). flava in ya ear. funk da world [album]. bad boy records. mcintyre, h. (2017, july 17). report: hip-hop/r&b is the dominant genre in the u.s. for the first time. forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2017/07/17/hiphoprb-has-now-become-the-dominant-genre-in-the-u-s-for-the-firsttime/?sh=480e57165383 morris, v. i. (2011). the readers' advisory guide to street literature. american library association. schonfeld, z. (2020). 24-carat black's ghetto: misfortune's wealth. bloomsbury publishing. schumaker, w., & kumasi, k. (2021). hip hop and libraries: a draft research guide. wayne state university. https://sites.google.com/view/hhlsitedraft042621/home stanley, w. (2020). fear and rebellion in south carolina: the 1739 stono rebellion and colonial slave society. masters theses, 2020-current. 55. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/masters202029/55 walcott, r. (1972, december). ellison, gordone and tolson: some notes on the blues, style and space. black world, 22(2), 4-29. walker, r., & gates, jr., h. l. (2012). black cool: one thousand streams of blackness. soft skull press. wiegand, w. a. (2003). to reposition a research agenda: what american studies can teach the lis community about the library in the life of the user. the library quarterly, 73(4), 369-382. about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank the global drumbeat the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38230 10 kafi d. kumasi is an associate professor in the school of information sciences at wayne state university, detroit, mi. her research engages critical theoretical explorations of race, power and privilege in the context of lis education and practices, particularly as it relates to supporting youth literacy development in libraries. a laura bush 21st century scholar, she holds a phd from indiana university, bloomington and a master's degree in lis from wayne state. she is the pi of a federal grant for entitled, project (rusl) restoring urban school libraries. her research has appeared in library and information science research, library trends, open information science, journal of education for library and information science, the journal of research on libraries and young adults, school libraries worldwide, school library media research, and urban library journal among other publication venues. andré brock is an associate professor of media studies at georgia tech. he writes on western technoculture, black technoculture, and digital media. his scholarship examines black and white representations in social media, videogames, weblogs, and other digital media. he has also published influential research on digital research methods. his award-winning book, distributed blackness: african american cybercultures, theorizes black everyday lives as black joy, mediated by networked digital technologies. about:blank about:blank introduction scope and significance roadmap to the issue additional resources acknowledgments references the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth rachel wexelbaum, st. cloud state university, usa abstract the author of this article presents the available findings on the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth. she will discuss the information seeking behavior of lgbtiq+ youth and challenges that these youth face in locating lgbtiq+ reading materials, whether in traditional book format or via social media. finally, the author will provide recommendations to librarians on how to make lgbtiq+ library resources more relevant for youth, as well as identify areas that require more research. keywords: lgbt; lgbt library resources and services; reading; social media; young adults publication type: viewpoint article esbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and questioning (lgbtiq+1) youth today, like the generations of lgbtiq+ youth before them, are active readers (wargo, 2017). while lgbtiq+ youth seek out books about lgbtiq+ characters and issues, they also rely heavily on social media as a source of reading (birdi & ford, 2018; brammer, 2017; craig & mcinroy, 2014; fox & ralston, 2016; mcbee, 2013; pruitt, 2016; robards, 2016; wargo, 2017; wexelbaum, 2015a; wexelbaum, 2015b; wexelbaum, 2017b). lgbtiq+ youth consume a wide variety of content for community building, educational purposes, entertainment, self-reflection, and sanctuary (birdi & ford, 2018; brammer, 2017; craig & mcinroy, 2014; fagan, 2013; flanders, pragg, dobinson, & logie, 2017; hamer, 2003; hillier & harrison, 2007; kivel & kleiber, 2000, p. 222-223; lucero, 2017; mcbee, 2013; paridis, 2016; pruitt, 2016; wargo, 2017; wexelbaum, 2017a; wexelbaum, 2017b). to this day, librarians serving lgbtiq+ youth continue to focus predominantly on books and films in their efforts to provide lgbtiq+ resources and services for youth (cart & jenkins, 2004; chapman, 2013; chapman, 2014; chapman, 2015; naidoo, 2015; oltmann, 2015; wexelbaum, 2017a). in reality, these traditional media may only appeal to a small percentage of lgbtiq+ youth who may prefer reading blogs on tumblr or seeking out information in more interactive contexts such as facebook groups or twitter communities (mcbee, 2013; robards, 2016; wargo, 2017). depending on the country in which they live, lgbtiq+ youth experience very different levels of protection and information access at home, school, and in libraries (equaldex, 2018; gay lesbian straight education network, 2018; international lesbian and gay association, 2017; stewart, 2009; unesco, 2012a; unesco, 2012b; wexelbaum, 2015a; wexelbaum, 2017b). the gay lesbian straight education network (glsen) and unesco developed international best practices to improve lgbtiq+ support and representation in school environments, curriculum, and textbooks and to eliminate lgbtiq+ related school bullying (unesco, 2012a; unesco, 2012b). for some reason, neither of the unesco reports address libraries as a source of support for lgbtiq+ youth. libraries play a special role in providing sanctuary and information resources for lgbtiq+ youth, however, and for this reason the information provided in this article should be of interest to l https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi librarians, educators, and all practitioners dedicated to improving the welfare of youth around the world. the international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla) states that all librarians and information workers still must provide equitable information access and service to all people regardless of their status in the country where they work. according to the ifla code of ethics for librarians and other information workers “part 2. responsibilities toward individuals and society”: in order to promote inclusion and eradicate discrimination, librarians and other information workers ensure that the right of accessing information is not denied and that equitable services are provided for everyone whatever their age, citizenship, political belief, physical or mental ability, gender identity, heritage, education, income, immigration and asylum-seeking status, marital status, origin, race, religion or sexual orientation. (ifla, 2016) the international federation of libraries and archives (ifla) acknowledges that, as a global professional organization for information professionals around the world, it must do better to provide professional support for librarians of all nations in regard to meeting the needs of lgbtiq+ users: as part of our professional commitment to provide access to information, librarians are charged to support the full range of users’ information al needs including those of lesbians, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (lgbtq) people. that said, substantial discussion of issues related to library services for lgbtq community members have not taken place at ifla. the lgbtq users sig will address this gap in professional knowledge by offering opportunities to engage in discussions about this often invisible user group. (ifla, 2015) as the author writes this article, the ifla lgbtq+ users sig is developing an international, multilingual survey to determine how libraries around the world currently provide resources, services, space, and programming for lgbtiq+ populations. the group will use the results of that survey to draft international guidelines for lgbtiq+ resources, services, library space, and programming. to support ifla’s work, and to improve lgbtiq+ collection development practices, the author of this article presents the available findings on the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth through a review of existing scholarly, professional, and popular resources. she will discuss the information seeking behavior of lgbtiq+ youth and challenges that these youth face in locating lgbtiq+ reading materials, whether in traditional book format or via social media. finally, the author will provide recommendations to librarians on how to make lgbtiq+ library resources more relevant for youth, as well as identify areas that require more research. a new definition of reading a broadly accepted definition of “reading” is “discover(ing)” information “by reading it in a written or printed source” (oxford living dictionaries, 2018). at the same time, this definition may no longer serve 21st-century readers of younger generations. to this day, english teachers, reading specialists, and librarians differ in their definitions of reading, and continue to focus on the book as the main currency of literacy (brown, 2017; commission on reading of the national council of teachers of english, 2004; international reading association, 2014; moyer, 2010; 113 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi national endowment for the arts, 2007; national endowment for the arts, 2009; national literacy trust, 2017). for this reason, national studies of youth reading habits give the impression that youth read less than in previous generations (national endowment for the arts, 2007; national endowment for the arts, 2009; national literacy trust, 2017). while the print book continues to serve as a mode of information gathering and entertainment for youth (national endowment for the arts, 2009; national literacy trust, 2016; zickuhr & rainie, 2014), they spend more time consuming online social media that combines text, images, and audiovisual content (national literacy trust, 2016; zickuhr & rainie, 2014). the failure to include social media within the scope of a definition of reading paints a false picture of the amount of reading that youth actually do and of their desire to read. surveys of youth in english-speaking countries reveal conflicting information about the amount of reading that youth actually do (international reading association, 2014; moyer 2010; national endowment for the arts, 2007; national endowment for the arts, 2009; rainie, 2018; zickuhr & rainie, 2014). studies conducted by english teacher associations and reading associations state that the amount of reading that youth do decreases as they grow older, and that youth develop a disdain for reading books because they are required to read materials that do not interest them (international reading association, 2014; national endowment for the arts, 2007; national endowment for the arts, 2009). at the same time, the pew internet survey and library associations state that youth are the highest percentage of library users and that they check out more books than older populations (moyer 2010; rainie, 2018; zickuhr & rainie, 2014). finally, publishing associations note that the sale of books is actually increasing in this age of social media, with books for children and young adults making up a significant percentage of those sales (cain, 2016; peterson, 2018). lgbtiq+ youth read a wide variety of physical and electronic material formats. these materials include print books, electronic books, blogs, and social media content. for these youth, reading often takes the form of a social activity, an identity-affirming activity, and an emotional regulation activity much more so than an academic cognitive process (bittner, 2017; blackburn & clark, 2011; brammer, 2017; craig & mcinroy, 2014; fabian, 2015; fagan, 2013; flanders et al., 2017; hamer, 2003; hillier & harrison, 2007, p. 95; kivel & kleiber, 2000, p. 222-223; lucero, 2017; paridis, 2016; pruitt, 2016; wexelbaum, 2017a; wexelbaum, 2017b). for these reasons, for future assessments of reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth, we must develop a new definition of reading. limitations of current research on lgbtiq+ reading habits and preferences studies conducted on the traditional reading habits of youth do not collect information on the sexual orientation or gender identity of participants. compounding this problem, the research articles written for and by librarians on traditional lgbtiq+ collection development for youth often do not include qualitative or quantitative evidence of the reading preferences of their young lgbtiq+ patrons. instead, these papers focus on what librarians ought to do based on the experiences of older generations of lgbtiq+ librarians whose reading preference, historically, has been print books (cart & jenkins, 2004; chapman, 2013; chapman, 2014; chapman, 2015; naidoo, 2014, p. 86; naidoo, 2015; oltmann, 2015; wexelbaum, 2017a). reviewers of lgbtiq+ books for youth and panelists on book award panels are often at least one generation removed from the readers whom the librarians aim to serve. the few studies that do exist of reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ populations often include readers from all age groups (abrams, 2013; creelman, 1990; freely, 2013; goldthorp, 114 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi 2007; joyce & schrader, 1997; norman, 1999; pruitt, 2016; rothbauer, 2004; wexelbaum, 2015b). these studies originate from english-speaking countries where most study participants identify as white and have access to libraries that have lgbtiq+ collections and unfiltered, ubiquitous broadband internet (goldthorp, 2007; pruitt, 2016; rothbauer, 2004a; rothbauer, 2004b; rothbauer, 2004c; wexelbaum, 2015a; wexelbaum, 2015b; wexelbaum, 2017). most studies of lgbtiq+ youth reading habits focus on small populations who may not accurately represent “the average” lgbtiq+ youth (bittner, 2017; goldthorp, 2007; kievel & kleiber, 2000; pruitt, 2016; rothbauer, 2004a; rothbauer, 2004b; rothbauer, 2004c). finally, not all researchers who collect data on reading habits include social media consumption within their definition of reading. for these reasons, we can only speak about the reading habits of a privileged few, and can only estimate the reading habits and preferences of a global lgbtiq+ youth. more research is needed on the reading habits and preferences of non-english speaking lgbtiq+ youth, as well as those lgbtiq+ youth living in non-english speaking countries. desire and motivation to read among lgbtiq+ youth studies of lgbtiq+ youth reveal that lgbtiq+ identity development processes are their primary motivators to read. through reading, they seek out others like themselves, role models, and safe spaces to live as they wish (craig & mcinroy, 2014; hamer, 2003; kivel & kleiber, 2000, p. 222-223). for younger lgbtiq+ people, the motivation to read begins as an escape from hostility (fagan, 2013). some studies find that a significant percentage of lgbtiq+ youth also receive labels such as “gifted,” “talented,” and “overperforming” (cowan, 1988; hegarty, 2011; hoskinson, 2001; pachankis & hatzenbuehler, 2013; stern, 2013; treat, 2006; wexelbaum & hoover, 2014, p. 74-75; wilcove, 1998), these students are often placed into or select accelerated classes where they are expected to read more books, therefore socializing with a peer group who read. in a study of 10,000 lgbtiq+ teenagers, 94.5% stated that they intended to go to college and had no concerns about academics (human rights campaign, n.d; kosciw & boesen, 2015). of those college bound survey participants, 69.7% stated that they would major in an arts, humanities, or social sciences discipline when they went to college (kosciw & boesen, 2015). these subject areas require a great deal of reading and interpretation of texts. lgbtiq+ youth engage in heavy social media usage (brammer, 2017; craig & micinroy, 2014; flanders et al., 2017; hillier & harrison, 2007; lucero, 2017). their motivation to go online is to search for others like themselves, to be out, and to locate lgbtiq+-specific information about sexuality and health (brammer, 2017; craig & mcinroy, 2014; flanders et al., 2017; hamer, 2003; hillier & harrison, 2007, p. 95; lucero, 2017; paridis, 2016). lgbtiq+ youth are often active social media users due to heteronormative physical spaces such as school, home, or libraries restricting their access to traditional information resources (craig & mcinroy, 2014, p.98; flanders et al.,, 2017; paridis, 2016; wexelbaum, 2017). they are five times more likely than cisgender heterosexual youth to search online for sexuality and health information (gay lesbian straight education network, 2013). while lgbtiq+ youth enjoy twitter, facebook, instagram, and snapchat as much as their cisgender heterosexual peers, they are more frequent users of tumblr, youtube, and lgbtq+ blogs (brammer, 2017; fabian, 2015; pruitt, 2016). in fact, a google search for “lgbt blogs” yields several authoritative lists of recommended lgbtiq+ blogs, including a “top 60 lgbt blogs and websites for the lgbt community” blog, updated regularly (agarwal, 2018). these blogs encourage lgbtiq+ youth to follow the bloggers, share content on other social media platforms, and discuss the content with others. in some cases, the lgbtiq+ youth who read blogs about lgbtiq+ issues find their voice, gain consciousness, and decide to 115 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi generate their own content for others to read, share, and discuss (brammer, 2017; fabian, 2015; pruitt, 2016). how lgbtiq+ youth locate reading material the ways in which lgbtiq+ youth locate reading material differ from context to context. in some instances, locating desired lgbtiq+ reading material is serendipitous, while in other cases, youth may employ intentional strategies with the help of people, search engines, and social media algorithms (bittner, 2017; schaller, 2011). different populations within the lgbtiq+ community may have distinct preferences for locating lgbtiq+ reading material based on availability of options, access to libraries or resource centers with quality reading material and friendly staff, and personal internet access (bittner, 2017; hamer, 2003). family and friends today, more youth are growing up with lgbtiq+ parents, family members, and friends. these youth may serendipitously encounter lgbtiq+ books and films at home or in the homes of their family members or friends. children with same-sex parents or transgender parents may receive picture books about children in similar families, which reflects their family structure and validates their identities. if these youth come out to their parents, family members, or friends who own lgbtiq+ reading materials, it is possible that those trusted allies would recommend or share lgbtiq+ books and media with the youth. teachers more schools are incorporating lgbtiq+ content into curriculum to meet state or national standards (california department of education, 2018; illinois general assembly, 2018; rfsu, 2017). students going to those schools may encounter lgbtiq+ historical figures, artists, writers, musicians, theorists, or scientists in their school textbooks. it is possible that students may have to complete a research assignment involving a notable lgbtiq+ person from their class reading. this would require that students visit the library, if they have access to one, or go online to locate information. librarians youth unaccustomed to using their library on a regular basis may experience “library anxiety” where they become overwhelmed by the vast number of books and complexity of the library website and catalog (e.g., cleveland, 2004). lgbtiq+ youth experience additional stress in library environments if they perceive that library employees or patrons will harm them if they request or search for lgbtiq+ materials (drake & bielefield, 2017; oltmann, 2016; wexelbaum, 2015a; wexelbaum, 2015b; wexelbaum, 2017b). to this day, youth may feel uncomfortable asking library employees for assistance in locating or checking out materials, or will assume that they do not have any (drake & bielefield, 2017; naidoo, 2014; rothbauer, 2004b). for that reason, they may leave the library without attempting to search, or will search the internet for materials that may not be part of the library collection (drake & bielefield, 2017; rothbauer, 2004b; rothbauer, 2004c). according to library literature, some lgbtiq+ youth want a standalone lgbtiq+ collection to make lgbtiq+ books easy to find, although such a section would make other lgbtiq+ youth feel “ghettoized” and at risk for harm (chapman, 2013). libraries that have lgbtiq+ ebooks, online subject guides, lists of recommended lgbtiq+ books on the library website, or lgbtiq+ books integrated in regular displays make it easier and safer for 116 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi youth to locate those materials (naidoo, 2014; wexelbaum, 2015a; wexelbaum, 2015b; wexelbaum, 2017b). public library events such as “drag queen story hour” and lgbtiq+ children’s literature for a broad audience have begun to normalize queer bodies in the library (https://www.dragqueenstoryhour.org/). lgbtiq+ community center or resource center if youth live in proximity of an lgbtiq+ community center or lgbtiq+ resource center, they may have access to a computer lab and a book collection (centerlink, 2018, p. 3; marine, 2011; sanlo, 2000).2 the lgbtiq+ center may be less likely to have someone on staff to manage the book collection, but those interested in reading have a safe space to browse and read books that may be unsafe to read in other spaces. otherwise, the youth could make use of the computer lab to search for lgbtiq+ content (centerlink, 2018). forty-four percent of lgbtiq+ community centers provide services for homeless lgbtiq+ youth (centerlink, 2018, p. 18); it is likely that lgbtiq+ youth who visit these community centers also use computers there. social media and the internet lgbtiq+ youth perceive the internet as a “safe space” (hillier, mitchell, & ybarra, 2012; schaller, 2011; wexelbaum, 2017b). reading often is a social activity for lgbtiq+ youth (birdi & ford, 2018; brammer, 2017; fagan, 2013; hillier & harrison, 2007; pruitt, 2016; wexelbaum, 2017b). through online communities and private groups on mediated social media channels, lgbtiq+ youth have found not only community, but fellow readers and spaces to talk about and recommend reading materials—some published by others, and some created by themselves. some youth like to go online to check reviews of a book prior to reading it (bittner, 2017; pruitt, 2016). this desire to check reviews, combined with the sociability of reading, may indicate why the lgbtiq+ reading community has an active presence on goodreads. as of october 2018, 591 lgbtiq+-specific active book groups exist on goodreads. of those lgbtiq+-specific book groups, the “ya [young adult] lgbt books” group has almost 11,000 members—the second largest lgbtiq+ book group on goodreads. facebook, twitter, and tumblr also have groups dedicated to lgbtiq+ youth who enjoy reading and talking about books. pruitt (2016) describes a youtube channel called “booktube” where he studied the queer space created by seven different lgbtiq+ readers to discuss and critique lgbtiq+ books and authors as well as cisgender heterosexual authors. bookstores as of 2018, fifty queer bookstores still exist in north america, europe, asia, australia and new zealand (oder, 2018). unfortunately, the majority of lgbtiq+ youth have no access to these stores. if they do purchase lgbtiq+ books, they will most likely choose amazon as their “bookstore” (wexelbaum, 2015b, p. 216-218). while the amazon site is easier to use than a library catalog, people searching for lgbtiq+ ebooks through amazon may perceive that the ebooks are of poorer quality than traditionally published lgbtiq+ books if they do not know what search terms to use or do not have an exact title or author in mind (wexelbaum, 2015b, p. 216218). while more mainstream bookstores are increasing their lgbtiq+ inventory and inviting lgbtiq+ authors for readings and signings, or making space for lgbtiq+ book discussion groups, they still do not actively promote lgbtiq+ books or events for children or young adults. 117 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://www.dragqueenstoryhour.org/ the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi reading preferences of lgbtiq+ youth in 2016, researchers asked survey participants to write in the term that best described their gender and sexual orientation and received over 500 distinct responses (steinmetz, 2017). lgbtiq+ youth today, diverse and hyperindividualistic, is nearly impossible to pin down for publishers as a marketing demographic. for this reason, there is no current information from publishers about the book purchasing habits of lgbtiq+ youth. from online sites such as goodreads where people have the opportunity to review books, researchers will not always know whether or not a review came from an lgbtiq+ youngster unless they self-identify. goodreads does allow people to create lists of books with a common theme or genre, where other goodreads users can vote, but the number of voters is often small compared to the number of people in the lgbtiq+ goodreads community as a whole. neither amazon nor libraries collect information on the sexual orientation, gender, or age of their users. for this reason, most information on the reading preferences of lgbtiq+ youth is historical and anecdotal. since the advent of paperback novels, science fiction and fantasy have been popular genres for lgbtiq+ youth (bittner, 2017; foster, 2017; smith, 2016). this is because science fiction and fantasy stories have opened up realms of possibilities for alternative modes of reproduction and non-cisgender heteronormative societies (marchesani, 2002). lgbtiq+ youth who identify as science fiction and fantasy fans go beyond traditionally published books in this genre and will visit fan fiction and slash fiction sites,3 where peers will write and share their own stories—often with a queer twist—based on existing science fiction and fantasy stories (berger, 2010; bittner, 2017). according to one recent large scale online survey of self-identified lgbtiq+ youth (13 to 21 years old) who use the internet, 31% of lgbtiq+ youth go online “mostly to gain information about lgbtq lives, people, culture, or history” (paridis, 2016, p. 95). this response was the second most popular reason to go online, after “socialize.” while none of the survey questions asked where exactly they go online to search for such information, or what type of resources they prefer, it is highly likely that the youth would retrieve wikipedia articles, blog posts, online journal articles, and access to ebooks on these topics. historically, lgbtiq+ youth have searched for books that had lgbtiq+ characters like themselves (blackburn & clark, 2011). as students are coming out and claiming their gender identities at earlier ages, underrepresentation of lgbtiq+ characters in composition readers and textbooks force these students into silence and invisibility in the classroom, prodding them to search for such characters in their leisure reading (hudson, 2007). major concerns of lgbtiq+ youth include finding lgbtiq+ friends and romantic partners. more lgbtiq+ youth search for friends and romantic partners online than non-lgbtiq+ youth (dehaan, kuper, magee, bigelow & mustanski, 2012; hillier, mitchell, & ybarra, 2012). this also generates interest in stories about lgbtiq+ friendships and romance and could explain why publishers and librarians promote young adult literature with such themes to teenagers, and why some lgbtiq+ young adult novels, such as nancy garden’s annie on my mind (1982), still resonate with young readers today (stepaniuk, 2018). australian researchers who conducted a large-scale study of the social media use of lgbtiq+ youth discovered that over 60% of lgbtiq+ youth in australia use tumblr (robards, 2016). these youth considered tumblr the most useful of all social media sites because of the safe “queer 118 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi ecosystem” in that space, the community building, and the information that they received from peers about gender, sexuality, and activism (robards, 2016). american and british youth have echoed these sentiments about tumblr, particularly those who identify as transgender (mcbee, 2013; wargo, 2017). challenges for young lgbtiq+ readers lgbtiq+ youth in rural, socially conservative areas often have the least access to lgbtiq+ content (bittner, 2017; naidoo, 2014; wexelbaum, 2017b). if their school or public library does not have lgbtiq+ books, and if their school and family maintain internet filters on the computers, they will struggle to locate lgbtiq+ reading material or find an lgbtiq+ community (bittner, 2017; wexelbaum, 2015a; wexelbaum, 2017b). more k-12 school districts are doing away with school librarians—and sometimes libraries— altogether, and few k-12 teachers are teaching students about online searching or how to evaluate online information (kachel, 2018). for these reasons, lgbtiq+ youth may have a more difficult time searching independently for traditional reading materials if they do not have friends or trusted adults who can help. they may also struggle in locating authoritative, trustworthy information about safe sex, transitioning, or other lgbtiq+ specific issues. while blogs written by peers can be entertaining or affirming, they are no substitute for professional medical guidance or advice from a mental health professional. a small study of 35 canadian transgender and queer youth from british columbia who identify as active readers and library users revealed that this population found most lgbtiq+ fiction didactic, alienating, and portraying stereotypes (bittner, 2017, pp. 109-110). while researchers should replicate this study with transgender and queer youth across north america to confirm whether this perception is common within this population, it is true that the number of ya novels with transgender or queer characters remains small, and that they are often written for the purpose of educating or entertaining cisgender people (bittner, 2017, p. 74-75). lgbtiq+ youth with multiple identities—lgbtiq+ youth of color and lgbtiq+ youth with disabilities in particular—remain underrepresented in traditional reading materials. as the majority of lgbtiq+ online spaces remain predominantly white and able-bodied, these youth do not always feel safe or fully accepted in these environments. unless they have friends or trusted adults who can help them locate the resources they need to locate community and seek validation, these youth may be at higher risk for self-harm (haas, rodgers, & herman, 2014). lgbtiq+ youth—particularly lgbtiq+ youth of color—are over 120% more likely to experience homelessness than white cisgender heterosexual youth (dashow, 2017). an estimated 20 to 40 percent of lgbtiq+ youth in the u.s. experience homelessness, disrupting their education and free time to reflect (lambda legal, n.d.; true colors fund, 2018). homeless lgbtiq+ youth depend heavily on libraries and lgbtiq+ community centers for temporary shelter, access to services, information, and computers (centerlink, 2018; lambda legal, n.d). while no information exists on the leisure reading habits of homeless lgbtiq+ youth, all homeless youth seek out print and online guides providing contact information for shelters, counseling services, food banks, hiv testing, pregnancy testing, and other sexual health or medical services in safe, welcoming spaces (hill, 2016; lambda legal, n.d.; winkelstein, 2013). some lgbtiq+ homeless youth also try to connect with online educational opportunities in libraries, including test preparation services (hill, 2016; lambda legal, n.d.; winkelstein, 2013). the american library association’s gay lesbian bisexual transgender roundtable recognizes the needs of lgbtiq+ 119 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi homeless youth and published an excellent resource guide produced by julie ann winkelstein for the 2013 american library association annual conference called “safe in the stacks: community spaces for homeless lgbt youth” (winkelstein, 2013). minors, homeless and otherwise, do not have the same level of physical privacy as adults, which could affect their ability to bring home library books or other physical media with lgbtiq+ content (naidoo, 2014; wexelbaum, 2015a; wexelbaum, 2017b). not all minors have the same level of internet privacy as adults, especially in school libraries (naidoo, 2014; wexelbaum, 2015a; wexelbaum, 2017b). if minors do have access to unfiltered internet and go to unmonitored social media sites, they may encounter graphic talk or videos for which they may not be prepared. one study revealed that, for lgbtiq+ ebooks on amazon without proper search terms, the odds that they retrieve erotica or pornographic material will be high (wexelbaum, 2015b). finally, while lgbtiq+ youth view the internet as “safe,” they are at higher risk for bullying, sexual harassment, and online crime than cisgender heterosexual youth (gay lesbian straight education network, 2015, pp. x-xii). negative experiences online may affect their desire to seek out lgbtiq+ information, reading material, or community online. recommendations and future research based on current findings, lgbtiq+ youth have a high motivation to read. they seek out traditional reading materials and online media to locate lgbtiq+-related information, to validate their identity, to find community, and to share experiences and knowledge. as lgbtiq+ youth spend more time online than cisgender heterosexual youth (gay lesbian straight education network, 2015, pp. x-xii), it is important for teachers and librarians to reach lgbtiq+ youth through social media channels and other online fora to provide reading recommendations for online resources as well as traditionally published books (e.g., wexelbaum, 2017). goodreads remains an untapped source of data about lgbtiq+ book readers, as are tumblr, twitter, and the moderated facebook groups for lgbtiq+ readers. these sites remain highly popular and stable; in english-speaking countries, at least, they show no sign of disappearing. with respect to anonymity and user privacy, discovering strategies to mine that data to learn more about contemporary lgbtiq+ youth reading preferences would greatly benefit librarians, teachers, publishers, and writers. with that said, young lgbtiq+ readers are a diverse group; it is quite possible that differences in reading habits and preferences exist within this population that may also provide more information as to the differences in reading habits and preferences between genders, sexualities, races, and other demographics. as younger generations consume multiple forms of content, the definition of reading should include the interpretation of online multimedia as well as traditional print books. once that is established, researchers can adjust the questions they ask youth in surveys about their reading habits and preferences. in the case of determining reading habits and preferences for lgbtiq+ youth, researchers must include their online information seeking behavior and find out what types of sites they visit for that information. in conducting these studies on the online information seeking behavior of lgbtiq+ youth, researchers should always include specific questions about the use of the library website or catalog to locate information, social media channels, or other online fora, as opposed to the general internet-related questions. librarians still do not know if or how lgbtiq+ youth access their online resources, and without that information, we will continue to make assumptions about this population based on what we did when we were children. 120 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi endnotes 1 the author will use the acronym “lgbtiq+” to capture the broadest spectrum of sexual and gender identities possible. the author uses “transgender” and “queer” in this acronym as umbrella terms to capture all other possible gender and sexual identities. the new generation of lgbtiq+ youth, incredibly diverse and hyperindividualistic, employs a much broader spectrum of labels to identify themselves than previous generations. no acronym can capture the full range of identity labels used by sexual minority youth and gender non-conforming youth. organizations cited in this article often use other variations of this acronym; the author will maintain the integrity of those organizational names and titles. 2 the national organization centerlink: the community of lgbt centers publishes a report on facilities, budgets, staffing, and usage demographics for lgbt community centers that does not include information about book collections. the consortium of lgbt higher education lgbt resource professionals maintains a website called “find an lgbt resource center,” and campus pride has a “pride index” that tells potential college students about lgbtiq+ resources, services, and climate at higher education institutions, but none of these resources provides information about the book collections at lgbt community centers or resource centers. the author of this paper, in preparing another publication, reviewed existing lgbt resource center and lgbt community center webpages to determine how many have book collections. more than three quarters of those centers have book collections. 3 slash fiction is “a type…of fan fiction involving…same-sex romantic relationships between fictional characters or famous people, whether or not the romances actually exist [in the original narratives or in real life]” (dictionary.com, 2018). references abrams, d. 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(1999). out on loan: a survey of the use and information needs of users of the lesbian, gay and bisexual collection of brighton and hove libraries. journal of librarianship and information science, 31(4), 188-196. oder, b. (2018, june 26). 50 queer bookstores to visit this pride month. bookriot. retrieved from https://bookriot.com/2018/06/26/queer-bookstores/ oltmann, s.m. (2015). variables related to school media center lgbt collections. libri, 65(1), 25-33. oltmann, s.m. (2016). “they kind of rely on the library”: school librarians serving lgbt students. the journal of research on libraries and young adults, 7(1), 1-21. pachankis, j.e. & hatzenbuehler, m.l. (2013). the social development of contingent self-worth in sexual minority young men: an empirical investigation of the “best little boy in the world” hypothesis. basic and applied social psychology, 35(2), 176-190. paridis, e. (2016). searching for self and society: sexual and gender minority youth online. in v.e. bloomfield & m.e. fisher (eds.), lgbtq voices in education: changing the culture of schooling (pp. 87-101). new york: routledge. 126 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://www.buzzfeed.com/thomaspagemcbee/why-tumblr-is-perfect-for-the-trans-community http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/2010/11/teens-today-dont-read-books-anymore-a-study-of-differences-in-interest-and-comprehension-based-on-reading-modalities-part-1-introduction-and-methodology/ http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/2010/11/teens-today-dont-read-books-anymore-a-study-of-differences-in-interest-and-comprehension-based-on-reading-modalities-part-1-introduction-and-methodology/ http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/2010/11/teens-today-dont-read-books-anymore-a-study-of-differences-in-interest-and-comprehension-based-on-reading-modalities-part-1-introduction-and-methodology/ https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/toread.pdf https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/readingonrise.pdf https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/childrens-and-young-peoples-reading-in-2016-findings-from-our-annual-literacy-survey-2016/ https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/childrens-and-young-peoples-reading-in-2016-findings-from-our-annual-literacy-survey-2016/ https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/childrens-and-young-peoples-reading-in-2016-findings-from-our-annual-literacy-survey-2016/ http://library.ifla.org/1289/ https://bookriot.com/2018/06/26/queer-bookstores/ the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi peterson, v. (2018, december 16). young adult and new adult book markets: facts and figures to know about the young adult book market. retrieved from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/the-young-adult-book-market-2799954 pruitt, j. (2016). common queer readers band together on youtube. the popular culture studies journal, 4(1/2), 56-82. rainie, l. (2018, april 9). the information needs of citizens: where libraries fit in. pew research center. retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/04/09/theinformation-needs-of-citizens-where-libraries-fit-in/ read. (n.d.). in oxford living dictionaries. retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/read riksförbundet för sexuell upplysning (rfsu). (2017, november 30). about swedish sex education. retrieved from https://www.rfsu.se/om-rfsu/om-oss/in-english/nationalwork/sexuality-education/about-swedish-sexuality-education/ robards, b. (2017, january 23). is there something queer about tumblr? scrolling beyond binaries. retrieved from https://scrollingbeyondbinaries.com/2017/01/23/is-theresomething-queer-about-tumblr/ rothbauer, p. (2004a). finding and creating possibility: reading in the lives of lesbian, bisexual and queer young women (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from proquest dissertations and theses (accession no. nq96911). rothbauer, p. (2004b). the internet in the reading accounts of lesbian and queer young women: failed searches and unsanctioned reading. the canadian journal of information and library science, 28(4), 89-110. rothbauer, p. (2004c). “people aren’t afraid anymore, but it’s hard to find books”: reading practices that inform the personal and social identities of self-identified lesbian and queer young women. canadian journal of information & library sciences, 28(3), 53-74. retrieved from https://works.bepress.com/paulette_rothbauer/21/ sanlo, r.l. (2000). the lgbt campus resource center director: the new profession in student affairs. naspa journal, 37(3), 485-495. schaller, s. (2011). information needs of lgbtq college students. libri: international journal of libraries & information services, 61(2), 100-115. slash fiction. (n.d.). in dictionary.com. retrieved from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/slash-fiction smith, t.m. (2016). sci-fi as a queer genre. harvard divinity bulletin, 44(3/4). retrieved from https://bulletin.hds.harvard.edu/articles/summerautumn2016/sci-fi-as-queer-genre steinmetz, k. (2017, march 16). beyond “he” or “she”: the changing meaning of gender and sexuality. time. retrieved from http://time.com/4703309/gender-sexuality-changing/ stepaniuk, c. (2018, march 16). the burning and banning of an annie on my mind. bookriot. 127 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://www.thebalancecareers.com/the-young-adult-book-market-2799954 http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/04/09/the-information-needs-of-citizens-where-libraries-fit-in/ http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/04/09/the-information-needs-of-citizens-where-libraries-fit-in/ https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/read https://www.rfsu.se/om-rfsu/om-oss/in-english/national-work/sexuality-education/about-swedish-sexuality-education/ https://www.rfsu.se/om-rfsu/om-oss/in-english/national-work/sexuality-education/about-swedish-sexuality-education/ https://scrollingbeyondbinaries.com/2017/01/23/is-there-something-queer-about-tumblr/ https://scrollingbeyondbinaries.com/2017/01/23/is-there-something-queer-about-tumblr/ https://works.bepress.com/paulette_rothbauer/21/ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/slash-fiction https://bulletin.hds.harvard.edu/articles/summerautumn2016/sci-fi-as-queer-genre http://time.com/4703309/gender-sexuality-changing/ the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi retrieved from https://bookriot.com/2018/03/16/annie-on-my-mind/ stern, m.j. (2013, september 30). are gay people smarter than straight people? the slate. retrieved from https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/09/are-gay-people-smarterthan-straight-people-or-do-they-just-work-harder.html stewart, c. (ed.). (2009). the greenwood encyclopedia of lgbt issues worldwide. santa barbara, ca: abc-clio. treat, a.r. (2006). overexcitability in gifted sexually diverse populations. the journal of secondary gifted education, 17(4), 244-257. true colors fund. (2018). state index on youth homelessness. retrieved from https://truecolorsfund.org/index/ united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (unesco). (2012a). education sector responses to homophobic bullying. retrieved from http://old.outandequal.org/wpcontent/uploads/2015/05/unesco_homophobic_bullying_2012_-schools.pdf united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (unesco). (2012b). review of homophobic bullying in educational institutions. retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002157/215708e.pdf wargo, j.m. (2017). #donttagyourhate: reading collecting and curating as genres of participation in lgbt youth activism on tumblr. digital culture & education, 9(1), 1431. wexelbaum, r. (2015a). censorship of online lgbtiq content in libraries. in r. wexelbaum (ed.), queers online: lgbt digital practices in libraries, archives, and museums (pp. 205-214). sacramento, ca: litwin books. wexelbaum, r. (2015b). the quest for lgbtiq ebooks. in r. wexelbaum (ed.), queers online: lgbt digital practices in libraries, archives, and museums (pp. 215-228). sacramento, ca: litwin books. wexelbaum, r. (2017a). do libraries save lgbt students? library management, 39(1/2), 31-58. wexelbaum, r. (2017b). global promotion of lgbtq resources and services through social media. in r. montague and l. mckeever (eds.), queer library alliance: global reflections and imaginings (pp. 87-122). sacramento, ca: library juice press. wexelbaum, r. & hoover, j. (2014). gifted and lgbtiq: a comprehensive research review. international journal for talent development and creativity, 2(1), 73-86. wilcove, j. (1998). perceptions of masculinity, femininity, and androgyny among a select cohort of gifted adolescent males. journal for the education of the gifted, 21(3), 288309. winkelstein, j.a. (2013). safe in the stacks: community spaces for lgbtq homeless youth. presented at the 2013 ala annual meeting, chicago, il. retrieved from 128 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://bookriot.com/2018/03/16/annie-on-my-mind/ https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/09/are-gay-people-smarter-than-straight-people-or-do-they-just-work-harder.html https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/09/are-gay-people-smarter-than-straight-people-or-do-they-just-work-harder.html https://truecolorsfund.org/index/ http://old.outandequal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/unesco_homophobic_bullying_2012_-schools.pdf http://old.outandequal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/unesco_homophobic_bullying_2012_-schools.pdf http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002157/215708e.pdf the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi http://www.ala.org/rt/glbtrt/tools/homeless-lgbtq-youth zickuhr, k. & rainie, l. (2014). younger americans’ reading habits and technology use. pew research center. retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/09/10/youngeramericans-reading-habits-and-technology-use/ rachel wexelbaum (rswexelbaum@stcloudstate.edu) is collection management librarian and associate professor at st. cloud state university in st. cloud, minnesota. she teaches courses on social media and lgbtiq+ studies to undergraduates. currently she is pursuing her doctorate in higher education administration at st. cloud state university, where she is studying the impact of academic libraries on lgbtq+ undergraduates. rachel is the editor of queers online: lgbt digital practices in libraries, archives, and museums (library juice press, 2015), and has written several articles and book chapters dealing with emerging library resources and services for lgbtiq+ populations. currently rachel serves on the ifla lgbtiq+ special interest group, collaborating on a survey to develop international guidelines for lgbtq+ library resources and services. she is also the twitter administrator for wikimedia lgbt+, a global thematic user group devoted to promotion, creation, and improvement of lgbt+ content on wikipedia and providing support for lgbtq+ wikipedians. 129 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi http://www.ala.org/rt/glbtrt/tools/homeless-lgbtq-youth http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/09/10/younger-americans-reading-habits-and-technology-use/ http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/09/10/younger-americans-reading-habits-and-technology-use/ file:///c:/users/shsu/documents/ijidi/20181210/rswexelbaum@stcloudstate.edu a new definition of reading limitations of current research on lgbtiq+ reading habits and preferences desire and motivation to read among lgbtiq+ youth how lgbtiq+ youth locate reading material family and friends teachers librarians lgbtiq+ community center or resource center social media and the internet bookstores reading preferences of lgbtiq+ youth challenges for young lgbtiq+ readers recommendations and future research endnotes references book review: the librarian’s guide to homelessness: an empathy-driven approach to the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ ijidi: book review dowd, r. j. (2018). the librarian’s guide to homelessness: an empathy-driven approach to solving problems, preventing conflict, and serving everyone. chicago: ala editions. isbn 9780838916261. 248 pp. $57.00 us. reviewer: jorge cardenas, burnaby public library, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: customer service; homelessness; library science; public library publication type: book review few years ago, i worked in a great library that was the heart of a community. this library’s big and bright spaces and computer terminals attracted people from all walks of life: from mothers pushing expensive strollers to homeless men carrying their belongings in oversized backpacks to university students at their laptops. library staff were proud to create an environment where all patrons felt welcomed and valued. on a fairly regular basis, staff also had to break up fights between different patrons, often calling the police or paramedics. although libraries are free, communal spaces that can foster connections, they are also sites for potential friction and disruption. people experiencing homelessness, like all other types of patrons, may be involved in some serious incidents which require library staff intervention. despite the fact that in most cases they are not the underlying problem, this group of patrons is often perceived as an “issue” that requires disproportionately more staff attention and resources, instead of the library framing these encounters as a customer service issue. public libraries across north america have long addressed the need to properly serve those experiencing homelessness using several strategies, including hiring social workers, delivering targeted programming, developing key partnerships with external organizations, training staff and engaging the topic in library and information science programs (lilienthal, 2011). it is in this context that dowd, a long-time director of a homeless shelter outside of chicago, adds to the literature on how to effectively serve homeless library patrons. his work, found in a website (http://www.homelesslibrary.com), a webinar, and now this book, brings to the table context, experience, and tools that can ideally be used in librarianship. though dowd is not a librarian and has never worked in libraries, he has delivered workshops and webinars to many library groups across the u.s. through this experience he is well aware of the main issues libraries face when serving homeless patrons. dowd’s book has four parts: outlining homelessness myths and the theory of empathy; a set of tools for applying empathy-driven enforcement; advice on how to deal with more complicated or serious incidents; and information for managers and decision makers. most of the book’s content is from dowd’s own experience working with the homeless. potential readers can consult the guide when facing specific situations, as it is a very practical toolkit based on the simple premise that we can have patrons follow library rules by either punishment or empathy. the author argues that patrons experiencing homelessness, addiction and mental illness are immune to regular punishment, and therefore it is better to use empathy-driven enforcement with them. this approach focuses on controlling our emotions, developing relationships, a http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.alaeditions.org/ http://www.alaeditions.org/ http://www.homelesslibrary.com/ the librarian’s guide to homelessness the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ actively listening, and being fair to patrons. library staff can prevent, de-escalate, and solve potential incidents by changing how we think, talk, and position our body when interacting with a patron. this book is an ideal read for public library staff who are interested in learning efficient and proven strategies to create a welcoming environment and cultivate relationships with a diverse range of clients in public library spaces. academic and special librarians might also find this title interesting, but not necessarily applicable given that these types of libraries typically do not interact with homeless users very often. outreach librarians, more interested in connecting with patrons in their spaces, might take advantage of some of these tools and tips, but may find dowd’s focus on what happens inside the library and the enforcement of rules difficult to assimilate. one of this guide’s greatest strengths, compared to similar resources, is that it provides an insider’s perspective into a world that public facing library staff is familiar with, but may not fully understand. the “top ten homeless myths,” unpacked in the first part of the book, as well as “key phrases” to use when dealing with conflict are valuable to help us improve the relationship with patrons that we tend to erroneously label as “problematic.” readers learn, for instance, that banning a patron for a month is ineffectual if she does not know where she will sleep that night. dowd’s work is very accessible to readers and provides a wealth of tools, based on his experience working in shelters, and good advice on how to use them. these strategies come with interesting names, including “the jerry seinfeld”: how to deal with someone who gets too close to you and “the michael jordan”: focusing on the main goal of enforcing the rules instead of getting offended. of all the strategies, the “walmart rule” stands out: if we greet and acknowledge every person that comes into the library it will be far easier to interact with them later as the need arises. despite these useful tools, we have to consider, nonetheless, that dowd’s simplistic method may be hard to implement. i cannot see anyone memorizing his tools (“i think i need to use the jerry seinfeld in this situation”) or following a step-by-step approach to serve those experiencing homelessness after reading it. implementing the empathy-driven approach is an emotional investment that will require time and energy to work through. in spite of these challenges, we could argue that, at its core, dowd’s method is basically good customer service with a spin. we have seen these strategies before in other customer service books. for instance, win the customer has among its 70 rules “create the right culture for service,” or how to change the way we think, and “don’t be a zappos to your jack welch customer,” about tailoring service to the individual client by understanding their needs and interests (martins, 2015). dowd’s focus on homelessness could be a disadvantage, as this book seems more relevant to urban public libraries and singling out homeless people as a more challenging group can increase anxiety and build an extra barrier to service to these users. yet, taken as a customer service kit on how to deal with every problem patron, the book is invaluable. empathy-driven enforcement is beneficial to our interactions with teens, stressed moms, and entitled customers in addition to those experiencing homelessness. ultimately, dowd’s guide is rich in tools useful to deal with difficult public facing situations. his advice is better suited for staff in public libraries that work with a diverse population, and who are interested in building safe and inclusive spaces without having to turn people away. this is a pleasant and easy read, working best as a guide for quick reference as needed. while reading it does not guarantee an outcome of expertise, this book will provide library staff with a basic understanding of why homeless patrons behave in some particular ways, and the ways 130 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, the librarian’s guide to homelessness the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ staff can develop better relationships with them without having to see them as a problem. references lilienthal, s. m. (2011, june 14). the problem is not the homeless: people living with substandard housing are in need of innovative library service. library journal. retrieved from https://lj.libraryjournal.com/2011/06/managing-libraries/theproblem-is-not-the-homeless/ martins, f. (2015). win the customer: 70 simple rules for sensational service. new york: amacom. jorge cardenas (jorge.cardenas@bpl.bc.ca) is the community outreach librarian at the burnaby public library in british columbia, canada. 131 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://lj.libraryjournal.com/2011/06/managing-libraries/the-problem-is-not-the-homeless/ https://lj.libraryjournal.com/2011/06/managing-libraries/the-problem-is-not-the-homeless/ mailto:jorge.cardenas@bpl.bc.ca references library computer workstations for inclusive college student populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 library computer workstations for inclusive college student populations brady c. cross, tri-county technical college, usa abstract most academic library computer workstations comply with basic accessibility guidelines; however, very few are designed for all users. technology that enables differently-abled individuals to access library materials exists. the research within this article explores the reasons why academic libraries may or may not choose to incorporate these technologies into their facilities. the author created a “universal access workstation” (uaw), a workstation that incorporates assistive and adaptive technology, which enables equitable access to information for patrons with and without disabilities. this study addresses the lack of uaw technology in academic libraries when inclusivity is not only broadly accepted, but enthusiastically embraced by institutions of higher learning. the literature review addresses universal design and the uaw, and how effectively librarians have progressed from the americans with disabilities act of 1991 (ada) as a minimal standard to universal design and universal design for learning (udl) as a framework. empirical evidence was collected in an online survey which included questions that addressed academic librarians’ attitudes and opinions regarding the uaw and universal design in academic libraries. the study reinforces that the social construct of disability is determined, in part, by the facilities which we design. the article also reveals evidence which indicates that there may be a positive trend toward acceptance of universal design in library technology, acceptance which should lead a paradigm shift away from the social construct of disability. this research concludes that libraries incorporating a uaw into their facility promote equitable access to information for all users and enable everyone to participate in the learning process. keywords: accessibility; assistive technology; disability; social construction; universal design publication type: research article introduction he modern college student population includes persons with varying physical and mental abilities, but not all academic libraries feature computer workstations that are fully accessible or universally designed. the universal access workstation (uaw) features all the components of a standard workstation; however, it includes software, hardware, and furniture with enhanced and additional assistive and adaptive technology to allow persons with disabilities the opportunity to increase their access to information. according to robert taylor (1987), the value of information is only as good as the user’s ability to access it. this theory, referred to as taylor’s information use environments (taylor’s iue), places the facility and equipment, or user environment, in judgment as it requires a value of how information delivery is to be assessed (taylor, 1987). the uaw helps demarginalize those with disabilities because it features this specialized equipment. some of the specialized software associated with the uaw includes t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 screen readers, document readers (optical character recognition, or ocr, that converts an image to text), document magnifiers, voice capture, adaptive internet browser extensions, hands-free input device software, and accessibility functions enabled in the operating system. although the uaw cannot resolve all barriers such as inaccessible databases and/or websites, it does ensure access to print materials and electronic documents that lack ocr text. examples of uaw hardware include large screen monitors (preferably in an all-in-one terminal), a document camera, noise-cancelling microphone and headphones, high-visibility keyboard and mouse, a hands-free input system (pointing device replaces mouse), an adaptive trackball mouse, and switches (mouse click buttons used with trackball mouse). furniture examples include an ergonomic chair, footrest, wrist rest, and a push-button adjustable height worktable (desk). these features ensure that patrons are able to use the computer without barriers in addition to a degree of comfort not associated with typical computer workstations. the adjustable height table has a surface similar in size and style to other library furniture. the difference is that the base is adjustable in height. the uaw table and the all-in-one monitor blends in with other library computer workstations, making the high-visibility keyboard, document camera, and adaptive trackball mouse the only stand-out features. academic libraries typically have computer workstations that feature a desktop computer on a fixed-height table with a standard keyboard and mouse as input devices. these average workstations comply with the 2010 americans with disabilities act (ada) standards for accessible design guidelines and are an adequate design for the majority of the college student population. however, these workstations can exclude patrons with visual impairments, deafness, and/or mobility issues. should academic libraries incorporate one or more uaws to ensure their physically or cognitively varied student population has equitable access to information? does promotion of an inclusive environment justify the extra expense of the uaw’s associated technology features? this article explores how academic libraries featuring a uaw ensure that information is accessible to physically or cognitively varied students. the empirical research survey addresses the questions above and gauges librarian attitudes toward fostering an inclusive environment. although the research problem, questions, and solutions in this paper could be applied in any type of library, one of the goals of this research is to show that the uaw supports the universal design for learning (udl) approach used in the university setting, and that all students need equitable access to information to achieve a positive learning outcome. the udl approach is an adaptation of the principles of universal design (nc state university, 1997), which ensures equitable access to learning materials and provision of a variety of teaching methods. this goal is in addition to the provision of access to information for personal reasons outside of the classroom. this article begins with an analysis of the social construction of disability and the differentlyabled in libraries. the literature review addresses universal design, udl, and the uaw, and how effectively librarians have progressed from the ada as a standard to universal design as a framework. the methodology explains how survey research was utilized to design the empirical research survey. the discussion further analyzes the data gained from the survey and the results show that libraries featuring uaw technology rectify earlier technological accessibility challenges by use of the principles of universal design (nc state university, 1997). 61 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 social construction and the differently-abled modern library facilities are built in compliance with ada requirements. however, the minimum standards of the ada fall short of a complete universal design framework (chalfen & farb 1996; mazmdar & geis, 2010). mazmdar & geis (2010) note the goal of the ada is "emancipation and the end of discrimination" (p. 318), and a universal design framework helps to shift design into this direction. therefore, not only will a library facility designed with principles of universal design comply with the ada, it will exceed the standard and enable all patrons to access information (nc state university, 1997). a universally designed facility features comfort and aesthetic qualities as opposed to an institutional appearance. lieber (2007) and schlipf (2011) observe that libraries should be equally comfortable and welcoming to all patrons and that some have accomplished this by shifting policies to allow conversation, food and/or drinks, and providing more study options. this is consistent with longtin (2014), who points out that providing spaces which are dynamic and varying in use is generally accepted by designers and librarians alike; however, there will always be a need for silent, individual study options. bodaghi and zainab (2013) take the patron comfort concept one step further by adding patron security to the list of inclusive qualities. lieber (2007) observes that libraries, in addition to being comfortable for all users, should look nice to passers-by on the street. these additional universal design qualities allow patrons to go beyond simple access to information by allowing them to do so in a facility with desirable aesthetic qualities and consideration of creature comforts. while libraries have long been lauded for providing accessible facilities (bonnici, maatta, & wells, 2009), “research on issues of accessibility for library users with disabilities remains scant, albeit growing” (bonnici, maatta, brodsky, & steele, 2015, p. 505). librarians are continuing to further research efforts toward the provision of information access to all users. bonnici, maatta, brodsky, and steele (2015) point out that the existing structure of training for librarians is to specialize in the provision of services exclusively for disabled users rather than being inclusive of all. this finding is surprising considering the fact the udl approach permeates almost every learning program in higher education (burgstahler, 2012; carabajal, marshall, & atchison, 2017; curry, 2003; katz & sokal, 2016; oswald, nathan adams, & hiles, 2018). furthermore, walling (2004) puts forward that librarians have the responsibility of providing inclusive library services when she states, “the ada... holds information specialists in all types of settings responsible for assuring equal access to all the information they provide" (p.137). the patron is the end-recipient of library services, and walling (2004) supports stephanidis et al (1999) when indicating that universal design should be incorporated into facilities design and librarian training so that the “emerging information society advances in a manner that ensures nondiscrimination and social and economic inclusion of the broadest possible end-user population, thus posing the requirement for a society caring for all citizens” (p. 26). the disconnect between the ways librarians are trained to serve the differently-abled student body is evidence that students with disabilities may continue to be marginalized by academic library policy and practices. this marginalization is described by copeland (2011), who observes this existing social construct is “separatist,” or “segregationist,” therefore creating a societal attitude that disabled students are the ones that need special accommodation rather than creating a culture of universal acceptance. the social construction of disability also causes those who are already marginalized to have a self-perception of disability. for example, vaccaro, kimball, moore, newman, and troiano (2018) explain that “social identities...are influential aspects of self precisely because of the social value (or lack thereof) placed upon them in a particular society” (p. 50). the constructivist perspective is that a person who is “disabled” is 62 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 limited only by the entities that surround that individual, such as lack of a ramp for wheelchairs or the staff’s willingness to adjust policy and training to be inclusive (anastasiou & kauffman 2011; bogart, rottenstein, lund, & bouchard 2017; copeland, 2011; walling, 2004). the literature tells us that, although flawed because of the way some librarians are trained to use separatist rather than inclusive instruction, there is a shift in the social construction from that of “disability” and “ada compliance” toward one of “physically or cognitively varied” and “universal design” (anastasiou & kauffman, 2011; bogart, rottenstein, lund, & bouchard, 2017; bonnici, maatta, & wells, 2009; bonnici, maatta, brodsky, & steele, 2015; copeland, 2011; lieber, 2007; schlipf, 2011;vaccaro, kimball, moore, newman, & troiano, 2018; walling, 2004). literature review universal design and the uaw in libraries computer technology was an accessible gateway to information for the cognitively and physically varied as early as 1991. the biggest barrier at that time was physical access to the computer (beecher, 1991; stephanidis, et al., 1999). beecher (1991) notes that librarians were among the first to recognize the accessibility built into the “microcomputers” of the late 1980’s. kirkpatrick and morgan (2001) expand on beecher’s observations by telling us that the computer provides a gateway to barrier-free information access for persons with motor-skill, vision, hearing, and cognitive variation. whereas in many ways the microcomputer itself was a useful tool for the differently abled in the 1980’s (beecher, 1991), the evolution of the internet in the following decade opened gateways to information for everyone and presented new and unforeseen challenges. for example, burgstahler, comden, and fraser (1997) note that the problems in providing access to the internet for the differently abled populace in 1997 were twofold: access to the computers themselves and access to the tools and electronic resources which comprise the internet. burgstahler (2015) states, “designing any product or environment involves the consideration of many factors, including aesthetics, engineering options, environmental issues, industry standards, safety concerns, and cost” (para. 3). this evolution of information delivery leads to a new challenge, which is including technology in library facilities that enables the differently abled to access information in an equitable fashion. purchasing assistive and adaptive technology can result in financial challenges for library administrators even though the relative cost to the technology gain has been in decline since 1977 (greenwood & kopecky, 2013, umbach, 2003). umbach (2003) recounts how the calgary public library, the canadian national institute for the blind, along with connect calgary determined the need for uaw equipment. they first formed a steering committee and performed a study which discovered that one in six citizens had a disability. conclusions drawn from that study resulted in the purchase of six uaw’s for their library, at a cost of $42,000. the amount of $7,000 per uaw seems expensive when compared to the current purchase power of that same amount in 2019. one would expect the price of the technology to rise. however, greenwood and kopecky (2013) explain the “welfare gain to consumers” (p. 336) and advances in the technology since 2003 can be translated to the current time by use of indexing. in this example, “indexing” means that the improvements in technology outrun the cost of inflation (greenwood & kopecky, 2013). the indexed pricing model of technology demonstrates that the financial burden of providing access to technology has enabled librarians to provide better equipment for the same amount of money over the course of time (greenwood & kopecky, 2013; nelson, tanguay, & patterson, 1994). 63 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 using the uaw purchase model stated in umbach (2003), where all components were purchased and implemented at the same time, librarians used universal design to create a “one-stop shop” (wallace, 2007, p. 13) approach toward customer service. providing all the tools necessary for any individual to learn and utilize online resources is a critical component of library services (burgstahler, comden, & fraser, 1997; burgstahler, 2015; gossett, mirza, barnds, & feidt, 2009; wallace, 2007). patrons cannot learn that which they cannot access. it is important to recognize that as technology evolves there is a need to update library technology. wallace (2007) asserts the configuration of the ideal public workstation of today may not be the same as in the future. king (2016) supports this by telling us that sustainability in planning is an “open-ended process” (p. 273). sustainability, which is a concept closely related to universal design, should always be considered when designing any system or facility in order to ensure the user will benefit in the long term (gossett, mirza, barnds, & feidt, 2009; steinfeld, & maisel, 2012, p. 38). the uaw is a dynamic set of innovations which incorporate the principles of sustainability and universal design, thus penetrating both physical and sociological barriers described by gossett, mirza, barnds, and feidt (2009), steinfeld and maisel (2012), and robertson (2014). both physical and sociological barriers stem from the social construction of disability. as a result, building exteriors, interiors, and the technology within are generally designed with accommodation in mind rather than design for all. burns (2013) and moorefield-lang, copeland, and haynes (2016) note that asynchronous instruction in distance education is one more example of universal design that increases access to information. a student that uses adaptive technology at home can participate in the learning process as a distance education student; however, providing the uaw in the library ensures that same student has the opportunity to participate as any other student, by ensuring a barrier-free access to information when on-campus (burns, 2013; moorefield-lang, copeland, & haynes, 2016). moorefield-lang, copeland, and haynes (2016) note that “learning differences represent the largest group of students with disabilities” (p. 30), therefore programs that combine distance learning on-campus facilities that include barrier-free access to information, and a philosophy of universal access are current trends in the modern academic library (burns, 2013; curry, 2003). the uaw is a tool which librarians can incorporate into their facility that can help those with disabilities meet their learning needs. from ada to a universal design framework the words “universal design” emerged in accessibility/disability and design literature in the 1990’s due to quality determinations by contributors at the center for universal design at north carolina state university (catanese, 2012; story, mueller, & mace, 1998). “universal design” was not as frequently used in scholarship until after 1990 when the ada was passed into law (bonnici, maatta, brodsky, & steele, 2015; gossett, mirza, barnds, & feidt, 2009). vavik (2016) explains that teaching the concept of universal design “has evolved from applying [universal design] principles and guidelines in development of products, services and environments to a closer focus on the design processes itself” (p. 167). this paradigm shift has caused the universal design philosophy to be spread to design students. hidayetoglu and muezzinoglu (2018) take this one step further by stating that “universal design education should not only include students, but academics, instructors...” (p. 59) which also includes incorporation of the udl guidelines promoted by burgstahler, (2012, 2015); burns (2013); and moorefield-lang, copeland, and haynes (2016). udl guidelines ensure positive student learning outcomes by use of alternative resources and acceptance of alternative learning demonstrations. the guidelines may be used in 64 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 the traditional classroom, online learning environment, and for students with physical or cognitive variations. forrest, hinchliffe, arp, and woodward (2005) note that the way students learn is changing because technology provides an increased number of information delivery methods. students can watch videos, read articles, complete online tutorials, and collaborate inside both the library and virtual environment. katz and sokal (2016) write that udl pedagogy includes “multiple ways for students to access, process, and represent their learning” (p. 41) such as teacher-led lessons, group discussion, and research using different forms of media. this evolution of ada standards to universal design shows that the government-recognized need for better accessibility led to the more dynamic design framework. universal design not only includes the concept of providing access, but also exceeds the government standard in every way by changing the paradigm from “accommodation” to design-for-all by exceeding ada standards. recent literature identifies universal design, which includes the udl pedagogy methods described by katz and sokal (2016), as an inclusive process and philosophy (catanese, 2012; gossett, mirza, barnds, & feidt, 2009; vavik, 2016). as early as 1990, vanderheiden (1990) pointed out that “consideration of disabilities and functional limitations in mainstream design is definitely feasible from both an economic and a practical standpoint” (p. 392). this implies that universal design was recognized as a superior design philosophy as early as 1990. stephanidis, et al. (1999) later advocates that the design-for-all nature of universal design should apply to all aspects of design, from the chair you sit in to use the computer, to the layout and architecture of the building the computer is in, to the street and mode of transportation the user employs for travel. hums, schmidt, novak, and wolff (2016), mcdonald (2016), lindegarde (2015), pionke (2017), and stephanidis, et al. (1999) all recognize ada as a minimally adequate standard. however, these authors view universal design as a superior design standard for all products and facilities. stephanidis, et al. (1999) were forward-looking when they stated, “there is also a compelling requirement for speeding up current standardization processes as well as for more intensive international coordination of standards in the long term” (p. 24), in which they were including the development of online applications. further evidence of this shift away from ada as the standard to that of universal design is evidenced by vavik (2016), who states, with regard to teaching design students, “although a greater focus now is put on [universal design] in the design process, …the most important change is that the teaching of [universal design] has moved from the second year to the first year” (p. 168). in other words, universal design is now the foundational standard for good design. data in support of the literature the literature suggests there is a paradigm shift away from looking to minimum ada requirements toward universal design as the standard. of course, as far as libraries and library instruction are concerned, udl is included in this shift as well. however, there is a need for data to support that trend and assist library decision-makers with the justification of spending extra money for uaw technology. the financial cost of the technology and librarian attitudes toward universal design are factors to be considered in the decision-making process. to determine the proper balance between technology cost and accessibility, more input from librarians is necessary. the shift from ada as a minimal standard to universal design can be gauged, in part, by input from librarians. data that supports the following of a current trend may provide librarians the leverage they need to promote inclusive access to library materials. this paper provides information which has been gathered from peers that will provide library administrators valuable knowledge to 65 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 apply in the decision-making process. methodology method survey research methods provide an efficient and practical schema to allow a cross-sectional analysis of how existing library facilities provide computer technology intended to serve an inclusive college student population (matthews & ross, 2010). data was collected using a distributed survey questionnaire (see appendix) that was distributed through academic library channels (listservs noted below) in order to explore academic librarian attitudes toward universal design, accessibility, and why some academic libraries include a uaw in their facilities while others do not. the survey questionnaire was distributed through networks beyond the knowledge of the researcher, which provides the opportunity to increase the number and diversity of respondents (creswell, 1994). the target population for this survey was academic librarians, staff, and library administrators. all collected data were aggregated to provide an optimal amount of information and preserve anonymity. anonymity was assured in both the solicitation email and the survey instruction page. the questionnaire contained multiple response format questions as well as some open-ended questions in order to provide librarians the opportunity to expand upon their answers. some of the questions requested demographic data such as number of patrons served, how many students are serviced, and available computers. the questionnaire included why and how questions about how librarians make the decisions regarding the uaw and their library, therefore, the questionnaire utilized the text response in addition to the objective response formatted questions. data collection tool/instrument the online questionnaire (see appendix) was distributed via the email listservs: reference and user services association list, rusa-l@lists.ala.org, colib-l, lita-l@lists.ala.org, circplus, llama bes facilities planning discussion group, ill-l@oclclists.org, and uniaccess@lists.ala.org. listserv members were encouraged to distribute the survey to the appropriate persons within their institutions as well as any other channels such as other listservs and social media groups, at their discretion. the sample set of libraries surveyed were asked to provide institutional demographic information (i.e., total number of on-campus students); however, no specific institutional or personal identifying information was requested. a two-month response time was allocated for the survey duration. this timeframe allowed participants sufficient time to access and complete the questionnaire. the survey was delivered in an electronic format using google forms. the results from google forms were exported into an excel spreadsheet for analysis. there were 111 responses from academic libraries. responses from non-academic institutions (15 responses) were discarded. survey questions the overall goal of the survey is to gain the perspective of those academic librarians, staff, and library administrators who provide access to information every day. the survey questions (see appendix) are designed to discover if librarian attitudes are consistent with the literature regarding universal design as it relates to technology, and to reveal the existing barriers which 66 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:rusa-l@lists.ala.org /users/leah/downloads/lita-l@lists.ala.org /users/leah/downloads/ill-l@oclclists.org /users/leah/downloads/uniaccess@lists.ala.org library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 prevent the purchase of uaw technology. results figure 1. non-distance fte students figure 2. ada vs. universal design as a standard the survey resulted in 111 academic library responses. of these respondents, 28% serve populations under 1,000, 36% serve 1,000-4,999 patrons, 6% serve 5,000-9,999 patrons, 13% serve 10,000-19,999 patrons, and 17% serve over 20,000 patrons. given the sample size and number of 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 non-distance fte students number of responses percentage of respondents 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 ada is adequate ada is minimal and does not promote ud not sure ada vs. universal design as a standard number of respondents percentage of respondents 67 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 patrons served by the respondents, this survey sample is representative of the patronage served by academic librarians, administration, and staff. are librarians aware that ada is a minimal government standard and not a universal design and all-inclusive guideline? when asked whether they are aware that ada is a minimal standard rather than an inclusive standard, 64% of respondents indicate that they are “not sure,” whereas 29% are aware; 6% of the respondents feel that ada is an adequate design standard. this empirical data indicate librarians may have limited options outside of ada standards when making decisions about computer workstation configuration because universal design is not regulated by any governing organization. this is consistent with the observations made by hums, schmidt, novak, and wolff (2016); mcdonald (2016); lindegarde (2015); pionke (2017); and stephanidis, et al. (1999), all of whom indicate that universal design is superior to ada as a design standard. widespread education about principles of universal design is needed among library leaders so that they will understand that universal design exceeds ada standards. what information do academic library decision-makers need to justify the expense of a uaw? of the 111 total respondents, 64% indicate that the purchase of technology such as the uaw is reactive, meaning that their library makes technology purchases based on the need of existing patrons whereas the other 36% indicate a proactive approach. this data demonstrates approximately two-thirds of librarians cite existing patron need as the basis for decision making in this context. factors indicated in the survey that steer these decisions are lack of responsibility (outside department manages library technology), management of the technology (updating software, maintenance etc.), apathy, and high cost. the survey responses support the literature in that most respondents (87.3%) are willing to be proactive and philosophically believe in promoting universal design as a best practice (bonnici, maatta, brodsky, & steele, 2015; copeland, 2011, lieber; 2007, walling, 2004). the data in figure 3 shows that finance and apathy are the chief administrative barriers that prevent librarians from taking the proactive approach. why should an academic library include a uaw in their facility? why not? what are the existing barriers? existing major barriers for purchasing the uaw, as indicated by the survey, are financial cost (84.7%), administrative red tape (32.4%), lack of space (41.4%), apathy (33.3%), expense not necessary (25.2%), adequate existing technology (26.1%), lack of supporting literature (11.7%), and “other” (11.7%). of the respondents, 11.7% selected “current literature does not indicate/support a trend,” which is consistent with this author’s findings that there is a lack of literature about the uaw. one of the goals of this study is to show that libraries which incorporate a universal design framework when they select technology such as the uaw can reduce barriers to access (bonnici, maatta, brodsky, & steele, 2015; curry, 2003; moorefield-lang, copeland, & haynes, 2016; vavik, 2016). participants were able to select multiple responses to this question since there may be more than one barrier. the data indicate that financial cost (84.7%) is the number one reason no t to purchase or plan a purchase of a uaw. 68 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 are librarians willing to accept including the uaw in their library as a best practice? is this a trend? results indicate that 78.3% librarians believe the uaw is a necessary component for their facilities. the results also show there is a desire to add one since 33.3% of librarians indicate they will consider introducing the idea for consideration and 23.4% plan to introduce the uaw to their management team. only 17.1% of the librarians surveyed indicate they are “not at all likely” going to consider adding a uaw to their facility, and 82.9% are positive toward the concept or already own a uaw. there is no benchmark data from years past about how many libraries own a uaw, so this study cannot say there is a current trend toward providing more accessible workstations. this feedback indicates a general agreement amongst librarians that there exists a recognized need for the uaw technology in order to make library environments inclusive. this data, as well as the review of literature, indicate a positive attitude toward the concept as a best practice (burgstahler, comden, & fraser, 1997; burgstahler, 2015; burns, 2013; curry, 2003; greenwood & kopecky, 2013; gossett, mirza, barnds, & feidt 2009; king, 2016; moorefield-lang, copeland, & haynes, 2016; nelson, tanguay, & patterson, 1994; steinfeld & maisel, 2012; wallace, 2007). the fact that 82.9% of survey respondents are optimistic about the uaw suggests that there may be a trend toward improving accessibility and inclusive access for patrons, and 24.3% of the respondents already have a uaw or have a current plan for purchase. figure 3. library technology decision model 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 proactive reactive library technology decision model number of respondents percentage of respondents 69 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 figure 4. significant barriers preventing purchase figure 5. consider adding a uaw to your facility? 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% 90.0% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 significant barriers preventing purchase number of respondents percentage of respondents 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 not at all likely will consider introducing the idea for consideration plan to introduce idea for discussion currently have plan to include a uaw my facility already has one or more uaw's consider adding a uaw to your facility? number of respondents percentage of respondents 70 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 figure 6. is the uaw a necessary component? discussion the empirical data demonstrates that many librarians recognize the importance of access to technology in the library, which is consistent with findings from the literature review. of the librarians surveyed, 39.6% indicate that they have at least one uaw in their library. further analysis of the survey data demonstrates most of those 39.6% of libraries have a configuration with a few elements of the uaw rather than most or all of the components. therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the uaw, as described in this study, has not been widely accepted and implemented. the technology patrons use to access information is just as critical as the delivery of information, and this study demonstrates that academic libraries featuring uaw technology have qualities consistent with universal design philosophy. this is supported by the fact that 78% of the respondents feel that the uaw is a necessary component and that 81% are either willing or have already introduced the uaw into their facilities planning, or already have a uaw. this same survey result is supported by the literature which reveals universal design continues to gain acceptance since the technology that students use is part of the overall facility design (bonnici, maatta, brodsky, & steele, 2015; curry, 2003; moorefield-lang, copeland, & haynes, 2016; vavik, 2016). of the 111 total responses, only two respondents (1.8%) selected “other” as their only choice when asked to indicate the significant barriers that prevent a purchase as illustrated in figure 4. this means that 98.2% of the respondents indicate there are multiple barriers preventing them from implementing uaw technology in their libraries. in the “other comments” open-answer question, one of the two respondents who selected “other” as their only barrier to purchase indicated that the campus office of disability services was surprised when the library reached out to them to discover more about their student population need and seemed unprepared for their questions. this may suggest that some libraries may not receive valuable input from their campus accessibility and disability services offices about student technology need. even though 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% 90.0% yes no not sure is the uaw a necessary component? 71 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 finance is the number one administrative barrier, apathy toward accessibility and/or universal design plays a strong role in the decision-making process. the good news for the differently abled university population is that the majority of the librarians surveyed (82.9%) feel the addition of the uaw to their libraries is a good idea and is worth exploration. this is despite the extra expense associated with the assistive and adaptive technology. this progressive attitude is consistent with the more recent research which indicates that universal design and udl are trends in academic librarianship (burgstahler, 2012, 2015; burns, 2013; catanese, 2012; hidayetoglu & muezzinoglu, 2018; hums, schmidt, novak, & wolff, 2016; mcdonald, 2016; lindegarde, 2015; moorefield-lang, copeland, & haynes, 2016; pionke, 2017; vavik, 2016). since the data indicate an overall positive attitude (82.9%) about the uaw technology, library administrators should be reasonably able to conclude that funds budgeted toward assistive and adaptive technology would be well advised since it promotes equitable access for the differently abled. figure 7. should the uaw become a benchmark? when asked if the uaw “should be the benchmark by which all library computers should be designed” (see appendix), the responses of yes, no, and not sure were balanced out approximately in thirds with “no” responses having a slight edge over the “yes” responses. the 33% of “not sure” replies combined with the 37% “no” responses suggests that a future followup study which focuses on this as a research question is necessary help us understand where the benchmark for library technology really exists in comparison to the uaw. one of the goals of this study is to create awareness of the uaw and demonstrate that the social construct of disability is determined, in part, by the facilities which we design. this is consistent 29% 37% 33% should the uaw become a benchmark? yes no not sure 72 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 with copeland (2011), who states “as a social construct, disability is a challenge or a culmination of challenges that doesn’t exist until societal factors...create them” (p. 235). it also supports taylor’s iue, which places the facility in judgement because the information is only as good as the accessibility of that information (taylor, 1987). in reality, it is not economically feasible for the uaw to be the only configuration of patron workstation in the library. it is reasonable, however, for academic librarians to consider including a representative number of uaw’s not to only eliminate barriers to access but enhance accessibility and incorporate universal design. the respondents surveyed largely agreed that having a representative number of uaw’s in relation to the patron population served would be considered a best practice. this notion is in tune with the argument to progress beyond ada standards and fully embrace universal design as the standard (pionke, 2017). further study future efforts could utilize a similar survey and focus on responses from libraries outside of north america which would expand contributions to the field of accessibility and disability research. a more international approach could explore how the uaw may be configured to better serve a more culturally diverse population and identify the existing barriers for implementing the uaw in those libraries. the survey results in this project indicate there is a desire for technology such as the uaw. this signals that there is a need for more data and research regarding universal access. another way to provide this data is to take a closer look at the existing information available on library websites. this would allow researchers to paint a better picture of existing library computer workstation configuration and establish a benchmark by which library administrators can make technology purchasing decisions. a follow up study directed toward a broader library audience would be another method by which to assess the library field for a trend. continued studies regarding inclusive library environments will also contribute to diversified accessibility studies scholarship. conclusion in the 1990’s, one of the challenges recognized by librarians was the fact that not all users were able to access electronic resources because they were not able to physically access the computer (beecher, 1991; stephanidis, et al., 1999). the uaw rectifies the early technological accessibility challenges of the information revolution by allowing all users to access digital information and provide the ability to convert print resources into more accessible digital formats. the evolution of the ideal library workstation from “suit the broadest end-user population” (stephanidis, et al., 1999, p. 2) in the 1990’s to “accommodate all users” (salmen, 2011, p. 13) in the present day indicates that there may be a positive trend toward acceptance of universal design in library technology. this paper helps fill a gap in uaw research by providing data that librarians can use in the decision-making process. promotion of universal design allows the library facility to appeal to all constituents and enables all users to participate in the learning process. 73 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 appendix universal design, accessibility, and academic library computer workstations overview greetings and thank you for your participation in this survey. the 18 questions take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. the purpose of this survey is twofold: 1. gather information for a study about how librarians and library staff make decisions in regard to accessibility and the computer workstations in academic library facilities. 2. gauge the perception of accessibility, universal design, and inclusive services with respect to library-as-space among academic librarians. academic libraries typically feature computer workstations that use the average desktop computer with a standard keyboard and mouse as input devices. a universal access workstation (uaw) allows any person to use the kiosk with all regards to their ability. description of the universal access workstation (uaw) the uaw is defined as a computer workstation with the following components: software hardware and furniture • screen readers • voice capture • document reader (converts text to ocr) • document magnifiers • adaptive internet browser extensions • hands-free input device software • accessibility functions enabled in operating system • large screen monitor • document camera • noise-cancelling microphone and headphones • high-visibility keyboard and mouse • hands-free input system (pointing device replaces mouse) • adaptive trackball mouse • switch • ergonomic chair • footrest • wrist wrest • push-button adjustable height worktable table 1. description of uaw goals, outcomes, publishing, and disclosure the goal of the researcher is to share the results from this survey in a peer-reviewed journal article. results may also be shared in conference presentation. the research team is the only 74 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 entity that will see the individual survey results. no identifying data will be collected, survey results are anonymous, and any published results will be in aggregate form only. survey responses with identifying information will be omitted and destroyed. participation in this survey is anonymous and optional. all questions are optional. there are no consequences for refusing to take the survey or opting out during the survey. the researcher conducting this survey is performing research in the spirit of scholarship and is a staff member at the kimbel library and bryan information commons, coastal carolina university. participants may discontinue the survey at any time and at their own will. questions about the survey may be directed to the contact person (below). contact person brady cross kimbel library and bryan information commons coastal carolina university p.o. box 261954 conway, sc 29528-6054 bcross@coastal.edu instructions please choose the appropriate response(s) indicated for each question. the final question allows participants to share any additional comments or opinions. please do not provide any identifying information in this survey. if you have any questions, please direct them to the contact person. demographic questions which one of the following best describes your facility? (please choose one response) a. academic b. public c. school d. special how many non-distance education student patrons does your facility serve? (please choose one response) a. under 1,000 b. 1,000-4,999 c. 5,000-9,999 d. 10,000-19,999 e. 20,000 and above how many computer workstations are available for patron use in your facility? 75 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:bcross@coastal.edu library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 (please choose one response) a. 30 or fewer b. 31-100 c. 100-300 d. 300+ which of the following technologies are included with all of the computers in your library? (select all that apply)  screen readers  large screen monitor  document camera  noise-cancelling microphone and headphones  high-visibility keyboard and mouse  hands-free input system (pointing device replaces mouse)  adaptive trackball mouse  switch  ergonomic chair  footrest  wrist wrest  push-button adjustable height worktable  voice capture  document reader (converts text to ocr)  document magnifiers  adaptive internet browser extensions  hands-free input device software  accessibility functions enabled in operating system  none of the above are patrons permitted to access the windows and macintosh operating systems accessibility features on your computers? a. yes b. no c. not sure universal access workstation questions the uaw is defined as a computer workstation with the following components: software hardware and furniture • screen readers • voice capture • document reader (converts text to ocr) • large screen monitor • document camera • noise-cancelling microphone and headphones 76 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 software hardware and furniture • document magnifiers • adaptive internet browser extensions • hands-free input device software • accessibility functions enabled in operating system • high-visibility keyboard and mouse • hands-free input system (pointing device replaces mouse) • adaptive trackball mouse • switch • ergonomic chair • footrest • wrist wrest • push-button adjustable height worktable figure 8. components of a uaw computer workstation how many uaw's (as described above) are in your facility available for patron use? (please choose one response) a. 0 b. 1 c. 2 d. 3 e. 4+ based on the provided description of a uaw, how likely are you to consider adding a uaw to your facility? (please choose one response) a. not at all likely b. will consider introducing the idea for consideration c. plan to introduce idea for discussion d. currently have plan to include a uaw e. my facility already has one or more uaw's is it your professional opinion that the uaw (as described above) is a necessary component for library facilities? (please choose one response) a. yes b. no c. not sure if you answered "no" to the above question, please briefly explain why. is it your professional opinion the uaw (as described above) should become the standard by which all library computer workstations should be designed? (please choose one response) a. yes b. no c. not sure 77 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 please provide any further thoughts or opinions you would like to share regarding your answer about the uaw as a benchmark. the uaw in academic libraries are you familiar with the 2010 americans with disabilities act and accessible design (ada) guidelines? (please choose one response) a. yes b. no is it your professional opinion that the 2010 americans with disabilities act and accessible design (ada) guidelines are a minimal standard, do not address principles of universal design, and therefore do not promote an all-inclusive standard for accessibility? a. yes b. no c. not sure the uaw, as described above, costs approximately $3,000 to $7,000 depending on vendor pricing and software licensing costs. do you feel this is a feasible/justifiable technology expense for your facility if funding could be budgeted? (please choose one response) a. yes b. no c. not sure what are the most significant barriers that may prevent the inclusion of the uaw in your facility? (please select all relevant barriers) a. financial cost b. administrative red tape c. lack of space d. lack of faculty/staff/administrative enthusiasm e. expense not necessary f. existing technology is adequate g. current literature does not indicate/support a trend h. other does your library make decisions to add technology such as the uaw to promote inclusive services or are such decisions made as a reaction to a demonstrated need? (please choose one response) a. yes, our institution is encouraged to anticipate inclusive need (proactive). b. no, our institution makes technology purchases based on the need of existing patrons only. we will purchase technology if the need arises in the future (reactive). is it your professional opinion that there is a current trend (evolving social construct) to promote universal design and accessibility to promote inclusive services and technology in academic libraries? (please choose one response) 78 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 a. yes b. no c. not sure do you think including at least one uaw in every academic library is a good idea and should become a library trend (evolving social construct)? (please choose one response) a. yes b. no c. not sure does your college/university provide data (or physical needs) to your library about the differently-able student population on your campus? (please choose one response) a. yes b. no c. not sure do you have any other comments, opinions, or other relevant information you would like to share or contribute to this survey? please refrain from providing any identifying information in your narrative. conclusion this concludes the survey. thank you for your participation! your responses will be used for academic research purposes only. if you have any questions or comments regarding this survey, please direct them to the contact person below. contact person: brady cross kimbel library and bryan information commons coastal carolina university p.o. box 261954 conway, sc 29528-6054 bcross@coastal.edu references anastasiou, d., & kauffman, j. m. (2011). a social constructionist approach to disability: implications for special education. exceptional children, 77(3), 367–384. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f001440291107700307 beecher, h. (1991). public access workstations in the library: new trends. wilson library bulletin, 65(6), 52-54. bodaghi, n. & zainab, a. (2013), my carrel, my second home: inclusion and the sense of belonging among visually impaired students in an academic library. malaysian journal of library & information science, 18(2), 39-54. 79 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:bcross@coastal.edu https://doi.org/10.1177%2f001440291107700307 library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 bogart, k. r., rottenstein, a., lund, e. m., & bouchard, l. (2017). who self-identifies as disabled? an examination of impairment and contextual predictors. rehabilitation psychology, 62(4), 553–562. https://doi.org/10.1037/rep0000132 bonnici, l. j., maatta, s. l., & wells, m. k. (2009). us national accessibility survey: librarians serving patrons with disabilities. new library world, 110(11/12), 512-528. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074800911007532 bonnici, l. j., maatta, s. l., brodsky, j., & steele, j. e. (2015). second national accessibility survey: librarians, patrons, and disabilities. new library world, 116(9/10), 503-516. https://doi.org/10.1108/nlw-03-2015-0021 burgstahler, s. (2012). equal access: universal design of instruction. retrieved from https://www.washington.edu/doit/sites/default/files/atoms/files/equal-accessuniversal-design-of-instruction.pdf burgstahler, s. (2015). universal design of instruction (udi): definition, principles, guidelines, and examples. retrieved from https://www.washington.edu/doit/sites/default /files/atoms/files/ud_instruction_05_26_15.pdf burgstahler, s., comden, d., & fraser, b. (1997). universal design for universal access: making the internet more accessible for people with disabilities. alki, 13(3), 8-9. burns, m. 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(2009). beyond access: a case study on the intersection between accessibility, sustainability, and universal design. disability and rehabilitation: assistive technology, 4(6): 439–450. https://doi.org/10.3109/17483100903100301 greenwood, j. & kopecky, k. a. (2013). measuring the welfare gain from personal computers. economic inquiry, 51(1), 336-347. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7295.2011.00447.x hidayetoglu, m. l., muezzinoglu, k. m. (2018). user-involved universal design experience in the space, product, and service development process. iconarp international journal of architecture and planning, 6(0), 41-62. https://doi.org/10.15320/iconarp.2018.48 hums, m. a., schmidt, s. h., novak, a., & wolff, e. a. (2016). universal design: moving the americans with disabilities act from access to inclusion. journal of legal aspects of sport, 26(1), 36–51. https://doi.org/10.1123/jlas.2015-0011 katz, j., & sokal, l. (2016). universal design for learning as a bridge to inclusion: a qualitative report of student voices. international journal of whole schooling, 12(2), 36. king, j. g. (2016). extended and experimenting: library learning commons service strategy and sustainability. library management, 37(4), 265-274. https://doi.org/10.1108/lm-042016-0028 kirkpatrick, c., & morgan, c. (2001). how we renovated our library, physically and electronically, for handicapped patrons. computers in libraries, 21(9), 24-29. lieber, c. (2007). be a guest: a french look on american libraries. library administration & management, 21(4), 178-180. lindegarde, s. (2015). ada compliance becoming more universal. pm engineer, 21(5), 10. longtin, s. e. (2014). using the college infrastructure to support students on the autism spectrum. journal of postsecondary education and disability, 27(1), 63-72. matthews, b. & ross, l. (2010). research methods: a practical guide for the social sciences. harlow, england: pearson education limited. mazmdar, s. & geis, g. (2010). achieving accessibility through the americans with disabilities act: an examination of court decisions. journal of architectural and planning research, 24(4), 301-304. mcdonald, j. (2016). why ada is not your enemy. csp, 27(14), 26. moorefield-lang, h. m., copeland, c. a., & haynes, a. (2016). accessing abilities: creating innovative accessible online learning environments and putting quality into practice. education for information, 32(1), 27-33. http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/efi-150966 nc state university, center for universal design, college of design (1997). the principles of 81 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.3109/17483100903100301 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7295.2011.00447.x https://doi.org/10.15320/iconarp.2018.48 https://doi.org/10.1123/jlas.2015-0011 https://doi.org/10.1108/lm-04-2016-0028 https://doi.org/10.1108/lm-04-2016-0028 http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/efi-150966 library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 universal design. version 2.0. nc state university. retrieved from https://www.ncsu.edu/ncsu/design/cud/pubs_p/docs/poster.pdf nelson, r. a., tanguay, t. l., & patterson, c. d. (1994). a quality-adjusted price index for personal computers. journal of business & economic statistics, 12(1), 23-31. oswald, g. r., nathan adams, r. d., & hiles, j. a. (2018). universal design for learning in rehabilitation education: meeting the needs for equal access to electronic course resources and online learning. journal of applied rehabilitation counseling, 49(1), 19– 22. doi: 10.1891/0047-2220.49.1.19 pionke, j. j. (2017). beyond ada compliance: the library as a place for all. urban library journal, 23(1), 1–17. robertson, m. (2014). sustainability principles and practice. new york, ny: routledge. salmen, j. s. (2011). universal design for academic facilities. new directions for student services, 2011(134), 13-20. https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.20113 schlipf, f. (2011). the dark side of library architecture: the persistence of dysfunctional designs. library trends, 60(1), 227-255. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2011.0034 story, m. f., mueller, j. l., & mace, r. l. (1998). the universal design file: designing for people of all ages and abilities. nc state university: the center for universal design. retrieved from https://projects.ncsu.edu/design/cud/pubs_p/pudfiletoc.htm steinfeld, e. s., & maisel, l. j. (2012). public accommodations. in universal design: creating inclusive environments. hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. stephanidis, c., salvendy, g., akoumianakis, d., arnold, a., bevan, n., dardailler, d., et al. (1999). toward an information society for all: hci challenges and r&d recommendations. international journal of human-computer interaction 11, 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327590ijhc1101_1 taylor, r.s. (1987). on the study of information use environments. asis '86. proceedings of the 4ninth asis annual meeting. volume 23. chicago, illinois, september 28-october 2, 1986, 23, 331-334. umbach, j. m. (2003). access for all. feliciter, 49(2), 58. vaccaro, a., kimball, e. w., moore, a., newman, b. m., & troiano, p. f. (2018). narrating the self: a grounded theory model of emerging purpose for college students with disabilities. journal of college student development, 59(1), 37–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/csd.2018.0003 vanderheiden, g. c. (1990). thirty-something million: should they be exceptions? human factors: the journal of the human factors and ergonomics society, 32(4), 383-396. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872089003200402 vavik, t. (2016). facilitating the concept of universal design among design students: changes 82 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.ncsu.edu/ncsu/design/cud/pubs_p/docs/poster.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.20113 https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2011.0034 https://projects.ncsu.edu/design/cud/pubs_p/pudfiletoc.htm https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327590ijhc1101_1 http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/csd.2018.0003 https://doi.org/10.1177/001872089003200402 library computer workstations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32340 in teaching in the last decade. studies in health technology & informatics, 229, 167– 168. wallace, a. (2007). rethinking the public workstation. reference & user services quarterly, 46(4), 12-17. walling, l.l. (2004), educating students to serve information seekers with disabilities. journal of education for library and information science, 45(2), 137-148. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/40323900 brady c. cross (brady.cross@outlook.com) is the digital initiatives librarian at tri-county technical college in pendleton, sc. he completed his master of library and information science (mlis) degree from the university of south carolina in august 2017. he made accessibility and universal design the central focus of his research throughout his mlis program. having lived with a mild hearing impairment all his life, he understands some of the challenges experienced by those with disabilities and wishes to ensure library patrons always have equitable access to information. 83 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/40323900 mailto:bcross@coastal.edu introduction social construction and the differently-abled literature review universal design and the uaw in libraries from ada to a universal design framework data in support of the literature methodology method data collection tool/instrument survey questions results are librarians aware that ada is a minimal government standard and not a universal design and all-inclusive guideline? what information do academic library decision-makers need to justify the expense of a uaw? why should an academic library include a uaw in their facility? why not? what are the existing barriers? are librarians willing to accept including the uaw in their library as a best practice? is this a trend? discussion further study conclusion appendix universal design, accessibility, and academic library computer workstations overview description of the universal access workstation (uaw) goals, outcomes, publishing, and disclosure contact person instructions demographic questions universal access workstation questions the uaw in academic libraries conclusion references history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america: an analysis of the foundation, current activities, and projects of amai lgbtqia+ the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america: an analysis of the foundation, current activities, and projects of amai lgbtqia+ benito bisso schmidt, universidade federal do rio grande do sul, brazil rubens mascarenhas neto, freie universität berlin, germany abstract this article focuses on red latinoamericana de archivos, museos, acervos y investigadores lgbtqia+ (amai lgbtqia+), a network composed of researchers and institutions related to lgbtqia+ memory in latin america, founded in 2019. first, the authors analyse the network’s creation arising from the discontent of some participants of the june 2019 archives, libraries, museums and special collections (alms) conference, in berlin, who felt bothered by the lack of attention given to subaltern perspectives on lgbtqia+ history and memory. next, the authors describe and analyse the network’s first year of activities communicated through its facebook group. multiple challenges arose from creating a network with members from different national origins, languages, and identities, especially considering the conservative political contexts of several latin american countries and the social distancing measures imposed by the covid-19 pandemic. next, the authors present a general profile of the network’s members and a map of partner institutions. finally, the article points out some challenges to the network’s continuity and its desire to render latin america more visible in the broader panorama of global lgbtqia+ history. the authors conclude by highlighting the importance of amai lgbtqia+ in stimulating further discussions about the participation of global-south researchers and perspectives on global queer history initiatives. keywords: archives and collections; global south perspectives; latin america; lgbtqia+ memory; queer history publication type: research article introduction his article presents and analyses the foundation, current activities, and projects of red latinoamericana de archivos, museos, acervos y investigadores lgbtqia+ (amailgbtqia+), a network established in 2019 by a group of latin-american researchers and activists dedicated to lgbtqia+ memory. the authors divided it into four parts. first (“which place do we occupy?”), we begin by describing the network’s foundation at the 2019 archives, libraries, museums and special collections (alms) conference in berlin. some conference participants noticed an underrepresentation of latin american contributions. therefore, they decided to create a network that would foster the exchange of experiences and provide mutual support. second (“what have we been doing?”), the authors describe and analyse the network’s first year of activities. our discussion focuses on understanding the impacts of political contexts, the covid-19 pandemic, and the challenges of creating a network with members from different t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 backgrounds, national origins, languages1 and identities. third (“who are we?”), we present a general profile of the network’s members and a map of partner institutions. finally (“what place do we want to occupy?”), we point to some challenges to the network’s continuity and its desire to render latin america more visible in the broader panorama of global lgbtqia+ history. our goal is to stimulate further discussions about the participation of global-south researchers and perspectives--in this case from latin america--on global queer history initiatives. before we proceed, it seems essential to situate two points that help contextualise the network’s foundation and the format of this text. the first point relates to the broader picture of lgbtqia+ rights in latin america, especially concerning the right to memory and history through heritage conservation. the second refers to our simultaneous position as authors and participants of amai lgbtqia+. we intend to show that this apparent methodological dilemma is a standard feature and not an impediment in studies about lgbtqia+ experiences. lgbtqia+ rights, history, and memory and heritage in latin america: brief comments on a besieged landscape societal and political hostilities towards lgbtqia+ people in latin america substantially influence the lack of resources and initiatives to protect lgbtqia+ memory, history, and heritage. moreover, colonisation and the catholic presence have significantly impacted the history of dissident sexualities in the region through persecution and extermination (trevisan, 2018). according to fernandes (2017), european colonisation has introduced an administrative, bureaucratic, political, and psychological apparatus to address indigenous sexualities from the paradigm of the catholic binary gaze on gender and sexuality. subsequently, the rise of authoritarian regimes during the second half of the xx century left a long-lasting mark of systemic violence that outlived dictatorships across the region. brazil’s cold war-era discourse on “national security” included state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia that targeted lgbtqia+ people as enemies of the military government (1964-1985), as colaço (2012) and cowan (2016) demonstrated. similar persecution of cis-heteronormative dissidents from that era occurred in other latin american countries such as uruguay between 1973 and 1985 (sempol, 2013), and argentina between 1976 and 1983 (simonetto, 2017). despite the brutality of argentinean, brazilian and uruguayan military regimes, new political organisations flourished in the 1970s and 1980s and prepared the ground for current struggles. the hiv/aids epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s also dramatically affected the lgbtqia+ population in latin america. conservative and religious sectors labelled it a “gay cancer” caused by a “sinful” lifestyle. such a conservative reaction has led to inaction by several governments in the region, leaving many people without assistance. at the beginning of the 21st century, approximately 43.5% of aids cases in latin america were related to homo-bisexual transmission. nonetheless, less than 5% of the total resources employed in hiv/aids prevention was destined for this population (cáceres & chequer, 2000). despite this, the epidemic sparked a fight against government lethargy and negligence, which influenced the hiv/aids movement’s rise. brazil’s hiv/aids movement achieved significant outcomes, such as free distribution of retroviral drugs and free medical assistance. additionally, the epidemic has increased the visibility of people non-conforming to cis heterosexuality to the rest of society. 70 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 according to corrales (2020), “in the first two decades of the twenty-first century, latin america experienced a remarkable improvement in lgbt rights and policies. outside of the north atlantic, no region has had more progress on lgbt rights” (p. 185). for example, a 2020 report by the international lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex association (ilga) observed that 24 countries in latin america and the caribbean2 had decriminalised same-sex consensual relations. belize, trinidad, and tobago were the latest to do so in 2016 and 2018, respectively. however, in response to such progress a new backlash by conservative sectors has also emerged. corrales (2020) argues: […] that conservative groups challenging lgbt rights in latin america have undergone a major change in organisational composition—the entry of evangelical groups. these churches have acquired an impressive capacity to influence politics. homo-/transphobia, of course, has always existed. but as lgbt rights have expanded, evangelicals are now providing forms, organisations, arguments, resources, and alliances to challenge new or existing progress. (p. 186) the so-called crusades against gender ideology have been at the root of the new wave of conservative governments in latin america, taking power since the middle of the 2010s. bridging anti-abortion, anti-gender rights, anti-sexuality rights, anti-feminist, anti-human-rights, and anti-leftist agendas, the crusade against gender ideology in latin america has been gaining space in the political debate. employing education as the primary field of action, the campaign against gender ideology has targeted research concerning lgbtqia+ (in every disciplinary area) and universities as ideological disseminators. in this regard, in the last couple of years, there has been widespread persecution and censorship towards research and researchers. the alliance between religious and far-right groups has flourished with political and financial support from governments and international think tanks around the globe (miskolci, 2018; correa, 2018). as an example of the aggressive and virulent modus operandi of such groups in brazil, we mention the recent and shameful demonstration against the visit of us philosophers judith butler and wendy brown in november 2017. butler and brown were invited to participate in several events in brazil. religious, conservative, and right-wing groups collected 370,000 signatures protesting their visit, which was understood as “a threat to the natural order of gender, sexuality, and family.” they organised demonstrations at places where butler spoke. despite support from progressive groups who countered right-wing protesters during their visit, butler and brown experienced harassment at congonhas airport in são paulo while waiting for a flight to rio de janeiro.3 regarding more direct violence, a 2020 report by red sin violencia with data from nine latin american and caribbean countries found that, from 2014 to 2019, more than 1,300 lgbtqia+ people were assassinated in the region. that same report states that brazil accounts for an estimated 1,600 fatal victims. a 2020 report from grupo gay da bahia (ggb) shows that 329 lgbtqia+ people were killed in brazil in 2019. latin america accounts for astounding rates of murders of transgender and gender-diverse people. the latest update on the transgender murder monitoring (tmm)4 by transgender europe (tgeu) shows brazil as the world’s most deadly place for transgender and gender-diverse people (with a total of 1,520 murders), followed by mexico in second place (528 murders), and colombia in fourth place (180 murders). south and central america, according to the report, account for a total of 2,894 fatal victims in the period, a number nine times higher than asia, the second 71 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 deadliest region (303 victims in total), and ten times higher than north america (u.s. and canada with 280 victims) in third place. data from the latest report from brazil’s national association of travestis and transexuals (antra) and the brazilian trans institute of education (ibte) shows that in 2020, amidst a global pandemic, 175 transgender and gender-diverse people were murdered in brazil, with 51 more victims than 2019 (benevides & nogueira, 2021). such violence and erasure have harmed the preservation of lgbtqia+ history and memory in the region. throughout history, groups dissonating from cis-hetero-normativity had to conceal or destroy traces of their existence to survive. the constant changes in the political orientation of latin american countries, often resulting from violence and coups, have not favoured public policies of conservation and public display of lgbtqia+ collections. as boita (2017) suggests, the denial of heritage and memory negates human dignity for marginalised populations. due to disinvestment, censorship, persecution, and extermination, lgbtqia+ history in latin america has been severely marginalised in scholarly discourse and official public narratives. in this sense, amai lgbtqia+ intends to fight this scenario by bridging local initiatives. from which place do we speak from before proceeding to the next section, we will discuss our connection with amai-lgbtqia+, our position as researchers, and our identities. this step will help us situate our writing and knowledge about this network, pointing to our benefits and limitations when describing and analysing this organisation. both authors are part of the 105 members of amai-lgbtqia+ (as of march 2021). rubens was one of the founders back in 2019, and benito joined the network later that year. we are both brazilian and native portuguese speakers. we also identify as cisgender gay men. in brazil we can be identified as white, but not in europe and north america. like all network members, we have distinct forms of insertion in academia and activism. it is also worth mentioning that we are part of the network’s over-represented groups: cisgender people, portuguese speakers, and brazilians. such belongings situate us in a specific and limited place to narrate some of these processes. writing about events that we took part in echoes research on the history of political processes. in brazil, as shown by frança et al. (2016), there is a voluminous body of academic work produced by people who took part in political activities based on the exchanges among black, feminist, and lgbt movements. we will address those events where the researchers have played a role in the processes they analysed. gonzález (2020),5 in her analysis of the trajectory and political organisation of black movements and black women’s/feminist movements in brazil since the 1970s, offers a broader perspective from a researcher and activist who participated in those changes. correa (2001), addressing the connections between feminist movements and gender studies in brazil, reveals aspects of the tandem consolidation of these academic and political fields while actively participating in this process. likewise, de jesus & alves (2012), on a theoretical and historical analysis about the articulation of trans and transfeminist movements in brazil, reflect upon a process in which they were protagonists. one example is grupo somos of são paulo, one of the first known “homosexual activist groups” in brazil. some of its members analysed its trajectory and actions, such as edward macrae and james green. macrae (2018), who participated in the first meetings of grupo somos in são paulo in 1978, observes how its meetings were central to developing a “homosexual activist identity”. 72 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 green (2000) explains that grupo somos named themselves after the argentinean newspaper somos, edited between 1971 and 1976 by frente de liberación homosexual argentina. these writings transpose the challenges and potentialities of a process in which one was, or is, engaged. we, the authors, hope to highlight our double effort of producing a text “from within” alongside the network that narrates an ongoing process in which we participate as constituents. our positions as “founding member” and “member” allow us to access events first-hand. in this sense, we will employ “us” throughout the text to speak about the network. the discussion comes from documentary research about the foundation of the network, and debates in the private group on facebook “archivos, museos, acervos y investigadores lgbtqia+ (amai lgbtqia+)”. additionally, we have consulted blogs and pages that interacted with the network. “which place do we occupy?”, the foundation of the network the foundation of a network dedicated to integrating and connecting archives, collections, museums, and researchers from latin america was motivated by the encounter of its eight founding members at the archives, libraries, museums and special collections (alms) conference in berlin between june 27th and 29th, 2019. this first group consisted of eight people from argentina, brazil, mexico, and colombia (six cisgender men and two cisgender women). a quarter of this group was residing in europe to study. the members decided to organise the network due to their shared impressions and experiences from the conference, an inspiring moment and an excellent opportunity to connect people worldwide. alms was described in the 2019 conference announcement6 as follows, [alms] is a series of international conferences focused on public, private, academic, and grassroots archives collecting and preserving materials of all types from lgbtiq+ communities. its mission is to ensure that our history continues to be preserved and shared. the series was initiated in 2006 in minnesota, and the last two conferences took place in amsterdam in 2012 and in london in 2016. these conferences provide an opportunity for archivists, activists and scholars from around the world to gather, share their stories and discuss the issues around documenting lgbtiq+ lives. alms is an exceptional event as it offers the encouraging experience of being part of an international network overcoming borders and on track for the future. the conference took place at the haus der kulturen der welt (hkw), a historical building next to the tiergarten and the bundestag (german parliament building). alms 2019 was also a celebration of “the 100th anniversary of the world’s first queer archive, library, museum and special collection”, founded in 1919 by german activist and researcher magnus hirschfeld. in 1919 magnus hirschfeld opened the institut für sexualwissenschaft (institute for sex research) which was destroyed by the nazis in 1933. this institute was located at the very place where the haus der kulturen der welt stands today, and where alms berlin will convene. (queering memory, 2019, para. 5) in its announcement, the conference was seeking to answer two central questions: “what does ‘queering memory’ mean under the political, social and cultural conditions of the present? and how can the diversity of queer histories be made visible in these digitised times?”. during the three-day conference, presentations were divided into themed sessions. members of archives, museums, universities, groups, and institutions with different resources and funding explored 73 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 the possibilities of preserving, researching, protecting, and exhibiting queer history. overall, the goal was to share experiences and build alternatives. nonetheless, it was clear that there was an influential presence of conference participants from western europe, australia, and the united states, which impacted subject coverage and the tone of discussion. english became the common language of the event to make communication possible among international participants. problems with simultaneous interpretation limited other linguistic options to english, german, and russian. six of the founding members presented papers at the conference. three presented in a session dedicated to latin america, while others spoke in two sessions on broader themes. overall, the founding members’ presentations focused on research, conservation activities, and activism in our home countries. one of the network’s founders took part in the conference’s closing session, dedicated to discussing the situation of countries governed by hostile lgbtqia+ strongmen. the panel, composed of members from the united states, russia, hungary, and brazil, debated strategies to guarantee the existence and functioning of less-formal and less-institutionalised archives and collections. while presenting on this panel, our brazilian colleague announced interest in organising a regional event like alms in latin america. in the end, a voting process took place to select the next city to host the conference, in which only global-north cities named candidates. our group became closer between sessions and during lunch and dinner when we shared our thoughts. three points of discussion were fundamental to the proposition of forming a network: overcoming the language barrier, the economic and material barriers preventing more people from participating, and the under-representation of latin-american perspectives. in the months after the conference, some founding members wrote reports about their experiences7. one of them reflected upon the place given at the conference to subaltern perspectives. according to this report, the lack of representation of participants from latin america, africa, and asia involuntarily universalised european narratives about sexual diversity, undermining efforts to construct a global queer history. without ignoring pioneer figures such as karl von ulrichs and magnus hirschfeld or the importance of historical facts such as the stonewall riots (1969), the report highlighted that the absence of more perspectives and narratives resulted in the reinforcement of hegemonic notions. another report pointed out that travel costs from latin american countries to europe or the us, alongside other expenses, restrict the participation of more people, resulting in underrepresentation. while registering on the first day of the event, one member noticed two fellow compatriots’ nametags who could not attend the conference due to financial reasons. the linguistic barrier was another point of discussion. even though there were distinctions among us regarding english, the group noticed this aspect collectively. the linguistic barrier was manifested as a token of the place we occupied there. other participants also felt this discomfort and complained about not following the sessions entirely due to the limited option of simultaneous interpretation. in one of the caucus meetings, some of our partners felt excluded due to the dominance of english, resulting in a focus on global north realities. a member reported the feeling of not being speaking, hearing, and being heard accurately. 74 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 curiously, even though the founding members did not share the same mother tongue,8 their proximity was understood as a point of commonality instead of a barrier. we often mixed spanish and portuguese during our talks to express our ideas better. this language mixture, commonly named portunhol/portuñol, would later become central to the network. some days after the end of the event, we announced on the blog memórias e histórias das homossexualidades9 that we were forming a network from our encounter at that conference. our first intention was to organise a regional event to discuss latin american perspectives on queer history. as described by a member, a relation of “affective, academic, and activist complicity” cements the creation of the network. this collaboration resulted from common academic interests in lgbtqia+ history and memory, political engagement, and solidarity. what have we been doing? strengthening ties amidst the chaos the negotiations to form amai-lgbtqia+ continued after the founders returned to their home countries or cities of residence in europe. this initial group invited researchers of lgbtqia+ history, activists, and institutions practising lgbtqia+ cultural heritage preservation (mainly archives and museums) to join the network. the founding members created a private group on facebook to assemble the new participants and organise a seminar in são paulo in 2020. due to the covid-19 pandemic, however, the initial excitement dampened. on may 9, 2020, a member wrote a message suggesting an alternative virtual meeting. pergunto se não poderíamos, nesse período de isolamento, realizar uma reunião virtual, para discutir a possibilidade de realizarmos um evento via virtual, de modo a combater esse isolamento e construirmos formas de ação, dentro de nossa proposta. aguardo as considerações de vocês. saludos / abraços.10 several people promptly answered the call, excited about the possibility of collaborating and staying in contact, especially during social isolation. the first discussions focused on selecting subjects to be addressed in the meetings, the best day of the week, and the online platform of preference. although they may seem like “minor” bureaucratic and administrative issues, they are determinants for an initiative like ours, in reality. for example, the choice of the day and time for virtual meetings influences, to some extent, the degree of participation since the members have other academic and professional activities. a vital aspect to consider in a severe economic crisis is rising unemployment in the region. additionally, the time zones crossing latin america, along with several members living permanently or temporarily in european time zones, causes different availability. answering to the call, a member commented: lo primero qué hay que empatar es horarios, en latinoamérica no hay ¿mucho? problema pues la diferencia es de 2 o hasta 3 horas pero para los compañeros en europa la diferencia de horario va hasta más de 6 horas, escoger un primer día hora y motivo de reunión....11 finally, the choice of the online communication platforms impacts participants’ safety, especially in the face of advancing far-right and conservative governments and groups that target gender and sexuality discussions. under jair bolsonaro’s rule, many internet groups dedicated to spreading hate speech have invaded or disrupted online events in brazil. in the end, the group decided to meet on saturdays through zoom. 75 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 bilingualism: from the point of contact to an organisational challenge there is another aspect related to communication that is central to the functionality of the network: bilingualism. while most latin american countries employ spanish as their primary language, there is a large contingent of brazilian portuguese-speaking participants in amailgbtqia+. therefore, we must all make an effort to speak slowly, to clarify the meanings of some words, and to use portunhol/portuñol. unlike the initial proposal of planning a virtual event, the call resulted in 10 virtual meetings throughout 2020 (from may to december). they resumed after a break in january 2021. these virtual encounters occurred alongside the creation and dissemination of documents, videos, databases, interviews, and presentations constitute the current activities of amai-lgbtqia+. the covid-19 pandemic ended up playing a contradictory role in the network’s trajectory. on one hand, it turned plans of a face-to-face meeting impossible and led to the physical isolation of the group’s members. on the other, it allowed us to overcome national boundaries through online communication technologies and devices. the first meeting occurred on may 23, 2020, with 18 participants aiming to connect and share activities and research agendas. participants also debated how the network should be structured. the following meetings alternated between administrative issues and discussions on lgbtqia+ memory and history in latin america. the organisational and administrative meetings addressed, among other themes, public presentation of the network, social media, definition of workgroups (for archive identification, for example) and identity of the network. defining a visual identity: el sur es nuestro norte one of the longest debates concerned the logo, chosen through polls in the facebook group. the current logo is inspired by the work of uruguayan artist joaquín torres garcía, “america invertida”, from 1943. on his manifest “la escuela del sur”, reproduced in müller-bergh & teles (2009), torres garcía affirms he dicho escuela del sur; porque en realidad, nuestro norte es el sur. no debe de haber norte, para nosotros, sino por oposición a nuestro sur. por eso ahora ponemos el mapa al revés, y entonces ya tenemos justa idea de nuestra posición, y no como quieren en el resto del mundo. la punta de américa, desde ahora, prolongándose, señala insistentemente el sur, nuestro norte. igualmente nuestra bru ́jula: se inclina irremisiblemente siempre hacia el sur, hacia nuestro polo. los buques, cuando se van de aquí, bajan, no suben, como antes, para irse hacia el norte. porque el norte ahora está abajo. y levante, poniéndonos frente a nuestro sur, está a nuestra izquierda. esta rectificación era necesaria; por esto ahora sabemos dónde estamos. (p.393)12 the proposal for our network perfectly matches the group’s objective of not thinking about lgbtqia+ history and memory of latin america as a defined geographic space but from latin america as a place of enunciation, taking the “south as our north” as a perspective for past, present, and future. from our latin american realities, amai-lgbtqia+ aims to observe, think, 76 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 reflect, research, safeguard, and present lgbtqia+ history and memory by considering subjects, periodisation, and questions overlooked in hegemonic narratives centred on the global north. figure 1. logo of amai-lgbtqia+ in portuguese the different colours of the line accompanying the inverted map intend to represent the different groups that compose the so-called lgbtqia+ community, alongside the representation of people of colour (the black and brown rectangles). when talking about our realities, we can highlight gender and sexual diversity among indigenous peoples in the colonial past, counter normative violence imposed by metropolitan powers and the catholic church, identify intersections and exchanges among race, class, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity peculiar to latin american realities, explore the role of afro-latin american religions in configuring of gender and sexual identities alternative to heteronormativity, and identify and document latin american social movements of sexual dissidence beyond stonewall. a decolonial inspiration? such vision coincides with decolonizing initiatives seeking to overcome eurocentrism and propose new historical periodisation drawing from other references, especially those produced in latin america and the global south. even though the network has not addressed theoretical debates around decolonization, one of its goals is to de-center the privileged place of enunciation of global queer history from europe and the us. the network, in this sense, can be understood as another initiative to tackle the coloniality of power and its developments (especially coloniality of knowledge and coloniality of gender) as elaborated by decolonial thinkers such as aníbal quijano, walter mignolo, and maría lugones. coloniality of power stresses the role of the colonisation of the americas in the constitution of european modernity and capitalism. for these scholars, european colonial powers took the americas as places for social, political, economic, and symbolic experimentation by imposing european rationality as the only legitimate expression of thought.13 when taking decolonial feminism as a possibility to overcome the coloniality of gender, lugones (2010) highlights the importance of thinking about gender outside colonial, european, catholic, and binary schemes, using other matrices (indigenous, non-white, non77 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 christian) to reflect upon our societies. one of the reports about the experience of the 2019 conference acknowledges this form of resistance by claiming other historical milestones and references beyond current global history projects. amai lgbtqia+ seems to draw inspiration from decolonial thinking to address issues in memory and heritage. a comment on the identities the adoption of the abbreviation lgbtqia+ was (and still is) debated in the meetings. members reached some degree of consensus by following international organisations’ categories, in which generally (l) stands for lesbians, (g) for gay men, (b) for bisexuals, (t) for transgender, (q) for queer, (i) for intersex, (a) for asexuals, and (+) for allies. nevertheless, when considering the national contexts of many latin american countries, the network follows some suggestions from activists across the region, especially regarding the (t) that stands for travestis, transexual, and transgender people. such discussions are close to what facchini (2005) called sopa de letrinhas [alphabet soup]. in her analysis of the brazilian and international lgbtqia+ movements, she stresses that the choices of identities represented in the movement’s abbreviation delimit outsiders and insiders. in amai, such articulation considered identities not yet represented in the group, such as asexual people. as discussed in the first meetings, this strategy was to form alliances and expand the network’s representativity. another point of recurring debate is related to the category “queer”, once considered a derogatory term later reclaimed as an identity by movements in the english-speaking countries. while, in a certain sense, it follows the effort of staying in tune with terminologies adopted on local and global activism, its usage still causes some estrangement. some members understand that “queer” is a category forged in a white, anglo-saxon, and north-centred context14. colling’s (2011) analysis about the refusals regarding queer theory within the lgbtqia+ movement and academia at the beginning of the 2010s in brazil points to similar estrangements. in amai, there is even a creative investment in the network to consider alternatives to describe identities, often employing and resignifying spanish or portuguese categories. that is the case with the word “marica”, which is present in both languages. the members debated the usage of this category in a couple of the meetings as an alternative to “queer”. however, the group agreed that the word is too focused on male and cisgender homosexuality and decided not to use it. getting to know each other regarding discussions on research and experiences on lgbtqia+ history and memory, the network organised internal presentations about such initiatives in mexico, argentina, brazil, colombia, el salvador, and costa rica. these presentations fostered comparisons between our national histories and contexts, especially concerning the challenges of safeguarding and protecting sexual dissidents’ memories. we also conducted a collective interview with one of the directors of archivo de la memoria trans argentina, who shared personal, political, and professional experiences as a transgender woman and activist who preserves the memories of transgender people in latin america. the network has been mapping archives and collections in latin america. a dedicated workgroup with 11 participants from brazil, argentina, and mexico is responsible for this initiative. so far, 78 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 the workgroup has succeeded in contacting 14 archives and five personal collections of brazilian lgbtqia+ activists. furthermore, amai recently started a youtube channel15 to broadcast thematic sessions and debates proposed by its members. who are we? 105 members of the network have different academic and political backgrounds. most of us have degrees or training in history and museology, sociology, anthropology, media studies, literature, law, and arts. most members have or had contact with activist groups, art collectives, and archives. regarding nationalities, a brief analysis from data available in the profiles of network members16 shows a predominance of brazilians (51%), followed by mexicans (12%), argentinians (10%), colombians (3%), and spaniards (3%). salvadoreans, costa-ricans, paraguayans, ecuadorians and uruguayans correspond each to 2% of the members. nicaraguans, french, italians, portuguese, and people from the united states correspond to 1% each. such data corroborates the overall perception by the members of the massive presence of brazilians in the network. figure 2. distribution of members by country of origin brazil, 51% mexico, 12% argentina, 10% no data, 6% colombia, 3% spain, 3% costa rica, 2% ecuador, 2% el salvador, 2% paraguay, 2% uruguay, 2% france, 1% italy, 1% nicaragua, 1% portugal, 1% usa, 1% 79 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 figure 3. distribution of members by region of origin when looking at the countries where the members reside, it is noticeable that most of us live in latin america, and that 70% of the group come from south america. brazil (49%), méxico (11%), and argentina (7%) are the leading countries of residence for network’s members. south america is followed by europe (14%) as the second most important region of residence, with germany as the home for 5% of the members, followed by portugal and spain with 3% each. figure 4. distribution of members by country of residence 5% 6% 6% 13% 70% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% central america europe no data north america south america brazil, 49% mexico, 11% argentina, 7% no data, 7% germany, 5% spain, 3% portugal, 3% costa rica, 2% el salvador, 2% ecuador, 2% usa, 2% paraguay, 2% uruguay, 2% colombia, 1% france, 1% the netherlands, 1% italy, 1% sweden, 1% 80 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 figure 5. distribution of members by region of residence regarding the representation of gender and sexual identities, there is a visible overrepresentation of cisgender people, especially cisgender gay men. amongst the 105 members, only seven people identify as transgender. in this sense, the network still reflects some tendencies observed in some lgbtqia+ activist groups, especially in brazil, regarding the underrepresentation of women and, more visibly, transgender women, transgender men, travestis, and non-binary people. the facebook group has made it possible to exchange information about events dedicated to lgbtqia+ memory and history. a considerable volume of information circulates daily, including news about lgbtqia+ people in latin america, texts, articles and books written by network members, virtual events, and petitions. apart from sharing information, members use the facebook group for administrative purposes. we publish the minutes of previous meetings, general information regarding the network, suggestions of discussion topics, and live streams of the meetings. it is interesting to notice that despite the massive presence of brazilians, most posts and news articles shared in the group are written in spanish. table 1. partner organizations name country website moleculas malucas argentina https://www.moleculasmalucas.com archivo de la memória trans argentina https://www.facebook.com/archivotran s memórias e histórias das homossexualidades brazil https://memoriamhb.blogspot.com acervo bajubá brazil https://www.facebook.com/acervobaju ba/ 4% 7% 13% 14% 62% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% central america no data north america europe south america 81 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.moleculasmalucas.com/ https://www.facebook.com/archivotrans https://www.facebook.com/archivotrans https://memoriamhb.blogspot.com/ https://www.facebook.com/acervobajuba/ https://www.facebook.com/acervobajuba/ history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 close: centro de referência da histórias lgbtqi+ do rio grande do sul brazil https://www.ufrgs.br/close/ museu da diversidade sexual de são paulo brazil http://www.mds.org.br museu bajubá brazil https://museubajuba.org lésbicas na história brazil https://www.instagram.com/lesbicasna historia/ museu q colombia https://museoq.org archivo digital de liberación homosexual en colombia colombia https://archivodlhc.blogspot.com museo identidad y orgullo costa rica http://www.museomiocr.com cosmopolitrans germany https://www.facebook.com/transumbre llahannover archivos y memorias diversas mexico http://www.archivosymemoriasdiversas. org.mx hilacha voladora mexico https://soundcloud.com/hilachavoladora queerquivo arquivo lgbt português portugal https://queerquivo.wordpress.com/ representatives of 15 organisations are part of amai, including archives, museums, blogs, and activist groups from argentina, brazil, colombia, costa rica, germany, mexico, and portugal. the partner organisations and the network support each other by amplifying campaigns, announcing events, and technical collaboration.17 conclusion: what place do we want to occupy? on december 12th, 2020, after a year of debates and activities, amai-lgbtqia+ published a short manifesto condensing its history, goals, and plans. a formação da rede latinoamericana de arquivos, museus, acervos e investigadores lgtbqia+, se inicia a partir do encontro de pesquisadores do brasil, méxico, argentina e colômbia na archives, libraries, museums and special collections (alms) conference em berlim no ano de 2019. o desejo de constituição da rede emergiu durante a conferência, com a angústia desses pesquisadores ao constatar a sub-representação latino-americana no evento e a falta de referências bibliográficas e patrimoniais no sul global. 82 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.ufrgs.br/close/ http://www.mds.org.br/ https://museubajuba.org/ https://www.instagram.com/lesbicasnahistoria/ https://www.instagram.com/lesbicasnahistoria/ https://museoq.org/ https://archivodlhc.blogspot.com/ http://www.museomiocr.com/ https://www.facebook.com/transumbrellahannover https://www.facebook.com/transumbrellahannover http://www.archivosymemoriasdiversas.org.mx/ http://www.archivosymemoriasdiversas.org.mx/ https://soundcloud.com/hilacha-voladora https://soundcloud.com/hilacha-voladora https://queerquivo.wordpress.com/ history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 assim, iniciou-se a articulação para a constituição da rede, buscando aumentar a participação e representatividade de nossa região, em eventos de dimensão internacional, e também propor uma integração latino-americana de pesquisadores e acervos lgbtqia+. buscando descentralizar as propostas e narrativas hegemônicas sobre uma história queer global, que não se aprofunda e insere com precisão os marcos latinoamericanos. hoje, um ano após sua a criação, a rede segue articulando pesquisadores, acervos e museus do nosso continente, propondo uma integração de nossas referências, patrimônio, território para intervir de forma organizada na disputa por uma narrativa que contemple as histórias lgbtqia+ latinoamericanas. assim, a partir de discussões foram eleitos os seguintes princípios para a rede: • promover a interação de pesquisadores e instituições latino-americanas que trabalham com acervos e memória lgbtqia+; • lutar pela salvaguarda e bem estar dos acervos lgbtqia+ latino-americanos, mapeando seus possíveis riscos e possibilidades de comunicação, ampliação e pesquisa; • mapear os acervos lgbtqia+ latino americanos, criando índices remissivos para a consulta por pesquisadores que trabalham com a temática; • realizar encontros virtuais e presenciais para a discussão de tópicos da diversidade sexual e gênero, com centralidade na região que ocupamos; • participar de eventos globais como um coletivo organizado, visando suprir a subrepresentação de nosso continente; colaborar e compartilhar a produção científica sobre a temática da diversidade sexual e de gênero na américa latina, a fim de propor a difusão e expansão do tema;18 by the end of 2020, a member sent the following message to the group: “neste difícil ano hemos estado juntas y en colectivo fuimos construeyndo nuesta red amai. que em 2021 possamos seguir ainda mais fortes!”19 the words, tenderly written in a mixture between portuguese and spanish, express the difficulties we faced as a group through 2020 but, above all, reinforce the hope of a collective struggle for lgbtqia+ memory and history and the strengthening of regional solidarities. so far, the path of amai-lgbtqia+ has been one of creative adaptation to old and new contingencies and external situations. the network was idealised to answer a political and epistemological need for visibility in the narratives on global queer history. perhaps it was precisely this encounter at a non-latin-american country that drew the group’s attention to the underrepresentation of latin-american perspectives. had a similar event occurred in latinamerica20, the presence of latin-american and global south perspectives could have been more significant. however, if not organised by a global-north international association, such an event could be deemed regionally focused. if the covid-19 pandemic prevented a regional meeting, it was during the necessary social 83 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 isolation that the network decided, by digital means, to focus on expanding, meeting periodically, and promoting digital events. the group benefited from the network’s fluidity, especially by avoiding the investment of energy and resources in bureaucratic and organisational actions. nevertheless, it also led to oscillating participation in the activities, sometimes resulting in non-attended meetings and the interruption of some events. uncertain participation is understandable since the commitment of its members is voluntary and each person has their own personal, professional, and political obligations. the acknowledgement of these aspects changed the frequency of the meetings from once every 15 days to once a month. in this sense, there is a constant effort to intensify the contact between members and expand the mobilisation capacity whilst minding the current hardships we face in the region. it is also a goal to keep reaching out to more people from other latin american countries and diversify the profile of its members. the network’s main and relevant political goals are rendering latin american lgbtqia+ history visible, contributing to elaborations on memory from a global south perspective, and disputing meanings and narratives about global history, whether queer or any other category that better describes ourselves. endnotes 1 we decided to maintain the quotations in their original language, to expose the reader to the feeling shared by some network members as non-native english speakers. the reader will find a free translation in the footnotes. 2 for the scope of the article, we will not address the situation of the caribbean regarding lgbtqia+ rights. but the report shows that most countries that maintain a criminalizat ion of same-sex consensual relations are in the caribbean. 3 later in that month, butler wrote an article on folha de são paulo (“the phantom of gender: reflections on freedom and violence”) in which she comments these events. sexuality policy watch released a briefing (“judith butler attacked in brazil: a briefing”) in january 2018 analysing the incident. see: butler, j. (november 21, 2017). the phantom of gender: reflections on freedom and violence. folha de são paulo. https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/culture/2017/11/1936921-the-phantom-ofgender-reflections-on-freedom-and-violence.shtml. see also: sexuality policy watch (2018, the 18th of january). judith butler attacked in brazil: a briefing. around the world. https://sxpolitics.org/judith-butler-in-brazil-a-briefing/17916. 4 the report uses data from 2008 to 2020. 5 recently compiled in an anthology edited by rios and lima (2020). 6 this information is available at the conference website (https://queeralmsberlin2019.de/announcement/). information of previous editions of 2012 84 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/culture/2017/11/1936921-the-phantom-of-gender-reflections-on-freedom-and-violence.shtml https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/culture/2017/11/1936921-the-phantom-of-gender-reflections-on-freedom-and-violence.shtml https://sxpolitics.org/judith-butler-in-brazil-a-briefing/17916 https://queeralmsberlin2019.de/announcement/ history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 and 2016 can be found at: http://lgbtqalms.co.uk; http://lgbtialms2012.blogspot.com. (accessed on: june 28, 2021) 7 these accounts were published after the conference. we borrowed the title of this section from one of the accounts. we decided to make all the texts' mentions indirect and paraphrased to protect the authors' identities. 8 there were portuguese and spanish speakers in the same number in our group. 9 the blog can be accessed here: https://memoriamhb.blogspot.com/. 10 during this isolation period, i'm wondering whether we could organize a virtual meeting to discuss the possibility of organizing a virtual event, aiming to tackle isolation and build forms of action together in the guidelines of our network. i will wait for your thoughts on that. saludos [cheers]/abraços [hugs]. 11 the first thing is thinking about the time the meetings will take place, in latin america, there are not “many” problems, because the difference is 2 or 3 hours. but for our partners in europe, the difference can reach up to 6 hours; then we should choose first a day and time, and then, a subject for our meeting... 12 i have said school of the south because, in reality, our north is the south. there cannot be north for us, only if by opposition to our south. therefore, we now put the map upside down, and we have a clear idea of our position, not the way the rest of the world wants. the tip of america, from now on, prolonging, points insistently to the south, our north. just like our compass: always leaning unmistakably towards the south, towards our pole. the boats, when leaving here, go down not up as before to go to the north. because the north, now, is below. and ascending, putting us in front of our south, is our left. this rectification was necessary, so we now know where we are. 13 for a balance of decolonial discussions, see quintero et al. (2019) and ballestrin (2013). 14 miskolci & simões (2007), when tracing a genealogy of the category and its uses on brazilian academia and activism, points to significant potentialities not limited to the mere acknowledgement of a theoretical “delay”, but of valuable critical contributions produced from local perspectives. for a critic on the canons of queer theory, centred on the us, see hamesgarcía (2011) and lugones’ (2011) comments on hames-garcía’s article. 15 the channel can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/uctwllkkivsutwp8zase2paw. 16 information, such as countries of origin and residence, were collected from public data on the members' facebook profiles. nonetheless, some of the members did not disclose this information on their profiles. 17 the virtual meetings are organized and hosted in zoom with technical support from hilacha voladora and archivos y memorias diversas. some of them were live streamed inside the group and recorded. 85 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://lgbtqalms.co.uk/ http://lgbtialms2012.blogspot.com/ https://memoriamhb.blogspot.com/ history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 18 the formation of the latin american network of lgbtqia+ started from the encounter of researchers from brazil, mexico, argentina and colombia at the archives, libraries, museums and special collections (alms) conference in berlin in the year 2019. the desire to form the network emerged from the researchers’ agony when confronted with latin american under-representation and the lack of bibliographic and patrimonial references about the global south during the conference. thus, we began articulating to constitute the network, hoping to increase the participation and representation of our region in events of international dimension and to propose a latin american integration of lgbtqia+ researchers and collections. we seek to de-centre hegemonic proposals and narratives about a global queer history that do not acknowledge and insert latin american contributions with precision. today, one year after its foundation, the network continues to articulate researchers, collections, and museums in our continent, proposing integration of our references, heritage, and territory to intervene in an organized form in the dispute for a narrative that contemplates latin american lgbtqia+ histories. therefore, from the discussions, we elected the following guidelines to the network: • promoting interaction between latin american researchers and institutions that work with lgbtqia+ collections and memory. • fighting for the safekeeping and conservation of latin american lgbtqia+ collections, mapping its possible risks, as well as its possibilities of communication, expansion, and research. • mapping latin american lgbtqia+ collections by creating reference indexes for consultation by researchers that work with the theme. • organizing virtual and face-to-face meetings for discussing topics on gender and sexual diversity, with a focus on the region we occupy. • participating in global conferences as an organised collective, aiming to overcome the under-representation of our continent. • collaborating and sharing scientific production about sexual and gender diversity in latin america, fostering the diffusion and expansion of the subject. 19 in this challenging year, we have stood together, and collectively we have been building our network amai. in 2021, let us keep moving forward and growing stronger! 20 this, however, would also incur similar difficulties regarding funding for both the event and the participants, translation and potentially security. 86 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 acknowledgements assistance provided by archivos, museos, acervos y investigadores lgbtqia+ and partner organisations was greatly appreciated. references ballestrin, l. 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(2010). toward a decolonial feminism. hypatia, 25(4), 742-759. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.2010.01137.x macrae, e. (2018). a construção da igualdade: política e identidade sexual no brasil da abertura. edufba. 10.7476/9788523219987 miskolci, r. (2018). “the moral crusade on ‘gender ideology”: notes on conservative political alliances in latin america. sociologies in dialogue: journal of brazilian sociological association. porto alegre, 4(2), 44-59. http://dx.doi.org/10.20336/sid.v4i2.99, https://www.sbsociologia.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/3-the-moral-crusadeon-gender-ideology-notes-on-conservative-political-alliances-in-latin-america.pdf miskolci, r. & simões, j. a. (2007). apresentação. cadernos pagu, (28), 9-18. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0104-83332007000100002 müller-bergh, k. & teles, g. (2009). vanguardia latinoamericana, tomo v. vervuert verlagsgesellschaft. https://doi.org/10.31819/9783964564221 oliveira, j. m. d & mott, l. (eds.) (2020). mortes violentas de lgbt+ no brasil – 2019: relatório do grupo gay da bahia. editora grupo gay da bahia. queering memory, alms conference berlin 2019. (2019). announcement. retrieved june 28, 2019 from https://queeralmsberlin2019.de/announcement/ quintero, p., figueira, p., & elizalde, p.c. (2019). uma breve história dos estudos decoloniais. in: a. carneiro (org) (2019). masp afterall. museu de arte de são paulo assis chateaubriand. (translated by sérgio molina and rubia goldoni). https://masp.org.br/uploads/temp/temp-qe1lhobgte4mbkzhc8jv.pdf 88 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://repositorio.ufsc.br/bitstream/handle/123456789/1232/facchini-regina.pdf?sequence=1 https://repositorio.ufsc.br/bitstream/handle/123456789/1232/facchini-regina.pdf?sequence=1 https://doi.org/10.4000/bresils.1773 https://ilga.org/state-sponsored-homophobia-report https://www.periodicos.ufrn.br/cronos/article/view/2150 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.2010.01137.x http://dx.doi.org/10.20336/sid.v4i2.99 https://www.sbsociologia.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/3-the-moral-crusade-on-gender-ideology-notes-on-conservative-political-alliances-in-latin-america.pdf https://www.sbsociologia.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/3-the-moral-crusade-on-gender-ideology-notes-on-conservative-political-alliances-in-latin-america.pdf https://doi.org/10.1590/s0104-83332007000100002 https://doi.org/10.31819/9783964564221 https://queeralmsberlin2019.de/announcement/ https://masp.org.br/uploads/temp/temp-qe1lhobgte4mbkzhc8jv.pdf history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36914 rios, f. & lima, m. (eds.), gonzález, l. (2020) por um feminismo afro-latino-americano: ensaios, intervenções e diálogos. zahar. sempol, d. (2013). de los baños a la calle. historia del movimiento lésbico, gay, trans uruguayo (1984-2013). editorial sudamericana uruguaya s. a. sexuality policy watch (2018, january 18). judith butler attacked in brazil: a briefing. around the world. https://sxpolitics.org/judith-butler-in-brazil-a-briefing/17916 simonetto, p. (2017). entre la injuria y la revolución. el frente de liberación homosexual en la argentina. unq. sinviolencia lgbt (2019). el prejuicio no conoce fronteras: homicidios de lesbianas, gay, bisexuales, trans en países de américa latina y el caribe 2014—2019. https://sinviolencia.lgbt/wpcontent/uploads/2019/08/informe_prejuicios_compressed.pdf trevisan, j. s. (2018). devassos no paraíso: a homossexualidade no brasil, da colônia a atualidade. objetiva. tmm update trans day of remembrance 2020. (2020, november 11). transrespect versus transphobia. transgender europe. https://transrespect.org/en/tmm-update-tdor2020/ benito bisso schmidt (bbissos@yahoo.com) is a full professor at the history department of the institute of philosophy, and human sciences (ifch) of the federal university of rio grande do sul (ufrgs), brazil. he is phd in social history of labour from the university of campinas (unicamp). he holds an msc and a bachelors' degree in history from the federal university of rio grande do sul (ufrgs). he was guest professor at the école des hautes études en sciences sociales (ehess, france), at the institut des hautes études de l'amérique latine (iheal université paris 3 sorbonne nouvelle, france), at department of romance and latin-american studies of the hebrew university of jerusalem (israel), visiting scholar at emory university (us) and senior fellow at brown university (us). his research interests are lgbtqi+ history and queer theory; biographies; social history of memory; labour history; history of gender relations and dictatorships in latin america. rubens mascarenhas neto (rubem91@zedat.fu-berlin.de) is a phd candidate in social and cultural anthropology at the lateinamerika-institut of the freie universität berlin. he holds an msc in social anthropology and a bachelors' degree in social sciences from the university of campinas (unicamp), brazil. his research interests are migration, performance, urban anthropology, and gender and sexuality. 89 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://sxpolitics.org/judith-butler-in-brazil-a-briefing/17916 https://sinviolencia.lgbt/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/informe_prejuicios_compressed.pdf https://sinviolencia.lgbt/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/informe_prejuicios_compressed.pdf https://transrespect.org/en/tmm-update-tdor-2020/ https://transrespect.org/en/tmm-update-tdor-2020/ mailto:bbissos@yahoo.com mailto:rubem91@zedat.fu-berlin.de introduction “which place do we occupy?”, the foundation of the network what have we been doing? strengthening ties amidst the chaos bilingualism: from the point of contact to an organisational challenge defining a visual identity: el sur es nuestro norte a decolonial inspiration? a comment on the identities getting to know each other who are we? conclusion: what place do we want to occupy? endnotes acknowledgements references book review: masked by trust: bias in library discovery the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32988 ijidi: book review reidsma, m. (2019). masked by trust: bias in library discovery. sacramento, ca: library juice press. isbn 9781634000833. 193 pp. $28 us. reviewer: mona elayyan, columbia university libraries, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: information filter; information retrieval; online library catalogues; programming; search engines publication type: book review oogle has monopolized and transformed the way searches are performed. the impact of its algorithms and methods of retrieving information not only influences the way other competitors code their search algorithms to match its level of speed and sophistication, but arguably also people's actions and beliefs. its simple and easy to use design and immediate results challenge academic libraries and information providers to compete with its powerful algorithmic searches. the problem with imitating google is that despite proving to be a powerful search engine, google does not take ethical responsibility for its search algorithms' results which, on occasion, demonstrate biases against marginalized and minority groups. reidsma’s book, masked by trust: bias in library discovery, explores these issues and the impact that algorithmic search results have on users. it addresses the problem of google’s increasing popularity as a search engine and a model for library discovery systems. the book tackles these topics in six chapters that are divided thematically and linked coherently to a larger theme advocating the questioning of search engine results. reidsma’s clear use of examples and detailed explanations help call attention to the code, its creators, and the decisions that influence the design and implementation of these search engines. he defines and contextualizes search algorithms as microscopic elements within a larger technological ecosystem and emphasizes the need to study its parts as well as its function as a whole. reidsma eases the reader into the book by starting with a definition of a coding algorithm in the opening chapters and continues to explore its limitations as a model for complex real world problems. he then addresses the strategies for writing a search algorithm that involves reducing every problem into quantifiable mathematical values. reidsma exposes the impact relying on numbers has as a basis for design while simultaneously neglecting qualitative details significant to human decision-making in order to achieve efficient working code. he demonstrates the inability of a program to process the various possible human considerations, then draws attention to even broader influencers that motivate the design and implementation of these search engines. he takes findin g a coffee shop as an example to demonstrate how algorithms rely on geographical coordinates and numerical values such as “likes” and quantitative customer reviews to locate a coffee shop. however, these types of results capture large commercial shops that have the experience and financial capacity to improve their online ranking results while neglecting smaller local shops with equal or greater value. reidsma uses this example to demonstrate the algorithmic impact search results have on people and their decision-making process in selecting something as basic as g https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index masked by trust: bias in library discovery the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32988 a coffee shop. the book’s purpose is to raise users’ awareness of the imperfections of search tools. despite their complexity, search engines cannot and will not have the capability to consider the contextualized factors that each individual bears in mind before making a decision. they can only complete much simpler processes with a finite number of factors. reidsma proceeds to considerations of other elements that influence the design and implementation of search engines. by encouraging users to look past the search engine as a neutral search tool, reidsma urges critical examination of the creators of the code and the cultural and social beliefs that may be permeating through it. it is coders who are responsible for translating complex world problems into algorithms and deciding how the code operates and under what conditions. each decision to include or exclude is made in the context of their personal experiences and biases. the book provides several examples, one of which is google labelling a photo of two black men as gorillas (p.19).this example reveals the lack of detail with which the coders supplied the algorithm, having it misidentify people as animals. but this mislabeling also reveals sensitive and problematic racial divides that “dredge up … years of institutionalized racism” (p. 19). reidsma flags this as another reason for keeping a critical eye on how search results are perceived and processed. the book then moves the focus from the algorithm and its coders to business considerations. as companies concentrate on the fulfilment of financial agendas and business goals, there is an absence of regard for the social impact of their product. google, for instance, insists it is a neutral, objective tool, reinforcing marissa mayer’s (google’s spokesperson) defense of google by deliberately describing its search algorithms as offering answers, not possibilities (p. 34). such marketing strategies strengthen google’s popularity and image as a reliable, objective search engine. in fact, a study by pew internet and american l ife project in 2005 shows that three-quarters of search engine users in the united states believed that most, if not all, the information they found were accurate and trustworthy, and two-thirds felt that they were fair and unbiased (p. 36-7). these numbers show an increasing unquestioning reliance on search tools that can result in serious outcomes. the journalist noah berlatsky is quoted as saying that google “arguably has more power over knowledge” (p. 36) than any other media source. consequently, when dylann roof ran his searches in google regarding black crimes against white people, he was directed to white supremacy sites that shaped the way he thought about race and led to his murdering nine black people at a church in south carolina. as the american author and professor of law at maryland university, frank pasquale says, the power that google has “to include, exclude, and rank is the power to ensure which public impressions become permanent and which remain fleeting" (p. 25). as google continues to dismiss its responsibility towards the community and its users it becomes important for libraries to raise awareness and educate users to think more critically and consider all of the factors influencing search results. however, with library discovery systems operating like google, libraries have a much tougher time helping users navigate the online world of information. the reliability of libraries is compromised when their integrated discovery systems that function much like google exhibit both biases and outdated information. in reidsma’s testing of various discovery systems, he found that summons topic explorer presented outdated wikipedia articles that had been scraped from the internet and stored in their database without being updated on a regular basis—thus making the resources retrieved through 128 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index masked by trust: bias in library discovery the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32988 libraries’ systems appear inaccurate and irrelevant. the book also demonstrates that the research starter tool that suggests other areas to explore for a specific keyword search was exhibiting bias. librarians across various universities tested different discovery systems for such inaccuracies. in one example, when a search of “white slavery” was entered they found that ebsco’s research starter tool offered information regarding “human trafficking” and summons offered research into “moral panic”. when a search for “black slavery” was entered, the research starter tool did not offer any suggestions. these reseach starter tools’ suggestions and lack of, implicitly shape users’ thinking to perceive white slavery as panic inducing while black slavery as common, by merely making these associations and links to targeted sources. exposing the biases within the algorithms is not as troubling as the way discovery systems handle them. much like google, discovery systems dis miss these inaccuracies as one-offs and inconsequential. however, the implications are severe and tend to reflect and perpetuate social misconceptions. academic libraries have a responsibility and reputation to uphold regarding the accuracy, reliability, and credibility of the resources to which they link. it is important, therefore, that discovery systems are implemented with care and consideration. while information providers like proquest or ebsco compete to look and operate similarly to a google search engine, giving preference to their own services and resources, they are failing to offer up -to-date information—as was demonstrated by the old wikipedia articles—or to provide the neutral access to information necessary in a research environment. reidsma shows that if it were not for libraries’ careful testing and their ongoing obligation towards their users to ensure these systems are operating correctly and ethically, users would be misinformed. the fallibility of the information presented at a library level jeopardizes the relationship between the users and the library, turning more users to google and its information resources. the library's role as educator, critic and mediator continues, then, to be significant in holding information providers and companies like google responsible for their lack of neutrality while ensuring users’ cognizance of the inner workings of search engines. this book builds on the work of safiya umoja noble (2018) and many other authors whose investigations center on the cultural misconceptions inherent in online search engines. reidsma pulls aside the curtain to expose their inner workings, with a specific eye to their impact on libraries. this volume educates academic users and raises public awareness of the dangers of passive and unquestioning acceptance of algorithmic search engine results. users are encouraged to be more critical and skeptical of these algorithmic results that are, ultimately, human creations. references noble, s. u. (2018). algorithms of oppression: how search engines reinforce racism. new york, ny: nyu press. mona elayyan (mona.elayyan@gmail.com) is the web services librarian at columbia university library. usability planning and testing are key aspects of her current role and her research focuses on making online information accessible, engaging, and discoverable for all 129 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:mona.elayyan@gmail.com masked by trust: bias in library discovery the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32988 users. she received a bsc in electrical engineering, an honours ba in english literature, a master of information from the university of toronto, and a msc in digital humanities from university college london. in her previous roles she worked as an outreach and instructional librarian at the university of toronto, a reference and instructional librarian at york university, and served as an intern at the british library as a research data strategist. 130 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index references the special issues: the international diversity by design symposium the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the special issues: the international diversity by design symposium toronto, on, canada (september 13-14, 2017) nadia caidi and keren dali keywords: collaboration; cultural institutions; diversity by design; information science; symposium publication type: editorial editorial his combined special issue of ijidi (volume 2, issue 1/2) offers a reflection on the interventions and conversations that took place during the international diversity by design symposium held in toronto, on, canada, on september 13 to 14, 2017 (https://www.idiversitybydesign.com/). the symposium aimed to start an open, multi-sided dialog on the state of diversity, and the field of library and information science (lis) emerged as a strategic leader to make this happen. indeed, the conversations that took place at the symposium transcended the boundaries of a single discipline and profession and served instead as a springboard for engaging allied academic disciplines and professional fields in reconsidering and expanding diversity discourse and practice. as co-organizers of the symposium, our overarching goal was to reframe the diversity debate by expanding the definition of “diversity” and bringing together institutions of higher education, information and cultural organizations, community partners, and governmental agencies. keynote speeches and introductions from sponsors set the tone and gave the event structure and shape. refereed presentations and interactive workshops from representatives of diverse communities, solicited through an open call for papers and developed around case studies and real-life scenarios, constituted the cornerstone of the event. we are now pleased to partner with ijidi to capture and disseminate online in the open public forum the selected symposium presentations. the full roster of presentations, workshops, and posters is available online at www.idiversitybydesign.com. the symposium was organized to respond to an uneasy question: why, despite our best efforts, is the state of diversity not getting better significantly or quickly enough in both educational and professional environments? last year, in a guest editorial for the library quarterly (lq), we proposed the concept of diversity by design (dbd) and posited it as a concept relevant to workplace environments, community engagements, and graduate lis education. we invited lq “readers to contemplate whether this concept ma[de] sense to them and, if yes, how it work[ed] in their respective” situations. we brought “to light the multiplicity of contexts that give diversity meaning and life in our complex field” and demonstrated that it was integral, rather than superfluous, to our field and way of being. indeed, we posit that dbd promotes the idea of diversity as “integral and structural,” not a “mere add-on.” it is the kind of diversity that is “there by design, not by chance,” that is “part of the foundation, part of the core” (dali & caidi, 2017, pp. 88–89). as such, we promoted curricula, workplace organizations, decision-making processes, and academic research that integrated ideas of diversity “from the start” instead of “throw[ing them] in for reasons of trendiness and popularity” (dali & caidi, 2017, p. 89). the t http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.idiversitybydesign.com/ https://www.idiversitybydesign.com/ http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/690735 the special issues the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ symposium was set to generate an honest and uncomfortable conversation about the lack and oversimplification of diversity discussions in various contexts and to overcome the tokenistic approach geared toward increasing diversity numbers without much support for sustainability and retention. moreover, we expanded the definition of “diversity” beyond the demographic and personal characteristics traditionally associated with diversity. as evident from the contributions in this special issue, engaging with these questions and concerns generated a healthy discussion about defining “diversity” and reframing our discourses and practices. the symposium was both inspired and guided by the imperative to look deeper and unsparingly in order to bring about genuine and meaningful change in diversity conversations. as we noted in our earlier publication, much of diversity discourse is afflicted by political correctness, excessive politeness, tokenism, safe topics, predictable answers, and, paradoxically, the lack of diversity in approaches and solutions. we felt it was essential to have a different kind of conversation about the personal, social, familial, historical, and community-wide causes of diversity tensions (caidi & dali, 2015). indeed, policies, regulations, support mechanisms, and employment equity programs alone are not enough. some diversity-related issues have deep historical and psychosocial roots and manifest themselves through a tangled web of workplace relationships, social interactions, and engagement with governmental and other institutions. these underlying causes preclude increasing diversity in our social and workplace settings; make the retention of a diverse workforce difficult; and create a relationship of misunderstanding, conflict, and mistrust among groups of individuals, thus provoking emotive and irrational responses and rendering a constructive dialog impossible (caidi & dali, 2015). in this spirit, the papers and posters in the special issue introduce novel and comprehensive definitions of “diversity,” offer fresh perceptions of diversity from the standpoint of the various partners involved, and discuss the implications thereof for educating new generations of practitioners and scholars in multiple areas. counted together, these publications demonstrate that diversity is at the very heart of practice and scholarship in lis. the issue opens with “holy selfies: pilgrimage in the age of social media,” by nadia caidi, susan beazley, and laia colomer, which examines social media tactics used by underrepresented and misrepresented voices to create opportunities for self-representation and community building. in “engaging linguistically diverse populations: gatekeepers in rural and low-population parts of the u.s. midwest,” heather moulaison sandy and denise adkins offer insight into working with community gatekeepers as a key element in engaging communities of latin american immigrants and spanish speakers and as a means to improve inclusion, integration, and adjustment in rural and low-populated areas. in “indigenous initiatives and information studies: acknowledging challenges in the classroom,” lisa nathan and amy perreault provide a personal critical pedagogical reflection on the engagement of library, archives, and information science with indigenous communities and question professional norms and expectations as they play out in a classroom setting. paul t. jaeger introduces a historical reflection on and a future projection of libraries’ engagement with people with disabilities in his article “designing for diversity and designing for disability: new opportunities for libraries to expand their support and advocacy for people with disabilities.” the article looks at the possible expansion of librarians’ roles as advocates and allies of people with disabilities in libraries and beyond. as an open-access online journal, ijidi has the capacity to publish alternative, creative, and visual formats. this allows us to bring forward a wealth of research and practical experiences shared at the symposium through poster presentations. posters in this issue can be divided into two groups: those that deal with equity, access, and accessibility and those that give voice to underrepresented community groups and members. in the former group, we find “empowering academic librarians in their quest for social justice and recognition in academia,” by ahmed 5 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://doi.org/10.1108/nlw-08-2015-0056 the special issues the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ alwan, joy doan, and julieta garcia; “diversifying music collections by design: responding to the needs of iranian music researchers in north america,” by houman behzadi and blair kuntz; “library services and early literacy approaches in public libraries for deaf and hard of hearing children,” by bobbie bushman; and “a new model for accessible formats in the public library,” by kim johnson and sabina iseli-otto. in the latter group, explored topics include “building welcoming communities,” by the durham library partners in diversity initiative; “unsettling our practices: decolonizing description at the university of alberta libraries,” by sharon farnel et al.; and “the everyday life information behavior of immigrants: a case of bangladeshi women,” by nafiz zaman shuva. taken together, publications in this special issue build on and extend the definition of dbd and position diversity not only as an issue of social justice and an issue relevant to select minority groups, but as a primary concern of every person when it comes to the health, prosperity, and progress of society as a whole. this symposium would not have been possible without the steadfast dedication, support, and financial contributions of our sponsors. first and foremost, its very existence and resulting success were enabled by a connection grant—“connecting for canada’s 150th”—from the social sciences and humanities research council (sshrc) of canada. we thank wholeheartedly the ontario trillium foundation for hosting the event and ensuring the smooth operations and logistics of the symposium. we are especially indebted to our colleague ikem opara, strategy lead for connected people at the ontario trillium foundation, for his support, expertise, and enthusiasm for the project. we thank the ontario library association for providing stipends for several graduate students to travel to toronto and the faculty of information (ischool), university of toronto; the mcluhan centre for culture and technology at the university of toronto; the art gallery of ontario; and the toronto city archives for supporting the symposium with funding, resources, and other assistance. we thank our research assistants at the university of toronto and the university of alberta (leah brochu, jamila ghaddar, jen kendall, elise tate, and mari zhou), as well as student volunteers (robyn cameron, niel chah, mariam karim, alice kim, zhenni liao, azada rahi, and nafiz zaman shuva), who helped ensure the symposium’s success. capitalizing on the synergy of cultural and educational institutions and on the power combination of scholarly and artistic production, the contributions in this issue initiate a dialog that shifts power and ownership to representatives of diverse communities. by so doing, libraries and other cultural, heritage, and informational institutions become sites of potential disruption—a much needed strategy if we are serious about being truly inclusive and diverse. references caidi, n., & dali, k. (2015). can we talk? perceptions of diversity issues by students with diverse backgrounds, and a rumination on personal roads to systemic change. new library world, 116(11/12), 748–780. dali, k., & caidi, n. (2017). diversity by design. the library quarterly, 87(2), 88–98. dr. nadia caidi (nadia.caidi@utoronto.ca) is an associate professor at the faculty of information (ischool), university of toronto, canada. her research focuses on human information behavior, societal implications of information and communication technologies (icts), information policy, and critical and cross-cultural studies. dr. caidi has received several grants for her research on information control and the public’s right to know in times of crisis. her current research is situated in the context of global migration and the role that information resources, institutions, 6 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, mailto:nadia.caidi@utoronto.ca the special issues the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ and technologies play in the everyday lives of migrant and displaced communities. caidi was president of the canadian association for information science (2011) and the 2016 president of the international association for information science & technology (asis&t). dr. keren dali’s (keren.dali@alumni.utoronto.ca) research interests are in diversity and marginalized communities, relationships between lis and social work; disabilities; lis education with the focus on creativity, accreditation, and humanistic pedagogies; and reading behaviors. with the background in social work and lis, dr. dali holds the inaugural outstanding instructor award from the faculty of information, university of toronto; the inaugural alise/connie van fleet award for research excellence in public library services to adults; the outstanding reviewer distinction and the outstanding and highly commended paper distinctions from the emerald literati network awards for excellence. her work has been funded by the grants from the social sciences & humanities research council of canada (sshrc) and the american library association, among others. she’s active in asis&t, alise, and ifla, chairing committees for both asis&t and alise. 7 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, mailto:keren.dali@alumni.utoronto.ca references back to the future: library book clubs for individuals with intellectual disability (id) the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33009 back to the future: library book clubs for individuals with intellectual disability (id) matthew conner, university of california, davis, usa leah plocharczyk, florida atlantic university, usa abstract this article provides context for library services for individuals with intellectual disability (id) and then provides a case study and preliminary data on new efforts in the field for public libraries, school media centers, and academic libraries connected with the educational system. while many libraries are dedicated to serving diverse populations, they have done little to support individuals with id who have difficulty using library services and accessing their collections. efforts to advertise, to develop specialized collections, and to utilize assistive technology have floundered on high costs and low returns. these shortcomings are especially critical for adults with id. while the law mandates the inclusion of individuals with id in the public school system, there are few opportunities for education, employment, or socializing for those who age out; the library, as a fundamental public institution, is one of the few resources available to them. for the benefit of both libraries and adults with id, it is critical that libraries develop improved services for this group of patrons. the case study in this article provides data on a book club for persons with id held at an academic library and based on the model of the next chapter book club (ncbc) organization. by comparing data between the case study and 30 similar book clubs at public libraries throughout the nation, the article develops a profile of what these book clubs do and how to measure their successes. we conclude that such clubs represent a low-cost, effective way for libraries to support persons with id that helps libraries fulfill their mission of serving diverse groups and provides critical support to this particular population. keywords: book club; intellectual disability; library publication type: case study introduction istorically libraries have been recognized as welcoming institutions that provide free access to information and services to the public. librarians and library staff pride themselves on providing sufficient resources and outreach to marginalized populations, including those who are homeless, those who are impoverished, and those with disabilities. however, one particular population, adults who are cognitively or physically varied, defined as having intellectual and developmental disabilities (idd), remains neglected. intellectual disability (id) is a subset of this syndrome that refers to “significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior, which covers every day social and practical skills” and “originates before the age of 18” (american association of intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2019). adaptive behaviors refer to the conceptual, social, and practical skills that one needs to perform everyday life activities including one’s ability to h https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index back to the future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33009 manage money and time, to interact socially, to problem solve, and to handle personal care (american association of intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2019). a developmental disability (dd) is a condition caused by “an impairment in physical, learning, language, or behavior areas. these conditions begin during the developmental period and usually last throughout a person’s lifetime” (center for disease control and prevention, 2018). developmental disabilities can include conditions such as adhd, autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, learning disabilities, and vision impairment (center for disease control and prevention, 2018). individuals with id can have dd as well and idd is an umbrella term that refers to individuals who may have both of these conditions in any combination. the term “disability” in idd implies the inclusion of both “physical disability” and “learning disability,” both terms which have general and specific technical usages. a physical disability is defined as an “atypicality of body parts and function” such as amputation of limbs and respiratory disease (clute, 2013). a learning disability is a condition which affects the processing of information without impinging on the individual’s intelligence and includes such conditions as dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia (learning disabilities association of america, 2019; national institute for neurological disorders and stroke, 2019). many conditions cross over between these two categories, however, and throw their distinctions into doubt. blindness is clearly a physical disability, for example, yet who can dispute that it impedes the processing of information? similarly, non-verbal learning disabilities, which can include weak motor skills, are technically learning disabilities, but they qualify as physical disabilities as well. idd, combining physical and cognitive limitations, can be imagined as a venn diagram intersection of all disabilities in these categories. that is, conditions of idd can and frequently do consist of both physical and learning disabilities at the same time. while this degree of constraint makes patrons with idd particularly difficult to serve, by the same token, addressing these difficulties has implications for people with all forms of disabilities that libraries serve. this paper will refer to its population of students as those with id, partly as a shorthand for idd, and partly because it most accurately represents the students under study, who were far more likely to have cognitive disabilities than developmental disabilities. the american library association (ala) has addressed disability in its own bill of rights, promulgated in 1939 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the bill of rights of the united states. access to materials should not be restricted by any presuppositions about information needs, interests, or capacity for understanding. library staff should actively research and integrate existing and emerging accessible technologies and provide services to assist patrons when conflicts exist. the availability of these technologies and services should be marketed and available to all patrons. when libraries present information in formats that are accessible to all users, and do not limit access to physical facilities or virtual library structures, they eliminate barriers to information. (american library association, 2018) the commitment is explicit. yet, the defining condition of persons with id often restricts them from using the library’s reading materials which is our core service. libraries are caught between their values and practical realities. meanwhile, persons with id remain without appropriate access to one of the major social institutions, one of the very few, that remains open to them after they have aged out of the public school system. this paper will review the state of this problem and provide a preliminary investigation into possible solutions. we will discuss public libraries and academic libraries which serve as adjuncts to the educational system. while we 69 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index back to the future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33009 have no information on school media centers, we assume, with their placement in the educational system, that findings about public libraries will apply to them as well. we do not consider corporate and specialized libraries which lie outside the educational system. previous efforts unsuccessful librarians have made attempts to accommodate patrons with id, and these efforts fall broadly into three categories: outreach, specialized centers, and mainstreaming (wells, 1995, p. 211). the first of these efforts, outreach, is made through extensive advertising and publicity in which individuals with id are invited into the library in hopes that they will establish a connection on their own. a second category of effort is the creation of specialized centers which collect reading material for patrons with id. yet it is unknown what reading materials best meet their needs. some theories suggest material that is entertaining and comprehensible, or that which contains more advanced content on advocacy and self-help for the patron and his or her supporters. these centers also include assistive technology. early technological attempts introduced devices to cope with obvious physical and learning disabilities such as blindness and deafness. braille and tape recorders were enlisted for these purposes. since that time a wider array of technologies has been enlisted to provide more effective service and to support a wider range of disabilities. these include mechanical devices that attach to books to make the pages easier to turn, chairs and desks that raise and lower, computerized technology for enlarging fonts and voice synthesizers for converting text to sound. categorically, these are meant to address learning disabilities that interfere with the transmission of information, but not to deal with cognitive deficiency. as it turns out, some of these tools, especially newer computerized devices, can help those with cognitive disabilities, partly because developmental disabilities mix with intellectual ones in the condition of idd, and partly because new methods have been found to apply the technology. however, this movement is still in its infancy. the final category of effort is called “mainstreaming,” wherein the entire library, including its facility, collections, services, equipment and staffing, are converted to be uniformly accessible to patrons with id. mainstreaming is the most expensive option. generally, these three categories provide low return for cost. none looks to meet the challenge we describe on a significant scale (mulliken & atkins, 2009). new possibilities in 2002, dr. tom fish, director of social work at the nisonger center for excellence in disabilities at the ohio state university, saw a need to create more meaningful experiences for adults with id who were looking for opportunities for socialization and mental stimulation (fish & rabidoux, 2009). this grassroots organization known as the next chapter book club (ncbc) was developed as a creative solution to fill this void and to provide continuing education for adults with id after they transition out of the public school system. fish’s vision was to launch local clubs throughout central ohio where individuals with id could engage socially in public with one another over a good book. this idea creatively circumvented the barrier of literacy by merging reading and socialization as shared goals, both of which meet the needs of persons with id. what began as a handful of clubs in ohio expanded on its own initiative in social media into thriving chapters throughout the united states. presently, ncbc has an international scope as well, with chapters located in europe, great britain, and australia. in determining the all-important setting for these clubs, ncbc sought to balance the competing demands of a public, sociable environment with a safe place where adults with id would not feel 70 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index back to the future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33009 conspicuous or cause disruption. initially, the clubs found the settings they were seeking in cafes and bookstores. libraries were perceived as silent spaces and avoided due to old stereotypes. this has changed over time, however, as libraries have adopted more open attitudes and ncbc has gained new understanding of libraries as inclusive spaces. within the last seven years, over 60 public libraries have registered as chapters with ncbc. another notable program that provides reading and socialization opportunities for adults with id is the books for dessert program, developed independently by the new york public libraries (port washington public library, n.d.). this club was created by a concerned mother, whose son with down syndrome had aged out of the public school system and was struggling to find mental stimulation while sitting at home. with other like-minded advocates, she formed a book club for adults with id which allowed the members to read and discuss books in a library setting (marcotte, 2019). the club is run out of the port washington public library in long island by special education teachers and a group of volunteers who facilitate conversations among the members and lead the discussion groups (port washington public library, n.d.). similar to the ncbc, books for dessert’s main objective is to promote socialization and intellectual stimulation for adults with id who may not otherwise have the opportunity to establish a social network on their own. however, books for dessert takes a more systematic approach by using staff trained in special education. the ncbc groups are led solely by volunteers who have undergone the organization’s own training. study design and data in 2017, a university satellite campus in southeast florida was the first academic library to become an affiliate of the ncbc. this branch campus hosts a grant-funded post-secondary program for adults with id who enroll in modified college courses. while attending the program’s orientation, the assistant director (one of the authors of this paper) learned about ncbc from a mother whose son was a member of a book club and had enjoyed it. she researched the program and later completed the online affiliate training with two of her library staff members to form an official ncbc chapter/club which has operated for almost three years. as part of an assessment program, the assistant director compiled data on her book club and sought to compare it with other ncbc clubs at libraries. through ncbc, she identified 60 public libraries operating book clubs of whom she contacted 30 to survey. by comparing these survey results with her own data, she hoped to provide a preliminary study of what librarians are doing to adapt the ncbc mission to libraries and to what extent they are successful. the affiliates’ club coordinators were contacted via email and asked if they would be willing to participate in a brief phone conversation to answer questions about their clubs’ operations. thirty out of 60 libraries participated in the study. the same nine questions were asked of each coordinator. 1. how long have you been in operation? 2. where do you get your members and how do you recruit them? 3. where do you meet? 4. what organizations if any do you cooperate with? 71 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index back to the future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33009 5. how do you select the readings? 6. are there additional activities besides the readings that you have used, such as games? 7. do you go on outings? 8. how successful has the club been, and how do you measure success? each interview lasted at least 30 minutes and some were longer than an hour. where necessary, some surveys were sent electronically and completed via email. survey results the following section provides an overview of the survey results. the academic librarian found it useful to compare the experience of public library clubs with her own. because all the clubs served the same population—adults with id—and because all operated under the guidelines of the ncbc, their experiences were significantly comparable, despite the fact that academic libraries and public libraries may have very different missions. functionally, the library book clubs were the same. nevertheless, to acknowledge the traditional distinction between public and academic libraries, we will report data for the public libraries generated by a survey, then compare it to the experience of the academic library, based on other kinds of data, in the next section. length of operation as indicated earlier, the phenomenon of library book clubs for patrons with id is new. eighteen of the clubs have been in operation for only one to two years. six clubs began operating between two and five years ago, and only three clubs have operated for more than eight years. recruitment sources recruitment and outreach are important issues for libraries. for the specialized population here, the vast majority of clubs rely on partnerships with community mental health and disabilities organizations. twenty-two clubs recruit book club members through these venues. eight clubs conduct outreach and advertising for additional recruitment, and seven clubs partner with special education programs in local high schools. another six clubs cited social media as a recruitment tool and four clubs use “other” methods. meeting location twenty-five clubs meet in the library itself while seven meet outside in a public setting. organizational partnerships survey question four asked about organizational partnerships. twenty-one clubs said that they partnered with local disabilities organizations and relied upon them for transportation to and from club sessions, and for organizing some of the clubs’ activities. only two clubs reached out to local high schools and recruited their members through the schools’ special education programs. a total of five clubs cited “other” as partnerships. 72 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index back to the future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33009 reading selection the question of reading selection is fundamental to the enterprise of book clubs as well as librarians. and it was of particular interest to the book club coordinator who had struggled with choosing materials that would appeal to her club’s diverse interests and varied reading abilities. the special educators running the post-secondary program suggested hi-lo books, which offer age-appropriate content at a simple level that would affirm an adult identity for the students. fourteen of the respondents said that they relied upon reading lists compiled by ncbc. thirteen of club coordinators relied upon children’s literature, and 11 club facilitators chose books with animal themes. choice played a role in selection. ten clubs asked club members to vote from a list of selections. nine clubs relied entirely on suggestions from the group. young adult novels were slightly less popular than children’s literature and only seven clubs reported reading them, followed by action, adventure, and mystery, which tied with the adapted classics with only five clubs reading these genres. surprisingly hi-lo books bottomed out with only four clubs using them, followed by four clubs who designated the “other” category. games, other activities question six addressed the second half of ncbc’s mission. in addition to reading, the clubs promote socializing, and this question explored what form this socialization took. eighteen of the respondents indicated that they engaged in social activities such as conversation and catching up with the members’ experiences since the previous meeting. ten clubs reported parties, including birthday celebrations, holiday gatherings, and end-of-the-year fêtes. nine of the clubs used educational activities as a supplement to reading, while eight of the clubs noted that they play games in addition to reading. four of the ncbc club facilitators noted that members worked on crafts in their club sessions. when interviewed, most of the club facilitators responded that playing games was not a part of their weekly activities. many were surprised at the suggestion of including them. the majority of the clubs focused on reading with a brief amount of time set aside for members to socialize and catch up with each other. weekly attendance the ncbc guidelines for group size are fairly strict, calling for between four and eight participants. eleven of the clubs cited a weekly attendance of between four and six members. nine of the clubs reported between seven and eight members each week, and eight clubs had eight or more members per session. only one club reported an average attendance between one and three members. these numbers have a weighted average of six attendees per session. the fact that the clubs are pressing up against the upper limit of club size suggests to us the vitality of the concept. outings as an extension of socialization, question eight asked whether the club went outside of its regular setting for field trips. twelve clubs report trips to local cafes, restaurants and occasionally movies, whereas 18 clubs confined their meetings to their regular setting. the majority of club facilitators cited issues with transportation and concerns with liability as reasons for not taking their club members on field trips. 73 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index back to the future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33009 measures of success the final question touched on the fundamental issue of assessment. how does a facilitator know if something is working? the already difficult issue of assessment is compounded by the potential difficulties persons with id may experience with communication and understanding. for these reasons, specialized techniques of testing and assessment for special education have evolved that are outside of the scope of this paper. yet, based on the foundational concept of mainstreaming, which holds that persons with id should interact with non-specialists, we ask how librarians might assess the teaching environment of ncbc, a more limited issue of classroom management familiar to educators in all subjects. twenty-two club facilitators cited attendance and retention (continuation in subsequent editions of the club) as the overwhelming measures of success. indeed, attendance is fundamental to everything else and is one of the few types of data available that can be easily quantified. otherwise, the facilitators did not conduct a formal assessment but rather observed members’ behavioral clues to determine whether they seemed to be engaged and having fun. sixteen facilitators reported monitoring the members for expressions of excitement and joy. eleven facilitators relied upon the members’ comments regarding their experiences in book club. eight facilitators cited observed improvements in the club members’ reading abilities and socialization skills. discussion as suspected, the case of the academic library club was very similar to that of the public libraries in the survey. we will discuss points of similarity and difference between the two categories in the course of interpreting the survey results above. the ncbc public library book clubs are a recent phenomenon appearing within the last seven years, and the academic library club falls into this range, having begun three years ago. this timing resulted from the development of ncbc in the first decade of the century and a time lag before it was extended to public libraries. the academic library club for those with id is the first we know of, likely because the more specific mission of academic libraries for their own select clientele has made them a less obvious venue for those with id. recruitment for the public library clubs comes from institutions in the area serving adults with id. the academic library also relied on an institution in the form of its campus post secondary education (pse) program dedicated to students with id. the majority of public library clubs met in the library with the remaining quarter outside, and this accords with the academic club which has met both inside and outside of the library. attendance rates for public library clubs and the academic club are similar in that most clubs have close to the maximum of eight allowed by ncbc guidelines and both the public and academic libraries have continuity of members between clubs. data was only available for the academic club which had 40% of attendees attending half or more of the clubs available after their first term. the reading selection experience was the same for both public and academic library clubs. there are no magic bullet answers. if anything, the students tend to prefer children’s literature to adult content in contrast to the theory of hi-lo, but the most success was found with allowing students to choose their readings. 74 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index back to the future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33009 the non-reading activities were the source of the only significant difference between the public and academic library clubs. the public libraries preferred conventional socialization in the form of discussions and parties with little use of educational games. while the academic library club also encouraged socialization, it made much heavier use of games, which were quite successful. one might suppose that the educational format of games was due to the academic library’s more rigorous educational standards, but since the student participants had similar capacities across all libraries, this is likely not true. we speculate that games integrated with readings represent an advance of ncbc’s combined mission to promote reading and socializing. games also support theories of pre-literate learning in which a language-rich environment facilitates the beginning stages of the reading process (barratt-pugh & rohl, 2015, p. 4). properly chosen and administered, we suggest that games have a potential to enhance the experience of all ncbc book clubs. while a minority of clubs tried field trips and outings, the majority stayed in their original location and cited issues of transportation and liability as reasons not to venture outside. for similar reasons, the academic club did not travel outside of its regular meeting space. as measures of success, the public library clubs cited the simple fact of attendance. if students showed up voluntarily, it implied that they must enjoy the club; even moreso if they continued their attendance over a long period. otherwise, the criteria was simply whether the students appeared to be interested and engaged, the practical criteria of any teacher. by both measures, all the responding institutions reported success. the academic club employed a variety of means to investigate success which came to the same conclusion. to evaluate each session, the librarian and her facilitators used a list of approximately 10 behavioral codes to identify typical behaviors of students. these were divided into three categories: participation, socialization, and isolation. participation consisted of behaviors that supported the lesson, such as supporting other students and actively playing the games. socialization consisted of interactions with other students that did not contribute to the lesson but enabled the students to communicate, another goal of the program. these behaviors included talking out of turn or off the topic. the final category, isolation, consisted of behaviors, such as sleeping, playing on cell phones, or arriving to eat a cupcake and then leaving, which did not reflect any value on the book club since they could be done elsewhere. coding was done by the two library staff. the session environment was so fluid and rapid with students talking and exhibiting simultaneously, however, that it was impossible to get precise counts of behaviors. all that could be concluded from the results were that participation behaviors far outnumbered those in the categories for socialization and isolation. these results indicate to the authors that the activities were at least viable and likely successful by any practical criterion. the academic club also distributed surveys to both students and guardians which all gave positive responses to the program. the academic librarian found a great deal of commonality with the public library clubs to suggest that the book club format is viable for both types of libraries. conclusion in both public and academic libraries the book clubs satisfied the goals of ncbc to provide an environment for learning and socializing for adults with id. the clubs also satisfied the goals of both library types to provide inclusive service to a population they have largely neglected. contrary to assumptions, libraries can provide a valuable service without massive investment in resources and training by extending their skills in collection, outreach, and instruction. 75 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index back to the future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33009 acknowledgement the authors wish to thank the academy for community inclusion, florida atlantic university, macarthur campus for its support of their work. references american association of intellectual and developmental disabilities. 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(2019). learning disabilities information page. retrieved from https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/alldisorders/learning-disabilities-information-page 76 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://aaidd.org/intellectual-disability/definition https://aaidd.org/intellectual-disability/definition http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/servicespeopledisabilities http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/servicespeopledisabilities https://doi.org/10.1177%2f183693911504000402 https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/developmentaldisabilities/facts.html http://oxfordre.com/socialwork/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.001.0001/acrefore-9780199975839-e-543 http://oxfordre.com/socialwork/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.001.0001/acrefore-9780199975839-e-543 https://ldaamerica.org/types-of-learning-disabilities/ https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2019/06/03/everyone-same-page-adult-book-clubs/ https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2019/06/03/everyone-same-page-adult-book-clubs/ https://doi.org/10.1080/02763870902873461 https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/all-disorders/learning-disabilities-information-page https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/all-disorders/learning-disabilities-information-page https://aaidd.org/intellectual-disability/definition https://aaidd.org/intellectual-disability/definition http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/servicespeopledisabilities http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/servicespeopledisabilities https://doi.org/10.1177%2f183693911504000402 https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/developmentaldisabilities/facts.html http://oxfordre.com/socialwork/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.001.0001/acrefore-9780199975839-e-543 http://oxfordre.com/socialwork/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.001.0001/acrefore-9780199975839-e-543 https://ldaamerica.org/types-of-learning-disabilities/ https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2019/06/03/everyone-same-page-adult-book-clubs/ https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2019/06/03/everyone-same-page-adult-book-clubs/ https://doi.org/10.1080/02763870902873461 https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/all-disorders/learning-disabilities-information-page https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/all-disorders/learning-disabilities-information-page https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index back to the future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33009 port washington public library. (n.d.). books for dessert. retrieved from https://pwpl.org/books-for-dessert/ port washington public library. (2017). books for dessert program manual: guide for implementing a book club for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. retrieved from http://www.pwpl.org/wpcontent/uploads/bfd_programmanual_09.1_singlepgs.pdf wells, s. (1995). outreach, special needs centers, and mainstreaming services: options for public library service. in l. l. walling & m. irwin (eds.), information services for people with developmental disabilities: the library manager's handbook. westport, ct: greenwood press. matthew conner (mconner@ucdavis.edu) is the author of the new university library: 4 case studies (ala, 2014) and is the former president of the librarians association of the university of california (lauc). he is currently an instruction and reference librarian at the university of california, davis. leah plocharczyk (lplochar@fau.edu) is the interim director of the john d. macarthur campus library at florida atlantic university’s jupiter campus, where she oversees all aspects of the library’s operation. she is active in mentoring students, as well as in leadership and library outreach. she has published articles on library collaboration with marine mammal stranding networks and conflict management within libraries. she recently finished co-authoring a book about the importance of library book clubs as educational tools for adults with id. 77 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://pwpl.org/books-for-dessert/ http://www.pwpl.org/wp-content/uploads/bfd_programmanual_09.1_singlepgs.pdf http://www.pwpl.org/wp-content/uploads/bfd_programmanual_09.1_singlepgs.pdf mailto:mconner@ucdavis.edu mailto:lplochar@fau.edu https://pwpl.org/books-for-dessert/ http://www.pwpl.org/wp-content/uploads/bfd_programmanual_09.1_singlepgs.pdf http://www.pwpl.org/wp-content/uploads/bfd_programmanual_09.1_singlepgs.pdf mailto:mconner@ucdavis.edu mailto:lplochar@fau.edu https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index introduction previous efforts unsuccessful new possibilities study design and data survey results length of operation recruitment sources meeting location organizational partnerships reading selection games, other activities weekly attendance outings measures of success discussion conclusion acknowledgement references engaging linguistically diverse populations: gatekeepers in rural and sparsely populated areas of the u.s. midwest the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ engaging linguistically diverse populations: gatekeepers in rural and sparsely populated areas of the u.s. midwest denice adkins, university of missouri heather moulaison sandy, university of missouri abstract in the midwestern u.s., there is a growing population of latin american immigrants. this increase is driven largely by employment opportunities in generally low-skilled, low wage fields such as meat processing and packing, and other agricultural fields. as a result, rural towns with relatively few resources are welcoming a growing number of non-english speaking immigrants who may not have experience with the practices and institutions of the u.s. such as libraries, schools, hospitals, or social support services. the agencies that usually work with linguistically diverse immigrant populations are churches, schools, and university extension departments. building off previous research, this paper reports on ten interviews with gatekeepers about their work in reaching and engaging with latin american immigrant populations. three interrelated themes emerged from the interviews: the importance of language, of providing relevant services, and of cultivating trust. drawing from the experiences reported by the gatekeepers as well as the literature, the authors discuss implications for small rural libraries that might not be equipped to take over gatekeeping roles, but that want to work with immigrant communities. ultimately, the authors recommend that rural libraries liaise with established gatekeepers to the greatest extent possible. keywords: gatekeepers; immigrants; latin american immigrants; midwestern u.s.; rural and sparsely populated areas publication type: research article introduction here is a growing population of latin american immigrants living and working in the midwestern united states (u.s.), especially in rural and sparsely-populated areas (jensen, 2006; kandel & newman, 2004; lichter, 2012). such communities in the midwest are historically insular and largely without a tradition of hosting newcomers (see kandel & newman, 2004; lichter, 2012), yet they are seeing an influx of non-english speaking immigrants to the country who may not have experience with the culture and practices of the u.s. and/or with its institutions, such as libraries, schools, hospitals, or social support services. these host communities are “ill-prepared” (jensen, 2006, p. 7) to receive the newcomers. as the u.s. department of agriculture’s economic research service noted in 2004 as part of its projections for the future, “many rural communities are unprepared for significant numbers of culturally different low-paid [latin american immigrant] newcomers who seek inexpensive housing, require particular social services, and struggle to speak english” (kandel & newman, 2004, para. 21). although a number of research projects have focused on people with latin american heritage in densely-populated urban areas (e.g., krogstad & lopez, 2017), “[r]ural and small town america have been largely excluded from these discussions” (lichter, 2012, p. 6). t http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ yet, latin american immigrants are increasingly moving to the midwestern u.s., and the host communities find themselves needing to support them. the u.s. census bureau (2011) reported that the hispanic1 population in the midwest had increased by nearly 50 percent between 2000 and 2010. the increase in this population is driven largely by employment opportunities in relatively low-skilled, low wage positions, such as in meat processing and packing plants, and work in other parts of the agricultural sector (see kandel & newman, 2004; “latinos surge in midwest,” 1996). these opportunities tend to cluster around employers’ factories, which are often located in rural and low-population density areas. the full extent of the latin american heritage population may potentially be unacknowledged due to irregular immigration statuses, with one estimate that “almost 25 percent of the workers in 222 meatpacking plants in nebraska and iowa were illegally in the us” (“latinos surge in midwest,” 1996, para. 8). the pew research center’s hispanic trends (2016) estimates, for example, that in 2014, there were 55,000 unauthorized immigrants in missouri, 75,000 in kansas, and 450,000 in illinois. the pew research center’s hispanic trends (krogstad, stepler, & lopez, 2015) indicates that since the 1980s, roughly only one-third of spanish-speaking2 newcomers are proficient in english; the remaining two-thirds will require additional support in their native language to function effectively in society. since the number of latin american immigrants is on the rise in the u.s. midwest, and since some of them may not have documentation of their immigration status, or may have family members who are undocumented, there may be a distrust of governmental institutions that inhibits their interaction with these agencies (adkins, moulaison sandy, & derpic, 2017). how, then, should cultural institutions, such as rural libraries, engage with linguistically diverse immigrant populations and represent their interests? and what might libraries in these areas stand to learn from the work that is already being done? the agencies that usually work with linguistically diverse immigrant populations are churches (e.g., kim, 2016), schools (e.g., blanchard & muller, 2015), and, in the case of the rural midwest, university extension departments.3 the agencies and institutions that work with linguistically diverse immigrant populations in rural areas face a number of challenges: a lack of bilingual personnel, limited funds to hire personnel and/or purchase materials, and a reliance upon grant funds to develop projects (e.g., adkins & hempel, 2016). in this paper, the authors have two goals: a) first, to introduce a study that represents agencies and institutions officially serving latin american immigrants, as well as others who function as gatekeepers and work with the latin american heritage population in rural and low-population areas of the midwestern u.s.; and b) second, to seek to apply that knowledge to the work that libraries and information agencies carry out in serving new immigrants in rural and low-population areas of the midwest. in considering the ongoing effort and commitment required to engage immigrant communities, the authors of this study propose that information agencies, such as libraries, adopt certain strategies for providing services and resources to users of latin american heritage. for example, if they are working with minimal resources, libraries could be more effective through establishing partnerships with gatekeepers rather than to trying to become gatekeepers themselves. 33 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ literature review who are gatekeepers? gatekeepers are “information intermediaries who move between cultures” (agada, 1999, p. 74). past studies have shown that community gatekeepers, such as “law enforcement, adult protective service[s], case managers, postal carriers, physicians, apartment managers, senior center staff, clergy, paramedics, code-enforcement personnel, and so forth” (kim, 2016, p. 131), can be effective in getting services to difficult-to-serve populations. the concept of gatekeeping builds on lewin’s (1947) article discussing how information flows are affected by “gates,” where gatekeeping agents make decisions to let information pass or not. white (1950) used this concept in the context of publishing, identifying editors as gatekeepers who decide which stories to publish, thereby framing social awareness of information. barzilai-nahon (2008) tied together the concept of gatekeeping with network theory, and while her focus was on technology, she also discussed the way the term “gatekeeper” had been used in a variety of contexts, including social and community-based contexts. one context for the use of the term is that adopted by library and information science (lis) professionals and social workers, whereby the term “gatekeeper” refers to people who move between the insiders and outsiders of a cultural group, exchanging information and allowing researchers access to a particular community. in the context of gatekeepers working with latin american immigrants in the midwest, gatekeepers are necessarily bilingual and able to navigate successfully through both cultures: the midwestern american host culture, which is more widely found in this region, and the newcomers’ latin american culture. gatekeepers and their work with underrepresented populations previous research on the roles of gatekeepers defines them as intermediaries moderating between the mainstream community and another community, such as the urban poor or ethnolinguistically marginalized communities (agada, 1999). chu (1999b) looked at information professionals as gatekeepers and the need for cultural relevance in communicating information with them. chu (1999a) also did research on immigrant children serving as language brokers for their parents and others, as well as focusing on building culturally appropriate ways of bringing information to linguistic minority populations. in her work, chu (1999a; 1999b) assumed that librarians themselves would take on the role of gatekeeper(s), and points out, for instance, that newcomers who work may not have time or transportation to attend literacy classes, and that literacy work should start in the newcomer’s first language and remain as culturally relevant as possible. outside of the lis literature, there is also interest in gatekeepers and their roles, especially since gatekeepers use a variety of strategies to engage with linguistically diverse communities. the use of newcomers’ native language is key to communicating information (trudell, 2012). most gatekeepers are bilingual and bicultural, as linguistic and cultural skills are needed to share information effectively. further, it is difficult for host community members to reach members of the newcomer community without a gatekeeper to first establish trust (edwards, 2013, p. 509). in the context of social work, social workers [gatekeepers] influence who gets access to the newcomer community (bucerius, 2013, p. 702), and what information is provided to the community. the literature on gatekeepers notes the critical and defining role that gatekeepers have in allowing access to and sharing information with a community of interest, much as metoyer-duran (1991) noted that some gatekeepers worked to preserve the heritage culture and discourage assimilation into the larger culture. 34 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ gatekeepers and information flow metoyer-duran (1991) studied gatekeepers who provided information to ethnically and linguistically diverse populations, and identified several types of gatekeepers in her work: the impeder who guards against sharing too much information, the broker who facilitates information sharing, the unaffiliated gatekeeper who does not represent a particular institution, the affiliated gatekeeper who has a formal relationship with a non-library institution, the information professional whose job is to provide information, and the leader/executive who is in a highly visible role. gatekeepers choose when and how they pass information; they also choose what information to share and they designate the recipients. kim (2016) investigated korean church pastors’ willingness to share information about specific medicare programs and the 211 non-emergency information and referral line.4 many of the churches (43%) already provided some social services to their congregations, including medical services, but kim reported that outreach sessions were hard to schedule unless a church had already been providing this service (p. 138). the pastors were more aware of some unmet needs than the researchers were (p. 135). teachers can also function as gatekeepers. blanchard and muller (2015), investigating the role of teachers as gatekeepers for non-english speaking immigrant children, found that teachers are more likely to perceive immigrant students as hard-working but also as less likely to complete college. these beliefs may be likely to shape children’s perspectives of themselves, which may influence children’s likelihood to pursue more demanding college preparatory classes. as a result, their “perceptions may reproduce inequality through gatekeeping” (blanchard & muller, 2015, p. 273). gatekeepers also decide when and how outsiders or members of the host community gain access to community members. some gatekeepers may be less willing to expose their communities to outsiders, either because they fear that outsiders will take advantage of their community members without providing adequate benefit or because they fear that community members might harm the outsider. this latter example was the case in one article, where a gatekeeper was reluctant to provide access to a community of young immigrant men who had a history of drug dealing (bucerius, 2013). each of the authors cited here presents gatekeepers as culture-crossers, people who work within two (or more) cultures to share information. however, each of these authors also presents gatekeeping as primarily a one-way street: that the information from the host culture flows to and is used by newcomers to improve their lives. midwestern interview locations from late 2016 through the summer of 2017, researchers interviewed ten individuals who are considered gatekeepers (see appendix a for information about the location and the characteristics of the gatekeepers). interviews took place in the midwestern u.s., a relatively rural and agriculture-based area of the country. rural areas of the midwest have traditionally been white and english-language monolingual, although they have a long history of german and scandinavian immigration (lichter, 2012), and many of the previous generations in these areas were german speakers.5 some latin american immigrants had come to urban areas in the midwest as early as the late 19th/early 20th centuries, forming small communities that have adapted to living amid the midwestern host culture, so larger midwestern cities often have more integrated communities of latin american immigrants and their descendants (martinez, 2011). by and large, however, researchers visited smaller communities ill-equipped to work with new immigrants. the arrival of latin american immigrants to communities not prepared to welcome them presents an interesting opportunity for study (kandel & newman, 2004), since these areas 35 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ generally have not experienced large influxes of new populations for several generations, producing culture shock in both the newcomer populations and the receiving communities. in response to the “browning” (“latinos surge in midwest,” 1996, para. 2) of the u.s. midwest, a term used to describe the growth of the latin american heritage population, the uc davis rural migration news notes that “[g]iven their small populations, rural towns can be transformed almost overnight by immigration, leading to issues that range from an inability to communicate with public authorities to non-english speaking children in school” (“latinos surge in midwest,” 1996, para. 3). smaller host communities, such as the ones visited as part of this research, can therefore quickly find themselves burdened by the arrival of the newcomers, unfamiliar with their needs and unprepared to welcome them. indeed, not all members of the receiving community welcome the newcomers. “newcomers speaking a different language, eating different foods, attending different churches, and rearing children differently can spark fear, hostility, and indignation in rural populations that have remained stable for generations” (jensen, 2006, p. 8). given the potential for hostility and a lack of appreciation in these communities, the reasons newcomers choose to immigrate might not be immediately obvious. the answer, however, lies largely in employment opportunities in these areas. employment opportunities are generally available in relatively low-skilled, low wage sectors (see kandel & newman, 2004; “latinos surge in midwest,” 1996), and recruitment for this work helped result in latin american heritage populations accounting “for more than one-quarter of the total population growth in rural areas” (jensen, 2006, p. 12). these openings are often located in smaller towns which may use incentives such as “low or no taxes, free land, ‘spec’ buildings, and other incentives” (stull & broadway, 2013, p. 221). anecdotally, there is also a sense that the values of rural host communities in the midwest align well with the family-oriented culture of newly arrived latin american immigrants. in his study of rural immigration patterns based on census data, jensen (2006) states in the executive summary “at the risk of romanticizing, the image of these new arrivals is of a group of people in rural areas who are striving to live up to american values of hard work, marriage, homeownership, and making a contribution” (p. 7). jensen goes on to note in the body of the report, “the immigrants, largely hispanic, appear to be drawn to employment opportunities first and foremost, but also to the lower costs of housing, good schools, and an environment that is regarded as safe and peaceful” (jensen, 2006, p. 27). the basic values of both communities seem to be in concert, even if the current political situation is creating additional challenges for newcomers (see adkins, moulaison sandy, & derpic, 2017). engaging immigrant community members engagement with the host community by new immigrants supports integration. kogan (2006) posits that when immigrants are incorporated into their new communities politically and socially, through activities like being welcomed, attending community meetings, and participating in cultural education provided by the government, they are more likely to integrate into their new communities by becoming citizens. immigrants who arrive in their new location as children adapt more quickly, likely due to their engagement in the school system (rumbaut, 2004). some immigrants are more engaged in cultural organizations to build bridges between the immigrant and receiving communities, and to build new social networks (jensen, 2008). engagement, therefore, is a key component that drives immigrants’ integration into their new countries or regions of settlement, as indicated by berry and hou (2016). in many cases, gatekeepers are the intermediaries who encourage newcomer populations to engage with local efforts such as participation in health classes provided by university extension departments. the 36 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ messages transmitted at such events may blend across cultures – encouraging mothers to look at providing healthy food for their families, while at the same time advocating against traditional high-fat or high-sugar foods. enticing newcomers to engage in these kinds of programs requires a skillful gatekeeper who can help make sense of the cross-cultural messages while still motivating people to participate. information needs of new immigrants the information needs of the latin american heritage community and the information needs of new immigrants have been reviewed at length. ayala and ayala (1994), haro (1970), and luevanomolina (2001) have all reported on the needs of library users with latin american heritage, who sought spanish-language materials, spanish-speaking staff, and more culturally-relevant materials such as videos and music from their public libraries. as early as 1990, cuesta clarified that the needs of an established latin american heritage community would be different from the needs of new immigrants, with new immigrants needing more daily survival information and established communities needing more cultural support. caidi, allard, and quirke (2010) identified several information needs of immigrants, including information on language, employment, community connections, housing, health, workplace safety, legal information, and information about education, recreation, transportation, and banking (pp. 504-505). speaking of “service needs,” kim discussed access to information about benefits, such as home help and financial assistance, health information, and services offered by outside agencies, all of which were impeded by the language barrier (kim, 2016, p. 139). previous research has been conducted on researchers’ perceptions of the needs of latin american immigrants and latin american heritage populations in the midwest. adkins and hempel (2016) did a content analysis of conference abstracts submitted to the cambio de colores (change of colors) conference (http://www.cambiodecolores.org/), an annual, regional conference focusing on the changing demographics of the midwestern u.s. and the integration of latin american heritage newcomers. cambio de colores conference presenters include researchers, university extension personnel, and social services agents. after analyzing 402 conference abstracts submitted between 2005 and 2014, adkins and hempel (2016) identified several perceived information needs, including health-related information, financial knowledge, knowledge of jobs and employment, and knowledge of educational resources. language was identified as a major barrier to information communication. not presenting knowledge in a culturally appropriate way was identified as a barrier, though this was seen as a lesser barrier than the language difference. adkins and hempel (2016) also noted as potentially problematic that the information needs that were identified might have been influenced by grant funders’ priorities. language and new immigrants language and the culture it supports can present barriers for new immigrants who are otherwise linguistically and culturally isolated from members of the language-majority culture and therefore unable to engage. technology such as translation apps can provide verbatim translations, but meanings and cultural significance may nonetheless be lost. recognizing the words and understanding their intended meaning, implications, and connotations may not go hand in hand for newly arrived immigrants (e.g., shiu-thornton, balabis, senturia, tamayo, & oberle, 2007). kim (2016) identifies language as a primary barrier for korean immigrants, particularly older korean immigrants who may experience social isolation. while this barrier was partially ameliorated by korean church pastors who worked with the populations, the pastors who were 37 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.cambiodecolores.org/ engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ interviewed felt the language barrier created a gap between the information korean seniors needed and the information they could get. other barriers included the korean seniors’ lack of familiarity with the types of social and medical services offered in the u.s. compared to korea, and the cultural values of the u.s. in their work promoting linguistically and culturally relevant medical information as a way of engaging newcomers, shirazi, shirazi, and bloom (2015) found that work with afghan women involved more than simple translations, but rather a broad and deep understanding of their culture. in particular, they found that the development and planning of [our program] involves much more than just a farsi/dari translation of materials and messages. rather, it consists of collective strategies, culturally tailored for appropriateness and competency. the program recognizes the importance of faith and spirituality in this community and, by incorporating islamic components that are important and inspirational to the lives of participants, it reframes islam as a facilitator of women’s health. (p. 158) this deep understanding allowed them to integrate messages about women’s health in a way that all members of the community, i.e., both women and their male relatives, would understand and internalize. method and research questions rationale for the study this research topic came out of a larger project involving latin american heritage communities in the midwestern u.s. the larger project focused on the use of information and communication technologies by latin american immigrants and their descendants, along with their information needs and interests. the crucial role played by gatekeepers, both in connecting to their communities and in providing access to the communities for outsiders, became obvious through the course of that project, leading inductively to the exploratory research questions addressed below. in the project presented in this article, the use of gatekeepers originated as a means to an end, but became an object of inquiry and investigation after reviewing their behaviors in context. the original research project was designed to use structured interviews with members of the latin american heritage community. interviews with gatekeepers were primarily to be used for confirmatory review, with reflections about gatekeepers’ interviews restricted to field notes. after five interviews with gatekeepers had been collected and field notes discussed, the decision was made to expand the project to include an exploration of gatekeepers’ roles in providing information and access to their communities. because this idea emerged organically in the process of study, this research has developed to become phenomenological in nature although it was not conceived of as such from the start. research questions (rqs) the use of gatekeepers as key contacts to reach the desired informants (midwestern latin american heritage populations who used technologies) was originally intended. after several interviews, however, the role that gatekeepers were playing in moderating between researchers and the community of interest emerged as much more significant, which was summarized with the first rq explored in this article: 38 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ rq 1: what is the role of gatekeepers to latin american immigrant communities in rural and low-population areas of the u.s. midwest? given that the study is conducted in the context of lis, the authors also sought to understand how best to apply the findings to lis professionals working with similar immigrant communities. therefore, the second rq emerged: rq2: what can library and information professionals learn from the work of gatekeepers in terms of better serving immigrant communities, especially in rural and low-population areas of the u.s. midwest? interview methodology during this research project, the study’s authors interviewed ten community gatekeepers from the communities of differing sizes, as listed in appendix a. the gatekeepers were identified through the university of missouri (mu)’s cambio center (http://www.cambio.missouri.edu/), an organization affiliated with the mu extension (http://extension.missouri.edu/) program. the cambio center on the university of missouri campus has a long history of working with midwestern latin american heritage populations, often in relation to large grants from the agricultural sector, and they put the authors in contact with several gatekeepers who could give them access to informants from the latin american heritage communities. the research design established for the overarching project required finding a number of gatekeepers, who would go on to set up anonymous interviews for the authors with informants from the latin american community. interviews were scheduled with these gatekeepers, primarily to understand their interpretations of their populations’ social media and mobile technology use. semi-structured interviews with gatekeepers focused on questions of information and access to information as well as strategies for working with members of the latin american heritage community. a list of preliminary questions for gatekeepers can be found in appendix b. the protocol was designed to focus on research questions about social media and mobile technologies; however, questions about community and interactions dominated the interview time with gatekeepers, and very little time was spent with questions about social media. gatekeepers shared stories of their own perceptions and actions related to moderating between two communities, including what they saw, felt, and heard in various situations. this rich qualitative data provided by the gatekeepers allowed for insight into gatekeepers’ lived experiences as gatekeepers, and served as a catalyst for further study focusing on the unique roles that gatekeepers play. gatekeepers explained how they worked with the linguistically diverse immigrant population, described the strategies they used to reach new community members, and, in some cases, also volunteered information about how they kept that community engaged. engagement is a key component that drives immigrants’ integration into their new countries or regions of settlement, as indicated by berry and hou (2016). coding and analysis because the original project did not focus on gatekeepers, only five of the total ten gatekeeper interviews are transcribed. during initial gatekeeper interviews, notes were made on paper, but as the potential importance of the gatekeepers’ information became apparent for areas beyond social media and mobile technologies, the decision was made to formally document and transcribe later gatekeeper interviews. during the first five interviews, extensive notes were made at the time of the interview, documenting the information provided by the gatekeeper in that interview. the interviewers 39 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.cambio.missouri.edu/ http://extension.missouri.edu/ engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ reviewed information about gatekeepers verbally, and discussed themes as they emerged. notes were made that documented these discussions afterward. after it was decided to record and transcribe the remaining gatekeeper interviews, fewer notes were taken during the interviews, and these tended to be short notes that highlighted potential themes. notes about interviewer discussions continued to be compiled after the interviews. in keeping with the constant comparative method, notes were reviewed regularly, and new data were reviewed and compared with previous data to determine commonalities and differences. phenomena and concepts related to those phenomena were identified using an open coding process wherein the two authors made and compared codes and notes regularly, discussing perceptions and interpretations of the interview data. the themes identified in this paper emerged based on codes that came from interview notes, interview discussion notes, and the researchers’ own reflections on the interview transcripts, and came after lengthy discussion between the authors as to the relevance of a particular code. interviewee information a total of ten gatekeepers took part in the interviews, and demographic information on gatekeepers was compared with other sources that focused on gatekeepers (e.g., agada, 1999; metoyer-duran, 1993). the ten gatekeepers included a professor of latin american history who had done considerable fieldwork herself, a mexican store owner in a rural town, a university extension employee who worked with latin american immigrants in a small town, a school social worker in a small town, a housing authority employee in a small town, a social worker at a latin american heritage community service center in a larger midwestern city, and two university health information professionals who were employed in a larger midwestern city, one to write grants and do research, and one as a health outreach provider and interpreter. two gatekeepers were informal gatekeepers, not affiliated with a specific agency or workplace but still very active in connecting their communities and therefore known to the cambio center. more information about the gatekeepers and the size of the communities in which they work is provided in appendix a. each of the gatekeepers was english-spanish bilingual and bicultural, although not all of them shared a cultural heritage with their populations. the latin american heritage populations in the midwest are mostly of mexican extraction, with lesser pockets of central american immigrants. the biculturality of the gatekeepers was generally manifest in the way they combined their country of origin heritage and their work in the host culture. all of them identified as having heritage from latin american countries, and all worked in a predominantly white and englishmonolingual culture in the midwest. they all also shared the challenge of being strangers in a strange land after having moved to the midwest. for example, one of the gatekeepers was from the u.s. territory of puerto rico, and moved to her town because it was the place where her father was last stationed when he was in the armed forces. another immigrated to the u.s. after having been an exchange student in a rural midwestern town. he chose to settle in a rural area in that state after college. although the gatekeepers were bilingual, their service populations were not necessarily entirely bilingual or even monolingual spanish speakers. some people they worked with spoke indigenous languages; many were very comfortable conversing in english as well. some gatekeepers used different dialects of spanish than those used by their target populations and were aware of the need to modify their language when working with immigrants. most gatekeepers were deeply involved in community affairs, positively engaged, and highly social. one had actively campaigned on behalf of a friend who was running for the city council. another hosted community events to build connections among the latin american immigrants in 40 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the community. another, in her professional role, hosted television and radio call-in shows, and participated in a local college’s lock-in overnight camp for young women of latin american heritage. yet another took volunteers to a rural area in a central american country every year to help the people in that area build infrastructure. similarly to agada (1999), the authors of this study found that most gatekeepers had a high level of education (i.e., had completed college degrees), were community residents (a criterion for agada), and were employed. many of the gatekeepers were actually employed in their roles as gatekeepers or community liaisons, which could ostensibly limit their role in information sharing to those things that were allowable and acceptable by their employers. agada (1999) found that community-based gatekeepers who sought information from social service agencies preferred to deal with “‘insiders’ in the agency” (p. 82) who might understand their requests better. in this sense, some interviewees in this study might be seen as those social service agency insiders. results our interviewees differed in their approaches to engagement and community interaction. university extension personnel were highly focused on delivering information and education to their target communities. they had a tendency to draw the linguistically diverse immigrant populations together for combined activities but did not necessarily try to integrate the population into the host culture. one exception to this was the programs that emphasized financial knowledge or entrepreneurship. university extension personnel who engaged in these programs did connect immigrants with bankers and chambers of commerce. social workers, on the other hand, tended to function as gatekeepers or nodes, connecting individuals or families within the linguistically diverse populations with services or personnel outside of their networks. information or resources were generally provided on an as-needed basis. in the cases of both extension and social work, services were provided by someone who was bilingual and bicultural. the community connectors tended to function as social and cultural community glue. they provided cultural support, such as telling traditional stories and holding traditional festivities, to help bring together members of the immigrant community. they provided relatively little survival-type information but they did strive for a sense of community and self-recognition, which was well-received by people with whom they worked. and although the receiving communities (e.g., long-term white resident families) were generally not sought out for these kinds of events, they were not excluded either. agada (1999) points to research which suggests that the “context ... might be a better predictor of needs and uses of information than socioeconomic status” (p. 75). this fits with the finding that gatekeepers often end up creating a context for their services that encourages latin american immigrant families to join them. for instance, one gatekeeper, tasked with spreading the message of tobacco prevention, created a program that addressed her community’s wider needs and incorporated tobacco prevention among other topics. another gatekeeper developed an aspirational vision of college and/or career readiness for her school-aged population to achieve, and geared her programming and interventions toward that aspiration, helping to take care of existing challenges so her students could improve. a third gatekeeper created a social network among his community that gave participants another reason for attending programs and events—socializing with each other. these examples demonstrate that being a gatekeeper is not limited to communicating information, it also means maximizing the social capital and social networks for creating a community with a shared context, goals, and aspirations. 41 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ below, the findings from the analysis of the interviews with the gatekeepers are presented according to the three primary themes that emerged: language, cultural relevance/applicability, and trust. language as anticipated, language was a primary concern of our gatekeepers. the school social worker was acutely aware of stereotypes and perceptions about some families, but also aware that without information in a language they could understand, those parents were powerless to help their children navigate the american school system. when i started with the interpreting and translation this year, a lot of the schools say that the families are not involved, and that the hispanic families don’t care. how do you know? have you ever asked them? have you ever given them the information? we need to make our schools more welcoming; we need to give them the same information, and once we have done that, then they get to choose if they want to be involved or not. but right now, they are not even giving them that choice. (school social worker) this is not just a debate over spanish versus english. this school in a small midwestern town actually had 31 languages used by children in its service population but had only three people who could translate—one for spanish, one for russian, and one for ukrainian. they have several churches that offered spanish-language services but nothing for people with other language needs. for latin american immigrants who speak spanish, finding resources in spanish was essential. one health information provider discovered that the best means of communicating with her population was in spanish over the radio. we discovered radio is the way our community get information. when you think about a radio show like that, you have to think about people getting connected, getting that bonding, looking for people who sound like them. (health information provider) she mentioned that her population was “looking for people who sound[ed] like them,” who were native spanish speakers. in this instance, the provider was puerto rican and the population was mostly mexican, but the fluency and the ease of language use were vital to their ability to communicate with her without linguistic barriers or feelings of discomfort that would come from working with someone who was only partially fluent in the language. cultural relevance/applicability newly arrived immigrants need more than just a translation of a document—they need to be able to incorporate the knowledge contained in that document into their world view and cultural understanding. this was powerfully illustrated by one of our respondents, who told a story about a cultural misunderstanding based on materials being translated but not being explained. we had a valentine’s day party for the school and we sent home a flyer that said: we have a valentine’s day party for the school, bring 30 valentine cards, send something to decorate their valentine boxes. so the principal hands this to the translator. they take it, and it goes home. first time comers to the us read this. you know what the family did? with the paper in spanish, they went to walmart, they bought 23 hallmark valentine cards, not the little valentine box that’s $1 for 30 of them. no, they bought $2 valentine cards for each student and they bought a box and a gift paper and bows because they understood that there was going to be some wrapping. and it was to decorate a little 42 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ shoe box that the teacher had in the classroom. so, we can’t just translate things. it’s the cultural competency part. both from this culture to theirs, and from their culture to here. i always say, what’s common sense in one culture is not common practice in the other. that’s it. what i practice and what i feel is [a] norm for me is not for the other. (school social worker) this pointed out the strong need for gatekeepers to understand cultural nuances, as well as the language, and to envision what a newcomer to their community might or might not understand about american customs and norms. ideally, gatekeepers should be able to work with translators who might not be sensitive to these cultural differences. another thing that gatekeepers do is work to make sure they are meeting the real needs of the community, and not just the needs that outsiders perceive the community has. for instance, the health information provider mentioned that tobacco prevention was a strong priority for outside grant funders, but the standard tobacco prevention measures did not resonate with her community. they don’t care if you come knocking on their door to talk to them about tobacco. they’re dealing with domestic violence, alcoholism, and mental health. but when you put those other aspects together, then they get involved. (health information provider) when she changed the program to be more responsive to community needs, she got more acceptance within the community. trust other ways for successful relationship building used by gatekeepers are continuity and presence. gatekeepers make a long-term commitment to the community and are embedded within the community. this also means they are invested in the community’s growth and success. you need to build a relationship with people. they know me because i’ve lived here for a long time. they know my kids. i went to school here. (university extension worker) this kind of long-term commitment and continuity is evidenced by the university extension worker quoted here, who was a fixture in his community along with his wife and children. immigration to the midwest confirming some assumptions and anecdotal evidence about the choice to move to the midwest, one of our respondents supplied the following information: [my family] mainly wanted to get away from all the gangs and all that environment that you typically see in los angeles. so my uncle is a pastor here, he was offered to be a pastor at the first hispanic church. eventually my mom and my uncle got to talking and he said that we should come live over here. they have good jobs, the tyson factory. you see a lot of latinos working in factories. so then they decided to come this way to get away from all that stuff. and we already had a family member here so it made it that much easier. (housing authority employee) integration is not, however, seamless for latin american immigrants to the midwest. i came to [a particular city in] iowa in 1999 and what i found is that people were very, i would say, shy or embarrassed or programmed to think less of themselves as 43 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ indigenous peoples, because [they] remember centuries of dehumanization of indigenous peoples, where our spirituality was considered belonging to the devil or our language doesn’t amount to being a language, it’s called a dialect, us being less than human, centuries of impositions of that way of thinking by powerful institutions including the state, including christianity itself, not just one branch of it, but this entire idea that outside of this person jesus, you cannot be saved. it’s a very, very powerful way of destroying who you are, so from there, you don’t really want to be called maya. and what you try to do is become just like someone else. being hispanic, being latino is the only thing that you are because anything south of the united states is called latin america. (community connector) this particular individual did a great deal of work connecting mexican and latin american residents from indigenous populations like the maya. in our interview with him, he focused on feelings of isolation, misunderstanding, and misidentification. engagement challenges finally, one concern that emerged was the ability to engage latin american immigrant newcomers. even the gatekeepers paid to engage with newcomers reported that it was not always easy to get them to participate. although the gatekeepers had many advantages—they were bilingual, bicultural, and able to build a community —there were some community members who either did not want to participate or did not want to participate consistently. some people would participate in one-on-one activities but not in group activities. it’s really hard to reach some people—a challenge, you know? and some people just don’t want to participate. (university extension worker) this serves as a useful reminder that within immigrant communities, and within the same ethnic or cultural populations, individual goals, needs, and preferences may greatly differ and play a powerful role in determining behaviors. discussion as described, three interrelated themes emerged from the interviews: language, cultur al relevance/applicability, and trust. additional requirements for gatekeeping that emerged in the interviews were also presented. in terms of language, interviewees focused on the need for their skills as translators. this supports the notion that, in the native tongue, “…education should, and can, be profoundly relevant and responsive to local community ways and concerns. …the knowledge that the community uses and values on a daily basis” (trudell, 2012, p. 372). our gatekeepers played a dual role, first as translators of meaning, making sure that languages and terminology were appropriate for their users. these language-based services support language use and promote trust, enabling immigrant community members to participate in the activities of the host community and to navigate the culture more effectively. a secondary “translator” role might be considered helping to facilitate the receipt and comprehension of messages especially emanating from members of the host community, as mediated by the mobile, social web. by serving as a kind of technical support for some members of the community, gatekeepers helped to ensure automated messages such as text messages were received and could be translated into spanish using automated means like translator apps. in this way, gatekeepers may preemptively mediate communication difficulties. at this same time, they clarify that the translation quality will not always be good. in the case of 44 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ parents with children in schools that communicate through the use of text messages and emails, gatekeepers will remind the parents that they have the right to seek more information when they need it. while the term trust was not used explicitly, the theme of trust was clearly implicit in all interviews and became apparent in data analysis as the gatekeepers described their interactions with immigrants. the interviewed gatekeepers were active and respected community members, and were able to bridge the questions of language and applicability. language skills are basic prerequisites for gatekeepers, and much of their work focuses on linguistic and potentially cultural differences. they are unable to work with immigrants and the broader community without appearing trustworthy and being part of the community for a respectable duration of time (which is referred to as continuity in this article). additionally, their cultural competencies allow them to work with the newcomer community in a way that is relevant to its needs. as part of developing relationships, the gatekeepers made friends with their immigrant community members and became involved with family events. they did not feel that their institutional roles precluded social relationships. most gatekeepers were very social and sociable and looked forward to participating in group events, such as family parties and church picnics. because their roles as gatekeepers were more specifically oriented toward providing information for the benefit of their immigrant communities, they did not feel the need to present multiple viewpoints or multiple perspectives. moreover, most gatekeepers were fairly traditional in their viewpoints on issues like drug use or health care. they shared specific information that was intended to improve the lives of their communities, as the gatekeepers defined it. in this respect, their charges differed from the charges of professional librarians seeking to provide unbiased information in accordance with established professional ethics. 6 implications for information agencies implications for larger, well-funded information agencies with adequate support, libraries can undertake the gatekeeper role in much the same way as our interviewees, keeping in mind that issues of language, cultural relevance/applicability, and trust apply equally in these situations. librarians at larger institutions with funding and support might be able to function effectively as gatekeepers directly. their work should echo that of the gatekeepers who were interviewed; that is to say, if librarians wish to engage immigrant communities directly, they should ensure that they are linguistically and culturally competent, sensitive, and trustworthy. they should be able to create a context and to support immigrants in coping with the problems considered relevant and urgent by immigrants themselves, not with the problems that members of larger society in general, and librarians in particular, deem important. the gatekeeping transaction is primarily unidirectional, with the flow of information from the host culture to the newcomer. librarians should recognize the potential to use this relationship for two-way communication, so that underserved populations can be represented and better understood. in the case of working with immigrant communities, gatekeepers who share a culture will be more skilled at communication (edwards, 2013, pp. 508-9) and will likely be considered the ideal librarian intermediary. hiring librarians or other staff members from the target culture, however, may not always be feasible. in the case where it is not, at least two solutions can be explored by libraries wishing to work directly with newcomer community members. first, recruiting and 45 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ hiring staff with linguistic abilities and then supporting their lis education is one option. another option is to support language and cultural training for current staff. in both situations, the goal is to employ librarians or other information professionals who can connect to the community’s members both linguistically and culturally. irrespective of their ethnic, linguistic, or cultural profile, librarians should in no way feel obliged to act in gatekeeping roles, considering that gatekeeping requirements will take them out of the scope of traditional librarianship. librarians and other information professionals might feel uncomfortable if encouraged to engage with communities as individuals rather than in a professional capacity. library staff who understand the functions and roles of gatekeepers and who are comfortable committing to them long-term will need to be identified. those who choose to take on the gatekeeping roles and to support applicability and trust should be empowered to act for the good of the community. they should not be held to a script or policy that is detrimental to the community, such as sending patrons with $20 of library fines to a collections agent without offering that patron an alternative way to make restitution for overdue fines. librarians who take on these roles should also be prepared for a long-term time commitment, with varying degrees of effort expended throughout that period. long-term commitments to services and programs will promote continuity and should be established as a point of departure for anyone wishing to undertake a gatekeeping role. implications for small information agencies gatekeepers who are already working in the community should be considered a primary resource for librarians who reach out to newcomers as part of their library mission. in rural locations in particular, such as the small communities in the midwest visited as part of this research project, there is little infrastructure to support librarians’ work with immigrants. in the places with staff shortages (many of these libraries have only one or two professional librarians, a few paraprofessionals, and sometimes volunteers) and no accessible language classes for library staff, there is no reason for librarians to reinvent the wheel. the authors of this study, therefore, recommend librarians work with known and established gatekeepers. additionally, librarians should rely heavily on input from gatekeepers in considering the needs of linguistically diverse immigrants and the best ways to meet those needs. this will inform their approach to collection development, services, and outreach activities. by focusing on finding and building relationships with gatekeepers, libraries place themselves within the circle of trusted institutions which, in the long run, can be ready to support the immigrants in relevant and culturally sensitive ways. gatekeepers can spread the word among their populations about the value of library use, and libraries can use gatekeepers in an advisory role to help them connect their programs and services to immigrant communities. barzilai-nahon (2008) and other authors note that gatekeeping, by its nature, is a relationship based on power and politics, which may influence what messages are shared. consequently, libraries may have to use their political capital to get their message across. in order to effectively address the needs of immigrant communities, libraries and other information institutions with limited resources should strive to partner with gatekeepers to provide services. whereas larger libraries, typically found in large urban areas, might be able to engage in sponsoring health fairs and setting up sites for free clinics and tax help, smaller libraries can still make a meaningful impact on the quality of life of newcomers in their service areas with help from gatekeepers. by partnering strategically with gatekeepers who already know the language, understand their community’s needs, and have gained the trust of community members, librarians can focus on the professional work that traditionally falls under their purview. 46 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ conclusion the authors’ work with gatekeepers in rural and low-population areas of the midwest who serve latin american immigrant populations is the first of its kind published in lis literature. it builds off research from metoyer-duran (1993) and chu (1999b), both of whom investigated ethnolinguistic gatekeepers in larger cities, and agada (1999), who investigated african-american gatekeepers in another large city, detroit. this study’s findings illuminate the work being done and align with prior gatekeeper research. most notably, the findings indicate that gatekeepers play an important role in helping linguistically diverse groups to integrate into the new society and to meet their information needs. there are a number of roles that librarians and other information professionals can take on if they are interested in adopting a gatekeeper role in their communities. unlike other researchers in the literature, however, the authors of this study expressly suggest that librarians in small communities with scarce resources should partner with established gatekeepers rather than attempt to function as gatekeepers. endnotes 1 the terms “latino” and “hispanic” are widely used in the united states to indicate people who have latin american heritage, and/or whose ancestors emigrated from latin american countries. the terms are acknowledged to be imprecise, as there is great diversity among latin american countries. as this paper is directed toward an international audience, we generally use the term “latin american immigrant,” but the terms “latino” and “hispanic” may be used in quotations. in our original research, we used the terms “latino” and “hispanic,” as these are the terms generally employed in the united states. 2 the term “spanish-speaking” often refers to one particular trait of the latin american immigrant community: their use of the spanish language. however, there are latin american immigrants who do not speak spanish, such as those who come from indigenous communities. spanish-speaking immigrants might also come from areas as diverse as europe or even africa. 3 according to the website for the university of missouri [mu] extension (http://extension.missouri.edu/about/home.aspx), the university of missouri, a public university located in a largely rural state of the midwestern u.s. “is a land-grant university, meaning it is a part of a [u.s.] federally mandated mission to carry the benefits of university research beyond campus [… ]today, through statewide offices, publications and web-based services, extension faculty in every county of missouri continue to carry the benefits of mu research throughout the entire state” (n.d.). the extension program, therefore, is the official vehicle for contact between the “land grant” public university and the people located throughout the state, including in remote, rural areas. there are five land grant universities in the states visited as part of this research project (https://nifa.usda.gov/land-grant-collegesand-universities-partner-website-directory). 4 the 211 service is sponsored by the united way and is available in the u.s. and parts of canada. it is a free and confidential service connecting people with local health and human services professionals, with information about addiction prevention, services for veterans, support for domestic abuse, help for ex-offenders, etc. for more information about the 211 website: http://www.211.org/pages/about 47 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, mailto:http://extension.missouri.edu/about/home.aspx https://nifa.usda.gov/land-grant-colleges-and-universities-partner-website-directory https://nifa.usda.gov/land-grant-colleges-and-universities-partner-website-directory http://www.211.org/pages/about engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 5 for example, the missouri humanities council has worked to establish the german heritage corridor. hb1851 was signed by the governor on july 1st, 2016 to designate 16 counties that hosted thousands of german newcomers as the corridor: http://www.mohumanities.org/events/heritage-tourism/ 6 further information about professional ethics and the american library association’s code of ethics, including a link to the code of ethics document in english and in spanish, can be found online: http://www.ala.org/tools/ethics references adkins, d., & hempel, p. 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(2017, october 31). use of spanish declines among latinos in major u.s. metros. pew research center fact tank. retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/31/use-of-spanish-declines-amonglatinos-in-major-u-s-metros/ krogstad, j. m., stepler, r., & lopez, m. h. (2015, may 12). english proficiency on the rise among latinos: u.s. born driving language changes. pew research center: hispanic trends. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/05/12/english-proficiencyon-the-rise-among-latinos/#spanish-language-use-among-u-s-hispanics latinos surge in midwest. (1996, july). rural migration news, 2(3). retrieved from https://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=126 lewin, k. (1947). frontiers in group dynamics ii: channels of group life, social planning, and action research. human relations, 1(2), 143-153. lichter, d. t. (2012). immigration and the new racial diversity in rural america. rural sociology, 77(1), 3–35. luevano-molina, s. (2001). mexican/latino immigrants and the santa ana public library: an urban ethnography. in s. luevano-molina (ed.), immigrant politics and the public library (pp. 43-63). westport, ct: greenwood press. martinez, r. o. (2011). latinos in the midwest. east lansing, mi: michigan state university press. 49 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2004/june/rural-hispanics-employment-and-residential-trends/ https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2004/june/rural-hispanics-employment-and-residential-trends/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/31/use-of-spanish-declines-among-latinos-in-major-u-s-metros/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/31/use-of-spanish-declines-among-latinos-in-major-u-s-metros/ http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/05/12/english-proficiency-on-the-rise-among-latinos/#spanish-language-use-among-u-s-hispanics http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/05/12/english-proficiency-on-the-rise-among-latinos/#spanish-language-use-among-u-s-hispanics https://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=126 engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ metoyer-duran, c. (1991). information-seeking behavior of gatekeepers in ethnolinguistic communities: overview of a taxonomy. library & information science research, 13, 319-346. metoyer-duran, c. (1993). cross-cultural research in ethnolinguistic communities: methodological considerations. public libraries, 19, 18-25. pew research center hispanic trends. (2016). estimated unauthorized immigrant population, by state, 2014 [unauthorized immigrant totals]. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/interactives/unauthorized-immigrants/ rumbaut, r. g. (2004). ages, life stages, and generational cohorts: decomposing the immigrant first and second generations in the united states. the international migration review, 38(3), 1160-1205. shirazi, m., shirazi, a., & bloom, j. (2015). developing a culturally competent faith-based framework to promote breast cancer screening among afghan immigrant women. journal of religion and health, 54(1), 153–159. shiu-thornton, s., balabis, j., senturia, k., tamayo, a., & oberle, m. (2007). disaster preparedness for limited english proficient communities: medical interpreters as cultural brokers and gatekeepers. public health reports, 122(4), 466–471. stull, d. d., & broadway, m. j. (2013). slaughterhouse blues: the meat and poultry industry in north america, 2nd ed. belmont, ca: wadsworth cengage. trudell, b. (2012). of gateways and gatekeepers: language, education and mobility in francophone africa. international journal of educational development, 32(3), 368–375. united states census bureau. (2011, may 26). 2010 census shows nation's hispanic population grew four times faster than total u.s. population. retrieved from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census/cb11-cn146.html university of missouri extension (n.d.). about mu extension. retrieved from http://extension.missouri.edu/about/home.aspx white, d. m. (1950). the “gate keeper”: a case study in the selection of news. journalism quarterly, 27(4), 383-390. denice adkins (adkinsde@missouri.edu) is an associate professor at the school of information science & learning technologies at the university of missouri. she was a fulbright scholar to honduras in 2008 and the president of reforma (the national association to promote library & information services to latinos and the spanish-speaking) in 2012-13. she currently serves as councilor-at-large for the american library association and secretary-treasurer for the association of library and information science. her research interests include information needs of midwestern immigrants, library services to diverse audiences, and public libraries. she is a coinvestigator on the alise/oclc grant funding this project. heather moulaison sandy (moulaisonhe@missouri.edu) is associate professor at the ischool at the university of missouri. moulaison sandy’s primary research focus is the organization of information in the online environment, leading her to investigate areas related to the use of 50 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.pewhispanic.org/interactives/unauthorized-immigrants/ https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census/cb11-cn146.html mailto:moulaisonhe@missouri.edu engaging linguistically diverse populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ web-based and mobile technologies in libraries. an ardent francophile and 2008-2009 fulbright senior scholar in morocco, moulaison sandy is also interested in international and intercultural aspects of access to information. she is a co-investigator on the alise/oclc grant funding this project. 51 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, introduction literature review who are gatekeepers? gatekeepers and their work with underrepresented populations gatekeepers and information flow midwestern interview locations engaging immigrant community members information needs of new immigrants language and new immigrants method and research questions rationale for the study research questions (rqs) interview methodology coding and analysis interviewee information results language cultural relevance/applicability trust immigration to the midwest engagement challenges discussion implications for information agencies implications for larger, well-funded information agencies implications for small information agencies conclusion endnotes references book review: global action on school library education and training the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32999 ijidi: book review schultz-jones, b. a., & oberg, d. (2018). global action on school library education and training. berlin: de gruyter saur. hardcover isbn 9783110613124. 178 pp. $103.99 us. reviewer: darryl toerien, oakham school, oakham, rutland, uk book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: education; libraries; library science; school librarianship; training publication type: book review t is worth highlighting at the outset that, according to the 2015 ifla school library guidelines, which this book seeks to illuminate, “school libraries around the world share a common purpose, expressed in the 1999 ifla/unesco school library manifesto: the school library in teaching and learning for all,” and that “school library personnel uphold the values of the united nations declaration of the rights of the child (1959), the united nations convention on the rights of the child (1989), the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous people (2007), and of the core values of ifla” (p. 7). consequently, even when this book is addressing the education and training of school librarians in a specific country, it is doing so in the interests of all children. quality library services delivered by qualified librarians and information professionals matter, because "since 1992, a growing body of research known as the school library impact studies has consistently shown positive correlations between high-quality library programs and student achievement" (lance & kachel, 2018). however, as becomes immediately apparent from global action on school library education and training, "not all school libraries may currently have a 'qualified' school librarian, while many countries do not yet have a specialised way of educating school librarians, [which] is an aspirational feature that research demonstrates will have an impact on student learning" (p. 10) through core pedagogical activities ranging from literacy and reading promotion to collaborating with classroom teachers on inquiry-led approaches to learning. and in fact, "even in countries where general programmes in library and information studies are well established, specific programmes of education in school librarianship are lacking" (p. 1), largely because the complex relationship between the library and the classroom remains poorly understood even as we increasingly struggle to come to terms with a reality in which it is impossible to teach children everything that they need to know, and so must collaborate to position them where they can find what they need to know when they need to know it. my own personal experience illustrates this point all too well. i am a professionally qualified school librarian with a teaching background working as the head of library and information services in an independent school in the uk. in the uk, independent schools charge fees instead of being funded by the government, and, as a consequence, are not required to follow the national curriculum, although they must be registered with the government and are inspected regularly. despite charging fees, and contrary to widespread belief, independent schools vary widely in terms of their financial security. in terms of library provision, this situation is compounded by the fact that school libraries are not a statutory i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index global action on school library education and training the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32999 requirement, and so the level of library provision, if any, is at the discretion of individual schools, which is also the case for government schools. by many measures, we offer a high-quality library program. however, when i left teaching, i was employed as a school librarian without education or training or experience as a school librarian. while i am grateful, this is not a sound foundation upon which to build a profession. i completed my ma in information and library management, which taught me nothing about school libraries. i joined the chartered institute of library and information professionals (cilip), and almost immediately after the national committee of its school libraries special interest group (slg); i also joined the school library association (sla), and recently joined its board. the fact that school libraries are represented by two associations is telling, and partly accounts for the fact that the very term “professional” is contested and divisive. as a consequence, we have no coherent idea of what a school librarian is and does, or ought to do, and so no way of getting there. however, there are encouraging signs that this may be changing, which is largely due to the great school libraries campaign – a joint venture between cilip slg and sla with the aim of ensuring that every child has access to a professionally-staffed school library. this situation is compounded by an educational system that does not require school libraries by law, and therefore has grown to have little need of them in practice. the value of this book to me in my role as head of library and information services at oakham school, then, lies in the fact that it points me to the guidelines and workshops as both an inspirational and aspirational end, and a means to that end. sponsored by the international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla)'s school libraries section and the international association of school librarianship (iasl), the purpose of this book, according to its blurb, is to "illuminate school librarian and teacher librarian education and training in light of the 2015 ifla school library guidelines, 2nd edition, which provide a framework for effective service delivery to ensure that students and teachers have access to quality library services delivered by qualified librarians and information professionals" (back cover). this gives the text a truly international perspective in two ways. firstly, ifla and iasl are international by definition, purpose, and member composition. secondly, the national approaches to school library education and training contained in the book represent the range of situations that librarians around the world are likely to find themselves in, from countries where schools are legally required to have a school library managed by a professionally qualified school librarian with teaching competencies and supported by a range of ongoing professional development opportunities (croatia), to countries where schools are not legally required to have a school library and no specific programmes exist to prepare professional school librarians, with professional development opportunities mainly provided by two professional organisations (china, and which is similar to the situation in the u.k.). the guidelines (2015) are available to download for free from the ifla school libraries section publications (https://www.ifla.org/publications/52) page, while the associated workshops and materials (see below) may be downloaded for free from the projects (https://www.ifla.org/school-libraries/projects) page. the workshops and associated materials are worth elaborating on briefly, because they were specifically designed to facilitate implementation of the guidelines and address introduction and implementation support materials; mission and vision of the school library; legal and financial framework for a school library; human resources for a school library; physical and digital resources of a school library; programmes and activities of a school library; and school library evaluation and public relations. 103 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.ifla.org/publications/52 https://www.ifla.org/school-libraries/projects https://www.ifla.org/publications/52 https://www.ifla.org/school-libraries/projects https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index global action on school library education and training the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32999 the value of the workshops and associated materials lies in how broadly useful they are in facilitating implementation of the guidelines, from a national level down to an individual school and even librarian level. the book is organised in four parts, which reflects its purpose, outlined above: part 1: “guidelines and standards for school library education and training” addresses the use of international and national guidelines for school library education as frameworks for designing school library education and training. chapter 1 provides an international perspective, while the remaining two chapters provide a perspective from the u.s. chapter 1 (“international guidelines for school library education and training”) starts with the background to the guidelines and ends with an overview of the workshops that were developed to facilitate implementation of the guidelines towards "a world of inclusion, equity of opportunity and social justice" (p. 11). in many ways, chapter 1 is key to the book, because regardless of which country the school librarian operates in, the responsibility and challenge of bringing the guidelines and its meaning to life lies ultimately and always with each and every educator—including librarians—in settings that range from supportive through indifferent to hostile. by drawing attention to the workshops and associated materials, which can be used freely and adapted to meet local needs, this chapter, in turn, highlights the value of the book—the guidelines are inspirational and aspirational in terms of what school library education and training ought to be (see below). between the book and the workshops with their associated materials we are presented with a range of abstract and practical tools for improving the quality of the library services that we are responsible for. furthermore, the book and the workshops with their associated materials really do provide us with the means of thinking globally and acting locally; for example, knowing that a school library ought to be staffed by professional staff with the same level of education and preparation as classroom teachers with adequate paraprofessional support, and that this is in fact the case elsewhere in the world, enables professional librarians working without paraprofessional assistance, which is all too common in the u.k., to make a powerful case for change at a local level. part 2: “educating the school library professional” addresses approaches taken for initial preparation of school librarians, offered in formal education settings, as well as designed to develop dually qualified professionals holding both teaching and librarianship qualifications, with perspectives from canada, france, and the u.s. part 3: “changing pathways in school library education and training” addresses alternate approaches to providing initial preparation for school librarians, emphasising programmes offered by professional associations or government ministries and programmes in transition due to changing external forces or internal understandings, with perspectives from japan, botswana, and china. part 4: “continuing education and professional development” addresses programmes offered to in-service school librarians by professional associations, government ministries, school library networks and collaborative ventures, with perspectives from croatia, the u.s., and portugal. the rest of the chapters in the book provide fascinating and informative insight into the bewildering range of approaches to school library education and training, given the general consensus that high-quality library programs positively impact student achievement. this strength also limits the practical usefulness of the book to practicing school librarians and 104 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index global action on school library education and training the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32999 teacher librarians whose national perspectives are not represented in the chapters that make up the book, in that our contexts are so different that it is very difficult to transfer much on a practical level. having said that, the book should have immense value to lis students, academics, researchers, and policy makers with an interest in this subject, especially as there is a gap in the current literature addressing the education and training of school librarians from an international perspective, which is necessarily representative rather than exhaustive, with the closest being school librarianship: past, present, and future (alman, 2017). although focusing on the development of school libraries in the u.s., this book includes a chapter titled “school library programs around the world: from training to implementation”. in my capacity on the national committee of slg and the board of sla, this book’s value lies in providing concrete examples of how other countries are approaching the very challenges we are facing. not that all of these examples are equally accessible: for example, although i draw heavily on the work of individual colleagues in the u.s., the situation in the u.s. appears to be so different that i struggled to identify myself with it; by contrast, the situation in france, which was completely unknown to me and aspects of which i do not yet understand, struck a powerful chord, and elements of their master of teaching, education and training suggest promising ways forward. i am grateful for the opportunity to review this book and would definitely recommend it, although less so in my capacity as a librarian working in a school. references alman, s. w. (ed.). (2017). school librarianship: past, present, and future. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. ifla school libraries section standing committee. (2015). ifla school library guidelines (2nd ed.). (b. schultz-jones, & d. oberg, eds.). retrieved from https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/iflaschool-library-guidelines.pdf lance, k. c., & kachel, d. e. (2018, march 26). why school librarians matter: what years of research tell us. retrieved from https://www.kappanonline.org/lance-kachel-schoollibrarians-matter-years-research/ darryl toerien (dt@oakham.rutland.sch.uk) has been head of library and information services at oakham school in the uk since 2008. he serves on the national committee of the school libraries group (slg) of the chartered institute of library and information professionals (cilip) and the board of the school library association (sla), and has recently been elected to the section standing committee for school libraries of the international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla). he is the founder of the fosil group (fosil.org.uk), a growing community of schools and education professionals working to more effectively support students on their information-to-knowledge journey using fosil (framework of skills for inquiry learning). before becoming a school librarian in 2003, darryl taught religion and philosophy. 105 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-school-library-guidelines.pdf https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-school-library-guidelines.pdf https://www.kappanonline.org/lance-kachel-school-librarians-matter-years-research/ https://www.kappanonline.org/lance-kachel-school-librarians-matter-years-research/ mailto:dt@oakham.rutland.sch.uk https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-school-library-guidelines.pdf https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-school-library-guidelines.pdf https://www.kappanonline.org/lance-kachel-school-librarians-matter-years-research/ https://www.kappanonline.org/lance-kachel-school-librarians-matter-years-research/ mailto:dt@oakham.rutland.sch.uk https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index references avoiding a senseless endurace test: hidden disabilities and interviewing in lis the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi avoiding a senseless endurance test: hidden disabilities and interviewing in lis keren dali, editor-in-chief keywords: hidden disabilities; hiring; job interviews; library & information science; neurodiversity publication type: editorial editorial instead of an introduction everal recent trends on the job market, which have marked an increased recruitment of candidates with autism spectrum disorders to the information technology (it) sector (e.g., austin & pisano, 2017; compton, 2017; deveau, 2018; mcgee, 2012; national symposium, n.d.; “neurodiverse individuals,” 2018; simpson, 2017; somashekhar, 2015; templeton, 2016), have fueled a wider conversation about the interviewing process for people with disabilities. candidates with different types of disabilities face an array of challenges and tough decisions at every stage of the application and interviewing process; however, these challenges somewhat vary depending on the type of disability, the employer’s hiring procedures and attitudes, and the candidate’s choices related to managing the interview process. for example, application and interview experiences may be different for the candidates with observable disabilities, neurodiverse candidates, and for candidates with hidden or less apparent disabilities. an argument can be made that it is part of the “information science” job market and, to some extent, this is correct; however, positive changes and experiences in the it recruitment and retention of diverse candidates cannot be automatically generalized to libraries, archives, museums (lam), and academia. the essential difference between most lam/academic departments and it jobs is that the former are people-oriented and communication-intensive while the latter are largely object-, technology-, and task-focused. a field for the socially “fittest”? flexibility, adaptability to change, the skill of multitasking and managing uncertainty, and interpersonal communication have become a mainstay of job requirements and some of the most sought-after qualities for library and information science (lis) positions, both professional and academic. i used to love the concept of flexibility and adaptability as professional competencies. had valorized it, really. up to the point whereby one student in my class—who was open about their s https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi avoiding a senseless endurance test the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi disability—commented that their condition was all about thinking and behavioral patterns, rituals, and familiarity, which gave them the needed structure to function day-to-day and to be creative and successful at school and at work. after my emphatic pitch about the qualities we expect today of the information professional, they asked me point-blank: “does it mean i do not fit in?” this made me pause. does it? has our race for recruiting and retaining flexible, adaptable, and personable communicators paradoxically encouraged narrow-mindedness, inflexibility, and exclusion in our employment practices, defying the value of diversity and keeping out those who are not “typical” for reasons of neurodiversity and/or disability? is it one of those unfortunate roads paved with good intentions? as a domain, lam and academia have become a site of fluid boundaries, high pace, accelerated speed, unpredictability, and constant change, with the ensuing “demand for multi-tasking, as well as an increased emphasis on flexibility and sociability as prerequisites for employability” (mcgee, 2012, p. 12). this “temporal environment of accelerated work schedules,” as susan wendall (2013) argues, “has created a whole new sector of the debilitated, if not fully disabled: those with deficits of attention, flexibility, or sociability” (mcgee, 2012, p. 13). however, while the it sector of our field seems to have found a way to attract the tremendous and unique talent of the diverse workforce, including neurodiverse individuals, lam and academia, with their hearteningly human-centered orientation, dishearteningly does not find a place for the meaningful engagement of disabled employees. most importantly, we do not hold many consequential or actionable discussions of these issues in our field. the growing body of autism-related research in lis is dedicated to engaging or serving users on the autism spectrum, mostly children, and their families. very few publications turn their attention to employees on the spectrum, with such notable exceptions as lund (2018) and miner & morris (2009). on some level, we are probably anxious about a possible conclusion: in the fluid, rapidly changing, people-focused, and communication-driven environment, we cannot find a place for those who cannot adapt fast enough, express boundless flexibility, and become people persons. candidates with disabilities should be qualified to do a job (with reasonable modifications); however, if they cannot perform “essential functions” of the job at hand, disability disqualifies them from certain positions. is it the case here? have lam and academia become a field for employing the socially, psychologically, and physically “fittest”? i’ll try to address (rather than find answers to) this question within the limited context of job interviewing and with a full realization of the geo-social limitations of my argument. what are neurodiversity and hidden disabilities? the concept of neurodiversity has become more prominent in recent professional and scholarly literature, as well as media publications. neurodiversity is a concept where neurological differences are to be recognized and respected as any other human variation. these differences can include those [living] with dyspraxia, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyscalculia, autistic spectrum, tourette syndrome, and others. (national symposium, n.d., para. 1). as the above definition highlights, neurodiversity is not associated exclusively with autism spectrum but includes other conditions as well; however, “persons whom the medical, psychiatric, and educational domains would categorize as autistic or ‘on the autism spectrum’” 2 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi avoiding a senseless endurance test the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi have been the “most vocal advocates for neurodiversity,” with discussions extending “from the disabilities rights movement into the realm of cognitive, affective, and perceptual difference.” (mcgee, 2012, p.12) in turn, hidden disability is known to us under different names. one that has been prevalent for a long time (but has recently caused some concerns and objections by certain individuals) is invisible disability; while many find this term acceptable, others prefer to use hidden, latent, or less apparent disability to designate a disability that may not be easily observable but that “limits a person’s movements, senses, or activities” nonetheless (invisibledisabilities.org, n.d., para. 1). hidden disability may include but not be limited to psychiatric conditions, developmental and learning disabilities, neurodiversity, and physical disabilities that have symptoms felt by the disabled individual but not immediately obvious to others, as it may happen in the cases of arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and other auto-immune disorders, or in the cases of visual, hearing, and mobility impairments if individuals do not use visual, hearing, or mobility aids. challenges that people experience are, therefore, psychological, neurological, and physical, including such symptoms as “extreme fatigue, dizziness, pain, and cognitive impairments” that can range from bothersome and inconvenient to downright debilitating (disabledworld, n.d., para. 2). for a third party who cannot observe these symptoms directly and who has no relatable personal experience (and cannot draw an empathetic comparison), the nature of hidden disability can be bewildering and hard to understand. as a result, people with hidden disabilities may be perceived as “faking or imagining” their conditions (disabledworld, n.d., para. 3). this dubious disability status brings about the situation whereby “disabled people with hidden disabilities … [have] to battle unique barriers, from being judged as workshy, because bosses and colleagues do not believe they’re disabled, to the dilemma of whether to disclose their disability at all” (ryan, 2017, para. 5). as one individual with hypermobility syndrome, a connective tissue disorder, pointed out, “there’s a total lack of understanding in the workplace, as in the wider world, of what a hidden disability is, whether it is real or not, whether it could exist at all”; “to most people, a disability still means being in a wheelchair.” (ryan, 2017, para. 4) for employees with “a hidden disability,” the work situation may feel as though their “job is in jeopardy all the time” (ryan, 2017, para. 6). those who are still on the job market are faced with a tough decision: to disclose their disability upfront (and hope for a more adequate interviewing process and a more informed and positively oriented interviewers) or not to disclose (and avoid unspoken doubts, prejudices, and an unverbalized stigma by interviewers, but fight an uphill battle through various interview stages) (see also, bowman & jaeger, 2007, p. 227; lyons et al., 2018). frequently, candidates with hidden disabilities who have to make this choice do not trust their (potential) employers to respond favorably if they learn of the candidate’s disability (ryan, 2017) and choose not to disclose. at the end of the day, though, the effective handling of disability during interviews is not a sole (or primary) responsibility of a disabled individual. the primary responsibility should fall on the shoulders of employers and organizations. ultimately, it comes down to the need for “raising awareness that hidden disabilities even exist” (ryan, 2017, para. 17) and for the subsequent “cultural change” “to create a healthy and productive workplace” “for everyone, not ‘special treatment’” for disabled people (ryan, 2017, para. 15). absent these changes, scores of talented, capable, and creative people with hidden disabilities will be fully or partially excluded from productive participation in the workforce. as one latently disabled 3 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi avoiding a senseless endurance test the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi person noted: “if there’s a glass ceiling for women, there’s a much thicker one for people with hidden disabilities” (ryan, 2017, para. 19). it is not clear what percentage of faculty members and practitioners at lam and academia have hidden disabilities. statistical data about the extent of disability in lis workplaces is incomplete and fairly unreliable, especially with regard to hidden disabilities, due to high rates of non-disclosure and difficulty collecting these kinds of statistics (e.g., shigaki et al., 2012). the focus of this editorial this editorial focuses primarily on individuals with hidden disabilities, a category that encompasses a certain percentage of neurodiverse individuals as well. however, neurodiversity is not always hidden. for example, some characteristic communication patterns of people with autism, dyspraxia, or adhd may certainly be observable (e.g., difficulty keeping eye contact; the literal interpretation of questions; the need for immediate attention to distractions; a short attention span; a lack of certain motor skills; restlessness; rituals, etc.). the discussion of these kinds of neurodiverse behaviors requires a special treatment and, as such, they are out of the scope of this editorial. this editorial accounts only for those neurodiverse individuals whose atypical needs affect their job search process but are largely hidden from a third party. also, while the hiring process is much broader and more involved, the focus of this editorial is on inperson interviewing. broader questions of the training, retention, and engagement of employees with hidden disabilities definitely warrant additional, follow-up publications. an interviewing process for the physically and psychologically “fittest”? over a decade ago, bowman & jaeger (2007) drew attention to the academic interviewing process and its inadequacy and challenge for candidates with disabilities. writing in the context of the u.s., they noted that even disability legislation had not had “a sizeable impact on disability discrimination in hiring” (p. 226). the interview process, they noted, could easily turn into one of the most trying experiences. academic interviews on campus for short-listed candidates (which happen after a screening round of short phone or online interviews) usually have a packed and intensive schedule spread over one or two days; this schedule usually consists of a formal presentation, a panel interview, a meeting with the dean/chair, and multiple short interviews/meetings with individual faculty members and administrators; in some cases, there are also group meetings with students (often divided into undergraduate, master, and ph.d. groups) and a ritual lunch and/or dinner with members of the search committee (and other community members). the hiring process for academic librarians is often similar, albeit shorter and less intensive, with fewer meetings included. hiring in other types of libraries and information organizations varies from place to place; however, it is highly unlikely that the process will be limited to one or two meetings or to just a panel interview. bowman & jaeger (2007), who discussed candidates with both observable and hidden disabilities, mention interviewing logistics, potential awkwardness in interpersonal interactions, scheduling, travel arrangements, and getting around the campus as some of the challenges experienced by candidates with disabilities. they also caution that if the candidates’ area of research is disability-related, while their own disability is hidden, candidates should also be prepared to handle questions about their personal path to disability studies and to make a separation between their personal situations and scholarly pursuits. 4 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi avoiding a senseless endurance test the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi a more foundational question though is the very nature of the interviewing process, its usefulness, intent, and fairness. it is clear that the multiple formats (one-on-one meetings, panel interviews, group meetings, a combination of formal and informal conversations, and research presentations) are chosen to increase the objectivity of interviewing and to get as holistic an assessment of the candidate as possible. however, there comes a point whereby this process becomes excessive and hypertrophied, difficult for any candidate, and especially disadvantageous for candidates with disabilities. i personally remember one interview whereby i had 12 events in a single day, which included lunch and dinner (which can be as anxietyinducing as any other meeting), a formal presentation, eight one-on-one meetings, and a panel interview. the next half a day featured five meetings. (to be sure, there are many reasonably scheduled interviews; however, there are plenty of unreasonable ones). to any sensible person, this schedule should seem counterproductive. the process will surely drain anxiety-ridden candidates to the blurry-eyes-shaky-legs state; by the end of the whole production, they will remember nothing but a kaleidoscope of faces, matching names to these faces only accidentally and sporadically. they will likely lose much of their focus and concentration at a half-a-way mark and go through the rest of the meetings on autopilot, muttering something rehearsed and formulaic and, regrettably, not enjoying many conversations, even if they happen to meet with distinguished people in the field. if lunches and dinners are replete with questions—related to the candidate’s work or even social life and personal hobbies—they will be just as trying; it is doubtful that the candidate will be able to eat, replenish their energy, and catch a break. albeit on a smaller scale, hiring in other sectors of lam may suffer from the same afflictions. but here is the question: what does this process accomplish, exactly, aside from sending candidates off exhausted and tripling their anxiety? these schedules and agendas do not resemble a typical academic or library work environment. even if we have multiple meetings in a day (which we do), most meetings are work-related and routine and, usually, do not require constant self-promotion and self-presentation; they do not involve career-changing assessments and judgements; not always do we find ourselves at a power disadvantage or in a dependent position, as it happens during interviewing. even if we often perform under pressure at work, it is a different kind of pressure. and even if we go through crazy days at conferences and other venues sometimes, we are rarely in a situation of being constantly evaluated, as we are at job interviews. so, really, what kind of a senseless endurance test do excessively heavy interview schedules put candidates through? what do they detect? what do they show? are they designed to test the limits of how quickly people get worn out and drop the ball? do we, wittingly or unwittingly, establish a process that facilitates the (un)natural selection of “the fittest” candidates for academic and library positions: those with greatest physical endurance; with most psychological preparedness; with off-the-charts sociability? do we allow these qualities— not listed in any job description—to become de facto selection criteria? now, imagine a candidate with hidden disabilities. due to the nature of neurological, psychiatric, and developmental conditions, people with hidden disabilities may require more breaks, periods of rest, a slower pace, fewer stimuli or engagements during the day, and so on. they need it to stay sharp, intellectually productive, well-oriented, calm, and focused, and to cope with physical symptoms of weakness, dizziness, fatigue, digestive issues, and so on. so, imagine, that such a candidate sees 12 daily engagements on their schedule and realizes that they cannot withstand this kind of pressure—then what? 5 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi avoiding a senseless endurance test the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi they may decide to disclose their disability to the potential employer and ask for a gentler, less loaded schedule that will work with their condition. you can also imagine the dynamics from this point forward. this candidate will get fewer meetings than other campus visitors; there will be questions in this regard from faculty members who wanted to but could not meet the candidate; there will likely be comments about the ability of the candidate to be productive and “fit in” the “busy academic department” (although, as shown just above, unreasonable interview schedules have nothing to do with “busy academic life”); and so on and so forth. as a result, even before the visit materializes, there are less favorable and less receptive conditions for the candidate with hidden disabilities. plus, if the exact nature of the hidden disability is not disclosed along with a request for accommodations, there will likely be speculations about “what this person has.” however, reasonable and thoughtful scheduling and a few simple adjustments to the interview process could easily obviate the need for many candidates with hidden disabilities to disclose their condition, should this be their preferred choice. imperative is an interviewing process that will allow them to cope with their daily symptoms and, if needed, maintain “a therapy or medication regimen” (bowman & jaeger, 2007, p. 229). what can be done? what i am advocating below are not disability “accommodations” (a legal, recognizable term that i have come to deeply resent; see dali, 2018). what i am advocating for is a more inclusive process for every candidate, which accounts for a broad range of human conditions and limitations and, by extension, can greatly benefit candidates with hidden disabilities. below, i list certain statements to consider and possible actions or solutions that can be implemented to address them. • even people who do not use mobility aids may have mobility problems. for example, people with auto-immune and neurological conditions, or people with muscle weakness, resulting from treatment, medications, or injury, may have a hard time walking fast or climbing up and down the stairs. consider heading for an elevator or an escalator as a default option; do not put people in the position to tell you that they prefer an elevator over stairs. if they indeed prefer stairs—they will likely let you know. slow down as you take the candidate on a campus tour or guide them from interview to interview; do not put people in the position to ask you to slow down. make sure that candidates do not have an unnecessary weight on them—think of a place to securely park their bags for the day of the interview; if this is not possible, offer assistance in carrying their belongings—even people without disabilities may not decline! it is a courteous and thoughtful gesture that will go a long way. • many neurological, psychiatric, or developmental conditions, and/or accompanying treatments, result in dizziness, difficulty in spatial orientation, fatigue, reduced concentration, and hypersensitivity to multiple stimuli. this means that people with hidden disabilities may tire more quickly and begin to function less effectively sooner than candidates without disabilities. unload your interviewing schedule to help candidates focus better on the next upcoming conversation and take a breather before the next meeting. four to five events (including a 6 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi avoiding a senseless endurance test the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi panel interview and a formal presentation) may be optimal. however, if in doubt, consult with hr specialists and organizational psychologists on campus about the number of events that candidates can handle without getting overly tired and still maintaining intellectual acuity, motivation, concentration, and a good mood. to ensure that as many interested faculty members as possible have a chance to meet the candidate, invite faculty members to meet the candidate as a group. then, individual meetings will be reserved for the dean or other toplevel administrators. consider thematic informal meetings of which the candidate will be aware in advance: meetings about research; meetings about teaching; meetings about service; meetings to get familiar with phd students and master students; and so on. this will make meetings more productive and candidates more focused, also alleviating much anxiety caused by the unknown and the uncertain. • even if it is not always obvious, standing during formal presentations and speaking up can put undue stress and strain on people with hidden disabilities, causing unnecessary exertion that will impair the quality of their presentations and engagement with the audience. make sitting during formal presentations a norm, not an exception or an accommodation. prepare your room in such a way that the candidate can comfortably choose to stand or to sit through the talk, without having to make excuses and special requests to sit down. in many cases, this does not require much effort or complex technological adjustments. make sure that there is some sort of a voice amplifier in the room, be it a microphone or loudspeakers. there are few things more aggravating than asking someone to speak up when they cannot and putting them in the position to apologize and make excuses when their sole focus should be on delivering a quality talk. do not assume that “acoustics are good” and do not go by your personal “i usually have no problem being heard in this room” mantra; this will only make the candidate feel more inadequate. • good diet is essential to maintaining a sense of daily well-being and managing symptoms in many people with hidden disabilities. people with hidden disabilities may include those with diabetes and hypoglycemia; those taking medications requiring meals; those who need to eat frequently in small portions; and people with dietary restrictions. many people with neurological conditions may have digestive difficulties; these are very touchy issues that most are unwilling to disclose. meal times during interviewing may become the worst nightmare. i have heard endless stories about candidates with disabilities taking diet pills to suppress the appetite on the day of interviewing or taking bathroom breaks to quickly consume ensure, energy bars, or energy drinks in private. remember that digestive issues are not only about dietary restrictions, food allergies, and sensitivities. make sure that candidates do not go for hours without a drink or nourishment of some sort. resist the temptation to find out more about the candidate during lunch or dinner— unless they initiate the conversation. let people eat in peace and allow them to use the meal time as a downtime in their busy day. do not hold it against them if they talk very little and focus on food instead. dinners are usually more relaxed, but let candidates take the lead on how the dinner goes; do not bombard them with questions. some people are really exhausted and quiet at the end of the day, especially if fatigue is one of the main symptoms they battle daily. do not interpret this behavior as insufficiently sociable, unpleasant, too shy, or too smug. this is usually not the case. 7 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi avoiding a senseless endurance test the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi points to ponder none of the above modifications require extra money, much effort, or special investment. all they require is awareness, sensitivity, and consideration. as such, they are not difficult to make. however, these simple, thoughtful arrangements, often amounting to no more than common courtesy, kindness, and hospitality, may go a long way in providing a more adequate interviewing environment for people with hidden disabilities and helping many of them go through the interview process without disclosing their conditions, if this is the choice they decide to make. these suggestions are as applicable to academic interviewing as to interviewing for other lam positions, and they are easier and faster to implement than any policy change. even absent formal regulations and guidelines, the proposed adjustments can go a long way in fostering a more inclusive interviewing process that will benefit candidates with disabilities and other candidates as well. the major challenge here is to rethink what we consider normal and acceptable. it is interesting to observe how certain disabling conditions, which become more and more prevalent and shared by a larger number of people, are no longer perceived as disabilities carrying stigma. for example, back pain and back issues, which can potentially become debilitating and disabling, are now common to so many people with desk jobs that they are almost considered normal. yet, it is highly doubtful that anyone would consider a request for an expensive ergonomic chair at the workplace as a disability-related accommodation. the same can be said about food allergies which, once again, can be not only debilitating but also life-threatening, bringing a great deal of lifestyle adjustments into the daily schedules of the affected people. nonetheless, it is considered normal to disclose food allergies at the workplace and at different professional and scholarly venues, and this is a kind of health concern that everyone—from event organizers to caterers—is prepared to accommodate from the get-go. however, if we thought about it rationally, accounting for food allergies usually requires a special effort and results in added expenses; yet, it does not carry the same stigma as would a request to ensure that a job candidate could sit during their formal presentation or that going to lunch does not entail climbing stairs. i doubt that anyone would contemplate not hiring a candidate because of back issues or food allergies. that is to say, once a disabling condition or a disability becomes more common, our collective narrative easily normalizes it and moves it from the category of stigmatized disability requiring a dreaded “accommodation” to the category of “normal.” we would do well to pause and ponder this point. another point to ponder is how much is done by faculty and lis professionals with disabilities, currently employed in lam and academia, to change the situation and to ensure a more inclusive and receptive interviewing environment and procedures. although employment rates for people with disabilities are nowhere near acceptable levels, as multiple sources confirm, there are more people with disabilities employed in lam and academic departments than before. once these individuals achieve tenure or seniority and have a chance to make a difference, do they use their privilege and take the opportunity not only to advocate rhetorically but to actually implement desired changes? it is really hard to imagine an lis department or a library that would not have any faculty members or staff with some type of disability, be it lifelong or acquired. and yet, not all the 8 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi avoiding a senseless endurance test the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi departments have truly sensitive, receptive, and inclusive hiring procedures and protocols. why is that? what happens to people’s desire to change the world once their disadvantage turns into privilege? or do they still not feel powerful and influential enough to make a difference? or are organizational structures so unwieldy and exclusive mindsets so engrained that no matter how much you fight them, the result is negligible? i refuse to believe that people with disabilities stop caring about the big picture and others once they themselves get a job or job security. however, i find it equally hard to believe that the large cumulative amount of life experience, wisdom, individual insight, in-depth awareness, common sense, practical know-how, and—often—personal suffering possessed by employees with disabilities fails to make a difference in workplaces. the sad truth, however, is that, in terms of inclusive interviewing, we are in the same place where we were when bowman and jaeger (2007) wrote their chapter over a decade ago. another stop sign for pause and reflection. geo-social limitations and an invitation to dialogue this editorial reflects on the situation in north america and may be relevant to lam and academia in other countries and regions where working environments resemble those in north america. however, we have very little knowledge about the hiring of and interview processes for people with disabilities in lis in other parts of the world. therefore, we would like to hear from our international readers and welcome letters to the editorial team with your experiences, insights, and reflections from your home countries. excitingly, in october 2019, ijidi is planning a special issue on “engaging disability,” guest-edited by dr. kim m. thompson from the university of south carolina. interesting and insightful contributions from our readers in response to this editorial may be published in the special section of the october issue. the grand tour of the current issue disability is not part of the current january 2019 issue of ijidi, and that is why i felt that writing an editorial addressing disability would be complementary to a stellar line-up of diverse and innovative articles that we bring today to the reader’s attention. we open with the article by andrew b. wertheimer and noriko asato that draws us into the rarely seen world of japanese-language print culture and bookstores in prewar honolulu. based on archival sources and published reports on library history, the article delves into the fascinating phenomenon of immigrant print cultures flourishing in the conditions of cultural exclusion and disregard, which characterized the public library approach to the reading aspirations of japanese americans of the time. this article is followed by the empirically grounded and reflective piece by nadia caidi that focuses on pilgrimage as an information context and brings to the fore the valuable insights resulting from the merger of scholarships on information and religion. it examines the hajj pilgrimage in mecca (saudi arabia) as a case in point and uses established theories of information behavior and meaning making in order to explicate information practices of pilgrims as manifestations of a “lived religion.” from everyday information practices and historical library issues, the article by laila brown brings us back to lis departments and learning environments. this empirical study looks at the transformational experiences of lis students in two book clubs, whose agenda was guided by 9 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi avoiding a senseless endurance test the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the combined principles of feminist and diversity ethics. it explores how this combined ethic informed students’ perceptions of lis and contemplates its future potential contribution to the careers and professional development of budding lis practitioners. an entirely different reflection on diversity issues and young people comes from the article by jeanie austin, which gives voice to the lgbtq (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) and gender non-conforming youth of color. turning our attention to the oppressive forces that come not only from governmental and public institutions but also from the publishing industry, it sheds light on the effects of oppression on the young people’s lives. using a case study from a public library in california, the article advocates for greater diversity and inclusion in library collection building practices in the context of critical race theory. the article section closes with the critical and insightful viewpoint piece by rachel wexelbaum, which builds on the available findings on the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth. the article discusses their information seeking behavior and challenges they face in locating desired reading materials, in print and on social media; it also provides recommendations to librarians on making collections more relevant to lgbtiq+ youth. our special section with “reports from the field” includes the article by rae-anne montague and joseph a. coyle that addresses a patchwork of services for incarcerated youth. drawing on the experiences of several dedicated individuals and groups, the authors critically consider the topics of awareness building, resource sharing, and meeting the information needs of incarcerated youth. the issue also features a new collection of book reviews edited by norda a. bell. the following titles are reviewed: algorithms of oppression: how search engines reinforce racism by safiya umoja noble (reviewed by kelly m. hoffman); pushing the margins: women of color and intersectionality in lis, edited by rose l. chou and annie pho (reviewed by alyssa v. loera); self-determined stories: the indigenous reinvention of young adult literature by mandy suhrsytsma (reviewed by treasa bane); and academic libraries for commuter students: researchbased strategies, edited by mariana regalado and maura a. smale (reviewed by norda a. bell). finally, a few words about our cover art choice for the january issue. it features a summer garden from northern canada, rather than more expected wintery pictures. ijidi is an international journal, and this is the best original image we had to remind our readers that while it is cold and frosty in the west, january has different associations for people living around the world. i would also like to take this opportunity to note that ijidi always welcomes original art contributions for our future covers, and we invite our readers to send us their original images conveying concrete or abstract representations of diversity. if images include people, consent from all depicted individuals should be secured before the image is sent to us. enjoy the new issue of ijidi and keep in touch! references austin, r. d. & pisano, g. p. (2017). neurodiversity as a competitive advantage. the harvard business review. retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/05/neurodiversity-as-acompetitive-advantage bowman, c. & jaeger, p. (2007). academic interviews and persons with disabilities. in vance, 10 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://hbr.org/2017/05/neurodiversity-as-a-competitive-advantage https://hbr.org/2017/05/neurodiversity-as-a-competitive-advantage avoiding a senseless endurance test the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi m.l. (ed.), disabled faculty and staff in a disabling society: multiple identities in higher education (pp. 225-234). huntsville, nc: ahead. compton, j. (2017, august 24). how is neurodiversity changing how companies recruit? retrieved from https://resources.workpop.com/blog/neurodiversity-recruiting . dali, k. 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(2017, december 5). neurodiverse practices; how to hire people with autism. 11 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://resources.workpop.com/blog/neurodiversity-recruiting https://business.financialpost.com/executive/five-ways-to-welcome-those-on-the-autism-spectrum-into-the-workplace https://business.financialpost.com/executive/five-ways-to-welcome-those-on-the-autism-spectrum-into-the-workplace https://www.umass.edu/studentlife/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/invisible%20disabilities%20list%20%26%20information.pdf https://www.umass.edu/studentlife/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/invisible%20disabilities%20list%20%26%20information.pdf https://invisibledisabilities.org/what-is-an-invisible-disability/ https://neurodiversitysymposium.wordpress.com/what-is-neurodiversity/ https://neurodiversitysymposium.wordpress.com/what-is-neurodiversity/ http://disabilityhorizons.com/2018/07/neurodiverse-individuals-considered-ideal-for-cybersecurity-jobs/ http://disabilityhorizons.com/2018/07/neurodiverse-individuals-considered-ideal-for-cybersecurity-jobs/ https://www.theguardian.com/careers/2017/feb/21/hidden-disabilities-at-work-everyday-im-fatigued-and-in-pain https://www.theguardian.com/careers/2017/feb/21/hidden-disabilities-at-work-everyday-im-fatigued-and-in-pain avoiding a senseless endurance test the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi focus professional services. retrieved from https://focusps.ca/neurodiverse-practiceshire-people-autism/ somashekhar, s. (2015, july 20). how autistic adults banded together to start a movement. the washington post. retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-nextcivil-rights-movement-accepting-adults-with-autism/2015/07/20/e7c6743e-f338-11e4bcc4-e8141e5eb0c9_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d3f31bf9dc9b templeton, s. (2016, november 3). in neurodiversity there is beauty, strength, and skills you don’t have. itsp magazine. retrieved from https://www.itspmagazine.com/from-thenewsroom/in-neurodiversity-there-is-beauty-strength-and-skills-you-dont-have wendall, s. (2013). the rejected body: feminist philosophical reflections on disability. hoboken, nj: taylor & francis. dr. keren dali (keren.dali@alumni.utoronto.ca) is editor-in-chief of ijidi. her research interests are in diversity and inclusion at the workplace; relationships between lis and social work; disabilities; lis education with the focus on creativity, accreditation, and humanistic pedagogies; and reading behaviors. with a background in social work and lis, dr. dali holds the inaugural outstanding instructor award from the faculty of information, university of toronto; the inaugural alise/connie van fleet award for research excellence in public library services to adults; the outstanding reviewer distinction and the outstanding and highly commended paper distinctions from the emerald literati network awards for excellence. her work has been funded by the grants from the social sciences & humanities research council of canada (sshrc) and the american library association, among others. she’s active in asis&t, alise, and ifla, chairing committees for both asis&t and alise. she is a winner (with nadia caidi) of the ala david cohen/emiert multicultural award 2018 for the co-authored article “diversity by design” published in the library quarterly. 12 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://focusps.ca/neurodiverse-practices-hire-people-autism/ https://focusps.ca/neurodiverse-practices-hire-people-autism/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-next-civil-rights-movement-accepting-adults-with-autism/2015/07/20/e7c6743e-f338-11e4-bcc4-e8141e5eb0c9_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d3f31bf9dc9b https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-next-civil-rights-movement-accepting-adults-with-autism/2015/07/20/e7c6743e-f338-11e4-bcc4-e8141e5eb0c9_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d3f31bf9dc9b https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-next-civil-rights-movement-accepting-adults-with-autism/2015/07/20/e7c6743e-f338-11e4-bcc4-e8141e5eb0c9_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d3f31bf9dc9b https://www.itspmagazine.com/from-the-newsroom/in-neurodiversity-there-is-beauty-strength-and-skills-you-dont-have https://www.itspmagazine.com/from-the-newsroom/in-neurodiversity-there-is-beauty-strength-and-skills-you-dont-have mailto:keren.dali@alumni.utoronto.ca instead of an introduction a field for the socially “fittest”? what are neurodiversity and hidden disabilities? the focus of this editorial an interviewing process for the physically and psychologically “fittest”? what can be done? points to ponder geo-social limitations and an invitation to dialogue the grand tour of the current issue references food justice in the public library: information, resources, and meals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 food justice in the public library: information, resources, and meals noah lenstra, university of north carolina at greensboro, usa christine d’arpa, wayne state university, usa abstract access to healthy, nutritious, and affordable food—food justice—is foundational to a healthy community. yet, hundreds of millions of people, including one in eight in the u.s., lack this access. this article examines how public libraries participate in the food justice movement. this emerging role is contextualized within the history of public food programs in the u.s. a literature review then finds four ways that public libraries increase access to food: distributing food; teaching and enabling community-based agriculture; teaching how to cook, prepare, and eat healthy foods; and supporting existing food justice programs. these tactics are reviewed within the context of the information and communication channels typically used by practicing public librarians. the article concludes with a discussion of future research and education initiatives needed to understand and support public libraries as contributors to food and health justice. in particular, the authors suggest that lis scholars would do well to establish research collaborations across disciplinary boundaries to build on work currently being done in fields like public health and environmental studies on how public libraries and librarians contribute to food justice. just as public libraries in certain places have found ways to form powerful community partnerships focused on contributing to food justice, we suggest that in higher education we could also start and join similar multi-disciplinary networks in our scholarship and teaching. keywords: community health; food justice; library programming; public health; public libraries publication type: review article introduction ccess to healthy, nutritious, and affordable food—food justice (alkon & agyeman, 2011)— is foundational to a healthy community. yet, in 2016, an estimated one in eight americans did not have access to nutritious and adequate amounts of food: there are 42 million americans, including 13 million children, who are food insecure (feeding america, 2018). according to the united nations, 815 million people go hungry throughout the world (food and agriculture organization of the united nations, 2017). local communities, non-governmental organizations, and federal governments each have long histories of working to bring food to people in need (u.s. department of agriculture, 2017). public libraries are now also framed in the media as having a role to play within the food justice movement: although federally-funded meal programs are often associated with schools, senior centers, and head start facilities, we see public attention on public libraries as sites for food provision, food production (in the form of community gardens), and food distribution (e.g., nguyen, 2018; saint louis, 2017). although our focus is primarily on public libraries and librarianship in the u.s., we also briefly discuss how a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 this issue has been framed by libraries and library professionals outside the u.s. this paper examines how public libraries in the u.s. work to contribute to food justice. our conceptual frame is grounded in an understanding of libraries as institutions and librarianship as a profession each with a long historical focus on social justice and human rights, uniquely rooted in particular local communities (freeman & blomley, 2018; mccook & phenix, 2006). this paper asserts the interconnectedness of food justice research and activism with economic, environmental, racial, and social justice (alkon & agyeman, 2011). food justice work is also an essential aspect of public policy development that addresses health inequities with an eye to achieving health justice (hoflund, jones, & pautz, 2018). in our analysis of this trend, we discuss how the changing and evolving social roles of public libraries leads them to adopt new service models. these types of new activities complement the traditional, informational roles of public libraries, such as providing access to resources about where to find healthy food or information on nutrition guidelines (flaherty, 2018; rubenstein, 2016). the diffusion of new ideas and new information into professional practices does not happen all at once. it takes time. the fact that food justice programs are not yet widespread in u.s. public librarianship does not mean that these initiatives are not worthy of study. a secondary aim of this study is to better understand how the diffusion of information related to these sorts of new initiatives takes place within the public library profession. as such, the article concludes with a discussion of additional work needed to understand this emerging trend, particularly through interdisciplinary scholarship and educational endeavors that draw upon the expertise of individuals in such fields as nutritional sciences and public health. short history of public food programs we begin by situating this topic in the historical context of the development of federally-funded food programs administered by the u.s. department of agriculture (usda). our research draws on current statistics provided by the usda, which show that at least 3.6% of the over 40,000 summer meal sites in the u.s. are public libraries (u.s. department of agriculture, 2018, and see below). however, what is also evident from the usda figures is that the distribution of libraries that participate in this program is uneven. for instance, two similarly populated southeastern states (north carolina and georgia) differ significantly in the number of usda-funded public library summer feeding sites: 95 in georgia but only 5 in north carolina (see table 1, below). to understand the current participation of u.s. public libraries within the food justice movement it is helpful to understand the history of public food programs. the history and politics of meal programs in the u.s. are intimately tied to the politics of childhood, the economics of immigration and the work force, social reform activities and programs associated with the progressive era, as well as to the vagaries of agricultural production (levine, 2008). hunger was one critical result of the great depression of the 1930s. the federal government responded by directing agricultural surpluses to meal programs. federal aid was made available to individual states to help pay food workers in schools. in the mid 1930s the secretary of agriculture of the u.s. was granted access to federal funds to “encourage the domestic consumption of certain agricultural commodities” in order to “remove price-depressing surplus foods from the market,” using them instead “for the needy” without disturbing “normal sales” (gunderson, 1971). schools and school children were among the needy, and the growth in this program, which distributed surplus agricultural goods to them, is worth noting. according to gunderson, there were meal programs in 3,839 schools that fed 342,031 children daily in 1937. in 1939 those numbers 46 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 increased to 14,075 schools and 892,259 children; between 1939 and 1942 the total number of participating schools rose to 78,841 and the number of children receiving daily meals in schools reached 5,272,540. as gunderson (1971) demonstrates, the provision of meals to schoolchildren continued to grow during the first years of world war ii, but as agricultural surpluses declined, the number of participating schools and the number of children supplied with meals dropped significantly. congress continued to include funding for the programs but did not make it a permanent commitment until 1946 with the passage of the national school lunch act: it is hereby declared to be the policy of congress, as a measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the nation’s children and to encourage the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities and other food by assisting the states, through grants-in-aid and other means, in providing an adequate supply of food and other facilities for the establishment, maintenance, operation and expansion of nonprofit school lunch programs. (gunderson, 1971) federal support for food and nutrition programs continued throughout the second half of the 20th century but the provision of services and the sources for the food in federally subsidized meal programs were increasingly run by private companies contracted by the government. the fresh farm commodities of u.s. agriculture were less frequently cooked in a school kitchen by workers from the community and employed by the school district and increasingly sent to be processed at increased cost and with significant loss of nutritional value. in 2011 the investigative reporter lucy komisar wrote an op-ed in the new york times that identified “an increasingly cozy alliance between companies that manufacture processed foods and companies that serve the meals” to school children (2011, para. 1). not only was the nutritional quality of school lunches dropping with the turn toward processed foods, but federal money was lining the pockets of transnational corporations: “food service management giants like aramark, based in philadelphia; sodexo, based in france; and the chartwells division of the compass group, based in britain. they work in tandem with food manufacturers like the chicken producers tyson and pilgrim’s, all of which profit when good food is turned to bad” (komisar, 2011, para. 3). the late 20th century and early 21st witnessed the elevation of local (healthy and fresh) foods. the values and ethos that guide the so-called farm-to-table movement and an increasing awareness of and appreciation for fresh and nutritious foods in general is also surfacing in school lunch policy and provision in a movement known as “farm-to-school” (fts). but scholars warn of the inequities associated with this practice: “fts programs are employing the rhetoric of neoliberal governmentality, including personal responsibility and individual success, consumerism, and choice. while these may be tactical choices used to secure funding in a competitive environment, they may also contribute to the normalization of neoliberalism, further circumscribing the possibilities of what can be imagined and created to solve social problems” (allen & guthman, 2006, p. 401). in the first quarter of the 21st century, federally-funded food assistance programs are big business both in terms of dollars and the number of people who participate in the 15 programs run by the usda, according to a report by the agricultural research service (ars) of the usda (oliveira, 2018). the total cost for fy2017 was $98.6 billion. the supplemental nutrition assistance program (snap) expenditures in fy2017 were $68 billion with an average monthly participation of 42.2 million. the next largest program is the national school lunch program (nslp) at $13.6 billion and an average daily participation of 30 million. of those 30 million children, 20 million received fully subsidized lunches, 2 million paid a portion, and 8.1 million 47 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 paid the full price of the meal (oliveira, 2018, 2). the meal programs administered by usda focus on schools, but federal legislation in 2010 designates “schools and local educational agencies in high-poverty communities to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students” (oliveira, 2018, p. 6). this context is important to understand because, as will be shown below, the usda is among the largest entities with which public libraries in the u.s. work when they seek to address food justice in their communities. public libraries as sites of food justice work—method and findings the findings of this study consist of a broad overview of the different tactics public libraries, primarily those in the u.s., employ to address food insecurity in their communities. the methods utilized to produce this article consist of iterative attempts over a two-year period to capture and qualitatively analyze a broad range of sources related to food justice and public librarianship. beginning in spring 2017, lenstra, as a part of his research on how public libraries support healthy living, set up google news alerts for the topics of “garden + public library,” “gardening + public library,” “seed library + public library,” “health literacy + public library,” and “nutrition + public library.” these daily alerts of just-published online content produced much of the literature utilized in this article. the literature was supplemented with the results of database searches and citation tracking, as well as with sources that the authors encountered as active members of the public library profession. both of us subscribe to practitioner listservs, and one of us is an active member of the association for rural and small libraries (arsl), in which the past two conferences have each featured sessions on this topic: 2017—“grow the library’s role—impact of a community garden” (arsl, 2017) and 2018—“stimulating summers,” on rural libraries in washington state that provide lunches throughout the summer (arsl, 2018). lenstra also serves on the u.s. public library association’s (pla) health initiative advisory group, which maintains a closed discussion list in which resources are shared (pla, 2019). the examples of what we are calling food justice activities at public libraries coalesce around four key areas: 1. distributing food at the library 2. teaching and enabling community-based agriculture 3. teaching how to cook, prepare, and eat healthy foods 4. offering the library’s support to extant food justice programs although our focus is on the u.s., we have also seen some of these tactics employed in other countries. for instance, a recent article in the borneo post describes how the sarawak public library in indonesia has since july 2016 organized a community garden at the library “to promote a healthy lifestyle, healthy physical activities, and good mental health” (borneo post online, 2018, para. 2). similarly, schumann (2018) discusses urban gardening and food-sharing programs at the stadtbibliothek of bad oldesloe, germany as a “best practice” that other public libraries should emulate, and kurbanoğlu and boustany (2014), the latter being an information science professor at the université paris-est marne-la-vallée, argued at the european conference on information literacy that librarians should engage in more “green programs” to become “center[s] for green education” (p. 51) through such mechanisms as providing information about growing food, hosting community gardens, teaching people how to garden, lending gardening 48 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 supplies, and circulating seeds. these scattered references suggest that the food justice activities we see taking place in u.s. public libraries may also be emerging in the library profession globally. distributing food at the library in 2017, at least 3.6% of all sites in the u.s. where children and youth could receive free meals through the u.s. department of agriculture’s (usda) summer meal program were public libraries (table 1, below). we do not know when public libraries first started participating in the usda’s summer meal program, but we do know that one of the first articles written on the trend was 2008’s “feeding the whole child: how libraries can nourish hungry stomachs and minds,” written by jennifer burek pierce, a faculty member in the school of library and information science at the university of iowa, for american libraries magazine. pierce tells the story of jennifer teitelbaum, a librarian at the spring valley branch of the san diego county library in california, who started offering summer meals at her library after seeing the program work successfully at a different branch of the library system. teitelbaum states: “the san diego county library staff gave me full support as i went forward” (quoted in pierce, 2008, para. 5), in part because the branch had almost double its normal participation in summer programs when meals were offered at the library. as teitelbaum noted, “this program has been a win-win in [this] community” (quoted in pierce, 2008, word of mouth section, para. 2). food justice programs in california public libraries offer an interesting and instructive example of the value of partnerships. a few years after pierce’s study was published, momentum in california public libraries around food distribution developed to the point that a new statewide infrastructure was developed to support it. based on successful summer meal programs in oakland, los angeles, sacramento, fresno county, and san francisco libraries, in 2013 the “lunch at the library” initiative emerged as a collaboration among large, urban california library systems working with the david and lucile packard foundation, the california library association, the california state library, and the california summer meal coalition. as in san diego county, libraries that participated reported “more sign-ups for summer reading programs, more library cards issued, plus children with improved behavior and attentiveness” (rubiner, 2016, p. 45) because of their access to food at the library (cole & chamberlain, 2015). the coalition created a website complete with resources and stories of success about lunch at the library programs, and across the state 164 libraries in 24 california counties were serving meals in 2017, up from less than one dozen a decade earlier (lunch at the library, 2017). given this initial success, the lunch at the library coalition sought to expand the model to more public library sites in california. in spring 2018, the coalition distributed a survey to california public libraries that read “the california state library, california library association, and california summer meal coalition, are working to increase the number of public libraries serving summer meals and snacks” (california state library, 2018). the aims of this “challenges to lunch at the library participation survey" were to identify why more libraries do not serve summer meals so that the coalition could then address those barriers, thus enabling even more libraries to participate in this program. the results of this survey have not yet been made publicly available, but the efforts of the coalition led to it securing one million dollars from the california state library, which, in turn, it is using to provide public libraries with additional resources to “expand the number of, and enhance the quality of, library meal sites in california” (california library association, 2019, para. 1). 49 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 one barrier identified by librarians who participate in this program relates to the fact that the usda will only provide meals for children and youth aged 18 and younger. this stipulation creates difficulties when it is entire families who experience food insecurity. to investigate the efficacy of feeding entire families at public libraries, public health scholars from the stanford university school of medicine investigated the feasibility of feeding adults along with children in a public library system in silicon valley. they found that: since the library meal programmes in the present study provided meals to both children and adults, participants discussed an overall feeling of inclusiveness as a result of the adult meal. parent and adult participants valued the ability to eat with children and other community members. parent participants specifically noted that eating with their children strengthened family bonds. even adult participants who did not have children appreciated the family atmosphere that the library meal programme fostered. (bruce, de la cruz, moreno, & chamberlain, 2017, p. 1643) elsewhere, public librarians have also seen positive results from providing meals not only to children and youth but also to their adult caregivers at libraries. librarians have partnered, brainstormed, and shared information within the profession to better identify ways to address food insecurity among adults and children in their communities. some examples of these efforts include a session at the 2018 meeting of the association for library services to children (alsc) in which kate mccartney (2018) of marysville public library in ohio discussed strategies that ohio librarians have employed to provide meals for adults in their usda-funded summer meal programs. she reported that libraries typically partner with local organizations, such as local food banks, to provide adult meals. furthermore, a significant discussion during this conference session focused on how librarians could supplement the usda program so that they could serve adults as well as their children. public librarians report that the lunch at the library initiative in california has had a catalytic effect on public library participation in summer feeding programs nationwide. librarians in ohio (dwyer, personal communication with lenstra) and massachusetts (rauseo & edwards, 2013) pointed to pierce’s 2008 article in their discussions of how they started developing summer meal programs at their libraries. in 2017, supported by a grant from the u.s. institute of museum and library services (imls), a group of ohio librarians formed team vittles, which describes itself as: a group of like-minded individuals in the ohio library world committed to eradicating hunger through advocacy, outreach and social networking. our goal is to reduce hunger in ohio by making connections more easily avail able between funding, food and hungry individuals, especially children. (team vittles, 2018) their primary focus has been on increasing the number of ohio public libraries that offer summer meal programs. janet ingraham dwyer, youth services consultant with the state library of ohio, has also formed an ad hoc committee of the collaborative summer library program (cslp) on child and community well-being, which focuses on increasing library participation in summer meals nationwide (cslp, 2019). furthermore, the ohio state library has made this a priority area, stating in its 2018-2022 strategic plan that: the state library has initiated a strong promotional initiative encouraging public libraries to participate in the usda summer food service program (sfsp). summer reading programs have long been a pillar of library literacy programming for young 50 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 patrons but hungry kids don’t read. they can become trapped in a cycle of poor school performance and ill health that can have lifelong literacy and lear ning consequences. the state library works with public libraries to help youth experiencing food insecurity by becoming an sfsp site, becoming an sfsp sponsor, partnering with existing sites, publicizing the program and/or connecting young patrons to the program. in 2016, 39 public library systems participated in sfsp, allowing 133 individual library sites (branches) to participate. over the five years 2012-2016, there has been a 60% increase in the number of library sites, and nearly double the number of library systems participating in sfsp. (state library of ohio, 2017, p. 8) similar statewide efforts at increasing participation in the usda sfsp have emerged in other states including colorado, montana, minnesota, and texas (lenstra, 2018b). at the national level, major drivers of this phenomenon include the imls and oclc/webjunction. during the presidency of barack obama, first lady michelle obama focused her policy agenda on childhood health in a campaign called “let’s move!” as part of this campaign, she worked with the imls to launch let’s move! museums and gardens. although mostly focused on museums, the campaign did advance the idea of summer meals in public libraries. for instance, as part of its participation in the let’s move! campaign, the imls collaborated with the usda to jointly host a webinar on 25 april 2014 on “how libraries can get involved in summer meals” (caulley, 2014) that featured librarians from osterhout free library in wilkes-barre, pennsylvania, discussing how they started feeding children at the library. the webinar further highlighted the fact that libraries can also feed children and youth during the school year by participating in the usda’s child and adult care food program (cacfp) after-school snack program, which the osterhout free library offers, thus enabling year-round food provision in public libraries. the other principal actor at the national level has been oclc/webjunction, whose health happens in libraries initiative has morphed over the years from its initial focus on preparing libraries to help people sign up for the affordable care act (morgan, 2013) to a current focus on how libraries address the “opioid crisis and food insecurity” (l. morris, personal communication with lenstra, 2017). as part of its efforts to address food insecurity, webjunction has turned a spotlight on libraries that offer summer meal programs, including library meal programs in illinois (oclc/webjunction, 2017), ohio, georgia, new york, colorado, and california (oclc/webjunction, 2018). by sharing the stories of public libraries that offer summer meals, webjunction has sought to cultivate among public libraries more awareness of and participation in these types of initiatives. individual library systems have also taken the initiative to independently participate in the usda program. this is what happened in peabody, massachusetts, where librarians in 2011, inspired by what they had seen california libraries do, decided to participate. they later published an account of their successes in which they argue that this type of program depends on robust community partnerships (rauseo & edwards, 2013). the librarians in peabody have since been asked by the massachusetts board of library commissioners to share their story throughout massachusetts, which has led more libraries in that state and in the broader new england region to participate in the program. similar stories can be found in kansas (reynolds, 2018) and minnesota (pundsack, 2018), where librarians who started serving summer meals at their public libraries shared their stories in practitioner-oriented publications, leading to the spread of this independent-participation model. media attention to this trend further suggests an increasing 51 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 interest in public library participation in this program. national news coverage includes stories in the new york times (saint louis, 2017) and medium.com (toner, 2018) highlighting this trend and showing examples of it from across the country. table 1. estimated number of public libraries by u.s. state that participate in the u.s. department of agriculture (usda) summer meal program, 2017 (usda, 2018) state number california 164 ohio 146 texas 126 new york 120 florida 99 georgia 95 kentucky 70 pennsylvania 70 tennessee 50 illinois 48 indiana 47 kansas 45 louisiana 36 oregon 33 south carolina 33 arizona 28 virginia 28 minnesota 27 missouri 27 michigan 26 colorado 20 52 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 wisconsin 19 west virginia 15 iowa 14 maine 14 oklahoma 14 nevada 13 utah 13 arkansas 11 washington 12 delaware 11 alabama 9 massachusetts 9 montana 9 mississippi 7 new jersey 7 alaska 6 indiana 6 north carolina 5 new england 5 maryland 4 north dakota 4 hawaii 1 the usda publishes the list of all summer meal sites on its website (u.s. department of agriculture, 2018). it can sometimes be difficult to identify public library sites in this data-set, but a conservative estimate shows that at least 3.6% of all summer meal sites in the u.s. are public libraries (table 1). that is, of the 42,439 summer meal sites across the u.s. in 2017, at least 1,546 were public libraries. in some states, the percentage of library meal sites is much 53 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 higher. for instance, in places like ohio, where there has been sustained continuing education focused on increasing library participation in this program, approximately 10% of all usda summer meal sites are public libraries (mccartney, 2018, slide 11). table 1 was constructed using data from 2017, the most recent data available at the time this research was conducted. the usda data was searched using the string “libr*” to identify library meal sites. this subset was then individually reviewed to ensure it only included public libraries. conferring with state library staff from california and ohio on methods used to track the number of public libraries participating in this program (dwyer, personal communication with lenstra; garone & cole, personal communication with lenstra) helped confirm that this was a viable technique for identifying library meal sites. despite these efforts, however, these numbers represent at best a conservative estimate of the number of public library meal sites. conversations with state library staff in ohio and california revealed that it is not uncommon for them to discover libraries that do in fact offer summer meals but that do not appear in the official dataset. this discrepancy has many causes, but the most significant ones are: 1) the usda data does not always capture the fact that multiple branches within a single library system offer meals, and 2) the usda sometimes categorizes a site by the sponsoring institution, and not by the site itself: so in some cases the “sponsor”—the entity responsible for cooking the meals and delivering them to the site—appears in the usda data in lieu of the site itself. for example, a school may be listed as a site even if the meals are actually served at a public library, but prepared at the school (c.f., mccartney, 2018 on the sponsor-site distinction). our research has further identified food distribution efforts in public libraries that are unaffiliated with the usda program. in baltimore, the public library developed a program called the virtual supermarket project that involved a partnership with the city’s health department to enable residents of food deserts to order groceries online, using public computers at the library; pay for them with cash, credit, or food stamps; and then pick them up at the library (owens, 2010). in indiana, the madison county public library developed a “read ‘n’ feed” project that partners with the local united way chapter and area food banks. the project consists of a “combination bookmobile and food pantry that makes stops each thursday in ingalls, markleville, and pendleton to offer those who need it an assortment of non-perishable food items, boxed goods, milk, bread and fresh fruits and vegetables” (knight, 2018, para. 4). elsewhere, public libraries in marion, iowa and thorntown, indiana, have partnered with their area agencies on aging to distribute meals to older adults at the libraries (lenstra, 2018a). public libraries in richland, south carolina and high point, north carolina started community farmers’ markets where none existed previously (phillips, hambright-belue, & green, 2018). a library in philadelphia also started a farmers’ market but with the unique twist that the fresh produce would be distributed at no cost. the fresh for all free farmers’ market, run by philabundance in partnership with the lillian marrero library (a branch of the free library of philadelphia) distributes fresh produce to low-income residents of this north philadelphia neighborhood every wednesday afternoon (neil, 2018). other initiatives involve libraries adopting the “little free pantry” program model. inspired by the little free library movement, food justice activists started developing micro-food pantries where people could take and leave food as they wished. a library in sylvan lake, canada, offers this service, and the librarian said that she developed it at her library after seeing similar little free pantries offered at u.s. public libraries (vaughan, 2016). sometimes these programs operate without affiliation with the little free pantry movement. for instance, in the small community 54 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 of clive, iowa, the library has what it calls a “veggie exchange,” which consists of nothing more than a picnic table at the library where community members who garden are invited to leave excess produce for others who wish to have it. in a news story, librarians from clive said, “they went to a conference, and heard other libraries were doing it” (beckman, 2018, para. 3) and decided to try it at their library. this is another example of how information sharing among librarians leads to the diffusion of new and novel ways of contributing to food justice in local communities. teaching and enabling community-based agriculture a second way that public libraries promote food justice is by helping to support community-based agriculture. this activity takes a number of different forms, with some of the more prominent being: 1) gardening classes, 2) community gardens at libraries, and 3) seed exchanges. based on the fact that u.s. policymakers recognize gardening as an important form of physical activity (extension, 2012), “gardening” was included in a spring 2017 survey of movement-based programs in north american public libraries (lenstra, 2017). that survey, which used convenience sampling, found that, at a minimum, 475 public library locations in the u.s. and canada (or 2% of the 19,564 public library locations across these two nations) have offered some form of gardening programs (figure 1). figure 1. map of libraries that have offered gardening programs, n=475. reprinted from “movement-based programs in u.s. and canadian public libraries: evidence of impacts from an exploratory survey,” by n. lenstra, 2017, evidence based library and information practice, 12(4), p. 214-232. [reprinted with 55 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 permission.] in addition to building relevant collections and ensuring library staff are knowledgeable about community agriculture, the most basic way that public libraries support community agriculture is by having classes and special programs at the library, in addition to collections and knowledgeable staff able to provide reference services, related to how to garden and grow food. agents of the usda cooperative extension system and master gardeners trained by that system frequently offer these programs at libraries, and sometimes the master gardeners are the librarians (lenstra, 2018c). some libraries have gone further. in akron, ohio, the library partnered with let’s grow akron and the ohio state university extension to offer a “community garden leadership training course” at the library, which focused on preparing community members to develop and sustain more community gardens (chatfield, 2018). in some cases, these gardening classes lead to libraries actually starting community gardens. this is what happened in goldsboro, north carolina, where in 2007 shorlette ammons, then children’s librarian, worked with north carolina state extension and other partners to set up a community garden at the library. reporting on the garden in the community’s local paper reveals tensions within the profession about this type of new initiative (edwards, 2008). the article states that when ammons approached the library director with the idea of starting a community garden at the library, the director’s response was, “what does that have to do with the library?” (para. 11). but ammons pushed forward, and the director found over time that “shorlette demonstrated how the garden is helping build community . . . . we are so proud of shorlette. she had proof the project has been successful" (edwards, 2008, para. 12). ammons has since left the library to become the full-time community food outreach coordinator for north carolina state extension, where she works with libraries and others across the state to address food insecurity. the garden she helped to establish continues to thrive at the goldsboro branch of the wayne county public library, north carolina (moore, 2018). since this garden started at the public library in goldsboro, north carolina, the idea of a library hosting a community garden has spread to other locations across the u.s. webjunction has tracked this trend and lists as exemplars at least 17 examples from across the country (peterson, 2016). local news stories and library websites also highlight library community gardens in iowa (jordan-heintz, 2018), illinois (abron, 2015), and ohio (overby & mullins, 2018; trivisonno, 2018). the motivation to establish a garden at a public library is not always directly linked to food justice. as part of research she conducted in the doctoral program at the school of information sciences at the university of north carolina at chapel hill, mary wilkins jordan (now executive director at central minnesota libraries exchange) researched the spread of community gardening within american public libraries (jordan, 2013). jordan found that libraries start gardens for different reasons, some of which have to do with food insecurity, but others have to do with extending access to, and engagement with nature, as well as promoting ecological awareness and knowledge of scientific processes in the environment and in food systems (e.g., everett, 2018). other examples of library garden programs seek to combine gardening with other means of providing food for people at the library. a public library in alabama collaborated with the local school district to develop a program that trained cognitively impaired adolescents and adults to prepare and serve food in the library café. the produce for the café was grown in the library 56 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 garden (nicholson, 2017). finally, the third way public libraries have contributed to community-based agriculture has been through seed libraries and exchanges. two recent studies focus on the seed exchange movement within u.s. public librarianship. soleri (2018) interviewed 30 individuals who manage seed libraries in california public libraries. she also found, based on analysis of secondary sources, that 67% of all seed exchanges (or seed libraries) in california are located within public libraries. in another recent study, peekhaus (2018) conducted ten interviews in six states with those individuals responsible for the seed libraries at their public library. both soleri and peekhaus found that public libraries frame these efforts as novel forms of community engagement and community service that connect back to the library’s role in circulating things that positively impact community health. furthermore, there is evidence that public librarians are increasingly taking on leadership roles within the larger seed exchange movement. for instance, in may 2015, the pima county public library (2015) in arizona hosted what it calls the “first international seed library forum” an event attended not only by public librarians, but also by representatives from food banks, the global crop diversity trust, universities, farmers, and non-profits. in addition to lending seeds, a number of public libraries have started checking out tools, including ones that can be used for gardening. for instance, librarians from sacramento, california, wrote a book chapter on how and why they started checking out gardening tools at the library, while librarians from syracuse, new york, wrote about how their library started checking out raised beds that can be used for gardening (robison & shedd, 2017). the grosse pointe public library in michigan regularly promotes its tool collection on its social media sites. teaching how to cook, prepare, and eat healthy foods libraries have long offered programs focused on educating the public on nutrition (flaherty, 2018). there is evidence, however, that this role has, at least in certain places, expanded in recent years as some libraries have started to offer sophisticated cooking and food preparation classes, sometimes with custom-built kitchen facilities in the libraries. an example of a typical library nutrition program appears in an article in the journal of hospital librarianship, in which medical librarians (woodson, timm, & jones, 2011) from the campus hospital at louisiana state university describe how they partnered with public librarians at the shreve memorial public library system in shreveport, louisiana to offer a series of fun programs focused on encouraging healthy eating habits among children. similarly, in california, the sonoma county public library received funding from the california state library for an initiative called “healthy living at your library,” which enabled the library to offer classes on cooking foods that are in season, as well as other nutrition programs (anderson, 2018). these types of special, nutrition-focused programs, particularly those targeting youth, have attracted some attention from the scholarly community. freedman & nickell (2010) are nutrition science scholars who sought to identify the impact of nutrition programs in public libraries. they found that a public library’s “low-intensity [after-school nutrition] program did not produce lasting behavior change, as measured by changes in food frequency at 3 months postintervention” (p. 192). they argue that nutrition programs in public libraries, and in related community spaces, need more research and support to evaluate and to increase their effectiveness. 57 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 public health scholars at the university of pennsylvania are currently investigating similar questions. based on a survey of health programs and services offered throughout pennsylvania public libraries (whiteman et al., 2018), they illustrate a growing demand for nutrition programs. they found that “although 70% of respondents [n=262] reported frequent patron questions about nutrition, only 37% of libraries reported offering nutrition classes” (p. 3). they further found that “respondents reported that they often felt unprepared to offer these services” because “respondents described a continuous balancing act to meet multiple patron demands with minimal resources” (p. 3). the study suggests that many public librarians are interested in providing nutrition programming in response to public interest in this topic, given adequate resources and support. our research suggests that some libraries are having greater success than others in identifying resources to offer innovative nutrition programming. some public libraries have developed new spaces to demonstrate how to prepare and cook healthy foods. in forsyth county, north carolina, the new central library location opened in fall 2017 with a commercial-grade demonstration kitchen designed to enable the library to have cooking programs on a regular basis (daniel, 2018). at the national level, the library that has developed this idea to the greatest degree has been the free library of philadelphia, which since june 2014 has been “revolutionizing the way philadelphians think about food, nutrition, and literacy” (free library of philadelphia, 2017, p. 1) through its culinary literacy center, “the first kitchen-classroom in a public library in the united states of america” (free library of philadelphia, 2017, p. 3). the library’s culinary literacy center has a full-time staff focused exclusively on teaching patrons how to prepare and cook healthy foods. the philadelphia public library created a toolkit with an eye to sharing their experience and helping other public libraries develop similar programs. the toolkit includes sections on how to start, sustain, fund, and advocate for healthy cooking classes in a public library setting (free library of philadelphia, 2017). library staff have promoted this toolkit through presentations and podcasts for the public library association in the u.s., as well as at international conferences such as the nextlibrary event in aarhus, denmark (fitzgerald, urminska, & bowers, 2017). the free library of philadelphia has also partnered with researchers from the university of pennsylvania’s department of public health sciences to identify and analyze the impact the center has had, particularly in refugee communities (healthy library, 2018). in addition to building kitchens in public libraries, other libraries have sought to incorporate cooking lessons into mobile library services. in camden county, new jersey, the library developed in 2016 a mobile culinary literacy program that it calls “books and cooks.” the library’s mobile kitchen travels to different library branches, as well as other locations in the community, to provide pop-up cooking and hands-on nutrition demonstrations (ewan, 2018). offering the library’s support to extant food justice programs in addition to offering these new programs, services, and spaces, public libraries contribute to food justice by both identifying and developing innovative ways to support existing efforts. in this area, there are no overall trends to document, since libraries that engage in this type of activity tailor what they do to the particular constellations of needs and actors in their local community. for instance, the library in wilton, new hampshire, received grant funding to purchase cooking supplies like hotplates for a program it calls “snacks in stacks.” working with the local women, infants, and children (wic) office (a division of the usda’s food and nutrition service), the library teaches low-income youth and their adult caregivers about basic cooking 58 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 techniques, and it also feeds families through the program (hoffman, 2017). in wisconsin, the crandon public library organizes an annual “iron chef – healthy fruits and vegetables competition” focused on encouraging local families to compete against each other to see who can make the best tasting dishes using healthy, fresh ingredients (morris, 2015). the library director developed the program through her participation in the forest county community coalition, comprised of community stakeholders from a variety of local organizations that meet monthly to discuss ways to build and support a healthy county. other libraries piggy-back on existing community activities and programs to provide nutrition information and instruction. in oklahoma, miami public library, with funding from the oklahoma department of libraries’ health literacy grant program, offers nutrition demonstrations at local farmers’ markets throughout the year (ballard, 2018). in kentucky, the appalachian regional commission (2018) identified the mccreary county public library as a “bright spot in appalachian health” in part because of the efforts of the library director to support patrons seeking assistance signing up for food stamps. and in north carolina, the library in rowan county has partnered with existing summer feeding sites by bringing the bookmobile to those sites throughout the summer in a program called “books and bites” (post education, 2018). conclusions and next steps this study has documented and discussed an emerging trend that frames the public library as a significant site of food justice activity. additional work is needed to better understand and support this emerging research topic. new research could, for example, productively frame public libraries within the broader “ecosystem” within which library-based food justice initiatives develop and evolve. for instance, we have framed the initiatives of u.s. public librarians within the context of american public food policy. additional work could deepen our understanding of the policy contexts surrounding this topic, at local, national, and international levels. that contextualization would help us better understand the forces pushing and pulling public libraries toward taking a more proactive role in food justice initiatives in the u.s. it could also serve to stimulate and inform discussions of food justice and public libraries internationally. in terms of next steps in scholarship on food justice and public libraries, it is important to acknowledge that researchers in lis bring expertise to and could benefit from stronger interdisciplinary alliances with scholars currently working on understanding food justice, some of whom, as this article shows, have independently identified public libraries as partners in efforts to address food insecurity (e.g., bruce et al., 2017). just as public libraries have, in a number of places, found ways to form community collaborations to address food justice, we suggest that those of us in higher education could join similar networks in our scholarship and teaching. working with public health scholars suggests a particularly promising path forward (e.g., philbin, parker, flaherty, & hirsch, 2018). in addition to research partnerships between lis and public health scholars, opportunities exist for partnerships with scholars working in the interdisciplinary spaces of ecology and environmentalism. researchers in those areas have independently identified public libraries as key partners in promoting sustainable, just food systems (e.g., soleri, 2018). in addition, work could be done to better prepare future public librarians to participate and become leaders in food justice. we see a trend in lis curricula and education toward greater awareness of the responsibilities of the public library in society and the role of librarians as 59 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 members of their community. interest in courses like “community engagement” and “community informatics” suggest increasing focus on preparing lis professionals to work more effectively with diverse communities to support the role of the library as a community gathering space. this coursework also cultivates critical cultural competency as well as firmer grounding in the history and political economy of libraries and information. in addition to preparing librarians to engage with community partners to support food justice, new curriculum could involve collaborations or partnerships with colleagues in schools of public health and food studies to highlight the political economy of food systems to develop an understanding of the various factors in the way food systems are organized that contribute to food insecurity. libraries and librarians are uniquely positioned to collaborate with communities to address food insecurity—the library as place and space cannot be underestimated nor can the access it provides to information resources. noted historian of the public library in the u.s., wayne weigand, argues that americans love public libraries because of a) the useful information they make accessible, b) the transformative potential of reading, and c) the public spaces they provide (wiegand, 2015). in this article we identify and discuss four tactics that u.s. public librarians use to address food insecurity and food justice through creative utilizations of their public spaces. additional research is needed to more fully understand how broadly these tactics are utilized by public libraries, both in the u.s. and abroad, as well as to understand the impacts of this work on health and food justice. in her 2014 article, “library as infrastructure,” professor of anthropology shannon mattern asks in the subtitle, “how far can we stretch the public library?” this paper has demonstrated, documented, and discussed many of the ways public libraries are stretching and growing with respect to issues related to food justice in their communities. while there is no question that this topic and the library programming associated with it appeals to a broad cross-section of society and not only to the food insecure, we offer evidence that libraries and librarians are stretching to raise awareness in their communities about food justice as a public health and human rights issue. acknowledgements the authors would like to thank the librarians who shared their expertise, in the form of personal communications, including janet ingraham dwyer, library consultant at the state library of ohio; liz morris, former program coordinator of health happens in libraries at oclc/webjunction; patricia garone, programs manager of lunch @ the library at the california library association; natalie cole, programs consultant at the california state library; melissa robinson, director of the peabody (massachusetts) institute library; and julie biando edwards, ethnic studies librarian at the university of montana. references abron, d. (2015, july 27). garden club. teen services depot: one stop shop for teen programming. retrieved from https://teenservicesdepot.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/garden-club/ 60 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://teenservicesdepot.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/garden-club/ https://teenservicesdepot.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/garden-club/ https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 alkon, a. h., & agyeman, j. (2011). cultivating food justice: race, class, and sustainability. cambridge, ma: mit press. allen, p. & guthman, j. (2006). from “old school” to “farm-to-school”: neoliberalism from the ground up. agriculture and human values, 23(4), 401-415. anderson, j. 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(2018, june 21). rpl launches ‘books and bites.’ salisbury post. retrieved from 65 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.philly.com/philly/health/kids-families/get-cooking-at-the-free-librarys-culinary-literacy-center-20180502.html http://www.philly.com/philly/health/kids-families/get-cooking-at-the-free-librarys-culinary-literacy-center-20180502.html https://alabamanewscenter.com/2017/12/05/gadsden-city-high-school-program-a-tasty-success/ https://alabamanewscenter.com/2017/12/05/gadsden-city-high-school-program-a-tasty-success/ https://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/beyond-food-for-fines.html https://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/beyond-food-for-fines.html https://www.webjunction.org/explore-topics/ehealth.html https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/88074/eib-190_summary.pdf?v=0 https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/84535 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyid=126282239 https://doi.org/10.1086/697706 https://www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/growing-library-garden-programs.html https://www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/growing-library-garden-programs.html https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-018-0547-4 http://www.ala.org/pla/education/onlinelearning/webinars/ondemand/fresh https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/youth-matters-1/ https://www.library.pima.gov/blogs/post/international-seed-library-forum-videos/ http://www.philly.com/philly/health/kids-families/get-cooking-at-the-free-librarys-culinary-literacy-center-20180502.html http://www.philly.com/philly/health/kids-families/get-cooking-at-the-free-librarys-culinary-literacy-center-20180502.html https://alabamanewscenter.com/2017/12/05/gadsden-city-high-school-program-a-tasty-success/ https://alabamanewscenter.com/2017/12/05/gadsden-city-high-school-program-a-tasty-success/ https://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/beyond-food-for-fines.html https://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/beyond-food-for-fines.html https://www.webjunction.org/explore-topics/ehealth.html https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/88074/eib-190_summary.pdf?v=0 https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/84535 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyid=126282239 https://doi.org/10.1086/697706 https://www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/growing-library-garden-programs.html https://www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/growing-library-garden-programs.html https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-018-0547-4 http://www.ala.org/pla/education/onlinelearning/webinars/ondemand/fresh https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/youth-matters-1/ https://www.library.pima.gov/blogs/post/international-seed-library-forum-videos/ https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 https://www.salisburypost.com/2018/06/21/rpl-launches-books-and-bites/ public library association (pla). (2019). promoting healthy communities: a health information initiative. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/pla/initiatives/healthliteracy pundsack, k. (2018, july 12). summer feeding can mean summer reading. public libraries online. retrieved from http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2018/07/summer-feeding-canmean-summer-reading/ rauseo, m. s. & edwards, j. b. (2013). summer foods, libraries, and resiliency: creative problem solving and community partnerships in massachusetts. in m. dudley (ed.), public libraries and resilient cities (pp. 89-100). chicago, il: ala editions. reynolds, j. (2018). more than summer lunches—social, cultural, and healthy connections. a presentation at big talk from small libraries 2018: an online conference. retrieved from http://nlcblogs.nebraska.gov/bigtalk/previous-conferences/2018presentations/more-than-summer-lunches-social-cultural-and-healthy-connections/ robison, m. & shedd, l. (eds.). (2017). audio recorders to zucchini seeds: building a library of things. denver, co: libraries unlimited. rubenstein, e. l. (2016). health information and health literacy: public library practices, challenges, and opportunities. public library quarterly, 35(1), 49-71. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2015.1450520100140 rubiner, b. (2016). bright spots in the campaign for grade-level reading. national civic review, 105(2), 43-51. https://doi.org/10.1002/ncr.21273 saint louis, c. (2017, july 30). free lunch at the library. the new york times. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/30/well/family/free-lunch-at-the-library.html schumann, t. (2018). urban gardening, foodsharing, and makerspaces. in p. hauke, m. charney, & h. sahavirta (eds.), going green: implementing sustainable strategies in libraries around the world: buildings, management, programmes and services (pp. 122134). boston, ma: de gruyter saur. soleri, d. (2018). civic seeds: new institutions for seed systems and communities—a 2016 survey of california seed libraries. agriculture and human values, 35(2), 331–347. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-017-9826-4 state library of ohio. (2017). library services and technology act (lsta) five-year plan 2018 2022. retrieved from https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/stateprofiles/plans/ohio5yearplan.pdf team vittles. (2018). about us. team vittles. retrieved from http://www.teamvittles.org/about toner, v. (2018, june 7). lunch & literacy: a library’s tale of curbing summer hunger. medium.com. retrieved from https://medium.com/@healthiergen/lunch-literacy-alibrarys-tale-of-curbing-summer-hunger-347e916e7ead 66 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.salisburypost.com/2018/06/21/rpl-launches-books-and-bites/ http://www.ala.org/pla/initiatives/healthliteracy http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2018/07/summer-feeding-can-mean-summer-reading/ http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2018/07/summer-feeding-can-mean-summer-reading/ http://nlcblogs.nebraska.gov/bigtalk/previous-conferences/2018-presentations/more-than-summer-lunches-social-cultural-and-healthy-connections/ http://nlcblogs.nebraska.gov/bigtalk/previous-conferences/2018-presentations/more-than-summer-lunches-social-cultural-and-healthy-connections/ https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2015.1450520100140 https://doi.org/10.1002/ncr.21273 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/30/well/family/free-lunch-at-the-library.html https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-017-9826-4 https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/state-profiles/plans/ohio5yearplan.pdf https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/state-profiles/plans/ohio5yearplan.pdf http://www.teamvittles.org/about https://medium.com/@healthiergen/lunch-literacy-a-librarys-tale-of-curbing-summer-hunger-347e916e7ead https://medium.com/@healthiergen/lunch-literacy-a-librarys-tale-of-curbing-summer-hunger-347e916e7ead https://www.salisburypost.com/2018/06/21/rpl-launches-books-and-bites/ http://www.ala.org/pla/initiatives/healthliteracy http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2018/07/summer-feeding-can-mean-summer-reading/ http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2018/07/summer-feeding-can-mean-summer-reading/ http://nlcblogs.nebraska.gov/bigtalk/previous-conferences/2018-presentations/more-than-summer-lunches-social-cultural-and-healthy-connections/ http://nlcblogs.nebraska.gov/bigtalk/previous-conferences/2018-presentations/more-than-summer-lunches-social-cultural-and-healthy-connections/ https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2015.1450520100140 https://doi.org/10.1002/ncr.21273 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/30/well/family/free-lunch-at-the-library.html https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-017-9826-4 https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/state-profiles/plans/ohio5yearplan.pdf https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/state-profiles/plans/ohio5yearplan.pdf http://www.teamvittles.org/about https://medium.com/@healthiergen/lunch-literacy-a-librarys-tale-of-curbing-summer-hunger-347e916e7ead https://medium.com/@healthiergen/lunch-literacy-a-librarys-tale-of-curbing-summer-hunger-347e916e7ead https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index food justice in the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33010 trivisonno, m. (2018, august 31). children’s learning garden. alsc blog: pursuing excellence for library service to children. retrieved from https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2018/08/childrens-learning-garden/ u.s. department of agriculture. (2017). national school lunch program (nslp). retrieved from https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/history_4 u.s. department of agriculture. (2018). summer food service program (sfsp): developer tools. retrieved from https://www.fns.usda.gov/sfsp/developer-tools vaughan, t. (2016, september 27). little free pantry helps families in need: the library accepts donations of food and household items. sylvan lake news. retrieved from https://www.sylvanlakenews.com/news/little-free-pantry-helps-families-in-need/ wiegand, w. a. (2015). part of our lives: a people's history of the american public library. new york, ny: oxford university press. whiteman e. d., dupuis, r., morgan, a.u., d’alonzo, b., epstein, c., klusaritz, h., & cannuscio, c. c. (2018). public libraries as partners for health. preventing chronic disease, 15. retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2018/17_0392.htm woodson, d. e., timm, d. f., & jones, d. (2011). teaching kids about healthy lifestyles through stories and games: partnering with public libraries to reach local children. journal of hospital librarianship, 11(1), 59-69. https://doi.org/10.1080/15323269.2011.538619 noah lenstra (njlenstr@uncg.edu) is an assistant professor of library and information studies at the university of north carolina at greensboro, where he is an affiliated faculty member in the gerontology department. his research focuses on community engagement in public libraries, with foci on aging issues, digital literacy, heritage, and community health. his website is http://www.noahlenstra.com/ and he’s on twitter at @noahlenstra. christine d'arpa (cl0091@wayne.edu) is an assistant professor in the school of information sciences at wayne state university in detroit, michigan. her primary research areas focus on the history and political economy of systems of information, public libraries and community engagement, and the history of libraries and other public information institutions. 67 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2018/08/childrens-learning-garden/ https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/history_4 https://www.fns.usda.gov/sfsp/developer-tools https://www.sylvanlakenews.com/news/little-free-pantry-helps-families-in-need/ https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2018/17_0392.htm https://doi.org/10.1080/15323269.2011.538619 mailto:njlenstr@uncg.edu http://www.noahlenstra.com/ mailto:cl0091@wayne.edu https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2018/08/childrens-learning-garden/ https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/history_4 https://www.fns.usda.gov/sfsp/developer-tools https://www.sylvanlakenews.com/news/little-free-pantry-helps-families-in-need/ https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2018/17_0392.htm https://doi.org/10.1080/15323269.2011.538619 mailto:njlenstr@uncg.edu http://www.noahlenstra.com/ mailto:cl0091@wayne.edu https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index introduction short history of public food programs public libraries as sites of food justice work—method and findings distributing food at the library teaching and enabling community-based agriculture teaching how to cook, prepare, and eat healthy foods offering the library’s support to extant food justice programs conclusions and next steps acknowledgements references emerging voices in diversity and inclusion leadership: applications of the strategic diversity manifesto the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ emerging voices in diversity and inclusion leadership: applications of the strategic diversity manifesto bharat mehra, guest editor keywords: diversity and inclusion; emerging leadership; strategic diversity manifesto publication type: editorial editorial his special issue of ijidi (vol. 2, no. 4) spotlights select student work of library and information science (lis) graduates in the “diversity leadership in information organizations” course (insc 590) that i taught during the spring of 2018 at the school of information sciences, university of tennessee. the course was designed to prepare future information professionals to develop inclusive services to underrepresented populations based on race, ethnicity, color, national origin, gender, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, veteran status, education, income, age, geography, and religion, amongst other factors. the work of four emerging voices from the class, showcased in this collection, serves as a testbed for applying the framework of the strategic diversity manifesto (sdm) (mehra & davis, 2015) to the critical analysis of existing information responses to diversity in the organizations where students worked or volunteered. these thoughtful pieces propose a range of strategies that advance cultural competence, inclusion, and effective leadership in the diverse workforce environment (gay, 2018). the insightful evaluations include a variety of existing information responses (e.g., collections, services, programs, resources, policies, and best practices) to ensure the equality-equity of representation, inclusion of underserved populations, access, and the information use of diverse stakeholders in a community-centered organizational setting of choice. as part of the coursework, acting as reflective practitioners (schon, 1984), all students in class developed a strategic diversity action plan for their chosen information organization, identified future directions of progressive growth and professional practice, and created a diversity & inclusion eportfolio (d&i-ep) using wordpress. this eportfolio publicly represented their analysis while they were still in touch with their respective organizations (see http://inscdiversity.cci.utk.edu/). a combination of personal and work-related factors accounted for four students continuing to develop their projects beyond the course, ultimately turning them into publishable peer-reviewed articles. this issue of ijidi builds on these students’ articles that have been peer-reviewed and reworked for the general audience of ijidi readers. diversity and inclusion are an integral reality of the 21st century life experience. they are threads that weave the fabric of the world in which we live. we are all also part of diverse t http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://insc-diversity.cci.utk.edu/ http://insc-diversity.cci.utk.edu/ emerging voices in diversity and inclusion leadership the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ workforces and communities we engage. however, the lis profession has struggled with developing systematic and meaningful approaches to integrate cultural competence in leading our organizations to become more inclusive and respond effectively to the diverse challenges and opportunities available to us in our complex and interconnected society (jaeger, bertot, & subramaniam, 2013). similarly, there is a lack of solid, well-developed practice models in our fields related to diversity, inclusion, and assessment (jaeger, sarin, & peterson, 2015). the sdm provides one possible and systematic approach. it is operationalized in students’ critical theory-to-practice applications that not only integrate a social justice agenda in lis curricula but also advance diversity and inclusion as an instrument for promoting positive organizational change (mehra, rioux, & albright, 2009; rioux, 2010). the pedagogy of embedding sdm for developing a research-based and reflective organizational assessment of diversity and inclusion responses is focused, concrete, systematic, and intentional. as an applied example of “diversity by design” (dali & caidi, 2017), it provided an opportunity for emerging leaders working in information settings to contribute to both prof essional practice and the published body of scholarship, and to extend the relevance of classroom experiences into the workplace environment. the four articles included in the collection present a variety of information responses in different organizations, demonstrate the merit of classroom assignments for addressing reallife diversity questions, and strengthen diversity conversations between academia and the field of practice. based on education-field collaborations, they were successful because the authors and organizational contacts were involved in ongoing communication and because organizational collaborators saw value in the contribution of librarians-in-training to assess the state of diversity in their workplaces (mehra & elder, 2018). a spirit of inclusion appropriate for the discussion of diversity in workplaces was the connecting thread in the published works. laura e. smith’s article “diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state university’s archives of appalachia” holistically applies the sdm through a top-down approach in order to understand diversity and inclusion that impact the archives at both university and departmental levels; the article focuses on local/regional communities and lgbtq communities. the next contribution, entitled “an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion at a metropolitan library in the southeastern u.s.” by liz movius, is eye -opening in its analysis of information challenges experienced by this marginalized population; it discusses six action steps to foster inclusion for transgender and gender nonconforming individuals in an anonymized public library. joseph winberry’s article “shades of silver: applying the strategic diversity manifesto to tennessee’s knox county office on aging” creatively implements the sdm in a case study of a non-traditional aging service that meets the needs of the fast-growing population of older adults; it examines how this organization can extend its information outreach to include more diverse communities of seniors. the last but not least is olivia g. forehand’s timely piece entitled “efforts to overcome homelessness in the pruitt branch of the nashville public library,” which discusses how a small branch of a large public library addresses homelessness in its rural community and how it can improve its services to the homeless people. a few concluding thoughts on creating course experiences that provided students with opportunities to develop peer-reviewed articles on diversity and inclusion for this special issue (dow et al., 2015). the experience was challenging and exhilarating at once for both the students and myself. a major challenge was the structure of assignments and the pressure of semester deadlines vis-a-vis ijidi submission deadlines. on my end, it involved difficult decision making about selecting the course content (what to include and what to leave out) 10 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, emerging voices in diversity and inclusion leadership the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ given that the coverage of diversity and inclusion topics is so scarce across the board (kumasi & manlove, 2015). on the students’ end, there was a significant expectation for producing tangible results, be it d&i-ep (for all) and/or manuscripts for publication. that is in addition to ensuring effective communication between the students and the organizations they worked with; dealing with apprehension, reservations, and anxieties related to developing a publishable product for the first time; and so on. significant positive factors included student enthusiasm and drive to learn and apply diversity and inclusion content to improve the work environments and public domain reports that showed accountability for their work and proposed actions. they sharpened their lens of critical analysis to deepen an understanding of the social, cultural, political, economic, and other historical dimensions of diversity and inclusion in the u.s. and of the problems, challenges, and opportunities unique to working with diverse populations in their localized community contexts (marcinkowski, 2016). the value of engagement was two -fold: it was a contributor to both students’ personal growth and organizational improvement, by way of rectifying the power differentials associated with the information creation and dissemination within organizations as they applied to diverse and/or underserved constituencies (turner & gorichanaz, 2016). this assignment was an important exercise in sharpening leadership skills and integrating community engagement, social justice, activism, and human resource management to further diversity concerns and inclusion in the contexts outside of stud ents’ immediate milieu (mehra, 2015). a much appreciated partnership with ijidi has proven invaluable in giving students a chance to have their experiential work on diversity and inclusion published through a peer -reviewed venue. nicole a. cooke’s information services to diverse populations: developing culturally competent library professionals (2017), as required course text, served as an excellent primer and guide for creating a “safe space” learning environment for students; it enabled them to engage in difficult conversations surrounding diversity and inclusion based on their experiences in their personal, professional, and/or community-embedded workplaces. the generosity of anonymous reviewers in providing timely and extended feedback on student work w as humbling. reflections gathered in the process of making the lis classroom relevant to mobilizing greater community impact will shape my continued pedagogical practices. i hope that insights raised in this issue will help ijidi readers to think about their own teaching and mentoring as well. the types of engaged scholarship that draw connections from research to teaching to service (and their multidirectional intersections) will stay with me for years to come and serve as a guide in my future leadership roles. experiential and embedded learning and mentoring, such as this one, presents important opportunities for faculty members to promote and build community around diversity and inclusion, community engagement, and social justice initiatives as part of the pedagogy and practice of our field. references cooke, n. a. (2017). information services to diverse populations: developing culturally competent library professionals. santa barbara, ca: libraries unlimited. dali, k., and caidi, n. (2017). diversity by design. library quarterly, 87(2), 88-98. 11 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, emerging voices in diversity and inclusion leadership the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ dow, m. j., boettcher, c. a., diego, j. f., karch, m. e., todd-diaz, a., and woods, k. m. (2015). case-based learning as pedagogy for teaching information ethics based on the dervin sense-making methodology. journal of the association for information science and technology, 56(2), 141-157. gay, g. (2018). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). new york: teachers college press. jaeger, p. t., bertot, j. c., and subramaniam, m. (2013). preparing future librarians to effectively serve their communities. library quarterly, 83(3), 243-248. jaeger, p. t., sarin, l., and peterson, k. j. (2015). diversity, inclusion, and library and information science: an ongoing imperative (or why we still desperately need to have discussions about diversity and inclusion). library quarterly, 85(2), 127-132. kumasi, k. d., and manlove, n. l. (2015). finding "diversity levers" in the core library and information science curriculum: a social justice imperative. library trends, 64(2), 415443. marcinkowski, m. (2016). data, ideology, and the developing critical program of social informatics. journal of the association for information science and technology, 67(5), 1266-1275. mehra, b. (issue editor). (2015). introduction. library trends, 64(2), 179-197. mehra, b., and davis, r. (2015). a strategic diversity manifesto for public libraries in the 21st century. new library world, 116(1/2), 15-36. mehra, b., and elder, a. (2018). benefits to collection development librarians from collaborating with “community-embedded” librarians-in-training. collection management, 43(2), 120-137. mehra, b., rioux, k. s., & albright, k. s. (2009). social justice in library and information science. in m. j. bates & m. n. maack (eds.), encyclopedia of library and information sciences (pp. 4820-4836). new york: taylor & francis. rioux, k. (2010). metatheory in library and information science: a nascent social justice approach. journal of education for library & information science, 51(1), 9-17. schon, d. a. (1984). the reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. new york: basic books. turner, d., & gorichanaz, t. (2016). old skills and new practices mean radical change for library education. journal of education for library and information science, 57(3), 239-248. bharat mehra (bmehra@utk.edu) is professor in the school of information sciences at the university of tennessee. beginning january 2019, he has accepted an ebsco endowed chair and professorship in social justice at the university of alabama’s school of library and information 12 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, mailto:bmehra@utk.edu emerging voices in diversity and inclusion leadership the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ studies. dr. mehra’s research focuses on diversity and social justice in library and information science and community informatics or the use of information and communication technologies to empower minority and underserved populations to make meaningful changes in their everyday lives. he has applied action research to further engaged scholarship and community engagement while collaborating with racial/ethnic groups, international diaspora, sexual minorities, rural communities, low-income families, small businesses, and others, to represent their experiences and perspectives in the design of community-based information systems and services. 13 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38249 d a refocusing on the study of the gatekeepers among linguistic minorities, the case of spanish speakers in the united states: implications for the study of information behavior dr. mónica colón-aguirre, university of south carolina, usa abstract in library and information science (lis), the concept of gatekeeping warrants further exploration, especially due to the strong influence it can have on information behaviors of american minoritized communities. this work focuses specifically on spanish speakers living in the u.s. and how gatekeeping manifests in their information behaviors. this study employs conceptual analysis to explore the concept of gatekeeping in the lis literature focused solely on spanish speakers. metoyer-duran's (1991) taxonomy of gatekeepers in ethnolinguistic communities is the main conceptual framework applied to this research, contextualized by broader aspects and further definitions available in the literature. the relationship between information behaviors and gatekeepers used by spanish speakers is complicated by language and educational attainment. the studies analyzed indicate that organizations such as local health clinics, houses of worship, latin american stores, workplaces, and schools are common locations where spanish speakers go when they need information. however, personal social networks are still the primary way american spanish speakers obtain information. the use of libraries and the internet is limited within the american spanish speakers' infosphere. more research is needed, especially considering that even the term "spanish speakers" is too broad to represent a u.s. population that may come from more than 18 countries that use spanish as a first language. keywords: access to information; ethnicity; gatekeeping; information barriers; information source publication type: research article introduction espite being a motif within the narrative of library and information science (lis) worldwide, the concept of gatekeeping has not been fully explored in the library and information science (lis) literature. gatekeeping still warrants further exploration as a concept, especially due to its strong influence on various groups' information behaviors. it is important to remember that human information behavior refers to activities around information that go beyond seeking books or media and includes aspects such as unintentional information seeking, passive information seeking, and avoiding information (case, 2007). the identification of gatekeepers and their possible role in information dissemination, control, and availability, has plenty of areas ripe for exploration and have multiple possible connections 39 a refocusing on the study of the gatekeepers among linguistic minorities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38249 to the study of information behaviors. the gatekeepers' role is particularly meaningful when looking at information behaviors and gatekeeping within societal networks. this topic counts a select body of well-articulated and thorough studies (barzilai-nahon, 2008; haas, 2015; navarro et al., 2020) but remains primarily underdeveloped, with the most recent literature focusing on gatekeeping and computer networks (bandy & diakopoulos, 2020; thorson & wells, 2016). this work will focus on the specific lis literature that explores how spanish speakers living in the u.s. experience various aspects of gatekeeping as the practice manifests in their information behaviors while interacting in their personal social networks. despite the significant number of spanish speakers currently living in the u.s., lis research focusing on this population is still scant. this situation is problematic in many ways, especially since the group is a minoritized and marginalized community that has faced systemic exclusion throughout u.s. history. indeed, at both the federal and state levels, many policies evidence that this problem has historical roots that span a range of egregious humanitarian violations. for example, humanitarian constrictions ranging from the seizing of latinx-owned lands by the american government during the 18th and 19th centuries to current-day enforcement of english-only policies and blocking legal entry across borders, cement the view that spanish speakers are an unwelcomed foreign population, rather than being bona fide american citizens spanning generations (arana, 2019). currently, in the u.s., spanish speakers face all types of discrimination and marginalization, which have had a detrimental effect on the health and well-being of the members of this community. generally, there is a significant wealth gap between whites and minoritized groups in the u.s., including whites being more highly educated, having higher incomes, and receiving considerably larger inheritances (thompson & suarez, 2015). these factors can be traced back to a history of systemic racism and marginalization, which left spanish speakers vulnerable in all aspects of day-to-day american life. for example, studies related to education have demonstrated that spanish-speaking students throughout the u.s. public school system face limited access to college-level courses while tolerating xenophobic labeling by peers and teachers (stromquist, 2012). these kinds of social harms affect students' self-esteem and reduce their chances of accessing higher education (stromquist, 2012). in terms of healthcare, studies demonstrate that american spanish speakers are more likely to be uninsured (harrell & carrasquillo, 2003) and face shorter lifespans than their white counterparts (paz & massey, 2016). additionally, spanish speakers in america experience higher rates of illnesses such as type-2 diabetes (amirehsani, 2010), drug overdose mortality (cano & gelpí-acosta, 2021), and higher breast cancer mortality (boone et al., 2014). even within the lis field, the spanish-speaking american population has endured a lack of theoretical and pragmatic consideration. however, within lis, a more nuanced study of the various ethnic, racial, and national identities of spanish speakers as a collective group will not be possible until a broader definition of the community is addressed. thus, this work focuses on a general definition of the spanish-speaking community and how that definition is represented in lis literature. to better understand how information practices impact community identity within the american spanish-speaking population, the main question guiding this research is: how does personal social network gatekeeping influence the information behaviors of spanish speakers living in the united states? 40 a refocusing on the study of the gatekeepers among linguistic minorities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38249 literature review the case of spanish speakers in the united states despite the many challenges faced, spanish speakers are one of the largest demographic groups in the united states, second only to whites. the u.s. census bureau includes this group in their categorization of hispanic or latino, and—as per the 2020 census—the population has surpassed the 60 million mark (noe-bustamante et al., 2020). additionally, the american spanish-speaking population demonstrated significant growth during the last ten years. in the latest census report, the hispanic or latino population grew by 23%, compared to the rest of the american population, which only presented a 4.3% growth since 2010 (u.s. census bureau, 2022). although these numbers are not entirely accurate and may present a bias due to the admitted undercounting of racial and ethnic minorities in the 2020 census (wines & cramer, 2022), it is still a relevant trend demonstrating significant growth even after being undercounted. despite these significant numbers and steady growth in representation in the u.s. population, studies explicitly related to the information-seeking behaviors of american spanish speakers in the lis literature are scarce. any consideration of the spanish-speaking population in the u.s. must account for the fact that their significant demographic has been historically accompanied by various movements to control or exclude this population from political and civic representation. as a group, american spanish speakers are still underrepresented politically. for example, the 2020 u.s. presidential election witnessed a significant increase in voter registration among this group (gamboa, 2021). overall, 53.7% of the latinx population voted, which means that although there was a significant increase among those who registered to vote (18 million), only half of those who could vote did so. also, voter turnout in presidential elections is not the only issue to consider when evaluating spanish speaking latinx's lack of political representation. in 2018, about 6,700 of all local and federal elected officials in the u.s. were of latinx background, which accounts for only 1.2% of the total elected officials, according to a report by the national association of latino elected and appointed officials (naleo) (náñez, 2020). in addition to their numerical presence, the american spanish-speaking population is of particular interest here since they are less likely to learn english than other migrant groups, mainly due to a trend toward living in ethnic enclaves in cities around the united states (massey, 1995). this linguistic position makes american spanish speakers more likely to depend on information gatekeepers from various contexts when accessing information. despite the limited number of studies in the lis literature that focus specifically on spanish speakers, there have been some sporadic efforts to study various aspects of information behavior in this broadly defined community, especially in the last two decades. any study of spanish speakers in the u.s. must start with acknowledging the possible limitations some members of this community face when they do not speak english, which is the mainstream language of america. this is especially important when considering access to and use of mainstream social services, including but not limited to education (especially for young children), health care, work, and navigating the migration process. procuring these services usually entails a series of interactions, which can be complicated by issues of migration status and english language proficiency. for many, the level of social information-seeking and gathering means the need to add intermediaries, also referred to as "gatekeepers." 41 a refocusing on the study of the gatekeepers among linguistic minorities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38249 gatekeepers in society gatekeepers, when seen from a social perspective, are people "…who control[s] a strategic portion of a channel and through filtering, link people to something 'outside'—whether that channel or thing 'outside' is for information, goods, news or [other] people" (lu, 2007, p. 108). it is essential to point out that while gatekeepers control access to resources valued by others, they typically do not own those resources (corra & willer, 2002). when it comes to information seeking behaviors, a gatekeeper can be characterized as "…a person who, through filtering, links people in a group to unfamiliar or unknown information resources [they] occupy or master" (lu, 2007, pp. 108-109). personal social networks are essential for information acquisition and lend themselves to the proliferation of gatekeepers. humans are predetermined to rely on others in their primary social groups to obtain information that might be as basic as developing attitudes and opinions (lu, 2007). lu defines the role of primary groups (or the formal and informal groups within which an individual forms their interpersonal networks and through which they perform their daily activities) in information acquisition in terms of accessibility and management of information overload. considering these ideas, the most accessible information will be favored; precious few information sources are more accessible than establishing oral communication and building relationships with other members of the primary social group. these individuals provide us with easily accessible and credible information, or more specifically, information that recipients deem as truthful and coming from an expert (lu, 2007). this is the case uncovered by agada (1999) in a study of inner-city gatekeepers. agada found that interpersonal sources of information were preferred among a group of gatekeepers operating in a predominantly african american neighborhood in milwaukee, wisconsin, u.s. according to lu (2007), providing customized answers is the main contribution of communication that adds value to the information received. this practice helps individuals circumvent the issue of information overload since our primary social groups provide us with information that has been processed, filtered, and digested. in this aspect, a community's social gatekeepers filter information and add value to information gathered, disseminated, and exchanged. in their function as a primary group, gatekeepers provide recipients with information, making knowledge more accessible and customized to people's information needs. relationships within primary social groups are complex, and therefore the concept of gatekeeping needs to be divided into various components to analyze the relationship between them. according to barzilai-nahon (2008), the main aspect of gatekeeping includes the concepts and functions of gate, gatekeeping and gated. barzilai-nahon characterizes gate as an "…entrance to or exit from a network or its sections." while gatekeeping is "…the process of controlling information as it moves through the gate," and the gated refers to "…the entity subjected to gatekeeping" (barzilai-nahon, 2008, p. 1496). although barzilai-nahon's definition of the gated has a specific connotation of lack of power, the author points out that the gated are often bound to gatekeeping by their own free will. therefore, any analysis of gatekeeping needs to consider that, although some relationships among gatekeepers and the gated inherently represent a relative power differential among parties, in some cases, the relationship is one borne out of convenience and not out of necessity. 42 a refocusing on the study of the gatekeepers among linguistic minorities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38249 savolainen (2020) suggests that the idea of expert power mediates the relationship between the gatekeeper and the gated. the gatekeeper possesses or is believed to possess superior knowledge and skills that influence the way they control, facilitate, or filter access to information that they disseminate to the gated. this characterization is notable since it focuses on french and raven's (1959) typology of power, in which expert power is defined as that which derives from an individual's skills or expertise (savolainen, 2020). this focus can be contrasted with metoyer-duran's (1991) taxonomy of gatekeepers in ethnolinguistic communities. in this taxonomy, gatekeepers are specifically defined as those who help individuals gain access to the sources they need to solve problems and serve as information providers who move between cultures when linking people with these solutions (metoyer-duran, 1991). this taxonomy stems from the creation of a three-axis model. metoyer-duran (1991) produced specific gatekeeper profiles based on various categories or cognitive domains in their work. some of the most salient profiles that emerged from metoyer duran's work include the impeder and the broker. the impeder profile includes characteristics such as those with access to information sources who can selectively provide information to those who need it to influence decision-making at the individual and community level. impeders tend to insulate the gated from the larger society. the broker is defined as "facilitators who function in two cultures" (metoyer-duran, 1991, p. 335). their role is more of a connector to information and does not necessarily add value to the information they provide, even if they often interpret the information for the gated. an aspect that is of particular interest to this study is that in cases where the brokers are members of an ethnolinguistic community, they are often bilingual. a common example in the lis literature is chu's (1999) study of immigrant child mediators or those children who serve as interpreters to their foreign-born parents who do not speak the language of their host country. furthermore, some gatekeepers who can be classified as brokers have positions of status, which legitimizes their roles as gatekeepers. for example, professionals such as teachers and office workers (metoyer-duran, 1991) can be considered culturally certified gatekeepers because they reach their status as a by-product of cultural norms rather than by wielding power that stems from a more traditional locus such as expert power (lu, 2007; savolainen, 2020). it can be inferred that an individual with a certain profession, mastery of the dominant language, or access to a certain societal network will be perceived as "in the know" by those who do not share these characteristics. this kind of assumptive perception enables their role as a gatekeeper. method this study employs conceptual analysis to examine the various aspects of the gatekeeper phenomenon and how it manifests among spanish speakers living in the u.s. the work is specifically focused on this population since the literature available is limited. the issues identified in the literature have great transferability to other cultural groups, including other linguistic minorities in different geographical contexts, minoritized communities, and immigrant groups. the works included are peer-reviewed empirical studies and were located through searches on proprietary databases such as library and information science abstracts (lisa), library literature & information science full text, as well as google scholar. the researcher employed various 43 a refocusing on the study of the gatekeepers among linguistic minorities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38249 terms to describe spanish speakers, including "latin americans," "immigrants," "latinas," "latinx," and "hispanics." the main criterion for inclusion is that the work must focus mainly on spanish speakers, despite specific categorization or national origin. another important criterion for inclusion in this study is that the focus of the work must be exclusively on spanish speakers living in the united states. works that include samples from outside of the united states are not included in this analysis due to the potential to include sociopolitical variants stemming from the country's history and policies regarding their immigration systems. similarly, works that focus on college students are not included here since this body of work carries an implication of transientness of this population in that they will be expected to return to their countries of origin once their studies are finalized. for this purpose, the works include sample populations or focus populations described as, among other terms, "central americans", "hispanic", or "latinx". meanwhile, works using broader terms such as "immigrants," "lower-income," "minority," and "minoritized," but without categorization of which language they speak, which ethnic group they belong to, or a broader geographic dispersion of the countries of origin which moves it beyond spanish-speaking nations in latin america, are excluded. this delineation is necessary since the works using broader classifications for their participants include a wide variety of minoritized groups and did not consider linguistic aspects in their research, which are of central importance. these criteria uncovered a very limited body of work of about seven articles published throughout the last 16 years. the main conceptual framework applied to the works identified was metoyer-duran's (1991) taxonomy of gatekeepers in ethnolinguistic communities. results the locus of information exchange and the sources of information the works that addressed american spanish speakers' information behaviors did not focus on specific national origins but on the common latinx or hispanic identity among the participants. one specific piece focused on a migrant worker's identity (fisher et al., 2004). these works also tended to focus on the general identification of information behaviors, apart from a specific work that focuses on information-seeking behavior and another on using information and communication technologies (icts). most of the works were also contained to studying spanish speakers in a geographic context, including a region, a state and even a specific city. the main findings for most of the studies were presented in terms of where information is located and who are the sources of information, as well as possible barriers to information acquisition; these are summarized here. colón-aguirre and ceja alcalá (2022) explain that low literacy and the ability to speak standard english are factors of consideration when exploring the lived experiences of spanish speakers in the united states. their study of information behaviors of latinas living in boston, for example, uncovered that the participants perceived the inability to communicate in english significantly influenced their day-to-day information behaviors. some participants even pointed out the economic constraints brought on by their inability to communicate in standard english. participants in the same study depended heavily on their personal social information networks, including several community-based institutions. in terms of relationship-building as part of their information network, participants identified family members and other spanish speakers, 44 a refocusing on the study of the gatekeepers among linguistic minorities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38249 especially neighbors: these relationships were further defined by their familiarity status, being from the same country of origin (colón-aguirre & ceja alcalá, 2022). beyond their social circle, the women interviewed in this research indicated that a local health clinic was their main source of information and social connection for becoming aware of various services offered by different agencies and groups. the study contrasts that connection function with the isolation and general unhelpfulness of the local school system (colón-aguirre & ceja alcalá, 2022). the authors also explicitly mention how the participants in their study, although heavily dependent on gatekeepers due to their lack of proficiency with standard english, still managed to have most of their day-to-day information needs to be satisfied in spanish. the essential function of the spanish language as a significant influence on the information behaviors of research participants is a common thread in the literature focusing on spanish speakers. adkins and moulaison sandy (2018) also point out that the role of language in engaging non-english speaking immigrant populations with institutions is essential, especially in developing trust and providing relevant services. the authors highlight the role of gatekeepers for this community as one that goes beyond the communication of information, including expanding social networks that have the potential to maximize social capital (adkins & moulaison sandy, 2018). in a study focused on latinx living in the mid-west region of the united states, adkins et al. (2017) found that the primary information sources among this community included university extension departments, houses of worship, women's groups, latin-american stores, schools, spanish-language media (both television and the internet), libraries, and workplaces. the role of institutions such as university extension departments and workplaces is of particular interest in this study. in rural areas, the authors note that university extension departments offer immigrants information on topics relevant to their lives in their new setting, including child and adolescent development, community building, physical and mental health, and business development. workplaces are also essential since it is where the authors uncovered significant information exchanges taking place. this workplace information exchange focused on work-related safety and requirements, potential health hazards of certain chemicals, home remedies for muscle aches and injuries, the availability of other jobs, and the conditions in other cities or workplaces (adkins et al., 2017). other organizations mentioned by the authors, like houses of worship and schools, were locations where information was conveyed to non-english speakers regarding basic living accommodations and available resources. these loci go beyond the traditional ideas of spiritual expression and educational attainment assigned to these organizations. all these organizations were used more commonly than public libraries, which are the institutions that aim to provide and connect people to information. an earlier study by fisher et al. (2004) focused on the information grounds of hispanic workers in the yakima valley region located in the northwest of the continental united states. the study indicates that the primary sources of information this population consulted in their everyday lives were their personal networks, which were indicated by 71% of those studied. at the same time, the internet was a far second, being cited by 14% of the study's sample, while only 1% indicated an organization such as the library (fisher et al., 2004). the most cited reasons for using their chosen information source were reliability, ease of access, familiarity, and ease of use or communication. both adkins et al. (2017) and fisher et al. (2004) pointed out how 45 a refocusing on the study of the gatekeepers among linguistic minorities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38249 participants mainly mentioned churches, schools, and workplaces as locations where information was sought or exchanged. adkins and moulaison sandy (2020) further point out how the ties among the spanish-speaking immigrant community were typically place-based. their research found that the local latin american grocery store provided a meeting place and a network of users that enabled information exchanges. this was also the case in local catholic and protestant places of worship through spanish-speaking services and social gatherings. whereas these relationships were direct and focused on a specific meeting place, the participants' ties with english-speaking host communities were often more formal (adkins & moulaison sandy, 2020). in a study of health information-seeking behaviors among spanish speakers in the state of north carolina, yoo-lee et al. (2016) found that doctors (65%) were the most cited health information source, followed by friends and family (61.5 %), the internet (34.6 %), church or community organizations (26.9 %) and t.v. (23.1 %). here too, the primary information sources were dominated by social networks. the sample in this study represented a population of spanish speakers with higher educational attainment than those presented by other studies and a more focused type of information behavior, specifically related to health information seeking. however, this group also favored social interactions within a social network when it came to identifying information, this time in the form of an expert (e.g., doctors) and the primary social group members (e.g., friends/family). the low representation of organizations that specialize in information, as is the case of libraries, among spanish speakers is a common theme in most research published about this specific population (fisher et al., 2004; adkins et al., 2017; yoo-lee et al., 2016; colón-aguirre & ceja alcalá, 2022). even general population studies have demonstrated that spanish speakers, especially those born outside the continental united states, are less likely to use library services. however, they seem to value the services provided by these organizations (brown & lópez, 2015). connections and gatekeeping relationships the relationship between information behaviors and information use is a complex one. in the case of spanish speakers in the us., there are further complications due to the roles language and educational attainment play in accessing information, the availability of information sources, and the expertise of those consulted (colón-aguirre & ceja alcalá, 2019). for example, a study of information behaviors focused on health topics among spanish speakers found that online health information-seeking behaviors directly correlated with educational level, with those seeking health information online having a higher level of education (lee et al., 2014). an important consideration in most gatekeeping studies among american spanish speakers includes where information is sought, not just who provides the information. the studies analyzed herein indicate that local organizations such as health clinics (colón-aguirre & ceja alcalá, 2022), houses of worship, latin american stores, workplaces (fisher et al., 2014; atkins et al., 2017), and schools (atkins et al., 2017), are common locations where american spanish speakers go when they need information. this information web is a testament to this population's heavy reliance on personal networks rather than electronic resources when locating information. the intensity of the reliance on retrieving information from local resources seems related to educational level (lee et al., 2014). 46 a refocusing on the study of the gatekeepers among linguistic minorities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38249 the role of the internet on information behaviors among spanish speakers in the u.s. is also limited or not yet developed in the existing literature. still, it is not the only resource not mentioned by american spanish speakers, even though it is widely mentioned by other demographic groups in the general population (horrigan, 2015). the same issue is noted in the literature about the use of libraries. not using the library but relying on others, either experts such as doctors (yoo-lee et al., 2016), non-experts like family members (colón-aguirre & ceja alcalá, 2022), or organizations like university extension departments (atkins et al., 2017) and houses of worship (fisher et al., 2004; atkins et al., 2017), as well as the limited mentions of sources such as mass media (especially t.v. and radio), might be a sign that the american spanish-speaking population trusts the information their gatekeepers provide them, or that they value convenience over the accuracy of information. furthermore, the use of information and communication technologies (icts) among spanish speakers was mainly relegated to establishing communication with others rather than as a way to consult sources using the internet, as pointed out by adkins and moulaison sandy (2020). in addition to the locations where information is sought, the published literature seems to provide clear indications of both information impeders and information brokers, as metoyer duran (1991) described. in this aspect, family members and neighbors who are also spanish speakers and mostly come from the same country of origin are trusted sources of information that put the participants in touch with agencies that can aid in their settling in their new host country (colón-aguirre & ceja alcalá, 2022). colón-aguirre and ceja alcalá's research also reveals that spanish speakers' information-seeking behaviors involve them having some knowledge of and trust in information brokers since the organizations where information is sought are also organizations where individuals who possess a trusted social status and high cultural capital are employed. that is the case with schools and health clinics. the studies hinted at information impeders as well. in this case, institutions such as local school systems did not consider the needs of families when assigning children to specific schools (colón aguirre & ceja alcalá, 2022). this type of information gatekeeping is not broadly studied in lis literature. most of the studies available focus on identifying information needs and sources of information. conclusion analysis of the published literature indicates that gatekeepers are common and play a significant role in the information behaviors of spanish speakers living in the u.s. this role is made more prevalent by the population's language limitations and by factors such as lower academic achievement, which characterized most of the samples of the published studies. barzilai-nahon (2008) pointed out that the literature also indicates many cases in which the relationship between gatekeeping and the gated was borne out of convenience and not exclusively out of need. preferences such as talking to experts (e.g., doctors), and family members or neighbors, were represented in the literature. however, there is also evidence that the relationship with gatekeepers is born from a need to make day-to-day existence possible in their host country for some spanish speakers. in these aspects, it can be surmised that the evidence in the literature regarding the influence of gatekeepers on the information behaviors of spanish speakers in the u.s. is inconclusive. thus, more studies need to be conducted to clarify and expand on this phenomenon. limitations and future research 47 a refocusing on the study of the gatekeepers among linguistic minorities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38249 this study, as with any research endeavor, encountered some limitations. the most prevalent issue was the low number of publications addressing the specific population identified. future research must address this gap to include the large spanish-speaking american population while recognizing the diversity of this group within the current lis discourse. case in point, most lis studies identify participants as "latinx," "hispanics," or "latin-americans" when referring to american spanish speakers. even though such specificity considers the fact that the use of the term "spanish speakers" is a more specific term, this still does not recognize that spanish is the official language of at least 18 countries worldwide, most of which are located in the americas (posner & sala, n.d.). each of these countries has a distinctive history and culture and its own relationship with the u.s. historical and cultural factors such as migration status, familiarity with the english language, and the availability of social networks may impact and even trigger when and how migration to the u.s. takes place. therefore, future studies of spanish speakers living in the u.s. need to consider the national origins of the participants as a critical, influential factor. the way in which the american spanish-speaking population is defined is not the only factor that future studies must consider. in general, the topic needs to be refocused and broadened in terms of considerations regarding the differences between first-generation and second-generation migrants, non-citizens versus citizens, as well as socioeconomic indicators such as educational attainment, profession, and english-language proficiency. these aspects seem to play a role in how spanish speakers relate to information, which information sources they consult, their specific information needs, and how those are addressed. nevertheless, the far-ranging infosphere of the american spanish-speaking population has received very little consideration in the available lis literature. the only research piece identified in this work that considered the various socio-cultural information-based factors of the american spanish-speaking population was colón-aguirre and ceja alcalá's (2020) creation of personal profiles of latinx living in boston. the article is of limited relevance and application to this work due to its strong leaning towards practical applications. still, colón-aguirre and ceja alcalá's research is a contribution that may provide useful information for lis practitioners who consider working with spanish-speaking populations in the u.s. unlike the work of metoyer-duran (1991; 1993), most of the work identifying potential gatekeepers among various minoritized communities has focused on the agencies which serve these groups rather than on the community members themselves, who might be characterized as gatekeepers by virtue of placing their attitudes and positions in various typologies, including that by metoyer-duran (1991). explorations of this type, which investigate specific members of a community to identify them as potential gatekeepers and the type of gatekeeping they enact upon others, are needed to advance understanding of not only the role of the gatekeepers in passing accurate and needed information to those who seek it but also in identifying potential origins of misinformation and disinformation. the topic of gatekeepers in spanish-speaking communities in the u.s. still has the opportunity for further development. it should be advanced mainly due to its broader applications and the potential for great transferability, especially when considering that many countries around the world have significant populations who do not speak the mainstream language of their host nation. this is especially the case for migrants and refugees but extends to local linguistic minorities as well. this research demonstrates the insufficiency of existing literature in advancing our understanding of information behaviors, environments, and dynamics around information-based events experienced by spanish speakers living in the u.s. developing more work in this area is an 48 a refocusing on the study of the gatekeepers among linguistic minorities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38249 essential parting point if the goal is to create services and programs which responds to the need of this significant minority in the country. as presented here, the number of spanish-speaking latinx in the u.s. is significant. still, the population also faces major challenges in attaining various markers of a high quality of life in the country. in this aspect, many spanish speakers face multiple challenges on the education, health, and financial fronts. many of these issues are information-related, especially regarding access and available sources of information. any interventions or initiatives that the lis field can provide specifically directed at spanish speakers, and any linguistic minority in the country for that matter, must be rooted in a genuine acknowledgement of the systemic challenges faced by these individuals. this enhanced level of consideration necessitates a more nuanced exploration based on the role of gatekeepers among various groups of spanish speakers, including a more granular approach to research participants' backgrounds and the way in which they identify in terms of various national origins, their migration status, socioeconomic status, and racial identity. in addition, future works need to explore the differences between gatekeepers as individuals and when institutions serve as gatekeepers. as indicated in this work, these differences have not been addressed yet in the literature in the field. references adkins, d., & moulaison sandy, h. (2018). engaging linguistically diverse populations: gatekeepers in rural and sparsely populated areas of the u.s. midwest. the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi), 2(1/2), 32-51. https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v2i1/2.32210 adkins, d., & moulaison sandy, h. (2020). information behavior and ict use of latina immigrants to the u.s. midwest. information processing & management: an international journal, 57(3), 14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2019.102072 adkins, d., moulaison sandy, h., & derpic, j. (2017). information sources of latin american immigrants in the rural midwest in the trump era. the library quarterly, 87(3), 243 256. https://doi.org/10.1086/692301 agada, j. (1999). inner‐city gatekeepers: an exploratory survey of their information use environment. journal of the american society for information science, 50(1), 74-85. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1097-4571(1999)50:1%3c74::aid-asi9%3e3.0. c.o.;2-f amirehsani, k. a. 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(2021). drug overdose mortality among stateside puerto ricans: evidence of a health disparity. the international journal on drug policy, 90, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.103079 case, d. o. (2007). looking for information: a survey of research on information seeking, needs, and behavior. (2nd ed.). elsevier. chu, c. m. (1999). immigrant children mediators (icm): bridging the literacy gap in immigrant communities. new review of children's literature & librarianship, 5(1), 85-94. https://doi.org/10.1080/13614549909510616 colón-aguirre, m., & alcalá, j. c. (2019). latinxs finding informaxion in boston (latinxs buscando informaxion en boston). ideals. retrieved from https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/112434 colón-aguirre, m., & ceja alcalá, j. (2020). persona profiles of latinx living in boston: applications for information organizations. proceedings of the association for information science and technology, 57(1), e249. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.249 colón-aguirre, m., & ceja alcalá, j. (2022). everyday information practices of latinas living in boston. in b. mehra (ed.), social justice design and implementation in library and information science (pp. 116-132). routledge. corra, m., & willer, d. (2002). the gatekeeper. sociological theory, 20(2), 180-207. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9558.00158 fisher, k. e., marcoux, e., miller, l. s., sánchez, a., & cunningham, e. r. (2004). information behaviour of migrant hispanic farm workers and their families in the pacific northwest. information research, 10(1). http://informationr.net/ir/10 1/paper199.html french, j. r. p., & raven, b. (1959). the basis of social power. in d. cartwright (ed.), studies in social power (pp. 529-69). university of michigan press. http://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2015/03/17/public-libraries-and-hispanics/ http://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2015/03/17/public-libraries-and-hispanics/ http://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/112434 http://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/112434 http://informationr.net/ir/1050 a refocusing on the study of the gatekeepers among linguistic minorities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38249 gamboa, s. (2021, may 11). over half of eligible latinos voted in 2020 — a historic first. nbc news. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/half-eligible-latinos-voted-2020 historic-first-rcna899 haas, a. (2015). crowding at the frontier: boundary spanners, gatekeepers and knowledge brokers. journal of knowledge management, 19(5), 1029-1047. https://doi.org/10.1108/jkm-01-2015-0036 harrell, j., & carrasquillo, o. (2003). the latino disparity in health coverage. journal of the american medical association, 289(9), 1167-1167. http://doi.org/10.1001/jama.289.9.1167 horrigan, j. b. (2015). libraries at the crossroads: the public is interested in new services and thinks libraries are important to communities. pew research center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2015/09/15/libraries-at-the-crossroads/ lee, y. j., boden-albala, b., larson, e., wilcox, a., & bakken, s. (2014). online health information seeking behaviors of hispanics in new york city: a community-based cross-sectional study. journal of medical internet research, 16(7), e3499, 13. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.3499 lu, y. (2007, march). the human in human information acquisition: understanding gatekeeping and proposing new directions in scholarship. library & information science research, 29(1), 103-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2006.10.007 massey, d. s. (1995). the new immigration and ethnicity in the united states. population and development review, 21(3), 631-652. https://doi.org/10.2307/2137753 metoyer-duran, c. (1991). information-seeking behavior of gatekeepers in ethnolinguistic communities: overview of a taxonomy. library and information science research, 13(4), 319-346. metoyer-duran, c. (1993). information gatekeepers. annual review of information science and technology (arist), 28, 111-150. náñez, d. (2020, january 6). latinos make up only 1% of all local and federal elected officials, and that's a big problem. usa today. https://www.usatoday.com/in depth/news/nation/2020/01/06/aoc-julian-castro-underrepresented-hispanics-aim change-politics/4253316002/ navarro, c., moreno, a., molleda, j. c., khalil, n., & verhoeven, p. (2020). the challenge of new gatekeepers for public relations. a comparative analysis of the role of social media influencers for european and latin american professionals. public relations review, 46(2), 101881. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2020.101881 noe-bustamante, l., lopez, m. h., & krogstad, j. m. (2020). u.s. hispanic population surpassed 60 million in 2019, but growth has slowed. the pew research center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/07/u-s-hispanic-population surpassed-60-million-in-2019-but-growth-has-slowed/ http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/half-eligible-latinos-voted-2020http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/half-eligible-latinos-voted-2020http://doi.org/10.1001/jama.289.9.1167 http://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2015/09/15/libraries-at-the-crossroads/ http://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2015/09/15/libraries-at-the-crossroads/ http://www.usatoday.com/inhttp://www.usatoday.com/inhttp://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/07/u-s-hispanic-populationhttp://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/07/u-s-hispanic-population51 a refocusing on the study of the gatekeepers among linguistic minorities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38249 paz, k., & massey, k. p. (2016). health disparity among latina women: comparison with non-latina women. clinical medicine insights. women's health, 9(suppl 1), 71-74. https://doi.org/10.4137/cmwh.s38488 posner, r., & sala, m. (n. d.). spanish language. encyclopedia britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/spanish-language savolainen, r. (2020). manifestations of expert power in gatekeeping: a conceptual study. journal of documentation, 76(6), 1215-1232. https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-01 2020-0010 stromquist, n. p. (2012). the educational experience of hispanic immigrants in the united states: integration through marginalization. race ethnicity and education, 15(2), 195-221. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2011.578125 thompson, j. p., & suarez, g. a. (2015, 22 august). exploring the racial wealth gap using the survey of consumer finances. feds working paper no. 2015-076. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2665627 thorson, k., & wells, c. (2016). curated flows: a framework for mapping media exposure in the digital age. communication theory, 26(3), 309-328. u. s. census bureau. (2020). 2020 census illuminates racial and ethnic composition of the country. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html wines, m., & cramer, m. (2022, march 10). 2020 census undercounted hispanic, black and native american residents. the new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/us/census-undercounted-population.html yoo-lee, e., rhodes, t., & peterson, g. m. (2016). hispanics and public libraries: assessing their health information seeking behaviors in the e-health environment. reference services review, 44(2), 85-99. https://doi.org/10.1108/rsr-02-2016-0015 dr. mónica colón-aguirre (colonagm@mailbox.sc.edu) is an assistant professor at the university of south carolina, school of information science. she is a recipient of the spectrum doctoral fellowship (2008) and has more than ten years of experience as an instructor and researcher. her areas of research include academic libraries, library, management, user services, services for underserved populations, and information behaviors of spanish speakers. before she became a faculty member, she worked in libraries both in the continental united states and in her native puerto rico. http://www.britannica.com/topic/spanish-language http://www.britannica.com/topic/spanish-language http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2665627 http://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicityhttp://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicityhttp://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/us/census-undercounted-population.html http://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/us/census-undercounted-population.html efforts to overcome homelessness in the pruitt branch of the nashville public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ efforts to overcome homelessness in the pruitt branch of the nashville public library olivia g. forehand, university of tennessee, knoxville, usa abstract in this article, the author analyzes the services and resources made available to patrons who are experiencing homelessness within the surrounding area of the nashville public library’s pruitt branch in south nashville, tennessee. utilizing a framework composed of elements regarding information sources, organizational planning, and connections made with internal and external organizations, the author researched the services offered to patrons experiencing homelessness to determine any areas for improvement via the nashville public library’s main website. then, a strategic action plan composed of four steps was developed for how this branch can improve its future services for the population of patrons who are experiencing poverty and/or homelessness. these four steps are to: 1) collect patron feedback regarding what services the library is currently offering and what future changes they would like to see made. 2) make information about the library’s diversity committee more publicly accessible. 3) prioritize meeting objectives directly related to the subject of homelessness. 4) create more programming focused on helping patrons who are experiencing homelessness. keywords: diversity and inclusion; homelessness; programs; public libraries; resources and services publication type: research article introduction he american library association (ala, 2010) recognizes that people experiencing homelessness make up a large portion of public library users. public libraries are one of the few places they can go to both seek shelter and access the information and services they need (mars, 2013). for example, public libraries offer high-speed internet access as an important service that is valuable to people who may have difficulties accessing such services elsewhere (kelley, 2013). access to computers and the internet is becoming a requirement to stay abreast of the changes in our increasingly digital world (kelley, 2013). public libraries are uniquely positioned to offer more than just this invaluable access to the internet; they offer additional assistance to people experiencing homelessness outside of answering reference questions and recommending books to read. as community referral agencies, these libraries are able to offer information about social services and additional resources to aid patrons experiencing homelessness outside the context of the library (mars, 2013). this article focuses on how the pruitt branch of the nashville public library provides a variety of traditional and non-traditional services and addresses subjects related to homelessness in its community. by applying the strategic diversity manifesto (sdm) introduced by mehra and davis (2015) to the pruitt branch library and utilizing their strategy of researching library websites to t http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ efforts to overcome homelessness the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ discover the responses to diverse communities, the pruitt branch’s current offerings and responses to patrons who are experiencing homelessness are analyzed and a strategic action plan for how the library can improve its services to this population is proposed. the context environment and setting the area in which the pruitt branch of the nashville public library is located is in south nashville in tennessee. it is situated near two public housing projects: the sudekum apartments and the j.c. napier homes. according to the nashville public library facilities master plan 2015-2040 (nashville public library, 2016), the pruitt branch is located in what is referred to as the central quadrant, which “contains the greatest proportion of impoverished and lower-income residents of nashville, and many of its people suffer from the digital divide and a similar transportation divide” (p. 16). according to county health rankings (2017), 27% of children in davidson county (where the library is located) live below the poverty line. it has been found that “childhood experiences... have a tremendous impact on future violence victimization and perpetration, and lifelong health and opportunity... adverse childhood experiences (aces) have been linked to: risky health behaviors, chronic health conditions, low life potential, and early death” (centers for disease control and prevention, 2016, para. 1-2). children in low-income households are likely to feel the effects of this poverty throughout the rest of their lives. while the specific area surrounding the pruitt branch has its weaknesses, the city of nashville has many strengths when it comes to helping combat the threats faced by this segment of the population. there are several local organizations whose purpose is to assist those in poverty, including open table nashville and the nashville food project. open table nashville is a nonprofit organization that “disrupts cycles of poverty, journeys with the marginalized and provides education about issues of homelessness” (open table nashville, n.d.-a). the nashville food project is a nonprofit organization that “embraces a vision of vibrant community food security in which everyone in nashville has access to the food they want and need through a just and sustainable food system” (nashville food project, n.d.). there are many opportunities for growth in nashville, specifically in the neighborhood that houses the pruitt branch library. while the previously mentioned organizations do provide aid to nashville as a whole, the residents of the neighborhood could benefit from more localized assistance. community and user profile the community of davidson county, where nashville is located, is more diverse than the state of tennessee as a whole. davidson county residents are 65.2% white, 28.1% black, and 10.1% hispanic or latino (u.s. census bureau, n.d.). the percentages of tennesseans as a whole are 78.7% white, 17.1% black, and 5.2% hispanic or latino (u.s. census bureau, n.d.). davidson county varies from the state of tennessee in its economic statistics as well. about 18% of people in the specific 37210 zip code, where the pruitt branch library is located, live in poverty; this is higher than the rest of davidson county, where the percentage is 15.1%, and of the entire state of tennessee, which has 15.8% of people living in poverty (u.s. census bureau, n.d.). according to the claritas (2018) my best segments website, the largest individual segment of people who live in the 37210 zip code fall into the low household income range of less than $25,000 us per year. 73 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ efforts to overcome homelessness the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the population of the pruitt branch’s surrounding region in the central quadrant is not likely to grow in the coming years, as the area is urban and already developed (nashville public library, 2016, pp. 16-17). with the growth of nashville as a whole, however, gentrification is expected to spread to south nashville and alter the demographics of the area, which could potentially alter the programming and services that the library offers as it grows and changes with its community (p. 17). agency profile the pruitt branch of the nashville public library contains a total of 12,210 square feet including its main area, a public computer room, small meeting rooms, and a large theater-like meeting space (nashville public library, 2016, p. 10). the branch offers roughly 16 programs a month with wide-ranging topics that include fitness, crafts, languages, religion, and politics (nashville public library, 2018). patrons primarily come to this library “to get help with homework, tutoring in adult literacy, and to use the computers” and this branch relies heavily on volunteers to help in all areas and with both children and adult patrons (nashville public library, n.d.-i). the nashville public library system is made up of 21 branches across davidson county (nashville public library, 2016, p. 4). the mission of the library system is to “inspire reading, advance learning, and connect our community” (nashville public library, n.d.-a, para. 1) and its vision strives for “all members of our diverse community to be empowered through limitless learning opportunities to enrich their lives” (nashville public library, n.d.-c, p. 1). each branch shares this mission and vision. the nashville public library acknowledges that since each branch is located in a specific community within the nashville area, a one-size-fits-all policy is not appropriate when serving its diverse neighborhoods and their varying needs. in the library’s collection development policy, emphasis is placed on “the interests and needs of the actual and potential users of the branch” in that they “are continually evaluated so that each library has a collection reflecting the community that it serves... branch collections are designed to serve the current, high interest needs of library patrons” (nashville public library, n.d.-c, p. 2). similarly, each branch has different services and programs that are suited to the needs of the patrons of the area in which they are located. while the nashville public library system as a whole offers many services and resources to those patrons who are experiencing poverty or homelessness, the degree to which these problems are addressed varies between the system’s branches. the main library, located on church street in downtown nashville, offers the most programs and services for this population (nashville public library, 2018). this is likely due to the large number of people experiencing homelessness who live across the street in the church street park and make use of the library every day. literature/scholarship review the u.s. department of housing and urban development (2017) defines the word homeless as describing “a person who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence” (p. 2). a person experiencing poverty has an annual income that falls below the poverty threshold, which is adjusted each year according to inflation (u.s. census bureau, 2017a). in 2017, the poverty threshold for a single individual under the age of 65 years was $12,752, for a two-person household under the age of 65 years was $16,414, and for two people with one related child was $16,895 (u.s. census bureau, 2017b). the ala (2007) emphasizes that poverty and homelessness 74 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ efforts to overcome homelessness the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ are conditions that people experience and should not become synonymous with the people themselves. the ala (2018) uses the phrase “persons experiencing homelessness” to describe this group of patrons, so this language is mirrored throughout this report. through the study of relevant literature on the topic of homelessness, it was found that many public libraries tend to treat people experiencing homelessness as “problem patrons,” creating policies that limit the ways of using the library that are deemed acceptable. in the article “homelessness and the ethics of information access,” bardoff (2015) explores the implications of creating library policies that single out patrons who are experiencing homelessness. these policies address behavior like loitering at the library, sleeping, washing one’s body or clothes in the bathroom, or otherwise using the library in an “incorrect” way. while it has largely been found to be legal to impose such behavioral policies, bardoff questions if it is ethical to do so, since these policies tend to unfairly target people who are experiencing homelessness. similarly, in the article “public libraries and difficulties with targeting the homeless,” muggleton (2013) rejects the idea that there should be a narrowly-defined acceptable way for patrons to use the library. he posits effective ways in which libraries can include people experiencing homelessness in their programs and services without oversimplifying this broad category of people and reducing individuals to negative stereotypes. namely, the author advises library staff to make it clear to patrons who are experiencing homelessness that all of the library’s resources and programs are for them, too, instead of creating homeless-specific programs, like movie nights, that unnecessarily put those patrons in a category of “other.” pressley’s (2017) article “public libraries, serious mental illness, and homelessness: a survey of public librarians” addresses the intersections of mental illness with homelessness. while 18.1% of u.s. adults are affected by mental illness, 50% of people experiencing homelessness have a mental illness. additionally, while only 4.2% of u.s. adults have what is considered a serious mental illness, which includes schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression, about 25% of people experiencing homelessness are affected by a serious mental illness (p. 61, p. 66). instead of perceiving this group of people as “problem patrons,” librarians should make efforts to provide the resources this group of patrons may need to move forward in their recovery. pressley (2017) describes how creating displays and providing information about mental illness helps destigmatize the topic and creates an environment where more people with different mental illnesses are willing to ask for the information they might need (p. 73). the literature on the subject of homelessness largely describes the need for compassion and empathy in public libraries. services and programs should be made available to aid this population; however, care should be taken to ensure that these patrons are not divided into a solitary group, but are included and embraced in all of the library’s operations. the strategic diversity manifesto: a brief analysis to evaluate the pruitt branch’s responses related to the subject of homelessness, mehra and davis’s (2015) sdm was applied to the library’s offerings. the sdm proposes a series of elements, or “what” components, that public libraries should exemplify in order to best embrace and represent the diversity within their communities. these elements are: collections and resources, information policy and planning, diversity committee and diversity representation, and internal and external connections (mehra & davis, 2015, p. 21). these categories encompass any centers, organizations, departments and offices, community engagement, and news and upcoming events within the library. mehra and davis (2015) suggest that libraries should offer resources, programs, and services to all diverse communities that fall in the range of each of these categories and 75 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ efforts to overcome homelessness the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ others. while providing offerings within each of these categories does not guarantee that a library is doing all it can to meet the needs of a diverse community, the sdm provides a first step to evaluating the responses of the library in regards to specific communities. methodology to collect information about the pruitt branch library for application of the sdm, the website of the nashville public library was analyzed. searches were performed using the website’s internal search system, and google searches were conducted pairing the term in question with “nashville public library.” the library’s online public access catalog was used to examine the relevant information on the subject of homelessness that is included in its collections (nashville public library, n.d.-b). observations were also made by the author, who worked at the pruitt branch library as a volunteer for a number of months preceding and during the time of the research being performed in spring 2018. additionally, feedback was gathered from staff members at the library, who will be identified through the use of pseudonyms to maintain anonymity. to complete this analysis, only the sources, policies, connections, and responses available to patrons at the pruitt branch specifically were taken into account. while the nashville public library system as a whole offers a variety of services to those experiencing homelessness and to diverse groups in general, fewer sources are available specifically at the pruitt location. for example, the main library offers a program entitled “coordinated entry system housing help,” where patrons can connect with agencies that offer housing assistance and other benefit resources; results such as these were not considered in the following analysis due to the difficulty patrons would experience attending programs at these more distant locations, despite the usefulness they might have for the patrons (nashville public library, n.d.-e). there is no website specific to the library’s branches, so the main site was utilized for searches. the ala (2012) reports that while people experiencing homelessness look for the same programs and materials as anyone else, some subjects of particular interest may include “health, mortgage or rental assistance, and applying for government benefits” (para. 4). the author paid particular attention to these subjects when examining the responses made available for the pruitt branch. responses to homelessness at the pruitt branch of the nashville public library a total of six of the seven “what” component elements introduced by mehra and davis (2015) were found to exist at the pruitt branch library. a checklist of these elements can be found in table 1. table 1. checklist of the “what” components available at the pruitt branch library pruitt branch library a.1 a.2 b.1 b.2 c.1 c.2 c.3 total homelessness x 6/7 note. a.1 = collections; a.2 = resources; b.1 = diversity committee; b.2 = diversity representation; c.1 = internal centers and organizations; c.2 = external community engagement; c.3 = news & events 76 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ efforts to overcome homelessness the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ table 2. responses related to homelessness in the pruitt branch library identifier name evidence a. information sources a.1 collections items about homelessness/homeless issues are available through the library catalog.1 a.2 resources pamphlet with helpful resources can be found at the front desk of the library. b. information policy and planning b.1 diversity committee equity, diversity, and inclusion committee exists to support the nashville public library’s vision and values to provide service to a diverse community. b.2 diversity representation n/a c. connections (internal and external) c.1 internal centers and organizations link to nashville helps can be found on the public computer start page. it is a project of the nashville public library’s adult literacy program, whose goal is to connect adults to the resources they need.2 c.2 external community engagement “where to turn in nashville” pamphlet available at the front desk; also available online.3 c.3 news & events free “summer lunch at the library” program for children and teens scheduled for july 5, 2017.4 note. 1 nashville public library, n.d.-b. 2 nashville public library, n.d.-g. 3 open table nashville, n.d.-b. 4 nashville public library, n.d.-e. table 2 shows the detailed findings of the “what” components regarding homelessness that are made available to patrons at the pruitt branch library. many materials that fall under mehra and davis’s (2015) first “what” component, collections (a.1), are available to patrons at the pruitt branch library, as they are not limited only to what is physically available at the branch at the time. any material available for checkout throughout the library system can be sent to any other branch by placing a hold on the item and specifying where the patron would like to pick the item up. this feature of the library could be better explained to patrons by staff. to find materials within the library catalog, the search terms “homeless,” “homelessness,” “public housing,” and “food stamps,” were used as examples of terms that might be used to find relevant information. system-wide, the library has holdings of 77 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ efforts to overcome homelessness the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ studies done about homelessness in america, autobiographies of people who had once been homeless, and more regarding this topic (nashville public library, n.d.-b). the second element related to information sources proposed by mehra and davis (2015) is resources (a.2), which include databases, indexes, and research guides. resources specifically for people who are experiencing homelessness were not found on the library’s website, but through personal correspondence with one of the library staff at the pruitt branch. through this source, the author learned that a pamphlet with relevant resources is made available at the front desk of the library, and is easily accessible to those who visit the library in person (a. jones, personal communication, february 6, 2018). this pamphlet is entitled “where to turn in nashville: a guide to finding help in tennessee.” this resource is discussed in more detail later, while addressing external connections. in regards to information policy and planning, the nashville public library does not include much information on its website. there is no information regarding a diversity committee specific to this branch or for the library system as a whole (b.1). however, upon discussion with an employee of the nashville public library, it was discovered that there is a system-wide equity, diversity, and inclusion committee which "will examine community needs in areas related to equity, diversity, and inclusion... this committee will make recommendations for action as they relate to accessibility, hospitality, awareness, and training throughout the library system and its policies/programs" (j. bennett, personal communication, july 20, 2018). there are two references to the word “diversity” in a somewhat official capacity on the website (b.2). first, the webpage discussing the nashville public library facilities master plan (n.d.-h) makes mention of “blossoming neighborhood diversity” as being a motivating factor for the creation of the plan (para. 2). however, diversity is not mentioned within the plan itself (nashville public library, 2016). second, the collection development policy refers to diversity multiple times. this policy cites the vision of the library as: “all members of our diverse community are empowered through limitless learning opportunities to enrich their lives” (nashville public library, n.d.-c, p.1). other mentions of the words “diverse” and “diversity” are made throughout the policy, acknowledging that patrons hold diverse viewpoints and that the materials included in the library’s collections must represent those diverse views (nashville public library, n.d.-c). internal and external connections, the last set of elements suggested by mehra and davis (2015), include centers, organizations, departments, and offices that may be internally accessible; community engagement, such as “connections to external community-based diversity agencies”; and news and upcoming events, which includes information about programming and other events (p. 21). regarding internal centers and organizations (c.1), the startup page that first appears when a patron accesses the internet from one of the public computers in the library contains a link to nashville helps, a project of the library’s adult literacy program. it is “a team of nonprofit organizations, educators, and other social service providers in the nashville area that can help connect adults to the resources they need” (nashville public library, n.d.-g, para. 1). by clicking on this link, the patron is taken to a page with information about nashville helps and a form that they can then fill out to select which services to which they want to be connected. there is a video included on the page with directions about how to fill out the form, and it is also mentioned that the only information required to be included in order for someone to be contacted is a phone number. once this form is submitted, the appropriate services are contacted by nashville helps, who then reach out to the patron directly to provide information about how they can be of service. 78 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ efforts to overcome homelessness the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ regarding external community engagement (c.2), the pruitt branch offers pamphlets at the front desk entitled “where to turn in nashville: a guide to finding help in tennessee.” this resource guide is “a publication of open table nashville in coordination with middle tennessee nonprofits” (open table nashville, n.d.-b, para. 1). this guide, available in print and online, contains contact information and website links for hundreds of resources in middle tennessee. some of the categories of resources include disability benefits, food stamps, mental health needs, social services, women’s health, and more (open table nashville, n.d.-c). the website also contains a schedule of days and locations where free meals are offered, and a list of helpful phone numbers like the nashville police non-emergency line, nashville mobile crisis, and the national sexual assault hotline. it was difficult to find a full range of news and upcoming events (c.3) that relate to homelessness on the nashville public library website, since only five months of the calendar are available to be viewed (nashville public library, n.d.-e). at the time of conducting this research on march 30, 2018, no future events regarding poverty or homelessness were on the calendar of the pruitt branch. however, upon examination of past events, a free “summer lunch at the library” program for children and teens was scheduled on july 5, 2017. this program would be beneficial to those experiencing homelessness whose children rely on free lunches during the school year, and who may go without lunch when not at school (nashville public library, n.d.-e). the mission of the nashville public library includes the idea of connecting the community, which can be interpreted as connecting people to the resources and information they need (nashville public library, n.d.-a). it can be concluded that the pruitt branch is making select efforts to accomplish this mission by offering many resources to people who are experiencing homelessness. additional steps that can be taken to further this mission and meet the expectations of people experiencing homelessness are discussed in the next section. moving forward (strategic action plan) based on the findings presented in this case assessment, it is the author’s opinion that there are four steps that can improve the pruitt branch’s responses related to homelessness. these actions take into account the data gathered from the nashville public library’s website, feedback from staff members, and the observations made by the author. 1. population needs assessment: first, it will be beneficial for the staff at the pruitt branch to reevaluate the needs of the community they serve. one step is to gather feedback from the library patrons themselves about what services the library is currently offering and what future changes they would like to be made. this feedback will inform the next steps to be taken at the library regarding what programs and services need to be implemented. the feedback will also be beneficial if staff must reallocate funds or address administration to ask for a larger budget (new mexico state library, n.d.). 2. mission/vision: the author, as a volunteer for two years at this branch and at others in the library system, was never aware of any committee focused on diversity in the library. additionally, much searching through the nashville public library website did not reveal the existence of such a committee; only through conversation with an employee of the nashville public library was mention made of npl’s equity, diversity, and inclusion committee. the pruitt branch, and the nashville public library system as a whole, would benefit from including information about the library’s diversity committee on the agency’s website. the nashville public library is making strides to serve diverse 79 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ efforts to overcome homelessness the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ populations more fully, so making information about these efforts more publicly accessible would help make it clear to people experiencing homelessness that the library is for them as well. 3. objectives: the ala policy manual (2010) has a section entitled “library services to the poor,” which includes a list of fifteen objectives that should be implemented in order to most effectively serve this segment of the community. it is the author’s opinion that the pruitt branch, and the nashville public library as a whole, should prioritize meeting more, if not all, of these objectives. some, like number 5: “promoting the incorporation of low-income programs and services into regular library budgets in all types of libraries, rather than the tendency to support these projects solely with ‘soft money’ like private or federal grants” and number 6: “promoting equity in funding adequate library services for poor people in terms of materials, facilities, and equipment” should be feasible for the pruitt branch to adopt (ala, 2010). the pruitt branch offers many educational programs, like classes on political systems and world religions (nashville public library, 2018). it is advisable for the library to reallocate some of the resources for these classes into regular programming to address the needs of people experiencing poverty and homelessness. 4. activities: taking into account both the feedback from pruitt staff and the observations of the author, it is also recommended that the pruitt branch create more programming focused on helping patrons who are experiencing poverty or homelessness. authorial observation has shown that basic computer classes would be beneficial to this group, because many patrons of the pruitt branch library need assistance with computer tasks such as creating documents in microsoft word and printing. these basic computer skills would provide the foundation for more advanced workforce development classes that the library is lacking, like classes or workshops assisting patrons with job searching and resume writing. through correspondence with a. jones, a staff member at the pruitt branch library, the author also determined that the patrons of this library will benefit from programs related to money management, health and wellness, and child care (personal communication, march 17, 2018). conclusion (projections) poverty is an ongoing issue in the u.s.; since 1964 the number of people experiencing poverty has fluctuated between 11% and 15% (university of california davis center for poverty research, 2017). in nashville, 70% of low-income renters are cost-burdened, meaning they pay more than 30% of their income on housing (nashville mayor’s office, 2017). the number of patrons experiencing homelessness who seek services from the nashville public library, and the pruitt branch specifically, do not appear to be diminishing; being physically situated near two public housing projects also ensures that many of the patrons of this branch will be experiencing these problems for the foreseeable future. it is important, then, that the pruitt branch is prepared to meet the needs of these patrons. by applying the sdm created by mehra and davis (2015), the author has identified a number of areas for improvement in the offerings made by the pruitt branch of the nashville public library relating to homelessness. it is the author’s belief that it is feasible for the pruitt branch to take the steps discussed in the article, and that by doing so the pruitt branch will reduce gaps and strengthen its weaknesses in meeting the needs of people experiencing homelessness. 80 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ efforts to overcome homelessness the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ even small changes can improve the lives of patrons; in july 2017, the nashville public library system stopped charging fines for overdue items in order to ensure the accessibility of their collections for all patrons (nashville public library, n.d.-f). by continuing to implement similar policies, the library system will take important steps towards promoting equal access to library services for all patrons, including people experiencing homelessness. acknowledgements the author thanks dr. keren dali for the opportunity of this article’s publication, the editorial team at the international journal of information, diversity & inclusion (ijidi) for their assistance with revising the manuscript, and jessica martin for her help with editing the manuscript. references american library association. (2007). outreach resources for services to poor and homeless people. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/diversity/outreachtounderservedpopulations/servicespo or american library association. (2010). b.8.10 library services to the poor (old number 61). in ala policy manual. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aboutala/b8-services-andresponsibilities-libraries-old-number-52#b8.10 american library association. (2012). extending our reach: reducing homelessness through library engagement. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/extendingour-reach-reducing-homelessness-through-library-engagement-3 american library association. (2018). resources for public libraries serving persons experiencing homelessness. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/pla/resources/tools/homelessness bardoff, c. (2015). homelessness and the ethics of information access. serials librarian, 69(3/4), 347-360. centers for disease control and prevention. 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(2013, april 26). library service to the homeless. public libraries online. retrieved from http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/04/library-service-to-the-homeless/ mehra, b., & davis, r. (2015). a strategic diversity manifesto for public libraries in the 21st century. new library world, 116(1/2), 15-36. muggleton, t. h. (2013). public libraries and difficulties with targeting the homeless. library review, 62(1/2), 7-18. nashville food project. (n.d.). vision, mission, & values. retrieved from https://www.thenashvillefoodproject.org/vision-mission-values/ nashville mayor’s office. (2017). housing nashville: nashville & davidson county’s housing report. retrieved from https://www.nashville.gov/portals/0/sitecontent/mayorsoffice/affordablehousing/ho using%20nashville%20final.pdf nashville public library. (2016). nashville public library facilities master plan 2015-2040. retrieved from https://library.nashville.org/sites/default/files/field/page/file/nplfacilities-master-plan-dec2016.pdf nashville public library. (2018). events calendar. retrieved from https://events.library.nashville.org nashville public library. (n.d.-a). about. retrieved from https://library.nashville.org/about nashville public library. (n.d.-b). catalog. retrieved from https://catalog.library.nashville.org/ nashville public library. (n.d.-c). collection development policies. retrieved from https://library.nashville.org/sites/default/files/field/page/file/nashville-publiclibrary-collection-development-policy-march2018.pdf nashville public library. (n.d.-f). faqs about overdue fine elimination. retrieved from https://library.nashville.org/faqs-about-overdue-fine-elimination nashville public library. 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(n.d.-a). story. retrieved from http://opentablenashville.org/story 82 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/04/library-service-to-the-homeless/ https://www.thenashvillefoodproject.org/vision-mission-values/ https://www.nashville.gov/portals/0/sitecontent/mayorsoffice/affordablehousing/housing%20nashville%20final.pdf https://www.nashville.gov/portals/0/sitecontent/mayorsoffice/affordablehousing/housing%20nashville%20final.pdf https://library.nashville.org/sites/default/files/field/page/file/npl-facilities-master-plan-dec2016.pdf https://library.nashville.org/sites/default/files/field/page/file/npl-facilities-master-plan-dec2016.pdf https://events.library.nashville.org/ https://library.nashville.org/about https://catalog.library.nashville.org/ https://library.nashville.org/sites/default/files/field/page/file/nashville-public-library-collection-development-policy-march2018.pdf https://library.nashville.org/sites/default/files/field/page/file/nashville-public-library-collection-development-policy-march2018.pdf https://library.nashville.org/faqs-about-overdue-fine-elimination https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1faipqlsehjfwfqpaql9nbsddz30akwz5ov-mtdneqs0_2gh_obiqjaq/viewform https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1faipqlsehjfwfqpaql9nbsddz30akwz5ov-mtdneqs0_2gh_obiqjaq/viewform https://library.nashville.org/npl-facilities-master-plan https://library.nashville.org/locations/pruitt-branch http://www.nmstatelibrary.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=206&itemid=104 http://www.nmstatelibrary.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=206&itemid=104 http://opentablenashville.org/story efforts to overcome homelessness the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ open table nashville. (n.d.-b). where to turn in nashville: a guide to finding help in middle tennessee. retrieved from http://www.wttin.org/ open table nashville. (n.d.-c). where to turn in nashville: resources. retrieved from http://www.wttin.org/resources# pressley, t. (2017). public libraries, serious mental illness, and homelessness: a survey of public librarians. public library quarterly, 36(1), 61-76. u.s. census bureau. (2017a). how the census bureau measures poverty. retrieved from https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/guidance/povertymeasures.html u.s. census bureau. (2017b). poverty thresholds for 2017 by size of family and number of related children under 18 years. retrieved from https://www2.census.gov/programssurveys/cps/tables/time-series/historical-poverty-thresholds/thresh17.xls u.s. census bureau. (n.d.). quick facts: davidson county, tennessee; nashville-davidson (balance), tennessee; tennessee. retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/davidsoncountytennessee,nashvilledavi dsonbalancetennessee,tn/pst045217 u.s. department of housing and urban development. (2017). the 2017 annual homeless assessment report (ahar) to congress. retrieved from https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/2017-ahar-part-1.pdf university of california davis center for poverty research. (2017). what is the current poverty rate in the united states? retrieved from https://poverty.ucdavis.edu/faq/whatcurrent-poverty-rate-united-states olivia g. forehand (oforehan@vols.utk.edu) is a master’s student of information sciences at the university of tennessee, knoxville with a background in english. she is interested in a career in public libraries, particularly working with teens, where she hopes to incorporate inclusion and representation of diverse groups of people in her work. 83 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ http://www.wttin.org/ http://www.wttin.org/resources https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/guidance/poverty-measures.html https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/guidance/poverty-measures.html https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/tables/time-series/historical-poverty-thresholds/thresh17.xls https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/tables/time-series/historical-poverty-thresholds/thresh17.xls https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/davidsoncountytennessee,nashvilledavidsonbalancetennessee,tn/pst045217 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/davidsoncountytennessee,nashvilledavidsonbalancetennessee,tn/pst045217 https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/2017-ahar-part-1.pdf https://poverty.ucdavis.edu/faq/what-current-poverty-rate-united-states https://poverty.ucdavis.edu/faq/what-current-poverty-rate-united-states mailto:oforehan@vols.utk.edu ijidi: the new beginning a welcome editorial the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ ijidi – the new beginning: a welcome editorial keren dali and paul t. jaeger keywords: diversity; inclusion; peer review; publishing; scholarly communication publication type: editorial editorial here will likely be some people who throw their hands up and roll their eyes, thinking to themselves“another journal about diversity.” and yet, ijidi is not just “another journal.” the overuse of the word diversity is undeniable, and has served to undermine not only its own true meaning and value, but also the value of the related concepts of social justice and inclusion. amid the multiplicity of venues that discuss diversity, it is also easy to overlook the fact that there is actually no scholarly or professional journal solely or chiefly dedicated to diversity and inclusion in lis. this is all the more reason, however, to have a venue that takes a fresh unorthodox look at diversity and opens up conversations that are covered by an expanded spectrum of topics, formats, and contributing disciplines. such a venue promotes the editorial culture that privileges diversity and creativity of expression and safeguards them from constricting conventions and the political correctness of academia, while maintaining scholastic and methodological rigor, excellence in production and design, and high writing standards. the idea for this journal came from the annual conference on inclusion and diversity in library & information science (cidlis). for the past seven years, cidlis (initially called symposium on diversity and inclusion in library & information science education) has annually featured dozens of presentations that highlight innovative projects, services, and practices, disseminate new research findings, and discuss major issues that need to be addressed. beyond the conference, however, both cidlis presenters and attendees have noted difficulties in finding good homes for their papers. this made sense in light of the noted shortage of specialized diversity journals and the fact that general interest lis journals can only include a limited number of diversity papers, as afforded by their missions and scopes. so, the solution seemed to be creating an online journal devoted to this area. the past year has seen the journal finding its bearings and defining its course, and it is now emerging with a new and clear direction and a new editorial team made up of scholars and practitioners who live their scholarship. in 2018, we are starting a new chapter, beginning with two combined special issues based on the presentations shared at the diversity by design symposium in toronto, on, canada, held in september of 2017. ijidi promotes an image and concept of diversity that goes beyond demographic characteristics. while the importance of continuous discussions about the diversity of participation and representation in the context of race, ethnicity, language, gender, social class, and body ability cannot be understated, we are guided by recently emerged ideas, including values-based diversity and diversity by design, and also by a combination of t http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://ipac.umd.edu/ https://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/about/editorialteam https://www.idiversitybydesign.com/keynote-speakers/ https://www.idiversitybydesign.com/keynote-speakers/ https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2014/08/18/eyeing-the-new-diversity/ https://doi.org/10.1086/690735 ijidi – the new beginning the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ approaches to diversity emanating from the academy and the corporate sector. we are committed to microand macro-level discussions and value the policy focus as much as we value attention to individuals, groups, and humanistic concerns. we position diversity as a matter that touches every member of the public and not only minority groups. the social justice approach to diversity is complemented by the vision of diversity as an engine of prosperity and social progress, without which harmonious co-existence and economic growth are not possible. a unique aspiration of our journal is to provide international coverage of diversity issues and a wider forum for voices from outside of north america and the english-speaking world. the word “information” in the title opens a door that connects ijidi to allied professional fields and cognate disciplines, including contributions from museums, archives, performing arts, and other cultural institutions, computer science, health, disability studies, and social work, among others. the journal encourages the submission of a variety of publication types: original empirical research; conceptual and theoretical papers; professional experience-sharing articles; viewpoint submission; conference reports; and shorter miscellaneous pieces. we particularly welcome contributions from emergent scholars, graduate students, and young professionals. it is important for ijidi to grow its own authorship base and to increase the numbers of those who champion scholarly and professional communication on diversity issues. let’s face it: many of us like to engage in discussions of diversity in various settings. yet, when it comes to writing and publishing about diversity, we usually hear from a small and limited number of voices, with the same names filling up publication venues. to make a true impact, we need more than just conference talks and panels. if we are serious about making a difference in the state of diversity and inclusion, we need a broader reach; we need the power of the published statement; we need the clarity and persuasiveness of well-formulated ideas. publishing is not the prerogative of a select few. if you have brave and creative ideas and an open mind, if you dream of making diversity conversations meaningful and global, if you’re committed to diversity scholarship, innovation in professional practices, or motivational speakingthe ijidi team is here to help you get your research, experience, and message across. we realize full-well that the road to championing the cause is a bumpy one, notwithstanding the fact that education and engagement for people from diverse backgrounds and fostering a more inclusive society is the beating heart of the lis field. too often, our efforts in these areas are not widely shared, and innovative approaches and key lessons learned go undocumented. ijidi ensures that there is a venue for sharing and learning from diversity and inclusion initiatives, programs, teaching, and research around the globe and between professionals, educators, and students. through ijidi, we can collaboratively learn, improve, and grow our efforts in facilitating and encouraging the development of a more just and equitable world. as an open-access online journal, ijidi will have the capacity to accommodate innovative formats involving supplementary files, full-text creative writing, visual production, and multimedia. our 2018 special issues will be an example thereof. the journal fosters the culture of prompt and respectful double-blind peer reviewing. you can read more about our editorial policies and peer review process on the journal website. starting 2018, the journal will feature a book review section. this section will be headed by the team of an academic and a public librarian, and will include not only reviews of scholarly monographs on diversity but also reviews of diversity fiction. it is our hope that the community of practitioners from all types of libraries and information organizations will become not only 2 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/about/editorialpolicies ijidi – the new beginning the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ readers but also contributors to this section, defining its direction and content. we invite submissions from the members of the lis community and cognate disciplines and encourage everyone to think about diversity and inclusion in the broadest possible terms. this, we believe, will help many researchers to see their work through the diversity lens, to find its relevance to the mission and scope of ijidi, and to engage in a dynamic and open conversation through the venue that is not “just another journal about diversity.” acknowledgements we thank wholeheartedly our dedicated international team of managing editors whose enthusiasm, creativity, and indefatigable work have made these issues possible. they are the backbone of the journal and the heart of our team. we also thank ijidi reviewers who have done an amazing job delivering timely, expert, and nuanced reviews amid their busy schedules and often on tight deadlines to accommodate the production schedule of special issues. their support is invaluable to the journal, and we hope they will continue taking this journey with ijidi in the future. we thank our copyeditors; colleagues from other journals who consulted us in the process; and the umd library team who continue to provide technical guidance and support to ijidi. last but not least, we thank our authors for their original contributions to advance the diversity conversation. dr. keren dali’s (keren.dali@alumni.utoronto.ca) research interests are in diversity and marginalized communities, relationships between lis and social work; disabilities; lis education with the focus on creativity, accreditation, and humanistic pedagogies; and reading behaviors. with the background in social work and lis, dr. dali holds the inaugural outstanding instructor award from the faculty of information, university of toronto; the inaugural alise/connie van fleet award for research excellence in public library services to adults; the outstanding reviewer distinction and the outstanding and highly commended paper distinctions from the emerald literati network awards for excellence. her work has been funded by the grants from the social sciences & humanities research council of canada (sshrc) and the american library association, among others. she’s active in asis&t, alise, and ifla, chairing committees for both asis&t and alise. dr. paul t. jaeger (pjaeger@umd.edu) is professor, diversity officer, and director of the mlis program of the college of information studies and co-director of the information policy and access center (ipac) at the university of maryland. his teaching and research focus on the ways in which law and public policy shape information behavior, with a specific focus on issues of human rights and social justice. his research has been funded by the institute of museum & library services, the national science foundation, the american library association, the smithsonian institution, and the bill & melinda gates foundation, among others. dr. jaeger is a founder and chair of the conference on inclusion and diversity in lis and of the umd disability summit. he is the author of more than 160 journal articles and book chapters, as well as more than a dozen books, and is a recipient of the library journal/alise excellence in teaching award. 3 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, mailto:keren.dali@alumni.utoronto.ca mailto:pjaeger@umd.edu acknowledgements scenarios of health engagement experiences and health justice in rural libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 scenarios of health engagement experiences and health justice in rural libraries bharat mehra, university of alabama, usa everette scott sikes, university of tennessee, usa vandana singh, university of tennessee, usa abstract this article documents scenarios or narratives of health engagement experiences in rural libraries based on qualitative analysis of feedback collected from 15 rural librarians in the southern and central appalachian (sca) region during semi-structured interviews conducted in 2017-2018. the article focuses on respondents’ perspectives of the “aboutness” of their health-related engagement, collaborating partners, encountered challenges, and resulting outcomes. scenarios were documented in broader interviews that focused on specific health activities and community engagement in 11 domains, including agriculture, diversity, economy, education, environment, government, health, law, manufacturing, social welfare, and other. the research forms part of a planning grant entitled “assessment of rural library professionals’ role in community engagement in the southern and central appalachian region: mobilization from change agents to community anchors (ca2ca@sca-rl)” awarded by the institute of museum and library services to the university of tennessee, sub-contracted to the university of alabama this year (july 2017 – june 2019). scenarios provide a taxonomic classification of health-related programs relevant to the region and a framework of practice related to their implementation. as a health justice tool, they also challenge the hegemonic imagination of mainstream american society, news media, and popular culture that has only presented the sca rural belt in deficit light. the article becomes a counter-point to these past unfair and marginalizing representations in its constructive asset recognition of the sca rural librarians’ positive examples of health-related experiences. it spotlights the “invisible” of sca librarians’ individual/community empowerment as change agents making an impact on the lives of their rural residents. keywords: community engagement; health justice; rural libraries; scenarios; southern and central appalachia publication type: research article introduction his article documents scenarios or narratives of health engagement experiences in rural libraries based on qualitative analysis of feedback collected from 15 rural1 librarians during semi-structured interviews conducted in 2017-2018. the research forms part of a larger planning grant entitled “assessment of rural library professionals’ role in community engagement in the southern and central appalachian region: mobilization from change agents to community anchors” (ca2ca@sca-rl)2 awarded by the institute of museum and library services’ laura bush 21st century librarian-fy 2017 guidelines (community anchors project category) to the school of information sciences at the university of tennessee, sub-contracted t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 to the school of library and information studies at the university of alabama this year (july 2017 – june 2019) (mehra, singh, & sikes, 2018). the article focuses on the respondents’ perspectives of the “aboutness” of their health engagement activities, collaborating partners, encountered challenges specific to the regions, and resulting outcomes. “aboutness” is defined as an overview or general descriptive details about the information projects, programs, and initiatives getting discussed. the scenarios were documented in broader interview conversations that focused on specific health experiences and community engagement in 11 varied domains: agriculture, diversity, economy, education, environment, government/public policy, health, law and justice, manufacturing/industry, social welfare, and other. scenarios/stories of experience shared by rural librarians helped to develop a taxonomic classification of health-related projects and programs relevant to the region and a framework of practice in terms of partners-challengesoutcomes related to their implementation and operationalization. health and rural context as stewards of information and advocates of literacy, public libraries have long fostered health information literacy through educational programming, partnerships and collaboration with community health organizations, and outreach services to specific user populations, particularly those that are considered underserved or vulnerable (barr-walker, 2016; mehra, 2014). for those who lack computers or internet technologies at home, public libraries facilitate improved access to health information and offer resources to community members in their provision of computer workstations and wi-fi (rubenstein, 2017). in a time when people are more directly involved in decisions about their health care and in finding information related to health issues, libraries thus play an important and critical role for consumers who lack access to information resources (prechtel, 2008; zionts, apter, kuchta, & greenhouse, 2010). public libraries are considered to be trustworthy information resources that greatly contribute to the ability of users to find needed health information (baker, spang, & gogolowski, 1998; harris, henwood, marshall, & burdett, 2010; horrigan, 2015). public libraries serve as one of the few important resource places for meeting unique rural health literacy needs of those geographically-dispersed users who do not own computers or have internet access in their homes and where availability of health service providers is limited (lukenbill & immroth, 2009; stanton, 2017; temple, 2017). borman and mckenzie (2005) noted that, in rural areas, healthcare providers regularly referred patients to the library for further information about their health and that public libraries were one of the few places where people in rural communities could go to find such information. according to rubenstein (2016a), “there is often scant access to the internet in rural and disadvantaged communities due to lack of funding for high-speed connections, along with few other places to obtain information” (p. 332). a study of people who utilized the library to find health information found these users often lacked home internet access and, compared to others, were less educated, had lower incomes, were more likely to be retired or unemployed, and had limited or no health insurance (kwon & kim, 2009). real, mcdermott, bertot, and jaeger (2015) noted that consumers who signed up for the affordable care act (aca) through a public library were more often disadvantaged in terms of the digital divide, indicating the crucial role libraries played in providing vital health information to vulnerable and marginalized groups. public libraries have provided information and support found to be critical to efforts to promote health among underserved populations, particularly low-income families, users in rural areas, those with disabilities, and elder persons (eng et al., 1998). this is particularly true in the appalachian region, which is largely rural and 57 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 has historically been recognized for its socioeconomic challenges and for having a high proportion of residents who are considered disadvantaged (appalachian regional commission, n.d.a; eller, 2008; mehra, bishop, & partee ii, 2017a, 2017b, 2017c). studies have shown evidence that health disparities between the region and the rest of the country have grown and that the association between poverty and lower life expectancy in appalachia is stronger than in other regions of the u.s. (gutschall, thompson, & lawrence, 2018; singh, kogan, & slifkin, 2017). while public libraries, as trusted sources in their communities, are able to both promote health information literacy and provide users with access to health information, rubenstein (2016b) contended that little research has explored the ways libraries address health literacy as a matter of public good or how they work to close health literacy gaps. mehra, albright, and rioux (2006) advocated for a social justice perspective in the practice of information professions and offered a framework for information science research that was focused on tangible outcomes and the facilitation of change in the lives of marginalized populations. the researchers utilized examples from qualitative studies, two of which represented an information service related to the provision of health information in order to meet the specific needs of an underserved group. behringer et al. (2007) considered health disparities in the appalachian region and also called for a perspective of social justice that utilizes place-based and collaborative action to raise the level of awareness of communities to healthcare challenges and encouraged local credible sources such as public libraries to become proactive in the dissemination of health information. the researchers drew particular attention to the “real access barriers faced by rural residents that should be acknowledged and addressed in regional health promotion programs and interventions” (p. 45) and suggested that solutions would require coordinated efforts by community members. flaherty and miller (2016) noted the significant disadvantages for rural residents in regard to access to health information and health promotion activities and argued that, while public libraries do provide health information, opportunities exist for broader community engagement related to health. flaherty (2018) later called for rural public libraries to promote and support active, healthy lifestyles and to collaborate with other professionals and community groups to introduce community health initiatives. librarians can realize a host of unique opportunities that such collaborations may offer for positive changes in the communities they serve (flaherty 2018; flaherty & miller, 2016; jaeger, wentz, & bertot, 2015). flaherty and grier (2014) studied health information practices that brought together medical and public library practitioners through a collaborative outreach project in which consumer health librarians were embedded in public libraries. the researchers found a positive effect on staff knowledge and awareness of consumer health resources, on user expectations, and on the provision of health information in general. malachowski (2014) explored community health initiatives that occurred in public libraries and found examples of several, including health screenings, vaccine clinics, health fairs, resource and support meetings, health insurance enrollment assistance, health-related programming, and even on-site healthcare professionals. a shared aspect of all initiatives was a working partnership with local health officials and practitioners. woodson, timm, and jones (2011) provided an overview of a successful project by a library to serve its local community. librarians created a web portal focused on children’s health that provided information through appropriate games and activities. story hours in the public library also made use of stories and follow-up activities selected by faculty members at a nearby university medical library. 58 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 for those users who have access to health information, flaherty (2013) saw a need to understand the best ways to provide guidance and strategies for the evaluation of information: “with an ever-increasing emphasis on patient/consumer responsibility for health and an ever-escalating amount of information available, individuals are in need of support when it comes to utilizing health information resources” (p. 164). the author noted that widening access to online health information resources, even if only available through a local public library, meant that users are in need of support, education, and guidance in utilizing such resources. eysenbach and köhler (2002) echoed this issue, stating that once users encounter health information, they may not have the knowledge or ability to evaluate its authority and quality. additional research has considered that access to information does not necessarily mean that the information is comprehended. language barriers and difficulties in interpreting and evaluating health information present further elements of the issue of accessibility for underserved and vulnerable user populations (chobot 2004; gillaspy 2005; oelschlegel, earl, taylor, & muenchen, 2009). flaherty (2016) stated that public libraries are uniquely suited to assist community members in searching, finding, and evaluating available health information. the author noted a dearth of research assessing the quality of information users receive when they seek help with health questions at a public library and that there appeared to be no standardization regarding the manner in which health queries were handled in most libraries. a further study found this to also be the case for print materials or collection development policies related to health information (flaherty & kaplan, 2016). according to rubenstein (2017), in addition to the problem of users who often lack the knowledge or ability to both find and critically evaluate information, librarians themselves may have limited proficiency or experience in assisting users with information needs related to health. rubenstein (2012) noted that public demands and expectations for health information had grown considerably in past years. public libraries “have struggled to interpret their place within this burst of enthusiasm that has grown exponentially as the general population demands increased access to information as a way of taking control of health concerns” (p. 202). the researcher further stated that libraries can meet these changing information needs especially through collaboration with community partners and through the continued focus on full accessibility of online health resources for their users. while librarian education, budgets for collection development, the health information literacy gap, issues of diversity, and community partnerships all pose challenges for libraries in providing health information, such concerns are not new and creative solutions do exist. sca context and rural libraries the southern and central appalachian3 (sca) region, including its rural areas, form part of the 205,000-square mile area in 13 states around the appalachian mountains (appalachian regional commission (arc), 2015a). for the period october 1, 2017 through september 30, 2018, based on an index-based county economic classification system, an assessment of the region’s economic status indicated that out of its total 420 designated counties, 84 were distressed, 115 were atrisk with 231 distressed areas, and 208 were transitional with 651 distressed areas (arc, 2017a). in comparison to the nation’s 20% rural population, 42% of appalachian residents live in rural areas, with a 16.7% poverty rate in the region with its 93 high-poverty counties (that have poverty rates more than 1.5 times the u.s. average) during the 2012-2016 period (arc, n.d.a). the u.s. census bureau (2012) identified two-thirds of the appalachian counties with populations of less than 50,000 people and 125 counties with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants. in the 21st century, 59 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 with federal funding support rural populations in these areas are advancing towards economic recovery and community development to overcome some of their historically debilitating circumstances (e.g., slow financial growth, unemployment, illiteracy, information poverty, and insufficient telecommunications substructure, amongst others) (arc, n.d.b; catte, 2018; mehra, black, singh, & nolt, 2011; williams, 2003). the arc’s (2017b) performance and accountability report: fiscal year 2016 identifies an allocation of $109.2 million to fund 470 area development projects that further the five goals of arc’s 2016–2020 strategic plan that focus on economic opportunities, ready workforce, critical infrastructure, natural and cultural assets, and leadership and community capacity. as change agents and community anchors, rural libraries in the region are beginning to play a significant role in operationalizing these goals and bridging intersections between these agendas towards: 1) community capacity and skill development; 2) leverage of heritage asset management in community and economic growth; 3) development of technological infrastructures in terms of their socio-technical dimensions; 4) education, health, and knowledge management; and 5) investment in entrepreneurial and business enhancement strategies (mehra & singh, 2014, 2017; swan, grimes, & owens, 2013). this article provides a glimpse of the “invisible” in the scenarios/stories of the personal and community empowerment of the sca rural librarians who are serving as change agents in making a meaningful impact on the individual lives of their rural residents living in their traditionally debilitating communities, empowering them in the process (mehra, singh, hollenbach, & partee ii, 2017; u. s. environmental protection agency, 2017). according to page and scott (2001), a change agent “facilitates a ‘bedding down’ of new practices within organizations” (p. 530), develops skills they learn and pass on to others based on “changed work practices…and changes in their relationship to colleagues” (p. 548), and an “ability to take understandings arising in one ‘world’” (p. 548) to use them for instigating change in another. in addition, these health-related scenarios/stories of experience represent library-and-community-wide empowerment that is subversive in that it challenges the hegemonic imagination of mainstream american society, news media, and the popular culture that has only presented deficit patterns of representations of the rural areas and of the sca region (hamby, 2018; mehra, 2017). this article becomes a counter-point to these past unfair and marginalizing representations in its constructive asset recognition of the sca rural librarians’ positive examples of health-related experiences (pda inc., et al., 2017). the qualitative pilot study provides a significant access point of granular data collection. research methods developed in the ca2ca@sca-rl are expanding similar qualitative approaches with a larger pool of sca rural library professionals as well as use of additional quantitative survey-based strategies to document the rural librarians’ perspectives in the region about their future directions of growth and application. methods will be replicated in the future for other rural areas as well as the larger appalachian region. health justice imperative the documented scenarios/stories of health engagement experiences of rural librarians are intimately tied to issues of health justice on many levels; the following are a few salient aspects of note. first, rural libraries around the country, including in the sca region, have long been overlooked in the library and information professions (mehra, bishop, & partee ii, 2017a; real, bertot, & jaeger, 2014). the narrative stories of the sca rural librarians’ health-related experiences described in this article present a glimpse of an “untold” picture of rural library 60 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 engagement with external stakeholders to overcome challenges and achieve tangible outcomes in spite of the unique conditions and limited resources they had available at their disposal (arc, 2015b; mehra, bishop, & partee ii, 2018). however, what dimensions of these many healthrelated scenarios from rural libraries have been heard in public forums within (and beyond) professional associations and organizations of library and information science (lis) is debatable (kruger, et al., 2012). they are often conspicuously missing as one encounters a “professional cacophony” focusing only around libraries in the metropolitan areas and those located in the northeast, northwest and/or midwestern belts of the country, marginalizing others that are outside these geographic bastions of privilege and high visibility in lis discourse in research, education, or the practitioner’s world (mehra, bishop, & partee ii, 2017b; real & rose, 2017). research methods the following is a brief discussion of the use of scenarios as a methodological tool in this research and the data collection and data analysis reported in the article. scenario use and “voice” for many years, scenarios as representative of typical user-centered experiences have found significant application in usability testing and evaluation in software development and theoretical and applied systems design (carroll, 1995). scenarios provided real or imagined stories to engineers, designers, and computer scientists of actors other than themselves, of their unfamiliar activities that were unknown to these “experts,” and elements of the user-oriented processes towards achieving certain purposes or agendas that had possibilities of improving technological and system infrastructures (carroll, 2003). unfortunately, scenario use as an instrument of social justice research to further concerns of equality/equity, fairness, justice, and empowerment of “invisible” perspectives and points of view has been used in very few studies (mehra, 2015; mehra & rioux, 2016). for example, mehra, bishop, bazzell, and smith (2002) crafted scenarios as tools in participatory action research for studying health information seeking and use by african-american women across the digital divide based on intersections of race/ethnicity and gender (helsper, 2010; zickuhr & smith, 2012). andrews, dyson, and wishart (2015) employed scenario-based learning to advance ethics frameworks in support of educational research in the context of mobile technologies. in furthering this stream of tradition in previous work, the article’s use of scenarios provides the authors an opportunity to represent and recognize the experiences and perspectives of a hidden category of professionals in our midst, namely rural librarians from an oft stigmatized geographical region of the southern and central appalachia (mehra, bishop, & partee ii, 2016, 2017a, 2017b, 2017c). scenarios became a mechanism in this research to provide “voice” to the sca rural librarians in terms of what belenky, clinchy, goldberger, and tarule’s (1986) consider as unheard and inter-personal connected ways of knowing and learning, though silenced owing to imposed social and cultural dogma and hegemony (campbell, 2016). this article’s purpose of scenario-building as the medium of the “voice” of the marginalized rural librarians highlights themes in a shared experience of the collective with potential for action to promote change from an imbalanced status quo within the lis professions (moraga & anzaldúa, 2015). data collection personal interviews were conducted with 15 rural library professionals throughout the select sca region to provide input about their experiences in community engagement while collaborating 61 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 with external partners. a mix of intersecting factors related to the individual interviewee characteristics (e.g., number of years in professional service, professional role/title) and the contextual setting traits (e.g., size and scale of library and community, state and county, geographical and environmental conditions) were considered while narrowing representative regions of the interviewees. the personalized conversations between the intervieweeinterviewer were one-on-one and implemented via zoom, an online cloud platform that provides real-time remote conferencing services and web-based meetings (zoom video communications, 2019). the recorded discussions took place through the use of built-in computer microphones without use of the video component owing to limitations of broadband width and stability of connectivity in rural environments (federal communications commission, 2012). the research team elicited assistance of select state library data coordinators, grant partners, and 11 grant advisory board members to encourage rural library director and staff participation. grant partners included: 1) blount county public library, tn (http://www.blountlibrary.org/); 2) clinch river regional library, tn (http://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/clinch-river-regional-library); 3) library of virginia, vi (http://www.lva.virginia.gov/); 4) sevier county public library system, tn (https://www.facebook.com/seviercountypubliclibrarysystem/); and 5) wiggins memorial library, nc (https://lib.campbell.edu/). library staff in rural communities had a vested interest in sharing their successes and challenges with the greater professional community. the potential of interview findings to help justify future rural library funding and assist other information agencies in community engagement has been incentive enough to encourage participation in past studies. a convenience sample was generated using snowball sampling – earlier interviewees from rural libraries were asked to identify individuals who might be potentially interested to provide relevant and valid interview datasets. professional networks of the research team provided leads to some participants until saturation sufficiency was achieved (charmaz, 2006; dey, 1999). determining saturation at a sufficient level involved considering three aspects: 1) occurrence of redundancy and replication of themes and categories in interviewee responses; 2) development of well-considered pilot research experiences (e.g., interview process, testing of data collection instrument, practice of data analysis procedures) that could be applied to a larger sca rural librarian sample-set with use of additional qualitative methods (e.g., focus groups) (mehra, sikes, & singh, 2018); 3) a diverse though limited selection of sca representative regions intertwined with interviewee demographic characteristics. the essential criteria for interviewee selection was for potential participants to be a rural library paid staff member (e.g., library assistants, managers/directors, paraprofessionals) from a county in the sca region. the research team intentionally included individuals who had played some role in decision-making in whatever capacity in their rural library to gather relevant, valid, and meaningful feedback regarding planning, developing, and implementing community engagement initiatives. all 15 interviewees were caucasian women except one who was hispanic/latino. table 1 summarizes participant demographics and relevant contextual information (e.g., professional titles). the researchers created a semi-structured guide consisting of a series of open-ended questions to prompt participants to identify ways their rural library had collaborated, partnered, or engaged with external community stakeholders in the domain of health and others during the past five years. table 2 provides the names and definitions of the twelve domains. the interview guide is available at url: http://heramac.cci.utk.edu/insc560sp18/ca2ca@scarl_interviewguide.pdf. as the interview guide shows, the 12 domains were areas that were specifically and deliberately covered in the interviews, with the “other” category providing interviewees opportunities to share about initiatives and programming on topics that had not already been addressed. for the domain of health, the following are sample questions used during the interviews: 62 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://heramac.cci.utk.edu/insc560sp18/ca2ca@sca-rl_interviewguide.pdf http://heramac.cci.utk.edu/insc560sp18/ca2ca@sca-rl_interviewguide.pdf scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 • describe up to three initiatives (virtual or in-person) related to issues of health through which your library assisted or engaged with external community stakeholders during the past five years. • for each initiative, list the collaborating external community stakeholders (e.g., nonprofits organizations, institutions, agencies in the public and private sectors, groups of individuals, etc.) and what role they played in the initiative. • what were the key challenges in these initiatives? • what were the key outcomes of these initiatives? table 1. participant demographics and professional titles age number of respondents 30-39 years 3 40-49 years 3 50-59 years 3 over 60 years 2 undisclosed 4 total 15 years of professional service 5 years or less 1 6-10 years 7 15-20 years 1 over 20 years 6 total 15 location in rural sca county north carolina 3 tennessee 8 virginia 4 total 15 63 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 self-identified professional title assistant director 1 branch supervisor 1 business coordinator/ hr specialist 1 county director 2 county librarian 1 director of libraries 1 library director 6 library system director 1 regional library director 1 total 15 participants were also asked to discuss the roles of both the library and the community partners in the initiatives and to identify and discuss related challenges, successes, and key outcomes. the interviews lasted 1-2 hours each and were conducted using a semi-structured format following the framework of the pre-written question guide; however, the procedure also allowed for latitude to pursue additional lines of inquiry or to seek further information from interviewees. such an approach offered conversational flexibility, opportunity for more substantial responses, and provided for more reliable data (herman-kinney & verschaeve, 2003; patton, 1990). table 2. domain definitions domain name definition agriculture (d1) initiatives and programming related to and in support of farming, farmers markets, personal and community gardening, seed libraries, local food movements, beekeeping, or other relevant topics of concern. diversity (d2) initiatives and programming related to multicultural issues, cross-cultural education, immigration, english as a second language, and providing support for minority and marginalized groups. economy (d3) initiatives and programming related to economic issues and policies, economic development, small business support and 64 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 domain name definition development, job seeking skills, and other similar aspects. education (d4) initiatives and programming in partnership with and supporting public school systems, private schools, homeschool groups, public and private preschools, and related issues such as literacy, enrichment programs, afterschool programs, summer reading programs, and the like. environment (d5) initiatives and programming related to issues of environmental health, education, advocacy, protection, and other relevant topics of concern. government & public policy (d6) initiatives and programming related to matters and questions of social and governmental policies and relevant information needs. health (d7) initiatives and programming related to issues and support of healthy living, nutrition, well-being, health education, fitness, illness management, mental health, long term care, health insurance, and related matters. information technology (d8) initiatives and programming related to or providing education in the realm of various information and communication technologies such as computers, personal devices, wi-fi hotspots, and all manner of hardware, software, and associated applications. law & justice (d9) initiatives and programming related to the provision of support, education, advocacy, and resources associated with questions and information needs in the realm of legal matters and concerns. manufacturing & industry (10) initiatives and programming in partnership with and supporting manufacturers and various industrial sectors such as those generally related to skills training, workforce development and education, technology training, and others. social welfare (d11) initiatives and programming related to and in support of the social well-being of all groups and vulnerable populations such as those that provide meals or shelter, and other provisions or that seek to meet similar needs. other (d12) initiatives and programming that fall beyond the scope and definitions of all of the above domains. all participants received and signed an informed consent form approved by the researchers’ university institutional review board (irb) prior to participating in the interview. each 65 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 participant was provided with a $50 gift card in appreciation for their contributions and time. for purposes of piloting, feedback was solicited from an advisory team made up of library and community professionals and practitioners regarding the structure and content of the interview questions, which provided useful edits and guidance to the researchers and enhanced the validity of the questions in the interview guide. data analysis a grounded theory approach was utilized in the data analysis (glaser & strauss, 1967). the researchers systematically identified categories, themes, and project examples in the participant responses to the interview questions through a process of open, axial, and selective coding (charmaz, 2014). according to corbin and strauss (1990), this type of logical and ordered evaluative process is crucial to an empirical interpretation of such qualitative data. the data analysis occurred in the following steps. first, transcriptions were made of the audio recordings of the interviews. the interview transcriptions were subsequently compiled into a single digital file and open coding took place as the data was systematically sorted into broad themes. the next step, axial coding, entailed the identification of key topics and themes using illustrative project examples and scenarios of participant responses. finally, through selective coding, categories, topics, and themes were established that were related to the inquiries of research. the open, axial, and selective coding procedure provided an analytic framework for understanding the data and for an investigation of the thematic relationships found in the responses of the interviewees. table 3 presents code identifiers, descriptions, and illustrative examples from this research. table 3. codebook code identifier description examples p1-p15 designates individual participants. p6d7q2p: “that is a very active health foundation, and so the library’s just a great partner because we have good parking and a big meeting room and are always looking for partners.” [p6 = participant 6, female, age 59 years, regional director]. d1-d12 indicates domain under which the response falls. p11d7q1p: “we have had blood drives. we’ve partnered with the health department to come in and do tables and talk about well-care and taking care of your children.” [d7 = health]. a, p, c, or o response type classification. a = “aboutness”; p = partners; c = challenges; o = outcomes. p10d7q2p: “but, talk about collaboration and partners. we’ve got lots of partners with that.” p2d7q3c: “our space. twenty-six hundred square feet causes some interesting challenges.” 66 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 q1, q2, q3, q4, etc. question asked in the interviews. q3: what were the key challenges in these initiatives? q4: what were the key outcomes of these initiatives? t1, t2, etc. designates primary theme or themes found in the response. p9d7q5o: “so, it’s a way for people to be in a private place and do this mental health assessment without having to go to a clinic or tell anyone that they think they need help (t6). we haven’t seen that being used very much yet, but we are about to embark on a big lsta-funded programming series with money devoted to mental health (t3) in the spring and that will be one of the things we try to advertise and highlight.” [t6 = need for anonymity; t3 = grant funded opportunities]. c1, c2, etc. designates category of the response in different themes. p11d7q5o: “i think we’ve had a lot more use of the library as a result of it (t1), which is a great outcome. of course, we’re hoping that they’re becoming more information literate (t2) about whatever that topic (t2-c1) is and taking home more information to improve their family’s lives (t2-c2). all of our programs and activities is about improving the community (t3).” [t2 = increased information literacy; t2-c1 = individual level; t2-c2 = family level]. pe1, pe2, etc. indicates project examples. “we have a group that comes and works and meets with and counsels with victims of domestic violence (pe2).” [pe2 = domestic violence counseling] the researchers first compiled the transcribed responses for each individual participant (p1-p15). subsequent coding then proceeded by categorizing the content for each question (q1, q2, q3, etc.) within the appropriate domain (d1-d12), classifying the response type (aboutness [a], partners [p], challenges [c], outcomes [o]), and, finally, grouping all responses under themes (t1, t2, etc.) and related categories (c1, c2, etc.) in different themes, as relevant, using specific representative responses and project examples (pe1, pe2, etc.). table 4 provides the response type definitions and examples from the domain of health (d7). table 4. response type definitions and examples from the domain of health response type definition example aboutness [a] responses that offer overviews or general descriptive details about projects, programs, and p11d7q1a: “last summer, part of our summer reading was a walking club and they walked and talked about the books they’d been reading.” 67 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 initiatives. partners [p] responses that name or specify external collaborating organizations and individuals who have assisted with or coproduced projects, programs, or initiatives. p6d7q2p: “they have a very active health foundation and, over the last couple of years, the library there has partnered with the local health foundation to do at least a couple of different program series.” challenges [c] responses that outline, describe, or reference specific problems, difficulties, obstacles, or complications related to the deployment of projects, programs, and initiatives. p6d7q4c: “well, money’s a challenge. again, we have to do a separate fundraiser, or we couldn’t do this just out of our budget. so, we’re doing a fundraiser every year to be able to pay for the help and to set up and clean up and provide the programming.” outcomes [o] responses that specify or describe tangible or intangible results, products, or effects of projects, programs, and initiatives. p6d7q5o: “we do a fundraiser in february to raise enough money to pay a couple of part-time people to kind of run that program just for the summer and it’s been really popular and something we’re really proud of.” the coding procedure is illustrated in the following examples. the response below from participant (p10) is an example of aboutness [a] in describing initiatives within the past five years in which the library had engaged with external community stakeholders (q1) related to the domain of health (d7). p10d7q1a: “we also have a mental health kiosk (pe1) in the back of the library. all three counties have that and it’s kind of like an assessment on a computer that you go through and how are you feeling today or, you know, and it asks a few questions and it’s pretty simple and brief. and then, at the end of that assessment, then it will say, ok, what’s your zip code and then it will give you resources or like a phone number and there’s actually a phone right there.” the researchers identified the mental health kiosk as a project example (pe1) and the theme of stigma associated with mental health issues (t6). the next example crosses multiple domains and shows a response that related health in relation to other domains. the interview participant (p12) was asked to describe initiatives (q1) in the domain of environment (d5) and the response illustrates aboutness [a] of a program (pe2) that relates (self-described) to both the health (d7) and the environment (d5) domains as it describes an example that prompts users to engage in an outdoor physical activity (t2) and become environmentally conscious (t1). 68 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 p12d5q1a: “so, what we have are these really cool backpacks (pe2) that are filled with, you know, leaf identification, animal identification, all of those kind of environment identification books (t1) and we have a compass and a magnifying glass, things like that that people can check out and take on a hike with them to improve your health (t2).” the third example shows a response from a participant (p10) that discusses both partners [p] and outcomes [o] related to initiatives in the domain of health (d7). p10d7q2po: “talk about collaboration and partners. we’ve got lots of partners with that. the programming (o1), we’ve brought in partners with that and even on a wider basis (t3), like statewide. the american suicide prevention foundation (p1), the nc representative (p2), she’s going to come and do some workshops. and the university, appalachian state university, and their wellness department and psychology department, too (p3).” in this response, the researchers identified the theme of planning and coordination with external stakeholders (t3) with various partners (p1, p2, p3) and one outcome (o1). in the final example, a participant (p9) responded to a question (q5) regarding outcomes [o] of initiatives in the domain of health (d7). p9d7q5o: “so, it’s a way for people to be in a private place and do this mental health assessment (o1) without having to go to a clinic or tell anyone that they think they need help (t6). we haven’t seen that being used very much yet, but we are about to embark on a big lsta-funded programming series (o2) with money devoted to mental health (t3) in the spring and that will be one of the things we try to advertise and highlight.” the researchers identified in this response the themes of (t3) budget issues and (t6) stigma associated with mental health problems as well as two outcomes, one for the library (o2) and one for the users (o1). findings the following sections highlight key research findings related to the “aboutness”, partners, challenges, and outcomes rural librarians reported of their health-based initiatives in community engagement. “aboutness” of health-based community engaged initiatives from summer feeding programs to healthy living reading activities (e.g., on mental health and drug abuse), dental screening workshops, walking and exercise clubs, health materials for specific population subgroups (e.g., teens, elderly, spanish speakers, etc.), healthy food vending machines and health programming series, domestic violence counseling, health fairs and free clinics, health insurance informational sessions, and mental health kiosks, the examples are many of rural library engagement with community stakeholders. figure 1 visualizes select examples of specific health-related responses, programs, services, and other information offerings rural librarians participating in this research shared in this study. 69 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 figure 1. health-related information offerings of rural libraries engaging their communities. rural librarians discussed their health-related information offerings in terms of community engagement in individual-centered activities such as one-on-one appointments for explanation of affordable care act and community information referrals for health insurance, amongst others. they also described their engaged information responses in terms of programming and events for specific collective groups (e.g., seniors, kids) or open-to-public happenings such as tai chi classes, yoga classes, breast cancer lunch ‘n’ learn, diabetes management classes, healthy cooking classes for children, etc. the following health-related scenario illustrates a rural library community-engaged example: “part of what i do is work with a free sustained clinic to provide education for chronic disease management and to partner to reach more clientele, the working uninsured, for people that sort of fall between the cracks, you know, they’re working but they either are not provided insurance through their place of employment or else they’re underinsured if they have insurance…or with some people who were able to get insurance, but still they couldn’t afford the premium under the affordable care act. so, we partner with people that are in our community and provide health services like doctors, nurses, that serve as library board members, and we work with them through grants and contracts and local fundraising, to support the clinic and to provide healthcare not just for our one county, but for about a three -county area.” 70 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 collaborating partners in health-based community-engaged initiatives participants shared a range of collaborators in their health-based community-engaged initiatives. figure 2 selectively visualizes a taxonomic classification of partner types with specific examples. figure 2. selective taxonomic classification of health-based partner types in rural library community engaged initiatives with specific examples. the following two scenarios identify collaborators and partnerships in health-based communityengaged initiatives highlighting the “out-of-the-box” efforts that are getting operationalized and implemented in rural library settings: service: health programming series “in wilkes county, they have a very active health foundation and, over the last couple of years, the library there has partnered with the local health founda tion to do at least a couple of different programs…the susan b. komen breast cancer program has been presented in each of my libraries in each of my counties. and again, that’s just something they offer that we’re happy to offer a home for.” service: health classes “we partner with the extension office…you really have to rely on your partners because library staff can give you book information about it, but we’re not trained health professionals, so we certainly don’t want to speak to health t hings that we don’t know about.” 71 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 challenges in community-engaged rural health participants reported challenges reflected in their health-related experiences that were intertwining owing to the impact of limited availability of resources, time, space, and staff working under constraining conditions. for example, shortage of financial resources had a “ripple effect” in having limited monies to build additional space (or rent larger premises) and few salaried staff whose time was at a premium, utilized only for certain amount of prioritized work possible within the available time. the three prioritized themes related to challenges in health rural library community engagement efforts included: community characteristics (e.g., lack of public awareness) in rural settings, limited resource availability, and resource management and organization in the context of constraining circumstances (e.g., meager staff training, poor technological infrastructures, etc.). these were seen as major hurdles to address and overcome in the development of community-engaged health activities by rural libraries. table 5 illustrates these themes and select categories of challenges in the domain of health. the following scenarios illustrate these important concerns: lack of public awareness “i would say that meeting and attracting your target population is probably our biggest challenge. information sharing about our programs. making sure it’s in the paper and on facebook…you have to really be mindful when you’re planning for your resources or your health programs that people may be limited as far as being able to take advantage of that. they may not have that background. they might not be library-oriented...maybe, you know, growing up they didn’t avail themselves to library services. so, it’s not an automatic mindset for them to think that the library may have the answer or the library may have the health resources. so, it’s really educating people as well as providing the services.” limited resources and space “if you could imagine three hundred and fifty people in twenty-six hundred square feet…in april, i’m going to do a session on the logistics of programming from fifty to three and fifty in twenty-six hundred square feet and some of the lessons we have learned on furniture purchasing, staff management, computer purchasing, chairs, and how we have come to deal with that issue.” limited planning, organizing, and managing resources “for the summer feeding program, with schools, it was a little bit chaotic, the planning…i can’t recruit volunteers if i don’t know the details on your end…somewhere the paperwork didn’t get filed, it was not as organized as i would prefer…we learned that kids don’t care about sandwiches, they want a hot lunch and, the library does not have the equipment to keep it hot…as i said, this community self-segregates. and, all of my volunteers were caucasian and occasionally some african-american kids would look into the room where we had the lunches and look around and then leave. i don’t know what was motivating that, but, you know, it’s unfortunate.” 72 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 table 5. select illustrative theme and category descriptions related to challenges in the domain of health code theme identifier theme description category identifier category description p9d7q4c t1 lack of public awareness c2; c3; c7 c7 = target population; c2 = use of social media; c3 = public education about library resources. p2d7q4c t2 limited resources and space c1 c1 = programming logistics. p1d7q4c t3 limited planning, organizing, and managing resources c4; c5 c4 = volunteers; c5 = lack of resources. p9d7q4c t4 need for organized efforts in program assessment, evaluation, and documentation c6 c6 = measurement of impacts and outcomes. need for organized efforts in program assessment, evaluation, and documentation “we are really, really bad at measuring impacts and outcomes. we’re…kind of one of our organizational goals for the next year is to try to start tracking outcomes using pla’s projects outcomes. so, right now, it’s all anecdotal, but we hope to do a little bit better in the future.” outcomes in health-based community-engaged initiatives select scenarios in the following specific project examples spotlight health-based outcomes in rural library community engagement: project 1: healthy living/summer reading program “that began about four years ago that we have had the medical practitioner out regularly to assist us and us to assist her in getting our families the best information that they can have on healthy eating and healthy living… i think one of our programs that we did happened every thursday morning during summer reading for children, and it’s actually making sure that the people that especially need the information 73 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 get it. often, it’s the ones that are interested are already doing a lot of those practices.” project 2: dental screenings and support “we also partner with the department of health and do dental screenings, because there is equipment to set up that they do not like to take down every day, we advertise all through summer, in the newspaper and on facebook, and every year our numbers have increased. we kind of doubled our numbers this last summer over the previous summer.” project 3: health materials for teens/seniors “we collected hygiene items for teens, partnered with the family resource center, basically do a bag for them for christmas, like a stocking, for teens who don’t have, like, shampoo or soap or a comb or wash cloths...asked for donations so that we can give to them before they go home over winter break. so, we collect items here. we ask patrons to bring them in and, if they do, we waive their fines…we also do a collection for the elderly where we collect hygiene items as well.” project 4: healthy vending machines we have a healthy vending machine that we put here for a healthy snack option for children and patrons. they can basically purchase . . . i think it has, like, juices and stuff in it and, like, granola bars and nuts. project 5: health literacy “we partner with the health and medical providers to help our community becoming more information literate about whatever that topic is and taking home more information to improve their family’s lives. all of our programs and activities is about improving the community either individually or as a family as a whole. and, i’m sure that we’ve gotten more library use out of opening up our library and having these programs in and people seeing what’s available for them here.” project 6: domestic violence counseling “we have a group that comes and works and meets with and counsels with victims of domestic violence in quiet, out-of-the-way space where people don’t see them coming and going…so, it’s a way for people to be in a private place and do this mental health assessment without having to go to a clinic or tell anyone that they think they need help…we are about to embark on a big lsta-funded programming series on mental health in the spring and that will be one of the things we try to advertise and highlight.” project 7: mental health community read program “the american suicide prevention foundation, the nc representative, she’s done some workshops. and the university, appalachian state university, and their wellness department and psychology department, too... so, also, a lot of suicide prevention 74 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 awareness is going on and, with the workshops, that foundation does toxic lives and they do it with different age groups and providers, seniors. so, they’re going to be doing a couple of those programs at the local senior centers, but also one at the library.” project 8: healthy kids day “it’s everything from health, nutrition, animals, sports, and things like that. and, we usually have about four hundred to five hundred people come through in four hours’ time. so, it’s a big, huge event...the kids are excited. they make their parents post it on the refrigerator, circle the calendar. they know how much fun they’re going to have because everything is free. there’s no cost at anything.” project 9: health fair for seniors “the seniors get the blood pressure. they find out what all is available to them if they’ve just moved here in the county. they can find out from the librarian what’s available to them that they didn’t know at the different agencies…she’s handing out insurance forms, she will even do classes at the nursing home or here or at the senior center about how to do your finances for later on…insurance needs and things like that.” project 10: born learning trail with health kiosks “and so, we got grants to do a born learning trail and then we got grants t o do learning kiosks…part of our money came from the united way through the healthy community action team…the catch phrase i was using was creating healthy kids from head to toe…so, the idea that we would work together to help kids get more activity. and so, their goal was [to] fight childhood obesity.” project 11: walking club “last summer, part of our summer reading was a walking club and they walked and talked about the books they’d been reading while exercising.” project 12: aging with disabilities program “we have had groups from the hospital that came and met about children with disabilities. just families talking to the librarian and nurses about how to cope with and how to deal with if they’re aging and they’re trying to plan for what’s going to happen to their child who can’t be alone in the world when they’re gone.” discussion rural librarians provided a diverse range of descriptions of their health-related communityengaged initiatives. readers can recognize from the scenarios represented in this article that a common meta-level theme that also emerged from our analysis of participant feedback is related to a cross-over of health with other domains. several examples were discussed; the following is a scenario of an interviewee that represents cross-over of health programming with need to generate education impacts in the teen day program germ city: 75 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 “…we participated in tullahoma city during the summer break in special programs for kids…partnered with the department of health in the germ city, actually, a small tent, probably about at least seven feet tall, we set that up so children could see how…whether or not they were doing a good job at hand-washing...we had simulated, there is, like, a lotion or powder that children put on th eir hands and then they go wash their hands and then they come back and then where they didn’t get their hands clean, it glowed in the dark. so, they would then get some information about cleaning habits and importance to their health.” another participant shared cross-over of health with the environment and education as illustrated in the following scenario about “green cleaning”: “we have a program on green cleaning in helping people to just think about how hazardous some of the over-the-counter cleaning products are and helping people to economically make some of their own home cleaner.” these instances illustrate that in the development of health information-related offerings, an important strategy rural librarians adopted in their conceptualization, operationalization, and implementation of the health-related initiatives was a consideration of generating outcomes in various spheres of people’s lives, such as agriculture, diversity, economics, education, environment, information technology use, law, manufacturing skills, social welfare, and others. their community-engaged activities in health efforts were always considered in relation to how delivery of their information-related offerings would impact other aspects of people’s lives. figure 3 shows these intertwining aspects of health with other domains of activities in people’s lives. figure 3 also identifies the importance of considering the return-on-investment and/or economic impact in rural librarians’ planning and implementing of health-related initiatives. this theme was reflected across all participants’ feedback in their intentional consideration of evaluating the health information offerings through the lens of return-on-investment (i.e., cost-benefit analysis) and/or potential economic impacts prior to their implementation. reflecting on this value of the health-information offerings from a library-centric perspective provided thoughtful appraisal of what resources the rural library was investing in to generate what kinds of potential benefits. rural librarians were also reviewing user-centered points of view of their possible economic returns while deciding to make avail of the health initiatives provided at the library. these valuations and the assessment of the impact of health-related initiatives on multiple domains makes logical sense especially in the light of constraining resource availability and other extenuating circumstances librarians and their patron communities encountered in their rural environments. generating positive impacts across different domains/spheres of activity in people’s lives provided a strong justification for enacting such activities as well as requesting funding resources to support the delivery of such information-related offerings. 76 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 figure 3. intertwining aspects of health with other domains of activities in people’s lives. conclusion select scenarios presented in this article provide a glimpse of community-engaged health-related practices and experiences of rural librarians in the sca region. as tools to further health justice within the broader context of marginalization in the lis professions, they provide a “voice” of/to rural librarians towards individual, social, and community empowerment. these narratives also serve to highlight the understanding of health-related information offerings in the context of their impacts on other domains representing the intertwining elements in the lives of rural residents. as a result, they provide strong justification for the rural librarians to plan and implement health initiatives in terms of constructs related to return-on-investment associated with impacts generated across multiple settings. realistically, such an approach provides 77 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 potential opportunities to rural librarians to include community partnerships across different spheres to facilitate successful delivery of health-related information services. for example, in the planning of a book talk on holistic health, rural librarians can also map impacts on agriculture in terms of improvements in organic food production, on education in helping children and teens learn of nutrition and eating habits, on environment in terms of facilitating sustainable farming, on diversity in anchoring the conversations to needs of specific populations (such as seniors, lowincome families, racial/ethnic groups, etc.), and so on. health and medical service providers, local non-profit farmers, k-12 teachers and students, environmentalists, and others might be interested in the planning and management of such an event since it would relate to their vested interest. in this manner, the rural librarian can garner community support of individuals, groups, organizations, institutions, and others to come together in the provision of support, staff, money, resources, time, etc. that might lead to a more effective delivery and success of such initiatives. theoretically, this research highlighted the need for expanding the human information behavior discourse (in health information and the broader information context) and library services/practices design work to understand the information creation-organizationmanagement-dissemination processes beyond theory and practice in its inclusion of impact and outcome-driven constructs (mehra, sikes, & singh, 2018). methodologically, strategies and approaches of inclusion of rural libraries and community engagement in health information research are also new directions to pursue in future studies. acknowledgements the authors appreciate the imls planning grant reported in this article. we also thank the grant partners and research respondents for their valuable support and involvement. thanks to chris barrett for loaning his skills of visualization. endnotes 1 the term “rural” used in this article encompasses several meanings and characteristics. these include the u. s. census bureau’s definition as areas with fewer than 2,500 people and open territory (economic research service, 2007). it also recognizes the encyclopedia of rural america’s related concept of “nonmetropolitan” counties to include the spread of housing developments outside the boundaries of metro areas that have no cities with as many as 50,000 residents (rathge, 1997), in addition to being non-urbanized (omb, 1998). further, the meaning of rural areas according to the u. s. census bureau (2010) is also significant in terms of anything not deemed an urban area (which is defined as having a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile and surrounding census blocks with an overall density of at least 500 people per square mile). 2 see grant website for details at url: http://scholar.cci.utk.edu/ca2ca-sca-rl. 3 the appalachian regional commission (arc), created as a unites states federal-state partnership, demarcates appalachia to include 420 counties in alabama, georgia, kentucky, maryland, mississippi, new york, north carolina, ohio, pennsylvania, south carolina, tennessee, virginia, and west virginia. the arc (1974) identifies central appalachia to include: west virginia’s nine southernmost counties, eastern kentucky, virginia’s southwestern 78 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 tip, and the northwestern portion of tennessee’s appalachian area (bush, 2003), while southern appalachia includes: most of appalachian virginia and tennessee as well as the western carolinas and the northern parts of georgia, alabama, and mississippi. references andrews, t., dyson, l., & wishart, j. 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(1990). qualitative evaluation and research methods. newbury park, ca: sage. pda. inc., the cecil g. sheps center for health services research, and the appalachian 84 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1108/s0065-283020170000043006 https://doi.org/10.1108/s0065-283020170000043006 https://dx.doi.org/10.3163%2f1536-5050.97.3.013 https://clintonwhitehouse5.archives.gov/textonly/omb/fedreg/msa.html https://doi.org/10.1080/13691180110097003 scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 regional commission. (2017). creating a culture of health in appalachia: disparities and bright spots. health disparities in appalachia. retrieved from https://www.arc.gov/assets/research_reports/health_disparities_in_appalachia_augus t_2017.pdf prechtel, k. (2008). the health reference interview: getting to the heart of the question while assessing your customer’s literacy skills. in m. kars, l. m. baker, & f. l. wilson (eds.), the medical library association guide to health literacy (pp. 181–196). new york, ny: neal schuman. rathge, r. w. (1997). rural demography. in g. a. goreham (ed.), encyclopedia of rural america: the land and the people. santa barbara, ca: abc-clio. real, b., bertot, j. c., & jaeger, p. t. (2014). rural public libraries and digital inclusion: issues and challenges. information technology and libraries, 33(1), 6-24. https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v33i1.5141 real, b., mcdermott, a., bertot, j., & jaeger, p. (2015). digital inclusion and the affordable care act: public libraries, politics, policy, and enrollment in “obamacare”. public library quarterly, 34(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2015.1000770 real, b., & rose, r. n. (2017). rural libraries in the united states: recent strides, future possibilities, and meeting community needs. chicago, il: american library association. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/pdfs/rural%20pap er%2007-31-2017.pdf rubenstein, e. (2012). from social hygiene to consumer health: libraries, health information, and the american public from the late nineteenth century to the 1980s. library & information history, 28(3), 202-219. https://doi.org/10.1179/1758348912z.00000000016 rubenstein, e. (2016a). breaking health barriers: how can public libraries contribute? public library quarterly, 35(4), 331-337. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2016.1245006 rubenstein, e. (2016b). health information and health literacy: public library practices, challenges, and opportunities. public library quarterly, 35(1), 49-71. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2015.1450520100140 rubenstein, e. l. (2017). “i didn’t learn that in library school”— experiential learning in consumer health for future public librarians. library trends, 66(1), 37-51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/lib.2017.0027 singh, g., kogan, m., & slifkin, r. (2017). widening disparities in infant mortality and life expectancy between appalachia and the rest of the united states, 1990-2013. health affairs, 36(8), 1423-1432. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1571 stanton, d. (2017, december 20). dare i ask? consumer health in a rural library setting. public libraries online: news & opinion. retrieved from http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2017/12/dare-i-ask-consumer-health-in-a-rural85 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.arc.gov/assets/research_reports/health_disparities_in_appalachia_august_2017.pdf https://www.arc.gov/assets/research_reports/health_disparities_in_appalachia_august_2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v33i1.5141 https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2015.1000770 http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/pdfs/rural%20paper%2007-31-2017.pdf http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/pdfs/rural%20paper%2007-31-2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.1179/1758348912z.00000000016 https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2016.1245006 https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2015.1450520100140 http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/lib.2017.0027 https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1571 http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2017/12/dare-i-ask-consumer-health-in-a-rural-library-setting/ scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 library-setting/ swan, d. w., grimes, j., & owens, t. (2013). the state of small and rural libraries in the united states. washington, dc: institute of museum and library services. retrieved from https://www.imls.gov/assets/1/assetmanager/brief2013_05.pdf temple, k. m. (2017, may 3). rural health literacy: who’s delivering health information? the rural monitor. retrieved from https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/ruralmonitor/delivering-health-information/ u. s. census bureau. (2010). 2010 census urban area facts. u.s. department of commerce. retrieved, from https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/ua/uafacts.html u.s. census bureau. (2012, december 6). 2007-2011 american community survey. census bureau releases american community survey estimates, most detailed portrait of every u.s. community (newsroom archive: press release). retrieved from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/american_community_survey_a cs/cb12-228.html u. s. environmental protection agency. (2017). livable communities in appalachia. washington, dc: u. s. environmental protection agency. retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/livable-communities-appalachia williams, j. a. (2003). appalachia: a history. chapel hill, nc: the university of north carolina press. woodson, d., timm, d., & jones, d. (2011). teaching kids about healthy lifestyles through stories and games: partnering with public libraries to reach local children. journal of hospital librarianship, 11(1), 59-69. https://doi.org/10.1080/15323269.2011.538619 zickuhr, k. & smith, a. (2012). digital differences. washington, dc: pew research center. retrieved from https://www.pewinternet.org/2012/04/13/digital-differences/ zionts, n., apter, j., kuchta, j., & greenhouse, p. (2010). promoting consumer health literacy: creation of a health information librarian fellowship. reference & user services quarterly, 49(4), 350–359. zoom video communications, inc. (2019). about zoom. retrieved, from https://zoom.us/about bharat mehra (bmehra@ua.edu) joined the school of library and information studies at the university of alabama as professor and ebsco endowed chair in social justice in january 2019. from january 2005 – december 2018 he was a faculty member in the school of information sciences at the university of tennessee-knoxville. his research focuses on diversity and social justice in library and information science and community informatics or the use of information and communication technologies to empower minority and underserved populations to make meaningful changes in their everyday lives. he has applied action research to further engaged scholarship and community engagement while collaborating with racial/ethnic groups, international diaspora, sexual minorities, rural communities, low-income families, small 86 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2017/12/dare-i-ask-consumer-health-in-a-rural-library-setting/ https://www.imls.gov/assets/1/assetmanager/brief2013_05.pdf https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/rural-monitor/delivering-health-information/ https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/rural-monitor/delivering-health-information/ https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/ua/uafacts.html https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/cb12-228.html https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/cb12-228.html https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/livable-communities-appalachia https://doi.org/10.1080/15323269.2011.538619 https://www.pewinternet.org/2012/04/13/digital-differences/ https://zoom.us/about mailto:bmehra@ua.edu scenarios of health engagement experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32963 businesses, and others, to represent their experiences and perspectives in the design of community-based information systems and services. mehra primarily teaches courses on public library management, collection development, resources and services for adults, diversity services in libraries, and grant development for information professionals. everette scott sikes (esikes@vols.utk.edu) is a doctoral student in the school of information sciences at the university of tennessee-knoxville. he also serves as the associate director of the appalachian center for civic life and instructor in the civic innovation program at emory & henry college. a native of the appalachian region, his research interests focus on the role of information organizations in rural areas and their importance to the civic and social life of communities. vandana singh (vandana@utk.edu) is associate professor in the school of information sciences at the university of tennessee-knoxville. her research interest areas are the use of information technology for learning in workplaces as well in distance education, computer supported cooperative work, human computer interaction and information systems. singh has received multiple research grants from federal agencies, including national science foundation (nsf), institute of museum and library services (imls) and united states geological society (usgs). her work has been published and recognized in national and international conferences and journals. 87 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:esikes@vols.utk.edu mailto:vandana@utk.edu introduction health and rural context sca context and rural libraries health justice imperative research methods scenario use and “voice” data collection data analysis findings “aboutness” of health-based community engaged initiatives collaborating partners in health-based community-engaged initiatives challenges in community-engaged rural health outcomes in health-based community-engaged initiatives discussion conclusion acknowledgements endnotes references book review: teaching for justice: implementing social justice in the lis classroom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ ijidi: book review cooke, n.a., & sweeny, m.e. (eds.). (2017). teaching for justice: implementing social justice in the lis classroom. sacramento, ca: library juice. isbn 9781634000178. 317 pp. $35 us. reviewer: laverne gray, university of tennessee, knoxville, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: critical theory; lis education; pedagogy; social justice publication type: book review hen matriculating for the mlis degree, i learned of the value of libraries and their communities of service. my training and education insisted on the importance of the organization of information, responding to patrons, the value of collections, community engagement, access to information, literacy instruction, privacy, and the digital universe. often in course discussion, social justice issues were a persistent undercurrent within the historical and contemporary function of the profession i was eager to enter. as an african-american adult student of color, i trained myself to use my experiential lens in my role as a recently returned peace corps volunteer with previous experience teaching students of color in an urban setting. my critical consciousness was ever present and my previous graduate study in education informed my questions and world view. i emerged from library and information science (lis) education equipped with the latest knowledge, eager to contribute to the organizations and communities i worked with. however, i found that explicit theoretical foundations of social justice, what it means and how it contributes to library practice, was missing. this is not an indictment of my rich lis educational experience, it is an acknowledgement of a different time. the text under review addresses the needs of the present time to explicitly make social justice education a primary feature of lis teaching and learning. nicole cooke and miriam sweeney make the argument that lis educators should actively engage tensions represented in the social spaces in which professionals operate, becoming central tools in preparation for future generations of librarians and information professionals. this text is the answer to questions on the value of teaching social justice to information professionals, by offering both epistemological and applied examples on how this can be accomplished. teaching for justice: implementing social justice in the lis classroom is a grassroots project originating from an association for library and information science education (alise) 2015 pre conference workshop on social justice teaching in lis. the editors and contributors offer experiences in a myriad of approaches to embedding social justice in the lis curriculum. in the introduction to the text, the editors state that “social justice implies action, it challenges us to work towards the betterment, equality, and respect for those we want to include” (p.6). this admonition is foundational to the call for lis educators to facilitate lis students’ navigation of, and engagement with, diverse communities. the text holistically shifts librarianship and the training of professionals from awareness and acknowledgement of diverse communities to checking imposition of ideals and embracing engagement through the lens of other populations. it is not just diversity. social justice becomes the credo for professional training with activity and critical scrutiny that provides reciprocal benefit both to teacher and student. w http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://libraryjuicepress.com/ teaching for justice the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the text examines teaching for justice in three parts: theoretical frameworks, teaching in the classroom, and teaching outside the classroom. each area addresses topics using innovative thinking and pedagogical practice beyond templates, encouraging both curiosity and creativity for the reader. what does teaching for justice look like? following the tradition of paulo freire’s pedagogy of the oppressed (2000), the text contributors emulate praxis, the embodiment of theory to practice, in a variety of lis educational environments. in the first section, theoretical frameworks for social justice in lis curricula, contributors theoretically examine the social justice paradigm in lis teaching and practice, sustainability frameworks, and the journey towards social justice in lis. each chapter makes the case for social justice thought and curricula, which is foundational to understanding the need for a critical approach to society and professional activity. this approach to teaching engenders liberation of the self, through understanding power relations, that influence practice in the field. the second section tackles teaching social justice in the lis classroom. in four chapters, contributors address course development in diversity, youth services, explicit teaching tools for social justice, undergraduate race and justice course development for non-lis undergraduates, and implementing exercises in an online environment. the chapters provide detailed examples of various engagement experiences with students through theoretical-based course development and exercises. section three tackles social justice in study abroad activities and leadership training of paraprofessionals in rural communities. the chapters address the challenges of teaching social justice in lis workspaces and community environments. the strength of this ground-breaking text is the theoretically rich placement of many pedagogical considerations in teaching in the context of social justice. the book rightly assumes the nonseparation of social justice to lis. the text overtly addresses the current climate wrought with divisionary thought and discourse by challenging systemic injustices in teaching and learning. although the book purports to offer implementation in the lis classroom, it delivers so much more. it offers a shifting of the instructive paradigm in lis beyond inclusion of social justice to a clearly stated argument and justification of the centrality of social justice in disciplinary and professional considerations. each chapter brilliantly stands alone and is in concert with others. the collective essays provide both personal narrative and practical tools often found in classroom teaching texts. the fusion of theoretically informed pedagogical attention brings a reflexive tone to the book which makes it an enjoyable read. the obvious audience is lis educators and doctoral students. i believe that it can be used in the mlis classroom as a transparent text supporting classroom engagement in social justice learning. the concluding chapter is rightly entitled a call to action, which demonstrates the collective power of engagement each author addresses throughout the text. in my training as a future lis educator, i interpret the call as an opening to consider what the text offers in my teaching and professional contributions. i highly recommend this text to educators, practitioners, and students in lis and beyond. reference freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary ed.). new york: continuum. 133 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, teaching for justice the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ laverne gray (lgray7@vols.utk.edu) is a phd candidate in the college of communication and information with a concentration in information sciences. her education includes mlis at dominican university, ms ed in educational psychology (northern illinois university), and a ba in rehabilitation/child development at (wilberforce university). before beginning doctoral studies, she was a librarian for eight years at several academic institutions. her research focuses on black feminist activism in information environments, cultural studies, social justice, and critical pedagogy. she was inspired to become a librarian from her peace corps service in west africa. 134 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, mailto:lgray7@vols.utk.edu reference exploring reader-generated language to describe multicultural literature the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 exploring reader-generated language to describe multicultural literature denice adkins, university of missouri, usa jenny s. bossaller, university of missouri, usa heather moulaison sandy, university of missouri, usa abstract how do readers describe multicultural fiction works? while in library and information science (lis) we have the language of appeal factors and genre trends to describe works of fiction, these linguistic choices may not be used by readers to describe their own responses and reactions to works that provide cultural affirmation of one’s own culture or exposure to learning different cultures. in this research, text mining processes are employed to harvest reader-generated book reviews and subsequently analyze the words readers use to describe award-winning multicultural fiction on the retailer site amazon.com. our goal with this study is to provide lis professionals an insight into readers’ perspectives related to multicultural fiction. we describe our methodology of engaging in topic modeling as described by jockers and mimno (2013) as applied to multicultural fiction reviews. first, we explore the construction and processing of a corpus of reader reviews of multicultural fiction titles, then we model topics using a topic modeling toolkit to generate topics from these reviews. through this analysis, we determine consistent terms used to describe multicultural fiction that can be used to indicate common reader experience and identify topics. closing discussion reflects on whether librarians can use text mining of reader reviews to enhance their reader advisory services for readers seeking books that represent multiple and/or diverse cultures. keywords: amazon reviews; appeal factors; multicultural fiction; multicultural literature; topic modeling publication type: research article introduction e are living in an era of socio-cultural movements that affirm identity in various ways. movements are on the streets and online with hashtag identifiers such as #blacklivesmatter, #everydaysexism, #lagenteunida, and #aminext, to name a few. readers and librarians have entered this social discourse with social media identifiers such as #blackbooksmatter, #1000blackgirlbooks, #weneeddiversebooks, and #readwomen. additionally, there have been many other calls to diversify and celebrate books that chronicle the lives of people who are often insufficiently represented in library stacks. given the responsive demands that these various social movements infer, we ask the question: how can librarians increase their ability to locate and select culturally relevant and authentic fiction? this paper describes a method of analyzing the words written by readers of diverse literature in order to discern themes and characteristics that readers find appealing. findings can be used by librarians w https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 to enhance their collections and their fluidity in discussing books with readers as well as with publishers, who serve as gatekeepers. this paper begins with a question: how do readers describe multicultural fiction works? for the purposes of this paper, “multicultural literature” is used within the context of the u.s. publishing industry to describe literary works produced by or intended for audiences who come from african american, hispanic/latinx, native american, or asian american backgrounds. we acknowledge that these are broad classes that incorporate multitudes of diverse experiences, and we also assert that this paper serves as more of a model for a method than as a paper that includes definitive results about readers. in this research, we use text mining processes to explore the words and phrases that readers use to describe multicultural literature. our goal is to provide library and information science (lis) professionals an insight into readers’ perspectives related to multicultural fiction. although in lis we utilize professional terms such as appeal factors and genre trends to describe works of fiction, these linguistic choices may not be used by readers to describe their own responses and reactions to works that provide cultural affirmation or potentially expose readers to different cultures. by using a new method of exploring readers’ descriptions of reading experiences, we hope to determine (a) whether there are consistent terms used to describe multicultural fiction that can be used to indicate common reader experiences; and (b) whether librarians can use text mining of reader reviews to enhance their reader advisory (ra) services for readers of multicultural fiction. literature review for years, librarians have sought methods to connect readers to books. for example, directed reading programs during the first real ra push of the 1920s suggested books that might uplift readers’ spirits or elevate their taste (saricks, 2005). lawrence (2017) summarizes the trends in ra, from the directed ra interviews of the 1920s in which librarians produced customized bibliographies for the patron, to its mid-century decline and its renaissance in the 1980s. dilevko and magowan (2007) point out many reasons for the reemergence of ra in the 1960s: technical education was on the rise, and libraries offered a chance to bolster liberal education for the masses, who also needed bibliotherapy because of societal problems. the study of popular culture gave librarians license to collect and recommend high-demand books over serious reading. another important event in modern ra was the 1982 debut of rosenberg’s genreflecting, a guide to popular reading that told readers to, “never apologize for your reading tastes” (p. 5). this publication gave librarians a new and acceptable means of connecting readers to the books that they really wanted to read. the library’s collection is most often built around books from mainstream publishers in the languages that will best serve the most people in the service area. there are many gatekeepers, then, at different levels, beginning with authors, in terms of what is written; publishers, in terms of how and where books are published; and the librarian themselves, due to the fact that ra services are limited to people who want to talk to the librarian. minority (e.g., immigrants, african americans, latino/latina, lgbtq) readers might feel as if librarians do not speak their language. sometimes they do not (literally), but sometimes there is a cultural barrier. we think that librarians can overcome some cultural barriers, given the right tools. 5 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 inclusion and exclusion: what is published? an assumption exists in the literature that large publishers like the big five (i.e., hachette, harpercollins, macmillan, penguin random house, and simon & schuster) are not embracing diverse adult fiction; indeed, the publishing industry has a reputation for being overly white in its literary and authorial representation (doherty, 2016), including the smaller presses (cf. lee & low books, 2016). doherty (2016) explores this phenomenon in her study of four indie publishers’ responses to the #weneeddiversebooks campaign. as a result, she found that the lack of representation caused those publishers “to ask for books by writers of color more openly than before and make diversity top priority in their slush pile by tagging writers of color” (p. 5), implying that indie publishers might be more inclined to seek out diverse fiction. the 2015 diversity baseline survey (dbs), conducted by lee & low books, examined gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability in the publishing industry. the researchers found that the publishing industry is hiring new people (although the average age of employees is down, along with their compensation), but that a steady 89% of the employees are white and 77% are women. however, the researchers did find that publishers were advancing more diverse and multicultural books (milliot, 2015). the dbs collected data on employees in the publishing industry and also on book reviewers. the data on book reviewers is important because librarians and other information professionals rely on book reviews to support their collection development efforts. the dbs’s outcomes suggest that if publishers, editors, and book reviewers are predominantly white, cis-gendered, heterosexual non-disabled women (as the dbs showed), then the perspectives that determine what enters the distribution channels may be limited as well (lee & low books, 2016). this concern is not new; in 1965, nancy larrick wrote about “the all-white world of children’s books” (larrick, 1965). noted lis youth services scholar sandra hughes-hassell confirms that, “the need for multicultural literature is even greater today than it was in 1965” (2013, p. 212). as 21st century demographics in the u.s. continue to skew towards a majority of non-white youth who will grow into the mainstream adult population, the need to see books that appreciate citizens’ specific heritages and cultures will become requisite. the 21st century will continue to see the growth of nonwhite populations, and children’s literature should reflect such demographic trends (p. 215). appeal factors and multicultural literature in 1989, joyce g. saricks and nancy brown introduced the concept of appeal factors that could be used to help readers find books that match their interests and tastes. “through trial and error, these two practitioners developed a method for thinking about books in terms that mattered to readers” (smith, 2015, p. 13). these appeal factors included pace, characterization, story line, and frame. appeal factors were meant to be a “universal language,” so to speak, that would allow librarians and readers to classify works of fiction based not on characters and plot so much as factors that draw links between literature and genres. saricks (2005) affirms that “most readers are not usually looking for a book on a certain subject. they want a book with a particular ‘feel’” (p. 40). using appeal factors has thus become the de facto method that librarians use to connect readers with books, but some authors have attempted to expand the relevance of appeal factors. for instance, dali (2013) cites a “generally growing dissatisfaction with the original definition and 6 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 traditionally outlined scope of appeal” (p. 475). she mentions additions to the concept of appeal factors, such as the inclusion of linguistic style, learning potential, format, genre, and subject. dali’s (2014) expansion of appeal factors includes both book appeal factors, as indicated by saricks and others, reader-driven appeal factors such as a reader’s curiosity, the process of reading, and the role of reading in a reader’s life (pp. 32-33). in dali’s (2013) summary of discussions of appeal factors, she notes that authenticity has been mentioned as a book appeal factor, as has connecting with characters. topics such as “cultural empathy and understanding,” “recognition [of self] in books,” “reading about people who are similar to us and different from us,” and “confirmation of readers’ own . . . experiences” are classified as appeals beyond the book (dali, 2013, pp. 484-485). dali suggests that readers may want to explore multicultural fiction to expand their intercultural connections with others (2014, p. 28). one of the most popular ra tools for librarians is the classic genreflecting series, originally written by betty rosenberg in 1982, now by diana tixier herald and other authors and in its seventh edition. how well does genreflecting cover multicultural fiction? the sixth edition (2006) covers very little in the way of multicultural fiction. a review of the work finds sections on “african americans in the west” (pp. 116-117) under historical fiction, “diversity in detection” (pp. 173-175) under crime, a brief review of ethnic romance, and another brief review of asian fantasy. as noted by dali (2014), appeal factors are intended to be a universal language to describe fiction; what unites, rather than what separates. saricks (2005) explains that this was a conscious choice, speaking to the universal nature of the elements of appeal: in developing a list of popular genres, there is always the temptation to create genres from groups of authors who are really linked in other ways, perhaps by subject or even gender, rather than genre. african american authors, for example, do not constitute a separate genre, since books by these authors are not written to a particular, identifiable pattern as by definition genre fiction always is. toni morrison and mystery writer eleanor taylor bland are both african american writers, but each has her own following of fans, and their books differ dramatically they belong on the mystery genre list, not a separate list that merely groups au thors by race or gender. (p. 32) despite the relatively small amount of coverage of multicultural fiction in genreflecting, there are a number of other american library association (ala) ra guides that cover many fiction genres that include chapters (or entire books) about multicultural fiction. for instance, there are guides to romance, mystery, historical fiction, and street lit. these books discuss who reads the genre and why it is appealing for specific types of readers, alluding to universal appeal factors. ra tools for multicultural materials and audiences alma dawson and connie van fleet (2001) discussed the need for increased ra services for multicultural audiences. they noted increased mainstream interest in multicultural literature, defined as “the literature about persons or groups that differ in some way (ethnically, racially, culturally, linguistically, by sexual orientation, or disabilities) from the sociopolitical euroamerican mainstream of the united states” (p. 250). they posit a pattern of development among literature where early writings focus on self-definition and identity, later writings on the transition between cultures. 7 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 in 2004, dawson and van fleet published the first ra guide focused on african american literature. that publication covers the same genres as other ra guides (e.g., crime/detective fiction, romance, inspirational fiction, etc.). latino literature: a guide to reading interests was published in 2009 as part of the genreflecting series (martinez, 2009). like the ra title for african american literature, latino literature also focuses on popular and traditional genres such as mystery, historical fiction, and romance, specifying works written by latinx authors or relevant for latinx readers. editor sara e. martinez includes some key concepts specific to latinx books, including “themes of immigration, political upheaval, the refugee experience, and the search for cultural identity” (martinez, 2009, p. 84). a readers’ advisory guide to street literature (2012) written by vanessa irvin morris focuses specifically on the literary genre known as urban fiction or street lit. in the forward of the book, street lit author teri woods discusses how her first novel, true to the game, was repeatedly rejected by publishers, so she decided to publish it herself. after selling her novel firstly to local then national bookstores, woods established her own independent publishing company to promote her own and others’ urban fiction works. woods’ resounding success alerted established publishers to the lucrative possibilities of street lit. woods’ experience as an author coupled with her experience working with inner-city teen readers provides the knowledge to describe more literary appeal factors—such as relationships, identity, accurate representation of street life, and pace—particular to the street lit genre. simone gibson (2010) explains that many african american girls want to read street lit and that their literacy rates are higher than school records might indicate, but that their reading choices are not valued in school. sandra hughes-hassell and pradnya rodge (2007), likewise, described a “literacy ceiling” (p. 22) that many young people reach in middle or high school, which might be broken if students are given the opportunity to engage in more (and more personally appealing) leisure reading. street lit is a valid example of how the reading experience of selfselected titles helps youth readers to make sense of their lived worlds; readers “learn from their experiences by the conclusion of the story, passing along advice that results in the formation of a cautionary tale” (gibson, 2010, p. 567). the books can provide a guide for life and substantial escapism, but many educators will not use the books because of “vulgar themes, nonstandard language use, stereotypical portrayals, . . . [and] poor writing construction of many of the texts” (p. 569). fortunately, librarians can provide street lit novels and connect with the genre’s readers because they do not have the same pedagogical constraints as classroom teachers. however, irvin morris found that within days of leaving her position at the free library of philadelphia, her carefully curated (and popular) street lit section had been dismantled, reflecting a lack of knowledge on the part of the librarian who took over the collection of its appeal to readers (or possibly a prejudice against its content). irvin morris is doubtlessly not alone in her quest to curate such collections. of course, african american girls are not alone in a quest for a good book. what do we know about fiction’s appeal to immigrants? dali (2010) points out that public librarians are very good at services for immigrants in two areas: “coping skills (e.g., esl; basic literacy . . . citizenship and exam preparation . . . )” and “arts and culture (e.g., library programs aimed at celebrating ethnic heritage . . . etc.)” (p. 215). however, she found that librarians are not as good at connecting immigrant users to leisure or pleasure reading. while dali (2010) admits that almost no public library is going to have a multicultural collection that rivals ethnic bookstores, librarians can best collect and manage relevant collections by asking immigrants what they like to read in their own language and then connecting the readers to books in english that have 8 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 similar themes. dali’s main point is that librarians can connect to readers by listening and acknowledging their expressed reading interest, tastes and needs, and by making liberal use of electronic resources like the ra database, novelist, for high caliber ra services. novelist’s conceptual framework largely draws on appeal factors, but the database also has user guides to direct readers on how to find books by culture and diverse characters. dali notes that her interviews with immigrants suggests that appeal factors may be “applicable irrespective of the ethnic and linguistic origin” of the reader (2014, p. 24). overcoming publishing problems in the guide to street lit (irvin morris, 2012), readers reported that one of the things that draws them into a story is authenticity of the characters, of the portrayal of difficult lives and situations, and of the cultural language used by the characters (i.e., not anglo-american english). the reader can relate to the characters; they have seen (if not experienced) similar situations. this relatability harkens back to louise rosenblatt’s theory of reader response (1938) and to janice radway’s (1984) study of romance readers: people want stories that they can relate to. however, it is a lack of authenticity that sanchez (2014) writes about regarding protagonists and characters of color in crime fiction (mysteries), explaining that “english has become the lingua franca of world literature” (p. 1). good intentions in promoting world literature are not enough; librarians must also be aware of english and western bias in publishing. sanchez explains that much “ethnic detective fiction” is actually written by white anglos, that the voices of the characters are inauthentic, and that the characters are presented as “the other” or exoticized. the etic voice is present because it is more palatable or more relatable to the publishers. similarly, poddar (2016) discusses gatekeeping by publishers, who promote “false exoticism” in postcolonial fiction to perpetuate cultural tropes. poddar is specifically talking about diasporic writers who write to appeal to mainstream publishers, rather than cultural appropriation by anglo writers. bryoni birdi and mostafa syed (2011) found that the items being published were a barrier to minority readers in england. citing a bbc interview regarding muslims in fiction, one muslim convert pointed out that “publishers...are reluctant to commission...novels which portray muslim cultures positively, since they felt, as one publisher put it, that readers would be ‘confused,’ and the book would not sell” (p. 3). birdi and syed (2011) also found that very few people even came to the library looking for black british or asian fiction in english, or gay/lesbian fiction. they suggested using themed displays to “encourage people to find the elusive ‘good read’, ... remove fears and prejudices in an entirely unobtrusive way, to present wider reading choices to all library users” (p. 18). in her later work, birdi (2014) further explored minority ethnic english language fiction to identify reader types. using a likert scale to measure attitudes and opinions, she found that readers of minority fiction were more likely to be members of a minority group. while readers of minority fiction are more likely to be minorities, as birdi pointed out, themed displays of minority fiction can draw all readers in, encouraging them to find the “elusive ‘good read’” (birdi & syed, 2011, p. 18) while removing prejudices about minorities. again, appeal is the most common method that librarians use to talk about fiction reading, despite limited coverage or terminology to help readers find multicultural works. are there ways to expand this limited terminology? we suggest going directly to the readers’ voices via online reader-generated book reviews. this source is not entirely new; for instance, wanda brooks and lorraine savage (2009) used amazon book reviews to qualitatively assess appeal and reader 9 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 response to street lit. they found that readers enjoyed the relatability of the characters, and that the books really drew them in; readers were unable to put the books down. our research, instead, takes a bird’s-eye view of the readers’ descriptions, using a quantitative text analysis approach to find common words and themes in reviews of multicultural fiction. we used a corpus of reader reviews drawn from award-winning fiction for this experiment, but plan to go deeper into independently published works from other genres (e.g., lgbtq, manga, etc.) for future studies; this demonstrates how the model might be employed while providing an analysis of award-winning fiction. topic modeling as method of analysis topic modeling is an approach that allows researchers to analyze large bodies of text in a way that is relatively straightforward. saxton (2018) points out that topic modeling can be performed on any kind of documents, as long as the documents are electronic. xiao, ji, li, zhuang, and shi (2018) use topic modeling to analyze online reviews in conjunction with other indicators to predict users’ ratings of consumer products on two retail websites. according to jockers and mimno (2013), who analyzed a large corpus of nineteenth century english literature, there are a number of benefits to this method, including the ability to study a corpus much larger than possible for a single person to read. a second benefit is that topic modeling allows researchers to establish themes using the words of the source—as a result, these themes have the potential to be complex, instead of the somewhat reductionist themes that might otherwise be produced as a result of overgeneralizations and personal bias after reading. our project uses topic modeling as a method of analysis—by selecting a large corpus of reader reviews of multicultural works of fiction in the words of the readers, and then uses this corpus to build topic models as a way of testing the questions of the terminology used by readers of multicultural fiction to describe their experiences. method the premise of this project was to determine whether reviews of multicultural books would reveal user-generated language to indicate the books’ appeal. this research took place in three phases: developing the corpus, analyzing said corpus by using topic modeling techniques, and assessing the results. we present the first two phases as part of our methodology, and the results and their assessment as part of our data analysis. developing and processing the corpus a list of 50 award-winning multicultural adult fiction titles was generated by our collaborative reviewing of major literary award lists such as the national book award, the pen/faulkner book award, and other award lists that covered a period of 10 years (2008-2017). the choice of books was based largely on our need for testing the limits of the method of analysis in this exploratory work: limitations included books that were relatively recent and that would have a large number of reader reviews and commentary available for data mining. we chose to look at 50 books to ensure that multiple works were available for each of the cultural groups involved in the study (african american, hispanic/latinx, immigrants, asian american). reviews for those titles were obtained from amazon.com customer reviews, a known source of reader information that could serve as a limited public forum where reviewers had some freedom to express their authentic reader responses. 10 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 review data was scraped using the webscraper.io extension to the chrome web browser and downloaded as a comma-separated values file. each file consisted of a collection of reviews for a particular book title, and each file was processed individually. the text of the narrative reviews was exported into a plain-text file. punctuation and general stopwords were removed from each file, and the most frequently-used words were reviewed to determine if any specific stopwords might need to be removed. after deliberation, it was decided that authors’ and characters’ names should be removed from the corpus. after removal of more specific stopwords, reviews were tokenized (split up into individual words) so that each file could be processed individually, and all files could be processed collectively. analyzing the corpus the first stage of analysis involved using voyant tools, a web-based text analysis tool, to review our existing corpus. voyant tools is available at http://voyant-tools.org/, which enables users to do basic text analysis using a “bag of words” format, analyzing words individually rather than contextually. we used voyant as an entry point into our data analysis, looking at some basic topics such as word frequency and word collocation. we analyzed the entire corpus file for the most frequently used words in the reviews. the second stage of processing involved analyzing the corpus using the mallet topic modeling toolkit. mallet is a downloadable java application available at http://mallet.cs.umass.edu/index.php. mallet uses the graphical distribution topic model called latent dirichlet allocation (lda) to look at word use in context and create topic clusters based on the text. that is, lda looks at the words used in each combination of documents (e.g., all the words used in the reviews of book 1, all the words used in the reviews of book 2, etc.). based on those words, mallet uses statistical algorithms to infer the topics of the documents based on the frequency with which various words are used together, producing “meaningfully ambiguous” results that guide researchers toward making their own judgments (underwood, 2012, para. 16). when studied over time, these word relationships may signal changing discourse (e.g., underwood, 2012) or societal change (e.g., nelson, n.d.). the value of topic modeling is that “[statistical topic] models do not require annotated training data and do not attempt to analyze linguistic structures, they are simple to run and robust to variation in language and data quality [and] scale to large data sets” (jockers & mimno, 2012, p. 2). we ran mallet against the entire corpus file, looking at the top five, 10, and 20 topics indicated. looking at these smaller numbers allowed us to analyze the corpus reductively, as we found that looking at 50 and 100 topics resulted in analyses of individual titles’ reviews rather than the whole corpus. reviewing the topic models generated, we opted to run stanford corenlp named entity recognition (software that analyzes text looking for named entities and then extracts those entities into a list) against the file to determine which named entities were mentioned in the reader reviews, such as author names, country names, and character names. available for free download at https://stanfordnlp.github.io/corenlp/, stanford corenlp offers several features for text analysis, including tokenization (splitting the corpus into individual tokens, in this case, words), lemmatization (creating lemmas, or base forms, for words to allow searching with truncation), identification of parts of speech used in a text, and identification of named entities 11 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://voyant-tools.org/ http://mallet.cs.umass.edu/index.php https://stanfordnlp.github.io/corenlp/ exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 such as person, location, and organization, among others (manning, surdeanu, bauer, finkel, bethard, & mcclosky, 2014). author names and character names are typically “specific only to the text in which they occur” (jockers & mimno, 2012, p. 5), and so may increase noise in the analysis. this is a concern that underwood (2012) also notes, with discussion about the nature of authorial “signatures” in their word choice and topic selections. author and character names recognized by stanford corenlp’s named entity recognition (ner) program were added to the stopwords list in order to get a better sense of the words used by readers to describe and review these books. while the ner function did a good job recognizing traditional american names, it was less reliable in recognizing ethnically-derived names, such as “isabel” and “nguyen.” therefore, it is possible that some character names are included in the reviews analyzed. after removing stopwords, we ran voyant-tools and the mallet topic modeling toolkit again, using these results for our final analysis. results we downloaded 33,178 reader reviews for the 50 books in our data pool. the number of reviews per book ranged from 11, for i hotel by karen tei yamashita, to 4,178, for the underground railroad by colson whitehead. prior to stopword removal, the file contained 2,077,474 words; after stopword removal, the file contained 1,092,786 words, and after removal of authors’ and characters’ names, 856,998 words. table 1. twenty most frequently used words in review corpus word frequency of use book 28,024 read 16,488 story 14,834 characters 8,449 novel 7,070 great 6,310 stars 6,200 like 6,040 good 5,894 life 5,635 written 5,175 love 4,879 12 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 word frequency of use time 4,579 reading 4,511 just 4,388 family 4,266 writing 4,009 author 3,846 interesting 3,651 really 3,634 figure 1. voyant distribution of the five most frequently used words in the corpus, based on all 50 titles 13 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 characteristics of user-generated review texts this corpus is comprised of reviews written for the most part by layperson readers. some reviewers for amazon are semi-professional, in the sense that they receive books for free in exchange for their reviews. as of 2016, amazon has banned reviewers receiving financial compensation for their reviews (perez, 2016), but based on web articles with titles like “confessions of a paid amazon reviewer” (chen, 2017), it is possible that some of these reviewers have received money or goods in exchange for their reviews. nonetheless, these reviewers hold a variety of opinions about these books. table 1 shows the most frequently-used words in the corpus after the removal of common englishlanguage stopwords such as “the” and “and.” several words were related to the reading experience or process, such as book, novel, and story. these results were generated from voyanttools, using their standard list of stopwords. figure 1 shows the distribution of the five most frequently used words throughout the corpus: book, read, story, characters, and novel. the word “book,” in dark blue, is used most frequently across all 50 titles, with “read” (green), and “novel” (light blue) also describing the reading experience and supporting dali’s assertion that the process of reading factors into reading motivations. the term “characters” (purple) supports characterization as being an important appeal factor for readers. the term “story” (pink) may support story line as an appeal factor. processing the corpus through stanford corenlp indicates the parts of speech used in reviews and the types of concepts addressed. corenlp finds 2,077,970 words total in the data set. of those, 493,800 (24%) are nouns, 351,521 (17%) are verbs, 223,078 (11%) are adjectives, and 127,058 (6%) are adverbs. these words are used to describe the story, elements within the story such as characters and plot, readers’ reactions, and readers’ thoughts related to the book. the ner function identifies people’s names, but it also identifies words describing general concepts. for instance, ner identified 21,066 (1%) words as being related to place – names of countries, cities, and states, as well as identifiers of nationality such as american or vietnamese. there were 3,549 words in the category “cause of death,” such as “war,” “disease,” and “violence,” while 1,273 words fell into the “criminal charges” category, such as “murder,” “terrorism,” and “genocide.” another 1,224 words related to ideology, including “middle class,” “family values,” and “feminism,” while only 395 words were deemed to relate to religion, including “judaism,” “islam,” “christianity,” “hinduism,” and “atheism.” topic models before running topic models with mallet, we removed four of the five most frequently-occurring words (“book,” “read,” “story,” and “novel”) because we felt that, while they are important, they are not important to distinguish anything useful for the purposes of this paper; they were a way for users to say what they were reading, and were therefore more like stopwords. we then ran a model to generate 20 topics, 10 topics, and five topics, based on words that have a tendency to co-occur in the same texts. jockers and mimno found that analyzing a full novel resulted in topics that were too broad and ended up using novels segmented into 1000-word chunks (2013, p. 754). for our files, the average number of words in the reviews for each title is 41,551, ranging from a low of 360 words for the water museum by luis alberto urrea, to a high of 195,758 for americanah by chimamanda ngozi adichie. 14 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 table 2 shows the 20-topic model. the column labeled “interpretation” contains our general interpretation of the words identified by mallet as representing the words most frequently used together. several words are repeated in multiple categories, suggesting that topics are wideranging and might be refined. this 20-topic model demonstrates some of the meaningful ambiguity noted by underwood (2012, para. 16), including words that do not seem immediately relevant to a specific topic. this 20-topic model demonstrates the need for further stop word refinement, as evidence of book titles (such as “forty acres,” “the sympathizer,” and “house of spirits”) are all apparent in these word choices. further, though we attempted lemmatization (word stemming) with stanfordnlp, this function did not work effectively, as demonstrated with the grouping of words such as “vietnam” with “vietnamese” and “american” with “americans.” in interpreting the nature of topics identified, we tended to group general concepts together and ignore the words that seemed particularly out of place, such as “sparrow” and “sag” in the family and childhood row. however, this indicated a need for refinement. table 3 shows a reduced topic model, returning 10 instead of 20 topics. to some degree, these topics reflect the topics above, but start becoming more general. table 2. twenty topic models with interpretations and the top 20 co-occurring words for each topic interpretation topic model words african american, music and history jazz thriller black acres forty war music half paris history blues band blood musicians braggsville louis german african group plot characterization written people world interesting life time part tale plot place told events fiction important journey telling descriptions takes narrative experience readers’ feelings time character reader work hard pages readers beautifully difficult give left times words day woman young novels kind chapter wanted family and childhood family mother father girls age coming brother parents growing summer boys silver brothers girl childhood friends sparrow harbor secret sag immigration immigrant family immigrants immigration doors country dream interesting good people city west refugees home america exit dreamers cameroon timely war family family hurricane sing esch bones salvage father mother dog mississippi love poverty china kayla pop unburied ghosts children brother characters vietnam war vietnam vietnamese sympathizer perspective written narrator american south spy view interesting general communist saigon north man excellent end june format (short fiction) short collection brooklyn beautiful august animals pakistan family young narrator novella novellas cards poetry father mexican debut final loteria 15 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 interpretation topic model words death violence (tone) characters history violence jamaica jamaican pages hard political language difficult violent understand killings york challenging patois graphic dialect interesting english readers’ feelings great good author found long bit made recommend style dont worth back lot find time make authors makes times full family family house characters spirits detroit chile love supremes history great good native loved women friends enjoyed wonderful notebook magical generations asian american experience india japanese lowland interesting indian brothers history short women style lives written america family calcutta brides namesake experience buddha brother characters’ perspectives american women point voice unique narrative reader person thought man subject early view small perspective told order simply experiences men african american experience, immigration race america love american nigeria african black nigerian great interesting culture experience written loved perspective immigrant blog racism enjoyed americans east asian families family history japan korean characters generations japanese koreans interesting historical korea african pachinko great saga written slavery homegoing lives generation african american historical fiction railroad underground slavery history slave slaves historical fiction freedom actual white plantation black people south real characters escape good america historical fiction history good historical onion child bride girl lord slave god bird browns man slavery boy war interesting civil funny fiction readers’ feelings great good loved written put enjoyed author american club ending thought excellent recommend real page felt love end interesting black latin american experience, language spanish dominican life history love republic family language culture footnotes references dont slang words understand english lose voice narrator sister families and characters characters life love feel end lives beautiful felt family loved enjoyed wonderful human real didnt home relationships disappointed good character 16 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 table 3. ten topic models with interpretations and the top 20 co-occurring words for each topic interpretation topic model words family and history, heritage family characters history generations house african american spirits half chapter time homegoing generation trade written jazz families interesting native historical eastern asian experience japanese japan korean family history women koreans interesting korea written war historical characters pachinko generations brides people saga style culture african immigrant perspectives america race american love african immigrant nigeria written life black culture great experience interesting immigrants nigerian perspective people country loved african american historical experience slavery railroad history underground slave historical slaves fiction written people freedom white black american actual america interesting important plantation real vietnam war war vietnam vietnamese written american country perspective sympathizer people doors refugees man narrator interesting west author south thought general spy readers’ perceptions time reader work hard world style pages worth understand found narrative difficult readers find point times character dont novels bit characterization and family characters love life written beautiful mother young felt family lives people child beautifully american powerful things feel past marriage black family family brothers india short brother indian lowland father collection written characters lives hurricane life parents house esch bones detroit children readers’ perceptions good great characters author loved enjoyed end time recommend interesting put written wonderful excellent years life didnt thought page made latinx experience spanish dominican history love life language family republic fiction culture boy onion voice funny sing dont footnotes words lord references finally, table 4 shows the topic models with the number of topics retrieved reduced to five. as the number of topics is reduced, the models naturally become more general, perhaps pointing to universal appeal factors, or perhaps to topics that are viewed as safe or appealing by publishers. as noted by dawson and van fleet (2001), initial ventures into multicultural publishing tend to be stories about origins and cultural transitions. the award-winning books 17 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 selected for this analysis have had to pass through numerous gatekeepers within the publishing industry. stories of people immigrating to the u.s. from their home countries might be viewed as stories that reaffirm a superior or desirable status for the u.s. in the minds of readers. historical novels describing cultural differences might be viewed as past history, without an acknowledgement of the effects of the past on the present. the data of this project reveals the need for more insight into the mainstream publishing process to shed light on why and how books are chosen for publication and marketing, and whether these stories were chosen for their universal or unique characteristics. in other words, readers read what is available, accessible, and therefore, known to them. the data also suggests the question: in what ways do librarians contribute to the readership of multicultural titles and subsequent reader reviews? table 4. five topic models with interpretations and the top 20 co-occurring words for each topic interpretation topic model words historical touchpoints, international history war slavery railroad good written underground historical slave great characters japanese time fiction interesting slaves japan vietnam vietnamese korean family characters family good life love mother great written time father lives child children parents character loved brothers author feel back readers’ feelings reader people work world time women style author short find pages written lives told place life beautiful interesting young narrative latin american characters spanish dominican history life great love characters good time dont language character funny understand didnt family hard lot years republic characterization and culture great characters love american good life loved written america enjoyed interesting race author black recommend end character african excellent culture publishers’ status to complement the data on reviews, this project also sought to understand the extent to which independent publishers (i.e., publishers not acquired by a larger company and operating as an “imprint” of a larger unit), also known as indie presses, were responsible for the publication of the award books selected for study since they represented multicultural points of view and since indie presses were perceived as being more open to supporting diversity (doherty, 2016). to do this, the publishers of the books were recorded. the publishing houses were then evaluated to assess their status. as shown in figure 2, nine of the 50 books were published by five indie presses (one indie press, algonquin books, was responsible for four of the titles; the other four indie presses were akashic books, bloomsbury usa, cinco puntos press, and coffee house press and each was responsible for the publication of one book). the remaining 41 books in the list were published either directly by the big five publishers (i.e., hachette, harpercollins, macmillan, penguin random house (prh), and simon & schuster) or through one of their imprints; or through a standard, traditional 18 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 press (e.g., anchor). no books on the list of selected resources was self-published. discussion based on our analysis, we find several terms used by readers to describe books that may not be reflected in reviews of more mainstream award-winning books that feature the dominant white culture: culture-specific terms (e.g. “african,” “nigerian,” “dominican”) focusing on identity, historical topics that have shaped culture and identity (e.g., vietnam war, the institution of slavery and the legacy it has left). readers’ advisors might look for similar terms or ideas in books to indicate their appeal or lack of appeal to a multicultural audience. we conclude that while there are great differences in the ways readers write about books, even the same book, there are some consistent terms and ideas used to describe multicultural fiction in this data set. figure 2. publisher status for the 50 books selected for this project all 50 of these books have garnered awards or recognition—as such, they have passed through the gatekeepers of publishing and awards committees. some of the language used to describe these books was consistent with characteristics of literary fiction as described by saricks (2009): depth of characterization and focus on relationships between characters. in the stories used in this analysis, family relations were very strongly represented. many of the books focused on migration and immigration, which might be one explanation for the familial focus. to note, familial culture was both a source of pride and tension in the reader reviews. the portrayal of cultural beings experiencing cultural tensions may reinforce some people’s experience of culture and may be a new experience for other people. readers’ advisors might focus on depth of cultural portrayal as being another measure by which to evaluate multicultural fiction for reader appeal. limitations and future research this research acknowledges a number of limitations. first, the review of the literature, although sufficient to support the present analysis, is decidedly anglo-american in scope. future research 19 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 should investigate not only multicultural works in other languages and cultures, but also the publishing and access to those materials; a revised approach to presenting the literature in the field will be necessary to support that work. next, amazon was used as a source for the reviews because the platform represents a democratic forum for the exchange of ideas regarding the books themselves and has the potential to include a variety of voices and experiences. amazon, as a platform, was chosen for reasons of convenience in light of the purpose of the project and the potential to collect data for analysis in this exploratory work. future projects that do not have the same exploratory nature or that investigate other questions will want to use other sources for review data. this was exploratory work that tested a topics model method as a means of seeing how people described their reading experiences. future projects will also utilize reviews and literature discussions that speaks to other identities (e.g., specifically youth of color, lgbtq experiences, religious identity, etc.). conclusion text mining could be a successful way to determine appeals of multicultural literature, or indeed it could be used to analyze the appeal of other types of literature. we have pointed out terms used by readers to describe these works, and these terms may help librarians in recommending and describing multicultural fiction. these ideas should be incorporated into ra considerations to provide an additional avenue to connect readers with books that may reinforce their experience or expand their experience. text mining also presents a rich ground for future studies. future research should be done to clarify several things, including whether our results for award-winning literature are consistent across popular multicultural literature such as street lit/urban fiction, a genre that has only recently received critical attention. another potential topic for review is whether the racial background of a customer reviewer affects the content of the review—for example, if reviewers from a mexican american culture point out aspects of cultural authenticity in a work that reviewers from other cultures might miss. other research might analyze whether customer reviewers’ language changes after public movements – for instance, whether reviewers use different words in reviews prior to and after the development of the #weneeddiversebooks movement or accusations of inappropriate behavior against authors. this data could perhaps be found by mining text from discussions in other languages or in discussion forums that have a concentration of people with a particular identity (for instance, latinx users). finally, this research suggests that librarians might want to seek books that are outside of traditional publication streams or by looking at book reviews outside of their normal venues. if indeed most book reviewers are white, cisgender, heterosexual non-disabled women, they could go to the readers themselves for additional advice on online forums such as amazon, goodreads, and other places where readers discuss books, to learn about what they are missing and to develop both physical and e-book collections that better meet the pleasure-reading needs of their community. perhaps such efforts could eventually help diversify the profession, as well. references birdi, b. (2014). 'we are here because you were there': an investigation of the reading of, and engagement with, minority ethnic fiction in uk public libraries (unpublished doctoral 20 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 dissertation) university of sheffield, sheffield, united kingdom. birdi, b., & syed, m. (2011). exploring reader response to minority ethnic fiction. library review, 60(9), 816-831. brooks, w., & savage, l. (2009). critiques and controversies of street literature: a formidable literary genre. the alan review, 36(2), 48-55. chen, y. (2017, march 20). confessions of a paid amazon reviewer [blog post]. retrieved from https://digiday.com/marketing/vendors-ask-go-around-policy-confessions-top-rankedamazon-review-writer/ dali, k. (2010). readers’ advisory interactions with immigrant readers. new library world, 111(5-6), 213-222. dali, k. (2013). hearing stories, not keywords: teaching contextual readers’ advisory. reference services review, 41(3), 474-502. dali, k. (2014). from book appeal to reading appeal: redefining the concept of appeal in readers’ advisory. library quarterly, 84(1), 22-48. dawson, a., & van fleet, c. (2001). the future of readers’ advisory in a multicultural society. in k. d. shearer & r. burgin (eds.), readers advisor’s companion (pp. 249-269). englewood, co: libraries unlimited. dawson, a., & van fleet, c. j. (eds.). (2004). african american literature: a guide to reading interests. westport, ct: libraries unlimited. dilevko, j., & magowan, c. f. (2007). readers' advisory service in north american public libraries, 1870-2005: a history and critical analysis. jefferson, nc: mcfarland. doherty, k. (2016). we need diverse books and independent publishers: a portland, oregon, perspective (graduate research paper).portland, or: portland state university. retrieved from https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/eng_bookpubpaper/17/ gibson, s. (2010). critical readings: african american girls and urban fiction. journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 53(7), 565-574. herald, d. t. (2006). genreflecting: a guide to popular reading interests (6th ed.). westport, ct: libraries unlimited. hughes-hassell, s. (2013). multicultural young adult literature as a form of counterstorytelling. the library quarterly, 83(3), 212-228. hughes‐hassell, s., & rodge, p. (2007). the leisure reading habits of urban adolescents. journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 51(1), 22-33. irvin morris, v. (2012). the readers’ advisory guide to street literature. chicago, il: ala editions. jockers, m. l., & mimno, d. (2013). significant themes in 19th-century literature. poetics, 21 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://digiday.com/marketing/vendors-ask-go-around-policy-confessions-top-ranked-amazon-review-writer/ https://digiday.com/marketing/vendors-ask-go-around-policy-confessions-top-ranked-amazon-review-writer/ https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1014&context=eng_bookpubpaper https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1014&context=eng_bookpubpaper https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/eng_bookpubpaper/17/ https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1014&context=eng_bookpubpaper https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1014&context=eng_bookpubpaper exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 41(6), 750-769. larrick, n. (1965, september 11). the all-white world of children’s books. the saturday review, pp. 63-65, 84-85. lawrence, e. (2017). is contemporary readers’ advisory populist?: taste elevation and ideological tension in the genreflecting series. library trends, 65(4), 491-507. lee & low books. (2016, january 26). where is the diversity in publishing? the 2015 diversity baseline survey results [blog post]. retrieved from http://blog.leeandlow.com/2016/01/26/where-is-the-diversity-in-publishing-the-2015diversity-baseline-survey-results/ manning, c. d., surdeanu, m., bauer, j., finkel, j., bethard, s. j., & mcclosky, d. (2014). the stanford corenlp natural language processing toolkit. in k. bontcheva & z. jingbo (eds.), proceedings of the 52nd annual meeting of the association for computational linguistics: system demonstrations (pp. 55-60). stroudsburg, pa: acl. martinez, s. e. (2009). latino literature: a guide to reading interests. santa barbara, ca: libraries unlimited. milliot, j. (2015, october 16). the pw publishing industry salary survey 2015: a younger workforce, still predominantly white. publishers weekly. retrieved from https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publishernews/article/68405-publishing-industry-salary-survey-2015-a-younger-workforce-stillpredominantly-white.html nelson, r. k. (n.d.). introduction. mining the dispatch. retrieved from http://dsl.richmond.edu/dispatch/pages/intro perez, s. (2016). amazon bans incentivized reviews tied to free or discounted products. retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/03/amazon-bans-incentivizedreviews-tied-to-free-or-discounted-products/ poddar, n. (2016). ‘whiny assholes’ or creative hustlers? on brownness, diaspora fiction, and western publication. transition: an international review, 119, 92-106. radway, j. (1984). reading the romance: women, patriarchy, and popular culture. chapel hill, nc: university of north carolina press. rosenberg, b. (1982). genreflecting: a guide to reading interests in genre fiction. littleton, co: libraries unlimited. rosenblatt, l. m. (1938). literature as exploration. new york, ny: d appleton-century. sanchez, a. (2014). on the poetics and politics of so-called ‘ethnic’ detective fiction: a chronotopic line-up of peggy blair’s and leonardo padura’s cuban crimes and culprits. brussels, be: vrije universiteit brussel. saricks, j. g. (2005). readers' advisory service in the public library (3rd ed.). chicago, il: 22 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://blog.leeandlow.com/2016/01/26/where-is-the-diversity-in-publishing-the-2015-diversity-baseline-survey-results/ http://blog.leeandlow.com/2016/01/26/where-is-the-diversity-in-publishing-the-2015-diversity-baseline-survey-results/ http://blog.leeandlow.com/2016/01/26/where-is-the-diversity-in-publishing-the-2015-diversity-baseline-survey-results/ https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/68405-publishing-industry-salary-survey-2015-a-younger-workforce-still-predominantly-white.html https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/68405-publishing-industry-salary-survey-2015-a-younger-workforce-still-predominantly-white.html https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/68405-publishing-industry-salary-survey-2015-a-younger-workforce-still-predominantly-white.html http://dsl.richmond.edu/dispatch/pages/intro https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/03/amazon-bans-incentivized-reviews-tied-to-free-or-discounted-products/ https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/03/amazon-bans-incentivized-reviews-tied-to-free-or-discounted-products/ exploring reader-generated language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 american library association. saricks, j. g. (2009). the readers’ advisory guide to genre fiction (2nd ed.). chicago, il: american library association. saxton, m. d. (2018). a gentle introduction to topic modeling using python. theological librarianship, 11(1), 18-27. smith, d. (2015). readers’ advisory: the who, the how, and the why. reference & user services quarterly, 54(4), 11-16. underwood, t. (2012, april 7). topic modeling made just simple enough [blog post]. retrieved from https://tedunderwood.com/2012/04/07/topic-modeling-made-just-simpleenough/ xiao, d., ji, y., li, y., zhuang, f., & shi, c. (2018). coupled matrix factorization and topic modeling for aspect mining. information processing & management, 54(6), 861-873. denice adkins (adkinsde@missouri.edu) is an associate professor at the ischool at the university of missouri. she was a fulbright scholar to honduras in 2008, president of reforma (the national association to promote library & information services to latinos and the spanish-speaking) in 2012-2013, and secretary-treasurer for the association of library and information science education (alise), 2014-2017. her research interests include information needs of midwestern immigrants, library services to diverse audiences, and public libraries. jenny s. bossaller (bossallerj@missouri.edu) is an associate professor at the ischool at the university of missouri. her teaching and research broadly encompasses public libraries and space, information policy, history, and related social and technological phenomena. bossaller is currently chair of the library and information science program at the university of missouri and chair of the library history round table of the american library association. heather moulaison sandy (moulaisonhe@missouri.edu) is an associate professor at the ischool at the university of missouri. moulaison sandy’s primary research focus is the organization of information in the online environment. 23 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://tedunderwood.com/2012/04/07/topic-modeling-made-just-simple-enough/ https://tedunderwood.com/2012/04/07/topic-modeling-made-just-simple-enough/ mailto:adkinsde@missouri.edu mailto:bossallerj@missouri.edu mailto:moulaisonhe@missouri.edu introduction literature review inclusion and exclusion: what is published? ra tools for multicultural materials and audiences overcoming publishing problems topic modeling as method of analysis method developing and processing the corpus analyzing the corpus results characteristics of user-generated review texts topic models finally, table 4 shows the topic models with the number of topics retrieved reduced to five. publishers’ status discussion limitations and future research conclusion references the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32997 give us vision, lest we perish: engaging disability at the national library of jamaica abigail henry, national library of jamaica, jamaica nicole prawl, national library of jamaica, jamaica beverley lashley, national library of jamaica, jamaica abstract the world health organization (who) estimated that 15% of the world’s population has a disability (who, 2011, p. 8). in jamaica, the 2014 disabilities act affirms that people with disabilities have the right to education and training to ensure their ability to effectively and equally be included in all aspects of national life. while the true figures are underreported, a 2011 census found that 487,677 jamaicans experience hearing problems. of that figure, 5,628 persons range from being deaf to significantly hearing impaired (statistical institute of jamaica, 2011). as the keeper of the nation’s knowledge, the national library of jamaica (nlj) must be accessible to all members of the nation, regardless of disability or physical limitations. in april 2018, the nlj embarked on an initiative to enhance engagement of people with disabilities through a sign language training initiative for staff. for this pilot project, 14 staff members from various departments participated in weekly sign language training sessions for a period of 12 weeks. this training series is part of a wider initiative to improve accessibility at the nlj for both staff and patrons. with a workforce that includes employees with disabilities, the nlj has been engaged in the work of improving inclusion and engagement of individuals with disabilities. this paper outlines the existing challenges facing a jamaican government entity as it moves to improve inclusivity, ongoing programmes, and outreach efforts to improve information literacy. this is being accomplished through partnerships with organizations working within jamaica’s deaf community and through plans for designing a new, inclusive, and purpose-built facility to house the national collection. keywords: accessibility; caribbean; jamaica; national library of jamaica; sign language publication type: special section publication introduction n jamaica, persons with disabilities (pwds) face cultural marginalization and discrimination stemming from the traditional understanding of disability as either the result of witchcraft (or obeah) or divine punishment for unjust acts committed either by the person or their family member(s) (ricketts, 2010). this perception has led to the exclusion of pwds from full participation in social life. it is estimated that over 500,000 people live with disabilities of various kinds (statistical institute of jamaica, 2013). it is difficult to speak conclusively on disability prevalence in jamaica as disability statistics are generally collected by national census and government registry, which face significant limitations to providing an accurate representation of the population (statistical i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index give us vision, lest we perish the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32997 institute of jamaica, 2013). the most recent national population census (held in 2011) found that 487,677 persons experience hearing problems. out of that figure, 5,628 people range from being deaf to significantly hearing impaired (statistical institute of jamaica, 2013). however, it is believed that a significant number of cases are underreported as indicated in official census reports (statistical institute of jamaica, 2013). pwds are largely excluded from the workforce. factors such as lack of training opportunities, discrimination, and inaccessible infrastructure (i.e., buildings, public spaces, etc.) create significant barriers to their economic participation due to an inability to find jobs (ricketts, 2010). today, most parish council offices and government ministries do not have accessible facilities or accommodations in place. for example, a 2018 study found that none of the parish councils reported having elevators in buildings with more than one level (carby, ferguson, steele & maiyaki, 2018). access to employment and information has been identified as major challenges for the deaf in jamaica (patrick, 2018; ricketts, 2010). the 2014 disabilities act recognizes a person with a disability as one “who has a long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairment which may hinder his full and effective participation in society, on equal basis with other persons” (government of jamaica, 2014, p. 4). this act is the country’s governing legislation and was developed out of the 2000 national policy on persons with disabilities; jamaica’s first anti-discriminatory rights-based policy on disability. the legislation exists “to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment by persons with disabilities, of privileges, interests, benefits and treatment, on equal basis with others” (2014, p. 1). this statement echoes the guiding principles of the united nations’ convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (which jamaica has ratified) and reflects an issue that has been well expressed by the world health organization: that disability is “not just a health problem. it is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives” (world health organization, 2019). this emphasis on interaction affirms the rights of pwds and places the onus on national bodies to ensure accessibility and inclusivity as they engage pwds on an equal basis as others. recognizing this, the nlj endeavours to be accessible to all members of the nation, regardless of disability or physical limitations. in april 2018, the nlj embarked on an initiative to enhance engagement of people with disabilities through a jamaican sign language training initiative for staff. under this pilot project, 14 staff members from various departments participated in weekly sign language training sessions for a period of 12 weeks. this training series is part of a wider initiative to improve accessibility at the nlj for both staff and patrons. with a workforce that includes pwds, the nlj has engaged in the work of improving inclusion and engagement of people with disabilities. as a reflective piece, this paper does not claim a methodology in the traditional sense and makes no attempts to draw conclusive arguments. rather, the authors aim to highlight the ongoing efforts of the library while outlining the existing challenges facing a jamaican government entity as it moves to improve inclusivity and bolster its contribution to national development. “human rights are a discursive process, not a static set of prescriptive values” (meekosha & soldatic, 2011, p. 1387). in the caribbean, this process is ongoing and research on the subject is limited. much remains to be done towards achieving the vision of an inclusive society. the nlj aims to do its part through partnerships with organizations working within jamaica’s deaf community and through plans for designing a new, inclusive, and purpose-built facility to house the national 90 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index give us vision, lest we perish the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32997 collection. accessibility and inclusiveness at the national library of jamaica the nlj was established in 1979 to be the focal point for a national information and documentation system. the nlj is the largest national library in the caribbean region and the only such body in the english-speaking caribbean “which fits the profile of a true national library” as defined by unesco (peltier-davis, 2011, p.3). the 2010 national library of jamaica act makes explicit reference to accessibility, as section 5-1(l) outlines the function to “make the collection and facilities of the national library accessible to the physically challenged” (government of jamaica, 2010 p.6). additionally, in light of the mandate “to develop and promote national standards for the operation of libraries and the processing and delivery of information” (p. 5), it is incumbent upon the nlj to lead the way in sensitizing and promoting interest in improving accessibility and engagement with individuals of varied abilities. the nlj has positioned itself at the forefront of regional efforts, such as the caribbean digital audio collection (cdac), a pilot project to test the processes and structures needed to develop, produce, and deliver accessible digital talking books (dtbs) for the blind and print-disabled.1 this project established a framework for the development of a caribbean digital audio collection for the blind and visually impaired in jamaica. the nlj was designated as the coordinating entity for this effort to strengthen capacities in jamaica and provide a model for the creation and distribution of digital audio collections, which can be adapted to other caribbean territories. sign language training initiative at nlj the sign language training initiative which began in 2018 is part of the ongoing effort to improve inclusivity at the nlj. the staging of distinct projects in the past indicates that this has been an ongoing concern of which the organization has sought to address in various ways. an existing arrangement to employ individuals from the danny williams school for the deaf is a marker of the nlj’s commitment to accessibility. the arrangement is long-standing but informal. the nlj is in the process of formalizing the partnership with the school for the deaf. it was, however, through assistance from the jamaica association for the deaf (jad), that the services of a sign language instructor/interpreter were secured to lead a 12-week long introduction to sign language training programme for nlj staff. from an organizational point of view, by laying a framework for improved skills and knowledge transfer, the 2018 sign language initiative provided the continued opportunity to recruit deaf officers with the unique skillset necessary for working in the preservation and conservation department. through this initiative, the authors hoped to improve visibility of the nlj with a view to position the organization as open to partnerships with corporate entities and nongovernment organizations (ngos) engaged in promoting inclusion of pwds. the authors anticipated improved staff moral and a heightened feeling of engagement, particularly for our current deaf employee, mr. christopher valentine. it was our hope that this would translate to improved performance and productivity while facilitating enhanced efficiency on the part of mr. valentine. the 2018 sign language training initiative was intended to serve the following functions: 91 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index give us vision, lest we perish the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32997 • to facilitate improved communication in the workplace and ensure social inclusion of deaf patrons and employees • to support the government of jamaica in its thrust to ensure pwds are given the same opportunities as their counterparts without disabilities • to enhance the overall communication competencies of nlj staff and facilitate learning and development without discrimination reflections on the nlj sign language training initiative – the process the success and sustainability of any workplace initiative hinges on the abilities and commitment of staff and human resources personnel. the staff of the nlj was receptive to the programme and demonstrated interest in participating. nicole prawl, manager of preservation and conservation and mr. valentine’s direct supervisor, shares her reflections on the sign language training initiative below: the nlj has a history of employing pwds, specifically those who are deaf or hearing impaired. these individuals have completed a programme at the danny williams school for the deaf (which is run by jamaica association for the deaf) in basic book binding and pamphlet box building techniques. further on-the-job training is provided by the nlj. these pwds have generally worked in the preservation and conservation department of the nlj. the activities of the department include preservation work with various materials, such as paper, film, and microfilm. while the arrangement has not been made formal, records show that the preservation unit has always included a member of staff who is deaf. mr. christopher valentine has been employed at the nlj for over 10 years and is currently the only remaining deaf person on staff as all others have retired. mr. valentine came from jad with special binding skills and a talent for building protective enclosures such as pamphlet boxes and canisters. he has greatly improved in book binding with the help of his team members of the preservation and conservation department. team members would try to communicate with mr. valentine by writing down instructions and demonstrating work that was to be done. in the past, we had the benefit of multiple deaf employees, some of which were more senior and could assist with training those who were new. however, these individuals retired shortly after mr. valentine’s arrival. communicating with mr. valentine was challenging at times as no member of staff had sufficient knowledge of sign language. those who knew a little sign language were taught by one of the deaf retirees and the knowledge obtained was limited. another way to communicate with christopher was through writing notes to him, but even this came with its own set of problems as he often misunderstood what was being asked of him. the challenges were expressed to the nlj’s human resources manager and the decision was taken to secure the services of a professional sign language interpreter in order to communicate important matters to mr. valentine. the interpreter made periodic visits to the office and mr. valentine and i visited the interpreter’s office to facilitate discussions. i remember that in one of these meetings, christopher expressed that he did not have anyone to talk with at work. he would be animated 92 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index give us vision, lest we perish the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32997 in these discussions and had a lot to express. it became clear that there was a need for members of staff to gain basic sign language training in order to better accommodate this member of staff. persona lly, i was interested in learning to sign. i wanted to communicate with christopher not only on a professional level but to be able to have light-hearted conversations with him as colleagues. selection of participants it was at this point that the nlj embarked on a programme to engage staff in learning the basics of sign language. created through collaboration with a professional sign language interpreter, the 12-week programme began in april 2018 and consisted of weekly two-hour classes. fourteen members of staff, including three employees from the preservation and conservation department participated. among the group were library assistants (who routinely interact with the general public and library patrons), as well the programme’s director, a senior librarian, and a representative from the human resources department. the process of learning sign language was, at first, a little intimidating due to the depth of the information we were learning. however, mr. valentine was very willing to help us along. he sat in on classes and got a chance to interact with other staff members, in some cases, for the first time. we also had an excellent, deaf tutor who could read lips well. over the course of 12 weeks, the team participated in, at times, challenging sessions. in the end, the biggest reward for us was learning to communicate in a more effective way with our colleague. doing so has created major improvements for the preservation and conservation department as we are now able to communicate, albeit at a basic level, with mr. valentine on work and non-work matters. we can now have those light-hearted conversations as colleagues, and he has been appreciative of the initiative taken by the nlj. he expressed in one staff meeting that his boss now comes out of her office and speaks with him about non-work matters. he even admonished other people from the department about not joining the classes to learn sign language. while the length of the training programme could not produce professionals in sign language, the effort did succeed in creating a welcoming environment to learn how to communicate with those who are deaf. practical exposure the training culminated in a prize-giving presentation held during the time reserved for normal staff meetings. over the course of 12 weeks, participants learned finger spelling and the jamaican sign language alphabet, as well as several vocabulary categories, including: family, food, travel, and general knowledge. to show off their newfound abilities, participants signed along to bob marley’s “one love” and demonstrated how to sign common phrases, such as “please”, “thank you”, and “good morning”. participants reflected on the much-talked-about “deaf day” exercise in which participants were asked to compromise their ability to hear for 24 hours by stuffing cotton wool in their ears to block out sound. as participants struggled to carry out routine activities without the ability to hear as normal, the exercise fostered empathy and understanding. it was particularly encouraging to have one of the instructors, ms. nicole robertson, commend the nlj for taking on the initiative. she encouraged the nlj to continue to lead as a government agency in engaging members of the deaf community. national librarian, beverley lashley, was 93 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index give us vision, lest we perish the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32997 presented with a certificate of engagement in recognition of the nlj’s involvement with the pressing issue of inclusion and accessibility, as well as the active engagement of its own workforce. the nlj continues to work with its board of management to secure funding and resources to carry on the training and expand outreach programming to jamaica’s deaf community. figure 1. christopher valentine, restorer, expresses his feelings on the sign language training initiative. [reproduced by permission] figure 2. kaffielee moore teaches staff a few jamaican sign language signs. [reproduced by permission] 94 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index give us vision, lest we perish the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32997 figure 3. participants of the 12-week introductory sign language course with instructors, carol and nicole robertson. [reproduced by permission] challenges facing libraries in the 21st century – the nlj response cheryl ann peltier-davis identifies a major challenge facing libraries in the 21st century: “how to harness and use information technology to provide core or traditional information services to a diverse clientele while simultaneously introducing new and innovative services” (2011, p.5). recently, changes to the nlj’s website have included considerations for persons with perceptual disabilities. some of the measures implemented include the enabling of alternative captions and narration for images, link description, enlarged clickable areas for users with mobility issues, and colour control for users with perceptual disabilities or colour blindness. responsive web design is currently in effect on selected web pages with the intention of site-wide implementation. the use of subtitles/text transcripts and sign language interpretation for video content are elements that are being explored to improve accessibility of audiovisual resources. there is also a long-term plan to develop an accessibility guide for all nlj sites and online collections. consistent outreach activity and awareness-raising is necessary to encourage the public to use the resources of the library. this is particularly so in a situation in which the nlj has not previously catered to the needs of certain groups. 95 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index give us vision, lest we perish the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32997 accessibility and inclusivity at the new purpose-built nlj an obstacle to the nlj engaging pwds in a more meaningful way is the lack of accessible facilities. at the historic east street location, the lack of elevator access, wheelchair ramps, accessible bathroom facilities, and insufficient parking pose considerable challenges for persons with limited mobility. using technology, some solutions have been leveraged. for example, the creation of online collections and digitization of resources, such as the index to jamaican poetry, proverbs collection, and manuscripts collection (this includes the archives of notable jamaicans such as louise bennett coverley and anthony winkler), have sought to improve access to library resources by allowing users to view materials remotely. however, the nlj is unquestionably in need of a physical space commensurate to the functions and scope of a national library in the 21st century. these and other environmental barriers are to be addressed in the design of the new purposebuilt facility. the proposed building will have functional architecture, indicating that it is a library with its identity rooted in the society it is mandated to serve. the design objectives of the new nlj prioritise accessibility and functionality with an emphasis on aesthetics, costeffectiveness, productivity, and security. the facility should cater to the needs of pwds while incorporating safety and energy efficiency into the design. the entrance area to the library should provide ramps and wide-open spaces for ease of maneuvering. elevators should have ample space to allow individuals who use wheelchairs freedom of movement. other considerations will include automated door opener technology, the use of braille on permanent signage, and lowered counters/service desks. as the nlj celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2019, the time is ripe for the realization of a facility that is poised to be a space of inclusion and engagement for all its users. we are pleased to reflect on past efforts as we plan strategic moves forward to fulfill our duty to all members of the nation, regardless of ability. endnotes 1 more information on digital talking books may be found here https://nlj.gov.jm/nationaldigital-library-services-for-the-blind-ndlsb-2-2 references carby, b., ferguson, t., steele, s., & maiyaki, z. (2018). an exploration of inclusivity for persons with disabilities in disaster risk management planning at the national and local government levels in jamaica. disability studies quarterly, 38(4). retrieved from http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/5776/5124 government of jamaica. (2014). the disabilities act, 2014 (act 13 of 2014). retrieved from https:/www.japarliament.gov.jm/attachments/341_the%20disabilities%20bill%202014% 20no.13.pdf 96 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://nlj.gov.jm/national-digital-library-services-for-the-blind-ndlsb-2-2 https://nlj.gov.jm/national-digital-library-services-for-the-blind-ndlsb-2-2 http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/5776/5124 https://www.japarliament.gov.jm/attachments/341_the%20disabilities%20bill%202014%20no.13.pdf https://www.japarliament.gov.jm/attachments/341_the%20disabilities%20bill%202014%20no.13.pdf http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/5776/5124 https://www.japarliament.gov.jm/attachments/341_the disabilities bill 2014 no.13.pdf https://www.japarliament.gov.jm/attachments/341_the disabilities bill 2014 no.13.pdf https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index give us vision, lest we perish the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32997 government of jamaica. (2010). national library of jamaica act. in history of the national library of jamaica. retrieved from https://nlj.gov.jm/wpcontent/uploads/2016/08/the-national-library-of-jamaica-act-2010.pdf government of jamaica. (2009). vision 2030 jamaica national development plan: persons with disabilities draft sector plan. in national planning cycles. retrieved from http://www.nationalplanningcycles.org/sites/default/files/planning_cycle_repository/ jamaica/microsoft_word_-_persons_with_disabilities_pdf.pdf hartman reckord, e. (2018, may 28). codes of practice to protect persons with disabilities. jis news. retrieved from https://jis.gov.jm/codes-of-practice-to-protect-persons-withdisabilities/ meekosha, h., & soldatic, k. (2011). human rights and the global south: the case of disability. third world quarterly, 32(8), 1383-1393. national library of jamaica. (n.d.). digital talking books. retrieved from https://nlj.gov.jm/national-digital-library-services-for-the-blind-ndlsb-2-2 patrick, j. (2018, august 15). access denied: no provisions for deaf community. jamaica observer. retrieved from http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/access-denied-noprovisions-for-deaf-community-at-recent_141442?profile=1373 peltier-davis, c. (2011). overview of library services in the english-speaking caribbean management, innovative services and resource sharing. [pdf file]. in world library and information congress: 77th ifla general conference and assembly 13-18 august 2011, san juan, puerto rico. retrieved from https://www.ifla.org/past-wlic/2011/81-davisen.pdf peltier-davis, c., & renwick, s. (2007). caribbean libraries in the 21st century: changes, challenges, and choices. medford, nj: information today. ricketts, j. (2010). the making of jamaica’s ‘national policy for persons with disabilities 2000’: macro, meso and micro factors. [abstract]. disability and society, 25(5), 551-564. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2010.489300 small, r., myhill, w., herring-harrington, l. (2015). developing accessible libraries and inclusive librarians in the 21st century: examples from practice. advances in librarianship, 40, 73-88. https://doi.org/10.1108/s0065-283020150000040013 statistical institute of jamaica. (2013). population and housing census 2011: disability indicators (vol. 3). government of jamaica, kingston. world health organization. (2011). summary world report on disability. in world health organization. retrieved from www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report/en/ world health organization. (2019). health topics: disabilities. world health organization. retrieved from www.who.int/topics/disabilities/en/ 97 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://nlj.gov.jm/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/the-national-library-of-jamaica-act-2010.pdf https://nlj.gov.jm/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/the-national-library-of-jamaica-act-2010.pdf http://www.nationalplanningcycles.org/sites/default/files/planning_cycle_repository/jamaica/microsoft_word_-_persons_with_disabilities_pdf.pdf http://www.nationalplanningcycles.org/sites/default/files/planning_cycle_repository/jamaica/microsoft_word_-_persons_with_disabilities_pdf.pdf https://jis.gov.jm/codes-of-practice-to-protect-persons-with-disabilities/ https://jis.gov.jm/codes-of-practice-to-protect-persons-with-disabilities/ https://nlj.gov.jm/national-digital-library-services-for-the-blind-ndlsb-2-2 http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/access-denied-nohttp://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/access-denied-nohttps://www.ifla.org/past-wlic/2011/81-davis-en.pdf https://www.ifla.org/past-wlic/2011/81-davis-en.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2010.489300 https://doi.org/10.1108/s0065-283020150000040013 http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report/en/ http://www.who.int/topics/disabilities/en/ https://nlj.gov.jm/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/the-national-library-of-jamaica-act-2010.pdf https://nlj.gov.jm/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/the-national-library-of-jamaica-act-2010.pdf http://www.nationalplanningcycles.org/sites/default/files/planning_cycle_repository/jamaica/microsoft_word_-_persons_with_disabilities_pdf.pdf http://www.nationalplanningcycles.org/sites/default/files/planning_cycle_repository/jamaica/microsoft_word_-_persons_with_disabilities_pdf.pdf https://jis.gov.jm/codes-of-practice-to-protect-persons-with-disabilities/ https://jis.gov.jm/codes-of-practice-to-protect-persons-with-disabilities/ https://nlj.gov.jm/national-digital-library-services-for-the-blind-ndlsb-2-2 http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/access-denied-nohttp://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/access-denied-nohttps://www.ifla.org/past-wlic/2011/81-davis-en.pdf https://www.ifla.org/past-wlic/2011/81-davis-en.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2010.489300 https://doi.org/10.1108/s0065-283020150000040013 http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report/en/ http://www.who.int/topics/disabilities/en/ https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index give us vision, lest we perish the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.32997 abigail henry (abigail.henry@nlj.gov.jm) is the director of special programmes at the national library of jamaica. she holds a ba in media and communication and literatures in english from the university of the west indies, mona and a ma in communication and culture from york university, toronto. nicole prawl (nicole.prawl@nlj.gov.jm) has worked with the national library of jamaica for a number of years in different capacities. she is the head of the preservation & conservation department. she holds a bachelor’s degree in library and information studies from the university of the west indies, mona and a master of science in library and information studies with a concentration in archives from simmons college, boston, massachusetts. beverley lashley (beverley.lashley@nlj.gov.jm) is the national librarian of the national library of jamaica. she has had a distinguished career in librarianship and business management spanning over 30 years with experience working in international contexts. she is a fulbright scholar and the recipient of the caribbean information professional award for 2011. beverley is a passionate steward of the nation’s documentary and literary treasures. 98 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:abigail.henry@nlj.gov.jm mailto:nicole.prawl@nlj.gov.jm mailto:beverley.lashley@nlj.gov.jm mailto:abigail.henry@nlj.gov.jm mailto:nicole.prawl@nlj.gov.jm mailto:beverley.lashley@nlj.gov.jm https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index introduction accessibility and inclusiveness at the national library of jamaica reflections on the nlj sign language training initiative – the process selection of participants practical exposure challenges facing libraries in the 21st century – the nlj response accessibility and inclusivity at the new purpose-built nlj endnotes references library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu andrew b. wertheimer, university of hawaiʻi at mānoa, usa noriko asato, university of hawaiʻi at mānoa, usa abstract research on the history of print culture and library service to immigrants in america has almost exclusively focused on european immigration to the east coast. such a narrative sidelines the experience of asian americans, among others. this article explores how the library of hawaii, which was the main public library in prewar hawaiʻi, ignored the needs of japanese immigrants at a time when they made up the largest ethnic group. in 1940, there were 157,905 japanese americans in hawaiʻi, including the first generation issei, many of whom had limited english proficiency, as well as the hawaiʻi-born nisei or second generation. excluded from the public library, the issei created their own rich print culture, including at least 41 stores selling japanese-language books. this paper is based on archival sources and published reports to cover the library’s history. in addition, the forgotten history of japanese bookstores and reading in honolulu will be brought to light by mining articles and advertisements that appeared in honolulu’s japanese american newspapers between the late 1800s and the beginning of world war ii, when japanese bookselling came to an abrupt end. the paper makes advances in terms of research approaches for the study of immigrant print culture and also offers insight for librarians today to reflect on, when they consider the challenge of serving immigrants. keywords: hawaiʻi; japanese americans; library exclusion; library history; print culture publication type: research article introduction merican librarians are increasingly embracing the vision of jaeger et al. (2015) that libraries are social service institutions and human rights advocates. in many communities, a key part of this vision is serving immigrants with world language collections, literacy programs, and other services. although reasons for extensive library services for and outreach to immigrant communities in the early 20th century could be interpreted differently, it cannot be denied that many libraries acted as missionaries to promote collections, services, and programs targeted at new immigrants, focusing on introducing english and american governance. some libraries excelled in such efforts, while others did not make immigrant outreach or services a priority. many of the success stories came from the east coast and midwest, where librarians embraced european immigrants. much less is known about library services to asian immigrants on the west coast or pacific. this article attempts to begin filling this gap by looking at the experience of japanese immigrants to hawaiʻi around a century ago.1 it focuses on how the territory’s public library was not responsive to the immigrant community’s desire to read in their native language, something we now recognize as a fundamental human right.2 this tacit exclusion led japanese americans to develop their own commercial reading sphere that could satisfy their hunger for a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi books and magazines. hawaiʻi in 1940 was home to one of the largest japanese ethnic communities outside of the japanese empire. that year’s census showed that the japanese american community grew to 157,905 people, accounting for over 37% of people living in the territory of hawaiʻi. this japanese american community created a vibrant cultural landscape and print culture in both english and japanese, which included at least 41 stores selling japanese language books and magazines in honolulu alone between 1896 and 1942. today, only one bookshop remains. in this paper, we explore how the japanese immigrant print culture emerged, and how it served as an antithesis to the relative indifference displayed by the territory’s public library towards japanese language readers. in order to do so, we will begin by briefly summarizing (1) the history of japanese immigration to hawaiʻi, (2) library service to immigrants in early 20th-century america, and (3) the history of the territory’s public library, the library of hawaii. along the way we will also introduce our research methods based on ethnographic textual reading of primary historical records. only a few local japanese histories offer at least a sketchy description of a few bookstores or readers scattered in such sections as local businesses, culture, or social/pastime activities; however, beyond those few anecdotal stories, this article is the first dedicated to japanese bookstores and reading in hawaiʻi. in our research, we chiefly rely on japanese-language newspapers in honolulu and primary materials housed in the hawaiʻi state archives and the university of hawaiʻi special collections, triangulating this information using immigrant community histories, yearbooks, histories, unpublished diaries, and census records and other data found at ancestry.com. this is the first known article uniquely focused on the japanese print culture and bookstores in hawaiʻi. a brief account of japanese immigration to hawaiʻi immigration is always a story of forces pushing and pulling within a wider global socio-economic context; how the story is told depends on the chosen vantage point. for native hawaiians, or kanaka maoli, 1778 is a key date—over a century before the arrival of japanese immigrants— when captain james cook “discovered” the hawaiian islands. this european contact led to visits by whalers and traders who brought diseases that decimated much of the kanaka population. the foreigners pillaged the land for sandalwood and other natural resources. missionaries also came and settled, transforming kanaka culture and beliefs. the missionaries’ children had the most impact. many became advisers to hawaiʻi’s monarchs and used their position to enrich themselves with land, which was later exploited for large sugar and pineapple plantations. these european american settlers initially recruited chinese laborers to work on plantations, and then later recruited japanese workers; these asian settlers had to follow the brutal “masters and servants act” (na haku a me na kauwa) (beechert, 1985). under that system, plantation workers were not called by name, but by their bango, or tag number, a practice borrowed from southern slave plantations (university of hawaiʻi, 2018). this indentured system ended with american annexation, but it obviously determined how european americans (or haole, in local parlance) and kanaka viewed asian americans (beechert, 1985). for japanese workers, the appeal of employment in hawaiʻi came at a time when many were displaced by the disruption of meiji era industrialization, from peasant farmers and craftsmen to former samurai [traditional warriors], thus representing both ends of the class structure.3 the first group was allowed to leave japan in 1868. larger cohorts emigrated to hawaiʻi starting in 1885, which was in the final years of the hawaiian kingdom’s reign (1795-1893) and continued into hawaiʻi’s republic period (1894-1898) and finally into the first half of the u.s. territorial 14 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi era (1900-1924). the territorial era lasted until 1959, but the 1924 immigration act halted japanese immigration to hawaiʻi.4 after completing their initial labor contracts, some japanese stayed on plantations, while others found other work in cities like honolulu, left for the american continent, or returned to japan. many of those issei (first generation) male immigrants later brought wives to hawaiʻi and established coffee farms or other small businesses. thus, these “sojourners” became “settlers.”5 despite the decision of many issei to live in hawaiʻi, japanese immigrants were largely forbidden from becoming u.s. citizens until racist legislation was replaced in 1952. however, the issei’s children (the nisei, the second generation) and grandchildren (the sansei) were american citizens by birth. haole sugar and pineapple planters tried to recruit laborers from various countries in order to prevent workers from organizing or striking to improve their harsh conditions; however, japanese american workers did just this in 1909 and 1920. the 1920 labor action was more successful, as they cooperated with filipino american workers instead of letting planters pit different ethnic groups against each other. the process of organizing led issei workers towards developing class consciousness and reaching the improved pay and working conditions (okihiro, 1991).6 regardless of whether japanese american families stayed at or left the plantations, their children went to public schools in hawaiʻi. by 1928, nisei children made up 52% of all public-school students in the territory (tamura, 1994, p. 30). despite their citizen status, japanese americans in hawaiʻi faced continued discrimination and palpable glass ceilings. in the next sections, after a brief review of the history of american library service for immigrants, we will explore how hawaiʻi’s public library served (or underserved) japanese americans in the prewar times. public library service to immigrants in north america many people may see libraries as an organic foundation of every american community, but it is important to remember that, like all institutions, they are shaped in response to changing sociopolitical and economic conditions. immigration is a core part of the library creation narrative, starting in new england. established in 1852, the boston public library was the model taxsupported public library, established by elite philanthropists who professed belief in sharing reading materials for the general public in order to promote democracy and prosperity. the brahmin (boston’s protestant elites) who founded the library also had other agendas. one of them was their anxiety that irish catholic immigrants, who arrived in large numbers following the great irish famine (1845–1852), would soon become boston’s largest ethnic and religious group. these immigrants benefited greatly from boston’s creation of public schools, public hospitals, and the public library. in a controversial article, library historian michael harris applied gramscian analysis7 to suggest that the library was created as an agent of social control over these immigrants. harris argued: boston’s brahmins were especially unhappy about the flood of ignorant and rough immigrants into this country. the standing committee of the boston public library noted that the people of boston spent large sums of money on education each year, and their reasons were quite explicit: “we educate to restrain from vice, as much as to inculcate sentiments of virtue; we educate to enable men to resist the temptation to evil, as well as to encourage and strengthen the incentives to do good.” but, the committee continued, these times require special vigilance . (harris, 1975, p. 6) harris explores how the boston public library codified different classes of readers with different reading rooms and collections. harris’ article caused perhaps the most epic debate in the field of library history. columbia university library historian, phyllis dain (1978) questioned harris’ 15 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi method and argued that he overgeneralized about the nature of libraries by focusing on the boston public library. dain (1972) shared her own research on the new york public library, which was formed out of a merger of several private and ethnic libraries. their debate was not only printed in specialized historical journals but appeared in the profession’s leading trade periodical, the library journal. despite their differences, both harris and dain agreed that services for immigrants were central to the library narrative, which was also evident from other works. echoing harris, jones’ 1999 classic libraries, immigrants, and the american experience, which traced the history of the american library association (ala) committee on work with the foreign born (operational between 1917 and 1948), also observed that librarians of the time period frequently identified with social workers and other social reformers as missionaries of americanization. developing foreign language collections and promotional materials that explained library services in many languages was a key part of the americanization campaign. gradually, librarians’ attitudes and philosophy with regard to immigrants had changed, as jones observes, progressing from “angloconformity, [to] melting pot, or cultural pluralism” (1999, p. 2). based on the facts and arguments advanced by harris, dain, and jones, it would be logical to assume that the boston brahmin, who were the missionaries and traders in early hawaiʻi, would have wanted their library to follow the boston model, irrespective of their agenda and reasons for engaging immigrants. however, it was not necessarily the case, as will be shown below. the origins of the library of hawaii the honolulu library and reading room association (hlrra) was officially established with a royal charter on june 24, 1879. a write-up in the local annual claimed the hlrra “is organized on the most broad and liberal basis, the membership being open to all respectable persons of sixteen years old or upwards at an entrance fee of $1.50 per month without any distinction of race, creed nationality or sex or nationality” (thrum, 1880, pp. 26–28). despite the egalitarian language, this private library mostly served honolulu’s european american population, although it did welcome both genders. a review of the hundreds of memberships listed in its register shows that almost all names suggest european descent. the number of japanese subscribers was small (honolulu library and reading room association, n.d.). tachihata (1981) makes a general observation that “only a few hawaiians and the exceptional asian were able to read english,” and “even fewer were interested in the use of libraries” (p. 32).8 it is true that the five japanese names which appeared in the library’s membership were elite among the immigrant community, including a doctor, priests, and a banker, but it is equally interesting to see that their subscriptions did not last for more than a few months. this shows that at least one librarian saw fit to approve their applications; however, this may also suggest that they did not feel welcomed and included, which led them to discontinue their membership. the library subscribed to a number of world language items but never purchased anything in japanese. this is a pattern that we will see in the publicly funded library of hawaii throughout the next half-century, as we will see in the following section (honolulu library and reading room association, n.d.).9 the hlrra subscription library’s financial state was poor. at the same time, k-12 school teachers in honolulu clamored for more books for their students. the situation motivated two of hawaiʻi’s washington-appointed governors to try securing funding from andrew carnegie for a library building (ramachandran, 1973). after several years of negotiations, it was agreed to have the territory provide space and the usual 10% of the building budget for library funding in order to meet the eligibility criteria for a carnegie grant to build what would become the library of 16 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi hawaii. the hlrra subscription library agreed to contribute its collection in exchange for a position on the public library’s board of trustees. the governor would always allocate another board position to an officer of the hawaiian historical society, which also shared the library space. the board’s minutes show the remaining appointments went to christian clergy and other haole elites. edna allyn, the hlrra’s librarian became the librarian at the new public library, where she served as a head librarian until her death in 1927. library service to japanese americans it is not surprising that many subscription libraries were akin to elite clubs, but there is an expectation that a public library, funded by taxpayers’ money, should provide services to all community members. in reality, though, the library of hawaii ignored the reading needs of japanese immigrants for at least the first three decades of its operation as a public library and improved only slightly at the following stage. by 1910, during the period between the public library’s establishment and the completion of the carnegie library, there were 191,909 people in the territory, with japanese americans comprising 41.5% of the population (79,675 people); this clearly made them the largest ethnic group in the territory (u.s. bureau of the census, 1913, p. 9). this fact notwithstanding, there is no evidence that the library10 attempted to serve japanese americans for the first few decades. librarians wrote in general terms about americanizing japanese children in some annual reports, reflecting both the wider americanization movement discussed above and the local conditions in hawaiʻi, where elites now feared that racists in the congress and media would hinder hawaiʻi’s chances at statehood on account of their dissatisfaction with the large asian population on the islands.11 in a 1920s letter, one librarian lamented that “lack of funds precluded the purchase of hawaiian and japanese books requested by patrons in hospitals” (tachihata, 1981, pp. 135, 164). the library never seemed to find funds for japanese books in their general or reference collections either. at the same time, library annual reports and monthly board statements show the purchase of books in russian, greek, french, and latin. it is true that the library was underfunded vis-à-vis ala recommendations for per capita spending; however, this may also indicate that the library deprioiritized requests for japanese language collections in its budget, despite the readers’ demand. it is not clear if the decision not to acquire japanese-language materials was made by ms. allyn as the librarian or by the library trustees, but this policy continued throughout the pre-war era.12 the policy of deprioritizing materials in japanese or other asian languages despite popular demand ran contrary to the trend observed in most american urban libraries, which tried to secure books in languages other than english in order to bring in immigrants and their children: swedish immigrants in minnesota; jewish and chinese in new york; and polish immigrants in cleveland (novotny, 2003, pp. 342–352; jones, 1999). even considering the relative geographic distance from continental urban centers to hawaiʻi, it is unlikely that librarians on the islands were not aware of the trends in other libraries. each year the library trustees sent a staff member to attend the ala annual conference. these librarians often took a month or two to make the journey, doing research visits at many public libraries along the way (hawaiʻi department of education, n.d.) furthermore, ms. allyn herself was a graduate of the case western university library school and later worked at the cleveland public library, which became a national leader in serving immigrants. beyond that, the library received annual updates from ala’s committee for work with the foreign born in the monthly ala bulletin. 17 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi in 1936, nearly a quarter-century after the library’s opening, and nine years after ms. allyn’s death, the library finally allowed japanese books in the collection, although it still did not engage in the systematic acquisition of japanese books. the change came about when the japanese community decided to create a japanese reference collection on its own. the library of hawaii trustees allowed what it called the “oriental collection” in an alcove on the second floor. it took over a year and a trip to japan for japanese community leaders to collect 3,000 books in both japanese and english (bazzell, 2002, p. 61). in this way, the japanese-language collection matched the library’s daughters of the american revolution genealogy collection, the hawaiian historical society collection, and what would later be called the of hawaiʻi and pacific collection. while the library deserves some credit for allocating space for the oriental collection, the collection itself could not be attributed to library efforts or initiatives. in essence, the library continued disregarding the reading and information needs of japanese immigrants. moreover, the library threatened—twice—to close the oriental collection if the japanese community stopped funding the salary of a custodian who maintained it. very little funds were expended on japanese-language books, although some titles were purchased from the japanese book distributor maruzen in 1916 (library of hawaii, 1919); aside from this, there is no evidence of active japanese-language acquisitions. unlike books in other languages, japanese-language books did not appear in any annual tables with summaries of the library’s collection, while they showed continuous acquisitions in other languages. for example, the collection in 1922 contained 54,435 items, including the following in world languages: french (411), german (219), hawaiian (4), italian (3), latin (2), and spanish (41) (library of hawaii, 1922). interestingly, other than hawaiian and spanish, these languages were spoken by only a handful of immigrants in the territory at the time; however, they were likely taught at elite schools and higher education institutions. this could be an indicator of the preferred social strata that the library catered for. also, we could speculate that these choices may have reflected the reading tastes of ms. allyn, the head librarian, who had a bachelor of arts in latin; these decisions could also be consistent with collection development biases by early librarians and library trustees.13 from this brief overview, it becomes clear that the library of hawaii failed to serve the thousands of japanese-language readers. because so few primary materials are available, we cannot know for certain why the library decided to exclude this group. perhaps, the librarian and trustees believed that asians were simply transient or not fully capable of americanization —beliefs that echoed the eugenic, racist thinking of the era (manganaro, 2012). or perhaps they believed that the library should be a beacon of english-language protestant conformity in a place many haole saw as an overseas colony. we can only make assumptions at this point. one thing is clear: most japanese immigrants were neither illiterate nor uninterested in reading. despite a certain percentage of low-literate individuals, there was a significant community of highly literate readers, hungry for japanese printed materials. this is evident by the establishment and development of japanese bookstores in honolulu, on which we will concentrate in our subsequent sections, after first describing historical methods and sources that we used to unveil a rich world of japanese bookstores in hawaiʻi. methodology print culture historians use a variety of sources and tools in order to try to reconstruct the rather quiet act of reading and often undocumented book sale transactions (zboray & zboray, 2000). the previous section was based on a variety of sources, found primarily in archives and published 18 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi reports. however, researching japanese bookstores, which were private and have since disappeared, required different sources and approaches, including the very close and creative reading of sources based on our understanding of historical context. by so doing, we tried to decipher a forgotten history. unfortunately, with the exception of works on japanese american newspapers and issei and nisei writers, there is a dearth of information on japanese american print culture (hayashi, 1990; mizuno, 2000; srikanth & song, 2016; tamura 1986). immigrant communities in early 20th-century america were often temporal ones located in lowrent areas, and such institutions as ethnic bookshops are usually more interested in serving immediate community needs and staying solvent rather than documenting their own experience. in the u.s., immigration has often been seen as a “migrant” or “temporary” existence, a transitional state often associated with poverty and other struggles of resettlement that people try to escape and leave behind (e.g., howe, 1976, p. 614). in this context, it is very difficult to document immigrant bookstores. immigrant reading is an even harder aspect to record unless one does targeted surveys (e.g., dali, 2004). another complication, specific to locating information on japanese american history, is the disruptive impact of world war ii. hawaiʻi differed from the american west coast in that there was no forced detention of all ethnic japanese; however, there was perhaps even more stigma in hawaiʻi about maintaining anything in japanese during the long period of martial law.14 even before the war, local police and the honolulu federal bureau of investigation office created a, b, and c lists of issei and nisei who were seen as possibly disloyal—lists which included japanese american newspaper editors, printers, language school teachers, christian, buddhist, and shinto clergy, and at least one bookseller. in such an environment, many ethnic japanese discarded anything written in japanese (scheiber & scheiber, 2016). to help uncover the world of japanese bookstores, we have searched honolulu’s japaneselanguage newspapers using the hoover institution database, a recently launched project to digitize japanese american newspapers (wertheimer & asato, 2018). specifically, we draw on bookstore advertisements appearing in three vernacular newspapers published in honolulu, which collectively covered the period under discussion: starting as the yamato, a semi-weekly newspaper published by shintaro anno (1895–1896), which later became the yamato shinbun (1896–1906) and then changed its title to the nippu jiji (1906–1942). the nippu jiji under the editorship of yasutaro soga had a wide readership among japanese immigrants in honolulu and played a key role in shaping community opinions on many social issues (tamura, 1986). the newspaper collection includes ocr-scanned (optical character recognition) text, so it is possible to search over years, including advertisements. the searches were made for such terms as shoten [bookstores], honya [bookstores], shosekiten [bookstores], hon [books], tosho [books], shoseki [books], zasshi [magazines], dokusho [reading], dokusha [readers], dokushokai [reading club], and kodoku [subscription]. additional searches were made for the names of specific japanese publications, the names of japanese bookstores, and merchants in hawaiʻi. we then created our own spreadsheet listing each bookshop, proprietor, address, dates of advertisements, and some notes on promoted titles in order to capture the wide range of bookselling during the period of study. searching the newspaper produced two types of evidence. one was articles and editorials by the newspaper staff on reading and bookstores. the other type, which proved far more valuable, was advertisements about books and bookstores. these can be reasonably assumed to be reflections of what the local community read, as well as indicators of trends and the reading environment in the ethnic community. although some articles and advertisements focused on certain genres, 19 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi taken as a whole they give insight into the diversity of the japanese-language reading society. we can read these critically as texts to trace how bookstores selected their stocks from the great output of japanese publishers and how they curated lists designed to appeal to their current and potential customers. through these advertisements we were able to see an imprint left of the changing nature and values of the ethnic japanese readers in hawaiʻi. for biographies of bookstore owners, hawai nihonjin nenkan [hawaiʻi japanese yearbook], hawai nihonjin meikan [japanese who’s who] and hawai jitsugyo annai [guide to businesses in hawaiʻi] were particularly useful resources. soga’s memoir, gojuunenkan no hawai kaiko [my memoirs of fifty years in hawaiʻi] offers additional insights into a wide variety of topics as he had a long career as editor and publisher of the nippu jiji. some of these rare publications are available only in print through the university of hawaiʻi, hawaiian and pacific and japan studies collections. the primary materials on the early library of hawaii are also only in print housed in the hawaiʻi state archives. this information was triangulated through immigrant community histories, yearbooks, histories, unpublished diaries, and census records and other data found at ancestry.com. our research builds on the work of hibi (2008), wada (2016), and wertheimer (2004) that look at japanese american print cultures, although this is the first known article uniquely focused on the situation in hawaiʻi. early japanese bookstores on january 27th, 1942, a brief article appeared in the nippu jiji, one of honolulu’s daily japanese newspapers, announcing a liquidation sale at morishige shosekiten or bookstore. according to the article, matazo morishige, an immigrant from hiroshima, had established his bookshop in 1900, the same year hawaiʻi became an american territory. it was located on beretania street, one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares, and home to many japanese american stores. the article claimed that the supposedly oldest japanese bookstore was closing its doors after 40 years. the closure was perhaps inevitable because importing japanese books became impossible once the war began. the article was only partially correct, as the history of japanese bookselling in hawaiʻi goes back even further—with roots in the final era of the hawaiian kingdom (1795–1893). we have found records of immigrants peddling japanese books in so called “japanese quarters” or “japanese camps” in sugar plantations to fellow japanese immigrants (“kojiki bozu,” 1909) dating back to at least 1892. several records mention sanshichi ozaki, who hailed from kanagawa prefecture, as the first one to portage books. with his load of books over both shoulders, he sold japanese immigrant workers ezoshi [picture books] for 20–30 cents and novels for 70–80 cents. this is how the ozaki shōten, or general store, began its history. the ozaki store and the iwakami, takemura, and mie stores were pioneering shops in honolulu. the owners brought funds with them from japan and began their businesses as general merchants, also selling books. however, the majority of japanese stores were established by people who came to hawaiʻi originally as immigrant laborers (morita, 1919, p. 124). japanese bookstores, especially in the early settlement years of japanese immigration, were one of a few access points for immigrants to consistently receive information from their home country; another one was local japanese-language newspapers. during this time period, few issei were fluent enough in english to rely on english-language newspapers. bookstores also functioned as hubs for the local japanese culture, information centers for the ethnic group, and a cross-cultural point between their home and host countries. by examining those bookstores, this paper attempts to answer questions, such as who were the issei and nisei as readers of japanese publications; what they read; and how their reading influenced or helped shape their identity in hawaiʻi. 20 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi japanese bookstores in honolulu before 1900 several honolulu stores sold japanese books during the republic of hawaii era (1894–1898). they placed advertisements promoting japanese books in honolulu’s vernacular newspapers. table 1 shows some of these stores and selected advertised items before 1900. table 1. store advertisement for books in honolulu before 1900 store selected advertised merchandise location (street) year of first advertisement takemura shōten bungei kurabu [literary club], joruri [books on japanese ballad drama], new novels, dictionaries, cookbooks, foods, clothing, tea, cigarettes, etc. king 1896 kobayashi shōten books, english japanese dictionaries, silk, cotton items nuuanu & hotel 1896 tanaka shōten western cookbooks, english dictionaries, watches, drugs, fishing tools beretania 1897 murakami shōten novels, carpentry tools, foods, pottery, drugs, kimono textiles, lacquerware, vegetables, glass plates for photography, miscellaneous goods beretania 1898 horita shōten novels, foods, miscellaneous goods beretania 1898 these shōten (or stores) functioned as general merchants, but many honolulu shops also sold wholesale to retailers on other islands in the territory. they dealt in almost anything immigrants needed for everyday living: from japanese foods and clothing and various tools and tableware to drugs and fresh vegetables. along with these daily goods, japanese novels and dictionaries were sold as miscellaneous items. most of the stores in question were located on beretania street where many japanese quarters existed (haga, 1981; iida, 2013, p. 171). around that time, sales were usually done by credit. the closed ethnic community, whose members were dependent and reliant on each other, made such a trust-based business practice possible. in that era, actual cash payments qualified one for a “discount” price in murakami and horita stores. customers living on other islands requesting books from the tanaka store were required to enclose a money order. presumably, store owners trusted the customers they knew who lived in their neighborhood. this credit system created problems as the number of residents increased and the community kept growing, and a few customers escaped their debts by fleeing to japan or the continental u.s. (hayashi, 1909). in 1908, the honolulu japanese retailers association resolved that all credit sales should be paid in full by the end of each month (honolulu kourisho kumiai, 1908). although these varied stores were not dedicated bookstores, they were visited by enough dedicated japanese readers who were excited about newly arrived publications from japan. these advertisements appeared in the local vernacular newspapers, the yamato (1895–1896) and the yamato shinbun (1896–1906), between july 1896 and may 1898. the 21 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi readership was obviously steady for the takemura store to announce the arrival of a new issue of the literary monthly magazine, bungei kurabu [literature club] (ishimaru, n.d.). in his memoir, yasutaro soga, the owner-editor of honolulu’s daily, the nippu jiji, reminisced about his earlier experience working at a japanese store in a plantation town on the island of hawaiʻi. he recalled, “these stores were like tiny department stores” (soga, 1953, p. 19). they carried literally anything one needed for japanese everyday life, including food, kimono, chinaware, medicine, alcohol, and papers. reflecting his upbringing and taste, he wrote “since their customers were plantation workers, there were no ‘real books,’ but such vulgar-taste readings as kodanbon [storybooks or oral narratives] were plentiful in the store” (p. 19). the store sent two clerks to the camp two to three times a day to collect orders from hard-working immigrants who had no time to visit the shop. on saturdays and sundays, however, he remembered, many workers would come in person. in addition to purchasing items, some customers also asked for help writing letters or consulted on various matters. stores, continued soga, supposedly should not have been open on sundays but customers came in the back door. store owners in the early plantation communities in rural oahu had a similar role: “keeping mail and writing letters for people, and working as agents of the japanese consulate. . . . the japanese store on the plantation was an oasis in the community (odo, & sinoto, 1985, p. 11). from these descriptions of early stores, we can easily picture japanese immigrants converging there to shop, socialize, and spend their precious free time. through this connecting with the world beyond the daily travail of plantation life, stores emerged as a third place to talk with neighbors, receive news, and read newly arrived japanese books, newspapers, and magazines.15 japanese bookstores in the 1900s and 1910s the japanese population of honolulu grew as issei completed their plantation contracts, especially after the 1909 strike when strikers were evicted from their plantation homes. japanese immigrants found work in other businesses, thus creating an urbanized and a somewhat more middle-class culture and settler marketplace, which eventually included dedicated stores selling books. as noted in the previous section, books were sold with other merchandise in general stores in honolulu. another type of establishment that sold a somewhat greater variety of books and magazines was pharmacies. tanseido, for example, was founded in 1918 by ichitaro tomita and his fellow countryman pharmacist tsutomu ota with $10,000 in start-up capital. the following is a reflection on the store’s success: pharmacies in america sold much more than medicine and medical equipment, such as cosmetics, stationery, musical instruments, daily necessities, tobacco, cameras, and even soft drinks. they looked like department stores. generally american stores close around 5:00 or 6:00, but pharmacies remained open throughout the night; so naturally they attract various kinds of customers. . . . the store is located at the intersection of two busy streets, beretania and river, a perfect location for a retailer, but it is also successful as a wholesaler, as it frequently sends employees to the neighbor islands. (nippu jiji co. henshukyoku, 1921, 50) this description of tanseido explains well why so many japanese pharmacies existed in honolulu and why they sold books and magazines. in addition to the local japanese-language newspapers, and before newsreels and radio broadcasts from japan came to hawaiʻi, publications imported from japan had been one of a few sources for the japanese immigrants to learn about the current 22 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi state of japanese politics, cultural trends, technology, and about the news from japan and around the world. in this era, so far removed from the internet days, the desire for “up-to-date information” must have had a special status as a commodity, and naturally attracted regulars with the new stock. this also explains why so many stores in the ethnic community carried newly arrived books and magazines regardless of whether they were primarily dry goods shops or a pharmacy. the description of tanseido rather resembles that of a 24/7 convenience store in japan today, where customers drop in for a coffee or snack and end up spending an hour browsing magazines. indeed, two years after opening, tanseido added a soda fountain, while continuing to sell books, as well as art supplies, toys, and japanese games shogi and go (tanseido, 1920). as the economy developed and readers became more demanding, some stores started placing more emphasis on an even greater variety of japanese publications. these new specialized book stores opened on beretania street, forming a bookstore neighborhood similar to kanda-jimbocho in today’s tokyo. those stores even imported less profitable specialized and literary magazines to appeal to different types of japanese readers (“shimachi no seinen,” 1911). as one example, matsumura bookstore, was started by masaho matsumura who had arrived in hawaiʻi in 1906 from hiroshima when he was 24-years-old (sogawa, 1927, p. 258). an advertisement from february 26, 1908 announced his store’s opening, proudly boasting its “books” and stationery specialization in large bold type. matsumura explained that he could provide fast book delivery because he established special contracts with japan’s leading bookstores. his stock included books, magazines, national textbooks, reference books, wall maps, some of japan’s leading local newspapers, and stationery goods. the textbooks and maps must have been most welcome at local japanese language schools which taught children who came to hawaiʻi with their immigrant parents as well as the locally born nisei (asato, 2006). the number of japanese language schools mushroomed, and by 1915, there were at least 120 in hawaiʻi (ozawa, 1972). that year 13,552 japanese american pupils attended around 160 public schools in hawaiʻi, 90% of whom also attended ethnic afternoon schools learning language, ethics, calligraphy and other subjects (asato, 2006, p. 11; hawaii superintendent of public instruction, 1920, p. 74). in 1908, the newly opened matsumura bookstore made a dramatic debut by inviting nippu jiji readers to a dodoitsu competition; dodoitsu are limericks composed in a 7-7-7-5 syllable pattern. winners would receive gift certificates for books: $1.50 for the first prize, $1, and 50 cents for the second and third prizes (“dai nikai kensho,” 1908). the following are translations of some of the winning selections which were printed in the newspaper: the elegant store display, forever prosper—matsumura bookstore. (“obo dodoitsu,” 1908d). passing rain, showering on the pine tree, inviting me to stop by the bookstore. (“obo dodoitsu,” 1908d). ardent love woven into a bookmark, returning a book placed as a suggestive message. (“obo dodoitsu,” 1908b). selling mother’s keepsake ring for books, study with a great adversity. (“obo dodoitsu,” 1908b). 23 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi what for collecting unnecessary books, enjoy reading in the autumn night . (“obo dodoitsu,” 1908a). holding my favorite book, tears come out, again forgot this kanji, how to read. (“obo dodoitsu,” 1908a). collecting japanese and western cookbooks, practicing for a new family. (“obo dodoitsu,” 1908c). halt reading and half close a book, what i learned first is the taste of love. (“obo dodoitsu,” 1908c). these brief poems allowed the issei to express their inner passion for reading and how japanese language books were integral to their practical and emotional existence. if it were not for the bookstore, those amateur writers might have never had a chance to share their art or see their names in print as authors. as a form of art, dodoitsu is seen more low-brow compared with the refined form of haiku. it was originally performed with shamisen, a traditional japanese threestringed lute, sometimes at an entertainment theater but more commonly at drinking places. the themes are often feelings, love, cynicism, dry humor, or self-mockery (kurata, n.d.). obviously the dodoitsu competition attracted many readers and created an immediate literary circle through the local newspaper. around that time, the price of a typical japanese book ranged from 30 cents to $1.50 (motoshige shōten shosekibu, april 5, 1915). the winners were probably proud to take home a winning book or two of their favorite writers. beyond simply winning a prize, these expressions help us imagine the profound emotional response that japanese books inspired in the hidden cultural lives of hawaiʻi’s ethnic japanese community. they also counteract a stereotypical and erroneous association of japanese immigration with low levels of literacy and the lack of literary aspirations. what books and magazines did the japanese americans read? in the 1910s, if japanese americans in honolulu were to walk into a local japanese store, what kind of books would they find on the shelves? we tried to answer this question by perusing the list of advertised books. motoshige shinjudo was started as a pharmacy on n. king street in 1897 by wasuke motoshige who had left tokyo for hawaiʻi three years earlier (tanaka shōten, 1897; hawai nihonjin nenkan, 1916, 13, p. 152). he became very successful and later opened two branch stores—one in the oahu plantation town of waipahu and the other in wailua on the island of kauaʻi. these stores developed into a trading company, and motoshige became one of the most prominent businessmen in the early japanese american community in hawaiʻi. unlike many general stores, the motoshige store’s opening advertisement did not mention books; however, by 1912–1915, its book department regularly published full page newspaper advertisements, listing over 400 titles at a time (see figure 1). judging by the lists, there might be at least 1,000–1,500 books on the shelves on any given day. the advertisement dated august 5, 1912 classified books into nine categories (motoshige shōten shosekibu, august 5, 1912). those categories include shuyo [moral, self-improvement]; cookbooks, household; hygiene, divination, hypnotism; waka, haiku [japanese poetry], western and japanese musical instruments and instruction; japanese-english conversation, dictionaries, translated english books; japanese literature; dictionaries; math, accounting, law; and miscellaneous. each book listed the title, author, and price. 24 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi figure 1. motoshige store’s book advertisement. adopted from 1915, april 5, nippu jiji. made available through the japanese diaspora initiative, hoover institution, stanford university [image in the public domain] 25 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the book advertisement of motoshige store eloquently speaks to us about the socio-cultural and spiritual state of the japanese american community. the most salient category to reflect their spiritual needs was “shuyo” books on self-improvement or morals. many issei immigrants packed one or two shuyo books in their kori [bamboo basket trunks] as an aspiration to maintain their japanese spirit and culture even when living abroad.16 this category includes books on the samurai code, old adages, words and inspirational biographies of famous people including japanese and western figures. parallels might be drawn to early american home book collections featuring poor richard’s almanack, psalms, or bibles, which were read intensively for inspiration and guidance, as well as poetic works intended for reading aloud (brown 2007, p. 164). the category of “literature” around this time consisted mostly of classical literature rather than popular novels, including anthologies of japanese and chinese writers. waka and haiku are short poems: both have specific literary rules and formulae to follow and are considered more refined poetry forms than popular ones, such as dodoitsu. waka and haiku are taught at school as part of educating cultural and well-rounded citizens. therefore, this category also manifests japanese americans’ spiritual and cultural ties with japan. there also are categories of advertised books that may point to readers’ willingness to learn and adopt american culture and lifestyle. in the early bookstore advertisements, the most common items were japanese-english dictionaries, books for learning business english and everyday conversation, and titles such as a quick mastery of english in six months. this is not a unique characteristic of japanese bookstores alone, but one that is shared with ethnic bookstores established by other american immigrant communities; many ethnic bookstores often had a section of books for english learners. for japanese, the language mastery was uniquely challenging because of the significant differences between english and japanese languages. indeed, linguists in the modern language association and the foreign service institute classify japanese as being the most distant from english, and thus the most challenging to learn (foreign service institute, n.d.). the language and communication gap created a serious hurdle for many issei in terms of improving their quality of work and life and building relationships outside of their community. to overcome this hurdle, young issei men went to night schools or worked as “schoolboys” to learn english (murakami, 2016, p. 190). this naturally produced many anecdotal stories and incidents with dictionaries and other english learning books (“tochi yagakko,” 1908). the category of “cookbooks, household” is a mixture of east and west (motoshige shōten, august 5, 1912). this category of books reflects the exposure of japanese women to western culture and the beginning of women’s liberty, independence, and social, cultural establishment in japan. seito, a literary magazine for women (1911) influenced by western feminism, created a sensation in japanese society because of its focus on women’s freedom and challenge to old social customs (ide, n.d.). although japanese american women in honolulu geographically lived in american society, their everyday lives were often confined to the ethnic community, where life followed japanese language and custom. however, the 1924 immigration act spurred a gradual change from japanese “sojourner spirit” to one of “settlement” as the americanization movement intensified in the islands. (hawai nihonjin iminshi, 1964, p. 336). this was in tandem with efforts to westernize issei clothing, from kimono to western clothing, which allowed for a more active lifestyle, as well as an emphasis on using english, and increasing contact outside the community (hawai nihonjin iminshi, 1964, p. 336). therefore, it is possible that imported publications from japan, which reflected on the drastic westernization of japanese society became a medium of western culture, helping issei women in honolulu learn new customs and facilitating their transition to the host society. in this way, such bookstores as motoshige became a cultural conduit for adaptation and adjustment. 26 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the final category of advertisements was “miscellaneous books” and contained true gems. it listed the two books published by the motoshige stor e. both were written by acchi takei, a well-known benshi or storyteller, who traveled around japanese american communities and plantations and wrote about their lives. one was hawai no miyage [souvenirs of hawaiʻi], a photo sketchbook of the hawaiian islands. this $1.50 book was rather pricey but still popular as a gift for relatives in japan; as a result, it was printed in three editions after selling 8,000 copies. as a publisher, the motoshige store wholesaled this bestselling book to other retailers, such as seiseido pharmacy (see figure 2), shigi pharmacy, oshima pharmacy, machida pharmacy, shigemori pharmacy and the nakatsu store (motoshige shōten, august 5, 1912). all are medium to large-scale stores, which frequently promoted their own publications in newspaper advertisements. figure 2. seiseido pharmacy. hawaii times photo archives foundation. [reproduced by permission]. made available through the auspices of the hawaii times photo archives foundation. other local stores, newspapers, companies, and even individuals also published quite a few books, especially with the focus on hawaiʻi. however, with a few exceptions, none of them was a dedicated publisher, and instead they only printed a book or two (hawai nihonjin iminshi kanko iinkai, 1964, pp. 302–307). those bookstores/publishers preserved the ethnic community history which might have otherwise disappeared and dissolved into american history. as a result of their efforts, by the end of the 1910s, a distinct print culture, including publishers, distributors, bookstores, and readers emerged within the honolulu japanese american community. it was transnational yet independent and unique, which paradoxically flourished because socio-cultural exclusion promoted self-reliance and self-sufficiency. 27 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the rise of magazines from the 1920s to 1941 the japanese american population marked a significant increase in the 1920s and continued rising even after world war ii. in 1920, the number of the issei was 60,258 while there were 49,016 nisei with american citizenship. however, by 1929, the size of the two groups reversed: the nisei now outnumbered the non-citizen issei: 87,748 and 49,659, respectively (hawai nihonjin iminshi kanko iinkai, 1964, p. 316). this shift coincided with a magazine boom in japan. in hawaiʻi this demographic change greatly expanded the impact of the magazine boom among japanese publications imported to hawaiʻi. this was a serious issue for bookstores as most nisei were far more comfortable with english than japanese. even as they became adults, many read in japanese at the level closer to that of children in japan, and their reading in japanese may have been limited to magazines that offered furigana [phonetic characters] used alongside difficult kanji [chinese characters]. the main exception was a subset of the nisei called the kibei nisei who had spent some time attending school in japan. yamashiro (1995) estimates there were 4,000 kibei-nisei in hawaiʻi by 1940. in japan, book and magazine sales had been booming, especially following news of japan’s victory in the (first) sino-japanese war (1894–1895). the war boosted japan’s economy and energized the publishing world, especially fueling the hunger of readers wanting to see photos and patriotic accounts from the battlefield. in this era, tokyo’s hakubunkan became the largest publisher, rising to stardom by releasing three popular magazines taiyo [the sun; a general magazine], bungei kurabu [literary club; a literary magazine], and shonen sekai [boy’s world; a boys’ magazine], which drove the magazine boom in japan (hashimoto, 1964, p. 59). hakubunkan released a series of inexpensive magazines and tankobon, paperbacks geared towards the interest of specific groups of readers. their record sales shattered the previous belief that magazine publishing was not profitable (“shimachi no seinen,” 1911). these popular magazines created new categories of reading, including women’s, girls’ and boys’ reading, as well as popular satire, adventure, war hero novels, and military novels. needless to say, these new genres produced new groups of readers both domestically and in the diaspora. specialized readerships also allowed for targeted advertisements, which kept the prices more affordable and fostered modern japan’s consumer culture. japanese-language magazines for women back in hawaiʻi, oshima pharmacy on beretania street operated by kisaburo oshima from yamaguchi, published an advertisement appealing to women readers with a list of popular magazines; fujin sekai [women’s world]; fujo kai [ladies’ world]; fujin kurabu [women’s club]; fujin koron [women’s review]; and fujin gaho [women’s pictorial magazine] (hayashi, 1909, p. 207; oshima yakuho shosekibu, 1926). it also promoted the leading monthly magazine the shufu no tomo [the housewife’s friend] (1917–2008), which launched a women’s magazine boom and had a record readership of 220,000 by the late 1920s in japan. the editor refocused the original target audience of women’s magazines from the minority of upper class, well-educated women to the popular market of housewives, signaling the change by offering “everyday wisdom” and information on how to “improve” their lives. for example, in addition to many short stories and serialized novels, the december issue of 1930 contained such articles as “a wife’s effort to create a happy married life”; “how to quickly change your husband’s bad mood”; “secrets of finding a good husband for your daughter”; and “secrets of putting on makeup” (see figure 3). the 80cent issue offered an extra-gift booklet on “the secret of how to perform divination for luck” and also a prize contest for 1,000 rings with a lucky stone (shufu no tomosha, 1930). because of these magazines’ popularity, many bookstores advertised the impending arrival of forthcoming 28 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi issues, warning potential readers that the “last month’s issue quickly sold out, so secure your copy right now!” every month more than 20,000 copies of various magazines were imported and sold in hawaiʻi. amazingly, those magazines were displayed in honolulu stores at almost the same time as in bookstores in japan (“risoteki na shogyo,” 1939). figure 3. advertisement for the shufu no tomo. adopted from 1930, december 29, nippu jiji. made available through the japanese diaspora initiative, hoover institution, stanford university [image in the public domain]. women as readers a november 1922 advertisement for the aforementioned morishige bookstore—one of hawaiʻi’s oldest japanese bookstores (1900–1942)—also focused on serving women readers (morishige shosekiten, november 19, 1922). the piece titled “women and reading” explained that “recently women’s desire for reading is rising,” and encouraged readers to look at the 50 books 29 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi selected for women in the store by tokyo’s jiji shinpo dissemination of reading society. their list included books on home psychology, theory of life, and western music; biographies of successful women; an anthology of poetry by modern women poets; lectures on women’s culture; and a young ladies’ life of thought. books by prominent women writers, such as feminist poet akiko yosano, and some english books in japanese translation were also on the recommended list. this selection of 50 readings for women reflects a cultural elitism, signifying japan’s modern education system introduced in the 1870s, which places a great emphasis on literacy and reading as a pathway to modern nationhood. around the late 1910s and 1920s, japan was caught in the kyoyoshugi [self-cultivationism] fever, whereby reading was valued much higher than writing or speaking. it was seen as a vital communication skill to understand the national essence. reading was considered a core educational tool to instill state-sanctioned social and political values in citizens. for this, works of philosophy were central. the followers argued that acquiring a good understanding of philosophy through reading is essential to maintaining the national ethos. this “philosophy boom” began in 1922 and brought philosophy into school curricula in japan (kameidyche, 2017). the aforementioned titles suggest that the targeted readers of these books were rather intelligent and receptive to western ideas, perhaps reflecting the mood of the somewhat more democratic taisho era (1912–1926) which had just ended (okubo, n.d.). the intended female readership was more likely to be situated in the upper middle-class and consisted of women who could afford $1.50–$6.00 books, which were significantly more expensive than most popular books of the time (morishige shosekiten, november 19, 1922). this image of women dramatically contrasts with the image of female readers who read the popular women’s magazines described earlier. whether or not there was a significant overlap between these two female readerships requires further investigation. an interesting question that comes to mind is how the issei and nisei women in hawaiʻi read the women’s magazines and books and what aspects of those publications appealed to them. on the one hand, the publications in question codified old japanese customs, in which women’s roles were defined by traditional values, tasks, skills, and expectation. on the other hand, the magazines put forth some western concepts, including new values, lifestyles, and, most clearly, high expectations for modernization. one explanation could be that these japanese-language materials helped issei women adapt to american society, even more so than they helped men. many issei women could not read english-language publications and had limited exposure outside the ethnic community; under these circumstances, learning western lifestyles, social norms, culture, and values through japanese-language publications was the only viable option. if this is indeed the case, in a paradoxical way, japanese printed materials, a physical token of their attachment to japan’s old culture and customs, may have actually aided their acculturation in the new country. whatever the case may be, the publishing industry in japan did an excellent job of cultivating women as a new group of readers and of establishing unique genres for women readers. by 1939, the industry had grown so strong that women’s paperbacks alone sold six million copies; this constituted a 20% increase from the previous year. reflecting the national thinking of japan, already at war, the most significant sales increases were in women’s publications and works related to patriotism and the war (“yoshi tosei,” 1939). social role of japanese bookstores beyond selling books and magazines, japanese bookstores in hawaiʻi continued to offer additional services. for example, the aforementioned morishige bookstore’s november 1922 advertisement 30 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi also solicited new year magazine subscriptions. it offered a 20% discount on the advance payment for subscriptions and promised that magazines would be delivered quickly by store clerks directly to honolulu addresses. the bookstore also offered a readers’ advisory service: “because there are so many magazines to select from . . . we will be happy to listen to your needs and select one for your convenience.” the advertisement also noted: “various kogiroku or lecture notes are also available” (morishige shosekiten, november 12, 1922). this genre was frequently found in honolulu bookstores’ advertisements starting the 1910s. japanese americans purchased them to study various academic subjects on their own using prestigious japanese universities’ course lecture notes. the advertisement proudly boasted about a young man who studied using their kogiroku to become a newspaper reporter. however, as in japan, most readers studied with kogiroku not for the purpose of formal education but for their own self-improvement. the kogiroku was developed in the spirit of public education by some instructors, somewhat resembling today’s moocs and other public scholarship (sekimoto, 2014). upon a customer’s request, the bookstore also provided bibliographies of books, similar to those that american libraries compiled for their patrons. these bookstores not only provided their readers with books and magazines but, like public libraries today, also offered spaces for such entertainment opportunities as sponsored movies, acrobatic theater, and dodoitsu competitions. they hosted celebrations of both american and japanese holidays in the ethnic community. however, this all came to an end shortly after the last shipment from japan was unloaded from the asama in august 1941. the boycott and pacific war forced all of these stores close (“toketsurei ga motarashita,” 1941). although the us joined world war ii in 1941, japan had already been embroiled in war in china for several years, and the government placed increasingly tight controls on what were acceptable themes for all types of publications (garon, 1998). following the end of the war and martial rule, only a few bookstores would try to resume.17 discussion and conclusion this paper portrayed the rich reading lives of japanese immigrants in hawaiʻi by focusing on japanese-language bookstores in the diaspora. their funds were scarce and earned by hard work in the fields, but their spiritual life was bolstered by japanese-language books and magazines. these early japanese readers in america consumed books for many reasons: escape, relationship building, maintaining national identity, hunger for information, search for joy and leisure, coping with homesickness, alienation, and nostalgia, economic advancement, artistic expression, and lifelong learning in a fast-changing modern age. this article demonstrates that japanese language books and magazines played countless roles in serving as a life connection between the home and the host country. unfortunately, as we have also shown, the library of hawaii did not take much interest in responding to information and reading needs of japanese-language readers of the time. outside of hawaiʻi, american libraries were slowly developing their services towards more democratic and equal services, a concept that would eventually be codified in the 1939 library bill of rights: books and other reading matter selected for purchase books an d other reading matter selected for purchase from public funds should be chosen for value and interest to people of the community, and in no case should the selection be influenced by the race or nationality or the political or religious views of the writers. (ala office for intellectual freedom, 1974, p. 4) 31 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi although the reasons for active services and outreach to immigrant communities in other states may or may not have been motivated by the considerations of social justice and equity, these services nonetheless existed on a fairly extensive scale. this contrasts with the lack of services and collections to and, likely, interest in japanese-speaking patrons in hawaiʻi. as our research clarifies, in hawaiʻi’s territorial library, books were not selected with community needs in mind, unless the library limited the definition of community to the minority population of haole native english speakers. by the same token, race, nationality, religion, and language were obvious determining factors in designating books as worthy of purchase. although there were no legal restrictions on the use of libraries by japanese immigrants or their offspring, the library collection certain sent a message that the issei presence was not welcomed. in this way the library of hawaii remained a colonial missionary outpost with what was, in essence, a policy that valued mostly european languages. the deficiency of services and resources on the part of the library of hawaii prompted the community to find solutions of their own and bolstered the development of ethic publishing, bookselling, and cultural institutions. we can see this as acts of resistance, consumption, or adoption, depending immigrants chose to read. it was also an act of cultural survival, akin to building and maintaining temples, shrines, and churches that met spiritual needs, or language schools where the issei tried to pass on their language and culture to their children and grandchildren. whatever the case may be, creating their own bookstores was a way of meeting basic communal and individual needs. this paper only begins to scratch the surface of this rich immigrant print culture. there is a need for more research on topics like kibei reading, japanese library collections, locally published works of fiction and nonfiction, and literary circles; there is also a need for comparative studies between japanese american print culture and the print culture experiences of other asian pacific americans, especially native hawaiians, as well as with other japanese diasporas. another worthwhile research project could focus on comparing the library of hawaii with libraries in puerto rico or american samoa, the other sites of libraries in american territories where english was not the dominant language. the early 20th-century american influence also extended to cuba and the philippines, which might also provide an interesting research angle. such an approach could make possible a comparison of libraries under american imperialism with coleman’s (2008) study of british colonial libraries within the very different frame of american imperialism (kinzer, 2006; hopkins, 2018.) another line of future research could extend to american public libraries in the states, territories, and native american reservations with multilingual minorities or majorities. for those interested in libraries of today, our study provides much ground for reflection on the role of library services for immigrants, especially in communities with restrictions on using tax support for undocumented immigrants. it is our sincere hope that the portrayal of the japanese cultural resilience and prosperity in the conditions of disregard by the local public library will encourage librarians to strive to truly meet the ideals set by the library bill of rights. 32 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi endnotes 1 there are three spellings of hawaiʻi in this article. we usually use it with the diacritics, as it is written and pronounced in hawaiian and in official usage today. before statehood, the territory did not adopt diacritics, so we maintained the old spelling for the library of hawaii and territory of hawaii. when citing something in japanese we used the japanese transliteration, which is written as hawai with only one “i” without diacritics. by “territory,” we refer to: the territory of hawaii, which was established by the hawaiian organic act of 1900, following the 1898 annexation by the u.s. in 1959, the territorial era ended when congress passed the admission act, making it the 50th state. 2 the right to read in any language is protected under articles 2, 18, 20, 26, 27, and especially 19 of the universal declaration of human rights (1948) as well as other un and unesco covenants. in the u.s., it is guaranteed by the equal protection and due process clauses of the fifth and fourteenth amendments of the u.s. constitution. 3 japan’s meiji era (1868-1912) saw the return of power to the emperor, an intense industrial revolution in order to support national defense and international trade. it also marked the beginning of japanese emigration (keene, 2005). 4 japanese immigration to other parts of the u.s. were largely halted by the so-called “gentlemen's agreement” of 1907-1908. see daniels (1988). 5 some scholars now call asian americans in hawaiʻi “asian settler colonialists” although ‘settler’ predates this discourse. see fujikane and okamura (2008). the term settler here parallels the transformation european immigrants would signify by applying for american citizenship— something forbidden to japanese immigrants. 6 issei plantation workers organized a federation of labor, having realized that they had more in common with filipino plantation workers than with issei elites. takaki (1983) notes, “to be successful, the labor movement in hawaii and its strike actions would have to be based on interethnic working class unity” (p. 164). 7 for those unfamiliar, antonio gramsci (1891-1937) was an italian social theorist and marxist politician. he is most well known for his extensive prison notebooks, which explored many ideas, including the concept of “cultural hegemony.” gramsci pointed out how schools and other state organs function to normatize capitalist power structures. for more, see mayo (2008). 8 some recent studies (e.g., laimana, 2011), may dispute this finding; we are also conducting additional research on issei english and japanese literacy. 9 readers interested in the library’s history would benefit from tachihata’s dissertation (1981) or the brief work by historian loomis (1979), published by the friends of the library. loomis wrote on early missionary history as a historian and great-granddaughter of the first printer in hawaiʻi, missionary elisha loomis. 10 all capitalized instances of “library” refer to the library of hawaii. 33 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi 11 hawaiʻi’s territorial legislature passed countless bills calling for statehood, but u.s. congressmen from the west coast and south united to opposed to statehood, primarily because they were opposed to the idea of enfranchising the territory’s asian americans. see reinecke (1979), daws (1968, pp. 333, 389), hirobe (2001). 12 few of the library’s internal records survive, but the minutes of the library of hawaii trustees (in an unprocessed collection at the state archives) were reviewed; they offered little insight. 13 for insight into the biases of librarians and library education, see wayne wiegand’s (1996) critical biography of melvil dewey, who played an active role in founding the ala, the library journal, and the first library school. 14 during world war ii, racism against japanese americans and wartime hysteria following the pearl harbor attack led the federal government to incarcerate all 120,000 japanese americans from their homes on the west coast regardless of citizenship. officials and community leaders in hawaiʻi were able to placate calls for mass incarceration. they claimed they arrested the most disloyal. in the end, almost 2,000 of hawaiʻi’s roughly 158,000 japanese americans were detained. another reason hawaiʻi japanese americans did not suffer the same “internment” was that the territory was under martial law for most of the war (scheiber & scheiber, 2016). 15 the concept of third place comes from sociology, where a third space is an alternative to home (first place) and work (second place). in an interesting twist, pozzi (2013) makes the case for how libraries and bookstores helped create an italian immigrant space in newark, new jersey. 16 see o, h. (2010) for an overview of shuyo books that inspired many meiji era immigrants. 17 the territory of hawaii was placed under military rule, with the civilian government pushed aside for the first three years of the war. many civil rights, such as the writ of habeas corpus, were swept aside. it was the longest period of martial rule in the u.s. (scheiber & scheiber, 2016). appendix a glossary the editor suggested the following glossary of terms used in our article would help readers. all terms are translations from japanese unless otherwise indicated. bango japanese word for number, but in hawaiʻi of the 1890s it referred to the tag plantation workers wore and used to receive payment. benshi storyteller. during the early immigration period, a benshi would narrate japanese silent films. brahmin in american history, this refers to the protestant european american elite families who ran boston. dodoitsu japanese light poem or limerick, composed in a 7-7-7-5 syllable pattern. 34 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi dokusha readers dokusho reading dokushokai reading club ezoshi a genre of pictorial book published primarily during the edo-era (1603–1868) furigana phonetic japanese characters, used alongside difficult kanji, or chinese ideographs to aid in pronunciation. go an ancient board game somewhat like chess. originally from china. haiku japanese poetic short form using 17 syllables in 5-7-5 syllabic arrangement. it is influenced by buddhist philosophy, and is considered a refined form of expression. haole hawaiian language term for foreigners, but currently used to refer to european americans hon book(s) honya bookstore(s) issei first generation (japanese immigrant). kanaka maoli hawaiian language term for native hawaiian person or people (also kanaka). kanji chinese character system used in japanese writing kibei nisei second generation japanese americans who were at least partially educated in japan kodanbon storybooks or oral narratives. kodoku subscription kogiroku book genre with college lecture notes. kori bamboo basket trunks used by immigrants. kyoyoshugi self-cultivationism, a 20th-century japanese liberal intellectual movement, influenced by the german concept of bildung. nisei second generation japanese american(s) samurai japanese elite warriors from the feudal era. by the pre-modern era, many were middle level bureaucrats serving local lords. sansei third generation japanese american(s) shamisen a traditional japanese three-stringed lute. 35 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi shogi a japanese traditional board game like chess. shoseki book(s) shosekiten bookstore(s) shoten bookstore(s) shōten general store(s) shuyo concept of cultivating the mind and personal morality tankobon paperback tosho book(s) waka a japanese form of poetry using 31 syllables, popular among early aristocrats zasshi magazine(s) appendix b selected chronologies hawaiian eras hawaiian kingdom 1795–1893 republic period 1894–1898 u.s. territory 1900–1959 (including 1941–1943 under martial rule) u.s. state 1959– japanese eras meiji era 1868–1912 taisho era 1912–1926 36 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi references american library association (ala). office for intellectual freedom. 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(1996). irrepressible reformer: a biography of melvil dewey. chicago: 42 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://www.hawaii.edu/uhwo/clear/home/hawaiilhglossary.html https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1910/abstract/supplement-hi.pdf library exclusion and the rise of japanese bookstores in prewar honolulu the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi american library association. yamashiro, m. (1995). kibei nisei: kaitai shite iku “nihonjin.” [kibei nisei: "japanese" falling apart]. tokyo: gogatsu shobo. yoshi tosei o kokufukushite shuppankai daishinyaku [overcoming paper usage regulations, the publishing business is flourishing]. (1939, february 18). nippu jiji. retrieved from the hoji shinbun digital collection. zboray, r. j. & zboray, m. s. (2000). handbook for the study of book history in the united states. washington, dc: library of congress. andrew b. wertheimer (wertheim@hawaii.edu) has taught library and information science at the university of hawaiʻi at mānoa since 2003, including five years as program chair. he has been president of the association of hawaiʻi archivists, and served on the boards of the american library association, association for library and information science education, hawaiʻi library association, and the editorial boards of library quarterly and library history. he has worked in a number of archives, public and university libraries and taught at san josé state university and the university of tsukuba. he is working on a history of the library of hawaiʻi. his university of wisconsin-madison dissertation explored the libraries japanese americans used and created during their forced detention during world war ii. noriko asato (asaton@hawaii.edu) is associate professor and associate chair of the library and information science program at the university of hawaiʻi at mānoa. she is the author of several monographs, including teaching mikadoism: the attack on japanese language schools in hawaii, california, and washington, 1919-1927 (university of hawaii press). her research focuses on asian studies librarianship, history, digital libraries, and the asian american experience. some recent articles include “the origins of the freedom to read foundation: public librarians’ campaign to establish a legal defense against library censorship.” (public library quarterly) and “librarians’ free speech: the challenge of librarians’ own intellectual freedom to the american library association 1946-2007” (library trends). she was a research fellow and jsps scholar at kyoto university. 43 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi file:///c:/users/leah/downloads/wertheim@hawaii.edu introduction a brief account of japanese immigration to hawaiʻi public library service to immigrants in north america the origins of the library of hawaii library service to japanese americans methodology early japanese bookstores japanese bookstores in honolulu before 1900 japanese bookstores in the 1900s and 1910s what books and magazines did the japanese americans read? the rise of magazines from the 1920s to 1941 japanese-language magazines for women women as readers social role of japanese bookstores discussion and conclusion endnotes appendix a glossary appendix b selected chronologies hawaiian eras japanese eras references sacred texts and symbols: an indigenous filipino perspective on reading the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32593 sacred texts and symbols: an indigenous filipino perspective on reading m. elena clariza, university of hawai'i at mānoa, usa abstract reading in the philippines is a process whereby the body, mind and spirit are engaged. even though filipinos are predominantly catholic, many believe that creative energy, in the form of spirits, dwells in nature. these spirits must be respected or else they can unleash their wrath through sickness and natural calamities. as a contribution to preserving filipino indigenous knowledge, this paper will explore whatok, the tattooing tradition of the butbut people of kalinga and t’nalak, the weaving tradition of the t’boli people of mindanao. the aim of this paper is to preserve the unique culture of the philippines’ indigenous peoples’ while sharing a decolonized perspective on reading. the term “decolonized” is used to mean peeling away the layers of nearly 400 years of spanish and american colonial influence on filipino culture. i will do this by studying the ways in which indigenous filipino people record memory. the philippines has an ancient syllabary system, but i will focus on older forms of transmitting ancestral knowledge, tattooing and textile making. hopefully, this method will challenge readers to see tattoos and textiles as a valid means of documentation beyond printed text. keywords: ancestral knowledge; body art; filipino culture; indigenous reading; sacred text publication type: special section publication introduction eading in the philippines is a process that goes beyond printed text, where the body, mind and spirit are all simultaneously engaged. although filipinos are predominantly catholic, many believe that creative energy, in the form of spirits, dwells in nature. the philippines is located in the “pacific ring of fire,” an area in the pacific ocean basin known for frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. filipinos depend on ancestral knowledge and the ability to rely on intuition to fully grasp and comprehend the effects and impacts of nature’s cycles. a deep understanding of the environment and appropriate responses to its cycles are vital for the filipinos’ survival. the philippines is a culturally diverse country with over 7,000 islands and more than 150 languages (reid, 2005). the term “filipino,” created during the spanish colonial period (15211898), describes the national identity of people born and raised in the philippines and also filipinos living throughout the diaspora. most filipinos identify themselves by their ethnic identity or by the language that they speak. regardless of the differences between the ethnic groups, most filipinos share a common thread, usually present in their traditional practices. to contribute to the preservation of filipino indigenous knowledge and practices, this paper will explore the tattooing tradition of whatok of the butbut people of kalinga and the weaving tradition of t’nalak, of the t’boli people of mindanao. r https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sacred texts and symbols the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32593 the aim of this paper is to pay tribute to the unique culture of the philippines’ indigenous peoples while sharing a decolonized perspective on reading. the term “decolonized” is used to mean peeling away the layers of nearly 400 years of spanish and american colonial influence on filipino culture. i will do this by studying the ways in which the indigenous people record memory. the philippines has an ancient syllabary system, but i will focus on older forms of transmitting ancestral knowledge. hopefully, this method will challenge readers to see tattoos and textiles as a valid means of documentation beyond printed text. tattoos as a cutaneous bibliographic archive in 1946, the philippines re-gained its sovereignty from colonial powers. since then, filipino nationalists have been facing an upward battle in reclaiming their history and traditions, which were systematically degraded and silenced during the spanish and american (1898-1946) colonial periods. for this reason, it is particularly useful to explore the traditions of the indigenous peoples to get a glimpse of the filipino’s ancient way of life. the united nations development program (undp) reports the existence of 14 to 17 million indigenous peoples in the philippines belonging to 110 ethnolinguistic groups (undp, n.d.). indigenous filipinos were able to retain their culture by successfully resisting the advances of colonizers and fleeing deeper into the mountains. one of these groups is the butbut people of the kalinga region. they live in a landlocked area nestled in the heart of the philippines’ largest mountain range, the cordillera, which is located in the north-central part of the philippines (krutek, & sugguiyao, 2010). an important aspect of butbut identity is whatok, a permanent body adornment or tattoo, which was once prevalent all over the philippines (wilcken, 2011). for example, the first spanish explorers to the philippines chronicled heavily tattooed people in the visayas, the central islands of the philippines, as early as 1521 (wilcken, 2011). however, to the butbut people, whatok tradition is much older. they trace its origin to the ullit (legends and stories), amamtun (riddles or proverbs), and excerpts from ullalim (epic stories) that are usually sung by a traditional tattoo practitioner, known as a manwhatok, during a tattoo session (salvador-amores, 2013). traditional tattooing has declined in kalinga, but the region became a subject of international interest mainly because of a 101-year old indigenous woman named whang-od oggay of the butbut ethnic tribe, who is referred to as the last and oldest traditional tattoo practitioner or manwhatok in kalinga (salvador-amores, 2013). tourists from around the world, including television crews from the discovery channel, have taken the arduous trek across the mountainous terrain seeking to obtain an authentic whatok from whang-od (catajan, 2016). this surge of interest prompted butbut elders to coin a new tattoo process called, emben a whatok, or invented tattoos for local and foreign tourists. emben a whatok are portions of the traditional tattoos called whatok sa awi, or tattoos of the past, which are hand-tapped onto the skin of the elders (salvador-amores, 2013). these tattoos for tourists are for decorative purposes only. whang-od’s ullalim tells the story of a tattooed hero named banna from lubo. he traversed rivers and mountains as a python to see the beautiful lagkunawa of tinglayan. banna’s most beautiful gift to lagkunawa was the scales of a python skin magically embedded on her legs (salvador-amores, 2013). the combination of tattooing and storytelling connects its wearers to 81 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sacred texts and symbols the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32593 their ancestors and deities via the intertwined experience and expression of words, sounds, imagery, and text, all reflecting on the state of the body, mind, and spirit. to this end, banna may appear as a protective deity (spirit) in the guise of a snakeskin (body), made powerful by incantations (sound and mind). figure 1. whang-od in buscalan, philippines. shutterstock. [reproduced by permission]. how is whatok read? the different motifs are read using meanings that have been orally and physically passed down through generations. for example, one type of whatok motif chronicles the achievements of warriors. salvador-amores (2013) writes, “lakay wanawan, a renowned elder earned the only aiyung, a face mask of an owl, for his bravery and leading his tribe into battle. the tale of him single-handedly taking an enemy’s chief’s head that decided their victory lives on” (p. 161). intricate markings may adorn other warriors, which may be likened to badges of honor for contemporary soldiers. others use whatok to chronicle personal and ancestral milestones, such as to record the year in which they first voted, to inscribe instructions for weaving, or to display the wealth of their elders (salvador-amores, 2013; labrador, 2013). whatok is commonly used to help the wearer remember experiences. whang-od’s tattoos always take her back to her past and elicit happy memories. in this sense, a whatok serves as a “cutaneous bodily archive” conveying the wearers’ personal identities and documenting their biography (salvador-amores, 2013). 82 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sacred texts and symbols the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32593 whatok’s power is amplified through the unique stories of its wearer. for example, whang-od has secret markings hidden on her arms bestowed on her by former lovers (salvador-amores, 2013). her skin is also marked by the names and symbols of other tattoo practitioners to commemorate their meetings. to this day, whang-od continues to transcribe new meanings to traditional motifs unique to her own experiences. the language of whatok evolves through time because of these improvisations. whatok conveys a reading of experience and memory that becomes an ever-evolving text inscribed on the physical body as an ongoing narrative. it is meant to be read and interpreted iteratively, not only by the wearer but also by every person with whom the wearer interacts. in this way, whatok is a sacred text that commands respect for the person’s essential humanity; for their presence, experiences, culture, and history. whatok becomes a walking, breathing bibliographic archive of lived and historical experience, seen and unseen, and, as a living text, requires as much concern for its preservation as any print or digital manuscript. figure 2. lakay wanawan. from: worcester, 1912. [image in the public domain]. 83 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sacred texts and symbols the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32593 figure 3. wang-od tattooing a tourist using a citrus thorn. shutterstock. [reproduced by permission] t’nalak and the language of symbols like the butbut people of the kalinga region, the t’boli of the mindanao island share the same reverence for nature as an interactive universe of elements (seen) and their spirits (the unseen) who live among the community members. the t’boli are renowned for their music and art, especially t’nalak. a t’nalak is a woven textile made of the whitest abaca, also known as manila hemp, that has many traditional uses, such as paying a price for a bride, making a sacrifice to cure an illness, and serving as currency for bartering livestock, while the size of the of the cloth determines the number of inscribed horses or carabaos. the level of skill involved in creating t’nalak determines a weaver’s status and position in the village (paterno & oshima, 2001). every aspect of t’nalak preparation involves invoking fu dalu, the spirit of the abaca tree. an abaca plant will only be cut after a male t’boli recites a special prayer to fu dalu: 84 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sacred texts and symbols the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32593 tenaba hu fu kedungon, fu k’nalum, fu loko, ne fu dalu, i call on the spirit of abaca, them of k’nalum, the spirit of loko, as well as fu dalu yom taha ye, the owner of all things ani heyu nim t’nalak ni we offer this knife to you (bell or ring offerings are also made) so you may ensure our success in the creation of t’nalak ne efet kol be kdengen so that no illness will descend upon us, until we have finished our task. (castro, 2001) what messages does t’nalak convey? its commercial counterpart comes in different colors, but to the traditional weavers, the cloth can only be called “t’nalak” if it is in red, black and white (repollo, 2018; alvina, 2013). the dyes used are derived from plants found in their ancestral domain. the colors represent the resting places of souls after death (alvina, 2013). red or hulo symbolizes the souls who died violently by the bullet or the blade. white or bukoy is for those who perished an untimely death or by their own hands. white also represents the color of the sky. black or hitem is reserved for souls who passed away peacefully of natural causes. even though tattoos are no longer common in contemporary t’boli life, they are important in afterlife. designs depicting humans, frogs, or lizards tattooed on their hands and feet provide light in the total darkness of death (alvina, 2013). weaving t’nalak requires mathematical skills in order to organize the fibers based on the patterns. the weaving process is ceremonial and adheres to many beliefs and warnings to avoid offending fu dalu. castro (2013) confirms that the weaver must never allow the fiber to touch the ground. children must never play with the abaca fiber, neither must non-weavers ever touch the fibers, especially when these are already on the loom. weavers must not shift place while completing a piece of cloth (p. 42). it is only through complex and intricate processes like these that a t’nalak can be woven. poetry in woven symbols the t’boli people live along the banks of lake sebu in a secluded and mountainous part of mindanao, an island located in the southern part of the philippines. it is a place where waterfalls abound and plants and animals thrive. this is where fu dalu gifts patterns to weavers in their dreams. inas cone of lemkadi, born into a family of weavers, attributes her dream pattern of the kekem tree’s branches to fu dalu. subi nalon, a weaver who first connected abaca fibers at five, dreamt of hafak menaul, a pattern that describes a wild eagle stretching its wings as it soars majestically through the sky (paterno & oshima, 2001). 85 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sacred texts and symbols the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32593 figure 4. t’boli women of lake sebu in their traditional attire made of mother of pearls, plastic beads, copper and abaca fiber. from: viacrusis, n.d. [reproduced by permission]. the kekem tree grows abundantly around lake sebu. in the t’boli creation myth, the kekem is a stairway to heaven for good people. the villagers cut kekem in times of population decline to prevent souls from gaining access to the sky. the local villagers also rest in its roots when they fall ill because of the tree’s healing properties (paterno & oshima, 2001). just like whatok tattoos of the butbut, t’nalak weaving tells the ancient stories of the t’boli people. in t’boli culture, weave patterns are passed matrilineally, from mother to daughter, via their dreams. as such, t’nalak weavers are known as “dream weavers” (talavera, 2013). indeed, cone learned how to weave from her mother and her mother from her grandmother. cone’s only daughter, also a weaver, will keep the family’s design depicting a bwengkel, a live crocodile, thus preserving over four generations of the family’s foundation, heritage, symbology, and tradition (paterno & oshima, 2001). the bwengkel pattern tells of a cautionary tale of an illicit love affair between a man and a woman. as the story goes, one day as the lovers were courting, the woman dropped a pin into the ground. water suddenly began to flow as she picked up the pin. soon a small lake emerged and entrapped the couple. the lovers were cursed and transformed into crocodiles because they were relatives. the doomed couple is believed to still inhabit the lake to this day (paterno & oshima, 2001). such a pattern, coming through dreams, may convey a spiritual wisdom for a 86 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sacred texts and symbols the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32593 family that survives for generations. figure 5. kekem tree pattern derived from neal oshima’s bed kekem photograph. from clariza, 2018. [reproduced by permission] figure 6. t’nalak cloth from the personal collection of eva washburn-repollo. (clariza 2018) like poets, t’nalak weavers use their loom to express the beauty that surrounds them. for example, the eben lobun pattern describes the formation of nimbus clouds heavy with rain. eben also means a sling tied carefully to carry a baby as through in a cradle of clouds (paterno & oshima, 2001, p. 128). 87 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sacred texts and symbols the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32593 figure 7. bwengkel pattern derived from neal oshima’s bed bwengkel photograph. from: clariza, 2018. [reproduced by permission]. figure 8. eben lobun pattern derived from neal oshima’s eben lobun photograph. from: clariza, 2018. [reproduced by permission] t’nalak can also speak of deep emotions and sorrow. in m’baga mugul by yab man, a daughter was left to finish her mother’s design that was called the “dying weaver” (paterno & oshima, 2001). babara ofung who feels the strong spirit of her aunt, a bo’i or leader, weaves about mugul, a pattern that appeared in her sister’s dream. mugul is the place where souls who perished naturally go. sometimes weavers just need to vent like nalon’s ketumbe nungel. her cloth communicates her vivid imagination. the pattern juxtaposes feeling of madness or nungel and soundness of mind (paterno & oshima, 2001). 88 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sacred texts and symbols the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32593 figure 9. barbara ofung working on her loom. from: barredo, 2009. [image in the public domain] a vanishing culture even though the t’boli people are active agents in the preservation of their traditions, t’nalak is also preserved in response to market demands. similarly to the emben sa whatok, or invented tattoos, the mass produced t’nalak caters to the interests of both the tourist and the textile industry. this commercialization contributes to the disappearance of the textile’s symbolic significance and ultimately chips away at the soul of the people who create them. who will tell the stories of t’nalak dream weavers if/when t’nalak loses its original meaning because of commercialization? with market influences and non-indigenous interpretations of tradition, how will t’nalak be read, interpreted, and preserved? cultural objectification and appropriation hint at the darker tale of how the indigenous peoples of the philippines have been mistreated on their own land. whatok and t’nalak are more than artwork; yet, they have been commodified by the privileged locals and by tourists. these forms of preserving experiences and memory are records of a people’s history and way of life, just as significant and legitimate as a book or a scroll. losing them also means losing the filipino collective history. the preservation of indigenous knowledge requires restoring the stature and respect that the indigenous peoples once had but lost through the centuries of colonization. indigenous filipinos 89 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sacred texts and symbols the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32593 continue to struggle against discrimination, state-sponsored terrorism and loss of ancestral domain. for example, in december 2017, the philippine military perpetrated the killings of eight members of the indigenous organization, t’boli-manubo sdaf claimants organization, after months of resistance against a coffee plantation expansion in their ancestral land (paris, 2019). these are the issues connected to the philippines’ colonial past, which deserve a more in-depth follow up analysis. to that end, philippine senator loren legarda, chairperson of the senate committee on finance, has spearheaded the hibla ng lahing filipino: the artistry of philippine textiles traveling exhibition in collaboration with the national museum of the philippines to attempt to raise awareness about indigenous cultural traditions. the exhibits, currently curated in the philippines, encourage people’s pride in local culture. they are accompanied by a week-long lecture series and feature weaving and embroidery demonstrations by indigenous masters. hibla ng lahing filipino attempts to decolonize contemporary museum practices by centering its programming on the stories, history, and experiences of the people who create the materials and artifacts of the exhibits themselves. the exhibit has also traveled all over europe and north america, with plans of south american and asian tours. the greatest impact, according to dr. ana labrador, the assistant director or the national museum of the philippines, is the pride hibla ng lahing has given to some of the 10 million diasporic filipinos across the world (labrador, 2018). they are partly the driving force behind the resurgence of indigenous traditions in the philippines as they come home searching for their filipino identity. in fact, hamilton library at the university of hawai’i, in collaboration with the hibla ng lahing filipino, university of hawai’i center for philippine studies and philippine consulate of honolulu hosted the piña-seda: pineapple and silk cloth from the tropics traveling exhibition, september 17, 2018, november 17, 2018. this collaboration touched the lives of over 400 participants within the first week of the project’s opening. many of the visitors were of filipino descent with close ties to the philippines. students overwhelmingly reported feeling a closer connection to their ancestors and culture; they wanted to learn even more. programs that connect with larger initiatives like hibla ng lahing filipino help promote respect for the culture and people behind the beautiful work. it is my dream that such efforts will continue to create a ripple effect across the philippines and the world. hopefully, if it has not been done yet, the rhetoric of cultural exchange will also include the protection of the indigenous peoples’ human rights, especially in the context of authentic ways of life, worldviews, and cultural expression. some of them are ancient, traditional indigenous practices, like whatok and t’nalak. finally, there is hope that as long as elders are around, families, and communities will pass on indigenous tradition and foster social movements to support the local efforts of cultural respect and the preservation of artistic literacy practices. references alvina, c. s. (2001). colors and patterns of dreams. in dreamweavers (pp. 46-58). makati, ph: bookmark. 90 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sacred texts and symbols the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32593 arsie pelanda, p. (2013). portrait of elderly woman filipina in northern luzon [photograph]. buscalan: shutterstock.com (originally photographed 2013) barredo, a. (2009). t’nalak weaving near lake sebu, philippines [photograph]. lake sebu: flickr. (originally photographed 2009) castro, s. (2001). kedungon: the abaca fiber. in dreamweavers (pp. 34-45). makati, philippines: bookmark. catajan, m. e. ( 2016, october 5). chasing whang–od, the oldest kalinga mambabatok. sunstar philippines. retrieved january 21, 2019, from https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/102315/ clariza, e. (2018). bwengkel [sketch]. clariza, e. (2018). eben lobun [sketch]. clariza, e. (2018). kekem tree [sketch]. clariza, e. (2018). t’nalak cloth [photograph]. honolulu (originally photographed 2018). joyfull (2012). [photograph]. kalinga: shutterstock.com (originally photographed 2013). krutek, l. f., & sugguiyao, n. b. (2010). kalinga tattoo: ancient and modern expressions of the tribal. germany: edition reuss. labrador, a. p. (2013). hibla ng lahing filipino = the artistry of philippine textiles. manila, philippines: national museum of the philippines. labrador, a. p. (2018, september 20). decolonizing museum practice in the philippines: preventive conservation and the national museum of the philippines. lecture presented at occasional seminar, center for philippine studies in university of hawaii, honolulu. oshima, n. (2001). bed bwengkel [photograph]. in dreamweavers (p. 109). makati city: bookmark. (originally photographed 2001) oshima, n. (2001). bed kekem [photograph]. in dreamweavers (p. 102). makati city: bookmark. (originally photographed 2001) oshima, n. (2001). eben lobun [photograph]. in dreamweavers (p. 128). makati city: bookmark. (originally photographed 2001) oshima, n. (2001). m'baga mugul [photograph]. in dreamweavers (p. 131). makati city: bookmark. (originally photographed 2001) paris, j. (february 07, 2019). human rights defenders killed under duterte administration. rappler. retrieved april 25, 2019, from https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/222796-human-rights-defenders-killed-underduterte-administration 91 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/102315/ https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/222796-human-rights-defenders-killed-under-duterte-administration https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/222796-human-rights-defenders-killed-under-duterte-administration sacred texts and symbols the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32593 paterno, m. p., & oshima, n. m. (2001). dreamweavers. makati, philippines: bookmark. reid, l. a. (2005). tagalog and philippine languages. in p. skutch (ed.), encyclopedia of linguistics (pp. 3-4). new york, ny: routledge. repollo, e. w. (2018, september 27). multicolor tinalak [photograph]. honolulu, hi: eva washburn repollo personal collection. salvador-amores, a. (2011). batok (traditional tattoos) in diaspora: the reinvention of a globally mediated kalinga identity. south east asia research,19(2), 293-318. salvador-amores, a. (2013). tapping ink, tattooing identities: tradition and modernity in contemporary kalinga society, north luzon, philippines. diliman, quezon city: the university of the philippines. talavera, m. j. p. (2013, january). the t'boli: songs, stories and society. n.p.: university of the philippines. retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304347631_the_t'boli_songs_stories_and_ society united nations development programme (n.d.). fast facts: indigenous peoples in the philippines. retrieved from http://www.ph.undp.org/content/philippines/en/home/library/democratic_governanc e/fastfacts-ips.html viacrusis, i. (n.d.). t’boli women [photograph]. lake sebu. wilcken, l. (2011). filipino tattoos: ancient to modern. atlen, pa: schiffer. worcester, d.c. (1912, september). lakay wanawan [photograph]. in headhunters of northern luzon (p. 859). national geographic 23(9). (originally photographed 1912). m. elena clariza (mclariza@hawaii.edu) grew up in the philippines and california and found her passion for social justice in both places. clariza is a lifelong philippine studies scholar and currently the philippine studies librarian at the university of hawai'i at mānoa (uhm). she was a community organizer for immigrant rights and environmental justice in california before coming to hawai'i in 2003 to learn about non-violence education and organic farming. the calling to teach at a university was hard to ignore so elena taught conflict in the asia-pacific region and costumes and cultures of south and southeast asia at uhm before becoming a fulltime librarian. she has a background in education, biology and environmental studies, asian studies, and library and information science. 92 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304347631_the_t'boli_songs_stories_and_society https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304347631_the_t'boli_songs_stories_and_society http://www.ph.undp.org/content/philippines/en/home/library/democratic_governance/fastfacts-ips.html http://www.ph.undp.org/content/philippines/en/home/library/democratic_governance/fastfacts-ips.html mailto:mclariza@hawaii.edu introduction tattoos as a cutaneous bibliographic archive t’nalak and the language of symbols poetry in woven symbols a vanishing culture references identity navigation during refugee experiences: between human agency and systemic architectures of control the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 identity navigation during refugee experiences: between human agency and systemic architectures of control angela m. schöpke-gonzalez, university of michigan, usa andrea k. thomer, university of michigan, usa paul conway, university of michigan, usa abstract in 2018 the united nations high commissioner for refugees asserted that there are 25.4 million refugees worldwide. news media, state actors, and other bodies speak about refugees in ways that emphasize certain aspects of their experiences. we do not often hear how those identified as refugees speak about themselves and how they navigate their identities in the context of information. this article asks: how do self-identified refugee communities in athens, greece, and hamburg, germany, engage with information spaces during their refugee experiences to navigate identity in new receiving-society contexts? drawing on erving goffman (1959) and webb keane’s (1997) idea that information transmission through interaction is at the center of identity development, this research uses a mixed method of semi-structured interviews and embedded participant observation. the findings expose three challenges to identity navigation at both sites: prolonged liminality, unfamiliar information spaces within receiving societies, and misinformed information spaces within receiving societies. in addressing these challenges, participants balanced tremendous effort and agency with the effects of systems beyond their control. the implications of our findings relate to the viability of liminality theories and the need for policy modifications to encourage receiving societies to assume responsibility for aspects of identity work within their control. keywords: agency; information communication technologies; liminality; migration publication type: research article introduction he western balkan route is a predominant travel route in europe for individuals fleeing from originating countries south and east of the route’s primary european entry point in greece (unhcr, 2015). at the crossroads of many individuals’ journeys of migration to safety, greece experiences complex manifestations of global anxieties toward the refugee experience. the united nations high commissioner for refugees (unhcr) suggested that 83,000 persons of concern (individuals with formal refugee status, asylum seekers, or stateless persons) were in greece by the end of 2017 (unhcr, 2017). as a result of legislation in the european union (eu) and eu member states, refugees who have arrived in greece over the last several years are likely to remain there for the foreseeable future rather than relocating to other european countries (international rescue committee, 2019a). similarly, at the tail end of many journeys to safety, germany experiences an equally complex but contextually different t about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 manifestation of the same anxieties. more than 1.4 million persons of concern arrived in germany by the end of 2017 (unhcr, 2017), which includes more than 185,000 asylum applicants in 2018 (bundeszentrale für politische bildung, 2020a), approximately 35% of whom have been granted asylum (bundeszentrale für politische bildung, 2020b). figure 1 provides a visual representation of general patterns of the south to north migration movement in the recent decade (mandić, 2017). the figure is an oversimplification of a travel path that is often far less direct than that depicted, may or may not traverse all suggested countries in the figure, and may end or begin elsewhere. individuals fleeing toward safety in europe have vastly diverse experiences, and this map only represents a subset of possibilities. figure 1. the balkan route, pre-march 2016 (mandić, 2017). reprinted from “anatomy of a refugee wave: forced migration on the balkan route as two processes,” by europenow, 2017. in the public domain. as this geographic area experiences the changing social context of migratory transit, tensions build among receiving societies and refugee populations, characterized by incidents of physical, verbal, and psychological violence, and general mistrust and fear (strickland, 2018). although contemporary rates of migration are often presented as a new phenomenon or crisis (care, 2019; international rescue committee, 2019b; siegfried, 2019; world vision, 2019), longitudinal research from 1960 to 2014 suggests that global rates have not dramatically increased (czaika & de haas, 2014). the label often applied to individuals migrating from one precarious state to another—refugee— has been, is, and will continue to be a loaded word. it carries centuries of history, politics, and experience. scholars have sought to make sense of complex social conceptions of the term refugee through the language of liminality. as individuals migrate from one home to another, they also must navigate relationships to existing and new identities and information spaces. many must also navigate trauma and racism on arriving in potentially hostile receiving societies. thus, theories of liminality—the passage of a person from one stable identity to another—tempered by perspectives on social integration, identity formation, and the concept of information spaces, 37 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 can offer valuable insights for understanding violent social responses to refugees and their strategies to mitigate them. by asking self-identified refugees about the challenges they face in navigating complex identities in the context of receiving societies, we explored aspects of the violent social responses to refugees with which participants contend. our research addresses this question: how do self-identified refugees in the receiving societies of greece and germany engage with information spaces to navigate identity during liminal and post-liminal portions of their refugee experiences? as will be presented in our findings, experiences of trauma and a need to cope with traumatic events were frequently brought up by participants. therefore, we have taken trauma psychology literature into account in our theoretical framework. even a partial answer to our research question could foster a deeper understanding of the tensions unfolding among communities along the western balkan route. literature review liminality and the refugee experience ethnographers arnold van gennep (1909) and victor turner (1967) defined liminality as a threestage ritual process of the passage of a person from one stable identity state to another. these phases include pre-liminal rites of separation, liminal transitional rites, and post-liminal rites of incorporation. this framework is often used in scholarship about migration as a model for how individuals experience a rupture of their identities when they leave an originating society, and how they come to integrate into a new receiving society. this model is linear, portraying each phase following from the last, and focuses on the work individuals do to change their identity. next we describe liminality theory as it relates to studies of migration and identify areas for future theoretical development in this context. in the migration context, the first pre-liminal (in turner’s words) rites of separation (van gennep’s) phase of liminality is often associated with a person’s departure from an initial home context (chavez, 1992; long, 1993; o’reilly, 2018). the second phase of the liminal passage— liminal (turner, 1967) or transitional rites (van gennep, 1909)—describes a state of betweenness and suspension, which van gennep and turner imagined as absent of identity. in a migration context, this second phase of liminality has been described as a space between identity reference points, where migrants “exist in a world of ‘in-betweenness,’ negotiating cultural forms and identities at the crossroads of the nation-state and global diasporas” (srinivasan & pyati, 2007, p. 1735). although this state of in-betweenness is perhaps not inherently traumatic, for individuals fleeing to a new and potentially unwelcoming receiving society, this liminal phase can be highly traumatic (as our research shows). the suspension of stability and identity can be associated with similar feelings of stuckness, or timelessness found in post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd; prager, 2006; winnicott, 1965). trauma psychologist jeffrey prager (2006) wrote that “psychological trauma is a condition of the present,” continuing: “it is a memory illness. it manifests itself in individuals, as in collectivities, as a collapse of timeliness, when remembering prior experiences or events intrude [sic] on a present-day beingness” (p. 230). prager’s work built on trauma psychologist donald winnicott’s, in which he described how trauma destroys a feeling of omnipotence—a sense that because the social environment is benign or nonthreatening one can achieve anything (winnicott, 1965, p. 37). the third phase of liminality—post-liminal (turner, 1967) or rites of incorporation (van gennep, 38 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 1909)—describes a person’s process of adopting and integrating a new identity within a new social context. scholars have suggested that a number of factors are needed to support integration into a new receiving society, including (a) a need for basic services and orientation to the receiving society, (b) a less immediate but somewhat longer-term need for employment and health care, and (c) an even longer term need to participate in the receiving society’s civic life (mwarigha, 2002; papillon, 2002; caidi & allard, 2005). often, integration is discussed as a linear process, though information scientists nadia caidi et al. (2010) complicated this linearity by suggesting that aspects of one phase actually unfold across phases (p. 500). related work in diasporic studies further complicates a linear model of integration by introducing a generational component: certain integration processes may not happen within the lifetime of migrant persons, but rather during the lifetimes of their children and children’s children (alba, 2005; boyd, 2002; boyd & grieco, 1998; waldinger & feliciano, 2004; zhou, 1997). liminality and social integration into receiving societies this third phase of liminality or post-liminality also involves the reception of migrants or persons experiencing liminality into new societies or contexts. we note that though much of liminality theory places the onus of the work of integration on the person experiencing liminality, many scholars have explored the role that receiving societies play in supporting integration, and the ways in which they complicate or even stymie integration of persons experiencing liminality into new contexts. for instance, prior work studying the integration of persons experiencing liminality shows that these persons are often viewed with anxiety (douglas, 1966, p. 44), revulsion (kristeva, 1982, p. 4), or as pollutants (turner, 1967, p. 97). anthropologist mary douglas (1966) argued that these persons become anxiety-provoking when their liminality—absence of recognizable identities—defies our existing human categorization systems. she said, “danger lies in transitional states, simply because transition is neither one state nor the next, it is indefinable” (douglas, 1966, pp. 119–120). this danger in indefinability reflects anthropological thought which says that because humans rely on categorization to survive, things we cannot categorize are threats to our survival (lakoff, 1987). building on scholars’ interpretations of refugee experiences as liminal, these reflections on social contexts’ responses to persons experiencing liminality also provide a lens through which to understand why refugee-receiving societies might respond with physical, verbal, or psychological violence toward refugees (strickland, 2018). trauma psychologists situate liminality as both an individual and a social experience; for individuals to engage in post-liminal integration, it is necessary that their social context recognize and support their work. moving through the helplessness of a traumatic experience of liminality requires a social environment that empathizes with a person’s experiences. a supportive social environment can encourage restoration of a feeling of confidence, trust, and mutual interactive dependence on the person experiencing liminality’s social context (prager, 2006; winnicott, 1965). in a migration context, psychologist john w. berry (1997, 2001) argued that the burden of integrating into a receiving society is disproportionately placed on refugees and other immigrants and that such a one-sided perspective fails to take into account the role of the receiving society and begins to approximate assimilation. similarly, information scientists olubukola oduntan and ian ruthven (2019) observed that post-migration integration is a two-way process with “both the individual and host society making adaptations” but that in practice integration is “typically conceptualized as the individual’s process of incorporation into a new society” (p. 792). 39 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 application to this study’s contexts the tension between placing the burden of integration on newly arrived persons versus sharing responsibility for mutual integration with receiving societies is reflected in the policy frameworks of this study’s two field sites: germany and greece. according to hanewinkel and oltmer’s (2018) loose german-to-english translation of bundesministerium des innern (2014, p. 51), german policy holds that: immigrants are obligated on the one hand to acquire german skills and respect the fundamental values of german society, especially the free democratic basic order. on the other hand, german society is obligated to “ensure equal opportunity and treatment access to all important aspects of society, business and politics by recognizing and removing existing obstacles.” these policies appear to support a bidirectional model of integration in which both newcomers and receivers are responsible for participating in integration efforts. recent media reports, however, highlight contradictory experiences among persons with refugee experiences (hindy, 2018) and suggest that integration in germany is unidirectional in practice. greece, in contrast to germany, does not have a specific overarching policy regarding integration of migrants. instead, the country has a collection of laws that regulate education, labor, social welfare, and health care integration processes (skeplaris, 2018, pp. 2–6). these distributed policies make it harder to understand integration policy versus practice than in germany. but, the absence of a specific integration policy in itself provides social context for our participants’ expressed thoughts on their own post-liminal experiences. in our study, we start with but do not necessarily endorse liminality theory’s assumption that individuals with refugee experiences bear the bulk of responsibility for integrating into their new society. our investigation focuses on understanding the refugees’ experience of defining their identity while emerging into a receiving society following an intense liminal experience. our research is an interrogation of models of integration between refugee and receiving society. performance of identity and information spaces researchers have explored how persons experiencing liminality in general, and refugees specifically, experience liminality as fractured-and-then-reconciled access to information or information spaces. in their edited volume exploring social navigation of information spaces, editors and information scientists kristina höök, david benyon, and alan j. munro assemble chapters that explore information space as an entity delimited by a fixed set of information that can be navigated and engaged substantively (2003). building on this idea, the theoretical frameworks on identity construction that we use in this article point toward an alternative interpretation of information spaces. we define information spaces as constantly evolving bodies of information—irrespective of source, form, process, or semantics (kalish, 2009)—which a person engages, augments, and updates to inform decisions about self-expression and interpretations of others’ identities. in the refugee context, research by social scientist annemaree lloyd and coauthors has characterized transitional refugee experiences as fractured landscapes, or the result of disrupting a person’s established information landscapes when they are forced to migrate (lloyd, 2017; lloyd et al., 2013); van gennep’s rites of separation here include separation from one’s information spaces. information scientists danielle allard and nadia caidi 40 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 (2018) used similar language to unpack how migrant persons make sense of “distinct and sometimes contradictory information spaces” during the felt in-betweenness of identity after arriving in a new receiving society (p. 1193). understanding migrants’ navigation of information spaces is important in understanding their identity formation because these spaces shape their performance of identity. here, we draw on foundational work by sociologist erving goffman (1959) on the performative nature of identity. goffman argued that an individual person’s identity is made up of two parts: the performer, who manages others’ impressions of their identity through conscious or subconscious action; and the character, or the identity created by the performer’s actions, and named by its audience. a performer depends on an audience for recognition that the person’s “identity … and [their] actions … are indeed of a certain type and not some other” (keane, 1997, p. 15). an audience’s ability to recognize a performer’s self-representation depends on both the audience’s information space and context and the performer’s assumptions about the audience’s information space and context. when performers make a choice about how to represent themselves, they have agency in deciding which part of self to represent and how they will do so. the audience has agency in how it will define the performer’s identity based on its interpretation of the performer’s representation. a sense of agency is thus fundamental to the process of interactive identity construction (synofzik et al., 2013). figure 2 is our original visual description of this interactive model of identity. figure 2. interactive identity model diagram. soa = sense of agency. importantly, several points in this process can result in a mismatch between the performer’s intended meaning and the audience’s interpretation of the performer’s representation of that meaning. contextual noise might transform the performer’s message so much that the audience cannot interpret the performer’s meaning as intended; there might be discrepancies between the performer’s perception of the audience’s information space and the audience’s actual information space; or the audience’s information capacity might be overloaded (weaver, 1949). thus, viewing the person experiencing liminality’s identity formation as a process of learning about new information spaces—and how to navigate those information spaces—is important in expanding liminality theory and in understanding migrants’ experiences of liminality. here we turn to reijo savolainen’s (2008) work on the ways that individuals self-orient (seek), instrumentalize (use), and express (share) information, and apply this to the identity models described here. savolainen provided a useful framework for organizing research on the processes that make up a newly arrived person’s decision-making about which aspect of self to represent 41 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 to an audience. for our study, we emphasize the self-orienting, instrumentalizing, and expressing aspects of this framework in the context of interactive identity. applied to goffman (1959) and keane’s (1997) interactive identity models—which suggest that an audience is necessary for an individual’s performed action to be received, interpreted, and named, and reflected back as an identity—expressing is like the act of performing a representation of self for an audience. selforienting describes a performer’s process of collecting information to make sense of a situation or solve a problem, with the aim of taking an action based on this self-orienting (savolainen, 2008, pp. 83, 113). finally, savolainen’s instrumentalizing describes how performers engage information about their context in order to make choices about their performative actions. in savolainen’s model, which we adapted for our study, information spaces serve to bound selforientation and determine the scope of action. the acts of self-orienting and instrumentalizing in an information space construct self-representation that can be expressed (performed) in a given context (audience). this audience can then assign an identity based on its interpretation of the performer’s expression. figure 3 is our original visual description of savolainen’s framework that expresses information behaviors as performance in information space. figure 3. savolainen’s (2008) model applied to performance in an information space. a variety of research studies address migrant persons’ self-orienting practices regarding receiving societies in internet-mediated information spaces. we use internet-mediated to denote information spaces that can only be accessed through network connections to the internet. categories of information that migrant persons pursue online include: • cultural context (caidi et al., 2010; dahya, & adelman, 2017; dryden-peterson et. al., 2017; mciver & prokosch, 2002); • education (caidi et al., 2010; fisher et al., 2016; lloyd et al., 2017; mansour, 2018); • employment (caidi et al., 2010; fisher et al., 2016; lloyd et al., 2017; mansour, 2018; lloyd et al, 2017; shankar et al., 2016; mciver & prokosch, 2002; xu & maitland, 2016); • faith and religion (quirke, 2014, lloyd et al., 2017); • finances (caidi et al., 2010); • health (caidi et al., 2010; cortinois et al., 2012, martzoukou & burnett, 2018); • housing (caidi et al., 2010; mansour, 2018); 42 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 • legal advice (caidi et al., 2010; mciver & prokosch, 2002); and • news (caidi et al., 2010; gillespie et al., 2016). a diverse body of researchers has also explored how migrants self-orient using in-person information spaces. we use in-person to describe information spaces that can only be accessed through in-person presence. sociologist maggie o’neill (2018) demonstrates the importance of in-person information spaces when studying how 10 asylum-seeking women in northeast england experienced and expressed citizenship. caidi et al. (2010) provide an overview of studies that have discussed how libraries act as in-person spaces for formal and informal information sharing among migrant persons. information scientist karen fisher and her colleagues (2016) describe how people, organizations, spaces, or events often act as information spaces used by refugee youth. art education scholar michelle bae-dimitriadis (2016) demonstrates how embodiment was fundamental to knowledge internalization (self-orientation), production (expression), and exchange among refugee youth at a café space. literature also describes instrumentalizing practices among migrant persons once they have arrived in a receiving society. approaches to migrants’ instrumentalizing practices often include the following types: • language learning and translation (brown & grinter, 2016; caidi et al., 2010; martzoukou & burnett, 2018; mciver & prokosch, 2002; simko et al., 2018); • navigation (caidi et al., 2010; simko et al., 2018); • recreation (caidi et al., 2010; quirke, 2015); • documentation of human rights violations (gregory, 2015; guberek et al., 2018); • provision of emergency assistance (stierl, 2015); • engagement in political discourse (duncan & caidi, 2018; guberek et al., 2018); and • sharing of information with “influential figures in their social media networks—from prominent and respected activists and ngos [non-governmental organizations] to investigative journalists, political commentators, public intellectuals and participants in controversial debates” (gillespie et al., 2016, p. 13). finally, research on expressing among migrant persons in a receiving society demonstrates meaningful self-performance within and across local, transnational, and native online communities. these self-representations are generally aimed at: • maintaining connections to transnational sociocultural contexts (harney, 2013; williams, 2006); • cultivating new in-person and online communities around emergent collective identities (o’reilly, 2018; robertson et al., 2016; williams, 2006); • or maintaining personal or community psychological well-being (collyer, 2007; gillespie et al., 2016; harney, 2013). 43 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 these studies offer strong insights about what migrant persons are doing to navigate identity formation and performance in receiving-society contexts. however, they remain somewhat less clear about how these practices affect identity reconstruction during liminal and post-liminal integration. the research underlying this article demonstrates how these documented practices relate to our participants’ experiences of defining their identities through an interactive process within the contexts of their receiving societies. extending well beyond the validation of existing scholarship, we explore the challenges participants face in their processes of understanding their personal identities, and how participants engage information in internet-mediated and in-person spaces to address these challenges. research method in the design and implementation of the primary research project, we adapted ramesh srinivasan and ajit pyati’s (2007) diasporic information environment model (diem) to the context of selfidentified refugee communities’ information spaces at two discrete study sites. diem involves a three-component methodological approach, including reflexive ethnography (through direct, interpersonal interviews); social network analysis; and community-based action and information services. first, srinivasan and pyati’s reflexive ethnography asks that a researcher “tell the story of the community from its own members’ points of view, while recognizing that the data they receive will place him or herself into the community and attempt to elicit a detailed understanding of community members’ networks and interactions” (p. 1740). second, social network analysis in diem aims to “provide a glimpse into the details of community members’ networks,” and “allows researchers to identify which technologies connect members to which other individuals and institutions within the social network … and to trace the constitution and nature of community networks and determine which are important for the provision of information services” (srinivasan & pyati, 2007, p. 1740). third, diem’s community-based action and information services component requires that researchers “work with diasporic immigrant communities in maintaining local community archives and information sources with attention to the global dimension of immigrant information sources and environments” (srinivasan & pyati, 2007, p. 1741). data collection we drew on data from interviews and participant observation. the institutional review board (irb) granted approval for this human subject research through the university of michigan, which found that our study posed minimal risk to our participants and was exempt from oversight. we have maintained the confidentiality of the participants by masking the identity of participants in reporting findings. we also did not collect specific demographic information about participants so as to reduce the risk of their re-identifiability through secondarily identifiable information (tsai et al., 2016), and to respect their self-expressed identities (described further in subsequent sections). the first author conducted data collection and analysis. her motivation for engaging with each community was rooted in her personal journey to understand her own liminality—a firstgeneration u.s. citizen born to parents from guatemala and germany, at once a choreographer, political analyst, and information scientist. as she has sought to understand her own liminality, she met many people who have worked on their own versions of a similar journey. many of them— friends, immediate and distant family, and colleagues—have been called or self-identify as refugees at some point in their lives. the first author met several of these persons as 44 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 collaborators on dance projects in 2012–2014 (germany) and in 2016 (greece). data collection for this study took place over the course of two months—one month each in athens, greece, and hamburg, germany—during the summer of 2018. these are locales where people are engaged with the types of personal transitions that are at the heart of our study and are sites where the lead author has extensive community relationships. recruitment the first author drew on her extensive network at each study site to begin recruitment. selection criteria for participation included self-identification as a refugee, as an adult older than 18 years, and with an expressed desire to participate in an interview. in athens, the bulk of interview participants were recruited (16 of 19) through direct contact at a migrant women’s support center where the first author spent several days a week conducting participant observation. in hamburg, the bulk of interview participants were recruited through snowball sampling. table 1 describes our data collection approaches at each site. table 1. data collection at each study site data collection approach athens, greece (june, 2018) hamburg, germany (july, 2018) interviews 19 participants 14 participants participant observation one full month at refugee support centers, community meeting spaces, and community events one full month at refugee support centers, community meeting spaces, and community events given that this study addresses self-identified refugees’ process for navigating identity during the post-liminal or integration phase of their refugee experiences, and in order to respect each participant’s expressed identities, we did not collect specific demographic information. instead, participants described their identities however they desired. to avoid identity assignments implicated in the selection of pseudonyms, the name of each participant is their interview number and either the suffix “gr” for greece or “ge” for germany as the place of the interview. table 2 lists each interview participant and those identity labels that they used to describe themselves in the order of priority that they indicated. we refer to insights from participant observation as “participant observation” in our findings. table 2. interview participants and identities participant (greece) identity participant (germany) identity 1gr iranian 1ge syrian, teacher 2gr human, iranian 2ge syrian, muslim 3gr afghan 3ge somalian, muslim, man 45 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 4gr iranian 4ge syrian christian, construction worker 5gr human, hazara, afghan 5ge syrian, german, musician, music teacher 6gr human, syrian, muslim 6ge damascan, intellectual 7gr na 7ge human, stateless 8gr iraqi, muslim 8ge shia muslim 9gr iraqi, muslim 9ge father, kurdish 10gr muslim 10ge syrian 11gr gabonese 11ge syrian, industrious 12gr syrian 12ge syrian christian, farmer 13gr law-abiding, artist, carpenter 13ge syrian, assad-opposer, musician 14gr kurdish 14ge chef, businessman, open 15gr na 16gr afghan, iranian 17gr cameroonian, running away 18gr syrian 19gr iraqi note: na = participants with no identity descriptions interviews nineteen individuals in greece and fourteen individuals in germany participated in interviews. interviews opened with a short, structured set of questions on their use of internet-mediated information practices. participants then responded to a set of semi-structured questions about their experiences of challenge or opportunity in relation to a sense of self in their receiving society, and how participants navigated those challenges or opportunities by engaging with internet-mediated and in-person information spaces.1 participants at both research locations spoke a wide variety of languages, including dari, farsi, arabic, kurdish, turkish, french, greek, german, and english. the first author, who conducted the interviews, is natively proficient in english and german, and professionally proficient in french. in interviews requiring translation, she received translation assistance from either community-trusted translators, friends, or family members of participants. whether translation 46 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 was necessary or not, who translated, and how comfortable a participant felt with the first author and the translator certainly affected the information that was received, recorded, and interpreted. some participants requested to share their thoughts through group interviews, adding another layer of social complexity to the information that participants shared. these complexities offered valuable insights into participants’ social dynamics, community norms and practices, and the nature of relationships in group settings, which the first author recorded when possible. most of these participants were not comfortable with audio recording, so the researcher took only written notes during interviews. she then drafted memos immediately following interviews, capturing as much detail as possible. through this practice, she sought to capture as much of the nuance of the participants’ comments as possible while minimizing undue discomfort. to retain consistency and comprehensibility in the way that the first author recorded participants’ thoughts, she made all written notes in english. in the event that a word was spoken in a nonenglish language that she did not immediately feel could be translated, she would write this word in the non-english language. participant observation participant observation (dewalt & dewalt, 2002; kawulich, 2005) took place throughout the entirety of the first author’s research visit and consisted of spending time with interview participants, as well as in spaces where self-identified refugees spend time, such as public squares, cafés, community centers, refugee camps or housing facilities, and events. observations extended for as long as the researcher was welcome in a space, for example the duration of a celebratory event, two to three mornings or afternoons per week at a women’s center, or an evening’s social conversation at a local café. generally, observations focused on individuals’ and small groups’ engagement with information spaces, challenges they faced in so doing, and how surrounding social contexts responded to personal informational expressions of identity. participant observation involves the engagement of the researcher in the activities of participants. the researcher’s recorded observations included mobile phone photos and two notebooks of hand-written notes which she formulated into 82 pages of typed field notes and reflexive memos after the conclusion of activities using methods proposed by robert emerson, rachel fretz, and linda shaw (emerson et al., 2011). this method allowed the researcher to be fully present and participate in ways that would have been impossible had she been simultaneously recording. data analysis we used an open coding approach in two phases to code interview transcripts and participant observation field notes and memos (charmaz, 2014, p. 50; saldaña, 2009, p. 78). coding established three concept groups: information practices in which participants described engaging; challenges that participants described experiencing in recursively defining personal identity in a new social context (e.g., bureaucratic processes, psychological well-being, and cultural context); and how participants described navigating the challenges they faced to identity redefinition by engaging with information spaces (e.g., seeking information about employment, visiting an open space to self-reflect, using mobile phone apps to circumvent racism, etc.). the coding strategy supported an adaptive theory on the relationship between liminality and information practices. 47 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 findings we found that participants at both study sites faced challenges during liminal and post-liminal phases of their refugee experiences, including prolonged liminality, unfamiliar receiving-society information spaces, and misinformed receiving-society information spaces. this section discusses these three categories of challenges and relates them to prior literature on identity construction. we follow each challenge with a description of the participants’ responses to the challenge and the ways in which they crafted and used information spaces. we tie these responses to savolainen’s model and information spaces, and note how participants self-orient, instrumentalize information, and express themselves. challenge one: prolonged liminality participants described how feelings of “stuckness” (similar to that previously described by prager), helplessness, isolation or loneliness, and fear of identity loss reinforced feelings of liminal suspension and inability to engage with receiving-society audiences in integrative identity interactions. the following subsections describe each of these experiences and their relationship to identity construction in greater detail. stuckness participants described a feeling of stuckness, largely caused by depression and ptsd in relation to their refugee experiences. one participant explained that she felt unable to process the prolonged wait for asylum and the ongoing war in her home country and had attempted suicide three times (interview 2gr). another participant described how language barriers limited his access to mental health services, and consequently hindered his ability to process traumatic experiences, saying: i am currently being treated by a psychiatrist and have taken medicines for the impact of war, arrest, murder, and blood. it helps a little, but not enough. it would help me to see a psychologist, but i cannot find an arabic-speaking psychologist. in [neighboring city], there is an arabic-speaking doctor, but not a psychologist. (interview 13ge) still another explained that the inconsistency of daily life inherent to the experience of waiting for asylum contributed to her depression (interview 4gr). for some participants, stuckness had extended for prolonged periods. in greece, a participant group of approximately 12 men who fled their home countries in the mid-2000s as teenagers or young adults had been waiting 10–13 years for asylum in greece (participant observation). many had had their asylum applications rejected, up to three times in some cases. their professional and personal lives had been shaped by the uncertainty of this protracted asylum process, inhibiting their ability to fully arrive—including experiencing the affordances of work, pursuing education, and travel. interview participants in germany commented that changes to the asylum process there had replaced many longer-term assurances of asylum with temporary asylum issuances for one to three years. whereas old asylum processes offered opportunities to build a new life for the long term, new temporary asylum issuances became an ongoing (and sometimes life-threatening) limbo of hoping for extensions (interview 5ge). these examples show how slow or stagnated asylum processes have resulted in protracted 48 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 feelings of suspension in fundamental parts of participants’ lives, namely assurance of ongoing access to physical and psychological safety. aspects of asylum processes therefore induce similar challenges of prolonged liminality such as ptsd or depression. existing in a stuck protracted liminal space while awaiting asylum decisions mirrors other experiences of ptsd and compounds depression. these findings indicate that aspects of participants’ identities had not yet transitioned from liminal experiences into post-liminal integration in which interactive identity construction could unfold. helplessness several participants, particularly in greece, also felt helpless or powerless. one participant described how her inability to travel back to her home country or outside of greece because of war and asylum processes contributed to her feeling of helplessness and lack of agency (interview 6gr). another explained a feeling of helplessness after having exercised all of the effort that she thought possible to change her situation—from fleeing her home country to requesting asylum to set up a new life (interview 2gr)—and nevertheless remaining in limbo. a third participant expressed how financial and linguistic barriers played a significant role in her feeling of powerlessness to change her situation (interview 14gr). asylum and migration processes, financial and linguistic barriers, and inability to change life circumstances despite significant effort contributed to these participants’ feelings of helplessness or powerlessness to find a new satisfactory state of being. these testimonies support existing theories that feelings of helplessness indicate a lack of the sense of agency necessary for an interactive model of identity construction to transpire during post-liminality (goffman, 1959; keane, 1997; synofzik et al., 2013; tapal et al., 2017). experiences of helplessness limit a person’s ability to engage in postliminal identity construction. isolation or loneliness in germany, several participants felt isolated and lonely. three participants described their perception of a german culture of individualism that affords few opportunities for social engagement with german community members and values separation from one’s family (interviews 2ge, 6ge, and 10ge). for example, one participant explained: for me, my family is more important than anything. here at age 18 you are a man, you move out, and you only see your family once a month or once a year ... in syria, if i was sick, everyone came to visit and asked if i needed anything. here if i am sick, only my parents call and ask from stuttgart. four or five months ago we lived somewhere [with current roommate], and a woman died in her apartment [down the hall]. they didn’t find until two or three days later when you could smell the stink in the hallway. (interview 10ge) absence of familiar social contacts and lack of new social networks in his receiving society contributed to this participant’s feelings of isolation and loneliness. participant insights amplified the interaction model of identity (goffman, 1959; keane, 1997). without an audience, it is impossible for a person to engage in post-liminal identity construction. in these ways, isolation or loneliness can pose a challenge to participants’ identity construction post-liminality. 49 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 fear of identity loss in germany, some participants also felt sadness, fear, or worry because they felt like parts of their identities or cultures were at risk in their receiving society. one participant explained: “i see people go to marijuana and beer and leave their religion. i find it sad that this is happening” (interview 12ge). another participant said: “syrian people are afraid that their children will become too german. they want them to keep syrian identity” (interview 1ge). two participants described the sadness they felt at seeing small family sizes in germany compared to larger family sizes they had experienced in their country of origin, and their fear that they would not have a large family (interviews 8ge and 11ge). each of these fears of change or loss reflects language similar to that of weaver’s (1949) overfull audience capacity concept, which suggested that audiences experience a tremendous challenge in making sense of information spaces when they are overfull. when overwhelmed by too much information, the audience must choose some information to interpret and disregard the rest. this phenomenon contributes to audiences’ challenging experience of making sense of performers’ expressions. if we imagine participants as the audience of their receiving society’s expressions in this case, it is possible that participants experienced an information overload from their receiving society’s performances. if so, it would follow that participants were only able to process certain pieces of information, and this incomplete picture might contribute to fears of identity loss. however, it is also possible that participants were hindered by lack of sufficient contextualizing information with which to situate their identities. regardless of causal mechanism, however, the fear component of participants’ experiences, echoed in weaver’s theoretical framework, prevented participants from desiring to engage with receiving-society audiences, potentially inhibiting post-liminal identity construction processes. response: craft safe information spaces and, therefore, safe audiences experiences of prolonged liminality made it challenging and even unsafe to engage with the audience of participants’ receiving societies. in response, participants drew on an ecosystem of information spaces to craft their own safe audiences. next we discuss participants’ self-orienting and instrumentalizing practices within information spaces to find and craft safe audiences. participants addressed feelings of prolonged liminality and helplessness by orienting themselves in spaces (both private and social) that felt emotionally safe and through interactively processing emotional hardship. as winnicott (1965) and prager (2006) remind us, these self-orienting practices are necessary processes for exiting a liminal space and entering into post-liminal identity construction. participants discussed how they found open or natural spaces, such as parks and the ocean shore, as safe audiences for expressing themselves (interviews 9gr, 5ge, 6ge, 12ge). one participant described spending time in nature when he felt sad because, “when you are sad, all of nature is sad too; nature cries with you” (interview 12ge). this participant experienced emotional empathy and solace with natural audiences. in germany, one participant commented on how open spaces allowed him to think and cultivate ideas about the future. he explained: “you can dream in those places. i think about my memories for what i would like to have in my life here” (interview 5ge). one participant in greece related how the openness and privacy of the ocean supported her wellbeing in some situations, but not in others: “i also love the sea and to speak with the sea … to shout angry things at the sea, and to cry. i go alone. i want to do it now but 50 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 i’m nervous about there being people there” (interview 9gr). the openness of the sea provided this participant with opportunity to safely express emotions when she was alone, but on other occasions the space became non-safe with the presence of other people. she found that certain audiences (the sea) felt safer and more conducive than others (people) to processing those emotions associated with her liminal experiences (self-orienting). this contradiction helps us to understand that open or natural spaces may not be inherently safe audiences, but rather that they can be when combined with the absence of unsafe human audiences. participant 9gr showed how she discerningly sought those spaces that provided the type of audience that felt safe to her. some participants discussed the importance of music listening and search applications as supporting safe audience spaces (interviews 6gr, 12gr, 5ge, and 8ge). one participant described: “i love to hear music from my city in syria, to forget a lot of bad things that i saw, with memories from me as a child. also, i love songs in english, turkish, and spanish” (interview 6gr). listening to music was a way to feel part of her identity reflected back to her, in this case through syrian music as audience assigning syrian identity to an aspect of herself, creating an emotionally safe internal space and acting as a way to address hurtful memories that she hoped to forget. at the same time, other cultures’ music forms provided reflections back to her of additional identities that she held through their identity assignments. by using a music listening and search application, this participant was able to express herself through her search for particular kinds of music, create a safe emotional space for herself (receiving known identity assignments), and explore new identity assignments (different music types with which she felt affinity). internet-mediated music acted as a safe audience. in addition to information spaces without people, participants sought safe social spaces with which to engage in self-expression. some of these safe social audiences included existing or new friends, family, or a mental health professional (interviews 3gr, 15gr, and 17gr). one participant explained that, “i prefer to come to [a women’s center] when i feel sad, because otherwise i don’t have anyone to communicate with” (interview 15gr). she indicated that expressing sadness to a safe human audience is important to her psychological well-being. another said that she visited the women’s center for distraction from the stresses of life and that the organization “gave us [she and her friends] the love of life” (interview 17gr). a third participant commented that the women’s center “helped me like a mother,” adding, “now i have the passion and safety to change, like a baby” (interview 3gr). for some participants, social spaces felt safe for engaging in self-orienting practices which support them in exiting challenging psychological states associated with prolonged liminality and helplessness. each of these participants sought safe social audiences by engaging with the services that the women’s center provided. finally, one participant described using a mobile phone app designed for communication (whatsapp) to find a private safe space for her own self-orientation and to provide a safe audience for a friend’s self-orientation. i use whatsapp to communicate with people in germany, syria, canada—with my friends and family … whatsapp, i use for one friend from pakistan who is alone here for two years with no family. the greek government doesn’t give asylum. he writes every day saying it’s really bad. he’s in the [name of detention camp] on [name of island]. i talk to him every day. i learn urdu with him. sometimes i teach him arabic. he asks for help, but i say that the only thing i can do is pray ... also, on whatsapp i talk to myself when i’m sad and i can’t talk with anyone. i talk with myself and delete the messages 51 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 immediately so people don’t see. (interview 6gr) this participant creatively repurposed whatsapp to craft a safe, private internet-mediated space for self-orientation in the absence of other safe social audiences or spaces, in addition to using it as a place to provide others with the type of safe social space that they needed to feel supported in navigating prolonged liminality through self-orientation. participants instrumentalized information spaces to resolve their specific challenges with feelings of isolation or loneliness that contributed to their inability to engage in social interactions necessary for identity construction. in particular, participants instrumentalized mobile applications to meet new people, helping to address feelings of loneliness or isolation (interviews 6ge, 13ge, 4gr, 6gr). for example, one participant used the badoo and meetme apps “to make contact with germans and to learn the language” (interview 13ge). participants also described using translation and language learning applications such as google translate to facilitate interactions and communication with receiving-society community members. whereas participants in germany tended to foster new in-person connections via mobile apps, participants in greece used platforms such as facebook and twitter to develop both in-person and internetmediated social networks by connecting with people with similar interests. one participant said: i use [facebook] for group connection, to find people that i like that have nice cooking or interesting fashion and clothes. i use facebook to connect with everyone, not just my close friends. i use it to find new people. (interview 4gr) these instrumentalization practices served to mitigate feelings of isolation or loneliness for participants and allowed them to find or craft audiences with which they felt comfortable expressing aspects of self in new contexts. participants also instrumentalized internet-mediated technologies to circumvent racism and to avoid audiences that might assign them harmful identities. one participant in germany used google maps to get from place to place instead of asking for directions in order to avoid his experience of unkindness toward refugees by receiving-society community members (interview 2ge). similarly, in greece one participant used google maps to travel from place to place in order to circumvent linguistic barriers between her and her receiving-society community that came up when she would ask for directions (interview 12gr). in these ways, instrumentalizing navigation apps supported participants’ feelings of self-sufficiency and agency while helping them to avoid the immediate harm of racism. a potential challenge to consider with these uses is that in their important efforts to avoid harmful racist acts, participants experienced reduced opportunities for positive interactions with receiving-society communities which can support post-liminal integration. this phenomenon might be of particular concern in the german receiving-society context, where isolation and loneliness already posed significant challenges (interviews 2ge, 14ge). challenge two: navigating social norms and unfamiliar information space participants described how unfamiliarity with new information spaces—as manifest by implicit and explicit social norms—rendered moments of tension and confusion, and inhibited selfexpression when they engaged with their receiving society. the following subsections describe these challenges in greater detail. 52 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 social norms many interviewees described the complexity of navigating new social norms—a component of new information spaces—in their respective receiving societies, particularly those norms associated with the logistics of daily life. for example, some participants faced challenges in learning about a receiving society’s sense of time, including social norms about punctuality and keeping appointments (interview 14ge) or the cadence of when shops are open (interview 16gr). another participant described differences in norms surrounding household tasks: here [in germany], when you wash dishes, you fill the sink full, and then wash. it’s to save water, i understand now. in syria you don’t wash that way. i was invited to eat one time and wanted to help by washing dishes, and i started to do how we do in syria, and the hostess said we don’t do that way, it wastes too much water. (interview 4ge) participants were not familiar with receiving-society social norms. this lack of familiarity with the receiving society as audience’s self-expressions contributes to moments of simultaneous learning and tension. other participants described challenges of navigating new legal and professional norms associated with their receiving-society social contexts. one participant found that he was not able to transfer his professional knowledge as a music teacher to his receiving society (germany), because in germany a formal accreditation is required (interview 5ge). in effect, he was unable to represent his knowledge to receiving-society audiences because of differences in social norms—or information spaces—around the measurement of a person’s knowledge. another interviewee described more generally: here in germany you need papers to work. in syria you don’t need anything to work. there’s no black or white work, like here in germany there’s schwarzarbeit [unreported work], or work that isn’t legal, and then normal work, which is. in syria, there’s only normal work. it’s all the same. (interview 1ge) this participant described differences in social norms surrounding the valuation of different types of labor. he experienced a challenge in trying to represent the value of his labor according to those terms that the audience understood based on its own information space (e.g., specific documentation). in greece one participant explained a related experience, stating: “for eight months, i paid 5,000 euros in taxes, but the asylum services don’t see this. i don’t want to go sell drugs and things. i want to work legally. but here, the asylum services don’t see that” (interview 13gr). although interviewee 13gr wanted to participate in the labor norms of his receiving society and thought that he had learned how to do so by familiarizing himself with what he understood to be his receiving-society’s information space, he learned that he may be missing information about another set of implicit social norms. this lack of knowledge and discrepancy between explicit and implicit social norms or information spaces, resulted in significant frustration and confusion, and a feeling of helplessness for this participant in his ability to realize his goals. social norms embedded in notions of rightness and wrongness (i.e. legality or illegality) were referenced frequently during interviews as determinant of a sense of self-worth, safety, and ability to participate in professional systems in receiving-society contexts. lack of familiarity with 53 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 receiving-society information spaces made it difficult for participants to feel comfortable representing themselves to receiving audiences. inhibited expression in contrast, familiarity with codified social norms can also inhibit expression necessary for identity construction. one participant in greece described engaging in self-censorship (e.g. not expressing) in the hopes of supporting the approval of his third asylum application after 10 years of waiting (participant observation). this person actively worked for large humanitarian agencies to support the provision of health care services to new refugee arrivals in camps. he also advocated for improved conditions in camps and ran a language school for newly arrived families. his asylum lawyer suggested that he limit posting about his human rights advocacy work on facebook, including via facebook messenger, to avoid hurting his chances of receiving asylum. he took his lawyer’s advice, and at the time that the first author spoke with him, he had already self-censored his advocacy work for a month. in effect, knowledge about how his receiving society would respond to his expression prevented him from being able to express at all for fear of potentially life-threatening consequences stemming from the assignment of a harmful identity: not an asylee. response: participants prepare for audiences with unknown information spaces at the same time that participants worked to craft an audience that felt safe, they also worked to prepare themselves for engagement with audiences with less-known information spaces (receiving societies). as participants became more familiar with their new information spaces, they become more prepared to engage with riskier receiving society audiences in identity interactions. participants described engaging in self-orienting and instrumentalizing practices to acquire more information about receiving-society norms so as to actively reshape receivingsociety information spaces about refugee identities. participants described how books (interviews 6ge and 4gr), dance (interviews 5gr and 9gr), music (interviews 5ge, 8ge, and 12gr), restaurants (interview 7ge), school (interviews 5gr, 11gr, and 13gr), and theater acting (interview 5gr) provided important opportunities for them to actively self-orient around receiving society norms in environments that felt emotionally safe, or without the risk of extreme social tension. for example, one participant witnessed a greek dance at a festival happening in a public square and gained a greater understanding of greek traditions and norms around celebration (interview 7gr). importantly, she was able to observe and participate in the dance on her own terms, to the degree that she felt comfortable. another described instrumentalizing organizations’ educational programming in order to obtain a professional certificate in three-dimensional design computer programming with a view to obtaining employment that required verification of three-dimensional design skills (interview 13gr). this participant self-oriented to learn that a particular kind of employment in his receiving society required his expression of self through a certificate, in order that the employer audience would assign him the identity of potential hire. participants used general search (interviews 18ge, 5gr, and 11gr), music listening and search (interviews 9ge, 5ge, and 6gr), and video sharing and search (interviews 7ge, 13gr, and 5gr) applications to learn about cultural norms in a chosen information space facilitated by a mobile phone. these information spaces were especially useful in navigating asylum and migration processes, and educational attainment processes (degrees, certificates, language skills, and 54 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 professional development), identifying and obtaining jobs, and receiving health care. importantly, internet-mediated spaces were often further mediated by a friend or family member who was perceived to have greater ability to find, read, and interpret bureaucratic websites, whether because of linguistic ability, greater digital search literacy, perception of access to trustworthy information, or having navigated a similar process before—effectively, greater familiarity with these websites’ information spaces (participant observation). information received and internalized from each of these forms of information supported participants in understanding their audience (receiving society) and supported their ability to make choices around self-representation in the future with those understandings in mind (instrumentalizing). being able to instrumentalize information is not equivalent to being able to exit the prolonged liminality induced by bureaucratic processes. nor does the instrumentalization of information support participants’ abilities to self-express in light of the self-censorship that asylum and immigration inspire. for example, one participant and her family had recently migrated to germany from greece because, in greece, the health services necessary to treat serious health conditions of two of her family members were inaccessible given their legal and financial statuses (participant observation). after an emergency health incident; three months of back-and-forth via whatsapp, facebook messenger, and skype; and with the support of local and transnational connections, it turned out there was no legal way for one family member to receive the care in germany that he needed to survive. this example characterizes both the profound utility of information spaces (internet-facilitated communication applications, and local and transnational personal connections), and at the same time, how despite instrumentalizing these spaces to change his situation to survive, the participant’s family member was unable to affect any meaningful change because of infrastructures beyond his control. these infrastructures as audience do not have the capacity to receive this participant’s expressions of need for medical assistance. participants remained unable to affect certain changes in their situations because of infrastructures beyond their control. challenge three: misinformed information spaces participants described instances of being the target of racism, and consequently feeling unwelcome, unsafe, and frightened. the following sections describe these experiences. assignment of harmful identities several participants experienced overt racism. two participants described experiences in greece in which they observed people beginning to pray or cross themselves when they noticed a person with a hijab pass by them. they had experienced this behavior in relation to themselves as hijabis and felt frightened (interview 8gr), unwelcome, or unsafe (interview 9gr). in germany, a participant described trying to connect with receiving society community members: one time i said to a few people at the café here at [name of township], may i sit next to you? i am a foreigner and i would like to practice my german, but i don’t know any german speakers. but understand, i am married! “you are muslim?” they asked. i didn’t like that. i’m not, but i said yes just to spite them. since then, i haven’t tried meeting people like that again. (interview 9ge) assumptions or biases from receiving-society community members made the participant feel 55 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 unwelcome and uninterested in further engagement with community members, effectively enforcing segregation through prejudice. these expressions of racism characterize incidents in which audiences (receiving-society) assigned harmful identities to participants that were not reflective of who participants understand themselves to be. prevalence of negative news reports related to this assignment of harmful identities, several participants explained how the prevalence of negative news about refugees contributed to their experiences of racism. these experiences created an additional barrier to their efforts to establish a seen and respected identity in their receiving society, especially in germany. in particular, participants cited harmful tropes in news media representing refugees as lazy and there to take money from the receiving state (interview 11ge); as economic migrants there to take jobs from earlier receivingsociety inhabitants (interview 6ge); as violent religious extremists there to perpetrate terrorism against the receiving society (interview 4ge); or as rapists there to perpetrate sexual violence against receiving-society persons (participant observation). one participant said, “i asked a german person what they used to talk about on the news before refugees being a problem, but they just laughed and couldn’t remember” (interview 1ge). interviewees described how this negative news contributed directly to their feeling unwelcome and unsafe in their receiving society, and to the information space that members of receiving societies use to formulate their assignment of harmful identity labels to persons with refugee experiences. information circulated by institutions about refugees conflicts with refugee persons’ representations of themselves and shapes the information space from where receiving societies draw their ideas about refugees’ identities. the predominance of institutional expressions recreates barriers to participants trying to establish a seen identity by their receiving society. response: reshape receiving-society information space participants expressed themselves in receiving-society information spaces with a view toward reshaping their receiving society’s information spaces wherefrom these societies draw their harmful and racist identity assignments. for example, participant 14ge and others opened a café that encourages multicultural information exchange (bi-directional, from self-identified refugee community members to receiving-society community members and vice versa) through arts and community events (interview 14ge). one self-identified refugee community member and one greek national co-founded a multilingual library and café space as an expression of collective self, and as a site for cultural exchange (participant observation). another participant reported taking advantage of a similar opportunity in the form of a weekly coffee and cake exchange among self-identified refugee community members and receiving-society community members to express self and self-orient about receiving society information spaces, while forging social connections (interview 5ge). each of these initiatives describe participants’ work to express through cultural exchanges in in-person information spaces in order to either consciously or unconsciously reshape receiving-society perspectives of refugee identity. discussion participants exercised tremendous effort and agency in navigating the liminality and postliminality phases of their refugee experiences by engaging with internet-mediated and in-person information spaces. we again draw on our integration of goffman (1959) and savolainen’s (2008) frameworks in describing this work (figures 2 and 3). when experiencing challenges associated 56 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 with existing in a liminal state (e.g., suspension or a collapsed sense of time, helplessness, isolation, or loneliness), expressing themselves to an audience that has an unknown information space (like their receiving society) can feel risky or dangerous to participants. in instances in which participants did engage with audiences with unknown information spaces, they often experienced identity assignments that were unexpected or harmful and that did not align with who participants understood themselves to be (e.g., racism, negative responses to asylum applications, non-transfer of professional credentials). to avoid risky interactions with audiences, participants focused on either finding or crafting audiences with familiar information spaces (non-human or human) and avoiding audiences with unfamiliar information spaces (e.g., circumventing certain interactions, self-censorship). participants often optimized information spaces in terms of the degree of physical and psychological safety that each space affords. although participants appeared to indicate a preference for in-person information spaces and audiences, in their absence participants were prepared to self-orient, instrumentalize, and express via internet-mediated information spaces to realize their aims to the best of their ability while avoiding risky audiences. participants simultaneously engaged in self-orienting practices to understand the risky audience’s information space by learning about its social norms, both implicit and explicit (e.g., unspoken social norms and codified legal norms). participants indicated that both in-person and internet-mediated information spaces are important to these practices, provided that they afford participants the opportunity to engage on their own terms and without risk of judgment or harmful identity assignment. finally, when participants felt emotionally supported by their audiences with familiar information spaces and they perceived themselves to have enough information about risky audiences’ information spaces, they instrumentalized their knowledge to express representations of themselves to those risky audiences. they spoke about doing so in order to actively change the information space of those audiences, which they often perceived to have inaccurate information that contributes to harmful identity assignments. in-person information spaces appeared most useful to participants in these efforts. despite tremendous efforts to navigate and address challenges that they faced to identity construction, participants’ receiving societies’ hostile information spaces contributed to receiving societies’ propensity to execute harmful behaviors toward refugees. these misinformed information spaces manifested in explicit racist comments or actions by receiving societies, as well as implicit racism or exclusionary practices codified in receiving societies’ legal norms related to asylum, employment, and the provision of health care, for example. although participants exercised significant effort to contribute to and reshape these misinformed information spaces, their entrenched infrastructural nature made changing significant aspects of these information spaces largely outside of participants’ control. theoretical considerations our work with participants leads us to two important considerations for liminality as a theoretical framework in migration-related studies. first, the liminality journey is often multi-linear. the testimony of self-identified refugee persons in the study demonstrates that different aspects of self may experience liminality and post-liminality in overlapping or iterative phases of their passage. this multi-linearity plays out in participants’ experiences of one aspect of self-engaging in post-liminal expression practices with a receiving-society audience, for example, while another aspect of self remains in liminal suspension orienting itself among safe audiences while 57 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 waiting or actively working toward exiting liminality. this multi-linearity offers important considerations for how to conceive of persons’ information needs in identity construction in a new receiving-society context. this finding complements caidi et al.’s (2010) work on multiphase integration. second, the findings strongly suggest that pursuing a bidirectional integration model in practice requires engaging with receiving societies to understand the work they are doing to navigate identity and integration in relation to newly arrived persons. expanding the range of perspectives to encompass both the migrant person and the agents of the associated receiving society points to an important limitation of liminality as a framework. liminality theory tends to offload the onus and challenge of re-integration onto persons experiencing liminality, not onto the societies with which they wish to integrate. we see this narrative reflected in participants’ experiences of integration. future research in this area must begin to grapple with this practical unequal distribution of work implied by integration narratives, particularly by rethinking aspects of theoretical approaches like liminality that can risk exacerbating this inequality. policy considerations the research for this study has shown that self-identified refugees in germany and greece are already working to reshape receiving-society information spaces to foster less harmful interactions during identity construction. there are forces beyond participants’ control that exacerbate challenges to identity navigation that require attention at the policy level. participants experienced deeply complex and entrenched issues of prolonged liminality associated with long wait times for asylum, temporary asylum processes, and generally opaque asylum processes that represent a web of systemic failures to address and consider the human impacts of the policies that support this limbo. study participants in germany validated existing media reports that in practice, integration experiences are unidirectional in their assignment of identity labor predominantly to refugees. the disparity between existing bidirectional policy statements and the practical unidirectional integration approach provides an opportunity for future advocacy practices to recognize and then address the disconnect between stated policies and the actual experiences of persons undergoing liminality and post-liminality associated with refugee challenges. study participants in greece faced prevalent and, in some cases, dangerous challenges to wellbeing fostered by dehumanizing aspects of their refugee experiences. these challenges have manifested in suicide attempts, depression, and helplessness. similar experiences have been reported by international news media describing deeply dehumanizing conditions in detention camps and treatment of newly arrived persons in greece (bird & beattie, 2019; deutschewelle, 2018; nye & sands, 2018). because greece does not have a specific overarching integration policy, advocates for bidirectional integration at a policy level may face severe barriers to altering the dehumanizing experience of being a refugee. alternatively, it may be that the absence of a unifying integration policy in greece offers an opportunity for policymakers to build on lessons learned over the last decade from refugees, advocates, other receiving societies, and the growing body of scholarly research on refugee liminality referenced in this article. although the implementation of any policy could take years to manifest, the process of developing such a policy through incorporating voices of individuals who live these realities every day—selfidentified greek persons, refugee persons, migrant persons, human persons, and others—could in itself act as a valuable healing and growth opportunity for the greek nation at large. 58 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 future research concerning information spaces future research on the liminal and post-liminal experience of refugees as they work through identity construction should focus on two obstacles associated with internet-mediated information spaces: (a) privacy and security risks to self-expression in digital platforms and (b) the gap between agency fostered in internet-mediated information spaces and positive engagements with receiving-society communities. research that engages with these obstacles should focus on those privacy and security risks to mobile technology use that are particularly threatening during refugee experiences as highlighted by one participant’s experience with selfcensorship, and possibilities for risk mitigation. future research should also draw on existing scholarship on online communities to investigate how to support the agency-cultivating capacity of internet-mediated information spaces highlighted by participants’ instrumentalization of navigation apps to circumvent racism, while at the same time supporting opportunities for constructive interactive identity construction experiences with receiving-society communities. addressing these research questions might guide relevant actions to improve individuals’ ability to engage even more effectively in online information spaces integral to interactive identity construction. additionally, future research that focuses on in-person information spaces where persons with refugee experiences are most exposed in their liminality would be useful. of particular relevance based on the findings of our research are (a) isolation fostered by travel distances to in-person information spaces and (b) feelings of helplessness that result from the inability of persons experiencing liminality to self-orient around receiving-society legal norms. travel distances to in-person information spaces like professional psychological support in the instance of the participant who expressed experiencing ptsd, for example, exacerbated participants’ experience of isolation. research on this topic may consider investigating receiving society housing-allocation policies’ implications on travel distance to important information spaces, and mechanisms supporting safe and efficient transportation opportunities. related, in the absence of necessary policy frameworks and action at state levels, internet-mediated informal information often acted as the primary self-orienting information space about how to seek asylum, navigate legal procedures and resource provisions in receiving societies, and find the safest travel routes, among other logistical information. research on these issues could include mechanisms for determining accurate and helpful information regarding policies and bureaucratic processes. these complex questions contribute to opportunities for important research in information service provision that works to ensure that pathways to asylum, at a minimum, do not become more unsafe, and ideally become safer. participants in this research study made clear that they are acting as agents to reshape misinformed receiving society information spaces by creating opportunities for bidirectional exchanges among self-identifying refugees and receiving society community members. as researchers, we should consider how we can participate in or advocate for spaces that support similar kinds of bidirectional exchanges that participants in our study highlighted. research in this capacity would consider engaging participatory action principles (lewin, 1946) to ensure that research reflects needs and interests of these initiatives’ communities. conclusion this article has described how individuals engage in self-orienting, instrumentalizing, and expressing practices in internet-mediated and in-person information spaces to navigate identity 59 about:blank identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 construction during liminal and post-liminal phases of their refugee experiences, and the challenges that they face in so doing. our findings demonstrate that participants exercise agency in addressing these challenges by engaging in a rich mix of information spaces, but that some of these challenges grounded in the policies and perceptions of the receiving society and the logics of integration are outside of newly arrived refugees’ control. directions for future work should support these persons’ existing agency and address those challenges outside their control. in spite of its genuine insights for research motivation, liminality theory is limited as a framework for understanding identity construction in migration contexts because it offloads the onus of identity work onto the person experiencing liminality (in this case a person navigating migration experiences) and deemphasizes the identity work that a receiving society must do. to understand what work receiving societies must do to realize integration with newly arrived persons, future research must engage with methods that recognize and emphasize the responsibility of receiving societies in integration. endnote 1 our interview protocol, including structured and semi-structured prompts, is available at https://doi.org/10.7302/nw92-zt29 (schöpke-gonzalez et al. 2020). acknowledgements we deeply thank the communities and individuals that have supported and shaped this research as collaborators and participants at the study sites in athens, greece, and hamburg, germany. this research would have been impossible without you. we thank dr. oliver haimson and dr. clare croft for their comments and discussion about our research. we also thank the reviewers for their comments on our manuscript. this work was supported by the university of michigan, school of information and the university of michigan international institute individual fellowships program. references alba, r. 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(2015). the watchthemed alarm phone: a disobedient border-intervention. journal für kritische migrations-und grenzregimeforschung, 1(2). https://movements65 about:blank http://hdl.handle.net/1807/68406 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-014-0388-7 https://doi.org/10.1111/glob.12111 https://doi.org/10.7302/nw92-zt29 https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2016.14505301141 https://www.unhcr.org/refugeebrief/the-refugee-brief-9-january-2019/ https://doi.org/10.1109/sp.2018.00023 http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/159081/ https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.20658 https://movements-journal.org/issues/02.kaempfe/13.stierl--watchthemed-alarmphone.html identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 journal.org/issues/02.kaempfe/13.stierl--watchthemed-alarmphone.html strickland, p. 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(1967). betwixt & between: the liminal period in rites of passage. in l. c. mahdi, s. foster, & m. little (eds.), betwixt & between: patterns of masculine and feminine initiation (pp. 3–22). open court publishing. united nations high commissioner for refugees (unhcr). (2015). mixed migration in the western balkans. unhcr. https://www.unhcr.org/mixed-migration-westernbalkans.html united nations high commissioner for refugees (unhcr). (2017). population statistics database. unhcr. http://popstats.unhcr.org/ van gennep, a. (1909). the rites of passage. university of chicago press. waldinger, r., & feliciano, c. (2004). will the new second generation experience “downward assimilation”? segmented assimilation re-assessed. ethnic & racial studies, 27(3), 376– 402. https://doi.org/10.1080/01491987042000189196 weaver, w. (1949). recent contributions to the mathematical theory of communication. in c. shannon & w. weaver (eds.), the mathematical theory of communication (pp. 1–28). university of illinois press. williams, l. (2006). social networks of refugees in the united kingdom: tradition, tactics and new community spaces. journal of ethnic and migration studies, 32(5), 865–879. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830600704446 winnicott, d.w. (1965). the theory of the parent–infant relationship. in d.w. winnicott (ed.), the maturational processes and the facilitating environment: studies in the theory of emotional development. international universities press. world vision. (2019). syrian refugee crisis: facts, faqs, and how to help. world vision. https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/syrian-refugee-crisis-facts 66 about:blank https://movements-journal.org/issues/02.kaempfe/13.stierl--watchthemed-alarmphone.html https://newrepublic.com/article/151947/prosecuting-far-right-violence-fails https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00127 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01552 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.08.004 https://www.unhcr.org/mixed-migration-western-balkans.html https://www.unhcr.org/mixed-migration-western-balkans.html http://popstats.unhcr.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/01491987042000189196 https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830600704446 https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/syrian-refugee-crisis-facts identity navigation during refugee experiences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33151 xu, y., & maitland, c. (2016). communication behaviors when displaced: a case study of za’atari syrian refugee camp. in proceedings of the eighth international conference on information and communication technologies and development (p. 58). acm. angela m. schöpke-gonzalez (aschopke@umich.edu) is a researcher, choreographer, and educator pursuing a phd at the university of michigan school of information. her work draws inspiration from deep investigations of history, civic engagement, policy perspectives, and emotional narratives. prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she founded project dance afghanistan (2016-present, greece / germany / u.s.); worked as a natural language processing and machine learning research assistant to support research about social, political, and cultural information networks (2018-2019, university of michigan); and choreographed and performed two women, one map (2017, new york / philadelphia) and assistant choreographed work for opera mata hari (2017, new york). schöpke-gonzalez holds an m.s. in information and b.a. in dance and international affairs. andrea thomer (athomer@umich.edu) is an assistant professor at the university of michigan school of information. she studies how people use and create data and metadata; the impact of information organization on information use; issues of data provenance, reproducibility, and integration; and long-term data curation and infrastructure sustainability. she is studying a number of these issues through the "migrating research data collections" project—a recently awarded laura bush 21st century librarianship early career research grant from the institute of museum and library services. dr. thomer received her doctorate in library and information science from the school of information sciences at the university of illinois at urbanachampaign in 2017. paul conway (pconway@umich.edu) is associate professor at the university of michigan school of information. his research and teaching focus is on archival studies, the ethics of new technologies, and the digitization and preservation of cultural heritage resources, particularly audio-visual materials. prior to joining the university of michigan faculty in 2006, he was an archivist at the national archives and records administration, preservation program officer for the society of american archivists, and a senior administrator for the libraries at yale university and duke university. he holds a phd from the university of michigan (1991) and is a distinguished fellow of the society of american archivists (1997). 67 about:blank mailto:aschopke@umich.edu mailto:athomer@umich.edu mailto:pconway@umich.edu introduction literature review liminality and the refugee experience liminality and social integration into receiving societies application to this study’s contexts performance of identity and information spaces research method data collection recruitment interviews participant observation data analysis findings challenge one: prolonged liminality stuckness helplessness isolation or loneliness fear of identity loss response: craft safe information spaces and, therefore, safe audiences challenge two: navigating social norms and unfamiliar information space social norms inhibited expression response: participants prepare for audiences with unknown information spaces challenge three: misinformed information spaces assignment of harmful identities prevalence of negative news reports response: reshape receiving-society information space discussion theoretical considerations policy considerations future research concerning information spaces conclusion endnote acknowledgements references book review: self-determined stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi ijidi: book review suhr-sytsma, m. (2018). self-determined stories: the indigenous reinvention of young adult literature. east lansing: michigan state university press. isbn 9781611862980. 214 pp. $29.95 us. reviewer: treasa bane, university of wisconsin-platteville baraboo sauk county, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: hybridity; indigenous; multiculturalism; sovereignty; young adult literature publication type: book review ndigenous peoples self-governed and had control of their people, land, and resources before the colonization of their land, now widely known as north america. tribal lands have been, are, and will be sovereign because tribal sovereignty is not defined by any constitution; each tribe is a nation. self-determination is a means of recognizing and rectifying the fact that centuries of colonization eroded that sovereignty; therefore, nation rebuilding is necessary to restore the economic and social conditions of tribal nations. in self-determined stories: the indigenous reinvention of young adult literature, mandy suhr-sytsma addresses these themes by close reading the following indigenous young adult novels and short stories: slash by jeanette armstrong, the absolutely true diary of a parttime indian by sherman alexie, the heart of a chief by joseph bruchac, rain is not my indian name by cynthia leitich smith, susan power’s “drum kiss” and “reunion”, lorie marie carlson’s “a real-life blond cherokee and his equally annoyed soul mate”, oracles by melissa tantaquidgeon zobel, the night wanderer: a native gothic tale by drew hayden taylor, flight by sherman alexie, and wabanaki blues by melissa tantaquidgeon zobel. indigenous young adult literature can be defined as stories written by authors who selfidentify as members of tribal nations (not to be confused with ethnicity or race) and who write characters belonging to tribal nations; however, these narratives are meant to be read by all regardless of indigenous status. as an indigenous studies scholar who wrote her dissertation on collaborative sovereignty, suhr-sytsma has the credibility and expertise to call for increased contributions to this body of literature and its analysis as a way to effectively empower indigenous populations. the author analyzes narratives to explain how, in its offering of stories which live within and between several different systems of being and knowing, indigenous young adult literature radically revises typical, mainstream young adult literary conventions. indigenous young adult literature acts as a conduit for readers to better understand indigenous sovereignty in our modern society while also providing tools to critique multiculturalism (the encouragement of a blending of cultures as opposed to the reasons separate cultures exist), heteropatriarchy (the encouragement of male-centered heterosexuality), and hybridity (a challenge to the notion that race is fixed and stable). as part of michigan state university’s american indian studies series, this collection of essays is vital to support any academic program in indigenous studies and literature i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi self-determined stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi (predominantly in north america). its accessible language also makes this book ide al for school and public libraries and is an essential read for anyone in search of a better understanding of indigenous young adult literature. suhr-sytsma’s way of incorporating the conversations of other critics and scholars in her analysis is engaging while also avoiding any hint of contradiction, despite the inherent complexities sovereignty poses on political, sexual, individual, and collective identities. although it would be unrealistic to expect all published works of indigenous young adult literature to appear in this analysis, the author does not provide a rationale for the selection of some slightly aged as well as newer literature. there are many other stories, such as the marrow thieves, that suhr-sytsma mentions in the introduction and, which are listed on the children’s literature association (chla) blog (https://chla.memberclicks.net/), but are not explored at length in the main text. readers might end up wanting more. nonetheless, suhr-sytsma offers a new interpretation of each source material and an intellectual progression of sovereignty. indigenous populations have consistently been praised for resilience and endurance, but self-determined stories opens up the hood of that resiliency and asks readers to examine its long-term impact. what is the long-term impact of burying the effects of colonialism? what is the long-term impact of being forced to betray your culture and community? while non-indigenous young adult narratives are concerned with individuals finding their place outside given systems, indigenous societies live in multiple systems, including colonial ones (p. xviii). because of this, indigenous young adult fiction is often communal; individuals are empowered simultaneously within and outside of their communities. but the sovereign experience is a constant struggle, not just in a legal sense, but also in terms of how much sovereignty to exercise. how does a sovereign nation protect itself from harmful outside forces without excluding themselves from other potentially beneficial relationships? thriving as a nation is not only a constant negotiation with the world outside the nation that often opposes that sovereignty, but the re are also disagreements within and between national citizenships, clan memberships, religious affiliations, political affiliations, social class, and personal opinion within a nation. suhr-sytsma’s use of vine deloria jr.’s theories enhance the authenticity in her analysis of the texts. deloria jr. (native american author, historian, and activist) has called on indigenous people to stop asking for power, rights, and recognition from colonial governments (p. 15). an individual cannot force all others to understand realities they do not endure, but he or she can use one’s own community to lift themselves and others. when an individual becomes overwhelmed and uncertain how their role, identity, and ambitions fit within society, connecting with family and community that share the same perspective or experience can rectify that overbearing loneliness and uncertainty. therefore, it is important to revitalize one’s own community and find power within one’s own traditions. the author contextualizes slash’s post-red power movement as an example of a restorative experience, and as strengthening the okanagan community from within. in this analysis, slash is a prime example of an indigenous young adult text that allows the reader to better understand sovereignty. the red power movement resulted from the house concurrent resolution 108, which terminated the recognition of more than 100 tribes as sovereign nations and stated that they would be under u.s. law and treated as american citizens; thereby stripping indigenous peoples’ right to govern their own people (“from the red 145 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://chla.memberclicks.net/ self-determined stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi power”, 2014). as a result, the red power movement demanded self -determination for indigenous peoples through confrontational and civil disobedience in order to gain control of their land and resources. in the early 2000s, indigenous youth sought to restore similar demands, and much was in response to canada’s jobs, growth, and long -term prosperity act. so much has been taken away from indigenous nations. it is their right to prioritize what makes them separate in order to rebuild, and self-determination is one way to recognize that separation. however, slash, and other stories in this study, do not address how unique identities shape experiences and participation in the pursuit of self-determination, nor does it address the possibility of non-native allies (p. 23). with sovereignty comes the right to withhold knowledge, but does it perpetuate misunderstanding and mistreatment? as these young adult characters are often caught in between two worlds, this is something to grapple with. several narratives within suhr-sytsma’s analysis spark unanswered questions, particularly regarding alliance-formation with those who understand and wish to support indigenous individual’s fight for sovereignty, not out of gu ilt, but out of genuine interest in challenging oppressive power structures. suhr-sytsma argues that indigenous young adult fiction critiques multiculturalism and proposes alternatives for defining, inhabiting, and learning from different cultures. while multiculturalism dreams of the death of “race” as a construct, suhr-sytsma and sherman alexie highlight that belonging to multiple tribes does not mean that all tribes and their distinctions blend and blur. suhr-sytsma uses heart of a chief’s character, junior, and his realization of colonialism’s effect on his family to support this view about multiculturalism. this perspective of multiculturalism causes readers to question how indigenous peoples might gain self-determination with and without it. it is not simply a matter of creating an indigenous character that circumvents mainstream young adult literature; the nature of junior’s relationship to his community strengthens his self-determination and this is what sets this work apart from mainstream young adult literature about non-indigenous individuals and families. another compelling argument is that mainstream young adult romance novels and romance novels with indigenous characters, but not written for, or by indigenous peoples, have a recolonizing effect. indigenous young adult narratives often resist heteropatriarchy by painting more complicated pictures of alliances and internalized colonialism. rain is not my indian name and “drum kiss” depart from these conventions. the almost absence and complete absence of mainstream heteropatriarchy elements, as opposed to what is often demonstrated in narratives for and about non-indigenous young adults, is a strategic decision that will cause readers to question whether heteropatriarchy is the norm. more importantly, examples like the ones suhr-sytsma analyzes touch again on the impact of multiculturalism through mixed-racial relationships and how they “blend” by ignoring cultural differences. when characters can come to terms with this in indigenous young adult literature, they are closer to self-realization and determination. finally, suhr-sytsma demonstrates how indigenous fiction uses speculative elements and indigenous hybridities (ethnic memberships not easily identifiable to colonizers) to address contemporary issues facing indigenous people. in her analysis of the night wanderer, suhrsytsma engages heavily with donna ellwood flett’s analysis. suhr-sytsma believes flett fails to critique freewheeling hybridity because this story emphasizes that the most important source of meaning is connection to the past, not that indigenous peoples 146 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi self-determined stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi transcend the history of colonialism and horrors of the past; it has been repressed, not transcended (p. 133). if indigenous peoples are interested in self -preservation and selffulfillment, and the sovereignty of their communities, they should be wary about crossing cultural boundaries (p. 135). colonialism must be processed in order to move forward, and flett overlooks the contemporary manifestations of colonial exploitation (p. 141). this work does not fully address how traditional knowledge is used in these narratives, which is often a source of controversy and something commonly misunderstood by non indigenous readers. in other words, the complexities surrounding indigenous li terature are rich beyond the scope of suhr-sytsma’s work. although the intended audience is somewhat different, debbie reese’s american indians in children’s literature blog (https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com) is another source to consult to gain a critical understanding of these other issues. self-determined stories’ ambitious undertaking focuses on the fact that indigenous cultural influence cannot be separated from any part of american culture, and yet it is still often ignored, requiring more educational efforts to build awareness. suhr -sytsma calls for both indigenous and non-indigenous readers to engage with novels that privilege indigenous perspectives in order to continue these complex conversations about modern indigenous sovereignty. references from the red power movement to idle no more. (2014, january 3). red power media. retrieved from https://redpowermedia.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/from-the-red-powermovement-to-idle-no-more/ treasa bane (treasa.bane@uwc.edu) is an academic librarian invested in sharing stories, continuous learning, and social responsibility. 147 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/ https://redpowermedia.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/from-the-red-power-movement-to-idle-no-more/ https://redpowermedia.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/from-the-red-power-movement-to-idle-no-more/ mailto:treasa.bane@uwc.edu references creating an authentic experience: a study in comic books, accessibility, and the visually impaired reader the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32405 creating an authentic experience: a study in comic books, accessibility, and the visually impaired reader rachel osolen, national network of equitable library service, canada leah brochu, national network of equitable library service, canada abstract while working as production assistants for the national network of equitable library service (nnels), an organization that creates and shares accessible versions of books to people with print disabilities, we were tasked with a challenging request from a user: could we make an accessible version of the comic book the walking dead? audio description services are available to the visually impaired in a few different venues such as television, movies, and live theatre. guidelines for the creation of these descriptive texts are available to potential creators, but in our case, we could find nothing that would help guide us to create a described comic book. while some people and organizations have created prose novelizations of comic books, these simply tell the story, and do not include the unique visual aspects of reading a comic book. we have found that it is possible to create a balanced description that combines the visual grammar of a comic with the narrative story. in addition to creating a described comic book, we are developing guiding documentation that will be a necessary tool to ensure that visually impaired readers have a comic book experience (cbe) that (a) closely matches the cbe of a sighted reader, and (b) is standardized across producers, so that the onus of understanding the approach to comic book description (cbd) is not put on the visually impaired reader. at this point in our work, we need more feedback from users with print disabilities to ensure we are meeting the highest standards. keywords: accessibility; audio description; barriers to access; perceptual disability publication type: special section publication introduction omic books, graphic novels, and other traditionally print-based visual mediums have been almost entirely inaccessible to people with print disabilities. through our work for the national network for equitable library service (nnels), we have been given the opportunity to begin developing a solution to this challenging issue. in 2017, we were hired as production assistants by nnels, a canadian non-profit organization that works to create and share an online repository of accessible format materials for people with print disabilities. under the canadian copyright act, nnels is permitted to create accessible format materials when one c https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi comic books, accessibility, and the visually impaired reader the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32405 is not commercially available (copyright act, 1985, s. 32). as production assistants, we are tasked with physically formatting texts so that they can be made compatible with our users’ assistive devices. most of our work involved formatting traditional books (i.e., novels, biographies, etc.), until we received an unusual request from a user to create an accessible version of the comic book the walking dead. nnels had never received a request for a comic book before, and there was no established path to follow in order to fulfil this request. usually, our work consists of applying microsoft word styles to text documents, and occasionally adding alt-text descriptions for ereaders when required, but this would not be sufficient for a comic book since it is an almost entirely image-based medium. in order to create an accessible version of a comic book, we would need to develop a new approach from scratch; one that would encompass the creation of clear image descriptions, the translation of the visual grammar of comic books, and worked to ensure that the narrative of the story was not harmed by the addition of detailed description. we are creating two major documents: first, an accessible version of the walking dead, and second, accompanying documentation on how to create a described comic book. this documentation will be used by nnels, as they intend to expand their work with creating accessible comic books. we also hope that it can be used and further developed by other people in the industry to create their own described comic books. a working version can currently be found online on the nnels training website1 as we continue to fine-tune and develop our approach. background some readers may be familiar with what is known as either “audio description” (ad) or “described video” (dv). this type of description is intended to describe and explain visual media to people with visual impairments, and is most commonly used for television and movies. it was first developed in the 1970s (packer, vizenor, & miele, 2015, p. 84) and there are many sets of guidelines and best practice guides in existence to aid describers in their work (see appendix for a list). in addition to those for television and movies, there are also guides for the description of live theatre, artworks, and even dance, but no equivalent document exists for comic books. while we found that these guides were helpful at the beginning of our research, it became clear that comic books had their own set of issues that would need to be taken into consideration. for example, dv and ad for television, movies, and live theatre are constrained by dialogue and music cues—these are a part of the narrative and help to keep the story moving along. ad for museum artworks does not have to play to time constraints like that, but it also does not have to focus on keeping a narrative moving. what we have termed “comic book description”, or cbd, is unique, as it is free from audio constraints, but we must be highly mindful of over-description, as this can be distracting to the reader and take away from the narrative. in 2011, marvel comics released an audio version of daredevil #1, an apt choice for an audio edition since the title character of the comic is blind himself. this audio comic bears mentioning here, however, it was not useful for the development of our writing since “the narration is taken directly from [the author]'s script for the comic” (christopher, 2018). while comic book scripts are useful as reference material for areas such as terminology and character names, they are not ideal as the basis for narration. the script is what the artist works with, and creates their drawings from, so a well-described comic book must work from the finished product that combines both the work of the author and the artist. 109 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index comic books, accessibility, and the visually impaired reader the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32405 alt-text and audio description while we do not have experience writing dv, or describing comic books, we do have experience in writing what is known as alt-text. alt-text is a textual description of an image or graphic that is embedded in the code, and therefore able to be read by screen-readers and assistive devices. it is added to an image when there is not enough context in the text, or in an associated caption, to make the details of the image accessible to a person with a visual impairment. alt-text is also used to describe items such as maps, graphs, and charts; anything that conveys information on a purely visual level. there are a few resources included in nnels’ internal documentation that offer advice on writing alt-text, and while many of the ideas and guidelines are generally useful, like focusing on objectivity, brevity, and context, it was clear that we would need to do more research in order to develop guidelines for cbd. a key reference and inspiration for our documentation was found in best practice guides for ad and dv. multiple guides exist to help train people on this kind of work, as the development of described programming is mandated by the canadian radio-television and telecommunications commission in canada (n.d.), the federal communications commission in the u.s., and other federal governments around the world (descriptive video works, 2012). streaming services such as netflix and amazon prime video also offer dv for some of their programs, and other streaming services are working to offer more (american council for the blind, n.d.). as previously mentioned, there is a lack of description documentation for comic books and graphic novels, and a primary aim of our work is to help change this so that one day mandatory description will extend to include these visual printed mediums. a full listing of all of the best practice guides that we consulted appears in the appendix, but we found that they offer much of the same advice. objectivity is strongly emphasized throughout all of the guides, as it is not the job of the describer to give their interpretation of the situation; just as it is with sighted viewers, the meaning of a scene or image is for the audience to decide. another factor that is particularly important is not to censor anything; this was something that we had to contend with while working on the walking dead, which is a very graphic and gruesome zombie story. it was sometimes off-putting to describe violent and grotesque scenes, but it was absolutely necessary, as that is what is on the page. the ad and dv guides are used to train people on how best to describe visual media; they also act as a quasi-standard, and this is something that we have tried to incorporate into our work. while cbd is an incredibly recent form of media, it is nevertheless important to begin to produce guidelines that will help create a standardization for the medium. when approaching a description, there are many different ways to describe scene composition, characters, and even the layout of pages and panels. if more and more described comic books become available without standardization, then the onus of deciphering the describer’s approach will be left up to the user. this could quickly become confusing and discouraging, and should be avoided if at all possible. how to write comics in creating and reading comics “the regimens of art (e.g., perspective, symmetry, line) and the regimens of literature (e.g., grammar, plot, syntax) become superimposed upon each other” (eisner, 2008, p. 2). comics are a medium where the visual storytelling is just as imperative as the written. in order to understand how to better describe this medium we needed to learn how 110 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index comic books, accessibility, and the visually impaired reader the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32405 to create one, and a good place to start is from a creator’s point of view. will eisner, a cartoonist and writer, wrote comics and sequential art (2008) and expressive anatomy for comics and narratives (eisner & poplaski, 2008), amongst several other books that many consider as foundational texts for creating comics. these books explore the rules of how to create a comic. eisner points out that “comics employ a series of repetitive images and recognizable symbols . . . the ‘grammar’ of sequential art” (p. 2). everything on the page of a comic book is part of the “grammar” that creates the story; from the layout of the panels, to the positions of the speech bubbles, to the fonts that are used; each and every element is carefully considered by the writers and artists. it is essential to understand this grammar in order to properly translate it for the described comic book. scott mccloud (1994) explains in his book understanding comics: the invisible art: “the comics creator asks us to join in a silent dance of the seen and unseen. the visible and the invisible. this dance is unique to comics. no other artform gives so much to its audience while asking so much from them as well . . . . what happens between these panels is a kind of magic only comics can create” (p. 92). when reading a comic, the reader has to exercise both their visual and verbal interpretive skills, but for our purposes we had to find a way to translate the visual part of interpretation into a verbal description without losing essential pieces to the story. these lessons on how to write comics complemented our research with ad and dv, as well as alt-text, and helped us get closer to our goal. how to translate comics for the visually impaired early on in our research we discovered comics empower, an online comic book store for the blind, which was created and maintained by guy hassan. the company’s mandate was to create and sell comics to people with visual impairments through transcription and original writing. unfortunately, this company no longer exists, but we were inspired by their work and used it as a key resource when designing the navigation and descriptions for our reader. in addition to running the store, hassan also produced a podcast called blind panels (n.d.-a, n.d.-b, n.d.-c). three episodes (26, 28, and 32) explore the structure of comics and how to efficiently describe them to a visually impaired reader. in these episodes a reader with a visual impairment was paired up with a sighted reader, and they read and reviewed the same comic from the comics empower archive. they then discussed their experiences focusing on what worked, what didn’t work, and what could be improved. their conversations highlighted some key points for cbd, such as: • be specific about description, • be direct and concise with actions, • include references to space and time, • give the key details that help build the narration and the world of the story, and • if it is important to the story, describe it for the reader. one important takeaway is that a visually impaired reader wants to have a similar experience to that of a reader without impairment. this was the first type of user feedback we discovered, and though it was limited to only three discussions, it helped us develop our foundational decisions and work from what we already knew from researching ad, dv, and alt-text. it also gave us our first glimpse into what audience there could potentially be out there for this type of work. 111 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index comic books, accessibility, and the visually impaired reader the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32405 from january to march of 2018, we became part of a grant-funded project for nnels where we were given the opportunity to work alongside a handful of editors with visual impairments. it was through part of this project that we were able to seek out formal feedback from our new colleagues on our cbd work, which is explored later on in this paper. in addition to this opportunity, one colleague shared a recording of a video conference presentation by cordelia mcgee-tubb, which was part of the conference inclusive design 24 that was held in june 2017 (paciello group, 2017). in her talk, accessible comics, she discusses her experience as an accessibility specialist and long-time amateur cartoonist who recently earned her master’s degree in comics. her talk explores the question: what can we do to make comics inclusive to all readers? when it comes to guidelines for creating transcripts, she states that there is nothing out there that is currently defined, though she does highlight a few recommendations to get started including finding the tone of the comic in your writing, understanding the technical terms, and applying them to your descriptions. she also stresses that there needs to be some level of repetition without weighing down the narrative; at the same time trying to maintain a comic book structure while avoiding creating a novelization. to get a good sense of how visual mediums can be described, she highly recommends looking at scripts from comics, movies, and even plays. this will help find that balance between the technical and the narrative. these are all recommendations that we brought to our own process. in this talk, mcgee-tubb refers to an article by liana kerr, titled “describing comics”, as posted on broodhollow wikia (lianakerr, 2015). in this piece, kerr goes through her process of describing broodhollow comics, as well as watchmen, for her visually impaired friend. for comics like broodhollow and watchmen seemingly irrelevant details can turn out to be important later on for the story. it is details like this that should be included in a described comic book to help recreate an authentic comic book experience. kerr sets out “to strike a balance between giving the reader information to make their own inferences and giving the reader an explanation” (para. 5). kerr believes that visually impaired readers should be able to access all the relevant information that a sighted reader has. when describing, she also tries to include everything that is new or relevant in a logical order, and without repeating unnecessary information. she considers logical order to be similar to the order a sighted person reads a panel. she also tries to avoid repetition unless it is necessary. “i tend to assume, and hope that the reader will assume, that something remains constant until i indicate that it’s changed” (para. 7). this is similar to how we have approached writing our described comic book; trying to find the balance between creating an authentic comic experience without getting too weighed down by describing everything in the panel. other things kerr takes into consideration include: • tone/atmosphere of panel, • expressions and body language (and how they related between each other), • basic background description, and • any relevant additional details—such as colors. kerr also feels that consistency is important, and makes sure that she uses the same, or similar, words or phrases to describe design elements. an example from the walking dead would be the grey and white splatter starburst in the background of intense scenes. it is important we describe 112 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index comic books, accessibility, and the visually impaired reader the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32405 this the same way each time so the reader can pick up on the significance of this design element— it indicates a sudden action or emotion. as kerr (lianakerr, 2015) asserts in her own work; “my hope is that someone using a screen reader has the same emotional reaction to reading the phrase ‘horizontal gleam’ as a sighted reader does when seeing it in the comic” (para. 8). this goes back to creating that authentic experience where every panel is made up of choices by the artist and writer, and therefore should be transcribed into the described comic book. writing and editing: editing and writing an essential part to creating a described comic book is the routine of partnered writing and editing. for the walking dead we divided the comic into sections of five pages each, with one person editing their partner’s previous five pages, and then describing five more pages before handing it back for the next round. this meant at any given time one person would be working on ten pages in total. this helped create a collaborative workflow where we were able to discuss our work within the same document we created. this also meant we designed the described comic book as we worked through each cycle. this type of workflow fostered experimentation and discovery of what worked, and what did not work. with two people on the project, each individual can bring their own opinion and perspective to the page while also catching editing mistakes that can be easily missed with a solo writer. not only can a fresh perspective find errors that may be overlooked otherwise, it can also help create a breakthrough with a difficult description and even help with project exhaustion. user feedback as mentioned above, we were able to get some user feedback from the grant-funded project we did through nnels. one of the new hires volunteered to read over some sample pages from our walking dead reader and give feedback. while his responses have informed our approach and our documentation, we had to remain cognizant of the fact that it was the feedback of one person, and therefore it cannot be fully generalized. at the beginning of a described comic book, we include a detailed section entitled “producer’s notes”, which provides information that is meant to describe the differences between the printed version and the version we are creating. additionally, details which serve to orient the reader to the style of the work are included, since it is a unique medium. our volunteer’s feedback was valuable in the design of this section, and it helped us understand what would need to be conveyed to someone who may have never had the opportunity, or ability, to read a comic book, or graphic novel, before. the producer’s notes include: • information about how the text is structured, • how page and panel descriptions are presented, • common panel types and row configurations, • comic book terminology, • brief definition of points of view and angles, • descriptions of speech bubbles, • examples of text effects, and 113 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index comic books, accessibility, and the visually impaired reader the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32405 • examples of sound effects and visual effects (motion lines, “graphic detail”). with respect to page and panel descriptions, the volunteer noted: “i didn’t understand from the descriptions why an illustrator would choose one layout over another.” prior to hearing this comment, we had been unsure about how much comic theory to include in our producer’s notes, such as the fact that portrait-style panels (known as vertical panels) are generally representative of a shorter period of time, or that borderless and “bleeding” panels can sometimes convey a sense of timelessness. with this feedback, it was clear that this type of information would be helpful in orienting the reader to this new type of text. another comment noted by our volunteer was on how to best organize the description of the elements in a panel; something that we have considered again and again, but there does not seem to be a perfect solution. comic books can be read in two ways by sighted readers: (a) they can either be quickly skimmed, and the reader can get the gist of the story, or (b) they can be closely read, and the reader can pick up on nuance and notice small but meaningful things, or even things like continuity errors. with a described comic book, it is very difficult to give the reader the option of “skimming” because the order of description must be dictated by the narrative, and so it is not always possible to organize the description of a panel so that part of it can be skipped. in her presentation, mcgee-tubb discusses the idea of a hierarchical structure of panel description, leading to greater granularity (like clothing or backgrounds being on one level, and the action of the panel being on another) (paciello group, 2017), and while this is an important idea, we have found that it would be difficult to implement, especially when we are working to create a described comic book that can be easily read by any assistive device or ereader that a potential user would prefer. gaining more formal feedback will be essential to the project moving forward, and the current lack of it is certainly one of the greatest limitations of our work. comics empower: business case while cbd is uncommon, “prose novelizations” have been around for a long time. as the name suggests, prose novelizations are books that take the story of the comic book and write it up in the traditional format of a novel. these share the story of the comic book, but do not convey any of the visual grammar that is a key part of the comic book experience, which is what our method is working to emulate. a good example of the demand for described comic books is offered by comics empower, the “comic book store for the blind”, which we introduced earlier in this paper. they created described comic books and also sold prose novelizations with music and full-cast audio from the company audio comics. in an interview, guy hassan, the founder, said: “we did a little poll after releasing audio comics, and it turned out that though people like both types, there was a large preference to the comic book experience rather than the movie experience” (kingett, 2016). this gives us a small glimpse of the potential interest and demand in this unique medium. limitations & implications in the end, hassan was not able to sustain comics empower as a business (comics empower, 2018), and the company had to close its virtual doors. this is not too surprising, as the work of 114 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index comic books, accessibility, and the visually impaired reader the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32405 creating and sharing accessible books is often paid for, at least in part, by government grants, charitable donations, and even through the work of volunteers. there is a business case to be made, but it will take time to build interest and awareness for this kind of work. as we have mentioned previously, it would be valuable to conduct a study that shared described comic books with the intended audience and gathered a variety of general and specific feedback. just as hassan noted that people enjoyed the comic book experience offered by described comic books, we also found that there was the potential for interest among people who had never considered the possibility of reading comic books. in order to help future nnels production assistants work on creating described comic books, we created a sample described comic book to act as a training guide, in addition to the documentation we created and the walking dead described comic book. we were also able to get some feedback on this sample from the new hires during the grant-funded project, and one of them commented that “the [nnels-zilla] document is awesome! you guys have entirely changed my perception of accessibility for comics… i never even considered that it would be possible to have access to this genre as a blind reader. bravo!” (d. levy-pinto, personal communication, march 31, 2018). like the other resources that nnels creates, described comic books are designed for more than just people who are blind; they are also created for anyone with a perceptual disability, which includes people with dyslexia and physical impairments that can prevent them from holding a book (such as advanced multiple sclerosis or parkinson's disease). this opens the door wider for potential readers. conclusion as noted by kim johnson, “nnels allows for a new way of thinking about services for people with print disabilities” (2018, p. 119). this applies not only to the service model, but also to the innovations that we are working toward in areas such as cbd. the work is challenging and timeconsuming, and we are very fortunate to have the ability to work on it as part of our work for nnels. we intend to keep pushing and building interest and awareness in cbd, and hope that the momentum we build will lead to developments and advancements in cbd. bringing a purely visual medium to people with visual impairments will make for a more equitable world, where all potential readers can access the texts they want, regardless of their traditional form. the project started off with a simple user request through nnels and has grown to something more than we originally set out to create. we invite others to add to our work and help develop a set of standards and practices for cbd so anyone with a perceptual disability can enjoy this exciting medium. endnote 1 a working version of our documentation regarding comic book and graphic novel description can be found online on the nnels training website here: https://bclc.wiki.libraries.coop/doku.php?id=public:nnels:etext:comics 115 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://bclc.wiki.libraries.coop/doku.php?id=public:nnels:etext:comics comic books, accessibility, and the visually impaired reader the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32405 appendix published best practices guidelines on audio description and described video • national disability authority: irish national it accessibility guidelines o http://universaldesign.ie/technology-ict/irish-national-it-accessibilityguidelines/ • audio description coalition: standards for audio description and code of professional conduct for describers o https://audiodescriptionsolutions.com/wpcontent/uploads/2016/06/adc_standards_090615.pdf • independent television commission: itc guidance on standards for audio description o https://drive.google.com/file/d/1omluhjxbnsvmypus6lyddcwe3exhfyt1/view • american council of the blind: audio description guidelines and best practices o http://docenti.unimc.it/catia.giaconi/teaching/2017/17069/files/corsosostegno/audiodescrizioni • accessible media inc.: post production described video best practices: artistic and technical guidelines o https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/a11yofficer/dvbp/blob/master/pp_descri bed_video_best_practices.pdf references american council for the blind (acb). (n.d.). streaming video services offering audio description. retrieved from http://acb.org/adp/streaming.html canadian radio-television and telecommunications commission (crtc). (n.d.). tv access for people with visual impairments: described video and audio description. retrieved from https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/info_sht/b322.htm christopher, b. (2018). rethinking comics and visuality, from the audio daredevil to philipp meyer's life. disability studies quarterly, 38(3). http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v38i3.6477 comics empower [comicsempower]. (2018, march 9). hi josh. i'm sorry, i had to stop comics empower. i couldn't sustain it. let me know if you want a specific comic and i'll send it to you. [tweet]. retrieved from https://twitter.com/comicsempower/status /972369143516327936 116 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://universaldesign.ie/technology-ict/irish-national-it-accessibility-guidelines/ http://universaldesign.ie/technology-ict/irish-national-it-accessibility-guidelines/ https://audiodescriptionsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/adc_standards_090615.pdf https://audiodescriptionsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/adc_standards_090615.pdf https://drive.google.com/file/d/1omluhjxbnsvmypus6lyddcwe3exhfyt1/view http://docenti.unimc.it/catia.giaconi/teaching/2017/17069/files/corso-sostegno/audiodescrizioni http://docenti.unimc.it/catia.giaconi/teaching/2017/17069/files/corso-sostegno/audiodescrizioni https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/a11yofficer/dvbp/blob/master/pp_described_video_best_practices.pdf https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/a11yofficer/dvbp/blob/master/pp_described_video_best_practices.pdf http://acb.org/adp/streaming.html https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/info_sht/b322.htm http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v38i3.6477 https://twitter.com/comicsempower/status/972369143516327936 https://twitter.com/comicsempower/status/972369143516327936 comic books, accessibility, and the visually impaired reader the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32405 copyright act, revised statutes of canada (1985, c. c-42) r.s.c., 1985. retrieved from http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-42/ descriptive video works. (2012, july 1). the state of audio description around the world. retrieved from https://www.descriptivevideoworks.com/the-state-of-audiodescription-around-the-world/ eisner, w. (2008). comics and sequential art: principles and practices from the legendary cartoonist. new york, ny: ww norton & company. eisner, w., & poplaski, p. (2008). expressive anatomy for comics and narrative: principles and practices from the legendary cartoonist. new york, ny: ww norton & company. hassan, g. (n.d.-a). ep 26: the conversation: aaron and eric talk wynter. blind panels podcast. podcast retrieved from https://soundcloud.com/user-817263528/episode-26-theconversation-aaron-and-eric-talk-wynter hassan, g. (n.d.-b). ep 28: the conversation: holly and tolu get lost in dreams. blind panels podcast. podcast retrieved from https://soundcloud.com/user-817263528/episode-28the-conversation-holly-and-tolu-get-lost-in-dreams hassan, g. (n.d.-c). ep 32: the conversation #3: the blerd gurl, pranav lal, and flying vespas. blind panels podcast. retrieved from https://soundcloud.com/user817263528/episode-32-the-conversation-3-the-blerd-gurl-pranav-lal-and-flying-vespas johnson, k. (2018). nnels: a new model for accessible library service in canada. the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 114-120. https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v2i3.32194 kingett, r. (2016, august 10). finally, there's a comic book store for the blind. vice. retrieved from https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/xdmd9d/comics-empower-comic-bookstore-for-the-blind lianakerr. (2015, february 26). on describing comics. retrieved from https://broodhollow.fandom.com/wiki/user_blog:lianakerr/on_describing_comics mccloud, s. (1994). understanding comics: the invisible art. new york, ny: harper collins. paciello group. (2017, june 09). accessible comics!!! – cordelia mcgee-tubb: #id24 2017. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsqcov0dzew packer, j., vizenor, k., & miele, j.a. (2015). an overview of video description: history, benefits, and guidelines. journal of visual impairment & blindness, 109(2), 83-93. rachel osolen (osolen@ualberta.ca) is a thesis candidate for a combined master’s degree in digital humanities, and library and information studies (ma/mlis). she currently works as a production assistant for the national network of equitable library service and is dedicated to improving accessible reading resources for people with perceptual disabilities. her areas of 117 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-42/ https://www.descriptivevideoworks.com/the-state-of-audio-description-around-the-world/ https://www.descriptivevideoworks.com/the-state-of-audio-description-around-the-world/ https://soundcloud.com/user-817263528/episode-26-the-conversation-aaron-and-eric-talk-wynter https://soundcloud.com/user-817263528/episode-26-the-conversation-aaron-and-eric-talk-wynter https://soundcloud.com/user-817263528/episode-28-the-conversation-holly-and-tolu-get-lost-in-dreams https://soundcloud.com/user-817263528/episode-28-the-conversation-holly-and-tolu-get-lost-in-dreams https://soundcloud.com/user-817263528/episode-32-the-conversation-3-the-blerd-gurl-pranav-lal-and-flying-vespas https://soundcloud.com/user-817263528/episode-32-the-conversation-3-the-blerd-gurl-pranav-lal-and-flying-vespas https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v2i3.32194 https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/xdmd9d/comics-empower-comic-book-store-for-the-blind https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/xdmd9d/comics-empower-comic-book-store-for-the-blind https://broodhollow.fandom.com/wiki/user_blog:lianakerr/on_describing_comics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsqcov0dzew mailto:osolen@ualberta.ca comic books, accessibility, and the visually impaired reader the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32405 interest include creating and developing assisted readers for comic books, children’s picture books, plays and poetry. leah brochu (kbrochu@ualberta.ca) is a production/project assistant for the national network of equitable library service (nnels). she has been working for nnels since she graduated with an mlis from the university of alberta’s school of library and information studies in 2017. in her role she works to help make the world of books and publishing a more accessible place. she also volunteers as a senior managing editor for the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion. 118 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:kbrochu@ualberta.ca introduction background alt-text and audio description how to write comics how to translate comics for the visually impaired writing and editing: editing and writing user feedback comics empower: business case limitations & implications conclusion endnote appendix published best practices guidelines on audio description and described video references the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ “culture fit” as “anti-diversity”: avoiding human resources decisions that disadvantage the brightest keren dali, editor-in-chief keywords: culture fit; demographic diversity; hiring and promotion; unconscious bias; valuesbased diversity publication type: editorial editorial a story worth telling have just had a chat with a good friend who recently completed her on-campus interview in a small liberal arts college library. with a brilliant education from one of the top-ranked alaaccredited schools, a knowledge of multiple languages, international work experience, and a solid publication record, she felt that she had a fair shot at this position. the hiring decision, however, was negative; a formal response claimed the usual—someone else was a better “fit.” when she queried the library website a while later, she discovered that the person hired was a younger man with a fraction of her education and experience who, unlike her, did not belong to a visible or religious minority and was from the geographic area in question. we will never know for sure what this lack of fit exactly meant in this case. it did not seem like a bona fide lack of fit with the actual position requirements or the library’s declared values. much more likely, it was the proverbial “culture fit” that is so difficult to detect and define but that often serves as a crutch for justifying biased (non)hiring decisions, irrespective of whether bias is overt or implicit/unconscious. in this case, fit could have implicitly referred to so-called surface-level diversity characteristics (e.g., ethnicity, religion, gender, country of origin) or deep-level diversity characteristics (e.g., a worldview and opinions that do not align with the expected and the mainstream; personality traits; a life experience different from that in a well-to-do east coast state; in professional terms, a different—much more acute—appreciation for the issues of censorship, intellectual freedom, freedom of expression, access, and collegiality in a small interdependent library team). in this case, the culture fit argument has cost this library the great potential, energy, and revitalization usually associated with multiple layers of diversity in a newly hired librarian. the diversity cost was tied into both surfaceand deep-level diversity characteristics. the latter is frequently referred to as values-based diversity. it is values-based diversity that is often threatened and attacked by the elusive weapon of culture fit, and it is values-based diversity that is the focus of this editorial. of course, demographic diversity characteristics may become grounds for discrimination and inequality that results from biased attitudes and prejudiced behaviors. for example, researchers from a harvard-led team that investigated implicit bias “found that the highest levels of bias—70 percent or more—were directed at blacks, the elderly, the disabled, the overweight and other stigmatized groups. i http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, “culture fit” as “anti-diversity” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ furthermore, minorities internalized the same biases as majority groups” (babcock, 2006, para. 5). not dismissing the biases related to observable diversity characteristics, this editorial delves into the less conspicuous and just as significant aspect of diversity—the values-based one. sorting terminology out the concept of values-based diversity is gaining prominence in our field, which has traditionally been “focused on increasing the number of underrepresented populations among our ranks” (hudson-ward, 2014, para. 1). today, however, we seek “more than visual representations of diversity as proof that an employer offers an inclusive environment” and wish to account for “the totality of an individual’s diverse contributions and lifestyle choices” that can “matter as much as demographic differences” (hudson-ward, 2014, para. 1). values-based diversity certainly includes consideration of “visible characteristics and demographics”; however, it also includes “diversity in thought, diversity in approach, and diversity in ideas”; differences in communication styles and types of motivational factors at the workplace; generational differences; and cultural heritage, to name just a few (hudson-ward, 2014, para. 3-4). values-based diversity often ties into so-called deep-level diversity characteristics—ones that are not easily observable but come out in the course of interactions, collaboration, social and work-related activities, learning processes, and so on. a related and somewhat overlapping concept is acquired diversity “(e.g., cultural competence and fluency),” which can also encompass one’s worldview and work or communication styles (hudson-ward, 2014, para. 10). one concept we are most familiar with is demographic or inherent diversity, also referred to as surface-level diversity (e.g., gender, race, sexual orientation, body ability, heritage language, religion, and so on) (hudson-ward, 2014, para. 13). an appreciation of the importance of deeplevel and values-based diversity is particularly important in counteracting the misguided application of the culture fit argument in human resource management decisions and its detrimental effect on the state of diversity and inclusion in our workplaces and higher education. the sneakiness of the culture fit and its anti-diversity stance the story which gave impetus to this piece is not unique, of course. culture fit is used time and time again in hiring and promotional decisions in not-for-profit settings (libraries, archives, museums) and academia, not only in industry, and even the most diversity-conscious organizations and departments “still use this term without fully understanding its implications” and strive to hire people for culture fit (she geeks out, 2018, para. 1). as though it were an unequivocally good thing. it is not. and even if an organization defines its culture as “inclusive, warm, welcoming, fun, and hard working,” we have to be inquisitive and critical about what these designators mean (she geeks out, 2018, para. 1). such words as inclusive, warm, and welcoming may serve as euphemisms to disguise a culture of groupthink whereby “alternative viewpoints might not be valued” (she geeks out, 2018, para. 2). masquerading as a great organizational culture, there might be an environment that shuns those who see the world differently, seek change, have a critical eye, and not only notice things that require attention but also dare name these things out loud; those who push the envelope and disrupt the established order; or simply those who stand out: the quickest thinkers, the most brilliant writers, the best presenters, the most highly educated, the 2 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, “culture fit” as “anti-diversity” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ bravest, the most experienced—in short, those who will make the average and the complacent look bad. or will make them work harder to measure up to a new standard of excellence. as a result, culture fit—an offshoot of unconscious bias and the desire to work with people like us—"is far more common [as a reason] not to hire someone” than a reason for hiring (wharton school, 2015). rarely will it be explained “what aspect of the [organizational] culture” strikes discord with the new candidate, (wharton school, 2015, para. 3) and the hiring decision will then rest on emotive personal impressions and the likeability of the candidate. the latter is usually determined in the course of social interactions embedded in the interview process and/or casual chats. filtering out the undesirables is not limited to hiring and also affects retention. psychologist benjamin schneider, through the attraction-selection-attrition (asa) framework, proposed that “[l]ike-minded individuals select each other to be part of an organization, and sooner or later, the ‘misfits’ leave” (wharton school, 2015, para. 11). of course, there is always a degree of correlation between the diversity of life experiences and worldviews and the diversity of demographic characteristics. however, the working ethos of culture fit can create a situation whereby a team will be diverse demographically and representative of different social groups (by gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and body ability) while remaining homogeneous in terms of cognitive thinking, working styles, social class, ethical approaches, and international orientation. for example, organizations and university departments, which make an effort to reduce longstanding inequalities and discrimination and the exclusion of traditionally marginalized groups, can create an environment whereby all team members have fair access to “resources and opportunities like coaching, developmental opportunities, high-visibility projects, [and] leadership roles,” and whereby “pay and other perks are fairly distributed” (nishii, 2018). fair access will likely blur the intergroup boundaries to some extent but will not make the team less vulnerable to groupthink and the subsequent exclusion of people on the grounds of values-based diversity. that is to say, even such places as university departments, libraries, museums, and archives are not immune to the misuse of culture fit and the subsequent lack of intellectual heterogeneity. the team spirit at the workplace is incredibly important, and a high level of consensus on the foundational values certainly keeps the team together. however, it also bears the hidden danger of homogenizing the team intellectually and preventing openness and evolution. heterogeneity at the workplace is not only about new ideas and creative influx. it is also an antidote to complacency, groupthink, intellectual stagnation, and unfair workplace practices. these negative phenomena may be easily overlooked in a team of think-alikes. heterogeneity encourages a more careful processing of information; “[s]ocial awkwardness” introduced by “‘socially distinct newcomers and the social concerns their presence stimulates among oldtimers motivates behaviour that can convert affective pains into cognitive gains—or, in other words, better group problem solving” (wharton school, 2015, para. 19, citing phillips, liljenquist, & neale, 2008) and healthier workplace dynamics. although, in some situations, “similar people work better together,” for “jobs involving complex decisions and creativity, more diverse teams outperform less diverse ones. too much similarity can lead to teams that are overconfident, ignore vital information and make poor (or even unethical) decisions” (rivera, 2015, p. 11). culture fit as social fit that is to say, defined as the like-mindedness of colleagues, culture fit is antithetical to diversity. while it may or may not conflict with demographic diversity, it often does conflict with values3 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, “culture fit” as “anti-diversity” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ based diversity manifestations. looking to hire a “culturally fit” individual, employers, wittingly or unwittingly, perpetuate the workplace status quo. that being said, we cannot ignore the fact that a new team member should feel comfortable and included in a new setting. so, some degree of compatibility between the person and the new workplace is obviously necessary. is it a culture fit or something else? it is definitely not a “social fit.” when culture and social fit are conflated, the former shifts “from systematic analysis of who will thrive in a given workplace to snap judgment” about with whom the current team members would “rather hang out” (rivera, 2015, para. 2). from the intended fit with the job requirements and organizational values, the concept morphs into considerations of personal fit (rivera, 2015), and hiring “based on personal fit can keep demographic and cultural diversity low” (rivera, 2015, para. 10). for example, several leaders of google, a company known for their successful talent attraction, are confident that you must work with people you don’t like, because a workforce comprised of people who are all “best office buddies” can be homogeneous, and homogeneity in an organization breeds failure. a multiplicity of viewpoints—aka diversity—is your best defense against myopia (p. 107) […]. these differences of perspective generate insights that can’t be taught (pp. 107-108) […]. great talent often doesn’t look and act like you (schmidt, rosenberg, & eagle, 2014, p. 108). google’s professed approach to hiring may be an exception, though, because, as rivera (2015) claims, “[s]electing new employees based on personal similarities is by no means unique to banking, consulting or law; it has become a common feature of [north] american corporate culture” (para. 9). however, not-for-profits and academia are not immune to these missteps either, and it is particularly disheartening when these practices are noticed in the departments and professional settings that pride themselves on leading the way in diversity and inclusion efforts in lis. this fallacy of social fit as a criterion for hiring pretty much sends the merit of social lunches or dinners and informal interactions (factored into hiring decisions) out the window. it is very “easy to mistake rapport for skill” (rivera, 2015, para. 13) and to forget that the candidate’s potential is not about “hobbies, hometowns and biographies” that match those of potential employers and colleagues (rivera, 2015, para. 8). as condon (2017) rightly notes, a workplace is “not a fraternity or social club,” and it is “certainly not a family. you don’t performance-manage out family members and you rarely do so to your friends, but you need to be able to do that at work” (para. 5). this does not mean that we cannot find friends at work. this does mean, however, that we do not hire a new person to fit ourselves; we hire them to fit the values, mission, and work content of our departments and organizations. how should we go about it? value fit and culture add we can certainly take steps—and time—to clearly define culture fit in measurable and unambiguous terms. instead of impressionistic phrases, we can use the guidance of job requirements and organizational values as a baseline for determining compatibility. management literature refers to it as ‘value fit,’ i.e., the degree to which people “embody and share” core organizational values (she geeks out, 2018, para. 3). there are no longer “great guys” or “folks nice to have a chat with”; there are those who relate to current team members by virtue of shared “respect, empathy, accountability, transparency, integrity, and passion” (she geeks out, 4 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, “culture fit” as “anti-diversity” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 2018, para. 3). they may bring a different flavor and interpretation to these terms, expanding and enriching them; thus, they “create a culture add” for the new workplace (she geeks out, 2018, para. 3). this is a much more reliable test and predictor of future adjustment than the famous “airport test” (i.e., “who would you not mind being stuck at the airport with?”). condon (2017) strongly advises that interviewers “aim for ‘core value’ fit, and if you’d be okay getting stuck in an airport with them, that’s a bonus” (para. 6). although “eliminating culture fit from your vocabulary and processes might end up meaning that it takes more time to find the right person, […] finding someone who is a great culture add and values fit could be exactly what” a university department or a professional setting “needs to grow” (she geeks out, 2015, para. 5). building the value fit and culture add into the interview process panel interviewing or interviewing done by multiple team members independently have been proposed almost unanimously as a way to avoid defining culture fit as social fit and, to the extent possible, to reduce unconscious bias in hiring. reduce, but not eliminate completely. seeing that “we all gravitate toward people we consider to be similar to us, even the most scrupulously fair hiring managers tend to think more favourably of people who remind them of themselves. the result is an uneven process that limits diversity and fails to secure the best talent” (rock & smith, 2018, para. 3). becoming aware of cultural and personal biases and their effect on the types of questions asked during the interview would be the first step. another step would be having a structured rather than free-floating interview, which is something implemented today in many information science settings and academia. however, even this strategy is not foolproof. in fluid, complex settings, in creative, interdependent research teams, wherein people are bound by multiple shared projects and responsibilities, it is very hard sometimes to achieve entirely autonomous judgements and opinions, especially if you factor in the hierarchical and power relationships among committee members: supervisors and supervisees; mentors and mentees; tenured and tenure-track faculty; students and faculty. this further complicates the picture and, behind the façade of structured interviewing and panel approaches, decisions may also be biased or skewed. moreover, structured interviewing usually provides guidance on what data to collect and how to collect them but not on how to weigh, interpret, or validly compare the data gathered about different candidates or how significant the fit component should be vis-à-vis other evaluative criteria (rivera, 2015, para. 16). rivera (2015) writes that “in many organizations, fit has gone rogue” (para. 2). this applies to not-for-profit and academic settings, too. having specific and rigorous documentation, however, can help with keeping committee members on track if they do veer off into discussing candidates in impressionistic and subjective terms. types of documents that can be used to guide hiring and promotion committees so, what documents could be helpful to keep decision makers on track? one could be a checklist of phrases and qualifiers to avoid in verbal discussions and written reports reflecting on the candidate because they are an indication of unconscious bias: • “we did not have a good feeling about this person.” • “she did not seem like a good fit with the department.” 5 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, “culture fit” as “anti-diversity” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ • “we did not think they would be all that good as part of the team.” • “they did not appear to be the team player we were looking for.” • “he is such a great guy to spend time with!” • “i talked to her and knew right away she was a match!” • “they are a true team player!” • “they have a positive attitude that will help them fit in!” • “i like her a lot. she will be very compatible with the rest of the team.” and other phrases similar to those. or similarly motivated. the leadership consulting company gapjumpers also reinforces the need to eliminate “subjective junk (like passionate and team player)” from the hiring language (rockwood, n.d., para. 3). by the way, google leaders also claim that “truly passionate people don’t often use the ‘p-word’” (schmidt, rosenberg, & eagle, 2014, p. 100); passion shows naturally in what they do and how they discuss it; no need to call it. another document could be a clearly articulated list of organizational values and mission goals, which accurately define your organizational culture and can, in fact, signify the true culture fit. proof for all of the below can be found through specific, example-based interview questions and the candidates’ record based on their submitted portfolios. • orientation toward collaboration • skills to work in a team • independent and creative decision-making • ethical decision-making • detailor result-orientation • growth mindset • commitment to diversity and inclusion • focus on people • productivity • ways of dealing with failure, stress, and strong emotions • strategic and holistic vision • planning skills • ability to execute and deliver • flexibility, adaptability, and agility • value of service and public engagement • fairness • teaching skills by the same token, it is useful to create a bulleted list of core job requirements and have it as a checklist, not as a narrative paragraph, in front of the committee in the course of discussion and decision-making. it goes without saying that it is impossible to eliminate unconscious bias completely. moreover, if there is a basic lack of integrity to the hiring process, if the successful candidate is determined from the get-go, and if the whole process is just a sham, then no documentation and self-awareness exercises will help. however, for the most part, this is not the case, and most hiring committees are genuinely motivated to improve their processes and to reduce bias. they could start by exploring the true meaning of their organizational culture, so 6 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, “culture fit” as “anti-diversity” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ that no great candidates are erroneously eliminated as cultural misfits, and so that diversity does not suffer in the process. i have chosen to dedicate my editorial to organizational culture for a reason this time. the entire issue, edited by dr. bharat mehra, is about diversity and inclusion in specific information and cultural organizations. this time, the grand tour of the issue is in his capable hands. references babcock, p. (2006, february 1). detecting hidden bias. society for human resource management. retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hrmagazine/pages/0206cover.aspx condon, b. (2017, april 5). how the ‘airport test’ can ruin a good job interview. inc magazine. retrieved from https://www.inc.com/spencer-rascoff/airport-test-bias.html hudson-ward, a. (2014, august 18). eyeing the new diversity: an emerging paradigm for recruitment and retention. american libraries magazine. retrieved from https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2014/08/18/eyeing-the-new-diversity/ nishii, l. h. (2018). status cues. [online lecture]. not in the public domain. phillips, k. w., liljenquist, k. a., & neale, m. a. (2008). is the pain worth the gain? the advantages and liabilities of agreeing with socially distinct newcomers. personality and social psychology bulletin, 35(3), 336–350. rivera, l. a. (2015, may 30). guess who doesn’t fit in at work. the new york times. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/opinion/sunday/guess-who-doesnt-fit-inat-work.html rockwood, k. (2016, november 30). the startups trying to fix the bias problem in hiring. entrepreneur. retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/285532 schmidt, e., rosenberg, j. and eagle, a. (2014). how google works. new york: grand central publishing. she geeks out. (2018, february 19). why hiring for culture fit isn’t so great. [web log]. retrieved from https://www.shegeeksout.com/why-hiring-for-culture-fit-isnt-so-great/ wharton school, university of pennsylvania. (2015, july 16). is cultural fit a qualification for hiring or a disguise for bias? knowledge@wharton. retrieved from http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/cultural-fit-a-qualification-for-hiring-ora-disguise-for-bias/ dr. keren dali (keren.dali@alumni.utoronto.ca) is editor-in-chief of ijidi. her research interests are in diversity and inclusion at the workplace; relationships between lis and social work; disabilities; lis education with the focus on creativity, accreditation, and humanistic pedagogies; and reading behaviors. with the background in social work and lis, dr. dali holds the inaugural outstanding instructor award from the faculty of information, university of toronto; the 7 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/0206cover.aspx https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/0206cover.aspx https://www.inc.com/spencer-rascoff/airport-test-bias.html https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2014/08/18/eyeing-the-new-diversity/ https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/opinion/sunday/guess-who-doesnt-fit-in-at-work.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/opinion/sunday/guess-who-doesnt-fit-in-at-work.html https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/285532 https://www.shegeeksout.com/why-hiring-for-culture-fit-isnt-so-great/ http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/cultural-fit-a-qualification-for-hiring-or-a-disguise-for-bias/ http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/cultural-fit-a-qualification-for-hiring-or-a-disguise-for-bias/ mailto:keren.dali@alumni.utoronto.ca “culture fit” as “anti-diversity” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ inaugural alise/connie van fleet award for research excellence in public library services to adults; the outstanding reviewer distinction and the outstanding and highly commended paper distinctions from the emerald literati network awards for excellence. her work has been funded by the grants from the social sciences & humanities research council of canada (sshrc) and the american library association, among others. she’s active in asis&t, alise, and ifla, chairing committees for both asis&t and alise. she is a winner (with nadia caidi) of the ala david cohen/ emiert multicultural award 2018 for the co-authored article “diversity by design” published in the library quarterly. 8 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, patchworking library services for invisiblized youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi patchworking library services for invisiblized youth rae-anne montague, chicago state university, usa joseph a. coyle, university of illinois at urbana-champaign, usa abstract librarians find themselves continuously challenged to provide a growing range of innovative services. in order to succeed, this complex task is grounded in local context and implemented based on the needs of users, be it students, patrons, clients, or community members. this article considers parameters of and discusses strategies for developing library services to meet the needs of incarcerated youth. how can librarians be effective in serving these young people who have been drawn into atypical realms, away from their communities, away from the internet? there is a clear and urgent need to provide excellent library services to the approximately 60,000 youth incarcerated across the u. s. currently, there are groups that emphasize services to these users. for example, library services for youth in custody (lsyc) is a professional interest group that focuses on providing a network to support these services. other agencies are also involved, often as part of outreach programs, special projects, or on an ad-hoc basis. together, these efforts result in a patchwork of services. in this case study, we draw on the experience of several dedicated individuals and groups that work to form a patchwork for building awareness, sharing resources, and meeting the informational needs of incarcerated youth. we critically consider these matters in theory and practice while reflecting back on the ten years of providing library services at a youth detention facility located in the u.s. midwest; like many similar facilities, it has no librarian, no other library staff, and no regular library budget. keywords: collaboration; incarceration; outreach; prison; youth publication type: special section publication critical considerations re we willing to relegate ever larger numbers of young people from racially oppressed communities to an isolated existence marked by authoritarian regimes, violence, disease, and technologies of seclusion that produce severe mental instability? before we and others interested in supporting youth who are incarcerated consider ways to address this question, we must first step back and reflect on our privileged spheres as professionals and academics, and with what we are becoming involved. this initial question is derived from angela davis’ seminal work, are prisons obsolete? (2003). this is where we must begin. as prison abolitionists, we believe in a different future, one “in which vital needs like housing, education, and health care, are met, allowing people to live safe and fulfilled lives—without the need for prisons” (washington, 2018, para. 8)—or for prison library services. it is from this standpoint that we discuss the critical need for services for young people in carceral spaces that do not follow the logic of prison reform but are rather invested in building a radically different world. this new environment must exist beyond historical and contemporaneous a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi patchworking library services for invisiblized youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi inequities—where young people are not subjected to systems of control or invisibilized, but are rather situated in strong networks of support that celebrate their lives. there is much to do. prisons do not exist in a vacuum. they are embedded in a larger society and reflect problems therein. for example, although many consider the u.s. to be a wealthy nation, poverty remains widespread. poverty and other disparities are rooted in historical and contemporaneous inequities that will be perpetuated without radical intervention. the status quo leaves those most vulnerable to suffer most (fine & ruglis, 2009). in addition to economic inequity, the u.s. leads the world in incarceration rates. as noted by wagner and sawyer at the prison policy initiative, the american criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in numerous facilities including state and federal prisons, juvenile correctional centers, local jails, military prisons, immigration detention facilities, and psychiatric hospitals (2018). incarceration disproportionately affects young people, and racial and ethnic minorities. for example, blacks make up 12% of the country, but 33% of the prison population —compared to whites who account nationally for 64% and 30% in prison. the incarceration rate for african americans is nearly five times the rate for whites, and currently, almost 9% of all african american men are behind bars (wagner & sawyer, 2018). the deleterious effects of incarceration must be understood as existing within a larger system of racial inequality. as cacho (2012) describes, racialized and criminalized young people are often treated as though they lack full personhood. youth who occupy this space are understood as potentially criminal by default. targeted in this way, youth are disenfranchised from full eligibility to civil and human rights. incarceration is deeply rooted in historical inequity, and modern circumstances mirror past realities. for example, once a person is legally considered a felon, old forms of discrimination in employment, housing, voting, education, public benefits, and exclusion from jury service become legal once more (alexander, 2010). there is a critical need to reduce these cycles of trauma and provide effective support to the millions of people who are involved in these tragic cycles across the nation. angles of intervention what does all of this mean for librarians? what possible interventions may be made by information professionals? in 2017, the public library association published a book in its quick read for busy librarians series which offers librarians some initial approaches to serving incarcerated populations. this text provides a useful introduction to these services, but there is much more to consider and act upon. after discussing key topics and sharing some informative examples, the author, nick higgins (2017), poses two insightful questions that serve to advance this discussion: what power do we have as librarians to dismantle systems of oppression and, more importantly, how do we use that power once we realize we possess it? in the context of juvenile detention librarianship, the possibilities vary greatly and are dependent on the location and the facility. juvenile detention is mainly managed by states, and there are tremendous differences from state to state (national institute of corrections, 2015). regardless of the specific location, as the american civil liberties union (aclu) describes, “confining young people—cutting them off from their families, disrupting their educations, and often exposing them to further trauma and violence—harms their development and has lifelong negative consequences” (2018, para. 1). 131 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi patchworking library services for invisiblized youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi what, then, may be effective roles and practices for librarians in this challenging time and space? in our experience working as librarians to support incarcerated youth over the past decade, we have observed an overall lack of awareness and commitment to providing resources. this is not surprising because people who are incarcerated are removed from society. at this time in history, however, there is no good excuse for librarians and other informed community members to ignore these oppressive circumstances. as noted above, juvenile detention facilities vary in size and approach to services, however, we have yet to encounter any with a well-equipped library that is able to achieve highly effective standards. while federal and state statistics are lacking, it is safe to say that only a small percentage of juvenile detention facilities have any library staff at all. large facilities, such as those located in urban areas like the cook county detention center in chicago are the exception. large facilities tend to align with the model of school librarianship in providing services. however, library capacities may be limited based on the constraints of the facility. for example, libraries may lack resources, have limited scheduling possibilities, and be unable to provide internet access. given these constraints, they are usually unable to consistently achieve effective outcomes or move toward progressive, holistic, or sustainable services, such as those described by austin (2018). patchwork model with limited time, space, and other resources, how then do the majority of juvenile detention centers (jdcs) provide library services? the sad fact is that many simply do not offer them. for the majority of smaller facilities outside of urban hubs, there are few or no designated library staff or resources. in order to provide any sort of collections or programming, library services often take the form of patchworks of support. individuals and organizations, often with very limited resources or formal training in library and information science, form partnerships that fluctuate over time. patchworks of support are often ridden with uncertainty because it is never clear when institutional support will be provided and for how long it will last. there is nothing romantic about a patchwork approach. these support networks are a consequence of systematic disinvestment in dynamic social programs that support the needs and interests of youth. as anna tsing (2015) writes, however, “to appreciate the patchy unpredictability associated with our current condition, we need to reopen our imagination” (p. 5). thus, what follows is a variety of approaches we have drawn upon ourselves as we have attempted to account for various levels of library support and to consider possible alternatives. as sweeney (2011) notes, there is a clear need to provide basic library services, such as reading opportunities, access to information, and research skill development to at-risk youth. however, providing library services without staff, budget, or organizational affiliation to young people who are facing onerous systematic challenges is a complex endeavor. there is no singular or simple path. in the following sections, we share a patchwork of sources and approaches we have found useful in terms of three main areas—networks, collections, and programs. networks library services for youth in custody (lsyc; http://www.youthlibraries.org) is an interest group of the association of specialized and cooperative library agencies, a division of the american library association that focuses on providing a network to support these endeavors. lsyc supports librarians that work with youth in custody including incarcerated, detained, and 132 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi http://www.youthlibraries.org/ patchworking library services for invisiblized youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi committed youth in a variety of juvenile and adult settings as well as mental health facilities and group-homes. lsyc provides access to a network of dedicated professional peers who are available to offer advice and encouragement and to share experiences. much of this takes place on the group listserv. from time to time, there are also opportunities to meet up in person at conferences or other professional gatherings. peer support also comes from local librarians and information studies students, as well as through alliances with community organizations that develop through shared interests and goals. detention center staff, especially teachers, who care about the youth and understand educational goals and institutional norms, are essential in terms of providing access, considering possibilities, and supporting day-to-day library operations. as much as possible, it is important that library services be structured in ways that draw upon the knowledge of people with personal experience with incarceration. we have collaborated with both formerly incarcerated youth and currently incarcerated adults to develop and offer library programming and services. for example, our writing program was informed by feedback provided by an incarcerated author. we also made efforts to include materials by other currently or formerly incarcerated individuals. these texts, often non-published or selfpublished, are among the most popular. while each state or facility may have rules that limit certain types of collaboration, librarians involved in providing services to youth who are incarcerated should look for options to involve those with lived experience. connecting with groups such as ex-cons for community and social change (eccsc; https://www.eccsc.info) is a good place to begin. eccsc is a coalition with hundreds of formerly incarcerated individuals who have taken on the responsibility to serve their local communities. over the course of our involvement, local networks of support shifted regularly, based on the dynamic nature of the organizations. on the one hand, this shifting led to some limitations in terms of continuity; on the other, it often brought in new energy. the ability to draw on diverse networks has been essential to building and improving the collection and providing engaging programs. collections considering collection development, it is important that we re-emphasize critical awareness. to do this, we had to step back and reflect on our position of privilege in these endeavors and to consider tatum’s (2006) work in the context of resource development. tatum underscores the importance of culturally-conscious information, which increases potential for interest and counters power imbalances pervasive across educational systems. this grounding is echoed by contemporary library initiatives such as we need diverse books (wndb) and in the margins. according to their website, wndb is “a grassroots organization of children’s book lovers” that aims “to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people” (2018, para 1). the wndb website includes many helpful resources for finding diverse books, recommendations for summer reading, and writing diversely. wndb also sponsors a number of innovative programs, such as the walter grant, to support diverse unpublished authors and illustrators, internship and mentorship initiatives, free visits to schools, and a mobile app called ourstory. the wndb blog is filled with thoughtful insights from authors and other reading, writing, and viewing enthusiasts. 133 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://www.eccsc.info/ patchworking library services for invisiblized youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi in the margins is a committee consisting of “librarians who currently work or have recently worked with youth in…challenging circumstances” (2018, para 1). their mission is to “seek out and highlight fiction and non-fiction titles…of high-interest and appeal to youth, aged 9-21, that reflect marginalized and/or street culture” (2018, para 3). in the margins not only provides an excellent resource list on which to draw for collection development, they also encourage youth reviewers in order to facilitate authentic assessments and donate many highinterest titles to juvenile detention facilities. several community groups also contribute directly to sustaining collections. books to prisoners programs emerged in the 1970s. the urbana-champaign books to prisoners (b2p) is an active example. b2p an illinois-based community organization that aims “to provide books to inmates” by redistributing donated books, “to offer a venue for inmates to tell their own stories,” and to educate their community about prisons (2018, n.p.). while b2p focuses primarily on responding to requests to send books to incarcerated adults, they receive many donations. extra materials, those that do not match interests of adult readers, are sold at book sales to support the costs of operating the program, primarily mailing costs. b2p has long supported our efforts to provide reading materials for youth by allowing us to review and take books from the extra materials they accrue on a regular basis before they are selected for sale. lgbt books to prisoners is another example of an organization that provides critical services in this realm. located in madison, wi, it is “a trans-affirming, racial justice-focused, prisonabolitionist project” that “send(s) books to incarcerated lgbtq-identified people across the country” (2018, para. 1). in addition to working with organizations that redistribute books, we also acquire materials for the collection through direct donations from local public, school, and special libraries. librarians working in these organizations who are aware of jdc library efforts and limited funding look out for materials to contribute, such as galleys, discards, and donations. local individuals, especially librarians and library students, who assist as volunteers in essential areas such as weeding, repairing materials, and project workdays, augment organizational support. over the course of our involvement, we have also received donations directly and secured grant funding to support initiatives. creating occasional wish lists that can be shared online with community members has also proved effective in terms of raising awareness and generating funds to purchase new materials. the titles we request are drawn from book lists, such as those created by wndb and in the margins, reviews, and, most importantly, the feedback and recommendations provided by youth. programs youth themselves are essential contributors to the success of the library. this manifests in a number of ways. for example, they provide peer reviews and share details about high-interest titles, authors, and genres, and encourage further development; when possible, they also actively engage in programs. one popular program links them to outreach efforts of local public libraries. during summer, when they are not in classes, youth participate in summer reading and greatly enjoy the new books they sometimes receive as prizes for achieving certain goals. to help isolated youth, especially those who have been incarcerated, it is important to look for ways to build connections with the community. linking with the public library to offer summer reading programs helps to reduce isolation and access barriers. this is also a pathway to 134 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi patchworking library services for invisiblized youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi facilitating more connections after release. exposure to public library programming may encourage future interest and engagement. within the jdc, the availability of programming is dependent on adult supervision. in the case of library services, programs are reliant on volunteers to facilitate activities. in our experience, youth seek out, engage in, and appreciate varied opportunities for creative expression. in this vein, the beat within provides a robust framework of support in consistently producing thoughtful and bold works emphasizing youth voices. the beat was founded as a non-profit in san francisco and printed its first publication in 1996 following the murder of rapper tupac shakur, when young people sought ways to express their intense feelings of loss. today, staff and volunteers produce weekly publications written by and for incarcerated youth. the beat within’s mission “encourages literacy, self-expression, …critical thinking skills, and …supportive relationships with adults and [the] community” (2018, para. 1). they “are committed to being an effective bridge between youth who are locked up” and communities that “support their progress towards a healthy, non-violent, and productive life” (2018, para. 1). the beat is a valuable resource that encourages youth to understand themselves as belonging to a community of writers. from this experience, youth can grow and express their talents in other venues. after having their work published in the beat, youth have gone on to author selfpublished novels, participated in a variety of national writing contests, and produced zines. our model, based on an iterative process and cycles of feedback, has been important to the success of the creative writing programming we have offered. volunteers on the outside and incarcerated adults provided weekly feedback to youth writers at the detention center. feedback from dedicated incarcerated adults who could reflect on youth writing from their own lived experiences was especially meaningful to the writers. writing support helps to develop positive emotional connections and enables sharing life experiences in terms of similarities and differences. it is critical to encourage pathways to facilitating exchange as part of this programming. youth often mention that they never had positive feedback on the work they had written. not only did community members who served as reviewers validate youth perspectives and experiences, but they also learned to think anew about social issues that youth confronted in their communities. this kind of relationship building can break down the walls that keep youth invisibilized and provides a venue for their perspectives to be heard and valued. involvement in programs fosters positive relationships between youth in custody and other incarcerated individuals and non-incarcerated community members. this may include regular volunteer visits and special guests. in our programs, many individuals have participated, including librarians, peer mentors, college students, scientists, gardeners, yoga teachers, artists, and others offering critical community resources. occasionally, we have also found funding to bring in authors to meet with youth. in addition to book group activities and writing workshops, author visits are powerful ways for youth to experience focused and in-depth engagement. in our experience, these events are most successful when they are designed to foster intimate writer-to-writer connections. when youth are positioned as writers, readers, and thinkers interacting with authors, they are empowered as contributors rather than treated as passive receivers. youth may introduce speakers, share their own work with speakers, ask questions about the writing process, and debate critical 135 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi patchworking library services for invisiblized youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi social issues presented in reading materials by drawing upon their own life experiences. one final program we have offered successfully is digital music production. while there is free and open source content available, this activity can be more challenging to run because of the special equipment and permissions that may be required. the benefits are significant, however. youth are highly engaged as content creators. they become equipped with valuable skills that can be harnessed in greater depth upon release; similar to summer reading programs, digital music production may be linked to public library programming that fosters continued engagement with library services after release. toward brighter futures it is important that library services for young people in custody be considered within an expansive framework that can account for the ways in which many young people are targeted for failure. while racial and class inequality are the constitutive elements to the alarming u.s. incarceration rates, these issues are not limited to the united states. progressive librarians around the world are called to meet the information needs of young people affected by systems of oppression. we must not lose sight of the way in which these structures undermine our efforts to offer equitable library support to youth. our patchwork approach is not proposed as a solution to these problems. it is a concerted commitment to keep trying even as institutions continue to fail youth. our efforts are invested in working toward brighter futures and more robust alternatives, alternatives that young people across the country and around the globe who find themselves entangled in systems of injustice deserve. there is much more to do. references alexander, m. (2010). the new jim crow: mass incarceration in the age of color blindness. new york: new press. american civil liberties union (aclu). (2018). america’s addiction to juvenile incarceration: state by state. retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/youthincarceration/americas-addiction-juvenile-incarceration-state-state austin, j. (2018). restorative justice as a tool to address the role of policing and incarceration in the lives of youth in the united states. journal of librarianship and information science, sage onlinefirst. the beat within. (2018). about us. retrieved from http://www.thebeatwithin.org/about-us cacho, l. m. (2012). social death: racialized rightlessness and the criminalization of the unprotected. new york: new york university press. davis, a. y. (2003). are prisons obsolete? new york: seven stories press. fine, m., & ruglis, j. (2009). circuits and consequences of dispossession: the racialized realignment of the public sphere for u.s. youth. transforming anthropology, 17(1), 2033. 136 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/youth-incarceration/americas-addiction-juvenile-incarceration-state-state https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/youth-incarceration/americas-addiction-juvenile-incarceration-state-state http://www.thebeatwithin.org/about-us patchworking library services for invisiblized youth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi higgins, n. (2017). get inside: responsible jail and prison library service. chicago: public library association. in the margins. (2018). 2018 in the margins press release. retrieved from https://inthemarginssite.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/749 lgbt books to prisoners. (2018). mission. retrieved from https://lgbtbookstoprisoners.org national institute of corrections. (2015). policies and procedures for juvenile facilities. retrieved from https://nicic.gov/policies-and-procedures-juvenile-facilities sweeney, j. (2011). literacy: a way out for at-risk youth. santa barbara, ca: libraries unlimited. tatum, a. w. (2006). engaging african american males in reading. educational leadership, 63(5), 44-49. tsing, a. l. (2015). the mushroom at the end of the world: on the possibility of life in capitalist ruins. princeton: princeton university press. urbana champaign books to prisoners. (2018). uc books to prisoners a project of the ucimc. retrieved from http://www.books2prisoners.org wagner, p. & sawyer, w. (2018). mass incarceration: the whole pie 2018. prison policy initiative. retrieved from https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2018.html washington, j. (2018, july 31). what is prison abolition? the movement that is trying to think beyond prisons as a tool to solve society’s problems. the nation. retrieved from https://www.thenation.com/article/what-is-prison-abolition we need diverse books (wndb). (2018). about wndb. retrieved from https://diversebooks.org/about-wndb/ dr. rae-anne montague (raemontague@gmail.com) has many years of experience as a teacher, librarian, and library educator. she currently works at chicago state university as a member of the information studies faculty. her research interests center on learning communities and social justice. joe coyle (joe.a.coyle@gmail.com) has provided library services for young people in custody since 2009. he is currently a doctoral student in anthropology at the university of illinois at urbana-champaign. his doctoral research focuses on lgbt pentecostals in brazil and shifting forms of religious, national, and sexual belonging. 137 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://inthemarginssite.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/749 https://lgbtbookstoprisoners.org/ https://nicic.gov/policies-and-procedures-juvenile-facilities http://www.books2prisoners.org/ https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2018.html https://www.thenation.com/article/what-is-prison-abolition https://diversebooks.org/about-wndb/ file:///c:/users/laina/dropbox/desktop/raemontague@gmail.com mailto:joe.a.coyle@gmail.com critical considerations angles of intervention patchwork model networks collections programs toward brighter futures references ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data: examining sexual and reproductive health needs and services for rohingya refugees at cox’s bazar, bangladesh the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data: examining sexual and reproductive health needs of and services for rohingya refugees at cox’s bazar, bangladesh bachera aktar,* brac university, bangladesh; rushdia ahmed,* brac university, bangladesh; raafat hassan,* brac university, bangladesh; nadia farnaz, brac university, bangladesh; pushpita ray, brac university, bangladesh; abdul awal, brac university, bangladesh; sharid bin shafique, brac university, bangladesh; md tanvir hasan, brac university, bangladesh; zahidul quayyum, brac university, bangladesh; mohira babaeva jafarovna, world health organization, hq/geneva, switzerland; loulou hassan kobeissi, world health organization, switzerland; khalid el tahir, world health organization, bangladesh; balwinder singh chawla, world health organization, bangladesh; sabina faiz rashid, brac university, bangladesh *co-first authors. these authors contributed equally to this work. abstract during humanitarian emergencies, such as the forced displacement of the rohingya diaspora, women and adolescent girls become highly vulnerable to sexual and reproductive health (srh) issues and abuse. although sensitive in nature, community-driven information is essential for designing and delivering effective community-centric srh services. this article provides an overview of the theoretical framework and methodologies used to investigate srh needs, barriers, and challenges in service-delivery and utilization in the rohingya refugee camps in cox’s bazar, bangladesh. it also offers insights on important methodological and ethical factors to consider while conducting research in a similar context. a concurrent mixed-method study was undertaken in ten randomly selected rohingya refugee camps between july and november 2018. the design consisted of a cross-sectional household survey of 403 rohingya adolescent girls and women, along with an assessment of 29 healthcare facilities. the team also completed in-depth interviews with nine adolescent girls, 10 women, nine formal and nine informal healthcare providers, key informant interviews with seven key stakeholders and seven influential community members. lastly, three focus group discussions were undertaken with a group of 18 rohingya men. our theoretical framework drew from the socio-ecological models developed by karl blanchet and colleagues (2017) insofar as they considered a multiplicity of related contextual and cross-cutting factors. building good rapport with community gatekeepers was key in accessing and sustaining the relationship with the various respondents. the data collected through such context-specific research approaches is critical in designing community-centric service-delivery mechanisms, and culturally and gender-sensitive srh interventions in humanitarian crises. keywords: humanitarian crisis; information; refugee; rohingya; sexual and reproductive health publication type: case study https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 introduction omplex humanitarian emergencies, like forced displacement, are one of the main reasons for political unrest, security and safety issues, and various public health challenges in recent times. man-made disasters are responsible for greater global mortality and morbidity rates when compared to natural disasters (brennan & nandy, 2001). globally, armed conflicts and violence forcibly displaced about 68 million people from their homes in 2017 (unhcr, 2018). among these people, 21 million were forced to seek refuge in foreign lands (world bank, 2017). such movement creates a complex environment that results in an emergency need for shelter, protection, food, clean water, sanitation, and basic public health services (onyango & heidari, 2017). about 89% of such forced displacement typically happens in low-and middle-income countries, creating a complex ecosystem of humanitarian crises by imposing a huge burden on the socio-political, economical, and health systems of host countries, and thus impact the overall societal development (gardemann, 2002; world bank, 2017). humanitarian response settings, therefore, can practically be considered as a composite network system due to the instability of the environment and the unregulated operating landscapes resulting from the plethora of actors, and their complex interactions (altay & labonte, 2014). hence, coordination between different humanitarian actors including the displaced population, the governments of countries where they seek refuge, donor agencies, human rights groups, the united nation (un) agencies, national and international non-government organizations (ngos), political missions and military contingents is essential to manage such complex humanitarian emergency situations (chynoweth, 2015; landegger et al., 2011; seybolt, 2009). humanitarian responses also require collaboration between humanitarian actors, researchers, and government for thoughtful, planned yet flexible, innovative and evidence-based program designs, implementation and practices to ensure better health and life outcomes (onyango & heidari, 2017; turner et al., 2011). effective collaboration between humanitarian actors and health researchers can ensure that the resources allocated are significant, as well as distributed and utilized, as per need, and not wasted (turner et al., 2011). such collaboration can also help in upholding a suitable combination of operational expertise with the collection, analysis, critical interpretation, and dissemination of data (banatvala & zwi, 2000). the need for reliable and authentic information to handle complex humanitarian crisis conditions is enormous. as forced displacement increases the health risk of the affected population, relevant context-specific public health information is crucial to support the local health system for effectively responding to the crisis situation (brennan & nandy, 2001; checchi et al., 2017). robust, reliable, and relevant information is critical for identifying the health needs and priorities of the refugees in crises. appropriate health service packages and interventions that address diverse groups’ needs can thus be designed and resources mobilized accordingly (checchi et al., 2017). accurate and reliable health information helps humanitarian aid organizations make decisions based on evidence and enable them to invest resources effectively and efficiently. therefore, most of the donors and humanitarian aid agencies emphasize contextspecific information collection before designing and implementing any proposed interventions (darcy et al., 2013). this being said, the use of research-generated information becomes challenging if evidence fails to capture the wider socio-political and cultural dimensions of the problem, along with the actual needs of the community at-risk (bradt, 2009; darcy et al., 2013; mock & garfield, 2007). conducting a well-designed analysis with appropriate tools that have been validated in the specific humanitarian context can help aid agencies, donors, and public health researchers to understand the local, cultural, and community practices. in turn, these are c 69 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 key in designing effective and people-centric interventions, successful implementation, and proper uptake by the displaced population in need. research on sexual and reproductive health care in a humanitarian context sexual and reproductive health (srh) care is recognized as one of the priority needs in emergency humanitarian crisis situations (onyango & heidari, 2017). forced displacement and life in refugee camps aggregate vulnerability to srh problems and increase the risk of mortality and morbidity. new srh problems, such as sexually transmitted infections and sexual violence, emerge where forcibly displaced populations take shelter. the different socio-cultural context in the host country often conflict with the refugee’s own traditional values and beliefs, and the lack of social support system increases their trauma of losing family members, livelihood, and social identity during displacement (doedens & burns, 2001). the health systems in host countries also face challenges in providing adequate healthcare (especially srh care) support to the refugee population due to a lack of understanding (at times) of their traditional healthcare seeking behavior as well the gender and socio-cultural barriers which inform their practices. therefore, generating evidence on sensitive access issues regarding srh in conservative displaced communities is vital to understanding the strategies required to provide effective lifesaving services in these complex settings (onyango & heidari, 2017). evidence shows that srh-specific programs in humanitarian settings lack systematic information collection, thus, failing in many cases to critically link interventions to research evidence (casey, 2015), with in-depth information often missing. a systematic approach to conducting research on srh issues during humanitarian crises (which incorporates numerous actors, their complex interactions, and networks) is important for better coordination and for effective decision-making that would enable a quality outcome of response for the displaced population in need (altay & labonte, 2014). who initiative to improve the srh of refugees in three countries the world health organization (who) has established a strategic partnership with the ministry of foreign affairs of the netherlands to deliver integrated srh services to the most vulnerable groups, focusing on adolescent girls and women in humanitarian crises in three countries; bangladesh (cox’s bazar), the democratic republic of the congo (drc) (kasai), and yemen (ahmed et al., 2019). all three countries are struggling with managing srh needs of the huge number of refugees they are hosting due to the poor srh service availability in those fragile humanitarian settings. as the first step toward implementing comprehensive srh interventions, who contracted local research organizations in those countries to conduct a need and feasibility assessment to better understand the shr needs of the refugee populations, as well as related socio-cultural behavior and practices, to design evidence-informed interventions (ahmed et al., 2019). the bangladesh case study bangladesh is currently hosting about 912,114 rohingya refugees (unhcr, 2019), who fled from the rakhain state of myanmar as a result of political violence. the 1982 myanmar citizenship law did not count rohingyas as one of the 135 legally-recognized ethnic groups in the country thus removing a variety of their citizenship-related rights (haque, 2017). this encouraged decades of violence against this ethnic minority population, forcing them to leave their country. due to 70 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 geographical proximity, the flow of people between the bangladesh-myanmar borders has been common since the 1970s. however, the outbreak of violence that occurred on august 25, 20171 caused an influx of rohingyas in bangladesh. this displaced population took shelter in the refugee camps established in two sub-districts (namely ukhiya and teknaf) of the cox’s bazar district. the living conditions in these overcrowded and informal settlements, especially for adolescent girls and women, created health-related threats and challenges. as of july 2019, about 52% of the rohingya refugees were female and 30% of them belonged to the 12–59 years age group (unhcr, 2019). these women and girls are identified as being at a higher risk of morbidity and mortality related to pregnancy, exploitation, violence, and diseases during such complex humanitarian emergencies, and need special attention in terms of srh care (strategic executive group, 2019). being in their reproductive age, rohingya adolescent girls and women are in dire need of srh services such as pregnancy care, childbirth support, postnatal care, family planning services, menstrual health, safe abortion, and prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections including hiv/aids (islam & nuzhat, 2018). in order to deliver these services, an in-depth investigation of this group’s priority needs, including their traditional practices, and cultural models and understandings is required. in doing so, one could also get comprehensive insights into barriers and existing vulnerabilities of the rohingya refugee population at large (doedens & burns, 2001), particularly for adolescents and women of reproductive age. the emergency humanitarian response for the rohingya refugee crises in bangladesh followed the cluster approach (by unhcr) whereby the governments of the host country, un agencies and ngos, work together to improve capacity, coordination, leadership, and accountability jointly within different sectors such as health, water sanitation and hygiene (wash), education, and protection (landegger et al., 2011). the sexual and reproductive health working group is one of the sub-sectors led by the united nations population fund (unfpa) under health sector (headed by who) that collaborates and coordinates with the government of bangladesh, un agencies, and all ngos providing srh services in the rohingya refugee camps. since inception, this study brought together key stakeholders, and ensured their engagement. these include the ministry of health and family welfare, the government of bangladesh (gob); health sector implementors and the sexual and reproductive health and rights (srhr) sub-sector which operate in the camps. the discussions among the sub-sectors are overseen by unfpa and play a key role in influencing local srh service provision policies. this study was designed in consultation with who and unfpa to ensure adequate contextualization of questions and instruments, and to capture different aspects of a complex humanitarian eco-system as part of the study setting. a situation analysis was conducted in 10 randomly selected refugee camps in cox’s bazar, bangladesh between july and november 2018 by the authors to assess the srh needs of rohingya adolescent girls and women (especially their healthcare seeking behavior) and to explore the demand and supply barriers in srh service uptake (ahmed et al., 2019). it also explored facilities’ readiness to deliver comprehensive srh services, and areas of improvement of the existent srhr service delivery systems (along with the availability of resources within the refugee camps) (ahmed et al., 2019; aktar et al., 2019). this research is among the first to investigate rohingya adolescent girls and women’s (aged 12-59 years) srh needs, availability and utilization of srhr services, barriers to service uptake, and challenges faced in the camps. as such, it illustrates a case study approach for examining srh conditions and services in a humanitarian setting for rohingya refugees. it also serves as a reference for future research in terms of theoretical framing, methodological adaptations, insights and directions on how to conduct research on srh during forced migration. 71 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 theoretical framework figure 1. conceptual framework for the study (adopted from the ecological models of mcleroy et al., 1988 and blanchet et al., 2017). this research was guided by the ecological model of health behavior (mcleroy et al., 1988) and the conceptual framework developed by blanchet and colleagues (2017) which explained the influence of key factors on health service delivery in humanitarian crises situation (blanchet et al., 2017). together these two frameworks serve the purpose of capturing all-inclusive factors, at both individual and population levels, pertinent for srh-related information, in a context of religious and cultural conservatism as illustrated by the (forcibly) displaced rohingyas in the context of this study. in our case, the health interventions, influencing factors, and other crosscutting related issues were selected based on the objectives and themes identified in consultation with experts (srhr sub-sector and health sector stakeholders and some community discussions2). our situation analysis was focused on the core srh-related issues and interventions, service delivery mechanisms and challenges that pertain to the rohingya adolescent girls and women. thus, the conceptual framework (see figure 1) shows that srh outcomes and outputs, at both individual and population levels, are influenced by srh service-seeking behavior and service utilization, as well as the complex but interlinked socio-cultural and contextual factors actual and perceived needs availability of srh services accessibility to srh services srh service utilization sexual and reproductive health (srh) outcomes (individual and population level) individual interpersonal institutional contextual • influence of family members, relatives, neighbors, community/religious leaders • family and social support system • customs and traditions • religious factors • cultural norms and practices • srh service provision and delivery • readiness of health facility • formal & informal healthcare providers • language barrier • difficult geographical terrain • transportation • health system • policies • collaborations between health system actors • age • srh knowledge • srh perception • personal beliefs/understandings state level 72 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 within the ecosystem of humanitarian crises—rohingya refugee camps in our case. this conceptual framework also captures the demand-side and supply-side aspects of srh service provision and utilization, which are mostly influenced by the social and structural determinants of health. we argue that the interdisciplinary aspects of the ecological model explains the multisectoral, multi-modal, and multi-level factors influencing refugees’ healthcare seeking behavior (chung et al., 2018; taylor & lamaro haintz, 2017). this framework integrates the syndemics3 (de jong et al., 2015) of the overall health systems including the total complex ecosystem along with the individual, interpersonal, institutional, contextual, and state-level influences in utilizing and/or accessing srh services during humanitarian crises. the socio-ecological model allows one to consider the relationship of individuals (such as rohingya adolescent girls and women) within the context of their community practices, familial structures, cultural beliefs and norms, and context-specific needs for srh. this framework also acknowledges the gap in community-specific knowledge required to identify the need-based strategic public health approaches to solve srh related problems and service delivery gaps from the perspective of the beneficiaries (de jong et al., 2015). the overall health systems' functions and responses to humanitarian emergency situations along with the broader public and health policy approaches are key to the srh outcomes and outputs for the rohingya refugees due to their direct impact on uptake of interventions and service delivery systems. collecting and combining information through this situation analysis at the initial stage of the humanitarian crisis condition serves as a basis for understanding community needs, availability and access to care, utilization of services, and barriers in service utilization, along with facility readiness to provide the needful srh services, supply-side barriers, and key contextual factors including their socio-cultural and religious beliefs. methods this study employed a concurrent mixed-methods design using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. ten refugee camps (out of a total of 34) were randomly selected from ukhiya and teknaf, two upazilas (sub-districts) where rohingya refugees settled after the august 25, 2017 influx, taking shelter in makeshift camps in those two sub-districts. a cross-sectional survey was administered along with in-depth interviews (idis) with adolescent girls and women, as well as focus group discussions (fgds) with adult rohingya males and key informant interviews (kiis) with influential community members as a means of understanding srh-related needs on the demand side. an assessment of health facilities was carried out to evaluate facility readiness for providing integrated srh services to rohingya adolescent girls and women. in addition, 10 idis with healthcare providers and seven kiis with a range of key stakeholders were conducted to identify supply-side barriers. the strength of the study rests on the involvement of rohingya refugee community members and representatives from different stakeholder organizations, who play a critical role in dealing with the humanitarian crises condition in the rohingya camps. a detailed description of the sampling technique, data collection method, and data analysis can be found in the protocol paper based on this study (ahmed et al., 2019). as per the theoretical framework discussed above, accessibility and availability of srh services in the refugee camps were explored using the household survey, idis, kiis, and fgds. the household survey and idis with rohingya adolescent girls and women touched upon the individual, contextual, and interpersonal aspects of srh service utilization and most importantly their srh needs. the idis with formal healthcare providers and kiis with key stakeholders (see table 1) addressed the institutional composites. fgds with rohingya men, idis with informal healthcare providers, and kiis with influential community members as a whole helped to gain a better 73 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 understanding on the socio-cultural and contextual factors for srh service accessibility. the facility assessment approach contributed to the better understanding of readiness for srh service provision and delivery at institutional levels, which were explored by using the institutional records as well as by interacting with the facility managers and care providers within those facilities. table 1. detailed sampling strategies, sample size and characteristics of each qualitative respondent groups methods sampling strategy respondent groups numbers key stakeholders 7 kiis opportunistic/ emergent sampling & snowball sampling srhr sub-sector focal points male 1 government high officials male 1 local and international ngo program leads & project managers – (male: 3, female: 1) 4 hospital director male 1 influential community members 7 majhii (community leader) male 3 imam (influential religious leader) male 3 burmese teachers male 1 idis purposive sampling rohingya women aged 18-59 years female 10 rohingya adolescent girls (12-17 years old) female 9 formal providers 10 opportunistic/ emergent sampling midwife female 3 clinic managers male 2 medical officers male 3 nurses female 1 paramedics male 1 informal providers 9 opportunistic/ emergent sampling traditional birth attendants (tbas) female 3 kabiraj (traditional healers) male 2 female traditional healers 1 burmese doctors male 3 fgds convenient sampling (3 fgds with 6 participants in each) rohingya adult males** 18 **adult rohingya males (other than community influential) who were included for focus group discussions aged between 25-65 years. they included husbands and/or fathers of rohingya adolescent girls and women, and are in many cases the household heads and decision makers for health service utilization. household survey a household survey was administered to 403 rohingya adolescent girls and women in the selected refugee camps (278 of whom were women and 125 were adolescent girls). a multistage sampling strategy was applied to select respondents from the household level following pre-set 74 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 recruitment criteria (married/unmarried females aged 12-59 years that were forcefully displaced to bangladesh during or after the august 25, 2017 influx and that were residing in the selected refugee camps). one woman per household was selected as a respondent for the survey. if more than one woman was found in a household, then only one was randomly selected on the basis of availability and interest. in addition, and if available, an adolescent (aged 12–17 years) was interviewed from the same household. if more than one adolescent girl was present in the same household, then a similar random selection process was conducted. the household survey contributed to understanding srh service utilization among the study population, and to determining the barriers in service utilization. the survey consisted of a structured questionnaire that was adapted from the “reproductive health assessment toolkit for conflict-affected women” (united states agency for international development, 2007), and expanded based on reviewing different literatures, experiences from prior field visits, and in consultation with who head quarter and the cox’s bazar team. the questionnaire included inquiries on srh service utilization among rohingya adolescent girls and women, especially on menstrual health and hygiene; pregnancy, delivery, and postnatal care; family planning methods; menstrual regulation (mr) and safe abortion care; sexually transmitted diseases; and reasons for using or not using srh services. the demographic profile of the study respondents was also captured through this survey. we worked with local translators/data collectors to translate the questionnaire into bengali so that local data collectors could properly understand the meaning of the questions and make them fit into the local dialect. key terms such as pregnancy, pregnant women, and menstruation in rohingya dialect were also included in the questionnaire as reference terms for use by the data collectors. the questionnaire was pre-tested in a refugee camp other than the selected camps and modified accordingly. data was collected using samsung tablets (model no. sm-t231) to ensure automatic data storage in the database through surveycto software, an open data kit (odk)4 tool. local data collectors were trained on basic concepts and on the srh terminology used locally. they also familiarized themselves with the questionnaire and research methodology and were trained on administering the questionnaire and collecting data using odk through tablets. qualitative interviews and group discussions with stakeholders nineteen idis were conducted with adolescent girls and women in order to complement the survey findings and to have a better understanding of their srh needs, religious and cultural beliefs and practices, availability of the services in the camps, and the challenges they face to access the services. in addition, three fgds with adult rohingya males were also conducted to understand their attitudes on whether (and why) women were discouraged or not from receiving srh services from formal providers and health facilities. key rohingya community leaders referred to as majhii5, imams (religious leaders), and teachers and community informal providers (such as traditional birth attendants, burmese doctors, and traditional healers) were also interviewed to find out their views as well as their influence on decision-making processes of the communities when seeking srh services. three camps were selected from the 10 selected camps (for household surveys) depending on geographic location, challenging terrains, remoteness, difficulty in accessibility, and availability of infrastructure. rohingya adolescent girls and women were recruited for interviews using purposive sampling, and male respondents were recruited using a convenient sampling method. influential community members and informal providers were identified using opportunistic/emergent sampling and snowball sampling methods. table 1 75 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 presents a detailed sampling method, sample size, and characteristics of respondent groups. using semi-structured guidelines prepared in english and then translated into bangla, interviews and discussions were conducted until data saturation was achieved. trained researchers conducted idis and facilitated fgds with assistance from the local data collectors who also acted as interpreters. data collected from the household survey and idis were triangulated to gather information on the srh demand side (needs, service availability and utilization, and barriers to access by the study population). the study revealed several demand-side barriers when it comes to utilizing formal healthcare services from health facilities including the community’s perception and religious beliefs, the perceived importance and quality of services, the trust in informal providers, and the influence of spouses, family members, and other informal providers (aktar et al., 2019). the perceived quality of services included, but were not limited to, availability of 24/7 health services, medications and other supplies, female doctors, and comprehensive srh services in each health center (want to receive antenatal, delivery and postnatal services from a single health center) (aktar et al., 2019). facility assessment facility assessments were conducted at those health facilities established by the government, ngos, and international ngos (ingos). the purpose was to explore facility readiness regarding comprehensive srh services. six categories of health facilities were chosen based on the health facility register (shared internally by who) that included primary health centers (phcs), health posts (fixed), labor rooms or srh-only facilities, comprehensive women’s health centers, secondary health facilities, and community clinics. a description of the sampling technique and sampling strategies for facility assessment has been documented in ahmed et al. (2019). table 2 summarizes the type and number of health facilities assessed as part of this study. table 2. distribution of selected facilities for facility assessment facility type ukhiya teknaf community clinic (run by the ministry of health and family welfare) 1 1 health post (fixed) 7 3 labor room or specialized srh facility 3 primary health center (phc) 6 2 secondary health facility (run by ngos/ingos) 4 upazila health complex (run by the ministry of health and family welfare) 1 1 total 22 7 76 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 a structured english checklist was prepared for the facility assessment following who’s service availability and readiness assessment (sara) tool (who, 2013). the checklist was then shared with two key stakeholders at cox’s bazar, the who’s health sector lead, and unfpa’s srhr subsector, to seek their input as to whether the instrument aligned with the actual situation based on their knowledge on the ground. the checklist was also tested several times on similar types of health facilities before finalization. the data were collected using samsung tablets and the kobo toolbox software, an open data kit (odk) tool. during the assessment, field notes were taken through observations and informal discussions with the facility management. these helped to gather explanations about any service gaps identified as per the checklist. a separate analysis of six different facility categories was also conducted to identify gaps at multiple levels such as service provision and availability, service utilization, human resources including their training, infrastructure, and supply of equipment and drugs for providing srh services by the health facilities. this assessment helped the team to have a broader overview of supply-side barriers as related to infrastructure, medical supplies, and human resources along with their training needs. qualitative interviews with healthcare providers and key stakeholders ten idis with the formal healthcare providers working in the health facilities selected were also conducted to have a detailed and elaborate picture of the challenges and barriers they face on a daily basis. moreover, nine idis with informal healthcare providers working in the selected refugee camps were conducted, and these helped to understand their perceptions and practices regarding srh service provision along with their influence in the community (and family) decision making. formal healthcare providers for idis were recruited from the same facilities where the facility assessment was conducted. the informal healthcare providers for idis were recruited from the same three camps selected for the qualitative assessment using the opportunist/emergent sampling technique. interviews were conducted until data saturation was reached. seven kiis with different stakeholders within government, ingos, and ngos were conducted through emergent/opportunist sampling and snowball sampling strategies (see table 1). their insights were key to understanding the existing srh services utilization and management challenges at the systemic level. the evidence gathered enabled us to get a better understanding of supply-side challenges, of the perspectives of key actors regarding srh needs of rohingya adolescent girls and women, and the readiness of the supply-side actors in providing comprehensive srh services. ethical considerations conducting research with vulnerable refugee populations in a humanitarian crisis situation requires special ethical attention. precautions need to be taken while applying research ethics principles such as confidentiality, privacy, and respect of the respondents (mfutso-bengo et al., 2008). the communities living through these complex humanitarian crisis situations often go through severe traumatic experiences during forcible displacement and migration from one country to another, and even sometimes become victims of exploitations in the refugee camps (banatvala & zwi, 2000; mfutso-bengo et al., 2008). therefore, researchers need to be very cautious when phrasing and asking sensitive questions, and also need to be cognizant and respectful of the cultural and religious norms of the respondents. lastly, it is critical that the respondents’ concerns and priorities be identified and addressed. this study received ethical approval from the institutional review board (irb) of the authors’ organization (2018-017-ir). both verbal and written consent was sought from all respondents. 77 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 for adolescent respondents, verbal and written assents were requested along with written parental consent. in the case of respondents with low literacy levels, only verbal assent and consent were collected. because srh is considered a culturally sensitive issue among the rohingya community, and because mobility restrictions are sometimes imposed on adolescent girls and women, the research team trained female data collectors to interview the female respondents following comprehensive research ethics and sensitivity training (i.e., avoiding questions on family members murdered, or to those who witnessed such events). the cultural and religious beliefs of the rohingya community regarding srh issues was among the biggest challenges researchers faced. adolescent girls and women were particularly reluctant and shy to talk about their experiences due to the sensitive nature of this topic. moreover, as mentioned, interviewing the adolescent rohingya girls regarding srh issues required permission from their parents and/or guardians. adolescent girls and adult women from the same household were interviewed at different times to avoid interference, and to ensure privacy and confidentiality thus allowing young women to be able to participate and communicate their views. to ensure a free-flowing discussion, additional team members were recruited to engage family members about various health issues with the ulterior motive being to essentially distract them so that the main interview with selected respondents could proceed without too many interruptions. as can be seen, there are many substantial aspects that need to be addressed if one is to do justice to a complex research context with marginalized communities (and vulnerable members within those communities, as was the case with women and adolescent girls in this study). contextual considerations before conducting any research in a humanitarian setting, it is critical that the researchers become familiar with both the context and the community. therefore, the team spent several months building rapport with the rohingya refugee community, focusing initially on repeated visits, creating familiarity, and gaining trust with influential local community leaders (such as majhiis or imams). this greatly aided the researchers in accessing and recruiting adolescent girls and women, which enabled us to conduct the research successfully. the very fact of accessing community members in refugee camps required permission from several gatekeepers, often different authorities (e.g., refugee relief and repatriation commission [rrrc] and camp in charge [cic], camp site management organization of the respective camp). the team sought approval from the relevant authorities before starting data collection in any of the selected camps. this ensured support and lack of interference on the part of the various stakeholders. in addition, informal discussions and formal interviews with influential community persons (who were key informants) were helpful in building a relationship and allowed for an active community participation. being researchers (who mostly do research and are not directly involved in service delivery) rather than implementors (who implement and manage service delivery on daily basis) also allowed for greater ease of conversations about community needs, and frank responses regarding barriers and challenges to srh services. it must be noted that the research team consisted of experienced and trained researchers from diverse backgrounds, with strong methodological backgrounds, and first-hand expertise in conducting qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method research. the multidisciplinary core research team consisted of 10 senior, mid-level and junior researchers (female: five, male: five). the principal investigator of the study (female) is an academic and trained medical anthropologist with over 20 years of qualitative research expertise focusing on srhr, adolescent 78 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 health, formal-informal health care providers, and health service delivery. the senior researcher team also consisted of two quantitative and statistics experts (male) and two master of public health trained researchers with more than five years of research experience (female). junior researchers in the team were from anthropology, gender studies, health economics, and statistics backgrounds (female: two, male: three) with at least two years of research experience. the majority of members in the research team (including data collectors) were female as the target group was women. four male researchers in the team helped build rapport with the male community, including individuals who were influential and/or leaders, before initiating data collection. they also conducted facility assessments. the combination of experienced bengalispeaking researchers having expertise in srhr research, related programs, and local enumerators familiar with the local context and rohingya dialect collectively made the research team strong. overall, this was key in conducting this type of research in a challenging humanitarian setting. another challenge was the language barrier as the rohingya dialect is different from standard bengali language. therefore, the research team had to rely on 12 data collectors (female: eight, male: four) who were familiar with the community dialect and were hired and trained to act as interpreters for the main research team. in the process, a mini dictionary was developed with key terms (e.g., pregnancy, pregnant women, menstruation, etc.) in rohingya, bengali, and english so that the research team could follow the conversation between the data collectors and the rohingya respondents. the data collection tools (survey questionnaire, qualitative guidelines) required several rounds of pre-testing and revisions before they were deemed acceptable in the cultural and social context of the communities studied. alongside demographic diversity in the rohingya humanitarian context, the difficult geographical terrain posed further challenges for the project’s management, administration, and implementation. flexibility was paramount as the planned timeline for data collection had to be revised several times, especially at the initial stage of data collection. ultimately, the team was able to revise their plans based on a more realistic approach to completing data collection. lastly, the political unrest and security issues due to strikes inside the camps affected and delayed the completion of the research. the lessons learnt are that it is critical to be pragmatic and adaptable when designing any research in crisis situations. working closely with the community also means adapting timelines and budgets to manage uncertainties and developments on the ground. it is our hope that other researchers learn and benefit from our research approach and practices. conclusion this research shed light on the under-explored area of srh service availability and delivery in refugee camps, along with an assessment of the unique barriers to services (along with supplyside challenges) in forced displacement contexts. we shared in this article the context-specific nature of the study, and the alterations made to our design, methods, and tools to help us shed light on srh services for rohingya adolescent girls and women. we focused on their needs and perspectives on srh services and barriers, as well as providers’ perspectives on existing service gaps and delivery challenges. the data generated through this research will help humanitarian aid agencies to design more community-centric and gender-sensitive srh service packages and service delivery mechanisms to deliver integrated comprehensive srh services to meet the needs of the target population. 79 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 endnotes 1 the 1982 myanmar citizenship law did not count the rohingyas, muslims from rakhine state of western myanmar, as one of the 135 legally recognized ethnic groups in the country, hence, their citizenship rights got compromised which triggered decades of violence, abuse, and murders (unhcr, 2018; haque, 2017). as a result of such violence, many rohingyas were forced to seek refuge in geographically proximate countries. hence, movement between the bangladesh-myanmar border has been common since the 1970s; however, there was a particularly large influx from 1991 to 1992 (khatun, 2017). the next influx into bangladesh occurred after august 25, 2017 as a result of an outbreak of violence upon the rohingya communities in the rakhine state (strategic executive group, 2019). 2 in the lifetime of this research, starting from proposal development to data analysis, the research team had a series of discussions and consultations with key stakeholders, such as who and unfpa, involved with humanitarian response work in cox’s bazar. the researchers also periodically attended shrh sub-sector meetings held in cox’s bazar and discussed with all srhr sub-sector partners. those consultations helped understand supply-side related programmatic factors better and fine-tune the theoretical model further. discussions with community helped identify the actual situation based on their experience on the ground. it helped us add and/or align themes that were initially not part of the theoretical model or did not arise from the expert consultations. these additions occurred at various levels (individual, interpersonal, institutional, and contextual levels) such as personal beliefs, transportation issues, and influence of informal providers. thus, the theoretical model evolved gradually over the research period with necessary modifications at different stages of the research and finally came to the current shape. 3 here the term ‘syndemics’ (de jong et al., 2015) refers to a set of linked problems involving two or more afflictions, interacting synergistically, and contributing to excess burden of srh related issues among the rohingya adolescent girls and women. the authors point to the individual, interpersonal, institutional, contextual, and state-level issues intertwined with each other to influence the srh service access and utilization of the target population residing in rohingya refugee camps. 4 open data kit (odk) are free and open-source software for collecting data through mobile electronic devices, such as smart phones or tablet computers in resource constraint settings. there are available templates for developing questionnaires using those tools. data can be collected offline, and after connecting online, it automatically synchronizes and stores data in highly secured designated clouds. stored data can be imported directly as excel and stata for analysis. thus, using odk helps minimize costs related to data collection and entry. in addition, researchers can also do quality check remotely. 5 majhiis are local leaders selected by the bangladesh army and the camp in-charge (cic) offices from the rohingya refugees, who are responsible for managing administrative matters (reaching refugees, relief distribution, etc.) for a certain number of households in a designated area (aktar et al., 2019). 80 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 references ahmed, r., 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(2015). advancing reproductive health on the humanitarian agenda: the 81 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-028340 https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12052 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(16)30768-1 https://www.alnap.org/system/files/content/resource/files/main/networkpaper067.pdf https://www.alnap.org/system/files/content/resource/files/main/networkpaper067.pdf https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1442-2026.2001.00203.x https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1442-2026.2001.00203.x https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1505-9-s1-s1 https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1505-9-s1-s1 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(17)30702-x https://doi.org/10.1111/opn.12179 ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 2012-2014 global review. conflict and health, 9(i1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1505-9-s1-i1 darcy, j., stobaugh, h., walker, p., & maxwell, d. (2013). the use of evidence in humanitarian decision making: acaps operational learning paper. feinstein international center, tufts university. https://fic.tufts.edu/wpcontent/uploads/tufts_1306_acaps_3_online.pdf de jong, j. t.v.m., berckmoes, l. h., kohrt, b. a., song, s. j., tol, w. a., reis, r. (2015). a public health approach to address the mental health burden of youth in situations of political violence and humanitarian emergencies. current psychiatry reports, 17(7), 110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-015-0590-0. doedens, w., & burns, k. (2001). challenges to reproductive health in emergencies. health in emergencies. world health organization. http://www.who.int/hac/about/en/7099.pdf gardemann, j. (2002). primary health care in complex humanitarian emergencies: rwanda and kosovo experiences and their implications for public health training. croatian medical journal, 43(2), 148–155. haque, m. m. (2017). rohingya ethnic muslim minority and the 1982 citizenship law in burma. journal of muslim minority affairs, 37(4), 454–469. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2017.1399600 islam, m. m., & nuzhat, t. (2018). health risks of rohingya refugee population in bangladesh: a call for global attention. viewpoints, 8(2), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.08.020309. khatun, f. (2017). implications of the rohingya crisis for bangladesh [powerpoint slides]. centre for policy dialogue (cpd). http://cpd.org.bd/wpcontent/uploads/2017/11/presentation-on-implications-of-the-rohingya-crisis-forbangladesh.pdf landegger, j., hau, m., kaducu, f., sondorp, e., mayhew, s., & roberts, b. (2011). strengths and weaknesses of the humanitarian cluster approach in relation to sexual and reproductive health services in northern uganda. international health, 3(2), 108–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inhe.2011.03.005 mcleroy, k. r., bibeau, d., steckler, a., & glanz, k. (1988). an ecological perspective on health promotion programs. health education & behavior, 15(4), 351–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019818801500401 mfutso-bengo, j., masiye, f., & muula, a. (2008). ethical challenges in conducting research in humanitarian crisis situations. malawi medical journal, 20(2), 46–49. https://doi.org/10.4314/mmj.v20i2.10956 mock, n., & garfield, r. (2007). health tracking for improved humanitarian performance. prehospital and disaster medicine, 22(5), 377–383. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x00005082 82 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1505-9-s1-i1 https://fic.tufts.edu/wp-content/uploads/tufts_1306_acaps_3_online.pdf https://fic.tufts.edu/wp-content/uploads/tufts_1306_acaps_3_online.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-015-0590-0 http://www.who.int/hac/about/en/7099.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2017.1399600 https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.08.020309 http://cpd.org.bd/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/presentation-on-implications-of-the-rohingya-crisis-for-bangladesh.pdf http://cpd.org.bd/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/presentation-on-implications-of-the-rohingya-crisis-for-bangladesh.pdf http://cpd.org.bd/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/presentation-on-implications-of-the-rohingya-crisis-for-bangladesh.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inhe.2011.03.005 https://doi.org/10.1177/109019818801500401 https://doi.org/10.4314/mmj.v20i2.10956 https://doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x00005082 ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 onyango, m. a., & heidari, s. (2017). care with dignity in humanitarian crises: ensuring sexual and reproductive health and rights of displaced populations. reproductive health matters, 25(51), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/09688080.2017.1411093 seybolt, t. b. (2009). harmonizing the humanitarian aid network: adaptive change in a complex system. international studies quarterly, 53(4), 1027–1050. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2478.2009.00567.x strategic executive group. (2019). 2019 joint response plan for rohingya humanitarian crisis: january-december. https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/d ocuments/files/2019_jrp_for_rohingya_humanitarian_crisis_compressed.pdf taylor, j., & lamaro haintz, g. (2017). influence of the social determinants of health on access to healthcare services among refugees in australia. australian journal of primary health, 24(1), 14–28. https://doi.org/10.1071/py16147. turner, t., green, s., & harris, c. (2011). supporting evidence-based health care in crises: what information do humanitarian organizations need? disaster medicine and public health preparedness, 5(1), 69–72. https://doi.org/10.1001/dmp.2010.32.1026. united nations high commissioner for refugees (unhcr). (2019). bangladesh refugee emergency: population factsheet (as of 15 july 2019). retrieved 1 september, 2019 from https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/70356 united nations high commissioner for refugees (unhcr). (2018). global trends: forced displacement in 2017. https://www.unhcr.org/statistics/unhcrstats/5b27be547/unhcrglobal-trends-2017.html united states agency for international development (usaid). (2007). reproductive health assessment toolkit for conflict-affected women. division of reproductive health, national center for chronic disease prevention and health promotion, coordinating center for health promotion, centers for disease control and prevention, department of health and human services. https://www.unscn.org/web/archives_resources/files/toolkitforconflictaffectedwome n.pdf world bank. (2017). forcibly displaced: toward a development approach supporting refugees, the internally displaced and their hosts. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/25016/9781464809385 .pdf?sequence=11&isallowed=y world health organization (who). (2013). service availability and readiness assessment (sara): an annual monitoring system for service delivery [reference manual]. https://www.who.int/healthinfo/systems/sara_reference_manual_full.pdf 83 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1080/09688080.2017.1411093 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2478.2009.00567.x https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/2019_jrp_for_rohingya_humanitarian_crisis_compressed.pdf https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/2019_jrp_for_rohingya_humanitarian_crisis_compressed.pdf https://doi.org/10.1071/py16147 https://doi.org/10.1001/dmp.2010.32.1026 https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/70356 https://www.unhcr.org/statistics/unhcrstats/5b27be547/unhcr-global-trends-2017.html https://www.unhcr.org/statistics/unhcrstats/5b27be547/unhcr-global-trends-2017.html https://www.unscn.org/web/archives_resources/files/toolkitforconflictaffectedwomen.pdf https://www.unscn.org/web/archives_resources/files/toolkitforconflictaffectedwomen.pdf https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/25016/9781464809385.pdf?sequence=11&isallowed=y https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/25016/9781464809385.pdf?sequence=11&isallowed=y https://www.who.int/healthinfo/systems/sara_reference_manual_full.pdf ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 bachera aktar (bachera.aktar@bracu.ac.bd) is an assistant director of the center of excellence for gender, sexual and reproductive health rights at brac james p. grant school of public health (jpgsph), brac university. she has more than ten years of experience in implementing public health programs and research including reproductive and sexual health, maternal, child and adolescent health and nutrition, health system and management, mixed method research, monitoring and evaluation, and humanitarian crisis. at jpgsph, she oversees research projects on sexual and reproductive health, urban health system and humanitarian response to rohingya refugees, and is also a course coordinator and faculty in the master in public health (mph) program and supervises mph students’ thesis work. she worked for brac, the largest bangladeshbased ngo, and leads the largest community-based maternal, neonatal, and child health program. ms. aktar completed a bachelor’s and master’s in food and nutrition from dhaka university and mph from brac university. rushdia ahmed (ahmed.rushdia@yahoo.com) is a young researcher with a bachelor’s in pharmacy and master’s in public health. she worked in brac jpgsph as a senior research fellow with primary involvement in this research. she also worked in the health systems and population studies division at icddr,b prior joining brac jpgsph for more than five years since 2013. her specific research experience includes humanitarian crisis and complex emergencies, sexual and reproductive health, urban health, health systems research, health policy research, implementation research, qualitative research, mixed method research, policy analysis, and systematic review. rushdia has also been involved in teaching and mentoring mph students at brac jpgsph for specific modules such as introduction to public health, qualitative research methods, public health nutrition, biostatistics, and ageing and health. she is currently residing in toronto, canada and pursuing a master’s in health policy & equity at york university, simultaneously assisting in teaching statistical methods in health studies. raafat hassan (raafat.hassan@bracu.ac.bd) is a young researcher with a bachelor’s and master's in anthropology. he has been working in brac jpgsph as a research associate and was primarily involved in this research. he also worked in ‘projahnmo’ study group, johns hopkins university, bangladesh prior joining brac jpgsph. at present he is working as a researcher in both public health and early childhood development of the forcibly displaced myanmar nationals (fdmns) migrating to coastal areas of bangladesh. his specific research experience includes complex humanitarian emergencies and crisis, sexual and reproductive health, qualitative research, implementation research, mixed method research, and early childhood development. besides, he is also involved in the master’s in public health program as a teaching fellow and mentor for mph students. nadia farnaz (nadia.farnaz@bracu.ac.bd) is a senior research associate at brac jpgsph, with an area of focus in public health. at present, she is working as a researcher in public health and displaced refugees migrating to coastal bangladesh and is also involved in the teaching curriculum for the master’s in public health degree administered by brac jpgsph. before joining brac jpgsph, she was working as a research associate at eep/shiree, a dfid funded program aimed at eradicating extreme poverty. her prior experience in the development arena also includes research officer roles in several projects administered by bangladesh institute of development studies (bids). ms. farnaz completed her bachelor’s degree in economics and master’s in development studies, both from brac university. she wants to be a pioneer in the field of economic research by broadening her current horizon of knowledge through academic studies and extensive research. 84 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:bachera.aktar@bracu.ac.bd mailto:ahmed.rushdia@yahoo.com mailto:raafat.hassan@bracu.ac.bd mailto:nadia.farnaz@bracu.ac.bd ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 pushpita ray (pushpita.ray@bracu.ac.bd) is a research associate at brac james p grant school of public health, brac university since 2016 and is a public health professional and a qualitative researcher. her expertise is in the field of sexual and reproductive health rights, women, gender, and adolescents. she has been working in different public health projects including who funded rohingya refugee populations living in the refugee camps in cox’s bazar, bangladesh. abdul awal (abdul.awal@bracu.ac.bd) is working as a researcher in an implementation research project on the srhr of rohingya refugees living in the refugee camps in cox’s bazar, bangladesh and has mentored master of public health (mph) program students. he is also a teaching fellow in the biostatistics module in the program. concurrently, he is working in an urban informal settlement project named arise where the vision is to enhance accountability and improve the health and wellbeing of marginalized populations living in informal urban settlements in lowand middle-income countries. he worked with multidrug resistance and bacterial contamination in milk data at icddr,b. his graduation and post-graduation degrees are from the university of dhaka, majoring in applied statistics. sharid bin shafique (sharid.shafique@bracu.ac.bd) is working as a senior research assistant at brac james p grant school of public health, brac university. he is also pursuing a master’s degree in climate change and development at the international centre for climate change and development, independent university, bangladesh. earlier he received both his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in women and gender studies from the university of dhaka. he has more than three years of professional experience in gender and public health research in diverse settings including the humanitarian response. his research interests include climate refugees and climate change and health issues. md tanvir hasan (thasan@bracu.ac.bd) is currently an associate professor and co-director of centre of excellence for urban equity and health (cueh) at brac jpgsph. he has more than seven years of teaching and research experience. he received his phd from university of queensland, brisbane, australia along with a bachelor’s and master’s in applied statistics from the university of dhaka, bangladesh. professor hasan teaches biostatistics and quantitative research methods in the master of public health (mph) program at brac jpgsph, brac university. besides teaching, he is currently leading two research projects as principal investigator (pi) and two as co-pi. his expertise is in advanced statistical analysis, mixed methods research, implementation research and spatial epidemiological research. dr. hasan’s research work mainly focuses on maternal and child health, social determinants of health, and sexual and reproductive health. zahidul quayyum (zahidul.quayyum@bracu.ac.bd) is currently a professor and co-director of centre of excellence for urban equity and health (cueh), and co-director research at brac jpgsph, brac university. dr. quayyum is a health economist and a public health researcher and has more than 25 years of experiences of conducting health economics and health systems research. his research interests include evaluating different policy changes in health care, equity and resource allocation in health care, and economic evaluation of health care with particular interests in maternal and child health care. professor quayyum has more than 15 years of research and teaching experience in uk universities, and was involved in conducting within trial economic evaluation, systematic review economic evaluation, decision modelling, and health technology assessment for the nihr 4u (uk) funded and eu funded projects in uk. mohira babaeva jafarovna (babaevam@who.int) is working as srhr project manager at 85 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:pushpita.ray@bracu.ac.bd mailto:abdul.awal@bracu.ac.bd mailto:sharid.shafique@bracu.ac.bd mailto:thasan@bracu.ac.bd mailto:zahidul.quayyum@bracu.ac.bd mailto:babaevam@who.int ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33150 whe/global health cluster in world health organization headquarters. she has prior experience of working and leading programs in emergency response in sudan, afghanistan, and pakistan. before joining who, she had worked in unfpa, msf (holland), care international. she has completed her m.p.h.h.a (master in public health and health administration) from frontier institute of medical sciences, sarhad university, pakistan and doctor of medicine-md from state medical university, dushanbe, tajikistan. loulou hassan kobeissi (kobeissil@who.int) is a scientist at the department of reproductive health and research of the world health organization. previously, she served as a technical officer at whodivision of non-communicable disease and mental health. prior to joining who, she was an epidemiologist at the los angeles county department of public health; adjunct assistant professor at ucla fielding's school of public health; an assistant professor at the university of arizona; and an assistant research professor at the american university of beirut. she has accumulated extensive global public health experience, with main emphasis on chronic disease epidemiology and srhr in humanitarian settings. she has a strong research background in community-based participatory research, evaluation research, as well as the conduct of randomized trials and case-control studies. her research focus includes: global health, reproductive health, srhr in humanitarian settings, reproductive morbidity and infertility, breast cancer, ncds and mental health. khalid el tahir (eltahirkh@who.int) is the incident manager at world health organization (who) in cox’s bazar, bangladesh working with the health emergencies for rohingya refugee crises in bangladesh. dr khalid is a medical doctor by training and possesses years of experience in public health interventions and responses for the complex public health issues around the globe. balwinder singh (singhba@who.int) is working with united nations (world health organization) as health sector coordinator, bangladesh (health emergencies). he also worked as a national professional officer (technical officer) in the who india country office. before joining who; he was a senior technical advisor (min of health) at public health foundation of india. dr. singh is a medical doctor who has also completed his mph from the university of central nicaragua. sabina faiz rashid (sabina.frashid@gmail.com) has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social anthropology, and a phd in medical anthropology and public health from the australian national university, canberra, australia. she is the dean of the brac james p grant school of public health, brac university. in addition to the overall leadership and management of the school, dr. rashid has been integral to the founding and growth of the international master of public health program and the school. she is actively involved in teaching different modules including introduction to public health, anthropology and public health, gender, reproductive and sexual health and rights, and ethics of social science research. professor rashid specializes in ethnographic and qualitative research. her research interests are gender, sexual and reproductive health and rights, sexuality and the well-being of adolescents, young women and men, the use of social media/digital technology, changing gender relationships, power dynamics, human rights, urban poverty, governance, and health services in urban informal settlements. 86 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:kobeissil@who.int mailto:eltahirkh@who.int mailto:singhba@who.int mailto:sabina.frashid@gmail.com introduction research on sexual and reproductive health care in a humanitarian context who initiative to improve the srh of refugees in three countries the bangladesh case study theoretical framework methods household survey qualitative interviews and group discussions with stakeholders facility assessment qualitative interviews with healthcare providers and key stakeholders ethical considerations contextual considerations conclusion endnotes references the information needs of individuals affected by harmful gambling in ireland the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 the information needs of individuals affected by harmful gambling in ireland crystal fulton, university college dublin, ireland abstract harmful gambling is an addiction issue that negatively affects not only gambling participants but also their families and friends. ireland is estimated to be one of the top countries in the world for levels of gambling; however, legislation and social policy lag behind measures in other countries. this paper reports findings related to information seeking and provision from the first national study of the social impact of harmful gambling in ireland. in-depth interviews were conducted with addiction counsellors, recovering gamblers, and gamblers’ social connections to explore their perceptions of availability of information and services to address this public health issue. in addition to calling for revised regulatory and policy development to support formal channels of information and service provision to facilitate individual recovery, participants believed initiatives around providing information and educating the public about the potential personal and social risks associated with gambling would help protect those vulnerable to harm from gambling. critically, participants identified a need for information to facilitate well-being as central to addressing this issue. keywords: gambling addiction; harmful gambling; health behaviour, health information; information-seeking behaviour publication type: research article introduction armful gambling is a socially disruptive problem in many regions, frequently leading to financial crises, broken relationships, and even suicide; however, there is little research generally around the social impact of harmful gambling, for example, on families (kourgiantakis, saint-jacques, & tremblay, 2013). instead, research has most often focused on the gambler with a problem. as a country widely known for gambling, ireland offers a unique area for study because of the lack of regulation and social policy around harmful gambling, in spite of its widespread social impact. this paper reports findings related to information seeking and provision from the first national study of social impact of harmful gambling in ireland, in particular, exploring stakeholders’ perceptions of the availability of information and services and the need for particular information initiatives to address this public health issue. gambling in ireland ireland offers a special case for exploration of information in risky situations. harmful gambling is widely perceived as a public health issue in the country, but regulation lags behind that of other countries, leaving the industry largely open to conduct business unchallenged. importantly, h http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 while the economist recently ranked ireland as the third highest country in the world for gambling (data team, 2017), the number of people affected by harmful gambling has been to-date uncounted in ireland. the department of health (2018) in northern ireland published the republic’s first data about the frequency and extent of gambling released on february 27th, 2019; it is unknown why these data, collected in 2014-2015, were only published and then released by government just recently. it should be noted that the data cover some of the data and analyses usually covered by a full prevalence study; these data were part of a study that mainly reviewed drug use. calado and griffiths (2016) underscored the need for prevalence research about gambling in the country, identifying ireland as one of 21 european countries that had previously not conducted adult prevalence studies of gambling. the lack of information about gambling and resulting harm in ireland has increased difficulty with understanding and addressing the need for information and services around this form of addiction. this gap in information about gambling in ireland has meant that the prevalence studies of other countries, namely northern ireland and the united kingdom (uk), have often been used to estimate numbers of gamblers who are at-risk or addicted in ireland (e.g., institute of public health in ireland, 2010). for instance, wardle et al. (2011) reported that, in britain, 1.2% of the population are affected by harmful gambling, with an additional 4.2% at risk of a problem. in northern ireland, 2.3% have been classified as problem gamblers (dunne, flynn, & sholdis, 2017) compared to 2.6% in a 2010 survey (analytical services unit, 2010). in addition, 4.9% of gamblers have been categorised as at moderate risk in northern ireland (down from 5.9% in 2010) and 6.7% at low risk of a problem (down from 8.2% in 2010) (dunne et al., 2017; analytical services unit, 2010). instances of harmful gambling in northern ireland are mostly higher than in other countries that have done a prevalence study, with higher figures only for hong kong and south africa (dunne et al., 2017). numerical analyses may also differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, with varying outcomes in estimates of the number of individuals at risk or with gambling addiction, for example, the exclusion of national lottery results from calculations (wardle et al., 2010). in the absence of any formal assessment of gambling prevalence until now, some addiction service providers in the republic of ireland offered their own evaluation of the extent of gambling in the country using their programme intake as an indicative estimation of the growth of gambling harm. for instance, aiséirí collected data about the numbers of clients seeking assistance with gambling addiction, noting an increase during their 2011-2013 data collection window (mullins, 2014). the rutland centre, a major addiction treatment facility in dublin, has estimated that the number of people requesting help with gambling addiction has tripled, rising from 3% of clients in 2013 to nearly 10% of clients in 2015 (brennan, 2016). the newly published data about gambling in the republic of ireland provided self-reported information from the public, which can have issues as acknowledged in the report (department of health, 2018). key findings included several statistics around the extent of gambling among age groups and by gender. the study found that problem gambling was most prevalent in young males, with 2.9% of males aged 25 to 34 and 1.9% of males aged 18 to 24. “gambling online or by telephone” was most prevalent among 25to 34-year-olds (5.7%) and 18to 24-year-olds (4.8%) (department of health, 2018). respondents aged 55 to 64 were most likely to say they gambled in the previous year (72.4%), though 35to 44-year-olds came a close second at 70.5%, and 45to 54-year-olds were right behind at 69.4% (department of health, 2018). study outcomes focussed on underage gambling revealed that one in ten 15to 17-year-olds reported buying lottery tickets or scratch cards in the previous year and 9.4% of respondents in this age bracket placed bets on horse or dog races, despite the fact that the legal age for gambling in ireland is 12 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 18 years (department of health, 2018). by comparison, the 2015 european school survey project (molinaro et al., 2018) reported 22.6% of 16-year-olds in europe gambled in the previous year, with 16.2% gambling online and 18.5% gambling offline. findings by gender revealed that men under 65 years of age were more likely to say they gambled in the previous year than women; however, women outnumbered men in particular gambling activities, such as lottery tickets and scratch cards, where 62.6% of women aged over 65 engaged in this activity versus just 55.0% of men (department of health, 2018). male gamblers aged 18 to 34 were more likely than other men of other ages or women of all ages to gamble online or by telephone. additionally, more women reported playing bingo than men; women aged 18 to 24 formed the highest number of bingo players in the previous year (10.1%) (department of health, 2018). ronzitti, soldini, lutri, smith, clerici, and bowden-jones (2016) found that the form of gambling was linked to gambling severity in the uk; they concluded that some forms of gambling, such as fixed odds betting terminals (fobts) could be more addictive that other forms of gambling, especially when used regularly, and that overall play patterns, rather than focussing on certain types of gambling, should be considered when predicting risk for gambling addiction. castren, perhoniemi, kontto, alho, and salonen (2017) similarly found that gambling harm in finland was associated with particular games that enable more frequent gambling; the authors recommended that legislative and public health measures around specific games should be implemented to mitigate harm. importantly, gender may play a role in gambling harm; svensson and romild (2014) found that men and women also participate in different gambling activities in sweden. these authors further reported that women who gamble regularly may be more prone to harm than men, in spite of women gambling less than men. the other interesting finding was the prevalence of gambling among socio-economic groupings, which was highest among middle management senior civil servants, managers and business owners (71.4%), and lowest among semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers, trainees and apprentices (60.4%) (department of health, 2018). those categorised as dependent on the state long term had the lowest prevalence for gambling online or by telephone (1.5%), betting on horse or dog races (8.1%), betting at casinos (1.7%), and playing cards for money with family or friends (4.5%); however, this group showed the highest prevalence for playing bingo in person (4.6%) (department of health, 2018). future prevalence data collection would enable comparative analyses in ireland, including information on the growth of gambling. the legal framework around gambling in ireland is complex, with multiple statutes covering aspects of gambling. the gambling industry is split into two areas of legislation: that governing the national lottery (national lottery act 2013) and that covering other parts of the gambling industry (betting act 1931; gaming and lotteries act 1956). within this existing legislation, social responsibility, including a commitment to addiction treatment and prevention, has not been not addressed; the gambling control bill: general scheme, 2013 offered to address this gap; however, this framework for legislation did not move to bill stage. a private member’s bill, the gambling control bill 2018, passed second stage of government review, and then was shelved as well. legislative efforts appear to have focused on the betting (amendment) act of 2015, which updated the betting act of 1931, including new clauses around online betting. as of the time of preparing this article, there has been no further act or bill put forward to revise existing legislation around gambling in ireland, meaning that there is no regulation around a social fund nor emerging digital technologies. other countries vary in their approach to governance of gambling. in north america, gambling is 13 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 regulated regionally as opposed to by national government; by province in canada and by state in the u.s. australia regulates gambling at territory and state levels. the uk’s gambling commission monitors all gambling, with local authorities and scottish licensing boards also exercising control. the european union (eu) court provides for member states to regulate gaming activities in their jurisdiction (verbiest & keuleers, 2003). additionally, with the advent of online gambling, the eu commission has recommended principles for member states to use in regulations, such as advertising, social responsibility, and information and online support to help gamblers understand risk (european commission, 2014). the social impact of harmful gambling the actual extent of social impact is much wider than that experienced by gamblers alone. harmful gambling affects not only the individual who gambles, but also their families and friends. gambling addiction frequently leads to depleted finances and broken relationships and is associated with feelings of shame and stigma, depression, and sometimes self-harming. stories of high-profile irish gamblers highlight additional community impact where gamblers have stolen large amounts of money from employers or have committed crimes or socially questionable acts (e.g., lynch & o’reilly, 2018). although the social impact of harmful gambling can be significant and widespread, harmful gambling is not classified as a public health issue by official health entities, such as the world health organisation. in ireland, national health policies only address drugs and alcohol; while gambling is sometimes mentioned, it is not the focus of policies. the lack of formal information about gambling harm emanating from government has created an information vacuum in the country. no single government body or organisation has an overview of addiction services or other information services. the complex needs resulting from gambling addiction can range from financial services to counselling; there is no body in ireland with an overview of services available to those affected by harmful gambling. even the country’s current longitudinal growing up in ireland project (economic & social research institute, 2016), which surveys members of the population over a period of years about a range of everyday topics, such as smoking, drugs, and alcohol, does not probe into gambling. services and information provision about harmful gambling the secrecy surrounding harmful gambling, both among affected gamblers and family members, challenges service and information provision. treatment for gambling addiction often focuses on cognitive therapies. additionally, the minnesota model, a patient-centred programme developed to address alcohol addiction in the 1950s (anderson et al., 1999), is often applied to gambling addiction. this model follows a 12-step recovery approach, calling for family involvement, abstinence, education, individualised treatment plans, and aftercare (anderson, 1999), and this programme generally forms the basis of treatment in irish gambling addiction services. gamblers anonymous, a fellowship-based group known throughout the world, often works with addiction centres to facilitate recovery. addiction counselling services exist throughout ireland, from centres to sole counsellors, and often treating multiple addictions. in the case of harmful gambling, the focus of treatment is very often the gambler. services to families affected by harmful gambling are far less common. gam-anon, the counterpart to gamblers anonymous, provides fellowship for families. notably, the rise foundation is one of a very few services in ireland that provides counselling to families 14 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 affected by a range of addictions, including gambling. there are also multiple social services for the problems associated with harm from gambling, including suicide prevention, the money advice and budgeting service (mabs), the citizen’s advice bureau which offers a range of social and legal information, and general charitable and religious organisations. addiction services may include these types of social services in a gambler’s recovery plan. information referral may occur through health practitioners. there are also information referral services run through gambling organisations, and these send callers from the republic of ireland to selected addiction centres in the republic for assistance, including dunlewey addiction services in belfast, northern ireland, which is funded by the irish bookmakers association, and betfair’s call centre in the uk. method research objective and questions this research was exploratory in nature, since no previous national study of the social impact of harmful gambling has been conducted in ireland. the objective of this research was to examine the social impact of gambling in the country, uniquely from the perspectives of the many stakeholders in the social outcomes of harmful gambling: namely, gamblers, their families and friends, and the addiction counsellors who assist those affected by harmful gambling. the part of the project reported in this paper explored the following research questions relevant to health and information concerns around harmful gambling: • when did participants decide to seek or not seek help with the effects of harmful gambling? • how did participants acquire and use information and services to ameliorate the effects of harmful gambling? • what social structures, including policies and information provision, did participants identify as necessary to reduce the potential for harm through gambling? research approaches: ethnographic site visits and in-depth interviews two methodological strategies enabled deep information gathering. first, an in-depth interview approach with individual participants provided all three stakeholder groups with an opportunity to share their experiences and to give their perspectives on the social impact of harmful gambling in detail. in-depth interviews are normally intensive interviews with a small number of people, intended to probe more deeply about issues than other research approaches (boyce & neale, 2006). as guest, namey, and mitchell (2013) described, in-depth interviews are “almost always, in part or in whole, about how and why, helping researchers to understand their interviewees’ views of processes, norms, decision-making, belief systems, mental models, interpretations, motivations, expectations, hopes, and fears” (p. 8). alongside this approach, ethnographic visits to addiction treatment centres helped to contextualise the process of recovery and the availability of resources to support individuals who have been affected by harmful gambling. as part of the process of conducting an interview with an addiction counsellor on site, for instance, at a residential addiction centre, the researcher 15 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 was able to tour facilities with the addiction counsellor. visiting facilities allowed the researcher to spend time in the recovery environment with the staff and clients, evidencing recovery programme activities and interactions. participants three central stakeholder groups participated in in-depth interviews: addiction counsellors, recovering gamblers, and gamblers’ social connections. participants were located through snowball sampling, in which participants refer the study to other potential participants (see e.g., atkinson & flint, 2001; lewis-beck, bryman & liao, 2004). addiction counsellors. addiction counsellors from ten addiction services spread throughout the country participated in interviews. addiction counsellors were key stakeholders due to their expert knowledge on how gambling addiction affects gamblers and their families, and the treatment of this condition. addiction counsellors were inclusive of volunteer and not-for-profit groups and for-profit enterprises. they were divided between women (40%) and men (60%). positions held by participants ranged as follows: 50% were directors or managers of an addiction service; 40% were counsellors; and 10% were psychologists. approximately one half of participants reported working with people affected by gambling for 10 or fewer years; the other half had worked with people affected by gambling for 16 to 30 years. recovering gamblers and social connections. a poster placed with addiction counsellors, alongside advertising through press releases and social media, facilitated a snowball approach in locating gamblers and their social connections for the next stage of interviewing. a total of 22 matched pairs of recovering gamblers and their families and friends participated in in-depth interviews. harmful gambling is a socially isolating activity, and where a gambler’s familial relationships were broken, the gambler nominated a friend for interview. recovering gamblers were mainly male (19 in total, 86% of participants) and three (14%) were female, reflecting the composition of those in recovery, though addiction counsellors spoke of increases in women and young people experiencing gambling harm. family and friends were mixed in terms of gender. nearly one half were partners, almost one quarter were parents, and the remainder were spread among siblings, children, and friends. research ethics fulton’s research ethics committee has assigned the following research ethic reference numbers (rern) to the project phases as follows: ● addiction counsellors: research ethics exemption reference number (reern): hs-e-13105-fulton, c. ● gamblers and their social connections: hs-13-63-fulton, c., and hs-13-63-fulton, c. all participants received a letter of information and signed a letter of consent to provide informed consent to participate. all volunteers for participation were aged 18 or older. data analysis interview data and site visit notes were coded using line-by-line coding and a constant 16 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 comparative approach. the constant comparative approach, developed by glaser and strauss (1967), involves a process of continuous data collection, analysis, and coding of data, through which theory may emerge. kolb (2012) has observed that “the benefit of using this method is that the research begins with raw data; through constant comparisons a substantive theory will emerge” (p. 83). data for this project were continuously reviewed throughout data collection and analysis for patterns in information behaviour among recovering gamblers and their family members and friends, resulting in a body of information about how these individuals behave and interact in stressful situations with risk to well-being and their perceptions of how information can help. nvivo’s qualitative analysis software facilitated examination of the data for patterns among participant responses. findings decision-making around seeking help recovering gamblers accessed information and specific help through addiction counselling, both as residential addiction services and one-to-one counselling services, found through their family doctor, private counsellors, and the national health care system. addiction services facilitated connections with other services. among these, gamblers anonymous played a significant role in treatment and offered long-term fellowship for the gambler which continued after counselling. the outcomes of experiencing harm from gambling created a wide range of complex information needs for gamblers and their families around issues such as lost finances, relationship breakdown, and health impairment because of stress. addiction counsellors observed that by the time an individual sought help, that person and their family were most often in crisis, including emotional, financial, and sometimes legal difficulty. as a result, not only did people have multiple information needs, those needs were frequently acute. while gamblers reported seeking help when they could no longer sustain their gambling and conceal the gambling and the attending problems caused by gambling, family members spoke of varied points when they decided to seek help, as well as reasons for asking for help. among those who decided to seek help, some family members said they sought help immediately upon discovering the problem. one parent noted a range of reasons for seeking help: “just the fact that i could see it was going to be a problem, and the fact that he was underage. and clearly teenagers don’t make good decisions most of the time.” however, others, such as partners, needed time to process the shock of discovery of the problem; one wife explained: “probably a few months, yes, i would say it was a couple of months when i got my own head around it and then i said right, ok, maybe i just need to see what is going on.” other family members sought assistance from gambling support groups and sometimes other family members, working in conjunction to try to help the gambler. often the circle of those asked for help was quite small, because family members sometimes felt the help they needed did not exist; for instance, one family member noted: “well, i asked my father, but other than that, i didn’t, because there was none to help. the help i needed was financial and who was going to do that?” another family member spoke of the emotional and financial aloneness in dealing with the aftermath of her partner’s gambling addiction: 17 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 there was nothing there, and i desperately needed help in that i had the three children. i had the financial thing. he had just cut himself off. he had this problem. he was focussing on recovery. i was dealing with all this. the weight of problems resulting from harmful gambling on family was deepened by the feeling that they were on their own without assistance. in some cases, family members did not necessarily seek or access help. they cited many reasons for not seeking help, including placing responsibility for help-seeking with the gambler, not believing they needed counselling, and that seeking help was impossible because of the lack of services or lack of financial resources. shame and stigma played key roles in decision-making around asking for help, not only for recovering gamblers, but also for their families. as one family member noted, she did not seek help because she did not want people to know there was a problem: “because i didn’t want the lads to find out. i didn’t want [my daughter] to find out… and, i just feel, if you tell one person, someone else will tell someone else, and it will get out.” free help was sometimes available through gam-anon, the sister organisation of gamblers anonymous, for families harmed by gamblers’ addiction. one family member reported that they took the initiative to set up a branch of gam-anon in their region to support themselves and others, since assistance to families was lacking. another family member noted that “hse [health services executive]-provided services were abysmally lacking.” instead, this participant commended gam-anon and hope house, a residential addiction centre, as “the cornerstone of our recovery. the combination for us was the cornerstone we both needed.” acquisition and use of information and services when individuals did seek help, they found that information was not accessible in one place, and that the information and help needed did not necessarily exist. families also reported that they participated in residential programmes as part of the gambler’s recovery and observed that services dedicated to families were needed. as one family member noted: “there is terrible support for families. and i think it is the families that are left to pick up the pieces.” recovering gamblers often reported that they attended addiction services focused widely on multiple addictions; very few services targeted young people and women who experience gambling harm, or family who have experienced harm from a loved one’s addiction. accessing information as an individual looking for support was also difficult; as one family member explained: [what is needed is] not workbooks but a package, an education pack to help me, if i had a son or daughter who was a compulsive gambler. that there was some sort of information pack to help me to approach them or strategies i could use to help them. and then, obviously, within the family unit itself, getting down to the micro level, to say you shouldn't be afraid to talk about it. access to information was further inhibited by the extended impact of harmful gambling on social relationships, beyond one’s immediate family, to communities. harmful gambling isolated the gambler, as well as their families, from immediate and extended family and the wider social circle of the community. social ties were often completely broken. as a friend of one gambler observed, the gambler lost not only their friends, but also their community status. because gambling is socially embedded, friends did not necessarily understand the harm experienced by 18 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 gamblers and their families, nor the recovery process. the complexity of the outcomes of harmful gambling meant that addiction counsellors often found themselves functioning in multiple roles to assist people. in addition to counselling individuals and groups, addiction counsellors might find themselves offering a range of advice applicable to daily life, such as legal or financial advice. for example, one addiction counsellor described her role as being holistic, including supports as needed in a given gambling case. this participant provided an example of a case where they worked with the family regarding money issues: last week, i had to meet with somebody and find out where [organisation] was in their area, because they don’t even have food in their fridge [to feed] the kids. no money, no money at all, because of the gambling. people come to the door and the wife doesn’t know if what he—because he can’t remember who he owes money to— and when they come, she will actually take the food money and give it to them, because she feels that they won’t leave them alone. for this participant, addiction counselling, marital counselling, spiritual guidance, financial referral to services like mabs, life skills development, and even legal advocacy for the gambler and their family were all part of a normal day in providing assistance in an addiction service. perceived social measures, including policies and information provision, to reduce the potential for harm through gambling participants identified multiple areas around harmful gambling that need urgent attention. three major categories of social action at national level emerged: revision and implementation of legislation to regulate gambling; development of services and resources to assist individuals who have been harmed by, or who are at risk of harm, through gambling; and the reduction of shame and stigma through open dialogue and education to increase public awareness of the issue. participants unanimously identified the lack of control of the gambling industry as a significant issue which required urgent government attention to legislation. participants called for an update of outdated legislation from the 1950s and inclusion of a number of topics, including advertisement of gambling opportunities, regulation of technologies used in gambling provision, opening hours, attention to underage gambling, and taxation of gambling. previous attempts to revise legislation have often derailed. most recently, a private member’s bill, gambling control bill 2018, which is based on the research reported in this paper, had shown the greatest promise for legislative change and potential protection of vulnerable individuals from the harmful effects of gambling. however, this bill stalled after the second reading in the government, even though it uniquely had broad support across political parties. because the most recent attempts at legislative reform have not passed, the country still lacks the social fund called for in revised legislation. the social fund was intended to address critical needs in the country, importantly provision of financial support for treatment, education, and research about harmful gambling, all of which are currently lacking in the country. further, there is no national framework outlining policy around gambling addiction services, such as those extant for alcohol and drugs. participants noted that services to help recovering gamblers, as well as their social connections who have experienced harm, needed to be made available across the country so that people in need could access help, particularly where gambling had depleted 19 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 family resources. as one family member summed up, “from a regulation point of view within the health service, there is so much mandatory education, particularly in mental health; there needs to be better education with regard to all addictions, not just alcohol.” participants also called for the development of services targeting harmful gambling, as opposed to mixed addiction treatment. they noted that services themselves should be modified to offer greater aftercare, focused on reintegration of those isolated by harmful gambling into society. as one family member stated: “there should be some focus from the government point of view on counselling as a social service and information in the public domain.” a key theme in the development of legislation and social policy was the need for a national approach with equal distribution, implementation and access throughout the country. participants also called for an open dialogue about gambling, similar to the openness now surrounding other previously stigmatising social topics, and strategic planning to address harmful gambling. in particular, they demanded public education through increased public awareness of the potential harm of gambling. examples included advertisements to increase public understanding, as had recently been used to increase awareness of other issues such as mental health. one participant summed up: [we need] education, just like the ads are there, to replace the ads with education. because there is a lot of positive education around alcohol, around mental health, around lots of social issues. use the same techniques, use the same tools, the same methods of advertising or awareness campaigns. participants also suggested education about the risks of gambling through the national education curriculum. as one recovering gambler noted, this education was needed in schools, in particular, to help address underage gambling. discussion this paper reports some of the major findings from a national research study of the social impact of harmful gambling in ireland. the study stands as a unique piece which is currently being used by legislators, addiction counsellors, national sports programming with children, and elsewhere in the public domain. the study reveals important themes about harmful gambling which remain to be addressed socially. for gamblers and their families in this study, the information landscape around harmful gambling proved complex, difficult, and often inaccessible. because harmful gambling is often addressed at a crisis point, both financially and emotionally, participants often found that services requiring financial input could be out of their reach. they might lack funds to support help seeking via addiction services, and the addiction services might be geographically distant, again compromising access. in addition, knowing where to turn in a crisis situation was difficult for participants, particularly given the social stigma and shame attached to gambling addiction and resulting need for secrecy. participants identified several means of changing the social issues surrounding gambling addiction. importantly, recognition of gambling addiction as a public health issue is necessary to enable appropriate strategies for treatment and prevention of problem gambling and the range of social issues that accompany this addiction. cowlishaw and kessler (2016) have found that harmful 20 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 gambling, which they noted was associated with mental health and psychosocial issues, should be recognised as a public health concern in the uk. to begin addressing harmful gambling, one addiction counsellor in the current study summed up, “the government needs to recognise the enormity of gambling in ireland.” adams, raeburn and de silva (2009) have argued that a public health response, as opposed to a focus on individualised treatment interventions, is essential and provides a wider strategic response to gambling, which should then involve combining efforts internationally. they note that the world health organisation (who) has yet to identify problem gambling as a public health issue (adams et al., 2009), and recent searches of the who website confirm this missing recognition. critically, there are no national health strategies nor policies around harmful gambling, as exist around drugs and alcohol, in ireland. as a result, a national framework, essential for development of social policies and actions, is missing. just as the national drugs strategy (department of tourism, sport and recreation, 2008) offered a long-term framework for addressing substance abuse, a working group could do the same for gambling addiction in ireland. a national tool for assessing gambling addiction, as done for substance addiction, would form part of this work. such a tool would facilitate working with groups, such as general practitioner doctors (gps). in addition, a national strategy for service provision that brought together governmental and private organisations could help connect services for those affected by gambling. participants further called for open discussion about gambling addiction, and this parallels other movements to remove the shame and stigma attached to issues, such as mental illness, sexual orientation, or suicide. the majority of gamblers do not seek help for reasons including financial resources, embarrassment, stigma, denial, and difficulty with sharing problems (hodgins & elguebaly, 2000; petry, 2009; suurvali, hodgins, toneatto, & cunningham, 2012). encouraging open discussion may encourage gamblers at risk or with addiction and others who have been affected by their addiction to come forward for help. alongside open discussion, participants wanted education for the public to raise awareness of the risks of gambling. researchers have called for measures to increase public awareness of problem gambling (thomas et al., 2017). research about education around addiction has shown some approaches are more effective than others. for example, anderson and baumberg (2006) found that education about alcohol in the classroom increased knowledge about alcohol but had a limited impact on the public’s drinking behaviour. the authors suggest that improvement of school-based programmes may increase their effectiveness. anderson and baumberg further state that mass media programmes can increase community awareness and facilitate intervention. groups such as the uk’s department for culture, media and sport (2014), have observed that young people aged 16 to 24 are at the highest risk of problem gambling. they must be helped to understand how to gamble in a socially responsible way, and the gambling industry must work to protect underage youth from exposure to gambling promotions. the development of regulation around gambling is likely to be the most effective means of reducing harm. according to anderson and baumberg (2006), policies that regulate the alcohol market, including taxation and restricted access, are effective and are especially important for protecting young people. smyth, james, cullen, and darker (2015) found that prohibitive legislation around novel psychoactive substances reduced uptake by adolescents in treatment in ireland. participants in this study similarly called for regulation of gambling opportunities. 21 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 conclusion the social impact of harmful gambling is much wider than just affecting the individuals who gamble. in ireland, efforts are ongoing to address the problems associated with harmful gambling, and importantly, legislation is urgently needed to move this process forward. the issue is one of speedy action as new technologies, which make legislative and policy development challenging, continue to facilitate and accelerate gambling issues. recommendations the views of participants in this study are suggestive of multiple reforms and social initiatives in ireland. among these are the following, which also appear in the original report for this study (fulton, 2015; fulton, 2016) and which have yet to be addressed in ireland: • development of a regulated and responsible gambling environment. participants advocated revisions to legislation, as well as, importantly, implementation of this legislation to ensure regulation. they further wanted to see the government take social action around addressing harmful gambling in a coordinated fashion. a national gambling strategy and policy would further that goal. participants also noted the need for a social fund to assist those who had experienced harm from gambling; such a fund has been proposed in recent attempts at legislative reform. • improvement of social understanding of gambling. participants called for an open dialogue about gambling, in which they wanted to increase public awareness of the potential harms associated with gambling. greater social awareness and openness around discussing gambling addiction would create greater understanding about the problem and reduce social stigma. participants also believed education was a key component of mitigating the negative impact of harmful gambling. • development of addiction services to treat and prevent harmful gambling. participants demanded a service approach that provided nationwide assistance equally across regions. currently, there is no national strategy for service provision and no national model for funding services. in addition, participants noted the lack of information around harmful gambling to help those affected by it; greater information and services are needed. coordination across addiction services, as well as other services to address particular negative outcomes of harmful gambling, would facilitate support for those affected by harmful gambling. support should be provided for everyone affected by harmful gambling. • research about harmful gambling in ireland. there needs to be additional research about harmful gambling in ireland and greater funding through national research bodies to support neutral research. the current project has influenced the development of attempts at new legislation; further research will facilitate that endeavour in ireland. acknowledgements this paper is part of the study, playing social roulette: the social impact of gambling on 22 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 individuals and groups in ireland, which was funded by the irish research council of ireland’s research project grants (rpg) social protection research innovation awards (spria) [grant number rpg2013-4], with support from the department of social protection. in addition, this paper was informed by the study, developments in the gambling area, which was funded by the department of justice & equality, ireland [grant number v1271]. thanks go to the funding bodies that supported the completion of this research. the researcher further thanks the reviewers, research assistants, and very importantly, the recovering gamblers, their families and friends, and addiction counsellors who made this paper possible. appendix a codebook parent code code description 1. services known services to ameliorate the effects of harmful gambling identified by the participant. services used services, if any, used by the participant. service discovery means by which the participant heard about the services they have identified. service provider provider of the service (e.g., volunteer counselling organisation, gambling organisation, etc.) service provided types of services and supports provided by service provider identified. service approached way in which participant approached service provider (e.g., alone, with family, with friends, with others) 2. when help when the participant decided to ask others for help. help reason reason for seeking/not seeking help. how service helped how existing services / organisations helped participant. further help wanted further help participant wanted to see services/organisations provide. 23 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 parent code code description 3. services desired services participant wanted offered to gamblers and their families and friends. major issues major issues that should be addressed identified by participant supports needed supports required for those affected by gambling, as identified by participant (e.g., financial aid, counselling, particular information, etc.) prevention preventative measures that should be taken, as identified by participant. support responsibility who should be responsible for setting up and maintaining supports, as identified by participant. references adams, p.j., raeburn, j., & de silva, k. (2009). a question of balance: prioritizing public health responses to harm from gambling. addiction, 104(5), 688-691. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02414.x analytical services unit. (2010). northern ireland gambling prevalence survey 2010. belfast, ireland: department for social development. anderson, d.j., mcgovern, j.p., & dupont, r.l. (1999). the origins of the minnesota model of addiction treatment: a first person account. journal of addictive diseases, 18(1), 107114. https://doi.org/10.1300/j069v18n01_10 anderson, p., & baumberg, b. (2006). alcohol in europe: a public health perspective. london, uk: european commission. retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/health/archive/ph_determinants/life_style/alcohol/documents/ alcohol_europe_en.pdf atkinson, r., & flint, j. (2001). accessing hidden and hard-to-reach populations: snowball research strategies. social research update, 33. retrieved from http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/index.html betting act of 1931. number 27. retrieved from http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1931/act/27/enacted/en/html betting (amendment) act of 2015. number 7. retrieved from http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2015/act/7/enacted/en/html 24 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02414.x https://doi.org/10.1300/j069v18n01_10 https://ec.europa.eu/health/archive/ph_determinants/life_style/alcohol/documents/%09alcohol_europe_en.pdf https://ec.europa.eu/health/archive/ph_determinants/life_style/alcohol/documents/%09alcohol_europe_en.pdf http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/index.html http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1931/act/27/enacted/en/html http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2015/act/7/enacted/en/html the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 boyce, c., & neale, p. (2006). conducting in-depth interviews: a guide for designing and conducting in-depth interviews for evaluation input. watertown, ma: pathfinder international. retrieved from http://www2.pathfinder.org/site/docserver/m_e_tool_series_indepth_interviews.pdf brennan, c. (2016, may 25). funding is needed ‘before it’s too late’ – there’s a surge in gambling addiction in irish men (and women). the journal.ie. retrieved from https://www.thejournal.ie/rutland-centre-gambling-2785944-may2016/ calado, f., & griffiths, m.d. (2016). problem gambling worldwide: an update and systematic review of empirical research (2000-2015). journal of behavioral addictions, 5(4), 592613. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.5.2016.073 castren, s., perhoniemi, r., kontto, j., alho, h., & salonen, a.h. (2017). association between gambling harms and game types: finnish population study. international gambling studies, 18(1), 124-142. https://doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2017.1388830 cowlishaw, s., & kessler, d. 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(2014). online gambling: commission recommends principles to ensure effective protection of consumers. retrieved from http://europa.eu/rapid/pressrelease_ip-14-828_en.htm 25 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www2.pathfinder.org/site/docserver/m_e_tool_series_indepth_interviews.pdf https://www.thejournal.ie/rutland-centre-gambling-2785944-may2016/ https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.5.2016.073 https://doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2017.1388830 https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/02/09/the-worlds-biggest-gamblers https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3074%0958/gambling_protections_and_controls_.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3074%0958/gambling_protections_and_controls_.pdf https://health.gov.ie/wp-%09content/uploads/2019/02/drug-prevalence-b7-gambling-results.pdf https://health.gov.ie/wp-%09content/uploads/2019/02/drug-prevalence-b7-gambling-results.pdf https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/5187/1/799-750.pdf https://www.esri.ie/growing-up-in-ireland/ http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_ip-14-828_en.htm http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_ip-14-828_en.htm the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 fulton, c. (2015). playing social roulette: the impact of gambling on individuals and society in ireland. dublin, ireland: university college dublin. retrieved from https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/handle/10197/6796 fulton, c. (2016). developments in the gambling area. dublin, ireland: department of justice & equality. retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10197/8612 gambling control bill 2018. number 26. retrieved from https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2018/26/eng/initiated/b2618d.pdf gambling control bill: general scheme, 2013. department of justice & equality. retrieved from http://www.justice.ie/en/jelr/gambling%20control%20bill%202013.pdf/files/gamblin g%20control%20bill%202013.pdf gaming and lotteries act 1956. number 2. retrieved from http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1956/act/2/enacted/en/html glaser, b.g., & strauss, a.l. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. hawthorne, ny: aldine. guest, g., namey, e.e., & mitchell, m.l. (2013). collecting qualitative data: a field manual for applied research. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781506374680 hodgins, d.c., & el-guebaly, n. (2000). natural and treatment-assisted recovery from gambling problems: a comparison of resolved and active gamblers. addiction, 95(5), 777-789. institute of public health in ireland. (2010). developing a population approach to gambling: health issues. dublin, ireland: institute of public health in ireland. retrieved from https://www.publichealth.ie/files/file/developing%20a%20population%20approach%20t o%20gambling.pdf kolb, s.m. (2012). grounded theory and the constant comparative method: valid research strategies for educators. journal of emerging trends in educational research and policy studies, 3(1), 83-86. kourgiantakis, t., saint-jacques, m., & tremblay, j. (2013). problem gambling and families: a systematic review. journal of social work practice in the addictions, 13(4), 353-372. https://doi.org/10.1080/1533256x.2013.838130 lewis-beck, m.s., bryman, a., & liao, t.f. (2004). the sage encyclopedia of social science research methods. thousand oaks, ca: sage. lynch, d., & o’reilly, t. (2018). tony 10: the astonishing story of the postman who gambled €10,000,000... and lost it all. dublin, ireland: gill books. molinaro, s., benedetti, e., scalese, m., bastiani, l., fortunato, l., cerrai, s., ... & fotiou, a. (2018). prevalence of youth gambling and potential influence of substance use and other risk factors throughout 33 european countries: first results from the 2015 espad 26 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/handle/10197/6796 http://hdl.handle.net/10197/8612 https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2018/26/eng/initiated/b2618d.pdf http://www.justice.ie/en/jelr/gambling%20control%20bill%202013.pdf/files/gamblin%09g%20control%20bill%202013.pdf http://www.justice.ie/en/jelr/gambling%20control%20bill%202013.pdf/files/gamblin%09g%20control%20bill%202013.pdf http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1956/act/2/enacted/en/html http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781506374680 https://www.publichealth.ie/files/file/developing%20a%20population%20approach%20t%09o%20gambling.pdf https://www.publichealth.ie/files/file/developing%20a%20population%20approach%20t%09o%20gambling.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/1533256x.2013.838130 the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 study. addiction, 113(10), 1862-1873. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14275 mullins, p. (2014). keeping it simple: a strategic plan 2014 to 2017. cahir, ireland: aiséirí. retrieved from http://www.aiseiri.ie/aiseiri_2014-2017_strategic_plan%20.pdf national lottery act 2013, no. 13. (2013). retrieved from http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2013/act/13/enacted/en/html petry, n.m. (2009). disordered gambling and its treatment. cognitive and behavioral practice, 16(4), 457-467. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2009.02.005 ronzitti, s., soldini, e., lutri, v., smith, n., clerici, m., & bowden-jones, h. (2016). types of gambling and levels of harm: a uk study to assess severity of presentation in a treatment-seeking population. journal of behavioral addictions, 5(3), 439-447. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.5.2016.068 smyth, b.p., james, p., cullen, w., & darker, c.d. (2015) "so prohibition can work?" changes in use of novel psychoactive substances among adolescents attending a drug and alcohol treatment service following a legislative ban. international journal of drug policy, 26(9) 887-889. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2015.05.021 suurvali, h., hodgins, d.c., toneatto, t., & cunningham, j.a. (2012). hesitation to seek gambling-related treatment among ontario problem gamblers. journal of addiction medicine, 6(1), 39-49. https://doi.org/10.1097/adm.0b013e3182307dbb svensson, j., & romild, u. (2014). problem gambling features and gendered gambling domains amongst regular gamblers in a swedish population-based study. sex roles, 70(5-6), 240254. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0354-z thomas, s.l., randle, m., bestman, a., pitt, h., bowe, s.j., cowlishaw, s., & daube, m. (2017). public attitudes towards gambling product harm and harm reduction strategies: an online study of 16-88 year olds in victoria, australia. harm reduction journal, 14(49). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-017-0173-y verbiest, t., & keuleers, e. (2003). cross-border gaming: the european regulatory perspective. gaming law review, 7(3), 185-196. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/109218803766651476 wardle, h., moody, a., spence, s., orford, j., volberg, r., jotangia, d., griffiths, m., hussey, d., & dobbie, f. (2011). british gambling prevalence survey 2010. birmingham, uk: gambling commission. retrieved from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach ment_data/file/243515/9780108509636.pdf crystal fulton (crystal.fulton@ucd.ie) is an associate professor at university college dublin, ireland, where she studies the social interactions among people, information, and communication in daily life settings. her research into the information worlds of people engaged in serious leisure (e.g., genealogists, urban explorers) examines leisure participation and the connections among hobbies, behaviours around information supporting hobby activities, and 27 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14275 http://www.aiseiri.ie/aiseiri_2014-2017_strategic_plan%20.pdf http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2013/act/13/enacted/en/html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2009.02.005 https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.5.2016.068 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2015.05.021 https://doi.org/10.1097/adm.0b013e3182307dbb https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0354-z https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-017-0173-y http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/109218803766651476 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach%09ment_data/file/243515/9780108509636.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach%09ment_data/file/243515/9780108509636.pdf mailto:crystal.fulton@ucd.ie the information needs of individuals the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32962 impact on individuals, groups, and communities. in particular, her work extends beyond issues of information acquisition to investigate how information is used, shared or hidden, and created in both digital and non-digital environments. most recently, her research on harmful gambling examined the outcomes of secretive behaviours. she was recently presented with ucd’s prestigious research impact case study award 2018 for her research on the social impact of harmful gambling. 28 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index introduction gambling in ireland the social impact of harmful gambling services and information provision about harmful gambling method research objective and questions research approaches: ethnographic site visits and in-depth interviews participants research ethics data analysis findings decision-making around seeking help acquisition and use of information and services perceived social measures, including policies and information provision, to reduce the potential for harm through gambling discussion conclusion recommendations acknowledgements appendix a codebook references book review: leveraging wikipedia: connecting communities of knowledge the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ ijidi: book review proffitt, m. (ed.). (2018). leveraging wikipedia: connecting communities of knowledge. chicago: ala editions. isbn 978-0-83891-632-2. 263 pp. $68 us. reviewer: stacy allison-cassin, york university, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: collections; information literacy; outreach; social justice; wikipedia publication type: book review he wikimedia community has seen an increase in the participation of cultural heritage institutions such as libraries in wikimedia projects (wikipedia, wikimedia commons, wikidata, etc.). in an effort to expose this potential to a wider audience merrilee proffitt, a senior program officer at oclc, has published leveraging wikipedia: connecting communities of knowledge. made up of 15 short entries by a variety of contributors on different initiatives and aspects of the wikipedia movement, and of potential interest to library workers, this ala edition publication takes a practical approach to the topics discussed, with authors offering first person accounts of their experiences. however, it is not a manual or guide on how to incorporate wikimedia projects into library workflows and programs, instead these accounts are offered as a place to get inspired by the myriad of possibilities, from edit-a-thons (snyder) and “micro editing” through the #1lib1ref campaign (orlowitz), to creating a wikipedian in residence position to boost your institution’s knowledge of wikipedia editing (stinson & evans), to working with faculty members on wikipedia as class writing projects (davis), using wikipedia to teach information literacy (sengul-jones) to using wikipedia and wikidata for metadata creation (lemus-rojas & pintscher). each chapter offers a slightly different angle on implementing a wikimedia project and commentary on how wikimedia can be used to increase your library’s impact, both on and offline. this volume is recommended for those looking for a starting place and background information on getting their institutions involved in the wikimedia movement. the organization of this volume is useful for those wanting to dip into a single or several chapters as they can be read independently of each other. however, there are a few points of criticism. the first is that there is some content repetition and overlap between chapters. a number of chapters cover the same basic information with repeated statistics an d references to the same articles. one wishes this repetition had been reduced in favour of increased unique content. this might have been solved with chapters on specific kinds of opportunities for libraries. for example, a single chapter dealing with edi t-a-thons with accompanying case studies and recommendations. further, a number of the articles try to cover too much ground by briefly citing a wide range of different initiatives and would have benefited from a tighter focus on a single issue. a last frustration is the large number of references to online content, screen shots and links integrated into the book. this makes sense given wikimedia is online, but this publication would have served better as an openly available online publication where the integrated links could be followed, making this a more useful tool for librarians interested in more interactions with the wikimedia projects. despite these challenges, this is a useful book and recommended for anyone curious about venturing into the wikipedia space. t http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, leveraging wikipedia the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ issues related to diversity and inclusion within the wikimedia movement are complex. there is a known lack of diversity in relation to both the editors, who are overwhelmingly english speaking, white males from western countries, and in the breadth and content of articles. while there are no chapters in this volume specifically on the topic of diversity and inclusion within the wikipedia movement, it is a thread that is picked up in many of the chapters. diversity is particularly highlighted in the contributions from doyle and sengul-jones, and these chapters are highly recommended. since wikipedia’s inception in 2001 there have been numerous media stories, academic articles, blog posts, and publications regarding wikipedia’s lack of coverage of topics related to women and its inhospitable environment for female editors, sometimes referred to as the “gender gap” (“gender bias on wikipedia,” n.d.), a problem mentioned separately by doyle, proffitt, and sengul-jones. sengul-jones highlights examples of community and public library initiatives which tackle broader issues related to gaps in content, systemic bias, and participation from minority populations in the u.s. these problems have obvious implications in relation to what information people can find in wikipedia and a lack of diverse participation and authors leads to a lack of diverse content overall. numerous projects and initiatives exist within the wikimedia movement to work on social justice and equity. this volume provides an overview of some of these initiatives, and work related to diversity and inclusion within wikimedia projects have the potential for real impact on the availability of the world’s knowledge. initiatives such as art+feminism, afrocrowd, and women in red are examples of community projects in north america that are working to include more content from and about diverse populations. doyle discusses the ways her position as the wikipedian in residence for gender equity at west virginia university allowed her to focus on training students to create content for wikipedia about women and issues important to women, as well as to raise awareness on the ways working with the wikimedia platforms can advance equity. through her position she modelled ways academic institutions can integrate wikipedia into teaching on gender inequality and equity. many of the authors in this volume state that libraries and wikipedia are “natural allies” given their shared commitment to increasing the availability of free, trustworthy information on the internet. while it is true that there are opportunities for libraries within the wikimedia projects to advance their mission, as doyle pointedly states, “…gaps in knowledge and knowledge types cannot be seen as benign or dismissed as incidental if wikipedi a is to be considered the preeminent global knowledge resource now and in the future.” (p. 55). doyle concludes her chapter with a challenge to libraries, writing: “libraries, as the historic stalwart of knowledge, stand to participate in increasing access to equitable, quality information for all.” (p. 65). thus, as libraries increasingly participate in the wikimedia movement, awareness of, and advocacy for, issues related to diversity and inclusion must be at the forefront. references gender bias on wikipedia. (n.d.) in wikipedia. retrieved august 11, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=gender_bias_on_wikipedia&oldid=8552033 16 85 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=gender_bias_on_wikipedia&oldid=855203316%20 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=gender_bias_on_wikipedia&oldid=855203316%20 leveraging wikipedia the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ stacy allison-cassin (sacassin@yorku.ca) is an associate librarian at york university, toronto. she has held a number of different positions at york, including digital pedagogy librarian, cataloguing librarian, digital humanities librarian, and most recently the w.p scott chair in e-librarianship. she is active member of the wikimedia community. her research focuses on critical approaches to knowledge organization, critical theory, and music. 86 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, mailto:sacassin@yorku.ca shades of silver: applying the strategic diversity manifesto to tennessee’s knox county office on aging the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ shades of silver: applying the strategic diversity manifesto to tennessee’s knox county office on aging joseph winberry, university of tennessee, knoxville, usa abstract this article applies the strategic diversity manifesto—originally designed for evaluating inclusion of diversity among the information resources of public libraries—to aging services. aging services is the collection of organizations and resources that serve the fastest growing population in the world—older adults. this application is accomplished through the methods of website evaluation and participatory assessment. the result of this case study is a specific adaptation of the strategic diversity manifesto to the office on aging in knox county, tennessee, u.s., indicating how aging services organizations can build on their existing services and outreach to diverse elder populations through their organizational information resources. for this study, diversity among older adults is represented specifically through the “members of ethnic and racial minority groups,” “people with disabilities,” “lgbtq people,” “immigrants/refugees,” and “low-income people” categories. keywords: aging services; diversity; elder abuse; intersectionality; older adults publication type: research article introduction opulations around the globe are aging (united nations, 2015). this increased aging is accompanied by growing diversity (kolko, 2016; petriwskyj, warburton, everingham, & cuthill, 2012; warnes, friedrich, kellaher, & torres, 2004; wilson, 2017). diversity within aging populations presents many challenges and opportunities for the future of aging-related information resources. how are aging services—organizations such as local offices on aging designed to serve their community’s rising older population with resources like meals, socialization, and transportation—responding to diversity among older adults (morrow-howell & hasche, 2013)? this article explores the u.s. knoxville-knox county community action committee office on aging (office on aging),1 located in the city of the knoxville, tennessee, as a case study for exploring this question. this office on aging case study provides valuable lessons for the rest of the world due to shared characteristics. by 2050, people age 60 years and older will outnumber those 24 years and younger so most nations will inevitably grapple with how to serve a growing aging population (united nations, 2015). as the world’s population ages, it also continues a trend of migration from rural to urban settings—arguably making midsize communities like knoxville a microcosm of the emerging state of global aging (fitzgerald & caro, 2014). aging services in other countries such as spain have a similar emphasis on caregiving, senior housing, socialization, and long-term care (fuster, 2017). even in so-called “developing countries,” the need for infrastructure p http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ necessary for supporting a growing aging population has been noted for decades (shrestha, 2000). these shared characteristics make studying elder diversity among information resources of a midsize community in the u.s. helpful for those interested in these topics elsewhere—especially if internet access continues to extend to rural and low-income areas around the globe (west, 2015). the question of how aging services are responding to growing diversity among older adults is addressed by examining the office on aging’s information resources through application of the strategic diversity manifesto conceptual framework. this framework provides a means of evaluating content available on the office’s website. insight is also derived from the participatory assessment of the author, who was embedded as both a student and as an employee in the office on aging’s elder abuse community outreach program at the time of this study.2 introducing the strategic diversity manifesto the strategic diversity manifesto was designed to offer public libraries a way to purposely address issues of diversity within their information resources through the method of website evaluation (mehra & davis, 2015). libraries are able to measure the inclusion of diverse populations within their information resources via the manifesto’s “who,” “what,” and “how” components. these components provide a model for purposeful work towards increasing and showcasing organizational diversity. the “who” component of the strategic diversity manifesto was conceptualized with the understanding that there has been an increased focus on users within the information science field going back several decades (faiks & hyland, 2000; kuhlthau, 1991; weigl & guastavino, 2011). dervin & nilan’s (1986) “information needs and uses” has been cited more than 1,700 times according to google scholar; a review of the literature indicates that their article is seen as the starting point for a greater user focus within the field of information sciences (olsson, 2016). indeed, several user studies have been conducted with a focus on diverse populations around the world (devi & dlamini, 2014; lupien, 2007; tennakoon, saridakis, & mohammed, 2018). however, mehra and davis (2015) identify gaps in this focus: “what is missing, however, from current practice is a holistic identification, analysis and description of users in terms of their psychological, behavioral and demographic attributes as contextualized in response to localized environments” (p. 19). their discussion of these missing aspects of identification produced nine categories for analyzing the “who,” including age. the “what” component recognized seven subcategories for reviewing information resources as they relate to diversity. the three overarching themes of these categories are: information sources, information policy and planning, and connections (both internal and external). while the seven subcategories within these three broad themes were originally developed to measure public library resources, they are helpful, with some modification, in measuring information resources in aging services organizations. the “how” component of the strategic diversity manifesto provides search strategies for identifying the “who” and “what” components on websites being evaluated. the strategies deployed by mehra and davis (2015) included search engine searches and searches of the public library websites as applicable. while the strategic diversity manifesto does establish nine categories for representing diversity in information resources, mehra and davis (2015) explain that “the categories are representative, not to be considered all-encompassing in any manner, and individual agencies should identify 53 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ and create additional categories or modifications based on a community analysis of patrons in their local regions and areas” (p. 20). in order to help identify categories for evaluation, it is important to understand the community context of the organization being evaluated. the community context in order to understand the situational context of tennessee’s knox county office on aging and the information offerings it provides to meet the needs of its audiences, it is important to describe the community in terms of its environmental characteristics, its cultural and social settings, its agency’s profile, and its community and user stakeholders. environment and setting knoxville is the third largest city by population in the state of tennessee (city of knoxville, n.d.). it is situated in knox county, itself the third most populated county in the state after shelby and davidson (u.s. census bureau, 2018). greater knoxville’s scenic geography, low cost of living, economic growth, and high quality of life is expected to empower the city’s development over the coming decades (knoxville-knox county metropolitan planning commission, 2003). in order to look more specifically at how knoxville’s geographic and cultural environment impacts diversity—diversity among older adults particularly—the author applied a select swot analysis of the community. among knoxville’s strengths as a space for increased recognition of diversity among older adults is its geographic and cultural environment, which is seen as a hospitable location for retirees (wbir staff, 2017). over time, this hospitality could assist in the development of a more diverse population base of older adults. a second strength of knoxville as it relates to older adult diversity is the community’s wide-ranging non-profit organizations. brundige (2017) lists several knoxville-area non-profit organizations that focus their services on latinos, people of color, people with intellectual or physical disabilities, refugees, and people in rural settings (“knoxville mercury's giving guide”). the state’s flagship university—rooted in knoxville—is marshaling its resources in support of prioritizing diversity and inclusion, thus increasing the footprint of diversity-minded non-profits in the area (the university of tennessee knoxville, n.d.). these organizations offer a charitable framework that can be helpful to older adults of various backgrounds and experiences. though the number of diverse focused non-profits is a strength for older adults, the author’s experience has been that many of these non-profits are not focused on serving older adults. an exploration of diverse organizations and their ideas around elder abuse showed that aging services and diverse organizations can identify more common ground for working towards shared goals (knoxville-knox county community action committee [cac] office on aging, n.d.-b). a second weakness is knoxville’s apparent contradictions on diversity issues. this struggle is exemplified in local media, such as a blog post repudiating claims that knoxville is one of the most lgbtq friendly cities in america (knoxville urban guy, 2012). juxtaposing the blogger’s critique with the mayor’s page on lgbtq equality, however, suggests that political power is currently supportive of the local lgbtq community (rogero, n.d.). this split in attitudes may be seen in views on immigrants and other diverse groups as well, prompting questions about the extent of knoxville’s commitment to ensuring the longtime stability of diverse members of its community (whetstone, 2017). a major opportunity to address these issues exists in the possibility of increased developmental 54 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ collaboration between organizations serving diverse populations and the county aging services providers (selsky & parker, 2005). the size of the office on aging—it has 24 programs and $5.6 million in annual revenue—indicates that there is an opportunity to expand services in diverse communities (knoxville-knox county cac office on aging, n.d.-f). federal funding made up nearly half of the office on aging revenue last year (knoxville-knox county cac office on aging, n.d.-f). budget rumblings and changing attitudes in national politics could threaten the major funding source for aging services programs, just as the world begins to age rapidly (united nations, 2015). building new or strengthening existing partnerships with organizations serving diverse populations will help defend against the routine funding challenges faced by public service organizations (giesecke, 2012). agency profile the office on aging is a department of the knoxville-knox county community action committee (cac). both entities are products of the great society and war on poverty legislation of the 1960s (frusciante, 2007). as such, both work to bolster the economic and social stability of vulnerable populations such as the elderly, people with low to moderate income, people with disabilities, and unemployed individuals, among others (knoxville-knox county community action committee, n.d.). community action organizations exist across tennessee and across the u.s. they serve as the repository of many of the same federal programs such as utility assistance, home weatherization, and meals for homebound and/or elderly people. despite these similarities, each community action organization offers varying programs of differing scale and composition based on the needs of the community they serve (community action partnership, 2018). the cac began as a partnership of the local city and county governments; since its formation in the 1960s, the cac has worked through its departments to offer transportation, aging services, energy assistance, community development, urban agriculture, and other services to in-need citizens of knox county (knoxville-knox county community action committee, n.d.). community and user profile about 60,514 or 13% of knox county citizens are estimated to be age 65 years or older (u.s. census bureau, 2014a). figure 1 illustrates the racial and ethnic breakdown of this population. figure 2 showcases the numbers of older knoxvillians who are foreign born, have disabilities, and those who are considered low-income. while the u.s. census bureau does not collect information on lgbtq individuals, one estimate by lgbtq demographers at the university of california los angeles suggests that the county level representation of lgbtq individuals is arguably comparable to the statewide estimate of 2.6% or 11,459 (williams institute, personal communication, may 12, 2016; gates & newport, 2013). if this percentage were constant for county dwellers age 65 years and older, the approximate number of older lgbtq knoxvillians would be 1,573. in addition to existing diversity, future projections suggest further reasons for increasing service provision to diverse elders. between 2016 and 2066, the share of the nonwhite percentage of knox county's entire population will more than double from 17% to 35% with the increase of approximately 149,555 non-white individuals (boyd center for business and economic research, 2017). based on this estimate, it may be fair to suggest that diversity will increase in other areas—including the categories outlined in figure 2. as such, outreach to diverse populations is as much about the future of aging services as it is the present. while demographics help illustrate “diversity among older adults,” a literature review is necessary for understanding how this term has been represented in the existing scholarship. 55 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ figure 1. race/ethnicity among knox county older adults: 2014 source. u.s. census bureau, 2010-2014 american community survey 5-year estimates literature review the author reviewed select literature for assistance in defining “diversity among older adults” within an information context. the initial focus of the search was on two databases of the information sciences: library, information science & technology abstr acts (lista) and library & information science source. findings showed that one interpretation of diversity among older adults stemmed from cultural differences between younger old and older old individuals (van boekel, peek, & luijkx, 2017). gonçalves et al. (2017) wrote on the need to develop smartphone interfaces that account for the diversity of older adults, arguing that their diversity “can be attributed to decades of varied experiences” (p. 129). in a 2015 study of older adult student learning in an academic library, aagard, antunez, and sand concluded that diversity within this non-traditional cohort was “often accompanied by additional characteristics beyond age such as technology proficiency, ethnicity, and differing educational cultures” (p. 218). a separate study of older adult social media use built on this idea, showing that other socio-cultural factors beyond age such as gender, race/ethnicity, and income level affected the extent to which older adults used social media (yu, ellison, mccammon, & langa, 2016). these findings indicate that diversity among older adults should be understood broadly and defined to include a variety of socio -cultural aspects as appropriate for each separate study. 91% 6% 1% 2% white black or african american hispanic other 56 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ figure 2. foreign born status, disabilities, and low-income among knox county older adults source. u.s. census bureau, 2010-2014 american community survey 5-year estimates for the purposes of this article, the author sought out additional research on diversity among older adults as it intersected with race/ethnicity, disability, sexuality, gender identity, immigration or refugee status, and income level. these additional works were found through other avenues that included google scholar, internet searches, and bibliographic reviews. one study found that race and age impact the perceived approachability of librarians (daniel, 2013). another looked at the health information-seeking habits of older african american women (gollop, 1997). an exploration of health consumer information for the lgbtq community acknowledged that older lgbtq people face additional health information needs related to longterm health, housing, and human services decisions (flemming & sullivant, 2000). bonnici, maatta, wells, brodsky, and meadows (2012) indicated the need for further emphasis on services to people with disabilities in library and information science education, as large swaths of society could find themselves in this category, including aging individuals. khvorostianov, elias, and nimrod (2012) examined the role of the internet in the lives of aging immigrants to israel: “memories of the past played an important role in the participants’ current lives and were expressed in many of their internet uses. these uses may be divided into two different perspectives of the past: the personal past and the national history” (p. 591). similarly, another article noted the importance of the internet in the personal health care management of lowincome individuals who were homebound or had disabilities (choi & dinitto, 2013). the select literature review uncovered several studies that explored intersections between older adults and diverse populations in an information context—both in the u.s. and around the world. several of the reviewed works were related to health information. this article, in contrast, emphasizes the representation of diverse older adults within aging services organizations’ information resources. the analysis below is conducted through the adaptation and application of the conceptual framework of the strategic diversity manifesto. 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 total foreign born people with disabilities below poverty line 57 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ methodology this article has evolved from work conducted by the author in a graduate level course on diversity and inclusion within an information management setting.3 when asked to consider an appropriate organization for the course project, the author considered his personal interest in diversity among older adults as well as his professional experience working at the knox county office on aging. participatory assessment has been used in similar studies in which the benefits have outweighed the potential concerns (lenstra, 2017; mehra & braquet, 2007). the “embedded” author as a reflective practitioner, as prescribed by schön (1987), was able to utilize his experience in aging services to adapt the strategic diversity manifesto for aging services organizations and provide specific next steps for the office on aging based on the analysis of the results. in order to evaluate the representation of diversity among the office on aging’s information resources, the strategic diversity manifesto was adapted and applied to the agency’s website, http://www.knoxseniors.org. this helped explain to what degree the office on aging is responding to growing diversity among older adults. websites allow for greater replicability of evaluations, but, when adopting content analysis and website evaluation as research methods, challenges in objectivity arise as well as challenges in the form of regular updates to website content. applying the strategic diversity manifesto “who” terms helped to identify the population group for which the author searched in the office on aging’s information resources. this article explores the representation of diversity amongst older adults in the context of the “who” component of the strategic diversity manifesto. as such, the “who” terms identified in table 1 represent some broad diverse categories which were chosen based both on the community context and on select gaps noticed by the author during his participatory assessment. while these categories are admittedly limited and generalized, they support this study’s efforts to review multiple forms of diversity as they intersect with age (cooke, 2017; cronin, 2010; koehn, neysmith, kobayashi, & khamisa, 2013). furthermore, the broad nature of the selected categories allow them to be applied more easily to various communities throughout the world. future studies may identify additional or different categories for analysis. for instance, while gender is one of the categories outlined in the original strategic diversity manifesto, the author decided against including consideration of cisgendered individuals within this adaptation as this category did not occur as frequently as others in the community context research or in the author’s participatory assessment. additional research also supported the decision. men have been thought of as a minority group in the information sciences with studies showing that men use libraries and information services much less frequently than women (applegate, 2008; laroche, saad, cleveland, & browne, 2000). however, not all gender-related research is in agreement. an international context suggests that women face more access and use challenges in the digital age (ono & zavodny, 2005; terry & gomez, 2010). researchers who see gender as an equally important category are not mistaken, but no one article can capture every category or aspect of diversity (cooke, 2017). rather than make a judgment about which categories were most important, the author decided to focus on characteristics that were brought up the most in his participatory assessment. one expectation is that the findings of this article will promote future research which examines the 58 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi http://www.knoxseniors.org/ shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ intersection of older adults and more specific diverse groups within the broader “who” terms listed as well as within other diverse population categories. table 1. defining “who” terms searched for within office on aging’s information resources term definition members of racial and ethnic minority groups older adults who represent a wide range of racial and/or ethnic groups. people with disabilities older adults experiencing physical, intellectual, or cognitive challenges. lgbtq people older adults who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. immigrants/refugees older adults who were not born in the u.s., but came to the county at some point after birth for any reason, including in order to escape political, social, and economic conditions in their home country. low-income people older adults who lack financial resources. table 2 represents the “what” component of the strategic diversity manifesto. adapted from the original framework, these categories better represent the information resources of the aging services field. together with the “who” terms, they frame the searches performed on the office on aging website for resources related to diversity as represented by the “how” of website evaluation. table 3 summarizes the quantified results of the website evaluation. a point was assigned for every “who” term that appeared in a “what” category. since diversity of race or ethnicity, ability, and income level were represented in the office’s senior service directory, one point (i.e., 1) each was assigned to the corresponding external resources cells. if a “who” term was not represented in a “what” category, then zero points (i.e., 0) were assigned to that particular unit. as such, zero points were assigned anywhere in the diversity commit tee category as there was no mention of a diversity board or diversity-focused board member for any of the “who” terms on the organization’s website. the “how” of website evaluation has revealed evidence of diversity and inclusion amongst the office on aging’s information resources. table 4 fleshes out many of the findings in table 3 by addressing specific examples of adherence to diversity on the website. for instance, pictures are described as being inclusive of numerous racial and ethnic groups. examples of regular incorporation of people with disabilities and those with low income can be seen in several categories, such as news and upcoming events. together these findings indicate strengths and areas for enhancement. 59 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ table 2. the “what” component of the strategic diversity manifesto a. information sources a.1 external resources (e.g., senior service directories, resource lists) external resources are an important part of an organization’s outreach and connection to their community. in the researcher’s experience, senior service directories are an important part of the work that aging services provide to older adults. seeing how diversity is represented in the resources the office on aging provides to the public will help to illuminate the organization’s discussion of diversity in the community. a.2 internal resources (e.g., annual report, social media, job listings) as in public libraries, internal information resources of aging services organizations can take many forms. the focus for this project has been both print and digital resources such as the annual reports as well as social media. b. information policy and planning b.1 diversity committee or recognized diversity-focused member of board (e.g., identification of committee member’s contact information) while diverse representation among an organization’s board or aging council is important, designating a committee or individual who represents the organization’s approach to diversity matters is a step in the right direction. b.2 diversity representation (e.g., diversity statement, inclusion in needs assessment, pictures, etc.) how does the office on aging represent diversity? pictures are an important way that organizations visually describe their work or mission. articulating a diversity statement on the website is an easy, subtle, yet powerful way of conveying the organization’s values as they relate to matters of diversity and inclusion. c. connections (internal and external) c.1 centers and organizations, departments and offices (e.g., mention of diversity in different program webpages) while an organization can represent diversity as an enterprise-wide value, there are some individual programs or services that can also represent specific outreach to diverse populations. c.2 community engagement (e.g., connections to external community-based diversity agencies) how well does the organization showcase partner organizations that serve diverse older adults? c.3 news and upcoming events (within the past one year) (e.g. information on internal/external activities and events) do news and events from the aging organization represent a commitment to diversity? 60 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ several of the information subcategories saw each of the “who” terms included. these were internal information resources, diversity representation, centers and organizations, and community engagement. findings suggest that within their own internal resources, the office on aging is including a wide range of diverse populations. additionally, people from various races and ethnicities, people with disabilities, and people with low incomes were represented in six of seven categories, suggesting very high inclusion of these groups. overall, the results were encouraging, as no “who” term was represented less than four times. additionally, only one “what” category—external resources—saw fewer than three mentions. increasing connections to outside organizations serving diverse populations—such as lgbtq and immigrant/refugee-serving organizations—will build on current levels of inclusion. lgbtq and immigrant/refugee information resources were the least present out of all the resources for diverse population groups. lgbtq elders were not represented in external resources, meaning that those who were seeking lgbtq-specific resources in the community would not be able to find them in the office on aging’s senior service directory or online resource lists. there are reasons for why the office on aging should consider increasing inclusion of these populations moving forward. first, the advent of marriage equality in countries across several continents removed historic barriers to lgbtq couples revolving around aging, incapacity, and end-of-life care (almack, seymour, & bellamy, 2010). second, the attainment of marriage equality nationwide in 2015 has led to a 23% increase of same-sex marriages in the u.s. in just over two years (masci, brown, & kiley, 2017). older lgbtq couples—including those who are or are not legally married—should be able to see the office on aging as a resource now and in the future. more immigrants and refugees are settling into the knoxville area than ever before—part of global migration shifts that affect many countries (scott, 2017). the author’s conversations with local law enforcement suggest that there will be a need for more community support between law enforcement and the growing refugee population in particular as language and cultural barriers will require increased competencies and resources (anonymous knoxville law enforcement officers, personal communication, n.d.). the office on aging’s historic support for the area’s aging population makes it a natural fit for assisting both law enforcement as well as older immigrants and refugees in the future (knoxville-knox county cac office on aging, n.d.-b). lastly, the office on aging has realized the power of social media in advancing an inclusive and diverse message to the community. although the author’s own elder abuse community outreach program has contributed some to this effort, the office on aging staff with whom he has interacted understand that diversity is important and see social media outreach as one of the more effective ways of reaching out to underserved or overlooked populations (knoxville-knox county cac office on aging staff, personal communication, n.d.). overall, the results bode well for scaling services to meet the need of future growth among diverse seniors. however, the organization must not be complacent in strategic planning. between 2016 and 2066, the number of people in knox county age 65 years and older is expected to nearly double from 69,105 to 130,575 (boyd center for business and economic research, 2017). the population that the office of aging of the future will serve will be a starkly different one in the sense of sheer numbers; this shift will likely extend to the level of diversity as well. efforts must be made now to ensure the successful embrace of diversity that future elders will require. 61 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ table 3. the quantified results of the website evaluation represented in a checklist what terms  a. information sources b. information policy c. connections (internal and external) total who terms  a1 a2 b1 b2 c1 c2 c3 members of racial and ethnic minority groups 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 6/7 people with disabilities 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 6/7 lgbtq people 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 4/7 immigrants/refugees 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 4/7 low-income people 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 6/7 total 3/5 5/5 0/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 3/5 table 4. the qualified results of the website evaluation represented in a chart what terms who terms description evidence a.1 external resources when looking at the agency’s senior directory, there is the inclusion of multiple racial/ethnic groups as well as clear inclusion of people with disabilities and those with low income. knoxville-knox county cac office on aging, n.d.-e a.2 internal resources the office on aging’s twitter account showcases their support for diversity and inclusion. the annual report does in places as well. knoxville-knox county cac office on aging, 2018 knoxville-knox county cac office on aging, n.d.-f b.1 diversity committee there is not a diversity committee or member of the council on aging—the organization’s board—who is identified on the website as being a diversity representative. knoxville-knox county cac office on aging, n.d.-a 62 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ b.2 diversity representation the website has pictures of people of numerous races/ethnicities. the needs assessment addresses many specific populations including lgbtq people. knoxville-knox county cac office on aging, n.d.-d knoxville-knox county cac office on aging, 2017 c.1 departments the elder abuse community outreach webpage contains the most explicit evidence of diversity among older adults, although this is seen in other parts of the website as well. knoxville-knox county cac office on aging, n.d.-b c.2 community engagement within the last year, the elder abuse community outreach program has invited members of diverse communities to present to and serve on its committee. descriptions of these meetings are found in the minutes on the program webpage. knoxville-knox county cac office on aging, n.d.-b c.3 news/upcoming events the news section of the website includes links to the regular newsletter, elder news and views. together they represent inclusion of diverse populations. knoxville-knox county cac office on aging, n.d.-c strategic plan while the strategic diversity manifesto can provide a measurement of an organization’s level of inclusion of diverse populations in information resources, the author’s role as a participant researcher involved in assessment helped identify realistic, actionable goals for the organization based on insider knowledge of how the organization operates (lofland & lofland, 1984; dwyer & buckle, 2009). the following are select actions that the office of aging should pursue as next steps moving forward: 1. add a diversity statement to the website. a blanket diversity statement that states something to the effect of “the office on aging respects and celebrates the diversity of all older adults in our community” is a small, easy, and seemingly inconsequential change that can speak volumes to the people who visit the website, as has been shown in other settings (ihme, sonnenberg, barbarino, fisseler, & stürmer, 2016; yeo, erikso cornish, & meyer, 2017). 2. add or appoint a diversity subcommittee or diversity representative (i.e., someone who encourages the office on aging to consider diversity inclusion opportunities) to the council on aging. the council on aging—the office’s advisory board—is charged with distributing older americans act monies to many local organizations; it also advocates on behalf of county seniors to funders, political leaders, and other community stakeholders (knoxville-knox cac office on aging, n.d.-a). introducing a diversity subcommittee or even a member who helps keep the group conscious of the profile of diverse older adults could have a domino effect which gets all staff, volunteers, and community partners to consider the diversity of older adults in knox county. 3. include a diversity statement and additional diverse resources in the next iteration of 63 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the senior directory. the diversity statement could be the same message suggested for the website, but it may reach a different audience including older adults themselves who may pick up a copy of the directory at a community fair or senior center around the county. while diversity encompasses many meanings and need not be defined in any particular way, having resources related to different older adult groups (such as those discussed in this article: members of minority racial and ethnic groups, people with disabilities, lgbtq people, immigrants/refugees, and low-income people) may allow the office to better engage with diverse elders who may not feel comfortable with seeking help without having seen the diversity statement and specific resources related to their experience as an individual (wicks, 2008; cooke, 2017). 4. identify office on aging champions within other non-profits representing specific diverse groups. by building on cultivated relationships with representatives of diverse communities, the office on aging can tap into new markets of financial support, community outreach, and clients. if there are local leaders in the latinx or lgbtq communities, for instance, who have been educated by the office on aging on the importance of aging issues within their specific communities, there may be an increased collaboration, which can have positive results beyond what is currently ascertained (bond & keys, 1993). these four steps represent different levels of involvement and integration; they provide differing solutions and levels of community engagement. some of these steps are easier to implement than others. nevertheless, the author believes all of them represent changes that can have a large and lasting effect on how the knox county office on aging is understood as an organization actively seeking to assist diverse elders. by making every effort to reach out to diverse populations within the community they serve, the office on aging can serve as a model for other aging services and non-library information management organizations hoping to provide information resources that are inclusive of diverse populations. the aging services adaptation of the strategic diversity manifesto offers a framework that can be applied to existing or emerging aging services around the world, though more research is needed to see just how well the adaptation translates to the different types of diverse characteristics, community development, and aging services infrastructure that may be present in other countries. conclusion the adaptation and application of the strategic diversity manifesto in website evaluation and the author’s participatory assessment indicated that the office on aging was inclusive of diverse elders within the organization’s information resources, thus suggesting that the office was responding proactively to growing diversity among older adults. the strategic plan provided next steps for how the office on aging can build upon these findings and prepare for the expected increase of diversity among the growing elder population in knox county, u.s. while the case study shares characteristics with many communities around the globe, more research is necessary to see just how well this adaptation can measure inclusion of diverse populations within the information resources of other aging services and non-library information management organizations around the world. 64 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ acknowledgement the author would like to thank dr. bharat mehra for his support and guidance during the completion of this article. the author would also like to thank his colleagues in our course for their ideas, examples, and camaraderie. appreciation is extended as well to dr. keren dali, the journal’s editor, and to the anonymous reviewers who helped ensure that the article met the rigorous standards of ijidi. lastly, the author would like to thank the staff at the office on aging for the work they do to serve the older adults of knox county, tennessee, u.s. endnotes 1 the knoxville-knox county community action committee’s office on aging is referred to throughout the article as the office on aging for the sake of clarity. similarly, the office’s referenced information resources are cited as knox county cac office on aging to distinguish the office on aging from its parent organization, the knoxville-knox county community action committee (cac). 2 in the time since this study was concluded, the program has begun transitioning into a new initiative titled: rise above crime. this new initiative will provide case management and support group services to older victims as well as outreach and education to older adults, elder care professionals, and community members. 3 a website was developed to encapsulate the author’s participatory assessment experience at the office on aging. interested readers can visit the website via the following link: http://inscdiversity.cci.utk.edu/jwinber1/ references aagard, m. c., antunez, m. y., & sand, j. n. 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(2016). mapping the two levels of digital divide: internet access and social network site adoption among older adults in the usa. information, communication & society, 19(10), 1445-1464. joseph winberry (jwinber1@vols.utk.edu) is currently a master’s of information sciences student at the university of tennessee, knoxville. he previously earned a bachelor’s of history and political science from the university of north carolina-greensboro, graduating with honors. his interest in raising the profile of older adults in academic research stems from an affinity for 70 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=pep_2017_pepannres&prodtype=table https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=pep_2017_pepannres&prodtype=table http://www.wbir.com/article/money/magnify-%09money/study-finds-knoxville-is-the-no-1-place-to-retire-early/51-422022722 http://www.wbir.com/article/money/magnify-%09money/study-finds-knoxville-is-the-no-1-place-to-retire-early/51-422022722 https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/west_internet-access.pdf https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/2017/06/29/knox-county-approved-controversial-ice-program/439207001/ https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/2017/06/29/knox-county-approved-controversial-ice-program/439207001/ http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/338776-new-census-data-us-growing-older-more-diverse http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/338776-new-census-data-us-growing-older-more-diverse mailto:jwinber1@vols.utk.edu shades of silver the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ elders that dates back to his childhood as well as from his experience working in elder abuse response work at his local office on aging. future related research plans include investigating how older adults are represented in the information sciences literature; considering the role that information plays for older victims of crime; and identifying to what degree there is an interest in information and technology research among elder abuse response workers. 71 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, zhao final meeting campus linguistic diversity: a multilingual library orientation approach authors jennifer congyan zhao, mcgill university nazi torabi, mcgill university sonia smith, mcgill university abstract this study sought to determine whether offering multilingual orientation sessions to non-native english-speaking students at the beginning of an academic year would improve their knowledge of library services and resources. in september 2015, mcgill library offered 11 orientation sessions in five different languages—english, french, mandarin chinese, persian, and spanish. a total of 74 students attended the sessions. noticeable attendance patterns included: (1) sessions offered earlier in the semester had high attendance and (2) the chinese sessions received the most participants. this study also evaluated students’ learning via an assessment questionnaire at the end of each session. the assessment results suggest an increase in students’ awareness of services and resources offered by mcgill library. this article reports on the planning, implementation, and assessment of this program; discusses the challenges encountered and lessons learned in organizing and delivering these sessions; and provides recommendations on organizing similar multilingual library orientation programs to address the needs of a diverse student population on campus. keywords: linguistic diversity, library orientation, non-native english-speaking students, international students, multilingual services iversity in higher education has become prevalent due to increasing mobility among youth and an ever-globalizing world economy. mcgill university, a large research university located in montreal, quebec, canada, enrolled over 39,000 full-time and part-time students from all five continents in 2015 (mcgill university, 2015b). mcgill’s student body represents 158 countries, with international students accounting for over 25% of the student population. between 2010 and 2015, the percentage of international students has grown drastically at a rate of 39.9% (mcgill university, 2015c). it is equally important to note that more than half of the entire student population has a native language other than english (mcgill university, 2015a): 47% anglophone (english speaking), 20% francophone (french speaking), and the remaining 33% allophone (mcgill university, 2015a). the term allophone, particularly d meeting campus linguistic diversity international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 2 in quebec, means having a first language other than french, english, or an aboriginal language (barber, 2005). in fall 2015, four liaison librarians at mcgill university (from the schulich library of science & engineering, the humanities & social sciences library, and the nahum gelber law library) offered library orientation sessions in multiple languages—english, french, mandarin chinese, persian, and spanish—at the beginning of the academic year. the main goals of this initiative were to proactively meet the library and information needs of the linguistically diverse student population and to determine whether multilingual orientation sessions would improve non-native english-speaking students’ knowledge of the library’s services and resources. the librarians adopted the library’s four promotional themes—access, collection, space, and people—to design the multilingual library orientation sessions (mcgill university library, 2016; see figure 1) in the hope of providing a full spectrum of its services and resources to students, especially those whose mother tongues were not english. it was assumed that non-native englishspeaking students (including international students) might not be aware of the depth of services available through the mcgill library, since library services may vary from one country to another. this paper describes the multilingual library orientation program’s session content, promotional strategies, evaluation results, as well as challenges encountered in organizing and delivering this initiative. it also provides lessons learned on the design and delivery of the multilingual library orientation sessions. meeting campus linguistic diversity international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 3 figure 1. the promotional themes of library orientation at mcgill university literature review non-native english-speaking students and their challenges there are numerous studies reporting on challenges that non-native english-speaking students face in north american universities when they seek and use information. english proficiency, previous library experience, and cultural differences are the main factors that affect their use of the library and information (hughes, 2010; ishimura & bartlett, 2014; morrissey & given, 2006; nzivo & chuanfu, 2013; sin, 2015; zhao & mawhinney, 2015). howze and moore (2003) conducted a study about international students’ understanding of concepts related to the use of library-based technology and reported that “language is enough of a barrier to the non-native speaker without the additional layers of jargon and the vocabulary of technology” (p. 64). terms such as catalogs, stacks, citations, and databases are not common knowledge among these students. a study looking at international students’ preferences in using libraries and library resources reported that a majority of students have difficulty understanding database search terms in english and most international students are interested in obtaining library information in their native languages or prefer to use library databases in their own meeting campus linguistic diversity international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 4 languages (zhuo, emanuel, & jiao, 2007). in a survey conducted at 165 university libraries, the dominant challenges international students face as they enter academia tend to be associated with the library/education system (baron & strout-dapaz, 2001). a study investigating international business students’ previous experiences with electronic resources and libraries reported that most students have no prior library experience. furthermore, there is no correlation between the length of stay in the united states and their preferred use of electronic resources. therefore, the author recommended that library instruction and outreach programs be incorporated into a departmental orientation session to benefit international students at early stages of their studies (song, 2004). academic library initiatives: making connections with non-native englishspeaking students in the literature, there are many recommendations on how to improve library instruction practices for international students. it is important to tailor library instruction services for this population in order to compensate for students’ language difficulties and to increase their awareness of library services (hughes, 2010; ishimura & bartlett, 2014). working directly with international students to better understand their information-seeking behaviors and information needs is essential. one study investigated the intervening factors that affected the information use and needs of international students from japan and stated that providing detailed assignment guidelines helped japanese students feel less anxious and more confident about their research process. the same study also explored how japanese students seek help and interact with peers (both canadian students and other japanese students), professors, and librarians. understanding of academic expectations in canada was another factor that influenced their information behavior (ishimura & bartlett, 2013). zhao and mawhinney (2015) examined the information literacy challenges of entry-level engineering students, noticing that the lack of knowledge of basic library resources and services and the evaluation of sources is challenging for native chinese-speaking students. they suggested offering “targeted initiatives” to this specific group through library orientations and workshops. downing and klein (2001) created a web-based multilingual library tour to increase awareness of library services for this large and growing student population. greenberg and bar-ilan (2014) conducted a study in a multicultural university to understand information needs and information-seeking behavior of three groups of students with different native languages (hebrew, arabic, and russian). they reported that the main differences among these groups of students were their use of search engines and reference services and the number of resources used to complete an assignment. one of their main recommendations was to offer special services to different native language student groups in their own native languages. bosch and molteni (2011) created spanish library instruction sessions that their students appreciated. the aims of these sessions were to create a culture of inclusiveness and foster positive feelings toward the library as a place for learning. they concluded that library instruction in students’ native languages has many benefits for international students, as “it enhances student-library connections, promotes a better understanding of library services in the american institutions, augments information literacy skills, and reduces library anxiety” (p. 146). while providing information literacy sessions to international students in their own native language might not always be feasible, it is important for librarians to be resourceful and creative in offering learning opportunities to students in their native languages whenever possible. this meeting campus linguistic diversity international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 5 article introduces a new practice in the field by describing a program in which the librarians taught library orientation sessions in multiple languages at the beginning of an academic year. the approach to familiarize students with the library’s services and resources in a way that mirrors student linguistic diversity, the mcgill library offered library orientation sessions in september 2015 in five different languages—english, french, mandarin chinese, persian, and spanish. these languages are among the top ranked mother tongues of mcgill students. after the idea of offering multilingual library orientations to non-native english-speaking and international students was shared among interested librarians, a team of four liaison librarians quickly formed, each of whom was a native speaker of french, mandarin chinese, persian, or spanish. this section details the preparation, implementation, and assessment plans of this multilingual library orientation program. naming the program the first task was to create an official title for the initiative that reflected the program goals. after a brainstorming meeting, several names were considered, for example, “library orientation in your language,” “library orientation for international students,” and “multilingual library orientation.” finally, “multilingual library orientation” was selected, as it was most inclusive, accounting for native speakers regardless of their place of origin (mcgill university has a large number of native french-speaking students from quebec, canada, and other french-speaking countries). teamwork and preparation organizers of this initiative were a team of librarians enthusiastic about increasing library use among students, especially those whose native languages were not english. in addition to delivering orientation sessions in a non-english language, these librarians divided the preparation work among themselves, including designing instruction content; promoting the program; creating publicity materials; organizing session logistics such as venue, registration, and supplies; and developing assessment strategies. this team approach proved effective, as it allowed for the preparation to be completed within three weeks. program promotion a total of 11 sessions, 2 in english, 2 in french, 3 in mandarin chinese, 2 in persian, and 2 in spanish, were planned for september 2015, with 2 to 3 sessions in each week. in the middle of august, the program description was posted on the library’s website and session registration forms opened. meanwhile, a promotional campaign for the program started with tailored announcements targeting different student audiences. two communication channels were used in the promotion of the multilingual orientation sessions: 1. communication targeting all students: • mcgill library’s homepage and social media, meeting campus linguistic diversity international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 6 • faculty and departmental listservs and orientation sessions, • mcgill student society newsletters, • printed posters (see figure 2) in library branches and strategic campus locations, • smaller pamphlets handed out to students at library service desks and departmental orientation events, and • public display screens inside library branches and elsewhere on campus. 2. communication targeting non-native english-speaking students: • international student services’ social media, • engineering student centre’s newsletter (this group was targeted because of mcgill’s latest enrollment statistics: the faculty of engineering enrolled 1,669 international students, accounting for 36% of all engineering students; k. massey, personal communication, december 9, 2015), and • international student groups at mcgill university. meeting campus linguistic diversity international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 7 figure 2. printed promotional poster orientation sessions the four librarians on this team gave the orientation sessions using consistent learning objectives: 1. navigate and find library services using the library’s website, 2. locate different library branches and learn how to use the library as a space, 3. become familiar with the digital and physical collections, 4. access e-resources off-campus, and 5. find and contact subject specialist librarians at the mcgill library. additionally, all the language sessions used consistent teaching activities. to better engage students, at the beginning of each session they were asked to write down three to five questions meeting campus linguistic diversity international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 8 about mcgill library and post the questions on the corresponding white boards labeled access, collections, people, and space in the classroom. the librarian then guided the students in finding answers to these questions by explaining how different library services and resources work. the questions not answered during the librarian’s presentation were addressed in a question period following the presentation. while many of these orientation sessions were offered in various non-english languages, the librarians purposely taught students equivalent english terminology wherever appropriate, with the hope of helping students build their knowledge of library-related vocabulary in english. assessment at the end of each session, participants were asked to complete an assessment questionnaire that included seven questions. in addition to seeking information regarding students’ attitudes toward the value of the multilingual orientation sessions, these questions aimed to measure students’ learning from these sessions. these questions were as follows: 1. a data librarian can help you find statistical, socioeconomic, geospatial, and other types of data for your research. please find a data librarian's email using mcgill library's website and write it below. 2. please use worldcat to find a book about english writing, especially for non-native english speakers, and write down the title, author(s), publication year, and publisher below. 3. please write down opening hours and service hours on saturday, october 31, in the humanities and social sciences library. you may find the information on the library website. 4. was there anything you would have liked to see covered in more depth? if yes, please write it below. 5. what was the most useful thing you learned from today's session? 6. any further comments? please write them below. 7. if you come from outside of quebec, please specify the country and the province or state where you are from, as well as your mother tongue. results attendance after each orientation session, the number of attendees was recorded. at the end of the program, all the students’ responses to the end-of-session assessment questionnaire were analyzed. among the 117 students registered, 74 (63%) attended. the mandarin chinese sessions received the highest attendance, with 51 participants (69%). the other language sessions received relatively low attendance, accounting for 23 of the 74 participants (31%). figure 3 displays the percentage of student attendance in these sessions by language. meeting campus linguistic diversity international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 9 figure 3. student attendance by language (percentage) the three chinese sessions were offered in the first, second, and third weeks in september and received 29, 15, and 7 attendees, respectively. in comparison, french sessions were offered at the end of september and had low attendance. english, persian, and spanish sessions that were offered in the second and third weeks of september had relatively low attendance. assessment the multilingual library orientation assessment questionnaire received 32 responses (43% response rate), of which 28 were from the chinese orientation sessions. in response to question 1, while many students filled out the correct data librarian’s contact information, a noticeable number of students provided the email address of their liaison librarian instead. answers to question 2 and question 3 were fairly satisfactory, with correct response rates of 91% and 81%. in question 4,when students were asked if there was anything they would have liked covered in greater depth during the session, students suggested having more instruction on library research methods, including advanced database searching, content related to completing an academic research assignment, locating current articles, and locating subjectspecific materials. other recommended topics included learning how to access french learning materials and how to borrow textbooks. question 5 asked for the most useful content they learned during the session. many respondents found it was helpful to know how to search for books, especially textbooks, as well as how to access them in either print or electronic format. other topics that respondents found useful included learning how to request books, finding past exams, seeking help from a librarian, booking a group study room, locating information on the library website, and using printing and scanning equipment. question 6 was an open-ended 19% 3% 69% 7% 3% student attendance by language (percentage) english french mandarin chinese persian spanish meeting campus linguistic diversity international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 10 question soliciting additional comments. most students regarded the orientation instructions as useful and provided positive comments, such as “this library orientation is great and it let me be familiar with nearly everything about library services;” “this event is great;” and “this course has been very useful for me!” there were also suggestions for giving more workshops in languages other than english, particularly in mandarin chinese. the number of responses to question 7, asking about the participants’ mother tongue, was very low. the majority of answers indicated various provinces in china and chinese language as their first language. discussion since the study assessment observed the increase in students’ library knowledge after the multilingual orientation session and their positive perception toward the session, the authors concluded that this initiative achieved its overall goals—to proactively meet the library and information needs of mcgill’s linguistically diverse student population and to determine whether multilingual orientation sessions would improve non-native english-speaking students’ knowledge of library services and resources. however, it was interesting to see that the attendance numbers dropped as the semester progressed. it was speculated that students may be more willing to attend extracurricular activities, such as the library orientation session, at the very beginning of the term while their schedules are more flexible and they are less busy with their schoolwork. the initiative did not receive consistently high attendance in all sessions offered in all languages. the high attendance of native chinese-speaking students in this program might be attributed to the size of the chinese student population at mcgill, the third largest behind english-speaking and french-speaking students. the high attendance may also suggest that native chinesespeaking students in particular appreciate having a library orientation that is offered in their native language at the start of their studies. while mcgill university has a large number of francophone students, francophone attendance was remarkably low. this may be due to the librarian for french language and literature being already well embedded in two required undergraduate and graduate french literature courses, as well as in an advanced french language course for french learners. however, this does not explain the absence of francophone students from faculties and departments outside of the department of french language and literature and the french language centre. one speculation is that the francophone students might be relatively comfortable speaking and studying in english and familiar with library services and resources in north america. as a result, they choose not to attend a session offered in french. this is an interesting observation, and future studies in this area might improve the understanding of library and information needs of francophone students. the low attendance in the english sessions may be a result of other library orientation activities being offered in english at the same time. the librarian who led the english sessions also noticed that the student attendance was a mixture of allophones and anglophones. however, the authors could not specify the ratio due to the lack of responses to the assessment questionnaire. it is possible that francophiles and hispanophiles may have attend the french and spanish sessions as a way to practice and improve their language skills, but may have neither french nor spanish as their native languages. this logic may also be true for english language and other language meeting campus linguistic diversity international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 11 sessions. thus, one cannot assume that all participants of a particular language session are native speakers of the language used in that session. while the findings are limited to a small sample of the student population, the positive feedback from session participants confirmed the value of this multilingual initiative. the assessment results from the questionnaire provided some insights about what students learned from the sessions and how the teaching can be improved in the future. the majority of students were not able to locate the contact information for the data librarian, most likely because there was too much emphasis on the liaison librarian’s services during the session. as a result, students might have built an impression that they could seek any help from their liaison librarian, including finding data or connecting with the data librarian, and they might not be aware that there would be a separate librarian offering data services. therefore, it remains essential to continue promoting liaison librarians’ roles, since it is not feasible to familiarize all students with the diverse librarian roles on campus. the student comments also suggest that students are interested in learning advanced searching skills for their subject area in addition to the basic content covered in the orientation sessions. recommendations while delivering the multilingual orientation session, the authors recognized that incorporating alternative formats of materials such as an integrated library tour would be beneficial to students and their acclimatization to the library. during the tours, the librarian could provide instructions on how to log into the printer, locate the book return bin, use the selfcheckout machine and course reserves, as well as explore various study areas. in addition, mcgill library has created a series of video tutorials related to various library resources and services available on the library’s website. these self-directed online materials are useful to augment the in-person sessions, especially for international students when they need to learn about the library at their own pace. in the future, incorporating online content into the orientations sessions may be beneficial. due to the lack of multilingual library staff, it is not always feasible for every library to offer inperson multilingual library orientation. however, librarians can be resourceful and creative by collaborating with multilingual students to offer a similar program. it is very common to see more and more international students in north american university campuses. they are library clients, but they may also be trained to supplement existing library services, such as by contributing to the library’s multilingual orientation events and online orientation materials. in the future, it would also be interesting to explore whether students from diverse language groups share similar library needs and if library-related questions vary among students with different native languages or nationalities. all in all, it is essential to become acquainted with the needs of a university’s diverse student population in order to better address the library and information needs of this growing community. conclusions the multilingual library orientation is effective in meeting linguistic diversity on campus, especially for students whose culture, language, and previous library experience differ largely meeting campus linguistic diversity international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 12 from north american students. however, planning a successful multilingual orientation program requires librarians who are comfortable communicating and teaching in different languages. sessions must be offered at an appropriate time that meets students’ scheduling needs. multiple channels and collaborative promotions are essential in order to market the program to a wide audience. the high attendance in the chinese sessions suggests that library orientation is in particular welcomed by chinese-speaking students. acknowledgement the authors are grateful to ms. tara mawhinney for her constructive feedback on this paper. references barber, k. (2005). the canadian oxford dictionary (2nd ed.). oxford, uk: oxford university press. baron, s., & strout-dapaz, a. (2001). communicating with and empowering international students with a library skills set. reference services review, 29(4), 314–326. bosch, e. k., & molteni, v. e. (2011). connecting to international students in their languages: innovative bilingual library instruction in academic libraries. in p. jackson & p. sullivan (eds.), international students and academic libraries: initiative for success (pp. 135–150). chicago, il: association of college and research libraries. downing, a., & klein, l. r. (2001). a multilingual virtual tour for international students: the web-based library at baruch college opens doors. college & research libraries news, 62(5), 500–502. greenberg, r., & bar-ilan, j. (2014). information needs of students in israel—a case study of a multicultural society. the journal of academic librarianship, 40(2), 185–191. howze, p. c., & moore, d. m. 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(2015). comparison of native chinese-speaking and native english-speaking engineering students' information literacy challenges. the journal of academic librarianship, 41(6), 712–724. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2015.09.010 zhuo, f., emanuel, j., & jiao, s. (2007). international students and language preferences in library database use. technical services quarterly, 24(4), 1–13. first impressions: a review of diversity-related content on north american lis program websites the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ first impressions: a review of diversity-related content on north american lis program websites ana ndumu, florida state university, usa crystal betts-green, florida state university, usa abstract this study explores library and information science (lis) program websites from a recruitment and marketing standpoint and sheds light on the availability of diversity related content. lis and higher education literature suggests that the inte rnet and program websites are crucial when it comes to prospective students’ graduate school selection. using berelson’s (1952) quantitative content analysis technique, the researchers examined faculty profiles, diversity statements, diversity-related courses, funding opportunities, achievements, and student organizations on program websites. the data indicates that, collectively, lis programs are successful in sharing information on funding as well as highlighting faculty scholarship related to diversity. greater emphasis could be placed on crafting and displaying diversity statements; designing, offering, and listing diversity related courses beyond survey courses; consistently showcasing diversity -related achievements and events; and encouraging and supporting diversity-related student groups. this research has implications for fostering more strategic diversity -related initiatives. keywords: diversity; lis education; marketing; recruitment; social justice publication type: research article introduction ibrary and information science (lis) educators in the u.s. and canada have been paying closer attention to diversity in the information professions. topics of discussion have included promoting intercultural leadership and cultural competence skills (e.g., allard, mehra, & qayyum, 2007), embedding diversity and intercultural issues within the lis curriculum (e.g., abdullahi, 2007; cooke & sweeney, 2017; subramaniam & jaeger, 2011), increasing representation and inclusion within the lis professorate (e.g., jaeger & franklin, 2007; subramaniam & jaeger, 2010), and recruiting and retaining specific marginalized groups (e.g., lloyd, 2007; lance, 2005). in the past, proponents of diversity efforts (e.g., adkins & espinal, 2004; jaeger, subramanian, jones, & bertot, 2011; cooke, 2013) have noted the wide representational gap within the field and the professorate. very little has changed. recent data by the association for library & information science education (alise, 2017) and the american library association (ala, 2017) substantiates that racial and ethnic representation among north american lis professionals and educators have not reached parity with combined canadian and u.s. demographics. consider the following: • american indians or alaskan natives comprise .042% of the library workforce and .01% of the lis professorate, even though this group totals 5.2% of the l http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ overall north american population • hispanics comprise 6% of the library workforce and 3% of the professor ate, despite making up 15% of the overall north american population • blacks or african americans comprise 9% of the library workforce and 4% of the professorate, even though they make up 12.6% of the north american population • asians or pacific islanders comprise 4.4% of the library workforce and 13% of the professorate while comprising 8% of the north american population • whites comprise 80% of the library workforce and 76% of the professorate while comprising 72% of the north american population despite the 3% of respondents who declined to respond or identified as more than one race, the statistics demonstrate a disparity. add to this conundrum the fact that, in our field, diversity as a construct remains “maddeningly vague,” as hudson (2017, p. 6) describes it. definitions vary widely across contexts and purposes. although diversity is widely construed within lis, researchers and practitioners often document the lack of race and ethnicity in the field. it is generally agreed (ala, 2017; alise, 2017; cooke & sweeney, 2017; subramanian & jaeger, 2011), however, that diversity spans beyond race or ethnicity and entails age, socioeconomic status, religion, gender, sexual orientation, language, physical and learning disabilities, and beyond. in keeping with the spirit of inclusion, this study takes into account as many facets of diversity as possible, as defined within lis in the u.s. and canada. the central theme of our research is not which definition of diversity is the most accurate, but that a critical part of recruiting a diverse lis workforce involves demonstrating inclusion and representation. we address the impact of lis program websites in engaging and appealing to potential lis students who are interested in civil rights or might benefit from social justice initiatives. this research focuses on lis education in north america, but the findings and recommendations should inform lis educators in other parts of the world, especially in countries where there is a need to diversify the profession. as researchers from underrepresented backgrounds, a global scope is particularly important to us. more significantly, this article echoes the growing ethical and critical sentiment (caidi & dali, 2015; cooke & sweeney, 2017; dali & caidi, 2017; hastings, 2015; hudson, 2 017; mehra & rioux, 2016) that diversity efforts need to mature beyond perfunctory undertakings to more substantive and relevant measures. rather than approaching diversity as the right thing to do (dali & caidi, 2017; cooke & sweeney, 2017), it must be po sitioned as a value so integral to our profession that it is grafted within lis programs and workplaces. our study of lis program websites is intended to appraise whether the values of equity, diversity, and social justice are noticeable to students. atten tion to the takenfor-granted aspects of recruitment such as a program’s website, or “virtual face” (wilson & meyer, 2009), may reveal the extent to which the field’s interest in inclusion and representation translates into online spaces. since lis education is increasingly delivered online—and, even when it is delivered face-to-face, promotion and marketing heavily rely 92 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ on online presence—it stands to reason that potential students will begin their investigations of programs online. this study is intended to discern the impressions that program websites collectively convey to prospective students. background lis has long entertained the notion of diversity but has yet to fully embrace its promise (gibson et al., 2017; hudson, 2017). to date, the lis diversity paradigm has largely depended on evangelically recruiting students of color ( kim & sin, 2006; 2008; morgan, farrar, & owens, 2009). as evidenced by stagnant diversity statistics, however, the outcomes have been hollow. since programs center on embodied diversity—that is, the presence of people from non-white or non-dominant groups in the lis classroom—there has been very little structural or epistemological progress. it is time for “integral diversity,” or “diversity by design,” to quote dali & caidi (2017), or “a natural state of diversity,” according to hastings (2015). in other words, diversity needs to become more than simply a proposition; it must be a praxis (hooks, 1994). this mandate calls for intentionality in all spaces and aspects of the lis program. enrolling those who are considered “others” has been the order of the day in lis programs and workspaces (hudson, 2017). yet, few studies examine student preferences; a great deal of our reflections on diversity have resulted in analyst -constructed typologies (marshall & rossman, 1999). we argue that student-centered investigations can influence epistemic change. to this end, kim and sin (2006) found that research on the viewpoints of lis students of color, the target group of most recruitment and retention aims, is scarce. the results of their survey study demonstrate that, besides financial support and work opportunities, students from diverse backgrounds seek to take part in proactive and progressive education “that is embraced and supported by the entire lis community” (p. 89). more recently, caidi and dali (2015) investigated student perceptions of and preferences for lis education. their findings suggest that while students often prefer to select programs based on pragmatic considerations (i.e., location, costs), program values and missions are also important. subsequent research (dali & caidi, 2016) indicated that the internet was the second most utilized tool for program selection. over 50 percent of surveyed students expressed that online information was their primary guidance. the authors argue that “considering that some recruitment, outreach and targeted advertisements by lis programs are also done online, the importance of the internet may be even greater” (dali & caidi, 2016, p. 511). it is this finding that the current study seeks to probe. it can be argued that lis professionals and educators have long grown ac customed to digital media. many educators are mindful of the centrality of the internet to the domain and the ways in which the web and information and communication technology (ict) mediated education impact lis professionalization. the fact that the inte rnet is intrinsic to lis means that we must perpetually scrutinize correlative power dynamics. it is necessary for program websites to encapsulate this awareness. for potential students, especially those for whom distance or online education is novel, the internet—program websites, in particular—have important implications which need to be brought to the forefront. the overarching question, then, is what impression of equity, diversity, and social justice prospective students get based on program websites. furthermore, to truly transform diversity-related outcomes in the information professions, 93 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ it is critical to draw from research beyond lis. we borrow from higher education literature, which corroborates that program websites serve as the primary informatio n-gathering tools for prospective graduate students (dam, 2014). unlike with long -standing higher education marketing and recruitment vehicles such as college fairs and print paraphernalia, the quality of program websites is less dependent on the size and budget of the institution (pegoraro, 2006). for lis schools, websites can be a cost -effective means of highlighting diversity efforts to prospective students, allowing smaller programs, despite limited resources, to compete with their larger counterparts in terms of projecting core values and departmental images (kirp, 2003; pegoraro, 2006). when it comes to investing in graduate school, finding the right fit is vital. selecting a program is a multistage process that typically begins with online discovery. thus, the internet has emerged as the single most important tool in the college search (gordon & berhow, 2009; poock & lefond, 2003). while a university’s main site is useful for attracting undergraduates (wilson & meyer, 2009), program websites primarily attract graduate students and must therefore include some key characteristics (maringe, 2006; poock & lefond, 2003). attention to diversity can be appealing to students from diverse backgrounds as well as anyone for whom diversity efforts matter. for examp le, departmental statements can convey a program’s commitment to creating a healthy learning environment and providing equal opportunities for those on the margin s of society (saichaie, 2011; saichaie & morphew, 2014; smith et al., 2016). diversity statements are great starting points. to be convincing, however, websites need substantive diversity related content that goes beyond declared values. the best approach is for institutions to provide learning environments and for websites to make it easy to disce rn successes along these lines. perceptions of the departmental social climate have been found to influence graduate student choice in college (kallio, 1995). whether pursuing on-campus or distance education, students often base their decisions not only on the program rank and resources, but also on potential relationships or experiences. according to rau and hyland (2003), person–organization theory suggests that individuals who embrace egalitarianism and seek a culture of diversity often give more weight to a welcoming departmental atmosphere than to tuition costs or degree requirements. in the same vein, greenberg (1990) found that recruits are attracted to the organizations that are committed to diversity if they perceive themselves to be the potential beneficiaries of diversity practices and policies. in other words, an lis program’s website can represent its pledge to equity, diversity, and social justice and, in doing so, welcome prospective students. research questions to investigate whether ala-accredited lis program websites present diversity-related content, the following research questions were devised: 1. to what extent do lis school websites provide diversity statements? 2. to what extent do lis school websites provide information on diverse student groups? 3. to what extent do lis school websites provide information on funding opportunities for diverse students? 94 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 4. to what extent do lis school websites provide information on diversity -related student activities? 5. to what extent do lis school websites provide information on diversity-related courses? methods the researchers accessed the directory of sixty-one ala-accredited programs and visited program websites between june 21 and september 28, 2017. they utilized berelson’s (1952) quantitative content analysis approach to evaluate each program website according to an established protocol to compute the presence of diversity statements, listings of diverse student groups, availability of funding opportunities for diverse students, and posts of diversity-related initiatives or entities. this data collection technique allows for analyzing written content in a systematic, objective, quantitative manner to measure variables. content analysis quantifies the presence of words, concepts, themes, or sentences. in order to assess the characteristics of diversity statements and related material, the researchers mined and categorized available content with the goal of identifying prevalent words and critical word strings. the data was later synthesized and com pared based on emergent themes derived from word frequencies. analysis rq1: diversity statements diversity statements are proclamations of a commitment to diversity. the field’s leading organizations, including the ala and alise, have published formal diversity statements to guide information professionals. diversity statements can also help draft newcomers to the field, attract more diverse pools of applicants, and function as launching points for strategic initiatives. in this study, a diversity statement is operationalized as a stand-alone, exclusive statement on equity, diversity, and social justice. it is complementary to but distinct from values and mission statements. such a statement may be a diversity plan or a specific policy address, and must express an lis program’s position on diversity in lieu of a link to or copy of a university’s statement. fourteen (23%; n=61) lis school websites provide access to diversity statements, and table 1 provides a sample of them (in alphabetical order). an analysis of diversity statements indicates that diversity, information, inclusion, and community are among the 15 most common words (table 2) when allowing for stemmed words, and their relevance increases after adding the following supererogatory words to the stop word list: faculty, students, educators, researchers, staff, university, ischool, program, and school. weighted percentages are based on the frequency of the word relative to the total words counted. the weighted percentage assigns a portion of the word’s frequency to each group so that the overall total does not exceed 100%. weights also allow for accurate contextual analysis of word frequencies. similarly, 51 program websites (84%; n=61) contained statements on missions, visions, and goals. operationally, missions, visions, and goals are statements on the future direction of 95 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ an lis program. missions, visions, and goals can be presented independently as subsidiary webpages or within other documents, such as a program’s strategic plan. the data suggests that thirty-one, or roughly half, of the online programs’ missions, visions, and goals statements reference “diversity,” “multicultural,” “inclusion,” “representation,” or any truncation or derivative of these terms. moreover, an examination of published missions, visions, and goals (when using the same rubric for mining diversity statements) indicates that of the four above-mentioned words, “diversity” recurs frequently and places sixth (weighted percentage 0.97%) among the 15 most commonly used words, as presented in table 3. table 1. examples of diversity statements institution url kent state university https://www.kent.edu/ischool/diversity-inclusionstatement university of maryland https://ischool.umd.edu/diversity-initiatives university of michigan https://www.si.umich.edu/aboutsi/diversity-schoolinformation university of north carolina, chapel hill https://sils.unc.edu/about/diversityhttps://sils.unc.edu/a bout/diversity university of washington https://ischool.uw.edu/diversity/statement table 2. word frequencies program diversity statements (n=5,021 words) word related words frequency (n) weighted percentage (%) diversity diverse 242 4.82 information inform 103 2.05 inclusion inclusive, inclusively, inclusiveness, inclusivity 87 1.73 community communities 76 1.51 library libraries 62 1.24 issues issue 38 0.76 promote promotes, promoting, promotion, promotions 38 0.76 research researchers 36 0.72 development develop, developed, developing 35 0.7 professional professional, professionalism, professionals 31 0.62 recruitment recruit, recruiting 30 0.6 equity equality 29 0.58 technology technological, technologies 29 0.58 access accessibility, accessible 28 0.56 create created, creates, creating 28 0.56 96 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.kent.edu/ischool/diversity-inclusion-statement https://www.kent.edu/ischool/diversity-inclusion-statement https://ischool.umd.edu/diversity-initiatives https://www.si.umich.edu/aboutsi/diversity-school-information https://www.si.umich.edu/aboutsi/diversity-school-information https://sils.unc.edu/about/diversityhttps:/sils.unc.edu/about/diversity https://sils.unc.edu/about/diversityhttps:/sils.unc.edu/about/diversity https://ischool.uw.edu/diversity/statement first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ table 3. word frequency program missions, visions, and goals (n=7,766 words) word related words frequency (n) weighted percentage (%) professional professionalism, professionally, professionals 146 1.88 research researchers, researching 24 1.6 service services 93 1.2 community communities, communities’ 84 1.08 knowledge knowledgeable 77 0.99 diversity diverse 75 0.97 environment environments 44 0.57 global globally 37 0.48 access accessed, accessibility, accessible, accessing 33 0.43 commitment commitments, committed 31 0.4 people peoples’ 31 0.4 leaders leadership 29 0.37 articulate articulates 22 0.28 contribute contributes, contribution, contributions 22 0.28 achieve achieves, achievement 18 0.23 rq2: diversity-related student groups lis applicants who belong to underrepresented groups or who wish to use their career to support these populations will find that 25 (40%; n=61) programs sponsor multicultural or diversity-related student organizations (see appendix a). our examination pinpoints that diversity-related lis student groups focus on general diversity and social justice awareness (12), women in the information professions (12), minority groups or specific ethnic groups (9), the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (lgbtq) community (4), international libraries or librarianship (6), and incarcerated persons (1). five programs sponsor peer/mentor or diversity ambassador groups whereby student volunteers serve as contacts for prospective students by providing tours of the schools and the host institution and directing prospective student to relevant resources. based on our findings, it appears that there are no lis student groups that support senior citizens or those with disabilities or, at least, this information is not easily discernable from the descriptions of respective groups. a list of student organizations by type is provided in appendix a. rq3: funding to date, efforts to strengthen inclusion and representation in lis have overwhelmingly consisted of providing financial resources for students of color. our review of lis program websites indicates that 50 programs (81%; n=61) provide partial or full funding in the form of departmental or endowed scholarships for students from underrepresented backgrounds. 97 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ while fellowships and scholarships are too numerous to list, it is important to mention a few current large-scale scholarship or fellowship opportunities that serve as examples of concerted diversity-related efforts. the university of arizona knowledge river program, a project funded by the u.s. institute of museum and library services (imls) to educate information professionals who have experience with and are committed to the information needs of latinx and native american populations, has graduated 170 lis professionals and scholars (the majority of whom are themselves of native american or latinx descen t) since its inception (university of arizona, 2017). similarly, la scala (latino scholars cambio leadership academy), another imls-funded program, in partnership with the university of tennessee-knoxville and the university of arizona, provides full funding for latinx students to obtain their doctorates in lis (university of tennessee, 2017). wayne state university’s project idol (increasing diversity of librarians), yet another imls -funded initiative, is a collaboration between the wayne state university school of information and historically black colleges and universities (hbcu) library alliance, a library consortium that provides training and support for the 104 historically black colleges and universities recognized by the white house. this three-year project has focused on recruiting, mentoring, and providing an online mlis degree to ten students from historically underrepresented groups. wayne state university oversees the project and executes the educational component while the hbcu library alliance leads the mentoring component and assists with student recruitment (wayne state university, 2017). rq4: diversity-related activities and achievements students who value diversity or identify as students with diverse backgrounds may be more likely to explore the program website for faculty profiles, departmental news, or program achievements that relate to social justice and multiculturalism, believing that such highlights are indicators of potential academic support and student experience (gordon & berhow, 2009; maringe, 2006; saichaie, 2011; saichaie & morphew, 2014). a significant pull factor is that prospective graduate students typically seek to collaborate with faculty members who share similar interests. the data on program websites shows that all 61 programs list faculty profiles and research. additionally, 42 (69%; n=61) program websites include social justice-related achievements, events, and news. content ranges from conference and association awards (i.e., association of research libraries diversity scholar); to diversity research grants (i.e., the ala diversity research grant, beta phi mu lancour scholarship for foreign study); recent faculty publications on diversity and social justice; faculty and student participation in national and international conferences; study abroad or service opportunities; and fundraising for community events. furthermore, several programs have established diversity-related symposiums or conferences (table 4) or institutes or centers (table 5). rq5: diversity-related courses prospective graduate students are also likely to peruse information about course offerings. a catalog of available courses is an important resource for those who are interested in training or professional development that advance services for underrepresented groups along with cultural competence in the information professions. a review of program sites reveals that 48 lis programs (78%) provide access to an online listing of courses. within the available listings, there are 132 diversity-related courses on topics such 98 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ as race and ethnicity; gender and sexuality; usability, access, and ethics; services to specific populations; globalization and international aspects of lis; and community engagement. a complete list of diversity-related courses is provided in appendix b. based on available information, it appears that most programs offer an average of three diversity-related courses, the majority of which are survey courses, while five programs offer a significant number of diversity-related courses (10–12) along with diversity-related certificates or concentrations (table 6). by this measure, these five programs produce nearly 40 percent of diversity-related courses. this, of course, does not represent how frequently these courses are offered, which is potentially more important than the existence of course offerings. table 4. diversity-related symposiums or conferences program event university of illinois libraries serving refugees & asylum seekers summit https://publish.illinois.edu/projectwelcome/summit/ university of maryland conference on inclusion & diversity in lis http://ipac.umd.edu/content/cidlis-2017 simmons derail conference https://lisedforum.wordpress.com/ university of toronto diversity by design symposium https://www.idiversitybydesign.com/ university of washington diversity summit https://ischool.uw.edu/diversity/events-programs western university, ontario organizing equality international conference http://organizingequality.com/ table 5. diversity-related centers or institutes program center or institute drexel university center for the study of libraries, information & society http://drexel.edu/cci/research/centers-institutes/cslis/ florida state university information use management & policy institute https://www.ii.fsu.edu/ university of illinois, urbanachampagne center for digital inclusion http://cdi.ischool.illinois.edu/ mortenson center for international library programs https://www.library.illinois.edu/mortenson/ university of maryland information policy and access center (ipac) https://ischool.umd.edu/search/node/ipac university of pittsburgh ischool inclusion institute for the information science (i3) http://www.sis.pitt.edu/i3/ university of washington idea (diversity, equity, & access) project https://ischool.uw.edu/diversity/events-programs/idea-project additionally, 15 programs provide access to a number of diversity-related courses through the web-based information science education (wise) consortia that allows lis students to enroll in distance courses at other institutions while receiving credit toward their degree. 99 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://publish.illinois.edu/projectwelcome/summit/ http://ipac.umd.edu/content/cidlis-2017 https://lisedforum.wordpress.com/ https://www.idiversitybydesign.com/ https://ischool.uw.edu/diversity/events-programs http://organizingequality.com/ http://drexel.edu/cci/research/centers-institutes/cslis/ https://www.ii.fsu.edu/ http://cdi.ischool.illinois.edu/ https://www.library.illinois.edu/mortenson/ https://ischool.umd.edu/search/node/ipac http://www.sis.pitt.edu/i3/ https://ischool.uw.edu/diversity/events-programs/idea-project first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ diversity-related courses offered through wise include literature & bibliography: sources & services for patrons with a disability; information services for specific populations; globalization and the information society: information, communication & development; feminism, librarianship & information; and female voices in historical narratives (wise, 2017). table 6. diversity-related certificates or concentrations program certificate or concentration university of alabama social justice degree concentration https://slis.ua.edu/curriculum/mlis-areas-of-emphasis/ university of british columbia first nations certificate https://slais.ubc.ca/programs/degree-specializations/first-nationscurriculum-concentration/ community & culture pathway https://slais.ubc.ca/community-and-culture/ catholic university community & embedded librarian concentration http://lis.cua.edu/msinls/coursesstudy/community-embedded.cfm university of maryland diversity & inclusion certificate https://ischool.umd.edu/sites/default/files/page_files/diversityandinclusion2 .pdf university of north carolina, chapel hill diversity advocate certificate https://sils.unc.edu/about/diversity/certificate discussion this article explored whether there is congruence between the lis field’s efforts to diversify versus what lis programs represent on their sites. although research (e.g., caidi & dali, 2015; dali & caidi, 2016; dam 2014; saichaie, 2014; saichaie & morphew, 2014) supports that a potential advantage exists for programs that demonstrate diversity on their platforms, our review of lis program websites reveals that this potential is not fully realized. taken as a whole, lis programs are successful in sharing information on funding and in highlighting faculty scholarship related to diversity. while important to inclusion and representation, both of these practices focus on the largely solo endeavors of seeking resources or going about lis research. our findings imply that greater emphasis can be placed on crafting and displaying diversity statements; designing, offering, and/or listing diversity-related courses beyond survey courses; showcasing diversity-related achievements and events; and encouraging and supporting diversity-related student groups or initiatives (see table 7). the provision of information about events, courses, student group s, centers, conferences, and similar entities requires systemic change, and therein lies the challenge. beyond the need for quality online content is the reality that the work of diversity is considered overwhelmingly auxiliary and secondary (e.g., caidi & allard, 2005; gibson et al., 2017; hudson, 2017; hudson-ward, 2014). remedying the lack of representation and inclusion in lis education necessitates deliberate, ongoing development. until representation and 100 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://slis.ua.edu/curriculum/mlis-areas-of-emphasis/ https://slais.ubc.ca/programs/degree-specializations/first-nations-curriculum-concentration/ https://slais.ubc.ca/programs/degree-specializations/first-nations-curriculum-concentration/ https://slais.ubc.ca/community-and-culture/ http://lis.cua.edu/msinls/coursesstudy/community-embedded.cfm https://ischool.umd.edu/sites/default/files/page_files/diversityandinclusion2.pdf https://ischool.umd.edu/sites/default/files/page_files/diversityandinclusion2.pdf https://sils.unc.edu/about/diversity/certificate first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ inclusion scaffold our spaces, efforts toward equity, diversity, and social justice, though well-intended, will continue to be fleeting. to move beyond the dialogue and interest in ensuring that the lis profession reflects the communities it serves, diversity -related content must be consistently and clearly displayed. lis education would do well to transition from mere recruitment (outside–in) to reflection (inside–out); emulating egalitarian ideals in lis spaces is one avenue for reshaping lis education. there exists a vast amount of knowledge and interest in ensuring that the lis profession is reflective of north america’s diverse communities; this mantel must be integrated across platforms, courses, workspaces, and research. table 7. percentage of program sites containing content diversity statements mission & vision statements diverse student groups funding for students of diverse backgrounds faculty profiles diversityrelated activities & news diversityrelated courses 23% 84% 40% 81% 100% 69% 78% (n=14) (n=51) (n=25) (n=50) (n=61) (n=42) (n=48) conclusion this article provides a starting point for assessing lis websites in terms of how they represent their commitment to supporting diversity. since prospective students, in the course of program evaluation, typically begin by scoping out programs online (dam, 2014; saichaie, 2014; saichaie & morphew, 2014), websites play a vital role in presenting attractive educational options for students. attending graduate school is a substantial career and financial undertaking, and the student-program fit is an important consideration for serious applicants. a definite limitation of this study, however, lies in the potential disconnect between what a program says it does and what it actually does (saichaie, 2014; saichaie & morphew, 2014). from a marketing standpoint, the presence of diversity statements, information on student groups or funding for diverse students, and even diversity -related courses, initiatives, or partnerships may not be supported by systematic actions and concerted efforts. a program’s appearance of goodwill does not evince that prospective students will encounter a department that is welcoming to diversity. other factors such as a department’s cohesiveness, campus climate, and student –advisor relationships may contribute to the actual educational experience (lee, 2016). this article is also limited by the bounds of the quantitative content analysis method (pegoraro, 2006). further qualitative inspection would be necessary to evaluate the caliber or attributes of diversity-related content. qualitative data could improve the comprehensiveness of the findings. similarly, the website content does not speak to ease of use and efficiency in locating available information. moreover, some programs have little or no agency when it comes to managing their website s and must defer to their host institutions’ web maintenance practices. accreditation guidelines also influence program marketing. in the north american lis context, the american library association mandates 101 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ that programs provide current, accurate, and easily accessible information on curricula, faculty, admission requirements, criteria for evaluating student performance, assistance with placement, financial aid, and policies and procedures. while equity, diversity, and social justice are parallel to the latter aims (and are, indeed, recognized by the ala 2015 standards for accreditation of master’s programs in lis), some programs may position concrete, accreditation-bearing metrics more prominently throughout their websites. this technicality may have impacted our results. additionally, visual (e.g., photographs, logos) and audiovisual (e.g., podcasts; streamed open lectures) content can also represent equity, diversity, and social justice, although categorizing such media is nebulous. we cannot satisfactorily explain why some lis programs provide ample diversity-related content while others do not. it may suffice to say, however, that robust diversity -related language demonstrates the lis field’s pledge toward equity, diversity, and social justice. where direct interaction with prospective students is not possible, a program’s virtual image relays how its identity can affirm student identities. to the extent that a prospective student’s attraction to lis is contingent upon diversity outcomes, websites should speak to this commitment. more than this, diversity statements and other rhetorical declarations must translate into far-reaching, concrete measures to develop lis programs with diversity frameworks in mind. acknowledgements the authors wish to thank dr. lorraine mon for the opportunity to take part in a special project that inspired extensive research on lis program websites. 102 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ appendix a list of student organizations by type • diversity/social justice (11) o plg progressive library guild vancouver student chapter o diversity council o progressive librarians guildtoronto student chapter o activist librarians and educators o librarians for social justice o idiversity club o students of color of rackham out in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics o checkedout: sils diversity o diversity student organization (dso) o open mind o flid – future librarians for inclusivity and diversity o progressive librarians’ guild western ontario student chapter • ethnicity (9) o students of color illinois o multi-ethnic information exchange (mix) o students of color michigan o blists: black and latino information studies support o kit: koreans in information technologies o nanhi kali o reforma student group o tribal libraries, archives, and museums (tlam) student group o students of color simmons • gender (12) 103 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ o women in computing society (wics) o association for women in science movement of underrepresented sisters in engineering and science (muses) o advocating for women in technology (awit) o nothing is binary o women at sice (school of informatics, computing, and engineering) o women in information technology and informatics o she innovates o wit graduate o sweep: society for women's empowerment and engagement partners o it girls united o women leading kentucky o women in information science (wis) • incarcerated persons (1) o jail library group • international libraries/librarianship (6) o librarians without borders british columbia student chapter o librarians without borders mcgill student chapter o librarians without borders western ontario student chapter o student chapter of ala international relations round table (scirrt) o librarians without borders maryland student chapter o librarians without borders san jose state student chapter • peer mentor/ambassador (5) o graduate peer mentors o student ambassadors o sice pacesetter o ida (information diversity) ambassadors 104 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ o school of information studies program ambassadors • sexuality/gender identity (4) o queer library alliance o queer sts club o spectra lgbtq o lgbtq library group appendix b list of diversity-related courses • access and services to diverse populations • bibliography of africa • building literate communities • change and identity in information systems • communication and community • communities and values • community building & engagement • community building in libraries • community engagement strategies in information science • community informatics • community partnerships • community relations and advocacy; multicultural librarianship • community relations for libraries • community-led services • creating inclusive environments • critical making: information studies, social values, and physical computing • cultural competence for information professionals 105 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ • cultural diversity programming • cultural memory organizations and the global information society • culture matters in children's literature • dialogues on feminism & technology • diverse populations, inclusion, and information • diverse users • diversity, ethics & change • diversity, leadership, and libraries community leadership • documenting diverse cultures and communities • equity of access • ethnic materials for children and adolescents • feminism, librarianship, and information • folklore: communication and culture • gender & global information technology sectors • gender and computerization • gender and information technology • gender, technology, and information • glbtiq resources & services • glbtq literature for young adults • global contexts and social justice in youth literature' • global information services • global perspectives in librarianship • globalization & the info society • going the last mile: access to information for underserved populations • hawaiian studies information resources • hip hop informatics 106 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ • indigenous systems of knowledge • info svcs for diverse users • information and culture • information and culture in a global context • information and human rights • information and power • information and society • information divides & differences in a multicultural society • information environments from hispanic and native american perspectives • information equity: social justice in a network society • information ethics • information in social and cultural context; identity in society & community • information literacy initiatives & instruction; international & comparative librarianship; • information resources and services in culturally diverse communities • information services for diverse users • information services for specific populations • information services in a diverse society • information services to diverse client groups • information technology, people and society • information & culture • intellectual freedom and social responsibility in librarianship • intercultural perspectives in youth literature • international and comparative aspects of information • international and comparative librarianship • international and cross-cultural perspectives for information management 107 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ • international librarianship • international librarianship issues and innovations • issues in urban librarianship • leadership for diversity in public libraries • librarianship for latin american, iberian and latino studies • librarianship in a multicultural society • libraries, information, and society • library & information services to students with disabilities • library and information resources for spanish-speaking patrons • library services for racially and ethnically diverse communities • lis services in culturally diverse society • literacy and community engagement • literacy and services to underserved populations: issues and responses • multicultural children's literature • multicultural information services and resources • multicultural librarianship; multicultural literature for children and young adults • multicultural library sources & services for educators and librarians • multicultural literature for children and young adults • multicultural resources and services for libraries • multicultural resources for youth • multicultural youth literature • multiculturalism in libraries • multilingual information access • museums and indigenous communities: changing relations, changing practice • naming and power • outreach to diverse populations 108 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ • pacific islands information resources • perspectives on librarianship • political economy and cultural studies of information • programming for cultural heritage • programs, information and people; information technology and global society • progressive library politics • public libraries rural america • public library history: ideology, sociology, and economy • race, gender, and information technology • race, gender, and sexuality in lis • race, gender, sexuality in the information professions • representation and organization • rereading race in classic children’s literature • resources and services for diverse populations • resources and services for people with disabilities • seminar in international and multicultural information services • services and materials for an aging population • services to diverse populations • services to racially and ethnically diverse communities • social aspects of information • social aspects of information technology • social constructs of information • social issues in information and communication technologies • social justice in the information professions • social justice and children's/young adult literature • social media & global change 109 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ • sociocultural aspects of literacy • sources of information for a multicultural society • special topics in information studies: readings in feminist technology • the african american collection • the digital divide: policy, research, and community empowerment • the public library in the community: developing a critical practice • topics in race and ethnicity in the information society • universal usability • values and communities • valuing diversity: international and intercultural resources for youth • who writes your story? race and gender in the archives • youth services in a diverse society references abdullahi, i. (2007). diversity and intercultural issues in library and information science (lis) education. new library world, 108(9/10), 453–459. adkins, d., & espinal, i. (2004). the diversity mandate. library journal, 129(7), 52–54. allard, s., mehra, b., & qayyum, a. m. (2007). intercultural leadership toolkit for librarians: building awareness to effectively serve diverse multicultural populations. education libraries, 30(1), 5–12. american library association. (2017). librarianship and library staff statistics. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/research/librarystaffstats association for library & information science education. (2017). 2016 annual statistical report. retrieved from http://www.alise.org/2016-statistical-report berelson, b. (1952). content analysis in communication research. glencoe, il: free press. caidi, n., & dali, k. (2015). “can we talk?”: perceptions of diversity issues by students with diverse backgrounds, and a rumination on personal roads to systemic change. new library world, 116(11/12), 748–780. caidi, n., & allard, d. (2005). social inclusion of newcomers to canada: an information problem? library and information science research, 27(3), 302–324. 110 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.ala.org/research/librarystaffstats http://www.alise.org/2016-statistical-report first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ cooke, n. a. (2013, september 25). diversifying the lis faculty (backtalk column). library journal. retrieved from http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/09/opinion/backtalk/diversifying-the-lis-facultybacktalk/ cooke, n. a. & sweeney, m. e. (2017). teaching for justice: implementing social justice in the lis classroom. sacramento, ca: library juice press. dali, k. & caidi, n. (2016). a two-way street: building the recruitment narrative in lis programs. new library world, 117(7/8), 499–539. dali, k. & caidi, n. (2017). diversity by design: from concept to action. the library quarterly, 87(2), 88-98. dam, s. a. (2014). factors influencing choice of a student affairs master’s program (master’s thesis). retrieved from proquest dissertations & theses global database. (umi 23987412) gibson, a., chancellor, r. l., cooke, n. a., dahlen, s. p., lee, s. & shorish, y. (2017). libraries on the frontlines: neutrality and social justice. equality, diversity and inclusion, 36(8), 751–766. greenberg, j. (1990). organizational justice: yesterday, today, and tomorrow. journal of management, 16(2), 399–432. gordon, j., & berhow, s. (2009). university websites and dialogic features for building relationships with potential students. public relations review, 35(2), 150–152. hastings, s. k. (2015). if diversity is a natural state, why don’t our libraries mirror the populations they serve? the library quarterly, 85(2), 133–138. hooks, b. (1994). teaching to transgress: education as the practice of freedom. new york, ny: routledge. hudson, d. (2017). on “diversity” as anti-racism in library and information studies: a critique. journal of critical library and information science, 1(1). retrieved from http://libraryjuicepress.com/journals/index.php/jclis/article/view/6 hudson-ward, a. (2014). eyeing the new diversity: an emerging paradigm for recruitment and retention. american libraries magazine, 45(7/8), 32–36. kallio, r. e. (1995). factors influencing the college choice decisions of graduate students. research in higher education, 36(1), 109–124. kim, k., & sin, s. (2006). recruiting and retaining students of color in lis programs: perspectives of library and information professionals. journal of education for library and information science, 47(2), 81–95. kim, k. s., & sin, s. j. (2008). increasing ethnic diversity in lis: strategies suggested by librarians of color. the library quarterly, 78(2), 153–177. 111 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/09/opinion/backtalk/diversifying-the-lis-faculty-backtalk/ http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/09/opinion/backtalk/diversifying-the-lis-faculty-backtalk/ http://libraryjuicepress.com/journals/index.php/jclis/article/view/6 first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ kirp, d. l. (2003). shakespeare, einstein, and the bottom line: the marketing of higher education. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. jaeger, p. t., & franklin, r. e. (2007). the virtuous circle: increasing diversity in lis faculties to create more inclusive library services and outreach. education libraries, 30(1), 20– 26. jaeger, p. t., subramaniam, m. m., jones, c. b., & bertot, j. c. (2011). diversity and lis education: inclusion and the age of information. journal of education for library and information science, 52(2), 166–183. lance, k. c. (2005). racial and ethnic diversity of u.s. library workers. american libraries magazine, 36(5), 41–45. lee, j. (2016). information exchanged in mentoring between faculty advisors and their doctoral students (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from proquest dissertations & theses global database. (umi 10120556) lloyd, m. (2007). the underrepresented native american student: diversity in library science. library student journal, 2(1). retrieved from http://www.librarystudentjournal.org/index.php/lsj/article/viewarticle/39/46 maringe, f. (2006). university and course choice: implications for positioning, recruitment and marketing. international journal of educational management, 20(6), 466–479. marshall, c., & rossman, g. b. (1999). designing qualitative research (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. mehra, b., & rioux, k. (2016). progressive community action: critical theory and social justice in library and information science. sacramento, ca: library juice press. morgan, j. c., farrar, b., & owens, i. (2009). documenting diversity among working lis graduates. library trends, 58(2), 192–214. pegoraro, a. (2006). using university websites for student recruitment: a study of canadian university home pages examining relationship marketing tactics and website usability (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from proquest dissertations & theses global database. (umi 11235468) poock, m. c., & lefond, d. (2003). characteristics of effective graduate school web sites: implications for the recruitment of graduate students. college and university, 78(3), 15–19. rau, b. l., & hyland, m. m. (2003). corporate teamwork and diversity statements in college recruitment brochures: effects on attraction. journal of applied social psychology, 33(12), 2465–2492. saichaie, k. (2011). representation on college and university websites: an approach using critical discourse analysis. des moines, ia: the university of iowa. saichaie, k., & morphew, c. c. (2014). what college and university websites reveal about the 112 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, first impressions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ purposes of higher education. the journal of higher education, 85(4), 499–530. smith, l. v., blake, j. j., graves, s. l., vaughan-jensen, j., pulido, r., & banks, c. (2016). promoting diversity through program websites: a multicultural content analysis of school psychology program websites. school psychology quarterly, 31(3), 327–339. subramaniam, m. m., & jaeger, p. t. (2010). modeling inclusive practice? attracting diverse faculty and future faculty to the information workforce. library trends, 59(1), 109– 127. subramaniam, m. m., & jaeger, p. t. (2011). weaving diversity into lis: an examination of diversity course offerings in ischool programs. education for information, 28(1), 1–19. university of tennessee. (2017). la scala. retrieved from http://www.sis.utk.edu/lascala university of arizona. (2017). knowledge river. retrieved from https://ischool.arizona.edu/knowledge-river-0 wayne state university. (2017). project idol. retrieved from http://idol.slis.wayne.edu/ web-based information science education (wise). (2016). sample list of wise courses. retrieved from https://wiseeducation.org/static/docs/wise.pdf wilson, j. l., & meyer, k. a. (2009). higher education websites: the “virtual face” of diversity. journal of diversity in higher education, 2(2), 91-102. ana ndumu (avg05d@my.fsu.edu) earned a ph.d. in information at florida state university's ischool. her dissertation focused on the information worlds of black immigrants in the u.s. her research interests include immigrant information behavior, diversity in lis, and demography. ana has over thirteen years of academic librarian and college instruction experience. crystal betts-green (cdb07f@my.fsu.edu) is a ph.d. candidate in information at florida state university's ischool. her dissertation focuses on lgbtq resources and patrons in rural libraries in the u.s. south. her research interests include diversity in lis education; graphic novels; intellectual freedom; social justice and radical librarianship; young adult and children’s services; rural and small public libraries in the u.s. south; and information needs of diverse populations. she is also a point foundation lgbtq scholar. 113 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.sis.utk.edu/lascala https://ischool.arizona.edu/knowledge-river-0 /users/leah/downloads/avg05d@my.fsu.edu /users/leah/downloads/cdb07f@my.fsu.edu introduction background research questions methods analysis rq1: diversity statements rq2: diversity-related student groups rq3: funding rq4: diversity-related activities and achievements rq5: diversity-related courses discussion conclusion acknowledgements appendix a list of student organizations by type appendix b list of diversity-related courses references what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass”: an exploration of inclusion, identity, and information work the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass”: an exploration of inclusion, identity, and information work shanna hollich, wilson college, usa abstract through autoethnographic research and a deep dive into theoretical literature, this article explores the idea of hidden or invisible disability and its impact on information work. much of the current work on disability in higher education is focused on issues involving serving students or library patrons with disabilities. a less explored area of research focuses on the experience of being a library worker with a disability and how that may affect the nature of information work and the provision of service. moreover, the author explores the repercussions of performing information work with a hidden disability, and how the nature of hidden disability and the act of passing brings about its own ethical quandaries and challenges. the conclusion discusses practical applications for working with colleagues who may have hidden disabilities and provides questions for further exploration. keywords: autoethnography; disability; identity; inclusion; librarianship publication type: special section publication introduction hat is the nature of identity? this is a question better suited for a philosophical treatise, perhaps, than a scholarly work at the intersection of disability studies and information science, but here we are nevertheless. the idea of disability itself is a nebulous one: what “counts” as a disability? how disabled do i need to be to call myself disabled? what about temporary disability? what about chronic illness? where do we draw the line between abled and disabled? where do we draw the line, if any, between disability and illness or disease? what does it mean to be disabled if nobody knows that i’m disabled? if no one can see it? if it’s private, if it’s hidden, if i pass? as a librarian, an information worker, it is a regular part of my work to answer questions. sometimes those questions are things like, “where is the bathroom?” and “how do i make this stapler work?” sometimes the questions are less tangible, more like the ones asked above. sometimes the questions are even deeper, going right to the core of what it means to be a professional providing service to the public: what does it mean to be marginalized? how does my identity interact with and influence the work that i do? how can i be sure that my work is truly inclusive of all people? in an attempt to explore some of these thornier questions, we must first unpack and discuss: what it means to be disabled, what it means to be a disabled library worker, the idea of w https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 passing and hidden or invisible disability, and how these concepts interact with each other and impact the idea of identity and its relationship to information work. this paper focuses primarily on one central question: what does it mean to be a disabled library/information worker? a note about language there is much debate both within and outside of the disability community about proper terminology; this debate can generally be summed up as a preference for “person-first” versus “identity-first” language (e.g., callahan, 2018; thorpe, 2017). i primarily use person-first language here because of personal preference. however, when quoting other sources, i have chosen to retain the language of the original source without additional editing or comment. above all, i respect the right of disabled adults to choose the language and terminology that they prefer when identifying themselves. moreover, the word “disability” is subject to multiple legal and colloquial definitions, all of which attempt necessarily to limit the scope of disability. i will not limit this discussion to any one definition of disability. indeed, the central thesis here is that the idea of disability is much broader than these definitions would allow and includes physical disabilities, mental disabilities, chronic illnesses and conditions, learning and developmental disabilities, and also temporary or other impairments. this broad approach includes people who may not label themselves “disabled” but who may still belong to one of these categories or meet the criteria outlined in certain legal definitions; in fact, it is this question of identity and labels that i explore here. literature review models of disability there are multiple ways to approach the idea of disability, and the scholarly literature throughout the last few decades has used various theory-driven models to ground work in disability studies. it is worth briefly examining the history and development of these different models of disability in order to provide an appropriate context for this work. for the layperson (including most legislators), the medical and perhaps rehabilitation models of disability are the most prevalent. the medical model dominated much of the earlyto mid20th century and focuses on individual impairments, often without acknowledging the person behind the impairment. this model is still dominant in much of the medical field’s training and discourse (dunn & andrews, 2015). in this model, disability is treated as a problem to be fixed with medical correction. similarly, the rehabilitation model views disability as a problem that, even if medical intervention fails, can be solved by an individual learning to use assistive devices or other strategies to mimic as closely as possible the behaviors and activities of an abled person. both models have their roots in a moral model of disability that views disabled people as inferior, objects of pity or scorn, and/or symbols of sin and vice that are in need of charity and grace. under these models, disability is a personal problem, applicable only to the disabled individual, and the onus is on the disabled person to conform to abled societal standards. disability activists, beginning in the midto late-20th century, began to develop new ways of 95 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 thinking about disability as a direct reaction to these models. social models of disability are based on the premise that disability itself is a neutral condition. this is the model that led to person-first language, which was a direct attempt to counter the dehumanization that was common with earlier medical models of disability (dunn & andrews, 2015). rather than as a moral failing or a problem that needs to be fixed, the social model sees disability as a social construct imposed upon an individual by society at large. in this model, for example, the problem lies not with the individual who uses a wheelchair for mobility but rather with the society that lacks ramps and automatic doors. the onus is on society to provide accommodations and conditions that are accessible for all people rather than to force disabled individuals to conform. critical disability studies, including disability critical race studies (or discrit), take the social model of disability one step further. inherent in the social and critical models of disability is the idea that disability is an integral part of an individual’s identity (annamma, connor, & ferri, 2013). therefore, it may not be possible or even desirable for disabled individuals to conform to societal standards of “normalcy.” like minority models in related fields, critical disability studies contend that the lived experiences of a disabled individual are important in their own right and that they provide useful and necessary insight into the power dynamics of our culture (reaume, 2014). models like discrit ask us to see disability as one of a number of marginalized identities and to recognize that disabled individuals are a group disenfranchised from mainstream society in ways similar to those who are disenfranchised because of race, class, gender, or sexuality. the autoethnographic work of this paper is primarily grounded in the social and critical models of disability. as a disabled person, i hold an identity that is marginalized by mainstream society, and this necessarily informs both the ways that i perceive and interact with the world and the ways in which various cross-sections of society interact with me. library workers with disabilities there is a growing extant body of work that explores the idea of disability in public and higher education, particularly when it comes to serving library patrons with disabilities (e.g. gibson & hanson-baldauf, 2019; pionke, 2016a, 2016b; pontoriero & zippo-mazur, 2019). much of that current work is outward-focused rather than inward-focused; that is, it primarily explores the issues and challenges regarding serving patrons with disabilities but does not often explore the perspective of what it is like to be a library worker with a disability and how that may affect the nature of information work and the provision of service. there is some existing work about library workers with disabilities, much of it centered on the experiences of academic librarians (oud, 2018; oud, 2019; schomberg, 2018; schomberg & cole, 2017). the winter 2019 issue of library trends devotes an entire section to the experience of library workers with disabilities (e.g., brown & sheidlower, 2019; pionke, 2019; schlesselman-tarango, 2019), and a recent article in american libraries highlighted the barriers that disabled library workers face when job-hunting (ford, 2018). much of this work reports similar findings. library workers with disabilities face discrimination and harassment due to their disability and are less likely to hold management or supervisory positions. they may be assumed to be less capable, less skilled, or less productive. awareness of disabilityrelated issues by librarians in management or supervisory positions is reportedly low, which means that those who are in positions of power most capable of making workplaces more 96 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 inclusive and accessible are unlikely to do so since they are unaware of the problem (oud, 2018). schomberg and cole (2017) note that for a person with disabilities, the social and cultural power dynamics; the inaccessible physical spaces in which they must operate; and the struggle with their specific impairments or body image can have lasting impacts on how they perceive themselves, on how others perceive them, and on how they understand the ways in which others perceive them. (para. 42) furthermore, workplace and societal circumstances mean that some people with disabilities will never disclose their conditions due to fear of disrespect or lack of confidentiality, eliminating their ability to receive necessary workplace accommodations. some library workers, due to a fear of hostility or suspicion if they are “outed” as disabled, will spend much time and effort to “pass” as abled, often by concealing their identities or minimizing the effects of their disabilities to be seen as “normal” (schomberg, 2018). many people assume that with legislation such as the americans with disabilities act (ada) of 1990 (amended in 2008), disability problems in the workplace have been solved. of course, reality is not so simple. schomberg (2018) outlines some of these issues: legalistic approaches to disabilities such as the americans with disabilities act requires that people with disabilities disclose their conditions in order to access legal protections. however, those disclosures are not always treated with respect or confidentiality. what seems like a reasonable accommodation to the person with a disability will not always be viewed similarly by a human resources or university finance officer. there are also expectations that disabled employees will justify their hiring by “overcoming” their disability or being otherwise inspirational. (p. 117) oud (2019) discusses evidence that there is unconscious bias towards librarians who are nonwhite or disabled. other workplace barriers include: “the invisibility of disability at work, a lack of understanding of disability, and stereotypical views of people with disabilities as less capable workers, leading to both overt and subtle forms of discrimination” (p. 7). these subtle forms of discrimination could include less access to training and professional development opportunities, less involvement in decision-making or leadership opportunities, and less access to promotions or merit-based salary increases. perhaps more importantly, legal solutions like the ada require disabled individuals to disclose their disability status and formally request accommodations. this puts the burden on the individual to identify that they need help, feel comfortable disclosing to others that they need help, in some cases figure out what type of help or accommodation they might need, and then implement those accommodations and explain them to curious coworkers and clients. furthermore, there is no guarantee that a request for accommodation will be granted. the ada does not specify exactly what is meant by “reasonable,” and often an employer will decide that an employee’s request is unreasonable and communicate this fact by turning down the request, not taking it seriously, or sometimes by accusing the disabled individual of faking it or otherwise abusing the system. additionally, a request for accommodation necessarily makes an individual’s disability status public to some degree. at a minimum, a supervisor or a human resources representative will need to know; depending on what accommodations are needed, an entire office may discover sensitive and private medical information about an employee. it 97 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 is no surprise, then, that many disabled people choose to remain silent, if and when they can, for fear of harassment, discrimination, stigma, or reprisal. the idea of passing many disabilities are invisible to the casual observer, such as some learning disabilities, cognitive disabilities, and mental health disorders. there are also physical disabilities that may have no obvious outward effects, including conditions like diabetes, hypertension, chronic pain, endometriosis, and infertility. as life expectancies have increased and modern medicine has improved, conditions such as these, which used to cripple or even kill people, are now being managed with no obvious physical effects and are frequently classified as disabilities. this is a natural consequence of the rise of social and critical models of disability. modern definitions of disability have broadened to include illnesses and chronic conditions, like diabetes, that were not previously considered disabilities writ large. and though many of us are used to the idea that you cannot see whether or not someone has a mental illness or a memory deficit, many of these chronic illnesses are similarly unable to be seen. thus, many people with hidden or invisible disabilities such as these are able to pass as abled, at least at some times and in some contexts. disability at its core has a dynamic nature—some disabilities are temporary or short-term, others are long-term, and a single person could pass in and out of disability multiple times over the course of their life. those with hidden disabilities often receive two-fold stigmatization: there is the stigma that comes with being a disabled individual, such as rejection, ableism, and discrimination, as well as the additional stigma of not appearing disabled enough to need accommodations or support services. some people with hidden disabilities report having extra difficulty receiving support services as compared to their visibly disabled colleagues because they need to jump through the extra hurdle of proving that they really need help (kattari, olzman, & hanna, 2018). think of this classic story: a disabled person with limited mobility sometimes needs an assistive device, such as a cane, to walk. they have a permit that allows them to park in designated disabled parking spaces, and they frequently do so. they drive to the store and decide this trip will only take a few minutes, they are feeling pretty good that day, so they leave the cane in the car to run their quick errand. a passerby complains, perhaps shouting something like, “hey! faker! this parking is for actual handicapped people!” not knowing that this person is following legal and ethical guidelines and is well within their right to that space. these confrontations, along with microaggressions that perpetuate ableism (“you speak really well for a deaf person!” or “how lucky for you that you get to bring your dog everywhere you go”) can make life with disability even more difficult and frustrating than it might already be. the idea of passing, then, is appealing in many contexts. if i can convince other people that i am not disabled, then i can receive all the attendant privileges of being abled without any stigma. passing is often seen in the context of other marginalized identity groups, particularly those regarding race, gender, and sexuality. history abounds with stories of light-skinned african-americans who passed as white in order to escape the brutal realities of slavery and racism, shakespeare finds much inspiration in the idea of women dressing up and passing in society as men and vice versa, and many lgbtq+ people are familiar with the idea of acting straight in certain situations where it may be unsafe to come out and be unapologetic about who they really are. 98 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 passing only works, of course, in situations where one is close to the dividing line between two groups. only light-skinned african americans could pass as white, because skin color is the main way that humans divide each other into racial categories. it is widely understood that to be classified as white, a person’s skin color can be certain shades of white, beige, tan, or even light brown but never dark brown or black. a person with prominent secondary sex characteristics that we commonly associate with femininity (a large bust size, wide hips with a narrow waist, certain facial features) might have a more difficult time passing as male than a person with a different body type. similarly, our preconceived notions of what constitutes disability make it easier for some disabled people to pass more easily than others. critical models and even many legal definitions of disability already recognize that disability status is a liminal space, one that is fluid and can change over different periods of time and in different contexts. a person with a hidden disability and skill enough to move through these different contexts without arousing suspicion might choose to pass as abled. hidden disabilities and information work: my story i am a person with multiple hidden disabilities, and this fact informs the way that i view and interact with the world. i was not always disabled; or, perhaps i was, but i did not always think of myself as such. i have struggled since early childhood with mental illness, but it was not until my early 30s that i was formally diagnosed—at what point do i decide that that counts as a disability? my physical disabilities, likewise, did not manifest until my 20s and 30s, and each of them began as what i hoped might be a temporary illness but turned out to be chronic and incurable. my diabetic body, for example, is inherently different from my former non-diabetic body. every decision i make about food, physical activity, clothing, whether or not to go outside for a walk—each of these choices is informed and constrained by the physical limitations of my diabetic body. in some respect, all of our choices as humans are informed and constrained by the physical limitations of our corporeal selves. but there is something about life with chronic illness, with disability, that makes this idea more present than it otherwise would be. my decision to claim my disabled identity and to discuss it openly is a difficult and continuous one. not only have i become aware of the privilege i held as a white non-disabled woman, but i am also keenly aware of the consequences of openly acknowledging my disability status and losing some aspect of that privilege. i worry about discussing my medical status and diagnoses. will i receive judgment from friends, from family? will i be treated kindly? fairly? like a fragile being who can no longer make decisions for myself? what about work? will disclosing my disability status tank my career? will my boss no longer trust me with leadership responsibilities or high-visibility assignments? moreover, these questions must be asked and answered over and over again, in every new situation where my disability status must be potentially disclosed, in every new job, in every new interaction. the iterative nature of this process cannot be stressed enough: these questions never go away. passing, much like disability status and other markers of identity, can itself be a liminal state. skyhorse (2017) equates it with “performance” (p. 7). but, perhaps most importantly, passing is not always all-or-nothing, and it is not always deliberate. because my disabilities are hidden, i frequently pass even when i do not intend to. depending on the context, even people who know that i am disabled will forget, including those who might treat me poorly based on my disability status. passing is often thought of solely as intentional, as a conscious or premeditated decision we might undertake to gain an explicit comfort or advantage, and 99 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 sometimes it is. on the other hand, as the editors point out in we wear the mask (2017), whether you’ve been conscious of it or not, passing is a privilege that all of us have indulged in at some point. people make assumptions about us based on stereotypes, context, environment. when we don’t correct these ideas, either because we genuinely like the assumptions someone’s made about us, or because explaining the truth could humiliate, or infuriate, whoever’s making these assumptions, we ‘pass.’ we misrepresent ourselves in classrooms or at airports, on facebook and at dinner parties. maybe we haven’t reached rachel dolezal’s level of racial performance, which incorporated hair weaves and skin tanners, but each of us sometimes employs misdirection to let someone jump to a different conclusion about who we are. (p. xii) as a queer woman, i analogize this process to that of coming out. i often pass as a straight cisgender woman, particularly since i am married to a straight cisgender man, and so i must continually come out as queer when i meet new people and am in new situations if i want my true identity to be known. i imagine that those of us with hidden disabilities, when we need accommodations or otherwise want to be seen for who we truly are, must sometimes consciously come out in a similar fashion. it is important to reiterate, however, that the decision to pass is not always purposeful. i do not consciously choose to pass as straight, cisgender, or abled, either at work or in my personal life. but i pass because of the default assumptions that society makes about people who look like me. no matter how out i am, no matter how much of an outspoken advocate i may be, there will always be contexts and situations where people, even people who know my disability status, will assume that i am not disabled or forget my limitations and where i will have to make a choice: reiterate and continually assert who i am and what that means, or pass. failure to make a conscious choice results in a default assumption that, in most instances, means i end up passing. what impact does all this have on my role as an information worker? like any aspect of my identity, the impact is both major and omnipresent while often being ignored, unrealized, or relegated to the background. i have not yet needed formal accommodations at work, so i have no personal experience with recalcitrant supervisors or human resources personnel. much of the wider campus community likely has no idea that i am disabled. i feel some ambivalence about this, and i am sure that that has some effect on my interactions at work, although i am not entirely aware of exactly what those effects might be and whether their impact is positive, negative, or neutral. i am a person who often brings my whole self to every situation and i am unused to any level of prevarication, so passing sometimes feels akin to lying or pretending. again, the editors of we wear the mask (2017) explain the struggles that those of us who pass, deliberately or not, often face: each of the fifteen writers in this collection had to wrestle with serious questions in their own specific way: have they passed as someone they were not? what was their agenda? what did they gain and lose from the experience? were they worried about stoking feelings of resentment toward a specific community? was it selfish pity by proxy? were they mining the plight of other marginalized individuals or trying to rescue themselves from their own marginalized groups? how did each of these authors play on stereotypes (or sympathies) to pass? (p. xi) 100 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 as one can imagine, these are not easy questions to answer. the crux of librarianship and information work is people. librarianship, despite its stereotypical imagery of books and computers and typing at a desk, is first and foremost a service profession. my job is to facilitate the research needs of my campus community, and even when i am doing that by signing purchase orders or creating metadata, it is people who are at the heart of those endeavors. more commonly, my work involves sitting and talking faceto-face with faculty, students, and other staff members to identify and solve problems. sometimes this work is sensitive. sometimes the research students need help with is for personal, private matters outside of class. and, sometimes the conversations that need to be had in order to discover and work through an information need are real and raw and messy. it can be difficult to be fully present and engaged in those conversations if the act of passing makes me feel as if i am hiding an important, and sometimes relevant, piece of myself during these interactions. i am also a supervisor of 25-30 undergraduate work-study students. managing necessarily requires complex interpersonal skills, and i often find myself struggling with aspects of my identity as the employees who trust me will occasionally share struggles of their own. when an employee tells me that they have had to miss work so much lately because they have started a new antidepressant, do i tell them that i know that experience all too well? how much do i dare divulge when the line between empathy and oversharing is sometimes unclear? if my communications are more curt than usual, do i explain that it is because i am having a highpain day? what aspects of my disabled identity are relevant, which will bring judgement and gossip, which will provide useful context? there are also questions about the interplay between my identity and my information work that i am even less equipped at this point to understand or even unpack. these likely have to do with the very nature of humanity and bias, and we as a profession seem to be especially struggling with these issues now. part of my job as an academic librarian is to teach information literacy skills, and those skills require a great deal of critical thinking. every source must be vetted, every article must be carefully perused before it can be trusted. due to my experiences with various medical issues over the years, i know that i am quick to judge certain types of research and writing more hastily than others. how do i keep these biases in check in the face of a world and a profession that is inherently not neutral? how do i react when i find ableist research—can i recommend it to my students, even if it is otherwise factually accurate? it has been suggested to me that these types of interactions could provide teachable moments, a way to engage in critical discussion about complex issues with students or even colleagues. however, as ettarh (2018), moeller (2019), and others have pointed out, this places an undue burden of emotional labor on me both as a disabled person and as an information worker. though much of my personal work involves advocacy, this is typically unpaid labor that i take on outside of my working hours and is not an explicit part of my librarian job. as will be discussed in the final section, we cannot properly place the onus on individual information workers to educate, advocate, and provide solutions for what are actually systemic problems. finally, there is the issue of working with others who are also disabled. my hope is that i have built a culture of openness and trust in my work community such that students and colleagues with hidden disabilities are comfortable disclosing their disability status to me. if i know a student is struggling with mental illness, for example, i might be more mindful about checking in on their well-being during a typical reference interview. if i know that a student has certain 101 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 learning disabilities or cognitive disabilities, i can better tailor the resources that i recommend to them for their research, or even have a greater understanding of their mannerisms and their social behavior such that i don’t take it personally if they, say, struggle to maintain eye contact or sit still while we converse. it is perhaps enough to approach all of our interpersonal interactions, at work or otherwise, with the understanding that we cannot fully know the context of another person’s life, and that they are likely wrestling with their own personal demons. it is perhaps enough to give everyone the benefit of the doubt when they behave “oddly,” to strive not to take every slight personally, and to make sure our interactions are free from microaggressions and other forms of discrimination. however, for most of us, this is quite a tall order. but at the same time, it is also a tall order to expect every disabled person to disclose their disability status in every situation, even when it might be relevant, even in situations where they might feel comfortable doing so. it is too much to ask those with marginalized identities to take on the work of continually advocating for themselves and educating others. identity is complex and fluid, and these expectations assume a certain level of self-awareness and tirelessness that we cannot expect everyone to have. again, as the social and critical models of disability make clear, these are not issues that can be solved at the individual level but rather will require systemic, societal change. conclusions and practical applications as with many qualitative explorations, there are no easy answers here. in fact, i am certain that i have raised more questions during this exploration of disability identity than i have answered. clarence page (2017) suggests that each of us has two identities: the one that we know ourselves to be and the one that others see when they interact with us. ‘passing’ is the label that we give to the practice of changing our public identity without, one hopes, losing track of who we truly are. (p. 153) i am not certain this is possible—to change our public identity without changing who we truly are. i am not certain that who we truly are is something inherently separate from who we claim to be or from the way we choose to live. though i have dealt with chronic illness for many years, i have only (comparatively) recently chosen to label myself “disabled,” to claim that as a part of my identity, in the same way that i claim the labels “white” and “queer.” this very act has changed the way that i move through the world, the way that i think about the world, and the way that i perform my work. as each of us grows as human beings and discovers more about who we are and who we would like to be, our roles in society and our interactions with others also necessarily grow and change. the social and critical models of disability, discussed previously, explicitly recognize the fluid and liminal nature of identity formation and interaction with the societal systems that cause these changes. still, there are a number of practical applications that libraries and information workers can take in order to better understand issues of hidden disability and marginalization. these are outlined below. trainings and workshops there are trainings and workshops available to library staff about disability etiquette. the vast majority of these are focused on working with patrons with visible, not hidden, disabilities, 102 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 although this focus increasingly centers on inclusion in general rather than inclusion of any particular disability group. while disability-specific training is important, and already widely prevalent, the most useful trainings and workshops will involve aspects of cultural humility and awareness of implicit bias. cultural humility goes beyond a simple knowledge and understanding of cultures other than our own and challenges us to acknowledge, examine, and push beyond our own cultural biases in the process. there are a number of organizations that provide cultural humility training and discuss the difference between cultural humility and cultural competence, many of them focused in the healthcare sector, including culturally connected (https://www.culturallyconnected.ca/), etr (https://www.etr.org/solutions/professionaldevelopment/), and nnlm (https://nnlm.gov/classes/serving-diverse-communities). implicit bias tests and training, like those provided by harvard university’s project implicit (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html) and ohio state university’s kirwan institute (http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/), can make information workers more aware of the biases that exist against those with marginalized identities and how systemic and prevalent that societal acculturation is. universal design what messages does a library send when all of its chairs have arms, when all of its counters are four feet high, and when all of its shelving units are spaced 18 inches apart? universal design is a framework that forces us to think about people who are different from us and to alter our physical and digital spaces accordingly (e.g. staines, 2012; zhong, 2012). it attempts to make buildings, products, and environments accessible to all people regardless of disability status or other factors. this framework has been extended into instruction under the name universal design for learning (udl), where the intention is to provide flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual differences. universal design provides a good first step in allowing fuller access to persons with hidden disabilities; after all, if physical design is modular, if instruction is flexible, and if multiple modalities are accommodated, it is not necessary for those with hidden disabilities to disclose in order to receive adequate service. however, universal design provides little guidance about what to do in scenarios where differing needs necessarily conflict or when flexibility is not possible due to structural limitations or lack of cultural awareness. no design can be truly universal, and the more we compromise in an attempt to meet everyone’s needs, the more we may end up actually meeting no one’s needs. more research needs to be done in this area to discover if universal design is truly meeting the needs of those with hidden disabilities or if it is solely or primarily focusing on those with the most visible disabilities and the most outspoken advocates. but, at a minimum, universal design and udl provide a good example of how change can be enacted on a more systematic level, and these frameworks acknowledge that the onus is on society to make and adapt structures and designs rather than on the individual to take on the extra labor of adapting themselves. changes in language and terminology works such as drabinski (2013), koford (2014), and olson (2013) ask us to reconsider the language and relationships we use when we catalog and classify library materials so that we can better honor and acknowledge the identities of those in marginalized groups. this is an 103 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.culturallyconnected.ca/ https://www.etr.org/solutions/professional-development/ https://www.etr.org/solutions/professional-development/ https://nnlm.gov/classes/serving-diverse-communities https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/ what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 important step toward creating a culture of library and information work that is more equitable, diverse, and inclusive. are works about disabled adults in your library classified under outdated and possibly offensive terms? this could clearly cause discomfort not only to a student or patron searching for such materials but also for the information worker who has to work with them. furthermore, this sends an implicit message to disabled workers that their language, their terminology, and by extension their experiences, are not valued, and this creates an environment where disabled employees choose to remain hidden, impacting their productivity and well-being in the process. consider reviewing the terminology in your employee handbook, the subject headings in your catalog, and the shelving classification you use through a lens of cultural humility. library of congress subject headings can be changed; local authority headings can be established. consider carefully the language and terminology you use when providing access to materials to your diverse community. banish the myth of neutrality despite the popular sentiment of the last few decades, we as a profession are beginning to come to grips with the fact that libraries are not inherently neutral (are libraries neutral?, 2018; bourg, 2015, 2018). it is important to realize that every choice we make or do not make is based on underlying assumptions, and interrogating those assumptions is a valuable use of our time. when you see a “young” person ask for a large print book, what assumptions do you make? what judgment happens in your mind when i choose to take the elevator instead of the stairs? there has been much discussion in the last few years in the library community about what implicit messages we send to our patrons when we open up our meeting rooms to hate groups, for example; but, we should also be examining what messages these and other actions send to our staff and administrators as well. the decision to stay in a historic building that cannot be renovated in compliance with the ada is not a neutral decision, for example. the decision to include physical requirements such as “must be able to lift 50 pounds” or “must be able to push a book cart” in our job postings is not a neutral one either. as we do the work to shift our culture and examine our biases, we need to examine the traditional trappings of librarianship and information work that we typically take for granted. build a culture of trust one of the reasons it is so difficult to provide answers here is that hidden disability is, by its very nature, hidden. in order to fully understand the experiences of those with hidden disabilities and work toward more concrete solutions (such as trainings, workshops, design, education, advocacy), it will be necessary to build a culture where those with hidden disabilities do not need to pass in order to survive. it is imperative that libraries and other workplaces make it clear that information workers with disabilities will be taken seriously and accommodated without adverse repercussions. it should also be made clear that accommodations for those with disabilities are a necessity, not a privilege or special advantage. building a culture of trust among information workers and their colleagues as well as among the people they serve allows for an environment where those with marginalized identities can be fully and truly themselves, resulting in increased productivity, retention, and quality of work. we could all certainly benefit from injecting a bit more empathy into our information work. 104 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 identity is complex, and our responses to it will also necessarily be complex. there is no onesize-fits-all solution to accessibility and inclusion. the more time we spend interrogating our own biases and making space for others to explore their own identities, the more inclusive our librarianship will be. references annamma, s. a., connor, d., & ferri, b. (2013). dis/ability critical race studies (discrit): theorizing at the intersections of race and dis/ability. race ethnicity and education, 16(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2012.730511 are libraries neutral? highlights from the midwinter president’s program. (2018, june 1). american libraries magazine. retrieved from https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2018/06/01/are-libraries-neutral/ bourg, c. (2015, january 28). never neutral: libraries, technology, and inclusion. retrieved from https://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/never-neutral-librariestechnology-and-inclusion/ bourg, c. (2018, february 11). debating y/our humanity, or are libraries neutral? retrieved from https://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2018/02/11/debating-y-our-humanity-or-arelibraries-neutral/ brown, r., & sheidlower, s. (2019). claiming our space: a quantitative and qualitative picture of disabled librarians. library trends, 67(3), 471–486. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0007 callahan, m. (2018, july 12). “autistic person” or “person with autism”: is there a right way to identify people? news @ northeastern. retrieved from https://news.northeastern.edu/2018/07/12/unpacking-the-debate-over-person-firstvs-identity-first-language-in-the-autism-community/ drabinski, e. (2013). queering the catalog: queer theory and the politics of correction. the library quarterly, 83(2), 94–111. dunn, d. s., & andrews, e. e. (2015). person-first and identity-first language: developing psychologists’ cultural competence using disability language. american psychologist, 70(3), 255–264. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038636 ettarh, f. (2018, january 10). vocational awe and librarianship: the lies we tell ourselves. in the library with the lead pipe. retrieved from http://inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe ford, a. (2018, november 1). underrepresented, underemployed. american libraries, 49(11/12), 38–40. gibson, a. n., & hanson-baldauf, d. (2019). beyond sensory story time: an intersectional analysis of information seeking among parents of autistic individuals. library trends, 105 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2012.730511 https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2018/06/01/are-libraries-neutral/ https://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/never-neutral-libraries-technology-and-inclusion/ https://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/never-neutral-libraries-technology-and-inclusion/ https://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2018/02/11/debating-y-our-humanity-or-are-libraries-neutral/ https://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2018/02/11/debating-y-our-humanity-or-are-libraries-neutral/ https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0007 https://news.northeastern.edu/2018/07/12/unpacking-the-debate-over-person-first-vs-identity-first-language-in-the-autism-community/ https://news.northeastern.edu/2018/07/12/unpacking-the-debate-over-person-first-vs-identity-first-language-in-the-autism-community/ https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038636 http://inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 67(3), 550–575. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0002 kattari, s. k., olzman, m., & hanna, m. d. (2018). “you look fine!”: ableist experiences by people with invisible disabilities. affilia, 33(4), 477–492. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109918778073 koford, a. (2014). how disability studies scholars interact with subject headings. cataloging & classification quarterly, 52(4), 388–411. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2014.891288 moeller, c. m. (2019). disability, identity, and professionalism: precarity in librarianship. library trends, 67(3), 455–470. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0006 olson, h. a. (2013). the power to name: locating the limits of subject representation in libraries. dordrecht, the netherlands: springer. oud, j. (2018). academic librarians with disabilities: job perceptions and factors influencing positive workplace experiences. partnership: the canadian journal of library and information practice and research, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v13i1.4090 oud, j. (2019). systemic workplace barriers for academic librarians with disabilities. college & research libraries, 80(2), 169-194. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.80.2.169 page, c. (2017). class acts: ways to be something you’re not. in b. skyhorse & l. page (eds.), we wear the mask: 15 true stories of passing in america (pp. 151–167). boston, ma: beacon press. pionke, j. j. (2016a). sustainable library services for all. library management, 37(6/7), 317– 325. https://doi.org/10.1108/lm-04-2016-0030 pionke, j. j. (2016b). using new literacies to discuss disability in the library. in s. mcnicol (series ed.), critical literacy for information professionals (pp. 57–63). london, uk: facet. pionke, j. j. (2019). the impact of disbelief: on being a library employee with a disability. library trends, 67(3), 423–435. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0004 pontoriero, c., & zippo-mazur, g. (2019). evaluating the user experience of patrons with disabilities at a community college library. library trends, 67(3), 497–515. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0009 reaume, g. (2014). understanding critical disability studies. canadian medical association journal, 186(16), 1248–1249. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.141236 schlesselman-tarango, g. (2019). reproductive failure and information work: an autoethnography. library trends, 67(3), 436–454. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0005 schomberg, j. (2018). disability at work: libraries, built to exclude. in k. p. nicholson & m. 106 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0002 https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109918778073 https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2014.891288 https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0006 https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v13i1.4090 https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.80.2.169 https://doi.org/10.1108/lm-04-2016-0030 https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0004 https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0009 https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.141236 https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0005 what it means for a disabled librarian to “pass” the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32440 seale (series eds.), the politics and theory of critical librarianship (pp. 111-123). retrieved from https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/lib_services_fac_pubs/149/ schomberg, j., & cole, k. (2017, april 19). hush...: the dangers of silence in academic libraries. in the library with the lead pipe. retrieved from http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2017/hush-the-dangers-of-silence-inacademic-libraries/ skyhorse, b. (2017). college application essay #2. in b. skyhorse & l. page (eds.), we wear the mask: 15 true stories of passing in america (pp. 1–21). boston, ma: beacon press. skyhorse, b., & page, l. (eds.). (2017). we wear the mask: 15 true stories of passing in america. boston, ma: beacon press. staines, g. m. (2012). universal design: a practical guide to creating and re-creating interiors of academic libraries for teaching, learning, and research. in chandos information professional series. oxford, uk: chandos publishing. thorpe, j. (2017, august 9). what is identity-first language, & should you use it? bustle. retrieved from https://www.bustle.com/p/what-is-identity-first-language-should-youuse-it-74901 zhong, y. (2012). universal design for learning (udl) in library instruction. college & undergraduate libraries, 19(1), 33–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/10691316.2012.652549 shanna hollich (shanna.hollich@wilson.edu) is the collections management librarian at wilson college. she received her mlis from rutgers university and completed her undergraduate work at brandeis university. she previously worked as a k-12 librarian and her work in education and youth services has appeared in virginia libraries and new library world. she most recently worked as a co-editor for the winter 2019 issue of library trends about disabled adults in libraries. her research interests are general and varied and include issues surrounding accessibility, technical services, social justice, and labor, and she frequently presents on topics related to copyright, open licensing, open access, and scholarly communication. 107 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/lib_services_fac_pubs/149/ http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2017/hush-the-dangers-of-silence-in-academic-libraries/ http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2017/hush-the-dangers-of-silence-in-academic-libraries/ https://www.bustle.com/p/what-is-identity-first-language-should-you-use-it-74901 https://www.bustle.com/p/what-is-identity-first-language-should-you-use-it-74901 https://doi.org/10.1080/10691316.2012.652549 mailto:shanna.hollich@wilson.edu introduction a note about language literature review models of disability library workers with disabilities the idea of passing hidden disabilities and information work: my story conclusions and practical applications trainings and workshops universal design changes in language and terminology banish the myth of neutrality build a culture of trust references book review: reading by right: successful strategies to ensure every child can read to succeed the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32598 ijidi: book review court, j. (ed.). (2017). reading by right: successful strategies to ensure every child can read to succeed. london: facet publishing. isbn 9781783302093. 256 pp. $77 us. reviewer: linda jolivet, laney college, oakland, ca, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: diversity; literacy; reading; social justice publication type: book review eading by right examines the state of reading in the united kingdom, and explores questions librarians, parents, teachers and other educators continually ask: what factors help a student become a proficient reader? how can adults instill a love of reading in children and help reluctant readers embrace reading? written with teachers, parents, librarians, academic researchers, and reading and language specialists in mind, reading by right offers answers to these frequently asked questions. the variety of edited essays in the 11 chapters of this book cover many topics related to reading and literacy. using a global perspective, this book provides examples of activities, policies, and other strategies proven to help children become better readers. such strategies included establishing reading clubs, use of audio books, providing books for babies for in-home use, and reading aloud to children, as well as continued professional development for school and children’s librarians. readers will benefit from learning about the experiences shared through recent research findings, new approaches and case studies, and issues related to reading and literacy in other countries. they will find shared concerns and transferable solutions for improving reading ability and expanding literacy for youth. the notes, websites, and other references listed at the end of each chapter are particularly useful resources for further reference. although the editor, joy court, mentions that every child has a right to read and that teachers and librarians have a social responsibility to ensure that right, this concept deserved much more discussion in this collection of essays. chapter 7, “reflecting readers: ensuring that no one is excluded” provides some discussion of diversity in children’s book collections, such as the issue of authenticity and diverse authorships, however; the inclusion of essays and studies showing the links between access to books, and literacy, employment, and social mobility as well as cultural bias in children’s literature would have further strengthened the book’s social justice aspect. equity of access is an important factor to consider when discussing children’s literacy. according to the american library association (2018): “literacy as a social justice issue means that all people h ave equitable access to the skills and resources they need to fully participate as literate individuals in society—to communicate, analyze, criticize, synthesize, and create information. it considers structural barriers to that access, such as the inequita ble distribution of resources, and the impact those barriers can have across lifetimes, generations, r http://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading by right the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32598 and outcomes. the correlation between literacy and income inequality, health outcomes, and rates of incarceration, among other issues of social and economi c justice, underscores how literacy intersects with equity, access, and inclusion. ” (“equity of access”). although there is some mention of economic factors and the ability to read, a more in-depth discussion of these issues would have been valuable. for instance, libraries and schools in more affluent areas tend to have more books and higher quality of resources than those in poorer neighborhoods. book ownership is an important factor in improving reading ability, as is ownership of educational games and computer technology, however, these are luxuries for many families with low and moderate incomes. further discussion of these economic factors and the role libraries and educational institutions can play to fill the gap for less affluent communities warrants more examination in this text. the impact of immigration, migration, and the intermingling of cultures on reading and literacy is also discussed in chapter 7. according to roser and ortiz-ospina (2016), two centuries ago only a small elite of the world population had the ability to read and write—the best estimates are that 12% of the world population was literate. over the course of the 20th century the rapid progress in education resulted in an increase in global literacy rates. but despite this increase, inequities still exist, and many people have been left behind and remain illiterate. many countries in the world are experiencing increased immigration, migration, and societal changes which impacts reading and raises questions of cultural literacy. the issue of cultural literacy and shared culture is a growing factor in societies that were formerly demographically homogenous. the body of shared knowledge and agreed upon standards of literacy must be examined in discussing literacy and teaching reading. according to erickson (2007), “aspects of invisible culture are often used as diagnostic indicators with clinical significance, especially in the early grades” (p. 53). as a result, immigrant parents who are illiterate in their first language often face increased challenges while their children are learning to read in a second language. a chapter in this book that examines the impact of the broader cultures’ assessment of literacy is needed. this also brings up the issue of cultural bias in reading materials, attitudes towards literacy, and methods used to teach reading, which also require more examination. population movement results in greater diversity. as such, the publishing industry needs to be more inclusive and publish books for children that represents a wider range of ethnicities, cultures, religions, and lifestyles. a chapter from a publisher of diverse books for children would have been an important perspective to include in this book. the lack of diversity in publishing, and authorship in books for young people is also discussed in chapter 7. an example used in this chapter is the children’s picture book amazing grace by mary hoffman, which raises the issue of unauthenticity in authors’ efforts to portray diverse characters in this children’s books. the question of authentic voice is an important issue in children’s literature. writers often create characters whose culture and experiences differ vastly from their own. sometimes the portrayal is successful; often it is not. there is a fundamental difference between writing about an experience that has been lived and writing about an experience that is imagined. as chhibber (2014) states, “it’s about recognizing that there are inherent racial issues that exist inside publishing a book with multicultural themes written by a person who doesn’t have a historical connection to that culture or race” (para.1). nuances of the “lived” experience are often missed by those outside a culture as depth of 108 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reading by right the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32598 understanding of cultural attitudes, motivations, and values are often missing. characters developed by these authors often do not ring true to members of these groups portrayed. reese and mendoza (2015) share thoughts on the disrespectful representations in the children’s book amazing grace. this often selected, and presumably well-intentioned, book written by an author outside of native american and african american culture had serious flaws that made many american indian and african american librarians and educators cringe. the stereotypical racist depiction of the african american girl dressed as an american indian, with paint on her face, and without clothes from the waist up, was removed in later editions—only for books sold in the u.s.—after complaints were raised and advocacy for its removal ensued. teachers and librarians select books for children of many ethnicities using various criteria. one often overlooked valuable resource to help select books is staff and colleagues from representative groups. another useful tool is the american indians in children’s literature (aicl) (https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com) website, which provides critical perspectives and analysis of indigenous peoples in children and young adult books, the school curriculum, popular culture, and society. a discussion of other methods to develop and promote ethnically and culturally diverse authors of books for children would have been an important inclusion and is the one area not fully explored in this book. in conclusion, although this text offers examples of experiences and case studies from a variety of countries, it will prove valuable to practitioners of reading in the u.s. and other countries. the results of these studies and strategies, and knowledge gained is transferable, and i recommend it for teachers, other educators, librarians and practitioners in the field of literacy, as well as academics in literacy and library studies. references american library association. (2018, september 06). equity of access. retrieved from https://literacy.ala.org/equity-of-access/ chhibber, p. (2014, april 24. diversity, authenticity, and literature. [blog post]. retrieved from https://bookriot.com/2014/04/25/diversity-authenticity-literature/ erickson, f. (2007). culture in society and in education practices. in j.a. banks & c.a. mcgee banks (eds.), multicultural education: issues and perspectives (pp. 33-61). (6th ed.). hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. hoffman, m., & binch, c. (1991). amazing grace. new york: dial books for young readers. reese, d., & mendoza, j. (2015, october 1). big news about amazing grace. [blog post] american indians in children literature. retrieved from https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogsprt.com/2015/10/big-news-abouthoffmans-amazing-grace.html roser, m., & ortiz-ospina, e. (2016, august 13). literacy. retrieved from: https://ourworldindata.org/literacy 109 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/ https://literacy.ala.org/equity-of-access/ https://bookriot.com/2014/04/25/diversity-authenticity-literature/ https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogsprt.com/2015/10/big-news-about-hoffmans-amazing-grace.html https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogsprt.com/2015/10/big-news-about-hoffmans-amazing-grace.html https://ourworldindata.org/literacy reading by right the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32598 linda jolivet (ljolivet@peralta.edu ) is a librarian at laney college and berkeley city college libraries. she has worked in both public and academic libraries, including oakland public library, st. mary’s college library, and kentucky state university library. she recently worked as a literacy specialist for girls’ inc., and a consultant with the oakland literacy coalition. she has been a private tutor in language and literacy for many years. she is a former high school teacher and is currently working towards a certificate in school readiness. she is a graduate of university of california berkeley school of library and information studies. 110 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:ljolivet@peralta.edu references book review:academic libraries for commuter students: the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi ijidi: book review regalado, m., & smale, m. a. (eds.). (2018). academic libraries for commuter students: research-based strategies. chicago: ala editions. isbn 9780838917015.163 pp. $59.99 us. reviewer: norda a. bell, york university, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: academic libraries; commuters; ethnographic research; library services publication type: book review oth the academic and non-academic life of commuter students revolves overwhelmingly around the commute. commuter students, loosely defined as students who live off campus and must travel for their studies, decide which courses to take; when to arrive and leave campus; where and when to study; and in which campus activities to participate, based on their commute. whether by walking, cycling, busing, or driving to campus, the commuter student experiences unique challenges and pressures compared to their residential counterparts (e.g., the need to budget extra time for transit; worries about parking space; and so on). but what happens when the “nontraditional” commuter student becomes the majority student population (e.g., 87% in the u.s.) (p.3), while the overall campus life, including libraries, was designed with the “traditional” student in mind; one that resides on campus? academic libraries for commuter students: research-based strategies attempts to address this challenging and timely issue. through its nine chapters, this edited book provides case studies of various american academic libraries engaged in ethnographic research to better understand the realities and lived experiences of commuter students and to ultimately improve library services and support to this population. the first and final chapters are both written by the editors mariana regalado and maura a. smale. chapter 1 (“situating commuter undergraduates”) effectively sets the stage for research on this overlooked group of students and chapter 9 (“lessons learned from our commuter students”) provides a concluding summary of the key themes gleaned from the seven case studies outlined in the volume. it also offers suggestions for future research. for those with limited time to read, yet interested in or curious about serving this population, i recommend reading both chapter 1 and chapter 9 consecutively and then selectively reading case studies of interest covered in chapters 2 through chapter 8. chapter 1 provides a critical introduction to the different demographic characteristics of commuter students; broadly surveys research about commuter student experiences; and then looks specifically at studies on commuter student and libraries. the organization of the research into major themes (such as student engagement and academic success or student identity and multiple life roles) makes it easy to pinpoint particular topics of interest and to quickly navigate this extensive literature review. a bibliography at the end of each chapter, as opposed to the end of the book, allows for quick access to the cited sources. b https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi academic libraries for commuter students the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the case studies presented in chapters 2-8 cover research on undergraduate commuter students in a variety of american universities (chapters 2 -5) and community colleges (chapters 6-8), including a commuter campus transitioning into a residential campus (chapter 2) and a virtual campus (chapter 6). each case study provides an introduction to the institution; contextualizes the research question/problems; often provides a demographic breakdown of the student population (including race and ethnicity); describes research methods (with chapter 3 and chapter 8 mentioning the actual samples used); research results and outcomes; and the library’s response to these research outcomes. of note were four case studies (chapter 2, 3, 4 and 5) of institutions involved in the “a day in the life” project, which mapped the daily lives and movements of commuter students through their cell phone texts and completed surveys. each of these chapters provides an overview of the project in varying details, and thus for readers reading the book cover to cover, this can be somewhat repetitive. as it stands, these chapters can be read as autonomous pieces. nonetheless, since four case studies were based on this project, it would have been useful to have a comparative chapter on all of them, outlining the similarities and differences in results, as well as each library’s response to the study. overall though, this fascinating multi-institutional project is very useful for readers interested in employing innovative ethnographic research methods in their library. a common thread throughout the case studies is the importance of learning the actual needs and expectations of the commuter population and of preserving the integrity and value of library services even while facing pressures from external stakeholders to cut or eliminate spaces and services that students genuinely care about and need. as such, some of the case studies found that, contrary to a popular belief, commu ter students still desired quiet spaces (carrels) to study and desktop computers to complete their coursework between classes. several case studies also discussed the importance of technology, specifically smart phones, during the commute and the challenge s faced by commuters when accessing online resources on-the-go. the book editors recognize that “supporting the success of our commuter students is integral to the mission of academic libraries and our commitment to social justice” (p. 139). researchers interested in diversity and inclusion will find the book’s focus on the experiences of commuter students, an under-researched population, useful in and of itself. notably, one of the book’s greatest strengths is the recognition that this studen t population is not a monolithic group, but is a group with complex characteristics, demographics, and diverse experiences and needs. this is exemplified in the study found in chapter 3 (“making space in the library for student-parents”), which focused on commuter student-parents at the university of north carolina, charlotte, and their specific needs as parents. the library created a family friendly study room for student -parents and their children. as a result, student-parents felt included and “seen” by the university, which acknowledged their whole selves and other roles beyond that of “student”. inclusion is often described as not only looking at who is included at the proverbial table but also who is not. chapter 3 provides a section directly discuss ing the theme of inclusion, while other case studies involve some degree of inclusive practice. the case study presented in chapter 7 (co-authored by nancy fried foster, an eminent ethnographic researcher), is of particular note, for using an “inclusive ap proach” (p. 103) to its ethnographic study on library use by students, faculty members, staff, and administrators. traditionally most research on the academic library is conducted by librarians or other 149 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi academic libraries for commuter students the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library staff members. however, not only did the proj ect include the typical team of library staff researchers; it also included anthropology students as co-researchers. architect students also engaged in the project, redesigning the library based on the study’s findings and as part of a credit course. other unique features of the approach presented in the book was addressing faculty perspectives; collaborating with campus partners; and exploring student activities outside the library and off campus. librarians are known for their overreliance on the survey as a research instrument when studying and assessing library use and services. a key strength of this book is the diversity of ethnographic research techniques presented across all the case studies, including open forums, focus groups, mapping exercises, diaries, post-it note feedback, semi-structured interviews, observation studies, charrettes (design workshops), and experimental design. the diversity of methods covered in this volume is refreshing and makes for an engaging read. although the editors, regalado and smale, have written several articles related to commuter students, this text is unique as it is the first book which i could find that focuses entirely on commuter students and academic libraries. for this reason, this book accomplishes its goal of contributing to the literature on this topic. this is an excellent book for researchers and academic librarians who want to learn how other libraries and institutions are researching and responding to the needs of commuter students. though only focusing mainly on undergraduate commuter students in the u.s., this book is important to readers interested in the applications of ethnographic research in libraries and for those seeking ideas on how to develop their own research to understand this group of students, regardless of geographic location. presumably, many of the issues experienced by american commuter students are similar to those attending canadian and other western universities. some of the interventions used in these case studies are perhaps more applicable to these western countries than non-western countries. however, the final chapter on lessons learned outlines a path to future research and ways to add to the conversation on this topic. due to the dearth of research about commuter students and libraries outside of north america, there is a real opportunity for future r esearch from south american, african, asian, and other international perspectives. i highly recommend this book. norda a. bell (nordam@yorku.ca) is associate librarian at scott library, york university libraries. she is subject specialist for social work, human rights and equity studies, and linguistics & applied linguistics. her current research focus includes diversity in libraries and scholarly communication, and the representation of visible minorities in online spaces (wikipedia and wikidata). 150 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi mailto:nordam@yorku.ca diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state university’s archives of appalachia the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state university’s archives of appalachia laura e. smith, east tennessee state university, usa, university of tennessee, knoxville, usa abstract as east tennessee state university’s (etsu) archives of appalachia approaches its fortieth anniversary, it aims to renew itself as an archive of the twenty-first century through development of a new strategic plan and mission. diversity and inclusion are a committed part of etsu’s mission to regional stewardship and the archives seeks to become a more diversified cultural heritage repository and culturally competent workplace. this article applies a top-down approach to understanding diversityand inclusion-related responses at both the university and department levels to assess current and potential diversity and inclusion initiatives. a selected analysis using the strategic diversity manifesto framework juxtaposes the archives’ diversity and inclusion responses for its local/regional communities and lgbtq communities. consequently, the article reports on goals and actions the archives can take to become a more engaged member of its diverse communities. keywords: archives; community engagement; cultural heritage; diversity and inclusion; organizational development publication type: research article n september 1, 1978, east tennessee state university’s (etsu) archives of appalachia1 opened its doors to the public with the “primary purpose . . . to identify, collect, and preserve those materials that document the history and development of the southern appalachian region” (archives of appalachia, 1979, p. 1).2 established in conjunction with the institute for appalachian affairs, a core of the newly founded archives of appalachia was etsu’s oral history archives, created by two english professors, dr. thomas g. burton and dr. ambrose n. manning. burton and manning—and their students—had traversed east tennessee and western north carolina in the late 1960s and early 1970s to capture regional appalachian history, folklore, music, and customs. the archives of appalachia’s inaugural newsletter reveals the archives pursued additional collections by seeking “papers of those persons or organizations active at the grassroots or local level in economic, political, and/or cultural activities” with the “hopes to attract the records of regional labor organizations, businesses, artist colonies and guides, and self-help societies” (archives of appalachia, 1979, p. 1). papers of “individuals—both leaders and rank-and-file—who . . . participated in some uniquely appalachian activity” were also sought (archives of appalachia, 1979, p. 1). today, the archives of appalachia is part of the center for appalachian studies and services, a tennessee distinguished center of excellence, under the college of arts and sciences. the archives has grown to include over 9,000 linear feet of archival material made up from over 800 collections (archives of appalachia, 2017a, p. 12). collection strengths include, but are not limited to, material on agriculture and land use, economic conditions and development, environment, folklore, local history and memoirs, music, politics, railroads, religion, social o http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ justice, travel and tourism, and women (archives of appalachia, 2017b, p. 3). collections are most frequently used to support the curriculum of etsu and local cultural heritage research projects, but the archives welcomes and assists researchers from across the appalachian region and around the world. as the archives nears its fortieth anniversary, it is undergoing a process of organizational assessment and development that will result in a new mission statement and strategic plan. archives staff are working to identify initiatives that will help meet goals of twenty-first century researchers, are reflective of the diversity of the appalachian region and etsu, and promote inclusion within the university and its broader communities. as a member of the archives’ staff, the author works to ensure that the archives’ accessibility policies and services provide a welcoming environment to all researchers. she supports etsu faculty, staff, and students, as well as the public, with their research endeavors. however, as part of this work, she sees how standard archival practices, policies, and resource tools can sometimes be limiting or challenging for first-time or seasoned researchers. the author has become familiar with the disparity of archival collections relating to underrepresented or marginalized populations because materials are considered non-existent, under-documented, or hidden (located in collections, but inaccurately titled or inadequately described). while she knows these challenges and disparities are, unfortunately, common in archives and other special collections repositories, she believes there are steps archivists can take to ensure diversity and inclusion are an integral part of archival repositories in their capacities as cultural heritage organizations and as workplaces. this article examines diversity and inclusion at etsu’s archives of appalachia in response to a diversifying university and regional locality, and the ongoing professional discussion within the archival field. application of the strategic diversity manifesto (sdm) framework (mehra & davis, 2015), has proved most helpful in assisting the archives of appalachia with identifying diversity and inclusion-related information policy and planning, connections, and information sources available at etsu. as the archives of appalachia seeks to strengthen its role within etsu’s campus-wide diversity initiatives, evaluate and “address gaps in embracing diversity,” and move towards “representing such information in [its] strategic planning and web documentations,” the sdm pushes the archives to consider additional resources, actions, and networking opportunities with its communities and within the archival profession (mehra & davis, 2015, p. 18). this article documents the archives’ ongoing journey with the sdm framework. literature review the discussion of diversity within the archival profession has varied over the last decade. elizabeth adkins, in her presidential address at the 2007 society of american archivists (saa) annual meeting in chicago, called for consideration of diversity within the profession, diversity within saa, and diversity in the historical record. she argued that saa should move forward with initiatives such as: • outreach to minority studies programs on college and university campuses to further research and “introduce students to the profession;” • encouragement of minority archivists to become archival educators; • renewed efforts for public awareness, especially to engage “underdocumented and underrepresented ethnic groups as a strategy for raising interest in the profession and highlighting the need for documenting these groups” (adkins, 2008, pp. 41-44). 15 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ discourse on diversity in the profession continued in articles such as mario h. ramirez’s (2015) “being assumed not to be: a critique of whiteness as an archival imperative” and alex h. poole’s (2017) “pinkett’s charges: recruiting, retaining, and mentoring archivists of color in the twentyfirst century.” 3 ramirez’s critique was a strong response to mark greene’s “a critique of social justice as an archival imperative: what is it we’re doing that’s all that important?” published in the fall/winter 2013 issue of the american archivist. ramirez (2015) wrote, “despite rolling out the proverbial welcome mat for ‘diversity’ through some of its programs and policies, and exhibiting an enthusiastic tolerance for difference, representative organizations in the united states, such as the society of american archivists, continue to fail to experience structural changes that would shift nearly exclusive directional and policy-making power away from the hands of whites” (p. 348). poole (2017) furthered the critique of diversity in the profession via qualitative research on the experiences of harold t. pinkett minority student award recipients. his research produced findings on “undergraduate experiences, information and library science, the archives field, mentoring relationships, diversity at work, the society of american archivists, and lessons learned and recommendations to archivists of color” (poole, 2017, p. 110). in addition to discussion of diversity in the profession and saa, archivists have remained engaged in exploration of methods to diversify the historical record through community engagement as seen in “saving all the freaks on the life raft: blending documentation strategy with community engagement to build a local music archives” by caroline daniels, heather fox, sarah-jane poindexter, and elizabeth reilly (2015). the authors reported on collection development efforts based on “the professional discussion around documentation strategy, and concerns with community archives and the appropriate role of institutions in efforts to preserve community history” (daniels, fox, poindexter, & reilly, 2015, p. 241). likewise, “documenting regional latino arts and culture: case studies for a collaborative, community-oriented approach” by tracy b. grimm and chon a. noriega (2013) addressed documentation challenges through case studies to better “identif[y] and preserv[e] the archives of underrepresented groups and topics [to] represent better the american experience” (p. 96). more recently, literature has expanded to address diversity and inclusion in “mainstream archives” and “community archives” (greene, 2014, p. 25). mark greene (2014), a wellregarded leader in the archival field for his work on archival appraisal, shared his personal reflections in a thought-provoking essay titled, “into the deep end: one archivist’s struggles with diversity, community, collaboration and their implications for the profession,” published in through the archival looking glass: a reader on diversity and inclusion. greene (2014) concluded through his experience: “improving not only the documentation of, but also the overall engagement with, multicultural communities is both an obligation and necessity for mainstream as well as community archives” (p. 47). chris taylor (2017) gave an insightful keynote address at the 2016 joint annual meeting of the council of state archivists and the society of american archivists called “getting our house in order: moving from diversity to inclusion.” he spoke of his experience and perspective as a “diversity and inclusion practitioner who happens to work for a historical society,” arguing that repositories that focus on inclusion internally are able to better engage their external communities (taylor, 2017, p. 20). others have contributed to the discussion through research. for example, michelle caswell, marika cifor, and mario h. ramirez (2016) looked at a series of responses to the community-based south asian american digital archive (saada) in “‘to suddenly discover yourself existing’: uncovering the impact of community archives” to study how community archives contribute to “representational belonging” by “counter[ing] the symbolic annihilation of the community” (p. 56). they described community archives as "parts of larger social and political movements whereby groups who have 16 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ been ignored, misrepresented, or marginalized by mainstream archival repositories launch their own archival projects as means of self-representation, identity construction, and empowerment” (caswell, cifor, & ramirez, 2016, p. 61). the authors juxtaposed community and mainstream archives by describing community archives “as grassroots alternatives to mainstream repositories through which communities can make collective decisions about what is of enduring value to them, shape collective memory of their own pasts, and control the means through which stories about their past are constructed" (caswell, cifor, & ramirez, 2016, p. 61). while there may be limited agreement on how to best move forward with diversity and inclusion practices, archivists have much to learn from each other and about themselves as they seek ways to increase inclusivity in repositories and workplaces. whether an archive is considered “mainstream,” “community,” or perhaps somewhere in-between, the archival profession calls on archivists to address and act on issues of diversity and inclusion. as chris taylor (2017) said, “while we do need to identify communities of interest . . . the common denominator in all of our functions and activities that emphasize various communities is us. . . . regardless of what community or dimension of difference we emphasize, the staff, the leadership, and the culture of our organizations all shape how we do our external work” (p. 21). the community context the archives of appalachia at etsu is located in johnson city, tennessee, a city in south central appalachia with a population of 63,152 (u.s. census bureau, 2010). m. denis peterson (2018), city manager, describes johnson city as a “goal-oriented, high-energy, family-centered city with diverse economic component . . . led by healthcare, education, and an entrepreneurial spirit” (para. 1). recent city projects that promote community engagement include sidewalk and trail construction to connect neighborhoods, downtown business development and structural improvements, and construction of a new pavilion and common space (city of johnson city, 2017). etsu leadership works closely with johnson city and the broader northeast tennessee community to further economic and cultural development, as part of its mission to “[develop] a world-class environment to enhance student success and improve the quality of life in the region and beyond” (etsu, 2017b, para. 1). as part of etsu’s “stewardship of place,” the university provides management and/or services for an innovation laboratory, the johnson city community health center, center for prescription drug abuse prevention and treatment, and the volunteer income tax program. the university’s quillen college of medicine provides a $500 million annual economic impact on the region (noland, 2016, pp. 68-70). in addition, etsu will oversee $152 million in construction projects from 2017-2022, which includes the construction of the martin center for the arts. the martin center for the arts includes funding from the state and university, as well as private donations and funds from johnson city (brooks, 2017). in addition to being located in an evolving, rapidly changing local environment, etsu is embracing its own diversity and changes. in 2016, the university opened its first and long-awaited multicultural center to “provide students of all cultural backgrounds with educational support programs and services, a place to meet, opportunities to talk about issues that affect their lives, and more” (etsu, office of university relations, 2016, para. 3). the multicultural center resulted from a series of meetings by the university’s committee for 125, “a group of campus and regional leaders who led a strategic planning and visioning effort following etsu’s centennial year (2011)” (etsu, office of university relations, 2016, para. 8). the committee identified the need for etsu to become “recognized nationally as a student-centered university 17 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ fostering a transformative educational experience that affirms the value and richness for diversity” (etsu, office of university relations, 2016, para. 9). engaged university, local, and regional communities provide great opportunities for the archives of appalachia as it continues its mission to “to collect and preserve records of enduring value that document appalachia’s history and cultural heritage and make those records accessible for use by scholars, educators, students, and the general public” (archives of appalachia, 2018). for example, over the past several years, the archives has supported its regional community by providing images for projects such as the tweetsie trail, the longest rails-to-trails project in tennessee, and has hosted community groups such as the 2013 reunion of women coal miners (archives of appalachia, 2017a). the archives’ 2016 swot (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis includes several topics, which, if addressed, have the potential to strengthen and promote diversity and inclusion (archives of appalachia, 2016). table 1 identifies and describes the four topics with the strongest relation to diversity and inclusion as location, advocacy, community, and professional development. table 1. archives of appalachia and diversity area description location in what ways can the archives be involved or draw on its geographic and cultural environment to advance its commitment as a culturally competent workplace and cultural heritage organization? advocacy how can the archives strengthen external and internal relationships with community stakeholders and develop partnerships that help promote diversity and inclusion? community how is the university and regional community changing? how does the archives define itself as a “twenty-first century archive” in terms of appalachia’s diversity (white & gilliland, 2010)? professional development how can the archives connect with and learn from similar repositories through professional organizations such as the society of american archivists, the american library association, or the association of college and research libraries to “get its own house in order” and create an inclusive and culturally competent workplace (taylor, 2017)? what steps can professional staff take to increase cultural competency? note. this table details four areas of the archives’ 2016 swot analysis that most strongly align with diversity and inclusion initiatives. in order to move forward with the archives’ need to embrace diversity and inclusion as a cultural heritage organization that forms an important part of etsu, a comprehensive analysis of existing diversity responses is required. 18 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ strategic diversity manifesto: a brief analysis designed “as a progressive manifesto for public libraries in the 21st century to address gaps in embracing diversity,” bharat mehra’s and rebecca davis’ (2015) sdm consists of three “components:” the “who,” the “what,” and the “how” (p. 18). table 2 is an abbreviated representation of the sdm instrument (mehra & davis, 2015, pp. 19-22). table 2. abbreviated sdm instrument identifier name recording of the “how” with specific evidence a “who”: identification of a characteristic/trait, such as abilities or (dis)abilities a.a “what”: information policy and planning a.a.1 diversity committee “how”: identification of committee(s) and/or designated individuals a.a.2 diversity representation “how”: identification of diversity statements and/or wording in planning and policy documents a.b “what”: connections (internal & external) a.b.1 internal centers and organizations “how”: identification of relevant centers and organizations a.b.2 external community engagement “how”: identification of community centers and organizations outside agency a.b.3 news and upcoming events “how”: identification of news and events that occurred within one year a.c “what”: information sources a.c.1 collections “how”: identification of print, electronic, or digital collections a.c.2 resources “how”: identification of indexes, guides, funding, and staff note. this table shows the “who,” “what,” and “how” sdm components (mehra & davis, 2015, pp. 19-22). of note, the mehra and davis (2015) sdm instrument featured the “what” items as follows: information sources, information policy and planning, and connections (internal & external). to reflect how the sdm was applied to the archives of appalachia, and for consistency within this article, the sections have been rearranged as shown. the “who” asks libraries—or other organizations utilizing the sdm—to identify diverse user groups within their communities in relation to efforts for improving connections to those groups. suggested characteristics/traits include: abilities or (dis)abilities; age; educational differences; gender concerns; international; lgbtq; local/regional; racial/ethnic categories; and religion 19 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ (mehra & davis, 2015, pp. 19-20). however, the authors are quick to note that crossclassification or additional categories should be developed to reflect the uniqueness of community needs. the “what” component includes three main categories: information policy and planning, connections (internal and external), and information sources. libraries, or other organizations, evaluate each of the “what” in relation to the “who.” documentation of the library’s responses for the “what” of the groups is recorded as the “how.” methodology information for the sdm was collected from a variety of public and internal documentation at etsu. review of etsu’s organizational structure allowed for identification of colleges, departments, centers, and committees that support groups with characteristics/traits identified in the sdm. 4 searches conducted on the etsu website (http://www.etsu.edu) revealed strategic planning documentation and additional diversity-related committees and organizations. the author’s familiarity with etsu as an employee was of benefit while conducting online searches and identifying resources. her employee status allowed for the retrieval and utilization of the archives’ internal documentation, such as policy drafts not yet publicly available. responses for local/regional and lgbtq communities emerged as the strongest examples as a fully developed response (local/regional) and a response where the archives could focus future diversity and inclusion efforts (lgbtq). subsequently, the two responses are selectively featured in this article. diversity responses at the archives of appalachia as a cultural heritage organization located at a public, state university, etsu’s archives of appalachia is part of an academic community that provides numerous resources regarding diversity, including staff, programming, research collections, and scholarship. an adaptation of the sdm (mehra & davis, 2015) applies a mix of those resources to: identify etsu’s diversityrelated resources currently available on campus; analyze for shared goals, initiatives, and partnerships across campus that have yet to be realized; and recognize the current diversityrelated impact of the archives and etsu with external communities. the author applied the sdm in the context of the archives of appalachia in the spring of 2018. her adaptation of the framework included all of the initial representative “who” characteristics/traits mehra and davis (2015) identified “to demarcate the users, patrons, customers, clients, or audiences . . .” in a selectively encompassing manner (p. 19). this allowed the author to develop for the archives insights related to a centralized resource reflective of its current diversity resources and bring awareness to areas of improvement in all aspects of diversity and inclusion. however, future applications may include modified categories or “cross classification” (mehra & davis, 2015, p. 20). the author also adopted all the “what” aspects of the sdm in its description of the various types of information offerings available at va rious organizations and agencies. table 3 provides a checklist assessment of the “who” and “what” elements of the sdm as applied in the context of the archives of appalachia and is indicative of the existing diversity responses at etsu. the checks and crosses are based on an occurrence of the relevant information on the agency’s websites, databases, and policies. 20 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.etsu.edu/ diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ table 3. checklist assessment of the sdm applied to the archives of appalachia at etsu “who” “what” a1 a2 b1 b2 b3 c1 c2 total a ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 7/7 b ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 7/7 c  ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 6/7 d ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 7/7 e ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 7/7 f ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 7/7 g ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 7/7 h ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 7/7 i  ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 6/7 key a = abilities (or disabilities); b = age; c = educational differences; d = gender concerns; e = international; f = lgbtq; g = local/regional; h = racial/ethnic categories; i = religion a1 = diversity committee a2 = diversity representation b1 = internal centers and organizations b2 = external community engagement b3 = news and upcoming events c1 = resources c2 = collections note. this table provides an initial overview of the diversity responses for the characteristics/traits defined by mehra and davis (2015). the author applied the sdm in the context of the archives of appalachia as a department of etsu since its current and potential diversity-related services and resources are contingent upon understanding the roles and responsibilities of the archives in relationship to its parent organizations. figure 1 illustrates the archives’ place in etsu’s organizational structure. unsurprisingly, the author found that the sdm’s main resource sections, information policy and planning, connections (internal and external), and information sources largely correlate with the organizational structure. this correlation is also depicted in figure 1. taking this realization into account, a systematic analysis of the sdm requires a top-down approach for a sequence of information policy and planning—etsu, connections—college of arts and sciences and center for appalachian studies and services, and information sources—archives of appalachia. 21 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ figure 1: the archives of appalachia, organizational structure. this figure illustrates the organizational relationships between the archives of appalachia, center for appalachian studies and services, college of arts & sciences, and etsu. information policy and planning—etsu acting on its mission and values that “people come first, are treated with dignity and respect, and are encouraged to achieve their full potential” and “diversity of people and thought is respected,” etsu has numerous internal offices, organizations, centers, committees, and programs that focus on campus diversity, including, but not limited to: the office of equity and diversity, office of multicultural affairs, etsu safe zone (lgbtq campus allies), language and cultural resource center, etsu disability services, and international programs and services (etsu, 2017b, para. 2). selected committees include the etsu commission for women standing committee, international advisory council, etsu disability issues standing committee, etsu accessibility task force advisory committee, service-learning/community and public service standing committee, and race relations standing committee (under review for restructuring in 2018) (etsu, university governance, 2018). all of these diversity-related offices, organizations, centers, committees, and programs work together to establish, review, and update policies and strategic plans to create a respectful, diverse community. as such, etsu offers a variety of information resources and programming throughout the year, many of which include opportunities for the public to attend. information policy & planning east tennessee state university connections college of arts & sciences + center for appalachian studies and services information sources archives of appalachia 22 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ etsu’s strategic plan for 2016-2026 not only affirms its mission and values, but also identifies “ensuring the diversity and inclusion of people and ideas” as one of its “six major areas of focus” that will “provide a framework for planning and decision-making” (etsu, 2017a, p. 3). included in the plan are goals to establish a diversity task force and a “focus on defining diversity and defining inclusion and expanding our view of diversity beyond race or nationality . . . in areas including students, faculty/staff, student life, and community around etsu” (etsu, 2017a, pp. 8-9). in addition, etsu set goals to become an insight into diversity: higher education excellence in diversity institution and a recipient of the carnegie community engagement classification from the carnegie foundation by 2026 (etsu, 2017a, p. 11). connections (internal and external)—center for appalachian studies & services and college of arts and sciences the center for appalachian studies & services, of which the archives of appalachia is a part, is a tennessee distinguished center of excellence. the center dates back to 1984 when the general assembly and the governor of tennessee established the center of excellence program, “designed to build upon the research strengths of the campuses of tennessee board of regents and university of tennessee” by “focus[ing] on the capabilities of public higher education to serve the people of tennessee by expanding the state's research base; thereby, increasing its national and international stature and its economic competitiveness” (tennessee higher education commission, 2018, para. 1). the center’s regional resource institute (rri) is defined as, “the administrative arm of the center . . . [that] facilitates partnerships with etsu academic units . . . and with community organizations . . . to promote research about and service to the appalachian region . . . by administer[ing] long-term grant projects (appalachian teaching project and governor's school for the scientific exploration of tennessee heritage) and special grant projects....for 33 years, the rri has also published now & then: the appalachian magazine” (center for appalachian studies and services, 2018a, para. 1). the archives’ sister organization, the reece museum, is also part of the center for appalachian studies & services. open to the public, the reece museum develops exhibits in addition to hosting traveling exhibits, which promote diversity and reach out to underrepresented communities. recent exhibits included finite disappointment/infinite hope (january 17 – march 23, 2018) and a new subjectivity (october 24 – december 2017). finite disappointment/infinite hope was “presented in tribute to and commemoration of rev. martin luther king jr. and the ongoing quest for justice and racial equality” and “feature[d] the work of contemporary washington, d.c.-based photographer and etsu alumnus gediyon kifle” with “an innovative and educational retelling of historical narratives from an artist’s perspective” (etsu, office of university relations, 2018, para. 1-2). a new subjectivity was the first time the reece museum led tours for the low-vision and blind community and included “verbal descriptions of the works and hand-held tactile boards of the paintings” (etsu, office of university relations, 2017, para. 3). as part of the college of arts & sciences, the center for appalachian studies & services and its units, the archives of appalachia and reece museum, work closely with academic departments. while the center collaborates with a variety of departments, the closest subject-related department is the department of appalachian studies. according to dr. ron roach (2018), chair of the department of appalachian studies and director of the center for appalachian studies & services, “the department of appalachian studies at etsu is the only academic department of its kind in the united states. . . .though one third of the state of tennessee falls within the appalachian region, etsu is the only fouryear institution in the state whose mission is to serve the appalachian region” and its “location in the heart of appalachia positions it to capitalize on the region as a laboratory for research, service learning, active community work, and building collections” (para. 1). the department of appalachian 23 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ studies offers undergraduate minors in appalachian studies, environmental studies, and appalachian, scottish, and irish studies; a bachelor of arts in bluegrass, old time, and country music; and a master of arts in appalachian studies. while the department offers numerous courses, of particular note is the course documenting community traditions, a “cross-disciplinary seminar [that] involves fieldwork in appalachian communities seeking cultural or economic sustainability through the development of their traditional and contemporary assets” (department of appalachian studies, etsu, n.d., “course descriptions,” para. 8). focus areas have included: marketing the craftspeople and artists of northeast tennessee (herrin, 2009); sustainable agriculture in northeast tennessee (herrin, 2011); railroad history and cultural heritage tourism in northeast tennessee (herrin, 2015); and rocky fork state park: linking natural and economic resources through oral histories and community engagement (noland, 2017). documenting community traditions students connect with individuals in the regional community to capture oral histories and work with businesses and organizations to help them realize paths toward sustainability. they present their work as part of the appalachian teaching project, an appalachian regional commission sponsored program that “engages students and regional citizens in posing answers to the question, ‘how can we build a sustainable future for appalachian communities?’” (center for appalachian studies and services, 2018b, para. 1). the coursework is subsequently deposited in the archives of appalachia for preservation and future research. information sources—archives of appalachia the archives of appalachia identifies its designated communities as etsu “students, faculty, staff, administrators, and alumni; scholars and educators of appalachian history and culture; cultural and educational organizations located in the appalachian region; and the general public” (archives of appalachia, 2017b, p. 2). these communities determine and shape the archives’ collection priorities and educational resources. collection development. the archives uses the following geographic guidelines when determining collection acquisition: “archival and printed materials pertaining to south-central appalachia, particularly northeast tennessee and contiguous counties in eastern kentucky, southwest virginia, and western north carolina, are acquired . . . ; archival and printed materials pertaining to central and north-central appalachia which significantly support the archives’ subject strengths are selectively acquired . . . ; printed materials pertaining to northern and southern appalachia which provide regional context are selectively acquired . . .” (archives of appalachia, 2017b, p. 3). the archives of appalachia “provides the widest possible access to its collections on equal terms for the purposes of study, research, education, artistic creativity, and the public good” (archives of appalachia, 2017b, p. 1). collection guides are publicly accessible through the archives’ online database (http://archives.etsu.edu). published print materials held in the archives are accessible through the library catalog (http://libraries.etsu.edu). although collection guides and catalogs are available to the public, identifying diversity in the archives’ collections proves challenging. the author has observed that continued engagement and research with collections by archives staff and researchers has shown that often material has been unidentified or mislabeled, thus further underrepresenting underrepresented communities. educational and community resources. over the past four years, the archives has engaged with nearly 20,000 users through research visits, distance access (phone and e-mail services), and social media. the archives hosts diverse community organizations for tours and presentations and ensures an accessible environment for all visitors (archives of appalachia, 2017a, p. 3). groups come from a variety of backgrounds, including: secondary school students; upward bound students; higher 24 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://archives.etsu.edu/ http://libraries.etsu.edu/ diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ education students (including non-etsu); community/civic organizations; business groups; senior center groups; history/genealogy organizations; religious groups; travel groups; and women coal miners. in 2015, the archives implemented a community partnership policy, which strengthens its support of the regional community by providing material at no cost for educational community events and programs (archives of appalachia, 2015). analysis: local/regional and lgbtq at the archives of appalachia the following section includes selected analysis and responses developed for those who fall within the “local/regional” and “lgbtq” categories, two of the “who” characteristic/trait designations according to the sdm. mehra and davis (2015) define local/regional as “a focus on the needs of people of local, regional, and other geographic distributions in relation to a sense of place perceived by users related to the location of the agency in the minds and hearts of the user” (p. 19). lgbtq refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer individuals. featuring these two responses provides a focused look at a fully developed response (local/regional) and a response that indicates great potential for addressing community needs (lgbtq). thus far, the diversity response overview has focused on diversity responses that the archives and center lead or are a part of at etsu. these responses are primarily local/regional with some classification with other sdm characteristics/traits. table 4 shows the sdm application for local/regional. the archives makes available information resources on a variety of appalachian-related subjects through archival collection and library databases (g.c.1, g.c.2). the university’s servicelearning/community and public service standing committee “encourage[s] etsu students to derive personal value from service-learning opportunities that link education, work/community, and personal development” and “expand[s] service-learning and community and public service efforts (g.a.1)” (etsu, university governance, 2015, para. 1). the center for appalachian studies and services manages the governor’s school for the scientific exploration of tennessee heritage, which annually brings thirty upper-level high school students to campus for regional field experiences, including working with primary sources from the archives of appalachia (g.b.3). the archives supports research endeavors by etsu students enrolled in the class documenting community traditions and the center sponsors them for attendance at the appalachian teaching project conference (g.b.3). table 4. local/regional results of the archives of appalachia’s sdm identifier name specific evidence and url g local/regional g.a information policy and planning g.a.1 diversity committee service-learning / community and public service standing committee: https://www.etsu.edu/universitygovernance/governanceco mmittees/servicelearning.php g.a.2 diversity representation etsu strategic diversity plan: https://www.etsu.edu/equity/strategicplan.php 25 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.etsu.edu/universitygovernance/governancecommittees/servicelearning.php https://www.etsu.edu/universitygovernance/governancecommittees/servicelearning.php https://www.etsu.edu/equity/strategicplan.php diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ g.b connections (internal and external) g.b.1 internal centers and organizations the center for appalachian studies and services: https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/default.php the reece museum: https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/default.php the department of appalachian studies: https://www.etsu.edu/cas/das/welcome.php equity and diversity: https://www.etsu.edu/equity/staff.php etsu organizations and departments supporting the multicultural focus: https://www.etsu.edu/equity/links.php office of multicultural affairs: https://www.etsu.edu/students/multcult/default.php g.b.2 external community engagement the archives hosts diverse community organizations for tours and presentations and ensures an accessible environment for all visitors. for example, members of local civic, business, and history/genealogy organizations visit the archives. the archives occasionally engages with the local community through radio, television, and newspaper interviews (archives of appalachia, 2017a). g.b.3 news and upcoming events governor’s school for the scientific exploration of tennessee heritage: https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/governors appalachian teaching project: https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects g.c information sources g.c.1 collections subject strengths of the archives’ collections include: “agriculture and land use, arts and crafts, economic conditions and development, environment and society, folklore, literature, culture, and identity, local history and memoirs, music and dance, politics and society, railroads, religion and culture, social conditions, social life, and customs, social justice, travel and tourism. women, minorities, and society” (archives of appalachia, 2017b, p. 4). the archives continues to acquire new collections. the archives’ book collection continues to expand with ongoing acquisitions of both current and historical publications (archives of appalachia, 2017b). 26 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/default.php https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/default.php https://www.etsu.edu/cas/das/welcome.php https://www.etsu.edu/equity/staff.php https://www.etsu.edu/equity/links.php https://www.etsu.edu/students/multcult/default.php https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/governors https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ g.c.2 resources collection guides are publicly accessible through the archives’ online database, archivesspace (http://archives.etsu.edu). published print materials held in the archives are accessible through the library catalog (http://libraries.etsu.edu). note. this table shows the diversity responses for the archives of appalachia’s local/regional communities within the sdm framework. in contrast to the local/regional response, table 5 reflects the limited archival resources related to the lgbtq community in appalachia. collections (f.c.1), resources (f.c.2), and external community engagement (f.b.2) only indicate that the archives includes “social conditions, social life, and customs . . . social justice . . . women, minorities, and society” within its collection scope and that all are welcome in the archives (archives of appalachia, 2017b, p. 4). however, whereas the sdm documents limited archival holdings, it reveals etsu provides institutional support for improving the archives' responses with strong policies (f.a.2: etsu strategic diversity plan), planning (f.a.1: safezone allies), and connections (f.b.1: various departments and organizations). the archives should utilize those institutional resources to improve its departmental response by creating a more inclusive environment with the campus lgbtq community, and hopefully local and/or regional lgbtq communities. table 5: lgbtq results of the archives of appalachia’s sdm identifier name specific evidence and url f lgbtq f.a information policy and planning f.a.1 diversity committee safe zone allies: https://www.etsu.edu/equity/safezone/allies.php f.a.2 diversity representation etsu strategic diversity plan: https://www.etsu.edu/equity/strategicplan.php f.b connections (internal and external) f.b.1 internal centers and organizations etsu safe zone (lgbtq campus allies): https://www.etsu.edu/equity/safezone/default.php equity and diversity: https://www.etsu.edu/equity/staff.php office of multicultural affairs: https://www.etsu.edu/students/multcult /default.php 27 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.etsu.edu/equity/safezone/allies.php https://www.etsu.edu/equity/strategicplan.php https://www.etsu.edu/equity/safezone/default.php https://www.etsu.edu/equity/staff.php https://www.etsu.edu/students/multcult/default.php https://www.etsu.edu/students/multcult/default.php diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ etsu organizations and departments supporting the multicultural focus: https://www.etsu.edu/equity/links.php f.b.2 external community engagement the archives hosts diverse community organizations for tours and presentations and ensures an accessible environment for all visitors. (archives of appalachia, 2017a). f.b.3 news and upcoming events planit etsu: https://calendar.etsu.edu office of multicultural affairs events: https://www.etsu.edu/students/multcult /default.php f.c information sources f.c.1 collections subject strengths of the archives’ collections include: social conditions, social life, and customs . . . social justice . . . women, minorities, and society” (archives of appalachia, 2017b, p. 4). the archives continues to acquire new collections. the archives’ book collection continues to expand with ongoing acquisitions of both current and historical publications (archives of appalachia, 2017b). database searches for lgbtq materials reveals few identified lgbtq information sources. f.c.2 resources collection guides are publicly accessible through the archives’ online database, archivesspace: http://archives.etsu.edu. published print materials held in the archives are accessible through the library catalog: http://libraries.etsu.edu. note. this table shows the diversity responses for the archives of appalachia’s lgbtq communities within the sdm framework. not shown are the individual sdm response tables for abilities or (dis)abilities, age, educational differences, gender concerns, international, racial/ethnic categories, and religion, although table 3 provides an overview for each. with the exception of specifically identified diversity committees for educational differences and religion, there is some form of information sources, policy and planning, and connections for each characteristic/trait at etsu. the author suspects that it is possible committees may exist but remain unidentified and/or that many individuals, departments, and organizations are doing work within these areas without a formal committee 28 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.etsu.edu/equity/links.php https://calendar.etsu.edu/ https://www.etsu.edu/students/multcult/default.php https://www.etsu.edu/students/multcult/default.php diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ designation. however, it should be noted that the sdm responses overall are similar to the lgbtq response, and therefore receive the same reaction: the archives must do more to recognize diversity within its communities and become more inclusive in its practices to better serve its current and potential users. moving forward the society of american archivist’s core values statement (2011) includes a diversity statement that documents a shared, professional ideology among archivists. contained within the statement are beliefs that archivists should: • “document and preserve the record of the broadest possible range of individuals, socio-economic groups, governance, and corporate entities;” • “embrace the importance of identifying, preserving, and working with communities . . . whose voices have been overlooked or marginalized;” • “build connections to underdocumented communities;” • “accept and encourage a diversity of viewpoints on social, political, and intellectual issues . . . both in archival records and among members of the profession;” • “work actively to achieve a diversified and representative membership in the profession.” (para. 4) this core value statement emphasizes the importance of archives and archivists to a diversified historic and cultural record, community engagement, and archival profession. undoubtedly, the sdm provides the archives of appalachia with a strong start for conside ring how it could potentially strengthen each of these areas by: establishing new policies and practices as of spring 2018, staff of the archives of appalachia and the center for appalachian studies and services are meeting, discussing, and drafting new mission and vision statements, as well as new strategic plans. the time is right to ensure these new statements and goals reflect and embrace diversity and inclusion. ongoing and future meetings should incorporate assessment, discussion, and implementation of wording, initiatives, and goals that support diversity and inclusion. archives and center staff should discuss and document their experience working with diverse community groups and cultural heritage collections by asking: what work has been done to further diversity and inclusion initiatives? what has worked and what has not? what feedback from the community has been given, or how can that information be obtained? while the archives has not yet finalized its strategic plans, its overall purpose to colle ct, preserve, and make accessible materials of historic and cultural importance to appalachia and east tennessee state university remains. in each of these areas, the archives can take an active role in supporting the university’s strategic framework in regards to diversity and inclusion on and off campus. chris taylor (2017), chief inclusion officer at the minnesota historical society, said the following while delivering the keynote address at the 2016 joint 29 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ annual meeting of the council of state archivists and the society of american archivists, “as socially conscious organizations, we need to reach out and invite diverse communities to engage with us. we need to be open to engage on terms that are comfortable for community members, but may not be comfortable for us. it is not fair to broader sectors of society that we only engage with communities that we are comfortable with. it is our responsibility to correct that” (p. 24). with taylor’s words in mind as the archives continues discussion of its new strategic plan and mission statement, work towards creating a more diversified cultural heritage organization and workplace can begin. conducting community analyses as a regional, public archive located on a university campus, the archives of appalachia assists a variety of on-site visitors over the course of the fiscal year (july 1 – june 30). during the summer, the archives generally sees an increase of non-campus researchers, including locals and out of town visitors, whom the author suspects enjoy easier parking while most of campus enjoys a summer break. however, non-campus visitors frequent the archives year-round. at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters, the archives provides archival orientation sessions for a variety of classes. while some instructors only request orientations to provide students with a basic introduction to archives, other instructors also require students to return for research as part of graded assignments. students with research assignments engage with the archives throughout the semester. fall courses requiring an archival orientation are more likely to include introductory classes for a program or degree while spring courses incl ude more specialized or advanced coursework. while this “researcher cycle” will sound familiar to archivists at academic institutions, it is important to note, especially when considering implementing a community analysis aimed toward gathering feedback from all users. the author is unaware of any previously conducted survey, focus group, or other feedback opportunities provided by the archives that solely focused on user perception of the archives and/or how the archives collects, preserves, and makes accessible materials related to their history, culture, or research interest. the author developed a community feedback: diversity draft survey (appendix) in hopes of providing the archives and its community with the following opportunities: • strengthen connections between the archives and its users through feedback on perception of the archives in comparison to the archives’ current mission; • better understand the diversity of the archives’ user community through demographic data capture; • develop community networks and provide more diversified public services, including professional assistance to local, community archives. the archives of appalachia’s “researcher cycle” requires that staff conduct the community feedback: diversity survey over the course of a full academic year in order to obtain a full capture of the diversity of its summer, fall, and spring users. beginning a diversity assessment of collections archives staff should review its collections for increased awareness of material relating to the history and culture of underrepresented groups. familiarity with collections will allow 30 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ archives staff to provide better services within its communities through development of collection resources, such as subject guides, exhibits, or social media engagement. focusing on community engagement alongside professional and organizational development the archives should seek partnerships with community groups and stakeholders both on and off campus to become a stronger cultural heritage resource and repository that serves both etsu and the broader regional community. in addition to being a cultural heritage organization, the archives must also evaluate itself as a workplace. ensuring staff have access to, and the ability to attend, professional development opportunities related to diversity and inclusion is imperative. chris taylor (2017) may be correct that “reaching audiences that have been traditionally under engaged by our organizations will not be successful or sustainable through outreach alone. we must begin to fully embrace inclusion within our organizations, within our fields” (p. 24). the archives must evaluate how inclusive it is and see itself as part of many communities while being willing to shed “best practices” that have allowed archives to become “privileged institutions that exclude non-dominant culture communities” (taylor, 2017, p. 26). conclusion the ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion by etsu leadership and the actions pursued by that leadership, from the opening of the campus multicultural center to its numerous regional health care, education, and economic partnerships, solidifies etsu’s value to “affirm the contributions of diverse people, cultures, and thought to intellectual, social, and economic development” (etsu, 2017b, para. 5). the commitment drives the university’s numerous academic departments, centers, organizations, and the faculty and staff within, to adapt new practices and initiatives that will “ensur[e] the diversity and inclusion of people and ideas” (etsu, 2017a, p. 3). as part of the university system, the archives of appalachia benefits from being one unit among many, which allows increased opportunities to share resources, establish internal partnerships, and network with external communities. utilizing the sdm to assess the status of the archives has already revealed new possibilities for internal campus connections and partnerships. through continued assessment of its current practices, collection resources, existing and potential partnerships, and renewed commitment to professional and organizational development that supports diversity and inclusion, the archives of appalachia is poised to become an improved cultural heritage repository reflective of the twenty-first century. acknowledgements i give my greatest appreciation to dr. bharat mehra for all of his help, support, and time in developing and reviewing my paper. i extend this appreciation to dr. keren dali and the reviewers at ijidi. i would also like to acknowledge my fellow diversity leadership in information organizations classmates from whom i learned a great deal. finally, i would like to thank my colleagues at the archives of appalachia and center for appalachian studies and services who listened to me talk about the class, engaged in discussion about diversity and inclusion, and reviewed the article. 31 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ endnotes 1 the appalachian regional commission defines appalachia as “a 205,000-square-mile region that follows the spine of the appalachian mountains from southern new york to northern mississippi. it includes all of west virginia and parts of 12 other states: alabama, georgia, kentucky, maryland, mississippi, new york, north carolina, ohio, pennsylvania, south carolina, tennessee, and virginia” and “is home to more than 25 million people” (appalachian regional commission, 2018). 2 the appalachian regional commission recognizes five appalachian sub regions: northern, north central, central, south central, and southern. southern appalachia includes the northern sections of mississippi, alabama, georgia, and south carolina. east tennessee state university is located in washington county, tennessee, presently considered part of the south central sub region (appalachian regional commission, 2018). 3 harold t. pinkett was the first african-american archivist at the u.s. national archives (19421979). 4 etsu’s organizational charts are available at: https://www.etsu.edu/humanres/documents/organizationalstructureweb.pdf#page=1 appendix community feedback: diversity affiliation ο etsu student ο etsu faculty ο etsu staff ο etsu alumni ο etsu visitor ο distant access researcher gender ο male ο female age ο under 17 ο 17-24 ο 25-34 ο 35-44 ο 45-54 ο 55-64 ο 65-74 ο 75 or older ethnicity ο asian ο black or african american ο hawaiian or pacific islander ο hispanic or latino ο american indian or alaskan native ο white or caucasian ο other education ο some high school ο high school or ged ο some college ο college degree or higher the archives & you how familiar are you with the archives of appalachia’s public access and services, including online databases/catalog and research assistance? 32 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.etsu.edu/humanres/documents/organizationalstructureweb.pdf#page=1 diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ ο not all at ο somewhat not familiar ο neutral ο somewhat familiar ο very familiar how familiar are you with the archives of appalachia collections? ο not all at ο somewhat not familiar ο neutral ο somewhat familiar ο very familiar how often do you research at or contact the archives of appalachia? ο monthly ο 2-3 times a month ο 2-4 times a year ο once a year the archives of appalachia’s mission is to: “. . . support original research, educational engagement, and artistic creativity that promotes an understanding of the appalachian region. the archives seeks to collect and preserve those records of enduring value that document appalachia’s history and cultural heritage and make those records accessible for use by scholars, educators, students, and the general public. the archives particularly seeks records from south-central appalachia, specifically northeast tennessee and bordering counties in eastern kentucky, southwest virginia, and western north carolina.” do you think the archives fulfills its mission? please explain. does your area of research/interest focus on marginalized or underrepresented communities in appalachia? ο yes ο no if yes, please explain your experience researching at the archives of appalachia (ex. what materials did you hope to find? did you find materials related to your research?). how can the archives improve its services to further a welcoming environment? thank you for your participation! if you are aware of material that the archives may be interested in collecting, please contact the archives at 423.439.4338 or archives@etsu.edu. references adkins, e. w. (2008). our journey toward diversity—and a call to (more) action. american archivist, 71(1), 21-49. archives of appalachia. (1979, march 1). introducing the archives of appalachia. archives of appalachia newsletter, 1(1), 1-2. 33 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ archives of appalachia. (2015). community partnership. johnson city, tn: east tennessee state university. archives of appalachia. (2016). strategic planning & swot analysis. unpublished internal document. archives of appalachia. (2017a). archives of appalachia multi-year annual report. unpublished manuscript. archives of appalachia. (2017b, march 28). archives of appalachia collections policy. johnson city, tn: east tennessee state university. archives of appalachia. 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(2017, october 20). ‘a new subjectivity’ exhibition looks at expressionism in new way. retrieved from 34 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/archives/mission.php http://jcnewsandneighbor.com/etsu-to-see-over-152-million-of-construction-in-next-five-years http://jcnewsandneighbor.com/etsu-to-see-over-152-million-of-construction-in-next-five-years https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/ https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects/ http://www.johnsoncitytn.org/uploads/files/cr/2016%20annual%20report.pdf https://www.etsu.edu/president/documents/univ_strategicplan.pdf https://www.etsu.edu/president/mission.php https://www.etsu.edu/cas/das/gradcertificate/courses.php https://www.etsu.edu/news/2016/01_jan/mc_center_opens.aspx diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ https://www.etsu.edu/news/2017/10-oct/nr_mbm_new_subjectivity.aspx east tennessee state university, office of university relations. (2018, january 10). ‘finite disappointment/infinite hope’ exhibit at reece commemorates king, civil rights. retrieved from https://www.etsu.edu/news/2018/01-jan/nr_reece_kifle_gediyon.aspx east tennessee state university, university governance. (2015). service-learning/community and public service standing committee. retrieved from https://www.etsu.edu/universitygovernance/governancecommittees /servicelearning.php east tennessee state university, university governance. (2018). governance organizations. retrieved from https://www.etsu.edu/universitygovernance/governanceorg.php greene, m. a. (2014). into the deep end: one archivist's struggles with diversity, community, collaboration and their implications for the profession. in m. a. caldera, & k. m. neal (eds.), through the archival looking glass: a reader on diversity and inclusion (pp. 23-60). chicago, il: society of american archivists. grimm, t. b., & noriega, c. a. (2013). documenting regional latino arts and culture: case studies for a collaborative, community-oriented approach. american archivist, 76(1), 95-112. herrin, r. (2009). documenting community traditions: marketing the craftspeople and artists of northeast tennessee. retrieved from https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects/documents/projectetsu/etsu_final_report_2009.pdf herrin, r. (2011). documenting community traditions: sustainable agriculture in northeast tennessee. retrieved from https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects/documents/projectetsu/atp_2011_etsu_final_report.pdf herrin, r. (2015). documenting community traditions: railroad history and cultural heritage tourism in northeast tennessee. retrieved from https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects/documents/projectetsu/2014_atp_etsu_final_report.pdf mehra, b., & davis, r. (2015). a strategic diversity manifesto for public libraries in the 21st century. new library world, 116(1/2), 15-36. noland, b. (2016, october 3). etsu state of the university address. retrieved from https://www.etsu.edu/president/documents/state_of_etsu_2016.pdf noland, b. (2017). rocky fork state park: linking natural and economic resources through oral histories and community engagement. retrieved from https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects/documents/documents /2017_etsu_proposal.pdf peterson, m. d. (2018). welcome. retrieved from city of johnson city: http://www.johnsoncitytn.org/ 35 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.etsu.edu/news/2017/10-oct/nr_mbm_new_subjectivity.aspx https://www.etsu.edu/news/2018/01-jan/nr_reece_kifle_gediyon.aspx https://www.etsu.edu/universitygovernance/governancecommittees/servicelearning.php https://www.etsu.edu/universitygovernance/governancecommittees/servicelearning.php https://www.etsu.edu/universitygovernance/governanceorg.php https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects/documents/project-etsu/etsu_final_report_2009.pdf https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects/documents/project-etsu/etsu_final_report_2009.pdf https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects/documents/project-etsu/atp_2011_etsu_final_report.pdf https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects/documents/project-etsu/atp_2011_etsu_final_report.pdf https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects/documents/project-etsu/2014_atp_etsu_final_report.pdf https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects/documents/project-etsu/2014_atp_etsu_final_report.pdf https://www.etsu.edu/president/documents/state_of_etsu_2016.pdf https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects/documents/documents/2017_etsu_proposal.pdf https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/projects/documents/documents/2017_etsu_proposal.pdf http://www.johnsoncitytn.org/ diversity and inclusion at east tennessee state the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ poole, a. h. (2017). pinkett's charges: recruiting, retaining, and mentoring archivists of color in the twenty-first century. american archivist, 80(1), 103-134. ramirez, m. h. (2015). being assumed not to be: a critique of whiteness as an archival imperative. american archivist, 78(2), 339-356. roach, r. (2018). welcome. retrieved from https://www.etsu.edu/cas/das/welcome.php society of american archivists. (2011). saa core values statement and code of ethics. retrieved from https://www2.archivists.org/statements/saa-core-values-statement-and-code-ofethics taylor, c. (2017). getting our house in order: moving from diversity to inclusion. american archivist, 80(1), 19-29. tennessee higher education commission. (2018). centers of excellence and emphasis. retrieved from https://www.tn.gov/thec/bureaus/academic-affairs-and-studentsuccess/academic-programs/chairs-and-centers-of-excellence/redirect-chairs-andcenters-of-excellence/centers-of-excellence-and-emphasis.html u.s. census bureau. (2010). johnson city city, tennessee. retrieved from https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/cf/1.0/en/place/johnson city city, tennessee/population/decennial_cnt white, k. l., & gilliland, a. j. (2010). promoting reflexivity and inclusivity in archival education, research, and practice. the library quarterly, 80(3), 231-248. laura e. smith (smithle1@etsu.edu) is the education & outreach archivist at east tennessee state university’s archives of appalachia. she received bachelor of arts degrees in u.s. history and film studies from the ohio state university. she holds a master of library science degree with a specialization in archives and records management and a master of arts degree in history from indiana university. she is a continuing education student at the university of tennessee furthering her professional interests in diversity and inclusion and archival accessibility. 36 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.etsu.edu/cas/das/welcome.php https://www2.archivists.org/statements/saa-core-values-statement-and-code-of-ethics https://www2.archivists.org/statements/saa-core-values-statement-and-code-of-ethics https://www.tn.gov/thec/bureaus/academic-affairs-and-student-success/academic-programs/chairs-and-centers-of-excellence/redirect-chairs-and-centers-of-excellence/centers-of-excellence-and-emphasis.html https://www.tn.gov/thec/bureaus/academic-affairs-and-student-success/academic-programs/chairs-and-centers-of-excellence/redirect-chairs-and-centers-of-excellence/centers-of-excellence-and-emphasis.html https://www.tn.gov/thec/bureaus/academic-affairs-and-student-success/academic-programs/chairs-and-centers-of-excellence/redirect-chairs-and-centers-of-excellence/centers-of-excellence-and-emphasis.html https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/cf/1.0/en/place/johnson%20city%20city,%20tennessee/population/decennial_cnt https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/cf/1.0/en/place/johnson%20city%20city,%20tennessee/population/decennial_cnt mailto:smithle1@etsu.edu book review: your passport to international librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32596 ijidi: book review carlyle, c., & winn, d. (2018). your passport to international librarianship. chicago: ala editions. isbn 9780838917183. 132 pp. $49.99 us. reviewer: caitlin mackenzie mannion, shanghai new york university, china book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: international librarianship; volunteer; voluntourism publication type: book review our passport to international librarianship is founded upon the experiences of authors cate carlyle and dee winn. rather than discussing strategies for pursuing library careers overseas, addressing skills for supporting international users, or helping librarians forge relationships with international libraries, this book focuses on international volunteer (iv) opportunities for librarians. carlyle and winn address the benefits of such projects, provide fundraising tips, and discuss practical strategies for librarians volunteering internationally to succeed during their placements and upon their return home. carlyle and winn wrote this book based on their personal experiences with international volunteer teams in honduras, guatemala, zambia, and nicaragua. the two met during a trip to guatemala, and their experiences on this trip and others inspired them to share their accumulated wisdom with other librarians seeking to participate in, or create, iv projects. coming from an academic background, they volunteered in school and public libraries; their advice is broadly applicable to librarians seeking to volunteer in any type of library. the authors situate international librarianship (il) and volunteer work in the social justice nature of librarianship, through which lens librarians are tasked with considering our professional pursuits for empowering our users and communities. this book is written for librarians seeking to broaden their horizons and improve the world or for other philanthropicminded people seeking guidance in international volunteering regardless of their professional pursuits. carlyle and winn explain that they wrote this book “because [they wished] such a book had existed” (p. xii) when they were embarking on their own iv trips, and seek to provide readers with practical information, tips, and insights for a successful trip abroad. in the first chapter of the book, carlyle and winn explain their view of il and its mutually collaborative nature. they use j. stephen parker’s 1974 definition that il “consists of activities carried out among or between [entities] of two or more nations, to promote, establish, develop, maintain, and evaluate” (p.1) library services, librarianship, and the library profession. the authors also present four approaches to il to illustrate alternatives to travelling abroad, such as following discussion lists, creating subject guides for international users, conference attendance, supporting library projects through charitable giving, and writing and research. the authors provide, in great depth, arguments as to why one should volunteer in international libraries. these include the personal benefits of an expanded worldview and the intrinsic y https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index your passport to international librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32596 rewards of effecting positive change and the opportunity to develop professional skills while cultivating meaningful personal and professional relationships. carlyle and winn also explain that iv work benefits the library profession by demonstrating the value of libraries to the host country and community. although the average reader of this book may already be interested in volunteering internationally, many of the reasons outlined in the second chapter are useful for someone seeking funding for their volunteer pursuits. however, the authors write from their own perspective as north american volunteers in african and central american libraries, and do not explicitly address the ways that their background affects their approach to il. in the third chapter, the authors recount their personal stories of volunteering in their local communities and abroad. the descriptions of their respective paths to international travel remind the reader that opportunities for volunteer work abroad can manifest in unexpected ways. these may originate with projects that are not in libraries (as in winn’s experience) or from a lasting curiosity, such as carlyle’s, in existing volunteer organizations such as librarians without borders (lwb). the reader may be actively pursuing international placements in order to see more of the world, or these situations may occur serendipitously (as was this reviewer’s experience), with an international opportunity presenting itself which matches one’s professional and personal goals. these stories illustrate the contemporary phenomenon of voluntourism, an english term originated in the 1990s which the oxford english dictionary defines as “tourism in which travellers spend time doing voluntary work on development projects, usually for a charity” (“voluntourism”, n.d.). all of the service trips the authors describe included a combination of tourist excursions and professional service work, including cataloguing collections, programming, education, and community outreach. this chapter outlines the realities of this blend of volunteer work and tourism, and is therefore useful for any reader still considering iv work. noticeably absent is any discussion of the criticisms of voluntourism and its potential for harm. some potential risks are especially obvious and grievous, such as appointing volunteers to work with children without verifying that the volunteer is trained in recognizing and responding to trauma and needs in children, and that the volunteer themself is not a threat to a child’s welfare. other risks are more subtle: is the volunteer sufficiently trained to perform the tasks asked of them? does the revolving door of short-term volunteers heighten issues with abandonment or damage the local perception of the service provided? can the volunteer balance their professional values (assuming they are volunteering in a project for which they have expertise) with local ones, or will the volunteer run afoul of censorship issues or taboo topics? is the volunteer providing free services that a local could be paid to do? tina rosenberg (2018) rightly points out that money goes far in poor countries volunteers might be inadvertently disenfranchising the local community. although many of the volunteer organizations named in this book, such as lwb, are engaged in beneficial projects and provide some level of pre-service training, voluntourism projects undertaken without careful consideration may inflict more harm than good to the community being served. these considerations are especially vital for a reader who plans to develop their own iv project. for more reading, consult ahmed et al. (2017), anderson, kim, and larios (2017), and goodwin (2015). chapters 4 and 5 provide practical, actionable steps for a reader who is ready to pursue iv work. the authors provide advice to one researching volunteer organizations, as well as suggest strategies to fund service trips, and how to prepare for the unexpected challenges of being abroad. these two chapters are of great value to readers who are committed to joining a trip 100 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index your passport to international librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32596 or creating their own opportunity. from raising awareness to health and safety concerns to guiding the reader through the very real processes of culture shock and homesickness, these chapters are derived from the authors’ experiences. the following chapter discusses closure following a service project: how the volunteer will adjust to their return home and the potential for reverse culture shock, as well as strategies for continuing a relationship with the host library through networking, social media, follow-up, and continued advocacy. for a reader who seeks to develop their own iv projects, chapter 7 is written by debbie chavez, the program manager for lwb guatemala. much of what chavez writes in this chapter echoes the experiences and suggestions in the rest of the book, but is supported by chavez’s considerable expertise and experience leading service trips. the final chapter is a curated list of resources, including travel blogs, discussion lists, and iv opportunities. these include book donation programs and organizations that coordinate service trips. some of these blogs, such as the traveling librarian, are no longer actively maintained, but may still provide valuable historical perspectives. it is unfortunate that the authors do not include other relevant books on working abroad or il. for readers seeking guidance in careers abroad, alternative titles might include taking your mlis abroad (philips and holovet, 2016), law librarians abroad (sinder, 2000), or the more general working abroad (reuvid, 2010) which help a reader explore librarianship from an international perspective, provide vocational guidance, and address the psychosocial challenges of culture shock, adaptation, and reverse culture shock. your passport to international librarianship is a pleasant read, though somewhat superficial. its title is misleading, implying a more comprehensive discussion of opportunities for working abroad and developing relations with international libraries. it suffers from not addressing the potential harm of voluntourism, though the authors do remind the reader that volunteers must remain humble and consider the needs and expertise of their hosts. this book’s greatest value is helping a reader prepare for a trip overseas, though some of the advice (such as fundraising strategies) lacks originality. similar advice may be found online, but the author’s experiences give this book more authority. the list of resources at the end is a valuable resource for the reader who is ready to volunteer internationally. the government resources listed and strategies suggested may not be as relevant for non-american readers seeking international placements. references ahmed, f., grade, m., malm, c., michelen, s., & ahmed, n. (2017). surgical volunteerism or voluntourism are we doing more harm than good? international journal of surgery, 42, 69–71. anderson, s. e., kim, r., & larios, k. (2017). voluntourism: the economic benefit and societal costs of short-term mission trips. international journal of health & economic development, 3(2), 28-37. goodwin, h. (2015). tourism, good intentions, and the road to hell: ecotourism and volunteering. brown journal of world affairs, 22(1), 37–50. 101 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index your passport to international librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32596 philips, l. and holovet, k. (2016). taking your mlis abroad: getting and succeeding in an international library job. santa barbara, ca: libraries unlimited. reuvid, j. (2010). working abroad: the complete guide to overseas employment and living in a new country. philadelphia, pa: kogan page. rosenberg, t. (2018, september 13). the business of voluntourism: do western do-gooders actually do harm? the guardian. retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/sep/13/the-business-of-voluntourism-dowestern-do-gooders-actually-do-harm sinder, j. (ed.). (2000). law librarians abroad. new york: haworth information press. voluntourism. (n.d.). in oxford english dictionary online. retrieved from http://www.oed.com./view/entry/34245729 caitlin mackenzie mannion (cmm766@nyu.edu) has worked as a librarian at shanghai new york university (nyu shanghai) since 2015. as the reference and subject specialist librarian for programs in the arts and humanities, she has developed and managed collections and responded to the research needs of faculty and undergraduate students through consultations, reference work, and instruction. ms. mannion is also the reference and research services coordinator at the nyu shanghai library, in which capacity she manages the development and evaluation of in-person and virtual reference services, as well as the design of instructional spaces and services. in addition to training new hires and leading this team’s instruction and information literacy programming, she also shares her expertise in education and pedagogy to promote best practices in lesson planning & developing differentiated and engaging classroom activities. 102 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/sep/13/the-business-of-voluntourism-do-western-do-gooders-actually-do-harm https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/sep/13/the-business-of-voluntourism-do-western-do-gooders-actually-do-harm http://www.oed.com./view/entry/34245729 mailto:cmm766@nyu.edu references socializing engagement: from words to action the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.33251 socializing engagement: from words to action kim m. thompson, guest editor keywords: disability; diversity; inclusion publication type: editorial editorial as a part of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion’s (ijidi) ongoing examination of facets of diversity and inclusion, this special issue focuses on engaging disability. throughout this editorial process, the authors, reviewers, and i have had many opportunities to read blogs, articles, and news pieces, and have conversations about the wording used when discussing disability and inclusion. one example would be differences between person-first wording (“people with disabilities;” “individuals with mental illnesses”) and disability first or broad group wording, i.e., “disabled individuals;” “wheel-chair users”. arguments for personfirst wording tend to center on ideas of the person being more important than the disability, that is, the disability is only a feature of the whole person. “a person with hearing impairment” underscores that, first and foremost, we are talking about a person and then, added on to that person, is the descriptor of a hearing limitation. on the other hand, disability-first wording, that is, “a disabled person,” can be used to emphasize that it is societal norms that disable someone by focusing too strongly on normative physical, intellectual, and social commonalities rather than the physical or cognitive variations each person brings to the table. however, the same phrase—“disabled people”—can be interpreted differently in other contexts, making “disabled” synonymous to flawed or incapable, which is far from the original intent. in some languages, translations of “disability” may mean defect, incompetence, inaptitude, unfitness, impotence, deformity, powerlessness, invalidity, or mutilation. in terms of linguistic norms, there is no one-size-fits-all terminology in this area of engagement, be it scholarship or professional practice. as a result, in this issue you will see some variation in how the wording is used, based on a combination of author and reviewer preferences. i truly hope that the contexts set in each article will explain the wording used throughout and will be viewed as reflective of the diversity of approaches to the subject of engaging disability. since the call for papers for this special issue was distributed in october 2018, we have seen other journals in the field, such as library trends and the journal of academic librarianship, publish excellent special issues and articles related to disability and inclusion. we have seen calls for book chapters, conference papers, symposia, funding applications, and other scholarly and professional communication and publications that focus on disability and inclusion. disability and inclusion are hot topics right now in the field of library and information science, and it is wonderful to see energy flowing in this direction. often disability is one item on an ever-growing list of what it means to be diverse. what is https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi socializing engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.33251 considered diverse varies widely based on the context. in australia, diversity is commonly spoken of in terms of gender, ethnic background or aboriginal heritage. in china, diversity is often discussed in terms of the urban or rural places of origin or generational diversity (e.g., born before or after the one-child policy). elsewhere, a diverse hire might be working to bring someone in from overseas or someone with a different religious background than one that is common in the region. disability is unique insomuch as it is a diversity characteristic that could easily be the focus of diversity anywhere. according to the world bank (2019), around one billion, or 15.6 percent of the world population aged 15 years and older, live with a disability; and this number is growing. individuals with disabilities are a minority group found in every nation, every city, every community. this brings to mind the questions of differences between being “diverse” and being “representative.” no two individuals in any setting will be identical. not even if they are born in the same era, belong to the same race, gender, and religion, experience the same trauma, go through the same training, or have the same lifestyle or family setting. each of us is diverse in many, many ways. intellectually and socially, the unlimited ways of diversity are far too complex for humans to manage; hence, we social-type and group people based on physical, cultural, or historical similarities and differences: indigenous peoples, blacks, asians, the disabled, lgbtqia+, the elderly, protected veterans, and so forth. individuals within these groups, however, may or may not identify with the social type and may or may not feel representative of it. providing specialized services for children with autism in a public library may not meet the needs of all disabled children. however, opening quiet storytime services designed to meet the needs of both autistic children and other children who prefer quiet storytime provides an opportunity for interaction and engagement without the need for anyone to label themselves in order enjoy library programming. when considering what is meant by inclusion, an interesting comparison arises in the idea of inclusions in geological terms. inclusions, or included fragments, add character to a stone. the inclusions are older than the host rock and come from the interior. the cover of this issue shows an inclusion of a volcanic rock. the inclusion is what makes this photograph interesting, beautiful, and engaging. how like social inclusion this is! this makes me reflect on what ijidi editor-in-chief keren dali and i were contemplating when we subtitled this issue: social science perspectives on information and inclusion. the papers selected for this issue incorporate data, perspectives, opinions, and/or methods related to social engagement of disability through information and inclusion. the first two articles come from lynne c. howarth’s work related to her exploring pathways to memory study. the opening article, “narrative, objects, and the construction of the self,” provides an overview of the literature related to memory and personal narrative and leads to the second article, “dementia friendly memory institutions: designing a future for remembering,” wherein howarth reviews dementia-friendly initiatives within the framework of disability rights. mirah j. dow, brady d. lund, and william k. douthit’s article, “investigating the link between unemployment and disability,” offers a linguistic discourse analysis of job ads in the field, demonstrating how attention to the wording of job ads can make a difference in who applies for the position. as employers pay more attention to diversity and inclusion at the workplace, research such as dow, lund and douthit’s can provide hiring groups with support needed for inclusive and accessible employment services. the fourth full article for this issue is brady c. cross’s “library computer workstations for inclusive college student populations.” cross provides an introduction to basic physical 2 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index socializing engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.33251 technology needs for accessible academic libraries, wrapped in a discussion of the need to consider inclusion and accessibility from a social constructivist point of view. as with the geological inclusion conceptualization, differences in the make-up of the academic community provide authenticity to the academic education experience. physical and cognitive variations and universal design for learning make the work of an information professional and the experience of the information seeker interesting, creative, and engaging. the special section of this issue starts off with mary beth riedner, tysha shay, and kayla kuni’s “serving a forgotten population.” this opinion piece suggests the ways in which libraries can combat some of the social isolation felt by many people living with dementia and alzheimer’s. they outline ideas for staff training, educational partnerships, special collections, and several programs that might be used to provide a more inclusive environment for engaging disability. shanna hollich’s autoethnographical “what it means for a disabled librarian to ‘pass’” challenges normative social typing and explores the idea of “passing” as someone without disabilities in order to avoid the social stigma and the accompanying reduction of advantages received by people who do not identify as disabled. she discusses how decisions to pass as typically able might mean that an individual does not receive accommodations that could provide an equitable workload or needed public services; she shows that sometimes, it is a trade-off that individuals choose in order to avoid labeling and bias. michelle green’s report from the field about “inclusive library service to individuals with mental illnesses and disorders” examines the literature for ideas to create inclusive and engaging library services to individuals with mental health conditions. she highlights what libraries are doing right, and what we can learn from each other through professional and research publications about programming and services. the final article for this issue is “creating an authentic experience” by rachel sarah osolen and lean brochu. this article reports the need for more standards and innovative methods for audio translation of comics. the authors walk us through the ways in which audio production of comics differs from text-only audio production, and outline methods for better a translation of comics for the visually impaired. i thank the authors for the interesting and diverse perspectives they lend to this issue, the reviewers for their time and expertise in helping shape the articles for publication, and the fabulous behind the scenes work by the ijidi production staff, and hope the articles will be useful for teaching, practice, and further research related to engaging disability. references world bank. (2019). disability inclusion. retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/disability kim m. thompson (kthompso@mailbox.sc.edu) is associate dean for academic affairs and associate professor at the university of south carolina, college of information and 3 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/disability mailto:kthompso@mailbox.sc.edu socializing engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.33251 communications. her research focuses on the relationship between information access and social inclusion, using critical and qualitative methods to examine conceptualizations of digital inclusion, information access, and information poverty. some of her current projects include analysis of inclusive/exclusive language in library job ads in australian and united states contexts, engaging disability in the workplace, and considerations of how to set diversity and inclusion more deeply into the library and information science curriculum. kim is on the editorial boards of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion; the library quarterly; human behaviors and emerging technologies; and collection and curation. 4 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index references same tricks, new name: the iaaf’s new 2018 testosterone regulation policy for female athletes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32965 same tricks, new name: the iaaf’s new 2018 testosterone regulation policy for female athletes anna posbergh, university of maryland, college park, usa abstract on april 26, 2018, the international association of athletics federations (iaaf) released its updated version of its policy on athletes with hyperandrogenism, in a discriminatory attempt to define the term female through specified levels of testosterone, and to thereby provide a solution to the problem of athletes who fell outside of their socially constructed gender binary. the iaaf’s attempts to uphold this outdated binary system is a reflection of normalized scientific discourse which creates accepted, supposedly normal, behaviors and bodies at the expense of and resulting in the oppression of those who challenge these dominant regimes of knowledge (foucault, 1978). certainly, the prioritization of scientific knowledge is nothing new for the intersex community, given the history of irreversible genital surgery on newborns and young children with genitalia that is incongruent with current sex standards to make them fit societal gender ideals (davis, 2015; karkazis, 2008). in this paper, i trouble the iaaf’s supposed solution to intersex athletes through a foucauldian understanding of biopower and science-based constructions of knowledge and truths, with particular attention to the perpetuation of health disparities within the intersex community. more specifically, i examine the site and role of female athletes’ bodies, such as caster semenya, whose rights to equitable and just treatment were cast aside in order to uphold artificially constructed and societally accepted ideas of male and female. i use semenya’s narrative, coupled with the scientific discourse in the iaaf’s decision, to explore the subsequent, but unsurprisingly repetitive, reproduction of the hierarchical power relations between governing sports bodies and athletes, especially female athletes. keywords: foucault; gender; intersex; science and policy; testosterone publication type: special section publication “the power of medicine and science lies in their ability to define what is natural, to name nature and human nature, and in their claim or hope to return individuals to a more natural state or way of being.” —katrina karkazis, fixing sex: intersex, medical authority, and lived experience introduction question that always finds its place on every survey, poll, and “who are you” form: what is your gender? for the majority of the population, this question is easy to answer: the sex we were assigned at birth—male or female. however, for some, this question causes myriad complications as they do not fit cleanly into either category of the sex/gender binary, a http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, same tricks, new name the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32965 with the former (sex) traditionally understood to consist of biological components while the latter (gender) is socially constructed and the expression of characteristics that paint an individual as masculine or feminine (krane & barak, 2012). considering the exclusionary distinctiveness of these two categories, a person who fails to fit either standard raises questions, such as: “how are individuals who do not cleanly fit into either male or female categories to be labeled?,” “how do bodies that have characteristics of both male and female categories find their place in the world?”, and “how do bodies such as these move through a culture shaped by a reductionist sex/gender binary?” although modern institutions and organizations are moving towards greater acceptance of individuals who fall outside of the traditional sex/gender binary (however minute those moves may be), some policies and agencies continue to move backwards towards a more restrictive and outdated sex categorization system. one of these institutions is the international association of athletics federation (iaaf) and its resultant policies, particularly their newest “eligibility regulations for the female classification” (2018b). as the international governing body for the sport of track and field, regulations and rules set forth by this organization pertain to all iaafregulated competitions which include, but are not limited to, the world championships and the olympics. this new regulation by the iaaf, set to take effect in late march 2019, reflects the notion that modernizing technology, and the acceptance of such technology and underlying scientific hypotheses as fact, continue to act as mechanisms for perpetuating an unjust rhetoric towards intersex individuals. moreover, the policy itself is unethical, based on unsound data, and is meant as a means of gender policing through the guise of sex testing. because it is so new, few scholars have had the chance to unpack the larger implications and underlying intentions of the iaaf in this new policy, nor have they had time to historicize it in terms of the recurrent discrimination against members of the intersex community. certainly, the wrongful nature of this policy is unsurprising when considering the severe breaches in ethics in the history of sex testing as a means of gender policing in the iaaf and ioc (henne, 2014) and history of sexist treatment of female athletes (karkazis, jordan-young, davis, & camporesi, 2012; newbould, 2015). sport historians have also discussed the iaaf’s 2011 “eligibility rules for females with hyperandrogenism,” the 2018 policy’s predecessor, as another domino in a long line of sex testing contributing to the intersection of sexism and gender policing (pieper, 2016; schultz, 2011), and the cyclical oppressive measures taken against women athletes in the name of fair play (schultz, 2012; wells & darnell, 2014). feminist sport sociologists have long critiqued sex testing in sport and its resultant policies as unscrupulously policing the divide between men and women athletes, creating an inaccurate and one-dimensional definition of what it means to be female (cahn, 2011; cooky & dworkin, 2013; pape, 2017). in this paper, i examine the iaaf’s newest policy, arguing that the policy’s underlying purpose is to continue to guard the divide between male and female and to regulate athlete’s bodies, especially female athletes’ bodies, furthering inequitable treatment of intersex athletes. i critically explore and de-articulate the discriminatory nature of this policy as a case study that connects to a larger narrative around unfair gender policing of female athletes through the lens of michel foucault’s biopower. i use foucault’s (1978) concept of biopower, which broadly refers to the regulation of bodies to established normative behaviors and practices, to help illuminate the establishment of normalizing and normalized bodies and behaviors. i look to question how knowledge and beliefs around what is male and what is female are created and enforced at the expense of and detriment to the people whose lives fall outside these constructed expectations, and to reveal it as a form of social injustice. using a foucauldian perspective brings a new 89 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index same tricks, new name the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32965 dimension to information studies as it encourages a conversation about social inclusion and justice by questioning how ideas taken to be universal truths are created, and it suggests how we may challenge those supposed truths to promote equity and co-existence among all individuals on a global level. foucault himself questioned what should be considered good and bad, and troubled how knowledge was universally accepted. this paper first discusses intersex broadly before offering a more focused discussion around intersex athletes in sport and sex testing. next, i discuss the newest 2018 iaaf policy broadly before applying foucault’s theory of biopower to demonstrate the oppressive nature of the policy on female and intersex athletes. i conclude by demonstrating the role that this iaaf policy plays in constructing false truths about male and female bodies, by revealing the unethicality of the 2018 policy, and emphasizing the impossibility of limiting sex to two reductionist categories. the history of intersex despite the iaaf’s modern attempts to categorize male and female athletes, the history of intersex actually dates back to ancient sumerian literature. the idea of a person being what we call intersex first appears in the story of enki and ninmaḫ with ninmaḫ’s creation of six different humans, the last of which is fashioned “with neither penis nor vagina on its body” (black et al., 2001). later on, sexual categorization ambiguity appeared in ancient greek culture with the story of hermaphroditus in greek mythology, the son of hermes and aphrodite, whose body was merged with a nymph who fell in love with him. it is from the story of hermaphroditus that the word hermaphrodite emerged to denote a person with both widely recognized male and female genitalia, specifically, a penis and a vagina (“hermaphroditus”, 1997). even today, there are other examples that defy this two-sex system. while this paper does not look to appropriate native american and indigenous cultures or to render them parallel to western culture, the history of two-spirit people also defies the constructed nature of the gender/sex binary (sheppard & mayo, 2013). emerging from native american beliefs that a person’s character is reflective of their spirit, two-spirit people are seen as “more spiritually gifted than the typical masculine male or feminine female” (williams, 2010). in an academic realm, scholarly and medicinal fascination about the relationship between genitals and sex has engaged modern scholars as well, with significant work describing bodies which have been seen as anomalous (see: davis, 2015; karkazis, 2008; reis, 2009). in their scholarship, the authors describe stories of doctors, and the societies in which they live, treating certain bodies as unnatural, reflecting the frequently implicit belief that there are normal bodies for men and women, with a distinction between them that must be protected and enforced. the unified understanding of normative binary male/female bodies between those in the medical field and their broader societies is not coincidental, considering our modern neoliberal privileging of scientific knowledge and tendency to create such norms. consequently, this leads to the attempted eradication of non-binary bodies (reis, 2009), particularly through “laws, rights, responsibilities, and privileges built on notions of discrete and binary gender” (karkazis, 2008, p. 97; see also barbin & foucault, 1980). medical interventions such as genital reconstructive and cosmetic surgery remain relatively common despite the non-life-threatening nature of many of these intersex conditions (davis, 2015; dreger, 1998a, 1998b; fausto-sterling, 1993, 2000; karkazis, 2008; kessler, 1998). there are cases in which the individual was not told of their intersex condition but rather it was kept from them until they obtained their medical records as an adult and learned the truth (davis, 2015). ultimately, the strict maintenance of an impossible binary system of sex and its reinforcement through genital surgery is not only contrary to the 90 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index same tricks, new name the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32965 development of the natural body, but it also continues an unceasing line of injustice towards members of the intersex community. intersex and sport in athletics, the wrongful treatment of intersex athletes has a long history as well, particularly in “outing” female intersex athletes before they even realize they have an intersex condition (karkazis & carpenter, 2018). this act of outing athletes has a destructive effect; it has affected athletes over the past century and continues to affect them, ranging from the ending of professional sports careers (e.g. maría josé martínez-patiño) to suicide attempts (e.g. santhi soundarajan) to suicide (e.g. pratima gaonkar). most concerningly, while there are potentialities for health complications in the intersex conditions of these athletes, they are not lifethreatening. rather, the only thing the conditions threaten is the fiercely protected sex/gender binary. in international and elite level sport, fears of men competing as women and women not being real women date back to the 1960’s, when women were forced to stand naked and perform “nude parades,” as they walked in front of three female gynecologists, who verified whether or not the athletes were female based on their external genitalia (cooky & dworkin, 2013; “preserving la difference,” 1966; schultz, 2011). as sex tests became more modernized, they undertook the name gender-verification tests, and moved from nude parades to chromosomal testing through barr bodies to a polymerase chain reaction test, all under the premise of ensuring fair play between and within the two sexes (pieper, 2013). in every phase of sex testing, there were always inconsistencies in who tested positive and who tested negative; that is, none of these tests consistently and accurately upheld the separation of the sexes. instead, results from these tests frequently resulted in a female athlete being falsely accused of being male due to a loophole genetic condition in the current sex test procedure. following the elimination of mandatory sex testing in 1999 by the iaaf, sex tests and gender-verification examinations occurred only when it was determined that there was substantial evidence to suggest the presence of a non-female athlete. the subjectivity of what may be considered evidence is not unintentional, as two of the most recent and well-known cases of gender-verification tests emerged when athletes appeared “suspiciously masculine” (padawer, 2016). the newest 2018 iaaf policy on april 26, 2018, the iaaf announced that they had created a policy regarding “eligibility regulations for female classification” (iaaf, 2018a). this new policy was implemented as a revision, supposedly backed by science, of their 2011 policy (iaaf, 2011), which had been suspended by the court of arbitration for sport for two years due to the fact that the “iaaf [had] not provided sufficient scientific evidence about the quantitative relationship between enhanced testosterone levels and improved athletic performance in hyperandrogenic athletes” (court of arbitration for sport, 2015). that is, the 2015 suspension came after a long fight between indian sprinter dutee chand and the iaaf in response to her significant success in the 100m and 200m sprints, their unscrupulous gender-verification tests, and her reportedly abnormally high levels of testosterone, which disqualified her from competing as a woman. chand argued that their use of her testosterone levels to disqualify her and the subsequent policy were discriminatory, as its regulations limited naturally occurring testosterone and looked to regulate a natural biological occurrence. she ultimately won her case and was reinstated as a female athlete, leading the iaaf to release their new 2018 policy after an extension for the revised policy was granted in 91 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index same tricks, new name the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32965 2017. their new 2018 policy boasted the support of research by dr. pierre-yves garnier and dr. stéphane bermon in the previous year and sought to establish a clear connection between testosterone and performance, thus necessitating a need (and policy) to regulate testosterone in female athletes. this new regulation, released on may 29, 2018, detailed three criteria to determine what constituted a “female athlete” among those who wished to compete in the 400m, 400m hurdles, 800m, 1500m, one-mile race, all other track events over distances between 400m and one mile, or “any other events that the iaaf intended to test for gender verification” (iaaf, 2018b, p. 3): 1. the athlete must be recognized at law either as female or as intersex (or equivalent); 2. the athlete must reduce her blood testosterone level to below five (5) nmol/l for a continuous period of at least six months (e.g. by use of hormonal contraceptives); and 3. thereafter she must maintain her blood testosterone level below five (5) nmol/l continuously (i.e., whether she is in competition or out of competition) for so long as she wishes to maintain eligibility to compete in the female classification in restricted events at international competitions (or to set a world record in a restricted event at a competition that is not an international competition). iaaf, 2018b, p. 3 the limit of maintaining a blood testosterone level below five nmol/l was a stark change from the original 2011 policy in which blood testosterone was limited to ten nmol/l. while the new policy gave its rationale for this new upper limit in the final “end notes” section, using testosterone as the singular determinant of sex categorization is inconsistent with medical practices, which use a multitude of markers to do so, such as internal/external genitals, gonads, and chromosomes (karkazis, 2008; pieper, 2016). moreover, several scholars have pointed out irrefutable problems with the research methods, analysis of data, and conclusions drawn from the bermon and garnier (2017) study, thus invalidating the study, and calling into question the ethicality of the new 2018 iaaf policy (franklin, betancurt, & camporesi, 2018; karkazis & carpenter, 2018; menier, 2018; pielke, 2018; posbergh, 2018; sönksen et al., 2018). yet, the iaaf’s newest policy falls in line with both its history of regulating female athletes and of othering intersex individuals. ultimately, this new policy is a restoration of sex testing and policing, under the guise of scientific jargon. it reflects the foucauldian idea of biopower by utilizing and promoting preexisting ideas around the divisions of sex and what it means to be a woman, and using these ideas to continue to unjustly treat and control intersex individuals and athletes. biopower with his concept of biopower, foucault (1978) considers the idea of “power over life” (foucault, 1978, p. 139), or the operation of power in modern society in and through the maintenance of the individual body and collective population body. his development of this idea of power emerged from the manifestation of sovereign power in the fear of death in the penal system. if subjects looked to rise up against a ruler, the subjects risked death as the sovereign would exercise his right to kill. thus, power manifested in the fear of death and dying. however, foucault looked at the moments in which the sovereign did not exercise his right to kill, and instead, refrained from it. this manifested in a power over life, with the living subject 92 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index same tricks, new name the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32965 disciplining his body to conform to the expectations set on him and around him under the idea of rehabilitation. foucault dubbed this idea biopower, combining the greek root word bios, meaning “relating to life,” with power. hence, “power over life.” from his lectures at the collège de france and in his first volume of the history of sexuality, foucault (1978) defined the concept of biopower: [biopower is] a number of phenomena that seem to me to be quite significant, namely, the set of mechanisms through which the basic biologica l features of the human species became the object of a political strategy, of a general strategy of power, or, in other words, how, starting from the eighteenth century, modern western societies took on board the fundamental biological fact that human bein gs are a species. (p. 16) essentially, biopower emerges through the self-disciplining of bodies to make them adhere to the norms and expectations placed upon them, manifesting at the level of both the individual and society. the individual aspect appears in the self-regulation, and the societal component becomes evident in the construction of norms and expectations. additionally, foucault writes that societal biopower appears through the accepted practices of population statistics and public health, or, in essence, “societal norms” (dean, 2010; raman & tutton, 2010). or, in the context of intersex athletes, the question of “male or female” on surveys and applications. this question of sex reflects a deceptively facile division between the sexes and thus, looks to enforce the binary norms of male and female categories; an idea that is further reflected in the iaaf’s newest policy. the built-in ideas of this policy thus assume that male and female bodies do have normal shapes and sizes, and more importantly, that they should be regulated through an athlete’s levels of testosterone. the connection between male and female, and the role of testosterone is elaborated early on in the policy, as the regulation states, because of the significant advantages in size, strength and power enjoyed ( on average) by men over women from puberty onwards, due in large part to men’s much higher levels of circulating testosterone, and the impact that such advantages can have on sporting performance, it is generally accepted that competition between male and female athletes would not be fair and meaningful, and would risk discouraging women from participation in the sport. (iaaf, 2018b, p. 1) thus, it is largely because of testosterone that men and women exhibit performative differences, thereby dictating the necessity to regulate the amount of hormone in female athletes. the focus on solely female athletes emerges from the belief that once a certain testosterone level is reached, the female athlete will, essentially, become a male athlete. this assumed threshold of testosterone then requires a regulation between male and female so as not to allow a female athlete to enjoy the “significant advantages in size, strength and power” found in male athletes. as such, there becomes only two options for athletes: female, until the magical testosterone level is reached, and then male, with no upper limit on testosterone (or lower limit, for that matter, if the athlete identifies as male from birth and onwards). this testosterone division only acts as a regulator for female athletes, as the new iaaf policy does not test male athletes. while testosterone is thought to promote performative success, it is grounded in a belief in the biological inferiority of women; in the case that a male athlete falls below the male/female testosterone boundary, he may still compete as a man, as male athletes are believed to be biologically bigger, stronger, and more powerful than female athletes. 93 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index same tricks, new name the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32965 however, as many scholars have wondered (see: bostwick & joyner, 2012; cooper, 2010; schultz, 2011), why is testosterone the only biological component measured if “size, strength and power” are the elements that elicit athletic success? in that same vein, why are factors such as body fat percentage, arm length, and height not regulated? as karkazis (2018) perspicuously remarks, testosterone acts “as a synecdoche and a vehicle for masculinity.” the connotations around testosterone make it more than a method of separating men from women. it also reinforces the affiliations between masculinity and men, and femininity and women, denying any potential crossover between the two. through the strict maintenance of their male and female categories, and subsequently, the qualities of masculine and feminine, this iaaf policy forces athletes to discipline their bodies to fit a constructed mold of a male or female athlete, especially the latter, in order to avoid suspicion and to retain their eligibility to compete. by focusing on testosterone as that which divides the sexes, the iaaf instills ideas of what it means and looks like to be a male athlete and what it means and looks like to be a female athlete through the connotations associated with this hormone. the construction of knowledge and truths moreover, in citing scientific data to support their claims around testosterone and its effects on the body, the iaaf constructs knowledge around male and female bodies, or in foucauldian terms, regimes of truth. these regimes of truth are accepted and popularized forms of scientifically constructed knowledge and beliefs which preserve a dominant power hierarchy, thus establishing norms. in the context of intersex athletes, a gendered hegemonic power relationship and norms about maleness and femaleness are reiterated. this then returns to foucault’s original idea of biopower, as it disperses throughout the individual and the surrounding population. in distinguishing between what is normal and what is ‘abnormal,’ the concept of biopower explains the individual necessity to comply with these norms. when considering the power of science as a modern institution and subsequently, scientific knowledge as one of these regimes of truth, science-driven supposed truths and associated discourse establish supposedly normal levels of testosterone. these levels are then used to police, regulate, and discipline individual bodies into fitting a larger population-level accepted norm through discursive norms as a form of knowledge. that is, the act of adapting and accepting societal expectations becomes normalized and anticipated through the use of scientific belief and knowledge as the truth and, further, discounts the dynamic constructed realities of individuals in favor of reason backed by science. thus, foucault’s idea of biopower and the construction of knowledge and universally accepted truths through science and scientific discourse helps explain the effectiveness of this strategy by the iaaf, as bodies become molded and disciplined by the individual, and are reinforced by society’s perceived ideas and ideals. that is, while the sex binary is normalized in society, normalized images of how that binary manifests are also created. they are then maintained by society (or in this case, the iaaf) and further sustained by an individual’s desire to fall within the boundaries of these norms. individuals who fall outside of these norms, such as the athletes in this particular case study, face grim consequences for an implied lack of discipline in attending to these norms and for an implied resulting abnormality. hence, foucault argues that the creation of norms in institutional structures reproduce inequities for those who break from the constructed standards. consider the narrative of caster semenya, an outstanding track and field star from south africa who did not fall within the typical parameters for a female athlete. when she competed as a 94 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index same tricks, new name the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32965 female athlete, her sex was called into question due to her outstanding performance, and her supposedly more masculine appearance, including a “lack of makeup, impressive musculature, braids that [gave] the impression of closely cropped hair, and her height” (karkazis et al., 2012, p. 6). later on, other athletes competing against semenya made comments such as, “frankly speaking, her behavior, the way she moves, she was [like] a man for me, every move, every gesture was not a feminine gesture but a masculine one…there was nothing feminine about her” (jakubowska, 2014, p. 457) and “these kinds of people should not run with us. for me, she’s not a woman, she’s a man” (clarey & kolata, 2009). when considering foucault’s biopower, these comments become illustrative of a perceived normal body for female athletes, and the consequences for athletes who do not fit this norm. the comments also reveal that perceptions about normal bodies for female athletes also involve race, as there is also a recognizable racial undertone in the commentary around semenya’s body. the intersection of semenya’s nonfeminine gender performance and her blackness violate the normative western white body, and therefore violates both racial and biological norms. that is, her blackness escalates her (lack of) femininity, contributing to the backlash from her competitors (karkazis & jordan-young, 2018). in focusing on these comments through a purely biological focus, the societal influence of biopower results in her competitors shunning and rejecting her presence and her body. they separate her from them, not only as a “man” rather than a “woman,” but even as a completely different category of being as seen in the final comment: “these kinds of people.” the implied need for semenya to discipline her body in order to fit these feminized norms or to remove herself from the female space as voiced by other female athletes then becomes reified with the formal classifications of female athlete. further, when considering the scientific regimes of truth, comments by semenya’s competitors reflect the implied consequences of testosterone, such as advances in “size, strength, and power enjoyed…by men over women” in their focus on her physical appearance (iaaf, 2018b, p. 1). these scientific norms have been taken up in popular imagination through the connection of biological body parts to feminine traits as karkazis et al. (2012) describe in the attribution of masculinity to musculature, height, and lacking makeup. while biology certainly does not reflect feminine or masculine characteristics, the congruence of the terms “male and female” and “masculine” and ”feminine” in the comments by semenya’s competitors shows the manifestation of scientific discourse in common and popular understandings, for the purpose of perpetuating a divide between those who are accepted as women and those who are accepted as men. hence, the policing of semenya’s body is not only accomplished through this new iaaf policy, but also through the embodied scientific norms about who is and who is not a woman that are voiced by her competitors. the two work in tandem, as the beliefs and reactions of her competitors are essentially supported by the installation of the iaaf’s new policy. the utilization of scientific discourse and consequential norms as the dominant source of information and truth oppresses those who challenge these dominant modes of knowledge. foucault’s troubling of how and why this knowledge is constructed highlights the intersection of information and equity and demonstrates its larger impact on the lives of individuals, revealing consequential inequities and isolation in society. conclusion while more fluid interpretations of sexuality and gender have emerged in certain institutions, normalized opinions, such as accepted beliefs about normal bodies and policies upholding these convictions, still prevent uninhibited progress. the newest iaaf policy is one example of such a 95 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index same tricks, new name the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32965 policy, driving forward outdated ideas of maleness and femaleness through their support of science (faulty science at that), of connotations associated with a hormone, and of a belief that sex operates in a binary. however, these ideas continue to marginalize and widen the health disparity gap for intersex individuals, and reinforce an unfounded need to fit into an accepted build for a male or female body. though this need emerges through the inflexibility of societal understandings of the sex/gender binary, the consequences often manifest in health disparities and inequities of intersex individuals. when considering how the iaaf’s newest policy fits into the broader narrative of how intersex individuals are perceived and treated by society, the unjustness is unmistakable. in reality, sex is far too complex to categorize and label; there will forever be another element to consider, another body part to examine, and another biological component to measure. by capitalizing on the use of scientific discourse to support socially constructed ideas and ideals, the iaaf continues its ever-continuing trend of implementing a sexist agenda, and of refusing to allow female athletes—all female athletes—to participate in sport, untethered by the falsely assumed limitations of their sex and continues to contribute to the broader health injustices faced by intersex individuals. acknowledgements i thank dr. shannon jette for her thoughtful suggestions that helped improve this paper, and dr. shaun edmonds, for his feedback on an earlier version of this paper. references barbin, h., & foucault, m. 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(2013). the social construction of gender and sexuality: learning from two spirit traditions. social studies, 104(6), 259-270. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2013.788472 sönksen, p. h., bavington, l. d., boehning, t., cowan, d., guha, n., holt, r., …, & böhning, d. (2018). hyperandrogenism controversy in elite women’s sport: an examination and critique of recent evidence. british journal of sports medicine, 52(23), 1481-1482. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2017-098446 wells, c., & darnell, s. (2014). caster semenya, gender verification and the politics of fairness in an online track & field community. sociology of sport journal, 31(1), 44-65. 99 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/magazine/the-humiliating-practice-of-sex-testing-female-athletes.html?searchresultposition=2 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/magazine/the-humiliating-practice-of-sex-testing-female-athletes.html?searchresultposition=2 http://leastthing.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-call-for-bermon-and-garnier-2017-to.html http://leastthing.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-call-for-bermon-and-garnier-2017-to.html https://thecorpus.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/abomination-as-in-the-new-iaaf-policy-on-hyperandrogenism-is-an-abomination/ https://thecorpus.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/abomination-as-in-the-new-iaaf-policy-on-hyperandrogenism-is-an-abomination/ https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0162243909345838 https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2011.10483678 https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2012.683752 https://doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2013.788472 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2017-098446 same tricks, new name the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32965 https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2012-0173 williams, w. l. (2010, october 11). the 'two-spirit' people of indigenous north americans. the guardian. retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/11/twospirit-people-north-america anna posbergh (posbergh@umd.edu) is a current ph.d. student in physical cultural studies at the university of maryland, college park, studying under dr. shannon jette in the department of kinesiology, housed in the school of public health. her research interests include sex testing, the ethics of policy, and women in sports. 100 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2012-0173 https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/11/two-spirit-people-north-america https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/11/two-spirit-people-north-america mailto:posbergh@umd.edu introduction the history of intersex intersex and sport the newest 2018 iaaf policy biopower the construction of knowledge and truths conclusion acknowledgements references on the privilege of being a diversity scholar and how we choose to use it the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ on the privilege of being a diversity scholar and how we choose to use it keren dali keywords: diversity management; ethics; hiring; organizational inclusion; privilege; status; values-based diversity publication type: editorial editorial his editorial opens up a series of conversations that ijidi would like to have with its readers and authors. editorials will raise one or several diversity-related questions and present a combination of informative and viewpoint pieces. opinions in the editorials are those of the editor or guest editors, whoever authors or co-authors them. editorials will also present a grand-tour of the respective issues. examining privilege in the context of diversity discussion, we often operate with the concept of privilege. a seminal article by peggy mcintosh (1989), which talks about white privilege and, to a lesser extent, male privilege, defines white privilege as “an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks visas, clothes, tools and blank checks” (p. 1). the genius of mcintosh’s concept is not only it its vividness and lucidity but also in its applicability to other contexts. preparing this issue, i was thinking about extending her metaphor and using it to analyze and understand other types of privilege that some of us have, whether we are aware of it or not, and the ways in which we use (or choose not to use) this privilege to serve the cause and ideals of diversity. mcintosh talked about privilege in the context of demographic diversity characteristics: race and gender, in this case. these characteristics are often tied into something that we refer to as “arbitrary status hierarchies” (nishii, 2013, p. 1768), when a higher or lower social value is automatically associated with belonging to a particular demographic group (e.g., being male or female, being a person of color or white). arbitrary status hierarchies are different from status hierarchies based on developed competencies, expertise, skills, and alliances (e.g., cummins, 2016), which can be social or professional. the former hierarchies are “ascribed” while the latter are “achieved” (nishii, 2018). however, in both cases, there are certain expectations associated with the placement of individuals in these hierarchies. diversity scholars as ethical role models one illustrative example is academics who focus their work primarily on diversity, inclusion, social justice, and employment equity. the expectations of these individuals, developed by students, alumni, and members of respective professional communities, are often not limited to t http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, on the privilege of being a diversity scholar and how we choose to use it the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ knowledge, expertise, and measurable performance (e.g., teaching diversity courses, producing diversity scholarship, delivering diversity training, participating in policy change and improvement, and so on). these stakeholders and partners often expect certain ethical standards and behaviors from diversity leaders, the humanistic image, if you will, the ability to set an example, and the ability to serve as a true purveyor of change. they expect bravery and integrity, which is essential for advocacy; they expect a considerable capacity for empathy and kindness. essentially, they expect all the qualities that make a diversity practitioner or a scholar a remarkable, outstanding human being who can make a claim to ethical leadership along with extensive expertise and achievements. metaphorically speaking, those who claim membership in the community of diversity practitioners and scholars are ascribed a higher arbitrary status in the hierarchy of ethical and humanistic behaviors. but what if this is not the case? what if those who take the lead in diversity, inclusion, human rights, and social justice do not practice what they preach? what if the rhetoric of their keynotes, conference panels, and published papers strikes discord with their daily behaviors? what if a high-ranking administrator, known for promoting community empowerment, is complicit in verbal aggression and race-based innuendos against their minority colleagues? what if a scholar who has made their academic capital advocating for women’s rights and employment equity engages in discrimination against female employees, targeting them on the basis of family status, and in bullying other marginalized groups, like students with mental illness or addiction problems? what if an experienced policy scholar openly considers students with disabilities to be a liability in a classroom and a group that should be ‘dealt with’ by specially trained professionals, like social workers and counsellors, rather than by professors (meant to teach ‘normal’ students, obviously)? what if a program chair does not hide her convictions that firstgeneration college students are scholastically unfit for graduate school? these are painful-toobserve but easy-to-notice expressions of overt prejudice; luckily, they are less frequent. more common are subtle behaviors, some of which amount to much-talked-about microaggressions, while others are expressions of unconscious bias, which refers to “social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness” (navarro, n.d.). one example is taking volunteer help for granted and not finding the time to acknowledge the selfless communal service done by our colleagues and students, often beyond the call of duty and at the expense of their personal lives and leisure. this is one of the reasons for our inability to sustain volunteer ventures over time and the low motivation of students and colleagues to engage in service endeavors. another one is valuing positions and affiliations above the quality and originality of work, which often results in a meritocracy sham and many high-performing scholars leaving academia for the corporate world where merit feeds into the bottom line and the imperative of market competition attracts talent and potential. one of my colleagues reflected on how she spent seven months without a job and a stable affiliation, during which all invitations for host-funded talks and presentations ceased completely, despite the fact that she continued to do the same outstanding and innovative work. with a new job and respective affiliation, the stream of invitations became steady again. yet another example is caring about policies more than people’s feelings and emotional state. the latter are often manifested in hiring and promotion processes. the chronicle of higher education and other higher education publications have been abuzz with exposés on psychologically damaging academic hiring practices, whereby damage (even in the cases of nonhiring) could be easily minimized or prevented if interviewers just acted human. there are easy questions to ask ourselves as we critically assess our departmental procedures. for example, after the hiring decision is made, is it ethical to ask for letters of reference from all candidates, 2 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, on the privilege of being a diversity scholar and how we choose to use it the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ just to have our process approved as ‘fair’ by the hr, when we know for certain that this candidate will not be extended an offer? do we scrutinize our interview questions for unconscious bias that disadvantages, for example, international candidates who come from non-western cultures in which religious and folk beliefs are an integral part of individual and collective consciousness and which are more short-term-oriented than the north american culture? do our promotion and evaluation practices have clearly outlined criteria for what constitutes ‘average’ vs. ‘excellent’ performance so that subjectivity and bias in interpreting these categories are minimized? do we have enough heart and humanity to follow up with our colleagues who were not hired or promoted in a certain cycle? do we care enough to inquire about their prospects and well-being, thus leaving the door open for future collaborations, collegial communication, and continuous relationships? or do we leave them hanging until they figure out our hiring/promotion decisions on their own, thus adding to the consternation, bad blood, and latent hostility that academia is so notorious for? have we forgotten the agony of the unknown, tied into the hiring wait? that is to say, simple human acts, simple steps to ensure that our practices are not only fair but also gentle and considerate can go a long way, no matter what policies prescribe. every policy has its own suggested guidelines and deadlines, but many policies are there to protect the process and the institution, not the candidate or the employee. a healthy psychological climate at the forefront of diversity concerns the above examples are directly related to diversity and social justice if we think of them broadly and consider fairness and a healthy psychological climate within the purview of diversity concerns. hence, diversity scholars and practitioners are expected to be attuned not only to the subtleties of the human condition but also to the fact that no policy should run contrary to human decency and common courtesy. if this is the case, then policy needs to change, and diversity scholars should be the ones leading that change. this is particularly important in small, intimate fields like lis, where people know each other and run into each other through different venues and collaborative initiatives. both overt and more subtle injustices that we, as diversity scholars and practitioners, dare not battle or prevent put us at odds with those who expect much from us, especially our students, junior colleagues, and members of the professional community. actions (or non-actions) that go against the admirable rhetoric of diversity and declared values of justice may detrimentally affect those who look up to us. they can undermine “students’ trust in the sincerity and integrity of messages delivered by faculty members” and “in the notions of justice, equality, and inclusion” in general; weaken “the departmental rhetoric of diversity”; damage “the relationship of role models and mentorship between students and faculty”; and challenge “collegiality and inter-departmental reciprocal support” (dali, 2018, n.p.). that is to say, by choosing to overlook injustices in our daily contexts, or simply by not being attentive and considerate enough, we dampen our own reputation as diversity leaders and willingly relinquish our potential to make change. privilege and power by virtue of achieved and ascribed statuses that is also to say that, as diversity scholars and practitioners, we have the true power to make our field more just, fair, and human. we can do it because we have the privilege granted to us by the achieved status of an academic, having a voice and a wide audience (from students to governing bodies), and enjoying a vast amount of resources at our disposal. we also have this privilege by virtue of our ascribed status as not only intellectual but also ethical leaders. this 3 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, on the privilege of being a diversity scholar and how we choose to use it the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ leadership comes with the expectation that we will serve as role models, speak up against unfair policies, implement just practices, and simply act as exemplary humans. we have more power than we think; the only question is whether or not we stop to recognize this power and choose to use our privilege for the greater good, changing the fabric of our departments and workplaces on the formal and informal levels. it is not enough to direct our analytical and elocutionary skill toward administrative bodies and governments and their respective policies. we have to take care of the human factor too, locally and more broadly. we all would like to think of ourselves as nice, sensitive, and kind people. ethical and moral people, too. we feel touched by cinematic stories and cry over fictional characters in good books; our hearts break over news about human suffering and the deteriorating environment; we rescue animals and give them a chance at a healthy, sheltered life. we just have to make sure that we are not simultaneously dismissive, neglectful, and inconsiderate of the people in our immediate surroundings: friends, neighbors, colleagues, strangers on the street, etc. for starters, we should stop and think: what are we not doing for others that we could have easily done using our privilege? for example, can we use our seniority and reputation to step in and advocate for a colleague who is being harassed and discriminated against or should we limit our involvement to lending a shoulder to cry on and a sympathetic ear? what do we do when we see that high-achieving women with leadership potential are passed up in hiring and promotion, compared to average-achieving women and high-achieving men, because they are penalized for not meeting the expectations of femininity? unconscious bias leads some people to expect women to be likeable and ‘smart enough,’ just not too smart, and “[w]hen women take the lead and assert [them]selves, [they] go against expectations—and often face pushback from men and women” (sandberg, 2013, para. 3). could we not use our privilege to actively change this practice? how brave does our privilege allow us to be? very brave, actually. while not foolproof, our privilege is better protected than in many other settings. we have the protection of university policies on intellectual freedom; the security of tenure and union-protected seniority; and the backing of vast networks of scholars domestically and internationally. we have all the confidence we need to be brave. to be human and kind. and sometimes, we are not as brave and kind as we could have easily been. i have made two lists of things that i could have changed or prevented over the years by invoking my status privilege as a diversity scholar but did not. one list enumerated engagements that i did not pursue because they required the administrative and seniority pull that i simply did not have. another list focused on things that i did not do because i was afraid to ruffle a few feathers and to stir the pot and because i wanted to be liked more than to be fair. the former list was longer; but the latter was definitely more discouraging. then why do we not do what we can do? i used “we” throughout this editorial as one who belongs to the category of diversity scholars and one who is also sometimes implicated in unconscious bias or the lack of consideration, contributing to injustices that could have been avoided. the above ruminations are not sanctimonious preaching; the use of “we” is bona fide and related to my longstanding interest in why some people, who are basically nice and ethical, behave unethically, sometimes without 4 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, on the privilege of being a diversity scholar and how we choose to use it the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ noticing it. we are not there to hurt anyone intentionally; so why are we not living up to the ethical standards conferred on us by our privilege as diversity scholars? i see two major reasons. one is our self-narrative. as diversity scholars, we tend to create a narrative of ourselves, one that helps us to project our public image as fair and culturally competent social justice advocates. this narrative also allows us to feel good about who we are and what we do. but the same narrative can seamlessly transform into the “always the hero to ourselves” (moore, 2016) mantra, which is downright dangerous. established narratives are powerful, far-reaching, and enduring, and we become ethically complacent. we cannot imagine and fathom that we may possibly engage in unethical behaviors and unfair practices, or make insensitive and inconsiderate decisions. we become less self-critical and less introspective; we stop scrutinizing ourselves (e.g., dana, weber, & xi kuang, 2007; dana, lowenstein, & weber, 2012; moore, 2016). from a different angle, when someone moves in the aura of a ‘social justice advocate,’ this makes it incredibly difficult for others to be critical of this person, which is particularly true if the scholar in question has a higher administrative position and seniority. in addition, we become really predictable and uninteresting as scholars. we spin the same words about social justice as we did a decade ago without noticing that our message is no longer assimilated and its persuasiveness is wearing thin; we do not take risks, we do not take chances on new ideas; we fall into the trap of political correctness; we become convenient and way too agreeable to be useful for change implementation. we do not bother anyone. we realize that it is enough to ‘talk about’ disruption to support the narrative of ourselves as purveyors of change; there is no need to actually ‘be’ disruptive insofar as we discuss change repeatedly to back our diversity stature. at the outcome, our self-narrative is floated in social and professional spaces to protect our comfortable, likeable, and eloquently framed image. the second reason is our lack of experience in something that i call ‘practical diversity,’ that is our ability to educate and train others for practicing diversity in daily situations, as opposed to discussing, researching, and writing about diversity. we are much more skilled at the latter, not the former. we mistakenly think that, somehow, giving a talk about unconscious bias or discrimination enables our audience to go ahead and ‘do’ things differently or implement change. this is not always the case. there are notable exceptions, with some of our colleagues delivering training sessions in organizational diversity, bias, and microaggressions on a regular basis, one of which is nicole a. cooke’s “considering cultural competence: reframing our lis practice and research” workshop and another one is bharat mehra’s “rural libraries in the 21st century: places that serve diverse community needs.” but these examples are not that numerous. for the longest time, i have felt inspired by the ideas and ideals of integrating diversity in various aspects of daily life but could not make the leap from ‘thinking and writing about’ to ‘doing and implementing.’ i was missing specific instruments, methods, and introspective techniques to assess, evaluate, analyze, and modify unfair practices and unconscious bias in daily situations. this prompted me recently to complete a certificate in diversity & inclusion from the cornell university school of industrial and labor relations, and it was a game changer. i believe that we should be those who teach because we can also do. part of this doing is becoming aware of our privilege as diversity scholars and channeling this 5 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, on the privilege of being a diversity scholar and how we choose to use it the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ privilege to achieve meaningful change. one of the most crucial questions though is whether or not we already have model diversity scholars in our midst, or whether we all are just ‘getting there’? role models most certainly do exist: those who live their scholarship; those who feel that no matter how much they do, there is always room for self-improvement; those for whom critical and continuous reflection and introspection are part of staying current; those who remain exemplary without striving for honors and recognitions. the stance and actions of these individuals serve as an inspiration for this editorial and mark a baseline for the realization that much needed change in our treatment and practical use of scholarly privilege is imperative. the current ijidi issue being on the editorial team of ijidi, a thriving academic journal, is part of this privilege, and it is our mission to bring to our audience both the tough and uncomfortable questions of diversity and equity policies and the in-depth humanistic and human concerns that make as much difference in people’s personal lives and workplaces as regulations and formal practices. it is in this spirit of combined social and professional critique and humanistic concerns that we introduce our audience to the current july 2018 issue. the first research article of the issue, “rethinking representation: indigenous peoples and contexts at the university of alberta libraries” by sharon farnel et al., brings to our attention the work of the decolonizing description working group (ddwg), established at the u of alberta, canada, in response to “the truth and reconciliation commission of canada’s calls to action.” as part of a more encompassing effort to decolonize information access and preservation approaches related to indigenous communities, the group was set to ensure practices that “more accurately, appropriately, and respectfully represent indigenous peoples and contexts.” considering the sore under-representation of indigenous concerns in the research and professional literature of lis, ijidi is privileged to publish this article. the reader will notice a tight connection drawn by authors between library technical services practices and the greater social, cultural, historical meaning of knowledge organization that contributes to the issues of social justice, healing, reconciliation, and future building in such multicultural countries as canada. the article by ahmed alwan et al., “microaggressions as a barrier to effective collaboration between teaching faculty and academic librarians: an analysis of the results of a us and canadian survey,” gets to the heart of humanistic concerns by focusing on a healthy workplace environment in academia through an original survey of relationships between teaching faculty members and academic librarians as they interact and collaborate in the context of information literacy. unlike many other publications that focus on microaggressions in the context of surface-level (demographic) diversity characteristics, this article looks at status-based microaggressions and delves into the intricacies of human workplace communication, with many variables at play. bobbie bushman’s “serving underserved populations: implications from a model of successful services for deaf and hard of hearing children in public libraries” turns to one of the often-overlooked populations and introduces a way of culturally sensitive engagement with deaf and hard of hearing children. overlooked but not unequivocally vulnerable. the article identifies both social disadvantages and inspiring strengths found in the deaf and hard of hearing community and advocates for empowerment practices and a different level of engagement with the deaf culture. written by a faculty member and a former librarian with the practical knowledge of american sign language, this article will surely resonate with many readers. the article by ana ndumu and crystal betts-green brings the issue home, so to speak, to the crucial 6 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, on the privilege of being a diversity scholar and how we choose to use it the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ point where professional diversity training often begins—lis university departments. the authors explore the diversity-related content of departmental websites, noting successes in conveying the nature of faculty diversity research and relevant funding, and shortcomings in creating diversity mission statements and displaying information on diversity initiatives and courses. in a way, the authors try to interrogate the policy-related and human dimensions of diversity in academia through their reflections on departmental websites. the issue continues with two special section pieces which, once again, present a perfect blend of the policy-related and human factors. “nnels: a new model for accessible library service in canada” by kim johnson introduces a “user-driven, participatory, and publicly-owned accessible format collection-building” model implemented by the canadian national network for equitable library service (nnels). the closing piece by deborah schamuhn kirk (“driving change: creating a policy brief to position the school library as a hub for global citizenship”) reflects on the experience of an lis master student in creating a policy brief which focuses on the potential of “school libraries to become key players in promoting peaceful societies.” starting with this issue, ijidi will be featuring a book review section under the apt guidance of our new book review editor norda bell. the current selection includes the reviews of two books: r. j. dowd’s the librarian’s guide to homelessness: an empathy-driven approach to solving problems, preventing conflict, and serving everyone (reviewed by jorge cardenas) and teaching for justice: implementing social justice in the lis classroom, edited by n. a. cooke and m. e. sweeny (reviewed by laverne gray). we will be excited to see many of our readers engage with the journal as book reviewers in the future, helping us to develop a true sense of community. we hope that ijidi readers enjoy our new collection of publications, guided by social and humanistic diversity considerations. as always, we welcome comments, communication, and questions, and look forward to future engagement with our audience. references cummins, d. (2016). status and dominance hierarchies. in encyclopedia of evolutionary psychological science. retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310468021_status_and_dominance_hierarc hies dali, k. (2018). the right to be included: ensuring the inclusive learning and work environment for people with disabilities in academia. information & learning science (forthcoming). dana, j., lowenstein, g., and weber, r. (2012). ethical immunity: how people violate their own moral standards without feeling they are doing so. in d. de cremer and a. e. tenbrunsel (eds.), behavioral business ethics: shaping an emerging field (pp. 197-515). new york: routledge. dana, j., weber, r. a., and xi kuang, j. (2007). exploiting moral wiggle room: experiments demonstrating an illusory preference for fairness. economic theory, 33(1), 67–80. mcintosh, p. (1989). white privilege: unpacking the invisible knapsack. wellesley centers for women. retrieved from https://nationalseedproject.org/white-privilege-unpacking7 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310468021_status_and_dominance_hierarchies https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310468021_status_and_dominance_hierarchies https://nationalseedproject.org/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack on the privilege of being a diversity scholar and how we choose to use it the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the-invisible-knapsack moore, c. (2016). always the hero to ourselves: the role of self-deception in unethical behavior. in van prooijen, j.-w. and van lange, p. a. m. (eds.), cheating, corruption, and concealment: the roots of dishonesty. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. navarro, j. r. (n.d.). unconscious bias. university of california, san francisco, office of diversity & outreach. retrieved from https://diversity.ucsf.edu/resources/unconscious-bias nishii, l. h. (2013). the benefits of climate for inclusion for gender-diverse groups. academy of management journal, 56(6), 1754–1774. nishii, l. h. (2018). sources of privilege in organizations and society. [online lecture]. sandberg, s. (2013). facebook coo sheryl sandberg's top five ways for women to support women. people magazine. retrieved from https://people.com/humaninterest/facebook-coo-sheryl-sandbergs-top-five-ways-for-women-to-support-women/ dr. keren dali’s (keren.dali@alumni.utoronto.ca) research interests are in diversity and marginalized communities; relationships between lis and social work; disabilities; lis education with the focus on creativity, accreditation, and humanistic pedagogies; and reading behaviors. with the background in social work and lis, dr. dali holds the inaugural outstanding instructor award from the faculty of information, university of toronto; the inaugural alise/connie van fleet award for research excellence in public library services to adults; the outstanding reviewer distinction and the outstanding and highly commended paper distinctions from the emerald literati network awards for excellence. her work has been funded by the grants from the social sciences & humanities research council of canada (sshrc) and the american library association, among others. she’s active in asis&t, alise, and ifla, chairing committees for both asis&t and alise. she is a winner (with nadia caidi) of the ala david cohen/ emiert multicultural award 2018 for the co-authored article “diversity by design” published in the library quarterly. 8 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://nationalseedproject.org/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack https://nationalseedproject.org/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack https://diversity.ucsf.edu/resources/unconscious-bias https://diversity.ucsf.edu/resources/unconscious-bias https://people.com/human-interest/facebook-coo-sheryl-sandbergs-top-five-ways-for-women-to-support-women/ https://people.com/human-interest/facebook-coo-sheryl-sandbergs-top-five-ways-for-women-to-support-women/ file:///c:/users/leah/downloads/keren.dali@alumni.utoronto.ca https://clicks.memberclicks-mail.net/wf/click?upn=jldg-2fxlpn4lqtw3gihx2ubvlhsw-2fwukx6vjfxmhc-2bqg4k6pvc3ll-2fndokohqfmb3_ff92c5lhc33-2bozvcjltdnuu-2fgahogfudjvepkm8pq7zyvy4gckeujatljy8tch-2f2s-2frjoqqgvw5whan0ihokwook4-2bu8gnt1ini0s4am-2bkaczouwfbbb-2bkgle5wiax2xur9aod8aplz6itobaqblhpuycr4p64rverh5qvpptqoarvwrdq3pnlfdbkyxbfzd6wdcq9g6qhnqdv1avafe628izp2wvqe5xqwqxwaq1gjsp4nmfjrlmlrrxtu-2fqwrmpwahnuhslyvbbhi6j-2bly3e0jsipcga-2biddexq4vc-2f-2fllu8t3gkbmznrdb6sms8ewgvnhu1jr-2fntaobui8ktmfg-3d-3d 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https://clicks.memberclicks-mail.net/wf/click?upn=8cevf6vcjoh-2fqipzs5m18rno0nl4wx5o06q8ckrcdjqdcpip5n2a-2bmakux68n14lcs6bth6hn36jttfwgc5a7g-3d-3d_ff92c5lhc33-2bozvcjltdnuu-2fgahogfudjvepkm8pq7zyvy4gckeujatljy8tch-2f2s-2frjoqqgvw5whan0ihokwook4-2bu8gnt1ini0s4am-2bkaczouwfbbb-2bkgle5wiax2xur9aod8aplz6itobaqblhpuycr4p64rverh5qvpptqoarvwrdq3pnlfdbkyxbfzdku6cf-2byf-2bg5orbfilqwlflxiiwfp9avwhuy3qjzvklv-2bvd0m2-2fa-2fszbaqtftfe53hn6ouhxze72xzujldnj7a5nq2xmt-2bsyeoxvl4a00dcu-2b6it-2fmxzjwggrztc6wz6-2fy6hbaqz5vxaa9rbxbjfdya-3d-3d examining privilege diversity scholars as ethical role models a healthy psychological climate at the forefront of diversity concerns privilege and power by virtue of achieved and ascribed statuses then why do we not do what we can do? the current ijidi issue references microsoft word 2016 falloon final.docx accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions: a guideline to evaluating and marketing the accessibility of library e-resources author kerry a. falloon, cuny-college of staten island abstract the purpose of this study is to emphasize accessibility and inclusion issues within academic libraries in the united states, specifically in compliance with the americans with disabilities act (ada) and other federal laws relevant to acquisition services. a review of best practices for evaluating, purchasing, and marketing electronic resources is undertaken with an understanding of u.s. federal law and regulations in relation to purchasing and marketing, specifically section 508 of the rehabilitation act of 1973 and the ada standards for accessible design (2010). few other recent studies document the exact application of evaluating products and services for users with disabilities in acquisition workflows and electronic resource implementation practices. as a model for other libraries, the author discusses using libguides as an outreach tool to disseminate information and documentation dedicated to disability issues among city university of new york (cuny) librarians. the methodology of this study is to share best practices at the college of staten island (csi) library–cuny with other academic libraries. the results will hopefully lead to more inclusive acquisition purchasing practices and more diverse marketing initiatives within academic libraries. the conclusion of the study is that purchasing and marketing workflows need to be redesigned to be universally applicable to all library users. keywords: acquisition services, electronic resources, workflow management, marketing, accessibility, inclusion, diversity, libguides, disability law he discussion and analysis of inclusion and accessibility issues within library acquisitions are essential due to disability laws and regulations, as well as pertinent decisions related to higher education in the united states. acquisition services as a unit is ethically and morally responsible for following these mandates when investigating, evaluating, acquiring, and maintaining electronic resources. this evaluative role may also be delegated to an electronic resources librarian, an access and inclusion librarian, or a library committee dedicated to disability issues within a library. commonly, more than one person is involved in the workflow process for determining if a resource or a service is accessible to individuals with disabilities. typical library eresource workflows need to be redesigned to include the additional step of evaluating the accessibility, not just the usability, of the product or service. during the implementation process after acquiring an electronic resource, marketing is necessary to promote the t accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions 2 resources acquired so increased usage can justify cost. as a result, marketing and outreach committees have become standard in many library settings. when assessing the inclusiveness of library marketing and outreach techniques, additional processes are needed to be inclusive of individuals with disabilities. the purpose of this study is to educate acquisition librarians attempting to integrate best practices in evaluating the accessibility of acquired products and services into current workflows. background legal issues as discussed, acquisition and electronic resource librarians need to be more aware of disability law compliance when determining collection development practices and acquiring new digital collections in academic libraries. the first step, for the beginner librarian, is to understand relevant u.s. federal law governing accessibility guidelines for programs and services, specifically in higher education. section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973 requires that programs or activities receiving federal funding be fully accessible. it also states that individuals with disabilities have the right to receive reasonable accommodations to make these services accessible. the americans with disabilities act (ada) of 1998, amended in 2008, mandates that places of employment, commercial facilities, all government agencies, and public accommodations be equally accessible to individuals with disabilities (guyer & uzeta, 2009). ada upholds design standards, in particular the ada standards for accessible design (2010), which is useful in developing compliant marketing practices, especially section 703, which discusses the needed elements in signage. there are no specific roadmaps on making e-resources accessible from either section 504 or ada, but librarians will find directives in recent interpretations of the laws by the u.s. department of education, office of civil rights, and the u.s. department of justice (doj), civil rights division. in particular, the 2010 “dear colleague letter: electronic book readers” (doj & department of education, 2010) to college and university presidents mandates that all emerging electronic and information resource technologies be accessible to individuals with disabilities. this response came out of the june 2009 settlement between the national federation for the blind against arizona state university (asu) and the arizona board of regents. at that time, asu began a pilot program to distribute electronic textbooks to students via the kindle dx. however, the kindle dx supported only limited text-to-speech capabilities for the print-disabled population (association of research libraries [arl], 2012). in essence, this library service was a violation of both the americans with disabilities act and the rehabilitation act of 1973 since the e-textbook pilot project was not fully accessible to all students. this emphasizes the point that even for “pilot” programs, technology needs to be universally accessible. as an example, the csi library recently implemented a pilot project in demand-driven acquisitions (dda). in determining what e-book platform vendor to select, ebscohost e-books were chosen due to not only the usability and familiarity of the platform by library patrons, but also because e-books downloaded in pdf format have optical character recognition (ocr), which makes them immediately recognizable by a screen reader. another leading competitor has image, not text-based, downloadable accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions 3 pdfs, which will not interact with screen readers. the ebrary platform does have a screen reader accessibility mode for displaying the book’s content in a readable text mode, or a request is sent to technical support by a librarian so a user’s account can have the text mode enabled. yes, this platform is adaptable, but it is not completely “barrierfree”; hence, another vendor was chosen. section 508 of the rehabilitation act of 1973 (amended in 1998) states that all electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by the federal government or federally funded programs has to be accessible to individuals with disabilities (section508.gov, n.d.). out of this revised amendment, the federal government developed tools to evaluate electronic resources acquired through voluntary product accessibility templates (vpats) and government product accessibility templates. government product accessibility templates evaluate how government-developed products or services conform to section 508 standards, whereas vpats evaluate commercially available products or services (section508.gov, n.d.). next, the assistive technology act of 1998 (amended in 2004) seeks to provide adaptive technology (at) to people with disabilities through federally funded grants so individuals can participate equally in education, employment, and community activities (assistive technology act, 2004). in higher education, the adaptive equipment provided through these federal funds does not have to be the best technology available, but does need to provide the needed accommodation. in general, academic libraries are vested in providing at to their patrons; however, this does not preclude the evaluation of web content that needs to interact with at. the twenty-first century communications and video accessibility act (cvaa) was signed into law in 2010 to update federal communications law. it modernizes communications services to include 21st century technologies such as voice over internet protocol (voip), non-voip services, instant messaging, and video communications (federal communications commission, 2015). the cvaa includes text messaging and e-mailing in its revisions. applicable library-vendor-related communications include oclc’s questionpoint chat reference, adobe captivate, camtasia or guide-on-the-side tutorials, and course management systems, like blackboard, that have to be compliant in a library setting. the cvaa’s goal is to also require products and services using broadband technologies, e.g., smartphones and ipads, to be fully accessible to people with disabilities. it is the responsibility of an academic library to ensure commercially available products conform to these standards since the burden of complying with disability law rests with the facility providing the service or product, not the vendor, in a free marketplace. as a final resource, librarians can refer to the guidelines of the world wide web consortium (w3c), an international community dedicated to developing accessibility standards on the web. the web content accessibility guidelines 2.0 (wcag), developed by w3c, provide web content creators, such as web librarians or reference librarians, with standards for developing accessible web content (w3c, 2008). html content is readily accessible to screen readers and is adaptable, as opposed to non-html content, which has its own distinct accessibility issues. non-html content includes pdfs, word documents, excel spreadsheets, and powerpoint presentations. wcag 2.0 suggests techniques such as providing alternative text for non-text content (e.g., images) and accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions 4 including features such as closed captioning, audio descriptions (i.e., “the man opened the door quietly”), and transcriptions for multimedia resources. a librarian can also test the navigability of an online resource by using keyboard tabbing and by looking for characteristics such as good color contrast, large font size, and readability. these guidelines can also assist librarians at the point of creating a resource so there is no barrier to access, as opposed to re-adapting a resource after discovering an accessibility issue. in sum, wcag 2.0 gives content creators resources for complying with section 508 standards. accessibility and purchasing practices acquisition librarians need to be aware of best-practice guidelines for purchasing procedures, developed by national library and international library organizations, when evaluating for accessibility. the author suggests ascla’s “think accessible before you buy toolkit” (ascla, n.d) and the ala’s policy on “purchasing of accessible electronic resources resolution” (ala council, 2009) as important documents that give guidance to librarians when implementing accessibility standards in current workflow practices. the “accessibility information toolkit for libraries,” created by the university of toronto and the ontario council of university libraries (2014), is also noteworthy because it focuses on inclusive procurement practices. lastly, ifla’s document, “key issues for e-resource collection development: a guide for libraries,” concentrates on accessibility requirements that should be addressed in licensing agreements and discusses universal design standards (johnson et al., 2012). the arl accessibility working group’s (2014) “web accessibility toolkit: making digital resources usable & accessible in research libraries” is another beneficial resource. in essence, if a librarian knows how to create accessible content, then evaluating vendor-created content based on the same principles is more effortless and understandable. many library acquisition units are beginning their understanding of evaluating and acquiring e-resources with accessibility issues in mind. the csi library and cuny’s office of library services are both attempting to tackle this issue in a concerted and wellplanned approach because electronic resources have not been consistently evaluated for accessibility. as the csi library made it a priority with new policies and procedures, a movement started in cuny’s office of library services with cuny’s electronic resources librarian encouraging cuny librarians to question vendors on accessibility issues prior to proceeding with licensing agreements. the csi library’s materials budget of approximately $800,000, of which $600,000 is dedicated to e-resources, makes it an essential undertaking at the campus level, in addition to cuny resources. california state university (csu), with its accessible technology initiative (ati), is a leading public university system that has established procurement procedures and vpat training for its various departments (csu, 2016). it can be used as a model for other public university systems in the united states. acquisition units often handle the purchasing of other library materials, such as computer equipment, furniture, and software. this might include adaptive equipment, such as large print keyboards, furniture with raiseable tables, and cctv screens that magnify text. at csi–cuny, the library works with the campus’s center for student accessibility to evaluate the library’s environment, provide adaptive technologies, and purchase new library software for students registered with the office. the university of washington's accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions 5 “disabilities, opportunities, internet-working, and technology” do-it program (doit, 2016) provides some useful suggestions regarding adding accessible technology or equipment to a library environment. outside of the library, there are also at resources available through local chapters of the national library service, which provides the very popular e-book service bard, or braille and audio reading download (national library service for the blind and physically handicapped, 2015). likewise, state commissions for the blind and visually impaired (cbvi) assist students from birth to the age of 21 by providing in-home software and technology. a librarian can sign up a patron with a disability to bard or recommend a student to these cbvi services. if academic libraries need to evaluate whether patron computers should be loaded with a screen reader or a magnifier or if they should purchase other software, the author gives the following recommendations on where a library can start. zoomtext is a screen reader program that enlarges, enhances, and reads aloud what is on a computer screen, such as text and images (zoomtext, 2016). it is a program that requires training but is an invaluable tool for print-disabled individuals. it can be costly but is a worthwhile investment to libraries. downloading free magnifiers onto desktops is another solution, and, starting with windows 7, downloadable magnifiers are included for free. the microsoft office 2010 suites, and later versions, have built-in accessibility features and helpful tips to create compliant content. kurzweil 3000 is another suggested software program for learning-disabled students. it features text-to-speech in multiple languages; reads text and web pages aloud; and includes vocabulary study guides, word prediction, and a talking spell-checker as a few of its tools (kurzweil education, 2016). it can benefit every type of student, such as the auditory learner, the bilingual student, and remedial students without a learning disability. likewise, the software program dragon naturallyspeaking is a speech recognition program that turns talk into text and allows users to control a computer and its various programs through speech. it can be very helpful for physically challenged and learning-disabled individuals, since it can also be accessed remotely with an account name (nuance, 2016). another great resource is green & blair’s (2011) guide on assistive technologies in libraries, which can support libraries enhancing their current at by acquiring new technologies. universal design in products when accessing a library's physical space, products, or services, the concept of universal design is essential. ud has existed for some time in the area of library architecture and spatial design. as defined by guder (2014), it is a term that can mean “different things depending on the context and audience, and the direction or goal of the design process” (p. 229). in general, ud means that a library designs its facility and services for individuals with a broad range of abilities and disabilities. in terms of physical space, it refers to barrier-free access to and within a library building. in terms of public access services, we can evaluate whether a library’s various service points are “barrier-free,” including library instruction sessions. zhong (2012) introduced universal design for learning (udl) as an “emerging paradigm to design course instruction, materials, and content to benefit people of all learning styles without adaption or retrofitting” (p. 33). for the purpose of this study, the csi library reviewed the practical applications of incorporating the design principles of ud into, as guder mentioned, “principles that make better products or services for all, whether these services or spaces are provided accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions 6 physically or digitally” (p. 229). it is well known that a library is not only a physical space, but also a virtual space or portal through which patrons access a variety of digital resources. whether using wcag 2.0 or vpat statements to evaluate digital resources for section 508 compliance, ensuring products are accessible benefits a wider group of students, including individuals with english as a second language (esl), the elderly or the aging population, people from different cultures, and individuals with different learning styles. the two recommended software programs, kurzweil 3000 and dragon naturallyspeaking, inherently embody the concept of ud in that both benefit many different populations of library patrons with their features. for instance, an esl student or auditory learner can benefit from kurzweil 3000. also, an aging individual with poor vision or an individual with poor fine motor skills can benefit from the voice commands of dragon naturallyspeaking. moving forward, acquisition librarians are striving for a new workflow paradigm when acquiring new e-resource products. four top questions a purchasing agent can ask is if a product or service is accessible (i.e., interacts with adaptive technology), adaptable (i.e., provides alternative options such as text only), supportive (i.e., provides accommodation without a hindrance), and will the product benefit all types of users (i.e., is the concept of ud inherently built in?) (guder, 2014). evaluating electronic resources implementing new workflows the movement to transition from print to electronic resources began in libraries over a decade ago, particularly with electronic serials, and the complexity of library e-resource workflows has been constantly evolving ever since as technologies continue to change. anderson (2007) noted that traditional workflows need to be broken down and redesigned into new workflows, with patron services as its goal. in essence, anderson’s declaration fits nicely into the accessibility and ud conundrum libraries are facing in keeping patrons with disabilities at the forefront in all electronic resource workflow and decision-making processes. if we keep the ud paradigm alive when re-creating electronic resources workflows, what would this redesign look like? at the csi library–cuny, the library was not looking at completing a workflow analysis, since workflows could not formally be established because of an electronic resource librarian vacancy lasting several years. as a result, the techniques for electronic resource management (terms) by emery and stone (2013) was used as the model for conceptualizing all and any future workflows in all aspects of electronic resources management, including evaluating for the accessibility of products and services. the simplicity of the model had the buy-in of both the acquisitions librarian and newly appointed electronic resources librarian. plus, terms has been well utilized since its inception in eight other electronic resource management studies at the time of this study. if adopted by acquisition and/or electronic resource librarians, terms would involve the workflow processes of investigating, acquiring, implementing, evaluating, reviewing, and canceling/renewing digital resources (emery & stone, 2013). as part of this workflow paradigm, electronic resources will also be evaluated on whether an e-resource is accessible, adaptable, supportive, and can be used by patrons of all abilities. throughout the remainder of this study, the author will utilize terms as a conceptualized workflow accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions 7 model for integrating accessibility issues in the evaluation, selection, and marketing of electronic resources. step 1 is to investigate new content for purchase or addition into a library's collections. in this first step it is useful to look at a vendor's vpat statement, discussed earlier. libraries for universal accessibility has created a vpat repository that can be helpful for purchasers (lua, 2014). libraries can also create their own repository using a web tool such as libguides (falloon, 2015). if a vendor does not have a vpat statement, a library can request that a vendor complete one. a library can also create a customized accessibility checklist, as did cuny’s office of library services (egan, 2016). this particular checklist was adapted from ascla’s “internet and web-based content accessibility checklist” (ascla, 2016). another reputable example is the tatomir accessibility checklist, which rates an e-resource based on accessibility criteria (tatomir & tatomir, 2012). if an e-resource fails three or more of the ten accessibility elements on the checklist, the e-resource is rated as marginally accessible on the low end or inaccessible on the high end. this can assist in an initial investigation of a resource or in reviewing already acquired resources for re-evaluation to see whether they meet accessibility standards. a library should never exclusively depend on the information a vendor provides in a vpat statement, verbally, or in any other written documentation. as delancey (2015) found, the accuracy of vendor-supplied accessibility documentation can be flawed. therefore, it is the responsibility of a library to request a free trial of a database or software to test its accessibility. in addition, a library can download the fangs screen reader emulator 1.0 or request a free trial demo of jaws to test how screen readers will handle a database’s interface (magnuson, 2015). lastly, a library may want to bring in a focus group made up of a target audience of individuals with disabilities to assist in the evaluation or work in conjunction with their campus disability office for a formal assessment. on the cuny information technology accessibility website, it is noted that a cuny library can “request a product accessibility evaluation from your college’s disability services office or cuny assistive technology services (cats). for cunywide products, contact computing & information services (cuny, 2016). so far, not many campus libraries have taken advantage of this freely available service, for a variety of reasons. this seems to be mainly due to a lack of awareness of the service, but it might also potentially concern some librarians to “outsource” evaluation of a library product. however, for the author, the potential benefits of this service outweigh any concerns. a request for proposal would fit into the terms investigative stage, when a library solicits responses from vendors before procuring major services and products. the library can require the vendor to report the accessibility of its product or service in the request for proposal. a library needs to make sure it is a company committed to disability issues. this can be done by investigating whether a vendor has a freely available accessibility statement on their website. it can also be helpful to speak to a vendor’s product developer to discuss current features and/or features that need future development. it will be up to the individual library as to whether to continue to the next step of acquiring the product if the vendor is committed to resolving any accessibility issues. another avenue is to investigate alternative vendors who can supply a similar product or service. it would be reasonable to prefer one vendor over the other based on a substantial reason, such as including accessibility features. accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions 8 the second step in terms is to acquire new content (emery & stone, 2013). during the procurement process with electronic resources, the licensing of digital rights management (drm) and other contractual terms and conditions is regularly signed. does the license address the accessibility of the product or service? is accessibility an issue with a product’s drm restrictions? what is your university’s approved accessibility language for a contract? below is the cuny office of the general council approved language: [vendor] shall be complaint with all federal and state laws and requirements in the provision of services under this agreement, including but not limited to the provision for equally effective and substantially equivalent ease of use for persons with disabilities, as required by the americans with disabilities act (ada). section 508 of the rehabilitation act and web content accessibility guidelines (wcag) 2.0, level aa shall be used to evaluate minimum compliance with the ada. [vendor] shall indemnify, defend, and hold the university, the state of new york, the city of new york, the dormitory authority of the state of new york, and their respective trustees, employees, agents, and servants harmless for any fines, penalties, expenses, or awards related to any claims related to failure to maintain ada compliance, including attorneys’ fees, and requests for accommodations (cuny, 2016). the third step in terms is implementation. for example, a library merchant can provide navigational aids regarding setting up a product to utilize its accessibility features. when implementing the e-resource, make sure these navigation aids are available to both librarians and patrons, through either a libguide or other library web pages, as a communication tool. terms steps four and five, evaluating and reviewing, involve an ongoing evaluation of the resource, which is usually completed annually. what does this mean in terms of an accessibility review? going back to the example of an e-book, has the e-book‘s platform that hosts the content changed? are older navigational aids still applicable? are the e-book’s downloadable pdfs still text, not imaged based, so they can be read by ocr technology? do non-text images have alternative text? both usability and accessibility testing can be a part of the ongoing evaluation and annual review process of an electronic resource, in addition to usage statistics to determine if the product is being used. the sixth step in terms is cancellation and replacement (emery & stone, 2013). if a vendor is no longer section 508 compliant or a more accessible product is found through a new evaluation process, a library should feel free to cancel their current product and replace it with a better resource. lastly, to make sure a library focuses on accessibility in the evaluation and procurement process, it is recommended that a library include an accessibility statement in their collection development policy. at the csi library, the following statement was included during a revision of its collection development policy: the college of staten island library is committed to complying with relevant ada standards, section 504, section 508, and web content accessibility guidelines (wcag) in the selection, maintenance, and access to its collections. in the development and/or the procurement of online resources, the library will consider resources that are accessible and useable to all. collection development decision-making will consider [a] product’s usability with assistive technology, accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions 9 accessible alternatives, and request accessibility documentation from vendors (i.e., vpat or voluntary product accessibility template). inaccessible resources or issues can be brought to the attention of the library’s collection development committee and/or the library liaison to the center for student accessibility. in addition to commercially purchased electronic resources, there is library-created content that needs to be designed with individuals with disabilities in mind. the organization web accessibility in mind (webaim, 2016b) created a tool called web accessibility evaluation, which can assist a library in determining if web content is accessible. the same tool can be used to evaluate resources on the web. in general, the arl joint task force highly recommends that accessibility and universal design be fully integrated into all procurement processes and technology planning activities (arl, 2012). marketing electronic resources marketing is a significant part of the third step in terms, implementation, whether in promoting a newly acquired product or encouraging patrons to utilize a previously acquired resource. since the csi library is using terms as the system for conceptualizing e-resource workflows, the library will also use emery and stone’s indepth marketing framework as part of this third step. it is also important to note that the implementation process involves the customization of database interfaces and the branding of electronic resources with organizational logos. emery and stone (2013) suggest that a major acquisition of a product or service will most likely need a dedicated marketing plan. they mention that “the plan should cover the needs, wants, and interests of all potential users” (emery & stone, 2013, p.23). smaller resources may not need a separate campaign and can be advertised as part of a whole library collection or service, such as an e-book. also, a library can create an individualized marketing plan composed of determining responsibilities, actions to complete, the timing, and scheduling of marketing activities (emery & stone, 2013). the csi library’s marketing and outreach committee delegates tasks to different individuals and establishes strategic marketing schedules for the library. emery and stone (2013) also suggest creating a marketing plan matrix targeted to different consumer groups via different marketing channels as an initial place to start. they mentioned students, faculty and researchers, staff, partner colleges, members of the public, and users with disabilities. for the latter group, informing the center for student accessibility about a recent library acquisition, along with accessibility features, would be part of a new implementation plan. although new electronic resources should always be marketed, current subscriptions may also need to be re-promoted to increase their visibility. in marketing, there are two types of marketing methodologies, a soft and a hard launch of a product (emery & stone, 2013). for an electronic resource, a launch is activating a resource for use and getting it out to the public. a soft launch of an electronic resource is subtle, while a hard launch is impactful and larger in scale. as part of a soft launch, the activities and individuals involved include creating a catalog record with a universal resource locator link (by acquisition/e-resources/cataloger); adding it to the library's database listing (by e-resources librarian); activating ezprozy (by e-resources librarian/it server manager); adding the resource to a discovery tool or serials management system (by e-resources librarian); and adding it to other library-generated web pages (by web librarian/reference librarian). in other words, a library is slowly introducing the resource accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions 10 to the public through a variety of access points that will naturally promote the product. some services only lend themselves to a soft launch. for example, the csi library’s dda program, discussed earlier, would lend itself only to soft launch practices, such as emailing relevant faculty or librarians that the tool exists. a hard launch with intensive marketing and details for patrons would have the opposite effect of what this service intends, for patrons to discover it naturally and purchase a book based on need. a hard launch could also have a devastating effect on a dda project, with funds being spent too quickly, essentially shutting down the project prematurely (emery & stone, 2013). as we see, some resources only need a soft launch, but emery and stone (2013) recommend that a soft launch always precede a hard launch. there are various benefits to doing this. first, a soft launch gives the library time to introduce and test the product through usability testing and getting user feedback. this is where further testing by a library, in conjunction with their student disability office, can be useful. this is especially true when transitioning to a new resource that might require intricate training and technical readjustments, especially for individuals with disabilities. at the csi library, a new cuny discovery tool was launched in the fall of 2014. due to the need for testing, making readjustments, and librarian training, this e-tool was rolled out at the college in a soft launch. a soft launch can also help when the timing for a hard launch is not ideal. for example, in colleges, a mid-semester or off-semester launch, when faculty and student are not on campus, will not be effective. as emery and stone (2013) emphasized, timing is essential when it comes to success in marketing campaigns. the task of marketing can be delegated to different individuals in a library. it can start in acquisitions or with an electronic resources librarian, then through the outreach actions of a reference librarian as a more singular activity, and lastly collaboratively as part of a marketing committee project. a library should also consider a process for marketing in a way that promotes the concept of ud in all formats of media releases: newsletters and newspapers, library brochures and handouts, email and social media blasts, website event listings, and digital signage. since marketing is largely visual in nature, consider making library marketing and outreach related content, whether print or digital, fully accessible to all visually, auditory, and learning impaired users. library marketing should be inclusive, not exclusive, of certain populations. the csi library has discovered that department faculty are usually the best initial target audience since they tend to promote specific library resources to their students, either verbally or through their course management tools. as part of outreach to faculty, presenting at department meetings and contacting chairpersons directly is useful if a department liaison is not available. this is where one-to-one outreach or personal relationships are essential. educating public access services staff, reference staff, and instruction staff is important so outreach can also occur at these service points. in sum, a library needs to be proactive and consistent in making all types of media formats and methods of promotion accessible. library vendors can be a helpful resource when implementing a marketing campaign since they can provide needed handouts, template letters, graphics, and promotional items such as pens, posters, or widgets for library webpages. some vendors will also contact target audiences, such as faculty members, for further promotion. it is helpful to check vendor websites or contact a sales representative for these materials. if you need to accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions 11 modify a vendor's promotional materials to be inclusive of individuals with disabilities, ask for a word version of a document, a scalable image, or an ocr’ed pdf. some vendors even provide large print or braille handouts. it is the responsibility of the library to ask for these specialized items for patrons with disabilities. library signage the use of library signage as a marketing tool has been discussed by verostek (2005) and by jones, mccandless, kiblinger, giles, and mccabe (2011). these authors noted how signage, among all marketing techniques, can lead to a dramatic increase in circulation of promoted resources. for best practice in signage design, it is recommended that libraries follow the ada standards for accessible design (2010) from the united states doj, civil rights division. most of these standards apply only to permanent signage but can be a helpful guideline to best practices for temporary, directional, and informational signage. ethically, libraries are obligated to be inclusive in all their signage. in general, it is suggested there be a 70% contrast between a sign's background and lettering (doj, 2010). ample color contrast is recommended, such as dark lettering on a light background or light lettering on a dark background, with black and white providing the most contrast. be aware of color-blind hues such as red, green, and blue, and do not use color to emphasize meaning in text. large print font is considered a minimum of 14-point type, preferably 16 to 18 point. using large bold characters, in upperand lowercase, and all caps for titles or using the “strong” heading in word are recommended. some other suggestions are to use only sans serif font (e.g., ariel, geneva, tahoma, vedana), not serif font (e.g., times new roman, cambria, garamond) (doj, 2010). also, try to aim for simplicity and consistency in verbiage so as not to confuse a reader, who might be learning disabled. some other best practices are using clear, high-contrast, non-glare matte-finish images and displaying signage in well-lit, not overly bright or dark areas. another suggestion is to use universally understood icons or still images to effectively communicate a message, in addition to text. in general, a library needs to ensure that there is ample high-contrast, large print signage throughout the library (doj, 2010). libraries frequently use digital signage, which has flexible content and can take the form of still images, still text, animation, and/or video. digital signage is defined as the display of information in electronic form, usually on a video display (i.e., lcd) or through a projector aimed at a screen or wall (barclay, bustos, & smith, 2010). digital signage may incorporate sound, screen crawls, or picture-in-a-picture technology as well as interactive features such as touch-screen functionality and cell phone interaction. they are easy to update and adaptable in design (barclay et al., 2010). best practices for accessible digital signage are using clear, high-definition (hd) screens with a text-to-speech option, closed captioning as a basic feature, and limited text animation, which can be distracting. a library should also allow other college departments to contribute content on library digital displays as a service to the academic community, as a collaborative venture. digital signage also enhances the variety of the messages, which increases the likelihood that patrons will pay attention (barclay et al., 2010). a library can likewise also request advertising on campus digital signage to reach patrons not located in the library. at the csi library, a combination of print and digital is used to maximize the benefits of both. accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions 12 the following questions can help guide libraries to make marketing content fully accessible to visually impaired users. is there an audio component available? is an image easily scalable? if not, an svg file format is recommended, which is a file format developed and maintained by w3c and is easily scalable (wai, 2014). can the digital version be read by a screen reader? to test whether a pdf has ocr technology, can an individual word be highlighted, not just the entire page, making it an editable document? for online marketing content, the webaim tool called the color contrast checker can assist with determining appropriate levels of contrast for web pages that are used for marketing purposes (webaim, 2016a). libguides as an adaptable outreach tool library marketing committees have become increasingly popular across many university settings to market electronic resources. in 2014, cuny’s dean of libraries convened an electronic resources marketing committee to assist in promoting new cuny electronic resources among all university libraries. the goal of the committee was to assist cuny librarians in developing, sharing, and promoting marketing literature. to convey these marketing tips and tools to other cuny librarians geographically isolated from each other, the commercial product libguides was used as a communication and sharing tool (springshare, 2016). to assist in this endeavor, the author created a libguide devoted to accessibility practices for purchasing and marketing electronic resources, with suggestions on visual design. one component was to create a vpat repository with accessibility statements from library vendors cuny has contracts with. figure 1. screen capture of the libguide dedicated to inclusive purchasing practices for library electronic resources. accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions 13 the last component was dedicated to accessibility issues related to marketing electronic resources to primarily print disabled populations. the libguide has been popular, with many views and positive feedback from other cuny librarians. figure 2. screen capture of the libguide dedicated to inclusive marketing strategies in libraries. as part of a cuny marketing committee workshop on making libguides fully accessible as an e-resource, they suggested adapting to the limitations of this resource by limiting the number of columns on a page and instead making lists of content within libguide boxes. this is because a screen reader tends to navigate a libguide by first reading columns from left to the right and then top to bottom (mulliken, 2015). also, they suggested avoiding drop-down menus and including closed captioning videos. it was recommended that the gallery feature be avoided since screen readers cannot tab through this feature (mulliken, 2015). it is important to note that there is a libguides subcommittee of the universal accessibility interest group (uaig), part of the association of college & research libraries (acrl). the goal of the subcommittee is to review libguides’s accessibility and create a comprehensive guide for best practices with this resource, even with current accessibility updates to the latest version. a recent acrl techconnect blog post discussed how libguide 2.0 creators can ensure that their guides are accessible and compliant using html source code (magnuson, 2015). for instance, in the html source code editing feature of libguides, content creators can add alternative text to images, text to describe hyperlinks, and titled “iframes” to embedded html documents like media and widgets. w3c’s web accessibility initiative on providing accessible rich internet applications (wai-aria) defines ways to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities (w3c, 2014). they suggest simplifying the language of descriptive text in html source coding (magnuson, 2015). in addition to the w3c's webaim and color contrast tools discussed accessibility and inclusion issues in library acquisitions 14 earlier, there is also the w3c markup validation services, which checks the validity of the html in webpages by rating the “mark-up” of the document as pass or fail based on errors. in addition, w3c also has linkchecker, which can look for issues in links, anchors, and other objects in webpages (magnuson, 2015). all of these tools can be helpful when evaluating the accessibility of an electronic resource, like libguides, using wcag 2.0 guidelines. conclusion as our academic populations diversify, university librarians need to become more aware of accessibility issues that can surround the acquisition and implementation of electronic resources. inclusion issues in library acquisition services in relation to purchasing and marketing e-resources to patrons with disabilities need to be a common area of discussion and concern. about 75% of the resources acquired by the csi library–cuny are electronic in nature, but being digital does not automatically mean accessible. acquisition and electronic resource librarians need to acquire knowledge of disability law compliance as it relates to product evaluations, purchasing decisions, marketing, and reviews. one way to achieve this is through online guides, such as the commercial resource libguides or the open-source product subjectsplus (subjectsplus, n.d.). these online guides are dedicated to evaluating, purchasing, and then marketing electronic resources with accessibility in mind. the final purpose of this study was to provide a workflow model on how to ensure that a digital resource is evaluated and marketed for accessibility compliance. the conclusion of this study is that practical workflow suggestions and methodologies can assist libraries with adapting these inclusive practices in acquisition services. this article hopes to further 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(2016). zoomtext [computer software]. retrieved from http://www.zoomtext.com/ narrative, objects, and the construction of the self: how we might remember when we have forgotten the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 narrative, objects, and the construction of the self: how we might remember when we have forgotten lynne c. howarth, university of toronto, canada abstract dementia and alzheimer’s disease know no boundaries. while this much is known, there is little beyond the medicalization of onset to provide insights into individuals instantly marginalized by a diagnosis with no future. the role of objects and storytelling in supporting the well-being and engagement of those dealing with alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (adrd) has recently become an accepted strategy in non-medical interventions for the disease. many care facilities, day programs, and associations providing support for adrd offer reminiscence and story sharing as regular activities. building on research undertaken to explore how objects can be used as memory cues to evoke a memory of a person, place, event, or artefact in an individual’s personal narrative, this paper makes a case for mobilizing object memoir to empower the voices of the cognitively disabled. it argues for respecting the individual storyteller, not for the person he or she once was or may become in the future, but as someone with a unique identity and an inherent value as she or he is in the present. object memoir as a readily invoked activity not only adds to the self-worth and social efficacy of an individual with adrd, but also fosters meaningful connection with family, friends, and other caregivers who may be experiencing the loss of their own stories as memories of a shared past fade or disappear. keywords: alzheimer’s disease; common reminiscence; disability life writing; object memoir; storytelling publication type: research article introduction magine being an invited guest at the opening of a state-of-the-art residence in a large city dedicated to the care of individuals with dementia. the design is homelike, with no more than six individual rooms leading off from a kitchen and dining area, with two such “pods” on each of two floors. each floor features a large common living room with comfortable sofas and chairs, a large-screen television, and an assortment of magazines, books, puzzles, and games on low shelving units which also hold a variety of houseplants. a common garden area, planted with colorful annuals and several kinds of vegetables, with outdoor furniture, a barbeque, and well-stocked bird feeders, is readily accessible from the first-floor living room. people at the event wander in and out at will. the ribbon-cutting includes local politicians, health-care workers, residence staff, residents and their families and friends, and members of the media. you strike up a conversation with a well-dressed and impeccably groomed woman, perhaps somewhere in her early 70’s. you share the usual pleasantries of weather, family, some recent travel, and also discuss the look-and-feel of the residence and its importance in offering personalized care to those in cognitive decline. she mentions a lifelong career in public service, i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 then excuses herself to take the elevator to the eighth floor. the residence has only two floors, and, in an instant, everything you have assumed about this woman based on your conversation, her personal stories, her dress, and her demeanor changes. she is not a visitor like you; she is a resident. the introduction opens with a story that may or may not be true. it is detailed, vivid, visual, and includes a surprise ending. it is a premise for an exploration of the construction and communication of self through narrative (oral and written), and the actualization and expression of self through the objects one accumulates throughout the life course. it illustrates how the stories we tell about ourselves, and, as appropriate, our possessions, initiate sociality and the building of relationships. the opening story also sets the stage for considering what happens to a sense of self, and to the communication and expression of that identity when a major disruption, such as the onset of alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (adrd), intervenes to change the course and, importantly, the recall or memory of one’s life and construction of self. what role might personal stories and objects play when their association with an individual’s past may have been forgotten, in part, or in full? this article explores the different types of personal narrative, both oral and written, and how we construct identity and communicate a sense of self through our stories. memory and storytelling, and their importance to fostering happiness and positive mental health and wellbeing will be examined relative to the process of reminiscence. we will consider the emergence of disability life writing, and narratives specific to memory function, and to adrd in particular. from storytelling we will move on to examining the role of objects (possessions, personal artefacts, treasured mementos) in actualizing and expressing self and identity across the life course, and how objects are being used to foster positive mental health in therapeutic and institutional care of those with adrd. we will conclude by revisiting both storytelling and objects and their respective roles in constructing and communicating self-identity, offering additional insights gained through a study of individuals with mild or early-stage adrd employing common reminiscence. final thoughts will address the question raised earlier, that is, what role might personal stories and objects play when their association with an individual’s past may have been forgotten, in part, or in full? the response may also shed light on how we might interpret the “surprise ending” of the opening story quite differently. our stories, ourselves: personal narratives and the construction of self in his introduction to an exploration of personal narrative, ingraham (2017) notes that people tell stories. and not just novelists or screenwriters: we all tell them. at the dinner table, on the phone, in the classroom, at the gym. in everyday talk—and in writing—we tell stories that relate the quotidian events of our day, funny happenstances, major and minor scenes from our past. in short, all the ordinary and extraordinary moments of our lives are eligible for expression through the vernacular sharing of personal narratives. (pp. 55-56). constructing stories, according to baumeister and newman (1994) represents one phase in an individual’s process of making sense of his or her experiences, of coming to an understanding of an event (p. 677). these personal narratives represent exercises in self-interpretation and are motivated by four needs for meaning, needs which also guide the interpretive structuring of the story. as baumeister and newman (1994) explain, in addition to impressing, entertaining, or 6 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 teaching others, stories: …satisfy a need for purposiveness by depicting the attainment of significant goals or fulfilment states. others satisfy a need for justification by portraying one’s actions as consistent with values, norms, and expectations and by explaining intentions in a comprehensible, acceptable fashion. other stories help satisfy a need for efficacy by encoding useful information about how to control the environment. lastly, many stories support the narrator’s claims to self-worth by portraying him or her as a competent and attractive person. (p. 688) jerome bruner (2004) adds yet another dimension to the constructivist view of self-narrative as stories that do not occur in the “real world”, but are constructed in an individual’s mind. he concludes his examination of life as narrative, believing that, “the ways of telling and the ways of conceptualizing that go with them become so habitual that they finally become recipes for structuring experience itself, for laying down routes into memory, for not only guiding the life narrative up to the present but directing it into the future. i have argued that a life as led is inseparable from a life as told” (bruner, 2004, p. 708). this argument would suggest that our life course is, essentially, as the stories we tell about it, and not necessarily a “true account” of life as it was, as it is, and as it will be. our stories are ourselves. or, as bruner (2004) asserts, “in the end, we become the autobiographical narratives by which we ‘tell about’ our lives” (p. 694). our individual stories may assume different forms and content depending on context, timing, situation, stage of life, the particular state of our life, the nature and size of our audience and our relationship to it, etc. while ingraham (2017) refers to the vernacular sharing of moments of our lives, g. thomas couser (2011) expands on oral storytelling to include written or recorded narrations of everyday life. these he defines as “memoir” – a particular genre of life writing that he considers, “especially expressive of cultural values” (p. 233). he adds that, while we all “do” life writing in the form of a job application, a resumé, a personal school essay, or a tell-all personal introduction, or have it “done” for us in an annual evaluation, a medical or scholastic record, an honorary citation, or obituary, few of us will actually have an opportunity or the inclination to write a lengthy life story, per se. memoir allows us to go beyond the format of the institutional record, to colour outside the box of a formalized life story, to tell our stories about our daily lives as we live them, anecdotally. as such, personal memoir, “offers the possibility of taking control of our own stories” (couser, 2011, p. 234). memory and storytelling: the process of reminiscence the role of memory in the telling of autobiographical stories is given particular prominence in discussions of reminiscence – the phenomenon of remembering our lives. in their review of reminiscence and mental health, westerhof, bohlmeijer, and webster (2010, p. 699) stress that reminiscence is a “naturally occurring phenomenon” throughout the lifespan (i.e., not confined or distinctive to “the aged” or those approaching vulnerability and death), that memories can be “willfully recollected” and forgotten ones recalled, and that remembering is “veridical” (i.e., truthful, veracious) relative to ones existing schema about the self, as well as the social situation at hand when memories are shared. while the westerhof et al. (2010) article focuses on different forms and uses of reminiscence (i.e., table 1, p. 701), what is germane to this paper is evidence of the positive relationship between reminiscence functions and feelings of happiness, and indications favoring reminiscence as an intervention for mental health outcomes. 7 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 westerhof et al. (2010, pp. 711-712) note the widespread use of simple reminiscence, life review, and life-review therapies in interventions among a diverse range of individuals and groups across the life course, and reminiscence programs in primary schools, higher education, museums, churches, assisted-living communities, nursing homes, and dementia care, among many others. as they observe, further, “the included activities have also been diverse, from autobiographic writing, storytelling, instructing younger generations about past events, oral histories interviews, scrapbooks, artistic expressions, family genealogy, to blogging and other internet applications” (westerhof et al., 2010, p. 712). simple reminiscence is used for older adults who experience the sharing of autobiographic memories as meaningful, and as a social activity that enhances positive feelings. life reviews offers a more structured activity through individual interviews and guided autobiography groups. individuals across the life course looking for meaning in their lives or struggling with transitions or adversity, focus on both positive and negative experiences to remind and guide them as to successful strategies for coping in the past. life-review therapies require specialists who can assist older persons with mental health issues of depression or anxiety to focus on memories that stimulate a positive self-identity (westerhof et al., 2010, pp. 712713). regardless of the type of reminiscence selected, all emphasize a person-centered approach to autobiographical memory recall and focus on the efficacy and effectiveness of interventions on mental health across the lifespan. personal narrative and disability: the agency of storytelling outside the box through personal narratives, whether oral or written, we construct self-identity, representing to ourselves and others who we believe ourselves to be relative to our experiences and our relationships as we understand, interpret, and/or remember them. how, why, and when we recount our narratives will also depend on what is motivating us to share. our own perceptions of self will not always or necessarily align with others which is especially true when stories of physical or mental illness and disability are concerned. davis (2006) reminds us that, “life writing (life narrative, autoethnography, autobiography) emerged alongside the disability rights movement as a counter narrative to medicalized discourses that position the disabled body outside the boundaries of normalcy” (p. 3). couser (2006) adds that “it provides people with disabilities the power to occupy the subject position in the face of decades of misrepresentation” (p. 401) for individuals with adrd, personal narratives offer the unique perspective of cognitive decline from the inside out. while there are many biographical accounts penned by caregivers (e.g., bayley, 1999; keaton, 2011), and several high-profile fictionalized depictions of adrd (e.g., genova 2009; thomas 2014), autobiographies have assumed a prominence of their own during the 21st century. first-person narratives (e.g., debaggio, 2002; bryden, 2005; taylor, 2007; mitchell, 2018) document the changes that the author experiences, and his or her evolving physical, emotional, and spiritual responses to progressive decline – accounts that are true and unsentimental representations of an individual in flux. such textual renderings of change, are likewise reflected in the stories of individuals told through online media, such as blogs (e.g., swaffer, 2019), videos (e.g., bute, 2012), social media posts, and association-supported sites (e.g., alzheimer society of ontario, 2019). these various examples of memoir offer evidence of couser’s (2006) assertion that narratives about our daily lives as we live them offer the possibility of going beyond the institutional record, of stepping beyond the medicalized version of individuals with cognitive decline and gaining control of our stories and our identities. as bute (2012) notes in her online video, “now and forever i am still me.” 8 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 kontos (2015) references storytelling as one example of creative expression programs being implemented in long-term care facilities as an “emotion-oriented” approach to improving the quality of life of individuals with dementia (p. 176). in contrast to medicalized discourses and care practices that may view expressive behaviors as problematic or disruptive, respecting the person with adrd as an “embodied being” recognizes his or her agency for self-expression in meaningful and creative ways, whether verbal (storytelling) or non-verbal (performance). this “new ethics of care” with its attention to human agency, represents a significant innovation and positive step towards understanding adrd, “not as an independent neurological process, but rather as an experience through which nature, history, culture, power, and discourse all speak simultaneously” (kontos, 2015, p. 178). while autobiographies are true representations of their authors, reflecting both their personal perceptions and genuine responses to their changing life situation, they are perhaps more usually interpreted by others as guideposts, or as early warning signs of what is to come. they are as instructive as they are revealing. i would argue, however, that they do little to bridge the solitudes separating caregivers from those in their care, aside from building awareness and understanding – themselves valuable, but insufficient as the gap widens with disease progression. in a paper discussing experiences of loss as expressed in two autobiographies penned by alzheimer’s disease caregivers, england and ganzer (1992) observe that, as we shift through their insights, peak moments, daily burdens, and expressions of feeling, we come to understand that beneath the story, with its descriptions of daily activity lies another level of meaning. autobiography, then, is a way of keeping the image of the family member alive and present. (p. 16). they chart the interdependence of a series of losses, beginning with a loss of function relating to memory, domestic and self-care activities (shopping, cooking, managing household finances, driving, dressing, personal hygiene, and grooming), and social and other engagements. as the family member becomes more dependent, the caregiver begins to lose his or her independence in direct proportion, also giving up time for ongoing, important productive activities. england and ganzer (1992) identify further in the two caregiver autobiographies, a series of more devastating losses for family members and caregivers, alike (p. 18). subsumed under the rubric of “loss of meaning”, are losses of dignity and “moral certitude”, including the experience of role reversal. lost, too, across time is the privacy and solitude for both the dependent and the caregiver. perhaps the most difficult loss of all, they note is “… the loss of ritual mourning, the caregiver’s social right to grieve at a time when the loss or death of the person is most keenly felt” (p. 9). they ask, with great poignancy, about when that mourning should begin – as memory fails, as a sense of time and place unravels, when speech is uncertain, at the actual moment of death? because death is unpredictable, even protracted, the past history of, and future direction for, the dependent person – in essence, his or her life story – is lost to the caregiver. as england and ganzer (1992) conclude regarding the two works that were the focus of their study, “in writing their own stories, [the caregivers] write the biographies of their loved ones so that they are now present in their absence” (p. 20) our objects, ourselves: personal possessions and the actualization of self within the disciplines of sociology, psychology, anthropology, and narrative studies, cherished personal objects — and the stories individuals tell about them — are seen as “representations” 9 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 or extensions of the self. objects and their associated narratives are a means of self-expression and assist in the maintenance of a cohesive identity. objects also provide a “socializing” function whereby individuals “differentiate” or “integrate” themselves with others (csikszentmihalyi & rochberg-halton, 1981). the role of objects and storytelling in supporting the well-being and engagement of those dealing with progressive loss in cognitive functions brought about by adrd has become an accepted strategy in non-medical interventions for the disease. many care facilities, day programs, and associations providing support for adrd offer reminiscence and story sharing as regular activities, as described earlier in the paper. the following sections will address the place and relevance of personal objects across the life course, generally, and the use of mementos and self-memory boxes for continuity of identity of individuals with adrd in care facilities, specifically. the paper will then describe how storytelling and objects are brought together in the activity of common reminiscence, offering examples of outcomes and potential benefits from a study of individuals diagnosed with mild or early adrd. while the literature of material culture is vast and rich, it is limited here to considerations of the nature and role of personal objects to individual identity and memory function. it is premised on david j. ekerdt’s (2015) statement, that “the sum of one’s possessions can be conceived to be something as dynamic as the life course itself, as a convoy of material support. hardly fixed and static, the convoy provisions changing bodies, role involvements, social relationships, developmental thrusts, and the consciousness of time” (p. 318). the concept of a “convoy” of materiality being acquired, managed, archived, discarded, bequeathed, or otherwise disposed of across a lifespan aligns with a construction of self-identity described earlier through the creation of stories, memoir, reminiscence, and autobiography subsumed under the broad reach of personal narrative. making the link between stories and objects is a seamless one where each both constructs and reflects the self and memory over a lifetime. further to this, as ekerdt (2015) explains: possessions have communicative value for telling stories about oneself. they are a way to evaluate in oneself and others how well life is going, and where it might go next. just as possessions can signal conformity to age expressions and scripts, they can also be deployed for rebellion and resistance to age. thus, an ongoing career of consumption actualizes and expresses the life course. (pp. 313-314). what happens when the life course takes unexpected turns, requires changes in possession management, or necessitates disposition of personal objects? how does one separate from a lifetime of objects, and, particularly, from cherished ones? where mementos fulfill a role of mediation, supporting one’s sense of self, of relative place or space in the world, of sociality, what does their dispossession portend for stability, let alone, continuity of identity? while such separation may occur because of a change in roles, or migration, or physical disability, or agerelated vulnerability, what occurs when cognitive decline, particularly that of memory loss, challenges continuity of identity, in essence, taking the person away from the object, rather than removing the object from the individual? while a person diagnosed with adrd may relinquish a household of possessions in moving to a care facility, having to choose a familiar “cherished few” items for daily living, what value will those have in preserving a sense of self as memory function continues to decline? dementia is a set of progressive, degenerative conditions that impair brain cell function, impeding cognitive abilities for the demands of daily living. across time changes will occur in 10 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 activities relating to decision-making, wayfinding, communicating, and remembering, the latter perhaps the condition best known in public awareness. alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, which, along with related dementias (collectively referred to as adrd) is fatal and has no known treatment or cure at this time. gradually, and irreversibly, the disease affects how a person thinks, feels, and acts. while some individuals may become less expressive and withdrawn, it is still possible to reach people with alzheimer’s disease even in the very late stages. it is important to remember that a person may still feel joy, anger, fear, love, and sadness, even as such responses and/or the degree of those emotions may appear out of character to those who have known the individual well. contemporary dementia care facilities are increasingly adopting within their design a customized display case, known as a “memory box” (or self-memory box) for collocating personal objects that physically express aspects of an individual’s life that he or she may no longer be able to communicate. a photograph, a map, a hockey puck, a figurine, or a stuffed animal might “stand in” for a person, place, event, activity, or other cherished entity (e.g., a pet) that held an important place in the individual’s life. as g. b. gulwadi (2013) explains, “memory boxes have three purposes: to establish one’s identity; to serve as a spatial orientation cue to assist residents in finding their way back to their room; and to act as a tool for reminiscence” (p. 106). the use of self-memory boxes in care facilities for adrd has been shown to improve how others, such as family and care-givers, understand and relate to the individual (hagens, beeman, & ryan, 2003), essentially offering a personal context and connection, or a starting point for conversation. this, in turn, can impact the level of care and foster opportunities for on-going social engagement (kitwood, 1997). however, though the objects housed in the “memory box” may be personal, they are not necessarily selected by the individual him or herself, but may, instead, have been chosen by family or other care-givers. the intersection of stories and objects “common reminiscence” (grasel, wiltfang, & kornhuber, 2003; westerhof et al., 2010) is also aimed at promoting social engagement and the expression of self through the use of objects. it does so, more directly, through structured group activities aimed at evoking conversation, memories, and stories through the utilization of props. assisted care facilities provide such programming – often around a common theme – as do commercial firms, such as bifolkal (http://www.bifolkal.org/) and memory lane tm (http://memory-lane.tv/), with products (e.g. videos, audio cds, memory books, photographs and slides, tactile objects) and programs to support remembering and reminiscing. based on her study of individuals with mid-stage alzheimer’s disease, basting (2003a, 2003b, 2009; fritsch et. al., 2009; george et. al, 2011) has developed timeslipstm – a group storytelling activity that creates a narrative around a generic photograph, and focuses on the validation of each individual’s contribution. subsequent research on the use of theatrical improvisation to create community engagement within a secure longterm care facility is documented in the penelope project: an arts-based odyssey to change elder care (basting, towey, & rose, 2016). whether an individual or group activity, and regardless of whether objects are selected personally or by others, the practice of common reminiscence underscores the continuous validation of self-identity, and the expression of “self” to others through objects as a means of building connection, fostering greater understanding, and being a part of a social group. structured storytelling activities with objects or props provide participants with a common and “neutral” space for engaging in conversation and rich interaction with others. the objects, in 11 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.bifolkal.org/ http://memory-lane.tv/ narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 essence, give “voice” to individuals who are often marginalized or isolated in their daily lives. exploring pathways to memory – insights from research using common reminiscence that stories and objects can contribute to happiness, sociality, and a sense of well-being of persons experiencing progressive cognitive decline was observed through a study, “exploring pathways to memory,” undertaken by the author and student research assistants in toronto, canada, and funded from 2009 through 2013 by the social sciences and humanities research council of canada. while details regarding methodology and data analysis have been reported previously in the literature (hendry & howarth, 2013; howarth, 2014), this current discussion highlights outcomes from a set of activities of common reminiscence conducted with eight individuals who had been diagnosed with early-stage or mild adrd. it is important to note that early-stage differs from early-onset adrd, the former indicating progression of the disease (mild/early stage; moderate/middle stage; severe/late stage), and the latter connoting younger onset. those with mild adrd may function independently, still able to work, drive, and engage in social activities, while experiencing some difficulties with memory and concentration. study participants with mild adrd recruited for the exploring pathways to memory study were able to give informed consent and did not necessarily require caregivers to assist with sessions, aside from helping with reminders, or asking questions of the researchers on behalf of the participant. those who volunteered to take part were recruited from a local alzheimer’s association, from one residence offering assisted-care, and from two independent-living apartment complexes for seniors where support workers were available on a contract basis. while the final number of participants was small (n=8), each participant engaged in a minimum of three sessions, with further follow-up as required. recruiting offered some challenges, perhaps because those who are initially diagnosed with adrd must use their time and energy to address the disease; participating in a research program might be low on their list of priorities or seem far removed from the immediacy of their new life situation. nonetheless, those who joined and continued with the three to five sessions per participant were committed, engaged in the process, and generous with their time. the common reminiscence sessions were conducted over a two-year period, with each audio-recorded and augmented by extensive field notes summarizing participant-researcher interactions and any actions involving the physical tokens. the exploring pathways to memory study was designed to examine the role of representation — in the form of tokens serving as memory cues — in sense-making, and memory recall for individuals with mild alzheimer's disease. representations here were seen to act as surrogates for some person, place, event, or object identified in a participant's personal narrative as expressed during the first informal interview session. for example, in response to an invitation to describe an activity that the individual had particularly enjoyed, a participant might tell a story of playing hockey with friends in the parking lot of a nearby school supply manufacturer. at two subsequent sessions with the participant, a representation – or “token” – that might evoke an association with that hockey memory (e.g., a hockey puck, or a photograph of the parking lot, or a hilroy scribbler, or a food item described in the story) – along with tokens evocative of other people, places, events, or objects described during the first session – would be offered to the participant for comment. the researcher provided the token. through the act of interpreting or "making sense" of the representation or surrogate, a participant might make an association that led to some recall of his/her initial story/narrative. in some cases, recall was vivid, a near match to the initial recollection; in others, more detail was added to the initial story, and, on 12 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 occasion, the participant simply spoke to an entirely different narrative. likewise, the "memory cue" or representative token might elicit no recall at all. thus, while the study made no attempt to be a tool for empirical assessment of memory recall, its intention was, instead, to examine how tokens might influence the nature of sense-making and recall, through such features as story context, sequence, content, and the richness of detail. analysis of data suggested that there were no discernible patterns in the responses to memory cues. the nature of story context, sequence, content, and richness of detail were not predictable, varying by participant, and with no one approach consistent with any single individual. to assess any direct link between a surrogate token, and the original memory it was chosen to represent, was a non-starter. it may be that a certain song may evoke a particular memory, but the story that surrounds either the song or the situation may vary across recounting, and will most certainly differ as to context, sequence, content, and richness of detail. with even subtle changes in memory function, the song may be given a new meaning, or become disassociated with the original meaning. a connection may be altered, or disappear. having come to that determination, the research team (the author and student research assistants) decided to invite participants to bring a meaningful object, a memento, to the third, or a fourth session, depending on availability. it seemed reasonable that, whereas a memory cue provided by the researchers might not be sufficiently evocative to recall a story, a representation provided by the individual with the memory might support a better or more immediate connection. this study, too, provided little evidence to support any claim that context, sequence, and content, and richness of detail for retelling a story around a memory would be more predictable or reliable were the token or cue to be provided by the participant. while confounding the researchers in terms of study design and progress towards addressing the role of objects in facilitating memory recall, participants were genuinely and fully engaged in the activities and expressed some pleasure in return for the next scheduled session. some indicated disappointment when a session or their continued participation in the study ended, having enjoyed their time with handling objects and being invited to share stories about them. participants who had sometimes seemed reticent or reserved at the first session, or who had even apologized that we had never had the opportunity to relate to them prior to their diagnosis, were relaxed, talkative, humorous, sometimes self-effacing but unapologetic, self-assured, and quick to make eye contact. while there were sometimes discernible difficulties with memory or with concentration, ease with the process and individual social skills became more apparent at each subsequent meeting. as noted previously, common reminiscence encourages structured activities around storytelling, promoting social engagement, and the expression of self through the use of props. throughout the exploring pathways to memory study, there was no way of knowing if, or how much a participant’s story was “true”, authentic, “real”. we had assumed that each memory represented an actual person, place, event, or tangible artefact in the individual’s life and that the recall of that memory would be likewise “verifiable” and consistent with the original. in that sense, we were not respecting the inherent value of the story and the storyteller, per se. why was it of consequence if the memory or its accompanying rendering was accurate or actual in fact? it appeared that we were falling into the trap of assuming that an account of a past is of value only if it is real – the freezing of self in time gone by. as researchers, we were ascribing an identity to each participant based on how or how well he or she recounted a past that might or might not have been or happened “in fact”, rather than 13 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 validating the individual in situ. just as wearable camcorders will capture and replay a single day such that one can remember and relive everything that happened that day as many times as one chooses, so, too, was the exploring pathways to memory design seeking confirmation of a participant whose identity is valid solely as it has existed in the past, and continues to return there repeatedly. that is a self-identity designed for the researchers and not for the individual with adrd who continues to evolve. perhaps this concern is best summarized by cooley (2011) who observed: to this litany of some of the most marginalized members of society's now, many of whom are figured as having tenuous or non-existent relations to the future, we might add cognitively disabled adults …. your life story now ceases to have a credible narrator – at least in the eyes of those secure in their cognitive “normalcy.” (p. 318). in video recordings showing timeslipstm in action, one initially sees individuals, many of whom are in wheelchairs, disengaged and unresponsive. as the photograph to be discussed appears, and participant contributions to a story about that image begin to fill the flip chart, bodies straighten, and humorous banter and laughter increase in volume. it is a transformation to engagement and social inclusion, for most if not all involved. a son comments about his father that he is coming to value the person his father is becoming, and no longer looking for the man he was. it is a poignant comment and an astute one. common reminiscence modelled along the lines of a timeslipstm program encourages the validation of a self that is continuously evolving – both those with and without adrd. it was a moment of clarity for the exploring pathways to memory team intent on recall of a memory assumed to be fixed and unassailable in fact, rather than a story expressive of a self in flux. interpreting outcomes from exploring pathways to memory object/storytelling sessions while it was not possible to determine or measure with any certainty if or to what degree objects used in common reminiscence sessions assisted in memory recall, what we were able to determine was the importance to participant self-image and identity to be invited to share stories with others, and to be engaged in meaningful social interaction free of judgment. it was apparent that researcher interest was fully trained on each individual, and that there was active listening and genuine appreciation for what the storyteller had to say. simply to be asked and respected for one’s contribution provided validation and acknowledgement of each participant’s importance and place. one of the study participants, for example, asked to be permitted to speak to a group of potential recruits who were, themselves, attending a weekly meeting for those recently diagnosed with adrd. as the study team described the sessions, inviting future participation, “mike” spoke to what his engagement in exploring pathways to memory had meant to him. he noted that he had been nervous about attending but was encouraged to do so by his wife. he mentioned that he had had a successful career as a pilot, but that his adrd diagnosis had brought that to an end. he spoke of losing confidence, of an increasing sense of worthlessness, and even of a sense of “disappearing”, of becoming more invisible. being asked to talk about himself and about what was important to him was a positive experience. he commented on how he felt valued, and how much his own life stories seemed to matter, not only to him but to others. he looked forward to the object/storytelling sessions and encouraged others to become involved. not only was “mike” a compelling ambassador for the project, but also a source of insight to the team as to the 14 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 inherent value of close listening to an individual who was feeling increasingly marginalized in his own space. it was driven home to us, as researchers, that, in a life that becomes more uncertain as time passes, such affirmation of personal worth is reassuring, bolstering self-esteem. while we had no tools for measuring such outcomes from the exploring pathways to memory study, we did witness changes in demeanor and self-confidence of participants as sessions progressed, and certainly have further evidence of the transformative potential of common reminiscence through the example of timeslipstm. object memoir as strategy: common reminiscence, cognitive decline, and the evolving self recognizing the potential and benefits of self-efficacy, sociality, and affirmation of individual worth that accompany activities around common reminiscence, the idea of “object memoir” has been considered as a means of empowering those experiencing progressive cognitive decline, and overall loss of ability. object memoir forges a connection between objects and stories, within a narrative context of disability life writing (couser, 2006, 2011) that moves the marginalized beyond discourses of medicalization. object memoir suggests a strategy for telling (life) stories, and for empowering those whose cognitive disabilities have relegated them to a category of “no future”. it is in this space of progressive loss that we see an opportunity for object memoir. engaging in common reminiscence around an object, whether familiar to either the individual with adrd or the attending member of the family, a friend or caregiver, offers a neutral “space” for storytelling to occur. the object is the focus of attention, the tangible artefact which is central to whatever is shared about it. if i am telling the story about it, then the story is mine, and mine alone – not to be corrected, interrupted, or judged. in traditional talking circles, whoever holds the talking stick is invited to talk, and only that storyteller is allowed to speak until the stick is passed along to the next person. this creates a safe, respectful space, where everyone is free to engage without censure. it is within the space of an object memoir that we can tell the stories of our lives, regardless of their veracity or provenance. this is a present state that may bear little or no resemblance to a past, or show evidence of any connection to a future. to illustrate the potential of object memoir to create meaningful connections when memory or a loss of function in recalling the familiar, including a family member or friend, is no longer essential to being together, i offer the following story. shortly after presenting findings from the exploring pathways to memory study and their implications at a conference, i was approached by a young man who was visibly upset. he told me about how much he had loved his grandfather, and about how they spent hours together simply talking. when his grandfather was diagnosed with alzheimer’s disease, and as his memory and ability to speak began to fail, their times together became more silent, and increasingly uncomfortable for the grandson. he said he did not know what to talk about, and, as his grandfather could no longer recognize him as his grandson, he stopped going to visit. he noted that, without being able to share stories of their past together, it seemed futile to continue trying to communicate. he expressed deep regret, saying that, had he known that they could have talked about some of the mementos in his grandfather’s room or even unfamiliar objects that were much in evidence around the residence more broadly, he could have continued simply “being” and sharing time with someone very special to him. this was a conversation reminiscent of the son’s comment in the timeslipstm video, mentioned earlier. 15 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 whereas timeslipstm uses photographs selected at random by staff leading a storytelling program with individuals with mid-stage alzheimer’s disease, object memoir allows for individuals to selfselect mementos, or for objects to be contributed to a session by anyone attending. this, of course, could be as simple as a one-on-one visit, or a regular program at a community center, a library, a residence, or an association meeting. stories need not be recorded, but they must be permitted a close listening, must not be challenged, and must be accorded the value they deserve as important to the storyteller. the teller must be treated with respect and dignity, and as the sole authority as to its veracity. the power of an object memoir is to give voice, an identity, a presence, and a meaning to someone in the present. by focusing on the present moment, unencumbered by regrets about a past that is less remembered, or worrying about a future that may allude any previous expectations, we are free to experience the person as he or she is, and not as she or he was or could be. we can begin to make new, meaningful connections, and to build bridges of conversation and genuine sharing in place of walls of silence. conclusion the research design for the exploring pathways to memory project was exploratory and relied on multiple approaches for understanding how one “gets to” or “gets back to” memory. as with any pathway, there are false starts, dead-ends, and trajectories that go in circles. but one can also find a way, or many ways, to understand a research question or questions, and be surprised at unexpected insights across the journey. it is likely most truthful to admit that we never found one, several, or perhaps any pathways to memory, per se. but we did find an approach which, while not on any particular course towards memory recall, did offer the stuff of memory in terms of stories about the self, about identity, about place and value within a life, and about the social engagement of meaningful time in conversation, together. that is when we cease to be a nobody and become a somebody, whomever that body may be in the present. acknowledgements the author acknowledges the social sciences and humanities research council of canada for funding the exploring pathways to memory project under its standard research grants program, 2008-2012. she is likewise grateful to those who participated in the study. references alzheimer society of ontario. (2019). stories of hope. retrieved from https://alzheimer.ca/en/on/get-involved/share-your-story/stories-of-hope basting, a. d. (2003a). exploring the creative potential of people with alzheimer’s disease and related dementia: dare to imagine. in j. l. ronch & j. a. goldfield (eds.), mental wellness in aging: strengths-based approaches (pp. 353-367). baltimore, md: health professions press. basting, a. d. (2003b). looking back from loss: views of the self in alzheimer's disease. journal of aging studies, 17(1), 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0890-4065(02)00092-0 16 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://alzheimer.ca/en/on/get-involved/share-your-story/stories-of-hope https://doi.org/10.1016/s0890-4065(02)00092-0 narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 basting, a. d. (2009). forget memory: creating better lives for people with dementia. baltimore, md: johns hopkins university press. basting, a.d., towey, m., & rose, e. (eds.). (2016). the penelope project: an arts-based odyssey to change elder care. iowa city, ia: university of iowa press. baumeister, r.e., & newman, l.s. (1994). how stories make sense of personal experiences: motives that shape autobiographical narratives. personality and social psychology bulletin, 20(6), 676-690. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167294206006 bayley, j. (1999). elegy for iris. new york, ny: st. martin's press. bruner, j. (2004). life as narrative. social research, 71(3), 690-710. bryden, c. (2005). dancing with dementia: my story of living positively with dementia. london, england: jessica kingsley. bute, j. (2012). what dementia is to me [video]. retrieved from https://vimeo.com/40513833 cooley, r. 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(2015). possessions as a material convoy. in j. twigg & w. martin (eds.), routledge handbook of cultural gerontology. retrieved from https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780203097090.ch40 england, s.e., & ganzer, c. (1992). the many faces of loss: autobiography of the alzheimer’s experience. illness, crisis, and loss, 2(2), 13-21. https://doi.org/10.2190/il2.2.c fritsch, t., kwak, j., grant, s., lang, j., montgomery, r., & basting, a. d. (2009). impact of timeslips™, a creative expression intervention program, on nursing home residents with dementia and their caregivers. the gerontologist, 49(1), 117–127. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnp008 17 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167294206006 https://vimeo.com/40513833 https://doi.org/10.3828/jlcds.2011.24 https://doi.org/10.3828/jlcds.2011.20 https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780203097090.ch40 https://doi.org/10.2190/il2.2.c https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnp008 narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 genova, l. (2009). still alice. new york, ny: gallery books. george, d.r., stuckey, h.l., dillon, c.f. & whitehead, m.m. (2011). impact of participation in timeslips™, a creative group-based storytelling program, on medical student attitudes toward persons with dementia: a qualitative study. the gerontologist, 51(5), 699–703. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnr035 grasel, e., wiltfang, j., & kornhuber, j. (2003). non-drug therapies for dementia: an overview of the current situation with regard to proof of effectiveness. dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders, 15(3), 115–125. https://doi.org/10.1159/000068477 gulwadi, g.b. (2013). establishing continuity of self-memory boxes in dementia facilities for older adults: their use and usefulness. journal of housing for the elderly, 27(1-2), 105119. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763893.2012.754817 hagens, c., beaman, a. & ryan, e. b. (2003). reminiscing, poetry, writing, and remembering boxes. activities, adaptation & aging, 27(3-4), 97–112. https://doi.org/10.1300/j016v27n03_07 hendry, e., & howarth, l.c. (2013). memory, truth, and storytelling: evoking narrative from individuals with mild alzheimer’s disease. in kristin hodges, eric meyers & heather o’brien (eds.), tales from the edge: narrative voices in information research and practice. proceedings of the 41st annual conference of the canadian association for information science, victoria, b.c. howarth, l.c. (2014). drawing clocks without time: alzheimer's, marginalization, and the liberatory potential of object memoir. in matthew griffis, heidi julien, & lisa given (eds.), connecting across borders: globalization and information science. proceedings of the 42nd annual conference of the canadian association for information science, st. catharines, on. retrieved from https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/ojs.caisacsi.ca/index.php/cais-asci/article/view/886/799 ingraham, c. (2017). the scope and autonomy of personal narrative. written communication, 34(1), 54–74.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088316683147 keaton, d. (2011). then again. new york, ny: random house. kitwood, t. (1997). dementia reconsidered: the person comes first. philadelphia, pa: open university press. kontos, p. (2015). dementia and embodiment. in j. twigg & w. martin (eds.), routledge handbook of cultural gerontology. retrieved from https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/citation?doi=10.4324/9780203097090.ch22 mitchell, w. (2018). somebody i used to know. london, uk: bloomsbury. swaffer, k. (2019). creating life with words. retrieved from https://kateswaffer.com/dailyblog/ taylor, r. (2007). alzheimer’s from the inside out. baltimore, md: health professions press. 18 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnr035 https://doi.org/10.1159/000068477 https://doi.org/10.1080/02763893.2012.754817 https://doi.org/10.1300/j016v27n03_07 https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/ojs.cais-acsi.ca/index.php/cais-asci/article/view/886/799 https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/ojs.cais-acsi.ca/index.php/cais-asci/article/view/886/799 https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088316683147 https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/citation?doi=10.4324/9780203097090.ch22 https://kateswaffer.com/daily-blog/ https://kateswaffer.com/daily-blog/ narrative, objects, and the construction of self the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32841 thomas, m. (2014). we are not ourselves: a novel. new york, ny: simon & schuster. westerhof, g.j., bohlmeijer, e., & webster, j.d. (2010). reminiscence and mental health: a review of recent progress in theory, research and interventions. ageing & society, 30(4), 697-721.  https://doi.org/10.1017/s0144686x09990328 lynne c. howarth (lynne.howarth@utoronto.ca) is a current professor and former dean at the faculty of information (ischool), university of toronto, canada. between 2011 and 2013 howarth completed a two-year affiliation as distinguished researcher in information organization at the university of wisconsin–milwaukee ischool. she was honoured with the distinguished scholar lectio magistralis in biblioteconomia, florence university, italy, in 2011, and presented with the alise/connie van fleet award for research excellence in public library services to adults in 2016. she conducts research, publishes, and teaches in the areas of knowledge organization, representation, and curation of the cultural record, and the design of information programs and services to persons with disabilities, with a particular focus on cognitive impairment. across the 2008-2019 period, she has completed three successive studies relating to objects, memory, and storytelling, each funded by the social science and research council of canada (sshrc). 19 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1017/s0144686x09990328 mailto:lynne.howarth@utoronto.ca introduction our stories, ourselves: personal narratives and the construction of self memory and storytelling: the process of reminiscence personal narrative and disability: the agency of storytelling outside the box our objects, ourselves: personal possessions and the actualization of self the intersection of stories and objects exploring pathways to memory – insights from research using common reminiscence interpreting outcomes from exploring pathways to memory object/storytelling sessions object memoir as strategy: common reminiscence, cognitive decline, and the evolving self conclusion acknowledgements references representative library collections as a response to the institutional oppression of lgbtq youth of color the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections as a response to the institutional oppression of lgbtq youth of color jeanie austin, san francisco public library, usa abstract lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (lgbtq) youth of color are frequently subject to forms of institutional oppression that shape their lives. institutional forces are rarely mentioned in research on library services to youth. this project examines one possibility for creating more meaningful library services that acknowledge how state power and publishing trends limit access to meaningful representation for lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color. it begins with the synthesis of ongoing campaigns for greater diversity in young adult literature; critical theoretical approaches to race, gender, and sexuality; and the needs identified by adults working for a critically situated community drop-in youth center for lgbtq youth. using a case study set in oakland, california, the research focuses on how representative library materials might be positioned in culturally sensitive community spaces as one way to address the histories of exclusion and invisibility that have informed public library practice in the u.s. keywords: institutional oppression; lgbtq; representation; young adult librarianship; youth of color publication type: case study introduction nstitutional oppression sets the boundaries of whether or not youth of color and/or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (lgbtq) and gender non-conforming youth will encounter representative materials and personally relevant information. youth belonging to these groups must often route around traditional contexts, such as schools or libraries, to locate books that contain representative characters, scenarios, or culturally relevant themes. difficulties in locating representative texts go beyond the issues of their invisibility in public library collections. structural forces, such as low levels of diversity in publishing (weneeddiversebooks, n.d.); the institutional devaluing of youth’s understandings of themselves, which is particularly true for black girls (morris, 2016); cultural norms of libraries and the selective enforcement of these norms (austin, 2018); and the stress of consistent and ongoing policing and surveillance in schools and communities create additional and ongoing barriers for youth who do not often encounter meaningful representations of their experiences or identities in day-to-day contexts. this case study delves into how librarians can use critical theoretical approaches to carceral practices and institutionalized oppression to create broadly defined representative materials. it investigates how lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color are heavily scrutinized in schools, communities, and public spaces, while being simultaneously obscured in young adult (ya) literature (cart & jenkins, 2015; hunt & moodie-mills, 2012; spade, 2011; stanley & smith, i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi 2011; winn, 2011). in the context of developing a representative collection—one that broadly reflects the lives and identities of lgbtq youth of color—this case study argues for the importance of recognizing the presence of youth made vulnerable to and by the state. this discussion is important not only because it addresses a gap in ya collection development, which rarely incorporates the broadly diverse and complex representations of youth, but also because it situates this collection in a culturally sensitive location run by culturally competent adult mentors who recognize how institutional oppression shapes the information made available to youth (cooke, 2017). systems of policing, surveillance, and scrutiny lead to the removal of youth of color and/or lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth from their own communities through incarceration and other forms of violence, while the publishing system invisibilizes them or presents them as stereotypes in the texts that become foundational for many youth as they develop understandings of their lives. the described case study is an example of how librarians can work to address mutually reinforcing systems of policing and publishing by taking action to ensure a radical and vast presence of identities and experiences. this paper briefly highlights information on the policing of lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color; covers some of the existing research and activism related to increasing representation in books for ya; and offers a description of the queer and trans youth treehouse (qty treehouse), a non-profit-funded drop-in youth center, as a frame for the creation of a broadly diverse library collection focused on the experiences of lgbtq and gender nonconforming youth of color. it acknowledges the present state of power structures that shape the lives of youth, while also imagining alternative structures that are not likely to become yet another extension of institutional oppression. institutional oppression and representative materials the definition of institutional oppression presented in this research is informed by critical theoretical perspectives. it recognizes that institutions of incarceration, schooling, and even libraries collectively work in the ways that often foreclose possibilities for large groups of youth. the likelihood of imprisonment and the ensuing consequences thereof shape the experiences of people of color and/or lgbtq and gender non-conforming individuals in the u.s. (davis, 2003; hunt & moodie-mills, 2012; winn, 2011). these groups are not only more likely to be targeted for direct confrontation by police; they are also often continuously excluded by the system while their access to resources, such as education, housing, employment, and mainstream cultural belonging, is denied or limited (spade, 2011; stanley & smith, 2011). youth of color are more likely to be seen as disruptive by teachers and library staff than their white counterparts, which is also true with regard to lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth (mccurdy, 2014). youth of color and/or lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth are also more vulnerable within the school system and institutions of power and often become a subject of detention, suspension, expulsion, individualized education plans (and mental health stigma), peer violence, and many other forms of oppression (meiners, 2007). theorists have noted that this vulnerability is used to track youth of color and/or lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth into prison and other institutions that, as alexander, spade, and others above illustrate, offer little in terms of redemption or opportunities to escape cycles of oppression (meiners, 2007; osher, quinn, poirier, & rutherford, 2003; skiba, michael, nardo, & peterson, 2000; wald & losen, 2003). the lack of representative materials for children and youth is not a new discussion in librarianship; it was highlighted in popular press in larrick’s article “the all-white world of children’s books,” published in 1965. some increase in diverse publishing has occurred in the 92 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi time between larrick’s publication and the present, but progress has often been slow, sporadic, or influenced by social and political tides around racial diversity (harris, 2003; lo, 2014, 2015; sims, 1982). discussions of representation do not always address the long histories of library services to youth and the ways in which they perpetuate existing social structures or histories of institutional racism in the library (cai, 2002; schlesselman-tarango, 2016). however, these histories not only impact the lives of youth, they also shape whether, how, and in what ways library services perpetuate, challenge, or interrupt existing social inequalities; whether or not libraries reinstitute racism and homophobia through assumptions of moral uplift and exclusion; and how librarians can work against easy solutions to complex problems while still engaging in day-to-day activities with youth (mehra, 2015; montague, 2015; schlesselman-tarango, 2016). at the same time, representation does require access to materials and media that reflect youth’s lives, legitimize their life experiences rather than othering them, and which provide them with an access point of identification (naidoo & dahlen, 2013). access points are not limited to mainstream television and publications. they may include encounters with or knowledge of youth organizations, community networks, and spaces for association with others who have similar experiences of being targeted by the state (bernstein, 2014). the necessity of materials that do not reiterate the dominant narratives of white, middle-class, heterosexual, and cisgender american values has been deeply embraced in relation to narratives of representation and othering, as is exemplified by the ongoing #weneeddiversebooks campaign, founded in 2014 (http://weneeddiversebooks.tumblr.com/). questions related to access to representative materials and the recognition of institutional oppression in youth lives framed how a library collection was developed at the qty treehouse. the library collection was designed to fit with already existing services and the intentions of the adult staff that maintained the space. at the time of this research, the qty treehouse, a storefront drop-in center for lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth, was providing a variety of resources and programs for youth. staff at the center also conducted outreach in the community and led in-school groups across oakland. the establishment of the library in a situated lgbtq and gender non-conforming space, which was culturally conscious of youth of color, acted as a model for the application of critical theory to working with youth who were made vulnerable to and by the state—lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color—can inform needed services in the larger community. critically approaching library service for lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color research on public library collections, services, and programming for lgbtq and gender nonconforming youth often highlights a lack of knowledgeable resource provision. curry’s work on insufficient training among libraries responding to reference questions from gay youth in the u.k. gives a striking example (2005). some public librarians did not even uphold the standards of patron privacy when responding to gay youth, and even when they did, they often did not have critical awareness of relevant resources for youth. in the time between curry’s publication and the present, numerous studies and resources have been created to encourage and support librarians in the provision of public library services to lgbtq youth (cart & jenkins, 2015; kurz, 2018; mehra, 2011; mehra & braquet, 2011). some of these authors have focused on how lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth’s experiences of institutional oppression, including homelessness, shape the information youth desire and their relationship to the public library (shelton & winklestein, 2014). for example, robinson (2016) focuses on how systemic forces are 93 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi http://weneeddiversebooks.tumblr.com/ representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi perpetuated in the library, through low awareness and insufficient research in the field, bringing about the exclusion of lgbtq cultural knowledge and curtailing the meaningful library use by lgbtq patrons. the same need for cultural competence has been identified in the context of library services for racialized youth. cooke (2017), roberts and noble (2016), sims bishop (1990), tatum (2006, 2008), and others advocate for more informed, meaningful, and socially and politically aware services to diverse patron groups. their research intersects with research on library services to lgbtq youth in calling for critically positioned library services. the qty treehouse was chosen as a case in point because its services aligned with needs and competencies identified in library and information science research. its emphasis on cultural knowledge, lived experiences, and providing information specific to lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color illustrated the cultural sensitivity of the space. critical approaches on the part of adults involved in the administration of the qty treehouse ensured that the creation of the library would be a collaborative process. the qty treehouse library became a partnership between the qty treehouse staff and me. our partnership spoke to the possibility of combining representative collections and culturally aware library services (cooke, 2017). it resisted powerful forces that shape available representations for youth by placing ya texts in in a meaningful context that centered on the experiences of queer and transgender youth of color. my previous studies involving the statements and writings of youth located in juvenile detention facilities led me to pursue this project in partnership with one of the adult coordinators at the qty treehouse (referred to as “b” in this article) through a participatory action research framework. shared inquiry led to the creation of specific categories for inclusion in the library collection along the lines of multiple understandings of meaningful representation. our process involved going beyond traditional collection development procedures to incorporate online user reviews and to determine when and whether identities were meaningfully developed in ya texts. in the earliest stages of the research, b and i held the shared goal of identifying texts that could form a broadly representative library collection that prioritized lgbtq and gender nonconforming youth of color. drawing from our own experiences with the lack of representative materials, we tried to construct a collective sense of shared identities and to develop an understanding of institutional oppression. we also worked to identify materials that broadly included the experiences and identities of youth of color and/or lgbtq and gender nonconforming youth from a variety of backgrounds. an important consideration was soliciting feedback from youth about the texts that resonated with them and spoke to their own experiences. youth had the option of providing reviews. although few young people took advantage of this option, at the end of this research project, b and i agreed that the library was a meaningful part of the drop-in center services. one of the library collections distinct features was the emphasis on the whole of the youth experience, which contrasted with the more commonly seen focus on deficit-focused models and presumptions of youth’s lack of knowledge or skills. given the dearth of formal feedback from youth, the success of the library collection is illustrated through the organic incorporation of the library collection into the overall function of the community-based youth drop-in center. qty treehouse the qty treehouse, located in west oakland, is an open-hours after school and summer 94 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi community drop-in center for lgbtq youth of color. west oakland was, at the time of this research, a home for the black majority population in the area of oakland; it was also the former home of the black panthers1. the qty treehouse was one of the few queer youth spaces located in oakland that had existed for over three years, and the only long-running youth center specifically dedicated to queer youth in oakland. other non-profit youth centers in oakland, such as youth uprising!, were located in east oakland and provided queer youth and ally programming; however, they were not established as spaces dedicated only and specifically to lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth. the de colores group, while composed of specifically lgbtq and gender non-conforming people of color, focused services on young people of 18 years and older. other well-established lgbtq centers in alameda county included the pacific center in berkeley, ca and ourspace in hayward, ca. there were also numerous lgbtq youth programs and dedicated spaces in san francisco, ca. a wealth of services does not necessarily mean that youth can access these services (due to costs of transportation) or that the services offered include an understanding of lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color identity. the qty treehouse met an existing need. originally located in downtown oakland, the qty treehouse opened in november of 2012 with performances that coded the identity of the lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color. voguing and youth drag occurred alongside a dj who co-founded an oakland queer nightlife institution ships in the night (phaneuf, 2012). even at its inception, the qty treehouse was envisioned as a space in which youth-created media would be an aspect of the center. at the time of this project, the drop-in youth center sat near the last bart station between oakland and san francisco, in an area that was once a booming black business strip. the space was now a line of open and closed storefronts, trailing toward a residential area in the direction of the port of oakland. the qty treehouse was located in one of the last buildings closest to the residential area. the windows of the qty treehouse held a large pink decal and an organization logo that incorporates the city of oakland oak tree (with a symbolic treehouse), mirrored roots and branches, and a rainbow. the decal was indicative of the organizational purpose as a space for queer and transgender youth, but the youth could only be identified when they enter or leave the building; otherwise, the windows were covered in black fabric to protect privacy. inside, the qty treehouse had two large rooms, a small room utilized by staff as a workspace, and a clothing closet. in addition to the library collection and drop-in hours, the qty treehouse provided sex education resources and various discussion groups, and employed well-informed queer and transgender adult staff who were, at the time of this research, people of color and who acted as mentors and role models for the youth that utilized the space. as with all nonprofits, funding patterns shaped the physical characteristics of the qty treehouse (kwon, 2013). funding for the qty treehouse, which functioned under the umbrella of health initiatives for youth (hify), originally came from a substance abuse and mental health services administration grant (hify, 2016). at its founding, the center served ya between the ages of 18 and 24. this age range was expanded in 2013 and the center relocated to west oakland (qty, 2013). city funding was expanded to cover additional lgbtq youth programming in 2014 and hify became one of the main recipients of funds. this allowed for more open hours at the qty treehouse with staff present and the additional delivery of services (bajko, 2014). my research partnership with the qty treehouse was facilitated by b, a qty treehouse staff member. it began in the fall of 2015. at the time, the qty treehouse was in the middle of a major staffing shift, which resulted in a renewed commitment to services for lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color in oakland. under the leadership, the qty treehouse underwent 95 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi a revision to prioritize lgbtq youth of color as central to programs and services. it was in this context that we partnered with the goal of creating a racially diverse lgbtq and gender nonconforming ya collection. the partnership would not have been possible had it not been for a critical approach to library services for the youth who are most likely to face institutional forms of oppression. our shared critical approach provided a foundation for this case study and its objectives. the partnership took place through a process of shared inquiry with the goals of social change. methodology the principles of participatory action research guided the case study. the approaches of staff at the qty treehouse and my own approach differed in implementation but overlapped in shared inquiry. my project focused specifically on policing, institutional oppression, and library practice, while the qty coordinator focused on the role of library materials in the lives of lgbtq youth of color from an experiential and practiced perspective. initial planning meetings involved discussions about the role of literature in relation to understanding identities and its supporting role in creating collective change. mcintyre (2008) describes the principles of participatory action research (par) as: (a) a collective commitment to investigate an issue or problem, (b) a desire to engage in self and collective reflection to gain clarity about the issue under investigation, (c) a joint decision to engage in individual or collective action that leads to a useful solution that benefits the people involved, and (d) the building of alliances between researchers and participants in the planning, implementation, and dissemination of the research process (p. 1). the participatory action research framework works to remedy exploitative research often conducted in vulnerable populations by seeking to create actual, responsive change that incorporates participant understandings and respects participants’ knowledges and contributions. it also draws from freire’s (2008) critical pedagogical approach to learning as a process in which all parties act as teachers and learners to destabilize hierarchies established through histories of oppression. the research agenda of par seeks to address the historical marginalization of participants, redistributing the power between researchers and the researched so that they become co-learners. in par, the research is led by the needs of the groups and individuals involved, and they guide its direction, implementation, and evaluation (bishop, mehra, bazzell, & smith, 2003). as brown and rodriguez (2009) state, “par is grounded in the epistemological belief that authentic understandings of social problems require the knowledge of those directly affected by them” (p. 1). shared inquiry: parameters for collection development as mentioned above, materials for youth were initially intended to be included in the qty treehouse operations. at the time our partnership began, the qty treehouse did have a small collection of materials located on a bookshelf in a corner of the programming room. the materials in the qty treehouse did not communicate the depth and breadth of identities or experiences of lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color, nor did they create an idea of communal experience. our decision to update the collection and to build a more youth-focused collection was in part possible because of publishing shifts. as cart and jenkins (2015) trace in 96 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi their introduction to top 250 lgbtq books for teens, the publishing of lgbtq ya materials heavily increased during the first decade of the 2000s. however, this increase did not significantly include lgbtq characters of color. in recognition of how institutional oppression works through forced invisibility and stereotype, the adult coordinator at the qty treehouse and i sought to address this shortfall through our own collection development process. developing the library collection involved sorting through the existing materials to assess their usefulness along mutually established library collection development criteria: 1. representative materials. materials were considered along three criteria: the inclusion of queer content, the racial identification of characters, and, when possible, the inclusion of transgender and gender non-conforming characters. materials portraying experiences of lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color were collected to explicitly counter the idea of the lgbtq experience as white experience and to create a feeling of racialized queer consciousness and community (cart and jenkins, 2015). due to the lack of ya materials that feature lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color as main characters, books where a secondary character of color identified as lgbtq or gender non-conforming were also identified. 2. primarily written for ya. the qty treehouse served teens and ya up to the age of 24. creating a collection of ya materials worked to reinforce the idea of qty as a space for queer and transgender youth. this process also challenged the boundaries of what is thought of as ya literature in library practice by expanding the traditional definition of ya literature to include more adult materials. locating materials library materials at the existing qty library were selected or weeded based on the above criteria. following this, we began the process of identifying materials that fit the ultimate goals of the new collection. it was necessary to look outside of traditional selection tools in order to identify materials that fit with our criteria because professional reviews are often inconsistent in addressing diversity and do not focus sufficiently on the nuances of characters’ lived experiences (lo, 2015; ostenson, ribeira, wadham, & irion, 2016; roberto, 2011). collection development began with the selection of materials based on our personal familiarity with meaningful titles and useful resources. among these resources were: ● rainbow lists compiled by the american library association’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender roundtable (award winners were assessed in keeping with jiménez’ 2015 analysis and critique of the lack of racially diverse and predominantly gay malecentered ya books on various award lists); ● cart and jenkins’ top 250 lgbtq books for teens; ● we need diverse books campaign (http://weneeddiversebooks.org/) and its attendant hashtag (#weneeddiversebooks); ● diversity in ya (http://www.diversityinya.com/); ● queer book club (http://queerbookclub.tumblr.com/); ● lists from the center for children’s books that related to diversity and sexuality; 97 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi http://weneeddiversebooks.org/ http://www.diversityinya.com/ http://queerbookclub.tumblr.com/ representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi ● reading while queer (http://reading-while-queer.tumblr.com/); and ● non-traditional resources such as the ‘arts and culture’ section of colorlines (http://www.colorlines.com/categories/arts-culture). the above resources were useful in assembling an amazon wishlist, which became a longlist of materials for further selection or deselection. the final step of our process involved analysis of user reviews from goodreads to assess the quality and meaningfulness of representation and lived experience within the materials on the list. user-generated reviews were used to ascertain concrete ways in which representation took place in the selected texts (spiteri & pecoskie, 2016). the qty treehouse staff partner and i each worked from our areas of expertise to identify the needed and available materials. as a staff person at the qty treehouse, and a gender nonforming artist of color, b provided important insight into daily needs, such as medical and sexual health resources, and available materials that included artistic production—including poetry, visual art, and performance. throughout the collection development process, b emphasized the role of power in shaping available resources and the need to represent lgbtq and gender nonconforming youth of color as more complex and richer than they are presented by the system. i drew from experience working with incarcerated youth and theoretical guidance to critically analyze books and readers’ commentary about stereotypes and representation. at times, reader reviews on social media (blogs or goodreads.com) clearly criticized specific forms of representation, leading us to view the book as unsuitable for the qty treehouse library collection. at other times, b and i used an intersectional analysis (crenshaw, 1991; collins, 2008) to weigh readers’ perspectives of specific representations, or differing valuations of specific forms of representation, against the dearth of representations of youth who face oppressions that include a lack of meaningful information and portrayals of their lives. at the completion of this research, the collection contained over 60 published titles, as well as a handful of self-published zines relating to the issues of sexuality, race, and gender. at times, materials were selected because of their content; at others, due to the racial and/or lgbtq identification of their authors. a complete list of published titles is available in the appendix to this article. listed below are four exemplar texts that illustrate how the collection accounted for both racial identity and lived experience. little, a. (2013). anatomy of a girl gang. vancouver: arsenal pulp press. anatomy of a girl gang was among the top 10 selected texts on the in the margins 2015 list (cheney, 2015). (in the margins is a booklist that prioritizes the input from youth living in juvenile detention facilities and is produced in collaboration with librarians who provide services in juvenile detention centers.) the book is gripping, harsh, beautiful, and brings together girls of various racial backgrounds in a story of collective attempts at survival. it also features a lesbian romance between the girl gang members. it speaks to the idea of a shared experience between characters with the recognition of their individual locations and experiences within the collective. it is street lit with a twist; the focus on young women’s experiences of shared oppression leads to the formation of the black roses. of course, these realities are not the only available depiction of the effects of white supremacy, racialization, criminalization, structural poverty, and individual and collective experiences therein. 98 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi http://reading-while-queer.tumblr.com/ http://www.colorlines.com/categories/arts-culture representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi ruff, s. s. (2008). finlater. new york: quote editions. finlater won the 2008 lambda literary award for its portrayal of the relationship between cliffy and noah. finlater pushes the boundary traditionally set between adult and ya literature. in his review of the book, reginald harris (2010) explains this phenomenon: a quiet revolution has occurred in fiction for and about young adults in recent years. keeping up with changes in the larger culture, young adult authors are writing grittier works, with a greater attention to social detail, using stronger, more realistic language that might be shocking to adults who have not been paying close enough attention to the lyrics of recent pop, hip-hop and rap songs (n.p.). harris (2010) goes on to name one of the distinct features of this book: it depicts the experience of a black gay young man. during the materials selection process, it became increasingly obvious that few representations of black queerness exist in ya literature. fortunately, a collection of essays published in 2015 was available to supplement this obvious limitation resulting from mainstream publishing practices. neal, j. (2015). what color is your hoodie? essays on black gay identity. new york: chelsea station edition. what color is your hoodie? was a 2016 lambda literary award finalist. the collection of essays, intended for an adult audience, covers a range of topics, creating a varied portrayal of what it is to be simultaneously black and gay. as with finlater, including this book in the collection aligned with the idea that libraries for youth who are most likely to experience everyday institutional oppression should recognize that, due to the limited representative portrayals of lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color, only including ya categories in the qty treehouse library collection would have limited young people’s access to important resources. ya categories are often drawn to protect youth from encountering materials that may go beyond their level of maturity, but placing a ya boundary in the qty treehouse collection would have prevented youth in the center from easily locating materials related to their economic experiences, their sexualities and gender identities, and how these intersect with the racialization and criminalization they faced in their day-to-day lives. drawing from this, ya librarians may wish to consider whether or not placing inflexible and restrictive categories on ya collections serves to perpetuate whiteness, heterosexuality, cisgender privilege, and middleclass belonging under the guise of protecting youth from adult content. golio, l. and scholl, d. (2014). we are the youth. new york: space-made. the idea of situatedness—of context and history as shaping lived experience—was heavily emphasized in the materials selected for the qty treehouse library. perhaps no book in its entirety exemplifies this better than we are the youth. in this book, the physicality (embodiment) of youth comes through in the inclusion of photographs alongside their own essays about their identities and experiences. here, individuality and collectivity are themes that rise and fall throughout the text. the book also stands in conversation with a central aim of this research: it focuses on queer youth expression. blake (2015), one of the youth included in the project, shared his experience of the intersection of being black and transgender, stating that “[b]eing a black trans man is an especially unique experience. when you transition from any gender to another gender, that affects you. i went from a black woman to a scary black guy. my white trans guy friends say they get all these great privileges. i’ve had a lot of experiences where 99 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi people look at you differently. it’s scary.” blake and other youth discuss their lived experiences of race, sex, or gender identity throughout the book, creating an ongoing reflection of the diversity and similarity of experiences of being an lgbtq or gender non-conforming youth. blake’s essay must now be read retrospectively. he was named homecoming king at his high school in 2014 and committed suicide in 2015 (jeltsen, 2015). blake’s experiences speak to the fact that institutional oppression directly impacts the lives of youth. this is evidenced in largescale studies of lgbtq youth in the u.s. a 2015 poll by the center for disease control revealed that nearly 30% of responding lgb youth had attempted suicide over the last year, and nearly 43% had suicidal thoughts (kann et al., 2016). this can be taken as another sign of the ways in which lgbtq youth are positioned within systems of power: their lives, and their deaths, are often disposable to the state. situating materials in the qty treehouse in 2015, when my partnership with the qty treehouse staff began, the existing library collection was located on shelves in a corner of the secondary room, tucked away and requiring motivated youth to seek out materials. during the course of the project, b and i worked together to create a “living room” space in the main room. we envisioned the space to be comfortable for extended use, considering that youth may only be able to read the materials in the qty treehouse library collection while at the community center. we recognized that in other places (e.g., home, school, or public transportation), youth’s use of library materials indicating their sexuality or gender identity could place them in a precarious position. ultimately, this led to the purchase of a long, low cubby-style bookshelf that held the new library collection. materials were sorted into broad categories of fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, and zines in respective cubby areas, leaving room to display books face-forward in the cubbies and on top of the bookshelf. a box for submitting review forms was also available on top of the shelf. small decorations that signaled queerness were used to create interest and excitement around the collection. couches and comfortable seating were placed facing from either side of the shelf, and a coffee table was positioned between the seats for the youth to use as a space to display books or work on their own projects. the physical prominence of the library collection symbolically reflected its incorporation into the overall functioning of the qty treehouse. library as identity over the course of the year following the creation of the library collection, it became part of the qty treehouse’s public image. the library collection was listed in promotional handouts among the services and resources offered by the center, and in specially created fliers made to promote the lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color ya library collection. the qty treehouse display at the 2016 “the time is now!” conference is symbolic of the incorporation of the library into the youth center’s overall identity and services. the time is now! is a gathering of lgbtq youth of color from across the east bay area for a oneday conference in oakland. the 2016 conference theme was “thriving not surviving.” nearly 100 youths attended or organized their own presentations and performances, workshops, and educational sessions. a variety of organizations serving lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth were represented or had direct input to the creation of the conference (cassell, 2016). the qty treehouse was also present. the qty coordinator transported the library collection and shelving to the conference, 100 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi showcasing the collection rather than simply promoting it. over the course of a full day at the conference, the entire library collection was available to attending youth for browsing and circulation. youth and adults alike expressed excitement that the library collection had been available and commented on the diversity of the lgbtq materials. the positive reception of the library collection spoke deeply to the results of the participatory action research project. utilizing an informed approach to partnership and the development of mutual goals that worked to benefit the qty treehouse ultimately resulted in a library collection that was fully integrated into the qty treehouse’s public image. the collection was meaningful and broadly diverse and reflective of individual experience in the context of shared and collective experiences of oppression and joy. institutional terrains part of the success of the qty treehouse library must be attributed to the critical stance undertaken in this research. the adult coordinator at the qty treehouse and i shared a goal of creating a collection that implied individuality and collectivity in the face of state systems of control and forms of institutional oppression that shape the lives of lgbtq and/or gender nonconforming youth of color. as a whole, the collection reflected a breadth of identities and experiences, including portrayals of strength, collectivity, activism, survival, and resistance alongside lived realities of loss, homelessness, criminality, and structures of oppression. materials complemented each other to validate lived experiences of individuals and rally for collective change. just as institutional constraints shaped the materials available for inclusion in the qty treehouse library, they also shaped the scope of ongoing services at the qty treehouse. grant funding that supported the community drop-in center shifted in august of 2016, limiting drop-in hours and access to resources, including the library collection. funding structures for youth programs shape how and what services can be available (kwon, 2013), and often shift quickly from one area of (institutionally-constructed) concern to another. additionally, the effectiveness of services to youth is often measured numerically within grant reporting procedures. in the context of youth non-profits and library services to youth, the focus on the numbers served or numbers reached overlooks the often dramatic real-life positive impact made by library services on the lives of youth of color and/or lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth. youth feedback despite the above constraints, the qty treehouse staff continued to provide drop-in hours and to enthusiastically promote the library collection at community events. their commitment to resource availability for queer and transgender youth of color included the library materials as a central feature of situated services. through drop-in hours and in-school groups, they continued to promote access to library materials and create possibilities for youth to provide feedback about the materials they encounter. youth assessments of specific materials involved the completion of half-sheet review forms that were included in each of the library materials. youth were under no obligation to complete the forms and were informed that their responses would potentially be included in this research project. review forms covered four general topics through open-ended prompts. 101 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi these prompts concerned 1. favorite parts of the book 2. least favorite parts of the book 3. did you relate to the book? why or why not? 4. kinds of books/topics that need to be further represented in the library. two youth review forms are highlighted to convey the way that youth identified complex relationships with, and understandings of, their lived identities, their evaluations of representation, and the affective aspects of encountering representations that they found meaningful. youth evaluations are presented here in full. neal, j. (2015). what color is your hoodie? essays on black gay identity. new york: chelsea station edition. (described above). my favorite part of the book was neal's ideas on his intersectional identity and how that impacted his experiences as a professor, writer, and husband. neal wrote a lot about his black gay identity, and as someone who shares a similar identity, it was affirming. my least favorite part of the book was neal's analysis on porn, while it did touch on black men and stereotypes it lost my attention by being too detailed in listing specific porn stars and movies. overall, i related to the author's stories and opinions because we share similar identities but his ideas and voice came from the lens of someone who has achieved higher education which i didn't relate to. the kinds of books i would like to see in the library are on non-fiction qtpoc (queer and trans people of color) history. i would like to see books that come from legends and icons in qtpoc history. beier, e. (2016). i like your headband. publisher: author. “everyone has a first crush story—this is mine. black and white, sixty four pages perfect bound. cameos from sailor moon and destiny’s child” (beier, n.d.). i like your headband is not described as an example text because it lacks non-white racial representation. it was included in the collection not only because it ties an experience of young bisexuality (a category jiménez, 2015, notes as missing from the lambda and other lists), but also because it is by an award-winning comic who also creates anti-racist posters and art. i like your headband tied with another comic to receive the prism queer press grant in 2016. elizabeth beier (the author) is from oakland and was the 2017 chair of the prism queer press grant. this youth review was succinct and direct: i like the part where she explains how she feels about claire. 102 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi (least favorite part of the book) didn’t have 1. i related to her b/c she struggled with her identity like me. more lgbtq specifically who like girls. these two reviews illustrate the importance of context. while review questions did not explicitly emphasize identity categories or feelings of belonging, the overall construction of the library as positioned within the qty treehouse’s services influenced youth’s likelihood of discussing representation. the two reviews provided here reveal an emphasis on identity as experienced in day-to-day life. specifically, themes of achievement, access, struggle, identity formation, and the lack of representation are prominent in these reviews. although the qty treehouse library collection was designed to include a range of identities within the umbrella of queer and trans representation, youth still hoped for greater and better representation. readers should understand youth’s desire for more materials in relation to the larger library collection. this illustrates the awareness of both the general shortage of materials and the limited possibilities resulting from institutional oppression, including limitations of publishing. conclusion the qty treehouse library collection is one example of how critical approaches to culturally sensitive spaces and representative materials can inform the creation of a meaningful library collection for youth who experience daily forms of institutional oppression. this analysis of the necessity and success of the collection centers on visibility and representation. the creation of the qty treehouse library collection in a culturally sensitive space was an intentional act of addressing forces of policing, criminalization, and institutional oppression that constrain the dayto-day experiences of youth of color and/or lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth. these forces also act to invisibilize youth from their neighborhoods and to obscure consistent and meaningful portrayals of their lives. the culturally competent and critically informed services the qty treehouse provided to lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color created the frame for the incorporation of a broadly representative ya library collection that proclaimed the presence of individual lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color and spoke to the possibilities for collectivity. using passive research methods, such as an anonymous half-sheet review form, may have limited the amount of information provided by youth at the qty treehouse. nonetheless, the feedback that was received was meaningful and resonated with thoughts and ideas of the research team. this research provides a model for collection development practices that help to develop resources, services, and spaces for marginalized and oppressed groups of people. beyond collection development, positioning the library within a variety of services for lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color created a holistic approach to the service population. as a result, the research reaffirmed the importance of actively engaging the service population in collection development activities. moreover, it showed that non-for-profit organizations, especially those focused on social change and social justice, can benefit from the incorporation of library collections and services, especially if collection building practices are oriented toward empowerment and engagement. partnerships with librarians and libraries willing to engage in shared inquiry can create a sense 103 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi of collectivity and relatability. situated library services can help libraries to improve access to materials for people who experience oppression, remedying the dominance of white, middleclass, heteroand gender-normative ways of being. the partnership that supported this study provided an example of working collaboratively to create opportunities for social change. a combination of critical theory, shared inquiry, culturally sensitive spaces, and anti-oppressive holistic practices could serve as a model for working with vulnerable and underrepresented communities. this is a needed area of research within library and information sciences. future research may explore the role of library programs (such as book discussion groups, author visits, and other moments that facilitate reflection on shared experience) in working toward collective understandings of oppression, survival, and resistance. acknowledgements many thanks to my dissertation committee, whose efforts made this article possible: dr. christine jenkins, dr. nicole cooke, dr. carol tilley, dr. rae-anne montague, and dr. soo ah kwon. endnotes 1 the black panthers were one of many revolutionary groups that formed in the 1960s and 1970s. the group was notable for advocating for black power, actively demonstrating the right to armed defense against the police, creating and administrating breakfast and other community programs, and its ten-point program. appendix: qty library materials this collection was selected for representativeness, but it needs to be acknowledged that there were cases in which a portrayal of one character was done well and another deeply flawed. this was balanced through the overall collection and through a practiced awareness of contents as the library collection was made available to youth. for a few of the texts listed (such as what we left behind) there was debate among readers about the accuracy of portrayals (including some conversations around the failure of identity portrayals). andrews, a., & lyon, j. (2014). some assembly required: the not-so-secret life of a transgender teen. new york: simon & schuster books for young readers. bao, q., & yanagihara, h. (eds.). (2000). take out: queer writing from asian pacific america. philadelphia, pa: temple university press. beam, c. (2011). i am j. new york: little, brown. bechdel, a. (2007). fun home: a family tragi-comic. boston, ma: houghton mifflin. belge, k., bieschke, m., & robinson, c. (2011). queer: the ultimate lgbt guide for teens. san 104 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi francisco: zest books. bornstein, k., & bergman, s. b. (2010). gender outlaws: the next generation. new york: seal press. bornstein, k., & quin, s. (2006). hello, cruel world: 101 alternatives to suicide for teens, freaks, and other outlaws. new york: seven stories press. brezenoff, s. (2011). brooklyn burning. minneapolis, mn: carolrhoda books. brown, r. m. (2015). rubyfruit jungle. new york: bantam. conrad, r. (ed.). (2014). against equality: queer revolution, not mere inclusion. oakland, ca: ak press. cronn-mills, k. (2012). beautiful music for ugly children. woodbury, mn: flux. dole, m. l. (2008). down to the bone. tallahassee, fl: bella books. eugenides, j. (2002). middlesex. new york: picador. farizan, s. (2014). tell me again how a crush should feel. new york: algonquin young readers. fu, k. (2014). for today i am a boy. boston, ma: houghton mifflin harcourt. golio, l., & scholl, d. (2014). we are the youth. new york: space-made. goode, l. (2011). sister mischief. somerville, ma: candlewick press. gomez, j. (1991). the gilda stories. ann arbor, mi: firebrand books. gregorio, i. w. (2015). none of the above. new york: balzer & bray. hern, m. (ed.). (2012). stay solid! a radical handbook for youth. oakland, ca: ak press. hill, k. r., & schrag, a. (2014). rethinking normal: a memoir in transition. new york: simon & schuster books for young readers. hopkinson, n. (2015). falling in love with hominids. san francisco, ca: tachyon. jarrar, r. (2008). a map of home. new york: other press. johnson, a. d. (2013). the summer prince. new york: scholastic. keen, l. (2007). out law: what lgbt youth should know about their legal rights. boston, ma: beacon press. king, n. (2014). queer and trans artists of color: stories of some of our lives. wilmington, de: createspace. kuklin, s. (2014). beyond magenta: transgender teens speak out. somerville, ma: candlewick press. 105 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi levithan, d. (2013). two boys kissing. new york: knopf books for young readers. little, a. (2013). anatomy of a girl gang. vancouver: arsenal pulp press. lo, m. (2009). ash. new york: little, brown books for young readers. london, a. (2013). proxy. new york: philomel books. london, a. (2014). guardian. new york: philomel books. lowry, s. (2015). lost boi. vancouver: arsenal pulp press. marcus, e. (2013). what if? answers to questions about what it means to be gay and lesbian. new york: simon pulse. mogul, j. l., ritchie, a. j., & whitlock, k. (2011). queer (in)justice: the criminalization of lgbt people in the united states. boston, ma: beacon press. moon, s. (ed.). (2012). the letter q: queer writers’ notes to their younger selves. new york: arthur a. levine books. moore, p. (2007). hero. new york: disney-hyperion. moskowitz, h. (2015). not otherwise specified. new york: simon pulse. neal, j. (2015). what color is your hoodie? essays on black gay identity. new york: chelsea station editions. newlevant, h. (2014). if this be sin. brooklyn, ny: newlevant comix. peters, j. a. (2004). luna. new york: little, brown books for young readers. peters, j. a. (2009). rage: a love story. new york: knopf books for young readers. quesada, u., gomez, l., & vidal-ortiz, s. (eds.). (2015). queer brown voices: personal narratives of latina/o lgbt activism. austin, tx: university of texas press. quintero, i. (2014). gabi: a girl in pieces. el paso, tx: cinco puntos press. revoyr, n. (1997). the necessary hunger. new york: st. martin’s griffin. ruff, s. s. (2008). finlater. new york: quote editions. sáenz, b. a. (2009). last night i sang to the monster. el paso, tx: cinco puntes press. sáenz, b. a. (2012). aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe. new york: simon & schuster books for young readers. satyel, r. (2009). blue boy. new york: kensington books. stevenson, n. (2015). nimona. new york: harper collins. 106 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi stryker, s. (2008). transgender history. new york: seal press. talley, r. (2014). lies we tell ourselves. don mills, on: harlequin teen. talley, r. (2015). what we left behind. don mills, on: harlequin teen. tamaki, m., & tamaki, j. (2008). skim. toronto: groundwood books. tea, m., & mccubbin, l. (2004). rent girl. san francisco: last gasp. tolbert, t.c., & peterson, t. (eds.). (2013). troubling the line: trans and genderqueer poetry and poetics. callicoon, ny: nightboat books. wise, t. (2012). street dreams. new york: bold strokes books. woodson, j. (1997). the house you pass on the way. new york: delacorte books for young readers. yee, p. (2011). money boy. toronto: groundwood books. references austin, j. (2018). restorative justice as a tool to address the role of policing and incarceration in the lives of youth in the united states. journal of librarianship and information science, sage onlinefirst. bajko, m. s. (2014, july 2). oakland awards $1.3m for lgbtq youth programs. the bay area reporter. retrieved from https://www.ebar.com/244600 bernstein, n. (2014). burning down the house: the end of juvenile prison. new york: new press. beier, e. (n.d.). store: i like your headband: a first crush story. retrieved from http://www.elizabethdrewyou.com/store/i-like-your-headband-a-first-crush-story bishop, a. p., mehra, b., bazzell, i., & smith, c. (2003). participatory action research and digital libraries: reframing evaluation. in a. p. bishop, n. a. van house, & b. p. buttenfield (eds.), digital library use: social practice in design and evaluation (pp. 161-189). cambridge, ma: mit press. blake. (2015). blake, 17, charlotte, nc. retrieved from http://wearetheyouth.org/profiles/blake-17-charlotte-nc/ brown, t. m., & rodriguez, l. f. (2009). issue editors’ notes. new directions for youth development: theory, practice, research, 123, 1-9. cai, m. (2002). multicultural literature for children and young adults: reflections on critical issues. westport, ct: greenwood press. cart, m., & jenkins, c. a. (2015). top 250 lgbtq books for teens: coming out, being out, and 107 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://www.ebar.com/244600 http://www.elizabethdrewyou.com/store/i-like-your-headband-a-first-crush-story http://wearetheyouth.org/profiles/blake-17-charlotte-nc/ representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the search for community. chicago, il: huron street press. cassell, h. (2016, may 4). youth-led confab draws 100 to oakland. the bay area reporter. retrieved from https://www.ebar.com/news/246243 cheney, a. (2015, february 4). top 2015 titles for youth in custody—or in your libraries. school library journal. retrieved from http://www.slj.com/2015/02/industry-news/top2015-titles-for-youth-in-custody-or-in-your-libraries/#_ collins, p. h. (2008) black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. boston, ma: unwin hyman. cooke, n. a. (2017). information services to diverse populations: developing culturally competent library professionals. santa barbara, ca: abc-clio. crenshaw, k. (1991). mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. stanford law review, 43, 1241-1299 curry, a. (2005). if i ask, will they answer? evaluating public library reference service to gay and lesbian youth. reference & user services quarterly, 45(1), 65-75. davis, a. (2003). are prisons obsolete? new york: seven stories press. freire, p. (2008). pedagogy of the oppressed, 30th anniversary edition. new york: continuum. golio, l., & scholl, d. (eds.). (2014). we are the youth. new york: space-made. harris, r. (2010, march 16). ‘finlater’ by shawn stewart ruff [book review]. lambda literary. retrieved from http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews/ya/03/16/finlater-shawnstewart-ruff/ harris, v. j. (2003). the complexity of debates about multicultural literature and cultural understanding. in d l. fox & k g. short (eds.), stories matter: the complexity of cultural authenticity in children’s literature (pp. 3-24). urbana, il: national council of teachers of english. health initiatives for youth. (2016). retrieved from https://hi4youth.org/ hunt, j., & moodie-mills, a. c. (2012). the unfair criminalization of gay and transgender youth: an overview of the experiences of lgbt youth in the juvenile justice system. washington, dc: center for american progress. retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/reports/2012/06/29/11730/the-unfaircriminalization-of-gay-and-transgender-youth/ jeltsen, m. (2015, march 25). transgender teen who was crowned homecoming king dies. huffington post. retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/25/transgender-teen-who-was_n_6941780.html jiménez, l. (2015). representations in award-winning lgbtq young adult literature from 2000– 2013. journal of lesbian studies, 19(4), 406-422. 108 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://www.ebar.com/246243 http://www.slj.com/2015/02/industry-news/top-2015-titles-for-youth-in-custody-or-in-your-libraries/#_ http://www.slj.com/2015/02/industry-news/top-2015-titles-for-youth-in-custody-or-in-your-libraries/#_ http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews/ya/03/16/finlater-shawn-stewart-ruff/ http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews/ya/03/16/finlater-shawn-stewart-ruff/ https://hi4youth.org/ https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/reports/2012/06/29/11730/the-unfair-criminalization-of-gay-and-transgender-youth/ https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/reports/2012/06/29/11730/the-unfair-criminalization-of-gay-and-transgender-youth/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/25/transgender-teen-who-was-_n_6941780.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/25/transgender-teen-who-was-_n_6941780.html representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi kann, l., o’malley olsen, e., mcmanus, t., harris, w. a., shanklin, s. l., flint, k. h., . . . zaza, s. (2016). sexual identity, sex of sexual contacts, and health-related behaviors among students in grades 9–12 — united states and selected sites, 2015. morbidity and mortality weekly report, centers for disease control and prevention, 65(9), 1-202. kurz, j. (2018). out of the closet, but not on the shelf: questions and concerns about collection development of lgbt books for teens. young adult library services, 16(4), 20-23. kwon, s. a. (2013). uncivil youth: race, activism, and affirmative governmentality. durham, nc: duke university press. larrick, n. (1965, september 11). the all-white world of children’s books. saturday evening review, 63-65. little, a. (2013). anatomy of a girl gang. vancouver: arsenal pulp press. lo, m. (2014). book challenges suppress diversity. retrieved from http://www.diversityinya.com/2014/09/book-challenges-suppress-diversity/ lo, m. (2015). perceptions of diversity in book reviews. retrieved from http://www.diversityinya.com/2015/02/perceptions-of-diversity-in-book-reviews/ mccurdy, j. (2014). targets for arrest. in a.j. nocella ii, p. parmar, & d. stovall (eds.), from education to incarceration: dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline (pp. 86-101). new york: peter lang. mcintyre, a. (2008). participatory action research. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. mehra, b. (2011). integrating lgbtiq representations across the library and information science curriculum: a strategic framework for student-centered interventions. in e. greenblatt (ed.), serving lgbtiq library and archives users: essays on outreach, service, collections and access (pp. 298-309). jefferson, nc: mcfarland. mehra, b., & braquet, d. (2011). progressive lgbtq reference: coming out in the 21st century. reference services review, 39(3), 401-422. mehra, b. (2015). introduction. library trends, 64(2), 179-197. meiners, e. (2007). right to be hostile: schools, prisons, and the making of public enemies. new york: routledge. montague, r. (2015). mix it up! a blending of community informatics and youth services librarianship to further social justice in library and information science education. library trends, 64(2), 444-457. morris, m. w. (2016). pushout: the criminalization of black girls in schools. new york: new press. naidoo, j. c., & dahlen, s. p. (eds.). (2013). diversity in youth literature: opening doors through reading. chicago, il: american library association. 109 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi http://www.diversityinya.com/2014/09/book-challenges-suppress-diversity/ http://www.diversityinya.com/2015/02/perceptions-of-diversity-in-book-reviews/ representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi neal, j. (2015). what color is your hoodie? essays on black gay identity. new york: chelsea station editions. osher, d. m., quinn, m. m., poirier, j. m., & rutherford, r. b. (2003). deconstructing the pipeline: using efficacy, effectiveness, and cost-benefit data to reduce minority youth incarceration. new directions for youth development, 2003(99), 91–120. ostenson, j., ribeira, r., wadham, r., & irion, k. (2016). hunky cajuns and gay sextons: diversity as represented in adolescent book reviews. journal of research on libraries & young adults, 7(3), 1-15. phaneuf, w. (2012, november 8). new lgbtq youth center, qty treehouse, opens friday. east bay express. retrieved from http://www.eastbayexpress.com/culturespyblog/archives/2012/11/08/new-lgbtqyouth-center-qty-treehouse-opens-friday qty. (2013, september 5). we’re back! qty 2.0 re-launch! retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/events/652560311430278/ roberto, k. r. (2011). inflexible bodies. journal of information ethics, 20(2), 56-64. roberts, s., & noble, s. u. (2016). empowered to name, inspired to act: social responsibility and diversity as calls to action in the lis context. library trends, 64(3), 512-532. robinson, t. (2016). overcoming social exclusion in public library services to lgbtq and gender variant youth. public library quarterly, 35(3), 161-174. ruff, s. s. (2008). finlater. new york: quote editions. schlesselman-tarango, g. (2016). the legacy of lady bountiful: white women in the library. library trends, 64(4), 667-686. shelton, j., & winkelstein, j. (2014). librarians and social workers: working together for lgbtq youth. young adult library services, 13(1), 20-23. sims, r. (1982). shadow and substance: afro-american experience in contemporary children’s fiction. urbana, il: national council of teachers of english. sims bishop, r. (1990). mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. perspectives, 1(3), ix-xi. skiba, r. j., michael, r. s., nardo, a. c., & peterson, r. l. (2000). the color of discipline: sources of racial and gender disproportionality in school punishment. the urban review, 34(4), 317-342. spade, d. (2011). normal life: administrative violence, critical trans politics and the limits of law. cambridge, ma: south end press. spiteri, l. f., & pecoskie, j. (2016). in the readers' own words. reference & user services quarterly, 56(2), 91-95. stanley, e., & smith, n. (eds.). (2011). captive genders: trans embodiment and the prison 110 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi http://www.eastbayexpress.com/culturespyblog/archives/2012/11/08/new-lgbtq-youth-center-qty-treehouse-opens-friday http://www.eastbayexpress.com/culturespyblog/archives/2012/11/08/new-lgbtq-youth-center-qty-treehouse-opens-friday https://www.facebook.com/events/652560311430278/ representative library collections the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi industrial complex. oakland, ca: ak press. tatum, a. w. (2006). engaging african american males in reading. educational leadership, 63(5), 44-49. tatum, a. w. (2008). toward a more anatomically complete model of literacy instruction: a focus on african american male adolescents and texts. harvard educational review, 78(1), 155-180. wald, j., & losen, d. (2003). defining and redirecting a school-to-prison pipeline. new directions for youth development, 2003, 99, 9-15. weneeddiversebooks. (n.d.). retrieved from http://weneeddiversebooks.org/ winn, m. (2011). girl time: literacy, justice, and the school-to-prison pipeline. new york: teacher’s college press. jeanie austin (jeanie.l.austin@gmail.com) is a librarian with san francisco public library’s jail & reentry services program. they were formerly the project manager for mix it up, an imlsfunded project at the ischool at the university of illinois, urbana-champaign. their interests include the provision of library services to people held in state custody and the gendered, racialized, and ability-centric political and social systems that surround this work. 111 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi http://weneeddiversebooks.org/ mailto:jeanie.l.austin@gmail.com introduction institutional oppression and representative materials critically approaching library service for lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth of color qty treehouse methodology shared inquiry: parameters for collection development locating materials situating materials in the qty treehouse library as identity institutional terrains youth feedback conclusion acknowledgements endnotes appendix: qty library materials references indigenous initiatives and information studies: unlearning in the classroom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ indigenous initiatives and information studies: unlearning in the classroom lisa p. nathan, university of british columbia amy perreault, university of british columbia abstract this paper provides a classroom-grounded inquiry into library, archival, and information studies (lais) engagement with indigenous initiatives and issues. we review select diversity-oriented scholarship framed by our interest in lais pedagogy. we recognize incisive scholars who have identified pervasive racism and oppression within lais, called for change, and envisioned better futures. we contribute to this conversation through reflecting on our attempts to question professional norms in a lais classroom, speci fically in relation to engagement with indigenous initiatives. we share our experiences as educators, what we tried, what failed, what we think worked, and why. the paper concludes with our aspirations for diversity initiatives across lais education. keywords: diversity; education; indigenous; information studies; pedagogy publication type: case study introduction espite calls for equity, diversity, and inclusion in the fields of library, archival, and information studies (lais) in north america, there remains significant room for improvement, particularly when considering library and archival institutions’ relationships with indigenous peoples and communities. in the canadian context, the term indigenous refers to inuit, métis, and first nations peoples.1 through this article, we describe our efforts to support diversity within lais and outline our experience in designing and facilitating a graduate course entitled “information practice & protocol in support of indigenous initiatives.” we trialed learning tools and course materials, continuously bumping into dominant pedagogical assumptions and approaches (our own and our students). we offer our classroom experiences in hopes that others teaching within information studies degree programs will: a) avoid some of our missteps; b) question the norms they are modeling and enculturating in new cohorts of information professionals; and c) share back lessons related to diversity, disruption, and decolonization that they are learning with their students. in the following sections we review a selection of writing that informed and inspired our steps towards the enigmatic goal of decolonizing and diversifying lais. we are unsure whether library and archives would exist in a “familiar” form if ideals of decolonization and diversity are fully realized, and we elaborate on this in the following section. we, the authors, introduce ourselves and our positions to the course that ground this project. we follow with a brief history of our school’s and larger university’s involvement in supporting work with and for inuit, métis, and first nations peoples in canada. the middle of the article introduces central components of the course we worked on during the spring of 2017. through a thematic analysis, we review our intentions, activities, and considerations for other educators and learners as they negotiate the assemblage of knowledge traditions, histories, government d http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ policies, and information tools that form societally dominant information system—broadly defined. we discuss the particular challenge of developing skills essential to indigenous community engagement projects (e.g., the capacity for humility) in a western academic environment and a profession that work to reinforce practices of acknowledging, engaging with, and holding knowledge that leave little room for alternate ways of doing and knowing. we conclude by offering a conceptual strategy for educators and learners addressing these tensions in and through the lais pedagogy. lais education and indigenous knowledge designing learning environments that are responsive to learners’ identities and their prior knowledge of indigenous perspectives and knowledge practices while supporting critical reflection on the assumptions and biases of their professional education is a relatively new endeavor within lais pedagogy. inspiring indigenous scholars have been calling for this work for decades (e.g., lawson, 2004; metoyer-duran, 1993; nakata, 2002). we believe strongly that there are ways to support lais graduates along this trajectory, whether they identify as indigenous or settler, to work effectively with indigenous peoples in support of ongoing developments in indigenous cultures, languages, governance, legislation, and litigation. yet, we also acknowledge the paradox embedded in doing this work while firmly situated within colonial structures and practices. as stated by sensoy and diangelo (2014): an academic course whose primary goal is to challenge social stratification is not without irony. . . . [c]ourses are ensconced within an institution whose default effect is the reproduction of inequality. in many ways we are a part of the very system we seek to challenge. still, we stand in solidarity with others who choose to work within the constraints of academia in order to equip the elite that it produces with perspectives and tools that might ultimately challenge social inequality. (p. 9) in addition to the paradox of working to decolonize processes and understandings from inside a fundamentally colonial institution (western academia), we recognize that the “knowledge professions” of libraries, archives, and museums are steeped in colonial assumptions (dourish & mainwaring, 2012, p. 133). the problematic assumptions and biases that inform basic tenets of lis education are well articulated by duarte and belarde-lewis (2015): at its most basic, decolonization work is about the divestment of foreign occupying powers from indigenous homelands, modes of government, ways of caring for the people and living landscapes, and especially ways of thinking. for non-indigenous individuals decolonization work means stepping back from normative expectations that (1) all knowledge in the world can be represented in document form, (2) to some degree, already is, and (3) indigenous ways of knowing belong in state-funded university and government library, archive, and museum collections, especially for the benefit of society’s privileged elite. (p. 678) in addition to these broad societal-level critiques, there are also accounts that lay bare the personal costs of maintaining the status quo within the lais professions (e.g., drake, 2017; satifice, 2015). other scholars give voice to the need for change through insightful theses (e.g., lawson, 2004), journal articles (e.g., dali & caidi, 2017; hudson, 2017), books (e.g., lee & kumaran, 2014) and reports (e.g., carpenter et al., 2017), suggesting a need to disrupt and decolonize the information professions. 68 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ professional tensions concerning engagement with indigenous knowledge systems are arguably most prevalent in archival institutions that adhere closely to approaches developed in medieval europe. as hinted at by fraser and todd (2016), if colonial assumptions about how records should (or must) be kept for the future are rejected, is there a place for archival institutions? the authors note that: to decolonise the archives requires an erasure or negation of the colonial realities of the archives themselves. given the inherent colonial realities of the archives as institutions, any effort to decolonise or indigenise the archives in canada can therefore only ever be partial. similar tensions face academic institutions and professional programs such as ours. although our efforts to decolonize the lais classroom may only ever be partial, we remain committed to shifting the parts we can. diversity & lais pedagogy the practice of eradicating exclusionary boundaries, lifting glass ceilings, and identifying the confines of the information studies professions has gained some traction through various initiatives and programs internationally. as one example, we point to the american library association’s spectrum scholars program that “actively recruits and provides scholarships to american indian/alaska native, asian, black/african american, hispanic/latino, middle eastern and north african, and/or native hawaiian/other pacific islander students to assist them with obtaining a graduate degree and leadership positions within the profession and ala” (american library association, 2017). top down, well-advertised, diversity initiatives are susceptible to the critique that they provide institutional players with something to point to while they continue on with business as usual, relatively unchanged and rarely unsettled. specifically, we refer the reader to critiques and recommendations outlined in david james hudson’s, “on ‘diversity’ as anti-racism in library and information studies: a critique” and dali and caidi’s, “diversity by design”, both published in 2017. the authors of these pieces call for more nuanced understandings and negotiations of anti-racism and diversity work within lais. they also provide examples of how culture devours policy, an idea that speaks to the ease with which a culture of domination and a desire to maintain the status quo is able to thwart the most progressive diversity policy initiative. in addition, hudson weaves together an argument that calls out the superficiality of focusing solely on diversity initiatives. he questions whether diversity considerations alone influence real shifts in power dynamics and the politics of difference within the information professions (2017). through this article we, the authors and course facilitators, describe a course that aimed to identify and question how power dynamics and difference (young, 1990) are linked in lais professional practice. we attempted to be responsive to the diverse make-up of a lais classroom, not only attuned to critical theories where race, history, coloniality, and power are centered, but also open to shifting strategies based on our face-to-face interactions and on the ground moments. we acknowledge the limitations of where we were able to go. in other words, within the space and time in which we are situated, there are limits to knowing and conceptualizing our ideas and shifting the world around us (young, 1990). we believe that theoretically-informed critical stances are necessary and we work to bring these into the classroom, however we also held space for humanness, affect, and the many manifestations of humility (cultural, intellectual, emotional). in our classroom we reinforce and remake the 69 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ structure both at an individual level and as a group of individuals. our objective was to enable learners, not just us as educators, to have agency concerning where we ended up. we also note the irony of the title of our course, “information practice and protocol in support of indigenous initiatives.” in our physical location as a class and a cohort of learners, we situate ourselves outside of the indigenous communities we aim to support even when making connections with initiatives they have identified. acknowledging limitations and ironies is necessary but cannot be the end point that we reach. in their article, “diversity by design,” dali and caidi (2017) surface the messy reality of doing this work in practice rather than only theorizing about it. the complexity of moving towards decolonizing pedagogy in the classroom requires professional humility on the part of the instructors. it is important to admit that knowledge of appropriate professional practice within an area may be unclear or underdeveloped. through the rest of this article we share our experience striving to create a learning community where learners feel challenged but supported enough to continue, and where discomfort was acknowledged as a necessary reality of unlearning biases and “problematic best practices” while coming to know different professional ways of being (halbert & nathan, 2015). we offer this article as a reciprocal gesture. we acknowledge the inspiration we gained from the writing above and offer reflections on our own work for others who teach and learn within this disciplinary context. positionality before proceeding we locate ourselves for you, the reader, by describing our positionality as authors of this paper and facilitators of the course described in this paper. quoting maher and tetrault (1993), we use the term positionality to indicate: [t]hat gender, race, class and other aspects of our identities are markers of relational positions rather than essential qualities. knowledge is valid when it includes an acknowledgment of the knower’s specific position in any context, because changing contextual and relational factors are crucial for defining identities and our knowledge in any given situation. ( p. 118) we, the two authors of this piece, view our work together from distinctly different vantage points. the first author is a strategist for indigenous engagement in teaching, learning, and technology initiatives and a recent master of library and information studies (mlis) graduate, who comes from métis heritage. the second author is a settler scholar and instructor in lais who also serves as the coordinator of her school’s first nations curriculum concentration (fncc). our collaboration grew out of conversations concerning the need to connect critical theory with reflective practice. the first author drew upon experiences in other courses and her insights as strategist for indigenous engagement to advise and support the second author, who was the official course instructor. in order to locate ourselves, our work, our teaching, and our learning context, we would like to acknowledge that we have the privilege of doing so on the unceded, ancestral and traditional lands of the hən ̓q̓əmin ̓əm̓ speaking xʷməθkʷəy ̓əm (musqueam) people.2 our institution, the university of british columbia (ubc), is located adjacent to the musqueam indian reserve, a small parcel of land allocated to members of this community through racist policies such as the indian act,3 and the unlawful encroachment of traditional territories by non-indigenous settlement. the leadership, guidance, and groundwork undertaken by members of musqueam at the university created a foundation where discussions of indigenous issues in the classroom 70 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ are now possible. the acknowledgement and continuous identification of doing our work on unceded, ancestral, and traditional lands reminds us (and other learners) not only of the current relationship between musqueam and ubc but also of the current state of relations between the state and many indigenous communities where land rights continue to be contested and fought for. first nations curriculum concentration the fncc is available as an area of specialization to students in the masters of library and information studies (mlis) program, the masters of archival studies (mas) program, and those who are working towards both degrees in the dual program offered by the school of library, archival, and information studies (slais). the original proposal for the fncc at slais was developed in 1996. the concentration was first offered to students in 1998. in early marketing material, the concentration was described as an initiative informed by the school’s admissions and adjudication committee in consultation with staff from ubc’s first nations longhouse. a copy of the print literature available through the school’s admissions office in 1998 describes the motivation behind the concentration: . . . to serve the educational needs of first nations individuals to work effectively in libraries and archives, both within and outside native communities. first nations people must increasingly deal with inter-related library, archival and museum materials in developing and providing library and archival service to first nations communities, in support of treaty negotiations and litigation, in the preservation of culture and languages, and in preparation for self-government. consequently, first nations people who wish to pursue a career as an information provider should consider this graduate program in library and archival studies, which takes into account a knowledge and understanding of first nations cultural traditions. (slais, 1998, p. 2) soon after, the concentration was developed at slais, ubc implemented a university-wide strategic plan prioritizing indigenous initiatives. the development of the aboriginal strategic plan (asp) acknowledged the existence of indigenous curriculum within focused areas and programs, however it called for the development of more offerings that spanned across disciplines, departments, and faculties: although some departments already lead in the development of comprehensive and sophisticated understandings of aboriginal issues and perspectives, that responsibility cannot be limited to those units. efforts must be well supported to ensure that those understandings are well represented across the curriculum and that instructional practices reflect the reality of a multicultural student body that includes aboriginal students. an ongoing venue that allows for exchange of information and ideas for the development of aboriginal curricula across departments, disciplines, and faculties should be established. (ubc aboriginal strategic plan, 2008, p. 10) in reflecting on the history of support for first nations and indigenous individuals through the development of the fncc, slais predated the larger institution’s initiatives. however, as the asp identifies, the bridging of curriculum that focused on areas related to indigenous community engagement, and the skills necessary to do this work are still primarily limited to distinct specialized courses (or in the case of slais a distinct concentration) rather than embedded across the curriculum. additionally, the fncc was originally framed as being for 71 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ first nations individuals, although in the past seven years the concentration has shifted to become more relevant to indigenous peoples and settlers more broadly. the course twelve years post-asp, the course offering we introduce in this section still fits the description of a distinct specialized course as is evident from its title, “information practices in support of indigenous initiatives.” this class was first available to slais students in 2012. the goal of the course is: [to] prepare students to work effectively with indigenous peoples in support of ongoing developments in indigenous culture, languages, governance, legislation and litigation. students will critically engage with the assemblage of knowledge traditions, histories, government policies, and information tools that form societally dominant, information systems. students will develop their ability to listen, capacity for humility and strategies to work through tensions that develop when dominant information management practices do not support the interests of indigenous peoples. at the end of the course, students will be well positioned to undertake experiential learning opportunities with indigenousoriented organizations, including but not limited to libraries, archives and cultural centres.4 the first year it was officially offered, 9 masters students enrolled in the mlis course. since that time, enrollment each year has been between 20-26 masters students (mlis, mas and dual). learners who sign up for this course are from the larger school population, thus they represent the larger school’s demographics. the majority of students identify as female and a large number of the students are canadian, although approximately thirty percent are american. a small percentage come from other countries in the world. in the course we reflect upon in this paper, students identified as non-indigenous and indigenous. some had extensive knowledge of indigenous community initiatives through familial connections and lived experiences or through their involvement with indigenous organizations. some learners had experience thinking with a social justice lens, some were participating in the fncc, and a few simply had an interest in a course with an indigenous emphasis. methodology, evidence, & analysis the focus of our project was to consider the effectiveness of our pedagogical approaches, learning tools, and course materials that we designed or adapted to prepare students to work effectively with indigenous peoples in support of ongoing developments in indigenous culture, languages, governance, legislation, and litigation. based on one author’s past experience of writing about pedagogical practice (halbert & nathan, 2015), we were skeptical that we could be sure that asking students for permission to include their thoughts and work would not be experienced as coercive on some level. instead, we decided to draw upon our own reflections based on our design, teaching, and assessment of the class rather than mining the labor of our students. we did not ask students for permission to use their direct quotes or samples of their work. our analytic process was iterative as both our insights and our humility as educators developed throughout the course. our pedagogical practice included developing an iterative planning and reflection process that we followed each week. this included a series of prompts that guided our preparations for each class and guided our reflections directly after class. we shared reflective writing with each other either before or during our weekly face-to-face planning 72 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ meetings. during these meetings, we deliberated on assigned materials (readings, videos, etc.), classroom activities, and class-wide discussions to determine what went well and what did not seem to land well with students. we also returned to a template of prompts mentioned above that helped us identify what worked and why, with explicit attention to the affective domains of the course and whether our design supported these aspects adequately. after the course was complete, we conducted a thematic analysis of our notes (terry et al., 2017). in addition to helping us improve future iterations of the class itself, we hoped to use this analysis to frame a realistic and approachable piece of scholarship that others might find useful as they navigate their own pathways to diversify the lais classroom. themes the following section is divided into four areas of tension that we identified and attempted to address throughout the term. the specific thematic labels were decided upon as we reviewed our notes from pre-class planning, creating assignments, facilitating class activities, post-class reflections, and reflective conversations throughout the term. the themes are: positionality awareness, prior knowledge & unlearning, reflective practice, and cultivating humility. although intertwined in many ways, in the following sections we discuss each area in turn. each begins with our intentions related to the particular topic that we developed in conversation with each other based on our previous facilitation experiences, scholarship, and learning from our indigenous and non-indigenous colleagues. the descriptions of our intentions are followed by example materials and/or activities we developed to engage students in that area and concludes with considerations of what we learned as educators from these attempts. positionality awareness intentions to create a learning community that was aware and supportive of the different positionalities and experiences in the room, we introduced an activity on the first day of class that complicated dominant ideas of classroom guidelines. our intention was twofold. first, we wanted to invite students to question their understandings of the space and draw a critical eye to the notion of a “safe” classroom and the paradoxes this will inevitably create (barrett, 2010; holley & steiner, 2005; redmond, 2010). second, we wanted to collectively discuss and cocreate our classroom guidelines. this included a discussion of ways that, as a learning community, we could hold each other up but also hold each other accountable, each of us contributing as well as receiving information and knowledge. we respectfully acknowledge that this concept is centered within the centre for critical indigenous studies at our institution.5 the idea of holding each other up while holding each other accountable has particular value within our context because of its grounding in accountability, responsibility for the communities we serve, for one another, and for our own action. this grounding and approach echoes critical pedagogy scholars’ approaches to safe space where positionality is central and discomfort is acknowledged as part of the learning process (e.g., the roestone collective, 2014). it asks students to continue even though the questions they will be asked may cause discomfort or challenge what they know (justice, 2014). our intention was not to give a prescriptive set of rules or checklists of proper behavior as this would be unproductive for the realities that learners would encounter in their careers. rather, we hoped to draw on learners’ past experiences where their positionality and values may have been challenged or shifted and how, as a class, we could set an intention for ways to do this, but in a way that is productive for all of those in our learning community. 73 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ activities drawing on an article by sensoy & diangelo (2014) titled “respect differences? challenging the common guidelines in social justice education,” we asked learners to form small groups where they were assigned one of the aspirational phrases in figure 1. figure 1. positionality awareness prompts learners were challenged to consider the phrase and develop examples of what the aspiration looked like (drawing on their experiences) or might look like in practice. after the breakout, groups reported back on their conversations and we led a full class discussion on the phrases. it became apparent that concepts of positionality and intersectionality were new considerations for a number of students in the class. during our post-class debrief, we identified related areas for further focus including: • feeling daunted: some felt ill-equipped to engage meaningfully and respectfully. • fear of exhaustion: some expressed a fear of getting burnt out—due to the heavy nature of the material. • wary of paralysis: students identified that they did not want concern over missteps to take over the class and stall engagement and learning. • identifying problematic equivalencies: students had a tendency to suggest that the class incorporate rules from other social justice work they knew about (e.g., suggesting frameworks and practices they were familiar with) and struggled with the idea that procedures from other social justice contexts (e.g., refugee rights, mental health advocacy, gender and sexuality initiatives) might not transfer well and have important distinctions from work related to colonialism and indigenous communities’ relationships and experiences with the state. • strive for intellectual humility. be willing to grapple with challenging ideas. • differentiate between opinion—which everyone has—and informed knowledge, which comes from sustained experience, study, and practice. hold your opinions lightly and with humility. • let go of personal anecdotal evidence and look at broader group-level patterns. • notice your own defensive reactions and attempt to use these reactions as entry points for gaining deeper self-knowledge, rather than as a rationale for closing off. • recognize how your own social positionality (e.g., race, class, gender, sexuality, ability) informs your perspectives and reactions to your instructor and those whose work you study in the course. • differentiate between safety and comfort. accept discomfort as necessary for social justice growth. • identify where your learning edge is and push it. for example, whenever you think, i already know this, ask yourself, ‘how can i take this deeper?’ or, ‘how am i applying in practice what i already know?’ 74 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ we acknowledged students’ concerns, particularly those about “making mistakes.” we were keen to create spaces where learners felt comfortable enough to be able to ask questions while ideas were being tested out and formed. in our context, this space is valuable to create a bridge to accountability and action, as a large portion of the class learners may not feel they have a right to speak to indigenous concerns as non-indigenous people, or they might be nervous to say the wrong thing or unintentionally offend their peers. this prompted us to explore the concept of anonymity in our learning design. we trialed two other activities in our efforts to contribute to students’ reflections on positionality while also providing a level of anonymity (and/or privacy). in order to assess the course and learning climate that we were working within, we set up a “padlet” (padlet.com) where students could anonymously answer the following questions: • what is working well for you in the class in terms of your learning? • is there a particular topic (or question or position article or...) that you would like to make space to discuss? • is there anything the instructor can do to improve your learning for this class? everyone in the class was invited to consider their colleagues’ anonymous responses. we observed that learners were interested to learn what their classmates thought and how they responded to these questions. we found that anonymity provided to students by the padlet platform provided an environment where educators could gain feedback on what is working and what they might consider moving forward. students were also supported in thinking about their own position to the course in relation to their colleagues’ shared reflections about the course. the second type of activity we tried was more directly tied to considerations of positionality. we developed a series of activities inspired by a diversity statement written by dr. natalie baloy.6 dr. baloy gave us permission to use her statement for the activity. we introduced the activity by providing learners with a print version of baloy’s one-page statement reflecting on her positionality and how her positionality has influenced her education and career. small groups of students discussed the statement after a close reading. after fifteen minutes of small group discussion, the full class gathered to discuss strengths of the statement and areas that may or may not work in different contexts. in each of the class sessions that followed we included one short writing prompt and provided learners with a short time (less than five minutes) to write a response in class. through these prompts students were encouraged to reflect on their positionality as individuals, as learners, and as future professionals. the writing activities took place with everyone working quietly in the classroom, and, after each activity, learners placed their reflections in a personalized folder that we held for them from week to week. at the end of the course learners were encouraged to collate their various pieces of writing into their positionality statements on which they could draw upon in the future (e.g., as part of job application material). the short writing responses and the final draft statements were not read or graded by the authors. considerations through the use of lightweight, anonymity-supporting collaborative tools (e.g., padlet.com), and weekly, non-graded, reflective writing prompts, we held space for students to gather their thoughts anonymously (and sometimes privately) as they processed information in relation to their own positionality. building on what we learned through these activities and throughout the term, we circled back to the topic of positionality awareness. we stressed that there is no 75 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ end point related to one’s positionality awareness. for each of us, our positionality is continually shifting as we and our environments change and shift throughout our lives (johnsonbailey & cervero, 1998). the classroom is not absent of the societal, historical, and geographic layers where it is embedded. this is particularly key to acknowledge in a space where the ways ideas are shared and perceptions shift are influenced by our individual positionalities (tsukada & perreault, 2016). there is a need to help students develop the capacity to critically engage with questions of who they are and where they come from, honor the pedagogy of territorial teachings (in our context as shared by members of musqueam), and articulate their positionality when engaging with indigenous communities in the future. prior knowledge and unlearning intentions when developing the course, we hoped to contribute to learners’ knowledge of indigenous history and contemporary issues while also helping them to question and potentially unlearn particular professional assumptions and biases. we use the term unlearn to refer to questioning and potentially rejecting what has been learned in the past when understandings are found to be incorrect, with the goal of not perpetuating problematic and harmful understandings (e.g., racial, gender-based, cultural bias, or stereotypes). we posit that unlearning takes a great deal of effort; warrell (2014) compares it to the onerous labor of stripping paint: unlearning is about moving away from something—letting go—rather than acquiring. it’s like stripping old paint. it lays the foundation for the new layer of fresh learning to be acquired and to stick. but like the painter who needs to prepare a surface, stripping the paint is 70% of the work while repainting is only 30%. early in the term we asked students to reflect on what they had been taught about indigenous issues and perspectives and what areas they felt they knew little about. it became clear in these moments that there was genuine concern about a lack of knowledge, an interest in learning more about indigenous initiatives, and a desire to unlearn problematic biases and assumptions. activities the reading materials assigned to students for the second week of the course focused on past federal policies that impacted indigenous communities. many of these resources focused on policies that are well known within fields such as indigenous studies. however, it became apparent in the discussions following these assigned readings that there were significant knowledge gaps in this area due to a lack of exposure to this information during the students’ previous education (formal and informal). as educators, we struggled with questions of how much time we should even spend in a graduate program introducing students to the basic history of settler initiatives in canada. in addition to these prior knowledge gaps, our class was made up of a large number of american students who lacked much of the canadian context and did not understand the differences and similarities between the way the nation state of canada interacts with indigenous communities and individuals, and the way the nation state of the us interacts with indigenous communities and individuals. co-existing with these gaps in prior knowledge were problematic norms and values. throughout their graduate degree program, these students were instructed to learn “best-practices” and values that have historically been central to a profession where helping and being in service to 76 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ others is integral to the core skills of what you should know, do, and practice. the helping narrative, that part of being a professional is knowing what help is needed, bumps up against some of the ideas we wanted to critically engage with, and in some ways is counterintuitive to the concept of professional and intellectual humility. considerations even after the course was completed we were still debating ways to address both a lack of knowledge and the need to unlearn. a few months later, musqueam senior archivist and settler jason woolman addressed these intertwined issues in an awards acceptance speech. he was accepting our school’s alumni award and speaking to a roomful of lais educators, learners, and practitioners. in a few short lines, woolman (2017) spoke to the issues of being a “professional” while lacking adequate prior knowledge, acknowledging “what you don’t know,” and the need to unlearn: in fact, i have spent much of my time at musqueam “unlearning.” librarians and archivists, and those in the information profession strive to be objective – but we all come prepared with our own personal and professional biases, and epistemologies to unpack. the first few teachings i received at musqueam were to acknowledge what you don’t know (which is an awful lot as was apparent) and that there are no shortcuts. our degrees prove, if nothing else, we have the ability to learn. the first thing we must do is to acknowledge that learning is life long and that we operate in a myriad of intersecting juridical systems. musqueam’s culture is millennia old – it hasn’t been supplanted by the canadian system, but it does have intersections with it. the various roles and responsibilities i have been fortunate enough to take on reflect the responsibilities that come with caring for this knowledge. in future iterations of this course, jason woolman’s reflections will be introduced early in the course both to draw on locally grounded perspectives and to provide the learning community with language for speaking about unlearning and the problems of inadequate and problematic prior knowledge and assumptions. reflective practice intentions the way that this course is situated within our school’s mlis program it is likely to be among the last courses a student takes before graduation. courses that cover indigenous issues and initiatives are not required for graduation or mentioned in job postings. yet, this course introduces concepts and challenges dominant approaches in ways that complicates ideas (e.g., “open access” as a universal good) that students have been learning throughout their program of study. this experience of disruption towards the end of a student’s program contributes to the complexity of design and delivery of the course. from previous iterations of the course we knew that it can be jarring for burgeoning professionals to be asked to reflect on and question their new profession’s practices and norms. this experience may impact their learning if it is not directly acknowledged and supported as part of the overall learning design. thus, we aspired to design opportunities for students to develop their capacity for reflective practice, demonstrating the utility of critical reflection as making space for change within professional practice. 77 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ activities as the course progressed, learners began to read about institutional and structural barriers within information organizations (e.g., lawson, 2004; duarte & belarde-lewis, 2015). we asked them to apply their understandings of these barriers as part of a series of “problematic situations.” this assignment draws on real life scenarios shared by local information professionals (described more thoroughly in halbert & nathan, 2015). these scenarios reveal ways that dominant information practices, particularly within information institutions, are harmful to indigenous peoples. six times during the term students were asked to read, reflect on, and respond to a different problematic scenario. sometimes they completed this activity alone and sometimes in small groups. students were asked to articulate the issues they thought were related to the scenario and to strategize a possible solution or way forward. considerations as they engaged the problematic situations, learners’ reflections revealed the prevalence of structural, institutional, and legal constraints (e.g., knowledge organization schemes, workplace dynamics, juridical systems, and copyright law) that made some situations unresolvable in the short term. it was at this point that the first author introduced a framework (nathan, thieme, & tatar, 2017) to guide students’ reflective practice when confronted with nuanced and complicated situations. the framework identifies and describes three types of tensions: disruptions, dilemmas, and paradoxes. we propose that these three tensions are generative for helping learners gain perspective and insight through their reflective practice. a disruption in this case would be a scenario that challenges accepted norms of what constitutes “ethically informed” lais practice. to overcome these concerns the students would need to broaden what counts as ethical professional practice, but they are able to do this work and see what needs to be broadened (e.g., an archive respecting a first nation community’s requests regarding care for particular items or belongings). a dilemma is an unsettling situation that may not be immediately resolvable and next steps are unclear. students may be able to imagine solutions that might exist in the future, but at this point, a solution does not appear to be immediately resolvable (e.g., an archive holds the only school photos of indian residential school survivors). the last category of tension is a paradox, situations that do not have a single correct answer, nor can those involved envision what a potential solution might look like (e.g., developing policies that respect the records of individuals from myriad juridical systems, collected by the truth and reconciliation commission,7 and now controlled by a federal government institution). situations that hold contradictory qualities are paradoxes. in talking through this framework, we also acknowledged the limitations of one’s own positionality. we are always limited in our knowledge. we proposed that learners draw upon the disruption, dilemma, and paradox model as they processed their responses to the problematic situations by asking the following questions: 1. what can i do now? 2. what can i bring forward for further consideration? 3. what are the structural issues? 4. what are the big picture issues that need more time, resources, and people? leveraging these questions and the disruption, dilemma, and paradox framings, students identified ways that thoughtful reflective practice can help them engage, if not resolve, 78 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ difficult situations. capacity for humility intentions at the beginning of the class one of the enduring understandings we hoped would be part of the course was the importance of humility. the consideration of humility in a postsecondary classroom comes out of observations within communities where we have witnessed a lack of humility. lack of humility can be detrimental to relationships between information professionals and the communities they intend to work with and support. we approached this objective with hesitation because of our location external to community and within an expert venerating environment (highly ranked research university). we also questioned how humility could be assessed, if at all, and whether it was even our role to do so. activities in our class readings and materials, we assigned readings and videos on cultural and professional humility, but at the end of the course we were not sure if this landed with students. throughout the term we used index cards as a lightweight, non-digital (no surveillance) feedback mechanism where we gathered students’ questions around various topics, such as background knowledge and questions relating to indigenous perspectives, positions, and contemporary contexts. we decided to try using an index card activity on the last day of class as a reflective summative exercise. as part of this activity we asked students to reflect on the following questions: 1. what is something you have contributed to the learning community? 2. what is something you have received? they wrote out their responses and placed them individually in a bowl that was passed around the room. they were not asked to share their reflections aloud. this activity models concepts of reflection and reciprocity and asks learners to pause and articulate how their learning has been informed both by their own actions as well as by the actions of others. it also counters the idea that knowledge is simply consumable and does not need to be regenerated. in this class, the activities supported the concept of reciprocity and regeneration by asking students to contribute to the learning community they were part of. overwhelmingly the reflections identified intellectual, professional, and cultural humility as key things that students learned about and will carry forward with them. in part, students came to this class with a variety of interests and intentions so we could predict that the outcome of the course would mirror this. however, what we learned is that the intentions to learn, both about the course materials and the different perspectives of their classmates in addition to learning about themselves, is an endeavour that students embraced and reflected on as part of their deep learning and humility. considerations in her article, “working a third space: indigenous knowledge in the post colonial university,” haig-brown (2008) shares her experience teaching at a canadian university where, as a settler scholar, she offers her reflections on a way of thinking about the intersection of knowledge 79 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ systems within her discipline where there are “contesting ontologies and epistemologies” and through these intersections, collisions, and interruptions there exists the potential of creating new ways of thinking (p. 260). similarly, north american libraries, archives, and other ‘knowledge holding’ institutions (including academia) have historically been a space where middle-class, white-centered, and well-intentioned views have dominated activities and approaches (dourish & mainwaring, 2012). there is a long-standing tendency to frame library, archival, and museum policies and practices as neutral, when they continue to have a decidedly negative impact on indigenous peoples (lawson, 2004). as mentioned earlier, cultural, professional, and intellectual humility were key skills that students identified were integral to their learning process within this course. for many, this was the first class in their lais program where they were asked to consider their own positionality as well as the positionality of their discipline and the complicity of it within the larger colonial project in canada. for others, this was the first time that they had a dedicated amount of time and space to think in depth about indigenous community experiences and ways that these are shaping the future directions of lais practices. in addition to indigenous knowledge systems, histories, and perspectives, students also had opportunities to refine their interpersonal skills. in instances when navigating complex scenarios presented moments where values, belief systems, past experiences, and lived realities conflicted, as a result interpersonal skills needed to be tapped into in order to foster a classroom climate where students could hold space for each other. students often articulated feelings of humility as they worked to develop recommendations for situations in a less than ideal world. conclusion through shifts and adaptations to the design of the course, we worked towards a responsive learning environment where students took steps refining and developing skills that are critical for the work they will encounter once they graduate, such as positionality, questioning their prior learning, reflective practice, and capacity for humility. we attempted to model (i.e., provide examples of) strategies for working through tensions that develop when dominant information management practices do not support the interests of indigenous peoples. throughout the course, we drew students’ attention to the likelihood that after the course is finished they would have more questions than when they started. through an enhanced understanding of the importance of asking difficult questions, we assert that graduates will be better positioned to work with indigenous communities. they will recognize the significance of approaching relationships with others ready to listen and learn, rather than assume that their knowledge of lais principles and skill sets will be applicable to any situation. to quote from musqueam senior archivist jason woolman (2017) again, at musqueam i have been blessed to unlearn, and relearn various ways of seeing the world, and understanding the relationships that tie us together. and relationships are key. we don’t operate in a vacuum. it is incumbent upon us to develop relationships with our respective communities. through this paper, we attempt to model some of the skills we addressed in the classroom. we introduced ourselves and our positions to the course offering that grounds this project. we provided a brief history of our school’s and larger university’s involvement in supporting work with and for indigenous peoples. through a thematic analysis, we reviewed particular activities and materials that show promise for other educators who wish to support learners as they engage with the assemblage of knowledge traditions, histories, government policies, and information tools that form societally dominant information systems–broadly defined. we discuss skills that we assert are essential to indigenous community engagement projects. 80 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ specifically, we focus on positionality awareness, acknowledging the need to unlearn and ask critical questions, reflective practice, and the capacity for humility. these are particularly important within a western academic environment and a profession that work to reinforce practices of acknowledging, engaging with, and holding knowledge that leave little room for alternate ways of knowing. we assert that the influence of this kind of learning deepens the more we return to it through shifts to institutional culture, program outcomes, and course objectives. embedding diversity into a school’s culture, centering it even though it may be unsettling, and making it an integral part of what graduates take with them into their next endeavors is not the same as a top-down diversity initiative that provides money to some, while leaving problematic structures and practices unquestioned. it is the longer-term conceptual strategy we offer for educators and learners to better address ongoing tensions and bias, integrate indigenous content throughout your core classes, and reflect knowledge of it in your graduate competencies. we need to move away from initiatives that frame respectful engagement with indigenous knowledge systems as an “add-on” specialization or elective course. these skills and competencies are essential for all lais professionals. in canada we are witnessing an overall growth in the general public’s awareness of and interest in indigenous histories, contexts, and lived realities through events such as the truth and reconciliation commission (e.g., truth and reconciliation commission of canada, 2015), longstanding and multifaceted relationships to land being acknowledged (e.g., rossiter & burke wood, 2017), the occupation of unceded land being acknowledged by government leaders (e.g., hunter, 2017), and supreme court cases acknowledging the rights of indigenous peoples to control their records (e.g., canada (attorney general) v. fontaine, 2017 scc 47, 2107). the increase in demand to equip lais graduates with skills that will be useful to the indigenous peoples they work with comes as a result of the time we are in and the countless initiatives led by indigenous peoples. as community led and initiated projects increase, so does the need for adequately equipped informational professionals. we assert that north american schools of library and information studies support the faculty who will guide these learners. yet, instructors may not feel they have the training and education needed to engage with indigenous history and ongoing initiatives. we put forward that these dynamics underpin and have historically steered the outcome away from more integration of indigenous perspectives within and across curricular offerings. a reviewer of this paper asked, “is this about sharing your experiences teaching this class in this context – and advancing the state of indigenous issues in lis education? or, is it about offering suggestions for educators in other contexts to advance their ability . . .” we suspect that it is the positionality of the reader that will be the biggest determinant of whether either or both of these goals are generative for their situation and whether this paper helps them take steps towards their goal. we reiterate the quote on positionality from section 4, “knowledge is valid when it includes an acknowledgment of the knower’s specific position in any context, because changing contextual and relational factors are crucial for defining identities and our knowledge in any given situation” (maher & tetreault, 1993, p. 118). the creation of a body of research and scholarship in the area of indigenous curricular design and implementation contributes to the growing need for accessible examples that others who teach in classrooms within lais programs can draw upon and develop further. as this field of pedagogical inquiry expands, we hope that through examining our practice and revisiting forces that inform it (e.g., race, power structures, colonial legacies, and contradictory paradigms) we can create more spaces where these issues can be articulated and addressed. 81 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ acknowledgements throughout this article and this experience more broadly, we have had the privilege to be guided by the knowledge and wisdom of several individuals as well as a collective of learners, colleagues, and educators. we thank them. we reiterate our gratitude to the musqueam community who have shared their traditional and ancestral space of learning with us, allowing us to make mistakes and humbly return to them in order to build on skills that might be useful in the future. endnotes 1 “‘first nation’” is a term used to describe aboriginal peoples of canada who are ethnically neither métis nor inuit. this term came into common usage in the 1970s and ‘80s and generally replaced the term ‘indian,’ although unlike “indian,” the term “first nation” does not have a legal definition (“first nations,” n.d.). 2 http://www.musqueam.bc.ca 3 “the indian act is a canadian federal law that governs in matters pertaining to indian status, bands, and indian reserves. throughout history it has been highly invasive and paternalistic, as it authorizes the canadian federal government to regulate and administer in the affairs and day-to-day lives of registered indians and reserve communities. the indian act has also enabled the government to determine the land base of these groups in the form of reserves, and even to define who qualifies as indian in the form of indian status” (“the indian act,” para. 2). 4 http://slais.ubc.ca/libr569a/ 5 https://fnis.arts.ubc.ca/community/institute-for-critical-indigenous-studies/ 6 http://www.academia.edu/10712366/diversity_statement 7 “the truth and reconciliation commission (trc) was established to gather testimony and records surrounding the indian residential school system that operated in canada from 1875 [to] 1996. generations of aboriginal children were forcibly taken from their families and communities and placed in the schools, where many suffered significant abuse and many died” (ward, 2014, para. 3). “the truth and reconciliation commission of canada was established in 2008 in a settlement agreement that derived from the largest class-action suit in canadian history. the commission’s mandate is to gather testimony from survivors, gather materials documenting the schools and policies that produced them, and establish means to further educate and inform canadians about the schools, their history, and their effects, with the intent of contributing to a reconciliation between aboriginal people and wider canadian society” (“purpose,” para. 1-2). to learn more about the indian residential school system in canada, visit http://indigenousfoundations.web.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/. references american library association. (2017). spectrum scholarship program. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/spectrum baloy, natalie j. k. (n.d.) diversity statement. retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/10712366/diversity_statement barrett, b. j. 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(2014) no truth, no reconciliation. the raven. retrieved from https://issuu.com/firstnationsindigenousstudies/docs/fnsp_newsletter_2014_singlepag e lawson, k. l. (2004). precious fragments: first nations materials in archives, libraries and museums. (master’s thesis). university of british columbia. retrieved from https://open.library.ubc.ca/circle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0091657 lee, d., & kumaran, m. (eds.). (2014). aboriginal and visible minority librarians: oral histories from canada. lanham, maryland: rowman & littlefield. maher, f. a., & tetreault, m. k. (1993). frames of positionality: constructing meaningful dialogues about gender and race. anthropological quarterly, 66(3), 118–126. metoyer-duran, c. (1993). gatekeepers in ethnolinguistic communities. norwood, n.j.: ablex. nakata, m. (2002). indigenous knowledge and the cultural interface: underlying issues at the intersection of knowledge and information systems. ifla journal, 28(5-6), 281–291. nathan, l.p., thieme, a, branham, s., & tatar, d. (2017). disruptions, dilemmas and paradoxes: ethical matter(s) in design research. interacting with computers, 29(1), 19. purpose. (n.d.). retrieved from http://irsi.aboriginal.ubc.ca/purpose/ redmond, m. (2010). safe space oddity: revisiting critical pedagogy. journal of teaching in social work, 30(1), 152-163. the roestone collective. (2014). safe space: towards a reconceptualization. antipode, 46(5), 1346–1365. rossiter, d., & burke wood, p. (2017). the politics of aboriginal title in british columbia: from the referendum to the truth and reconciliation commission. retrieved from https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/4980 satifice. (2015, september 10). it’s time to get personal, dirty, and downright nasty [tumblr]. retrieved from https://satifice.tumblr.com/post/128776550132/its-time-to-getpersonal-dirty-and-downright school of library, archival and information studies. (1998). first nations curriculum concentration pamphlet. university of british columbia [marketing material]. sensoy, ö., & diangelo, r. (2014). respect differences? challenging the common guidelines in social justice education. democracy and education, 22(2). terry, g., hayfield, n., clarke, v., & braun, v. (2017). thematic analysis. in c. willig & w. r. stainton (eds.), the sage handbook of qualitative research in psychology (17-37). london: sage publications ltd. truth and reconciliation commission of canada. (2015). honouring the truth, reconciling for the future: summary of the final report of the truth and reconciliation commission of canada. winnipeg: truth and reconciliation commission of canada. 84 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://issuu.com/firstnationsindigenousstudies/docs/fnsp_newsletter_2014_singlepage https://issuu.com/firstnationsindigenousstudies/docs/fnsp_newsletter_2014_singlepage https://open.library.ubc.ca/circle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0091657 http://irsi.aboriginal.ubc.ca/purpose/ https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/4980 https://satifice.tumblr.com/post/128776550132/its-time-to-get-personal-dirty-and-downright https://satifice.tumblr.com/post/128776550132/its-time-to-get-personal-dirty-and-downright indigenous initiatives and information studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ tsukada, h., & perreault, a. (2016). complicating how classroom climate works: advancing the framework. transformative dialogues: teaching & learning journal, 9(2), 1-18. ubc aboriginal strategic plan development working group. (2008). ubc aboriginal strategic plan. retrieved from http://aboriginal.ubc.ca/files/2013/01/asp-finalcomplete.pdf ward, kevin. (2014, september 12). looking back to 2013…. indian residential school initiative retrieved from http://irsi.aboriginal.ubc.ca/2014/09/12/looking-back-one-year/ warrell, m. (2014, february 3). learn, unlearn and relearn: how to stay current and get ahead. forbes. retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2014/02/03/learn-unlearn-andrelearn/#3a4d6319676f woolman, j. (2017, september 29). acceptance speech. presented at the ischool awards gala, university of british columbia. young, i. m. (1990). justice and the politics of difference (2011 ed.). princeton, nj: princeton university press. lisa p. nathan (lisa.nathan@ubc.ca) is associate professor and coordinator of the first nations curriculum concentration at the university of british columbia’s ischool (school of library, archival and information studies). through a range of collaborative projects she strives to (re)imagine and (re)design information practices and ways of managing information in order to address long-term societal challenges (e.g., decolonization, social justice, environmental resilience). amy perreault (amy.perreault@ubc.ca) is the strategist, indigenous initiatives at the centre for teaching, learning and technology (ctlt) at the university of british columbia on the traditional and unceded territory of the musqueam people. she works with staff, faculty groups, and training programs for teaching assistants, new faculty, and administrators, to support the development of a higher standard of professionalism in conducting discussions of indigenous initiatives and other contentious social issues in curricular settings. amy is a codeveloper and researcher for the educational resource what i learned in class today: aboriginal issues in the classroom and manages the development of indigenous foundations. work on these projects, as well as her own experience as an indigenous student at ubc, clearly identify the complexities and challenges of classroom conversations involving contentious cross-cultural discussions, and in specific discourse around indigenous curriculum. 85 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://aboriginal.ubc.ca/files/2013/01/asp-finalcomplete.pdf http://irsi.aboriginal.ubc.ca/2014/09/12/looking-back-one-year/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2014/02/03/learn-unlearn-and-relearn/#3a4d6319676f https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2014/02/03/learn-unlearn-and-relearn/#3a4d6319676f mailto:lisa.nathan@ubc.ca http://slais.ubc.ca/programs/degree-specializations/first-nations-curriculum-concentration/ http://slais.ubc.ca/programs/degree-specializations/first-nations-curriculum-concentration/ mailto:amy.perreault@ubc.ca http://www.whatilearnedinclasstoday.com/ http://www.whatilearnedinclasstoday.com/ http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/ introduction lais education and indigenous knowledge diversity & lais pedagogy positionality first nations curriculum concentration the course methodology, evidence, & analysis themes positionality awareness intentions activities considerations prior knowledge and unlearning intentions activities considerations reflective practice intentions activities considerations capacity for humility intentions activities considerations conclusion acknowledgements endnotes references investigating the link between unemployment and disability: lexically ambiguous words and fixed formulaic sequences in job ads for academic reference librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 investigating the link between unemployment and disability: lexically ambiguous words and fixed formulaic sequences in job ads for academic reference librarians mirah j. dow, emporia state university, usa brady d. lund, emporia state university, usa william k. douthit, emporia state university, usa abstract informed by an overview of job advertisement research published during the past two decades, the purpose of this study is to address disability and employment in library and information science by investigating job ads for academic library reference positions for their written language comprehension qualities. with concerns for rising unemployment rates of qualified, college educated individuals with disabilities including autism spectrum disorders (asd) and the need to increase diversity in the workforce, we conducted a multi-step content analysis of all academic library reference position advertisements (43) published by libraries in the 12 member states of a midwestern u.s. regional library association. the theoretical lens for our study draws on the field of linguistics and particularly two important components of discourse, the reading of 1) words and sentences containing lexically ambiguous words and 2) fixed formulaic sequences. from the identified reference position job ads (148 pages, 16,724 words), 79 passages were coded as problematic in the announcement areas of 1) general position information (23), 2) duty and/or responsibility (34), and 3) qualifications (22). passages were organized into 32 categorical examples of lexically ambiguous words and 15 examples of formulaic sequences that do not, in our view, have universal meaning and can lead to uncertainty and misunderstandings among potential applicants with and without intellectual disabilities. examples of clear, accurate language to replace problematic language are presented. while this study focuses on job ads in the u.s., it has international implications and relevance as asd and related disabilities exist worldwide. keywords: autism spectrum disorder; disability unemployment; job ad; reference librarian; semantic ambiguity publication type: research article definitions of terms job advertisement research while job advertisement research is known typically as job ad research and uses the term job ad, we use some additional terms in this study to signify our one and only job ad unit of analysis: job advertisement; job descriptions; professional position description; and position https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 announcement. consistent with the term job ad, we use professional position description and/or position announcement to denote the graduate level education and advanced information and technology responsibilities librarians have in assisting other professionals and the public. position descriptions and announcements, regardless of terms preferred and used by institutions, often comply with institutional employment mandates such as section requirements and word limits prescribed by human resources departments. positions description, position announcement, job ad, job advertisements, job description, professional position description, and position announcement are treated as one and the same unit for analysis in our research and are terms (titles) given to the written, formal declaration of a given job appointment. problematic language while education for professional librarians addresses concepts pertaining to future employment, there are myriad terms, rather than a single set of terminology, used by authors of job ads in describing desired professional work. according to collier and zhang (2016), problematic language in job descriptions includes words with multiple meaning, which is problematic for attracting a diverse application pool. our use of the term problematic language is used to describe terms with multiple meanings in job ads. introduction mployers of librarians and information professionals are responsible for developing professional ranks comprised of qualified individuals who are as diverse as the communities they serve. while there are many populations that can be considered diverse in one way or another, cooke (2018) highlights diverse groups that are not always recognized including individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (asd). cooke cautions that individuals with asd are “potentially invisible, and increasingly prevalent . . . and on the rise” (p. 31). according to the american psychiatric association (2013), asd is described as “persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts” (para. 1) that can be diagnosed with or without accompanying intellectual impairment and with or without accompanying language impairment. while there is no medical test for asd, a lifelong developmental disability, physicians in the u.s. use criteria in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th edition (dsm-5, american psychiatric association, 2013) to diagnose asd. individuals with asd should be considered potential employees. potential employers and coworkers should acknowledge dsm-5 (apa, 2013) diagnostic criteria. they should also learn about individuals with asd from first-hand experiences. in the case of the three authors of this article, we utilize our combined knowledge of asd from sources of authority and experiences: one author who personally lives the asd experience, and two authors who know asd based on their roles as parent, therapist, college educators, and college classmates of individuals with asd. we observe that high-functioning individuals with asd may experience sensory processing difficulties sometimes manifested in lack of tolerance for such sensory input as certain tastes or smells, loud noise, bright lights, or the texture sensitivities (e.g., foods or clothing). they may have difficulties initiating social interactions such as making small talk, understanding or empathizing with others’ perspectives, and understanding social relationships necessary for partnerships or marriage. individuals with asd may have difficulties understanding non-verbal communication such as facial expressions, gestures, and eye contact. they sometimes develop some atypical speech patterns, frequently have preoccupation with objects and/or topics, and may develop rituals or habits such as insisting on a certain order for putting on clothes or making a bed. many e 43 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 individuals with asd are resistant to change (apa, 2013). our experiential knowledge tells us that although observable manifestations of asd stem from a human neurological condition, with positive behavioral support by knowledgeable and caring others, high-functioning individuals with asd can successfully modify their own behavior, complete undergraduate and graduate degrees, and function as members of social groups necessary for professional employment (carr, 2007; carr & carlson, 1993; carr, dunlap, turnbull, sailor, anderson, & fox, 2002; carr, levin, mcconnachie, carlson, kemp, smith, 1995; lund, 2018). we observe, as grandin (2011) notes based on her personal life with asd, there are advantages that individuals with asd have including being detailed oriented, logical thinkers; having abundant long-term memory; the ability to resist peer pressure; being loyal, reliable, honest, and non-judgmental; and the ability to focus as effective participants within an organized system of activity. further, as grandin (2011) points out, we observe that individuals with asd are able to think freely, creatively and outside the box. these advantages that individuals with asd have are characteristics that employers and co-workers typically seek in ideal employees. to determine what enables individuals with asd to function successfully in society, dow (1999) investigated societal achievement of a technology of positive behavioral support (horner et al., 1990) for individuals with asd. dow asserted that key people (e.g., family members, community members, and employers) within an effective information system who support individuals with asd should share the common purpose to control risk factors that occur at an early age and result in later outcomes of isolation, idle time, and frustration without meaningful employment and adequate living conditions. while many individuals with asd gain academic knowledge and learn to modulate communication, social skills, and problem-solving deficits through worthwhile educational experiences, they, even as college graduates, are nevertheless passed over by employers. according to livermore and honeycutt (2015) and carley (2016), u.s. unemployment of individuals with disabilities is on the rise, including unemployment of high-functioning individuals with asd. roux et al. (2015) report that nearly 50,000 of those individuals currently diagnosed with high-functioning autism graduate from high school each year. while many individuals with asd are likely to be underemployed, about 60% of individuals with highfunctioning autism who graduate from high school and apply for jobs are unemployed (kirchner & dziobek, 2014; howlin, 2013). approximately 25% of all individuals with autism attend college, and about 60% of these individuals (or 15% of all individuals with autism) graduate with at least a bachelor’s degree. individuals with neurotypical development, on the other hand, have four-year graduation rate of only about 40% (frank et al., 2018). this indicates both that individuals with autism are more likely to complete their advanced education than neurotypical peers and that there is a large number of qualified college graduates with autism. these statistics, together with our observations, suggest that many if not all high-functioning individuals with asd who are college-educated and qualified as professional librarians are at high risk of unemployment. recognition of communication difficulties in interpreting ambiguous words and frequently used library jargon may, in part, explain and suggest alternative wording for incoherent job ads. coherently written job ads will greatly benefit all readers, including individuals with asd and other intellectual difficulties as they seek professional employment. 44 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 problem statement language and types of words used in job ads have been identified as problematic in attracting a diverse applicant pool, as job posts are a candidate’s first interaction with employers (collier & zhang, 2016). the researchers’ assumption is that, although educated as professional librarians, when qualified individuals who experience communication challenges, such as those with asd, read job advertisements that use ambiguous words and include phrases with multiple meanings without a context, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to comprehend what is expected, or preferred, by an employer. this can lead to uncertainty and confusion resulting in preparation of unsatisfactory application materials and/or inadequate interview experiences, or lead to a potential applicant’s decision to avoid the application process altogether given high risk of failure. our focus on language and communication in job advertisements illuminates the overall need for job ad authors to strive for clarity, not only for the benefit of individuals with asd, but for all readers of job ads. our focus also enlightens employers of the widespread problem that workforce diversity is left too often to chance, rather than by deliberate design as articulated in this statement, diversity ideas, ideals, and considerations . . . should be seamlessly built into our curriculum, work environment, decision making, professional choices and interpersonal relationships in both the workplace and academia. they should be there from the start, not thrown in for reasons of trendiness and popularity at a moment of need; they should be part of foundation, part of core. they should be there by design, not by chance. (dali & caidi, 2017, para. 4) addressing problematic language in job ads, particularly in library job ads, is timely because as jaeger (2018) points out, achievement of work force diversity is threatened by recent governmental actions that deny the civil rights of people with disabilities. our study responds to jaeger’s (2018) call to the library profession to expand their support and advocacy by “thinking field-wide about ways to improve connections between libraries and disabled people” (p. 59). research questions designed as a qualitative content analysis, we began this study with the proposition that when lexical ambiguity and fixed formulaic sequences are present as key components in sentence formation in job ads, then job ad discourse pertaining to employment tasks and work competencies becomes confusing and ineffective in accurately conveying professional employment tasks and work. to investigate job ads from the point of view of linguistics, we selected job ads for professional academic librarian reference positions in order to have common language throughout the sample of job ads collected. we asked three questions of the data collected: 1) what are problematic words or word combinations with multiple meanings (lexically ambiguous) used and primarily understood by library insiders in academic reference librarian position announcements? 2) what are problematic sequences of words (formulaic sequences) that appear to be used as verbiage or jargon used and primarily understood by library insiders in academic reference librarian position announcements? 45 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 3) how can problematic language be clearly written and potentially comprehensible to qualified individuals with asd who are challenged to make meanings of words in academic reference librarian position announcements? literature review job ads are studied with a variety of approaches to understand and explain tasks and work activities. according to chandler (2007) and hatch (1997), researchers have analyzed job descriptions as a whole to determine what a job is and what is necessary for carrying out the job. our review of publications utilizing job descriptions reveals that the holistic approach to analysis of the past resulted in a substantial body of research designed to investigate professional job advertisements, including librarian job announcements, to determine what a job is and to identify ideal job competencies. for example, whisenant, miller, and pedersen (2005) studied job descriptions for interscholastic athletic directors used by school districts to identify forms of gender bias that might deny women opportunities to complete for positions. in a content analysis, park and lu (2009) investigated roles and competencies sought for metadata professionals. park, lu, and marrion (2009) studied position descriptions to assess the current state of responsibilities and skills required for cataloging professionals. barison and santos (2011) conducted a comparative review of literature and analysis of job ad descriptions to determine competencies for building information modeling, a 3d model-based process used by architecture, engineering, and construction professionals in buildings construction. sutton (2011) used job ads to identify which competencies should be taught in graduate library and information studies programs to prepare students to become electronic resources librarians. hoffman and bresciani (2012), used position descriptions to identify knowledge, skills, and disposition competencies expected of college student affairs professionals. xia and wang (2014) examined social science data librarian professional job announcements to identify trends in professional practices. the benefit of the past holistic perspective is that it leads to hierarchies of meaning to explain tasks or work. if the reader understands the definition of the terms used in position descriptions, then they can understand authors’ intended meaning. the problem is that duties typically assigned in various library positions, such as circulation, electronic records, or reference, are not necessarily unique to that position. in librarian position descriptions, terms are used interchangeably and often duties overlap with several positions in the library. this necessitates the need for job ad research with a new focus on language as an important component of discourse in librarian employment. the present research is not the first to investigate the ramifications of language in job descriptions. many recent publications have focused on how word choice and other linguistic elements influence the likelihood of certain populations to understand what is said and, in the case of job descriptions, apply for a job (born & taris, 2010; burroughs, 2017; gaucher, friesen, & kay, 2011; horvath & sczesny, 2016; samek, 2015). most studies focus on gendered wording and how word choice sustains inequality in employment (possibly subconsciously) by suggesting that a position is more suited for one gender over another. for instance, a position description may include language such as individualistic, assertive, or caring that are associated with one gendered identity (gaucher, friesen, & kay, 2011). other descriptions may use gendered words like fireman and waiter or descriptions that are biased simply by the association readers may have with the job title, such as engineer and librarian. in fact, even using the wording s/he is discouraged in favor of they because of implications for individuals who do not define themselves according to the traditional gender dichotomy (perlman, 2017). the job description authors’ 46 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 intent may not be discriminatory, but their own context is different from that of the reader, who may perceive the language as discriminatory. this discriminatory effect in job descriptions extends to general diversity of a profession. wille and derous (2017) found that word choice in job descriptions significantly affects application decisions among ethnic minorities, potentially more so than the job itself. this study points out that the effect is particularly profound when the search committee writing the descriptions lacks diversity. often the problem of attracting diverse applicants is a hidden, innate bias in language use by the homogeneous search committee (wille & derous, 2017). schmaling, blume, and baker (2017) state that faculty position advertisements have a strong impact on the likelihood of marginalized populations to apply for the position. applicants, at some level of semantic processing, recognize or are affected by biases in the use of language or arrangement of content. this suggests that the struggles of a profession to attract qualified, diverse applicants starts with how the job is described – the very first exposure a potential applicant has to the position opening. research by krome (2016) and vervecken, hannover, and wolter (2013) indicates that modifying the language of descriptions positively influences the likelihood of the reader to proceed (in applying for a job, participating in a program, etc.). changing gendered wording from maledominant language (e.g., “he” pronouns) to female-dominant language (e.g., “she” pronouns), for instance, increases the rate in which women participate in stem-related activities (krome, 2016). by creating gender-fair job descriptions (e.g., “they” pronouns), vervecken, hannover, and wolter (2013) found that children’s perceptions of and interest in male-dominated professions could be increased in females while remaining high among males. this suggests it is possible to modify position descriptions to be accommodating to all qualified populations. this body of evidence indicates that search committees spend a lot of time thinking about how they want to describe a job without thinking about how others would describe the job or how readers will perceive biases in the language employed. the finding that hiring bias can be neutralized to some degree with changes in the language used in the job description is of particular interest to our study. this study examines bias from a slightly different angle from those discussed in this review, focusing instead on discriminatory language-types that impact individuals with social-communicative disabilities such as asd and all other readers with and without intellectual disabilities. theoretical framework the theoretical lens for our study draws on the field of linguistics and two important components of discourse, particularly reading of words and sentences and language comprehension: lexical ambiguity and fixed formulaic sequences. according to miyake, just and carpenter (1994) “the working memory capacity of individual readers affects their ability to maintain various representations in the process of understanding a sentence” (p. 175). mason and just (2007) assert that “when an individual encounters a word with multiple meanings, as is the case with lexically ambiguous words . . . one meaning must be selected while somehow retaining the possibility of using the alternative meaning” (p. 115). neuroimaging studies are used to investigate brain activation differences as a function of working memory capacity and find “that participants with lower skills have more activation” (reichle et al., 2000, p. 276). according to beeman (1998), brain processes most likely occur in areas specialized for maintaining semantic interpretations of sentences such as the inferior frontal gyrus. in position announcements, many 47 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 words are likely semantic ambiguities that must be processed and understood in context, but certain words are more likely to be understood in a way that more closely aligns to the author’s intention than others are. using the concept of lexically ambiguous words, in this study, we identify language that has meaning in specific contexts and is therefore likely to cause increased brain function due to difficulty in selection of correct meanings. according to wray (2002), the definition of a formulaic sequence is a “sequence, continuous or discontinuous, or words or other elements, which is, or appears to be, prefabricated: this is, stored and retrieved whole from memory at the time of use, rather than being subject to generation or analysis by the language grammar” (p. 9). an investigation by larner (2014) resulted in classifications of formulaic sequence termed “clichés, idioms, everyday expressions, sayings, proverbs, similes, and other prepositional phrases” (p. 7). using larner’s concept of fixed formulaic sequences, we identify sequences of words that appear to be likely prefabricated verbiage, or jargon, used and primarily understood by some insiders in librarianship. data collection and analysis data collection and analysis involved a research team, began with a local pilot study, and resulted in a multi-state exploration of academic library reference positions. our pilot study confirmed our shared, general observation that library position announcements, in particular those for academic library reference positions, include lexically ambiguous words and/or formulaic sequences that were likely to occur frequently in the text of library position announcements. to determine whether the problem language related to academic reference work revealed in the pilot study data was only a regional practice or a widespread practice, we expanded the data collection and analysis to a larger geographic region in this present study. research team a team of three researchers, each with education about and personal experiences with individuals with asd, undertook data collection and analysis. to address concerns pertaining to data interpretation bias (beck & manuel, 2008), the research team was comprised of two individuals without and one individual with asd. our knowledge of asd, as well as graduate and post-graduate education in library and information studies, brought us together for this study and enabled us to scrutinize the data from the perspectives of language, communication, and librarianship. two team members who are recent graduates of master’s programs brought fresh perspective to word choices in job ads. pilot study this present study began as a pilot study of all available (any type) library position announcements (n=15) with any mention of academic reference work that were published from december 2016 through march 2017 by seven midwestern universities and three community and technical colleges (all in the same state). from 43 pages (comprised of 6,731) words of narrative description, we identified 20 words and 41 (out of 429) phrases directly related to required knowledge and abilities of applicants that were likely to cause comprehension challenges for the reader. 48 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 expanded data collection the present study examined all academic library reference position advertisements (n=43) published from may to july 2017 by libraries in the 12 member states of a midwestern u.s. regional library association. multi-step data analysis the research team’s initial foci was not a priori codes but the initial research question, which according to white and marsh (2006) is optimal in qualitative content analysis. team members interacted and conferred with each other during the phases of this research. team members followed a multi-step, integrated analytic inductive approach adapted from the work of krathwohl (1998). first, team members read all the position announcements to holistically examine each. then team members re-read the data, marking all direct responses to the research questions. looking for patterns in the responses, direct responses were read again and organized in categories that emerged from the data. each response was sorted into the appropriate category using words directly quoted from the position description text. the results were reviewed looking for overlap and redundancy, and to refine and revise the category titles. from the position announcement text, instances of verbatim narrative were selected to illustrate categories. findings from 148 pages (comprised of 16,724 words) of narrative job announcements, we identified 118 words and 79 passages that contained problematic language articulated in position announcement sections including 1) general position information section (23 passages); 2) duty and/or responsibility section (34 passages); and 3) qualifications section (22 passages). within the selected passages, 76 items were identified as unique terms used to indicate reference work. thirty of those 76 unique terms, words, or word combinations (or 40%), were identified as having multiple meanings, and therefore universally problematic throughout the dataset. these were grouped into 15 categories (table 1) of which seven categories matched the pilot study and eight categories were new categories in the present study that did not appear in the initial pilot study. quotes that illustrate each category also appear in table 1. table 1. categories of problematic language (lexical ambiguity) in position description (n=92) category (15) number illustrative quote liaison* 17 serves as a library liaison to academic departments, divisions, or campuses library instruction 14 participate in instructional activities collection development* 11 maintain effective collections in the medical and health science disciplines leadership* 8 leads and serves on library committees 49 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 interlibrary loan 8 oversight of interlibrary loan functions and service technologies advanced reference assistance* 7 provide specialized reference, advanced reference assistance and library instruction outreach 5 participating in various outreach activities to build campus partnerships information literacy 5 information literacy focused curriculum supervision* 4 overseeing patron work station reference service 4 provides in-person reference services policy formation 3 demonstrates engagement with acrl framework assessment of service* 3 participates in the assessment of library services programming 1 collaborates on library programming and college initiatives patron service* 1 position requires face-to-face and online duties with a patron service perspective technology support 1 technology literacy training note. problematic words are defined as words with multiple meanings. * indicates categories found in the pilot study. note. multi-word combinations are defined as an instance when a single meaning is attached to more than one word. from the 79 passages, 32 unique formulaic sequences appearing a total of 126 times were identified as problematic language patterns in the text, of which seven appeared in the pilot study (table 2). table 2. formulaic sequences (verbiage, or jargon) in position announcements (n=126) formulaic sequence (16) number formulaic sequence (16) number information literacy 17 service technologies 12 virtual consultation 9 research consultations 8 fulfill requests 8 reference services 8 library programming 7 point-of-need 6 50 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 resource for liaison 6 substantive research 5 collaboration 5 gis (geographic information system) 3 systematically assess needs 3 variety of methods and tools 1 curriculum integrated 1 learning commons 1 team-based organization 1 general reference activities 1 information services 1 engagement 1 information/reference services 1 collection development experience 1 overseeing patron workstations 1 deliver library instruction 1 bibliography 1 technology services 1 course-integrated instruction 1 information literacy needs 1 take instruction to next level 1 extend the library’s e-learning initiatives 1 address challenges in multiple ways consistently over time 1 large, complex and rapidly expanding information landscape 1 discussion the research questions below focus on several different ways word choice is likely to cause readers of academic reference librarian position announcements, particularly individuals with asd, uncertainty and confusion in determining what tasks, or work, are required. question one: what problematic words, or word combinations, with multiple meanings (lexically ambiguous) were found in position descriptions? to identify problematic words, or word combinations, we used mason and just’s (2007) description of lexical ambiguity that “[w]hen a word has multiple meanings, one meaning must be selected while somehow retaining the possibility of using the alternative meaning” (p. 1). we organized the problematic words into 15 categories that enabled us to identify and count all similar problematic words that reoccurred in the writing by authors of reference librarian position announcements. liaison appeared most often (17 times, within 18% of position announcements examined) and is problematic as a single word because it fails to convey, for example, in the phrase “subject matter liaison” that the applicant should be prepared to use academic subject area content knowledge when functioning between and among library patrons. library instruction appeared 14 times (within 15% of position announcements examined), serving 51 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 as a category in a collection of terms such as circulation and policy formation without any mention of teaching library patrons to access, retrieve, evaluate or use sources of authority. collection development was included 11 times (in 12% of position announcements) and indicated maintaining collections without addressing the requisite activities to select or deselecting publications. leadership was used 8 times (in 9% of position announcements) which suggested managing or being a member of a leadership team, but did not convey a leader’s responsibilities to influence achievement of institutional effectiveness or personal successes of co-workers and patrons. oversight of interlibrary loan was a stated category eight times in position announcements without relating to activity with other librarians at other libraries for borrowing sources (found within 9% of the position announcements examined). advanced reference assistance was another category, mentioned seven times (within eight percent of position announcements), that was used ambiguously with no indication of conducting a reference interview or locating appropriate sources to meet a patron’s information need. the words, and word combinations, were used to identify necessary activities in reference departments, including outreach (five mentions), information literacy (five mentions), supervision (four mentions), reference service (four mentions), policy formation (three mentions), assessment of service (three mentions), programming (included once), patron service (included once), and technology support 1(included once). the word, or word combination, could be understood when encountered in the position announcement and used to develop an interpretation consistent within the employment context. these are all words and word combinations with multiple meanings that can, with acknowledgement of the presence of lexical ambiguity, be disambiguated to make them easier to read and understand. question two: what problematic sequences of words (formulaic sequences) that appear as verbiage, or jargon, were found in position descriptions? using the alali and schmitt (2012) description of formulaic language, we identified “multiple word strings that behave as a single unit (e.g., realizing a single meaning or function)” (p. 153) in written reference positions that have a wide number of meanings and are likely to leave the reader to question the meaning of the entire sentence. we organized the identified multiple word strings in 32 categories that enabled us to identify and count all multiple word strings that reoccurred in the writing by authors of reference librarian position announcements. authors of 126 position announcements used service technologies 12 times (within 10% of the examined position announcements), virtual consultant 11 times (within nine percent), research consultant was used eight times (six percent), point-of-need was used six times (five percent), and library programming was used seven times (six percent) as verbiage to describe activities involved in reference librarian oversight. they also used jargon such as fulfill-requests (eight times, six percent), resource for liaison (six times, five percent), effective collection (nine times, seven percent), collaborates (five times, four percent), and substantive research (five times, four percent) when describing reference librarian responsibilities. these are all word sequences, as well as the others in table 2, that are not often taught in any principled manner or evaluated as part of an overall vocabulary of professional knowledge about librarianship. question three: how can problematic language be written clearly and potentially comprehensibly in position descriptions? with particular consideration for qualified individuals with asd whose first step in obtaining 52 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 employment is most often reading a job ad, we reviewed the lexically ambiguous words and formulaic phrases identified in this study. we answered our third research question by writing a reference list of problematic language in academic reference librarian position ads with side-byside examples of potentially easily comprehensible language (table 3). the clear articulation examples in table 3 are generally stated rather than specific to any one particular library, therefore, additional language would be needed to further specify a particular library situation (e.g., face-to-face; online). as our findings indicate, authors of academic reference librarian position ads, and all other job ad authors, should scrupulously and in good conscience communicate employment duties and responsibilities. table 3. unclear and clear reference library position ads unclear word and/or verbiage in reference position announcements clear articulation of reference position duties and responsibilities serves as library liaison to academic departments, divisions, or campuses teaches searching classes to students and provides searching assistance to students and faculty in an assigned academic department each semester. position requires face-to-face and online duties with a patron service perspective works to answer questions with people within the library, in online chat, and email, while being friendly and supportive. participates in the assessment of library services surveys how well the library meets it goals, how satisfied users are with the library, and recommends when changes should be made. provides specialized reference, advanced reference assistance, and library instruction helps people answer questions using the library database, online encyclopedias, and peer-reviewed articles, and teaches classes on how users should use these resources. provides in-depth research consultation and point-of-need information literacy instruction conducts reference interviews with people, asks questions and listens to people, and explains to people how to access resources beginning at the library’s webpage. while clearly articulated duties and responsibilities tend to raise the challenges associated with word length, these examples demonstrate that length can be minimized by avoiding overuse of pronouns and prepositional phrases. limitations the findings are limited because they incorporate job ads from only one specific timeframe and only one regional area. indications of lexical ambiguity and formulaic sequences are our interpretations of language appearing in the text of library position announcements, and not factual examples determined by linguistics experts. nevertheless, our analyses seriously 53 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 considered the communication, social skills and problem-solving deficits experienced by individuals with asd and our belief that what is clear to someone who experiences asd will be especially useful to neurologically typical individuals. our analysis is influenced also by our professional education as librarians. our analysis, while focused only on academic library job ads, may demonstrate improvement in articulation of job competencies that will become exemplars for library and other professionals. this research focuses only on the reading of english language position announcements but has the potential to be applicable to considerations of other languages, or for individuals for whom english is their second language. conclusion as is the case in many fields and professions, job advertisements and position announcements in professional librarianship are important first steps in determining who applies and is hired. overall, the library position announcements (job ads) examined in this study support two key points about lexical ambiguity and formulaic sequences and their impact on human cognitive processes necessary for sentence comprehension. first, according to mason and just (2007) when describing the activated human cortical network during reading, “lexical ambiguity evokes extra processing that could be attributable to generation, maintenance, and selection of multiple meanings” (p. 6). given the importance of sentence comprehension when reading a job ad, mason and just’s (2007) descriptions are compelling reasons for authors’ of job ads to work to eliminate the possibility of prolonged mental responses caused by a mismatch between incorrect initial interpretations (the dominant meaning) of a word or sequence of words, and increased time taken to suppress the incorrect interpretation. we believe that position announcements are often written with great care to include all competencies and requirements of the position; however, job ad authors, search committees, and other responsible parties must also think about who is going to read the job ad. job ad authors must use language most likely to make sense to all readers. word choice in job ads must be determined with the goal of creating text that is read by a diverse audience without stress, or failure, resulting from exhaustion of mental energy to process meanings. second, while formulaic sequences appear to be widespread in the language of librarianship, identifying formulaic sequences in written text is not an easy task. what one reader may judge as a formulaic sequence may not be so for another. this study provides a place to begin development of a reference list as a source of examples of formulaic sequences appropriate for use when writing librarianship position announcements and/or from memory at the time of use. use of formulaic language that is widely understood is likely to be an advantage if it can be processed quickly and leads to accurately promoting efficient and effective communication. this study contributes to the growing body of literature about job ads. the findings underscore the problems that individuals with asd, as well as individuals with and without intellectual disabilities, have in reading and understanding job ads (position announcements) and applying for and securing meaningful employment. the study gathers directly from library reference position announcement examples of lexically ambiguous words and formulaic sequences written by library insiders that should be tackled to reduce or resolve cognitive processing difficulties and to improve reading abilities and language comprehension. we outlined preferred language in library reference position announcements that serves as the beginning of a new reference list to be used in improving job ads as lund (2018) suggests is necessary to “forge a communicative culture within the organization that will not alienate the employee with autism” (p. 443). this information, and the findings in general, may be of interest to all job ad authors hoping to attract 54 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 qualified professionals and who strive to control risk factors contributing to lack of meaningful employment for individuals with asd. the theoretical framework and methodology may be of interest to other researchers who seek to better understand and ameliorate unemployment of qualified individuals with asd and other intellectual disabilities, and who intend to increase 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(2014). competencies and responsibilities of social science data librarians: an analysis of job descriptions. college & research libraries, 75(3), 362-388. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl13-435 58 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1080/01639370802575575 https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21007 https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/stylebooks-single-they-ap-chicago-gender-neutral.php https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/stylebooks-single-they-ap-chicago-gender-neutral.php https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.2000.0733 http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2579257 https://doi.org/10.33423/jhetp.v17i8.1430 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-8309-z https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2006.0053 https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318917699885 https://doi.org/10.5860/crl13-435 investigating the link between unemployment and disability the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32369 mirah j. dow (mdow@emporia.edu) is a professor and director of the ph.d. program in the school of library and information management at emporia state university. she has written 40 articles and book chapters and one book. she was the founding director of the kansas resource center on autism at the teachers college, emporia state university, a collaborative project with the teacch® autism program, the university of north carolina school of medicine. her research has been funded by kansas social and rehabilitation services; the donald d. hammill foundation, austin, texas; and the laura bush 21st century library grant, institute of museums and library services. she received the kansas association of school librarians 2014 vision award. brady d. lund (blund2@g.emporia.edu) is a ph.d. student in the school of library and information management at emporia state university. he holds a master of library science from emporia state university, and a bachelor of arts communication sciences and disorders from wichita state university. he has published 12 journal articles, a book chapter, and one book. as a student, he worked in the evelyn hendren cassat speech-language-hearing clinic at wichita state university and at rainbows united, a developmental training center for children with severe, multiple disabilities, both in wichita, ks. william k. douthit (wdouthit@g.emporia.edu) is a graduate of the master of library science degree program in the school of library and information management, emporia state university. he holds a bachelor of arts, history, from the university of northern colorado. he volunteers in the greely history museum. at the time of this study, he was an enrolled graduate student attending mls classes in denver, colorado. 59 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:mdow@emporia.edu mailto:blund2@g.emporia.edu mailto:wdouthit@g.emporia.edu definitions of terms job advertisement research problematic language introduction problem statement research questions literature review theoretical framework data collection and analysis research team pilot study expanded data collection multi-step data analysis findings discussion question one: what problematic words, or word combinations, with multiple meanings (lexically ambiguous) were found in position descriptions? question two: what problematic sequences of words (formulaic sequences) that appear as verbiage, or jargon, were found in position descriptions? question three: how can problematic language be written clearly and potentially comprehensibly in position descriptions? limitations conclusion references microsoft word reilly final.docx international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ abortion is an information issue author hope reilly, mlis (2016, university of maryland) abstract in the years following the 1992 supreme court decision, planned parenthood v. casey, abortion has been subjected to a wide range of legal restrictions, and the impact of these restrictions has not been adequately studied. while this process of increasingly restrictive regulation may be considered a public health issue, the natures of these laws also make them relevant to information studies. biased counseling laws mandate that an abortion provider disseminate information specifically designed to discourage a woman from obtaining an abortion. this paper examines the impact of these laws on both the abortion patient and provider. biased counseling information has a demonstrable effect on the health information access of abortion patients and on the intellectual freedom of abortion providers. however, there are also chilling effects on the intellectual freedom of the abortion patients themselves. this paper establishes abortion as an information issue and calls for future study into its effects on information access and intellectual freedom. keywords: abortion, information access, intellectual freedom, biased counseling laws, reproductive health introduction bortion has been legal in all 50 states since 1973, but it is substantially more difficult for women in some states to exercise their constitutionally protected right to the procedure. for example, while abortion is an extremely safe procedure— 97.9% of abortions have no complications and only .23% of abortions resulted in a major complication requiring hospital admission (advancing new studies in reproductive health, 2014)—25 states regulate abortion providers beyond what is needed to ensure patient safety (guttmacher institute, n.d.). one type of legal restriction that has a broader impact is biased abortion counseling information. a biased counseling law is any law that mandates the disclosure of information designed to discourage a woman from terminating her pregnancy (vandewalker, 2012, p. 3). thirty-five states require counseling before an abortion, and 27 of them mandate the content of said counseling (guttmacher institute, 2015a). several states require that doctors tell their patients information that is both scientifically inaccurate and contrary to standard medical practice. five states (alaska, kansas, mississippi, oklahoma, and texas) out of the seven that provide information about the links to breast cancer misrepresent the level of risk (guttmacher institute, 2015b). nine states (kansas, louisiana, michigan, nebraska, north carolina, south dakota, texas, utah, and west virginia) out of the 22 that include information on possible psychological responses stress that women feel negative emotional responses after an abortion (guttmacher institute, 2015b), implying that women run the risk of significant psychological harm. while this information appears a abortion is an information issue 2 neutral at first glance, it is actually deliberately designed to convince women that abortion is dangerous. however, even accurate information is not necessarily useful if it is not relevant to the individual or issue at hand. biased counseling information laws prevent women from meaningfully accessing information that would allow them to make fully autonomous decisions about their abortion care. furthermore, the existence of these laws also helps create an environment where neither the doctor nor the patient can truly exercise their intellectual freedom. this paper will demonstrate that biased counseling laws and mandatory ultrasound laws have a significant negative impact on health information access, the intellectual freedom of abortion providers, and the intellectual freedom of patients. additionally, this paper will also raise suggestions for significant further study into this topic because of its importance in the fields of health sciences and information studies. while access to appropriate reproductive health services for teenagers is important, this paper will only discuss this topic within the context of services for adults. biased counseling information is objectionable because it is based on ideology that discounts the decision-making capacity of adult women. children under the age of 18 are not held to the same standards as adults in other legal, decision-making capacities, so their ability to make autonomous decisions about their reproductive care is outside of the scope of this discussion. information access and the right to medical information accurate medical information is a human right. the universal declaration of human rights, which was passed by the united nations shortly after the second world war, states that all people have the “right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services” (u.n. general assembly, 1948). an individual needs information about their medical history, the nature of their illness or condition, and about their options for treatment in order to make informed decisions about their care. if people have the right to both medical care and the right to receive information without barriers, then they also have the right to accurate medical information. abortion is—for now—a legal medical procedure protected by a 1973 supreme court decision based on constitutional rights. if everyone has a right to access accurate medical information, then abortion information is included within that right. the prevalence of biased abortion counseling information is an information access issue because laws mandate the transmission of information that is false, irrelevant, harmful, or some combination of the three. the merriam-webster dictionary defines access as the “freedom or ability to obtain or make use of something” (access, n.d.). mathiesen defines information access as when a person “has the freedom or opportunity to obtain, make use of, and benefit from…information” (mathiesen, 2014, p. 607). true access to information is more complicated than having physical access to said information: in addition to physically obtaining the desired information, one must also have social and intellectual access to that information (burnett, jaeger, & thompson, 2008). an individual has intellectual access to a document if they can understand the information presented to them. social access to information depends on the norms and values of a person’s environment, and these social norms can impact or limit information access (burnett et abortion is an information issue 3 al., 2008). in sum, information that is accessible for one person is not necessarily accessible to others and one should be able to benefit from that information for it to be accessible. accurate abortion information is not fully accessible for all women in the united states because it never makes it to them (which is a physical access issue) or conditions exist that prevent that information from being beneficial (which is an intellectual and/or a social access issue). biased counseling laws prevent women from having full access to accurate medical information because they restrict physical access to abortion information, which then compounds the existing lack of intellectual and social access to that information. studies show that women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and women who are black or hispanic are less likely than white and middle-class women to seek out health information for reasons including inability to search for health information privately (kim & zhang, 2015), distrust of medical officials, and reliance on family networks for information sharing (richardson, allen, xiao, & vallone, 2012). if the government is deliberately providing misleading information to women, then it is violating their right to accurate medical information. for example, south dakota and utah require providers to tell their patients that they are at risk of contracting “post-abortion stress syndrome” when no such illness exists (medoff, 2009, p. 634) and research has shown that women who receive abortions are at no higher risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder than women who continue their pregnancies (biggs, rowland, & foster, 2015). overall, the scientific consensus is that abortion in and of itself does not cause psychological problems (vandewalker, 2012). if these laws lead to women making decisions to continue pregnancies based solely on false information, then they reduce women’s autonomy (vandewalker, 2012). these women then have limited intellectual access to accurate abortion information because they are often unaware that they are missing that information. women who live in communities with cultural norms prohibiting open discussion of both abortion and general women’s health issues are less likely to be able to access accurate abortion information. abortion providers are well aware of the restrictions placed on them, but manage to provide accurate medical information to their clients without violating the law. a 2012 study found that front-line staff members overwhelmingly gave first-time callers accurate information (dodge, haider, & hacker, 2012). there were no differences between providers in the most and least restrictive states (dodge et al., 2012). the advancing new standards in reproductive health (ansirh) group at the university of california, san francisco, released a set of clinical guidelines on ultrasound viewing in abortion care in 2014. these guidelines are centered around making decisions based on the best interests of the patient (perrucci, 2014). they recommend that providers be honest about when and why state mandates conflict with best practices, but without being inflammatory or communicating resentment and hostility. abortion providers regularly adapt statemandated information to minimize the perceived negative effects (mercier, buchbinder, bryant, & britton, 2015). abortion providers comply with these mandates while also being honest about why they exist and their perceived impacts on patient care—their attempts at mitigating the impact of biased counseling laws have created alternate avenues for access to abortion information. abortion is an information issue 4 however, this increased level of access actually works to obscure the fact that there is an access problem in the first place—the few studies done on this topic have shown that patients are generally unaware of abortion laws. a 2010 study where researchers interviewed patients at high-volume abortion clinics in states with biased counseling laws found that these women were generally unaware that those laws existed and were unable to distinguish the biased information mandated by the state from the information that the clinic provided in its own counseling services (cockrill & weitz, 2010). this suggests that there are information literacy issues related to both reproductive health and policy information. women generally supported the idea of abortion counseling, but only if it was not designed to discourage or trick them into not continuing with the procedure (cockrill & weitz, 2010). women agree that informed consent is important, but their concern is misplaced because informed consent is an essential component of medical practice and exists in abortion care regardless of state mandate. this suggests that many women mischaracterize or misinterpret the nature of biased counseling information because of a fundamental lack of awareness about this information environment. women who obtain abortions in states without biased counseling information laws are not subject to the same barriers to access as women living in states that do have them— for example, a woman living in texas with no regular internet access and little sexual education essentially depends on the staff in the clinic she visits to give her accurate information. there should be further research examining how abortion providers comply with biased counseling laws, because even if most providers try to help their patients make informed decisions in spite of the law, the state is still mandating that they disseminate information that is demonstrably false. how does this affect the intellectual freedom of abortion seekers? intellectual freedom of patients reactions to counseling biased counseling laws attempt to use informed consent procedures to indoctrinate women and interfere with their decision-making. this practice violates the principles of intellectual freedom because it de-legitimizes actions and thought processes other than the ones sanctioned by the state. while biased counseling laws are centered around conveying the moral value of the fetus to the woman, the little research that has been conducted on this topic has found that women’s actual counseling needs are much more complex. a 2011 study found that information contained in biased abortion counseling was not always relevant to each individual woman (moore, frohwirth, & blades, 2011). the few women who sought options counseling, where a pregnant person speaks to a health professional or counselor for the purpose of determining the outcome of her pregnancy, wanted factual information instead of an emotional dialogue with the counselor (moore et al., 2011). a 2012 study found that women who report negative emotional responses after an abortion usually attribute those feelings to relationship loss (be it the end of a romantic relationship or the loss of a parent–child relationship) or societal disapproval of abortion rather than to fetal loss (kimport, 2012). biased counseling laws attempt to create an environment where women make decisions purely based on two pre-determined options for emotion— abortion is an information issue 5 accepting or rejecting the moral status of the fetus—but women’s emotions are clearly more complex than that. a woman can recognize that her fetus has moral value to her and still have many reasons to terminate her pregnancy. furthermore, the women who refused options counseling also had complex and varied reasons for declining them. first of all, most women in the aforementioned study reported that they did not want options counseling because they had made their decision to terminate before calling the clinic (moore et al., 2011). however, women who were sure of their decision felt that they still had counseling needs outside of deciding whether or not they wanted to be mothers: these needs included reassurance that the procedure was legal, dealing with the difficulty of their decision, and internalized and/or perceived stigma (moore et al., 2011). these women have information needs that clinic counselors are trying (and usually succeeding) to meet, but many of them arguably would not exist in an environment more hospitable to reproductive rights. this shows that there is a significant difference between the attitudes that influence policy and the reality of women’s experiences. how do healthcare providers balance the needs of their patients with their legal obligations? informed consent and the intellectual freedom of providers the american library association defines intellectual freedom as “the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction” (american library association, n.d., para. 1). biased abortion counseling laws violate the intellectual freedom of physicians because they interfere with best practices surrounding obtaining informed consent and prevent physicians from being able to make silent decisions, which are fundamental to abortion care. informed consent is “the process by which the treating health care provider discloses appropriate information to a competent patient so that the patient may make a voluntary choice to accept or refuse treatment” (de bord, 2014, para. 2). there is no medical reason to have an informed consent procedure unique to abortion. women understand that undergoing an abortion means ending their pregnancy and not undergoing an abortion means continuing with the pregnancy. instead of providing information to facilitate autonomous choice, biased counseling laws use informed consent as an obstacle to abortion access (vandewalker, 2012). while providers in north carolina (a state that passed a restrictive women’s right to know law in 2011 that, among other restrictions including a 24-hour waiting period, mandated that physicians show and describe a woman’s ultrasound picture to her) continued to practice their existing informed consent procedures alongside the state-mandated ones, they indicated that “complying with the law created a substantial institutional burden” (mercier et al., 2015, p. 509). instead of creating guidelines that give women useful and relevant information to help them make decisions, these laws instead drive up costs and create stress for providers. biased counseling information laws prevent physicians from being able to make certain silent decisions in the context of abortion care. silent decisions are “conscious choices that clinically affect the patient but are not disclosed to the patient” (whitney & mccullough, 2007, p. 33). this term is used in medical literature to describe when a doctor withholds information about a potential procedure to a patient because the potential harm in abortion is an information issue 6 explaining outweighs the benefit and the physician does not want to add to patient anxiety. doctors are obligated to tell the truth when patients ask about the remote possibilities, but they should not mention every remote possibility solely for the sake of mentioning them. physicians make silent decisions because providing a patient with too much information about a topic can be as harmful as providing them with too little (vandewalker, 2012). physicians should consider the “nature, magnitude, probability, and imminence” of a risk before deciding to disclose it (vandewalker, 2012, p. 50), so there is no reason to include the exaggerated risk statements in state-mandated, biased counseling information. these laws force doctors to mention risks without explaining the likelihood of them occurring, and they focus on the negative effects of abortion over its positive effects or the negative effects of childbirth (vandewalker, 2012). this forces doctors to promote the opinions of the state that counteract their professional opinion and prevents them from fully practicing medicine. why are they being forced to do this, and what does it mean? sexist attitudes and policy policymakers cannot outlaw abortion, so the prevailing strategy of abortion opponents is to add burdensome regulations until it is almost impossible for women to obtain the procedure. while some legislatures mask their efforts by claiming that they are working to improve women’s health, some politicians openly admit their motives. when signing the state’s targeted regulation of abortion providers bill in 2012, mississippi governor phil bryant stated that “today you see the first step in a movement to do what we campaigned on.…to try to end abortion in mississippi” (gold & nash, 2013, p. 10). antiabortion lobby group americans united for life helped enact 38 state laws between 2013 and 2015 with the explicit goal to limit abortion access at the state level—in a 2015 interview, their president likened their quiet legal strategy to a game of chess (khazan, 2015). this practice has serious implications for intellectual freedom in that the government is promoting one negative view of abortion over neutral, positive, and/or nuanced views of the procedure. between the 1973 roe decision and the early 1990s, state laws requiring doctors to disseminate information designed to discourage women from obtaining abortions (i.e., biased counseling laws) were overturned because they were rightfully seen as interfering with a woman’s freedom of choice (dresser, 2008). in 1992, the supreme court reviewed a challenge to the 1982 pennsylvania abortion control act and upheld a woman’s legal right to abortion. however, this case established a precedent that some limits on abortion access were constitutional if they did not pose an “undue burden” on women’s health— pennsylvania’s spousal notification requirement was seen as an undue burden, but a 24hour waiting period was not. the court found that the state had an interest in “promoting human life,” was permitted to express a preference for childbirth, and that informed consent practices that advanced a pregnant woman’s “psychological well-being” were legitimate state interests. the casey decision effectively legalized biased counseling laws because the state’s interest in discouraging abortion was considered more important than these laws’ effects on women’s decision-making. this was based on the erroneous belief that women have a psychological vulnerability that prevents them from fully understanding the nature and consequences of abortion (dresser, 2008). abortion is an information issue 7 supporters of biased counseling laws believe that women do not understand that abortion is wrong and that they will not have them if that message is conveyed to them. oklahoma state senator todd lamb acknowledged that his state’s ultrasound law existed to reduce abortions because he believed that an ultrasound conveys the moral status of a fetus to the woman (vandewalker, 2012). not only does this law force a woman to undergo an invasive procedure regardless of medical necessity, but it is also designed to change how she thinks—this is an unmistakable attack on intellectual freedom. ultrasound if biased counseling laws exist to change how women think, then mandated ultrasound laws are the most extreme manifestation of this practice. legislators enact laws to mandate ultrasound viewing in abortion care contexts because they believe that it will facilitate fetal–maternal bonding and ultimately dissuade women from continuing with the procedure. the few studies conducted on this topic show that this practice is ineffective. first of all, the research on the effects of viewing ultrasound images was conducted only in wanted pregnancies (kimport, preskill, cockrill, & weitz, 2012), so there is no evidence that it will produce the same effects in an unwanted pregnancy. furthermore, most women who view their ultrasound in an abortion care context chose to continue with the procedure. a 2013 study researching women who opted to view their ultrasound during the process of seeking abortion care for an unwanted pregnancy found that 98.4% of patients proceeded to termination after viewing the ultrasound and that the only patients who opted to continue the pregnancy were already unsure of their decision before viewing the ultrasound (kimport, upadhyay, foster, gatter, & weitz, 2013). additionally, women who are less sure of their decision either way are more likely to opt to view the ultrasound (kimport et al., 2013). the vast majority of the women who viewed their ultrasounds had already made the decision to terminate and chose to see them because of cultural norms or to help them make peace with a decision they had already made (kimport et al., 2013). this further illustrates the complexity of women’s feelings, attitudes, and experiences about their abortions. while some respondents felt that viewing the ultrasound was a “natural” part of the pregnancy process, none of the respondents supported mandatory viewing of the ultrasound (kimport et al., 2012). women opposed mandated ultrasounds because they found the information to be irrelevant, harmful, and/or biased. this major difference between the policy and reality raises several information questions. women are presented with information designed to make them not want to get an abortion. this only seems to sway women who are already undecided, but are those women making fully autonomous decisions? indecisive people deserve the same information as decisive ones. additionally, these practices are attempts to influence women’s thinking that are mostly—but not entirely—ineffective. however, attacks on intellectual freedom are still attacks, even if they are unsuccessful—these women are still forced to endure informed consent procedures that are predicated on the belief that they do not have the decision-making capacity of an adult. what kind of impact does that have? abortion is an information issue 8 one example of this hostility is the use of the ultrasound to intimidate women. out of the 25 states that require that a woman undergo a trans-vaginal ultrasound prior to receiving an abortion, regardless of medical necessity, louisiana, texas, and wisconsin also force those women to view and listen to a description of the image with few mitigating exceptions (guttmacher institute, 2015b). forced medication is considered a form of battery (louisiana state university, 2009), so forced ultrasounds can be considered forms of physical violence. some texas clinics, recognizing the impact on their patients, offer the woman a pair of headphones to wear so that she is not forced to listen to something she may not want to hear (filipovic, 2014). there is evidence that mandated viewing of the ultrasound hurts women. in one study, one woman reported that viewing her ultrasound did not change her mind but exacted an emotional toll (kimport et al., 2012). in a separate study examining the effects of north carolina’s abortion restrictions on providers, a patient who terminated a wanted pregnancy because of fetal abnormalities began to cry and stated “i can’t do that. i can’t believe i have to go through this again” after being read the state-mandated script (mercier et al., 2015, p. 510). providers are aware of these effects and reported that they felt that all women, especially rape victims at risk of being further traumatized, should not be forced to participate in conversations that are “emotionally damaging” (moore et al., 2011, p. 440). forcing a woman to view and listen to a description of her fetus serves no medical purpose. why ask women to do something that serves no purpose? intimidation and violence while biased counseling information is demonstrably false and ineffective in conveying a state-sanctioned moral doctrine to abortion patients to convince them to continue with their pregnancies, it succeeds in contributing to an environment that makes women afraid to seek reproductive health services. there is an existing culture of intimidation surrounding women’s reproductive health, and abortion providers receive the worst of it. abortion providers are targets of violence—many abortion clinics have extra security, including safe rooms, bulletproof windows, and cameras (healy & eckholm, 2015). eleven people, including four doctors, have been killed at abortion clinics since 1993 (padilla, 2015). there are countless stories of abortion clinics being firebombed, doctors being followed home, clinic escorts being stalked, clinic employees being harassed outside of work, and both providers and patients being killed. one example of this violence was the 2015 mass shooting at an abortion clinic in colorado where three people were murdered by a domestic terrorist motivated by anti-abortion rhetoric (turkewitz, 2015). both abortion clinics and planned parenthood clinics that do not perform abortions frequently experience protester harassment directed at both providers and patients. politicians are also open about both their feelings about women’s bodily integrity and their lack of knowledge about human reproduction. for example, a virginia state lawmaker referred to pregnant women as “[children’s] hosts” (kim, 2014), which is dehumanizing because it centers the conversation on the fetus instead of on the woman seeking the abortion. former missouri representative todd akin stated that rape victims should not be permitted to get abortions because “legitimate rape” does not result in pregnancy (moore, 2012). this is abortion is an information issue 9 particularly egregious because it shows a fundamental lack of understanding about human anatomy—or at least that this man has made a deliberate choice to present himself as someone who does not understand human anatomy. clearly this is an environment that is already hostile to reproductive choice. there should be further research on the use of false information as an intimidation tactic. what is the impact of biased counseling information on women who know that the information is false? larger impact and further study a woman’s autonomy is threatened by false and misleading information, but the greater danger to her decision-making is the societal perception that she lacks autonomy. all of the issues raised in this paper deserve further consideration, both in and outside of the field of information studies, because of the impact abortion restrictions have on women’s health and intellectual freedom. furthermore, government officials’ attitudes toward abortion have also infringed on the intellectual freedom of people who are not seeking abortion procedures. in october of 2015, a missouri state lawmaker sent a letter to the chancellor of the university of missouri asking him to bar a doctoral student from writing her dissertation on the impact of missouri’s 72-hour waiting period (adler, 2015). senator kurt schaefer claimed that this study would violate the missouri law that forbids tax dollars from “encouraging” a woman to have an abortion unless it saves her life, which suggests that he believed that the dissertation would inevitably cast the waiting period law in a negative light. but what if this student’s findings ended up discouraging women from having abortions? this censorship attempt is a clear example of the intellectual freedom issues surrounding abortion. there should also be further study into the impact of forced ultrasounds on women seeking abortions. first of all, women are forced to transmit information about themselves to their doctors through mandated ultrasounds. what are the effects of an invasive and often medically unnecessary procedure on women who are already dealing with making a controversial and intensely personal decision? this suggests additional privacy-related issues. for example, mandated ultrasounds lead to the creation of ultrasound images. who owns the intellectual property rights to those images? are they recorded and, if so, are they ever permanently destroyed? what is the impact of mandatory ultrasound laws on the record-keeping practices of abortion clinics? abortion is an information issue because information is used as a means of preventing or dissuading women from undergoing abortions and a means of assault on the legal standing of abortion as a medical procedure. there is so much potential for future study into the intersection of abortion and information. how does biased counseling information affect health information literacy? this issue is also important from an information standpoint because it deals with information disseminated by the government and government interference with medical information in a doctor–patient setting. there are parallels between biased counseling laws and legislation limiting gun research. the cdc has been banned from studying gun violence since 1996 and several other government agencies have voluntarily ended their research into gun violence for fear of losing grant money (frankel, 2015). in the state of florida, it is illegal for doctors to ask abortion is an information issue 10 patients if they live in a home with a firearm (medical privacy concerning firearms; prohibitions; penalties; exceptions, 2011), and similar bills have been proposed in several other states (rathmore, 2014). the united states is an extreme outlier for gun violence in the developed world (quealy & sanger-katz, 2016), and children who live in a house with a firearm are significantly more likely to be injured or killed by gun violence (dahlberg, ikeda, & kresnow, 2004). gun violence is a widespread and well-documented problem, so why is the federal government not treating it as a public health issue? there should be further study into how access to information about guns is affected by these gag laws and whether or not this cascades into effects on information literacy and intellectual freedom. however, at first glance, there are striking similarities to the ideology-based attacks on abortion information access and patient and provider intellectual freedom. biased counseling information is worthy of study outside of the contexts of political science and reproductive justice. conclusion the status of legal abortion is so precarious that the outlook for reproductive rights has changed rapidly in the time in which this piece was prepared for publication. in january 2016, north carolina implemented a law requiring abortion providers to submit ultrasound documentation verifying gestational age for all abortions performed after 16 weeks of pregnancy (fausset, 2016). in addition to sending the ultrasound image to the state department of health, providers must also include measurements of the fetus’ femurs and the diameters of their gestational sacs—information that has no medical purpose (bever, 2016). this law was almost certainly designed to create additional barriers to obtaining abortions in north carolina and raises questions about the state bureaucracy’s ability to guarantee the privacy of these patients. in february 2016, supreme court justice antonin scalia died unexpectedly and senate republicans refused to hold hearings to consider president obama’s appointment, merrick garland. in june 2016, the supreme court handed down a 5–3 decision in whole woman’s health v. hellerstadt that overturned several targeted abortion regulations that served no medical purpose. this decision found that texas’ restrictions requiring physicians to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and clinics to meet the unnecessary standards of ambulatory surgical centers were unconstitutional because they posed an undue burden on women (liptak, 2016). this precedent could also potentially lead to later decisions that would overturn biased counseling laws. however, both this new precedent and meaningful abortion access could be overturned altogether with the 2016 election of donald trump. while trump has made conflicting statements about his views on abortion—he supported the legal right to the procedure until 2011 but said during the 2016 campaign that women who have abortions should be punished—his running mate mike pence is openly opposed to abortion rights (shepherd & rappaport, 2016). as governor of indiana, pence signed a law requiring facilities that provide abortion to pay for the cremation or burial of fetal remains and stated during the campaign that he would work to have “roe vs. wade consigned to the ash heap of history where it belongs” (mehta, 2016, para. 2). as of november 2016, merrick garland has not been confirmed to the supreme court. unless garland gets confirmed before trump takes office, scalia’s successor will be a trump (or pence) appointee—or the court will continue to operate abortion is an information issue 11 under capacity. if the supreme court agrees to hear a case challenging roe v. wade, then there is a chance that women in the united states could lose their right to a legal abortion. information professionals should care about abortion from both a philosophical standpoint and from a practical one. academic libraries have participated and do participate in health information outreach on their campuses (duhon & jameson, 2013) ranging from mitigating the impact of cold and flu season to spreading awareness about preventing sexual assault. how would information about abortion fit into this existing framework? public libraries are already sources of medical information for a significant portion of the american public, so there is a chance that public libraries could also be the front-line source for reproductive health information in the event that abortion services become substantially more difficult to obtain. if the procedure is outlawed in certain states or banned entirely, then library professionals will have to adapt—helping women get abortion-related information may replace bomb making and assisted suicide as the perennial ethics case study in library school. this paper has demonstrated that abortion restrictions have had a significant impact on intellectual freedom. biased counseling laws and other abortion restrictions contribute to an environment where people cannot speak openly and honestly about abortion. furthermore, these laws are predicated on the belief that women cannot and should not make autonomous decisions. this sets a dangerous precedent that could have a wider impact on both the information profession and on women’s rights. there should be a larger discussion in librarianship about its history as a woman’s profession—in 2015, 83% of librarians were women (department of professional employees: afl-cio, 2016)— and abortion should be part of that discussion. information professionals are supposed to provide equal and open access to useful information and help create environments where lay people can adequately search for and critically evaluate quality information resources. our field should be concerned with orchestrated attempts to use false information to mislead the public, especially when it concerns half of the population and the majority of our profession. abortion is an information issue and no woman—or information professional—should be afraid to talk about it. abortion is an information issue 12 references access. 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(2012). abortion and informed consent: how biased counseling laws mandate violations of medical ethics. michigan journal of gender and law, 19(1) 1– 70. whitney, s., & mccullough, l. (2007). physicians' silent decisions: because patient autonomy does not always come first. the american journal of bioethics, 7(7), 33–38. serving a forgotten population: those with alzheimer’s & other dementias the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32414 serving a forgotten population: those with alzheimer’s & other dementias mary beth riedner, retired; alzheimer’s and related dementias interest group/american library association, usa tysha shay, springfield-greene county library district, usa kayla kuni, pasco-hernando state college, usa abstract the stigma attached to a diagnosis of alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia is enormous, and those living with dementia often speak of the negative, and almost immediate, social impact of the disease. according to alzheimer’s disease international, there were approximately 50 million people worldwide living with dementia in 2017 and this number could reach 131.5 million by 2050 (n.d.). the social isolation that affects many people living with dementia is best combatted by knowledge and understanding. there are many ways that libraries can put their mission statements into action with regard to this devastating disease. people living with dementia are coming into libraries every day. library staff need training to recognize those who may be affected and to develop effective communication techniques to meet their special needs. in addition to purchasing books and other materials about the disease and how to cope with it, libraries can help those living with dementia and their caregivers find medical information available from underused sources such as medline plus from the national library of medicine. libraries are uniquely suited to host educational events and community discussions. outside organizations such as the alzheimer’s association can provide informational sessions held in the library. there are also several model projects developed by libraries across the country that demonstrate how libraries can provide direct programming and services to those living with dementia. libraries can play a significant role in reducing social isolation among those living with dementia and improving the quality of their lives. keywords: alzheimer’s disease; dementia; diversity and inclusion publication type: special section publication introduction he stigma attached to a diagnosis of alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia is enormous, and those living with dementia often speak of the negative, and almost immediate, social impact of the disease. it is important to recognize that the true experts about dementia are those living with it. one such gentleman, bob savage, described his experience with these words, “within two days after i got my diagnosis, i realized what it was like to be stigmatized… one day, i’m this guy; the next day, i’m that guy. it just shows how pervasive this whole stigma is against dementia” (alzheimersspeaks, 2018, 24:05-24:35). fear of this stigma keeps many people from seeking essential support and making invaluable plans about their future care in a timely manner. it also keeps the general public uneducated about this disease and how it affects the person, their family, and the wider community. dr jacob roy t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi serving a forgotten population the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32414 kuriakose, chairman of alzheimer’s disease international, states: low levels of understanding about dementia lead to various misconceptions resulting in perpetuation of stigma which is prevalent in most countries at various levels. people with dementia are often isolated, or hidden, because of stigma or the possibility of negative reactions from neighbours and relatives to behavioural and psychological symptoms. the idea that nothing can be done to help people with dementia often leads to hopelessness and frustration. (batsch & mittleman, 2012, p. 2) library workers, along with the general public, are not immune from holding negative views and demonstrating misunderstanding about dementia. education and information, the stock and trade of libraries, are the only real defenses against perpetuating these stereotypes. libraries, as respected institutions in their communities, are in an ideal position to take on a leadership role to increase awareness of the true nature of this disease. individuals living with dementia should continue to be welcomed into the libraries they have been using all their lives and be treated with the respect accorded to all patrons. a wide variety of non-pharmacological interventions, therapies ranging from art and music to pet and exercise, have been identified as beneficial for improving the quality of life for those living with dementia. among the psychosocial practices described in a review article published in the gerontologist are reminiscence therapy, validation therapy, and meaningful activities (scales, zimmerman, & miller, 2018, s95; s96). library collections are huge resources that can be easily mined to help stimulate memories and provide a continuation of everyday activities that help to provide a person-centered environment so important to the wellbeing of those living with dementia. the body of literature on the topic of library service to persons living with dementia is very small. one of the earliest efforts to raise awareness among librarians was the guidelines for library services to persons with dementia published by the international federation of library associations (ifla) in 2007 (arendup mortenson & skat nielsen). there is much librarians can and should be doing to ensure that the resources they oversee are being used to engage, entertain, and stimulate those members of their communities living with dementia. this article first provides a brief overview of the basics of this disease and then demonstrates how libraries can take a proactive role in serving this neglected population. dementia basics the number of people affected by alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia is already huge and is predicted to soar as the baby boomer generation ages. according to alzheimer’s disease international (n.d.), there were approximately 50 million people worldwide living with dementia in 2017 and this number could reach 131.5 million by 2050 (para.1). the alzheimer’s association (2019a) reports that 5.8 million americans were living with alzheimer’s in 2019 (p. 17) and that number is projected to grow to nearly 14 million by 2050 (p. 22). the alzheimer’s association (2019a) also reports that one in ten americans over the age of 65 has been diagnosed with alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia (p. 17). dementia often goes undetected, with rates of underdetection going as high as 53.7% in europe, 62.9% in north america, 93.2% in asia (lang et al., 2017, pg. 3). a report issued in the u.s. on the “living arrangements of people with alzheimer’s disease and related dementias” indicates that 81% of people with dementia are still living in the community, 85 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index serving a forgotten population the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32414 with only 19% living in residential care settings or nursing homes (lepore, ferrell, & wiener, 2017, p. 1). it is highly likely that many of these people are still visiting their libraries as they had done throughout their lives, though there has not yet been a study to document this. dementia is not a monolithic disease and care needs to be taken to refrain from placing all those living with dementia into the same stereotyped group. according to the alzheimer’s association (2019b), there are many types of dementia, although alzheimer’s with traditional short-term memory loss accounts for 60-80% of the cases (para. 2). long-term memory is often preserved until the late stages of alzheimer’s. other types of dementia include vascular dementia, dementia with lewy bodies, and frontotemporal degeneration. these dementias affect different parts of the brain than those impacted by alzheimer’s and memory is often preserved. while it is outside of the purview of this article to describe all symptoms of each of the various dementia types, readers can access the alzheimer’s association’s (n.d.) list of ten early signs and symptoms of dementia to begin their own research into this topic. dementia is a progressive disease. there are several stages of dementia, often designated as early, middle, and late. many people are not diagnosed until they reach the middle stage of the disease. people can remain highly functional far into the middle stage of the disease, which can last for many years. each person progresses through these stages at their own pace. there is a tremendous amount of variability among those diagnosed with dementia. it is important to remember that each person living with dementia is still an individual with his or her own experiences, interests, and abilities. the focus should be on the abilities that are retained, rather than on those that are lost. person-centered care is becoming the gold standard for dementia care. according to the british alzheimer’s society (alzheimer’s society, n.d.), the key points of person-centered care are: • treating the person with dignity and respect; • understanding their history, lifestyle, culture, and preferences, including their likes, dislikes, hobbies, and interests; • looking at situations from the point of view of the person with dementia; • providing opportunities for the person to have conversations and relationships with other people; and • ensuring the person has the chance to try new things or take part in activities they enjoy. the role of the library the social isolation that affects many people living with dementia is best combatted by knowledge and understanding. this is where libraries can play an essential role. the mission statements of most public libraries contain inclusive language about serving all people of all ages. there are many ways that libraries can put their mission statements into action with regard to alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. it is a misconception that people living with dementia can no longer read. michelle s. bourgeois, 86 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index serving a forgotten population the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32414 a professor at the university of south florida states, “all of my research demonstrates that people who were literate maintain their ability to read until the end stages of dementia” (freudenheim, 2010, para. 3). in the united kingdom, a study was conducted on the get into reading literature intervention designed by the reader organization (gallagher, 2017). the study sought to identify the effect of the reading sessions on the severity of dementia symptoms over a six-month period. many positive results were identified that “illustrate how powerful literary language helps establish attention in group members…stimulating new thoughts…provoking concentration… and…calmly shared enjoyment” (billington, carrol, davis, healy, & kinderman, 2013, p. 170). people living with dementia may not read in the same way that they did in the past, but that does not mean that they cannot benefit from books and reading opportunities. existing library programs, one such being tales & travel memories, described in more detail below, demonstrate that non-fiction books richly illustrated with photographs on topics of interest to each person are very useful in stimulating memories and providing topics for conversation. staff training people living with dementia, many of whom may be undiagnosed, come into libraries every day. library staff members may be uncomfortable dealing with this population due to lack of knowledge and training, and library staff members are not alone in this. in the u.s., a national initiative called dementia friendly america (dfa) (n.d.) seeks to pull together all aspects of a community, including the library, to confront the stigma of dementia and help transform entire communities into more informed and dementia friendly places. the library sector guide posted on the dfa website enumerates many ways that libraries can provide services and programs to those living with dementia (dementia friendly america, 2016). one of the first suggestions is training of library workers. all library staff members, from the administration, to reference librarians, circulation clerks, shelvers, and maintenance staff, would benefit from training to recognize those who may be affected by dementia and to develop effective communication techniques to meet their special needs. training should include basic information about what dementia is and how it affects individuals with regard to memory, language, decision making, behaviors, and so on. tips for improving interactions would include maintaining friendly body language and tone of voice, actively listening to the person and giving reassurance that the person has been heard, giving only one instruction at a time, allowing time for the person to process the information provided, accepting their “reality” and avoiding correcting them. such training should be a priority if libraries hope to work effectively with this population and provide them with the dignity and respect they deserve. educational programming partners as a neutral and public space found in almost every u.s. city, town, or county, libraries are uniquely suited to host educational events and community discussions on the topic of dementia. outside organizations such as the alzheimer’s association can provide informational sessions held in the library that are open to the public. the following list of organizations may help to identify some possible partners in the united states: • local chapters of the alzheimer’s association can be located at https://www.alz.org/local_resources/find_your_local_chapter 87 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.alz.org/local_resources/find_your_local_chapter serving a forgotten population the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32414 • search for local area agencies on aging at https://www.n4a.org/ • medical research centers affiliated with local universities and hospitals special collections libraries are uniquely equipped to develop special collections about alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia to help educate the general population about these diseases. there are also a growing number of books being published to help those who are caring for those living with dementia. according to the alzheimer’s association (2019a), over 16 million americans were providing unpaid care to this population in 2018 (p. 33). these family members and friends are looking for the type of information that libraries can easily supply. in addition, libraries in the u.s. can help those living with dementia and their caregivers find medical information available from sources such as the national library of medicine. one often underutilized resource is medline plus (u.s. national library of medicine, n.d.), a free database designed for patients and their families written in language that is easy to understand. patrons can use medlineplus to learn about the latest treatments, look up information on a drug or supplement, find out the meanings of words, or view medical videos or illustrations. another important database is pubmed central, a free full-text archive of 5.3 million medical and scientific journal articles (national center for biotechnology information, n.d.). innovative programming in addition to providing these more traditional methods of providing library services, libraries across the world are proactively developing innovative outreach programs and services aimed directly toward this underserved population and their care partners. as mentioned earlier, the guidelines for library services to persons with dementia developed by ifla served as an inspiration to libraries worldwide to begin offering services to those living with dementia (arendup mortenson & skat nielsen, 2007). in the u.s., numerous model projects have been developed that demonstrate how libraries can provide direct programming and services to those living with dementia to positively affect the quality of their lives. tales & travel memories. in 2008, inspired by the ifla guidelines and by her own experience caring for her husband with a young-onset dementia, mary beth riedner began developing a book and reading program for persons living with dementia in residential facilities. tales & travel memories is an awardwinning program that takes participants on an imaginary trip to different parts of the world using library materials. incorporating the tenets of person-centered care, riedner created a program using non-fiction books from both the adult and children’s collections that can be used to stimulate both long-term memories and conversation. the tales & travel memories program incorporates oral reading by the participants of folk tales from the chosen locations, as well as interesting facts about the area (tales & travel, n.d.). this is followed by time to browse through books richly illustrated with color photographs about the destination. books can be carefully selected from either the adult or children’s collections to offer a wide variety of materials that people with differing abilities can enjoy. other senses and abilities can be engaged by a wide variety of activities, including choral reading of poetry, singing 88 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.n4a.org/ serving a forgotten population the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32414 songs related to the chosen location, passing around souvenirs or other objects, distributing adult coloring pages, and sampling cuisine from the area. in a lighthearted atmosphere, participants become actively engaged in the activities to the best of their current abilities. this library program can bring a feeling of acceptance and community to these often socially isolated individuals. in partnership with the gail borden public library district in elgin, il, the program was expanded to over a dozen local memory care facilities. a research study funded by the national network of libraries of medicine showed that the tales & travel memories program was effective in engaging participants both socially and cognitively (lytle, 2016). a tales & travel memories website was developed thanks to a carnegie-whitney grant from the american library association (tales and travel, n.d.). the website provides sample excursions for 12 countries as well as 31 folk tales made freely available through a creative commons license. libraries are encouraged to adapt the program for their own communities and tales & travel memories programs are burgeoning across the u.s. tales & travel memories was designated as a best practices honoree by the library of congress (n.d.) for their 2017 literacy awards. this honor reinforces the idea that universal literacy does not stop with a diagnosis of dementia. stories for life. the springfield-greene county library in springfield, missouri, in the u.s., seeks to provide quality programming and materials directly to those with alzheimer’s and related dementia living in a residential care facility or at home. stories for life is their dementia inclusive program brand that covers outreach programming, memory cafés and reminiscing kits (springfield-greene county library district, 2013). the original outreach program was created in 2012 by tysha shay to reach community members residing at residential care facilities throughout the county. staff provide a monthly thematic outreach program that lasts 30-45 minutes and is designed to inspire, entertain, and engage the residents. the goal is to provide books, information, and multimedia resources to help resident’s memories bubble up to the surface. residents reminisce and learn about a range of topics. some of the most requested topics revolve around local history information. programs discussing the frisco railroad, orphan trains, and rural medicine have provided some of the best participant involvement. participants also often request topics for the following months. examples have included famous missourians, ozarks music, st louis world’s fair, missouri caves, and olympic history. shay commented that this means that residents are driving their own programming, which is pretty incredible. in 2017, the springfield-greene county library also introduced themed reminiscing kits to reach residents at facilities staff cannot visit and those still residing at home. each kit was designed and developed by following the principles of person-centered care, which aims to respect the dignity of people with alzheimer’s or other types of dementia and reflect their varied interests, life experiences, and current abilities. the kits have different elements to engage all the senses and various levels of materials to connect with folks no matter what stage of the disease they are in. there are over 30 kit themes. many of the kit themes were taken directly from successful elements of the outreach program. popular kits include animals, pioneer days, route 66, ozarks 89 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index serving a forgotten population the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32414 music, remembering the 1950's, and rural medicine (springfield-greene county library district, 2013). serving diverse groups. librarians are becoming increasingly aware of the special needs of diverse groups within their communities. the 2019 alzheimer’s disease facts and figures report states that “although there are more non-hispanic whites living with alzheimer’s and other dementias than any other racial or ethnic group in the united states, older african-americans and hispanics are more likely, on a per-capita basis, than older whites to have alzheimer’s or other dementias” (alzheimer’s association, 2019a, p. 21). as part of its recent renovation, the woodson regional library, a branch of the chicago public library that serves a large population of african americans, was made into the city's first dementia-friendly library. in that role, woodson provides culturally relevant programming and education around alzheimer's disease and memory loss. a newly formed library health advisory board, comprised of academics, researchers, health professionals, clergy, librarians, and caregivers, aims to create awareness about this insidious brain disease that adversely affects african americans at a ratio of two to one (chicago public library, 2018, para.15). memory cafés. memory cafés are a wonderful counterbalance to the social stigma felt by so many people living with dementia. begun in the united kingdom and other european countries, memory cafés are now blooming across the u.s. memory cafés provide informal social programming that bring together those living with dementia and their care partners to enjoy a wide variety of activities in a safe environment. memory cafés can also be sources of information about available health resources and health literacy. as mentioned earlier, the majority of persons diagnosed with dementia are still living within their own homes. as a respected institution in the community, libraries are natural partners for memory cafés. the library memory project (n.d.) is a wonderful example of a collaborative project involving eight libraries in the bridges library system, wisconsin, u.s. located geographically near each other, the libraries take turns hosting monthly cafés so that participants don’t have far to travel to find a café. the libraries work together and in partnership with outside organizations that provide expertise and assistance. angela meyers, coordinator of youth and inclusive services for the bridges library system says, “that's where [libraries are] a perfect fit for people who are experiencing memory loss. it's a place where they feel welcome and it's a comfortable place for them to return to…they know when they go that they're going to be welcome, they're going to have a good time, and they're going to maintain those connections” (nowakowski, 2019, para. 6). professional library organization while libraries across the u.s. have been independently developing innovative programs to serve those living with dementia, an interest group of the american library association entitled the alzheimer’s and related dementias interest group (igard) was formed in 2011 “to support librarians who serve patrons with alzheimer’s or another dementia and their care partners by providing a forum for discussion and networking.” (association of specialized, government and cooperative library agencies, 2018). igard members have presented at various conference 90 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index serving a forgotten population the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32414 sessions and webinars to help spread the word about how libraries can effectively serve those living with dementia. igard also sponsors a free listserv where anyone interested in this important work can ask questions or share information and experiences. working together collaboratively will enable librarians to more easily develop innovative programs to serve those living with dementia. igard hopes to develop official guidelines based on the ifla guidelines that will be approved by the american library association. conclusion these are just a few of the ways that libraries are successfully meeting the needs of an underserved and too-often forgotten population – the many people living with dementia in their communities. however, these types of services and programs are in their infancy, and there remain many unanswered questions about how to best serve those living with dementia. librarians can, and do, play a significant role in reducing social isolation among those living with dementia and improving the quality of their lives. as bob savage, who was quoted at the beginning of this piece, says: “i have been encouraging the people that i work and live with to use the term ‘living well’ with dementia…as you know many people with dementia do live well and for a long time. this could in my opinion take a small step to reducing stigma” (personal communication, february 17, 2019). it is time for librarians as a profession to commit to helping savage, and others like him, continue to “live well” using the many rich resources and sense of community that the library can provide. references alzheimer’s association. (n.d.). 10 early signs and symptoms of alzheimer’s. retrieved from https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/10_signs alzheimer’s association. (2019a). 2019 alzheimer’s disease facts and figures. retrieved from https://www.alz.org/media/documents/alzheimers-facts-and-figures-2019-r.pdf alzheimer’s association. (2019b). what is alzheimer’s? retrieved from https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-alzheimers alzheimer’s disease international. (n.d.). dementia statistics. retrieved from https://www.alz.co.uk/research/statistics alzheimer’s society. (n.d.). person-centred care. retrieved from https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/treatments/person-centred-care alzheimersspeaks. (2018, july 2). living with dementiastigma, education & adapting [video file]. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n114wyqhfaa&feature=youtu.be arendup mortenson, h., & skat nielsen, g. (2007). guidelines for library services to persons with dementia. retrieved from https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/publications/professional-report/104.pdf 91 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/10_signs https://www.alz.org/media/documents/alzheimers-facts-and-figures-2019-r.pdf https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-alzheimers https://www.alz.co.uk/research/statistics https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/treatments/person-centred-care https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n114wyqhfaa&feature=youtu.be https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/publications/professional-report/104.pdf serving a forgotten population the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32414 association of specialized, government and cooperative library agencies. (2018). interest groups. retrieved from https://www.asgcladirect.org/interest-groups/ batsch, n. l., & mittelman, m. s. (2012). world alzheimer report 2012: overcoming the stigma of dementia. retrieved from https://www.alz.co.uk/research/worldalzheimerreport2012.pdf billington, j., carroll, j., davis, p., healey, c., & kinderman, p. (2013). a literature-based intervention for older people living with dementia. perspectives in public health, 133(3), 165-173. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913912470052 chicago public library. (2018, february 15). mayor emanuel and chicago public library cut the ribbon on the newly renovated woodson regional library. retrieved from https://www.chipublib.org/news/mayor-emanuel-and-chicago-public-library-cut-theribbon-on-the-newly-renovated-woodson-regional-library/ dementia friendly america. (n.d.). dementia friendly america. retrieved from https://www.dfamerica.org/ dementia friendly america. (2016). dfa sector guide libraries. retrieved from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/559c4229e4b0482682e8df9b/t/59aea94dbebaf b5b8696e744/1504618830040/dfa-sectorguide-library+8.9.17.pdf freudenheim, m. (2010, april 22). many alzheimer’s patients find comfort in books [blog post]. retrieved from http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/many-alzheimerspatients-find-comfort-in-books/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 gallagher, m. (2017, september 14). a literature-based intervention for older people living with dementia. the reader. retrieved from https://www.thereader.org.uk/literaturebased-intervention-older-people-living-dementia/ lang, l., clifford, a., wei, l., zhang, d., leung, d., augustine, g., … chen, r. (2017). prevalence and determinants of undetected dementia in the community: a systematic literature review and a meta-analysis. bmj open, 7(2), e011146. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011146 lepore, m., ferrell, a., & wiener, j. m. (2017). living arrangements of people with alzheimer’s disease and related dementias: implications for services and supports. washington, dc: national research summit on care, services, and supports for persons with dementia and their caregivers. retrieved from https://aspe.hhs.gov/system/files/pdf/257966/livingarran.pdf library memory project. (n.d.). the library memory project. retrieved from https://www.librarymemoryproject.org/ library of congress. (n.d.). library of congress literacy awards: 2017 winners & honorees. retrieved from http://www.read.gov/literacyawards/winners-2017.html lytle, m. (2016). tales and travel: developing community partnerships to expand library services. retrieved from http://talesandtravelmemories.com/wp92 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.asgcladirect.org/interest-groups/ https://www.alz.co.uk/research/worldalzheimerreport2012.pdf https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913912470052 https://www.chipublib.org/news/mayor-emanuel-and-chicago-public-library-cut-the-ribbon-on-the-newly-renovated-woodson-regional-library/ https://www.chipublib.org/news/mayor-emanuel-and-chicago-public-library-cut-the-ribbon-on-the-newly-renovated-woodson-regional-library/ https://www.dfamerica.org/ https://static1.squarespace.com/static/559c4229e4b0482682e8df9b/t/59aea94dbebafb5b8696e744/1504618830040/dfa-sectorguide-library+8.9.17.pdf https://static1.squarespace.com/static/559c4229e4b0482682e8df9b/t/59aea94dbebafb5b8696e744/1504618830040/dfa-sectorguide-library+8.9.17.pdf http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/many-alzheimers-patients-find-comfort-in-books/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/many-alzheimers-patients-find-comfort-in-books/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 https://www.thereader.org.uk/literature-based-intervention-older-people-living-dementia/ https://www.thereader.org.uk/literature-based-intervention-older-people-living-dementia/ https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011146 https://aspe.hhs.gov/system/files/pdf/257966/livingarran.pdf https://www.librarymemoryproject.org/ http://www.read.gov/literacyawards/winners-2017.html http://talesandtravelmemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/nnlm-final-report-and-approval.pdf serving a forgotten population the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32414 content/uploads/2019/03/nnlm-final-report-and-approval.pdf national center for biotechnology information. (n.d.). pubmed central. retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ nowakowski, a. (2019, january 23). memory cafés offer support & socialization for people affected by dementia and alzheimer’s. retrieved from https://www.wuwm.com/post/memory-caf-s-offer-support-socialization-peopleaffected-dementia-alzheimer-s#stream/0 scales, k., zimmerman, s., & miller, s. j. (2018). evidence-based nonpharmacological practices to address behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. the gerontologist, 58(supplemental 1), s88-s102. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnx167 springfield-greene county library district. (2013). services for seniors. retrieved from https://thelibrary.org/seniors tales and travel. (n.d.). tales & travel memories. retrieved from http://talesandtravelmemories.com/ u.s. national library of medicine. (n.d.). medlineplus. retrieved from https://medlineplus.gov/ mary beth riedner (mbried@comcast.net) has served on the leadership team of the american library association’s interest group for alzheimer’s and related dementias (igard) for the past five years. she is the developer of the award-winning tales & travel book and reading program designed for those living with dementia. she has presented at numerous professional conferences including the american library association and the american society on aging. she is involved with the national dementia friendly america initiative as well as dementia friendly efforts emerging in individual states such as illinois, arizona, and minnesota. she is the author of several journal articles as well as a chapter on the tales & travel program in the book the relevant library, published by mcfarland in 2018. tysha shay (tyshas@thelibrary.org) is the reference manager at the library station, springfieldgreene county library district. her passion is bringing library services to older adults and specifically those with alzheimer's or related dementia. she developed her library's dementiainclusive brand, stories for life, which includes outreach programs, memory cafes and reminiscing kits. tysha was named a library journal mover & shaker in 2015 for her innovative work with this audience. kayla kuni (kkuni@mail.usf.edu) is a librarian at pasco-hernando state college. prior to working for phsc, kayla worked in a public library for over six years. in both academic and public libraries, kayla has taught future business owners how to access resources that will help grow small businesses. in 2017, she was named the outstanding public servant by the west pasco chamber of commerce for her work with the community. kayla is currently pursuing an mba from the university of south florida (usf). prior to entering the mba program, she successfully completed a bachelor’s degree in english (2009) and a master’s degree in library and information science (2014), both from usf. 93 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://talesandtravelmemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/nnlm-final-report-and-approval.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ https://www.wuwm.com/post/memory-caf-s-offer-support-socialization-people-affected-dementia-alzheimer-s#stream/0 https://www.wuwm.com/post/memory-caf-s-offer-support-socialization-people-affected-dementia-alzheimer-s#stream/0 https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnx167 https://thelibrary.org/seniors https://medlineplus.gov/ mailto:mbried@comcast.net mailto:tyshas@thelibrary.org mailto:kkuni@mail.usf.edu introduction dementia basics the role of the library staff training educational programming partners special collections innovative programming tales & travel memories. stories for life. serving diverse groups. memory cafés. professional library organization conclusion references “book nerds” united: the reading lives of diverse adolescents at the public library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 “book nerds” united: the reading lives of diverse adolescents at the public library sarah a. evans, texas woman's university, usa abstract this research asks the question: how does a public library contribute to the literate lives of a diverse community of adolescents? to explore this question, this article presents portraits of three young women, for whom a public library provided transformative opportunities. these portraits come from a larger ethnographic case study that examined a public library’s role in sparking and sustaining adolescent learning. over 18 months, the author observed library activities involving youth, interviewed library staff and adolescent patrons, and led teen volunteers in a participatory research project. data were analyzed in a constant comparative method within a sociocultural-historical framework. through attention to the girls’ activities within the public library, two contributing elements— 1) a democratic space created by library practices, and 2), the diversity in discourse facilitated by the teen librarian— expanded the participants’ literacy practices and perspectives on reading. this article informs our understanding of diversity in adolescent literacy and highlights the practices that libraries and communities can use to foster the next generation of readers. keywords: adolescents; immigrants; libraries; literacy; reading publication type: research article introduction ibraries are more than books. to be counted as a public library in the united states, an organization must offer not only materials (including books and non-book items), but also offer staff, services, and facilities that are, at least in part, publicly funded (institute of museum and library services [imls], 2015). congruently, librarians have frequently reiterated a “we are more than books” message, to evolve a citizenry which may tend to view libraries as outmoded book warehouses. as recently as july 2018, forbes magazine published an economic professor’s argument that, for the benefit of american taxpayers, all u.s. public libraries should be replaced with brick-and-mortar amazon bookstores. in response to the posting of this article, a legion of librarians, library patrons, and even publishers swarmed twitter with stories and statistics, effectively countering each premise in the article and criticizing the author’s privileged viewpoint. within two days, forbes retracted the article, while news outlets marveled at the fierce, rapid response the piece had generated (lyons, 2018). in similar efforts to outmaneuver critics who devalue the public library’s place in today’s society, some library advocates use the phrase, “the library is not about books.” while i appreciate their zeal in highlighting public libraries’ multiple community-oriented frameworks, this shoving aside of the long-form texts, print or digital, that we call books, is a step too far. historically, americans report valuing, even “loving,” the public library 1) for making useful information l https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 accessible, particularly to disenfranchised populations, 2) for providing community public spaces, and, most notably to this author, 3) for the “transformative potential” of people engaging with a variety of texts (wiegand, 2015). as a former public librarian and now researcher, i can confirm that the professional duties of a public librarian still include the reading and sharing of books. in fact, i argue that it is librarians’ love of books, combined with their professional practices, that creates one of the most valuable contributions to society, especially when they are working with diverse youth. within schools, teachers need to focus pupils’ interactions with texts, first on learning to read, and then on reading in order to learn a specific set of skills and knowledge. outside of school, public librarians working with children and teenagers, freed from instructional requirements, can focus on the joy of reading and on reading to follow their own interests. additionally, the fact that the public library is open access— both intellectually and physically— creates the potential for more diverse interactions between people from across a range of age, ability, class, ethnicity, and other identity categories. most public libraries designate a “teen services” librarian to focus on the needs of youth. since the late 19th century, such librarians have worked to ensure that the diverse adolescents in their communities have access to useful information, a communal space within the library, and opportunities for transformation through engagement with books (burek pierce, 2016; critcher lyons, 2016; edwards, 1974; shera, 1949). despite the long history, little empirical research exists on the relationship between public libraries and adolescent readers. even less is known about the reading lives of the diverse adolescents who increasingly form the majority in many schools and communities across the country. more insight into these phenomena would strengthen responses to library critics as well as increase our field’s understanding of adolescent literacy. this article asks the question— how does a public library contribute to the literate lives of a diverse community of adolescents? in answer, i offer portraits of three readers, a diverse set of young women for whom a public library did provide transformative opportunities. these portraits come from a larger ethnographic case study that examined a public library’s role in sparking and sustaining adolescent learning. through attention to these girls’ activities within the public library, i identified two contributing elements— a democratic space created by library practices and the diversity in discourse facilitated by the teen librarian. while this article features only a few participants at a single library, these identified elements relate to long-standing library values in practice across the nation, and perhaps, the world. therefore, these empirical observations can offer insight into public libraries generally, as well as direction for improving library services to diverse youth everywhere. literature review public library values the free public libraries we know today arose in parallel with the establishment of public schools in the 19th century. the library was seen as the schools’ counterpart in the pursuit of universal literacy: “the people’s university” that would educate those not captured by the emerging school systems (shera, 1949). immigrants and laborers were particularly seen to be in need of the education that was available to them within books and other materials, and the public library was the way for them to access this education. libraries, likes schools, were responsible for the development of capable citizens who could actively participate in political life and help ensure good government of the nation (critcher lyons, 2016). this idea is what 41 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 scholars call “the library faith,” essentially the belief that libraries contribute to the public good, through “a variety of outcomes, causes, and social aims” depending on who may be asked about the purpose of the library, when, and what the current civic situation in the nation or local region may be (barniskis, 2017). over the course of the 20th century, librarians developed moral codes to guide their provision of library services, found in documents such as the library bill of rights, originally adopted in 1939 (american library association [ala], 1996), and the freedom to read statement, originally adopted in 1953 (ala & association of american publishers, 2004). in 2004, the ala culled from their policy statements eleven “core values of librarianship” that “define, inform, and guide our professional practice” (ala, 2004). table 1 lists these values and their definitions, as they appear in the ala policy manual. table 1. core values of librarianship value definition access all information resources that are provided directly or indirectly by the library, regardless of technology, format, or methods of delivery, should be readily, equally, and equitably accessible to all library users. confidentiality/privacy protecting user privacy and confidentiality is necessary for intellectual freedom and fundamental to the ethics and practice of librarianship. democracy a democracy presupposes an informed citizenry. the first amendment mandates the right of all persons to free expression, and the corollary right to receive the constitutionally protected expression of others. the publicly supported library provides free and equal access to information for all people of the community the library serves. diversity we value our nation's diversity and strive to reflect that diversity by providing a full spectrum of resources and services to the communities we serve. education and lifelong learning ala promotes the creation, maintenance, and enhancement of a learning society, encouraging its members to work with educators, government officials, and organizations in coalitions to initiate and support comprehensive efforts to ensure that school, public, academic, and special libraries in every community cooperate to provide lifelong learning services to all. intellectual freedom we uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources. 42 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 value definition the public good ala reaffirms the following fundamental values of libraries in the context of discussing outsourcing and privatization of library services. these values include that libraries are an essential public good and are fundamental institutions in democratic societies. preservation the association supports the preservation of information published in all media and formats. the association affirms that the preservation of information resources is central to libraries and librarianship. professionalism the american library association supports the provision of library services by professionally qualified personnel who have been educated in graduate programs within institutions of higher education. it is of vital importance that there be professional education available to meet the social needs and goals of library services. service we provide the highest level of service to all library users ...we strive for excellence in the profession by maintaining and enhancing our own knowledge and skills, by encouraging the professional development of co-workers, and by fostering the aspirations of potential members of the profession. social responsibility ala recognizes its broad social responsibilities. the broad social responsibilities of the american library association are defined in terms of the contribution that librarianship can make in ameliorating or solving the critical problems of society; support for efforts to help inform and educate the people of the united states on these problems and to encourage them to examine the many views on and the facts regarding each problem; and the willingness of ala to take a position on current critical issues with the relationship to libraries and library service set forth in the position statement. note. text reprinted from “the core values of librarianship,” by ala (2004). retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/corevalues. while some scholars criticize these documents and their values as “unrealistic” for the daily practice of librarianship, shannon oltmann (2016) found that public library directors’ own language will echo the guidance offered in these documents. shannon crawford barniskis (2016a, 2016b) found in two separate studies that access remains a top value for public library mission statements as well as the values related to education and lifelong learning. the public library continues to interpret and implement these moral codes in relationship to their specific communities. 43 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/corevalues “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 library services for teens for librarians who work with youth, their version of “library faith” has long been grounded in the power of reading. betsy hearne and christine jenkins (1999) analyzed the writings of the earliest youth services librarians, “the foremothers,” and found an emphasis on values beyond the utilitarian purposes of gaining knowledge for school or for work. youth librarians have, and still do consider the “magic” of reading to be in its capacity for transportation, emotional engagement, and the formation of identity. youth librarians’ faith in reading and the outcomes they hope for are more holistic than those of youth workers in most other contexts. continuing through to today, publishers busily court librarians at every meeting of the ala because librarians liaise between what scholars have called “book people” and “child people” (wolf, coats, enciso, & jenkins, 2011). librarians connect the “book people” (authors, publishers, and critics) to the “child people” (parents and teachers), as well as to the children and adolescents themselves. while authors and readers can now connect directly through internet technologies, librarians are still seen as a trusted link by both sides. even as the format of stories and our means of accessing them has expanded to include such technologies as video games and mobile phones, librarians still believe in this “magic” of reading and in the value of their own role in connecting youth to such experiences (agosto, 2016). the best teen services librarians know the importance not only of connecting teens to books, but also of connecting to the teens themselves. rachel randall (2013) set out to discover how teens select fiction to read in their local public library. the most prominent theme that emerged from the youth focus groups she studied was the value they placed on personal relationships with library staff. teens repeatedly emphasized that “it is the little details that count like remembering names, where they go to school, what courses they take, what books they took out the last time” which influenced not only their decision to pick up a book, but also to continue to read (randall, 2013, p. 21). in documents produced by the young adult library services association, the professional organization for library staff that work with teens, librarians are encouraged to develop real relationships with youth because young adults need connection with “compassionate,” “non-supervisory” adults (takahashi, 2015). these relationships in turn support the work of the librarian. the role of library book discussions, a hallmark of library services for teenagers, was explored by both donna alvermann and her coauthors and by jennifer wolf. alvermann and colleagues (1999) set out to study how adolescent after-school “talk” in public library read and talk clubs was shaped by institutional and societal pressures. teenagers participated because it served as a major social outlet, offering a safe place to authentically talk about what they read and to enjoy their identity as avid readers. additionally, an analysis of the discursive practices of club members revealed a growing awareness of how literacy, gender, adolescence and adulthood position individuals differently. despite this growing awareness, however, these readers still chose to use gender and social class status as tools to shape their positions relative to other group members. to understand how adolescents engaged with contemporary young adult literature, jennifer wolf (2006) spent just under two years observing and interacting with a teen review group in a large urban library and conducted 18 interviews with 13 young adults. although these teens came from diverse backgrounds and experiences, she found that they all interacted dynamically with worlds of stories and invited her to do the same, which became an ongoing challenge for her as a researcher to keep up with the books, films, and self-created texts the teens offered. wolf 44 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 observed five ways the teens engaged with young adult literature, which she framed as metaphors: reading as navigation, reading as sleuthing, reading as writing, reading as belonging, and reading as pleasure. these empirical studies confirm two important aspects of library services for adolescents. first, youth seek not only the materials that libraries provide, but also the opportunities for discourse around these texts with both peers and knowledgeable adults. second, their reading of texts serves multiple aims, including personal and communal; a multiplicity of purpose that reflects the diverse goals of the public library itself. adolescents after school starting in the late 1980s, a substantial body of work on voluntary learning emerged from the decade-long spencer foundation sponsorship of milbrey mclaughlin (public policy analyst) and shirley brice heath (linguistic anthropologist) on non-school-related activities of disenfranchised youth in rural, mid-sized, and urban settings. these scholars set out to identify features of access in these communities that might help explain how some youth living in the most difficult of circumstances (and often with rapid growth in gang and drug violence) “made it” into mainstream adulthood. their findings made clear that critical to these youth were organizations ranging from religious groups to libraries to boys and girls clubs and little league baseball teams. in these groupings, young people gathered voluntarily, practiced, organized projects, and they learned organizational skills, ways to plan for the future, and strong communication skills (heath, 1991, 1996; heath & langman, 1994; heath & mclaughlin, 1994; mclaughlin, irby, & langman, 1994). since the first decade of the joint work noted above, heath has continued to follow ways that families from a variety of socio-economic classes have adapted in their fundamental interactions. with two-working-parent households on the increase, young people spend less and less time in their own homes and with family members. in observing the family activities of the adults she had studied 30 years earlier (focusing on the children of these families), heath (2012) found a considerable decrease in the amount of talk in the families created by these children when they reached adulthood. the features of family talk had shifted as well. contemporary dialogues involve much less back and forth around information, opinion, clarification, and confirmation. today, parents most frequently request schedule details and personal preferences instead of delving into conversations on topics known to both partners, but having nothing to do with the behavior of either members of the dyad. such a finding is significant considering the importance of deliberative dialogue skills in many situations, including higher level academics (hyland, 2009; morita, 2009; white & lowenthal, 2011) and democratic processes (dryzek, 2000; mutz, 2006; gutmann & thompson, 2004). peer associations and groupings that operate in homes, parking lots, and fast-food restaurants as well as community organizations have taken over much of the socialization for adolescents in much of the united states (heath, 2012). yet some of these young people find their way into concerted involvement in organizations that require intensive practice and strong associations with adults who coach, guide, reprimand, and direct the ways in which young people practice skills and think in meta-cognitive ways about what they do voluntarily (heath & langman, 1994). central in these settings is the refusal to categorize young people, a feature that applies in exemplary programs of libraries as well as sports and arts programs. adult leaders in these contexts have little desire to peg young people according to their rank in school class or achievement in particular school subjects (heath, 1996; mclaughlin et al., 1994). 45 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 in addition to general studies of youth involved in activities of their own choosing, a considerable amount of research looks at young people involved in particular kinds of structured activities ranging from sports to arts (heath & smyth, 1999). others consider the role of youth in special programs, such as youth radio (chávez & soep, 2005, 2010) or el sistema youth orchestras in the united states (heath, 2016). some examine ways in which young people both work and learn in museums and their special programs (heath & gilbert, 2015). many of these studies consider the role of voluntary learning that comes as young people have opportunities in such settings to learn to play and to take part in extended conversations with adults who share their interests. methods to explore the multiple meanings and features of a complex context like the public library, i choose qualitative methods, including observations, semi-structured interviews, and participant action research (merriam, 2009). my sociocultural-historical theoretical stance guided documentation of "the structure and development of human psychological processes emerg[ing] through culturally mediated, historically developing, practical activity" (cole, 1996, p. 108). congruent with this perspective is the need to focus on social interactions as they occurred in combination with participants’ narratives of their practices. in addition to observing activities and practices generally, i attended particularly to the use of language in the setting and the achievement of meaning gained through communication among the participants. the selection of the case for this study was achieved through purposeful sampling (merriam, 2009, p. 79). i first interviewed librarians who hold administrative positions in three separate library systems for suggestions of teen services librarians with active teen programs. from the list, i identified two sites of interest that met certain criteria (patton, 2002, p. 243), making a “unique sample” (merriam, 2009, p. 78). the criteria included having a dedicated teen services librarian for at least 20 hours per week, a steady clientele of adolescents in the library space, regular offerings of programs for young adults, and a core group of teens that function as a teen advisory board. requiring such criteria for my case study ensured a larger set of activities and interactions for analysis. additionally, i sought a library with a diverse patron base so i could observe a range of interactional styles in the setting. the combination of these ideal criteria offered both rich data as well as the possibility of exemplary practices in teen services. data collection for 18 months, i collected data as a participant observer (merriam, 2009) in the public library space and at planned events for teen patrons. observation protocol focused on the conversations between participants and youth movements to and from activities in the space. when attending programs, the teen services librarian introduced me alternately as “a student at the university doing a project” and “another librarian interested in teen services.” my identity and research were fully explained each fall to the teen library council, the teen volunteer group for the library. follow-up interviews involved semi-structured conversations about library activities. throughout data collection, i wrote conceptual memos about discoveries, created analytic questions to further investigate the data, and built metaphors and concepts (merriam, 2009, pp. 170-173). my research experiences outside of libraries assisted me in developing a critical eye to balance my insider stance as a former librarian of ten years. to be sure, during the actual term of the research reported here, i made certain during data collection to see with a fresh perspective, trying always to blind myself as much as possible to any prior perceptions about what “should” or even what “could” happen under certain circumstances. table 2 details the 46 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 tools of collection and sources of data. table 2. data collection tool sources observations 101 hours over 68 visits during an 18-month observation period. detailed field notes about arrangements of the space, movements of patrons and staff, and dialogues between the teen services librarian and youth patrons. interviews post-observation follow-up interviews with three members of the library staff and five adolescent library patrons. participants narrated their literacy and library experiences from early life to present. participatory research written reflections and 20 picture book reviews by six teen volunteers. volunteers were trained in critical textual analysis techniques. table 3. sample codes stage examples descriptive or open coding teen gives critical info; librarian will read/look; problem solving; negative to positive; follow-up / return conversation; youth recommendation; socializing; working together; sharing a resource; giving context (unasked); vocabulary; social issues; career path; college research related coding language type: relational, referential, or extensional; activity: talking, playing, composing, or making refined categories/codes questions from teens: for resource, for information, for personal, or for clarification; conversation content: media text, school event, home event, community event, library event, or pre-us arrival event data analysis i used the “constant comparative perspective” (heath & street, 2008, p. 32), searching within my data corpus to find patterns of co-occurrence, a method used in ethnographic qualitative research (heath & street, 2008). analysis of these patterns happened through an iterative process of writing memos, coding, categorizing codes by theme, and reviewing literature. my coding was grounded in related research and the categories included conversation topics, 47 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 references to verifiable resources, types of questions, and direction of speech (i.e. librarian to teen, teen to teen). i also developed a list of descriptive or open codes to capture unforeseen patterns (merriam, 2009, pp. 178-179). as i continued to analyze data and refine my coding, categories emerged based on the practices i had observed and the narratives that participants shared with me. both literature-based and descriptive codes were refined into analytic codes and categories (merriam, 2009, pp. 179-180) through the iterative process of reviewing conceptual memos and research literature. table 3 contains sample codes at different stages of development. the case the community the city of goldash1, an intersection of residential, commercial, and industrial spaces, brings longtime residents and newly arrived immigrants into coexistence. home to 19,107 residents who speak 59 languages and live in 7,157 households, the small city consists of nine neighborhoods with a mix of suburban, urban, and industrial layouts and incomes ranging from lower to uppermiddle2. bordered by a large, increasingly wealthy city, fairbay, goldash maintains its status as a home for middle to low-income residents that now includes mostly minority families, pushed out of the housing market in the larger city. proximity to an international airport, along with increased job opportunities of fairbay, has made goldash a preferred landing place for new immigrants to the country. according to u.s. census figures, goldash’s foreign-born population has evolved from 834 residents in 1990 to almost 8,000, approximately 40% of its population in 2016. over the years, immigrants from different regions have come in waves to the area: bosnians, serbs, vietnamese, laotians, and cambodians were followed by somalis, ethiopians, and eritreans, and the most recent arrivals have come from myanmar (burma), nepal, iran, and iraq. many of these immigrants are dedicated muslims, and a range of community and commercial operations have developed to meet their commercial and religious needs. after the 2010 census, the city’s zip code was declared one of the most diverse in the nation. the goldash school district educates approximately 3000 students in three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. a third of goldash households include children under the age of eighteen, and more than a quarter of goldash households live below the poverty line. a national newspaper declared this school district the most diverse in the u.s. in 2011, with a diversity index3 of 75%. after 2012, the high school made a remarkable turnaround, raising both test scores and morale through culturally relevant changes to both the curriculum and the discipline policy. what followed was a vastly improved graduation rate as well as a sense of community-belonging amongst adolescents with wildly divergent backgrounds. major highways crisscross goldash, effectively separating the city into four geographic areas, none of which is easily accessible to any other. therefore, the public library, the middle school, and high school, all located within two blocks of each other and alongside an internationallythemed commercial district, create the city’s best opportunities to mix cultures and classes. car traffic is dominant, and adolescents depend on family and friends for mobility beyond their home and school neighborhoods. during the summer, the city offers educational activities for younger youth while older youth seek employment. throughout the school year, the middle and high schools offer a limited number of afterschool clubs. 48 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 the library the brewer library is one of the eastrose county libraries (ecl), a system with 49 library branches over 2,165 square miles. the library system includes all of eastrose county, excluding the metropolitan city of fairbay, which maintains its own library system as a part of the city’s budget. in contrast, ecl, like many similar library systems, is funded directly through county property taxes. this situation provides a stable source of funding, especially in relation to the up-and-down nature of city budgets. like all public libraries in recent decades, ecl has embraced information technologies, striving to ameliorate the digital divide by providing free access to the internet through desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and, recently, wi-fi hotspots that can be checked out and brought into the home. for a city such as goldash, with residents in the lower half of the economic spectrum, this arrangement generally works to their advantage in terms of materials, staff, and even facilities. during the research period, nine of the eleven staff members, were white and, like the majority of libraries, most staff were female with english as their primary language. yet the library collection housed at brewer includes materials of various formats in several popular local languages, and library signage is often written in one or more secondary languages. library patrons, including teenagers, codeswitch comfortably between english and native languages everywhere in the library space. the teen services librarian, elaine, spends 24 hours a week in the library and community serving teens age 13 to 18 and a bit older. although a full-time employee, because of the “cluster” management model of ecl, she works the rest of her hours at other libraries. table 4. programs for adolescent patrons at the brewer library program title description participants frequency teen library council the council advises the librarian on library programs and volunteers to serve in the library and community high school age volunteers monthly meeting during academic year; additional volunteer opportunities weekly teen book club teens describe to peers a book they have read including the plot (with no spoilers), why they read it, and what kind of reader would enjoy the book. each participant receives a book galley to take home for every book reviewed. open to middle and high school aged youth monthly during academic year knitting circle an experienced adult volunteer brings supplies and guides interested open to all ages (though primarily attended by weekly during the academic year 49 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 program title description participants frequency attendees in working on knitting projects while engaging in conversation. middle and high school students) game on! and/or board games youth are invited to play cooperatively with peers on library-supplied gaming systems and/or with board games. open to late elementary through high school aged youth monthly during the academic year stuff i love teens describe to peers a media source (book, movie, youtube channel, app, etc.) including why they read/watched/played it and who else would enjoy it. each participant receives a book galley or other prize to take home for every item discussed. open to middle and high school aged youth weekly during the summer banned books week teens participate in games and craft projects directly related to discussing why books are challenged in u.s. libraries. open to middle and high school aged youth yearly event valentine’s program teens learn about books that feature relationships and compose poetry. open to middle and high school aged youth yearly event teen tech week teens experiment with “makey makey” components to create a computer controller from everyday objects. open to middle and high school aged youth yearly event girl rising film showing and discussion participants view a brief documentary about obstacles for girls receiving education worldwide and engage in discussion of the film. open to all ages one-time paper towns party teens participate in trivia and arts and crafts related to an upcoming film based on a popular young adult open to middle and high school aged youth one-time 50 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 program title description participants frequency novel. minecraft camp teens learn to build objects within the online world of minecraft and, in a follow up session, learn to apply mods (modifications) in the software. open to middle and high school aged youth twice teen coding camp teens learn basic coding strategies through scratch and create their own games. open to middle and high school aged youth one-time author visit local author discusses the writing process with teens. open to middle and high school aged youth one-time (although other authors were brought directly to the middle and/or high school for presentations) learn to draw local artist demonstrates techniques for creating characters to put in comics or graphic novels. open to late elementary through high school aged youth one-time just as public schools tend to have inequalities based on their neighborhood, so do public libraries in terms of “programs,” the free activities offered in the library for different age groups. library programs range widely in topic, including everything from artist performances to console gaming competitions to crafting activities. ecl does not expect the system budget and resources to cover all programming needs. communities provide resources for themselves through a volunteer fundraising group, resulting in the ironic inequalities similar to schools with more and less affluent parent teacher associations. in communities like goldash, there are fewer volunteers and fewer funds to raise despite a much greater need for frequent programs, regular snacks, and experiences in a range of subjects, especially for youth. during eighteen months that i spent at the brewer library, elaine’s budget for teen programming ranged between zero to $500, depending on the year. yet youth and their families have come to expect and rely on the library’s consistent provision of activities, especially in the afterschool hours. elaine aims to provide programs that meet educational, recreational, and social needs for adolescents, presenting or hosting five to six programs a month. table 4 inventories the range of programs i observed while in the field. findings by spending extended time interacting with a consistent set of teen library volunteers, i was able to observe and document changes in youth practices and discourses. the following data, taken from observations and interviews, exemplify how regular participation in library practices and 51 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 discourses positively impacted the literacies of three different young women. where all readers are equal while putting away chairs after a teen library council meeting, i heard squeals of delight burst out behind me. i turned around to see brigid, faith, and another girl standing together, bouncing on their toes with excitement while discussing a book series. while the rest of us filed out, i heard the continued exclamations— “oh my gosh, yes!” “i couldn’t believe it when he did that!” “didn’t you just love it?” it was clear that each girl reveled in this moment with an affinity group of book lovers. as i came to know brigid and faith better, i could see how the public library offered them space to be themselves as well as to expand the scope of their identities. in follow-up interviews with each girl, i was struck by their similarities, starting with the fact that each declared themselves to be a “book nerd” within moments of speaking. the following is a discussion of further parallels in their literacies. both girls fit a typology i crafted after working with various youth readers which i call “story consumers.” they love good stories, grabbing them in any form offered. these girls’ early experiences with books often tied into their favorite preschool television programs on the disney channel, nickelodeon, and the public broadcasting system (e.g. disney fairies, disney princesses, curious george, charlie & lola). each latched onto reading interests inspired by a parent. faith found the comic strip calvin and hobbes in her father’s daily newspaper, leading her to read and eventually gather book collections of the strip. brigid inherited her father’s serendipity books for young readers and added to the collection through scouring used bookstores. as adolescents, they both watch television series popular with teens, especially ones based on or related to books, such as vampire diaries and riverdale. each reads a range of fiction, tending toward popular young adult series, but each has one series they hold dear, return to regularly, and seek extensions of through other media including fan-created writings and art. for brigid, this is the mythology-fueled modern world created by rick riordan while faith savors all things related to j.k. rowling’s wizarding world. the girls use their identification with and knowledge of these story worlds to connect with other people. for example, as i was finishing up field notes at the end of a program observation, i was startled to find faith by my side, shooting rapid fire questions in my direction: “what’s your favorite harry potter book?” “how many times have you read them?” “what did you think when sirius died?” “do you know what your patrons would look like?” as i answered her questions, i realized that during the previous event i had mentioned loving the harry potter series myself, thus inspiring faith's interest in confirming my fan-identity and connecting with me further. the girls described parental support for their avid reading, even though both sets of parents push them to read something more than young adult fiction. but they also described close relatives, cousins of brigid and siblings of faith, who “don’t get the reading thing” and require the girls to extol the virtues of being readers and defend collecting books in their spaces. each described their bedroom as “covered in books” and faith's sister drew a line down the middle of their shared room over which she is not allowed to let a book slide. both expressed a preference for paperbound books, describing the joy of a book’s smell and feel, yet both also regularly read ebooks for ease of use while in transit. the girls good-naturedly describe their peers’ addiction to mobile phones, though both make use of technology themselves, and lament the friends who do not regularly visit the library. when i asked them to hypothetically talk with one of those friends 52 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 about the value of the library, each girl emphasized that the library is more than a space for books, offering examples of activities, and described how the library allows you to connect with personal interests and learn about self-selected topics: faith: a library is where you can do, where you can get many kind [sic] of books that interest you. like, i know you don't like reading books, but something will catch your eye and you can go to many different, many fun activity [sic] there too. like, what do you like? i'd ask her what she likes, da-da-da. they probably have a good app or have a class or might help you check out books on that or events. like that. in her hypothetical advice to a peer, faith expresses her admiration for the library as a place for books as much as a place for active connections. brigid also mentioned equal fondness for the library’s books and the opportunities to meet other teens. despite their many similarities, their differences could easily have kept them isolated from each other. instead, the democratic practices of a public library brought them together and opened up spaces for joint participation and friendship. brigid looks like the television stereotype of a teen girl who likes to read. pale white skin and brown hair usually pulled up in a ponytail, she wears dark-rimmed “librarian” glasses, t-shirts bearing pop culture icons, jeans, and tennis shoes. faith also prefers tennis shoes, but these do not often stand out under her typical long dark dress. what you likely notice first is her hijab and the medium brown face peering out from it. in another setting, with a less self-aware adult than this community’s teen services librarian, brigid could easily become the favored program participant. she appears to be “one of us,” a monolingual white girl with a passion for reading who likes to hang around anyone, especially an adult, who will talk about books. she is the kid many are likely to expect to find hanging out in the teen section of an american public library or bookstore. and yet faith, a muslim child of somali immigrants, is just as passionate for books and as eager to connect with other readers. her english may be accented, but she gabbles on about books, movies, and television shows like every avid story consumer i have met. within the brewer library, both girls find a place to be themselves, to meet others like them, and to have their interests equally respected, supported, and even expanded by a caring adult. brigid and faith each spoke of the library as a “hideout” from the pressures of home and school, a space to relax and read. drawn to the library space by their interests, it also levels their social playing field for different reasons. brigid lives nearby but goes to school in a neighboring town, where her family lived previously. therefore, she does not go to school with neighborhood teens, but she can build relationships with them in the library. faith’s english vocabulary remains behind her peers with similar family histories, impacting her school experiences. her placement in classes for english language learners puts barriers between her and classmates more fluent in english. yet, at this public library, limited language skills do not bar youth from consistent participation with peers. faith gamely joins dialogues around texts, occasionally pausing to search for vocabulary or rephrase herself to get her message across. in this way, the library provides the girls a venue for building their social skills through shared discourse and experiences. both girls attend the library’s monthly teen book club as often as they can as well as any other teen program happening while they are present (which is often). they use every opportunity to chat with elaine, the teen services librarian, about books and often open the conversation to other areas of their lives. elaine responds with enriched conversation, offering resources and 53 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 ideas for both entertainment and education needs. reading may pull them into the library, but their desire for connection and learning pushes them to action in the space. each joined the teen library council because they saw other teens participating in the council and followed their curiosity. unlike many schooland community-based activities, membership on the council requires no audition or special skills beyond being a high-school-age student who can commit to service hours. not even limited english skills bar anyone from participation. most teen members speak at least one other language and elaine and the teens encourage code-switching when someone needs to get their message across. when elaine asks for library council volunteers to assist at teen programs, brigid and faith raise their hands if it fits their schedule, regardless of the topic of the activity. the result has been to push at each girl’s knowledge base, skill set, and even understanding of the world. faith co-led discussions with teen and adult patrons at two types of programs— a community reading program and, later, a library showing of a documentary film. although visibly nervous the first time, faith carefully read the prearranged discussion questions to her audience and listened eagerly to the responses. by the second event, she confidently asked the group questions while contributing her own thoughts as well. faith reported that her favorite council activity was conducting a youth housing survey because the teen volunteers made it into a competition. she found competing on equal footing with peers to be particularly motivating. brigid first volunteered in the book buddies program, where she guided younger children practicing their read-aloud skills. later, through her participation in a critical picture book analysis project, brigid confronted different aspects of her identity. while white female characters abound in children’s literature, she realized another element of her experience, her family’s practice of pagan traditions, rarely showed up. when it did appear in books, brigid often found the practices distorted into a form of fantasy or associated with evil. bringing this issue forth in project discussions enabled the whole team of teens to reflect on additional examples of other religions being misrepresented to further a fictional plot line. previously awkward with these teens from another school, brigid now engaged them in personally meaningful conversations. pursuing diversity in discourse another girl, zavi piqued my interest during a monthly teen book club session. previously, elaine modified the traditional book club model after observing that different kids pop into the program each month. elaine: i realized that if you don’t have that continuity, having everybody read the same book is kind a recipe for a disaster. we just started doing it as a genre-based book club at the library, and eventually that morphed into just come in and book talk to us. so it’s kind of actually pretty simple. i encourage them to give a short plot synopsis and then say what you like about it, review the book and recommend it and why. i give away my advanced reader copies [of new teen books] when they finish book talking. because of this adaptation, the monthly teen book club was consistently one of the most popular programs, with young patrons requesting more occurrences. a variety of middle schoolers make up most of the attendees, with older readers like brigid and faith popping in as much as their schedules allow. regardless of the age differences, the teens usually discuss young adult novels, graphic novels, or books assigned in school. 54 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 when it was zavi’s turn to speak at book club, she said she was reading maya angelou’s why the caged bird sings, but could not understand why she found it in a list of poetry books since it seemed like a memoir. through elaine’s expert questioning, zavi explained that she recently discovered an affinity for poetry, especially written from the perspective of people of color. this could have become an awkward social moment for elaine, zavi and the group, since the rest of the teens currently had neither knowledge of nor interest in similar books. the usual flow of dialogue between book club participants might have dried up. instead, elaine’s skills enabled her to respond easily on the topic. she brought up poets who had spoken locally and made a recommendation for zavi’s next read. zavi appeared sincerely pleased at finding a conversational partner for her interest. over the next hour, as each teen took a turn talking about a book, two parallel dialogues emerged. elaine deftly moved between discussing the usual genres with the rest of the teens and discussing diverse poets with zavi. after the meeting, zavi remained to further the conversation with elaine. in turn, elaine shared that her own desire to better understand the realities of african-americans recently led her to create a personal book club that reads the work of black activists. delighted to hear about elaine’s efforts, zavi offered a reading recommendation of her own for the group. elaine made a note of the recommendation while encouraging zavi to make further suggestions as she thought of them. throughout the rest of my observations in the field, elaine continued to follow up on zavi’s reading choices and they exchanged book titles regularly. later, as a member of the teen library council, zavi suggested creating a book display about authors of color and finding other ways to promote their work. she also volunteered for our participatory action research project, analyzing children’s picture books that reflected her north african heritage and/or muslim faith. because zavi was already pondering issues of representation in writing, her thoughtful comments and written reflections helped move the group forward in their thinking. when the team wrote to share insights from their work searching for and reading picture books, she wrote: the books written whose setting was somewhere in the continent of africa were not written by people from africa. they were mostly white authors which makes me wonder: would the books that take place in africa be as highly accredited and successfully published if they were written by black authors? in a post-reading reflection document, zavi articulated a dilemma that many adults in the book industry still wrestle with today: i learned that literature can be culturally appropriating too…i recognized that i was very critical when i was reading the books and i asked myself a couple times would i rather have a perfectly compiled story with culturally accurate details and have a few of them or would i rather have lots of picture books with lacking a little bit of cultural accuracy? then i realized in the realm of children's picture books there's an iota of books that take the african narrative and within the iota there are lots of mistakes or the stories written are bland. i think there is lots of room for growth in children's literature and hopefully it gets better. as zavi matures, so does her literary life. her reading has become a tool for exploring and celebrating underrepresented narratives. through conversations with elaine at the library, she found someone to help expand her reading life in the direction she desires. participation in additional library activities brings zavi greater opportunities to contextualize her reading as well 55 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 as opportunities for self-reflection. discussion and conclusions portraits of brigid, faith, and zavi answer the question of how a public library can contribute to the literacy lives of a diverse community of adolescents. the girls’ library-based experiences show their practices and style of discourse expanding their personal literacies. the public library’s core values of democracy and diversity surrounded the girls and created unique opportunities for transformation. in real time, these values, noted below, overlap throughout library experiences. a democratic space created by practices in the brewer library, patrons of all backgrounds had equal freedom to choose activities and intellectual pursuits. regular library staff developed relationships with young patrons and maintained a policy, both in speech and action, that teens are equal in status to other patrons and as deserving of attention as a person of any other age. this policy was not upheld perfectly all the time. near the end of my fieldwork, it became inconsistent due to staffing changes. when another library in the system closed for renovation, staff members were sent to work at other locations. the additional staff who rotated through the brewer library were not accustomed to high volumes of teenage patrons. when on duty, these new staff were less patient with adolescent behaviors, resulting in a less comfortable environment for the teens. some librarians have noted that on occasion libraries welcome teenagers in as policy but not in practice. this lack of welcome at times extends to an unpleasant reality in which libraries do not provide solid levels of funding and staffing for teen services, because neither staff nor adult patrons want to deal with teenagers in the library space. but teens i observed and spoke with during my research valued the brewer library space for the democratic freedoms offered there, including the pursuit of intellectual interests not supported elsewhere. they relished the chance to participate in enriched group activities. the only entry requirement for participation in almost any library program is a willingness to show up. even membership in the teen library council is open to anyone of high school age committed to volunteering. in the library, there is no segregation of young people by grade and never by their ability. the teen services librarian does not give teens a test to see how well they will participate in the conversations. in fact, in this particular library, many english language learners regularly attended these activities, and every effort was made to encourage full participation, including codeswitching between english and home languages. such flexibility encourages involvement in ways that meet the individual needs of each youth. such practices created a democratic space in which brigid and faith could enjoy each other on an equal playing field. finding these two self-proclaimed book nerds hanging out in a public library may not be surprising, but how did they benefit? aspects of each girl’s identities could have isolated them from peers. brigid attended school outside the neighborhood and practiced a little understood pagan religion while faith’s english abilities were behind most of her muslim and second-generation immigrant peers. in the brewer library, these girls became connected to each other, the librarian, and other book lovers, as well as to a diverse set of individuals and ideas through interactive library programs. these experiences widened the context of each girl’s individual reading pursuits. here in the library’s democratic space, the girls could follow their curiosity and expand their personal literacies into community-based connections. 56 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 diversity in discourse facilitated by a librarian the youth who use the brewer library encounter a wide range of people, materials, and activities circulating within the space. but access to such resources is often not sufficient for impacting the young. a key component to literacy development within the public library is how the adults who work there forge relationships between people and across ideas through conversation. talking regularly with youth, teen services librarians such as elaine contextualize experiences coming from the worlds of adolescents (vygotsky, 1978). for example, zavi had moved beyond the reading interests of her peers as well as the curriculum of her current english class. isolation could have easily followed, but in the public library she could attend activities with her teenage friends, engaging in relevant, meaningful dialogues with them and with the librarian. here in the public library she not only found resources, but also deepened understanding of these through ongoing discourse with elaine. linguists who study the conversational patterns of teenagers note that with the coming of technologies of rapid and brief communication, in-depth conversations for many teenagers are disappearing or slowing (heath, 2012). families that include a child with special needs, an ailing elder, or one or both parents who work two jobs and travel long distances for their work have little time for sustained conversations with their teens. direction-giving, instrumental questions, and simple requests constitute much of the talk within such homes. even in middle-income families, conversational time has fallen away with the volume and variety of individual entertainment options in other spaces of the household beyond the kitchen or family room. for the modern teenager, elaine’s discourse skills matter more than ever. teens have curiosity about topics, special interests or needs, and often yearn for after-school company of peers and supportive adults. at the library of this study, elaine’s conversational openers, along with her genuine interest in what teens think, want, and do, opened the teens to back-and-forth talking and topic continuation. such times often led elaine to walk casually to a bookshelf and pull out just the right book or dvd or magazine. thus the conversation continued in another mode. the dialogue would extend even further when elaine next met the youth and asked follow up questions to elicit their thoughts. these conversational openers were neither test nor trick questions, as may be the case with some situations. individual young people and their ideas are of genuine interest to her. through ongoing discourses filled with diverse ideas, elaine contributes to the literacy development of the teens she serves. elaine’s professional experiences and continuing education trained her to provide such contextualized connections for youth that fit their needs. she uses diversity in her discourse, flexibly individualizing services with open-ended questions and follow-up conversations to create trusting relationships. but elaine is only allowed 24 hours per week to work in or for the brewer library, resulting in fewer opportunities for this kind of interaction. while many librarians use a similar discourse, not all are as skilled as elaine, especially when faced with teenagers. on occasions when another staff member or volunteer led a teen program in elaine’s place, the discourse was noticeably different. substitute adults used more closed-ended questions and were less familiar with the young people. conversations were either non-existent or much shorter than those with elaine. limitations and future directions as with most qualitative research, the findings of this single empirical case study cannot be generalized to all of the nearly 17,000 u.s. public libraries. variations in space, resources, staff, 57 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 and patronage make each library unique. to grasp the public library’s full contribution to adolescent literacy, quantitative and qualitative measures must be applied in diverse settings. for example, the ala and the imls regularly gather statistics from public libraries, but less frequently do their surveys ask questions relevant to teen services, creating a data vacuum. however, if more case studies of adolescent readers in their local libraries were carried out with attention to discourse, questioning techniques, and continuation of conversations around known teenager interests, solid comparative analysis would be possible. for example, do public libraries in less diverse communities, with more diverse staff members, or with smaller active teen populations follow the patterns identified here? or do large public libraries with many spaces for small groups find several librarians who genuinely pursue conversations with teenagers? and do libraries serving middle-class families find young people less interested in talking with librarians than is the case in libraries located in diverse communities? broadening empirical studies of adolescents and librarians across communities and libraries with different emphases and local cultural offerings would build resources for librarians as well as for teachers and civic leaders. despite the limitations of this study, many public libraries should recognize elements of their own stories in the brewer library experience. demographic changes are ubiquitous, changing relationships with local schools shift constantly, and teenage interests alter with the latest singing group or new app. yet beyond these changes, every public library can act on a professional commitment to democracy and diversity. portraits of these three readers demonstrate that practices and discourse grounded in these two core values contribute positively to adolescent literacy. in light of these findings, teen services librarians and public library administrators can examine current patterns and make changes to improve access to democratic space and attend to the need for conversational patterns that appeal to adolescents. these understandings can lead librarians to consider barriers, physical and metaphorical, for teen patrons in accessing different resources throughout the day. they can talk with staff about reasonable expectations for adolescent behavior and ways to respond appropriately. in addition, evaluation of the number of librarian hours dedicated to teen services and the levels of training and experience reflected by teen librarians may well be worth considering. a library often operates as a center of community life—particularly for teenagers. replacement of the brewer library by a commercial organization would mean that brigid and faith might cross paths, but would they be connected to each other and their peers through equal opportunities for ongoing adult-teen conversations? not likely, and neither would be zavi’s chances of receiving much more than a few reading recommendations. deep follow-up and follow-through conversations around books, teen topics, and library activities matter to teenagers, preparing them for civic life and for thinking ahead to their ongoing lives with their younger siblings, peers, and eventually their own children. acknowledgements the author gratefully acknowledges the library staff and community members who made this research possible. 58 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 endnotes 1 all names of places and persons in this work have been replaced with pseudonyms. 2 statistics in this section come from reports about the community and library system gathered by library administration. 3 this number represents the percent of likelihood that two students selected at random would be members of a different ethnic group. references agosto, d. e. 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(2016a). access and express: professional perspectives on public library makerspaces and intellectual freedom. public library quarterly, 35(2), 103-125. barniskis, s. c. (2016b). deconstructing the mission: a critical content analysis of public library mission statements. the library quarterly, 86(2), 135-152. barniskis, s. c. (2017). to what ends, by which means? information research, 22(1), 1. burek pierce, j. (2016). the reign of children: the role of games and toys in american public libraries, 1876-1925. information & culture, 51(3), 373–398. chávez, v., & soep, e. (2005). youth radio and the pedagogy of collegiality. harvard educational review, 75(4), 409-434. chávez, v., & soep, e. (2010). drop that knowledge: youth radio stories. berkeley, ca: university of california press. cole, m. (1996). cultural psychology: a once and future discipline. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. 59 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/statementspols/corevalues http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/statementspols/freedomreadstatement “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 critcher lyons, r. (2016). a rationale for public library civics instruction. public library quarterly, 35(3), 254-257. dryzek, j. s. (2000). deliberative democracy and beyond: liberals, critics, contestations. new york, ny: oxford university press. edwards, m. (1974). the fair garden and the swarm of beasts: the library and the young adult, revised and expanded. new york, ny: hawthorn books. gutmann, a., & thompson, d. f. 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(1999). artshow: youth and community development. a resource guide to accompany documentary artshow. washington, dc: partners for livable communities. heath, s. b., & street, b. v. (2008). on ethnography: approaches to language and literacy research. new york, ny: teachers college press. hyland, k. (2009). academic discourse: english in a global context. new york, ny: continuum. 60 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index “book nerds” united the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32589 institute of museum and library services (imls). (2015). fiscal year 2015 data element definitions. washington, dc. retrieved from https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/pls_defs_fy2015.pdf lyons, k. (2018, july 23). 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(2016). “for all the people”: public library directors interpret intellectual freedom. the library quarterly, 86(3), 290-312. patton, m. q. (2002). qualitative research and evaluation methods. thousand oaks, ca: sage. randall, r. (2013). all wired up: understanding the reading and information-searching behavior of teenagers. young adult library services, 11(4), 19-22. shera, j. h. (1949). foundations of the public library: the origins of the public library movement in new england, 1629-1855. chicago, il: university of chicago press. takahashi, d. (2015, september 27). going beyond the books and programs: building real relationships with teens [web log comment]. retrieved from http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2015/09/27/going-beyond-the-books-and-programs-buildingreal-relationships-with-teens/ vygotsky, l. 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"i just hope there's a sequel." what we can learn from young adult novels and the teens who read them (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from proquest dissertations & theses. (3209030) wolf, s. a., coats, k., enciso, p., & jenkins, c. (2011). handbook of research on children's and young adult literature. new york, ny: routledge. sarah a. evans (sevans14@twu.edu) is an assistant professor with the school of library & information studies at texas woman’s university. her research examines the literacies and identities taken up in voluntary learning experiences in libraries. dr. evans holds a bachelor’s degree in drama, a master’s in library and information science, and a doctorate of philosophy in learning sciences from the university of washington, as well as an elementary education certificate from western washington university. 62 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:sevans14@twu.edu introduction ibraries are more than books. to be counted as a public library in the united states, an organization must offer not only materials (including books and non-book items), but also offer staff, services, and facilities that are, at least in part, public... literature review public library values the free public libraries we know today arose in parallel with the establishment of public schools in the 19th century. the library was seen as the schools’ counterpart in the pursuit of universal literacy: “the people’s university” that would educate... library services for teens for librarians who work with youth, their version of “library faith” has long been grounded in the power of reading. betsy hearne and christine jenkins (1999) analyzed the writings of the earliest youth services librarians, “the foremothers,” and foun... adolescents after school starting in the late 1980s, a substantial body of work on voluntary learning emerged from the decade-long spencer foundation sponsorship of milbrey mclaughlin (public policy analyst) and shirley brice heath (linguistic anthropologist) on non-school-re... since the first decade of the joint work noted above, heath has continued to follow ways that families from a variety of socio-economic classes have adapted in their fundamental interactions. with two-working-parent households on the increase, young p... methods data collection the case the community the library findings where all readers are equal pursuing diversity in discourse discussion and conclusions a democratic space created by practices diversity in discourse facilitated by a librarian limitations and future directions acknowledgements endnotes references driving change: creating a policy brief to position the school library as a hub for global citizenship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ driving change: creating a policy brief to position the school library as a hub for global citizenship deborah schamuhn kirk, university of alberta, canada abstract the policy brief is an instrument that can be used both in the workplace and in educational settings to tie knowledge to a call for action. this paper reflects on an mlis candidate’s experience of creating a policy brief to call on school libraries to become key players in promoting peaceful societies. this paper outlines the context in which the policy brief was created, offers a reflection on the learning experience of writing a policy brief, and includes the policy brief itself. the brief begins by contextualizing a particular public school board, edmonton public schools (eps) in canada, as one whose policies aim to serve a diverse population. canada is a multicultural nation with the highest population growth of the g7 countries and immigration accounting for two-thirds of that growth. this paper argues that the library, with social justice values at its core, is well situated to enable eps to move toward such a vision, but that current eps policy has not protected libraries. the brief argues that eps should commit to ensuring that every school has a library, staffed with an listrained teacher-librarian. the overarching goal of the brief is to demonstrate that school libraries can become a hub for global citizenship that facilitates and spearheads a drive for social justice in edmonton’s children and youth—the leaders of tomorrow. keywords: global citizenship; peace education; policy brief; school libraries publication type: special section publication introduction very wednesday evening throughout the winter of 2017, in the cold and dark of one of canada’s northernmost cities, a small group gathered in a small room to turn our focus to the wider world. we had each been drawn to lis 598: information & libraries in the international context for our own reasons, but together we would navigate this course that included in its objectives the goal of “gain[ing] knowledge of the major issues affecting information organizations and libraries in the international context” (dali, 2017, p. 1). our professor, dr. keren dali, encouraged us to “think globally rather than locally” (2017, p. 2) and ensured that our interaction with this topic would not be limited to conversations within our small circle but would extend to “experiential projects” whereby we would “contribute to the international lis community” (p. 2). to this end, one of our assignments was the creation of a policy brief with the goal of publication, thereby directing our focus toward conversation with that international community. our policy briefs were meant to position libraries “as key institutions in driving change across the spectrum of social, political, cultural, and educational spheres,” and demonstrate that e http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, driving change the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ libraries are “considered pivotal in ensuring progress in priority areas outlined by the un” (dali, 2017, p. 20), including progress in the development of peaceful societies. i began this assignment with eyes glazed, my mind a blank. unlike many of those in my class, i had no library work experience, and the word “policy” made my mind fog up like glasses when i come in from the cold. writing policy briefs was not what i had signed up for! but that phrase— “educational spheres”—was something i could speak to. i am a mature student in the university of alberta’s mlis program, and i came to this program after many years of working as a classroom teacher. i have taught in k-12 schools in canada and internationally, most recently in edmonton, canada. when i pictured the challenges of peace, i could see the challenges of working through conflict with students in my classroom. peace is not just a challenge for those who are “over there.” perhaps, i realized, i could tie this challenge of developing peaceful societies to the very local context of the public school, focussing on the school library as a key institution, to use dali’s terminology, that could drive change in the educational sphere. allowing my professional background to have bearing on this class assignment enabled me to bring into focus issues that i had been thinking about directly or indirectly for years. i found that the task of writing a policy brief helped me articulate a problem and identify some specifics of what can be done and why. it invited me to shape a ball of vague dissatisfaction and powerlessness into pointed engagement. reconciling my ideas with the format of a policy brief, as opposed to an essay, urged me to tie reflection with action. i hope that this policy brief will provide an example for students, educators, and practitioners of the way in which this format of writing can be used to merge global, far-reaching concerns with the immediacy of a specific workplace. for practitioners, the policy brief can be a proactive tool with which to nudge along change; for educators and students, policy briefs provide an intermediary between theory and practice, helping writers tether ideas to known circumstances. what follows is the text of my policy brief, “the library as a hub for global citizenship in edmonton public schools,” as written for the class assignment but reformatted for the needs of this journal. at the conclusion of the brief, i have provided reflections on the learning process and challenges of writing the brief. policy brief: the library as a hub for global citizenship in edmonton public schools (eps) big changes start with small steps. the united nations sustainable development goal #16 begins, “promote peaceful and inclusive societies” (ifla, n.d.). much of this work can begin at home, at the local level. for many children and young people in edmonton, their classrooms already reflect significant global diversity. in canada—a country where immigration accounted for the majority its population growth from 2011–2016—the city of edmonton had the secondhighest growth rate in the nation (statistics canada, 2017b). recent immigration projections suggest that by 2036, almost one-half of canadians could be an immigrant or a child of an immigrant (statistics canada, 2017a). in this multicultural context, if children and young people can begin to work toward peaceful and inclusive societies within their classrooms, they are catching a glimpse of what peace might look like around the world. 122 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, driving change the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ edmonton public schools the school district in edmonton is the sixth largest in the country and the second largest in alberta. in 2016–2017, 95,642 students enrolled in edmonton public schools, and the district had an operating budget of $1,122 billion (eps, 2013b). eps is an innovator in education, leading the way in its unique approach to school selection: as a “district of choice,” families are not limited by geographic boundaries, but can choose to send their children to any school in the district. further, decision-making is decentralized, and each school is unique in its instructional focus; for example, schools can focus on arts, sports, or language-learning, with the principal leading the school in its implementation of that focus. however, many school libraries are without a teacher-librarian, and the quality and use of library resources varies widely from school to school. although eps policy is supportive of the “library learning commons” (eps, 2011), it is vague in its guidelines; combine this with a structure that relegates decisions to principals regarding how and whether to invest in the structure, function, and resources of individual school libraries, and it is little wonder that school libraries are disappearing. however, as befitting a school district that serves a diverse population, eps policies are farreaching: • eps is “focused on ensuring each student … develops the ability, passion and imagination to … contribute to their community” (eps, 2013a). • eps’s stated vision is to transform “the learners of today into the leaders of tomorrow” (eps, 2014a). • the goal of eps is “to enable all students to … be engaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit” and to “demonstrate global and cultural understanding” (eps, 2014b). these goals and aims suggest many building blocks of peace. however, they become diluted when spread across a curriculum that divides learning into discrete subject areas and across schools that differ widely in their instructional focus. what is needed is a mechanism by which these goals and aims can come together across all grades, all subject areas, and all schools. the library can provide this mechanism. the library as a hub visualizing the hub think of the school environment as a wheel. if each spoke of the wheel represents the work done in disparate classrooms, the library can be seen as the hub that joins that work together and makes it possible for the wheel to move forward. making connections the learning environment should be designed to help students see that global and cultural understanding is not limited to a particular project for a particular class. because teacherlibrarians are non-specialists and work with teachers across all grades, they can facilitate 123 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, driving change the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ connections across grades and curricula. in some guidelines, such as those for the international baccalaureate program, the importance of these connections is not only encouraged but also clearly stated in the curriculum; however, it is up to the teacher to make those connections. the teacher-librarian can guide teachers in finding the points of intersection. facilitating service learning as the hub that connects many curricular spokes, and as an inclusive commons for students, the library is well situated to facilitate service learning. an example of service learning could be an instance when “science students collect and analyze water samples, document their results, and present findings to a local pollution control agency” (peacejam, n.d.); this helps students move from learning toward applied learning and doing. the teacher-librarian could assist in planning service learning, also enabling science teachers to see the tie-ins to, for example, persuasive writing in the language arts curriculum. this connection between writing, science, and service could move students toward relevant, meaningful learning. from gathering resources to creating new content as an information specialist, the teacher-librarian is able to efficiently gather and organize relevant information. the teacher-librarian is a potential source of carefully selected materials on which the teacher can rely when planning learning activities. this is essential because, as has been suggested, “culturally diverse children’s print and digital materials can be used to first foster cultural competence in students and then motivate them to engagement in social justice activities” (naidoo & sweeney, 2015, p. 199). further, in a multicultural context, the school librarian can provide opportunities for empowerment by enabling students to create multicultural content for the school library. as a wordsmith and media specialist, the school librarian can enable students’ “own capacity to create and disseminate content so that [their] voices can be heard” (lor, 2016, p. 29). also, not limited to working with a particular age group, the library could be a place where older students mentor younger students in crafting their own content; this will further contribute to the sense of community and relationship building within the school. effecting change exposure to print and digital materials alone does not necessarily lead students to take action. rather, students need to engage in dialogue about how they “can realistically effect change that will make a step towards righting the injustice” (naidoo & sweeney, 2015, p. 199). the teacher-librarian is also a potential source of relevant research on current pedagogy; for instance, kathy bickmore, a researcher in ontario, highlights the challenge of bringing authentic discussions of conflict to the classroom and outlines “key elements” that increase teachers’ capacity for engaging students in a dialogue that makes space for marginalized voices (bickmore, 2014, p. 553). by working together, the teacher and teacher-librarian can ensure that both the materials and the pedagogy work in tandem toward a goal of motivating the school community to effect change. space for contradictions john ralston saul, writer and essayist, suggests that within canada there is “[s]pace for multiple identities and multiple loyalties, … for an idea of belonging which is comfortable with 124 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, driving change the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ contradictions” (foran, 2017, para. 24; emphasis mine). learning to be comfortable with contradictions does not come by default, but it is a crucial element of peacebuilding dialogues (bickmore, 2014). edmonton public school classrooms, populated with students with diverse backgrounds, attitudes, and opinions, seemingly offer an ideal context for sustained, “mutual engagement with contrasting and conflicting perspectives” (bickmore, 2014, p. 554). however, while some classrooms may move toward this ideal, the very “school system context … may constrain implementation of dialogic pedagogies addressing conflict” (bickmore, 2014, p. 555). the staffed school library, although located within the school building, provides a somewhat autonomous space. not strictly bound by curricular guidelines, but not detached from the learning resources either, it offers a more neutral and less hegemonic space for students to engage in dialogue and to extend conversations beyond the classroom. community connections school librarians are well positioned to connect one school to another, for example, by taking turns hosting events and connecting student participants from different schools. of course, school libraries do not exist in a vacuum, and many peace-building roles are played by community services already in place, such as the local public library. in edmonton, for example, edmonton public library (epl) already engages in many peace-building initiatives suggested by lor (2016): informing, promoting, educating, creating resources, empowering, healing, and advocating for peace (pp. 27–30). however, school libraries are unique in the space they inhabit; that is, their placement within school buildings makes them highly visible to every young person who attends that school. school and public libraries could work together to make programs and speakers easily accessible to young people, bringing resources into the space of the school library. the school library could also connect students to resources beyond their city and school, such as those available through peacejam, an international program “committed to positive change in [young leaders], their communities, and the world” (peacejam, 2016). this visionary program introduces young people to nobel peace laureates, helping youth learn from others and become “knowledgeable contributors to their community” (blackwell, 2006, p. 33). it relies on school libraries and librarians to improve publicity, act as student advisors, and engage teachers and students in program activities. working together with classroom teachers, as well as service providers in the broader community, school libraries could become the hub that brings together children and young adults with resources that empower them to become, in the words of eps, ethical citizens who contribute to their communities and leaders who strive for peace. recommendations goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely; “smart” is an acronym well known to goal-setters (rathi, 2017). this policy brief would have eps look closely at their goal “to enable all students to … be engaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit” and to “demonstrate global and cultural understanding” (eps, 2014b) and ask whether it is indeed a smart goal in the context of the current school structure. to make this goal “achievable,” it is recommended that eps align it with the work of the school library and be “specific,” not vague, in outlining the role of the library as learning commons. it is also recommended that eps enlist the help of trained teacher-librarians in achieving and 125 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, driving change the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ measuring this goal and that it allocate a fraction of its $1,122 billion operating budget to build a library infrastructure rather than leaving the decision of whether or how to run a school library to individual school principals. already a leader in its approach to “choice,” it is recommended that eps make the bold choice of clarifying the role of the school library and formalizing its support. in doing so, eps could transform the school library from a holding place for scholastic serials and out-of-date dinosaurs into a hub for global citizenship. writing a policy brief as a learning process as this was the first policy brief i had written, i had some uncertainty as to whether or not my writing style and focus matched the goals of the format. i tried to be clear in what i saw as the main issue but, on the one hand, my writing felt rather heavy-handed and overly obvious. it was also challenging to bring together the different threads to articulate and support my beliefs that the education of children and young people is intimately tied to the possibility of peace in the world; that the school library is an integral part of such an education; and that what happens in eps is relevant in a global context. the scope of this policy brief was limited to providing a rationale for making the school library a central hub. as such, i did not consider the details of how eps should financially support school libraries. i decided to cite the $1 billion figure to emphasize my point that eps has vast resources at its disposal, but i left out the actual details of how eps might allocate those funds. these are limitations of this brief as it currently stands. it was also challenging to find the right balance between being comprehensive and being selective. i cited and listed more references than i found in some sample policy briefs, so perhaps i was not selective enough. however, i felt that including a range of references was important for making a persuasive case and building up the multiple threads of my argument. in the end, i found that i enjoyed the challenge of tying a theoretical argument to the specifics and realities of a familiar workplace. also, it was an assignment requirement that we format the brief as a visually appealing document using basic publishing and graphic design tools, and i enjoyed the freedom of using visual design aspects to sharpen my argument. conclusion collaborating on policy development in the context of the workplace could enable practitioners to work together to address the need for change. writing a policy brief does not have to be a lonely task; if i had worked on my brief with colleagues who had complementary skills and backgrounds, we might have been able to include, for example, specific suggestions for eps on how to restructure its finances to enable the work of school libraries. the usefulness of policy briefs could also extend to the realm of public and academic libraries. as knowledgeable practitioners invested in their communities, public and academic librarians impact the economic, educational, and social spheres, with the american library association (ala, 2018) identifying over 24 areas in which libraries make a difference. policy briefs, with their wellsupported, specific, and clear arguments, support a drive for change and provide an effective means of engagement. as such, they can serve as a proactive tool to instigate and sustain change. 126 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, driving change the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ references american library association. (2018). impact on community development. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/tools/research/librariesmatter/node/14 bickmore, k. (2014). peacebuilding dialogue pedagogies in canadian classrooms. curriculum inquiry, 44(4), 553–582. blackwell, g. (2006). teaching peace. knowledge quest, 34(5), 31–33. dali, k. (2017). lis 598: information & libraries in the international context [course outline]. edmonton, ab: school of library and information studies, university of alberta, canada. edmonton public schools (eps). (2011). integrated school library learning commons. retrieved from https://www.epsb.ca/ourdistrict/policy/g/gibd-bp edmonton public schools (eps). (2013a). about us. retrieved from https://www.epsb.ca edmonton public schools (eps). (2013b). facts and stats. retrieved from https://www.epsb.ca/ourdistrict/facts/ edmonton public schools (eps). (2014a). district vision, mission, values, and priorities. retrieved from https://www.epsb.ca/ourdistrict/policy/a/ad-bp/ edmonton public schools (eps). (2014b). student programs of study. retrieved from https://www.epsb.ca/ourdistrict/policy/g/ga-bp foran, c. (2017, january 4). the canada experiment: is this the world’s first ‘postnational’ country? the guardian. retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/04/the-canada-experiment-is-this-theworlds-first-postnational-country ifla. (n.d.). libraries can drive progress across the entire un 2030 agenda. retrieved from http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/topics/libraries-development/documents/sdgsinsert.pdf lor, p. j. (2016). libraries, internationalism, and peace: lectio magistralis in biblioteconomia [text of a lecture]. retrieved from http://digital.casalini.it/9788876560194 naidoo, j. c., & sweeney, m. e. (2015). educating for social justice: perspectives from library and information science and collaboration with k-12 social studies educators. journal of international social studies, 5(1), 196–207. peacejam. (n.d.) a guide for creating & presenting your peacejam project. retrieved from http://www.peacejam.org/media/1355/a-guide-for-creating-presenting-yourpeacejam-project.pdf peacejam. (2016). about us. retrieved from http://www.peacejam.org/about-us rathi, d. (2017). planning [class slides]. edmonton, ab: school of library and information 127 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.ala.org/tools/research/librariesmatter/node/14 https://www.epsb.ca/ourdistrict/policy/g/gibd-bp https://www.epsb.ca/ https://www.epsb.ca/ourdistrict/facts/ https://www.epsb.ca/ourdistrict/policy/a/ad-bp/ https://www.epsb.ca/ourdistrict/policy/g/ga-bp https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/04/the-canada-experiment-is-this-the-worlds-first-postnational-country https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/04/the-canada-experiment-is-this-the-worlds-first-postnational-country http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/topics/libraries-development/documents/sdgs-insert.pdf http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/topics/libraries-development/documents/sdgs-insert.pdf http://digital.casalini.it/9788876560194 http://www.peacejam.org/media/1355/a-guide-for-creating-presenting-your-peacejam-project.pdf http://www.peacejam.org/media/1355/a-guide-for-creating-presenting-your-peacejam-project.pdf http://www.peacejam.org/about-us driving change the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ studies, university of alberta, canada. statistics canada. (2017a, january 25). study: a look at immigration, ethnocultural diversity and languages in canada up to 2036, 2011 to 2036. the daily. retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170125/dq170125b-eng.htm statistics canada. (2017b, february 8). population size and growth in canada: key results from the 2016 census. the daily. retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/dailyquotidien/170208/dq170208a-eng.htm deborah schamuhn kirk (schamuhn@ualberta.ca) is an mlis candidate at the university of alberta in edmonton, canada. prior to her current studies, she worked as a teacher both in canada and internationally, teaching english language arts and mathematics to junior high and high school students. she also holds an ma (english). her research interests include education in and for a global context, early literacy and its interaction with digital media, inquiry based learning, and human information interaction, especially as it applies to young people. coursework for information and libraries in the international context, taught by dr. keren dali, helped deborah reflect on the k-12 school environment through the lens of peace education and led to this policy brief. 128 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170125/dq170125b-eng.htm http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170208/dq170208a-eng.htm http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170208/dq170208a-eng.htm mailto:schamuhn@ualberta.ca introduction policy brief: the library as a hub for global citizenship in edmonton public schools (eps) edmonton public schools the library as a hub visualizing the hub making connections facilitating service learning from gathering resources to creating new content effecting change space for contradictions community connections recommendations writing a policy brief as a learning process conclusion references book review: design thinking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36066 ijidi: book review clarke, r. i. (2020). design thinking. american library association neal-schuman. isbn 9780838917923. 59 pp. $24.99 us. reviewer: mona elayyan, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: critical thinking; design—methodology; libraries—aims and objectives; library administration—decision making; library planning; problem solving publication type: book review achel clarke’s design thinking is a useful book that attempts an explanation of a complex process to create better user experiences. the historical background, the extensive research conducted within this field, and clarke’s examples from within and outside of lis, demonstrate the difficulty and the significance of this process for solving problems. she defines design thinking as the movement that sprung from the “methods, processes, and perspectives that designers undertake to create products” (p. 2). she later demonstrates the evolution of its meaning over the years. her purpose in authoring this book is to introduce information professionals to the various steps of design thinking and encourage a culture of creativity and innovation at all levels of the library. while clarke’s book is too short—at 59 pages—to deliver the complexity and depth owed to this topic, it does ultimately communicate its intended message: drawing library organizations’ attention to design thinking and demonstrating a link between librarians’ work and that of designers. in urging librarians “to acknowledge—and embrace—their role as designers” (p. 43), she demonstrates the value it brings to improving access to, and the discovery of, information. clarke’s description of the shift in design thinking from developing tangible user products to intangible experiences, aligns closely with library programming efforts. since libraries’ objectives are to deliver social and educational events aimed at connecting communities and engaging them in a variety of learning experien ces, it is especially their obligation to participate in, learn about, and be aware of, design thinking. the book’s historical description frames the development of design thinking from an intuitive activity to an explicit formula that affords novices and non-designers—such as information professionals—an opportunity to apply its theories of design. the process consists of employing designer’s unique skills, that rely on empathetic discovery, problem finding, and definition, ideation, creation, and evaluation (p. 13). for designers to succeed in each step of this process, they are expected to seek critique from their peers and users to help them deliver a final product that benefits users. as clarke perceives it, design thinking is meant to place the emphasis on “what designers are thinking … in addition to what they are doing” (p. 2). again, the book emphasizes the benefits librarians can achieve from following these concrete steps to create targeted programs and inviting spaces. problem solving is a key focus of design thinking. while some problems are easy to identify, others are not. referencing design theorists like horst rittel and melvin webber who r https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index design thinking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36066 generated the term “wicked problems” (p. 6) to define “unique, interconnected, and poorly defined problems that cannot be definitively described” (p. 6) extends the scope of issues design thinking is meant to resolve. it also illustrates the complexities design thinking is employed to address. since “wicked problems” are a common aspect of library operations, it reinforces the value of implementing design thinking. the online catalogue is used as an example to demonstrate the dynamic nature of these problems, where each possible solution only results in further questions that ultimately influence the overall design. an example of such questions is: are libraries solving the problem of access or are they responsible for material inventory? if the problem that needs to be solved is a matter of access, then “is it ease of access, universality of access, remote access, or … all the above?” (p. 20). this example demonstrates the different possible routes libraries consider when addressing these types of problems. clarke aims to illustrate and engage libraries in recognizing and identifying the dynamic changes each solution brings to the original problem. she also reveals the importance of acknowledging aspects of the problem that remain unresolved because of applying one type of solution. the application of design thinking relies as much on the process as it does on the organizational environment that cultivates a culture of creativity, innovation, and iteration. clarke uses the design firm ideo (https://www.ideo.com/) as an example of an exemplary design thinking environment for libraries to model their operations on. since ideo has established its operation on the premise of inclusivity, diversity, and teamwork, their workspaces nurture curiosity as an important step to problem finding and defining. thei r main focus is the user and their business style is to embrace creativity and innovation. having established a safe space for sharing ideas, team members are comfortable proposing “the strangest, most impossible idea [which] can inspire other, more realis tic ones” (p. 16). in fact, failure is perceived as a form of growth and learning rather than a taboo. as such, failure is a method of leading designers to more desirable iterations that ultimately offer satisfying outcomes for users. in illustrating this work environment in detail, clarke proposes a framework for organizations to adhere to so as to foster successful design thinking environments. through ideo, she demonstrates to libraries an accepted and conducive design culture that cultivates a work environment where “the process and mindset” (p. 44) are both appreciated and understood. securing organizational support is also key to properly implementing design thinking that ensures collegial partnerships and productive interactions. embracing the steps involved and being open to the possibility of critique and design iterations are also essential to the profession since it reinforces, and shapes approaches that meet community needs. these components are necessary for design thinking to flourish and produ ce desirable outcomes. however, adopting one type of user approach can result in drawbacks. in design thinking, clarke argues that libraries have mostly adopted a user-centred approach that focuses on delivering tools and services that libraries assume users should have as opposed to tools and services users actually want. this is often problematic if the key decision makers of such tools and services are not representative of the community they serve. she describes this practice as having evolved to rely more on investigative evidence rather than professional assumptions by exercising “needs assessment” (p. 23). although this approach has returned helpful insights, the emphasis on the “user” aspect has resulted in reducing “people to their use of a thing, rather than engaging with their experiences as human beings” (pp. 23 -24). clarke’s caution against relying solely on user-centred approaches is valid, since it produces 143 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.ideo.com/ design thinking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36066 questions that focus on improving pre-existing tools and services instead of their overall efficacy. she argues that this approach places the burden on the user to identify the problem and propose solutions when they are not in a position to do so (p. 25). therefore, design thinking in libraries should encourage both a human-centred as well as a value-centred approach that considers both the larger user-journey as well as the community needs to assess and design useful programming. clarke deliberately challenges existing library working structures by questioning the past, present, and future of design thinking in these institutions. she suggests the need for mindful and deliberate actions to improve design in libraries, as a whole, from a user-centred, human-centred, and value-centred standpoint. change within these institutions depends greatly on embedding design thinking principles at early stages in information professionals’ careers, making it an essential part of the mlis curriculum. as a result, this guarantees the eventual presence of design thinking skills at all levels of the organization so as to embrace and foster a conducive culture of innovation, criticism, and design. libraries have a social responsibility to their communities since they direct learning and influence education inand outside of formal classrooms. the principles they adopt, from open education to equal access, and the decisions they make, will have lasting impact that permeate throughout the community to produce positive or negative effects. design thinking is, therefore, a necessary component for information professionals to adopt. the practice of design thinking is more complex than its prescribed steps, as argued by expert designer natasha jen in her 2017 adobe 99u conference presentation. this is also evidenced by clarke’s reference to mounds of literary research and published works from astute design theorists and practitioners, who believe that design thinking is a phrase and process that only illuminates what comes intuitively to skilled designers. their publications demonstrate the practice, reflection, and critique needed to reach the level of knowledge that designers should possess. but as lee-sean huang, an adjunct assistant professor of design at new york university's robert f. wagner graduate school of public service, states in a podcast called foossa: design thinking is just “a way to open up conversations about design and creative problem solving to wider audiences… [it] gives tools to people to think creatively, work collaboratively and imagine and prototype potential future states” (huang, 2019, 12:32 ) that would otherwise not be possible. all information professionals should read this book as an introduction to design thinking. references huang, l. s. (host). (2019). yes, design thinking is bullshit… and we should promote it anyway [audio podcast episode] in foossa. soundcloud. https://soundcloud.com/leeseanh/yesdesign-thinking-is-bs jen, n. (2017, june). design thinking is bullsh*t [conference session]. adobe 99u conference, new york city, ny, united states. https://99u.adobe.com/videos/55967/natasha-jendesign-thinking-is-bullshit 144 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://soundcloud.com/leeseanh/yes-design-thinking-is-bs https://soundcloud.com/leeseanh/yes-design-thinking-is-bs https://99u.adobe.com/videos/55967/natasha-jen-design-thinking-is-bullshit https://99u.adobe.com/videos/55967/natasha-jen-design-thinking-is-bullshit design thinking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36066 mona elayyan (mona.elayyan@gmail.com) worked as the web services and user experience librarian at columbia university library. usability planning and testing were key aspects of her role. her research focuses on making online information accessible, engaging, and discoverable for all users. she received a bsc in electrical engineering, an honours ba in english literature, a master of information from the university of toronto, and a msc in digital humanities from university college london. in her previous roles she worked as an outreach and instructional librarian at the university of toronto, a reference and instructional librarian at york university, and interned as a research data strategist at the british library. 145 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:mona.elayyan@gmail.com references book review: elements of indigenous style the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32597 ijidi: book review younging, g. (2018). elements of indigenous style: a guide for writing by and about indigenous people. [edmonton, ab]: brush education. isbn 9781550597122. 141 pp. $19.95 us. reviewer: deborah lee, university of saskatchewan, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: indigenous editing; indigenous protocols; indigenous publishing; indigenous writing publication type: book review nternational journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi) readers, including academics, researchers, library practitioners, and graduate students will find this technical publication immensely helpful, particularly if they are writing or editing pieces with indigenous content for publication. gregory younging, the indigenous author of the book being reviewed, has decades of experience editing and publishing indigenous content, and specifies that this text is intended for both indigenous and non-indigenous writers (academic or not), editors, and publishers. i highly recommend this book for those librarians, library and information science (lis) professors, and instructors who are responsible for grading essays, and editing papers, articles, and book chapters. however, i would also recommend this book for all mainstream editors and publishers, especially those who may have unknowingly disrespected indigenous thought and knowledge in the past and who are willing to learn to adopt more respectful editing and publishing practices. a multitude of technical writing issues are covered in this book; it will likely answer all of your questions related to how to respectfully present written ideas and knowledge involving indigenous content. as younging states, “a key goal of indigenous style is to show respect on the page” (p. 87), respect for indigenous protocols, cultural property, and knowledge. my first impression while reading the early parts of the book was that this was a technical publication with very “down to earth” and common-sense content related to writing by and about indigenous peoples. there was not much new in the early sections for me as an indigenous person, but for non-indigenous editors and publishers, this could be an indispensable guide to build confidence and a foundation for learning and applying the basics of indigenous writing style. in later sections of the book, the content helped clarify some elements of indigenous style that i was unsure about as well as some new insights i had not gleaned previously, such as usage (or not) of certain terms (e.g., clans/clans) and various sections of younging’s appendix d, “gnaritas nullius (no one’s knowledge)”, which provides very interesting cases on indigenous intellectual property rights and patents. most readers may find the “22 principles of indigenous style” (and the logic leading up to them) that are summarized in the book and listed in appendix a to be the most useful aspect of the book. these range from the purpose of indigenous style, to the recognition of indigenous identity and cultural property (and thereby avoiding cultural appropriation), to working with traditional knowledge and oral tradition, to avoiding the use of inappropriate terminology, to the appropriate use of capitalization of certain terms, to the need for extreme sensitivity when editing and publishing works on indigenous trauma, and to guidelines for avoiding the use of the past tense when writing about indigenous peoples (and, of i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index elements of indigenous style the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32597 course, much more). of particular interest to me in this book are the case studies contributed by other indigenous and non-indigenous individuals, most of whom are involved in the publishing industry (including author and publisher collaborations). the first one focuses on the university of regina press (in saskatchewan, canada), which has hired three indigenous staff, including office manager and manuscript reviewer, wendy whitebear. she writes about her considerable influence concerning indigenous protocols being followed by authors of potential publications with indigenous content at the press. for instance, she checks for whether or not the author has consulted with family members (if needed) or with elders in this regard. likewise, the press’ non-indigenous publisher, bruce walsh, has contributed to this section, stating that all three indigenous staff are at the decision-making table during meetings at the press and their perspectives are valued: “they hear subtle bias in wording” (p. 5). another exciting staffing initiative at the university of regina press is the hiring of an annual indigenous intern as part of an apprenticeship program to build capacity of indigenous peoples to learn the ins and outs of the publishing industry. other case studies provided in the book also demonstrate valuable “best practices” for implementing indigenous style. ijidi readers will also appreciate various social justice issues discussed throughout this book, particularly for indigenous writers who prefer to engage in a professional relationship with editors and publishers who are interested in getting to know these indigenous authors. indigenous writers may also prefer to engage with publishers who understand that taking the time to develop respectful relationships with indigenous writers is important and worthwhile. from my own experience working with non-indigenous editors and publishers, i encountered, at best, those who floundered with knowing how to edit indigenous content and who, in the end, learned to trust what i was writing and putting forward on the page. at worst, i’ve encountered dogmatic, oppressive, and adversarial non-indigenous editors and publishers throughout the editing and publishing process. in the worst-case scenario, had i not needed the publication for various reasons, i would have dropped the project rather than suffer the indignation of being at the mercy of power-tripping editors and publishers. however, my options for publishing were limited due to a lack of mainstream library publishers who recognized the “market” for indigenous publications (although this is currently improving). this type of situation should not happen to anyone; particularly people of color in the academy, whose responsibilities and burdens are great for every aspect of academia. now that elements of indigenous style has been published, there is no excuse for this type of treatment of indigenous authors to happen again, especially if this book is well-promoted within the non-indigenous editing and publishing communities. one area where this book could be improved pertains to the section on métis identity and terminology (p. 67-68). missing in this section is a somewhat recent development of a false métis identity group known as the eastern métis, or race-shifting, where non-indigenous people in quebec and provinces further east are taking strong measures to obtain indigenous identity as a new kind of métis people, without evidence to substantiate these claims (which are also being legally denied). the most troubling aspect of this movement is that these non-indigenous peoples have been known to engage in anti-indigenous racist comments and activism prior to joining this movement, which suggests that their motives for pursuing legal indigenous status are disingenuous. (see gaudry & leroux, 2017, and leroux, 2018, for more in this regard.) while this is a complex issue, it would be helpful, particularly for non-indigenous people, to know that this is a currently troublesome movement and something to be aware of when contemplating métis identity and terminology during the editing and publishing processes. having said this, i 104 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index elements of indigenous style the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32597 acknowledge that younging has invited contributions to flesh out parts of the book that are lacking. in his preface, he indicates that this book is just a starting point for defining elements of indigenous style and encourages critique of his propositions in the book and “more comprehensive solutions” to defining indigenous style as something to strive for in the future (p. xi-xii). also, keeping in mind that ijidi readers are international in scope, it would be helpful to note that this book prioritizes the indigenous writing, editing and publishing scene in canada. a minor concern for some might be that there are a few instances where terminologies in the canadian context are not issues in the u.s. context. however, that is not to say that those who live outside of canada will not gain anything from reading elements of indigenous style. many of the principles discussed and outlined in the book will pertain to any indigenous nation, no matter their geographic location. for instance, the general advice provided to consult with the indigenous nation being written about to ensure accuracy would apply broadly. younging also draws from content in the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples which is international in scope, as well as content from indigenous cultural policies in australia. several sections in the appendices also include the thoughts of internationally-based indigenous authors. as stated earlier, i very much recommend purchasing a copy of this book, particularly for lis editors and publishers as well as for mainstream editors and publishers. elements of indigenous style endeavors to create a new (and more respectful) relationship between indigenous and nonindigenous peoples in the editing and publishing industries. i contend that, as readers of this journal, it is our social justice responsibility to promote the reading of this book and the application of its established principles as much as possible and to encourage editors and publishers to have this book at their fingertips when working with indigenous content in forthcoming new publications as well as previously published work that is due for revision or a new edition. ekosi maka (a nêhiyaw expression for “that’s all”). references gaudry, a. & leroux, d. (2017). white settler revisionism and making métis everywhere: the evocation of métissage in quebec and nova scotia. critical ethnic studies, 3(1), 116-142. leroux, d. (2018, november 1). self-made métis. maisonneuve: a quarterly journal of arts, opinion & ideas. retrieved from https://maisonneuve.org/article/2018/11/1/selfmade-metis/?fbclid=iwar2p_58fqb3kuukb1uyw71vfocwzu0yzseqxvyanwzflsdb13oipct8d5o deborah lee (deborah.lee@usask.ca) is a nêhiyaw (cree), métis, and haudenosaunee (mohawk) librarian and is originally from treaty 6 territory near what is now known as edmonton, or amiskwaciwâskahikan (a nêhiyaw word which translates roughly to beaver hills house). she is currently the indigenous studies & community initiatives librarian at the university of saskatchewan in saskatoon, saskatchewan, canada, and has been an academic librarian for 105 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://maisonneuve.org/article/2018/11/1/self-made-metis/?fbclid=iwar2p_58fqb3kuukb1-uyw71vfocwzu0yzseqxvyanwzflsdb13oipct8d5o https://maisonneuve.org/article/2018/11/1/self-made-metis/?fbclid=iwar2p_58fqb3kuukb1-uyw71vfocwzu0yzseqxvyanwzflsdb13oipct8d5o https://maisonneuve.org/article/2018/11/1/self-made-metis/?fbclid=iwar2p_58fqb3kuukb1-uyw71vfocwzu0yzseqxvyanwzflsdb13oipct8d5o mailto:deborah.lee@usask.ca elements of indigenous style the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32597 nearly twelve years, beginning this part of her career journey as the indigenous studies portal team leader and librarian. her research interests include indigenous methodologies, indigenous protocols, and indigenous literatures and other creative arts. deborah has published widely, including in peer-reviewed indigenous studies and library journals, and has edited/co-edited two books on indigenous librarianship. 106 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index references diversity, recordkeeping, and archivy (ijidi 5-1 editorial) the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.36003 diversity, recordkeeping, and archivy guest editors: rebecka taves sheffield, archives of ontario, canada janet ceja, simmons university, usa stanley h. griffin, the university of the west indies, jamaica keywords: anti-racism; archives; archival studies; black histories; de-colonization; genealogy; indigenizing; recordkeeping publication type: editorial editorial his special issue of ijidi on “diversity, recordkeeping, and archivy” brings together research from archival scholars, practitioners, and educators working to challenge the persistence of whiteness, classism, sexism, heterosexism, transphobia, and colonizing approaches in archives. as a profession, the field of archives began with a particular western imperialist axiology that continues to inform what many archivists value today. these values underpin our methods and practices by presupposing what ought to be in an archive, how we ought to behave as archivists, who is able to access collections, and how we ought to serve those who access our collections. by extension, archival studies has emerged as an academic discipline with a set of tacit assumptions about records and recordkeeping practices that neatly align with this axiology. at present, however, the discipline of archives—sometimes referred to in north america as “archivy”—is experiencing a transformative moment. in part, this seismic shift in our understanding of what archives are, what they do, and who they serve, is part of a larger postmodern moment that has afforded us new tools to critically examine the assumptions that structure our work. this new era is also fueled by, what archival activist ariel schudson has called, a “strong feeling of discontent and aggravation” about a “willful and continued lack of representation” of bipoc (black, indigenous and people of colour) in archivy (schudson, interviewed in on-call research team #1, 2016). one might suggest that those of us working in the global north are witnessing a diversity turn in archives. we are increasingly concerned about representation, both in the profession and in the collections we cultivate, and about building a more inclusive discipline overall. we, the guest editors of this special issue, present a collection of articles that not only contribute to this diversity turn, but also go one step further to challenge the very limitations of ‘diversity’ as an organizing principle in archivy. this issue opens with the research article, “brick walls and tick boxes: experiences of marginalised workers in the u.k. archive workforce” by kirsty fife and hannah henthorn. in this paper, the authors report on the results of their recent survey of u.k.-based information professionals to expose the many barriers that various cultural groups and/or working-class people experience when navigating typical pathways to entering the archives profession. fife t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi diversity, recordkeeping, and archivy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.36003 and henthorn take a decidedly personal approach to exploring the issues of workforce precarity, whiteness, and classism in the profession and how these conditions disproportionately impact marginalised workers. the authors centre the voices of their participants to highlight lived experiences and to give further evidence to support the feelings of “discontent and aggravation” schudson has described. whereas as fife and henthorn’s work exposes the significant personal toll required to enter, qualify, and progress within the profession, the next article in this issue reports on the ways in which the u.k. profession has responded to diversity issues. in “against whitewashing: the recent history of anti-racist action in the british archives sector,” alicia chilcott, kirsty fife, james lowry, jenny moran, arike oke, anna sexton, and jass thethi describe the problem of white supremacy in u.k. archives and provide an overview of how some professional organizations are responding. the authors focus on a particular flashpoint of the 2019 annual meeting of the archives and records association (ara), during which archivists from a variety of backgrounds came together to develop a strategic and coordinated approach to define and realize a vision of a more inclusive profession. what does an inclusive profession look like? what does diversity mean for archives and archivists? as editors of this volume, we struggle with the concepts of diversity and inclusion. the term diversity works across a variety of contexts because, like the term “race”, “diversity” floats around like an empty signifier—it absorbs meanings and can be framed as benign or controversial, depending on the intent of the user or the orientations of the receiver (haine, et al., 2019). because of this linguistic vagueness, diversity can actually maintain normative order and oppressive power relations by obscuring the precision we need to actually talk about systemic imbalances of power. in fact, as we discovered reading and editing the articles for this issue, diversity is often used as code for non-white, polycultural, and sociolinguistically complex or for the process of othering whiteness. diversity is also framed politically by being compared against the more radical aims of liberation, a term with a long history in social movements across the world. the conceptual limitations of diversity are also visible in the library and information science field (lis), where some but certainly not all of the discussion about archives takes place. as david james hudson (2017) notes, the lis diversity paradigm “treats racism largely as a problem of monocultural homogeneity, identifying multicultural heterogeneity as its vision of racial justice and inclusion as its central anti-racist framework” (p. 6). he cautions that, “to be included in a space is not necessarily to have agency within that space” (p. 13). tania canas (2017), who in part inspired this issue, goes so far as to claim that “diversity is a white word” (para. 2). as such, the term “diversity” is employed to diffuse tensions, not to confront them or move through them. in “a weapon and a tool: decolonizing description and embracing redescription as liberatory archival praxis,” tonia sutherland and alyssa purcell intentionally discuss the limitations of diversity as a concept. they remind us that “diversity initiatives are only meaningful to the extent that unjust systems are maintained and enforced, which ultimately evades and neglects issues of oppression and dehumanization.” the article offers perspective on how diversity and inclusion efforts in archives must go beyond making collections about marginalized groups openly accessible; they must also account for the oppressive systemic practices that exist within our field. the authors focus on two cases: the redescription of the hawaiʻi state archives’ m-93 queen liliʻuokalani manuscript collection finding aid and the digitization of the archives of atlantic slavery. for the latter, sutherland and purcell point out that, while digitization promises greater access to historical knowledge, these types of projects can fall prey to the problem of 2 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, recordkeeping, and archivy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.36003 reinscribing racist ideologies by “uncritically circulat[ing] records rooted in generational trauma, hatred, and genocide.” through these cases, sutherland and purcell discuss how descriptive language can reveal messy—racist—histories and show how a critical descriptive practice can be used as a liberatory praxis designed to confront racist and colonial archival systems. another way to overcome the limitations of diversity as an organizing principle is to reject the rosy outcomes that this paradigm promises and embrace the axiom of progress, not perfection. we can do better or, as chilcott et. al. implore of us, we can “be braver”. developing the courage to critically examine our practices and methods is a core message in “ancestry.com’s race stories: examining whiteness on the genealogy web” by anna robinson-sweet. in this article, robinson-sweet examines the practice of genealogy in the era of digital access and commercial dna testing to reveal the connections between family history and the privileging of whiteness. in doing so, she deftly unmasks ancestry’s “willful ignorance” in architecting a site that “effectively erases the violence at the root of many family trees by failing to give users the ability to explain or acknowledge ancestors born of rape, particularly ancestors born to enslaved women and their enslavers.” robinson-sweet implicates archival actions and partnerships that have allowed genealogical websites to obscure relationships that brutally connect black families to white families. robinson-sweet then offers concrete steps for archivists to challenge the digital architectures that reinscribe this violence into digital architectures and practices. identifying and understanding the ways in which archival methods and practices can harm, oftentimes unintentionally, is a critical first step. the final article in this issue describes how institutional archives can potentially retraumatize indigenous visitors and researchers, many of whom access these repositories in search of records that document first order violence. in “laughter filled the space: challenging euro-centric archival spaces,” krista mccracken and skylee-storm hogan describe the ways in which archives are designed in ways that are spatially oppressive and fail to support the mental health of those engaged in researching records of trauma. they compare the strangeness of these spaces to those designed by and for indigenous communities. in particular, they describe how the shingwauk residential schools centre (srsc) has been designed around indigenous practices, such as making available tobacco tie offerings and modular furniture to allow for family and group conversation. mccracken and hogan reimagine archival spaces that are responsive to the emotional and physical needs of indigenous visitors, and where archivists are knowledgeable about indigenous cultures and their practices are trauma-informed. while mccracken and hogan acknowledge that public archives cannot be decolonized—they are structures of colonizing agents—archivists can participate in decolonizing work that forms part of a larger movement to support indigenous rights and self-determination. linda tuhiwai smith’s (2013) twenty-five indigenous projects are befitting of the work done here as these authors demonstrate what it means to represent, envision, reframe, revitalize, name, and create as a part of this larger indigenous movement. we end this editorial with a glimpse into our own journey to bring these articles together. throughout our editorial meetings, we discussed how the concepts of diversity and inclusion are socialized differently within each of the regions that we reside. in the u.s., the term ‘diversity’ came into usage in the late 1970s, when it was used to uphold the value of affirmative action programs, which focus on access to education and employment by granting special consideration to historically excluded groups, specifically racial minorities and women (regents of the university of california v. bakke 2020). in canada, the idea of “cultural diversity” emerged alongside the multicultural policy, adopted by the federal government in the 1970s and 1980s (jedwab, 2020). designed as a response to rising francophone nationalism and increasing 3 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, recordkeeping, and archivy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.36003 immigration, the first iteration of the policy acknowledged canada as a nation settled by a plurality of cultural groups, each with intrinsic value. over time, diversity has taken on an increasingly larger scope so that the term now refers to lgbtq2+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and two-spirit) individuals and disabled people, in addition to differences in race, religion, ethnicity and country of origin. in the caribbean, diversity is typically described and celebrated as key social and political signifiers of triumph over the horrors of racially-stratified plantation societies. jamaica, like canada, is a member of the commonwealth of nations and a former territory of the british empire. in both countries, diversity, therefore, is also bound together with discussions of colonialism and indigeneity. distinct histories, however, have resulted in different understandings of how class, race, gender, and sexuality intersect to produce and uphold systems of power. still, recognizing diversity is not the same as ensuring inclusion, nor is inclusion necessarily liberatory. we are therefore careful not to misrepresent this issue as comprehensive or universal, nor do we want to undervalue the fight for equity and representation elsewhere or in contexts that we do not fully understand or embody. what we do want to accomplish with this special issue is to spark conversation and to acknowledge the breadth of research and scholarship on diversity, recordkeeping, and archivy. the five articles here are stellar examples of that work. references canas, t. (2017). diversity is a white word. artshub australia. https://www.artshub.com.au/education/news-article/opinions-andanalysis/professional-development/tania-canas/diversity-is-a-white-word-252910 haine, r., hall, s., jhally, s., quarzo-cerina, a. (2019). race: the floating signifier. media education foundation. https://www.mediaed.org/transcripts/stuart-hall-race-thefloating-signifier-transcript.pdf hudson, d.j. (2017). on “diversity” as anti-racism in library and information studies: a critique. journal of critical library and information studies 1(1), 1-36. https://doi.org/10.24242/jclis.v1i1.6 jedwab, j. (2020, march 20). multiculturalism. the canadian encyclopedia. historica canada. retrieved january 19, 2021. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/multiculturalism on-call research team #1. (2016) #archivessowhite in the words of ariel schudson. society of american archivists’ issues and advocacy section blog. https://issuesandadvocacy.wordpress.com/tag/archives_so_white/ regents of the university of california v. bakke. (2012). columbia electronic encyclopedia, (6th ed.). https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/social-science/law/cases/universityof-california-vbakke smith, l.t. (2013). decolonizing methodologies: research and indigenous peoples. zed books ltd. 4 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.artshub.com.au/education/news-article/opinions-and-analysis/professional-development/tania-canas/diversity-is-a-white-word-252910 https://www.artshub.com.au/education/news-article/opinions-and-analysis/professional-development/tania-canas/diversity-is-a-white-word-252910 https://www.mediaed.org/transcripts/stuart-hall-race-the-floating-signifier-transcript.pdf https://www.mediaed.org/transcripts/stuart-hall-race-the-floating-signifier-transcript.pdf https://doi.org/10.24242/jclis.v1i1.6 https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/multiculturalism https://issuesandadvocacy.wordpress.com/tag/archives_so_white/ https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/social-science/law/cases/university-of-california-vbakke https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/social-science/law/cases/university-of-california-vbakke diversity, recordkeeping, and archivy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.36003 rebecka taves sheffield is an information professional and senior policy advisor for the ontario public service. she holds a phd in information studies from the university of toronto (uoft) ischool and is a graduate of the mark s. bonham centre for sexual diversity studies. she also holds a mist with a specialization in archives and records management (uoft) and a ba in women’s and gender studies (university of saskatchewan). rebecka’s research interests include digital recordkeeping, archival studies, cultural heritage, and lgbtq2+ histories. her work has been published in archivaria, american archivist, radical history review, library trends, and papers/cahiers. rebecka’s recent book, documenting rebellions (litwin, 2020), explores the emergence, development and sustainability strategies of four lesbian and gay community archives in queer times. janet ceja holds a phd in library and information science with a specialization in archives from the university of pittsburgh. she has worked as an audiovisual archivist and assistant professor at simmons university and the university of arizona. her research focuses on the social and community aspects of preserving cultural heritage materials, as well as the information practices of latinx communities in the united states. she has been published in the moving image, library quarterly, and american archivist. stanley h. griffin holds a ba (hons.) in history, and a phd in cultural studies (with high commendation), from the cave hill barbados campus of the university of the west indies, and an msc in archives and records management (int’l), university of dundee, scotland. formerly the archivist-in-charge of the uwi archives, he is lecturer in archival studies and coordinates the graduate programme in archives and records management in the department of library and information studies, uwi mona campus, jamaica. stanley’s research interests include multiculturalism in antigua and the eastern caribbean, the cultural dynamics of intra-caribbean migrations, archives in the constructs of caribbean culture, and community archives in the caribbean. his most recent publications include decolonizing the caribbean record: an archives reader (litwin, 2018), a co-edited work with jeannette bastian and john aarons. 5 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index references ijidi june 2020 cover and credits volume 4 | number 2 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion editorial forced migration: making sense of a complex system nadia caidi; syed ishtiaque ahmed; juliane stiller; violeta trkulja articles situational information behaviour: exploring the complexity of refugee integration oduntan olubukola; ian ruthven in search of the missing narrative: children of polish deportees in great britain julia devlin information spaces and identity navigation during refugee experiences angela m. schöpke-gonzalez; andrea k. thomer; paul conway ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data: examining sexual and reproductive health needs of and services for rohingya refugees at cox’s bazar, bangladesh bachera aktar et al. from a "limited space" to a much wider future: meaning-making practices of young refugee women pursuing post-secondary education caseem luck; michele santamaria special sections seeking employment in an non-native language: online information-seeking behavior of refugees in germany juliane köhler mind the five card game: participatory games to strengthen information practices and privacy protections of migrants ricardo gomez; bryce clayton newell; sara vannini hackathons as instruments for settlement sector innovation eliana trinaistic also featuring book reviews edited by norda a. bell june 2020 special issue: forced migr ation: m aking sense of a complex ecosystem dr. vanessa irvin, editor-in-chief journal credits editor-in-chief dr. vanessa irvin associate editors dr. nadia caidi dr. mirah dow dr. keren dali senior managing editors leah brochu laina kelly managing editors michelle de agostini stephanie santiful jeffrey sowder cara b. stone zach valdes book review editor norda a. bell graphic designer kevin j. mallary ijidi logo created by craig taylor image credit: "rohingya refugee camp, bangladesh" by abdullah hasan safir book review: inspired thinking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34344 ijidi: book review stoltz, d., miller, m., picker, l., thompson, j., & willson, c. (2020). inspired thinking: big ideas to enrich yourself and your community. ala editions. isbn 9780838946718. 144 pp. $54.99 us. reviewer: gillian eguaras, mccarthy tetrault llp, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: america; critical thinking; discernment; ideas; plato publication type: book review nspired thinking: big ideas to enrich yourself and your community examines the role of librarians as critical thinking experts who have the responsibility to encourage creative and analytical reasoning with their library users. as advocates of lifelong learning, librarians help others develop innovative ideas. through the insights of historic western philosophers and literary greats such as plato, inspired thinking describes ways the altruistic information professional makes a difference in libraries. this text examines how educational systems in north america encourage students on what to think versus how to think on one’s own; individuals are not encouraged to explore ideas and challenge opinions of the status quo. libraries provide resources and the ideal environment; a solution to think beyond one’s comfort zone without a hidden agenda. big ideas stem from values—a purposeful thinking process that benefits and enlightens all of humanity (p. 47). as a result, librarians have the moral duty to champion this cause. by pinpointing the root cause of status quo thinking, one must develop innovative thinking. stoltz, miller, picker, thompson, and willson (2020) provide an optimistic view of library sciences. each chapter endorses virtuous principles that librarians must exemplify to encourage innovative thought amongst their library users. often referring to plato’s theories, stoltz et al. posit that librarians can become modern-day, purposeful service professionals with the help of ancient philosophers and literary greats. written in a questioning dialogue with the reader, the solution on how to generate “big ideas” is by exploring various creative disciplines. if the learner is curious and guided by their moral compass, joy, humility, and unity can become the center of one’s professional life (pp. 103-112). themes of diversity and inclusion are presented with a sanguine tone. “do we sometimes become overly focused on problems that we overlook solutions?” is a rhetorical question the authors present to the reader (p. 101). the positive attributes associated with a librarian are repetitively defined and reinforced, however, answers to creating a diverse and inclusive library space are not addressed with practical solutions. suggested case studies and solutions would be beneficial to the reader, instead of questioning the reader on how to “facilitate ‘free discussion’ among a group of diverse individuals with who can find common ground amid differing opinions” (p.16). instead, solutions were exemplified in the lives of historical americans who lived with “big ideas.” i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index inspired thinking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34344 the utopian tone by the authors reiterates how free thinking was exemplified by america’s founding fathers such as benjamin franklin, thomas jefferson, john adams, and abraham lincoln; including literary greats and philanthropists such as helen keller, mark twain, and andrew carnegie. written in an encouraging self-help tone for librarians, historic examples are perpetuated in the text with stephen covey’s principles applied on how to develop one’s intellectual curiosity (p. 54). the spirit of democracy and freedom of speech is not absent in the authors’ account of u.s. history. the relevancy of this text is biased towards western cultures; primarily, for u.s. librarians living in a democratic society. this includes exploring the notion of jefferson as an advocate of slavery or a social justice advocate. stoltz et al. (2020) assert: those who condemn jefferson based on modern attitudes about slavery are demonstrating that they have a closed mind. a truly open mind accepts jefferson as he was, not as we believe he ought to have been...jefferson became the bridge between the lack of freedom for some and eventual freedom for all by declaring that “all men are created equal,” meaning all human beings. it cannot be overstated how radical idea— this big idea—was at the time. (p. 15) the authors suggest thomas jefferson had a stance on social equality despite having slaves of his own; that those who fail to see him as an equitable thinker possess a narrow mind. even though it took eighty years to achieve the ideal of public and private freedoms (p.16), the authors believe jefferson was inherently a civil human rights hero. through examining u.s. history, the relevancy of this text may not appeal to international readers. inspired thinking introduces plato’s philosophical terms only with western examples. furthermore, this utopian tone continues the discussion of how librarians must provide exceptional customer service. “harmfulness can happen when we don’t focus our cheerfulness when assisting a customer, or when we don’t make needed decisions or when we avoid following through on our commitments and responsibilities” (p. 79). the insistence to remain cheerful can appear inauthentic to library users; a librarian who does not have a genuine cheerful disposition presents a dishonest façade to the library user. even though inspired thinking perpetuates inclusive library spaces, a librarian’s authenticity should take precedence over providing a cheerful demeanor. ironically, alexander pope’s infamous proverb, “to err is human, to forgive divine” is quoted often throughout the text (see p. 9 and p. 96, for example). if a librarian appears uncheerful, perhaps forgiveness can be exhibited. the main takeaway of inspired thinking is to remain hopeful as a library professional. “libraries can offer something no other agency across the spectrum of civilization offers—an open invitation to walk through the doors of wisdom without promoting any ideology, be it political, social, or religious” (p. 82). libraries are the breeding ground of innovative thought, where librarians assist others in achieving this ideal without any preconceived judgement. throughout inspired thinking, libraries are endorsed as premium spaces for diverse and inclusive thinking. regardless of one’s socioeconomic status, age, or social network, a library provides the ideal environment for innovative thinking. with numerous resources and the latest technologies provided, library users have all the tools to think creatively. if one is searching to define what morals, ethics, and ideals distinguish the library profession from others, this text is highly recommended. the inspirational and optimistic tone of the authors facilitates how to creatively think and explore one’s thoughts. written in an american self-help 92 about:blank inspired thinking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34344 style for librarians, this text encourages readers to innovate the world. by freely taking one’s first step into the library, big ideas can be born. gillian eguaras (gillian.eguaras@gmail.com) is an experienced special librarian with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. after obtaining her master's of information (mi) in library and information science (lis) from the university of toronto's ischool, she has worked in various canadian special libraries including banks, hospital and legislative information centres, and military and choir school libraries. currently, she works in the j.j. robinette’s library at mccarthy tetrault llp, a top canadian business law firm. her other passions include partaking in racial diversity and exclusivity initiatives and enjoying the toronto sports scene. 93 about:blank about:blank articles rethinking representation: indigenous peoples and contexts at the university of alberta libraries sharon farnel, et al. microaggressions as a barrier to effective collaboration between teaching faculty and academic librarians: an analysis of the results of a u.s. and canadian survey ahmed alwan, joy doan, eric garcia serving underserved populations: mplications from a model of successful services for deaf and hard of hearing children in public libraries bobbie bushman i first impressions: a review of diversity-related content on north american lis program websites ana ndumu, crystal betts-green special sections reports from the field nnels: a new model for accessible library service in canada kim johnson emergent voices: diversity & policy driving change: creating a policy brief to position the school library as hub for global citizenship deborah schamuhn kirk book reviews the librarian’s guide to homelessness teaching for justice: implementing social justice in the lis classroom dr. keren dali, editor july 2018 journal credits editor dr. keren dali associate editors dr. john bertot dr. paul t. jaeger managing editors leah brochu laina kelly karen kettnich dr. lilith lee celina nichols mcdonald book review editor norda a. bell graphic designer kevin j. mallary ijidi logo created by craig taylor image credit: “lights” by andrew wertheimer © 2016 ijidi july 2018 cover ijidi july 2018 credits dementia friendly memory institutions: designing a future for remembering the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 dementia friendly memory institutions: designing a future for remembering lynne c. howarth, university of toronto, canada abstract on november 3, 1906, at the 37th meeting of south-west german psychiatrists, dr. alois alzheimer, reported on “a peculiar severe disease process of the cerebral cortex”. the disease with which he is associated has continued to elude a cure and is forecast to afflict one in eightyfive persons globally by 2050. health care providers, researchers, and governments are on notice to explore different ways of understanding and addressing alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (adrd) as demands for resources and funding escalate. one of those approaches, person-centered care (pcc), puts a focus on the individual, not the disease, emphasizing ability and enablement, and recognizing people with dementia as having rights of choice, personal empowerment, and self-determination. we expand on the concept of “dementia friendly communities,” embodying pcc, to envision how spaces, programs, and services within cultural heritage institutions such as galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (glam), could be rethought and designed to enhance the everyday life experience of persons with adrd. impetus for such initiatives is provided further through the articulation, acceptance, adoption, and promotion of the rights of those with dementia as the rights of persons with disabilities. this emphasis on rights is important as it has behind it the force of international agreement and legally-binding united nations’ convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (2008). we argue that cultural heritage institutions have a responsibility and a rationale for servicing those who have been marginalized across time by what they have rather than who they are. keywords: alzheimer’s disease; cultural heritage institutions; dementia friendly communities; rights of persons with disabilities publication type: conceptual article introduction and context n a paper presented at the 1994 conference of the international society for knowledge organization, roland hjerppe used the phrase, “memory institutions of society” to refer to libraries, archives, and museums. lorcan dempsey (2000) noted their common goal of organizing the intellectual and cultural record, observing that: their collections contain the memory of peoples, communities, institutions and individuals, the scientific and cultural heritage, and the products throughout time of our imagination, craft and learning. they join us to our ancestors and are our legacy to future generations. they are used by the child, the scholar, and the citizen, by the business person, the tourist and the learner. these in turn are creating the heritage of the future. memory institutions contribute directly and indirectly to prosperity through support for learning, commerce, tourism, and personal fulfilment. they are an important part of the i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 civic fabric, woven into people's working and imaginative lives and into the public identity of communities, cities and nations. they are social assembly places, physical knowledge exchanges, whose use and civic presence acknowledge their social significance, and the public value accorded to them. other scholars, such as baker (2013) and robinson (2012), have argued that the term memory institution masks nuance and diversity in approaches to the interpretation and representation of history and cultural memory, and in professional practices for acquiring and managing collections. regardless of perspective, characterizing libraries, archives, and museums as memory institutions emphasizes the centrality of collections as repositories of, and conduits to, cultural and social memory, however fluid. our expectation, however simplistic or flawed, is that they preserve our memory. this paper invites another interpretation of memory institutions, suggesting a more direct engagement with preserving memory, not at the societal or institutional level, but at the point of individual memory. while acknowledging the importance of collections to remembering, i invite a further step towards applying all assets of libraries, archives, and museums, their spaces, programs, services, staff, and knowledge resources more deliberatively to preserving and enhancing individual memory, particularly where memory is in decline. in a sense, this offers an opportunity for these important “parts of the civic fabric” to become recognized and valued as institutions for memory, as well as of memory. as dempsey (2000) and others recognize, libraries, archives, and museums support and service a broad base of individual, community, and societal needs and activities. the “common good” may be proscribed by convention, through funding, by law, through precedent, by the norms and values of professional practice (and ethics), and so on. “special needs” may be identified and defined as such, and may fall outside provisions for supporting a broader constituency, a majority of those served. as community and social values change, and as laws are enacted to include “special needs” as fundamental human rights, the framework within which public institutions operate changes. incorporating what have been determined previously as needs beyond operational requirements and corresponding resources is no longer a matter of institutional choice, but of legal mandate. by demanding a response, such change also offers opportunities for creative re-thinking of programs, services, and the resources to support them. i begin by examining a well-recognized disease entity responsible for cognitive decline and memory loss across the life-course. i then trace how perceptions of alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (adrd), and approaches to treating those living with adrd have evolved since its identification in 1906 by aloysius alzheimer. since the late 1990s, the focus has shifted to include not only medical interventions but also person-centered care through non-therapeutic activities that engage individuals with adrd and their careers. there has since been a change in how we view the place and role of individuals experiencing progressive memory decline, and their fundamental rights as persons with a disability. i chart the evolution and implementation of such rights through assessments of (1) the united nations convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, which came into force in 2008, (2) the establishment by the world health organization (who) of the global network of age-friendly cities and communities in 2010 (who, 2018), and (3) the key principles of dementia friendly communities articulated by alzheimer’s disease international (adi) in 2016. it is this framework of rights that provides a lens for examining how libraries, archives, and museums have responded to individuals with adrd in the past, and more recently, and how they might re-think programs, services, and spaces moving forward. what roles and responsibilities do memory institutions assume when rights are 21 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 mandated, legislation protective of those rights enacted, and individuals subsumed, not as those with special needs, but as part of a broad constituency of adults to be served? while resources are always an issue for publicly funded institutions, i will argue that evolving perceptions, policies, and laws at local, national, and international levels of governance, offer new opportunities for libraries, archives, and museums to establish themselves as dementia friendly partners within communities. defining the scope, nature, and treatment of adrd in its most recent world alzheimer report (patterson, 2018), alzheimer’s disease international, a federation of 100 alzheimer associations globally, reported that there are nearly 50 million individuals diagnosed worldwide with adrd. this number is estimated to rise to 152 million people or one in eighty-five by 2050. the current cost of the disease is about a trillion u.s. dollars a year, forecast to double by 2030. the national institute on aging’s alzheimer’s disease fact sheet notes, further, that, while alzheimer’s disease is currently ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in the u.s., recent estimates suggest that it may rank third behind heart disease and cancer as a cause of death for older people (u.s. department of health & human services, national institute on aging, 2019). the who fact sheet (2019) defines dementia (of which alzheimer’s disease is the most common form) as, “a syndrome—usually of a chronic or progressive nature—in which there is deterioration in cognitive function (i.e. the ability to process thought) beyond what might be expected from normal ageing. it affects memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language, and judgement” (p. 1). cognitive impairment may be accompanied by changes in social behavior—often seen as out of character—a loss of emotional control and a decline in motivation. deteriorating memory, especially short-term memory, is the most common early symptom of dementia. across time, deficiencies worsen, interfering with day-to-day activities and jeopardizing an individual’s ability to live independently. nonetheless, as a discussion paper on developing a dementia strategy for ontario (canada) observes, while living with dementia can be challenging, it is important to remember that dementia does not change who a person is. many people with dementia are capable of pursuing their interests, making decisions about their health, maintaining relationships and aging well.” (ontario ministry of health and long-term care, 2016, p. 6). this mirrors an earlier systematic review of 27 qualitative studies where accounts of the subjective experiences of people with dementia contained evidence of positive states, experiences or attributes. as authors wolverson, clarke, and moniz-cook (2016) concluded, “people living with dementia can retain important strengths and have positive experiences in spite, and even because of, living with the condition” (p. 697 ). an individual with lewy body dementia sharpens the point, adding, “i’m living with dementia not dying from it” (cayton, 2004, p. 15). individual memory is the sum total of what we remember. while a complex process, at its simplest, committing something to memory involves forming a short-term memory from the initial perception or sensory memory of a stimulus, then converting what is deemed valuable to long-term memory by means of memory consolidation. recall or remembering is, essentially, a reversal of that process. with the stimulus of a cue or trigger, stored fragments from our experiences of people, places, events, and objects are reconstructed as part of our personal 22 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 reminiscences or life histories. mild, moderate, or severe cognitive impairment, whether from disease, trauma, disability, or genetic predisposition, can disrupt the reassembly process, impeding access to memory. in a way, memory is lost because we cannot find our way back to it. for those experiencing mild cognitive impairment (mci) through the onset of early-stage dementia, brain injury, or other neurodegenerative causes, drug and alternative clinical interventions have been devised to slow decline in cognition, or, as in dementia, specific memory loss. the theoretical and applied research literatures of gerontology, nursing, social work, and cognitive psychology/cognitive science describe approaches to reinforcing an individual’s “cognitive reserve,” defined as, “increased numbers of synapses, or and increased ability of the brain to cope with physiological insults, e.g., as a result of neural plasticity or neural compensation” (bain, 2006, p. 247). in short, healthy aging nerve cells can regenerate (khachaturian, 2007). intelligence, educational level, occupation attainment, and (cognitive) leisure activities have been associated with reduced risk of dementia and cognitive decline, and are, consequently, used as proxy measures of cognitive reserve (bain, 2006; vemuri, 2014). cognitive reserve represents a baseline to be preserved as much as possible in slowing the onset of adrd and has been the goal at the heart of both medical and other therapies that have been developed since its identification. specific nonpharmacological therapies used as clinical interventions may include music programming (topo et al., 2004; mcdermott, orrell, & ridder, 2014; elliott & gardner, 2016; evans, garabedian, & bray, 2019), art therapy (mottram, 2003; beard, 2011; chancellor, duncan & chatterjee, 2014; sauer, fopma-loy, kinney, & lokon, 2016; moss & o’neill, 2019), reminiscence therapy (kim et al., 2006; haslam et al., 2010; westerhof, bohlmeijer, & webster, 2010; dempsey et al., 2014; gonzalez et al., 2015; critten & kucirkova, 2019), and performative therapy (basting, 2009; basting, towey, & rose, 2016), among others. such therapies not only encourage the preservation of arts-based abilities developed over a lifetime prior to the onset of adrd, but in some cases offer an opportunity for learning a new skill or building further on existing talent. whether listening to or playing music, whether drawing, painting, sculpting, or discussing a work of art, whether telling, writing, reading, or listening to stories, or whether participating in developing, narrating or acting out a part, or watching a play, participants in nonpharmacological therapy activities are engaged, often animated, are recalling memories, are making memories, are being creative and, in most cases, enjoying a positive experience—individually and socially with others. while examples of nonpharmacological therapies will be examined in more detail at a later juncture, their relatively recent use within clinical settings showcases what has become an essential application in the shift from disease-focused to person-centered strategies for slowing, even treating, the progression of adrd. evolving perspectives on adrd: from disease-focused to person-centered as part of the united states’ national institutes of health cognitive and emotional health project, a critical evaluation study committee was charged with assessing the state of epidemiological research on demographic, social, and biological determinants of cognitive and emotional health in the older adult (hendrie et al., 2006). its review of longitudinal cohort studies (n=36) noted that the majority were disease-focused, with research on healthy brain aging lagging noticeably behind. descriptions of drug and (other) medical interventions to maintain cognitive health or prevent decline were well represented in the literature. possible lifestyle interventions received less attention, but, nonetheless, revealed several protective factors, including higher education levels, occupational attainment, higher socioeconomic 23 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 status, specific cognitive activities (e.g., playing board games, singing, playing a musical instrument, reading), social engagement, emotional support, instrumental mastery and selfefficacy, resilience, and vitality (bain 2006; hendrie et al. 2006; jedrziewski, lee, & trojanowski, 2005). the critical review committee concluded that “there is now widespread public interest in developing strategies to maintain or enhance cognitive and emotional health in the elderly” (hendrie et al., 2006, p. 26). emphasizing the need for future research that considers brain health maintenance, as well as disease prevention, the committee recommended that biomedical investigators join forces with other disciplines, such as social sciences and bioethics, to “change the paradigm of successful cognitive and emotional aging” (hendrie et al., 2006, p. 28). subsequent studies have likewise reported on strategies or specific interventions for maintaining quality of life and building on retained abilities across the course of adrd, in particular. while outcomes for individuals with dementia may have improved, the reasons are not always clear, undermining study reproducibility, perceived reliability of findings, and robust theory-building. studies of nonpharmacological therapies alone offer evidence of “possibility” and “potential” of interventions without any verifiable determination of causation. a systematic review and metaanalysis of the efficacy of nonpharmacological therapies in adrd (olazarán et al., 2010) noted, “an exponential increase in the research literature” on nonpharmacological therapies in adrd as well as “a significant lack of funding for the systematic research of nonpharmacological therapy” (p. 162). the authors reflected on current limits on the effectiveness of drugs while also observing “opportunities for environmental, social and therapeutic intervention …to improve services and care for persons with adrd” (olazarán et al., 2010, 162). the 176 randomized clinical studies that were analysed suggested that, while nonpharmacological therapies and drugs should be understood as complementary approaches, interventions (number of categories = 26), such as reminiscence, recreation therapy, music therapy, physical exercise, activities of daily living training, and so on, “emerge as a useful, versatile and potentially cost-effective approach to improve outcomes and [quality of life] for both [persons with dementia] and [caregivers]” (olazarán et al., 2010, p. 162). a more recent randomized controlled trial (reisberg et al., 2017) examined the added benefits of a comprehensive, individualized, person centered management program (ci-pcm) in combination with a commonly prescribed to drug treatment of memantine for individuals with moderate-to-severe alzheimer’s disease. the comprehensive, individualized, person centered management program was based on thirteen principles, which included, for example, (#6) treating persons with alzheimer’s disease with dignity and respect as a person, not as an object, (#7) learning the alzheimer’s disease person’s history, individual tastes and preferences, talents, shortcomings, and personal needs, (#9) establishing a healthy, supportive, structured and flexible routine with daily fun scheduled in the routine, and (#10) using memory coaching to teach the alzheimer’s disease person new skills, or skills they may have forgotten, helping to rebuild the alzheimer’s disease person’s self-esteem and self-respect (reisberg et al., 2017, pp. 104-105). the program also promoted success gauged against an individual’s achievements and not by his or her disabilities. techniques and procedures encouraged individualized, meaningful, safe, and enjoyable activities, recognizing that persons with moderate-to-severe alzheimer’s disease have the capacity to learn and to maintain or regain functioning in basic activities of daily living. examples of activities included making a cell phone call, eating with a knife and fork again, playing a musical instrument, reading aloud, clearing dishes from the table and washing them, purchasing new clothing, exercising (including strengthening, stretching, coordination and balance, and aerobic exercises), socializing, visiting parks, museums, and so on, and going to 24 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 movies, plays, and concerts, and other similar activities. while many of the activities required memory coaching or direct caregiver assistance, all were tailored to individual preferences and intended to build confidence and improve the mood for the person living with alzheimer’s disease (reisberg et al., 2017, pp. 105-106). the results of the study indicated that the combination of person-centered program interventions in combination with drug therapy was “97% more beneficial for individuals with moderate-tosevere alzheimer’s disease than memantine treatment alone” (reisberg et al., 2017, p. 100). the study also highlighted the role of memory coaching in relearning lost skills, maintaining current abilities for a longer period of time, and even learning new skills for those beyond the early or mild stages of alzheimer’s disease. other research likewise emphasizes benefits accruing from arts-based programming for persons in the middle to late stages of dementia (young, camic, & tischler, 2015; humphrey et al., 2019). both the olazarán et al. (2010) and reisberg et al. (2017) studies confirm the efficacy of including person-centered programming in the treatment of persons across the multiple stages of adrd. over the past 20 years, there has been a steady shift from seeing dementia and those who “suffer” from it solely as a disease entity to be treated medically, to a chronic, progressive condition that benefits from interventions that build on an individual’s capacity to learn and foster good quality of life. this change has also moved the focus beyond strategies for treatment, to public policy and legal frameworks for addressing the needs of those with adrd and their carers. it is to these initiatives that we now turn. great leap forward: dementia friendly initiatives as disability rights in 2006 who conducted research across 23 countries to determine what programs and services cities and communities could undertake to encourage active aging. older adults were asked to identify both positive and negative experiences relating to eight elements, including (1) housing, (2) transportation, (3) information and communication, (4) outdoor spaces and buildings, (5) community support and health services, (6) social participation, (7) civic participation and employment, (8) respect and social inclusion. findings from the study, which also included input from caregivers and service providers across public, private, and voluntary sectors, resulted in the development of an age-friendly cities approach, along with a set of checklists for cities and communities to follow. as the age-friendly initiative grew, who established the global network of age-friendly cities and communities in 2010 (who, 2018, p. 2). the global network of agefriendly cities and communities is a key plank in the world health organization’s strategy for healthy aging, and its commitment to enhancing functional ability, inclusion, safety, and quality of life with the support of multiple sector partners. the age-friendly cities and communities framework has also served as a model for the concept of dementia friendly communities, which will now be addressed. japan is widely credited for being the nation where “dementia friendly communities” began. in 2005 the government developed a community-focused policy, emphasizing, among other elements, (1) awareness-raising, (2) challenging the stigma of dementia, and (3) training volunteer supporters for individuals with dementia. the japanese model was initially adopted and adapted by governments and non-governmental organizations within australia (since 2013), northern and western europe, the united kingdom, the republic of ireland (as reported by williamson, 2016), and subsequently within the u.s. (largely since 2014) and canada (largely since 2015/2016). the second edition of the alzheimer’s disease international’s (2017) report on dementia friendly communities worldwide updates the development of policies, programs, and services across africa, asia pacific, and the middle east, as well as within europe and the 25 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 americas. because dementia friendly communities are a social construct, there is no single model for all. nonetheless, alzheimer’s disease international (2016) identifies five key outcomes which it believes should be pursued within dementia friendly communities (p. 7). these include the following: • increased awareness and understanding of dementia; • increased social and cultural engagement with the person with dementia; • legal and other measures in place to empower people with dementia to protect their rights; • increased capability of health and care services to develop services that respond to the needs of people with dementia; • actions to improve the physical environment, whether in the home, residential care, hospitals, or public places. while there are many examples of approaches to the development of dementia friendly communities (e.g., dementia friendly america’s® dementia friendly communities toolkit [2019]; alzheimer society of saskatchewan’s dementia friendly communities: municipal toolkit [2017]), the city of burnaby (canada)’s burnaby dementia-friendly community action plan (2017) serves as a readily accessible and step-wise blueprint of how to incorporate dementia friendly actions into existing work programs and policies. the action plan was developed following extensive consultation across a broad range of stakeholders and community partners. focus groups were held with people living with dementia and their caregivers. city planning and engineering staff, responsible for designing burnaby’s public realm street standards, conducted a walking interview with an individual with adrd who shared his experiences of getting around the neighborhood. frontline city staff (parks, recreation and cultural services, tax department, burnaby public library, citizen support services) and representatives from fraser health community and home health, the police, and fire department engaged in focus groups, sharing experiences of interactions with citizens living with dementia. the resulting action plan includes key recommendations involving city departments, other agencies and staff, community partners, and those living with dementia, their families, and caregivers (city of burnaby, 2017, p. 12). specific actions, partners, and roles are articulated under each recommendation. each recommendation is associated with one of the following four pillars (city of burnaby, 2017, pp. 16-18): 1. people, knowledge, and awareness—increasing awareness and understanding of dementia, resources, and supports 2. things to do—creating programs and activities (physical, cultural, recreational, educational, etc.) for staying engaged and connected with community 3. your surroundings—designing the physical environment (signage, accessibility, quiet spaces, etc.) 4. advocacy—for adequate health care and services; for adopting dementia friendly features and practices 26 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 one can observe in the action plan outcomes that alzheimer’s disease international (2016) has identified as important pursuits for a dementia friendly community (p. 7). we also note the importance of partnerships of a broad constituency of stakeholders and community agencies, not least of which are the individuals who are living with adrd. as alzheimer’s disease international key principles emphasize (2016), being dementia friendly is less about being “friendly” and more about accessible communities and human rights. … if it’s about us without us, it cannot be dementia friendly. only by ensuring that initiatives are inclusive of people living with dementia at all stages of development, will we success in giving them the sense of respect, dignity and purpose they seek. (pp. 9-10). that said, and as will be illustrated later, there remain initiatives where those living with adrd are absent from the table, their voices silent. the broader lens of community within which dementia is now considered derives not only from early initiatives in japan, but also from the concept of “age-friendly”, developed by the who in 2006, as discussed, above. both age-friendly and dementia friendly initiatives are notable in promoting a shift in narrative from deficit and burden to contribution and inclusion. in this discursive change in direction, we can see the influence of a growing commitment to inclusion of those with adrd through the articulation, acceptance, adoption, and promotion of disability rights, and, more particularly, through the perception of the rights of those with dementia as the rights of persons with disabilities. while this may appear a double-edged sword, where dementia as disease may be compared with disability, what is important is the focus on rights of accessibility where the approach foregrounds, “the creation of supportive, inclusive, and enabling environments that maximize independence through collaboration with diverse community stakeholders” (hebert & scales, 2019). to the extent that accommodations for adrd foster accessibility for the community as a whole—the concept of universal design—the more readily differences in ability disappear. as we have witnessed, clear signage, automatic doors, cut-aways in sidewalks, and the availability of ramps and other similar accommodations, benefit all. the emphasis on rights is important as it has behind it the force of international agreement through the legally-binding united nations’ convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (united nations, 2008). at the core of the convention is the consideration of disability, not …as a medical condition, but rather as a result of the interaction between negative attitudes or an unwelcoming environment with the condition of particular persons. by dismantling attitudinal and environmental barriers—as opposed to treating persons with disabilities as problems to be fixed—those persons can participate as active members of society and enjoy the full range of their rights.” (united nations, 2019). the convention came into force on may 3, 2008, having, as of august 2019, 162 signatories and 180 parties, which includes 172 states and the european union. earlier medical models that considered adrd primarily as a disease requiring the institutionalization of those suffering from it, often led to individuals being removed from their homes—some forcibly—being held against their will, and in some cases, being restrained (physically or chemically), physically and emotionally abused, and submitted to treatment without their consent. while the adoption of the person-centered model of care addressed the most egregious of those abuses, and ensured 27 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 humane treatment and a variety of modes of intervention—both medical and nonpharmacological therapies —the current move towards dementia friendly care (and communities) with its underpinning of legal, fundamental, and enforceable human and disability rights, has encouraged a re-thinking of possibilities, at individual and societal levels. reducing stigma, increasing understanding of persons with dementia, and ultimately normalizing adrd are core objectives, as is that, of empowering people with dementia by respecting their rights and capabilities so that they feel respected and, to the extent that they are able, empowered to take decisions about their lives … with the understanding that dementia is a disability. (alzheimer’s disease international, 2016, pp. 4-5). as noted previously, key principles articulated in the alzheimer’s disease international report (2016) also emphasize the need for and importance of community partnerships. it is to that commitment that we now turn. towards dementia friendly libraries, archives, and museums over the past dozen years there has been a sea change in the number and variety of programs and services offered by libraries, archives, and museums to individuals living with dementia. the phrase, “dementia friendly”, as a search term, yields examples relating to individual libraries and museums, though, in relation to archives, more usually refers to archives about dementia, or to the archives of adrd associations. prior to this decade, programs or services that did exist were largely piecemeal, and often the creation of individuals with a particular interest in, or personal commitment to, supporting individuals with adrd. often such programs were subsumed under other areas, such as services to older adults, or with special event funding procured for a limited-time offering. the next section explores, by sector, examples of initiatives directed at those living with dementia, their characteristics, and evolution. museum initiatives for persons living with dementia one of the earliest initiatives, which has provided a robust model for other art museums to follow, was “meet me at moma”. offered monthly, persons in the early to middle stages of dementia and their carers engaged with museum educators in viewing and discussing selections from the collections of the museum of modern art (moma) in new york city (rosenberg, 2009; moma, 2019). the program continued from 2007 to 2014, with outcomes uniformly assessed as intellectually stimulating, providing shared experiences and social interaction in an accepting environment. the moma alzheimer’s project website (moma, 2019) continues to be accessible to those galleries or museums with interest in developing a similar program. assessments of similar programs for engaging individuals living with adrd with collections and other hands-on activities within art museums and galleries likewise report positive experiences and outcomes (macpherson, bird, anderson, davis, & blair, 2009; camic, tischler, & pearman, 2013; flatt et al., 2015). also established in 2007, and continuing today, is the art and dementia program offered by the national gallery of australia, canberra. small groups of persons living with adrd and their carers tour the gallery with educators, discussing individual works in the collection. specific program aims include the following (national gallery of australia, 2019): 28 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 • to promote wellbeing and quality of life through engagement with the visual arts; • to provide intellectual stimulation in a socially inclusive environment; • to reconnect people living with dementia to their sense of identity; • to build community arts and health partnerships to improve the care for people living with dementia; • to raise awareness of and reduce the social stigma associated with dementia. viewing a video on the program website of a tour held in 2012, one sees participants fully contributing to discussions with museum educators and others, engaging in interpretation, recalling memories, laughing together, dancing in response to a particular painting, and sharing stories. findings from macpherson et al.’s study (2009) of a similar six-week program at the national gallery of australia likewise reported that participants were engaged from the outset and remained engaged. they became animated, gained confidence, and were able to discuss and interact with the artworks and the social process. such responses align with those reported from “meet me at moma” and similar collections-based discussion tours. another among these is the art access program at the art gallery of new south wales, first offered in 2010 as a pilot project. in 2015, the gallery commissioned a study by researchers at the university of technology sydney to investigate the experience of people living with dementia and relevant stakeholders participating in the art gallery of new south wales art access program across the year. as the report explains, the study explored whether engaging with artworks and discussion about artworks facilitates and promotes “in the moment” pleasure and thereby contributes to positive wellbeing. in doing so, it sought to gain an understanding of the environment and context in which people experience the artworks, and take into account the views of stakeholders in the care and wellbeing of people living with dementia—that is professional care staff, family, primary carers, and facilitators at the gallery. (kenning, 2016, p. 6). an extensive and detailed discussion of findings notes many examples of “in the moment” pleasure expressed in words, laughter, and behaviours that involved leaning the body towards paintings and people as they spoke. positive experiences also included opportunities for social interaction and engagement with peers, staff, and caregivers, and a calm, comfortable, and safe environment for telling stories, reminiscing, reflecting quietly, and self-identifying with people depicted in the artworks (kenning, 2016, pp. 10-14). the artful: art and dementia program delivered by the museum of contemporary art australia began in 2016 as a three-year research collaboration among the museum of contemporary art, the brain and mind centre, university of sydney, and dementia australia. with a final report due towards the end of 2019, the study has been exploring the question, “can an art program enhance neuroplasticity and wellbeing in people with dementia?” like “meet me at moma”, and the art and dementia program at the national gallery of australia, artful includes a tour of selected works within the museum of contemporary art. further to this, each two-hour visit across the six-week program includes hands-on, creative art-making sessions with trained artist-educators. an “artful at home” pack with art-making activities and all required materials is given to each 29 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 participant. the intent of the pack is to extend creative engagement between visits to the museum of contemporary art. as the program website notes, “on week 6, the program concludes with an open celebration and exhibition session, to coincide with one of our artful community days, where family and friends are invited to view the participants’ work made during the program” (museum of contemporary art australia, 2019). while findings regarding the research question have not yet been published, one sees in the artful program an evolution from viewing and discussing art museum collections, to engaging in creative, interactive artmaking as a group and individually. anecdotally the museum of contemporary art reports that, previous participants have expressed that artful offers new avenues for meaningful connections between people living with dementia and their carer partners. we have also seen the impact art and creative expression can have on participants, leading to improved self-esteem, wellbeing and social inclusion. (museum of contemporary art australia, 2019). the visual to vocal project which has been offered by the dulwich picture gallery (england) since 2012, is an innovative ten-week program involving individuals living with dementia, their carers, youth from local schools, and the english touring opera. together they write song lyrics and compose melodies in response to visiting the picture gallery’s permanent collection. this intergenerational collaboration culminates in a public performance of a mini-opera, replete with dialogue, and dramatic effect (dulwich picture gallery, 2017). like the artful project, described above, visual to vocal offers a multiple-arts approach that would not only reinforce existing abilities in participants, encouraging feelings of self-efficacy and wellbeing, but also encourage new learning—targeting neuroplasticity, and adding to individual capability. intergenerational engagement addresses stigma, with student participants reporting that their interactions with those living with dementia have helped them understand and appreciate who their theatrical colleagues are, and not what they may be lacking physically and cognitively. appreciation is a two-way street where the energy and particular talents of the youth from local schools are obviously valued and thoroughly enjoyed as can be seen in online videos of different performances across time (dulwich picture gallery, 2017). while this is an exemplary program, it does draw substantially on the resources of the gallery, local schools, and the english touring opera. such resource demands may not be readily accommodated by other museums interested in developing programming for those living with dementia and their carers. on a much smaller scale, perhaps more appropriate and achievable for museums of any size, is the program for museum object handling offered by the tunbridge wells museum and gallery (kent, england). an 18-month study involving seventy participants was conducted to determine if handling objects from the museum’s collection would have an ‘in the moment’ impact on wellbeing for people at the early and mid-stages of different types of dementia. wellbeing is manifested in feelings of contentment, enjoyment, confidence, and in making connections that bring meaning to one’s life and stimulate learning. while the course of dementia is irreversible, activities, such as exploring through touch and discussion, a random selection of unique, unusual, or unknown museum objects can increase a sense of wellbeing. further, activities that yield such positive outcomes among persons living with adrd can be done with a handful of objects and the facilitation of one member of museum staff—a high impact program with low demand on resources (kimmel & camic, 2015). while there are other examples of museum initiatives for people living with dementia and their carers, those highlighted, above, suggest that individual and group engagements with museum 30 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 collections per se, represent the dominant model for programming, with more recent innovations branching out to include other visual and performing arts, for example, art-making, music (composing, playing, singing), and theatre performance. programs most often also include family and caregivers, and are sometimes intergenerational. the museum’s approach to education and the user experience of collections is expanded to include those at various stages of cognitive decline with goals of stimulating ability and creativity, facilitating social engagement and interaction, building self-esteem, and a sense of wellbeing within a safe, comfortable space, and reducing stigma. while programs seem largely to be devised for individuals with adrd by museum staff and others, there may be room for ensuring that those living with dementia are leading or contributing at the front end, creating or co-designing programs for individuals with adrd, by persons living with dementia. this will be discussed later in the paper. library initiatives for persons living with dementia within the library sector, 2007 marked the publication of a set of guidelines for libraries around the world to consider in addressing the needs of patrons with dementia. the then international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla) standing committee on libraries serving disadvantaged persons (lsdp) (mortensen & nielsen, 2007), used examples drawn largely from public libraries in denmark to scaffold the model. as the introduction to the guidelines for library services to persons with dementia explains: the purpose of this guidelines publication is to raise awareness in libraries, among library professionals, care givers, public policy makers, as well as among families and friends of persons suffering from dementia, that many types of library services and materials can help stimulate the memory while providing pleasure and entertainment. experience shows that even persons with a middle-stage dementia can benefit from reading literature and obtaining information. these guidelines give practical recommendations on how to provide mental stimulation with books and other library materials. the publication also includes suggestions for library staff on how to tailor such services to the target population. (mortensen & nielsen, 2007, p. 3). while expressing the still prevalent notion then of adrd as “suffering”, the guidelines reflect programs and services focused on making books and other information available to persons with dementia and their caregivers. the authors also list the importance of music, audio-visual materials, and “reminiscence kits”, noting a growing trend in nordic country libraries, “to develop their own reminiscence kits, sometimes in co-operation with caregivers and local historical societies” (mortensen & nielsen 2007, p. 10). service delivery targets the “homebound”, those in care facilities, as well as in public library branches, per se. the guidelines cannot be considered to be dementia friendly as defined, though they do advocate strongly for greater public library engagement with a population that could clearly benefit from the materials and services that it offers. most public libraries do not have special services for persons with dementia, although their services are supposed to meet the informational and recreational needs of all population groups. in a democratic society, the right of access to culture, literature, and information extends to all, including persons with disabilities. quality of life is an important factor, and everybody is entitled to participate fully in society as long as possible. (mortensen & nielsen, 2007, p. 7). 31 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 the ifla guidelines (mortensen & nielsen, 2007), provided the framework for the design of an innovative library program, tales and travel, developed by american librarian mary beth riedner, and first offered at the gail borden public library (gbpl) in elgin, illinois, in 2011. the program brings together about a dozen individuals living with adrd who are invited to read books, summarize passages of text, and share stories, facts, and personal experiences around travel. each session, which simulates the act of visiting different countries and the u.s., and includes a physical globe at the table to locate the destination, encourages participation and conversation. resources and facilitation are provided by library staff. tales and travel has been widely adopted by public libraries in north america and is also offered on an outreach basis to library community partners, such as residential and long-term care facilities. riedner has also been instrumental in forming and sustaining the alzheimer’s and related dementia’s interest group (igard), of the association of specialized and cooperative library agencies, within the american library association. igard has taken a lead on providing information on, and extensive examples and assessments of dementia friendly library materials, programming, resources, and case studies for those living with adrd across various stages, their families, and caregivers.1 a review of public libraries in north america that self-report as dementia friendly offers many of the materials and programs identified by igard. preferred materials for a dementia friendly library collection follow the principles of person-centered care that is stage-appropriate, and may include books and magazines, talking books, moving images (tv, film, video), music, puzzles, toys, board games, kits (memory boxes, reminiscence kits, mixed-material packs to take home), objects/realia (tactile stimulation; reminiscence), and technology (touchpad and memory applications). materials may draw from existing library collections and may be augmented by products that are available from commercial or not-forprofit agencies. materials should accommodate cultural and linguistic diversity and be stageappropriate to various users. for example, selecting a children’s picture books might not be viewed as age-appropriate to an adult living with dementia, but would be appropriate to his or her stage of adrd. as the igard toolkit advises, programming for dementia friendly libraries should be designed to include meaningful activities, to provide opportunities for entertainment and enjoyment, to improve quality of life for individuals living with adrd, and to accept and respect them as full persons recognizing what they can do and not on the basis of lost abilities. activities reflective of these criteria may include memory cafés (a relaxed, comfortable space for sharing conversation, activities, and experiences in a café environment), art, music, poetry, and drama programming, educational sessions about and for individuals living with dementia and their caregivers, displays of materials about adrd, outreach, mobile services, and deposit collections, one-on-one appointments for selecting materials, and opportunities (and space) for meeting with a dementia specialist for counselling, memory testing, or community referrals. many public libraries across north america have adopted some or several of these programming options. in addition to developing collections and programming appropriate to individuals living with adrd, dementia friendly libraries have also focused on the design of physical place and space. best alzheimer’s products, a private company providing information and products relating to adrd, has summarized in a post on its website, key considerations for the design of a dementia friendly library (best alzheimer’s products, 2018). these include the following: 1. provide lighting that is bright and even but not glaring. shadows are confusing and may even be misinterpreted as doorways or even holes in the floor. 32 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 2. ensure that flooring is as even as possible in every way. there should be no tripping hazards, actual or perceived. designs and patterns in rugs or other flooring look like objects to one who is perceptually impaired. 3. whenever possible use contrasting colors. select furniture to contrast with walls and floors. walls should contrast with floors. 4. restrooms should also offer plenty of contrast. a white toilet is lost against a white floor and wall. 5. signage aids navigation and can help avoid confusion and the resulting anxiety a number of these features are incorporated in the public library in sandal, a suburb of wakefield, west yorkshire. newly renovated in 2015, it was purported to be the first dementia friendly library in england. its design included such features as no reflective surfaces, no mirrors, no patterns in the furnishings, clearly defined entrances, exits, and wall edges, appropriate signage with clear symbols and pictures, tables with a plain design and chairs and sofas that are easy to get in and out of, a deep red color scheme making it warm, friendly, and calming, and a large clock displaying the day, the part of the day, and the time. a lounge was refurbished to serve as a reminiscence room with sofas and a flat-screen television playing digitized images from the local history collection (taylor, 2018). three years later, an integrated public library building situated within the great sankey neighbourhood hub in warrington, england, opened in march 2018. color contrasts, high levels of natural and artificial lighting, acoustics, furniture and fittings, and signage were essential considerations to having the small library and other components of this leisure complex compliant with accreditation standards for dementia friendly public spaces (designing libraries, 2019). a growing number of public libraries in england are being refurnished or purpose-built to be accessible to individuals living with adrd. their design features are such as to also make them universally accessible and appropriate for all ages and stages of the life course. as discussed earlier, this is a positive development for the wellbeing of a community as a whole, and not simply for a particular target group. libraries that have adopted dementia friendly approaches have tended to focus on what has traditionally been considered strengths, namely, collections, services, and facilities (places and spaces). as will be discussed later, there seem opportunities for building further on these strengths, as well as collaborating with museums with their unique collections and focus on user experience through programming to offer a rich suite of resources, services, staff, and purposebuild places and spaces to support those living with adrd. there is also a need to assess the extent to which initiatives are undertaken for, and not necessarily with or by persons living with dementia. archives and initiatives for persons living with dementia a search of community programs and services offered by archives and designed for persons living with dementia leads to archives of adrd associations, or archives about dementia. that said, there is growing interest in community-based, community-initiated archives, and an appreciation for preserving hard copy and digital historical records for so-called memory projects. archives are natural candidates for providing historical materials important to memory, to remembering, 33 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 to reminiscence, and, consequently, of great value to persons with dementia. it remains for individuals living with dementia, their families, caregivers, or other service providers or agencies to access archival collections themselves, rather than through a program offered by a particular archive—perhaps notwithstanding exhibitions of documents for general interest (e.g., photographs from an event, a place, or of a person or persons). with rich collections of analogue and digital records, stored in a variety of media formats, archives would also seem to be logical partners to contribute resources and staff to developing programs supportive of the preservation of memory by those living with adrd. this is potentially fertile ground for innovation and collaboration, and for involving those who might benefit most in the co-creation of materials and programs supportive of remembering. conclusion: making the case for dementia friendly memory institutions as has been addressed across various sections of this paper, there has been a steady evolution in how we think about dementia and those with adrd. such individuals are no longer viewed primarily as persons whose diagnosis will result, in most cases, in institutionalization for the remainder of their life course. the current lens views those with adrd as citizens with a disability who have legal rights and protections, and who can expect certain levels of service in support of autonomy, independence, and a reasonable quality of life in the community for as long as they determine or as deemed personally safe to do so. the shift to recognize inherent individual rights within dementia friendly communities also has required a re-thinking of public and private sector services across the board. governments are having to respond to both legislative requirements (e.g., access to places and services for those with disabilities) and increasing citizen demand to develop national, provincial, state, and other strategies, and to provide funding for persons with adrd and their carers. falling naturally into this evolution of perspectives, this paper has argued, are the programs, services, materials, places, and spaces that libraries and museums do offer and archives could offer. framed by a requirement to offer dementia friendly initiatives in accordance with rights of persons with disabilities—now inclusive of those living with adrd—and with the benefit of a greater impetus towards sharing resources, expertise, technology, and even physical space through examples of convergence among so-called memory institutions, there is opportunity for taking a leadership role in advancing quality of life for those living with dementia. museums have responded with tours and discussions of collections scheduled for those living with dementia and their carers, as well as with mixed-arts programming (music, art-making, theatre, object handling). as public institutions housing, in many cases, valuable, irreplaceable artefacts and works of art, the specific requirements for preserving and displaying collections limits a physical design of space more accommodating to those living with adrd. colour, lighting, surface textures, spacing, seating, signage, and so on, are not necessarily readily adaptable to particular needs. moreover, programs tend to be limited in number and scheduling because of resource requirements, and, relative to public exhibitions, for example, delivered to a relatively small number of people. a steadily increasing number of libraries, on the other hand, have been able to incorporate new physical designs more accommodating to individuals with dementia, and, in doing so, have made spaces more accessible to all. programming has tended to focus on collections and on ensuring the availability of information and resources for and about persons living with adrd. initiatives, such as memory cafés, the tales and travel program, memory boxes and reminiscence packs that can be borrowed, music, art, poetry, and storytelling activities, education programs for and 34 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 about persons living with dementia, and community outreach initiatives, are readily found in dementia friendly libraries. nonetheless, such programs are subject to the availability of resources, whether staff, space, collections, or simple demand. when public libraries are accountable for funding on the basis of usage counts, a small group of eight engaged in a resource-intensive art or music therapy program (for example) can be vulnerable to being cut, particularly as budgets are under review. staff training for multiple or specialized programming may also be problematic, again given that the target community may be relatively small in number. what, then, remains to be done? museums and libraries are engaging in dementia friendly activities and programming based on the strength of their respective collections, staff, and commitment to community service. libraries also embrace a role of advocacy, ensuring access to all, while museums are steadfast proponents of a quality user education and experience. both sectors encourage learning, with museums also recognizing the importance of memory and the value of remembering. while perhaps a generalization or a simplification, libraries make accessible ideas recorded in various media, while museums preserve and display objects. it would behoove each of the two sectors to consider opportunities for collaborating and sharing the best of what each has to offer. innovative programming by museum staff could be offered in more flexible spaces offered by libraries. libraries could adopt multiple arts and intergenerational programming that has received such positive feedback in museums. staff from both institutions could share their particular expertise, engage in exchanges or co-instructional programming, and take training together. sharing of parts of or pieces within collections could be contemplated to enhance object handling or reminiscence sessions depending on the fragility and value of items. applications for funding and advocacy for specialized programming could be jointly made with persuasive efficiencies and best use of available resources. these are modest suggestions, but ones with a common goal of promoting the social inclusion, self-efficacy, and capacity building of individuals living with dementia. archives are not currently part of the mix of dementia friendly. with collections that hold clear value for preserving memory and fostering activities of remembering, archives are a logical partner with an important contribution to make. the idea of convergence among so-called memory institutions is well documented in the scholarly and professional literature. a common commitment to partnering on dementia friendly initiatives seems another area amenable to convergence, or at least aspects and activities thereof. while thinking about collaboration among themselves, libraries, archives, and museums must address the issue of having those living with adrd engaged at all stages of program and service development. respecting their insistence that, “if it’s about us without us, it cannot be dementia friendly”, memory institutions will need to ensure more than token voices at the table—at planning stages, at points of implementation and assessment, and as active members of committees, boards, and so on. this has, to this point, been more readily agreed in principle than exercised in practice. there is another opportunity for getting dementia friendly right from the get-go. the “way” has been established, through recognizing those living with adrd as individuals with the rights of persons with a disability, rather than solely as patients with a terminal disease. this removes them from the domain of the medical clinic to the public realm of community. as citizens of a community, they now benefit from the policies and services available to all, with rights protected in law, and with access to publicly funded agencies and institutions. libraries, archives, and museums are obligated to serve the broad constituency of citizens, which includes those living with adrd. libraries and museums have demonstrated a “will” to do so, with positive 35 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 outcomes. they have experiences and innovations to share with archives, with opportunities for collaboration to be viewed through a lens of openness to convergence, and to having all voices at the table. mortensen and nielsen, (2007) noted in their section, “a challenge to libraries”, that, despite the large and growing number of persons with dementia, it does not appear that public, health, and social services in most countries are sufficiently prioritized to meet their growing needs. with the rate of dementia related diseases growing, it would benefit all segments of society to respond in a more responsible manner to the needs of persons with dementia. 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(2016). mapping dementia-friendly communities across europe: a study 40 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1159/000455397 https://doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2012.720188 https://doi.org/10.1080/17533010802528108 https://doi.org/10.1177/1471301214543958 https://www.ypo.co.uk/news-and-events/news/designing-a-dementia-friendly-library https://doi.org/10.1177/1471301204045164 https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/frequently-asked-questions-regarding-the-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/frequently-asked-questions-regarding-the-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/frequently-asked-questions-regarding-the-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet htps://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2014.963 https://doi.org/10.1017/s0144686x09990328 dementia friendly memory institutions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32529 commissioned by the european foundations’ initiative on dementia (efid). retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eip/ageing/sites/eipaha/files/results_attachments/mapping_dfc s_across_europe_final.pdf wolverson, e.l., clarke, c. & moniz-cook, e.d. (2016). living positively with dementia: a systematic review and synthesis of the qualitative literature. aging & mental health, 20(7), 676-699. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2015.1052777 world health organization (who). (2018). the global network for age-friendly cities and communities: looking back over the last decade, looking forward to the next. geneva, switzerland: who. retrieved from https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/278979/who-fwc-alc-18.4eng.pdf?sequence=1 world health organization (who). (2019). dementia. retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia young, r., camic, p. m., & tischler, v. (2015). the impact of community-based arts and health interventions on cognition in people with dementia: a systematic review. aging & mental health, 20(4), 337-351. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2015.1011080 lynne c. howarth (lynne.howarth@utoronto.ca) is a current professor and former dean at the faculty of information (ischool), university of toronto, canada. between 2011 and 2013, howarth completed a two-year affiliation as distinguished researcher in information organization at the university of wisconsin-milwaukee ischool. she was honoured with the distinguished scholar lectio magistralis in biblioteconomia, florence university, italy, in 2011, and presented with the alise/connie van fleet award for research excellence in public library services to adults in 2016. she conducts research, publishes, and teaches in the areas of knowledge organization, representation and curation of the cultural record, and the design of information programs and services to persons with disabilities, with a particular focus on cognitive impairment. across the 2008-2019 period, she has completed three successive studies relating to objects, memory, and storytelling, each funded by the social science and research council of canada (sshrc). 41 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://ec.europa.eu/eip/ageing/sites/eipaha/files/results_attachments/mapping_dfcs_across_europe_final.pdf https://ec.europa.eu/eip/ageing/sites/eipaha/files/results_attachments/mapping_dfcs_across_europe_final.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2015.1052777 https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/278979/who-fwc-alc-18.4-eng.pdf?sequence=1 https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/278979/who-fwc-alc-18.4-eng.pdf?sequence=1 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2015.1011080 mailto:lynne.howarth@utoronto.ca introduction and context defining the scope, nature, and treatment of adrd evolving perspectives on adrd: from disease-focused to person-centered great leap forward: dementia friendly initiatives as disability rights towards dementia friendly libraries, archives, and museums museum initiatives for persons living with dementia library initiatives for persons living with dementia archives and initiatives for persons living with dementia conclusion: making the case for dementia friendly memory institutions endnotes references nnels: a new model for accessible library service in canada the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ nnels: a new model for accessible library service in canada kim johnson, alberta public library services branch, canada abstract public libraries face a unique challenge when building a collection that includes accessible format material for people with print disabilities, as a very small percentage of published material is available in accessible formats. in canada, the national network for equitable library service (nnels) offers a forward-thinking solution to this predicament. nnels is a digital library of accessible-format material; this paper argues that nnels’ model of user driven, participatory, and publicly-owned accessible format collection-building, provides an innovative way for public libraries to meet the needs of their print-disabled communities. keywords: accessibility; accessible formats; format-shifting; libraries publication type: special section publication introduction ot everyone has equal access to published material. in the context of what is referred to as the “book famine,” people with print disabilities are regularly unable to access books because most published material is not produced in an accessible format (world intellectual property organization, 2016, p. 2). alternate or accessible formats are formats designed for people with print or perceptual disabilities, defined in the canadian copyright act (1985, s. 2) as mobility, cognitive, and vision impairments that prevent individuals from being able to read traditional print. accessible formats for people with print disabilities may be tactile (e.g., braille), audio (e.g., daisy1), or visual (e.g., specialized fonts). significantly, it is estimated that there “are around 3 million canadians living with a print disability. however, only 5 to 7 percent of books are made in accessible formats…” (innovation, science and economic development, 2016, para. 1). this small selection of available material presents a significant challenge for people with print disabilities, as reading offers the opportunity for lifelong learning, community building, recreation, and political engagement and civil discourse: “without books, journals and magazines, people are cut off from life. they cannot gain an education or participate fully in society” (world intellectual property organization, 2016, p. 2). some people with print disabilities use assistive technologies with traditional formats; however, that does not change the fact that most published material is not created accessibly, and if the material is only available in printed format, it is very difficult to use assistive technologies. for public libraries, the lack of accessibly created material poses a distinct dilemma: how can a public library provide a rich and diverse collection that meets the needs of its entire local community, including those with print disabilities, when so little of the published material is accessible? this paper explores a unique model for accessible public library collections. the national network for equitable library service (nnels) is a digital library of accessible -format n http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, nnels: a new model the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ material working under section 32 of the copyright act2 to change the formats of traditional print material to accessible formats. there are two main non-profit organizations in canada that create accessible-format collections for the public library audience: the centre for equitable library access and nnels. this paper will focus solely on nnels and its innovative service model, but it is worth noting that there is another organization. while it will format shift any material, nnels focuses primarily on fiction and non -fiction books; however, the nnels model may be applied to different kinds of published material. ultimately, the goal for nnels is to ensure that material is available in all formats at the site of production, and that, rather than retrofitting formats, published material is born accessible. while this is not the current reality for publishers, nnels provides a model that helps libraries to best serve their print-disabled patrons. this paper uses the historical trajectory of services for people with disabilities in canada—from a traditional, medical paradigm to a critical, inclusive paradigm—as a theoretical framework to position nnels as an innovative service that is changing the public library landscape. as a user-driven, participatory, library-owned, and accessible-format collection and service, nnels represents a pr ofessional practice that not only responds to the users’ needs but also builds on inclusivity and empowerment. background: public libraries and accessible collections public libraries in canada have experienced the book famine when trying to serve patrons with print disabilities. mary ellen gabias, president of the canadian federation of the blind (cfb), describes her challenges as a print-disabled person finding material that she can read: if i had the choice of living for thirty years but could never read another book, or living for ten years with access to all the books i want, i’d have a hard time making that decision. my attitude toward books and reading is somewhat like the attitude toward money of someone who grew up during the depression. i remember taking home volumes of the braille dictionary from school because i had nothing else to read. (m.e. gabias, personal interview, february 3, 2016)3 although libraries have always been the first place she checks for reading material, she says, “it’s unfortunately true that sometimes (far too often) the book i want isn’t in [the library’s] collection” (personal interview, february 3, 2016). due to the lack of available material, people with print-disabilities have sometimes experienced strained relationships w ith public libraries, as the public library has not always been equipped or empowered to engage with print-disabled users and treat them as any other patron (as noted by gabias). until recently, in canada, the canadian national institute for the blind (cnib) library has been the primary source of accessible material for people with print disabilities, and libraries relied heavily on the cnib to provide this service. in 2010, cnib began its partners program and started working directly with libraries to deliver what became a more integrated library service (canadian national institute for the blind, 2011, p.8). however, in 2013, cnib discontinued the partners program, and two national library services for people with print disabilities emerged: the centre for equitable library access, which is built out of the cnib legacy and continues to leverage the cnib library collection (cnib, 20 15, p. 2), and nnels, which uses open-source technology to build a repository of public library material in accessible formats that belongs to the community. this history of services for people with print disabilities in canada can be traced alongside the history of disability services in canada generally. in their article “looking back, 115 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, nnels: a new model the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ rethinking historical perspectives and reflecting upon emerging trends,” peter dunn and terri-lynn langdon (2016) chart disability history from the european settlement through to the present day in canada. they outline the historical trajectory of disability service organizations through three major paradigm shifts: “the medical and rehabilitation paradigm, the traditional community service paradigm, and the critical disability paradigm based upon the social model of disability” (p. 37). the medical and rehabilitation paradigm considers disability as a sickness that needs to be cured. the model of care that follows from this paradigm is one where patients need to be taken care of by institutions that are separated from the rest of society. the traditional community service paradigm deinstitutionalizes people with disabilities but maintains special services for them. finally, the critical disability paradigm locates the problem within the environment itself, and places emphasis on social inclusion and human rights. they argue that, although there are ma ny disability activists fighting for the critical disability paradigm, canada has not yet quite embraced it. the framework and trajectory of these shifting paradigms is useful in assessing the current state of library service for people with print disabilities in canada. these services have been traditionally seen as separate, special, or charity services (as in the traditional community service paradigm). however, in recent years there has been a shift to new models of service, toward a paradigm that looks more like the critical disability paradigm. as a young and a relatively new service, nnels is not entrenched in traditional modes of service. it represents a shift from the traditional community service paradigm to a critical disability paradigm, as it has altered the landscape of library service for people with print disabilities in canada in the following ways. nnels is • user-driven, which empowers those using the service to make decisions about the service; • participatory, which empowers the library to participate, create content, and provide direct library service; and • library-owned, which means it is a library collection that belongs to the community. user-driven: from client to customer in his keynote address at the 2016 satellite meeting of the ifla world library and information congress conference, kevin carey (2016) argued that for meaningful change to occur within the alternate-format production sector, the consumer (the person with a print disability) must be transitioned from client to customer. in some contexts (such as the business framework), client and customer are interchangeable terms. however, for the purposes of this paper, they are defined separately, as per carey’s definition, reflecting social practice (for example, in social work). for carey, a customer has power over the product, whereas a client is served with a product and has very little say. the customer has the “power to exercise dominance over producers,” to make their demands heard, known, and addressed (p. 5). a print-disabled customer requires “niche goods and services on exactly the same basis as her sighted peers,” or non-print-disabled peers, and the customer is “always right!” (carey, 2016, p. 10). carey speaks from the perspective of a blind individual, but the power shift applies to all print-disabled readers requiring traditional print in specialized formats, that is, the “niche goods” (carey, 2016, p. 5). for carey, power in the hands of users is essential for moving away from a paternalistic 116 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, nnels: a new model the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ model of service delivery to one of empowerment, or from traditional community service to a critical disability service. the movement from client to customer for the alternate format sector in canada can be seen in the user-driven piece of the nnels model. nnels puts the user, or customer, at the centre of the service. the nnels team records and format-shifts material that has been requested by the community, making the nnels collection uniquely representative of its users. because of its responsive model, nnels is also able to make available material that is often overlooked, such as medical information, instructional booklets, provincial library legislation, etc. it offers unique ways of consulting and engaging people with print disabilities to build a service that works for them. a user-driven collection also puts a new spin on library resources; they become a collection of potential material. anything can be converted; therefore, everything becomes available (copyright permitting). because nnels works responsively (i.e., it will format-shift on demand), it is able to boast that its potential collection is limitless. dunn and langdon describe the activists’ demand for a shift away from the client-based model: “instead of ‘well-meaning care’ in the community, requiring individuals with disabilities to behave as ‘clients’ and recipients of social services, activists are demanding to provide their own programs based upon self-direction, choice and options” (p. 39). nnels offers its users options and choice by opening collection development and ensuring self-direction for the community that will be accessing the service. for carey (2016), the sheer lack of available material also represents the inability to shift production demand from that of a client to that of a customer. carey notes the paradigm shift occurring in the information sector—that of analogue to digital—has not effectively transformed the landscape for those producing and consuming alternate formats. throughout his address, carey returns to the idea that alternate-format producers are overly concerned with the quality rather than the quantity of the material. he points out that in this digital age, we have missed the opportunity to really move from scarcity to plenty in terms of alternate format material, even if it means sacrificing some of the “high-cost, low volume, super quality products” that have been the focus (p. 3). this approach sacrifices large-scale production, which could expand “customer choice” from a limited number of high-quality items to a much larger array of products. carey says: “the option of synthetic speech to bulk out a catalogue and to speed up delivery…has largely been ignored, a notable shortcoming particularly in nonfiction” (p. 5). nnels, however, uses a combination of both synthetic voice and recorded live narration for its audiobooks to provide a balanced and robust collection. if a title needs to be created quickly, synthetic voice is often used to meet the demand. synthetic audio has allowed nnels to expand its collection rapidly in a few short years, and it supports the responsive on-demand formatshifting priority. participatory: from outsourcing to insourcing nnels empowers libraries to be part of both production and direct service delivery. taking the network principle seriously, anyone is welcome to record a book or edit e-text; materials are added to the nnels repository to build a unique collection of voices and effort. in the summer of 2015, the pemberton public library in british columbia, canada recorded a copy of the captain underpants and the revolting robo-boxers by dav pilkey (national network for equitable library service, 2015). the staff at the library recorded the book together as a group. the project was not only fun and morale-boosting—as the town was experiencing 117 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, nnels: a new model the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ destructive wildfires at the time—but it was also a contribution to a collective national repository, a way to serve patrons both locally and nationally. in 2017, children at the gibsons district public library recorded two children’s books: supposing by alistair reid and the way i feel by janan cain (national network for equitable library service, 2017). these recording projects contributed to the participatory vision and, at the same time, taught the children who participated in the project that different people read in different ways. in alberta, the lac la biche public library received a grant to create a recording studio that they will use to record material for nnels, among other projects. students from the university of alberta school of library and information studies have been hired on one-year contracts over a two-year period to edit e-text and produce synthetic-voice daisy files for nnels. the crane library at the university of british columbia has deposited many titles into the nnels repository (national network for equitable library service, 2016). many of the volunteer recorders for the crane library are also recording items for nnels. these are just a few examples of the distributed nature of a national network, which highlight the diversity of the individuals and organizations that contribute to the nnels repository. additionally, nnels encourages public libraries to provide direct service to patrons with print disabilities. for example, nnels trains library staff to burn discs on-demand or transfer files from the nnels repository for their patrons. libraries have not always been empowered to provide this kind of direct service. gabias describes a key frustration from her experience in libraries: [a frustration] is to always and every time be told to go to cn ib for what i need. do people who keep saying that to me really believe that i haven’t heard of cnib? do they not understand that i’m a member of the public trying to participate in a public program? i’m there because i believe the library may be of servic e to me. before sending me back to the “experts,” at least have a conversation about what might be possible. i’m not so ‘other’ that i must always content myself with “separate but equal” service. (m.e. gabias, personal interview, february 3, 2016) the nature of the nnels collection enables libraries to think about insourcing these services, rather than relying on external agencies, like the cnib. rather than sending patrons away to be served by an external organization, which was the reality until 2010, librarians can have conversations about reading preferences with their print-disabled patrons to provide proper readers’ advisory services. though the gap between accessible material and traditional published material remains, librarians who can burn discs on demand and who are aware of on-demand production are well-equipped to engage with print-disabled users as they would other patrons. library-owned: from licenced content to a core collection although nnels is an organization and a repository, the collection itself belongs to public libraries. the library branches of the provincial and territorial partners (british columbia, alberta, saskatchewan, manitoba, nova scotia, yukon, northwest territories, and nunavut) have created and continue to fund nnels. they own perpetual and unlimited distribution rights for any files produced by nnels. this means that the nnels files are owned in perpetuity by the public libraries in the participating jurisdictions. in contrast, other organizations generally offer subscription or licensing models in which the content is perpetually owned by the organization acting as a vendor. nnels is a true example of interprovincial partnership and a shared accessible-format library collection. ownership rights are more than a symbolic gesture: owning the collection integrates services for print-disabled customers as a fundamental part of the library mission rather than an additional, specialized service. 118 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, nnels: a new model the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ working ourselves out of business: the future of accessible formats in canadian public libraries nnels allows for a new way of thinking about services for people with print disabilities in public libraries. the trajectory from a traditional community service paradigm to a critical disability paradigm has provided a useful framework in situating this new model. however, the critical disability paradigm advocating the ideals of social inclusion and full participation cannot actually be realized until nnels ceases to exist. the common refrain for people who work with nnels is that “we are in the business of working ourselves out of business.” full inclusion means • that libraries no longer need a special service (even if it is integrated as much as possible) for people with print disabilities, • that all reading material is available in all formats, and • that material is born accessible. there are many dedicated people working towards this vision—readers, libraries, advocates, and publishers—but we are not there yet. nnels offers libraries and supporters a new model for our current environment and, more importantly, a way to envision a future without nnels. endnotes 1 “daisy (the digital accessible information system) is the emerging world standard for digital talking books for people who are blind or have a print disability. this format has been under development for over ten years, with most of the world's talking book libraries now employing some form of the standard” (kearney, 2011, para. 4). 2 there is provision in the copyright act (1985, s. 32) that permits individuals with perceptual disabilities or non-profit organizations acting on behalf of persons with perceptual disabilities to produce copies of published works in order to make them accessible. 3 cited by permission. references carey, k. (2016). library and information services in the 21st century: from client to customer. lpd satellite conference: tailoring the reading experience to meet individual needs, louisville, kentucky. canadian national institute for the blind (cnib). (2011). opening the door to reading for more than three million canadians: year in review. retrieved from http://www.cnib.ca/en/services/library/documents/cnib%20library%20year%20in%20r eview_2010-11_en.pdf canadian national institute for the blind (cnib). (2015). from dream to reality: cnib year in review 2014-15. retrieved from 119 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.cnib.ca/en/services/library/documents/cnib%20library%20year%20in%20review_2010-11_en.pdf http://www.cnib.ca/en/services/library/documents/cnib%20library%20year%20in%20review_2010-11_en.pdf nnels: a new model the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ http://www.cnib.ca/en/services/library/documents/library%20year%20in%20review2014-2015_eng_accessible%20version.pdf copyright act, revised statutes of canada (1985, c. c-42) r.s.c., 1985. retrieved from the justice laws website: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-42/ dunn, p. & langdon t.l. (2016). looking back, rethinking historical perspectives and reflecting upon emerging trends. in j. robertson & g. larson (eds.), disability and social change: a progressive canadian approach (pp. 27-44). nova scotia: fernwood publishing. innovation, science and economic development canada. (june 24, 2016). frequently asked questions: an act to amend the copyright act (access to copyrighted works or other subject-matter for persons with perceptual disabilities) and the marrakesh treaty. government of canada. retrieved from https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/icgc.nsf/eng/07522.html kearney, g. (2011). daisy: what is it and why use it? braille monitor, 54(2), n.p. retrieved from https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm11/bm1102/bm1102tc.htm national network for equitable library service (nnels). (2015). 1,800 new titles added from ubc’s crane library. [press release]. retrieved from https://nnels.ca/1800-new-titlesadded-ubc%e2%80%99s-crane-library national network for equitable library service (nnels). (2016). library staff help heroes change the course of history and save the world with time travel [press release]. retrieved from https://nnels.ca/news/library-staff-help-heroes-change-course-historyand-save-world-time-travel national network for equitable library service (nnels). (2017). happy international day of persons with disabilities: two special books! [press release]. retrieved from https://nnels.ca/news/happy-international-day-persons-disabilities-two-special-books world intellectual property organization (wipo). (2016). the marrakesh treaty—helping to end the global book famine. retrieved from www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_marrakesh_overview.pdf kim johnson (kimberly.johnson@gov.ab.ca) is a consultant for the public library services branch with the government of alberta. kim works on resource sharing initiatives, such as alberta-wide borrowing, interlibrary loan, and library services for people with print disabilities. 120 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.cnib.ca/en/services/library/documents/library%20year%20in%20review-2014-2015_eng_accessible%20version.pdf http://www.cnib.ca/en/services/library/documents/library%20year%20in%20review-2014-2015_eng_accessible%20version.pdf http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-42/ https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/icgc.nsf/eng/07522.html https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm11/bm1102/bm1102tc.htm https://nnels.ca/1800-new-titles-added-ubc%e2%80%99s-crane-library https://nnels.ca/1800-new-titles-added-ubc%e2%80%99s-crane-library https://nnels.ca/news/library-staff-help-heroes-change-course-history-and-save-world-time-travel https://nnels.ca/news/library-staff-help-heroes-change-course-history-and-save-world-time-travel https://nnels.ca/news/happy-international-day-persons-disabilities-two-special-books http://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_marrakesh_overview.pdf mailto:kimberly.johnson@gov.ab.ca introduction background: public libraries and accessible collections user-driven: from client to customer participatory: from outsourcing to insourcing library-owned: from licenced content to a core collection working ourselves out of business: the future of accessible formats in canadian public libraries endnotes references book review of an internet for the people: the politics and promise of craigslist. the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34443 ijidi: book review lingel, j. (2020). an internet for the people: the politics and promise of craigslist. princeton university press. isbn 9780691188904. 197 pp. $29.95 us. reviewer: mona elayyan, columbia university libraries, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: craigslist.com; internet; internet advertising—social aspect; internet—social aspect; online social networks publication type: book review essa lingel’s internet for the people reflects major shifts in tech companies’ online presences and their impact on user expectations. she uses craigslist, founded on web 1.0 standards, to exemplify aspects of the old internet. then draws attention to web 2.0’s shift in political and economic values that, in many instances, undercut the original web 1.0 standards of “access, reach, and privacy” (p.20). she demonstrates how the internet transformed from a medium used to access knowledge and information into one where “continual self-disclosure, and … steady integration of online devices into everyday life” (p.21) has become the norm. this once one-way tool used to retrieve information has become a receptacle that collects user information and retrieves personalized data, allowing users minimal room for choice. since craigslist continues to position itself within the web 1.0 standards it has resisted mainstream media web changes. lingel’s book compares aspect of the internet’s new standards to the original and provides a comprehensive critical look at the benefits and drawbacks of each. although the book focuses on craigslist specifically and its journey to success, and its struggles to avoid obsolescence, it also addresses persistent social and cultural concerns that resonate off and on-line. as more and more social media and classified ad sites adopt mainstream values, they demonstrate signs of uniformity in style and business ideologies. they neglect diversity and originality as core values in favour of financial gain. evidence of this change is seen through sweeping online transformations that resemble gentrification. lingel demonstrates how this phenomenon, which results in physical and cultural changes to existing neighbourhoods, has extended to the internet to the point where craigslist, a “long-standing internet resident” (p. 110) has become an outcast. she observes the ways new tech companies have transformed online spaces and shifted the aesthetic expectations and political norms (p. 110). however, as craigslist remains true to its original values, its mere existence is perceived as an ungentrified anomaly and a rival to existing online mainstream media politics. this pesky old internet fixture continues to challenge the new notions of privacy and monetization. lingel’s book is divided into two parts, each addressing a specific aspect of craigslist. part one describes the company’s historical background while part two explores the site’s past and present functionality. by exploring the site’s origins and legal battles, lingel contextualizes craigslist’s humble beginnings and demonstrates the struggles and determination the founder and ceo underwent to preserve their core values. its sustained presence, persistent hands-off approach, and respect for users’ privacy contributed to the cultivation of communities and spaces where people can develop their personal and political expressions. lingel argues that j https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an internet for the people the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34443 craigslist exemplifies “the early visions of how the web should be” (p.161) with web 1.0 standards upheld. she reveals how the site’s simple aesthetic design and orderly content contribute to both its early popularity and recent appeal; but, she affirms, its easy navigation and respect for user privacy continue to be its main attractions. when depicting craigslist’s historical background, the book illustrates the site’s unique business ideology, which is established upon two main tenets: simple design, and minimal profitability to maintain user privacy. although lingel demonstrates that these driving principles have been reasons the site appears outdated, it also conveys originality and a genuine loyalty to users. their basic premise for keeping it simple, was to ensure the site’s efficiency using “lightweight programming” (p.30) and applying updates only when necessary. this minimalistic design reduced their financial overhead costs ensuring transparent monetization without compromising users’ data. initially, craigslist’s shares were split among three members: the founder craig newmark, his ceo jim buckmaster and an additional member, phillip knowlton. when knowlton sold his shares to ebay, newmark and buckmaster fought to reclaim full control to avoid flashy banners or commercial advertisements. they wanted to prevent monetizing user information that finances adding unnecessary new functionality. however, maintaining this simple design, as lingel elaborates, involved years of courtroom battles. their success eliminated outside interference in both its operations and design while keeping company stocks out of the public domain. in addition, lingel’s representation of newmark and buckmaster’s satisfaction with the company’s existing profit margins reveals a professional integrity contrasted with other mainstream sites like facebook and twitter. these sites that include banners and commercial ads do so to finance slick designs that ultimately compromise efficiency and functionality as well as user privacy. this reflection and historical background draw readers attention to large tech companies’ insatiate appetites for greed who choose high profit margins while exploiting users’ information in the process. but it also illustrates user’s role in propelling these values forward through their growing demands for additional features and shinier interfaces. alternatively, lingel uses the second part of the book to illustrate craigslist’s social influence as a community builder. she explains how the site acts as a resource that connects people to jobs and cultivates unique user interactions emanating from the buying and selling of items. these interactions have contributed to the site’s negative and positive attributes that have either tarnished its reputation or turned it into a cultural phenomenon. but in both cases craigslist exposes the class divisions that permeate in the online world. as an indication of class division, lingel points to how craigslist’s job ads, one of the site’s initial key functions, have diminished in popularity. she explains the novelty that craigslist online job ads had at the beginning, appealing to a broad range of people. however, as more and more tech companies took to the internet, craigslist job ads went from elite postings to casual gigs, from full-time stable positions to part-time temporary contracts, resulting in a decline in its popularity. lingel explains that as employment plays an important role in identifying class structures, craigslist became the “poor-people’s internet” (p.112) causing a large number of users to turn to other sites. undisturbed by this outcome, craigslist maintained its commitment to inclusivity, and equal access to unfiltered information, refusing to be more selective in the types of listings it posted. in maintaining its original values, craigslist did not succumb to mainstream expectations nor did it attempt to lure back previous users. 116 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an internet for the people the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34443 lingel also demonstrates how “difference[s] in class and background matter when it comes to not just whether people use technology but how” (pp.102-103) they use it. in addition to job ads craigslist is known for its buying and selling aspect. from interviews with craigslists users, lingel identified three types: the environmentally responsible, the local community builders and the entrepreneurs. each of these types of users turns away from mainstream capitalism to develop their own niche communities. craigslist’s hands-off approach to these online transactions, keeping its role as a facilitator, maximizes users’ autonomy and personal expression. her accounts describe people like mimi whose commitment to protecting the environment and “avoiding consumption” (p.71) motivate her to keep “items out of trash bins and landfills” (p. 71). molly and lou use the site to develop social ties within their communities by circulating household items in their respective neighbourhoods. they believe in and value each items’ historical provenance. by buying and selling these items among a tight knit community they are building social values that come with linking old owners to new ones. finally, there is micah, who has established an entrepreneurial business from selling, buying and pricing goods on craigslist. craigslist has given users the autonomy to express their own social and political views, establish a personal approach and cultivate a community of local connections by maintaining a zero cost for everyday users while charging only official retailers. lingel demonstrates how craigslist has also become a cultural and artistic inspiration. people interested in examining social change or exploring socio-technological interconnections have used craigslist to produce mash-up catalogues, popular culture memes, and contrasting displays of original craigslists ads with new ones (p.84). the site makes these comparisons possible by maintaining its original appearance and style, which offer a unique and perfect point of historical reference. craigslist’s influence has reached beyond a basic classified ad site and extended its digital afterlife imprint through these inventive revivals. although craigslist’s online presence has enhanced its users’ experience, cultivated online and offline communities, exposed social divides and challenged mainstream media sites, lingel also highlights the issues craigslist’s hands-off approach raises. she draws attention to platform accountability involving concerns of user safety and exposes the boundaries a controlled versus control-free website can achieve. she leaves her readers contemplating the future of the internet and acknowledging aspects that need to remain such as user privacy and transparent corporate policies over monetization. her book builds on previous works by megan sapnar ankerso in her dot-com design: the rise of a usable, social, commercial web and astra taylor’s the people's platform: taking back power and culture in the digital age. all strive to understand and mitigate future interactions and social barriers in the digital ecosystem. mona elayyan (mona.elayyan@gmail.com) is the web services and user experience librarian at columbia university library. usability planning and testing are key aspects of her current role and her research focuses on making online information accessible, engaging, and discoverable for all users. she received a bsc in electrical engineering, an honours ba in english literature, a master of information from the university of toronto, and a msc in digital humanities from university college london. in her previous roles she worked as an outreach and instructional librarian at the university of toronto, a reference and instruction librarian at york university, and interned as a research data strategist at the british library. 117 laughter filled the space: challenging euro-centric archival spaces the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 laughter filled the space: challenging euro-centric archival spaces krista mccracken, algoma university, canada skylee-storm hogan, know history, canada abstract this article offers a view of decolonialized approaches to archival spaces and insight into community centered constructions of space. by addressing perceptions of space and the physicality of where archives are accessed, this piece focuses on the emotional, physical, and intellectual barriers that are associated with archival information. the authors address the numerous facets of physical archival spaces, including but not limited to physical seating, wall colours, and sounds within a space. the authors highlight the differences between euro-centric settler archives and indigenous community archival spaces as a way to provide models for decolonialized approaches to creating archival space. keywords: community archives; indigenous archives; residential schools publication type: research article introduction istorian mary jane logan mccallum (2018) has openly discussed the challenges indigenous scholars face in conducting research in archival spaces. reflecting on her experience at library and archives canada (lac) she notes, “[a]t the archives, researchers are confronted by the state—literally at the door. registration is necessary, and federally employed, mostly older ex-military security officers guard the building, the boxes of records, the talking, and, when possible, the cameras researchers now use to photograph records.” what is made clear through logan mccallum’s essay is that a research trip to an archive is never a neutral experience. archival spaces come in all shapes and sizes, though many follow similar access protocols and reading rooms tend to have a similar look and feel. archives, particularly those that are extensions of government or other public and private institutions, can be physically stressful, hostile, and unwelcoming to indigenous researchers. archival visits often involve travel, navigating state structures, government bureaucracy, archival protocols, and unwelcoming spaces. while this is true for many would-be visitors to archives, these challenges are especially difficult for indigenous individuals who are faced with additional barriers to access, not the least of which is the reminder of the connection between archives and the colonial systems that have contributed to the cultural genocide of indigenous communities in north america and around the world. in this article, we look at the ways in which archives’ physical spaces not only fail to meet the need of indigenous visitors and researchers, but also embody many of the violent colonial practices that have marginalized indigenous communities. we refer to the truth and reconciliation commission of canada and the calls to action published in its final report. we also h about:blank laughter filled the space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 draw from the protocols for native american archival material (first archivists circle, 2007), which describes best practices for culturally responsive care and use of american indian archival materials held by non-tribal organizations. we also build on the work of the response to the report of the truth and reconciliation commission taskforce of the steering committee on canada’s archives (trc-tf). in particular, we look at the trc-tf recommendations provided in its draft report, a reconciliation for canadian archives (2020), which identifies a number of recommendations concerning the physical spaces of archives that the authors support. this article also highlights the differences between euro-centric settler archives, indigenous centered archival spaces, and grassroots community heritage spaces. by showcasing community approaches to archival spaces, we suggest decolonialized approaches to archival stewardship that have the potential to shift archival practices in meaningful ways. to accomplish this, we have deeply rooted our discussions in our sense of place, positionality, and community. we draw from our own experiences working with the shingwauk residential schools centre (srsc), where the space is often filled with laughter, and where people speak their indigenous languages, tell jokes, and feel at ease in an archival space. this laughter and level of comfort is what inspires us and informs our advocacy work directed at helping archives become more culturally appropriate in ways that welcome indigenous peoples and their ways of being. krista mccracken is a settler who lives and works with the srsc at algoma university in sault ste. marie, ontario, canada. krista is grateful for the opportunities they have had to work alongside residential school survivors and indigenous communities, and continues to learn by listening to elders and survivors. skylee-storm hogan is a mixed urban indigenous person from kahnawà:ke who was raised in the greater toronto area. skylee-storm has held a variety of positions with the srsc and this experience continues to shape their current scholarship and work advising public history projects. barriers in archival spaces most archives have protocols for access and use of their spaces and services. specific policies vary, but some of the more common protocols include: requiring the visitor to register as a researcher, which often involves providing government-issued identification; requiring visitors to leave belongings in a separate area or locker to prevent theft or damage to records; and limiting access to specific hours and/or verified scholars. entering an archive for the first time, and not knowing about these procedures or how they work, can produce anxiety and fear. adding to this discomfort, the physical spaces of archives, including most reading rooms where collections are accessed, are generally constructed to serve a particular type of researcher—the historical, the legal researcher, or the genealogist—who are already familiar with institutional processes. taken together, the institutional protocols and spaces are not designed to meet the needs of nontypical users; for members of indigenous communities, such institutional barriers mean that access is both passively and actively discouraged. one set of barriers facing indigenous people is the ways in which archives mirror, and in some cases reinforce, systems of colonial oppression through policing and surveillance. canada has a legacy of racism against indigenous peoples, particularly within the justice system. as mi'kmaw lawyer pamela palmater (2016) has reported, indigenous people have a much higher rate of interactions with police than non-indigenous people, resulting in higher rates of incarceration. such over-policing is tied up with the legacy of the north-west mounted police (nwmp) and the contemporary royal canadian mounted police (rcmp or “mounties”), which were both established to protect the interest of settlers by enforcing colonial law, order, and administration 98 about:blank laughter filled the space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 (nettelbeck & smandych, 2010). this history manifests as a barrier to archives in three interconnected ways. first, by requiring visitors to engage with security guards or walk through metal scanners prior to entering reading rooms. second, archives often uphold colonial values through their use of language. the code of ethics for lac, for example, states, “we respect the rule of law and carry out our duties in accordance with legislation” (library and archives canada, 2019a). some laws to which this code refers, such as the indian act of 1985 and its subsequent regulations, are part of a long history of assimilationist policy in canada and have been used to control indigenous land, resources, and people for generations. third, the physical layout of reading rooms are designed for solitary research under the supervision of staff, mimicking the solitary confinement and surveillance of prisons. as eric ketelaar (2002) notes, this panopticon construction is purposeful; in some archives, even the furniture and positioning of staff are designed to increase surveillance of researchers. while the need to secure collections from damage and theft is understandable, the security protocols in place are barriers for some visitors. we question the necessity of such policing and surveillance. as ross griffiths and andrew krol (2009) point out, the amount of effort taken by archives to ensure the safety of their collections from researchers may also be misguided. many thefts and damages, they find, are the result of insider intervention, which places further doubt on the need for such drastic security measures. archives can explore policies that protect their physical records while still working toward creating welcoming spaces. we recommend, for example, archives holding specific days or hours for indigenous researchers, looking at the possibility of taking reproduction archival records into indigenous communities, using open concept reading rooms which privilege connection instead of isolated researchers, and talking with indigenous communities to see what type of access would meet their needs best. this could be furthered by the formation of councils or working groups with local nations who have considerable collections housed within an archives. when working with indigenous communities there should be a partnership-based approach, rather than a gate-keeping relationship based on colonial power structures. in addition to physical security measures, many archives also require visitors to either show identification prior to accessing the reading room or insist that they register as a researcher, which requires government-issued identification. at lac, for example, visitors subject themselves to a number of administrative requirements. they must read and accept the user agreement terms and conditions established by lac, fill out an electronic form, present themselves to a staff member at the registration desk, show a government-issued photo identification, and sign a user card (2019b). it is not as simple as showing up and asking to see records. there are processes upon processes that need to be followed in order to access material at lac, even if the records in question are documenting your own personal history. lac is not alone in its entry requirements. for example, the archives of manitoba (2020) requires that visitors check-in at a security desk, show identification, complete a registration form, and obtain a registration card. these are only two examples, but there are similar registration protocols in place at many archives. for indigenous people, producing acceptable identification itself may be a barrier. individuals living in remote or northern-canadian communities are more likely to lack government issued personal identification, such as birth certificates, than those living closer to urban centres. as chris sanders and kristin burnett (2019) show, lack of personal identification is often an intergenerational issue, stemming from colonial practices that removed indigenous children from their home communities through residential schooling or adoption into white families, resulting in distrust of government. underfunding of indigenous health care and poor services on reserve has also produced a situation in which multiple generations of families have 99 about:blank laughter filled the space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 not acquired government-issued personal identification. by insisting on the presentation of identification to enter archives, many indigenous people are already actively prevented from accessing the collections these institutions hold. we therefore recommend that archives consider alternative options for registration by either ending this practice altogether or allowing for alternative forms of identification, such as a letter from a band or tribal office or another indigenous organization to introduce the visitor, or by engaging in a series of conversations with the visitor to build rapport and trust rather than lengthy paperwork. like the public archives described above, many religious archives contain materials that document the lives and experiences of indigenous peoples and communities. although religious archives are rarely subject to the same level of bureaucratic security protocols as government archives, they often put up similar barriers to access. the archives of the jesuits in english canada, for example, has a number of guidelines for visitors, including sign-in procedures and access protocols. the general regulations not only stipulate that staff “reserves the right to assign a specific place for the researcher, depending on the amount, size and type of documents to be consulted,” but that research must not begin before visitors sign a research agreement (jesuits of english canada, 2020). these regulations pose several barriers worth noting. the act of assigning a place to sit within the archives removes agency from visitors and, for some indigenous visitors, this could be reminiscent of the structure of residential schools or other colonial institutions. this is important to keep in mind because indigenous people may seek access to records held by a religious order because they document interactions between the church and indigenous communities, often in relation to missionary work or residential schooling. regulations like the ones imposed by the jesuits also assume that visitors will conduct their research independently, which can be a hurdle for anyone wishing to consult archives with family or a support person. for indigenous people, moving through an archive alone can be frightening. this fear may be amplified if the archives are housed in a church, former jail, former residential school, or another colonial institutional setting. figure 1: central marble and brass staircase at library and archives canada’s downtown ottawa location. from biblioarchives / libraryarchives, by tom thompson, february, 2018. https://flic.kr/p/25zxv8w library and archives canada, img_5054. cc-by-nc-nd. 100 about:blank about:blank laughter filled the space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 once a visitor has navigated the security protocols and passed through the physical and administrative barriers, they may face additional challenges in the reading room or consultation area. as noted above, reading rooms are designed for particular kinds of researchers; they are serious, quiet, and sterile in aesthetic. there is no space for consulting with family or community members and very few archives allow indigenous cultural practices such as smudging to take place. lac, for example, has limited discussion space and few soft surfaces for visitors to sit or rest on. the concrete exterior and the interior white marble of lac feels cold, hard, and formal. the ceilings are high, entry spaces are grand, and brass accents such as those seen in figure 1 make the visitor aware that this is a space steeped in history, formality, and part of the government power structure. furthermore, there is no space in reading rooms for processing trauma. archives are places where indigenous peoples are discovering their ancestors’ stories and processing loss. the very nature of what was collected by the government as archival data documents the colonization, dispossession, subjugation, and forced assimilation of indigenous communities. as jesse thistle (2015) notes, archives can be traumatic, and reading about the treatment of indigenous communities through the lens of colonial bodies can be particularly exhausting for indigenous researchers. jarett m. drake (2016) goes so far to argue that archival reading rooms can be oppressive places. he writes, “[archivists] expect users to consult documentary records that chronicle the peaks and valleys of humanity – love, hate, war, abuse, joy, humor – and display no auditory or affective response.” when archives are designed in ways that discourage emotional interaction with records, they are not only intimidating, but they can actually further harm indigenous people when they access records that document trauma and are expected not to show an emotional response. and if a researcher is triggered while visiting the archives, there is no one available to respond in support of mental health and the social standards of “library quietness” mean indigenous people may feel pressured to leave the space in order to process their grief. whether physical, administrative, or emotional, the barriers that indigenous people experience in accessing government and institutional archives can be eased or mitigated. in this next section, we introduce the shingwauk residential schools centre (srsc) and describe how this archives, and other indigenous-centred community archives, have developed practices that reduce barriers for visitors and encourage participation from indigenous peoples. indigenous-centred archival spaces before we discuss the work of the srsc, it is important to situate our work in a growing literature on the need to rethink archival practices to meet the needs of those historically marginalized by these kinds of institutions. rachel buchanan (2007) reminds us that archives are a product of when and where they are created and they can be transformed and reimagined by community involvement. we have the power, therefore, to remake them. crystal fraser and zoe todd (2016) argue that, “to reclaim, reshape, and transform the archives to meet the needs of indigenous peoples requires an honest and blunt engagement with the bureaucratic and arcane structures that govern and shape research today.” archivists can transform their institutions to be more accessible to indigenous peoples and archives can be spaces of care, community, and reparative processing. this demand dovetails with the work of michelle caswell and marika cifor (2016), who argue that approaching archival practice with a feminist and community oriented ethic of care “would transform the reading room space from a cold, elitist, institutional environment to an affective, user-oriented, community-centred service space.” building empathy and community centered care into archival services and spaces can improve user experiences at archives, particularly the experiences of users from marginalized communities. archives are not 101 about:blank laughter filled the space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 without a template for the physical transformation of space; many community archives and cultural centres provide examples of spaces that are welcoming and culturally sensitive to the needs of indigenous users. michelle caswell et al. (2018) have also noted that, many individuals view “community archives metaphorically as home...home is a space where their experiences and those of their ancestors are validated. for others, still it is a space where intergenerational dialog—sometimes difficult and unsettling—occurs.” community archives can have a profound impact on personal, family, and community history. many community archives have been created with the needs of a particular community in mind and have adapted their spaces to serve communities. the shingwauk residential schools centre (srsc), a grassroots community archive founded by residential school survivors in 1981, provides one example of an archive that has worked to eliminate barriers to access and create a space which is non-threatening. the srsc preserves and shares materials connected to the legacy of residential schools in canada and more broadly about sharing, healing, and learning related to indigenous communities and reconciliation. the srsc archival collection initially focused on the materials connected to the shingwauk residential school but since the 1980s has expanded to collect records from residential schools across canada. today, the srsc is jointly managed through a partnership between algoma university and the children of shingwauk alumni association—a group of former shingwauk indian residential school students and their descendants. the centre is housed at algoma university, on the former shingwauk site and operated with the community guidance of survivors and local indigenous partners. canadian indian residential schools forcibility took first nations, inuit, and metis children away from their families and placed them in government run, church-administered schools designed to take away their culture, family connections, and identity. many of the materials which document residential schools also document colonialism, assimilationist policies, and the mental and physical harms done to students while away from their homes. given the traumatic nature of the archival material held by the srsc, the staff have carefully considered ways that archival staff can better support residential school survivors and intergenerational survivors when they access archival material. the srsc does not have a formal sign-in procedure for access to its visitor space, nor are individuals required to show identification, and visitors are welcome to just sit in the centre’s space. similarly, the srsc is happy to host community groups and families; visitors are encouraged to come into the space with friends, family, or anyone else that they wish to bring. individuals or groups can use the comfortable seating, pictured in figure 2, to sit and flip through reproduction photo albums or to just talk and visit with family or staff. staff provide boxes of tissues and tobacco ties for anyone wishing to leave an offering on the shingwauk site. tobacco is a spirit medicine for many of the indigenous cultures who have survivors from the shingwauk residential school. additionally, visitors are welcome to move the chairs around to suit their comfort and accessibility needs. the flexible and adaptable nature of the space allows the srsc to accommodate individual researchers, intimate groups, and larger groups of visitors. the srsc is focused on the experiences of its visitors. for example, the lack of formal archival sign-in procedures at the srsc is intentional. the srsc does not want survivors to feel as though they have to jump through hoops in order to gain access to residential school records that are about them. the lack of visitor forms is an active attempt to avoid creating strict institutional policies that might be a reminder of the regimented nature of residential schools or other government institutions. when a survivor, a survivor’s descendant—also called an 102 about:blank laughter filled the space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 intergenerational survivor—or a community member enters the space, srsc staff stop whatever work they are doing and turn their attention to that person. this act of acknowledging visitors and actively offering assistance is part of creating a welcoming space. additionally, all srsc staff have engaged in basic training around trauma and how to support someone who is experiencing emotional distress. part of this training emphasizes how archival staff can interact with and support survivors, intergenerational survivors, and families who are looking at archival material relating to their personal, family, or community history. this means understanding that working with archival records can be deeply personal and that research can “be the key to their identity, prompt re-connection with lost family members, confirm doubted memories of the past, or provide the sought-after evidence required to seek justice” (jones, 2014). for many individuals entering the srsc it may be the first time they are interacting with photographs of relatives, making their archival experience deeply personal and at times emotional. some people come to the archives looking for confirmation that a relative attended a residential school or looking for an answer to a question about their family. these searches can produce a range of emotions, depending on the individual. providing quiet and private spaces, tissues, water, and access to space where individuals can smudge are part of the srsc’s efforts to support individuals who may experience trauma in the archives. figure 2: visitor seating area in the srsc. photograph by krista mccracken on behalf of the srsc, 2015. given the potentially triggering nature of the records held by the srsc, the centre also works closely with the ontario indian residential schools support services to facilitate access to trained mental health and cultural support workers to visitors of the archives. in virtual spaces, the srsc also provides warnings about the potential triggering nature of residential school archival material and provides links to a 24-hour mental health support hotline for survivors and their families. the srsc’s effort to support those engaged in research with residential school records is not perfect and staff are currently looking at ways to improve on-site resources. in 2019, staff participated in basic first aid and cpr training, mental health first aid training, and suicide safe talk training. this ongoing professional development is part of a commitment to providing support to those looking at records of trauma. future plans for the support of this work also include the 103 about:blank laughter filled the space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 development of an elder in-residence program which would allow for an elder, a traditional healer, or traditional knowledge keeper to be available to visitors during srsc opening hours. future plans also include the creation of a wider range of physical spaces where individuals or groups can look at records and have increased access to local traditional healing programs. the indian residential school history and dialogue centre (irshdc), located at the university of british columbia (ubc), is another example of an archive housed within a university setting, but informed by the needs of residential school survivors. opened in 2018, the irshdc describes its work to “privilege and honour the experiences of survivors, to create a survivor-centred, traumainformed space for dialogue...[and] to amplify conversations around the legacies of the indian residential school system and the on-going impacts of colonialism in canada” (university of british columbia, 2020). like the srsc, the emphasis on visitor experiences is evident in the irshdc’s physical space. although primarily a digital repository with few physical records, the design of the irshdc creates a welcoming space for visitors who come to examine digital records on-site. this begins the building that houses the archives. designed by alfred waugh, the first indigenous graduate of ubc’s architecture program, the building includes architectural features and design elements that reflect indigenous culture and identity. the roof is made of copper, acknowledging the significance of copper in many indigenous cultures, and the siding is charred cedar plank, representing the scarring and resilience of residential school survivors. a glass waterfall signifies the tears of survivors. the woven cedar wall pictured in figure 3 was intentionally included to represent indigenous practices of basket weaving and mat weaving. similar to the srsc, the irshdc is designed to be welcoming and a place where residential school survivors and their families can research and engage with the history of residential schools. it offers comfortable chairs, space for reflection, an elders room, and spaces for community and family groups to view residential school records. the irshdc also includes a children’s area with toys, books, and activities. the inclusions of a children’s area acknowledges the ways in which many survivors and communities engage with history. research is not always done silently or by an individual. often, people come to the srsc and irshdc as a family or with friends, a practice that government or institutional archives do not accommodate, as children are not generally welcome in archival reading rooms. both the srsc and irshdc have made conscious efforts to create space for families and children, while also explicitly welcoming dialogue and discussion in their spaces. in addition to indigenous-centred archives situated in academic institutions, many indigenous communities also support archives and cultural heritage spaces. one of these, the aanischaaukamikw cree cultural institute (acci), was developed in collaboration with all nine communities in eeyou istchee, a territory represented by the grand council of the crees. located in oujé-bougoumou, quebec, the acci (2020) was founded with the understanding that “cree culture must be captured, maintained, shared, celebrated, and practiced,” and that there is a “need for a central place for the protection of ‘the ways’, and have developed a vision for aanischaaukamikw over several decades.” the acci facility was built by indigenous architect douglas cardinal and includes an archives, exhibition space, and community space. the design of the building creates a space that is rooted in cree history and is based on the cree sabtuan, a building style in cree culture that is used for gathering, shelter, and residence. the building and associated cultural collections have impacted cree communities positively in creating a culturally informed space for research, education, and community events. acci has continuously adapted to community needs and is a place where visitors can look at cree history in a more relaxed and relatable space. additionally, acci has worked to physically and digitally repatriate material 104 about:blank laughter filled the space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 culture and archival collections connected to the eeyou istchee community, so community members do not need to travel to lac or other government institutions to research their own history. annie bosum and ashley dunne (2017) have reflected on acci as “the gateway where traditional knowledge and culture are documented and shared with our communities and the world. old and new ways of cree life are showcased for all who visit, celebrating the uniqueness, elegance, and diversity of our culture” (p. 282). acci (2019) is an example of complete indigenous ownership and management of regional cultural heritage and activities. it is a space that reflects indigenous sovereignty, ownership, intellectual property, and governance while caring for both historical and contemporary traditions and teachings. figure 3: the indian residential school history and dialogue centre, woven cedar wall on left of stairs (author’s own photo). similar to acci, the woodland cultural centre (wcc) is managed by the indigenous community that it serves. of note, the wcc (2020) is situated on the site of the mohawk institute, a residential school in brantford, ontario which began operating in 1828. when the school closed in 1972, the wcc was established under the direction of the association of iroquois and allied indians as a cultural space serving the diverse indigenous communities of six nations on the grand river. visitors can conduct research in the archives, which houses over 35 thousand artefacts, one of the largest collections held by a first nations in canada, or spend time in the library, where staff make available traditional medicines and water. the wcc also houses a museum dedicated to indigenous stories and the history of the mohawk nation. figure 4 shows an example of wcc’s approach to displaying material culture and associated text that emphasize mohawk experiences and contextualize images of indigenous peoples that have appeared in the media. public events can take place in the wcc’s theatre or gallery space, including the recent ancestors in the archives program, which brings together photographs from the collection with residential school survivors who speak about their experiences (gallant, 2017). the integration of mohawk language is another factor that makes these spaces easier to navigate and more welcoming to indigenous peoples. thus despite, or perhaps because of, the location of the wcc in a former residential school, visitors are encouraged to connect personally with material culture and share their own stories in a space with warm feelings. 105 about:blank laughter filled the space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 figure 4: display of archival and museum material at wcc, 2018 (author’s own photo). recommendations for improving access for indigenous visitors what can government and institutional archives learn from the archives that centre indigenous people and worldviews? michelle caswell et al. (2018) have shown that archives have the power to be transformative spaces, which assist in building community. they write that, “marginalized communities imagine community archives spaces to be symbols of survival, homes and extensions of homes, and politically generative spaces” (caswell et al., 2018, p. 90). while this may reflect the work of the srsc, irshdc, and others profiled in the above section, it does not describe the public or institutional archives we have visited. is there a fundamental disconnect between the purpose and intent of western archives and those that centre indigenous people? perhaps. but we believe that all archives have the potential to be welcoming spaces that encourage an exploration and understanding of the past, even if this past is difficult to process. in this final section, we offer some recommendations for creating this kind of encouraging space. we draw from the work of indigenous-centred archives to inform the set of recommendations we provide below. our recommendations have also been informed by the response to the report of the truth and reconciliation commission taskforce (trc-tf), a reconciliation framework for canadian archives (2020). this framework is the result of a four-year collaborative project to respond to 106 about:blank laughter filled the space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 the truth and reconciliation commission’s call to action #70, which calls on the canadian archival community to work, in collaboration with indigenous people, to undertake a review of archival policies and best practices (2015). the trc-tf proposes a vision, six principles, seven objectives, and 33 strategies that provide a practical framework for supporting the canadian archival community as it begins reconciliation work and to redress its colonial legacy. the trctf’s framework involved a robust literature review, conversations with indigenous knowledge keepers, and surveys of archival practitioners in canada. the proposed document has been created as a living document that can evolve as relationships with indigenous communities deepen and change. their focus on reconciliation comes from meaningful collaboration that addresses the needs of indigenous peoples. this includes a recommendation that archives should, “[r]econsider opening hours, staffing flexibility, programming capacity, identification requirements, and other operational procedures to meet the needs of indigenous researchers and community members.” this recommendation mirrors one issued in 2007 as part of the protocols for native american archival materials (pnaam), which called on archives to “involve communities in creating welcoming and comfortable spaces for native american visitors and rethink the need for ‘credentials’ from patrons” (first archivists circle, p. 10). we agree with both the trc-tf and the pnaam statements, and add the following recommendations for archives to address the physical and administrative barriers: • re-evaluate security protocols to determine whether security guards are necessary. • create a space for group consultation of archival materials. these spaces should include comfortable seating, ample table space, and be open to family members of all ages. • provide space where visitors can smudge and use traditional medicines. • have health support resources available. this might include distributing phone numbers of helplines, having staff training in mental health first aid, or having a health support person available on an on-call basis. • eliminate all user fees for indigenous researchers, including reproduction fees. • evaluate existing user registration policies with attention to requirements that negatively impact individuals from marginalized communities, such as the need to produce government-issued photo identification. • evaluate the archives’ potential for community partnership and collaboration with local indigenous communities. • consider the visible diversity of employed individuals in the space and be open to changing hiring practices. • listen to indigenous communities and indigenous visitors when they express their needs or concerns. if possible, this should include developing culturally appropriate ways to collect feedback from indigenous communities. we recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to this work and that each indigenous visitor will have different needs; however, changing the physical space of the archives is essential to making archives more accessible, especially when engagement can produce trauma for 107 about:blank laughter filled the space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 indigenous visitors. we also recognize that archives embedded in colonial institutions are inherently unwelcoming to indigenous peoples and that many archives may not have much control over the size and shape of their facilities. nevertheless, archivists can work with indigenous partners to reimagine the spaces they do have, to rearrange furniture, set up group space, and remove obvious security barriers to ensure a more welcoming experience. staff can also gain cultural knowledge and become more trauma-informed to provide necessary services to those visitors who may need additional, culturally-sensitive support. of course, implementing these recommendations is just the beginning of real change. we strongly suggest that archivists seek to build meaningful and ongoing relationships with indigenous communities. it is only through these relationships that archivists can begin to understand how to build safer, more accessible archives that welcome and support indigenous visitors, even to the spaces that have and continue to be extensions of the colonial institutions that marginalize indigenous peoples. acknowledgements the authors wish to thank the children of shingwauk alumni association for their ongoing support, resilience, and wisdom. references aanischaaukamikw cree cultural institute. (2019, march 8). beyond inclusion – decolonising through self-representation in eeyou istchee. activehistory.ca. http://activehistory.ca/2019/03/beyond-inclusion-decolonising-through-selfrepresentation-in-eeyou-istchee/ aanischaaukamikw cree cultural institute. (2020). mission and vision. https://creeculturalinstitute.ca/about/mission-and-vision/ bosum, a., & dunne, a. (2017). implementing the brian deer classification scheme for aanischaaukamikw cree cultural institute. collection management, 42(3-4), 280-293. https://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2017.1340858 buchanan, r. (2007). decolonizing the archives: the work of new zealand's waitangi tribunal. public history review, 14, 44-63. https://doi.org/10.5130/phrj.v14i0.399 caswell, m., & cifor, m. (2016). from human rights to feminist ethics: radical empathy in the archives. archivaria, 81(1), 23-43. https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13557. caswell, m., gabiola, j., zavala, j., brilmyer, g., & cifor, m. (2018). imagining transformative spaces: the personal–political sites of community archives. archival science, 18(1), 7393. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10502-018-9286-7 drake, j. m. (2016, october 22). liberatory archives: towards belonging and believing. on archivy. https://medium.com/on-archivy/liberatory-archives-towards-belonging-andbelieving-part-1-d26aaeb0edd1 108 about:blank http://activehistory.ca/2019/03/beyond-inclusion-decolonising-through-self-representation-in-eeyou-istchee/ http://activehistory.ca/2019/03/beyond-inclusion-decolonising-through-self-representation-in-eeyou-istchee/ https://creeculturalinstitute.ca/about/mission-and-vision/ https://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2017.1340858 https://doi.org/10.5130/phrj.v14i0.399 https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13557 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10502-018-9286-7 https://medium.com/on-archivy/liberatory-archives-towards-belonging-and-believing-part-1-d26aaeb0edd1 https://medium.com/on-archivy/liberatory-archives-towards-belonging-and-believing-part-1-d26aaeb0edd1 laughter filled the space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 first archivists circle. (2007). protocols for native american archival materials. http://www2.nau.edu/libnap-p/printprotocols.pdf fraser, c., & todd, z. (2016, february 14). decolonial sensibilities: indigenous research and engaging with archives in contemporary colonial canada. l’internationale. http://www.internationaleonline.org/research/decolonising_practices/54_decolonial_s ensibilities_indigenous_research_and_engaging_with_archives_in_contemporary_coloni al_canada gallant, carley. (2017). ancestors in the archives. woodland cultural centre. https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/ancestors-in-the-archives/ griffiths, r., & krol, a. (2009). insider theft: reviews and recommendations from the archive and library and professional literature. library and archival security, 22(1), 5-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/01960070802562834 jesuits of english canada. (2020). general regulations. the archive of the jesuits in canada. http://archivesjesuites.ca/en/general-regulations/ jones, m. (2014). what would trauma informed archival access look like? context junky. http://www.mikejonesonline.com/contextjunky/2014/11/04/trauma-informedarchives/ ketelaar, e. (2002). archival temples, archival prisons: modes of power and protection. archival science, 2(3-4), 221-238. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02435623 library and archives canada. (2019a). code of conduct: values and ethics. https://www.baclac.gc.ca/eng/about-us/pages/code-conduct-value-ethics.aspx library and archives canada. (2019b). user card registration. https://www.baclac.gc.ca/eng/services-public/pages/registration-intro.aspx logan mccallum, m.j. (2018, june 21). indigenous people, archives and history. shekon neechie. https://shekonneechie.ca/2018/06/21/indigenous-people-archives-andhistory/ manitoba archives. (2020). visitor information. archives of manitoba. https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/visiting/visitor_information.html nettelbeck, a., & smandych, r. (2010). policing indigenous peoples on two colonial frontiers: australia's mounted police and canada's north-west mounted police. australian & new zealand journal of criminology, 43(2), 356-375. https://doi.org/10.1375/acri.43.2.356 palmater, p. (2016). shining light on the dark places: addressing police racism and sexualized violence against indigenous women and girls in the national inquiry. canadian journal of women and the law, 28(2), 253-284. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjwl.28.2.253 response to the report of the truth and reconciliation commission taskforce of the steering committee on canada’s archives. (2020). a reconciliation framework for canadian archives. (draft). 109 about:blank http://www2.nau.edu/libnap-p/printprotocols.pdf http://www.internationaleonline.org/research/decolonising_practices/54_decolonial_sensibilities_indigenous_research_and_engaging_with_archives_in_contemporary_colonial_canada http://www.internationaleonline.org/research/decolonising_practices/54_decolonial_sensibilities_indigenous_research_and_engaging_with_archives_in_contemporary_colonial_canada http://www.internationaleonline.org/research/decolonising_practices/54_decolonial_sensibilities_indigenous_research_and_engaging_with_archives_in_contemporary_colonial_canada https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/ancestors-in-the-archives/ https://doi.org/10.1080/01960070802562834 http://archivesjesuites.ca/en/general-regulations/ http://www.mikejonesonline.com/contextjunky/2014/11/04/trauma-informed-archives/ http://www.mikejonesonline.com/contextjunky/2014/11/04/trauma-informed-archives/ https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02435623 https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/about-us/pages/code-conduct-value-ethics.aspx https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/about-us/pages/code-conduct-value-ethics.aspx https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services-public/pages/registration-intro.aspx https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services-public/pages/registration-intro.aspx https://shekonneechie.ca/2018/06/21/indigenous-people-archives-and-history/ https://shekonneechie.ca/2018/06/21/indigenous-people-archives-and-history/ https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/visiting/visitor_information.html https://doi.org/10.1375/acri.43.2.356 https://doi.org/10.3138/cjwl.28.2.253 laughter filled the space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34648 https://archives2026.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/reconciliationframeworkforarchives _july2020_en.pdf sanders, c., & burnett, k. (2019). a case study in personal identification and social determinants of health: unregistered births among indigenous people in northern ontario. international journal of environmental research and public health, 16(4), 567. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16040567 thistle, j. (2015). vicarious trauma: collecting the herd. activehistory.ca. https://activehistory.ca/2015/11/vicarious-trauma-collecting-the-herd/ truth and reconciliation commission of canada. (2015). honouring the truth, reconciling for the future: summary of the final report of the truth and reconciliation commission of canada. http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/final%20reports/executive_summary_english_web.pdf university of british columbia. (2020). what we do. indian residential school history and dialogue centre. https://irshdc.ubc.ca/about/what-we-do/ woodland cultural centre. (2020). home. https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/ krista mccracken (krista.mccracken@algomau.ca) is a public historian and archivist. they work as a researcher/curator at algoma university’s arthur a. wishart library and shingwauk residential schools centre, in baawating (sault ste. marie, ontario). krista’s research includes community archives, residential schools, access, and outreach. skylee-storm hogan (stormhogan92@gmail.com) is a mixed race kanien'kehá:ka originating from the mohawk nation of kahnawà:ke. skylee-storm works primarily with residential schools history and legal history on crown-indigenous relations in canada. they currently work as a research associate with know history. 110 about:blank https://archives2026.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/reconciliationframeworkforarchives_july2020_en.pdf https://archives2026.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/reconciliationframeworkforarchives_july2020_en.pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16040567 https://activehistory.ca/2015/11/vicarious-trauma-collecting-the-herd/ http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/final%20reports/executive_summary_english_web.pdf https://irshdc.ubc.ca/about/what-we-do/ https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/ about:blank mailto:stormhogan92@gmail.com introduction barriers in archival spaces indigenous-centred archival spaces recommendations for improving access for indigenous visitors acknowledgements references holy selfies: performing pilgrimage in the age of social media the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ holy selfies: performing pilgrimage in the age of social media nadia caidi, university of toronto susan beazley, university of toronto laia colomer marquez, universidad iberoamericana abstract in this article, we examine the selfie-taking and sharing practices of muslim pilgrims in mecca, saudi arabia. we introduce the concept of the “holy selfie” (a selfie taken during either the hajj or the umrah pilgrimages) and report on a visual content analysis of a sample of 100 holy selfies publicly available on social networking platforms. we seek to reach an understanding of the work that holy selfies do in the context of the expressions of spiritual and religious identity of those producing them. our findings suggest that the embodied experience of pilgrims at the holy sites finds an expressive release through holy selfies, with many pilgrims viewing selfie-taking as an important part of their journey. the selfies (and associated features) capture and document pilgrims’ experiences, contribute to their meaning-making, enable the sharing of memories with loved ones, and attract online followers. our study provides a picture of how holy selfies blur the gender line (as many males as females take them), emerge despite the opposition of saudi authorities, and serve as a means of engaging with a multiplicity of audiences. we seek to start a conceptual and methodological conversation about this emerging phenomenon of identity construction involving the use of new media along with the construction of affiliative identities among geographically dispersed communities of muslim pilgrims. the taking of holy selfies can thus be read as a tactic used by 21st-century muslims to create opportunities for self-representation and community building in a context of increasing islamophobia. keywords: everyday religion; hajj; islam and muslims; pilgrimage; representation; selfie; social media publication type: research article background and context ver since smartphones started featuring a front camera, we have seen the rise of the selfie, an image of oneself (usually alone, but possibly with others too) taken with one’s smartphone and shared with others through posts on social media platforms. taking and sharing selfies is an easy, popular, and common practice that has become increasingly widespread since late 2012. based on the frequency of use of the hashtag #selfie, twitter declared 2014 to be “the year of the selfie” (ng, 2014). the pew research center (2014) reports that 55% of millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) have posted a selfie on social media, compared with 24% of gen xers (those born between 1965 and 1984). indeed, selfies seem to be e http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ a global phenomenon in youth and popular culture (meikle, 2014; senft, 2013; senft & baym, 2015). they have been characterized as “an emerging sub-genre” of self-portrait photography (tifentale, 2014, p. 8) distinguished by the ability to immediately distribute the self-portraits via social media platforms (instagram and twitter, for instance) along with the content that may be attached to the selfie (e.g., metadata, captions, comments, likes; tifentale & manovich, 2015). other sub-genres of selfies have been identified online and in the popular media. examples include selfies taken in front of a mirror (eler, 2013), “after sex” selfies (hudson, 2014), and “celebrity” selfies (epitomized by the ellen degeneres group selfie taken during the 2014 oscars, which, as of july 2015, attracted over 3 million shares/retweets). while selfies are not usually linked to the sphere of spirituality and religion, a google search on “selfies and faith” easily retrieves thousands of such selfies, from pope francis posing for group selfies to selfies shared by the dalai lama to selfies of individuals completing various pilgrimages, such as lourdes in france or in jerusalem. in this article, we examine the annual islamic pilgrimage to the holy city of mecca in saudi arabia (referred to as the hajj). this pilgrimage is a pivotal, transformational moment in the social and religious life of muslims. in 2016, 1.86 million pilgrims performed hajj, 71% of whom came from outside of saudi arabia (“saudi arabia,” 2016). for many muslims, the pilgrimage is a once in a lifetime experience. in fact, it is obligatory for muslim adults who are financially and physically able to attend the hajj at least once in their lifetime, as it is one of the five main pillars of islam. the hajj is performed at a specified time every year during the 12th month of the muslim lunar calendar. during the hajj, millions of muslim men and women congregate in mecca to carry out set rituals at a series of locations, with the aim of absolving themselves of sins (bianchi, 2004; porter, 2012). in addition to the hajj, muslims may also participate in the optional pilgrimage to mecca known as the umrah. the umrah can be undertaken at any time of year and includes some of the rituals performed during the hajj; however, it does not require wearing the specific (ihraam) garbs or performing some of the hajj’s final rituals. although the purpose and meaning of the hajj have presumably not changed over time, the experience of it has, as modern life and pilgrimage have intersected. the 21st-century hajj, or “pilgrimage 2.0” (o'connor, 2014), takes place under the shadow of towering cranes, evidence of the widespread infrastructural and commercial development occurring in mecca. while there has always been tension between consumerism and spirituality in the context of all pilgrimages, including the hajj (bianchi, 2004; edensor, 1998; porter, 2012; qayyum, 2014), this tension takes on new forms as today’s pilgrims are immersed in wifi and apps. pilgrims can now tweet, blog, and post photos of their hajj experiences as they unfold. although some hajj tour operators and websites providing advice to hajj travelers recommend leaving technologies such as smartphones at home in order to truly detach from the world and to achieve greater spiritual and mental calm, many hajj pilgrims are not heeding those recommendations, choosing instead to use those technologies to stay connected, document their experience, and facilitate their rituals (gani, 2015; guessoum, 2011; janmohamed, 2016). the importance of information sharing as testimonial (“i was there”) and as a means of documenting one’s journey is not new (porter, 2012); yet, these emergent social media practices are significant in the context of contemporary expressions of spiritual and religious identities in islam, along with the vivid debates they raise. in this article, we seek to understand the role that selfies play in the context of the spiritual and/or religious experiences involving the hajj and the umrah. we selected the term “holy selfie” rather than “hajj selfie,” as we refer to selfies taken both during the hajj and the umrah (the “lesser” pilgrimage to mecca). our visual and content 9 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ analysis of a sample of selfies was aimed at reaching an understanding of this specific sub-genre of selfies: what are some of the defining features? what do these holy selfies convey about the nature of the experience for the selfie-taker and for the viewer? what can be discerned about the expressions of spiritual and religious identity of the selfie-takers and consumers? our findings are based on a content and visual analysis of 100 holy selfies and point to an emerging global phenomenon that is symptomatic of the pervasiveness of technology in our everyday life, including in spiritual and religious experiences. in addition to documenting one’s spiritual journey, holy selfies also contribute to our reflections on the performance of pilgrimage and on what it means to be a muslim in the 21st century, especially given the diversity of the muslim world and of muslim experiences and practices (in “refiguring islam,” nada moumtaz, 2015, discusses the complexities of defining islamic “tradition” [and its coherence] and points to emerging scholarship in the anthropology of islam that reexamines islamic tradition through the lens of practice, embodiment, effect, or ethics). as appadurai (1986) reminds us, objects have a social life, and one must be aware of the (competing) regimes of value within which objects circulate. as “residues of performances” and “agency in object form” (boutcher, 2013, p. 155), holy selfies open up a space for reflection on this emerging phenomenon of identity production involving the construction of affiliative identities among geographically dispersed communities of pilgrims who use new media as a means of documenting and sharing their pilgrimage experiences. we argue that, beyond pilgrimage, holy selfies also speak to the experiences of being a muslim in a post-9/11 world. speaking of the canadian muslim diaspora (although this is true for muslim diasporas elsewhere), zine (2012) notes that it is “a complex, contradictory, and hybrid space filled with a mix of liberatory possibilities and productive tensions” (p. 2). in this space, muslims’ relationship to themselves and to non-muslims is a perpetual work in progress, ridden with concerns around policing and integration and around proving the kind of muslim one is (bhimani, 2013). holy selfies have a place in this conversation about what it means to be a muslim today: they point to a moment in the lived experiences of a muslim (as they embrace their faith and embark on this religious/spiritual journey), but they also serve as intimate traces left behind by muslim people on social media platforms for multiple audiences to see. affiliative identities and object agency after saudi authorities lessened restrictions on camera phones at the hajj, social media sites saw an increase in posted selfies taken during the muslim pilgrimage. by 2014, the hashtag #hajjselfie was trending on twitter (heng, 2014), and global media outlets were reporting widely on the hajj selfie and the controversies surrounding it (afp, 2014; aneja, 2014; keen, 2014; quraishi, 2014). it must be noted that photography and video recording have traditionally been prohibited in the holy sites during pilgrimage. the hajj is a time when the memory of abraham is strong, as both the hajj and the festivity cloturing it (the eid al-adha) commemorate events in abraham’s life, in particular his opposition to idols (which used to be housed and displayed in the holy site of the kaaba [mecca] before the rise of islam). as part of this islamic debate on the representation of living beings (grabar, 2006; gruber & shalem, 2014; gruber, 2009), the rising incidence of selfie-taking and live snapchat streaming during the hajj pose new challenges for saudi authorities (gani, 2015; janmohamed, 2016; lattouf, 2014). whereas the authorities could easily confiscate a camera or a video-recording device, it is harder to confiscate smartphones, as they are easier to conceal and are needed for purposes other than filming. serving as a testimony of the pilgrim’s important religious act, the holy selfie presents the muslim pilgrim against the background of religious icons, a non-intrusive and considerate way to record 10 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ memories and share the experience with family and friends. however, recent developments have also pointed to the symbolic and political nature of selfie-taking. for some, the practice of taking selfies during the hajj is viewed as disruptive to others and counter to the spirit of modesty and worship that defines the hajj (blumberg, 2014). in its coverage of hajj selfies, arab news reported that some scholars and pilgrims view hajj selfies as “touristy behaviour” and a form of bragging (afp, 2014). while some islamic scholars reportedly believe that non-essential photography should be prohibited at the hajj, others believe that only photos intended for distribution need to be prohibited (afp, 2014; hazaimeh & waha, 2014; quraishi, 2014). as moumtaz (2015) asks, “[h]ow is the coherence of a tradition sustained? what are the conditions that make certain practices in the tradition debatable and certain questions thinkable? who are the authorized speakers of the tradition?” (p. 141). as selfies (of any type, not just at pilgrimage sites) became a phenomenon, several muslim clerics spoke out against them. some clerics in india have call selfies “un-islamic” and prohibit women and girls from posting them online; this prohibition is based on the edict that showing a woman’s face to unknown and unrelated men is unacceptable (fores, 2013). a cleric in indonesia, felix siauw, has declared selfies a sin under islamic law, in particular calling out female muslim selfie-takers as shameless (thornhill, 2015). it must be noted that muslim women have responded to these declarations using the very tools that are being condemned (muchinsky, 2015). the backlash to siauw’s fatwa included a flood of selfies posted with the hashtag #selfie4siauw. bloggers also took to the internet to express their opinions, as epitomized by the magazine muslimgirl, which published a tongue-in-cheek response to siauw; that response included guidelines to help muslim girls take a perfect selfie (shannon, 2015). other examples of muslim women radically embracing the selfie can be found elsewhere online. images of the iranian reporter masih alinejad, who posted a selfie that showed her driving in tehran while not wearing a hijab and a photo of her smiling and jumping in the air in england, went viral and women began sending photos to alinejad that showed them without their hijab. alinejad responded by creating a facebook page and an online social movement/campaign website called my stealthy freedom where women can share selfies and other photos of themselves without wearing a hijab (ladybits, 2014). those who view muslim women as marginalized, stereotyped, and underrepresented on the internet see a role for selfies in positively shaping muslim women’s representation. media and scholars have diverging views on the selfie ranging from negative to neutral to positive. on the less flattering end of the spectrum, selfies are viewed as cries for attention or affirmation (agger, 2012; mehdizadeh, 2010; oupblog, 2013; ryan, 2013; tifentale, 2014), as vanity or exhibitionism, as self-absorption (warfield, 2014), or as an expression of narcissism (fox & rooney, 2015; keen, 2014). some of these views may be encouraged by research into social media use in general, which has found a correlation between higher levels of narcissism and extroversion with greater online activity (fox & rooney, 2015; mehdizadeh, 2010; panek, nardis, & konrath, 2013; ryan & xenos, 2011). research that asks selfie-takers about their motivations tends to place the selfie in a more positive light, whereby selfies are cast as a form of selfexpression or self-representation (kwon & kwon, 2015; murray, 2015; tifentale, 2014; warfield, 2014), self-exploration or self-reflection (fausing, 2013), or a tool that allows one to exercise control over one’s self-image and identity (cep, 2013; wang, 2012). holy selfies, like most selfies, are at the intersection of the private and the public, the individual and the communal (freedland, 2013; murray, 2015; senft & baym, 2015; tifentale, 2014). from the selection of the location of the selfie, to the camera angle, to the subsequent editing (of the picture as well as the hashtags and captions that accompany it), holy selfie takers clearly intend for their pictures to be viewed and publicly consumed. in that respect, selfies are another way 11 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ to satisfy our human need to connect with others. holy selfies add a unique dimension in that they can be construed as a manifestation of everyday lived religion (hall, 1997; dessing, jeldtoft, nielsen, & woodhead, 2014; streib, dinter, & soderblom, 2008), particularly in a technologydriven world. indeed, network-based communication technologies pervade everyday lives, especially with the ready availability of the internet through mobile devices, including many developing nations where the penetration of mobile phones greatly outweighs that of personal computers. social media platforms are providing new spaces where individuals can negotiate and express their spiritual and religious identities and engage in “doing” religion away from the broader politics of religious practice (hall, 1997; dessing et al., 2014; streib et al., 2008). in the aftermath of 9/11 and the ongoing “war on terror,” muslims seem to be cast either as the “enemy within” (bhimani, 2013; caidi & macdonald, 2008; kellner, 2003; thobani, 2003; zine, 2012) or as the co-opted subjects of the likes of the islamic state (isis), whose sophisticated uses of social media to produce and disseminate images and videos (including the infamous executions and destruction of artifacts) purports to represent islam and speak for muslims. what is less clear is how wide a range of muslim voices is being represented and heard. bhimani (2013) posits that the focus of scholarship by or about muslims in the public domain since 9/11 often has been “on the isolation and detention of muslims who pose a threat to the state, their lack of integration, muslim accommodation, paternalistic intervention and concerns on muslim women’s bodies” (p. 18). muslims’ relationships to the state, to each other, and to non-muslims seem to be under constant scrutiny. images of muslim people circulated post-9/11—as victims of the turmoil, as threats to wider society, or as political fundamentalists—contribute to reproducing certain stereotypes (bhimani, 2013; hirji, 2006; razack, 1998; thobani, 2003; zine, 2012). the modern orientalist allegorical subjects that are thus produced serve to justify the management and ostracizing of muslims post-9/11 (bhimani, 2013). imagery as an instrument of imperialism has been well documented. makhoul (1998) recounts the production of postcards by european photographers based in north africa and the middle east in the 1930s that sought to depict images of the orient. these postcards were circulated by mail to the west with the purpose of standing as photographic proof of the “imagined corruption of the people of the east” (p. 45). according to bhabha (2007), “the productivity and circulation of subjects and signs are bound in a reformed and recognizable totality” (p. 371). the postcard status as a repetitive, mechanically reproduced, traveling body systematically embodied the fixation of the oriental stereotype. much like the medium of the traveling postcards, post-9/11 circulated images of muslim people (i.e., the dangerous muslim man and the imperiled muslim woman) reproduce similar stereotypes (bhimani, 2013; echchaibi, 2013; thobani, 2003; zine, 2012). the holy selfie resembles a virtual self-produced postcard to be shared with others across the world. while shedding light on individual muslims’ spiritual journey and depicting everyday muslims in their lived practice of islam, these selfies also enable the individual to consort directly with fellow muslims and non-muslims alike without any interference or intermediation. this function is close to turner’s (1974) notion of “communitas,” understood as a “modality of human interrelatedness” that leads to “deep . . . personal interaction” (p. 76) among individuals without much interference by social structures. by virtue of their existence and their production and sharing through global networks, holy selfies have the power to convey insights into the formation of contemporary quotidian muslim identities. as such, they beg examination as a space for critical reflections on the issues that muslims in the 21st century face in their everyday lives. 12 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ methods in order to address the raised issues, we conducted a visual and content analysis of 100 publicly viewable selfies. sampling units for content analyses included photographs and associated captions and tags posted online on such social media platforms as iconosquare (an instagram analytics and organizational tool), twitter, flickr, and personal blogs. most selfies were collected between january and may 2015 using the search tools available on the respective social media websites and using google search features. test searches were conducted between october and december 2014 using google images, which led to the identification of several social media websites likely to return usable images and to the refinement of search terms. the testing resulted in the elimination of some social media platforms, such as tumblr and reddit, as likely sources of appropriate selfies because only a handful of results were returned. the testing also helped identify the multiple ways in which some desirable search terms, such as mecca, were spelled in tags (e.g., mekka, makkah, mekke).1 given the global nature of the hajj (71% of hajj pilgrims in 2016 came from outside of saudi arabia; “saudi arabia,” 2016), search terms were limited to english and included hajj, mecca, umrah, kabba, selfie, arafat, and their spelling variations. the method followed a berry-picking approach (bates, 1989) whereby locating one appropriate photo often led to clicking on a tag for that photo to see if others that were similarly tagged would also be appropriate. also, search terms were entered into the social media platforms identified above. as appropriate photos were located, they were examined further and set aside for inclusion in the sample until the target number of photos was obtained. during the close examination of the photos and captions, some photos were eliminated based on their image quality or whether they could be categorized as a “true” selfie. one can often identify a selfie because the photographer’s arm can be seen extended in the image. however, as selfies do not necessarily show an extended arm and can now be taken with gadgets such as extension poles (known as “selfie sticks”), we had to vet each picture for inclusion in the study. the 100 selfies in the sample were reviewed by three coders (the co-authors) who each described what they saw in the photographs and collaboratively negotiated the coding and categories. information recorded about the photos included captions and tags, the number of people in the photo, the gender of persons in the photo, the location shown in photo, the nature of the pilgrimage (the hajj or the umrah), the estimated age of persons in the photo (defined as a range), the facial expression, the url, and other general notes that might be relevant. such features as the facial expression, gender, and age of the subjects have also been analyzed in other selfie research projects (selfiecity, 2014). like other studies that use visual methods, we relied on image as “evidence” (rose, 2012) and took a thematic approach to identify, analyze, and represent patterns and themes emerging from the data. a deductive form of theoretical thematic analysis was applied to the examination of the selfies based on theories, concepts, and trends in information behavior and new media research. while our analysis embraced the surface reality of the selfies, where available, we complemented it with the textual information that accompanied the selfies. the additional data (tags, comments, captions) were helpful in contextualizing the selfies and getting to the meaning-making of the pilgrims. the nature of the pilgrimage (the hajj or the umrah) was determined mainly through the textual information accompanying the photo; however, in some cases it was inferred from the clothing, 13 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ particularly the ihraam, or distinctive white garment worn by men during the hajj, or the compulsory haircut noticed in male selfies. similarly, the exact location of the photograph was not always possible to determine unless it was indicated by the caption or tagging. at a minimum, the coders recorded whether the photo was taken indoors or outdoors if that was discernible. because facial expression could be largely subjective, the coding was limited to “smiling” or “no expression” (indicating no smiling or other obvious expression). through tagging and captions, details about the location, the purpose of the selfie (e.g., personal information management, commenting on the hajj), the identification of companions, the stages of the ritual, and the nature of the pilgrimage (the hajj, the umrah, etc.) were determined. findings as the main object of a selfie is to depict the image of oneself, we examined the photographs and categorized the sample along the lines of the one-person selfie versus dyad or group selfie, as shown in table 1. in this table, we also included the gender distribution to get a sense of how gender plays out in holy selfie-taking in our sample. individuals depicted number male alone 47 female alone 8 dyad: male/male 12 dyad: female/female 7 dyad: male/female 10 group of 3+ males 9 group of 3+ females 3 mixed group (males/females) 4 table 1. the type of selfie (individual or group) and the gender distribution. according to the saudi press agency, a total of 1,862,909 people performed the hajj in 2016. of these, male pilgrims made up 1,082,228 (58%) of the total pilgrims while female pilgrims represented 780,681 (41.9%). our sample of selfies depicted significantly more males (single as well as in dyads or groups), with 68% of cases in the sample compared with the 18% of selfies depicting females. mixed group depictions account for 14% of selfies, often portraying a (presumably) married couple or an intergenerational family.2 generally speaking, during our selection process, we noted that the total number of selfies depicting males far outweighed the number of female selfies. our selected sample reflected these trends. these findings run against many studies and the overall conception in pop culture that situate selfie-taking as a predominantly female practice. the pew study (pew research center, 2014), for instance, found that women are more likely than men to have posted a selfie. while the selfie phenomenon is ingrained in youth culture, it is not clear whether women take many more selfies than men, despite the common belief. what may be clearer is that popular selfie discourse tends to identify 14 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ selfies as feminine and has a disciplinary and devaluing effect on selfie-takers, particularly young women (burns, 2015). lövheim (2004) posits that online interaction might maintain the relations of power based on gender or race found in offline contexts. further research is required about associations between the motivations and the gender of posters. possible explanations may have to do with the transnational character of the pilgrimage and how it translates into the local cultural and media practices. other possible explanations may have to do with the culturally and historically contingent understanding of “modesty” for women in islam and its interpretation in a digital environment. moreover, pressures to manage impressions and honor in some muslim societies—also culturally and historically contingent and not universal to all muslim women—tend to be especially felt by women due to the greater behavioral restrictions they face (pearce & vitak, 2015). age while this exercise is at best approximative, we deemed it helpful to pay attention to the range of individuals who partake in the practice of holy selfies. table 2 shows the breakdown. age groups (range) number of individuals depicted children (14 and younger) 6 (3 males, 3 females) teens/young adults (15 to mid-20s) 91 (60 males, 31 females) adults (late 20s and older) 77 (63 males, 14 females) older adults (60+) 6 (1 male, 5 females) table 2. the group distribution by age. while there is a multigenerational representation of individuals in our sample of holy selfies, most of them seem to be taken by younger muslims: out of the total number of depicted individuals (n=180), 97 (53.89%) belong to the millennial generation. we could say that while adults and older adults are not excluded from participating in selfie culture, this phenomenon remains more popular with young people. it is important to note, however, that the pilgrimage is touted as a once-in-a-lifetime journey and remains a costly endeavor, which could also explain why those who can afford to complete the hajj tend to be in the middle age range. however, it is also true that because the umrah—the less formal pilgrimage—does not imply a specific time frame and does not entail the higher costs associated with the hajj, it is likely that families, including younger children, would be more likely to visit the holy sites during the umrah. pilgrimage depicted table 3 shows the breakdown of selfies in terms of the hajj versus the umrah. in some instances, it was unclear from the picture, tags, or accompanying captions which of the two pilgrimages the picture depicted. in most instances, however, we were able to infer from the context whether the selfie depicted the hajj or the umrah. clues included the tags, the depiction of the men’s white off-the-shoulder garment, or the time of year the picture was taken (the islamic calendar is lunar and, as a result, the hajj takes place at different times each year). it seems that while pilgrims do engage in selfie-taking during the more symbolic and ritualized hajj (33%), a greater number (53%) of the umrah pilgrims engaged in this practice. the growing popularity 15 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ of the shorter, less regulated umrah, which can be completed throughout the year, may explain the greater number of selfies (bianchi, 2017). the 14% that constitute the unknown category consist of pictures where the context, garments, or accompanying information could not give us a clue as to what pilgrimage the individual was engaging in. nature of the pilgrimage number hajj (explicitly stated) 25 umrah (explicitly stated) 31 hajj (inferred) 8 umrah (inferred) 22 unknown 14 table 3. the type of pilgrimage (the hajj vs. the umrah). location a recurrent theme in holy selfies is location (see table 4). mecca was the location of choice for over 63% of the selfie-takers. the kaaba, a cube-shaped structure that is among the holiest symbols in islam (also known as “bait-allah,” the house of god, built by the prophet abraham), was represented in 34% of all selfies taken. the kaaba is a recurrent image in holy selfies and appears as a central part of the composition of the selfie. for example, when the selfie is taken from a hotel room, the camera is directed to capture the kaaba in the background. second to the kaaba is the other holy site of masjid al-haram, the large mosque including the kaaba. while less immediately recognizable, it seems to be nonetheless a favored selfie-taking location for pilgrims. lastly, the holy site of mount arafat, recognizable by its bare and rugged landscape, is another popular location where selfies are taken. besides identifiable sites that have religious and spiritual significance, other sites for talking selfies include hotel rooms, airports, and other public transit sites. the anonymity of such locales seems to provide a good alternative for those reluctant to take selfies at holy sites but still wishing to document their pilgrimage journey. it is also a depiction of the transition/passage state, both literally and symbolically. language used given the importance of the pilgrimage site and its symbolism in islam, along with the diverse tapestry that reflects global islam—with 71% of all hajj pilgrims in 2016 coming from geographic regions outside of saudi arabia (“saudi arabia,” 2016)—it comes as no surprise that there is a diversity of languages accompanying selfies, as noted in the tags, captions, and accompanying text. the breakdown of languages used is shown in table 5. in our sample, english is used in 75% of the selfies, while the remaining 25% had accompanying text in languages other than english. we must note that the search for selfies in this sample was done in english and that some countries use other terms to refer to selfies (e.g., “selka” in korean, “jidon” in japanese, “autofoto” in spanish, and “narsis” in indonesian). however, the addition of such search terms 16 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ as “hajj” or “mecca” (and variant forms of these common words) enabled us to broaden our linguistic pool and capture a wider set of such selfies. our findings nevertheless show the widespread use of english as a posting language and suggests that regardless of the language they usually speak, holy-selfie-takers prefer to use english when sharing their pictures publicly, perhaps as a means of reaching a wider audience. location number of selfies depicting location the kaaba, mecca 34 masjid al haram, mecca 15 mecca, other locations 14 madinah 2 mt arafat 12 jeddah airport or other airport 5 hotel room 6 table 4. locations depicted in the holy selfies. languages used number english 75 turkish 12 indonesian 5 malay 4 arabic 4 table 5. languages used in descriptions accompanying selfies (tags, captions, comments). filters we also examined the use of filters in our sample of selfies to determine their prevalence on social media sites. new picture-focused platforms such as instagram give the user the option to apply a filter—that is, to overlay one of several different pre-made light and composition settings on the picture in order to give it a different appearance or feel. it is worth noting that smartphones have also begun offering filtering options, which makes the use of filters more prevalent. our data analysis indicates that at least 55% of the selfies analyzed have been modified, ranging from very subtle light changes to a heavier manipulation of the image. by going back to the source of the picture, we were also able to see evidence of staging when multiple versions of 17 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the selfie were shared by the poster. we estimate at least 55% because some filters are very soft and it was difficult to be absolutely certain. despite these limitations, the results point to the posters having a high level of engagement with their selfies, including the care and attention displayed by many posters with regard to the aesthetics of what they posted; it can be referred to as self-fashioning in order to ensure that what they post is not only informative but also visually appealing. captions, hashtags, and trending topics most analyzed images were accompanied by a variety of captions or hashtags that helped us collect additional information, such as location, date, or overall comments by the person posting the holy selfie. in addition to using said tags as a tool to find and categorize the 100 selfies, they helped us establish further the possible motivations that the poster had when sharing the picture. hashtags the practice of introducing a pound (#) symbol before a word started in 2007. it was a feature offered by twitter to organize content into categories and create a link inside the post so that it can be searchable. a search on a specific hashtag would bring up a real-time feed of all posts mentioning the subject. since then it has expanded to other social media platforms, including instagram. as expected, some of the most popular hashtags used in our sample of holy selfies were related to the pilgrimage itself or to the journey itself, along with self-referential hashtags (i.e., #selfie). the most popular hashtags are shown in table 6. different spellings and variations were coded together under one heading. hashtag used number #mekkah 50 #hajj 34 #umrah 28 #kaaba 19 #selfie (also considered #me) 12 as an explicit hashtag, 15 times as plain text in the caption. table 6. most popular hashtags used to describe selfies. the most prevalent tags refer to the purpose of the journey (hajj or umrah pilgrimages) and the location (mecca, kaaba, etc.). in the case of the “kaaba” tag, it can be construed as both a physical reference as well as a symbolic one that stands for the whole journey. other recurring tags referred to the mood or feelings of the poster at the time (e.g., #blessed, #sothankful, #happy, #cold, and #cried) and, by extension, the experience and impact of the pilgrimage for the poster. the role of hashtags on instagram is not only to categorize posts, but also to maximize exposure 18 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ and get more followers and likes. tagging a picture with several popular categories, regardless of its actual content, guarantees that other users in addition to followers will find and view the picture, thus giving it more exposure. social media users (and instagram users in particular) appear to give great importance to the status and number of their followers and the interactions on their posts, which would make this use of hashtags one of the possible tools to acquire status in the social network. in our holy selfies sample, we found that 76% of the pictures have at least one hashtag. of those, 62% use between 1 and 5 hashtags per post, while the remaining 38% use between 6 and 25 hashtags per post. those using multiple hashtags (e.g., one picture had 25 hashtags) tend to create the “follower traps” described above. hashtags serve to give global access to images shared on social media. trending topics trending topics are those that are being discussed more than others. when a topic is trending, posts using associated keywords appear on a common feed. every user can weigh in on the conversation or topic. in our holy selfies study, we found one instance of a selfie showing two young veiled females with the hashtags #mecca and #hajj2013 along with the caption “just an average day in the life of a muslim.” nothing in the background of the selfie offered any other visual clue. upon closer analysis, however, we noticed that the girls were wearing what looked like two patterned blankets as headcovers. while tracing the poster of the selfie (one of the two depicted girls on the selfie), we discovered that she was a teenage american girl with no apparent links to islam. the only explanation we could come up with is that, at the time when the picture was taken and posted, both #mecca and #hajj2013 were trending worldwide, perhaps causing the girls to stage the picture as a means of piggybacking on the trending topic of the day. this phenomenon speaks to the cultural implications that social networks like twitter can have, and we opted to keep that selfie as part of our sample to illustrate this phenomenon. captions in contrast with hashtags, captions have a more personal and descriptive feel to them. selfietakers use captions to identify their location or comment on their surroundings (e.g., “inside the airplane” or “kaaba”). captions were also used to further describe one’s pilgrimage experience including one’s feelings, their company at the time, or the mood of the moment. we analyzed and coded separately the captions accompanying the holy selfies as a means of grasping the state of mind and motivations of the poster when uploading the picture. below are the categories under which the analyzed captions fell; they are not mutually exclusive. we distinguished between the two types of captions: ones that are used to document a pilgrim’s journey, categorized as “documenting travel,” and ones that are more self-referential and address the process of taking a selfie, sharing it, or attracting followers and likes, categorized as “meta-comment.” the “documenting travel” category considered all the comments made by the posters when referring to the journey itself, both in a physical and in a spiritual way. the main purpose of this category seems to be about writing oneself into the place, space, and time of the pilgrimage by capturing and creating memories from one’s journey to the hajj or the umrah. within this category, we identified three subcategories: “contextual factors,” “company,” and “psychospiritual expressions.” the contextual factors refer specifically to the location, time, and stage 19 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ of the ritual, activity, etc. (e.g., “at the kaaba,” “it’s a bit #cold today in #mecca,” and “having completed our first day at makkah”). under “company,” we included any mentions of other people who were referred to by the posters (e.g., “having another selfie, now with sheikh at the front of masjid nabawi,” “me n zila for my last umrah year 2012,” and “look how beautiful it is and look at all the ppl #mecca #kaabah”). captions were also used to point to people who were not physically present at the time of the selfie-taking as an acknowledgment or a reminder. for example, in one selfie there is a long caption from the poster thanking her dad for the trip, but the dad is not present in the picture. other selfies use the hashtag #wishyouwerehere (e.g., “after eshaii prayer in the haram! #wishyouwerehere with us! #makkah”). figure 1. the categorization of the captions accompanying the holy selfies. hashtags give wide access to relevant, socially shared images, which suggests that these pilgrims mean for their spiritual journeys to be found and seen. in using hashtags, these individuals are sending several messages: they are clearly positioning themselves as muslims for both muslim and non-muslim audiences. they also come across as devout enough and/or financially able to undertake the pilgrimage. similarly, they become a de facto member of the community of pilgrims of all faiths who are documenting their journeys online. lastly, they are sending a message about their relationship to technology, digital culture, and social media literacy. through this self-expression, pilgrims seem to resist past and current stereotypes and find instead their own voices. as such, the holy selfie resists not only orientalist representations but also certain stigmas within islamic communities, for example, the fatwa against the use of technology at the hajj or political suppression of mass-muslim voices.3 “psycho-spiritual expressions” refers to the affective and spiritual dimensions of the person’s experience at holy sites. contrary to the contextual factors subcategory, pyscho-spiritual expressions focuses entirely on comments about the posters’ inner states, emotions, and meaning-making triggered by pilgrimage experiences and the associated personal growth. in this subcategory, we found an array of expressions of the spiritual significance of the event for the pilgrim/poster, including expressions of gratefulness and awe, invocations, recitations, and documenting travel metacomment caption contextual factors company psycho-spiritual expressions selfietaking selfpromotion 20 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ prayers (see also schnell & pali, 2013; warfield, baker, & parikh foxx, 2014). the poses people strike in many selfies, at times smiling at the camera and at times gazing impassively, add a layer of meaning. selfie authors appear to be actively working on their self-representation rather than leaving their captured images to chance. the holy selfie indicates a very deliberate participatory decision on the part of the selfie-taker, that of engaging and challenging the voyeur by means of a direct gaze into the camera. tags and captions also shed light on the meaning-making that pilgrims seem to engage in as they retrace their journeys as individuals but also as members of a broader faith community. some selfies are posted not in real time but upon one’s return from the hajj/umrah, and they are often imbued with nostalgia and point to people’s reminiscing about their pilgrimage (e.g., “i miss that place already” and “it’s been a while since i did this . . . #tawaf #umrah #alhamdulillah”). several selfies included a stream of tags such as #fun, #love, #smile, #beautiful, and #life. one selfie was explicitly hashtagged with #tbt (acronym for “throwback thursday”), which has been gaining popularity on such platforms as instagram and is generally used when uploading a picture and letting followers know that it is not something currently happening, but rather a tribute to an event that happened at an earlier time but that they want to share now—or again—with their followers. the “meta-comment” category was devised to classify all the captions that referred to the making of the selfie (e.g., “the final ritual of hajj . . . a selfie #hajjselfie” and “selfie of the year with the kaaba #mecca #saudiarabia #umrah”) or the equipment used (e.g., “nokia n95 8gb”). we must not forget that selfies, while being an important part of youth culture, are still somehow stigmatized, even by youth themselves, as something shallow and vain (murray, 2015; wallop, 2013). selfies are also made for public consumption, and we see the evidence of self-promotion and attention paid by holy selfie posters to attract more followers. three posters, for example, captioned their holy selfies with the line “but first, let me take a selfie.” this is a direct reference to the band “the chainsmokers,” which released a single called #selfie that repeatedly used that specific line. interestingly, the song both mocks selfies and praises them as an important part of today’s youth culture. the line has since become part of the vocabulary of youth and popular culture. the social media proficiency of many holy selfie posters when it comes to getting exposure and audience engagement (through the use of hashtags, for example) has been mentioned already. in addition to hashtags and captions that documented one’s location or state of mind, several selfies in our sample used such tags as #instaislam or #likeforfaith. to add the prefix “insta” before any word has become a widespread hashtag practice inside the instagram community and facilitates the search and retrieval of related topics (#instafood, #instalove, etc.). #likeforfaith demonstrates another popular practice: adding a term after #likefor”; this practice is evidence that some holy selfie posters are familiar with the culture and mechanisms necessary make a picture go viral. last but not least, we noted a dozen instances of celebrity selfies in our sample, including an egyptian soccer player, a fashion blogger with over 100,000 instagram followers, a pakistani tv and film star, a pakistani cricket player, and several indonesian movie stars. for such pictures, the audience response, through comments, likes, retweets, and so on, was significantly higher. it must be noted that these celebrity selfies were often posted by third parties who talked about said celebrities rather than by the celebrities themselves. 21 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ selfies, along with their associated tags and captions, suggest that there is much conscious and active work put into this social media practice. in the case of holy selfies, we have seen that they are designed both for public consumption (e.g., self-fashioning, tagging, filtering) and as the evidence of pilgrims’ religious positioning and membership. the pilgrim is immediately recognized as muslim, which is an important consideration for muslims living in the west post9/11. moreover, holy selfie posters position themselves as digitally literate by virtue of being social media producers and consumers. this also places them at odds with more conservative voices in islam that decry or prohibit the use of social media. holy selfies, through their production and consumption, can therefore reveal much about identities, affiliations, relationships, and status. discussion our visual and textual analysis of the 100 selfies taken at the hajj and the umrah points to several important findings. first, many pilgrims do not see selfie-taking as inherently wrong or disconnected from their broader spiritual journey. while investing time into taking and uploading photos may seem to defy the pilgrimage tradition of detaching from the world, completing a set of rituals, and engaging in self-reflection and spiritual growth, it is clear that many pilgrims view selfie-taking as an important part of their journey. specifically, there seems to be great pleasure derived from writing oneself into holy sites and from capturing, annotating, and sharing these fleeting moments. the embodied experience of pilgrims at holy sites seems to find an expressive release through holy selfies. the photographs seem to have the power to transport the poster and the viewer back to the state that the poster experienced during the hajj or the umrah. our analysis suggests that pilgrims use the selfies and associated features for the purpose of capturing and documenting their experience, making sense of their spiritual journey, sharing memories with loved ones and like-minded fellows online, and participating in social media practices, including self-fashioning and attracting followers. second, more pilgrims (53%) took selfies during the umrah pilgrimage as opposed to the more symbolic and ritualized hajj (33%). the hajj may be perceived to be more formal in nature given its significance, as well as more crowded, with over two million muslims converging each year at holy sites (bianchi, 2017, p.7). the disapproving looks from fellow pilgrims and the presence of security personnel discouraging pilgrims from slowing down others at the most photographed sites, including the kaaba, may have something to do with the lower prevalence of selfies during the hajj. if the umrah is more akin to tourism and the hajj to a more formal pilgrimage, then it stands to reason that an element of censorship might be at play whereby pilgrims may deem it more acceptable to engage in selfie-taking during the umrah than the hajj. this would denote a shared sense of what is and is not appropriate in this religious pilgrimage context. even the visual aesthetics are surprisingly consistent. through the selection and depiction of particular islamic sites and symbols (the kaaba, mt. arafat, masjid al haram, the white ihram garments, men’s shaven heads, and women’s headcovers, to name just a few), holy selfies devise specific narratives about pilgrims’ performance of the hajj/umrah. the very framing of selfies leaves out other concerns, such as consumerism and class differences (bianchi, 2017). indeed, one need only step a few hundred meters outside the precincts of the kaaba and the holy mosque to find international chains (starbucks, mcdonald’s, kfc), five star hotels with wifi and air conditioning, and high-end luxury retailers and malls. yet, these symbols are hardly ever captured in the analyzed holy selfies. the tension between the spiritual and the material is not new: mecca has always been a booming trading center, and gift-giving upon a pilgrim’s return is, after all, a common practice (bianchi, 2004; porter, 2012). yet, what is framed and projected by holy selfies 22 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ for public consumption focuses instead on the religious symbols and signs that evoke the solemnity of the experience, leaving aside mundane, material, and touristic aspects of the journey. in that sense, holy selfies seem to be filtered through a shared lens based on what is considered appropriate from a religious perspective. when it comes to who engages in the holy selfie practice, our data show that holy selfies tend to feature as many males as females. these findings diverge from those of some other studies and from the overall conception in popular culture, which situate selfies as an activity most popular with teenage girls. indeed, much discourse around selfies is about selfie-taking by adolescents in general and young girls in particular, and a frequent argument is that young girls engage in selfie-taking for narcissistic reasons (murray, 2015; wallop, 2013). given the diversity of the muslim world and muslim experience, more data need to be collected about the prevalence of smartphones and mobile data plans among men and women. further research, including through in-depth interviews, would help elucidate the motivational aspect of selfie-taking. also needed is further research on the concept of modesty or honor as it applies to women in islamic religious settings (echchaibi, 2013; el guindi, 1999; hajjaj-jarrah, 2003; pearce & vitak, 2015) to determine how it may extend to sharing personal photographs publicly on social media. our study demonstrates the emergence and significance of holy selfies; it shows the importance of holy selfies in producing and sharing these images among selfie takers. the mere existence of holy selfies and the careful construction of these images are significant. from the location to the camera angle and from the editing of the picture to the application of hashtags and captions, holy selfie takers clearly intend their pictures to be viewed and consumed publicly. a legitimate question then is the extent to which selfies might be assumed to be directed toward non-muslims as well as muslims. we argue that holy selfies as an emerging practice may well contribute to building an alternative representation of muslims and the islam that stems from the media and popular culture. barry flood (2016), for example, contends that the construction and circulation of images of islamic power are often expressed through contemporary forms of iconoclasm (in relation to ancient monuments, for instance). holy selfies seem to focus on the positive and constructive images rather than the negative and destructive ones. by putting the person rather than the place in the foreground (though the assumed presence of the latter is crucial), holy selfies thus populate the imagined and virtual space of the internet with very different images of islam. in the absence of testimonies by those who make these selfies, it is difficult to know how deliberate this “alternative” production is. regardless, holy selfies tell us something about the centrifugal power of images of islam mediated through the actual bodies of muslims, which, ironically, can only be produced by the centripetal act of going to mecca in the first place. the intended audiences for selfie consumption are clearly multiple, as we have surmised, and it would be interesting to examine the opportunities for community building enabled by holy selfies and the necessity for building such communities. in theoretical terms, the phenomenon of holy selfies finds meaning in gell’s (1998) idea of distributed personhood whereby the locus of the pilgrims’ agency (in this case) goes beyond their bodies and includes the images and artifacts produced. the taking of selfies can be seen as part of a wider set of visual and non-mediated practices that characterize today’s everyday lived religion. in islam, such contemporary visual practices are exemplified by the popularity of preachers like amr khaled,4 for instance. unlike the colonial postcards of the 1930s, the self-produced images of islamic places and muslim people suggest a disruption of the traditional image–voyeur relationship. global access to the holy selfie does not lower the risk of reproduced orientalist stigma (as our example of the faux holy selfie account demonstrates), but it does provide a fearless account of the active revealing and circulating of free religious agency through the holy selfie sub-genre. this object agency is 23 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ performed in both authorship and reproduction of the image, with little to no interference or intermediation by an othering discourse. through their self-revealing, pilgrims resist past and current representations and acts and voluntarily insert themselves into the same global social media archive (see also echchaibi, 2013; hirji, 2006). when looking at the holy selfie, or selfies in general, one cannot but insert the context, subjects, and locations among other political and social spectrums/multiplicities. as wells (2003) points out, speaking of photography, “still images have to been seen as inter-related to other media forms (television, advertising, radio soaps, newspaper features . . .) [and] as sites within which particular ideas tend to be reinforced” (p. 376). as we saw with the trending topic, the popularity of the holy selfie allows and encourages others to do the same. my stealthy freedom serves as an important example of the resistive power of the reproduced selfie sub-genre. for marginalized persons, selfies serve as an instrument of resistance and a chance to actively shape how muslims are seen, instead of having their images created on their behalf and without their participation. although the pilgrims may take selfies as part of their everyday encounters, the holy selfie posits a very deliberate participatory decision. near the kaaba and in the selfie itself, selfie-takers are surrounded by hundreds of others participating in a common journey. the holy selfie, through its power to negate social hierarchies and consumerist references, works to present the image of a muslim person in a subjectively unified way. in this case, unification is not achieved through the homogeneity of people, because the muslim population is incredibly diverse; rather, unification occurs through the inclusive religious acts of #hajj or #umrah. the holy selfie becomes itself a performance of islam. while publicly inscribing the individual as a believer and as a muslim, devout and privileged enough to undertake the pilgrimage, holy selfies lend a voice to individuals. they grant pilgrims the power to articulate the meaning of the pilgrimage for themselves without having to appease the outside onlookers (e.g., the male gaze, the non-muslim gaze, the muslim extremist gaze, and the anti-muslim gaze). in that respect, they are a useful tool that enables the individual to construct a more complex picture of what it means to be a muslim in the 21st century, a picture whereby being muslim becomes one of the many identity layers. more generally, our examination of holy selfies suggests that they are a space for selfrepresentation and critical reflections on the issues that 21st-century believers of all faiths, and muslims in particular, face in their everyday lives. this echoes echchaibi’s (2013) study of women bloggers on muslimah media watch where the blogging became an instrument to respond to their absence in simplistic western discourse and their invisibility in mainstream muslim narratives. their blogging represents an act of performing their gendered and religious self in a way denied to them by dominant power structures (p. 865) conclusion while photographs have always been taken during the hajj and the umrah despite the prohibition, the networks of distribution and dissemination limited the reach of these photographs. in the case of holy selfies, a quick google search turns up countless pictures of individual muslims (men and women) who partook in the pilgrimage. the transnational character of the holy selfies practice reveals the significance of the religious hajj/umrah narrative. pilgrims embark on the hajj and the umrah for a variety of reasons (a search for redemption, authenticity, or communitas) and usually return transformed. social media platforms are fostering environments where individuals of all faiths can express their ideological and religious identities by performing, or “doing,” religion rather than relying on the various “others” to speak on their behalf. the power to represent oneself is critical for 24 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, holy selfies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(1-2), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ muslims who are constantly spoken for and about and are unable to construct an identity of their own. viewing holy selfies as a manifestation of muslims’ expression of their everyday lived religion takes us a step closer to appreciating the complexity involved in the formation of contemporary muslim identities. acknowledgements the authors thank dr. simon coleman, dr. leslie shade, dr. keren dali, dr. david simonowitz, mariam karim, and the reviewers for their helpful comments. this article carries many suggestions and ideas from them. we cannot thank them enough. omissions and errors remain our own. endnotes 1 we note the variation in spellings of arabic terms used in this article (mecca, makkah; umra, umrah; medina, madinah). while acknowledging these variant spellings, we have sought to maintain consistency and therefore use “mecca,” “hajj,” and “umrah” throughout the article. 2 a woman performing hajj is required to be accompanied by a mahram (usually a spouse or close male relative such as a brother, son, uncle, or father). this practice, however, is increasingly reexamined. saudi embassies even mention in the hajj requirements faqs that women over the age of 45 may travel without a mahram with an organized group. some hajj tour groups also openly advertise this feature on their website (https://www.saudiembassy.net/hajj-requirements). 3 a fatwa is “a legal opinion or decree handed down by an islamic religious leader” (“fatwa,” n.d.) 4 amr khaled is an egyptian televangelist listed as one of the “100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world” (nomani, 2007). references afp. 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(2010, december 8). to trend or not to trend. [blog post]. retrieved from https://blog.twitter.com/2010/trend-or-not-trend wallop, h. (2013). selfies—how the world fell in love with itself. the telegraph, retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/10460202/selfies-howthe-world-fell-in-love-with-itself.html wang, y. (2012). taiwanese girls’ self-portraiture on a social networking site. doctoral dissertation. retrieved from http://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/9994909.pdf warfield, h. a., baker, s. b., & parikh foxx, s. b. (2014). the therapeutic value of pilgrimage: a grounded theory study. mental health, religion & culture, 17(8), 860–875. warfield, k. (2014, january 15). an open letter to mass media explaining, definitively, the meaning of selfies. [blog post]. retrieved from http://www.makingselfiesmakingself.com/an-open-letter-to-mass-media-explainingdefinitively-the-meaning-of-selfies.html wells, l. (ed.). (2003). the photography reader. london: routledge. zine, j. (ed.). (2012). islam in the hinterlands: muslim cultural politics in canada. vancouver, bc: ubc press. nadia caidi (nadia.caidi@utoronto.ca) is an associate professor at the faculty of information (ischool), university of toronto, canada. her research focuses on human information behavior, societal implications of information and communication technologies (icts), information policy, and critical and cross-cultural studies. dr. caidi has received several grants for her research on information control and the public’s right to know in times of crisis. her current research is situated in the context of global migration and the role that information resources, institutions, and technologies play in the everyday lives of migrant and displaced communities. caidi was president of the canadian association for information science (2011) and the 2016 president of the international association for information science & technology (asis&t). susan beazley (beazleysue@gmail.com) is a special librarian and research associate working in toronto, canada. she holds a master of information degree from the faculty of information (ischool), university of toronto. laia colomer marquez (laicolomer@gmail.com is a graduate of the universidad iberoamericana in mexico city, where she earned a bachelor's degree in communications and media. she was awarded a mitacs globalink research internship, in 2015, to conduct research with professor caidi at the faculty of information, university of toronto. 31 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://blog.twitter.com/2010/trend-or-not-trend http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/10460202/selfies-how-the-world-fell-in-love-with-itself.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/10460202/selfies-how-the-world-fell-in-love-with-itself.html http://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/9994909.pdf http://www.makingselfiesmakingself.com/an-open-letter-to-mass-media-explaining-definitively-the-meaning-of-selfies.html http://www.makingselfiesmakingself.com/an-open-letter-to-mass-media-explaining-definitively-the-meaning-of-selfies.html mailto:nadia.caidi@utoronto.ca mailto:beazleysue@gmail.com mailto:laicolomer@gmail.com background and context affiliative identities and object agency methods findings age pilgrimage depicted location language used filters captions, hashtags, and trending topics hashtags trending topics captions discussion conclusion acknowledgements endnotes references inclusive library service to individuals with mental illnesses and disorders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32500 inclusive library service to individuals with mental illnesses and disorders michelle p. green, university of wyoming, usa abstract what does it mean to have a mental illness? according to the national alliance on mental illness, it is a condition affecting a person’s mood, emotions, or thinking and can interfere with a person’s ability to relate to others and function in their daily life. mental illness of any kind affects approximately 18% of the united states adult population—around 45 million people, as of 2016. why does this matter to librarians and other information professionals? librarians are likely to unknowingly encounter someone with mental illness, as one cannot simply look for violent or disruptive behavior in every case. this article briefly examines the literature to highlight what is being done in both public and academic libraries to meet the information needs of individuals with mental illness or any type of mental health issue. it suggests ways to improve service to and advocate for the information needs of these invisibly disabled patrons. keywords: advocacy; libraries; mental health; mental illness; service publication type: special section publication introduction ental illnesses affect approximately 18% of the united states adult population (national institute of mental health, 2019). mental illness is a condition affecting a person’s mood, emotions, or thinking and can interfere with a person’s ability to relate to others and function in their daily life (national alliance on mental illness, 2018). the official diagnostic manual of the american psychiatric association, diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th edition (2013), offers definitions and diagnostic criteria for a variety of mental disorders and conditions. within the general definition of mental illness or mental disorder are specific conditions and disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, impulse control and addiction disorders, personality disorders, obsessivecompulsive disorders, and post-traumatic stress, among other conditions. at some point in their careers, librarians and other information professionals are likely to provide information and services to serve individuals with varying mental health issues, psychiatric disabilities, or neurodiversities whether those issues and diversities are apparent or not. libraries not only provide information about mental illnesses to library users and their support communities, but they can also be a place of social inclusion, with a real effect on general community levels of tolerance for people with mental illness. in the u.s. in 2016, just over 43% of adults affected by mental illnesses sought treatment m https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi inclusive library service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32500 (national institute of mental health, 2019). treatment here is defined as inpatient or outpatient treatment or counseling and/or prescription medication specifically designed for treatment of mental health or substance abuse conditions. while not all mental health issues necessitate formal counseling or medication, the emotional, social, and psychological support available from mental health professionals and the resources they can provide can help individuals with selfacceptance and self-esteem, increase confidence and communication, enhance problem solving skills, and reduce some of the risks associated with mental illnesses and disorders (mental health america, n.d.). a 2014 article on the impact of mental illness stigma on individuals seeking and participating in mental health care notes that social discrimination based on mental illness can lead to selfstigma, thus hampering progress in treatment and recovery efforts (corrigan, druss, & perlick, 2014). it is worth noting that fewer 18to 25-year olds (around 35% of 18-25 years with mental health issues) sought treatment for mental health issues than did 26to 49-year olds (just over 43%) (national institute of mental health, 2019). in spite of recent popular discussion around mass shooters, in which commentators debate the role of mental illnesses and disorders in acts of violence, those with serious mental disorders who may be inclined to outbursts or violence amount to only 4.2% of the adult population of individuals with mental illnesses (national institute of mental health, 2019). even then, those in that group are only slightly more likely to be violent, generally attributed to the influence of illicit drugs or alcohol or being off medication or untreated (hiday, 2006; neilssen et al., 2011; swanson, 2011). both social stigma (i.e., social cues of disapproval and discrimination) and structural stigma (i.e., associated with social and institutional policies) can undermine opportunities for people to seek help and support. this article will discuss the important role libraries can take in creating inclusive services and supportive environments for individuals with mental health variations. the article demonstrates the strong presence of libraries in partnering with the community for mental health and mental illness services and suggests ways that libraries and library professionals might benefit from that literature as we work to expand understanding of mental illness in librarianship and create more inclusive communities. what libraries are doing right and what we can learn as champions of critical thinking, progressive thought, and information literacy, librarians are uniquely poised to help eliminate the stigma of mental illness through advocacy for users and employees, education and awareness, and even through continued emphasis on stress relief and general well-being. with the growing emphasis on academic librarians’ role in student wellness and mental health, college and university libraries are doing more to accommodate the needs of individuals with mental illness. accommodations for physical disability, whether invisible or visible, are required by the americans with disabilities act, and it is not uncommon to see adjustable tables and desks, captioning, the provision of note taking software and devices, or american sign language interpreters. all these allow for greater access to learning and information for the individuals who need it. while accommodation for mental illness, such as testing accommodations for anxiety disorders, is included in various parts of the americans with disabilities act (u.s. department of justice, 2010), a search of the relevant literature reveals a gap in in library assistance for people with mental illness. the association of specialized and cooperative library agencies of the american library association published a report in 2007 which set guidelines for serving library patrons with mental illness. the report stresses the important role of all librarians to reduce discrimination, share information, and provide 120 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index inclusive library service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32500 programming. as a resource to the local community, a public library might serve a range of users affected by mental illness including veterans, homeless individuals, children, teenagers, and adults young and old (brewster, 2014). more and more often these days, public libraries provide community health and wellness information in many formats (such as print, digital, or audio), including, in some cases, partnerships with groups like united way to connect community members to local resources and information (cathcart, 2008). since the late 1800s, american public librarians have disseminated health information and now also serve as de facto social workers and counsellors. this is true internationally, as well (rubenstein, 2012). as noted by a public health professional (wahowiak, 2018, p. 12), “as people are more likely to visit their [local public] library than a doctor, health advocates have an opportunity to reach people where they live and learn. libraries are free, accessible to everyone and are key points of community engagement—making them the perfect partner for public health programs and education.” based on the statistics about adult mental illness provided in the introduction, most university and college librarians have probably regularly assisted, taught, or otherwise interacted with at least some undergraduate or postgraduate learners or colleagues with mental health issues. in some cases, such as in law libraries, there is the additional interaction with highly stressed students who are possibly suffering from temporary mental health issues that can sometimes lead to substance abuse later in life (marullo anzalone & vann, 2018). beyond finding a place to study and accessing information for assignments, there is no doubt students use their time in the library to watch videos, surf the web, and look up health and wellness information. some academic libraries provide compiled health resources, such as subject guides filled with local resources and helpful information. the trend of focusing on student wellness is increasing in academic libraries with finals weeks stress relief activities, animal therapy visits, and expanded operating hours for extra studying time, with one librarian even promoting the value of nap stations so students can benefit from extra sleep during stressful times of the semester (ramsey & aagard, 2018; wise, 2018). lisl walsh (2017) describes life with mental illness as an academic in the american university system and the intersection of mental illness and scholarly production, resulting in affected academics seeming “lazy,” among other things. the effects of some mental illnesses (e.g., anxiety, depression, obsessive re-thinking, self-doubt) very likely limits the presence of applicable literature in peer-reviewed journals, as those writing from a place of personal experience are less likely to be represented due to health limitations and typically stringent timelines and requirements. furthermore, does the lack of literature on mental health or illness also reflect an overall silence in academia regarding mental illness, a preference for the ableminded or so-called “typical” thinkers? likewise, some public libraries have embraced their status as community servants and de facto counsellors through the programs they offer, such as libraries in scandinavia who provide mental health and wellness services to their patrons (bjorn hansen, et. al., 2016; berg larsen, 2015). one library in ireland came up with a “book prescription scheme” aimed to get self-help books into the hands of individuals with mild to moderate mental illness (neville, 2014). they collected data on this bibliotherapy service as they implemented the program and found some interesting results. for instance, while the librarians in the program understood their role was not one of formal counseling or treatment, they magnified their role as the curators and disseminators of accurate mental health information. they did not receive formal mental health training but 121 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index inclusive library service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32500 naturally assumed the role of advocates for the importance of mental health treatment. the staff seemed to clearly understand their role was not to pick up slack for poor services in their local community, but their efforts did recommend an expanded mental health collection and provide library staff with deeper understanding of the contents of their mental health collection. this irish public library program highlights an important point: while librarians of all types may end up serving as ad hoc social workers or counsellors, they are not meant to be a treatment plan or counseling coordinator. rather, programs like this illustrate the librarian’s role as a facilitator and resource. for those with mental illness, a library can be a starting place for getting help but should never be the only source. public libraries can embrace their excellent positioning and importance in the community to contribute to general population health, which also includes mental health awareness. through resources, services, and activities, these potential community health partners tend to consistently have their finger on the community pulse. they can provide timely and free mental health and general wellness resources to the surrounding community. academic libraries, on the other hand, are not as present in the literature of best practices for offering mental health support to users. on the surface, this can appear to indicate little is being done, but that is not necessarily the case. typically, based on the literature, most academic library mental health outreach or aid takes the form of general student wellness programs. one article discusses this trend, noting the evidence in support of increased retention and student success when wellness programs are in place (ramsey & aagard, 2018). one example of a successful partnership between an academic and public library is the healthy library initiative (morgan et. al., 2016). this is a partnership between the university of pennsylvania and their public library system in the surrounding philadelphia area, the free library of philadelphia. evaluative research related to this initiative assessed the impact of ten very well-attended events and the impact on social health determinants in the community. one of the groups that received targeted support was individuals with mental illnesses who participated in the targeted social literacy events. the study found that libraries are “trusted institutions” that reach large numbers and varieties of people, and because of this trait, they are poised to positively impact population health, including mental illness (p. 1). college and university libraries are increasingly hosting pet therapy sessions, particularly during finals week. some libraries hold meditation sessions of various types, and provide meditation rooms, such as that found at humboldt state university, or “reflection rooms,” such as at the university of kansas (wachter, 2018). one article from the university of toronto library and information science program discusses the use of this type of meditation in the classroom, easily applied to a library event or even a one-shot instructional library session (hartel, nguyen, & guzik, 2017). another article (wise, 2018) extolls the benefits, particularly in the long term, of adding napping stations in the library. looking at the impact of sleep deprivation on college students, the author examines the potential and evidential damage to students’ minds and college careers. there are, however, benefits beyond student wellness for students, faculty, and staff who struggle with mental illness. these napping stations and meditation and reflection rooms provide a safe space for individuals who experience panic attacks, get easily overwhelmed or overstimulated, or any other manifestation of their mental disorder. the high stress environment of law school is another arena in which academic libraries are increasing their efforts. two authors describe the programs at their law school library and the ways in which they reach out to the students through their positions as librarians (marullo anzalone & vann, 2018). they describe one 2016 report in which over 14% of lawyers admit that their substance abuse began during law school, a concerning statistic (p. 44). marullo anzalone 122 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index inclusive library service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32500 and vann suggest law librarians are poised to contribute to law student well-being due to their position as information gatekeepers and providers. at minimum, law librarians (and other information professionals) can provide resource lists and add to the collection books and journals that focus on mental health and general well-being. harrell and guyer (2015) also illustrate the work law librarians are doing to serve students with mental illnesses. their article offers 10 suggestions for harnessing a library’s customer focus to include those with mental health issues. they suggest extending quality customer service, staying informed, and protecting patron privacy, among other tips. the authors also illustrate creative service through an example. at one of the authors’ libraries, they set aside the volumes most frequently used by one patron with mental illness so he could find them more easily on his daily visits. the staff also wrote down the locations of each book in the event they got shelved. “this simple accommodation,” notes guyer, allowed their library “to better serve a patron with a mental illness” (p. 24). harrell and guyer remind all librarians to stay informed about regulations and laws as well as standards and best practices. however, there are few official and national standards in place that provide guidance for any type of library. hecker (1996) suggests patrons with mental illness should not be treated in the category of “problem patrons” but rather, according to the standards of the americans with disabilities act, with understanding and accommodation, just as one would with someone with a visible indicator of disability such as a wheelchair or white cane. the association of specialized and cooperative library agencies’ (2007) guidelines for library services for people with mental illnesses best practices guide and its accompanying tip sheet (2010) have helped establish formal guidelines for library services to people with mental illness, keeping in mind americans with disabilities act principles. libraries of all types can use this guide as a baseline to set their own standards or best practices for serving patrons with permanent or temporary mental illness. academic libraries in particular can use the ideas of public librarians, such as increasing collection holdings on mental health topics, being aware of local mental health resources, or even just existing as a place of safety and comfort. of course, this must be done with caution and awareness of local resources. recommendations and conclusions even with restrictions such as a low budget or poor staffing, any librarian or information professional can make improvements to their institution’s service to individuals with mental illness. find out if there are policies in place, whether general or specific, and examine them for dated language or approaches and other red flags. if there are no policies in place, consider devising a standard of practice, however general. consider utilizing existing spaces meant for wellness (such as napping stations or a meditation room/area) as safe areas for people who may need a calming space to come down from a panic attack or sensory overload. if the collection budget is poor, highlight the extant books in the collection on mental health, self-help, meditation, and similar topics. promote days or months relating to mental health awareness or particular conditions and coordinate displays to bring awareness to the topics. if a stronger advocacy role is desired, contact human resources (or other applicable departments) to inquire about any mental health or mental illness trainings, including webinars and seminars. additionally, many information professionals receive cpr and first aid training, which covers physical emergencies they may encounter. very few people receive mental health first aid training, which can equip library employees to better diffuse tense situations, identify 123 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index inclusive library service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32500 and provide the right resources, and help patrons through a troubling time or incident. depending on location, there may be mental health first aid programs operated by a variety of organizations. mental health first aid usa, operated by the national council for behavioral health, is one of the more prominent organizations conducting these trainings. participants learn how to recognize a variety of mental illnesses and substance abuses and are then given a five-step action plan (throgmorton, 2017). as this article has demonstrated, there is a lack of peer-reviewed, academic literature on library services to individuals with mental illness or mental health conditions. one important way to remedy this is the creation of more peer-reviewed literature. librarians engaged in research or academic librarians required to produce scholarly works are in a particularly prime position to contribute. empirical study and investigation are needed in all areas and all types of libraries, especially college and university libraries. studies are needed that go beyond the current focus on general mental health and wellness, student stress, etc. while studying mental health or illness is usually sensitive, there are ways to mask identifying data. the importance of additional literature in this area cannot be understated. deeper research provides deeper understanding and more meaningful service for individuals managing mental health conditions. the lack of literature about what academic libraries are doing to serve patrons with mental illness can appear to be discouraging. in reality, it indicates only that not much has been published on these efforts if they do exist. while general mental health and personal wellbeing are gaining prominence in the national conversation, one can still casually observe the stigma that still surrounds mental illness. something as seemingly innocuous as saying the weather is “bipolar” or referring to a particularly tidy friend as “ocd” can do more damage than one realizes. information professionals, as gatekeepers of information and its access, are situated to have a positive impact on patrons with mental illness and other invisible disabilities. through even small efforts and changes they can positively contribute to a positive national conversation. even to make a difference in the life of one patron is reason to engage in and promote better service to individuals who are not so obviously different. references american psychiatric association. (2013). diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). arlington, va: american psychiatric publishing. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 association of specialized and cooperative library agencies. (2007). guidelines for library services for people with mental illnesses. chicago, il: american library association. association of specialized and cooperative library agencies. (2010). people with mental health issues: what you need to know: library accessibility tip sheet 7. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/asgcla/sites/ala.org.asgcla/files/content/asclaprotools/accessibil itytipsheets/tipsheets/7-mental_illlness.pdf berg larsen, e. 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(2016). the library plays an active part in issues of healthcare. scandinavian library quarterly, 49(1/2), 18-21. retrieved from http://slq.nu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/slq-1-2.14.6.pdf. brewster, l. (2014). the public library as therapeutic landscape: a qualitative case study. health & place, 26(2014), 94-99. retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s1353829213001792 cathcart, r. (2008). librarian or social worker: time to look at the blurring line? the reference librarian, 49(1), 87–91. doi:10.1080/02763870802103845 corrigan, p. w., druss, b. g., & perlick, d. a. (2014). the impact of mental illness stigma on seeking and participating in mental health care. association for psychological science. retrieved from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/mental-illnessstigma.html harrel, n. & guyer, c. (2015). mental illness in the library: ten tips to better serve patrons. aall spectrum, 2015(february), 22-25. hartel, j., nguyen, a. & guzik, e. 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(2018). mental health and the role of the law librarian: how law librarians and lawyer assistance programs can help lawyers and law students cope with mental health issues. aall spectrum, 22(4), 43–48. morgan, a. u., dupuis, r., d’alonzo, b., johnson, a., graves, a., brooks, k. l., mcclintock, a., klusaritz, h., bogner, h., long, j., grande, d., & cannuscio, c. c. (2016). beyond books: public libraries as partners for population health. health affairs; chevy chase, 35(11), 2030–2036. http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0724 national institute of mental health. (2019). mental illness. retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.shtml national alliance on mental illness. (2018). mental health conditions. retrieved from https://www.nami.org/learn-more/mental-health-conditions. neville, p. (2014). librarian or counsellor? a pilot study of the experiences of library staff in 125 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://slq.nu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/slq-1-2.14.6.pdf http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s1353829213001792 https://doi.org/10.1080/02763870802103845 https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/mental-illness-stigma.html https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/mental-illness-stigma.html https://doi.org/10.3138/jelis.58.2.112 https://doi.org/10.1300/j120v25n53_02 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2004.08.010 https://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/therapy http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0724 https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.shtml(q24) https://www.nami.org/learn-more/mental-health-conditions inclusive library service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i1.32500 one healthy reading scheme in ireland. journal of mental health, 23(1), 15–19. doi: 10.3109/09638237.2013.815332 nielssen, o., bourget, d., laajasalo, t., liem, m., labelle, a., hakkanen-nyholm, h., & large, m. m. (2011). homicide of strangers by people with a psychotic illness. schizophrenia bulletin, 37(3), 572–579. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbp112 ramsey, e. & aagard, m. c. (2018). academic libraries as active contributors to student wellness. college & undergraduate libraries, 25(4), 328-337. doi:10.1080/10691316.2018.1517433 rubenstein, e. (2012). from social hygiene to consumer health: libraries, health information, and the american public from the late nineteenth century to the 1980s. library & information history, 28(3), 202–219. doi:10.1179/1758348912z.00000000016 swanson, j. (1994). mental disorder, substance abuse, and community violence: an epidemiologic approach. in j. monahan & h. j. steadman (eds.), violence and mental disorder: developments in risk assessment (pp. 101-136). chicago, il: university of chicago press. swanson, j. (2011). explaining rare acts of violence: the limits of evidence from population research. psychiatric services, 62(11), 1369–1371. doi:10.1176/ps.62.11.pss6211_1369 throgmorton, k. (2017). mental health first aid. american libraries; chicago, 48(3/4), 22–23. u.s. department of justice. (2010). testing accommodations. retrieved from https://www.ada.gov/regs2014/testing_accommodations.pdf wachter, r. (2018, january 2). a space apart: college libraries contemplate meditation rooms. american libraries. retrieved from https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2018/01/02/library-meditation-rooms-spaceapart/ wahowiak, lindsey. libraries, public health work together on community health: settings serve as community hubs. the nation’s health; washington 48(8) (october 2018): 1-12. walsh, l. (2017). academia is irreparably ableist. retrieved from https://medium.com/@lislanna/academia-is-irreparably-ableist-925fb33721ff wise, m. j. (2018). naps and sleep deprivation: why academic libraries should consider adding nap stations to their services for students. new review of academic librarianship, 24(2), 192–210. doi:10.1080/13614533.2018.1431948 michelle green (mgreen25@uwyo.edu) is the learning and engagement librarian at the university of wyoming. she holds a master of library and information science degree from the university of oklahoma. michelle has a strong interest in critical librarianship, diversity, and mental illness advocacy. 126 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.3109/09638237.2013.815332 https://doi.org/10.3109/09638237.2013.815332 https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbp112 https://doi.org/10.1080/10691316.2018.1517433 https://doi.org/10.1179/1758348912z.00000000016 doi:10.1176/ps.62.11.pss6211_1369 https://www.ada.gov/regs2014/testing_accommodations.pdf https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2018/01/02/library-meditation-rooms-space-apart/ https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2018/01/02/library-meditation-rooms-space-apart/ https://medium.com/@lislanna/academia-is-irreparably-ableist-925fb33721ff https://doi.org/10.1080/13614533.2018.1431948 mailto:mgreen25@uwyo.edu introduction what libraries are doing right and what we can learn recommendations and conclusions references ijidi july 2021 cover the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion july 2021 | volume 5 | number 3 dr. vanessa irvin, editor-in-chief editorial lis's climate change: what lis means within a pandemic and globalized social movement context vanessa irvin articles sources of covid-19 information seeking and their associations with self-perceived mental health among canadians yanli li job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians amelia anderson minding the design reality gap: an empirical evaluation of telecentre initiatives in rural ghana daniel azerikatoa ayoung; pamela abbott motivated and capable but no space for error: women’s experiences in contributing to open source software vandana singh; brice bongiovanni case studies promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion: incorporating machine translation literacy into information literacy instruction for undergraduate students lynne bowker an exploratory study of diversity statements in canadian academic librarian job advertisements norda a. bell special sections assistive technology in education: conceptions of a socio-technical design challenge vanesa ayon; andrew dillon digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries: promoting student success for all learners jacqueline frank; meghan salsbury; hannah mckelvey; rachelle mclain learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future: using a tripartite model of information access and digital inclusion with a richland library case study kim m. thompson; amanda reed whose safety is the priority? attending to lis grassroots movements and patron concerns around policing and public libraries allie fry; jeanie austin featuring book reviews edited by norda a. bell journal credits editor-in-chief dr. vanessa irvin associate editors dr. nadia caidi dr. mirah dow dr. wiebke reile senior managing editors leah brochu laina kelly managing editors michelle de agostini mona elayyan stephanie santiful jeffrey sowder cara b. stone zach valdes book review editor norda a. bell graphic designer kevin j. mallary ijidi logo created by craig taylor image credit: iconic lion statue (fortitude) wearing giant face mask, by andy. the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion https://unsplash.com/photos/yufaaqqnliy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 the lived experience of work and career among individuals with bipolar disorder: a phenomenological study of discussion forum narratives susan rathbun-grubb, university of south carolina, usa abstract individuals with invisible chronic illnesses are often at a disadvantage in the workplace in terms of job security, promotion, and occupational success. because little is known about the use of public online support forums to help patients with mental health disorders cope with the impact their illness has on their work and career, this research identifies and examines online forum posts related to employment by contributors with bipolar disorder. seven percent of the total eligible posts from four discussion forums (n = 7,712) contained mentions of work and career (n = 572). a thematic analysis of the 572 posts is reported, organized by characteristics of contributors related to work and career histories, symptoms of bipolar disorder at work, needs for coping at work, the importance of work as part of a healthy life, disclosure of the illness, and recommendations by other contributors. the symptoms associated with the illness can have a negative impact in the work environment. fear of stigma and other negative consequences inhibit workers from disclosing their condition and negotiating ways to get the fundamental accommodations they need. the posts reveal a climate of fear and uncertainty surrounding mental illness in the workplace, as well as individuals’ desire to conquer their health challenges to achieve meaning and fulfillment in their work life. keywords: bipolar disorder; health justice; mental illness and work; online support forums; stigma publication type: research article introduction ndividuals with invisible chronic illnesses are often at a disadvantage in the workplace in terms of job security, promotion, and occupational success. an environment of health justice would enable those who can and want to work to do so, and would require a workplace that is supportive, makes reasonable accommodations, and is free of stigma-based discrimination (tremblay, 2011). because little is known about the use of public online support forums to help patients with mental health disorders cope with the impact their illness has on their work and career, this research identifies and examines online forum posts related to employment by contributors with bipolar disorder (bd). this exploratory research builds on previous research streams that have investigated self-disclosure, information seeking behaviors, and sharing behaviors among contributors to online mental health forums (barney, griffiths, & banfield, 2011; bauer, bauer, spiessl, & kagerbauer, 2013; giles & newbold, 2013; horgan & sweeney, i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 2010; horgan, mccarthy, & sweeney, 2013; savolainen, 2011; schotanus-dijkstra et al., 2014). this study attempts to answer the following research questions: rq1. to what extent do contributors to online forums for bd use the platform to discuss employment issues? rq2. what topics related to employment are discussed? rq3. what is the nature of the responses of contributors to questions and solicitations for support regarding employment? the results of this research fill a void in what is known about the ways that people who suffer from bd manage the effect that their illness has on their work lives using public online forums; further, the findings reveal the nature of conversation about work in online support forums and the use of the forum as a safe space to discuss employment issues. this article begins with a literature review that defines health justice, provides an overview of research on bd and employment and stigma, and explores the use of online support forums. a summary of the methods employed in this study follows the review, and a discussion of findings and conclusions complete the report. literature review the capability approach to work and health justice the “freedom-based capability approach” proposed by amartya sen (2009) suggests that we assess justice and injustice as a consequence of an individual’s capability to do the things he or she values. of his philosophical framework, sen asserts: the focus here is on the freedom that a person actually has to do this or be that – things that he or she may value doing or being. obviously, the things we value most are particularly important for us to be able to achieve. but the idea of freedom also respects our being free to determine what we want, what we value and ultimately what we decide to choose. (pp. 231-232) sen’s capability approach has been extended to numerous areas of study, and two such areas are health and work. philosopher sridhar venkatapuram (2011) defines health justice as the fundamental human right to the capability to be healthy. venkatapuram, ventriglio, and bhugra (2015) state, “every human being has a moral entitlement to a capability to be healthy, especially to a level which is commensurate with equal human dignity in the contemporary world. . . . health should not be seen as a mere absence of disease or illness, but as an ability to achieve a certain set of vital goals” (p. 518). venkatapuram’s view is pragmatic, as he posits that “human well-being is best conceptualized in terms of what the individual can actually be and do in their daily context” (venkatapuram, 2014). an additional benefit of the capabilities approach to mental health is the potential it has to turn the focus from illness to health, thereby lessening the stigma associated with mental illness (venkatapuram et al., 2015). by adopting a capabilities viewpoint, health care professionals are better positioned to help patients accept and navigate their diagnosis; patients are empowered with notions of freedom, choice, and values, as opposed to illness, barriers, and deficits, and may be less likely to internalize and validate any stigma they confront. 21 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 van der klink et al. (2016) have applied the capability approach to work. their definition of sustainable employability states: throughout their working lives, workers can achieve tangible opportunities in the form of a set of capabilities. they also enjoy the necessary conditions that allow them to make a valuable contribution through their work, now and in the future, while safeguarding their health and welfare. this requires, on the one hand, a work context that facilitates this for them and on the other, the attitude and motivation to exploit these opportunities. (p. 74) this definition recognizes the role that the work environment plays in sustainable employability. the intersection of work and health capabilities, sustainable employability, and the pursuit of health justice in the workplace form the framework of this research. for many, the capability to work and support oneself is central to one’s sense of a healthy self, and according to research, is a way to achieve “societal and personal goals and values,” including health and employment goals (van der klink et al., 2016, p. 72). fulfillment of the capability and desire to work, regardless of mental health status, exemplifies health justice in the context of this study. the ability to earn a living and fully participate in the social and economic spheres to the extent that the individual is capable and desires to do so are two of the values, opportunities, or goals referred to by sen (2009), venkatapuram (2011; 2014), and van der klink et al. (2016). despite its public environment, the online forum is a place where many contributors share their innermost thoughts, their dreams and goals, as well as their perceptions of their capabilities, constraints, and freedom in the sphere of work. the forum is a rich source for reflection and revelation. it is also a place where information and ideas are exchanged between those who face similar barriers in terms of illness. by examining online support forum posts related to work and career, we can determine the ways in which individuals with bipolar disorder are articulating their capabilities and desires regarding work, pursuing their employment goals, and dealing with the challenges that could thwart their attempts to work or derive satisfaction from their work life. bipolar disorder and employment bd is a psychiatric condition characterized by an instability of mood—cycling episodes of mania, hypomania, and depression—that results in impaired “work and social functioning” (american psychiatric association, 2013). kessler et al. (2006) estimate that 5% of the general population has a disorder on the bipolar spectrum. bd is associated with significant personal and societal economic losses; it is estimated that there are 96.2 million lost work days and $14.1 billion in lost productivity annually in the u.s. attributed to bd (davidson et al., 2016; kessler et al., 2006). bowden (2005) states that only 30 to 60% of bd patients fully recover social and occupational functioning, even when symptom-free. research has shown that people who experience the depression and cognitive dysfunction associated with bd are more likely to have lower job satisfaction, more issues with absenteeism, and lower work quality (o'donnell et al., 2017). bd and associated cognitive problems are also linked to instability in employment (gilbert & marwaha, 2013; marwaha, durrani, & singh, 2013). unemployed veterans with bd have greater neurocognitive impairment than those who are employed, and there is also an association between unemployment and the number of their 22 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 hospitalizations and prescribed medications (altshuler et al., 2007). self-assessed cognitive impairment is a significant predictor of an unstable employment trajectory (gilbert et al., 2010). attendance issues, conflict, and subpar performance at work are attributed primarily to the depressive symptoms of bd (o'donnell, 2017; simon, ludman, unützer, operskalski, & bauer, 2008). other cognitive impairments related to attention and verbal memory deficits stem from chronic depression (boland et al., 2015). any lessening of depressive symptoms is associated with positive work outcomes (ryan et al., 2015). occupational dysfunction and work disability are some of the most significant impairments caused by bd (boland et al., 2015; karpov et al., 2017; o'donnell et al., 2017) and underlie many patients’ experience of stigma (nilsson, kugathasan, & straarup, 2016). bipolar disorder and stigma external or public stigma is defined by corrigan, larson, and rüsch (2009) as societal “stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination,” while self-stigma is the awareness, agreement with, internalization, and application of those prejudices or stereotypes to oneself (p. 75). bd patients may experience both external and self-stigma after diagnosis. goldberg (2012) found that patients who faced a diagnosis of bd had very negative reactions, based on the perception that they were entering, or being seen as entering, a marginalized societal status of the mentally ill. in a study by nilsson et al. (2016), more than half of the subjects with bd believed that their illness would result in work-related stigmatization. similarly, michalak, yatham, maxwell, hale, and lam’s (2007) qualitative assessment of the work experiences of bd patients indicated that workplace stigmatization was a major concern, along with dealing with management of bd symptoms at work, inconsistent work histories, disclosure of illness, and interpersonal relationship issues on the job. work absences and extended times of unemployment or underemployment fractured the appearance of a cohesive, consistent career identity over time, and bd sufferers perceived that workplace stigma had negatively impacted career advancement or led to job loss. external and self-stigmatization are both associated with increased symptoms, decreased ability to function in social and occupational roles, and a reduction in social support networks (hawke, parikh, & michalak, 2013). just as the severity of depressive symptoms predicts deficits in psychosocial functioning, self-stigmatization is also associated with poor functioning (cerit, filizer, tural, & tufan, 2012). it is a vicious cycle in which the symptoms of depression exacerbate self-stigma and self-perceived functional deficits (gilkes, perich, & meade, 2018), which in turn can intensify the symptoms of bd when paired with the social anxiety brought on by external stigma (levy, tsoy, brodt, petrosyan, & malloy, 2015). online support forums previous research indicates that individuals with chronic conditions use online forums as part of a coping strategy—to engage in a welcoming environment to gain peer support, build relationships and community, ask questions, and find information to support decision-making related to their illness (berry et al., 2017; highton-williamson, priebe, & giacco, 2015; rains, peterson, & wright, 2015; savolainen, 2011; yao, zheng, & fan, 2015). yao et al. (2015) assert that online forums can also “help stigmatized patients build interpersonal trust and enhance their sense of belonging both with other patients and with the community” (p. 379). 23 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 online forums are an important source of information and social support for people suffering from mental illnesses. in a study of the use of discussion forums for information about depression, barney et al. (2011) discovered that forum contributors have a variety of unmet information needs and use the forums to discuss issues of stigma and disclosure; treatment; medications; and ways of coping with the illness. similarly, savolainen (2011) found that depressed individuals use discussion forums to seek information, pose questions, and ask for opinions of fellow sufferers. a mental health support forum created as a therapeutic intervention for students with depression also showed that sharing in the online environment can provide sufferers with coping strategies, social support, and general information about the illness (horgan et al., 2013). the research literature on the online activity of people with bd is characterized primarily by studies on professionally designed and moderated online interventions for illness management. these studies describe the design and evaluation of web-based educational programs through which patients learn more about their diagnosis and treatment options; work through therapeutic modules; and engage in moderated peer and therapist-led discussions or chats (barnes, harvey, mitchell, smith, & wilhelm, 2007; poole, simpson, & smith, 2012; proudfoot et al., 2007). lauder et al. (2015) determined that the moodswings online program, which had discussion boards for participants, showed positive patient outcomes such as reduction of symptoms and improved functioning. a systematic review of research on internet-based and mobile technologies designed for bd patients recognized the potential benefits of interactive psychoeducational programs (gliddon, barnes, murray, & michalak, 2017). most of these online interventions included communication resources such as chat rooms and forums where participants could communicate with each other and with therapists; however, most were platforms unavailable to the public. participants in one study noted the low level of activity on the discussion forum, but were reticent to contribute because of being uncomfortable or not wanting to be one of only a few contributors (poole et al., 2012). researchers concluded that peer support proved to be an important part of the success of some bd support programs. for example, proudfoot et al. (2009; 2012) examined peer support and coaching in the context of bd educational programs by matching newly diagnosed patients with peers who could provide support via online communication. these dialogues were a rich opportunity for new patients to express concerns about stigma, medications, symptoms, and therapy. simon et al. (2011) also found that peer coaching increased program engagement and retention. several studies have focused on public bd online support forum communication and participation. bauer et al.’s (2017) international survey of bd patients revealed that only 12.8 percent of the 1,222 participants used online support forums, groups, or chats. the researchers pointed out that while users of support forums often find them to be beneficial, other research has indicated that users may utilize the forums to avoid social engagement (lawlor & kirakowski, 2014). highton-williamson et al. (2015) conducted a systematic review of 11 studies on the usage of social networking among patients with psychosis, including bipolar disorder; they reported that the motivation to use social networking sites centers on meeting new people, reconnecting with others, and obtaining peer support. vayreda and antaki (2009) examined initial introductory posts and follow-up responses in a spanish language bd support forum, concluding that new contributors introducing themselves were often met with unsolicited, but empathic, peer advice to seek professional help, take prescribed medications, and focus on self-care. analyses of mental health support forums generally point out broad themes and topics, but three 24 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 particular studies mentioned the discussion topic of employment. contributors to depression forums in research by barney et al. (2011) revealed concern about cognitive dysfunction and other symptoms hurting their work performance, as well as fear of losing a job or the potential consequences of disclosing the illness. bauer et al. (2013) conducted a granular thematic analysis of bd patients’ posts on online forums, and it showed that participants used the forums primarily to connect with similar individuals to gain emotional support and to discuss diagnoses and symptoms, social relationships, medication, physician-patient relationships, and other life issues; vocational concerns appeared in 11% of the posts. a study of 13 contributors (n = 127 posts) in the private forum of an interactive psychoeducation online program identified employment to be the second most common theme, among others such as medication, social support, and coping strategies (poole, smith, & simpson, 2015). participants discussed employment insecurity, workplace stigma, job frustrations, unemployment, boredom, self-esteem, and financial concerns. the present study breaks new ground by focusing solely on the topic of employment concerns among contributors to public bd forums. methodology this research examines the ways in which people with bd use public online support forums to help them cope with the impact their illness has on their work and career. the aims of the study are to determine the extent to which they use the forums to discuss work and career issues, the topical nature of those posts, and the types of responses and support given by fellow contributors. the inclusion criteria for online support forums in this study were designated prior to searching for potential sites: forum sites must have sub-forums dedicated to bd, must be publicly available and not require registration, and must be keyword-searchable. a google search using the terms “bipolar,” “discussion,” “board,” and “forum” located 11 potential online support websites where contributors post about bd. seven websites were eliminated from the study because they did not meet all of the inclusion criteria. the four remaining websites were selected for analysis. all four are moderated sites that have been online from 14 to 19 years, ranging in size from 50,000 to 190,000 members. the number of individual posts within the bd sub-forums of the sites range from 24,000 to 110,000. because of the public nature of the forum posts, an institutional review board review found the research to be exempt from human subject protocols. however, an effort was made to respect the privacy of the individual contributors by not collecting user names and by removing identifying information, such as workplace, from quotations to preserve anonymity. individual posts (n = 7,712 in 1,725 discussion threads) in the bd forums of the four websites dated between july 1, 2017 and june 30, 2018 made up the body of eligible posts. purposive sampling through keyword-searching was used to draw a sample for analysis, a strategy employed by other thematic analyses of forum posts (sillence & mo, 2014). ultimately, the four websites did not have search tools robust enough to both limit by date and search for the keywords reliably, so i collected all posts within the specified date range and then used the page search feature in the google chrome browser to locate posts that contained the desired keywords, including “job(s),” “boss,” “career,” and “able to work.” these keywords were chosen to represent the broad concepts related to employment likely to appear in colloquial forum posts. “able to work” was selected because the single term “work” was most often seen in conjunction with whether therapies or medications did or did not work; the phrase also allowed me to find the words “not able to work” and “unable to work.” the use of these keywords enabled me to find posts that related to work issues, but analysis was not limited to phrases containing the 25 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 keywords; entire posts were analyzed. i made no assumptions about the contributors’ ability or desire to work. before analysis, i created a set of initial codes based on themes in the literature on bd and work, such as the desire or inability to work; absenteeism; the influence of mental illness on career progression; stigma; and failures or successes in the workplace. the initial codes were “ability/inability to work,” “symptoms,” “problems at work,” “disclosure,” and “stigma.” using these codes but also tracking new themes that emerged, i conducted a preliminary analysis of these work-related forum posts (n = 572) to determine which aspects of work experience were shared and discussed. this process of in vivo coding (saldaña, 2014) of posts identified additional themes that reflected the contributors’ authentic concerns about work and career. through an iterative method, including writing memos about my coding and findings, a set of codes was finalized and applied through content analysis to the sample of posts (see appendix for final codes). qualitative coding software was not used in the analytical process, and the coding was completed by one researcher. there was no intention through this exploratory qualitative research to generalize findings beyond these discussion forums and users; however, the results were consistent across the different forums and suggest transferability to other research on the intersection between mental health and work. people who contribute to mental health forums use the sites to share their concerns and struggles with health issues that impact their work, and they ask others with similar problems for recommendations on coping with and overcoming them. mental health forums are a fruitful resource for researchers who are exploring the nature of these challenges and the discourse surrounding them. results seven percent (n = 572) of the total eligible posts contained mentions of work and career. firstperson narratives made up the majority of posts, while posts from caregivers or relations about someone else were infrequent. it was rare that a post was solely about work; many posts contained incidental mentions of work in the context of someone’s whole life or health story, and job concerns made up part of a longer list of issues or expressed fears. based on an analysis of the coded posts, several overarching categories emerged to organize discussion: characteristics of contributors related to work and career histories; bd symptoms at work; needs for coping at work; the importance of work as part of a healthy life; disclosure of the illness; and recommendations by other contributors. each category is described in the subsections below. characteristics of contributors contributors tended to post about work concerns within the context of a larger narrative. they described work histories, often having just resigned from a job, lost a job, or started a new job. for example, one contributor wrote: i am looking for another job now. have a couple interviews lined up for next week. it is hard to lie to the hiring manager about why i have gaps in my employment. i just have to make something up. occasionally they sought advice about what to do about a job or simply encouragement with their circumstances. many issues brought up mirror those of the general public: coping with difficult bosses; dealing with job stress and grinding schedules; hating the job; finding meaningful work; or not being able to get into a field of choice; however, a deeper analysis reveals a host 26 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 of unique problems faced by workers with bd, illustrated in the following observations about many of the contributors and trends in post topics. many contributors had moved from job to job, had gaps in employment, and/or experienced long-term unemployment. as one person expressed: i would like to have a real job and career, i'm tired of shitty jobs for shitty pay... i do good when i work but once the winter comes around i'm paralyzed with depression. i've quit so many jobs without notice when this happens. how am i supposed to explain what i'm going through to an employer? mental illness is so stigmatized that it's just not worth the extra trauma. a few suffered financial insecurity. most of those who were not employed were frustrated because they want to work but have been unable to secure employment or remain employed. one contributor wrote: i do want very badly to return to work and work a full time job but i have no skills or degree …i have to be realistic too. i cannot handle a job anyway. i miss being able to work though. i'm very isolated now. i miss being around people. another wanted to deal with illness-related debt: while i was psychotic/manic i generated so much credit card debt and need to make money to pay it down… i wish i could go back to work today but my memory and concentration are terrible. depression caused some to miss job interviews. others posted because they had recently started a new job and were struggling or wanted to leave a job and were feeling helpless. some held menial jobs despite their education or abilities when healthy. some described showing up late for work or not showing up at all. absences jeopardized their job or caused job loss. for example, one contributor wrote: i lost a part time job with flexibility that i had held for years because i was in the hospital. once the job got wind of my medical condition they pulled out all stops to fire me (for not being able to call or come to work for a day while i was in the psych er). i have applied for similar jobs recently but have not been hired. sometimes they had a criminal record stemming from manic or psychotic episodes, and that, coupled with a lack of positive references, made obtaining new employment difficult. when returning to work after a hospitalization or long absence, they describe feeling pressured to go back to work before they were ready. one contributor noted, “i haven’t been to work since last thursday. my boss is pressuring me to return and she's being a royal **** and knows nothing of the situation.” some felt that they were coerced to quit because of their illness; others quit intentionally to focus on getting well. leaving a job was often sudden, accompanied by an impulsive resignation or wordless walkout. a subsequent fight for government or insurance disability benefits was frequently mentioned as an uphill battle: i was turned down the first time, and then after i got a disability lawyer to help me, i got approved on the appeal, at the reconsideration level......the chances of approval 27 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 are higher, in general, if you have an attorney or a representative to help you, but even if you have a lawyer, it's still no guarantee that you'll win. a diagnosis of something is not enough to get approved......the diagnosed condition (or conditions) has to be so severe that it affects your ability to work at any job, even a minimum wage job. even somewhat stable work situations were fraught with uncertainty. for example, a move out of state for a promotion led to the loss of a social support structure. contributors complained of starting new projects and making commitments when feeling well, but being unable to follow through when symptoms of depression or anxiety returned. some described frequently changing career interests that became obsessions they later got bored with or frustrated about. emotions about work circumstances were varied and show some evidence of self-stigmatization. several contributors confided that they had low self-esteem related to their work, education, and employment history, feeling that they had limited opportunities. for example, one person wrote, “i would like to try to go to work again because otherwise i'm just sitting around an empty house all day and getting more depressed. but i don't know if any job will hire me again.” others were embarrassed about having to be supported by a partner or family member. shame and grief over past decisions, as well as feeling incompetent or like a failure, were common themes. one contributor wrote, “i had to quit school and i lost my part time job and my apartment when i had been in the state hospital for so long. i mean i feel like a walking piece of crap and nobody wants to help me (except you guys).” posts contained numerous references to fear of losing a job and the accompanying health insurance coverage because of the symptoms of their illness. others were frustrated by their diagnosis and the impact it could have on their work because of stigma. for example, one contributor shared: i hate being bipolar. i am embarrassed by it and only a handful of people know of my diagnosis. our society does not understand the illness either. i hear ignorant people referring to crazy or unstable people as being "bipolar." i told my best friend i was bipolar and that's the last time we spoke. most people want to distance themselves from us… i would never tell anyone i work with that i am bipolar. it would destroy my career. another observed, “i hear people put down people with bipolar (my boss for example) without even knowing anything about the disorder. has the word ‘bipolar’ become a catch-all name for ‘crazy’? i think it has... or someone thinks it just means you change your mind too much.” bd symptoms at work seasonal changes, job stress and toxic work environments triggered or exacerbated symptoms and episodes of mania or depression. contributors navigated the perilous circumstances of too much or too little social contact; fast-paced, deadline-driven jobs; difficult shift work; changes in schedule; loud or shared office spaces; or long commutes. people who had been out of work feared that going back to the work setting would trigger symptoms, such as anxiety and panic attacks or a full relapse. one contributor wrote: i would like some advice on how to deal [with going to a new job]. the last time i had a job, my anxiety was so bad i was throwing up in the morning before work. i've had jobs in the past that have given me horrible anxiety and unfortunately the worst of them have resulted in me leaving. 28 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 entrepreneurs and the self-employed stated that making their own work schedule was crucial to accommodating symptoms and episodes of mania or depression. even those with manageable work settings alluded to the possibility of future challenges and loss because of symptoms. contributors described physical and mental symptoms stemming from rapid cycling or longerterm episodes of mania or depression. these included agitation, irritation, confusion, anxiety, panic attacks, inability to concentrate or focus, memory lapses, paranoia, crying, talking too much, working too quickly or slowly, lack of motivation, hyperor lack of productivity, extreme risk-taking, hypersexuality, and emotional outbursts. a contributor remembered: i wouldn't shut up and i was acting crazy at work and my boss told me to stop acting like that. my boss and coworkers expressed concern but at the time i thought they were just picking on me. [my boss] told me my behavior was not exactly good and to "tone it down", so i think others [are] able to notice it more than yourself. side effects of medicine used to treat bd, such as dizziness, sleepiness, and tremors affected job performance. disordered sleep led to falling asleep at work or missing full days of work. contributors shared stories about how their symptoms led to office romances, disagreements with co-workers, mistakes, social anxiety, poor decision-making, broken commitments, and exhausting efforts to keep up the appearance of health and wellness. the inability to keep up with the demands of work, manage time, and follow through were additional themes in the posts. for example, one contributor wrote: i find going to work when depressed is one of the hardest things ever. just showering and getting clothes on is hard... then there's the driving part, the anxiety... and then there's just sitting there at your desk staring at your screen telling yourself to just tell them you're sick and go home, you can't do this. according to contributors, the results of these symptoms are devastating to workplace success and worsen job stress, leading to a loss of self-confidence from internalized stigma. a contributor observed: these types of experiences and episodes become your identity for awhile, you begin to wonder if you will ever feel like your "old self" again...and you cannot predict when you will stabilize and pull yourself back into normality again. needs for coping at work contributors expressed a variety of needs or preferences on the job that fit with managing a chronic condition. some found jobs with flexible scheduling or a type of job that could accommodate irregular attendance; these types of jobs were mentioned as solutions to the issues of absenteeism and difficulty getting started in the morning. as one contributor wrote: i would suggest temporary or high turnover jobs that you can give up quickly if you get an episode…i find seasonal work is best for me [and] temporary work is good since i am always at risk of having an episode and having to leave my long-term job. others revealed that they preferred freelance or contract work or self-employment and working from home as a way to cope with the unpredictably of the illness. one contributor described: 29 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 i was luck[y] enough to set up my own business and this made things a little easier as i could work to my moods and didn’t have to explain to anyone. my best jobs had flexible schedules or even working from home that i could manage to do even if i was in a bad mood… a high stress job is a recipe for disaster. [at my old job] i was essentially my own boss, and loved the work i did, and i was making so much money. i finally felt i was going someplace. being my own boss and away from people the majority of the day helped too… it was the best job i ever had, it was the most independent i have ever been, and i wish i could have it all back. others talked about the importance of self-care, good sleep, and adherence to medication or therapeutic plans prescribed by doctors to stay on track at work. a common concern was the need for accommodations to attend therapy appointments or a later start time; however, there was the acknowledgement of the risks associated with disclosure when asking for accommodations. when unable to cope effectively at work, some disclosed the desire to acquire disability benefits in order to step away from the chaos and focus on recovery and illness management. the importance of work contributors expressed the desire to work or longed for a time when work was part of their lives. one contributor wrote, “i wanna work so bad in the hopes that it cures me of all of this.” others felt gratitude for the ability to work. many considered work to be an essential part of a healthy lifestyle and equated it with normalcy and wellness. a contributor noted that “the most important thing is working on a career if possible. i think working is crucial to mental health.” one person pointed out that in modern culture we define ourselves by our work and are judged by our jobs and career success: “it is the first thing people often ask you ‘what do you do?’ people judge you by your career but it's not really fair or a real measure of a person.” while some preferred flexible scheduling, others mentioned the benefits of a structured schedule. structure provided a therapeutic effect in boosting confidence and self-esteem and managing the illness. having to interact with other people prevented self-isolating and encouraged accountability, giving them a greater purpose and a reason to get out of bed in the morning. work was used as a distraction from the illness and related problems and led to feelings of accomplishment. not being able to work was demoralizing, eroding confidence and precipitating depression, financial struggles, relationship problems, legal issues, and a general downward spiral. a contributor shared: i have been out of work and on disability for over a year due to having a psychotic episode… i am scared to go back to work in the event that i think it will trigger another one. my sleep is all messed up from staying up late and sleeping all day and i'm worried that i won't be able to sleep when i go back. i also have been paranoid about leaving my apartment… for eight years i was fine and worked hard and even got an award at my previous job for outstanding performance. i really want to return to a great job opportunity with my old employer but i am scared out of my mind and just really want my old life back. disclosure a primary concern of contributors was intentional or unintentional disclosure of the illness to 30 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 coworkers or supervisors. a common question was, should i disclose my condition to receive accommodations at work or explain absences or behaviors? contributors were afraid of being stigmatized, bullied, deemed undependable, or even fired by an unscrupulous supervisor; many responders indicated that they had experienced all these unfortunate consequences. one contributor commented: i had a bad experience once, where i was a temp, and i told the manager… that i was bipolar and an episode was creeping up and i needed to go home because things were bad... and 1 hour after i got home the temp agency said not to come back, and that they had already packed my things up. another had a different type of challenge: i work in a small office so everyone knows my business and the manager is the biggest gossiper. my diagnosis is known and i'm called the crazy one. i hate it, but what can i do. i get made fun of because of all the excuses i've used. but the office manager seems to be sympathetic at times. she always tells me not to let myself get crazy (which i hate), but has taken tasks away from me if i felt overwhelmed. many felt pressured to disclose because of lengthy absences or hospitalizations that required physician documentation. some were retaliated against with extra duties or poor evaluations for being away from the job on leave, as one contributor described: “they are moving me around the company as punishment for taking leave.” others worried that disclosure could have devastating consequences on future job or career prospects. there was also some mention of disclosure via questions on job applications or pre-employment personality or psychological testing. reactions to the question of disclosure were mixed based on the varied experience of contributors. some had received empathy and support from coworkers or supervisors upon revealing bd; for example, one contributor wrote: “i'm pretty fortunate to be among those who have gotten a positive response [after disclosure]. that said, if i ever change jobs, i'm not sure i'd make the same call.” others claimed disclosure resulted in stigma and eventual job loss, despite laws and regulations against it. concern about potential stigma was the primary reason behind advice to not disclose. some suggested that the worker talk about physical symptoms or an ambiguous chronic condition to avoid stigma. regrettably, it was stated that the nonjudgmental empathy one receives for another kind of diagnosis was not assured for the population who suffers from bd. one contributor wrote: maybe if i had cancer they'd understand, since people with cancer seem to be celebrated these days. while those with mental health problems are basically told to just go away or better yet, be locked up. depending on the country, people with mental illness may have some legal protections in the workplace. in the u.s., for example, the americans with disabilities act offers citizens the right to non-disclosure, privacy upon disclosure, and job accommodations such as more frequent breaks, a quieter work atmosphere, flexible scheduling, and task modifications, as long as these accommodations do not cause “undue hardship” for the employer (ada national network, 2017). the u.s. family and medical leave act prevents employers from retaliating against employees who take extended leave. with some exceptions, it provides citizens who work for qualifying 31 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 employers with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period; the employer must place the returning employee in the same or nearly identical job upon return with the same pay and benefits (u.s. department of labor, 2015). if someone is not accommodated or experiences discrimination or job loss after disclosure or leave, he or she would have to pursue legal action against the employer—a daunting prospect for anyone. the implications of having legal protections are that employees have recourse when they are not allowed options for accommodating the effects of bd in the workplace. they also have the right to pursue governmental disability insurance benefits. unfortunately, these options add yet another layer of challenges to work through when they are already constrained by their condition and all that illness management entails. recommendations from others aside from universal encouragement and sharing of their own career stories, those who responded to each other’s posts were willing to provide suggestions and advice in response to specific questions or general narratives about work. specific questions ranged from what type of jobs to seek and the type of work others did, to the best ways to return to work after hospitalization or extended leave, whether and how to apply for government or insurance disability benefits, and how to cope with or hide symptoms on the job. some suggestions on the type of work to pursue focused on flexibility of scheduling and lower levels of job stress; additionally, encouragement was given to find the kind of job that fits one’s strengths and accommodates the weaknesses brought on by the illness. responders offered commiseration; support; and advice to seek out better medications or more effective therapy, alternative employment, and phased or part-time returns to work. contributors were advised to focus on work as a therapeutic tool, and to make whatever modifications were possible in their current work environment, such as hours, duties, or location of work, such as telecommuting. requesting a different supervisor was an additional suggestion. others emphasized using the protections that accrue to employees through the aforementioned national laws and regulations. another resource suggested was community or government agencies that help with reentry to the workforce. the gist of many responses was to focus on self-care; become more self-aware; simplify one’s work life; and know when a job is having a negative influence on one’s health. as one person responded to questions about returning to work: i would not return to work until i knew i could function within a group of strangers…i know you want your old life back; to feel like yourself again, but be kind to yourself by giving yourself all time you need. get your sleep back into rhythm hard to do but things like exercise and proper diet will help. maybe contact your boss and schedule a phased return or at least call in to the office / workplace for a few hours before going back. don't worry what others think there will be one or two lunkheads but the vast majority will be happy to see you as they will have missed you or will know of someone close to them who is going through this themselves. be someway proud of your accomplishments some clever dude once said "it is not the achievements that a person should be judged, but the adversity that they have faced.” another recommendation stated that the middle of an episode is not the best time to make big decisions about work. generally, contributors shared empathic responses encouraging people to 32 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 find work situations that bring health and help them achieve work-life balance. sharing job stories appeared to help people find hope that they can overcome their current circumstances, and that it is possible to have bd and achieve job and career satisfaction. discussion this study is unique in that it examines in depth the public bd forum post narratives related to employment and captures the detailed work concerns of forum contributors. it is one of few research projects that thematically analyze the content of forums dedicated to bd. the narratives explored in this research are consistent with the literature on bd symptoms and work described previously, and they illustrate that stigmatization by both self and others is a common experience. this consistency is important to note, however, because it illustrates that certain bd patients who are active in online communities are motivated to reach out for support and answers specific to their work challenges. the findings also demonstrate the willingness of knowledgeable peers to offer advice when solicited for ideas—a valuable resource for those who are not accessing traditional formal help or therapeutic services. the literature on bd interventions shows the efficacy of educational and support programs in the online environment. given the overwhelming losses to worker productivity and effectiveness due to bd, healthcare professionals should encourage patients to use online resources and prioritize individual modules or interventions focused on work and career issues that leverage peer and therapist support. interventions can teach patients what to expect and how to cope with the impact the disorder may have on their careers. these interventions are normally reserved for recruited and registered individuals but could be adapted for a wider inclusion of participants worldwide. in these public spaces, contributors are surprisingly candid about their work histories and their stories about how their illness and its symptoms affect their ability to work. expressions of grief and anguish over past employment failures and dashed hopes over future prospects are laid bare. raw feelings and truth-telling online resembles the type of discussions patients might have privately with a therapist or counselor. while this finding is not novel when examining online support forums, it is important to note that employment concerns are not just utilitarian in nature but are also associated with strong emotional states. the fact that patients turn to the forums to deal with work issues further illustrates the impact of bd on work and career and the need for therapeutic interventions targeted to those issues. the forums are a rich source of data on stigma. potential stigma in the workplace looms large in the mind of contributors who are contemplating disclosure of their illness to supervisors or coworkers. their reticence is well-founded given the negative consequences experienced by responders. there is also evidence of self-stigmatization in the posts that describe self-doubt and low self-esteem in terms of work history and prospects. consistent mentions of disability status and non-discriminatory accommodations in the workplace illustrate that many contributors are aware that legal protections exist, but it is unclear how they are utilizing them and whether they are seeking disability benefits from their government. the relationship between use of online support forums and the pursuit of legal protections or disability benefits would be another interesting area for further investigation. conclusion this research answered the following exploratory research questions: 33 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 rq1. to what extent do contributors to online forums for bd use the platform to discuss employment issues? rq2. what topics related to employment are discussed? rq3. what is the nature of the responses of contributors to questions and solicitations for support regarding employment? seven percent of the collected posts contained subject matter related to work and career. the wide variety of topics and the nature of responses to questions and solicitations for support were delineated, discussed, and situated herein in relation to what is already known about bd and work and participation in online support forums. there are several limitations to this study. the english-language forum posts analyzed represent a tiny fraction of the online communication that is occurring on social media sites and the numerous online forums and communities worldwide. the small percentage of bd patients who are active online are not representative of the total population of patients, most of whom do not participate in public forums. this exploratory analysis is the work of a sole author and did not benefit from another researcher’s interpretation and tests of interrater reliability. nevertheless, the results do show that public online support forums are a place where people seek information about and address the intersection of bd and work. revealed through questions, answers, and narratives in posts, the forums are a place for sharing, venting, and informationseeking. it is impossible to know from a study such as this what lurkers, who simply read posts but do not contribute to the forums, do with the information they gather. it is only minimally possible to track what contributors do with the information they obtain, as we’re limited to what they divulge in their follow-up posts. this research focuses primarily on the topical coverage of posts and responses. future studies that focus on the use of information about work obtained through online forums would be a valuable complement. this investigation found that contributors to bd forums who discuss work issues value work as part of a healthful life, and they want to work and have career success. unfortunately, the symptoms associated with the illness can have a negative impact in the work environment. cognitive dysfunction, depression, agitation, brain fog, disordered sleep, and other symptoms wreak havoc on the sufferer’s ability to get to and stay at work, be productive, and function effectively. workers with bd find themselves in a no-win situation: fear of stigma and other negative consequences make them hesitant to disclose their condition, but not disclosing prevents them from negotiating ways to get the fundamental accommodations they need at work. respondents to contributor questions commiserate, provide empathy and advice for dealing with problems at work related to bd, and share philosophical views on the relationship between work and wellness. these narratives reveal a climate of fear and uncertainty surrounding mental health in the workplace, as well as individuals’ desire to conquer their health challenges to achieve meaning and fulfillment in their work life. their stories about wanting to work despite health challenges resonate with venkatapuram’s (2011; 2014) and van der klink et al.’s (2016) capability approach to mental health and sustainable employability respectively, in that contributors share that they are striving to attain the vital goals they value in their daily context. people with bd have the freedom to pursue work situations that fit with their personal goals and capabilities, despite the health-related barriers they face; however, in an environment in which health justice is uncertain, the pursuit is fraught with risk. 34 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 the work environment is a challenging place where sharing and disclosure can be dangerous. in contrast, online mental health forums are a safe space where contributors can ask questions and share challenges related to work and career, regardless of an individual’s time zone, geographic location, or circumstance. in fact, the online sphere is a fruitful way to study mental health and provide health interventions on a global scale. the economic consequences of untreated or ineffectively treated bd are clearly international in scope; according to the world health organization (2011): untreated mental disorders [account] for 13 percent of the total global burden of disease. . . [and] the gap between the need for treatment for mental disorders and its provision is wide all over the world. for example, between 76% and 85% of people with severe mental disorders receive no treatment for their mental health problem in low and middle-income countries; the corresponding range for high-income countries is also high: between 35% and 50% (p. 1). the literature reviewed here represents international perspectives on bd and on the use of online support forums. international readers and researchers who are working on online interventions for bd can work cross-culturally to create, share, and support electronic and mobile health tools that can be replicated through translation. international efforts, such as those of bauer et al.’s (2017) 17-country survey are laudable and should be built upon, in the effort to better understand the use of online support groups by bd patients. discovering which type(s) of online resources will assist this population in reaching their work and career goals is a particular area of interest. these research findings will add to the knowledge base on bd and work, as well as invisible illness more broadly and its effect on, or coexistence with, problems related to work and career mobility and progression. the results are important for several groups of people: patients who have bd; their co-workers and employers; and mental health professionals and educators. the lived experiences described herein reveal the challenges faced by those who struggle with bd and can help to bridge mutual understanding. the findings could be used to inform educational materials that destigmatize mental illness and promote the support of sensible accommodations for patients struggling with bd and other conditions that negatively impact work functioning. appendix final codebook code definition examples accommodations the ways contributors make and request allowances or alternatives in the workplace to accommodate illness, symptoms, or care; whether and how employers make accommodations “at work they let me take an hour each week for therapy plus travelling time and also time to see my psych.” “the office manager seems to be sympathetic at times. she … has taken tasks away from me if i felt overwhelmed.” 35 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 code definition examples coping mechanisms ways contributors deal with the effects their illness has on their work “i've only been working a small number of part-time hours to cope. i’ve found it difficult to sustain employment, either because of the bipolar symptoms or the sedation from the meds i'm on.” “i work at [redacted], and sometimes my job entails calling manufacturers. i usually just leave sticky notes on the paperwork with instructions for my boss to call them. he knows ‘i'm not good with people.’ sometimes the tension comes out as aggression; and he'd rather deal with it than risk me ruining things. it's as close to good as i could get.” disclosure telling or planning to tell employer or co-workers about illness; consequences of disclosure “i told my employer and it was actually good that i did! i had been having a really rough go of it, and flaky and taking off work and such, and i didn't want them to think they'd just hired some flaky mess. my boss has a degree in psychology so i took a gamble, and explained the whole story… we talked a while and he said if i needed to like, leave an hour or two early i could make up the time, etc.” “i lost a part time job with flexibility that i had held for years because i was in the hospital. once the job got wind of my medical condition they pulled out all stops to fire me (for not being able to call or come to work for a day while i was in the psych er). i have applied for similar jobs recently, but have not been hired.” disability/legal plans to or pursuit of disability insurance benefits; workplace laws or regulations on breaks or hours or those that protect workers with disabilities “i changed many jobs. the best advice i can give you is find a job that you like if possible. people go on disability for having anxiety…waiting time is long but after i burned out from work i went on welfare until my disability app was approved.” “are your benefits running out? (i don't know how it works, even though i'm on disability myself.) canada and the u.s. 36 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 code definition examples may have very different approaches to it. can you extend your benefits? and how soon is your old employer expecting your return?” emotions and affect how contributors feel about work; desire, ability, or inability to work; selfstigma; positive or negative self-esteem and judgments “ever since my bipolar diagnosis, i never realized how much i took emotions for granted. i never thought i would lose the ability to feel certain things. i didn’t think it was possible to lose emotions like you would lose your keys or your wallet. i don’t feel motivated to get a job. at all. it’s like a switch went off in my brain and apathy rules over all else. i can’t seem to care about career or academic goals. i don’t have dreams or aspirations anymore.” “i’m feeling frustrated. because i'm unable to work efficiently during the week, i'm stuck in the office on a sunday, with a partially-functioning brain.” stigma stereotyping/prejudgment based on illness by others “i hear people put down people with bipolar (my boss for example) without even knowing anything about the disorder. has the word ‘bipolar’ become a catch-all name for ‘crazy’?” “i told my best friend i was bipolar and that's the last time we spoke. most people want to distance themselves from us.” symptoms types of symptoms and the effect and consequences of depressive, manic, hypomanic, or psychotic symptoms on the ability to work or function at work; side effects of medications “my anxiety has gotten so bad that i can barely tolerate walking to my desk without having a panic attack in fear that someone is staring at me or laughing at me… it is almost physically painful to get out of bed and going through the motions of going to work.” “you attempt to rewire the building you work in so piped in music will work. in high heels, climbing on ladders and utility sinks and having no idea how to even wire your own tv.” “i have struggled all my life in work 37 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 code definition examples situations, throwing myself at it one min[ute] and giving it my all and then the next day not even being able to concentrate or be slightly motivated... i have once again fallen into the same difficulties, experiencing major panic attacks now and the feeling of just needing to get out. i love the job itself but just feel like i can’t cope at times and everything i have to do, no matter how simply is just a massive task.” work environment types of jobs/settings; supportive/ unsupportive atmospheres or people; triggers at work “for the most part i find my colleagues supportive. i don't need to make excuses when i need a few days off. of course, i can only achieve that supportive environment thanks to my meds, and working with good people.” “[my boss] didn't fire me. i think he knew what was going on but has never said anything about it… by year end, the roller coaster was back at the top and i got my rate increased to a little higher than it had been before the fiasco… my boss has let me know i am likely to be the person who turns out the lights in a few years if i don't screw it up. he is retiring soon and has told me how i need to deal with the person replacing him. he suggested i write things down before phone calls so i use complete sentences and cover all the points i need to. earlier i said i am almost certain he knows; that might be an understatement. i need to sit down with him and thank him for all he has done for me.” work history descriptions/impact of engagement with or disengagement from work over long term; starting/quitting jobs; looking for jobs; plans for work; career dreams “employment is difficult for me as someone with bipolar. i've quit jobs impulsively due to mania, paranoia, and have lost jobs because of my symptoms and not being able to show up.” “i haven't been able to keep a job in 9 years. i graduated college and dreamed of 38 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 code definition examples going to graduate school but the deaths of my parents and husband and [mental illness] got in the way. i lately tried to work an assembly job and couldn't do it. i still want a master's degree and i'm wondering if it's worth the debt when i can't work right now.” references ada national network. 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(2014). what do the bereaved by suicide communicate in online support groups? a content analysis. crisis: the journal of crisis intervention and suicide 42 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.03.015 https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244x-12-139 https://doi.org/10.2196/mental.4123 https://doi.org/10.1080%2f00048670701634911 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.04.007 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2009.00541.x https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2015.1019530 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.08.052 https://doi.org/10.1108/00220411111164718 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.03.015 https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244x-12-139 https://doi.org/10.2196/mental.4123 https://doi.org/10.1080%2f00048670701634911 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.04.007 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2009.00541.x https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2015.1019530 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.08.052 https://doi.org/10.1108/00220411111164718 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 prevention, 35(1), 27-35. https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000225 sen, a. (2009). the idea of justice. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. sillence, e., & mo, p. k. h. (2014). communicating health decisions: an analysis of messages posted to online prostate cancer forums. health expectations: an international journal of public participation in health care & health policy, 17(2), 244-253. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2011.00745.x simon, g. e., ludman, e. j., goodale, l. c., dykstra, d. m., stone, e., cutsogeorge, d., . . . pabiniak, c. (2011). an online recovery plan program: can peer coaching increase participation? psychiatric services, 62(6), 666-669. https://dx.doi.org/10.1176%2fappi.ps.62.6.666 simon, g. e., ludman, e. j., unützer, j., operskalski, b. h., & bauer, m. s. (2008). severity of mood symptoms and work productivity in people treated for bipolar disorder. bipolar disorders, 10(6), 718-725. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-5618.2008.00581.x tremblay, c. h. 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(2011). health justice: an argument from the capabilities approach. malden, ma: polity press. venkatapuram, s. (2014). mental disability, human rights and the capabilities approach: searching for the foundations. international review of psychiatry, 26(4), 408-414. https://doi.org/10.3109/09540261.2014.926867 venkatapuram, s., ventriglio, a., & bhugra, d. (2015). capability to be healthy—implications for prevention. international journal of social psychiatry, 61(5), 518-520. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0020764015588000 world health organization. (2011, december 1). global burden of mental disorders and the need for a comprehensive, coordinated response from health and social sectors at the country level (eb 130/9). retrieved from http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/eb130/b130_9-en.pdf 43 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000225 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2011.00745.x https://dx.doi.org/10.1176%2fappi.ps.62.6.666 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-5618.2008.00581.x https://doi.org/10.3233/wor-2011-1259 https://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/employeeguide.pdf https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3531 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1049732309338952 https://doi.org/10.3109/09540261.2014.926867 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0020764015588000 http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/eb130/b130_9-en.pdf https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000225 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2011.00745.x https://dx.doi.org/10.1176%2fappi.ps.62.6.666 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-5618.2008.00581.x https://doi.org/10.3233/wor-2011-1259 https://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/employeeguide.pdf https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3531 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1049732309338952 https://doi.org/10.3109/09540261.2014.926867 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0020764015588000 http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/eb130/b130_9-en.pdf https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the lived experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(4), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i4.33011 yao, t., zheng, q., & fan, x. (2015). the impact of online social support on patients’ quality of life and the moderating role of social exclusion. journal of service research, 18(3), 369-383. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1094670515583271 susan rathbun-grubb (srathbun@mailbox.sc.edu) is an associate professor at the school of library and information science at the university of south carolina. her research centers on the intersection of education, training, and careers in library and information science (lis). she is particularly interested in career progression across the life course, job satisfaction, and the evaluation of pedagogical strategies in lis education. dr. rathbun-grubb teaches in the areas of information organization and reference services, and she has worked in academic, public, and school libraries, as well as in the health information technology industry. 44 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1094670515583271 mailto:srathbun@mailbox.sc.edu https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1094670515583271 mailto:srathbun@mailbox.sc.edu https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index introduction literature review the capability approach to work and health justice bipolar disorder and employment bipolar disorder and stigma online support forums methodology results characteristics of contributors bd symptoms at work needs for coping at work the importance of work disclosure recommendations from others discussion conclusion appendix final codebook references hip hop as computational neuroscience: how the hood hacked our global rhythmic nervous system the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 hip hop as computational neuroscience: how the hood hacked our global rhythmic nervous system ron eglash, university of michigan, usa abstract long before the internet provided us with a networked digital system, music exchanges had created a global networked analog system, built of recordings, radio broadcasts, and live performance. the features that allowed some audio formations to go viral, while others failed, fall at the intersection of three domains: access, culture, and cognition. we know how the explosive growth of the hip hop recording industry addressed the access problem, and how hip hop lyrics addressed cultural needs. but why does hip hop make your ass shake? this essay proposes that hip hop artists were creating an innovation in brain-to-brain connectivity. that is to say, there are deep parts of the limbic system that had not previously been connected to linguistic centers in the combination of neural and social pathways that hip hop facilitated. this research is not an argument for using computational neuroscience to analyze hip hop. rather, it is asking what hip hop artists accomplished as the street version of computational neuroscientists; and, how they strategically deployed black music traditions to rewire the world’s global rhythmic nervous system for new cognitive, cultural, and political alignments and sensibilities. keywords: ethnocomputing; hip hop; information science; music; neuroscience publication type: research article introduction usic has often been an object of analysis for fields such as cybernetics, neuroscience, and computing. in this essay i want to reverse that relationship and ask how computational sciences can help us understand hip hop innovators as agentic subjects; creators of their own forms of bio-social information technology. we already know how to write the description of “disruptive technology” for someone like elon musk (jobaid & naher, 2020); but what kinds of technological narratives describe the disruptive innovation of hip hop? what exactly did hip hop do that managed to shake up our musical, cultural, and political sensibilities in such profound ways? the question has already been approached in terms of sociotechnical history by scholars such as tricia rose (1994), rayvon fouché (2011), and nettrice gaskins (2021). here i want to extend their analysis both inward to the brain—in particular, the relationship between the limbic system and linguistic system—and outward to what is sometimes called “distributed cognition” (hutchins, 1995). if rose, fouché, and gaskins can argue for “techno-vernacular creativity”—for hip hop artists as innovators in audio engineering—then it makes sense to ask about the implications of these same innovations in the mediation between technology and the brain, for hip hop as computational neuroscience. m https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 12 in the first part of this essay, i review the relationship between computational neuroscience and music as it currently exists. i look at some of the research connecting brain functions and communication, and how musical and linguistic representations differ. the second section provides some empirical data examining the same distinctions for rap music versus other genres. i show that rap (and by extension most of hip hop’s musical foundations) has made unique contributions to the diversity of human communication forms, and what i call the “cosmo-cognitive” sphere of musical understanding. the protest that ‘rap isn’t really music,’ so common at its inception, now seems puzzling; there has been a global shift in our shared musical perceptions. music and computational neuroscience why do humans have music? darwin proposed that it evolved as an attractive mating display, the acoustic equivalent of a peacock’s plumage. more recent explanations include parent-child bonding (dissanayake, 2008); territorial signaling (hagen & hammerstein, 2009), repetitive motion synchronization (larsson, 2013), and a means to strengthen social cohesion within a group (cross, 2009). one problem with these adaptationist understandings is that they do not account for the role of creativity in music. the singing apes known as gibbons, for example, have some of the most complex vocalizations of any non-human, but their songs are genetically transmitted, not learned or invented (geissmann, 2000). when evolutionists explain the biological role of music in terms of synchronizing individuals with repetitive sequences of hoots or howls, they ignore the fact that repetition is only one part of music. a great song not only repeats, it also innovates; we admire well-placed hooks, unexpected musical phrasing or twists on older harmonic relationships. rhythm (repetition) sets the pace, but the melody tells us where to go, and finding new directions, dimensions, modes of transport and scenic routes is fundamental to music’s reason for existence. neurobiologists have noted this inadequacy in adaptation-centered evolutionary explanations and provide an alternative understanding of music as emotional communication. snowden et al. (2015) review this literature, noting that music resembles the non-linguistic or “prosody” parts of vocal communication across many domains, such as emotional intonation. for example, subdued music tends to make more use of minor keys, and upbeat music tends to make more use of major keys. the same minor/major frequency spectra show up in subdued/upbeat contrasts in human emotional intonation. there are deep evolutionary roots of this relationship. across many species, a low-pitched “satisfaction” sound analogous to cats purring can be heard when being groomed, and high-pitched cries are used to convey alarm. there are many such acoustic/emotional relationships, and while not completely universal, they at least cluster across many cases. understanding how prosody, intonation, or other non-linguistic elements are used in flexible repertoires across species helps us see why music cannot be reduced to a single adaptive explanation, any more than one can argue that hands evolved specifically for throwing rather than pushing, pulling, twisting, tearing, caressing or a dozen other things. snowden et al. (2015) also report on experiments showing that human music, when transposed to the audio ranges and tempos appropriate for other species, can have calming effects for calm music and “arousal” (in the sense of alarm) effects with energetic music. similarly, there can be cross-cultural understanding through music among humans: they report that listeners unfamiliar with a musical form from another culture can, nonetheless, understand some of its emotional intentions. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 13 if music has its origins in a long-term evolutionary trend by which organisms are conveying information regarding emotions and social relations, we should expect to see that reflected in the brain structures activated by it, and that is indeed the case. deep within the brain, below the cortex and above the brainstem, lies the limbic system, which is tied to fight or flight, reproduction, caring for young, mood, and other basic emotional responses. salimpoor et al. (2013) used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fmri) to examine music listeners. as one would expect, they found that songs deemed pleasurable correlated with connections between reward centers in the limbic system and the auditory cortex, particularly cortical areas related to the prediction of temporal events. cheung et al. (2019) extended the fmri experiment by using a machine learning model to quantify two aspects of music: uncertainty versus surprise. as the song progresses, a listener might have a high degree of uncertainty, despite a sense of familiarity (“we thought we knew electric guitars until we heard hendrix”). or it might sound predictable but include a surprise (“it sounded like 100 other songs, but then suddenly had this great hook”). those deemed most pleasurable, by both reports and fmri brain activity, were at complimentary extremes (either low uncertainty and high surprise, or high uncertainty and low surprise). it is here that we begin to see a model for what constitutes emotionally significant creativity in music. a fresh new melody which is firmly anchored in a familiar tradition is always welcome (uncertainty without surprise), but so is a familiar melody which someone transformed with a fresh new take (surprise without uncertainty: once i hear the start of nwa’s cover of “express yourself” i know to expect the notes from charles wright & the watts 103rd street rhythm band’s 1970 song, but it still feels like a new gift every time (wright, 1970). this model also explains why bizarre avant-garde music like john cage’s dice roll scores, or yoko ono’s screaming is unlikely to gain any popularity. it might win academic admiration from musicologists, but its combination of high unpredictability and high surprise (or, if you listen to random notes and persistent screaming for long enough, predictability and low surprise) does not fit the neurological profile that would inspire ordinary lay people to enjoy it. music as analog representation to dig deeper into an information science approach to music, we have to think carefully about the distinction between analog and digital. digital encoding works by assigning meaning to some arbitrary symbol. examples include the ways that words represent concepts, how morse code represents letters, and how a dna nucleotide triplet encodes for an amino acid. digital encoding also works for some neurons. for example, crayfish have a defense reflex in which they fling their claws open. a simple pattern of neural impulses, referred to as a doublet (off-on-on-off) is nature’s digital code for this muscle reflex (sugano, 1983). prosody and music should be understood as analog representations. but the research in this area often treats them as if they are composed of digital symbols, which creates analytic barriers. as digital symbols one can only approach them as if acoustic feature a stands for emotional meaning 1, acoustic feature b stands for emotional meaning 2, and so on. if that were truly the case, then we could have a dictionary for prosody just like we do for words, and by extension, a dictionary for music. but what is the meaning of the note c sharp? or the chord f major? how is it that the c major chord progression (i—v—vi—iv) conveys both the resilient sadness of marley’s “no woman no cry” and the happy optimism of flo rida’s “good feeling”? https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 14 analog representation is a much better model for music. although we are often told the distinction between analog and digital is continuous versus discrete (shannon & weaver, 1949), in the deeper sense of the term, analog representation is the change of some meaning parameter in proportion to the change of a physical parameter. take, for example, the way that tactile sensory cells in our skin send a message about pressure. rather than a digital encoding, like the crayfish opener doublet, it is proportional: the harder you press on those cells, the faster its impulses fire (figure 1). if your partner squeezes your hand when the movie gets intense, and that modulates approximately every 10 minutes, you will see patterns like that of figure 1 repeated as well, mapping the neuron firing rate change to the changes in the film's emotional intensity. figure 1. as the hand squeeze increases, merkel cell firing rate increases. based on simulation in salimi-nezhad et al., 2018. of course, the emotional fluctuations and responses in real life are vastly more complex1, with many simultaneous dimensions. even with the simple model of hand squeezes in the theater, we can see that there will be rise and fall patterns superimposed over many time scales. there might be an overarching dramatic arc, extending across the entire film. there might be a small glance between characters that only lasts a few seconds, and similar rise and fall of emotion at every scale in-between. mathematicians have a name for patterns that are similar at every scale: a fractal. we are used to thinking about fractals in space: the psychedelic swirls of the mandelbrot set, the delicate web of the sierpinski gasket, and so on. but emotional fluctuations are fractals in time: they rise and fall within a similarly structured rise and fall at many time scales. any analog representation of emotion—muscle tension, breathing rate, blood pressure, facial expression, and so on—will thus also show a fractal in time. there will be self-similar waves of physical fluctuation, because it is reflecting the fractal semantic fluctuations. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 15 movies are a convenient way to document this relationship. physical fluctuations such as shot duration, scene duration, motion, and sound amplitude all follow a fractal pattern (cutting et al., 2018). human reactions are synchronized with the content of the movie; thus, we see similar fractals in movie audience eye movements (hasson et al., 2008) and brain activation patterns (hasson et al., 2009). this is not automatic. filmmaking is a relatively new art, and its patterns have been gradually converging on fractals as they honed their craft over the last 70 years (cutting et al., 2010). filmmakers are gradually improving the techniques for making a visual composition to fit the way our brain expects human emotion to work: “the functions of rhythm are to create cycles of tension and release and to synchronize the spectator’s physical, emotional, and cognitive fluctuations with the rhythms of the film” (pearlman, 2009, p. 61). music is not new; it likely arose in our evolutionary past as the right brain’s analog complement to the left brain’s digital linguistics (eglash, 1993). in movies, one must work in fractal timing around the main content of the film’s narrative. in music, the fractal timing of audio waves is the main content. thus, music’s fractal pattern is far more austere, abstracted, and formalized, but the fundamentals are the same: emotional fluctuations represented in analog relations to acoustic fluctuations. one advantage of music’s formalism is that we can more easily visualize the fractal at work: similar repetitions of pitch changes at many scales. in figure 2 we can see that a simple song like “mary had a little lamb” has only three scales of similarity, but more complex music like bach has many. in both cases, most of the acoustic energy is in the long wavelengths that span the entire song; smaller waves have proportionately less. since power is the inverse of frequency, this fractal structure is called a 1/f power spectrum. figure 2. fractal repetition in “mary had a little lamb” (top) and bach’s goldberg variations (bottom; score removed for legibility). courtesy of martin wattenberg (http://turbulence.org/project/the-shape-ofsong/). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://turbulence.org/project/the-shape-of-song/ http://turbulence.org/project/the-shape-of-song/ hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 16 if we think about cognitive waveforms in “semantic space”—a purely cognitive domain in which waveforms map out meaning fluctuations—then the physical space of acoustics will reflect that structure for real world analog representation. but that is not true for digital encoding of the same information, because it has physically arbitrary2 symbols. for example, in english “cat” is higher pitched than “dog”, but in spanish, “perro” is higher pitched than “gato”. the pitch of a word is only arbitrarily associated with its meaning, just as the number of letters in a word has little relation to its meaning3. digital symbols are based on an arbitrary assignment of physical form to meaning. thus, the pitch sequence of words, within the normal frequency range of voice, is simply a random succession. even though there is typically a cohesive envelope for the waveform in semantic space, there are only random pitches in physical space. we can see this contrast in figure 3. at the top is the extended vowel singing4 at the start of the chorus in the maytals’ reggae hit, “bam bam” (hibbert, 1966). note that it shows the cohesive envelope of gradual change, typical for analog communication, in three ways. first in pitch: the vertical position of each green stripe declines in gradual steps. second in duration: the width of each green stripe is progressively longer for the first two seconds, and progressively shorter for the last two. lastly, in loudness: the width on either side of the yellow center gets wider for the first two seconds and then thinner for the last two. the second example in figure 3 represents the author’s frequencies while reading the first four seconds of hamlet’s soliloquy from act 3, scene 1 (it begins with “to be, or not to be, that is the question”). there is no cohesive pattern for pitch, just a succession of the arbitrary sounds assigned to each meaning. hamlet is surely fractal in semantic space—the drama rises and falls within the whole, each act, scenes, vignettes, dialogues, and so on. but when that is digitally encoded by words you cannot see a physical pattern in text symbols or pitch sequence. figure 3. the contrast between cohesive pitch changes in music and random pitch in speech. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 17 quantitative evidence of hip hop’s break with tradition: the fractal dimension of rap music while the broader cultural arts movement of hip hop includes several elements, rap music has predominated, and the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably (kenon, 2000). in the prior section we looked at how music normally communicates information as analog representation; here we will examine evidence that rap music is doing something quite different. rap has gone through significant evolution and diversification since its inception, including blending with many other genres (harris, 2019; polfuß, 2021). for that reason, i will focus on samples from the early years of hip hop, since that is when its break with musical tradition was clearest. voss and clarke (1978) were the first to report that the pitch time series for ordinary speech lacks a fractal structure, and that music’s pitch sequence is always fractal (no matter what genre). it was their study that inspired my thoughts on the above framework. in eglash (1993), i extended their experiment and used the same measure of “how fractal” a waveform is5 to detect the difference between analog and digital communications. digital communication will have an arbitrary (statistically random) sequence, so it will tend towards a white noise or flat power spectrum within its main frequency range. analog communication will tend towards a 1/f power spectrum, which is a fractal distribution. one of the experiments in eglash (1993) showed that whale songs are literally songs in the sense that they too have a fractal distribution; this tested a prediction based on prior work from my master’s thesis on dolphin and whale communication (eglash, 1986).6 the most important set of experiments was on hip hop. figure 4 shows the results of the experiments in eglash (1993) measuring the fractal dimension of pitch time series for rap music. when voss and clarke (1978) reported that all music had a fractal pitch time series, they had examined blues, jazz, rock, and classical. the graph in figure 4 shows that reggae also has the typical fractal distribution, but rap does not: the fractal dimension for rap lands somewhere between the value for speech and the value for music. it is true that one could obtain similar results by just creating notes randomly, as john cage has done, but no one actually listens to such compositions for their daily enjoyment.7 rap artists accomplished something never before done: they created something that is both authentically enjoyed as music, and yet violates the 1/f power spectrum that is characteristic of all popular musical forms. they have, in effect, merged left brain, digital communication and right brain, analog communication in ways not previously performed. figure 4. the low fractal dimension of rap music. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 18 qualitative evidence of rap artists’ awareness of new cognitive-acoustic relationships the above section used measures of fractal dimension as indicators that, in musical genres prior to hip hop, lyrics do not disrupt analog waveforms in the way rap exhibits. the innovation was perfectly obvious to anyone listening to rap for the first time: lyrics are normally sung, not spoken. this violation caused dismissive rejections by music critics, complaining “that’s not singing, that’s talking”. later theorists made the connection to the significance of hip hop’s emergence in the late 1970s when technology was making the shift from analog to digital (eglash, 1993; rose, 1993; eglash, 1998; fouché, 2011). however, it is crucial to understand that the shift in fractal dimension of the music shown in figure 4 was first done with analog technology—the turntable—used in a digital manner (goldberg, 2004): reassembling sound into breaks, samples, scratches, and remixes. hip hop did not emerge in reaction to the shift to digital tech; it led the way, anticipating the new cultural and sonic identity that would be needed. this appropriation of analog technology—using equipment meant for continuous analog waveforms to splice samples as if they were sonic building blocks—is one piece of evidence for the conscious intent of hip hop artists. conversely, as digital technology became available artists began using it in more fluid, analog ways, as noted by hip hop historian tricia rose: rap technicians employ digital technology as instruments, revising black musical styles and priorities through the manipulation of technology. in this process of techno-black cultural syncretism, technological instruments and black cultural priorities are revised and expanded. in a simultaneous exchange rap music has made its mark on advanced technology and technology has profoundly changed the sound of black music. (rose, 1994, p. 96) the artists themselves sometimes describe this rapid uptake using the rhetoric of scientific or experimental identity. fouché (2011) underscores the ways in which analog turntables did not simply vanish; rather they only heightened the work of hip hop musicians as engineers and theorists of turntablism. as grandmaster flash put it when asked about the transition from analog turntables to digital devices: “i’m a scientist, i like it all. i just think, quite frankly, if you’re gonna learn how to drive then you should know how to drive stick first, just like with records. then the modern version of it would be easier” (as cited in lavin, 2019). in the above quote grandmaster flash uses the identity of scientist to describe his practical approach to transitioning between analog and digital technologies. hip hop science narratives were more often fantastical, highlighting the concept of moving information across the dualisms of analog/digital, right brain/left brain, human/machine, and similar dichotomies in an early version of what would now be called an afrofuturist imaginary. group names such as “digital underground” and “dr. octagon”; artist names such as “el cerebro” and “rapper left brain”; songs such as “cyborg dance” and “automan”; album covers replete with everything from computer/human hybrids (figure 5) to alien brain surgery (figure 6). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 19 figure 5. newcleus (2018) album cover symbolizing their fusion of analog and digital: keyboard on the musicians’ right, computer on the left, and cyborg musician centered as the corpus callosum. photo credit: ron eglash https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 20 figure 6. dr. octagon performs brain surgery, merging analog and digital technology with a vinyl record on a digitally controlled turntable. photo credit: ron eglash in addition to neuroscience-related imagery and rhetoric, there is also evidence of awareness of cognitive-acoustic innovation in the ways rap artists and their fans have developed their own version of music theory and used it in both practice and reflections on their conceptions of cognitive acoustics. just as ethnomathematics demonstrates an independent body of mathematical ideas and practices outside of the western canon (eglash, 1997), one can argue for an “ethnoneuroscience” in hip hop’s independent creation of cognitive-acoustic practices and terminologies. krims (2000) showed that western music theory offers a poor analytic framework for understanding rap music, and introduced an alternative ethnomusicology approach, studying the ways the musicians themselves described their particular fusion of linguistic and musical elements and its manipulation to achieve particular cognitive effects. other scholars (e.g., adams, 2009; schloss, 2004; ohriner, 2019) have built on his approach. above all else, the artists’ own terminology, practices, and conceptions of “flow” became the key component in these ethnomusicology analyses. a concept essentially absent in western music theory, adams (2009) defines flow as “all of the ways in which a rapper uses rhythm and articulation in his/her lyrical delivery” (para. 1). he offers four examples of metrical techniques, and three examples of articulative techniques (table 1). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 21 table 1. techniques of flow (adams, 2009) metrical techniques of flow articulative techniques of flow 1. the placement of rhyming syllables. 1. the amount of legato or staccato used. 2. the placement of accented syllables. 2. the degree of articulation of consonants. 3. the degree of correspondence between syntactic units and measures. 3. the extent to which the onset of any syllable is earlier or later than the beat. 4. the number of syllables per beat. each parameter has a continuous range limited only by phase relationships and perceptual resolution, and some can be further expanded as multidimensional (e.g., manipulating syntactic and semantic ambiguity in metrical technique number three). adams (2009) shows how manipulating some or all of the seven parameters across their full range creates a control of flow that conveys the lyrical narrative, aesthetic feel, and rapper’s distinctive style. it also parallels the self-conscious reflections of rappers regarding the analog/digital synthesis we have seen featured in album imagery, word play, and fantastical self-descriptions. several of the hip hop ethnomusicology analyses highlight the self-awareness of flow control by the artists. for example, ohriner (2019) shows how “flip flop rock” by outkast uses the lyric “i switch the flow” to mark the place in which the flow is modulated (from two-syllable rhyme groupings separated by whole notes to dense delivery every 16th note); thus, both the effect and the song title are resonating with the flip-flop circuit in computing (the basis for binary coding in all digital technology). adams (2009) shows how “100 miles and runnin’” by n.w.a. uses flow changes to distinguish between “doing” lyrics describing the fictional character on the run, and “being” lyrics of self-narration (as performed by dr. dre). during the first set of lyrics the synchronization between beats and accented syllables mirror the repeated strides of steady running (doing), while asynchronous beat/syllable relations in the second set represent a chaotic cognitive state (being). simultaneously, the chaos itself is produced by recursive contradictions (for example in the verse “and while they treat my group like dirt/their whole fuckin' family, is wearin' our t-shirts”). pickering’s (2010) history of british cybernetics of the 1960s, the cybernetic brain, details a similar quest to link information representation in movement to audio and visual dynamics with cognitive and neurological models. this british cybernetics group largely failed to show any technological advancement by normal standards: pickering characterizes them as an admirable attempt to create an alternative science, outside the mainstream. given their lack of technical success, pickering offers an alternative metric for their impact as scientists by highlighting their involvement with the invention of light shows in the 1960s psychedelic performances. there is, however, a long history by which white cultural capital is easily able to elevate its achievements as the equivalent of academic knowledge and science, whereas comparable forms of black cultural capital struggle to do so (kajikawa, 2019; eglash et al., 2021). so, it is no surprise that https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 22 these british “alternative thinkers” can make psychedelic light shows, and have it count as cybernetics, whereas a musical intervention by low-income black youth would not be seen in a similar light, despite having far greater impact. in summary, far from unconsciously stumbling into a cognitively unique musical formation, there is evidence that hip hop artists deliberately highlight its innovative musiocological, technological, and communicative characteristics as a kind of computational neuroscience in two ways. the first is understood through the “appropriation of technology framework” (eglash et al., 2004), in which a technology made for hegemonic use is creatively adapted and manipulated to “make it our own” by a disenfranchised group. hip hop musicians have appropriated the words, imagery, and ideas of computational neuroscience by creatively reworking concepts such as analog/digital divisions in explicit statements, vivid imagery and word play, from sources ranging from interviews to album covers to lyrics. the second body of evidence for self-awareness of cognitive-acoustic innovation is investigated through the ethnoknowledge framework. in this framework knowledge was created independently from the western mainstream. but through analysis, one can see that it has analogous and perhaps innovative insights. examples are in ethnomedicine, where an indigenous culture may develop medical applications of plants that are unknown to the west, or in ethnoastronomy, where recordings of events such as the appearance of a comet occurred centuries prior to western astronomy’s knowledge of it. in this case, the ways rap artists have developed their own version of music theory would offer a similar instance of intellectual achievements outside of the academic mainstream, and perhaps its insights exceed those of the typical academy, at least in this specific area. in particular, the role of flow in describing rap’s unique fusion of instrumental and lyrical (i.e., analog and digital) communication components in relation to the cognitive effects they seek to achieve. flipping the flow: from hip hop to academic neuroscience while hip hop benefited by invoking neuroscience and related fields in its futuristic imagery, and developed its own internal practices and vocabularies for manipulating cognitive-acoustic relationships, academic neuroscience research has directly benefited from this innovation as well. in a ground-breaking study titled “neural correlates of lyrical improvisation” (liu et al., 2012), 12 rappers were asked to freestyle—to rap while inventing lyrics on the spot— while under fmri brain scans (figure 6). these were compared to fmri of the same musicians rapping memorized lines. prior studies had indicated an increase in the dorsolateral prefrontal regions during creative activity, which play a supervisory role in guiding cognitive activity, but these indicated the exact opposite—a decrease in these regions. the authors concluded that freestyle rapping offered a better model for true creativity in the wild. prior experiments had used exercises that were too artificial to show what authentic, “live” creativity is like. it is when we are released from the brain’s self-supervision and “let the spirit move us” that the more natural cognitive state is achieved. as rapper mike eagle, both a subject in the experiment and a co-author of the study put it: “that’s kind of the nature of that type of improvisation. even as people who do it, we’re not 100% sure of where we’re getting improvisation from” (liu et al., 2012). the paper is still cited in a wide range of neuroscience publications, ranging from brain network dynamics to limbic system emotional processing. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 23 figure 8. rapper mike eagle with neuroscientist ho ming chow liu et al. (2012) is just one part of a broader field of academic hip hop/cognitive science co-investigations. of particular importance has been hip hop’s role in music therapy. pierce (2004) ran controlled studies on mental health patients, showing that psychoeducation was more effective when accompanied by music therapy—in this case patients’ discussions of hip hop lyrics. in 2014, dr. akeem sule (a consultant psychiatrist at the south essex partnership trust) and dr. becky inkster (a neuroscientist at cambridge university) co-launched hip hop psych, which aimed to “bridge the gap between the hip-hop community and the medical community” via the use of hip hop in new psychotherapies, diversity recruitment for medical health careers, educational innovation, and in public anti-stigma campaigns (sule & inkster, 2014, para. 5). computational neuroscience has also become directly involved with social media. the application areas include neuromarketing, which has been criticized as unethical techniques for duping consumers and invading their privacy (ulman et al., 2014). however, cognitive scientists in social media research also recognize socially beneficial potentials. in their recent contribution to this area, niederkrotenthaler et al. (2021) used a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average time series model to study the potential impact of logic’s hip hop song “1-800-273-8255” on 8lifeline calls and suicides in the united states. they note that the typical social media trigger for lifeline calls are cases of celebrity suicide, in which an increase in lifeline calls is accompanied by an increase in the number of suicides. but here the reverse was found: lifeline calls increased, but suicide rates decreased. thus, they note a unique positive benefit in this case of hip hop influence and use it to further cognitive modeling of social media in relation to social benefits. in 2019 the people’s choice award at mit’s virtual reality hackathon went to brainrap (figure 7), created by micah brown, a neuroscience entrepreneur from south london (lazauskas, 2019). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 24 figure 9. micah brown using brainrap at mit’s vr hackathon (image credit: fastcompany.com) the system combines neurable, a neurosentiment technology using electrodes on the scalp, with a visualization technology (in this case a vive vr headset). like generations of hip hop artists before him, brown has used the resources these new fusions made available towards a variety of both entrepreneurial and public-serving applications: a live hip hop performance art tool; a free application that enables low-income independent artists to find their ideal audience by matching the content of their lyrics to neurosentiment data; a venture capital business that funds neurocomputing startups; and the start of blue-sky aspirations towards mental health applications. conclusion the well-known narrative of hip hop as music innovation is that of technology “appropriation” (eglash et al., 2004; gaskins, 2021). in this scenario, the turntable, created to merely play back recordings, becomes a new instrument of grassroots creation; it is transformed from mere corporate-sanctioned reproduction to revolutionary neo-production. this essay has examined the significance of hip hop regarding the start of digital technology, and challenged the very meaning of the analog/digital contrast. it has used this to explore the role of hip hop artists as agents of change in broadening humanity’s range of acoustic encoding possibilities, and the possibilities for humanitarian benefit from this grassroots neurocybernetics. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 25 acknowledgements the author would like to acknowledge national science foundation grants drl-1640014 and iis-2128756 in support of this work. the author thanks the following sources for allowing use of images under fair use restrictions: figure 1: adapted from salimi-nezhad, n., amiri, m., falotico, e., & laschi, c. (2018). a digital hardware realization for spiking model of cutaneous mechanoreceptor. frontiers in neuroscience, 12, 322. figure 2: created by martin wattenberg. used with permission. figure 3: created by ron eglash. figure 4: created by ron eglash. figure 5: photo by ron eglash. figure 6: photo by ron eglash. figure 7: table by ron eglash. figure 8: the image used by permission of the national institute on deafness and other communication disorders, national institutes of health, u.s. department of health and human services. figure 9: still shot of gif cover image. lazauskas, j. (2019, february 15). brainrap could change how we see hip-hop–and neuroscience. fastcompany.com. endnotes 1 as are neurons. even for simple tactile receptors, some are more tuned to transient response and habituate (stop firing) with constant pressure; others are tuned for the opposite. “tuning” is not just a metaphor in the analog world; the neurobiologists who focus on the brain as an analog system refer to relations of resonance, entrainment, phase transition, and other aspects of nonlinear dynamics (see a. j. mandell and k. a. selz, 2003, brain stem neuronal noise and neocortical “resonance” in journal of statistical physics, 70(1-2), 355-373; w. j. freeman, and g. vitiello, 2006, nonlinear brain dynamics and many-body field dynamics in electromagnetic biology and medicine, 24(3), 233–241, and s. grossberg, 2017, towards solving the hard problem of consciousness: the varieties of brain resonances and the conscious experiences that they support in neural networks, 87, 38–95). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 26 2 see manfu duan’s 2012 article, “on the arbitrary nature of linguistic sign,” in theory and practice in language studies, 2(1), 54-59, where he clarifies saussure’s statements on the arbitrariness of the linguistic signifier. 3 voss and clarke (1978) thought that tonal languages such as chinese would be an exception. but tonal languages are just as arbitrary, they only make more use of pitch distinctions. empirical measures of pitch time series for chinese speech showed the same lack of fractal structure as that of english (eglash, 1993). 4 called “aggiustamento” in opera. see t. j. millhouse and d. t. kenny’s conference paper, vowel placement during operatic singing: 'come si parla’ or ‘aggiustamento'? interspeech 9th annual conference of the international speech communication association, brisbane, qld, australia, september 22-september 26, 2008. 5 a pitch time series was created using a spectrum analyzer, and then a fourier transform applied to obtain the power spectrum of the pitch series. the slope of the power spectrum, measured with a least squares estimate, is proportional to the fractal dimension. 6 the prediction in eglash 1986 is based in part on neurobiology: humans have a larger left hemisphere, due to our linguistic-centered communication. dolphins and whales have a larger right hemisphere, which is where human music and paralinguistic (prosody or intonation) is produced. the pitch contours of cetacean communication look like figure 3 top, not bottom. 7 the “unlistenable” quality of cage’s random notes was not by accident. as ross (2010) noted, “he fulfilled schoenberg’s tenet that music should exercise a critical function, disturbing rather than comforting the listener.” references adams, k. 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[recorded by charles wright & the watts 103rd street rhythm band]. on express yourself [album]. warner bros. records. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/fsu_migr_etd-0811 https://doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2021.1990050 https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2018.00322 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1231059 https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2014.11.019 https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(14)00063-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-014-9581-5 hip hop as computational neuroscience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37127 30 ron eglash (eglash@umich.edu) received his bs in cybernetics, his ms in systems engineering, and his phd in history of consciousness. he is a professor in the school of information at the university of michigan (usa), with a secondary appointment in the stamps school of art and design. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:eglash@umich.edu introduction music and computational neuroscience music as analog representation quantitative evidence of hip hop’s break with tradition: the fractal dimension of rap music qualitative evidence of rap artists’ awareness of new cognitive-acoustic relationships flipping the flow: from hip hop to academic neuroscience conclusion acknowledgements endnotes references meaning and memory: reconsidering the appalachian oral history project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34830 meaning and memory: reconsidering the appalachian oral history project scott sikes, university of tennessee, usa abstract initiated in the 1970’s, the appalachian oral history project (aohp) contains thousands of oral histories collected from residents of the central appalachian region. a significant portion of these oral histories were conducted with black residents of the region, thus serving as a repository of voices long unheard in the dominant historical narrative. like many such collections, the audio cassettes were left to gather dust for decades. a project has recently begun to digitize and preserve all of the oral histories. what do the oral histories in the aohp collection have to say to us today about both black identity in central appalachia and the use of oral history to confront questions of place and identity? more importantly, how do contemporary black residents in one of the same communities in which the oral histories were originally conducted wish to respond to the recorded interviews? digital recordings were played for black residents of the same community from which many of the original oral histories were collected in order to foster conversation and dialogue about the material. using ethnographic methods, this research illustrates the ways new forms of archival work and historical scholarship provide a crucial opportunity to enhance what we know of place and identity and allows for stories to be reclaimed by the people and communities from which they came. found within these intersections of theory, method, and discipline is space for information science research to push beyond traditional boundaries that wholly embrace the political and the fight for social justice. keywords: digital scholarship; oral history; research methods publication type: research article introduction nitially undertaken in the early 1970s, the appalachian oral history project (aohp) involved a partnership between scholars at four institutions of higher education to collect and archive oral histories from thousands of residents of the appalachian region. with guidance from faculty, nearly all of the oral histories—around 3,000 of them—were conducted, recorded, and transcribed by students of alice lloyd college, appalachian state university, emory & henry college, and lees junior college. the aim of the project was to create a social history of central appalachia as told by the people of the place (shackelford & weinberg, 1977). one central and specific goal was to gather oral histories from black residents of the appalachian region, and these constitute a significant portion of the collection. thus, the lasting result of the aohp is a trove of data related to an extraordinary range of subjects that are of interest to multiple fields and disciplines. more importantly, the collection is one that especially brings forward firsthand accounts of a community whose story is largely left untold in the scholarship of the region (hayden, 2004; smith, 2004). those interviewed as part of the project told the stories of their i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi reconsidering the appalachian oral history project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34830 lives, of wars they had served in, of the farms they had cultivated, and of the churches they had built and worshipped in. in voices both forceful and feeble, voices mixed with sadness and bemusement and utter seriousness, they told the stories of their enslaved grandparents, of the depression, of segregation, of jim crow, and of the ordinary indignities they suffered daily. the aohp culminated in a book, our appalachia, published in 1977, which was described then as a powerful and revealing story of a particular american subculture as recounted by a neglected and often misrepresented people (shackelford & weinberg, 1977). at that time, the aohp was part of a wave of oral history projects regarded as a highly innovative methodological form and one born out of technological progress (lynd & lynd, 2009). affordable cassette tape recorders had by then become widely available, providing a convenient tool for collecting source material from non-elite voices missing from the dominant historical narrative (dunaway & baum, 1996; lynd & lynd, 1973). this development allowed for scholars across multiple disciplines to cast the widest possible net, recording large numbers of interviews with members of specific communities, which is reflected in the substantial number of oral histories collected as part of the aohp (ritchie, 2015). what distinguishes oral history from other qualitative research methods is that an interview can be recorded, transcribed, archived, and, most especially, made accessible and available for research and reinterpretation (grele, 1993; ritchie, 2015). key to the lasting import of oral history is the preservation of all related materials, and audio recordings on cassette tapes pose particular risks of deterioration and obsolescence (moss & mazikana, 1986; paton, 1990). nevertheless, in the decades following its initiation, little else was made of the aohp beyond the resultant book. the aohp materials were eventually relegated to a locked closet, rendered inaccessible, and nearly forgotten. according to shopes (1981), despite the possibilities afforded by oral history as method to contribute to the scholarly conversation, many such collections are eventually disregarded or forgotten. yet, just as cassette recorders left their mark on the work of oral history, new technologies are allowing us to reimagine the potential of such collections and offer a renewed sense of urgency regarding their preservation in digital formats (ritchie, 2015). a wide array of tools now provides archivists and historians an opportunity to prevent loss of original materials while making it easier to increase public availability. furthermore, emerging and ever-evolving forms of digital scholarship are reshaping our approaches to the exploration of historical and social issues (ayers, 2013). through a partnership between the campus library and faculty in the interdisciplinary department of civic innovation, emory & henry college has begun to digitize that institution’s portion of the oral history materials so they can be made available and accessible online to the community, to scholars, and to the wider world. this work raises several important questions. what do the oral histories in the aohp collection have to say to us today about both black identity in central appalachia and the use of oral history to confront questions of place and identity? more importantly, how do contemporary black residents in one of the same communities in which the oral histories were originally conducted wish to respond to the recorded interviews? the research presented in this paper made use of ethnographic methods of observation, participant interaction, and interviews to explore these questions. utilizing newly created digital files of the aohp collection, the research was designed to be a conversation across time between current residents of the region and those who long ago told their own stories of what it meant to live as a black american in central appalachia. such a method offers a model for similar and more expansive projects. furthermore, the research provides a framework for a reconsideration of oral history as practice from a critical perspective while utilizing tools of digital scholarship. 85 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reconsidering the appalachian oral history project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34830 place-based identity and the appalachian oral history project the appalachian regional commission (2020) long ago drew distinct political and economic boundaries of appalachia. nevertheless, in geographic and cultural terms, the region is not so easily defined (batteau, 1991; williams, 2002; smith, et al., 2010; denham, 2016). while a sense of personal identity with the region of appalachia has for decades been considered by multiple scholars, it is understood to be enmeshed within a dynamic web of historical and social complexities (billings, 2006; cooper et al., 2011; holtkamp & weaver, 2018). place has also been pointed to as a critical element of personal identity among those who live in the region (shapiro, 1983; stanley, 2012). fisher considered such a place-based identity to be “an intentional act of resistance that grounds individuals, who otherwise face demeaning representations of themselves, and leads outward toward solidarity with others” (smith, et al., 2010, p. 56). this idea is seen as well in the critical regionalism perspective of hooks (2009), whose understanding of spatial consciousness offers potential for resistance. included in the aohp collection are a significant number of oral histories conducted with black participants. as in the dominant historical narrative of america, these voices have remained underrepresented in the prevailing scholarship of the appalachian region (smith, 2004). cultural representations and conceptions of appalachia have likewise largely ignored the presence and contributions of black residents as have most attempts to describe and analyze the region’s economy and history (hayden, 2004). according to hayden (2002), a perception exists both within and outside appalachia, “that whites are the only significant group living there and/or that other groups are so small that their presence in the region is of little consequence” (p. 124). the lack of recognition of the black experience in a more complete understanding of appalachia is further amplified by the fact that large numbers of black americans left the region as part of the great migration out of the south in the first part of the 20th century (brown, 2016; 2018). wilkerson (2010) pointed to this exodus as a collective act of resistance, one crucial to the beginnings of the larger movement for civil rights. nevertheless, a continued sense of identity with the region among blacks who had moved away from appalachia endured as did an intense connection to the customs and ways of life in the mountains they left behind (wagner & obermiller, 2004). according to wagner and obermiller (2004), such connections to the region persisted because of a more deeply felt sense of community among residents in the coal towns of the region where labor movements fostered a more progressive social structure and an arguably larger sense of social egalitarianism than places in the deep south. even in a kind of exile, these former residents of the region maintained a sense of connection to their appalachian roots. despite the breadth of material it contains, and the significant work that went into creating the collection, not so very long after the aohp was completed, the cassette tapes were filed neatly away, shoved into a library closet, and locked in the dark to gather dust. though not entirely forgotten, the materials in the collection were certainly rendered inaccessible. as the decades passed, however, fewer people even knew of its existence. according to shopes (1981), this is not uncommon for oral history projects, even those of such scale and scope as the aohp. though they may begin with lofty goals, such projects tend to foster an enthusiasm that is short-lived and end up doing little to enhance the collective historical consciousness of a community. class and race divides between the organizers of such projects, and the community members who participate in them, only serve to make the limitations more pronounced. as such, hamilton and shopes (2008) argued that oral history as practice can become semi-privatized and marginal with, “thousands and thousands of tapes lying 86 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reconsidering the appalachian oral history project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34830 unused in drawers and archives" (p. vii). hamilton and shopes (2008) additionally pointed out that scholarship within the disciplines of history, anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies has neglected to make use of oral history as central to the study of communities where memory and history are bound up tightly with an understanding of the place. further consideration is necessary of the potential offered by oral history to both reflect collective memory and identity and to inform our understanding of these concepts. as the aohp was initiated some fifty years ago, the oral histories contained in the collection were conducted during a time barely removed from the days of segregation and jim crow. many of the interviews were conducted with black residents of virginia, a state that in 1968 was finally forced by the u.s. supreme court to fully comply with the brown vs. board of education decision that had been reached well over a decade before (bonastia, 2012). at the insistence of senator harry byrd, virginia, like several other southern states, had instituted a policy of massive resistance to the brown decision by enacting laws in open defiance of integration, even completely shutting down some public school systems (ely, 1976). such wounds would have most certainly remained fresh for those interviewed as part of the aohp. stark injustices overtly sanctioned by the state would have been no distant memory when they sat down with their interviewers and shared their stories. their own voices confirm this. interviewees spoke in blunt terms of struggles for regular employment, equal wages, simple respect, the tiresome accumulation of routine daily abuses, and the ordinary system of oppression they endured day after day (lampkins 1973). the recorded voices offered remembrances of family members who had been enslaved, treated as mere chattel, and forced to endure bloody beatings and other inhuman brutalities (axon, 1973). this project illustrates ways that collections like the aohp, when made accessible through digitization, can be more effectively utilized to explore issues and questions of black identity and experience in the appalachian region and elsewhere. the keeping of important historical material locked away in a closet as it disintegrates prevents the examination of vital questions and, more significantly, contributes to the continued silencing of unheard voices. the intersection of new forms of archival work and historical scholarship now provide a crucial opportunity to enhance what we know of place and identity and allows for stories to be reclaimed by the people and communities from which they came. as argued by swain (2003), any significant impact of oral history collections like the aohp in the coming years is dependent upon cooperation among information science professionals with varied perspectives, on a willingness by scholars to collaborate beyond the constraints of academic disciplines, and on a willingness to promote and create access using digital technologies. such work has important implications for issues of social justice within the field of information sciences and serves as an example of a critical approach to digital archival development. the use of digital platforms for the creation and promotion of access to material that would otherwise remain unseen helps to counter dominant historical and social narratives and serves as a means of bearing witness to vital elements of history that have been largely overlooked in scholarship and popular culture. tools of digital scholarship offer untold possibilities for interaction and engagement with important source material, reinvigorate and reshape professional archival work, and relocate archives to the front lines of the fight for equity and a more participatory democracy. materials like those found in the aohp are a source of empowerment for members of communities whose voices might otherwise go unheard, helps fill unjust gaps in the dominant historical narrative, and offers a broader and more equitable approach to the creation of history. 87 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reconsidering the appalachian oral history project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34830 methods this study made use of ethnographic methods through participant observation and personal interviews. an ethnographic perspective is not entirely absent from the field of information sciences, though it is certainly not pervasive (goodman, 2011). not all questions of information can be quantified or best answered through experimental research. in particular, methods of observation and interpretation are useful to the discipline for the production of knowledge (allard et al., 2009; bawden & robinson, 2012). as it involves direct interaction with participants, ethnography attempts to gain a better understanding of a particular social world from an insider’s perspective and thus serves as an important tool for the study of issues of identity (schubotz, 2020). ethnographic methods allow, through access to self-understandings, for an immersive exploration of the ways in which identity is enacted through ordinary and quotidian contexts (adams, 2009). according to angrosino (2007), participant observation, personal interviewing, and archival research serve as the primary means of data collection in ethnography. careful observation and participation in the lives of those under study generates data that is analyzed to find patterns of human experience. further, such a qualitative approach to research offers participants an avenue for explaining a social phenomenon in their own terms and seeks to understand how humans make meaning of their social world and how that meaning affects their behavior (punch, 2014). in this way, ethnographic methods seek a more distinct representation of complex structures and patterns found in the social world. finally, as ethnography itself is understood not only as method but also as genre, it does not attempt to create objective truth so much as to build empathy and solidarity (clifford & marcus, 1986; rorty, 1989). this research does not claim to be ethnography, but it does invoke an ethnographic spirit (barker & jane, 2016). de leon (2015) argued that there exists no usefulness in a sterile text, and the data are reported within this narrative in a way decidedly distinct from the typical framework of an academic paper. to utilize elements of ethnography as method is one way to give poetic expression to the voices of those who otherwise exist on the margins. such an approach is additionally a way to explore so-called black holes, or places that remain tragically understudied (fassin, 2013). within these intersections of theory, method, and discipline is found space for information science research that wholly embraces the political and the fight for social justice. drawn from the aohp collection, several digital audio files were played individually for five black residents of the same community in which the original oral histories were conducted. the digital files of the original tapes varied in length but were generally between one half hour to one hour in duration. participants were free to listen to as much or as little of the audio recordings as they wished and to move on to another file at any point. in this way, the scope of participants’ direct engagement with the oral histories was entirely their own choice. some listened longer than other participants. some listened to individual files for more or less than others. participants themselves determined this specific operational detail of the research methodology. the selection of this number of participants followed the principle of a purposeful sampling strategy, one that is commonly used in qualitative research designs that seek to identify and select information-rich case examples and to make the most effective use of limited resources (patton, 2015). patton further stated that “information-rich cases are those from which one can learn a great deal about issues of central importance to the purpose of the inquiry” (264) in order 88 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reconsidering the appalachian oral history project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34830 to gain deeper understanding. the participants were selected by the researcher based on their lifelong membership in the community and on their connections of kinship to original interviewees who participated in the aohp. participants were not compensated but were provided with digital copies of any audio files from the oral history collection they wished to have. as each participant listened to the oral history files, reactions, body language, and unspoken responses were observed and noted by the researcher. in addition to these observation notes, further qualitative data were collected through personal interviews designed to be open-ended and conversational. according to lindlof and taylor (2019), personal interviews get to the very heart of the purposes of such research and are utilized to solicit an in-depth understanding of events, to gather insights and information about a particular social phenomenon, to build trust with participants, and to make sense of the subtleties of social relationships. interviews serve to augment our understanding of the rich complexity of the social world and, of equal importance, to give voice to research participants (brancati, 2018; flick, 2014). no standardized interview instrument was used for these conversations. rather, the interviews were purposefully unstructured in order to provide flexibility, enhance rapport, and generate meaningful discussions led by the reactions and responses of the participants. such an approach is understood to be conducive to the exploration of issues and subjects generated directly by participants and also allows the research to bear witness to events and phenomena as seen through the eyes of those directly involved (hammersley & gomm, 2008; rubin & rubin, 2012). audio recordings of the interviews, along with typewritten transcripts, were created by the researcher. in recounting the research findings below, each participant is identified using a pseudonym. meaning and encounters mrs. glover knew that her kin and neighbors many years ago had offered their stories to something important. with little prompting, she ticked off a litany of their names, described their faces, and pointed out where their homes and barns once stood. yet, in the fifty years since, mrs. glover had never seen or listened to the taped recordings. most of the people mrs. glover knew, who were interviewed for the aohp, worked their entire lives for emory & henry college, an institution that refused to educate their children, and they knew full well that the buildings they cleaned and maintained were built of bricks made by their own ancestors who had been enslaved by the college (stevenson, 1963). in spite of this, when students from that same institution came knocking on their doors, asking to record their stories, they spoke into the cassette recorders and freely handed them over. their motivations for participating in the project cannot be fully known, but those interviewed were offered no compensation other than contributing to a community history project that sought to tell a story that was not a part of the dominant historical narrative. according to atherton et al. (2017), there are a wide range of motivating factors that may determine why someone chooses to be interviewed as part of an oral history project, but these are generally related to a sense of being heard, of preserving important stories, and of educating younger listeners. throughout the conversation, mrs. glover rubbed her hands together continuously, absentmindedly, and in a way that did not hide the tension she appeared to be trying to knead from her fingers. her nails were a blazing red, the polish chipped and nicked at the corners and edges. an artist, mrs. glover’s hands are the implements of her craft. she had seated herself and 89 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reconsidering the appalachian oral history project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34830 her guest in a front room, a space clearly intended to be formal. a small, round, glass-topped table stood between the chairs and was littered with small porcelain curiosities, as was every other surface in the room. mementos and tokens sat and hung wherever there was space. the carpet, the upholstery, and the furnishings all reflected a kind of stateliness and refinement, all satiny white fabrics and darkly varnished woods. mrs. glover had placed examples of her artwork at different points around the room. there were canvases big and small, some leaning against furniture, others against the wall. these served as an impromptu gallery of sorts. her art is created with oil paints, but it is given dimension and texture through the incorporation of buttons, bits of hair, broken clothes pins, and all manner of detritus. mrs. glover is a storyteller in her community. there were portraits, landscapes, and images of children at play and women at work. there were stooped men in vast fields of cotton, their overseers, whips in hand, burning them with cold eyes while dark and menacing skies bear down upon their backs. some of the faces were contorted and misshapen. as the first recording began to play, she nodded along, issuing now and again a hummed assent from her pursed lips. then, something she heard prompted her to laugh and a spell was broken. her face opened wide in smile. “that’s right,” she said, “that’s right. that’s the way it was.” when she spoke, mrs. glover pushed forward into her words as if she could not hold back. she had a story to tell, one that was important, one that has not been heard enough. reaching to the floor beside her own chair, she pulled up a sheaf of papers scrawled with notes. the bundle of pages was large, each covered in her handwriting and devoted to a different person, each of whom was connected in some way to the aohp, either having been interviewed themselves or related to someone else who had. mrs. glover told stories of them all, in the process telling, too, her own story. she explained that she considers herself a keeper of memory in the community and had long wondered what had become of the oral histories that had been shared all those years earlier. mrs. glover recognized the voices on the cassette tapes, could picture in her mind the people who spoke into the recorder those decades ago because she had known them all. in certain moments, listening to the recordings, her eyes would at first close tightly, her jaw set, and when she opened them again, she seemed to be looking off somewhere beyond the room in which she sat. mr. johnson wanted to first hear the voice of his grandmother. he sat back deeply into an oversized chair, his hands fingering the hat he had worn in and removed before sitting down. retired for a number of years, he considers himself a genealogist, and has researched his family lineage deep into the past, back to the days when records of blacks in the community included only first names or descriptions and, with more precision, their value as property. it had been his grandmother who spurred his initial energies for such work. mr. johnson’s childhood was filled with stories she told him. in his own old age, he has become the keeper of the stories, and he knows his family tree as well as he knows his own two hands. having put together so much of the puzzle, he longs for more. he searches for pictures, objects, and lost graves. like mrs. glover, he knew that many of his family members and neighbors had shared their stories many years ago through a project done by the college up the road, but he had never heard them, and had never known that the recordings still exist. when handed the photocopy of the original aohp index, before thumbing through it, he looked up. 90 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reconsidering the appalachian oral history project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34830 “you have my grandmother in here. i know. she told me about it. can i listen to it?” as the recording began, there was much static and extraneous noise in the background. the voices were barely audible as if spoken into a can. mr. johnson pushed his head forward just a bit, straining to hear. then, as if a door had been opened, the voice turned clear and crisp. mr. johnson sat back again, his hands gripping the armrests of the chair. he looked straight ahead for a time, listening. when the interviewer on the tape finally spoke, the voice much louder, mr. johnson broke into laughter, doubling over. he had heard his younger sister’s voice on the recording. it was she who did the interview, a fact he had not known. his laughter settled, and he righted himself, but now tears glistened in his eyes. mr. johnson listened to the entire recording, silent, nodding his head. after listening to his grandmother’s oral history, mr. johnson looked for a very long time through the aohp index, calling out the names of the people he recognized, offering remembrances, but also describing in meticulous detail the network of kinship he has mapped over the years. there were so many recordings mr. johnson wished to hear, that time became short and eventually we gave over to playing just snippets of dozens of files. “the voices take me back,” he said. “way back.” before leaving, though, mr. johnson pulled from an inside jacket pocket a worn cassette tape, the handwriting on the label smudged and faded. he had brought with him a tape recording of a conversation with his mother to which he had been unable to listen, having tried the only cassette player he could find, one that remains in the car of a friend. the tape is thirty years old. he asked if it could be added to the collection, but more than anything, he simply wanted to hear it. after two days, the digitized file was sent to mr. johnson who called back to express his gratitude. “more fond memories,” he said. ms. green is nearly eighty years old. in her aged voice, some of her words seemed to mash into one another and become indistinct. she rarely made eye contact unless she wanted to underscore a point. this she would usually do by saying, “can you believe that?” the question punctuated stories about segregated schools, long bus trips to the next county, men who felt their only real chance in the world was to be found in military service, backbreaking work for insultingly low wages, walking miles to a job that offered little in return, and daily, ordinary humiliations and insults. she also told stories of resilience, of parents who endured indignities and slights and who toiled in hope for some brighter future that lay just over the horizon for their children. these were prompted by every recording ms. green listened to from the aohp files, sometimes only a few seconds in. she was helped to a rocking chair by a caregiver who comes to her house daily. it was unclear if ms. green knew of the oral histories or had forgotten them, but she recognized the names and remembered the houses and road names where they had been born or had lived. the recording that ms. green listened to longer than any other was of a black man who had shared his oral history when he was still young himself. he was her nephew who had served in the korean war, commanding a unit of men, only to come back to face the patronizing 91 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reconsidering the appalachian oral history project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34830 treatment of white supervisors at work who assumed him to be only qualified for menial jobs. in frustration, he had gone into business for himself, and had spoken with pride about the independence this had afforded him, and the sense of dignity and empowerment he had found. he spoke with clear anger about the limitations placed on blacks and the all-out effort to hold them back. “i’ll tell you why he was mad,” said ms. green. the story she told was of how this young man had been blocked from purchasing a home in a newly developed subdivision in the town that was the county seat and known for its well-to-do neighborhoods and attorney’s offices. he had dared a realtor not to show him the home and then secured a loan from a local bank. but when other residents had learned of the impending purchase, he had been threatened repeatedly, and received calls and letters describing what would happen if he moved in. “that was normal, of course. we thought he was crazy for thinking he could.” ms. green then said she was tired. she was finished listening. mr. williams said, “you know, the word history is usually just that. his story. not ours.” his hands rested on a kitchen table, a cup of coffee in front of him. mr. williams was not as much interested in hearing the files as he was in celebrating their existence. he described his own complicated relationship with the community he called home. according to him, in younger days, mr. williams had been less disciplined, far more interested in carousing and spending time with friends who also had “the things of the flesh” on their minds. he considered this time in his life to be full of anger and rage—especially as he daily rode a bus nearly an hour each way to the segregated black school. mr. williams had been raised by his mother in a small house on what he termed “the other side of the tracks.” he had seen no future for himself in such a backward place. with the help of his mother, mr. williams cultivated his natural talents and attended an art school far from home. it was on return visits and then, later, when his mother suddenly died, that he found himself drawn back to his native ground. a former teacher, now retired and heavily involved in the community, took him under her wing, shared the history of the place, and helped him to recognize the vital part of the story that had been ignored. it was through this experience that mr. williams took on the responsibility of making that story known. he became a leader of a nonprofit group that worked to restore an abandoned former black church in his hometown by turning it into a museum and community space for public gatherings focused on racial dialogue. each recording he listened to spurred in mr. williams a new idea for their utilization in historical programs for the entire community. he was especially interested in hearing the oral histories from former teachers who had served as mentors and guides to young people during a time when it seemed they faced barriers to realizing their full potential no matter which way they turned. “this stuff is important,” he said. it must be shared.” the thing ms. smith said most clearly and forcefully was this: her faith in god had been 92 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reconsidering the appalachian oral history project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34830 sustenance to her. when she has had no faith in her country, government, or neighbors to treat her fairly and with dignity and respect—to recognize her humanity—she had turned to something higher and far more powerful in her eyes. her whole life, it seemed, nothing had been fair as each day was a struggle for hope that things would change. religious faith had provided her only sustained source of such hope. but ms. smith clarified that this hope was not any passive acceptance or understanding that her lot would be improved only in a life to come after this one. instead, she saw her hope as a kind of critique of the status quo lived out in a multitude of forms of resistance. this is what ms. smith heard in the voices on the recordings of the aohp. for her, the oral histories she listened to reflected this more than anything else: ordinary lives and stories that reflected an uncommon and unflagging resistance. ms. smith also heard compassion that she did not understand. she wondered how anger did not overwhelm the people to whom she listened, and then immediately noted this would have been necessary in order to protect their lives and the lives of their families. if such anger could have found release, she said, “there would have been enough anger for us to blow this country up. and that’s the truth.” when asked if she thought it was fair or just that the materials in aohp would be used by a white person to complete research important to a professional academic career, ms. smith did not equivocate. “lord, no. it is not. but it needs to be told. it’s a history that has not been told and the more people who know about it, the more people will know how it really was. so, no, it’s not fair, but i still think it’s important.” reclamation this research had been envisioned and designed as a conversation across time. participants would be observed as they interacted with the voices of those who long ago told their own stories of what it meant to be black in appalachia. the intention was to play, for each respondent, selected portions of the oral histories from the aohp collection in order to spark dialogue about the recordings and about the participants’ own reaction and response to them. this aim was met, but the chasm between expectations and reality turned out to be vast. there were definitive responses to the subjects and issues raised all those years ago by those originally interviewed. of far more significance, though, was that participants were prompted to share their own stories. in telling these stories, the participants reclaimed the voices and the memories of the aohp. mrs. glover, mr. johnson, ms. green, mr. williams, and ms. smith are the ones who own it, they and the rest of the community. the oral histories in the aohp do not belong to an institution. the material does not belong only to researchers or scholars. by making it accessible and available, the collection and all the voices it contains will be reclaimed. frisch (1990) argued that “oral history is a powerful tool for discovering, exploring and evaluating the nature of the process of historical memory – how people make sense of their past, how they connect individual experience and its social context and how the past becomes part of the present, and how people use it to interpret their lives and the world around them” (p. 188). such projects, frisch (1990) also stated, should offer opportunities for shared knowledges, for both implicit and explicit dialogue among a variety of perspectives about the shape of history, its 93 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reconsidering the appalachian oral history project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34830 meanings, and its implications. this dialogue can foster a more democratized and more widely shared kind of historical consciousness that is representative of a wider range of experience and perspectives. utilizing oral history in the creation of digital scholarship that increases accessibility and opportunities for wider engagement offers a more complete history created from voices long silenced. in such work, professionals in the field of information science can advocate for justice and equity and can create spaces of resistance in a multitude of ways (mehra & gray, 2014). this is a way to enlarge history and to fill the silences. as a tool of advocacy, “oral history was intended to give a voice to the voiceless, a narrative to the story-less and power to the marginalized” (abrams, 2010, p. 154). collections like the aohp can be a central focal point in the utilization of information technologies to create a more complete archive, one that is more accessible and engaging in presenting information through a wide range of media. giroux (1993; 2002) argued that technologies can reshape structures of power and support a truer democracy, one that is empowering rather than repressive, and that actually embodies freedom for all. in addition to giroux’s conception, democracy is generally characterized by legal equality, political freedom, and the rule of law (diamond & morlino, 2005). information science practitioners are vital to the creation of transformative learning spaces in which marginalized groups can “gain a sense of themselves as public actors while developing connections to the broader world” (eryaman, 2010, p. 134). everyone understands their own power and agency more fully if given opportunity to interpret their own lives, to see themselves in history, and to know the ways they shape its creation. we all in turn are then gifted a larger history, one less silent than before. according to portelli (1991), the embodied practice of oral history provides a distinctive opportunity for consciousness raising for both the interviewer and the person being interviewed. this work is made meaningful by the encounter of two subjects who recognize one another’s shared humanity and who seek to build common ground upon their differences. yet, this discovering and exploring, this meaning making, cannot occur if an oral history collection is left in the dark to gather dust. it must be returned to those whom it belonged in the first place. it must be reclaimed. references abrams, l. 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(2019). qualitative communication research methods (4th ed.). sage. 96 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1111/cuan.12030 http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/libr.2011.001 https://www.jstor.org/stable/27773682 https://www.jstor.org/stable/41446518 https://www.jstor.org/stable/41446641 https://www.jstor.org/stable/26409158 reconsidering the appalachian oral history project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34830 lynd, a., & lynd, s. (1973). rank and file: personal histories by working class organizers. beacon press. lynd, a., & lynd, s. (2009). stepping stones: memoir of a life together. lexington. mehra, b., & gray, l. 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(2015). doing oral history (3rd ed.). oxford university press. rorty, r. (1989). contingency, irony, and solidarity. cambridge university press. rubin, h., & rubin, i. (2012). qualitative interviewing: the art of hearing data (3rd ed.). sage. schubotz, d. (2020). participatory research: why and how to involve people in research. sage. shackelford, l. & weinberg, b. (1977). our appalachia: an oral history. hill and wang. shapiro, h. (1983). the place of culture and the problem of identity. in a. batteau (ed.), appalachia and america: autonomy and regional dependence (pp. 111-143). university press of kentucky. shopes, l. (1981). the baltimore neighborhood heritage project: oral history and community involvement. radical history review, 25, 27-44. https://doi.org/10.1215/016365451981-25-27 smith, b. e. (2004). de-gradations of whiteness: appalachia and the complexities of race. journal of appalachian studies, 10(1/2), 38-57. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41446605 smith, b. e., fisher, s., obermiller, p., whisnant, d., satterwhite, e, & cunningham, r. (2010). appalachian identity: a roundtable discussion. appalachian journal, 38(1), 56-76. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41320248 stanley, t. a. (2012). the poco field: an american story of place. university of illinois press. 97 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://library.ifla.org/1011/1/151-mehra-en.pdf https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000068747.locale=en https://www.jstor.org/stable/40293449 https://doi.org/10.1215/01636545-1981-25-27 https://doi.org/10.1215/01636545-1981-25-27 https://www.jstor.org/stable/41446605 https://www.jstor.org/stable/41320248 reconsidering the appalachian oral history project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34830 stevenson, g. j. (1963). increase in excellence: a history of emory & henry college 1836-1963. appleton-century-crofts. swain, e. (2003). oral history in the archives: its documentary role in the twenty-first century. the american archivist, 66(1), 139-158. https://doi.org/10.17723/aarc.66.1.9284q6r604858h40 wagner, t. e., & obermiller, p. j. (2004). african american miners and migrants: the eastern kentucky social club. university of illinois press. wilkerson, i. (2010). the warmth of other suns: the epic story of america's great migration. random house. williams, j. a. (2002). appalachia: a history. university of north carolina press. scott sikes (esikes@vols.utk.edu) received his phd in information sciences at the university of tennessee, knoxville and serves as an instructor in the department of civic innovation at emory & henry college where is also the associate director of the appalachian center for civic life. 98 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.17723/aarc.66.1.9284q6r604858h40 mailto:esikes@vols.utk.edu introduction place-based identity and the appalachian oral history project methods meaning and encounters reclamation references volume 5 | number 1 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion editorial diversity, recordkeeping, and archivy rebecka taves sheffield; janet ceja; stanley h. griffin articles brick walls and tick boxes: experiences of marginalised workers in the uk archive workforce kirsty fife; hannah henthorn against whitewashing: the recent history of anti-racist action in the british archives sector alicia chilcott; kirsty fife; james lowry; jenny moran; arike oke; anna sexton; jass thethi a weapon and a tool: decolonizing description and embracing redescription as liberatory archival praxis tonia sutherland; alyssa purcell ancestry.com’s race stories: examining whiteness on the genealogy web anna robinson-sweet laughter filled the space: challenging euro-centric archival spaces krista mccracken; skylee-storm hogan also featuring book reviews edited by norda a. bell special issue: diversity, recordkeeping, and archiv y dr. vanessa irvin, editor-in-chief january 2021 journal credits editor-in-chief dr. vanessa irvin associate editors dr. nadia caidi dr. mirah dow dr. keren dali senior managing editors leah brochu managing editors michelle de agostini mona elayyan stephanie santiful jeffrey sowder cara b. stone zach valdes book review editor norda a. bell graphic designer kevin j. mallary ijidi logo created by craig taylor image credit: “shingwauk hall, 1970”, from shingwauk residential schools centre, algoma university. used with permission. the international journal of infor m ation, diversity, & inclusion ijidi cover january 2021 ijidi cover credits january 2021 serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ serving underserved populations: implications from a model of successful services for deaf and hard of hearing children in public libraries bobbie bushman, university of north texas, usa abstract there is a current movement in public libraries towards increasingly inclusive programming. this research presents the findings from a study of library programs for deaf and hard of hearing (d/hoh) children. using the grounded theory approach, it highlights the successful practices of u.s. public libraries working with d/hoh children. nearly five hundred medium and large-sized libraries were contacted; fifteen librarians volunteered to be interviewed and eleven were ultimately interviewed. interviews were analyzed using open and axial coding. based on the empirical data, the model of successful library services for d/hoh children was developed. the model explains the services, early literacy instruction, and programs offered by public librarians to d/hoh children and identifies four stages of service delivery which highlight: (1) staff attitudes; (2) impetus for providing services for d/hoh patrons; (3) accommodations through inclusive programming, american sign language (asl) programming, or visual phonics; and (4) outcomes of this work in terms of educating both hearing and d/hoh individuals and of building a sense of community. this paper focuses on the model of successful library services for d/hoh children to determine whether its four stages of service may also be applied to other marginalized populations in order to facilitate successful library programming. keywords: diversity; inclusion; marginalized populations; successful library programming; underserved populations publication type: research article introduction n the u.s., public libraries are increasingly providing programming for diverse populations, including such groups as deaf and hard of hearing (d/hoh) children. most public children’s librarians are trained to use the early literacy program produced by the american library association (ala) titled “every child ready to read” (ecrr) (http://everychildreadytoread.org). while some public libraries have created their own early literacy programs, the vast majority of librarians are trained in ecrr. as of 2011, ecrr reports that over 6,000 u.s. libraries have purchased their toolkit (ala, n.d.). this grounded theory study was inspired by the ecrr training i received as a practicing children’s librarian. after becoming ecrr-trained, i began to wonder how the program might apply to diverse populations like d/hoh children. ecrr identifies phonological awareness as a required pre-literacy skill, but does not instruct librarians how d/hoh children might learn that skill. ecrr emphasizes the importance of songs and rhyming in story times, but does not suggest ways in which d/hoh children can learn songs or rhymes. questions about how to i http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://everychildreadytoread.org/ serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ implement ecrr with d/hoh children became the driving force for this research, which stands to address a gap in the library literature about how public libraries serve d/hoh children. it is a study which seems long overdue. public libraries have the opportunity to play a vital role in providing early literacy programming and education to d/hoh children and their families. this intervention by librarians could be instrumental in increasing the reading level for d/hoh adults in the u.s.. additionally, having a child diagnosed with d/hoh can be isolating for families because support is often not available until the child enters school. not only can libraries offer leisure reading materials for d/hoh children, such as american sign language (asl) books, graphic novels, and dvds with closed captioning; they can also offer a physical space in which to hold asl classes, support groups, and other events for the d/hoh community. in order to continue with this critical role, public librarians must be knowledgeable about effective ways of engaging d/hoh individuals as well as members of other marginalized populations. this research began by gathering information about the types of library services provided for d/hoh children, the kinds of early literacy programs utilized by public librarians with this group of patrons, the types of modifications made to serve d/hoh children, and the impetus for providing these services and programs. the data was collected and analyzed to produce the model of successful library services for d/hoh children; there is no previous equivalent model. this paper also addresses how the model of successful libraries services for d/hoh children might apply to other underserved populations, extending the findings of this research beyond the population of d/hoh children. when libraries offer programming to an underserved population, they might experience similar obstacles, utilize the same techniques, and derive comparable lessons to those noted in the work with d/hoh children. literature review although the literature about serving diverse populations may be growing, information about library services for d/hoh children is scarce. over the past sixteen years, reports of providing library services for d/hoh children include accounts of asl story times, asl classes, and d/hoh-focused collection development. some libraries train their staff in asl or hire staff who are already fluent in asl. the literature outlining such public libraries services for d/hoh individuals, as well as some of the tools that have become available to these libraries, is summarized below. the safety harbor public library in pinellas county, florida, served their d/hoh population by teaching asl to children and adults. they reported that program attendees were family members of individuals with d/hoh or people wanting to learn a new language (rodriguez & reed, 2003). the safety harbor public library's family story times offered a place for both d/hoh and hearing parents and children to interact (rodriguez & reed, 2003). the safety harbor public library also arranged homework assistance and language modeling to hearing children of d/hoh adults (rodriguez & reed, 2003) and featured a deaf literacy center, which hosted many activities, including a nationwide library-based adult literacy program for d/hoh adults and their families (pinellas public library cooperative, 2016). hands and johnson (2012) examined several other libraries which facilitated asl story times for d/hoh and hearing families, taught early literacy workshops for parents of d/hoh children, and provided outreach programs for d/hoh family members. 60 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ many american libraries continue to add asl videos to their collections. in addition to building a collection of closed-captioned movies, nail (2008) reported that canadian libraries purchased a series of dvds called asl tales. asl tales offered children's books with accompanying dvds, each of which featured stories told in asl and provided web-linked learning tools. this dvd series can serve as a solid introduction to asl and become an asset to any library collection. the argo library/school media center in colorado reported carrying a large number of books with d/hoh characters. their video collection contained asl instruction, information on d/hoh culture, and stories told in asl (arnold, 2002). the springfield massachusetts city library responded to a d/hoh child attending their programs by purchasing asl books. the outreach librarian also began working with a local school for d/hoh children. the library paid her to take asl courses at the d/hoh school. the librarian was then able to read stories in asl and make connections with d/hoh children (lajoie, 2003). some libraries also offered disability training to help staff to better serve their patrons. the cleveland heights-university heights public library in ohio offered specialized training with d/hoh patrons in mind. they hired staff with basic asl knowledge and paid them to advance their asl education. the library paid for interpreters and d/hoh materials, as many libraries also do. the ohio library also provided outreach to d/hoh patrons and computer classes for d/hoh individuals (noland, 2003). christine wixtrom of alexandria, virginia, founded asl access, a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization that supplies public libraries with asl resources. asl access created a collection of videos featuring asl instruction, asl story times, and d/hoh culture information (macmillan, 2003). this resource is still being sold to libraries to date. graphic novels are a library resource especially beneficial for d/hoh children because “faced with challenges in reading comprehension, students who are d/hoh can benefit greatly from the use of words and pictures together to convey information” (white, 2011, p. 20). researchers speculate that d/hoh readers are more easily able to comprehend graphic novels due to the visual nature of asl (white, 2011, p. 21). graphic novels have grown in popularity; by adding this type of material to their collections, libraries are simultaneously becoming more inclusive of d/hoh children. librarian harley hamilton created my sign link, a free online asl dictionary which translates words typed into the dictionary prompt with a video of the sign for that word. hamilton created the 17,000-word dictionary with only a $500 budget (mccaffrey, 2004b). today, there are many of these free online dictionaries available, including asl pro, life print, and hand speak. hamilton also approached weston woods, a creator of children’s films with captioning, and asked them to create signed retellings of popular children’s novels on film (mccaffrey, 2004a). universal design is a set of principles based on research that lends a framework for using technology to maximize learning for all (blue & pace, 2011). one successful example of utilizing universal design, called the child’s place, was implemented by the brooklyn public library in new york in 1987 and is still in existence today. the library offers drop-in programs in english, spanish, and asl. story times and other programs were multi-sensory and featured books and a variety of activities in asl (banks, 2004). another ongoing program which continues to offer d/hoh services is that at the monroe county library system in new york. with $99,150 in grant money from the library services and 61 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ technologies act to offer several programs for children and youth with diverse needs, the library trained staff and began programming in asl (wemett, 2007). methodology the incentive for this grounded theory research was derived from my experience as a practicing children’s librarian attempting to apply ecrr to d/hoh children with whom i interacted in the public library. i became aware of the lack of both knowledge and existing models for providing library services to diverse populations. the purpose of grounded theory research is to provide an explanation or a model where none is present (bryant & charmaz, 2007). the grounded theory research i conducted also relied on the naturalistic setting (such as observing how a librarian facilitates d/hoh programming in a public library) and self-generated questions typical in grounded theory. the real-life experience of the subjects helps to create research “about real people or objects to which they can relate” (bryant & charmaz, 2007, p. 114). this inherent relevance was necessary to build a future model for practicing librarians to use when serving d/hoh children and other underserved populations. the goal of this study was to learn how librarians deliver programming to d/hoh children, which modifications they make to accommodate d/hoh children, and how they decide which services to offer to d/hoh children and their families. of particular interest were the ways in which librarians modified story times and other early literacy programming to make them more inclusive. creswell’s (2009) qualitative research procedures were followed as well as those for grounded theory from bryant and charmaz (2007). the mode of data collection was semi-structured interviews conducted in 2014. the goal was to conduct interviews until saturation was reached, as evidenced by coding comparisons. repeated information was obtained, even with this small sample size (eleven interviews, as described below). each interview took approximately thirty minutes. interview questions were designed to begin a dialog with the librarian in order to learn about starting and maintaining a program for d/hoh children. typical of qualitative research, questions were open-ended, conversational, and subject to modification. interviews were concluded by inviting each librarian to share anything else they would like related to their work with d/hoh children. as expected, librarians with the most experience had more insight to share and would often offer additional information related to serving d/hoh children. open-ended interviews and the qualitative approach allowed participating librarians to tell their stories about delivering library services to the d/hoh community. utilizing a list of semistructured questions (appendix b), the interviews were nonetheless flexible; the questions were modified according to each interviewee’s experience and appropriate follow up and clarifying questions were posed. the interview questions were designed after conducting similar research on the broader topic of library services to children with diverse needs (adkins & bushman, 2015). some questions were also generated based on my personal experience with ecrr, d/hoh individuals, and the review of literature. interview questions were pre-tested with a librarian at a d/hoh school and an early literacy expert for d/hoh children. both pre-test interviewees were recruited through snowball sampling via an initial contact made with a principal at a school for the d/hoh. preliminary interviews were conducted, transcribed, and coded to determine whether the questions were appropriate to the topic and the audience. these interviews were not included in the final 62 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ data. the pre-test interviews consisted of about seven initial questions with follow-up questions as needed. each preliminary interview resulted in approximately five pages of transcribed text and included the topics of program planning, staff attitude, implementation, successes, failures, and obstacles. these pre-test interviews helped to identify gaps in my knowledge as a researcher and to refine the interview questions. according to bryant and charmaz (2007), theoretical triangulation is a mode of verification used while engaging in data gathering and analysis, and it is used to create a checks and balances system. theoretical triangulation uses multiple perceptions to clarify meaning. in this research, interviews and library websites served as the basis for triangulation. the interviews were conducted on the phone, recorded, and transcribed. grounded theory emphasizes the use of open, axial, and selective coding (creswell, 2008) when using the systematic design. during the coding process, data was distilled and sorted as described by charmaz (2006), in order to make comparisons and recognize overarching themes. after transcribing interviews, open coding was initiated by identifying in vivo codes, which “capture” a “participant’s words as representative of a broader concept in the data” (birks & mills, 2011, p. 93). significant phrases (in vivo codes) were extracted from the interviews and pasted into a coding table that placed them alongside an initially assigned code (open code). the in vivo codes were extracted based on their ability to address this study’s research questions. an early coding example can be found in appendix d. in grounded theory research, open and axial coding are intertwined in such a way that any distinction between them is artificial and used for explanatory purposes only (corbin & strauss, 2008). during open coding, labels or headings were assigned to the text to categorize it. in some cases, more than one heading was used per in vivo code. these headings became more specific and succinct as coding progressed. axial codes are formed by comparing the events found in one code with the next (charmaz, 2006). in grounded theory, comparing codes allows categories to emerge and connections to be made among the data (charmaz, 2006). by comparing portions of similarly coded interviews, the overarching themes of this grounded theory begin to develop as similarities among the interviews became apparent. to reveal these axial codes and themes, open coded data was matched. memos and notes served to indicate commonalities between participants’ responses to broaden or narrow codes. it was through this process that the model of successful library services for d/hoh children began to emerge. there are two primary ways of validating a coding scheme (or methodology) in qualitative analysis. the first method of validation is to compare the scheme against the raw data, with the researcher completing the high-level analysis; the second method is to tell the story to participants and obtain feedback via member checking (corbin & strauss, 2008). for this research, both methods were utilized. throughout the coding process, participants’ stories were continually compared against one another and checked against codes and supporting documents. this assisted with the accurate preservation of the participants’ experiences. transcribed interviews and supporting documents were stored on a password-protected server and ultimately deleted. no identifying information was stored. any names of people, towns, libraries, nearby agencies, or other identifying information was omitted in transcription. in order to verify the model for this research, three interview participants (who indicated they would like to know the outcome of the research), were contacted for follow-up interviews. (interestingly, these three participants also had the most experience creating d/hoh 63 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ programming.) they were emailed with a reminder about the study and a copy of the model of successful library services for d/hoh children. then they were asked to indicate whether this model reflected their experiences and, if not, whether they could add anything that was missing from the model. only one participant responded, but she reported that she thought the model was “excellent” in explaining the process of providing services to d/hoh children. additional verification was sought by cross checking interviews and codes against one another when looking for themes in the data to ensure that a consistent story emerged about how d/hoh programming was conducted in libraries. participants library information was obtained from the data file for the 2010 public libraries survey from the institute of museum and library services (imls) website, which contained 9,308 records (imls, 2010). only libraries with service populations greater than 100,000 people across the u.s. were selected, and the list was narrowed down to 540 mediumand large-sized public libraries. email addresses for children’s librarians were obtained from library websites for 490 librarians. a recruitment script (appendix a) and survey instrument (appendix b) were sent via email to those 490 librarians for the purpose of determining participation interest and experience in working with d/hoh children (appendix c). of the 490 librarians who were sent surveys, fifteen librarians indicated in the survey that they would be willing to be interviewed, however, only ten of those fifteen librarians were reached using the contact information provided. others were unreachable, but one more interviewee was added to the sample through snowballing. as a result, a total of eleven interviews were conducted after the participants were given informed consent forms. of the eleven librarians interviewed, all but one were female. six of the interview participants were children’s librarians. interviews were also conducted with management-level librarians who were not the library staff interacting with d/hoh children. those who were not children’s librarians held the following job titles: youth services coordinator, deaf literacy coordinator, early literacy specialist, youth services manager, community engagement coordinator, and adult services coordinator. the librarians and the corresponding libraries in which they work are identified numerically (1-11) in the discussion below. the model using the research questions, a grounded theory model for providing successful library services for d/hoh children was developed. the model of successful library services for d/hoh children explains how librarians are serving d/hoh children in u.s. public libraries in the absence of existing systems to serve d/hoh children. this paper discusses how the model (fig. 1) can be applied more broadly, beyond serving d/hoh children, to provide more inclusive programming for all patrons. the version of the model included in this paper represents a refinement and revision of the previously published iterations of the same model, including revised terminology and additional stages. 64 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ figure 1. model of successful library services for d/hoh children results and discussion the model of successful library services for d/hoh children outlines which services, early literacy instruction, staff training, and programs public libraries offer to children who are d/hoh and outlines four stages of providing those services. the first stage of the model highlights the fact that successful programming begins with staff whose attitudes are warm and welcoming, who take initiative, and who do not see those who are d/hoh as having a disability. the second stage looks at the impetus for providing services and identifies positive examples, including encountering a d/hoh patron in the library, knowing someone with a disability personally, and encountering a nearby agency that serves d/hoh individuals. the third stage outlines successful accommodations libraries make for d/hoh individuals, which include providing inclusive programming, asl programming, or ecrr modifications such as substituting visual phonics for phonological awareness. the fourth and final stage of this model describes successful outcomes for these services: educating both hearing and d/hoh individuals 65 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ and creating a sense of community. though the model of successful library services for d/hoh children is focused on public library services for children who are d/hoh, larger implications may be drawn by applying the model to other marginalized populations. stage 1. staff attitudes being aware of service barriers interviews of eleven librarians across the u.s. who were offering services, programming, or accommodations to d/hoh patrons revealed some common staff attitudes. particularly important among these attitudes was having an awareness of barriers to service and creating a warm and welcoming environment in spite of those barriers. librarians often want to know where to begin when considering new programming, especially for underserved groups. being aware of policies and other issues that may impede library service to certain populations is a good first step. for example, a librarian may ask: what are the requirements to obtain a library card at my library? does asking for certain documents exclude a group of potential patrons? if so, are there contingent policies for those patrons? should a library reevaluate that policy to make it more inclusive? or is there flexibility within that policy to serve diverse patrons? similarly, a librarian may ask: what are the physical barriers present at my library? most libraries today strive to be compliant with the americans with disabilities act (ada), with such accommodations as elevator access and designated parking, but how user-friendly are a library’s computers, stacks, and reference desks? would the height of a reference or circulation desk be comfortable for all users? is there a computer station for patrons who are visually impaired? is there a computer station with wheelchair access? are the stacks wide enough to accommodate all users? can all patrons retrieve books from the tallest shelves? these are just some of the questions librarians can begin to ask themselves to be more aware of the barriers to library and information service. these barriers may include policies, physical spaces, language difficulties, and other issues that will impede the provision of exceptional library service to some populations. awareness is the first step to finding ways to welcome diverse patrons. some libraries have populations that they deem problematic, although, as wong (2009) points out, referring to a group of people as “problem patrons” is certainly discriminatory. still, some groups receive this label in public libraries, including homeless populations, mentally ill patrons, and teenagers. with some effort, these “problematic” patrons can become an asset to the library. this was demonstrated by librarian 7 who described how d/hoh patrons were taking items without checking them out and causing disturbances that required police intervention. librarian 7 helped to change the library policies and to hold information sessions to explain library rules. check-out periods were explained, as were the use of auditory alarms to signal that an item was not properly checked out. some d/hoh patrons were surprised to learn that an alarm was going off when they walked out the door with an unchecked out item. this example illustrates why it is important to address cultural differences and expectations. librarians must remember that even patrons who seem problematic often have a legitimate information need that has been unaddressed (wong, 2009). being warm and welcoming although this study is focused on the d/hoh community, the need for library staff to project a warm and welcoming attitude can be applied to service for other groups of library patrons as well. librarians should be warm and welcoming to all patrons, which can be expressed in 66 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ different ways. for example, at library 4, librarians are “trying to say that we’re warm and welcoming and we want you [patrons] here.” librarian 3 concurred, noting that their programs are “always open” to anyone. similarly, librarian 8 emphasized that “all of [their] children’s programs” welcome “children of all different developmental needs,” an assertion which was echoed by librarians 1, 5, and 11. librarian 4 also noted that they “make sure [to] have an interpreter available to make the [d/hoh] community feel comfortable and to let the parent know that they are welcome in our story times.” another librarian shared that they “had a woman . . . who knew enough sign language to be able to assist a customer. the customer was really put at ease” (librarian 2). librarian 4 was emphatic that their offerings are “more of an inclusive story time rather than specifically singling out because we want these children—all children—to be able to interact with each other and learn from this experience.” seeing differences, not disabilities participants also consistently reported not viewing individuals with hearing impairments as disabled. this sentiment was expressed by librarian 6 who mentioned that “differences are celebrated” and “[deafness is] communication, which isn’t a disability.” librarian 9 echoed, “we just don’t really make a big deal about it. we just help every child to the best of our abilities.” deafness is often considered a culture rather than a disability. in fact, it is common to discuss the d/hoh community in the same way one might discuss any other community that shares a language and culture. librarian 7 acknowledged that “it’s a whole culture and a whole language,” while librarian 6 also described how her library perceives the deaf as a group that speaks another language, adding that they “offer story times in somali, spanish, etc.; so having an asl story time was just a natural offshoot.” taking initiative staff initiative was a vital component in the successful provision of d/hoh programming. librarians reported feeling personally responsible for ensuring that programming and accommodations were available for d/hoh children. many times, librarians put accommodations in place without consulting supervisors or other staff members. as one librarian describes: “i just took a chance and said, ‘yes. i commit to doing this.’ and then i went to my manager. if i’d gone to my manager first, i don’t know that it would’ve happened.” librarian 10 shared that one program became available only because “there was a staff member who really took the reins.” librarian 7 stated that it’s really hard to reach [d/hoh] children. that’s why i go into the school. these parents are overwhelmed between doctors’ appointments and the fact that you just found out that this child is d/hoh and you have speech therapy and 500 other things. the last thing you think of is bringing your d/hoh child to the library to story time. so, whatever program we do we bring it there. librarian 2 discussed how she collects programming feedback and subsequently makes programming changes. all of these accounts reflect the importance of staff initiative in providing successful d/hoh programming. 67 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ stage 2. impetus utilizing staff passions librarians who had served d/hoh children had several reasons for offering the service or program that they provided. knowing someone with a disability, encountering a d/hoh patron, or having an agency for d/hoh people close to their library were the most common reasons for initiating d/hoh library services. all librarians have interests and passions outside of the library. they may volunteer, and they may have personal connections to marginalized communities. library managers can fully utilize these connections by finding out more about the staff they employ and, by so doing, expand a wealth of resources at their fingertips. in this study, many librarians reported feeling accountable to the d/hoh population. if all librarians felt that way about underserved groups, diverse library services would significantly improve. the sense of responsibility and accountability creates a favorable situation for both librarians and patrons they serve. librarians are already experts in niche areas of traditional librarianship (such as reference or reader’s advisory), but they can expand their areas of expertise to include social justice and outreach to underserved groups. consider the patron impact of a librarian gaining expertise in services to the homeless, developing a spanish language collection, or becoming knowledgeable about national and local mental health resources. for instance, at the university of michigan library, staff strengths are used to increase responsiveness to community interests in creating programming (vander broek & rodgers, 2015). similarly, in this study librarians explained their passion for and commitment to serving the d/hoh community. librarian 9 described how the children’s librarian “had a passion for deaf children and their education,” while she herself felt passionate about d/hoh programming because she had a “profoundly deaf nephew.” librarian 4 commented that they had librarians who also worked at a school with developmentally disabled children. because of that experience, librarian 4 said, “we have staff members who feel this is a personal thing for them.” encountering patrons with an unmet need another common reason for initiating d/hoh library services was encountering a d/hoh person at the library. sometimes the d/hoh individual came to a library program, and other times, the librarian met that person while providing reference or other informational services. many librarians described anticipating or reacting to the needs of d/hoh individuals as an impetus for their programming. all libraries have underserved populations where similar responsiveness would likely illicit similar successful programming. at library 7, they developed programming because d/hoh people who used the library did not understand the rules, as was reflected in the incident described earlier, in which patrons took out books without checking them out. as librarian 7 commented, [a patron] tells you all the libraries are a free of charge place. well, there was no explanation that they have to be returned or when. all they heard was free books, videos, and you can check out twenty at a time—and they started checking out all this stuff and never returning it. as a solution she proposed a compromise whereby the library would let patrons “check out one 68 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ item at a time and they can keep it for as long as they can. because one big problem that some of them were having was like, ‘well, the group home didn’t bring us here for two weeks!’” librarian 5 shared how in their library, staff members responded to complaints from d/hoh patrons that some of the library’s videos were mislabeled. for example, they would be labeled as closed captioned, and the patron would take them home only to discover that this was not the case. to rectify this problem, the library purchased a dvd player to keep at the front desk where patrons could test the dvds for closed captioning before taking them home. librarian 5 also reported that they began programming because, they “had a child who was deaf who came in and wanted to participate.” librarian 6 added, “if we have a child who’s deaf and needs support in a program, we hire interpreters.” similarly, librarian 8 said, “if we see a child that is not responding to what we’re doing, we modify.” librarian 2 recounted how a deaf family made their needs known and the library responded, and librarian 8 mentioned that their programming started with a deaf and blind baby who started to visit the library. library 11 had patrons requesting asl interpreters. all of these libraries began serving d/hoh patrons at their library simply because they encountered a d/hoh patron with an unmet need. partnering with nearby agencies librarians who worked with d/hoh children often reported being close to a school for the d/hoh, an employer for the d/hoh, or another community agency for the d/hoh. librarians utilized these contacts to attract patrons, to recruit volunteers, and to promote programming. in this study, such partnerships were often an impetus for providing d/hoh programming. as mentioned, libraries frequently utilized volunteers in the development of d/hoh programming. librarian 7 described how she sought out these volunteers: i went to the college and talked to the program director [of deaf studies] and said, “i understand your students need contact hours. they need to be out there with the deaf. i have the deaf and i have nobody with them.” the same librarian reported getting different volunteers from a local company that employs the d/hoh and pays its employees to volunteer for up to twenty hours a year. similarly, library 9 began a program that relied exclusively on volunteers for the first three years. it stands to reason, therefore, that when working with underserved populations, librarians can initiate programs by cooperating with nearby agencies. not only can librarians go to the agencies for outreach, but they can also set up special times for that a gency to bring in their clients. if programs hosted by the library are of interest to their partnering agency, the agency will likely help to promote the library event, thus increasing the library reach in the respective community. oftentimes partnerships arise from a connection that library staff has with non-profit agencies. however, as massis (2013) points out, libraries can also successfully partner with retail and other for-profit organizations in ways that are beneficial for both the library and the company. librarian 9 recalled that “over the years, we’ve worked with various agencies from our hearing, speech and deafness center to deaf theater groups, student groups, agencies who support deaf services, and community programs” to offer more 69 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ diverse programming. employing diverse staff one way whereby librarians can improve their engagement of diverse populations, including members of the d/hoh community, is by employing diverse staff. sadly, the current composition of the library profession does not reflect the diversity of library patrons (jaeger, bertot, & subramaniam, 2013). ala reports that most librarians are white women without disability (ala office for research & statistics, 2017). the lack of diversity in representation is unfortunate; many sources emphasize that patrons seek assistance from a “neighbor who looks just like them” (hastings, 2015, p. 134). currently the ala diversity report notes that diversity has actually decreased in public libraries in the past 20 years, so there is much room for improvement in this area (davis & hall, 2007). kumbier and starkey (2016) point out that to be inclusive in one area is not enough. librarians must “recruit, educate, hire, and support library workers with disabilities” as well as other minorities (p. 482). in this study, there were several examples of how hiring diverse staff led to improved d/hoh services and programs. librarian 8 thought that more d/hoh children visited the library because they employed an hoh children’s librarian, whose “presence reassured parents that we consider it normal and it’s not a big deal.” similarly, librarian 10 noticed that d/hoh children were visiting more often in order to talk to their staff member who had hearing loss and knew asl. librarians 5 and 9 reported that their libraries had staff members who knew asl. for libraries 5, 8, 9, and 10, having staff who were d/hoh or spoke asl was a common impetus for offering successful d/hoh programming. in addition to hiring more diverse librarians, libraries can reassure community members that diversity is central to library operations. if a library employs a staff member who speaks another language or has a cultural identity or awareness of a minority group, this skill or knowledge should be demonstrated to the public. one practical way is to advertise to patrons that librarians speak asl, spanish, russian, or other languages, by creating name tags or signs letting patrons know that their language is spoken in the library. similarly, signs or social media posts can help patrons get to know their librarians and their areas of expertise. stage 3: accommodation/modification providing inclusive programs and services most interviewed librarians reported efforts to provide inclusive programming. librarian 1 revealed that she gave away a free book as the prize for the completion of their summer reading program, as many public libraries do, however, at her library, the prize book choices were more inclusive. participants could choose to receive a printed book, a braille book, or an audiobook. library 2 brought in an asl translator for the children’s performer they hired. in library 6, a projector was used for hands-free storytelling to help the storyteller communicate in asl. librarians 2, 4, 5, 8, and 11 each commented that their programming was inclusive of and welcoming to anyone. being aware of the populations that libraries serve and then thinking about those populations’ needs are important first steps. the libraries represented in this study, however, not only offered multilingual story times in asl, but also often featured a d/hoh person or signer as the primary storyteller or program facilitator. this actively engages 70 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ and empowers community members and sends a message that the target audience’s language is not an afterthought but a focus and an essential element of the program. customizing programs librarians who were providing successful story times customized programming for d/hoh children, making accommodations specifically for d/hoh individuals such as restructuring story times, changing policies, and developing d/hoh collections and hiring interpreters. several librarians described writing or exchanging notes with their d/hoh patrons to facilitate interactions. one librarian reported keeping a dry-erase board behind their front desk as a practical communication tool for staff unfamiliar with asl. a library that served patrons who are both deaf and blind provided each of these patrons with an interpreter who could translate using tactile signs during programming. several libraries used the help of asl-speaking volunteers, many of whom were recruited through partnerships with colleges that offered asl classes. library 8 included d/hoh children in their story times but reported that many of these children were able to hear normally with hearing aids or cochlear implants. to accommodate these hoh children, and their hoh aging population as well, they received a grant to get a tcoil system installed under the carpet of their auditorium. this allowed them to host events in which the speaker wore a special microphone that was automatically picked up by anyone wearing an assistive hearing device. this was not only helpful for patrons, but was also beneficial for staff meetings, which included a hearing-impaired children’s librarian. at one library, a deaf boy came to a year-long program in which children read to service dogs. the boy had verbal outbursts which, of course, he could not hear. as a result, the service dogs became afraid and uncooperative. to accommodate this boy, the librarian spoke to his mother, and they made a plan to ask the service dog provider to offer their most tolerant dog to the boy. this dog then went into a room alone with the boy (away from the other children and service dogs) and the boy successfully read to him. this modification allowed this child to remain in the program. librarian 8 shared that they made sure to learn tactile asl in order to work with a blind and deaf child attending her story time. library 6 bought an easel so that their deaf storyteller could easily hold the book and turn the pages during story time. library 9 offered a customized story time activity in which participants made a “who book” which featured “the sign for ‘who’ on the front of the book and the sign […] for me, mother, father, grandmother” inside. library 7 held regular asl classes at all their library branches which were open to all ages to help friends and family members of d/hoh individuals to learn asl. librarian 4 commented that they made “a concerted effort to try to bring in special speakers to address those concerns and questions” that were specific to the d/hoh community. librarian 9 said that they purchased the movie deaf jam to show at a library program which featured an interpreter and a deaf poetry slam. library 6 offered a program that specifically addressed domestic violence in the d/hoh community. library 7 held a jewelry crafters group for d/hoh women each week. the women made necklaces and listed them for sale online. they then sent the proceeds to d/hoh women in south america. library 7 hosted a d/hoh culture event at their library once a month. to do this, they created celebrations based on the recognized national holidays and events. for example, their library marks black deaf history month and deaf hispanic heritage month. they also facilitated book discussions for d/hoh individuals, which were led by a deaf proficient reader who had read the book and differed from standard book discussions by not assuming that attending individuals had read the book. librarian 6 described having a book group in asl that focused on d/hoh adults. 71 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ when providing customized programming, librarians must consider issues specific to the target audience. librarian 7 described the process of deciding whether or not her library needed to offer customized computer classes and story times for d/hoh individuals as follows: we had computer classes and we would try to bring the deaf to the computer classes. because they’re looking down and they have to look at the interpreter and then type, the teacher was already speaking and going on to the next thing. the hearing people are now finding yahoo and the deaf person doesn’t even know that we have to look for yahoo yet. so, we decided to have our own classes. the same thing with the storytelling. librarians 4 and 10 emphasized that their libraries had been serving the d/hoh community for a long time and indicated that their use of a tty device, a device which allows d/hoh individuals to use a landline telephone for assisted listening, became a significant link to the d/hoh community and first brought d/hoh individuals into their libraries. while not every library has a large community of d/hoh people residing in their catchment area, every library always has a group of patrons with unique needs who are interested in having programs customized to fit those needs. involving the target audience offering programs for a particular group makes it necessary to include members of that group in planning, delivering, and evaluating the program. as kumbier and starkey (2016) explain, the popular slogan used to advocate for people with disabilities, “nothing about us, without us” means that we must make room for people with disabilities in leadership roles, not just as members. in this study, there were many programs that were planned with the help of people from within the target audience. library 9 utilizes a deaf signer to conduct story times. library 6 reports having a deaf storyteller at story times. these story times feature the d/hoh person as the primary performer and have the hearing person serve as the interpreter. at library 9, d/hoh individuals in the community advocated for d/hoh services to the library, which included having a d/hoh person write a grant so the library could pay for the requested services. similarly, librarian 6 reports, “the deaf community has been very integral in making sure that the library stays connected and engaged so it’s definitely been a wonderful partnership.” responsiveness to a community’s needs and including the target audience in programming will increase a library program’s attendance. when librarians ask underserved groups to assist with planning and facilitating the library program, those individuals will tell other members of the underserved group about the library’s services and programs. a library can quickly build a reputation for serving underserved groups this way, as described by librarian 7: “everyone knows about [our library services for the d/hoh]. people move into town and right away they’re here [at the library].” stage 4: outcomes serving the minority culture in addition to other challenges, d/hoh people have limited access to sources of information and a limited number of these sources compared to hearing individuals. one obvious challenge 72 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ is that d/hoh people require close captioning and assistive technologies to access electronic and audio-visual information, including news and current events. libraries are, at times, the only institutions providing reading and language instruction for d/hoh children before they enter school. education was a major theme of interviews in this study, which has implications beyond the d/hoh community. library programming for d/hoh children attracted hearing children with hearing parents, hearing children with d/hoh parents, and d/hoh children with hearing parents. hearing parents shared that library programs taught them about d/hoh culture and taught their children about diversity. librarians reported that children learned to respect differences as a result of observing a d/hoh person communicate in asl. librarians also stressed that library programming for d/hoh children and adults helped d/hoh individuals to learn early literacy, improve asl, and master information literacy. librarian 7 explained why meeting the needs of the d/hoh community was so important: i think that this is where deaf people need to be. we have everything that they don’t have: information. nobody tells them what’s happening around them. and here, we subscribe to the deaf magazines and we’re always showing them videos. librarian 9 recalled her experiences meeting the needs of d/hoh children, saying, “the results are quite astounding when [d/hoh] children get that one on one help.” she added, “this is one of the places where they get regular exposure to asl and an opportunity to use it and to see it [used].” librarian 9 further described positive programming outcomes for d/hoh children, stating that their “programming increased the reading comprehension of deaf children who attended by 43%.” educating the majority culture librarians commented that d/hoh individuals were not the only people who attended their programs. positive outcomes were also reported for the members of the hearing community who took part in library offerings. hearing parents shared with librarians that they had learned much about d/hoh culture and that the d/hoh program served as a teaching opportunity about the diversity of life experiences. as librarian 9 noted, “the hearing people that come get exposed to deaf culture. it’s just pretty amazing.” librarian 6 commented, “we explain to the children that although it could be a male voice or a female voice that you hear, we want you to focus on the individual who is signing because they’re communicating.” this librarian also observed that there is “comfort that comes [for hearing children] with understanding deafness.” several libraries in this study offered asl classes to hearing individuals. sometimes the attendees knew someone who was d/hoh and sometimes they did not. librarian 9 described teaching hearing parents asl so that they could communicate with their deaf child and remarked that “the results are quite astounding—when parents learn to sign” in order to communicate with their children. some librarians might anticipate that serving a marginalized group risks alienating the majority users, however, this research suggests that the opposite is true: that service to one marginalized group does not happen at the expense of the majority, but rather benefits all library users. librarians reported that story times with an asl focus were attended not only by 73 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ d/hoh children. children who were pre-verbal, nonverbal, autistic, or had no disabilities benefited from story times designed for d/hoh children. the same mainstream attendance and positive outcomes could be expected any time librarians offer programming created for underserved populations. building social connections a major finding in this research is that by providing services for d/hoh patrons at their libraries, librarians were able to help foster a sense of d/hoh community and engage d/hoh patrons with the library as a social space. for example, librarian 9 summarized, “it’s really not just their literacy, but it’s building their social network.” librarian 4 echoed, “we want these children—all children—to be able to interact with each other and learn from this experience.” the interaction between majority and minority cultures that can happen as part of library programming contributes to a wider sense of community. as librarian 4 commented, we are very active in seeking [d/hoh people] out because […] we want to make this a first thought for people; that this is a place for lifelong learning and no matter what your needs are we should be able to accommodate them. in turn, librarian 9 explained that “the reason [the library] wanted deaf signers is because then children and families are seeing real deaf people doing something for the community.” d/hoh individuals are not the only ones with whom libraries can facilitate community building and engagement. many patrons may fall into isolated and marginalized groups, such as nonnative english speakers, adults learning to read, immigrants, and individuals recently diagnosed with a condition or illness. by offering culturally sensitive programming based on common languages, shared experiences, or new skills sought, libraries can truly contribute to developing community connections and building bridges. limitations the grounded theory design lent some weaknesses and challenges to this research. due to the minority status of the d/hoh population and the self-selection of interview participants, gathering sufficient data proved challenging. participant mix and lack of prior research are two well-known limitations of grounded theory study and this research reflects those same limitations (charmaz, 2006). the world health organization (2018) defines disabling deafness in children as “hearing loss greater than 30 db in the better hearing ear” (para. 2). within the library setting, librarians have no way of knowing a child’s official level of deafness. this study assumed a child to be d/hoh if the child’s parent reported the child as d/hoh or if the child communicated with asl. librarians in this research did not have clinical information about a child’s level of deafness or about whether the child had cochlear implants or other assistive technologies. during the interviews, librarians explained that they determined a child to be d/hoh by seeing cochlear implants, by seeing the child use asl or gesturing to communicate, or by report of a parent or caregiver. librarians varied greatly in their experience communicating with d/hoh children. some librarians knew asl while others used interpreters, relied on parents, or used written communication or gesturing. 74 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the initial contact for this research was a survey which focused on medium to large libraries based on an assumption that larger libraries with bigger service populations had more experience with d/hoh children. a larger library also means a larger library staff, which can result in more specialization and a greater variety of experiences and backgrounds. omitting small-sized libraries in the survey sample may have skewed the findings. the interviews did include public librarians from areas with large d/hoh populations, where d/hoh children live around other d/hoh individuals and may have d/hoh parents. this is not a typical d/hoh experience because d/hoh children born to hearing parents make up 96% of the d/hoh child population (humphries et al., 2012). d/hoh children of d/hoh parents who use asl do not have the same difficulties as d/hoh children of hearing parents, especially with regard to language development and delays. librarians were interviewed based on their willingness to volunteer as participants. it is likely that those librarians who self-selected to be interviewed did so because they had more positive experiences to share about creating and maintaining library services for d/hoh children. therefore, this research may report a greater number of positive experiences in creating and implementing library services for d/hoh children than is representative of the population of librarians as a whole. finally, the lack of systematic collection of data describing the demographic information of participating librarians, such as age, gender, and the number of years of experience, could be seen as a methodological omission. although this data surfaced spontaneously in the course of the interviews, more systematically collected demographic information in subsequent studies could introduce fineness into the data. conclusion the model of successful library services for d/hoh children offers lessons that librarians can use to serve not only d/hoh individuals, but also members of any group of diverse patrons. being warm and welcoming, not focusing on disability, employing a diverse staff, encouraging staff to take the initiative, utilizing staff passions, partnering with nearby agencies, providing inclusive programming, including the target audience in planning, embracing minority culture, and working to build community are all effective strategies that can be employed beyond the d/hoh population. applying the strategies from this research would likely result in greater programming successes for any population served at a library. librarians who want to offer new programming can begin by looking to their staff and community. if there are nearby agencies that serve a particular community, then collaborating with those agencies is an important first step. as this research illustrates, nearby agencies can help with more than patron referral; they can also help with recruiting volunteers, staff training, promotional opportunities, and other endeavors. library staff can assist in making these crucial connections by utilizing their own passions, skills, and networks. employing a diverse staff is another factor that helps to attract underserved populations. it is important for librarians to recognize that staff attitude is crucial in serving minority populations like d/hoh patrons. in this research, librarians were warm and welcoming, took the initiative to serve d/hoh children, and did not perceive d/hoh children as disabled. these values laid the framework for successfully serving d/hoh children at their libraries. for practicing librarians, this means that one of the most impactful factors in providing successful programming is attitude and behavior, which is within the power of each librarian to control 75 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ and is not contingent upon budget or other library limitations. in this study, librarians reported that a significant outcome of their d/hoh programming was building communities for marginalized groups, both for d/hoh populations and hearing populations. librarians relied on d/hoh individuals to help plan programming, lead book discussions, volunteer, and recruit program attendees. the importance of relying on community members who represent the served population was also highlighted. these community members may be staff, regular patrons, representatives from a nearby agency, or community gatekeepers. because the recognition of diverse populations is more prevalent than ever, it is critical that librarians continuously question the existing models and ask such tough questions as: “does this model apply to everyone?” and “who might this practice or policy exclude?” once librarians have identified obstacles to service for particular groups, they can begin planning their activities differently. there is a need for increasing public awareness of the free and highquality services that librarians create for d/hoh children and their families; awareness is also needed of the fact that such services are not available in every location or library. in sum, this study, and the model of successful library services for d/hoh children drawn from it, can offer valuable lessons to librarians who seek out opportunities to serve the underserved populations. acknowledgements thank you to dr. keren dali and ijidi reviewers. your patient editorial assistance made this paper possible. appendix a recruitment script dear librarian, i am conducting a survey about library services for deaf children in public libraries. this online survey should take 10-30 minutes, depending on how much information you have to share. you may refuse to answer any question, and you may leave the survey at any time by closing your browser window. my goal with this survey is to collect information and best practices for conducting library services for deaf children. i hope this project will benefit the library community by helping other libraries to develop library services that are accessible to deaf children, and to learn what situations other libraries have faced in offering these services. will you protect my privacy? yes. this survey is set up so no information about you or your ip address is collected. i will store survey data without personal information for three years prior to destroying it, but the data will be stored on a password-protected server. i will not collect or release any identifying information. 76 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ why am i getting this? your library was chosen from a listing of all u.s. libraries with a service population of over 100,000 people. i chose libraries with over 100,000 people to maximize the possibility of your having interacted with deaf children in your service area. i also thought that larger libraries were more likely to have the budget and personnel to respond to the needs of deaf children. if you prefer not to be contacted or not to participate, please reply to this email and we will take you off our mailing list. whom can you contact for more information? if you have questions about the research, please contact the investigator, bobbie bushman, at bobbiebushman@gmail.com. if you have questions about your rights as a research participant, please contact the university of missouri institutional review board at 573-882-9585 or irb@missouri.edu. by clicking “yes” below, you are indicating that you have read the information above and choose to participate in this research. thank you very much for your attention. bobbie bushman (librarian/doctoral student) university of missouri school of information science & learning technologies appendix b questionnaire this online survey is about library services for deaf children in public libraries and should take 10-30 minutes, depending on how much information you have to share. you may refuse to answer any question, and you may leave the survey at any time by closing your browser window. library planning and evaluation has your library conducted a community analysis or other formal study to identify deaf children in your service area? • yes • no • i don’t know does your library have plans to include services to deaf individuals (either children or adults)? • yes • no 77 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, mailto:bobbiebushman@gmail.com mailto:irb@missouri.edu serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ • our library mission includes a statement about services to people with disabilities, but not specifically deaf have you or other library employees attended in-service or off-site training about working with special needs children? • yes • no if yes, who provided those services? • community agency • consultant • college instructor/class • other • library association your child patrons does your library have deaf children in its service area? • no • yes • i don’t know if yes, have you or other library staff interacted with those deaf children? • no • yes library programming does your library provide programming for children? • no • yes if yes, please select all that apply. • story time • summer reading program 78 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ • family programs • craft programs • puppet shows • storytelling • other (please specify) does your library provide separate programming for deaf children? • yes • no if you provide programming (separate or inclusive) for deaf children, how was that service initiated? • children’s/youth department on our own initiative • request by administrators • request by teachers • request by parents/caregivers • other (please specify) • i don’t know resources are there resources in your community to help serve deaf children? examples might be special schools, health departments, etc. • yes • no • i don’t know if yes, please specify. equipment do you provide specialized accommodations to deaf children? if so, please indicate the equipment below. • asl staff or interpreter • books with asl pictures 79 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ • tty communicator • computers with assistive software • videos with asl other (please specify) challenges what are some of the challenges your library faces in providing services to deaf children? • not enough resources (money/time) • staff need more education/training • not a priority • uninterested/non-participating patrons • uninterested/non-participating/untrained library staff • uninterested/non-participating library administrators • communication barriers • other (please specify) follow-up to survey would you be willing to participate in a telephone interview about your library’s provisions for special needs children? yes/no if yes, please provide your contact information. appendix c semi-structured interview script and questions hello. this is bobbie bushman from the university of missouri. i recently sent an email about interviewing you. i am interested to know more about your early literacy experiences working with deaf children. since you indicated that you were willing to be interviewed, i want to begin with a few general questions about your experience. feel free to interrupt or elaborate at any point. also, we should let you know that you can feel free to stop this interview at any time or choose not to answer any question. you can also feel free to ask us questions, too. i anticipate that this 80 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ interview will take about 30 minutes. 1. describe the deaf population at your library. 2. how did you begin serving this deaf population? 3. how did you decide what programming to provide for deaf children? 4. is your programming “mainstreamed”? that is, do all children participate in programming regardless of hearing ability? or is it specific to only deaf children? 5. can you tell me about your experience serving deaf adults? how does this relate to library services to deaf children? 6. describe the implementation of your deaf programming. 7. tell me about the training you have related to deaf literacy. 8. does your library use every children ready to read or a similar “reading readiness” program? if so, which one? where can i get a copy or more information about the reading readiness program your library uses? 9. how well do you find that this “reading readiness” program applies to deaf children? 10. tell me about a program for a deaf child at your library that was a great success. 11. tell me about a time when you tried to provide a library program for deaf children and encountered difficulties or failure. 12. have you partnered with any other facilities, early educators, schools, libraries, etc. in order to serve deaf children? 13. is there anything else you would like to add? do you have feedback about things i should have asked or should not ask? i don’t have any more questions for you. i would like to thank you for talking to me so candidly. if you have any further questions, please feel free to be in touch. appendix d coding example this is an example of first phase coding from one of the longer, more descriptive interviews. to protect the participants’ privacy, identifying information has been replaced with ****. 81 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ in vivo codes open, first cycle codes we have a really diverse deaf population. we work with deaf/blind, low vision, deaf, blind, deaf, and then hard of hearing individuals who come in to use library services. now this is a mix of children and adults. population? [we work] with the deaf services coordinator with trying to get grants and ttys or interpreters. at the library, we have a long history of working with our deaf population in the area. so, over the years we’ve worked with various agencies [like the] deaf theater groups, student groups, and other agencies, state agencies who support deaf services and community programs. impetus support/partnerships we have . . . programs for early learning and the library has partnered with this [deaf] group in order to provide story time activities here at the library and we’ll also go to that agency. support/partnerships we have a junior high school with deaf services programs called ***** middle school and we have a high school. the high school has [a] deaf services program for young people. and we have another high school outside of the area, an elementary school that works with deaf children. support/partnerships [our d/hoh programming is] a result of the deaf community advocating. [it is] really wonderful about [them] being in touch with us, letting us know when they need to use our space, and [when they] have questions. impetus 82 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ in vivo codes open, first cycle codes we actually had a deaf individual who wrote the grant, who assisted us as a volunteer, and then later went on to work with us to get the ttys early on. support/partnerships we have an american sign language story time that’s offered at our branch libraries that has a mix of deaf and hearing children attending. services/programs we will also provide interpreters for deaf children and families to attend any program. services/programs modifications/accommodations so, we have a lot of dvds related to sign language. we have books about, “my friend is deaf,” those kind of informational materials. services/programs modifications/accommodations the program that i work with is called ***** and i am a librarian but in charge with coordinating services for deaf, special needs, [and] blind individuals.` services/programs we have an asl book group and that focuses on deaf adults. services/programs we just had a huge program that addressed domestic violence in the deaf community. that was sponsored by an abused deaf women’s advocacy group. services/programs support/partnerships we’ve had [deaf] films. services/programs [we work with] **** deaf ******advocacy center. and we’ve done a number of programs with them over the years. support/partnerships 83 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ in vivo codes open, first cycle codes our focus program is the asl story time. services/programs we always have [a deaf] storyteller. modifications/accommodations what we focus on is language learning. so, we’ll focus on basic asl, abcs—the alphabet and we use books that are very colorful, engaging, and we’ll have an interpreter who will voice the information. we explain to the children that although—and it could be a male voice or a female voice—and although there’s a voice that you hear, we want you to focus on the individual who is signing because they’re communicating. modifications/accommodations services/programs through our asl programs, we try to educate children about deafness and for deaf children we want them to be engaged and have someone who speaks directly to them. and it’s so interesting to watch the different populations where the deaf children are just so entrenched in watching the deaf storyteller. and then the hearing children are very interest[ed] in just the movement outcomes [there is] learning that’s going on. [the child will say,] “mommy, he’s talking but she’s signing.” and [the result of that realization is a] comfort with understanding deafness. outcomes we go to the [deaf center] and its target educating children so it’s your abcs, it’s some of your—it’s understanding fruits and different subjects and it’s very similar, it’s similar—it is exactly the same as our story times for young people who are learning, who are hearing children. support/partnerships 84 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ in vivo codes open, first cycle codes we’re focusing on books and learning, and learning about different subjects. it could be, “what do you need when you’re going on a vacation?” or, “what do you need if you’re going to school,” and “how do you prepare?” so, and it’s just with the overlay of the interpreter and educating about sign language. modifications/accommodations we have a large deaf community in the area so they’re involved with deaf spotlight [celebrating achievements of deaf individuals] and/or they are asl instructors who are involved with drama and teaching. support/partnerships we advertise through the deaf community so we’ll ask, like, hearing, speech and deafness center, “do you know of deaf artists?” we’ll go through our community college, “do you know of deaf artists?” and we have a really strong deaf community over the years so it hasn’t been difficult to find people. support/partnerships our asl storytellers are asl instructors. support/partnerships we just have the deaf storyteller and the interpreter so we have an easel so it will make it easy for the deaf storyteller to turn the page. we will sometimes do a projection. so, the book is on the screen and they just have to hit the clicker to go to the next page. modifications/accommodations 85 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ in vivo codes open, first cycle codes we would have two interpreters for the deaf/blind individual. and then one— maybe, it could, in most cases it’s another deaf individual who’s doing the copy signing. and so, we may have three or four interpreters. modifications/accommodations we offer story time in different languages [somali, spanish]. and so, having an asl story time was just a natural offshoot. services/programs impetus we have a spanish [and russian] language book group. and so, the asl was an offshoot. services/programs impetus we do rely on the deaf community to let us know what is interesting. support/partnerships we had deaf nee-kay where there was a deaf chinese individual involved with the internment camps. services/programs we just happened to be having a big library conference in the area and so we were able to highlight a video related to how the deaf community and the librarian community could come together and learn about deaf history. training if we have a child who’s deaf and needs support in a program, that’s where we hire the interpreters. modifications/accommodations 86 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ in vivo codes open, first cycle codes [we got] referrals from the deaf center. we work with the deaf/blind services center. we work with helen keller center for deaf/blind. we work with the lighthouse for the blind that has deaf/blind employees. we—gosh, work with the office of deaf and hard of hearing that’s in our state capitol. support/partnerships we had a video phone and video phone resources early on. services/programs we worked with our community colleges for asl students who are studying who may need library resources or who need to attend programs related to the deaf community. support/partnerships services they have a summer program for deaf/blind individuals. support/partnerships we virtually work with a number of agencies in the area—we work with the association for the deaf. support/partnerships 87 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ in vivo codes open, first cycle codes as soon as you sign ‘a’, you turn around and so instead of having to say ‘a’, you sign ‘a’ and then turn around. and the hearing children—you know, everybody is doing that. and so, “let’s sign ‘a’” and so dance and make a circle. so, “the wheels on the bus” it’s kind of a little larger than life and it’s easy signs and like, “wheels” and then “bus” so all of the children can participate and that’s really important whereas—and they’re easy songs that we can sign that deaf children don’t need to necessarily hear or know the words. they’re familiar with it. what is it? itsy bitsy spider because those are fun signs. i’m trying to think of songs. let’s see, “we all get together,” and so the deaf children—and we know— and the deaf signer will sign, you know, “this is a song and you sign and you can voice,” or “let’s all sign together.” modifications/accommodations differences are celebrated. staff attitudes/experiences we try to separate out the communities so it’s not seen as “disabled” and express it with the deaf community. it’s communication, which isn’t a disability. staff attitudes/experiences references adkins, d., & bushman, b. (2015). a special needs approach. children & libraries, 13(3), 28-33. american library association (ala). every child ready to read (ecrr). (n.d.). retrieved from http://www.everychildreadytoread.org/ ala office for research & statistics. (2017). 2017 ala demographic study. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/research/initiatives/membershipsurveys arnold, m. (2002). adapting library services at the colorado school for the deaf and blind -orspecial collections for special kids. colorado libraries, 28(4), 25-27. 88 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.everychildreadytoread.org/ http://www.ala.org/research/initiatives/membershipsurveys serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ banks, c. (2004). all kinds of flowers grow here: the children’s place for children with special needs at brooklyn public library. children and libraries, 2(1), 5-10. birks, m., & mills, j. (2011). grounded theory: a practical guide. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. blue, e. v., & pace, d. (2011). ud and udl: paving the way toward inclusion and independence in the school library. knowledge quest, 39(3), 48-55. bryant, a., & charmaz, k. (eds.). (2007). the sage handbook of grounded theory. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. charmaz, k. (2006). constructing grounded theory: a practical guide through qualitative analysis. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. corbin, j. m., & strauss, a. l. (2008). basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. creswell, j. w. (2008). educational research: planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed.). upper saddle river, nj: person education. creswell, j. w. (2009). research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. davis, d. m., & hall, t. d. (2007). diversity counts. office for research and statistics. office for diversity. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aboutala/sites/ala.org.aboutala/files/content/diversity/diversity counts/diversitycounts_rev0.pdf hands, a. s., & johnson, a. (2012). lighting the way: grant applications showcase range of programming ideas. children and libraries, 10(2), 56-57. hastings, s. k. (2015). if diversity is a natural state, why don't our libraries mirror the populations they serve? the library quarterly: information, community, policy, 85(2), 133-138. humphries, t., kushalnagar, p., mathur, g., napoli, d. j., padden, c., rathmann, c., & smith, s. r. (2012). language acquisition for deaf children: reducing the harms of zero tolerance to the use of alternative approaches. harm reduction journal, 9, 1-9. institute of museum and library services (imls). (2010). public libraries survey (pls) data and reports. retrieved from https://www.imls.gov/research-evaluation/datacollection/public-libraries-survey/explore-pls-data/pls-data jaeger, p., bertot, j. c., & subramaniam, m. (2013). preparing future librarians to effectively serve their communities. the library quarterly: information, community, policy, 83(3), 243–248. kumbier, a., & starkey, j. (2016). access is not problem solving: disability justice and 89 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.imls.gov/research-evaluation/data-collection/public-libraries-survey/explore-pls-data/pls-data https://www.imls.gov/research-evaluation/data-collection/public-libraries-survey/explore-pls-data/pls-data serving underserved populations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ libraries. library trends, 64(3), 468-491. lajoie, l. (2003). embracing the silence: how librarians can help deaf children develop their reading skills. school library journal, 49(8), 43. macmillan, k. (2003). signs of success: asl access opens the door between deaf and hearing. public libraries, 42(1), 17-19. massis, b. (2013). library partnerships: a key to growth. new library world, 114(11/12), 550553. mccaffrey, m. (2004a). great books in sign language. school library journal, 50(12), 30. mccaffrey, m. (2004b). the missing link. school library journal, 50(9), 48-49. nail, s. (2008). asl tales bridges the gap between deaf and hearing children. feliciter, 54(6), 280-285. noland, a. (2003). how cleveland serves the deaf community. public libraries, 42(1), 20-21. pinellas public library cooperative. (2016). deaf literary center: a bridge to the world of information. retrieved from http://www.pplc.us/dlc/ rodriguez, r., & reed, m. (2003). our deaf family needs to read, too. public libraries, 42(1), 38-41. vander broek, j. l., & rodgers, e. p. (2015). better together: responsive community programming at the u-m library. journal of library administration, 55(2), 131-141. wemett, l. c. (2007). the building bridges project: library services to youth with disabilities. children and libraries, 5(3), 15-20. white, b. (2011). the world in words and pictures: how graphic novels can help to increase the reading comprehension for students with hearing loss. knowledge quest, 39(3), 18-25. wong, y. l. (2009). homelessness in public libraries. journal of access services, 6(3), 396-410. world health organization (2018, march 15). deafness and hearing loss. retrieved from http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss bobbie bushman (bobbie.bushman@unt.edu) is the houston program coordinator and lecturer at the university of north texas. she teaches courses in public libraries, library literature for children and young adults, adult reader's advisory, and digital citizenship. 90 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.pplc.us/dlc/ http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss mailto:bobbie.bushman@unt.edu introduction literature review methodology participants the model results and discussion stage 1. staff attitudes being aware of service barriers being warm and welcoming seeing differences, not disabilities taking initiative stage 2. impetus utilizing staff passions encountering patrons with an unmet need partnering with nearby agencies employing diverse staff stage 3: accommodation/modification providing inclusive programs and services customizing programs involving the target audience stage 4: outcomes serving the minority culture educating the majority culture building social connections limitations conclusion acknowledgements appendix a recruitment script appendix b questionnaire library planning and evaluation your child patrons library programming resources equipment challenges follow-up to survey appendix c semi-structured interview script and questions appendix d coding example references the global drumbeat: permeations of hip hop across diverse information worlds the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 dusty & digital media literacy workshops: vtditc’s replicable approach to teaching the hip hop arts jonathan kabongo, virginia tech, usa craig arthur, virginia tech, usa dr. freddy paige, virginia tech, usa abstract digging in the crates: hip hop studies at virginia tech, or vtditc, is a pedagogical model that exists to foster a sense of community among artists, fans, and scholars. based in our campus’ main library, we hope to model that students’ and community members’ personal interests are worthy of academic study and further establish hip hop studies’ presence at virginia tech, the academy, and in the larger community. to that end, the vtditc community has designed, taught, and assessed more than 150 community-based media literacy workshops over the past half decade. we have demonstrated, explained, and created opportunities for a wide variety of learners to experience the science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics inherent to the hip hop culture. we have learned alongside a diversity of audiences—from elementary school children to adults. to name just a few of our partner organizations, we have worked with the 4h virginia congress, the boys & girls clubs of southwest virginia, higher achievement, inc., a variety of public libraries including our regular collaborator roanoke public libraries, the science museum of western virginia, virginia’s summer residential governor's school for humanities, and the west end center for youth. in our contribution to the global drumbeat: permeations of hip hop across diverse information worlds, we will outline and explain an example lesson plan from one of our workshops. we will provide our learning outcomes as well as our assessment plan. additionally, we will detail the theoretical underpinnings and guiding principles that inform our pedagogical decision making. our workshops take a hands-on, practitioner-minded, and co-creation approach to teaching media literacy. inasmuch, this contribution will also provide a recommended list of music creation equipment and other appropriate classroom technology that will accommodate a variety of budgets. furthermore, we will include several promising practices and recommendations gained from more than 50 years of collective experience creating hip hop music and 10 years of collective experience teaching the hip hop arts. our hope is that this contribution will inspire other library workers and educators to remix our workshops to suit the needs of their communities. keywords: experiential learning; hip hop librarianship; media literacy; pedagogy publication type: special section publication https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 65 introduction igging in the crates: hip hop studies at virginia tech, or vtditc, is a collaborative community with a mission to foster a sense of community among artists, fans, and scholars. based in virginia tech’s newman library, vtditc engages in partnerships to execute programming which models that students’ and community members’ personal interests are worthy of academic study by further establishing hip hop studies’ presence on campus, in the academy, and, most importantly, in the larger community. since our establishment in 2016, the vtditc community has designed, taught, and assessed more than 150 communitybased, culturally relevant media literacy workshops over the past half decade. in this report from the field, we document two example vtditc lesson plans that we encourage readers to adapt and put to use with the communities you serve. through educational programming the vtditc community has created opportunities for a wide variety of learners to experience and co-create the science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics inherent in the practice and culture of hip hop. our workshops span the rhythm, rhyme, and remix hip hop elements of kumasi’s inflo-mation framework (kumasi, 2018). having a static qualification for the level of creativity related to a hip hop practice is a departure point for the vtditc community. we encourage the adaptation of our lesson plans to meet your audience where they are while co-constructing creative learning experiences. applying the ideas brought forth by rawls & robinson's (2019) model for implementing popular culture pedagogy within a hip hop context, vtditc embraces the “science” of youth culture as it moves at the rhythm of its own drum. while keeping the foundation of hip hop culture in mind, we have intentionally considered the intergenerational ties of the hip hop community to engage with multi-generational audiences— from elementary school children to adults. the intergenerational aspects of hip hop have been commonly discussed using deficit framing to highlight conflict (blanchard, 1999), rebellion (haaken et al., 2012; rose, 1994), and demonization (bridges, 2011). antagonistically, vtditc uses an assets-based community development approach (kretzman & mcknight, 1993) to prioritize preexisting community interests (rawls & petchauer, 2020) and build critical social capital (ginwright, 2007). to name just a few of our partner organizations, we have worked closely with a variety of k-12 schools, the boys & girls clubs of southwest virginia, higher achievement, inc., multiple public library systems including our regular collaborator roanoke public libraries, alpha kappa alpha sorority, incorporated’s tau mu omega stem camp, virginia tech student organizations, the commonwealth of virginia’s summer residential governor's school for humanities, and the west end center for youth. vtditc workshops take a practitioner-led (adjapong & emdin, 2015), hands-on (kolb & kolb, 2005; weiss, 2021), and creation-focused (levy & adjapong, 2020) approach to teaching information literacy. it is imperative for hip hop practitioners to develop the ability to make most out of the civic resources in a community. practitioners who attempt to connect with a community of learners should embrace the complex experience hip hop pedagogy provides (kuttner, 2016). vtditc has strategically considered the physical spaces we work in and invested heavily in being able to meet community members in spaces they are familiar with mobile technology that is appropriate. keeping it real, it is hustling backwards to put cost prohibitive technology into the hands of students for temporary periods of engagement, with little to no opportunity for sustained development. d https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 66 resourcing our engagements is an everyday struggle, with technology being both an enabler and limiter depending on the context of the engagement. vtditc’s home base, true school studios has been equipped with a wide variety of mobile technology ranging from freeware like audacity to costly controllers like the raneone. in effort to share the benefit of the time we have invested in making equipment selections, we have also provided a recommended list of educational technology that will accommodate a variety of learning experiences and budgets. inappropriately investing in hip hop pedagogy can do more harm than good. we urge adopters of the lesson plans provided to resource their efforts to engage with the hip hop pedagogy just as much or more than they would for any other pedagogical approach. the practices and recommendations—acquired via more than 50 years of collective experience creating hip hop music and 10 years of collective experience teaching the hip hop arts—will help demystify teaching the hip hop arts for non-practitioners as well as continue a dialogue with teaching artists. our goal is that this contribution will inspire other library workers and educators to remix our workshops that will suit the unique needs of their communities with relative ease. a more detailed description of the vtditc: hip hop studies at virginia tech program is provided in arthur et al. (2020). should you run into issues putting these lesson plans into practice, we are more than happy to answer any questions you may have as best we can. vtditc’s guiding principles simply put, a few basic principles lead every decision—pedagogical, programmatic, and interpersonal—that we make as a community. they are: ● to remove barriers to entry ● to recognize art as scholarship ● to learn by doing ● and to have fun we seek to apply these principles in every aspect of how we move. prioritizing experiential learning and having fun are arguably our primary concerns when it comes to our communitybased media literacy workshops. vtditc’s collaboration with the west end center the vtditc community is intentional to actively engage community partners who serve systematically underserved communities. we value our opportunities to enter the powerful communities that are home to people that are responsible for inventing and innovating hip hop, the artform, culture, and commercialized practice. using the words of the legendary tupac shakur, “the power is in the people!” (shakur et al., 1995) as mentioned earlier in this article, the hip hop pedagogy is complex, and we strongly encourage educators to embrace the dynamic nature of the practice. in 1979, in response to the systematic oppression that increased the prevalence of crime, poverty, and drug trading in the west side of roanoke, virginia, community organizations came together to create the west end center (west end center, 2017). vtditc partners with the west https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 67 end center to engage with an organization who for decades has been “exploring literacy & empowering possibilities” in a brilliant predominantly black community that is still fighting for its fair share of resources 42 years later. working with the west end center is an explicit example of vtditc’s effort to support youth civic engagement through connections with social justice organizations. in the summer of 2021, the vtditc conducted five weekly trips to the west end center to teach roughly a dozen workshops. we appreciate each opportunity to provide talented and intelligent young minds with time to collaborate with knowledgeable hip hop practitioners and media creation resources. in our workshops, we share lessons with the students on the history of hip hop and give them an in-depth look at the foundation of hip hop—djing. many of the west end center students have been closely akin to hip hop culture and rap music throughout their budding lives, and some of them already feel extremely confident regarding their choice of the best rappers of all time. however, the vtditc workshop was the first time that many of them were shown the process of creation, and the evolution of the music they identify with so strongly. we first explain the origin of hip hop through the lens of the dj and then allow for ample time for hands-on experiential learning. the kids learn what equipment djs use, the function of the different components of the equipment, the different types of scratches that were invented in the early days of hiphop, and the stories of important djs who are responsible for these creations. importantly, we make sure to communicate that the people who created the culture the students love so much were: 1) not much older than the students in the room, 2) often looked like them, and 3) were typically from communities similar to their own. after being introduced to the origins of the genre, we share the process to create hip hop music, particularly the process of “cooking” beats or “crafting” an instrumental. with minimal equipment, we explain how the art of sampling influenced the unique sonics of hip hop music, and basic music theory. allowing the students to see that something so grand can be created with relatively few tools gives them agency over a creation practice with a relatively low barrier to entry. nevertheless, some of the students still do not have access to the resources that will allow them to purchase basic equipment, making public access to equipment at community centers and libraries an important community investment. this is one of the reasons why vtditc seeks to share information about our equipment choices with others to connect more learners with the affordable tools necessary to produce the art that resonates with them. following the lesson, they receive on production is a lesson on the creative process for lyrics. many of the stories that are written in rap music contain experiences that these kids have lived through and seen around them, and without being completely aware of it, the children have naturally gravitated towards a genre of music in which they see themselves and the people they love. with the goal of helping them understand the intellectual efforts behind creating a rap song and increasing their appreciation for it, the steps of songwriting are explained. since rap is rhythm and poetry, we give the kids a foundational understanding of what a bar in music is, then we explain how a line of poetry and bar in music are synonymous and work together to create a rap. the popular two 16-bar verses and eight-bar chorus song structure in rap is also dissected in order to give them terminologies and a more concrete view of what they are already familiar with. towards the end of the workshop the children are given an opportunity to have hands-on experience with the dj controller, portable turntable, microphone, and also get the chance to https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 68 compose their own rap to share with the other students. vtditc puts great emphasis on experiential learning in order to help students understand that they are capable of making music they love. we also create an encouraging environment that allows them to tap into their creative writing abilities without fear of being ridiculed while also providing them with guidance on how to enhance their skills. through hip hop people can learn how to process their emotions, express their wants and needs, and be heard by the people around them. these types of skills are extremely beneficial for mental health and self-awareness; these qualities lay the foundation for success in many areas of life. lesson plan #1: the science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics of djing minimum time needed: 60 minutes objective: help students understand various science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (steam) concepts inherent to djing dl program learning outcomes: 2.1. recognize the value of curiosity, exploration, and play in the discovery process 5.1. recognize that the creative process can involve a variety of emotional experiences 5.3. practice an iterative design process towards specific goals 5.4. engage in troubleshooting while using tools 5.5. create original works and repurpose or remix existing works session-level learning objectives: ● learners will identify different kinds of digital and analog music production technologies and theories ● learners will use different kinds of digital and analog music production technologies and apply theory at an elementary level ● learners will create original digital (and analog) works as a means of personal or group expression intro (5 min) • who we are o introduce your name/ stage name  introduce your practice • why did i begin djing? • how has it benefited me over the years? https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 69 • how does this relate to my job as a librarian? equipment explanations (10 min) • controller o rane one  start/stop button  pitch control – how you speed up or slow down songs • guiding question: “why is this feature important for djs?”  slipmats • guiding question: “why are these important for djs?”  control vinyl / “records” • briefly explain how records work • guiding question: “even though this “record” doesn’t work like old-school records, why do you think it’s important to this piece of equipment?”  serato dj pro software • guiding question: “what do you think the advantages of using this setup would be compared to old-school dj equipment?” • pads & banks • microphones o explain proper mic technique demo (10 min) • basic dj history o be sure to highlight contributions from luminaries such as dj flowers, kool herc, grandmaster flash, grandwizard theodore, dj jazzy jeff, spinderella, pam the funkstress, roc raida, and more • demonstrate basic techniques and explain their backstories o looping breaks  this is the foundation of the hip hop arts! https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 70 o baby scratch o forward scratch o transformer scratch o chirp scratch • demonstrate live beat making o most popular american music is 4/4  demonstrate counting bars  using the midi pads on the controller, put the snare where the snare goes (2 & 4) and the kick where the kick goes (1 & 3) • it’s all math!  finger drumming show & tell • guiding question: “what questions do you have?” experiential learning (25 minutes) • let the students use the equipment (supervised but also self-directed) wrap up (10 minutes) • sum up what we learned together • guiding question: “what questions do you have?” • guiding question: “how many of you plan on learning more about djing?” • share any relevant resources: o how can they learn more? o where can students record their music for free? o anything else you can think of that is pertinent to how the class went o provide your contact info and the program’s social media info vtditc’s collaboration with radford university’s governor’s school for the humanities this year the vtditc community was invited to teach four workshops to support the commonwealth of virginia’s summer residential governor's school for humanities. authors jon kabongo and craig arthur traveled to radford university to engage with high-achieving high https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 71 school students from virginia. dr. stephanie bradley, a vtditc leadership board member, instructs a sociology of hip hop course as a part of the summer program. the maturity of the rising juniors and seniors allowed us to deal with subject matter that may not be appropriate for elementary or middle school groups. additionally, the ability to scaffold two workshops for both sections allowed for pedagogical opportunities that are not possible in a one-shot session engagement. when the opportunity to explore socially conscious topics with mature audiences presents itself, we strongly encourage strategic planning and considerations to protect vulnerable members in your audience. being labeled as a high-achieving student has an underrealized negative impact on students, specifically black males (bonner et al., 2008) which should be considered critically. while using culturally relevant, or sustaining pedagogical approaches (ladson-billings, 2014) can be beneficial for black students, careful consideration should be given to potential for tokenism, isolation, and minstrelsy in this context. we believe that while the presented lesson plan worked well in the context of the governor’s school, the following writing workshop should be remixed to fit the needs of other groups. time is a major constraint in the educational context and if you cannot meet the minimum time requirement in lesson plan two, please consider adjusting your approach dramatically. providing students with less than 30 minutes to write about complex topics should be done sparingly. lesson plan #2: hip hop song writing workshop minimum time needed: 75 minutes objective: engage with students to identify beats, devise concepts, prepare for an audience, select a tone as a part of the song composition process. digital literacy learning outcomes: 5.1 recognize that the creative process can involve a variety of emotional experiences 5.3 practice an iterative design process towards specific goals 5.5 create original works and repurpose or remix existing works intro (5 min) • introduce yourself authentically o consider the audience and extend an opportunity for connection o universal starting points:  name/stage name  where you represent  scholarship interests  your creative practice https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 72 • how long you have been practicing • how your practice benefits your life • how your practice relates to other aspects of your life objectives of the workshop and community guidelines (10 min) • explain to the students what they’ll be doing for the workshop o outline what success looks like ---> a rough draft of an original song • as a group, establish community guidelines (we find this goes a long way to create trust with a new group and help repeat groups hold each other accountable) o guiding question: “there’s going to be the opportunity to perform in front of the group! how do we want to convey support to our fellow learners when they are brave enough to share their art with the group?” o guiding question: “we’re going to create art together. while we don’t want to censor each other, we also want to make sure we’re creating something we can all respect. is any topic or word unacceptable to our community?”  developing a social responsibility agreement depends on context/age of the group beat selection (5 min) • identify the type of sound the class wants to go for o search for a beat on youtube that matches that sound using “type beats” o collectively evaluate different options to iterate selection criteria to result in selecting one instrumental concept selection (5 min) • guiding question: “how does this beat make you feel?” • guiding question: “what do you think of when you hear it?” o keep track of responses in a way that the whole class can see, to show that every contribution is considered and valued • collaboratively decide on a broad topic related to one emotion or a combination of emotions that complement each other audience & tone selection (10 min) • guiding question: “who are we creating this song for? how does that matter?” https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 73 o this can be a powerful way to reinforce the community guidelines/topic/vocab discussion • guiding question: “who would be willing to hum or share a flow that would work well over this beat?” o collaboratively decide on the melodies and flows for the hook and verse song composition (30 min) • write 2 verses and a chorus o keep the discussion moving as a group as we write every line of the song together  whiteboards are invaluable for this process! o allow anyone who wants to perform to do so o encourage writers to appreciate whatever they write, no matter the quantity or quality conclusion/wrap up (10 min) • sum up what we learned together • guiding question: “what questions do you have?” • guiding question: “how many people plan on doing what we just did together to create their own music later?” • quickly share any relevant resources: o how can they learn more? o where can students record their music for free? o anything else you can think of that is pertinent to how the class went o provide your contact info and the program’s social media info conclusion the scholastic and intellectual dimensions of hip hop culture provide an exceptionally literate and information rich platform for marginalized communities to report from the field. merriamwebster (n. d.) defines working the “field” as “the sphere of practical operation outside a base (such as a laboratory, office, or factory)” (definition 2b). in the vtditc community working in the field takes on a similar, yet more advanced definition. hip hop practitioners and community members conduct scientific experiments and develop philosophies that serve justly and equitably. hip hop is a youth culture that has an intergenerational history of teaching understanding, freedom, science, economics, mathematics, faith, peace, unity, and respect. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 74 please use this report on our field work to inform your efforts to keep the global drumbeat going in your local community. the authors of this article invite correspondence from readers. from community members volunteering at community centers, to k-12 students, teachers, and library and information science professionals—we are all community. may we all come together and exchange knowledge, show love, and engage respectfully. “remember, we walked past the teacher, take the chalk and laugh. we wrote punishments: ‘i will not talk in class.’” black thought (2017) appendix equipment list below is a list of educational technology that we regularly use in our workshops. we have included both a less expensive but still reliable and capable option and a more expensive, often professional level tool for each category. according to our calculations, with a minimum $1,000 budget, one could purchase nearly all the equipment they need to replicate our workshops. dj controllers pioneer ddj sb3 • approximate cost: $250 • this controller features all of the functionality that a beginning dj will need. however, it does not include a license to serato dj pro (the leading dj software) but, instead, a more limited software serato dj lite is included with purchase. rane one • approximate cost: $1,600 • one of the most full featured (and therefore one of the most expensive) dj controllers that is currently available, the one is unique in that it has rotating platters. these platters replicate the feel of djing on turntables. it also includes a license to serato dj pro. portable turntables numark pt01 scratch • approximate cost: $150 • this portable turntable is a good choice because it includes a crossfader-like “scratch switch” and is relatively inexpensive. should someone want to learn the fundamentals of scratching, a pt01 scratch, a slipmat, 7” scratch records, and headphones would be the only equipment they would need. the pt01 also offers multiple opportunities for https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://serato.com/dj/hardware/pioneer-ddj-sb3 https://www.rane.com/one https://www.numark.com/product/pt01-scratch dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 75 modifications (adding a lithium ion battery, switching out the cartridge and tonearm, and upgrading the platter are all relatively simple, for example). reloop spin • approximate cost: $250 • the reloop spin is similar to the numark pt01 with a few minor additions. it features a more standard crossfader, bluetooth connectivity, and recording via a usb port. a 7” scratch record is also included with purchase. speakers ion block rocker plus • approximate cost: $200 • this speaker is a versatile portable option with bluetooth connectivity. we have used our block rocker plus for workshops of up to 50 people. jbl partybox 100 • approximate cost: $350 • the jbl partybox is a more robust option. while we would not recommend using it to dj a large event, for instance, both the battery life and sound quality are impressive. (younger audiences also enjoy the led lights that correspond to the music.) microphone samson r21s • approximate cost: $20 • the r21s is a basic and durable dynamic microphone. shure sm58 • approximate cost: $100 • the sm58 is the longstanding industry standard for a dynamic microphone for live applications. chances are, if you’ve used a microphone, you’ve used a sm58. laptop with music library • approximate cost: priceless • this important component is difficult to price. most major dj software requires music files (usually mp3 or wav) be available on the respective laptop’s hard drive. however, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.reloop.com/reloop-spin https://www.ionaudio.com/blockrockerplus https://www.jbl.com/party-speakers/jblpartybox100.html http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/microphones/dynamic-microphones/r21s/ https://www.shure.com/en-us/products/microphones/sm58 dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 76 some collaboration with and integration of streaming services and dj software companies are beginning to take shape. cables, adapters, extension cords, and powerstrips • approximate cost: $100 • you’ll need a variety of rca, xlr, ¼”, and ⅛” cables as well as a few headphone adapters and powerstrips to connect the equipment. 7” scratch records • approximate cost: $25/each • the 7” scratch record market has exploded in recent years. series to consider include turntable training wax’s “practice yo kuts!” and dj chris karns “visual vinyl.” several sets of inexpensive headphones • approximate cost: $100 • behringer hpm1000 • audio technica ath-m20x travel cases and bags • approximate cost: $200 • we highly recommend purchasing substantial cases and bags for your equipment if you will regularly be moving it. acknowledgements ongoing programming at digging in the crates: hip hop studies at virginia tech (vtditc), is posted @vtditc on instagram and #vtditc on twitter. references adjapong, e. s., & emdin, c. (2015). rethinking pedagogy in urban spaces: implementing hiphop pedagogy in the urban science classroom. journal of urban learning, teaching, and research, 11, 66–77. arthur, c., paige, f., perkins, l., weiss, j., & williams, m. (2020). culturally responsive community engagement programming and the university library: lessons learned from https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 77 half a decade of vtditc – in the library with the lead pipe. in the library with the lead pipe. https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2020/vtditc/ black thought. (2017, december 14). black thought freestyles on flex | freestyle #087. [song]. funk flex freestyles. hot 97 fm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prmqgspv3fa blanchard, b. (1999). the social significance of rap & hip-hop culture. edge: ethics of development in a global environment (pp. 1-10). poverty and prejudice: media and race. stanford university. https://hiphoparchive.org/sites/default/files/the_social_significance_of_rap_hip_hop_ culture.pdf bonner, f. a., jennings, m. e., marbley, a. f., & brown, l. a. (2008). capitalizing on leadership capacity: gifted african american males in high school. roeper review, 30(2), 93–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783190801954965 bridges, t. (2011). towards a pedagogy of hip hop in urban teacher education. the journal of negro education, 80(3), 325–338. ginwright, s. a. (2007). black youth activism and the role of critical social capital in black community organizations. american behavioral scientist, 51(3), 403–418. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764207306068 haaken, j., wallin-ruschman, j., & patange, s. (2012). global hip-hop identities: black youth, psychoanalytic action research, and the moving to the beat project. journal of community & applied social psychology, 22(1), 63–74. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.1097 kolb, a. y., & kolb, d. a. (2005). learning styles and learning spaces: enhancing experiential learning in higher education. academy of management learning & education, 4(2), 193–212. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2005.17268566 kretzman, j. p., & mcknight, j. l. (1993). building communities from the inside out. the asset-based community development institute. http://www.povertystudies.org/teachingpages/eds_pdfs4web/abcd-bldgcommunities-from-inside-out.pdf kumasi, k. d. (2018). inflo-mation: a model for exploring information behavior through hip hop. the journal of research on libraries and young adults, 9(1), 1–18. https://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/inflomation_kumasi.pdf kuttner, p. j. (2016). hip-hop citizens: arts-based, culturally sustaining civic engagement pedagogy. harvard educational review, 86(4), 527–555. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-86.4.527 merriam-webster. (n. d.). field – noun. merriam-webster. https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/field https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2020/vtditc/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prmqgspv3fa https://hiphoparchive.org/sites/default/files/the_social_significance_of_rap_hip_hop_culture.pdf https://hiphoparchive.org/sites/default/files/the_social_significance_of_rap_hip_hop_culture.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/02783190801954965 https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764207306068 https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.1097 https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2005.17268566 http://www.povertystudies.org/teachingpages/eds_pdfs4web/abcd-bldg-communities-from-inside-out.pdf http://www.povertystudies.org/teachingpages/eds_pdfs4web/abcd-bldg-communities-from-inside-out.pdf https://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/inflo-mation_kumasi.pdf https://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/inflo-mation_kumasi.pdf https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-86.4.527 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/field https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/field dusty & digital media literacy workshops the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37118 78 ladson-billings, g. (2014). culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a. the remix. harvard educational review, 84(1), 74–84. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.p2rj131485484751 levy, i. p., & adjapong, e. s. (2020). toward culturally competent school counseling environments: hip-hop studio construction. professional counselor, 10(2), 266–284. https://doi.org/10.15241/ipl.10.2.266 rawls, j. d., & petchauer, e. (2020). “be current, or you become the old man”: crossing the generational divide in hip-hop education. urban education, 0042085920914358. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085920914358 rawls, j. d., & robinson, j. (2019). youth culture power: a #hiphoped guide to building teacher-student relationships and increasing student engagement. peter lang. rose, t. (1994). black noise: rap music and black culture in contemporary america. wesleyan university press. shakur, t., riperton, m., rudolph, r., ware, l., bacharach, b., & david, h. (1995). me against the world. [song]. on me against the world. interscope records; jive records; bmg rights management; kobalt music publishing ltd.; music sales corporation; royalty network; sony/atv music publishing llc. weiss, j. (2021). vtditc: hip hop studies at virginia tech and covid-19. undergraduate journal of service learning & community-based research, 11, 33–38. https://ujslcbr.org/index.php/ujslcbr/article/view/333 jonathan kabongo (jonathan18@vt.edu) is a toronto-based mc. at the time of writing, he served as the creative director for vtditc: hip hop studies at virginia tech and was a graduate student in virginia tech's department of english. craig arthur (crarthur@vt.edu) is the head of community engagement for the virginia tech university libraries. he started djing in 1997 and has been paying dues ever since. he is a cofounder and the program chair of vtditc: hip hop studies at virginia tech. dr. freddy paige (freddyp@vt.edu) serves virginia tech's department of civil and environmental engineering as an assistant professor. he is a co-founder of vtditc: hip hop studies at virginia tech and is also a lifelong mc. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.p2rj131485484751 https://doi.org/10.15241/ipl.10.2.266 https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085920914358 https://ujslcbr.org/index.php/ujslcbr/article/view/333 mailto:jonathan18@vt.edu mailto:crarthur@vt.edu mailto:freddyp@vt.edu introduction vtditc’s guiding principles vtditc’s collaboration with the west end center lesson plan #1: the science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics of djing vtditc’s collaboration with radford university’s governor’s school for the humanities lesson plan #2: hip hop song writing workshop conclusion appendix equipment list dj controllers portable turntables speakers microphone laptop with music library cables, adapters, extension cords, and powerstrips 7” scratch records several sets of inexpensive headphones travel cases and bags acknowledgements ongoing programming at digging in the crates: hip hop studies at virginia tech (vtditc), is posted @vtditc on instagram and #vtditc on twitter. references microaggressions as a barrier to effective collaboration between teaching faculty and academic librarians: an analysis of the results of a us and canadian survey the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ microaggressions as a barrier to effective collaboration between teaching faculty and academic librarians: an analysis of the results of a u.s. and canadian survey ahmed alwan, california state university, usa joy doan, northwestern university, usa eric garcia, california state university, usa abstract facilitating effective collaboration with teaching faculty (tf) for the purposes of student success and performance is often a priority for academic librarians (al). the topic of effective partnerships between these two groups has received a great deal of scholarly attention within the field of library and information science (lis). however, in practice, harmonious working relationships can be difficult to establish and maintain. this is in part due to the lack of understanding of the role and status of al by tf. the existing divide between these parties has led to discourse and dismissive actions on the part of tf that may be perceived by some al as microaggressive. while some work has been done on microaggressions in higher education, little quantitative data exists on status-based microaggressions by tf towards al and its effect on collaboration in the context of information literacy (il). in early 2016, the researchers surveyed u.s. and canadian al in order to collect data on perceived status-based microaggressive experiences. analysis of the data indicates that status-based microaggressions, although not ubiquitous, do exist. moreover, the data indicates that some librarians may experience more frequent instances of status-based microaggressions based on self-reported demographic characteristics. keywords: academic librarians; collaboration; equity; information literacy; status-based microaggression; teaching faculty publication type: research article introduction ffective collaboration between teaching faculty (tf) and academic librarians (al) continues to receive a great deal of scholarly attention, as evidenced by the numerous articles, chapters, and books published on the topic (delaney & bates, 2015; mounce, 2010; vassilakaki & moniarou-papaconstantinou, 2015). collaboration and communication between tf and al can help ensure students’ acquisition of the information literacy (il) skills required to succeed in an academic setting. although there have not been many statistically significant studies showing that il instruction has a positive impact on student performance (kuh & gonyea, 2003), several recent studies have begun to provide quantitative support for the positive impact of il on student academic success (kot & jones, 2015; stemmer & mahan, 2016). one of the ways in which al have assisted in improving student performance is through il e http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ instruction. however, effective il instruction often hinges on the willingness of tf to work together with al. the researchers hypothesize that one major obstacle to such collaboration is status-based microaggressions by tf toward al, in the context of il. status-based microaggressions, like other forms of microaggression (e.g., race, gender, sexuality), may occur when a group or individual is perceived as having a divergent group membership. as with other forms of microaggression, status-based microaggressions can lead to ineffective collaboration and have the potential to breed resentment, confusion, or anger on the part of the target (sue, 2010). although these actions may be attributed, in part, to a deficit in tf’s understanding of als’ roles in academia (badke, 2005), dismissive actions or negative discourse on the part of tf can be categorized as microaggressive based on the definition posited by the leading authority on microaggressions, derald wing sue (2010). currently, the only quantitative research on microaggressions in academic libraries focuses on racial and ethnic microaggressions (alabi, 2015). to date, no quantitative data exists on statusbased microaggressions by tf toward al. the literature on tf and al interactions indicates that a variety of issues can impede effective collaboration. issues can include misunderstandings between the two groups, confusion over roles, superordinate–subordinate culture, and the treatment and perceptions of al by tf as service staff (e.g., badke, 2005; christiansen, stombler, & thaxton, 2004; given & julien, 2005; julien & given, 2003). the latter is particularly significant because perceptions of al as service providers rather than equal partners is longstanding and pervasive (nalani meulemans & carr, 2013). in early 2016, the researchers surveyed al in the u.s. and canada to collect data on perceived status-based microaggressive experiences. the overarching purpose of the study was to address the gap in library and information science (lis) literature on this topic. this study used the concept of microaggression to investigate al’s experiences of dismissive and/or negative treatment based solely on their distinct academic status within higher education. this article aims to offer insight into al experiences of status-based microaggressions encountered in an academic setting while interacting with tf. the data was collected using a survey that was distributed via local, national, and international lis electronic mailing lists specifically geared towards al in the u.s. and canada. the researchers conducted data analysis using a simple linear regression analysis (using the statistical analysis software package spss), a mean analysis, and response rate analysis to determine if a relationship existed between the demographic data collected and three sections of the survey. the three selected sections focused on the existence of possible status-based microaggressions that al experienced while interacting with tf in the context of il instruction. literature review collaboration between teaching faculty and academic librarians a central goal for al in postsecondary institutions is to provide il instruction, which presently serves as a staple of higher education (given & julien, 2005; julien & given, 2003). the relationship between tf and al remains at the nucleus of il initiatives (julien & pecoskie, 2009). however, the constant misalignment of these groups’ non-competing goals continues to impede the success of this endeavor. the bureaucratic makeup of higher education and misunderstandings between the two groups about their roles in academia account for the underlying division between tf and al (badke, 2005; christiansen et al., 2004; given & julien, 2005; julien & given, 2003; julien & pecoskie, 2009). 27 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ a vast amount of literature exists on the history of academic libraries and their place within the bureaucracy of academia (budd, 2005; julien & pecoskie, 2009). despite garnering a great deal of attention, such discussions have not prompted a large-scale restructuring that could place the library in a stronger position in higher education. the lack of measurable change leaves the profession of academic librarianship in the rut of service-oriented work. al and their academic partners, tf, need to develop methods to elicit change that will eventually bridge the existing disconnect. the research of lars christiansen, mindy stombler, and lyn thaxton (2004) provides a theoretical framework to discuss the causes of tf’s microaggressive behavior toward al. their findings rely on two premises. first, the bureaucratic organization of higher education results in limited shared work practices between tf and al. second, the “superordinate–subordinate relations” (christiansen et al., 2004, p. 119) inherent to societal views of traditionally serviceoriented professions influences tf’s perception of al as not producing worthwhile scholarly output. these two factors generate what the authors term an “asymmetrical disconnection” (christiansen et al., 2004, pp. 117–118) between tf and al. while both groups may recognize the disconnection, only al perceive it to be problematic in their collaborative work in academia (christiansen et al., 2004). collaboration between tf and al can include working together to develop teaching strategies, pedagogical practices, learning outcomes, models, resources, and tools—all aimed at improving student performance. christiansen et al. (2004) suggest that while tf respect the service work of al, they are vastly unaware of als’ scholarly qualifications, subject expertise, and requirements for tenure and promotion. to rectify the situation, al should engage in awareness initiatives to inform tf about academic librarianship beyond immediate transactions; in turn, tf should be open and receptive to this kind of learning. as a result, tf may become more inclined to increase collaborative efforts with al, by way of grant writing, course design, and so on. in a similar vein, william badke (2005) concludes that the crux of the misunderstanding between tf and al lies within the bureaucratic divide set in place by academia. according to badke, the advancement of cross-departmental and university goals calls for a more authentic approach to collaboration between the two groups. the il goals of both parties must align to produce symmetry. moreover, tf should not view the pedagogical goals of al as obstructive or threatening (badke, 2005). the work of heidi julien and jen pecoskie (2009) expands upon badke’s study. their qualitative study posits that al often view tf as the fulcrum within the tertiary relationship between tf, al, and student success. this practice primarily derives from the organizational culture of higher education and als’ subordinate behavior when dealing with tf. their results indicated that many al view il instruction time as a “gift” provided by tf (julien & pecoskie, 2009). they conclude that the subservient behavior of al toward tf exists and that “institutional attitudinal change is necessary for these relationships to be altered and for more significant perceptions about what can be learned from the roles to be constructed” (julien & pecoskie, 2009, p. 152). 28 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ etymology and evolution of microaggressions the term “microaggressions” was first outlined by chester middlebrook pierce (1970) in a book chapter entitled “offensive mechanisms.” pierce argued that a shift occurred in how racism and discrimination were committed in the era of the civil rights movement versus the time period that followed. he asserted that overt acts of racism transitioned to more subversive and subtle acts. according to pierce, these subtle acts of discrimination remain just as crippling to individuals as more overt forms. mary rowe (1981) furthered pierce’s research on microaggressions by developing the concept of micro-inequality. this concept expanded on microaggressions by providing a broader framework that incorporated women and minorities (rowe, 1981). the work of samuel l. gaertner and john f. dovidio (1986) also influenced the modern concept of microaggression. gaertner and dovidio suggested that racism remained a prominent part of society even after the decline in overt racism. they argued that when polled, the majority of white americans believed that racism had declined sharply and in most cases was disappearing. conversely, when african americans were polled, they reported that they continued experiencing racism frequently. gaertner and dovidio (1986) theorized that expressions of racism had evolved in the u.s.; while open acts of hostility were no longer acceptable and occurred less frequently, subtle forms of racism, which they labeled “aversive-racism” (p. 315), continued to permeate society. the leading scholar on microaggressions, derald wing sue, describes them as common or casual, verbal or nonverbal, status-based slights, snubs, or insults, either intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages toward individuals based solely on marginalized group membership (sue, 2010; sue & rivera, 2010). what differentiates microaggressions from overt and deliberate acts of discrimination is that the people committing microaggressions often intend no offense or are unaware they are causing harm. due to the subtle nature of microaggressions and the difficulty of identifying them, sue et al. (2007) developed a taxonomy for microaggressions that identifies three specific types: microassault, microinsult, and microinvalidation (p. 274). a microassault can be a subtle or explicit biased attitude, belief, or behavior communicated to a marginalized group or person through environmental cues and/or verbalization. examples can include name-calling, avoidant behavior, and purposeful discriminatory actions. in other words, people are likely to hold notions of minority inferiority privately and will only display them publicly when they (a) lose control or (b) feel relatively safe to engage in a microassault. (sue, capodilupo, torino, bucceri, holder, nadal, & esquilin, 2007, p. 274) a microinsult is usually more explicit and is meant to demean. this is typically done using interpersonal or environmental communications that convey stereotypes, rudeness, and insensitivity. examples can include subtle snubs or insulting messages. when a white employer tells a prospective candidate of color “i believe the most qualified person should get the job, regardless of race” or when an employee of color is asked “how did you get your job?”, the underlying message from the perspective of the recipient may be twofold: (a) people of color are not qualified, and (b) as a minority group member, you must have obtained the position through some affirmative action or quota program and not because of ability. (sue et al., 29 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 2007, p. 274) lastly, microinvalidation, which is potentially the most dangerous form of microaggression, involves communications or environmental cues meant to exclude, negate, or nullify the psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of particular persons or groups. in such a situation, the perpetrator is directly denying or imposing upon the reality of a person or group. when asian americans (born and raised in the u.s.) are complimented for speaking good english or are repeatedly asked where they were born, the effect is to negate their u.s. american heritage and to convey that they are perpetual foreigners. when blacks are told that “i don’t see color” or “we are all human beings,” the effect is to negate their experiences as racial/cultural beings (helms, 1992). when a latino couple is given poor service at a restaurant and shares their experience with white friends, only to be told “don’t be so oversensitive” or “don’t be so petty,” the racial experience of the couple is being nullified and its importance is being diminished. (sue et al., 2007, pp. 274–275) microaggressions in library and information science although some work exists on microaggressions in higher education, an exhaustive examination of the lis literature has demonstrated that no quantitative data exists on status-based microaggressions in higher education. to date, most research on microaggressions specifically related to al focuses on race and gender. jaena alabi (2015) has led research in this area by studying occurrences of race-based microaggressions experienced by al. alabi’s study found that many al who identify as minorities experience microaggressions from their colleagues at an increased rate. there has also been a movement among al to use tumblr and zines (i.e., non-commercial homemade or online publications usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject matter) to document and chronicle al experiences of microaggressions (lis microaggressions, n.d.). however, the primary focus of these types of initiatives has been to act as a gallery and repository of anecdotes about all types of microaggressions in libraries. although useful, these initiatives provide little in the way of substantial data analysis or findings. methodology to address the gap in the literature, the researchers initiated an empirical study in the form of a survey about status-based microaggressions between tf and al. the proposed study received institutional review board approval from california state university, northridge (csun), office of research and sponsored programs in january 2016. for the study, an online survey was developed (using esurv) and deployed to collect quantitative data on the topic. the target population for recruitment in the survey was al in the u.s. and canada. the survey included al who were tenured or tenure-track, as well as those who did not hold faculty status. the work of alabi (2015) on racial microaggressions in academic libraries influenced the survey design. however, because alabi’s research was primarily focused on racial microaggressions, it was necessary to significantly modify and adapt the survey questions to focus on status-based microaggressions. in developing the questions (q) for the survey, the researchers used a variety of resources. sources used included alabi’s (2015) work on racial microaggressions in academic libraries, 30 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ sue’s (2010) work on microaggressions, the microaggressions in librarianship tumblr, the literature on tf and al collaboration, and the researchers’ shared anecdotal experiences. using these sources, the researchers were able to develop examples of situations and interactions between the two parties that could be construed as microaggressive behavior based on status. these interactions and situational experiences then became the basis of the survey questions. the researchers used purposeful sampling to target applicable survey participants. the survey was distributed via local, national, and international lis electronic mailing lists specifically geared toward al in the u.s. and canada. it was also hoped that this recruitment mechanism would encourage spreading the survey through word of mouth. this resulted in snowball sampling, as al shared the survey link with their colleagues. one of the benefits of purposeful and snowball sampling was the mitigation of threats to external validity (i.e., the extent that the results of a study can be generalized from a sample to a population), thereby ensuring population generalizability (i.e., the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to the intended population). the researchers used a five-point likert scale for the survey, excluding the personal and professional demographic sections. participants were provided with a set of options ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree,” as well as from “very frequently” to “never.” the survey remained open for four weeks between february and march 2016. during this period, multiple survey completion reminders were provided. the survey consisted of eight (quantitative) sections (see the appendix), including: “personal demographics,” “professional demographics,” “microaggressions in a larger context,” “assumptions of inferiority,” “classism,” “collaboration for il sessions,” “collaboration for technical services,” and “strides towards effective collaboration.” 1. personal demographics. in this section participants were asked personal demographic questions aimed at anonymously assessing age, race, citizenship status, and geographic location. 2. professional demographics. in this section participants were asked professional demographic questions aimed at anonymously assessing academic status, level of education, type of institution, and level of experience. 3. microaggressions in a larger context. in this section participants were asked about their familiarity with the concept of microaggression. respondents were also asked if they believed that this term could be applied to issues beyond race and gender. finally, participants were asked if they received formal or informal training on how to interact with tf. 4. assumptions of inferiority. in this section participants were asked whether they had experienced negative interactions with tf regarding their level of education, scholastic achievements, position, title, and/or intelligence. 5. classism (i.e., professional status or class). in this section participants were asked about their feelings on and experiences with distinctions made between tf and al. additionally, this section measured actions by library administrators and reactions related to reported incidents of classism. 31 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 6. collaboration for il sessions. in this section participants were asked about their varied experiences in collaborating with tf on il sessions. 7. collaboration for technical services. in this section participants were asked about their varied experiences in collaborating with tf over technical service-based issues. 8. strides towards effective collaboration. in this section participants were asked about their involvement in curriculum design and scholarly research projects with tf. to gather critical feedback on the survey, a pretest was initiated to test the instrument before dissemination. the pretest involved a total of seven tf and al. individuals were asked to complete the survey and provide detailed input on grammar, punctuation, readability, clarity, leading statements, and general survey design. the feedback gathered was used to refine the survey before dissemination. for this paper, the researchers selected three specific sections of the survey (i.e., assumptions of inferiority, collaboration for il sessions, and strides towards effective collaboration) and looked for relationships between these sections and select demographic data (i.e. age, ethnicity/race, and gender). these three sections were selected for their relevance to statusbased microaggressions in the context of il. results in total, 557 individuals responded to the survey, out of whom 405 (72.71%) progressed to the end of the survey. however, some participants chose to skip certain questions because all questions were optional. making all questions optional had an impact on the total number of responses for individual questions. responses from participants who did not proceed to the end of the survey but still answered select questions were also factored into the data analysis. demographic characteristics figures 1 to 3 demonstrate the breakdown of survey participants by age, gender, and ethnicity/race. out of 505 respondents who completed the question on age, there was a very small disparity, with most respondents selecting an age group between 26 and 64. the smallest number of participants, 47 (9.21 %), selected the age group of either 22 to 25 or 65 and older. for age, the sample was not entirely representative of the overall target population (i.e., al in the u.s. and canada). according to the american library association (ala), librarians under the age of 35 make up the second smallest age demographic. although this fact was not represented in our sample, the sample was in line with the ala’s data on the total number of librarians in the u.s. and canada over the age of 65. out of 503 people who answered the question about gender identity, the majority of participants, 346 (68.79%), identified as female. the significantly larger number of females is indicative of the overall target population of al (ala, 2018). as for ethnicity and/or race, an overwhelming number of participants, 374 (74.35%), self-identified as white (non-hispanic). as with gender, the significantly higher number of white participants was also representative of the target population as confirmed by the ala’s 2009–2010 american community survey estimates (ala, 2018). overall, the researchers determined that the sample population largely mirrored the target population, providing the researchers with a representative sample. 32 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ figure 1. age figure 2. gender 52 [9.69%] 503 [90.31%] 15 [2.98%] 6 [1.19%] 136 [27.04%] 346 [68.79%] 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 skipped questions answered questions i prefer not to respond transgender male female 52 [9.34%] 505 [90.66%] 36 [7.13%] 108 [21.39%] 98 [19.41%] 139 [27.52%] 113 [22.38%] 11 [2.18%] 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 skipped questions answered questions 65+ 55-64 45-54 35-44 26-34 22-25 33 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ figure 3. ethnicity/race simple linear regression analysis in determining if age, ethnicity, and gender contributed to perceived status-based microaggressions experienced by al, simple linear regression tests were conducted. a p-value was used to determine if statistical significance existed for the questions in the three sections selected for analysis (i.e., assumptions of inferiority, collaboration for il sessions, and strides towards effective collaboration). a large p-value at 0.05 or above indicated no statistical significance and therefore was not included in this paper. a p-value of less than 0.05 and closer to 0.00 demonstrated a marginal to strong statistical significance and is thus presented below. age and microaggressions for age, the simple linear regression analysis revealed that four out of the 16 questions (from the three sections selected) were statistically significant. when tf made assumptions about als’ level of education (q15), statistical significance was identified between participants’ ages and the tf’s assumption that al were not highly educated: f (1,443) = 4.839, p < .028, with an r2 of .011. when examining tf’s comments regarding assumptions of intelligence and/or scholastic achievement (q17), there was also a statistically significant relationship: f (1,439) = 4.563, p < .033, with an r2 of .013. a number of factors may be influencing why age plays a role in how tf view als’ academic/scholastic achievement and level of education. it is possible 54 [9.69%] 503 [90.31%] 23 [4.57%] 374 [74.36%] 9 [1.79%] 8 [1.59%] 22 [4.37%] 53 [10.54%] 35 [6.96%] 35 [6.96%] 3 [0.60%] 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 skipped questions answered questions i prefer not to respond white (non hispanic) native american middle eastern hispanic european asian african american african 34 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ that the younger age of some al may further obscure tf’s understanding of the academic requirements needed to become an al. this theory may be supported by the fact that tf also have a difficult time distinguishing between library paraprofessionals/student employees and al. the ability to make a distinction is further complicated by the fact that these staff members tend to be more visible in a library setting (ivey, 1994). when analyzing the question about tf providing al a syllabus of the course before library lectures (q33), the researchers noticed a statistically significant relationship with age: f (1,404) = 16.273, p < .000, with an r2 of .039. the researchers also observed a statistical significance: f (1,404) = 5.339, p < .021, with an r2 of .013, when analyzing the question (q34) about tf asking al to compress a library lecture into an unreasonable time. here the statistical significance between age and both questions could be ascribed to the fact that tf may see younger al as inexperienced and less likely to complain. moreover, based on the julien and pecoskie (2009) suggestion, some al may see il instruction time as a “gift” provided by tf. this may be especially true for younger al who lack the experience or ability to know when they are being treated unfairly or how to respectfully decline. follow-up qualitative studies will do well to support, refute, or introduce fineness into this picture. ethnicity/race and microaggressions in determining if ethnicity contributed to status-based microaggressions, the analysis determined that when tf started a conversation with al using the language “no offense, but” (q18), there was a statistical significance in al perceiving the language as a form of statusbased microaggression: f (1,444) = 5.448, p < .02, with an r2 of .012. the remainder of the questions analyzed showed no statistical significance. although the phrase “no offense, but” typically attempts to minimize the effect of any statement that follows, it is often a preface to a statement that is microaggressive or discriminatory. the use of the statement “no offense, but” may also be connected to race-based microaggressions (sue, 2010). therefore, it was not completely surprising to see a statistical significance between ethnicity and status-based microaggressive statements that begin with “no offense, but.” gender and microaggressions in determining if gender contributes to perceived status-based microaggressions experienced by al, the analysis revealed statistically significant results regarding tf’s assumptions about als’ scholastic or academic achievement (q15): f (1,442) = 5.001, p < .026, with an r2 of .011. the assumption made by tf about als’ level of education may be impacted by the fact that females made up the largest portion of the sample population. the assumption may be furthered by biases that exist against women in an academic setting and/or the view of librarianship as a service-oriented profession. when examining the question regarding tf asking al to compress a library lecture into an unreasonable time (q34), there was a statistically significant relationship: f (1,403) = 5.135, p < .024, with an r2 of .013. in determining if tf were providing al a syllabus of the course before a library lecture (q33), there also appeared to be a statistically significant relationship: f (1,404) = 4.507, p < .034, with an r2 of .011. the statistical significance between gender and the tf failing to provide a syllabus and asking al to compress a library lecture into an unreasonable timeframe could stem from the belief that al of a specific gender are less likely to complain or protest. although we do not know for certain if this applies more to females than males, further statistical analysis may provide in-depth insight into whether al are indeed 35 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ treated differently based on gender. mean analysis age and microaggressions in the mean analysis, age did not play a significant factor in al reporting a higher rate of status-based microaggressions during collaborative efforts with tf (see table 1). the mean for individuals under 44, as opposed to those over 44, was very similar. however, this was not the case when looking at the effect of age in the section entitled “assumptions of inferiority.” in this section it was clear that individuals 45 and over consistently faced a higher rate of microaggressive behavior based on their perceived scholastic achievement, intelligence, academic status, and pay. this may be a result of tf viewing al over a certain age as would-be academics or scholars who did not reach their full potential. the notion may be supported by the literature which states that tf are unsure about als’ roles and the requirements needed to become an al (badke, 2005; christiansen et al., 2004; given & julien, 2005; julien & given, 2003; julien & pecoskie, 2009). however, further research is needed to determine if this is indeed the cause. ethnicity/race and microaggressions when examining the mean for non-minority responses against the mean for minorities (see table 2), it appears that minorities tend to experience higher rates of microaggressive behaviors. more specifically, the data indicates that minorities experience assumptions of inferiority at a higher rate than non-minorities. the only exceptions are in the area of scholastic achievement and pay. for non-minorities, the mean response was the highest when dealing with tf’s assumptions about als’ intelligence. when it comes to collaboration in the context of il, minorities do not fare as well as their nonminority counterparts. in all three sections of the survey (barring one question) the mean for minority responses exceeded the mean for non-minorities. this indicates that overall tf are not collaborating effectively with al from minority groups in the context of il. these results are concerning and may point to an underlying issue of race negatively impacting effective collaboration between tf and al. gender and microaggressions when comparing the mean responses for gender (see table 3), males reported higher instances of microaggressive behavior by tf in all three sections analyzed. moreover, the mean for male responses also exceeded the overall mean. this was unexpected, as the researchers had assumed the opposite would take place. it was hypothesized that sexism and gender discrimination may play a role in increasing the rate at which females experienced status-based microaggressions, but the data analysis proved that this was not the case. it must be noted, though, that a variety of factors may be influencing fewer reports of status-based microaggressions by females. one theory is that female al may be more hesitant to report microaggressive behavior by tf due to a fear of retaliatory actions or a belief that they may find no support among colleagues or the library administration. moreover, female librarians may avoid reporting such microaggressions due to social implications. cheryl r. kaiser and carol t. miller (2001) assert that victims of discrimination will avoid reporting acts of discrimination due to the social costs and negative evaluations that arise from such actions. a more accurate answer to this question warrants further research. 36 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ table 1. mean analysis age and microaggression question assumptions of inferiority overall mean response 20-44 mean response 45-up mean response 14 teaching faculty have assumed that i would not be as highly educated because of my position or title. 2.26 2.11 2.42 15 teaching faculty have acted surprised at my scholastic or academic achievements. 2.25 2.09 2.43 16 teaching faculty have assumed that i have a lower paying job because of my position or title. 2.59 2.57 2.62 17 teaching faculty have told me i was "smart/intelligent" as though she/he assumed i wouldn't be. 3.22 3.07 3.38 18 teaching faculty have started a conversation with the phrase "no offense, but" and asked/mentioned something that could be perceived as a microaggression? 3.22 3.13 3.31 question collaboration for il sessions 27 have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session with no notice? 1.94 1.82 1.82 28 have teaching faculty ever failed to attend a prearranged library session for their class or classes with notice? 2.62 2.60 2.60 29 have teaching faculty ever failed to attend a prearranged library session for their class without notice? 3.09 3.07 3.07 37 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 30 have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session while they are away on vacation? 2.86 2.79 2.78 31 have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session while they are away at a conference? 2.55 2.52 2.52 32 have teaching faculty ever demanded a library session on a specific day, regardless of your schedule? 2.92 2.78 2.78 33 have teaching faculty, when asked to do so, ever failed to provide you with the class syllabus or additional information? 2.64 2.39 2.39 34 have teaching faculty ever asked you to compress a library session into an unreasonable time? 2.42 2.22 2.22 35 have teaching faculty ever asked you to perform duties akin to those of a research assistant? 2.71 2.63 2.63 36 have teaching faculty ever failed to consult you when designing course curriculum that involves library activities, assignments, etc.? 1.67 1.54 1.54 question strides towards effective collaboration 41 have teaching faculty ever actively involved you with their course design? 3.67 3.65 3.65 38 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ table 2. mean analysis ethnicity/race and microaggressions question assumptions of inferiority overall mean response nonminority mean response minority mean response 14 teaching faculty have assumed that i would not be as highly educated because of my position or title. 2.25 2.24 2.30 15 teaching faculty have acted surprised at my scholastic or academic achievements. 2.26 2.25 2.30 16 teaching faculty have assumed that i have a lower paying job because of my position or title. 2.59 2.56 2.64 17 teaching faculty have told me i was "smart/intelligent" as though she/he assumed i wouldn't be. 3.22 3.26 3.12 18 teaching faculty have started a conversation with the phrase "no offense, but" and asked/mentioned something that could be perceived as a microaggression? 3.22 3.27 3.09 question collaboration for il sessions 27 have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session with no notice? 1.93 1.93 1.96 28 have teaching faculty ever failed to attend a prearranged library session for their class or classes with notice? 2.61 2.62 2.58 29 have teaching faculty ever failed to attend a prearranged library session for their class without notice? 3.08 3.06 3.14 39 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 30 have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session while they are away on vacation? 2.85 2.82 2.94 31 have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session while they are away at a conference? 2.54 2.52 2.61 32 have teaching faculty ever demanded a library session on a specific day, regardless of your schedule? 2.91 2.88 3.00 33 have teaching faculty, when asked to do so, ever failed to provide you with the class syllabus or additional information? 2.62 2.63 2.57 34 have teaching faculty ever asked you to compress a library session into an unreasonable time? 2.42 2.37 2.56 35 have teaching faculty ever asked you to perform duties akin to those of a research assistant? 2.70 2.64 2.88 36 have teaching faculty ever failed to consult you when designing course curriculum that involves library activities, assignments, etc.? 1.65 1.63 1.70 question strides towards effective collaboration 41 have teaching faculty ever actively involved you with their course design? 3.66 3.63 3.76 40 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ table 3. mean analysis gender and microaggressions question assumptions of inferiority overall mean response male mean response female mean response 14 teaching faculty have assumed that i would not be as highly educated because of my position or title. 2.27 2.58 2.14 15 teaching faculty have acted surprised at my scholastic or academic achievements. 2.26 2.53 2.14 16 teaching faculty have assumed that i have a lower paying job because of my position or title. 2.60 2.69 2.55 17 teaching faculty have told me i was "smart/intelligent" as though she/he assumed i wouldn't be. 3.22 3.30 3.20 18 teaching faculty have started a conversation with the phrase "no offense, but" and asked/mentioned something that could be perceived as a microaggression? 3.22 3.22 3.23 question collaboration for il sessions 27 have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session with no notice? 1.94 2.23 1.81 28 have teaching faculty ever failed to attend a prearranged library session for their class or classes with notice? 2.62 2.72 2.57 29 have teaching faculty ever failed to attend a prearranged library session for their class without notice? 3.09 3.25 3.03 41 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 30 have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session while they are away on vacation? 2.86 3.01 2.78 31 have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session while they are away at a conference? 2.55 2.71 2.46 32 have teaching faculty ever demanded a library session on a specific day, regardless of your schedule? 2.92 3.12 2.82 33 have teaching faculty, when asked to do so, ever failed to provide you with the class syllabus or additional information? 2.64 3.00 2.49 34 have teaching faculty ever asked you to compress a library session into an unreasonable time? 2.42 2.72 2.31 35 have teaching faculty ever asked you to perform duties akin to those of a research assistant? 2.71 2.87 2.62 36 have teaching faculty ever failed to consult you when designing course curriculum that involves library activities, assignments, etc.? 1.67 1.90 1.58 question strides towards effective collaboration 41 have teaching faculty ever actively involved you with their course design? 3.67 3.83 3.60 42 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ rate of response analysis assumptions of inferiority the breakdown of responses was supportive of the notion found in the literature that some tf view al as subordinate. in the section entitled assumptions of inferiority (q14 to q18) the questions were specifically designed to gauge whether tf view al as inferior based on their status in academia. for questions 14, 15 and 16 the researchers observed that the rates of response for having “very frequently,” “frequently,” and “occasionally” experienced an assumption of inferiority either nearly equaled or in many cases exceeded the number of responses for “rarely” or “never” (see table 4). collaboration for information literacy sessions on the topic of effective collaboration for il, it was evident that for nearly every question barring question 29, the rate of response for having “very frequently,” “frequently,” and “occasionally” encountered a negative experience either nearly equaled or in many cases exceeded the number of responses for “rarely” or “never.” this supports the claims made in the lis literature about the often ineffective collaboration that exists between tf and al. the data indicates that tf have the propensity for making either unrealistic or unreasonable demands of al when collaborating on il sessions. examples of these demands can include having al compress a library session into an unrealistic time, not providing a syllabus, and asking al to teach a library session while on vacation or at a conference. these types of demands can be viewed as microaggressive in an academic environment where collegiality is encouraged between tf and al. moreover, it may indicate a lack of understanding of the roles of al and a reluctance to view al as equals (see table 5). strides toward effective collaboration for this section of the survey, the researchers only focused on question 41, due to its relevance to the topic of il collaboration in course design. it is apparent from the higher rate of response for “occasionally,” “rarely,” and “never” combined that al play a minor role in collaborating with tf. multiple reasons could explain this occurrence, including the lack of understanding of the role of al or how al could assist tf on integrating il into a course (see table 6). discussion the data analysis supported the assertion that many tf view al as subordinate. it is very likely that this perception has an impact on the way in which tf behave with al in il instruction and collaboration. indeed, in the survey, al overwhelmingly reported ineffective collaborative efforts when working with tf. moreover, the data also revealed that tf fail to initiate collaborative partnerships with al when designing their courses, which may be symptomatic of tf’s ignorance of the role of al in academia and may result in increased instances of statusbased microaggressions. moreover, the data revealed that al were subjected to status-based microaggressions, often expressed in ways that were unique to the field of academic librarianship. for example, many al reported that tf have little regard for their academic and scholastic achievement and may make a variety of unreasonable demands of al based on this lack of knowledge. these results support the conclusions found in the literature, which assert that tf may see al as subordinates who play a largely service-oriented role in academia. 43 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ table 4. rate of response analysis assumptions of inferiority question assumptions of inferiority rate of response very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 14 teaching faculty have assumed that i would not be as highly educated because of my position or title. 79.89% (445) 8.76% (39) 14.38% (64) 35.96% (160) 23.82% (106) 17.08% (76) 15 teaching faculty have acted surprised at my scholastic or academic achievement. 80.43% (448) 9.38% (42) 17.86% (80) 31.47% (141) 20.54% (92) 20.76% (93) 16 teaching faculty have assumed that i have a lower paying job because of my position or title. 76.48% (426) 5.40% (23) 16.90% (72) 24.41% (104) 19.72% (84) 33.57% (143) 17 teaching faculty have told me i was "smart/intelligent" as though she/he assumed i wouldn’t be. 79.17% (441) 2.49% (11) 7.48% (33) 14.96% (66) 15.42% (68) 59.64% (263) 18 teaching faculty have started a conversation with the phrase "no offense, but" and asked/mentioned something that could be perceived as a microaggression? 80.25% (447) 3.58% (16) 2.91% (13) 15.44% (69) 23.94% (107) 54.14% (242) 44 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ table 5. rate of response analysis collaboration for information literacy sessions question collaboration for il sessions rate of response very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 27 have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session with no notice? 73.43% (409) 10.27% (42) 21.27% (87) 42.79% (175) 15.65% (64) 10.02% (41) 28 have teaching faculty ever failed to attend a prearranged library session for their class or classes with notice? 73.25% (408) 1.23% (5) 7.60% (31) 41.67% (170) 26.95% (110) 22.55% (92) 29 have teaching faculty ever failed to attend a prearranged library session for their class without notice? 72.89% (406) 1.48% (6) 1.97% (8) 24.63% (100) 29.56% (120) 42.36% (172) 30 have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session while they are away on vacation? 72.17% (402) 2.99% (12) 7.21% (29) 31.34% (126) 17.41% (70) 41.04% (165) 31 have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session while they are away at a conference? 72.53% (404) 4.21% (17) 9.41% (17) 39.85% (161) 20.54% (83) 25.99% (105) 32 have teaching faculty ever demanded a library session on a specific day, regardless of your schedule? 72.89% (406) 2.46% (10) 9.61% (39) 23.40% (95) 22.66% (92) 41.87% (170) 45 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 33 have teaching faculty, when asked to do so, ever failed to provide you with the syllabus or additional information? 73.07% (407) 5.16% (21) 11.55% (47) 27.27% (111) 26.29% (107) 29.73% (121) 34 have teaching faculty ever asked you to compress a library session into an unreasonable time? 72.89% (406) 8.37% (34) 12.07% (49) 33.00% (134) 22.66% (92) 23.89% (97) 35 have teaching faculty ever asked you to perform duties akin to those of a research assistant? 73.61% (410) 4.15% (17) 7.32% (30) 32.44% (133) 26.10% (107) 30.00% (123) 36 have teaching faculty ever failed to consult you with designing course curriculum that involves library activities, assignments, etc.? 72.35% (403) 22.33% (90) 27.05% (106) 26.80% (108) 11.66% (47) 12.16% (49) table 6. rate of response analysis strides toward effective collaboration question strides towards effective collaboration rate of response very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 41 have teaching faculty ever actively involved you with their course design? 71.27% (397) 00.76% (3) 6.05% (24) 34.76% (138) 33.00% (131) 24.44% (101) 46 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the survey analysis also sought to determine whether al face increased instances of statusbased microaggressions based on self-reported demographic information. the data indicates that there is a relationship between demographic characteristics of al and the types of statusbased microaggressions they may encounter. in some cases, these relationships constituted statistically significant correlations. the data also revealed a relationship between age and the assumption by tf that al were not highly educated. one factor that may influence such an assumption is the inability of tf to determine the difference between the various employees and their roles within an academic library. tf may wrongly assume that younger al are library paraprofessionals and therefore make assumptions about the al’s level of education. in addition, the data showed that tf also make unrealistic demands of al based on age. this phenomenon may be connected to the fact that tf view younger, more inexperienced al as less likely to complain about uncollegial behavior. however, it is noteworthy that al over the age of 44 faced a different type of statusbased microaggression. these al complained about the fact that tf often saw them as inferior based on their scholastic achievement, intelligence, academic status, and pay. it is interesting to note that al are facing different types of status-based microaggressions based on their age and level of experience. unfortunately, the increased experience that may come with age does not seem to reduce the likelihood of experiencing some form of status-based microaggression. the data analysis on the role of ethnicity and race provided the researchers with an interesting representation of how race plays a role in status-based microaggressions. the data revealed that the statement “no offense, but,” which is often used in the context of racial microaggressions, was also used by tf when interacting with al in the context of il instruction. although the focus of the study was the topic of status, the data analysis illustrated that race plays a role in the interactions between tf and al. it quickly became apparent that race continues to have an impact on status-based microaggressions. tf viewed al from minority groups as different and treated them as such. this was clear from the fact that al who identified as minorities experienced assumptions of inferiority at a higher rate and collaborated much less effectively with tf. this presents a reason for concern, as the lis literature has demonstrated that racial and ethnic diversity is a real issue in the field of librarianship. however, more information is needed on what roles diversity and ethnicity play in the relationship between tf and al. this type of information could help identify the hurdles that may exist in developing effective collaboration between the two groups. the gender analysis shows that tf may act differently with al based on the al’s gender identity. the data revealed that some tf perceived al as less educated and tended to make more unrealistic demands of these al based on their gender. this observation is problematic and is likely connected to a variety of gender stereotypes and biases, which we did not investigate in-depth in this study. although the data did not confirm that female al experienced increased status-based microaggressions, this finding could be a function of several factors. the researchers had to take into account the fact that the majority of the sample was female and that women generally tend to experience greater gender discrimination in the workplace; at the same time, female employees are less likely to report incidents to superiors. male al reported higher instances of status-based microaggressions, which could be related to the fact that male employees are more forthcoming about this type of incident. further research to corroborate these possible connections is very much needed. it is important to note that although this study provides some indications of how status-based microaggressions may change over time, these microaggressions are heavily influenced by 47 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ context. while al indicated their experiences with status-based microaggressions at a given point in time, their in-the-moment experiences with microaggressive behaviors will evolve as their age, level of education, and years of experience change. for some participants, this may mean that exposure to status-based microaggressive behaviors may increase or diminish over time. limitations the researchers acknowledge that there were limitations to the survey and the study as a whole. first, the survey was only sent to three canadian-based electronic mailing lists, which could limit the pool of canadian participants. second, the project was influenced by the researchers’ personal experiences regarding the existence of status-based microaggressive behavior from tf toward al. these experiences served merely as the impetus to conduct a quantitative study to determine if the researchers’ perceptions were justified. to mitigate the influence of bias on the development of the survey, the researchers initiated a pretest. third, this study was impacted by the lack of literature on microaggressions that occur in academic libraries. as a result, the researchers did not have a significant body of research to draw upon when developing questions to be included in the survey. moreover, unlike microaggressions based on race, gender, or sexual orientation, it proved more difficult to identify what constitutes a status-based microaggression between tf and al. as no previous research exists on the topic in academic libraries, we could not assume that al would automatically know what actions from a tf would constitute a status-based microaggression. therefore, the researchers developed a series of questions based on situations in which status-based microaggressive behavior may occur between tf and al. fourth, it is important to note that participants were self-reporting instances of microaggression based on their personal experiences and perceptions. fifth, the researchers were unable to compare their results with previous studies to ensure validity. finally, the inherent weaknesses of using a likert scale also proved challenging, with the majority of participants selecting the neutral option for most questions. although participants in our survey remained anonymous, studies using likert scales have shown that the majority of participants may gravitate toward the neutral option in response to survey questions in a phenomenon known as “satisficing.” this typically occurs when survey participants attempt to avoid the implications involved with selecting an extreme choice, even if the extreme choice is most accurate (krosnick, narayan, & smith, 1996). conversely, participants may have selected the neutral option in an attempt to simply choose an answer quickly (krosnick et al.,1996). conclusion this research paper represents a foray into the topic of status-based microaggressions within academia and between tf and al. while some work has been done on microaggressions in higher education, the presented research fills the gap in quantitative data that exists on status-based microaggressions. the results of the survey analysis demonstrate that status-based microaggressions, although not pervasive, do exist. moreover, the data indicated that many al experience more frequent instances of status-based microaggressions from tf based on reported demographic characteristics. a variety of factors may be influencing why al with specific demographic characteristics encounter more status-based microaggressions than others, including stereotypes, biases, and an ingrained view of librarianship as a serviceoriented profession or subordinate role. 48 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the field of lis would benefit from future studies that use the concept of microaggression to examine the experiences of al collaborating with tf. such research could play a vital role in promoting collegiality and fruitful collaboration between these groups. without a more thorough understanding of how status-based microaggressions impact this relationship, it will be difficult to bridge the gap that exists between tf and al. appendix survey questions assessing perceived teaching faculty microaggressions towards academic librarians survey personal demographics 1. please tell us your age. 22 – 25 26 – 34 35 – 44 45 – 54 55 – 64 65 or older 2. what is your gender identity (check all that apply)? female male transgender i prefer not to respond other (please identify): 3. with which ethnicity and/or racial group do you identify (check all that apply)? african african american asian (including eastern and southern regions) european hispanic (including caribbean, mexico, central and south america) middle eastern native american white (non-hispanic) i prefer not to respond other (please identify): 4. i am a (check all that apply): u.s. citizen 49 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ canadian citizen u.s. permanent resident canadian permanent resident other (please identify): 5. in which state or province do you primarily reside? professional demographics 6. how many years have you been an academic librarian (round up)? 7. what is your personnel classification? academic staff adjunct faculty tenured faculty other (please identify): 8. at which type of academic institution do you work? associate's college baccalaureate college master's college or university research university special focus institution (e.g., culinary institute) tribal college other (please identify): 9. how many years have you worked at your current institution? microaggressions in a larger context 10. are you familiar with the theory of microaggression (if not skip to question 13)? yes no somewhat 11. microaggressions are a perceived notion or a figment of one's imagination. strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly disagree other (please specify): 12. microaggressions are larger than race or gender issues. strongly agree agree 50 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ neutral disagree strongly disagree 13. have the library administrators at your institution provided formal or informal training on how to interact and collaborate with teaching faculty? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never assumptions of inferiority 14. teaching faculty have assumed that i would not be as highly educated because of my position or title. very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 15. teaching faculty have acted surprised at my scholastic or academic achievements. very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 16. teaching faculty have assumed that i had a lower paying job because of my position or title. very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 17. teaching faculty have told me i was 'smart/intelligent' as though she/he assumed i wouldn’t be. very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 18. teaching faculty have started a conversation with the phrase ‘no offense, but’ and 51 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ asked/mentioned something that could be perceived as a microaggression. very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never classism 19. have teaching faculty ever stated that 'there is a difference between the two of us’ in terms of value to the institution? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 20. have teaching faculty ever stated that all librarians face the same obstacles when dealing with teaching faculty? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 21. have teaching faculty ever stated that i should not complain about negative treatment by teaching faculty? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 22. have library administrators ever stated that there is a difference between teaching faculty and academic librarians in terms of value to the institution? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 23. have library administrators ever stated that i should not complain about negative treatment by teaching faculty? very frequently frequently 52 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ occasionally rarely never 24. have library administrators ever stated that all academic librarians face the same obstacles when dealing with teaching faculty? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 25. have library colleagues ever stated that i should not complain about negative treatment by teaching faculty? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 26. have library colleagues ever stated that all librarians face the same obstacles when dealing with teaching faculty? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never collaboration for il sessions 27. have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session with little to no notice? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 28. have teaching faculty ever failed to attend a prearranged library session for their class or classes with notice? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 29. have teaching faculty ever failed to attend a prearranged library session for their class 53 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ or classes without notice? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 30. have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session while they are away on vacation? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 31. have teaching faculty ever asked you to teach a library session while they are away at a conference? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 32. have teaching faculty ever demanded a library session on a specific day, regardless of your schedule? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 33. have teaching faculty, when asked to do so, ever failed to provide you with the class syllabus or additional information? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 34. have teaching faculty ever asked you to compress a library session to an unreasonable time? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely 54 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ never 35. have teaching faculty ever asked you to perform duties akin to those of a research assistant? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 36. have teaching faculty ever failed to consult you when designing course curriculum that involves library activities, assignments etc.? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never collaboration for technical services 37. have teaching faculty ever treated you solely like a service point? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 38. have teaching faculty ever asked you to acquire materials at the last minute (e.g., course reserves)? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 39. have teaching faculty ever demanded resources or materials even after being told the item/s cannot be purchased? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never strides towards effective collaboration 40. have teaching faculty ever consistently submitted item requests (e.g., course 55 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ reserves) in a timely manner? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 41. have teaching faculty ever actively involved you with their course design? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 42. have teaching faculty ever involved you or your colleagues in grant proposals that have a library component? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never 43. if appropriate, have teaching faculty ever involved you in digital projects (e.g., digital humanities) for which the library is a stakeholder? very frequently frequently occasionally rarely never references alabi, j. (2015). racial microaggressions in academic libraries: results of a survey of minority and non-minority librarians. the journal of academic librarianship, 41(1), 47–53. american library association. (2018). diversity counts. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/diversity/diversitycounts/divcounts badke, w. b. (2005). can't get no respect: helping faculty to understand the educational power of information literacy. the reference librarian, 43(89/90), 63–80. budd, j. m. (2005). the changing academic library. chicago, il: american library association. christiansen, l., stombler, m., & thaxton, l. (2004). a report on librarian-faculty relations from a sociological perspective. the journal of academic librarianship, 30(2), 116–121. 56 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/diversity/diversitycounts/divcounts microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ delaney, g., & bates, j. (2015). envisioning the academic library: a reflection on roles, relevancy and relationships. new review of academic librarianship, 21(1), 30–51. gaertner, s. l., & dovidio, j. f. (1986). the aversive form of racism. in j. f. dovidio. & s. l. gaertner (eds.), prejudice, discrimination, and racism, (pp. 61–89). orlando, fl: academic press. given, l. m., & julien, h. (2005). finding common ground: an analysis of librarians’ expressed attitudes towards faculty. the reference librarian, 43(89), 25–38. ivey, r. (1994). teaching faculty perceptions of academic librarians at memphis state university. college & research libraries, 55(1), 69–82. julien, h., & given, l. m. (2003). faculty-librarian relationships in the information literacy context: a content analysis of librarians’ expressed attitudes and experiences. proceedings of the annual conference of cais. retrieved march 10, 2017, from https://www.cais-acsi.ca/ojs/index.php/cais/index julien, h., & pecoskie, j. j. (2009). librarians' experiences of the teaching role: grounded in campus relationships. library & information science research, 31(3), 149–154. kaiser, c., & miller, c. (2001). stop complaining! the social costs of making attributions to discrimination. personality and social psychology bulletin, 27(2), 254–263. kot, f., & jones, j. (2015). the impact of library resource utilization on undergraduate students' academic performance: a propensity score matching design. college & research libraries, 76(5), 566–586. krosnick, j., narayan, s., & smith, w. (1996). satisficing in surveys: initial evidence. new directions for evaluation, 70, 29–44. kuh, g. d., & gonyea, r. m. (2003). the role of the academic library in promoting student engagement in learning. college & research libraries, 64(4), 256–282. lis microaggressions. (n.d.). zines. retrieved september 10, 2016, from http://lismicroaggressions.tumblr.com/zines mounce, m. (2010). working together: academic librarians and faculty collaborating to improve students’ information literacy skills: a literature review 2000–2009. the reference librarian, 51(4), 300–320. nalani meulemans, y., & carr, a. (2013). not at your service: building genuine faculty-librarian partnerships. reference services review, 41(1), 80–90. pierce, c. (1970). offensive mechanisms. in f. b. barbour (ed.), the black seventies (pp. 265– 282). boston, ma: porter sargent publisher. rowe, m. (1981). the minutiae of discrimination: the need for support. in b. l. forisha & b h. goldman (eds.), outsiders on the inside: women & organizations (pp. 155–170). englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. 57 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.cais-acsi.ca/ojs/index.php/cais/index http://lismicroaggressions.tumblr.com/zines microaggressions as a barrier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ stemmer, j., & mahan, d. (2016). investigating the relationship of library usage to student outcomes. college & research libraries, 77(3), 359–375. sue, d. w. (2010). microaggressions and marginality: manifestation, dynamics, and impact. hoboken, nj: wiley. sue, d. w., capodilupo, c. m., torino, g. c., bucceri, j. m., holder, a. m. b., nadal, k. l., & esquilin, m. (2007). racial microaggressions in everyday life. american psychologist, 62(4), 271–286. sue, d. w., & rivera, d. p. (2010). microaggressions: more than just race: can microaggressions be directed at women or gay people? retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/microaggressions-in-everydaylife/201011/microaggressions-more-just-race vassilakaki, e., & moniarou-papaconstantinou, v. (2015). a systematic literature review informing library and information professionals’ emerging roles. new library world, 116(1/2), 37–66. ahmed alwan (ahmed.alwan@csun.edu) is a faculty member at california state university, northridge (csun) and a research, instruction and outreach librarian in the oviatt library. in the most recent years leading up to his appointment at csun, ahmed was the information literacy librarian at the american university of sharjah in the united arab emirates. ahmed has a bachelor of arts in history and religious studies from york university, and a master of information science from the university of toronto. joy doan (joymdoan@northwestern.edu) is a librarian at northwestern university’s music library. prior to joining northwestern, joy held a position at california state university, northridge (csun) and the university of california, los angeles (ucla). joy holds a bachelor of arts in english literature and music from the university of michigan, an m.a. in music history from case western reserve university, and a master of library and information science degree from san jose state university. eric p. garcia (eric.garcia@csun.edu) is a tenured faculty member at california state university, northridge (csun) and a research, instruction and outreach librarian in the oviatt library teaching information literacy courses. his research interest includes information literacy instruction, assessment of library services, and examining the contributing factors of academic libraries have on student success. eric has a bachelor of arts in history, masters in history, masters of library & information science, and is currently working towards a ph.d. in higher education. 58 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/microaggressions-in-everyday-life/201011/microaggressions-more-just-race https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/microaggressions-in-everyday-life/201011/microaggressions-more-just-race mailto:ahmed.alwan@csun.edu mailto:joymdoan@northwestern.edu mailto:eric.garcia@csun.edu introduction literature review collaboration between teaching faculty and academic librarians etymology and evolution of microaggressions microaggressions in library and information science methodology results demographic characteristics simple linear regression analysis age and microaggressions ethnicity/race and microaggressions gender and microaggressions mean analysis age and microaggressions ethnicity/race and microaggressions gender and microaggressions rate of response analysis assumptions of inferiority collaboration for information literacy sessions strides toward effective collaboration discussion limitations conclusion appendix survey questions assessing perceived teaching faculty microaggressions towards academic librarians survey personal demographics professional demographics microaggressions in a larger context assumptions of inferiority classism collaboration for il sessions collaboration for technical services strides towards effective collaboration references book review: the library workplace idea book the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34353 ijidi: book review seibert, h. l., vinogradov, a., & mclellan, a. h. (eds.). (2020). the library workplace idea book: proactive steps for positive change. ala editions. isbn 9780838946459. 192 pp. $64.99 us. reviewer: martin chandler, mcgill university, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: change; ideas; library; workplace publication type: book review he library is constantly striving to work for its users, but how is it working for the people who work there? this is one of the questions that the library workplace idea book seeks to address. by offering some methods for improving the workplace for all workers, this book attempts to achieve a grand and noble goal. to that end, the editors present a series of 24 case studies and personal narratives, each constituting a chapter of the book. each of these studies is presented by a library worker, or workers, at a different institution and presents one project that was undertaken for improving their library. in this context, the book has a lot to offer for libraries, especially those concerned about their workers. as a text coming from the american library association, the ideas presented are couched entirely within the cultural context of the u.s. this includes discussion from legal requirements in bullying to historically black colleges and universities. it would certainly not be feasible to remove the layers of the social construct that make this text notably local in its presentation and solutions, though it would have been enlightening to see some different approaches. even as a canadian reading this, i found the text’s worldview notably different, despite our geographic and cultural proximity. the book begins with a large section (six chapters) on work-life balance. largely, the section refers more to better designing library workplaces for workers with new families. there is a certain sense to this, given both the profession’s gender imbalance both as a whole, and in upper administrative positions. one can hope that the topic of improving the library workforce would result in senior library administrators seeking new ideas and finding ways to reduce career advancement barriers that those with family responsibilities currently experience. still, while clearly these are issues in need of further work, i would have appreciated a more expansive view of work-life balance in a library context. section three of the book (six chapters) is titled “inclusion and sensitivity.” the first chapter, by angel sloss, discusses sensitivity in race and ethnicity, and incisively outlines this issue in ways that should make many of us uncomfortable, in particular, with such sentiments as “i was not prepared for the constant microaggressions that i would feel in the workplace” (p. 78). the second chapter of this section then discusses creating an inclusive environment for indigenous support staff, and in this we perhaps see further cultural differences of the u.s.: the library is not acknowledged as a colonial institution. this is abundantly clear when exploring some problematic suggestions for creating inclusive library workplaces. these include outings to an t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the library workplace idea book the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34353 “ethnic restaurant” (p. 88) and having interested staff “share information about their heritage or hobbies” (p. 88), without discussing the extra workload this can put on those staff members; and ultimately, the chapter title, “indigenous support staff in the library,” focuses specifically on indigenous support staff, rather than indigenous staff as a whole. while there are some excellent ideas presented, the subtext of this section, including the assumed whiteness of the profession, is problematic. two chapters on gender identity and inclusion, also part of the “inclusion and sensitivity” section, are valuable in continuing the conversation around something that remains difficult for some members of society to understand and embrace. the chapters provide two differing stories in this vein, with the first outlining the minor successes and deeper frustrations of enacting change, while the second shows a greater workplace uptake and deeper work to improve equity outside of gender binary-identifying individuals. in this instance, the “inclusion and sensitivity” section was excellent. much of the advice in the book is deeply contingent on a very fundamental principle: that library administrators are highly (and sincerely) engaged in creating an inclusive workplace and that they are willing to take action to ensure this goal is achieved. this is evident in chapter 14: “organizational change and gender identity: when good intentions fall short ,” by alex byrne. this chapter focuses more on the role of management in encouraging and following through on change. byrne writes, “managers and supervisors are a crucial part of organizational change” (p. 93). in other chapters of the book, such quotes as “ongoing and explicit supervisory support and encouragement is essential…” (p. 67) and “we are grateful to our university librarian for her responsiveness to staff concerns…” (p. 32) outline the primary need for institutional, and in particular administrative, support before undertaking any project. while many of the ideas are excellent ones to implement for improving the workplace, nearly all of them are deeply contingent on support from administrators, which is not always guaranteed. more than this, some suggestions call for significant financial or space commitments—or in some cases both—which may be a particularly difficult sell for administrators looking to create student study space and cut costs. the ideas presented in this text are grand but may also illuminate the financial and ideological disparities between institutions and geographies; for example, a well-funded, geographically isolated institution may be more likely to work on employee retention than one in a major urban centre. notably missing in the discussion is perspectives or ideas from and for individuals with disabilities. the closest reference to persons with disabilities is part of a mention of mental health, however this is in the context of the improvements brought about by exercise programs such as walking and yoga. the chapters on inclusion specifically mention race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, however ability is either part of a list (in the case of one chapter offering a model code of conduct) or as an add-on, reminding readers to “ be mindful of including people with varying levels of ability” (p. 67). more in-depth treatment of library workers with disabilities would have been welcomed. there are some excellent ideas to bring into libraries presented in this book. while many of those ideas are highly dependent on local, social, cultural, and economic mores and abilities, the book can serve as a jumping point for adaptation, and certainly would make excellent reading for administrators looking to improve the working culture for their staff. while not perfect, it has much to offer, and i would reco mmend it for library staff uncertain of where to start when looking for new workplace improvement projects. 95 about:blank the library workplace idea book the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34353 originally from nova scotia, martin chandler (martin.chandler@mcgill.ca) is the data services librarian at mcgill university. after completing a master of information degree from the university of toronto, he spent a year as gis librarian at brock university. 96 about:blank about:blank book review: pushing the margins: women of color and intersectionality in lis the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi ijidi: book review chou, r. l., & pho, a. (eds.). (2018). pushing the margins: women of color and intersectionality in lis. sacramento, ca: library juice. isbn 9781634000529. 508 pp. $35 us. reviewer: alyssa v. loera, california state polytechnic university, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: critical librarianship; diversity; equity; inclusion; intersectionality publication type: book review n 2014, fobazi ettarh penned an article for the online publication in the library with the lead pipe that called for greater attention to intersecting library identities, both in staff and users. she wrote, “intersectionality is a tool for studying, understanding, and responding to the ways in which axes of identities intersect and how these intersections contribute to unique experiences of oppression and privilege.” (para. 2). the concept of intersectionality, first coined by kimberlé crenshaw in 1991, references the consistent ineffectiveness of sweeping, generalized diversity statements and doctrines, which are often based on presumed mutually exclusive identities. intersectionality acknowledges a complex reality in which identities are multi-faceted, varied, and falling along multiple axes within political and economic systems, not monolithic. ettarh also penned the forward to pushing the margins, a book that provides, through narratives and research studies, a voice for those who live on these intersectional matrices. editors rose l. chou and annie pho have gathered a collection of perspectives from across the cultural heritage and academic information sectors, none of which they have reduced down into compact identities, and turned them into a tool for the continued study of intersectionality in library information science (lis). they accomplish this task by elevating the voices of people who intersect along the lines of work status, race, class, religion, and sexual identity. pushing the margins contains 17 peer-reviewed articles, an index of terms, and a section about the contributors. the arrangement of the works is logical, beginning with an article highlighting key women of color (e.g., nella larson, pura belpré, and audre lorde, among others) throughout a few generations of lis work, and moving through studies and personal experiences related to cultural taxation, vocational awe, micro-aggressions, exclusionary practices, and more. the book concludes with an in-depth conversation between clara m. chu and todd honma (the former a longtime scholar on the topic of information justice, the latter dr. chu’s former student and advisee) about the state of lis criticism and reflection, broadly tying in the specifics of the previous articles. the majority of the authors hail from community colleges, public and research libraries, and self-identify as current librarians, students, and/or scholars. many also self-identify as mixed race, as a person of color, feminist, lgbtqia+, multi-lingual, first generation, or as an immigrant. the academic nature of the content suggests the intended audience are those within the field of librarianship and archives, both in the academic and public spheres. although much of the content speaks directly to underrepresented populations in lis, the solutions and calls to action target lis professionals in general. i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pushing the margins the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi intersectionality frameworks act as the connective tissue between the articles with many varied experiences brought together under a shared sense of otherness in a historically oppressive field. though many of the same themes, theories, and solutions arise across essays, the lens from which each piece derives is decidedly unique. this recognition of shared experience, while still remaining intersectional, is most directly pointed out in chapter 4, as the librarians in conversation are recognized as the same under broad census distinctions (e.g., south asian american), yet their experiences and self-descriptions are nuanced and ultimately different. various chapters explore, in depth, the paradox of invisibility as opposed to hypervisibility, or tokenism. another common concept is diversity work as performance rather than action. for example, diversity residency programs (sometimes known as pipeline programs as they are expected to create a pipeline for underrepresented minorities to enter the lis field) are critiqued for their short-term nature; their propensity to reinforce tokenism; and their misuse by administrators as representing authentic diversity work, when in fact, they are often anything but inclusive. jennifer brown and sofia leung discuss this at length in their article and highlight the unwillingness of national library organizations to denounce oppressive frameworks. many of the authors attribute this to vocational awe (a term developed by fobazi ettarh), or the belief that lis is inherently good and therefore free from critical analysis. many of the articles explore emotional labor, cultural taxation and the impact of microaggressions, especially in relation to experiences at the reference desk and in gaining tenure status. tarida anantachai and camille chelsey frame cultural taxation as using an employee’s cultural background to justify using them as a representative of a whole population, and, in turn, adding more diversity-related work to their job description. this work is less valued in tenure rubrics and consequently, affects retention of underrepresented populations in lis. multiple articles make note of emotional labor as both self-imposed and institutionally imposed. unspoken and unacknowledged expectations to perform a certain way, to align more deeply with diversity work than overrepresented colleagues, and to act complacent in the face of micro-aggressions are all added burdens that contribute to imposter syndrome and battle fatigue. other important questions conveyed throughout the book include, how can privileged colleagues decenter their identities, and are they willing to do so? are colleagues who fit easily into the default infrastructure, that is, white and heteronormative, really held to the same standards as those who undertake more diversity work and, thus, more emotional labor? the mixture of qualitative and quantitative data to support the claims of the book make the overall impact effective. additionally, there are a few pieces told from the first-person experience, highlighting just how complex an individual’s experience can be in the library field, as opposed to representation in quantitative studies. by making space for the individual, pushing the margins opens up a way to emotionally and productively connect with the real reasons for lack of diversity in the field. it also reveals the need for more exploration of intersectional experiences. the studies range in methodology, but surveying is by far the most prominent throughout the book, at times using small population sizes. each piece could further break out into a more substantial study, and this book seems to collate them based on the lack of research in the area, therefore more variation in methodology in those expansions would overall be beneficial. additionally, the articles do less to scrutinize the myth of neutrality in lis and intersectional user experiences. they do however, highlight positive solutions on the employer side including rewarding critique, embedding diversity work into tenure requirements, recognizing the emotional labor that goes into subverting a wholly oppressive infrastructure, mentoring each other (and promoting mentorship more deeply), creating authentic diversity measures (rather than performing diversity), and holding administrators and institutions 142 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pushing the margins the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi accountable. references crenshaw, k. (1991). mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. stanford law review, 43(6), 1241-1299. ettarh, f. (2014, july 2). making a new table: intersectional librarianship. in the library with the lead pipe. retrieved from http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2014/making-a-new-table-intersectionallibrarianship-3/ alyssa v. loera (avloera@cpp.edu) is the digital services & technology librarian at california state polytechnic university, pomona. she is also the liaison librarian for the music, theatre & new dance departments. alyssa’s research focuses include digital libraries, digital humanities, and archives. she is also an active member of the los angeles archivists collective, code4lib, the southern california technical processes group, and the la city historical society. 143 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2014/making-a-new-table-intersectional-librarianship-3/ http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2014/making-a-new-table-intersectional-librarianship-3/ mailto:avloera@cpp.edu references an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion at a metropolitan library in the southeastern u.s. the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion at a metropolitan library in the southeastern u.s. liz movius, university of tennessee, knoxville, usa abstract this article examines the existing diversity and inclusion responses to transgender and gender nonconforming patrons at a large, metropolitan public library in the southeastern u.s. research shows that transgender and gender nonconforming individuals face unique challenges when navigating libraries. these challenges include inadequate collections, microaggressions from reference staff, a lack of gender-neutral bathrooms, and circulation policies preventing remote name changes. to compensate for these difficulties and increase accessibility for transgender and gender nonconforming patrons, libraries should incorporate diversity and inclusion initiatives into their functions. the author evaluated current collections, programs, services, policies, and resources for inclusivity, equity, and accessibility and created a strategic diversity action plan for the institution. the strategic diversity action plan identified six steps the library should take to foster inclusion and increase accessibility for its transgender and gender nonconforming patrons. these six steps include: 1) create an official, transgender-friendly bathroom policy; 2) develop a diversity and inclusion statement that includes gender identity in its language; 3) invest in staff training and continuing education about gender, sexuality, and transgender issues and service needs; 4) conduct a needs assessment of the transgender and gender nonconforming community; 5) establish programming based on the needs and wants expressed by the transgender and gender nonconforming community; and 6) implement a remote name-change or preferred name-change process. keywords: diversity; gender nonconforming; inclusion; lgbtq+; public libraries; transgender publication type: research article introduction ccess has been the perceived hallmark of public libraries in the u.s. since they were established. however, this perception does not match the true history of libraries, particularly in the southern u.s. under jim crow, public libraries oppressed their own community members through racism and segregation (weigand, 2017). until the 1960’s, african american patrons could not use the full spectrum of services offered by their public libraries (knott, 2015). instead, they were relegated to under-staffed and underfunded “negro branches” where collections and resources were limited (graham, 2002). although libraries have evolved in the last fifty to sixty years, it is vital that awareness of past wrongs guide present decisions to prevent repeated mistakes. today, the first tenet of the american library association’s (ala’s) professional code of ethics states: “we provide the highest level of service to all library users through appropriate and usefully organized resources; equitable service policies; equitable access [emphasis added]; and accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests” a http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ (2008b). progress has been made, but this contemporary moment is tied to a problematic history. in light of challenges in their history, public libraries must be diligent in their dedication to equitable access for all patrons, regardless of race or gender identity, among other aspects. diversity and inclusion are the foundation upon which equitable access is built. the ala’s strategic plan identifies equitable access as a key action area, particularly vital for people who experience discrimination, isolation, barriers, and distress (2017, p. 2). diversity and inclusion, however, do not grow without intentional cultivation. it is not enough to simply open the doors of the library with a willingness to serve those who visit and subsequently call that openness and willingness inclusion. dali and caidi (2017) describe this as “add-on diversity” as opposed to “diversity by design.” diversity by design places inclusion at the core of the library, integrating it seamlessly into decision making, hiring practices, collections, and public programming. given the current sociopolitical environment in the united states, dedication to diversity and inclusion by design is of the utmost importance. on january 17, 2018, the u.s. department of health and human services began to pave the way for health professionals to discriminate against and refuse treatment to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (lgbtq+) people, citing religious freedom (eilperin & cha, 2018). in light of this and other disturbing news, libraries must renew their commitment to equitable access and service, making it clear that they are dedicated to including vulnerable communities. diversity and inclusion should not be treated as a trend, rather, they should be treated as the library’s foundation; included by design, not as an addition (cooke, 2017; dali & caidi, 2017). transgender patrons, in particular, often report low satisfaction with library services, a lack of helpful resources, and reference interactions that range from apathetic to antagonistic (drake & bielefield, 2017). despite the measure of progress made for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (lgb) civil rights with the passage of marriage equality in 2015 (obergefell v. hodges), transgender and gender nonconforming (gnc) people have been left behind and, in many cases, are facing more fierce opposition. this article will examine the inclusion of transgender and gnc people at a large, metropolitan library in the southeastern u.s. due to internal challenges with the library’s marketing and communication department, the library will remain anonymous and therefore is referred to as library x, however, the findings reported in this article will be communicated to the collaborating staff at the agency. although attempts to pass a transphobic bathroom bill in the state in which library x is located failed in 2017 and again in early 2018, transgender and gnc individuals still experience higher rates of poverty, homelessness, and harassment than their cisgender lgb and cisgender heterosexual peers, in addition to anxiety caused by the continual threats from the state legislature (bado, 2017; james et al., 2016; sisk, 2018). furthermore, according to the ala library bill of rights, librarians have a professional obligation to provide patrons equal access and service, regardless of their gender identity (ala, 2008a). although service to transgender patrons may be challenged by the current government administration, if libraries in conservative communities make their services to specific populations part of a larger, systemic focus on equitable access, then the challenges posed by antagonistic forces can be minimized (cooke, 2017). whether or not the local government supports them, it is vital that libraries find ways to show transgender and gnc patrons that they are valued community members. community context city x is the capital and the largest city in its state, with an estimated population of over 684,000 (davis, 2017).1 it is also part of the largest metropolitan area in its state; the thirteen counties 38 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ that make up the greater city x metropolitan area have an estimated total population of 1.8 million (united states census bureau, 2016). city x is well known for its history of dedication to the arts and education and has a strong, rapidly growing business and industry presence (strauss, 2017). out of the four most populous cities in the state, city x has the highest score on the human rights campaign’s (hrc’s) municipal equality index (mei), with a score of 60 out of 100 (redacted for anonymity). the mei is a tool used to rank cities based on their friendliness and protections for lgbtq+ people (hrc, 2017). according to a local lgbtq+ magazine, city x is considered a “best place to live” for lgbtq+ people in the southern u.s. and has a strong lgbtq+ presence (grady, 2017). the metropolitan government of city x (also referred to as metro), the third largest employer of city residents as of june 30, 2017 (metro, 2017a, p. h-33), operates under a nondiscriminatory policy that includes sexual orientation and gender identity in its protections (metro, n.d.). when the city attempted to expand the nondiscrimination ordinance to cover contractors as well as employees, however, the state legislature struck the ordinance down (fenton, 2011). in spite of the state’s interference, metro still honors the nondiscrimination ordinance (metro, n.d.). it must be noted that the state prohibits cities from passing nondiscrimination laws, meaning that metro’s nondiscrimination ordinance is a policy without the force of law behind it. this offers metro employees a limited measure of protection for only as long as metro chooses to abide by the policy. due to a conservative state government, this is the most metro can offer (movement advancement project, 2018). this relative lgbtq+-friendliness notwithstanding, there are still areas of lgbtq+ inclusivity in the city that need improvement. for instance, the health insurance that metro offers to its employees does not cover transgender-related healthcare, such as hormones, surgery, and other specialized care. there are also no city services provided to the lgbtq+ community (hrc, 2017b). the south is home to 35% of the lgbtq+ population of the u.s., more than any other region. although support for lgbtq+ people has, on average, been steadily increasing in this region in the last ten years, they are still more likely to lack health insurance, employment protections, and to have difficulty affording food and healthcare than in other regions (williams institute, 2016b). the legal and economic disadvantages faced by lgbtq+ people in the south are exemplified by the actions of the state legislature of city x. the legislature has gone to great lengths to keep lgbtq+ residents, particularly those who are transgender and gnc, from receiving legal protections and inclusion. the state human rights commission specifically delineates in the state human rights and disabilities act that the purpose of the code is to “safeguard all individuals within the state from discrimination because of race, creed, color, religion, sex, age or national origin in connection with employment and public accommodations” (p. 1). however, it makes certain to explicitly state, ““sex” means and refers only to the designation of an individual person as male or female as indicated on the individual’s birth certificate” (p. 3). additionally, the state prohibits residents from changing sex designation on their birth certificate (ncte, 2018). these laws and the state’s restriction against nondiscrimination laws have serious implications, from transgender and gnc citizens’ voting rights, to healthcare, and to employment. by 2040, the population of city x is projected to exceed 800,000. consequently, library x has implemented a strategic plan and a facilities master plan designed to keep the library relevant in a quickly-growing city. currently, the library x system has over twenty locations in city x and employs nearly 400 people (library x, n.d.e; metro, 2017b). the plans identify underserved areas of the city and propose improvements, renovations, and new construction based on four quadrants of the city and the communities living there. the strategic plan focuses on five basic 39 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ areas: community engagement, literacy, equitable access, fostering a culture of excellence, and resource leveraging (library x, 2017b) in order to fulfill library x’s mission (library x, n.d.a). the strategic plan also lists the library’s vision and values. the vision, paraphrased to preserve anonymity, is to enrich and empower the lives of all members of the library’s diverse community through unlimited learning opportunities. the values include extraordinary customer service, love of reading, lifelong learning, intellectual freedom, innovation, excellence, and inclusiveness (library x, 2017b). there are also two objectives listed in the strategic plan that explicitly include diversity in their language. the first is to advance diversity and inclusion within library x’s staff and city. and, the second is to recognize changing demographics and align services for equitable access (library x, 2017b). based on their strategic plan, it seems that library x places a high priority on inclusion, as demonstrated in their vision, values, and goals. to the extent that strategic plans are indications of intent, it appears that the library x system’s success is linked to their dedication and action with respect to those goals. they offer a variety of programs and services to people of all backgrounds, reflecting an apparent belief that books represent only one of the many ways a library serves its communities (library x, 2015). according to the u.s. census bureau (uscb) (2016), city x is 56.4% white, not hispanic or latinx; 10.1% hispanic or latinx; 3.7% asian; 0.5% native american; and 28.1% black or african-american. the percentages for these racial/ethnic groups in the whole u.s. are 61.3%, 17.8%, 5.7%, 1.3%, and 13.3%, respectively (uscb, 2016). city x is also home to almost 36,000 veterans, out of a total population of 684,000. within city x, 51.8% of residents are female; 87% graduated high school; 8.5% have a disability; and 17.1% live below the poverty line, compared to a national average of 12.7% (uscb, 2016). information about lgbtq+ people is not included in the census, however the williams institute of ucla estimates that 2.8% of the population of the state in which city x is located identify as lgbtq+, which is the equivalent of roughly 19,000 people in city x (williams institute, 2016a). given city x’s reputation within their state as a safer city for lgbtq+ residents, it is possible that the actual number of lgbtq+ people living in city x may be higher than estimated. strategic diversity manifesto: a brief analysis this assessment of diversity and inclusion initiatives at library x draws on the strategic diversity manifesto (sdm) by mehra & davis (2015) for its framework of application to identify various information responses provided for transgender and gnc patrons at the agency. the sdm evaluates information organizations according to three components: who, what, and how. the “who” component identifies and describes library users “in terms of their psychological, behavioral, and demographic attributes as contextualized in response to localized environments” (mehra & davis, 2015, p. 19). the “what” component identifies information and resources offered by the organization. these resources are further broken down into three categories: information sources, information policy and planning, and connections. the “how” component connects the “who” and the “what” components by providing examples of organizational resources directed at different target groups. methodology library x’s diversity initiatives were analyzed using the sdm as a framework to examine “who,” “what,” and “how” components. the “who” components include three levels: general diversity, 40 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ lgbq+, and transgender/gnc people. these levels examine library x’s diversity and inclusion initiatives from the multifaceted view of general diversity to the focused view of explicitly transgender and gnc inclusion. each of the “what” components of information sources, information policy and planning, and connections, are evaluated with respect to the three “who” component levels and subsequent examples are described in the “how” component. the examination of library x’s available materials involved content analysis of various documents to identify concepts pertaining to diverse communities and the relationships between the library, the concepts, and the communities. the author analyzed library x’s website, catalog, and internal policies using this method, with respect to information sources, information policy and planning, and connections. to examine information sources, the author conducted three rounds of catalog searches. first, to determine the level of transgender and gnc inclusion in the catalog, the author executed search a using the keywords transgender, gender nonconforming, gender minority, transsexual, and nonbinary. (nb: transsexual is an archaic term for transgender that is no longer used by the trans community, however it was included in this search because it is still used by the library of congress (loc) in their demographic group terms classification (2017), and therefore may still appear in cataloging). second, to determine the level of broader lgbtq+ inclusion in the catalog, the author conducted search b using the additional keywords lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, pansexual, sexual minority, queer, lgbt, and lgbtq. third, to determine the levels of inclusion for other diverse groups in the catalog, the author executed search c1, c2, and c3 to gather resources related to race and ethnicity, people with disabilities, and people experiencing poverty and homelessness, respectively. while the number of additional diverse identities is necessarily limited by the scope of the present study, the author selected these three aspects of diversity to help provide a well-rounded assessment of library x’s collections. the keywords used for search c1 were race, ethnicity, african american, latinx/o/a, hispanic, asian american, and native american. the keywords for search c2 were disabilities, chronic illness, mental illness, and americans with disabilities act. the keywords for search c3 were homelessness, poverty, and low income. diversity responses at library x the information sources category is divided into two subcategories: collections and noncollection resources (e.g. databases, libguides, reading lists). catalog search a returned the following results: 195 books, 124 ebooks, 53 audiobooks, and 46 films. catalog search b returned 2,184 books, 1,494 ebooks, 610 audiobooks, 1,040 music items, and 596 films. catalog searches c1, c2, and c3 returned 20,473 books, 10,622 ebooks, 4,993 audiobooks, 3,079 music items, and 3,674 films total. based on the existence of these items in the collection, the author believes library x is partially successful in regard to its inclusion of transgender/gnc, lgbq+, and broader diverse people in its collections. however, a rigorous content analysis of these items must be conducted in the future to develop a more comprehensive assessment and to address common problems pertaining to relevance versus recall. such an analysis would evaluate items for age, relevance, discriminatory or oppressive rhetoric, as well as refining search terms, such as removing items using “gay” to refer to happy and including archaic terminology such as “homosexuals” and “hermaphrodites,” both of which are still in use by the library of congress standards (2017). an analysis of library x’s non-collection resources revealed that none are targeted to transgender or gnc people and their needs. nor were there any databases targeted to lgbq+ people (library x, n.d.c). these resources, such as lgbt life by ebsco, are offered by some other large, 41 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ metropolitan public library systems in the southern u.s. and have been reviewed by library journal (ebsco, n.d.). although library x lacks coverage in these areas, they do have two health databases with pertinent topics: gale health & wellness resource center and rosen teen health & wellness. gale health & wellness resource center collects academic journal articles, news articles, and other reputable resources and curates them by topic for users to browse. included in the listed topics are gender dysphoria, intersex states, hormone replacement therapy, and sex reassignment surgery, all of which are relevant to the transgender and gnc community (gale, n.d.). the rosen teen health & wellness database has a specific section for sexuality and sexual health with a sexual identity subsection that contains information about sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender dysphoria, among other related topics. although there is no information about transitioning or how to transition, there are citations at the bottom of every page that teens could use to locate further information, if necessary (rosen digital, n.d.). so, even though these databases are not exclusive to transgender, gnc, or lgbq+ patrons, these patrons may still find them useful. finally, in the realm of broader diversity, there are various educational databases available to library patrons who speak spanish (library x, n.d.c). table 1 summarizes library x’s existing diversity and inclusion efforts regarding information sources. table 1. library x’s specific diversity and inclusion efforts with respect to information sources information sources what who how collections transgender/gnc various items related to transgender/gnc issues and people were available in the online catalog lgbq+ various items related to lgbtq+ issues and people were available in the online catalog general various items related to issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity were available in the online catalog non-collection resources transgender/gnc none lgbq+ none general various educational databases are available in spanish with a library card; collection and research information regarding the racial and ethnic diversity in the special collections department is also available the information policy and planning category is also divided into two subcategories: diversity committee and diversity representation. the diversity committee at library x describes its mission as examining community needs in areas related to equity, diversity, and inclusion and 42 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ making recommendations for actions regarding accessibility, hospitality, awareness, and training throughout the library system and its policies and programs. the committee includes explicit references to ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, status, disability, sexual orientation, education, religion and economic status, but lacks language that encompasses gender identity, leaving out transgender and gnc people (library x, 2017a). furthermore, this information, including the names of the committee members, is available only on library x’s internal, employee intranet and inaccessible to the public, which limits its effectiveness. diversity representation, on the other hand, encompasses diversity statements and explicit inclusion of diversity in the agency’s strategic plan. while library x does not have a specific diversity statement, it does include explicit diversity-related language in its strategic plan. for example, library x’s vision, as described in its strategic plan, is to enrich and empower the lives of all members of the library’s diverse community through unlimited learning opportunities. additionally, one of the seven organizational values enumerated in the strategic plan is inclusivity. finally, two of the twenty-two organizational objectives set forth in the strategic plan are related to diversity. the first is to advance diversity and inclusion within library x’s staff and city. the second is to stay attuned to changing demographics and align services for equitable access (library x, 2017b). although the diversity representation in library x’s strategic plan does not reference specific demographics, such as transgender, gnc, or lgbq+ people, it does contain broader diversity-related language that is encompassing of many identities and backgrounds. table 2 summarizes library x’s existing diversity and inclusion efforts regarding information policy and planning. the connections category is divided into three subcategories: centers and organizations, community engagement, and news and events. there are no centers, organizations, or agencies within library x dedicated to transgender, gnc, or lgbq+ issues. nor are there currently any community partnerships, outreach programs, or marketing to these groups. however, connections for other diverse groups do exist at library x. the special collections department has a whole room and an organization dedicated to the history of african americans in city x (library x, n.d.g). library x also partners with a variety of community organizations in service of diverse groups. these partnerships include u.s. citizenship and immigration services to provide programs for new americans; metropolitan government of city x to connect homeless patrons with housing, welfare, and mental health opportunities; and veterans’ affairs to connect homeless and struggling veterans with services they need (library x, n.d.d; library x, n.d.f). additionally, library x has a department dedicated to equitable access for people with disabilities, including, among others, people with reading disabilities, with visual impairments, with autism, and for the deaf and hard of hearing (library x, n.d.b). table 3 summarizes library x’s existing diversity and inclusion efforts regarding connections. discussion library x’s diversity performance overall, including the relationships between the “who,” “what,” and “how” components of the sdm, is described in table 4. collection resources exist for transgender and gnc patrons, as well as lgbq+ patrons and other diverse communities. however, transgender and gnc patrons are not represented in any additional “what” component areas, resulting in a score of 1 out of 7 for library x with regards to transgender and gnc inclusion. lgbq+ patrons are included in the scope of the diversity committee, so library x received a 2 out of 7 score for lgbq+ inclusion. based on these results, the author created a strategic diversity action plan for library x. 43 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ table 2. library x’s existing diversity and inclusion efforts regarding information policy and planning information policy and planning what who how diversity committee transgender/gnc a diversity committee exists, but does not include gender identity in its mission lgbq+ a diversity committee exists and includes sexual orientation in its mission general a diversity committee exists and includes a broad range of identities in its mission diversity representation transgender/gnc strategic plan includes general language about diversity, but no reference to specific demographics lgbq+ strategic plan includes general language about diversity, but no reference to specific demographics general strategic plan includes general language about diversity, but no reference to specific demographics table 3. library x’s specific diversity and inclusion efforts with respect to internal and external connections connections what who how internal centers and organizations transgender/gnc none lgbq+ none general the special collections department has an organization dedicated to the history of african americans in city x external community transgender/gnc none lgbq+ none 44 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ engagement general library x partners with u.s. citizenship and immigration services to provide a program that guides immigrants through the citizenship process; there are also partnerships that target homeless patrons, including job and housing assistance and mental health support; and partnerships with veterans’ affairs news and events transgender/gnc none lgbq+ none general in addition to the programs described above, library x has a division dedicated to equal access that provides services for patrons who are blind, deaf, or need other ada accommodations table 4. library x’s overall diversity response performance. what how who transgen der/gnc lgbtq+ general total a. information sources a1. collections, such as print and electronic, monographs and periodicals, web portals and online and physical exhibits y y y 3/3 a2. resources, such as databases and print indexes, research guides, staff (reference, instruction, etc.) n n y 1/3 b. information policy and planning b1. diversity committee, including identification of committee members’ contact information n y y 2/3 b2. diversity representation, such as a diversity statement, inclusion in strategic plan, etc. n n y 1/3 c. c1. centers and organizations, n n y 1/3 45 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ connections, internal and external departments and offices, including physical and/or intellectual access to internal agencies and units in the library c2. community engagement, such as connections to external community-based diversity agencies n n y 1/3 c3. news and upcoming events (within the past one year), including information on internal/external activities and events n n y 1/3 1/7 2/7 7/7 10/21 note: “y” indicates where resources exist for the “who” component groups. “n” indicates where resources do not exist for the “who” component groups. the ys for each component are tallied, producing the agency diversity performance score. strategic action plan for library x the strategic diversity action plan for library x is comprised of six goals. they are: 1. create an official, transgender-friendly bathroom policy. 2. create a diversity and inclusion statement that includes gender identity in its language. 3. invest in staff training and continuing education about gender identity, sexuality, and transgender issues and service needs. 4. conduct a needs assessment of the transgender and gnc community. 5. establish programming based on the needs and wants expressed by the transgender and gnc community. 6. implement a remote name, or preferred name, change process. create an official, transgender-friendly bathroom policy using the bathroom can be a harrowing experience for people who are transgender or gnc. the decision to use a public bathroom opens transgender and gnc people to harassment, violence, and public shame (james et al., 2016). as a result, a vital part of making the library welcoming to transgender and gnc people is having an official policy allowing patrons to use the bathroom in which they feel most comfortable. additionally, members of the transgender and gnc community who identify as nonbinary or gender neutral may feel uncomfortable choosing between “men” and “women,” so having single-stall, gender-neutral bathrooms as part of the 46 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ policy would make the library more welcoming to them as well (ncte, 2016, july 10). create a diversity and inclusion statement that includes gender identity in its language the equity, diversity, and inclusion committee at library x was created to support the agency’s goal of providing excellent service to its diverse community, however gender identity is not included in the language describing the scope of that committee. additionally, information about that committee is not publicly available. the author suggests that library x implement a diversity statement such as: “library x is proud to provide excellent service to our diverse community. because of our library’s and our city’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed or disability in admission to, access to, or operations of our programs, services, or activities.” this statement is based on the non-discrimination statement of the metropolitan government of city x (n.d.), but it is personalized for the library while emphasizing the partnership between city x and library x in service of the community. invest in staff training and continuing education about gender identity, sexuality, and transgender issues and service needs in order for library x to provide excellent service to their transgender and gnc patrons, staff need to have the background knowledge that will give them an understanding of the experiences and needs of transgender people, as well as how to treat them with respect, empathy, and kindness. the vocabulary used to describe transgender issues, as well as dynamics within the community, and unique challenges faced by transgender and gnc people, are often barriers for people outside those communities. for instance, the difference between sex, gender, and sexual orientation are not well known, nor is the definition of cisgender, and the distinctions between these words may result in confusion and microaggressions (curry, 2005; drake & bielefield, 2017; jardine, 2013). furthermore, staff education would encourage an affirming work environment where transgender and gnc staff can be safely open about their identities, which also allows transgender and gnc patrons to feel more comfortable in the library (drake & bielefield, 2017). educating staff members about the challenges faced by transgender and gnc patrons, and the circumstances that impact their experiences, would empower staff at library x to provide excellent customer service to their transgender and gnc patrons. conduct a needs assessment of the transgender and gnc community the best way to determine what transgender and gnc community members want from the library is to ask them (martin & murdock, 2007). this can take the form of anonymous surveys, focus groups, and interviews within the library, accessing existing community groups through a gatekeeper, or connecting to the community by participating in community events (cooke, 2017). the author suggests that library x conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of the transgender and gnc community using all three methods. establish programming based on the needs and wants expressed by the transgender and gnc community 47 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ using feedback collected during the needs assessment, library staff should develop programs suited to the community’s needs and wants. drake and bielefield (2017) identify lgbq and transgender-themed library events, artwork, and displays as three crucial ways that libraries can help transgender and gnc patrons feel welcome and safe. furthermore, staff should stay up-todate on local and national news and events that affect transgender and gnc people and their use of the library (curry, 2005). transgender and gnc patrons may also use library services that correspond to their other intersecting identities. therefore, library x should make an effort to make existing collections and services welcoming to transgender patrons, while continuing to develop additional programming (drake & bielefield, 2017; jardine, 2013). implement a remote name-change or preferred name-change process in order for transgender or gnc patrons to change the name on their library accounts, they must do so in person, with proper documentation (library x, 2014). this presents transgender and gnc patrons with the uncomfortable choice of either continuing to use their former name, also called a deadname, or outing themselves to circulation staff and anyone else within earshot. the creation of a remote name-change process would allow transgender and gnc patrons to safely identify their correct name. ideally, this process should also allow patrons to identify their correct pronouns, so that library staff may provide their transgender and gnc patrons with excellent service by addressing them accordingly (jardine, 2013). as a result, implementing a remote name-change process, or at least a remote preferred name-change process, is one of the most important steps that libraries can take to make themselves more accessible to transgender and gnc patrons (drake & bielefield, 2017). conclusion there are over 1.4 million transgender adults in the u.s. (ncte, 2016, july 9) and the number of adults in the u.s. who identify as lgbtq+ increases every year (gates, 2017). as transgender and gnc people become more visible and involved in community life, it is vital that libraries take action to make their services and collections more accessible to them. although these actions may be distasteful to conservative community members, it is important for libraries to support their promise of equitable access to all people with their actions. the tension between the library’s responsibility to serve the community and the threat of controversy from conservative elements for fulfilling that role is challenging to navigate. the simplest answer is that fear should never prevent libraries from serving marginalized groups; however, reality is more complex and nuanced. due to the constraints of public funding, librarians must consider how to mitigate the degree of community resistance their actions draw, particularly in the southern u.s. despite the problematic nature of this reality, it must be acknowledged so that librarians can move forward with effective initiatives to include transgender and gnc patrons. movements toward equality are not always easy or straightforward; the people of city x know that well, given the history of their city. library x is already well known for its devotion to preserving the history of the city’s movement towards integration and equality in its special collections department. however, the work of strengthening inclusivity is never over. the author hopes that despite the anonymity of library x within this project, the library will continue its courageous legacy of inclusivity by implementing these accommodations for transgender and gnc members of the community, so that it can provide truly excellent service to yet another element of its diverse community. 48 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ acknowledgements many thanks to dr. bharat mehra for their guidance and encouragement, jen held for their endless support, kb for his valuable insight, lep for her enduring patience, and all the staff from library x who offered their experiences, hopes, and concerns throughout this process. the author also thanks dr. keren dali and the anonymous reviewers, whose patience, encouragement, and suggestions helped turn this paper into a coherent article. endnote 1 respecting the preferences of the partner library, the author cannot provide complete bibliographic details for several sources cited in the text because it will identify the library in question. references to these sources are cited in the text but removed from the list of references in compliance with apa guidelines. references american library association. (2017). strategic directions. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aboutala/sites/ala.org.aboutala/files/content/governance/strate gicplan/strategic%20directions%202017_update.pdf american library association. (2008a). access to library resources and services regardless of sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation: an interpretation of the library bill of rights. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/accesslgbt american library association. (2008b). code of ethics. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/tools/ethics beiriger, a. & jackson, r. m. (2007). an assessment of the information needs of transgender communities in portland, oregon. public library quarterly, 26(1-2), 45-60. cooke, n. a. (2017). information services to diverse populations: developing culturally competent library professionals. santa barbara, ca: libraries unlimited. curry, a. (2005). if i ask, will they answer?: evaluating public library reference service to gay and lesbian youth. reference & user services quarterly, 45(1), 65-74. dali, k. & caidi, n. (2017). diversity by design. library quarterly, 87(2), 88-98. drake, a. a. & bielefield, a. (2017). equitable access: information seeking behavior, information needs, and necessary library accommodations for transgender patrons. library & information science research, 39(3), 160-168. ebsco. 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(2018, january 17). new hhs civil rights division to shield health workers with moral or religious objections. washington post. retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administrationcreating-civil-rights-division-to-shield-health-workers-with-moral-or-religiousobjections/2018/01/17/5663d1c0-fbe2-11e7-8f662df0b94bb98a_story.html?utm_term=.a3fa8524eb41 gale. (n.d.). health & wellness resource center: topics. retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/browsecategory?p=hwrc&u=tel_p_plndc gates, g. j. (2017, january 11). in us, more adults identifying as lgbt. gallup news. retrieved from http://news.gallup.com/poll/201731/lgbt-identification-rises.aspx graham, p. t. (2002). a right to read: segregation and civil rights in alabama’s public libraries, 1900-1965. tuscaloosa, al: university of alabama press. human rights campaign. (2017). 2017 municipal equality index. retrieved from http://www.hrc.org/resources/mei-2017-see-your-citys-score james, s. e., herman, j. l., rankin, s., keisling, m., mottet, l., & anafi, m. (2016). the report of the 2015 u.s. transgender survey. washington, dc: national center for transgender equality. retrieved from https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/ustsfull-report-dec17.pdf jardine, f. m. (2013). inclusive information for trans* persons. public library quarterly, 32(3), 240-262. knott, c. (2015). not free, not for all: public libraries in the age of jim crow. amherst, ma: university of massachusetts press. library of congress. (2017). demographic group terms. retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/freelcdgt/demographic.pdf martin, h. j., jr., & murdock, j. r. (2007). serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning teens: a how-to-do-it manual for librarians. new york: neal-schuman publishers. mehra, b. & braquet, d. (2011). progressive lgbtq reference: coming out in the 21st century. reference services review, 39(3), 401-422. mehra, b. & davis, r. (2015). a strategic diversity manifesto for public libraries in the 21st century. new library world, 116(1-2), 15-36. movement advancement project. (2018). local non-discrimination ordinances. retrieved from http://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/non_discrimination_ordinances/ national center for transgender equality. (2016, july 10). transgender people and bathroom access. retrieved from https://transequality.org/issues/resources/transgender-peopleand-bathroom-access 50 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://www.ebsco.com/products/research-databases/lgbt-life/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administration-creating-civil-rights-division-to-shield-health-workers-with-moral-or-religious-objections/2018/01/17/5663d1c0-fbe2-11e7-8f66-2df0b94bb98a_story.html?utm_term=.a3fa8524eb41 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administration-creating-civil-rights-division-to-shield-health-workers-with-moral-or-religious-objections/2018/01/17/5663d1c0-fbe2-11e7-8f66-2df0b94bb98a_story.html?utm_term=.a3fa8524eb41 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administration-creating-civil-rights-division-to-shield-health-workers-with-moral-or-religious-objections/2018/01/17/5663d1c0-fbe2-11e7-8f66-2df0b94bb98a_story.html?utm_term=.a3fa8524eb41 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administration-creating-civil-rights-division-to-shield-health-workers-with-moral-or-religious-objections/2018/01/17/5663d1c0-fbe2-11e7-8f66-2df0b94bb98a_story.html?utm_term=.a3fa8524eb41 http://go.galegroup.com/ps/browsecategory?p=hwrc&u=tel_p_plndc http://news.gallup.com/poll/201731/lgbt-identification-rises.aspx http://www.hrc.org/resources/mei-2017-see-your-citys-score https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/usts-full-report-dec17.pdf https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/usts-full-report-dec17.pdf https://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/freelcdgt/demographic.pdf http://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/non_discrimination_ordinances/ https://transequality.org/issues/resources/transgender-people-and-bathroom-access https://transequality.org/issues/resources/transgender-people-and-bathroom-access an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(4), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ national center for transgender equality. (2016, july 9). frequently asked questions about transgender people. retrieved from https://transequality.org/issues/resources/frequently-asked-questions-abouttransgender-people obergefell v. hodges, 576 u. s. ___ (2015). pohjanen, a. m. & kortelainen, t. a. m. (2016). transgender information behavior. journal of documentation, 72(1), 172-190. rosen digital. (n.d.). teen health & wellness. retrieved from www.teenhealthandwellness.com strauss, k. (2017, august 9). the 10 big us cities with the fastest growing economies. forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2017/08/09/the-10-big-u-s-cities-withthe-fastest-growing-economies/#229a1da464d5 sylvia rivera law project. (2018). fact sheet: transgender & gender nonconforming youth in school. retrieved from https://srlp.org/resources/fact-sheet-transgender-gendernonconforming-youth-school/ thompson, k. j. (2012). where’s the “t”?: improving library service to community members who are transgender-identified. journal of the university of iowa school of library and information science. retrieved from https://ir.uiowa.edu/bsides/22 wiegand, w. a. (2017, june 1). desegregating libraries in the american south. american libraries. retrieved from https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2017/06/01/desegregating-libraries-americansouth/ williams institute. (2016a). lgbt data & demographics. retrieved from https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/visualization/lgbt-stats/ williams institute. (2016b). lgbt in the south. retrieved from https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/census-lgbt-demographicsstudies/lgbt-in-the-south/ liz movius (emovius@vols.utk.edu) is a recent graduate of the university of tennessee, knoxville school of information sciences. they plan to pursue a career as a public librarian with an emphasis on outreach, diversity, inclusion, equity, and service to undervalued and underserved facets of the community. 51 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://transequality.org/issues/resources/frequently-asked-questions-about-transgender-people https://transequality.org/issues/resources/frequently-asked-questions-about-transgender-people http://www.teenhealthandwellness.com/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2017/08/09/the-10-big-u-s-cities-with-the-fastest-growing-economies/#229a1da464d5 https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2017/08/09/the-10-big-u-s-cities-with-the-fastest-growing-economies/#229a1da464d5 https://srlp.org/resources/fact-sheet-transgender-gender-nonconforming-youth-school/ https://srlp.org/resources/fact-sheet-transgender-gender-nonconforming-youth-school/ https://ir.uiowa.edu/bsides/22 https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2017/06/01/desegregating-libraries-american-south/ https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2017/06/01/desegregating-libraries-american-south/ https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/visualization/lgbt-stats/ https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/census-lgbt-demographics-studies/lgbt-in-the-south/ https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/census-lgbt-demographics-studies/lgbt-in-the-south/ mailto:emovius@vols.utk.edu understanding social justice through practitioners’ language: a grounded theory analysis of interviews with practitioners from libraries and their community partners the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 understanding social justice through practitioners’ language: a grounded theory analysis of interviews with practitioners from libraries and their community partners j. elizabeth mills, university of washington, usa jacqueline kociubuk, kent state university, usa kathleen campana, kent state university, usa abstract researchers have recognized that aspects of social justice are present in library efforts by acknowledging the importance of using library programs and services to promote social justice and the significance of social justice for the lis field. however, while public libraries have indicated a strong interest in reaching underserved communities, they may not yet possess a thorough understanding of various aspects of social justice, especially the concepts of equity, engagement, and empowerment, despite the increasing focus on social justice’s centrality in the library science field. this work-in-progress study presents a grounded theory analysis of 20 semistructured interviews that were conducted as part of an existing study with library staff and their community partners (staff who work at organizations with which the libraries partner to offer outreach programs in the community). the analysis explores and unpacks practitioners’ language to demonstrate a complex, multifaceted portrait of how these practitioners describe equity, engagement, and empowerment. these practitioners express both broad and individual approaches to this social justice work in an effort to offer equal treatment to the whole community while also recognizing individual barriers. moreover, they underscore the importance of a role for the community to play in achieving their own goals and strengthening connections between community members and institutions. this analysis yields a critical semantic foundation of social justice concepts, situated in practitioner understanding and prior research in social justice. keywords: children’s librarianship; community; outreach; public libraries; social justice publication type: research article introduction ublic libraries are uniquely positioned to support the aspirations and needs of families with young children in underserved communities. some public libraries have begun to use their outreach programs and services, offered outside of the library in community locations, as a way to reach and serve these families. to help develop and provide these outreach programs for underserved communities, libraries build partnerships with local organizations and agencies who also work with these communities (mills, et al., 2019). when successful, these programs and partnerships can allow libraries to meet these families where they are and engage with them p https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 through “newly constructed modes of interaction” (mehra et al., 2017, p. 4228). these efforts possibly help to upend the power dynamics that can keep these families in underserved communities at the margins and begin to support social justice efforts that could help to empower these patrons. these connections between libraries and social justice are not new, as research has acknowledged the aspects of social justice present in library efforts and the importance of using library programs and services to promote social justice (rankin, 2016) as well as the significance of social justice for the lis field (cooke et al., 2016; jaeger et al., 2014; jaeger et al., 2016). while libraries have indicated a strong interest in serving their community (campana et al., 2018; mills et al., 2019), it is possible that there is not enough of an understanding of how social justice concepts can guide libraries in engaging and empowering these families. moreover, though libraries are engaging with their communities and gathering data on needs and aspirations, not all libraries know how to translate this data into impactful and community-based program development (campana et al., 2019a). project voice (value sensitive design of outcomes informing community engagement), an institute of museum and library services-funded grant (campana et al., 2019b), is focused on designing and developing a social justice, outcomes-based planning and assessment toolkit. this toolkit is intended to support library staff who serve young children (ages zero to eight) and their families in underserved communities through outreach programs and services that emphasize the social justice concepts of equity, engagement, and empowerment. these concepts are based on a synthesis of social justice research (campana et al., 2019b), building on brownlee et al.’s (2012) work on social justice as undoing structural barriers that reinforce inequalities among people, as well as kleine’s choice framework (2010). literature review broadly speaking, social justice can be understood as the idea that all individuals, no matter who they are or their status in society, deserve equal rights as members of society. though slight differences in definition and manifestation exist across the library and information science field, one common theme is that social justice is about having respect for and honoring human rights, especially the right to information (jaeger et al., 2015; mathiesen, 2015), as well as acknowledging the role of power dynamics in continuing historic and institutional inequalities for various groups (odlos, 2020). perhaps implicit in these definitions is the responsibility of public libraries to understand and address issues of discrimination due to race, class or socio-economic status, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, hair style, language and literacy level, and other factors that may play a part in exclusion or marginalization of communities or groups that libraries serve (gibson et al., 2017). as entrenched institutional or cultural norms have the potential to make certain groups feel less valuable—a kind of “violation of justice”— the work to undo these structural barriers is central to social justice efforts (fraser, 2009, as cited in brownlee et al., 2012, p. 32). while the library field has begun to focus on their role in these efforts, other fields have been immersed in social justice work for much longer and, as a result, have established definitions of key social justice concepts (hytten & bettez, 2011; reisch, 2002). because of this, this literature review pulls definitions from the social work, community health, and education fields as well as the library field to provide an interdisciplinary view of equity, empowerment, and engagement—the social justice concepts that serve as a foundation for project voice. the concept of equity is frequently placed at the forefront of social justice work in public libraries, especially when considering access to information (jaeger et al., 2015). 55 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 misunderstandings often exist between equality and equity, with equality often implying sameness for all (odlos, 2020). ala’s office for diversity, literacy, and outreach services (odlos) defines equity as the converse of this perspective of sameness, acknowledging there is a difference between individuals and groups, and placing an emphasis on taking individual differences into account so that a fair process and outcome are ensured (2020). equity is often tied to a “redistribution” or “just distribution” of resources (brownlee et al., 2012; mathiesen, 2015), with mathiesen (2015) noting that this “just distribution” is a model in which “every person has sufficient access to exercise [their] basic capabilities” and that access and capability are affected by complex and interrelated factors (p. 200). brownlee et al. (2012), building off previous work by fraser (2009), proposes that, in addition to redistribution, representation and recognition also play a key part in developing equity. “representation” focuses on giving disadvantaged groups an active voice in institutions or agencies from which they may have previously been excluded, while “recognition” relates to a “cultural justice” that acknowledges historical marginalization of certain groups (brownlee et al., 2012, p. 21). another key concept of social justice work in libraries is community engagement, considered to be one of the core values of public libraries today (gibson et al., 2017). gibson et al. (2017) write that community engagement should involve an “active” and “critical” approach, with an explicit acknowledgement of “the influence of social, cultural, financial, and political power on information access and information behavior,” moving libraries beyond a neutral and apolitical stance (p. 752). libraries transforming communities, a joint professional development initiative from the national coalition for dialogue & deliberation (ncdd) and ala, defines community engagement as “the process of working collaboratively with community members...to address issues for the betterment of the community” (ala, 2018). other sources outside the library field echo the collaborative nature of community engagement, with the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) (1997) writing that community engagement “often involves partnerships and coalitions that help mobilize resources and influence systems, change relationships among partners, and serve as catalysts for changing policies, programs, and practices” (p. 9). empowerment, a third critical concept of social justice work, is embedded in service professions like librarianship (maack, 1997). though a single definition is lacking, empowerment is usually seen as supporting individuals and communities as they increase their autonomy and strengths and make meaningful choices for themselves (adams, 2003; lachal & peich, 2017). in library work, empowerment can be understood as a way to give the community an active voice, allowing work or learning to be guided by the direction or values of the community, with public libraries assuming a role of facilitator, partner, or knowledge sharer (maack, 1997). in doing this, libraries can work to leverage community knowledge and enable community members to be decisionmakers and problem-solvers, an oft-overlooked position for communities (lachal & peich, 2017). similar to the other social justice concepts, empowerment requires the recognition of the role of power dynamics and historical inequalities in the relationship and work done between public libraries and the vulnerable communities they may serve (lachal & peich, 2017; maack, 1997). alsop and heinsohn (2005) acknowledge this, adding that empowerment is affected by both the capacity of an individual to choose for themselves and the “opportunity structure (the institutional context in which choice is made)” (p. 4). kleine (2010) expanded on this to elucidate how an individual or community’s “resource portfolio”—their capacity—is often limited by societal frameworks of exclusion or marginalization. however, despite increasing recognition of social justice’s centrality in the library science field (cooke et al., 2016; jaeger et al., 2014; jaeger et al., 2016), public libraries may not yet possess 56 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 a thorough-enough understanding of how the social justice concepts of equity, engagement, and empowerment can be applied in their work with underserved and marginalized communities (gibson et al., 2017). indeed, while studies have revealed the presence of social justice in public library efforts (jaeger et al., 2014; rankin, 2016); the need for more critical and active work around social justice in libraries, especially around anti-racism, has become increasingly evident (gibson et al., 2020). as gorski (2016) notes, “enthusiasm is not enough” to fully understand and implement the change needed to address the vast societal and cultural problems encountered in the u.s. that negatively impact many underserved communities, notably those of color (p. 13). as a first step in providing a foundation for more active social justice work in the lis field, this initial study explores the ways that library staff and their community partners, who work with underserved populations, describe and make meaning of the social justice concepts of equity, engagement, and empowerment. research design this work-in-progress study aims to use a grounded theory approach (corbin & strauss, 2015; glaser, 1998) to analyze transcripts from twenty, semi-structured interviews, collected during six site visits for project voice during the fall and early winter of 2019-2020. these interviews (conducted both in-person and via phone) took place prior to nationwide library shutdowns due to covid-19; therefore, this dataset does not include the full set of library staff participants recruited for project voice. as part of the interview protocol, we asked the participants to define for themselves the term “underserved community” and to self-identify communities around their library that would qualify as underserved. in this way we were able to leverage our participants’ expertise about their communities, thereby situating their conceptual understandings of the concepts of equity, engagement, and empowerment in their own experiences. moreover, this participant-generated approach enabled us to address a variety of types of diversity, including socioeconomic, racial/cultural, education level, and so on. the purpose of this work-in-progress study is to provide initial insight into how public library staff and their community partners describe these social justice concepts for themselves, what language they use, and how their language connects back to the research literature to offer insight into the current understanding of social justice among practitioners working with families and children in underserved communities. this research is guided by the following questions: rq1: how, if at all, do library staff and community partners participating in project voice describe the social justice concept of equity? rq2: how, if at all, do library staff and community partners participating in project voice describe the social justice concept of engagement? rq3: how, if at all, do library staff and community partners participating in project voice describe the social justice concept of empowerment? population the population1 of this work-in-progress study consisted of seven library staff (including one library administrator) from six library systems and 13 community partner staff (staff from organizations that libraries partner with to offer outreach programs in the community) from eight community organizations. the unequal distribution across these two groups is due to the fact that these project voice library staff participants often work with multiple community partners 57 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 in their outreach efforts. we purposely recruited library staff who engage in outreach programs and services with families and children (ages birth to eight) in underserved communities; community partners who are involved with the library outreach programs and services were also recruited. furthermore, we recruited nationwide in order to achieve greater variety across communities and library sizes. while the majority of this study’s library staff population represented libraries located in suburban and city locales; at least two libraries were located in rural areas and smaller towns. given that our recruitment strategies were more focused on the nature of the outreach program the library staff were offering and less on the nature of their job description, the final participant group represented a wide variety of job titles and descriptions, such as children’s librarian or outreach librarian, that were not specifically tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei)-related positions. moreover, due to the qualitative nature of this study, we did not seek to control for any previous dei-related training in our recruitment efforts, prioritizing instead the outreach work they were already doing in their communities and seeking to leverage that expertise as part of our study. analysis the analysis was completed using a grounded theory approach where participant responses were analyzed at the group level (library staff as one group; community partners as a second group) without comparisons between the groups because each group’s perspectives may be quite different. similarly, comparisons of the responses by demographic groupings (e.g., library service population, locale, cultural background of participants) were not done due to the limited size of the study population and exploratory nature of the study. the grounded theory (corbin & strauss, 2015) thematic analysis was performed by three researchers across several phases. the first phase consisted of two researchers reading each transcript thoroughly. afterwards one researcher conducted an initial cycle of open, line-by-line coding of the transcripts from both populations (library staff and community partners), eliciting codes from the quotes themselves, with the goal of highlighting each interviewee’s implicit and explicit meanings in their responses (gubrium et al., 2012). following a review of the initial coding by the second researcher, the two researchers discussed the coding to negotiate any differences in interpretation. a second, categorical coding cycle was then completed by the first researcher to gather the initial open codes into common categories and definitions using the frequency and significance of the initial codes to guide the categorization (thornberg & charmaz, 2014). subsequently, the two researchers held a second discussion to arrive at an agreement with the category codes and then worked together to identify thematic codes based on the categories. finally, the full codebook was subsequently handed off to the third researcher for overall validation and further discussions to determine consensus, after which the thematic codes were applied to the complete dataset. the goal of this approach to coding was not to achieve reliability on a set coding scheme; instead, this approach facilitated in-depth discussions among the researchers as to the various meanings and interpretations present in the transcripts around the concepts of equity, engagement, and empowerment (harry et al., 2005). these adaptive and emergent discussions led to further refinements of the codes and themes, based on the various perspectives and lived experiences of the researchers and the crucial negotiations that arose in these discussions (smagorinsky, 2008). findings our thematic analysis addresses all three research questions and yields the following narrative 58 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 presentation of the broad findings. these findings present main themes, grouped under the concepts of equity, engagement, and empowerment, and delineated for each population group (library staff and community partners). equity library staff library staff (ls) talk about equity in terms of two approaches to their outreach work: broad and specific. in the broad approach, ls use the terms “equal,” “everyone,” and “same” to indicate their efforts to reach everyone in their community in the same way, with the intent of giving all people an equal chance to benefit from the programs and services they are offering outside of library walls in the community, emphasizing fairness and same treatment regardless of background. on the other hand, some ls discuss equity as an individualized process that is based on actual or perceived need, paying close attention to “places where people might need more resources” to “meet them at their point of need.” these ls are taking into account and, as a result, tailoring their work to specific aspects of a community’s identity, with the purpose of filling a gap in access. in fact, at times both approaches appear in the same ls response, presenting a tension in these discussions of broad and specific approaches. an example of this occurred when one ls shared, “we try to provide library services that are tailored to what people say that they may need, no matter where they are, their station.” additionally, a second ls said, “[we are] making sure we are hitting people with all different socioeconomic backgrounds and we’re not just focusing on one area of community, but being out everywhere.” ls see themselves as having a multifaceted, active role to play in equity, using verbs such as “provide,” “reach out,” “serve,” “make sure/ensure,” “identify,” “interact,” and others, underscoring an intent to serve and address access gaps, typically by connecting the community to tools, resources, programs, and so on. ls also express a sense of personal motivation and purpose to their outreach work, wanting to connect with the community on an interpersonal level as part of that purpose. they talk about a deliberate approach to incorporating equity into the planning, execution, and delivery of the program by drawing on their implicit knowledge of the community. for instance, one ls said, “i believe that [in] my work, in the way i communicate… and interact with the families, with the people that i’m seeing, i’m showing my commitment and my understanding of closing the gap.” there is a tension here, too, between their personal goals and the goals they see from the library as an organization. finally, ls point to two key aspects of equity in their role in outreach work. ls believe community voices should play a key part in incorporating equity into outreach services, with one ls pointing out, “it has to have their voice, or it has to come from them.” coupled with this aspect is the recognition that not all community members can access what is being offered, due to a variety of barriers. community partners community partners (cp) talk about equity in terms of two approaches to their outreach work: broad and specific. in the broad approach, cp use the terms “equal,” “everyone,” “all people,” and “everybody” to refer to their effort to provide the same level of access to resources and tools for the community members they serve. cp believe all community members deserve this access and they develop these resources according to community needs as they are understood 59 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 by the cp. this equal approach is intended to provide everyone with the same access, by treating everyone the same regardless of individual factors such as race, socioeconomic status, and so on. on the other hand, some cp talk about a specific approach that recognizes the differing needs and amount of access present in the community being served, with one cp saying, “it’s not necessarily the exact same for everybody; sometimes we have to reach out differently for different people to make sure that they can have the same chances for things.” cp emphasize the value of truly seeing a community, recognizing what they actually need, and making an extra effort to fill gaps and address the barriers they face, their points of need, and so on, by leveraging various kinds of data. cp also emphasize the importance of building trust as part of developing that community knowledge. for example, a cp shared, “it also helps us to get to know the families a little bit more and build that trust so that we can reach out and help with resources that they need.” as part of that work, cp seek to recognize and understand the influence of societal and class structures on the community’s capacity. cp also talk about their role in both broad and specific approaches to outreach work, using the verbs “provide,” “reach out,” “take time,” and “make sure/ensure” to describe how they offer resources, tools, knowledge, opportunities, and so on. they reflect on cultural relevance, seeking to “match” their work with what people need, offering the support that families need while also recognizing that support must be differentiated. engagement library staff ls describe community engagement as providing opportunities and services that meet community needs while also taking into account community capacity and being respectful of boundaries and limitations. they see engagement as an effort to share power with the community, working with the community as equals, if it is within the community’s capacity and desire to do so. ls also seek to know their community and work to encourage community involvement in programs and services, with one ls saying, “we want [to] make sure that they’re involved and they have the opportunity to be.” ls express a sense of purpose when it comes to this engagement work: that of building trust and relationships with the community and being part of the community. this work takes an investment of time and a consistent presence, both valued by ls as encouraging and motivating the community through showing a sense of respect for the community. ls also look for instances when that engagement can be two-way, explaining, “we want to engage with people and have people engage back with us.” ls believe that, by being part of the community, they gain knowledge that enables better relationships with, and active engagement in, the community. in engagement, as in equity, ls stress the importance of being aware of community barriers when producing their outreach work, because these barriers can impede a community’s ability and capacity to engage fully with the library. families might be juggling more than one job, struggling to feed their children, as well as confronting other difficulties. this awareness by the ls is part of knowing the community better and providing an informed and thoughtful sense of engagement with the community. for instance, one ls shared, “we really try not to get in the way of their day, but [rather] add to their experience wherever they [might be] stuck.” finally, ls talk about the role of the community in this engagement work, sharing power with the community and 60 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 expecting community involvement in the various types of outreach work, explaining “everyone [is] working towards a shared goal or vision for how a community could be.” community partners cp look at engagement as consisting of building relationships and establishing trust within the community, placing a value on actively working to establish connections. they believe connections are part of forming trust, emphasizing a need for authenticity. they also recognize that engagement suffers when trust and connection are not in place. one cp shared, “if you don’t have a relationship with [a] student or parent, you’re going to have zero engagement; they’re not going to listen to what you’re saying; they’re not going to take the resources you’re providing them… they don’t trust you.” instead, cp seek to work with community members, in a collaborative way, and view the community members as partners, especially in decision making and community strengthening. similarly, some cp talked about sharing vulnerability as a part of this work as well, describing that vulnerability is being present and open with the community about what’s going on. cp also point to a reciprocation on the part of the community as a result of that openness and vulnerability—within healthy boundaries—and they see this reciprocation as an indication of trust. finally, cp discuss the importance of recognizing barriers to engagement that may inhibit relationship building and establishing trust. one barrier might be that cp may not be aware of their own lens of how they think the community wants to be engaged, versus developing a clear understanding of the community and recognizing a community’s history. a cp pointed out, “[we] need to take [our engagement] lens off and acknowledge engagement efforts on the family's behalf in the increments that they're willing to give us in that time and space that we share together.” another barrier might be the presence of trauma in families’ backgrounds, compounded by a lack of familiarity on the part of the cp with that kind of background. regardless of these and other barriers, cp remain optimistic about their capability to continue to build trust and engage with their communities. for instance, a cp explains, “maybe they've trusted people and been burnt. so they're going to be less trusting of us, but we have to still have the same expectations of trust building and acknowledge their efforts, whether they be minimal or grand.” empowerment library staff when it comes to empowerment, ls see themselves not just as a provider of material support (tools, resources, etc.), but also as a community facilitator, using the terms “helper,” “motivator,” and “model,” among others, to describe their work in empowering their communities. ls seek to encourage community members to recognize their own strengths and capabilities, emphasizing that the everyday actions of families are integral to preparing children for later learning success. a ls pointed out, “[we are] making sure that families know your child doesn’t have to be enrolled into a fancy school to make a difference. the things you’re doing day-to-day are just as important, if not more important.” ls also talk about wanting to make a difference in the lives of the community members they serve, even citing this as their motivation for doing this outreach work. equally important is a desire on the part of ls to honor a community’s right to thrive, taking the standpoint that the 61 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 community is deserving of the resources the library has to offer, that they have a right to these services, and that they should feel welcomed by the library. one ls shared, “i see empowerment as providing that access, but [also] making them feel like they’re welcome to and deserve the right to use those services.” as part of this right to thrive, ls talk about wanting to provide a normalizing, positive environment in which to offer these services, one that honors a community’s dignity and avoids introducing stigmas into the experience. ls discuss working to recognize personal privilege, also understood as bias, as part of these efforts as well, which may affect the ways in which outreach services are created and implemented. ls stress the importance of listening to peers who come from the community or who share similar backgrounds and can provide a necessary perspective on how to provide empowering outreach opportunities for a community in a positive way. finally, ls discuss the role of the community in enacting empowerment, believing the community has the responsibility and capability to take ownership over their own outcomes with the programs and services that are offered out in the community. essentially, a community must play an active role in taking the resources and support provided and then implementing them in their own community to make a difference. a ls shared, “empowerment is letting them know that they are responsible and can take ownership.” community partners cp also discuss how the community plays a role in empowerment by setting goals, establishing independence, understanding their own capacity, and believing they can succeed. explained one cp, “it’s up to them; not handholding in the process, but actually [enabling them to] make the change and do it.” cp place a value on the community recognizing their own capacity to make good things happen in their lives, in having confidence and a sense of ownership over what happens in their community, with one cp explaining, “empowerment is just motivating them and giving them confidence in themselves and resources to do it themselves.” cp locate their own role in this empowerment work, using verbs like “giving,” “reaching out,” “ensuring,” “looking for resources,” “finding folks in the community,” “helping them see their capacity,” “motivating,” “giving confidence,” “goal setting,” and “simplifying and explaining.” many of these verbs suggest that cp see their role as sitting alongside what they view as the community’s role in their own empowerment. the cp want to lift up and support community members, help them recognize their own capacity as well as the inherent challenges, and seek ways to offer resources and support that enable community members to thrive and achieve their goals. however, cp also acknowledge that barriers can exist in their own expectations for the community and the community’s capacity, such as the difference between what cp want for a community and what the community itself wants in terms of improvement. cp also recognize that empowerment does not always come easily; there may be internal or external factors that complicate the empowerment process. a cp shared, “sometimes it just takes a little bit more to get people to empowerment. sometimes it’s because people just don’t know or are afraid or don’t want to, or sometimes there are systems in place that don’t let them.” cp point to the importance of meeting people where they are as one way to move past barriers to empowerment, emphasizing, “empowerment means meeting people where they are at and helping them feel… like [they] can actually do it.” discussion as discussed in the literature review, social justice can be understood as the idea that all individuals, no matter who they are or what their status is in society, deserve a certain equal 62 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 right as members of society. similarly, public libraries and other community organizations have a responsibility not only to understand and address issues of discrimination but also to work to undo structural barriers that make certain groups feel less valuable in their communities and in society as a whole. the data in this work-in-progress study reveal that ls and cp use multifaceted, yet often convergent descriptions to portray equity, engagement, and empowerment. examining the data through the study’s research questions provides insight into how these practitioner-generated descriptions of these social justice concepts reflect or diverge from the existing literature. equity the data under research question one, which focused on ls and cp descriptions of equity, reveals that the descriptions offered by ls and cp in many ways align with much of the literature. for these practitioners, equity is a complex concept, one that requires developing an individualized process based on actual or perceived need and/or tailoring a program to specific aspects of a community’s identity, while also intending to provide all attendees with an equal or same chance to benefit and thereby fill a gap in access. this connects with odlos’ (2020) emphasis on recognizing and understanding disadvantages in the community and how these disadvantages can lead to exclusion within communities that can linger at a systemic level. furthermore, both ls and cp point to their roles and motivation in equity-based outreach work, and how their efforts are centered around interaction and connection with the community. in this way they are emphasizing the significance of representation, as brownlee et al. (2012) put it, acknowledging trust and cultural relevance to be important parts of this work. ls in particular highlight the importance of incorporating voices from the different communities, touching on brownlee et al.’s (2012) use of the term “representation,” to ensure recognition when nurturing equity for disadvantaged groups. furthermore, when talking about their roles, both ls and cp pointed to their efforts to address access gaps for the community as a central part of their roles; in this way they are mirroring mathiesen’s (2015) belief that equity has roots in a “just distribution” of resources. however, while the literature makes a clear division between equity and equality (odlos, 2020), some participant responses indicate a persistent interchangeability between these terms. some describe an equitable approach as one that ensures the same for all (equality), rather than one that recognizes individualization based on differing needs (equity). moreover, some participants discuss both broad and specific approaches to outreach work to try to meet the whole community. these approaches sit in tension with one another—on the one hand, trying to serve an entire community, and on the other hand, meeting a community where they are and recognizing individual needs and aspirations. to address this tension, brownlee et al. (2017) discuss how providing support for reflection specifically on social justice concepts can help practitioners wrestle through internal conflict to hopefully arrive on their own to a deeper understanding of social justice and how to contribute or apply it. it is possible that an increased awareness of the literature related to equity, as well as opportunities to reimagine library outreach work from an equity perspective, would enable library and community partner staff to more deeply understand this concept and how it applies to their work in serving communities and families. engagement the data under research question two, which focused on ls and cp descriptions of engagement, 63 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 reveals that, here, too, the descriptions shared by these practitioners align in many ways with the literature. the ls and cp emphasize how, for them, engagement involves building relationships that are founded on trust and connections, understanding where the community is in terms of their barriers, and then playing an active role in helping to overcome some of those barriers, so that the community can feel engaged and supported. ls, in particular, highlight the importance of personal connections with the community to achieve authentic engagement. this echoes gibson et al.’s (2017) and mehra et al.’s (2006) calls for active involvement in the community by the library in order to better understand and engage with underserved groups. cp expand on this to offer the idea of sharing vulnerability as a way to build trust and promote engagement, an idea that we did not see in the literature, and one that offers a direction for further research to add depth to the existing scholarship in this area. ls also point to partnerships with community organizations as a powerful method for building engagement, an idea that has been supported in the cdc literature (1997), as a way to “help mobilize resources and influence systems (p. 7).” in addition, ls underscore the importance of having an awareness of barriers within the community, as part of a larger role they play in engagement. this role includes meeting the community where they are, helping without being in the way, and providing opportunities for involvement and engagement despite barriers. in this way, ls are putting into action some of gibson et al’s (2017) recommendation that community engagement involve an “active” and “critical” approach. at the same time, ls also expect the community to play a role in this engagement process, as the staff share power with the community and seek community involvement in outreach work. while the literature similarly emphasizes collaboration with the community as part of engagement work toward community improvement (ala, 2018) we did not specifically see this kind of reciprocal expectation of community involvement reflected in it. again, this offers an interesting additional area for future research into actors’ expectations around roles and interaction. on the other hand, we did not see gibson et al.’s (2017) emphasis on community engagement—requiring a clear recognition of the role of historic and institutional power dynamics by libraries doing work in underserved communities, especially those of color—illustrated in the data. since cp and ls express an intent to recognize and understand societal and class structures affecting power dynamics when discussing equity, future research is needed here as well, to surface these practitioners’ awareness of and actions to upend these power dynamics in their outreach work with communities. empowerment finally, the data under research question three, which focused on ls and cp descriptions of empowerment, shows a third way in which the participant data is in alignment with much of the social justice literature. ls talk about empowerment in terms of their role as community facilitator, similar to maack’s characterization (1997), trying to make a difference in the community they serve and honoring that community’s right to thrive and receive services and programs. ls also highlight the importance of sharing their struggles and understanding barriers, which echoes kleine’s (2010) choice framework, and the concept of a “resource portfolio” that can affect how much a community can move past barriers based on their capacity. ls also discuss the community’s role in empowerment, believing the community has the capacity and capability to enact change for themselves. cp, too, see a role for the community in goal setting and recognizing their own capacity. both characterizations reflect the literature (adams, 2003; alsop & heinsohn, 2005; lachal & peich, 2017), especially in terms of achieving goals through their own efforts and actions. additionally, cp want to instill confidence in community members, 64 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 building relationships with them and motivating them, connecting back to lachal and peich’s (2017) conceptualization of empowerment in supporting individuals and communities as they increase their autonomy and strengths and make meaningful choices for themselves. in this way, much of the data from this work-in-progress study sits in agreement and alignment with much of the existing social justice literature, indicating that some work has already been done in moving the field toward a more equitable, engaged, and empowering approach to community-based outreach work. however, certain new themes—an interchangeability of equity and equality; an approach that is both broad and specific and therefore perhaps embodies some tension of scope and goal; an expectation on the part of the practitioner that a community play their own role in facilitating engagement; and an interest in sharing vulnerability with a community as part of building trust and relationship—offer intriguing additional avenues for inquiry that could lend depth and nuance to existing social justice theories around equity, engagement, and empowerment in community work. limitations as with any work-in-progress qualitative study, there are limitations, primarily related to the population and the restrictions placed on the study by the events of covid-19. as noted in the research design section, the population does not include the full study population because the case studies were cut short by covid-19 quarantines. given the small size of the participant group, it is likely that the descriptions portrayed here are not fully reflective of the field as a whole. regarding the interviews themselves, with a few exceptions, the interviews were conducted individually with each participant. however, for three interviews, participants were interviewed together due to their request or time constraints. in each of these exceptions, interviewee responses were considered separately during our analysis. implications and conclusion ls and cp describe the social justice concepts of equity, engagement, and empowerment, in complex and overlapping ways, which present both broad and individual approaches to this work that seek to offer equal treatment to the whole community while also recognizing individual barriers, and underscore a role for the community in achieving their own goals and strengthening connections between community members and institutions. these findings offer the following implications for practice. regarding lis curriculum, social justice-focused courses are increasingly being offered and research is contributing to shaping and developing the curricula for these courses (cooke, et al., 2016; cooke & sweeney, 2017). this research can benefit from practitioner-generated descriptions that offer a starting point for in-depth discussions in the classroom; in other cases, these descriptions can expand existing perspectives on how social justice concepts can impact and shape the work of future librarians. similarly, regarding professional development, this study offers conceptual descriptions that will likely resonate with and offer a way for these practitioners to reflect both on their ongoing work and on how they might meaningfully incorporate the social justice concepts of equity, engagement, and empowerment into their outreach work with families and children in underserved communities. moreover, ls can use the cp descriptions of these concepts to help facilitate conversations across organizations and look at how to collaboratively build social justice outreach programs and services. this study offers opportunities for future research as well. because this work-in-progress study 65 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 includes only a portion of the whole project voice population; additional research is needed to explore how the remaining population describe equity, engagement, and empowerment compared to the themes from this initial study to assess fit and relevance. furthermore, a theme raised by one participant—recognizing personal privilege—offers an intriguing avenue for future research to explore the role, identified by this participant, of knowledgeable peers who can possess insider knowledge of a particular community. it’s possible that this nascent aspect of empowerment might be prevalent across the entire participant group, as well as across all three concepts. overall, this research into the ways that ls and cp describe and make meaning of social justice concepts—equity, engagement, and empowerment—provides the field with practitioner-generated descriptions that can inform future outreach work and have a positive impact on academic and practitioner pursuits toward meeting communities where they are and enacting change. endnote 1 as noted above, the population included in this paper’s study is a subset of the project voice population, due to a change in study activities related to covid-19. however, for the purposes of this paper, this subset will be referred to as “the population.” acknowledgements we would like to thank our participants for being so candid and open with us in these interviews regarding their descriptions of equity, engagement, and empowerment. we want to acknowledge our fellow research team members: allyson filippi, emily romeijn-stout, khatsini simani, dr. michelle h. martin, and dr. ricardo gomez. finally, we want to thank the institute for museum and library services for their funding and support of project voice. references adams, r. (2003). social work and empowerment. palgrave macmillan. american library association (ala). (2018, april 17). what is community engagement? http://www.ala.org/tools/librariestransform/libraries-transformingcommunities/engagement alsop, r., & heinsohn, n. (2005). measuring empowerment in practice: structuring analysis and framing indicators. world bank policy research working paper. https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-3510 brownlee, j., scholes, l., farrell, a., davis, j., & cook, d. (2012). learning to lead: a social justice perspective on understanding elementary teacher leadership in papua new guinea. the australian journal of teacher education, 37(4), 18-35. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2012v37n4.6 66 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.ala.org/tools/librariestransform/libraries-transforming-communities/engagement http://www.ala.org/tools/librariestransform/libraries-transforming-communities/engagement https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-3510 https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2012v37n4.6 understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 campana k., mills j. e., & martin, m. h. (2019a). the role of community data in helping public libraries reach and serve underserved communities. in n. taylor, c. christian-lamb, m. martin, & b. nardi (eds.), information in contemporary society (pp. 247-253). iconference 2019. lecture notes in computer science, vol. 11420. springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-15742-5_24 campana, k., mills, j. e., martin, m. h., & gomez, r. (2019b). value sensitive design of outcomes informing community engagement. institute for museum and library services laura bush 21st century grant proposal narrative. online. https://web.archive.org/web/20201207045624/https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded /re-18-19-0007-19 campana, k., mills, j. e., & martin, m. h. (2018). ecrr outside of the library: providing meaningful family-focused community outreach. children & libraries, 16(2), 35-36. campana, k. (2018). the multimodal power of storytime: exploring an information environment for young children [doctoral dissertation]. university of washington. campana, k., mills, j. e., capps, j. l., dresang, e. t., carlyle, a., metoyer, c. a., urban, i. b., feldman, e. n., brouwer, m., burnett, k., kotrla, b. (2016). early literacy in library storytimes: a study of measures of effectiveness. the library quarterly, 86(4), 369388. centers for disease control and prevention. (1997). principles of community engagement. cdc/atsdr committee on community engagement. cooke, n. a., & sweeney, m. e. (2017). teaching for justice: implementing social justice in the lis classroom. library juice press. cooke, n. a., sweeney, m. e., & noble, s. u. (2016). social justice as topic and tool: an attempt to transform an lis curriculum and culture. the library quarterly, 86(1), 107– 124. https://doi.org/10.1086/684147 corbin, j., & strauss, a. 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(2017). libraries on the frontlines: neutrality and social justice. equality, diversity and inclusion: an international journal, 36(8), 751-766. https://doi.org/10.1108/edi-112016-0100 67 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-15742-5_24 https://web.archive.org/web/20201207045624/https:/www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/re-18-19-0007-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20201207045624/https:/www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/re-18-19-0007-19 https://doi.org/10.1086/684147 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203893074 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/edi-07-2020-0178 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/edi-07-2020-0178 https://doi.org/10.1108/edi-11-2016-0100 https://doi.org/10.1108/edi-11-2016-0100 understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 gorski, p. c. (2016). equity literacy: more than celebrating diversity. diversity in education, 11(1), 12-15. gubrium, j. f., holstein, j. a., marvasti, a. b., & mckinney, k. d. (eds.). (2012). the sage handbook of interview research: the complexity of the craft. sage publications. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452218403 harry, b., sturges, k. m., & klingner, j. k. (2005). mapping the process: an exemplar of process and challenge in grounded theory analysis. educational researcher, 34(2), 3-13. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x034002003 hytten, k., & bettez, s. c. (2011). understanding education for social justice. educational foundations, 25(1-2), 7-24. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej925898 institute of museum and library services. (2018). library search and compare. https://www.imls.gov/search-compare/ jaeger, p. t., gorham, u., taylor, n. g., kettnich, k., sarin, l. c., & peterson, k. j. (2014). library research and what libraries actually do now: education, inclusion, social services, public spaces, digital literacy, social justice, human rights, and other community needs. the library quarterly, 84(4), 491–493. https://doi.org/10.1086/677785 jaeger, p. t., taylor, n. g., & gorham, u. (2015). libraries, human rights, and social justice: enabling access and promoting inclusion. rowman & littlefield. jaeger, p. t., shilton, k., & koepfler, j. (2016). the rise of social justice as a guiding principle in library and information science research. the library quarterly, 86(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1086.684142 kleine, d. (2010). ict4what?—using the choice framework to operationalise the capability approach to development. journal of international development, 22(5), 674-692. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.1719 lachal, j., & peich, m. c. (2017). libraries as empowerment levers: defining the collections and the contents with the users the example of the ideas box. http://library.ifla.org/2417/1/218-lachal-en.pdf maack, m. n. (1997). toward a new model of the information professions: embracing empowerment. journal of education for library and information science, 38(4), 283302. https://doi.org/10.2307/40324190 mathiesen, k. (2015). informational justice: a conceptual framework for social justice in library and information services. library trends, 64(2), 198-225. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2015.0044 mehra, b., rioux, k., & albright, k. s. (2017). social justice in library and information science. in j. d. mcdonald, & m. levine-clarke (eds.), encyclopedia of library and information sciences. (p. 4228). crc press. https://doi.org/10.1081/e-elis4 68 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452218403 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x034002003 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej925898 https://www.imls.gov/search-compare/ https://doi.org/10.1086/677785 https://doi.org/10.1086.684142 https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.1719 http://library.ifla.org/2417/1/218-lachal-en.pdf https://doi.org/10.2307/40324190 https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2015.0044 https://doi.org/10.1081/e-elis4 understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 mehra, b., albright, k. s., & rioux, k. (2006). a practical framework for social justice research in the information professions. proceedings of the american society for information science and technology, 43(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/meet.14504301275 mills, j. e., campana, k., & martin, m. h. (2019). “engage, cultivate, provide, and assess: an outreach model for serving all children and families.” alsc white paper. online. http://www.ala.org/alsc/publications-resources/white-papers/engage-cultivateprovide-assess odlos. (2020). odlos glossary of terms. american library association. http://www.ala.org/aboutala/odlos-glossary-terms rankin, c. (2016). library services for the early years: policy, practice, and the politics of the age. library trends, 65(1), 5-18. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2016.0022 reisch, m. (2002). defining social justice in a socially unjust world. families in society, 83(4), 343-354. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.17 smagorinsky, p. (2008). the method section as conceptual epicenter in constructing social science research reports. written communication, 25(3), 389-411. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088308317815 thornberg, r., & charmaz, k. (2014). grounded theory and theoretical coding. in u. flick (ed.), the sage handbook of qualitative data analysis (pp.153-69). sage publications, inc. https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781446282243.n11 j. elizabeth mills (jemills1@uw.edu) is a phd candidate at the university of washington information school, where she received her mlis in 2013. her research explores the nature and role of reflection in the ways children’s librarians plan, deliver, and assess storytimes for young children in public libraries. her work sits at the intersection of design theory and informal learning environments for young children. she has co-written and co-edited two library practitioner-focused books—supercharged storytimes: an early literacy planning and assessment guide and create, innovate, and serve: a radical approach to children's and youth programming. j. elizabeth mills has conducted several research projects together with her research partner, dr. katie campana, including project views2—a study of the early literacy impact of public library storytimes—that was awarded the washington library association president’s award in 2015. jacqueline kociubuk (jkociubu@kent.edu) is a youth services librarian in northeast ohio and the project coordinator for project voice. she received a dual mlis/med from kent state university’s school of information in 2019 and is a licensed multi-age school media and library specialist in the state of ohio. her past work has been centered around applied research into inclusive experiences in children’s literature and library programming, early computational thinking, and public library outreach to underserved families. ms. kociubuk is additionally interested in investigating human information behavior and interpersonal communication in young children’s informal learning environments, especially in relation to learning motivation and social emotional development. 69 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1002/meet.14504301275 http://www.ala.org/alsc/publications-resources/white-papers/engage-cultivate-provide-assess http://www.ala.org/alsc/publications-resources/white-papers/engage-cultivate-provide-assess http://www.ala.org/aboutala/odlos-glossary-terms https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2016.0022 https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.17 https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088308317815 https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781446282243.n11 mailto:jemills1@uw.edu mailto:jkociubu@kent.edu understanding social justice through practitioners’ language the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34760 kathleen campana, (kcampan2@kent.edu) is an assistant professor at kent state university’s school of information. her research focuses on understanding the learning that occurs for children, youth, and families in informal and digital learning environments and how those environments support and impact the learning process. she earned her phd in information science from the university of washington. she is the principal investigator for project voice, funded by imls, and read baby read, funded by the william penn foundation. her work has been published in library quarterly, journal of librarianship and information science, information and learning sciences, and journal of education for library and information science, among others. 70 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:kcampan2@kent.edu introduction literature review research design population analysis findings equity library staff community partners engagement library staff community partners empowerment library staff community partners discussion equity engagement empowerment limitations implications and conclusion endnote acknowledgements references work experiences, accommodations, and information in the context of fibromyalgia: a literature review and conceptual synthesis the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 work experiences, accommodations, and information in the context of fibromyalgia: a literature review and conceptual synthesis annie t. chen, university of washington, usa holly carpenter, university of illinois at urbana-champaign, usa mary grace flaherty, university of north carolina at chapel hill, usa abstract this paper explores the challenges that individuals with fibromyalgia may experience in navigating the workplace. fibromyalgia is a syndrome characterized by chronic widespread pain, stiffness, sleep disruption, and other symptoms, without a well-defined underlying disease. at work, patients can struggle with various problems, including fluctuating symptoms, exhaustion, skepticism, questions about whether to disclose, and finding ways to adjust work situations. individuals often lack information concerning how to manage their health, as well as different aspects of their lives, including work. work accommodations such as extended health benefits, modified schedules, and work-at-home arrangements could help. however, individuals may need to learn how to advocate for themselves, which can include finding information on legal rights and accommodation options. differences in information awareness and seeking skills can lead to inequities in the management of chronic health conditions in the workplace. we explore extant literature in three parts. first, we review research on the experience of work among individuals with fibromyalgia, and to a lesser extent, other conditions and disabilities. then, we consider work accommodations, and third, we conclude with a conceptual synthesis. in our analysis, we first identify a need for clearer conceptualization of the role of information to facilitate workplace self-advocacy. then, we identify gaps in the literature concerning information and information behavior related to work accommodations. last, we emphasize the need for involvement of stakeholders over time. this paper may be of interest to researchers, health care providers, library and information science professionals, and health policy researchers striving to achieve health equity. keywords: chronic illness; fibromyalgia; information behavior; information provision; work accommodations publication type: review article https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 introduction eople with chronic conditions face challenges in many facets of their lives, and the workplace is no exception. many symptoms and health-related needs can affect work. these include: fatigue, pain, weakness, nausea, issues with concentration, and managing a precise medication schedule, meal schedule, or diet. to remain in the workforce, people with chronic illnesses must learn self-advocacy strategies so they can effectively navigate the process of determining what, when, to whom and how to disclose their illness and needs, and to request and negotiate reasonable accommodations. information can play a critical role in the development of these self-advocacy strategies as personal, interpersonal, and structural differences may contribute to the outcomes of their interactions. these tasks can be particularly difficult for those with “invisible conditions,” in which individuals often deal with symptoms that are unobservable to others. in this article, we explore challenges that one group of individuals with invisible symptoms— fibromyalgia patients—may experience in navigating the workplace. fibromyalgia is a syndrome characterized by chronic widespread pain, joint stiffness, sleep disruption, and other systemic symptoms, including mood disorders, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction, without a well-defined underlying disease (bellato et al., 2012; wolfe, brähler, hinz, & häuser, 2013). the lack of clear answers and solutions for their health issues is often accompanied by extensive information seeking (chen, 2016). in relation to work, people with fibromyalgia can struggle with confusion, fluctuating symptoms, and exhaustion (sallinen, kukkurainen, peltokallio, & mikkelsson, 2010). patients with fibromyalgia tend to experience greater loss in work productivity and greater health resource utilization than those without fibromyalgia (lee et al., 2016; walitt, nahin, katz, bergman, & wolfe, 2015). people with fibromyalgia may also experience various challenges at work, including facing skepticism from coworkers (oldfield, maceachen, kirsh, & macneill, 2017), deciding whether to disclose their symptoms (oldfield et al., 2017), and finding ways to adjust their work situations (liedberg & henriksson, 2002). over time, individuals with fibromyalgia often transition from full-time to part-time work, and/or from more to less stressful types of work (mannerkorpi & gard, 2012). extant literature has reported that those who remain at work learn or develop ways of making it possible to continue working (chen, 2015). however, questions remain about the role that information plays in helping people to develop these strategies. there can be great diversity in the experiences that people with fibromyalgia have in their effort to develop and maintain an acceptable work situation, as there are many individual, social, work, and societal level factors that can shape individuals’ work experiences. individuals with chronic pain-related conditions may benefit from work accommodations. examples of accommodations include extended health benefits, short term leave, flexible hours or flextime, modified schedules, change in job duties, reassignment to another position, special equipment or adaptations, and work-at-home arrangements (al dhanhani, gignac, beaton, su, & fortin, 2015; gignac, cao, & mcalpine, 2015; leslie, kinyanjui, bishop, rumrill, & roessler, 2015). there is limited academic literature on work accommodations that may be useful to people with fibromyalgia and their experiences requesting these accommodations. however, there is literature pertaining to other conditions in which individuals experience chronic pain, such as multiple sclerosis and arthritis. moreover, there is substantive literature relating to disabilities p 30 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 and invisible disabilities, for example, concerning the need for organizational support. thus, although in this article we focus on the experiences of work in the context of fibromyalgia, we also draw upon literature pertaining to pain-related conditions and disabilities, as well as to invisible disabilities more broadly, which may be related to the challenges experienced by individuals with fibromyalgia in work contexts. in this article, we examine fibromyalgia patients’ experiences of work and their ability to navigate the workplace in three parts. first, we consider issues that people with fibromyalgia and/or other chronic pain conditions and disabilities face in work contexts. then, we review the literature to understand the work accommodations that might be provided. in our conceptual synthesis, we articulate gaps, with a particular focus on information. we note the lack of conceptual models that illustrate the role of information in workplace self-advocacy; a lack of knowledge about the information resources available to, and information behaviors of, individuals who need work accommodations; and the need for mutual consideration and effort from all stakeholders over time. this article is thus organized into the following main sections: the experience of work, work accommodations, and conceptual synthesis. the experience of work we first review extant literature on the work experiences of people with fibromyalgia. to a lesser extent, we also consider literature on work experience relating to individuals with other chronic conditions and disabilities, which often report similar experiences. we focus on four primary themes: the struggle to stay at work; strategies and factors to success; stigma, identity, and disclosure; and reflecting upon work experiences and the path forward. the struggle to stay at work individuals with chronic pain-related conditions often experience work transitions over the course of their illness. previous research has reported a notable decrease in employment following diagnosis of fibromyalgia (burckhardt, liedberg, henriksson, & kendall, 2005; guymer, littlejohn, brand, & kwiatek, 2016). there are often transitions from a higher to a lower occupation level and from full-time to part-time work (söderberg & lundman, 2001). similarly, in one study of individuals with inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis, work transitions such as productivity losses (absenteeism, job disruptions), work changes (reduced hours, changing jobs), and leaving employment were reported in 76.5% of participants (gignac, cao, lacaille, anis, & badley, 2008). in the case of fibromyalgia, the symptoms that most commonly interfere with work ability are pain, fatigue, muscle weakness, and memory and concentration difficulties (white, speechley, harth, & ostbye, 1999). individuals with fibromyalgia and other types of chronic pain may also struggle with the unpredictable nature of flare-ups (toye et al., 2016), acceptance of their condition (varekamp & van dijk, 2010), and balancing home and work life (varekamp & van dijk, 2010). though an extensive discussion is beyond the scope of this work, gender can also play a role in the work experiences of those with fibromyalgia. as previous literature has observed, gender segregation occurs within occupations, with women more frequently performing repetitive work tasks that may cause physical strain; women also often have greater responsibilities for unpaid work at home, which can impede their ability to recover after work (barker, 2005; henriksson, 31 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 liedberg, & gerdle, 2005)." also, it has been argued that perceptions of fibromyalgia as a disease with an ambiguous definition that primarily affects women means that it is not prioritized as a health concern (briones-vozmediano, 2016). for those with chronic conditions, there can be many barriers to staying at work. these can include issues relating to work site access (e.g., stairs) and conditions (e.g., temperature, schedule), job functions (physical, cognitive, task-related, and social), and company policies (allaire, wei li, & lavalley, 2003; mancuso, paget, & charlson, 2000). individuals with musculoskeletal diseases may also have trouble interacting with and being understood by colleagues and supervisors, particularly because the symptoms they experience, such as fatigue and pain, are not visible and their severity can be underestimated (crooks, 2007b). in addition, there is often a lack of organizational support to facilitate a return to work (toye et al., 2016). if an employee is considering whether to return to work after a period of not working, they may be concerned about doing so due to the uncertainty of being able to access benefits, as well as considerations of fit between their capabilities and the job. though lack of social support from supervisors is often reported, there are also occasions in which individuals report having a supervisor who was understanding about the need for flexibility. this appeared to strengthen individuals’ confidence in their abilities to continue working (mannerkorpi & gard, 2012). this section has shown that individuals with fibromyalgia and other chronic conditions may face many challenges in their struggle to stay at work. however, despite these challenges, there can be many reasons why people may want to continue working. at the outset, work is often valued as part of a person’s identity (palstam, gard, & mannerkorpi, 2013), and the loss of the ability to work can be devastating (juuso, skär, sundin, & söderberg, 2016). working can offer individuals a sense of purpose and the opportunity to feel that they are contributing to society and helping others (de vries, brouwer, groothoff, geertzen, & reneman, 2011; liedberg & henriksson, 2002; meade, rumrill, krause, reed, & aust, 2016). in addition, individuals often have a financial need for the income (de vries et al., 2011; meade et al., 2016; whei-mei, leeing, hsiu-chin, & pin-ru, 2018). work can also be seen as energizing, therapy in the form of distraction from pain, and providing structure, social contacts, and self-respect (de vries et al., 2011). overall, previous research has reported that women with fibromyalgia who were working were more satisfied than those who did not work (as cited in henriksson et al., 2005). strategies and factors to success there are both societal and individual level factors that contribute to the possibility of individuals remaining at work (liedberg & henriksson, 2002). at the societal level, there are values and norms. individuals tend to feel that by working, one is contributing to society. work also provides meaning, fulfillment, and an organized time structure. structural factors in society, such as work restructuring, finances, and commuting, may complicate an individual’s work situation. commuting via public transportation can be difficult for reasons such as the inability to walk even short distances. at the individual level, factors affecting individuals’ work situations include their working conditions, the physicality of the work, psychosocial environment, other commitments, unpaid work (e.g. home maintenance, raising children, and taking care of elderly relatives), and social relations. for fibromyalgia patients, limited physical capacity, increased stress, and an increased need of rest are the major health problems that prevent patients from working (mannerkorpi & gard, 2012). successful strategies include: taking a slower pace, splitting activities, prioritizing, 32 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 planning, resting, heat, exercise, keeping fit, perceiving signals from the body and heeding those signals, telling oneself that the pain is not dangerous, positive thoughts, enjoying life as much as possible, maintaining a positive view of life, and an unwillingness to give in (löfgren, ekholm, & öhman, 2006). personal characteristics that contribute to success include: perseverance, positive outlook, communicative abilities, courage, coping with pain (e.g. pain medication, ignoring pain, remaining active, avoiding provocative movements, pain acceptance), use of healthcare services, pain beliefs, and adjustment latitude (de vries et al., 2011). adjustment latitude includes the ability to increase capacity by training and remaining active, lowering load by accepting help and other mechanisms, making modifications at work and in working conditions, and receiving support. rejection of the disability identity and ‘not giving in’ have also been seen as important factors contributing to success (oldfield, maceachen, macneill, & kirsh, 2018). in addition, people may make strategic decisions, including switching career paths entirely, once they realize that they need to make adjustments to their lives to improve their health (chen, 2016; palstam et al., 2013). lastly, learning/being knowledgeable, creative solutions, managing stressful situations and ergonomics can also be important (löfgren et al., 2006). in terms of the effects of fibromyalgia on family life, research literature often reports negative impacts, including lack of understanding from family, strain due to having to rely more on family members for tasks, and the dual strain of work and home responsibilities (e.g., ashe, furness, taylor, haywood-small, & lawson, 2017; collado et al., 2014; söderberg, strand, haapala, & lundman, 2003), but there are also instances in which individuals receive support from family (cooper & gilbert, 2017). there is significantly less research concerning supporting roles that family may play in enabling fibromyalgia patients to continue working, though it has been reported that family members have provided support by taking over household chores, providing moral support, and encouraging individuals to rest when needed (palstam et al., 2013). there are also work-related characteristics that can facilitate a person’s success at continuing to work productively. these include aspects of the work itself, including recovery opportunities, work balance (suitable pace and workload), and aspects of the work environment, such as understanding and help from colleagues and support from management (bossema et al., 2012; palstam et al., 2013). factors affecting the successful provisioning of work accommodations will be discussed later in the article. lastly, government organizations may play a role in assisting individuals to remain at work. for example, previous interview research has reported that the swedish social insurance agency (sia) can play an important role in providing financial aid to enable individuals to reduce their work hours and provide time for recovery in the long-term (palstam et al., 2013). other research, however, has found that although there are times when interactions with the sia are coherent, leading to facilitating recovery and a return to work, there are also times when such interactions are fragmented and impede the process of returning to work (hubertsson, petersson, arvidsson, & thorstensson, 2011). stigma, identity, and disclosure one major challenge that individuals with fibromyalgia and other disabilities face is the question of whether to disclose one’s illness in the workplace. in work environments, individuals with fibromyalgia and/or other conditions that lead to disability can struggle with skepticism, being labeled negatively, being viewed differently by supervisors and/or co-workers, and 33 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 discrimination (gold, oire, fabian, & wewiorski, 2012; oldfield, maceachen, kirsh, & macneill, 2016; oldfield et al., 2017; schrader, malzer, & bruyère, 2014; toye et al., 2016). individuals often feel that they need to “prove” their disability to others and affirm oneself as a good worker (santuzzi, waltz, finkelstein, & rupp, 2014; toye et al., 2016). often, people disclose at the time when the need to obtain accommodations arises. but there are barriers to disclosure. disclosure may be the first step to discrimination. people struggle with the question of whether to “pass” or “reveal” an invisible identity in the workplace (clair, beatty, & maclean, 2005), and “impromptu disclosure dances” occur when people with fibromyalgia need to improvise an explanation on the spot to explain why they cannot do a given task (oldfield et al., 2016). the question of when to disclose can be difficult for many. salient factors that can affect the decision include the degree to which accommodations are needed and the visibility of the disability. individuals with a visible disability are more likely to disclose their disability earlier in the employment process (jans, kaye, & jones, 2012). individuals with a less apparent disability are more likely than those who have a more apparent disability to be concerned about being fired/not hired, loss of health care benefits, limited opportunities for promotion, being treated or viewed differently, and keeping the disability private (schrader et al., 2014). individuals may also disclose their illness to different extents, e.g. partial disclosure to a line manager about the presence of their illness, as opposed to full disclosure of how the illness affects them at work (munir, leka, & griffiths, 2005). in order to disclose, people also have to accept that the challenges or symptoms they experience are a legitimate disability (santuzzi et al., 2014). because the difficulties that individuals with fibromyalgia experience are often not visible, the disclosure decisions they make are perhaps more similar to those with disabilities that are not as visible. important factors in disclosure include the need for an accommodation and having a supportive supervisor relationship (munir et al., 2005; schrader et al., 2014). however, other factors, such as knowing that an employer has made an effort to create a disability-friendly workplace, knowing that an employer was actively recruiting people with disabilities, knowing of employees who had disclosed and were successful, inclusion of disability in the diversity statement, knowing that disclosure could potentially pave the way to new opportunities for promotion or training, seeing a message of disability inclusiveness on the company’s materials, seeing employees with disabilities at recruitment events, and employers having a disability-focused employee resource group (erg), can also play a role in an individual’s willingness to disclose and seek accommodations (purc‐stephenson, dostie, & smith, 2018; schrader et al., 2014). reflecting upon work experiences and the path forward individuals with fibromyalgia and other chronic conditions often experience difficulty at work. these difficulties arise due to a complex interplay involving health factors, psychosocial factors, life situations, organizational support and workplace climate. despite these challenges, individuals often desire to continue working due to benefits experienced from doing so, such as income, a sense of purpose and meaning, distraction from pain, and a sense of routine and structure. due to the challenges that they face in the workplace, individuals may struggle with questions about their identity, and whether and how to disclose their illness to others. the act of disclosure is often one that arises out of need. workplace climate and perceived support of colleagues and supervisors play an important role in disclosure. 34 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 though there is substantive literature on the experience of work for those with fibromyalgia, there are questions that remain unanswered. for example, though the literature illustrates a trend towards working part-time or not at all after symptom onset and diagnosis of fibromyalgia, one might wonder if there are potential ways to enable individuals to keep working. in addition, the literature that we have considered does not help us to understand whether people with fibromyalgia have the information and knowledge that they need to improve their work situations. we explore these questions further in subsequent sections. work accommodations previous research has shown that the provision of work accommodations is associated with greater satisfaction and is a process, as opposed to a one-time event (macdonald-wilson, fabian, & dong, 2008). in this section, we consider the process of requesting and negotiating work accommodations and factors affecting the provision of accommodations. there is less research on work accommodations that is specific to the context of fibromyalgia, so we draw upon literature concerning workplace accommodations and interventions more broadly, and more specifically in the context of the u.s. requesting and negotiating work accommodations one important part of receiving accommodations involves accommodation requests. in the u.s., the americans with disabilities act (ada) protects the rights of workers with disabilities, requiring employers to provide accommodations to employees with disabilities (americans with disabilities act of 1990, 1990; gold et al., 2012). however, the responsibility to request accommodations still rests with the employee. to request accommodations, an employee should develop a list of the accommodations that they need, illustrate how each would increase their productivity, and consider how an employer or supervisor might respond (gold et al., 2012; rumrill et al., 2016). important considerations for the employer might be whether the accommodation would be cost-effective and how it would alter the nature of the business. requesting accommodations can be challenging for individuals, particularly since they may be struggling to come to terms with their condition and what they can do about it. many people with invisible disabilities wait until after they are hired to disclose (santuzzi et al., 2014). previous literature on use of work accommodations for multiple conditions has shown that the level of severity of symptoms is associated with usage of work accommodations (allaire et al., 2003; leslie et al., 2015). in addition, people may wait too long to make plans for symptom management and to ask for accommodations, until such planning is too late to be effective (sallinen et al., 2010; simmons, tribe, & mcdonald, 2010). providing information to employees about how to ask for accommodations and what types of accommodations might be helpful may encourage them to disclose earlier. factors affecting the provision of work accommodations in this section, we consider key factors that can affect the effectiveness of accommodations and workplace interventions. difficulties can arise due to the introduction of accommodations, resulting in disruptions and/or ill effects to the individual or organization, or the social environment of the workplace (santuzzi et al., 2014). for example, if a worker with an invisible disability chooses not to make their condition known to their colleagues, the ada prohibits the employer from making the disability known in the provision of accommodations. this can result 35 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 in co-workers of an employee who is receiving an accommodation questioning why the individual is receiving it, which may create the potential for the perception of unfairness. santuzzi et al. (2014) suggest that one way to mitigate this possibility is to identify accommodations that result in the least amount of disruption, such as allowing an individual to work remotely so that they can use assistive devices and take breaks as needed. individuals may also be able to utilize accommodations that are available to all employees in a given setting, such as various kinds of leave, working remotely, and flexibility in hours worked. however, it is perhaps important to note that there are differences in the degree of flexibility that exists in different work environments, and these accommodations may not always be available. return-to-work processes can be complicated and involve many actors. coordination of these actors can be difficult but invaluable in fostering successful work re-integration (löfgren, schult, öhman, julin, & ekholm, 2016). services that can be extremely helpful include a multiprofessional team to provide coaching and work training, involving the employees affected in the shaping of the rehabilitation process, developing suitable accommodations for work tasks, matching employees’ capacities and limitations, and the social support of colleagues (glavare, löfgren, & schult, 2012). previous research has shown that organizations and supervisors often instruct employees to accommodate a person who is returning to work without clearly explaining why or developing an organized plan for re-integration (dunstan & maceachen, 2013). doing so can leave co-workers feeling excluded from the planning and cause resentment. previous research has argued that the perception of fairness is critical to reintegration, and that engaging co-workers in the planning, monitoring, and review of work reintegration will lead to more successful outcomes (dunstan & maceachen, 2014). though there is a gap in the literature on workplace interventions for fibromyalgia, extant articles that synthesize research literature on workplace accommodations and workplace interventions for disabilities more broadly can help us to consider what might be helpful in the context of fibromyalgia. key facilitators and barriers of employment include self-efficacy; selfadvocacy; support of the employer, co-workers, and community; training and counseling; and flexibility of work schedules and work organization; work autonomy; and strategies to promote workplace inclusion and integration (nevala, pehkonen, koskela, ruusuvuori, & anttila, 2015; padkapayeva et al., 2017). however, the reviews have also noted that there was a low number of methodologically sound studies; that validated measures of work ability and functioning of disabled persons are needed; and that the barriers and facilitators identified in qualitative studies should be examined quantitatively. articles that synthesize research literature have also focused on vocational rehabilitation interventions (e.g. palmer et al., 2012; varekamp, verbeek, & van dijk, 2006). components of vocational rehabilitation interventions include work accommodations; return-to-work coordinators; ergonomic work site visits; education/training provided to supervisors, workers, or case managers; and work practice modification, such as advice for posture/stretching and pacing (franche, baril, shaw, nicholas, & loisel, 2005). a review of vocational rehabilitation interventions for chronic disease concluded that programs that involved training in requesting work accommodations and feelings of self-confidence or self-efficacy in dealing with workrelated problems appeared to be effective, but that additional research was needed (varekamp et al., 2006). 36 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 taken together, the body of existing research suggests there is a need for additional research concerning facilitators such as self-efficacy and self-advocacy, and how to facilitate the development of these factors. some of these may be related to an organization’s response to disclosure of disability. for example, previous research involving individuals with multiple sclerosis elucidated two high-level themes: a focus on ability, which in turn led to enhanced perceptions of psychological safety and work efficacy; and a focus on disability, leading to diminished psychological safety and reduced perceptions of work efficacy (kirk-brown & van dijk, 2014). disability-focused responses included being allocated menial work tasks, being overlooked for promotion, having work unfairly scrutinized, and not being included in discussions regarding the types of accommodations needed. for example, a worker might receive accommodations in terms of their work conditions, such as a change in their work location or hours of employment. even if the act is well-intentioned, individuals might perceive it as a lack of their employer’s confidence in their abilities. in contrast, ability-focused responses include affirmation of the value of the employee, and acknowledgment that employees would propose the adjustments that they desired. williams-whitt et al. (2016) concluded that there was a disconnect between the scientific literature focused on improving coping and reducing discomfort for individual workers and employer-directed grey literature focused on making group-level changes to policy and procedures, thus leading to the concern that the results from research are not translated and implemented in organizations. this concern provides greater impetus for a holistic examination of the literature to identify the gaps and needs going forward. reflecting upon work accommodations and the path forward in this section, we summarized existing literature on work accommodations, including how individuals can go about requesting and negotiating work accommodations and factors affecting the provision of work accommodations. we suggested that ensuring individuals are aware of their right to ask for accommodations and how to do so could encourage them to disclose earlier. there are perhaps various ways an organization can facilitate this process. for example, they could ensure that individuals receive information about accommodations and how to request them during the onboarding process, and distribute this information periodically to all employees through e-newsletters, so that employees are aware of their rights and seek help if needed in a timely fashion. additionally, organizations can create mechanisms through which individuals feel safe to communicate with co-workers and exchange information and advice about effective work management strategies, or encourage co-workers to create their own safe channels. taking care to ensure that individuals’ privacy is respected and confidentiality maintained are perhaps difficulties that may arise in the implementation of these mechanisms. various factors affect the provision of work accommodations, and complications can arise in provision that may disrupt the work environment and interaction between employees in organizations. this literature suggests that open communication in work environments in which employees can be involved in the planning for provisioning of work accommodations can facilitate successful work re-integration. extant studies that synthesize research on vocational rehabilitation for individuals with disabilities suggests that interventions are effective, but also identified that there is a need for more research in this area. additionally, we observe that the bulk of this literature is focused on disabilities more generally, rather than fibromyalgia specifically. though the work experiences of individuals with 37 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 fibromyalgia may overlap substantially with individuals who experience other health-related challenges, each person’s experience is unique due to a combination of factors. for example, an individual with fibromyalgia may choose to disclose to their co-workers, but co-workers may be skeptical due to the “invisible” nature of the person’s condition. this experience may be different from that of a person with a more visible disability. in this sense, the literature on workplace accommodations in the context of invisible disabilities may be more conceptually applicable than research on disabilities more generally. individuals with fibromyalgia may also experience specific types of symptoms more acutely and therefore the challenges and management strategies that work for those with similar symptoms might be most pertinent to them. for example, an individual with fibromyalgia may experience joint pain that interferes with their ability to perform office tasks. they might benefit from learning about accommodation strategies used by individuals with other conditions, such as arthritis and multiple sclerosis, as they may experience similar problems. conceptual synthesis based on the literature on the experience of work and work accommodations, we now consider the gaps that remain in our existing knowledge about how individuals with fibromyalgia manage their work lives, and directions for future research and provision of support services. we begin with a discussion of conceptual models and then proceed to explore the particular gap that we identify in these models: our understanding of information and information behavior relating to work in the context of chronic illness. we conclude by emphasizing the need for involvement from concerned stakeholders over time. conceptual models individuals with chronic health conditions who seek work accommodations need supportive and informational services to navigate the process. the literature includes a number of models that address different aspects of the work experience and the process of seeking accommodations. we consider these models and the gaps in their capability to explain and pave a path toward effective working situations for individuals with chronic pain-related conditions. at the outset, we mention two well-known models of disability. in the medical model of disability, a person’s limitations are seen as the primary cause for disability, and a cure as the solution (goering, 2015). this model places the focus of disability on the individual without considering the environment in which a person exists. the social model shifts the focus from the individual to the society that excludes them (emens, 2017), making a critical distinction between impairment—“a state of the body that is non-standard”—and disability, conceptualized as a disadvantage or restriction that results from society not taking into account people who have impairments, which consequently results in exclusion of individuals from mainstream activities (goering, 2015). an extensive discussion of models of disability is beyond the scope of this article, but interested readers might see for instance, emens (2017), goering (2015), and oliver (1996). two models focus more concretely on the context of work and the accommodation-seeking process. toye et al. (2016) employ meta-ethnography to synthesize qualitative studies that explored adults’ experience of chronic non-malignant musculoskeletal pain. based on their literature review, they develop a model that depicts the struggle to stay at work, in which work is central to the self. the healthcare system, benefits, agencies, and employers are key actors 38 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 that do not always facilitate a return to work. the model also elucidates the main strategies that individuals use to stay at work: obtaining a flexible working situation, hiding pain, relying on colleagues, and obtaining sick leave. the job sustainability model, proposed for employees with arthritis, is organized in terms of three main aspects: personal factors, self-assessment and information gathering, and job sustainability strategies (purc‐stephenson et al., 2018). in this model, an individual experiences a trigger event that causes them to engage in self-assessment and information gathering. based on this experience, they weigh the perceived benefits and costs of taking action to maintain employment, and may utilize various work sustainability strategies, including making personal adjustments, using social support, exploring medical interventions, and seeking workplace accommodations. aside from models relating to work, there are also models of identity and disclosure that may be useful to researchers for conceptualizing work-related disclosure decisions. santuzzi and waltz (2016) argue that the disability identity is dynamic, complex, and contains multiple levels (legal, medical, and cultural; organizational; interpersonal; and intra-individual). many of these levels can include interactions with entities outside the individual. developing a disability identity that is in harmony with one’s work identity and functional capacities can increase self-esteem and satisfaction with life, while failing to develop one can lead to psychological and physical health risks. santuzzi and waltz’ (2016) conceptualization of the disability identity calls attention to important points in our consideration of the role of identity in an individual’s management of their work life. first, this model emphasizes the inter-relatedness of social and environmental factors on the work experience of individuals. second, the model highlights that individuals must acknowledge and self-identify as a person with a disability in order to be able to utilize available services (santuzzi & waltz, 2016). last, santuzzi and waltz point out that disclosure forms typically ask workers to indicate disability status with a dichotomous choice (i.e. yes/no) or to opt out of answering, which may be inconsistent with the way individuals see themselves. the disclosure decision-making model (dd-mm) seeks to explain the process through which individuals may disclose information (greene, 2015). according to the model, individuals who are considering a disclosure assess five aspects of the information to be disclosed: stigma, preparation, prognosis, symptoms, and relevance to others. then, the individual considers the receiver in terms of relational quality (e.g., intimacy and closeness) and anticipated response. if, after considering these factors, they are still inclined to share, the individual considers their own disclosure efficacy. the act of disclosure is thus predicated upon all of these processes, and if individuals choose to disclose, what they subsequently experience as a result of their disclosure (outcomes) then influences their subsequent decisions to disclose. though this model has not been examined in relation to disclosures for work accommodations, the concepts included in the model, the potential to exit the model and not disclose, and the inclusion of the outcomes of previous disclosures as a factor in future decisions, all suggest that this model may be suitable to consider when examining how individuals with fibromyalgia consider whether or not to disclose their condition in the workplace. based on our review of the literature and relevant models, we summarize the areas in which there is existing work, and the conceptual gaps that are present. there is literature on the issues of identity and disclosure that individuals may grapple with and the barriers that people may 39 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 encounter in requesting and receiving accommodations. additionally, there is substantial literature on the experience of work, including the symptoms that people experience, the difficulties they may encounter in performing their jobs, and the issues they may encounter at work as a result of these difficulties. the job sustainability model (purc‐stephenson et al., 2018) effectively depicts the process that an individual might experience as they deal with difficulties in their work lives. in addition, the model notes that information gathering facilitates the enactment of work sustainability strategies, thus highlighting the importance of information. however, the model does not illustrate how information exposure, source selection, and perception and comprehension of information sources influence an individual’s behavior, and hence, how information can enable individuals with chronic conditions to make decisions that improve their work experiences. there is considerably less research on the information available to those who may benefit from accommodations and the manner in which this information should be presented for optimal use. previous research has reported that individuals with fibromyalgia often experience a period in which they are unaware of the need to seek help regarding their symptoms (chen, 2016). over time, their state of knowing their own body, managing their own health, and ability to express their needs to others (including health care providers) grows, often alongside a process of iterative information seeking. the process described by chen (2016) might be considered akin to the path described in the health literacy pathway model, in which people incrementally develop skills that enable them to better manage their health (edwards, wood, davies, & edwards, 2012), though the former emphasizes the initial lack of a clear conceptualization of the information and knowledge needed, which is acquired through a process of trial-and-error. one important direction for future work involves the imperative to develop a clearer understanding of the role of information in the development of skills for self-advocacy at work. a clearer conceptualization of the process through which individuals learn self-advocacy skills could be used to inform the development of suitable points for information interventions, as well as to explain how individuals might differ in their abilities to advocate for themselves. for example, with regard to information behavior, we might consider how the information that individuals encounter varies by source, how this information might be interpreted, and how subsequent decision-making occurs. integration of theories from information science and communications research, such as the comprehensive model of information seeking (johnson & meischke, 1993), the risk information seeking and processing model (griffin et al., 2004; yang, aloe, & feeley, 2014), and the disclosure decision-making model (greene, 2015) can potentially help us to understand how differences in individual characteristics might influence people’s motivations and abilities to find, process, and use information about work accommodations. however, there is still a need to integrate the models and empirically examine the validity of an integrated model for conceptualizing how people, in practice, navigate their work lives. facilitating self-advocacy through information provision in order to be able to advocate successfully for oneself in the workplace, individuals may need to have knowledge including: the nature of one's disability and the ways that it might impact one's work, one's rights to accommodations, the range of accommodations that could mitigate symptoms, and how to request and obtain accommodations. this knowledge is predicated upon both this information being available, and that individuals will encounter and be able to interpret this information. in this section, we consider issues that might arise with both of these premises. 40 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 first, there is limited knowledge of information-seeking behavior among individuals with fibromyalgia, including the amount and type of information that they may want or seek about how to manage their condition in the workplace. in a survey of fibromyalgia patients’ information preferences, daraz, macdermid, wilkins, gibson, and shaw (2011) reported that almost 80% of respondents indicated that the impact of fibromyalgia on their work was a “very important” information need, but the survey did not investigate respondents’ needs for information relating to work in greater detail. similarly, there is limited literature concerning search behavior about fibromyalgia (bragazzi et al., 2017) and discussions about fibromyalgia in online support groups (barker, 2008; chen, 2012), but this literature does not explore the types of questions that people may have with regard to fibromyalgia and work. however, previous research involving multiple sclerosis patients has shown that only half of survey respondents knew their rights regarding job-related physical examinations, what to do if they encountered discrimination at work, understanding the risks and benefits of disclosing disability status to employers, and understanding the employment protections of title i in the ada amendments act (adaaa) (rumrill et al., 2016). other research has reported that individuals with disabilities rely on online sources, personal networks, and contacting employers directly when seeking job opportunities (sundar et al., 2018). use of community and government resources, such as vocational rehabilitation programs, was limited. a variety of online information sources are available to individuals with fibromyalgia about work, including those provided by government agencies, advocacy groups, and disability law offices, as well as blogs and illness-related forums. we consider examples of information sources one might encounter if they were to seek information about work accommodations for fibromyalgia in the u.s., focusing on differences in the information encountered and the takeaways that one might have based on that information. for example, performing a google search with the keywords, “fibromyalgia work,” one encounters a set of search results including consumer health resources, blogs, a web page by the national fibromyalgia and chronic pain association, and more. a web page by the disability benefits center, an advertising service paid for by lawyers and advocates, addresses the question of whether an individual can keep working with fibromyalgia (disability benefits center, 2019). this question appears to be an underlying theme of the search results. the consumer health resources include webmd’s (2018) page, “fibromyalgia: work and disability,” which addresses eight questions, five of which relate to disability; and verywell health’s page, “can i keep working with fibromyalgia or me/cfs [myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome]?,” which tells the reader that it is possible to keep working, but that it might be necessary to make some changes (dellwo, 2017). the verywell health page explains that individuals have a legal right to accommodations, but does not go on to explain how one might go about requesting them. in contrast, the webmd page notes that employees can talk to their managers about accommodations, but does not directly inform the reader that employees are legally entitled to accommodations or discuss potential consequences of requesting them. without more discussion of what might happen, individuals may be reticent to act upon the information, and may also be less prepared for negative consequences, should they occur. thus, these examples illustrate how information sources that individuals access when they begin searching about workplace issues might, on the one hand, steer individuals towards consideration of themselves as needing to leave the workforce and apply for disability benefits, and on the other, not impart the skills that they need to advocate for themselves in the 41 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 workplace. this phenomenon is consistent with the existing body of literature in two ways. first, previous research has reported that work structures often do not facilitate a return to work (toye et al., 2016). second, in an analysis of materials available for fibromyalgia through various self-help organizations, oldfield (2014) observed that these resources tend to focus more on leaving paid employment and obtaining disability. though some materials also address the possibility of employees remaining at work, they encourage individuals to manage their own symptoms and “make themselves fit for work” (oldfield, 2014, p. 41). additionally, employees’ legal right to accommodations was not discussed. there are information resources that provide more comprehensive coverage of how an individual might go about requesting accommodations. for example, the job accommodation network provides guidance on workplace accommodations and disability employment issues (job accommodation network, n.d.). the organization website includes information targeting individuals in many different roles (e.g., employee, employer, rehabilitation professional), a searchable online accommodation resource, and more. they have a resource entitled, “employee’s practical guide to requesting and negotiating reasonable accommodations under the americans with disabilities act,” which provides a list of questions and answers to concerns that individuals may have, e.g., ‘what if i am not sure what accommodations i need?’ this guide provides more detailed information than is offered in many other online information resources. however, the guide does not provide or direct individuals to information about other aspects of workplace climate that may deter individuals from requesting accommodations. moreover, it is unclear whether individuals would naturally arrive at this website through a web search. the job accommodation network does not appear on the first page of results of a web search with the keywords, “fibromyalgia work,” though it does appear on the first page of web search with the keywords “fibromyalgia work accommodations.” thus, to find this resource easily, one might need to know to search using the keyword, “accommodations.” let us consider another problem that individuals might encounter as they are searching for information. if individuals do not know whether they are qualified to ask for work accommodations, they might search to find the answer to this question. the americans with disabilities act does not specifically name all of the conditions that are covered under the legislation (americans with disabilities act of 1990, 1990). however, organizations including state legal aid agencies, such as the illinois legal aid organization, provide examples (illinois legal aid online, 2017). these include alcoholism, asthma, blindness, deafness, cancer, cerebral palsy, depression, heart disease, migraine headaches, and multiple sclerosis. fibromyalgia is not included in this list. thus, some individuals with fibromyalgia may not understand they are entitled to accommodations. a google search with the query: “is fibromyalgia considered a disability?” yields a web page providing information about social security benefits from a website called disability secrets (laurence, 2018) as one of the first results. upon visiting the website, two live chat opportunities pop up immediately, which guide the information seeker to consider legal help. an additional banner at the top of the screen prompts: “online now connect with ssdi attorneys in your area.” while directing individuals towards legal help can be helpful for those who seek disability benefits, this does not help those who seek information about staying at work, and are perhaps seeking to understand whether the diagnosis of fibromyalgia entitles them to work accommodations. 42 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 sample search keywords, search results, and underlying messages are presented in table 1. taken together, they demonstrate the importance of considering how information search practices and information balance in the returned search results and articles could potentially influence conceptual understanding of an issue, and the need for a better understanding of how individuals go about seeking information, the information that they encounter, and what they take away from those sources. additionally, there is a need to better understand the extent to which individuals with fibromyalgia and/or other chronic pain-related conditions understand how to approach work-related issues. table 1. information searches about fibromyalgia and work: examples and implications keywords sample search results message “fibromyalgia work” • disability benefits center: “can i continue working with fibromyalgia?” • webmd: “fibromyalgia: work and disability” • verywell health: “can i keep working with fibromyalgia or me/cfs” • the search result titles suggest an underlying question that is being answered. • the information balance of the webmd article and the nature of the search results steer the reader to leaving the workforce and applying for disability. “fibromyalgia work accommodations” • job accommodation network: “fibromyalgia” • the website provides a variety of resources for individuals seeking information about work accommodations, enabling readers to take steps to advocate for themselves. “is fibromyalgia considered a disability?” • disability secrets: “social security disability (ssdi & ssi) for fibromyalgia” • the search results direct the reader to apply for disability benefits. information awareness and information-seeking skills can be invaluable in the search for information. previous research in other health contexts has observed that a lack of awareness and knowledge can be an obstacle to successful health management (chen, 2016; st. jean, 2012). there can be differences in the level of awareness that people have of the existence of health information, their access to health information, their skills to find and understand it, and the manner in which they may go about seeking information (e.g., the sources that they use and how they formulate search queries). these differences can, in turn, lead to differences in the information found, the extent to which the information can be utilized, and inequities in successful management of chronic health conditions in the workplace. if useful information exists but is not easily found, or if information needs to be integrated across multiple sources and this is not being done, then individuals will still have trouble advocating for themselves and managing their work lives in other ways. 43 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 it is imperative that library and information science professionals investigate information awareness and information seeking behaviors, as well as devise ways for dissemination of this information more broadly. since the current literature suggests individuals may not seek out organizational guidance when they first start experiencing problems at work, it is important to ensure that information is publicly available, easily findable, and that lay health consumers are able to understand, interpret, and evaluate the health information they encounter. the national library of medicine offers guidance on how to evaluate online health information (u.s. national library of medicine, n.d.), encouraging consumers to consider factors such as the operator of the website, funding, quality, and privacy. previous research concerning search behavior of people with fibromyalgia has reported that people may start out with less sophisticated search behaviors and learn to form more specific and targeted queries over time (chen, 2016). it can also be important to consider different ways for promoting the development of selfadvocacy skills and understanding, such as role playing, bibliotherapy, and art therapy. for example, dali (2018) suggests that literature, cinematic works, games, and interactive electronic media and music might help people visualize how inclusive practices can be incorporated into campus work environments. as people learn and process information in different ways, providing options can facilitate effective interpretation and utilization of information. considering stakeholder perspectives over time to develop work environments and systems in which all individuals can be productive and satisfied, it is important to consider the perspectives of all stakeholders involved, including employees, employers, and service providers. with regard to employees, previous research has reported that they most valued flexible work opportunities, including flexible hours, job-sharing, the ability to work at home, part-time work, and a flexible leave policy (crooks, 2007b; schrader et al., 2014). other factors, such as allocation of suitable accommodations, hiring and retention of individuals with disabilities, disability awareness training for employees, human resources personnel who are familiar with disability and accommodations, and a fair system for submitting grievances, can facilitate disclosure (schrader et al., 2014). previous research has observed that vocational rehabilitation efforts have focused on the supply, but not the demand-side of the labor market, providing training and placement, with little regard for the real operational needs of employers (luecking, 2008). it is important to consider the accommodations process not only in terms of its benefits for the employee, but also for the employer (macdonald-wilson et al., 2008). these could include direct benefits, such as retention of qualified employees, increased worker productivity, and avoiding the cost of training new employees. it could also include indirect benefits, such as improved interactions among employees, increased company morale, and increased overall company productivity (solovieva, dowler, & walls, 2011). providing education to employers can also be helpful. previous research has shown that knowledge of disability legislation is associated with greater willingness to help and belief that employees with disabilities could be productive (telwatte, anglim, wynton, & moulding, 2017), and that employers’ attitudes toward hiring individuals with disabilities tends to improve with exposure (luecking, 2008). there has been research comparing the perspectives of three different stakeholders in the accommodations process: employers, employees with disabilities, and rehabilitation service providers. there is often concordance in the perspectives of these different stakeholders. for example, in one study, the three types of stakeholders ranked the same five factors as most 44 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 important: supportiveness of an employee’s direct supervisor, the employer’s support for requesting accommodations, communication between the employer and the employee, employer’s understanding of disabilities, and ada eligibility (dong, oire, macdonald-wilson, & fabian, 2013). though employers and employees generally agree that employees should present credible requests for accommodations, stakeholders can differ in terms of their expectations of one another (gold et al., 2012). employees argue that employers have a moral obligation to provide suitable environments for employees to work, whereas employers justify their reluctance to provide accommodations based on legal and financial reasons. creating a climate of trust between employees and human resource management, line managers, colleagues, and work team members, has been proposed to enrich the work experiences of those with chronic illness (vijayasingham, jogulu, & allotey, 2016). the literature on stakeholder perspectives highlights the importance of long-term stakeholder involvement and a collaborative process towards cultivation of work environments that promote work productivity and satisfaction for all. many of the key emergent factors in the literature, such as communication, trust, and work climate, are not characteristics of an environment that can be established through a one-time effort, but rather through sustained efforts over time by all parties in accordance with disability-friendly policies and legislation. continued involvement of stakeholders in the development of a systemic, disability-friendly environment, as opposed to a system in which individuals apply for one-time or incremental accommodations, could potentially facilitate a more positive working environment for all. this would mean that individuals in the work environment each have a responsibility. employees who may need accommodations have a responsibility to communicate with employers, supervisors, and co-workers in a timely fashion; to promote smooth interactions between all employees; and to avoid work delays and sacrificing work quality. co-workers and supervisors have a responsibility to consider the needs of those requiring accommodations. all individuals have a responsibility to consider the overall work environment and work together to develop solutions. additionally, it is important to acknowledge that anyone could both be accommodating of others and need accommodations themselves. the existing literature on employer perspectives addresses the subject of hiring of individuals with disabilities in general, rather than fibromyalgia specifically. while we have reviewed this literature because it provides an overview of the overall climate that individuals with fibromyalgia might face as they approach the labor market, it is important to recognize that some aspects of the disability literature may apply, whereas others do not. for example, employers are more likely to hold positive attitudes towards individuals with physical disabilities rather than intellectual or psychiatric ones (hernandez, keys, & balcazar, 2000). individuals with fibromyalgia often experience invalidating experiences in multiple spheres of life including work, where they may encounter disbelief from co-workers as well as supervisors (crooks, 2007a; oldfield et al., 2016). thus, though there is literature in general suggesting that employers are amenable to hiring individuals with disabilities, there remains a need for more research on employers’ attitudes in relation to conditions that may be associated with greater stigma, such as fibromyalgia. in addition, it is worth noting that we do not regard employers as a monolithic group. it is likely that employers of different types (e.g., human resources professionals, managers, small business owners) and sectors may hold different attitudes, and more research is needed to understand how their attitudes and approaches towards employing individuals with 45 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 fibromyalgia might differ. conclusion this paper makes the following main contributions. first, we reviewed extant literature concerning work experiences and work accommodations of individuals with fibromyalgia, situated it in the broader literature concerning the work experiences of disabilities, and identified a gap in conceptual models in terms of the role of information in facilitating workplace self-advocacy. second, we identified gaps in the academic literature concerning the types of information resources that are available to those with fibromyalgia seeking information on accommodations, and in our knowledge of how individuals needing such information might search for and interpret that information, once found. though we recognize that more extensive research is needed, we present examples of information that is available and some of the issues that may arise concerning how individuals search for and interpret information, and we present suggestions for wider dissemination of information about work accommodations. third, we emphasize the need for involvement among all concerned stakeholders over time. a clearer understanding of how individuals with fibromyalgia might seek and encounter information about work and efforts to disseminate this information among stakeholders over time can result in a more equitable distribution of workplace benefits, and improved overall workplace productivity and satisfaction. this paper may be of interest to a wide audience, including researchers from multiple disciplines, health care providers who work with persons with chronic illnesses, practitioners who develop patient education resources and information interventions, and health policy researchers 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(2013). fibromyalgia prevalence, somatic symptom reporting, and the dimensionality of polysymptomatic distress: results from a survey of the general population. arthritis care & research, 65(5), 777–785. https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.21931 yang, z. j., aloe, a. m., & feeley, t. h. (2014). risk information seeking and processing model: a meta-analysis. journal of communication, 64(1), 20–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12071 annie t. chen (atchen@uw.edu) is an assistant professor in the department of biomedical informatics and medical education at the university of washington school of medicine. her main areas of research interest include information behaviors in the context of chronic illness, information sharing in online communities and other digital spaces, and the role that information may play in affording patient voice and participation. particularly relevant to this article is her interest in the ways in which the information that we seek and encounter may shape our representations of health and wellbeing, and in turn affect our health management behaviors. additionally, she employs a variety of different methods including qualitative research methods and text mining and visualization techniques, to better understand human behavior. holly carpenter (holly.carpenter@asu.edu) is a higher education administrator and scholarpractitioner. she received her phd in educational leadership and policy studies from arizona state university. her research interests focus on how faculty, staff, and students navigate higher education policies and procedures and best practices in higher education. one area of interest has been how faculty, staff, and students navigate the accommodations process at higher education institutions. mary grace flaherty (mgflaher@email.unc.edu) is an assistant professor at the school of information and library science at the university of north carolina at chapel hill. she received her phd in information science & technology from syracuse university where she was an imls fellow. dr. flaherty has master’s degrees from the university of maryland and johns hopkins 54 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2018.v14n18p49 https://doi.org/10.1002/1529-0131(199901)42:1%3c76::aid-anr10%3e3.0.co;2-g https://doi.org/10.1002/1529-0131(199901)42:1%3c76::aid-anr10%3e3.0.co;2-g https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-016-9664-z https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.21931 https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12071 mailto:atchen@uw.edu mailto:holly.carpenter@asu.edu mailto:mgflaher@email.unc.edu work experiences, accommodations, and information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(3), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32964 university. her research interests are centered on health information seeking in medical contexts, and in the library setting. her recent book, promoting individual and community health at the library, is used by public librarians to guide health information provision and health promotion programs nationwide. 55 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index introduction the experience of work the struggle to stay at work strategies and factors to success stigma, identity, and disclosure reflecting upon work experiences and the path forward work accommodations requesting and negotiating work accommodations factors affecting the provision of work accommodations reflecting upon work accommodations and the path forward conceptual synthesis conceptual models facilitating self-advocacy through information provision considering stakeholder perspectives over time conclusion references black lives matter and covid-19: lessons in coincidence, confluence, and compassion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34638 black lives matter and covid-19: lessons in coincidence, confluence, and compassion madeleine schachter, weill cornell medicine and albert einstein college of medicine, usa abstract there is a profound lesson in the coincident timing of the black lives matter movement and the covid-19 pandemic: in each case, support for the most oppressed or most ill amongst us portends support for ourselves. we are humbled to concede that if we do not respect everyone, we do not respect anyone, just as if we don't prevent, treat, and cure disease everywhere, we don't do so anywhere. our collective dignity and health depend upon the dignity and health of the most vulnerable amongst us. the preservation of oneself depends upon the preservation of all people. our humanity is inevitably, inexorably, forever entwined with one another. keywords: black lives matter; covid-19; pandemic; social justice publication type: special section publication introduction he year 2020 most assuredly will be remembered for two extraordinary phenomena: the markedly increased, international attention to the black lives matter (blm) movement following the murder of george floyd, and the covid-19 pandemic. at first blush, these two events seem wholly separate and distinct from one another, having in common merely the timing and gravity of their concerns, and the scope of attention they commanded. yet, there are lessons to be drawn from their concurrence, the most profound of which lies in the inexorable and urgent conceptualization of our own humanity. the covid-19 pandemic the viral transmission of covid-19 rapidly spread to pandemic proportions, impacting the global population in a way that was “unparalleled in scale and geographical extent since the influenza pandemic of 1918” (howard-jones & kok, 2020, p. 115). by mid-august 2020, more than 22,500,000 cases had been reported to the world health organization (who), tragically resulting in nearly 800,000 deaths (who, 2020). the blm movement the blm movement dates back to 2013, developed as “a black-centered political will and movement building project” in response to the acquittal of george zimmerman, who had fatally shot trayvon martin (black lives matter, n.d.). the project has now been described as “a member-led global network of more than 40 chapters, [whose] members organize and build local t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi black lives matter and covid-19 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34638 power to intervene in violence inflicted on black communities by the state and vigilantes” (black lives matter, n.d.). attention to the movement increased exponentially following the death of george floyd in may 2020, when a minneapolis police officer forcefully pressed his knee on floyd’s neck for approximately eight minutes to restrain him during his arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill at a shop. videotape of the murder was as ubiquitous as it was appalling. the entire world watched in horror as mr. floyd was slowly and painfully deprived of the ability to breathe even as he pleaded for his life. racial inequities despite the known formidable contagiousness of covid-19 at the time, the police officer who had physically restrained him was not wearing a mask. had the police officer been infected with covid-19 at the time, the proximate cause of mr. floyd’s death undoubtedly was not due to the virus; the officer’s failure to take basic precautions against disease transmission was simply another indignity to which floyd was subjected. but just as that additional insult to mr. floyd was by no means the most grievous to which he had been subjected, neither was he the only african american to have been especially impacted by covid-19. in the united states, the black community indisputably has been affected disproportionately by the disease; according to the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc), non-hispanic black persons have been afflicted at a rate approximately five times more than that of non-hispanic white persons (cdc, 2020a). the covid-19 pandemic is a tragic and stark example of the predominant impact of disease on black citizens. by mid-july 2020, the cdc reported that amongst laboratory-confirmed tested covid-19 cases, rates for non-hispanic black persons and hispanic or latino persons were approximately 4.7 and 4.6 times the rate among non-hispanic white persons, respectively (cdc, 2020b). even two months earlier, the disease’s disproportionate toll on black people in the united states was readily apparent; “[c]ounties with the highest proportion of [b]lack residents are also seeing the highest death rates. the larger the share of [b]lack residents, the worse the health outcomes get” (green & gu, 2020). for example, [t]hough [b]lacks are only 22% of new york city’s population, as of mid-april they constituted 28% of fatalities from the virus. in chicago, where [b]lacks are 30% of the population, they comprise 70% of those killed by covid-19. in the state of louisiana, [b]lacks are 32% of the population but 70% of those dead from the disease. (wingfield, 2020) the injustices to which black citizens in the united states continue to be subjected include lack of access to healthcare, and therefore not surprisingly, poorer health outcomes. “inequities in the social determinants of health, such as poverty and healthcare access, affecting these groups are interrelated and influence a wide range of health and quality-of-life outcomes and risks” (us hhs, 2020). there are myriad, inter-related causes, such as chronic stress resulting from discrimination, lack of adequate healthcare and access, lack of health insurance, and crowded housing conditions (cdc, 2020a). indeed, the tragically disproportionate impact of covid-19 on blacks and other non-white races 82 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index black lives matter and covid-19 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34638 should have been expected. so pervasive are racial disparities in health conditions that the phenomenon has merited its own nomenclature, “the weathering hypothesis,” which is a term used to connote chronic exposure to social and economic disadvantages that lead to accelerated declines in physical health outcomes (forde et al., 2019; rogers et al., 2020). african americans’ disproportionate representation in certain essential occupations that have greater risks of disease exposure is yet another significant factor in covid-19’s greater impact on the black community. while some states have implemented stay-at-home orders in an effort to contain the disease’s spread, individuals employed in “essential” businesses must still report to work (rogers et al., 2020). only approximately 20 percent of non-hispanic blacks report being able to work from home, compared to nearly 30 percent of white workers (rogers et al., 2020). the glaring gap in the rates to which black citizens are affected, and the reasons for that gap, vividly illustrate the systemic injustices to which the black community has long been subjected. “black people and other minorities who live in poverty, in dense conditions, on the street, or on reservations or who perform ‘essential’ jobs are at unusual risk for infection” (evans, 2020, p. 409). the pandemic exposes and exploits inequities that are the long-term product of structural racism. work that cannot be done remotely— “in transportation, emergency response, health care, and agriculture—are essential for a functional society but pay near the minimum wage and do not compensate workers for the risks they incur” (evans, 2020, p. 409). dependence on these critical work functions increases during pandemics, as those privileged to be able to self-isolate in safe-distanced residences increasingly rely on those who cannot to continue to respond to healthcare, food production and delivery, and other needs. lessons in the confluence of blm and covid-19 but amidst the regrettably expected and blatant racial inequities revealed by the covid-19 pandemic, there are valuable lessons to be learned. these lessons, which are poignantly articulated by the blm movement, resonate profoundly in the concurrence of the movement and the viral crisis. the inclusive message of the blm movement generally speaking, blm addresses all forms of racial discrimination, including violence borne of racial animus, to which blacks in the united states have been subjected, beginning with the widespread, government-sanctioned, enduring depravities of enslavement, over four centuries ago. there is also nuance to the blm movement, as to which reflexive protestations that “all lives matter” miss the point. the very name of the black lives matter movement highlights the longstanding marginalized position of black citizens in the united states. additionally, the founders of the blm movement “were equally committed to the rights of working people and to gender and sexual equality” (cobb, 2020). the movement’s name and emphasis draw attention to extraordinary prejudice to which the black community has been—and continues to be—subjected. the point of blm is not to exclude others from its demands for social justice. nor does the movement denigrate the ignominies or difficulties other groups have suffered and continue to endure. rather, the “black lives matter” verbiage “espouses inclusivity, because ‘to love and desire freedom and justice for ourselves is a necessary prerequisite for wanting the same for others’” (cobb, 2020). 83 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index black lives matter and covid-19 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34638 covid-19’s transnational and comprehensive peril although no disease respects geographical boundaries, the formidable covid-19 contagion is one of our era’s most conspicuous large scale, transnational perils. we now are inexorably humbled to concede that if we are to be prepared now and in the future, … there has to be an absolutely fundamental change in our mind-set. we have to think that we have to work together as a human species to be organized to care for one another, to realize that the health of the most vulnerable people among us is a determining factor for the health of all of us [emphasis added], and, if we aren’t prepared to do that, we’ll never, ever be prepared to confront these devastating challenges to our humanity. (chotiner, 2020) thus, “the way that we respond very much depends on our values, our commitments, and our sense of being part of the human race and not smaller units.” it’s why new york’s governor andrew cuomo pointed out, “[u]nless you solve this everywhere, you don’t solve it anywhere” (cuomo, 2020). it’s also why kareem abdul-jabbar recently declared in the context of social justice: no one is free until everyone is free. as martin luther king jr. explained: “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.” so, let’s act like it. if we’re going to be outraged by injustice, let’s be outraged by injustice against anyone. (2020) blm as exemplar and portent support for blm also presupposes a commitment to extrapolating its principles to all people. and there is a lesson here in the temporal coincidence of the covid-19 pandemic: the movement matters because it is an exemplar and a portent of a path to overt assertion of the dignity of every human being. ultimately, there is cause not just for reflection about the coincidental timing of blm and covid-19, but grounds even amidst the struggles and the challenges for optimism as well. lawrence wright noted that “[g]reat crises tend to bring profound social change, for good or ill” (wright, 2020). he quoted gianna pomata, a retired professor at the institute of the history of medicine at johns hopkins university, who observed: “‘[t]he black death really marks the end of the middle ages and the beginning of something else.’ that something else was the renaissance” (wright, 2020). pomata anticipates that now “something [else] dramatic is going to happen, not so much in medicine but in economy and culture. because of danger, there’s this wonderful human response, which is to think in a new way” (wright, 2020). the current “new way,” if we are committed to improving both health and social conditions, is an explicit, deliberate rejection of racism and other forms of discrimination. the “new way” is a mobilization of individual and community compassion that transcends recognition of any particular group in order to apply the point of the blm movement universally. the “new way” is an active counterpoint to transform rhetoric to reform. black lives matter because anything less demeans the lives of everyone. preventing, treating, 84 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index black lives matter and covid-19 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34638 and curing covid-19 for the most vulnerable and geographically distant amongst us matters because anything less imperils the health of everyone. just as understanding the key virological etiology and clinical manifestation of covid-19 is critical to mitigating the effects of the disease and to preparing for future viral outbreaks (howard-jones & kok, 2020), so too is our self-reflection, advocacy, and vigilance about racial equality. recognizing the intersectionality of concurring pandemics is a matter of proprioperception of ourselves within the global community, orienting us to one another. “to extinguish the outbreak, we must confront and accept our individual and societal responsibility to respect and care for one another” (evans, 2020, p. 409). this stance applies to the pandemic of covid-19 just as it applies to the pandemic of racism, because the preservation of oneself depends upon the preservation of all people because our humanity is inevitably, inexorably, forever entwined with each other. references abdul-jabbar, k. (2020, july 14). where is the outrage over anti-semitism in sports and hollywood? the hollywood reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kareem-abdul-jabbar-is-outrage-anti semitism-sports-hollywood-1303210 black lives matter. (n.d.). herstory. https://blacklivesmatter.com/herstory/ cdc. (2020a, june 25). health equity considerations and racial and ethnic minority groups. centers for disease control and prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019ncov/need-extra-precautions/racial-ethnic-minorities.html cdc. (2020b, july 24). covid view: a weekly surveillance summary of u.s. covid-19 activity. centers for disease control and prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html chotiner, i. (2020, march 3). how pandemics change history. the new yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-pandemics-change-history cobb, j. (2016, march 7). the political scene: the matter of black lives. the new yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/03/14/where-is-black-lives-matterheaded cuomo, a.m. (2020, july 22). audio & rush transcript: governor cuomo is a guest on msnbc with andrea mitchell. new york state. https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/audio-rushtranscript-governor-cuomo-guest-msnbc-andrea-mitchell evans, m.k. (2020). perspective: covid’s color line — infectious disease, inequity, and racial justice. the new england journal of medicine, 383(5), 408-410. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmp2019445 85 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kareem-abdul-jabbar-is-outrage-antiabout:blank https://blacklivesmatter.com/herstory/ https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/racial-ethnic-minorities.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/racial-ethnic-minorities.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-pandemics-change-history https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/03/14/where-is-black-lives-matter-headed https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/03/14/where-is-black-lives-matter-headed https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/audio-rush-transcript-governor-cuomo-guest-msnbc-andrea-mitchell https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/audio-rush-transcript-governor-cuomo-guest-msnbc-andrea-mitchell https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmp2019445 black lives matter and covid-19 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34638 forde, a.t., crookes, d.m., suglia, s.f., & demmer, r.t. (2019). the weathering hypothesis as an explanation for racial disparities in health: a systematic review. annals of epidemiology 33,1–18.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2019.02.011 green, j. & gu, j. (2020, may 10). majority black counties see triple the covid death rate. bloomberg news. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-coronavirus-outbreakus-african-american-death-rate/ howard-jones, a.r., & kok, j. (2020). the sars-cov-2 “perfect storm”: from humble betacoronavirus to global pandemic. microbiology australia, 41(3), 150-156. https://doi.org/10.1071/ma20040 rogers, t.n., rogers, c.r., vansant-webb, e., gu, l.y., yan, b., qeadan, f. (2020). racial disparities in covid-19 mortality among essential workers in the united states. world medical & health policy, 12(3), 311-327. https://doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.358 us hhs. (2020). social determinants of health. u.s. department of health and human services. https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-ofhealth wingfield, a.h. (2020, may 14). the disproportionate impact of covid-19 on black health care workers in the u.s. harvard business review. https://hbr.org/2020/05/thedisproportionate-impact-of-covid-19-on-black-health-care-workers-in-the-u-s world health organization (who). (2020, august 21). who coronavirus dashboard. world health organization. https://covid19.who.int wright, l. (2020, july 20). crossroads: a scholar of the plague thinks that pandemics wreak havoc—and open minds. the new yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/07/20/how-pandemics-wreak-havocand-open-minds madeleine schachter (mas3005@med.cornell.edu) is assistant professor in the department of medicine, division of medical ethics at weill cornell medicine and on faculty at the albert einstein college of medicine, where she teaches courses in medical ethics and advanced clinical ethics. she is a member of the ethics committee of the new york presbyterian hospital and serves on an institutional review board at weill cornell medicine. she is the author of six published books and many articles in legal and medical journals. previously, she practiced law for thirty years, most recently working exclusively on pro bono matters for a large international law firm. she graduated phi beta kappa, summa cum laude from the university of pennsylvania, where she designed the country’s first individualized major in medical ethics, and she received her jd degree from the new york university school of law, where she was a root tilden scholar. 86 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2019.02.011 https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-coronavirus-outbreak-us-african-american-death-rate/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-coronavirus-outbreak-us-african-american-death-rate/ https://doi.org/10.1071/ma20040 https://doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.358 https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health https://hbr.org/2020/05/the-disproportionate-impact-of-covid-19-on-black-health-care-workers-in-the-u-s https://hbr.org/2020/05/the-disproportionate-impact-of-covid-19-on-black-health-care-workers-in-the-u-s https://covid19.who.int/ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/07/20/how-pandemics-wreak-havoc-and-open-minds https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/07/20/how-pandemics-wreak-havoc-and-open-minds mailto:mas3005@med.cornell.edu introduction the covid-19 pandemic the blm movement racial inequities lessons in the confluence of blm and covid-19 the inclusive message of the blm movement covid-19’s transnational and comprehensive peril blm as exemplar and portent references forced migration: making sense of a complex system (editorial) the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34569 forced migration: making sense of a complex system guest editors: nadia caidi, university of toronto, canada juliane stiller, you, we & digital and grenzenlos digital e.v., germany syed ishtiaque ahmed, university of toronto, canada violeta trkulja, you, we & digital and grenzenlos digital e.v., germany keywords: displaced populations; forced migration; information science; refugees publication type: editorial editorial this special issue of ijidi on “forced migration: making sense of a complex ecosystem” offers a timely assemblage of articles depicting the myriad challenges associated with forced mobilities and the multiplicity of responses to these challenges. this issue is being released at a time when the world is looking at the highest number of refugees after the second world war, and an increasing number of forcibly moved people across the globe. the complexity of the issue is staggering, and creates resounding implications for international politics, sustainability, global and local political economies, and human welfare. as these challenges were unfolding, we organized a workshop at the 2019 iconference in washington, dc, to invite a reflection on the interventions and conversations that were taking place in the information fields around forced migration. what ensued was a vibrant discussion on the experiences and narratives of displaced populations in different contexts through an information lens. two major discourses pervaded the workshop—one around the (re)production and politics of information that shape our understanding of forced migration, and the second, a more pragmatic response to this issue from both design and policy perspectives. this special issue aims at continuing these conversations by providing a space and an opportunity to engage information science scholars—and those in related fields—in parsing this complex ecosystem and unearthing contemporary tensions and novel understandings at it relates to forced mobilization. the conversations that constitute this special issue transcend the boundaries of a single discipline and profession and serve instead as a springboard for engaging a reflection on the ongoing struggles of refugees in a global networked information environment, as well as on the emerging creative, speculative, and innovative practices that contribute to a reimagining of possible futures. these two emphases might have different epistemological standpoints—one rooted in a more analytic endeavor of understanding the situational challenges surrounding forced migration, and the other one shaped by a more pragmatic spirit of reshaping a world that incorporates and builds on the social reality (and social imaginaries) of migrants. we find both of these strands sharing a common platform of ‘hope’ that comes through both the nature of the struggles and the possible interventions. in this spirit, the five research articles and the three reports from the field included in this special issue introduce diverse and comprehensive conceptualizations of the forced migration experiences from the standpoint of the various stakeholders involved, and discuss the implications thereof for educating new generations of https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi forced migration: making sense of a complex system the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34569 practitioners and scholars in multiple fields. counted together, these publications also demonstrate that information encounters and interactions are at the very heart of practice and scholarship in forced migration. the issue opens with “situational information behaviour: exploring the complexity of refugee integration” by olubukola oduntan and ian ruthven. in it, the authors argue for a systemic understanding of refugees’ integration in the uk context, which takes into account both micro (individual needs) and macro (legal and social) levels. in doing so, the authors complicate our understanding of the information needs of refugees by highlighting the differences stemming from one’s immigration status and lived experiences depending on whether one is a refused asylum seeker, an asylum seeker or a refugee. this contribution emphasizes the necessity of a situational approach and method to examining refugees’ context, and conceptualizes information seeking as a bilateral and operational practice. in julia devlin’s “in search of the missing narrative: children of polish deportees in great britain,” the focus is on the story of the trauma that follows forced migration for generations, focusing on the memory practices of the children of polish survivors during world war ii. combining historical migration studies and memory studies, the author seeks to understand how the family narrative is constructed and how the communicative memory is affected. building on both archival documents and interviews, the author reminds us of the role of communal memory in intergenerational identity formation (especially within a migrant context), and calls our attention to the role of institutions like libraries and museums when it comes to bringing out the traumatized past of a silenced community. in “information spaces and identity navigation during refugee experiences,” angela schöpkegonzales, andrea k. thomer, and paul conway draw both from an information perspective and from theories of liminality to support their fieldwork findings that point to the tensions negotiated by migrants around identity and place, resilience and fracture, liminality and dissonance. in doing so, the authors point to the structural discrimination faced by migrants, and the agency they require—and eventually develop—through the lens of a dual interactive model that distinguishes between the migrants’ self-identity and their ascribed roles. in “ethics and methods for collecting sensitive data: examining sexual and reproductive health needs and services for rohingya refugees at cox’s bazar, bangladesh,” bachera aktar and her colleagues from the brac james p grant school of public health in dhaka, bangladesh, joined forces with colleagues from the world health organization (who) to reflect on their longstanding work with the rohingya refugees in the cox’s bazar camps. the authors walk us through a wide range of situated challenges that are associated with collecting, preserving, and presenting data about the sexual and reproductive health of girls and women in the camps. they reflect on the importance of the socio-cultural norms and risks associated with this type of research, and the ethical implications. the article provides both methodological guidance as well as a conceptual framework based on their work to date. their critical reflection on the necessity of culturallysensitive research design (building on their collective experience and positionality) is extremely valuable for a range of contexts. the article by michele santamaria and caseem luck entitled: “from a "limited space" to a much wider future: meaning-making practices of young refugee women pursuing post-secondary education” presents us with three vignettes of refugee women that address and explore questions of language, identity-building, and the role of labels and imaginaries. the unique voices of the 2 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index forced migration: making sense of a complex system the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34569 women illustrate their ‘shifting’ process—a transition from a traumatic past to a future that the migrant aspires to. the authors characterize these women’s journey from a ‘limited space’ to a ‘broad future’ as a form of meaning-making. this active process of reframing and interpretation is deemed essential to both survive and thrive in a new and unfamiliar environment. in addition to the five research articles included in this special issue, we also included three reports from the field. the purpose of these reports is to share work in progress or reflections that stem from one’s professional practice. juliane köhler’s contribution, “seeking employment in a non-native language: online information-seeking behavior of refugees in germany,” is a small-scale study of seven refugees' interaction with online information systems in the german context. in it, the author examines the strategies used by refugees to find information online, and identifies the types of barriers hindering a successful search. as part of the laboratory experiment, participants were asked to solve online tasks in order to gain a better understanding of the variety of strategies deployed (e.g., query formulation, use of translation tools, multilingual searching or types of search strategies). in doing so, this study contributes important insights for service providers and information designers when it comes to online searching by migrants, but also invites us to reflect on broader structural inequality around access to information and resources as mediated by language(s). while the above-mentioned articles have highlighted many challenges embedded in the encounters between migrants and their information environments, the contribution by ricardo gomez, bryce clayton newell, and sara vannini (“mind the five card game: participatory games to strengthen information practices and privacy protections of migrants”) presents a design intervention that can be adopted and adapted by a range of actors such as humanitarian organizations, libraries, schools, health centers and other community-based agencies working with vulnerable populations. at the heart of the intervention using the “mind the five” card game is an interest by the researchers in enabling a conversation and raising awareness about migrants’ privacy rights, and the extent to which a given organization is mindful and equipped to ensure improved privacy practices for all, but especially so when dealing with vulnerable migrant populations. lastly, the contribution by eliana trinaistic, “hackathons as instruments for settlement sector innovation,” presents an organizational perspective on change and innovation in the non-profit organizations (npo) and settlement sectors (with a focus on canada). in doing so, the author illustrates how organizations can build on design principles and develop an “innovation” mindset as a means of addressing the long-term outcomes of social services. a particular instrument, the hackathon, is described as a form of experiment in consulting and engaging with various stakeholders. lessons learnt and practical considerations are shared by the author to illustrate how hackathons can be an appropriate means of fostering innovation and civic engagement by non-profit organizations. as can be seen, the special issue is both inspired and guided by the imperative to look deeper and unsparingly across various geopolitical contexts at the embedded theoretical and ideological tensions that govern forced migration conversations. taken together, the articles lend a wider lens to apprehend the complex ecosystem that undergirds forced migration research and scholarship. through the eight articles contributed, we are also reminded of the important lens that information science can bring to these ever-evolving conversations. 3 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index forced migration: making sense of a complex system the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34569 dr. nadia caidi (nadia.caidi@utoronto.ca) is an associate professor at the faculty of information, university of toronto. her research focuses on human information behavior and the societal aspects of information and communication technologies (icts). her research contributions aim to inform and promote a critical lis lens and a public interest approach to the information fields. in conducting research on marginalized communities, her consideration is one that adheres to a methodology of refusing to contribute to a silencing of certain voices in society. her approach is inscribed in a socio-constructivist perspective that takes into account both the information practices of individuals as part of communities, as well as the complex socio-economic and political realities of everyday life. dr. caidi was president of the canadian association for information science (2011) and the 2016 president of the international association for information science & technology (asis&t). she was the recipient of the 2019 alise/pratt-severn faculty innovation award. dr. juliane stiller (julstiller@gmail.com) an information and digital learning specialist and cofounder of you, we & digital that offers consultancy and workshops for implementing digital projects and teaching digital skills. previously, she was a researcher working at berlin school for library and information science at humboldt-universität zu berlin in germany. her research areas include the usage of information and search systems, as well as digital skills and the impact of this cultural technology on people and society. juliane conducted several studies on the online information seeking behavior of refugees in germany, one of these funded by the oclc/alise research grant in 2018. dr. stiller also co-founded a registered non-profit organisation grenzenlos digital e.v. that supports people to acquire digitals skills and develop them in such a way that they are able to leverage the digital transformation to their advantage. prior to her career in academia, juliane was working for google as a search quality analyst. dr. syed ishtiaque ahmed (ishtiaque@cs.toronto.edu) is an assistant professor of computer science at university of toronto. he directs the ‘third space” research group in the “dynamics graphics project (dgp)” lab. he conducts research in the intersection between human-computer interaction (hci) and information and communication technology and development (ictd). his research focuses on the design challenges around ‘voice’, which he defines through access, autonomy, and accountability. most of his early research is situated in the indian subcontinent, where he conducted ethnography and design studies with many underprivileged communities including readymade garments factory workers, evicted slum dwellers, rickshaw drivers, mobile phone repairers, and victims of sexual harassment. his current work has expanded from there and is also addressing pressing concerns of marginalization of immigrants and refugees in iran, iraq, turkey, china, canada, and the us. he received the international fulbright science and technology fellowship in 2011, intel science and technology center for social computing graduate fellowship in 2015, connaught early researcher award in 2018, and fulbright centennial fellowship in 2019. dr. violeta trkulja (violeta.trkulja@gmail.com) is an information scientist who earned her doctorate at the heinrich heine university in düsseldorf (germany), researching the social effects of the digital divide in post-war bosnia-herzegovina. in 2012, she joined the berlin school of library and information science at humboldt-universität zu berlin. her research and teaching areas are knowledge organization, information economics and information and digital literacy for disadvantaged groups. she is the co-founder of you, we & digital and offers digital consulting services to companies and non-governmental organizations. she also co-founded the non-profit organization grenzenlos digital e.v., which is committed to ensuring that all people are equipped with the necessary skills and competencies to benefit from the digital transformation. 4 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:nadia.caidi@utoronto.ca mailto:julstiller@gmail.com) mailto:ishtiaque@cs.toronto.edu mailto:violeta.trkulja@gmail.com ijidi cover and credits april 2021 volume 5 | number 2 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion more than lip service: identifying a typology of “social justice” research in lis joseph winberry meaning and memory: reconsidering the appalachian oral history project scott sikes case study inquiry & black feminist resistance: reflections on a methodological journey in the furtherance of lis social justice research laverne gray understanding social justice through practitioners’ language: a grounded theory analysis of interviews with practitioners from libraries and their community partners j. elizabeth mills; jacqueline kociubuk; kathleen campana special sections also featuring book reviews edited by norda a. bell dr. vanessa irvin, editor-in-chief april 2021special issue engaging with silences: clayton state master of archival studies program's approach to teaching joshua kitchens a qualitative study exploring neurodiversity conference themes, representations, and evidence-based justifications for the explicit inclusion and valuing of ocd damian mellifont intersecting theories and methods to research social justice in lis scholarship editorial operationalizing theories and methods to integrate social justice in lis scholarship bharat mehra articles journal credits editor-in-chief dr. vanessa irvin associate editors dr. nadia caidi dr. mirah dow dr. wiebke reile senior managing editor leah brochu managing editors michelle de agostini mona elayyan stephanie santiful jeffrey sowder cara b. stone zach valdes book review editor norda a. bell graphic designer kevin j. mallary ijidi logo created by craig taylor image credit: "people protesting on the street" by kelly lacy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion a weapon and a tool: decolonizing description and embracing redescription as liberatory archival praxis the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 a weapon and a tool: decolonizing description and embracing redescription as liberatory archival praxis tonia sutherland, university of hawaiʻi at mānoa, usa alyssa purcell, university of hawaiʻi at mānoa, usa abstract this article uses indigenous decolonizing methodologies and critical race theory (crt) as methodological and theoretical frameworks to address colonial and racialized concerns about archival description; to argue against notions of diversity and inclusion in archival descriptive practices; and to make recommendations for decolonizing description and embracing redescription as liberatory archival praxis. first, we argue that extant descriptive practices do not diversify archives. rather, we find that descriptive work that isolates and scatters aims to erase the identifiable existence of unique indigenous voices. next, we argue that while on one hand, the mass digitization of slavery-era records holds both the promise of new historical knowledge and of genealogical reconstruction for descendants of enslaved peoples, on the other hand, this trend belies a growing tendency to reinscribe racist ideologies and codify damaging ideas about how we organize and create new knowledge through harmful descriptive practices. finally, working specifically against the rhetoric of diversity and inclusion, we challenge the ways archives claim diverse representation by uncritically describing records rooted in generational trauma, hatred, and genocide, and advocate for developing and employing decolonizing and redescriptive practices to support an archival praxis rooted in justice and liberation, rather than more palatable (and less effective) notions of “diversity and inclusion”. keywords: archival redescription; decolonizing methodologies; diversity and inclusion; liberatory archives; refusal and sovereignty publication type: research article introduction rchival description is a tool that assists in the process of discovery. description, in its most effective form, works to increase access to archival materials by revealing the structure and content of archival collections while also highlighting materials within collections that may be of particular interest to researchers. in describing archives: a content standard (dacs), the society of american archivists (saa) foregrounds the idea that “the nature of archival materials, their distribution across many institutions, and the physical requirements of archival repositories necessitate the creation of … descriptive surrogates, which can then be consulted in lieu of directly browsing through quantities of original documents” (2013, p. xxi). in this way, description simplifies and streamlines discovery; and for this reason, descriptive tools such as finding aids1 which result from professional descriptive practices, are often a researcher’s first encounter with a repository’s collections and other archival materials. archivist richard pearcemoses defines description as the “process of creating a finding aid or other access tools that a about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 allow individuals to browse a surrogate of the collection to facilitate access and that improve security by creating a record of the collection and by minimizing the amount of handling of the original materials.” (pearce-moses, 2005). in this vein, descriptive practices, like any other tool, can be weaponized as a means through which power structures, both colonial and decolonial, are reaffirmed and reinforced. when archives seek to diversify their collections in efforts towards inclusivity, there are often harmful side effects, raising questions about whether diversity (and inclusion) is a goal towards which archives should be working. archival descriptive practice is, for example, often fraught with violence and othering. best practices for archival description have long been codified and standardized through classification systems such as the library of congress subject headings (lcsh) and, more recently, describing archives: a content standard (dacs). marisa duarte and miranda belarde-lewis (2015) describe descriptive standardization as a violent process that inherently valorizes some perspectives while simultaneously silencing others. this violence further encourages a binary of universality versus diversity in which diversity becomes defined by universality—or what it is not—and in which efforts to diversify are easily claimed to have been accomplished. using the hawaiʻi state archives’ m-93 queen liliʻuokalani manuscript collection (m-93) and the archives of atlantic slavery as case studies, this paper argues that to truly reimagine archival spaces as liberatory is to embrace those most marginalized by archives; to move beyond the rhetoric of diversity and inclusion; to decolonize archival praxis; and to work actively against systems of white supremacy and anti-blackness. using indigenous epistemologies and critical race theory (crt) as methodological frames, we assert that this work can be accomplished in part by decolonizing extant descriptive practices and embracing redescription as a liberatory archival praxis. theoretical and methodological frameworks to address colonial and racialized concerns about archival description; to argue against notions of diversity and inclusion in archival descriptive practices; and to make recommendations for decolonizing description and embracing redescription as liberatory archival praxis, we use indigenous decolonizing methodologies and crt as methodological and theoretical frameworks. to exemplify these frameworks, we have chosen to focus on two case studies. first, we problematize the hawaiʻi state archives’ m-93 queen liliʻuokalani manuscript collection, for which current descriptive practices fail to uphold mutual archival obligations crucial to native hawaiian kinship—including recognizing language as a carrier of culture, communication, and protective properties; here, we argue that descriptive tools for m-93 should be constructed in ʻōlelo hawaiʻi [the hawaiian language] to better strengthen native hawaiian kinship connections. our second case study builds on the first, shifting our lens slightly from a single finding aid and the kinship networks often hidden as a result of colonial archival practices, to the collective harm that is done when these kinds of colonial and other damaging descriptive practices are reproduced in digital environments. focusing on the archives of atlantic slavery and the need to embrace redescription practices, the second case study reflects a different set of cultural practices and traditions that nonetheless draw on similar concerns about archival description. taken together, these two cases demonstrate that indigenous and black communities may not best be represented through unexamined models of diversity and inclusion, particularly in current archival description practices. 61 about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 decolonizing methodologies in her essay “imperialism, history, writing and theory,” maori scholar and professor linda tuhiwai smith critiques western tools—imperialism, history, writing, and theory—that are commonly used in research on indigenous worlds (smith, 1999). smith (1999) argues that colonizers utilize these tools to further the colonization of indigenous peoples through practices of dehumanizing, othering, excluding, and misrepresenting. however, smith (1999) also argues that indigenous peoples can re-appropriate problematic colonial tools and utilize them to support decolonizing efforts. here, we argue that these tools, when centered in indigenous worldviews and epistemologies, can contribute to decolonization in the form of contested and alternative histories, proper representation, and discourse that radically critiques imperial notions of language, legitimacy, and power. the concept of decolonizing description is characterized in these pages by the efforts of indigenous peoples to challenge and deconstruct problematic archival standards and institutions in order to implement new, decolonial standards and institutions that are steeped in indigenous knowledge organization systems, and that work towards reconciliation and/or reaffirming indigenous sovereignty. critical race theory crt is a broad theoretical framework that stems from a synthesis of scholarly work challenging dominant contemporary understandings of race and the law. crt allows for a deeper understanding of how race and racism are threaded through professional practices and therefore also through the products and results of those professional practices. in his 2006 article, “introducing critical race theory to archival discourse: getting the conversation started,” anthony w. dunbar invokes narrative as a mode of applying crt to archival discourse. dunbar (2006) argues that failing to question dominant, traditional, hegemonic, or “master” narratives is one of the principal ways that archival discourse continues to perpetrate and perpetuate harm. dunbar further suggests that the construction of counternarratives is a powerful means of remediating that harm (dunbar, 2006). counternarrative (i.e. reading and writing against) and the construction of more faithful representations are powerful tools for resistance, social justice, and liberation. this paper uses crt as a framework to make a case for counternarrative as essential to redescriptive practices; we argue that redescription, at its heart, is about reading and writing against extant description and about counternarrating harmful description in order to move toward a more liberatory and justice-oriented archival praxis. decolonizing description the extant literature on decolonizing description stems from the efforts of indigenous peoples to challenge and deconstruct problematic archival standards and institutions in favor of implementing new standards and institutions that align more closely with indigenous knowledge organization systems. for example, kelly webster and ann doyle (2008) describe existing descriptive practices as barriers that either confine indigenous peoples into a single, confining area of classification schedules or diasporize indigenous topics across a wide western knowledgebased taxonomy. indigenous scholars working on decolonizing description specialize in building knowledge organization systems outside traditional colonial structures. the constant imaginings and re-imaginings of archival structures in this body of research speaks to a need within the field to re-evaluate and challenge the existing, problematic structures that impede the goals of indigenous peoples. for example, scholars have challenged the controlled vocabularies, standardization, enforced binaries, and other problematic aspects of archival description, all of 62 about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 which are exemplified in the archival finding aid. an ʻōlelo hawaiʻi finding aid kānaka maoli2 [native hawaiians] have always looked to their ancestors (in all their infinite forms) as potent sources of mana3 [supernatural or divine power] to ground kānaka maoli in times of confusion and powerlessness. tracing all beings to the same source, hawaiian creation stories4 honor and acknowledge hawaiians’ kinship with the universe and all that it encompasses. within and across these connections, there is a braided cord—an ʻaha—tying all hawaiians together. hawaiian studies professor kekuewa kikiloi looks to the ʻaha as a visual metaphor and defines it as a genealogical confirmation braided between the past and present (2012). when we understand that the ʻaha is not an event but is instead a structure,5 ngũgĩ wa thiong'o’s concept of the “cultural bomb” comes to mind because constant, colonial explosions of misrepresentations persist today to contribute to the annihilation of indigenous peoples’ beliefs in our names, our languages, our lands, our unity, and ourselves (1986). land desecration. houselessness. language suppression. boom. boom. boom. like asteroids, kānaka maoli spin recklessly and violently through a western culturized universe that we can’t see—let alone navigate. for example, the hawaiʻi state archives’ m-93 queen liliʻuokalani manuscript collection (m-93) has grounded kānaka maoli in the chaos of the cultural bomb and allowed us to reactivate and engage within our ̒ aha network. however, current descriptive practices fail to uphold the mutual obligations crucial to hawaiian kinship. because language is a carrier of culture and communication and possesses protective properties, descriptive tools for m-93 need to be constructed in ʻōlelo hawaiʻi [hawaiian language] in order to strengthen the ʻaha-connection between the collection and kānaka maoli, to facilitate collective growth and the successful transmission of knowledge across the hawaiian community, and to protect against external forces that threaten the ʻaha network.6 m-93: the queen liliʻuokalani manuscript collection comprising 9 linear feet of correspondence, diaries, account books, song books, and other papers pertaining to queen liliʻuokalani—the last reigning monarch of the kingdom of hawaiʻi, m-93 exists in three subgroups, the third of which contains documents that judge albert f. judd seized from liliʻuokalani’s desk following her arrest by the republic of hawaiʻi on january 16, 1895. as a graduate research assistant at the hawaiʻi state archives this author has been tasked with constructing and reconstructing item-level descriptions for m-93 materials in english and, for the first time, in ʻōlelo hawaiʻi. this article affirms the need for such an endeavor through the framework of the ʻaha. as a result of the ongoing efforts of kānaka maoli to reclaim our mother tongue amid the illegal occupation of the hawaiian lands by the u.s., article 15 of the constitution of the state of hawaiʻi recognized ʻōlelo hawaiʻi as an official state language in 1978 (hawai’i legislative resource bureau), and the state lifted the 1896 ban of the use of the hawaiian language in all schools in 1986 (act 57, s. 30, 1896 laws of the republic of hawaiʻi). a finding aid constructed solely in ʻōlelo hawaiʻi continues a rich and active legacy of kānaka maoli asserting our rights as a people to speak. language as a carrier of culture encompassing the social norms, values, memory, and identity of a people, culture possesses two 63 about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 main levels: base and aesthetic. language unites the two levels and facilitates the successful articulation, development, and transmission of culture. hawaiian language professor larry kimura (1983) defines base culture as consisting of the “daily lifestyle, values, and personality of a people” while the aesthetic culture consists of “ceremonies, philosophy, and literature”— all of which reinforce and legitimize values inherent in the base level (p. 181). for the majority of kānaka maoli living under illegal u.s. occupation, america and its assimilatory institutions have forced an american-english aesthetic culture upon the ʻōlelo hawaiʻi base culture, which has, in turn, weakened the hawaiian base and aesthetic cultures and left kānaka maoli vulnerable to the destructive forces of the cultural bomb. because language is a carrier of culture, descriptive tools for m-93 should be constructed in ʻōlelo hawaiʻi in order to perpetuate a hawaiian base culture and cultivate a hawaiian aesthetic culture, which will reaffirm and strengthen the ʻaha network. furthermore, the ʻōlelo hawaiʻi finding aid should be constructed as an independent document that is not an extension of, supplement for, or reflection of an american-english counterpart. this is necessary to ensure that we are not merely dressing up the problematic descriptions of a disconnected anglo-american culture under the false guise of diversity. free from the colonial confines of an english counterpart, an ʻōlelo hawaiʻi finding aid would perpetuate the collective memory—an aspect of base culture—shared between kānaka maoli and the collection through its use of vocabulary reflective of kānaka experiences and perspectives. for example, when referring to annexation, the proposed finding aid utilizes the term “hoʻohuli kūʻokoʻa,” which describes an overturning (hoʻohuli) of independence and freedom [kūʻokoʻa] and evokes feelings of resistance and loss. “annexation” carries connotations and memories that are disconnected from the hawaiian base culture and that speak from an anglo-american culture of colonization and domination. its root word “annex” describes the action of adding to “something larger or more important” (dictionary.com, llc, n.d.), which seeks to justify annexation as not only necessary but also beneficial for the involved parties. this had not been the case for kānaka, who staunchly resisted annexation as demonstrated by the more than 21,000 signatures compiled by the anti-annexation “kūʻē petitions” of 1897 (silva, 2004), and who continue to suffer as a result of it as demonstrated by our rising levels of poverty (pignataro, 2018), incarceration (office of hawaiian affairs, 2014), and suicide (office of hawaiian affairs, 2018). m-93 upholds and perpetuates the hawaiian heritage of resistance within its wide scope of petitions, letters to foreign powers, statements of protest, national songs, and newspaper articles. for example, box 6-folder 61-item #512 contains a petition (in ʻōlelo hawaiʻi) that joseph nāwahī presented on behalf of the group hui aloha ʻāina o ko hawaiʻi pae ʻāina on 1896-05-16 and that seeks to restore liliʻuokalani following her dethronement and imprisonment. when remembering the annexation, the term “hoʻohuli kūʻokoʻa” properly echoes the voices of the collection and kānaka maoli, which are voices of indigenous resistance against american forces. there are no americanenglish words that could adequately encapsulate or speak to such distinctly hawaiian experiences. on top of perpetuating base culture, an ʻōlelo hawaiʻi finding aid would also cultivate a hawaiian aesthetic culture in its preservation of the kaona7 of the collection’s large number of ʻōlelo hawaiʻi songs, poems, writings, and other artistic expressions—the symbolisms and layered meanings of which become lost in translation (kuwada, 2018). the american-english finding aid fails to encapsulate the distinctly hawaiian nuances of m-93’s materials because the americanenglish language carries its own anglo-american culture and is not equipped to hold within itself the hawaiian universe. for instance, m-93 possesses documents and manuscripts that detail the moʻokūʻauhau8 for an extensive number of prominent kingdom-era figures. box 6-folder 67-item 64 about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 589 contains the moʻokūʻauhau of liliʻuokalani and her siblings and traces them back to the gods papa (earth mother) and wākea (sky father). the current american-english finding aid describes these materials as “genealogy,” which is not a sufficient enough term to encapsulate everything moʻokūʻauhau represents. the “moʻo” aspect of “moʻokūʻauhau” evokes the resiliency of a lizard’s tail, the life-giving and death-dealing nature of hawaiian water deities, and the relationality that exists between a grandchild and grandparent or one land division tucked within another (pukui & elbert, 1986f). it also alludes to related concepts like moʻolelo, which encompasses narratives, histories, literature, and their embedded lessons and ancestral knowledge (pukui & elbert, 1986g). the “ʻauhau” aspect of “moʻokūʻauhau” calls to mind the hawaiian customs of paying tribute to the community and its leaders and evokes the respect, humility, and reciprocity involved in those processes (ʻpukui & elbert, 1986c). ʻōlelo hawaiʻi descriptors more accurately describe the character and potentiality of records than americanenglish descriptors, and they not only retain the kaona of the materials but also provide kānaka with the language and symbolism to cultivate it. in this vein, the base culture represents our existing ʻaha network, and the aesthetic culture is not only our engagement with but also our expansion of the network. language as a carrier of communication ngũgĩ wa thiong'o (1986) describes three main elements of language as communication: speech, written words, and relations with others. as a carrier of communication, an ʻōlelo hawaiʻi finding aid facilitates collective growth through its documentary form and its impact on the hawaiian community—both of which ensure the successful transmission of hawaiian culture. in its written form and with its dynamic language, the ʻōlelo hawaiʻi finding aid serves as an articulation and documentation of the collection’s expanding “semantic genealogy” (ketelaar, 2001) and ʻaha network for current and future generations of kānaka not only to grow and develop but also to grow and develop from. according to eric ketelaar’s (2001) concept of semantic genealogy, recontextualization—a constant throughout an item’s lifetime—transforms the value, purpose, and character of the record. by applying re-contextualization from a hawaiian point of views to m93, kānaka maoli activate the collection and facilitate its growth. for example, numerous m-93 descriptions utilize the term “aloha ʻāina,” literally translating to “love of the land” (pukui & elbert, 1986a, p. 21). the term carries a heavy history because it calls to mind past antiannexation efforts such as the hui aloha ‘āina political party, the party’s newspaper ke aloha aina, and james kaulia’s 1897 speech in which he declares, “e kue loa aku i ka hoohui ia o hawaii me amerika a hiki i ke aloha aina hope loa”—meaning “we should forever resist and oppose the annexation of hawaiʻi by america until the very last aloha ̒ āina” (kaulia, 1897). historical context expands the literal meaning of aloha ʻāina to encompass not only a love for the land but also love for one’s nation and people. we’ve witnessed this semantic expansion in how we’ve adapted the term to refer to hawaiian patriots and to fuel kānaka maoli movements like the protests against the construction of the thirty meter telescope at mauna kea and the annual marches for hawaiian sovereignty and independence in waikīkī 9. when utilizing an ʻōlelo hawaiʻi finding aid, we activate a whole moʻokūʻauhau of interpretations, learn from such a heritage, and build on it with our own research and knowledge. while its written form successfully serves as a carrier of communication, the proposed finding aid’s service in its “relations with others”—specifically the kānaka maoli community—is far more profound and wide-reaching in that it normalizes the use of ʻōlelo hawaiʻi, provides the language with, and efficiency for, productive research, and helps activate greater agency among kānaka. ideally, every collection in hawaiʻi would possess an ʻōlelo hawaiʻi finding aid, so that kānaka 65 about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 can more easily access and navigate archival contents while reactivating and expanding our ʻahanetworks and lifting our need to rely solely on american-english tools. this also normalizes the use of ʻōlelo hawaiʻi, an official state language that kānaka have fought to push into courts (lincoln, 2018) and schools (wong, 2019). normalizing the language normalizes the worldviews and culture it carries. the traditional metaphor of mālama ʻāina is one example of a hawaiian worldview. the metaphor describes the relationship between kānaka and ʻāina10 as one in which the land, taro, and chiefs are expected “to feed, clothe, and shelter their younger brothers and sisters, the hawaiian people” and the hawaiian people, in turn, are expected to reciprocate those actions (kameʻeleihiwa, 2012). ʻōlelo hawaiʻi embeds this dynamic into its classification of ʻāina as part of the “o” possessive class—a class reserved for an inherent type of belonging similar to how a kānaka belongs to his/her/their body or his/her/their parents. during the transmission process, the ʻōlelo hawaiʻi finding aid and its described materials uphold mālama ʻāina and communicate the metaphor to the researcher, who carries it into his/her work. the produced work further pushes the metaphor into the community, where kānaka can learn from the research and use it to exercise their agency across the economic, educational, political, and socio-cultural sectors of society. as demonstrated by the efforts of kānaka (friedlander et al., 2002) and institutions like the office of hawaiian affairs (office of hawaiian affairs, n.d.), kamehameha schools (kamehameha schools, n.d.), and even factions within the department of education (state of hawaiʻi, 20172020), mālama ʻāina-informed research could alter existing stewardship practices, education structures, and legislation, which could expand our land rights, improve our ability to control our resources, reduce rates of poverty and houselessness, and more. research informed by hawaiian language and worldview fuel kānaka maoli agency. we have witnessed this in the movements and protests spurred by groundbreaking archival research—like that of political science professor noenoe silva. silva’s research into the kūʻē petitions at the u.s. national archives has shifted the ways we regard and remember hawaiian heritage of resistance against colonial forces and has contributed to movements resisting the u.s.’s prolonged occupation of hawaiʻi at the state, national, and international levels (silva, 2004). the research born from our kinship with m-93 is a braid within the vast, forever-expanding ʻaha network and is, therefore, not created in a vacuum. with ʻōlelo hawaiʻi as its conduit, produced knowledge continuously cycles between the collection, researcher, and community. language as protection moreover, descriptive tools for m-93 should be constructed in ʻōlelo hawaiʻi because language possesses protective properties. it staves off foreign cultures that want to dominate the collection and kānaka, alleviates the need to rely on harmful and problematic coping mechanisms, and shields us from the ongoing annihilation of the cultural bomb. while the ʻōlelo hawaiʻi finding aid does not completely quell the bomb, it is one way to unite a collection and people who have been forced into spaces that threaten not only our union but also our very existence. embracing redescription the first substantive articulation of foundational ideas around description in archival studies—as a profession oriented in european traditions—can be traced to the 1898 dutch manual penned by muller et al. (modern archivists utilize the 1940’s translation). the manual, almost entirely 66 about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 devoted to arrangement and description, solidified for archivists that descriptive practices were at the core of their professional work. today, for most archivists and archival institutions, description remains at the core of both professional practice and theoretical discourse. over time, research on description in the archival literature has attended to the development of descriptive standards as well as the challenges and opportunities presented by new technologies. however, the research questions being posed around both description theory and practice have remained largely the same: they have mainly focused on the nature of description, the purpose of description, units of descriptive measure, standardization, and notions of control. the field of archival studies has undergone several recent shifts: centering communities and their unique voices, needs, and recordkeeping practices; expanding how archivists understand context to challenge the idea that context is always bounded and easily knowable; re-examining the role of the archivist and the possibilities and challenges inherent in archival intervention; and, more recently, to developing practices with an eye toward harm-reduction such as community-centered archival description and archival redescription. in 2019, for example, alicia chilcott, writing for archival science suggests moving towards protocols for describing racially offensive language in uk public archives while sam frederick, writing for ijournal that same year, urges archivists to focus on decolonization efforts by beginning with daily processes, such as description. similarly, the society of american archivists (saa)’s summer 2019 edition of “descriptive notes,” the newsletter of the saa description section, focused entirely on accessible, anti-racist, community-centered description. the newsletter includes references to archives 4 black lives (a4bl) philadelphia’s work around community-centered description and a piece by archivist courtney dean (2019) on redescribing japanese american collections at ucla in which dean reports on a pilot project to survey archival holdings documenting the incarceration of japanese americans during world war ii. dean’s project was undertaken with the stated aim to audit archival description in finding aids for “euphemistic language not in line with the preferred terminology advocated for by the present-day japanese american community” (dean, 2019, p. 6) alongside more popular venues such as social media, which in 2019 saw an uptick in hashtags such as #racistrecords, this turn toward rethinking description and toward developing redescription practices speaks to a growing urgency in the profession to grapple with extant harmful and violent description and to remediate the harm caused by past descriptive practices. how wide-ranging is this theoretical shift and what are the factors that have influenced these changes in archival practice? from the blackand brownface scandals that have recently caught archives off-guard—yearbook photos of virginia governor ralph northam in blackface and canadian prime minister justin trudeau in brownface, to name just two of several examples—to now-digitized slavery-era archives that tend to mirror descriptive practices as they already exist, adopting and reproducing descriptive practices used by slave traders, slaveholders, and colonial officers, archivists and archival studies scholars have begun to name and identify a growing tendency to reinscribe racist ideologies and codify damaging ideas about how we organize and create new knowledge as one drawback of mass digitization. the access afforded the public by digitization practices has arguably rendered archival description too visible to not take the calls to remediate harm seriously through redescription practices. just as indigenous voices are lost in efforts to diversify the archival record, the increasing number of digital archives, databases, and other digitization projects focused on the atlantic slavery era are transforming how scholars in the humanities and social sciences study and understand the 67 about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 history of human enslavement (agostinho, 2019; johnson, 2018). scholars such as simone browne (2015) and jessica marie johnson (2018) have suggested that archives are deeply implicated in colonial histories of quantification; histories that endure through the accounting and marking of black people’s bodies. johnson (2018) argues, for example, that archival descriptive practices frequently reinscribe the biometric measures used to describe enslaved people by carrying the racial nomenclature of the time period (such as mulatto and octaroon) into the present and work to “encode skin color, hair texture, height, weight, age, and gender in new digital forms, replicating the surveilling actions of slave owners and slave traders” (pp. 59-60) and warns that if left unaddressed, the violence of these archival processes—namely description—will “reproduce themselves in digital architecture” (pp. 58-59). these concerns are not unfounded: frequently, digital archives mirror descriptive practices as they already exist, rather than taking up the goal of redescription. in now-digitized slavery-era archives, the end result has been that archivists have uncritically adopted and reproduced both structures of knowledge organization and descriptive practices used by slave traders, slaveholders, and colonial officers. early research on redescription suggests that in addition to local repository practices, digitization and aggregation endeavors are worthy of deeper inquiry. the following section outlines the need for redescription practices, discusses existing redescription efforts, identifies how and why these practices are being engaged, and addresses the ways that digitization does (and does not) act as an impetus for redescription. a brief survey of existing redescription practices there are several repositories that have begun to embrace redescription as archival best practice. an informal survey of practicing archivists in late 2019 revealed several redescription projects that have been undertaken over the past 15 or so years. as early as the mid-2000s, staff at the clements library at the university of michigan conducted a redescription project that focused on gender. more recently, the claremont colleges (california, u.s.), as part of a collections as data grant from the mellon foundation have begun to collaborate with community partners to attach appropriate indigenous place names to roughly 13,000 digital files of mixed archival materials, including journals, ledgers, correspondence, field notes, and maps documenting the history of water use in southern california in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.11 the university of montana is reported to have done some redescription work on their native american collections as has the center for native american and indigenous research at the american philosophical society.12 princeton university’s special collections division has done important work contextualizing and offering interventions to problematic terminology in their finding aids (drawing from a4bl), and working to ensure that predominantly spanish-language collections have predominantly spanish-language finding aids. archivists at the university of california, riverside have experimented with using computational scripts to audit existing descriptive practices while archivists at the university of texas austin have argued for redescription noting that titling files accurately but failing to provide contextual description is dangerous and that assumptions of neutrality create biases in favor of historical racism.13 finally, work done by the archives of traditional music at indiana university, new redescription work being undertaken by the brooklyn historical society (new york, u.s.), and a small pilot project at the university of houston (texas, u.s.). libraries focused on metadata redescription for slavery-era records represent some of the work currently being done on developing best practices for and implementing instances of archival redescription. 68 about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 digitization and redescription the archives of atlantic slavery were created by colonizers and slaveholders. rather than being faithful representations of the colonized and enslaved, they are a deeply complex, fraught, and often problematic set of sources that speak to how archives hold, produce, and reproduce agency, privilege, and power. the mass digitization and datafication of slavery-era archives has arguably contributed to a distancing of the lived experiences of enslaved people from slavery’s historical imaginary. performance studies scholar harvey young has argued that societal ideas of the “black body” (where the “black body” is an imagined—and inescapable—myth of blackness upon which narratives are projected and around which mythologies are formed), are too often projected across the actual bodies of black people, rendering black people frequent targets of abuse (young, 2010). because of the significant temporal gap between the violence of the past and the visual experience of the present, when slavery-era records are digitized en masse, records appear and circulate in different contexts. this decontextualization removes the immediacy of trauma, giving records that document that trauma new afterlives, often independent of their historical context. given the nature of slavery-era archives, and the long-acknowledged problematics of the history of systems of archival production, it is important to pose a set of critical questions about these archives, the history they represent, and our affective relationship to the memories they evoke. for example, how do descendants of the enslaved pin their discursive location in history and, how are the formerly enslaved continuing constitutive figures in our consciousness? how does resurfacing the material conditions of atlantic slavery in digital spaces fashion black and african american individual and collective identities and ideologies? what mythos surround the period of chattel slavery in the u.s., and what is the relationship between the symbolic resurrection of enslaved people via records created about—but not by—them and the truth of their personhood, which includes, but of course is not limited to, the facts of their lives? the increasing number of digital archives, databases, and other digitization projects focused on the slavery era are transforming how scholars in the humanities and social sciences study the history of human enslavement (agostinho, 2019; johnson, 2018). as archival scholar laura millar writes in her 2007 article, we are often cautioned not to look at the documentary residue of one culture through the intellectual lens of another. while the study of past cultures demands that we step outside our own temporal reality, perhaps it is also true that when one … system intersects with another, in the past or the present, we must consider the effects of that intersection on the social relationships and the communications processes of both cultures. (p. 330) while digitization offers broad access to important information about enslaved people, including rare records about birth, life, and death; social and cultural customs and norms; disease and illness; and so much more, the uncritical reproduction of violent and harmful descriptive practices must be critiqued through a crt lens. interrogating descriptive practices as extensions of whiteness, one might ask: “what does it mean for someone who thinks about black people as ‘the other’ to describe and narrate the experiences of chattel slavery?;” “how do these descriptive practices, yanked from a violent past, interfere with black life and normalize black death in the present?;” and “what narratives and counter-narratives emerge from these descriptive practices and how might these narratives contribute to our understandings of black 69 about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 life in the present?” a critical race analysis of extant descriptive practices around slavery-era records necessarily raises questions about whiteness, about power, about violence and harm, about inclusion and exclusion, and eventually, about how more quantitative approaches and a turn to datafication (more generally as a result of digitization) may transform how we understand the era of chattel slavery in the u.s. as digitization leads to the construction of more slavery studies databases (the “north american slave narratives” database, for example) which require users to search holdings according to local descriptive practices, researchers have found themselves searching for terms that have long been considered outdated, offensive, violent, and harmful. this leads to what saidiya hartman (2008) calls a “second order of violence” whereby the people already harmed by descriptive archival practices are again harmed, while also becoming a new form of datafied and quantifiable raw material from which new values can be extracted. along with johnson (2018), simone browne (2015), and jacqueline wernimont (2019) have also argued that data is deeply embedded in colonial histories of quantification that have a defining moment in the accounting and marking of enslaved bodies. johnson further argues that if left unaddressed, the violence of these archival processes can “reproduce themselves in digital architecture” (johnson, 2018, p. 58). too frequently, digital archives mirror the organization of information as it already exists, rather than taking up the goal of reorganization or redescription. in now-digitized slavery-era archives, this means archivists have uncritically adopted and reproduced both structures of knowledge organization and descriptive practices used by slave traders, slaveholders, and colonial officers. while nikole hannah-jones’s (2019) impressive new york times magazine undertaking, “the 1619 project,” aims to “reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619 as our true founding, and placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are,” not all projects have such noble goals. in the final case i want to discuss today, two images long stored away in an institutional attic are also now subject to new digital afterlives. two daguerreotypes, commissioned by louis agassiz, a swiss-born zoologist and harvard professor (who is sometimes called the father of american natural science) and taken in 1850 by j.t. zealy, in a studio in columbia, south carolina, have come to national attention in the u.s.14 because of their digital afterlives. the daguerreotypes feature images of an enslaved man and woman, renty and delia, who were among seven enslaved people who appeared in 15 images made using the daguerreotype process, which, for those unfamiliar with the form, is an early type of photography imprinted on silvered copper plates. the images are haunting, and experiencing them feels voyeuristic, as renty and delia stare at the camera with detached expressions. tamara lanier, who through deep genealogical research has identified the people in these images as family ancestors, has filed a lawsuit for their return, marking the first time the descendant of an enslaved person in the u.s. might be granted return of property rights (per benjamin crump, ms. lanier's attorney, as cited in hartocollis, 2019). held by harvard university, however, the daguerreotypes are highly contested records. after a long period during which they were believed to have been “lost,” harvard has since used the daguerreotypes, the worn and wary faces of renty and delia, on book covers, on event banners, and other forms of advertising and merchandise. ta-nahesi coates, well-known for his article on the case for reparations to african americans, has said of the image of renty: “that photograph is like a hostage photograph. this is an enslaved black man with no choice being forced to participate in white supremacist propaganda — that’s what that photograph was taken for” (coates, 2019). 70 about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 closely associated with the daguerreotypes are the slave inventories that have also been published online in the time since the case came to national attention. used in part to verify lanier’s ancestral claims to the daguerreotypes, these inventories are replete with all the problems previously noted about knowledge organization and descriptive practices. while datafication and quantification might be lesser concerns in this case, commodification is a considerable worry as renty and delia have moved to digital platforms, where death and trauma are continuously re-inscribed and re-experienced, visually and perhaps, eternally. scholars such as safiya umoja noble (2014) have written on the political economy of the death of black people. sutherland has similarly argued that there are political, social, and economic gains to be made by re-inscribing historical reminders of the conditions of black people’s deaths (sutherland, 2017). these descriptive records serve as a means of power and control, a powerful reminder that black americans must be ever-vigilant, hyper-aware, and ever in fear for their lives. on one hand, the mass digitization of slavery-era records holds both the promise of new historical knowledge and of genealogical reconstruction for descendants of enslaved peoples; on the other hand, this trend belies a growing tendency to reinscribe racist ideologies, codify damaging ideas about how we organize and create new knowledge, codify harmful descriptive practices, and uncritically circulate records rooted in generational trauma, hatred, and genocide. against diversity and inclusion: decolonizing description and engaging redescription as liberatory archival praxes against diversity: decolonizing description as liberatory archival praxis reaching toward diversity (a broad term often characterized as much by what is excluded as by what is included) is an imperfect attempt, at best, to represent a range of beliefs and perspectives. too often, notions such as “diversity of thought” or “whiteness as diversity” supersede the inclusion of those in the margins in favor of furthering existing colonial ideas and practices. like an ‘aha braid, this paper ties together several of those colonial ideas and practices—the disconnected language of the existing m-93 finding aid, the violence of digitizing atlantic slavery-era records without revisions or context, the commodification of the daguerreotypes of renty and delia, and more—in order to expose the shallowness and ineffectiveness of these feigned attempts at diversity and inclusion. if not to diversify and include, what then are the real intentions of these initiatives? perhaps they serve as prime examples of “false generosity,” a concept brazilian educator paulo freire (1970) expounds on in his publication pedagogy of the oppressed: the oppressors, who oppress, exploit, and rape by virtue of their power, cannot find in this power the strength to liberate either the oppressed or themselves. only power that springs from the weakness of the oppressed will be sufficiently strong to free both. any attempt to ‘soften’ the power of the oppressor in deference to the weakness of the oppressed almost always manifests itself in the form of false generosity; indeed, the attempt never goes beyond this. (p. 44) diversity initiatives are only meaningful to the extent that unjust systems are maintained and enforced, which ultimately evades and neglects issues of oppression and dehumanization. true generosity is born from liberation that overthrows injustice and eradicates conditions where 71 about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 charity is seen as viable. most importantly, true generosity and real change are born from the efforts not of the oppressor—who will not willingly relinquish or share his power—but of the oppressed. in his 1963 publication the wretched of the earth, french west indian psychiatrist and political philosopher frantz fanon argues that colonialism is “not a thinking machine, nor a body endowed with reasoning faculties. it is violence in its natural state, and it will only yield when confronted with greater violence” (p. 61). this “greater violence” is not and could never be found in superficial diversity policies that employ new gate-keeping mechanisms, exploit and re-traumatize oppressed peoples, and ignore calls for structural change. it comes from marginalized peoples and liberatory practices (such as those discussed in this paper) that move towards deconstructing and dismantling systems of harm, racism, and oppression. against inclusion: embracing redescription as liberatory archival praxis inclusion, as an extension of what are known as diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) initiatives, is frequently aimed at remedying gaps and vagaries, such as those which have been permitted to occur over time as a result of archival appraisal, or the assignation of sociocultural value to archival materials. indeed, it is difficult to be represented (or misrepresented, as the case may be) in the archival corpus—and therefore the historical narrative—if the records that document your lives and the lives of others like you are not included. inclusion, however, is a double-edged sword. one must always ask, what does it mean to be included? is being included in this instance going to ease or exaggerate burden? will it alleviate or perpetuate harm? is this a space in which i am welcome? as previously discussed, too often archivists recreate harmful descriptive (and other professional) practices, simply via uncritical transfer from analog to digital formats. is digital inclusion, in this case, alleviating or perpetuating harm? is this digital space, with its analog violences, a space in which i am welcome? in which i want to be included? what is perhaps most compelling is that notions of archival permanence—a feature, not a bug—often burden black and indigenous peoples’ daily lived experiences. oftentimes a result of pallid and hurried attempts at inclusion, these efforts, frequently taken up as a response to a specific social or political moment are damaging specifically because there is no right to refusal, no archival sovereignty. in these instances, inclusion is often thoughtless and even more often, violent or damaging. how ordinary (and extraordinary) black and indigenous people lived, how they died, how they are remembered, how their digital remains are constituted, and what happens to those remains is forever intimately linked to systemic and structural practices of anti-black, anti-indigenous (and often state-sponsored) violence, and that violence that is too frequently reinscribed and reified in—and also justified by—the archival record. for inclusion to be anything other than a buzzword for archival praxis, it must also, on principle, embrace rights of refusal as advocated for by indigenous scholars, many of whom argue that not every story is a story to pass on; that refusal can be generative and strategic; and that refusal can be seen as a deliberate move toward one thing, belief, practice, or community and away from another (simpson, 2007; tuck & yang, 2014). for institutionalized ideas around diversity and inclusion to be truly effective, it is not only wordplay that must occur. the kinds of changes that are a necessary challenge to the very foundations of archival theory and practice and compel archivists to embrace decolonizing methodologies; actively engage ideas around refusal (and think through what new commitments might look like, such as justice-oriented archives); and apply fiscal resources towards enacting meaningful change. decolonizing description and embracing redescription are an excellent place to begin. 72 about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 conclusion we have used the hawaiʻi state archives’ m-93 queen liliʻuokalani manuscript collection (m-93) and the archives of atlantic slavery as case studies to engage ideas around decolonizing description and to make an explicit call for redescription practices; we have further used these cases to argue against the rhetoric of diversity and inclusion in archival spaces. in the first part of this paper, “decolonizing description,” we argued that extant descriptive practices do not diversify the archives. rather, we found that descriptive work, that isolates and scatters, aims to erase the identifiable existence of unique indigenous voices. we advocate centering the ways indigenous communities have wielded the weapon of archival description and transformed it into a tool of self-empowerment and healing. in the second half of this paper, we focused on “embracing redescription,” arguing that while on one hand, the mass digitization of slavery-era records holds both the promise of new historical knowledge and of genealogical reconstruction for descendants of enslaved peoples, on the other hand, this trend belies a growing tendency to reinscribe racist ideologies and codify damaging ideas about how we organize and create new knowledge through harmful descriptive practices. finally, working specifically against the rhetoric of diversity and inclusion, we have challenged the ways archives claim diverse representation by uncritically describing records rooted in generational trauma, hatred, and genocide and advocate instead for developing and employing decolonization and redescription practices to support an archival praxis rooted in justice and liberation, rather than more palatable (and less effective) notions of “diversity and inclusion.” endnotes 1 here we are referring to archival finding aids 2 mary kawena pukui and samuel h. elbert define “kanaka maoli” as a “native hawaiian” with “kānaka maoli” as its plural form (pukui & elbert, 1986d, p. 127). 3 mary kawena pukui and samuel h. elbert define “mana” as a “[s]upernatural or divine power” (pukui & elbert, 1986e, p. 235). 4 some of these creation stories include the kumulipo, the story of papa and wākea, and the story of kumuhonua. 5 this follows in the vein of patrick wolfe’s assertion that invasion is a structure and not an event (wolfe, 2006). 6 i use “ʻōlelo hawaiʻi” in reference to the hawaiian language. 7 hale kuamoʻo and ʻaha pūnana leo define “kaona” as a “[h]idden meaning, as in hawaiian poetry; concealed reference, as to a person, thing, or place; words with double meanings that might bring good or bad fortune” (hale kuamoʻo and ʻaha pūnana leo, 2003a, p. 130). 8 hale kuamoʻo and ʻaha pūnana leo define “moʻokūʻauhau” as a “genealogical succession, pedigree” (hale kuamoʻo and ʻaha pūnana leo, 2003b, p. 254). 9 for more information regarding these movements and other political struggles in the hawaiian community, see goodyear-kaʻōpua, n., hussey, i., & wright, e. k. (eds.). (2014). a nation rising: hawaiian movements for life, land, and sovereignty. duke university press. 10 mary kawena pukui and samuel h. elbert define “ʻāina” as “[l]and, earth” and “to eat” (pukui & elbert, 1986b, p. 11). 11 collections as data produced by project activity exhibit high research value, demonstrate the capacity to serve underrepresented communities, represent a diversity of content types, languages, and descriptive practices, and arise from a range of institutional contexts. 73 about:blank a weapon and a tool the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34669 12 see, for example: https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/finding-mrs-mahone-and-indigenousexperts-archives and https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/introducing-new-indigenous-subjectguide. 13 see for example: https://schd.ws/hosted_files/archives2018/b4/s101_slides.pdf. 14 see, for example: hartocollis, a. who should own photos of slaves? the descendants, not harvard, a lawsuit says. new york times. march 20, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/us/slave-photographs-harvard.html; also, see: schwartz, m. harvard profits from photos of slaves, lawsuit claims. national public radio. march 21, 2019. https://www.npr.org/2019/03/21/705382289/harvard-profits-fromphotos-ofslaves-lawsuit-claims; and whalen, e. a lawsuit at harvard pries open debates about science and reparations. the nation. november 28, 2019. references act 57, sec. 30 of the 1896 laws of the republic of hawaiʻi (1896). https://www.google.com/books/edition/laws_of_the_republic_of_hawaii_passed_by/ jra4aaaaiaaj?hl=en&gbpv=1 agostinho, d. 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(2014). r-words: refusing research. in paris, d. & m. t. winn (eds.), humanizing research: decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities (pp. 223-248). sage. wa thiong’o, ngũgĩ. (1986). decolonising the mind: the politics of language in african literature. east african educational publishers. webster, k. and doyle, a. (2008). don't class me in antiquities! giving voice to native american materials. in k.r. roberto (ed.), radical cataloging: essays at the front, (pp 189-197). greenwood. wernimont, j. (2019). numbered lives: life and death in quantum media. mit press. wolfe, p. (2006). settler colonialism and the elimination of the native. journal of genocide research, 8(4), 387-409. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623520601056240 wong, a. (2019, december 9). how to save a dying language: the hawaiian language nearly went extinct. now it’s being taught in dozens of immersion schools. the atlantic. https://bit.ly/3bbryv3 young, h. (2010). embodying black experience: stillness, critical memory, and the black body. university of michigan press. tonia sutherland (tsuther@hawaii.edu) is assistant professor and director of the source hawaiʻi research lab in the library and information science program (department of information and computer sciences) at the university of hawaiʻi at mānoa. global in scope, sutherland’s research focuses on entanglements of technology and culture, with particular emphases on critical and liberatory work in the fields of archival studies, digital studies, and science and technology studies (sts). sutherland is a faculty affiliate of the center for critical race and digital studies at nyu and a visiting scholar at the digital research ethics collaboratory (drec) at the university of toronto. alyssa purcell (anap9@hawaii.edu) is a graduate research assistant at the hawaiʻi state archives and a candidate in the master of library and information science program (department of information and computer sciences) at the university of hawaiʻi at mānoa. 78 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1080/14623520601056240 https://bit.ly/3bbryv3 about:blank about:blank introduction theoretical and methodological frameworks decolonizing methodologies critical race theory decolonizing description an ʻōlelo hawaiʻi finding aid m-93: the queen liliʻuokalani manuscript collection language as a carrier of culture language as a carrier of communication language as protection embracing redescription a brief survey of existing redescription practices digitization and redescription against diversity and inclusion: decolonizing description and engaging redescription as liberatory archival praxes against diversity: decolonizing description as liberatory archival praxis against inclusion: embracing redescription as liberatory archival praxis conclusion endnotes microsoft word 2016 mulliken final.docx international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis author adina mulliken, hunter college, city university of new york abstract this paper discusses an interconnection between diversity and technology: web accessibility for all, including people with disabilities. qualitative interviews were conducted with eight mlis professors and two students or recent alumni. the findings showed that attitudes regarding teaching web accessibility and recruitment of a diverse student body varied between professors who were familiar with web accessibility and those who were not. participants familiar with web accessibility often thought it should be included within ala standards for accreditation. the findings suggested that, in one school, incorporating diversity in their curriculum, including web accessibility, allowed recruitment of a more diverse student body and was furthering diversity-related curriculum content. at another school, a professor expressed concern about recruiting a diverse student body, particularly students with disabilities. the research suggests that stronger practices for teaching technology, teaching diversity, and recruiting diverse students could assist the field of lis to further realize its inclusive goals. keywords: diversity, web accessibility, disabilities, lis curricula, accreditation standards uestions have been brought up in the literature and among faculty about whether masters of library and information science (mlis) schools should teach specific technology skills to future librarians. some library and information science (lis) faculty and students also question whether lis schools or curricula adequately address diversity. this paper discusses an interconnection between diversity and technology, namely, web and digital accessibility for all, including people with disabilities.1 the findings of this qualitative research study of lis faculty and students or recent alumni support the idea that stronger practices for teaching technology, for teaching diversity, and for recruiting diverse students could assist the field of lis in moving toward realizing its stated principles of equal inclusion.2 in addition to these issues, the paper discusses questions about whether ala standards for accreditation could foster such teaching or educational practices in mlis. the study primarily focuses on mlis programs, but discusses literature, standards, and professors' comments about lis in general when relevant. 1 although similar issues are likely to be relevant for digital accessibility in general, the study primarily focused on web accessibility because websites are widely created, selected, and used in libraries. 2 american library association’s “library bill of rights” says library resources should be provided for “all people of the community the library serves” (american library association, 1996). ala further interprets the bill of rights in its “services to persons with disabilities: an interpretation of the library bill of rights,” which states, “all library resources should be available in formats accessible by persons of all ages with different abilities” (american library association, 2009c). q technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 2 open-ended interviews were conducted with eight mlis professors and two graduate students or recent alumni. the findings showed that participants who were familiar with web accessibility felt more strongly about possible ways to include it in the curriculum, while participants who were less familiar suggested that a more general treatment of diversity was appropriate. some participants seemed to suggest coding skills need to be taught in order for students to understand web accessibility. additionally, there were varied attitudes between professors who were familiar with web accessibility and one who was not in regards to recruitment of a diverse student body. the results also showed that participants who were familiar with web accessibility often thought it should be included within the standards for accreditation, while two of the participants who were not teaching web accessibility questioned whether this would be too prescriptive. the findings suggested that, in one school, incorporating diversity in their curriculum, including web accessibility, allowed recruitment of a more diverse student body and was leading to the addition of further diversity-related content, including web accessibility, in the curriculum. professors at this school suggested there were advantages to considering broader diversity issues, such as race and ethnicity, together with disability. meanwhile, at another school, a professor expressed concern that setting a goal to recruit a diverse student body, particularly students with disabilities, in lis would be too difficult. this paper does not directly investigate the advantages and disadvantages regarding specificity versus generality of the ala standards for accreditation. while issues of specificity versus generality were often brought up during interviews for this study in relation to whether the standards for accreditation should, or could, include stronger support for diversity and web accessibility, the general question of specificity versus generality involves issues beyond the scope of this paper. an introduction to digital accessibility ethics, policy, or technology is not included in this paper. an introductory summary of the ethical reasons and legal requirements to make publicly available digital resources—such as library websites and library e-resources—accessible to all, including people with disabilities, at the same time they are made available to people without disabilities, is available in mulliken and djenno (2017). further introductions are available from the website webaim: web accessibility in mind (2014). literature review lis standards implying librarians need to understand web accessibility a variety of standards from professional organizations strongly imply or directly state that librarians should have an understanding of digital accessibility, as well as related topics such as assistive technology. the american library association’s “library services for people with disabilities policy,” which was approved in 2001, says: all graduate programs in library and information studies should require students to learn about accessibility issues, assistive technology, the needs of people with disabilities both as users and employees, and laws applicable to the rights of people with disabilities as they impact library services (american library association. ascla, 2001). additionally, the association of specialized and cooperative library agencies (ascla) division of ala created a guide to buying accessible digital materials. its introduction explains, “libraries technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 3 share a great responsibility … to ensure that anyone—especially patrons and staff with disabilities—can effectively use … electronic services” (american library association. ascla ad hoc, n.d.). in 2009, ala adopted the “resolution for purchasing of accessible electronic resources,” which says, “the american library association (ala) council [the governing body of ala] is recommending that all libraries purchasing, procuring, and contracting for electronic resources and services require vendors to guarantee that they comply with widely accepted accessibility standards” (2009b). in addition to ala, the 2012 “report of the arl [association of research libraries] joint task force on services to patrons with print disabilities” recommended that “accessibility service awareness needs to be a standard part of staff training” (p. 9). it then states, “research libraries have a responsibility to make library collections and services universally accessible to their patrons. doing so is consonant with research library community values and is also necessary in order to comply with long-standing legal requirements” (p. 4). finally, the association of college & research libraries (acrl), which is a large division of ala, has a set of standards passed in 2012 titled “diversity standards: cultural competency for academic libraries.” they call for “collection managers [to] be attentive to represent[ing] the linguistic needs of library constituents, and [to] assure that library resources in print or electronic formats are available, especially to support the academic curricula reflecting all diversity issues, including those of visually disabled constituents” (acrl, 2012). these standards and statements from three of the most prominent librarian professional organizations in the united states strongly imply or directly state that competent librarians should, at the very least, be taught to have a basic understanding of digital accessibility. this is implied because such an understanding would be necessary in order to enact the recommendations to ensure that patrons with disabilities can use electronic resources and to make collections universally accessible. diversity, including people with disabilities, in lis curricula it is reasonable to believe that the presence of disabled faculty and students, who are most directly affected by accessibility issues, may lead to greater awareness of digital accessibility among the rest of the faculty and students. for example, if a blind student is in a class, the professor and others are likely to find out if the online course materials are accessible to the student’s screen reader. therefore, the issue of including people with disabilities within lis programs is relevant to the awareness of accessibility, including digital accessibility. jaeger, subramaniam, jones, and bertot (2011) state, “most lis programs include just enough diversity to ensure that the diversity requirement of the ala accreditation process is satisfied” (p. 172). they contend, “recruiting [students] is tied to representation among… lis faculty, and the presence of diversity in the curriculum is related to the diversity of the faculty” (p. 174). lack of recruitment of people with disabilities within lis programs, including faculty and students, therefore is intertwined with a lack of diversity, including accessibility, within the curriculum. acrl’s “diversity standards: cultural competency for academic libraries” echoes this point about recruitment of people with disabilities affecting the level of knowledge and understanding within the field when they state, technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 4 diversity is one of ala’s five key action areas to ensure high-quality library services to all constituents. within that mission is the need to recruit underrepresented groups and individuals with disabilities to the profession. it is this diversity that contributes a deeper level of understanding and competence to our daily work. the american library association envisions a richly, diverse workforce providing a high level of service to the membership in an environment where respect, appreciation, equity and inclusion are core values (2012). bonnici, maatta, wells, brodsky, and meadows (2012) did a three-part study by contacting lis administrators, examining course descriptions, then following up on some course descriptions by contacting professors for further clarification. these researchers found that of 99 courses, 25 covered “physiological challenges,” which they define as “visual impairments and physical challenges” (p. 115), and 19 covered “socially classified diversity,” which bonnici et al. define as “race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation” (p. 118).3 they state, it is evident that diversity is defined by the lis curricula as constituting service to patrons with physiological [diversity] as well as patrons classified as socially diverse. however, more often than not, the curricula reflect that these diversity topics are dealt with as mutually exclusive topics with each having a course dedicated to their specific issues (p. 125). bonnici et al. argue for a more “comprehensive philosophy of access where goods and services are distributed across a more broadly defined population of both socially and physiologically identified user groups. such a foundation would consistently withstand societal changes and the evolution of groups considered as diverse” (p. 125). there is agreement between jaeger et al. (2011), acrl’s “diversity standards: cultural competency for academic libraries,” and bonnici et al. (2012) in that there are advantages in paying attention to relationships between various minority and disadvantaged groups, including people with disabilities, while teaching or improving the state of knowledge in the field. there is also agreement between jaeger et al. (2011) and bonnici et al. (2012) in that including diversity in the lis curriculum is related to diversity among the body of students and faculty. web accessibility in lis curricula a number of studies summarized by mulliken and djenno (2017) as well as schmetzke’s (2015) study and literature review suggest that web accessibility is not covered adequately in lis curricula. additionally, oxley (2013) reports that, from her perspective as a recent alumna who started an lis student organization about diversity, when students and staff are deprived of cultural competency training, not exposed to research that reflects implication on diverse populations, and not exposed to tenets of inclusive and accessible design of information structures and services, they may be unaware of both the existing knowledge gap and the importance of diversity (p. 237). 3disability studies scholars frequently resist a strictly physical, medical, or essentialist conceptualization of disability and offer a social model alternative. therefore, they might disagree with bonnici et al.’s definitions. however, in my view, the conclusions bonnici et al. reach do not conflict with a disability studies perspective in spite of differences in definitions. technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 5 lack of awareness of the knowledge that is being missed is likely to perpetuate the gaps in the curriculum. technology in lis curricula the issue of the depth in which technology in general is covered in lis programs may be relevant to the question of how well digital accessibility technology is covered in lis. riley-huff and rholes (2011) studied how much technology is covered in lis programs. they studied course descriptions for technology courses and concluded that technology course offerings had been increasing, but not all lis programs offered essential courses and there was a lack of advanced technology courses. they found a wide variation in the number of technology courses, as well as the content of the courses, from one program to another. singh and mehra (2013) also studied coverage of technology within lis curricula and also found it lacking. they studied course descriptions and tallied how many schools were offering courses in 25 areas of technology that they had found to be important. many schools did not cover all the areas. singh and mehra did not mention web accessibility, though it might be considered inherent in web design, which they do mention. they found that 18 of the 25 schools covered web design and development, which was more than for many of the other technology topics. hall in 2008 studied core curricula in 55 lis schools. building on previous studies, he found “information technology had the greatest increase since 2002, jumping more than 50%” (hall, 2009, p. 64). he points out that this is not a surprise because of the increase in computers in libraries during that time. he concluded from his research, there definitely appears to be a common set of required subject areas. it also seems that lis programs are modifying their core curricula to meet the changing complexities of the information environment, particularly as evidenced in the increase in programs that require information technology (it) classes (p. 66). the trend of these studies, with the exception of hall’s older study, seems to be that technology coverage is not robust in lis. hall’s finding contrasts somewhat with riley-huff and rholes (2011), perhaps because hall considers semi-core courses, which are not necessarily required for all students, to be part of the core. hall’s (2008) conclusions differ from singh and mehra (2013) because hall did not look into specific aspects of it coverage. technology coverage may relate to coverage, or lack thereof, regarding web accessibility. methods qualitative, loosely structured interviews were chosen for the present study in order to allow indepth discussion of issues raised by faculty and student interviewees. interviewees were encouraged to preview a short list of potential interview questions to give them a general idea of the interview topic and scope. interviewees were then encouraged to talk freely on issues they believed were relevant, without being limited by the questions. the methodology of this study is originally described in an early paper that reports additional findings from the same study (mulliken & djenno, 2017). loosely structured, open-ended interviews in qualitative research allow researchers to explore topics in depth and without predetermined interview questions biasing the results. bogdan and biklen (2007) articulate, technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 6 when the interviewer controls the content too rigidly, when the subject cannot tell his or her story personally in his or her own words, the interview falls out of the qualitative range. [in unstructured interviews], the researcher…encourages the subject to talk in the area of interest, then pick[s] up on the topics and issues the respondent initiates (p. 104). qualitative research does not lead to generalizable results. the study presented here hypothesizes potential implications based on the data available. the results can be used to inform further research or, particularly in the absence of such studies, to suggest considerations for current decisions that have to be made. the study was approved by internal review boards at syracuse university and at the university of illinois in chicago. participants as explained in mulliken and djenno (2017), library science literature, professional acquaintances, and referral sampling were used to identify potential interviewees. the criterion was that participants had demonstrated interest or involvement in any aspect of accessibility. involvement included having publications, having taught classes, or having participated in professional activities related to accessibility in libraries. for students or recent alumni, involvement included activities related to accessibility within student organizations or course work. investigators chose participants in this category with the idea that these participants might have more insight into the issues than faculty who taught relevant subjects like web design but who were not known by the investigators to have awareness of accessibility. one investigator contacted the prospective interviewees by email. all but one candidate agreed to be interviewed. eight professors who teach courses in mlis and two graduate students or recent alumni, all of whom have been involved in accessibility, were interviewed. not all interviewees had knowledge of web accessibility, specifically. data analysis all interviews were transcribed by the investigator. following common practice in qualitative research, themes or codes were generated from the transcripts instead of using predetermined questions or presumed categories to analyze the results (bogdan & biklen, 2007). transcripts were read a minimum of three times and recoded several times. final themes that emerged included views regarding teaching introductory web coding such as html and css, views about ala standards for accreditation, and views about diversity. additional themes also emerged and were addressed in an earlier paper, and so are not addressed in this article. the pronouns “he” and “she” have sometimes been changed in this article to protect the identity of participants. results and discussion views varied regarding teaching introductory web coding one of the issues that came up in this study was the question of whether basic web coding should be taught, or even required, in core courses within lis curricula. faculty who were doing more in-depth teaching of web accessibility favored teaching introductory web coding skills, such as technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 7 html and css. in the two schools where web accessibility was being taught, it was being taught along with some html and css. one professor said, “i think maybe that a challenge the lis schools face is that we are not focused on teaching students skills. if it was me, you know, some of my colleagues who are really championing accessibility, we definitely would make it something that is required.” similarly, a professor from a different school agreed with the interviewer’s suggestion that his web accessibility course would work well as a core course, meaning that learning some html and css would be required. there were several reasons for this. he explained that some students in his course had skills that were too advanced for the course, so it was difficult to keep them engaged. making it a required course for the degree could prevent students from taking it later in their program, after they had taken more advanced courses. this way, students would learn standard, accessible coding from the beginning. he explained that he had to re-teach students. he said, well, … i would not recommend separating accessibility from learning html and css. partly because from my perception or my experience, accessibility for the web begins at a code level and if you’re doing remediation where you’re going back into the code to remediate it’s not always successful and it’s almost always painful and not cost effective. so, in an ideal world, i like the way that i’m able to teach the class with accessibility baked in from the very beginning. … i have [had]… students who are familiar with html, but i’m spending a great deal of my time retraining them. the professor explained specific examples of the retraining he needed to do. one example involved alt text. alt text is a description of a picture on a web page, added in the code by the web designer (webaim, 2014). screen reader software used by blind people to read the computer screen aloud reads the description so that the blind user knows what the picture is. adding the alt text is one basic requirement of web accessibility standards. the professor said, trying to get them to think in terms of accessible alt text… i [had a student] who used …alt text [for a completely different purpose than it is intended]. well, it was … not accessible at all. similarly, the professor was concerned about “building their website with tables” because if a web designer uses tables to lay out the webpage, this can cause the blind person’s screen reader software to read the webpage in an illogical order. in addition to the alt text and table examples, the professor mentioned the structure of the page—which involves thinking about how users, including screen reader users, navigate a page, such as navigating by headings—which should be included in the code. he said, … [i’m] trying to get them to think in a different paradigm in terms of how they build the page and how they structure the page. … i’m not sure if students coming out of [a course that only briefly touches on html and accessibility] are going to have … an understanding of how to build that [accessibility] in from the beginning. so, ideally if i can start from the beginning with a student who doesn’t have a lot of preconceptions, who doesn’t try to build their website with tables, things like that, i think we’ll get farther. not only did he give several reasons to learn accessible coding from the beginning, but his statement that “accessibility for the web begins at the code level” suggests that it may be important to learn some coding in order to understand web accessibility. technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 8 besides needing to understand some code to have a grasp of web accessibility, other professors agreed that integrating coding and web accessibility into the curriculum is important because of the need to include accessibility in planning and creating a website. the concept of accessibility at the outset means that the website or digital resource is made accessible to everyone at the same time, rather than made available to people without disabilities first and then fixed to be accessible to people with disabilities later. accessibility at the outset may be contrasted with the tendency to rely on segregated special educators, disability services, or disability offices to retrofit or find other workarounds. an example of this is trying to fix problematic web or digital resources after a person with a disability is known to need the resource, meaning that he or she may have already encountered a problem and been delayed. one professor who was teaching web accessibility in some depth explained some reasons why librarians could use some basic level of knowledge about this topic, demonstrating the frequently raised concern for equal accessibility at the outset and learning it at a deeper than superficial level. so, but now, i'm teaching a course …. and so in researching that and getting information for my classes to prepare to teach my students, i'm learning a lot about web accessibility. i guess i'm learning that the term accessibility, not everybody sees it the same way? .... some people think it's, well, if my site is pretty, it’s accessible. and that's not all there is to accessibility. there are things that have to be put in place on the front end so that people with varying abilities will be able to use it. this professor clearly understood that there are reasons for web accessibility to be taught at the outset, as soon as an lis student learns about creating a website, although the professor was still learning about how to do so himself. additionally, he contended that web accessibility, specifically building accessible websites, should be taught in more depth within lis. he said, yeah, well, for one i think that there needs to be an awareness in general. i don’t think many people spend any time thinking about it; it’s not their research area and if they don’t have issues accessing a site, most people if they have any trouble, they just go to another site. but for people with disabilities, that could be the majority of the sites they go to, they’re unable to access. … but answering your question about what faculty should be aware of, they should be aware of, in general, that there are web accessibility standards, and that, [for] example, our professors that teach classes that are… more information management, or more building websites, they need to be infusing that into their curriculum, somehow, because it is a top down thing, you should not be going in afterwards and saying, “oh.” respondents demonstrated reasons that web accessibility should be taught at least to the level of depth that it was being taught, or in greater depth. for example, a professor explained the level of depth in which one program covered web accessibility: the course where we introduce them to universal usability and universal design programming aspects of different populations and how they interact with technology … i devote a few weeks to explain to my students about the need of having web accessibility. and also, being familiar with the guidelines… wcag, 508, so my students will get used to all that. across the weeks we talk about different populations so let’s say we talk about people who are blind and we [discuss] the issues of access that they have … so there are technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 9 several ways that accessibility in some way is in every week that we talk about human populations. a recent graduate of this program was asked whether she felt her courses “went a lot into web accessibility topics.” she explained, i know that we had … several readings on them. we had readings on user experience, we had readings on web accessibility… academic, published publications. we also had some readings for a class that were more on the community journal level that were maybe talking about, let’s say, patrons who aren’t sighted and dealing with using screen readers. but they’re short and essentially for the practitioner to raise awareness .... mostly we were sort of made aware of it? and there was some project-based learning to kind of try out what it would be like to retrofit certain things… you’ve probably come across the fact that very little is created with web accessibility in mind, and often times we’re retrofitting technologies or retrofitting access… the student explained that as a result of what she learned, in her professional job “if i’m doing my website i make sure that if i put up a picture, i make sure that i put target data behind it that describes it.” further, she demonstrated depth in her understanding of web accessibility, even while pointing out that her awareness was at a beginning level. for example, discussing accessibility of subscription resources at her library, she said, now [name of a particular database] does have captioned videos. …. some of the databases have read aloud, but i think it’s more to address kids with print disabilities, or struggling readers. if you were a screen reader [user], i have no idea what that would look like. i’m not sure how jaws, for example, would [work with it]. we don’t have any students …with blindness, deafness, or deafblindness, so i haven’t really seen that in action. she explained she had used a trial of the jaws screen reader and had seen a demonstration of it during her coursework. therefore, she was able to understand that, since blind users already need to be using their own screen reader software to get to any of the library’s electronic database features, the database’s read-aloud function is not an essential feature for them. rather, the database needs to comply with standards to allow blind users to navigate with their own screen reader. accessibility novices sometimes think that the read aloud would be useful for blind users. the recent graduate perceived this is not necessarily the case, which suggests that her understanding is more educated. the same librarian, who was a recent graduate and had been a student in one of the programs where web accessibility was taught in more depth, suggested that there were some reasons she felt that more focus on accessibility would be ideal. this librarian said numerous times that she felt lucky to have stumbled onto professors who covered this topic. still, she said, if we … as a nation or as a culture of american libraries [were more concerned]… then you could have highly specialized courses that you wouldn’t have to seek out, ’cause i feel like information management, other courses, all these great user experience courses, highly specialized courses where they’re going into labs and they’re really doing … you know, they have a little more autonomy, maybe a stronger sense of potency that “i myself technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 10 can do this” [in comparison to librarians’ confidence with web accessibility], and it’s just as natural as, you know, sticking on the bar code label and sticking it on the shelf. although her school seemed to have more in-depth coursework on accessibility than other schools, she still sensed that it was not as much as needed. she continued, but for that to happen, there’d have to be a shift first of all in attitude, major shift in leadership, not only within lis education but within … leadership, i’m just going to come right out and say: ala, and, you know, then, that would alter the expectations of students who are coming in. … i guess, also management on the practitioner level. … what skills are they saying i demand from… outgoing graduate … or academic libraries, you know, when people are being hired … being asked, you know, these are deal-breaker skills, you have to have these skills. and i think that right now, that’s not happening. to my knowledge, unless you get lucky and get a professor who thinks that’s very important, i do not think that [web accessibility] is a major or even a small part of a typical part of a typical american mls training. in summary, professors who were teaching web accessibility, or learning to teach it, often contended that it should be taught at a level of depth that included basic coding and that basic coding should be taught. the student who had been in a program that taught this suggested that even more depth would be needed to allow librarians to operationalize web accessibility and that this would need support above the level of individual lis schools. one professor who was not teaching web accessibility had a different perspective than faculty who were doing so. this professor suggested that maybe web accessibility should be taught as a separate workshop, not as part of the curricula. as reported in mulliken and djenno (2017), the professor suggested it might not be graduate-level content. the professor said, i think it [web accessibility] should be taught. i think the question is going to be where. in what classes would it be taught, and, again, is it something that would be appropriate for graduate education. i sound like [i’m being tough.] i’m not trying to be, but i know there are some things when we talk about we should teach blah, blah, blah and you think well, really, is that a graduate class? or are we talking about things that really should be taught in undergraduate level? the view that web accessibility and the related coding might not be appropriate for a graduatelevel class contrasts markedly with the views of faculty who were doing more in-depth teaching of web accessibility, html, and css. views varied regarding ala standards for accreditation faculty who related that they had knowledge of web accessibility tended to respond positively to the idea that something related to web accessibility should be included in ala accreditation standards. these faculty also acknowledged they did not know a lot about ala standards for accreditation, but believed that a policy that specifically addressed web accessibility would help move things in a positive direction. for example, one professor who taught web accessibility said, i’m not that familiar with it [ala standards for accreditation] but i’m all for it. anytime they can raise awareness and increase sensitivity, that would be great. now, i’m not familiar enough with the guidelines to say okay, it needs to go here and here and here. one of the things i think we see here on campus is that when administration buys into the technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 11 concept of accessibility and they make that, if not a priority, at least something to be aware of, then that increases awareness all down the line. it’s much more difficult for things to bubble up from the grass roots, although they do. it’s always nice when you can build something like accessibility into your policy statements and your standards and just increase awareness from that perspective as well. another professor who taught web accessibility, when asked if she thought there was a role for the ala standards to include more about web accessibility, responded, i think that would be terrific. but, you know, the ala has certain assertions of diversity. it would be nice to see those as a package much more specific. and disability included in that as a very clear “this is important to us and this is important to what we hope you will teach.” down to a level of not just “yay diversity,” but down to a level of here’s the things, you know. and you certainly would hope that … you know, ideally, and i realize this is very much ideally, but it would be great to have standards that, okay you need to teach people this, this, and this. …that would be wonderful. a third professor who taught web accessibility had an immediate response to the question about including web accessibility in accreditation standards: “that would be awesome, wouldn’t it?” she went on to explain that the current standards talk about diversity, but it would be better to have a mandate to cover web accessibility and to have programs cover web accessibility more widely. a professor who was learning about web accessibility responded to the question by saying, i think it’s very important. …. accessibility at large… needs to be further addressed, not the passing topic that is just touched upon, so to speak. i’m seeing great strides. i’ve been part of the school for the last [several] years. …. it was always, but i’m seeing a real continued growth and push toward accessibility… the professors who were not teaching web accessibility tended to respond less enthusiastically to the idea that web accessibility, specifically, should be included in accreditation criteria in some way. they tended to suggest that including web accessibility would be overly prescriptive. in response to a question about including web accessibility, one professor who was not teaching this topic responded, i’d have to look at the new draft standards… for ala accreditation. …they never have been… and even the new standards that i’ve seen aren’t that prescriptive.…they just basically say, are you dealing with diversity, you know, a wide spectrum of your population, you know, so they have to give some evidence that you’re doing that, but it’s more of a holistic thing, and they don’t go into like, aha, you know, you didn’t talk about boys who have asperger’s, so you can’t get accreditation. the professor seemed to be comparing a topic about a specific population with the topic of web accessibility for all, which seems to imply that web accessibility is only one of many aspects of diversity, with no more weight than many other aspects, not all of which can be covered. another professor who was not teaching web accessibility had an immediate response that was negative: “no, please no. [laugh].” like the previous professor, she did not overtly question the technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 12 standards, just restated them. she did, however, discuss in detail how issues of accessibility might fit within the current standards.4 the professor said, in terms of curriculum, ala doesn’t mandate the curriculum. …they look for the schools to set their goals and outcomes and then to have the curriculum that supports those goals and outcomes. and so the question would be, does the curriculum have an outcome or goal that’s around teaching accessibility? …. but, ala i don’t think would mandate that curricular element. needs of a diverse society, including the needs of underserved groups, is part of the curriculum standard. so i think the question would be how people interpret that particular sentence… is that something that might relate to our policy classes? is it talking about policy around serving people? is it ethics related? is it thinking about services to inner city youth? so there’s a lot of ways that could ripple through a program without touching people with visual impairments…. so there’s lots of ways that particular line or standard could ripple through a program without including materials in a program around dealing with people with visual disabilities…it’s, the phrasing is underserved groups... here, she pointed out that under the standards, it is easy for web accessibility and people with visual impairments to be ignored. although she did not suggest that she believed the standards should be changed, she did seem to be attempting to find a way to interpret the standards to include accessibility and acknowledging that it is possible for the topic to be disregarded under the standards. diversity in the curriculum the topic of general diversity, including people with disabilities, came up several times during the interviews. there was concern about whether lis courses adequately cover diversity. one professor said, we [the field of lis] don’t always do well with a lot of diversity issues. some people do well with them, others, it’s more of a struggle, you know. so it’s—disability isn’t unique in that we haven’t done well with all other [diversity issues] and i think that’s kind of contextually a significant thing because it’s very much part of a package. although diversity in lis overall was a concern, the school at which that professor worked did teach diversity, including web accessibility. the topic of general diversity came up again when another professor at the same school, who teaches web accessibility as a part of diversity, explained that she discusses poor, homeless, and 4at the time of the interview, the previous version of the standards for accreditation were effective, although the current standards are similar in that they do not specifically address web accessibility. the 2015 standards only mention accessibility for people with disabilities (not web accessibility specifically) under the category for “administration, finances and resources,” not under “curriculum” (council, 2015, p. 9). also similar to the earlier 2008 standards, the 2015 standards curriculum section says, “student learning outcomes address…the role of library and information services in a diverse global society, including the role of serving the needs of underserved groups” (council, 2008, and council, 2015, p. 4). unlike the 2008 standards, the 2015 standards state, “the curriculum provides…for the study of…legal and ethical issues and values necessary for the provision of service in libraries and information agencies…” this could be construed to cover web accessibility, although, similar to the previous standards, web accessibility could be disregarded in the way the professor described. technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 13 socioeconomically challenged people who may rely on cell or smartphones for web use since they are much cheaper than broadband. she pointed out the overlap between accessibility for this group and for people with disabilities in this example. a person using adaptive technology may be disadvantaged by webpages that load slowly, just as people who have slower connections for economic reasons are disadvantaged. she also pointed out that the capacity of some devices to translate for users who do not speak english fills a similar need as captioning for users with hearing-related disabilities. yet another intersection that she mentioned between people with disabilities and other groups was older adults acquiring disabilities they did not have growing up and needing various aspects of websites to be accessible, the same as people who have disabilities earlier in life. diversity in the curriculum therefore was approached as discussing these various diverse groups together. this fits bonnici et al.’s (2012) argument that a more “comprehensive philosophy of access where goods and services are distributed across a more broadly defined population of both socially and physiologically identified user groups,” in this case, meaning access to websites for various groups, can more easily “withstand societal changes and the evolution of groups considered as diverse” (p. 125). in other words, if the definition of “access” is considered to be comprehensive, it will not have to be revised each time society evolves and begins to include a new group, such as people with disabilities. diversity in recruitment a professor who was teaching web accessibility as a part of diversity at the same school as the professor quoted above said, in terms of who’s drawn to the college, having [the diversity program] is a very clear message to people from groups who aren’t as well represented in our field that even if that’s not what they want to specialize in, this is a place that will be welcoming to who they are. so we have fairly dramatically higher levels, or representation, of people from a lot of groups who are badly underrepresented in our field, including people with disabilities, because they see, in offering this curriculum—they see a commitment that wouldn’t otherwise be conveyed. incorporating broad diversity in the curriculum, then, seemed to have positively affected the ability to recruit a diverse student body, including people with disabilities. the more comprehensive concept of diversity may have not only allowed for a more consistent concept of “access” over time, but also allowed the school to act on that broader philosophy of access in its admissions to its lis program. this broader philosophy of access, which by its definition included people with disabilities and web accessibility, may also have been leading toward even greater inclusion of web accessibility throughout the curriculum. for example, the support for learning about web accessibility in some depth within the diversity program may have been allowing students and faculty to more clearly understand reasons to move toward including web accessibility in mainstream core courses. students who had learned about web accessibility in some depth in their diversity courses had begun to open up conversation with professors in other technology courses. although this program was successfully recruiting students with disabilities, which seemed to be leading to greater inclusion of web accessibility within the curriculum, a professor at a different school shared concerns that it would be a problem to set a goal of recruiting students with technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 14 disabilities. she pointed out that the standards do not support recruitment of people with disabilities, saying “i don’t think there’s anything around students or what they look for in your student body that has anything specifically to do with students with disabilities.5” this professor did not suggest the standards should be changed to support recruiting students with disabilities. she also said, actually, there’s nothing in the standards that talk about student diversity. but it is something they look at and something they comment on. so we have to report diversity of our student population—that does not include disability. the sections about students in both the 2008 and 2015 standards do, in fact, state “the program has policies to recruit and retain students who reflect the diversity of north america's communities.” although the professor missed this, she knew that diversity is considered. she elaborated her concerns further in the following dialogue. interviewer: i was wondering if you think it would be, you know, ideal if more groups were included in whatever is tracked for diversity, even though it might be really complicated to get that to happen… professor: the problem is then it becomes a goal. so, for example, if you look at recruiting students of color, where should i go to recruit students of color? well the joint conference of librarians of color, i think, it’s jclc—isn’t held every year—and that’s kind of preaching to the choir. we could recruit at historically black colleges and universities, which we’ve done, you know, do other things to try to recruit that group, but it’s not easy. you know that many people who come to the library profession come in different ways. they kind of recruit themselves. they know that this is what they want. so how do you find those people of color who know that this is what they want? and how much financial effort can you put into recruiting people of color? so if you extended that and said okay we want people who are visually disabled and hearing disabled and we want librarians who can relate to all these different areas, then that becomes something that’s tracked, and people say well you should be doing better, but how do you do better? how do you go out and attract someone who is hearing disabled to become a librarian? the person would have had to have gone through a bachelor’s program, would have to meet the admission criteria for the graduate program, and would have to have that passion for libraries. and so it becomes, so it’s one of those things where i could argue, yeah, we should be tracking these people and wouldn’t it be great if ala tracked that, but then on the opposite side, i know what would happen, because it was trackable then it would become a goal… unlike a professor who was recruiting students with disabilities, this professor seemed to understand the possibility of recruiting students of minority groups, including students with disabilities, as a potential problem. she went on, ala would not pull someone’s accreditation because of diversity. i’m pretty sure of that. diversity is something they really want us to all strive for; they always comment on [that] when they look at our statistics; but, i think they also realize that diversity is hard…. yeah, it’s tough. it would be wonderful to have a more diverse population, people with 5 the 2008 standards were in effect at the time of the interview. the 2015 standards similarly do not reference students with disabilities. technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 15 disabilities, people with different cultural backgrounds. but finding those people who are interested in library science; but there probably aren’t enough of them out there—i’m thinking of disability—for every program. again, her emphasis on the difficulty of recruiting students with disabilities contrasted acutely with comments of the professor who was teaching web accessibility and who was also successfully recruiting students with disabilities. implications the sharp contrast between the views of one professor that web accessibility might not be appropriate for a graduate-level class versus the views of faculty who were doing more in-depth teaching of web accessibility, html, and css probably reflects the deeper knowledge of the faculty who are teaching web accessibility. the faculty teaching web accessibility are more likely to understand the conceptual complexity involved with web accessibility, for example, the need to understand how screen reader users navigate in order to think about a logical and equally user-friendly navigational path through the website for them. the faculty who are teaching web accessibility are more likely to understand the reasons that it is necessary for all librarians to be aware of web accessibility. these reasons include the need to make content accessible at the same time as it is posted online (rather than retrofitting the content later), the essential necessity that web content providers—who are often librarians—be involved in making content accessible, and the need to evaluate all digital resources the library purchases or subscribes to for accessibility, which could be expected to be accomplished by librarians. this understanding of web accessibility and its complexity and relationship to many librarian functions may lead the faculty who are teaching web accessibility and the recent graduate of the diversity program to their beliefs that web accessibility should be covered in more depth within lis, rather than that it should only be taught at an undergraduate level. furthermore, the belief among faculty teaching web accessibility that coding should be taught seems to reflect their knowledge, gained by experience, that web accessibility is best taught in conjunction with basic coding. this may be because understanding at least a little bit of coding is fairly integral to understanding web accessibility. the professors’ idea that basic coding should be taught in lis coheres with the literature reviewed in this article, which argues that more technology should be covered in lis. the professors’ beliefs that coding should be taught, as well as the literature arguing more technology should be taught, may suggest that, in some situations, at least a minimal increase in technical knowledge is necessary in order to adequately inform the conceptual knowledge and values taught in lis. specifically, this is relevant to the concept of usability and to the value of inclusion, as well as other concepts and values. the effort at one school to include web accessibility as part of diversity in the curriculum, according to the professor’s report, had positively affected the ability to recruit a diverse student body, including people with disabilities. the professors at the school where this was happening articulated ideas of broad diversity, reflective of bonnici’s broader philosophy of access, which combines disability and other aspects of diversity in the same course. this contrasts with the professor who was concerned that setting goals for recruitment of diverse students, particularly students with disabilities, would be problematic. the contrast might be because the latter professor had less experience with a curriculum that was as broadly inclusive and less experience technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 16 with successfully recruiting a more diverse student group. perhaps such experience would lead to confidence that a broader coalition of diversity could make recruiting diverse students less difficult. further studies of the qualitatively informed hypotheses reported here could further clarify the issues. for example, quantitative or mixed method studies could examine the extent to which additional lis schools have experienced success in fostering a diverse curriculum, inclusive of web accessibility, or in recruiting a diverse student body, including students with disabilities. additional qualitative studies could further investigate potential reasons for success and barriers to it. the professors who did not teach web accessibility pointed out that ala standards for accreditation, particularly those for curricula, tend to be broad and not prescriptive. a review of the standards shows this to be accurate. one part of the standards for curricula in force at the time of the interview says, “the design of specialized learning experiences takes into account the statements of knowledge and competencies developed by relevant professional organizations6” (council of the american library association [council], 2008). ala lists such statements on their webpage, titled “knowledge and competencies statements developed by relevant professional organizations.” they include “core competencies of librarianship” (american library association, n.d.-b). so, the core competencies of librarianship are indirectly tied to the ala standards for curricula. the core competencies document states, “this document defines the basic knowledge to be possessed by all persons graduating from an ala-accredited master’s program in library and information studies.” (american library association, 2009a, p. 1) the core competencies document lists ethical as well as legal knowledge as a competency. it says, a person graduating from an ala-accredited master’s program in library and information studies should know and, where appropriate, be able to employ:… 1a. the ethics, values, and foundational principles of the library and information profession….[and] 1g. the legal framework within which libraries and information agencies operate. that framework includes laws relating to copyright, privacy, freedom of expression, equal rights (e.g., the americans with disabilities act), and intellectual property. (american library association, 2009a, pp. 1–2.) additionally, the document has a section on technological knowledge and skills, which lists, “4b. the application of information, communication, assistive, and related technology and tools consistent with professional ethics and prevailing service norms and applications” (p. 3). it seems that, if the core competencies were to be changed, it would work well to add digital accessibility along with knowledge of assistive technology. it is a significant omission that digital accessibility is not yet included. it also seems appropriate that rather than only mentioning one law, the americans with disabilities act, the document could mention additional web accessibility related laws, including the rehabilitation act, the individuals with disabilities education act, and the 21st century communications and video accessibility act. furthermore, the general phrase 6 this was slightly reworded in the 2015 standards, which says, “design of general and specialized curriculum takes into account the statements of knowledge and competencies developed by relevant professional organizations” (council, 2015). the addition of the word “general” in the 2015 standards seems to more clearly include the “core competencies of librarianship”. technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 17 “accessibility law” could be used to collectively refer to other unconsolidated laws, regulations, complaint resolutions, and case law, which would be too lengthy to specify in the standards. according to the resources listed on ala’s “resources for external review panelists” (american library association, n.d.-a), which are for panelists who perform accreditation reviews, it is not entirely clear how the core competencies may be included during accreditation reviews or whether including digital accessibility in this core competencies document would facilitate its actual inclusion within lis curricula. none of the professors suggested that the current standards are addressing web accessibility via the reference in the core competencies to the ada. most of the professors, with one exception, were not intimately familiar with the standards, so it is understandable they had not analyzed wording for possible ways that web accessibility might be encompassed within them. however, not even professors who teach web accessibility indicated that anyone, including themselves, is currently interpreting the standards to be inclusive of web accessibility. it seems unlikely that the brief reference in the core competencies to “equal rights (e.g., the americans with disabilities act)” will, by itself, lead to such an interpretation. the professors who did teach web accessibility primarily expressed concern that web accessibility be taught in lis curricula. although they were not clear about the specifics of how this might be brought about through the standards for accreditation, they tended to suggest that they thought generalities such as diversity were too broad, and inclusion of web accessibility in the standards was appropriate. both professors who were teaching web accessibility, as well as those who were not, indicated that general references to diversity allowed web accessibility to be glossed over. however, those who do not teach web accessibility did not suggest that this sidelining was necessarily problematic. possibly due to their lack of knowledge of the subject, they might not have believed that web accessibility needs to be taught to all lis students or that it is a particularly core diversity topic in lis. given the general nature of the standards, it is not clear how web accessibility could be included other than indirectly via strengthening the wording of the core competencies. this may not be enough to resolve faculty concerns that web accessibility is not being taught as widely as it should be. the standards overall might have to allow for more specificity in order to address such concerns. if such specificity is not desirable, at the very least, the need to teach lis students about minimal compliance with web accessibility law warrants consideration in some way within the lis accreditation process. this study suggests areas for further action, investigation, or research. this study did not systematically contact faculty at a large sample of lis programs, nor did it attempt to contact faculty who primarily teach courses such as information infrastructures or other courses where web development and technology are likely to be taught. further studies could yield a broader picture of the state of web accessibility within lis curricula and a broader picture of faculty views of it. in conclusion, this qualitative research reveals the views of a small sample of mlis professors and mlis graduate students regarding several themes that emerged from the study, including whether to teach coding along with web accessibility; teaching digital accessibility as part of a broader concept of access for all; views about recruiting diverse students, including students with technology, diversity, web accessibility, and ala accreditation standards in mlis international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 18 disabilities; and views about web accessibility in accreditation standards. these views, as well as the literature reviewed, can be taken to suggest that stronger practices for teaching technology, for teaching diversity, and for recruiting diverse students could support the field of lis in moving toward realizing its stated principles of equal inclusion. perhaps even more importantly, the views reported here can be used as a foundation for further reflection, action, and research. acknowledgements i would like to thank mireille djenno, african studies librarian at indiana university, for collaborating on research as well as giving encouragement for this article; john siegal, associate professor and student success librarian at the university of arkansas at little rock, and kerry falloon, assistant professor and acquisitions librarian at college of staten island, cuny, for providing significant editorial assistance; and mike marlin, director of the california braille and talking book library, for reading the manuscript and providing encouragement. i would also like to thank the research participants for their willingness and openness, which made this study possible. references association of college & research libraries. 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(2015). standards for accreditation of master’s programs in library and information studies. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/accreditedprograms/sites/ala.org.accreditedprograms/files/content /standards/standards_2015_adopted_02-02-15.pdf hall, r. a. (2009). exploring the core: an examination of required courses in ala-accredited. education for information, 27(1), 57–67. jaeger, p., subramaniam, m., jones, c., & bertot, j. c. (2011). diversity and lis education: inclusion and the age of information. (library and information science) (report). journal of education for library and information science, 52(3), 166. mulliken, a. & djenno, m. (2017). faculty visions for teaching web accessibility in lis curricula: a qualitative study. the library quarterly, 87(1), 36-54. oxley, r. (2013). idiversity and lis education: student-based groups promoting cultural competence as a vision for the profession. the library quarterly, 83(3), 236. riley-huff, d. a., & rholes, j. m. (2011). librarians and technology skill acquisition: issues and perspectives. information technology and libraries, 30(3), 129–140. schmetzke, a. (2015). collection development, e-resources, and barrier-free access. in b. wentz, p. t. jaeger, & j. c. bertot (eds.), accessibility for persons with disabilities and the inclusive future of libraries (advances in librarianship, vol. 40), (pp. 111–142). bingley, uk: emerald group publishing limited. singh, v. & mehra, b. (2013). strengths and weaknesses of the information technology curriculum in library and information science graduate programs. journal of librarianship and information science, 45(3), 219. webaim: web accessibility in mind. (2014). introduction to web accessibility, last modified 4/22/2014. retrieved from http://webaim.org/intro/ book review: how to be an antiracist the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36308 ijidi: book review kendi, i. x. (2019). how to be an antiracist. one world. isbn 9780525509288. 305 pp. $27 us. reviewer: norda bell, york university, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: anti-racism; racism publication type: book review ow can i be an ally? what can i do to support my racialized colleagues or communities that we serve? these are questions often asked by non-racialized information professionals when discussing diversity and equity issues in libraries, especially after the recent racial violence and injustices involving police and the murder of black men and women, and recent anti-asian attacks during the coronavirus pandemic. what has emerged is now a collective consciousness of racial injustice, racial violence, anti-black and anti-asian racism pervasive in the u.s.—and by extension similar western countries—and the desire to “do something” to address this problem, this dis-ease. hence, a resurgence of interest in anti-racist approaches and practices makes kendi’s how to be an antiracist a timely and important work. ibram x. kendi, founding director of the antiracist research and policy center at american university, self-identifies as a black man. he uses storytelling or narratives, a prominent feature in critical race theory, to explore his personal journey from what he self-describes as being a racist, to being an anti-racist. this is a very nuanced look at racism. kendi outlines his “journey to being an antiracist [by] first recogniz[ing] the intersectionality of my ethnic racism, and then my bodily racism, and then my cultural racism, and then my color racism, and then my class racism, and when i entered graduate school, my gender racism and queer racism” (p. 192). in other words, becoming an anti-racist, is an ongoing and multi-layered process. through his working definitions of the different kinds of racism and anti-racism approaches, kendi dissects race and various forms of racism and anti-racism within 18 themed chapters. at the beginning of each chapter, the juxtaposition of definitions related to the chapter’s focus are provided to introduce discussed concepts and, later, for easy reference while reading the chapter. each chapter is a mix of personal life experience relevant to the chapter (to illustrate his journey from racist to anti-racist), with some relevant historical facts and references to important works and research, and statements on how to be anti-racist in relation to the chapter’s theme. kendi grounds his first chapter by defining a “racist” as “one who is supporting a racist policy through their actions or inaction, or expressing a racist idea” (p. 14). this provocative definition of a racist has far reaching implications as it indicates that we are all culpable (whether we selfidentify as black, white, etc.) and that we are all racists if we do not actively work to dismantle racist policies and ideas. this definition is counterintuitive to more conventional definitions of racism which tend to link white supremacy to racism. for example, in the u.s., whites’ greater wealth of social, political, and economic power, is tied into the idea of what a racist is, which is h https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how to be an antiracist the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36308 often tied to an assumption of hegemony. however, kendi provides ample examples of racist ideas that he himself once held and witnessed from family members and friends throughout his life. in fact, chapter 10 (“white”) tackles anti-white racism (“classifying people of european descent as biologically, culturally, or behaviorally inferior or conflating the entire race of white people with racist power” (p. 122). readers will either find this work palatable or off-putting because it does not absolve any one group of being racist. chapter 2 (“dueling consciousness”) offers a framework for understanding the different types of racist ideas by using a continuum of racist to anti-racist ideas: 1) segregationist: “one who is expressing their racist idea that a permanently inferior racial group can never be developed and is supporting policy that segregates away that racial group” (p. 25), and 2) assimilationist: “one who is expressing the racist idea that a racial group is culturally or behaviorally inferior and is supporting cultural or behavioral enrichment programs to develop that racial group” (p. 25). we see these underlying ideas show up in the programs, policies, and procedures throughout society, including libraries, archives, and other information-focused institutions. good intentions, often enacted in the library and information science (lis) field, are often based on these assimilationist views. “assimilationists believe that people of color can, in fact, be developed, become fully human, just like white people” (p.31). the diversity problem in lis is usually framed as the lack of ethnically and racially diverse librarians, archivists, and information professionals. for example, when a job candidate of color needs to conceal their natural authentic selves (how they talk, act, and really think) to get hired, it is because of assimilationist racist ideas, programs, and policies rooted in whiteness. it is well for readers to be reminded that assimilationism, though a more sanitized, less overt version of racist ideas, is still a racist perspective. in order for us to move from racist ideas to anti-racist action it is first important to distinguish between assimilationism and anti-racism. but what is an anti-racist? kendi offers a definition of an anti-racist person that is parallel to his definition of a racist: “one who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea” (p. 14). readers who believe that racist ideas came before racist policies will be surprised with kendi’s assertion that “when someone discriminates against a person in a racial group, they are carrying out a policy or taking advantage of the lack of a protective policy” (p. 19). the focus on racist policy and racist policymakers (the few with the power to enact policy) rather than racial discrimination is the heart of how to be an anti-racist. while kendi uses a lot of narratives and examples to illustrate both racist thoughts and the relative anti-racist approach, the lack of enough explicit recommendations on how to take action to be an anti-racist is one of the book’s weaknesses. although examples of anti-racist approaches are peppered throughout the chapters, i wished that the author had focused more on examples of taking actions against anti-racist policies which are a crucial part of his working definition of being racist/anti-racist. chapter 17 (“success”) does offer a handful of examples from his experience, such as “seizing a policymaking position, joining an anti-racist organization or protest ... [p]ublicly donating my time or privately donating my funds to anti-racist policymakers, organizations, and protests fixated on changing power and policy” (p. 226); it does not feel like enough for a book with such an impactful title. but perhaps it is a symptom of our culture that 147 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how to be an antiracist the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36308 we want immediate answers (“how to”s) to solve problems. nonetheless, what kendi provides is a good introduction to the nuances of racism and its anti-racism counterpart. i liked kendi’s dislike of the term “microaggression” and his refusal to use this sanitized term as it minimizes the damaging effects on people (“distress, anger, worry, depression, anxiety, pain, fatigue, and suicide” (p. 47)). “racist abuse”, instead, is the term used to highlight the racial violence (death by a thousand cuts) regularly experienced by racialized people. only zerotolerance policies will prevent and punish racist abusers (p. 47). this book is based on kendi’s experience as an african american cis gender male, middle classed academic. as such, the text does not explore in much detail the intersections of other identities such as ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, dis/ability and social class from those respective experiences. nonetheless, kendi does explore his experience with some of these intersections through the chapters on “gender” (gender racism and gender anti-racism), “sexuality” (queer racism and queer anti-racism) and “ethnicity” (ethnic racism and ethnic anti-racism), but these are through his lens. this book helps the reader understand the different permutations of racism (from behavioral racism, spatial racism, colorism, and classist racism) in our society and what they look like to understand what the antithesis of these racist thoughts and actions are. kendi’s work is very accessible to both academic and lay readers and is not considered an excessive scholarly treatment of race, racism, and anti-racism. this is quite welcome as the absence of parenthetical citations to interrupt reading flow makes this work an easy and enjoyable read. instead, an extensive list of references and citations, organized by chapter, are provided at the end of the book. to be anti-racist, an understanding of the different types of racism enacted in society and the various permutations is first needed. while how to be an antiracist does not focus on galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (glams), it does offer the potential for international readers to understand the subtle nuances of racist ideas, which on the surface may appear to be innocuous, but when examined using kendi’s definitions and detailed explanations, are revealed for the racist ideas they are. an important message, taken from kendi’s journey, is that you will make mistakes on this journey. a person on their journey to being anti-racist will make mistakes and struggle, as kendi does point out his own racist mistakes and assumptions (see chapter 16, “failure”). a fear of failure is a very real barrier to anti-racist work. readers will feel reassured with kendi’s view that being racist and anti-racist is not a fixed state, and that “what we say about race, what we do about race, in each moment determines what—not who—we are” (p. 10). after reading this work, white allies will be challenged to think about why they want to be allies. if it is to not be racist, then kendi finds this problematic. true allyship means doing the work (learning from a book such as this) and striving to be anti-racist, not just to be not racist. this book will challenge all readers to re-examine their understanding of race, racism, and antiracism, but ultimately to identify and recognize racist ideas, racial inequity, and racial policies in order to challenge said policies. this book is highly recommended for all to read and to acquire for their library collection. 148 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how to be an antiracist the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36308 norda bell (nordam@yorku.ca) is an associate librarian at york university libraries. she is subject specialist for social work, human rights and equity studies, and linguistics & applied linguistics. her current research focus is on diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) and professional development within libraries, as well as critical librarianship. she also serves as the book review editor for the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi). 149 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:nordam@yorku.ca microsoft word 2016 cork, jaeger, jette, ebrahimoff updated.docx the politics of (dis)information: crippled america, the 25th anniversary of the americans with disabilities act (ada), and the 2016 u.s. presidential campaign authors stephanie cork, university of maryland paul t. jaeger, university of maryland shannon jette, university of maryland stefanie ebrahimoff, long island university brooklyn abstract politics—especially presidential campaigns—are an important means by which to examine the values and issues that are given priority by members of a society and the people who wish to be leaders of that society. the issues discussed in a campaign and the ways in which they are discussed reveal much about social attitudes and policy goals. in the past 20 years, information and communication technologies have simultaneously become central policy issues at the national level (access, privacy, security, etc.) and the main channels by which candidates engage their supporters (twitter, facebook, youtube, etc.). this paper examines the dual roles of information and communication technologies in the 2016 presidential campaign in the united states through the lens of disability issues. this particular focus was driven by the occurrence of the 25th anniversary of the american with disabilities act (ada) during the first year of the campaign and, more significantly, the intersection of disability, information, and technology being a major civil rights issue for people with disabilities, who represent nearly one-fifth of the population of the united states. this study collected and analyzed campaign materials about disability issues released online by selected presidential campaigns, as well as news stories and other related web content, to better understand the issues related to disability being discussed in the campaign and the implications of those issues for people with disabilities. keywords: information and communications technologies (icts), disability, policy, presidential election, media the politics of (dis)information international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 2 introduction: information politics 2016 nformation issues are so embedded in our daily lives that they are often key aspects of political debates and campaigns in terms of both the content of political campaigns and usage of information technology by political campaigns. these issues are often not framed as information issues, but instead many separate issues of privacy, security, social media, big data, net neutrality, and many other pieces of larger information challenges and problems (jaeger, paquette, & simmons, 2010). information issues have also become increasingly politicized in recent years—primarily as information and communication technologies (icts) have become omnipresent parts of daily lives—as evidenced by the fact that debates and proposed policies related to information by candidates have clear partisan objectives, often extending far beyond the information issues (jaeger, 2007, 2009). as such, information issues have simultaneously become a part of political platforms and means for politicians to accomplish their policy and political goals. reflecting this growing importance of information and icts, presidential campaigns have also changed dramatically in their use of information to reach targeted audiences and control their messages. not that many years ago, presidential campaigns struggled with even the basic usage of the internet, from bob dole mangling his own website address in 1996 to al gore claiming credit for creating the internet in 2000 to former president george w. bush’s bafflement at “the google” and “the internets” (klotz, 2004). president barack obama’s campaign in 2008, however, dramatically changed the relationship between major campaigns and the internet, at least in the united states. while his opponent—senator john mccain—dealt with information issues only peripherally and maintained only a limited online presence, obama emphasized information issues as key parts of his economic, infrastructure, and innovation plans, and his campaign maintained a large online presence though facebook, myspace, youtube, twitter, and flickr, sent over 1 billion emails, and coordinated and organized tens of thousands of campaign activities online (jaeger et al., 2010). now, presidential campaigns in the united states need a significant online presence to even get started, with most fundraising occurring online and many campaigns even announcing the start of the campaign online. the power of social media to reach interested potential supporters and to harness the funds and time of current supporters has grown so significantly that campaigns are able to draw supporters with much less reliance on traditional means, such as television and radio advertisements. additionally, candidates can more easily construct a narrative for their campaign and continually reinforce it with their supporters. one of the reasons that the 2016 primary season was able to support an unprecedented number of contenders for so long is that social media now allows many more candidates to stay engaged with their supporters (however small their numbers may be) without the need to rely on traditional media for continued exposure. in the vastly changed media landscape for presidential campaigns, the process of following the campaign platforms and messages has also changed. platforms and position papers have given way to a reliance on more fluid messaging through social media channels—twitter, youtube, instagram, and many others—that focuses directly on i the politics of (dis)information international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 3 continual contact with their supporters. the new sea of opportunities to reach supporters clearly also offers candidates the ability to address a wider range of issues in depth, should they choose. however, many candidates are instead using the multiple channels to simply repeat the same messages or connect with supporters in non-political ways, perhaps most bizarrely evidenced by the videos posted by the ted cruz campaign of their candidate doing hapless impressions of characters from the simpsons (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k0srkvx4ke) or making “machine gun bacon” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eazgajrd3x8). disability in 2016 presidential discourse in order to explore the limitless new information world of presidential campaigns and its impact on policies, this study examines the ways in which the campaigns addressed the issue of disability. disability has been present throughout known history; it is a natural part of the human condition (scheer & groce, 1998). yet, it has also been a focus of exclusion, hostility, and bigotry, with it usually being seen as a “self-evident truth” in societies that people with disabilities are outsiders (johnson, 2006, p. 54). the othering of people with disabilities has often been a political issue, with many societies basing their discrimination of people with disabilities on popular acclaim from the public, resulting in policies including sterilization, institutionalization, deportation, and even execution of people with disabilities (campbell, 2009; hahn, 1988; jaeger & bowman, 2005; hirschmann & linker, 2015). disability affects the lives of nearly one-fifth of people in the world, reflecting the natural variations of all living beings. their social distancing is one of the central challenges for people with disabilities in achieving equality and equal participation in society (jaeger, 2012, 2013; jaeger & bowman, 2005). people with disabilities provoke “a kind of panic both internal and external” and are thus confronted by their home societies with discomfort, awkwardness, feigned concern, inspiration, pity, sympathy, sentimentality, indifference, hostility, and gratitude at not having a disability (stiker, 1999, p. 9). these reactions are all forms of emphasizing the otherness of disability (swain, french, & cameron, 2003; thomas, 1982; vash & crewe, 2004). a range of studies have revealed that this emphasis on otherness directly results in the distancing of people with disabilities from people without disabilities in a wide array of social contexts (horne & ricardi, 1988). “for most people, ‘it goes without saying’ that they are human beings. for disabled people in many historical contexts ‘it has to be said’” (hughes, 2007, p. 677). overall, the ways in which disability issues were expressed during the 2016 u.s. presidential election cycle were ableist, ignoring the needs of, and at the direct expense of, people with disabilities. however, political processes have also been the primary means through which people with disabilities have gained the rights that they now possess (colker, 2005; downey, 2008; jaeger, 2012, 2013). the focus on disability issues in this particular campaign was driven by several factors. first, 2015 marked the 25th anniversary of the passage of the americans with disabilities act (ada), which mandated inclusion and equal participation for people with disabilities (mental and physical) in many aspects of society, including government, commerce, education, travel, and entertainment. it is an important anniversary of one of the more profound pieces of civil rights legislation in world history. this law, and its significant the politics of (dis)information international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 4 consequences for persons with disabilities, has been widely and rightly celebrated for making america a more just and fair place; many nations around the world have modeled their own disability rights laws directly on the ada. as a consequence of the importance of icts in education, employment, communication, civic participation, and much else, equity of access to icts and to online information is a major civil rights issue for people with disabilities under the ada and other laws (jaeger, 2012, 2013). second, people with disabilities are the largest minority group in the united states and thus are a huge portion of the electorate. recent numbers from the census bureau suggest that 54.4 million americans have a disability—which is 18.7% of the overall population—and, in part due to an aging population, the number of individuals with some type of disability is anticipated to grow (brault, 2010). their outcomes, including in health, employment, and education, are far worse when compared to the rest of the population. recent statistics show that persons with disabilities of working (and voting) age (between 15 and 64) have much lower graduation and workforce participation rates compared to their non-disabled peers. while only a small percentage have less than a high school diploma, those with a bachelor’s degree or higher stands at only 13.5% for severe disability and 23.6% for non-severe disability, compared to 34.1% of the nondisabled population (stoddard, 2014, p. 22). similarly, people with disabilities have much lower levels of digital literacy and access to the internet or a broadband connection than the rest of society (jaeger, 2012). these differences have a direct impact on labor force participation, which has declined from 39.1% to 33.9% between 2008 and 2013 (stoddard, 2014, p. 16). though there has been a similar decline within non-disabled populations (from 77.7% in 2009 to 74.2% in 2013), these rates continue to be exaggerated for those with severe or multiple disabilities (colker, 2005; jaeger, 2013). this population also shows extreme health disparities and is overrepresented in obesity and chronic illnesses rates, beyond the disability diagnosis (krahn, klein walker, & correa-de-araujo, 2015). with rising rates of unemployment, especially for blue-collar factory jobs, more and more out-of-work individuals are relying on disability insurance for survival. this leads some to suggest that “disability is the new welfare” (weissman, 2015). though these are complex issues, they demonstrate the multiple challenges with disability that candidates could address through topics like federal spending on labor, health, and education. addressing issues of disability would seemingly be an important way to connect with voters with disabilities, as well as to educate other voters about important disability rights issues. third, disability issues are strongly tied to information technologies, including the internet and social media. people with disabilities have the lowest levels of internet and broadband access of any population in the united states as a result of a range of technical and socioeconomic factors (jaeger, 2012, 2013). while internet technologies, mobile devices, and social media offer enormous opportunities to promote inclusion of people with disabilities, these technologies are often not designed to be usable by people with sensory, cognitive, and mobility impairments (lazar & jaeger, 2011; wentz, jaeger, & lazar, 2011). for persons with disability, access to relevant information affects not only their participation within the political process but can also impact their health, education, and employment outcomes (krahn et al., 2015). a focus on disability issues by a the politics of (dis)information international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 5 campaign could support persons with disabilities and educate other voters by addressing the intersection between icts and disability rights. finally, and most curiously, lived personal experience with health issues—though not actual disabilities—is an undercurrent in the presidential campaign for several candidates. former arkansas governor mike huckabee has built his campaign narrative around his struggles with obesity and diabetes, while former new jersey governor chris christie’s obesity was a far more significant and a recurring issue for his candidacy. christie also spoke about addiction openly as a campaign issue. some republicans have tried to call attention to former secretary of state hillary clinton’s fitness for the presidency after suffering a concussion in 2014. while none of these examples seemingly rise to the level of a catastrophic hindrance in the ability to govern, even the false accusation or implication of some disability has heavily shaped the outcomes of presidential elections as recently as the 1988 election (dukakis, 2014). rumors of mental health issues sent the poll numbers of the former massachusetts governor michael dukakis, the democratic presidential nominee, plummeting. when reflecting on this incident at the presidential disability and succession symposium in 2013, dukakis argued that this was one of the reasons he lost the campaign to the republican candidate, former president ronald reagan. more recently, in a 2014 gubernatorial race, the issue of disability became a central theme to the campaign. texas governor greg abbott, a wheelchair user, made his recovery from having his spine broken in an accident a central part of his campaign narrative. he was accused of being insufficiently supportive of disability rights and insufficiently disabled by his non-disabled opponent, senator wendy davis. she ran an ad (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lush7tzb860) that claimed abbott spent “his career working against other victims” and seemed to mock him for seeking damages for his injury. the washington post labeled it “one of the nastiest campaign ads you will ever see” (blake, 2014), and the ad significantly changed the race by greatly increasing support for abbott, who won the governorship with a margin of victory of more than 20 percentage points (root, 2014; montgomery, 2014; wilson, 2014). this 2014 texas race in some ways seems to give more incentive to address disability issues, as perceived attacks on disability were treated very negatively by voters in that state. methodology given this complex backdrop of icts and disability storylines (both overt and subtle), in this study we pursued the following questions: • how did the rhetoric of disability inform the current presidential race and how was it expressed to voters? • were disability rights—especially issues of access to information and icts— even seen (overtly) on the agenda of the candidates? • what was the role of social media and other information channels in spreading messages about disability by the campaigns? though these are general questions, they helped frame our search for relevant online campaign materials. further, these questions help confront the cultural ableism that seemed to permeate the campaigns for both democratic and republican candidates. the politics of (dis)information international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 6 the online presence of a political campaign is now a central means by which a campaign defines its message, disseminates policy stances, reaches supporters, raises funds, recruits new supporters, and organizes support so that it turns into actual votes. analyzing the online presence of a campaign at the national level reveals a great deal about the policy priorities of each of the candidates and about the perceived priorities of the electorate as a whole, as well as the use of online information and communication and icts to reach voters (jaeger et al., 2010). for this paper, our analysis was based on data scraped from candidate websites and social media presence for a one-week period from october 9 through october 15, 2015. in our examination of the confluence of presidential campaigns, information, and disability, the two key areas of focus were the information issues raised by the candidates’ presentations of disability and the linguistic engagement with disability, or lack thereof. the material analyzed included the official websites, social media feeds, and other candidate statements available online, as well as searching for the candidate’s name and the terms “disability” and “disabled” in search engines. given the unusual size of the field of contenders in the two major parties at the time of the data collection, we focused on the online presences of candidates leading in the polls and/or in fundraising at the time of the data collection. a field of 22 candidates—few with any real chance of election— necessitated narrowing the pool to those that seemed most likely to have electoral success based on polls and fundraising. as such, secretary hilary clinton and senator bernie sanders of new hampshire were selected from the democratic side for leading both polls and fundraising, while for the republican side, donald trump and dr. ben carson were selected for their then coleadership in the polls and governors jeb bush of florida and scott walker of wisconsin were selected for their fundraising successes. the limitations of fundraising as selection criteria were revealed shortly thereafter when walker had to drop out of the race not for lack of money but for lack of support. findings overall, disability—in spite of the reasons that it might be a significant issue, as detailed above—seems to have been mostly ignored in the 2016 u.s. presidential campaign. the majority of mentions our searches identified were as passing references in discussions of health care or veterans’ issues. four (trump, carson, bush, and walker) of the official online presences—websites, social media, and other channels—of the candidates studied did not mention disability at all beyond a minimal presence in these other contexts. however, two (clinton and sanders) of the official online presences discussed disability as an issue of policy and rights at length. beyond the official online presence, the information found in the secondary searching was helpful in some sense because it gave light to news articles and other related articles about what these candidates have to say—if anything—about disability. however, many of these news articles were from local papers, blog posts, or obscure websites, so whatever comments about disability were made in these interviews likely only reached a small population, specifically only people who are actively searching for this information or the politics of (dis)information international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 7 people living in that town or city who might read these articles. even in these more localized stories, the appearances of disability were primarily limited to discussions of health care or veterans’ issues. the overall impression is that most of the candidates have a vague awareness that people with disabilities exist, but not that any policy issues or actions might be relevant to their existence. perhaps most surprisingly, with the exception of one candidate (clinton), at the time of our analysis the ada was not even mentioned in the official online presence of any of the candidates studied. perhaps least surprisingly, the democratic candidates discussed disability issues far more. on the republican side, three of the four candidates studied offered virtually nothing about disability issues in their official online presences. dr. ben carson mentioned disability issues the least of any of the candidates. disability was not mentioned on his campaign website and was not found to be a part of his official online presence in any other way, and no mention of it appeared in the searches of other sources online. this lack of discussion seems to be rather incongruous with his background as a neurosurgeon who rose to fame after separating twins who were conjoined at the skull (terris & kirchner, 2015). yet, disability issues apparently do not come up in his position papers, speeches, or interviews. jeb bush and scott walker had similar online footprints related to disability—local, small stories in their home states during their tenure as governor (walker current and bush 1999–2007). these stories did not reveal broader positions or policies; rather, they detailed specific events that somehow related to disability issues. in their official online presences, the closest either came to a statement about disability in terms of policy or rights was jeb bush. bush’s official campaign site did explicitly include disabled veterans as part of a stated policy emphasis on improving services and healthcare opportunities for veterans in the united states. donald trump’s official campaign website placed a significant emphasis on fixing the “broken” mental health system. other than that policy issue, however, disability as an issue of rights or policy has not been a notable part of the official trump campaign presence. instead, trump has relied on his conservative scare tactics and his over-the-top rhetoric surrounding people with disabilities, which continues to garner a great amount of attention in the news media and online. the main engagement of the trump campaign with disability has been confrontational and insulting through direct statements from the candidate. his blatant mocking of the physical disability of new york times reporter serge kovaleski in november 2015 gained a great amount of attention and condemnation. trump imitated kovaleski’s body language in a “jerky fashion” (“trump ‘mocks,’” 2015), claiming that he “felt sorry for the guy,” though he denied this despicable behavior in spite of recorded evidence. trump also mocked charles krauthammer, a columnist with a disability, during an interview on october 12, 2015, while the data collection for this study was happening (holger, 2015). trump took aim at krauthammer’s status as a wheelchair user in an attempt to undermine the pulitzer prize winning author’s criticisms of him. further, trump has linked gun control issues to mental illness and has continued to discuss individuals with mental illness as the problem, an argument echoed by ben the politics of (dis)information international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 8 carson (vitali, 2015). both republican candidates, because of their support of the second amendment, view gun violence as a failing of the mental health system and decry access to firearms for people with disabilities. instead of attempting to impose limits on all citizens, both candidates locate the issue with “dangerous” or “sick” individuals (cbn news, 2015). this perpetuates a false comprehension of gun violence and does not facilitate an understanding of weapon use and abuse as a systemic issue in the united states, but rather exaggerates and pathologizes those with mental illness as inherently violent. the ada clearly delineates the needs of those with disabilities in regards to physical and mental impairments, which perhaps demonstrates both candidates’ lack of familiarity with the rights of individuals under the banner of “disability.” many other examples of trump using abusive and degrading language related to disability can readily be found in interviews and columns, and he even released a campaign book entitled crippled america (trump, 2015) in which he bemoans the state of america and promises to make the country “great again.” what remains clear is that the rhetoric of disability plays an important role in the campaign and informs the ableist information that republican candidates are putting forward to their constituents. in one sense, these statements can be viewed as part of trump’s overall campaign of insults and denigration of others, including women, immigrants, latinos, african americans, muslims, the overweight, and nursing mothers, among others. however, the washington post, along with many other commentators, has noted that all of trump’s statements disparaging others have been “calculated to inflame and exploit voter fears and prejudice” (washington post, 2015, p. a16). viewed through this perspective, the choice of his book title—a word considered a slur against people with disabilities—demonstrates a heightened level of denigration of people with disabilities by belittling this population in such a prominent manner. on the democratic side, in stark contrast, both candidates studied put a great deal more emphasis on disability as an issue of policy and rights in their campaigns. hillary clinton’s campaign website included aspirational social goals related to disability as part of the campaign focus on expanding opportunities for all americans. it includes the clear statement that “we should acknowledge how the disabilities community has played such an important role in changing things for the better in our country” (hillary for america, 2016a). her official campaign site and other statements from her campaign emphasize this commitment to working and fighting for the rights of americans with disabilities, frequently noting the importance of the ada. the focus on the value and contributions of the ada is particularly notable in clinton’s online presence. the campaign even released a policy paper about disability issues (hillary for america, 2016b). most interestingly, the campaign established an entire facebook page dedicated to discussing the candidate’s commitment to and previous work related to disability issues and to providing a forum for her supporters with disabilities to discuss the impacts of her efforts on their lives (https://www.facebook.com/pwds4hillary). this page also included a video of hillary supporters both able-bodied and disabled in the women 4 hillary campaign. in this way, hillary’s campaign perhaps indicated some nuance looking to the intersection of disability and gender, though the general level of engagement was superficial and did not confront any of the actual issues this populations faces. the politics of (dis)information international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 9 the other main democratic candidate, bernie sanders, also devoted considerable attention to disability as an issue of policy and rights. his campaign website featured a detailed section on civil and equal rights for people with disabilities (feelthebern.org, 2016) that both addressed disability issues as issues of civil rights and provided resources to learn more about the issues that were discussed. his official campaign presence also addressed disability issues as part of discussions of universal healthcare, women’s health issues, homelessness, and healthcare for veterans. like bush and walker, materials can readily be found from his interactions with disability as a state-level public official. unlike the bush and walker materials, however, they feature clear statements about his support of disability rights and opposition to cuts in disability-related support and funding. “crippled america”? or two americas? the culture of ableism seems, like the ada itself, to be a bipartisan issue. whether through overt slurs against persons with disabilities (republicans) or a lack of voice on this issue (democrats), it seems that people with disabilities as a minority population were mostly rendered invisible during this campaign. though both democratic candidates attempted to include some general information on disability rights, nowhere do they link informational access to larger issues of disability advocacy and justice. as such, though the democratic candidates might seem to engage with this population, they have not taken this group seriously as a necessary voting bloc and attempts to reach out were superficial, even tokenistic. unlike campaigns catered to other minority populations, including women, african american, latino, hispanic, sikh, and muslim groups, neither democratic candidate has taken a stand for or with this group. however, the approach to disability that sanders and clinton propose is much “safer” than the dangerous comments made by carson and trump. therefore, one wonders whether there is fear about disability, as candidates remain relatively silent when it comes to confronting these issues head-on. perhaps the events of the 2014 texas gubernatorial campaign have made overt discussions surrounding issues of disability taboo (wilson, 2014). the ubiquity of ableist terminology in american politics demonstrates the undercurrent of discrimination that comes to the surface at election time. disability has historically been positioned as a justification for education and employment discrimination as well as limiting immigration (fleischer & zames, 2001; hirschmann & linker, 2015; scotch, 2001). though the ada, along with other major disability rights laws such as sections 504 and 508 of the rehabilitation act and the individuals with disabilities education act (idea), were meant to change the attitudes and material resources allocated to people with disabilities, there continues to be a problematic silence around these issues. even the passage of laws promoting disability rights is often insufficient to lead directly to a practical increase in those rights. after the passage of both the rehabilitation act and idea, for example, three presidents avoided implementing the laws until a series of protests and occupations of government buildings led to president jimmy carter’s administration finally making the laws a reality (fleischer & zames, 2001; scotch, 2001). the cultural acceptance of this ableism seems to be commonplace in this presidential race but is also exacerbated by trump’s extremist politics. though it is argued that such manifestations are just words, the continued disenfranchisement of people with disabilities the politics of (dis)information international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 10 in america shows a need to recognize that there are power dynamics embedded within this process (price, 2011; cohen-rottenberg, 2015). these ideological issues therefore need to be addressed if material change is to occur. unless candidates pay more attention to this group through increasing online engagement and new policies intended to promote inclusion and access for persons with disabilities, this is a voting bloc that will remain ignored. key lessons and conclusions what is clear is that all the candidates missed an opportunity to connect with and give voice to people with disabilities through social media and missed an opportunity to educate about disability issues. though clinton and sanders have given some attention to disability, there is seemingly no mention of the ada turning 25. even the more comprehensive disability-focused sites launched by each of the democratic campaigns since the data collection for this study (friends of bernie sanders, 2016 and hillary for america, 2016b) neglect the ada milestone. the bipartisan efforts to put this piece of legislation into effect in 1990 are apparently a lost chance to educate about disability history and celebrate civil rights for people with disabilities. candidate avoidance, ignorance, or disinterest about the issues confronting people with disabilities across the nation parallels the initial resistance to implementing disability rights legislation (scotch, 2001). on the flipside is the dangerous and damaging rhetoric and politics related to disability from trump and other republicans. while carson and trump took aim at mental illness in relation to gun control, trump himself has been clear in his discriminatory rhetoric toward all persons with disabilities. without any knowledge about the real issues facing people with disabilities in the united states, the education, labor, healthcare, economic, and other barriers faced by this population will continue to be ignored. throughout recorded history, disability has been associated with evil, with threats, and with death (jaeger & bowman, 2005), and the discussion of mental illness as the driver of gun violence shows that persons with disabilities continue to be seen as dangerous. like the book crippled america, the country is characterized as being susceptible to an invisible disabled threat. the only way that candidates respond to this real issue is through damaging rhetoric or superficial engagement. ableist language and the increased (in)visibility of disability as a minority group acts as a method to erase the “problem” of disability, relegating these civil rights needs to specialized services. in spite of legal frameworks that establish civil rights for individuals with disabilities in the united states, the individual experience can be much more complicated. disability issues are translated into areas such as veterans affairs or the healthcare system. this is related to the ways in which disability has been historically understood through american policy systems: “the term ‘disability’ has varying meaning in at least three different contexts: in the workers’ compensation program “disability means the damages that one person collects from another as an insult or injury. in the social security disability insurance program, disability refers to a condition that links ill health the politics of (dis)information international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 11 and unemployment. and in the context of civil rights laws, ‘disability’ is linked to discrimination” (fleischer & zames, 2001, p. 110).” however, this entire nuance was lost within the republican and democratic views on disability, whether absent, superficial, or damaging; it is clear that more needs to be done to address the needs of this population. online information and communication and icts—if accessible—offer people with disabilities considerable opportunities for increased involvement in education, employment, civic engagement, and much else. a presidential campaign occurring in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the ada offered a unique opportunity to educate voters about continuing disability issues directly through online channels. instead of ignoring these issues or only addressing them superficially, candidates need to be pressured, on both sides, to address the needs of people with disabilities. equity of access to information and icts will be pivotal in this engagement, instead of empty and damaging rhetoric, to advocate for the full inclusion of voters with disability. for disability issues to become a stronger presence in the debate on both sides of the political aisle, voters, including those with disabilities, need to loudly voice their concern about these issues to the candidates through multiple online channels. engagement of voters with disabilities was seen to a small degree as the election closed in fall of 2016. the washington post reported that voters with disabilities—in response to the silence on disability rights and issues within the election cycle—used the twitter hashtag #cripthevote to bring more attention to their issues (gibson, 2016). according to the post coverage, the campaign effort was non-partisan, the goal being not to endorse a particular candidate, but rather to encourage all candidates to listen to this large and diverse minority population and recognize them as a voting bloc. other disability-related organizations such as rooted in rights, disability thinking, and the respectability report pushed voters with disability to use social media to make their voices heard. disability thinking coordinated “the first two” #cripthevote twitter chats before the democratic (thursday, february 11) and republican (saturday, february 13) debates (disability thinking, 2016). these examples show the central role that icts are playing in creating momentum for voters with disabilities regardless of their political affinities. the way that the candidates engage with these grassroots online campaigns is essential in fostering a more inclusive presidential campaign. icts and the rhetoric around disability are not only pressing civil rights issues for people with disabilities now, but will also continue to have an impact with the aging population in the united states. disability rights are both human rights and a practical issue for many voters, and a clear display of widespread support for addressing these issues may be the only thing that will change the ways it was addressed in the 2016 presidential race. epilogue the revisions of this paper were being completed during the final weeks of the presidential campaign. in that time, accusations were brought forward that donald trump had repeatedly used slurs (including “retarded”) to describe the oscar-winning actress marlee matlin, who is deaf, when she appeared on trump’s celebrity apprentice the politics of (dis)information international journal on information, diversity and inclusion, vol. 1, 2016 publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ 12 television program several years earlier. matlin has spoken out against this “abhorrent” term, though the accusations of its usage have been neither confirmed nor denied (deerwester, 2016). at the same time, hillary clinton’s campaign began airing a commercial that was a testimonial from the mother of a child with autism, who explains that she normally votes republican but cannot imagine her son living in a country where a man who disparages people with disabilities is president (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67z8a2jo4wg&feature=youtu.be). then came the election itself. with so many groups being described disparagingly by the trump campaign, it is impossible to know if his discriminatory statements about people with disabilities was particularly helpful in garnering the votes he received. however, the negative comments about people with disabilities were a central part of a narrative of exclusion that appealed to enough voters to win the presidency. similarly, one can certainly wonder whether clinton’s decision to directly and loudly associate her candidacy with supporting people with disabilities through a prominent commercial proved to be a harmful decision. many things may have turned voters away from clinton, and this commercial might be among the factors. many people have commented on the disheartening nature of the 2016 presidential campaign for myriad reasons. for people with disabilities, in particular, the rhetoric of the election and its eventual outcome are far from reassuring about their status and acceptance in society, raising significant questions about the portrayals and treatment of disability in years to come. sadly, future candidates may look to this election and decide that negative and exclusionary portrayals of people with disabilities are a winning campaign issue. references blake, a. 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(2014, october 19). greg abbott “disappointed” by wendy davis’s wheelchair ad. washington post. retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/10/19/greg-abbottdisappointed-by-wendy-daviss-wheelchair-ad/ rethinking representation: indigenous peoples and contexts at the university of alberta libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ rethinking representation: indigenous peoples and contexts at the university of alberta libraries sharon farnel, university of alberta, canada denise koufogiannakis, university of alberta, canada sheila laroque, university of alberta, canada ian bigelow, university of alberta, canada anne carr-wiggin, university of alberta, canada debbie feisst, university of alberta, canada kayla lar-son, university of alberta, canada abstract appropriate subject access and descriptive practices within library and information science are social justice issues. standards that are well established and commonly used in academic libraries in canada and elsewhere, including library of congress subject headings (lcsh) and library of congress classification (lcc), continue to perpetuate colonial biases toward indigenous peoples. in the fall of 2016, the university of alberta libraries (ual) established a decolonizing description working group (ddwg) to investigate, define, and propose a plan of action for how descriptive metadata practices could more accurately, appropriately, and respectfully represent indigenous peoples and contexts. the ddwg is currently beginning the implementation of recommendations approved by ual’s strategic leadership team. in this paper we describe the genesis of the ddwg within the broader context of the libraries’ and the university’s responses to the truth and reconciliation commission of canada’s calls to action; outline the group’s activities and recommendations; and describe initial steps toward the implementation of those recommendations, with a focus on engaging local indigenous communities. we reflect on the potential impact of revised descriptive practices in removing many of the barriers that indigenous communities and individuals face in finding and accessing library materials relevant to their cultures and histories. keywords: cataloguing; decolonization; inclusive description; information ethics; metadata publication type: research article introduction and background tate-sponsored apologies and truth and reconciliation commissions (trcs) are a worldwide phenomenon, as has been the experience of colonialism. it is important to contextualize canada’s trc within this global phenomenon. as highlighted by corntassel and holder (2008), there have been upwards of 24 truth commissions examining the situations of indigenous peoples globally. while one may assume a global phenomenon would be beneficial for indigenous people everywhere, outcomes have been varied and have not always been considered successful. this is partly due to these reconciliation processes being tied to a state-sponsored structure. in order for reconciliation processes to be truly authentic, there needs to be “not only a forgiveness s http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ of the past but shared strategies for moving forward collectively to decolonize existing relationships” (corntassel & holder, 2008, p. 469). alberta is home to many diverse indigenous communities, including blackfoot (niitsítapi); cree (nêhiyaw); dene tha’ (dene); dene suliné (chipewyan); dunne-za (beaver); nakoda (stoney); saulteaux (anishinaabe); and the tsuu t’ina, who are part of the blackfoot confederacy but are historically from the north. there are 45 first nations in three treaty areas (treaties 6, 7, and 8) as well as other groups that have not signed treaties, such as the aseniwuche winewak nation. the most commonly spoken first nations languages are blackfoot, cree (which has several dialects but mainly plains cree; some woods cree is spoken in alberta), chipewyan, dene, sarcee, and stoney (nakoda sioux). métis people live throughout the province, including in the métis settlements. in alberta the indigenous languages spoken by métis people include cree and michif. alberta is also home to many inuit people, and many of them speak the traditional language of inuktitut. of course, many first nations, métis, and inuit people live in urban areas as well as in traditional communities. it is within this global context of trcs and state-led apologies, in what has become known by some as the “age of apology” (corntassel & holder, 2008, p. 467), that canadian institutions of higher education find themselves responding to our trc’s calls to action. the purpose of the trc was to investigate what happened in the canadian residential school system for indigenous children removed from their homes and placed into residential schools. many of these schools were government funded and church operated, with the intention of “civilizing” and assimilating indigenous children and eliminating indigenous cultures (truth and reconciliation commission of canada, 2015b). in this school setting, students were forbidden to speak their languages and practice their cultures. all too many students suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of school staff, and the death rate for indigenous children in residential schools was substantially higher than that for the general canadian population (truth and reconciliation commission of canada, 2015b). these schools began operating in the 19th century, and the last one did not close until 1996. it should be noted that the canadian trc was not part of a state-sponsored event, but rather a class-action lawsuit by survivors and the independent assessment process (iap) that resulted from this legal action. in addition, institutions are now responding to calls to action rather than recommendations. as outlined by lightfoot (2015), one reason previous trcs have not been successful is that “there is no reexamination or reordering of the underlying institutions and thought processes that made such atrocities possible in the first place” (p. 29). the final report of the trc of canada, including 94 calls to action, was released in 2015. these calls to action focus on the educational system, as it has contributed to the negative relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples in canada, and on the ways that the educational system can contribute to the work of reconciliation. in this paper we describe the genesis of the decolonizing description working group (ddwg) of the university of alberta libraries (ual), whose purpose was to create more inclusive metadata practices. we describe the genesis of the working group within the broader context of the libraries’ and the university’s response to the calls to action of the trc of canada; outline the group’s activities and recommendations; and describe initial steps toward the implementation of those recommendations, with a focus on engaging local indigenous communities. we reflect on the potential impact of revised descriptive practices in removing many of the barriers that indigenous communities and individuals face in finding and accessing library materials relevant to their cultures and histories. 10 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ the university of alberta response to the truth and reconciliation commission post-secondary educational institutions figure large in the calls to action of the truth and reconciliation commission of canada (2015a) for the important role they can, and must, play in advancing reconciliation in canada. the calls to action include protecting indigenous languages, providing appropriate curricula, and supporting indigenous research. universities canada, a nonprofit national organization that fosters collaboration among canadian universities, governments, and communities to address challenges in higher education, has set out a variety of principles for indigenous education, including recognizing the importance of the indigenization of curricula through responsive academic programming, supporting programs, orientations, and pedagogies; recognizing the value of promoting partnerships among educational and local indigenous communities; and continuing to maintain a collaborative and consultative process on the specific needs of indigenous students (universities canada, 2015). the university of alberta has expressed a commitment to reconciliation with indigenous communities, and its strategic plan, for the public good (university of alberta, 2016), takes seriously the responsibility to respond to the calls to action in the trc report. the university has made a commitment to develop “a thoughtful, respectful, meaningful, and sustainable response to the trc report” (university of alberta, 2017). a significant step forward in honoring that commitment was taken on june 1, 2017, when the university signed a memorandum of understanding with the national centre for truth and reconciliation (turpin, 2017). the university of alberta libraries’ indigenous initiatives libraries, as sites of learning in and of themselves as well as key units within post-secondary institutions, have a responsibility and opportunity to contribute to reconciliation through collaborations and partnerships but also, and perhaps more importantly, through their own initiatives. ual has had a long-standing commitment to working with indigenous communities, for example via the first nations information connection, launched in 2007. through this collaboration, ual has made connections with five first nations colleges in alberta: old sun community college (siksika), red crow community college (kainai), maskwacis cultural college (serving ermineskin, samson, louis bull, and montana first nations), university nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak blue quills (serving beaver lake, cold lake, frog lake, whitefish lake, heart lake, kehewin, and saddle lake first nations), and yellowhead tribal college (serving alexander, alexis nakota sioux, o'chiese, and sunchild first nations). within the context of the trc calls to action, ual has continued to focus on building relationships with indigenous students, staff, and the broader community through a variety of initiatives such as the indigenous internship program, personal librarian program, and the first nations information connection. the indigenous internship program provides an indigenous student with employment in the libraries while pursuing a master’s degree at the university of alberta’s school of library and information studies (carr-wiggin, ball, lar-son, & macleod, 2017). through the personal librarian program (https://library.ualberta.ca/services/personal-librarian), all self-identified first-year aboriginal students have a personal librarian who can help them access the services and resources the libraries offer in support of their academic success. the first nations information connection (http://fnic.sirsi.net) is a collaboration between the university of alberta libraries, the five first nations colleges mentioned previously, and two community resource centers in alberta and involves a shared catalog between the institutions and access to electronic and web resources for students and faculty. 11 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://library.ualberta.ca/services/personal-librarian http://fnic.sirsi.net/ rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ aims while ual has a long history of engaging with indigenous individuals and communities in partnerships, service provision, and professional placements, we recognized that one foundational aspect of our work had yet to be fully interrogated with regard to improving service to our indigenous users: our descriptive practices for all of our collections, including those digitized locally. like most large academic libraries in north america, ual currently relies heavily on library of congress subject headings (lcsh) and library of congress classification (lcc) for subject access to both print and digital collections. while the use of lc standards comes with many recognized advantages, it understandably causes challenges in terms of adequate and appropriate representation of the canadian context. it is vital that all of our users can see themselves appropriately and respectfully represented in our metadata records. however, this is not normally the case, especially with the use of standard vocabularies in describing indigenous peoples and contexts. in order to address this concern, in august 2016, ual formed the decolonizing description working group (ddwg) to investigate, define, and propose a plan of action for how descriptive metadata practices could more accurately, appropriately, and respectfully represent indigenous peoples and contexts. literature review the focus of this literature review is on libraries, with some sources on museums or archives where relevant. resources examined include those that addressed both library catalogs and digital collections as well as efforts in canada, the u.s., australia, and new zealand. this review is meant to gather representative pieces discussing the challenges in describing indigenous peoples and contexts and the initiatives that have been undertaken to address those challenges. this literature can be summarized in several overarching themes. descriptive practices and social justice social justice has many definitions, but according to morales, knowles, and bourg (2014) it is a concept that encompasses more than representation and diversity, and is generally understood to refer to the ability of all people to fully benefit from social and economic progress and to participate equally in de mocratic societies. in other words, social justice addresses power and privilege on a structural level, as well as at the level of mere representation. (p. 440) freedom of information is a core component of social justice, as evidenced by article 19 of the universal declaration of human rights (united nations, 1948), which reads, “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” as buchanan (2004) notes, information professionals have “the potential to adversely affect our increasingly large and diverse clientele by failing to act responsively, fairly, timely, and appropriately” (p. 620), and so it is perhaps not surprising that many in librarianship and allied fields have been drawn to issues of social justice for some time (higgins & gregory, 2013; samek, 2007). all aspects of librarianship have been addressed through the lens of social justice, including collection development (samek, 2007), information literacy (higgins & gregory, 2013), user services (cooke, 2016), cataloging and description (roberto, 2008), and recruitment and 12 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ hiring within the profession (bales, 2017; morales, knowles, & bourg, 2014). appropriate subject access and descriptive practices are social justice issues, whereby accurate, representative, and respectful subject access to indigenous knowledge is a moral imperative for libraries and other knowledge institutions (lougheed, moran, & callison, 2015; moulaison sandy & bossaller, 2016; moulaison sandy & bossaller, 2017). moulaison sandy and bossaller (2017) assess appropriate subject access to resources for, by, and about indigenous peoples according to the theory of cognitive justice, as championed by scholars such as catherine odora hoppers in education and john burgess in library and information science (burgess, 2015). cognitive justice respects all forms of knowledge and argues that they can and should coexist. according to burgess (quoted in moulaison sandy & bossaller, 2017), a cognitively just approach to information science tends to reject the language of universal human rights as following an unrealistic and particularly western notion, and seeks to re place that language with autonomy, dignity, and a ‘commons’ approach to cultural authority...the object is...to promote healing and forgiveness by removing the continued burden of colonialism and legacy thinking. (p. 132) enabling the expression of indigenous worldviews through our descriptive practices and standards is a step toward true reconciliation. henderson (2000) feels that “one task of decolonization is to replace the sameness of universality with the concepts of diversity, complementarities, flexibility, and equity or fundamental fairness” (p. 267). our descriptive standards and practices are at the core of user services and can have a profound impact on those users. scholars and practitioners such as olson (2000, 2002), berman (1971, 2013), roberto (2008), drabinski (2013), and many others have shown us that these tools and practices are not value-neutral. indeed, “the way we categorize materials communicates our biases and judgments to our users and limits the accessibility of information” (baildon et al., 2017), and so it is incumbent on institutions to critically examine the standards and practices they employ in order to revise them in ways that “heal and redistribute the wealth of knowledge in our libraries, archives, and museums” (adler, 2016, p. 639). if institutions are committed to social justice, then they must harness the organization and description of information resources to activism, that is, “reject any notion of neutrality and actively seek ways to remedy the inequities in access to and production of knowledge through categories developed in the guise of a neutral, objective point of view” (adler, 2016, p. 639). representation of indigenous peoples in existing metadata standards and practices the challenges of describing indigenous materials and contexts using existing, inadequate schema are well documented in the information science literature (cherry & mukunda, 2015; chester, 2006; kam, 2007; lee, 2011; martens, 2006; littletree & metoyer, 2015; moulaison sandy & bossaller, 2016; parent, 2015; rigby, 2015; tomren, 2003; turner, 2015; villanueva, 2016). while there may be general agreement on the problems with current systems, there are differing views on the most effective and appropriate means of the addressing them. kam (2007), martens (2006), rigby (2015), and villanueva (2016) argue that existing practices and tools can be revised to better and more respectfully represent indigenous peoples and contexts if there is willingness to change. others, such as cherry and mukunda (2015), chester (2006), lee (2011), littletree and metoyer (2015), and moulaison sandy and bossaller (2016), argue that completely new practices based on indigenous knowledge and worldviews are needed if meaningful change is to 13 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ occur. a related and perhaps more important theme is the need for relationship building in the creation of descriptive metadata in an indigenous context. user-generated content can support reliable subject access through the use of folksonomies, geographic information, or other content provided by working with, and not just for, the communities that produce the knowledge (lougheed, moran, & callison, 2015; moulaison sandy & bossaller, 2016; doyle, lawson, & dupont, 2015). a critical aspect of working with indigenous communities is including those communities in every stage of a project or initiative as true partners and collaborators. social justice and library work are about putting the needs and interests of the community at the heart of the work. they are about engaging with local communities in meaningful and respectful collaborations on an ongoing basis. and they are about “embracing equality and diversity, and focusing on a needs-based service and targeting resources towards those who need them most” (vincent, 2012, p. 350). the decolonizing description working group the working group’s process the decolonizing description working group (ddwg) included ual’s metadata coordinator, cataloguing coordinator, a public service librarian, the coordinator of indigenous initiatives, an indigenous intern (mlis student), as well as the associate university librarian responsible for bibliographic services. over 10 months, the group explored the existing relevant literature, focusing on practical implementations. an environmental scan was undertaken to discover similar initiatives proposed or under way in institutions across canada and to seek opportunities for collaborations and partnerships. an analysis of metadata from the lc’s integrated library system (ils) and local digital/digitized collections was used to estimate the scope of work required to enhance existing metadata and to revise workflows for metadata yet to be created. internal consultations the ddwg consulted with organizations and individuals, both locally and elsewhere in canada, who have been active in initiatives related to appropriate representation of indigenous peoples and contexts. these conversations were designed to provide perspective on opportunities and challenges in addressing this issue as well as to set the stage for potential future collaborations. the group consulted internally with staff in the areas of cataloging, public service, archives, and digital initiatives. other university of alberta stakeholders were kept apprised of ddwg activities through informal channels, such as workshops and networking events at the university, as well as informal conversations with faculty. a small group of students and alumni, both aboriginal and non-aboriginal, were consulted through the use of an informal online survey. potential survey participants were identified through an informal social media posting. once participants gave their approval to participate in the survey, they were emailed a link to the survey. the survey participants were asked questions based on their previous knowledge of the project/working group and their feelings/reactions to potentially changing the lc subject headings that involved aboriginal content. all of the participants but one noted that they would be directly affected by changes to the lc subject headings, and they indicated that they felt changing the lc subject headings was important for decolonization and building reconciliation within ual. one participant indicated that they were not directly affected by the changing of lc subject headings, but they acknowledged that they knew other community 14 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ members would be affected, so the working group mattered to them. external consultations an in-depth conversation was held with colleagues from the university of british columbia (ubc), who have developed and applied several custom vocabularies, such as the first nations house of learning (fnhl) thesaurus and the adapted brian deer classification for use in the xwi7xwa library. at the xwi7xwa library, indigenized knowledge organization is seen as key to effective indigenous information practices, instruction, and research throughout the university. the xwi7xwa library’s catalog is integrated with the ubc library catalog, the xwi7xwa bibliographic database having been mapped to marc (machine-readable cataloguing) format. the xwi7xwa fnhl subject headings are recognized as an authorized thesaurus by the lc, and xwi7xwa staff worked at length with ils vendors to incorporate the subject headings. xwi7xwa staff are interested in sharing their existing work with partners across the country. they had important advice to offer to our group about community consultation, beginning with the work of gene joseph, the first chief librarian of the xwi7xwa library, whose research and consultation privileged indigenous authority. a similar conversation took place on june 6, 2017, with colleagues from the main (manitoba archival information network) lcsh working group (main, 2013), which recommended changes to lcsh to address representation of indigenous peoples and contexts. the main group consulted extensively with indigenous experts to inform their work in developing the modifications to subject headings and offered valuable advice to the ddwg on this activity. in addition, they offered insight into the process of developing a similar list for the alberta and northern contexts relevant to ual. of note, the university of manitoba has, to date, made one large change to their practice, which is to add “indigenous peoples” to relevant records. through informal discussions with library & archives canada (lac) colleagues and lac representatives on the cfla truth and reconciliation committee “red team,” which was charged with examining descriptive practices, the ddwg learned that lac is interested in working collaboratively with communities and other organizations and institutions to revise the canadian subject headings (csh). these are seen as next steps after the release of the cfla truth and reconciliation committee report (canadian federation of library associations, 2017), which occurred on april 24, 2017. the report’s recommendations include a call for libraries, archives, and cultural memory institutions to decolonize access, including cataloging, classification processes, and description. specifically, the report recommends that libraries acknowledge structural biases in existing systems of knowledge organization, make a commitment to integrating indigenous and mainstream knowledges, and engage with indigenous communities to integrate regionally relevant indigenous knowledges into cataloging and metadata. informal conversations with colleagues at ryerson and memorial university of newfoundland also demonstrated that many institutions are or have been pondering work of this nature and would be interested in becoming part of any broader initiatives within canada. from the various conversations, it is clear that there are several activities happening in pockets across the country and that the time may be right for coordinated efforts at the regional level, which could feed into one or more national efforts. 15 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ local data analysis within the descriptive metadata practices currently undertaken at ual that would be impacted by any change to descriptive terminology, there are two main groupings of content: (1) cataloging records within the ils and (2) metadata applied to the institutional repository, archives, and locally digitized collections. cataloging records within the integrated library system as resources are described for use in the ils for the university of alberta (ua) and other members of the neos library consortium (comprised of government, health, college, and university libraries that cooperate to share library resources, technology, collections, and people), the majority of original cataloging (including lcsh assignment) is done with vendor support (bslw, oclc, proquest), and lcsh are applied based on the subject matter of the resource. similarly, ua staff will update headings to meet lcsh standards and for better subject coverage as other record sets are added to the system, and they will perform ongoing maintenance within the ils to keep these headings up to date. automated processes are also used by staff in bibliographic services to maintain subject authorities in concert with information technology services, but a large portion of the work needed to keep authorities up to date is (or will be) managed through authority vendors. it is also worth noting that other access points are used across neos, including mesh, rvm, csh, and fast. figure 1. subject headings by count (ils) based on numbers from june 2017, there are 5,374,506 titles in the ua database and 5,737,330 titles across neos (including ua). the distinction between the ua and neos is important because lcsh terms, as controlled vocabulary, fall under authority control and as such are part of the ua’s responsibility for maintenance across neos. using the list of lcsh identified by the manitoba archival information network (main)–lcsh working group as a point of comparison, 62,459 16 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ records with terms matching those on main’s “delete or replace” list were identified in ual’s ils. more titles likely exist across neos member libraries that would add to this number. moreover, while the main list provides an opportunity to sample impact, other terms could be identified for consideration within the neos database as this project progresses. looking at records with these headings allowed us to examine current usage and think about the approach and workflow for a similar project to substitute and/or remove terms within the ual database. from the 62,459 ual records extracted based on the main headings, 9,149 unique headings associated with the titles were identified (not all of which might be considered problematic), with the most common headings shown in figure 1. metadata applied to the institutional repository, archives, and locally digitized collections ual has substantial collections of locally digitized materials as well as ua and communitygenerated content accessible through local repositories. these collections provide unique challenges as well as opportunities to improve descriptive practices for materials by, about, and for indigenous peoples. two of the largest and most important locally digitized collections are the peel’s prairie provinces collection and the sam steele archive. as an archival collection, sam steele makes limited use of subject headings; those that are used come from lcsh. peel’s prairie provinces makes substantial use of lcsh. based on the main lcsh working group’s heading list, just over 5,000 records were identified in peel and steele that had matching lcsh terms. metadata for these collections are normally created in-house, and we have flexible tools and workflows around these metadata processes. of note is the fact that peel also makes use of additional vocabularies, such as tgm (thesaurus for graphic materials), rvm (répertoire de vedettes-matière), and csh (canadian subject headings). ual has been digitizing materials with the internet archive (ia) for some time, amassing substantial collections, and will be shifting the majority of its digitization to ia in spring 2018. when digitizing collections held by ual, ia uses metadata records from our ils. for those collections digitized by ia that do not make use of records from the ils, existing consultation services and policies provide ual substantial control over the type and nature of metadata applied. as is common in archival practice, the ua archives makes minimal use of subject headings in their descriptive practices. for that reason, review and revision of any existing headings will be straightforward, as vocabularies can be applied as per any ual policies and procedures. perhaps the most complex local collections with respect to revisions to descriptive practices are those within the institutional repository (era) and the newly launched multimedia repository (era a+v). as is common in most institutional repositories, the metadata often come from a variety of sources and conform to different standards. within these repositories, descriptions make use of lcsh and fast (faceted application of subject terminology), as well as usercontributed subject keywords. existing consultation services and policies provide a great deal of control over the type and nature of the user-contributed metadata. based on the main lcsh working group’s heading list, just over 1,200 records were identified in era and era a+v that had matching lcsh terms. 17 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ figure 2. subject headings by count (local repositories) recommendations of the working group the ddwg recommended the following broad actions be undertaken by ual in order to model new descriptive practices that will decolonize our existing systems and help the university of alberta build a university “committed to respectful relations with first nations, métis, and inuit peoples” by developing “a thoughtful, respectful, meaningful, and sustainable response to the report of the truth and reconciliation commission of canada” (university of alberta, 2016, p. 10). the senior administrative team within the libraries accepted these recommendations. 1. that ual collaborate with other groups and organizations across canada (library and archives canada, the canadian federation of library associations, regional groups, and other universities) to cooperatively develop and incorporate revised subject headings that more accurately, appropriately, and respectfully represent indigenous peoples and contexts and that can be seen as a model for change and widely implemented. 2. that ual take the lead on working with indigenous communities and partners to develop revised subject headings reflective of the alberta and appropriate northern contexts. 3. in support of recommendation #2, that ual engage an individual to coordinate and conduct consultation and outreach, which is groundwork critical to the success of this project. this outreach must occur before developing or applying new subject headings. we anticipate the need for a 1.0fte temporary position for one year. this position would work closely with metadata experts and others in ual as needed to apply 18 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ information gathered into a descriptive schema that is appropriate for the various indigenous groups identified and into policies and workflows that are sustainable. 4. that as the work of the first three recommendations reaches completion, ual retroactively apply revised subject headings to appropriate library resources, including all categories covered in the previous section noting ual’s existing metadata descriptive practices, such as cataloging records within the ils, and to metadata applied to the institutional repository, archives, and locally digitized collections. going forward, the same approved subject headings will be applied to new content added to library resources, whether done by ual staff or our cataloging vendors. 5. that ual work with ia and hathitrust to retroactively apply revised subject headings as appropriate to ual resources held in their repositories. these recommendations also took into account financial impacts, staffing and workflow impacts, and policy impact. risks were also considered when deciding whether to proceed with the recommendations. by not proceeding, ual runs the risk of alienating indigenous user communities, falling behind peer institutions in canada, and missing a significant opportunity for ual to contribute to reconciliation in canada. by proceeding without appropriate consultation, ual runs the risk of damaging important community relationships. implementation as part of ual’s academic librarian residency program, a recent mlis graduate has been hired to work on the recommendations of the working group. while reworking the metadata workflows and standards used will be a key component of this project and her work, it cannot be done without first consulting our partners, researchers, and stakeholders. one of the first steps in this process will be to host a symposium called “making meaning.” the purpose of this symposium will be not only to gather librarians to discuss a library problem, but also to hear from students and researchers as well as those who work in our partner first nations colleges. this does not limit any future consultations to only these partners, but rather respects and reflects where our relationships have already been established; there will always be room for our circles to expand. by gathering together, we will be able to not only have a more in-depth understanding of these issues and some possible solutions to them, but also hear what people who use our libraries would like to see as an outcome. it will also be possible to share the first steps of these processes with other institutions that are considering such endeavors. the results of making meaning will also provide us with a sense of where our partnerships can expand to reflect, as well as further, community consultations that will become an ongoing part of the partnership process. as a initial step in decolonizing the description of our collections, we plan to collaborate with colleagues by adapting and making changes to two different collections that can be used as “proof of concept”—updating both the peel’s prairie provinces online database as well as a small collection of print materials for the aboriginal teacher education program. each of these collections will include their own sets of opportunities and challenges, as different metadata schemes, subject headings, new classification schemes, and knowledge and expertise is shared and reassessed. 19 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ building on our established relationships, and with elder and community guidance, we will seek to appropriately consult with communities across alberta and, where we are able and the need is expressed by communities, into the north. in building relationships and partnerships, we are leaving space for other projects and initiatives that may arise that we have not considered as of yet. it is not only important to understand which terminology is preferred, but also how the use of incorrect terminology has created barriers. by stepping back as we meaningfully engage, we are beginning to address ways that spaces and systems can be reimagined within the library and the academy. as part of the activities of the working group and, more importantly, the activities going forward, we have sought out opportunities to share what we have learned to date and what we hope to achieve with others in the library community, locally and beyond. we have been very encouraged by the positive reception the initiative has received and energized by the conversations it has prompted. we are growing our connections and expanding our network of individuals and organizations interested in similar initiatives in their own regions and in working cooperatively. working in partnership with communities and colleagues is the means by which real change will occur. potential impacts revising our descriptive practices to more accurately, appropriately, and respectfully represent indigenous peoples and contexts will remove many of the barriers that indigenous communities and individuals have faced in working with established library standards and systems to find and access materials relevant to their cultures and histories. incorporating the worldviews and voices of local indigenous communities will allow ual’s users to see themselves in the collections and services. this is our responsibility as a library and a university. “surely every institute of higher learning owes its students a welcoming, beneficial environment where they feel respected and recognized” (aase, 2017, p. 154). working alongside local indigenous communities will enhance institutional understanding of the needs and interests of those communities and the challenges they face in engaging with the collections and services. developing and nurturing these relationships builds the trust needed for truly collaborative and equal partnerships and will strengthen ual’s ability to address other challenges and opportunities together in meeting the university’s mission to uplift the whole people. the focus first and foremost must be on working with local communities to collaborate on appropriate solutions to the longstanding challenges of descriptive metadata practices. however, in connecting and cooperating with others across canada who are engaged in similar projects, the working group will contribute to a national movement that can lead to more effective change through shareable workflows and tools. balancing the need for localization with the imperative for interoperability is a real challenge, one that can easily sideline initiatives of this nature. for example, localized efforts coming together in a broad review and revision of canadian subject headings might provide opportunities for balancing these needs. working together, we can find ways of making this balance possible, allowing more communities to benefit. in addition, the consultation processes that we make use of may be broadly applicable to others hoping to work with local communities on similar initiatives. 20 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ conclusion the university of alberta libraries has just begun the work on this decolonizing description initiative, and there is still much to be done. the practices we are seeking to change have become institutionalized over time. key to our process is developing and sustaining relationships, building trust, and engaging in open and true consultation. all of these things take time if they are to be done properly, and we are committed to ensuring our process is respectful and inclusive of the indigenous communities involved, leading to a new schema of description that accurately represents them. ultimately, we are committed to this work because it reflects our principles as librarians, committed to equity, diversity, and inclusiveness in library collections, services, and spaces. it also speaks to the broader university mission of teaching, learning, and research in service of the public good. it is one way in which we can unsettle our practices and contribute concretely to reconciliation with the first peoples of canada, to forging new relationships founded on mutual respect and equal partnerships. acknowledgements the authors would like to thank the many colleagues who shared their experiences and offered their expertise throughout the early stages of this project: christine bone, camille callison (university of manitoba); brett lougheed (university of winnipeg); anne doyle, sarah dupont, kim lawson (university of british columbia); peggy sue ewanyshyn, krista jamieson, leah vanderjagt (university of alberta libraries); diane beattie, pierre gamache (library and archives canada); trina grover (ryerson university); and heather pretty (memorial university of newfoundland). references aase, l. (2017). there is no view from nowhere: user experience research at the center of southwest studies library. collection management, 42(3/4), 139–158. adler, m. (2016). the case for taxonomic reparations. knowledge organization, 43(8), 630–640. baildon, m., hamlin, d, jankowski, c., kauffman, r., lanigan, j., miller, m., … willer, a. m. (2017). creating a social justice mindset: diversity, inclusion, and social justice in the collections directorate of the mit libraries. retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/108771 bales, s. (2017). social justice and library work: a guide to theory and practice. oxford: chandos publishing. berman, s. (1971). prejudices and antipathies: a tract on the lc subject heads concerning people. metuchen, nj: scarecrow press. berman, s. 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(2015). settler-state apologies to indigenous peoples: a normative framework and comparative assessment. native american and indigenous studies, 2(1), 15–39. retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/article/635816/summary littletree, s., & metoyer, c. a. (2015). knowledge organization from an indigenous perspective: the mashantucket pequot thesaurus of american indian terminology project. cataloging & classification quarterly, 53(5/6), 640–657. lougheed, b., moran, r., & callison, c. (2015). reconciliation through description: using metadata to realize the vision of the national research centre for truth and reconciliation. cataloging & classification quarterly, 53(5-6), 596–614. manitoba archival information network (main). (2013). main lcsh working group. retrieved from http://mbarchives.ca/main_lcsh martens, m. (2006). creating a supplemental thesaurus to lcsh for a specialized collection: the experience of the national indian law library. law library journal, 98(2), 287–297. morales, m., knowles, e. m., and bourg, c. (2014). diversity, social justice, and the future of libraries. portal: libraries and the academy, 14(3), 439–451. moulaison sandy, h., and bossaller, j. (2016). the moral imperative of subject access to indigenous knowledge: considerations and alternative paths. paper presented at ifla world library and information congress, columbus, oh. retrieved from http://library.ifla.org/1327/ moulaison sandy, h., and bossaller, j. (2017). providing cognitively just subject access to indigenous knowledge through knowledge organization systems. cataloging & classification quarterly, 55(3), 129–152. olson, h. a. (2000). difference, culture and change: the untapped potential of lcsh. cataloging & classification quarterly, 29(1/2), 53–71. olson, h. a. (2002). the power to name: locating the limits of subject representation in libraries. dordrecht, the netherlands: kluwer. parent, i. (2015). knowledge systems for all. cataloging & classification quarterly, 53(5/6), 703–706. rigby, c. (2015). nunavut libraries online establish inuit language bibliographic cataloging standards: promoting indigenous language using a commercial ils. cataloging & classification quarterly, 53(5/6), 615–639. roberto, k. (2008). radical cataloguing: essays at the front. london: mcfarland & company. samek, t. (2007). librarianship and human rights: a twenty-first century guide. oxford: chandos publishing. tomren, h. (2003). classification, bias, and american indian materials. unpublished paper. 23 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/1427/2089 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/635816/summary http://mbarchives.ca/main_lcsh http://library.ifla.org/1327/ rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ retrieved from http://ailasacc.pbworks.com/f/biasclassification2004.pdf truth and reconciliation commission of canada. (2015a). calls to action. retrieved from http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/calls_to_action_english2.pdf truth and reconciliation commission of canada. (2015b) what we have learned: principles of truth and reconciliation. retrieved from http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/final%20reports/principles_english_web.pdf turner, h. (2015). decolonizing ethnographic documentation: a critical history of the early museum catalogs at the smithsonian’s national museum of natural history. cataloging & classification quarterly, 53(5-6), 658–676. turpin, d. (2017, june 2). partnership with national centre for truth and reconciliation. [web log comment]. retrieved from https://blog.ualberta.ca/partnership-with-nationalcentre-for-truth-and-reconciliation-60f6c37ebd3a united nations. (1948). universal declaration of human rights. retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ universities canada. (2015). universities canada principles on indigenous education. retrieved from https://www.univcan.ca/media-room/media-releases/universities-canadaprinciples-on-indigenous-education/ university of alberta. (2017). annual report, university of alberta. retrieved from https://cloudfront.ualberta.ca/-/media/ualberta/reporting/annual-reports-andfinancial-statements/annual-report-20162017.pdf university of alberta. (2016). for the public good. retrieved from https://d1pbog36rugm0t.cloudfront.net/-/media/isp/finaldoc/12885institutionalstrategicplan33final.pdf villanueva, c. b. (2016). classification and indexing of philippine indigenous materials with emphasis on the cordillera. paper presented at ifla world library and information congress, columbus, oh. retrieved from: http://library.ifla.org/1335/ vincent, j. (2012). the role of public libraries in social justice. prometheus, 30(3), 349–351. sharon farnel (sharon.farnel@ualberta.ca) is metadata coordinator at the university of alberta libraries and phd candidate. she researches the development of a framework for designing and applying culturally aware and appropriate metadata in digital libraries. denise koufogiannakis (denise.koufogiannakis@ualberta.ca) is associate university librarian responsible for collection strategies, bibliographic services, and access services at the university of alberta. she holds an mlis from the university of alberta, and a phd in information studies from aberystwyth university. sheila laroque (laroque@ualberta.ca) is an academic resident librarian in bibliographic services at the university of alberta libraries. sheila is originally from saskatoon, saskatchewan, 24 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, http://ailasacc.pbworks.com/f/biasclassification2004.pdf http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/calls_to_action_english2.pdf http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/final%20reports/principles_english_web.pdf https://blog.ualberta.ca/partnership-with-national-centre-for-truth-and-reconciliation-60f6c37ebd3a https://blog.ualberta.ca/partnership-with-national-centre-for-truth-and-reconciliation-60f6c37ebd3a http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ https://www.univcan.ca/media-room/media-releases/universities-canada-principles-on-indigenous-education/ https://www.univcan.ca/media-room/media-releases/universities-canada-principles-on-indigenous-education/ https://cloudfront.ualberta.ca/-/media/ualberta/reporting/annual-reports-and-financial-statements/annual-report-20162017.pdf https://cloudfront.ualberta.ca/-/media/ualberta/reporting/annual-reports-and-financial-statements/annual-report-20162017.pdf https://d1pbog36rugm0t.cloudfront.net/-/media/isp/final-doc/12885institutionalstrategicplan33final.pdf https://d1pbog36rugm0t.cloudfront.net/-/media/isp/final-doc/12885institutionalstrategicplan33final.pdf http://library.ifla.org/1335/ mailto:sharon.farnel@ualberta.ca mailto:denise.koufogiannakis@ualberta.ca mailto:laroque@ualberta.ca rethinking representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 2(3), 2018 issn 2574-3430, publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/ where she finished her ba at the university of saskatchewan in 2010. she finished her mi from the university of toronto’s ischool in 2016. she is happy to be in edmonton; a city with more than one professional sports team, but still back home in treaty 6 territory. ian bigelow (bigelow@ualberta.ca) is the cataloguing coordinator at the university of alberta libraries and is currently a member of the canadian linked data initiative metadata working group and the pcc task group on uri in marc. anne carr-wiggin (anne.carr-wiggin@ualberta.ca) is neos manager, and coordinates indigenous initiatives at the university of alberta libraries. she also serves on the guiding council of rise (reconciliation in solidarity edmonton) and is a team co-lead on the cfla-fcab truth and reconciliation committee. debbie feisst (debbie.feisst@ualberta.ca) is acting head at the ht coutts education & physical education library, university of alberta, where she specializes in secondary education and the faculty of education’s aboriginal teacher education program (atep). kayla lar-son (verbicky@ualberta.ca) is a métis student currently enrolled in the master of library studies, university of alberta. interested in issues of diversity, human rights, intellectual freedom, social responsibility and libraries, and alternative forms of knowing, kayla is part of the de-colonizing description working group, which focuses on implementing the recommendations of the truth and reconciliation commission within the uofa libraries. she is also an indigenous intern in rutherford library, uofa, who works actively with indigenous students through library information sessions at the aboriginal student services center and participates in indigenous and diversity initiatives off-campus. she brings a treasured firsthand perspective into the discussion of diversity, empowerment, and traditional knowledge. 25 http://publish.lib.umd.edu/ijidi/, mailto:bigelow@ualberta.ca mailto:anne.carr-wiggin@ualberta.ca mailto:debbie.feisst@ualberta.ca file:///c:/users/kkett/downloads/verbicky@ualberta.ca introduction and background the university of alberta response to the truth and reconciliation commission the university of alberta libraries’ indigenous initiatives aims literature review descriptive practices and social justice representation of indigenous peoples in existing metadata standards and practices the decolonizing description working group the working group’s process internal consultations external consultations local data analysis cataloging records within the integrated library system metadata applied to the institutional repository, archives, and locally digitized collections recommendations of the working group implementation potential impacts conclusion acknowledgements references assistive technology in education: conceptions of a socio-technical design challenge the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36136 assistive technology in education: conceptions of a socio-technical design challenge vanesa ayon, the university of texas at austin, usa andrew dillon, the university of texas at austin, usa abstract this article offers a socio-technical framing of assistive technology design for in-classroom use to enable a better understanding of how to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for learners with disabilities. by addressing social inequities in public education and recognizing user-centered design faults and inadequacies in the current implementation of assistive technology in the educational environment, this paper focuses on understanding the experiences of learners with disabilities. this article discusses challenges faced when adopting such technology and the effects of the current well-intentioned but flawed implementation of assistive technology. the authors highlight the limitations and shortcomings of the existing approaches portrayed in previous research and educational practices. the article concludes with a call for a socio-technical approach to adopting assistive technology to augment the learning experience for a more inclusive atmosphere and encourages a deeper appreciation for the interrelatedness between people, educational organizations, and technology. keywords: accessibility; assistive technology; education; socio-technical framework; usercentered design publication type: review article introduction ccording to the national center for education statistics (2017), the 4-year adjusted cohort graduation rate for american students enrolled in public education was 85% in the 20172018 school year. however, the equivalent on-time graduation rate for students with disabilities was significantly lower, at 67%. furthermore, even with a high school diploma, many students with disabilities find themselves unprepared for the world outside of or beyond the k12 education system. only an estimated 35% of students with disabilities graduate with an associate degree; that estimate declines further at the bachelor’s (16.9%-20%) and master’s or higher degree levels (12%) (national center for education statistics, 2017). the long-term social impact of this disparity is profound. in 2020, the us bureau of labor statistics estimated that only 17.9% of people with disabilities enter the labor force (compared to 61.8% of the nondisabled population) with the proportional effects on lifestyle and economic well-being that this low employment rate entails. while the political and educational responses to this issue may take many forms, we believe this is where information technology can play a constructive role. in particular, we suggest that a socio-technical framing of assistive technology design (with its strong emphasis on placing users and other stakeholders at the center of design and implementation decisions) might offer a a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi assistive technology in education the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36136 helpful approach to understanding how to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for learners with disabilities (eason, 1988; baxter and sommerville, 2011). in this way, we believe leveraging appropriately designed assistive technology can address some of the critical social inequities apparent in public education while improving our own understanding of how to design for greater inclusion (eason, 1988; baxter and sommerville, 2011). socio-technical thinking has generally been applied to industrial and business organizations, but we believe it is a basis for considering all information technology applications. for this research, we were particularly interested in using it as a lens to examine assistive technologies, which led to searches in the association for computing machinery (acm) and the ebscohost education source and psychinfo databases for relevant papers using the following terms: assistive technology in k-12 education; assistive technology literacy; special education implementing assistive technology; assistive technology adoption and design barriers; and socio-technical assistive tech design. we selected empirical studies from the last 20 years while adding significant historical works based on their frequent citation to this literature. the majority of studies in this set were u.s.-based but global research was also included where appropriate. though not a formal literature review, the results enable us to glean how assistive technologies are understood currently, how they are being studied methodologically, and where gaps in our thinking about their design might be bridged by a richer, user-centered perspective. assistive technology is a general term that refers to devices, software, and systems designed to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of people with disabilities (assistive technology industry association, 2020). while the term often connotes specially designed software and hardware, there are many low-tech options ranging from room layout to pencil grips that make information or learning experiences more accessible to particular users. too often, the lack of understanding of how learners with disabilities experience the educational environment, at all levels, exacerbates their problems, and prevents us from recognizing the role of technology in tackling the educational challenges for such students. dawe (2006) reported that about 35% of purchased assistive technology ends up being abandoned and not used, and current pew research data suggests people with disabilities avoid the internet at three times the rate of non-disabled users (pew, 2017), so clearly there is a genuine need for improvement in the design and implementation of information technologies. recognizing education as a sociotechnical system within which user-centered design principles can be applied to assistive technologies may help us address the shortcomings of many current approaches. the medical and social models of disability the recognition and definition of disabilities has a mixed history, but in formal terms, a distinction is often drawn between the medical and social models of disability. for most of the 20th century, the medical model dominated, and it tended to define disabilities as predominantly physical limitations or illnesses that needed to be treated at the individual level. while medical science wrestled with definitions and classifications of mental illnesses from the 1950s onward so as to expand the meaning of disability, the units of analysis continued to be the person or individual and the treatment they should receive. this emphasis on the single person has come to be seen as stereotyping or encouraging a view of people as being outside the norm and defined by their disability (retief & letšosa, 2018; hogan, 2019). olkin’s (1999) summary of the medical model of disability states, “disability is seen as a medical problem that resides in an individual. it is a defect or failure of a bodily system and as such inherently abnormal and pathological” (olkin, 1999, p. 26). critics, disability scholars, and self-advocates have repeatedly argued that 175 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index assistive technology in education the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36136 such a medical model stigmatizes individuals and can lead to a derogatory view of those with disabilities (hogan, 2019). such criticisms, as well as a move in medical and social sciences to recognize the impact of the environment and context on human activities, have encouraged an alternative, social model of disabilities. the world health organization (2001) defined disability as an umbrella term that formally recognized not only the physical illnesses or individual conditions of the disabled as presented in the medical model, but also the various impairments and restrictions experienced in the world by people that caused them to be “disabled” from participation in many activities. this represents a radical change of perspective, first articulated by british scholar michael oliver in the 1970s (hogan, 2019) who argued that we needed a broader understanding of the experiences of people with disabilities. in doing so, this important shift in the discourse on disability began to include a range of social, political, legal, and attitudinal experiences that also affect the lives of people living with disabilities. where the medical model viewed disability as a personal impairment which the individual should learn to live around, there is now greater recognition that disability is not a medical condition but the outcome of social and environmental conditions that lack appropriate accommodation to particular impairments. the goal then becomes one of recognizing the barriers to participation by all to overcome what some see as a form of oppression of a group within our society (retief & letšosa, 2018; riddle, 2020). berghs et al. (2019) claim that a true social model of disability should offer a means to change views and values, and to uphold the human dignity of disabled people’s lives in every aspect of society. the social model has led the advocacy movement to create a view of disability that truthfully acknowledges the reality of the various external circumstances impacting the lives of people with disabilities. olkin (1999) emphasized the need for continued research on factors that highlight experiences of persons with disabilities, such as practical difficulties caused by the surrounding environment, and the societal consequences of physical encounters and relationships that impact the psychological well-being and future aspirations of persons with disabilities (olkin, 1999). acknowledging the experiences of students with disabilities from the outset, we believe having direct discussions that capture the perspectives and experiences of people with disabilities can help identify the barriers that lead to a lower quality of life, reduced educational attainment and professional ambitions. the world health organization (2020) defines quality of life as “an individual’s perception of their position in life…in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns.” historically, the literature and research on the perspectives of children’s quality of life while living with a disability rarely came from the child’s perspective, but more from examinations of the parental view. sylvester (2014) argues such work was mainly carried out in health-related fields, and emphasized the challenges and stressful impact on “parental functioning” in the context of living with a disabled child, not the experiences of the disabled children themselves. other studies explored disabled children’s health-related quality of life but relied heavily on the parent’s views or both the parent’s and child’s view, but rarely the views of the child alone. while the views of both are valuable, the results suggest there may be some differences between each. for example, the studies by abbott (2012) and sylvester (2014) reveal that parents typically rate the child’s quality of life differently than the child. this should not particularly surprise us, but the researchers observe that parental views in such studies tend to dominate the data 176 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index assistive technology in education the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36136 collection and interpretation of results. further, in studies where the views of so-called “disabled” and “non-disabled” children are captured by surveys, it is not uncommon for researchers to report that parents completed the forms. from a user-centered perspective, there is clearly a need for more direct input from those experiencing impairments if we are to really understand their quality of life and develop options to improve their situation. a fundamental tenet of human-centered design is to determine the needs and preferences of the users for whom any product or service is being developed (dillon, 2000). the approach of engaging users in the design process, however, is not simple, and the pressure to design and deliver a product often means the inputs of real users are limited or deemed to be met by superficial or inappropriate evaluations, as outlined in ritter et al. (2014). however, the education experience (specifically during the k-12 years) has a profound impact on a person’s long-term quality of life. receiving meaningful education, having appropriate social interactions between peers and teachers, and participating in an inclusive, accessible environment impacts how students with disabilities perceive themselves and their potential to pursue opportunities. currently, there is a shortage of data on the real-life experiences of learners with disabilities to help us design and implement better technological infrastructures to support their education. in the following sections we outline key themes from the literature we surveyed. social inclusion and the idea of ‘normalcy’ social relations, or friendships, are highly valued among young children—with or without disabilities. unfortunately, children with disabilities experience more barriers and difficulties in making and maintaining friendships. sylvester (2014) asked children with disabilities whether there was anything their non-disabled peers could do at school that they would also like to do, and the most common answers were having friends or being included more in social activities. this desire to lead a “normal” life and to be included in society’s conceptions of normal is a reccurring theme when exploring the views people with disabilities have on their own social lives (ashby, 2010; mcmillen, 2002). in the ashby (2010) study, ‘normalcy’ was described as “an elusive phenomenon” affecting students in multiple and complicated ways. for example, some students had physical disabilities, others had learning impairments, and some had communication or verbal disabilities that were regarded as “unusual” and “different” by their peers and instructors. studies frequently show that being labelled as a “person with disabilities” in a social setting leads to being seen and treated in a different way, and such individuals frequently report they experience alienation, ableism, and segregation in social environments or gatherings (ashby, 2010; karisa et al., 2020; mcmillen, 2002; sylvester, 2014). it should not surprise us then that students with disabilities sometimes reject the support or assistance provided in an attempt to maintain anonymity and not be singled out as different. ashby (2010) concluded that “if more students were granted access to alternative support, and modifications were more broadly available to all students perhaps [students with disabilities] would [be] more likely to embrace the support when it was provided” (p. 355). clearly there is a design and implementation challenge here to create inclusive learning environments, from classrooms to technology, that treat all learning styles and needs as routine. 177 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index assistive technology in education the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36136 increased exclusion through ‘special’ education students with disabilities are often targeted by well-intentioned interventions, technological or otherwise, that are frequently labelled “special.” in the u.s., special education focuses on diagnosis followed by instructional plans to “correct” the reported differences in students with disabilities— much like the medical model (karisa, et al., 2020). a concern special education faces is further excluding students with disabilities from normal learning opportunities and segregating them from the mainstream education environment. categorizing students based on such intervention plans often results in their experiencing school only within these confines. karisa et al. (2020) argue the inclusion of students with disabilities in the school system should be the “catalyst” to adopt a universal learning design environment that “caters to the needs [of learners], not a motivation to provide a separate schooling system parallel to the mainstream one [where] special education sustains ableist assumptions about disability through longstanding practices of categorization and separation of children according to deficits” (p. 1520). from this perspective, “special” education is well-intentioned but like many interventions or designs, it leads to unintended consequences. even when learning issues are identified and a plan developed, there are numerous implementation challenges. ashby (2010) studied education access for students with disabilities in middle school and observed a lack of meaningful education provided to students with disabilities even with limited education plans provided. students with disabilities are often expected to perform in class and complete assignments that mimic the appearance of their nondisabled peers rather than encouraging the adoption of more effective methods that cater to individual needs of the student. there are long-term consequences as studies repeatedly show that students with disabilities have lower expectations of either gaining qualifications or attending and succeeding in higher education (sylvester, 2014). clearly, there is significant work to be done to address this outcome. the socio-technical context of assistive technology assistive technology can be either lowor high-tech hardware or software that can help people who have difficulty communicating through speaking, typing, and writing; additionally, tools can aid users by increasing their functional capabilities in remembering, seeing, hearing, walking, learning, etc. (assistive technology industry association, 2020). as technology mediates more and more educational offerings and learning experiences, there is an opportunity to individualize and tailor instructional opportunities while maintaining learning contexts and environments that support collaboration and inclusion. while research supports the view that successful assistive technology interventions can increase the quality of life for people with disabilities (mcmillen, 2002), there are continuing obstacles to widespread technology adoption and implementation that speak to the complexities of any technological solution in education. a common concern expressed in the literature is whether there are sufficient resources for technologies that can not only assist but enable the adoption of the learning and educational retention process (morash & siu, 2017; shaheen & lazar, 2018). cost will always be an issue to address but we must do more than treat the technology as an independent vector in the educational process, one that simply needs to be used by a learner to ensure improvements. rather, we need to consider the educational environment in which technology resides as a socio-technical system of interdependent technical and social structures, as noted in other research studies (e.g., eason, 1988). this framing requires us to consider the 178 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index assistive technology in education the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36136 multiple stakeholders involved (students, instructors, parents/families, schools and communities) as co-existing in an organizational context that both shapes and is shaped by the technologies involved. all stakeholders play a role in the processes of transformation that the educational organization, conceived broadly, is aiming to enable. the focus here extends beyond a student and a technical intervention, to include other students and teachers, even if not direct users, as well as the contexts of use beyond the classroom, such as the student’s home. sociotechnical thinking treats successful design and adoption of technologies as an extended, multiactor process that is not simply a product of functionality or usability but an outcome dependent on all stakeholders seeing more positive than negative value in its use. in the context of education, socio-technical theory requires us to recognize the stakeholders and the collective engagement required for success, and suggests that any technical solution will involve more than design and delivery, it requires training and ongoing support to function as intended (baxter & sommerville, 2011). education is a collective process research suggests that the diffusion of assistive technology in k-12 education has been slower than anticipated (shaheen & lazar, 2018). teachers are typically viewed as the driving agents that support students and their families for the integration of assistive devices into the child’s daily life (sharma et al., 2020; torrato et al., 2020). research confirms the importance of teacher training for successful exploitation of assistive technologies. chen et al. (2014) reported that education provided by instructors with less training and experience resulted in less knowledge and skill development in their students when interacting with assistive devices. teachers are one key stakeholder group and preparing them is a training challenge within schools, but ensuring that parents of students with disabilities understand how their children are using assistive technologies is vital in exploiting the power of new tools to enhance education. the recognition of multiple stakeholders requires a broadening of our views of technology literacy. genuine assistive technology literacy involves being able to refer students and their families to all resources and professionals; knowing how to choose or recommend an appropriate device; enabling the process of funding for suitable devices; and, knowing how to integrate any device into the lives of students with disabilities (morash & siu, 2017). low levels of understanding of assistive technology’s types and meaningful applications often leads to device abandonment (dawe, 2006; shaheen & lazar, 2018). in short, socio-technical thinking encourages us to recognize that the impact of assistive technology is mediated by the stakeholders involved, and to ensure the greatest positive impact, we need to engage the broader social network in which a learner resides to help inform the design and implementation of positive learning experiences. adoption is an extended process a further tenet of socio-technical and user-centered thinking is that a technology is not adopted in a simple, one-time process, but over an extended period of time that necessarily involves trial and error, training, adjustment, and on-going support as routine practices are implemented. generally, the introduction of assistive technology is the responsibility of a team of professionals that may include doctors, regular and special education teachers, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, etc. (assistive technology industry association, 2020). we need to, however, treat the process as extended, not just a matter of diagnosing a need and selecting the technological “solution.” socio-technical theory makes the case that successful adoption 179 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index assistive technology in education the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36136 invariably involves uses that were different than initially imagined, that a new technology changes the group that uses it, and that real acceptance by all stakeholders only comes when outcomes can be identified over time. as eason (1988) argues, socio-technical thinking reminds us that exploitation of any technology is necessarily evolutionary, not a one-step activity. adopting assistive technology in k-12 classrooms ensures students with disabilities have the chance to develop new skills, engage in learning opportunities, and ensures that educators have the ability to customize their teaching material to accommodate individual learning needs (torrato et al., 2020). efforts to prepare teachers for interacting with students with disabilities typically concentrate on diagnosis and intervention in the classroom; however, there is minimal attention given to the adoption and integration of assistive technology in the classroom (ashby, 2010; chen et al., 2014; mcmillen, 2002; shaheen & lazar, 2018). additionally, devices that do not show direct usefulness out-of-the-box are less likely to be adopted and more likely to be abandoned, which hinders academic success and possible future skill development (morash & siu, 2017). dawe (2006) presents a case of assistive technology adoption where parents were encouraged to purchase an assistive device during their child’s senior year in high school; however, by the time the device was received the child was near the end of their school year. because of this, educators did not successfully integrate the new device into the last few months of instruction, leaving parents with no training or support on how to best assist their child in utilizing the device after graduation. in short, without the necessary social support, students and parents were left ignorant of the functionalities of the device, effectively rendering it useless. mcmillen (2002) found that people with disabilities experienced a very cumbersome process in adopting assistive technologies later in life due to the absence of resources provided in their earlier years. this is also a common issue in k-12 environments as educators are given limited resources, and as a result are encouraged to provide their students with devices that are readily available and less costly; in addition, if students do not show any signs of improvement within a short period of time, teachers are pressured to repossess the assistive device and give it to another student in need rather than allow the student more time to acclimate to the assistive device (dawe, 2006). these barriers to funding, lack of resources, and mishandling of device training periods hinder educators’ ability to serve as the gatekeepers for the adoption and integration of assistive technology that have the potential to provide students a better quality of life. designing based on the range of stakeholder needs socio-technical thinking argues that while all users are stakeholders in a technology, not all stakeholders are direct users (eason, 1988). people with disabilities are the direct users of assistive technology, but they are not the only stakeholders that should be considered when designing these devices. both individuals with disabilities and their close social networks interact with assistive technology, especially when children are the primary user. oftentimes, parents and friends take on the role of facilitating the integration of the device into the child’s life. again, a fundamental principle of user-centered design is the consideration of how people will be affected by the design beyond the direct interaction any one user has with it (ritter et al., 2014). for example, if parents or teachers cannot understand instruction materials associated with the device, the usability of the technology is greatly reduced and the onus is placed on the learner directly to figure it out. 180 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index assistive technology in education the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36136 furthermore, designers should approach the creation of assistive technology with a holistic view in relation to the user’s environment (vardouli, 2016). in other words, designing assistive technology should not be solely about the interaction between the user and device in some idealized location; rather, the design should also consider how users will integrate the device into their daily life and the range of environments, both school and domestic, in which the learner resides. if the user continually needs assistance with set-up, or requires adjustments to be made along with arranging space to make those adjustments every time it is to be used, this can cause users to feel burdensome or unnecessarily intrusive on others, leading to a negative social environment experience, a constant problem in special education. only by observing users interacting with a design in situ can we determine if the technology works well for its intended users and where it interfaces with all stakeholders in the process of adoption. research implications in assistive technology and adoption process with continuous innovations and improvements of assistive technology and the widespread use of computers in all areas of educational delivery, it is an important time for us to think seriously about how we can design and implement better and more just solutions for all learners. too often the application of assistive technologies is isolated, narrowly targeted, and fails to recognize and accommodate the lived experiences of real people. further, the failure to envisage assistive technology as part of a socio-technical system involving teachers, paraprofessionals, family members, and other students, inside and outside the classroom over an extended period of time, leads to well-intentioned but flawed implementation, as evidenced too often in the literature. without learning from the lived experiences of users, we are continually limiting our own understanding of how to design better environments. as a result, the opportunities and aspirations for people with disabilities to grow independently, lead abundant lives, and to meet their needs in a societal context will remain limited. incorporating a socio-technical approach to the adoption of assistive technology in an educational environment differentiates the use of a device beyond a mere human-technology interface to acknowledging the interrelatedness between people, organizations, and technology, and how that relationship affects the experience of users and associated stakeholders in their given environment. we believe that adopting a richer, socio-technical framing of learner experience would encourage a deeper appreciation of the dynamics that shape outcomes. recognizing all stakeholders, acknowledging the experiences of learners and instructors, and then designing and implementing assistive solutions in a truly user-centered manner offers a path forward. indeed, by considering assistive technology less as an effort to remediation or special education, but as another example of general technology design with an emphasis on the same values we would wish to be applied everywhere (a design which is, for example usable, inclusive, acceptable, and sustainable) then we might move assistive technology from the sidelines to join the more mainstream efforts at participatory and human-centered design, which form a core part of the research efforts on inclusive design. designing with the intent of universal use has the potential to augment the learning experience for more than just disabled students, enabling the creation of a more inclusive, collective educational environment for all. acknowledgements i am grateful to my professor who co-authored and provided feedback that guided me in the right direction in constructing this paper. 181 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index assistive technology in education the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36136 references abbott, d. 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(2000) group dynamics meet cognition: combining socio-technical concepts and usability engineering in the design of information systems. in e.coakes, d. willis, & d. lloyd-jones (eds.), the new socio-tech: graffiti on the long wall. springer, pp. 119125. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-0411-7 eason, k.d. (1988). information technology and organisational change (1st ed.). crc press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781482275469 hogan, j. andrew. (2019). moving away from the “medical model”: the development and revision of the world health organization’s classification of disability” bulletin of the history of medicine, 93(2), 241-296. https://doi.org/10.1353/bhm.2019.0028 hogan, j. a. 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(2020). to what extent is the schooling system willing to change to include disabled children? disability & society, 35(9), 1520-1526. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1809351 mcmillen, am., & söderberg, s. (2002). disabled persons’ experience of dependence on assistive devices. scandinavian journal of occupational therapy, 9(4), 176–183. https://doi.org/10.1080/11038120260501208 morash, v. s., & siu, yt. (2017). social predictors of assistive technology proficiency among teachers of students with visual impairments. acm transactions on accessible computing, 9(2), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1145/2999569 national center for education statistics. (2017, may). disability rates and employment status by educational attainment. annual reports and information staff (annual reports). https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_tad.asp olkin, r. (1999). what psychotherapists should know about disability. guilford press. pew. 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(2020). technology integration, proficiency and attitude: perspectives from grade school teachers. proceedings of the 2020 11th 183 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1809351 https://doi.org/10.1080/11038120260501208 https://doi.org/10.1145/2999569 https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_tad.asp https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/07/disabled-americans-are-less-likely-to-use-technology/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/07/disabled-americans-are-less-likely-to-use-technology/ https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v74i1.4738 https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1809349 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5134-0_2 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5134-0_2 https://doi.org/10.1145/3396076 https://doi.org/10.1177/0162643417734557 https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2013.848782 assistive technology in education the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36136 international conference on e-education, e-business, e-management, and e-learning, (pp. 70–75). acm press. https://doi.org/10.1145/3377571.3377624 us bureau of labor statistics. (2020). persons with a disability: labor force characteristics— 2020. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/disabl.pdf van gameron-oosterom, h. b. m., fekkes, m., buitendijk, s. e., mohangoo, a. d., bruil, j., & van wouwe, j. p. (2011). development, problem behavior, and quality of life in a population based sample of eight-year-old children with down syndrome. plos one, 6(7), 21879-21888. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0021879 vardouli, t. (2016, june 25). user design: constructions of the “user” in the history of design research. in lloyd, p. and bohemia, e. (eds.), proceedings of the drs international conference on future focused thinking, (27-30). design research society. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2016.262 world health organization. (2020). whoqol measuring quality of life. https://www.who.int/toolkits/whoqol vanesa ayon (vaayon99@utexas.edu) is a current student at the university of texas at austin school of information in the master of science information studies program. she holds a ba in psychology from our lady of the lake university where she was in the mcnair scholars program and completed a summer research internship. her research interests lie within user experience, accessibility, and consumer behavior in decision making. andrew dillon (adillon@ischool.utexas.edu) is a faculty member, and former dean, in the school of information, university of texas at austin. he holds a phd in psychology from loughborough university in the u.k., and is a researcher and educator in user experience and user-centered design. 184 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1145/3377571.3377624 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/disabl.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0021879 https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2016.262 https://www.who.int/toolkits/whoqol file:///c:/users/steph_olgktvz/downloads/vaayon99@utexas.edu file:///c:/users/steph_olgktvz/downloads/adillon@ischool.utexas.edu introduction the medical and social models of disability acknowledging the experiences of students with disabilities social inclusion and the idea of ‘normalcy’ increased exclusion through ‘special’ education the socio-technical context of assistive technology education is a collective process adoption is an extended process designing based on the range of stakeholder needs research implications in assistive technology and adoption process acknowledgements references library programming for autistic children and teens the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37838 p ijidi: book review anderson, a. (2021). library programming for autistic children and teens. ala editions. isbn 978-0838994856 (paperback). 208 pp. $54.99 us. reviewer: marcia k. salmon, york university, canada book review editors: halie kerns, suny canton, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: autism spectrum disorder; children; library services; public libraries; youth publication type: book review ublic and school libraries serve a variety of clients including those that are neurodiverse. the book library programming for autistic children and teens by amelia anderson, with a foreword by barbara klipper, is the second edition and updated version of the book programming for children and teens with autism spectrum disorder by barbara klipper and published by the american library association in 2014. the purpose of this second edition is to provide public and school librarians and library staff with guidance, best practices, and examples of successful library services for autistic children and youth. the target audience of this book is professional librarians, library administrators, and paraprofessional library staff in public and school libraries. chapters in this book include “best practices,” “storytime programs for young children,” and specific chapters dedicated to programming for “school-age children,” “teens,” “families,” as well as for “school libraries.” the book begins with the standard definition of autism spectrum disorder (asd) from the center for disease control and prevention (cdc), the clinical definition of asd from the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fifth edition (dsm-5), and the history of autism in the u.s. the neurodiversity movement is explained and why autism is considered a disability in the u.s. is also addressed. the first chapter concludes with the role of libraries in the autism conversation. there are many decisions to make when planning programs and services for autistic children and teenagers in public libraries. these decisions include creating a culture of inclusion, universal design, staff training, program goals, inclusive or autism-specific programming, identifying ages for your program, outreach and marketing, budget and funding, scheduling, collaboration, and program evaluation. best practices in providing public library programs to autistic children and adolescences is discussed throughout the book. these best practices include limiting enrollment, having assistants, using visual supports, and managing transitions. other suggested practices include supplying fidgets and other sensory tools, designating quiet or sensory rooms, and incorporating repetition and routine to provide structure while being flexible and understanding. most of library programming for autistic children and teens focuses on best practices in delivering public library programming to families of children and adolescents with asd. storytime for young children is a core service in any public library. this book gives detailed description of the four sensory story time programs for young children that are part of regular https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 95 library programming for autistic children and teens the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37838 library services at four public libraries in the u.s. school-age programing ideas for autistic children in public libraries is presented in addition to best practices for making book discussion and summer reading programs more inclusive across different age groups. how public libraries can work with schools to offer programming related to school curriculum is also included. the chapter on programming for teens discusses ideas of inclusive programming for this specific age group and describes some key library employment and leadership roles in public libraries for teens with autism. programming for families of autistic children and teens may include programs and services for parents and caregivers, siblings, grandparents, and programs for all family members. the chapter on programming for families concludes with a discussion on representing autistic people and their needs in collections. this section on collection development in relation to asd highlights the need to have books in public libraries from autistic authors because it emphasizes the importance of representing autistic voices and their lived experience in the collection. the final chapter of the book, unlike previous chapters about library programming for autistic children and teens in public libraries, discusses library programming for autistic children and youth in school libraries. this chapter begins with some best practices for autism-specific programming in school libraries. it is important for teachers and school librarians to remember that school library programs and services for autistic children and youth span different age groups and, therefore, the programming should be age appropriate. the book encourages inclusive practices to be used in all library classes in school libraries. according to the foreword of library programming for autistic children and teens, the first edition (programming for children and teens with autism spectrum disorder) came out of a grant funded project to start a sensory friendly story time in stamford, connecticut, and present about that sensory friendly story time program at an ala conference. one of the key features of this second edition is that it includes autistic voices and a range of resource driven appendices. throughout the book, there are featured sections in which autistic librarians describe their opinions and experiences with library programs for autistic children and teens. this book also extensively describes best practices for how to make public library services for children and youth more inclusive, not just for users with asd, but for all neurodiverse people and individuals with developmental disabilities. the sections written by autistic authors could be better integrated into the text of the book by having these authors experiences, examples, and thoughts included within the general textual content of the book instead of being separated into featured sections. it should be noted, however, that a deliberate and purposeful choice was made to represent autistic self advocates who prefer “identity first language” instead of “person first language” in the title and throughout the text. another potential oversight of this book is that it is north american-centric. some of the suggestions may not be applicable internationally. the book also focuses primarily on public libraries with only one chapter devoted to school libraries. more information regarding school libraries providing services to children and teens with asd should have been included. a book on a similar topic entitled, library services for youth with autism spectrum disorders by lesley s. j. farmer (2013), addresses library services for autistics in an educational setting more comprehensively than anderson’s library programming for autistic children and teens. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 96 library programming for autistic children and teens the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37838 additionally, whereas the focus of this book is on inclusion and diversity, unfortunately it does not consider the range of severity of the autism spectrum disorder. for example, library programming and best practices for non-verbal or minimally verbal autistic children and teens were not addressed. generally, library services for a range of severity of asd is never well addressed in the information science literature. however, there are books and articles written on library services for children and youth with developmental disabilities. library programming for autistic children and teens unequivocally achieves its purpose of providing guidance, best practices, and examples of successful library services for autistic children and youth to public and school librarians and library staff. i would highly recommend any public librarians and staff read this book before starting to offer library services and programs for children and youth with autism. references farmer, l. s. j. (2013). library services for youth with autism spectrum disorders. ala editions. marcia k. salmon (msalmon@yorku.ca) has an honours bachelor of science degree with a double major in biology and applied educational psychology from the university of toronto. she did postgraduate studies at western university, obtaining a master’s degree in library and information science. her professional career has been predominately in academic libraries in universities. currently marcia salmon is a digital scholarship metadata librarian at the scott library at york university, specializing in providing metadata and research data management. she is also a liaison librarian for the faculty of health. her research interests include health librarianship, metadata, open access, and research data management. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:msalmon@yorku.ca whose safety is the priority? attending to lis grassroots movements and patron concerns around policing and public libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36187 whose safety is the priority? attending to lis grassroots movements and patron concerns around policing and public libraries allie fry, university of illinois at urbana-champaign, usa jeanie austin, university of illinois at urbana-champaign, usa abstract police and policing have tacitly, and at times explicitly, been normalized as aspects of library service in the u.s. as american forms of policing are exported at an international scale, this has international implications. justification for embedded policing inside library walls has turned upon librarian and library staff conceptions of safety. this essay posits that a lack of critical engagement with the topics of policing and safety reflects the deficit of substantive discourse around antiracist pedagogy within library and information science (lis) education and practice. the paper pairs critical research on safety and criminalization with patrons’ comments on policing and grassroots activism by lis professionals to rethink safety as something shared between librarians, staff, patrons, and potential patrons (the community). ongoing, organized campaigns around policing and security within libraries are documented so that their efforts, trials, and successes will engender further research and set a marked precedent of how lis education and professions can reevaluate the role of policing and police in library settings everywhere. keywords: divestment; grassroots activism; libraries; policing; risk; safety; social justice publication type: special section publication introduction “officer [name redacted] got us kicked out after following us and saying, ‘i’m waiting for a reason to kick you guys out.’ i felt very, very mad about it… no matter what i gave everybody in that library respect… i felt that the officer was racist, including the manager. if you look at the reviews about the library, you’ll see that it needs a big change.” a teen patron who experienced racial profiling at the st. louis (missouri-usa) county library (libraries for all stl, 2020a) “it was devastating. i felt embarrassed and humiliated.” carlos greer, a patron who was racially profiled at a new york (usa) public library event (2016) xamination of how policing is positioned and implemented within academic, public, and special libraries in the u.s. reveals that policies about contacting the police or embedding police presence inside a library enact unequal and dangerous forms of power. within the library and information science field (lis), security policies have historically been weighted toward the experiences of white, middle-class, cisgender library and information professionals, e https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi whose safety is the priority? the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36187 much to the detriment of library patrons and lis professionals who do not fit the mainstream patriarchal, hegemonic identity construct. the quotes that open this essay are emblematic of how the primacy given to the experiences of white, middle-class lis professionals have excluded significant portions of our patron bases and have alienated diverse lis professionals through a disregard of their experiences of risk and safety in regards to policing and surveillance. the prioritization of white librarians’ experiences of risks and claims to safety furthers the project of white supremacy within lis. this problem has international implications, as policing and militarization are used to uphold colonialist and imperialist maneuvers that are understood to be rooted in the u.s.’s attempt to hold dominance over peoples and economic markets worldwide (mcgreevey, 2017; steinmetz et al. 2017; schrader, 2019). writing in the wake of the 2020 george floyd uprisings, new republic journalist, laura weiss (2020), directly connects policing in america to its international scope: while the u.s. polices (soc) black and brown neighborhoods within its own borders as internal colonies, it exports those same militarized and abusive policing techniques to almost every country in the world, through both the state department and department of defense, as well as private contractors. though it’s difficult to obtain a full accounting, in 2018 alone, the u.s. appropriated over $19 billion in security aid to military and police forces to 144 countries around the world, according to the security assistance monitor. (para. 2) marenin’s (1986) review of the implementation of american police and military training in subsaharan africa, and specifically in zaire, includes a review of the export of american police training that dates back to the 1900s. marenin (1986) reports that before 1973, the countries involved in the training included germany, guatemala, iran, japan, malaysia, and the philippines, in addition to individual graduates from the international police academy. more recently, mccleod (2010) found that the u.s. has “trained well over twenty thousand foreign law enforcement officers at schools in the u.s., botswana, thailand, hungary, el salvador, and peru,” (pp. 85-86) and has shaped criminal justice practices and processes across the globe. the criminalization and subsequent antagonization of unhoused people by police occurs worldwide, including by educational spaces/spaces that preach democratic participation. policing inside the u.s., at its borders, and as an exported model of conduct is increasingly militarized and militaristic, and is racialized under the premise of the war on drugs (radil et al., 2017). library security and community-based police practices vary by geographic location worldwide, and may not overlap as they do in the u.s. however, it is likely that libraries outside of the u.s. are located in areas where an american influence has shaped policing, as the projects of american imperialism and the carceral state exist as “sequential and consubstantial” historical processes (schrader, 2019, p. 309). in the summer of 2020, the international federation of library associations (ifla) president and secretary-general released a statement entitled, “racism has no place in the society libraries are working to build” (mackenzie & leitner, 2020). this statement, along with statements from the american library association (ala) and the australian library and information association (alia), reflects that the normalization of police presence in american libraries is being disturbed (garcia-febo, 2020). in addition to these association-level position statements, recent scholarship and grassroots calls-to-action reflect that librarians and library staff are thinking critically about the costs and consequences of police presence in libraries. 225 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index whose safety is the priority? the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36187 robinson (2019) offers a review of approaches to library security and policing in north america, noting racism and white supremacy as factors shaping policing practices in library settings. he critiques the library and information science (lis) field for an overreliance on perspectives that prioritize the aims and roles of current and former police at the expense of patron safety. dapier and knox (2020) have explicitly warned that “[e]very time library staffers call the police, we put the lives of our black patrons in danger” (p. 49). macrina has called for librarians and library staff to reassess their definitions of safety (balzer, 2020). grassroots movements throughout the u.s. have called for libraries to divest from police, revealing at times the large amounts of money—sometimes millions of dollars a year—that library systems devote to policing and security forces (fassler & ventura, 2021). these budgets and the normalization of not only policing in libraries, but the incorporation of police into regular library programming1, reveal the frequency with which police are invited into library spaces. this is done with little consideration for patrons’ experiences, or the barriers to information access that police presence (or threat of presence) might hold for patrons and potential patrons. this essay engages deeply with macrina’s call to reconsider safety and risk in library spaces by drawing from academic literature alongside patrons’, librarians’, and library staff’s2 experiences with policing in libraries. this paper introduces grassroots campaigns and activities into the record of lis, revealing that library workers are already reflecting on and engaging in new approaches to library safety and risk, in alignment with “the society libraries are working to build” (mackenzie & leitner, 2020, para. 1). practices of policing and security in libraries evoke and are invoked by fear, and are animated through conceptions of safety that are rooted in white supremacist histories of prioritized access (balzer, 2020; sutherland, 2019). sutherland, in an examination of the record-making and record-keeping practices of police, traces the long history of claims to safety as part of a colonial project that involved encroachment, enslavement, violence, and death. sutherland is clear that “safety” has a coded history in state practices of policing, data aggregation, and surveillance. this essay draws from sutherland’s work with the carceral archive and policing practices to identify dispersed flows of power between state practices of policing and individuals in library settings, including librarians, library staff, community groups, and patrons. this discourse finds that conceptions of risk and safety are differently deployed and valued in conversations about policing in libraries, and that the severity of risk that these actors describe varies from discomfort to fear of physical harm based on their experiences with police. a primary concern of this essay is identifying how policing in libraries has become normalized because critical discussions of systemic oppression and intersectional identities are not incorporated into lis education, or widely addressed within the profession as a whole (sweeney, et al., 2016; whisner, 2014). this erasure not only normalizes policing in library spaces, but also disregards the societal experiences of black and indigenous lis workers and librarians and staff of color who may come to work in libraries already carrying traumatic experiences involving law enforcement. also, the frontline, precarious work of lis professionals who have organized to create socially just and welcoming library systems remains largely ignored throughout the field (schwartz, 2020). as a form of disruption to counter this subtle yet impactful perplexity, this essay covers concepts that provide context for current policing divestment efforts in libraries across the u.s., with an emphasis on substantiating those efforts with descriptions of patrons’ library experiences. this 226 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index whose safety is the priority? the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36187 article closes by documenting various library campaigns that push to divest from or otherwise reduce library-based partnerships with police. what safety means in lis the most popular texts and webinars on u.s. library security are written by people with backgrounds in policing and security (albrecht, 2015; graham, 2012). these texts fail to interrogate the relationship between library security staff and community police officers, and instead encourage autocratic collaborations between police and library staff (robinson, 2019). in these scenarios, library employees are encouraged to use the same dehumanizing phrasing that police utilize when addressing patrons during moments of disruption in the library (albrecht, 2015), replaying phrases that people who have been subject to policing and incarceration will recognize, which may re-traumatize patrons. additionally, these trainings advocate for library employees to invite police deeper into library spaces, including employee break rooms. patrons and staff who have had repeated and routine encounters with aggressive policing, who have been incarcerated, or are connected to people who have been subject to processes of criminalization, recognize that the types of policing and police presence in the library constitute a potential threat to their well-being (geller et al., 2014). as one speaker at a los angeles, california public library (lapl) board of library commissioners meeting stated: consider that police presence in our libraries is not only quite obviously violent and unnecessary, it's also such an undermining distraction to learning and study. having police in a room doesn’t allow most of us to focus on anything except the absolutely terrifying fact that there are police in a room. (library patron, august 13, 2020) what this patron describes diverges from a sense of safety and belonging. yet safety is largely the language that has been employed within lis to justify the use of police as a threatening presence inside library walls. positioning the library within the larger american social context reveals that the employment of “safety” is racialized, intended to protect whiteness, and has led to the harassment, violence, and potential or actual death of black, indigenous, and people of color (bipoc) (sutherland, 2019). because lis as a profession has been so deeply steeped in cultural whiteness, librarians and educators who have made these appeals to safety must interrogate why and how safety is a narrative deployed in support of white supremacy. additionally, librarians and library staff who rely heavily on the threat or use of the police need to recognize that policing is not a one-time event. police and police structures saturate much of the experience of bipoc, poor and unhoused people, and queer and trans people in profound and life-shaping ways. consider the effects of the american school-to-prison pipeline,3 and the community-led push for schools to promote safety for bipoc students by divesting from police (advancement project and alliance for educational justice, 2018; ali-smith, 2020; black organizing project, 2019). youth who experience policing in their schools may meet with the same officers or the same types of surveillance in their local libraries. this is not a hypothetical situation. one patron of the lapl system spoke to the board of library commissioners about the experiences of her children, stating: [t]hey’re voracious readers, but what they also are is traumatized by the amount of criminalization that they’re forced to deal with. first, at their schools—lausd4—and you’ve heard the cry not only from the community but from the youth, the students deserve... pushing to get police out of schools; that absolutely needs to be extended to 227 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index whose safety is the priority? the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36187 the libraries. police have no place in libraries. if we want our youth to read and love learning, and utilize these beautiful places that you have to do those things, they can’t be criminalized while doing them, too, as so many of the youth in our city have been. (lapl library patron, july 23, 2020) indeed, lis professionals should hold the profession accountable to critically engage in topics about safety, risk, policing, and surveillance in libraries, instead of further entrenching a definition of safety that reinstates existing social relationships of privilege and oppression. a definition of safety shared between librarians, staff, patrons, and potential patrons should preclude the use of policing as a threat for behavioral control and further direct lis’s focus to concepts like material redistribution and resource sharing. librarians and library staff across the u.s. are currently engaged in this work. for example, there are librarians and staff who are acting in response to community calls to reimagine safety as a shared resource, and to create action beyond performative statements of inclusivity and support for black lives matter (abolitionist library association, 2021a; mehra, 2021). efforts to reimagine safety as something shared and mutually constituted resists white supremacy, criminalization, and systemic oppression in order to create more information-rich worlds for all librarians, staff, library patrons, and potential patrons. librarianship is a profession historically rooted in whiteness, and one that continues to draw a large demographic of white professionals (ettarh, 2018). in this context, appeals to safety and security often carry an implicit bias toward the maintenance of lis as a discipline, and specifically of libraries as culturally white institutions. neoliberalism and racial capitalism in lis (hudson, 2021) shape discussions about threatening or problematic patrons, furthering oppressive policies that push people into social and economic precarity. also, lis’s theoretical paradigm fails to position the library within a web of constantly decreasing societal resources available to people whose existences are infringed upon through processes of policing and incarceration. in other words, the failure of white librarians and staff to “police their imagination” (rankine, 2014, p. 135)5 in relation to their perceptions of threats, ignores the real threat that implementing police in the library communicates to potential or actual library patrons. this failure criminalizes people who should have access to library spaces, and reveals latent bias (intentionally or unintentionally) ignored within lis. safety, as it has been utilized to justify policing in libraries, not only communicates a set of cultural assumptions about and to patrons, but also silences librarians and library staff who do not have or have not always had access to the privilege that allows individuals to see police as “safe” (alston, 2020; rosen, 2020). librarians and library staff who have been homeless, incarcerated, dealt with addiction, experienced food insecurity, or are connected to people and communities that share these experiences are more likely to have encountered the brunt end of policing. consequently, when a library calls the police for assistance, the action likely furthers the criminalization of patrons, potential patrons, and may push library workers whose experiences don't align with the middle-class, whitewashed culture of lis out of the field.6 lis’s educational deficit lis as a theoretical framework, practice, and professional identity needs to recognize that when librarians and staff act on r racialized fears in the name of safety, they increase the likelihood that patrons will face cruelty or death. lis education that does not incorporate information about criminalization and the violence it holds for library patrons, both in and outside of the library 228 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index whose safety is the priority? the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36187 (jaschik, 2019; lashley, 2008; thacker, 2006), normalizes white supremacist violence. a curriculum that lacks this information fails to implicate the role of policing and surveillance within library settings. it is a detriment to library patrons and the communities in which they live that future library leaders are not educated to critically approach library security from a lens that incorporates social analyses of policing. this positions the library within a system of sites of potential threat for patrons and staff who have historically been marginalized through mainstream library and information services (honma, 2005). this educational deficit manifests in library practices that normalize systems of policing, surveillance, and incarceration within libraries, including library-police partnerships (balzer, 2020; bradbury, 2016). lack of discourse about library security and safety from a critical lens disregards the realities of violence and trauma that many library staffers, patrons, and possible patrons have experienced in what are considered routine encounters with police. to move toward a concept of safety as something shared between librarians, library staff, library patrons, and the community-at-large, librarians and library staff can change their approach by following harbin's advice to: (a) understand that feelings and beliefs about safety are deeply racialized; (b) cultivate empathetic habits and inclusive practices that build capacity for responding to harm, danger, and our perceptions of harm and danger; and, (c) transform the realities of structural racism that protect white people and endanger others. (harbin, 2017, p. 164) divestiture from library policing organized movements for all library settings to divest from police, and security models that rely on police, have cropped up in an organic response to recent nationwide uprisings against police brutality and for abolition in the u.s. (#8toabolition). additionally, library workers are facing dangerous working conditions during the covid-19 pandemic, resulting in several labor rights and police abolition movements from library workers across the nation. for example, in 2020, the concerned black workers of the free library of philadelphia, pennsylvania saw support from bestselling authors in their call for library director siobhan reardon’s resignation due to an iterative context of socio-cultural apathy within the free library of philadelphia’s workplace environment (harden, 2020). emboldened by some libraries’ attachments to the black lives matter movement, philadelphia library workers are calling for accountability and action rather than performative statements (dean, 2020). similar social movements amongst library workers are happening all over america: abla ivy+ libraries (2020), libraries for all st. louis (2020b), people for a police-free library (2020) in los angeles, california, police out of nyc (new york city) libraries ([@copfreelibrary], (n.d.). many library-worker groups have called for a commitment to police divestment from libraries, and have proposed a range of holistic public safety interventions and participatory budgeting processes. libraries, including brooklyn public library in new york and denver public library in colorado, have held virtual programs and created enduring library guides that connect patrons to resources that can be utilized rather than calling the police; resources have also been created to provide information for ongoing social movements to reduce policing (brooklyn public library, 2020; eckles, 2020). 229 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index whose safety is the priority? the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36187 nearly a year into organizing, these and similar campaigns are meeting substantial barriers to communicating with their library governing boards via public comments at meetings, which has been vital to achieving their goals. altered public comment rules, such as the los angeles public library disallowing public response within meetings and the st. louis county library’s requirement that all public comments be made in person rather than via email correspondence, make it increasingly difficult to record public comments and sentiments (people for a policefree library campaign member, personal communication, july 3, 2021). as such, in this essay we signpost a few of the numerous comments made in 2020 to ensure they are on the record (see appendix a). despite these barriers, library workers, students, and patrons in north america continue to organize across library systems and geographic regions for police abolition under the umbrella of the abolitionist library association (2021b), or abla, which is open to new membership. conclusion if lis conceptualizes the library as an evolving organism, then the aforementioned library workerled, grassroots movements are facilitating transformative growth needed to sustain such an organism (ranganathan, 1931). it is important for lis researchers to document these movements, and for lis programs to embed these historical and ongoing movements into their courses. these movements illustrate the possibility of critically engaging with the field in order to encourage lis toward goals that enhance the common good, and away from harmful narratives of safety and fear that work through the criminalization of library patrons and potential patrons. it is a disservice to future library leaders, and the communities they intend to serve, to erase and marginalize the grassroots movements led by library professionals and library users. lis as a field preaches and enforces respectability politics and civility, which alienates, isolates, surveils lis students, and indoctrinates library professionals into white supremacist cultural norms (galvan, 2015; hathcock, 2015). future lis research needs to document the work of lis professionals and library workers who are engaged in community work that rejects white supremacy in theory and action. policing, in all its forms and manifestations, and social movements within and beyond lis, must be examined in lis programs under feminist, queer, and critical race theories in conjunction with meaningful action to create lis professionals well-suited for a field that necessitates anti-oppressive praxis (freire, 1970). across the u.s., library patrons are expressing that their desire or need for library access means they may be placed into situations where they experience criminalization, where their fear is not recognized, and their safety is not respected. the burgeoning movements that call for divestment from policing, reallocation of resources, and the prioritization of people who most often experience the dehumanizing processes of surveillance, policing, and incarceration stand as exemplar cases. librarians, library staff, and library patrons are collaborating to support one another as they learn how to create meaningful change in lis. the inclusion of these movements, their contexts and shaping theoretical positions, and their implications in the lis classroom will ensure that the next generation of library and information professionals will enter the profession equipped to continue this vital and necessary work. 230 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index whose safety is the priority? the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36187 endnotes 1 for example, see chase (2019), which concerns whether or not an armed chief of police should frequently lead storytimes, despite a patron’s complaint. 2 the majority of quotes that accompany this essay are from testimony at the meetings of the los angeles public library board of library commissioners that took place throughout 2020. date and timestamp information have been removed in order to better anonymize identities of those quoted. 3 according to erica meiners, who discusses this phenomenon as a "nexus," "[t]he term ‘schoolto-prison pipeline' aims to highlight a complex network of relations that naturalize the movement of youth of color from our schools and communities into underor unemployment and permanent detention" (2011, p. 550). this phenomenon is so widespread in the united states that there was a congressional meeting on the topic in 2012 (ending the school-to-prison pipeline). 4 los angeles (california) unified school district 5 the full quote is, “because white men can’t police their imagination black men are dying.” 6 criminalization involves the confluence between the dehumanizing processes of racism and systemic oppression that work to adhere to perceived criminality and threat to comport, physical embodiment, ways of speaking and language, and other contextual ways of being (dwyer, 2015; puar, 2007; smiley and fakunle, 2016; ritchie, 2017). acknowledgements the authors thank the many librarians and library staff who are critically engaged in conversations about risk, safety, and policing in libraries. we especially lift up the people for a police-free library campaign in los angeles, which facilitated access to the library commission recordings that structure this essay. 231 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index whose safety is the priority? the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36187 appendix a: additional comments from the lapl board of commissioners meetings patrons and volunteers “if you continue to have the police in our libraries, then what you’re telling us is the only people who can use the library are white, wealthy people who are safe with police around.” “[w]hat will happen, not if, but when, if there continues to be presence of armed police in our libraries, an incident happens in a library. what will happen if, at some point, an armed policeman murders someone in a library? that is a real risk, that is an incident that is, by what we have seen in terms of what happens when there are armed policemen in public spaces is very -i think not just possible or likely, but almost certain.” “[t]he police officers who are also stationed in these branches do not create a safe environment. armed or otherwise, their mere presence is meant to intimidate the library’s unhoused patrons through the threat of force.” librarians “i have worked at every level in lapl … and have experienced harassment and threats at every level, and at each experience my safety was dependent on my colleagues and how prepared we were because calling security or lapd did not resolve the issue. oftentimes, my concerns were invalidated and they said they couldn’t do anything about it because they did not witness the harassment or what i reported, so it was discounted, and so really my safety was dependent on my colleagues. … we really need to reimagine safety and also provide assistance for people that experience houselessness because a lot of security language has been directed towards those people. i am all for finding new ways to invest in safety and security because any time i’ve dealt with any police officer that is not one of the three that are usually in our branch, they are hostile towards our unhoused patrons, they are hostile towards people who might be struggling from mental illness, and i don’t feel safe. i’ve been stalked through the branch, i’ve been stalked through the parking lot after dark, i’ve been held hostage in the branch by people banging on the windows, and lapd doesn’t seem to care. … and if there’s a better way to do this and get response times for our patrons and for us i’m all for it.” from outside of the lapl commission meetings “this summer, there were uprisings in st. louis and the same officers who were going out and pepper spraying people at night came in the next day to work with us. they don’t recognize us, but we recognize them [and] it’s definitely disheartening to come to work and see people who terrorize you outside of work. (in, kuziez, u. (2020). libraries for all asks for community support to create safe and just libraries. parkway pathfinder. retrieved from https://pwestpathfinder.com/2020/12/18/i-believe-in-what-the-library-couldbe-libraries-for-all-stl-asks-for-community-support-to-create-safe-and-just-libraries/) 232 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://pwestpathfinder.com/2020/12/18/i-believe-in-what-the-library-could-be-libraries-for-all-stl-asks-for-community-support-to-create-safe-and-just-libraries/ https://pwestpathfinder.com/2020/12/18/i-believe-in-what-the-library-could-be-libraries-for-all-stl-asks-for-community-support-to-create-safe-and-just-libraries/ whose safety is the priority? the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36187 references #8toabolition. (2020). https://www.8toabolition.com/ abla ivy+. (2020, october 27). a call for ivy+ libraries to divest from police and prisons and invest in life-giving resources. https://ablaivy.medium.com/a-call-for-ivy-libraries-todivest-from-police-and-prisons-and-invest-in-life-giving-resources-fdd5889270df abolitionist library association. (2021a). divestment. https://abolitionistlibraryassociation.org/images/abla%20-%20resource%20guide%20%20divestment.pdf abolitionist library association. (2021b). https://abolitionistlibraryassociation.org/ advancement project and alliance for educational justice (2018). we came to learn: a call to action for police-free schools. https://advancementproject.org/wecametolearn/ albrecht, s. (2015). library security: better communication, safer facilities. ala. ali-smith, m. (2020). police-free schools are necessary, as is abolishing the white supremacist state they are rooted in. black youth project. https://blackyouthproject.com/policefree-schools-are-necessary-as-is-abolishing-the-white-supremacist-state-they-arerooted-in/ alston, j. (2020). policing the library [letter to the editor]. american libraries, november/december. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/wpcontent/uploads/2020/10/1120.pdf balzar, c. (2020, july 8). rethinking police presence: libraries consider divesting from law enforcement. american libraries magazine. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2020/07/08/rethinking-police-presence/ black organizing project (2019). the people's plan for police-free schools. https://blackorganizingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/the-peoples-plan2019-online-reduced-size.pdf bradbury, s. (2016, may 5). chattanooga police agree to release crime, policing data. chattanooga times free press. https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2016/may/05/police-agreerelease-crime-policing-data/363880/ brooklyn public library. (2020, june 25). “‘cops out’: a panel on the movement to end policing in schools.” https://www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/cops-out-panel-movement-virtual20200625 concerned black workers of the flp. (n.d.). https://www.instagram.com/changetheflp/?hl=en cooke, n.a., sweeney, m, & noble, s. u. 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(2014). race and the reference librarian. law library journal, 106(4), 625–632. https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/librarians-articles/14 allie fry (arfry2@illinois.edu) is a is a recent graduate of the university of illinois at urbanachampaign school of information sciences. she holds a ba in gender & women's studies from knox college. her research interests include police abolition in libraries, and whiteness in librarianship. jeanie austin (jeanie.l.austin@gmail.com) earned their phd in library and information science from the university of illinois at urbana-champaign. their research interests and activities include the provision of library services to people in carceral facilities. they primarily examine the complex political and social systems that surround this work. more information about their work is available at jeanieaustin.com. 237 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/11/17/shock-and-anger-ucla https://newrepublic.com/article/158297/america-exports-police-violence-around-world https://newrepublic.com/article/158297/america-exports-police-violence-around-world https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/librarians-articles/14 mailto:arfry2@illinois.edu mailto:jeanie.l.austin@gmail.com http://jeanieaustin.com/ introduction what safety means in lis lis’s educational deficit divestiture from library policing conclusion endnotes acknowledgements appendix a: additional comments from the lapl board of commissioners meetings patrons and volunteers librarians from outside of the lapl commission meetings references opening doors to literature: people & stories / gente y cuentos the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32595 opening doors to literature: people & stories / gente y cuentos ellen gilbert, people & stories / gente y cuentos, usa abstract people & stories/gente y cuentos (p&s/gyc) is a non-profit literacy outreach organization with headquarters in the u.s. state of new jersey (https://peopleandstories.org/). p&s/gyc is guided by a belief in the power of literature to positively impact transitioning populations, such as halfway house residents, immigrants working toward citizenship, and veterans reintegrating into civilian life. homeless parents and senior citizens are also invited to participate in p&s/gyc’s reading programs, which include oral readings and seminar-style discussions of literary short stories. the stories chosen for p&s/gyc programs typically embody the best qualities of enduring literature: artistic richness, explorations of life complexities, wonders, and ambiguities. participants learn to connect knowledge synthesized from their own life experiences with stories under discussion in an atmosphere of trust established by trained facilitators. p&s/gyc’s beginnings date back to 1972, when founder sarah hirschman invited a group of puerto rican women in cambridge, massachusetts to engage with their cultural heritage through reading literature in their first language—spanish. english reading groups were added to p&s/gyc’s design in 1986, and today the program collaborates with social service organizations, such as the harvard humanities and liberal arts assessment lab, and other partner sites in the states of new jersey, new york, and pennsylvania. in 2016, the national endowment for the humanities recognized the extraordinary work of p&s/gyc by funding a 30-month expansion program called “reading deeply in community,” partnering with ten public library systems around the country. keywords: community engagement; literacy; orality; outreach; reading groups publication type: special section publication introduction uring the 1960s and 1970s, sarah hirschman (1921-2012), a classically educated philosopher, convened latino immigrant reading groups in new york and massachusetts, gradually introducing additional forms of community work as part of the program design. the spanish language reading program was then formally launched in 1974, when the hirschmans moved to new jersey. sarah formally established gente y cuentos (meaning “people and stories”) with a group of latino immigrants in various localities throughout the state “to encompass sites in learning centers, libraries, and prisons” (“obituaries,” 2012). over the course of more than 40 years, english language reading programs were incorporated, adding the moniker “people & stories” to the organization’s name. people & stories/gente y centos (p&s/gyc) has served more than 400 participants across the world, including reading groups in france and argentina. the p&s/gyc method of collaborative reading and discussion reaches individuals who are often going through some kind of life transition, and the group-oriented structure of the d https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index opening doors to literature the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32595 program encourages adults to continue with their education while strengthening their literacy skills for broader application in navigating their personal and professional lives. to contextualize sarah hirschman’s passion for founding and promoting p&s/gyc, we need to understand her identity and agency in relation to using reading as a means of cultural empowerment. she was born in lithuania in 1921 and just like her husband, the distinguished social scientist albert o. hirschman (1915-2012), sarah had an international upbringing. she grew up in paris, studying philosophy with simone de beauvoir, and completing her university education in philosophy and french literature at the university of california-berkeley in the u.s. in 1941, sarah and albert (whom she met at berkeley) married, and from that point forward, their lives were a remarkable collaboration. accompanying albert on an early work assignment that took him to colombia, sarah became fluent in spanish, studied anthropology, and was introduced to some of the social problems that would later inform her work. brazilian philosopher and educator paulo freire was an influential voice for sarah. at a 1969 seminar that freire gave at harvard university, hirschman was struck by his conviction “that people could acquire new knowledge only as it becomes meaningfully related to their life” (hirschman, 2009, p. 12). sarah applied freire’s ideas to reading, asking: could a beautiful, multivocal, short story exercise similar powers . . . could a literary text stimulate the imagination and set in motion a number of links to private experiences? and could members of a group who read and discuss a story together transform these deeply felt private reactions into a more public discourse that could be a dialogue? (p. 12) with this insight, hirschman founded p&s/gyc in 1972. p&s/gyc program design following freire’s lead, p&s/gyc is designed in such a way that coordinators are trained to avoid the typical “teacher expert” role; instead of imparting knowledge, coordinators try to encourage participants to glean ideas and skills from texts that could be applied in real life. coordinators read short story texts in advance and then, following the freirean approach, they reflect on their own reader responses and insights and prepare discussion questions for each group. reading groups run in eight-week sessions, giving coordinators enough time to become acquainted with readers’ life narratives and reading tastes and interests. coordinators take each group’s unique interests into consideration to prompt their preparations for choice of the next text and accompanying discussion questions for the following week. p&s/gyc reading group sessions typically begin with the coordinator reading aloud the chosen short story of the week. participants listen and then respond through open group discussion, giving their own interpretation of texts. through active listening to the differing ideas offered by other group members, they become more aware of their own responses to, understanding of, and ideas about the selected readings. the dialogue that emerges helps participants consider and critique characterizations, literary tropes, and cultural or social stereotypes; have empowered voices; and refine critical and analytical thinking skills that can be applied in their daily lives of individuals in transition. because this decentralized reading model works to collaboratively build knowledge, observers are sometimes surprised that p&s/gyc participants at a prison or homeless shelter discuss literary metaphors by james joyce or chinua achebe with 94 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index opening doors to literature the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32595 the same ease as any other aspect of the group-oriented conversation. for the p&s/gyc model, the choice of a story is a crucial starting point. to build literacy skills, stories work best when they are brief, told in the first language of the participant group, have relatable content, and are capable of stimulating ideas. sarah hirschman drew on her wealth of literary knowledge, starting with great latin american writers and later incorporating stories originally published in english and translations. novels with dialectal dialogues were the greatest favorites with reading groups. since many multicultural titles were read by various p&s/gyc reading groups over the years, there exists an extensive online bibliography accessible to p&s/gyc community members; it is organized by language and accessible by author or title. although the bibliography includes prompts to help reading group coordinators facilitate group discussion, coordinators are encouraged to work through the p&s/gyc methodology of reflexivity to integrate their own reading responses and insights into the story, especially as they prepare discussion questions for each class. growing familiarity with members of the class as the eightweek session continues enhances the coordinator’s ability to ask evocative questions and, of course, to compare and contrast ideas raised by stories in the previous weeks. the p&s/gyc model is framed around five story categories: 1) “poetics” 2) locating “tensions and contrasts” 3) “finding shadows” 4) “issues and themes,” and 5) “life experience” (hirschman, 2009, p. 27-42) participants receive a copy of each story, which they are often seeing for the first time. the coordinator reads the story through, and then what many of us call “the magic” begins: together, participants delve into the story, share their reactions to it, and engage in mutual support by listening to one another’s contributions. they discuss how the story relates to their own questions, ideas, and experiences. readers experience what roland barthes (1977) calls plaisir [pleasure] in reading, where reading is "a pleasure . . . linked to cultural enjoyment and identity" (p. 9). the novelist and iraqi war veteran kevin powers (2018) has described his own experience with literature at a very low point in his life: my tether to the world outside my mind was made stronger by other books, until i came to the belief that the whole range of human experience, including suffering and pain, when witnessed or shared, could be transformed into a kind of transcendent awe. (p. sr5) p&s/gyc participants have consistently experienced empowering responses to literature as described by powers and barthes. accountability p&s/gyc’s teaching style was developed over time and is carefully delineated in hirschman’s 95 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index opening doors to literature the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32595 2009 book people and stories / gente y cuentos. the book, along with other materials, is used in twice-a-year training sessions with englishand spanish-speaking p&s/gyc coordinators who lead 15-20 participants in once-a-week collaborative reading engagement sessions of 1.5 hours for eight weeks. to date, p&s/gyc boasts over 400 participants with meaningful outcomes. p&s/gyc executive director cheyenne wolf reports that from about 420 adult participants: • 86% strongly agreed that they want to “read more after this program”; • 83% reported that “reading and discussing the stories helped [them] notice new things about [their] opinions and beliefs”; • 76% said that they had “learned new strategies for handling situations that [they] may encounter”; • 92% agreed that “literature helps people understand themselves, others, and the world”; • 81% believed that discussing stories “made it easier to share” their own experiences; and • 84% of the participants came out with “more confidence in my ability to read and interpret stories.” (wolf, 2018) anecdotal evidence consistently points to profoundly felt changes that take place as a result of participation in p&s/gyc sessions. program evaluations include ample space for participants’ comments, and coordinators routinely report on the highlights of each session. videos, prepared with the approval of cooperating facilitates and including only informed participants who have given their written consent to be photographed, can be highly influential. senior adults, an important population served by p&s/gyc, were the focus of a recent telecast in a local news series on the “art of aging,” where participants shared positive testimonies about p&s/gyc. the segment was filmed at a senior citizen center where p&s/gyc holds regular programming (edwards, 2018). encouraged by large and small grants from individual and corporate donors and, most importantly, by the feedback of p&s/gyc participants and coordinators, several programs have evolved into new directions. mindful of the powerful evidence that young children who are read to at home have higher success rates in school, the fall 2017 session of p&s/gyc at homefront’s family preservation center (new jersey) included an added component: participants were reminded, each week, of the importance of reading to their children and encouraged to use the well-stocked, well-lit library on the center’s second floor. collaborations p&s/gyc integrates its programs with partner organizations that often focus on critical life transitions. these life transitions include prisoners moving to probation; halfway house residents re-joining community; at-risk youth in alternative education programs; adults enrolled in adult education programs; immigrants working toward citizenship; veterans re-entering civilian society; and seniors moving to new stages of life. overhead costs for an eight-week series of the 96 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index opening doors to literature the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32595 p&s/gyc method and design are relatively low, averaging about $3,300 usd per session, and often less if the p&s/gyc coordinator is a volunteer. cooperative arrangements with princeton university’s program for community engaged scholarship (proces) also show considerable promise. the goal of proces is to encourage research projects involving students and community organizations working on such issues as healthcare, housing, education, economic development, homelessness, hunger, immigration, and environmental conservation. most recently, p&s/gyc sessions at a local senior center offered valuable field experience for students in a proces-sponsored “medical humanities” class (ant/hum/medical humanities, princeton university, 2018). one of the enduring collaborations was between p&s/gyc and the princeton public library (new jersey), in october of 2018, when the library celebrated its 25th anniversary of being a p&s/gyc site. in response to criticisms that the princeton public library p&s/gyc group does not represent a “typical” p&s/gyc audience, p&s/gyc board vice president constance hassett pointed out that long-term members are not “underserved” in the sense of being “fiscally challenged,” but rather they are not a community that is “over-served” (hassett, 2018). hassert stated that the participants “clearly feel that p&s/gyc gives them, as members of a diverse spanish-speaking diaspora, something of broad cultural value that they don't find elsewhere.” finally, hassett shared that “although my spanish is rudimentary as best, i did hear: (1) how differently participants spoke spanish and, (2) how often they expressed gratitude for the way angelica [the p&s/gyc coordinator at princeton library] explains diction, idioms and meanings that are specific to one country's speakers or another. valuable cultural bonding is going on!” (hassett, personal communication, october 27, 2018) words of encouragement in addition to the growing empirical evidence about the effectiveness of the literature-based reading groups, a constant stream of publications in both scholarly and popular literature provides p&s/gyc with well-chosen words of encouragement. the shared reading aloud of stories at p&s/gyc sessions is key, and award-winning authors ursula k. le guin and larry mcmurtry speak to this phenomenon: “oral performance is irreproducible,” observed le guin (2004, p. 201); in his memoir, walter benjamin at the dairy queen, mcmurtry (1999) suggested that walter benjamin’s “description of the way good stories are told and passed on presupposes a certain human and cultural density. there must be people gathered in a place—ideally, perhaps, in an artisan’s shop—to listen to the storyteller and to repeat the story in their turn” (p. 23). as le guin said, “words are events, they do things, change things. they transform both speaker and hearer; they feed energy back and forth and amplify it. they feed understanding or emotion back and forth and amplify it” (2004, p. 199). conclusion respect for the diverse ways in which we, human beings, read our worlds through experience, through language, through literature, and then through the sharing of these essentials with each other, creates a keen awareness of our shared humanity. this heightened mutual awareness of the diversity of human knowledge and experience has always been a key component of p&s/gyc programs. it is hoped that future community-based literacy programs like p&s/gyc will examine 97 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index opening doors to literature the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(2), 2019 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32595 intergenerational literacy among immigrants, continue to explore the effect of reading and discussing short stories about participants’ identities, and more specifically identify the benefits that reading programming brings to different populations including teens at risk, senior adults, incarcerated individuals, and chronically ill patients in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities. references a. colorni-hirschman international institute. (n.d.) retrieved from https://colornihirschman.org/our-classics barthes, r. (1977). image, music, text. new york, ny: hill & wang. edwards, t. (2018, october 9). art of aging: 'people and stories' brings seniors together through reading. retrieved from https://6abc.com/health/people-and-stories-brings-seniorstogether-through-reading/4447133/ hirschman, s. (2009). people and stories / gente y cuentos: who owns literature? communities find their voice through short stories. new york, ny: iuniverse. le guin, u. k. (2004). the wave in the mind: talks and essays on the writer, the reader, and the imagination. boulder, co: shambhala. mcmurty, l. (1999). walter benjamin at the dairy queen: reflections on sixty and beyond. new york, ny: simon & schuster. obituaries 1/18/12. (2012, january 18). retrieved from http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2012/01/18/sarah-hirschman/ powers, k. (2018, june 17). what kept me from killing myself. the new york times, p. sr5. wolf, c. (2018, october 10). p&s/gyc: impact at a glance. report to board of trustees. http://www.peopleandstories.org ellen gilbert (ellendgilbert@gmail.com) is a people & stories / gente y cuentos facilitator. she has a doctorate in library science from columbia university, and has published books and papers on american publishing history, libraries, and intellectual freedom. 98 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://colornihirschman.org/our-classics https://6abc.com/health/people-and-stories-brings-seniors-together-through-reading/4447133/ https://6abc.com/health/people-and-stories-brings-seniors-together-through-reading/4447133/ http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2012/01/18/sarah-hirschman/ http://www.peopleandstories.org/ file:///c:/users/animehead23/downloads/ellendgilbert@gmail.com introduction p&s/gyc program design accountability collaborations words of encouragement conclusion references hood dreams: literacy 4 survival the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37016 hood dreams: literacy 4 survival michelle e. jones, columbus state university, usa keywords: legends; literacy; news; urban myths publication type: special section creative hood dreams: literacy 4 survival all my life my girls joked about me being in the library. they thought that was boring. trusting in what someone other than your crew said. it’s not popular to research something for yourself. literacy is more than knowing how to read. why are so many deceived by urban legends? fact checking is vital to your life. your health is tied to finding the truth about side effects. your safety is linked to taking heed to legit warnings. you cannot always believe the word on the street. remember your people—to them you have an obligation not to spread news of which you are unsure. using social media to spread fear instead of truth. not all doctors are the enemy. all researchers and scholars are not out to get you. books, articles, and higher education are not automatically irrelevant. learning is part of everyday life. being able to discern valid ideas/news from urban myths is powerful. remember you will not be easily deceived. ties right to the goal of reppin’ your fam and your crew for real. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi hood dreams: literacy 4 survival the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37016 84 michelle e. jones (jones_michelle@columbusstate.edu) is currently the head of reference services and professor of library science at columbus state university in columbus, ga. a native of columbus, ga, she earned a bachelor’s degree in english and an msls from clark atlanta university. she has taught a credit bearing information literacy course in face to face, hybrid, and online formats. as the education liaison librarian, she helps doctoral students with research related to dissertation completion. she has co-authored articles in women’s studies and women and language; this also includes a published original poem in the ‘hip hop’s languages of love’ special section of women and language. she has co-authored chapters in lead your library with a sense of humor and the black librarian in america: reflections, resistance, and reawakening. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:jones_michelle@columbusstate.edu hood dreams: literacy 4 survival a qualitative study exploring neurodiversity conference themes, representations and evidence-based justifications for the explicit inclusion and valuing of ocd the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 a qualitative study exploring neurodiversity conference themes, representations, and evidence-based justifications for the explicit inclusion and valuing of ocd damian mellifont, the university of sydney, australia abstract the inclusivity of neurodiversity conferences is a new field of research. utilising obsessive compulsive disorder (ocd) as an example, this study aims to critically investigate issues of inclusivity in the flyers advertising these conferences. this exploratory research is informed by 22 conference flyers and 14 scholarly articles retrieved from respective internet and google scholar enquiries. these articles offered evidence-based justifications for a greater inclusion of ocd-focused content in neurodiversity conferences. the study cautions that the lack of explicit inclusion of ocd as a topic among conferences can be harmful to persons who identify with this particular type of neurodivergence. this study offers a sound base from which future research focusing upon other forms of neurodivergence and issues of neurodiversity conference inclusivity and intersectionality can develop. keywords: conferences; inclusion; neurodiversity; obsessive-compulsive-disorder; policy publication type: special section publication introduction illions are expended on multiple-day conferences each year (rog & wolffe, 1994 as cited in neves et al., 2012). while representing a large investment, the benefits that these conferences can offer attendees are notable. these benefits include keeping up to date in one’s field, gaining fresh ideas, and establishing program and interest alliances (ferman, 2002; hickson, 2006). around the world, contemporary disability conferences are presenting studies along with “reflective work” that is centred upon socially created disabling obstacles (callus, 2017, p.1661). in addition to learning and networking prospects, conferences also present opportunities to travel and relax (ngamsom & beck, 2000). at their finest, conferences permit academics to converge in a cooperative community that is devoted to distributing, generating, and absorbing knowledge (manning, 2018). while offering many benefits, conferences are, however, not immune from challenges. the complexity of issues that are discussed at large conferences can result in organisers struggling to set clear conference objectives (mathieson, 2009; tepper & hinton, 2003 as cited in neves et al., 2012). conferences can also struggle to be more inclusive. resources, space, and time, together with psychological and physical outlays, can discourage people from joining conferences (ngamsom & beck, 2000). de picker (2019) recognises that the representation of disability b https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 activism within scholarly conferences will continue to be constrained where attendance is availed only to those who have capacity to pay. crucially, coe et al. (2019) caution that societies and organisations who fail to provide “diverse and inclusive conferences” should be held to account (p. 590). moreover, according to gordon and gledhill (2018), “the mantra of ‘nothing about us without us’ applies equally to conferences as it does to anything else concerning mental health— what’s more, that must extend to all aspects of the conference in order to be meaningful— organising committees, key-note and concurrent session presentations, posters, attendees, panellists” (p. 110). before broaching the topic of neurodiversity conferences, it is appropriate to consider some of the complexities that are inherent to the term. neurodiversity should not be presumed to be fixed, understood, or universally accepted. put simply, neurodiversity can take on different meanings for different individuals (chapman, 2020). steve silberman’s (2017) publication neurotribes supports the understanding that all brains are different, and that autism is a sample of such diversity (silberman, 2017 as cited in baron-cohen, 2017). in the u.k., efforts have been made to develop a community that is wider than autism (arnold, 2017). hence, moving beyond its original use by judy singer (an australian social scientist who has lived experience with autism) in her description of a “self-advocacy movement,” neurodiversity has grown to encompass a range of conditions including autistic spectrum disorder, dyslexia, tourette syndrome, dyspraxia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd), among others (dalton, 2013; baron-cohen, 2017). while the 1960s saw canada recording expressions of mad pride in reaction to psychiatric institutionalisation, the neurodiversity movement (ndm) would rally in the latter part of the twentieth century through the use of internet sites that were primarily based in europe and the u.s. (dyck, 2020). typical of social justice causes, the ndm is not exempt from criticisms (den houting, 2019). a suggestion is put forward that the movement has been controlled by persons with asperger syndrome and other types of “high-functioning autism” (ortega, 2009 as cited in russell, 2020). some argue that “functioning labels” are damaging (chapman, 2021). individuals who are seen as high functioning can find it extremely challenging to obtain support, while the low functioning label can overlook abilities (williams, 2019). research from alvares et al. (2020) support movement away from binary descriptors (i.e., low/high functioning) and towards more appreciation of the variance in function that exists throughout the autism spectrum. kapp et al. (2013) also note that the ndm has generated controversy in its quest for quality of living and social change over cure. rothstein (2012) reports that some public figures, “including many parents,” focus on the challenges that can accompany mental conditions (p. 100). further, russell (2020) advises of the notable benefits to be realised from medical diagnosis including those of attaining access to services, gaining an understanding of lived experiences, and obtaining an assembly point for political activity. in contrast, the social model sees disability as a consequence of challenging physical and social settings, rather than resulting from the condition itself (berridge & martinson, 2018). friction thus continues between two competing ideologies (i.e., the social model that the movement openly supports and the medical model that it tends to oppose). some people might thus reject neurodiversity for its failure to treat mental illness, while others might reject being labelled with medical conditions along with any suggestion that they need medical treatment. still, there are individuals who identify as neurodiverse that find both models to be useful. in this way, neurodiversity advocates exist who are accepting of the medical model (mcwade et al., 2015). 112 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 according to parsons et al. (2017), “ableism is most often used to describe the negative treatments of individuals with disability” (p.207). ableism is steeped in negative assumptions concerning disability (hehir, 2002 as cited in storey, 2007). clare (2004) cautions about ableism in terms of its potential to segregate and deny opportunities to achieve. conversely, in the ndm, neurological variances are seen as natural (milton & moon, 2012 as cited in mcwade et al., 2015). neurodiversity advocates recognise the positive attributes of brains that operate differently (rothstein, 2012). debate too persists around neurodiversity-related language. strand (2017, n.p.) uses the term neurodivergent to refer to persons who identify as “other than neurotypical.” this latter term depicts “the majority brain” (murdock, 2020, p.14). neurodiversity in turn emphasises that variances in brain function are seen as a natural part of human variation (clouder et al., 2020). the lexicon of the ndm, however, is not beyond contestation. no consensus has been reached on the appropriateness of expressions such as neurodifferent, neurodivergent, and neurodiverse (doyle, 2020). russell (2020) argues that the boundary determining who is included in the neurodivergent group is presently ill-defined. further, as far as the author is aware, a popularly recognised, progressive alternative for the medical term of obsessive-compulsive-disorder (ocd) remains unavailable. the term “ocd” has thus been used throughout in this paper. the author also makes references to the medical model in the context of its capacity to allow for the formal diagnosis of various forms of neurodivergence and subsequent access to accommodations on an individualised basis. recognising the complex and dynamic nature of the ndm, it is appropriate to investigate the inclusiveness or otherwise of conferences that are promoted under its banner. hence, in addition to investigating the topics that are promoted in these conference flyers, this study shall explore the types of neurodivergence that are explicitly mentioned. of particular interest to this exploration is ocd. according to sane australia (2018), “people living with ocd are troubled by recurring unwanted thoughts, images, or impulses, as well as obsessions and repetitive rituals.” it is appropriate at this point, however, to also recognise the possible strengths that might be attributed to this particular form of neurodivergence. the literature has raised potential for ocd and anxiety more broadly to respectively assist in advancing work quality and quantity by motivating one to operate meticulously and diligently (hayes-skelton et al., 2013; johnson, 2014 as cited by mellifont, 2019). mellifont et al. (2019) also report on the potential of anxiety to support the completion of phd level study. appreciating that one form of neurodivergence is not more important than another, the author also notes a strong representation of ocd among populations. such representation is exemplified in the anxiety and depression association of america (2020) reporting of 2.2 million american adults who are living with ocd. as many persons have lived experience with ocd, it is appropriate that topics of interest for these individuals do not tend to be overlooked in neurodiversity conferences. while the annual ocd conference is dedicated to this particular type of neurodivergence (international ocd foundation, 2019), to the author’s knowledge, there is a scarcity of information available about the broader inclusion of ocd in neurodiversity conference promotional materials. utilising ocd as an example, this study aims to critically investigate issues of inclusivity for these conferences. method in order to locate conference flyers relevant to the first aim of this study, an internet search was 113 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 implemented using the term, “neurodiversity conference flyers.” a supplementary google enquiry using the broader search term of “neurodiversity” and “conference” was then conducted. conference flyers with a neurodiversity focus (i.e., the term neurodiversity is specifically mentioned in the conference title) and with a conference date between 2014 and 2021 were considered to be relevant. given the preliminary nature of this study, searches were purposefully confined to the english language. furthermore, events were restricted to conferences (i.e., large gatherings where professionals share and discuss viewpoints on certain topics) as opposed to symposiums (i.e., smaller scientific gatherings where experts present about a particular topic of interest) (van de venter, 2019). it is therefore recognised that neurodiversity events do exist beyond those included in this study and that these events are conducted in different languages, for example, “conferencia neurodiversidades” and formats, such as, “symposiums.” thematic analysis of pertinent flyers involved: a) reading the texts; b) identifying conference themes, their coding rules, and exemplary quotes, and c) recording this information in tabular form. following on, descriptive statistics were applied to calculate the proportional representations of these themes among conference flyers. neurodivergence types and supporting quotes were captured and recorded and descriptive statistics were again used to determine their proportional representations across the promotional materials. informing evidence-based justifications for the greater inclusion of ocd focused content in neurodiversity conferences, a google scholar search was carried out applying the search term, “neurodiversity” and “obsessive compulsive disorder” and “inclusion.” selection criteria consisted of: document type = journal article; article informs about the potential inclusion of ocd-related topics in neurodiversity conferences; publication date = post 2015; and article is retrievable. the publication date range was purposively selected so as to support a contemporary sample of scholarly articles of sufficient volume to support the study aim. thematic analysis was applied to the relevant articles. as directed by braun and clarke (2006), this analysis involved: a) becoming conversant with the data; b) recognising themes; c) rereading the themes; and d) reporting the results. evidence-based themes supporting the explicit inclusion of ocd within neurodiversity conferences, their coding instructions, and supporting quotes were documented in tabular form as well. results the google search for conference flyers produced 149 possibly relevant flyers with 11 of these being accepted after applying the inclusion criterion of the term neurodiversity as promoted within the conference title. the supplementary internet search produced an additional 11 flyers from the first five pages of results, bringing the total number of neurodiversity conference flyers to 22. conference titles together with their respective locations and dates are provided in the following section (conferences). thematic analysis of these flyers produced themes of employment, education, social, advocacy, health, and policy. themes, their coding instructions, and exemplary texts are provided in table 1. table 2 depicts the proportional representations of these themes across the conference flyers. conferences (titles, locations, and dates) 1. 2021 amf power of neurodiversity conference: cultivating success in the classroom & beyond! (u.s., st. louis, missouri; 25 & 26 march 2021). 114 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 2. 2019 national neurodiversity and mental health conference. (england; liverpool, 4 oct 2019). 3. st. louis neurodiversity conference. (u.s., st louis, missouri, 24 & 25 apr, 2019). 4. empowering neurodiversity developing services for neurodiverse young people with neurodiverse young people. (u.s., phoenix, 51-16 sep 2016). 5. neurodiversity in the workplace national conference: a collaborative conference event. (u.s., maryland, 7 & 8 nov 2019). 6. neurodiversity: how prepared are you to train students with hidden disabilities? (england, bristol; 4 sep 2018). 7. solutions for learning conference: neurodiversity rocks! (canada, ontario; 21 mar 2014). 8. thinking differently about god: neurodiversity, faith & church. (england, london; 12 oct 2019). 9. 2nd annual cuny neurodiversity conference. (u.s., new york; 11 & 12 mar 2019). 10. supporting neurodiversity. (england, york; 5 oct 2017). 11. neurodiversity leaders 2016 in san francisco. (unites states, san francisco; 8 oct 2016). 12. nurturing invisible superpowers: a conference on neurodiversity. (canada, british columbia; 27 & 28 apr 2020). 13. neurodiversity and the criminal justice system. (ireland, dublin, leinster; 1 nov 2019). 14. the neurodiversity employment conference. (england, welwyn garden city; hertfordshire; 4 october 2018). 15. diverse minds: the neurodiversity conference. (england, london; 1 march 2018). 16. online conference: neurodiversity and the creative arts. (streamed from england, london; 16-17 nov 2020). 17. neurodiversity in the high-tech workforce: celebrating abilities in a culture of disability. (u.s.; 7 june 2016). 18. 3rd annual cuny neurodiversity conference. (u.s., new york; 12 & 13 mar 2020). 19. neurodiversity matters conference. (u.s., streamed from rhode island; 29 & 30 apr 2020). 20. neurodiversity at work: thinking differently & supporting unique talents. (england, streamed from london; 14 jan 2021). 21. neurodiversity: it takes all kinds of different minds. (england, streamed from london; 10-12 nov 2020). 115 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 22. neurodiversity and workplace inclusivity. (u.s., washington, d.c. virtual conference); 16 sep 2020). table 1. neurodiversity conference flyer themes theme coding rule exemplary quotes employment flyer includes neurodiversity-related employment topic(s). “top professionals in the field will share their research and strategies building off of strengths and abilities...” (adam morgan foundation, 2020). “do we want to attract, retain and assist employees with neurological differences?” (netwoven, 2016). “join us to learn how fortune 500 companies and other employers, large and small, are partnering with community resources, higher education, and state agencies to build more inclusive hiring programs that deliver business results” (cvent, 2019). “suggested topic areas: strategies for competitive employment” (the city university of new york, 2019). “breakout sessions explore diagnosis and disclosure; linkedin as an employment tool and the autism job club” (aascend, 2016). “‘what are reasonable adjustments in employment for those with adhd, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia’” (adhd foundation, 2019). “finding workplace support” (yadda, 2017). “meet one2one with high profile employers such as ford, kantar and roche” (able magazine, 2018). “diverse minds will make the industry more creative, innovative and profitable” (the hobbs consultancy and creative equals, 2018). ...“exploring neurodiversity and creativity” (university of london, 2020). “leaders and experts in the field will provide best practices for inclusion and promoting student 116 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 success from college to career” (cuny, 2020). “neurodiversity presents unique competitive advantages in the workplace” (dods diversity & inclusion, 2020). “celebrating neurodiversity or creating an inclusive workplace who is a civil servant in the uk” (civil service local, 2020). “employers are also beginning to recognize that accommodating neurodiverse people can provide a significant competitive advantage, leading to a range of more inclusive policies, programs and procedures” (asid, 2020). education flyer includes neurodiversity-related education topic(s). “suggested topic areas: academic support; transition to/from college” (the city of new york, 2019). “in mainstream education, social abuse is widespread and inherent in many schools and the notion of social control, academic gain and cultural conformity leaves those standing outside of the box in an institutional no man’s land” (battles, 2016). “breakout sessions explore supports for college success” (aascend, 2016). “‘understanding and meeting the learning and mental health needs of students in higher education’” (adhd foundation, 2019). “supporting neurodiversity in education seminars• secondary • primary school • post 16 -college, uni, life-long learning” (yadda, 2017). “join us in cultivating success in the classroom & beyond!” (adam morgan foundation, 2020). “driver and rider trainers should expect to meet a significant number of individuals affected by autism and associated conditions who wish to learn how to drive or ride” (dia, 2018). “angie demarco, learning disabilities association of sudbury offers this experiential presentation intended to depict a variety of processing 117 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 differences faced by students when they are academically challenged in the structured learning environment known as ‘school’” (ldah, 2014). “the conference seeks to promote a shared understanding of neurodiversity: a concept where neurological (brain development) differences are recognized and respected as variations rather than disorders, like any other human differences” (insight support services, 2020). “the goal is to provide attendees with an up to date understanding of the impact of neurodevelopmental conditions on offending behaviours and to highlight practical strategies that have been shown to be effective in working with individuals who are neurodiverse within the criminal justice system” (association for criminal justice research and development (acjrd, 2019). social flyer includes neurodiversity-related social topic(s). “this is a one of a kind conference, bringing a fresh perspective and hope for true inclusion in our society” (adam morgan foundation, 2020). “suggested topic areas: social inclusion and recreation; independent living” (the city of new york, 2019). “some of the other sessions at the conference will be: guardianship alternatives; circling up: parenting support groups; guardianship alternatives” (american institute for learning and human development, 2019). “breakout sessions explore dating on the spectrum” (aascend, 2016). “adhd is a family affair ‐ how adhd impacts on the family’” (adhd foundation, 2019). “empower our neurodiverse community in achieving equal opportunity and full participation in society” (spectrum theatre ensemble, 2020). advocacy flyer includes neurodiversity-related advocacy topic(s). “in bringing both worlds together we have an opportunity to empower those who are wired differently with those who currently set the rules” 118 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 (battles, 2016). “in this panel aascend co-chair greg yates moderates a convocation of leading autism advocacy organizations, including autism society of america, autism global initiative, different brains, grasp and others to hear the state of autism advocacy and where we share common ground” (aascend, 2016). “sharing experience of discovery, discrimination and discernment” (st. martin in the fields, 2019). health flyer includes neurodiversity-related health topic(s). “some of the other sessions at the conference will be: nutrition and autism; benefits of functional movement in crossfit & autism; positive boost of animal therapy” (american institute for learning and human development, 2019). “‘an opportunity for teachers to trial qb check adhd screening tool for schools’” (adhd foundation, 2019). policy flyer includes policyrelated neurodiversity topic(s). “‘a national strategy for autism’” (adhd foundation, 2019). keynote speech yadda—dssy “bringing the national agenda to the local level” (yadda, 2017). table 2. theme proportional representations in conference flyers theme % of conference flyers employment 63.6 education 45.5 social 27.3 advocacy 13.6 health 9.1 policy 9.1 119 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 table 3 reports on the types of neurodivergence as availed within conference flyers along with supporting quotes. these “types” include autism, adhd, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dyslexia, tourette syndrome, specific language impairment, intellectual disability, dysgraphia, neurodiversity (catchall reference), and others. table 4 provides the proportional representations of these forms of neurodivergence across the conference flyers. table 3. representations in conference flyers by neurodivergence type neurodivergence type supporting quotes autism “autism spectrum” (netwoven, 2016). “experts will share their best practices, model programs and strategies to hire, train and manage uniquely talented individuals with autism” (cvent, 2019). “...autism spectrum” (battles, 2016). “for sixteen years aascend has promoted a society that includes everyone along the autism spectrum” (aascend, 2016). “autism spectrum disorders” (american institute for learning and human development, 2019). “or on the second day, focused on autism” (cuny, 2019). “what are reasonable adjustments in employment for those with...autism” (adhd foundation, 2019). “these include autism...” (st martin in the fields, 2019). “our neurodiversity course looks at the autistic spectrum disorder (asd) and associated conditions” (dia, 2018). “autistic spectrum disorder” (acjrd, 2019). “austism” (able magazine, 2018). “autism, aspergers” (the hobbs consultancy and creative equals, 2018). “autism” (cuny, 2020). “austism” (dods diversity & inclusion, 2020). “autism” (civil service local, 2020). “autism spectrum disorder” (asid, 2020). 120 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 adhd “...attention deficit hyperactivity disorder” (battles, 2016). “adhd is a family affair ‐ how adhd impacts on the family” (adhd foundation, 2019). “a conference for...adults with adhd” (yadda, 2017). “these include... adhd” (st martin in the fields, 2019). “adhd” (acjrd, 2019). “adhd” (able magazine, 2018). “adhd” (the hobbs consultancy and creative equals, 2018). “add” (netwoven, 2016). “adhd” (dods diversity & inclusion, 2020). “ahdh” (civil service local, 2020). “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder” (asid, 2020). dyspraxia “these differences include those ‘labelled’ with dyspraxia” (battles, 2016). “what are reasonable adjustments in employment for those with...dyspraxia” (adhd foundation, 2019). “a conference for...adults with dyspraxia” (yadda, 2017). “these include... dyspraxia” (st martin in the fields, 2019). “dyspraxia” (able magazine, 2018). “dyspraxia” (the hobbs consultancy and creative equals, 2018). “dyspraxia” (dods diversity & inclusion, 2020). “dyspraxia” (civil service local, 2020). dyscalculia “what are reasonable adjustments in employment for those with... dyscalculia” (adhd foundation, 2019). “a conference for...adults with dyscalculia” (yadda, 2017) dyslexia “....dyslexia” (battles, 2016). 121 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 “what are reasonable adjustments in employment for those with...dyslexia” (adhd foundation, 2019). “a conference for...adults with dyslexia” (yadda, 2017). “dyslexia” (able magazine, 2018). “dyslexia” (netwoven, 2016). “dyslexia” (dods diversity & inclusion, 2020). “dyslexia” (civil service local, 2020). “dyslexia” (asid, 2020). tourette syndrome “...tourette syndrome” (battles, 2016). “these include...and tourette’s” (st martin in the fields, 2019). learning disability “neurodiverse gifts of students with learning disabilities” (ldah, 2014). “...goals of individuals that learn and communicate differently” (adam morgan foundation, 2020). specific language impairment “a conference for...adults with sli” (yadda, 2017). intellectual disability “first day, focused on intellectual disability” (cuny, 2019). “intellectual disability” (cuny, 2020). “intellectual disability” (acjrd, 2019). dysgraphia “what are reasonable adjustments in employment for those with... dysgraphia” (adhd foundation, 2019). neurodiversity (catchall reference) “neurodiversity” (american institute for learning and human development, 2019). “this conference will explore the wide range of neurodiversity...” (insight support services, 2020). ...“exploring neurodiversity” (university of london, 2020). “neurodiverse inclusion” (spectrum theatre ensemble, 2020). 122 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 others “....and other neurological differences (cvent, 2019). “...and others” (battles, 2016). “...and more” (the hobbs consultancy and creative equals, 2018). “medical conditions” (netwoven, 2016). “one of a collection of conditions...” (asid, 2020). table 4. conference flyers’ proportional representations by neurodivergence type neurodivergence type % of conference flyers autism 72.3 adhd 50.0 dyslexia 36.4 dyspraxia 36.4 others (catchall reference #2) 22.7 neurodiversity (catchall reference #1) 18.2 intellectual disability 13.6 dyscalculia 9.1 tourette syndrome 9.1 learning disability 9.1 sli 4.5 dysgraphia 4.5 table 5. evidence-based themes supporting the explicit inclusion of ocd in neurodiversity conferences theme coding rule exemplary quotes intersectionality (with autism) evidence describes capacity for ocd and autism intersectionality. “co-occurring psychiatric conditions are more common in asd than other developmental disabilities. for example, croen et al. [6] found that 54% of adults with asd also had 123 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 a psychiatric condition, including as follows: anxiety (29%), depression (26%), bipolar disorder (11%), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (11%), obsessive-compulsive disorder (8%), and schizophrenia (8%)” (bennett et al., 2018, p. 103). “phenotypically, autism frequently co-occurs with other neurodevelopmental (e.g., adhd, tic disorders) and psychiatric (e.g., anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, psychotic disorders) conditions” (lai et al. 2014 cited in lombardo et al. 2019, p. 18). “the report of the psychiatrists diagnosed it as ‘a paranoid form of schizophrenia in which autistiform characteristics are unusually prominent and...an obsessive compulsive personality disorder’” (lollini, 2018, p. 122). “autism was also represented as intersecting with other forms of difference such as dual diagnoses (autism and obsessive compulsive disorder or being nonverbal)” (black et al., 2019, p. 43). “types of comorbidities were generally comparable across the asc and mdd groups, obsessive–compulsive disorder being the only comorbidity that differed significantly between groups” (lipinski et al. 2019, p. 1156). “obsessive–compulsive disorders were also reported although it appeared very difficult to distinguish between these and the ritualistic and stereotyped behaviors of autism (szatmari et al. 1989)” (chamak & bonniau, 2016, p. 1093). “depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder are reported to be particularly common in younger adults with asd.14,15” (foley & troller, 2015, p. 785). “such reports are corroborated by the observation that around a quarter of adults 124 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 presenting to specialist services for obsessive compulsive disorder (wikramanayake et al., 2017) and anorexia nervosa (westwood et al., 2017) have an undiagnosed asc” (mandy et al., 2018, p. 550). “the author argues that none of the statements – including those in bold type – can be taken as supporting a case for a broader autism phenotype, because all the behaviours/traits included in this tool can be seen in the neurotypical population, as well as in conditions such as anxiety disorders, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and attachment disorders—all of which can co-exist with autism, and indeed all of which are diagnosed in non-autistic people” (chown, 2019, p. 53). “the converse effect can also occur, whereby the symptoms of a mental condition (e.g., rituals associated with obsessive compulsive disorder) are mistakenly interpreted as indicators of asc” (mandy et al., 2018, p. 550). ““when ‘autism’ was first defined as ‘autistic disturbances of affective contact’, the core features were considered to be ‘extreme selfisolation’ and ‘obsessive insistence on the preservation of sameness’” (kanner, 1943; eisenberg & kanner, 1956 as cited in lombardo et al., 2019, p. 5). inherency evidence supports ocd as a part of neurodiversity “thus, so-called psychiatric disabilities and disorders include things falling under the labels: “major depressive disorder” (hereafter “depression”), “schizophrenia,” “obsessive compulsive disorder” (hereafter “ocd”), “generalized anxiety disorder,” “bipolar disorder,” “borderline personality disorder,” “autism spectrum disorder,” and so on. the reason for the controversy is that, although some people believe these mental differences are indeed illnesses/disorders, consistent with dsm-5 and icd-10 terminology, others believe that they are neither disorders nor pathologies of any sort, but are rather forms of mental and 125 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neural diversity to be accepted and celebrated” (hoffman & hansen, 2017, p. 296). “some people with brain differences may or may not choose to identify as neurodiverse, so this categorization is an individual choice not a diagnosis. 3.0 neurodiverse conditions other than autism 3.1 attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder (adhd) 3.2 learning disabilities 3.3 tourette syndrome 3.4 obsessive compulsive disorder (ocd) 3.5 other conditions due to neurological differences” (zolyomi & tennis, 2017, p. 139). “narrative reported conditions were constrained to neurodiversity (obsessive– compulsive disorder)” (mellifont et al., 2019, p.1196). the google scholar search delivered 170 possibly relevant articles. after employing the inclusion criteria, 14 articles were considered to be relevant. table 5 reports on thematic analysis produced themes of comorbidity and inherency, their coding rules, and exemplary quotes. discussion neurodiversity conference flyer themes this research reveals themes supporting greater inclusion and valuing of neurodivergent persons. collectively, these themes cover issue-areas of employment, education, social, advocacy, health, and policy. commencing with employment, this theme was prominent among conference flyers, appearing in well over half (i.e., 63.6%) of those examined in this exploratory study. the theme was reflected across innovative programs, neurodivergence-related work attributes, and workplace accommodations. prospective conference attendees were invited to learn about how fortune 500 companies and others are connecting with community, higher education, and state stakeholders to create hiring programs that are more inclusive (cvent, 2019). attendees were encouraged to be informed about an autism-specific employment program (i.e., the autism job club) and linkedin as a tool for supporting employment (aascend, 2016). delegates of a conference held in england were also given opportunities to be put in touch with “high-profile employers” with examples including roche and ford (able magazine, 2018). in addition to promoting these kinds of employment programs, measures, and networking opportunities, conferences from the u.s. and england also promoted the potential benefits (e.g., “competitive advantages,” “strengths and abilities”) of hiring neurodivergent persons (dods diversity & inclusion, 2020; adam morgan foundation, 2020). the u.s. based neurodiversity in the workplace national conference spoke about hiring programs that are delivering “business results” (cvent, 2019). the creativity, innovation, and profitability 126 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 offered by diverse minds were also explored and promoted (university of london, 2020; the hobbs consultancy and creative equals, 2018). further, conference flyers addressed the strategic policy area of job retention. the supporting neurodiversity conference covered the topic of “finding workplace support” (yadda, 2017). conferences hosted in the u.s. and england included topics of inclusiveness, “diagnosis and disclosure,” as well as reasonable accommodations in the workplace for different types of neurodivergence (asscend, 2016; adhd foundation, 2019; civil service local, 2020; asid, 2020; cuny, 2020). accommodating persons with ocd, however, was not included as part of these important conference discussions. also prominent among neurodiversity conference flyers was the theme of education (45.5%)(see table 2). prospective conference attendees were provided with opportunities to learn about the issues that can be experienced by some neurodivergent students. these challenges within “mainstream education” include a prevalence of “social abuse” (battles, 2016). academic success in schools was acknowledged and understanding promoted about “processing differences” in this environment by conferences in canada and the u.s. (ldah, 2014; adam morgan foundation, 2020). conferences also raised topics of transitioning to and from university, mental health, and learning supports in higher education, as well as “life-long learning” (the city of new york, 2019; adhd foundation, 2019; yadda, 2017). moving beyond education in school and university settings, the “neurodiversity: how prepared are you to train students with hidden disabilities” conference advised driving instructors to expect contact with many neurodivergent students who will want lessons (dia, 2018). delegates from a conference that was hosted in ireland were also informed about how to work with neurodivergent persons in the criminal justice system (acjrd, 2019). events that cover topics concerning neurodiversity and the law need to take care that they do not inadvertently promote harmful stereotypes. over one-quarter (27.3%) of neurodiversity conference flyers spoke about social challenges. these issues were raised at micro and macro levels. at the micro level, flyers discussed personal issues including those of independent living and recreation, dating, and the family impacts of adhd (the city university of new york, 2019; aascend, 2016; adhd foundation, 2019). at the macro level, flyers spoke to matters of parental support groups and guardianship options as well as full and genuine social participation (american institute for learning and human development, 2019; adhd foundation, 2019; spectrum theatre ensemble, 2020; adam morgan foundation, 2020). in the wake of covid-19, some of the neurodiversity conferences informing this study were held in virtual (i.e., online, streamed) settings (e.g., dods diversity & inclusion, 2020; asid, 2020; spectrum theatre ensemble, 2020). research is needed to examine the possible increase in inclusiveness that virtual conferences might offer to some neurodivergent individuals who may find physical attendance at conferences to be socially challenging and anxiety producing. appearing in 13.6% of conference texts was the theme of advocacy. the 2016 neurodiversity leaders conference in san francisco examined the state of play for autism advocacy (aascend, 2016). the empowering neurodiversity conference raised the prospect of empowering persons who are “wired differently” to the current rule makers (battles, 2016). at the same time, conferences need to avoid an ableist assumption that all present rule makers are necessarily neurotypical. neurodiversity conferences also promoted the sharing of experiences of discrimination (st. martin in the fields, 2019). in helping to redress these experiences, future studies could examine whether advocacy, when presented as a neurodiversity conference theme, successfully promotes future political collaborations and actions among attendees. the least proportionally represented themes among neurodiversity conference flyers were those 127 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 of health and policy, with each at only 9.1%. the st louis neurodiversity conference included autism-health sessions about nutrition, the benefits of crossfit, and “animal therapy” (american institute for learning and human development, 2019). the 2019 national neurodiversity and mental health conference also described opportunities for adhd screening at schools (adhd foundation, 2019). the medical model of disability positions neurodivergence as something that needs to be identified and fixed (i.e., treated). an unqualified promotion of screening programs at schools, risks adding to stigma by suggesting that neurodivergence is necessarily a medical problem that must be identified as opposed to something that is naturally occurring. this example, however, highlights that care should be taken in conferences with a mental health focus to not stigmatise neurodivergence as something that is necessarily broken (i.e., something that must be exposed, noted, and repaired). neurodiversity conferences that were held in england delivered policy-focused topics. such examples informed participants about a national autism strategy, together with bridging policy directions across national and local platforms (adhd foundation, 2019; yadda, 2017). as policy efforts are fundamental to identifying and redressing the issues that can accompany lived experience with neurodivergence, other countries would do well to follow this strategic direction. types of neurodivergence represented in conference flyers autism has received by far the greatest exposure in the neurodiversity conference flyers, appearing in almost three-quarters (72.3%) of those examined by this study. adhd was prominent, being identified in half (50.0%) of the flyers. dyslexia and dyspraxia were also prevalent, each being identified in just over one-third of these promotional texts. less conspicuous were representations of intellectual disability (13.6%). also less noted were references to specific language impairment, learning disability, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and tourette syndrome. explicit references to ocd were not revealed among any of the flyers that were examined. flyers did, however, apply two catchall phrases in attempts to cover the various kinds of neurodivergence. these terms were “others” and “neurodiversity” (as found in almost one quarter and just less than one-fifth of the flyers respectively). the author recognises the impracticality of including every form of neurodivergence in every neurodiversity conference. nonetheless, a consistent lack of explicit inclusion of ocd among conferences can be harmful to persons who identify with this particular type of neurodivergence. this inclusivity gap means that opportunities are lost to develop ideas and to inform conference attendees about the practical ways in which to improve the lives of persons with ocd. attention that is specific to this particular form of neurodivergence is needed to help to: a) redress the discrimination that can be experienced by these individuals; b) improve the recruitment and retainment of persons with ocd in the workforce; and c) advance the genuine social participation of these persons. the needs and rights of people with ocd might therefore be better supported by recognising the conference inclusion shortfalls as revealed by this investigative study. such recognition might then act as a starting point for the future growth of neurodiversity conferences. at a national conference level, countries varied markedly in regards to their referencing of neurodivergence. the flyer for the american neurodiversity in the workplace national conference focused on autism, whereas the england based 2019 national neurodiversity and mental health conference explicitly referred to adhd, dyspraxia, autism, dyslexia, and 128 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 dyscalculia (cvent, 2019; adhd foundation, 2019). this latter example can be considered better practice in the sense that a spotlight was placed on several forms of neurodivergence within the conference promotional material. evidence-based justifications for more “ocd inclusive” neurodiversity conferences it is timely to examine the possible extent to which scholarly articles might offer support for the explicit inclusion of ocd in neurodiversity conference materials. the scholarly literature offers two key justifications for a greater inclusion of ocd within neurodiversity conference promotional texts. the first of these is intersectionality. in this regard, autism commonly “co occurs” with psychiatric disorders including that of ocd (lai et al., 2014 as cited in lombardo et al., 2019). anxiety, depression, and ocd are reported as especially familiar among young adults with asd (lugnegård et al., 2011; matson & williams, 2014 as cited in foley & trollor, 2015). approximately 25 percent of adults who access services for ocd and anorexia nervosa also possess an undiagnosed autism spectrum condition (wikramanayake et al., 2018; westwood et al., 2017 as cited in mandy et al., 2018, p.550). furthermore, autism-ocd intersectionality is reported in the accounts of study subjects as follows, “she was the first person off of aff that i have told about my as, my ocd [obsessive compulsive disorder], my depression, or my schizophrenia” (parsloe, 2017, p.111). traits and behaviours witnessed in ocd can co-exist in autism (chown, 2019). references to “comorbidity” have been critiqued because in many cases it remains unclear as to whether a diagnosis is truly reflective of distinctive medical conditions or actually reflects various manifestations of a single condition (maj, 2005). indeed, it can be challenging to differentiate between ocd and autism’s ritualistic behaviours (szatmari et al., 1989 as cited in chamak & bonniau, 2016). serious clinical issues can ensue as conditions remain unrecognised or alternately are misdiagnosed with other conditions (asp et al., 2020; fusar-poli et al., 2020). the blurring of autism and ocd is further reinforced via popular media texts. for example, harry potter stories depict autism as overlapping with other appearances of difference including that of ocd (black et al., 2019). recognising the potential for autism and ocd intersectionality, mandy et al. (2018) nevertheless caution that ocd rituals can be incorrectly construed as signs of autism spectrum conditions. neurodiversity conference materials are thus challenged to explicitly recognise that some persons might have autism and ocd while also depicting, respecting, and including both as distinctive types of neurodivergence. ocd is inherently recognised as a type of neurodivergence. specifically, neurodiversity is said to include a range of neurocognitive variances of which ocd is considered to be a part thereof (hughes, 2016 as cited in mellifont, 2019). recognising ocd as falling within the scope of the neurodiversity definition is important. on its own, however, this recognition is not sufficient to justify a greater inclusion of ocd focused content in neurodiversity conferences. stronger justification is found in the previously described opportunities to tackle ableism (i.e., redress the discrimination that can be targeted at persons with ocd), accommodate ocd where needed, and generally help to improve the lives of many of these individuals. hoffman and hansen (2017) note there are some persons who believe that like autism, ocd is a disorder, and yet there are others who will see these as examples of neurodivergence. nevertheless, this study recognises possibilities for the social and medical models to co-exist. the prospect is raised that some persons, while realising the strengths (i.e., attributes) that can 129 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 neurodiversity themes, representations & justifications the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 accompany their neurodivergence, might also acknowledge their medical diagnosis and the associated challenges that may require accommodations. moving forward, neurodiversity conferences are challenged to better reflect such nuances in terms of the types of neurodivergence that are explicitly included, their prospective attributes (i.e., abilities), as well as possible challenges and support measures (i.e., accommodations). limitations this study is restricted to the searches and the data sources selected. these identified neurodiversity conferences were held in the northern hemisphere, with the vast majority of them taking place in either england or the u.s. future research could undertake searches which include articles that are published in languages other than english. these studies would identify conferences taking place in locations outside of those mentioned in this article. future studies might also reveal new conference-related themes. hence, contributions of this qualitative investigation, while valuable, should nonetheless be treated as introductory. noting that virtual (i.e., online) conferences were included among the sample of neurodiversity conferences, the author also recognises that this sample was likely constricted in volume due to some conference cancellations following covid-19. conclusion this exploratory study reveals that neurodiversity conferences cover diverse topics that are central to improving the lives of neurodivergent persons. issue-areas of employment, education, social, advocacy, health, and policy are each receiving attention. however, such attention is far from evenly distributed. additionally, this study warns that the policymaking practice that is needed in addressing ableism is currently receiving insufficient attention within neurodiversity conference materials. the study also highlights the consistent failings of conferences to explicitly reference and value ocd as a form of neurodivergence. to be clear, the author is not suggesting that ocd, or any other form of neurodivergence, must necessarily be accounted for in all conferences that are advertised under the neurodiversity banner. what is proposed is that these conferences should reflect diversity to their fullest possible extent. utilising ocd as an example, this scholarly investigation offers a sound base from which future research can develop. these studies might include searches conducted in languages other than english. they could also focus on differing types of neurodivergence, event formats (e.g., symposiums), and other issues involving conference inclusiveness and intersectionality. it is therefore important that neurodiversity conference organisers remain open to evidence-based ways in which to increase the inclusiveness of their events. references aascend. 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(2017). the autism prism: a domain analysis paper examining neurodiversity. nasko, 6(1), 139-172. http://dx.doi.org/10.7152/nasko.v6i1.15237 damian mellifont (damian.mellifont@sydney.edu.au) is an honorary postdoctoral fellow of the centre for disability research and policy at the university of sydney, sydney, australia. 138 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index /users/leahbrochu/dropbox/5(2)/ready%20for%20review/10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.35067 http://dx.doi.org/10.7152/nasko.v6i1.15237 mailto:damian.mellifont@sydney.edu.au introduction method results conferences (titles, locations, and dates) discussion neurodiversity conference flyer themes types of neurodivergence represented in conference flyers evidence-based justifications for more “ocd inclusive” neurodiversity conferences limitations conclusion references southeast asian anthropologies: national traditions and transnational practices the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38093 ijidi: book review thompson, e. c., & sinha, v. (eds.). (2019). southeast asian anthropologies: national traditions and transnational practices. singapore: nus press. isbn: 978-981-4722-96-4 2019. 335 pp. $31.22 us. reviewer: siriporn somboonboorana, walailak university, thailand book review editors: halie kerns, suny canton, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: anthropology; national traditions; southeast asian; transnational practice publication type: book review s a native anthropologist residing in thailand who has conducted anthropological research in both local and international contexts for the past 20 years, i've been waiting for a book like this for a long time. despite an increasing interest in asian anthropology over the last three decades, little has been published on the development of southeast asian anthropology. not only has little been published about its connections to other countries in the region but also to the rest of the globe. japanese anthropology developed in the early 19th century and appeared to be at the forefront of information in those asian disciplines. indian anthropologists developed their applied research methods from 19th century colonial anthropology by focusing on indigenous peoples to aid the nehru government's welfare policies in the 1950s. anthropology in the people's republic of china has focused on ethnology and ethnicity in the main parts of the asian continent. all of these examples have established their own anthropological school for decades. it should be mentioned that anthropological research in southeast asian countries such as indonesia, vietnam, thailand, laos, cambodia, malaysia, the philippines, myanmar, singapore, and brunei have each had a different experience than these aforementioned examples as well. what about their academic pursuits? southeast asian anthropologies: national traditions and transnational practices will be the first and most important book for everyone interested in information and research about southeast asia's anthropology as well as social sciences. each chapter is written by anthropologists and international scholars based in the southeast asia region who are experts on various issues in indonesia, malaysia, singapore, vietnam, cambodia, brunei, thailand, and the philippines. i am so excited that each of them has endeavored to break free from the legacy studies of colonialism and postcolonialism by conducting research that is relevant to their own national and regional requirements. the book is divided into three sections regarding knowledge production's chronological order from past to present, the first of which is titled “the making of anthropological traditions,” and discusses the historical contextualization that anthropology has established in university programs, professional associations, and advocacy organizations in the philippines, cambodia, and vietnam. in chapter one, for example, jose jowel canuday and emma porio attempt to anchor their questions by tracing how the concept of "filipino" in academic anthropological discourses changed over time in anthropology institutions in the philippines. the philippine anthropological practice of the past and the present, and perhaps the potential disciplines in this a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index southeast asian anthropologies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38093 98 area, were formed by the desire to retain anthropology—which refers to the social and political material circumstances of the envisioned national community. in chapter two, cambodian anthropologist, chivoin peou, discusses not only how the khmer-rouge regime corrupted local scholarship with the far-leftist ideology of the 1970s, but also how national scholarship has recently led to the reconstruction of traditional identity and related fields in the sense of nation building. in the final chapter of this section, vietnamese cultural anthropologist nguyen van chinh discusses doi moi policy reform as a more globally oriented prospect for renovating the socialism concept of ethnology to the new trends of cultural anthropology from the 1990s. however, the process of integration of ethnology into a new trend has moved at a slower pace than it should. the second section, "challenges in anthropological practices," starts with a chapter written by two more filipino anthropologists, maria f. mangahas and suzanna rodriguez-roldan. the authors discuss maritime anthropology in the philippines, which is less welcome from main institutional and nation-state-bound narratives. the authors also explicitly and instinctively situate themselves in the narrative, and it makes extensive use of "less-formal" sources such as literature of local knowledge relating to fishing resources. yeoh seng-guan demonstrates how social anthropology has evolved from colonial times via the perspective of the multicultural and multiethnic lens into the current established study in west malaysia. vineeta sinha, a singaporean anthropologist, investigates "official statements," one of the goals of anthropology as a discipline, and the pressures placed on the institutional and intellectual practice of anthropology in singapore. the third section asks specialist researchers from regional nations to discuss what southeast asian anthropology has been and should be in the perspective of “trends in transnational anthropologies." it is also examined through the present boundaries of nation-states and transnational interactions. in chapter seven, victor t. king and zawawi ibrahim re-consider debates over "who studies whom" and a foreground of borneo anthropology that broke past difficulties of "west versus non-west.” in addition, in chapter eight, yunita t. winarto and iwan m. pirous re-examine pre-conceived notions of who is the anthropological "other" in indonesia. next, dang nguyen anh raises concerns about the doi moi reform, which aims at increasing internationalization both of the anthropological theory and practice of so-called anthropology renovation, and contributes research to national industrialization and modernization to address the needs of the economic and social development of the country. in the book’s final chapter, ratana tosakul discusses the trends of transnational ethnographies of border and migration studies produced by thai anthropologists in local and foreign anthropology logical education institutes. as a native anthropologist based in thailand and has undertaken anthropological research in both local and international contexts for the past 20 years, i am so excited about this book. each chapter includes accounts of knowledge production of southeast asian anthropology by expert scholars in the region. furthermore, we can see strong expressions of a commitment to questioning how to establish anthropology in each author’s native lands throughout the chapters. while remaining critical of power and representation disparities of the modern west when it comes to knowledge production, the emphasis in this text is on articulating the development of anthropology's indigenization and the practices of anthropologists "at home" in southeast asia. the book also looks toward southeast asian anthropology, that should transcend the limitations of a simplistic east-west opposition, by considering the wealth of regional and global perspectives exhibited by contemporary scholars on southeast asian anthropology themselves. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index southeast asian anthropologies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.38093 99 i believe this book will be especially relevant and helpful to those interested in information and asian studies in general—southeast asian studies in particular. this timely and important book provides a valuable examination of the current state of the academic study of southeast asian anthropology by native anthropologists. southeast asian anthropology has changed the regional structure of knowledge production among their own field. therefore, we should look forward to the prospect of southeast asian knowledge production if progress can be made in research funds, educational institutions, and academic forums in southeast asia that provide potential platforms for inter-regional specialization both in teaching and research. i believe that in order to be a native southeast asian anthropologist in the twenty-first century, we must employ our knowledge and research to learn how to critique "ourselves" in the interaction of the global north and south, and more issues such as ethnic conflicts in myanmar and the philippines, and the growth of the poor and the middle class in urban areas are waiting to be explored. siriporn somboonboorana (ssiripor@mail.wu.ac.th) is an assistant professor for the ph.d. program (asian studies) in school of liberal arts at walailak university, thailand. she has 30 years of experience as a lecturer and researcher. ethnicity, applied anthropology, and peripheral culture are three of her research interests. she conducted studies on peripheral culture, migrant workers, and indigenous peoples in thailand and asean countries, which were funded by several organizations. changes in village-state interactions, communitybased, and school-based research are all part of her research. for many years, her study has focused on changing interactions between village and state, community-based, and schoolbased in the borderland. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:ssiripor@mail.wu.ac.th pilgrimage to hajj: an information journey the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj: an information journey nadia caidi, university of toronto, canada abstract completing a pilgrimage has often been touted as a transformational experience. yet, pilgrimage as an information context is sorely lacking in our field, despite the valuable insights it could provide into the complex information environments and evolving states of those who undertake pilgrimage. in this article, i examine a specific pilgrimage: the hajj in mecca (saudi arabia). preparing for hajj involves a series of stages encompassing material, spiritual, and informational dimensions. using a qualitative and exploratory approach, this study applies the lens of pilgrimage as ‘lived religion’ and makes explicit the detailed activities and outcomes of pilgrim information practices, and the ways in which information in its multiple forms (textual, spiritual, corporeal, etc.) has mediated and shaped the pilgrims’ journey. i build on established theories in information behavior and meaning-making in the context of everyday life, as well as the literature on pilgrimage and pilgrimage as ‘lived religion’ to relate the participants’ encounter with hajj and their experiences toward becoming a hajji/-a (someone who has completed the hajj). findings based on interviews with twelve (12) global hajj goers suggest that pilgrims’ information practices are varied, and transcend both individual (cognitive, affective) as well as social processes (through shared imaginaries and a translocal network of people and resources). the study illustrates the importance of examining diverse transformational experiences in lis, and the rich contributions that our field can make to these research contexts. keywords: information practices; islam; meaning making; pilgrimage; religion publication type: research article introduction eligious and secular pilgrimages have a long history and continue to hold a prominent place in many people’s lives today. there are many different types of pilgrimages, from the religious to the spiritual to the secular, and while they fulfill different purposes, they all have in common this quest for a transformational experience. there exists a rich body of scholarship on pilgrimage from such disciplines as religious studies, anthropology, art, history, architecture, and tourism (badone & roseman, 2004; coleman & elsner, 1995; eade & sallnow, 1991; elsner & rutherford, 2005; janin, 2002; lloyd, 1998; norman & cusack, 2015; post & van der beek, 2016; ross-bryant, 2017; turner, 1969; van gennep, 1960), among others. yet, pilgrimage as a context of research in information studies has been surprisingly overlooked (exceptions include bati, 2015; caidi, beazley, & colomer marquez, 2018, along with some foundational work on religious and/or spiritual experiences by gaston, dorner, & johnstone, 2015; gorichanaz, 2016; guzik, 2013; kari, 2007; roland & wicks, 2010). this article contributes to this line of research by offering an information perspective to the study of pilgrimage, shedding light on approaches and concepts from our field that can enrich our understanding of the complexities of the pilgrim’s journey through the lens of information practices, identity construction, meaning-making, and community-building in a global and digital world. r https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi in this article, i adapt allard and caidi’s (2018) translocal meaning making (tmm) model, which builds on appadurai’s (1996) work on social imaginaries and the notion of translocality in order to interrogate how meaning-making occurs in the context of information experience during spiritual/religious journeys of global pilgrims. methodologically, this study highlights the value of closely examining pilgrimage stories to gain a deep appreciation for how pilgrims encounter and make sense of hajj landscape, and transition toward a collectively shared construction of what it means to become a hajji/hajja (one who has completed hajj and returns a changed person whose social status has been altered), as well as the intricate dynamics of religious/spiritual experiences. in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 pilgrims to the holy sites in and around mecca (saudi arabia). the findings articulate the processes of negotiating meaning and evaluating information resources in shifting and unknown contexts. this study should be of interest to information scholars and practitioners eager to have a better grasp of the dynamics—and the information practices—associated with transformational experiences (i.e., spiritual and/or contemplative aspects of human existence), as these are found in every culture. information and memory institutions (libraries, archives, museums, art galleries) are potentially ideal sites for the sharing of transformational experiences and for facilitating transcultural affinities as part of their mission to increase diversity and inclusion. the findings should also be of interest to pilgrimage scholars as the study applies an information lens to the experiences of pilgrims by examining both their information and media practices as well as how these mediate their learning and meaning-making when navigating complex translocal contexts. it must be noted that i examine a particular type of pilgrimage here: hajj is one of the world’s largest religious gatherings; in 2017, approximately 1.8 million pilgrims visited mecca to complete hajj, while another 19 million muslims completed the umrah—often referred to as the “small” or “lesser” pilgrimage to mecca1 (kingdom of saudi arabia, general statistics authority, 2018). hajj is performed at a specified time every year, during the twelfth month of the muslim lunar calendar. during hajj, millions of muslim men and women congregate in mecca to carry out specified rituals at a series of locations, with the aim of absolving themselves of sins. completing hajj is one of the five foundational pillars of islam, an obligation all muslim men and women of sufficient ability and means must fulfill at least once in their lifetime. it also corresponds to a profound and unifying set of rituals performed in the muslim world (clingingsmith, khwaja, & kremer, 2009, p. 1134), as well as an embodiment of the transhistorical and transnational muslim community (ummah). despite it being a pivotal, transformational moment in the social and religious life of the pilgrim, there is a dearth of research on the information aspects of hajj, or any other pilgrimage for that matter. moreover, we know from pilgrimage researchers that, after they return home, pilgrims tend to remain deeply affected by that experience in the context of their everyday life and practices (frey, 2004; van der beek, 2014, 2017). literature review it is fair to say that religion as a diversity characteristic, and religious/spiritual experiences as contexts for information research, are few and far between. in the field of information science, few scholars have examined the information environments of individuals in the context of their religious or spiritual practices. some notable studies include kari’s (2007) review of the spiritual in information studies, along with studies about the information behavior of clergy members (lambert, 2010; michels, 2012; roland, 2012; wicks, 1999) or the nature of information in profound and transcendental experiences (gorichanaz, 2016; kari & hartel, 2007). outside the western religious traditions, there seems to be even less attention being paid to the intersection 45 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi of information and religious/spiritual experiences, with a few exceptions such as caidi et al. (2018) on selfie-taking practices during hajj, gaston et al. (2015) on buddhism and sense-making, or guzik (2013) on converts to islam. it is worth noting that outside the information studies field, there is a huge interest in the massive entertainment and consumer industry created around religious practices and holidays (carneiro, eusébio, & santos, 2016; essoo & dibb, 2004; freeman & bell, 2013; minton, 2018). similarly, the rise in religious or spiritual travels in the 20th century has been linked in part to the ease and convenience of travel and in part to the phenomena of memory work and affiliative identities by diasporic communities, often taking key (pilgrimage) sites as focal points (caidi et al., 2018; innocenti, 2015, 2016; liebelt, shenar, & werber, 2010). an in-depth review of pilgrimage scholarship is beyond the scope of this article; however, it is worth mentioning that, for a long time, pilgrimage scholarship centered around the unifying role of rituals in religion. examples include van gennep’s model (1960) of the stages of separation, transition, and incorporation and turner’s 1969 work on communion (which he called “communitas”) as experienced by pilgrims during the transitional, liminal phase. turner’s influential model, which shaped the anthropological study of pilgrimage for more than two decades, started to be questioned in the late 1980s, particularly its emphasis on a static, bounded ritual whose performance was isolated from everyday life. pilgrimage scholars noted the historical and cultural embeddedness of pilgrimages (coleman, 2002; eade & sallnow, 2000; sallnow, 1981). pilgrimage sites, according to eade and sallnow (1991), were best understood as “empty vessels” reflecting competing religious and secular discourses of pilgrims. by emphasizing “motion” (coleman & eade, 2004, p. 3) or mobility (frey, 2004) as key aspects of sacred pilgrimages, pilgrimage scholars unhooked pilgrimage from its confinement to a holy place and conceptualized it instead as a ritual dynamic space. the door was open for considering pilgrimage’s embeddedness into everyday life (badone & roseman, 2004; edensor, 1998). apprehending pilgrimage as part of everyday “lived religion” (buitelaar, 2015) paves the way for a more holistic approach that encompasses social phenomenology, everyday information practices (savolainen, 1995, 2008), and techno-spiritual practices (bell, 2006). scholars such as flaskerud and natvig (2018) exhort us to think about “what pilgrims take from heritage, materially as well as conceptually and emotionally, and how this process affects the pilgrims’ life at home and their home community” (p. 2). buitelaar (2015), in turn, examines religiosity through the lens of social identification and self-identity (p. 17). as can be seen, a common theme between these bodies of research is the notion that pilgrimage implies a state of flux and transition, along with an associated set of situated practices. i build on this body of literature to examine pilgrims’ information practices and meaning-making in the context of their once-in-a-lifetime journey. to accomplish this task, i draw from disparate literature, connecting pilgrimage scholarship to appadurai (1996)’s social imaginaries as well as to work on translocality (brickell & datta, 2011). translocality, in the context of this study, refers to the multi-sited sociocultural and geographical spaces that pilgrims navigate as part of hajj. they rely on, and are imbricated in, a multitude of spaces and networks (local and transnational), using these networks for preparing for hajj (seeking information), performing hajj (applying their knowledge and gaining new knowledge), and returning home as a hajji/-a (sharing information, stories, emotions). in keeping with allard and caidi (2018), i also use appadurai’s concept of “social imaginaries” to this examination of hajj. social imaginaries refer to “imagined worlds of places never visited before but socially constructed and imagined through the connections enabled and amplified by 46 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi information and communication technologies” and that “frequently transcends national space” (appadurai, 1996, p. 6). locating appadurai’s notion of social imaginaries about hajj alongside translocality, i seek to demonstrate evidence of the deeply affective imaginaries that connect people and places across borders, as well as their enactment through situated information practices. to account for these situated practices, i build on the five-step process of translocal meaning making (tmm) elaborated by allard and caidi (2018) and allard (2015). the tmm model was initially devised to identify and map the migration stages through which filipino migrants moved as they prepared to migrate and settle in winnipeg, canada; and subsequently located participants’ information practices within these migration stages (allard, 2015). summarizing these findings and locating them within a broader transnational and social context, a process of tmm emerges that demonstrates how participants’ meaning-making processes shift across both time and space and are deeply embedded within participants’ translocal social spheres. given the global nature of hajj, the tmm model seems like an appropriate framework to examine how hajj pilgrims make sense of their journey toward mecca and the diversity and situatedness of their practices while there and upon their return home. methods this study examines the nature of information in the lives of 12 hajj pilgrims. it is part of a broader study that sought to examine the expression of spiritual and/or religious identities by young muslims (aged 18–35), along with their media and technology practices at hajj (see caidi et al., 2018). hajj has been traditionally viewed as something that one completes later in life (i.e., more sins to cleanse at that point) and also because hajj is a costly endeavor. we see, however, the number of young people who have completed hajj increasing, thus raising questions about the meaning of hajj for young people and how hajj is experienced by young muslims in today’s global and networked environment. the research, both qualitative and exploratory, consists of 12 in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted between july 2014 and october 2017.2 beyond assessing how the participants (all of whom completed hajj) found, used, and shared information as they prepared for, undertook, and returned from hajj, attention was also paid to how these pilgrims’ practices across time and space contributed to their meaning making as part of their pilgrimage journey. participants were selected on the basis of having completed hajj within five years of the date of interview. participants were recruited through public postings, via personal networks, and through word of mouth. in one case, a spouse was interviewed, providing a particularly rich description of family pilgrimage experiences. participants were mostly located in canada (n=8), but through videoconferencing (using skype), other participants were contacted in france (n=2), the united states (n=1), and bangladesh (n=1). interviews were conducted in english (and french, in two cases), audio recorded, and lasted on average two hours. it is worth noting that the process of recruiting 12 participants took longer than anticipated and may have had to do with the age range selected (young adults aged 18–35). by the same token, the fact that one had completed hajj at this point in one’s life may indicate something about one’s status (i.e., a devout, practicing, and financially able muslim), which could have triggered reluctance and/or suspicion about participation in a study that targets young muslims specifically (especially in a post–9/11 world). word of mouth and active involvement and explanation of the purpose of the study (along with help from several student assistants, some of whom were members of the muslim community) were essential in meeting the target goals. the focus on younger adults (18– 35) was motivated by an interest in examining an understudied segment of hajj pilgrims, as well as contemporary expressions of young people’s spiritual/religious identities. 47 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the interviews were designed to capture participants’ trajectories following their decision to undertake the pilgrimage to mecca. broadly speaking, interview questions were designed to elicit participants’ transnational and transitional experiences of completing hajj (and associated information practices) before departure, during their time in saudi arabia, and upon their return from hajj. to mitigate decay in memory, follow-up emails allowed participants to reflect on, remember, or add to the accounts of their experiences. the interview format of each interview began with broad questions about participants’ feelings and experiences about hajj. participants were also asked to identify and evaluate all the information resources they used based on the accounts of their hajj experiences. moving through the interview in this fashion prompted recall; it also prompted participants to embed their information practices and experiences within their often very thoughtful and reflexive descriptions of their pilgrimage experiences. (see full interview guide in appendix.) the first phase of analysis started during data collection, as the interviewer attempted to understand the experience from the participants’ perspective. a close reading of the transcriptions aimed at discerning any qualitative variation between the different experiences of the phenomenon by participants. during analysis, the focus shifted from individuals’ experiences to a focus on collective experience. all interviews were coded and analyzed using line-by-line inductive analysis (corbin & strauss, 2007). using this iterative data-driven approach, the study identified several themes that address the relationship between participants’ accounts and experiences of their hajj experiences and their related and shifting information practices over time. themes include: the importance to would-be pilgrims of broad and globally circulating narratives about hajj as a “once-in-a-lifetime journey”; the intense and mixed feelings (emotion, anxiety, exhilaration, quest for authenticity) that follow the niyya (a mandatory requirement to make the intention of completing hajj, without which hajj is not considered “valid”); the recounting of and reflection upon a series of shifting information activities (including the role of hajj tour operators and a marked ambivalence toward using online resources) that became more sophisticated over time; and finally, self-reflection on participants’ own understanding of both their (often transformational) hajj experience and the pilgrim’s negotiation of the return home. participant profiles twelve participants (p1-p12) in this study were aged between 18 and 35 and included five men and seven women. participants were mostly married middle-class professionals, some with young families, and were typically well-educated and proficient in either english or french (the two languages in which the interviews were conducted). it is worth noting the participants’ fluency in several languages (urdu, french, arabic, pashto, and bengali, among others). most of the participants had completed one hajj, and a few participants had performed another pilgrimage (two did umrah, and another had performed two hajj and two umrah pilgrimages in total). (see table 1.) it must be noted that completing hajj (outside of saudi arabia) requires that participants apply for a hajj visa at their place of residence.3 a would-be pilgrim cannot simply show up in saudi arabia for the pilgrimage. instead, he/she needs to secure the services of saudi-certified hajj travel operators who are responsible for the logistics (arranging transportation, lodging, visas, assistance regarding the rituals, etc.). in addition, women have to be accompanied by a male spouse or a male family member (this restriction has been loosened for women over 60 years of age). as this article will demonstrate, these requirements shaped participants’ information practices, especially the timing of their pilgrimage, and their reliance on specific sources. 48 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi table 1. participants’ demographic characteristics gender age range ethnicity pilgrimage, year status country of residence occupation languages fluency f 30–35 south asian hajj, 2012 married canada employed english/urdu m 30–35 south asian hajj, 2012 married canada employed english/urdu m 30–35 middle eastern hajj, 2010 married canada self-employed english/arabic f 18–24 central asian hajj, 2013 single canada employed english/pashto m 25–29 south asian umrah, 2005, hajj, 2006 married canada student english/bengali f 25–29 south asian hajj, 2012 married canada unemployed english/urdu f 25–29 south east asian hajj, 2013 married canada employed english/bahasa f 30–35 south asian hajj (x2), umrah, 2014 single usa student english/urdu m 25–29 north african hajj, 2010 married france employed french/arabic f 25–29 north african hajj, 2011, umrah, 2010 single france employed french/arabic/ berber f 25–29 south asian hajj, 2014 married canada employed english/gujarati m 30–35 south asian hajj, 2017 married bangladesh employed bengali/english findings drawing from interview data with participants, this article identifies the varied ways in which participants engage with information resources as they prepare to leave for hajj, complete the 49 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi rituals, and return home. the stages of the tmm process elaborated by allard (2015) and allard and caidi (2018) were adapted to explore the meaning-making that is an important and dynamic aspect of information work (savolainen, 2016). the findings from this study demonstrate how participants work to navigate and come to understand novel information contexts, drawing from (sometimes conflicting) transnationally located information, narratives, and resources about hajj. step 1: imagining mecca and the holy sites much like in allard and caidi’s (2018) study, the first step in the tmm process takes place in the home country as would-be pilgrims actively imagine their journey. in the case of the 12 participants, they expressed varied expectations about what their hajj pilgrimage would entail. in all cases, however, the process of imagining mecca occurs within nostalgic childhood stories and imagery, especially the representations of the kaaba, omnipresent in most muslim homes. located inside the holy mosque in mecca, the kaaba is a cube-shaped structure that pilgrims circumambulate around during the pilgrimage ritual. (it is also known as the house of allah and is the direction toward which muslims all over the world turn for the five daily prayers). its symbolic power is therefore tremendous, and hajj memories of participants are often related to images of the kaaba. participants also recount the memories of loved ones and relatives who had performed hajj. often their memories are tied to celebrations and gift-giving by pilgrims who brought back zamzam water (from a sacred well in the holy sites), boxes of dates, prayer mats or beads, incense, and other token items from the holy sites. these narratives, what appadurai (1996) calls social imaginaries, deeply impacted participants’ expectations about journeying to mecca. completing hajj is also considered a blessing and a symbolic statement in global diasporic muslim networks: returning home as a hajji/-a confers you a special social status in muslim societies, positioning you as a devout and (presumably) wiser person. it also denotes that you are able (physically and financially) to fulfill a key religious obligation. it must be noted that hajj was a pilgrimage that traditionally tended to be done toward the end of one’s life, because the journey to hajj was considered both perilous and costly. however, the ease of access and convenience of modern travels puts mecca all but a long-distance flight away. consequently, changes in the demographics of pilgrims are taking place, with an increase in younger people completing the pilgrimage. pilgrims’ imaginaries were generated from stories and information they received from their social network ties locally and abroad. participants both actively sought and passively encountered information about hajj through a variety of means. p4 recounts stories about hajj learned in childhood: “hajj is well known to any muslim person: this place called mecca, this journey called hajj, this structure called kaaba, the story of how it was built.” p8 concurs, recalling her experiences: i remember my grandparents preparing to go, in pakistan. it took them a lot of planning. it was a big deal. the whole family came together to help them prepare. when my parents went, i was 16. it is something that i always knew about and wanted to do, but later in life. all i knew were things i heard, and pictures i had seen. back then, there was no live streaming, only stories. (p8) what stood out for p5 as hajj memories were “pictures of people wearing the same piece of clothing. they all looked the same. that’s the image i remember from hajj.” p9 narrates that 50 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi hajj was always associated in his mind “with old age, and the idea that before one dies one ought to go. it is cultural too. in the maghreb [north africa], people go to hajj much later in life.” p3 concurs: “we heard stories of people and hardship, like the old man who didn’t make it back. it is the journey of ‘you don’t know the answer of the return.’” social media browsing of friends’ sites who did the pilgrimage and conversations with others locally and abroad about hajj also prompted participants to imagine the holy sites, and to envision how they would feel being in that place. participants’ social networks are especially instrumental in promoting a social imaginary about hajj. contact and connections with other hajjis living locally or abroad allow would-be pilgrims to assemble very particular imaginaries and expectations about their own hajj experiences: i didn’t know what to expect also. it is such an incredible experience. my friends had told me about the sensory overload, the smells, etc. but even if people tell you these things, you couldn’t really believe or truly take it in until you experience that yourself. (p5) i wanted to hear the experience of others who had gone before me. especially the elder ones. they had known the kaaba the way it used to be. without all the materialism that we see now, the fast foods and the malls. (p9) i was mentally ready. i prepared myself. i heard stories from people about how to manage things. some had done it recently, but others did it maybe 4-5 years ago. these other pilgrims gave me information: they told me about maqam ibrahim and hijr aswad. they told me not to go to particular places: it is too hard to stand there, too many people and you can get hurt. don’t go to rush areas also. when you go to arafat, be very careful when you go to collect pebbles. (p6) while hajj is a rallying and unifying experience for pilgrims from all parts of the muslim world, our findings also point to the rich and varied experiences as recounted by the 12 participants. each story was unique in many ways, shedding light on the myriad ways our participants experienced what they all referred to as a life-altering journey, one that can only be truly comprehended by experiencing it. this journey almost always starts with “the calling,” that moment when an individual consciously makes the decision to complete hajj, which is then formalized into the niyya (or proclaimed intention to perform hajj, which is an obligation upon the pilgrim). when asked about “the calling” or trigger that they associated with their decision to perform hajj, a range of reasons were provided. for p1, it was soon after she got married that she and her husband decided to complete hajj. she recounts: after i got married, i told my husband i wanted to do hajj. my husband was on board too. we made the intention, before january. it was like our new year resolution. we paid the deposit with hajj tour operator. the decision to go to hajj also coincided with planning our family life. we decided to do hajj first, and then tackle these other goals after that. we made it a priority. p2 and his wife also jointly decided to complete hajj. he refers to a hadith (a religious edict attributed to the prophet muhammad) to explain what triggered his decision to complete hajj. p2 states: “there are serious warnings about delaying hajj while having the means and the provisions to perform it. i had property that i had inherited at the time so i was eligible to do so.” p3 expressed a similar interest in fulfilling this religious obligation, which he articulates as 51 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi follows: “my wife and i saved up money. we had the means, and the obligation was there,” before adding, “my wife more so than me wanted to do it, because we had been married for a long time but had no children. we tried but were not having children. it wasn’t in god’s plan.” p3 mentions that the couple became pregnant the year following their hajj. p3’s wife, who was also a participant, refers to this episode by stating: hajj is where my life changed. i got pregnant one month after we returned from hajj. so we were so blessed. our child was our gift. i made lots of du’as [invocations] during hajj to have a child. i asked everyone who went with me to pray for me to have a child. so every time i see her, i am reminded. i want to take her there inshallah [god willing] one day. (p6) p4 was the youngest participant. she completed hajj with her parents when she was only 17. she explains her situation in no minced terms: i was not given an option. that decision was made for me. i felt a sense of loss of control over my life. this is a personal and spiritual journey. how could my parents make that decision for me? it is between me and allah. it is about my rewards and sins. maybe i wasn’t ready to change my life and who i was. … i don’t regret it. i just wish they had asked me. p5 refers to his hajj as an “unorthodox pilgrimage.” while in saudi arabia to perform umrah, he decided to overextend his stay and complete hajj. not having the required paperwork and authorizations, p5’s hajj experience was quite unusual: “i ended up hiring a cab driver and crossing at another place away from the official checkpoints. i was young, i wouldn’t do it like this now. all i had was a backpack.” his hajj was less organized than that of the others, and he relied mostly on his local friends for information and advice about logistical matters. his trigger to accomplish hajj was the sense of communion with fellow muslims that he experienced during umrah. “as muslims in the west, we sometimes feel disconnected from other muslims and when i was standing there, i felt very connected at that point. scores of people as far as the eye can see. that image stayed with me.” p7 describes hajj as “a great way to start my life with my husband” and experience something spiritual with him before they started a family. as for p8, she recalls the intense feelings she experienced after she dropped her parents off at the airport (they were heading to hajj): i dropped them off at the airport and i was crying and i was being comforted. i cried because i wanted to go with them. i wanted to be going. my heart knew it needed to be there too. eventually i did go. … ever since i went, i wanted to go back. it is the only place in the world where i felt at peace. … i always had this pull to go there. as can be seen, the participants’ contexts and their decisions to go for hajj vary from one situation to the other. at times, hajj as an obligation is mentioned. elsewhere the decision is based on one’s readiness, stage in life, family situation, priorities, spiritual state, financial ability, and so on. for p9, his decision started rather serendipitously: i was planning a trip. i wanted to go [abroad]. then, on the internet, while i was searching for travel tickets, i saw an ad for hajj. my thought was “why not?” it was at the beginning of the ramadan, and one month later my mom and i went for hajj. my mom always told me that she wanted to go to hajj with me. i wanted to go with her as 52 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi well. plus, i had just completed years of studies away from my family. i knew i needed to go there at that point. for p10, who had been learning about islam and hajj through classes, it became her personal objective: allah gives you the opportunity and gift to complete hajj when the time is right. the occasion came when my dad decided to go to hajj, i decided to go with him. at that time, i was a temp, replacing someone who was on leave [at work]. so it was the perfect time. i had no long-term commitment. … all the signs were there. even though, we only got the visa on the day when we left! like p3, p11 refers to the compulsory nature of hajj for those who have the means. she adds: “also, i would rather do it now that i am young and physically able, and before we had any more children [they already had a child] and when we are young.” lastly, in the case of p12, his trigger was a cousin who had just returned from hajj. this prompted him to take his aging mother to hajj: “i got consent from my wife to go [to hajj] and leave her behind. she provided support by allowing me to go to hajj with my mother.” once participants became actively involved in the application and preparation process, the process of imagining mecca and the holy sites became more dynamic. participants began more actively seeking information, stories, and advice about hajj. some participants’ information needs were specific, such as looking for a range of information (as described below). much of it, however, was more general, and was in the form of spiritual preparation, learning hajj rituals, prayers, and supplications, and other hajj logistical elements. the kaaba, mecca, madinah, mount arafat, and mina became imagined and desired places for all participants through the process of preparing for departure. this occurred through continuous positive reinforcement from family and friends locally and abroad in the form of lived stories, advice, and constant messaging. step 2: information dissonance information dissonance refers to the visceral and embodied experience of disruption and confusion created by information encounters within the receiving context (allard & caidi, 2018). although disorienting, these moments of surprise might be considered profound moments of information practice for participants. they reveal to participants the limits of their understandings and apprehension of particular issues and thus create the opportunity for further information-seeking and meaning-making to clarify or recontextualize their knowledge. what is worth noting here is a departure from allard and caidi’s 2018 tmm model in that, in this case, the information dissonance step starts even before the would-be pilgrims reach the holy sites. of course, once participants arrive at mecca, many of their hajj-related assumptions and expectations are tested, and this happens almost immediately as participants see for the first time a physical and social environment that does not always match the picture they created for themselves prior to leaving for hajj. however, in this study, there is evidence of dissonance as soon as the intention (niyya) was made. 53 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doing hajj “the right way”: fears about invalidating one’s hajj. talking about how they felt after they made their decision to complete this religious obligation, participants expressed a range of feelings from “indescribable emotions” (p6, p12), eagerness (p3, p5, p6, p8), and peacefulness (p2, p12) to a range of mixed feelings such as feeling overwhelmed (p7), nervous (p1, p11), hesitant (p3), anxious (p6, p7, p8), confused (p9), and scared (p10). the overwhelming sentiment of anxiety expressed by participants seemed to be linked to a fear of invalidating one’s hajj by not performing the rituals correctly. this obsession with completing hajj “properly” (p2) starts as soon as the intention to go to hajj is made, and even seems to shape the sources of information selected. p2 describes an intensive six-month process of spiritual training he undertook in order to complete the rituals for hajj: one needs a lot of training because rituals are full of methodology, ethics, reasons, ways of doing things properly. there is lots of what i call “religious banality”: people doing things improperly. in hajj, things are so timeand place-sensitive. during hajj, location matters a lot. one needs lot of understanding about the geography, the timing of things. i knew stories about people who don’t have guides and then miss important things. (p2) initially, i wanted to go to hajj because it is a duty that muslims are supposed to perform if they are able to. but on the spiritual side, i thought that this duty was there for a reason. i wanted to understand that meaning. there’s got to be a meaning to doing hajj. i wanted to understand that. when people talk about hajj, often they talk about it in a literalistic manner, i wanted to understand it more deeply, not just doing the rituals. you can scratch the surface or you can go really deep. (p1) i wanted to know everything, every little detail: the stories, all the du’as that you say there; all the actions that you need to do; all the places that you have to go to: where? at what time? what is the difference between makkah and madinah: what do we do in each? i wanted to know more about mina, muzdalifa: what is the purpose of going? the meaning of it with relation to my hajj and my life. (p4) i used to think that hajj was only tawaff [circumambulation around the kaaba], nothing else. but as i learned about hajj, i was overwhelmed by all there was to do and what’s happening there. (p7) what is significant throughout the analysis of the pilgrims’ transcripts was the omission of a concrete definition for what it means to “correctly” complete hajj rituals. while most expressed anxiety about preparing for their journey, there did not appear to be a single source of information about how best to perform hajj. instead, participants relied on a variety of sources, justifying the selection of some over others. among the trusted sources mentioned, two seem to pervade all participants’ accounts: 1) human sources, usually family members who have performed hajj before; trusted friends who also went to hajj, imams (community religious leaders), or the licensed hajj travel operators who provide assistance to pilgrims with the logistics of hajj; and 2) key religious sources: namely the quran (islam’s holiest book) and the sunnah (the second most important source of authority for muslims, which encapsulates the practices, customs, and traditions of the prophet muhammad). these two sources of information were valued above all others when preparing for hajj. other sources mentioned included various books and hajj manuals recommended by family, friends, or imams and, to a lesser extent, the internet and electronic resources. (see table 2). 54 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi table 2. top sources of information for hajj preparation sources of information num quran 10 other books 8 websites of hajj travel guides 8 family or relatives 7 community leaders (including clerics) 5 social media 3 scholars 3 friends 2 other (events, hajj classes) 2 it is particularly interesting to examine the accounts of many participants about their reliance (or lack thereof) on internet-based resources. i used the internet mostly for my professional needs, at the clinic, not as much for hajj preparation. there are so many groups on the internet. we have the sources: the quran, the hadith. whereas on the internet, there is everything and nothing. it is better to rely on the trusted sources (my teachers, the quran) rather than some of these sources. again, i see the internet as a good tool to help me with my teaching activities or my work. i also use it for travel information, when i need to access information about consumer reports and online reviews of various products and services. … i used the internet a couple of times while preparing for hajj, mostly to retrieve pictures to show the kids for the course i teach at the local mosque. for the rest, i relied mostly on books and the information sessions mentioned. (p10) not too much use of the internet and social media. on the internet, there is everything and its opposite. i searched online but really quickly. i was searching for very specific questions. but i was getting all kinds of things. mostly, i had the two books, my parents, and my family. hajj travel agent also recommended books and gave us some resources. the ihram [clothing for men] that i took with me is from here. it was a friend’s. he loaned it to me. with its scratches and all. (p9) books may have the information, but scholars have the proper interpretation. having a connection with people is more important than looking on the internet by yourself. i talked to a lot of people who went to hajj. they recommended some hajj tour groups to me. i talked to these people. i also went on the internet and found reviews about hajj tour operators. … i also asked for books. i got some in urdu from family members. on the internet, i found detailed videos on youtube. preparation is very important. different sources of information have to be relied on. the internet is definitely very useful. not just literature about rituals, but also videos about hajj facilities, 55 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi geographical locations, etc. there was this 2to 3-hour video in urdu that we came across about someone who was training people to do hajj. (p2) on how to tie a hijab, i went to youtube. that’s where i learned how to do it. for the abaya [women clothing], i spoke to my grandmother about it. she got the fabric for me and we got it sown. for health matters, my dad knew some things and we went to our family doctor. he helped us get prepared. my dad was my go-to source, as was my grandfather. they are the smartest around these matters. growing up, they were very proactive about learning about their beliefs and gaining knowledge about their religion. (p4) gendered hajj: the missing information. along with the dissonance that arises out of the desire to complete hajj correctly and the feelings of anxiety engendered (even before one leaves for the holy sites), another information dissonance that was noted in the data had to do with the difficulty of finding gender-specific information. this concern is specifically related to female pilgrims’ anxiety about invalidating their hajj or missing out on important rituals. indeed, while the female pilgrim seeks the same spiritual, practical, and emotional information to support her hajj as the male pilgrim, there are also gender-specific resources that she requires before her journey. p4, for instance, worried about the extent to which her menstruation would prevent her from completing (part of) her rituals while at hajj. her concern is shared by several others. some describe taking contraceptives before their flight to push back their menstruations and thus avoid missing out on rituals (hajj rituals are done over a one-week to ten-day period, at a specified time each year): being a girl, i wanted to know about contraceptives. if you have your period, you cannot do a thing for a week. i was worried about this. what to do during that time? on the day of the flight, i ran to [a drugstore] with a prescription for a birth control pill. i took it right away but then i got some spotting. so i stopped taking it. then i decided it was human nature, so be it. so i had to accept it vs. saying it was my fault. allah gave it [periods] to me, after all. i got my period while in madinah. so i was fortunate to have it there not during the actual hajj. i was so stressed out about it. i made it an internal issue: it is my fault, i am a girl. what if i can’t do hajj? we forget that it is allah’s will. lots of females in our group had the same issues. one lady took the pill for three months prior and got her period anyway despite it all. you have to let it go and accept. go with the flow and let allah take care of it. (p4) p4 and others also wondered about how to tie the hijab, and other questions about the appropriate attire for females to wear. p6, who wears the niqab, expressed anxiety about having to switch to a hijab instead (during pilgrimage, one’s face cannot be fully covered). she was thus worried about the appropriate way of wearing the head cover, fearing that her pilgrimage would otherwise be completed in vain: first thing in my mind was i was scared to make mistakes actually: i don’t want to make small mistakes, such as whether or how to wear the hijab or the niqab. scholars say you cannot cover your face. also, wudhu [ablutions]: during tawaff [circumambulation around the kaaba], what if my wudhu is not completed? how do i get through, with that many people? hajj is once in a lifetime, so i wanted to do things right. so i took great care in reflecting about the things i needed to do and the right way of doing things. (p6) 56 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi such findings demonstrate how gender shapes one’s spiritual experiences and at times creates an additional pressure in the quest to have an authentic hajj experience. the dissonance, in this case, comes from the difficulty of finding adequate and detailed information in official sources about the gendered nature of hajj experience. evidence of this situation was also seen in discussions of women as tour leaders (too few), in the requirement for a woman to be accompanied by male relative, or in the separate lines for men and women, as per participants’ accounts: all the tour leaders are men. this did not make sense to me. i didn’t like that. especially when my husband and i got separated. we had sisters’ halaqas [study circles], but they were during the day, not at night. during the day, it was so hot. often we would rest then, and go to pray and go out at night when it was cooler and less crowded. having men as tour leaders is also an issue when you have to ask about what is to be done when, for example, you have your periods. there was one lady available for questions like that, so of course the information took longer to obtain because many wanted to speak with her or felt more comfortable approaching her than a male guide. (p7) muslim women need to be accompanied by a male relative during hajj. it is the shariaa, it is a divine law. it does not bother me. there is necessarily a reason for that. it also makes her feel safe, protected, to be accompanied by people she knows and trusts. (p10) restaurants had different lines for men and women. i didn’t like it. i didn’t want to be separated from my husband. but there were signs that said: men and women. i had to follow the rules. so i would stay somewhere where i could see him. he felt uncomfortable as well. … i wish we were not separated but there are so many people, so what can we do? my husband and i communicated using our phones. we unlocked our phones and were able to buy phone cards. (p7) information dissonance and hajj landscape. upon arrival at the holy sites, participants encounter new information continuously, through the natural environment (vegetation, temperature), the built environment (buildings, streets, geography), and in their encounters with others and with the place/space delineating mecca’s holiest sites. almost all of participants’ early arrival encounters and experiences were informational in that participants learned new things continuously, especially from their hajj travel guides, and largely tacitly through observation, conversation, and mimicry. information encounters in the new environment often created confusion and disorientation as participants realized that what they thought they knew didn’t always “match” their own expectations of the place to which they had arrived. interestingly, the dissonance was not always of the negative kind. one experience, in particular, was a dissonance that was also the highlight of many of the participants’ journey. setting eyes on the kaaba for the first time. there are few experiences more unanimously shared in hajj pilgrims’ accounts than encountering the kaaba for the first time. despite having grown with memories and imagery of the kaaba, setting eyes on the real locale for the first time (or even in subsequent trips) was a deeply moving experience for all participants interviewed, who spoke about the embodied experience of being in the same space as the kaaba. p9 describes how the sight and presence of the kaaba connected him with others who were doing the obligatory circumambulation around the kaaba (known as 57 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi tawaff) as well as all those who passed by before him: seeing the kaaba for the first time. it is something that is hard to describe. even if we have seen pictures of it since always, it just does something to you to see it in real life for the first time. also the idea that there have always been people that circumambulate around the kaaba 24/7 and have done so for centuries. many participants shared a similar sense of awe and connection: when we got there, and humbly saw these places and saw the kaaba, the house of abraham, we both shed tears. we made our du’as [invocation]. it was so beautiful. (p3) when we first saw the kaaba and touched it, or when we were doing safaa and marwa [another hajj ritual], we cried and we were both very emotional, because of the spiritual feelings that came out of being there. i don’t think i will ever feel this way ever again. (p7) hajj in the 21st century. while the purpose and meaning of hajj has presumably not changed over time, the experience of it has, as modern-day pilgrimage takes place under the shadow of towering cranes, evidence of the widespread infrastructural and commercial development occurring in mecca. the tension between consumerism and spirituality is not new at hajj (mecca was always a booming trading center, even in the earliest days of islam), or at any other pilgrimages for that matter. this tension, however, takes on new forms as today’s hajj pilgrim is immersed in wi-fi access and smartphone apps. pilgrims can now tweet, blog, and post photos of their hajj experience as it unravels. although some hajj travelers are sometimes advised to leave technologies such as smartphones at home in order to truly detach from the world and achieve greater spiritual and mental calm, many hajj pilgrims are not heeding those calls, choosing instead to use those technologies to stay connected, document their experience, and facilitate their rituals (caidi et al., 2018; porter, haleem, & british museum, 2012; tagliacozzo & toorawa, 2015). the participants’ accounts of dissonance have much to do with hajj landscape, especially the crowded and built-up surroundings of the holy sites. p1, for example, was surprised and overwhelmed by how the city made her feel. she comments in these terms: “facilities have changed considerably. my friend said that they expanded everything. the physical changes are the most striking.” for many, it was a shock to see the presence of malls and fast-food chains just a few blocks away from the holy sites. p5 reflects on his initial reactions to mecca: looking at it a bit critically, it is also a place where so much buying and selling is taking place. the mix of the consumer culture with the spiritual experience was disturbing. also, the professional beggars were a reality too. you can go in and be oblivious to it. or you see it for what it is. it reflects the inequities and hypocrisy of the times. (p5) p9 equated mecca to new york. he and others reflect on the pervasive use of technology in the holy sites: in mecca, you see many people who take pictures, even selfies, and use the wi-fi to go online, along with those who were happily smoking, just outside the holy perimeter. … mecca is more like new york. (p9) 58 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi others refer to the extremely crowded nature of the event, which comes as a shock for those who seek isolation and space for their spiritual needs. as p3 describes, “[t]hings in hajj are hectic. it is hard to feel alone with millions of people all around you.” p4 reflects on the risks associated with mass gatherings like hajj: “hajj is a very difficult journey. if 20 people have a cold, many others will too. the mass of people gathered makes it difficult. patience and strength are needed. we are not used to so many people in one place.” the image of mecca that p4 and others had before departing is shattered by arrival, and must be rebuilt over time. along with the forms of dissonance mentioned earlier, the social inequities were noted by several participants, along with the unruly behaviors of some pilgrims: i would tell others [who are contemplating performing hajj] that although it is a tremendous experience, a blessing, people remain humans: they shout, they swear, and get trampled. you will not always get treated well by everyone, even there. it is disheartening in a way, but people have to be more realistic. (p5) we were saying ‘alhamdulillah’ [being grateful] often because next to this beautiful place, we saw people on welfare there. here were the first world and the third world colliding. although we were all wearing the same ihram clothing, the cloth [for men] came in different price ranges ($60 to $100). it was very visible. we stayed in different places. it is supposed to be a reflection of the afterlife [when everyone is same and equal in front of god], but not so much. i could tell if someone was wearing an ihram that is polyester, or a bedsheet, or 100% cotton. there were many different fabrics. some of the women are wearing a uniform (jabab) and it said on it “welfare” [e.g., their hajj was financially supported]. they would stay in more precarious places. there was also that reality. (p7) this clash between the expected hajj and the reality on the ground (the built-up environment, the pervasiveness of technologies, the social inequalities and diversity of the muslim ummah) was often filtered through the eyes of the 12 participants, most of whom lived in the west. one participant, however, provides an interesting nuance to his observations: from a western perspective, we are coming from a particular standing. we don’t necessarily want to see our own reality and lifestyle replicated when we are going to do hajj. whereas, for people from other parts of the world, that pilgrim will have positive experience of hajj specifically because of the tiled floors, the air conditioning, the mcdonald’s, the tall hotels, etc. for some of us, that is a negative thing. we don’t want to see so much similarity with our daily environment. for others, it is not. i can imagine it being quite incredible for people coming from elsewhere, a poorer country, and for them this would be a positive thing, a part of hajj experience. (p5) taken together, these accounts suggest a certain dissonance between the 12 participants’ expectations of the pilgrimage and their lived experiences on the ground while at the holy sites. this step prepares the participant for the next one, which is an increased understanding of hajj landscape. step 3: increasing sophistication and understanding of hajj information landscape the third step of the tmm process refers to participants’ increased understanding of hajj information landscape. indeed, participants’ direct encounters and experiences with hajj-based information landscapes assists them in contextualizing and making sense of the information and 59 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi advice they received from their social network ties, hajj travel guides, and through their own preparations. going through the motions alongside other pilgrims, and coming face to face with the objects and sites, also contributes to an embodied understanding of what it means to be a pilgrim. as has been evident from the previous sections, preparing for hajj involves a series of stages encompassing both material and spiritual dimensions. upon arrival to saudi arabia (usually at jeddah international airport), a pilgrim has to undertake a prescribed set of rituals with specific supplications and actions associated with each location. timing is also critical as pilgrims have to spend designated amounts of time in specific locations before they are to move to the next, for which once again, a specific set of actions, salutations, and prayers are to be completed. outside these rituals that are the core of the pilgrimage per se (and that “validate” hajj), more time is spent at a more leisurely pace at a few other locations, most notably madinah, which does not encompass any required rituals per se but where pilgrims usually go to visit masjid alnawabi, one of the holiest mosques in islam. madinah is also a favored shopping destination for pilgrims (gift-giving also being an important aspect of hajj). in preparing for hajj, however, an understanding of these rituals is only the tip of the iceberg (albeit a key component), there are also logistical matters that need to be arranged such as obtaining a hajj visa and making local arrangements. this can only be done through a qualified hajj travel agent that has been pre-approved by the saudi government. the certified travel agents (also called hajj tour operators, hajj travel guides, or mutawaffs) are responsible for providing their clients with travel visas, with transportation and accommodation arrangements, and often with an imam or a guide on site that can assist the pilgrims with questions and take them through the rituals. in reality, there is a vast difference in the quality of services provided by these travel agents. participants often seek recommendations from friends or community leaders about reputable hajj travel operators (when that choice is available). many participants referred to the selection of a hajj travel agency as a key aspect of one’s pilgrimage. word-ofmouth and online reviews of agencies are often rigorously conducted for making such a decision. it is worth noting that the other key dimension of hajj preparation—the spiritual aspect—used to fall on hajj travel guides too, but is no longer something that falls squarely within their purview alone. depending on where the pilgrim hails from, they may rely solely on hajj travel guides for preparation in the spiritual realm (how to prepare to be in “that state”; what should i avoid doing prior to hajj? what do i need to recite to validate my hajj at the different stages? etc.). it is fair, however, to say that most pilgrims in this sample did not rely solely on hajj travel guides for the spiritual aspect of their journey. instead, as exemplified by the excerpts below, the 12 pilgrims used a variety of sources for the most part (i.e., the quran and the hadiths, speaking with family and friends, other hajjis or their religious leaders, or browsing through internet sites): we talked to our hajj travel specialists. when it comes to logistical matters, it is a very guided process, so we did not worry about that. hajj specialists provided lots of useful information about that aspect. hajj documentaries were available on [a provider’s] website. i also spoke with my mother who gave me small booklets of du’as. my husband was not too involved with logistical preparation but big time into the spiritual preparation. he recommended books to read—about the meaning of hajj that he had read. he shared resources and knowledge about various aspects of hajj. (p2) 60 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi i mostly spoke to my mother. she did hajj ten years ago, but it was still fresh in her mind. i talked to her about the meaning of hajj, its reward and importance. she was a strong motivator and helpful about the rituals and how to do them properly. i correlated these with other sources. the tour operators were also very experienced. (p3) i consulted books that were recommended to me for the invocations, rituals, and the why of hajj. i went to workshops organized by hajj travel guides: for rituals and what to do and say when, but not for the meaning of hajj, the why. they were also good for the logistical aspects, the itinerary and what to expect. i spoke with friends and family for the sharing of experiences, the lived experience, the emotional part, for example seeing the kaaba for the first time. it is something that is hard to describe. … i spoke to imams too, for the spiritual guidance and religious questions, the why. (p9) according to allard and caidi (2018), during this third tmm step, participants’ information practices usually evolve from general, nonspecific, and very dependent on a few resources to explicit, independent, and considerably more sophisticated. in this study, participants’ information strategies were often quite reliant initially on hajj travel guides and on the general information they had gleaned about the rites and rituals for the different stages of hajj. as the participants became more familiar with the environment, however, they became more autonomous, and expressed that they worried less about the logistics and the material aspects of their journey and focused instead on other aspects of their hajj. p3 recounts: things in hajj are hectic. information-wise, the information was given to us as we went along the journey. it is hard to prepare with millions of people around you. … the first day we arrived, the tour leader showed us how to do the tawaff [around the kaaba] and how to say the du’as. after the first time, we just went to the kaaba and did our own thing. after the tour leader did their thing, we didn’t stick to that preparation anymore. it takes a lot of time for older people to complete obligations or to gather together all at the same time to do things. we would soon do our own thing. we would go anytime we wanted. we read the quran around the kaaba. we joined other groups (turks, iranians) and i liked following them sometimes and we chanted with them. (p3) other participants also reported that much of the information about daily life at hajj was initially acquired tacitly as they observed and mimicked the daily practices of their fellow pilgrims. at that stage, participants also mentioned that they required significant assistance with navigation and interpretation of hajj information landscape. by the end, however, through going through the acts, observing, and imbibing from the local setting, participants gained confidence and learned the ropes. some came to reflect upon (and sometimes reconsider) their expectations and even the advice provided to them. like information dissonance, this step occurred iteratively and unevenly across participants’ accounts of their pilgrimage. p5 describes his reflections (retrospectively) on the role of hajj travel guide in contemporary hajj: i have gone on to websites providing hajj services for western muslims. when i see the different services they provide, much of it, i feel, is not essential. it is a little misleading to think that all this privilege and luxury is required. all these luxuries, the special packages, etc., are made to be or to feel necessary (by saying it is hot or it is crowded so you need all these things). it is almost common sense. but hajj in some ways is just like when you start planning for a wedding: you want nothing to go wrong. but i feel that a level of struggle makes it more meaningful. but people want the luxury or they think 61 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi they need it because they are heading to a foreign land. so the role of these guides is to make their journey possible. (p5) p8 describes how her lived experiences of the holy sites (re-)shaped her views about preparing for hajj: you have to prepare, for sure. you definitely need to know what you are doing. it makes it easier, for sure. but i wish that when people do these [preparation] seminars, they would discuss more the special moments, or the being in the moment. because when you do hajj, time goes by so fast, and next thing you know, you are done. it is an obligation, there are rules and things you need to do, but it is also very good for your heart if you take your time and get that connection. that is what will stay with you. the spiritual and emotional connection. the first time, i had no physical preparation, and it was hard! but, i was 17. it was hot. it was a test. the second time, i prepared differently. i did not worry so much about getting it wrong. (p8) as can be seen, preparing for hajj is a long and potentially arduous task that starts as soon as one makes the intention of going for hajj and includes material, spiritual, emotional, as well as logistical preparation. participants exhibited a range of practices that informed their learning before as well as during hajj, all of which contributed to providing them with a deeper and everevolving understanding of the meaning of hajj in their lives. step 4: re-imagining mecca and hajj in the fourth step of the tmm process, participants engage in ongoing reflection and reconsideration of the imaginaries around hajj based on their lived experiences and what they brought back with them from the holy sites. goals and expectations are adjusted or rethought based on growing experiences and a greater awareness and understanding of the local context in the holy sites. participants retuned their expectations of what it means to be a pilgrim through their evolving experiences, perceptions, and feelings. re-imagining one’s position within a broad and diverse ummah. a striking finding in participants’ accounts has to do with their positionality as part of a broader global narrative about “muslimness,” and more broadly about being human. after he spent one month at hajj, p6 recounts: i was amazed at how allah treats you the same. everyone is at the same level. you cannot feel that one is from here or there when at hajj. we are all the same in front of allah. the lady cleaning the place is standing next to you. we are the same. we are nothing. we are all the same on this earth. we don’t know who is good in front of allah’s eyes. here, we stress about hygiene, cleanliness, etc. but in arafat, these things don’t matter. in arafat, we sit on rocks and sand. both the kings and the poor. all the same. p6 situates his own journey and experiences within a broader context of islamic culture and history. his experience is both connected to other narratives of hajj and speaks back to and clarifies these narratives. in this study, participants located their hajj narratives in a context of global diasporic networks based on their newly acquired experiences: 62 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi i didn’t think much about it at the time. although i did feel this sense of connectedness with other muslims even then. as muslims in the west, we sometimes feel disconnected from other muslims and when i was standing there, i felt very connected at that point. when people walk the plains of muzdalifah, scores of people as far as the eye can see. that image stayed with me. it was like the day of judgment when everyone is gathered in front of god. (p5) [hajj] made me grow up and have a consciousness about what kind of person i wanted to be. i am trying to be that better person every day. i keep going back because it is not enough. there is a peace, a settled feeling when i am there. there is not a place more peaceful than madinah. (p8) the essence of the journey remains mysterious. hajj is a blessing. and it also made me realize that i was interested in this broader humanity, and curious about some aspects of islam now, like sufism. (p3) understanding hajj relationally. in the same way that hajj is re-imagined through participants’ experiences at the holy sites, so, too, the return home is rethought and re-imagined. participants draw from their experiences as well as others’ narratives about the return from hajj to reformulate their impressions of their local contexts. as p9 eloquently puts it: when we are there, we become aware of certain things. the truth is what we are living now and here. the rest is all powder in the eyes. what really changed me, in me, is that i really detached from the material aspects of life. i have already changed since i returned from hajj, because when you are surrounded by this environment, you need a tune-up. i see hajj as being like a gas station to allow you to fuel up a bit. there is this life and the life in the hereafter. one should enjoy life’s pleasures but not forget to invest in the hereafter. if i don’t have any gas left, i need to fill the tank again and put more fuel to replenish. i feel that i was always running on empty before. sometimes i had a rush, but since i have been to hajj, it has become a therapy. i have spoken to friends of mine, and when they ask me about hajj, i always talk to them about these benefits. (p9) this recasting is most evident when participants draw comparisons, as they so frequently do, between here and there (mecca and back home). indeed, the holy sites and the return home were most often described and understood relationally, as extensions rather than comparisons of each other: because i am a travel agent and in the tourism business, now if someone asks me about pilgrimage, i can reflect on the experience. it is a journey, and you meet god and learn things. people teach you and you teach people. it enriched me in that way too. (p3) you are expecting a bus at muzdalifah and the bus is coming 4 hours late. hajj teaches you patience. despite where you come from, you should learn how to behave. patience is the essence of islam. the life of the prophet was all about patience. it taught me patience at work too. i am looking for a job now. my contract is coming to an end. but i am composed. i am comfortable because i don’t remember a day in my life when i lived without a roof over my head, or went hungry. when i am being impatient, i go back to 63 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi my god by praying and focusing on the meaning: what am i actually doing and how am i praying? it reconnects me. we have to learn the lessons and the meanings behind it. what can i improve? there is more consciousness than before. sometimes it feels that it faded, but i work on it. (p2) one of my favorite memories was being on the third floor of the mosque [in mecca] and looking at birds making du’as. and i remember thinking: “here i am here, 17, and my prophet was here.” you feel connected. this is me. i am so far removed from him, but i am not. there was such a strong connection. (p8) step 5: social imaginary of becoming a hajji/hajja and the return home in this last step of the tmm process, the social imaginary of both the pilgrimage and the return home shifts as participants contribute their own pilgrimage experiences and narratives back into their social settings. this shift occurs as participants tell their own pilgrimage stories to their social network ties and to potential pilgrims. these hajj stories being passed on encapsulate the participants’ own meaning-making around their situated hajj experiences. indeed, once participants return home, they are frequently contacted by friends and family, seeking information, support, and advice about pilgrimage to hajj. p6 and p8 describe the responsibility that comes with the new status: initially, when i came back, i was aware [of hajja status]. people call you “hajja” at 17. and i thought i was that, and it made me feel that i had to act a certain way. moms used me as an example that i was setting, and i didn’t like it. but, dealing with the hardship [of hajj], you learn to be patient, i utilize this attitude in my social interactions. (p8) we [pilgrims] have completed something very important, and we have to hold on to that, to be responsible, accountable. with time passing, it is easy to be attracted again into these other [worldly] things. before hajj, i was depressed after i had returned from my studies abroad. i was not employed, was seeking work. i didn’t feel that i belonged back home. so it was 2 to 3 months of depression. while in mecca, i was serene, rested in my head, so i didn’t want to come back to what i used to be before. by going to hajj, i was able to assess my situation at home. i realized that if i have to be in this place [his hometown], i needed to try harder than that. (p9) the status of hajja is important in our community. so, one has to preserve that image, and the responsibilities that come with it: you cannot go dancing, can’t go to mixed gender weddings, etc. one hears of these remarks “she is a hajja.” it becomes problematic for youth, especially girls, because they start thinking that they are not ready to go to hajj because then they will no longer be able to do this or that. after a few months, one forgets: the emotions, the journey, the memories, the acts of adoration, the encounters. we are back in the everyday grind. so we try to plan ahead for the next trip there. … so, i was a “hajja,” yes. it was an even bigger deal in morocco, when i went to visit. it mattered even more there. it was a prestigious status. but i did hajj for myself, and for allah. not to get hajja status. (p10) participants also shared their strategies for coping with the return and the rapture with the serenity of the holy sites: 64 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi when i am at home, i feel ok. but outside, it is very different and it is hard. so, i sit for a few moments, thinking about that journey; how i practiced there; how my life changed when i was there. there is this one channel, al mubashir [a saudi livestreaming channel of hajj]. i put it on my computer and concentrate on that and it makes me very energetic. it helped me a lot since i returned. i see the live transmission of hajj and it reminds me of my own experience there. (p6) before hajj, i didn’t do any overly islamic art form. i started to explore more after my first umrah. it is not exactly calligraphy, but i started exploring islam and art together. (p8) i came back depressed. there, we were all surrounded by other muslims. when i returned, i felt lost, nostalgic, depressed. i used the satellite dish to watch saudi arabia channels, especially scenes of mecca, and to remember. it was like a sanctuary. (p10) the notion of “sanctuary” made possible by media consumption and practices is more than a coping mechanism; it seems to point to the importance of objects and artefacts in the lives of pilgrims. their materiality was meaningful and tied to the spiritual/religious and emotional experience of the pilgrims. indeed, the embodied experience at the holy sites seemed to have found an expressive release through the practice of recording and documenting their hajj either in the form of diaries or through photographs and videos. these documentary practices were deemed helpful for the pilgrims to remember and retrieve the state they were in while performing hajj or umrah. for p1, keeping a diary during hajj allowed her to make sense of her pilgrimage journey: i wanted to understand the spiritual dimensions of hajj: the true meaning of it, beyond the rituals. i kept a journal to remember. i highly recommend it. i made the decision to keep it private and it was a very valuable experience. i got this idea of a journal from a blog actually from a north american woman called “ten things you didn’t expect about hajj.” it is actually very common to see people write their diaries at hajj. we saw people doing that all the time. it is the small things that you need to absorb while there. that’s why you keep it. (p1) p3 took videos and photographs to document his hajj. however, when he shared these with some of his relatives, he was faced with an unpleasant comment that made him reflect further about his practice: i was showing my cousin what i videotaped around the kaaba. he or someone said: “i thought this was a journey between you and god, why would you show me this? you are showing this on youtube and to your family on the computer. why?” i was angry inside at this comment. my thought was to bring a memory from when i did it. to show the kaaba both for myself and to share. we are living in the age of technology, and we live with it. i could see how it can take away the spiritual. a bit. it reduced the impact a bit. we [he and the other hajjis in his group] didn’t really talk about it [the filming, videotaping]. it was just something we did. we just had the video camera and the camera and we used it. we saw people filming. everyone had a cellphone to communicate with the outside. they even took selfies. i did it too. this was an important place and we wanted to document that. (p3) p3’s sense-making about the role of images at hajj exemplifies the kind of narratives that will 65 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi start circulating as a result of lived experiences of hajj for modern-day pilgrims like him. in this and other ways, participants’ lived experiences reshape that of the next generation of pilgrims in the same way that the experiences of those who came before the study participants affected their expectations and associated information practices. this last step of the tmm process articulates the shifting roles and positions of participants as they performed hajj and returned changed. over time, they, in turn, become key sources of information that contribute to shaping imaginaries of hajj for other potential pilgrims through both their stories and their practices. discussion this article examined hajj pilgrims’ meaning-making practices as they journeyed to mecca, saudi arabia, completed hajj, and returned home with experiences and stories to tell. adapting allard and caidi’s (2018) tmm model, it was possible to show how the participants actively and individually engaged in producing meaning out of the socially located information they encountered within their information environments. for them, pilgrimage-related information practices were both iterative and dynamic, shifting from imaginary to experiential and back again as these pilgrims gained an understanding of hajj landscape, how it transformed them, and how they fit in it. meaning-making is thus both deeply individualized (derived as it is, experientially and emotionally) and embedded within social relations, contexts, and imaginaries (allard & caidi, 2018). in this study, the participants moved through hajj preparations and its completion in a fluid manner, and returned having been transformed by these other locations, experiences, and encounters: encounters with the self, with the land, with history, with a diverse and complex ummah, with the infrastructures of hajj, and with both the material and the spiritual. how hajj pilgrims navigated these unknown information contexts, with resources, strategies, and sensitivities forged by their local and varied information environments, is precisely what informs their tmm process. their multiple and sometimes conflicting ways of knowing and of doing things highlight the diversity in transnational knowledges and skills that pilgrims deploy as they engage in their hajj journey. as allard and caidi (2018) point out, “moments of dissonance provide intellectual and affective ‘space’ for learning and meaning making” (p. 1200). the notion of information dissonance in this study was found to be even more fluid than initially conceived by allard and caidi, who refer to its deployment at the outset (upon arrival to a new country, in the case of filipinos migrating to winnipeg). in this study, there is evidence that dissonance can occur at any point even before the journey starts, thus signaling further the deeply embedded nature of information practices with human emotions. this study also sheds further light on spiritual information practices and their embodiment into practice. as mentioned, information studies scholars need to pay more attention to the spiritual realm when it comes to everyday life information practices. in this study, there is evidence that information in the spiritual realm is found to be imparted through a range of information practices from stories shared by other pilgrims, visual imagery, the materiality of objects, through encounters and wandering, as much as by reading and searching texts. the knowledge about what it means to be a pilgrim is thus constituted holistically within situated rituals and embodied practices. learning to be a pilgrim is connected to the act of performing physical acts, engaging in rituals, saying invocations, and reading the holy landscape to find one’s own meaning. there are lessons and implications for information studies scholars and professionals about the 66 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi value of examining transformational experiences such as the pilgrimage to mecca. as examples of spiritual and/or contemplative aspects of human existence, transformational experiences are found in every culture and provide grounds for building bridges between people and between cultures. libraries, archives, museums, art galleries, and other such institutions are ideally suited to harness the power of transformational experiences as a means of facilitating transcultural affinities as part of their mission to increase diversity and inclusion. conclusion completing a pilgrimage (whether spiritual, religious, or otherwise) has often been touted as a transformational experience. yet, pilgrimage as an information context is sorely lacking in our field, despite the valuable insights it could provide into the complex information environments and evolving states of those who undertake pilgrimage. in this study of hajj, the experiences of 12 pilgrims were detailed through the examination of the material, spiritual, and informationrelated dimensions of their hajj. applying the lens of pilgrimage as “lived religion” rendered explicit the detailed activities and outcomes of pilgrim information practices and the ways in which information in its multiple forms (textual, spiritual, corporeal, etc.) mediated and shaped the pilgrims’ journey. in doing so, this article invites information studies scholars to refine the research agenda around spiritual and transformational experiences (including but not limited to pilgrimage) and engage with questions such as the ones outlined in caidi and innocenti (2018) that invite us to reflect on our field’s contributions to new ways of thinking about pilgrimages and other transformational experiences; on exploration of pilgrimages and other transformational experiences that take into account the current global and networked environment, and/or reflect the realities of migration and diasporic identities; along with the evolving role of cultural and memory institutions as resources on, and sites for, the commemoration of transformational experiences. acknowledgements the author wishes to express her gratitude to the research assistants who contributed to this project at the faculty of information, university of toronto: ms. adrienne phillips and ms. elisa tate. the author also thanks dr. perla innocenti for the stimulating conversations at the early stages of manuscript development. endnotes 1 umrah is an optional pilgrimage to mecca that can be undertaken at any time of year. while most rituals are the same as those for hajj, other requirements are not there during umrah, such as the specific clothing (the ihram worn by men), the sacrificial slaughter of an animal at the end of the hajj, or the cutting of hair. lastly, the pilgrim undertaking the umrah is not conferred the title of a hajji/-a upon completion of his/her pilgrimage. in our study, many pilgrims performed the umrah in addition to the hajj. 2 the recruitment stage may seem unusually long but points to the difficulty to recruit members of vulnerable communities, as is the case with young muslims in a post–9/11 world, 67 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi when there is a great reluctance to engage with the media or scholars when muslims and islam are often portrayed as either villains or potential threats. moreover, because of my focus on hajj pilgrims aged 18–35, the proportion of young muslims who have completed the hajj was also smaller than if i had selected a broader sample. it must be noted that the ethics were renewed regularly throughout this data collection. 3 as the number of pilgrims continues to grow, resulting in strain on the infrastructure, the saudi ministry of hajj along with the organization of islamic conference passed a resolution to specify a system of quotas for each country according to its population (one pilgrim for each 100,000 inhabitants). in heavily populated countries, such as indonesia, this represents a considerable waiting time for would-be pilgrims, who have to wait for their turn. lottery systems are also in place in some countries. appendix interview guide part i: tell us about yourself the following questions are for analytic purposes only. 1. in what country were you born? 2. in what year did you first come to canada? 3. besides canada (and your country of birth) have you lived in any other countries for 3 years or more? 1. yes – go to question 4 2. no – go to question 5 4. which countries were these? 5. what was the language that you first learned at home in childhood? 6. besides the language of interview and your first language, are there any other languages that you speak well enough to conduct a conversation? 1. yes – go to question 7 2. no go to question 11 7. what languages are these? 8. what language do you speak the most often at home? 9. what languages do you speak most often with your friends? 10. are there any other languages you speak on a regular basis? 1. yes – please specify which: 68 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi 2. no 11. what is your marital status? ❑ single ❑ married ❑ divorced ❑ separated ❑ widow/ed 12. what was your age on your last birthday? ❑ 18-24 years ❑ 25-29 years ❑ 30-35 years 13. gender: ❑ male ❑ female 14. my ethnic background is: ❑ south asian /asian canadian ❑ middle eastern/arab ❑ black/african canadian ❑ hispanic/latin ❑ caucasian ❑ native canadian/first nations ❑ other: (please specify): ________________________ 15. what is the highest level of education you have achieved? [circle one answer] i am a(n): ❑ undergraduate student ❑ graduate student ❑ other: (please specify): 69 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi 16. what was your most recent employment status? [interviewer: read list. circle one item and fill in information for that item] ❑ employed ❑ self-employed ❑ student ❑ at home ❑ unemployed ❑ other part ii: your perspective on islam and hajj the next series of questions ask about your opinion about islam and your decision to go to hajj. 1. would you consider yourself as someone: ❑ deeply religious and/or spiritual ❑ moderately religious and/or spiritual ❑ mostly spiritual but not religious (i.e., does not pray, fast, etc.) ❑ not very religious nor spiritual ❑ other. please specify: ________________________ 2. as a self-identified muslim, what are your main source(s) of information about islamrelated matters? (select all that apply) ❑ the quran and associated texts (hadiths, etc.) o original text or translations/interpretations? ❑ family and/or relatives ❑ community leaders (imams, etc.) ❑ friends and peers ❑ books ❑ mass media (radio, tv, newspapers, etc.) ❑ mailing lists ❑ social media (facebook, blogs, wikis, etc.) 70 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi ❑ websites ❑ word of mouth ❑ other. please specify: ________________________ 3. growing up, what were your recollections of hajj, the pilgrimage to mecca (i.e., what did you associate it with?)? 4. has anyone in your immediate circles (family, relatives, friends) completed hajj? ❑ yes (if so, who and when?): ________________________ ❑ no ❑ not sure 5. have you completed hajj or umrah? ❑ yes (if so, when?): ________________________ ❑ not yet (if so, when do you plan to?): ________________________ 6. do you remember a specific moment when you knew you wanted to complete hajj? (i.e., was there a trigger?) 7. how did your family and friends respond when you told them you wanted to/were going to complete hajj? 8. after you made the decision to complete hajj, how did you feel? 9. at that time, what did you think that you needed to know in order to prepare for the pilgrimage to mecca? (if has not completed hajj yet: “what do you think that you need to know…”) 10. what did you actually do to prepare? (i.e., how did you go about preparing for hajj?) - if has not completed hajj yet: “what are you actually doing to prepare?” 11. did you talk to, or consult with, anyone during the preparation phase? if yes, whom? (rank them by order of importance) 12. have you ever attended meetings organized to learn more about hajj? ❑ no, i have never attended a meeting. [go to #13] ❑ yes, i have attended such meetings. such meetings were (or are being) held: o once a week or more o once a month o once a term 71 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi o once a year 13. who organized such informational sessions? ❑ hajj specialists such as tours and travel agents. ❑ co-religionists (who performed hajj) ❑ religious leaders (at mosques, organizations, etc.) ❑ other 14. did you consult any electronic resources during your preparation for hajj? ❑ yes (which ones?) ❑ no (why not?) 15. what proved to be the most useful resources to help you prepare for hajj? why? 16. did you access any hajj-related materials in languages other than english? why did you choose these? what was the most useful feature about them? 17. what are the top three (3) resources that you would recommend to someone going to hajj? 18. what has changed for you in your personal life since you completed (or decided to undertake) hajj? 19. what has changed for you in your professional life since you completed (or decided to undertake) hajj? 20. what lessons have you learned with regard to preparing for hajj? 21. is there anything else that you would like to add? references allard, d. 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(2015). the hajj: pilgrimage in islam. new york: cambridge university press. 75 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi pilgrimage to hajj the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 3(1), 2019 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi turner, v. (1969). the ritual process: structure and anti-structure. ithaca, ny: cornell university press. van der beek, s. (2014). pilgrim narratives in dialogue. in m. farrelly & v. keely (eds.), pilgrim paths: journeys of transformation (pp. 45–53). oxford: inter-disciplinary press. van der beek, s. (2017). ritual identity. international journal of religious tourism and pilgrimage, 5(2), art. 6. retrieved from http://arrow.dit.ie/ijrtp/vol5/iss2/6 van gennep, a. (1960). rites of passage. chicago, il: university of chicago press. wicks, d. (1999). the information-seeking behavior of pastoral clergy: a study of the interaction of their work worlds and work roles. library & information science research, 21(2), 205–26. nadia caidi (nadia.caidi@utoronto.ca) is an associate professor at the faculty of information (ischool), university of toronto, canada. her research focuses on human information behavior, societal implications of information and communication technologies (icts), information policy, and cross-cultural studies. dr. caidi has received several grants for her research on information control and the public’s right to know in times of crisis. her current research is situated in the context of global migration and the role that information resources, institutions, and technologies play in the everyday lives of migrant and displaced communities. caidi was president of the canadian association for information science (2011) and the 2016 president of the international association for information science & technology (asis&t). 76 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi http://arrow.dit.ie/ijrtp/vol5/iss2/6 mailto:nadia.caidi@utoronto.ca introduction literature review methods participant profiles findings step 1: imagining mecca and the holy sites step 2: information dissonance doing hajj “the right way”: fears about invalidating one’s hajj. gendered hajj: the missing information. information dissonance and hajj landscape. setting eyes on the kaaba for the first time. hajj in the 21st century. step 3: increasing sophistication and understanding of hajj information landscape step 4: re-imagining mecca and hajj re-imagining one’s position within a broad and diverse ummah. understanding hajj relationally. step 5: social imaginary of becoming a hajji/hajja and the return home discussion conclusion acknowledgements endnotes appendix interview guide part i: tell us about yourself the following questions are for analytic purposes only. 1. in what country were you born? 2. in what year did you first come to canada? 3. besides canada (and your country of birth) have you lived in any other countries for 3 years or more? 1. yes – go to question 4 2. no – go to question 5 4. which countries were these? 5. what was the language that you first learned at home in childhood? 6. besides the language of interview and your first language, are there any other languages that you speak well enough to conduct a conversation? 1. yes – go to question 7 2. no go to question 11 7. what languages are these? 8. what language do you speak the most often at home? 9. what languages do you speak most often with your friends? 10. are there any other languages you speak on a regular basis? 1. yes – please specify which: 2. no 11. what is your marital status? q single q married q divorced q separated q widow/ed 12. what was your age on your last birthday? q 18-24 years q 25-29 years q 30-35 years 13. gender: q male q female 14. my ethnic background is:  south asian /asian canadian  middle eastern/arab  black/african canadian  hispanic/latin  caucasian  native canadian/first nations  other: (please specify): ________________________ 15. what is the highest level of education you have achieved? [circle one answer] i am a(n): q undergraduate student q graduate student q other: (please specify): 16. what was your most recent employment status? [interviewer: read list. circle one item and fill in information for that item] q employed q self-employed q student q at home q unemployed q other part ii: your perspective on islam and hajj the next series of questions ask about your opinion about islam and your decision to go to hajj. 1. would you consider yourself as someone: q deeply religious and/or spiritual q moderately religious and/or spiritual q mostly spiritual but not religious (i.e., does not pray, fast, etc.) q not very religious nor spiritual q other. please specify: ________________________ 2. as a self-identified muslim, what are your main source(s) of information about islam-related matters? (select all that apply) q the quran and associated texts (hadiths, etc.) o original text or translations/interpretations? q family and/or relatives q community leaders (imams, etc.) q friends and peers q books q mass media (radio, tv, newspapers, etc.) q mailing lists q social media (facebook, blogs, wikis, etc.) q websites q word of mouth q other. please specify: ________________________ 3. growing up, what were your recollections of hajj, the pilgrimage to mecca (i.e., what did you associate it with?)? 4. has anyone in your immediate circles (family, relatives, friends) completed hajj? q yes (if so, who and when?): ________________________ q no q not sure 5. have you completed hajj or umrah? q yes (if so, when?): ________________________ q not yet (if so, when do you plan to?): ________________________ 6. do you remember a specific moment when you knew you wanted to complete hajj? (i.e., was there a trigger?) 7. how did your family and friends respond when you told them you wanted to/were going to complete hajj? 8. after you made the decision to complete hajj, how did you feel? 9. at that time, what did you think that you needed to know in order to prepare for the pilgrimage to mecca? (if has not completed hajj yet: “what do you think that you need to know…”) 10. what did you actually do to prepare? (i.e., how did you go about preparing for hajj?) -if has not completed hajj yet: “what are you actually doing to prepare?” 11. did you talk to, or consult with, anyone during the preparation phase? if yes, whom? (rank them by order of importance) 12. have you ever attended meetings organized to learn more about hajj? q no, i have never attended a meeting. [go to #13] q yes, i have attended such meetings. such meetings were (or are being) held: o once a week or more o once a month o once a term o once a year 13. who organized such informational sessions? q hajj specialists such as tours and travel agents. q co-religionists (who performed hajj) q religious leaders (at mosques, organizations, etc.) q other 14. did you consult any electronic resources during your preparation for hajj? q yes (which ones?) q no (why not?) 15. what proved to be the most useful resources to help you prepare for hajj? why? 16. did you access any hajj-related materials in languages other than english? why did you choose these? what was the most useful feature about them? 17. what are the top three (3) resources that you would recommend to someone going to hajj? 18. what has changed for you in your personal life since you completed (or decided to undertake) hajj? 19. what has changed for you in your professional life since you completed (or decided to undertake) hajj? 20. what lessons have you learned with regard to preparing for hajj? 21. is there anything else that you would like to add? references assessing african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment within the ai field the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.34765 assessing african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment within the ai field schenita floyd, university of north texas, usa abstract artificial intelligence (ai) has infiltrated every industry and every aspect of our society. business leaders have seen the shift ai has created and they are reacting swiftly to stay competitive. they are investing heavily in ai and hiring engineers and other technical professionals to capitalize on ai-based innovations. engineers are problem solvers, innovators, and at the forefront of ai technologies; their daily jobs require the consumption of an enormous amount of information to solve problems, enhance existing products, or create new products. engineering positions require extensive interaction with peers, experts, and other experienced engineers in a male-dominated field. male dominance causes many women engineers to experience more biases and challenges than their male colleagues, especially minority women engineers. as ai infiltrates our society, will the challenges faced by minority women engineers subside or increase and will they participate in and drive innovations using ai? the purpose of this research paper is to assess the workplace sentiment of african american women engineers in the ai field. to assess african american women engineers’ workplace experiences within the ai field, machine learning text analysis was conducted on data extracted from twitter. the practical implications of this research highlight african american women engineers’ perspectives and experiences, encourages african american women in engineering, and inspires future engineers in ai related careers. keywords: african american; artificial intelligence; black twitter; women engineers; workplace learning publication type: research article introduction ur society is making technological advances at a rapid speed, with innovations in artificial intelligence (ai) as the catalyst. businesses invest in ai to stay competitive and to improve their revenue. ai does not require a huge investment, but does require human knowledge and expertise. engineers, data scientists, mathematicians, and other science-related, technical professionals have the skillset and expertise businesses need. unfortunately, the number of technical professionals in the u.s. is not enough to meet the demands of the country or to support ai innovation. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) programs have helped increase the number of students majoring in technical fields by encouraging students to explore their interests o https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.34765 in math and the sciences at an early age. fogg-rogers et al. (2017) illustrate the importance of women in stem by helping to motivate future generations of girls, and other underrepresented minorities, to be interested in stem fields. fogg-rogers (2017) stated that “girls need to see women performing stem activities successfully in order to believe that stem is for them” (p. 199). additionally, fogg-rogers (2017) argued that such engagement not only helps girls, but also helps fellow peers succeed in their career endeavors. stem promotion not only supports young african american girls' dream of stem careers, but it benefits the overall community of african american women. for example, oh and lewis (2011) explain that the high wages in stem careers could help narrow pay inequality. oh and lewis (2011) argued that, while white men have dominated stem careers (which have higher pay), if more women and cultural minorities move into these fields, their presence will increase pay equality. despite the success of stem programs in higher education, retention of technical professionals once they are in the workplace can be difficult due to socio-cultural inequities often exhibited in u.s. stem workplace settings (funk & parker, 2018). african american women engineers face challenges in the workplace such as sexism, racism, biases, and isolation. these challenges are magnified in technical careers due to a lack of diversity. morris (2016) notes that women only make up 18% of all engineers in the u.s. and organizations are seeking to improve diversity to help push innovation. a spokesperson for the society of women engineers was quoted in morris’s (2016) article conveying the point that “diversity fuels innovation, so having multiple perspectives and people of different backgrounds, that’s what’s going to make organizations successful” (para. 12). several studies have explored african american women’s challenging experiences in the workplace and how they cope. this study will focus on ways in which african american women engineers within the ai field use social media to cope with challenges experienced at their workplaces. it is crucial to assess african american women engineers' workplace challenges within the ai field for several reasons. first, ai is impacting all our lives, whether we know it or not, and the ai field must represent the people it is affecting. diversity helps the ai field build innovative products that avoid biases and exclusions of groups of people not represented in the ai industry. additionally, if organizations address the concerns of african american women engineers who are in the ai field, it will help women to stay in the field, build a diverse pipeline of ai leaders, and help decrease the pay gap for women and the african american community. the purpose of this research is to analyze the workplace sentiment of african american women engineers in ai technology fields. sentiment analysis, which is sometimes called opinion mining, classifies opinionated user-generated data that has been captured from social media and other platforms to determine the polarity (positive, neutral, or negative) of the data (varathan et al., 2017). a focus on discourse about workplace concerns and experiences as a specificity of sentiment analysis is why i employ the phrase “workplace sentiment.” to gather the data, machine learning text analysis was conducted using tweets/posts from twitter, collected over a period of seven days, for a total of 189 hours to document and assess african american women’s workplace sentiment in the ai field. twitter data was analyzed to address the following questions: • what issues do african american women engineers discuss about ai on twitter? • what is the workplace sentiment of the discussions by african american women engineers on ai? 58 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.34765 the practical implications of this research study will highlight african american women engineers’ perspectives and experiences, encourage african american women in engineering careers, and inspire future engineers in ai related careers. review of the literature a review of the literature revealed similar studies on workplace concerns of african american women engineers and other stem professionals, but not specifically addressing these concerns within the ai field using data from twitter. pinckney et al. (2018) described a framework using twitter which they explained to be a valuable technique for expanding the discourse of african americans on social media platforms. other researchers provided theories (e.g., critical race theory and demand-control theory) on coping methods or dealing with race-related issues (watkins & mensah, 2019; linnabery et al., 2014; hall et al., 2012; dickens & chavez, 2018). the coping methods they found most effective centered around self-identity and circles of support. there were studies on the importance of promoting stem to enhance the number of women engineers (fogg-rogers et al., 2017; oh & lewis, 2011; rice & alfred, 2014). several studies discussed how to succeed as an african american engineer and the barriers faced by african american women in the workplace (rice & alfred, 2014; dickens & chavez, 2018; linnabery et al., 2014). some studies discussed how african american women cope with workplace stressors (hall et al., 2012; dickens & chavez, 2018; linnabery et al., 2014). identifying helpful coping methods, promoting stem, and showcasing how to succeed are still pertinent support resources for african american women engineers, despite the popularity of twitter. nonetheless, twitter does alleviate the geographical constraints when building support circles and finding ways to develop self-identity. twitter is the social media platform of choice for african american women to discuss social, political, and professional issues (maragh, 2016; sharma, 2013; harris & coleman, 2018; tull et al., 2017). however, the literature did not include studies exploring any intersectionality between all three areas: ai, twitter, and african american women engineers. related theories and frameworks watkins and mensah (2019) employed critical race theory (crt) to narrate the everyday life of an african american engineering student who started undergraduate studies at one university and then matriculated to other universities for her master’s and doctoral degrees. the authors explained how crt is a counter-storytelling method that allows the engineer to articulate her experiences to be accepted and recognized, while challenging the stereotypes and enlightening readers to her truth. in the narrative, watkins and mensah (2019) identified the obstacles the engineering student faced which included isolation and challenges in finding peer support. they expressed the importance of relationships when trying to overcome race-related problems within organizations or groups. linnabery et al. (2014) utilized the demand-control theory to study career obstacles faced by african american women. linnabery et al. (2014) described the demand-control theory as a tool to confront emotional job pressure by balancing one’s sphere of control with the circumstances of job demands. they explained that their research was the first study to use demand-control theory to examine african american women’s experiences in the workplace. they argued that african american women experiences differ from white women experiences because african americans experience higher workload and conflicts. linnabery et al. (2014) noted unique job demands for african americans, such as racism, racial biases, and lack of resources which were 59 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.34765 demands white women did not experience. career development opportunities, lower salaries, and access to resources were other noted challenges. linnabery et al. (2014) suggested the use of the demand-control theory to examine how to lower african american women's stresses and strengthen their sphere of control in the workplace. of course, workplace dynamics that are out of african american women's control exist because such undercurrents are threaded within the context of institutional racism and are thus meted out unchecked. behaviors projected from (un)conscious racial biases, microaggressions expressed in response to one’s skin color, hair texture, or any other erroneous perceived notions, are too often sanctioned by the established influence of institutional racism. in those cases, african american women’s experiences vastly differ from what white women experience. critical technocultural discourse analysis (ctda) is a conceptual framework used to study african american women from an innovative approach with twitter. ctda looks at the relationship of race in the digital age (pinckney et al., 2018). pinckney et. al (2018) used ctda to investigate how this framework provides the flexibility to innovatively research ways in which users participated in online discourse via smartphones and other types of media devices. this study revealed the importance of researchers being more innovative when collecting data from social media. identifying similar concepts as pinckney et. al (2018) within my own research questions, i decided to employ twitter as my digital platform for fieldwork, and ctda as the framework to examine african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment. challenges and barriers in the workplace african american women engineers endure some specific obstacles in the workplace. these obstacles impact their normal job functions and may halt or change momentum in one’s career path until the obstacle or barrier is removed. for example, oh and lewis (2011) discuss how organizational climates and dynamics could result in african american women engineers feeling discomfort and isolation. watkins and mensah (2019) agree that social and emotional isolation stemmed from racism is a barrier that many african american women engineers face in the workplace. another challenge many african american women encounter during their careers is unemployment or underemployment. cross (2014) confirms that african americans have the highest rate of unemployment within the field of engineering. if african american women engineers are employed, and succeed in their careers, they typically face other challenges. for example, linnabery et al. (2014) argue that african american women experience job-family strain and lack of career and life satisfaction. whereas parker (2002) states that african american women who experience conflicts with their white male colleagues are ignored or have their ideas overlooked. despite the many barriers faced by african american women engineers, fogg-rogers et al. (2017) recommend that leadership endorsement could help remove barriers and promote self-efficacy. oh and lewis (2011) suggest that peer support from friends, family, community, and other relationships can alleviate the barriers and challenges african american women engineers face. linnabery et al. (2014) agree with the importance of support (be it collegial, familial, community-oriented, etc.), especially social support which can provide a means for self-care. coping in the workplace for african american women engineers to function properly in the workplace, they have to figure out how to cope with the challenges and barriers they encounter. linnabery et al. (2014) explain 60 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.34765 that learning to cope helps build strength. they identify techniques to help with coping which includes valuing yourself by connecting with ancestors who came before you, asking for support from others, and praying to deal with stress. hall et al. (2012) agree with spirituality as a coping technique and they also suggest thinking positively, improving social skills, and interacting with friends and family. finally, dickens and chavez (2018) recommend identity shifting to cope with stress, but they admit this technique could have drawbacks. the drawbacks tend to outweigh the success women receive through identity shifting. given the drawbacks of identity shifting and finding support, twitter can fill the gap as an alternative to these coping techniques. today, african american women share their challenges on twitter. the discourse on twitter among african american women gives context to understand how african american women feel and cope with workplace stressors. other african-descent women facing similar challenges in the workplace can see commonalities and share their feelings and stories on twitter. these shared experiences on twitter simulate some of the coping techniques recommended in the literature to succeed in the workplace. success in the workplace success in the workplace requires the ability to overcome barriers and learn to cope while staying strong. the balance for african american women engineers can be a heavy burden and can lead to women leaving the engineering field. rice and alfred (2014) argue for support systems throughout the entire pipeline to encourage women to stay in the field and succeed. support systems are common in higher education, but they need to be in the field at all levels to encourage and support african american women engineers and other underrepresented groups. the implication and rewards of support systems in organizations promote diversity and innovation organizations seek. rice and alfred (2014) recommend african american women engineers seek a peer community as their main source of daily support. black twitter and blacktags in today’s digital age, social media provides the perfect method to build a community of support. there are many social media platforms available; however, twitter seems to be the platform of choice for african american social and cultural discourse. maragh (2016) reported through a 2015 pew research study, that among african american internet users, 28% were twitter users. punctuating the point that twitter is a consistent place of discourse for african americans online, pew research center’s 2021 social media factsheet reports that 29% of african americans use twitter (pew, 2021). several studies have been conducted on the phenomenon of black twitter and blacktags. sharma (2013) describes the phenomenon and defines blacktags as “a particular type of hashtag associated with black twitter users (mainly african-americans), because the tag itself and/or its associated content appears to connote ‘black’ vernacular expression in the form of humor and social commentary” (p. 48). sharma (2013) lists famous hashtags and explains how they have gained popularity by spreading to other media outlets to heighten awareness and visibility on a particular subject. twitter has been used for political awareness, racial discrimination awareness, and social activism through the hashtag #blacklivesmatter. tull et al. (2017) describe how twitter was used to devise solutions to improve diversity in technology fields. tull et al. (2017) explains how, in their research, they tracked tweets over a two-day period by using #thinkbigdiversity. many 61 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.34765 other hashtags have emerged to express the issues and sentiments technical professionals encounter in everyday life. through analysis and exploration, more solutions to issues discussed in the twitter discourse could be identified, as with the #thinkbigdiversity campaign. methodology this study is an exploratory research study using data extracted from twitter to perform a sentiment analysis. the framework incorporated in this study is the ctda framework created by andré l. brock (2016), a pioneer in the scholarly study of the black experience on twitter. as noted by pinckney et al. (2018), brock’s ctda framework suggests focusing on a single online topic to recognize the relationship between race and social justice as discussed on new digital technologies and platforms (pinckney et al., 2018). ctda includes three main components: multimodal data, interface analysis, and critical discourse. multimodal twitter data is used in this study to analyze black women engineer’s workplace sentiment through their discourse on twitter. each step of ctda is followed as illustrated by brock (2016), who is a proponent of using twitter with the framework. brock (2016) describes twitter “as a service (artifact), as interface and mechanics (practice), and as the discourses of its users and observers (belief)” (p. 1024). multimodal data twitter data was collected over a 24 hour, seven-day period totaling 189 hours using hashtags promoted by african american women engineers and other african american women in the stem professions. the seven-day period was selected to coincide with the women in science week held from february 9—february 16, 2020, which included the international day of women and girls in science that occurred on february 11, 2020. interface analysis the data collected was captured using twitter api (application programming interface) for developers and researchers. text mining r packages helped to clean the data removing extra tags, duplicate tweets, emojis, and stop words. once the data was cleaned, a machine learning algorithm was run on the data to obtain the overall sentiment in the discussions. machine learning algorithms are an appropriate method to analyze a large corpus of words versus a manual method that could be subject to human error. the machine learning sentiment algorithm analyzes the number of positive and negative words in the tweets. next, the algorithm outputs a sentiment histogram and text files for the researcher to review what was coded as positive and what was coded as negative. the positive and negative text files contain detailed scoring data to verify the results of the algorithm. the text files are beneficial for reviewing the raw data in a clean format and explaining how the algorithm produced the final results in the sentiment histogram. critical discourse hashtags are used throughout social media to help categorize and bring attention to a particular topic. seven hashtags selected for this study are promoted by technical non-profit organizations and african american technical professionals who participate in these organizations. three of the hashtags are blacktags used by black twitter to discuss topics african american technical professional women face: #blackinai, #blacktechtwitter, and #blackwomenatwork. blacktags allow african americans to share their workplace experiences amongst each other when they feel isolated or marginalized. pinckney et al. (2018) posits that “among black users, if they do 62 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.34765 not matter, then they will matter at least among those same black users” (p. 284). the four other hashtags selected are used by african american women but are not consider blacktags: #womenengineers, #womeninai, #stemwomen, and #womeninscience. results over 6,200 tweets were collected during women in science week held from february 9-16, 2020. most of the tweets were from #womeninscience mainly because it was promoted heavily during the women in science events around the world. there were over 30 tweets from #womeninscience that referenced the february 11th international day of women and girls in science. their tweets celebrated pioneers in the field and others advocated for equal pay. a couple of tweets supported australia's women in stem decadal plan, which works toward retaining women in stem and achieving gender equity. the second highest number of tweets was from the blacktag #blacktechtwitter with over 500 tweets. there were 30 tweets from #blacktechtwitter that directly referenced women and 12 tweets that referenced engineers. one woman engineer celebrated her first-year anniversary as a software engineer building new apps. table 1 shows the total tweets of each of the hashtags extracted from twitter api. table 1. technical twitter hashtags hashtag number of tweets during the 7-day period #blackinai 3 #blacktechtwitter 513 #blackwomenatwork 14 #womenengineers 33 #womeninai 24 #stemwomen 154 #womeninscience 5478 table 2 displays a sample of the tweets used to determine the sentiment. the tweets highlight african american women engineers’ issues with gender bias and lack of diversity in the workplace. there were also tweets that offered professional encouragement and job opportunity information. next, the 6,219 tweets were cleaned using the r packages to remove extra tags, duplicates, emojis, and stop words. after cleaning the data, a sentiment analysis algorithm was run on the data to obtain the overall sentiment in the discussions. the sentiment analysis results in figure 1 show that most of the tweets were positive. since the number of tweets for #womeninscience was greater than the other hashtags, #womeninscience was analyzed separately to ensure it did not dominate the sentiment of the other hashtags. 63 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.34765 table 2. twitter hashtag tweets hashtag tweets #blackinai • tbt to a fun night and very interesting conversation about the impacts of #ai on diverse communities with leaders • the current data on the state of gender diversity in ai is dire…. the state of racial diversity is worse. • the stickers table at #aaai20 pronouns stickers #queerinai, #blackinai #latinxinai.\n\n@realaaai #phdchat #blacktechtwitter • possible job opportunity check out hacking with the homies developers conference • does the terminology slave and master in cs bother anyone else? #blackwomenatwork • girl, you got this, you can handle it! you are amazing • this is what a woman in science looks like • highlights daily challenge of an ai/robot matters to use gender-sensitive language will impact race #womenengineers • celebrating women who've been able to prove stereotypes wrong that we can't have women pursuing scientific careers • she's the engineer behind eye-popping invention in @gm's newest suvs #womeninai • there is a significant gender diversity gap in ai research • make those meaningful connections. find your tribe. help build others. build those communities. establish your com • really interesting discussion to watch about the issues with ai #stemwomen • find out more about the #genderimbalance in #stem and how to remedy it • love to see more women in science! #womeninscience • building bridges; breaking barriers discussion panel on how to manage a successful career in #academia • science cannot afford to only look at half the population to supply its workforce, we need a diversity • we cannot afford to stay silent in the face of systematic barriers; long-standing biases that continue to prevent 64 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.34765 figure 1. twitter hashtag sentiments. twitter data (741 tweets) was analyzed to determine the sentiment. figure 2. twitter hashtags sentiments: twitter data (#womeninscience) was analyzed to determine the sentiment. the histograms in fig. 1 and fig. 2 show sentiments from twitter data extracted february 9-16, 2020. the negative coordinates on the left on the x-axis are tweets with a negative sentiment. the positive coordinates on the right on the x-axis are positive tweets. frequency on the y-axis shows the count of unique words in the corpus of tweets. the first graph, in fig. 1, includes 741 tweets with an overall positive sentiment to the right. the second graph, in fig. 2, includes 5478 tweets with an overall positive sentiment. the results of the data analysis reinforced previous studies on the issues african american women engineers face as the tweets on twitter amplified the issues with lack of diversity and gender biases in ai. despite the negative issues african american women face in ai, the tweets on twitter had a positive sentiment. tweets were filled with positive words of hope and encouragement for fellow african american women engineers in ai. conclusion in summary, this research study on african american women engineers’ twitter discourse about workplace sentiment in ai covered a review of the literature on relevant theories and frameworks pertaining to the critical lenses needed to explore nuances in discourse. additionally, it analyzed 65 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.34765 twitter data from african american women technical professionals to identify their issues and sentiment in the field of ai and also demonstrated ways that women engineers can use social media to cope with workplace issues and be successful despite barriers faced. the limitations of this study were the sparse data found during the time period selected and not expanding the research to other social media platforms. expanding the time period and tackling other social media platforms could provide more insight into african american women’s workplace sentiment within the field of ai. the practical implications for african american women engineers and companies committed to retaining women engineers are numerous. future and current engineers will obtain insight on how to navigate their careers. companies will learn how to make their environments more open to african american women engineers. helping african american women engineers helps companies ensure a diverse technical workforce for ai innovation. this study expands both the information science and the african american studies fields by looking at a specific technical profession and exploring ways in which online discourse enhances and supports social navigation of hegemonic workplace environments. future studies in this area should collect more data than the limited seven days gathered in this study. while the twitter api currently has rate and accessibility limits, twitter is looking to improve their platform for researchers. twitter api improvements will provide researchers the ability to extract more data to do an extensive thematic analysis, over time, to pinpoint the primary areas companies should focus on to support and retain african american women engineers in their organizations. this study utilized the current standard twitter api which pulled real-time data over a seven-day period, but future studies could utilize twitter’s new researcher platform or their premium and enterprise licenses to pull historical data for a year (i.e., 2020 with the same hashtags) with less rate restrictions. future studies could also analyze different hashtags for other marginalized groups (i.e., women, u.s. native americans, or disabled veterans) or integrate data from other social media platforms. references brock, a. (2016). critical technocultural discourse analysis. new media & society, 20(3), 10121030. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816677532 dickens, d. d., & chavez, e. l. (2018). navigating the workplace: the costs and benefits of shifting identities at work among early career us black women. sex roles, 78(11-12), 760-774. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0844-x cross, k. j. (2014). the impact of african american engineers on contemporary life: remembering who we are. black history bulletin, 77(2), 22-27. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5323/blachistbull.77.2.0022 fogg-rogers, l., sardo, m., & boushel, c. (2017). “robots vs animals”: establishing a culture of public engagement and female role modeling in engineering higher education. science communication, 39(2), 195-220. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547017696169 funk, c., & parker, k. (2018). women and men in stem often at odds over workplace equity: 66 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816677532 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0844-x https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5323/blachistbull.77.2.0022 https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547017696169 african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.34765 perceived inequities are especially common among women in science, technology, engineering and math jobs who work mostly with men. pew research center: social & demographic trends. https://www.pewresearch.org/socialtrends/2018/01/09/women-and-men-in-stem-often-at-odds-over-workplace-equity/ hall, j. c., everett, j. e., & hamilton-mason, j. (2012). black women talk about workplace stress and how they cope. journal of black studies, 43(2), 207-226. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934711413272 harris, f. l., & coleman, l. s. (2018). trending topics: a cultural analysis of being mary jane and black women's engagement on twitter. the black scholar, 48(1), 43-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/00064246.2018.1402255 linnabery, e., stuhlmacher, a. f., & towler, a. (2014). from whence cometh their strength: social support, coping, and well-being of black women professionals. cultural diversity and ethnic minority psychology, 20(4), 541-549. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037873 maragh, r. s. (2016). “our struggles are unequal”: black women’s affective labor between television and twitter. journal of communication inquiry, 40(4), 351-369. https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859916664082 morris, c. (2016, october 31). study underscores bias obstacles for women, minorities in engineering. diverse issues in higher education, 33(7). https://diverseeducation.com/article/88736/ oh, s. s., & lewis, g. b. (2011). stemming inequality? employment and pay of female and minority scientists and engineers. the social science journal, 48(2), 397-403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2010.11.008 parker, p. s. (2002). negotiating identity in raced and gendered workplace interactions: the use of strategic communication by african american women senior executives within dominant culture organizations. communication quarterly, 50(3-4), 251-268. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463370209385663 pew research center. (2021, april 7). social media factsheet. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/ pinckney, h. p., mowatt, r. a., outley, c., brown, a., floyd, m. f., & black, k. l. (2018). black spaces/white spaces: black lives, leisure, and life politics. leisure sciences, 40(4), 267287. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2018.1454361 rice, d. n., & alfred, m. v. (2014). personal and structural elements of support for african american female engineers. journal of stem education: innovations and research, 15(2). https://www.jstem.org/jstem/index.php/jstem/article/view/1843 sharma, s. (2013). black twitter? racial hashtags, networks and contagion. new formations, 78, 46-64. https://doi.org/10.3898/newf.78.02.2013 tull, r. g., reed, a. m., felder, p. p., lgsw, s. h., williams, d. n., medina, y., lo, a., aparaka, e. t., & ordonez, p. (2017). hashtag #thinkbigdiversity: social media hacking 67 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/01/09/women-and-men-in-stem-often-at-odds-over-workplace-equity/ https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/01/09/women-and-men-in-stem-often-at-odds-over-workplace-equity/ https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934711413272 https://doi.org/10.1080/00064246.2018.1402255 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0037873 https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859916664082 https://diverseeducation.com/article/88736/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2010.11.008 https://doi.org/10.1080/01463370209385663 https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/ https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2018.1454361 https://www.jstem.org/jstem/index.php/jstem/article/view/1843 https://doi.org/10.3898/newf.78.02.2013 african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.34765 activities as hybridized mentoring mechanisms for underrepresented minorities in stem. paper presented at the 2017 asee annual conference & exposition, columbus, ohio. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--28430 varathan, k. d., giachanou, a., & crestani, f. (2017). comparative opinion mining: a review. journal of the association for information science and technology, 68(4), 811-829. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23716 watkins, s. e., & mensah, f. m. (2019). peer support and stem success for one african american female engineer. the journal of negro education, 88(2), 181-193. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7709/jnegroeducation.88.2.0181 schenita floyd (schenitafloyd@my.unt.edu) is a doctoral candidate at the university of north texas in denton where she is pursuing her phd in interdisciplinary information science with an anticipated graduation date of august 2021. her concentration is data science, and her research interests include artificial intelligence (ai), team collaboration, digital workforce transformation, and the gender pay gap. schenita has a bs degree in electrical engineering from texas a&m university in college station and she has an mba in finance from southeastern university. 68 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--28430 https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23716 https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7709/jnegroeducation.88.2.0181 mailto:schenitafloyd@my.unt.edu introduction review of the literature related theories and frameworks challenges and barriers in the workplace coping in the workplace success in the workplace methodology multimodal data interface analysis critical discourse results conclusion references ancestry.com’s race stories: examining whiteness on the genealogy web the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 ancestry.com’s race stories: examining whiteness on the genealogy web anna robinson-sweet, the new school archives & special collections, usa abstract the popularity of genealogical research is linked to the growth of online genealogy services such as ancestry.com, which, as of 2020, has over three million paid subscribers. another 18 million people have taken genetic ancestry tests through the company’s subsidiary, ancestrydna. this article interrogates how ancestry presents information on race and ethnicity to users, asking if it is possible for researchers to build a critical racial identity using ancestry’s services. applying an understanding of whiteness that comes from critical race studies, the article examines the way race, and whiteness in particular, is presented in the business’s marketing, web features, and products such as ancestrydna. these examinations reveal a company selling customers family history narratives that comport with the mythology of american egalitarianism, while at the same time essentializing race and ethnicity. the implications of these findings are significant for information professionals because ancestry relies on partnerships with libraries and archives to supply material for the website’s research database. these partnerships compel archivists and librarians to scrutinize ancestry’s information ethics. the article calls for further discussion and research into how information professionals can be agents for change in how race and ethnicity are treated in online genealogy spaces. keywords: archival ethics; genealogy; genetic ancestry testing; public-private partnerships; whiteness publication type: special section publication introduction merican identity is often expressed in a plethora of hyphenations, for example, irishamerican, mexican-american, and african-american. it is common for a person to ask another, “what are you?” and expect an answer told in ethnic fractions or racial categories; in my experience, “white” is hardly ever a satisfying response. in fact, americans who completed the census online in 2020 were prompted to provide both their ethnic and racial identities. in answering this question, i grappled with how, and how much, to answer: do i specify every tiny fraction of irish, german, and british ancestry even though i feel no meaningful connection to these ethnicities? is “jewish” an ethnicity? for many white americans like me, ethnic identities have been blurred by generations of assimilation and inter-marriage, turning ethnic identity into something that is known rather than experienced or felt. this knowing often comes to us via genealogy. genealogy is one of the most popular hobbies in the u.s. (rodriguez, 2014). it is also a big business: as of the spring of 2020, the genealogy website ancestry.com had over three million paid subscribers.1 another 18 million customers have taken dna tests through ancestry’s genetic a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi ancestry.com’s race stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 genealogy service, ancestrydna (ancestry.com, n.d.-a). these customers have turned to a company to help them understand who they are. with a subscription fee of $25 usd a month to access ancestry’s databases, which consist of digitized documents from libraries and archives, or a one-time cost of $99 usd for a genetic test, ancestry will tell you the story of your past, presented in an interactive family tree or a pie chart displaying ethnic percentages. these services allow users to create new understandings of their identity, with profound implications for how they conceive of themselves in the context of their communities and society at large. ancestry’s slogan commands: “unlock your past. inspire your future.” white americans make up the majority of customers for genetic genealogy tests and presumably a large percentage, if not majority, of subscribers to online genealogy services (murphy, 2018). while the implications of genetic genealogy test-taking among white americans has been explored by researchers (roth & ivemark, 2018; panofsky & donovan, 2019), less attention has been devoted to the overall effect of genealogical research on racial and ethnic identity construction among whites. as researchers construct family trees and chart the percentages of their ethnic make-ups, is it possible for them to build a critical racial identity? in answering this question, special attention must be paid to the way for-profit companies, whose services have contributed to genealogy’s surge in popularity, present information on race and ethnicity to users. applying an understanding of whiteness that comes from critical race studies, this article interrogates how the largest genealogy company, ancestry, informs users’ understanding of race and the identity construct of whiteness. a closer look at the business’s marketing initiatives, web features, and products such as ancestrydna, reveals a company selling customers family history narratives that comport with the mythology of american egalitarianism, while at the same time essentializing race and ethnicity. as the means by which millions of people access material held by archives and libraries, i argue that information professionals should be at the forefront of scrutinizing ancestry and its practices. critical whiteness and genealogy when i answer the question, “what are you?” by saying that i am white, i do so in an attempt to deconstruct the essentialism of whiteness, what sociologist and pioneer of critical whiteness studies ruth frankenberg calls the “unmarked, unnamed status that is itself an effect of its dominance” (1993, p. 6). critical whiteness studies dismantles the essentialism of whiteness, revealing how this identity was historically constructed to advance a racial hierarchy that puts those who can claim its label at the top with impunity to commit violence against those who cannot. a critical perspective on whiteness also illuminates the shifting boundaries of the identity: throughout american history, whiteness has expanded from northern european protestants to include irish catholics in the nineteenth century, then southern europeans and jews in the twentieth. the process by which irish immigrants became white in america is charted by noel ignatiev (1995) in how the irish became white. ignatiev explains that irish immigrants in the nineteenth century earned admission to the white race by distancing themselves from abolitionism, enforcing racial exclusion in northern workplaces, and asserting their ability to riot. in short, “...while the white skin made the irish eligible for membership in the white race, it did not guarantee their admission; they had to earn it” (ignatiev, 1995, p. 70). they earned it by becoming willing participants in racial violence against american blacks. 80 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ancestry.com’s race stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 this can be an inconvenient truth for many irish americans, whose identities are more often linked to the hardship they faced as second-class citizens in their homeland. it is not pleasant to realize that one’s ancestors escaped oppression only to take up the role of oppressor in a new home. indeed, the fabled american origin story is that of escaping racial, religious, or ethnic persecution to earn one’s successes on an even playing field. racial privilege undermines this myth. in the rhetoric of politicians and public figures, one hears the reflexive discomfort with admitting the historical truth of white privilege. u.s. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell reacted in this way to a 2019 congressional hearing on whether the body should take up reparations legislation: i think we're always a work in progress in this country but no one currently alive was responsible for that [slavery] and i don't think we should be trying to figure out how to compensate for it…we've had waves of immigrants as well come to the country and experience dramatic discrimination of one kind or another so no, i don't think reparations are a good idea. (barrett, 2019) mcconnell uses the american origin story of universal and equal struggle to exempt white americans with post-slavery immigrant ancestry from white supremacy while also equating their struggles in this country with that of black americans. this myth finds a factual basis in genealogical research, which allows americans to reclaim ethnic roots and immigrant ancestors. in effect, genealogy allows the white american to reverse baldwin’s equation and go back to being norwegian when it is convenient. using my own white family as a test case, i demonstrate how ancestry promotes a selective understanding of ethnicity through its decisions about which records to collect, the website’s features for contextualizing and searching these records, and the marketing with which ancestry promotes its services. i approach ancestry’s website and genetic genealogy services from a critical whiteness studies perspective, supplementing my own critique with coverage of the company from the news media, and from literature in fields of anthropology, information and media studies, all fields where scholars have begun to take notice of the burgeoning popular interest in genealogy and its potential ramifications. ancestry’s ahistorical whiteness “lifestories” sometime between 1920 and 1930, my great-grandfather maurice rabinowitz became morris robinson. in 1910, maurice rabinowitz’ place of birth was recorded on the u.s. census as “russia/yiddish”—a jewish immigrant from russia. on the next census, 1920, maurice was listed as a native new yorker, born to russian parents, with yiddish nowhere to be found. these records tell the story of how my jewish immigrant great-grandfather became white. these identity changes are not included in morris’ “lifestory,” a timeline of major events in a family member’s life that is generated by ancestry for each person in your tree. the “lifestory” feature was rolled out by ancestry in 2015 and uses the records about relatives to generate a narrative, complete with “historical insights,” which “help you learn about important moments in history that your ancestors may have experienced” (ancestry.com, 2015). according to ancestry, my greatgrandfather would have experienced the fear of typhoid outbreaks in new york city in 1907 and the hudson-fulton celebration in 1909. the outbreak of world war i and the onset of the great depression apparently do not merit inclusion. 81 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ancestry.com’s race stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 the featured historical events are based primarily on geographic information, and there is no ability for users to add their own historical insights or even browse the available options. without transparency as to how ancestry constructs the lifestory for a person, i wondered if and how race, one of the only pieces of information consistently reported on census records, impacts the narrative. browsing the census records for my great-grandfather, i chose at random a new yorker of similar age to morris, but identified on the census as black. the lifestory for this man, thomas robinson (of no relation, just proximate to my relative in the search results), includes these two events: the invention of the kinetograph and the opening of steeplechase park in coney island. thomas robinson’s mother, ophelia, was born in 1867 in virginia, two years after the abolition of slavery. according to ancestry, major historical events she would have lived through included the advent of broadway theater, and just like her son, the invention of the kinetograph. interestingly, these are the same historical events that my great-great-grandfather max rabinowitz, is also said to have perhaps experienced. according to ancestry, and based on this sampling, it seems there are five historical events that took place in new york city around the turn of the century, and none of them have to do with mass-migration, urban poverty, or racism. in this picture book version of history, genealogists find that their relatives lived through some tough times (typhoid) but mostly good ones (parades, movies, amusement parks). the lifestory for my third great-grandfather on the other side of my family tree, benjamin furman sweet, indicates he perhaps “witnessed or experienced” political discrimination while living in palmyra, kansas, in 1875 after the passage of the 15th amendment. it is highly unlikely that benjamin, a white, protestant, native-born american, experienced discrimination of any kind during his lifetime. in fact, he perpetrated it. according to family lore, when benjamin married his wife jane robinson in 1830, the bride’s parents, my fourth great-grandparents, gifted them an enslaved person. their descendents would later say that benjamin and jane came to regret that they had sold this enslaved person rather than freeing them from bondage. i was unable to verify any of the aspects of this story from documents available on ancestry, but was able to verify that jane robinson’s parents, and their parents before them, were enslavers. on his deathbed in late 1839, my fourth great-grandfather thomas g. robinson, willed to his wife lucy, “the farm whereupon i now live together with all the improvements thereon also all my negroes & personal property” (kentucky county, district and probate courts, 2015). while documents found on ancestry reveal that my ancestors were enslavers, facts from these documents do not find their way onto my ancestors’ lifestory or profile, while information on marriages, births, immigration, migration, occupations, and deaths do. this oversight, intentional or not, redacts a significant and difficult biographical fact from the stories of hundreds of thousands of enslavers found on ancestry. researching slavery it is difficult to locate records connecting whites to slavery on ancestry; doing so requires the researcher to intentionally seek out such documentation. one of the most valuable collections in this regard are the 1850 and 1860 united states census slave schedules, which list the names of enslavers and the number of people they enslaved.2 in 2019, ancestry changed its search capabilities so that the slave schedules no longer appeared in search results—genealogists now had to navigate to the slave schedules in order to search them. as adam h. domby (2019) writes, this change to the search function: means that someone searching for ancestors might discover a wealthy progenitor with no record of the foundations of that wealth, making it all too easy to claim, as many 82 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ancestry.com’s race stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 privileged white american families do, that their individual family earned its fortunes outside of slavery despite the central role slavery had in shaping the nation’s politics, economics, culture, and society. ancestry members have access to at least 15 other databases besides the slave schedules containing information on slave holding in the u.s. it is not obvious which of these have been indexed and are therefore included in search results. as with the slave schedules, a researcher might need to be aware that these resources exist and then search within those databases separately. and while ancestry does provide assistance for locating and searching their collections documenting slavery, these blog posts and research guides almost exclusively assume the researcher is a descendent of the enslaved, rather than the other way around; slavery is portrayed as a relevant research topic for black genealogists only.3 on the contrary, researching and revealing ties between white ancestors and slavery is crucial to recognizing how intergenerational wealth was built on the profits of black bondage. and even for those post-civil war immigrants who could play no historical role in american slavery, race had an impact on their “lifestories” that ancestry fails to tell. marketing fairytales ancestry’s storybook re-remembering of history is voiced in their marketing. in an article in the new york times heralding ancestry’s release of prison records from new york state, a company spokesperson commented that, “family history is a puzzle, and some pieces are more surprising or salacious than others…there’s something wickedly comforting in the notion that nobody’s perfect” (roberts, 2014). here, ancestry is selling the potential fun in uncovering an ancestor’s criminality, accurately represented in prison records found on their website. aside from the obvious reality that discovering a family history of incarceration can be saddening, if not traumatizing, there is a false assumption that the presence of an ancestor’s name in penal records indicates wrongdoing on their part. on the contrary, prisons and jails in the u.s. have always been used as a means of enforcing class hierarchy and white supremacy. in the words of geographer ruth wilson gilmore, prisons arose first to “discipline…people to the wage,” particularly immigrants and non-whites (intercepted, 2020). descriptions of prison record groups on ancestry provide none of this context, serving to carry the criminalization and dehumanization of marginalized communities into the present day. for example, in the eastern state penitentiary records on ancestry, 38% of prisoners who entered the philadelphia prison in 1920 were identified as black, despite constituting only 7% of philadelphia’s population at that time. for black genealogists, the presence of their ancestor in these records might be less a fun fact and more a painful signifier of racism. in 2019, ancestry announced in a much more somber tone the digitization of records from the arolsen archives in germany documenting nazi persecution (ancestry.com, 2019). ancestry received an outpouring of positive press for this effort, whereby ancestry made the records from arolsen available free of charge on their website. while this generosity is commendable, its motivations should be considered. as a new york times article on the announcement of the partnership with arolsen archives put it, it is questionable “whether enticing people to sign up for a for-profit database with such sensitive public records was appropriate” (murphy, 2019). ancestry’s slick advertisement promoting the “philanthropic” partnership with arolsen should leave no doubt that the company hopes this donation will result in more revenue for the company. while researchers may begin with a search of the free records, they will inevitably reach a point where their desire to learn more about their ancestors brings them to ancestry’s 83 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ancestry.com’s race stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 paywall. while ancestry puts out press releases for their publication of prison records and releases promotional videos for their digitization of holocaust documents, i could not find any similar marketing for ancestry’s records on american slavery. one ancestry advertisement that did focus on slavery backfired spectacularly, revealing the company’s strategy for targeting white consumers (mcclinton, 2019). the 2019 television advertisement depicted a white man proposing to an enslaved black woman in the antebellum south, urging her to escape with him to the north, where they could be together.4 the ad concludes by showing a marriage certificate for the supposed couple. this fairytale of white saviorism is likely what some genealogists are seeking, and what ancestry is profiting on. as ruth frankenberg (1997) points out, as discourses that critique whiteness and white privilege have gained traction, whites have been compelled to “embark urgently on the quest either to be proven innocent or find redemption” (p. 18). ancestry’s reimagining of interracial relations in the era of slavery is made all the more horrific by the historical truth that black women were often raped by their white owners, and that the very nature of enslavement precluded consent. the impossibility of the scenario in ancestry’s advertisement was proven when it was demonstrated that the marriage certificate shown at the end of the advertisement was fabricated (domby, 2019). enslavers in the family tree ancestry effectively erases the violence at the root of many family trees by failing to give users the ability to explain or acknowledge ancestors born of rape, particularly ancestors born to enslaved women and their enslavers. this brutality connects black families to white families, yet genealogy websites fail to provide functionality that would make these connections obvious. in june 2020, tarana burke, activist and founder of the #metoo movement, wrote a tweet condemning ancestry for linking enslavers as spouses to those they enslaved and fathered children with (burke, 2020). this tweet called out the hypocrisy of ancestry’s own message in support of the black lives matter (blm) movement, which had been issued days earlier and which stated that ancestry was “committed to enabling every story to be found and shared—including difficult ones” (ancestry, 2020). this commitment is not reflected on the website itself, where a search of family trees shows little overlap between trees of white and black descendants of enslavers. this is due in part to how ancestry guides the user to fill in their family tree, working from known parentage and grand-parentage upward, with suggestions from records and other users’ family trees filling in the prior generations. with ancestry’s current algorithm it seems unlikely that a white genealogist will be suggested a link with a black genealogist based on one common ancestor four or five generations removed. for black genealogists descended from enslaved people and their enslavers, this connection, if able to be made through genetics or research or oral history, is unavoidable. yet ancestry gives these users no way for easily indicating this difficult history, or for linking their trees to the white families with which they share a common ancestor. in lieu of such a capability, black users often add the word “enslaver” or “slaver” to the names of these ancestors. for many generations, white americans have denied the existence of their black cousins because the truth of these relationships would shatter their romanticized family histories. this is the same willful ignorance that has allowed many statues and monuments honoring enslavers to remain standing in cities and towns across the u.s. for decades. that sentiment is being forcefully challenged in all corners by the black lives matter movement (somvichian-clausen, 2020). as poet caroline randall williams (2020) writes in her response to defenders of confederate 84 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ancestry.com’s race stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 monuments: what is a monument but a standing memory? an artifact to make tangible the truth of the past. my body and blood are a tangible truth of the south and its past. the black people i come from were owned by the white people i come from. the white people i come from fought and died for their lost cause. and i ask you now, who dares to tell me to celebrate them? williams notes that while she has no white people in her family tree going back four generations, she is genetically more than half white. the substantiation of what williams calls her “rapecolored skin” was veiled in the historical record but exposed through the science of genetic genealogy (williams, 2020). more and more americans are learning about their heritage through dna testing, and ancestry’s version of this service has brought the company millions of new customers who have been sold on the company’s problematic conceptualization of race as genetically identifiable. ancestrydna’s essentialized whiteness the science of genetic ancestry testing black americans have hailed dna testing as a means of reclaiming ancestral ties severed or silenced by slavery. in the 2016 book, the social life of dna: race, reparations, and reconciliation after the genome, sociologist alondra nelson (2016) details how genetic genealogy allows black test-takers to uncover their african ancestry, enabling them to connect with a culture and history that was robbed of them by enslavement. as nelson (2016) explains, the popularity of genetic ancestry tests reflects a faith in dna as the ultimate truth-teller: the special status afforded to dna as the final arbiter of truth of identity is vividly apparent in the language we use to describe it…hyperbolic phrases such as ‘code of the codes,’ ‘the holy grail,’ ‘the blueprint,’ the human ‘instruction book’ and ‘the secret of life’ suggest a core assumption about the perceived omnipotence of genetics. (p. 4) belief in dna’s truth-telling capabilities is reinforced by the use of dna evidence in criminal trials or for determining paternity. when it comes to the science of genetic ancestry, however, it has been widely shown that these tests are based on methods that produce anything but certain results (roth & ivemark, 2018; bolnick et al., 2007). humans share 99.9% of the same genetic make-up, with a greater amount of genetic difference occurring intragroup than between people of different racial or ethnic groups. that .1% of genetic difference is parsed by different genetic testing companies in various ways, but the bottom line is, as stated in an article in science, “there is no clear-cut connection between an individual’s dna and his or her racial or ethnic affiliation” (bolnick et al., 2007, p. 400). the marketing for ancestry’s genetic testing services, ancestrydna included, belies the shaky science. results from ancestrydna are presented in pie charts with specific percentages and maps showing the region of origin, sometimes down to the level of county or city. this precision obfuscates the influence of selective practices on the results, much in the same way that records or lifehistories displayed on ancestry lack context for their existence on the site. according to the documentation on ancestrydna’s website, their test compares the customer’s dna to the dna of people in a reference panel—a proprietary database of dna samples representing 85 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ancestry.com’s race stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 different ethnicities and regions of the world. in order to be included in the reference panel, “people need two things: a paper trail that proves their family history, and dna confirmation of their ethnicity” (ancestry.com, “ancestrydna reference panel”). putting aside the circular logic of this explanation, the method still suggests the existence of a definitive genetic marker for ethnicity, which there is not (bolnick et al., 2007). additionally, inclusion in the reference panel is predicated on a “paper trail” documenting family origins in a given region, a requirement which would seemingly discount itinerant peoples, those without written traditions, and groups whose documents have been destroyed through war, poverty, and oppression. rather than repairing painful holes in the archival record, as it claims to do, ancestrydna risks reinforcing these absences through giving genetic value to only those who can prove, based on western documentary standards, their right to represent an ethnicity.5 selling essentialized identity the very notion of genetically defined ethnicities being promulgated through these testing services promotes an essentialist view of race in which there is something inherent and biological about being british, or senegalese, or jewish, or chinese. ancestrydna reinforces the primacy of biologically proven ethnicity through advertisements such as one in which a narrator speaking over video of a figure skater says that ancestrydna will help discover where “you get your precision,” alongside a pie chart showing 48% scandinavian ancestry, “your grace,” showing 12% central asian ancestry, and “your drive,” with 21% great britain ancestry (ancestry, 2018). these ethnic stereotypes help ancestry sell a product predicated on the importance of biological heritage to a person’s identity and authentic self. in another ancestrydna commercial, a middle-aged woman who had self-identified as hispanic her entire life learns from her genetic test that she has dna from all over the world, leading her to change how she identifies on the census from hispanic to “other” (ancestry, 2016). this advertisement unintentionally highlights one of the greatest perils of genetic ancestry testing: as both non-whites and whites change how they identify on the census and in applications for employment and school, government funding and social programs intended to support communities of color could be diluted. in a study of how genetic ancestry test-takers’ identities changed after receiving their results, wendy roth and biorn ivemark (2018) found that over half of participants who previously identified as only white changed their ethnic or racial identity in some way after doing a genetic ancestry test. of this group, most of them changed how they self-identified on the census. one white woman in the study who learned she had native american dna identified herself as native american on a job application, highlighting how genetic ancestry testing can undermine affirmative action.6 it has also been reported (harmon, 2006) that genetic ancestry test results have led to spurious claims to tribal membership, which kim tallbear (2008), a scholar of native american studies and a member of the sisseton wahpeton oyate tribe, identifies as a threat to tribal sovereignty. regardless of the potential material impact of claiming a newly “discovered” ethnic or racial identity, roth and ivemark (2018) point out that the ability of white participants in their study to adopt these new identities reflects a fundamental privilege: …the experience of being in the majority, and at the top of the racial hierarchy, allows them to see their race as normative and unexciting. the racial privilege that makes 86 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ancestry.com’s race stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 whiteness invisible pushes them to aspire to be something else, to foster a more distinctive identity and sense of belonging. yet in fostering even the option to adopt symbolic racial identities, the tests promote the idea that race can be costless and exist separately from the social and structural consequences with which society has imbued it. those who incorporate new geneticized racial options can benefit from symbolic racial identities without the negative consequences, which may support a view that race is inconsequential today. in this way, genetic ancestry testing can reinforce race privilege among those who already experience it. nonwhite respondents, even those who adopt new racial identities, rarely view race this way because their lived experience has taught them otherwise. (p. 178) in promoting the idea of race as a biological fact, rather than a social construct people come to identify with through lived experience, ancestry and its competitors are returning genealogy to its racist roots. interest in genealogy experienced an analogous boom in the post-civil war era, when eugenics emerged to provide a supposed scientific basis for white racial superiority. as francois weil (2013) explains in his history of american genealogy, “within a few years heredity became an obsession, as well as a new rationale for genealogy. its relation to biology and science now stood above its obvious connection to history” (p. 116). genetic surveillance in 2018, ancestry was awarded the tongue-in-cheek big brother award in the area of biotechnology for, “exploiting an interest in genealogy to entice people into submitting saliva samples” (weichert, 2018).7 the award citation noted that the terms of service for ancestrydna indicate that samples may be used by ancestry and third-party “collaborators” for unspecified research. the big brother award also notes the concerns raised by that year’s revelation that the notorious “golden state killer” was identified and arrested using genetic information uploaded to the open-source genealogy database, gedmatch. in the two years since, genetic genealogy databases have increasingly been used by law enforcement, leading to arrests in dozens of cold cases. as news about these techniques emerged, ethical questions about the use of genetic ancestry test results came to the fore (moran, 2018; kennett, 2019). access to genealogy databases puts the genetic information of millions of americans, most of whom have never committed a serious crime, into the hands of law enforcement. in her book on the drawbacks of genetic ancestry testing, libby copeland (2020) writes, “once a database contained about three million people of european descent, 99 percent of the greater population of these americans would be potentially identifiable, at which time the united states would essentially have…a defacto national dna database” (pp. 234-235). ancestrydna’s database contains, as of this writing, 18 million samples. unlike the online genealogical platforms gedmatch and familytreedna, ancestry does not allow users to upload genetic samples processed by other companies, which precludes police from using the technique they have most commonly employed to solve crimes: uploading a dna sample from a crime scene and matching that sample to relatives who have added their own samples to a genealogy database. however, as the industry leader in genetic ancestry testing, and one that aggressively markets the benefits of this service, ancestry tests likely make up thousands of the samples present on sites like gedmatch and familytreedna. and while ancestry currently only gives police access to its genetic database in cases where a subpoena or court order is issued, familytreedna is a chilling example of how terms of service can change unbeknownst to users. this company had marketed itself as a privacy-conscious option for genetic genealogists, but in 87 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ancestry.com’s race stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 2019 gave law enforcement access to their database without informing its customers (copeland, 2020). to quell the outcry that ensued when customers learned about this cooperation, familytreedna’s competitor gedmatch updated their privacy options so that all samples were hidden from law enforcement unless users specifically indicated they could be shared (copeland, 2020). the impact of this change was nullified shortly afterward when a florida judge granted a warrant to search the entire gedmatch database. erin murphy, a law professor at new york university, called this ruling, “a signal that no genetic information can be safe” (hill & murphy, 2019). according to hill and murphy (2019), the ruling set the course for all genetic databases, especially ancestry, to become law enforcement databases: “they will go to the mother lode: the 15-million-person ancestry database…why play in the peanuts when you can go to the big show?” even if ancestry is not compelled by a court order to turn over their database to police, market forces may make this an inevitability. in february 2020, ancestry laid off 6% of its workforce citing a decline in sales for ancestrydna—it appears that most people who were interested in purchasing genetic genealogy tests had already done so (lazarus, 2020). will this financial situation compel ancestry to turn to lucrative deals with law enforcement? a worrying sign of things to come is that familytreedna, in a complete about-face from their previous privacyconscious pitches, released an advertisement in 2019 featuring the father of kidnap victim elizabeth smart urging consumers to help solve crimes by uploading their genetic information to the service’s database (haplogroup, 2019). according to erin murphy, the eventual transformation of ancestry into a law enforcement database will only be stopped by public outcry (hill & murphy, 2019). hopefully the uprising against racism and police violence, which has seen a critical eye turned toward other surveillance partnerships between law enforcement and private companies, will produce this outcry. and while ancestry does not currently have such a partnership, we should be concerned about the scope of data we have already turned over to this corporation. these concerns became more urgent in august of 2020, when it was announced that the private equity fund blackstone had acquired ancestry for $4.7 billion usd. articles about the sale with headlines like “private equity wants to own your dna” (gandel, 2020) left little doubt as to what blackstone found so valuable about ancestry, a company that went private in 2012 for a mere $1.7 billion usd. the acquisition of ancestry came as blackstone, the world’s largest real estate owner, moved into the life sciences, spending more than $1 billion usd in 2020 to invest in drugs for high cholesterol, kidney disease, and devices for people with diabetes (perlberg, 2020). owning the largest genetic database in the country gave blackstone a backstage pass to health information for millions of ancestrydna users. the troubling implications of ancestry’s new ownership was not lost on consumers, many of whom expressed their apprehension on social media, leading ancestry and blackstone to offer reassurances that their privacy policies would not be affected by the sale (truong, 2020). blackstone’s track record on privacy raised particular concern how the company might respond to a request from law enforcement for access to their database. in 2019 another blackstone property, the hotel chain motel 6, settled multiple lawsuits accusing the company of turning over guest lists to immigration and customs enforcement (ice) without a warrant, a practice that resulted in the deportation of immigrants (hsu, 2019). some of the articles reporting on blackstone’s acquisition made mention of the fact that it was a strange time to be investing so much in ancestry, which, as noted, had seen a precipitous decline in sales for their genetic testing kits. blackstone’s (2020) press release on the purchase attempted to head off this skepticism, noting that ancestry’s “differentiated services” offer 88 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ancestry.com’s race stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 millions of paid subscribers “unique content.” the valuable content alluded to is the thousands of records in ancestry’s databases, records that originate in libraries and archives that partner with ancestry to digitize their holdings. for a profession that has put such primacy on neutrality, collaboration with a company whose ceo made headlines for his partisan political donations (oguh, 2020) should have provoked a real reckoning. archives-ancestry partnerships ancestry’s business plan is reliant on the supply of archival materials from public institutions at the local, state, and national level. the national archives and records administration (nara) first entered into a partnership with ancestry in 2008 and signed a new contract with the company in 2015. these agreements stipulate the terms for a partnership that is seen as beneficial to both parties: ancestry digitizes records held by nara in exchange for a five-year embargo period on providing access to these records; during that five-year period records digitized by ancestry are only available on their website and onsite at nara facilities (nara, 2015). while partnerships with ancestry have provided online access to millions of records at little or no cost to archival institutions, archives have also surrendered their ability to provide context for those records to the millions of users who access them through ancestry and other similar websites. as has been outlined, ancestry’s practices suggest, unsurprisingly, that they are driven first and foremost to give the researcher-as-customer what they want. rarely does that include a critical perspective on race and ethnicity. in a 2019 interview, david s. ferriero, 10th archivist of the u.s., discussed his desire to digitize everything in nara’s holdings in the same breath as he praised the archives’ partnership with ancestry. the highest-ranking public archivist in the u.s. views public access to records and private partnerships as two sides of the same coin (assimakopoulos, 2019). while other countries have similarly sought to increase public access to archives through digitization, they have done so through increased governmental funding and community empowerment. in the u.s., as noah lenstra (2010) puts it, the solution has been a commodification of our cultural heritage. in fact, by outsourcing the demand for online access to public records to companies such as ancestry, institutions like nara are sacrificing an opportunity to seek increased public funding (benson, 2008). as safiya umoja noble (2018) writes in her book on racial bias in google’s search algorithms: at a time when state funding for public goods such as universities, schools, libraries, archives, and other memory institutions is in decline in the u.s., private corporations are providing products, services, and financing on their behalf. with these trade-offs comes an exercising of greater control over the information, which is deeply consequential for those who are already systematically oppressed. (p. 123) noble explains that search algorithms are built on metadata, metadata that carries biases. an understanding of oppression in organizational systems is nothing new to the field of library science, where discussions about the racism of library of congress subject headings is decades old (knowlton, 2005), but, unfortunately, no less pressing today. the past decade has seen the archives field grappling with how to undo years of oppressive collecting, description, and access policies. in contrast, for-profit companies such as ancestry have little incentive to engage in a social justice analysis of their services. by outsourcing metadata creation to these companies, archival institutions risk turning back the clock on inclusive practices that have taken years to develop and implement. 89 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ancestry.com’s race stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 on june 23, 2020, as black lives matter protests ignited by the police murders of george floyd in minneapolis and breonna taylor in louisville swept the country, the alabama department of archives and history (adah) issued a “statement of recommitment.” this statement acknowledged the prevalence of systemic racism, the institution’s roots in a legacy of racism, and the work that remained to be done in order to address ongoing inequality. the archive was lauded for recognizing its original sin: “the state of alabama founded the department in 1901 to address a lack of proper management of government records, but also to serve a white southern concern for the preservation of confederate history and the promotion of lost cause ideals” (alabama department of archives & history, 2020)8. adah (2020) also pledged to: model and advocate for responsible stewardship of historical materials held by collecting institutions as well as in the public square. as communities struggle with decisions over confederate iconography, we assert that options are not limited to static persistence, on the one hand, or to destruction on the other. one way this sentiment could be put into action is through a careful review of the practices of one of adah’s private partners, ancestry. confederate iconography proliferates on the pages of findagrave.com, a subsidiary of ancestry. findagrave.com is a crowd-sourced genealogy website where users upload photographs of tombstones, add biographical information for grave occupants, and leave virtual flowers commemorating the dead. ancestry purchased findagrave.com in 2013 and information from the website is discoverable through the central ancestry search tool. it is not uncommon to come across virtual graves on findagrave.com decorated with confederate flags and mottos. in response to these displays of confederate pride, in the spring of 2020, i posted slave schedules and census forms to the gravesites of enslavers, documenting their participation in slavery. shortly after making these postings, my account was discontinued, and my posts were removed without explanation. messages to findagrave.com and ancestry seeking an explanation for the cancellation of my account went unanswered.9 their silence suggests that findagrave.com, and by extension, ancestry, censors biographical information, catering to the desires of those who use the site to promote the “lost cause” and deny the historical reality of slavery. some archive institutions may argue that the actions of findagrave.com are irrelevant to their relationship with the website’s parent company, but digitization contracts between archives and ancestry often turn the archive into an advertiser for the company’s services, including findagrave.com. in nara’s (2015) current contract with ancestry, the archive agrees to “provide a direct link from nac [national archives catalog] or its successor to an agreed upon page on the ancestry network which includes the digital materials” and, during the period of embargo, digitized documents are available onsite at nara facilities via computers that connect to ancestry (nara, 2015). similarly, ancestry provides links to nara from their website and includes their logo on databases. in this way, the line is blurred between the public good supplied by nara and the private interests served by ancestry. given the many problematic aspects of ancestry’s genealogical research services, ancestrydna, and findagrave.com, archives must consider whether their partnership serves as an endorsement of these practices. in adam kriesberg’s 2017 study of public-private archival partnerships, he found that most archivists who had worked with a private partner felt the relationship was beneficial to the archive. at the same time, many of the archivists kriesberg interviewed expressed concerns over the quality of metadata produced through outsourcing, the physical safety of materials 90 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ancestry.com’s race stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 transported offsite for digitization, and the way that online access to documents through private websites obfuscates the provenance of records. kriesberg (2017) notes these reservations have made archivists savvier in negotiating contracts with private partners. ancestry’s practices also compel archivists and other information professionals to exercise ethical scrutiny in their negotiations with the company. just as embargo periods, confidentiality, and preservation standards are now considered contractual sticking points, so too could archivists and librarians insist that digitized documents are indexed by ancestry’s central search engine, limit the use of public materials to promote genetic testing, and set guidelines for anti-oppressive descriptive metadata, to give just a few examples. conclusion archivists and genealogists are mutually dependent: archives rely on family history researchers, who make up the majority of archives users, and genealogists need access to archival material and the expertise of archivists (mills, 2003). in recent years, however, archives have ceded their identity to companies like ancestry, which now owns the url “archives.com” (archives.com, n.d.). as private websites like ancestry become synonymous with archives, we have a professional obligation to critically interrogate these companies and consider if partnering with them furthers our values and ethics. safiya noble (2018) writes: we need more intense attention on how these types of artificial intelligence, under the auspices of individual freedom to make choices, forestall the ability to see what kinds of choices we are making and the collective impact of these choices in reversing decades of struggle for social, political, and economic equality. (p. 167) while noble is speaking here about how the search functionalities of zillow, the online real estate database, reinforce neighborhood segregation, this example applies equally to ancestry. in contrast to archives, which seek to provide material that complicates or nuances historical narratives, ancestry markets in essentialized ethnic identities and presents information in a manner that glosses over racial conflict. the implications of these practices are particularly troubling when it comes to white users of the website. ancestry tells me little about the wealth my paternal ancestors built through enslavement, or how my great-grandfather’s white skin allowed him to drop his jewish last name and thereby gain access to home loans, educational opportunities, and jobs that were denied to his non-white countrymen. these genealogical facts and hard racial truths have done more to shape my present condition than the parades my ancestors might have witnessed, or even how they immigrated to this country. when millions of white americans construct family and ethnic identity through a website that permits them to selectively ignore racial oppression, there is a societal impact. by entering into eager partnerships with this company, information professionals suggest that criticality ends at their front door. implementing social justice policies in our repositories, while leaving the practices of our private partners unquestioned, amounts to an ethical concession we should not be willing to make. endnotes 1 from here on, ancestry is used to refer to the company ancestry.com llc. 91 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ancestry.com’s race stories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34644 2 see https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8055/. 3 see for example, ancestry’s african american family history research guide at https://www.ancestrycdn.com/mars/landing/africanamerican/africanamerican_guide_2015.pd f. 4 the commercial is available at https://youtu.be/mvg17tskteu. 5 see ram et al. (2018) for more information on how european regions are overrepresented in many genetic ancestry databases as compared to peoples in asia and africa. 6 see harmon (2006) for more examples of white genetic ancestry test-takers claiming benefits and rights reserved for non-whites. 7 the big brother awards are given annually to companies, organizations, and government agencies whose practices are seen as a threat to privacy. the awards are intended to raise awareness on issues of personal privacy rights. 8 the “lost cause” is a historical view espoused by sympathizers of the southern confederacy, who promote the idea that the civil war was a noble fight for state’s rights and had little to do with slavery. 9 see https://medium.com/@a.robinsonsweet/confederate-pride-and-censorship-of-slaverystories-on-family-history-website-findagrave-com-bd9ac972108d for more information on my effort to make histories of enslavement visible on findagrave.com. references alabama department of archives & history. 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(2008). native-american-dna.com: in search of native american race and tribe. in b.a. koenig, s.s. lee, & s.s. richardson, s.s. (eds.), revisiting race in a genomic age, (pp. 235-252). rutgers university press. truong, k. (2020, august 7). a private equity firm bought ancestry, and its trove of dna, for $4.7 billion. vice. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akzyq5/private-equity-firmblackstone-bought-ancestry-dna-company-for-billions weichert, t. (2018). the company ancestry.com and its subsidiary in munich. big brother awards. https://bigbrotherawards.de/en/2019/biotechnology-ancestry_com weil, f. (2013). family trees: a history of genealogy in america. harvard university press. williams, c.r. (2020, june 26). you want a confederate monument? my body is a confederate monument. the new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/opinion/confederate-monuments-racism.html anna robinson-sweet (a.robinsonsweet@gmail.com) is an archivist at the new school archives & special collections in new york city. her research focuses on how archives and records can be activated for racial justice. robinson-sweet is also an activist in the movement for the abolition of the prison-industrial complex. she holds an mlis from simmons university and a ba from yale. 96 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/502121-what-the-2020-black-lives-matter-protests-have-achieved-so https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/502121-what-the-2020-black-lives-matter-protests-have-achieved-so https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akzyq5/private-equity-firm-blackstone-bought-ancestry-dna-company-for-billions https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akzyq5/private-equity-firm-blackstone-bought-ancestry-dna-company-for-billions https://bigbrotherawards.de/en/2019/biotechnology-ancestry_com https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/opinion/confederate-monuments-racism.html introduction critical whiteness and genealogy ancestry’s ahistorical whiteness “lifestories” researching slavery marketing fairytales enslavers in the family tree ancestrydna’s essentialized whiteness the science of genetic ancestry testing selling essentialized identity genetic surveillance archives-ancestry partnerships conclusion endnotes references diversity, inclusion and social justice in the information context: global south perspectives the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34974 diversity, inclusion, and social justice in the information context: global south perspectives guest editor: jaya raju, university of cape town, south africa keywords: diversity; equity; global south; inclusion; information environment; social justice publication type: editorial editorial his special issue of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion is being released at a momentous time in the history of the world—2020 will go down in world history as the year that saw global epistemic calls to disrupt dominant cultures, knowledge systems, and epistemologies that perpetuate societal inequalities, following the brutal killing of george floyd at the hands of police in the u.s. on may 25, 2020. this incident coincided with the global challenge of containing the catastrophic spread of the covid-19 virus which impacted all levels of society, but once again, as a global phenomenon, exposed epistemic fault-lines and inequities in societies across the globe. in such a smouldering global social context that is grappling with issues such as black pain and dehumanization; institutional and systemic racism; structural inequality; unconscious bias; inhumane ‘othering’; and, determined calls for decolonization, indigenization, and a recognition of multiple ways of knowing in the face of dominant cultures and intellectual traditions, the need to centre social justice in informationrelated scholarly conversations is critical. hence the relevance of the collection of papers carried in this special issue which was a response to a call for ‘global south perspectives’ on ‘diversity, inclusion, and social justice in the information context’. in a world so dominated by voices from the hegemonic global north, resulting from historical societal evolution that reified western dominant culture and knowledge systems, it is important to create space (as this special issue does) for global south1 voices representing the less advantaged citizenry and doing so in a spirit of promoting decolonizing and transformative activism for the marginalized in a world dominated by western power and privilege. as guest editor for this special issue, in curating received submissions, the review process and eventual acceptance of papers for publication, i too, felt the impact of an ‘an inequitable world’ in my engagement with authors and reviewers from different parts of the world (global north and south), and it took a decolonialized humanizing positionality on my part as an editor to ensure that scholarly ‘stories’ from the global south, often constrained by global north scholarly communication norms and systems, eventually emerged as published content in this issue. as an editor from the global south, i am elated, in a spirit of ‘ubuntu’ (african philosophy of compassion and humanity), that 50% of the contributions to this issue emanate from the african continent, with case studies on diversity and inclusion from global south information environments. t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi diversity, inclusion and social justice in the information context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34974 having reflected in this editorial on the concepts of ‘social justice’ and ‘global south’, it remains to engage with the nomenclature of ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ in the information context, in order to complete clarification of the point of reference for this special issue. while ‘diversity’ refers to a range of potentially disadvantaging socio-economic and cultural differentials such as disability, age, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, language, literacy practices, educational background, geographic location, race, ethnicity, culture, and religion (jaeger et al., 2015; lee et al., 2015), ‘inclusion’ together with ‘equity’ are essential and integral to advancing diversity in information professional practice, research, and education (chu & raju, 2020). this special issue targeted global south perspectives engaging diversity and inclusion in information-related fields for the promotion of social justice relating to equitable access to information. information, which serves as a foundational core of cultural heritage institutions, such as libraries, museums, and archives, as well as a range of other information environments, “is not neutral” (garcia, 2015, n. p.) and is too often disengaged for the communities they serve. the curation of information by information professionals in diverse sites of practice, as reported herein, can play a critical role in promoting social justice practices where information professionals “add meaning and context” (garcia, 2015, n. p.) for users. such services encourage critical interrogation of socio-political and cultural forces that interact with local knowledge systems. it is in such an analytical context that the research articles, case studies, and reports from the field in this special issue offer primarily global south narratives on diversity, inclusion, and social justice in the information environment. the issue opens with rachel fischer and erin klazar’s research article addressing social justice in the information environment within the post-truth context. their paper on “facts, truth, and post-truth: access to cognitively and socially just information” focuses on the effect of disinformation on social justice challenges in global south countries such as south africa, iraq, and trinidad and tobago; and makes recommendations for locally contextualized and international initiatives ensuring access to cognitively and socially just information. mª-carmen agustín-lacruz and julia saurin-parra in their research article, “library services and minorities in europe: the roma case in spain”, use ‘observation and analysis’, and the ‘design of practical proposals’ to study the role of public library services as informal education and as a social work endeavour directed at ‘traditionally excluded’ minority groups in europe, with particular reference to the roma minority in spain. they focus on analysing existing library services in the european union directed to the roma people and on the need for revision of library regulations and their adaptation to this marginalized minority group. ayanda agnes lebele, in a case study report, examines “how the botswana international university of science and technology [biust] library engages its stakeholders in connecting information resources, services, and space”. this case study paper is premised on ‘key values of facilitating access to information and demand-driven inclusive library services’. it contextualizes the operations of the biust library and critically analyses how this academic library engages relevant stakeholders toward the development of ‘multiple and flexible opportunities to access and use information’. in another case study, matseliso ‘mamahlape moshoeshoe-chadzingwa presents a report from africa, entitled, “diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility aspects, and outcomes of a mobile digital library and information service model for a developing country: the case for lesotho”. she argues that the approach of separate academic, public, school, and special libraries does not work in a developing context that lacks strong socio-economic, cultural, educational, and 2 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusion and social justice in the information context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34974 political resources. moshoeshoe-chadzingwa proceeds to report on outcomes and impacts of the unesco-funded project, distance and rural learner-teacher support through a mobile digital library (druletsmodil) in lesotho. initiated by the national university of lesotho (nul), the druletsmodil project’s initial objective was to reach out to nul’s distant teachers and learners, but later expanded its scope to ‘include the disadvantaged, excluded, rural, poor, and marginalized communities’ of lesotho. as a special section publication in the form of a report from the field, laurie kutner in her paper, “bridging information worlds: talking to northern students and southern scholars about global inequities in scholarly communication”, addresses the complex topic of inherent inequalities of current scholarly communication from both global north and global south perspectives. she reflects on her experiences in facilitating discussions on this topic at the monteverde institute (mvi) in costa rica, which supports education abroad students undertaking community engaged scholarship as well as international and locally based researchers who focus their research enquiries in the developing region. this issue appropriately closes with yet another special section publication in the form of a conceptual analysis of the two coinciding major challenges confronting the global community in 2020, and which were made reference to at the beginning of this editorial in setting the social justice context for this special issue. madeleine schachter, in her paper on “black lives matter and covid: lessons in coincidence, confluence, and compassion” employs the coincidental convergence of these two major challenges to signal a social justice message: ‘the preservation of oneself depends upon the preservation of all people’, including the most vulnerable in society. it is my hope that the contributions in this issue stimulate further scholarly engagement on diversity, inclusion, and social justice in the information environment, particularly from global south perspectives. i wish to thank the authors for their valuable contributions to this special issue and for working with me to bring their papers to the stage of acceptance for publication in a high quality and internationally reputable journal. my deepest gratitude to the reviewers who made a major contribution to the development of the shape and relevance of the papers to align with the journal’s focus on information, diversity, and inclusion. last but not least, i wish to thank the ijidi editor-in-chief (vanessa irvin) and her editorial team (particularly leah brochu) for the support, expert guidance, and for the opportunity to work on a truly valued publication. endnote 1 an emerging term used to refer to lower-income and socio-politically and culturally isolated regions of the world; generally viewed to be a term that is a more open alternative to ‘third world’ or ‘developing’ regions of the world. references chu, c.m. & raju, j. (2020). prioritizing diversity in library and information science (lis) education. in dali, k. & caidi, n. (eds.), designing for diversity and inclusion in 3 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusion and social justice in the information context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34974 libraries and information organizations (pp. 77-91). routledge. garcia, k. (2015). keeping up with…critical librarianship. acrl. http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with/critlib jaeger, p.t., sarin, l.c., & peterson, k.j. (2015). diversity, inclusion, and library and information science: an ongoing imperative (or why we still desperately need to have discussions about diversity and inclusion). library quarterly: information, community, policy, 85(2), 127-132. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/680151 lee, s.a., chancellor, r., chu, c.m., rodriguez-mori, h., & roy, l. (2015). igniting diversity: actionable methods and ideas for advancing diversity in lis education in the us. journal of education for library and information science, 56(supplement 1), s47-s60. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/90015100 jaya raju (jaya.raju@uct.ac.za) is professor and head of the department of knowledge and information stewardship, humanities faculty, university of cape town. her area of research is library and/or information science (lis) education and its epistemological implications for the discipline as well as for professional practice, particularly in the african developing context. her current research focus is the development of research-based lis competency indexes which may be used i) to ascertain existing knowledge and skills in professional sites of practice and to identify areas for further knowledge and skills acquisition; and, ii) by lis educators and researchers for curriculum review and renewal—with both instances of research heuristically contributing to ongoing critical epistemology on the evolution of the lis discipline in a highly digitized and rapidly evolving global information environment. she was editor-in-chief of the south african journal of libraries and information science from 2012 to 2018; serves on the editorial advisory boards of the african journal of libraries, archives and information science; international journal of information, diversity & inclusion; open information science; libri: international journal of libraries and information studies; african journal of communication & information science; information research; is co-editor of the alise (association for library and information science education) book series on lis education and research; and, is co-editor of the international insights column of college & research libraries news. jaya raju is currently co-chair of ifla’s building strong lis education (bslise), an active global network of lis educators and researchers. she is an nrf (south african national research foundation) rated researcher. since 2018 she has been subject chair (lis and multi-disciplinary journals) on the scopus content selection & advisory board—an international group of scientists and researchers representing major scientific disciplines and tasked with evaluating journals applying for inclusion on the scopus indexing list. 4 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with/critlib https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/680151 https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/90015100 mailto:jaya.raju@uct.ac.za endnote references book review: using open educational resources to promote social justice in the service of equity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.40095 ijidi: book review ivory, c. j., & pashia, a., (eds.). (2022). using open educational resources to promote social justice. association of college and research libraries. isbn-13: 978-0838936788. 322 pp. $120.99 us 0nline: open textbook library reviewer: vivian f. chin, hawai‘i community college, usa book review editors: halie kerns, binghamton university, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: diversity, equity, online educational resources (oer), professional development, social justice publication type: book review ow open are open educational resources (oer)? how do oer texts address the needs and interests of diverse readers in and beyond the u.s.? do oer texts reiterate the perspectives of an elitist academic community, or can they promote the voices of historically marginalized groups? can oer shift pedagogy to promote social justice by providing easier access to texts? one may find such questions challenging to the process of oer adoption, using open educational resources to promote social justice, edited by ivory and pashia (2022), addresses these and other salient questions. the introduction to using open educational resources to promote social justice reveals some issues in producing oer. ivory and pashia explain that maintaining their agency as book editors vis-à-vis copyright and licensing required careful consideration, given their grounding in critical race theory, intersectionality, and systems of oppression. although the print version of this book is costly, this e-book version is readily available online, thus fulfilling the editors’ wish for open accessibility via pricing. it is unusual to encounter an anthology in which all the chapters are useful and address commonly held assumptions about the topic with thoughtfulness and care. the contributors’ work here is persuasive and clear. readers on both sides of the discourse about oer those who already have qualms about oer and those who are staunch supporters of oer will find this work engaging and thought-provoking. this collection clarifies the strengths of oer without ignoring its potential challenges. the editors’ and the contributors’ consistent use of subheadings within each chapter makes this volume inviting to readers and exemplifies how this book addresses issues of accessibility. throughout this book, abbreviations are kept to a minimum, and academic jargon is minimal. the authors write in clear prose. while the titles of the five sections, “theory and problematizing,” “open praxis,” h https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index file:///c:/users/vanes/downloads/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.40095 https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/1257 using open educational resources the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.40095 2 “decolonizing learning in the global south,” “scaling up with institutional policies (approaches),” and “building and decolonizing oer platforms,” would likely require translation for undergraduate students, a knowledge of this vocabulary can help nurture a deeper understanding of diversity and inclusion in education. for those already in the know, these titles promise a thorough examination of oer and its place in social justice work. many of the contributors are librarians and are thus knowledgeable about readers’ needs. multiple chapters discuss the challenges readers may face, from accessing online materials to reading digital texts easily. issues of ableism might benefit from further attention; for example, the nuts and bolts of converting a pdf to an audio text might be a helpful discussion for this text. unfortunately, this book does not include an index. an index would be helpful to locate such pedagogical concerns as universal design for learning. however, an adept reader of a pdf can use the search function, control-f, so perhaps an index is an anachronism, particularly in an ebook. of particular interest is the chapter “decolonizing wikipedia,” two terms that are not typically combined. one may be familiar with strict admonitions against using wikipedia, and rumors exist about teachers who purposefully post misinformation to entrap students . however, the goal of improving content through decolonizing practices may be less familiar. wikipedia is very much with us, so finding ways to improv e it and using a critical eye while reading it seems paramount. understanding that wikipedia has a role in defining information and knowledge is crucial. the ins and outs of academic publishing and knowledge production receive attention in the chapter “reflecting on the institutional organization of academic ‘knowledge’ as a barrier to oer construction and adoption in higher education curricula at a university.” as with the other chapters, this piece delivers and thoroughly considers its title. although peerreviewed, the quick dismissal of oer texts as unqualified scholarship demands inspection. the politics of academic publishing certainly demonstrate institutional power in action, and this chapter insightfully discusses the mechanics of this power. to return to any shortcomings that educators might worry about before using oer, the chapter “oer, social justice, and online professional development to enhance equity, diversity, and inclusion at a university” provides infographics and screenshots from the university of north carolina greensboro that illustrate how to assist in introducing and using oer. these materials can help introduce the use of oer and lessen possible embarrassment or misconception about their implementation. using open educational resources to promote social justice offers substantial discussions regarding using oer in the service of information equity. it is refreshing to note that contributors are international from countries in africa, the caribbean, and north america. this text is helpful for educators thinking about adopting oer for the first time and those who are seasoned in their use. ivory and pashia’s text encourages intellectual curiosity in readers to consider how open education resources can live up to its name. vivian f. chin (chinv@hawaii.edu) teaches at hawai‘i community college, hilo, hawaii, usa. she has taught ethnic studies, race & resistance studies, asian american studies, and english at uc berkeley, san francisco state university, and mills college, california, usa. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index file:///c:/users/hkerns/desktop/ijidi/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.40095 mailto:chinv@hawaii.edu silence may equal death, but so does uncompensated queer labor: how not to publish an lgbtq+ journal during a pandemic the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37865 silence may equal death, but so does uncompensated queer labor: how not to publish an lgbtq+ journal during a pandemic rachel wexelbaum, guest editor keywords: covid-19; emerging scholars; emotional labor; lgbt studies; uncompensated labor publication type: editorial editorial he title of the special issue of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion is “queering information: lgbtq+ memory, interpretation, dissemination”. i was invited to serve as a guest editor of this journal when i was an academic librarian and tenured university faculty, and i saw it as a great honor to do so. i reached out to all of the international lgbtq+ contacts i had made during my conference travels, committee engagement, wikipedia endeavors, and other publishing work to seek out as many diverse submissions as possible on this topic. over 100 people contacted me from around the world, expressing interest in submitting an article about their research, a project, their library, archive, or museum exhibit. then the covid-19 pandemic happened, i was laid off from my institution, and the world turned upside down for lgbtq+ researchers everywhere. academics and practitioners around the world began to publish studies on the impact of covid19 on our mental health. it comes as no surprise that people from underserved and marginalized communities have suffered more from discrimination, violence, pandemic related losses. and mental health crises than those from affluent majority groups (al-ali, 2020; beaman, 2020; ivers & walton, 2020; matache & bhabha, 2020). lgbtq+ people around the world have also suffered from violence, discrimination, job loss, depression, anxiety, and isolation due to the pandemic (gato et al., 2021; kamal et al., 2021; madrigal-borloz, 2020). pride festivals and parades were cancelled, favorite social spaces were shut down due to lockdowns, and we were even afraid to hug one another. people had to work from home, avoid public transportation, and reduce their time in potentially crowded spaces such as supermarkets, libraries, or museums. in some parts of the world, such as hungary, poland, england, and the u.s., lgbtq+ people experienced an increase in anti-lgbtq+ legislation and anti-lgbtq+ hate crimes. these global disruptions took a toll on lgbtq+ researchers’ abilities to complete their work during the pandemic (deryuginaet al., 2021; maas et al., 2020; sevelius et al., 2020). we needed to show compassion to our struggling community members and asked everyone to practice self-care during this trying time. many of the original people who requested to submit something for the special issue of this journal ended up dropping out of the project for reasons directly or indirectly related to the pandemic. disproportionately these were people from the middle east and north africa (mena), t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi silence may equal death, but so does uncompensated queer labor the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37865 sub-saharan africa, latin america, and francophone countries. some folx who worked in academia, libraries, archives, and museums experienced overwork and burnout during this time as they struggled to provide remote service and teaching or were forced to work on the front lines and interact with people who refused to comply with covid-19 protocols. some had the added burden of caregiving for children or relatives during this time. and those in countries where lgbtq+ existence became more tenuous had to focus their reserve energies on survival, activism, or both. i want to acknowledge two global lgbtq+ organizations who achieved some amazing things during this troubled time: wikimedia lgbt+, a global, multilingual thematic user group of lgbtq+ wikimedians who create and edit lgbtq+ wikimedia content, increased its number of active users by expanding its ict presence to include zoom gatherings and conferences, telegram groups, and online edit-a-thons. members from around the world also provided emotional support for one another as they experienced job loss, separation from partners or community, mental health issues, and discrimination within the global wikimedia community and their home countries. during this time, wikimedia lgbt+ was able to successfully advocate for grant funding to compensate volunteers with active leadership roles in the organization who may have lost their main source of income, and also in planning for online events still budgeted for childcare and internet expenses for those wikimedians who may have needed this assistance. this phenomenal show of online support has led to an increase in wikimedia lgbt+ membership, linguistic inclusivity and accessibility at events, and international collaborations among lgbtq+ and other marginalized wikimedia groups around the world. ifla lgbtq+ special interest group, an international, multilingual group of lgbtq+ librarians who create resources for international lgbtq+ librarianship, reached out to one another via zoom and social media to share good news about lgbtq+ publications in their countries, new lgbtq+ resource guides, and other positive works that had taken place in their libraries during the pandemic. for some librarians from countries hostile to lgbtq+ visibility, the group meetings were an opportunity to be in a supportive space among friends. i am introducing the special issue of this journal with this context, so that readers and critics know the challenges that our global community faced—that i faced—recruiting and retaining authors, getting articles ready for publication, and making this issue available. the authors and editors of these articles worked very hard during unprecedented times to meet our standards for publication, and they deserve compensation. academic journals depend on the labor of people who have research and publication included in their paid workload. with so many academic lives disrupted, our authors and editors demonstrated great heart, courage, and sacrifice in seeing this work through. the editor in chief of this journal herself contracted covid-19 and nearly died during this time as well. remember this when you read these articles—that when the global lgbtq+ community gives its time to these volunteer endeavors—particularly lgbtq+ people of color, forcibly displaced people, immigrants, economically disadvantaged, chronically ill or disabled, and those who must write these articles in a language which may be their second, third, fourth, or fifth—we literally are giving our blood, sweat, and tears to conduct, write up, and disseminate our research. “queering information: lgbtq+ memory, interpretation, dissemination” how do we identify, categorize, describe, and preserve lgbtq+ existence and experience? how do we make it known to the world? at the least, how do we inform fellow lgbtq+ folx of the 2 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silence may equal death, but so does uncompensated queer labor the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37865 existence of this information and history? the cover photo of this issue, a stained-glass mosaic of rainbow colors, symbolizes the diversity of such experiences, the complexity of making our existence known to researchers, and the wonder and joy that such work inspires, even if what we may present to the world triggers us or others. queering information begins with two articles that address age-old challenges in lgbtq+ studies. in “diversity monitoring in the library: categorisation practices and the exclusion of lgbtq library users”, kevin guyan demonstrates how lgbtq+ people are underrepresented and often rendered invisible in library user studies—a systemic problem in all disciplines—and he provides solutions to remedy this problem in quantitative and mixed method studies. meanwhile, in “‘she started wearing men’s clothing and acting more masculine’: queering historical knowledge, gendered identity making, and trans potentialities in visual information”, travis wagner presents the opposite problem—when archivists make assumptions about the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of people in photographs or video with insufficient historical or cultural context, which impacts the metadata used to describe subjects in those media and may overrepresent lgbtq+ subjects in archival materials, or render them invisible. wagner also provides solutions to these problems for archivists who want to categorize and describe ambiguous subjects as accurately as possible. projects that strive to capture the voices and experiences of invisible populations are the bright lights of lgbtq+ information studies. in “what about us? preserving lgbtiq+ stories of forced displacement”, renee dixson employs her experience and perspective as a forcibly displaced person, in addition to existing scholarship and professional best practice, to build the assembling queer displacements archive to collect, document, categorize, and make accessible to researchers the experiences of lgbtq+ forcibly displaced people from around the world. meanwhile, in “history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america: an analysis of the foundation, current activities, and projects of amai lgbtqia+”, benito bisso schmidt and rubens mascarenhas neto provide a crash history of lgbtq+ existence in latin america, how centuries of lgbtq+ oppression in those regions have impacted development of lgbtq+ special collections, archives, and museums in the region, and how lgbtq+ archivists and activists from different latin american countries came together to form a consortium to address these issues and provide support to each other in building up inclusive, intersectional collections and exhibits. just as massive gaps exist in the documentation and presentation of lgbtq+ historical artifacts in latin america and other non-english speaking regions of the world, so too do gaps in lgbtq+ content exist in multiple language editions of wikipedia as marc miquel ribé, andreas kaltenbrunner, and jeffrey keefer illustrate through a history of international lgbtq+ wikipedia content creation and computational analysis in their article “bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions”. the issue ends with a public health information project presented by curtis s. tenney, karl j. surkan, lynette gerido, and dawn betts-green: “a crisis of erasure: transgender and gender-nonconforming populations navigating breast cancer”, which recommends how libraries can change the gendered narrative of who experiences certain health issues through the resources, services, and community collaborations that they provide. the international authors of the articles for queering information have presented a wide range of challenges and solutions in the realm of identifying, categorizing, describing, and preserving lgbtq+ existence and experience. they come from around the world and address issues of global concern to lgbtq+ academics, librarians, archivists, museum professionals, data analysts, healthcare professionals, and information professionals everywhere. not only do i invite you to 3 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index silence may equal death, but so does uncompensated queer labor the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37865 read their work, but please feel free to reach out to them with support for their endeavors during this time. they may be the first people in the field to identify and address a particular problem in the interdisciplinary, intersectional realm of lgbtq+ information studies. they are my heroes, and i hope they become yours too. references al-ali, n. (2020). covid-19 and feminism in the global south: challenges, initiatives and dilemmas. european journal of women’s studies, 27(4), 333–347. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1350506820943617 beaman, j. (2020). underlying conditions: global anti-blackness amid covid-19. city & community, 19(3), 516–522. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1111/cico.12519 deryugina, t., shurchkov, o., & stearns, j. (2021). covid-19 disruptions disproportionately affect female academics. american economic association papers and proceedings, 111, 164-168. https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pandp.20211017 gato, j., barrientos, j., tasker, f., miscioscia, m., cerqueira-santos, e., malmquist, a., seabra, d., leal, d., houghton, m., poli, m., gubello, a., ramos, m. d. m., guzmán, m., urzúa, a., ulloa, f., & wurm, m. (2021). psychosocial effects of the covid-19 pandemic and mental health among lgbtq+ young adults: a cross comparison across six nations. journal of homosexuality, 68(4), 612-630. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00918369.2020.1868186 ivers, l.c. & walton, d.a. (2020). covid-19: global health equity in pandemic response. the american journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 102 (6), pp. 1149-1150. retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc7253101/ kamal, k., li, j.j., hahm, h.c., & liu, c.h. (2020). psychiatric impacts of the covid-19 global pandemic on us sexual and gender minority young adults. psychiatry research, 299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113855 maas, b., grogan, k.e., chirango, y., harris, n., liévano-latorre, l.f., mcguire, k.l., moore, a.c., ocampo-ariza, c., palta, m.m., perfecto, i., primack, r.b., rowell, k., sales, l., santos-silva, r., silva, r.a., sterling, e.j., vieria, r.r.s., wyborn, c., & toomey, a. (2020). academic leaders must support inclusive scientific communities during covid19. nature ecology & evolution, 4, 997-998. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-12333 madrigal-borloz, v. (2020, july 28). report of the independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity: violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity during the coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic. united nations general assembly seventy fifth session, item 72(b) of the provisional agenda, promotion and protection of human right: human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the 4 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index about:blank about:blank https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pandp.20211017 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00918369.2020.1868186 about:blank https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113855 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1233-3 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1233-3 silence may equal death, but so does uncompensated queer labor the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37865 effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. a/75/258. united nations. retrieved from https://undocs.org/a/75/258 matache, m., & bhabha, j. (2020). anti-roma racism is spiraling during covid-19 pandemic. health and human rights journal, 22 (1), pp. 379-382. retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc7348427/ sevelius, j.m., gutierrez-mock, l., zamudio-haas, s., mccree, b., ngo, a., jackson, a., clynes, c., venegas, l., salinas, a., herrera, c., stein, e., operario, d., & gamarel, k. (2020). research with marginalized communities: challenges to continuity during the covid-19 pandemic. aids and behavior, 24, 2009–2012. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-02002920-3 rachel wexelbaum (rswexelbaum@gmail.com) is the editor of queers online: lgbt digital practices in libraries, archives, and museums. she has earned international acclaim for global lgbtq+ wikipedian engagement, lgbtq+ librarianship, and the intersection of those two activities. rachel has over twenty years’ experience as a librarian and educator who has provided support and advocacy for marginalized communities. 5 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://undocs.org/a/75/258 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc7348427/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-020-02920-3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-020-02920-3 mailto:rswexelbaum@gmail.com “queering information: lgbtq+ memory, interpretation, dissemination” references an ethos of grace: towards an epistemic growth in lis as a global discourse the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.39731 t an ethos of grace: towards an epistemic growth in lis as a global discourse vanessa irvin, east carolina university, usa abstract this paper is an introductory article for volume 6, issue 3 of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi). in this article, ijidi editor-in-chief vanessa irvin discusses ways in which within a post-covid context, the idea of “work” has evolved for lis scholarship. keywords: epistemic growth; reflectivity; scholarly publishing publication type: introductory article introduction he international journal of information, diversity, and inclusion (ijidi) has experienced positive movement within its own confines this year. the ijidi is now being published by east carolina university’s (ecu) master of library science program, which is a unit of the ecu’s college of education’s department of interdisciplinary professions, in greenville, north carolina, united states. barring any mitigating circumstances, this arrangement will be in effect for the next two volumes of the journal. the ecu master of library science program is excited to be in collaboration with the ischool at toronto (canada) to sponsor and publish the ijidi. this issue boasts a growing, active editorial team of 12 managing editors from canada, the us, and nigeria, led by two incredible senior managing editors from canada and two amazing book review editors from the states of ohio and hawaii in the us. the ijidi editorial team has been working earnestly to establish a workflow towards a mindful focus of what it means to conduct research, publish scholarly communications, and build relationships in our corner of the world of library and information science (lis). lis scholarly communications involve patiently building relationships across multiple platforms in-person and virtually, as well as across the intricate miles of a global lis discourse. post-covid, aspects of collaboration within lis scholarly communications have shifted in ways that challenge embedded notions of who, how, and when a journal issue is published. the early access feed on the ijidi has been a timely feature of our publication process that allows for important work to be published more quickly such that readers and authors can readily engage with papers via social media and professional networks. i believe that covid has created an ethos of grace for research, service, commitment, and time, and the interwoven synthesis between all these ideals. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi 2 an ethos of grace: towards an epistemic growth in lis as a global discourse the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.39731 during this post-covid-19 adjustment phase, we are continuing to learn what “work,” “teamwork,” and “production” look like when collaboratively producing a peer-reviewed, open access, online scholarly journal. there are many outcomes to the pandemic that have yet to be realized. however, one clear outcome is what a new “busy” looks like, particularly in an online context. for the ijidi this year, “busy” inconstantly hopscotched from one end of the production queue to another (e.g., from a feast of quality papers received, to a famine of reviewers to review them, to many papers ready for galleys and final review). i believe that it is when we gracefully move one step at a time along the production continuum that we are able and ready to hit “publish” and broadcast peer-reviewed manuscript to the lis world, at the right time — and not before or after. there is an anxiety that walks with our new ethos, post-covid. yet that anxiety reflectively fuels our productivity in terms of our mindful concerns of: “are we working together effectively?” “are we getting things done well in good time?” thus, our journey towards “publish” involves a graceful workflow that moves steadily like riverine ebbs and flows rather than like variable oceanic riptides and sudden breaker waves. within our ongoing negotiations between publish fast and publish-well, we work collaboratively with a peaceful and graceful approach to honor the trust that authors place in our care to escort their research, reports from the field, and book reviews through an ethical peer review and production process that gives the best presentation of their work to a global lis audience. as a team, we take our time to care for ijidi authors, reviewers, guest editors, one another, and ourselves, all the time, in time. towards an ethos of grace in that vein, the papers in this compilation regular issue all share a common thread of lis discourse flowing towards a central value of presence, agency, and reflectivity. this connection infers a peaceful stance that is needed in our field because moments of contemplative realization often lead to heightened ideas about ways in which we synthesize information, practice, knowledge, and identity. for example, igboanugo, yang, and bigelow’s study of workplace diversity and inclusion practices reveals the power in practitioners devising their own assessment measures to look at the culture and actions of where they work. monica colon-aguirre, nicole cooke, and lisa hussey further this notion with their paper, “the civilized war within american librarianship,” where they explore their own pedagogical approaches to lis education to identify a tension between actualizing an equity-diversity inclusion (edi) pedagogy and falling into a colorblinded lens in the lis classroom. colon-aguirre et al. prompt lis educators, everywhere, to take the time to collaboratively and collectively reflect on the ways in which they teach. they emphasize that we cannot teach or practice in a vacuum or in silos, and that truly meaningful lis pedagogy evolves to identify subtle tendencies of bias as a means of battling colorblindness or “the belief that the u.s. has moved into a post racial world.” natasha e. johnson and william ledbetter’s intercultural competence piece is a bridge between igboanugo et al.’s research that introduces a practice assessment tool and colon-aguirre et al.’s study of reflective pedagogy. johnson and ledbetter’s research employed two assessment tools with a group of academic librarians across three phases of intercultural developmental activities. outcomes revealed that cultural competence in librarianship is an ongoing, iterative process that is simultaneously intellectually and emotionally reflective. johnson and ledbetter reveal that a holistic reflective stance in lis praxis is effective and necessary so that lis practitioners, faculty https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 3 an ethos of grace: towards an epistemic growth in lis as a global discourse the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.39731 and staff, “will create a culture within libraries that are interculturally responsive to the needs of the clientele.” colon-aguirre also contributes a literature review study that explores the question, “how does personal social network gatekeeping influence the information behaviors of spanish speakers in the united states?” this literature review conceptualizes a valuable lens for lis that contributes to the lis knowledge base within the tenet of cultural competency. crosh, hutton, szumlas, xu, beck, and riley’s field report on children’s book circulation in a public library branch in a midwestern american city illustrates how equitable access to libraries and the materials within them, when consistently applied across a geography, directly influences and impacts intersectionalities within communities. lastly, we are featuring five stellar book reviews that provide insight into important publications for public libraries, activism, social justice, and archives as liberatory memory work in lis. with this issue, we are introducing a new look for our book reviews: we are now providing book cover images with the reviews as a means of reader engagement. this issue’s vibe reminds me of a softly spinning garden of whirligigs where all can spin at the same time or variedly, based on the natural response of the interactive element — in this case, not wind, but — you, the reader. conclusion this issue is a good example of how our work towards epistemic growth in lis as a global discourse involves a graceful locomotion that is in constant movement towards being better, doing better, and presenting our best – all in good time. as we, the ijidi editorial team, continue to reflect on our work processes in order to further solidify the presence of the journal in lis and the social sciences worldwide, we learn more about ourselves as a collective unit (the ijidi) contributing to a global conversation with colleagues of diverse interests and understandings about what it means to be a lis scholar, practitioner, staff, and student. we are here for it all and look forward to continuing to publish quality, substantive work that enhances the ijidi as an indisputably esteemed scholarly journal built upon a secure, solid foundation that reflects a collective spirit of mindful collaboration and respect in lis scholarly communication and publication. vanessa irvin (irvinv22@ecu.edu) is the current editor-in-chief of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi). dr. irvin is an associate professor with the master of library science program at east carolina university, greenville, north carolina, united states. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:irvinv22@ecu.edu diversity monitoring in the library: categorisation practices and the exclusion of lgbtq library users the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36022 diversity monitoring in the library: categorisation practices and the exclusion of lgbtq library users kevin guyan, university of glasgow, scotland abstract the collection of data about the identity characteristics of library users is the latest development in a long history of contested categorisation practices. in this article, i highlight how the collection of data about lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (lgbtq) people has implications for the undertaking of diversity monitoring exercises in academic and public libraries. based on experiences in the united kingdom, i argue that recuperative efforts to ‘fix’ categorisation practices are not enough and overlook how categories of gender, sex and sexuality are constructed through the practice of diversity monitoring, how categories are positioned in time and space, and who is involved in decision-making about who to include and exclude from the category of ‘lgbtq’. to encourage those working in the field to uncover and challenge the shortcomings of traditional approaches to categorisation, i conclude with six practical considerations for information professionals engaged in the collection of gender, sex and sexuality data. my critical account of diversity monitoring practices is not a question of (further) politicising the library nor simply a question of doing the right thing; an overhaul of categorisation practices, so that they meaningfully recognise the lives and experiences of people from minoritised groups, is central to the survival of libraries. keywords: categorisation practices; data; lgbtq; libraries; queer publication type: conceptual article introduction ategorisation practices divide the world into groups that are exclusive, discrete and immutable, with each group containing items that are similar in some way (jacob, 2004). to establish the group where an item belongs, categorisation practices identify and mark commonalities and differences among whatever is under review and present an account of the social world where ideas are frozen in time and space. within the context of the library, categorisation practices (and the associated field of classification practices) help establish order and enable users to find materials within collections. in this article, i examine how approaches to the categorisation of items in a library collection provide insights into the use of diversity monitoring exercises to make sense of the identities of individuals who use (and do not use) library services. my particular focus is the collection of data about gender, sex, and sexuality as it relates to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (lgbtq) people and the use of academic and public libraries in the u.k.1 data collection activities might include the use of diversity monitoring forms to capture information about individuals’ sexual orientation and/or c https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi diversity monitoring in the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36022 trans/gender identity, for example as part of the library registration process or during the evaluation of library services. through an examination of the context and background of categorisation practices in the library, i problematise the view that ‘more data’ or ‘more detailed data’ about lgbtq people will improve the provision of library services. in place of a congratulatory account of data’s role in advancing equality and inclusion, i describe how data practices can also entrench ideas about identity categories that are harmful, particularly among lgbtq people. to improve approaches to diversity monitoring, i conclude with a survey of good practice for information professionals engaged in the collection of gender, sex and sexuality data. although the power of information professionals to overhaul existing ways of working are often limited, my account challenges the assumed benefits of ‘being counted’ and instead positions the expanded roll-out of diversity monitoring exercises in a broader landscape that interrogates the outcomes they aim to achieve, who stands to benefit the most and ultimately asks the question ‘who counts?’ what is known about lgbtq library users in the u.k.? the term lgbtq is historically and contextually specific. a diversity of actions, desires, and identities sit under this umbrella term with links to colonial legacies of legal, medical, and scientific practices (for example, it is possible to trace contemporary attitudes towards homosexuality in some caribbean countries to the influence of british colonial rule). my account of data about lgbtq people is therefore explicitly narrow and focused on a particular manifestation of ideas about gender, sex and sexuality in the u.k. since the introduction of the equality act in 2010.2 the collection of data about lgbtq people in the u.k. is among the most comprehensive in the world. for example, national censuses in 2021 and 2022 collect data about the sexual orientation and trans/gender identity of respondents aged 16 and over for the first time (guyan, 2021).3 national censuses follow research conducted by the office for national statistics in 2016, which estimated that 2.5% of the u.k. population aged 16 or above identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or a sexual orientation ‘other’ than heterosexual (lgbo) (geo, 2018). the u.k. government equalities office has also estimated that between 200,000 and 500,000 trans people live in the u.k.4 although an increasing amount of data is collected on the lives and experiences of lgbtq people, much remains unknown about specific topics such as the use and experience of libraries. when we consider academic libraries, higher education institutions collect and return data on the sexual orientation and gender identity of students to the higher education statistics agency on an annual basis. in the 2018-19 academic year, among institutions that returned data, 6.3% of students described their sexual orientation as ‘gay man’, ‘gay woman/lesbian’, ‘bisexual’ or ‘other’ (23.3% of respondents refused to provide this information or left the question blank) (advance he, 2020). in terms of trans and gender diverse students, 0.8% of students described their gender identity as ‘different from that assigned at birth’ (19% of respondents refused to provide this information or left the question blank) (advance he, 2020). although we cannot say to what extent this data provides a demographic picture of library usage among lgbtq students, it seems likely that lgbtq students constitute a sizeable minority of academic library users and are proportionally greater than the profile of lgbtq people in national-level data. outside of higher education, data on the use of libraries among lgbtq people is patchier. in scotland, the annual social attitudes survey disaggregated responses by sexual orientation in 2018 and reported that 72.2% of heterosexual respondents were ‘very or fairly satisfied’ with 7 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity monitoring in the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36022 the provision of council library services, compared to 67.8% of lgbo respondents (scottish government, 2018). however, due to the relatively small number of lgbo respondents in the sample (300) and the high degree of error (8.8 +/for lgbo respondents) we cannot say much from these findings. even without comprehensive data on the scale or experiences of lgbtq library users, scholars have explored the importance of libraries in the lives of lgbtq people. for example, oltmann (2016) has investigated the library as a site to advance the safety and acceptance of lgbtq young people, while vincent (2015) has documented initiatives in public libraries such as lgbt history month and the weaving of lgbtq content into mainstream library provision. this article goes deeper and interrogates who is the intended beneficiary of these initiatives and to what extent they presuppose an lgbtq subject. improvements to the collection of diversity monitoring data will enable libraries to better assess who they currently reach, the effectiveness of ongoing initiatives and provide an evidence base to expand, make changes or stop practices that are not working. however, as this article explores, the capture of data on lgbtq library users is contested and any expansion of categorisation practices brings the risk of further excluding individuals who already find themselves on the margins of library provision. queering categorisation practices in the library bowker & star’s (1999) influential work sorting things out: classification and its consequences described how ‘classification systems are often sites of political and social struggles’ that are hidden from view as ‘politically and socially charged agendas are often first presented as purely technical’ (p. 196). in the latter half of the twentieth century, scholars in the field of information studies began to challenge assumptions of neutrality associated with categorisation practices and the catalogue’s function as more than simply a representation of what is contained within a collection. olson (2001) observed, ‘naming information is the special business of librarians and information professionals’ and that ‘in our role as “neutral” intermediaries between users and information, our theories, models, and descriptions are as presumptuous and controlling as scientists’ construction and containment of nature’ (p. 639). commenting on the work of olson, nowak & mitchell (2016) describe a growing acknowledgement that categorisation systems ‘incorporate their originating society’s assumptions and norms into the very structure’ and ‘tend to assume that there is one uniform way of viewing the world, which excludes anyone who does not agree with or fit within that viewpoint’ (p. 1). efforts to respond to these criticisms tended to focus on the design of library categorisation systems, such as dewey decimal and library of congress. for example, the dewey decimal system has historically categorised materials related to lgbtq people under subject headings including ‘mental derangements (132)’, ‘sexual inversion (159)’, neurological disorders (616)’ and ‘social problems (363)’ (robinson, 2020). actions have included the addition or relocation of subject headings to better represent lgbtq topics, although the ongoing use of subject headings such as ‘sexual relations (306)’ is not without problems as it continues to foreground the sexual dimension of lgbtq lives. attempts to revise categorisation systems have undoubtedly helped address some of the moralistic assumptions about lgbtq lives and experiences, yet the recuperation of existing systems has ultimately failed to solve the problem of meaningful lgbtq inclusion in the catalogue. although topics related to lgbtq people are now better represented, these efforts did not challenge or unsettle underlying structures that held in place particular ideas about gender, sex and sexuality. drabinski (2013) has noted that recuperative actions do not queer the catalogue but further entrench the validity of categorisation practices that are 8 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity monitoring in the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36022 incompatible with the fluidity and diversity of queer lives. mirroring the views of critical race theorists on structural change and racial justice, efforts to fix the catalogue tend to explain problems as the fault of individuals who make bad decisions rather than something built-into the system they are attempting to fix.5 as drabinski (2013) observes, ‘while this work has been productive, its emphasis on correctness locates the problem of knowledge organization systems too narrowly as the domain of catalogers themselves’ (p. 95). drabinski traces this oversight to a broader and longer-term tension in lgbtq scholarship between those who look to uncover identities in existing structures, described by some as ‘lesbian and gay studies’, and those who seek to examine how structures affect the construction of identities. in the discipline of history, for example, rather than searching to locate identities excluded from traditional retellings of the past, queer theorists such as david halperin and eve kosofsky sedgwick sought to investigate how gay and lesbian identities were constituted in different temporal and spatial contexts. in the discipline of history and beyond, a queer approach questions the presumptions, values, and viewpoints that position some topics in the centre and some on the margins (dilley, 1999), the presentation of topics related to lgbtq lives and experiences as ‘abnormal’ (zosky & alberts, 2016), and embraces an ambivalent attitude toward categories (pascoe, 2018). when applied to the work of information professionals, a queer approach introduces a tension between dividing the world into categories, which serve as a basis for action, and resistance to classificatory efforts. in addition, recuperative (or non-queer) efforts to ‘fix’ categorisation systems—through the addition or relocation of subject headings— represent a hidden danger: the appearance that something is being done to repair a broken system can revitalise practices that continue to preclude a huge amount from view. by suggesting that categorisation systems are capable of change, this potentially silences critics and provides a second life to practices that are inherently antithetical to queer lives and experiences. the categorisation of lgbtq library users building on drabinski’s critique of recuperative efforts, i turn attention to consider the impacts— both positive and negative—of expanding categorisation practices to include lgbtq library users. knowing your audience is fundamental to the effective operation of libraries, museums, galleries and other cultural organisations (vincent, 2017). an evidence base that provides information on the demographic characteristics of current users, as well as those who are missing, can ensure that the allocation of resources and the design of services best meet people’s needs. to populate this evidence base, libraries collect diversity monitoring data to confirm or deny whether their users mirror the profile of the wider population. as a fairly common form of data collection, diversity monitoring forms are short surveys that ask individuals to disclose information about their identity characteristics. in the u.k., the categories presented often align with the nine characteristics included in the 2010 equality act. browne (2010) notes, ‘in britain the impulse to count can be seen as part of the “inclusion” of marginalised identities that seek to render “other” lives knowable in terms of the equalities legislation’ (p. 244). libraries might invite individuals to disclose information about their sexual orientation and trans/gender identity in engagement surveys (where a sample of library users are asked to share their views and information about themselves), in evaluation forms distributed to attendees after public events, or as part of the registration process for new members. in addition, and as is the case with all organisations that collect and manage large amounts of data, digital library environments present opportunities to extract data about individuals’ online browsing activities, search terms used to locate items in a catalogue, and types of books borrowed. although this form of data capture does not explicitly invite individuals to disclose information about how they identify, the volume of data collected 9 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity monitoring in the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36022 makes it possible for analysts to draw conclusions about the characteristics of library users. in other words, without asking users if they identify as lgbtq, the extraction of data about an individual’s actions in digital environments could enable a library to reasonably discern someone’s sexual orientation and trans/gender identity. the topic of data extraction extends beyond the scope of this article and is most commonly associated with the activities of facebook, google, and other corporations that use data to target advertising and bespoke content (couldry & mejias, 2019). however, as libraries expand the volume and granularity of data collected about their users, information professionals should remain mindful of commercial pressures to use data in ways that do not improve the quality of services provided for those about whom the data relates. opportunities exist for information professionals to collect more data about the identity characteristics of library users and the subsequent tailoring of services to ensure they meet people’s needs. yet, any drive for more detailed data about library users needs to critically assess the methods used to collect this information. my caution here is rooted in the belief that categorisation practices, whether applied to objects or individuals, do not simply represent the social world but also partly construct the world they claim to describe. scholars from a range of disciplines have described how phenomena are brought into being through the practices used to describe them. for example, discussing research methods commonly found in the sciences and social sciences, law (2009) notes, ‘it is possible to say that they are practices that do not simply describe realities but also tend to enact these into being’ (p. 239). spade (2015), describing the productive effects of administrative practices such as birth certificates on individuals, argues that ‘administrative systems that classify people actually invent and produce meaning for the categories they administer, and that those categories manage both the population and the distribution of security and vulnerability’ (p. 11). keilty (2009), detailing the practices of information professionals, explains how ‘classification has both coercive and productive effects for queer’ (p. 248). and, most famously, butler (1990) described how gender is constructed through the repeated performance of speech acts and gestures that, over time, congeal to ‘produce the appearance of substance, or a natural sort of being’ (p. 33). as described in the works of law, spade, keilty, and butler, identity characteristics are not transcendent concepts that sit outside of our social world but are instead enmeshed in and constructed through the tools we use to explain them. when the collection of data about lgbtq library users is reframed as a means to bring a category of people into being, this poses new questions as to how knowledge is constructed, its intended uses and who really stands to gain from the expansion of categorisation practices. although my account of these practices might seem abstract or overly philosophical, the design of diversity monitoring forms affects information professionals and lgbtq library users in at least three ways, which will now be described. design, norms, and exclusionary practices the design of a diversity monitoring form involves decisions about what identity characteristics to include and exclude from the exercise, as well as more detailed deliberations as to the design of question stems, response options and supplementary guidance. if time and resources permit, the design process might involve stakeholder engagement and user testing. the design process culminates in an output (a diversity monitoring form) that collects data in line with the designer’s intentions and can influence the undertaking of data collection activities in other contexts. for example, if the british library conducted a major diversity monitoring exercise of its users and 10 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity monitoring in the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36022 made its diversity monitoring form public, it seems likely that other u.k. libraries engaged in diversity monitoring activities would adopt the british library’s approach. each element of the design process invites input from specific individuals, who bring with them particular biases, while leaving others excluded. any biases introduced during the design of the original diversity monitoring form are therefore repeated and normalised (nowakowski et al., 2016). over time, in place of being understood as a project with a particular history and purpose, a diversity monitoring form is transformed into a natural and apolitical addition to a library’s administrative toolkit. decisions made during the design process bring some identity characteristics into focus while casting other identity characteristics further into the shadows. for example, a diversity monitoring question on sexual orientation that presents only three options— ‘heterosexual/straight’, ‘gay or lesbian’ and ‘bisexual’—might seem preferable to having no question on sexual orientation. however, this development risks exacerbating the exclusion of those who identify in other ways such as ‘queer’, ‘asexual’ or ‘polysexual’.6 similarly, efforts to make data collection activities more inclusive can face difficulties when they encounter technological systems that are incapable of change—for example, online registration portals that only allow users to enter the binary options of ‘male’ or ‘female’ for their sex or gender (though the limitations of the system used to collect data should never determine what type of data is collected). to address past omissions, through the addition of new questions and/or response options, the designers of diversity monitoring forms can default to exclusionary assumptions about who is imagined as an ‘lgbtq library user’. for example, in place of an intersectional approach, the capture of data about sexual orientation can presuppose a subject who is gay, cis, white, non-disabled, affluent and already fully welcome in library spaces (albeit for their status as a sexual minority). swept-up in the congratulatory excitement of ‘making things better’, the design process can distil identity characteristics in a way that brings to the fore the least marginalised among minority groups. as fisher et al. (2019) observe, ‘a cisgender gay white man moves through the world with different options and experiences different injustices than a transgender man of color, and a genderfluid person living on disability income has different experiences than someone who is able to work full-time’ (p. 76). fisher et al. underscore how the intersection of privilege and marginalisation are complex and that lives and experiences that fall under the lgbtq umbrella are neither uniform nor universal. even among the most forward-looking approaches to the collection of diversity monitoring data, which capture data on library users who identify as trans and/or non-binary, there is a risk of entrenching particular ideas about gender, sex and sexuality that ultimately cause harm. for example, asking a diversity monitoring question about whether a library user identifies as ‘trans’ or ‘cis’ forwards a particular understanding of these concepts. glick et al. (2018) note that ‘for some people, the term transgender relates more to an experience or process, rather than a label that would apply to their gender identity’ (p. 1370). similarly, darwin (2020) argues that binary gender schemas, including cis/trans frameworks, ‘obscure the gender diversity that actually exists’ (p. 21). although seemingly an improvement on past data collection practices, which failed to even recognise the existence of trans people, you can see how this development might instil a new binary between cis and trans people that perpetuates the exclusion of individuals who fail to adhere to evolving requirements of legibility. 11 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity monitoring in the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36022 shaping how lgbtq people make sense of themselves the trickle-down impacts of collecting more data about the identity characteristics of library users go beyond the introduction of new diversity monitoring norms or expansion of exclusionary practices that further hide individuals who identify in ways that sit beyond the view of designers. spade (2015) has described how administrative practices, such as data collection exercises, shape how individuals come to know themselves, including ‘the ways we understand our own bodies, the things we believe about ourselves and our relationships with other people and with institutions, and the ways we imagine change and transformation’ (p. 6). describing this encounter as a ‘subjection’, spade’s observation highlights how a decision that might appear inconsequential (such as the response options offered in a diversity monitoring exercise) can impact how people think about themselves. in a blog for the u.k. lgbt organisation stonewall, robinson (2020) argued that ‘without having books and research papers on lgbt history and identities publicly available, we and future generations risk remaining uninspired, unempowered, and uneducated on lgbt topics’. robinson (2020) identifies how this education shapes the lives of both lgbt and cis/straight library users. however, while the availability and accessibility of materials in u.k. libraries related to cis gay men and lesbians has improved, other identities that fall under the lgbtq umbrella often remain overlooked. feeling seen, whether in a library collection or as a response option on a diversity monitoring form, can positively shape how people understand themselves and their relations to others. the addition of more response options to a diversity monitoring form and expansion of the lgbtq umbrella might help further this ambition. yet, is there an end-point to this approach or is it feasible to collect data about the gender, sex and sexuality characteristics of library users that brings everyone into view? and to what extent does this proposed solution (the provision of more options or more detailed options) disable us from interrogating the potential for categorisation practices to cause harm? taking this observation one step further, spade (2015) argues that administrative practices, even when presented as means to recognise minoritised groups, constructs ‘deserving and undeserving populations’ that ‘makes certain populations inconceivable or impossible, and establish modes of distribution that make some people more secure at the expense of others’ (p. 113). the collection of detailed information about the identity characteristics of library users also expands the reach of classificatory systems, naturalising practices that can function as a means to include and exclude people. when a queer line of enquiry is followed to its logical conclusion and the construction of knowledge about lgbtq library users is contested, do we lose sight of the subject (in other words, the lgbtq library user) and weaken calls for lgbtq-specific provisions in the library? for example, how can information professionals argue for the provision of more services for lgbtq library users without a clear idea of what is meant by an ‘lgbtq library user’? also, failure to introduce new categorisation practices which better serve lgbtq library users might mean that collections default to historical biases and remain inaccessible to those who wish to investigate topics positioned outside the norm. the freezing of identity categories in time and space for a data collection exercise provides both the basis for oppression and the potential for political gains (gamson, 1995). drawing an analogy between the categorisation of individuals and items in a library catalogue, keilty (2007) has explained that ‘without the catalog, history is silenced, literature muted, science crippled, thoughts and ideas arrested’ (p. 3). yet, these critiques do not mean that categorisation practices are incapable of change. for information professionals engaged in the collection of gender, sex and sexuality data, a responsibility exists to consider how data practices might strategically navigate these dangers to ensure data about library users 12 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity monitoring in the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36022 serves to improve people’s experiences of libraries rather than perpetuates exclusionary practices. small numbers, anonymity and the potential for harm finally, the scope and granularity of data collection exercises have implications for both information professionals and lgbtq library users. when data is analysed, the research questions that information professionals wish to answer should guide the approach adopted. however, cutting data by individual lgbtq identities and other intersectional analysis (for example, to uncover the experience of black lesbians or disabled trans people) further reduces the number of individuals in each group. in situations where diversity monitoring exercises engage numerically small communities and/or undertake intersectional analysis, the risk of presenting data in a way where an individual is identifiable is heightened. information professionals therefore need to scrutinise the risks involved when working with small numbers and review how data is collected, analysed and presented to ensure that it is impossible to discern the identity of anyone contained within the sample. before sharing their data, lgbtq library users also need to interrogate whether they can remain anonymous in a dataset. even with the removal of all ‘identifiable’ information (such as an individual’s name or address), it can remain possible to discern someone’s identity through the piecing-together of multiple data items about their identity characteristics. the inability to genuinely anonymise some respondents means that those with access to the dataset might find it possible to out individuals as lgbtq. in national or cultural contexts where same-sex behaviours or gender diversity are taboo, illegal, or punishable, the management and security of gender, sex, and sexuality data is a matter of high priority with potential life or death consequences. yet, even in contexts with a greater tolerance or acceptance of lgbtq people, it remains important that information professionals consider what might happen to the dataset in the future after the project has ended and those in positions of power at the library have changed. a dataset of lgbtq library users can both inform positive interventions and provide an evidence-base to justify further marginalisation and exclusion. future-proofing a dataset (for example, arranging for its deletion after a fixed number of years) can help ensure that the data contained within is not used for purposes other than those intended by those who designed the project. i note these cautions in response to reasonable concerns about the management and security of data about lgbtq people. however, in my work in the u.k., i am more accustomed to the use of ‘small numbers’ as a pre-emptive excuse to not undertake data collection activities. without knowledge of the size of the population under discussion, small numbers can function as a justification for inaction among information professionals that do not wish to expand or adapt data collection activities in ways that might improve the services provided to lgbtq library users. diversity monitoring in the library is a balancing act and it is the responsibility of information professionals engaged in data collection activities to minimise the potential for harm. yet, citing small numbers as the sole reason not to include lgbtq people in data collection activities can also perpetuate the invisibility of this key demographic group. good practice the realisation that all categorisation practices, to varying degrees, are exclusionary does not mean that information professionals should abandon efforts to organise the collection or learn more about people who use libraries. current ways of working will not transform overnight and 13 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity monitoring in the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36022 the agency of individual information professionals to initiate change might, at times, seem limited. it is therefore the role of information professionals to raise awareness of the inherent dangers of categorisation practices, which are often presented as neutral and ahistorical, and advance a strategic approach to categorisation that rebuffs its exclusionary tendencies. i hope that this article does not leave readers feeling despondent with the current situation, but instead encourages those working in the field to uncover and challenge the shortcomings of traditional approaches to categorisation, whether applied to objects or individuals (montague & mckeever, 2017). to strengthen this mission, i conclude with six practical considerations for information professionals to embed in work related to the collection of gender, sex and sexuality data: • engage library users in the design of data collection activities—during the design of data collection activities, such as questions for a diversity monitoring form, it is vital that information professionals meaningfully collaborate with people/groups with lived experience of the identities under discussion. • abandon the assumption that identity characteristics are singular and discrete—many people experience their identities as something fluid that is difficult (or impossible) to describe using exclusive terms (suen et al., 2020). with these points in mind, data collection activities should enable respondents to select multiple response options to questions about their identity characteristics (for example, someone might identify their sexual orientation as both ‘bisexual’ and ‘queer’). • empower respondents to describe how they identify in their own words—rather than attempt to provide every sexual orientation and trans/gender identity as a response option, ensure that all questions include a write-in box so that respondents who do not identify with any of the options listed can describe themselves in their own words. the provision of a write-in box for sexual orientation and trans/gender identity questions is particularly important for younger people and people of colour (suen et al., 2020; zosky & alberts, 2016). • acknowledge that identity characteristics are not fixed in time—when designing data collection tools, ensure that respondents can update their information on an as-andwhen basis (westbrook & saperstein, 2015). for example, rather than only being able to disclose diversity monitoring data when someone registers as a new library user, make it possible for people to manually update information in their user portal. • question if you really need to collect data about gender, sex and sexuality—review current data collection practices and the use of data after its collection and analysis. if you identify data that is not used for actions that improve the provision of services for lgbtq library users, do not collect the data. data collection activities are time and resource-intensive; utilise any extra time for initiatives that meaningfully improve equality and justice for lgbtq people in the library. • embrace people’s refusal to participate in data collection exercises—information professionals should not assume that individuals wish to share data about their gender, sex or sexuality. libraries should not penalise or provide substandard service to users that, for whatever reason, choose not to share their data (benjamin, 2016). to help ensure this is the case, make all diversity monitoring questions voluntary and provide a 14 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity monitoring in the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36022 ‘prefer not to say’ response option so that those who do not wish to provide data are also counted in the exercise. the collection of data about gender, sex and sexuality is a rapidly evolving field, contextually specific and shaped by emergent technologies such as machine learning (that can predict how you will identify, based on past behaviour) and biometric recognition (that uses facial recognition, for example, to identify someone’s gender, sex and sexuality). for these reasons, i have not provided specific guidance on recommended question stems or response options. rather, my six considerations offer a broad-brush account of what information professionals need to keep in mind when engaged in data collection practices. discussion my account of what we learn when we view the categorisation of library collections and the capture of data about library users side-by-side has highlighted how categorisation practices can exclude lgbtq people. rather than interpret this conclusion as an insurmountable block to progress, those engaged in equality, diversity and inclusion should instead question the efficacy of approaches that uncritically champion passive notions of tolerance, diversity or inclusion.7 for example, with the goal that libraries are spaces open to all, fisher et al. (2019) ask ‘how do we move from mere visibility and acknowledgement of identities to meaningful justice and equity?’ (p. 84). in the space where data practices and identity characteristics intersect, information professionals can gain insights from critical scholarship on diversity and inclusion work, particularly as it pertains to race and gender justice (see ahmed, 2007; benjamin, 2019; hoffmann, 2020; spade, 2015; walcott, 2019). for example, walcott (2019) observes how ‘diversity interrupts and delays more radical calls for human transformation’ (p. 405), while hoffmann (2020) notes ‘inclusion represents an ethics of social change that does not upset the social order’ (p. 20). my aim is not to simply bash information professionals engaged in diversity and inclusion work, nor call for an end to all non-queer initiatives that seek to improve the experiences of lgbtq library users. as highlighted in my list of good practice considerations, there exists a path forward that acknowledges the exclusionary tendencies of categorisation practices and embeds critical thinking in the design of data collection tools. looking inwards— among those who genuinely wish to challenge homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in the library—we must acknowledge that well-intentioned activities can naturalise and entrench practices that cause harm to the most marginalised among lgbtq people. recuperative projects, which place faith in the capability of information professionals to ‘fix’ broken systems, can ultimately buttress rather than challenge the status quo. when presented by libraries as evidence of action to improve diversity and inclusion, initiatives that fail to have a positive impact can postpone the opportunity of meaningful, structural change. these concerns are not about (further) politicising the library nor simply a case of doing the right thing; an interrogation and overhaul of categorisation practices are central to the survival of libraries. the seriousness of the situation is reflected in the work of the international federation of libraries and archives (ifla), which has committed to provide all information professionals, regardless of the country where they are based, with support to help meet the needs of lgbtq library users (wexelbaum, 2019). when lgbtq people struggle to find their lives reflected in a collection or feel excluded from the provision of library services, they will cease to engage. vincent (2017) describes how ‘the starting point for work on social justice is that we know that 15 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity monitoring in the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36022 the cultural sector tends to be under-used by people who are socially excluded’ and that ‘work must therefore involve assessing who is not using our services and finding ways of meeting them to make some sort of “offer”’ (p. 5). libraries have improved the lives of lgbtq people in many ways throughout history and in the present day, and data has a key role to play in future work. therefore, information professionals cannot overlook the dangers posed by categorisation practices for lgbtq library users and need to ensure that any expansion of diversity monitoring in the library acknowledges the exclusionary tendencies of categorisation and ensures that data collected is used to meaningfully improve the provision of services for lgbtq people. conclusion categorisation practices, which are used to make sense of a library’s collection, provide insights into the use of diversity monitoring exercises and the capture of data about the identity characteristics of library users. building on drabinski’s queer account of categorisation practices, this article has problematised the relationship between ‘being counted’ and improving the experiences of lgbtq library users. practices that collect data about an individual’s identity characteristics are intended to construct a legible subject (for example, an ideal lgbtq library user) that informs the design and future delivery of services. knowledge of your audience is key, however the distillation of messy, mutable, overlapping, and intersecting characteristics into something that is comprehensible risks erasing individuals in most need of help. even with increased attention to improving the experiences of lgbtq library users, categorisation practices regularly default to a library user who is cis, white, non-disabled, educated, and middle class. with the expansion of data collected about the lives and experiences of lgbtq people in the u.k., it seems likely that libraries will also enhance data collection practices to more clearly establish who uses their services, who does not use their services, and what can they do to address this gap. information professionals will play a key role in these future data developments. an interrogation of the potential benefits and harms of categorisation practices when applied to lgbtq library users is therefore a necessary step to ensure that good intentions do not perpetuate exclusionary practices in the library. endnotes 1 lgbtq is used as an umbrella term that recognises a diversity of gender, sex and sexual identities, and is inclusive of those who identify in ways that fall outside the acronym such as asexual, gender fluid, pansexual and polysexual. when citing work undertaken by other researchers, i deploy the terms used by the original author such as lgbo and lgbt. academic libraries are understood as those situated in higher education institutions and national reference libraries such as the british library and the national library of scotland. whereas public libraries are based in communities and operate under the remit of local authorities. 2 the uk equality act (2010) provides legal protections for the characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment (trans status), marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. 3 data on trans/gender identity is not collected in northern ireland’s 2021 census. 16 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity monitoring in the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36022 4 the geo noted that no robust measure of the trans population in the u.k. exists. the estimate is therefore based on studies from other countries that indicate between 0.35% and 1% of population are likely to identify as trans. 5 for example, derrick bell (1992) and kimberlé crenshaw et al. (1995) note how equating racism with overt racial hatred means that structural and institutional racism are often rendered invisible. 6 guyan (2021) has explored how the design of response options for the sexual orientation question in scotland’s 2022 census further excluded some sexual minority groups. 7 this objective applies to the wider museums, galleries. and cultural organisations sector. for example, leitch et al. (2016)’s lgbtq welcoming guidelines for museums: developing a resource for the museum field wished to produce a resource that outlined ‘concrete action steps for any museum wanting to move beyond “tolerance” toward “inclusion”’ (p. 139). although the concept of ‘inclusion’ is also not without problems, as described in hoffmann (2020), this indicates a step in the right direction. references advance he. (2020). equality in higher education: student statistical report. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/equality-higher-education-statisticalreport-2020 ahmed, s. 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(2017). lgbt people and the uk cultural sector: the response of libraries, museums, archives and heritage since 1950. routledge. 19 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1080/15596893.2016.1217460 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1452 https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x15622669 https://doi.org/10.1086/495624 http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/oltmann_they-kind-of-rely-on-the-library.pdf http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/oltmann_they-kind-of-rely-on-the-library.pdf https://www.stonewall.org.uk/about-us/news/silence-library-finding-lgbt-stories-library-catalogue https://www.stonewall.org.uk/about-us/news/silence-library-finding-lgbt-stories-library-catalogue https://www.gov.scot/collections/scottish-social-attitudes-survey/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01810-y https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2015.0050 diversity monitoring in the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36022 walcott, r. (2019). the end of diversity. public culture, 31(2), 393–408. https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-7286885 westbrook, l., & saperstein, a. (2015). new categories are not enough: rethinking the measurement of sex and gender in social surveys. gender & society, 29(4), 534–560. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243215584758 wexelbaum, r. (2019). the reading habits and preferences of lgbtiq+ youth. the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi), 3(1). https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v3i1.32270 zosky, d. l., & alberts, r. (2016). what’s in a name? exploring use of the word queer as a term of identification within the college-aged lgbt community. journal of human behavior in the social environment, 26(7–8), 597–607. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2016.1238803 kevin guyan (kevin.guyan@glasgow.ac.uk) is a research fellow in the school of culture and creative arts at the university of glasgow, where his work explores the intersection of data and identity. kevin is the author of the book queer data: using gender, sex and sexuality data for action (bloomsbury academic, 2022), which examines the collection, analysis and use of data, particularly as it relates to lgbtq people in the uk. outside of higher education, kevin is a member of the royal society of edinburgh’s young academy of scotland and sits on the board of the lgbti charity equality network. 20 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-7286885 https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243215584758 https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v3i1.32270 https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2016.1238803 mailto:kevin.guyan@glasgow.ac.uk introduction what is known about lgbtq library users in the u.k.? queering categorisation practices in the library the categorisation of lgbtq library users design, norms, and exclusionary practices shaping how lgbtq people make sense of themselves small numbers, anonymity and the potential for harm good practice discussion conclusion endnotes references case study inquiry & black feminist resistance: reflections on a methodological journey in the furtherance of lis social justice research the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34913 case study inquiry & black feminist resistance: reflections on a methodological journey in the furtherance of lis social justice research laverne gray, syracuse university, usa abstract this article explains the researcher ownership of tools of inquiry. using personal narrative, the text highlights the elements of case study development presenting the familial as the impetus for an alternative mode for lis social justice research in an ethnic, racial, gendered community. using the researcher journey as an example, the approach is explored through a theoretical and methodological iterative case development process. implications in the furtherance of lis social justice inquiry models utilizing a critical-qualitative approach are explicated towards the development of a case study in the pursuit of community-focused research. keywords: case study; iterative approaches; social justice; qualitative methods publication type: research article introduction n critical feminist circles, an often-used quote from black feminist poet, essayist, activist, and librarian audre lorde (2007) elucidates, “for the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house” (p. 112). the power embedded with the brevity of the phrase is adaptable as both a call to action and a mantra for social justice mobilization. this article resituates “tools” to represent resistance to the prescriptive library and information science (lis) research paradigm in the furtherance of locating and examining communal social justice. to accomplish this, the text recounts the journey of development and implementation of a select criticalcultural case study by exploring the information environment of african american activist mothers in 1960’s chicago public housing (gray, 2019) using archival texts. the paper is methodological explicating a multi-layered approach to the development of a social justice lis case study. the ideation of the study is connected through familial ties. while conducting genealogical research, i discovered my grandmother in a chicago defender newspaper article. she was featured with other women in her public housing community for organizing justice activities. although unique and personal, the development of the case study illuminates racial, ethnic, gender, and geographic approaches to the field of information study. utilizing black feminist epistemology (collins, 2000) in concert with lis social justice (mehra et al., 2006, 2009; mehra & rioux, 2016) and information community theoretical perspectives (fisher, et al., 2003), this iterative approach demands the researcher focus on the matter at hand in the treatment of the text in honor of the women in the community. this stance requires resistance to formulaic i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi case study inquiry & black feminist resistance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34913 approaches in methods examining communal information practice, through a deconstructive inquiry process. this reflective essay explains this journey using personal narrative. a narrative approach provides the researcher the opportunity to use storytelling to examine life experiences (clandinin & connelly, 2000). it is a process where “oppressed people resist by identifying themselves as subjects, by defining their reality, shaping their new identity, naming their history, telling their story” (hooks, 1989, p. 43). it’s important to note that the use of the term ‘subject’ here does not align with positivist research traditions. the quote encourages so-called marginal communities to repel narratives and research that addresses their experiences without their input. utilizing my voice as an african american woman, studying my ancestral public housing community and recounting my narrative, resists external bias and subjectivity. my role in naming, defining, and shaping the narrative illuminates my researcher voice. the resulting text is my story within a story. i share my own resistance journey using creative and iterative research approaches, while studying the information activist properties of a black feminist collective. resistance occurs through deconstructive acts combating linear approaches to the research field, thereby creating my own pathway to greater understanding of phenomena. the use of first person reinforces my possession of the story and aligns with the use familial in the furtherance of research. to better explain the embrace and researcher ownership of tools of inquiry, this article will first discuss the beginnings of the journey of developing the case using familial ties. secondly, this text will situate the case in black feminism, information, and lis social justice theory. next, i explore milestones and deconstructive application of the iterative case development process, highlighting iterative elements of case study development presenting alternative modes for lis social justice research in ethnic, racial, and gendered communities. lastly, implications in the furtherance of lis social justice inquiry models through a critical-qualitative approach will be explicated towards the development of research and the researcher in the pursuit of social justice and community-focused research. familial inspiration the exemplar study of activist-mothers in chicago public housing grew from an archived newspaper article found about a group of women fighting for a library to be built in their community. the article, entitled “blast city for lack of near southside library” (1963), featured my grandmother’s voice blasting city officials for their apathy toward community needs. the article detailed the plans of a committee of mothers to organize a protest march and meeting. the text contained in the article is both personally inspiring and historically fascinating. personally, the fascination of a previously unknown circumstance involving my grandmother induced pride. my assumptions about the life she lived and public housing community where my mother grew up was demystified in ways i had not anticipated. historically, this activist spirit within a community of urban poor and working class african american women in public housing is not told in the context of library history or examined in the context of information environments. the discovery of the document ignited a curiosity which led to inspired research through the development of a unique case for study. from the discovery of the newspaper article, i began to explore and situate the historical setting of the case. the activist mothers in the case study are situated historically in the experiences of 72 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index case study inquiry & black feminist resistance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34913 african american poor and working-class communities of the first half of the 20th century. my family, like many other african americans in chicago, migrated from the southern u.s. to escape racial apartheid (wilkerson, 2010). the migrants to the city were described as “refugees from the bondage of america’s cotton kingdom in the south” (drake & cayton, 2015, p. 32). in the city, migrants were able to explore economic opportunities, pursue education, and participate civically. housing shortages for the african american population continued to be a problem during the population booms before and after world war ii. there was little housing built and the south-side black belt of the city was described as blighted with extended families sharing spaces in kitchenette apartments in overcrowded converted early 20th century homes (drake & cayton, 2015; fuerst & hunt, 2005). as the number of migrants grew, there were limitations to housing because of geographical segregation. african american overcrowding in certain areas of the city was attributed to restrictive covenant housing policies and red lining of neighborhoods (hirsch, 1983; rothstein, 2017). segregation was maintained by providing african americans with new public housing made up of high-rise buildings in formerly blighted areas (hunt, 2009). a unique feature of the lives of the women in the public housing communities examined (harold ickes homes and dearborn homes) is the presence of a henry booth settlement house (gray, 2019). the settlement house movement in chicago began in the late 19th and early 20th century progressive movement, where resident workers developed programs to foster aid, education, and democratic activities amongst community members (addams, 1910). by the mid 20th century, urban renewal in the form of systematic state and local policies to improve housing conditions, expand city infrastructure, and counter urban blight, saw the relocation of henry booth house from a traditionally jewish, german, and mexican service area, to the new high-rise public housing communities (hunt, 2009). this second ghetto (hirsch, 1983), often described as paradise by early residents, saw the proliferation of community engagement to enhance the lives of its members (fuerst & hunt, 2005). the settlement house acted as both a point of service and a space for agency. although traditionally situated in terms of lack and deficiency this case study uncovers agency through the women constantly striving for the betterment of community. familial community-based activism was the flame that ignited my interest lis social justice research. the embrace of inspiration and ideation from under-examined communities is a primary feature of situating a case that allows for a bottom-up rather than administrative view of lis research. the recognition of the individual life of my grandmother grew into an understanding of her being a full participant of a community. my decision to further explore the information dynamics of such a community provided the impetus of the case development. the goal of the research simply became persistence and discovery. my continual examination of the women in public housing drove me to situate them theoretically, historically, and situationally. the task was scaffolded through reflexive examination of my role as a researcher and the story that would unfold. this iterative take on research design involves risk, but trust in the process of resistance enhances fulfillment. the next part of the text theoretically situates the journey using lis social justice theory and imagining an information activist community. black feminism, community, & lis social justice to decipher the voices of the african american women, i looked to black feminist theory. patricia hill collins (1998, 2000) describes black women as outsiders-within. these women, by their ethnicity, color, and social class are outside of white patriarchal, hegemonic spaces, but have access through working in the system. it is like physically being within spaces of those that are 73 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index case study inquiry & black feminist resistance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34913 privileged, but never belonging. bell hooks (1990) refers to this marginality as places of resistance. these marginal homeplaces became desirable outside spaces and represented a place of struggle invoking courage and strength. outsiders must stand alone or collectively with others on the outside to bring change. the outside spaces are where african american women come to voice (gray, 2019; collins, 1999). the activism and work of the women in public housing demonstrate the outsider status in resistance and struggle. for the women, the public housing community became an information space of social justice. the idea of community as a site for information draws on the concept of information community (ic). an ic is described as a “partnership of institutions and individuals forming and cultivating a community of interest around the provision and exchange of information, or knowledge, aimed at increasing access to that information or increasing communication, and thereby increasing that knowledge” (durrance, 2001, p.64). this definition exists in the realm of internet based online communities. in my development of the case study the term community within the concept was attractive to making sense of what was occurring on the ground with the women in public housing. the case extends this meaning to increase capacity building in the interest of knowledge and understanding of what occurs in dynamic communal space. in doing so, i recognized the mobilization aspects of an ic, by incorporating galvanized structures in a contained geographic space. my emphasis on the application of information to the resistance activities in the physical environment shifted the view of the mobilized collective from an activist group to an information-based community system that informs action. a spatial-traditional interpretation of information communities creates a new application and analysis that supplants the virtual with the physical. utilizing fisher et al.’s (2003) characteristics, i explore how the traditional community activism within geographical space is representative of an information-activist community (iac) (see table 1). collaboration is a common feature of ic and iac applications. the iac extends ic in that collective use and need for information supports mobilization necessary for activism. collectivity is the main feature of iac by viewing the community and its relationship in terms of purpose reflecting a participatory force for the mutual good. information in the iac operates similarly to ic in focus and intent, but information in iac flows from within the collective. in the context of the activist-mothers in public housing, the application of ic characteristics demonstrates the influence of community-based information systems and structures. table 1. information activist community ic characteristic iac application information communities emphasize collaboration among diverse information providers collaboration is a function of information community activist participation—diverse providers include both internal and external sources information communities anticipate and often form around people’s needs to get and use information information use and need are purposeful to issues and intentions for the collective good information communities effectively exploit the information exploitation of information as aspects of performance in 74 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index case study inquiry & black feminist resistance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34913 sharing qualities of available technology and yield multiplier effects for stakeholders mobilization and galvanization around community participation and activities information communities transcend barriers to informationsharing information-sharing is democratized and used as a tool for dismantling divides for collective purposes information communities connect people and foster social connectedness collectivity and connectedness are essential to the social structure and necessary for activist community praxis information communities emphasize collaboration among diverse information providers collaboration is a function of information community activist participation—diverse providers include both internal and external sources information communities anticipate and often form around people’s needs to get and use information information use and need are purposeful to issues and intentions for the collective good social justice research in lis is rooted in communities that are serviced by library institutions. connecting community to research provides another opportunity to exercise engagement within a social justice theoretical framework. the social justice theoretical perspective in lis collates communal ideals in the service of the collective good. it is at once both philosophical and practical. the previous theoretical discussion on ic constructs demonstrates collective community mobilization in naturalistic non-technological mediated environments. here i extend that discussion from a social justice information perspective. the lis social justice metatheoretical assumptions communicate fairness, empowerment, equity, and change agency. the distinction in the activist-mother community context is that information-as-service is transformed to information-as-collective. when used as a tool, social justice becomes operationalized in information spaces. it functions within environmental structures that inform practical activities in information centers. the library is often seen as the manifestation of where the tools are utilized in the service of information need, access, use, and evaluation. within libraries the implementation of social justice is mediated by the physical institution, staff, policies, political, and community structures. the case of the activist-mothers opens the concept of operationalization of social justice within community spaces. the case embodies social justice information frame by considering a community activist structure. my work is situated similarly to the mehra et al. (2006) article that outlines social justice frames in lis that include underserved population needs, communities of practice, action, empowerment/change agency, and diversity. my interpretation of the frames centers the community, without incorporating the lens of the information professional. the theoretical threads indicated through concepts provide the structure for the framework. the language collectively illustrates the elements present in social justice lis research and practice. the ic formed by the collective work of the members require grounding from social justice 75 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index case study inquiry & black feminist resistance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34913 informational tools into an interactional space where they gather. the marginalized homeplace of the activist-mothers embodies the use of information as a social justice tool. this departure from the institutional frame posits a spontaneous informal mechanization of information in the context of the greater good through social justice activities. understanding the case both through the lens of information activism and social justice provides a way forward in the construction of this case study. the use of theory to inform how information activism is placed within the community using a lis social justice frame supports case development in resistance to linear research design. i understood that reframing of ic to an information activist community changed the language and brought with it a reframing of information concepts. at the same time, i explored the case in a variety of mini projects reflecting qualitative milestones. to make sense of this process of iterative case construction, i studied principles of historical research and qualitative approaches from a critical perspective. case development qualitative research using a critical paradigm reflects socially constructed knowledge that uncovers historical insights. it is an alternative view of society, where centrality is focused not on institutions but the participants in history. critical-historical research views history as a living process confronting issues of stability and revolution. it challenges long-held confirmed views of what we are and how we came to be (brennen, 2013). an example of this is the long-held view that libraries were designated in poor, rural, and racially segregated communities through philanthropic, municipal, and white middle-class values being imposed on groups (mehra & gray, 2020). i embarked on a revisionist telling of how empowered community members utilized their voices within an information environment to gain library facilities (gray, 2019). the case study viewed the women and the community through a lens of abundance rather than deficit. deficit positioning demotes the persons under study to a marginal space, devoid of information (ford et al, 2001; valencia & solórzano, 1997). an abundance perspective takes the researcher beyond discourse that pre-defines communities. abundance is situated in terms of an equilibrium of embodied systems and networks within a community, countering imposed hegemonic aspirational outcomes (gray, in press). this positioning allowed for greater understanding of the community as free with the ability to control their destiny. the tools of a qualitative academic inquiry involve a rigorous philosophical exercise of exploring lived experiences utilizing text, theory, and methods that contribute to greater understanding of phenomena (denzin & lincoln, 2013). replication of approaches provides a guide while limiting effectiveness by bounding the researcher in the inquiry process. in qualitative social science research, a case study is defined as “an in-depth description and analysis of a bounded system” (merriam & tisdell, 2015, p. 37). in my study of the ic of activist mothers in public housing, the case is bounded by the time where the activism took place through the auspices of the aforementioned henry booth settlement house. it is representative of a community case study which “is small enough to permit considerable cultural (or subcultural) homogeneity, diffuse interactions and relationships between members, and to produce a social identification by its members” (berg, 2009, p. 331). the geographic location of the near south side douglass community in chicago bounds a marginalized community identifiable by a segregated and predominantly african american public housing community. the identification of the information space as a clustered community of women participating in justice work, clarified my intention to discover the unique nature of the public housing environment (gibson & kaplan, 2017). 76 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index case study inquiry & black feminist resistance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34913 illuminating the critical-historical and geographical components of the case evolved throughout the development process. journey milestones the case study represents both continued development and the culmination of experience. i began my journey through milestones of the treatment of data in different ways. an initial failed foray into historical narrative propelled me to continue to research the women’s movement for library facilities. i then expanded my work to focus on the entirety of the community and the information properties found in grassroots social justice mobilization. each milestone expanded my understanding through examining data using different approaches. after developing the historical narrative, i mapped the community and examined the discourse through an exercise that conceptually grounded the campaign for a library facility in the greater public housing community. i dissected the elements to better grasp past work. each milestone in my research journey consistently used the same data (chicago tribune newspaper articles n=1; chicago defender newspaper articles n=7; chicago public library archival manuscripts n=12; henry booth house manuscript collection n=4). each phase was a separate mini project on the campaign for library facilities by the collective of women in the public housing community. in each phase i read the evidence differently. in phase 1, my question focused on what happened. in phase 2, i outlined which entities shaped the information environment. in phase 3, i searched for the voices of the women. the treatment of the evidence throughout the milestones brought me closer to understanding how to honor the women and their activities. utilizing a black feminist epistemology, i searched for, read, and analyzed the documentary evidence using an abundance lens to view community and social justice practices. this stance reinforces centering of the african american community, and their voices in the iterative process. phase 1: library campaign history this phase involved writing a historical narrative that chronologically examined the activities of the library committee’s effort to establish library facilities. the initial exploratory project examined the available historical evidence related to the campaign for library facilities. the project was limited by time constraints and relied on direct access to newspaper database sources and archives housed at both the university of illinois chicago and the chicago public library. i had only a week to explore the contents of the archives and decided to limit document review to those items that clearly related to the community’s push for a library. contextual historical evidence about the community was noted, but not used. the study was itself antitheoretical, but established a curiosity for feminist, specifically black feminist epistemology, in understanding how the community structures impacted the actions of the mothers of the library campaign. findings showed a building of momentum and social movement strategies and their effectiveness. it also provided the lens of the community from a non-administrative perspective in terms of the need for libraries. phase 2: community information network (visualization) the project used qualitative social network analysis by employing an exploratory inductive examination of documents related to the library campaign. the analysis created data visualization by highlighting the complexity of communication and relationships in social movements (miles et al., 2013). data represented individuals, organizations, and political 77 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index case study inquiry & black feminist resistance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34913 structures that were present in primary source documents (scott & carrington, 2011). each primary source document was analyzed and organized according to communication lines, relationships, influence, and collective attributes. each document was coded for relevant organizations, groups, institutions, government/municipal agencies, and significant individuals. the resulting relational network showed the community and municipal divide. it also centered the women and allied community connections and overlapping activities. this phase mapped the relationships of the community. through the exercise, i saw the hegemonic complexity of the municipal agencies and how the women used tactics from the grassroots level to campaign for a library. the mapping showed the collective empowerment at the community level. phase 3: activist community collective-determination model the activist community collective-determination model was developed through grounded theory inductive analysis (corbin & strauss, 2008) of documents related to the campaign of library facilities. the study was exploratory and empirical in nature. units of analysis included the entirety of news articles and sections of the meeting minutes applicable to the campaign for facilities. the findings of the constant comparative analysis of evidence texts revealed the following concepts: coalition building, equity of access, learning spaces, and performance. in this phase i was able to clearly define what community-based social justice properties were present in the activities of the women. i clarified a framework for defining the elements of collective advocacy for community betterment. the impetus for the activities of the women was education. the library was seen as a vehicle for community development. the phases looked at the issue of petitioning for a library. they represented stops in the journey to understanding informational aspects of the community. the next step in the journey focused on broadening the case to examine the community as a whole. the phases told the story, mapped relationships, and defined the elements of social justice activities. an informational examination of the community as a whole would provide a complete picture of the justice activities of the women. iterative case construction the deconstructive approach to the research field follows an iterative process ignited through the discovery of the familial document. the familial document, a newspaper article, was the initial evidence piece that linked persons, place names, organizations, and institutions. the document revealed the link to the henry booth settlement house and the network of communitybased representation from various organizations which led me to manuscripts in the archives and other media documents. the cyclical aspects of the case development process began with critical text inquiry. there are seven elements related to case development: idea and inspiration, evidence collection, concept development & pilot projects, exploratory investigation, emerging questions, research objectives, and exploratory evidence gathering. each part represents research actions. the actions are not mutually exclusive and occur in no specific order. the practice is dynamic and can begin at any point, not following any prescribed flow. the developmental aspect of case development is iterative by nature and represents the culmination of previous works, theoretical examinations, and reflection. the inspiration occurred through the connection of my grandmother to the need for libraries in the public housing community in which she lived. there are subsequent inspiring and idea generating documents which pushed the research forward, for example, the henry booth house 78 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index case study inquiry & black feminist resistance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34913 report on the committee, and the news articles on the planned protests. the gathering and examination of details within documents generated new questions and influenced the objectives of research. the case development activities represent the exploration of the unknown and learning to trust myself as a researcher. the development requires attention to everything that is known and discoverable. idea and inspiration involved open-ended inquiry and discovery. as mentioned in the beginning of the text this occurred with the discovery of the familial document. it led a questioning beyond the personal and subjective to a more observational view of my grandmother’s experience in the context of activism and libraries and the community she lived in. each step into the rabbit hole uncovered more inspirational artifacts that showcased not only her involvement in communitybased working structures, but the community mobilization structures. subsequent inspiring finds include a scrapbook of photographs, a conference paper written by the social worker on the role of the settlement house in a public housing community, and an adult education leadership class report found in the archives. more inspirational finds guided me towards evidence collection, which involves continuous data gathering. i found materials through archival and online searching. closer inspection of individual documents led to related materials that further explained the historical-contextual aspects of the public housing community. this continuous exercise helped to establish boundaries for the case geographically and historically by time period. concept development occurred through theoretical readings of the evidence. readings from black feminist texts, information theories, sociology, history (geographic and racial), and cultural studies, provided a matrix of theories to draw from. exploratory investigations were signified by researcher generated milestones. these investigations occurred with each examination or study previously mentioned. the diversity of the exercises inspired the researcher to utilize various types of methodological approaches toward framework development. emerging questions requires the continuous process of questioning of evidence, processes, and the phenomenon. this is found both in the questions informing research tasks and questions of evidence which inform a grounded theory approach to research. in this study, questions changed and developed over time, and as more evidence was collected and concepts were developed, the questions evolved. a similar process emerges with the development of research objectives that are adapted throughout case inquiry. when performing milestone mini projects, the objectives were adjusted and modified as evidence and preliminary analysis occurred. exploratory evidence gathering involves data collection at crucial points throughout the iterative cycle. each element is addressed in terms of deconstruction including cultural community aspects (race, gender, geography), social justice information science research, (re)defining methodology, and the role and posture of the researcher (as an objective/neutral observer). conclusion: reflecting on a journey as a researcher, i struggled with scope, approaches, and tools. as i became close to the development of what my intentions were, i struggled to name the approach. i settled on calling the exercise a critical-cultural historical case study. i explored how this qualitative investigation of a historical phenomenon would be represented theoretically in the literature and decided to detail that journey through the documentation of milestones. with that documentation done, i furthered my discovery through rigorous analysis by presenting a case that repels descriptive 79 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index case study inquiry & black feminist resistance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34913 limitations. my intent became to expose the voice of the women, and ensure their values are accounted for in lis research and discourse. the challenge and struggle became an opportunity to develop a creative and innovative approach to research. my empowerment as a human being and as a researcher pushed boundaries of lis research and theory towards social justice. my work challenged the perceived imbalanced power dynamics on many levels including the content of the topic (i.e. african-american women), what information science research is, methodology, and the role of the researcher (as an objective/neutral observer). in the future, i will continue to trust the immersive iterative nature of revelatory practices through critique of the knowledge structure of the discipline of information science. denzin and lincoln (2013) stress that qualitative research is “endlessly creative and interpretive” (p. 30). my creative turns often provided a pathway to designing a case study rooted in social justice in a marginalized community. my reflections on this journey offer a narrative of development in the construction of a case study, trusting oneself as a researcher. in lieu of prescribed recommendations or suggestions i offer the reader the following lessons-learned: follow inspiration: the location of my grandmother’s participation in a campaign for a library branch in a public housing community was an inspiring story and great family artifact. as i considered areas of study, i returned to the artifact as a point of reference to reflect on myself and heritage. it became a passion which supported a curiosity to apply research to a familial ancestral community. my knowledge of the community from familial stories at times hindered questioning and limited the observational eye. in the pursuit of this research and the process of developing the case, i recognized my internal tension of what is “known” based on my closeness to the community and the assumptions that creep into my evidentiary discovery and examination. my persistence in discovery of the complexities of the artifact, and how it led me to others strengthened my ability to interrogate the informational aspects of the community environment. creativity and rigor can coexist: often times in the case construction process, i looked to established templates by qualitative scholars to follow a rigorous exploration in studying the community. i trusted my inclination to approach the archival research field creatively and iteratively. each element used did not simply follow prescriptive steps. it required me to be reflexive in the furthering my process. consider the journey: the case is built on the milestones developed from the mini-projects. i knew in each application of inductive coding, relational mapping, and the historical narrative that i was on to something. the ability to learn from each phase and apply that to the iterative case development allowed me to embrace the process and surrender intellectually to next step in the journey. i often return to small projects to inform larger questions in determining how to investigate the informational world around me. illuminate lis social justice: the matrix of theories used complement the gender, race, and informational aspects of the community of women under study. my journey contributed to my framing of the case utilizing an epistemology of resistance and social justice in lis. the library was the tool, but the community of women represented the information nexus. my initial desire to limit the case to the campaign excluded the promise of developing the case around the information activist community. researcher discovery through iterative rigorous analysis extends descriptive limitations by seeking to expose the activist-voice of the subjects, ensuring their belief systems and values are 80 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index case study inquiry & black feminist resistance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34913 accounted for in lis research and discourse. this challenge and struggle provide opportunities for the development of creative pathways for research. the master’s tools are tossed aside and new tools in support of constructing new modes that defy replication in research are developed. this pushing of boundaries allows for expanded social justice lis research, theory, and model development. challenging perceived imbalanced power dynamics on many levels including ethnic, race, gendered, and geographic, case study development requires a resistance mindset, which is at the heart of lis social justice research. references addams, j. (1910). twenty years at hull house. the macmillan company. https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/addams/hullhouse/hullhouse.html berg, b. l. (2009). qualitative research methods for the social sciences. allyn and bacon. "blast city for lack of near southside library." (1963, may 20). chicago daily defender (daily edition). (1960-1973), p. 5. http://search.proquest.com/docview/493962165?accountid=14766 brennen, b. (2013). qualitative research methods for media studies. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203086490 clandinin, j.d. & connelly, m.f. (2000). narrative inquiry: experience and story in qualitative research. josey-bass publishers. collins, p. h. (1998). fighting words: black women and the search for justice. university of minnesota press. collins, p. h. (2000). black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. routledge. corbin, j., & strauss, a. (2008). basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. sage. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452230153 denzin, n. k., & lincoln, y. s. (2013). the landscape of qualitative research (fourth edition). sage publications. drake, s. c., & cayton, h. r., (2015). black metropolis: a study of negro life in a northern city. the university of chicago press. durrance, j.c. (2001). the vital role of librarians in creating information communities: strategies for success. library administration and management, 15(3), 161-168. fisher, k. e., unruh, k. t., & durrance, j. c. (2003, october 19-22). information communities: characteristics gleaned from studies of three online networks. [paper presented]. the american society for information science and technology conference, long beach, ca, united states. 81 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/addams/hullhouse/hullhouse.html http://search.proquest.com/docview/493962165?accountid=14766 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203086490 https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452230153 case study inquiry & black feminist resistance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34913 ford, d. y., harris iii, j. j., tyson, c. a., & trotman, m. f. (2001). beyond deficit thinking: providing access for gifted african american students. roeper review, 24(2), 52-58. fuerst, j. s. & hunt, d.b. (2005). when public housing was paradise: building community in chicago. university of illinois press. gibson, a. n., & kaplan, s. (2017). place, community and information behavior: spatially oriented information seeking zones and information source preferences. library & information science research, 39(2), 131-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2017.03.001 gray, l. (in press). information abundance and deficit: revisiting elfreda chatman’s inquiry of marginal spaces and populations. journal of critical library and information studies. gray, l. (2019). in a collective voice: uncovering the black feminist information community of activist-mothers in chicago public housing, 1955-1970 (doctoral dissertation). university of tennessee, knoxville, tn. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/5424 hooks, b. (1989). talking back: thinking feminist, thinking black. south end press. hooks, b. (1990). yearning: race, gender, and cultural politics. south end press. hirsch, a. r. (1983). making the second ghetto: race and housing in chicago 1940-1960. university of chicago press. hunt, b.d. (2009). blueprint for disaster: the unraveling of chicago public housing. university of chicago press. lorde, a. (2007). sister outsider: essays and speeches. crossing press. mehra, b., albright, k.s., and rioux, k. (2006). a practical framework for social justice research in the information professions. proceedings of the american society for information science and technology 43(1) 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1002/meet.14504301275 mehra, b., albright, k.s., & rioux, k. (2009). social justice in library and information science. in m.j. bates & m.n. maack (eds.), encyclopedia of library and information sciences, 3rd ed. (p.p. 4820-4836). taylor & francis. https://doi.org/10.1081/e-elis3 mehra, b., & gray, l. (2020). an “owning up” of white-ist trends in lis to further real transformations. library quarterly: information, community, policy, 90(2), 189-239. https://doi.org/10.1086/707674 mehra, b. & rioux, k. (eds.). (2016). in progressive community action: critical theory and social justice in library and information science. library juice press. https://litwinbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/pca-front.pdf merriam, s. b., & tisdell, e. j. (2015). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation. john wiley and sons. 82 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2017.03.001 https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/5424 https://doi.org/10.1002/meet.14504301275 https://doi.org/10.1081/e-elis3 https://doi.org/10.1086/707674 https://litwinbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/pca-front.pdf case study inquiry & black feminist resistance the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34913 miles, m. b., huberman, a. m., & saldaña, j. (2013). qualitative data analysis: a methods sourcebook. sage publications, inc. rothstein, r. (2017). the color of law: a forgotten history of how our government segregated america. liveright publishing. scott, j. & carrington, p. j. (eds.). (2011). the sage handbook of social network analysis. sage publications. valencia, r. r., & solórzano, d. g. (1997). contemporary deficit thinking. in r.r. valencia (ed.), the evolution of deficit thinking: educational thought and practice, (pp. 160210). the falmer press. wilkerson, i. (2010). the warmth of other suns: the epic story of america's great migration. new york: vintage books. laverne gray (lgray01@syr.edu) is an assistant professor at syracuse university’s school of information studies, where she teaches in the library and information science program. after an eight-year career as an academic librarian, she earned her phd at the college of communication and information at the university of tennessee, knoxville in 2019. her dissertation, “in a collective voice: uncovering the black feminist information community of activist-mothers in chicago public housing, 1955-1970,” won her college’s outstanding dissertation award in 2019 and placed second at alise’s jean tague-sutcliffe doctoral student research poster competition. laverne gray’s research explores black feminism, community, and social justice in information spaces. in addition to a m.l.i.s. from dominican university, she holds a m.s.ed. in educational psychology from northern illinois university and a b.s. in rehabilitation/child development from wilberforce university. 83 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index introduction familial inspiration black feminism, community, & lis social justice case development journey milestones phase 1: library campaign history phase 2: community information network (visualization) phase 3: activist community collective-determination model iterative case construction conclusion: reflecting on a journey references book review: uncertain archives: critical keywords for big data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36686 ijidi: book review thylstrup, n. b., agostinho, d., ring a., d’ignazio, c., & veel, k. (eds.). (2021). uncertain archives: critical keywords for big data. mit press. isbn 9780262539884. 624 pp. $55.00 us. reviewer: aaisha haykal, college of charleston, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: archival science; big data; black feminism; humanities; information science publication type: book review he issues around big data have spurred articles, documentaries, and television episodes about what individuals, the state, private corporations, and institutions of higher education have collected about people, communities, and so on. the constant attention has increased the conversation about the who, what, and why of data collection. uncertain archives: critical keywords for big data is an edited volume that contains 61 essays that explore critical keywords that help us analyze the intersections of big data with race, gender, class, nationality, sexuality, politics, humanities, social sciences, information science, and other identities and disciplines. the vision and purpose of this volume developed from the research undertaken by the uncertain archives research group at the university of copenhagen’s department of arts and cultural studies. the group comprises scholars and artists in denmark and abroad focusing on the unknowns, the errors, and vulnerabilities of archives in an age of datafication. the volume begins with an introduction that outlines the definition of data and archives and how uncertainty can provide a broader understanding of big data. following this are the comprehensive keyword essays by different authors that are arranged in alphabetical order by keyword. contributing authors comprise various scholars, activists, and artists from other disciplines, sexualities, ethnic and racial identities, and nationalities (including non-western) and they cite scholars from multiple backgrounds. each essay defines the term, provides realworld examples and figures for illustrative purposes, and detailed references for further reading. some of the pieces build on, challenge, or counter each other and examine the ways diversity and inclusion intersect with the keyword. the editors choose to organize the volume alphabetically and not thematically. while it gives the aesthetic of an encyclopedia, the book would be more accessible to an entry-level scholar if the heteroglossia was organized into sections and would have made the cross-discipline conversation and discussions stronger. this work is primarily aimed at those at post-secondary institutions. it would be of interest to information professionals, information scientists, social science, and humanities scholars. it provides insight into how one can think about how data is stored, collected, used, preserved, and accessed. the work is an excellent reference tool to begin thinking about the issues represented and explored in each essay. the essays encourage professionals to think about the intersection between people, gender, sexuality, technology, emotions, affect, data, capitalism, and commodification. additionally, it illustrates that scholars in information and library science and cultural heritage should look to other disciplines, including unexpected ones, such as the t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index uncertain archives: critical keywords for big data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36686 arts, fashion, cartography, feminism, black feminism, geology, and geography, and so on, to explore concepts that influence how we see the world. the authors challenge these professionals to reexamine their practices and acknowledge that the work that they are doing is not neutral and not to be beholden to “vocational awe” (ettarh, 2018). the content has several implications for libraries and special collections, especially as they develop new projects and tools, undergo strategic planning, make personnel decisions, and collection development purchases (i.e., library databases and archival donations). by examining big data, technology, and knowledge systems through the lens of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, we can see how hierarchical power is, and who documents, and who gets documented. the authors of the essays do an excellent job explaining the context of their examples, using historical events and subjects, such as black lives matter, henrietta lacks, granted clothing, and forever 21, which is helpful for audiences who are not from the region or the field of study. the essays address both practical issues relating to archival management and theory. “digital humanities” by roopika risam and “remains” by tonia sutherland explored issues relating to the digital representation of black people and bodies in the archival and digital records. risam denotes that digital humanities projects can either reinforce or challenge hegemony. when a scholar or an archival repository participates in such endeavors, they need to be conscious of the narrative. furthermore, information professionals should be using this space to bring the voices of the global south, women, indigenous people, black people, and non-black people, not only in terms of the records but also in developing and shaping the tools and their focus. however, sutherland cautions scholars, academics, and information professionals that they must work not to create harm, but recognize that the historical record is traumatic for some communities when they undertake such projects. sutherland denotes the following information sources as spaces where this could occur: documents of enslavement, white supremacist pamphlets, and the videos of black people murdered at the hands of the police. furthermore, she explores the tension between documenting historical events and victims and perpetrators of violence and the right to be forgotten. other essays in the volume continue the discussion about power and control, including “metadata” by amelia acker and “(mis)gendering” by os keyes. these essays focus on how systems, cultural heritage repositories, and individuals organize and access information, thus, creating harm and empowering some communities and populations. keyes explicitly provides a personal example of being unexpectedly outed as a transgender person in a store; and noted that this is a constant fear that some people have because databases have information stored about their previous life (p. 339). thus, this impacts how they navigate the world. acker’s essay explores the implications of who controls how metadata is represented and how it can reinforce social biases. once a person or community is sorted into a category in the back-end, it can be challenging, if not impossible, to withdraw or change. this volume also explores the ways that individuals choose to use or to opt-out of participating in big data, as seen in the essays “detox” by pepita hesselberth, “self-tracking” by natasha dow schüll, “affect” by marika cifor, and “obfuscation” by mushon zer-aviv. hesselberth examines the conversations about the term, expressly what is toxic and what one needs to “detox” from, and examples of projects that claim to assist individuals in changing either their behavior manually or by using technology to reduce their carbon footprint. on the opposite spectrum is schüll, discussing the complexities of how individuals use data to understand patterns about themselves and outline the term “quantitative autobiography” (p. 463). individuals who participate in big data in this way work to gain a sense of freedom and self-transformation. nevertheless, companies such as facebook and instagram exploit users’ need for connection and sentiment for profit. cifor provides the example of the aids memorial (tam) archive on 242 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index uncertain archives: critical keywords for big data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36686 instagram, where families and friends post images to memorialize loved ones. still, then, in turn, instagram uses the user engagement information to target and sell advertisements and services (p. 42). the tension between memorialization and commodity is seen here. to not be a part of this system, some individuals work to obfuscate their online presence and disrupt government and corporate surveillance. zer-aviv focuses on the ways big data have been used to erode the privacy of individuals. due to anxiety about surveillance culture, activists created tools to counteract or obfuscate data (i.e., either by making white data noise or developing tor networks). these activities have resulted in conversations about the ethics around obfuscating data, which may obstruct data used to help communities. additionally, zer-aviv denotes a concern that particular communities will be at risk of surveillance because of a lack of digital literacy and access to tools to evade such activities. library and information science professionals can learn from these discussions to provide their stakeholders with the digital literacy training and understanding of how to navigate the intricacies with big data. keywords explored in this volume also unpacked who is considered an archivist as denoted in “hashtag archiving” by tara l. conley and “field” by shannon mattern. conley examines how researchers who conduct twitter research could be imagined as archivists, especially as they build a corpus of material to document a historical event based on a specific hashtag (i.e., #metoo, #blacklivesmatter, and #blackat[insertcollege/university]). mattern further explores what this means for geoscientists and geological curators who work with climate change information sources/data. they get their data from both the natural world (i.e., rocks, mud, tree rings, etc.) and computer models. mattern more than conley grapples with the implications of sustainability of such large data sets and its impact on the environment for preserving this information for the long-term. she cites archivist eira tansey, one of the information professionals concerned about the financial and environmental cost of data centers’ climatecontrolled storage of archival records. as an archivist, who works in the southeast coast of the u.s., i am acutely aware of the rising sea levels and the destructive nature of storms, such as hurricanes. the uncertainty that this brings every year can make it hard to plan and to be good stewards of collections. this volume aims and encourages us to lean into uncertainty about big data. thus, it does not strive to provide readers with the answers about how one should or should not engage with data, big or otherwise. instead, the authors want us to know the different elements and concepts that impact how we see ourselves and others in data and how external parties are using this. by doing so, readers can examine how diversity, equity, and inclusion can create new avenues in the world of big data. by embracing the uncertainty, we are free to imagine new ideas and concepts; and challenge/counter old ones. references ettarh, f. (2018). vocational awe and librarianship: the lies we tell ourselves. in the library with the lead pipe. https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocationalawe/ aaisha n. haykal (haykalan@cofc.edu) is the manager of archival services at the college of charleston’s avery research center for african american history and culture in charleston, 243 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/ https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/ mailto:haykalan@cofc.edu uncertain archives: critical keywords for big data the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36686 sc. in this position, she is responsible for collection development, public programming, instruction, reference, and administrative duties. she has been involved in several associations, including the society of american archivists (saa) and the association for the study of african american life and history (asalh). her research interests include african american history, digital preservation, censorship, and community archiving. she conducts workshops on preserving family histories, community archiving, and memory work. 244 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index references the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37027 the art of (data) storytelling: hip hop innovation and bringing a social justice mindset to data science and visualization brady d. lund, emporia state university, usa abstract the extent to which data visualizations are used, and the quality of these visualizations, has consistently been shown to influence human decision-making relative to static (non-visual) presentations of findings or ideas (boldosova & luoto, 2019; el-wakeel et al., 2020; liem et al., 2020). why are visualizations so impactful? likely because most decision-makers do not want to sort through spreadsheets or read a novel-length narrative to understand what is important—they want it straight and quick. they want color, novelty, storytelling, and interactivity (dykes, 2020; kostelnick, 2016; kosara & mackinley, 2013). this is the purpose of data storytelling: to literally tell a story about the data analyses to, in some way, impart knowledge or affect change among the audience. data and data analysis are never neutral—they are always political–and storytelling is how the data analyst can attempt to influence how data findings are perceived by the audience. this paper discusses the basis of data storytelling and why it is important for creating a narrative around data visualizations that compels readers and viewers to act upon findings. it then discusses (in the form of a reflective discussion) how the art of data storytelling may be improved and activated to promote social justice themes by reflecting on the effectiveness of storytelling in hip hop music. keywords: data science; data storytelling; hip hop; social justice; visualization publication type: literature review what is data storytelling? ata storytelling is the art of using language and communicative abilities to enhance traditional data visualizations (echeverria et al., 2018). simply providing visualizations like charts and tables is insufficient for most readers to adequately comprehend what information is being conveyed (knaflic, 2015). storytelling allows readers to connect to key findings at a deeper level by understanding where the data came from, why it is important, and what the visualizations indicate, even if the readers lack a true grasp of data literacy (the ability to interpret or understand data and data visualizations). from traditional storytelling—folklore, histories, and printed works—we know that the most compelling stories are not always about the most interesting topics (mccabe & peterson, 1984). many authors point to different “typologies” of stories that can be told about or with data. kelliher and slaney (2012) identify four types of data stories that can be told: those that inform (e.g., make or refute claims), those that explain (revealing deeper insights from the data), those that persuade (stress the importance of the findings), and those that entertain. d https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the art of (data) storytelling the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37027 32 davenport (2014), gray et al. (2012), kang (2015), and ojo and heravi (2017) note different ways in which these stories can be structured: to describe change over time, to compare and/or contrast big and small level concepts/findings, to explore intersections or profile outliers, to sort into categories, and to reflect or predict. together, these typologies reflect the basis of data storytelling. data storytelling bridges art and science while the analysis of large sets of data is certainly a science which requires specific management and statistical procedures and understandings about the nature of data, the process of sharing data findings with others is most certainly an art. it is a form of art for which actual awards are given. ojo and heravi (2017) examined characteristics of award-winning data storytelling in stories published between the years of 2013 and 2016. these “stories” were frequently designed to be interactive, involving many data visualizations along with narrative. there was no common technology used or structure behind the stories—there were many ways that authors achieved their desired outcome. one central commonality among these award-winning stories is what they accomplished: revealing some hidden, underlying, or conflicting information beyond what a superficial look at a chart or a news headline could communicate. the stories are journalistic in nature, as opposed to a technical report of findings. kelliher and slaney (2012) note that good stories include periods of both tension/conflict and relief and good data storytelling may too. data can present conflicts, for example: here is the problem, as illustrated in our analyses and solutions, and here is what we can expect, if we act in this way. as many people have experienced throughout their life, pairing illustrations and text is generally more effective for communicating a message than using either one in isolation (dykes, 2020). they say a picture is worth 1,000 words, but a picture paired with 1,000 words is worth 2,000 words. the narrative provides context and complements the data visualization, just as with a picture book, textbook, or atlas. data storytelling can reveal both positive and negative subtexts in the data data storytelling—in both visual and audio formats—not only benefits the storyteller in convincing the reader/listener but can also benefit that reader/listener by providing indications of hidden contexts or motives behind the data. any fan of true crime stories knows that the more you can get a suspect to talk, the more likely they are to say something they shouldn’t have said. aguirre jr. (2000) presents a narrative example of how storytelling can reveal systemic bias by using the lens of critical race theory to parse a conversation about a university’s hiring processes. in aguirre jr.’s example, a university offers a diversity opportunity targets “affirmative action” program that offers additional funding for exceptional minority faculty candidates. from a purely numbers-based perspective, this program can be made to seem highly beneficial for promoting campus diversity. the university can point to the number of candidates hired and the funds dedicated to the program. only when university administrators explain the story behind how the program works does the problematic bias become clear. when an exemplary minority application was received by a department, it was immediately forwarded for consideration as one of the diversity program hires, which, if selected, would essentially allow the department to add two new faculty members to their staff for the cost of one (aguirre jr., 2000). the problem was that when the departments forwarded the applications to the diversity program for consideration, they also removed the candidate from consideration https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the art of (data) storytelling the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37027 33 for the regular faculty position, using the justification that it was not fair for the minority candidate to receive consideration for two positions (the regular faculty position that they applied for, and the special diversity position that is funded by the university). essentially, this meant that the only minority hires for the entire university were those hired through this special program (aguirre jr., 2000). the program may boast five minority hires in a year (which seems good), but those five hires represent all minority hires for the university (which is not good). in practice, the program eliminates the opportunity to compete for an advertised faculty position and puts the blame on the diversity program if the minority candidate is not hired, alleviating blame on the department for not pursuing a more diverse faculty. while the data might look quite good, holes can be found that unveil problematic realities when the university begins to tell the story behind the program. this example highlights the reason why the story behind the data should not just be appreciated but expected. certainly, the use of narratives about the data can benefit the analysts by appealing to the emotions of the reader, but it also benefits the reader by revealing more context. narratives keep the “suspect” talking rather than just getting away with a line like “i was at my brother’s house.” this does not mean that storytelling will reveal all bias in every dataset. indeed, a good storyteller may even be able to cover-up bias with a compelling story. however, the more that is said about the data will likely be for the better, especially for those who lack familiarity with the data, or the analyses performed. this is the standard that most peer-reviewed publications hold their authors to when reporting the methodology for their studies, though the same standard is not always expected for other forms of data reporting. data storytelling in library and information science libraries frequently leverage data to demonstrate usage and other facets of library operations, though not always using storytelling to make this data fresh and appealing. lessick (2016) gives several examples of projects operating in medical libraries that capitalize on the power of data visualizations and infographics to organize data, such as dashboards on a library’s website that display the library’s usage statistics. several academic librarians have shown similar interests in using data visualizations and storytelling to make compelling arguments about academic library usage and resource allocation (magnuson, 2016; murphy, 2015). interest in learning analytics (data about learners and educational outcomes) has particularly grown in recent years, though there have been concerns raised about the ethics of such analyses (jantti & heath, 2016; jones & salo, 2018). the art of data storytelling, however, is presently a limited area of practice within librarianship. data science itself is still a young field, though it is rapidly gaining interest among library and information science researchers, as is evident from the rapid growth in the number of data science publications in lis journals (marchionini, 2016; virkus & garoufallou, 2019). there is likely still a misguided adherence to data and data analysis as an objective science among many library professionals and lis researchers, owing perhaps, in part, to a general lack of a data literacy among these groups of individuals. librarians also may not see storytelling as a major part of their professional role—yet if they work with data of any kind, from organizational data (e.g., patron statistics, financial, subscriptions) to research data, they are engaged in some form of storytelling about that data. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the art of (data) storytelling the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37027 34 an example of contrasting data narratives in library and information science as discussed previously, there are always multiple, often contrasting, stories that can be told with a set of data. imagine an individual is a member of an editorial board of a major librarianship journal, tasked with analyzing the authorship of the journal over the past two decades and identifying potential priorities for soliciting new submissions, expanding the editorial board, and more. figure 1 is a chart they may have created to display the gender of authors in each volume, based on an author survey (this is fictional data used for illustrative purposes). figure 1. example of a basic data visualization–women authors if only the solid lines (percent women authors in this journal and percent for other lis journals) are shown, it appears that this journal is doing a good job at recruiting women authors relative to other journals. however, the dashed line shows that, relative to the gender composition within the profession, the journal is doing quite poorly in this area—certainly nothing about which to brag. there is no doubt that as information organizations become increasingly data-driven, certain narratives will emerge above others due to systemic inequities among those who are working with the data. would a white male analyst be more likely to omit the dashed line and focus on how well the journal is doing compared to its peers? should a white male be doing an analysis about women authorship? are there even more ways to break down and compare data in this visualization that i, as the author of this article and a white male, am not thinking about? for instance, since “women” is a very diverse group, does it make sense to present this statistic in its amalgamated form? these are questions that members on the editorial board could ask when deciding who should perform the analysis. similarly, if a library is analyzing data about usage among different 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 20012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020 pe rc en t of a ut ho rs year percent women authors percent women in librarianship other lis journals https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the art of (data) storytelling the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37027 35 demographic populations, should the three white men who are most interested in statistics be the team in charge of analysis, or should diversity be prioritized even if it means a sharper learning curve on data/statistics for some members of the team? again, data analysis/storytelling is not a neutral art. researchers with experience in theory-informed quantitative studies may understand that there are rarely any definitive answers or perfect alignments, but the public often accepts statistics and discussion of their significance as objective facts (durand et al., 2020). the previous example emphasizes why that acceptance can be so problematic. a good storyteller, or group of storytellers, with a mind towards uncovering biases to whatever extent they exist in the data, is necessary to break from patterns of systematic (if possibly unconscious) oppression. the talent of master storytellers in hip hop music (below) may provide a guide to how personal narratives, social justice themes, and repetition can produce powerful data stories. the translation of this approach to data analysis may help further unveil biases that are baked into research organizations and have traditionally been overlooked during organizational assessments and planning. data and hip hop: telling a compelling story and acknowledging biases “storytelling distinguishes rap from other forms of popular music” (bradley, 2009, p. 157). the art of storytelling like with kelliher and slaney’s (2012) classifications of data storytelling, hip hop music can also be seen as telling different types of stories: those that inform, those that explain, those that persuade, and those that entertain. to a reader who does not listen to much hip hop music other than what is played on pop radio stations, it may seem like most every song is mainly meant to entertain. certainly, all songs intend to entertain to some extent, but most also have another motive. they tell real stories about the rapper’s life that are meant to have some genuine impact on the listener. from these stories, we can learn a lot about what makes storytellers (whether data storytellers or rappers) successful in appealing to audiences and communicating effective messages that can challenge listener biases. many great hip hop songs are designed as narratives about “street life”, informing the listener about the harsh life of working low-end jobs, growing up with little parental oversight, or resorting to a life of drug dealing. the notorious b.i.g.’s (aka biggie smalls) “everyday struggle” is simultaneously gritty and beautiful, with the lyrics focusing on the real life of a drug kingpin over a track that samples dave grusin’s “either way”. the lyrics portray biggie as an unenviable figure who struggles to make ends meet while raising his child, is constantly looked down upon by society, and lacks meaningful relationships. the hook sums up biggie’s feelings about his experiences: “i don’t wanna live no more / sometimes i hear death knockin’ at my front door / i’m livin’ everyday like a hustle, another drug to juggle / another day, another struggle” (wallace, 1994, track 11). the “beauty” of this track is that it does not attempt to clean things up. instead, it is determined to communicate the unabashed reality—even though this does significantly limit the likelihood that the track would receive radio airplay. biggie’s raw style of telling things as they were without embellishment catapulted him into prominence and helped promote what peterson (2007) calls a “paradigm shift” in hip hop music, which at the time had been dominated by the west coast hip hop scene. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the art of (data) storytelling the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37027 36 kendrick lamar has received constant criticism from the conservative and christian right within the united states for his lyrics, which he references by playing a sample of geraldo rivera’s criticism of kendrick’s 2015 album— “this is why i say that hip hop has done more damage to young african americans than racism in recent years”—in his 2017 hit single “dna” (track 2). however, kendrick’s message throughout his work encourages pride in black culture, rather than violence against one another, and reflects his own christian beliefs, which he references in virtually every track. in “how much a dollar cost” (a track which then-president obama named among his favorite of 2015), kendrick tells a story of greed and lack of empathy for a homeless man who begs him for money. when the homeless man quotes the bible (exodus 14) it causes kendrick to reflect on the power and obligation one man has for leading the sick, scared, and oppressed away from suffering. kendrick feels regret and remorse and begs for forgiveness, at which point the homeless man reveals himself to be god. the final verse of the song ends: he looked at me and said, “know the truth, it’ll set you free. you’re looking at the messiah, the son of jehovah, the higher power, the choir that spoke the word, the holy spirit, the nerve of nazareth, and i’ll tell you just how much a dollar cost, the price of having a spot in heaven, embrace your loss—i am god.” (duckworth, 2015, track 11) the beauty of this song is that it can speak to everyone in different ways—like a bible verse of its own. given the oppression that kendrick speaks of in the rest of the album, he deserves no guilt himself and yet he feels it and speaks to it. as a white person who listens to this track within the context of the entire album, it is hard not to think that kendrick is speaking directly to you—not necessarily about literal dollars, but of the debt that we, as privileged as we are in society, owe to those who were made to be less fortunate through birth circumstances rather than the merits of their works. kendrick’s tracks blend black cultural philosophy, christian philosophy, and postmodern philosophy with his brand of lyrical poetry in a way that most doctorates and professional poets would not be capable. this track plays on your own innate biases as a listener through the art of the slow reveal. certainly, you could include a line in a song saying that “greed is sinful” or (in the case of data visualizations) show a chart that depicts how many homeless people go hungry on a given day, but it is through discovering their own biases as well as forging an emotional connection with the “bum” that the message really comes across to the listener. if you listen to “how much a dollar cost” and then read that millions of u.s. children and adults go hungry each day, you feel a lot worse about foregoing a donation to charity in favor of upgrading your own combo meal. genuine storytelling chiles, stevens, and stewart (2019) discuss how the rhyming and storytelling characteristics of hip hop music helped them to learn and teach multiplication tables, overcome stuttering, and teach cross-culturalism and social issues. what elements make hip hop such a beneficial educational tool for them? there are several: repetitive patterns of key points (e.g., the hook or chorus of a song), emotional and experiential genuineness (e.g., the inclusion of explicit language as a powerful tool for the rapper to demonstrate that they will not allow their genuine thoughts to be censored), and cultural references (these can date tracks over time, but in the moment present important points of social connection) (mcleod, 1999; perry, 2004; rudrow, 2020). one of the undervalued elements behind the success of hip hop music is its appeal to a shared set of values. commonly, in this music, the values may relate to religion (e.g., the music of https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the art of (data) storytelling the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37027 37 kendrick lamar), or racial equity (miller et al., 2014). in data storytelling, the shared values may be those of the analyst and readers/viewers (e.g., library and information professionals). in hip hop music, these values are carefully woven into the storytelling through language choice and social-cultural references. when biggie smalls says in “everyday struggle,” “i know how it feels to wake up, fucked up. pockets broke as hell…,” he is relating to an experience shared by many of his listeners. he is using a shared vocabulary with colloquial terms/phrases (e.g., “pockets broke as hell”) and shared beliefs (e.g., that you should go get “your” money). when kendrick lamar says, “the price of having a spot in heaven, embrace your loss,” he is referencing a shared belief in god and divine retribution to make a point about the earthly act of selfishness. the effectiveness of hip hop music in achieving this social and emotional connection has not gone unnoticed. several studies have illustrated the power of social and emotional connections, as hip hop music has been successfully used as an element in therapy and diversity training (baszile, 2009; levy, 2019; levy & keum, 2014). emotional appeals (ranging from anger and fear to excitement and empathy) are already known by marketing researchers to be effective tools for gaining customers and attaining loyalty (achar et al., 2016; kemp et al., 2013; zhang et al., 2014). these appeals are also popular in politics (dowding, 2016). populist politicians are known to exploit emotions of anger for political gain (ost, 2004; widmann, 2021). so, it should be of little surprise that emotional appeals can play a major role in the effectiveness of data storytelling as well (kostelnick, 2016; kim, 2019). hip hop music has arguably mastered the art of the emotional appeal, with jonas (2021) even showing that product placement in rap songs improves listeners’ opinions of the products/brands as a sort of transitive effect. it is an acknowledged objection of the status quo, room for new, authentic voices and (true to postmodern epistemology) voices and perspectives that have traditionally been suppressed, and social connection between the rapper and the listener that may produce an emotional connection between the two (kitwana, 2005; morgan, 2016). the challenge and essence of hip hop storytelling for data storytelling all forms of storytelling are reduceable to a shared set of components. storytelling is subjective and political, and its effectiveness is heavily influenced by the use of language and emotion. this means that the person telling the story can influence every aspect of the narrative. if one wants to take an emancipatory rather than self-serving approach, it is worthwhile to study the approaches of those who master storytelling. this study can include literature, such as the work of alice walker and caroline perez, but it can also include nontraditional forms of storytelling, like rap and hip hop music. hip hop music has always pushed back against the notion that there is only one narrative worth hearing. for nearly five decades, hip hop has been instrumental in fighting misperceptions about an entire population of young storytellers, particularly those from traditionally marginalized populations. it has challenged how we define music itself. the idea of taking a hip hop approach to data storytelling, or scholarly publishing and criticism (as outlined in the example above), could thus be highly controversial, just as hip hop music itself has been. however, the very fact that such an approach is controversial underscores why it is so important. if something was inconsequential to the status-quo, then no one would waste their time opposing it. too often, those overseeing the production and interpretation of data are influenced by the “traditional” ways of storytelling, as defined by editorial boards and reviewers of scholarly journals or managers at a workplace, all of which skew—both historically and in the present day— to a white, male, and eurocentric view. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the art of (data) storytelling the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37027 38 conclusion the power of data to inform and persuade audiences is limited by the extent to which the audience understands and is engaged with the data. this is why the capacity of data storytelling to weave a cohesive and moving narrative is so important. looking to the masters of the art of storytelling may inform new ways of crafting data narratives. when looking at the master storytellers in hip hop, one can see clearly how emotional appeals, social connections, social justice, and radical change can be intertwined into data storytelling to push narratives beyond simple bulleted lists of points. analysts and storytellers may apply a personal framework to dig deeper into social inequities evident in the data they analyze, as opposed to looking at data visualization and interpretation as politically neutral. while data itself may be neutral, the interpretation of data never is. positionality disclosure this essay presents the perspective of a single author who is actively involved in the field of data studies/storytelling and regularly finds influence from the storytelling of hip hop music. as with hip hop music itself, this essay represents the author’s own experiences and interpretations, which may vary from the experiences of others (including the references to tracks with explicit content or allusions to the abrahamic conception of god). with so much hip hop music in existence, it is possible to find tracks that can serve as examples or supporting evidence for a wide range of ethical, cultural, and storytelling perspectives. the few examples in the paper were selected to support the particular perspective presented, but hip hop is a very diverse art form. the purpose of this essay, in keeping with the theme of this special issue, is to explore what relevance hip hop storytelling may have to data storytelling (within the domain of information science). further works may explore more broadly the importance of a social justice mindset in data storytelling, but the purpose of this essay and the special issue is to specifically examine the potential influence of hip hop. references achar, c., so, j., agrawal, n., & duhachek, a. 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(2021). labor force statistics from the current population survey. retrieved from https://bls.gov/ops/opsaat11.atm virkus, s., & garoufallou, e. (2019). data science from a library and information science perspective. data technologies and applications, 53(4), 422441. https://doi.org/10.1108/dta-05-2019-0076 wallace, c. (1994). everyday struggle [song]. on ready to die [album]. bad boy records. widmann, t. (2021). how emotional are populists really? factors explaining emotional appeals in the communication of political parties. political psychology, 42(1), 163-181. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12693 zhang, h., sun, j., liu, f., & knight, j. (2014). be rational or be emotional: advertising appeals, service types and consumer responses. european journal of marketing, 48(11/12), 2105-2126. https://doi.org/10.1108/ejm-10-2012-0613 brady lund (blund2@g.emporia.edu) a phd candidate at emporia state university’s school of library and information management. his research interests include information behavior, data science and quantitative analysis, and scholarly communications and scientometrics. his work has been featured in many lis journals, including the journal of the association for information science and technology, the library quarterly, journal of documentation, and library and information science research. more information about brady’s work can be found on his researchgate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/brady-lund. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2015.1121569 https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2017.1403291 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1368431004041753 https://doi.org/10.1080/15295036.2020.1741660 https://bls.gov/ops/opsaat11.atm https://doi.org/10.1108/dta-05-2019-0076 https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12693 https://doi.org/10.1108/ejm-10-2012-0613 mailto:blund2@g.emporia.edu https://www.researchgate.net/profile/brady-lund what is data storytelling? data storytelling bridges art and science data storytelling can reveal both positive and negative subtexts in the data data storytelling in library and information science an example of contrasting data narratives in library and information science data and hip hop: telling a compelling story and acknowledging biases the art of storytelling genuine storytelling the challenge and essence of hip hop storytelling for data storytelling conclusion positionality disclosure references the power of hip hop and the library: narrative, echoing the global in the local, and connection the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37116 the power of hip hop and the library: narrative, echoing the global in the local, and connection ralph mcdaniels, queens public library, usa jill anderson, queens public library, usa kim mcneil capers, queens public library, usa abstract queens public library (new york, usa) has presented a variety of hip hop programs and worked with many hip hop artists and entrepreneurs. a holistic examination of the library's hip hop programs and partnerships illustrates a model for analyzing hip hop itself. the authors are calling the three components of this new model: 1) narrative, 2) the global local echo, and 3) connection. this article explains this new model in more detail, using examples from queens public library. keywords: education; global; hip hop; library programming; queens (n.y.) publication type: report from the field introduction amously, hip hop began in the government-neglected neighborhoods of the bronx, new york city. from there, it quickly spread throughout new york city, including into queens, new york (cramer & hallett, 2021). because of the popularity of hip hop music, pop culture often discusses hip hop culture as if it only encompasses the music (rabaka, 2012). however, hip hop was always about more than the music (rose, 1994). there were four original elements of hip hop: break-dancing, djing, graffiti art, and rapping (buffington & day, 2019). a fifth element was added by one of the originators of american hip hop, afrika bambaataa, as hip hop culture continued: knowledge (de paor-evans, 2018). historically, these elements cross-fertilized and fueled each other based on shared local experience and similar approaches to sound, motion, communication, and style (rose, 1994).1 currently, there are other valid inclusions under the umbrella of hip hop, including fashion (rabaka, 2012). our article builds on this rich tradition of exploring the value and complexities of hip hop beyond the music, by presenting three new themes in relation to queens public library hip hop programming: narrative, the global-local echo, and connection. our intent is to demonstrate the multi-faceted nature of hip hop along the themes of narrative, the global-local echo, and connection. thinking about hip hop in this way came naturally to us when we examined the library’s history of hip hop programs. using these themes also allows us to think of new hip hop programming in creative ways and to conceptualize the richness that is hip hop in a fresh way. f https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the power of hip hop and the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37116 53 literature review as part of our literature review, we read and consulted a variety of texts about hip hop in academia, learning, and libraries. we also examined texts describing the history and core components of hip hop, along with academic texts writing about contemporary hip hop issues. when conducting the review, we focused mainly on more recent writings. there are classic texts, of course, such as the rap attack: african jive to new york hip hop by david toop (1984) and black noise: rap music and black culture in contemporary america by tricia rose (1994), but we wanted to concentrate on more recent writings and the contemporary scholarly conversation in our literature review. we do cite appropriate older texts throughout. here is a sample of some of the articles we reviewed. there were several articles about using hip hop in education and as a learning pedagogy. these articles gave examples (villanueva, 2020; kelly, 2020) and critique (buffington & day, 2018; low, 2011). several articles discussed various aspects of the global nature of hip hop (lee, 2012; dennis, 2011; illescas reinoso & acosta damas, 2020; harris, 2019) and one article discussed the national spread of rapping in the u.s. (cramer & hallett, 2012). there were a few articles critiquing hip hop more generally (de paor-evans, 2018), including an extremely well-researched book chapter from rabaka (2012). we also discovered articles which critique certain aspects of hip hop, including jay-z’s and the music industry’s commodification of a ghetto identity (oates, 2020) and the book yes yes y’all, which presents hip hop as a phoenix rising out of the ashes of the bronx’s gang culture (aprahamian, 2019). we consulted two articles that discussed hip hop specifically in a library setting. dando (2020) explores hip hop culture and maker spaces. dando notes that maker spaces do not always support or engage historically marginalized communities. the paper documents a series created by a local public library to engage with community youth in the maker space. the maker series used two “hip hop-centered generative practices”: beat-making and graffiti writing. dando reflects on and documents the outcomes of using the hip hop practices in the maker space. the second article, from williams & stover (2019), presents the origins of a spoken word poetry series presented in an academic library. the article notes that academic libraries are growing more diverse. in reaction to this diversity, williams wanted to present hip hop spoken word programming at the library. the article details the initial resistance that williams met from the dean of the library, stover. after some convincing, stover condoned the program, and it is now an integral tradition at the library. one hurdle described by the article is the fear of noise complaints, which, as described below, is a fear sometimes encountered by our hip hop coordinator. statement of purpose this article describes three newly-defined themes of hip hop culture that we have identified and that are demonstrated using illustrations from queens public library. our aim was to present concrete examples of hip hop’s potential within a public library. we present a model of our three elements of hip hop and our illustrations. we created this model in response to our longitudinal analysis of our library’s hip hop programming. the model, which is a natural fit for our library’s hip hop programming, also allows for a novel way of looking at hip hop itself. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the power of hip hop and the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37116 54 model as library staff who work within a public library department that includes a hip hop coordinator, ralph mcdaniels, we wanted to showcase the ways that our public library can promote and support hip hop and the ways that hip hop can support and promote the public library. we started our hip hop programming and made hip hop a focus of the library because of a belief that hip hop is a cultural force and without it the library would not be responding to the needs or interests of our patrons. although we did not have a pattern or overarching goal as we created our hip hop programs, we realize now that our hip hop program selections illuminated some things about hip hop itself. we were able to coalesce our programs into three overarching concepts: narrative, the global-local echo, and connection. as explained below, each of these concepts demonstrates something particular about hip hop, especially hip hop as presented by the queens public library. narrative our article explores the theme of “narrative” through the lens of hip hop. hip hop and narrative strengthen each other, change each other, and stand independent of each other. we discovered four main concepts within our theme of narrative: hip hop is narrative, using hip hop to narrate, changing the narrative of what libraries can do, and animating the narrative of hip hop. hip hop is narrative although hip hop can be described as a cultural force, it is narrative. hip hop has been and continues to be a space for narrative; as miller et al. (2013) states, “hip hop remains a sustained voice for many and a space and place to express oneself in a manner that is both contextualized and legitimate” (p. 6). possibly the most salient example of this is rapping. although every facet of hip hop can be viewed as narrative, rapping often involves words and phrases, and is therefore an easy avenue to express a narrative. by the same token, rapping is speech. rapping deserves the same recognition for being a verbal force as other forms of speech, including poetry, prose and political propaganda. additionally, rapping can, and does, tell various types of narratives, ranging from the emotional with dmx (example: “do you hear what i tell you? understand what you hear / don’t let nobody tell you, what to hope and to fear” from 1998) to the political with public enemy (example: “but i be knowin’ the scheme that of the president / tappin’ my phone whose crews abused / i stand accused of doing harm / ‘cause i’m louder than a bomb” from 1988). at the library, we use hip hop as a way to raise voices. some examples include our open mic nights. at our open mic nights, the library opens our space to rappers, singers, and poets and we invite them to perform their works. we promote the events to everyone; generally, the age of participants is between 12 and 35 years. we attempt to create an inclusive atmosphere by encouraging cheering for the participants and performing in languages other than english. our events have an average of 20 performers and 75 audience members. another library program that focuses on the narrative capacity of hip hop is our teen podcast. this program encourages narrative using rapping and djing. the teen podcast began in 2016 and is recorded at two library locations. the podcasts are often teen led, with the participants creating the concepts for the podcasts. we have brought in special guests occasionally, including local hip hop personalities. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the power of hip hop and the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37116 55 using hip hop to narrate hip hop can be used as a tool to narrate an idea or a story. hip hop can be part of a culturally relevant pedagogy that teaches in a more effective way than a “eurocentric curriculum” (buffington & day, 2018, p. 3). as explained by del hierro (2018), “hip hop has learned to engage across communities through recognition of similar nodes of meaning making interpreted through local expressions” (p. 2). another way to express del hierro’s idea is that hip hop was and continues to be a communication style that deliberately uses the language of its listeners. at the library, we have employed this aspect of hip hop in our programming. an example of this concept was the library’s book talk with daymond john, of the television show shark tank and the fashion brand fubu, for us, by us. this talk used the hip hop aspect of entrepreneurship to narrate daymond john’s life story and hear his advice about business. john provided a 60-minute lecture to hundreds of participants, along with a book signing. this event was promoted to students at a local college. not only does this event showcase hip hop’s power to narrate, but it also demonstrates that hip hop is about more than the music and involves concepts of entrepreneurship and lifestyle. another library program used rapping and djing to explain math concepts. the dj and producer, large professor, illustrated math concepts by focusing on the fact that music and rap is often measured by bars. dozens of young people created music and rapped over beats during this program. we also used hip hop to encourage community members to take the 2020 census. two of our library branches hosted the hip hop radio personalities fred buggs and chuck chillout, who promoted the importance of being counted and community representation. changing the narrative of what libraries can do when library hip hop coordinator ralph mcdaniels began to coordinate hip hop programs at the library, he was sometimes met with confusion. people could understand the concept of using hip hop as a tool to convey other information (“using hip hop to narrate”), but some could not understand the purpose of a library program presenting or celebrating hip hop, without some other goal. as explained by mcdaniels, the confusion often arose from perceptions of hip hop events drawing large and rowdy crowds. mcdaniels has contended with the narrative that public libraries should be a quiet and orderly place. however, library employees and library administration have become supportive of hip hop programming as mcdaniels has asserted that hip hop programs “belong” at the library. an interesting junction that mcdaniels has made between libraries and the rapping component of hip hop is libraries’ historical connection with words. mcdaniels points out that libraries have historically been connected with books and words. from that perspective, rapping is a natural fit with a library, because of rap’s high word count and the value put on verbal prowess. according to listener-created research, such as this chart found on reddit (textureflow, 2018), rap has the highest word count of any music genre. libraries, in their role as stewards of the word, can protect and promote hip hop and rap. as the library’s commitment to hip hop programming has endured, we are changing the narrative of what a library can be. we are changing the aesthetics of “the library.” this does not escape the notice of library patrons, who often comment on the fact that queens public library is playing the music that they want to hear and presenting programs that they want to attend. the changing narrative of the library has not been confined to simply queens public library. mcdaniels and https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the power of hip hop and the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37116 56 others have taken this concept to the larger library world. we attend library conferences; partner with library organizations, such as the black caucus of the american library association; and instruct master’s in library studies students on the power of hip hop. animating the narrative of hip hop cultural institutions, such as public libraries, are ideally suited to ingest hip hop stories, histories, and narratives and present them in a new or more accurate way. the american library association (2019) delineates some of the core values of librarianship, including access, education, lifelong learning, and preservation. libraries can further these values with a specific focus on hip hop. in fact, hip hop has moved beyond popular and into ubiquitous. “musically and culturally, the art form dominates streaming services and festival lineups; television commercials and feature films; social discourse and social media” (phillips, 2019). a cultural phenomenon this far-reaching has an impact and telling the story of hip hop and its timeline by archiving the genre and its roots in queens is important to the community. specifically at queens public library, we have attempted to provide information and to support and promote efforts at archiving and cataloging the hip hop record. hip hop, including rap, has become a globally popular creative endeavor. the library promotes the accessibility and archiving of hip hop’s local connection with queens in its programming. for example, we provided a queens “hip hop pioneers” photo exhibition of over 100 hip hop-related people from queens. this program told the story of over 40 years of hip hop in queens. an example of encouraging new perspectives in classifying and archiving that has been done by queens public library from an archiving and classifying angle is the library’s book talk with clover hope. hope is the author of the motherlode: 100+ women who made hip-hop (2021). in this book, hope has done the work of researching and categorizing one aspect of hip hop: women creators. as libraries, we can support and promote this schematic and classification work. queens public library hosted a book talk with hope and made a deliberate effort to purchase and stock her book. another example of this type of classic “library work” being used to further the exploration of hip hop is the library’s involvement with the sculpture “a cypher in queens.” “a cypher in queens,” created by artist sherwin banfield, uses three-dimensional art to document and illuminate three hip hop icons from queens, new york: jam master jay, phife dawg, and prodigy. the sculptures also included an audio output jack, to stream the audio components of the art pieces. according to the artist, the sculptures could be experienced “sonically with acoustics spruced from playlists, streaming services or even the expressive participation of the viewer/audience” (banfield, n.d.). the library used its position as a public space and an institution of access and archiving to promote banfield’s sculpture. the central branch of the library hosted the sculpture for six months, and mcdaniels created programming involving the sculpture. the global-local echo hip hop is multicultural. currently, hip hop has spread throughout the globe. the origins of hip hop were also multicultural, although there are different perspectives surrounding the precise nature of the cultural origin of hip hop. some argue that hip hop did not begin in bronx, new york, but instead has its origins in the african diaspora (harris, 2019). for example, lee, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the power of hip hop and the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37116 57 citing smitherman, noted that “‘rap music is rooted in the black oral tradition of tonal semantics, narrativizing, signification/signifyin, the dozens/playin the dozens, africanized syntax, and other communicative practices and the rapper is ‘a postmodern african griot’” (lee, 2012, p. 142). however, from the perspective of the latinx and black people (and white people as was often the case with graffiti) in new york city in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including our author ralph mcdaniels, hip hop felt like an extremely local phenomenon that was gaining national and global traction. the interplay between these two ideas is captured by rose who argued that hip hop, although “propelled by afro-diasporic traditions”, was specifically linked to “urban deindustrialization in the 1970s, the post-industrial urban landscape in the 1980s, and their impact on african american urban communities” (1994, p. 25). whether the exact origins of hip hop are the african diaspora, or the potent conditions found in the bronx in the 1970s, it is currently a global and multicultural force. further, there is something particular to queens-made hip hop because of what we are calling the global-local echo. the echo encompasses the reflective nature of “place” in hip hop, especially new york city hip hop and hip hop as presented by queens public library. as stated by rose in 1994, “[i]dentity in hip hop is deeply rooted in the specific, the local experience, and one’s attachment to and status in a local group or alternative family” (p. 34). hip hop as we know it began in the bronx, new york city, where it quickly spread to queens (cramer & hallett, 2021, pp. 261-62). after spreading through new york city, hip hop became a global phenomenon. queens is the most culturally diverse, heavily populated county in america (gamio, 2019). accordingly, the queens local experience is a culturally diverse experience and queens hip hop reflects (echoes) the global nature of hip hop, which itself echoes the hip hop culture of queens, new york. we use the term “echo” to reinforce the multi-cultural dimensions of both queens and hip hop. culture in queens can echo the diverse nature of global hip hop, because of queens’s identity as one of the most diverse regions on the planet, while hip hop is able to echo the multiculturalism of queens because of its status as a popular cultural creation with a global position. this global-local plurality is exemplified in our hip hop programming. providing library programs that embrace cultural backgrounds can increase community engagement, similar to how culturally responsive teaching can increase student engagement. citing ladson-billing’s (1994) research, cowden et al. (2021) posit that library services that incorporate cultural references provide a “bridge from patrons’ experiences to the mainstream culture and validate their ethnic backgrounds and life experiences” (p. 233). for example, queens library hosted a latin hip hop program in corona, a neighborhood where 63% of the population self-identified as hispanic on the 2010 census (u.s. census bureau, 2010). this was a 24-hour program with music and other arts presented predominantly in spanish. another example is the library’s filipino-style dinner and mixtape event in our flushing neighborhood branch. at this event, the library presented local dj neil armstrong, who came to global prominence when he dj’d for jay-z on tour from 2008 to 2010. armstrong wanted to present his hip hop-filipino culture through music and food. he presented a music mix while the library hosted a chef who served traditional filipino cuisine. another example of this global-local echo is mcdaniels’s work as hip hop coordinator with sotheby’s auction house. sotheby’s hosted its first hip hop auction in october 2020. this auction was a recognition of the global importance of hip hop culture. sotheby’s reached out to mcdaniels for his involvement and dedicated a portion of the auction’s proceeds to the library’s hip hop program. sotheby’s recognized mcdaniels’s role in the global history of hip hop as co-creator of https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the power of hip hop and the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37116 58 video music box. however, mcdaniels also has a local role as the hip hop coordinator within queens public library, a foundational local institution. connection queens public library has long recognized hip hop’s ability to connect with the community: we have been creating hip hop programs for years and we created a dedicated hip hop coordinator position, with staff support (kern-jedrychowska, 2015). most hip hop programs give the library the opportunity to engage with our community. at queens library, hip hop programs draw large crowds, often of people who would not otherwise visit the library. additionally, mcdaniels has observed that hip hop fans can be a “built-in” audience of loyal and interested program participants. mcdaniels and other library staff have observed that someone might participate in a hip hop program after being absent from the library for many years. hip hop programming can be a strong anchor tying the library to our community. the library utilized this connection during its “31 days of non-stop hip hop” series. during this program, we provided an immediate hip hop connection with our patrons: when they called the library with information, they were greeted with the voice of dj g money and hip hop background music. hip hop’s power to connect is particularly potent at the public library, where programming is almost universally free and open to everyone. anyone, from any background, is welcome to hip hop programs presented by the library. there is a long history of hip hop having a spirit of connection and “collective space where contemporary issues … are worked through” (rose, 1994, p. 59). this connection and collectivity extend to those in the population who are not always represented in the wider culture, including youth and economically marginalized groups (rose, 1994). we connected with our hip hop community through a 2017 initiative, in which we scheduled hip hop programs in most of our library locations to welcome new customers to the library. we wanted to blanket the library system in a multitude of hip hop programs. these programs included: • our “i have a dream” series, which focused on hip hop entrepreneurs • our “hip hop in the afternoon” series, which provided old-school hip hop music spun by local djs • the queens hip hop pioneers photo exhibit mentioned above • an art of graffiti class • hip hop workout classes, including yoga • hip hop health programming • “the pain is real”, hosted by hip hop artist roxanne shante in a discussion about heartbreak • book talks with love & hip hop’s yandy smith • beat-making workshops https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the power of hip hop and the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37116 59 • hip hop music concerts • a mass incarceration panel discussion with maxwell melvins, founder of the lifers group • open mic nights • “hip hop build, make and remix” maker workshops one salient example of hip hop’s ability to connect with the community is when the library hosted dj chuck chillout at our local prison. the weekend after his program, he gave shout outs on his new york city radio program to all the men who requested. hip hop can be a safe space for people who create. library hip hop programs foster this safe space and allow for connection with a wider segment of our community. as described by miller et al. (2013), hip hop is “a place where both marginal and mainstream voices can be heard and flourish” (p. 6). one example of this safe space is the hip hop panel that the library hosted during women’s history month in 2019. this discussion and panel honored over 20 women in hip hop. the panel of women involved in the program discussed their careers and the challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated field. the panelists emphasized equal rights and their perception of shady business practices by their male peers in corporate america. the power of hip hop music to connect was highlighted during the pandemic brought on by covid-19. the library closed all its physical locations in march 2020. one of the library’s first virtual programs was our dj series. hip hop programs were one of the first activities that the public saw from queens public library during the first days of the pandemic. the library hosts two of these instagram programs per week. as part of these programs, queens public library and mcdaniels worked with community partners to forge connections and to show the world, and ourselves, that queens was still surviving. we wanted to use this hip hop programming to showcase what services and assistance were still being offered, to create joy and routine in our listeners, and to create a sense of community within queens along with a connection to the global, virtual world. mcdaniels wanted to connect the library to the community in real time, while staying relevant and accessible. the direct spontaneity of live programming signals to our community that the library is accessible and active during the pandemic. mcdaniels felt there was something special about live programming, especially in the early days of the pandemic when the news was confusing and sometimes contradictory, and when so many people were experiencing their world only through pre-recorded messages. even though our buildings were closed, the library could still be there in real time discussing the community’s concerns and playing music to ease everyone’s fears. connecting to the community was reflected throughout hip hop culture during the pandemic. for example, dj d-nice, winner of the 2020 naacp image award, created his "club quarantine" virtual dj sets early in the pandemic. these dj sets provided unity and connection for the community (meara, 2021). conclusion hip hop and public libraries can be robust partners. queens public library has presented dozens of hip hop programs and initiatives, as described in this article. when we analyzed our programming longitudinally, we realized that it fit a model of hip hop and its elements. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the power of hip hop and the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37116 60 after looking at previous scholarship and analyzing our own programs and themes, we decided to put forth a model of hip hop as described above. these hip hop elements of narrative, the global-local echo, and connection can be used to describe hip hop and our hip hop programming and can also be thought of as assets for both libraries and hip hop. using the model of hip hop as narrative, the global-local echo, and connection illuminates connections within hip hop programming at public libraries and within hip hop itself. in the future, and partly as a response to the covid-19 pandemic, we will be providing more of our hip hop programs online and virtually. we think this will only entrench deeper the elements of narrative, the global-local echo, and connection. we invite other libraries to use our model to think about their own hip hop community and how the library and library programs might fit into it. acknowledgements we would like to thank our colleague nili ness for the editorial and conceptual support that she provided in the creation of this article. endnotes 1 in rose’s discussion of hip hop, she does not distinguish between rapping and djing as singular elements, and she does include an explicit discussion of knowledge as an element. references american library association. (2019, january). core values of librarianship. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/corevalues aprahamian, s. (2019). hip-hop, gangs, and the criminalization of african american culture: a critical appraisal of yes yes y’all. journal of black studies, 50(3), 298-315. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934719833396 banfield, s. (n.d.). a cypher in queens: hip hop sonic sculptures. sherwin banfield. https://www.sherwinbanfield.com/a-cypher-in-queens buffington, m. l., & day, j. (2018). hip hop pedagogy as culturally sustaining pedagogy. arts, 7(4), 97. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts7040097 cowden, c., seaman, p., copeland, s., & gao, l. (2021). teaching with intent: applying culturally responsive teaching to library instruction. portal: libraries and the academy, 21(2), 231-251. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2021.0014 cramer, j., & hallett, j. (2021). from chi-town to the dirty-dirty: regional identity markers in us hip hop. in m. terkourafi (ed.), the languages of global hip hop (pp. 256-276). bloomsbury publishing. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/corevalues https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934719833396 https://www.sherwinbanfield.com/a-cypher-in-queens https://doi.org/10.3390/arts7040097 https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2021.0014 the power of hip hop and the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37116 61 dando, m. (2020). re-mixing making: examining the intersections of hip hop culture, maker spaces, and social justice education. the international journal of critical media literacy, 2(1), 83-102. https://doi.org/10.1163/25900110-00201005 de paor-evans, a. (2018). the intertextuality and translations of fine art and class in hip-hop culture. arts, 7(4), 08. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts7040080 del hierro, v. (2018). djs, playlists, and community: imagining communication design through hip hop. communication design quarterly, 7(2), 28-39. https://doi.org/10.1145/3358931.3358936 dennis, c. (2011). afro-columbian hip-hop: globalization, transcultural music, and ethnic identities. lexington books. dmx. (1998). no love 4 me [song]. on flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood [album]. ruff riders & def jam. gamio, l. (2019). where america’s diversity is increasing the fastest. axios. https://www.axios.com/2019/07/04/where-americas-diversity-is-increasing-thefastest harris, t. (2019). can it be bigger than hip hop? from global hip hop studies to hip hop. [special issue: if i ruled the world: putting hip hop on the atlas]. journal of hip hop studies, 6(2), 17-70. https://doi.org/10.34718/27nk-bx98 hope, c. (2021). the motherlode: 100+ women who made hip-hop. abrams books. illescas reinoso, d., & acosta damas, m. (2020). hip hop in cuenca. cultural expressions, elements and identities. technium social sciences journal, 8, 171-178. kelly, l. l. (2020). listening differently: youth self-actualization through critical hip hop literacies. english teaching practice & critique, 19(3), 269-285. https://doi.org/10.1108/etpc-08-2019-0106 kern-jedrychowska, e. (2015, november 12). 'uncle' ralph mcdaniels joins queens library as hip-hop coordinator. dnainfo. https://www.dnainfo.com/newyork/20151112/jamaica/uncle-ralph-mcdaniels-joins-queens-library-as-hip-hopcoordinator/ ladson-billings, g. (1994). the dreamkeepers: successful teachers of african american children. jossey-bass. ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465-491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465 lee, j. s. (2012). glocalizing keepin’ it real: south korean hip-hop playas. in m. terkourafi (ed.), the languages of global hip hop (pp. 139-161). bloomsbury publishing. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1163/25900110-00201005 https://doi.org/10.3390/arts7040080 https://doi.org/10.1145/3358931.3358936 https://www.axios.com/2019/07/04/where-americas-diversity-is-increasing-the-fastest https://www.axios.com/2019/07/04/where-americas-diversity-is-increasing-the-fastest https://doi.org/10.34718/27nk-bx98 https://doi.org/10.1108/etpc-08-2019-0106 https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20151112/jamaica/uncle-ralph-mcdaniels-joins-queens-library-as-hip-hop-coordinator/ https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20151112/jamaica/uncle-ralph-mcdaniels-joins-queens-library-as-hip-hop-coordinator/ https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20151112/jamaica/uncle-ralph-mcdaniels-joins-queens-library-as-hip-hop-coordinator/ https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465 the power of hip hop and the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37116 62 low, b. (2011). slam school: learning through conflict in the hip-hop and spoken word classroom. stanford university press. meara, p. (2021, march 27). d-nice explains how he came up with the idea for club quarantine. bet. https://www.bet.com/article/btc4n9/d-nice-explains-how-club-quarantine-gotstarted miller, m., white hodge, d., coleman, j., & chaney, c. d. (2013). the hip in hip hop: toward a discipline of hip hop studies. journal of hip hop studies, 1(1), 6-12. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/jhhs/vol1/iss1/3/ oates, t. p. (2020). “where i’m from”: jay-z’s “hip hop cosmopolitanism,” basketball, and the neoliberal politics of urban space. sociology of sport journal, 37, 183. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2019-0045 phillips, y. (2019, september 23). hip-hop is america’s biggest genre. what happens when we enter 2020? dj booth. https://djbooth.net/features/2019-09-23-how-does-hip-hopprogress-in-the-2020s public enemy. (1988). louder than a bomb [song]. on it takes a nation of millions to hold us back [album]. def jam & columbia. rabaka, r. (2012). hip hop’s amnesia: from blues and the black women’s club movement to rap and the hip hop movement. lexington books. rose, t. (1994). black noise: rap music and black culture in contemporary america. wesleyan university press. smitherman, g. (1997). the chain remains the same: communicative practices in the hip hop nation. journal of black studies, 28(1), 3-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/002193479702800101 textureflow. (2018, may 13). words per song for rap, rock, and country music [online forum post]. reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/8j1r7b/words_per_song_for_rap _roc k_and_country_music_oc/ toop, d. (1984). the rap attack: african jive to new york hip hop. south end press. u.s. census bureau. (2010). total population by mutually exclusive race and hispanic origin, new york city neighborhood tabulation areas, 2010. [data set]. population division new york city department of city planning. https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nycpopulation/census20 10/t_pl_p3a_nta.pdf villanueva, g. (2020, july). you must learn: sampling critical hip hop pedagogy in communication education spaces. pedagogy, culture & society, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2020.1801814 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.bet.com/article/btc4n9/d-nice-explains-how-club-quarantine-got-started https://www.bet.com/article/btc4n9/d-nice-explains-how-club-quarantine-got-started https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/jhhs/vol1/iss1/3/ https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2019-0045 https://djbooth.net/features/2019-09-23-how-does-hip-hop-progress-in-the-2020s https://djbooth.net/features/2019-09-23-how-does-hip-hop-progress-in-the-2020s https://doi.org/10.1177/002193479702800101 https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/8j1r7b/words_per_song_for_rap_roc https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/8j1r7b/words_per_song_for_rap_roc https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census20%2010/t_pl_p3a_nta.pdf https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census20%2010/t_pl_p3a_nta.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2020.1801814 the power of hip hop and the library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37116 63 williams, d., & stover, m. (2019). front and center: hip-hop and spoken word poetry in academic libraries. portal: libraries and the academy, 19(2), 215-221. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2019.0012 ralph mcdaniels (ralph.e.mcdaniels@queenslibrary.org) is currently hip hop and culture coordinator at queens public library. he is a director, film producer, radio personality, content creator on social media and curator of hip hop culture. his visual archives of the culture go back to 1983 and are used in most documentaries on hip hop. he says, “hip hop history matters.” his non-profit organization, www.videomusicboxcollection.org, supports hip hop education and preservation. mcdaniels is a graduate of new york institute of technology, westbury, new york, and has spoken at many universities around the united states. jill anderson (jill.anderson@queenslibrary.org) is the data and project coordinator at queens public library and the project manager for the immediate access: technology reentry program. she is also a library specialist at omaha public library (nebraska, usa). jill is interested in outreach, the public library as a community space, and conversations surrounding non-monogamy and queerness. she has witnessed firsthand the powerful things that can be created when libraries and hip hop work together. kim mcneil-capers (kim.mcneilcapers@queenslibrary.org) is the director of community outreach and hip hop programs at the queens public library. she oversees correctional services, mobile library outreach, hip hop programs and special outreach initiatives. in 2018, kim received the advocacy award from the third national joint conference of librarians of color (jclc) and in 2017 was library journal’s mover & shaker recipient known as the human bridge of connectivity. aside from being an outreach expert and hip hop advocate, kim believes in the importance of education and the power of hip hop to connect with people in a meaningful way. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2019.0012 mailto:ralph.e.mcdaniels@queenslibrary.org mailto:ralph.e.mcdaniels@queenslibrary.org http://www.videomusicboxcollection.org/ mailto:jill.anderson@queenslibrary.org mailto:;%20kim.mcneilcapers@queenslibrary.org mailto:;%20kim.mcneilcapers@queenslibrary.org introduction literature review statement of purpose model narrative hip hop is narrative using hip hop to narrate changing the narrative of what libraries can do animating the narrative of hip hop the global-local echo connection conclusion acknowledgements endnotes references more than lip service: identifying a typology of “social justice” research in lis the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 more than lip service: identifying a typology of “social justice” research in lis joseph winberry, university of tennessee, usa abstract social justice is increasingly identifiable within library and information science (lis) research and practice. however, numerous scholars have raised the concern that social justice has been commodified in order to benefit the powerful and therefore the possibility of actual and constructive change has been minimized in numerous cases. in response, this researcher undertook a literature review of self-identified “social justice” research in 2 large academic databases—library information science & technology abstracts (lista) and library and information science source (liss)—in order to identify the types of social justice research in lis. the result of the review identified 247 records and included results from peer reviewed journals, books, and conference proceedings from which a typology of 2 research types (e.g., knowledge and practice) and 8 sub-types (e.g., metatheoretical, theoretical, ideational, methodological, empirical, narrative, professional, and pedagogical) was identified. identification of this typology is helpful for organizing existing social justice research within lis, assisting in the examination of connections between theories and methods, and contributing to a broader goal of arguing that social justice is an emerging sub-discipline within lis. future research is needed to grow this typology and increase research in areas that remain understudied such as lis-centered metatheoretical, theoretical, and methodological social justice research. keywords: knowledge; literature review; practice; social justice; typology publication type: research article introduction ocial justice has emerged as an important and growing topic in recent library and information science (lis) scholarship with implications for research, teaching, and the direction of the information professions (sweeney, et al., 2014; sung & parboteeah, 2017; winberry & bishop, 2021). social justice in lis has been described in numerous ways including as a pedagogy (gregory & higgins, 2017), metatheory (rioux, 2010), a conceptual framework (mathiesen, 2015), as an advocacy model (froggatt, 2019), a perspective (dadlani & todd, 2015), and as a guiding principle (jaeger et al., 2016) among other terms and near infinite definitions (cooke et al., 2016). the embrace of social justice and related terms such as equity, diversity, and inclusion, can be recognized beyond just research and practice; these terms have recently begun emerging in the themes and titles of numerous information-related conferences such as the alise, asis&t, and ischool conferences. but despite the rise of attention towards social justice in lis, there have been concerns that the embrace of these terms is just that: words and no more (mehra et al., 2018; pateman & vincent, 2010; sandell & nightingale, 2012). for instance, in debates about neutrality, intellectual s https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 freedom is often described as a core value of the information professions while social justice is often viewed as secondary (burgess, 2016; gibson et al., 2017; shockey, 2016). if social justice is truly as essential to the lis field as the literature, professional organizations, and twitter feeds suggest, it cannot be relegated to the side and only brought to the forefront whenever fashionable. one way to combat subjugation of social justice is to demonstrate that, while social justice has homes in other disciplines such as philosophy, social justice is also an emerging subdiscipline of lis (mehra et al., 2010). demonstrating its emerging status can be accomplished by organizing the numerous contributions of this area which in turn can be used to address questions related to philosophy, theory, methodology, and how these components intersect with one another (imrie & edwards, 2007). there are some examples of these intersections in the existing literature. mehra and rioux (2016) present the work of numerous researcher/activists whose contributions connect critical theory with action-centered methodologies. the special issue this article is part of also provides numerous examples of the intersections between theory, method, and practice in lis social justice research (mehra, 2021). but in order to better understand the intersections that exist in lis social justice research, and therefore to be able to help move this area forward, it is essential to understand and organize related terms and the literature that presents them. this paper helps clarify these terms, and therefore assists with the examining of intersections in social justice lis research and ultimately contributes to the sub-discipline argument, by conducting a review of self-described “social justice” research in order to answer the following question: r1. what types of social justice research are identifiable within lis? methods in order to identify a sample for evaluation, the researcher searched for “social justice” in two major lis databases: library information science & technology abstracts (lista) and library and information science source (liss). these specific databases were selected because of their size, scope, and lis focus to provide a useful data source for assessing the research that uses social justice to situate itself within the lis discipline (garg et al., 2019; figuerola et al., 2017; potnis et al., 2020). the author decided to focus on results published before january 2020 as work on the study began in march of 2020 and the end of 2019 provided a useful end point. additionally, included records had to be academic publications (e.g., book chapters, conference proceedings, articles in peer reviewed journals) which used social justice to situate their study. the search for “social justice” resulted in 2,372 records. a review of these records found that more than half of the results were from non-academic sources such as trade publications. while these results help demonstrate the wide permanence of social justice in lis beyond the scholarly literature, they were outside the scope of this study and therefore excluded. removing nonacademic publications resulted in 397 records from liss and 357 records from lista for a total of 754 records. screening these articles for duplicates led to the removal of 342 records. there were 412 unique results which were then scrutinized further. an additional 51 results were excluded as they were published after december 2019. also, 114 articles were excluded because, upon further review, they were found not to be academic publications that used social justice to situate their studies. in other words, they were excluded because the content did not meet the scope of this study. select examples of excluded records were letters to the journal editor or book reviews. the final sample consisted of 247 records which are available in the appendix. figure 1 illustrates the results of searching for “social justice” in both databases. 10 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 figure 1. the process of defining this study’s literature sample 11 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 findings this section provides a typology identified during the literature review process. key terms from the literature sample were used to initially code each article. each article was then categorized into broader groupings (white & marsh, 2006). when possible, these broader groupings were named and defined using existing terminology from lis literature (bates, 2005; case & given, 2016; wilson, 1999). if suitable sub-type titles and definitions for emerging groupings were not found, the researcher derived them from key terms in the sub-type of literature sample in concert with their own judgement and related knowledge. this social justice research typology categorizes articles into two major types (e.g., knowledge and practice) which are further explicated into eight sub-types (e.g., metatheoretical, theoretical, ideational, methodological, empirical, narrative, professional, and pedagogical). while each type is mutually exclusive, elements of multiple types could be identified in some articles (e.g., an empirical article could also have pedagogical contributions). these findings are summarized in table 1. table 1. a research typology of “social justice” in lis article type sub-type definition select key terms from literature number of citations knowledge metatheoretical concerned with the philosophical components of theory. social justice metatheory 1 theoretical introduces application of, extends existing, or creates theory. introducing theory to lis 2 ideational pre or emerging theoretical research that does not rise to the level of creating or extending theory. concept; framework; model; notion; viewpoint 108 methodological introduces application of, extends existing or creates methodology or methods. application; case for a method; presents methodology 3 12 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 empirical involves collecting and analyzing data in order to meet research objectives. content analysis; ethnography; interview; focus group; survey 41 narrative an alternative research strategy to empiricism which accentuates the duality of researcher and research participant. action research; autoethnography; discourse analysis; historical; participatory action research 36 practice professional focused on the practical needs of information professionals. advocacy strategies; collaboration; practical 26 pedagogical emphasizes education and information professionals as teachers and students. classroom; pedagogy; students 30 total 247 knowledge knowledge is an essential component for learning that assists in the development and assessment of practical solutions to real world problems (wallace & van fleet, 2012). the knowledge research type encompasses research which seeks to make an intellectual contribution for the cause of social justice. these contributions vary extensively from extending existing theory, contributing new ideas or ways of thinking about notions in the discipline, or suggesting underutilized data collection methods. these variations are represented in this study as knowledge sub-disciplines including metatheoretical, theoretical, ideational, methodological, empirical, and narrative. metatheoretical metatheoretical research is concerned with the philosophical components of theory (vakkari, 1997). in other words, metatheory is theory about theory (jensen, 2016). metatheory has been 13 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 considered an under examined area of lis research (bates, 2005; leckie et al., 2010; lor, 2014). marcia bates (2005) identified 13 metatheories evident in the related literature. most notable among these, for the sake of this study, was the critical theory metatheory. bates (2005) conceptualized a critical metatheoretical approach as being research which seeks to identify, unmask, and combat structures of societal injustice. however, she offered little explanation as to how the critical metatheoretical perspective has shaped lis. in another sign of the limited metatheoretical research in lis, leckie et al. (2010) lament that lis has not contributed more to wider metatheoretical discourses in the vein of noted theorists like michel foucault or jürgen habermas. their observation is echoed by the results of this literature review. while critical theory is often noted in conversation with social justice (schroeder & hollister, 2014), only one article in this study—rioux (2010)—was identified as focusing on the metatheoretical considerations of social justice itself. rioux (2010) identifies five assumptions which are essential to understanding social justice as a metatheory: 1) all human beings have an inherent worth and deserve information services that help address their information needs; 2) people perceive reality and information in different ways, often within cultural or life role contexts; 3) there are many different types of information and knowledge, and these are societal resources; 4) theory and research are pursued with the ultimate goal of bringing positive change to service constituencies; and 5) the provision of information services is an inherently powerful activity. according to rioux (2010), these five assumptions provide a prism through which social justice as a metatheory can be understood. several articles in this review cite rioux (2010) as providing the guiding metatheoretical perspective of their research—even if they do not connect their contributions to a specific theory (oplihant, 2015; rioux, 2014; roy & long, 2019). these citations suggest that despite being introduced as a “nascent approach,” rioux’s (2010) interpretation of social justice as a metatheory has come to influence other areas of allied research, including theoretical research, because it provides one of the few, if not only, metatheoretical perspectives centered on social justice in lis specifically (p. 12). theoretical theoretical research refers to introducing the application of an existing theory utilized outside lis, or extending an existing theory, or creating a new theory. the two results identified in this study focus on introducing theories that were developed in other disciplines to a specific area of lis—archival discourse (cifor, 2016; dunbar, 2006). these few examples illustrate how, like metatheoretical research, theoretical research is largely absent from social justice in lis literature collected for this study. there have been several reasons offered as to why theoretical research might be lacking in this area; these reasons apply to this area of research by virtue of it being part of lis. for instance, the discipline’s historic dearth of theoretical development provides some explanation as to why theoretical research is so underdeveloped within the emerging sub-discipline of social justice (sonnenwald, 2016). similarly, numerous theorists have noted that lis is much more likely to borrow theories from other domains than to create its own (dillon, 2007; pierce; 1992; thompson, 2009). the discipline’s structural acceptance of positivistic social science has also been noted as a deterrent of social justice related theoretical development in lis specifically (mehra & gray, 2020). these select reasons provide some insight into this area’s underdeveloped theoretical perspective. 14 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 but the lack of theoretical literature examples does not mean that social justice research is atheoretical. the literature review showed that several theories have been used to situate social justice research such as rawl’s theory of social justice (dadlani & todd, 2016). most prevalent among these utilized theories is critical theory which serves as a theoretical lens or antecedent to several other theories (e.g., critical race theory, public sphere theory, critical pedagogy theory, feminist theory, and queer theory) identified in this study. as in other social sciences, critical theory has been utilized by lis scholars due in part to its ability to support equity and combat injustice. leckie et al. (2010) argue that “critical theory can help us to break, or at least to expose, the self-legitimation cycle” which follows predetermined methodologies and therefore limits the kind of contributions that lis research can provide (p. xii). given its historic—albeit imperfect—role in supporting diversity and social justice, critical and related theories are well positioned for a central role in future lis research due to their ability to contribute further theoretical and practical benefits for researchers, information professionals, and the community members served by them (leckie et al., 2010; morales et al., 2014). ideational ideational research is a term conceptualized in this study to include pre or emerging theoretical research that does not rise to the level of creating or extending theory such as viewpoints, notions, concepts, frameworks, and models (wilson, 1999). this sub-type represented the largest category within the literature review (n=108) suggesting that there is enormous potential for theoretical development through expansion of existing theoretical structures in this area (winberry & bishop, 2021). there is also a need for further understanding of the distinctions between research examples within this sub-type. concepts and notions describe terms that have been used or could be used in the social justice discourse within lis such as an intentional informationist (hoffmann & wallace, 2013) or the common good (lor & britz, 2005). viewpoint articles can be described as presenting the point of view of an individual on a specific and narrow topic which includes insights from their own experience and perspective, but which is grounded in research (pugh, 2012). viewpoints in this sample made contributions to the understanding of and knowledge of social justice research such as the social and economic justice values of pleasure reading (dewan, 2016) and the importance of leaders in the adoption of social justice perspectives by an organization (farrell, 2016). frameworks represent ways of understanding relationships between theoretical and non-theoretical components of an area of research (leshem & trafford, 2007). frameworks might be used to describe sub-areas such as critical making practices (ratto et al., 2014) or conversing about ethics and diversity within a social justice framework (gilliland, 2011). lastly, models are developed theoretical frameworks which have not yet been formalized as theory (case & given, 2016). select examples identified in the literature review include a model for “knowledge sharing in professional virtual communities” (chiu et al., 2011, p. 138) and the school-based telecenter (sbt) model (kawooya, 2004). together these various constructs foster numerous possibilities for further innovations in social justice research. methodological another type of research examined in this review was methodological research. methodological research in this study refers to research that introduces, creates, or extends metho dology or 15 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 methods. although methodology (i.e., research strategy) and methods (i.e., data collection and analysis techniques) are different, they work in coordination with one another in order to execute the research design of a particular study (crotty, 1998). the few examples of methodological research results in this literature review articulate themselves as presenting a methodology (dadlani & todd, 2017), making the case for a specific method (soglasnova & hanson, 2015), or applying a method that is underutilized in lis (oliphant, 2015). like metatheoretical and theoretical research, methodological research was underrepresented in this study’s sample with just three examples. this gap existed despite the fact that early lis research utilized quantitative, prescriptive, and deductive research methodologies and methods. over time the discipline has become more open to qualitative, explorative, and inductive research approaches—approaches which are often thought to be more amiable to social justice research and to methodological innovation (mansourian, 2006; powell, 1999; ullah & ameen, 2018). empirical empirical research involves the collecting and analyzing of data in order to meet research objectives (punch, 2014). empiricism itself—the belief that collected and analyzed data is superior to other forms of research—has a long history in lis (hjørland, 2005; sandstrom & sandstrom, 1995). this permanence is represented in the varied empirical methods contained within this literature review. select examples include surveys (kumasi & manlove, 2015), interviews (kendrick & damasco, 2015), and content analysis (moreillon, 2015), as well as qualitative, quantitative, and mixed analytical approaches (butcher & rose-adams, 2015; froggatt, 2015). narrative in contrast to its empirical counterpart which focuses on collecting and analyzing data, narrative research accentuates the duality of researcher and research participant that exists in methods such as action research (heikkinen et al., 2007), autoethnography (sparkes, 2000), and historical research (volodymyrivna, 2019). in narrative research, the perspective of the researcher— whether they be the main participant in the study, also a member of the group of study participants, or the interpreter of historical information—is seen as a crucial element of the research contribution (gray, 2019; mehra & braquet, 2014; mehra at al., 2018). narrative research examples from this study utilized the methods described above, as well as others, such as discourse analysis (hoffman, 2019; winston, 2017) and critical discourse analysis (brook et al., 2015). considering that narrative research (n=36) appeared almost as frequently as empirical research (n=41) in this literature review, the perspective of the researcher appears to be often central to the contributions of social justice research in lis. practice practice is a well-developed research type within lis given the field’s long reputation as a service-oriented discipline (taylor, 1986). the overarching goals of practice type is lifelong learning for information professionals as students, teachers, and leaders. practice-centered social justice research has two main sub-types: professional and pedagogical. 16 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 professional professional research is concerned with the practical needs of information professionals (audunson et al., 2003; goode, 1961). the research in this sub-type is designed to be practical, easily applicable, and closely associated with a work setting or specific job tasks. examples include exploration of unionization in information settings (phillips et al., 2019), instructive case examples of how libraries can embrace social justice in their work (gomez, 2019), and an examination of the awards available for books which promote social justice values in children’s literature (schulte-cooper, 2015). pedagogical pedagogical research focuses on education—whether the practitioners are the teachers or the students (alemanne & mandel, 2018; cooke, 2019). pedagogy is an instrumental part of information practice as it is a lifelong process that begins at birth, continues through formal education, into the workplace, and beyond (rogers et al., 2009). within the literature sample, pedagogy is described most often in connection to lis education (roy & long, 2019), librarianprovided education in university settings (battista et al., 2015), and education for populations such as youth in community settings (montague, 2015). discussion social justice is a broadly-defined term that exists well beyond just lis, but the findings of this study suggest two things for social justice research in this discipline. first, that social justice can also be a sub-discipline within lis given its contribution to both knowledge and practice in the discipline (krishnan, 2009; mehra et al., 2010; wiegand, 2020). second, that social justice is in fact an emerging sub-discipline within lis considering that the identified sub-types of social justice research (e.g., metatheoretical, theoretical, ideational, methodological, empirical, narrative, professional, and pedagogical) are also identifiable in other areas of lis research such as information retrieval, information seeking, and social informatics among others (goker & davies, 2009; limberg & sundin, 2006; kling, 2007). in order to continually move social justice forward in lis, researchers should commit to ensuring that social justice—while also recognizing that it exists in many other disciplines—becomes widely understood to be a sub-discipline in lis. this could be accomplished in part through a conference panel, a journal special issue, publication of a book, as well as all of the above and then some. whatever its form, this is a conversation that should continue not just for the betterment of this budding sub-discipline but for the continued health and progress of the discipline as a whole. limitations and future research the decision to focus the search for this study on two databases is a limitation as there are many other examples of self-identified “social justice” works in lis scholarship that are not present in these two resources. however, since the two databases chosen are among the largest and most thorough databases of literature in the lis field, this paper could contribute to conversations about where social justice research in lis is being published and why, the commodification of social justice research, and its perceived value by the companies that publish lis literature, and who can therefore influence what is heard or viewed as credible and what is not (lawson et al., 2015; mehra & gray, 2020; winberry & bishop, 2021). this study also did not discover all the 17 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 types and sub-types of social justice research that exist. further confirmation and expansion of this typology would also benefit from cross coding in order to strengthen interpretations of the findings. future examination of related research in other lis databases, books, websites, and so on, as well as comparisons to how social justice is represented in other disciplines, will expand this typology. researchers might also use the findings of this study as inspiration for developing metatheoretical, theoretical, and methodological contributions to social justice research and to lis research more broadly. conclusion social justice will continue to be of critical importance to the future of lis given the ubiquitous nature that issues of justice and injustice have around information and technology. for example, in her research on search engines and racism, safiya noble (2018) explains that technology is not neutral because its creators—people—are not neutral. similarly, ramesh srinivasan (2019) describes how people’s data is an extremely valuable resource and yet we often give it away to wealthy silicon valley companies whose products often do not really meet our technological needs. these select examples represent just two of perhaps thousands of examples as to how social justice (or the lack thereof) is integral to the development, use, and sharing of information and technology. despite the innumerous connections, social justice is rarely given the attention or emphasis it requires within lis educational programs (cooke, 2017). more work still needs to be done. this article contributes towards this effort by identifying a typology and by offering definitions based on the analysis of the literature sample—an affordance that is often “surprisingly lacking” in other research typologies (hider & pymm, 2008, p. 109). together these terms, definitions, and examples help explain the components that make intersections of lis social justice research possible. this typology also provides one contribution towards organizing the vast research that exists around social justice as well as other areas within lis research in order to demonstrate that while social justice exists across numerous disciplines, it is also a subdiscipline of lis, and deserves to be treated as such in lis research, practice, and education. appendix final sample for analysis number citation date sub-type 1 phillips, m., eifler, d., & page, t. l. (2019). democratizing the union at uc berkeley: lecturers and librarians in solidarity. library trends, 68(2), 343–367. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2019.0043 2019 practicional 2 duff, w., sporn, j., & herron, e. (2019). investigating the impact of the living archives on eugenics in western canada. archivaria, 88, 122–161. 2019 ideational 3 mehra, b. (2019). the non-white man’s burden in lis education: critical constructive nudges. journal of 2019 narrative 18 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2019.0043 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 education for library & information science, 60(3), 198– 207. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3138/jelis.2019-0012 4 russo martin, e. (2019). social justice and the medical librarian. journal of the medical library association, 107(3), 291–303. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5195/jmla.2019.712 2019 ideational 5 roy, l. & long, e. (2019). incorporating social justice in reference education. reference librarian, 60(3), 226–231. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/02763877.2019.1597 2019 pedagogical 6 beatty, n. a. & hernandez, e. (2019). socially responsible pedagogy: critical information literacy and art. reference services review, 47(3), 280–293. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/rsr-02-2019-0012 2019 pedagogical 7 dencik, l. d., hintz, a., redden, j., & treré, e. (2019). exploring data justice: conceptions, applications and directions. information, communication & society, 22(7), 873–881. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2019.1606268 2019 ideational 8 peña gangadharan, s. & niklas, j. (2019). decentering technology in discourse on discrimination. information, communication & society, 22(7), 882–899. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2019.1593484 2019 empirical 9 hoffmann, a. l. (2019). where fairness fails: data, algorithms, and the limits of antidiscrimination discourse. information, communication & society, 22(7), 900–915. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2019.1573912 2019 narrative 10 heeks, r. & shekhar, s. (2019). datafication, development and marginalised urban communities: an applied data justice framework. information, communication & society, 22(7), 992–1011. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2019.1599039 2019 ideational 11 simms, s. & johnson, h. (2019). subtle activism: using the library exhibit as a social justice tool. alexandria, 29(1/2), 130–144. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0955749019876119 2019 practicional 12 meeks, a. (2019). art as the practice of freedom: critical 2019 narrative 19 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3138/jelis.2019-0012 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3138/jelis.2019-0012 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5195/jmla.2019.712 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5195/jmla.2019.712 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/02763877.2019.1597 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/02763877.2019.1597 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/rsr-02-2019-0012 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/rsr-02-2019-0012 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2019.1606268 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2019.1606268 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2019.1593484 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2019.1593484 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2019.1573912 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2019.1573912 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2019.1599039 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2019.1599039 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0955749019876119 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0955749019876119 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 alliances and professional identities within art librarianship. art libraries journal, 44(2), 61–66. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1017/alj.2019.5 13 gosselin, a. & goodsett, m. (2019). increasing facultylibrarian collaboration through critical librarianship. collaborative librarianship, 11(2), 100–109. 2019 pedagogical 14 barr-walker, j. & sharifi, c. (2019). critical librarianship in health sciences libraries: an introduction. journal of the medical library association, 107(2), 258–264. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5195/jmla.2019.620 2019 practicional 15 baeza ventura, g., gauthereau, l., & villarroel, c. (2019). recovering the us hispanic literary heritage: a case study on us latina/o archives and digital humanities. preservation, digital technology & culture, 48(1), 17–27. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1515/pdtc-2018-0031 2019 pedagogical 16 branch, n. a. (2019). illuminating social justice in the framework: transformative methodology, concept mapping, and learning outcomes development for critical information literacy. communications in information literacy, 13(1), 4–22. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.15760/comminfolit.2019.13.1.2 2019 empirical 17 garrison, k. l. & gavigan, k. (2019). picture this: using graphic novels to explore social justice issues with young adults. teacher librarian, 46(3), 8–12. 2019 pedagogical 18 braquet, d. (2019). lqbtq+ terminology, scenarios and strategies, and relevant web-based resources in the 21st century: a glimpse. advances in librarianship, 45, 49-61. https://www.doi.org/10.1108/s0065-283020190000045009 2019 practicional 19 gomez, g. (2019). archiving history and the educational mission in chicago’s the legacy project: challenges and opportunities for lis. advances in librarianship, 45, 89– 114. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065283020190000045010 2019 practicional 20 wenzler, j. (2019). neutrality and its discontents: an essay on the ethics of librarianship. portal: libraries & the academy, 19(1), 55–78. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2019.0004 2019 ideational 21 smith, l., & hanson, m. (2019). communities of praxis: 2019 practicional 20 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1017/alj.2019.5 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5195/jmla.2019.620 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1515/pdtc-2018-0031 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1515/pdtc-2018-0031 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.15760/comminfolit.2019.13.1.2 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.15760/comminfolit.2019.13.1.2 https://www.doi.org/10.1108/s0065-283020190000045009 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020190000045010 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020190000045010 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2019.0004 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2019.0004 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 transforming access to information for equity. serials librarian, 76(1–4), 42–49. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0361526x.2019.1593015 22 berthoud, h. & finn, r. (2019). bringing social justice behind the scenes: transforming the work of technical services. serials librarian, 76(1–4), 162–169. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0361526x.2019.1583526 2019 practicional 23 helkenberg, d., schoenberger, n., kooy, s. a. v., pemberton, a., ali, k., bartlett, s., clair, j., crombleholme, s., dee, a., depierro, k., greenwood, t., lobzun, m., petersen, c.., saunders, s. r., tarzi, m., ward, k., & zip, s. (2018). education for the common good: a student perspective on including social justice in lis education. journal of education for library & information science, 59(4), 265–271. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3138/jelis.59.4.2018-0013 2018 pedagogical 24 thinyane, m., & choi, m. (2018). small data, big justice: the intersection of data science, social good, and social services. journal of technology in human services, 36(4), 175–178. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/15228835.2018.1539369 2018 ideational 25 poole, a. h. (2018). “be damned pushy at times”: the committee on the status of women and feminism in the archival profession, 1972-1998. american archivist, 81(2), 394–437. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081-81.2.394 2018 narrative 26 pegues, c. r. (2018). engendering social consciousness through first year information literacy classes. communications in information literacy, 12(2), 193–202. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.15760/comminfolit.2018.12.2.8 2018 pedagogical 27 peekhaus, w. (2018). seed libraries: sowing the seeds for community and public library resilience. library quarterly, 88(3), 271–285. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/697706 2018 empirical 28 foster, m. j. (2018). navigating library collections, black culture, and current events. library trends, 67(1), 8–22. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2018.0022 2018 pedagogical 29 adler, m., & harper, l. m. (2018). race and ethnicity in classification systems: teaching knowledge organization 2018 ideational 21 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0361526x.2019.1593015 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0361526x.2019.1593015 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0361526x.2019.1583526 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0361526x.2019.1583526 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3138/jelis.59.4.2018-0013 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3138/jelis.59.4.2018-0013 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/15228835.2018.1539369 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/15228835.2018.1539369 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081-81.2.394 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081-81.2.394 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.15760/comminfolit.2018.12.2.8 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.15760/comminfolit.2018.12.2.8 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/697706 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/697706 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2018.0022 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 from a social justice perspective. library trends, 67(1), 52–73. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2018.0025 30 jordan, c., lawrence, v., & moran, c. (2018). experience from the field: programming in a joint-use partnership library. reference librarian, 59(3), 134–145. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/02763877.2018.1472717 2018 practicional 31 kazuye kimura, a. (2018). defining, evaluating, and achieving accessible library resources. reference services review, 46(3), 425–438. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/rsr-03-2018-0040 2018 ideational 32 brilmyer, g. (2018). archival assemblages: applying disability studies’ political/relational model to archival description. archival science, 18(2), 95–118. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-018-9287-6 2018 ideational 33 villa-nicholas, m. (2018). teaching intersectionality: pedagogical approaches for lasting impact. education for information, 34(2), 121–133. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3233/efi-180191 2018 pedagogical 34 bluemle, s. r. (2018). post-facts: information literacy and authority after the 2016 election. portal: libraries & the academy, 18(2), 265–282. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2018.0015 2018 pedagogical 35 thacker, m. l., & laut, j. r. (2018). a collaborative approach to undergraduate engagement. portal: libraries & the academy, 18(2), 283–300. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2018.0016 2018 pedagogical 36 barefoot, m. r. (2018). identifying information need through storytelling. reference services review, 46(2), 251–263. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/rsr02-2018-0009 2018 pedagogical 37 macneil, h., duff, w., dotiwalla, a., & zuchniak, k. (2018). “if there are no records, there is no narrative”: the social justice impact of records of scottish careleavers. archival science, 18(1), 1–28. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-017-9283-2 2018 empirical 38 linden, a. (2018). the advocate’s archive: walter rudnicki and the fight for indigenous rights in canada, 1955-2010. archivaria, 85, 38–67. 2018 ideational 22 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2018.0025 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2018.0025 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/02763877.2018.1472717 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/02763877.2018.1472717 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/rsr-03-2018-0040 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/rsr-03-2018-0040 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-018-9287-6 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-018-9287-6 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3233/efi-180191 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3233/efi-180191 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2018.0015 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2018.0015 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2018.0016 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2018.0016 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/rsr-02-2018-0009 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/rsr-02-2018-0009 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-017-9283-2 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-017-9283-2 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 39 littlejohn, a. & hood, n. (2018). becoming an online editor: perceived roles and responsibilities of wikipedia editors. information research, 23(1). 2018 empirical 40 carpio, g. g. (2018). racial projections: cyberspace, public space, and the digital divide. information, communication & society, 21(2), 174–190. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2016.1271899 2018 narrative 41 cooke, n. a. (2018). chapter 3: creating mirrors and doors in the curriculum: diversifying and re-envisioning the mls. advances in librarianship, 44b, 27–48. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s006528302018000044b003 2018 pedagogical 42 gibson, a., hughes-hassell, s., & threats, m. (2018). chapter 4: critical race theory in the lis curriculum. advances in librarianship, 44b, 49–70. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s006528302018000044b005 2018 pedagogical 43 kostelecky, s. r. 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(2017). applying radical empathy to women’s march documentation efforts: a reflection exercise. archives & manuscripts, 45(3), 191–201. https://doi2017 ideational 23 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2016.1271899 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2016.1271899 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-28302018000044b003 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-28302018000044b003 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-28302018000044b003 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-28302018000044b005 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-28302018000044b005 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.7710/2162-3309.2234 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.7710/2162-3309.2234 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0266666916678282 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0266666916678282 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.acalib.2017.09.006 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.acalib.2017.09.006 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.14265.24.1.007 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.14265.24.1.007 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01576895.2017.1373361 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01576895.2017.1373361 48 winston, m. (2017). economic inequality as a societal issue: the role of access to information in fostering social change. journal of information ethics, 26(2), 54–71. 2017 narrative 49 nakamura, h., yanagihara, y., & shida, t. (2017). current situation and challenges of building a japanese lgbtq ephemera collection at yale. journal of east asian libraries, 165, 1–17. 2017 practicional 50 poole, a. h. (2017). harold t. pinkett and the lonely crusade of african american archivists in the twentieth century. american archivist, 80(2), 296–335. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081-80.2.296 2017 narrative 51 procter, m. (2017). protecting rights, asserting professional identity. archives & records, 38(2), 296–309. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/23257962.2017.1285754 2017 narrative 52 johnson, h. (2017). #nodapl: social media, empowerment, and civic participation at standing rock. library trends, 66(2), 155–175. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2017.0033 2017 ideational 53 raju, r., & pietersen, j. (2017). library as publisher: from an african lens. journal of electronic publishing, 20(2), 1–11. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3998/3336451.0020.203 2017 ideational 54 phillips, a. (2017). understanding empathetic services: the role of empathy in everyday library work. journal of research on libraries & young adults, 8(1), 1–27. 2017 empirical 55 hoffmann, a. l. (2017). beyond distributions and primary goods: assessing applications of rawls in information science and technology literature since 1990. journal of the association for information science & technology, 68(7), 1601–1618. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23747 2017 ideational 56 hines, s. g. (2017). connecting individuals with social services: the academic library’s role. collaborative librarianship, 9(2), 109–116. 2017 practicional 57 risam, r., snow, j., & edwards, s. (2017). building an ethical digital humanities community: librarian, faculty, and student collaboration. college & undergraduate 2017 pedagogical 24 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01576895.2017.1373361 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081-80.2.296 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081-80.2.296 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/23257962.2017.1285754 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/23257962.2017.1285754 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2017.0033 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2017.0033 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3998/3336451.0020.203 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3998/3336451.0020.203 https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23747 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 libraries, 24(2–4), 337–349. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/10691316.2017.1337530 58 stonebraker, i., maxwell, c., garcia, k., & jerrit, j. (2017). realizing critical business information literacy: opportunities, definitions, and best practices. journal of business & finance librarianship, 22(2), 135–148. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/08963568.2017.1288519 2017 pedagogical 59 sutherland, t. (2017). making a killing: on race, ritual, and (re) membering in digital culture. preservation, digital technology & culture, 46(1), 32–40. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1515/pdtc-2017-0025 2017 narrative 60 glassman, j. a. & worsham, d. m. (2017). digital research notebook: a simple tool for reflective learning. reference services review, 45(2), 179–200. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/rsr-10-2016-0063 2017 pedagogical 61 levitov, d. (2017). using the women’s march to examine freedom of speech, social justice, and social action through information literacy. teacher librarian, 44(4), 12– 15. 2017 pedagogical 62 mehra, b., singh, v., hollenbach, n., & partee ii, r. p. (2017). rural librarians as change agents in the twentyfirst century: applying community informatics in the southern and central appalachian region to further ict literacy training. advances in librarianship, 43, 123–153. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065283020170000043006 2017 pedagogical 63 poole, a. h. (2017). pinkett’s charges: recruiting, retaining, and mentoring archivists of color in the twentyfirst century. american archivist, 80(1), 103–134. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/03609081.80.1.103 2017 empirical 64 carter, e. (2017). ‘setting the record straight’: the creation and curation of archives by activist communities. a case study of activist responses to the regeneration of elephant and castle, south london. archives & records, 38(1), 27–44. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/23257962.2016.1260532 2017 practicional 65 gregory, l., & higgins, s. (2017). reorienting an information literacy program toward social justice: 2017 ideational 25 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/10691316.2017.1337530 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/10691316.2017.1337530 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/08963568.2017.1288519 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/08963568.2017.1288519 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1515/pdtc-2017-0025 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1515/pdtc-2017-0025 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/rsr-10-2016-0063 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/rsr-10-2016-0063 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020170000043006 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020170000043006 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081.80.1.103 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081.80.1.103 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/23257962.2016.1260532 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/23257962.2016.1260532 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 mapping the core values of librarianship to the acrl framework. communications in information literacy, 11(1), 42–54. 66 saunders, l. 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(2016). leadership and social justice. journal 2016 ideational 26 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.giq.2016.12.003 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.giq.2016.12.003 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01616846.2016.1245005 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01616846.2016.1245005 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-015-9248-2 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-015-9248-2 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/nlw-03-2016-0019 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/nlw-03-2016-0019 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2015.1107613 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2015.1107613 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 of library administration, 56(6), 722–730. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01930826.2016.1199147 76 beasley, g. (2016). article processing charges: a new route to open access? information services & use, 36(3/4), 163–170. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3233/isu-160815 2016 ideational 77 poggiali, j. j. p. (2016). incorporating ethical consumption into electronic device acquisition: a proposal. portal: libraries & the academy, 16(3), 581– 597. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2016.0037 2016 practicional 78 raju, r., claassen, j., & moll, e. (2016). researchers adapting to open access journal publishing: the case of the university of cape town. south african journal of libraries & information science, 82(2), 34–45. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.7553/82-2-1628 2016 ideational 79 platt, v. (2016). the activist archive and social justice agendas: considering the role of the ken saro-wiwa archive in micro-minority identity in the niger delta. african research & documentation, 129, 43–56. 2016 narrative 80 shiri, a. (2016). exploring information ethics. journal of information ethics, 25(1), 17–37. 2016 ideational 81 caswell, m., & cilor, m. (2016). from human rights to feminist ethics: radical empathy in the archives. archivaria, 81, 23–43. 2016 ideational 82 douglass, k., & mehra, b. (2016). a four frames analysis to address the information challenges of families of children with adhd: actions for public libraries to address embedded power imbalances. libri: international journal of libraries & information services, 66(1), 59–71. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1515/libri-2015-0078 2016 ideational 83 cancro, p. (2016). the dark(ish) side of digitization: information equity and the digital divide. serials librarian, 71(1), 57–62. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0361526x.2016.1157424 2016 ideational 84 cifor, m. (2016). affecting relations: introducing affect theory to archival discourse. archival science, 16(1), 7–31. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-0159261-5 2016 theoretical 27 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01930826.2016.1199147 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01930826.2016.1199147 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3233/isu-160815 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3233/isu-160815 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2016.0037 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2016.0037 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.7553/82-2-1628 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1515/libri-2015-0078 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0361526x.2016.1157424 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0361526x.2016.1157424 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-015-9261-5 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-015-9261-5 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 85 wittebols, j. h. (2016). empowering students to make sense of an information-saturated world. communications in information literacy, 10(1), 1–13. 2016 pedagogical 86 shaw, j. j. a., & shaw, h. j. (2016). mapping the technologies of spatial (in)justice in the anthropocene. information & communications technology law, 25(1), 32–49. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/13600834.2015.1134147 2016 narrative 87 šimunić, z., tanacković, s. f., & badurina, b. (2016). library services for incarcerated persons: a survey of recent trends and challenges in prison libraries in croatia. journal of librarianship & information science, 48(1), 72–89. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0961000614538481 2016 empirical 88 mathuews, k. (2016). moving beyond diversity to social justice. progressive librarian, 44, 6–27. 2016 empirical 89 moore, n. (2016). “don’t trust anyone over the age of 30.” progressive librarian, 44, 93–100. 2016 pedagogical 90 shockey, k. (2016). intellectual freedom is not social justice. progressive librarian, 44, 101–110. 2016 ideational 91 gorham, u., taylor, n. g., & jaeger, p. t. (2016). volume editors’ introduction: “libraries as institutions of human rights and social justice.” advances in librarianship, 41, 1–12. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065283020160000041001 2016 ideational 92 dadlani, p. (2016). social justice concepts and public libraries: a case study. advances in librarianship, 41, 15– 48. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065283020160000041002 2016 empirical 93 hoffmann, a. l. (2016). privacy, intellectual freedom, and self-respect: technological and philosophical lessons for libraries. advances in librarianship, 41, 49–69. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065283020160000041003 2016 ideational 94 mehra, b., & hernandez, l. (2016). libraries as agents of human rights protection and social justice on behalf of sexual minorities in india: an action-based manifesto for progressive change. advances in librarianship, 41, 147– 182. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s00652016 empirical 28 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/13600834.2015.1134147 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/13600834.2015.1134147 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0961000614538481 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0961000614538481 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041001 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041001 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041002 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041002 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041003 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041003 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041007 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 283020160000041007 95 mceachreon, p. (2016). libraries “coming out” in support of lgbtqia+ human rights and social justice. advances in librarianship, 41, 183–208. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065283020160000041032 2016 ideational 96 barriage, s. (2016). the role of the union in promoting social justice. advances in librarianship, 41, 231–243. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065283020160000041009 2016 ideational 97 gorham, u., taylor, n. g., & jaeger, p. t. (2016). human rights, social justice, and the activist future of libraries. advances in librarianship, 41, 419–427. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065283020160000041017 2016 ideational 98 heller, m., & gaede, f. (2016). measuring altruistic impact: a model for understanding the social justice of open access. journal of librarianship & scholarly communication, 4, 1–18. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.7710/2162-3309.1258 2016 ideational 99 jaeger, p. t., shilton, k., & koepfler, j. (2016). the rise of social justice as a guiding principle in library and information science research. library quarterly, 86(1), 1– 9. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684142 2016 ideational 100 buschman, j., & warner, d. a. (2016). on community, justice, and libraries. library quarterly, 86(1), 10–24. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684146 2016 ideational 101 punzalan, r. l., & caswell, m. (2016). critical directions for archival approaches to social justice. library quarterly, 86(1), 25–42. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684145 2016 ideational 102 dadlani, p., & todd, r. j. (2016). social justice as strategy: connecting school libraries, collaboration, and it. library quarterly, 86(1), 43–75. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684143 2016 empirical 103 hoffmann, a. l. (2016). google books, libraries, and selfrespect: information justice beyond distributions. library quarterly, 86(1), 76–92. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684141 2016 ideational 29 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041007 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041032 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041032 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041032 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041009 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041009 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041017 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020160000041017 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.7710/2162-3309.1258 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.7710/2162-3309.1258 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684142 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684146 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684145 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684145 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684143 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684143 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684141 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684141 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 104 thompson, k. m., & paul, a. (2016). “i am not sure how much it will be helpful for me”: factors for digital inclusion among middle-class women in india. library quarterly, 86(1), 93–106. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684144 2016 empirical 105 cooke, n. a., sweeney, m. e., & noble, s. u. (2016). social justice as topic and tool: an attempt to transform an lis curriculum and culture. library quarterly, 86(1), 107–124. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684147 2016 ideational 106 sheffield, r. t. (2016). more than acid-free folders: extending the concept of preservation to include the stewardship of unexplored histories. library trends, 64(3), 572–584. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2016.0001 2016 ideational 107 evans, j., mckemmish, s., daniels, e., & mccarthy, g. (2015). self-determination and archival autonomy: advocating activism. archival science, 15(4), 337–368. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-0159244-6 2015 ideational 108 strauss, a. (2015). treading the ground of contested memory: archivists and the human rights movement in chile. archival science, 15(4), 369–397. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-014-9223-3 2015 ideational 109 yaco, s., jimerson, a., anderson, l., & temple, c. (2015). a web-based community-building archives project: a case study of kids in birmingham 1963. archival science, 15(4), 399–427. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-015-9246-4 2015 ideational 110 widdersheim, m. m. (2015). governance, legitimation, commons: a public sphere framework and research agenda for the public library sector. libri: international journal of libraries & information services, 65(4), 237–245. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1515/libri-2015-0043 2015 ideational 111 soglasnova, l., & hanson, m. (2015). socially responsive design and evaluation of a workers’ compensation thesaurus for a community organization with selective application of cognitive work analysis: a case study. cataloging & classification quarterly, 53(8), 905– 926. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01639374.2015.1044632 2015 methodologi cal 30 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684144 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684144 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684147 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/684147 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2016.0001 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2016.0001 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-015-9244-6 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-015-9244-6 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-014-9223-3 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-014-9223-3 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-015-9246-4 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-015-9246-4 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1515/libri-2015-0043 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01639374.2015.1044632 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01639374.2015.1044632 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 112 rhinesmith, c., dettmann, m., pierson, m., & spence, r. (2015). youthstudio: designing public library ya spaces with teens. journal of research on libraries & young adults, 6, 1–24. 2015 narrative 113 hunter, g. s. (2015). the archival profession and society. american archivist, 78(2), 285–287. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.285 2015 ideational 114 ramirez, m. h. (2015). being assumed not to be: a critique of whiteness as an archival imperative. american archivist, 78(2), 339–356. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.339 2015 ideational 115 poole, a. h. (2015). archival divides and foreign countries? historians, archivists, information-seeking, and technology: retrospect and prospect. american archivist, 78(2), 375–433. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.375 2015 ideational 116 steele, c. (2015). art exhibit on black panther challenges library patrons to face violence of mass incarceration. collaborative librarianship, 7(4), 168–175. 2015 practicional 117 bardoff, c. (2015). homelessness and the ethics of information access. serials librarian, 69(3/4), 347–360. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0361526x.2015.1099590 2015 practicional 118 awards that celebrate diversity in children’s literature. (2015). children & libraries. the journal of the association for library service to children, 13(3), 34–35. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5860/cal.13n3.34 2015 practicional 119 battista, a., ellenwood, d., gregory, l., higgins, s., lilburn, j., harker, y. s., & sweet, c. (2015). seeking social justice in the acrl framework. communications in information literacy, 9(2), 111–125. 2015 ideational 120 jaeger, p. t. (2015). disability, human rights, and social justice: the ongoing struggle for online accessibility and equality. first monday, 20(9–7), 1. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5210/fm.v20i9.6164 2015 ideational 121 mehra, b. (2015). introduction. library trends, 64(2), 179– 197. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0042 2015 ideational 122 mathiesen, k. (2015). informational justice: a conceptual 2015 ideational 31 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.285 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.285 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.339 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.339 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.375 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.375 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0361526x.2015.1099590 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0361526x.2015.1099590 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5860/cal.13n3.34 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5210/fm.v20i9.6164 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5210/fm.v20i9.6164 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0042 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0042 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 framework for social justice in library and information services. library trends, 64(2), 198–225. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0044 123 oliphant, t. (2015). social justice research in library and information sciences: a case for discourse analysis. library trends, 64(2), 226–245. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0046 2015 methodologi cal 124 brook, f., ellenwood, d., & lazzaro, a. e. (2015). in pursuit of antiracist social justice: denaturalizing whiteness in the academic library. library trends, 64(2), 246–284. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0048 2015 narrative 125 vincent, j. (2015). why do we need to bother? public library services for lgbtqi people. library trends, 64(2), 285–298. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0050 2015 practicional 126 merlo-vega, j. a., & chu, c. m. (2015). out of necessity comes unbridled imagination for survival: contributive justice in spanish libraries during economic crisis. library trends, 64(2), 299–328. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0051 2015 empirical 127 dadlani, p., & todd, r. j. (2015). information technology and school libraries: a social justice perspective. library trends, 64(2), 329–359. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0041 2015 empirical 128 allard, d., & ferris, s. (2015). antiviolence and marginalized communities: knowledge creation, community mobilization, and social justice through a participatory archiving approach. library trends, 64(2), 360–383. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0043 2015 narrative 129 roy, l. (2015). advancing an indigenous ecology within lis education. library trends, 64(2), 384–414. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0045 2015 ideational 130 kumasi, k. d., & manlove, n. l. (2015). finding “diversity levers” in the core library and information science curriculum: a social justice imperative. library trends, 64(2), 415–443. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0047 2015 empirical 32 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0044 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0044 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0046 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0046 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0048 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0048 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0050 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0050 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0051 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0051 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0041 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0041 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0043 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0043 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0045 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0045 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0047 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0047 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 131 montague, r.-a. (2015). mix it up!: a blending of community informatics and youth services librarianship to further social justice in library and information science education. library trends, 64(2), 444–457. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0049 2015 pedagogical 132 jaeger, p. t., wentz, b., & bertot, j. c. (2015). accessibility, inclusion, and the roles of libraries. advances in librarianship, 40, 1–8. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065283020150000040008 2015 ideational 133 jaeger, p. t., wentz, b., & bertot, j. c. (2015). libraries and the future of equal access for people with disabilities: legal frameworks, human rights, and social justice. advances in librarianship, 40, 237–253. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065283020150000040020 2015 ideational 134 kendrick, k. d., & damasco, i. t. (2015). a phenomenological study of conservative academic librarians. behavioral & social sciences librarian, 34(3), 129–157. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01639269.2015.1063952 2015 empirical 135 jiang, l., & wagner, c. (2015). perceptions of justice or injustice as determinants of contributor defections from online communities. journal of the association for information science & technology, 66(7), 1477–1493. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1002/asi.23261 2015 ideational 136 moreillon, j. (2015). digital storytelling based on the association for library service to children competencies: a learning activity to promote values associated with social justice. public library quarterly, 34(3), 212–229. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01616846.2015.1069676 2015 empirical 137 butcher, j., & rose-adams, j. (2015). part-time learners in open and distance learning: revisiting the critical importance of choice, flexibility and employability. open learning, 30(2), 127–137. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/02680513.2015.1055719 2015 empirical 138 ryan, m., & leadley, s. (2015). reflections on dversity and organizational development. reference & user services quarterly, 54(4), 6–10 2015 practicional 33 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0049 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2015.0049 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020150000040008 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020150000040008 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020150000040008 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020150000040020 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/s0065-283020150000040020 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01639269.2015.1063952 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01639269.2015.1063952 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1002/asi.23261 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01616846.2015.1069676 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01616846.2015.1069676 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/02680513.2015.1055719 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/02680513.2015.1055719 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 139 harihareswara, s. (2015). user experience is a social justice issue. code4lib journal, 28, 1. 2015 narrative 140 jaeger, p. t., sarin, l. c., & peterson, k. j. (2015). diversity, inclusion, and library and information science: an ongoing imperative (or why we still desperately need to have siscussions about diversity and inclusion). library quarterly, 85(2), 127–132. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/680151 2015 ideational 141 jaeger, p. t., cooke, n. a., feltis, c., hamiel, m., jardine, f., & shilton, k. (2015). the virtuous circle revisited: injecting diversity, inclusion, rights, justice, and equity into lis from education to advocacy. library quarterly, 85(2), 150–171. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/680154 2015 ideational 142 yukawa, j. (2015). preparing for complexity and wicked problems through transformational learning approaches. journal of education for library & information science, 56(2), 158–168. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.12783/issn.2328-2967/56/2/6 2015 pedagogical 143 bossaller, j. s. ., frasher, j., norris, s., marks, c. p., & trott, b. (2015). learning about social justice through experiential learning abroad. reference & user services quarterly, 54(3), 6–11. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5860/rusq.54n3.6 2015 pedagogical 144 gerolami, n.. (2015). the library assemblage: creative institutions in an information society. journal of documentation, 71(1), 165–174. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/jd-09-2013-0120 2015 ideational 145 stranger-johannessen, e., asselin, m., & doiron, r. (2015). new perspectives on community library development in africa. new library world, 116(1/2), 79– 93. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/nlw-052014-0063 2015 narrative 146 lang froggatt, d. (2015). the informationally underserved: not always diverse, but always a social justice advocacy model. school libraries worldwide, 21(1), 54–72. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.14265.21.1.004 2015 empirical 147 underwood, j., kimmel, s., forest, d., & dickinson, g. (2015). culturally relevant booktalking: using a mixed 2015 empirical 34 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/680151 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/680151 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/680154 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/680154 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.12783/issn.2328-2967/56/2/6 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.12783/issn.2328-2967/56/2/6 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5860/rusq.54n3.6 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5860/rusq.54n3.6 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/jd-09-2013-0120 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/jd-09-2013-0120 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/nlw-05-2014-0063 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/nlw-05-2014-0063 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.14265.21.1.004 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.14265.21.1.004 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 reality simulation with preservice school librarians. school libraries worldwide, 21(1), 91–107. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.14265.21.1.006 148 jaeger, p. t., gorham, u., taylor, n. g., kettnich, k., sarin, l. c., & peterson, k. j. (2014). library research and what libraries actually do now: education, inclusion, social services, public spaces, digital literacy, social justice, human rights, and other community needs. library quarterly, 84(4), 491–493. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/677785 2014 narrative 149 foote, j. b. (2014). profiles in science for science librarians: clyde snow: forensic anthropologist, social justice advocate, and super sleuth. science & technology libraries, 33(3), 213–227. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0194262x.2014.944297 2014 narrative 150 morales, m., knowles, e. c., & bourg, c. (2014). diversity, social justice, and the future of libraries. portal: libraries & the academy, 14(3), 439–451. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2014.0017 2014 ideational 151 schroeder, r., & hollister, c. v. (2014). librarians’ views on critical theories and critical practices. behavioral & social sciences librarian, 33(2), 91–119. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01639269.2014.912104 2014 empirical 152 poole, a. h. (2014). the strange career of jim crow archives: race, space, and history in the mid-twentiethcentury american south. american archivist, 77(1), 23–63. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/aarc.77.1.g621m3701g821 442 2014 narrative 153 douglass, k. (2014). studying the information needs of egovernance stakeholders: environmental justice as a context for tool development. information polity: the international journal of government & democracy in the information age, 19(1/2), 97–113. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3233/ip-140323 2014 ideational 154 ratto, m., wylie, s., & jalbert, k. (2014). introduction to the special forum on critical making as research program. information society, 30(2), 85–95. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01972243.2014.875767 2014 ideational 155 mehra, b. (2014). qualitative and quantitative methods in 2014 ideational 35 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.14265.21.1.006 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.14265.21.1.006 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/677785 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/677785 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0194262x.2014.944297 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0194262x.2014.944297 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2014.0017 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2014.0017 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01639269.2014.912104 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01639269.2014.912104 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/aarc.77.1.g621m3701g821442 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/aarc.77.1.g621m3701g821442 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/aarc.77.1.g621m3701g821442 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3233/ip-140323 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3233/ip-140323 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01972243.2014.875767 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01972243.2014.875767 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 libraries journal special issue: social justice, social inclusion. qualitative & quantitative methods in libraries, 1–3. 156 mehra, b., black, k., singh, v., nolt, j., williams, k.c., simmons, s., & renfro, n. (2014). the social justice framework in the information technology rural librarian master’s scholarship program: bridging the rural digital divides. qualitative & quantitative methods in libraries. 5–11. 2014 narrative 157 mehra, b., & singh, v. (2014). recruitment methods in the information technology rural librarian master’s scholarship program (part i and part ii): implications of social justice in the southern and central appalachian region. qualitative & quantitative methods in libraries, 13–22. 2014 pedagogical 158 rioux, k. (2014). teaching social justice in an information literacy course: an action research case study. qualitative & quantitative methods in libraries, 23–30. 2014 narrative 159 williams-cockfield, k. c. (2014). building civic capacity using a holistic approach to public library service: a participant researcher’s perspective on social justice in the cayman islands public library service. qualitative & quantitative methods in libraries, 31–38. 2014 narrative 160 dadlani, p. t., & todd, r. (2014). information technology services and school libraries: a continuum of social justice. qualitative & quantitative methods in libraries, 39–48. 2014 methodologi cal 161 singh, v. (2014). a case study of migration to an open source ils: partnership among state libraries. qualitative & quantitative methods in libraries, 59–68. 2014 ideational 162 kamel, s. h. (2014). the value of social media in egypt’s uprising and beyond. electronic journal of information systems in developing countries, 60(1), 1–7. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1002/j.16814835.2014.tb00426.x 2014 practicional 163 duff, w., flinn, a., suurtamm, k., & wallace, d. (2013). social justice impact of archives: a preliminary investigation. archival science, 13(4), 317–348. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-0129198-x 2013 ideational 36 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1002/j.1681-4835.2014.tb00426.x https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1002/j.1681-4835.2014.tb00426.x https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1002/j.1681-4835.2014.tb00426.x https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-012-9198-x https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-012-9198-x more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 164 hoffmann, d., & wallace, a. (2013). intentional informationists: re-envisioning information literacy and re-designing instructional programs around faculty librarians’ strengths as campus connectors, information professionals, and course designers. journal of academic librarianship, 39(6), 546–551. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.acalib.2013.06.004 2013 ideational 165 greene, m. a. (2013). a critique of social justice as an archival imperative: what is it we’re doing that’s all that important? american archivist, 76(2), 302–334. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/aarc.76.2.14744l214663k w43 2013 ideational 166 jimerson, r. c. (2013). archivists and social responsibility: a response to mark greene. american archivist, 76(2), 335–345. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/aarc.76.2.2627p15350572 t21t 2013 ideational 167 yaya, j. a., achonna, a. u., & osisanwo, t. (2013). censorship and the challenges of library services delivery in nigeria. library philosophy & practice, 1–25. 2013 practicional 168 shorter-gooden, k. (2013). the culturally competent organization. library quarterly, 83(3), 207–211. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/670695 2013 ideational 169 ferguson, a. w. (2013). back talk library dreams. against the grain, 25(1), 86–85. 2013 practicional 170 hayes-bohanan, p. (2013). librarian mentoring of an undergraduate research project. journal of library innovation, 4(1), 21–28. 2013 pedagogical 171 adler, k. (2013). radical purpose: the critical reference dialogue at a progressive urban college. urban library journal, 19(1), 1–8. 2013 pedagogical 172 zettervall, s. (2012). through a distant lens. progressive librarian, 40, 109–124. 2012 empirical 173 lor, p. j., & britz, j. j. (2012). an ethical perspective on political-economic issues in the long-term preservation of digital heritage. journal of the american society for information science & technology, 63(11), 2153–2164. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1002/asi.22725 2012 ideational 37 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.acalib.2013.06.004 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.acalib.2013.06.004 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/aarc.76.2.14744l214663kw43 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/aarc.76.2.14744l214663kw43 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/aarc.76.2.14744l214663kw43 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/aarc.76.2.2627p15350572t21t https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/aarc.76.2.2627p15350572t21t https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.17723/aarc.76.2.2627p15350572t21t https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/670695 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1002/asi.22725 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 174 stewart, g. (2012). sharing our stories: using an online encyclopaedia as the basis for a general education module on local history, creative writing and social justice. south african journal of libraries & information science, 78(2), 113–120. 2012 narrative 175 britz, j. j., & ponelis, s. (2012). social justice and the international flow of knowledge with specific reference to african scholars. aslib proceedings, 64(5), 462–477. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/00012531211263094 2012 ideational 176 lau, a. j., gilliland, a. j., & anderson, k. (2012). naturalizing community engagement in information studies. information, communication & society, 15(7), 991–1015. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2011.630404 2012 narrative 177 endter, a. l. (2012). authentication of online state primary legal resources as a social justice issue: the uniform electronic legal material act and how it can benefit oro se litigants. legal reference services quarterly, 31(3/4), 293–311. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0270319x.2012.741034 2012 ideational 178 pu, q., & scanlan, s. j. (2012). communicating injustice? information, communication & society, 15(4), 572–590. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2012.665937 2012 empirical 179 bonnici, l. j., maatta, s. l., wells, m. k., brodsky, j., & meadows, i. c. w. (2012). physiological access as a social justice type in lis curricula. journal of education for library & information science, 53(2), 115–129. 2012 empirical 180 oslick, m. e. (2012). boys and criminal justice in young adolescent fiction. new review of children’s literature & librarianship, 18(1), 1–10. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/13614541.2011.650955 2012 pedagogical 181 gilliland, a. g. (2011). neutrality, social justice and the obligations of archival education and educators in the twenty-first century. archival science, 11(3/4), 193–209. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-0119147-0 2011 ideational 182 mandlis, l. r. (2011). a passport to trouble. journal of information ethics, 20(2), 85–102. https://doi2011 empirical 38 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/00012531211263094 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/00012531211263094 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2011.630404 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2011.630404 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0270319x.2012.741034 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/0270319x.2012.741034 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2012.665937 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/1369118x.2012.665937 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/13614541.2011.650955 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/13614541.2011.650955 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-011-9147-0 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-011-9147-0 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3172/jie.20.2.85 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3172/jie.20.2.85 183 macdonald, s. (2011). conference proceedings: organize & assemble. progressive librarian, 36/37, 77–82. 2011 ideational 184 jimerson, r. c. (2011). ripples across the pond: global implications of the heiner affair. archives & manuscripts, 39(1), 15–48. 2011 narrative 185 lindsay, a. (2011). archives and justice: willard ireland’s contribution to the changing legal framework of aboriginal rights in canada, 1963-1973. archivaria, 71, 35–62. 2011 narrative 186 hastings, e. (2011). “no longer a silent victim of history:” repurposing the documents of japanese american internment. archival science, 11(1/2), 25–46. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-010-9113-2 2011 narrative 187 chao-min chiu, eric t.g. wang, fu-jong shih, & yi-wen fan. (2011). understanding knowledge sharing in virtual communities: an integration of expectancy disconfirmation and justice theories. online information review, 35(1), 134–153. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/14684521111113623 2011 empirical 188 harrison, y. d., kostic, k., toton, s. c., & zurek, j. (2010). globalizing social justice education: the case of the global solidarity network study e-broad program. internet & higher education, 13(3), 115–126. 2010 empirical 189 carpenter, c. (2010). the obamachine: technopolitics 2.0. journal of information technology & politics, 7(2/3), 216–225. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/19331681003765887 2010 ideational 190 salvador, a., rojas, s., & susinos, t. (2010). weaving networks: an educational project for digital inclusion. information society, 26(2), 137–143. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01972240903562795 2010 practicional 191 rioux, k. (2010). metatheory in library and information science: a nascent social justice approach. journal of education for library & information science, 51(1), 9–17. 2010 metatheoreti cal 192 morrone, m., & friedman, l. (2009). radical reference: socially responsible librarianship collaborating with community. reference librarian, 50(4), 371–396. https://doi2009 narrative 39 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3172/jie.20.2.85 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-010-9113-2 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-010-9113-2 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/14684521111113623 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/14684521111113623 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/19331681003765887 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/19331681003765887 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01972240903562795 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/01972240903562795 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/02763870903267952 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/02763870903267952 193 adami, t. (2009). future perfect? peacekeeping, peacebuilding and archives—the united nations in sudan. journal of the society of archivists, 30(1), 3–26. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/00379810903264583 2009 ideational 194 adams, s. (2009). our activist past: nora bateson, champion of regional libraries. (undetermined). partnership: the canadian journal of library & information practice & research, 4(1), 1–13. 2009 narrative 195 ponelis, s. r., & britz, j. j. (2008). to talk or not to talk? from telkom to hellkom: a critical reflection on the current telecommunication policy in south africa from a social justice perspective. international information & library review, 40(4), 219–225. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.iilr.2008.07.005 2008 ideational 196 glass, b. (2008). lilac 2008 in liverpool, european capital of culture. new library world, 109(11/12), 587–588. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/03074800810921395 2008 ideational 197 samek, t. (2008). finding human rights in library and information work. information world / bilgi dunyasi, 9(2), 527–540. 2008 ideational 198 friedman, l., & morrone, m. (2008). the sidewalk is our reference desk: when librarians take to the streets. refer, 24(3), 15–21. 2008 narrative 199 westbrook, l. (2008). understanding crisis information needs in context: the case of intimate partner violence survivors. library quarterly, 78(3), 237–261. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/588443 2008 empirical 200 hyde, g. (2008). appalachian special collections and appalachian studies: collections, curricula, and the development of interdisciplinary regional studies programs. journal for the society of north carolina archivists, 6(1), 4–25. 2008 narrative 201 britz, j. j. (2008). making the global information society good: a social justice perspective on the ethical dimensions of the global information society. journal of the american society for information science & 2008 ideational 40 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/02763870903267952 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/00379810903264583 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/00379810903264583 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.iilr.2008.07.005 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.iilr.2008.07.005 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/03074800810921395 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1108/03074800810921395 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/588443 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1086/588443 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 technology, 59(7), 1171–1183. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1002/asi.20848 202 scherlen, a., & robinson, m. (2008). open access to criminal justice scholarship: a matter of social justice. journal of criminal justice education, 19(1), 54– 74. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/10511250801892961 2008 ideational 203 krizack, j. d. (2007). preserving the history of diversity: one university’s efforts to make boston’s history more inclusive. rbm: a journal of rare books, manuscripts, & cultural heritage, 8(2), 125–132. 2007 practicional 204 jimerson, r. c. (2007). archives for all: professional responsibility and social justice. american archivist, 70(2), 252–281. 2007 ideational 205 mehra, b., & braquet, d. (2007). library and information science professionals as community action researchers in an academic setting: top ten directions to further institutional change for people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. library trends, 56(2), 542–565. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2008.0005 2007 empirical 206 lor, p. j., & britz, j. j. (2007). is a knowledge society possible without freedom of access to information? journal of information science, 33(4), 387– 397. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0165551506075327 2007 ideational 207 furner, j. (2007). dewey deracialized: a critical racetheoretic perspective. knowledge organization, 34(3), 144–168. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5771/09437444-2007-3-144 2007 ideational 208 de la peña mccook, k. (2007). librarians as advocates for the human rights of immigrants. progressive librarian, 29, 51–54. 2007 narrative 209 shuler, j. a. (2007). the civic value of academic libraries and the open source university. journal of academic librarianship, 33(2), 301–303. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.acalib.2007.01.007 2007 ideational 210 bush, g., & sitter, c. l. (2006). justice, equity and social responsibility: envisioning standard 10. knowledge 2006 ideational 41 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1002/asi.20848 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1002/asi.20848 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/10511250801892961 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1080/10511250801892961 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2008.0005 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/lib.2008.0005 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0165551506075327 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0165551506075327 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5771/0943-7444-2007-3-144 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.5771/0943-7444-2007-3-144 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.acalib.2007.01.007 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.acalib.2007.01.007 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 quest, 34(5), 17–42. 211 dunbar, a. w. (2006). introducing critical race theory to archival discourse: getting the conversation started. archival science, 6(1), 109–129. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-006-9022-6 2006 theoretical 212 mehra, b., & braquet, d. (2006). a “queer” manifesto of interventions for libraries to “come out” of the closet! a study of “queer” youth experiences during the coming out process. libres: library & information science research electronic journal, 16(1), 1–29. 2006 empirical 213 zazzau, v.-e. (2006). becoming information literate about information technology and the ethics of toxic waste. portal: libraries & the academy, 6(1), 99–107. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2006.0014 2006 pedagogical 214 warner, j. n. (2005). africa in canadian academic libraries: a continent’s voices go missing. social justice, 32(4), 180–191. 2005 empirical 215 lor, p., & britz, j. (2005). knowledge production from an african perspective: international information flows and intellectual property. international information & library review, 37(2), 61–76. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.iilr.2005.04.003 2005 ideational 216 moody, k. (2005). covert censorship in libraries: a discussion paper. australian library journal, 54(2), 138– 147. 2005 practicional 217 murphy, b. m. (2005). interdoc: the first international non-governmental computer network. first monday, 1. 2005 narrative 218 shorley, d. (2005). politicised but not political. library & information update, 4(4), 18–20. 2005 ideational 219 moody, k. (2004). censorship by queensland public librarians: philosophy and practice. aplis, 17(4), 168–185. 2004 empirical 220 lor, p., & britz, j. j. (2004). a moral perspective on south-north web archiving. journal of information science, 30(6), 540–549. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0165551504047925 2004 ideational 221 raseroka, h.k. (2004). overcome silence. library & information update, 3(12), 15. 2004 ideational 42 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-006-9022-6 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1007/s10502-006-9022-6 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1353/pla.2006.0014 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.iilr.2005.04.003 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1016/j.iilr.2005.04.003 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0165551504047925 https://doi-org.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.1177/0165551504047925 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 222 lor, p. j., & britz, j. (2004). digitization of africa’s documentary heritage: aid or exploitation? journal of information ethics, 13(2), 78–93. https://doiorg.proxy.lib.utk.edu/10.3172/jie.13.2.78 2004 ideational 223 kawooya, d. 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(2019). historical narrative as methodology research of the past. 52 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1080/01639269.2014.912104 http://www.progressivelibrariansguild.org/pl/pl44/101.pdf https://www.doi.org/10.5860/cal.13n3.34 https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2015.1044632 https://www.doi.org/10.7560/308240 https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.17.1.21 https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2017.03.002 https://doi.org/10.9776/14213 https://www.jstor.org/stable/40732569 https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2018.03.002 more than lip service the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34806 prospects: socio-political journal, 4(1), 113-119. https://doi.org/10.24195/spj23102896.2019.4.14 wallace, d. p., & van fleet, c. j. (2012). knowledge into action: research and evaluation in library and information science: research and evaluation in library and information science. abc-clio. white, m. d., & marsh, e. e. (2006). content analysis: a flexible methodology. library trends, 55(1), 22-45. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/3670 wiegand, w. a. (2020). sanitizing american library history: reflections of a library historian. the library quarterly, 90(2), 108-120. https://www.doi.org/10.1086/707669 wilson, t. d. (1999). models in information behaviour research. journal of documentation, 55(3), 249-270. https://www.doi.org/10.1108/eum0000000007145 winston, m. (2017). economic inequality as a societal issue: the role of access to information in fostering social change. journal of information ethics, 26(2), 54–71. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322340215_economic_inequality_as_a_soci etal_issue_the_role_of_access_to_information_in_fostering_social_change joseph winberry (jwinber1@vols.utk.edu) is a ph.d. student at the university of tennessee’s college of communication and information. his research interests in community informatics, information seeking, and social justice help guide his work towards answering a central question: what is the role of information and technology in bringing about social change? winberry’s scholarship has been published in the international journal of information, diversity, and inclusion, the journal of librarianship and information science, and library quarterly (forthcoming) among other venues. he has also received funding from the association for library and information science education and the american library association’s social responsibility roundtable. 53 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.24195/spj2310-2896.2019.4.14 https://doi.org/10.24195/spj2310-2896.2019.4.14 http://hdl.handle.net/2142/3670 https://www.doi.org/10.1086/707669 https://www.doi.org/10.1108/eum0000000007145 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322340215_economic_inequality_as_a_societal_issue_the_role_of_access_to_information_in_fostering_social_change https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322340215_economic_inequality_as_a_societal_issue_the_role_of_access_to_information_in_fostering_social_change mailto:jwinber1@vols.utk.edu introduction methods findings knowledge metatheoretical theoretical ideational methodological empirical narrative practice professional pedagogical discussion limitations and future research conclusion appendix final sample for analysis references building a framework for an inclusive workplace culture: the diversio diversity and inclusion survey the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.37507 c building a framework for an inclusive workplace culture: the diversio diversity and inclusion survey somkene igboanugo, university of waterloo, canada jieru yang, university of western ontario ivey business school, canada phil bigelow, university of waterloo, canada abstract reliable and valid methods are imperative to assess any organization’s diversity and inclusion practices. therefore, the diversio diversity and inclusion survey (ddis), an instrument built on a framework of five core themes (inclusive culture, fair management, access to networks, flexible working conditions, and safe working environment), and designed to measure inclusion metrics for organizations, was tested to examine its psychometric properties. the ddis was developed through a collaboration of industry experts, including those with the canadian council for aboriginal business (ccab) and the lgbtq chamber of commerce. initial testing and focus groups with over 60 participants belonging to equity deserving groups ensured the instrument had good content validity. after the initial testing, pilot testing involving a diverse sample of working adults from 25 companies in canada, the u.s., and the united kingdom was completed. psychometric properties of the 5-item ddis scale were examined based on a cross-sectional survey of 8,800 working adults from various industries worldwide. the internal consistency reliability of the scale was analyzed using cronbach’s alpha coefficient1. the cronbach alpha was 0.840 with all item-total correlations greater than 0.5. therefore, the ddis, which has good content validity and good internal consistency, should prove helpful in conducting assessments of diversity and inclusion culture and practices at any organization. in addition, organizations can survey their employees to gather relevant information to drive policy and organizational change. keywords: diversity, inclusion, scale development, survey, workplace culture publication type: research introduction urrently, organisations are witnessing an upward trend of diversity among their workforce, prompting changes in management practices, organisational values, and priorities (boekhorst, 2015). movements associated with the growing diversification of the workforce include globalisation, flattened corporate hierarchies, technological innovation, high immigration rates, and increased participation of minority groups (e.g., women, ethnic/racial minorities, lgbtq groups, and persons with disabilities) (downey et al., 2015; fassinger, 2008; mor-barak & levin, 2002; shore et al., 2018). a diverse workforce is instrumental in elevating an organisation’s performance and competitive edge; hence, the need for creating a thriving environment is imperative and has prompted the adoption of diversity management. recently, there has been a shift in discourse from diversity to inclusion, to creating an inclusive climate to harness the potential of a diversified staff fully and to reaping the accompanying benefits (klarsfeld et al., 2012; nair & vohra, 2015). with increased attention to diversity and inclusion (d&i) in the workplace, there is a need to appreciate the contextual meaning of these concepts. often, diversity and inclusion are used interchangeably; although interrelated, they are conceptually different constructs. workplace diversity has been defined as “the set of individual, group, and cultural differences people bring to the organisation” (prasad et al., 2006). the set of differences includes variability in the demographic composition of a building a framework for an inclusive workplace culture 53 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.37507 workgroup such as differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, and the different group of values individuals bring to the organisation, for example, work culture, cognitive and behavioral styles (konrad, 2006; prasad et al., 2006). for practical reasons, the endgame for most organisations is to achieve demographic and thought diversity (nair & vohra, 2015). on the other hand, shore et al. (2011) define inclusion as “the degree to which an employee perceives that they are an esteemed member of the workgroup through experiencing treatment that satisfies their need for belongingness and uniqueness” (p. 1265). in the workplace context, “inclusion” represents an individual’s ability to access information/resources, actively participate in decision-making processes, and contribute fully to an organisation (roberson, 2006). looking at both concepts, as shore et al. (2018) elucidate, diversity highlights differences in the demographic composition and values in groups or organisations, while inclusion prioritises greater involvement and participation of all members of an organisation to leverage diversity effects/benefits. irrespective of industry, a diverse and inclusive culture in the workplace provides immense benefits. the mor-barak et al. (2016) meta-analysis focusing on diversity and inclusion in the workplace concludes that leadership effort at advancing inclusion and diversity was significantly associated with only positive outcomes, compared to when diversity alone was the focus (resulting in positive and negative consequences). the mor-barak et al. (2016) study highlights the importance of promoting both concepts at the individual and organisational levels. when organisations prioritise d&i, compelling evidence shows that marginalised and non-dominant groups (e.g., women, ethnic minorities, lgbtq individuals, people with disabilities) benefit immensely. increased job satisfaction, prospects for growth/advancement, commitment, and better overall physical and mental health are associated with increased diversity and inclusion (bond & haynes, 2014). in addition, policies that promote diversity and inclusive practices at the organisational level produce higher competitive advantage, increased productivity, attraction and retention of the best talents, employee satisfaction and loyalty, and better business performance and practices (bond & haynes, 2014; mccuiston et al., 2004). with the increased awareness and growing importance of d&i, it is crucial to identify workplace factors affecting their acceptance and implementation. often these factors are specific to certain environments (i.e., type of industry, geographical location), making it essential to identify them with that context in mind (konrad, 2006). industry experts and researchers investigating d&i at the workplace suggest that these factors may be emerging primarily from organisational culture, hiring processes, available resources, remuneration, communication methods, and leadership/management style (boekhorst, 2015; bond & haynes, 2014; buttner & lowe, 2017; konrad, 2006; kossek et al., 2017; schmidt et al., 2017). these factors may promote, or hinder d&i practices in the workplace, thus, amplifying the need for identification and measurement. therefore, there is a need for a standardised and validated assessment tool that identifies and measures the degree to which varying perceived factors may promote d&i practices or undermine its integration in the workplace. with such an assessment measure, organisations can effectively address workplace barriers to diversity and disburse resources to boost inclusion practices. considering the need for a validated tool that identifies workplace factors and their impact on d&i, an assessment tool, the ddis, was developed by diversio inc., a company of subject matter experts that measure, track, and improve diversity, equity, and inclusion at organisations using artificial intelligence technology and sophisticated data analysis. the ddis is an instrument that assesses the degree of diversity and how individuals feel engaged and included in the affairs of an organisation or workplace. a consortium of subject experts, equity-seeking-group associations, academics, and senior executives of different industries were also instrumental in developing the ddis. the ddis was designed to reflect the current research and advancement on d&i applicable to various organisations. in this study, we provide elucidation for the five themes that the theoretical framework for the dis is built around and test the measure’s psychometric properties, focusing on its reliability. the paper consists of two sections; the first expands on the five core themes that undergird the ddis. the second investigates its reliability: the internal consistency of items on the ddis. building a framework for an inclusive workplace culture 54 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.37507 conceptual framework for the diversio diversity and inclusion survey recently, there has been much discussion surrounding d&i in literature, and researchers have identified several themes associated with diversity and inclusion in the workplace. the authors of the ddis built the survey on a framework based on knowledge of best practices, a review of the current literature on diversity and inclusion, and the internal diversio inc’s research data from 20,000 companies worldwide. the authors identified five core themes: inclusive culture, fair management, access to networks, flexible working conditions, and a safe working environment. inclusive culture based on the optimal distinctiveness theory (odt), two broad themes conceptualise inclusion in the workplace (shore et al., 2011). the first theme, belongingness, represents acceptance for all employees, regardless of status, position, or demographic group. at the same time, uniqueness welcomes and respects the contribution and perspectives of all employees, irrespective of cultural differences (shore et al., 2011). building on these themes, inclusive culture involves adopting the principles, practices, and policies that foster a sense of belongingness and uniqueness in an organisation (boekhorst, 2015). nishii (2013) further expands on inclusive culture, where individuals are treated fairly, valued, and participate in decision-making processes irrespective of background. further, inclusive culture at the workplace addresses assimilation (conforming to the dominant culture), which hinders perceived belongingness among marginalised individuals, especially racial minorities. assimilation requires surrendering one’s traditions and views in favor of those exhibited by the dominant group in return for acceptance (bond & haynes, 2014; fields, 2009; yang & konrad, 2011). in addition, organisations with an active, inclusive culture intentionally eschew issues such as tokenism, color blindness, and other subtle exclusionary acts (bernstein et al., 2020; fields, 2009; prasad et al., 2006). in the workplace, leadership plays a significant role in creating a culture of inclusivity (gill et al., 2018). mor-barak et al. (2016) define an inclusive leader as one who looks beyond individual differences (e.g., race and sexuality) but values unique talents and leverages different perspectives diverse individuals bring to the table. other complementing factors to cultivating an inclusive culture at the workplace include increased employee engagement, empathy practice, provision of adequate resources, and team building (boekhorst, 2015; mor-barak & levin, 2002; shore et al., 2018). team building in this context encompasses all activity that fosters unity, inclusion, collaboration, and communication between a diverse group of individuals. inclusive culture forms the bedrock for adopting and applying d&i policies and practices. the importance of an inclusive culture at any organisation includes growing benefits of better team rapport, improved team performance, enhanced employee well-being, increased job commitment, and an established positive climate for diversity (shore et al., 2018). fair management feedback and reviews are critical day-to-day activities in any organisation. organisational leadership uses feedback and reviews to evaluate and praise positive performance, or in other cases, constructively criticise erring behavior or performances, which in the long run tracks team members’ progress and professional development. when used appropriately, feedback and reviews are valuable at individual and management levels. it provides a transparent apparatus to appraise staff performance and target areas for growth and development. in the context of diversity and inclusion, the feedback and review process is a valuable performance enhancing activity when implemented fairly and transparently. unfortunately, certain groups often receive negative and unflattering feedback, with data showing that existing performance review systems are biased against non-dominant group employees (konrad, 2006). further, women are often shortchanged by these reviews, with data showing that women are 1.4 times more likely to receive building a framework for an inclusive workplace culture 55 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.37507 negative critical feedback (cecchi-dimeglio, 2017). biased management, in combination with dishonest and vital feedback and reviews, leads to low morale, little or no commitment, job dissatisfaction, low self-efficacy, poor retention, and high turnover of employees (chandler, 2012; saunderson, 2004). biased management may also lead to harmful practices such as nepotism, favoritism, and cronyism in the workplace (arasli & tumer, 2008; padgett & morris, 2005). individuals traditionally privileged by workplace systems (white, heterosexual, male, and non-disabled) often benefit from positive feedback, giving them opportunities for career advancement at the expense of others (konrad, 2006). nepotism may propagate homogeneity, introduce subtle and overt discrimination, and influence recruitment practices that hinder diversity and inclusion building (jones et al., 2007; konrad, 2006). in addition, biased performance evaluations and feedback lead to inequitable pay distribution, especially for women and ethnic minorities (buttner & lowe, 2017; fassinger, 2008). according to data from statistics canada, full-time working women made an average of 87 cents to every dollar earned by men (pelletier et al., 2019). this disparity was wider for indigenous, racialised, those living with disabilities, and immigrant women (pelletier et al., 2019; m. williams, 2018). further, mor-barak & levin’s (2002) findings show that women are more likely to receive critical reviews, receive less recognition and earn less despite similar performance levels as their male counterparts. management practices that provide unbiased feedback and reviews are necessary to improve the d&i culture in the workplace. it ensures transparency and equal access to opportunities, breaks the proverbial “glass ceiling” for under-represented groups, fosters growth/productivity, improves team morale, increases talent retention, and improves organisational diversity (bond & haynes, 2014; schmidt et al., 2017). access to networks access to networks is a critical component of d&i culture at the workplace. access refers to the availability of opportunities and equitable access to opportunities, regardless of individual ability or experience (tan, 2019). access to networks provides opportunities for active participation and engagement for marginalised groups and eliminates perceived or actual obstacles that stifle career growth/advancement (tan, 2019). in the d&i context, network access appraises how employees feel they have management’s support and investment in their growth and development. employees with access are provided opportunities to showcase their talents and develop within their organisation. notably, room for career growth/development, mentorship, training programs, and networking opportunities are essential facets of network access. increased opportunities for career development are evidential benefits of increased access to the workplace, especially for marginalised groups. unfortunately, systemic barriers often targeting marginalised groups are the “glass ceiling” and “sticky floor” phenomenon. glass ceiling is a term used to describe systemic barriers that women and racialised groups experience while attempting to rise through organisational ranks (bond & haynes, 2014). the sticky floor phenomenon explains the uneven clustering of specific individuals in low-paying or entry-level positions with limited opportunities for upward mobility (bond & haynes, 2014; harlan & berheide, 1994). in addition, existing evidence shows that women, racial minorities, and individuals living with disabilities make up a large proportion of employees in human resources, home health, administrative services jobs, and frontline roles. the over-representation in such frontline positions furthers career inequality and limits access to networks and opportunities compared to white men (bond & haynes, 2014; kossek et al., 2017). training, networking, and mentorship are essential components of access to networks. training provides education on self-awareness, self-reflection, and reduction of bias and perceptions that concern the provision of access to marginalised groups (gill et al., 2018). mentorship is of particular interest since it guides an often complicated and tumultuous career path in big organisations, especially for racial minorities (fredette et al., 2016; konrad, 2006). unfortunately, recent evidence indicates an unequal availability/access to support networks and mentors (fassinger, 2008). by their demographic similarity to the leadership/administrative team, specific individuals find it easier to connect and access mentors building a framework for an inclusive workplace culture 56 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.37507 than individuals who do not share such demographic similarities (davis et al., 2016; konrad, 2006). in other cases, mentees belonging to non-dominant groups may experience difficulties establishing enriching relationships with mentors, especially from different demographics, with outcomes often to the mentee’s detriment (konrad, 2006). access to networks is vital in fostering an inclusive climate at the workplace. in organisations with equitable access to resources and opportunities, there is a significant increase in team integration, knowledge sharing, learning, networking, and career advancement (bond & haynes, 2014; podsiadlowski et al., 2013). in addition, organisations that guarantee access to networks establish a stable work environment that retains a diverse and talented pool of staff (konrad, 2006; podsiadlowski et al., 2013). flexible working conditions organizations have often sought ways to improve the working conditions of their staff to enhance job performance and overall productivity. as a result, flexible working conditions have grown in popularity because of increased calls for work-life balance, rising work-related stress, and the rallying cry for a diversified and inclusive workplace (kelliher & anderson, 2010). in addition, the covid-19 pandemic has contributed to significant demand for flexible working options (forbes et al., 2020). flexible work encompasses all working conditions, including reduced hours, remote work, time off, compressed working time, and atypical working hours (kelliher & anderson, 2010). remote work has been the subject of much research since it is a necessary form of flexible work. despite the benefits associated with remote work (e.g., work-life balance), certain employees do not have the option of working remotely and face increased difficulties (kelliher & anderson, 2010). marginalised groups do not always enjoy the luxury of working remotely due to systemic barriers placed on them by the nature of their jobs, which are mostly frontline, non-salaried, and low-status (abril, 2020; brown, 2018; konrad, 2006). the lack of choices marginalised groups, especially women, experience is evident in disrupted work-life balance, slower upward mobility, and high attrition rates (kossek et al., 2017). access to parental leave is an essential feature of an inclusive culture and flexible working environment. due to increasing numbers of women in the workplace, discussions regarding parental leave have gained traction. however, certain employees may not have opportunities to access paid parental leave or are forced to return to work prematurely. additionally, prejudicial stereotypes and bias, especially towards women (e.g., maternal wall, a form of discrimination faced by pregnant women or working mothers in which they are perceived as less competent or committed to their jobs by colleagues and the organisation) (williams & multhaup, 2018), play a role in limiting opportunities for parental leave, leaving the affected parties with tough career decisions, and added stress (kossek et al., 2017). research has identified significant evidence of mental strain in employees with no access to flexible working policies with provisions for parental leave (kelliher & anderson, 2010; williams & multhaup, 2018). flexible work conditions are particularly crucial for ensuring workers’ health and well-being. the benefits of flexible work are evident at both the employee and organisation levels. at the employee level, flexible work is significantly linked to positive outcomes such as higher job satisfaction, autonomy, low-stress levels, and work-life enrichment (greenhaus & powell, 2006; kelliher & anderson, 2010). for parents, these benefits are more pronounced, as it provides the flexibility to maintain a healthy work-family balance. at the organisational level, employers report increased overall productivity, attraction/retainment of talent, low absenteeism, and higher employer loyalty and commitment when employees receive a range of flexible work options (kelliher & anderson, 2010; konrad & mangel, 2000). safe working environment safe working conditions include all policies, and ethical and behavioral standards put in place to ensure the safety of all employees. an increasingly diverse workforce and the growing call for inclusivity have necessitated workplace designs that prioritise psychological safety and safe working conditions (adams et al., 2020; downey et al., 2015). psychological safety in the d&i context is the intentional building a framework for an inclusive workplace culture 57 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.37507 establishment of healthy and consistent social systems that allow individuals full expression and engagement in a safe environment (kahn, 1990). unfortunately, despite the growing awareness and need for safe working conditions, marginalised groups are often at the receiving end of unsafe working conditions and experience adverse employment outcomes and negative impacts on their health and wellness (butler-henderson et al., 2018; magalhaes et al., 2010). inclusive leadership is crucial in any organisation because leaders are responsible for creating a safe working environment for subordinates through transparent, respectful, and accessible personalities (adams et al., 2020). on the other hand, toxic leaders rely on a culture of fear, bullying, disrespect, and aggression towards their subordinates. in doing so, they deliberately create unsafe and hostile conditions for employees, further jeopardising an organisation’s goal of inclusion (singh et al., 2018). workplace discrimination is another factor contributing to unsafe working conditions (adams et al., 2020; bond & haynes, 2014; mor-barak & levin, 2002). discrimination at the workplace may present as restricted or limited access to opportunities, unfair feedback/evaluation, and inequitable distribution of rewards (adams et al., 2020). in other instances, discrimination can be interpersonal and appears as verbal harassment, incivility, and bullying (adams et al., 2020; raver & nishii, 2010). harassment is also tied to discrimination or may appear on its own and manifest in sexual, verbal, and physical forms (adams et el., 2020). typically, there is no access to recourse in unsafe working conditions, and the systems suppress complaints and punish attempts to seek justice (adams et al., 2020; raver & nishii, 2010). regardless of its presentation (subtle or overt), the impact of unsafe working conditions is telling, particularly on individuals belonging to marginalised groups. evidence shows that marginalised groups overwhelmingly experience employment and sex-based discrimination, including discriminatory recruitment practices, unfavorable job evaluations, wage disparity, bullying, and sexual harassment (adams et al., 2020; bond & haynes, 2014; konrad, 2006). toxic leadership and discrimination also hinder complete assimilation and diminish marginalised staff’s self-efficacy and confidence, resulting in physical and mental strain (adams et al., 2020; schmitt et al., 2014). creating a safe working environment is a vital ingredient for maintaining a thriving workplace and ensuring the overall well-being of all workers, especially members of the non-dominant group. in addition, safe working conditions strengthen workplace diversity and facilitate seamless integration of inclusive practices that ensure employee commitment and participation. the five themes discussed are essential components of a theoretical framework elucidating a diverse and inclusive workplace. as observed in the literature and identified among qualitative responses in past surveys (free-text data from the ddis), the core themes may roughly be grouped into sub-themes that provide further contextual meaning. figure 1 provides a detailed representation of the framework used to design the ddis. methods development of the diversio diversity and inclusion survey – psychometric properties the survey was developed to assess perceptions of d&i of working adults in various industries around the globe, especially within north america. based on internal data and literature sources on d&i, a team of industry experts and researchers from diversio inc drafted the survey questions. in addition, industry stakeholders, including the canadian council for aboriginal business (ccab) and the lgbtq chamber of commerce, provided expert feedback on the language and phrasing of the questions used in the survey. further, three focus groups were included in the initial testing phase, with 60 participants belonging to equity-deserving groups. participants tested a large pool of questions for the testing phase, provided opinions on the questions, and added relevant questions not addressed in the survey. building a framework for an inclusive workplace culture 58 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.37507 figure 1. framework for the ddis illustrating the five core themes and sub-themes following contributions from the focus group, the authors condensed the survey to 17 questions with significant changes made to eight questions. after the initial testing phase, the survey underwent a pilot testing phase involving a diverse sample of working adults from 25 companies in canada, the u.s., and the united kingdom. instrument the current version of the diversio diversity and inclusion survey (ddis) consists of three sections: the likert-based questions and free-text questions assessing experience (i.e., inclusion), the demographic and identity questions assessing diversity, and the logistical questions identifying employee roles, levels, departments, and regions of work. the first section captures the five themes reflecting inclusivity in the workplace (inclusive culture, fair management, access to networks, safe working environment, and flexible working conditions). this section consists of five questions representing each theme (see table 2), measured using a five-point likert scale with options ranging from “no, not at all” to “yes, definitely”. in addition, this section offered a free text prompt (what would the organisation do better improved job satisfaction talent optimization and retention increased creativity, productivity, and morale safe working environment flexible working conditions access to network ❖ inclusive leadership ❖ team building ❖ employee engagement ❖ adequate resourcing ❖ empathy building inclusive culture ❖ absence of nepotism/favoritism ❖ feedback culture ❖ employee recognition ❖ pay equity ❖ biased management fair management ❖ career development ❖ mentorship ❖ training ❖ networking ❖ remote work ❖ parental leave ❖ time off ❖ mental health ❖ discrimination ❖ toxic leadership ❖ recourse ❖ harassment ❖ retaliation building a framework for an inclusive workplace culture 59 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.37507 to support inclusion and belonging at work?) to provide respondents with the opportunity to supplement the likert-based questions and add more context to the quantitative data. in the second section, the survey collects relevant demographic data (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, role, and disability) of participating individuals from each organisation. finally, the third section obtains information on employees’ roles and status in the organisation. interpretation of the ddis involves establishing the dominant versus non-dominant group and scoring using the responses to the five likert-based questions (the summated scores can range from 0 to 25). typically, especially in north america, the dominant group consists of persons with the demographic traits (usually white, heterosexual, and non-disabled males) appearing most frequently at the executive level of an organisation. thus, the leadership team determines the dominant group and is company-specific. the non-dominant group comprises everyone who does not belong to the dominant demographic; hence, they actively seek inclusion in the organisation. survey responses from the ddis are stratified according to the group employees fall under (dominant versus non-dominant). more weight is ascribed to the non-dominant group’s perception (score on the ddis) of the d&i at the workplace. study population the reported data was part of an extensive cross-sectional survey of workers from different organisations spread across the following countries: argentina, australia, bosnia and herzegovina, brazil, bulgaria, canada, chile, china, colombia, ecuador, egypt, france, germany, india, indonesia, ireland, japan, kazakhstan, lebanon, malaysia, mauritius, mexico, netherlands, new zealand, norway, pakistan, peru, philippines, poland, portugal, republic of korea, romania, russia, singapore, south africa, spain, sweden, turkey, ukraine, united arab emirates, united kingdom, u.s., and uzbekistan. participants were contacted by email and encouraged to participate in the anonymous ddis survey. particularly, importance was placed on recruiting a diverse and representative sample; hence, a deliberate recruitment effort targeted non-dominant groups. between january and december 2019, 11,027 respondents in different professional roles spread amongst 18 organisations participated in the anonymous survey. statistical analyses responses from the ddis were retrieved and stored on microsoft excel, and statistical analyses were completed using spss statistical software for windows (version 25, ibm spss, 2017). for descriptive purposes, means and standard deviations (s.d.) were calculated for continuous variables, while frequency (n) and percentages were determined for categorical variables. the first section of the survey, which consisted of five questions scored on a likert scale, investigated their psychometric properties. the psychometric properties represent the measurement tool’s reliability, usefulness, and appropriateness in the context it is being used (portney & watkins, 2009). for our analysis, we investigated the reliability, which is the internal consistency of the ddis. the internal consistency reliability determines how well a survey accurately measures the investigated concept(s). investigators calculate the cronbach alpha to test the internal consistency of a survey or questionnaire (streiner & kottner, 2014). the cronbach’s alpha coefficient reflects the level of covariance between the items on the survey. hence, a higher alpha coefficient (0.0 to 1.0) represents a more consistent scale and a greater chance that the questions genuinely reflect the investigated concept (souza et al., 2017). commonly, alpha coefficients above 0.7 are considered ideal, while values between 0.60 and 0.70 are satisfactory, and values under 0.50 are poor (souza et al., 2017). results in summary, out of 11,027 survey respondents, 2,227 were excluded because of missing data; thus, the final sample for this study consisted of 8,800 respondents working in organisations spread across the globe. most respondents resided in north america and europe; however, many responses came from india building a framework for an inclusive workplace culture 60 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.37507 and south africa. most survey respondents identified as men (47%), white (51%), and heterosexual (78%). regarding organisation roles, most respondents were general employees (43%), followed by managers (21%) and executives (7%). eighteen percent of respondents identified as disabled, and amongst them, mental and physical impairments were the most reported disabilities. table 1 provides the main characteristics of the sample. table 1. demographic characteristics of the survey respondents (n = 8800) gender n (%) female 4048 (46) male 4136 (47) other 264 (3) prefer not to answer 352 (5) ethnicity asian 1672 (19) black 616 (7) latin/hispanic 176 (2) middle eastern 176 (2) mixed race 352 (4) white 4488 (51) other 440 (5) prefer not to answer 880 (10) sexual orientation asexual 352 (4) bisexual 176 (2) gay 88 (1) heterosexual 6864 (78) other 176 (2) prefer not to answer 1144 (13) disability yes 1584 (18) no 6424 (73) prefer not to answer 792 (9) role associate/support/entry-level/staff 3784 (43) management 2464 (28) prefer not to answer 2552 (29) the summed score for the ddis had a mean value of 18.09 and a standard deviation of 5.68 (95% confidence interval: 17.97,18.21). for the internal consistency of the ddis, the cronbach’s alpha for the survey was 0.840, with all item-total correlations greater than 0.5. table 2 provides five questions scored on the likert scale (the first section of the ddis representing the five core themes) and summarises the item-total correlations and cronbach alpha change after item deletion. building a framework for an inclusive workplace culture 61 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.37507 table 2. ddis first section questions and summary of the internal consistency for the ddis (n = 8800) questions content mean score (s.d.) item-total correlation cronbach’s alpha if item deleted 1. do you feel your team values your opinion? inclusive culture 3.70 (1.35) .691 .796 2. do you receive fair and objective feedback from your manager on your performance? fair management 3.55 (1.42) .743 .780 3. is there someone in a position of influence at your company who is invested in your growth and development? (for example, your manager) access to network 3.19 (1.55) .648 .807 4. do you have the flexibility and support you need to manage personal care obligations? (for example, childcare, elder-care, or personal commitments) flexible work conditions 3.78 (1.47) .642 .808 5. in your experience, is company free from discrimination and harassment? safe work environment 3.86 (1.47) .510 .844 discussion over the past few decades, diversity and inclusion practices in the workplace have gained prominence, leading to increased research in this field to highlight and elucidate systemic factors and relevant frameworks (boekhorst, 2015; kaur & arora, 2020). organisations use specific metrics, such as recruitment practices to measure the success of their d&i policies/culture. further, there is growing consensus regarding the need for validated tools with solid theoretical frameworks that adequately capture perceptions of inclusivity at every level of an organisation (fernandez-archilla et al., 2020; roberson, 2006). hence, this work aimed to elucidate the conceptual framework used to build the ddis and investigate its internal consistency. the ddis was built on five core themes: inclusive culture, fair management, access to networks, flexible working conditions, and a safe working environment. these themes have strong theoretical corroboration and are valuable indicators of the state of d&i culture at any organisation, as evidenced in previous studies (adams et al., 2020; kelliher & anderson, 2010; konrad, 2006; kossek et al., 2017; shore et al., 2011; tan, 2019). further, these core themes have also been used to design surveys used in other empirical studies investigating d&i in the workplace (mor-barak & cherin, 1998; person et al., 2015). the reliability of the ddis as a valid measure of d&i metrics was investigated using data from a cross sectional study of employees of different ethnicities, nationalities, and professions. based on the findings on the internal consistency of the ddis, items from the first section (the five likert-based questions) showed good reliability with a cronbach’s alpha of 0.84. the study findings indicate a relatively low building a framework for an inclusive workplace culture 62 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.37507 random error and a high internal consistency observed with the ddis. ergo, the ddis, by virtue of its high reliability, provides a reliable instrument to determine the degree of employee perception of the culture of inclusivity, management’s fairness, network access, the flexibility of working conditions, and safety of the working environment at any given organisation. the strength of the ddis as a measure for d&i also lies in the scale development process. the methodology (i.e., scale development including conceptual underpinnings and testing of psychometric properties) employed by the creators followed standard scale development procedures and is similar to that observed in studies of this nature (souza et al., 2017). the final version of the ddis, which we used to test its reliability, was a product of rigorous testing and input from qualified stakeholders on item development, refinement, and removal based on a framework relevant to d&i at the workplace. the ddis may also be beneficial in its application to a broad range of industries or professions. this is because the ddis lacks an industry-specific design typically seen with similar assessment instruments; for example, tools designed to appraise d&i in academia like the index of inclusion questionnaire (fernandez-archilla et al., 2020). in addition, the ddis was tested across different industries, offering evidence of its versatility. hence, the ddis instrument has good utility since it can be applied to any audience or group of users. data generated is dependable irrespective of industry, including academia, healthcare, or businesses. finally, the ddis capacity to assess demographic representation and employee perceived inclusivity within an organisation is significant. often, d&i assessments, especially for research purposes, mainly capture demographic factors (e.g., the number of women or individuals living with a disability, as a measure of diversity and inclusion) (thompson, 2017). however, such emphasis on demographic factors is restrictive because it may offer an imprecise assessment of d&i that may not fully capture the representation and engagement of non-dominant groups within an organisation. the ddis overcomes this limitation by capturing both demographic and inclusion metrics. although the present study’s findings provide confidence in the utility of the ddis, there should be more testing of its psychometric properties. for example, the psychometric evaluation of the ddis to check for reproducibility (test-related reliability), which is the consistency of the survey to yield the same result on repeated trials in similar conditions. a follow-up study with the same participants will help achieve this. further, a limitation with all self-report measures is the potential for response bias. however, the ddis helps overcome this limitation by adding the free-text prompt accompanying the likert-based questions that allow the users to provide context for their choice of answers if they wish to. conclusion diversity and inclusion in the workplace are vital as they provide immense benefits at the individual and organisational levels. to that end, organisations have incorporated practices and policies that boost institutional capacity for diversity and inclusion. forefront among such efforts is the development of reliable instruments to determine the level of engagement and culture of inclusion within an organisation. experts and stakeholders such as diversio, workday, culture amp, qualtrix, and peakon, have significantly contributed to creating diagnostic and benchmark tools to evaluate d&i metrics. one such standout instrument is the ddis by diversio, which was the focus of our study. to the best of our knowledge, the ddis is the only valid diversity and inclusion instrument tested across a broad group of participants spanning different ethnicities, countries, and professions. as our findings have shown, the ddis reliably gathers feedback on questions representing thoroughly researched and evidence-based constructs of diversity and inclusion. in addition, the high internal consistency observed with the ddis signifies good reliability. so, as a diagnostic tool, it can accurately building a framework for an inclusive workplace culture 63 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.37507 capture d&i metrics and generate relevant data that may identify and address areas needing improvement or monitor key performance indicators of ongoing d&i programs. further, the ddis provides reliable data for hypothesis generation and research inquiry within the d&i research field in the research context. finally, data generated from the ddis may be used as a reliable yardstick by different users, including researchers, administrators, and business owners, to gauge their endeavours towards inclusion. overall, the ddis instrument represents a significant step in the right direction towards developing and growing the diversity and inclusion culture. endnotes 1 the cronbach’s alpha coefficient reflects the level of covariance between the items on the survey; 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(2018). for women of colour, there’s a gap within the pay gap. macleans. https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/for-women-of-colour-theres-a-gap-within-the-pay-gap/ yang, y., & konrad, a. m. (2011). diversity management practices: implications of institutional theory and resource-based theory. group & organization management, 36(1), 6–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601110390997 appadurai, a. (1986). introduction: commodities and the politics of value. in a. appadurai (ed.), the social life of things: commodities in cultural perspective (pp. 3–63). cambridge: cambridge university press. somkene igboanugo (sigboanu@uwaterloo.ca) is a 4th-year doctoral student in the department of public health sciences at the university of waterloo. he has an m.d. degree and an msc in public health and health systems. his research focuses on psychosocial stress and its’ biological embedding in the workplace. as an ardent advocate for mental health awareness amongst racialized community members, the author is interested in exploring the intersectionality of mental health and diversity and inclusion practices, especially in canadian workplaces. jieru yang (jieruyang.hba2023@ivey.ca) is a 3rd-year undergraduate student in the ivey business school hba program at the university of western ontario. she has a background working in business development and finance and is still determining what she plans to pursue post-undergraduate studies. jieru has done notable work in diversity and inclusion practices, both in her school and community. phil bigelow (pbigelow@uwaterloo.ca) is an associate professor in the department of public health sciences at the university of waterloo. he has a background in epidemiology and teaches courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels in occupational and environmental epidemiology. he holds an appointment at the institute for work & health, where he was a specialist in intervention studies before joining the university of waterloo. phil has an interest in the mental health of workers and the public due to occupational and environmental exposures. he led a multidisciplinary research team that studied the health impacts of wind turbine noise on residents’ quality of life. these studies investigated the relationships between noise exposure, sleep quality, fatigue, and mental health. https://doi.org/10.5123/s1679-49742017000300022 https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.12402 https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiz198 https://hbr.org/2018/03/for-women-and-minorities-to-get-ahead-managers-must-assign-work-fairly https://hbr.org/2018/03/for-women-and-minorities-to-get-ahead-managers-must-assign-work-fairly https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/for-women-of-colour-theres-a-gap-within-the-pay-gap/ https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601110390997 a crisis of erasure: transgender and gender-nonconforming populations navigating breast cancer health information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 a crisis of erasure: transgender and gender-nonconforming populations navigating breast cancer health information curtis s. tenney, florida state university, usa karl j. surkan, massachusetts institute of technology, usa lynette hammond gerido, university of michigan, usa dawn betts-green, old dominion university, usa abstract in this paper, we use the topic of breast cancer as an example of health crisis erasure in both informational and institutional contexts, particularly within the transgender and gendernonconforming population. breast cancer health information conforms and defaults to conventional cultural associations with femininity, as is the case with pregnancy and other “single-sex” conditions (surkan, 2015). many health information and research practices normalize sexualities, pathologize non-normative gender (drescher et al., 2012; fish, 2008; müller, 2018), and fail to recognize gender-nonconforming categories (frohard‐dourlent et al., 2017). because breast cancer health information is sexually normalized, an information boundary exists for the lgbtq+ community, particularly among transgender and gender-nonconforming adults who are at greater risk of discrimination in healthcare settings (casey et al., 2019). transgender and gender-nonconforming people experience unique marginalization and risk with respect to breast cancer. we call upon and propose library and information research, education, and practice opportunities inclusive of the health information needs of transgender and gendernonconforming populations. keywords: breast cancer; health crisis erasure; gender-nonconforming population; public libraries; public librarians; transgender publication type: special section publication introduction uring a crisis, public librarians are on the front line, adapting as best practices evolve to respond to and serve urgent community needs. public libraries engage in training and preparedness efforts to provide critical community resources while responding to a growing range of community and population resources and services inclusive of community health, opioid use, homelessness, natural disasters, and more. global health crises like the covid-19 pandemic or the hiv/aids epidemic bring to the forefront a pronounced worldwide need for unencumbered access to quality health information. in canada, health librarians collaborate with public library colleagues to meet the health information needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (lgbtq) people (ganshorn & giustini, 2017). in the u.s., the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) encourages those seeking health d https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 information to take advantage of their local public libraries: “libraries of all types, including public and medical libraries, are important partners in community-based health literacy efforts” (cdc, 2021). case in point, the public library association (pla) (which is a unit of the american library association (ala), along with the national network of libraries of medicine), provides guidance to improve community health literacy, resources, and guides for public libraries (allen, 2020). libraries are expected—and often mandated—to provide information services and programming for diverse communities. ala provides a dedicated resource page on supporting transgender patrons and staff. however, neither the pla nor the ala’s health and diversity resources indicate specific information about the intersections between community health literacies and lgbtq+ communities. in some regions of the world, lgbtq+ expression or existence is criminalized (patel et al., 2020). thus, there may be little support for libraries that address the health information needs of all patrons (wexelbaum, 2017). at times, the lack of formalized, transparent funding and support may force librarians to create non-traditional environments and provide underground services to protect their most vulnerable patrons as they navigate personal and professional resource limitations. we posit that such a scenario is an example of a “crisis erasure,” meaning that the lgbtq+ community is experiencing a health information crisis which is allowed to be ignored, deprioritized, and addressed inequitably due to a history of stigma, criminalization, and the stunted development of health librarianship (morris & roberto, 2016). we build from prior research and frontline work, acknowledging that no work done to increase the visibility of concern for lgbtq+ health can exist without also considering how healthcare has produced multiple points of marginality across various systems of oppression (wagner & kitzie, 2021). from here, we investigate how health crisis erasure is enacted in informational contexts and institutions and how library and information professionals might respond. background we learn from a synthesis of current lis, clinical, and patient engagement literature to connect with transgender erasure in healthcare systems literature that contextualizes a health crisis erasure lens to begin to enter additional knowledge of transgender and gender-nonconforming populations erasure enacted by informational and institutional contexts (lebreton, 2013; bauer et al., 2009). lis researchers demonstrate how libraries serve as centers in their community engagement, education and are critical in their role to provide access to health information (whiteman et al., 2018). within any library service community, there are diverse groups to consider (cooke, 2016). further, governmental agencies such as the centers for disease control (cdc) in the u.s. encourage those seeking health information to take advantage of their local public libraries: “libraries of all types, including public and medical libraries, are important partners in community-based health literacy efforts” (2021). we find a paucity of lis literature contributing knowledge of health information resources and services with transgender and gendernonconforming people navigating health information needs. recognizing the health information needs of transgender and gender-nonconforming people in information seeking contexts involves not only the study of material realities, but also the uncomfortable realization of the privileged positions of lis researchers and professionals in their coexistence within information institutions (halberstam & halberstam, 2005). so, lis is responding to highlighted health information needs of transgender and gender-nonconforming 133 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 people navigating health information needs. our research contributes to continue to document this much-needed scholarly attention. method study design the authors conducted a literature search and thematic analysis of health information behaviors of transgender and gender nonconforming persons with respect to breast cancer to consider the question: are there any intersections between the health information behaviors of transgender and gender-nonconforming persons and breast cancer? we use the specific topic of breast cancer as an example of health crisis erasure in both informational and institutional contexts, particularly within the transgender and gender-nonconforming population. breast cancer health information conforms and defaults to conventional cultural associations with femininity, as is the case with pregnancy and other “single-sex” conditions (surkan, 2015). many health information and research practices normalize sexualities, pathologize non-normative gender (drescher et al., 2012; fish, 2008; müller, 2018), and fail to recognize gender-nonconforming categories (frohard‐ dourlent et al., 2017). because breast cancer health information is sexually normalized, an information boundary exists for the lgbtq+ community, particularly among transgender and gender nonconforming adults who are at greater risk of discrimination in healthcare settings (casey et al., 2019). transgender and gender-nonconforming people experience unique marginalization and risk with respect to breast cancer. to guide our literature search we grounded our research in the following research question: how are transgender and gender-nonconforming populations represented within clinical, patient engagement, and library literature sources on breast cancer? to conceptualize the literature we planned to assess, we determined that our framework revolved around three concepts: trans, lgbtq+, and breast cancer. we used related terms for the concepts as follows: trans: transgender or transsexual or transexual or gender variant or gender nonconforming; lgbtq+: lgbtq or lesbian or gay or homosexual or bisexual or transgender or homosexual or queer or sexual minority; and, breast cancer: breast cancer or breast neoplasm or breast carcinoma or breast tumor or breast malignancy. we searched the related terms in library literature & information science full text (h.w. wilson), lista (library, information science & technology abstracts), pubmed, and web of science. in addition to databases, we reviewed 21 publications authored by library and information science (lis) practitioners and relevant health information professional organizations. we reviewed articles individually to determine relevance based on our research question. the authors also used web of science to investigate citation chains of the most relevant articles to identify additional articles. three authors met to review the literature to identify themes and document a codebook using open coding that helped to identify categories and topics. ultimately, we were able to group our 134 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 open codes into axial codes and then higher-level codes. during a weekly research team meeting, we unanimously coded an article. as we read the article, we associated passages of text with items in the codebook. then, we compared our individual coding, discrepancies were discussed, and conflicts were resolved by consensus. in developing this consensus, we were not interested to know whether coders a and b used the same open codes, but rather whether coders a and b linked the same quotations to the same axial codes after open coding. the research team worked in this inductive, iterative fashion throughout the study. after the team meeting, a revised codebook was drafted until team members agreed that no new themes were emerging and no difficulties were encountered with existing themes. in this way, the coding team reached saturation of axial themes (creswell & creswell, 2018) and a working codebook. previously, coded articles were then recoded with the final codebook to ensure consistency of coding practices over time. thematic analysis our data were composed of 21 scholarly documents we retrieved from our purposeful literature search strategy. our literature search strategy is explained and detailed in the search strategy method above. we conducted a thematic analysis of each literature document using the nvivo software to perform an open coding to discern emerging themes to map to the document’s text (hsieh & shannon, 2005). we comparatively analyzed to build on general themes fitting all the individual documents. our findings from this thematic analysis are detailed below. themes libraries are centers for community engagement and education, and they provide access to health information (whiteman et al., 2018). within any library service community, there are diverse groups to consider (cooke, 2016). the community health information needs of transgender and gender-nonconforming people are specific and should be supported. our research revealed three overarching themes emerging from the literature that serve as barriers to breast cancer health information among transgender and gender-nonconforming people: (1) access, (2) erasure, and (3) quality. access transgender and gender-nonconforming patients and their caregivers may have difficulty accessing information, healthcare, and support services that primarily serve them. drake and bielefield (2017) report from their research that [c]ertain types of information needs were more likely to be unmet. study participants were always or very often unable to find the information they needed… about 26% for trans issues and about 28% for medical health information about trans issues. (p. 164) breast cancer diagnoses are highly emotional (mazzocco et al., 2019) and heavily influenced by family health history (koehly et al., 2009). transgender and gender-nonconforming people living with breast cancer may be less likely to rely on support from biological families due to bigotry and non-acceptance (parker et al., 2018), and their support networks may include people beyond their nuclear relatives. brown and mcelroy (2018) confirm in their research that “survey participants reported stress around potential provider reactions to sogi [sexual orientation or 135 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 gender identity] disclosure and concerns about provider recognition of their relationships” (p. 1194). transgender and gender-nonconforming patients may have additional obstacles accessing health information in clinical settings for a number of reasons, such as limited appointment time with healthcare providers, lack of specific knowledge about breast cancer, and forgetting pertinent details about one’s own health. also, it can be challenging to reach healthcare providers outside of appointments for more information due to busy schedules or long waiting times for callbacks (borman & mckenzie 2005). breast cancer information is complex, and patients need support accessing information outside of the clinical setting to fully understand their medical situation and make well-informed decisions (kwon & kim, 2009). erasure there is a unique problem of erasure of transgender and gender-nonconforming people, that sets this population apart from other marked categories of identity, such as race or ethnicity, which are often visually inscribed on the body in ways that sexual and gender identities may not be. erasure reduces the accessibility of transgender and gender-nonconforming health information and lowers the quality of health information available. although a significant issue for the lgbtq+ community at large, visibility is especially critical for transgender and gendernonconforming patients seeking healthcare and navigating health information systems, underscoring the importance of validation and appropriate data collection for critical treatment or risk reduction (brown & mcelroy, 2018; horncastle, 2018; müller, 2018; quinn et al., 2015; whitehead et al., 2016). for example, after a breast cancer diagnosis, horncastle (2018), a queer patient themself, described an information gap between themselves and their surgeon that was mired in “standard, mainstream care for female mastectomy patients in australian public hospitals,” which, according to horncastle, “accommodate[d] normalised gender with gusto” (p. 386). horncastle’s experience of erasure as a non-normatively gendered breast cancer patient meant that they were unable to articulate their desire for a surgical option not imagined by their carers. horncastle (2018) reflected, “[p]erhaps i want too much,, “but if breast cancer bodies are shaped in the hands of breast-oncology surgeons ... when they cannot even speak the words: gender, masculinity, cis, trans, what does this mean for humanising their care practices?” (p. 387) there is a direct relationship between visibility, language, and ultimately surgical outcomes: teaching the breast cancer surgeon about queer or non-normative options is contingent upon the capacity to act in a different register, and heurism rests too, on being a carer for the carer and enriching someone else’s conceptual and professional landscape. in order to do this one must not feel invisible. (horncastle, 2018, p. 388) brown and mcelroy (2018) also addresses visibility via sogi categories: historically, sgm [sexual and gender minority] identities of cancer patients have mostly been invisible to healthcare providers, and patients often struggled with the question of disclosure or with being disappointed by healthcare provider reactions to disclosure. (p. 415) 136 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 quality patients who are gender-neutral or gender-nonconforming endure higher rates of discrimination (white hughto et al., 2017) and verbal attacks (ard & makadon, 2011; grant et al., 2011; lambda legal, 2010). providers of health information must be aware of the dimensions of gender and the consequences of patient disclosure. transgender and gender-nonconforming patients must carefully decide how and when to disclose their gender identity to their medical providers or information agents (i.e., reference librarians). drake and bielefield (2017) point out that for transgender and gender-nonconforming patients, “when asked about their use of library reference services, most said they had not used them for fear of discrimination” (p. 164). the decision to disclose is a profound burden because failing to disclose may result in adverse health outcomes due to avoiding treatment or withholding information (secrecy). disclosure concerns may reduce the quality of health care received because health status, risk, and diagnosis may be inaccurately assessed (müller, 2018). treatment options may be limited or misaligned. the quality of health care depends on adequate recognition of the perspectives from both providers and patients as valid to foster understanding and identify cross-cultural differences (hudak et al., 2018). this approach enables providers and patients to work together to pursue culturally sensitive medical options and achieve desired health outcomes (ahmed & bates, 2010). frohard-dourlent et al. (2017) assert that: we can also use language that explicitly communicates that the research is inclusive of trans and non-binary participants, and circulate recruitment ads among trans organizations, even when the research is not focused on trans or non-binary experiences. for the ctyhs [canadian trans youth health survey], including both “trans” and “genderqueer” on the recruitment materials resulted in a robust sample of non-binary youth respondents. (p. 5) researchers have found that higher quality provider-patient relationships are associated with higher patient satisfaction levels (campbell et al., 2007). culturally competent practices inform clinical and research settings across diverse axes of intersecting identities for lgbtq+ people/patients (margolies & brown, 2019; mcginniss et al., 2018, including race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, and age, with particular emphasis on youth and elders (ahwireng‐obeng & loggerenberg, 2011; matthen et al., 2018; evans et al., 2017; tamargo et al., 2017; wahlert & fiester, 2014). sarkin (2019) asserts that: in reshaping health system design to be more patient-centered, we should be gravitating toward intersectional understandings of patient identity as defined by the patients themselves. kumas-tan et al. (2007) prompt that the meaning of culture in medical encounters needs to expand to include gender, age, sexual orientation, income, ability, and faith, in addition to race and ethnicity. (p. 9) however, a long history of lgbtq+ bias in the healthcare system continues to make these populations avoid or delay treatment (margolies & brown, 2019). cultural competency of medical providers when serving transgender and gender-nonconforming people is low, with 33%–50% of transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals reporting having to educate their medical providers about transgender health (grant et al., 2011; james et al., 2016). a study conducted by sabin et al. (2015), found that health care providers held strong implicit preferences for heterosexual people and providers often lacked education about transgender health issues. 137 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 morris and roberto (2016) found that “[h]ealth care professionals can benefit from training to understand their lgbtq patients’, and colleagues’ distinct concerns and to provide a more culturally competent and welcoming environment; we believe the same is true for medical librarians” (p. 214). and in particular, while considering quality of interaction, sarkin (2019) found that: exploring the nature of what constitutes “womanhood” through gender policing and medicalization, is relevant to lgbtq+ breast cancer communities, and deconstruction of these frameworks may reveal potential interventions for improving ways that physicians and care providers address illness and bodily modifications as well as other concerns. (p. 6) internationally, there are voices from the global south, which need to be heard to address the needs of the lgbtq+ community without the gaze of the global north. bao (2005) posits that: queer people in the global south are often seen as powerless victims that passively await salvation by their liberated brothers and sisters from the global north. in priding itself on gender and sexual diversity and in seeing itself as the epitome of human civilization, the global north has deployed the dichotomy of a sexually liberalized north versus a sexually illiberal south, and this further consolidates the unequal power relations between the north and the south. (p. 310) when cultural competence is lacking, it reinforces information boundaries and marginalization. lgbtq+ patients will share information among their peers and community members but are not adequately served by the larger world’s health services and information providers. pohjanen and kortelainen’s (2016) study revealed that “sharing information played a big part in the information behaviour of the transgender informants. information was shared among the peer group, which represents wider personal networks (williamson, 1998) and can be considered as the most important source of information in this study” (p. 183). for lis professionals, hawkins et al. (2017) advise that [t]he creation of a library subject guide or dedicated resource list on lgbtq health is another strategy that would indicate a willingness on the part of librarians to engage with lgbtq health professionals and their questions, and demonstrate that the library has appropriate expertise and knowledge. (p. 214) discussion we next applied our findings to our guiding research question to describe how clinical, patient engagement, and library literature sources on breast cancer represent transgender and gendernonconforming populations. our method here returned more knowledge, sources, and services on broader lgbtq+ health information both generally and topically focused on breast cancer as compared with specifics that are inclusive of transgender and gender-nonconforming people. our current lack of information resources and services that directly represent transgender and gender-nonconforming people, while growing, continue to serve to actively erase transgender and gender-nonconforming representation in institutional and information contexts. we further articulated the primary themes emerging from our literature survey of transgender and gender-nonconforming peoples’ documentation of access and experiences in health 138 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 information and institutional contexts as: (1) access, (2) erasure, and (3) quality. each theme reveals areas of opportunity to further acknowledge transgender and gender-nonconforming health information erasure as a crisis requiring dedicated attention, from library and information health professionals and researchers. access issues reveal specific health information gaps, including a lack of knowledge resources dedicated to access for folks engaged with seeking health information on breast cancer that represents transgender and gender-nonconforming health information. while potentially difficult to professionally navigate the acknowledgement of lacking evidence-based health resources, this gap presents the opportunity to explore how to navigate the gaps purposefully. this knowledge gap is a significant issue that also impacts the intersecting themes of erasure and quality. our research highlights this health information knowledge gap that results in a lack of resources available to lis professionals as well as health care professionals. to address this knowledge gap we synthesize our findings to identify actionable strategies to acknowledge a transgender and gender-nonconforming health information crisis and how lis communities might continue to respond to this crisis of transgender and gender-nonconforming health information erasure. understandably, lis resources and attention are allocated to respond to the crises experienced and expressed by communities; however, our investigation led us to question how crises, especially health crises, are acknowledged by health lis communities and how health lis communities do and might respond. this literature survey reveals the stark lack of transgender and gender-nonconforming health information resources available. this challenge of inequitable health information access further leads us to argue that this knowledge gap intensely impedes overall information access for transgender and gender-nonconforming people. furthermore, inequities outlined herein further contribute to the erasure of this health information on a global scale. our investigation did not find literacy to be the primary challenge here, but rather, found access, erasure, and quality to be the primary challenges faced by transgender and gendernonconforming people navigating and experiencing health information contexts and institutions. additionally, one significant challenge in addressing transgender and gender-nonconforming people’s health is often centered on sexuality. yet, gender identity is different than sexuality. all too often, community health information tailored for transgender and gender-nonconforming people is sexualized in a manner that erases other health-based needs. we observed library collections where items listed as priorities had little to do with the community's general health needs. for example, breast cancer may be a significant information need. still, the collection may solely focus on mental health and sexually transmitted diseases. there must be a strategy to reach communities with appropriate health information that is helpful to them when they have concerns about breast cancer. inclusion is a good start, but more can be done to realize actual support for the lived experiences and everyday health information needs for transgender and gender-nonconforming people. we have identified the following recommendations to improve meeting transgender and gender-nonconforming people’s health information needs. we now focus this discussion on actionable recommendations informed by our research. inclusive lis education we recommend the need for additional instruction during lis professional preparation to recommend additional research effort to dedicate to understand how transgender and gender139 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 nonconforming people might be further included in lis educational health topics. our observation of the conflation of sexuality with gender identity particularly concerned us. this led us to recommend addressing not only the inclusion of transgender and gender-nonconforming representation in lis education but also a greater representation of sexuality and gender identity information. robust transgender and gender-nonconforming resources and services we recommend the need to understand better not only lgbtq+ content as broadly conceived as resources that librarians work to make accessible to communities but also the specific resources for transgender and gender-nonconforming people. it is not the library’s responsibility to author the content, but they should partner with academic health libraries to curate content. lis education must include tools and information on supporting references and classification to develop these distributed networks and safe spaces for transgender and gender-nonconforming folks. advocacy reviving our literature-based survey findings, we identify health allied and lis community work to actively dedicate advocacy and institutional resources service transgender and gendernonconforming people in their communities. we note the considerable work required to achieve growth in quality resources to meet transgender and gender-nonconforming health information needs. in april 2021, current united states assistant secretary for health, dr. rachel levine, stated that discrimination and oppression were challenging equity in transgender health (sullivan & shapiro, 2021). levine’s position shares the importance of legislation to decriminalize transgender and gender-nonconforming behaviors and afford equal protections. this stance in advocacy might help globally to address transgender and gender-nonconforming health inequity, inclusive of health information. conclusion in this study we found the lis community has an opportunity to address the paucity of dedicated informational resources available to transgender and gender-nonconforming people. we highlighted issues and our current recommendations in three areas: 1.) lis education; 2.) transgender and gender-nonconforming resources and services; and 3.) advocacy. we noted a recurring issue of the conflation of sexual orientation-based health, and gender and gender identity-based health after reviewing the existing information literature. we offer these recommendations for librarians and allied professionals who are faced with this health information erasure and note the need for improved equity in health information access issues, of transgender and gender-nonconforming people. we acknowledge the lack of reliable health information available in this review and the implications of access and erasure. with those limitations in mind, this paper provides recommendations to fill this knowledge gap by identifying actional future work in lis education, resources and services, and advocacy. 140 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 appendix table 1. categorization of articles included in the sample article number article discipline article 1 bao, h. (2020). the queer global south: transnational video activism between china and africa. global media & china, 5(3), 294-318. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f2059436420949985 patient engagement article 2 brown, g. r. (2015). breast cancer in transgender veterans: a ten-case series. lgbt health, 2(1), 77–80. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2014.0123 clinical article 3 brown, m. t., & mcelroy, j. a. (2018). sexual and gender minority breast cancer patients choosing bilateral mastectomy without reconstruction: “i now have a body that fits me.” women health, 58(4), 403-418. https://doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2017.1310169 clinical article 4 bryson, m. k., ristock, j., boschman, l., taylor, e. t., hart, ryson, m. k., ristock, j., boschman, l., taylor, e. t., hart, t., gahagan, j., & rail, g. (2019). the cancer’s margins project: access to knowledge and its mobilization by lgbq/t cancer patients. media and communication, 7(1), 102-113. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i1.1718 patient engagement article 5 dhand, a., & dhaliwal, g. (2010). examining patient conceptions: a case of metastatic breast cancer in an african american male to female transgender patient. journal of general internal medicine, 25(2), 158–161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-009-1159-6 clinical article 6 drake, a. a., & bielefield, a. (2017). equitable access: information seeking behavior, information needs, and necessary library accommodations for transgender patrons. library & information science research, 39(3), 160–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2017.06.002 library article 7 fikar, c. r., & keith, l. (2004). information needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered health care professionals: results of an internet survey. journal of the medical library association, 92(1), 56–65. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14762463 library article 8 frohard‐dourlent, h., dobson, s., clark, b. a., doull, m., & saewyc, e. m. (2017). “i would have preferred more options”: patient engagement 141 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2014.0123 https://doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2017.1310169 https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i1.1718 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-009-1159-6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2017.06.002 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14762463 a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 accounting for non-binary youth in health research. nursing inquiry, 24(1), e12150. https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12150 article 9 hawkins, b. w., morris, m., nguyen, t., siegel, j., & vardell, e. (2017). advancing the conversation: next steps for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (lgbtq) health sciences librarianship. journal of the medical library association: jmla, 105(4), 316–327. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2017.206 library article 10 horncastle, j. (2018). practicing care: queer vulnerability in the hospital. social identities, 24(3), 383–394. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2017.1387038 clinical article 11 liu, p. l., & yeo, t. e. d. (2019). breast health, risk factors, and cancer screening among lesbian, bisexual, and queer/questioning women in china. health care for women international, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/07399332.2019.1571062 clinical article 12 morris, m., & roberto, k. r. (2016). information-seeking behaviour and information needs of lgbtq health professionals: a follow-up study. health information and libraries journal, 33(3), 204–221. https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12139 library article 13 movius, l. (2018). an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion at a metropolitan library in the southeastern us. the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi), 2(4), 38–51. https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v2i4.32202 library article 14 parikh, u., mausner, e., chhor, c. m., gao, y., karrington, i., & heller, s. l. (2020). breast imaging in transgender patients: what the radiologist should know. radiographics, 40(1), 1327. https://doi.org/10.1148/rg.2020190044 clinical article 15 petrey, j. (2019). development and implementation of an lgbt initiative at a health sciences library: the first eighteen months. journal of the medical library association, 107(4), 555–559. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2019.422 library article 16 pohjanen, a. m., & kortelainen, t. a. m. (2016). transgender information behaviour. journal of documentation, 72(1), 172– 190. https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-04-2015-0043 library article 17 rossman, k., salamanca, p., & macapagal, k. (2017). a qualitative study examining young adults’ experiences of patient engagement 142 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12150 https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2017.206 https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2017.1387038 https://doi.org/10.1080/07399332.2019.1571062 https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12139 https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v2i4.32202 https://doi.org/10.1148/rg.2020190044 https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2019.422 https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-04-2015-0043 a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 disclosure and nondisclosure of lgbtq identity to health care providers. journal of homosexuality, 64(10), 1390–1410. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1321379 article 18 sarkin, c. a. (2019). queering healthcare: why integrating cultural humility into medical education matters for lgbtq+ patients. journal of critical thought and praxis, 8(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.31274/jctp.8207 patient engagement article 19 sattari, m. (2015). breast cancer in male-to-female transgender patients: a case for caution. clinical breast cancer, 15(1), e67-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clbc.2014.08.004 clinical article 20 seelman, k. l., colón-diaz, m. j., lecroix, r. h., xavierbrier, m., & kattari, l. (2017). transgender noninclusive healthcare and delaying care because of fear: connections to general health and mental health among transgender adults. transgender health, 2(1), 17-28. https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2016.0024 patient engagement article 21 vera, a. n., wagner, t. l., & kitzie, v. l. (2020). “when it’s time to come together, we come together”: reconceptualizing theories of self-efficacy for health information practices within lgbtqia+ communities. in roles and responsibilities of libraries in increasing consumer health literacy and reducing health disparities. emerald publishing limited. patient engagement references ahmed, r., & bates, b. r. (2010). assessing the relationship between patients’ ethnocentric views and patients’ perceptions of physicians’ cultural competence in health care interactions. intercultural communication studies, 19(2), 111–127. ahwireng‐obeng, f., & van loggerenberg, c. (2011). africa's middle class women bring entrepreneurial opportunities in breast care medical tourism to south africa. the international journal of health planning and management, 26(1), 39–55. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.1034 allen, s. (2020, june 1). public library association, national network of libraries of medicine continue partnership with new digital literacy, citizen science tools. ala member news. [press release]. https://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2020/06/publiclibrary-association-national-network-libraries-medicine-continue 143 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1321379 https://doi.org/10.31274/jctp.8207 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clbc.2014.08.004 https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2016.0024 https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.1034 https://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2020/06/public-library-association-national-network-libraries-medicine-continue https://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2020/06/public-library-association-national-network-libraries-medicine-continue a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 ard, k. l., & makadon, h. j. (2011). addressing intimate partner violence in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patients. journal of general internal medicine, 26(8), 930– 933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-011-1697-6 bao, h. (2020). the queer global south: transnational video activism between china and africa. global media & china, 5(3), 294-318. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f2059436420949985 bauer, g. r., hammond, r., travers, r., kaay, m., hohenadel, k. m., & boyce, m. (2009). “i don't think this is theoretical; this is our lives”: how erasure impacts health care for transgender people. journal of the association of nurses in aids care, 20(5), 348-361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jana.2009.07.004 borman, c. b., & mckenzie, p. j. (2005). trying to help without getting in their faces: public library staff descriptions of providing consumer health information. reference & user services quarterly, 45(2), 133–146. brown, g. r. (2015). breast cancer in transgender veterans: a ten-case series. lgbt health, 2(1), 77–80. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2014.0123 brown, m. t., & mcelroy, j. a. (2018). unmet support needs of sexual and gender minority breast cancer survivors. supportive care in cancer, 26(4), 1189–1196. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-017-3941-z bryson, m. k., ristock, j., boschman, l., taylor, e. t., hart, t., gahagan, j., & rail, g. (2019). the cancer’s margins project: access to knowledge and its mobilization by lgbq/t cancer patients. media and communication, 7(1), 102-113. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i1.1718 campbell, s., reeves, d., kontopantelis, e., middleton, e., sibbald, b., & roland, m. (2007). quality of primary care in england with the introduction of pay for performance. new england journal of medicine 357(2), 181-190. http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/nejmsr065990 casey, l. s., reisner, s. l., findling, m. g., blendon, r. j., benson, j. m., sayde, j. m., & miller, c. (2019). discrimination in the united states: experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer americans. health services research, 54(s2), 1454– 1466. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.13229 cooke, n. a. (2016). information services to diverse populations: developing culturally competent library professionals. abc-clio, llc. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/fsu/detail.action?docid=4742121 creswell, j. w., & creswell, j. d. (2018). research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). sage publications. dhand, a., & dhaliwal, g. (2010). examining patient conceptions: a case of metastatic breast cancer in an african american male to female transgender patient. journal of general internal medicine, 25(2), 158–161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-009-1159-6 144 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-011-1697-6 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f2059436420949985 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jana.2009.07.004 https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2014.0123 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-017-3941-z https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i1.1718 http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/nejmsr065990 https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.13229 http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/fsu/detail.action?docid=4742121 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-009-1159-6 a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 drake, a. a., & bielefield, a. (2017). equitable access: information seeking behavior, information needs, and necessary library accommodations for transgender patrons. library & information science research, 39(3), 160–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2017.06.002 drescher, j., cohen-kettenis, p., & winter, s. (2012). minding the body: situating gender identity diagnoses in the icd-11. international review of psychiatry (abingdon, england), 24(6), 568–577. https://doi.org/10.3109/09540261.2012.741575 evans, y. n., gridley, s. j., crouch, j., wang, a., moreno, m. a., ahrens, k., & breland, d. j. (2017). understanding online resource use by transgender youth and caregivers: a qualitative study. transgender health, 2(1), 129-139. https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2017.0011 fikar, c. r., & keith, l. (2004). information needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered health care professionals: results of an internet survey. journal of the medical library association, 92(1), 56–65. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14762463 fish, j. (2008). navigating queer street: researching the intersections of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (lgbt) identities in health research. sociological research online, 13(1), 104–115. https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.1652/ frohard‐dourlent, h., dobson, s., clark, b. a., doull, m., & saewyc, e. m. (2017). “i would have preferred more options”: accounting for non-binary youth in health research. nursing inquiry, 24(1), e12150. https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12150 ganshorn, h., & giustini, d. (2017). new directions in health sciences libraries in canada: research and evidence based practice are key. health information & libraries journal, 34(3), 252–257. https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12190 grant, j. m., mottet, l. a., tanis, j., harrison, j., herman, j. l., & keisling, m. (2011). injustice at every turn: a report of the national transgender discrimination survey. national center for transgender equality and national gay and lesbian task force. https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/ntds_report.pdf halberstam, j. j., & halberstam, j. (2005). in a queer time and place: transgender bodies, subcultural lives (vol. 3). nyu press. hawkins, b. w., morris, m., nguyen, t., siegel, j., & vardell, e. (2017). advancing the conversation: next steps for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (lgbtq) health sciences librarianship. journal of the medical library association: jmla, 105(4), 316– 327. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2017.206 horncastle, j. (2018). practicing care: queer vulnerability in the hospital. social identities, 24(3), 383–394. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2017.1387038 hudak, n. c., carmack, h. j., & smith, e. d. (2018). student perceptions of providers’ cultural competence, attitudes towards providers, and patient satisfaction at a university health center: international and us student differences. journal of international students, 8(2), 960–976. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v8i2.122 145 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2017.06.002 https://doi.org/10.3109/09540261.2012.741575 https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2017.0011 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14762463 https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.1652/ https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12150 https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12190 https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/ntds_report.pdf https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2017.206 https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2017.1387038 https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v8i2.122 a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 hsieh, h.-f., & shannon, s. e. 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(2009). who goes to a library for cancer information in the e-health era? a secondary data analysis of the health information national trends survey (hints). library & information science research, 31(3), 192–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2009.01.006 lambda legal. (2010). when health care isn’t caring: lambda legal’s survey of discrimination against lgbt people and people with hiv. https://www.lambdalegal.org/publications/when-health-care-isnt-caring lebreton, m. (2013). the erasure of sex and gender minorities in the healthcare system. bioéthique online, 2, 1–5. http://bioethiqueonline.ca/2/17 liu, p. l., & yeo, t. e. d. (2019). breast health, risk factors, and cancer screening among lesbian, bisexual, and queer/questioning women in china. health care for women international, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/07399332.2019.1571062 margolies, l., & brown, c. g. 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(2016). information-seeking behaviour and information needs of lgbtq health professionals: a follow-up study. health information and libraries journal, 33(3), 204–221. https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12139 146 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1049732305276687 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11990/1299 https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2008.154096 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2009.01.006 https://www.lambdalegal.org/publications/when-health-care-isnt-caring http://bioethiqueonline.ca/2/17 https://doi.org/10.1080/07399332.2019.1571062 https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nurse.0000558088.77604.24 https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184x16664951 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31123497/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s40142-018-0150-0 https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12139 a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 movius, l. (2018). an exploratory case study of transgender and gender nonconforming inclusion at a metropolitan library in the southeastern us. the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi), 2(4), 38–51. https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v2i4.32202 müller, a. (2018). beyond ‘invisibility': queer intelligibility and symbolic annihilation in healthcare. culture, health & sexuality, 20(1), 14–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2017.1322715 parker, c. m., hirsch, j. s., philbin, m. m., & parker, r. g. (2018). the urgent need for research and interventions to address family-based stigma and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth. journal of adolescent health, 63(4), 383–393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.05.018 patel, s., cuneo, c. n., power, j. r., & beyrer, c. (2020). topics in global lgbtq health. in j. r. lehman, k. diaz, h. ng, e. m. petty, m. thatikunta, & k. eckstrand (eds.), the equal curriculum: the student and educator guide to lgbtq health (pp. 261–288). springer international publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24025-7_14 petrey, j. (2019). development and implementation of an lgbt initiative at a health sciences library: the first eighteen months. journal of the medical library association, 107(4), 555–559. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2019.422 pohjanen, a. m., & kortelainen, t. a. m. (2016). transgender information behaviour. journal of documentation, 72(1), 172–190. https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-04-2015-0043 quinn, g. p., sanchez, j. a., sutton, s. k., vadaparampil, s. t., nguyen, g. t., green, b. l., kanetsky, p.a., & schabath, m. b. (2015). cancer and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, and queer/questioning (lgbtq) populations. ca: a cancer journal for clinicians, 65(5), 384–400. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21288 rossman, k., salamanca, p., & macapagal, k. (2017). a qualitative study examining young adults’ experiences of disclosure and nondisclosure of lgbtq identity to health care providers. journal of homosexuality, 64(10), 1390–1410. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1321379 sabin, j. a., riskind, r. g., & nosek, b. a. (2015). health care providers’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men. american journal of public health, 105(9), 1831–1841. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2015.302631 sarkin, c. a. (2019). queering healthcare: why integrating cultural humility into medical education matters for lgbtq+ patients. journal of critical thought and praxis, 8(2), 1– 14. https://doi.org/10.31274/jctp.8207 sattari, m. 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(2015). the fat man is giving birth. in n. burton (ed.), natal signs: cultural representations of pregnancy, birth and parenting. demeter press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1rrd8tc tamargo, j., rosano, g., walther, t., duarte, j., niessner, a., kaski, j. c., ceconi, c., drexel, h., kjeldsen, k., savarese, g., torp-pedersen, c., atar, d., lewis, b.s., & agewall, s. (2017). gender differences in the effects of cardiovascular drugs. european heart journal–cardiovascular pharmacotherapy, 3(3), 163–182. https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjcvp/pvw042 vera, a. n., wagner, t. l., & kitzie, v. l. (2020). “when it’s time to come together, we come together”: reconceptualizing theories of self-efficacy for health information practices within lgbtqia+ communities. advances in librarianship, 47, 263–282. https://doi.org/10.1108/s0065-283020200000047013 wagner, t. l., & kitzie, v. l. (2021). ‘access necessitates being seen’: queer visibility and intersectional embodiment within the health information practices of queer community leaders. journal of information science [onlinefirst]. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f01655515211040658 wahlert, l., & fiester, a. (2014). repaving the road of good intentions: lgbt health care and the queer bioethical lens. hastings center report, 44(s4), s56-65. https://doi.org/10.1002/hast.373 wexelbaum, r. s. (2017). global promotion of lgbtq resources and services through social media. in library faculty publications 59. https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/lrs_facpubs/59/ white hughto, j. m., rose, a. j., pachankis, j. e., & reisner, s. l. (2017). barriers to gender transition-related healthcare: identifying underserved transgender adults in massachusetts. transgender health, 2(1), 107-118. https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2017.0014 whitehead, j., shaver, j., & stephenson, r. (2016). outness, stigma, and primary health care utilization among rural lgbt populations. plos one, 11(1), e0146139. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0146139 whiteman, e. d., dupuis, r., morgan, a. u., d’alonzo, b., epstein, c., klusaritz, h., & cannuscio, c. c. (2018). public libraries as partners for health. preventing chronic disease, 15. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd15.170392 curtis s. tenney (cst17@my.fsu.edu) is a doctoral candidate with the school of information at florida state university in tallahassee, florida. curtis is a graduate lead instructor. before teaching as a graduate lead instructor, curtis worked as a research assistant at the fsu information use management and policy institute. their current dissertation research uses 148 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2016.0024 https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1rrd8tc https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjcvp/pvw042 https://doi.org/10.1108/s0065-283020200000047013 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f01655515211040658 https://doi.org/10.1002/hast.373 https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/lrs_facpubs/59/ https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2017.0014 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0146139 https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd15.170392 mailto:cst17@my.fsu.edu a crisis of erasure the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 qualitative methods to investigate the contemporary role of drag storytime events in public library programming. karl j. surkan (ksurkan@mit.edu) teaches in the interdisciplinary field of women’s, gender, and sexuality. since 2005, he has been a lecturer at mit, teaching topics courses in gender and media, gender and technology, and sexual and gender identities, as well as feminist research methods and methodology. his fascination with bioethics emanates from his research interests in transgender health, social media health activism, and data sharing. lynette hammond gerido (lhgerido@umich.edu) is a postdoctoral research fellow funded through the national institutes of health (nih) national human genome research institute (nhgri) ethical, legal, and social implications (elsi) program. she received a phd at florida state university school of information and a master of public health (mph) at drexel university. her past work explored trends in genetic testing for breast cancer (brca) to describe racial disparities in awareness, uptake, and barriers to accessing information and care. her current research uses population data to visualize health disparities and employs qualitative methods to reveal underlying phenomena and tailor clinical systems for vulnerable communities. dawn betts-green (cdb07f@my.fsu.edu) is a visiting lecturer at old dominion university and assistant director of the invisible history project. she holds a phd in library and information studies from florida state university, and her research interests center on lgbtqia+ issues in public libraries, particularly in the u.s. south, but also include radical librarianship, information ethics, and information literacy. 149 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:ksurkan@mit.edu mailto:lhgerido@umich.edu mailto:cdb07f@my.fsu.edu introduction background method study design thematic analysis themes access erasure quality discussion inclusive lis education robust transgender and gender-nonconforming resources and services advocacy conclusion appendix references a whole new information world: ai, bots, metadata, and discourse the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.41079 a whole new information world: ai, bots, metadata, and discourse vanessa irvin, east carolina university, usa (editor-in-chief, ijidi) bard, google ai chatbot abstract this introductory article explores the interconnectedness of the articles in this issue through the lens of artificial intelligence (ai), bots, and other technologies. the articles published in this journal strive to demonstrate how the library and information science (lis) field uses ai to interrogate social conflicts, critically question our professional knowledge base, engage in localized community knowledge building, and create interactive maps to preserve cultural knowledge and decentralize western metadata values in non-western contexts. this introductory article is presented as a readerly and writerly response to those articles because, as an experiment, i have co-authored this piece using google’s bard, a recently released ai chatbot. google’s bard is a powerful tool that generates text, translates languages, writes creative content, and answers questions. in this editorial, i share my own experience using bard to identify the implications of ai as a co-author of the text. i discuss its advantages (if any) and disadvantages, and i outline how ai could impact the future of the lis field. keywords: artificial intelligence (ai), criticality, library and information science (lis), values, writing publication type: introductory article s we emerge from the covid-19 pandemic, lis work is being reported via thoughtful research that tells meaningful stories while asking critical questions about how librarians and our fellow citizens navigate learning in this highly digitized, information-focused world. our learning is continually curving and shifting. with the recent launch of ai chatbots such as chatgpt and google’s bard, these applications have joined our public discourses as collaborative readers, interpreters, and co-authors of our questions and ideas. just like that: we are in a whole new information world. how do we embrace this latest evolution of information technology? what does it now mean to read, write, and respond to reading as a literacy practice where the text has been co-authored effectively by an algorithmized technology (as in this introductory article)? we code and read technology, and now the technology is coding and reading us. what does this collaboration mean for the lis values and praxis we advocate for in communities we serve and with humanity? covid-19 revealed the power of social media as a premier method by which humanity shares information, builds relationships, and sustains global networks. ai has entered our discourse to broaden our ideas about thinking, writing, and literacy, and its meaning impacts all data and media. the lis scholars and practitioners who sought this journal to share their research on ai a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.41079 a whole new information world the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.41079 2 and other information technologies recognize this emerging discourse. their article topics range from the impacts of artificial intelligence (ai) on social systems to critical international librarianship, literacy organizations promoting women’s education, critical cartography in digital archives, and librarians operationalizing metadata to create decolonized networks and community resources. to further the discourse, i experimented by using google’s bard to co-author this article. since platforms such as chatgpt and bard are said to produce valuable knowledge (dong et al., 2022), i wanted to see what that production could mean for writing as a literacy practice and contribution to the discourse. when i asked bard to synthesize the abstracts of all the papers published in this issue, bard responded in the following way (note: bard’s contribution appears in italics): soesantari et al. review the work of aisyiyah, a grassroots women’s organization in indonesia, working to improve women's education and literacy. aisyiyah is an example of how civil society can play a role in addressing social conflict. aisyiyah's work contributes to public awareness of the importance of women's education and literacy in indonesia, which is a practical example of how relationship-building in communities via information and knowledge production methods builds the mission and vision of knowledge-based educational institutions like schools, libraries, and community centers. it is essential to support organizations like aisyiyah working to build a more just and equitable world. yeon et al. argues that a power imbalance exists between western and non-western lis curricula, theory, and practice. this power imbalance can lead to epistemic injustices in which lis professionals are denied the opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding. the authors introduce the importance of critical international librarianship as examining and critiquing the power structures and hegemonies in library and information systems. critical international librarianship is an essential tool for addressing epistemic injustice. this consideration is important because considering how lis systems are structured, based on a hegemony that is embedded in power structures globally, critical international librarianship gives us a theoretical lens that can help to prevent the spread of epistemic injustice so that the distribution of epistemic goods, such as knowledge, truth, and understanding, are equitably embraced within lis theory and practice. biju and gayathri’s research examines how artificial intelligence (ai) and social media are used to perpetuate social conflict. for example, the authors discuss how in india, ai bots and trolls are being used to spread fake news and propaganda to divide the population along the lines of caste, class, religion, gender, and region. this approach negatively impacts social cohesion and makes it more difficult for communities to resolve conflicts. this paper illustrates the power of ai technology to self-breed misinformation when unchecked by human interaction (or intervention) based on intrinsic humanistic values that machines do not and cannot possess. using ai and social media to perpetuate social conflict is a growing problem. it is essential to be aware of this issue and to take steps to combat it. silberberg addresses how map-making historically suppressed spanish-language radio programs. the paper explores the construction of an interactive spanish-language map called toporadio, start: bard’s contribution in italics. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.41079 a whole new information world the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.41079 3 which showcases publications and archives about u.s.-based spanish-language radio. toporadio aims to promote a more inclusive and comprehensive representation of u.s. radio history by improving the visibility of contributions from latinx broadcasters. silberberg proposes using critical cartography as a framework for mapping this history. montague discusses the work of the information justice institute (iji). this chicago-based project brings librarians and community members together to consider key topics and questions to build understanding around critical community needs. the paper reports on two key activities undertaken during the project's initial phase: a survey of librarians and community members on social justice engagement and developing a webliography on serving incarcerated people/recently released and their support networks. montague argues that the iji collaboration encourages dialogue focused on posing questions and grappling with complex issues to grow insights and serve the needs of incarcerated/recently released citizens and their support networks. the indigenous authors collection at the university of calgary in canada has been decolonizing its catalogue to make the index inclusive of its community's language, knowledge, and values. dahl and macleod convey how they enhanced the indigenous collection’s directory by adding canadian authors and providing culturally appropriate metadata to increase visibility and access in the library’s catalogue. the authors discuss the problems they faced with current metadata standards not allowing the use of special characters, enhancements made, and the implications of cataloguing policies and workflow for other collections. the authors also demonstrate how users view and access their changes and show new ways to interact with the collection. the authors also explore future possibilities linked data practices offer to display enhanced author information from local authorities and broaden the collection’s reach even further. the book reviews for this issue include timely publications connecting technology, community, and social change. fiona collins conveys in her review of mohamed taher’s edited volume, handbook of research on the role of libraries, archives, and museums in achieving civic engagement and social justice in smart cities (2022) ways in which libraries, archives, and museums incorporate digitized technologies for community engagement and social justice initiatives in smart cities across 12 countries. taher’s volume covers 22 case studies demonstrating sociopolitical change as an outcome of information technology’s impact on geocultural contexts. vivian chin highlights ivory and pashia’s thoughtful approach to conveying their expertise on how open educational resources (oer) is a valuable tool for information equity. chin conveys that ivory and pashia’s (2022) edited volume, using open educational resources [oer] to promote social justice, is a thoughtful publication offering insights for adopting oer for new users and veterans. valerie brett shaindlin reviews jeannie austin’s latest release, library services and incarceration: recognizing barriers, strengthening access (2022), an excellent companion to montague’s paper about library services and community building with incarcerated/recently released citizens in her project. likewise, lilly hoi sze ho's review of rachel chong's (2022) book, indigenous information literacy, dovetails dahl and macleod's report on decolonizing the library catalogue for indigenous information literacy. ijidi book reviewer andrew wertheimer discusses stop: bard’s contribution ends. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.41079 a whole new information world the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.41079 4 bailey and becher’s (2022) publication, academic librarian faculty status: clipp #47, published by the association of college & research libraries (acrl). wertheimer examines the policies and procedures modeled in the book for academic libraries considering the thick issues associated with tenure and promotion. this issue provides a valuable overview of how ai, social media, and critical librarianship can address social conflict, build, and sustain communities, and center local and indigenous epistemologies, information needs, and values. this collection is serendipitous – the papers were not canvassed to connect or intersect with one another topically or methodologically. however, connected they are – with explorations of the impacts of semantic technologies on human interactions, vis-à-vis human interactions to dissect and correct technological interventions on human connection and understanding. thus, this issue organically presents a timely theme highlighting the importance of critical thinking and media literacy in today’s challenges in an information-interpolated world. google’s bard chatbot did add value to this editorial. as the primary author, i am fascinated by the act of asking bard to co-write with me and having it complete the practical application of writing so well. still, as the human intimately connected with these papers via my prior, organic editorial process, i had to spend time heavily editing bard by reordering the paragraphs, narrowing the language, and adding specifics to the articles since i did read and interact with the texts within a writerly process. the mechanical process was smooth but multi-layered: the papers’ authors composed their abstracts, the ijidi editorial team refined and edited the abstracts, the authors agreed on the final versions, i inputted the abstracts into bard, and bard responded with its responsive composition, to which i re-read, edited, and added my contribution. my “writing back” or cowriting with bard was an enhancement process. using the chatbot to editorialize proved nominally helpful. the gap between bard’s work and my nuanced lens (as a human being) to writing about the articles to include context as a literacy practice was considerable. this perceptive gap makes sense because, as scholars have long noted, the human element of the reading and writing experience requires a vulnerability that cannot be duplicated, even from human to human (butler, 2004; hall & campano, 2014; robertson et al., 2020). ethical questions are being asked about the impacts of writing with ai (robinson & bawden, 2017; duffy, 2019). we see this issue being addressed in the articles presented in this volume (and in the results of my experiment here). when writing with “the machine” (forster, 1909), appropriation without revelation becomes an ethical concern for discourse from collegiate to professional to community levels (duffy, 2019). in-kind, the papers in this issue ask questions about the impacts of “the machine” on the information worlds of the communities we serve, the artifacts we preserve, the values we advocate, and the practices we enact. the works in this issue provide examples of how our lis information world can heighten understanding of how the texts we read, research, and write are kaleidoscopically interwoven and embedded. with the advent of “the machine” as a co-author of our discourse, authorial intention and agency may soon become requisite for scholarly, professional, and media writing and publication to substantiate authenticity in composition. we are in a new information world and have yet to determine what the sanctioned protocols and practices will look like in the coming months and years. as we embark on this new journey, the https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.41079 a whole new information world the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.41079 5 papers in this issue ask us to consider how our interactions with machine-learning technology inform and misinform data and media and possibly disrupt power structures and hegemonies within local communities, organizations, and the lis knowledge system worldwide. are we ready to critically revamp our beliefs, attitudes and ideas about what information is, what knowledge means, and who gets to tell our stories? if “the machine” tells a story truthfully or not, creatively or not, helpfully or not – where do we identify “us” in the technology? this issue of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi) contributes to the start of that conversation. trustfully, we will come together to think more, read more, write more, and do more to engage in this conversation for evocative growth and change within the lis knowledge world. that said, the articles in this issue demonstrate the potential of ai and other machine-based technologies to transform the lis field. ai can create new ways of accessing and managing information, develop new teaching and learning tools, and build new relationships with communities, or be used to plant fear, divide communities, and question ethical values towards writerly communications. humans created ai; how ai treats us will depend on how we nurture it. remember that ai is a tool; like any tool, it can be used for good or not. as educators and community advocates, we must ensure that ai is used ethically and equitably. i believe the research in this issue’s articles contributes to a foundational roadmap for considering the future of ai in lis. by establishing ethical ai applications, we can create a more equitable and inclusive information landscape (especially if we employ it honestly and with transparency), empower communities, promote critical thinking, and solidify the agency of many cultural heritages. i am excited to see what the future holds for lis and the ways in which ai will significantly shape that future. i hope you enjoy this volume, and i thank you for critically engaging with this content. references butler, j. (2004). precarious life: the powers of mourning and violence. verso. dong, y., yu, x., alharbi, a., & ahmad, s. (2022). ai-based production and application of english multimode online reading using multi-criteria decision support system. soft computing (berlin, germany), 26(20), 10927–10937. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500022-07209-2 duffy, v. g. (2019). edgard, the chatbot: questioning ethics in using artificial intelligence through interaction design and electronic literature. digital human modeling and applications in health, safety, ergonomics and risk management: healthcare applications (pp. 325–341). springer international publishing ag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22219-2_25 forster, e. m. (1909). the machine stops. the oxford and cambridge review, 8, 83-122. hall, t., & campano, g. (2014). some thoughts on a "beloved community". reading & writing quarterly, 30(3), 288-292. https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2014.909271 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.41079 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-022-07209-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-022-07209-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22219-2_25 https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2014.909271 a whole new information world the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.41079 6 robertson, d. a., padesky, l. b., ford-connors, e., & paratore, j. r. (2020). what does it mean to say coaching is relational? journal of literacy research, 52(1), 55–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296x19896632 robinson, l., & bawden, d. (2017). "the story of data": a socio-technical approach to education for the data librarian role in the citylis library school at city, university of london. library management, 38(6), 312–322. https://doi.org/10.1108/lm-01-20170009 vanessa irvin (ijidi.editorinchief@gmail.com) is the editor-in-chief of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi). she has held this post since 2020. on faculty as an associate professor of library science with the college of education at east carolina university, greenville, north carolina (usa), dr. irvin’s research interests include reference and information services, public library literacy practices, and heritage-based research for lis professional identity and development. bard, the google ai chatbot (no email), is an artificial intelligence (ai) chatbot developed by google and launched on march 21, 2023. bard can regenerate content based on authors’ input. bard is located at https://bard.google.com/. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.41079 https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296x19896632 https://doi.org/10.1108/lm-01-2017-0009 https://doi.org/10.1108/lm-01-2017-0009 mailto:ijidi.editorinchief@gmail.com https://bard.google.com/ ijidi cover and credits april 2021 volume 6 i number 3 | fall 2022 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion s p e c i a l s e c t i o n : r e p o r t s f r o m t h e introductory article an ethos of grace: towards an epistemic growth in lis as a global discourse vanessa irvin research articles expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty and staff natasha e. johnson, william ledbetter the civilized war within american librarianship: teaching strategies for battling colorblindness in the lis classroom mónica colón-aguirre, nicole a. cooke, lisa k. hussey a refocusing of the study of gatekeepers among linguistic minorities, the case of spanish speakers in the united states: implications for the study of information behavior mónica colónaguirre research articles (continued) the diversio diversity and inclusion survey: framework and psychometric properties somkene igboanugo, jieru yang, philip bigelow special section reports from the field inequities in public library branch access and children's book circulation in a midwestern american city clare crosh, john hutton, greg szumlas, yingying xu, andrew beck, carley riley book reviews edited by: halie kerns; stephanie robertson reviews by: allee monheim; halie kerns; katrina cohen-palacios; erin renee wahl; kay hones dr. vanessa irvin, editor-in-chief journal credits editor-in-chief dr. vanessa irvin associate editors dr. nadia caidi dr. mirah dow dr. jia tina du dr. mario ramirez dr. wiebke reile senior managing editors mona elayyan laina kelly book review editors halie kerns stephanie robertson managing editors michelle albrecht kelly dickinson vashalice kaaba dunyau maqsoudi-moreno jennifer mcdevitt bethany mcgowan lawrence ogbeni kayla reddecliff cara b. stone emily villanueva cover design by kevin j. mallary graphic design by vanessa irvin ijidi logo created by craig taylor image: pexels.com, sachin c nair the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion ijidi cover and credits april 2021 volume 5 | number 4 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion diversity monitoring in the library: categorisation practices and the exclusion of lgbtq library users kevin guyan “she started wearing men’s clothing and acting more masculine”: queering historical knowledge, gendered identity making, and trans potentialities in visual information travis wagner history and memory of dissident sexualities from latin america benito schmidt; rubens mascarenhas neto bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions marc miquel ribé dismantling structural enforced vulnerability in preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement renee dixson dr. vanessa irvin, editor-in-chief fall 2021special issue special section a crisis of erasure: transgender and gender-nonconforming populations navigating breast cancer health information curtis shane tenney; karl sukan; lynette hammond gerido; dawn betts-green queering information: lgbtq+ memory, interpretation, dissemination editorial silence may equal death, but so does uncompensated queer labor: how not to publish an lgbtq+ journal during a pandemic rachel wexelbaum also featuring: book reviews edited by norda a. bell articles journal credits editor-in-chief dr. vanessa irvin associate editors dr. nadia caidi dr. mirah dow dr. wiebke reile senior managing editor leah brochu managing editors michelle de agostini mona elayyan stephanie santiful jeffrey sowder cara b. stone zach valdes book review editor norda a. bell graphic designer kevin j. mallary ijidi logo created by craig taylor image credit: “multicolored broken mirror décor” by sharon mccutcheon, from pexels the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion https://www.pexels.com/photo/multicolored-broken-mirror-decor-1407278/ soy de aquí y de allá: the selfie as queer latinx representation in digital landscapes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39434 soy de aquí y de allá: the selfie as queer latinx representation in digital landscapes darleen martinez abstract exploring the power of self-representation in the form of selfies as an affirmation-based practice, the artist transforms her frustrations with self-identification through a “trans*glitchi performance,” and practices queer self-representation and self-portraiture through the use of selfies as a medium to challenge latinx identity and representation. keywords: digital representation; latinx; queer; selfie; transmigrant publication type: special section creative soy de aquí y de allá: the selfie as queer latinx representation in digital landscapes he effects of growing up bilingual, bicultural, and binational had always been a source of anxiety and differentiation since i never felt like i belonged neatly to one category. crossed by so many cultural, geographic and historical divides constantly left me feeling that i was ni de aquí ni de allá (from neither here nor there). not seeing others like me present in online spaces prolonged this discomfort. digital landscapes within social media are built on normative algorithms that censor bodies that do not fit neatly into white, cis, hetero expressions of the self, bodies that aren’t deemed “desirable”. it was then that i discovered the power of self-representation in the form of selfies that prompted me to embark on a journey of an affirmation-based practice, allowing me to transform frustrations regarding self-identification. through a transglitch performance, i practice queer self-representation intentional selfportraiture and more specifically, use the selfie as a medium to challenge identity and representation. online communication platforms have allowed me to build towards a representation that isn’t readily accessible. so little is recorded about my family history, given that they didn’t have the resources to document their lives on their own terms, but i do. specifically, through this sharing of the self online, i have been able to forge digital communities with other latinx and queer folk, demonstrating the importance of personal and community archives for those of us that are usually left out of history. as a first-generation child of mexican immigrants, who chose to move to mexico after college, this journey to self-documentation has allowed me to develop a memory and record of my experiences as a queer latinx transmigrant. a transmigrant, taken from nina glick schiller's concept, since i am living within a diverse set of social expectations and cultural values that are shaped by both the united states' and mexico's social, economic, and political systems. t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the selfie as queer latinx representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39434 my practice is not just artistic, but cultural and historical as well, given that my practice enriches and calls attention to the type of visual culture that people are creating and sharing online. much of my journey has been a rebellion, a resistance to what a good immigrant daughter should be, what a devoted american citizen should be, what a culturally mexican person should be. yes, social media can be banal, but for individuals like me, it is an opportunity to share ourselves and represent our version of geographic belonging, and allows us to generate a record of presence, transcending real and imagined borders. we are just barely starting to see the implications that social media is having on our lived experiences as individuals within a physical and now virtual presence. by making the selfie intentional within my practice, i am able to hold space for multiplicity, seeing this transient sentiment no longer as a hindrance but as a portal for possibility, no longer bound by physical and virtual borders. 134 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the selfie as queer latinx representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39434 135 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the selfie as queer latinx representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39434 endnotes i an edited selfie that departs from normative representations of the self. a digital representation of queer liquidity. works cited schiller, n. g., basch, l., & blanc, c. s. (1995). from immigrant to transmigrant: theorizing transnational migration. anthropological quarterly, 68(1), 48–63. https://doi.org/10.2307/3317464. 136 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the selfie as queer latinx representation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39434 darleen martinez (martinez.darleen.a@gmail.com) is a transdisciplinary and transmigrant artist who as a “pedagogical and cultural alchemist,” works towards engendering decentralized constructions of knowledge through creative resistance. originally from compton, california, she currently lives and works in mexico city. martinez has bachelor’s degrees in sociology and art practice from the university of california, berkeley. website: https://lineadeluz.me/ instagram: @lineadeluz twitter: @cyborg_brujx 137 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:martinez.darleen.a@gmail.com https://lineadeluz.me/ https://www.instagram.com/lineadeluz/ https://twitter.com/cyborg_brujx soy de aquí y de allá: the selfie as queer latinx representation in digital landscapes endnotes queerly evolving professional engagement: reflections on fifty years of book awards the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 queerly evolving professional engagement: reflections on fifty years of book awards rae-anne montague, chicago state university, usa abstract the rainbow round table (rrt) of the american library association (ala), originally known as the gay task force, has been actively standing against discrimination and advocating for lgbtqia+ rights since 1970. over the years, various rrt affiliates have contributed to myriad aspects of ongoing and emergent movements aligned with the pursuit of equality. these efforts have underpinned new perspectives, a broad spectrum of changes, queer progress, overcoming a range of challenges, and much joy. in the rrt context, book awards are particularly significant because of their enduring legacy and persistent impact. these awards serve as a focal point for this article, which presents a critical retrospective analysis emphasizing representation and intersectionality. keywords: community; intersectionality; literature; organization; representation publication type: report introduction he pursuit of human rights is a long, complex, and continuing story, which involves lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual/agender, plus (lgbtqia+) individuals and communities. queer struggles and achievements are inextricably intertwined with those of others engaged in the quest for equality (american civil liberties union, 2021)1. one example of this is linked to librarians, library staff, and various affiliates of the rainbow round table (rrt) of the american library association (ala), originally known as the gay task force. this group, formed as a section of the social responsibilities round table (srrt), has been standing up against discrimination and actively involved in progressive efforts for more than half a century (ala 1971, 1990, 2006, 2008). this engagement has countered challenges, enabled dialogue, underpinned new perspectives, contributed to a broad spectrum of positive changes, and cultivated much joy. in the rrt realm, book awards are particularly significant because of their enduring legacy and persistent impact. book awards serve as a focal point for this article, which presents a critical retrospective analysis emphasizing representation, synergy, and evolution. the study, drawing on decades of professional activity, is a novel contribution to the history of american librarianship, records of queer lives, and the potentials for future equity work in the field. while this exploration is based on experiences in the u.s., key issues such as gender, sexuality, and systemic bias have universal human relevance. as such, the discussion has the potential to increase understanding and inform practice across countries and contexts. this article is divided into four main sections. first, frameworks are presented to ground the conceptual development. the second section introduces the early years of the gay task force. t about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 110 it considers some of the important work that took place throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s in selecting titles for awards from a limited number and scope of publications—and within a challenging and sometimes hostile climate. a review of the aboutness of award winners provides details of emergent topics—what was included and what wasn’t. a second data set exploring lgbtqia+ authors deemed historically significant offers another perspective to consider sources of contributions to early queer literature regarding who was involved/included and who was not. subsequently, drawing on the concept of intersectionality, more recent trends are considered through a synergy-based lens that promotes reflection on how some efforts and milestones both within the rrt and beyond are providing a base for expanding equity and momentum. the final section of the article revisits significant influences on the evolution of the rrt in terms of its persistence, scope, power, and impact. it also reviews some of the emerging and ongoing challenges to be faced by queer librarians and others committed to equity. a list of subject headings based on award winners from recent decades is also included as an appendix. theoretical framework debra meyerson’s concept of tempered radicals, which emphasizes how people create change within a professional context through focused engagement and small wins, provides grounding for this exploration (2001). alex poole’s analysis of community protest information practices, which thoughtfully presents overlapping categorizations, provides an even more focused frame (2020). in poole’s model, book awards are considered a type of “constructive protest information practice” (p. 535). in generating and formally documenting information (via the awards, book lists, and other related initiatives), the round table contributes to developing a broader understanding of lgbtqia+ existence and expands the credibility of queer perspectives, which may counter discrimination across diverse contexts. activities in this grouping center around information “creating, seeking, scanning, exchanging, evaluating, recognizing, publicizing, publishing, disseminating, selecting, aggregating, lobbying, classifying, organizing, sharing, and curating” (p. 544-545). as the national diversity climate evolves based on pressure from various sources, so do the possibilities for action and inclusion in library and information science, both in publications and selection of works representing more diverse subjects. over time, in reviewing the literature on the lack of diversity, many professionals and scholars have expressed challenges they have encountered and analyzed in terms of a lack of consistent representation and misrepresentation across varied literary and informational spaces. this kind of intellectual negligence is a symptom and reflection of systemic discrimination (larrick, 1965; sims bishop, 1990; cart & jenkins, 2015; meyers, 2014; naidoo, 2014; noble, 2018). analyzing or confronting these challenges are also the focus of organizations such as american indians in children’s literature (aicl), the cooperative children’s book center at the university of wisconsin-madison (ccbc, tyner, 2018), and, more recently, we need diverse books (wndb). countering these challenges can also grow from the impact of formally recognizing and celebrating diverse (nonmainstream) books through awards and other means such as lists and reviews (ala, 2011; reese, 2016). founded in 1970, the year 2020 marked the golden anniversary of the establishment of the ala gay task force, the nation’s first lgbtqia+ professional association (ala, 2022). the year following its inception, the first “gay book award” was presented at the task force’s first annual meeting. the book award was conferred to patience and sarah by isabel miller, published by mcgraw hill. the work was originally self-published with the title, a place for us2. the nom de plume, isabel miller, was a pseudonym used by author alma routsong. a significant consideration is that the name “isabel” is an anagram for the expression “lesbia” (katz, 1976). this context about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 111 of disembodied sexuality as expressed with the title and author name conveys an apt marker, or mirror, to begin reflecting on a spectrum of shifting representations, engagements, and synergies. gay is good3 – frank kameny while the first gay book award was presented for literature, subsequent awards over the next two decades emphasized informational works, albeit anthologies were included among the winners. notable titles featuring diverse subject matter include: • now the volcano: an anthology of latin american gay literature by winston leyland, in 1980, which, according to subjects listed in worldcat, is about “brazilian fiction and gay men’s writings” and “latin american – translations”; • black lesbians: an annotated bibliography by jr roberts in 1982 about “african american legends”; and • the spirit and the flesh: sexual diversity in american indian culture by walter l williams in 1987 about “indian gays” and “native peoples/indians of north america - sexual behavior” and “two-spirit people.” the emphasis on non-fiction and the idea of including collected works among the winners indicates the fundamental nature of available (and acceptable) titles and a lack of (and acceptance of) diverse literature. during the early years of the rrt, diverse subjects, that is, options beyond a white, cis, male, hetero-patriarchal, diagnostic, and/or deficit framing, were limited. in an american professional context, providing access to these materials was very challenging. in many cases, users would need to seek alternative access routes to materials as it would have been impossible to locate items of interest via their local libraries. rrt affiliates had to provide compelling resources and offer enough energy and evidence to push other librarians into the unknown, and often uncomfortable – or even dangerous zones; compel them to (re)consider their professional responsibilities; and to seek ways to enable lgbtqia+ inclusion in the context of navigating their own communities, many of which held hostile views and discriminatory policies and laws. these contexts stem from problematic histories, including those perpetrated by colonial misdeeds, and, unfortunately, they linger in both national and international contexts while laws reflecting contemporary beliefs and realities have yet to emerge (ilga, 2021; lambda legal (2021); movement advancement project, 2021; oecd, 2021). throughout rrt history, the book awards committees have been responsible for selecting books of exceptional merit relating to the lgbtqia+ experience. this work has been full of opportunities and challenges related to shifting the boundaries of what should be included in collection development practice, collections, and ultimately communities. in the early years, materials were constrained by widespread shame and invisibility (d’emilio, 1993). extensive limitations surrounding queer identities and communities hampered the spectrum of reflections in literature. in tandem, the first task force/round table members, and other lgbtqia+ folks, frequently faced considerable adversity based on their sexuality and/or gender identity/expression. given the range of challenging circumstances, it is not surprising that awards were not given in a few of the early years (e.g., 1973, 1976, 1983). still, they persisted. the work of the task force was not only groundbreaking and historically significant in facilitating collective action to enable more accurate representation and richer stories to flourish, but it about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 112 also has steadfastly served as a counterforce to mitigate misinformation and disinformation both within the ala and beyond. as johnson (2007) describes, a panel discussion sponsored by the rrt (then the task force) in 1971 criticized “sexist and homophobic labeling which then prevailed in the library of congress subject headings and the dewey decimal classification.” these challenges and others extended across time and spaces. for example, decades later, in 1992, american libraries, the flagship magazine of the ala, published a photo of the gay and lesbian task force displaying a banner and marching in a pride parade on the cover of the july/aug issue. the association membership’s response to this was mixed, including accusations of being “in poor taste”, “glorifying homosexuality”, and indicative of involvement in the “lunatic fringe”. as rosenzweig astutely responded, “hatred of gays is seldom, if ever, an isolated, singular prejudice (such a polite word, “prejudice”). anti-homosexual hatred in today’s political climate is linked to a whole nexus of bigotry and racism…” (rosenzweig et al., 1992, page 840). much work remained to be done within the profession and beyond. to counter these sorts of challenging circumstances, the persistence of the book awards as constructive protest— a channel to celebrate queer literature aligned with essential freedom of expression—provided an unwavering base from which to move forward. although it is not easy, especially in light of challenges like being attacked, within the context of critical scholarship and activism, it is important to recognize, probe, and continually work to overcome layers of embodied privilege. within the task force, and later the round table, there are several power differentials—and some groups have been endowed with greater access, representation, or recognition(s) historically and systemically reinforced through hegemonic cultural practices of exclusion and discrimination. a simple example demonstrating this can be drawn from the group name where “gay” was the only subgroup to be recognized/ included originally, whereas “lesbian” was not incorporated until after fifteen years; “bisexual” after twenty-five, and “trans” not until after thirty years! these differences shine a light on general lack of awareness (freire, 2000/1993), the official/professional focus and expression, and are indicative of evolving socially acceptable lgbtqia+ group conceptualizations. this ongoing progress of inclusion speaks to relative socio-political relevance and begs the questions: 1. who was engaged and was not engaged with the (round) table? 2. and, in the case of publications who had been deemed worthy–from both a sociopolitical and economic return sense–of seeing themselves in print? answers to both of these questions vary across the trajectory, but clearly, significant gaps are visible. in the following sections, these questions are explored in greater depth in the context of the rrt and broader literary landscape. aboutness considerations in terms of the book awards, evidence related to these issues may be considered by examining the emergence and prevalence of the representative subject headings across the decades. as noted above, the scope was quite limited initially indicating that many topics we are familiar with today were not previously available for use. for example, according to worldcat, in the 1970s, award winner aboutness based on library of congress headings included: • gay liberation movement -united states. about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 113 • gay men -united states -biography. • gay men -literary collections. • gays -family relationships -united states. • homosexuality -literary collections. • homosexuality -united states -essays. • lesbianism -united states. • lesbians -united states -fiction. • male homosexuality -united states. these initial subject areas prevailed in the early eighties, albeit with slight topical differences: • homosexuality in motion pictures. • homosexuality -miscellanea. • homosexuality -terminology. • lesbianism -history. • lesbians -psychology. during the first two decades of book awards, there was a lot of emphasis on gay men, homosexuality, and lesbians, but nothing about bisexual, trans, questioning, intersex, and other folks. since catalogers, as a general rule, assign the most specific subject headings that describe the “aboutness” or significant content of the item, we know that works based on these other identities were largely absent. there was a significant shift as the aids crisis dominated queer lives and literature by the late 1980s. the crisis caused a shift in “aboutness” apparent in subject headings, such as: • aids (disease) -history. • aids (disease) -political aspects -united states. • aids (disease) -social aspects -united states. • gays -political activity -united states. during the next decade, subject headings emphasizing the lives of gays and lesbians and aids continued. issues around families, youth, and coming out were prevalent; and topics like sports and the military were added. in 1994, stone butch blues by leslie feinberg enabled trans consideration. and, in 1995, bisexuals we featured in chloe plus olivia: an anthology of lesbian and bisexual literature from the seventeenth century to the present, edited by lillian faderman. while the scope of early titles was limited, over time, more varied, nuanced, and inclusive about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 114 lgbtqia+ representations continued to emerge from a widening range of available and acceptable publications (i. e., the literature) and the awards. this growth was also reflected in the higher number of books published with lgbtqia+ content along with the establishment of separate stonewall awards for literature and non-fiction; and children’s/young adult (ya) literature4. decades later, in 2019, members of the stonewall book awards committee children’s and ya literature award considered these issues based on an analysis of trends across the previous decade. not surprisingly, the scope had expanded considerably. breitenbach noted, “we’re seeing more books showing asexual, bisexual, and transgender experiences. diversifying the pool of eligible titles racially in terms of characters and authors may be slower, and we can’t always easily identify if authors identify as lgbtqia+, but we are getting more own voices….” (glbt news, 2019, para. 3) ideas of inclusion were evolving and being incorporated into the awards as reflections of broader environmental issues. this development can be observed from other angles, such as through an exploration of renowned lgbtqia+ authors. author considerations the legacy project, based in chicago, provides rich grounds for additional consideration. the legacy project was conceived to memorialize historic figures by showcasing their contributions to world history and culture. it is a well-known and well-regarded source of information–and it includes a category for authors. at the time of this study, legacy project database entries featured 92 authors—51 male, 40 female, 0 other, and one not identified. in terms of orientation—44 gay, 30 lesbian, one straight, one queer, 15 bisexual, 0 asexual, and 0 unknown. in terms of gender identity, there were 88 cisgender, two transgender, 0 genderqueer/non-binary, and 0 intersex, and one not identified. trans author representation was shallow— only two percent. these percentages echo trends seen in the subject groupings of early rrt awards. we can hypothesize that they reflect relative numbers of (well-known) lgbtqia+ authors as well as their relative prominence, which was likely tied to publishing (i.e., sales) potential. understanding these issues is complicated by the dynamic nature and socio-cultural constraints of naming and categorization of identity constructs, limiting our ability to understand the whole picture, which is also true of the rrt subjects presented above. the distribution of legacy project author ethnicities provides an additional viewpoint to inform this discussion. it is shown in figure 1. about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 115 figure 1. distribution of legacy project authors by ethnicity this illustrative data, based on a total of 112 ethnicities identified for the 92 world-renowned lgbtqia+ authors identified by the legacy project, reveals that the majority, >56%, were identified as white. this distribution is actually, and perhaps surprisingly, entirely aligned with recent national census data demographics in terms of “race and hispanic origin”—and could be further considered and analyzed in the more complex global context (united states census bureau, morning, 2008). in shifting back to the focus on queer realities reflected in the stonewall awards, the increased representation of diverse lgbtqia+ lived experiences is evident in a gradual expansion of the scope of literature and publications evident in award winners (and honor books). again, these can be seen more clearly through additional review of the topics included in subject headings. more examples of emergent subjects from 1991-2020 are included in appendix a. a review of this list also leads to more questioning around vocabularies and the identities of those who were and were not included. throughout this period, conversations focusing on diverse representations were also expanding and evolving within other areas of ala in light of persistent diversity gaps. for example, in recognition of this detrimental trend, the ala executive board approved the launch of the spectrum initiative at the spring meeting, 1997. the spectrum scholarship program, as it is known today, “provides leadership in the transformation of library services” and is arguably one of the most significant (diversity-based) recruitment efforts in the profession’s history (prellwitz, 2018; hathcock, 2015). under an umbrella of diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of the evolution of the awards and beyond, fundamental issues of intersectionality have come into focus and deserve, more significant consideration5. intersectional realities and synergies intersectionality is a term coined by scholar kimberlé crenshaw in 1989. it is a concept that echoes foundations established across the ages to describe and illuminate how oppressions (sexism, homophobia, transphobia, racism, ableism, classism, xenophobia, etc.) interconnect and reinforce each other–and, as such, need to be holistically examined and rejected. the term was recently added to the merriam-webster dictionary in 2020 (geek feminism, 2021; international women’s development agency, 2021). about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 116 as the work of the stonewall awards committees does not exist in a vacuum, a review of some more examples of recent events and efforts demonstrating or reinforcing the complexity of the movement can offer essential insights related to our collective resistance and power both from within and beyond the round table, ala, and lgbtqia+ communities. emerging organizational initiatives expand on previous understanding and efforts—and serve as new markers and mirrors, to compel and enable us to embody, reflect, and generate new and more tremendous energy. several include examples from social media, which recognize trends of increasing use and reliance in terms of access to news and as part of informing and enabling collective action (schaeffer, 2019; auxier, 2020). highlights based on a selective sampling of diverse recent events and efforts of varied origin, format, scope, and scale that have contributed to increasing visibility, critical awareness, awakening, and new movement grounded in expanding intersectional synergies stemming from library and information science and lgbtqia+ affairs include: • in 2011, california passed the fair, accurate, inclusive, and respectful (fair) education act (senate bill 48), the first law in the u.s. compelling the inclusion of lgbtqia+ content into public school curriculum (equality california, 2011). other states (e.g., new jersey, colorado, and illinois) have since passed similar laws – as have other countries, such as scotland (national improvement hub, 2021). • dan savage keynotes the ala annual conference in new orleans, featuring his recent book, it gets better, inspired as an effort to quell lgbtqia+ youth suicide. (american libraries, 2011) • the over the rainbow (otr) book list committee was approved as a standing round table committee at the glbt-rt membership meeting during the 2011 ala annual conference. otr is charged with developing “an annual, annotated bibliography of books for general adult readers aged 18 years or older that have commendable literary quality and significant, authentic lgbtqia+ content” to “to promote the improved quality and accessibility of lgbtqia+ literature.” otr is an expansion of the highly successful rainbow book list, featuring books recommended for young readers, which began as a grassroots effort sponsored by the social responsibilities round table (srrt) in 2007 (ala, 2021). • in 2011, the mike morgan and larry romans children's & young adult literature award was incorporated into the ala youth media awards (yma; johnson, 2011). • in 2012, dr. kristopher wells, director of the institute for sexual minority study and services (ismss) launches the #nohomophobes twitter tracker and response to homophobic language on social media. (crawshaw, 2012). • the center for the study of multicultural children’s literature established an annual best multicultural books list at the in 2013. • in 2019, jack can der wel and ellen greenblatt expanded the homosaurus, an international linked data vocabulary of lgbtq terms originally created in 1997 to support improved access to resources. in 2015, with input from k. j. rawson, the resources would move online – enabling even broader access (walker, 2019). about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 117 • the lgbtq+ special interest group (sig) – sponsored by the acquisition and collection development section launch by the international federation of library associations and organizations (ifla) in 2014 (montague, 2015). • we need diverse books (wndb, @diversebooks), the non-profit and grassroots organization of children’s book lovers, dedicated to “producing and promoting literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people” was established in 2014. wndb echoes the voices of many critically aware scholars in asking people to “imagine a world in which all children can see themselves in the pages of a book.” • the first #critlib unconference took place in conjunction with the association of college and research libraries conference in portland, oregon in 2015. critlib, a shorthand for critical librarianship, “is a movement of library workers dedicated to bringing social justice principles” into library work. the #critlib hashtag is used to facilitate information sharing and ongoing conversations. • in 2015, the human rights campaign (hrc) foundation’s welcoming schools program jazz & friends national day of school and community readings. the american association of school librarians (aasl) now serves as an official co-sponsor. https://www.welcomingschools.org/resources/books/welcoming-schools/internationaljazz-friends-school-and-community-readings (habley, 2021) • the organization formation of the nonprofit joint council of librarians of color (jclc, inc.) in 2015 to “advocate for and address the everyday needs of the american library association ethnic affiliates. • the 2015 creation of the #ownvoices hashtag by writer corinne duyvis in referring to “an author from a marginalized or under-represented group writing about their own experiences/from their perspective, rather than someone from an outside perspective writing as a character from an underrepresented group.” • while ala meetings always provide much food for thought and renewed commitment and energy for our work, in 2015, when the u.s. supreme court ruled in favor of marriage equality in tandem with the ala annual conference in san francisco, the intensity was off the charts. the atmosphere in the city and at the meeting was extremely joyful and memorable. rrt members joined local librarians in the annual pride march, and responses to media about the event were overwhelmingly positive. a photo of the librarian contingent is included below. • in 2015, a new campaign to recognize june as glbt book month was launched. as of 2020, this is known as rainbow book month. • drag queen storytimes were initiated on december 12th, 2015, at the eureka valley/harvey milk memorial branch library. they would soon spread across the nation and beyond in public libraries and other community-based venues. (montague & latham, 2019). • research on diversity in youth literature (rdtl) was founded as an open-access online in 2016 “by a group of activist scholars who embody, research, and foreground about:blank about:blank about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 118 diversities, inclusivity, advocacy, and visibility for a scholarship that is not always privileged/acknowledged within academia. rdyl’s mission “is to publish scholarship attending to issues of diversity, equity, social justice, inclusion, and intersectionality in youth literature, culture, and media.” • the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi) launched its first issue in 2016. ijidi (ijidi) is an open-access online journal seeking “to expand the discourse on how access to, interaction with, and the use of information by a range of populations can impact individuals, communities, and society.” • the glbt-rt advocacy committee published open to all: serving the glbt community in your library, a toolkit “providing glbt-friendly programming helps your community know that you are welcoming and accepting” in 2016. • ala council recognized pulse nightclub mass shooting victims at the annual conference, which took place near the tragic event in orlando. (ala, 2016) • as a consequence of the racial injustice and library response in ferguson and baltimore, the ongoing dakota access pipeline protests, the pulse nightclub mass shooting, and the 2016 election result, the (recently amalgamated) ala office for diversity, literacy, and outreach services (odlos)’s expanded the #librariesrespond social media effort into a comprehensive online source of news and resources to support libraries in responding to critical issues (cottrell, 2015). • in 2016, the invisible histories project was established to preserve the history of lgbtq life throughout the u.s. southeast. • at the ala midwinter meeting in 2017, a new nametag ribbon inviting attendees to write in their own pronoun(s) became available. • a new version of the pride flag that added black and brown stripes to the top of the standard six-color flag to draw attention to black, indigenous, and people of color (bipoc) issues within lgbtq communities was adopted by the city of philadelphia in 2017 (tringali, 2021). • the american association of school libraries (aasl), with support from an ala emerging leaders team, published a guide to support school librarians in providing access to lgbtq+ materials in schools. • the american library association council adopted a resolution on june 26, 2018, to supply gender-inclusive restrooms at all ala conferences. the round table had advocated for them, and they had appeared before this resolution. (glbt news, 2014) • in 2018, two ad hoc round table committees were established. the archive project committee would continue the oral history toolkit featuring round table members and begun by a 2018 emerging leaders team. the other, the 50th anniversary golden jubilee committee, would oversee preparations for a grand celebration at the ala annual conference in chicago in 2020. while the jubilee ultimately has had to be postponed because of public health restrictions, both of the groups and related efforts have about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 119 provided important new spaces for thoughtful reflection about the past, present, and future of the round table (vess, 2018). • in 2019, after two decades as the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender round table, the group voted to change its name for the fifth time. the membership voted to adopt the unifying rainbow round table handle over another extension of individual letters (ford, 2020). • in march 2020, a pandemic emerged. life as we knew it was turned upside down. the effects are unprecedented, trauma-inducing, and far-reaching. they have forced everyone to reflect, reconsider, and reorganize our daily activities and our basic understandings across many contexts, including access to resources and services. as a consequence, ala conferences became virtual in summer 2020. while the reality of not seeing friends and colleagues has been difficult, adjusting to an online format did increase possibilities for access and engagement. in addition, ala and srrt both implemented initiatives to enable “members who have been recently furloughed, laid off, or are experiencing a reduction of paid work hours” to participate at no cost (d. margarida, personal communication, january 7, 2021)6. about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 120 figure 2. a banner promoting glbt book month and a fabulous librarian/reader participating in the 45th annual san francisco gay pride parade, june 28, 2015. source: rae-anne montague these highlights, based on numerous recent events and related efforts across diverse realms, serve as new and important access points and pathways to focus on and guide more equity-based and unifying thoughts and actions. their meanings and reflections are powerful. they open up possibilities and represent important intersectional aspects of our collective history providing stepping stones and scaffolding for increasing motivation and more positive actions moving forward. they are also reflected in our lexicon and language–in seeing the shift from terms like safe spaces to brave spaces; less focus on allyship and more emphasis on #ownvoices; increasing concern with microaggressions, and, as reese so astutely describes, the ongoing need for maintaining some limitations. (arao & clemens, 2013; writing the other, 2016). each of the areas above, their impacts, as well as additional and emerging examples, may be considered in tandem with initiatives such as the stonewall book and other awards–such as lambda literacy and more, (2021) and/or within the enduring and broader landscape of lgbtqia+ library work (e.g., glsen, 2021; libraries and the lgbtq community, 2021). all are deserving of additional consideration, which lies beyond the scope of this article. about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 121 toward future possibilities in 2020, barbara gittings, arguably the round table’s most enduring and influential leader, was included in time’s 100 women of the year feature for her groundbreaking efforts in promoting understanding among marginalized people. her efforts were based on her belief that before “they can prevail, they must understand that they are worthy and that they are not alone” (time, para. 1). this prestigious recognition serves as a reminder of gittings’ prowess stemming from her self-knowledge and self-acceptance. despite not having studied librarianship, which is often considered detrimental in library and information science leadership situations, her vision and enduring commitment and engagement enabled the successful launch of the task force. they spawned a plethora of “good trouble.”7 her attitude, knowledge, and skills allowed her to persist as a tempered radical—and also serve as another example of the importance of synergies existing beyond librarianship that contribute to our evolution and success. gittings’ influence was even evident at the most recent in-person gathering of the rrt, which took place at the 2020 ala midwinter meeting. the social event, featuring the adult stonewall awards announcements, was held at the independence branch of the free library of philadelphia, which aptly includes the barbara gittings gay/lesbian collection. a photo from this event is included below. figure 3. friends and colleagues gather at the rrt social in philadelphia, january 26, 2020. source: raeanne montague in addition to gittings, many other fabulous round table leaders (and members) have also embodied incredible leadership qualities and enabled critical progress. those worthwhile discussions extend beyond the scope of this article. at this time in our history, reflection leads us to recognize and appreciate the broad range of ideas, efforts, and accomplishments of rrt leaders and members in conjunction with others from diverse lgbtqia+ and equity-based organizations that have enabled many positive changes. at the same time, it is remarkable how much adversity remains–and that lgbtqia+ community members (as well as others who have been historically marginalized in the u.s and beyond) are still faced with overt and covert discrimination and violence. these challenges and struggles are about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 122 manifest both within and beyond our professional realms. for example, recent controversies around trans-exclusive rhetoric and practice are linked to broader anti-trans politics. such politics have necessitated the development of more thoughtful and informed considerations and responses, such as the ala office for diversity, literacy, and outreach services’ (odlos) online resource, libraries respond: protecting and supporting transgender staff and patrons (ala, 2020). other organizations, like the feminist library in the u.k., and many professionals and scholars have also come forward and offered critical policies and perspectives (feminist library, 2021; pearce, erikainen & vincent, 2020; sumpter, 2020; ylanan, 2021). as indicated above, having lgbtqia+ books with award-winning status may be considered a constructive protest information practice. these materials serve as both a conversation starter and a counterforce to overcoming bias in the form of persistent homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, and so on, manifest as censorship. that said, a quick check of the ala office of intellectual freedom (oif’s) 2019 list of top challenged books reveals that eight out of ten emerged because of their lgbtqia+ content–even though half had been recognized with the stonewall book awards, namely george by alex gino; beyond magenta: transgender teens speak out by susan kuklin; sex is a funny word by cory silverberg and fiona smyth; and drama by raina telgemeier (2019b). in light of this, it is clear that many more conversations linked to ongoing constructive protest work in conjunction with other synergistic efforts, diversity-based educational pathways, progressive policy implementations, and so on, are still needed. as we move toward an increased understanding of queer lives and literature in the context of the necessary and significant role story plays in our shared humanity, there is cause for celebration regarding how far we have progressed to date. the stonewall book awards have played a significant role in accepting queer literature, and in a broadening sense, lives. as such, they embody pride –and also reinforce the importance of ongoing critical review. the strength of our work grows foundationally within the context of diverse representation, intersectionality, and solidarity. along with evolving and unified actions and initiatives, diverse viewpoints and voices grounded in social justice will continue to focus and guide greater understanding. this process is not always linear–and will undoubtedly need to accommodate setbacks and new challenges. moving into the sixth decade of stonewall awards, the selection work and other rrt committees, supporters, and affiliates are challenging, meaningful, and exciting. new growth is necessary and imminent. discussions about adding a new award for poetry and a plan to formally separate the children’s and young adult recognitions based on the increasing volume of books have already begun. review of materials in other formats is also growing and evolving. the rrt remains in solidarity with other groups within ala and beyond—committed to augmenting diverse representations and intersectional growth to promote and sustain human rights for all. round table members can look forward to continued remote engagement and more gatherings in person again as it is safe to do so. in the meantime, lgbtqia+ librarians and supporters persist across time, space, and media. looking toward the future, queerly evolving professional considerations, conversations, and collaborations will undoubtedly continue to grow and flourish. a lot has happened already, and in the wise words of rrt member michael mungin, “the round table’s work is nowhere near finished” (ford, 2020). about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 123 endnotes 1 in this article, the word “queer” is used as a substitute for lgbtqia+. the intent is to use an affirming, community-based term that encompasses diverse members. for more on terminology, see https://www.nlgja.org/stylebook/?s=queer 2 a timeline of early round table history based on cal gough’s chronology found in the conference publication for the gay, lesbian, and bisexual task force: 25th anniversary, 19701995 gala published by ala is available at the rrt website http://www.ala.org/rt/rrt/about/history. information about stonewall awards, including links to worldcat entries, is available chronologically on the rrt website: http://www.ala.org/rt/rrt/award/stonewall/honored. 3 frank kameny, considered one of the most influential figures in the u. s. gay rights movement, coined the phrase gay is good in 1968, patterned after the phrase black is beautiful. https://makinggayhistory.com/podcast/episode-1-5/ 4 categories for fiction and non-fiction were distinguished as part of the gay and lesbian book award in 1990. bisexual was added to the award context and name in 1994, and transgender followed in 1999 when the task force also evolved into a group with round table status. in 2002, the award names were changed to recognize two of the group’s founders the stonewall book award-barbara gittings literature award and the stonewall book award-israel fishman non-fiction award. in 2010, a category was added to separate books for young people with the launch of the stonewall book award-mike morgan and larry romans children's & young adult literature award. from 1990-2000, one winner and four finalists were selected for fiction and non-fiction awards (i.e., ten titles recognized/year). starting in 2001, the finalists became known as honor books. 5 while sex, sexuality, and gender identity and expression have been considered in terms of rrt leadership and award criteria during the group’s history, an exploration of other facets of diversity within the rrt membership, leadership, or, in alignment with this exploration, the stonewall committees, all of which appear to be majority white, would add to further understanding these issues. this could potentially be challenging because of the unknown availability of historical demographic data. 6 margarida, danielle (olis), m. (2021, january 7). [young adult and children’s services discussion list] f.w.: [external] : [yscon] srrt sponsoring gift ala memberships – deadline january 11 at noon c.t. 7 inspired by rosa parks, former u.s. representative and civil rights icon john lewis spoke about getting into “good trouble.” learn more here: https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/07/remembering-john-lewis-the-power-of-good-trouble/ and here: https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/remembering-john-lewis/ appendices appendix a – additional examples of subject headings representing diverse identities/groups used for stonewall book awards classification (1991-2020) • male homosexuality -china -history. (1991) • lesbianism -china -history. (1991) about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 124 • zuni indians -sexual behavior. (1992) • african american gays -literary collections. (1993) • mexican americans -literary collections. (1994) • hispanic american gays -poetry. (1995) • race relations -fiction. (1996) • african american women -civil rights. (1999) • african american poets. (1999) • african american gays -poetry. (2000) • african american families -fiction. (2000) • filipino americans -fiction. (2003) • japanese american families -fiction. (2004) • african americans -biography. (2004) • vietnamese fiction. (2004) • india -fiction. (2006) • african american gays -fiction. (2008) • gender identity -south africa. (2010) • african american gay men -fiction. (2010) • immigrant children -juvenile fiction. (2012) • latin americans. (2013) • mexican americans -fiction. (2013) • african american gay men. (2013, 2017) • homosexualité -aspect religieux -islam. (2015) • african american women -fiction. (2016) • african american teenage girls -juvenile fiction. (2016) • gay men -arab countries -fiction. (2017) about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 125 • african american transgender people. (2018) • sri lankans -united states -fiction. (2018) • asian americans -poetry. (2018) • immigrants -poetry. (2018) • african american lesbians. (2019) • african american girls -juvenile fiction. (2019) • ethnic relations. (2020) • african american authors -biography. (2020) references agger, b. (2012). oversharing: presentations of self in the internet age. routledge. alder, m. 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(2019, december 20). u.s. has changed in key ways in the past decade, from tech use to demographics. pew research center. https://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2019/12/20/key-ways-us-changed-in-past-decade/ sexual minorities archive. (2015, september 18). history of sma. sexual minorities archives. https://sexualminoritiesarchives.wordpress.com/about-us/history-of-sma/ sumpter, s. (2020, january 30). seattle public library’s free-speech defense for terps upholds a dangerous status quo. crosscut. https://crosscut.com/2020/01/seattle-publiclibrarys-free-speech-defense-terfs-upholds-dangerous-status-quo time. (2020). 1964: barbara gittings. https://time.com/5793614/barbara-gittings-100-womenof-the-year/ tringali, b. (2020). new pride flag – philadelphia. these colors run deep. https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/lgbtflags/2020/06/23/new-pride-flag-philadelphia/ tyner, m. (2018, april 6). ccbc 2017 statistics on lgbtq+ literature for children & teens. cooperative children’s book center. https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-2017statistics-on-lgbtq-literature-for-children-teens/ united states census bureau. (2021). quick facts. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/us/pst045219 vess, d. (2012, may 11). ad hoc committees. round tables. http://www.ala.org/rt/rrt/about/committees/adhoc walker, w. c. (2019, september 29). building the homosaurus: an international lgbtq linked data vocabulary. lmu library news. https://librarynews.lmu.edu/2019/09/buildingthe-homosaurus-an-international-lgbtq-linked-data-vocabulary/ about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank queerly evolving professional engagement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.36240 131 we need diverse books. (2021). wndb. https://diversebooks.org/ writing the other. (2016, october 12). mirrors, windows, sliding glass doors, and curtains, from writing native american characters [video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctojtk-ongo ylanan, a. (2021, april 7). women’s prize stands by its nomination of trans author torrey peters after open letter. los angeles times. https://www.latimes.com/entertainmentarts/books/story/2021-04-07/womens-prize-stands-by-nomination-of-trans-authortorrey-peters rae-anne montague is assistant professor and library and information science (lis) program coordinator at chicago state university, usa. dr. montague has many years of experience as a teacher, librarian, and library and information science educator. her scholarly interests center around inquiry, learning communities, and social justice. about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank about:blank introduction theoretical framework gay is good2f – frank kameny aboutness considerations author considerations intersectional realities and synergies toward future possibilities endnotes appendices references an exploratory study of diversity statements in canadian academic librarian job advertisements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 an exploratory study of diversity statements in canadian academic librarian job advertisements norda bell, york university libraries, canada abstract diversity statements signal an organization’s culture, values, and commitment to diversity and inclusion. yet, diversity statements are often perceived as somewhat superficial “boilerplate” or basic statements created to comply with employment equity requirements, especially in job advertisements. with the objectives of understanding the presence of diversity statements in job advertisements, differences between types of libraries, and the types of diversity statements and messages contained in these statements, this study analyzed the diversity statements of 50 online job advertisements for canadian academic librarian and archivist positions. four types of diversity statements were identified from this study: type 1) boilerplate; type 2) employment equity; type 3) diversity; and type 4) expanded diversity management. findings suggest most association of research libraries (arl) member institutions in canada have expanded diversity management statements. other findings around land acknowledgements, gender identity, and sexual orientation and others are discussed. recommendations for further studies are included. keywords: academic libraries; canada; diversity statements; employment equity; inclusion; job advertisements; qualitative content analysis publication type: research article introduction iversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) are generally regarded as accepted core professional values in librarianship with leading library associations indicating their commitment to dei in their mission statements and strategic priorities, including the american library association (ala) and its affiliates (american library association, 2020). the association of research libraries (arl), another important library and information science (lis) organization in north america, endeavors to “create diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible work environments, services, and collections” (2020, para. 4) as part of their strategic priorities. when discussing dei topics, it is important to start with an understanding of the three concepts, as definitions of these concepts are often absent from the literature. the ala (2017) defines and distinguishes the concepts of equity, diversity, and inclusion: “equity” takes difference into account to ensure a fair process and, ultimately, a fair outcome. equity recognizes that some groups were (and are) disadvantaged in accessing educational and employment opportunities and are, therefore, underrepresented or marginalized in many organizations and institutions. equity, therefore, means increasing diversity by ameliorating conditions of disadvantaged groups. d https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 “diversity” can be defined as the sum of the ways that people are both alike and different. when we recognize, value, and embrace diversity, we are recognizing, valuing, and embracing the uniqueness of each individual. “inclusion” means an environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully; are valued for their distinctive skills, experiences, and perspectives; have equal access to resources and opportunities; and can contribute fully to the organization’s success.” (ala, 2017) the three concepts are intricately linked. ala’s definition places equity at the forefront, followed by diversity and then inclusion, while other works address diversity first, then equity, and inclusion. jones (1999) notes the usefulness of using a broad and inclusive definition of “diversity” to “introduc[e] to and rall[y] support for the concept” (p. 8) as everyone can identify with personal characteristics which make them unique. however, it is vital that the concept of “equity” is also included in diversity and inclusion discussions given that “considering individual and group equity means understanding and working affirmatively to amend historical and present misrepresentation” (jones, 1999, p. 8). improving equity contributes to full and meaningful participation in the workplace. in other words, inclusion cannot exist without first acknowledging differences and addressing inequities. despite these commitments to diversity and inclusion, it is well known that the lis profession in north america is largely homogeneous along racial and ethnic lines with 82% of librarians reported as white, non-hispanic from u.s.-based arl libraries (schonfeld & sweeney, 2017) compared to 85.5% of library professionals in u.s.-based arl libraries identified as white people (chang, 2013). as such, libraries have engaged in various efforts to recruit a more diverse library workforce along racial and ethnic representations, including diversity initiatives, internship, and scholarship programs (dewey & keally, 2008), library residency programs (pickens & coren, 2017) and the use of anti-racist hiring practices (brook et al., 2015). much of this literature addresses the recruitment of historically underrepresented racial and ethnic in the u.s. but it is equally important to consider the multiple dimensions of diversity beyond traditional categories of race and ethnicity, including gender identity, sexual identity, physical and mental ability, and indigeneity as part of the recruitment process. although many organizations strive to build an inclusive work environment, a truly inclusive organization develops over time, with effort and intentionality. gardenswartz and rowe (2010) developed a four-stage paradigm to explain the process of diversity and inclusion in an organization: 1) equal employment opportunity (eeo) and affirmative action (aa), 2) valuing differences, 3) managing diversity, and 4) inclusion (pg. 451). at the eeo and aa stage, an organization focuses on legal compliance and changing organizational demographics (also known as a quantitative approach). at stage 2 – valuing differences, organizations approach diversity beyond compliance and focus on creating an environment in which employees feel valued and accepted for their differences. at stage 3 – managing diversity, organizations actively build a diverse workplace and leverage employee differences to achieve organizational goals and stage 4 inclusion, a truly inclusive organization incorporates all previous stages, but real change in organizational cultures occurs and employees are treated with respect and feel a sense of belonging. many organizations, including libraries, aspire to achieve a stage 4 inclusive work environment as part of their diversity management goals. while the gardenswartz and rowe (2010) paradigm 153 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 stresses that diversity and inclusion goes beyond the eeo and aa categories, the authors also posit that the “intent of embracing diversity is not to replace affirmative action but to build on the critical foundation laid by workplace equity programs. affirmative action, valuing differences, managing diversity, and inclusion go hand-in-hand, each reinforcing the gains of the other” (p. 450). diversity management then focuses on the best ways to manage and leverage differences in the workplace, and often involve the implementation of specific actions and strategies to build a diverse and inclusive workplace, including recruiting diverse talent. the diversity statement is one example of a diversity management tool used by many organizations. these philosophical statements signal an organization’s culture, values, and commitment to diversity and inclusion and are often found on job advertisements. according to mestre (2011) these statements: sometimes originate from a mission statement. it may be included to supplement a mission statement by articulating a commitment to diversity. it may be a working definition or statement to use as one goes about trying to accomplish the initiatives related to diversity. its intention may be to keep diversity at the forefront and may include goals. one value is that it lets the public know why the library values … diversity (p. 105). carnes et al. (2019) describe the characteristics of effective institutional diversity statements: aspirational and not implying that diversity goals are already met, “emphasiz[ing] personal autonomy to promot[ing] diversity,” defin[ing] diversity broadly and using “multicultural messages rather than colorblind statements” (p. 23). in other words, effective diversity statements reflect gardenswartz and rowe’s (2010) stage 4 inclusion characteristics which move beyond compliance and include various dimensions of diversity beyond the traditional racial and ethnic categories. diversity statements are vital to an organization’s perceived attractiveness in a globalized world and are impactful. research suggests that organizations with strong diversity statements may deter racially intolerant individuals from applying to jobs as well as influence ethnic minorities application decisions (brown et al., 2006). diversity statements, whether on an organization’s website or included in the job advertisement, are influential. they tell stories of how an organization perceives itself or how it wants to be perceived, but the diversity statement could potentially provide clues as to which stage of diversity and inclusion an organization currently occupies. employment equity and the canadian context as discussed previously, eeo and aa compliance is the first stage of building and becoming an inclusive organization. in canada, there are legal protections from discrimination, namely through the canadian charter of rights and freedoms. in recognition that certain groups experience exclusion, inequality, discrimination, lack of access, and opportunities to employment, the canadian government introduced the employment equity act to correct these conditions and disadvantages (employment equity act, sc (1995), c. 44)). canada’s employment equity act applies the term “aboriginal peoples” to refer to indigenous peoples, including the métis (persons of mixed indigenous and european heritage), and inuit. this article uses the more inclusive term “indigenous peoples” to refer to the canadian government’s use of the term aboriginal in the context of employment equity. the act also uses the term “visible minorities” 154 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 for racialized persons who are non-indigenous, who are non-caucasian in race or non-white in color. employers wishing to conduct business with the canadian government are required to implement employment equity plans and policies to identify and eliminate employment barriers faced by the four designated groups: women, aboriginal peoples (indigenous, inuit or métis), persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities (employment equity act, sc (1995)). the four official designated employment equity-seeking groups do not include gender identity (outside of the binary male/female categories) or sexual orientation, though those from the lgbtq+ community arguably face similar forms of employment barriers. these employment equity requirements apply to canadian colleges and universities under the federal contractors program (fcp). contractors are required to: a) collect workforce information; b) complete a workforce analysis and an achievement report; c) establish short-term and long-term numerical goals; and d) make reasonable efforts to ensure that reasonable progress is made towards having full representation of the four designated groups within its workforce. (employment and social development canada, 2015) one critique of the fcp is that it does not indicate or specify what these “reasonable efforts” are or look like to ensure the full representation of these equity-seeking groups. as a result, many organizations have full control over the interpretation of how they will fulfill this requirement. although the employment equity act and the fcp does not explicitly state a requirement to have job advertisements include equal opportunity/diversity statements in their postings, this appears to be an accepted practice as many canadian job advertisements include such statements. but most organizations aspire to move beyond a stage 1 compliance model of diversity to a stage 4 inclusive organization. how is this reflected in job advertisements? do diversity statements provide a clue as to how inclusive an organization truly is? do these statements move beyond the simple message of “we are an equal opportunity employer”? dali and caidi (2017) advocate for the concept of “diversity by design” (dbd)—intentional integration of diversity from the beginning rather than an afterthought into all aspects of lis, including the workforce. using this concept, if we are to hire a diverse library workforce it is therefore important to examine the diversity messages included in all aspects of the recruitment stage. this study aims to explore the diversity statements embedded in job advertisements for academic librarian positions at canadian universities, and the possible messages and themes conveyed about the institution’s level of diversity and inclusion commitment and management. potential future studies are also addressed. literature review various business studies explore the perception of organizational attractiveness based on diversity statements with some mixed results as outlined extensively in smith et al. (2004). most of these studies suggest that ethnic minorities are attracted to organizations with diversity 155 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 statements (williams & bauer,1994; rau & hyland, 2003) or affirmative action statements (smith et al., 2004). williams and bauer (1994) conducted an experiment in which students were presented with one of two brochures for a fictional company: one with the standard “company x is an employment equity/affirmative action (aa) employer” phrasing only at the end of the text and the second brochure which included the standard phrasing from the first brochure plus an expanded statement proactively including the company’s commitment to respecting individuals and equal access for women, minority groups, people with disabilities and veterans. regardless of race and gender, students who read the second statement—expanded statement around commitment to diversity—rated the company more attractive. interestingly, minority groups favored the company more than majority (white) groups regardless of which statement they read, suggesting the importance of any type of diversity statements to minorities. while much of the research on diversity statements look at ethnic and minority demographics, there are different dimensions of diversity beyond these characteristics. for instance, research on gender diversity statements is also common, but these studies tend to focus on binary notions of gender (male/female) and job attractiveness to women (windscheid et al., 2016), and not necessarily on transgendered or other gender identities. most studies on organizational diversity statements focus on the company’s website rather than job advertisements. of note is rubaii-barrett and wise’s (2007) work which examined equal employment opportunity (eeo) statements on the websites of state government human resource (hr) agencies in the u.s. they examined the language of eeo statements to see whether they went “beyond the boilerplate phrasing,” but they also looked at diversity messages reflected in both text (online mission statements) and visual messages (images of diverse workers). the study found that the majority of american hr state websites only included the required standard phrasing around being an “equal opportunity employer” or “aa” statements. point and singh (2003) studied the diversity statements of various european corporate websites to develop diversity dimension categories beyond the typical demographics, or “visible differences,” including geographic differences, opinions/beliefs/orientations, social status, education/person/educational background, and so on (p.757). expanding on gardenswartz and rowe’s (1993) original three-stage model, singh and point (2004) then studied the diversity statements of 241 european companies to develop a model of different stages of diversity, or “diversity management”, in these organizations: a) rejecting difference: the diversity is a non-issue/invisible approach b) protecting difference: avoiding discrimination approach c) assimilating difference: the equal opportunities management approach d) respecting difference: the respect and capabilities approach e) valuing difference: the valuing individuals and diversity approach f) strategic diversity management: the diversity management for competitive advantage approach. (singh & point, 2004, p. 307) ideally, an organization would move beyond a model of diversity management where differences are rejected to one where differences are valued, there is strategic use of diversity in all 156 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 functions, and the work environment is inclusive. rubaii-barrett and wise (2007) applied singh and point’s (2004) six-category model to develop their own scheme to analyze the frequency of diversity-related messages found in u.s. government state mission statements on hr websites. the categories they developed were: a) no mention of diversity b) compliance, non-discrimination c) diversity with no reason d) representative bureaucracy justification e) valuing and respecting difference f) strategic benefits of diversity g) no mission statement on website. rubaii-barrett and wise’s study found that “when diversity is mentioned in the mission, it is most commonly stated as a value without any explanation of why it is important, or it is presented in terms of the agency’s respect for individual differences” (2007, p. 28). therefore, ideally, diversity statements will include this as a value to the organization. often there is the anecdotal perception that many job advertisements have boilerplate or generic statements about diversity to the effect of “company x is an equal opportunity employer” or “women/minorities are encouraged to apply,”, which reflects a compliance or legalistic model of diversity. these standardized statements appear perfunctory and, often this leads applicants to doubt the veracity of the employer’s commitment to diversity. in a new zealand study, mcnab and johnston (2002) explored gender differences in the rating of an organization’s attractiveness based on three types of eeo statement provided in a job advertisement: 1) no eeo statement, 2) minimal eeo statement, and 3) extensive eeo statement. the study found that women rated organizations with extensive eeo statements more favorably, while men rated organizations with minimal eeo statements more favorable. this study, however, did not explore perception by race or ethnicity (all participants were white) or other dimensions of diversity, such as disability, gender identity or sexual identity. rubaii-barrett and wise (2007) also examined the equal employer opportunity (eeo) statements and developed a classification model for these statements: a) standard eeo/affirmative action (aa) compliance statements b) standard eeo/aa plus americans with disabilities act (ada) compliance statements c) extensive eeo/aa/ada plus support for diversity statements d) no eeo statement on agency website (p. 31) while neither of these models fit perfectly to the context of this study, elements from point and singh’s (2003) diversity dimension categories and rubaii-barrett and wise (2007) eeo statement 157 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 classification model informed parts of the design and analysis of this current study. whereas rubaii-barrett and wise’s (2007) research focused on u.s. state agencies, point and singh’s (2003) work focused on european organizations, there were no studies found which examined the canadian context. nonetheless, there are significant differences in the history and development of approaches to dei in canada compared to the u.s. and europe. despite the amount of relevant research around diversity statements, organizations, and job advertisements produced in the area of organizational studies, the current library literature does not explore diversity statements in library job advertisements. mestre (2011) analyzed the visibility of diversity efforts on 107 arl library websites and found that 37% of arl libraries had diversity concepts embedded in their strategic plan and 27% had the concept included in a values statement (p. 104). mestre’s (2011) study only explored the visibility of diversity messages on the websites of arl libraries but did not examine the statements found in job advertisements. more recently, clifton (2019) examined the diversity statements of university libraries at schools with an ala-accredited lis program to understand the themes coded in these statements. clifton (2019) identified “reasons for diversity” and “categories of diversity” as the most common themes found in these academic library diversity statements (p. 18-19). further themes explored include the “library as” a provider of opportunity for diversity and the library as acting upon diversity (p. 21). other studies (okamoto & polger, 2012; ndwandwe & onyancha, 2011; croneis & henderson, 2002) analyzed library job advertisements for specific skills or competencies advertised, but none examined diversity statements in the library context. this study will attempt to fill the gap in the library literature by exploring the use of diversity statements and messages in a sample of advertisements for academic librarian positions in canada. purpose and research questions (rqs) given the lack of research on the diversity statements contained in job advertisements within the lis literature, the purpose of this exploratory study is to gain an understanding of academic librarian job advertisements from canadian universities and their diversity statements. research objectives are to: a) gain insights into the prevalence of diversity statements in job advertisements; b) develop a typology or model of diversity statements contained in job advertisements for future study; c) understand the level of diversity and inclusion built into these job advertisements; and d) identify and make recommendations of particular areas and themes for further studies the following four research questions posed here address these research objectives: rq1. how many job advertisements have diversity statements? rq2. are there differences between association of research libraries (arl) libraries and non-arl libraries? rq3. what types of diversity statements are presented? 158 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 rq4. do diversity statements go beyond the basic statement around equal employer opportunity phrases? method this exploratory study provides a content analysis of a small sample of canadian academic librarian and archivist positions advertised on the university of toronto faculty of information jobsite from january 1 to december 31, 2018. while other websites (such as the western university faculty of information and media studies) also post librarian positions, they do not provide an archive of job postings and therefore were not used as a source of sampling. the job advertisements analyzed were limited to full-time (permanent or contract) librarian or archivist positions advertised in canadian universities and posted on the website for the year beginning january 2018. part-time positions were excluded as these advertisements were thought to be less detailed than full-time positions. senior library administrative positions, such as associate university librarians or dean/associate deans of libraries positions, were also excluded from the sample as it was felt that these types of searches warranted different and specialized recruitment treatment than non-administrative positions. advertisements written in english, as well as bilingual english and french advertisements, were included; there were two bilingual advertisements, although only the english-language portion was analyzed. although canada is a bilingual country (french and english), the researcher is not and therefore only english advertisements are reviewed. as a result of the selection criteria, a final total of 50 job advertisements were selected for analysis. multiple job advertisements from the same institution were included to allow for possible variations in diversity statements over the course of the year and potential differences in diversity statements across different library branches, library administrations, or campuses from the same institution. this study used mestre’s (2011) general definition of diversity statements as a “philosophical statement,” that is, messages conveyed by the organization and signaling its commitment to dei through various wording, in its recruiting process and/or institutional culture and value. nvivo, a qualitative analysis software, was used to capture and organize the online job advertisements and to easily and quickly code and aid in the analysis and retrieval of the data. it is important to understand the limitations and challenges of using qualitative analysis software. the researcher acknowledges some of the challenges and disadvantages to using computer software for analysis, namely the tendency to focus on the quantity of data rather than meaning and the overreliance on the software to do the analysis (st. john & johnson, 2000; zamawe, 2015). as this study only used a small sample of 50 advertisements this was not perceived as a relevant issue and the author was able to gather context and meaning from each sample data. the researcher also printed copies and reviewed all 50 advertisements outside of the software. the time investment to learn the software is an equally important factor to consider when choosing software. in anticipation of using a larger sample of data in future studies beyond this exploratory study, the researcher attended a two-day training workshop (using computers in qualitative analysis: an nvivo 12 for windows workshop) to learn the software and workshopped this topic during the training. the ability to test out and work on this research topic while learning the software was helpful in shaping the research study. the researcher’s institution also provided a group license discount for the software application and as such, affordability and software support were factors in the choice of application. 159 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 research notes and memos were also created in nvivo to keep track of observations, questions and possible avenues to explore further. the sample of 50 job advertisements was entered as cases in nvivo and then classified. first, each case of a job advertisement was classified according to geography, organizational type in terms of arl vs non-arl, presence of diversity statement, and location of diversity statement (see table 1) to explore rq1 and rq2. manifest content (“elements that are physically present and countable” (gray & densten, 1998, p. 420) was analyzed for rq1 and to easily identify and count the number of job advertisements with diversity statements. at the time of data collection, there were 13 canadian academic libraries that were members of the arl. table 1. organization case classification case classification description examples geography province of institution ontario, quebec organization type arl or non-arl status arl diversity statement presence of a diversity statement yes, no location of diversity statement where the diversity statement was found in the job advertisement beginning, middle, end, not applicable while diversity statements on an organization’s website and in their strategic documents are often easy to locate and identify because labeling and wording such as “diversity statement”, “valuing diversity” or “diversity and inclusion” usually indicate that one is reading a diversity statement, locating the diversity statement within the job advertisement requires more effort and consistency. before one can code for the presence of diversity statements, an understanding of what a diversity statement “looks” like needs to be developed. the author based the identification of a diversity statement on whether indicator words of the main diversity concepts were present and written in the context of a mission, value, priorities, or program. table 2 lists indicator words for each major diversity concept used to systematically identify potential elements of a diversity statement. table 2. markers of a diversity statement concepts indicator words diversity diversity, diverse, diversification, inclusion, inclusive, equity, equitable, employment equity employment equity, equal opportunity, underrepresented, marginalized, affirmative action, aa, ee women women, gendered 160 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 indigenous people indigenous, aboriginal, metis, inuit, first nations, [specific indigenous peoples] people with disabilities people with disabilities, persons with disabilities, disability, disabled visible minorities visible minorities, racialized, black, minority, persons of colour sexual identity sexual identity, lgbtq, 2slgbtq,1 sexual orientation, sexual minority, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer gender identity gender identity, non-binary, gender, non-conforming, transgender, gender minority diversity diversity, diverse, diversification, inclusion, inclusive, equity, equitable, next, content analysis was used to address rq2, rq3, and rq4. after the diversity statement was identified for each job advertisement, each statement was examined for content and then analyzed to determine the level of detail and complexity. the following guiding questions were asked while looking at the data: 1. does the diversity statement go beyond the standard boilerplate “we are an equal opportunity employer” statement? 2. does the diversity statement explicitly list each of the four employment equity (ee) designated groups (regardless of wording)? which groups are listed? 3. are there other groups, communities, or identities listed outside the four ee designated groups? what are they? what terms or phrases are used? 4. are there other diversity-related words or phrases listed in the statement? 5. is there other diversity-related information elsewhere in the job advertisement? nvivo was used to search the text of all job advertisements for word occurrences related to the concept of diversity and the four ee groups, such as “diverse”, “diversity”, “equity”, “inclusion”; “women”, “gender”; “aboriginal”, “indigenous”, “metis”, “inuit”; and “visible minorities”, “racialized”, to help identify the diversity statement (see table 2). latent content analysis (deep analysis to interpret meaning behind the text) was used to help answer rq3 and rq4. through an iterative process emerging patterns and themes from the text of diversity statements were coded and a diversity statement typology was developed to help classify the types of diversity statements presented in the sample. point and singh’s (2003) diversity dimensions (geography, visible differences, opinions/beliefs, social status, education, and “other”) were also considered when coding themes beyond the four ee designated groups. a constant comparative method was used to systematically ensure the data was consistently categorized. 161 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 once a typology of diversity statements was drafted, these were tested on a small sample of job advertisements and then further developed. this was repeated a number of times to improve and finalize the four-category diversity statement typology model (see table 5). during the development of the diversity statement typologies there were two notable cases which did not fall neatly into the four proposed categories. while one sample advertisement did not explicitly list the specific four designated employment equity groups chosen by the author but instead referred to “traditionally underrepresented groups”, it was still coded as a t4 type because it included other markers of expanded diversity management, such as a land acknowledgement and the diversification of ideas. the second interesting case to categorize was the somewhat unique indigenous services librarian posting at one institution. while there was a general diversity statement, which included an indigenous land acknowledgement, the nature of the position (hiring an indigenous person) did not allow for the listing of the other three designated equity seeking groups (i.e., women, people with disabilities, and visible minorities). however, given the other indicators of an expanded diversity statement, this was also classified as a t4 statement. all 50 job advertisements were then coded in nvivo by diversity statement type and then rechecked for coding consistency. results rq1: how many library job advertisements sampled have diversity statements? a count of the presence of diversity statements in the sample job advertisements are presented in table 3. the findings revealed that almost all, 48 (96%), of the initial 50 sampled job advertisements included diversity statements. only 4% (n=2) of the job advertisements sampled did not include any indicators of a diversity statement (i.e., lacking any reference to ee, diversity and inclusion, or specific ee groups). table 3. diversity statement counts diversity statement number (n=50) yes 48 (96%) no 2 (4%) rq2 are there differences between association of research libraries (arl) libraries and nonarl libraries? rq2 examined the presence of diversity statements by organizational type (i.e., arl libraries vs non-arl libraries). while all 29 (100%) arl member libraries’ job postings included diversity statements in some form (see table 4), the two job advertisements lacking identifiable diversity statements or messages were not from arl member libraries. the results indicate that 9.52% of non-arl libraries lacked any presence of a diversity statement in their job advertisements from the initial sample of 50 job advertisements selected. in this regard, there were considerable differences between arl and non-arl libraries and the presence of diversity statements. 162 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 table 4. diversity statement count by organizational type diversity statement arl library (n=29) non-arl library (n=21) no 0 (0 %) 2 (9.5%) yes 29 (100%) 19 (90.5%) rq3 what types of diversity statements are presented? next, rq3 analyzed the remaining job advertisements with diversity statements (n=48) for patterns. based on this content analysis, a four-category typology of diversity statements was developed: typology 1 (t1) boilerplate; typology 2 (t2) employment equity; typology 3 (t3) diversity; an typology 4 (t4) expanded diversity management. table 5, below, provides the name of each typology category, its description, and a representative statement from one of the job advertisements sampled. each unique feature of the diversity statement for that level category or typology is highlighted in bold to illustrate why the sample was coded in that manner. further details about these typologies are provided in the discussion section. table 5. diversity statement typology typology description sample statement t1 boilerplate general blanket statement about diversity or equity only. “we are an equal opportunity employer” t2 employment equity (ee) statement invites applications from the four ee groups (women, indigenous peoples, visible minorities and people with disabilities) only “the university of x is an equal opportunity employer. we strongly encourage applications from women, aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities.” t3 diversity invites applications from all named four ee groups plus other identity groups “x is actively committed to diversity and the principles of employment equity and invites applications from all qualified candidates. women, aboriginal peoples, members of visible minorities, people with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (lgbtq) persons are encouraged to apply and to voluntarily self-identify as a member of a designated group as part of their application”. 163 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 t4 expanded diversity invites applications from four ee groups, plus other social groups, and welcomes other forms of diversification beyond personal or demographic characteristics. “integral to this path is the placement of equity, diversity and inclusion as fundamental to our institutional culture. our current academic plan outlines each as core values and we work to embed them in all that we do. x university welcomes those who have demonstrated a commitment to upholding the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion and will assist us to expand our capacity for diversity in the broadest sense. in addition, to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment in canada, we encourage applications from members of groups that have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including first nations, metis and inuit peoples, indigenous peoples of north america, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, and those who identify as women and/or 2s lgbtq+” rq4 do diversity statements go beyond the basic statement around equal employer opportunity phrase? table 6. diversity statement count by typology and organizational type diversity statement type arl library (n=29) non-arl library (n=19) t1 boilerplate 2 (6.9%) 2 (10.5%) t2 employment equity 2 (6.9%) 2 (10.5%) t3 diversity 3 (10.3%) 6 (31.6%) t4 extended diversity 22 (75.9%) 9 (47.4%) table 6 provides a breakdown of diversity statements by type and organizational type. there were four job advertisements classified as t1 boilerplate diversity statements: two from arl institutions (6.9%) and two (10.52%) from non-arl member institutions. the same pattern emerges with t2 employment equity category diversity statements: two were from arl 164 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 institutions (6.9%) and two (10.52%) from non-arl member institutions. t3 diversity statements were the second largest category of diversity statement identified: 10.34% from arl libraries and 31.5% from non-arl libraries. however, the vast majority of arl libraries (22 out of 29; 75.86%) displayed t4 expanded diversity statements compared to non-arl libraries (9 out of 19; 47.37%); this aligns with arl’s stated strategic priority on advancing diversity in libraries. however, as presented in figure 1, there is a substantial gap (28.49 points) between the percentage of t4 expanded diversity statements from arl and non-arl libraries. overall, the results indicated that, contrary to anecdotal evidence, most diversity statements were detailed and complex and moved beyond the boilerplate or vague (t1) statements across both arl and non-arl libraries (see figure 1). figure 1. distribution of diversity statements by library type (%) discussion this exploratory study investigated the presence and nature of diversity statements of job advertisements for canadian academic librarian and archivist positions. results suggest that most canadian academic libraries in the sample studied (96%) provide some form of a diversity statement in their job advertisements. the sentiment that most job advertisements are apt to use the boilerplate statement “we are an equal opportunity employer” appears to be purely anecdotal from this study because almost 92% (n=44) of diversity statements studied were from the t2, t3 and t4 categories combined, beyond the standard equal opportunity employer blanket statement. this might suggest the level of thought and commitment in signaling the importance of diversity and inclusion at these canadian academic libraries. dei are stated priorities and values of many lis associations and organizations. notably, the arl has invested much time, effort, and resources toward the initiatives to improve the representation of historically disadvantaged groups. for this reason, the comparison between statements from arl libraries vs non-arl libraries was included. results suggest that canadian arl libraries have more diversity/expanded diversity (t3 or t4) statements than their non-arl counterparts. is this a sign that arl libraries are more progressive? more detailed research 6 .9 6 .9 1 0 .3 4 7 5 .8 6 1 0 .5 2 1 0 .5 2 3 1 .5 9 4 7 .3 7 t 1 b o i l e r p l a t e t 2 e m p l o y m e n t e q u i t y t 3 d i v e r s i t y t 4 e x p a n d e d d i v e r s i t y d i st r i b u t i o n o f d i v e rs i t y stat e m e n t s by l i b r a ry t y p e ( % ) arl libraries non-arl libraries 165 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 exploring the non-arl libraries may shed further light as to why these types of libraries had so few t4 diversity statements. what is unknown is whether or not this is a result of the propensity for large research libraries to be located in larger, metropolitan areas with more diverse populations and acceptance of diversity or if this is a strong indicator of arl’s influence in building a diverse library force. what about the institutions which did use boilerplate statements? further analysis could explore results by the type of library, location (urban/metropolitan versus rural/suburban) by province and other organizational types (e.g., public libraries, college libraries) and so forth. beyond race and ethnicity looking at the analyzed diversity statements, it is heartening to see some evolution in their content beyond the expected blanket boilerplate statements and the signs that we are moving beyond the employment equity model to a more diverse and even inclusive message. diversity statements under the employment equity model traditionally looked at the four designated groups underrepresented or disadvantaged in the canadian workplace, namely, women, racialized groups, people with disabilities, and indigenous peoples. however, there were a number of advertisements examined which included statements welcoming lgbtq+ identities (“gender identity”, “sexual orientation”) in addition to the four traditionally legally protected groups in canada. this marks a shift away from a compliance model of equity (t2) to a diversity type model which includes other groups and identities beyond legal requirements (t3 and t4). a content analysis of lgbtq+ categories (both usage of the term lgbtq+ more broadly, but also the specific identities within the lgbtq+ community) within the job advertisement as well as the corresponding language would make for a fascinating study given the growing trend to include these groups in recruitment efforts. in particular, the canadian government’s traditional category of “woman” as part of the employment equity (ee)/affirmative action (aa) plan does not address gender diversity (such as transgender, gender non-conforming applicants). how is gender diversity or gender-based equality expressed in diversity statements for these job advertisements? given that librarianship is a feminized profession with predominantly “women” or cisgender female librarians, often aa plans do not apply to those who self-identify as “women” as there is an over-representation of “women”. what are the implications for transgender women applicants for academic librarian positions? exploring the language of gender-based diversity as an additional category beyond the traditional four ee-seeking groups (see table 2 employment equity) is one potential area to explore further. while the diversity statement was the focus of this study, the author often observed the presence of accessibility statements within job advertisements; some within the diversity statement about valuing diversity, while others were listed separately and often immediately after the diversity statement. these accessibility statements varied in length and depth. as many canadian provinces have accessibility legislation to remove barriers for persons with disabilities, and people with disabilities is an ee category, it would be worthwhile to examine these accessibility statements in greater detail. of equal note is the trend of having values-based diversity signified in advertisements with phrases such as “diversification of ideas” or “diversity of ideas” listed in the job advertisements, signaling an organization’s willingness to hire candidates who “think outside the box” especially “those who see the world differently, seek change, have a critical eye, and not only notice things that require attention but also dare name these things out loud; those who push the envelope and disrupt the established order; or simply those who stand out” (dali, 2018, p. 2). 166 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 another promising theme noted in this study was the integration of indigenous (first nation, metis, and inuit) land acknowledgement statements in the general job advertisement, but in some cases in the diversity statement itself. for example, “x university acknowledges that it sits on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the x” and “x university is located on the traditional territories of the…”. with canada’s truth and reconciliation commission of canada report (2015) and its calls to action to remedy the past injustices and the legacy of colonialism on canada’s first nations, acknowledging indigenous people’s kinship to the land have become part of the reconciliation process. clifton’s 2019 study of academic library diversity statements at ala-accredited lis schools noted that few diversity statements acknowledged “past discrimination/exclusion, and [that] the statements that were acknowledging, they varied in levels of specificity” (p. 21). this is another possible area of further research. future studies exploring the nature of these land acknowledgement statements in job advertisements across geography (i.e., provinces), their wording and messages, relationships to other elements found in diversity statements, as well as studies of the development of these statements over time would be useful to assess reconciliation in action. limitations this research study was exploratory in nature given the lack of literature about diversity statements in job advertisements in lis. as an exploratory study, there were several limitations to this work; it had a small corpus of job advertisements at canadian universities and covered a short time frame period of a year. although there were established criteria for the selection of advertisements, there is the potential for selection bias as only the author selected the advertisements. future studies would benefit from multiple coders to avoid selection biases in analysis. although colleges are also covered under the federal contractor program, they were not included in this study. given the exploratory nature of this study, further areas of study might include a larger corpus of job advertisements over a longer period of time, the inclusion of colleges, but also looking at the ee reports for each institution in tandem with this study. real organizational change often comes from the leaders within an organization. future studies which specifically examine the specialized job advertisements for senior library administrators will add another dimension to the study of diversity statements in lis. another weakness is that the role of academic libraries in developing the job advertisement diversity statements is unknown from the samples studied. recognizing that the larger university or institution undoubtedly plays a great role in developing the diversity statements for most, if not all, of the institution’s job advertisements, including librarian positions, it is unclear how autonomous library search committees are in developing their own job advertisements and diversity statements. although not a focus of this paper, general statements about the library (e.g., mission or vision) and specific librarian/archivist qualifications and desired traits were also examined to see if they included messages around dei, but very few included diversity messages. although libraries may not have full control of the job advertisement diversity statements, preliminary findings suggest that they do exercise some agency in designing the library statement (mission, vision) and qualifications/job traits portion of the postings. as mentioned previously, one particular advertisement for an indigenous services librarian position had diversity messages stated in the job advertisement and required the successful candidate to have some experience working with the indigenous community as part of the required qualification. what would happen if all academic librarian positions supported their institutional diversity statements by including 167 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 dei as part of the required qualifications? the “diversity by design” framework would integrate diversity throughout the entire job advertisement, aside from the diversity statement which were found predominantly at the end of the job ad in this study. if libraries were to require candidates to demonstrate their experience working in a diverse and inclusive environment or demonstrate their commitment to dei in the workplace this would send a strong and positive signal to prospective applicants. a practical approach may be for applicants to include a diversity and inclusion statement as to how they will advance diversity and inclusion in their work as part of the application package; this is an emerging practice in faculty searches (schmaling et al., 2015). organizational change is dependent on who leads. this study excluded senior library administrative positions in its analysis, but given the important role that leaders play to drive change, it would be worthwhile to study the diversity statements and expectations for these positions. senior library administrators, human resources staff, and search committee members in academic libraries have the opportunity to be leaders in their institution by moving beyond the diversity statement to develop and integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion practices at every stage of hiring and employment if they truly desire an inclusive work environment. further studies examining the job qualifications itself for diversity messages would be beneficial and could potentially result in the expansion of the four typologies of diversity statements developed from this study, which looked at diversity statements predominantly at the end of job advertisements. conclusion the objectives of this study were met; namely, to gain insights into the prevalence of diversity statements in job advertisements; develop a typology or model of diversity statements contained in job advertisements for future study; understand the level of diversity and inclusion built into these job advertisements; and identify and make recommendations of particular areas and themes for further studies. the focus of this study was to explore whether organizations went beyond the traditional ee categories (i.e., stage 1 of a diversity and inclusion organizational model) within the diversity statements. the results confirm the prevalence of diversity statements in job advertisements for canadian academic librarian and archivist positions. from the sample studied, the researcher proposed a four-stage diversity statement typology: t1 boilerplate, t2 employment equity, t3 diversity, and t4 expanded diversity, with each stage a progression from the previous stage. other models of diversity statements discussed in the literature review (such as rubaii-barrett& wise, 2007; point & singh, 2003) applied to organizations’ websites and other documents and are not useful for analyzing and classifying diversity statements within job advertisements. this exploratory research is unique in lis literature and contributes to the general scholarly literature in the development of a diversity statement typology for canadian job advertisements which may be applied to future studies both within and external to academic libraries and lis broadly. insights from this study are practical and are useful for future studies. recommendations for future studies are included throughout the discussion and limitations sections. the concepts of diversity and inclusion are often confused or used interchangeably; yet nuances exist among these two concepts. activist deray mcesson stated: “diversity is about bodies. inclusion is about culture” (delistraty, 2017, para. 21). the t4 category was initially designated as “inclusion”, however, upon further reflection of the definition of “inclusion”, especially based 168 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 on the previously mentioned ala definition, this final category was renamed “expanded diversity management”. real inclusion can rarely be demonstrated in library advertisements, but instead occurs in the workplace environment once the candidate is hired (after the bodies are in place). inclusion occurs when diversity is integrated into the organization and the organization “sees itself as part of a global community and works to enhance life for employees, customers, the community, and the world” (gardenswartz & rowe, 2010, p.451). the diversity typologies developed from this study are merely suggested categories to use to analyze the diversity messages in librarian and archivist job advertisements. a diversity paradigm aims to recruit for equity seeking groups (visible minorities, people with disabilities, women, and indigenous peoples) and other social identity groups (e.g., lgbtq+ citizens and immigrants). inclusive organizations, however, move beyond hiring for bodies to intentionally recruit for values-based diversity; provide land acknowledgements; list employee resources such as daycare and health and wellness facilities, and incorporate other elements which recognize the whole employee (the whole self). but most importantly, these organizations intentionally integrate dei seamlessly into the organization’s culture and decision-making process on a daily basis. the diversity challenge will not be solved by hiring x number of underrepresented librarians (be it women, visible minorities, indigenous people, or people with disabilities), but this is a first step in the diversity continuum in organizations, including libraries. endnote 1 the acronym 2slgbtq+ stands for two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, “plus” other sexual identities. acknowledgements i would like to thank stella park at york university’s institute for social research for guidance and support in using nvivo and thinking through the research questions. i would also like to thank keren dali for reading an earlier draft of the paper and for her invaluable feedback, encouragement, and suggestions. funding sources: this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. references american library association. (2006, july 26). core values of librarianship. advocacy, legislation & issues. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/corevalues 169 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/corevalues an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 american library association. (2017, july 5). equity, diversity, inclusion: an interpretation of the library bill of rights. advocacy, legislation & issues. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/edi american library association. (2020, september 15). ala and affiliate equity, diversity, and inclusion statements. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/ala-and-affiliate%c2%a0equitydiversity-and-inclusion-statements association of research libraries. 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(2013, april). ethnic and racial diversity in academic and research libraries: past, present, and future. in proceedings of the 2013 acrl conference, indianapolis, in. (pp. 182-193). association of college and research libraries. https://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreco nfs/2013/papers/chang_ethnic.pdf clifton, n. m. j. (2019). themes in diversity statements of academic libraries [master’s thesis, university of north carolina at chapel hill]. carolina digital repository. https://doi.org/10.17615/a15s-rc34 croneis, k. s., & henderson, p. (2002a). electronic and digital librarian positions: a content analysis of announcements from 1990 through 2000. the journal of academic librarianship, 28(4), 232–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0099-1333(02)00287-2 dali, k. (2018). “culture fit” as “anti-diversity”: avoiding human resources decisions that disadvantage the brightest. the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi), 2(4). https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v2i4.32199 dali, k., & caidi, n. (2017). diversity by design. the library quarterly, 87(2), 88–98. https://doi.org/10.1086/690735 delistraty, c. 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(2011). job functions and requirements for knowledge managers: lessons for library and information science (lis) schools in south africa. mousaion, 29(2), 211–226. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/5378 okamoto, k., & polger, m. a. (2012). off to market we go: a content analysis of marketing and promotion skills in academic librarian job ads. library leadership & management, 26(2), 1–20. https://academicworks.cuny.edu/jj_pubs/6/ pickens, c., & coren, a. (2017). diversity residency programs: strategies for a collaborative approach to development. collaborative librarianship, 9(2). https://digitalcommons.du.edu/collaborativelibrarianship/vol9/iss2/7 point, s., & singh, v. (2003). defining and dimensionalising diversity: evidence from corporate websites across europe. european management journal, 21(6), 750–761. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2003.09.015 171 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://longreads.com/2017/07/04/building-a-world-of-acceptance-a-conversation-with-deray-mckesson/ https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830810920941 https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/portfolio/labour/programs/employment-equity/federal-contractors.html https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/portfolio/labour/programs/employment-equity/federal-contractors.html https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/portfolio/labour/programs/employment-equity/federal-contractors.html https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/e-5.401/page-1.html#doccont https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/e-5.401/page-1.html#doccont https://doi.org/10.1300/j111v27n01_02 https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530210001706573 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2011.02.001 http://hdl.handle.net/10500/5378 https://academicworks.cuny.edu/jj_pubs/6/ https://digitalcommons.du.edu/collaborativelibrarianship/vol9/iss2/7 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2003.09.015 an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 rau, b. l., & hyland, m. m. (2003). corporate teamwork and diversity statements in college recruitment brochures: effects on attraction. journal of applied social psychology, 33(12), 2465–2492. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2003.tb02776.x rubaii-barrett, n., & wise, l. r. (2007). from want ads to web sites: what diversity messages are state government projecting? review of public personnel administration, 27(1), 21– 38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0734371x06289040 schmaling, k. b., trevino, a. y., lind, j. r., blume, a. w., & baker, d. l. (2015). diversity statements: how faculty applicants address diversity. journal of diversity in higher education, 8(4), 213–224. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038549 schonfeld, r., & sweeney, l. (2017). inclusion, diversity, and equity: members of the association of research libraries: employee demographics and director perspectives. andrew w. mellon foundation and ithaka s+ r. https://sr.ithaka.org/wpcontent/uploads/2017/08/20170830-mellon-sr-report-inclusion-diversity-equityarl.pdf singh, v., & point, s. (2004). strategic responses by european companies to the diversity challenge: an online comparison. long range planning, 37(4), 29–318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2004.05.009 smith, w. j., wokutch, r. e., harrington, k. v., & dennis, b. s. (2004). organizational attractiveness and corporate social orientation: do our values influence our preference for affirmative action and managing diversity? business & society, 43(1), 69–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650304263047 st john, w., & johnson, p. 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(2016). actions speak louder than words: outsiders’ perceptions of diversity mixed messages. journal of applied psychology, 101(9), 1329–1341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000107 zamawe f.c. (2015). the implication of using nvivo software in qualitative data analysis: evidence-based reflections. malawi medical journal, 27(1), 13–15. https://doi.org/10.4314/mmj.v27i1.4 172 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2003.tb02776.x http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0734371x06289040 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0038549 https://sr.ithaka.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/20170830-mellon-sr-report-inclusion-diversity-equity-arl.pdf https://sr.ithaka.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/20170830-mellon-sr-report-inclusion-diversity-equity-arl.pdf https://sr.ithaka.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/20170830-mellon-sr-report-inclusion-diversity-equity-arl.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2004.05.009 https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650304263047 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1547-5069.2000.00393.x https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt19qghck https://ischool.utoronto.ca/job-site/ https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601194193005 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000107 https://doi.org/10.4314/mmj.v27i1.4 an exploratory study of diversity statements the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36202 norda bell (nordam@yorku.ca) is associate librarian at york university libraries. she is subject specialist for social work, human rights and equity studies, and linguistics & applied linguistics. her current research focus is on diversity, equity, and inclusion and professional development within libraries, as well as critical librarianship. she also serves as the book review editor for ijidi. 173 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index introduction employment equity and the canadian context literature review purpose and research questions (rqs) method results discussion beyond race and ethnicity limitations conclusion endnote acknowledgements references book review: indigenous research: theories, practices and relationships the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.35295 ijidi: book review mcgregor, d., restoule, j-p., & johnston, r. (eds.). (2018). indigenous research: theories, practices, and relationships. canadian scholars. isbn 9781773380858. 345 pp. $59.95 cnd. reviewer: stacy allison-cassin, university of toronto, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: indigenous research; research ethics publication type: book review ndigenous research is growing in post-secondary institutions and across numerous other sectors throughout canada. many institutions and organizations are making significant strategic commitments to increase and support indigenous research and indigenous researchers. however, as indigenous research grows, so does the need for those concerned with supporting the research enterprise—especially in post-secondary institutions—to understand the practice of indigenous research. indigenous research, theories, practices, and relationships help to fill this need and is a much needed and vital guide to the varied practices of indigenous research in canada. with a particular focus on first nations researchers and research, it helps to answer such questions as: what is indigenous research? how is indigenous research conducted? and what considerations must be considered when conducting indigenous research? the entire volume is comprised of five parts focused on specific issues in indigenous research practice with research stories or reflections grouped in each section, namely “the research is the process: research journey inside and out,” “making space for indigenous research,” “communities we research with,” “our tools for research,” and “destinations: where research can take us.” each section begins with a short introduction by the editors outlining key broad topic areas and includes “learning and reflection questions” which help guide readers through each section. contributions from three or four indigenous and non-indigenous research collaborators are included in each section across a total of seventeen chapters. each chapter focuses on the practice of research, not the results of research, or even what we might typically expect to understand as the findings of the research. the researchers are primarily centered at universities in the great lakes region and primarily represent first nations research, and research from across the country known as canada, with a heavier concentration in anishinaabe research. representative research methodologies represent both urban indigenous research, such as angela mashford-pringle’s work with the city of toronto’s aboriginal advisory planning table and programs for aboriginal children in toronto, as well as numerous pieces on research with first nations communities, such as lorrilee mcgregor’s chapter on community-based research with anishinaabe first nations. there is representation from several different first nations and each chapter clearly delineates the ways the researcher’s identity is deeply connected to the practice of their research and the methodologies they use. for example, georgina martin, who identifies as a secwepemc woman from williams lake, british columbia on the west coast of canada, delves into research i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index indigenous research the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.35295 methodologies of storytelling and narrative inquiry which are specifically drawn from secwepemc identities. while paige restoule, carly dokis, and benjamin kelly use water as a mechanism for connecting stories and research on water quality. other chapters demonstrate collaborative projects between indigenous and non-indigenous researchers, such as the piece by karen hall and erin cusack on “healing and transformative learning through indigenous methodologies.” each chapter is a personal research story, explaining the author’s personal experience and practice of the research which the editors have chosen as a device to structure this volume as a teaching tool. furthermore, through this structure the editors demonstrate an awareness that readers may be coming to this volume with little experience with the practice of indigenous research and offer these stories as a way to experience the varied practice of indigenous research. this collection of research reflections is primarily aimed at those in post-secondary institutions, but it is equally useful for those in organizations or sectors engaged in or interested in any form of indigenous research, such as readers working in government or in the not-for-profit sector. as stated in the introduction, “despite the interest in indigenous research within the academy, many misperceptions remain, and epistemic violence and dominance continue. this volume lends further support to scholars seeking to justify their use of indigenous research approaches as the academy continues to resist genuine indigenous scholarship” (p. xi). thus, indigenous research is an intervention into a system of research dominated by colonial systems which continuously fail to appropriately recognize indigenous research methodologies. conceptualizing this volume as a teaching tool is essential to understanding the work it does in the context of the indigenous research space. however, it is equally important to understand that despite this, indigenous research is not a “how-to” in the way of a disciplinary or methodological handbook. instead, the focus of this work is on creating an understanding of the varied practices of indigenous research, the explicit need to tie indigenous research to one’s own identity and experience, and to lend validity to the use of indigenous methodologies in academic research. for example, hall and cusack describe their chapter as an “academic journey” and cormier and ray begin with an “origin story about the drum” and continue through their chapter as a narrative. throughout the volume, the stories of indigenous research are clearly organized to interweave the discussion of research journeys with sections detailing choice of methodology for frameworks. for example, cormier and ray use ceremony, and specifically fasting, as a research framework. this work will help readers further reflect on their own learning and understanding of research practices. reading through this book is rather like being able to listen to a talk on the research process with the editors acting in the roles of teacher or guide. indigenous research is thus helpful in the “unlearning” process required to shift mindsets away from the dominant forms of the practice of research in canada by those following colonial methodologies to alternate forms of research. just as indigenous peoples themselves are not homogenous people, and there is no panindigenous worldview or knowledge, a crucial aspect of indigenous research demonstrated through this title is the fact that indigenous research does not follow one path and is not monolithic. moreover, indigenous research should not be viewed as akin to a discipline, such as humanities research, and there isn’t one overarching approach or methodology. indigenous research practices and research are varied and diverse in its aims, scope, and methodologies. the editors have chosen articles which bear the diversity of research practice out and demonstrate the ways worldviews, knowledges, and community context profoundly impact research practice. furthermore, the form of research method and the shape of each research 112 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index indigenous research the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.35295 project is interconnected to the contextual situation of individual nations. unlike colonial research practice which typically promulgates and enshrines the idea of the objectivity and separation of the researcher from the topic under research, one cannot separate indigenous research from the individual. each essay in this volume makes clear the importance of a researcher’s personal responsibility and connection to the research itself. as the subtitle of this volume, “theories, practices, and relationships,” suggests, relationships are an essential component of the practice of indigenous research. kirkness and barnhardt’s “the four rs — respect, relevance, reciprocity, and responsibility” (1991) have become guiding principles for indigenous research and the pieces in this volume bear this out. for example, contributors fellner (“miyo pimatisiwin: (re)claiming voice with our original instructions”) and parent (“research tales with txeemsim (raven, the trickster)”) both discuss the relationship between research and personal stories, while johnson and musayett (“wise indigenous woman approaches to research: navigating and naming jagged ethical tensions and micro-aggressions in the academy”) focus on the tensions between indigenous and non-indigenous relationships in the context of academic research. lorrilee mcgregor (“conducting community-based research in first nation communities”) focuses on the importance of community relationships and the need to respect community decisions when conducting research with indigenous communities. indigenous research cannot be undertaken without careful consideration and respect for the myriad of interconnected relationships. the focus on relationships and responsibilities is tightly connected to the need to be continually mindful of ethical considerations in the practice of indigenous research. for those coming from higher education looking to guide researchers, including student researchers, these considerations are paramount. however, it is essential to move beyond this volume to ensure researchers are encouraged to seek out the necessary pathways to appropriately engage in indigenous research. the volume concludes with an extensive list of indigenous research resources, categorized around topic areas such as “urban populations” or “women and gender” as well as to resources related to the ownership, control, access, and possession (ocap) principles. the volume also includes resources for turtle island: united states and aotearoa: new zealand, such as research offices or community contact points. the editors conclude with an epilogue advocating for indigenous research as a means to support the obligations of the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples (undrip) as well as the calls to action for the truth and reconciliation committee report and for the need to create a more ethical space for research. thus, this volume is only one contribution to a much larger body of resources needed for a strong understanding of the ethical and responsible practice, not only for indigenous research, but research as a whole. this volume would be an excellent resource for those looking to create better understandings of a more holistic approach to research. for readers wishing to gain a greater understanding of indigenous research methods as practised by indigenous peoples in canada, this volume is highly recommended, especially for its clear layout and thoughtful questions and summaries. one criticism of this title is the lack of representation by inuit and métis researchers; however, this one weakness is outweighed by its strengths as a model of indigenous writing and research practice. thus, for those working in academic libraries, it is recommended this title be complimented with other reading in the area of indigenous research to more fully understand the needs of researchers and students. full recognition of the needs and values of indigenous research is essential as institutions and organizations build capacity for indigenous research. 113 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index indigenous research the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.35295 references kirkness, v. j., & barnhardt, r. (1991). first nations and higher education: the four r's — respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility. journal of american indian education, 30(3), 1-15. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24397980 stacy allison-cassin (stacy.allison@utoronto.ca), phd, is a citizen of the métis nation of ontario and assistant professor (teaching stream) at the university of toronto where she teaches in the area of knowledge organization. stacy is currently on leave from her position as an associate librarian at york university where she has worked as a librarian in a variety of roles for over fifteen years. 114 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.jstor.org/stable/24397980 mailto:stacy.allison@utoronto.ca references building welcoming communities: durham libraries engage diversity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39953 ijidi: book review bailey, e., & becher, m. (2022). academic librarian faculty status: clipp #47. association of college & research libraries. isbn 978-0-8389-3664-1. 163 pp. $52 us reviewer: andrew wertheimer, university of hawaiʻi at mānoa, usa book review editors: halie kerns, binghamton university, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: academic librarians, faculty status, promotion, tenure publication type: book review n an era when tenure and academic status protections are under attack by organized political forces (schrecker, 2010), it is hardly surprising that the academic status of librarians remains a central issue of discussion in the library and information science (lis) profession. academic librarian faculty status is a handbook for small and medium-sized academic libraries looking for models on how to create and implement policies regarding academic status. the book is part of the association of college and research libraries’ (acrl) college library information on policy and practice (clipp) series, published for the small and medium-sized college and university market. edgar bailey (university of rhode island) and melissa becher (american university) have produced a practical work that evidences their combined six decades of experience in american academic librarianship—on both the front line and in administration. bailey and becher’s clipp guide contains a survey, literature review, and sample policy documents relevant to the academic status of librarians in the united states. the literature review offers an overview of the topic of the academic status of librarians with a thematic analysis of nearly 150 articles published in the past two decades. the literature review highlights a few earlier significant works on subjects such as surveys, support programs, policies, and non-tenure-track faculty librarians. in 2020, the authors sent a survey to an acrl email list of over 1,000 directors of small and medium-sized academic libraries to solicit feedback on the faculty status of academic librarians. from that population, 174 participants completed the online survey. most respondents were from small, private college libraries staffing four or fewer librarians. not surprisingly, libraries with fewer professionals were less likely to have “tenure-eligible” librarian positions. the study found that even librarians without tenure protection could still participate in academic governance and exercise some rights in common with other instructional faculty, which ranged from faculty senate participation (91%), academic freedom (75%), grievance policy (27%), sabbatical/ leave (27%), to library faculty senate i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index book review: academic librarian faculty status the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39953 2 (30%) (p. 39). not surprisingly, having a master’s in library science (mls) degree was reported as the requirement for 94% of these positions, while 20% required a second graduate degree for either tenure or promotion. evaluation criteria for promotion and tenure were found to be dependent on the following factors: librarian responsibilities, scholarship, service, and “[c]ontributions to the profession of librarianship,” followed by teaching (p. 35). to support librarians’ research, the authors found that only 24% of libraries reported offering formal mentorship, while 83% had options for librarians to secure some sabbatical or academic leave. one of the most exciting aspects of this volume was the brief discussion of libraries trying to adopt or defend faculty status for academic librarians, especially in organizations with dual-track positions. this section certainly merits further research. nearly half of the book’s contents were sample documents from 11 institutions relevant to different aspects of academic status. at first glance, including these documents might seem like a questionable contribution in an age where one can find many policy documents online. still, smaller academic libraries will treasure these documents in a book because they offer access to policies that may not be readily accessible online. for this reviewer, the most valuable inclusion in this section of the book was the section titled “institution redacted” with the paper “faculty appointments for librarians: a position paper.” this paper offers an excellent example of how one library made a case for defending librarians’ academic status. readers of this journal are presumably especially interested in how issues related to diversity and inclusion interplay with the tenure process of academic librarians. indeed, bailey and becher rightly point out that “there is a growing awareness in academia of the burden of invisible labor on bipoc and other marginalized groups and the need to recognize dei work as part of a faculty member’s primary responsibilities of scholarship and service” (p. 44). unfortunately, this discussion is relegated to a short “future research” section with the statement, “it would be interesting to find out how librarians are going beyond a general blanket statement to address dei in their re-appointment and promotion criteria” (p. 44). advocates of dei (diversity, equity, and inclusion) would also agree with bailey and becher’s call for more research on the impact of institutions with tenure-eligible and non-eligible positions. they also rightly suggest further research on academic freedom protection for a librarian’s independent judgment and agency, as per acrl standards. it is also essential to explore the academic protection for librarians in historically black colleges and universities (hbcus) and tribal colleges since many of these essential higher education establishments face challenges that can impact library faculty status (saunders, 2019). it would be easy to make other demands of this thin volume. for example, as a library historian, i regretted the absence of a history of the struggle for academic librarians to achieve and maintain academic freedom protection. nor do the authors spend much space on the more significant attack on tenure in academia (schrecker, 2010), which certainly impacts the debate concerning librarians’ status. likewise, as a former reference librarian, i am disappointed by the lack of an index, although one certainly can perform keyword searching of the ebook edition. bailey and becher’s academic librarian faculty status is not a general introduction to the topic of academic librarian faculty status for lis students or academic librarians; it was not intended to be. the volume is a straightforward manual for libraries seeking to implement an infrastructure for academic status with excellent sample documents from public and https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index book review: academic librarian faculty status the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39953 3 private academic libraries, a literature review, and an analysis of a qualitative survey that evidences the status of academic librarians as university faculty. i am confident that busy librarians at small to medium-sized college and university libraries will treasure this work as they try to shape policies tailored to their own college’s academic policies while also engaging in the daily practice of librarianship. references saunders, r. (2019). editor’s note. rbm: a journal of rare books, manuscripts, and cultural heritage, 20(2), 67–68. https://doi.org/10.5860/rbm.20.2.67 schrecker, e. (2010). the lost soul of higher education: corporatization, the assault on academic freedom, and the end of the american university. new york: the new press. andrew wertheimer (wertheim@hawaii.edu) is an associate professor in the library & information science (lis) program at the university of hawaiʻi at mānoa, usa. his research explores interdisciplinary streams within the historical and social aspects of ethnic print cultures, libraries, and professional education and ethics for the information professions, emphasizing libraries and archives. dr. wertheimer is also conducting studies on asian american and pacific islanders in lis, the history of intellectual freedom education, japanese print culture, and several other projects. he also is working on a book about the history of libraries and archives in hawaiʻi. he previously worked as a librarian and archivist at the spertus institute for jewish learning and leadership in chicago, illinois, the university of wisconsinmadison, and the university of nebraska-lincoln. dr. wertheimer has a ph.d. in library studies from the university of wisconsin-madison and an mls from indiana university, bloomington, usa. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.5860/rbm.20.2.67 mailto:wertheim@hawaii.edu brown trans figurations: rethinking race, gender, and sexuality in chicanx/latinx studies the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39195 b ijidi: book review galarte, f. j. (2021). brown trans figurations: rethinking race, gender, and sexuality in chicanx/latinx studies. university of texas. isbn 978-1477322130. 200 pp. $29.95 us. reviewer: javier franco, university of houston, usa book review editors: halie kerns, suny canton, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: diversity and inclusion; latinx studies; lgbtq studies; trans studies publication type: book review rown trans figurations: rethinking race, gender, and sexuality in chicanx/latinx studies is one of the first books that focuses on the trans latinx experience. in the acknowledgements, francisco j. galarte shares his personal experience with the topic as someone that is both trans and latinx. he addresses how his personal connection has shaped his push to increase diversity and inclusion in his field. galarte then shares two moments that help establish the main argument of this book: that brown trans narratives have been neglected in both queer and trans studies as well as latinx and chicanx studies. the first incident mentioned took place in 2015, when trans latinx activist jennicet gutiérrez interrupted president obama’s speech in a room with lgbtq leaders to highlight the need to release lgbtq immigrants from ice detention centers. she was booed by members of the lgbtq community. the second example was the san francisco mural por vida by manuel paul. the work was done to create brown spaces within the gay community because those spaces are predominantly white. it was also created to give a space to queer people within the latinx community because chicanx and latinx spaces tend to refuse to acknowledge queer identities. the mural, which included a trans man in the center, was threatened on social media and was defaced multiple times. due to incidents like those two, galarte wants to link transness and brownness together to examine how brown trans subjects are represented and how their narratives appear, circulate, and are reproduced within political and social cultures. to illustrate how brown trans subjects are deemed unnatural, yet nonexistent, in lgbtq and latinx communities, galarte divides the book into four chapters, the first two focusing on trans latinas and the last two focusing on trans latinos. chapter 1 focuses on the death of gwen araujo, a trans mexican american woman from california, who was murdered by four men—most of them white. the men’s legal team used the “trans-panic,” similar to the “gay-panic,” defense where violence is acceptable due to a deception—arguing trans women deceive cis men by lying to them about their identity. galarte focuses on this case, and the lifetime television channel movie made after it, as a way to show how the visibility of trans women of color in political and social aspects does not reduce the violence they face. due to intersectional identities, including economic and political contexts, it is mostly white trans women that benefit from a certain visibility. galarte suggests that trans political movements are built on the bodies of dead trans women of color. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 139 brown trans figurations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39195 in chapter 2, transphobic violence and politics is further illustrated through the death of angie zapata. in 2008, angie zapata, a teen from colorado, was murdered by a mexican american man she met online. police extracted a confession by playing upon the anger and shame that would come from discovering that one had sex with a trans woman through the transphobic trope of deceiver/deception. the zapata case was the first in the u.s. where a hate crime law was applied to a victim who was trans. however, the conviction of zapata’s murderer cannot be fully celebrated as a victory for trans rights because, as galarte argues, the case had more to do with the ascendance of white supremacy and anti-immigrant sentiment. since araujo’s murderers in chapter 1 were white, they were seen as boys-next-door. zapata’s murderer, a latino, was characterized as a deviant that posed a threat to the white residents of the colorado town. while white trans activists championed the district attorney that fought the case, the outcome of the case was used by that district attorney to enhance the prosecution and policing of that latinx community. with these two cases, galarte demands that chicana and latina feminism adapt their language and framework to represent trans identities. in chapter 3, galarte explores the construction of trans male masculinity in dialogue with cherríe moraga’s work. while acknowledging the importance of moraga’s work, galarte identifies how chicana lesbian feminism perpetuates white feminism’s othering of trans people—labeling them as a threat to womanhood. moraga argues that trans men of color will reproduce commodified forms of black and brown masculinity that are patriarchal and misogynistic. as a response, galarte asserts that being trans is not antiwoman. he adds that “there is an overwhelming necessity to consider how race and racialization might shape transsexual narratives, desire, embodiment, and even sexuality” (p. 86). additionally, galarte addresses moraga’s claim that surgery and hormones are not an invention of people of color and by perpetuating that myth she puts trans latinxs in a situation where they must make a choice on their gender identity and their race. he affirms that trans latinxs are not betraying their race nor their gender identity and clears up the misconception that trans latinx men who do not choose surgery or hormones are not men. in chapter 4, galarte further challenges and redefines what trans means as an identity category within latinx cultural politics. he documents the historical presence of latinx ftms (female-to male). he elaborates on the historical context of the early 20th century and psychoanalysis that deemed trans people as mentally ill. trans latinxs were deemed as criminals and degenerates due to the eugenic discourse on chicanx criminality. in his historical analysis, galarte addresses the fact that there are limited trans latinx narratives because they didn’t have the resources to document their stories. he closes the chapter by focusing on the issue that ftm trans people are seen as turning their back on their race if they “give up” on their womanhood by latinx communities due to the importance of childbirth in relation to womanhood. galarte sets out to imagine transness and brownness together and how the communities these intersectional identities belong to would benefit from understanding the other. he wanted to examine how brown trans individuals are represented culturally and politically in those respective communities. galarte succeeded in doing so. the strengths of this book are the case subjects selected and how those narratives fit into the need to study the brown trans experience. he weaves history, movies, art, and court cases effortlessly as he elaborates on the importance, they play in expanding brown trans narratives. every reference appears as though it is necessary and is expanded on. also, every image selected moves the text forward, complements what is being discussed, and the notes compiled at the end are reader friendly. splitting the book into two parts gives an opportunity to highlight trans women and trans men equally. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 140 brown trans figurations the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39195 galarte employs a methodology that does not pit transness against brownness, but rather examines them alongside each other. his methodology stresses how they interact in cultural and political constructs and how they coexist within a social and historical context. his methodology allows for a community that has been delegated to statistics to be humanized. a weakness that could benefit from further elaboration is brown trans individuals and the role catholicism plays in acceptance and rejection of latinx communities. galarte briefly mentions this idea in chapter 1 with the representation of figures like the virgin mary in chicanx communities, and in the movie about araujo’s death, but does not elaborate further. there is a deep connection with catholicism and chicanx communities so it would be interesting to see how catholicism perpetuates a cisgender identity and alienates trans people with more historical context. many texts on trans issues center on white subjects while texts that address the latinx struggle traditionally omit trans people. as a gay latino, i appreciate the dialogue that is occurring in latinx and lgbtq studies that highlight more inclusive narratives. while everyone would benefit from reading this book, and learning about the brown trans community, it seems that the main intended audience are the lgbtq and latinx communities. both communities should be aware of the intersectional identities of brown trans people that are part of each group and learn to not ignore one identity while acknowledging the other. the book is extremely relevant and important in this current political climate that has villainized both the trans and latinx community for different reasons. libraries that have lgbtq and latinx collections should consider purchasing this book. if galarte has shown anything, it is that the issues within those communities intersect and must be addressed simultaneously. javier franco (javierrfranco@gmail.com) is a phd in spanish literature student in the department of hispanic studies at the university of houston and a research fellow at arte publico press’ recovering the us hispanic literary heritage (“recovery”) program. he earned his master’s in spanish, graduate certificate in latin american studies, and bachelor's in spanish at california state university, long beach. franco is currently researching mexican machismo and trauma through the representation of drag queens in 20th and 21st century mexican and mexican american literature and culture. additionally, his research interests include gender & sexuality studies, film & media studies, queer theory, trauma & memory studies, and digital humanities. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:javierrfranco@gmail.com building welcoming communities: durham libraries engage diversity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39208 ijidi: book review austin, j. (2022). library services and incarceration: recognizing barriers, strengthening access. ala nealschuman. isbn: 9780838949450. 208 pp. $54.99 us. reviewer: valerie brett shaindlin, university of cambridge, uk book review editors: halie kerns, binghamton university, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: incarceration, information access, jail, juvenile detention, prison publication type: book review r. jeanie austin’s excellent new book, library services and incarceration: recognizing barriers, strengthening access, is a vital addition to any library and information science (lis) graduate education curriculum and is pertinent for professional development. intended for all types of librarians and those preparing to enter the field, the book urges readers to grapple with their complicit agency within the matrix of mass incarceration and policing, particularly in the u.s. an extensive review of the literature, in combination with real-world examples, elucidates the practical how-to and critical theory underpinnings of providing library services and information access to previously and currently incarcerated citizens—as well as their support networks. library services and incarceration employs multidisciplinary perspectives on the intersectionalities between equity, social justice, and information while situating library services in the “historically prioritized white, middle-class, and heteroand gendernormative modes of conduct and ways of knowing” (p. 97). austin stresses that various voices, experiences, and perspectives must be considered. of particular note to readers interested in diversity and inclusion is austin’s extensive analysis that explores the impact of mass incarceration on black, indigenous, all people of color, lgbtqia+ (especially transgender people), people who are detained in immigrant detention facilities, and people who are living in poverty or “live their lives in public” and is thus “always positioned as criminal or likely to be criminalized by the state, and thus more likely to be surveilled, policed, and incarcerated” (p. 49). the book is published by ala neal -schuman, whose materials fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide; however, the book is not necessarily relevant to international readers, as its scope is focused on the u.s. austin (they/them/their) is a jail and reentry services librarian with the san francisco public library (california, usa) and earned their ph.d. in library and information science from the university of illinois at urbana-champaign (usa). they write from a wellresearched, field-experienced perspective. thus, library services and incarceration can sometimes read like a dissertation—primarily due to the robust literature review. while the d https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39208 library services and incarceration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39208 2 tome can feel like a textbook, complete with case studies, it is an inviting read that never feels like a slog, although specific points are reiterated a few times, too many. still, at just over 150 pages of main text, the book packs a ton of informat ion into a concise and manageable volume. library services and incarceration aims to provide a new framework for thinking through disparate and intertwining themes related to carceral systems and information access and to envision new forms of access, collaboration, and programming by drawing on current models. one of austin’s main points is that, historically, incarceration has been viewed through a punitive versus rehabilitative lens. however, the reality of incarceration is less binary and is messier, more complex, and labyrinthine in its navigation. austin purports that access to information is a human right, and librarians should actively advocate for information services to the incarcerated because they are part of society’s patron base, despite being forcibly removed from the public sphere. austin emphasizes that incarcerated citizens know their information needs best and should be part of the information searching and literacy process. they remind us that the incarcerated are information producers and content creators. the book begins with a foreword by the esteemed kathleen de la peña mccook, followed by austin’s introduction, then eight chapters broken into two sections by an interlude, a conclusion, two appendices that include bibliographies of library literature on adult and youth incarceration, and an index. chapter one provides extensive theoretical and historical background on mass incarceration in the u.s. and rehabilitative versus punitive approaches. a history of library services to the incarcerated is provided in chapter two. chapter three describes various forms of incarceration, notably expanding the traditional definition of prisons to include community supervision (e.g., parole), immigration and customs enforcement (ice) detention, and “cases of facilities in the u.s. that have been intentionally obscured by local, state, or federal bodies” (p. 52). chapter four, “information and incarceration,” provides a detailed literature review from 1992 -2019, the year of the most recent version of the american library association’s (ala) association of specialized and cooperative library agencies’ (ascla) “library standards for adult correctional institutions”. the book discovers that, while previously, librarians’ and libraries’ roles have been either punitive or rehabilitative, as demonstrated in the literature, in recent years, there is an emphasis away from that binary and a move towards the librarian’s role in providing information access to the incarcerated as a means for them to maintain a sense of agency and sense of self over time. as mentioned, the eight chapters are broken into two halves via a section between chapters 4 and 5 (interlude) called “information interstices: technologies and flows of power.” the main points endorsed in this interlude section include: 1) technology access marketed as free is often accessed at a cost—for example, inmates paying to read on an ipad loaded with free books; 2) technologies are often used to replace in-person access, rather than expand it; and 3), technology provides opportunities for further surveillance of incarcerated individuals and groups, such as by contributing data for algorithmic refinement. chapter five presents a selection of existing direct service models, including specific sections: prison libraries, public libraries, and collection development. chapter six focuses on indirect service models, including reference by mail, book donations, interlibrary loans, and access to online, e-materials, and social connections via technology. chapter seven, “reentry support and programming,” provides excellent examples and advice on re-entry https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39208 library services and incarceration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39208 3 support, particularly for transgender individuals. it also includes a three-paged q&a interview with a county outreach librarian, which is an odd choice as it deviates starkly from the formatting of the rest of the book. in chapter seven, information starts to be repeated from earlier chapters. chapter eight is the most practical and instructional section, covering concerns specific to librarians, such as building institutional support, managing circulation records, developing collections, nurturing partnerships, seeking funding, and engaging in reflective praxis. library services and incarceration is a welcome introductory overview for librarians, library science students, and lis practitioners on library services to incarcerated populations. austin delivers on their promise to provide critical theoretical insight and practical information related to information access for incarcerated citizens. one area where the book falls short is austin’s argument that the publication is intended for all types of librarians, including specialized and academic librarians. however, throughout the book, the focus is on prison and public library services. a likely reason for this oversight is that academic and special librarians are much less involved in library services for incarcerated p opulations. however, it would have been beneficial for austin to provide some ideas for how and why academic and special libraries, in particular, should make an effort to become more involved in this area of library services. austin contends that it is time for u.s.-based librarians and lis programs to turn their attention toward mass incarceration, moving the topic from the fringe to the center of our discourse, and i agree. while studying for my master’s degree, i participated in a field site visit to a prison library as an extracurricular event organized by my library school’s special library association student chapter. the prison library was assumed to be niche, and i recall no other coverage of library services for the incarcerated in my lis education. as a reviewer, i feel compelled to share a personal detail that helps situate me as the reviewer of this book. due to a misunderstanding, when i was a teenager, i spent one day incarcerated. i came to this book as a highly privileged person as i am a white, cisgender, heterosexual u.s. citizen and did not grow up in a community that was heavily policed. that one afternoon i spent incarcerated with zero access to information felt incredibly dehumanizing—not to mention mind-numbingly tiresome. factors entirely outside my control—my race, gender identity, and the financial circumstances i was born into—allowed me to exit the criminal justice system quickly, but many are not so lucky. for a long time, i’ve been aware that had i not been white, had my family been unable to post bail, or any other factors, my experience could have snowballed from an inconvenience to incarceration with lifelong negative repercussions. after reading austin’s book, i look forward to continuing these discussions with my lis colleagues, to whom i will recommend this book. valerie brett shaindlin (vshaindl@hawaii.edu) is the senior library assistant at rosemary murray library, the murray edwards college library at the university of cambridge in the united kingdom. previously, valerie was a database specialist at the university of hawaiʻi cancer center. ms. shaindlin holds an mlis from the university of hawaiʻi at mānoa and a bs in business & management from skidmore college in saratoga springs, new york, usa. she has also worked in public relations in new york city. certified in yoga instruction (e-ryt 200), valerie teaches yoga at the rosemary murray library as a participant in its well-being program. she runs several https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39208 mailto:vshaindl@hawaii.edu library services and incarceration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39208 4 book clubs, including an intersectional feminist project that aims to make academic work more accessible to the public. for more information about ms. valerie brett shaindlin, visit her website at valeriebrett.com. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39208 https://www.valeriebrett.com/ book review: a trauma-informed approach to library services the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37676 ijidi: book review tolley, r. (2020). a trauma-informed approach to library services. ala editions. isbn 9780838919811 (paperback). 180 pp. $59.99 us. reviewer: francesca marini, texas a&m university libraries, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: library services; outreach; safe spaces; trauma-informed approach; traumainformed care publication type: book review s librarians and archivists, we are constantly looking for ways to improve our services and provide effective and inclusive support to our patrons. a trauma-informed approach to library services by rebecca tolley is a thoughtful and useful book that helps us better serve our patrons, but also better understand each other as colleagues. the publisher’s description states that “this book applies a trauma-informed care framework to library services. this approach can foster empathetic service, positive patron encounters, and a trusting workplace” (p. iv). tolley, a professor and librarian at east tennessee state university, describes how students and colleagues introduced her to trauma-informed care, approaches, and practices, which are used in many fields, including nursing and social work. the buffalo center for social research (the state university of new york/university at buffalo) states that: “trauma-informed care understands and considers the pervasive nature of trauma and promotes environments of healing and recovery rather than practices and services that may inadvertently re-traumatize” (para. 1). in her job, tolley coordinates research consultation services, but her book effectively articulates how to implement trauma-informed care in a variety of library services. my job focuses on programming and outreach in special collections and archives, and i always try to make patrons feel welcome and at ease; i want to understand their needs, give them a voice, and enable them to be seen for who they are. i found this book compelling, because it explains in a systematic way what i instinctively have been striving to achieve in my work. tolley organizes the book in three parts: “part i: adverse childhood experiences and trauma-informed care,” “part ii: the six guiding principles of trauma-informed approaches,” and “part iii: creating a culture of trauma-informed care in libraries.” the book guides readers from the general to the specific, with the goal of supporting actual training and implementation in library settings. besides focusing on patrons’ needs and backgrounds, the book also reflects on our work environments, as well as on our emotions. for example, chapter 13, addresses, in a simple and direct way, topics that will resonate with most librarians and archivists, including our own trauma and the resulting “personas” that we adopt (such as the “caretaker role,” “the scapegoat role,” etc.). a section on emotional labor acknowledges how “service with a smile” can be exhausting, and how “it requires emotional intelligence skills to read patrons’ emotional states and navigate our interactions with them, as well as to manage our own emotions” (p.132). the statement is even more valid in these pandemic times, when keeping a smile on our face seems to require more effort every day. a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index a trauma-informed approach to library services the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37676 in keeping with the theme of this issue of ijidi, i want to point out that this book addresses issues faced by lgbtqia+ communities. for example, the section on “gender issues” in chapter 10 touches on the importance of creating safe spaces in libraries, in order to reduce the amount of emotional labor experienced by members of lgbtqia+ communities, who have to constantly assess the safety of the environments they navigate. this section is useful, although it comes across as somewhat oversimplified (maybe because of space limitations) and cites older harassment data (from 2001). in another chapter, tolley also makes reference to her own association with the local chapter of pflag, a well-known organization, described by its website as “the first and largest organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (lgbtq+) people, their parents and families, and allies” (pflag, 2021). the book offers useful insight into approaches and practices that many librarians and archivists might naturally gravitate towards, but without always having formal training. the book is clear and is complemented by a reference section, which can be used for further research. the book has some limitations, mainly because it addresses complex topics in the relatively short span of 180 pages. the brief last chapter, chapter 14, offers a blueprint for planning for trauma-informed services, and provides some very useful tips, but, of course, it will take libraries considerable work to realize a detailed implementation. the use of language is another limitation: while tolley is generally attentive, there are instances where she should avoid certain terms, or at least explain why she is using them: without context, these terms evoke historically derogatory implications, as well as reflections of oppression. instances can be found in chapter 10, in the section on historical trauma. notwithstanding some limitations, the book is a welcome tool that can help us make our work environments more welcoming and inclusive to all. references pflag. (2021). about pflag. retrieved october 25, 2021, from https://pflag.org/about. university at buffalo school of social work. (2020, may 1). what is trauma-informed care? university at buffalo: buffalo center for social research. retrieved october 25, 2021, from http://socialwork.buffalo.edu/social-research/institutes-centers/institute-ontrauma-and-trauma-informed-care/what-is-trauma-informed-care.html francesca marini (she/her/hers) (fmarini@library.tamu.edu) is associate professor and programming and outreach librarian at the texas a&m university libraries, cushing memorial library and archives. she holds a phd in library and information science from the university of california, los angeles. 154 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://pflag.org/about http://socialwork.buffalo.edu/social-research/institutes-centers/institute-on-trauma-and-trauma-informed-care/what-is-trauma-informed-care.html http://socialwork.buffalo.edu/social-research/institutes-centers/institute-on-trauma-and-trauma-informed-care/what-is-trauma-informed-care.html mailto:fmarini@library.tamu.edu references lis’s climate change: what lis means within a pandemic and globalized social movement context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.37296 lis’s climate change: what lis means within a pandemic and globalized social movement context editor-in-chief: vanessa irvin, university of hawai‘i at mānoa, usa keywords: covid-19; editorial; empathy; lis; publishing publication type: editorial editorial he years of 2020 and 2021 have been, and continue, as of this writing, to be challenging for all of us, no matter our location, identity, beliefs, or occupation. if i were to put a start date on the covid-19 pandemic, i would say that friday, march 13, 2020, was a significant day because it was the last time i, and the entire college community of the university of hawai'i, was fully on-campus. by that following monday, march 16, the u.s. federal government had declared the nation in a state of emergency due to the global quickening of covid-19; the university and many local, state, and national institutions and commerce shutdown face-to-face meetings for business. country borders began closing; most u.s. states, as well as countries across the world, were quickly setting travel restrictions. by the end of march 2020, the planet was in "lockdown" with everyone moving online to interact, work, attend school, and participate in social events via virtual platforms and applications such as zoom, whatsapp, instagram, microsoft teams, and google hangouts. for libraries and other information organizations, work, library programming, and administrative processes moved primarily online: the library environment became distal and virtual. given the intensity and uncertainty of our new global context, by april 7, 2020, my youngest daughter and i hurriedly shut down the lease with our rental home in hawaii, quickly packed books and essential artifacts, borrowed money for our airline tickets, and flew home to philadelphia, pa. we arrived at a new home to live together with my eldest daughter, who was pregnant for the first time, and with my middle daughter, who was furloughed off a job she'd just started a week earlier. also, very importantly, i was now five minutes away from my infirmed elderly parents instead of 5,000 miles away. my family was included in the mass exodus–spring 2020 sent everyone worldwide–home. once home, daily life became virtual, with many of us stressed out trying to figure out how this thing called covid-19 was affecting our lives, personally and professionally, immediately and long-term. as the seasons continued to churn time during 2020, many of us lost loved ones to covid-19 or were recovering from the contagion ourselves. somehow, within the midst of this plague, we continued to perform our daily individual and work activities from home. yet, life and death continued to frame human existence: hospitals everywhere were so infected with the impacts of the covid-19 virus that patients could only have one support person with them for an entire t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi lis’s climate change the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.37296 hospital stay—no visitors, and once you were in, you could not leave because of covid-19. funerals were held via online streaming platforms, with services and rituals modified to reflect the intensity of the pandemic's effects on our human experience. i will never forget the media images of the thousands of people, our fellow human beings, who lost their battle with covid 19, stacked in piles for burial or cremation. mass graves overwhelmed societies in every corner of the world. i was panicked by the sheer thought of what our medical, social, and civic frontline fellow citizens (including colleague librarians, archivists, and information professionals) were experiencing daily. i'm sure you were, too. in addition to all of us suffering an incredible amount of collective grief, we struggled to ensure our own health and survival. i and my entire household contracted the covid-19 virus in november 2020, during the early holiday season. we'd attended just one event outside of the home, all masks covered, all protocols in place and adhered to, and yet, my entire family pod contracted covid-19. we had a 5-month-old baby in the household, which is why i can speak with clarity about what was happening in hospitals during the scorching summer of 2020. that summer season was also rife with social justice protests exploding worldwide under the cloudy covid-19 plague. protests against police murders and many other kinds of heritage-based brutalities were in response to the ugly scourge of systemic racism that seems to exist everywhere if you are black, indigenous, or identifiable of any heritage that is non-european. yet, amid these incredibly stressful and historical times, librarians, archivists, and information professionals everywhere adjusted their services to accommodate socially distanced services and online information settings. as the papers in this issue reveal, authors used their downtime to reflect on their professional practices and critically question their work environments' equity. in effect, we, in the library and information science field (lis), experienced an occupational climate change. this issue presents a collection of research and conceptual papers that report early outcomes and insights from this change. lis practitioners and scholars continued writing, submitting, and peer-reviewing articles during the lockdown. here, at the ijidi, covid forced us, the editorial team, to move gentler with a more measured pace. to honor the new, primarily virtual, at-home context in which we worked, we delayed publication timelines, and production processes became even more inclusive of respecting our lived realities of these challenging times across international time zones. that said, i commend the ijidi editorial team, an incredible group of dedicated librarians, who continue to produce stellar copyediting and production work miraculously, all while experiencing considerable losses in our personal lives; be it that we contracted covid-19 and became long-haul recovery patients ourselves, gave birth during covid19, or lost loved ones due to covid-19. this pandemic has been unforgiving and relentless for all of us on this planet. no one has been spared from its effects. during this lockdown, i have been reflecting on this question: "what does it mean to be a lis practitioner or scholar and be committed to the equitable and inclusive library and information experiences with a diversity of colleagues coming from various countries, cultures, standards, criteria, heritages, and identities, worldwide?" add the stress of a global epidemic plus global social and racial justice violence and protests to the stew, and well; who we are or who we are "becoming" in this profession of the library and information sciences becomes a vital question for reflection. i believe we are at a tipping point. this summer issue reflects that turn. for myself, i have been in a deep reflective mode concerning what it means to be editor of an international, peer-reviewed journal whose focus is equity, diversity, and inclusion (edi) during a global pandemic. this reflection comes in response to colleagues harping the words "quality," 2 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index lis’s climate change the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.37296 and "scholarship," and "rankings" within the context of peer-reviewed scholarship during a pandemic. i have written about the harshness of the lis stance and have often questioned what it means to approach one another and deal with one another kindlier in lis—and i do intend the word, kindlier (irvin, 2019). the questions i've asked about how we treat one another in lis were pre-covid. yet, during this grave period of contagion, i still hear harshness, apathy, and malice in the name of quality scholarship and relationship-building in lis. perhaps it is stress projecting itself, but within lis scholarly publishing, i’ve witnessed decisions made based on personal vendettas and unresolved misunderstandings within the context of people suffering and dying worldwide from an insidious disease. the daily creates history–we cannot continue to have bias and prejudice frame how we work together in lis in 2021 and onward. we. must. do. better. whether we want to accept it or not, covid-19 has bonded the entire humanity on this planet as one body. as a collective body, we must be kinder, gentler, and more respectful with ourselves and one another—no exceptions. of course, i believe in the quality of scholarship; t'is why we do what we do here at the ijidi. concurrently, i feel the quality of the human connection is most important, which directly informs the "quality" of a paper. we all know that a peer-reviewed article is a collectively composed work where reviewers extend their generosity of intention, knowledge, and spirit to support colleagues' voicedness within their research. i posit that the covid-19 pandemic has brought us a changing climate, a new normal that makes it requisite for us to be mindful and empathetic regarding ourselves, one another, and our work singly and collectively. our contribution to the world as librarians, archivists, and information professionals is as the keepers of the experiences, memories, records, and legacies of our communities, everywhere. thus, it behooves us to actively support one another's research, writing, and ideas about lis matters globally. let’s include one another in reading and responding to research. let’s include students and practitioners in meaningful, heart-centered work that can be published from the global west, east, south, and every continent, island, and indigenous community and tradition. this intersectional and interdisciplinary inclusion means that "quality" isn’t necessarily based on the dominant western canon's hegemonic, systemically problematic legacy in academia. here at the ijidi, our mission is to support the publication of authentic expressions of research, scholarship, literature reviews, and fieldwork. thus, the author's voice is centered in the presentation of the work, which means that sometimes "quality" is equally innovative. the double-blind peer-review process employed at the ijidi keeps articles in discourse with contemporary research and scholarship and respects published literature of yesteryear. in other words, the ijidi is committed to making a positive contribution to reframing what "quality" means in an authentically diverse, equitable, and inclusive lis world. we continuously (re)claim what we say we are, the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion. our mission includes caring about what a colleague's work brings to the world to help lis scholars and practitioners learn more about ourselves and our place in the world as an information community. to that end, this summer's issue presents a collection of interesting, meaningful, and thoughtful research papers, case studies, and viewpoint articles, covering four regions of the earth with research participants hailing from six countries. we lis folks have lots to say right now. i am sure our voiced-ness is due to our being home during this pandemic. lockdown has allowed us to reflect on our information worlds (jaeger & burnett, 2010) and then think, write, and contribute our insights and viewpoints about our changing environments within our collegial discourse. hence, articles in this issue cover our current environmental concerns as a profession: impacts on information practices during covid, identity constructs resulting from interactions on social 3 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index lis’s climate change the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.37296 media, critical questions asked of self-styled diversity committees, and ways in which technology continues to disrupt information services for rural communities. with this common thread about the library's environment, we open our summer issue with a group of research articles that look at the library environment in diverse ways, but all with a call for a change in climate within library (systemic) and librarian (practitioner) intentionalities and services. we lead off with an article by yanli li, who conducted a log analysis of two canadian information use surveys that explore ways in which information about covid-19 obtained via social media impacts self-perceived mental health for canadian residents. li's research reveals that inaccurate information obtained on social media negatively impacts users' mental health, imploring information professionals to be vigilant in providing accurate information services in libraries that may counter what patrons retrieve online. echoing concerns for the integrity of our services in libraries, amelia anderson takes a reflective stance to consider the health of autistic librarians on the job. in her paper, anderson explores the job-seeking and on-the-job experiences of ten self-identified autistic librarians, the barriers they face in disclosing their status, and suggestions for making the work environment more accessible. in turn, daniel ayoung and pamela abbott look at the environmental gaps of the accessibility of communication technologies in public library services in a rural community in ghana. applying the design-reality gap model, the scholars examine an ict library initiative to explore how local policymakers and library workers can close the gap between what systems intend for icts in rural libraries and the actual practices enacted that may counteract those intentions. vandana avasty and brice bongiovanni's paper reports results from their research study on women's agency in the open-source software (oss) field. employing the theory of gender in their analysis, avasty and bongiovanni reported disparities in how "women" and "gender" are defined in oss in various work environments across the globe. lynne bowker's research is a case study that challenges academic librarians to improve their instructional teaching using machine translation devices as a means of advocating for linguistic diversity. norda bell offers a case analysis of archivist job adverts that contribute to a developing typology for diversity statements in lis to ensure authentic inclusivity in recruitment for a diverse lis workforce. the special section papers include a literature review by vanesa ayon and andrew dillon. they posit that assistive technology "focuses on understanding the experience in the educational environment for learners with disabilities" (abstract). ayon and dillon analyse literature that considers library settings for users across the lifespan (school media centers, public and academic libraries). they suggest a socio-technical approach to including assistive technologies to build a collaborative educational environment where learners (patrons) and instructors (librarians) authentically learn from one another. the collection circles back to our current concerns with the social issues that have bannered the past few years: digital equity, particularly with college students, the ongoing covid-19 pandemic (as of this writing) and the future of libraries, and public safety challenges in libraries during these historic social-justice-oriented times. frank et al., in their paper, "digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries," report ways that their state university library in montana sustained and advocated for digital equity and inclusion for undergraduate students during the surge of digital library services in response to the covid-19 pandemic. frank et al. consider how the pandemic has impacted their university community and the local native indian tribe's access to library services within a covid context. kim thompson and amanda reed continue the 4 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index lis’s climate change the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.37296 conversation with their article discussing the future of library services in light of the impacts of covid-19 on information services at a public library system in the southern u.s. thompson and reed use the tripartite information access and digital inclusion model to evaluate patron access to public library services during the pandemic shutdown. they explore the question: how can lis holistically analyze and evaluate information services to make decisions during times of rapid change? allie fry and jeannie austin close our issue with a powerful commentary where they identify the problematic nature of how libraries build a relationship with the police to situate the library as a space of surveillance and oppression for the communities they serve, as opposed to being a safe space. fry and austin implores librarians to sincerely (re)consider the complicated relationship between public libraries and police departments. overall, this summer issue is a timely collection of research, case studies, literature reviews, and analytical commentary that disrupts the library environment as a silo. collectively, these articles send a message to our field worldwide: librarians, archivists, and information professionals must be active, courageous agents of critical inquiry and equity in response to the social ebbs and flows of our collective world experience. systemically, diversity and inclusion initiatives in libraries include all of us, patrons, staff, librarians, and administrators: altogether, we are the community. the library is an organic environment situated within the public sphere that acts as a nexus point for information growth and exchange. collectively, the papers in this issue make the point clear that we, as a global lis community, are changed and will never be the same: the pandemic has affected our professional identity, work, and services, which we must embrace and continue to evolve. lastly, as we continue on with the evolution of the ijidi, with our fifth volume, we have implemented a new feature called early access that we believe will be a boon for us to publish high-quality research, scholarship, and reports based on a mindful pace that gives us space to work with authors and reviewers with an empathy of care to ensure the best presentations of lis discourse. in this vein, early access on the ijidi website will present papers as soon as they pass the double-blind peer review and production process. in this way, the ijidi editorial team will approach the work we enjoy with a graceful latitude for making decisions that ensure quality, scholarship, and discourse. we will continue to give every paper our holistic support for the best in writing, research acumen, and editorial integrity. the ijidi is excited to continue to promote exceptional contributions to lis discourse that reflect the world’s diversity and creativity of scholarship that honors our collective love for libraries, archives, cultures, histories, memories, technologies, and most importantly, our fellow citizens whom we serve. references irvin, v. (2019). “i have two legs, not four”: navigating the -isms of the lis minefield. journal of education for library and information science (jelis) 60(3), 231-238. https://doi.org/10.3138/jelis.2018-0061 jaeger, p. t., & burnett, g. (2010). information worlds: behavior, technology, and social context in the age of the internet. routledge. 5 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index lis’s climate change the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.37296 vanessa irvin (ijidi.editorinchief@gmail.com) is an associate professor with the library and information science program at the university of hawai'i at mānoa, in honolulu, hi, usa. dr. irvin's research focuses on integrating collaboration technologies with the literacy practices of public librarians for the purpose of creating communities of practice for professional development. with a public librarian career that spans over three decades, dr. irvin teaches in the areas of reference and information services, public libraries, youth services, and reading resources for diverse populations. vanessa is author of the readers advisory guide to street literature and is currently editor-in-chief for the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi). 6 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:ijidi.editorinchief@gmail.com references ijidi cover and credits april 2021 volume 5 | number 5 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion early access supplement 2021 research diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture: a patchwork quilt bobby thomas cameron, ziad ghaith, lisa chilton diversity committees during the era of social justice: where do we go from here? gilbert singletary, kenneth royal, kathy goodridge-purnell assessing african american women engineers’ workplace sentiment within the ai field schenita floyd special section literature reviews the role of digital skills in refugee integration: a state-of-the-art review miriam potocky special section reports from the field queerly radical professional engagement: reflections on fifty years of book awards rae-anne montague dr. vanessa irvin, editor-in-chief journal credits editor-in-chief dr. vanessa irvin associate editors dr. nadia caidi dr. mirah dow dr. wiebke reile senior managing editors mona elayyan laina kelly managing editors dunyau maqsoudi-moreno bethany mcgowan stephanie santiful jeffrey sowder cara b. stone zach valdes book review editors halie kerns stephanie robertson graphic designer vanessa irvin ijidi logo created by craig taylor cover image, "light bulb beside books on shelf" by engin akyurt, from pexels the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion editor-in-chief senior managing editors mona elayyan laina kelly book review editors graphic designer sources of covid-19 information seeking and their associations with self-perceived mental health among canadians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 sources of covid-19 information seeking and their associations with self-perceived mental health among canadians yanli li, wilfrid laurier university, canada abstract using two datasets from the canadian perspectives survey series (cpss), this study provides a longitudinal analysis of information sources canadians consulted regarding covid-19 and their associations with poor self-perceived mental health (spmh) during march and july 2020. nearly 20% of canadians who were surveyed reported poor spmh. the logistic regression results revealed that at time 2 (july 2020), after controlling for demographic, socio-economic, and psychobehavioural factors, using social media was significantly associated with higher odds of poor spmh than using six other information sources including news outlets, federal health agencies, provincial health agencies, provincial daily announcements, places of employment, and other sources (for example, schools, colleges, universities). checking the accuracy of online information more frequently was also associated with lower odds of poor spmh. keywords: covid-19; information seeking; self-perceived mental health; social media publication type: research article introduction hen the world health organization (who) declared the covid-19 pandemic on march 11, 2020, the world was profoundly affected in many degrees. studying mental health became important because evidence has shown that mental health can be negatively affected by pandemics such as h1n1 (lau et al., 2010) and covid-19 (wang et al., 2020; chi et al., 2020). the united nations even warned of a global mental health crisis due to increasing death counts, isolation, fear, poverty, and anxiety caused by the pandemic (kelland, 2020). effects of the pandemic on mental health can be studied in a multidisciplinary fashion by focusing on psychological, social, or population factors. one of the immediate research priorities is to better understand the effect of repeated media consumption in traditional and social media on mental health (holmes et al., 2020). there are concerns that misinformation regarding the outcomes, prevention, and cure of the coronavirus disease has bombarded social media and worsened mental health outcomes (gao et al., 2020; tasnim et al., 2020). in addition to social media, canadians can access pandemic-related information through other sources, such as news outlets, public health agencies, family/friends/colleagues, health professionals, schools/colleges/universities, places of employment, among others. it is important to thoroughly examine the main information sources consulted by canadians. although some research has indicated that canadians reported lower mental health in the pandemic (findlay & arim, 2020), there are not adequate studies on the w https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 influencing factors of their mental health during covid-19. this research will focus on the association between covid-19 information seeking and canadians’ self-perceived mental health (spmh). the findings from this research will help understand canadians’ information seeking behaviours and predictors of mental health during the pandemic. research context and objectives this study uses data from the canadian perspectives survey series (cpss) to explore canadians’ mental health across two points in time: march 29, 2020 to april 3, 2020 (referred to as time 1) and july 20, 2020 to july 26, 2020 (referred to as time 2). to contextualize this research, it is useful to provide an overview of how the pandemic has evolved in canada during these times. on january 27, 2020, canada confirmed its first case of covid-19 linked to a recent travel to wuhan, china, where a novel coronavirus was circulating. ever since the first community transmission case was confirmed on march 5, 2020, covid-19 spread across canada rapidly (ctv news, 2021). as of april 3, 2020, the total number of covid-19 confirmed cases was 12,537 and increased dramatically to 113,911 as of july 26, 2020 (government of canada, 2021). both time 1 and time 2 fall within wave 1 of the pandemic in canada; however, they are at two different stages. as shown in figure 1, the 7-day average of new covid-19 case numbers nationwide was 1,121 as reported on april 3, 2020. the curve on the graph demonstrated an upward trend until it reached the peak of 1,797 cases on may 3, 2020. the federal and provincial governments took measures to control the spread of coronavirus, including social distancing enforcement, nonessential workplaces and school closures, scaling up testing, increasing the contact tracing capacity, a quarantine order for returning travellers, and more (vogel & eggertson, 2020). thanks to these measures, the curve flattened as cases went down. on july 26, 2020, the 7-day average of new covid-19 case numbers dropped significantly to 510, suggesting that canada was past the worst of the first wave of covid-19. figure 1. the 7-day average of new covid-19 case numbers by reporting date. data source: government of canada (2021). 8 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 figure 2. total number of confirmed cases in selected provinces. source: author’s tabulations based on data from government of canada (2021). figure 3. the 7-day average of new case numbers in selected provinces. source: author’s tabulations based on data from government of canada (2021). 9 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 provinces in canada were hit by covid-19 to varying degrees over time. by april 3, 2020 at time 1, quebec, ontario, and british columbia were the top three provinces in terms of the total number of covid-19 confirmed cases, whereas alberta took over british columbia at the end of time 2. all provinces except alberta and saskatchewan saw a big drop in the 7-day average of new case numbers from time 1 to time 2. figures 2 and 3 show these changes in a few selected provinces. the effects of the pandemic differed by gender and age group. figure 4 presents the age distribution of the average number of covid-19 cases with illness onset over time 1 and time 2. out of the 1,149 new cases at time 1, seniors aged 80 and over accounted for the largest percentage (17.5%), followed by people aged 40-49 (17.1%) and 50-59 (16%). at time 2, young people accounted for a rising percentage of new cases in canada. out of the 433 new cases, people aged 20-29 made up more than a quarter. people under 20 made up 18.8% of the new cases, compared to 5.8% at time 1. those aged 30-39 constituted nearly 17% of the new cases at time 2, more than 4% higher compared to time 1. figure 4. average of covid-19 case number, by age group. sources: government of canada (2021) and author’s own calculations. as of june 18, 2021, there were 1,401,236 covid-19 cases reported in canada, including 696,268 (49.7%) male cases and 704,913 (50.3%) female cases (government of canada, 2021). no data are available on the number of covid-19 cases by gender specifically for time 1 and time 2, but some studies report that the pandemic has affected males and females differently.1 despite a recovery in labour market from march 2020 to july 2020, women’s employment was consistently more affected than men (grekou & lu, 2021). work-life balance and childcare challenges affected women more than men, particularly with school closures and reduced availability of social services such as childcare and eldercare (charnock et al., 2021). the pandemic has taken an emotional toll on canadians. based on statistics canada’s web panel survey “canadian perspectives survey series 1: impacts of covid-19” from march 29 and april 3, 10 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 2020, 53% of canadians reported having excellent or very good mental health. this result was 15% lower than findings from the 2018 canadian community health survey (cchs). age and gender made a difference on mental well-being. women (49%) were less likely than men (60%) to report excellent or very good mental health during the pandemic, compared to 66% and 71% respectively for women and men in the 2018 cchs. youth were also less likely to report excellent or very good mental health during the pandemic. specifically, 42% of those aged 15 to 24 reported excellent or very good mental health during covid-19 compared to 62% in 2018 cchs (findlay & arim, 2020). statistics canada’s crowdsource survey “impacts of covid-19 on canadians—your mental health” from april 24 to may 11, 2020 showed that 57% of females reported worse mental health since physical distancing began, as did 47% of males. symptoms consistent with “moderate” or “severe” generalized anxiety disorder (gad), a condition characterized by frequent, persistent worry and excessive anxiety about several events, were reported by 29.3% of females vs. 20.5% of males, and 30.5% of females vs. 24% of males reported that their lives were “quite a bit” or “extremely” stressful (moyser, 2020). in this context, this research will examine the prevalence of poor spmh among canadians at two time points. a number of studies worldwide reveal that social media is negatively associated with mental health during the pandemic. this research will provide canadian evidence about the influence of social media on mental health as compared to other information sources. information about covid-19 is readily available online. there are concerns about the negative impact of misinformation on mental health. this research will also assess if frequently checking accuracy of online information would make a difference in spmh amongst canadians. a variety of demographic, social-economic, and psycho-behavioural factors associated with mental health will be examined as covariates as well. literature review health information-seeking and outcomes information seeking means the active and goal-oriented efforts to obtain specific information in response to an event (niederdeppe et al., 2007). health information-seeking behaviour (hisb) refers to “a purposive process of obtaining, clarifying, and confirming information related to physical and mental health conditions, diseases, and lifestyles” (lu et al., 2020, p. 491). several health information-seeking models have been proposed. the comprehensive model of information seeking (cmis) explores people's information-seeking actions by looking at the role played by demographics (race, education, sex), experience, salience, beliefs, and the information fields in which people exist (johnson et al., 2001). anker et al.’s (2011) framework suggests that the practice of health information-seeking is more than merely engagement in a search for information, but involves characteristics of the information seeker, selection and the use of information sources, and the outcomes associated with the search process. a large body of literature addresses health information-seeking. researchers have found that the characteristics of health information seekers is associated with their information seeking behaviours. for instance, females, the 30-39 year age group, those with university or higher level of education, and employed individuals were more likely to search for health-related information on the internet (alghamdi & moussa, 2012). previous studies have investigated immigrants' general health information-seeking behaviour and focused on specific ethnic groups such as korean, iranian, south asian, chinese, mexican, and hispanic (mason et al., 2021). some american studies compare immigrants and native-born population regarding access to health 11 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 information (yoon et al., 2017; oh et al., 2014), whereas such comparative studies on canadians are very limited. previous studies have not adequately explored the outcomes associated with health informationseeking. a systematic review of literature from 1978 to 2010 indicated that 16.3% of 129 articles examined the specific information channels referenced by information seekers. about half of these articles employed checklists of available information sources (like internet, primary care physician, tv) to determine the unique sources and total number of sources consulted by participants. however, the majority of these studies did not explore relevant outcomes as a result of engaging in information seeking (anker et al., 2011). a limited number of studies explore the health outcomes of health information-seeking by medium. for instance, probability-based telephone surveys of hong kong residents during 2009-2012 found that poor self-rated health was associated with infrequent health information-seeking from newspapers/magazines and internet (wang et al., 2013). among american adults, newspaper health information-seeking was associated with fruit and vegetable consumption, while television health information-seeking was associated with sweetened soft drink consumption. in comparison to the internet, newspaper and television were associated with healthier lifestyle behaviours to help decrease obesity (beaudoin & hong, 2011). nevertheless, mental health as a potential outcome resulting from information seeking has been understudied. there has been much discussion about the link between social media and mental health. the findings before covid-19 are mixed. feder et al. (2020) revealed that frequent social media use was associated with greater symptoms of psychopathology. in contrast, berryman et al. (2018) did not support that social media use was a predictor of mental health problems. likewise, time spent using social media was not found to be related to individual changes in depression or anxiety across development (coyne et al., 2020). some studies have indicated that social media use may be beneficial for some individuals such as adolescents (o’reilly et al., 2019; o’reilly, 2020) and people with mental illness (naslund et al., 2019). comparatively, in the wake of covid19, studies predominantly suggest that social media is not a reliable information source; some even identify it as a stressor. misinformation and rumors rampant on social media can promote the practice of unhealthy behaviours that may increase spread of the virus. this would ultimately cause poor physical and mental health outcomes (tasnim et al., 2020). twitter and facebook play a role in spreading fear and panic, and making negative impacts on public psychological wellbeing (ahmad & murad, 2020; lwin et al., 2020). furthermore, frequent social media exposure was associated with greater mental health problems such as anxiety and depression (gao et al., 2020; li et al., 2021; ni et al., 2020). mental health impacts of covid-19 mental health is an integral component of health. who (2018) defines mental health as “a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” a wide range of indicators can be used to measure mental health. in canada, mental health commission of canada (mhcc) (2021) presents 55 indicators reflecting mental health for children and youth, adults, and seniors. some studies examine general mental health, whereas others assess diagnosis-specific domains of mental health (e.g., anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress, depressive disorders) (mansfield et al., 2020). research has found a disagreement between self-reported level of mental health and clinical diagnoses (eaton et al., 2000). 12 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 however, it is very common that researchers employ self-report instruments to study mental health, although they use different terms such as self-perceived, self-reported, and self-rated. regarding the mental health impacts of covid-19, studies at the beginning of the pandemic originated from various countries such as china, canada, iran, japan, singapore, and brazil. they focused on the general population, healthcare workers, and vulnerable populations including seniors, the homeless, international migrant workers, people with existing mental issues, pregnant women, and students studying overseas (rajkumar, 2020). most of these articles are commentaries or editorials. two editorial papers from canada addressed health anxiety as an impact of covid-19 on mental health. exposure to inaccurate or exaggerated information from the media may cause excessive health anxiety, possibly demonstrated through repeated medical consultations, avoiding health care in case of illness, or stocking up on particular items (asmundson & taylor, 2020a, 2020b). as the covid-19 pandemic evolves, growing evidence based on survey data supports its pervasive impact on individual's mental health worldwide. the prevalence of poor mental health in the existing studies varies due to the differences in study population, study time, scales, measures, and methodologies. around 10% of chinese college students had persistent and/or developed new mental health problems (li et al., 2021). over one-quarter of the respondents (26.8%) in hubei province of china displayed clinically significant psychological distress symptoms (zhou & guo, 2021). in lombardy, italy, 39.8% of the health workers developed post-traumatic stress disorder (bassi et al., 2021). in canada, according to the “national monitoring survey assessing the impacts of covid-19 on mental health” in late january 2021, 77% of adults reported feeling negative emotions (e.g., worried or anxious, stressed, lonely or isolated, sad) (canadian mental health association, 2021). models of determinants of mental health numerous studies have addressed the determinants of mental health based on various analysis frameworks or models (li et al., 2021; robert & gilkinson, 2012; salami et al. 2017; zhou et al., 2020). robert and gilkinson’s (2012) analysis framework recognizes that mental health is influenced by socio-demographic, socio-economic, social networking, health utilization, and psycho-social variables. in their research, they explored the mental health outcomes of recent immigrants in canada, including prevalence of emotional problems, stress levels, and main sources of stress. the above-mentioned variables associated with the incidence of emotional problems and stress were examined through logistic regression. with regards to the specific factors associated with mental health during covid-19, a number of publications (chi et al., 2020; qiu et al., 2020; smith et al., 2020; thomas et al., 2020; wang et al., 2020; zhou et al., 2020) perform regression models (e.g., multivariable logistic regression, multiple linear regression, and ridge regression). the majority of these studies do not include information seeking as a factor of mental health outcomes nor do they focus on canadians. however, they provide valuable insights into this present study pertaining to model development and variable selection. three chinese studies conducted during the early months of the pandemic are noteworthy. gao et al. (2020) found that frequent social media exposure was positively associated with high odds of anxiety while controlling for gender, age, education, marital status, self-rated health, occupation, cities, and urban/rural area. in a nationwide large-scale study, qiu et al. (2020) found that females, young adults (18–30) and the elderly (60+), migrant workers, people with 13 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 higher education, and people living closer to the epicenter were associated with psychological distress. a longitudinal study by wang et al. (2020) revealed that having confidence in doctors, satisfaction with health information, and adopting precautionary measures were significant factors to protect against stress, anxiety, and depression. in addition, several studies from other countries are worth inclusion. a study by smith et al. (2020) identified females, younger age groups, those with a lower annual income, and current smokers as associated with higher levels of poor mental health in the united kingdom. for adults in the united arab emirates, younger age, being female, having a history of mental health problems, self or loved ones testing positive for covid-19, and high levels of covid-related anxiety were significantly associated with both depression and anxiety (thomas et al., 2020). a longitudinal american study by zhou et al. (2020) between april and may 2020 examined the influence of demographic, psychosocial, and behavioural factors on mental health outcomes. younger adults, people with pre-existing health conditions, and those experiencing greater perceived risk, higher levels of rumination or co-rumination, greater social strain, or less social support all reported worse mental health. regarding the association of immigration status with mental health, there have been mixed findings from different countries prior to covid-19 (menezes et al., 2011). previous canadian studies have confirmed the “healthy immigrant effect”. it suggests that immigrants enjoy better mental health than the native-born population at arrival, but this effect tends to decline as their years in canada increase (lou & beaujot, 2005; ng, 2011; ng & zhang, 2020). without considering years since immigration, some studies found that immigrants had a lower rate of mental health problems such as depression (ali, 2002) and bipolar disorder (schaffer et al., 2009). in contrast, salami et al.’s (2017) analysis revealed that the difference in the self-perceived mental health of immigrants versus non-immigrants was not statistically significant. research probing immigration status and mental health during the covid-19 pandemic is scarce. survey data showed that recent immigrants reported fair or poor mental health more often than other canadians (evra & mongrain, 2020). immigrants reported elevated levels of concern than canadian-born individuals about their own health, civil disorder, social ties, and the ability to cooperate, but how the concerns might influence their mental health was unclear (larochellecôté & uppal, 2020). this study will include immigration status as a variable in the regression model. however, years since immigration cannot be examined as it is not available in the cpss data on which this research is based. data and methodology data sources this research performed a secondary data analysis based on two cpss surveys. cpss, sponsored by statistics canada, is a set of five short, online surveys conducted between march and september 2020. the purpose of cpss is to gather information quickly on the knowledge and behaviours of residents of the 10 canadian provinces. governments and organizations may use this information to make informed decisions on delivery of social services or support to canadians during and after the pandemic. each cpss survey is cross-sectional and administered to a subset of labour force survey (lfs) respondents. the cpss survey population includes full-time members of the canadian armed forces, while excluding those living on reserves and other aboriginal settlements in the provinces, the institutionalized population, and households in 14 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 extremely remote areas with very low population density. these participants represent less than 2% of the canadian population aged 15 and over as of july 31, 2019 (statistics canada, 2020a). this study is based on two cpss surveys: “cpss1– impacts of covid-19” and “cpss4 – information sources consulted during the pandemic” (statistics canada, 2020b, 2020c). cpss1 collected data from march 29, 2020 to april 3, 2020 (time 1) and cpss4 collected data from july 20, 2020 to july 26, 2020 (time 2). the datasets from these two surveys contain valuable information, including the main source of information that canadians consulted about covid-19, selfperceived mental health, and demographic, employment, and behavioural information for individuals. the public use microdata files (pumf) were downloaded via odesi (ontario data documentation, extraction service and infrastructure), which is a digital repository of canadian social science datasets. the respondents were excluded if their data were missing for any of the variables examined in this research. the final dataset thus comprised 3,862 records from cpss1 and 3,795 records from cpss4. analytical techniques cross-tabulations were used to estimate the number and percentage of canadians using each information source about covid-19, and the percentage of canadians who reported poor spmh. because of evidence showing demographic differences in health information-seeking and mental health outcomes, separate analyses were made by gender, age group, and immigration status. to gain insights into the associations between sources of information and individuals’ mental health, the following logistic regression model was fitted to predict the odds of reporting poor spmh: logit (p) = β0 + β1∗infosource + βj∗xj (1) model (1) includes the explanatory variable information source (infosource) and covariates xj. β0 represents the intercept, β1 is coefficient for information source and βj is coefficient for each covariate as described in the measures section. these coefficients represent the expected change in the log odds of reporting poor spmh for a unit increase in the corresponding explanatory variable, while holding the other explanatory variables constant at certain values. the odds ratios are obtained by exponentiating the coefficients for the explanatory variables. for instance, the odds ratio for variable news outlets compares using news outlets with using social media (as reference group) in the odds of reporting poor spmh. the cpss surveys were based upon a complex sample design with stratification, multiple stages of selection, and unequal probabilities of selection of respondents (statistics canada, 2020d, 2020e). this research applied analytic weights when producing estimates to be representative of the survey population. moreover, cpss used a bootstrap method in resampling, yet the bootstrap weights (used in the calculation of variances) were not provided with the pumf because of confidentiality. as such, variances of the estimated odds ratios from the regression models could not be adjusted, which might result in underestimation of variability and too many significant results. to mitigate this effect, a more conservative significance level (p < 0.01) was employed as the threshold for statistical significance. all analyses were conducted using stata 13. 15 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 measures poor self-perceived mental health (poor spmh) cpss1 and cpss4 asked respondents the same question: “in general, would you say that your mental health is excellent? very good? good? fair? poor?” similar to lou and beaujot (2005) and wang et al. (2013), responses of fair or poor were categorized as poor self-perceived mental health. hence, it is a binary outcome variable that takes on values of 0 or 1. information source (infosource) the respondents were asked: “what is your main source of information to find out about covid19? e.g., symptoms, how and when to get tested, closures, travel restrictions and recommendations, maintaining good mental and physical health.” there were 13 response categories in cpss1, but cpss4 combined the category school, universities and colleges with others due to small counts and confidentiality reasons. to make a comparison over time, this research combined the category school, universities and colleges with others for cpss1. ultimately, the following 12 categories of information sources were examined: news outlets, federal health agency, provincial health agency, municipal health agency, federal daily announcements, provincial daily announcements, social media, family/friends/colleagues, health professionals, places of employment, other sources, and did not look for any information. the respondents can only select one response category. covariates this research referred to robert and gilkinson (2012)’s analysis framework. lou and beaujot (2005), ali (2002) and other studies included in the literature review demonstrated the associations between mental health and a wide range of variables. considering the variables available in cpss1 and cpss4, this research will control for demographic, socio-economic, and psycho-behavioural indicators that have possible effects on mental health of canadians in the context of covid-19. demographic indicators the population was separated into seven age groups: 15 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 to 64, 65 to 74, and 75 years or older. regarding immigration status, respondents were grouped into the canadian-born population and immigrants. canadian-born refers to people who are canadian citizens by birth. those who were born outside of canada were categorized as immigrants, including landed immigrants and non-landed immigrants. similar to robert and gilkinson (2012) and gao et al. (2020), marital status was recoded and grouped into two categories: married/common-law and other (i.e., single, divorced, separated, or widowed). socio-economic indicators in their research, robert and gilkinson (2012) assigned two categories to employment status: employed and not employed. taking inspiration from their model, and to reflect the labour market dynamics during covid-19, this research added more categories to the robert and gilkinson model, including employed and at work, employed but absent from work due to covid19 reasons, employed but absent from work due to non-covid reasons, and not employed. 16 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 highest education was grouped into five categories: less than high school, high school, college, bachelor’s degree, and advanced degree (master’s or above). the housing-built environment was found to be associated with mental health during covid-19 lockdown (amerio et al., 2020). hence, this research included two variables to capture the household environment: dwelling type and household size. psycho-behavioural indicators similar to gao et al. (2020), self-rated health was included as an indicator of one's overall health status and had five categories: poor, fair, good, very good, and excellent. to capture the precautions taken to reduce the risks of exposure to covid-19, the respondents in cpss1 were given the option of answering yes or no to 12 questions, including stocking up on essentials, filling prescriptions, making plans to care for ill family members, practicing social distancing, working from home, washing hands regularly, avoiding touching face, among others. cpss4 had an additional question compared to cpss1: “do you wear a mask?” to achieve consistency across two time points, the responses for this question were added into the other category. based on the questions above, the variable “precautions” was measured by the total count of the yes responses; a higher count indicated more precautions taken to reduce risks of covid-19. similarly, the variable “activities” was created to capture how many types of activities the respondents engaged in to improve their physical or mental health, including meditation, exercising indoors, exercising outdoors, communication with family and friends, and changing food choices. in addition, the variable “concerns” was created to measure the level of concerns that the respondents had regarding the impacts of covid-19. participants responded to 12 items using 4-point scales (1= not at all, 2= somewhat, 3= very, and 4= extremely). the sum of an individual’s response score ranged from 12 to 48, with a higher score indicating a higher level of concerns for covid-19. details of the sample characteristics at two time points are shown in table 1. the sample was divided near-evenly between males and females, and they were primarily canadian-born individuals. among the seven age groups, there was less representation from those aged 75 and older. around 28% possessed a bachelor’s degree or higher. over 60% were married or in a common-law relationship. about 50% were employed and at work, whereas nearly 40% were unemployed. the percentage of those employed and at work increased from 47% at time 1 to 53% at time 2, whereas the individuals being absent from work due to covid-19 reduced from 9% to nearly 3% over time. the increase in employment at time 2 could be related with the government measures dedicated to supporting businesses. for example, the canadian government provided financial support for small businesses, helped young people find summer jobs, and expanded access to the covid-19 emergency response act to better support businesses (canadian public health association, 2021). in addition, over 60% of the sample lived in single detached houses. nearly half of the sample had two members in their household. almost 69% indicated their self-rated health was very good or excellent at time 1, as compared to 63% at time 2. comparing time 2 with time 1, canadians took more precautions to reduce the risk of exposure to covid-19, did more activities to improve physical and mental health, and reported a lower level of concerns for the pandemic. 17 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 table 1. sample characteristics time 1 time 2 measures n (%) n (%) overall 3862 (100) 3795 (100) gender male 1883 (48.77) 1856 (48.91) female 1979 (51.23) 1939 (51.09) age group 15 to 24 601 (15.56) 546 (14.38) 25 to 34 707 (18.32) 659 (17.38) 35 to 44 663 (17.17) 643 (16.94) 45 to 54 617 (15.97) 602 (15.87) 55 to 64 620 (16.06) 631 (16.61) 65 to 74 505 (13.07) 510 (13.45) 75+ 149 (3.85) 204 (5.37) immigration status canadian-born 2963 (76.71) 2894 (76.25) immigrants 899 (23.29) 901 (23.75) education less than high school 515 (13.35) 437 (11.52) high school 1043 (27.00) 1030 (27.15) college 1197 (30.99) 1224 (32.25) bachelors 769 (19.91) 742 (19.55) advanced 338 (8.75) 362 (9.54) marital status married/common-law 2425 (62.78) 2333 (61.48) other 1437 (37.22) 1462 (38.52) employment status employed and at work 1828 (47.34) 2018 (53.18) absent not due to covid-19 139 (3.59) 226 (5.96) absent due to covid-19 354 (9.16) 97 (2.55) not employed 1541 (39.91) 1454 (38.30) dwelling type single detached house 2454 (63.53) 2367 (62.37) low-rise apartment 427 (11.05) 414 (10.90) high-rise apartment 312 (8.09) 336 (8.86) other 669 (17.33) 678 (17.87) household size 1 546 (14.13) 578 (15.23) 2 2003 (51.85) 2020 (53.24) 3 720 (18.64) 638 (16.80) 4 428 (11.09) 394 (10.37) 5+ 166 (4.29) 165 (4.36) 18 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 self-rated health poor 41 (1.06) 41 (1.08) fair 206 (5.33) 269 (7.10) good 927 (24.01) 1107 (29.17) very good 1580 (40.90) 1522 (40.11) excellent 1108 (28.70) 856 (22.54) precautions 3862 (mean=6.70) 3795 (mean=7.01) activities 3862 (mean=2.74) 3795 (mean=2.91) concerns 3862 (mean=30.06) 3795 (mean=26.10) results main information sources canadians consulted regarding covid-19 figure 5 presents the proportions of each information source used by canadians. at time 1, the four most prominent covid-19 information sources were news outlets (50.9%), provincial daily announcements (11.5%), social media (10.3%), and federal daily announcements (6.6%). at time 2, the first three remained as the most frequented sources (50.7%, 9.4%, and 9.9% respectively), while the provincial health agency overtook federal daily announcements for fourth place (9.2%). the information sources family/friends/colleagues, health professionals, place of employment, and municipal health agency took up a larger proportion at time 2 as compared to time 1. figure 5. main information sources consulted by canadians. 19 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 males were more likely to use news outlets as compared to females (figure 6). at time 1, about half of males said that news outlets were their main information source (53.3% compared to 48.5% of females). at time 2, males were again more likely than females to use news outlets, and the difference was even larger than time 1 (56.1% compared to 45.5% of females). females were more likely than males to use social media. at time 1, 12.5% of females indicated that social media was their main source of information as compared to 7.9% of males. females continued to outweigh males in using social media at time 2, although the difference was not as large (10.9% compared to 8.8% of males). females were also more likely than males to consult with provincial health agencies, municipal health agencies, federal daily announcements, family/friends/colleagues, and places of employment at both time 1 and time 2. in contrast, males were more likely than females to consult federal health agencies across the two time periods. figure 6. main information sources, by gender all age groups were more likely to get covid-19 information from news outlets than other sources. particularly, those aged 55 to 64 were more likely to use news outlets than other age groups (60.4% at time 1 and 57.3% at time 2). in terms of social media use, those aged 25 to 34 were more likely to use social media although the rate decreased from 8.4% at time 1 to 2.6% at time 2. in contrast, those aged 75 and older at time 1 and those aged 55 to 64 at time 2 were less likely to use social media (figure 7). there were notable disparities between the canadian-born population and immigrants in using information sources. news outlets were the most relied on information sources for both subgroups at both time points. at time 1, 51.9% of the immigrants and 50.6% of the canadian20 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 born population mainly accessed information from news outlets. the difference was larger at time 2 (53% vs. 49.9%). regarding social media use, immigrants (16.8%) were about twice as likely as the canadian-born population (8.3%) to use social media at time 1. at time 2, immigrants (11.6%) still predominated the use of social media compared to the canadian-born population (9.4%), yet the difference narrowed. more details are shown in figure 8. figure 7. use of news outlets and social media, by age group figure 8. main information sources, by immigration status 21 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 prevalence of poor self-perceived mental health this section examined the percentage of canadians reporting poor spmh and demographic differences. at time 1, 18.6% of canadians reported poor spmh as compared to 16.3% at time 2, suggesting a slight betterment of canadians’ self-perceived mental health. figure 9 presents the prevalence of poor spmh by gender. females were more likely to report poor mental health than males. at time 1, 21.4% of females and 15.6% of males reported poor mental health. these rates dropped to 19% and 13.5% respectively for females and males at time 2 while the difference was slightly smaller. figure 9. poor self-perceived mental health, by gender. in figure 10, the rates of reporting poor mental health decreased with age at time 1. those aged 15 to 24 (33.3%) were most likely to have poor spmh, whereas those aged 75 and over were least likely (2.2%). in contrast, at time 2, individuals aged 25 to 34 surpassed all other age groups with 27.1% reporting poor mental health. four out of seven age groups (except 25 to 34, 45 to 54, and 75+) had a lower rate of poor smph from time 1 to time 2. the difference over time was particularly evident for those aged 15 to 24. poor mental health was reported by 33.3% at time 1 compared to 23.5% at time 2. overall, those aged 55 and over were less likely to report poor mental health than other younger age groups at both time points. 22 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 figure 10. poor self-perceived mental health, by age group figure 11. poor self-perceived mental health, by immigration status as shown in figure 11, immigrants were less likely to report poor spmh than the canadian-born population regardless of the time point. at time 1, 13.2% of the immigrants reported poor spmh as compared to 20.2% of the canadian-born individuals. at time 2, the rates dropped for both subgroups, although the difference was slightly smaller than time 1. associations between sources of information and poor spmh logistic regression model (1) was run separately for time 1 and time 2 to assess the relationships between information sources and poor spmh outcome, after controlling for all covariates. the results are presented in the first two columns of table 2. at time 1, for canadians consulting any source of information, the odds of reporting poor spmh were not significantly different after controlling for covariates. in comparison, at time 2, using six information sources was found to 23 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 be significantly associated with lower odds of reporting poor spmh compared to using social media. specifically, the odds of reporting poor spmh from consulting news outlets (0.55) and provincial health agency (0.51) were approximately halved compared to using social media. those consulting federal health agencies, places of employment, and provincial daily announcements had even lower odds of reporting poor spmh, with odds ratios ranging from 0.30 to 0.43. for the individuals getting information mainly from other sources (schools, colleges, universities), the odds of reporting poor spmh were 86% lower than those using social media. in addition to information sources, the estimation of the regression model in table 2 yields a few other statistically significant variables. results for time 2 are highlighted only if they are different from the ones from time 1. at time 1, the odds of reporting poor spmh significantly decreased with an increase in age. compared with the canadian-born population, the odds that immigrants reported poor spmh were almost halved. having very good or excellent self-rated health, and doing more activities to improve health were significantly associated with lower odds of poor mental health outcome. on the other hand, having more concerns about the impacts of covid-19, unemployment status, and having a high school education significantly increased the odds of reporting poor spmh. compared with those living in single detached houses, the odds of reporting poor spmh for individuals living in high-rise apartments more than doubled. at time 2, the younger age groups 25 to 34, 35 to 44, and 45 to 54 lost significance, whereas the older age groups 55 to 64, 65 to 74, and 75+ remained significant, with older people having lower odds of reporting poor spmh. high school education and unemployment status lost significance. living in low-rise apartments significantly increased odds of poor spmh, and having good self-rated health significantly decreased such odds. the logistic regression analysis did not find a significant difference between females and males in the adjusted odds of poor spmh. this research also assessed the association between checking the accuracy of online information and poor spmh. the variable “checking accuracy” was added to the model, which included five categories: always, often, sometimes, rarely, and never. as data for this variable were only available in cpss4, a logistic regression analysis was performed on a sample of 3,268 records from time 2 only. the results are presented in the last column of table 2. the findings indicated that those always checking the accuracy of online information had 2.72 times lower odds than those checking sometimes, and had 3.46 times lower odds than those who never checked, after other factors were accounted for. table 2. logistic regressions with odds ratios displaying impacts on poor spmh time 1 time 2 time 2 variables (1) odds ratio (1) odds ratio (2) odds ratio information source social media (ref) 1.00 1.00 1.00 news outlets 1.03 (0.17) 0.55 (0.09)* 0.52 (0.09)* federal health agency 1.63 (0.39) 0.30 (0.14)* 0.27 (0.14)* provincial health agency 1.37 (0.32) 0.51 (0.12)* 0.51 (0.13)* municipal health agency 1.21 (0.97) 0.87 (0.38) 0.83 (0.37) federal daily announcement 0.89 (0.22) 0.98 (0.29) 0.96 (0.32) provincial daily announcement 0.79 (0.18) 0.43 (0.11)* 0.39 (0.11)* 24 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 family/friends/colleagues 0.74 (0.29) 1.20 (0.32) 0.94 (0.27) health professionals 2.10 (0.80) 0.58 (0.24) 0.77 (0.34) place of employment 1.64 (0.49) 0.36 (0.14)* 0.30 (0.13)* other 1.06 (0.34) 0.14 (0.10)* 0.18 (0.13) did not look for information 3.07 (1.74) 1.26 (0.44) checking accuracy always (ref) 1.00 often 1.59 (0.29) sometimes 2.72 (0.53)* rarely 1.50 (0.36) never 3.46 (0.97)* gender male (ref) 1.00 1.00 1.00 female 1.24 (0.12) 1.31 (0.15) 1.23 (0.15) age group 15 to 24 (ref) 1.00 1.00 1.00 25 to 34 0.45 (0.09)* 1.27 (0.30) 1.24 (0.32) 35 to 44 0.38 (0.08)* 0.67 (0.17) 0.73 (0.20) 45 to 54 0.22 (0.05)* 0.60 (0.15) 0.67 (0.17) 55 to 64 0.12 (0.03)* 0.27 (0.07)* 0.30 (0.09)* 65 to 74 0.06 (0.02)* 0.16 (0.05)* 0.12 (0.04)* 75+ 0.01 (0.01)* 0.08 (0.04)* 0.07 (0.04)* immigration status canadian-born (ref) 1.00 1.00 1.00 immigrant 0.49 (0.06)* 0.43 (0.07)* 0.49 (0.08)* marital status single/widowed/divorced (ref) 1.00 1.00 1.00 married/common-law 0.76 (0.12) 0.80 (0.14) 0.90 (0.17) education less than high school (ref) 1.00 1.00 1.00 high school 1.53 (0.25)* 0.84 (0.16) 0.78 (0.17) college 1.50 (0.27) 0.96 (0.20) 0.97 (0.22) bachelors 1.21 (0.24) 0.64 (0.15) 0.62 (0.16) advanced 1.14 (0.29) 0.85 (0.23) 0.78 (0.23) employment status employed and at work (ref) 1.00 1.00 1.00 absent not due to covid-19 1.09 (0.26) 0.82 (0.20) 0.82 (0.20) absent due to covid-19 1.05 (0.18) 1.11 (0.33) 1.15 (0.36) not employed 1.47 (0.18)* 1.10 (0.15) 1.06 (0.15) dwelling type single detached house (ref) 1.00 1.00 1.00 low-rise apartment 1.01 (0.17) 1.66 (0.29)* 1.64 (0.31)* high-rise apartment 2.05 (0.37)* 2.04 (0.40)* 1.54 (0.34) other 1.23 (0.16) 0.77 (0.12) 0.72 (0.12) 25 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 household size 1 (ref) 1.00 1.00 1.00 2 0.89 (0.17) 0.91 (0.19) 0.75 (0.17) 3 0.73 (0.15) 0.71 (0.17) 0.57 (0.15) 4 0.73 (0.17) 0.87 (0.24) 0.66 (0.20) 5+ 1.08 (0.30) 1.48 (0.47) 1.27 (0.44) self-rated health poor (ref) 1.00 1.00 1.00 fair 1.77 (0.72) 0.82 (0.34) 1.10 (0.54) good 0.41 (0.16) 0.11 (0.05)* 0.15 (0.07)* very good 0.13 (0.05)* 0.04 (0.02)* 0.06 (0.03)* excellent 0.06 (0.03)* 0.01 (0.00)* 0.01 (0.00)* precautions 1.06 (0.02) 1.06 (0.03) 1.12 (0.03)* activities 0.79 (0.04)* 0.83 (0.04)* 0.83 (0.04)* concerns 1.03 (0.01)* 1.05 (0.01)* 1.07 (0.01)* constant 1.48 (0.79) 2.59 (1.49) 0.70 (0.47) observations 3862 3795 3268 seeform in parentheses *p<0.01 discussions mental health change over time the current study examined the impacts of covid-19 on mental health among canadians aged 15 and older during march and july 2020. canadians at time 1 reported 18.6% fair or poor selfperceived mental health while time 2 reported 16.3%, with both outcomes being substantially higher than 7.5% revealed by canadian community health survey (2017-2018) (statistics canada, 2019). deterioration of mental health resulting from this pandemic aligns with reports from canada (findley & arim, 2020) and other countries (gao et al., 2020; lee et al., 2021). these findings are consistent with the previous studies that suggest a public health crisis such as h1n1 (lau et al., 2010), ebola (ji et al., 2017; cénat et al., 2020), and sars (mak et al., 2009) can lead to mental health problems. a decline in the rate of poor spmh at time 2 coincided with the decrease in the 7-day average of covid-19 new case number in canada, and with provinces announcing plans for reopening (office of the premier, 2020). it could also be due to the mental health interventions undertaken by the government and organizations. on april 15, 2020 the federal government launched wellness together canada to support mental wellness (health canada, 2020). a group of existing mental health organizations ran this platform to help canadians find credible information and obtain professional support. moreover, the centre for addiction and mental health (2020) provided mental health information sheets and coping tips for the public and health care providers. mental health information was also available through the mental health commission of canada and kids help phone, among others. these interventions may help address mental health issues, thus lowering the proportion of individuals reporting poor spmh. despite a slight improvement, it is still of utmost importance to monitor canadians’ mental health as the pandemic is far from over yet. 26 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 influencing factors of poor spmh information sources social media is one of the main channels to get updates on covid-19. this study found that about 10% of canadians used social media as their main information source. using social media correlated with higher adjusted odds of poor spmh than other six information sources. these effects became significant when canadians were five months into the pandemic. previous studies from other countries have revealed that frequent social media exposure is a predictor of mental health problems (feder et al. 2020; gao et al., 2020; li et al., 2021; ni et al., 2020). to my knowledge, the present study is the first longitudinal study of determinants of mental health that compares the effects of social media and other information sources during covid-19. the findings from this research has added canadian evidence that it is critical to select credible information sources to support mental health and wellbeing. additionally, frequently checking the accuracy of information on the internet is essential to lower the risk of having poor mental health. government agencies, mental health associations or organizations, and libraries can play a role in strengthening public education about covid-19 information literacy. as defined by the american library association (1989), “information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.” the focus of public education would be to develop public awareness of how to search and evaluate pandemicrelated information for credibility and authority. public education may take many forms such as posters, workshops, radio/tv programs, or web pages providing useful resources. particularly, this research found that females, immigrants, and those aged 25-34 were the demographic subgroups more likely to use social media at both time points. hence, it is important to increase their awareness of the type of information available on social media. misinformation and negative feelings expressed on social media are contagious. staying away from such information will be beneficial to their mental health. demographic factors older people faced increased risk of severe illness from covid-19 and had a higher mortality rate than younger people (yanez et al., 2020; mallapaty, 2020). nevertheless, this research found that persons aged 55 years or older had a strikingly lower likelihood of poor spmh than those aged 15 to 24 at both time points. this result is consistent with other research showing the association between younger age and greater mental health problems during the pandemic (huang & zhao, 2020; zhou et al., 2020; thomas et al., 2020; smith et al., 2020). there may be several reasons explaining this association. on one hand, emotional experience improves with age. older people have more positive overall emotional well-being and greater emotional stability than younger people (carstensen et al., 2011). the coping behaviours also play a significant role in developing resilience among older people, for example, religious coping in disasters such as a flood (cherry et al., 2021), and positive coping during the covid-19 pandemic (minahan et al., 2021). moreover, older people have psychosocial strengths derived from life reflection, adaptive use of personal memory, and generativity (lind et al., 2021). on the other hand, some changes due to the pandemic may disproportionately affect younger people and have a stronger negative effect on their mental health (e.g., cancellation of in-person classes, reduced social interactions due to school closures, diminishing summer/part-time job opportunities). it is important to note that only 13.07% of the sample are aged 65 to 74 and 3.85% are aged 75 and 27 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 over. the cpss was not conducted in long-term care residences where 70 years and older were found to have higher age-specific case fatality rates (public health ontario, 2021), or in remote areas with low population density. these factors need to be considered when interpreting the results from this study. immigration status demonstrated a consistent effect on mental health at both time points. poor spmh was significantly lower among immigrants than the canadian-born population. despite different measures used to examine mental health, this finding is consistent with previous canadian studies (ali, 2002; akhtar-danesh & landeen, 2007; lou & beaujot, 2005; menezes et al., 2011; schaffer et al., 2009). this could be partially explained by migration resilience, which is regarded as “successful outcomes to the serious threats towards adaptation and development” (akbar & preston, 2019, p.11). immigrants are confronted with a wide range of challenges associated with the settlement and integration process (akbar & preston, 2019). the stressors to their mental health include unemployment or underemployment, lack of community-belonging and social support, discrimination/racism, and more (salami et al., 2017). immigrants may have developed resilience as they try every means to settle and develop in canada. hence, they have considerable strength to cope better despite the adversities of the pandemic. therefore, more mental health intervention needs to be given to the canadian-born population. despite a lower rate of poor spmh among immigrants, it is noteworthy to point out that the current pandemic may affect immigrants in a unique way. addressing the mental health issue among immigrants is also important. regardless of covid-19, immigrants have experienced difficulties accessing health care services which causes emotional problems (robert & gilkinson, 2012). during the pandemic, due to lack of translated information about covid-19, immigrants with limited english proficiency may find it harder to access credible information themselves, or navigate the healthcare system to get help from professionals. this research also found that having more covid-related concerns was a significant factor of poorer mental health, which is consistent with thomas et al. (2020). the improvement of selfrated health condition significantly accompanied the decreased odds of poor mental health, as supported by gao et al. (2020). engagements in healthy activities (like meditation, exercising indoors, exercising outdoors, communication with family and friends, and changing food choices) would help reduce the risk of poor mental health. these factors should be taken into consideration for effective mental health intervention during the current pandemic. limitations some limitations should be noted in this study. first, in the current digital world, it is common that news organizations, public health agencies, and governments impart pandemic-related information to the public through social media for a broader readership. they normally post such information on their websites and provide links to that information on their social media sites. in cpss1 and cpss4, the question about one’s main source of covid-19 information did not specify that a respondent should select news outlets if they obtained the same information linked through social media, for example, a cbc news’ facebook post or twitter feed. thus, there was no way of knowing which category a respondent selected in such a situation. this type of measurement error may affect estimates in this research. second, this research uses self-perceived mental health measures and some subjective control variables (self-rated health, respondent’s perception of concerns). reporting errors may occur due to non-objectivity. cultural differences are found to be correlated with respondents’ 28 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 willingness to report their own mental health state. some immigrants may feel ashamed to have mental health issues and prefer not to disclose their status to others to avoid stigma (salami et al., 2017). thus, the prevalence of poor mental health among immigrants could have been underreported in this research. third, due to limitations of the cpss1 and cpss4 data, many influencing factors of mental health are unexamined, such as income, pre-existing chronic diseases, self or loved ones testing positive for covid-19, and having a history of mental health problems. the logistic regression analysis does not examine the time spent or frequency of using social media as in ni et al. (2020), gao et al. (2020) and feder et al. (2020), nor does it explore an array of social media platforms as in ahmad and murad (2020). moreover, only two points in time are available for longitudinal analysis. the results are representative of the study period being relatively early during the covid-19 period. more research is essential as we are still processing the pandemic one year later. conclusion using two cpss datasets, this study provides a longitudinal analysis of canadians’ mental health during march and july 2020, focusing on the information sources canadians used and their associations with poor self-perceived mental health. the logistic regression results revealed that at time 2 (july 2020), using social media was significantly associated with higher adjusted odds of poor mental health than using six other information sources, including news outlets, federal health agencies, provincial health agencies, provincial daily announcements, places of employment, and other sources (schools, colleges, universities). participants who always checked the accuracy of online information had significantly lower odds of poor self-perceived mental health than those who sometimes or never checked. these findings suggested that public education would be needed to improve canadians’ abilities to select and evaluate covid-19 information for credibility and authority. despite a decline in the prevalence of poor selfperceived mental health over time, continued attention should be paid to monitor and improve canadians’ mental health as the pandemic is far from over yet. further research efforts can seek to examine the factors that may influence the individual choices of these information sources, the effects of specific social media networks on one’s mental health, and the evolving patterns of canadians’ information seeking behaviours over a longer period. acknowledgements the author would like to thank lenka mach, senior methodologist at the data analysis resource centre of statistics canada, who provided valuable guidance in the statistical analysis part of this paper. however, the author takes full responsibility for all analysis and interpretation of the data. the author is also grateful to the editors and peer reviewers for their thoughtful comments that helped revise and improve the manuscript. 29 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 endnote 1 when discussing gender-based differences, this article discusses males and females only. this is because the data sets consulted in the research only had data for these two genders. while gender is non-binary, some data does not yet reflect this. references ahmad, a. r., & murad, h. r. 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(2009). differences in prevalence and treatment of bipolar disorder among immigrants: results from an epidemiologic survey. canadian journal of psychiatry. 54(11), 734–742. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370905401103 smith, l., jacob, l., yakkundi, a., mcdermott, d., armstrong, n. c., barnett, y., lópezsánchez, g. f., martin, s., butler, l., & tully, m. a. (2020). correlates of symptoms of anxiety and depression and mental wellbeing associated with covid-19: a crosssectional study of uk-based respondents. psychiatry research, 291, article 113138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113138 statistics canada. (2019). canadian community health survey, 2017-2018: annual component [public use microdata file]. https://odesi.ca/#/details?uri=/odesi/cchs-82m0013-e2017-2018-annual-component.xml statistics canada. (2020a, april 8). canadian perspectives survey series (cpss). https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2sv.pl?function=getsurvey&sdds=5311 statistics canada. (2020b). canadian perspectives survey series (cpss) series 1: impacts of covid-19 [public use microdata file]. https://odesi.ca/#/details?uri=/odesi/cpss-5311e-2020-impact.xml statistics canada. (2020c). canadian perspectives survey series (cpss) series 4: information sources consulted during the pandemic [public use microdata file]. https://odesi.ca/#/details?uri=/odesi/cpss-5311-e-2020-sources.xml statistics canada. (2020d). analytical guide canadian perspectives survey series 1: impacts of covid-19. https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/statisticalprograms/document/5311_d1_v1 statistics canada. (2020e). analytical guide canadian perspectives survey series 4: information sources consulted during the pandemic. https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/statistical-programs/document/5311_d4_v1 tasnim, s., hossain, m. m., & mazumder, h. (2020). impact of rumors and misinformation on covid-19 in social media. journal of preventive medicine and public health, 53(3), 171–174. https://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.20.094 36 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/migration/ircc/english/pdf/research-stats/mental-health.pdf https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/migration/ircc/english/pdf/research-stats/mental-health.pdf https://policywise.com/wp-content/uploads/resources/2017/04/2017-04apr-27-scientific-report-15sm-salamihegadoren.pdf https://policywise.com/wp-content/uploads/resources/2017/04/2017-04apr-27-scientific-report-15sm-salamihegadoren.pdf https://policywise.com/wp-content/uploads/resources/2017/04/2017-04apr-27-scientific-report-15sm-salamihegadoren.pdf https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370905401103 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113138 https://odesi.ca/#/details?uri=/odesi/cchs-82m0013-e-2017-2018-annual-component.xml https://odesi.ca/#/details?uri=/odesi/cchs-82m0013-e-2017-2018-annual-component.xml https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2sv.pl?function=getsurvey&sdds=5311 https://odesi.ca/#/details?uri=/odesi/cpss-5311-e-2020-impact.xml https://odesi.ca/#/details?uri=/odesi/cpss-5311-e-2020-impact.xml https://odesi.ca/#/details?uri=/odesi/cpss-5311-e-2020-sources.xml https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/statistical-programs/document/5311_d1_v1 https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/statistical-programs/document/5311_d1_v1 https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/statistical-programs/document/5311_d4_v1 https://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.20.094 sources of covid-19 information seeking the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36193 thomas, j., barbato, m., verlinden, m., gaspar, c., moussa, m., ghorayeb, j., menon, a., figueiras, m. j., arora, t., & bentall, r. p. (2020). psychosocial correlates of depression and anxiety in the united arab emirates during the covid-19 pandemic. frontiers in psychiatry, 11, article 564172. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.564172 vogel l., & eggertson l. (2020, june 12). covid-19: a timeline of canada’s first-wave response. cmaj news. https://cmajnews.com/2020/06/12/coronavirus-1095847/ wang, m. p., wang, x., lam, t. h., viswanath, k., & chan, s. s. (2013). health information seeking partially mediated the association between socioeconomic status and self-rated health among hong kong chinese. plos one, 8(12), article e82720. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0082720 wang, c., pan, r., wan, x., tan, y., xu, l., ho, c. s., & ho, r. c. (2020). immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (covid-19) epidemic among the general population in china. international journal of environmental research and public health, 17(5), article 1729. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051729 world health organization. (2018, march 30). mental health: strengthening our response. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-ourresponse yanez, n. d., weiss, n. s., romand, j.-a., & treggiari, m. m. (2020). covid-19 mortality risk for older men and women. bmc public health, 20(1), article 1742. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09826-8 yoon, j., huang, h., & kim, s. (2017). trends in health information-seeking behaviour in the u.s. foreign-born population based on the health information national trends survey, 2005—2014. information research, 22(3). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1156403.pdf zhou, m., & guo, w. (2021). subjective distress about covid-19 and its social correlates: empirical evidence from hubei province of china. journal of affective disorders, 289(complete), 46–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.04.026 zhou, y., macgeorge, e. l., & myrick, j. g. (2020). mental health and its predictors during the early months of the covid-19 pandemic experience in the united states. international journal of environmental research and public health, 17(17), article 6315. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176315 yanli li (yli@wlu.ca) is the business and economics librarian at wilfrid laurier university. she holds a ph.d. in economics from renmin university of china, and master of library and information studies (mlis) from the university of british columbia. her research interests lie within academic librarianship and information seeking behaviours. 37 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.564172 https://cmajnews.com/2020/06/12/coronavirus-1095847/ https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0082720 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051729 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09826-8 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1156403.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.04.026 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176315 mailto:yli@wlu.ca introduction research context and objectives literature review health information-seeking and outcomes mental health impacts of covid-19 models of determinants of mental health data and methodology data sources analytical techniques measures poor self-perceived mental health (poor spmh) information source (infosource) covariates demographic indicators socio-economic indicators psycho-behavioural indicators results main information sources canadians consulted regarding covid-19 prevalence of poor self-perceived mental health associations between sources of information and poor spmh discussions mental health change over time influencing factors of poor spmh information sources demographic factors limitations conclusion acknowledgements endnote references librarians as chief diversity officers in american universities: a clinical librarian’s experience the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41252 librarians as chief diversity officers in american universities: a clinical librarian’s experience wanda s. thomas, mercer university school of medicine, usa abstract this article concerns a clinical librarian's work as a chief diversity officer to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) in healthcare and medical education at an american university. the need for healthcare professionals to have access to resources that can assist them with providing equitable care to all patients grows in tandem with the increasing significance of dei in healthcare. these resources can only be provided by medical librarians. medical librarians are uniquely positioned to provide these resources. from a unique perspective, a librarian serving as chief diversity officer for a multi-campus medical school in the united states can help ensure that these resources are culturally responsive and appropriate for diverse patient populations. this article discusses the benefits of appointing a clinical librarian as a chief diversity officer (cdo), promoting and increasing awareness of dei issues through library resources, and the potential for creating more inclusive healthcare information. keywords: chief diversity officer; clinical librarian; medical librarian; workplace initiatives publication type: report from the field introduction he role of a librarian has traditionally been that of a guardian of knowledge and sharer of information. the librarian’s role has evolved from supportive to collaborative (mcadoo, 2022); however, there has been a growing recognition of the librarian as a key figure in promoting diversity and inclusion in libraries and universities in recent years. some libraries and universities have even appointed librarians as chief diversity officers (cdos) to lead efforts in this area. as medical education and healthcare organizations prioritize diversity and inclusion initiatives, appointing a clinical librarian as cdo can offer a uniquely valuable perspective. promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) according to tullis and kowalske (2021), students from underrepresented groups frequently experience marginalization and exclusion at predominantly white college campuses, which negatively impacts their mental health and academic performance. to resolve this issue, schools and colleges should establish a climate where all feel esteemed and included. institutions can offer training and support to faculty and staff on becoming influential allies and create safe spaces for students from underrepresented groups. developing a diversity plan can be the first step in achieving diversity leadership across multiple campuses. the plan should include specific goals and strategies for recruiting and retaining a diverse staff and student body, and it should also include measures for assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of diversity initiatives. the t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi librarians as chief diversity officers the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41252 2 plan should also identify potential barriers to diversity and include strategies for overcoming these barriers. depending on institution size, there are generally three kinds of diversity officers: cdos who report directly to the president or dean, senior diversity officers who report to everyone above the dean, and diversity officers who report to all senior-level administrators (banerji, 2005). diversity training and recruitment ensure that all members of the medical school community have the tools needed to promote diversity and inclusion. diversity training for faculty, staff, and students across all campuses covers implicit bias, microaggression, and cultural competency. providing staff and students with diversity training is essential for achieving meaningful and effective diversity leadership across the university. this training can create a more inclusive campus environment and improve the overall climate across disciplines, schools, and campuses, extending to the workforce as students graduate. lack of diversity in the physician workforce contributes to health disparities; thus, diversity training and recruiting diverse students is critical (aibana et al., 2019). implementing effective communication strategies is crucial for achieving diverse leadership across a university. various communication strategies, including newsletters, social media, and email updates, keep staff and students informed about diversity initiatives and opportunities for engagement. regularly scheduled meetings and conferences that bring together staff and students from all campuses can promote multi-campus communication and collaboration. medical librarians medical librarians are crucial in supporting clinical research by providing expertise in information management, database searching, and research methodology. in addition, they support and train patients through education. medical librarians can access health information that is trustworthy and simple to understand. medical librarians also develop patient education materials and programs tailored to specific patients and health conditions. librarians promote health literacy by helping patients navigate the complex american healthcare system and access reliable health information. medical librarians also provide training and support to healthcare professionals in communicating effectively with patients of all ethnicities to improve health outcomes. several examples of successful integration of libraries, librarians, and those with library experience appointed as cdos. for example, michigan state university’s library appointed an associate dean of diversity in 2021. the librarian was charged with strengthening the university library’s commitment by promoting equal access to information and spaces for all (morgan, 2021). similarly, western illinois university named a music librarian the founding diversity officer in january 2023 (university communications, 2023). princeton university library also appointed an inaugural librarian for dei (the trustees of princeton university, 2022). this individual is working to evolve the library into a digitally and physically welcoming place that represents diversity (office of library communications, 2022). several global library associations and institutions prioritize diversity and inclusion in their work. the international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla) promotes diversity and inclusion in libraries worldwide (ifla, n.d.). the australian library and information association (alia) supports inclusive library services across australia (alia, 2018). the canadian federation of library associations (cfla) commits to promoting social justice and diversity and https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index librarians as chief diversity officers the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41252 3 provides resources to achieve goals related to equity (morin, 2023). south africa promotes a welcoming environment for people of all backgrounds (kosciejew, 2020). library systems in the united states have incorporated cultural competence and diversity into policy; this emergence raises the possibility of international relevance (blackburn, 2015). the population in australia is diverse, and there is a need for the library staff to understand the needs and norms of a diverse population. australian libraries are undertaking provisions for diverse populations, yet the workforce is homogenous (blackburn, 2015). the canadian association of research libraries (carl) is the national voice of canada’s university library system, and two federal institutions hired a visiting program officer (vpo) whose focus is on dei. this inaugural position supports and plans initiatives to recruit and retain diverse library staff and create welcoming and inclusive services in research libraries (morin, 2023). a medical librarian’s experience in my experience as a clinical librarian and cdo, i am working to promote diversity awareness in medical education. i started my library career as a library assistant in an academic library and continued working in several access services positions. after many years of working in access services, i attended library school part-time. as a staff member in a library with limited staffing, i taught bibliographic instruction classes to incoming first-year students and provided literature searches for faculty, staff, and students. for many years at this university library, my role changed with the technological changes within our library system. the library joined an integrated library system (ils) that propelled seasoned librarians into the 21st century. i was given additional roles as circulation systems manager, and i learned to set up semester-long calendars and due dates, as well as how to update student records. during staff shortages, i continuously worked in all library areas. over the course of more than 20 years at this university library, my role advanced to access services manager. in this role, i oversaw electronic reserves, stacks, and interlibrary loan departments. a few months after finishing library school, my role advanced to a professional position as a reference librarian. after only a few weeks in the position, i secured a medical librarian position at a medical school. as a clinical librarian, i continued to support research and manage staff, but instead of literature searches and bibliographic classes in an academic university atmosphere, i was now helping physicians, nurses, and medical students navigate complicated health information resources and evidence-based practice. diversity leadership at the medical school was a work in progress. institutions prioritizing diversity in leadership are crucial to successful diversity initiatives (stanford, 2020). in early 2019, the school’s dean recommended restructuring the diversity office to add a dean of diversity. i applied for the position and was awarded an assistant dean of diversity position that would help with multi-campus diversity issues. during the covid-19 pandemic, university leadership restructured several departments campus-wide. campus libraries took a deep cut in staffing, with librarians taking on added responsibilities. after working for one year as an assistant dean, i was appointed to a new position as cdo and senior director of the underrepresented in medicine (urim). the restructuring added urim directors on all three campuses. the result would be a team supporting and implementing diversity initiatives, adding more members to the diversity committee, and representing diversity efforts on all three campuses. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index librarians as chief diversity officers the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41252 4 one of the successes of restructuring to incorporate all three campuses is that everyone can simultaneously participate in diversity training and cultural education activities. adding a diversity office on each campus with a urim supports students within the office of student affairs. these individuals engender trust. each urim director impacts the institutional environment with traits of change agents, such as trust and communication skills, and they are also future-focused (parker & trolian, 2020). a review of the diversity action plan and climate survey addressed concerns of civility, belonging, and microaggressions. a plan to address these concerns through diversity programming on each campus ensued, including a diversity representative in all departmental committees, leadership meetings, curriculum decision-making, strategic planning, and admissions. as a department, the office of diversity scheduled meet-and-greets on all three campuses. during the meet and greets, the university's cdo, the director of diversity initiatives, and the campus director of urim met at lunch to discuss diversity initiatives with leadership, students, faculty, and staff. this meeting gave the diversity team visibility and an opportunity to discuss making the campus more welcoming, where students are respected and treated fairly. during first-year medical student (ms1) orientation, the diversity office facilitates an anti-racism program. the program includes a presentation about the structure of the diversity office, a student-led discussion on the book fatal invention: how science, politics, and big business recreate race in the twenty-first century by dorothy roberts (2012), and an announcement of the diversity theme for the year. the diversity theme for 2022 was “civility matters.” all ms1 and graduate program students received a civility matters t-shirt and lapel pin during the year. faculty, staff, and campus students also received “civility matters” pins. the theme highlighted ways to better interact with one another to prevent disrespectful behaviors in interactions with professors and leadership and in clinical settings. civility is being constantly aware of others and respecting those different from us (forni, 2002). the theme for 2023 is "inclusivity matters." the diversity office also distributed t-shirts to all ms1 and graduate program students. the inclusivity theme highlights belonging, which is intentional inclusivity (richardson-melecio, 2022). medical education is a transformative journey that shapes future health professionals. exposure to diverse backgrounds enhances students' ability to understand and address different communities' unique healthcare challenges. belonging and inclusion is feeling accepted, valued, and respected in a community. when students feel included and belong, it can lead to a positive learning experience (richardson-melecio, 2022). advocates question how effective cdos will be in higher education (gose, 2006). after restructuring the office of diversity, the primary challenges are shifting the mindset and climate of all three campuses, student loyalty to prior leadership, updating the diversity strategic plan to measurable outcomes and tangible actions, and gaining the trust of urim and all students. campus climate refers to the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of institutional members at colleges and universities (parker & trolian, 2020). mindset shifts are most effective when they lead to tangible actions. shifting mindsets about diversity requires education and a commitment to change. a series of diversity town halls and educational presentations on microaggressions, implicit bias, inclusivity, civility, belonging, social determinants of health, and health equity engage conversations and https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index librarians as chief diversity officers the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41252 5 expand understanding of diversity on each campus. educating the campus is a focal point and role of a cdo (parker & trolian, 2020). incorporating measurable outcomes and a tangible action approach to diversity strategic planning enhances accountability and transparency, and it also measures the overall effectiveness in an inclusive environment. diversity officers guide higher educational institutions in examining how to understand diversity better and their commitment to creating spaces to engage strategic diversity goals (magnus et al., 2023). when institutions change diversity leadership, students loyal to prior diversity strategies may experience uncertainty and apprehension. loyalty to previous leadership emerges from positive experiences, trust, and alignment with implemented initiatives. this loyalty is not harmful, and it represents a desire for stability. new diversity leadership may encounter resistance when students feel the strategies may be replaced and question the motives behind the change. utilizing open and transparent communication through the yearly meet and greets on each campus to clearly articulate the reasons for the changes resolved uncertainty. involving students in shaping the direction of diversity initiatives to address their concerns in monthly diversity committee meetings enhanced transparency with all students. a key benefit of having a librarian serving as cdo is that they bring a unique perspective and skill set to the role. librarians' training to be excellent researchers and curators of information is essential when it comes to identifying and addressing issues of diversity and inclusion. librarians have experience working with a wide range of patrons, including those from diverse backgrounds, giving them a unique understanding of the challenges and opportunities in creating an inclusive library environment. serving as cdo has allowed me to use my librarian skill set to train others about diversity. throughout the year, the diversity office serves in every aspect of the school with diverse representation on all committees, departmental meetings, leadership meetings, and admission interviews. using the training i learned in library school ensures that all diversity presentations contain valid and relevant information. a librarian with a vast knowledge of resources and research expertise is vital to enhancing the skillset needed as a diversity officer. librarian training helps identify a cdo's critical responsibilities and functions, develop cultural awareness competencies, research and recognize unconscious biases, and present findings to train others about cross-cultural understanding and sensitivity. the position of cdo owes its lineage to its more controversial predecessors, including minority affairs officers, equal opportunity officers, and the once-legal affirmative action officer (banerji, 2005). organizations in today's rapidly evolving educational landscape often undergo significant transformations to adapt to change and accreditation demands. to enhance efficiency, organizational restructuring can lead to positive outcomes and unintended consequences, particularly related to dei. library resources medical libraries create welcoming spaces by providing resources that reflect patrons' cultural diversity. as society evolves, library resources will be essential in embracing and celebrating diversity. as chair of the diversity committee, i meet with faculty, staff, and students monthly to improve the school's climate and experiences. during one of our monthly meetings, a student https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index librarians as chief diversity officers the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41252 6 expressed concern and suggested including diverse images of skin rashes as a resource that will help in the classroom. images in textbooks used in medical schools and conferences do not show patients of color in medical school educational materials (nolen, 2020). to resolve this issue, our medical library highlighted diversity resources on its homepage (fuentes et al., 2020) by listing resources such as taylor and kelly’s dermatology for skin of color (kelly et al., 2016), transgender and gender diverse health care: the fenway guide (keuroghlian et al., 2022), medical management of vulnerable and underserved patients: principles, practice, and populations (king et al., 2016), and emotion in the clinical encounter (schwartz et al., 2021). additionally, resources such as visualdx+dermexpert skin of color sort, a point-of-care tool containing an extensive medical image library reflecting disease on all skin types, help diagnose patients with darker skin types. relying on libraries and librarians to identify, organize, and provide access to high-quality, understandable health information can make accessing medical resources more sustainable (whitney et al., 2017). inclusive healthcare information diverse collection development requires continuous evaluation and improvement in assessing the resources' relevance, accuracy, and effectiveness. incorporating culturally competent resources is essential and should represent various dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic background. medical librarians can establish partnerships with healthcare organizations, community health partners, and local clinics to gather input on resource development. librarians' backgrounds in information literacy equips them to address misinformation, biases, and stereotypes that might hinder the progress toward inclusivity. the covid-19 pandemic brought to light the health disparities in american society, and libraries were crucial to addressing these issues (louis-jean et al., 2020). librarians worked to make their services and resources available to everyone in the community, even to those who might not have had access to technology (williment, 2019). underserved communities can be supported through outreach and creating programs and services that foster a more diverse and inclusive environment, including removing access barriers. empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their healthcare is more critical after covid-19 (louis-jean et al., 2020). by ensuring health information is inclusive of all demographics, we can bridge information gaps and address disparities. inclusive health information helps everyone understand their condition and encourages patients to actively participate in their health journey. discussion while specific attributes and types of expertise needed in cdos will vary, the integration of clinical librarians as cdos has several key competencies that enable them to collaborate and extend their influence across the institution (pihakis et al., 2019). however, there are also opportunities for growth and development. by appointing a clinical librarian as cdo, healthcare organizations can demonstrate their commitment to diversity and inclusion and improve the quality of care provided to patients from diverse backgrounds. information professionals are an asset to health literacy, which can lead to better health outcomes and health equity. libraries and librarians are excellent resources for advancing practice and health literacy (whitney et al., 2017). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index librarians as chief diversity officers the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41252 7 librarians, as information professionals and stewards of knowledge, are uniquely positioned to take on the responsibilities of cdos within library settings and outside of the library setting. integrating librarians into cdo roles marks a progressive step towards fostering diversity and inclusion within institutions. their unique blend of skills, including resource curation, university engagement, and information literacy, positions librarians to effect transformative change. by embracing this trend, institutions benefit librarians and send a powerful message about the importance of diversity in shaping the future of education and organizational culture. ultimately, this collaboration has the potential to create more open, equitable, and inclusive institutions that celebrate and value differences. conclusion in conclusion, librarians have a unique role in promoting diversity and inclusion in their communities. through their collections, programming, outreach efforts, and staffing practices, librarians can create welcoming spaces that reflect the diversity of their communities (colibaba & skinner, 2019). they can contribute to developing a society that is more just and equitable for all by doing so. achieving diversity leadership across multiple campuses in different cities requires a comprehensive and intentional approach that prioritizes communication, technology, and training. by developing a comprehensive diversity plan, implementing effective communication strategies, embracing technology, encouraging diversity in leadership, and providing diversity training, institutions can create a culture of inclusivity and equity that benefits staff and students across a multi-campus environment (dawson & cuevas, 2019). achieving diversity leadership across multiple campuses in different cities can be challenging, but it is essential for creating a culture of inclusivity and equity within an organization. references aibana, o., swails, j. l., flores, r. j., & love, l. (2019). bridging the gap: holistic review to increase diversity in graduate medical education. academic medicine, 94(8), 1137– 1141. https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000002779 australia library and information association (2018). statement on public library services. https://read.alia.org.au/statement-public-library-services banerji, s. (2005). diversity officers — coming to a campus near you? diverse issues in higher education. https://www.diverseeducation.com/facultystaff/article/15081277/diversity-officers-coming-to-a-campus-near-you blackburn, f. (2015). ‘cultural competence is for everyone’: cultural competence in the united states library and information sector. is it relevant to australian libraries? australian academic & research libraries, 46(3), 176–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048623.2015.1063800 canadian association of research libraries (carl). (2023, january 18). call for expressions of interest—carl visiting program officer for equity, diversity, and inclusion. canadian https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000002779 https://read.alia.org.au/statement-public-library-services https://www.diverseeducation.com/faculty-staff/article/15081277/diversity-officers-coming-to-a-campus-near-you https://www.diverseeducation.com/faculty-staff/article/15081277/diversity-officers-coming-to-a-campus-near-you https://doi.org/10.1080/00048623.2015.1063800 librarians as chief diversity officers the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41252 8 association of research libraries. https://www.carl-abrc.ca/news/call-for-expressionsof-interest-carl-visiting-program-officer-for-equity-diversity-and-inclusion/ colibaba, a., & skinner, m. w. (2019). rural public libraries as contested spaces of older voluntarism in ageing communities. journal of rural studies, 70, 117–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.08.007 dawson, b. l., & cuevas, j. a. (2019). an assessment of intergroup dynamics at a multi-campus university: one university, two cultures. studies in higher education, 45(6), 1047–1063. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1628198 forni, p. m. (2002). choosing civility: the twenty-five rules of considerate conduct. st. martin’s griffin. fuentes, m. a., zelaya, d. g., & madsen, j. w. (2020). rethinking the course syllabus: considerations for promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion. teaching of psychology, 48(1), 69–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628320959979 gose, b. (2006, september 29). the rise of the chief diversity officer. the chronicle of higher education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-rise-of-the-chief-diversity-officer/ international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla). (n.d.). our vision and mission. https://www.ifla.org/vision-mission/ kelly, a. p., taylor, s. c., lim, h. w., & serrano, a. m. a. (2016). taylor and kelly’s dermatology for skin of color (2nd ed.). mcgraw-hill education. https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookid=2585#211763151 keuroghlian, a. s., potter, j., & resiner, s. l. (2022). transgender and gender diverse healthcare: the fenway guide. mcgraw hill. https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookid=3104 king, t. e., & wheeler, m. b. (2016). chapter 1: vulnerable populations, health disparities, and health equity: an overview. in medical management of vulnerable and underserved patients: principles, practice, and populations. essay, mcgraw hill education. kosciejew, m. (2020). public libraries and the un 2030 agenda for sustainable development. ifla journal, 46(4), 328–346. https://doi.org/10.1177/0340035219898708 louis-jean, j., cenat, k., njoku, c. v., angelo, j., & sanon, d. (2020). coronavirus (covid-19) and racial disparities: a perspective analysis. journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 7, 1039–1045. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00879-4 magnus, a. m., coutin, s. b., & leslie, f. (2023). doing diversity work in higher education: systemic inequality, institutional change, and campus attitudes. equity in education & society, 0(0), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/27526461231174625 mcadoo, m. l. (2022). what do reference librarians do now? evidence based library and information practice, 17(3), 54–76. https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip30129 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.carl-abrc.ca/news/call-for-expressions-of-interest-carl-visiting-program-officer-for-equity-diversity-and-inclusion/ https://www.carl-abrc.ca/news/call-for-expressions-of-interest-carl-visiting-program-officer-for-equity-diversity-and-inclusion/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.08.007 https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1628198 https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628320959979 https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-rise-of-the-chief-diversity-officer/ https://www.ifla.org/vision-mission/ https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookid=2585#211763151 https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookid=3104 https://doi.org/10.1177/0340035219898708 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00879-4 https://doi.org/10.1177/27526461231174625 https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip30129 librarians as chief diversity officers the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41252 9 morgan, c. h. (2021, october 27). msu libraries name alexandra rivera associate dean for diversity, inclusion & organizational development. msu libraries. https://blogs.lib.msu.edu/news-msu-libraries/2021/oct/msu-libraries-name-alexandrarivera-associate-dean-diversity-inclusion nolen, l. (2020). how medical education is missing the bull’s-eye. the new england journal of medicine, 382(26), 2489–2491. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmp1915891 parker, e. t., & trolian, t. l. (2020). student perceptions of the climate for diversity: the role of student–faculty interactions. journal of diversity in higher education, 13(4), 333– 344. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000132 pihakis, j., paikeday, t. s., & armstrong, k. (2019, july 19). the emergence of the chief diversity officer role in higher education. russell reynolds associates. https://www.russellreynolds.com/en/insights/reports-surveys/the-emergence-of-thechief-diversity-officer-role-in-higher-education richardson-melecio, j. (2022). belonging: intentional inclusivity. new degree press. roberts, d. (2012). fatal invention: how science, politics, and big business re-create race in the twenty-first century. the new press. schwartz, r., hall, j. a., & osterberg, l. g. (2021). emotion in the clinical encounter. mcgraw hill. https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookid=3088 stanford, f. c. (2020). the importance of diversity and inclusion in the healthcare workforce. journal of the national medical association, 112(3), 247–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnma.2020.03.014 the trustees of princeton university. (2022). dr. ufuoma c. abiola named inaugural executive head and associate university librarian for diversity, equity, and inclusion at princeton university library | princeton university library. princeton university. https://library.princeton.edu/news/general/2022-08-16/dr-ufuoma-c-abiola-namedinaugural-executive-head-and-associate-university tullis, k. a., & kowalske, m. g. (2021). the composition of social support networks of urm graduate students at predominantly white institutions. social network analysis and mining, 11, article 90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13278-021-00793-5 university communications. (2023, january 23). wiu libraries name founding diversity officer. western illinois university. http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=18963 whitney, w., keselman, a., & humphreys, b. (2017). libraries and librarians: key partners for progress in health literacy research and practice. information services & use, 37(1), 85–100. https://doi.org/10.3233/isu-170821 williment, k. (2019). it takes a community to create a library. public library quarterly, 39(5), https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://blogs.lib.msu.edu/news-msu-libraries/2021/oct/msu-libraries-name-alexandra-rivera-associate-dean-diversity-inclusion https://blogs.lib.msu.edu/news-msu-libraries/2021/oct/msu-libraries-name-alexandra-rivera-associate-dean-diversity-inclusion https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmp1915891 https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000132 https://www.russellreynolds.com/en/insights/reports-surveys/the-emergence-of-the-chief-diversity-officer-role-in-higher-education https://www.russellreynolds.com/en/insights/reports-surveys/the-emergence-of-the-chief-diversity-officer-role-in-higher-education https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookid=3088 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnma.2020.03.014 https://library.princeton.edu/news/general/2022-08-16/dr-ufuoma-c-abiola-named-inaugural-executive-head-and-associate-university https://library.princeton.edu/news/general/2022-08-16/dr-ufuoma-c-abiola-named-inaugural-executive-head-and-associate-university https://doi.org/10.1007/s13278-021-00793-5 http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=18963 https://doi.org/10.3233/isu-170821 librarians as chief diversity officers the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41252 10 410–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2019.1590757 wanda s. thomas (thomas_ws@mercer.edu) is an assistant professor of library science at mercer university school of medicine in macon, georgia. thomas also serves as chief diversity officer and senior director of underrepresented in medicine, where her primary focus is creating and implementing strategies supporting and retaining a diverse cohort of medical students. by developing and overseeing initiatives that promote inclusivity, wanda thomas plays a central role in dismantling barriers that may hinder the success of underrepresented individuals in the medical field. thomas’s other responsibilities include being a solo clinical reference librarian at atrium health navicent in macon, georgia. she liaises with internal medicine, pediatrics, anesthesiology, and radiology. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2019.1590757 mailto:thomas_ws@mercer.edu introduction promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) medical librarians a medical librarian’s experience library resources inclusive healthcare information discussion conclusion references job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians amelia anderson, old dominion university, usa abstract anecdotal accounts suggest that librarianship is a rewarding career for some autistic adults, though no empirical evidence exists to support such claims. additionally, barriers may exist for autistic librarians, both in job seeking and in on-the-job experiences. as autistic adults are un and underemployed more than their neurotypical peers, it is important to understand the role that libraries can play in supporting their employment. in this qualitative study, ten librarians with graduate degrees, who self-identify as autistic, describe their experiences in job seeking and daily working experiences in the library field through interviews in multiple formats. results indicate issues around disclosure and accessibility, and that librarians thrive when their skills are prioritized and when they feel like they are helping or doing meaningful work. additionally, these librarians find their way into the profession through exposure to libraries and take comfort in working with like-minded people. finally, autistic librarians in this study describe the hope that hiring managers and library supervisors have at least some knowledge and understanding of autism, along with the willingness to learn more. keywords: accessibility; autism; employment publication type: research article introduction ibrarianship claims to be an inclusive field, with a core value of the profession being a commitment to diversity (american library association, 2019). however, it is unclear how this commitment to diversity translates to librarians who are neurodivergent and, more specifically, autistic.1 in this research article, autism, or autism spectrum disorder (asd), is defined as a developmental disability that affects how people think, communicate, and interact with the world (asan, 2021). research into the experience of autistic adults is only meaningful when the results have value for members of the population itself. this study utilized inclusive practices to ensure voices of participants were accurately represented, and that these otherwise unheard stories could be shared, potentially leading to more understanding and acceptance within the profession. in this qualitative study, ten librarians with graduate degrees, who self-identify as autistic, describe their experiences in job seeking and daily working experiences in the library field through interviews in multiple formats. anecdotal and first-person accounts indicate that librarianship is a rewarding career for some autistic individuals (eng, 2017; spectrum, 2017; wyss, 2014); however, many autistic librarians have described difficulties in gaining meaningful entry into the field (lawrence, 2013; tumlin, l https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 2019). while graduate programs in library and information science/studies (lis) prepare students for careers in librarianship, additional barriers may apply for autistic job seekers. these librarians who are otherwise fully prepared through graduate education, are thus often unor underemployed and prevented from developing as professionals or contributing meaningfully to the field. this study explores this phenomenon in greater detail, letting autistic librarians speak about their own job seeking and daily working experiences. literature review employment rates for autistic adults with average-range iq are lower than that of the general adult population (taylor et al., 2015). despite this, many autistic adults are as able to participate in the workforce as their neurotypical peers. particularly for autistic adults with advanced degrees, supports needed within the workforce are not those related to intellectual capability to do the work itself, but more often relate to environmental, personal, communicative, and social aspects of the job. a scoping review found that, as described throughout the literature, the better a job “fit” with an individual’s abilities, preferences, sensory needs, task demands, and social requirements, the more successful an employment experience would be (harmuth et al., 2018). additionally, when the literature described autistic employees as having what may be a “supportive community,” including that of managers and coworkers, “they [were] more likely to have a positive employment experience” (harmuth et al., 2018, p. 36). some businesses implement preferential hiring practices for employees with disabilities; microsoft, for example, has a program that recruits employees with autism specifically (lu, 2020). but some are wary of these practices, suggesting that they dismiss workplace inclusion and “set a low bar for companies… when (hiring workers with disabilities) should be the norm for all industries” (lu, 2020, p. 14). through these programs, autistic workers may find themselves pigeonholed by employers into the types of jobs they are expected to be good at or enjoy. sap, a global software company, started “autism at work” through hiring autistic employees for technology positions. since that time, they realized that autistic employees “had many skills that were suited to roles beyond tech” and expanded the program to include positions across the company (lu, 2020, p. 15). characteristics of autism manifest differently in every person and “there is nothing about how people with asd look that sets them apart from other people” (cdc, 2021). as such, autism is often considered an invisible or hidden disability (hatfield et al., 2017; neely & hunter, 2014). with all disabilities, individuals must often navigate complicated situations in the workplace. for those with invisible or hidden disabilities, issues arise particularly around the topic of disclosure. one systematic review found that some benefits of disclosing for autistic employees include increased acceptance, inclusion, awareness, and opportunity for receiving accommodations, while limitations of disclosing included stigma and discrimination in the workplace (lindsay et al., 2019). in librarianship, one study situated in australia found that job advertisements were more likely than not to include a diversity statement as well as an invitation for applicants with disabilities to apply (muir et al., 2020). despite these invitations, many are still hesitant to disclose. a study of academic librarians with disabilities in canada found that the majority “had not fully disclosed their disabilities at work” and were reluctant to request legal accommodations based on “fear of negative judgments or impacts on their jobs” (oud, 2019, p. 189). librarians with hidden or invisible disabilities may be able to “pass” as abled. while “the decision to pass is not always 39 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 purposeful,” (hollich, 2020, p. 100), this “passing” is often done through consciously masking characteristics of a disability. however, camouflaging autistic traits to fit in within social situations may have negative consequences for an individual’s mental health (cassidy et al., 2019; hull et al., 2019). one study found that autistic adults who camouflaged also had more symptoms of depression (cassidy et al., 2019). as noted by a library researcher with an invisible disability who also studies invisible disabilities, being told that she does “not look disabled,” though framed as a compliment, is “incredibly harmful to those with disabilities and is a form of ableism. it reveals an implicit bias that people with disabilities are somehow deficient or subhuman” (george, 2020. p. 110). in beyond accommodations: creating an inclusive workplace for disabled library workers, schomberg and highby (2020) suggest that librarians “come out” about their disabilities “…if you feel safe to do so. the more people that you talk about your disability, the more people will have to think about the realities of disabled people” (p. 71). however, this disclosure requires an understanding and inclusive workplace in which an employee with an invisible disability such as autism feels accepted. despite increases in prevalence and awareness of autism, there are still damaging stereotypes and stigmatizations of what autism is, and the capabilities of autistic people. this is true in the library field as well. though autism involves a diversity of assignations along a spectrum, and is not always coexistent with intellectual disability, some lis studies point to shelving as the most appropriate library role (lund, 2018; strub & stewart, 2010). while shelving is an appropriate position for some, this point of view fails to take into account those who are autistic and have also successfully completed a graduate degree, which prepares them to be able to work in more higher-level roles. many negative attitudes about autism and autistic individuals persist. in a recent series of studies, non-autistic adults held “negative implicit attitudes toward autistic adults,” which “may help explain why autistic adults report experiences of discrimination” (dickter et al., 2020, p. 145). perhaps to avoid this discrimination, many autistic adults find it easier to try and blend in with their peers, as opposed to disclosing that they are autistic. in the u.k., a survey of 111 autistic adults found that only 7% felt that “society, in general, accepted them as an autistic person,” while another 48% agreed with this statement only “sometimes” (cage, et al., 2018, p. 477). advocates argue that a more accepting, inclusive workplace would remove many of the issues associated with themes of disclosure, accommodations, and camouflaging traits. while autism awareness has become a common phrase, many say work must be done beyond simple awareness, and that autism acceptance is the true goal (bullus & sesterka, 2020). methods drawing from the literature, this study seeks to gain a better understanding of the job seeking and workforce experiences of autistic librarians through asking participants the following research questions: rq1: how do autistic librarians describe their job seeking experiences? rq2: how do autistic librarians describe their daily working environments? rq3: what aspects of work in librarianship are appealing to autistic librarians? 40 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 a qualitative, phenomenological approach is used to describe the job seeking experiences of librarians with a graduate degree. the idea of “re”presentation of individuals on the autism spectrum is explored by bakan (2018) as a method in which to present, but not represent, autistic experiences in research. this method is used here to present the experiences of participants in this study through unedited quotes as provided and verified by participants. this study is based in the social model of disability, which acknowledges all people have differences, and we are disabled largely when presented with environmental and societal barriers that make it such (oliver, 2013). this does not discount the fact that autistic individuals do indeed have a disability, but instead asks us to understand the potential mismatch and limitations between autistic traits and societal expectations. additionally, this study is rooted in the principles of universal design, in which products and environments are designed to be more accessible to all (center for universal design, 1997).2 participants librarians with a master of library and information science (mlis) or similar degree who resided in the u.s., and identified as autistic, were invited to participate in this study through purposive and snowball sampling methods (creswell, 2014; goodman, 1961). employment status was not a factor for participation. through a personal network based on multiple years of working at the intersection of autism and libraries, the researcher asked several participants to share the call for participation with their contacts. a recruitment notice was also posted on public facing facebook sites for librarians interested in neurodiversity or autism. though these sites were not exclusive to librarians working in any particular locality, the majority of their members did appear to be from the u.s. recruitment began with the goal of 10 librarian participants. once ten librarians met the qualifying criteria and chose to participate, the study commenced. data analysis occurred concurrently with participant interviews to ensure theoretical sufficiency was reached and no additional participants were required. as compensation for their time, all participants were provided with $40 gift cards after data collection was complete. table 1. participants participant pseudonym type of workplace title at the time of study interview format abby academic electronic resources librarian text-based document barry academic business librarian zoom (audio and video) brent public public services librarian text-based document claudia school library school librarian text-based document john academic distance services librarian (retired) zoom (audio and video) max academic electronic resources librarian zoom (audio and video) 41 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 steph public local history librarian/archivist zoom (audio and video) susan academic head of area studies zoom (audio and video) thomas public children’s services librarian zoom (audio and video) zachary federal agency library technician/archivist zoom (audio and video) note. table 1 was originally published in anderson, 2021 data collection text semi-structured interviews were conducted with all participants, though method of participation varied. based in principles of universal design for learning (udl), which detail the use of providing options within means of engagement, representation, and action and expression, all participants were given options for responding to interview questions based on individual preference (cast, 2018). these options included an interview over the phone, an interview using audio and video over the videoconferencing platform zoom, an interview using zoom with only text chat (no audio or video), or an interview conducted asynchronously in which the participant responded to questions sent via a written document. options for communicating are important for inclusive research design; this is particularly true for autistic participants for whom diagnostic criteria includes what the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th edition (dsm5) refers to as “persistent deficits” in social communication and interaction (american psychiatric association, 2013). additional accessibility measures were taken based in interviewing best practices, including providing interview questions in advance so that all participants could prepare as necessary. though every person is unique, many autistic adults appreciate knowing what to expect. in an interview situation, “questions that… they hear for the first time may produce anxiety that could limit their ability to think on the spot, and ultimately limit their ability to respond in a way commensurate with their knowledge and experience” (whetzel, n.d.). information provided in advance of an interview helps autistic individuals plan ahead (randstad, 2021), and also contributes to a more universally accessible process. data analysis to make sense of qualitative interview data, this study utilized both the constant comparative approach (strauss & corbin, 1998), as well as a variation of tesch’s (1990) eight-step coding process as utilized through nvivo, a qualitative analysis software product. to begin the coding process, all transcriptions and original documents were read carefully, and initial notes taken. three of the most detailed transcriptions were used to establish underlying meaning of “aboutness,” or subject matter, with topics listed out. topics were compared, and similar topics clustered as codes. these codes were then listed into nvivo. each interview transcript or original document was then imported into and analyzed in nvivo, with text segments categorized according to established codes. particularly descriptive participant responses were coded through the in-vivo process, or using the words of participants in full. codes were analyzed once 42 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 more to determine relationships and resulting themes. additionally, reflective memos were taken during the data collection process. to establish validity, member checks were conducted with participants at multiple stages of the research process findings following the coding process, eight broad themes emerged about autistic librarians’ job seeking and workforce experiences: (1) disclosure is context-oriented and varies by individual and circumstance; (2) barriers, accommodations, and accessibility; (3) prioritizing skills; (4) helping; (5) expectations for managers; (6) finding their way into the profession through exposure to libraries; (7) finding like-minded people and fitting in; and, (8) seeking fulfillment through meaningful work disclosure is context-oriented in both job seeking and daily working life, disclosure was context oriented. participants largely disclosed information about their autism when receiving cues from their environment which provided a context that it was safe to do so. disclosure on the job based on initiative and programming. while on the job, some librarians chose to disclose within the context of autism initiatives at their organization, in which librarians wanted to share their own experience and sometimes offer support. as claudia, a school librarian said: i definitely made a decision to be more open about my diagnosis when (my) department started using an anti-bullying video that talked about an autistic kid who sat alone during lunch. i wanted the students, and teachers, at my school to put another face to the idea of autism. similarly, steph, a public librarian, has disclosed her status to support programming and services: “if we're doing some kind of autism thing in the library. i'm like, ‘okay, look, you got someone on staff who knows a little more than the rest of you because, it's me, i have, i am the thing.’” as steph described, this has also led to disclosure to some of her regular patrons. one patron learned about her autism “because i've done a presentation on, on, autism at the library and she came to that.” steph found an opportunity to collaborate as this patron “…was working on giving disability education with kids. so we've actually got a rapport because, you know, i can help her with the autism stuff.” susan, an academic librarian, has also disclosed when it related to diversity and inclusion initiatives at her organization: “so i have disclosed, usually in the context of talking about diversity related work or in the context of accommodations in the library.” 43 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 disclosure to provide context for behaviors at work. some librarians described disclosing to provide context to coworkers or supervisors about their mannerisms or behaviors at work. zachary, an archivist, had a bad experience at a previous teaching position. “i take as much of the guesswork out of that as possible in terms of like, looking for signs or not.” as he stated, “i learned that you don't want to be reactive and wait to disclose until after a negative event like a poor performance review.” abby, an academic librarian, had similar thoughts, but noted that she would disclose to her employer after an incident, “if i was receiving poor performance reviews for something that i felt was a result of my autism.” john noted that he was pretty open about his autism diagnosis with his coworkers to provide context about his behaviors: “sometimes my coworkers have thought i'm a little bit of a jerk, and a little bit moody. but i wanted people to know that that wasn't their fault. that it's something about me, and it's not them.” max noted that “disclosure gives (my coworkers) a context… for why i act the way i act.” he described that he has “certain characteristics that are very much on the spectrum” and disclosing is: beneficial in the long term, that they have an understanding of this because it gives them a better context for why i am the way i am. i would never not disclose to the people who i work with. it's just a question of time, when do i do it and i want them to get a better sense of who i am as a complete person before i throw a label on myself. disclosure while job seeking based on context. participants also shared whether they felt comfortable disclosing their autism in the job application and interviewing process based on context from the potential employer. as claudia, the school librarian, said: “if i was applying to, for example, a special education-focused school, then maybe i would consider building my autism into part of my interview.” zachary collected clues about a potential workplace to determine not only if it would be a good fit, but also if he could disclose during interviews. he said he was drawn toward applying at: institutions that specifically serve disabled patrons…or opportunities to contribute that involved disability and accessibility… so like when i attended the interview at the [state] library. there was a blind interviewer on the panel. they were using a magnifying, magnification device in front of them. and so it was like, oh, you know, here clearly is a disabled person on the panel, and beyond being at a place that was serving disabled people as well. so, you know, it feels like when we talk about disclosure…it's like maybe a place that you feel is safer to disclose or that is more kind of… their outward signals of disability being okay. inadvertent disclosure based on work history. others noted that the activism work on their resumes essentially did the disclosing for them as they applied and interviewed for positions. barry, for example, conducts original research about autism, leading him to disclose more often than before: “once this this line of research opened up, i think it's more advantageous (to disclose). it's like, ‘why is a random guy doing this research?’ well, there you go. i mean, it makes for a nice narrative.” he said that if he was not doing this type of research, “i don't know if i would necessarily tell people. (but) i might.” max does similar work, and said: “in an interview situation…they would definitely know if they look at my cv, because of the research that i do.” steph had been blogging for multiple years about 44 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 being an autistic librarian and said “i knew if they googled me or they look me up on linkedin, they would see that i've been doing this for a long time.” barriers, accommodations, and accessibility though all participants were employed at the time of interviews, some described barriers in participating in the library workforce related to autism characteristics. as max stated, he had “challenges with prioritization. my high anxiety. my getting stressed out about ambiguity or becoming overwhelmed very easily or, you know, worrying about saying the wrong thing. or being very direct or needing a lot of clarification or reassurance.” barry expressed his challenges with organization, expounded perhaps by a co-occurring diagnosis of adhd: “i use a lot of project management, i use a lot of apps and project management tools and email reminders to basically to keep myself on track. i don't remember stuff… if it’s not on my calendar…” sensory issues in the library were also described by multiple participants, with lighting being a challenge in particular. as abby described, “in the past when i only had a cubicle and couldn’t control the noise or lighting, i felt a constant gnawing level of sensory stress. i also didn’t enjoy working in a basement that had no natural light.” to address such barriers, some requested accommodations, either formally through a human resources office or by disclosing to and working with a supervisor. others created their own accommodations. creating their own accommodations without disclosure on the job in many cases, participants created their own accommodations, without requiring disclosure. for example, max worked with vendors often, and created his own form of accommodation for those interactions: having things in writing is really important to me. so because i work with a lot of vendors, they like to be kind of cagey and do things over the phone, and i always ask for them to send it to me in writing, because i have a folder for every vendor i work with and i put the records in the folder. multiple librarians also described approaches in controlling the environment to better suit their needs. see table 2. table 2. creating accommodations through controlling the environment participant representative quote zachary “one of the things is being able to control the physical environment, especially sources of sensory stimulation. so if you can adjust the light, the sound, the temperature. that is always something that can be helpful to you.” steph “it was all very loud. once i got the noise cancelling headphones to help…you know, that was like an investment. i was like, at this point, i was like, i need these to do my job better.” 45 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 susan “it's an old 60s building with these terrible lights overhead. and it was giving me headaches. daily, daily headaches. i was miserable. i could not barely function in that office. and so i had come up with all these things where i would like, cover it. i would just work with the lights off.” claudia “being able to dim the lights in the library is my most used accommodation. i have high-fidelity ear plugs that i use when things get too loud, but the library is typically not that noisy.” creating their own accommodations without disclosure while job seeking multiple participants noted they benefited from getting interview questions in advance, a strategy that did not necessarily require disclosure. as abby described, “i always appreciated it when i was given a copy of the interview questions just before the interview so i could concentrate on my answers instead of trying to remember what was asked.” max asked for this without disclosing: “i remember for a job that i got, i actually asked for, for the questions ahead of time and they sent them to me. that is something that i would definitely recommend.” zachary agreed that questions in advance helped, but they needed to be sent well in advance: “so i appreciate when i get the questions in advance… (but) i had an experience where they sent me a general idea. and then it was like an hour or so before the interview, they sent you more specific questions.” zachary did not do well in that circumstance, and followed up with the interviewer, telling him “i understand what you were trying to do was nice, but that made me panic, like you sent me this list, an hour before our interview and that left me feeling like i was scrambling.” as zachary explained: they hadn't thought that that would be an anxiety inducing thing. i didn't, i didn't understand that perspective, because i'm like, you know, i tried to be as prepared as much as possible. and if you send me specific questions, i'm going to be trying to be prepared for those questions. and if i see a question that i don't feel like i can answer very well, i'm going to be thinking about that, you know, beforehand and during the interview. some created their own systems for preparation. abby noted that “the phone interview can be stressful because you have to answer questions on the spot. for autistic people, thinking quickly under pressure can be difficult.” she “found it helpful to write down my answers to questions i anticipate being asked.” similarly, claudia “created a list of potential interview questions (based on experiences from other school librarians), and wrote out answers, and practiced them. abby created a “mental script” for interview dinners, and while she was able to do so, she considered it exhausting: interview dinners or lunches can be stressful because you have to make small talk, which generally requires a great deal of forethought for an autistic person. i have developed enough skills to know how to navigate this without too much trouble, but it can be very exhausting to have to consult a mental script of conversation rules in an interview scenario, while trying to appear casual and relaxed. 46 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 masking during the job seeking process, most participants chose not to disclose at all, instead resorting to their own coping strategies such as masking their autism characteristics. claudia said that interviews were “consistently terrifying,” and that “i dress up in clothes that look nice (but aren’t always the most comfortable), put on makeup (which can be a big sensory issue if the room gets too hot), and pretend to be an upstanding, ‘normal’ person.” abby considered herself “…fortunate because i am able to muster the acting skills needed to be successful at interviews,” but also noted that most academic job interviews “require an entire day or more of public performance and socializing with new people that can be overwhelming and exhausting for autistics.” susan described masking, and its aftereffects, during the academic job interview: can i just go hide in a tree for like 10 minutes and then i can put the smile back on and we can do this again? um, so it's just a lot. it's a lot of socializing and i don't i don't really mind it while i'm doing it. because i'm running on just like intense adrenaline. but by the time i'm done, like, i, i…i don't have meltdowns much anymore. but when i come out of those, it feels a little like a post-meltdown where like, i can't quite get my eyes to focus. there's a lot of, like, physical, like, sensory stuff. john noted that masking during an interview could actually be detrimental to a librarian once they are on the job: “i think they should just be genuine. because if they're genuine and they show people who they are, and they behave in the manner in which they behave, they have a better chance of getting hired by accepting people.” as he said, “if they hide who they are and then show up in there a completely different person, people would not be happy with that.” however, not all librarians felt able to disclose for accommodations during the job seeking process. as claudia stated: “i have heard a lot of negative stories from other autistic professionals and disabled librarians, who worry that interview committees use things like autism and disability to filter out candidates during the selection process.” she noted that “the interview doesn’t provide enough time for me to succinctly explain why my autism makes me a better librarian (for some aspects of the job), not a worse one.” requesting accommodations though many participants described implementing strategies they enacted themselves, some disclosed to hr or their supervisors for accommodations. some did so after a barrier or issue arose. in the previous example, susan initially attempted to control the lighting herself, but ended up also letting hr know. “i was like, wait a minute, i’m not gonna buy a couple of lamps until i point out to hr that i have to … because there’s no accommodation for this.” claudia, similarly, “…disclosed to my principal after i started feeling overwhelmed by some unexpected changes to my daily routine.” steph noted that she disclosed for informal accommodations from her supervisor. “i know i take instructions better in writing because of too much information to share with me at once. it'll just kind of overwhelm me. so sometimes i mention that, like, ‘please give me this in writing it would help me to remember it.’” she also asked for more support to understand social norms during meetings with other department heads: 47 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 so i go to these [meetings], and i've actually, you know, been working with my supervisor to be like, okay, when do i speak? when do i not speak? is this a good time for me to cut in? how do i know when it's okay to share my thoughts on something without, you know, making it seem like i'm trying to interrupt her…is this like, too personal or outside of work? should i not talk about this? and it's been helping. breaks, or spaces to step away, were also described as helpful accommodations. barry said that he has never asked for formal accommodations but might consider asking hr about the option of working from home occasionally when he had large amounts of reading to get done because he said he has “trouble filtering out noise.” study rooms for faculty could also be an option, he said: if i could just hide and no one knew where i was for a couple hours. that would be great. no email, no nothing. it would be great if there were somewhere i could go and just really concentrate. i just have, i have so much trouble concentrating. even with all the systems i have to manage my workflow. for zachary, it was important to have paperwork on file while in graduate school even before asking for accommodations or any barriers arose. “i wanted my paperwork on file in case i did need to request any accommodations, that all of that would be taken care of and ready to go.” however, this is not something he has ever done at a job, though he says “i do identify as disabled when form cc-305 is presented to me when applying. i have known disabled people who do not even do that.” susan discussed the idea of disclosure, but said “quite frankly, i'd rather have us be working on making it safer for people to disclose before pushing people to do it. and i'm not convinced that it safe. just like with a lot of things that are hidden.” prioritizing skills and strengths participants described the importance of being allowed to demonstrate librarian skills during job interviews in lieu of performative social acts. this was also reflected in on-the-job experiences, in which librarians described how it is important to build on an autistic employee’s skills, rather than trying to improve or even force areas in which they are less confident or comfortable. skills versus social norms during interviews multiple participants described the interview process as tough, as they had to navigate social norms rather than simply demonstrate their skills. as steph described, “i would leave interviews and, like, ‘oh, they, they think i'm just average. like i can, i can do the job. but like, i'm not good at talking parts. so i don't know how they're gonna view me.” steph worked with a job coach to practice interviewing norms: eye contact is obviously hard, (so) i would do the trick where i would look at people's noses or mouse instead…i was probably very awkward and stiff at interviews, because i was so nervous and i just didn't have that, you know, ability to just be gregarious and have rapport with people. as some participants described, though, it should not be the soft skills that are judged at an interview, but instead their professional skills and knowledge. as max stated about academic library job interviews: 48 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 there's the dinners and the lunches with the search committee and you have to make small talk. and you know you're being judged on that. and if you can't make small talk, if you can't have those social skills… you could have all the knowledge and talent in the world, but if you can't, you know, meet those expectations, socially, then you could be excluded. and that’s sad to me. that's unfortunate. as he said, the interview “shouldn't be a popularity contest. it should be about your competency and your ability to do the job. i think that that should be a part of the interview process is actually being able to demonstrate what you know.” john said he excelled in the “skills” portion of his job interviews: “i think the skills portion is something that that i interviewed really well about; what i could do for people and, you know, the type of skills i would be bringing to an organization.” similarly, susan said that the best interview she ever did was when she was able to demonstrate her knowledge: “that was probably the calmest i've ever felt. i went in that presentation and i remember telling them stuff that i knew.” strengths on-the-job participants in this study explained that autistic people are not all the same, but instead have individual strengths as librarians. they stressed the importance of “playing to these strengths” in their jobs and being given the opportunity to focus on strengths in the workplace. as steph described, she wanted to have a boss who was “understanding that i'm, you know, i'm on the spectrum and that i, you know, there's certain things i'm going to be good at, (and) certain things i'm not going to be good at.” abby also said it was important for supervisors to “focus on your (autistic) librarian’s strengths! i am the designated note-taker for my district librarian group, because my short-term memory skills allow me to hold a lot of dialogue in my head at once.” barry noted an individual strength of problem solving, and said it might be a strength shared by other autistics: i think we're really, many of us are really, are really great at problem solving and coming up with solutions without necessarily thinking about politics or, you know, what is the faculty senate going to say, what is the provost going to say. at least that's my, that's been my experience. information seeking was described as a strength by both john and claudia. john described a particularly tough information seeking experience that he found rewarding: “one of the hardest topics i ever had was urban farming in denver. that was really, really hard. it took hours and hours of research so that i could make a phone call that lasted 10 minutes.” similarly, claudia noted that she was “very good at finding resources” and that her “colleagues always cheer when i do things like this, because it makes their jobs easier for them.” other participants described positive traits related to their autism as including creativity, honesty, and loyalty. thomas hypothesized on the possibility that melvil dewey was perhaps autistic, due to his strengths in classification: as much as i’d love to blow up the dewey decimal system and all the foundations of the profession that dewey started, dewey was very likely an autistic…only an autistic person would think that way… the profession, itself, is likely a product of the autistic mind. thomas offered this while reflecting that, “alongside the challenges that autistic library workers may face, is the strengths that they can also bring.” 49 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 finding strength in routine librarians appreciated routine in the daily working environment, though that routine varied person to person. what mattered was that it was their personal routine, something they were prepared to face. claudia noted that the most rewarding part of her job was the social aspect, but even that followed a routine: i like helping people, and when people come to the library for help, they usually follow the same basic routines. it’s easy for me to find what they need, and it makes me feel so useful…for someone who struggles a lot socially, and doesn’t have a lot of friends, being able to interact with people, and have a positive effect on their lives, while following a very clear routine, is incredibly rewarding. claudia also disclosed her autism after experiencing changes to her routine and needing accommodations. a shake-up to their routines made completing daily tasks more challenging for other participants as well. steph, for example, described difficulties in navigating “non-routine communication” on the reference desk when she was asked to cover those shifts. and claudia said that for autistic librarians, “non-routine social interactions, especially those that are focused on a conflict, should either not be required, or should be a team effort.” one librarian, max, was more established in his career, and noted that the longer he worked, the more willing and able he was to work through changes. and it should be pointed out that daily routines are just one aspect; many librarians in this study were willing to, or already had, accepted greater responsibilities and changes to their schedule. additionally, one librarian, karen, actually appreciated that her more administrative job included many different things every day. viewing strengths as unique many participants worked in public services, interacting with students or patrons regularly; multiple participants described these as “unique within autism” strengths. john said he thought autistic librarians “can be, i think very good at certain types of tasks such as web design. or, maybe even cataloging. those types of things.” then he reflected that those were not his strengths, and was not reflective of his own position, saying “maybe not so much the type of position that i was in.” barry also reflected on this idea: i don't know who else is doing what i'm doing. i'm sure there are plenty of people, but i don't know who they are. and so i feel kind of isolated, you know. i'm not working in cataloging; i'm not shelving books or something, doing something really repetitive. thomas, a children’s librarian, echoed such statements: i think a lot of autistic people go into libraries, because they think it's going to be a quiet place, and it's not, so i think that there are some autistic people, that maybe a public library wouldn't be the best place for them. i think that there's a lot of misconceptions 50 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 about what a library is. like, i think that it's worked for me, because i'm not really like a typical, like, i'm not typical, i think in my desire to interact with people. although i don't know. as barry, who regularly interacts with students and faculty, summed up, “i'm not supposed to be, i'm not supposed to be good at my job. i'm supposed to be terrible, if you look at the stereotypes and everything and the classical characteristics. but somehow i do it.” helping all but two participants used a similar statement to “i want to help people” when describing their career in libraries. they entered the profession to help people, and they found value in their daily jobs helping people. see table 3 for a selection of representative quotes. table 3. helping through library roles participant representative quote claudia “i like helping people, and when people come to the library for help, they usually follow the same basic routines. it’s easy for me to find what they need, and it makes me feel so useful.” abby “the thing i find most rewarding is the enjoyment of finding information for people because it makes me feel competent and valued.” barry “i really like helping students and my patrons.” brent “i learned that a person could combine their interests in reading and learning into a career where you could help other people.” steph yeah, so with history stuff, it’s, when i can help somebody find something they've been looking for for a long time. that feels good.” john “the most rewarding part (of librarianship) was helping people. and i noticed it when i was cleaning out my office, all the cards i would get from students saying ‘thank you for helping me,’ and they were really, really wonderful. 51 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 max “being a librarian gives me the ability to be surrounded by information, help people and also be in higher ed, which i really like.” thomas “i do like, i like, i like helping people. and that's what i like about it, i like feeling like i'm actually helping people, like actually helping people find books to read or making suggestions or, you know, the programs. the library programs i'm doing, like, you know, that they actually mean something…” expectations for managers two categories emerged of what participants expected from potential or current employers. first, participants wanted hiring managers or interviewers to have at least some prior knowledge of autism or disability. additionally, they expected clear feedback. brent described a positive interviewing experience due to his supervisor’s prior knowledge of autism: “my interview at what would be the library that i work now…went well. my former supervisor had experience serving people on the spectrum. he was not put off by the nervousness i demonstrated. he also fully listened to me.” participants wanted to hear from hiring bodies after their interviews, even if they did not get the job. zachary described the frustration of not knowing why he was not offered positions after interviews: “i've been trying to ask for feedback after the interviews…a lot of times they don't provide you any feedback at all. which, ‘why should i have to ask you for feedback?’ is a whole other thing.” librarians also valued clear and honest communication from their supervisors, though some pointed out that this feedback still needed to be provided in a thoughtful manner. they valued feedback in general, from praise to constructive criticism. see table 4. table 4. supervisor feedback participant representative quote zachary “one of the big things for me is communication. making it clear that i need, like, explicit communication or, you know, just in general, i may need more in the way of communication. that's my, probably, biggest accommodation.” claudia “be very clear with your expectations!” steph i had trouble with (previous jobs) because they were kind of out of my scope of what i'd studied, and they 52 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 were also, were asking things of me that they weren't really explaining. and maybe if i was not autistic, i would have understood what they wanted, but they were not clear with me… it was really, there was, like, a big communication gap. max “i really truly appreciate feedback on how i can improve. i really like that. i am never defensive about it. and my boss knows that she can tell me anything. i take it, you know, the way it was intended, which is to be helpful.” barry “i mean, unless they're just doing a really awful things that the organization can't come back from just say, just take them aside. don't embarrass them in front of their colleagues, that's awful.” abby “some autistic people prefer clear, direct feedback, while others are very sensitive and need a more nuanced approach.” claudia “it helps so much to be explicitly told that i’m helping, and that i’m appreciated. i think that kind of positive feedback could be really good for any librarian.” finding their way into the profession through exposure to libraries many found their path in librarianship by being library users themselves. for example, when john worked in retail, he used his public library to check out travel videos, giving him an opportunity to see the world. he described how this is what inspired him to help others and enter the field. claudia found libraries to be a “place of respite” as she was growing up: “libraries were often quiet, and even when they weren’t, they were a place where i could lose myself in books and computers. i also really liked the organization and order of the library stacks.” brent echoed a similar statement: “as a child, i loved going to the library as it was a quiet place with books. i was also interested in obtaining information as a child.” max described being a lifelong user of libraries, with parents who brought him to the library as a child: “i had mentors in public libraries when i was a kid. i remember a children's librarian, and then adult services librarians, who i looked up to, some of whom i keep in contact with today.” as he said, “that’s part of what drew me to (librarianship), and i just love information.” as max went to college, he also had “a really positive undergraduate library experience” in which “i would recommend books and they would purchase most of them. and i just spent a lot of time in the library. and it was a positive environment. i had a lot of mentors that were librarians there.” susan also reflected on childhood exposure to libraries: i do have sort of the typical librarian, like, ‘grew up loving reading personality.’ like my first, one of my first jobs out of college was in a bookstore and so i definitely was drawn to, to just that sort of ethos of librarianship, right. i loved libraries as a kid. 53 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 finding like-minded people and fitting in most participants in this study appreciated their fellow librarians, saying that they fit in with this bunch of people as a whole. as zachary said, “you know, i feel like i fit in in this world, generally, and that it's rewarding to work with people that you know you have things in common with.” abby described an experience of her first position in libraries: within the first few weeks i realized it was the first place i had worked where i felt like i had not only found ‘my tribe,’ but i also loved the work itself. i lost track of time as i became immersed in the details, facts, and processes related to processing archival material. i also had so much in common with librarians and archivists. everyone seemed to be pleasant, quirky introverts with special interests that ranged from anime to knitting. being a ‘nerd’ was normal. though many described fellow librarians in positive terms and felt loyal to those who accepted and accommodated them, this is not to say that there were not also some challenges in working with their peers or supervisors. john, recently retired, stated: “we have some real jerks working at the place that i worked at,” and said that he also worked under a dean who denied that neurodiversity existed. seeking fulfillment through meaningful work multiple participants described starting in other careers, and then moving to the field of librarianship after not feeling fulfilled professionally. as barry described, “i worked in the retail industry for quite a, quite a while, but i knew that was never going to be enough for me.” he described that he would never be happy there because “the level of questions were just not satisfactory to me. and so i wanted to find, i, you know, i wanted to find something that had a bit more meat on the bones.” john described a similar experience: “[b]efore i became a librarian. i was working for a large corporation and i made a lot of money for them. but there wasn't, i didn't feel like i was doing society or people any good.” thomas described a series of office jobs after working through americorps: “i was just working in an office and, you know…like, it was just not meaningful work and i was interested in librarianship much more as the public service aspect of it.” participants in this study pursued librarianship as a potentially more fulfilling career option. steph described her work in archives at the public library as meaningful: “…that means so much to me like just, you know, to protect this information and these documents…just to know that i am making that safe so that someone else can use it later.” steph gets emails from library patrons thanking her for these documents and said, “it means a lot to the people when they do see it, like, that just is so fulfilling and, like, i get very emotional.” max said, “i really love what i do. i feel really fortunate to have this and i find it meaningful.” he noted that his work in e-resources was perhaps even more important during the lockdown period of the covid-19 pandemic when patrons might not have access to physical collections: “i feel like i've had a real impact on people's ability to access information that they need to be successful in their teaching, learning and research.” thomas described his impact as a children’s librarian as powerful: “i can have an impact on what somebody is reading and, like, that, to me is a is a very powerful thing” and noted that it was rewarding “just knowing that people appreciate what you do.” 54 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 discussion findings indicate that autistic librarians enter the profession based on previous exposure to libraries, as well as believing the librarian role to be fulfilling. however, there are barriers within job seeking and workforce experiences for which some autistic librarians disclose and request accommodations, though most have developed individual coping or preparation strategies. issues of disclosure are threaded throughout individual themes, reinforcing the idea that, while workplaces should strive toward greater understanding and acceptance of autistic employees, they should also create processes that are more universally accessible without requiring individual disclosure. the following discussion addresses such themes as they pertain to the study’s guiding research questions. how do autistic librarians describe their job seeking experiences? some librarians in this study thrived when they could prepare in advance of their job interviews. by providing all candidates with interview questions in advance, they will be able to prepare more thoughtful, comprehensive answers. advanced preparation also helped one librarian do what she said was her best interview ever, simply because she had a lot of knowledge and experience in the area. she was prepared for the interview. this also speaks to the need for placing more emphasis on asking candidates to demonstrate skills and knowledge during the job interview, taking some of the focus away from social expectations. questions around disclosure were perhaps the largest barrier identified. by and large, participants in this study chose not to disclose their autism during the job seeking process. there were few exceptions, and these disclosures typically came when a resume essentially disclosed for them, or after an initial job offer was received. multiple participants described how their cv or resume could essentially “out” them during the job seeking process; while some were active in advocacy work, others were simply interested enough in their own autism diagnosis to pursue autism as a focused research and/or service topic. multiple librarians did find comfort in applying to jobs with outward facing indicators of disability and/or autism acceptance, though still were not prepared to disclose during those applications or interviews. disclosure carries a real risk. while discrimination is generally illegal under the provisions of laws or federal acts, such as through title 1 of the americans with disabilities act (ada) in the u.s., librarians may be discriminated against based on a hiring manager’s lack of knowledge or biases about autism. one analysis found that hiring discrimination most often occurred for interviewees with either physical or sensory impairments, the latter of which autism is included (mcmahon et al., 2008). the library job market is competitive as it stands; predicted “graying of the profession” trends never came to fruition, and library school graduates face tough competition for entry level jobs (ewell, 2012). academic librarian interviews can be particularly grueling, with social events and professional demonstrations stretched over the course of one or multiple days. autistic individuals face even greater stresses, being met with internal questions of disclosure and adhering to social norms perhaps tangentially related to skills they need for the job. building in universal accommodations could reduce some of these barriers and give autistic candidates an equal chance at employment. 55 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 how do autistic librarians describe their daily working environments? strub and stewart (2010) posit that autistics appreciate repetitive tasks and so are well-suited for shelving. though, of course, this kind of work may appeal to some, it is a gross oversimplification of the abilities all autistic library employees may have. autism is just one facet of a person’s identity, and autistic librarians in this study reflected many varied interests and professional strengths. while shared characteristics of autism did emerge throughout some responses, more often characteristics, preferences, and need for support or accommodations varied widely. this study, though small, supports the idea that librarianship is a good fit for some autistic individuals, but maybe not for the stereotypical reasons as discussed in the literature review of this article. instead, autistic librarians in this study care deeply about working with people they feel a kinship with, channeling their strengths in the workforce, and helping the library patrons they serve. participants identified particular strengths they brought to the workforce, though those strengths varied by individual. it is important for both employees and employers to recognize such strengths and to focus on them, allowing individuals to thrive in their roles. rather than assume all autistic employees will thrive in one area, employers should instead provide opportunities in a wide variety of roles, as strengths and interests differ among autistic adults (lu, 2020). additionally, participants noted that they were better and more comfortable in their jobs when employers allowed them to shine in their area of expertise rather than filling in for others or being given tasks designed to make them stretch. within public facing roles, librarians did describe certain things that made their jobs easier or more challenging. for example, routine was still appreciated, but it did not necessarily need to look like the stereotyped repetition that is sometimes ascribed to autistic individuals. instead, these librarians appreciated a daily routine, knowing what to expect in their workdays. for example, one librarian did not want work time in the back office, away from the public. though valued by others, this librarian said he would not know what to do with his time in the office as it was a change from his normal working routine. librarians in this study viewed their strengths and roles as unique, and this was especially true for those who worked in public services. even with participants emphasizing that every autistic person manifests characteristics differently, many still repeated stereotypes of autistics only wanting to work behind the scenes, and their experiences enjoying working with people as singular. results from this study indicate that autistic librarians are just as likely to enjoy working in public services as working behind the scenes. the feelings many participants had of unique strengths demonstrates that there needs to be a stronger network and more visibility of autistic librarians in the library profession. this would allow current and potential librarians to build a community of support and provide a glimpse into librarianship for autistic individuals considering this as a career path. what aspects of work in librarianship are appealing to autistic librarians? previous studies indicate that some autistic individuals consider the library to be a welcoming space, leading to an interest in librarianship as a career (eng, 2017; lawrence, 2013); this idea is supported by the findings in this study. participants in this study largely found their way into the library field through exposure to libraries as a user or patron. autistic librarians in this study were also interested in the field because they felt it was more fulfilling than some other career 56 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 paths. multiple participants began in business, retail, or office jobs, and felt that a shift to libraries would be more rewarding. participants here did not want just a job. instead, they wanted a career that would also give them a sense of purpose. no matter the role, nearly all participants indicated that they appreciated that their jobs helped people—whether through access to information or otherwise. this is an important finding, and one that contradicts a commonly held negative stereotype that autistic individuals lack empathy. indeed, for these participants the opposite is true. librarians have a responsibility to take this information and create more opportunities for what is an unand underemployed demographic group. in creating more accessible and accepting library spaces for autistic youth, teens, and adults, libraries can continue to be a welcoming and nurturing environment for autistic individuals, potentially encouraging similar career trajectories as those described here. implications for practice characteristics of autism manifest differently in every person, and it is not fair to make blanket statements that all autistic people are the same. however, some common manifestations of autism were confirmed within the findings of this study and provide us with some knowledge of how to create more accessible interviewing and working environments. for example, routine is appreciated, though it may look different person to person. options for communication are valued, including providing written documents along with verbal conversations. opportunities to prepare in advance for situations such as meetings can be helpful and reduce stress. clear and honest communication is necessary, and supervisors should be clear about expectations and direct in feedback. in the workplace, a lack of knowledge about disabilities is one of the largest barriers for acceptance of coworkers with disabilities (vornholt et al., 2013). training and education are critical for librarians to better understand their autistic peers, employers, and employees. librarians in this study felt more comfortable applying at organizations that showed outward signs of autism and disability knowledge and acceptance, and more comfortable disclosing at work when provided context that it was safe to do so. an autism-educated staff will also lead to more accepting spaces for autistic library patrons, some of whom, such as many participants in this study, might translate those positive feelings into a career path in the field. it should not be the responsibility of autistic librarians to do this baseline work. instead, all library administrators should ensure their staff members have baseline knowledge of autism so autistic patrons and employees feel welcomed into a more accepting and accessible environment. until universal autism education and training occurs, the burden should not be on autistic librarians to disclose their status. instead, processes should be made more universally accessible so that their interview and workforce experiences are no different from that of a neurotypical peer. by building in simple accommodations for all, autistic interviewees may have the ability to demonstrate their ability to do the job, not their ability to navigate social expectations of an interview. by providing all candidates with tools for advanced preparation, such as sending interview questions and schedules in advance, disclosure to receive those tools would be unnecessary. similarly, accommodations may be made in the library that benefit all employees, without requiring disclosure. participants in this study noted options for controlling the physical and sensory environment and work shifts; library managers should consider options such as 57 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 adjustable lighting, flexible scheduling options, and allowing work from home or distraction-free study spaces as part of a schedule. giving job candidates the opportunity to talk about or demonstrate knowledge and skills directly relevant to the jobs they apply for will also benefit all. in doing so, employers will get a glimpse into a potential employee’s workplace capabilities, and candidates can demonstrate their onthe-job skills. while on the job, employees should be allowed to focus on their areas of expertise. “other duties as apply” is commonly listed for librarian job ads; while this might be necessary in some instances, autistic librarians appreciate both routine and being able to demonstrate their individual skills and knowledge. library managers should allow librarians, whenever possible, to work in their areas of expertise. this study avoids using problematic deficit-based language (e. g., “suffers from”). but it would be naïve to gloss over the truth that there are additional barriers in the job seeking process and daily work experiences for autistic librarians, one of whom said she was glad this paper would share their “struggles.” in a world constructed around neurotypical structures, barriers do exist. and autistic librarians should not have to choose between masking their characteristics and exhausting their mental resources or disclosing in a potentially hostile environment. by acknowledging this and creating more accessible work environments, autistic librarians will have a fairer chance of participating in the workforce through a fulfilling career. many opportunities exist for future work in this area. library staff and librarians without a professional/master’s degree in library and information science (mlis) were not included in these interviews, and expanding this work to include their voices could bring additional perspectives to employment experiences. this study only explored experiences of librarians within the u.s. additional work might compare commonalities and differences for autistic adults in the library field internationally. this study implemented inclusive measures that may be used as a baseline for research with autistic adults, with future work incorporating more inclusive practices as funding and research supports allow. suggestions for autism inclusive research practices include building in accessible options and providing clear and explicit instructions, engaging with participants at the level they wish to be involved and compensating them appropriately, building mutual respect, working to address a true need, and avoiding assumptions (anderson, 2021). building from this study to include all librarians with invisible disabilities might also reveal common themes around issues of disclosure and more. perhaps the most impactful work that could be done next involves library administrators and hiring managers. individuals in these roles should be provided with training and education about accepting and supporting autistic employees, with their knowledge and attitudes about such employees measured after training conclusions librarianship is an appealing career for some autistic adults, a significantly unand underemployed population. while autistic librarians face additional barriers when entering the workforce, those who find employment find their careers to be largely rewarding. results from this study indicate that some of many job-seeking and daily workforce barriers could be removed through implementation of more inclusive practices. focusing on skills, allowing individuals to prepare in advance, developing a more autism-informed workplace, providing clear and honest feedback, and allowing for flexible, adjustable workplace 58 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 environments are all strategies that would make job interviews and the workplace more accessible for all. by making such adjustments, all applicants and employees have the potential to benefit, without requiring individual disclosure. countless librarians likely do not disclose, so the true number of autistic librarians is unknown. by highlighting the experiences of the ten participants in this study, autistic librarians can understand that they are part of a larger, though perhaps hidden, community. for those who feel alone on their employment journey, this information is priceless. endnotes 1 identity-first language (e.g., “autistic”) instead of person-first language (e.g. “person with autism”) is used deliberately throughout this paper. while there is not a clear consensus in the literature (botha et al., 2021), identity-first language includes the most agreed upon terms by autistic people themselves (bury et al., 2020). person-first language, while viewed by some researchers as the most respectful terminology, is largely viewed by autistic people as offensive (bury et al., 2020; kapp et al., 2013; kenny et al., 2006). 2 this paper presents the thematic findings from interviews held with librarians with implications drawn largely for library practitioners. a more detailed description of the methodology used to procure these findings, with implications for inclusive research, can be found in anderson’s (2021) article “exploring the workforce experiences of autistic librarians through accessible and participatory approaches.” acknowledgements this research was supported by a summer research fellowship program grant from the office of research at old dominion university, norfolk, virginia, usa. to acknowledge and support the work done by autism self-advocates, readers of this paper are asked to consider supporting the autistic self advocacy network (asan). donations can be given on their website at www.autisticadvocacy.org. references american library association. 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(2014). asperger’s in academia: a personal narrative of failure and success from a 62 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1080/24750158.2020.1812023 https://doi.org/10.1111/iops.12148 https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2013.818773 https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.80.2.169 https://www.randstad.ca/workplace-insights/corporate-culture/how-to-interview-someone-autism-spectrum/ https://www.randstad.ca/workplace-insights/corporate-culture/how-to-interview-someone-autism-spectrum/ http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2017/04/perspective-autistic-childrens-librarian/ https://doi.org/10.1080/15367967.2010.508369 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1362361315585643 https://doi.org/10.1080/10588167.2019.1575017 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-013-9426-0 https://askjan.org/publications/consultants-corner/vol10iss01.cfm https://askjan.org/publications/consultants-corner/vol10iss01.cfm job seeking and daily workforce experiences of autistic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36196 librarian with asperger’s syndrome. in t. bastiaens (ed.), e-learn: world conference on e-learning in corporate, government, healthcare, and higher education (pp. 21092114). https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/148975/ amelia anderson (amanders@odu.edu) is an assistant professor at old dominion university. she earned her mlis and phd from florida state university, where she was a research assistant on two imls grants (project pals and project a+) that developed training for librarians to better serve patrons on the autism spectrum. her research interests lie at the intersection of neurodiversity and librarianship. she is currently the co-pi and project director of an imls planning grant which explores accessibility in public library makerspaces. her book, library programming for autistic children and teens, published by ala editions, is scheduled for publication in spring, 2021. 63 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/148975/ mailto:amanders@odu.edu introduction literature review methods participants data collection data analysis findings disclosure is context-oriented disclosure on the job based on initiative and programming. disclosure to provide context for behaviors at work. disclosure while job seeking based on context. inadvertent disclosure based on work history. barriers, accommodations, and accessibility creating their own accommodations without disclosure on the job creating their own accommodations without disclosure while job seeking masking requesting accommodations prioritizing skills and strengths skills versus social norms during interviews strengths on-the-job finding strength in routine viewing strengths as unique helping expectations for managers finding their way into the profession through exposure to libraries finding like-minded people and fitting in seeking fulfillment through meaningful work discussion how do autistic librarians describe their job seeking experiences? how do autistic librarians describe their daily working environments? what aspects of work in librarianship are appealing to autistic librarians? implications for practice conclusions endnotes acknowledgements references ghetto and do everything wrong! the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37848 ijidi: book review schonfeld, z. (2020). ghetto: misfortune’s wealth. bloomsbury academic. isbn 978-1-5013-5550-9 (paperback). 160 pp. $14.95 us. kobek, j. (2018). do every thing wrong! xxxtentacion against the world. we heard you like books. isbn 978-0-692-03998-4 (paperback). 171 pp. $9.95 us. reviewer: jose guerrero, sutro library, usa book review editors: halie kerns, suny canton, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: copyright; hip hop; biography; literacy; rap; sampling publication type: book review n matt seneca’s 2013 essay, “roses from concrete,” he made numerous comparisons between the world of underground comics and hip hop, writing, “any tour through either medium’s masterworks includes at least as much knuckle-headed brutality as transcendent grace” (n.p.). as the expression “roses from concrete” suggests, this paradox of the soft interwoven with the hard comes from the adverse conditions under which both art forms, comics and hip hop, emerged and flourished. this book review essay highlights two recent works that ask us to hold space for similarly interwoven dichotomies, brutality and grace. both works in this review can be read as examples of how hip hop has challenged popular conceptions of the ways in which information does circulate and ought to circulate. in the first book, ghetto: misfortune’s wealth, the text explores the life of a soul record of the same title that was forgotten by radio djs and abandoned by record labels when released but recuperated by the hip hop generation to become an underground classic decades later. in the second book, “do every thing wrong! xxxtentacion against the world,” the narrative paints how “a sketchy dude from florida end[s] up on the billboard top 100” and, in doing so, disrupts the notion that “success is morality” (kobek, 2018, p. 165; p. 140). both works are adept at showing how countercultures are themselves capable of reinforcing existing inequalities. the worlds in these works are not utopian, which makes them so valuable, especially for library and information science (lis) professionals. from the lis lens, these publications ask us to reckon with our troubled present not as it is represented, but rather as it is lived. “despair rendered irresistibly funky” since 2003, the 33 ⅓ series (a book series named after a vinyl record’s revolutions per minute when played on a turntable) has published 159 volumes of writing about music by fans and criticsi. in the series, each book examines and is named after a music album. from the latter half of the 20th century to the present second decade of the 21st century, many artists and genres have been covered, including j. dilla’s donuts (instrumental hip hop), gang of four’s entertainment! (post-punk), dc talk’s jesus freak (contemporary christian music), and james brown’s live at the apollo (rhythm and blues). anglo-american popular music has dominated the main series, but dedicated subseries for japanese, brazilian, and continental european releases started within the past five years of this publication. i ghetto: misfortune’s wealth and do every thing wrong! the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37848 86 “ghetto: misfortune’s wealth”ii by music journalist zach schonfeld is the 152nd entry in the 33 ⅓ series. it is a stimulating work about the enigmatic debut album of the 1970s-era funk and soul band, 24-carat black. schonfeld (2020) calls “ghetto: misfortune’s wealth” the “album that nobody has heard of, but everybody has heard” because, though first released in 1973, it received little attention until 15 years later when it was used to build rap and hip hop’s sample library (p. 5). ghetto: misfortune’s wealth is “the rap building block every rap fan had heard, even if few” could name the source (schonfeld, 2020, p. 113). from interviews with multiple 24-carat black band members, managers, and label executives from the 1970s, as well as witnesses and contributors to the album’s revival in the 1990s and 2000s, schonfeld weaves together a story previously scattered across liner notes, articles, passing mentions in books, and personal memories. ghetto: misfortune’s wealth is valuable because, as a case study, it reveals the often hidden or occluded spaces and practices through which artistic value is created, transferred, solidified, or destroyed in an information-driven capitalist society. the book’s first chapter is a comprehensive account of the many people and forces that created the 1973 music album ghetto: misfortune's wealth. we are introduced to the band, 24-carat black, whose beginnings are rooted within a talented group of black, middle-classed teenagers from the cincinnati area known as ‘the ditalians’. their story begins when a band member’s elder sibling introduces the group to dale warren, who was a producer, arranger, and composer. warren, who was then working with stax records, “for years … harbored dreams of a high-concept musical undertaking fusing his dual interests in classical composition and modern soul music” and saw in the ditalians (soon renamed 24-carat black) the talent needed to pull it off (schonfeld, 2020, p. 18). stax released ghetto: misfortune’s wealth in 1973 but had trouble marketing the album to radio stations. sales were low, and audiences did not always respond favorably to dramatic live performances (in one instance, the band arrives on stage carrying a coffin; apparently, the idea was that the performance was a symbolic funeral or burial for poverty). by 1975, following a tour of the american south and failed attempts to kickstart a follow-up record, the band broke up, and the album slipped into obscurity. we are told numerous times that ghetto: misfortune's wealth was like nothing before; its “high-concept” approach distanced it from many contemporary soul records. schonfeld (2020) alludes to art-rock like pink floyd’s dark side of the moon (1973) or the who’s quadrophenia (1973) as similar works, but black action movie soundtracks like curtis mayfield’s superfly (1972) and willie hutch’s the mack (1973) might have been more apt points of comparison. these soundtracks often stood on their own, and, in the case of superfly, proved capable of outselling the films they were intended to support. extended musical treatments of “the ghetto” can be traced at least as far back as donny hathaway’s 1970 song, “the ghetto,” which clocks in at around six minutes and 50 seconds (live recordings go over 12 minutes) and has also been sampled extensively. if 24-carat black’s ghetto: misfortune's wealth—a brooding musical forensic on the united states’ crumbling urban centers—did not directly emerge from this previous tradition of testifying about the ghetto through music, which was more light-hearted and even festive, it could very possibly have been reacting to it. schonfeld (2020) points out that while ghetto: misfortune's wealth may be about the ghetto, it is by no means of it. warren, who gets most of the songwriting credit, and the group members who made the recording were all from middle-class backgrounds and had no personal experience with the abject poverty described in their music. ghetto: misfortune’s wealth and do every thing wrong! the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37848 87 like scholarship, or any other kind of knowledge system, music is shaped by the circumstances of its production, which schonfeld (2020) attempts to account for in full, from the amount of time it took to record ghetto: misfortune’s wealth. to chronicle the album’s creation, schonfeld tracked down the studio where the album was recorded as well as the photographer who was hired to design the album’s cover art. while there is a clear intent to set the story straight, schonfeld (2020) also signposts where memories are unreliable, where varying versions of a single event exist, and where something is unknowable because the knowledge expired with the people who held it. a strong legacy was built on this origin story, lacunae and all. many forces shaped ghetto: misfortune’s wealth’s revival and re-appreciation by rap and hip-hop producers, artists, and aficionados of the 1990s. thus, the second chapter summarizes each of the eight tracks, followed by a list of all known instances where the songs have been sampled. the earliest sampling is the 1990 single, “in the ghetto,” by erik b. and rakim. schonfeld notes that paul c, a producer collaborating with erik b. and rakim, who was murdered in 1989, left behind “a tape containing records he’d planned to sample … if paul c had not prepared that tape before his untimely death, this book might not exist” (2020, pp. 80-81). the story of how this “first seed of a resurrection” (p. 81) was nearly lost underscores how precarious the transmission of knowledge can be, even as the practice of making and storing copies of a work for later manipulation is growing exponentially. ‘lots of copies keep stuff safe,’ as the saying goes, but to copy a product is to make a critical judgement on top of previous judgements that make that product available to be copied in the first place. while music blogs in the early 21st century helped spread source material like ghetto: misfortune’s wealth, in the early 1990s, sample knowledge was spread primarily by word of mouth. this whisper network of sample knowledge fed the first generation of music blogs. the politics of collecting and sampling are central to chapters three and four. producers prized novelty and were reluctant to cite the albums from which they lifted their samples. “cratedigging”, the act of collecting source material from which to derive samples, emerges as a keyword. so does the term “copyright.” indeed, the latter half of the book dwells on the legal precedent that emerged after a judge ruled that biz markie’s use of a sample without first obtaining permission (which often required paying a licensing fee) constituted copyright infringement. just as sample-based music flourished, “rampant anti-rap sentiment, often rooted in racist assumptions,” ossified in legal precedent (schonfeld, 2020, p. 101). the cost and complexity of obtaining permission to sample a song grew exponentially. for reference, schonfeld (2020) provides the example of the beastie boys’ paul’s boutique (1989), whose several hundred samples are estimated to cost almost $20 million to clear today. a cottage industry emerged of lawyers and other professionals who specialize in navigating a complex system of laws that, on the one hand, protects the labor of (some) creative workers, but just the same excludes other creative workers and the practices and traditions they work within. the solidification of copyright laws stanched the creative flow and limited the ability to sample without fear of litigation to only the wealthiest producers. sampling an obscure song served two purposes. the first is originality. producers wanted a sound that would evoke the source record while simultaneously creating an original expression. the second is that, after 1991, for “those sampling without a license…it was less of a risk—and less easily identifiable,” and thus less likely to trigger a lawsuit to sample something obscure (schonfeld, 2020, p. 104). the more obscure the source, the less likely it was that the band behind the music had high-powered lawyers since they probably never amassed the prestige, reputation, and wealth to afford legal protection to secure their claim ghetto: misfortune’s wealth and do every thing wrong! the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37848 88 to the profits reaped from their intellectual property. the book ends on a discordant dyad: while 24-carat black’s surviving members owe their musical revival to sampling, they have been excluded from the material gains of this rebirth. while some band members are happy to know that people listen and create anew with their music, others are bitter. of the many documented examples of 24-carat black samples, which schonfeld (2020) dedicates an entire chapter to enumerating, only $1,560.47 in royalties have been distributed unevenly among the band’s surviving members. it is an especially dismal sum when considering that these samples built the music of stars like jay-z, kanye west, nas, and kendrick lamar (whose track “fear” sampled 24-carat black and formed part of the 2017 bestselling, pulitzer prize-winning album damn). it is deeply ironic that a genre of music so closely tied to struggles of race and class has, through sampling—a practice—as hip hop artist lord jamar describes in ice-t's 2012 documentary, something from nothing: the art of rap, that turns the record player “into an instrument, which it wasn’t supposed to be”— become symbolic of growing inequality among recording artists (quoted in seneca, 2013, n.p.). 24-carat black was of interest primarily because their music was salvaged from the rubbish bin of history. the resulting scarcity fueled more interest among those privileged with the knowledge of the group’s existence, with some producers even using the ghetto: misfortune’s wealth album as currency, like dj supreme la rock, who “during the 1990s … would buy “ghetto” every time he spotted it, and then trade extra copies with his friends” (schonfeld, 2020, pp. 121-122). as the band’s profile within the hip hop community grew, material conditions stagnated or worsened for 24-carat black’s surviving members. for example, samples of c. niambi steele’s voice, like those of 24-carat black’s other female vocalists, are valued for their wailing emotion. but niambi’s present cry, that “being legendary don’t feed you or pay bills,” is less often sampled (schonfeld, 2020, p. 138). schonfeld’s (2020) text is a significant resource for librarians and archivists interested in understanding the historical nuances of hip hop. analogies like sampling as a form of literacy, or cratediggers as memory workers, must be approached cautiously since counterhegemonic practices do not automatically produce unproblematic alternatives (alim, 2011). consider the bargain bins, record store basements, and family attics—spaces of abandonment where what was once unvalued becomes invaluable to the cratedigger. by sifting through the cultural remnants created by the record industry, the hip hop generation was creating new kinds of cultural and financial value, thus challenging and reinforcing capitalistic logic. is not every obscure bargain-bin-find also possibly someone’s dashed hopes and dreams? that certainly seems to be the case with 24-carat black, whose members were promised fame and fortune by dale warren; some lived long enough to see that promise realized but for a different group of people. such recovery practices can be both homage and exploitation. these complex acts of collective inclusion and preservation will challenge archivists and librarians to think of all repositories as sites of struggle. what schonfeld (2020) calls “sample knowledge” was closely guarded (p. 81). prior to the grand upright music, ltd v. warner bros. records inc. verdict in 1991, where sampling was deemed protected by us copyright law, producers intentionally decided to let samples go uncredited. schonfeld (2020) cites many producers expressing worry that sharing this information would lead to base imitation. early 1990s sample-based hip hop thus presents us with an interesting situation: producers, labels, and musicians are all anxious that sampling will get their compositions ripped off. however, they address their concerns in contradictory ways. for example, during the early years of hip hop, we see sample knowledge existing complementarily alongside a lack of documentation or preservation of that knowledge. ghetto: misfortune’s wealth and do every thing wrong! the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37848 89 indeed, one can’t know a commodity’s exchange value until it is identified, cataloged, or classified. post-1991, laws emerged that forced transparency, commodified the sample, and made a sample’s place in the commodities market unquestionable. a creator’s credit or citation for the sample is strongly tied to the now requisite licensing fee. the saga of sampling’s growth and enclosure reflects a theme present in various cultural histories. for example, in removable type: book histories in indian country, 1663-1889, phillip h. round (2018) explains that, as the american continent was settled, whenever literacy was deployed as a strategy by indigenous peoples, europeans could only recognize these practices as illegitimate uses or “harangues” (p. 106). similarly, according to lord jamar in something from nothing: the art of rap (ice-t & baybutt, 2012), sampling was seen as a misuse of technology, even among its practitioners. it is notable that the legal restrictions enforced around the reuse of recordings emerged during the 1990s, and not with earlier examples of sample-based music, like musique concrete or experimental tracks like steve reich’s composition, come out (1966). at the moment of its ascension in the early 1990s, hip hop’s creative process was treated as theft. schonfeld (2020) understands the restrictions around sampling as the effects of a racist system. we can extend this critique to the concept of literacy in education and lis, which seems to work similarly: educators often define what are acceptable reading and writing practices through reference to what are unacceptable modes and levels of literacy while policing the nexus that makes the paradigm a holistic framework. “ghetto: misfortune’s wealth” takes a less trodden path to how capitalism intersects with race, class, and creative expression. readers will want to reflect carefully on how the language of capitalism is embedded in schonfeld’s (2020) text: the album, ghetto: misfortune’s wealth, is referred to as “treasure,” sampling is characterized as pillaging, and even “cratedigging” as a description of record collecting, has strong connotations with resource extraction. perhaps, the most robust call for a critique of capitalism comes, again, from c. niambi steele, who gets the final word: “those samples don’t mean nothing …the dead dinosaur made the fuel that runs the world … the dinosaur wasn’t paying attention. he was too busy trying to live. he didn’t know he was going to be fuel. and neither did i” (schonfeld, 2020, p. 139). “that dude was from the internet” about two-thirds through “do every thing wrong! xxxtentacion against the world,” jarrett kobek (2018) informs the reader of a “tasteless joke” he made upon hearing of jahseh onfroy’s (known by his stage name xxxtentacion) murder in 2018. he commented that videos uploaded to social media displayed that he “died as he lived: in a shitty video on the internet” (p. 150). “do every thing wrong!” is no ordinary biography. and kobek’s self-confessed callousness is not so much a judgement of hip hop artist xxxtentacion, as it is a condemnation of a racist american society whose tonal center is the violence and exploitation of non-white, and especially black, people. kobek does not shy away from difficult subjects presented by the brief and violent life of xxxtentacion. his narrative goes beyond the choice one might expect a biographer to make: to create a redeemable figure in xxxtentacion or destroy him. instead, kobek opts to tell the story of an apparent contradiction: how a person who so publicly and honestly broadcasted their immorality could become a celebrity in a world where “morality is indistinguishable from success” (p. 81). kobek is the author of several works of fiction and non-fiction. his 2011 work, atta, is a ghetto: misfortune’s wealth and do every thing wrong! the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37848 90 fictionalized but deeply researched biography of 9/11 hijacker mohammed atta. the novella refutes the long-held image of atta as a one-dimensional embodiment of evil and ignorance by linking atta’s destructive act to his academic interests in comparing western and islamic traditions of urban architecture. kobek’s 2016 novel, i hate the internet, critiques the tech industry’s effects on the san francisco bay area and the world and received appreciable acclaim. kobek’s (2018) roasting of information technology’s enclosures and skillful narration of complex figures are equally explored in “do every thing wrong!” the book’s 12 short chapters, each comprised of brief, one-to-two-sentenced paragraphs (formatted like freeverse poetry), describe how xxxtentacion rose to fame while eschewing the traditional paths ordained by the mainstream music and entertainment industry. in fact, when they are mentioned, journalistic media is heavily criticized by kobek for being unreliable or poorly researched. kobek goes directly to the source, xxxtentacion’s tweets, to build his story. “do every thing wrong!” can be thought of as an attempt to make the digital archive speak, opening space for xxxtentacion to tell his own story. in kobek’s view, most of the media coverage of xxxtentacion thoughtlessly pathologizes his violent behavior. kobek posits that “[w]henever a righteous white writes about xxxtentacion, they will always include his year in jail [in 2013], $ki mask [a fellow rapper], and xxxtentacion’s beating of a gay kid” (p. 21). by consulting law enforcement records, investigative reports on florida’s juvenile detention system, and xxxtentacion’s tweets, kobek constructs an alternative timeline that reveals several factual errors and inconsistencies in the story where xxxtentacion gives “his greatest adversaries in public life … the backbone of their indignation” (p. 20). kobek concedes that there is no hard evidence the assault didn’t happen but interprets from xxxtentacion’s tweets the previously unconsidered possibility that the story was hyperbole if not pure fiction. kobek (2018) asserts that xxxtentacion used twitter as “an unfiltered confessional,” and his lies, when they do appear, are all consistent with “an adolescent boy who wants to be perceived as hard on social media” (p. 11; p. 29). thus, from the outset, kobek delivers a compelling example of what can be learned from xxxtentacion’s tweets and argues that the demonization of xxxtentacion serves a particular function within a racist society: onfroy is “the latest and greatest find in that perpetual quest. an african-american who can be criticized without anyone calling you racist” (p. 21). the book’s 171 pages are dedicated to describing the forces that shaped onfroy’s life and how he responded to them through his use of social media, particularly through the invented persona of xxxtentacion. right away, we are asked to contend with the fact that the book is about more than the life of an individual. “it isn’t the litany of suffering that is mandatory in every biography. it’s the story of how systemic influences in a society shape and create the contours of an individual … and the hypocrisy of a society that tolerates unspeakable crimes from its highest elected officials but brooks no forgiveness for the sins of its poor” (kobek, 2018, p. 9). early on, one of onfroy’s earliest performances, where he performs a rap over the phone for his incarcerated father, is discussed. this scene introduces a concept of enclosure as onfroy himself becomes trapped by both the carceral system and the technocapitalist world into which he was born. “[onfroy] and the internet grew up together,” kobek (2018) writes (p. 108), “and every medium, the internet included … makes a new kind of person” (p. 110). kobek’s (2018) appraisal is later formulated as a question: “what happens if your interaction with the world is dominated by an engine of human contempt, designed by the ultra-wealthy to inform you that you are less than garbage?” (p. 110). ghetto: misfortune’s wealth and do every thing wrong! the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37848 91 throughout the book, this conception of the internet is invoked as one of the significant systemic influences that shaped onfroy’s life. chapter 5 delves into education as another systemic influence that shaped onfroy. the chapter opens with “two of [onfroy’s] saddest tweets,” both are requests for information about alternative high schools (kobek, 2018, p.53). this unanswered request is accompanied by behavior that further casts onfroy as an unredeemable character rather than a gifted but troubled person seeking help with no better place to turn. another systemic influence that “do every thing wrong!” explores in greater detail is the music industry. here, we see some of the same racist dimensions of copyright at work, similar to the issues explored by schonfeld (2020) in “ghetto: misfortune’s wealth.” while composed music and lyrics can be copyrighted, something that a specialist in clearing samples confirms with schonfeld, kobek (2018) argues that xxxtentacion’s artistry, along with other hip hop artists, is defined primarily by subtle attributes of timbre and rhythm that cannot be copyrighted. schonfeld (2020) points out the story of james brown’s drummer, who came up with the drum break in the song “funky drummer,” one of the most sampled passages in hip hop: the drummer had no legal claim to his creation because rhythms on their own cannot be copyrighted. similarly, kobek argues that xxxtentacion’s music makes little use of standard songwriting elements—verses, choruses, melodies, harmonies—but delivers something unique and distinctive. just as sampling struggled to be recognized as an art form and was instead enclosed by antagonistic legal precedents and licensing fees, kobek (2018) sees the inability of legal definitions to recognize timbre and rhythm as music as “a perfect example of what people mean when they talk about systemic racism” (p. 36). xxxtentacion grew in popularity thanks to social media platforms. he is often credited as an initiator of the hip hop sub-genre, soundcloud rapiii. in chapter 6, kobek discusses xxxtentacion’s artistic breakthrough when streaming services were incorporated into chart metrics. this development, according to kobek, was onfroy’s ultimate entry into mainstream hip hop. kobek notes that xxxtentacion’s rise as “[a]n unfiltered independent recording artist climbing into mainstream life […] [w]ho had a very difficult and checkered history” was unacceptable (2018, p. 82). a few months after the unexpected chart success of xxxtentacion, the three largest music industry conglomerates announced a change in how the charts would be calculated, to the disadvantage of independent artists like xxxtentacion, whose success was a mistake that the industry hoped to prevent in the future. this misuse of a corporatized internet resembles the kind of misuse of the record player that is at work in schonfeld’s (2020) account of the early days of sampling. the unexpected consequences of re-purposing technology were followed by an attempt to disable that feature. once again, the practice of a group seen as sub-literate is viewed not as an expression of literacy but as an illegitimate “harangue” (round, p. 106). kobek (2018) states that “[onfroy’s] upbringing was marked by a lack of formal education or any hope of economic advancement.” he further posits that “before [onfroy] started uploading music to soundcloud, he had only one possible future. serving the state with his body. the belief that he should have no reward in life contains its own unasked and unanswered question: what measurable social good could have come from xxxtentacion not having a successful career?” (p. 168). the book’s theme of “doing things wrong” develops in this way, to show how onfroy tried to exceed the forces that were shaping his life by pushing back as hard as he could in the ways available to him. chapter 10 is a difficult chapter in a difficult book. the chapter lays bare what is at stake ghetto: misfortune’s wealth and do every thing wrong! the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37848 92 for onfroy, which kobek (2018) earlier describes as: the challenge of [xxxtentacion’s] work. you have to accept that a totally violent dude can also be defined by questions of self-worth … the way america works is the exact opposite. our collective narrative is that you can be one or the other. you can’t be both. a violent black man is disallowed the legitimacy of his feelings. but that is not how people are. or how people live. but it is how their albums are reviewed. and it’s also underlying justification for the entire prison-industrial complex. (p. 105) kobek (2018) is not looking to make excuses but to describe the “pathology in the constructed behaviours of our society…this pathology can’t excuse individual behaviors or choices. but, jesus christ, can it ever explain them” (p. 169). as inexcusable as onfroy’s actions are, kobek concludes the book by challenging us to see the injustice in a system that condemns so many people—“particularly when, like xxxtentacion, they are people in need and people who ask, repeatedly, for help in experiencing personal change”—to death or prison (p. 169). “i don’t see any good in prison,” kobek concludes, “and i don’t see any good in [onfroy’s] death” (p. 169). kobek’s critique of the prison-industrial complex—as one of the means by which racialized bodies are sacrificed to the state and private capital—stands to offer much at this moment when prison divestment and abolition have gained much momentum, including among information workers (abolitionist library association, “about,” n.p.). kobek (2018) provides a unique view on hip hop’s struggle for a place in a discriminatory information society. kobekdescribes how he collected onfroy’s tweets and even provided a url where the entire data set can be downloaded. while this transparency allows readers to “check his work” and draw their own conclusions, the method of collecting someone else’s tweets and then constantly referencing them does raise some ethical concerns. the method underscores a point kobek makes earlier by stating, “[our lives are] the property of others” (2018, p. 23). as ethically delicate as kobek’s stance may seem, much the same can be said of libraries, archives, and museums, which turn the earthly remains of people’s lives into collections, artefacts, and property. kobek (2018) was easily able to access onfroy’s unfiltered confessional with the help of a computer program hosted on github and a techsavvy friend, but anyone who has used a finding aid or catalog to access unpublished or published correspondence or journals has done the same. later on, kobek (2018) also announced he acquired “the barebones of [onfroy’s] juvie record” from the florida department of law enforcement for $24. kobek’s (2018) methods are compromised, as is his work, which he describes as “a further victimization” for the way it scrutinizes the lives of people who ultimately didn’t deserve the ruin that accompanied the attention (p. 134). kobek’s (2018) consideration of the ways his work is already recuperated against his will can serve as an example to library workers considering their own entanglements with oppressive systems even as they may seek to dismantle them. conclusion the two books considered in this review essay are brief. though by no means comprehensive or exhaustive, or even self-identified with information studies, these generative texts can help information professionals ask questions of the lis field. how does circulating information promote the public good? who benefits from this circulation? why does information circulate at all? can collecting information ever be ethical? how democratic or liberatory can literacy practices be if there are numerous examples of literacy used as a tool for a society’s elite to disable what creative potential exists among the underclasses? the ghetto: misfortune’s wealth and do every thing wrong! the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37848 93 illuminating case studies from “ghetto: misfortune’s wealth” and “do every thing wrong!” do not point to a utopia where all problems are resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, but they do ask us to look and listen harder at our current world and attend to whatever life or art may be emerging like roses that grow in the concrete. endnotes 1 for more information about the 33 ⅓ series, visit: https://333sound.com/33-13-series/ 2 ijidi editor note: apa style calls for a title mentioned in-text to be expressed as it is listed in the reference list. however, in this paper, the title, ghetto: misfortune’s wealth, is both the book title and the music album title. to differentiate between the two throughout the paper, we denote the album title ghetto: misfortune’s wealth in italics and the book’s title with quote marks. all book titles are in quote marks, and all album titles are italicized to maintain consistency throughout the entire essay. we believe that this formatting allows for more effortless reading because more album titles are mentioned than book titles. 3 soundcloud rap is also known as “mumble rap.” see grant rindner’s article, “comfort in the discomforting: the history of soundcloud rap, the face-tatted, hair-dyed vision that showed hip-hop’s future.” the ringer, december 16, 2021. https://www.theringer.com/2021/12/16/22838951/juice-wrld-soundcloud-rap-historyretrospective references abolitionist library association. (n.d.). “about.” retrieved may 4, 2022, from https://modestcolden-86b261.netlify.app/ alim, h. s. (2011). “global ill-literacies: hip hop cultures, youth identities, and the politics of literacy.” review of research in education, 35(1), 120-146. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x10383208 ice-t, & baybutt, a. (directors). (2012). something from nothing: the art of rap. [documentary film]. jollygood films; westmount films; final level entertainment. round, p. h. (2010). removable type: histories of the book in indian country, 1663-1880. the university of north carolina press. seneca, m. (2013, may). roses from concrete. in (negron, j.). adapt #1. https://floatingworldcomics.com/archives/1514 jose guerrero (jose.guerrero@library.ca.gov) is a cataloging librarian at sutro library in san francisco, california, usa. “despair rendered irresistibly funky” “that dude was from the internet” conclusion endnotes for more information about the 33 ⅓ series, visit: https://333sound.com/33-13-series/ 2 ijidi editor note: apa style calls for a title mentioned in-text to be expressed as it is listed in the reference list. however, in this paper, the title, ghett... references brick walls and tick boxes: experiences of marginalised workers in the uk archive workforce the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 brick walls and tick boxes: experiences of marginalised workers in the uk archive workforce kirsty fife, university college london, united kingdom hannah henthorn, independent, united kingdom abstract archives unlocked, the u.k. national archives’ strategic vision for the archive sector, identifies the need for diversity to be embedded in all parts of the archives sector. as workers, we need to ensure that “the rich diversity of society is reflected in our archives’ collections, users and workers” (the national archives, 2017, p.13). despite strategic aims and investment in specific schemes (delivered by the national archives, creative skillset, and the heritage lottery fund) which seek to diversify the sector, there are still structural barriers which prevent the workforce from diversifying and realising these ambitions. in 2017, the authors of this paper began collaborating on a grassroots project to explore the experiences of archive workers from marginalised backgrounds. the project collected anonymous survey data from 97 people which explored experiences of work and qualification. as two archive workers who have experience of accessing the archive sector workforce via diversity bursaries and scholarship, we wanted our research to articulate a common set of frustrations that are often shared but rarely documented or consulted when developing diversity and inclusion strategies and schemes. by utilising lived experiences as our main research data in this paper, we re-centre discussions about diversity and inclusion around the lived experience of those currently on the margins of the archive workforce. keywords: archives; intersectionality; marginalisation; professional development; workforce diversity publication type: research article introduction efore we begin this paper, we will give some background on us as authors. kirsty (they/them) is a phd student in information studies at university college london (ucl). before this, they worked as an archivist. they qualified as an archivist in 2013 with the support of scholarship funding. they would describe their identity as white, working class, queer, non-binary, and disabled. hannah (she/her) is working as the local studies and archives assistant at culturenl in north lanarkshire. she is a white, cis, queer, disabled woman. she was only able to access her diploma programme at university of dundee by receiving a bursary from the national archives. in 2017 we began collaborating on a project to explore the perceived gap between words and b https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 action that permeates the u.k. archive sector. we delivered our first paper at the radical collections conference at senate house library in 2017, which was then published (henthorn & fife, 2018). in her book, living a feminist life, sara ahmed (2017) refers to “diversity work in two related senses: first, diversity work is the work we do when we are attempting to transform an institution; and second, diversity work is the work we do when we do not quite inhabit the norms of an institution” (p. 91). we gave our first paper from the position of two workers who had felt unwelcome and under-confident in our workplaces and study environments. exploring our own career histories, we identified the barriers we faced (including low paid work, the cost of postgraduate education and volunteering, and restrictive criteria for bursaries). we reflected on the many points during our friendship in which we spoke about giving up on a career in archives, not through lack of passion, but through lack of support, solidarity, and/or socioeconomic safety nets. archives unlocked, the u.k. national archives’ strategic vision for the archive sector, identifies the need for diversity to be embedded in all parts of the archives sector. as workers, we need to ensure that “the rich diversity of society is reflected in our archives’ collections, users and workers” (the national archives, 2017, p. 13). despite strategic aims and investment in specific schemes (delivered by the national archives, creative skillset, and the heritage lottery fund) which seek to diversify the sector, there are still structural barriers which prevent the workforce from diversifying and realising these ambitions. this can be verified through the findings of the recent study of the information workforce undertaken by the archives and records association (2018) and the chartered institute of library and information professionals. this study identified key issues affecting those working in the sector, including: men earning more than women and a lack of women in leadership roles despite women otherwise far outnumbering men in the archive sector. a larger proportion of the archive workforce are white than across other sectors (96.7% compared with 85.7% in the whole u.k. workforce). a smaller proportion of people with disabilities employed in the sector—15.9% with long term health issues (compared to 18.1% in the u.k. workforce). this report evidences what we had felt—that the archive sector workforce is not as inclusive as we would hope. after our initial paper, we developed our work into a larger project which could connect our experiences to others. in this paper we share experiences gathered through an anonymous survey circulated in 2017. this data makes visible a combination of structures and behaviours that make the u.k. archive sector an unsafe place. as two workers with white privilege and a career history, we use this paper to write into scholarship experiences that might otherwise go undocumented in academic research. we hope that by doing so we provide the sector with an opportunity to listen, learn, and grow. literature review for this paper, we identified research which addresses diversity issues in the archive sector. we also acknowledge the work that has been done by those marginalised within the information sector to articulate how oppression, othering, and white supremacy manifests within professional environments. it is important to state immediately that we struggled to locate scholarship exploring the 7 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 experiences of marginalised workers within the archive sector. this indicates a critical research gap worthy of a larger project than this paper. archival theorists have called for those in the sector to acknowledge the archivist’s complicity in oppressive structures and build practices centring around liberation, social responsibility, and transformation (caswell, 2017; caswell et al., 2018; roberts & noble, 2016; drake, 2019; olson, 2001; connolly, 2016; lewis, 2018). however, we have struggled to identify any dedicated research exploring how workforce dynamics can contribute or reaffirm these structures. the question of who becomes an archivist and works in an archive is what we wish to address in this paper. we were initially inspired by kathryn m. neal's (1996) article “the importance of being diverse: the archival profession and minority recruitment”. this article utilises a survey to explore the experiences of archive workers of colour. during the course of this review, we also identified nicola waddington’s (2004) article “the employment of people with disabilities as archivists, records managers, conservators and assistants” (p. 181). waddington’s (2004) research indicates that disabled archive workers struggled to access part-time working patterns, participate in social events and cpd activities. however, both of these papers were published over 15 years ago, indicating the need for a more current study. the research we were able to identify through the literature review for this paper was situated within library studies. neal (1996) notes that librarianship has generated a larger amount of research about people of colour in the profession. library workers and researchers of colour have explored the impact of whiteness in the library profession (espinal, 2001; espinal et. al, 2018; neal, 1996; schlesselman-tarango, 2016 and 2017; ramirez, 2015; galvan, 2015; connolly, 2016; lewis, 2018; brook et al., 2015). experiences of disabled library workers have been explored through a predominantly autoethnographic approach (hollich, 2020; oud, 2018 and 2019; schomberg, 2018; pionke, 2019; moeller, 2019; brown & sheidlower, 2019; kumbier & starkey, 2016). gender oppression in the archive sector is under-explored within existing literature. there is also no scholarship exploring the experiences of trans and non-binary workers in libraries or archives. research in other contexts indicates that a focus on binary understandings of gender equality in data gathering often erases the experiences of trans individuals (tzanakou & pearce, 2019). we hypothesise that reporting within the context of the u.k. information sector might similarly erase the experience of trans and non-binary workers. the majority of the literature identified as part of this review is produced in a north american geographical context, and there is very little emerging from researchers in relation to the u.k. information sector specifically. we also were unable to locate research explicitly approaching workforce diversity from an intersectional identity-led approach, although often authors identified the need for future research to engage with these intersections (oud, 2019; schomberg, 2018; schlesselman-tarango, 2016). we hope that our research findings will contribute to this growing body of literature written by and centring lived experiences of oppression within the workplaces through exploring the context of the u.k. archive sector, and with an explicit focus on intersections of marginalisation. in the context of this paper, we also want to acknowledge the work done by many individuals outside of academic literature, particularly through grassroots projects and knowledge building. this includes the recent work of jass thethi (2020), whose work through the blog intersectional glam has criticized “diversity” and “inclusion” as “unclearly defined, and the words do not hold people accountable.” other bloggers actively engaging with this work including nathan “mudyi” sentance (2017), who has written about his experiences as a first nations worker in the glam 8 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 sector, and sam winn’s (2017) deconstruction of archival neutrality. many interventions have been presented at archive sector conferences including gus john’s keynote at ara’s (2018) conference, who reflected that “people make records, that is true, but people also determine what to record and what to do with it once it's recorded”. the latter influenced the development of ara’s glasgow manifesto (archives and records association, 2018). we also include the work of archivists of colour including the transmission collective, who have worked “to support and build archives and heritage in and with african diaspora communities” (transmission, n.d.), and archives download’s work to encourage “black and minority ethnic (bame) archive workers into the archives profession” (national archives, 2018). it is crucial to acknowledge that those speaking out about these issues in the u.k. archive sector are all too often situated on the margins of workplaces and research institutions. this may contribute to the absence of academic writing exploring the experiences of workers in relation to broader issues of oppression and marginalisation. methodology this paper utilises a combination of autoethnography and qualitative data gathered through an anonymous survey answered by 97 respondents. we chose to centre personal experiences in this paper after being influenced by other research which has utilised similar methodologies in librarianship (espinal et al., 2018; neal, 1996; hollich, 2020; oud, 2018 and 2019; schomberg, 2018; pionke, 2019). similarly to brown and sheidlower’s (2019) study of disabled librarians, we also used our work and experiences to connect with others within the sector who shared similar experiences and concerns. as they write, “in the early days of the research, it was enough to discover that we are not alone” (brown & sheidlower, 2019, p. 471). by representing ourselves in the following analysis, we make visible the connections between our own experiences and those articulated by those who participated in the study. autoethnography refers to a number of qualitative research methods centering around “the use of personal experience to examine and/or critique cultural experience” (holman jones et al., 2013, p. 22). autoethnography emerged in response to quantitative research practice which did not acknowledge the emotional experiences of the researcher. we have utilised analytic autoethnography as the framework for this paper, which was developed by leon anderson (2006). he describes it as ethnographic work in which the researcher is (1) a full member in the research group or setting, (2) visible as such a member in the researcher’s published texts, and (3) committed to an analytic research agenda focused on improving theoretical understandings of broader social phenomena. (p. 375) the main difference between this method and earlier autoethnographic methods is that analytic autoethnography “is grounded in self-experience but reaches beyond it as well” (anderson, 2006, p. 386). we situate our own research within the tradition of analytic autoethnography. we are peers (and sometimes friends) with respondents within the paper’s research context. by including ourselves within the data, we make ourselves and our histories within the profession visible. finally, through connecting our data to a broader critical landscape about diversity and inclusion in the information profession, we seek to improve understanding of the intersection between diversity agendas and experiences of workers in the sector. 9 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 in order to collect data from peers, we developed an online survey called, “marginalised in the uk archive sector”, which we circulated via a u.k. archive sector mailing list. this was designed to produce both qualitative and quantitative results—with questions aimed at gathering statistics, and other open-ended questions that enabled more reflection and detail to be provided. in our introductory paragraph to the survey, we gave examples of possible marginalised identities, such as being a woman, queer, disabled, person of colour, working class, and trans. the introduction and full list of survey questions is represented in appendix a of this paper. we designed the survey to be anonymous so that respondents were able to share their experiences frankly. these survey design choices acknowledged that by sharing experiences directly with us, they were making themselves “professionally vulnerable” (gorski, 2019, p. 677). confidentiality was crucial to building trust within our relationships with participants, and we were conscious not to jeopardise any individual’s work situation by sharing their negative experiences more widely. researcher martin tolich (2004) describes two modes of confidentiality—external confidentiality, or “traditional confidentiality where the researcher acknowledges they know what the person said but promises not to identify them in the final report” (p. 101), and internal confidentiality which is “the ability for research subjects involved in the study to identify each other in the final publication of the research” (tolich, 2004, p. 101). the latter has the potential to cause harm, for instance through jeopardising a job or the likelihood of renewal of a fixed term contract. in the context of our research, we made efforts to further anonymise data that would make an individual easy to identify during our analysis phase, making note of when combinations of identity intersections and workplaces could informally identify an individual even when they were otherwise not named. we circulated the survey between march and may 2017 via the archives and records association listserv and by sending it directly to staff who worked on postgraduate archives and records management courses in u.k. universities so they could forward it onto students. retrospectively, we acknowledge some limitations to this approach—we had enquiries from a small number of prospective university students who struggled to locate themselves in survey options, and could not fully engage with the survey. as well as this, we would like to acknowledge that the listserv in question (which is the primary listserv in the context of our research) has been a site where oppressive views (particularly racist opinions) have been articulated by posters, particularly in recent months following the widespread black lives matter protests. this has made explicit the ways in which participation on professional listservs is not always safe for people from marginalised backgrounds (particularly people of colour), and as such, if we were to do this research project at a larger scale in the future, we would employ a different approach. we received 97 responses to the survey. we list a breakdown of our respondents by identity characteristic below, with comparable figures provided from “a study of the uk information workforce” (cilip & ara, 2015) provided in order to contextualise our data subset: 52% were people who self-defined as working class, or came from a working class background; 27% were people who did not define as heterosexual. sexuality descriptors varied between responses—for example, many used the descriptor “queer” but some “lesbian”, “lgbt”, and so on (compared with 93.3% heterosexual, 3.8% gay or lesbian, 2.3% bisexual, and 0.7% other across the u.k. information sector); 10 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 74% identified as women, 19% as men, with 7% as gender fluid, trans or non-binary (compared with 78.1% “female” and 21.9% “male” with no data about gender fluid, trans and non-binary individuals collected); 22% identified as disabled (compared with 15.9% with “long term health issues”); 88% of respondents identified as white (compared with 96.7%), 11% as people of colour (compared with 3.3%), 1% did not provide data; 65% of our respondents cited two or more marginalised identity characteristics (e.g. working class woman, queer person of colour). this in combination with the above breakdowns indicates that we were successful in reaching out to our desired demographic (an intersection of archive workers who would self-define as being from a marginalised background); the majority of our respondents were younger than middle aged, and early in their career in archives (58% working for less than five years in the sector, and 55% aged between 18 and 35). this also differs from the aforementioned report, which identifies 27.3% of women and 22.7% of men as being under 35 and working in an archives context. 55% of our respondents had accessed professional posts via postgraduate education. this is lower than the figure produced in “a study of the uk information workforce” (cilip & ara, 2015), which is 77.7% in the context of the archives workforce. analysis and findings in this section of the article, we explore the findings from our research. we utilise our own experiences as data, along with those articulated by survey responses. the section begins with an exploration of entry routes, career progression, and perceptions of leadership within the sector. after this we identify common experiences that emerged in the qualitative data we gathered, including isolation, otherness, a lack of support, and unconscious bias. entry routes we wanted to find how people entered and progressed within the archive sector. our experiences vary substantially—kirsty entered the archive sector after a degree in photographic arts. following the completion of this degree, they secured a part time, fixed term digitisation post at a national museum’s archive in 2009. the post (at four days a week) paid a year’s salary which was below national minimum wage, at £10,500. their motivation for applying was a combination of an interest in archives and a need to pay the bills, rather than a strategic career plan. others who responded to the survey also described taking on temporary posts motivated by the need to earn money, rather than get into the sector: i signed up to a temping agency and the first thing that they offered me was an interview for a job in an archive. i said yes to look keen, got the job and found that i liked and was good at it. (respondent #6) i had never heard of the archive profession at all until i happened to 'fall' into it! (respondent #72) these quotes illustrate how short-term opportunities available can be a route into a sector and an opportunity to “try out” the sector for fit. however, it is also important to acknowledge that these conditions were cited as a barrier by many other respondents. for instance, respondent #93 said their experiences in the archive sector had been: 11 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 almost impossible. suitable vacancies are either too low paid or too short term for me to consider applying. most openings are only suitable for middle class or those wealthy enough to work (or volunteer) for low paid jobs. many respondents felt excluded from positions because of inadequate salaries or fear that they would be without income between contracts. many raised the issue that wages in the archive sector were low and stagnating or deteriorating over time: the pay is so poor. i can't afford to earn so little for such a short period of time. i think the current system is prejudiced against people who don't have independent means of support as most of the lower-level archival jobs are extremely poorly paid and even qualified roles in london can pay not much more than £25,000/pa. (respondent #90) although salary standards in the u.k. archive sector have subsequently been raised (thanks to the work of the ara pay review group), those in entry level posts (even those which are long term and permanent) have a salary benchmark of £20,000. given that progression to professional posts (as archivist or equivalent) involves undertaking a postgraduate qualification which costs almost half this minimum salary in fees alone, it is easy to see how many individuals described feeling stuck and unable to move beyond entry level posts without external support. several respondents entered the profession through government-led employment and job creation schemes. respondent #7 gives an example of a scheme facilitated via the department of social security. this enabled entrance to entry level posts to those currently receiving unemployment benefits: i was unemployed on leaving university (in 1976) and was offered a place at my local record office under a job creation scheme then operated by whatever the dss was called that week... a number of archives (and other heritage organisations) took part in this scheme, which actually paid the rate for the job, enabling me to save some money to cover living expenses during the course (i got a bursary too). (the later community programme of the 1980s was a similar route in for others i think, but only paid a small supplement to the dole). ten percent (10%) of our respondents entered the sector via a traineeship scheme. traineeship schemes have been implemented across the archive sector by organisations including the national archives and skills for the future. whilst these schemes have sometimes succeeded in recruiting from marginalised communities, trainees have often struggled with further progression due to the qualification barrier (mckenzie & bolton, 2017). twenty-eight percent (28%) of respondents wanted to see an increase in traineeships and/or the development of vocational routes to qualification. survey respondent #32 sought: more traineeships which are longer than one year and do not work on the presumption that it is feasible for you to go on to a course straight after that (in many cases not very well paid) year. these responses suggest that traineeship schemes need to be reviewed in order to target individuals and retain trainees beyond an initial first post. this also speaks to research by espinal et al., who call for diversity and inclusion work in the information sector to be expanded to include recruitment, retention, and promotion. white biases, coupled with complacency, results 12 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 in librarians of colour not being given access to the tools necessary to move into administration: librarians of colour are not being groomed for administration, and then, as it follows, they are not given those opportunities and are not seen as leaders. (espinal et al., 2018, p. 155) to transform the archive sector, people of colour must be recruited, retained, and encouraged. progression is often unaddressed through a focus on creating entry level traineeships. twenty percent of our respondents entered the u.k. archive sector via volunteering within archives. these respondents shared experiences of juggling volunteer work with other paid jobs. this resonates with author hannah, who realised she wanted to become an archivist after starting a degree and entered the sector through volunteering. she resolved to get the practical experience needed to apply for the archives & records management diploma at university of dundee. in order to pay her living costs and mlitt tuition fees, she worked three part-time jobs during her degree, while volunteering at two archives services. at the same time, she was coming to terms with the realities of living with a chronic pain condition and an autoimmune disease, and often needed to rely on walking aids and the care of her partner. a similar experience of juggling jobs alongside volunteering is described by respondent #24: after graduating, i worked concurrently in two minimum wage jobs in a café and a restaurant while fitting in as much archives volunteering as i could on the days i wasn't required at work. this was a fairly difficult and stressful period, as my earnings barely covered my rent and i never knew at the start of each week exactly how many hours i would be working. it was also tricky to fit in regular volunteering commitments, not least because every day i was working on an unpaid basis was a day i wasn't earning money for food and rent. the assumption that individuals will volunteer to gain pre-course experience relies upon expectations about free time and affluent finances. for instance, respondent #32 said: i have found it frustrating being told to ‘just do some more volunteering’ by interviewers, as this is financially very difficult for me. the archive sector often presents an uncritical and positive view of volunteering. this centres the potential for volunteer work to improve wellbeing and provide access to paid work. heritage researchers have identified the whiteness and affluence of heritage sector volunteers. as harald fredheim (2018) writes, “a willingness to perform unpaid work as part of professional development restricts access to paid employment for those who cannot first work for free and that contributing to the sector is disproportionately considered attractive or feasible by certain demographics” (p. 624). further examination of the role of volunteering in the archive sector is essential. we argue that a white, middle class sector recruiting volunteers from the same background (due to a combination of unconscious bias and circumstances that make unpaid labour possible) will not diversify the workforce but perpetuate patterns of whiteness, affluence, and other privileges. in the responses to our survey, volunteering was not viewed as an inherently positive experience. in fact, it could dissuade some individuals from pursuing a career within the sector. participant #36 described how volunteering contributed to feeling unwelcome within work environments: knowing how colleagues and supervisors regard me and the things i care about and 13 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 believe in has certainly soured the experience of volunteering, stopping it from being enjoyable or as productive as it might have been. it has made me re-evaluate whether this is a sector i should work in. i feel bitter and resentful that people like me are not welcome in public sector environments, as well as all the other places from which we are excluded, i.e. academia, teaching, arts & media. the above quote suggests that voluntary posts could have a negative impact on an individual’s feeling of belonging within the sector. some participants described archive organisations as “exploiting” volunteers in place of paid staff. others wanted the sector to focus less on voluntary roles and more on paid entry into the sector, as well as support towards qualification: there need to be more ways to enter the profession, especially for people who can't afford to volunteer for long periods of time, and who can't afford to do a postgraduate degree. (respondent #28) helping people gain experience in a way which doesn't necessarily involve working for free as this can be a big barrier to those not financially independent. (respondent #41) these negative views of volunteering by participants also show a general unease with unpaid labour. 10% of respondents wanted the sector to rely less on volunteers and unpaid labour: we also need all our labour to be paid for. (respondent #61) the biggest barrier is the expectation that people will be able to afford to volunteer for free. (respondent #69) the assumption that those interested in pursuing a career within archives must volunteer can exclude individuals without socioeconomic privilege. career progression we next moved on to examine career progression for our respondents. in this section, we discuss mandatory postgraduate education in the archive sector. in our previous paper, kirsty reflected on the experience of applying for funding to undertake a postgraduate qualification at ucl (2018). hannah spoke out about being awarded a diversity bursary from the national archives. although both of us are grateful to have received financial support, we struggled to access that funding due to structural barriers. these included stipends below national minimum wage (with restrictive conditions around undertaking part time work), exclusionary criteria (for example, bursaries targeted at marginalised groups insisting on full-time study), and interviewing processes which undermined non-traditional educational backgrounds. there has been movement towards the development of an alternative route to qualification since our first paper (henthorn & fife, 2018). however, details about this are not yet confirmed. meanwhile, employers continue to ask for a postgraduate qualification in job specifications. only 55% of our respondents had gained a postgraduate qualification. of these individuals, 50% cited funding via workplace or scholarship/similar as their method of qualifying as an archivist. this indicates that many individuals are reliant on financial support of some type to progress within the sector. others are effectively prohibited from progressing without access to this support. unsurprisingly, a dominant suggestion for change was more funding for study (32% of 14 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 respondents). funding should also target those who were otherwise unable to access postgraduate study. for instance, respondent #48 said: funding is a huge issue these days. bursaries used to be sufficient to live on and access to benefits outside term-time was easier. more money focused on marginalised applicants would encourage a more diverse workforce. the hierarchy of qualification also created unnecessary workplace divides for our respondents: there is a real sense of “us” and “them”. the non-professional vs. professional staff, i mean. (respondent #53) i have found that the worst is the huge barrier between qualified and non-qualified staff. there is little recognition and/or appreciation of the latter's skills. (respondent #19) i know many aas [archive assistants] who are more competent and knowledgeable than the archivists they work with but their skills are not recognised because they cannot afford to gain a qualification. (respondent #94) affording more value to knowledge gained by the qualification enforces the notion that academic knowledge is superior to archival knowledge gained in different spaces. to counter this, respondents wanted to see more flexibility from employers. for instance, by being open to candidates from different backgrounds: just because you haven't done that exact job/degree before doesn't mean you are not capable of learning it, and even bringing new insights which the 'traditional' candidate might not be able to bring. (respondent #45) increased flexibility could enable progression for those with competencies equal to qualified candidates. the qualification was often viewed as a “tickbox exercise” (respondent #16) which demonstrated one period of learning rather than a continued commitment to learning. the following quotes demonstrate very negative views articulated by two individuals: [the qualification is] remarkably arid and needless for the vast majority of people working in archives… i'm unconvinced you actually need to work at postgrad level to be a good archivist so it's not just a barrier, it's a needless one. (respondent #11) if i'm being cynical, the archives qualification seems little more than a bureaucratic rung on the ladder that you have to take in order to progress. (respondent #27) respondents called for radical change in archival education. respondent #11 suggested the sector should “de-academicise archive study”. respondent #27 calls for “a systemic shift away from universities teaching the qualification for it [to] be affordable for working class folks”. this aligns with our previous paper, in which we called for the decentering of academic knowledge (henthorn & fife, 2018). some respondents engaged with archival education in a more positive way. however, they still wanted to see adaptations to curriculum. this included less attention given to “middle-class, 15 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 white, straight cis men. all the time” (respondent #2). respondent #62 asked for “more focus in curricula on decolonising archives, making them accessible to people of all backgrounds”. fourteen percent (14%) of respondents called for changes to teaching methods which might make them more flexible and accessible. for example, respondent #8 said: it would also be helpful if the course were decentralised away from a handful of universities and offered more dynamically, perhaps in a distance learning / part time hybrid. peer support is really important and distance learning alone doesn't always provide that. other suggestions included changing university timetables to better enable studying alongside 95 work. some respondents wanted better online training. others sought the reduction of course fees and tying the qualification to apprenticeships or other paid work. the postgraduate qualification required in order to be an archivist was often harder to achieve for our respondents. in general, career progression was described as slower, or sometimes stalled completely. for example, the following participant described their experience of career progression as frustrating! i have knowledge and experience, but miss out through not being fully qualified. my ability to take part in he has been limited by my personal circumstances, acting as carer for a family member of over 12 years… it has been limiting to the point of stagnation. (respondent #20) many described feeling “stuck” or “stalled” due to being unable to access promotions or qualification: i also feel stuck in the eternal position of assistant regardless of my experience and abilities. (respondent #23) i feel that my skills and enthusiasm is wasted by not being able to progress beyond my current level. as i cannot afford to complete the required qualification though i am unable to really alter my position. [...] i feel i am currently at a bit of a standstill career wise. (respondent #77) respondents described having to look outside of the sector due to a lack of opportunity. another barrier to career progression was the sector’s reliance on precarious and fixed term contracts. progression can be slower due to not being able to take roles with a lower salary or regularly move to take up contracts in different locations: as someone from a low income/working-class background, who has known they want to work in archives from being 16, i have found the process to be a slow one and many of my choices regarding education and employment have been based on factors related to cost, salary and location. (respondent #26). [i am] unlikely to progress at all due to the availability of temporary contracts and i'm sadly considering alternatives. (respondent #23) i'd love to have gone for more volunteering and short-term opportunities if i wasn't 16 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 working to make a living and trying to avoid putting myself in a precarious position. (respondent #32) short term contracts, and the need to be able to move, often restricts the roles available to people without financial support. precarity is a significant problem within the u.k. archive sector, and manifests through, “unstable and unprotected work, which may result in low compensation, few boundaries between work and personal life, frequent relocation, and anxiety over finding and keeping work” (moeller, 2019, p. 462). precarious employment also enforces cultures of compliance for employees. this can feel like a pressure to fit in and not speak out in order to access the elusive “permanent job”. in relation to experiences of burnout within racial justice movements, paul gorski (2019) refers to individuals feeling that “every job was “temporary” due to their outspokenness about racism” (p. 677). the precarity of archival employment engenders professional vulnerability in individuals who speak out against oppression in the sector. another key theme to come out of the responses was a frustration at lack of diversity in leadership. much of this frustration was directed at men occupying the top spots in the sector’s hierarchies. respondents often felt that innovation around diversity and inclusion was harder to facilitate. for example, respondent #26 said: i've found that the profession is not diverse. white men occupy the top spots, even though white women occupy most spots.... it feels like that creates an echo chamber where innovation is difficult. the following responses articulated frustration directed at gender dynamics in leadership: i feel very much stuck in my current circumstances—but i know that opportunities for young women in my workplace are dire (oh hi, management structure of old white dudes!). (respondent #83) i have found it strange that my colleagues (by this i don't mean those on the same level as me, as i was often only a volunteer, but everyone with the exception of the head) have been mostly women and yet my bosses were almost always men. (respondent #78) there was a general consensus that leadership is not accessed by marginalised individuals. to better enable career progression, respondents called for significant changes within the sector. others wanted to see more routes into leadership and leaders from marginalised backgrounds: more leaders in the sector who actively assert their own identities and take steps to dismantle the active oppressions within our sector—white supremacy, heterosexism, patriarchy, ableism, islamophobia ... we also need leaders who help us to see that we are archives workers too— even if we don't fit the ‘traditional’ models of what an archivist is. (respondent #82) genuine progression within professionalised roles, including into management. otherwise, the sector will not appeal to marginalised groups. (respondent #41) some respondents would like to see networking opportunities for people of marginalised backgrounds. others wanted mentors from similar backgrounds. this could provide support and connection to those who might otherwise feel isolated: 17 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 those trying to make change or use any creativity as part of the process of developing collections and establishing their careers need support as it is lonely and stressful—both to them as change agents and to the wider archive community. (respondent #33) suggestions for networks included “initiatives or associations for minorities” (respondent #42). respondent #65 sought “networks based on marginalised groups where members can share experiences”. the u.k. sector could learn from the society of american archivists’ archivists and archives of color section, which is a well-established peer-led professional network. issues such as childcare were also described as contributing to the lack of women in leadership within the sector. respondent #47 said: when i started out the women at the top of the profession were invariably single and i'm not sure this has changed that much. there were no role models for me of married women with children in the higher levels of the profession. respondent #24 expressed an anxiety that having children would impede her career development: i'm afraid about the future. i'm worried that i may end up marginalised when i have children as i may have to go down to working part-time. i worried about potential maternity discrimination and childcare costs and that i will be permanently set back in my career in comparison to male colleagues. some individuals discussed looking outside of the sector for jobs that would accommodate childcare responsibilities. others expressed common feelings that having childcare responsibilities would inhibit their career development. experiences in workplaces and professional spaces the preceding section highlighted structural barriers to entry and progression within the archive sector. this section hopes to draw out how power dynamics and oppressive behaviour manifest within workplace environments. these behaviours can lead to individuals leaving the sector or feeling vulnerable to job losses, thus reinforcing the precarity of fixed term archival work. isolation and otherness the first theme we would like to discuss is experiences of isolation and otherness in both workplaces and universities. respondents talked about feeling conscious of their identities at work and during study. many were conscious of being the only or one of few people from similar identity intersections. this was described by respondent #9 as “an occasional feeling of ‘otherness’, that my life experiences are different to most other archivists.” respondent #15 also described feeling “different” within their workplace environment: i am often aware that people come from very different backgrounds to me, particularly class backgrounds… i am often at meetings where people talk about people from similar backgrounds to me without perceiving me as “one of them” which i think is informed by ideas of what working class people are like. respondent #11 referred to a common assumption made about the backgrounds of archivists: 18 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 there are challenges around group assumptions (didn't we all spend our teens touring national trust properties with mum and dad and loving heritage tourism). these quotes resonate with one of us, also from a working-class background (kirsty). in kirsty’s own career history, they have rarely worked with other working-class professionals. they have benefited through connections made through sector networks. however, many of our respondents did not have these and felt isolated in their workplaces. respondent #42 summarises the impact of these feelings, writing “honestly i don't feel like there's a place for me in the archive sector but i feel like i need to just keep swimming against the tide for now”. respondent #73 also stated “i am unsure whether to pursue an archive career as i think at times i may be unsuited due to my background”. feeling isolated can contribute to individual decisions to leave the sector. experiences of isolation and otherness were also discussed in relation to classroom environments. in the following quotation, respondent #14 articulates feeling othered on a master’s course as one of few people of colour in the room: there is all this talk of diversifying the sector and on the course you can count on one hand how many people from a bame background there are. sometimes i do think that i have gotten the place on the course because i allow for certain stats to be filled and boxes to be ticked. respondent #15 referred to feeling “like a token” within their class at ucl which was “white, straight and middle class”. in reference to teaching as a black, queer woman musser (2015) refers to individual experiences of being treated as “a specimen—that is to say, a commodity, static and rare” (p. 273). in the above examples, we can see how being one of few people of colour within educational environments contributes to feeling objectified, tokenized, or othered. respondent #63 described this as feeling “like i should behave like a child who should be seen and not heard”. individuals were wary of speaking out in classes, due to ongoing feelings of isolation and otherness. respondent #29 said that: i think that not hearing similar voices/seeing similar people to me while studying, both in the room and in the literature we were reading, held me back from expressing my opinions at points. respondent #42 reflected that: i'm the only one of three students in a very big class that is a woc which is very uncomfortable at times, especially when discussing certain topics. i come from a very working class background so the tna (the national archives) scholarship for bame1 students was perfect. unfortunately, my university did not respond to my application until august so i was compelled to do my degree part time and save up the money while working alongside it—which is not a problem but at least some incentives to help, even a small bursary of some sort would keep my optimism up to feel like i'm doing something worthwhile. instead, i'm just exhausted and feel like i do not belong. 19 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 particularly in the final quote, it is clear that the combination of the experience of isolation (as a woman of colour) and structural barriers (being unable to access a bursary and needing to juggle work and study) can cause individuals to burn out before they even access professional posts. respondents also expressed feelings of otherness in relation to the collections they manage. respondents wanted to see their identities reflected in colleagues, peers, and in collections in order to feel safer in the sector. respondent #42 suggested an improvement would be to “include us in the archives first, at least,” suggesting that feelings of isolation and otherness can be heightened by absences within collections. respondent #30 similarly called for: collections held by archives [that] are also inclusive and meaningful, in other words representative of the myriad of stories and human experiences around us. people identify with archive materials, they like to engage with them at a sensorial and intellectual level. if archives collecting policies endeavour to build unbiased and inclusive collections, prospective professionals from marginalised backgrounds will feel a lot more inclined to jump into the profession. the desire to be reflected in collections and workplaces connects to the concept of “representational belonging”. this was first proposed by michelle caswell et al., (2016) in their article, “‘to suddenly discover yourself existing’: uncovering the impact of community archives”, caswell et al. (2016) coined the term to refer to “the ways in which community archives give those left out of mainstream repositories the power and authority to establish and enact their presence in archives in complex, meaningful, and substantive ways” (p. 74). whilst the concept relates to how communities engage with collections, we apply the term to workplaces. respondents wanted to see others from their backgrounds in professional posts to reassure them that they too belonged in the sector, as well as within the records. this was also echoed by individual reflections about positive encounters with other archivists from marginalised backgrounds, which were affirming. feeling unsafe/underconfident the second theme we wish to discuss is feeling unsafe in workplaces and education environments. in particular, trans and non-binary respondents to the survey expressed fears of being misgendered in workspaces. one respondent reflected that: “there is a general lack of understanding about gender and sexual diversity…. [i am] fearful about attending professional events and being misgendered etcetera”. another respondent did not feel able to come out as non-binary within their workplace: i am not ‘out’ at work about my gender identity (non-binary/genderfluid). i am not sure that i would be comfortable to be ‘out’, which maybe tells you something about the workplace. although i can only speculate on how people here would respond. i'm not sure they'd understand a great deal! there have been discussions in the tea room which were non-binary antagonistic. in this quote, the social space of a workplace environment (the tea room) can have a negative impact on individuals. this makes them less likely to fully participate in workplace cultures or feel safe and welcome in these environments. as we stated earlier, we have been unable to find 20 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 any academic work exploring the lived experiences of trans archive workers. the lack of trans inclusive politics within workplaces would merit further research. respondents who identified as lgbt2 often referred to positive experiences within workplaces. this happened through working with lgbt community groups or being encouraged to develop projects. however, broader sector environments including conferences could be different. for example, respondent #8 said “i occasionally get a discomforted reaction in broader contexts, for example at conferences, but never any hostility”. respondent #34 referred to not discussing sexual orientation at work, writing that: i don't really bring up my sexual orientation at work (bisexual), more because i don't talk much about any aspects of my private life with colleagues than out of fear of negative reactions, i think. bisexual or pansexual respondents described feeling “dishonest” if not out at work. one of the authors has also experienced bisexual erasure within workplaces. in reference to sexuality, respondent #82 shared experiences of “behaviours that impose or assume my identity”. the onus can feel like it is on individuals to “come out” as bisexual in workplaces after colleagues make assumptions, which can be personally disarming. the alternative is to not come out within workplaces and risk exposure to homophobia or biphobia due to presumed heterosexuality, which one of us has experienced directly in a workplace environment. moving on from sexuality and gender, respondents also described experiences of “imposter syndrome” (respondent #15). others shared a lack of confidence in professional spaces such as conferences and meetings. feeling unsafe and uncomfortable within environments had a negative impact on mental health. for example, respondent #4 said: archivists often don't seem too used to working class people! it can take a while for people to start listening to what you say rather than how you're saying it. being large and poor often seems to put up a barrier. having anxiety and depression, in combination with the above, really knocks your confidence and it takes a lot to prep in a professional context, in order to be taken seriously. the following two responses also indicate how these “knocks” on confidence can also impact on ability to perform in job interviews. this could also discourage individuals from continuing to pursue a career within the sector: a lack of confidence and the knowledge that i do not fit in may have affected my ability to simulate enthusiasm in job interviews, and has probably prevented me from getting the most out of my volunteering, which probably has a knock-on effect on my career prospects. (respondent #36) struggling to break into archives has made me question my love of the profession, as well as dented my confidence in my abilities. (respondent #74) confidence was cited as a barrier in educational spaces, especially for those who had previously felt excluded and oppressed in education. these feelings impacted respondents ’ability to enter the sector and progress into more senior and managerial roles. it also affected their ability to feel confident enough to be vocal in professional roles and commitments. 21 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 lack of support the next theme we would like to explore is a lack of support given to marginalised workers by employers. this was particularly expressed by disabled respondents in relation to adaptations. research by oud (2019) around disability in library workplaces indicates a clear tension between, “neoliberal ideals of competitiveness, productivity and efficiency” (p. 176) and the need for disability-related adaptations. these ideals often left people feeling inadequate compared to peers even whilst feeling as if their experiences contributed towards the facilitation of more inclusive information spaces for users (oud, 2019). in this absence of support, as christine m. moeller (2019) writes, “disabled library workers experience precarity in a workplace, and a profession that does not acknowledge their lived experiences or their needs” (p. 456). respondents who identified as disabled talked about needing to take breaks from study and work in order to recover from ill health. others were unable to take on full-time, 9-5 work, which restricts the number of roles available to them: working full time is extremely hard, as i have a disability with variable symptoms. would prefer more flexible working times or alternative tasks so not looking at the computer 9-5, for example. (respondent #1) others described only being able to pursue career progression in times when they were more stable, such as respondent #11 who stated, “limited options for progression are mostly about what i can manage with unstable mental health and limited spoons most days”. some individuals felt unable to ask for adaptations because of fears that it might affect career progression. for example, respondent #38 described their disability as “unseen, and therefore deniable”. this aligns with oud’s (2019) research about disability in the library sector, who writes that “the most common reason participants mentioned not discussing their disability at work was that they did not feel safe doing so, or feared that it would have a negative impact on their job” (p. 183) adaptation requests could be interpreted as them being “difficult” or unable to keep up with their job. workplaces which engender such cultures, especially within the already competitive climate of the u.k. archive sector, risk excluding colleagues with disabilities from participating in the sector. respondents struggled within an educational environment due to a lack of adaptations and support, particularly on distance learning courses. respondent #60 noted that “there is a severe lack of support for my disability as a distance learner”. respondent #41 shared their experiences of undertaking distance learning tasks: i have social anxiety issues and high-functioning autistic traits… which means i find faceto-face studying fairly difficult. this led me to select distance learning as the method of study (though this was also due to the fact that this kind of course is not offered in my local area). i found some of the tasks (e.g. interacting with interviewees via skype, attending conferences, etc.) quite difficult due to my preference for written communication. the lack of support in an educational environment could leave individual learners unable to keep up with peers and could cause people to drop out. this was especially described by individuals 22 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 who were juggling disability, work, study, and volunteering simultaneously. a common barrier to the development of more inclusive workplaces was an unwillingness to address workforce development as an issue. participants wanted peers to admit that the u.k. archive sector does have a problem with regards to workforce diversity: more generally, there needs to be a greater understanding that a diverse workforce, one given space to participate and make decisions, will actively help us all do a better job of preserving and making accessible our shared cultural heritage; this is a force for positive change, rather than a favour being extended to the marginalised or a box to tick. (respondent #43) i think that admitting there is an issue with how all workplaces still treat marginalised people is a good step towards greater cross-organisational self-awareness. (respondent #65) antonina lewis (2018) coins the term “archival fragility” which refers to an “unwillingness or inability on the part of professional archivists to fully recognize and compensate for their complicity in the historicity of the archive, and it is characterized by reticence to cede intellectual or physical control over archives” (p. 52). although lewis (2018) refers to control over collections, we can apply it to discussions around the archive sector workforce. in this project alone, we have regularly come into contact with individuals who do not consider workforce diversity to be an issue. this has included individuals acting in senior capacities on workforce development committees. the collective unwillingness to acknowledge this is an issue in which we are all complicit makes it harder for us to take positive action. many suggested that the onus for change in this area lay on existing managers. more privileged members of staff need to commit to continuing professional development in this area: it would be helpful if there was more emphasis on awareness of privilege and the human inclination to give preference to people perceived as like oneself. (respondent #4) make better efforts to train older archive workers in diversity standards and—so the onus is on existing institutions and colleagues to make archives an accessible, comfortable place to work for new staff from marginalised backgrounds. (respondent #62) respondent #61 suggested that this might happen through training provided by (and paying) marginalised individuals: we also need training to be given to non-marginalised staff members on what our experiences are like, and how to treat us decently—obviously employing marginalised professionals to run these courses would be a must. some professionals have engaged with these suggestions. for example, consultant jass thethi (2020) has developed independent training courses on intersectionality. however, training bodies such as the archives and records association have been slow to implement any training engaging with privilege, oppression, or intersectionality. this implies that this area of professional development is not seen as core to professional competencies. 23 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 unconscious bias unconscious bias was another issue that was expressed by a large proportion of individuals. mike noon (2018) describes unconscious bias as, “forms of bias – such as racial preference – that might be ‘unconscious’; that is, not explicitly acknowledged by the individual being tested” (p. 199). describing unconscious bias in relation to race, noon (2018) writes that, “a contemporary line of reasoning is that traditional, blatant racism has been suppressed and that expressions of racism take more subtle, covert and less visible forms” (pp. 200-201). subtle and covert forms of racial bias were most commonly drawn out by respondents in our survey. these experiences were articulated in relation to career development. for example, respondent #42 described taking actions to edit their cv to appeal more to archive services: before studying for the qualification, i did notice a general leaning towards younger white women when applying to positions. once i reduced certain aspects from my cv to hide my ethnic background [and] i heard more responses but still not a lot despite already having a postgraduate degree and ample volunteer work. in education, respondent #13 described expectations that they would achieve less due to their background as a woman of colour. referring to course staff, they said: they wrote me off, and had the expectation i would only receive a diploma. these quotes demonstrate instances in which implicit assumptions or unconscious bias can negatively impact on those seeking to enter or progress within the sector. a common criticism we received while conducting this survey was regarding the inclusion of “women” as a marginalised group. for example, respondent #15 said: i wouldn't consider myself as a marginalised person, so i was surprised to see women listed in the remit for this survey. archives is a woman-dominated sector so i haven't personally found this to be a problem. multiple respondents suggested that women are more likely to hold roles in the archives profession than men. as such they should not be included as a “marginalised group”. we agree that the sector does not struggle to recruit white women. in the comparable profession of librarianship, gina schlesselman-tarango (2016) describes how the librarian is almost exclusively represented as a white woman. however, we also received responses that highlighted ongoing issues relating to gender dynamics, which we include below to demonstrate how, even whilst a majority in the sector, women can still have negative experiences. a number of respondents provided examples of institutional and individual misogyny and sexism that directly affected them as employees. respondent #70 described one experience: i have been told that my responsibilities were temporarily given to a man to push through procurement for a large digitisation project because “the organization” is sexist in nature and therefore more likely to listen to a man than a woman. unpleasant power dynamics emerged between men and women within offices. these affected individuals through minimising opportunities that might otherwise enable career progression. respondent #82 said that “my boss treats me more like his secretary than anything else, and my 24 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 opportunities for development have been impacted by this”. there were also reports of “patronising (and sometimes very sexist) superiors and researchers” (#23) and “grandees” dominating the sector (#7). respondent #65 said that “i feel that my opinion is disregarded in comparison with male colleagues”. young women, particularly, described feeling “belittled” (#66) or being “made to feel small/inexperienced” (#69) within organisations. of their experiences, respondent #82 reflected that “it feels like the equality act doesn’t exist”. the above examples, which are illustrative of a broader pattern within the data, demonstrate that an intersection of age and/or race with gender can have a damaging effect on career progression and retention of younger women within the sector. experiences of research before we conclude, we want to take a moment to address what it has been like to work on this project. though we are both either in postgraduate research or have recently graduated from a postgraduate taught course, our work was not attached to any institution at any point. following our first papers on the project, we received a lot of vocal support. we contributed our voices within roundtables, panels, and meetings with sector bodies. these follow-up requests have always been unpaid. it has been stressful to balance studying, working, and/or volunteering alongside this project. this work has also been challenging and emotional for both of us. it has been disheartening to read some of the survey responses, especially when we were both early on in our own career progression. as disabled people with access needs, we have worried that the problems cited are what we have ahead of us. as such, we have often questioned whether this was the right sector for us. we have found ourselves identified as the spokespeople for all marginalised workers within the sector. however, we cannot speak for everyone and it is inappropriate, for example, for us to speak on behalf of people of colour in our sector as white people, or as people without education as two educated people. as a result, we have had to make decisions on a case-by-case basis as to whether we are the most appropriate persons to take platforms or opportunities regarding diversity work. through our work, we have been fortunate to develop networks that are rooted in solidarity and peer support. it has been beneficial to us and others to develop a sense of camaraderie, and to support each other in speaking out. although a community has developed, it is important to recognise the extent to which individual oppressions affect how welcome marginalised people feel in the sector. creating a broader and intersectional network has also enabled connections that are rooted in identities regarding class, gender, race, sexuality, and disability, whilst still maintaining a commitment to working together when collective action is needed. conclusion this article has examined the experiences of people from marginalised backgrounds working in the u.k. archive sector. these were collected via an online survey in 2017. we began the article with an introduction to the current emphasis on diversity and inclusion in heritage policy. our literature review indicated critical gaps in research to date, including a lack of research about workforce diversity in archives; no research about the experience of trans archive workers; and frequent calls for diversity research to be more intersectional in its methodological approach. our article has helped to address these gaps, but there is a lot of scope for further research. 25 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 using our own experiences in combination with the survey’s data, we have been able to identify how structural barriers, interactions with peers, and everyday experiences in workplace environments can negatively affect those from marginalised backgrounds. this combination can cause individuals to feel isolated and insecure within the u.k. archive sector. though we have not been able to locate those who have already left the sector, it is clear that many respondents had thought about changing careers. it is imperative that we engage with these issues in order to support our peers from marginalised backgrounds. whilst our paper relates specifically to the context of the u.k. archive sector, it is clear that similar issues could manifest in other geographical contexts and as such there is a wider relevance to these findings. we also hope that others will be inspired to explore similar projects in their own countries to build upon this body of research. clare mcglynn et al. (2010) write that “the discursive deployment of the terms “diversity” and “inclusion” means that the problematic reproduction of power and privilege is effectively displaced and silenced” (p. 246). key strategic documents present diversity and inclusion as core to our future direction as archivists. however, our data has made visible issues which manifest in workplaces on a daily basis. we have illustrated an everyday reproduction of societal inequality and power dynamics in the sector. this can happen covertly—yet it still contributes to ongoing feelings of isolation or individuals leaving the sector. those with power within the sector demonstrate a fundamental unwillingness to engage with the ways in which workplaces, education institutions, and recruitment practices can prevent transformation and change in this area. as researchers who have experienced oppression, we are now connected with a wider community of professionals with shared backgrounds and shared realities. what once felt like isolated experiences or was informally shared amongst a few individuals at events and in workplaces has been made visible through this project. now that we know we are not alone, we call for those in leadership and power to take action and implement changes that can embed support, solidarity, learning, and personal growth into the way in which we relate to peers, colleagues, donors, collections, and users. such actions should move beyond previous attempts, which have tokenised, burnt out, and alienated many from the sector. instead, changes should seek to adequately recompense, nurture, and connect individuals in webs of emotional, financial, and professional support that can sustain their involvement in the long term. endnotes 1 in this article, bame is used for black and minority ethnic. 2 in this article, lgbt is used for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. 26 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 appendix a: survey questions and introduction marginalised in the uk archive sector hello! we are two archive workers from marginalised backgrounds who have accessed the archive profession through diversity bursaries and scholarships. we are working on research about diversity in the archive workforce, particularly focusing on entry routes and experiences of qualification and employment in the sector for marginalised people. in order to share experiences that are beyond our own, we want to hear about your experiences of working in the uk archive sector. the answers from this survey are completely anonymous, and will be used for analysis in future research. we will use quotes from these responses in academic publication, conference presentations and case studies. we hope to use this research to influence future strategy around archive workforce development from a grassroots level. you can fill out this survey if you identify as marginalised in any way (as examples, if you are a woman, queer, disabled, person of colour, working class, trans). if you have any questions about our research, you can contact us directly. how did you start working in archives? what is your current job title? how long have you been working in archives? how has your career progressed since you started working in archives? how have you found working in the archive profession as a marginalised person? has your career progression been affected by your experiences? what steps do you think the archive sector can take to better support marginalised archive workers? have you got a postgraduate qualification in archives and records management (or similar)? by what study mode did you complete your qualification? how did you fund your qualification (if applicable)? did being marginalised affect your study? if so, how? what steps could course providers take to make access to qualification easier for marginalised people? how would you describe your gender? what is your age? 27 about:blank brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 how would you describe your sexuality? do you define as disabled? if yes, how would you describe your disability? what is your ethnicity? how would you describe your class background (childhood)? how would you describe your social class now? acknowledgements we would like to express our dear love for apollo, lily, salem, boudicca and chiomara, and our sheer awe and respect for jass thethi. we write this article in memory of magpie and kira. references ahmed, s. 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(2018). academic librarians with disabilities: job perceptions and factors influencing positive workplace experiences. partnership: the canadian journal of library and information practice and research, 13(1), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v13i1.4090 oud, j. (2019). systemic workplace barriers for academic librarians with disabilities. college and research libraries, 80(2), 169–194. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.80.2.169 pionke, j. j. (2019). the impact of disbelief: on being a library employee with a disability. library trends, 67(3), 423–435. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0004 ramirez, m. h. (2015). being assumed not to be: a critique of whiteness as an archival imperative. the american archivist, 78(2), 339–356. https://doi.org/10.17723/03609081.78.2.339 30 about:blank https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/archives/opening-up-archives-evaluation-2017.pdf https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/archives/opening-up-archives-evaluation-2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0006 https://www.museumsassociation.org/campaigns/collections/empowering-collections/ https://doi.org/10.1353/ff.2016.0006 https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/projects-and-programmes/strategic-vision-for-archives/ https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/projects-and-programmes/strategic-vision-for-archives/ https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/projects-and-programmes/a-year-in-archives/ https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/projects-and-programmes/a-year-in-archives/ https://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/45766/ma21_2_5.pdf?sequence=3 https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017017719841 http://www.jstor.org/stable/3175535 https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v13i1.4090 https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.80.2.169 https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0004 https://doi.org/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.339 https://doi.org/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.339 brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 roberts, s. t., & noble, s. u. (2016). empowered to name, inspired to act: social responsibility and diversity as calls to action in the lis context. library trends, 64(3), 512–532. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2016.0008 schlesselman-tarango, g. (2016). the legacy of lady bountiful: white women in the library. library trends, 64(4), 667–686. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2016.0015 schlesselman-tarango, g. (2017). topographies of whiteness: mapping whiteness in library and information science. litwin books. schomberg, j. (2018). disability at work: libraries, built to exclude. in k. p. nicholson & m. seale (eds.), the politics and theory of critical librarianship (pp. 111–123). library juice press. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/lib_services_fac_pubs/149 sentance, n. ‘mudyi’. (2017, june 20). on being an first nations worker in glam. archival decolonist [-o-]. https://archivaldecolonist.com/2017/06/20/on-being-an-first-nationsworker-in-glam/ sheffield, r. t. (2016). more than acid-free folders: extending the concept of preservation to include the stewardship of unexplored histories. library trends, 64(3), 572–584. thethi, j. (2020, may 5). glam and diversity are cancelled. we need glamorous intersectionality. intersectional glam. https://intersectionalglam.org/2020/05/05/archives-and-diversity-are-cancelled-weneed-archival-intersectionality/ tolich, m. (2004). internal confidentiality: when confidentiality assurances fail relational informants. qualitative sociology, 27(1), 101–106. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:quas.0000015546.20441.4a transmission. (n.d.). transmission. https://wearetransmission.space/who tzanakou, c., & pearce, r. (2019). moderate feminism within or against the neoliberal university? the example of athena swan. gender, work & organization, 26(8), 1191– 1211. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12336 waddington, n. (2004). the employment of people with disabilities as archivists, records managers, conservators and assistants. journal of the society of archivists, 25(2), 173– 188. https://doi.org/10.1080/0037981042000271493 winn, s. (2017, april 27). the hubris of neutrality in archives. medium. https://medium.com/on-archivy/the-hubris-of-neutrality-in-archives-8df6b523fe9f kirsty fife (k.fife.12@ucl.ac.uk) is currently a phd student in the department of information studies at ucl, researching methods for documenting and archiving uk diy music spaces. before beginning phd study, they worked as an archivist for the national science and media museum, uk parliamentary archives, and hoxton hall. this career has been enabled by scholarship funding 31 about:blank https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2016.0008 https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2016.0015 https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/lib_services_fac_pubs/149 https://archivaldecolonist.com/2017/06/20/on-being-an-first-nations-worker-in-glam/ https://archivaldecolonist.com/2017/06/20/on-being-an-first-nations-worker-in-glam/ https://intersectionalglam.org/2020/05/05/archives-and-diversity-are-cancelled-we-need-archival-intersectionality/ https://intersectionalglam.org/2020/05/05/archives-and-diversity-are-cancelled-we-need-archival-intersectionality/ https://intersectionalglam.org/2020/05/05/archives-and-diversity-are-cancelled-we-need-archival-intersectionality/ https://doi.org/10.1023/b:quas.0000015546.20441.4a https://wearetransmission.space/who https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12336 https://doi.org/10.1080/0037981042000271493 https://medium.com/on-archivy/the-hubris-of-neutrality-in-archives-8df6b523fe9f https://medium.com/on-archivy/the-hubris-of-neutrality-in-archives-8df6b523fe9f mailto:k.fife.12@ucl.ac.uk brick walls and tick boxes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34667 at every stage. they are white, queer, non-binary, working class, and disabled, and live in leeds with their partner, dog, and two cats. hannah henthorn (hl.wright@outlook.com) is currently working as the local studies and archives assistant at culturenl in north lanarkshire, scotland. she is a white, cis, queer, disabled woman, and studied at the university of aberdeen and the university of dundee. she was awarded the diversity education bursary from the national archives, kew, in 2015, in order to study at the centre for archives and information studies at the university of dundee. she has previously worked for the national records of scotland and the aberdeen art gallery, and has volunteered for the royal college of surgeons edinburgh archives, the aberdeen maritime museum, aberdeen city and aberdeenshire archives, and university of aberdeen special collections. she lives in edinburgh with her husband and their two cats, boudicca and chiomara. 32 about:blank mailto:hl.wright@outlook.com introduction literature review methodology analysis and findings entry routes career progression experiences in workplaces and professional spaces isolation and otherness feeling unsafe/underconfident lack of support unconscious bias experiences of research conclusion endnotes appendix a: survey questions and introduction acknowledgements references book review: documenting rebellions: a study of four lesbian and gay achives in queer times the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37511 ijidi: book review sheffield, r. t. (2020). documenting rebellions: a study of four lesbian and gay archives in queer times. litwin books. isbn 9781634000918. 282 pp. $35.00 us. reviewer: haley mcguyre, florida state university, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: archival history; community archives; minoritized communities; queer archives; sustaining archives publication type: book review uring an exhibit on the diversity of queer history in canada with special emphasis on the history of the arquives and the body politic, a toronto-based queer publication, guests voiced disappointment and upset over the lack of representation for people of color in the exhibit. during a meeting held on the matter, someone suggested that “the queer archive is a failed project” (p. 2-5). rebecca taves sheffield’s documenting rebellions: a study of four lesbian and gay archives in queer times begins with an attempt to grapple with issues related to representation in archives, citing this 2013 incident at the arquives. published in early 2020, documenting rebellions sets out to provide a study of four major north american archives: the arquives: canada’s lgbtq2+ archives, the lesbian herstory archives (lha), the june l. mazer lesbian archives, and the one national gay and lesbian archives. these archives were chosen due to their long history within the queer community, and for their exceptionalness in remaining open so much longer than other large-scale queer archives. devoting one full chapter to the history of each archive, sheffield also takes two chapters to discuss sustainability and institutionalization, as well as a chapter dedicated to the contributions of individuals within. while aiming to talk about all four archives in an equitable manner, sheffield does spend a significant amount of time discussing the arquives, which does not necessarily hurt the book. sheffield worked at the canadian archives for many years in a variety of capacities, from volunteer to executive director. discussing other archives, she often calls back to her own, in some cases to reaffirm observations, and other places to illustrate the differences between the history of archives and their management. the histories of these archives are illuminating, but do not serve much in the way of guidance for present day workers in queer archives, big or small. part of this is because so many of these stories rely upon individual personalities, people who either founded or almost single-handedly carried the archives for extended periods of time. certain points of the book, therefore, read less like a history of queer movements in archives and more like a project to give acknowledgement to key players who had previously gone overlooked, which is not inherently problematic. sheffield never claims to have made a working guide for this community. additionally, these individuals do deserve credit for preserving a history that may have otherwise been left to rot, leaving generations of queer folks without a connection to their own history. nevertheless, this history does not necessarily aid in current discussions for growth, problematic d https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index documenting rebellions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37511 provenance, or narrative gaps. in this sense, those coming to the book looking for information more relevant to their own work will find more luck in the second section of the book with the chapters on sustainability, institutionalization, and the importance of contributors. for those interested in the sustainability of large-scale queer archives, sheffield has little good news for you. as she bluntly points out, it often came down to well-timed luck. in the aptly titled chapter “luck is not a sustainability strategy”, sheffield stresses how often these archives were left with no working sustainability plan at all, and only survived due to unexpected benefactors (p. 140). sheffield also touches on the harsh reality that many monetary donations came from bequeathals, left behind in the wills of members of the community who died as result of the aids crisis (p. 159). the only other method given the same amount of space is “strategic neutrality,” which is offered with caution, as conceiving the archive as a neutral space is hardly possible and can often lead to the further marginalization of minoritized groups (p. 151). the chapter on contributors, “flocking together,” sets out to focus on three categories of archives contributors: founders, champions, and volunteers. the second category (champions) refers to those workers who, although not present at its conception, played a fundamental role in the development or sustainment of an archive. unfortunately, this chapter reads like a continuation of section one’s history of the four archives, with slightly more focus on individuals. in addition, organizationally this chapter is not strong. founders and champions are grouped together for this discussion, and this works for the purposes of pointing out individuals who played significant roles in archives. but the third group category set out for discussion, volunteers, does not receive equitable space or content within the pages of the chapter. here, volunteers’ ability to create and utilize the archive as a community space is discussed in terms of how the archive serves them, instead of vice versa. while an important view on the archive in the life of the individual, its posturing is discordant with the rest of the chapter. the final chapter and conclusion are really where this book works best for readers seeking working guidance. here the book gives an in-depth analysis of different archives’ decisions to either join or remain separate from larger institutional archives. more than just a pros-and-cons explanation, sheffield goes deep here with the expectations these archives had going in, as well as the realities they faced afterward. institutionalization for many can be the answer to the much-needed sustainability plan. larger institutions usually have the budget, the staff, and the training to properly preserve and house archives, and possibly even more opportunities for dissemination and instruction. institutionalization also represents a loss of archival autonomy, however. narrative goals could be altered, as well as accessibility. sheffield speaks repeatedly on anecdotes shared with her, of queer women suddenly discovering their own historical existence in hallways outside of the lha, housed in an apartment where many queer women have sat over tea to discuss who and what they have found. will this access to self-discovery remain once an archive becomes part of, say, a university library and archives system? can a larger institution realistically include this self-discovery as part of its mission, or will the focus necessarily and almost exclusively move on to larger conversation on history and the lgbtq+ community? the conclusion of this book also highlighted interesting discussions that mirror conversational trends important in archives today, but these topics could have been more prevalent throughout. to help answer the earlier question, whether these historically significant archives are failed, sheffield argues that the act of understanding the history behind these institutions and 156 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index documenting rebellions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37511 appreciating the contributions of our queer archival predecessors proves their success. this rationale focuses the conversation on the role of the individual in the life of an archive, but what about the role of the archive in the life of the individual? the book does address this, as mentioned earlier, but not within the context as a point of value in the argument for the archives’ success. the original argument also poses success or failure as a lasting fact, rather than an ongoing mission in any archive. it is a more actionable goal with room for improvement for an institution to work towards succeeding, versus being a success. the basis behind some critical readings here originates in my trouble pinpointing the book’s audience. older generations of queer archivists may be interested in more of the historical aspects, and sheffield’s light criticism may be helpful in achieving a willful transfer to newer generations. the argument of the book, however, to prove the queer archive as succeeding, feels aimed at those outside of the project, or perhaps expresses a desire to appeal to newer generations of archivists. an effective conversation with this group, however, would have focused more on the available models for reform in queer archives. conversations on strategic acquisitioning are available from the glbt history museum in san francisco and its work on oral histories with asian american and pacific islander queer communities. examples of reimagining archival missions are available from sheffield’s own former home. in 2017, the arquives (at the time called the canadian lesbian and gay archives) established a five-year plan to meaningfully diversify their collections and workers, and reflectively changed the institutions name to its current title. while sheffield does fulfill her own goals as set out at the beginning of the book to share the history and meaningful conversations behind the development and sustainment of these four queer archives, one wishes she had set her goals higher to facilitate the book’s opening conversation. her discussions on bringing in narratives previously left out of the mainstream are critical and thoughtfully presented, but they remain on the peripheral of the book’s larger discussion and are largely isolated from her main body of text. still, documenting rebellions is insightful, incredibly descriptive, and has the potential for facilitating some of the harder conversations we are quickly approaching in archival studies today. haley mcguyre (she/they) (hmcguyre@fsu.edu) is a queer archivist in north florida. with a background in history, gender studies, and information science, they are currently working on building skillsets to bring to future work in community archives. she received two bachelor’s degrees in 2017 and is projected to finish their master’s degree in 2022. haley previously worked on projects for the invisible histories project and the institute on world war ii and the human experience at fsu, and currently works as a reference librarian at tallahassee community college, and as a graduate assistant in the special collections and archives at florida state university. 157 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:hmcguyre@fsu.edu fostering wellness in the workplace the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41127 ijidi: book review newman, b. l. (2022). fostering wellness in the workplace: a handbook for libraries. ala editions. reviewer: stephanie robertson, byu–hawaii, usa book review editors: halie kerns, binghamton university, usa keywords: cultural humility; diversity; equity; inclusion; wellness publication type: book review ostering wellness in the workplace: a handbook for libraries, by bobbi l. newman (2022), is a slim, five-chapter volume featuring a chapter from 2022 american library association (ala) spectrum doctoral fellow twanna hodge about cultural humility and diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) and their essential role in workplace wellness. overall, the recommendations in this book do not put all the responsibility for workplace wellness on the individual library worker but rather, explores the accountability of the library managers, directors, and the institutions themselves. newman (2022) suggests a holistic institutional approach to advocating and implementing workplace wellness since “changes at an institutional level have a more significant effect on morale, burnout, and staff wellness than individual efforts” (p. xiii). several suggestions throughout the book acknowledge that adherence to static guidelines may take extra time, care, budget, and planning for employees and library directors but promise that “the extra time and care will prove well worth the effort” (p. 76). both newman and hodge’s respective chapters on dei reference fobazi ettarh’s (2018; 2022) critique of libraries as sites of “vocational awe.” ettarh (2018) states that “‘vocational awe’ refers to the set of ideas, values, and assumptions librarians have about themselves and the profession that results in beliefs that libraries as institutions are inherently good and sacred, and therefore beyond critique” (p. xiv). ettarh dismantles the idea that librarianship is a sacred calling requiring absolute obedience without any care to the effect such compliance could have on the health and wellness of the librarian. newman (2022) posits that “employees should not be expected to rely on vocational awe to find satisfaction in working at the library but on management to put a premium on their health and wellness—which benefits everyone involved” (p. 76). the five chapters define health and wellness in the workplace, physical spaces, workplace practices and policies, hodge’s work with cultural humility and dei, and how library administration can create a healthy work environment. chapter one, entitled “what is health and wellness in the workplace,” lists absenteeism and presenteeism as two effects of an unhealthy work environment. many might be familiar with the downside of chronic absenteeism of overworked and under-supported library staff but may not be as familiar with presenteeism. presenteeism could be a staff member who is at work but may be too sick to be effective at their job and may be infecting others, which is often a symptom of f https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index fostering wellness in the workplace the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41127 2 an understaffed library. newman (2022) states that “it is the responsibility of the library to ensure that desk shifts are covered and to hire enough employees to allow employees to take sick time and vacation time as needed” (p. 10). this seems like an oversimplified solution at a time when budgets have been cut for libraries in many regions of the world. still, toward the end of the book, newman (2022) suggests that “a culture of caring can be created where management will handle this responsibility” and “you may need to reduce hours of service either at the desk or at the library” (p. 67). chapter one also lists compassion, fatigue, and burnout as significant effects of ignoring the health and wellness of librarians and library staff. “physical space in the library” is the topic for chapter two, which discusses ergonomics, temperature, air quality, light, noise, and space allotted to all library workers. experts can come in and assess each one of these qualities, but newman (2022) does dedicate space within the chapter for each subtopic. for instance, since most library workers will spend eight hours a day at their desk, care should be taken to ensure their desk is the correct height to encourage good posture and reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders. newman (2022) discusses current recommendations to spend a certain amount of time each day standing versus sitting, to avoid wearing strong scents in the library that could adversely affect others, to allow for private space for library workers to decompress even if cubicles are the best solution, and to ensure that all staff have access to as much natural light as possible. tackling the topic of “workplace practices and policies” in chapter three might sound a bit dull at first glance. still, many readers would agree that being offered a living wage above the poverty level and being afforded separate vacation and sick time is anything but mundane. newman (2022) asserts that “a healthy workplace provides separate pools of ample vacation and sick time and a culture where using both are expected” (p. 35) and cites the worklife4you program from the us general services administration as an excellent example of resources available to employees that should become established sites of information, referral, and support. these resources include telecommuting, flexible work schedules, and whole life care, which “may sound completely out of the realm of many libraries,” newman concedes, but is nevertheless an example of an organizational initiative that “acknowledges the challenges many of us face that prevent us from being present at work or fully present when we are there. there is no penalty or shame associated with these” (p. 39). this perhaps gets to the heart of what prevents many library workers from feeling as though their institution supports their proper health and wellness, and that is, denying workers might have children or aging parents to care for or that they might better succeed in more flexible work settings and schedules, which newman (2022) argues is more possible than we may think as long as the goals of the job are still met. ala spectrum doctoral fellow (2022) twanna hodge was brought in as the author of chapter four, which covers “how cultural humility, diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to workplace wellness.” this chapter discusses embracing dei to mitigate the effects of processing emotional labor. newman (2022) connected the two concepts of dei and emotional labor in chapter three but did not say how or why embracing dei explicitly mitigates the effects of emotional labor on library staff. hodge answers the question beautifully by discussing cultural humility, the next stage beyond cultural competency. hodge states, consider whose viewpoints, proposals, and objectives are usually at the center of decision-making processes, and rethink who are typically selected to host/organize wellness events. are there cross-department/unit/library/are partnerships? having a partnership/collaboration that benefits everyone involved that does not limit anyone’s https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index fostering wellness in the workplace the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41127 3 capacity or autonomy in their chosen work or activities is key to cultural humility. (pp. 56–57) noticeably, what is emphasized more than once in hodge’s chapter is that there is no such thing as a simple dei checklist or one-size-fits-all approach to cultural humility, but rather, it is a process that involves careful and continual consideration and discussion to ensure the health and wellness of all library workers who may benefit most from a library that embraces dei and cultural humility. chapter five, “how library administration can create a healthy work environment,” almost serves as a bit of a review of some of the topics already covered in the previous four chapters, but from the perspective of how library administrators can best put the themes of the book into actual practice. newman (2022) reminds library administrators that “while it may appear to save money upfront by excluding the factors we have covered, it is more costly in the long run not to include them” (p. 62). after reviewing the main topics covered in the book, newman (2022) closes with some critical additional recommendations for library administration, such as an adequately developed new employee orientation, having clear and measurable goals for library staff, fostering a culture of continual learning, and providing opportunities for all staff to take part in the decisionmaking process. the concept of not only recognizing who carries the weight of emotional labor but also invisible labor was an important point in this chapter. the conclusion re-emphasized the overall theme of why the topic of health and wellness of library employees is worthy of a book. the time it takes to read it and the library administration's time and effort to implement the prescribed actions are well worth the investment. newman (2022) advises that “by following the practices in this book, you help ensure that your employees—and your institution as a whole—will flourish not just today but well into the future” (p. 77). it's a worthwhile investment indeed. references ettarh, f. (2018). vocational awe and librarianship: the lies we tell ourselves. in the library with the lead pipe. https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocationalawe/ ettarh, f., & vidas, c. (2022). “the future of libraries:” vocational awe in a “post-covid” world. the serials librarian, 82(1-4), 17-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526x.2022.2028501 stephanie robertson (sr63@hawaii.edu) is an assistant professor and outreach librarian at byu–hawaii on oahu (byuh). her ma is in english with an emphasis in composition & rhetoric and her mlisc is in academic librarianship—both from the university of hawai‘i at mānoa. she is the hawai‘i library association secretary and byuh’s undergraduate research conference co-chair. her research and publications focus on mindfulness in the writing process, social media, open educational resources, and academic librarianship. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/ https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/ https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526x.2022.2028501 mailto:sr63@hawaii.edu references the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40749 hyper-diversity in sampling strategy for reader response studies in an urban context melina ghasseminejad, university of antwerp, belgium anneke sools, university of twente, the netherlands luc herman, university of antwerp, belgium maría-ángeles martínez, universidad de alcalá, españa abstract research on readers of literary fiction is predominantly carried out by institutions situated in culturally complex cities. however, the participant selection process for these empirical studies often overlooks the city’s cultural diversity. therefore, this article aims to present a participant sampling strategy for empirical reader response research, focusing on urban readers in a european context, with antwerp as the study location. opting for a qualitative approach and considering the hyper-diverse nature of major cities, we advocate for a purposeful sampling strategy. we suggest using a social milieu rather than traditional descriptive markers by recruiting from different neighbourhoods, as neighbourhoods have their own culture and play an important role in a person’s identity. turning to local libraries for participant recruitment means a step towards studying actual readers and will lead to a deeper insight into the effects of texts on readers. moreover, apart from obtaining a wider variety of idiosyncratic responses, this can also result in a deeper understanding of (sub)cultural responses to narratives. keywords: empirical studies, hyper-diversity, participant selection, qualitative research methods publication type: research article, conceptual introduction arly strategies of researching readers of literary fiction turned literary scholars to hermeneutic shortcuts like iser’s (1978) implied reader, which is an image of the reader “who is not fixed in the text but exists merely in the imagination of the author” (schmid, 2014, “explication” section),) or fish’s (1970) informed reader, which is a reader who is capable of handling literary conventions. although these shortcuts cannot be seen as dealing with actual readers—in other words, the “flesh-and-blood person reading the text” who is not trained in analysing narratives (prince, 2013, “precursors” section)—implied and informed readers bypass a challenging aspect, namely, reader responses can be highly idiosyncratic. moreover, even though there will always be culturally expected responses from readers (i.e., rooting for the hero), “it is the individual that actualizes narrative meaning by anchoring it to some specific context of interpretation and to the deepest and most private recesses of the experiencing mind” (martínez, 2018, p. 1). this leads us to the question of whether the consideration of culturally complex geographies in empirical research will affect those responses (tasan-kok et al., 2013; wessendorf, 2014). e https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi hyper-diversity in sampling strategy for reader response studies in an urban context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40749 2 this article presents a participant sampling strategy for empirical reader response research to explore this question, focusing on the theory that “identifies the significant role of the reader in constructing textual meaning” (browne et al., 2021)(p.1). in this sampling strategy, libraries play a central role. the study looks at antwerp, belgium, as the location for examining urban readers in a european context. when discussing hyper-diverse locations in the global north, cities such as new york, toronto, and london come to mind. antwerp is a less prominent hyper-diverse city, and while relatively small (26 x 11 km), it houses 172 nationalities (antwerpse diversiteit in cijfers, n.d.). consequently, the diversity in antwerp calls for a complex approach to participant selection if the goal is to have a representative sample. in simpler terms, this paper introduces the concept of culturally complex geographies in the context of reader response research. when examining culturally complex geographies, which refers to the “demographic complexity of cities and the multi-categorical differentiations found in specific areas” (wessendorf, 2014, p. 24), it becomes necessary to simplify the concept. in the context of britain’s social landscape, vertovec (2007) argued that the complex social makeup in britain had outgrown the term multiculturalism, a notion that is often used in politics and mainly focuses on ethnicity. aiming to re-evaluate the nature of diversity in britain, he introduced the term superdiversity, arguing that “it is not enough to see diversity only in terms of ethnicity, as is regularly the case both in social science and the wider public sphere” (vertovec, 2007, p. 1024). he specifically refers to the myriad of additional variables people carry with them, such as differential immigration statuses, age profiles, and spatial distribution patterns (vertovec, 2007). building on vertovec’s theory of superdiversity, tasan-kok et al. (2013) argue that urban groups have become hyperdiverse, as even when people appear to belong to the same group, they can express different lifestyles, attitudes, and activity patterns. this complexity can also be found in responses to narratives, which may be affected by our personal experiences (martínez, 2018). to tackle the difficulty of examining those individual differences in literary processes, literary scholars such as siegfried schmidt advocated for an empirically oriented science of literature in the 1970s, aiming to bridge the gap between the humanities and the sciences whilst not depending on sociological or psychological procedures. bortolussi and dixon (2003) mention that schmidt’s (1983) pioneering work led to “a variety of empirical investigations [that] have contributed to our understanding of literature and literary narrative” (p.23). in narratology, which is the study of narratives, empirical narratology came into being as a means of examining the “psychological mechanisms of text processing” by almost exclusively using positivistic methods (herman & vervaeck, 2019, p. 112). according to bortolussi and dixon (2003), [h]ow readers process narrative is essentially an empirical question that can only be answered by systematic observation of actual readers reading actual texts; it cannot be answered solely based on intuition, anecdotal evidence, or even sophisticated models of human experience. (p. 13) traditional quantitative empirical investigations often require large sample sizes, and this convention has also been translated to quantitative reader response research. as a result, convenience sampling has been commonly adopted as a sampling strategy, wherein “research participants are selected based on their ease of availability” when studying actual readers (saumure & given, 2008, p. 124). however, as patton (2014) argues, “convenience sampling is neither strategic nor purposeful. it is lazy and largely useless” (p. 306). instead, when studying https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hyper-diversity in sampling strategy for reader response studies in an urban context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40749 3 idiosyncratic actual reader responses, opting for a purposeful sampling strategy is more likely to ensure “insights and in-depth understanding” (patton, 2014, p. 401). hence, if a study’s research question looks at readers in general, a sample of actual readers brings about a complication when designing an empirical case study: how can it be ensured that the sample consists of actual readers? moreover, how can the sample be ensured to include actual readers when dealing with a culturally complex population? in other words, we are considering a sample that takes reader diversity into account as well. the present article focuses on these issues and aims to present a participant selection strategy for empirical research into actual urban readers by looking at antwerp, belgium. still, the proposed strategy can be used to research readers in any western urban context. as flick (2007) argues, “constructing a research design successfully means to define who or what shall be studied (and who or what shall not)” (p. 44). in the case of empirical research, participants must be selected carefully. as reybold et al. (2013) argue, researchers do not “just collect and analyze neutral data; they decide who matters as data. each choice repositions inquiry, closing down some opportunities while creating others” (p. 699). when looking at individual and culturally determined responses, it is valuable to have participants that are part of the target group, in this case, the actual flemish urban reader. for example, a study from 2011 by the marketing research company synovate found that among 750 flemish residents spread across cities and rural areas, a little over 50% of the participants reported that they read books as a favourite pastime, with women tending to favour reading more than men (synovate, 2011). people from urban areas (66%) slightly preferred reading more than those from rural areas (51%) (synovate, 2011). regarding age, the category that seems to read the most as a pastime was 55-64 (66%), followed closely by the age category 35-44 with 63 percent (synovate, 2011). migration background was not included in the analyses as there were not enough participants with a migration background (3%) to reach reliable and valid conclusions (synovate, 2011). this is problematic because the latest study into readers in belgium could not reach a minority population. traditional samples: university student population due to language proficiency, the pool of possible participants may become smaller when studying readers. hence, reader studies tend to have a sample of highly educated people as participants. in practice, this means that researchers often turn to their student population, raising the question of whether participants in such a sample can be seen as actual readers (wild et al., 2022). in addition to not being the leading group of flemish readers, other limits should be considered when working with a student population. convenience sampling certainly has its advantages, as students are easily accessible, thus affording a large population from which to sample, and they can be rewarded with credits, thus low costs. however, research by hanel and vione (2016) that looked at students across 59 countries showed that although their results were as heterogeneous as those of the general public, the differences and variability between students could not be explained. moreover, in a gambling study, gainsbury et al. (2014) compared university students to the general public and concluded that using student participants from one university is only appropriate if the study aims to investigate students' behaviors from that specific university. in other words, even though they are part of the same group on the surface, students from separate universities display dissimilar responses, making the results unrepresentative. hence, if the study aims to investigate the behaviours of the general public, it is not sufficient to only include university student participants in the research sample. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hyper-diversity in sampling strategy for reader response studies in an urban context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40749 4 an extra element must be considered when discussing university students' use in empirical studies. the students approached for studies into readers are usually language students. if the target group for a reader response study is a diverse group of urban readers, like a group with demographic complexity and multi-categorial differentiations (wessendorf, 2014), then those students are not suitable, as they are trained in narrative from day one, turning them into skilled readers. moreover, the student population is overwhelmingly white, whilst populations of cities that house research institutions, including antwerp, are ethnically diverse. as sugden and moulson (2015) argue, [a] sample from the population should include participants representing that population's diversity. if the population is not homogenously or nearly homogenously white, but research samples recruited from the population are nearly ubiquitously white, this disconnect should be probed and remediated. (p. 2) moreover, composing a sample out of a student population threatens the internal validity of a study as well, “likely due [to] the differences in knowledge between student participants at different stages in their education and chosen course of study” (meltzer et al., 2012, p. 252). additionally, even though the students might follow the same programme, some major in linguistics and others in literature. sample selection static categories as results from an experiment amongst a student population would not be representative when discussing the urban reader, descriptive categories are necessary to ensure a representative sample. this automatically brings the discussion to the traditional categories, namely the big eight: “race, gender, ethnicity/nationality, organisational role/function, age, sexual orientation, mental/physical ability and religion,” with three of those especially prominent in the west, namely gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background (bührmann, 2015, p. 24). gender is understood as the “socially produced differences between being feminine and being masculine” (holmes, 2007, p. 2) and is generally considered to come in two forms: male and female (richards et al., 2016). in addition to people identifying with the binary system of male and female, some people have a non-binary gender identity—an umbrella term for several identities such as genderqueer, pangender, bigender, and agender—and should be taken into account as well (richards et al., 2016). the second descriptive category of ethnicity/nationality is more challenging to examine. as salentin (2014) states, [e]thnic categories are vague and multidimensional, and at the same time essentialist, constructed, and not entirely amenable to objective characterization, often apparently arbitrary and almost always politically contested, embedded in country-specific circumstances, and subject to rapid change; their semantics are language-specific, and their labels change constantly and quickly become pejorative. (p. 27) especially in continental europe, the concepts of race and ethnicity are difficult to broach due to the consequences of the second world war and nazism (salentin, 2014). hence, we will forgo https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hyper-diversity in sampling strategy for reader response studies in an urban context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40749 5 the terms race or ethnicity, which are mainly used in the american context (bührmann, 2015). instead, we will use the term migration background, which is used more commonly in the european context, including belgium (salentin, 2014). this article will use the term migration background similarly to how wessendorf (2014) uses the term ethnic background, which is a term that refers to “people’s references to a common ancestry, shared culture, history and language” (p. 11). that is not to say that the term does not have its shortcomings. the official legal definition of a person with a migratory background given by the european commission (n.d.) is “a person who has (a) migrated into their present country of residence; and (b) previously had a different nationality from their present country of residence; and (c) at least one of their parents previously entered their present country of residence as a migrant”(paragraph 1). according to will (2019), this indicates that the concept is “grounded on citizenship, not migration experience” and therefore remains “an ‘ethnic’ rather than a migration category” (p. 550). in the context of research on german politics, the statistical category is turned into a social category that is “framed in terms of language and class” and thus implicitly becomes “ethnic and produces a version of membership in german society that excludes […] (some german citizens) from the core national group” (elrick & schwartzman, 2015, p. 1546). in other words, a necessary consequence is that migrants are still labelled as “foreigners” based on the public perception of them, regardless of their legal migration status (asbrock et al., 2014). the last descriptive category, socioeconomic status, seems straightforward to use—after all, most scholars have a general idea of its meaning—but there are numerous ways to measure and define the construct. the most widely accepted measure of socioeconomic status is a “composite measure of education, income, and occupation” (baker, 2014, p. 2210). when discussing socioeconomic status, it would be remiss to omit class as a notion, especially as class is often used and preferred in the public sphere instead of socioeconomic status. class has many definitions, but it generally refers to a “combination of socioeconomic status, parental and educational background, and, related to this, differences in speech, tastes, mannerisms, and other cultural practices” (wessendorf, 2014, p. 11). we will follow wessendorf's use of the term class and her accompanying definition. intersectionality and superdiversity as a sampling strategy the abovementioned parameters have a history of being studied separately and individually. as classifiers, they often function as a default when defining diversity by making distinct categories and counting the numbers (meissner, 2016). however, this started to change when kimberlé crenshaw coined the term intersectionality in her influential 1989 article “demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex,” which introduced the importance of the interaction and dynamic between two or more factors. hence, intersectionality might help design a purposive sample strategy when selecting participants in an urban context. initially introduced as a term to point out that a “single-axis framework erases black women in the conceptualization, identification, and remediation of race and sex discrimination” (crenshaw, 1989, p. 140), the concept was quickly picked up by scholars and applied to fields beyond black feminist critique and has since seen an increase in interest in academia and a widespread awareness in the public sphere. an earlier manifesto by the combahee river collective, a black lesbian feminist organization, emphasises the inseparability of several systems of oppression with their declaration: “we also find it difficult to separate race from class from sex oppression because in our lives they are most often experienced simultaneously” (combahee river collective, 1981/2021, p. 212). accordingly, crenshaw (2002, p. 177) defines intersectionality as follows: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hyper-diversity in sampling strategy for reader response studies in an urban context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40749 6 intersectionality is a conceptualization of the problem that attempts to capture both the structural and dynamic consequences of the interaction between two or more axes of subordination. it specifically addresses the manner in which racism, patriarchy, class oppression and other discriminatory systems create background inequalities that structure the relative positions of women, races, ethnicities, classes, and the like. moreover, it addresses the way that specific acts and policies create burdens that flow along these axes constituting the dynamic or active aspects of disempowerment. (as cited in lutz, 2015, p. 364) even though the concept offers a way to look at the interactions between social structures and identity, there are still some gaps in the theory. the main caveat concerns the gender, race, and class triangle and the fact that more categories could play a role, such as religion and geopolitical location (lutz, 2015). more importantly, although intersectionality makes room for including several categories in an analysis and has been used as a methodology in the past (i.e., acevedogarcia et al., 2003; berger & guidroz, 2009; samra & hankivsk, 2021), it does not suffice as a methodology when it comes to hyper-diverse cities. this can be observed in marfelt’s (2016) development of an “empirically grounded methodology” where he incorporates diversity research as a factor when proposing intersectionality as a methodology (p. 32). marfelt suggests that intersectionality needs another theory to become a well-defined methodology. although he acknowledges that intersectionality’s “open-endedness and vagueness” contributes to its successes (marfelt, 2016, p. 34), he also highlights its somewhat ambiguous definition and the lack of a coherent methodology. to transform intersectionality into a methodology, marfelt (2016) incorporates factors from diversity studies, which are already addressed in hyper-diversity as a framework, namely the fluidity of social categories, as elaborated below. before delving further into hyper-diversity, it is helpful to look at superdiversity first. in her book commonplace diversity, wessendorf (2014) uses the notion of superdiversity as a lens to “describe an exceptional demographic situation characterized by the multiplication of social categories within specific localities” (p. 2). she criticises how individuals are traditionally described solely based on their social categories without considering the relationships between group and individual. for instance, as anthias (2011) points out, when only ethnic position is considered as a marker, it is often assumed to imply ethnic identity, which in turn implies “belonging to a particular culture with contents which are generic (and homogeneous) to the group” (p. 205). as mentioned previously, this article aims to present a participant selection strategy for empirical research into urban readers. however, wessendorf’s (2014) and anthias’(2011) critiques show that it is insufficient to look at traditional markers when aiming to incorporate the target audience’s diversity into the sample, as it fails to incorporate complex social relations, such as differences between class, cultural background, and language. in its broadest definition, superdiversity refers to a “multi-dimensional perspective on diversity” (vertovec, 2007, p. 1026), as merely observing ethnicities leads to a one-dimensional understanding of diversity and thus fails to include the “multiplication of significant variables that affect where, how and with whom people live” such as immigration statuses, gender, age, labour market experiences, and patterns of spatial distribution (vertovec, 2007, p. 1025). in short, superdiversity is a lens with which it is possible to examine intersections in cities where superdiversity has become commonplace, in other words, where “diversity has become habitual and part of the everyday human landscape” (wessendorf, 2014, p. 3). additionally, vertovec (2007) uses superdiversity to transcend traditional scientific framings on multicultural studies that tend to look at cultures as something fixed and bound (jones et al., 2015). instead, he https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hyper-diversity in sampling strategy for reader response studies in an urban context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40749 7 describes the often-present interplay of variables in groups and individuals (vertovec, 2007). another key feature of the concept is that it acknowledges differences within groups of the same ethnic or national origin (vertovec, 2007). this notion is in accordance with intersectionality but overcomes the aforementioned triangle problem. as wessendorf (2014) argues, “it is easy to deconstruct ethnic categories when looking at specific ethnic ‘groups’ and their members’ patterns of identification,” but “it is more difficult to write about contexts with numerous migrants and minorities from various ethnic and national backgrounds without using these categories” (p. 11). in addition, there is an increase in mixed-ethnicity populations and established migrant populations, bringing a new type of identity (jones et al., 2015). this complexity thus calls for another way of grouping city dwellers. as hoekstra and pinkster (2019) argue, [s]uper-diversity invites researchers to go beyond a focus on diversity that is the result of international migration and explore how differences in nationality, race, and ethnicity intersect with other dimensions of difference, such as gender, age, life course, class, religion, migrant trajectories, and language. (p. 223) that said, critics argue that superdiversity remains to be “tethered to rather more traditional identity categories, even if these are emergent or complicated” (kraftl et al., 2019, p. 1192). although it might seem like a case of semantics, kraftl et al. (2019) argue that although superdiversity begins to emphasise the “dynamic, performative and contingent ways in which superdiverse identities and spaces extend beyond traditional social (and especially ethnic) identity categories,” it does not encompass it entirely as these complexities are far more extensive (p. 1192). for instance, “an individual’s eating habits, or their leisure pursuits, or even their emotional disposition to particular places in a city, may differ quite markedly from those of others in the same superdiverse sub-group” (kraftl et al., 2019, p. 1191). thus, peterson (2017) argues that urban groups are not merely becoming superdiverse, they are becoming hyperdiverse, “because even people who appear to belong to the same group express different lifestyles, attitudes and activity patterns” (p. 1069). in other words, superdiversity still adheres to static and traditional categories, whereas hyper-diversity takes the complexity of the blurring of traditional categories into account. this distinction underpins the difference between the two terms in secondary literature. as tasan-kok et al. (2013) state, [p]eople belonging to the same population or ethnic group may show quite different attitudes, for example, concerning school, work, parents and other groups; they may have very different daily and lifetime routines. some adolescents and adults may exhibit extensive daily mobility patterns, while others may be locally oriented. while the sphere of daily interaction of a native resident may be restricted to his immediate surroundings, his foreign-born immigrant neighbour may be quite mobile both with respect to social and professional relations. (p. 5) to clarify, although wessendorf’s (2014) research departs from superdiversity, her take on group forming seems to include some hyper-diversity elements. however, to avoid confusion, we will follow peterson (2017) and use hyper-diversity as a lens when developing a selection strategy for reader response studies. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hyper-diversity in sampling strategy for reader response studies in an urban context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40749 8 hyper-diversity to guide sampling in superdiverse cities this means that an approach must be found to mark boundaries in a hyper-diverse population if we opt for using hyper-diversity as a methodology. wessendorf (2014) suggests taking social milieus into account as a demarcation by using pierre bourdieu’s notion of habitus—the system of “durable, transposable dispositions, structured structures predisposed to function as structuring structures” which consist of acquired schemes of perceptions and practices (bourdieu, 1972/1977, p. 72). by using social milieus, wessendorf (2014) says it is possible to include and accept that for some people their categorical background (i.e., ethnic, religious, etc.) forms “the primary criterion for social relations” and that for others it is based on “other commonalities that they create their social relations [with]” (p. 32). she emphasises that the kinds of social milieus in a superdiverse context “cannot be defined along the more classical lines of milieu theory,” which focuses on “historically grown groups based on social stratification and class hierarchies (e.g., the working-class milieu or the milieu of the educated bourgeoisie)” (wessendorf, 2014, p. 32). instead, wessendorf (2014) argues that a social milieu in a superdiverse context is characterised by “a variety of social groupings with different histories of stratification, education, religious affiliations, etc.” (p. 32). in her research into the superdiverse london borough of hackney, her fieldwork revealed exciting results: although it is impossible to calculate the number of friendships formed across class and ethnic boundaries, my fieldwork has shown that class trumps ethnicity in terms of mixing, and people were more likely to mix with people of other ethnic or racial backgrounds within the same class, than to mix with someone of the same ethnic background but whom they identified as being of a different social class. (p. 134) this suggests that sharing similar backgrounds, values, and attitudes towards life plays a more significant role than sharing traditional markers, which is ingrained in the definition of hyperdiversity. however, this brings with it its own set of difficulties. it raises the question of how social milieus can be charted and, most importantly, how it can be ensured that participants belong to these separate milieus. social milieus and neighbourhoods while the word hyper-diverse might suggest conviviality, socioeconomic segregation still expresses itself in neighbourhoods. for instance, even though the levels of segregation in europe are not as high as in the united states, there are still socio-spatial inequalities (cassiers & kesteloot, 2012). this mainly concerns urban development and the housing market segmentation, resulting in cities with a prosperous centre and poorer peripheries or, the opposite, a poor centre with affluent suburbs (cassiers & kesteloot, 2012). antwerp is an example of the former, and data shows a clear clustering of migrants and socioeconomic status in belgian cities (costa & de valk, 2018). in other words, neighbourhoods have socioeconomic profiles. although there seems to be an overlap between migration background and socioeconomic status, migration background does not necessarily play a big part in people’s construction of their identity in hyper-diverse cities. noble and watkins (2014) warn that even though there is some “‘cultural coherence’ and stability in relation to customs and language” (p. 175), it does not necessarily mean that people are defined by their origins and are supposed to be determined by them in terms of behaviour. combined with the hyper-diverse nature of antwerp, this cultural complexity leads to neighbourhoods playing an essential role in the feeling of belonging. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hyper-diversity in sampling strategy for reader response studies in an urban context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40749 9 referring to the supposed loss of community in city dwellers, castells (2010) argues that people still cultivate a community in the shape of territorial identities; they “generate a feeling of belonging, and ultimately, in many cases, a communal, cultural identity” (p. 63). galster (2001) defines a neighbourhood as “the bundle of spatially based attributes associated with clusters of residences, sometimes in conjunction with other land uses” (p. 2112). while this does not mean that neighbourhoods are necessarily homogeneous, a “distribution or profile can be ascertained once a space has been demarcated” (galster, 2001, p. 2113). having established that separate neighbourhoods have their own culture, it is possible that living in a certain neighbourhood might influence the results of reader response studies. recruitment strategy: semi-public places and spaces having recognised that neighbourhoods have an identity and that they can be described as a social milieu, it is now possible to specify the recruitment strategy for the antwerp context, which can optimally account for urban hyper-diversity in an empirical reader response study. the municipality of antwerp consists of nine neighbourhoods. participants from each of these neighbourhoods would be needed to attain representative findings. a viable option would be recruiting participants in public libraries. aside from the apparent advantage of almost certainly encountering readers in a library, libraries exist as a unique space in cities: the semi-public realm. in addition to the traditional public and private space, lofland (1998) proposes the third space of the parochial realm (also called the semi-public realm). she defines these semi-public spaces as “characterized by a sense of commonality among acquaintances and neighbors who are involved in interpersonal networks that are located within ‘communities’” (lofland, 1998, p. 10). in addition, she provides a simple distinction between the three realms or spaces: “[t]he private realm is the world of the household and friend and kin networks; the parochial realm is the world of the neighbourhood, workplace, or acquaintance networks; and the public realm is the world of strangers and the ‘street’” (lofland, 1998, p. 10). although semi-public spaces (i.e., community centres, cafes, and libraries) are open to everyone, they have a private character due to “changes in control and behaviour with semi-public spaces possibly imposing stricter rules regarding behaviour than purely public spaces might do” (peterson, 2017, p. 1071). a recent study into antwerp libraries provides an in-depth analysis of customer profiles (van geel, 2020). the study shows that 530,000 inhabitants use the sixteen public libraries, three library buses, and one prison library (van geel, 2020). interestingly, the municipal libraries are aware that different neighbourhoods have different needs and aim to fulfill those needs. for instance, the library in the city centre, permeke, focuses on non-dutch speakers and people experiencing homelessness in addition to children, teens, and dutch-speaking adults, thus adapting its collection as such. hence, it keeps the make-up of the neighbourhood in mind as the library is situated on the border of the antwerpen and borgerhout neighbourhoods. although these aspirations of attracting everyone in the community are commendable, it does not necessarily translate to inclusion. however, the report uses its data to draw up nine client profiles showcasing library-goers' diversity and considering several variables, including age groups, education levels, and socioeconomic status (van geel, 2020). in other words, the library aims to accommodate the hyper-diversity of the city by developing distinct profiles that cater to the specific needs of its audience. in practice, this leads to the following selection strategy. first, all settings or organisations where the target group can be found should be listed when looking for participants in an urban setting (david, n.d.). in the case of the present study, the target group is actual readers; there are three https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hyper-diversity in sampling strategy for reader response studies in an urban context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40749 10 options for the target group: bookshops, book fairs, and libraries. however, as this study wants to include a representation of social milieus, the latter is the recommended location for participant recruitment. hence, the relevant organisation is the city library, and the settings are the various neighbourhoods. after contacting the library representatives to discuss the experiment and the possibility of recruiting participants, the next step in the selection strategy is outlining the inclusion and exclusion criteria before contacting individuals (david, n.d.). this way, the potential participants will know whether they can participate in the study. the most important criterion in this case would be confirming that the participant lives in the same neighbourhood as the library. with that outline, it is possible to start approaching individuals. the library in antwerp allows the distribution of fliers, but other possible options are contacting individuals by providing an information session or using the organisation’s email lists (david, n.d.). however, the latter option may introduce bias, as it relies on internet and email accessibility and should be used as an additional strategy to the former options. the abovedescribed strategy is supported by roscoe’s (2021) strategies for inclusive sampling, as it consists of purposeful sampling (intentional recruitment of specific groups of people), community sampling (recruiting and collaborating with community members) and removing barriers (accessibility regarding distance and finance). conclusion this article aimed to present a participant sampling strategy for empirical reader response research with antwerp, belgium as the location for a study of urban readers in a european context. we argue that static, unidimensional sample strategies, such as looking at student populations, fail to lead to data on the target group, especially when the research sample is part of a hyper-diverse city. even though intersectionality could be considered as a framework for participant selection, it fails to include the cultural complexity of cities. hyper-diversity, on the other hand, promises a more suitable framework. combining hyper-diversity with the notion of social milieus allows researchers to demarcate broad borders by looking at neighbourhoods. as reader response studies look at individual and cultural responses, a suitable location for recruiting participants is the semi-public space of a public library. since different neighbourhoods have different target audiences, and the library branches aim to reach their target, this will ensure a representative sample of antwerp readers. the main limitation of this strategy lies in the fact that cities are continuously being gentrified. gentrification in antwerp has resulted from more than just a lack of affordable housing. as seen in loopmans’s (2008) analysis of the history of gentrification in antwerp, livability became a core concept in the early aughts to create a “safe” environment that could attract higher-income groups. actual policies to this end were created and implemented, with policymakers making it no secret that the plans were meant to replace marginalised groups with middle-class gentrifiers (loopmans, 2008). in other words, because of these newcomers, the make-up and culture of the neighbourhood might change, or two separate cultures come into being in one neighbourhood. although research might suggest that newcomers mix with and adopt the neighbourhood culture, blokland and van eijk (2010) have found that, even if the newcomers are open to such a mixture and even moved to an area because of its diversity, the original inhabitants and the gentrifiers move in separate networks, “divided by class, ethnicity and level of education” (p. 328). consequently, the suggested selection strategy can become skewed as the same neighbourhood can consist of two or more cultures. however, adding neighbourhood-specific markers like a screening question can counter this, such as asking for the number of years that the participant has lived in the neighbourhood or whether they or their parents were born in the neighbourhood. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hyper-diversity in sampling strategy for reader response studies in an urban context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40749 11 in short, the hyper-diversity in antwerp calls for a complex sampling approach. dividing the city into neighbourhoods with their own demographics and cultures is a first step in ensuring the inclusion of the target group in reader response studies. using local library branches as recruitment locations ensures that the possible participants are readers and are a part of the neighbourhood and thus are most likely part of its culture. even though the abovementioned strategy is designed explicitly for antwerp, it can also be applied to other western hyper-diverse cities. applying this strategy can have several implications for reader response research and sampling strategies in qualitative research in general. turning to local libraries for participant recruitment can help with taking yet another step toward studying actual readers. stepping into the real world, and thus away from working with skilled readers in the form of students, will lead to a deeper insight into the effects of texts on readers. moreover, this can lead to the possible inclusion of people often excluded from these types of studies, yet again enriching our understanding of texts. additionally, obtaining a wider variety of idiosyncratic responses can result in a deeper understanding of subcultural responses to narratives. moreover, in a time when the call for inclusion has been taken seriously, using hyper-diversity and social milieu as a strategy can ensure an inclusive and representative sample. references acevedo-garcia, d., lochner, k. a., osypuk, t. l., & subramanian, s. v. 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(2022). how representative are student convenience samples? a study of literacy and numeracy skills in 32 countries. plos one, 17(7), article e0271191. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271191 will, a. -k. (2019). the german statistical category “migration background”: historical roots, revisions and shortcomings. ethnicities, 19(3), 535–557. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468796819833437 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(20)32513-7 https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412963909 https://www-archiv.fdm.uni-hamburg.de/lhn/node/59.html https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-422x(83)90003-7 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00523 https://publicaties.vlaanderen.be/view-file/12385 https://antwerpen.bibliotheek.be/sites/default/files/uploads/2020-10/bibplan2020_2025.pdf https://antwerpen.bibliotheek.be/sites/default/files/uploads/2020-10/bibplan2020_2025.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870701599465 https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137033314 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271191 https://doi.org/10.1177/1468796819833437 hyper-diversity in sampling strategy for reader response studies in an urban context the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40749 16 melina ghasseminejad (melina.ghasseminejad@uantwerpen.be) holds an ma degree in english and literary theory from the university of antwerp. since 2020, she has been working at the university of antwerp (the antwerp centre for digital humanities and literary criticism (acdc)) on her phd project “this is who i could be: storyworld possible selves and fictionality.” in this project, she uses empirical research methods to examine the effects of fictionality on narrative engagement, more specifically on the creation of storyworld possible selves. her research interests include cognitive narratology, reader response research, fictionality studies, and qualitative research. dr. anneke sools (a.m.sools@utwente.nl) is assistant professor in the department of psychology, health, and technology at the university of twente in the netherlands. she is also program director of the storylab at the same university. sools published widely on social-scientific narrative research and on narrative futuring in particular. she is the recipient of the 2018 early career award from the american educational research association narrative sig. dr. luc herman (luc.herman@uantwerpen.be) (ma in comparative literature, harvard university 1981; phd in comparative literature, princeton university 1989) is professor of narrative theory and american literature at the university of antwerp. his publications include gravity’s rainbow: domination & freedom (u of georgia p 2013, with steven weisenburger), handbook of narrative analysis (second edition u of nebraska p 2019, with bart vervaeck), becoming pynchon: genetic narratology and v. (the ohio state up 2022, with john krafft), and a variety of (often co-authored) essays in journals including narrative, poetics today, style, language and literature, critique, and contemporary literature. he is currently dean of the faculty of arts at the university of antwerp. dr. maría-ángeles martínez (ma.martinezm@uah.es) is an associate professor in english philology at the university of alcalá where she lectures on literary linguistics. her research is in the fields of cognitive literary linguistics and cognitive narratology. she is the author of the monograph storyworld possible selves (de gruyter, 2018), and her work has been published in journals such as narrative, language and literature, journal of literary semantics, and poetics today. she currently leads the research project narralincog (narrative, linguistics and cognition: interdisciplinary approaches to storyworld possible selves and narrative engagement), funded by the spanish ministry of science and innovation, which explores the connections between narrative form and reader response from a variety of cognitively oriented theoretical and empirical perspectives. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:melina.ghasseminejad@uantwerpen.be mailto:a.m.sools@utwente.nl mailto:luc.herman@uantwerpen.be mailto:ma.martinezm@uah.es the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 information justice institute: initiating a project to increase critical understanding and community engagement rae-anne montague, chicago state university, usa abstract the information justice institute (iji) is a project developed at chicago state university (csu) in collaboration with community partners. the project brings librarians and community members together to consider key topics and questions to build understanding around critical community needs. this paper reports on two key activities undertaken during the project’s initial phase. first, the preliminary results of a survey launched in 2021 aim to understand the current involvement and potential needs of librarians and other library affiliates in terms of social justice engagement, particularly those related to serving incarcerated people/recently released and their support networks. second, a webliography developed to support librarians and other community members in growing understanding, strategies, and initiatives to serve diverse populations confronting onerous systemic challenges (e.g., incarceration, poverty, etc.), which are experienced in tandem with limited opportunities for information access and use. the iji collaboration encouraged dialogue focused on posing questions and grappling with complex issues to grow insights and serve the needs of incarcerated/recently released people and their support networks. this work will likely interest librarians, educators, community leaders, and others working toward justice. keywords: collaboration; community; incarceration; re-entry; survey publication type: case study introduction he information justice institute (iji) is a project hosted by chicago state university (csu) in the united states. our primary focus is to consider how libraries work against injustice and to inform and enhance practice grounded in social justice. iji has been developing to encourage collaboration between libraries and other community-based organizations concerned with supporting those entangled in systems of injustice. this work is situated in the united states, which struggles with alarming violence rates while having the world's highest incarceration rate (sawyer & wagner, 2023). key project activities discussed in this paper include a survey and a webliography. the survey was launched in 2021 to understand current trends in involvement and potential needs of librarians and other library affiliates in terms of social justice engagement, particularly those related to serving incarcerated people, as well as those recently released and their support networks. the webliography was developed to support librarians and other community members in growing understanding, strategies, and initiatives to serve diverse populations confronting onerous systemic challenges. t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 information justice institute the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 2 background as noted by the prison policy initiative, the american criminal justice system holds almost two million people in numerous facilities, including state and federal prisons, juvenile detention centers (jdcs), local jails, military prisons, immigration detention facilities, and psychiatric hospitals (sawyer & wagner, 2023). through personal experience, inquiry, dialogue, and reflection, the project team members, other scholars, and community members have come to recognize that this reality is deeply rooted in historic inequity, poverty, and enduring community disinvestment. it is also systemically embedded in the prison industrial complex, “overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social and political problems” (critical resistance, n.d., para. 1). the impacts of inequity echo across communities. as a report from maryland describes, communities with the highest incarceration rates often need resources for health care, housing, economic development, and social services (justice policy institute & prison policy initiative, 2022). these complex overlapping issues are explored in detail in the findings of the u.s. commission on civil rights’ (2019) report collateral consequences: the crossroads of punishment, redemption, and the effects on communities. this report considers how those with criminal histories face extensive barriers related to securing employment and housing, voting, jury duty, holding public office, qualifying for financial aid, college admission, and military service, etc. and notes that “the reach of each collateral consequence extends past people with criminal records to affect families and communities” (u.s. commission on civil rights, 2019, p. 3). iji seeks to understand better how libraries of all types effectively mitigate collateral consequences and inequity and what more can be done. the iji project is informed by professional literature. in 2017, the public library association published a short book in its quick read for busy librarians series to introduce librarians to concepts for serving incarcerated populations. after discussing several topics and sharing a few examples, the author, nick higgins (2017), posed two insightful questions that served as a jumping-off point for this project: what power do we have as librarians in dismantling systems of oppression, and more importantly, “how do we use that power once we all realize we possess it?” (p. 58). the higgins text serves its purpose as a basic introduction, but we contend that there is a great need for libraries of all types to become involved in deepening learning and doing more. these disconnects serve as the starting point for our project. when the iji project was conceived, there had not been much recent professional focus on serving incarcerated populations. for example, the american library association (ala) published library standards for adult correctional institutions in 1992—30 years ago (ala, 1992). that said, in 2021, soon after iji was launched, the ala office for diversity, literacy and outreach services (odlos) established “a task force of correctional library workers and other institutional stakeholders” and headed to work on an updated “reimagining” of the standards from 1992 (ala, n.d., para. 1). these updated standards will heed the current phenomenon of mass incarceration, the inequitable incarceration rates of bipoc individuals, and the rising rates of incarceration of women (especially women of color) and pay special attention to the incarceration of lgbtqia+ individuals, undocumented individuals, and youth in jails, prisons, and other detention facilities, as well as to the information needs of returning individuals. (ala, n.d., para. 2) https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 information justice institute the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 3 the revised standards are set to be completed in 2023. dr. jeanie austin (2021) recently published a seminal text offering clear information and thoughtfully contextualizing library services related to carceral systems. austin’s library services and incarceration advocates for rethinking intersections and exploring possibilities. it is a must-read for librarians across professional contexts and others involved in education, community engagement, and social research. additional sources that inform this work that may interest those interested in pursuing professional opportunities, expanding outreach services, and augmenting community-based collaboration are described below and presented in the iji webliography. in addition to insights gleaned through literature, iji is informed by the lived experience of team members. the project launch involved two csu faculty, including the author as principal investigator (pi), and eight graduate students in partnership with leaders and members of a way in and ex-cons for community and social change (eccsc). csu is a designated predominately black institution located on the far southeast side of chicago (schmoke & scott, 2022). residents in the surrounding community of roseland are 95% black (compared to 29% across chicago), and the median household income is ~70% of the mean for the city (chicago metropolitan agency for planning [cmap], 2022). most team members live nearby; several are formerly incarcerated and/or had incarcerated family members. a way in (2019) is an illinois-based non-profit organization that assists people with felony convictions in navigating the prison-to-school pipeline and gaining access to higher education. members believe their lived experiences are vital to meaningful conversations around social reform. eccsc’s motto is, “it’s going to take us to save us” (nguyen, 2022). eccsc (2022) is a dynamic chicago-based coalition involving hundreds of formerly incarcerated individuals who have taken on civic responsibilities to serve communities and push back against recidivism. members of eccsc have experience and deep knowledge of mediation and violence de-escalation. during our project meetings, iji team members regularly shared insights based on lived experiences. this included expressions of appreciation for dedicated library staff and the diverse services and collections they had encountered while incarcerated and beyond. that said, challenges were also noted, many related to gaps and inconsistencies. for example, most modern libraries and educational programs rely on internet and database access for browsing and research, but these services often need to be made available to incarcerated people. in recent years, new efforts to expand access have emerged, such as ithaka’s efforts to improve higher education in prisons through increased access to high-quality educational content via jstor (n.d.). unfortunately, this is far from universal since it is a resource for facilities that offer higher education opportunities. even within that subset, only a very limited number of spots are generally available in educational programs. facilities with active educational programs, such as the education justice project (ejp) housed at the danville correctional center (dcc), an adult male prison in illinois, have grown information access via an alternative approach: collections developed through enduring concerted efforts. the ejp community library boasts over 4,000 volumes used to support “the academic pursuits and research needs of ejp” participants (ejp, n.d., para. 1). this is an excellent resource for these scholars. however, they only represent a small subset of the total population at dcc. even for well-regarded and established initiatives such as ejp, significant hurdles and limitations can arise when new policies based on censorship and banning materials emerge (gaines, 2019; ginsburg, 2019). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 information justice institute the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 4 in some cases, libraries in prisons can expand information access based on receiving external funding. for example, in 2022, the illinois department of corrections (idoc) and the national non-profit freedom reads announced the opening of five freedom libraries, which are curated 500-book collections, at logan correctional center (logan cc), a women’s facility located in central illinois (idoc, 2022). freedom libraries was co-founded in 2021 by reginald dwayne betts, a poet and scholar with a keen appreciation for literature who has shared important insights about the problematic absence of reading materials for those who are incarcerated/in solitary confinement (freedom reads, 2023; wood, 2020). while all idoc “facilities operate law and general libraries” (idoc, n.d., para. 5), most adult facilities in illinois do not offer robust library collections like ejp at dcc or freedom reads at logan cc. this is not surprising since, according to gaines (2018), idoc has seen a significant decrease in the book budget and recently only spent $276 across the entire system (28 facilities) over the course of a year. when asked about this extremely low amount, a former librarian indicated that in her facility, there was “no budget for the general library for the illinois department of corrections” (gaines, 2018, para. 7). how can information needs be met in this strange, stressful confining space with no book budget or internet access? these dire circumstances represent significant challenges within correctional facilities. as the iji pi discusses in a previously co-authored article about offering library services at youth detention facilities, lack of funding, as well as staffing and other essential support, often leads to patchworked models (montague & coyle, 2019), including reliance on seeking other sources of reading materials such as those provided by books-to-prisoners programs (prison book program, n.d.). to grow our understanding of these critically important and challenging issues, the iji team sought input from librarians and other library affiliates from across the u.s. this project received generous support for these pursuits through an institute of museum and library services (imls) national leadership planning grant. methodology the iji project was developed as a model of community inquiry. according to bruce et al. (2014), community inquiry …emphasizes inquiry conducted of, for, and by communities as living social organisms. it implies support for collaborative activity and for creating knowledge connected to people’s values, history, and lived experiences. the inquiry entails open-ended, democratic, participatory engagement. community inquiry is thus a learning process that brings theory and action together in an experimental and critical manner. (p. 1) iji drew on this approach to plan and develop our project activities with a focus on a growing understanding of social justice initiatives, as well as community-centered and outreach services provided by academic, public, and other types of libraries. given the timing of the project launch early in the pandemic, some of our initial plans needed to be adapted, and the timeline was extended from one year to two. the project team met monthly to exchange insights, consider issues, and plan methods to carry out our work. most team meetings needed to be conducted online due to health concerns and gathering limitations. while we originally planned to convene an in-person gathering to consider local issues, we shifted https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 information justice institute the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 5 and expanded our focus. we developed and launched a survey aimed at gaining a greater understanding of current library activities related to serving communities impacted by incarceration, as well as identifying pending gaps/needs. the survey was sent to librarians and other library affiliates. as this inquiry was developed to be conducted online, we were not limited to reaching out to only local librarians; however, we were able to share the results and gain additional local insights through a hybrid symposium in december 2021 and an in-person conference presentation in may 2022. given our interest in expanding understanding and action, and also in light of pandemic constraints, another area we decided to focus on was the development of a webliography containing resources of interest to librarians and other library affiliates seeking to deepen understanding and engagement related to iji goals. these key project activities, conducting the survey and building the webliography, are discussed in the following sections. library programs and services survey in early 2021, an online survey was developed by the iji team. after being reviewed and receiving research approval, it was launched in may 2021. a link to the online survey was shared via ala connect (n.d.), a digital portal available to ala members with limited access for others interested in library-related topics/groups. a copy of the survey is available in appendix a. an overview of the responses is presented below. a total of 72 responses were received from a diverse group of librarians and other library affiliates across 24 u.s. states as follows: 55 librarians, ten library staff, 11 library directors, five family members of someone who is/was incarcerated, three library and information science (lis) students, two library board members, one lis educator, one volunteer, one retired, and one unemployed. affiliation categories are not mutually inclusive. involvement stemmed from 51 participants at a public library, ten at an academic library, six at a special library, and four at a school library. in terms of community size, there were 20 large urban, 20 suburban, 17 rural, and 14 small urban. we were very pleased to have interest and representation from this diverse group of individuals involved in providing library services. the first survey question was included to gain a general understanding of the range of programs offered at the libraries of the survey participants: “does your library offer programs and/or services that are grounded in social justice?” responses were 36 yes, 23 no, and 13 not sure. only half of the participants said it did. considering the ala’s code of ethics’s recent adoption of a racial and social justice principle, this proportion was surprisingly low (zalusky, 2021) and may indicate a deficit in alignment. subsequently, questions were focused more on involvement in serving those who are incarcerated and those who had been recently released. responses to the two questions “how familiar are you with providing library programs and services to individuals who are incarcerated?” and “how familiar are you with providing library programs and services to individuals who have recently been incarcerated?” show similar levels of (lack of) familiarity in serving both of these groups. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 information justice institute the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 6 figure 1. respondent familiarity with services for people who are incarcerated or those who were recently released when specifically questioned if their library offered services to incarcerated people, 48 indicated no, 17 said yes, and six were unsure. respondents had space to provide written comments and a wide range of library service examples were mentioned in them, including libraries in jails, prisons, and jdcs; reference and research by mail services; book delivery; basic reading programs; outreach; support for prison education programs; library accounts/lending services; facilitating book donations; providing recreational reading; legal reading; educational reading; workshops; family literacy activities; and book discussion groups. respondents also indicated that some services had been suspended due to the covid-19 pandemic. those who said their library did not offer services to people who were incarcerated indicated that this was based on a range of issues, including a lack of awareness, not being a priority, not being relevant to the mission/focus of the particular library, not having local jails/prisons nearby, staffing issues/no outreach, time limitations, being spread too thin, not having anyone wanting to take it on, and challenges with prison regulations/bureaucracy. participants also said they did not know why these services were not offered. regarding offering library programs and services to support recently incarcerated individuals, 44 indicated no, 17 said yes, and ten were unsure. again, a wide range of library services were mentioned, including library card sign-up service upon release; outreach to parole and other reentry events; specific job support (e.g., providing a list of employers); tech literacy; resumé building; help to find family/friends; producing and distributing reentry guides; providing information on free community services; poetry programs; designated web pages; help with expungement; collaborative services with local writers groups, social workers, and lawyers; and programs to access essential services like id, food, clothing, shelter, education, jobs, mental health services, and legal aid. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 information justice institute the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 7 those who said their library did not offer services to people who were recently released indicated that this was based on a range of issues, including a lack of awareness of the population/needs, being spread too thin, not sure, being beyond the library mission/outside the scope of services, not being on an administration’s radar, never considering it, being a very small community, and not having incarceration facilities close by. of course, folks might still be released from far away and come to the community. some responses indicated that individuals likely participated in relevant services despite not being offered explicitly. for example, they were not offered in an organized manner (based on the likely needs of members of this group), or walk-in services were available to everyone, which may include people from this population. in addition to providing a window into current library services offered to incarcerated individuals and those recently released, the survey participants also offered their insights regarding a range of services and programs needed in their community. for serving people who are incarcerated, these include: • creating/linking to a publishing platform for writers and artists • collaborating with local groups to facilitate book donations to support reentry, ideas were to: • offer reentry-focused resources and classes (computer/tech, job training, financial advice, social work topics, legal clinics) • connect/establish new partnerships with incarceration facilities, parole services, and potential community organization partners • sponsor a citizen circle • extend bookmobile service • expand community-building through meals, art, and culture talks • outreach with the business community for either/both, developing (more): • trauma-informed programs • arts programming • book clubs • parent reading programs • early literacy programs • ged support https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 information justice institute the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 8 • research support survey respondents also indicated not knowing what was needed, the importance of gaining input (e.g., the user needs survey), that more staff training was needed, and that the least the library could do was to have a brochure. following our discussion of the results during a conference presentation, we learned that one of the attendees decided to address a service gap at her library by creating an information table with relevant resources. additional opportunities to expand understanding and services may also emerge through increased communication and collaboration between librarians (or other educators/advocates) who work in carceral facilities and those working in other nearby libraries. in reviewing the survey responses and discussing them as part of project-related activities, the iji project team also worked in tandem to develop a webliography to further extend understanding and support librarians and library affiliates in grappling with possibilities in providing services grounded in social justice, particularly for individuals who are incarcerated and those who were recently released. webliography throughout the project, the iji team met to consider activities and review resources to inform our understanding. based on these discussions, we selected resources of possible interest to librarians, students, educators, community leaders, and others working for justice and developed an annotated webliography to share them openly. the resources are grouped into seven areas, presented below in table 1. table 1. iji webliography section titles and descriptions iji section title description iji 101 with themes linked to libraries, incarceration, and justice, introductory documents may be of particular interest to those new to exploring these issues. through the inclusion of relevant data, policies, and first-person accounts, these materials highlight the importance of critical analysis. lis initiative projects, tools, and guides that may serve as examples for those aiming to launch and grow their involvement. research/professional reading online and print-based resources of possible interest to librarians, educators, community leaders, and others. contemporary and critically important topics such as censorship, health, and poverty are included. some organizations of interest these include examples of local, regional, and national groups working to provide and support direct services. they also offer focused approaches based on particular needs (e.g., expression, employment, housing, lgbtqia+, literacy, women, youth, etc.). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 information justice institute the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 9 prison education an incomplete/growing list of prison education initiatives based in the u.s. reentry challenges a few resources highlighting diverse voices, lived experiences, policies, and strategy ideas for growing better approaches. this section was added recently based on team discussions about the need to bring more focused attention to these complex challenges. local resources these are allied agencies and community service providers located in/around chicago of particular interest to those involved locally and those planning to begin offering new/expanded services. the full iji webliography and other project resources are available at: https://infojusticeinstitute.wordpress.com/project-resources-and-research/ by early 2023, the webliography had grown to encompass 120 annotated resources, including links to academic articles and other professional resources. most materials are print-based and focus on the u.s. context. a few resources from international perspectives and examples from other national contexts, including australia, brazil, canada, chile, croatia, germany, northern ireland, norway, scotland, and sri lanka, are also included. we expect to update materials periodically. as noted on the site, suggestions and comments are welcome. next steps the iji project was based on a planning grant to bring librarians and community members together to consider issues and questions to build understanding around critical community needs. in addition to developing our collaboration, our initial exploration and experience will offer valuable insights and resources for others. our project was informed by professional literature, dialogue, and the consideration of the results of a survey of librarians and other library affiliates. these data sources focused on growing understanding to inform evolving services based on the needs of incarcerated/recently released people and their support networks. in tandem, we developed and launched an annotated webliography to reflect and amplify this work centered on serving diverse populations confronting onerous systemic challenges. as more focus and energy around critical awareness and social justice issues emerge from individuals with lived experience in tandem with professional sources, librarians and other community leaders may move closer to developing policies and practices to address root issues of economic, social, and political problems. those familiar with this sort of work recognize many dynamic challenges and complex obstacles to confront. moving forward requires more and better resources along with critical analysis, thoughtful and creative engagement, diverse perspectives (including centering lived experience), and persistence. as evident in this project and the many others featured in the webliography, awareness and collective momentum are growing. in considering how to use your power, we encourage you to draw on these examples and to continue acting, reflecting, and engaging in community inquiry. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 https://infojusticeinstitute.wordpress.com/project-resources-and-research/ information justice institute the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 10 references american library association (ala). 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(n.d.). what is the pic? what is abolition? https://criticalresistance.org/mission-vision/not-so-common-language education justice project. (n.d.). community library. https://educationjustice.net/program/community-library/ ex-cons for community and social change. (2022). homepage. https://www.eccsc.org freedom reads. (2023). initiatives. https://freedomreads.org/initiatives/ gaines, l. v. (2018, april 16). illinois prison system spent less than $300 on books last year. illinois public media. https://will.illinois.edu/news/story/illinois-prison-system-spentless-than-300-on-books-last-year gaines, l. v. (2019, november 12). new illinois policy bans prisoners from receiving content downloaded from the internet. illinois public media. https://will.illinois.edu/news/story/new-illinois-policy-bans-prisoners-from-receivingcontent-downloaded-from-the-internet ginsburg, r. 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(2022). violence prevention group conducts safety patrols on the cta. nbc chicago. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/violence-prevention-group-conducts-safetypatrols-on-the-cta/2971157/ prison book program. (n.d.). books to prisoners programs. https://prisonbookprogram.org/prisonbooknetwork/ sawyer, w., & wagner, p. (2023, march 14). mass incarceration: the whole pie 2023. prison policy initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023.html schmoke, k. l., & scott, z. (2022, june 7). the forgotten predominantly black institutions of higher ed. inside higher ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2022/06/07/predominantly-black-institutionsare-oft-forgotten-opinion u.s. commission on civil rights. (2019). collateral consequences: the crossroads of punishment, redemption, and the effects on communities. https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/2019/06-13-collateral-consequences.pdf a way in. (2019). homepage. https://csm7408.wixsite.com/awayinnfp wood, douglas e. (host). (2020, september 22). freedom libraries: the million book project [audio podcast episode]. in shades of freedom. aspen institute. https://www.aspeninstitute.org/podcasts/freedom-libraries-the-million-book-project/ zalusky, s. (2021, july 28). ala adopts new code of ethics principle on racial and social justice. american library association. https://www.ala.org/news/membernews/2021/07/alaadopts-new-code-ethics-principle-racial-and-social-justice https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 https://idoc.illinois.gov/news/press-release.25544.html https://idoc.illinois.gov/offender/adulteducationvocationalservices.html https://www.ithaka.org/initiatives/improving-higher-education-in-prisons/ https://www.prisonpolicy.org/origin/md/2020/report.html https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v3i1.32271 https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/violence-prevention-group-conducts-safety-patrols-on-the-cta/2971157/ https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/violence-prevention-group-conducts-safety-patrols-on-the-cta/2971157/ https://prisonbookprogram.org/prisonbooknetwork/ https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023.html https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2022/06/07/predominantly-black-institutions-are-oft-forgotten-opinion https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2022/06/07/predominantly-black-institutions-are-oft-forgotten-opinion https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/2019/06-13-collateral-consequences.pdf https://csm7408.wixsite.com/awayinnfp https://www.aspeninstitute.org/podcasts/freedom-libraries-the-million-book-project/ https://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2021/07/alaadopts-new-code-ethics-principle-racial-and-social-justice https://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2021/07/alaadopts-new-code-ethics-principle-racial-and-social-justice information justice institute the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 12 rae-anne montague, ph.d. (raemontague@gmail.com), is associate professor and program coordinator in the library and information science (lis) program at chicago state university, usa. dr. montague has many years of experience as a teacher, librarian, and library and information science educator. her scholarly interests center around inquiry, learning communities, and social justice. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 mailto:raemontague@gmail.com information justice institute the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 13 appendix a library programs and services survey questions 1. a. does your library offer programs and/or services that are grounded in social justice? ___yes___no___ not sure b. if so, please elaborate and provide an example. if not, please explain why not. c. if your library offers programs and/or services that are grounded in social justice, are you aware of any challenges in offering them? if so, please list them. 2. how familiar are you with providing library programs and services to individuals who are incarcerated? ___ very ___ somewhat ___ marginally ___ not at all 3. how familiar are you with providing library programs and services to individuals who have recently been incarcerated? ___ very ___ somewhat ___ marginally ___ not at all 4. how familiar are you with providing library programs and services to family members of individuals who are incarcerated? 5. ___ very ___ somewhat ___ marginally ___ not at all 6. does your library offer programs and/or services to support individuals who are currently incarcerated? ___yes___no___ not sure if so, please describe them. if not, please explain why not. 7. does your library offer programs and/or services to support individuals who have recently been incarcerated? ___yes___no___ not sure if so, please describe them. if not, please explain why not. 8. does your library offer programs and/or services to support family members of individuals who are incarcerated? ___yes___no___ not sure if so, please describe them. if not, please explain why not. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 information justice institute the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 14 9. what additional types of library programs and/or services to support individuals who are incarcerated and/or recently incarcerated and/or their families would you like to see offered by your library? 10. did you learn about providing library programs and/or services to support individuals who are incarcerated and/or recently incarcerated and/or their families through studies? if yes, please describe the type(s) of educational program, coursework, assignments, readings of note, etc. 11. additional comments. please share any information you believe would inform this investigation. demographics 1. check all that apply. i am a: ___ librarian ___ library staff person ___ library volunteer ___ library director/executive ___library board member ___ lis student ___ lis educator ___ retired librarian/library staff member ___ former librarian/library staff member ___ person who was formerly incarcerated ___ family member of someone is/was incarcerated 2. type of library. which type of library are you primarily affiliated with? ___ academic library ___ public library ___ school library ___ special library ___ archive ___ other 3. which kind of community does your library serve? ___ large urban ___ small urban ___ suburban ___ rural 4. in which u.s. state is your library located? if non-u.s., please indicate the country. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39394 inequities in public library branch access and children's book circulation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38127 l inequities in public library branch access and children's book circulation in a midwestern american city clare c. crosh, cincinnati children's hospital medical center, usa john s. hutton, university of cincinnati college of medicine, cincinnati children's hospital medical center, usa greg a. szumlas, university of cincinnati college of medicine, cincinnati children's hospital medical center, usa yingying xu, cincinnati children's hospital medical center, usa andrew f. beck, university of cincinnati college of medicine, cincinnati children's hospital medical center, usa carley l. riley, university of cincinnati college of medicine, cincinnati children's hospital medical center, usa abstract literacy development is a complex process. it is well established that the home literacy environment influences literacy development. to better understand the influence of the neighborhood literacy environment, we examined the distribution of public library branches across neighborhoods in an american midwestern city and associations between book circulation rates and childhood poverty rates. this study used children's book circulation data provided by 40 branch locations of the cincinnati and hamilton county public library system in ohio (usa). the primary outcome variable was the branch-specific, five-year mean circulation rate of books per-child living within the branch neighborhood. the predictor variable was the childhood poverty rate of the neighborhood. there was a significant, moderate negative correlation between book circulation and childhood poverty rates (spearman's r= -0.52, p<0.001). using data from a public library system in a large midwestern american city, this study found significant disparities between branch access and children's book circulation in high-poverty neighborhoods. keywords: children's books; equitable access; literacy; neighborhood literacy environment; public libraries publication type: special section publication introduction iteracy is a vital asset that can and should be more effectively promoted. according to the most recent national assessment of educational progress, 65% of fourth-graders in the united states (u.s.) read below a proficient level (hussar et al., 2020), and globally, six out of ten children and adolescents fail to reach the minimum reading proficiency levels (unesco, 2017). sub-optimal literacy is predictive of adverse health outcomes and decreased vocational potential (braveman et al., 2011), with an estimated annual economic cost of over $350 billion in the u.s. (cree et al., 2015) and over $1.2 trillion worldwide (leitch, 2006). 69 inequities in public library branch access and children's book circulation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38127 literacy development itself is a dynamic process, beginning in infancy and extending through formal instruction in school (whitehurst & lonigan, 1998). a child's reading and writing proficiency are heavily influenced by their home literacy environment (hle). the hle consists of modifiable factors, including access to books, parental attitudes toward reading, and literacy centered routines, notably caregiver-child "shared" reading (payne et al., 1994). outside the u.s., low and middle-income countries have also affirmed the importance of the hle and book sharing on a child's receptive and expressive language development (opel et al., 2009; valdez menchaca & whitehurst, 1992; vally et al., 2015). the hle is influenced by internal (e.g., income, parental education) and external factors, such as the neighborhood where a child is raised, the latter being the focus of this study. a growing body of literature and theories has demonstrated how important a child's neighborhood is to their development and well-being (minh et al., 2017). the neighborhood effects theory looks specifically at poverty's effects on human health and development. evidenced by galster's research (2012), the theory links different causal pathways between a neighborhood and a person's health: interactive social mechanisms (such as a person's social network), environmental (the built environment), geographical (social services), and institutional (local resources). these aspects outline potential impacts on children's health, well-being, and development. the neighborhood effects theory also considers areas for interventions, such as policy changes to support social services and investment in local resources. regarding the effect of a neighborhood's environment on academic achievement, neighborhood poverty is an economic disadvantage that has been shown to directly affect a child's literacy development (vaden-kiernan et al., 2010). vaden-kiernan and colleagues found that neighborhood characteristics, such as economic status, are associated with the literacy interactions between a parent and their children. however, the study calls for further research into what specifically about a neighborhood causes this influence and what daily literacy practices may have been overlooked. similar findings were found in a study from brazil, where students from state-run elementary schools in economically disadvantaged areas were found to have lower academic outcomes than more affluent areas (da cunha et al., 2009). froiland and colleagues found that the neighborhood's social network may predict literacy exposure within the home (froiland et al., 2014). a study from canada found similar effects, citing the importance of neighborhood cohesion and how its sociocultural dynamics may influence literacy outcomes (kohen et al., 2008). while the literature has established a few mechanisms by which the neighborhood may influence a child's literacy development, the influence of local resources is largely unknown. this gap is the basis for what this study sought to explore, specifically what local resources exist within a neighborhood that may influence a child's literacy development. as established above, the literacy environment extends beyond the home into the local neighborhood. we propose the concept of the "neighborhood literacy environment (nle)" to take the idea of the impacts of the neighborhood dynamic on childhood literacy a step further. we define a child's access to print materials, especially books, and pro-literacy programs within their neighborhood as the nle. we posit that the nle, alongside the hle, influences literacy development and is a reasonable means through which literacy outcomes among children may be improved. it is well-documented that children living in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods have less access to books through bookstores (neuman & celano, 2001; neuman & moland, 2016). they are also more likely to live in areas that have been described as "book deserts", with limited access to all forms of print media (neuman & celano, 2001; neuman & moland, 2016). neuman and colleagues also demonstrated that increasing neighborhood-level 70 inequities in public library branch access and children's book circulation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38127 economic segregation has further exposed this disparity (neuman & moland, 2016). then, it stands to reason that this neighborhood-level determinant likely exacerbates risks of language delays and reading difficulties for children (blair & raver, 2016). however, public literacy resources as a means to reduce inequities within the nle have not been studied beyond bookstores. public libraries have long been a vital public literacy resource capable of reducing inequities in children's access to books and literacy-promoting activities (e.g., storytime programs). indeed, there are 406,491 public libraries worldwide, with 17,227 operating within the u.s. (ifla, "library map of the world", n.d.). children that are taken to a public library regularly have better reading performance, more positive attitudes toward reading, and more books at home (whitehead, 2004). in this sense, public libraries are a critical component of the nle. our study sought to better understand the distribution of resources within nles, specifically publicly accessible library resources. we examined the distribution of library branches across neighborhoods and evaluated for associations between book circulation rates and childhood poverty. we conducted this study in cincinnati, a large city in the midwestern u.s. state of ohio, which boasts 812,037 citizens, with 67.5% identifying as white, 25.7% black or african american, and fewer than 5% of the population identifying as hispanic or any other race. the demographic includes 184,817 children under 18 years of age, with 23.6 % living in poverty (u.s. census, 2018). the u.s. department of health and human services sets the federal poverty level (fpl) within the u.s. every year regarding household income to household size. for example, the federal poverty level for a family of four was $25,701 in 2018. given previous research, we hypothesized that neighborhoods with higher childhood poverty rates (percentage of children living in households meeting poverty criteria) would be less likely to have a public library branch. additionally, we hypothesized that there would be a negative correlation between the circulation rate of children's books (how often books are checked out) and poverty rates. we hypothesized a negative correlation between the circulation rate of children's books and the percentage of individuals self-identifying as black or african american within a neighborhood based on the following three factors: 1) the links that exist between economic and racial segregation within the u.s. (williams & collins, 2001), 2) the economic impact that segregation has on book distribution (neuman & moland, 2016), and, 3) because african americans/blacks are the largest community of color in cincinnati (u.s. census, 2018). methods this ecological study used existing data enumerating the circulation of children's books by the cincinnati and hamilton county public library (chpl) from its 40 neighborhood branches from january 2014 to december 2018 (five years). an ecological study is one where the units of measure are populations or groups of people rather than individuals (morgenstern, 1995). ecological studies are often used when individual data are not available, as was the case for this study. children's books were defined as books geared to readers between 0 and 18 years of age. all branch libraries were included in this study and shared data on the absolute numbers of books circulated during the study timeframe. we excluded the downtown main library (i.e., the flagship location for the chpl system) because its circulation numbers included automatic online renewals for every branch location and did not accurately reflect its unique distribution, a potential confounder. the downtown main library is located in downtown cincinnati which is 71 inequities in public library branch access and children's book circulation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38127 more business-focused and home to few children. we, therefore, saw the main library as substantively centralized rather than localized like the neighborhood branches. the primary outcome variable was the branch-specific, 5-year mean circulation rate. this rate was measured as the number of books circulated per child living within the same neighborhood as the library branch. our first predictor variable was the childhood poverty rate of the neighborhood where the branch library was located. for specific analyses, we kept this as a continuous variable. for other analyses, it was dichotomized. the u.s. census defines "poverty areas" as census tracts with poverty rates of 20% or more (bishaw, 2011). using this definition, we considered neighborhoods with 20% of the child population living below the fpl to indicate higher poverty areas and those with <19.9% below the fpl as areas of lower poverty. our second predictor variable was a measure of neighborhood racial composition. we focused on the proportion of the population within a given neighborhood who self-identified as black or african american, measured on a continuous scale. the american community survey is administered every year by the u.s. census bureau, providing area-level estimates for a range of sociodemographic measures (u.s. census bureau, 2017). for this study, neighborhood childhood poverty rates, population estimates of the number of children under 18 years of age, and information on the race for specific neighborhoods were obtained from the 2018 american community survey. all data elements were self-reported; individuals responded with their income and self-identified race (e.g., white, black or african american, etc.). data were then aggregated to estimate population rates at relevant geographies. neighborhoods were defined according to locally generated boundaries. associations between neighborhood presence or absence of a library branch, a binary variable, and neighborhood child poverty (high or low) were assessed using a chi-square test. not every neighborhood within metropolitan cincinnati has a branch, the branch locations were based largely on land acquisition and available funding. indeed, the first branch libraries, seven of which are still operating, were funded by the wealthy steel industrialist and philanthropist andrew carnegie between 1886 and 1919; library trustees were responsible for the choice of location of said branches (tansey, 2016). branch-specific circulation rates were calculated by dividing the five-year mean number of children's books in circulation per branch by the population of children <18 years of age living within the library's neighborhood. a spearman's rank-order correlation coefficient (rs) was then calculated for the relationship between neighborhood-level rates of children's book circulation and child poverty. an rs was also calculated for the relationship between book circulation rates and the proportion of individuals identifying as black/african american in each neighborhood. we used the spearman and not the pearson correlation coefficient because of the non-parametric distribution of variables. there are strong linkages between economic and racial segregation in the u.s., and structural classism and racism have long been intertwined (williams & collins, 2001). because african americans are the largest community of color in cincinnati, we calculated rs between neighborhood rates of childhood poverty and the concentration of black or african american residents within a neighborhood. we focused on families identifying as black/african american, given the u.s.'s long history of systemic racism and residential racial segregation (rss) against the african american community (williams & collins, 2016). we did not assess for further ethnic concentration given the limited ethnic diversity within metropolitan cincinnati. 72 inequities in public library branch access and children's book circulation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38127 the cincinnati children's hospital institutional review board (irb) approved this study prior to the commencement of field research. results the 40 library branches in metropolitan cincinnati were located within 38 neighborhoods (figure 1). 38% of the 45 higher poverty neighborhoods had a library branch, compared to 58% of the 36 lower-poverty neighborhoods (p=0.06). accounting for population, 51% of children living in higher poverty neighborhoods had a library branch within their neighborhood as compared to 84% of children living in a lower-poverty neighborhood (p<0.001). figure 1. map of neighborhoods of hamilton county with a color scale to measure childhood poverty rates and red diamonds to indicate the location of library branches (including the main library). across all 40 library branch locations, approximately 24 million children's books were circulated over the five-year study period. in absolute numbers, circulation varied by branch from 9,116 to 284,534 books per year (mean 73,196 ± 63,514). the median circulation rate, normalized by neighborhood child population, was 22 books per neighborhood child per year (iqr 25.8). this circulation rate varied considerably across branches and ranged from 3 to 98 books per neighborhood child per year, a more than 30-fold difference. there was a moderate negative correlation between neighborhood-level children's book circulation rates and child poverty (rs= -0.52, p<0.001). that is, as the poverty rate increased, the circulation rate decreased. there was a similar moderate negative correlation between the 73 inequities in public library branch access and children's book circulation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38127 circulation rate and the proportion of the neighborhood population identifying as black or african american (rs= -0.47, p<0.001). again, as the proportion of the population identifying as black/african american increased, the circulation rate decreased. there was a high, positive correlation between the child poverty rate and the proportion of the population identifying as black or african american (rs=0.79, p<0.001), consistent with the long-term, persistent linkage between economic and racial segregation in the u.s. discussion in the u.s., public libraries are the only government-funded educational resource available to all children starting at birth (becker, 2012; gerbig, 2009). this study involves components of what we have identified as the neighborhood literacy environment (nle) and found substantial disparities in access to and utilization of the public library system on the neighborhood level in a large, midwestern u.s. city. our research showed that there was also a 30-fold disparity in children's book circulation rate across library branches. this finding points to the correlation that children living in higher poverty neighborhoods were less likely to have access to a library branch than those living in lower-poverty areas. these findings suggest that besides "book deserts" (neuman & celano, 2001) in higher poverty neighborhoods, having a library within these neighborhoods does not necessarily equate to an equitable circulation of books. a significant finding of this study involves inequitable access to children's books for families living in higher-poverty neighborhoods. our findings are consistent with established evidence that economically disadvantaged or higher poverty areas are often under-resourced (bray et al., 2019; wilson, 1999). this outcome extends to access to books. indeed, while it has been shown that book deserts are commonplace, generally, such studies focus on bookstores and other private literacy resources (neuman & celano, 2001; neuman & moland, 2016). we found that these deserts extend to publicly funded resources, with wide disparities regarding public libraries. we found that, while many higher poverty neighborhoods had library branches, rates of book circulation were significantly lower in such areas. this discrepancy suggests that libraries in higher poverty areas may be less resourced or that the in-library use of children's books is less documented than those in lower-poverty areas. further studies are needed to delineate how literacy-enhancing resources may be more equitably allocated and learn more about the rates and impacts of in-library use as an embedded literacy practice. notwithstanding the limitations above, this study found a moderate negative correlation between neighborhood-level book circulation and the proportion of black or african american citizens, similar to the relationship we identified between book circulation and child poverty. race as a social construct has been defined as "distinct from ethnicity, genetic ancestry, or biology" (keeys, baca, & maybank, 2021). our finding is consistent with long-term linkages in the u.s. between economic and racial segregation. this finding also complements previous work demonstrating a link between income segregation and access to books (neuman & moland, 2016). as librarians and literacy partners work to increase access to and distribution of books throughout their communities, historical drivers like segregation and discrimination should be acknowledged and challenged. like many u.s. cities, metropolitan cincinnati, where our research is located, is highly segregated (kent & frohlich, 2015). we hypothesize that rss drives the correlations we identified between race, poverty, and book circulation. 74 inequities in public library branch access and children's book circulation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38127 the physical separation by race in urban communities within the u.s. disproportionately affects non-white identifying people (williams & collins, 2001). historically, rss can be attributed to redlining, a practice established in the 1930s when the u.s. federal home owners' loan corporation assessed the relative risk of mortgage lending (aaronson et al., 2020). assessments were calculated using non-housing factors such as race, ethnicity, and immigration status. neighborhoods deemed "higher risk" were drawn in red on maps. so-called "red-lined" maps were disproportionately composed of non-white individuals, leading to the highly segregated neighborhoods of today (aaronson et al., 2020). though the exact mechanisms by which segregation occurs may differ across nations, racial segregation and multi-generational divestment are not solely a cincinnati or u.s. issue. these inequities permeate the global north (andersson et al., 2018; fésüs et al., 2012; musterd, 2005) and should be considered when understanding and improving literacy. in the practice of reading and writing, access to books is essential. case in point, one unicef early childhood development study of 35 low, middle, and high-income countries found that having at least one children's book in the home almost doubled the likelihood that a child was on track for effective literacy practices (manu et al., 2019). countries throughout the world have sought to improve access to books to heighten reading and writing literacy practices. for example, during the 1960s, taiwan created an editorial task force for children's books to improve access to children's books within their country (wu, 2019). both new zealand and the united kingdom had national literacy strategies to improve literacy outcomes in their respective countries (beard, 2000; tunmer et al., 2013). in the u.s., there are national programs like "reach out and read" that provide books for children when they visit a pediatrician's office (klass et al., 2009). also, the u.s. entertainer and philanthropist dolly parton founded the globally outreached imagination library, which mails books to children's homes during their early childhood years (waldron, 2018). these programs are examples of successful outcomes in positively affecting children's literacy via access to books, literature, and literacy events. our study aimed to look at one aspect of book access at the micro-neighborhood level, and our findings easily translate into potential policy changes and interventions. this study is also an essential step toward conceptualizing the neighborhood literacy environment (nle) construct and uncovering potential areas for interventions to heighten literacy outcomes. we see the nle as including a child's access to print materials and literacy programs within their local neighborhoods. public libraries have the unique potential to enhance and improve the nle. indeed, the international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla) noted that "libraries serve all people" and provide "support to vulnerable and marginalized populations" ("ifla statement on libraries and development", 2013). our study suggests that in addition to libraries in cincinnati and hamilton county, ohio, library systems across the u.s. and worldwide may develop strategies to leverage literacy resources more equitably to foster healthy child development. indeed, literacy has been considered a separate domain of development, given its neurobiological basis, influence by modifiable environmental factors, and high relevance to myriad positive health outcomes (klass et al., 2020). libraries have a significant opportunity to build an asset-oriented framework centered on neighborhood resources and strengths. assessing library locations within a system to ensure equitable distribution of library locations in neighborhoods may be an essential first step. as our study shows, library systems could map branch locations within the context of neighborhood characteristics and educational metrics, such as kindergarten readiness and third-grade reading scores, which are major educational benchmarks in the u.s. 75 inequities in public library branch access and children's book circulation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38127 additionally, public library systems could assess other literacy sources within neighborhoods, such as school libraries. one study in the united kingdom found that economically disadvantaged children (i.e., those receiving free school meals) who used libraries within their school reported a higher proficiency in reading and writing a wider variety of texts. students also exhibited higher confidence in their reading and writing abilities than children who received free school meals but did not regularly use their school library (wood et al., 2020). neighborhood libraries could partner with local schools that lack a school library to help supplement literacy resources. collaboration with neighborhood residents and other stakeholders to identify gap areas within the nle could also be a step forward. public library systems could better identify neighborhoods that may benefit from additional library support and information services in such a collaborative context. some examples of enhanced, responsive services include knowledge-based programming, technology-based literacy events, and bookmobiles to distribute books where transportation is a barrier. international community libraries that are not associated with a national network of public libraries ("ifla statement on libraries and development", 2013; stranger-johannessen et al., 2015) also represent important nodes of literacy networks. community libraries are often regarded as vital local community resources. as such, they could represent a key partner for a more extensive library network to work with and support, increasing access for all patrons. furthermore, interventions to expand library membership, decrease fines, and increase representative books represent potential strategies for literacy improvement. working to remove barriers to library use, such as transportation or location of branches near public transportation, expanding hours, and ensuring the safety of patrons, are important strategies to consider. limitations this study has limitations that are important to note. as with every ecological study, reliance on population-level data limited our analyses. given that public libraries collect no personal information, we could not confirm each branch's catchment areas and could not precisely characterize the populations served. we excluded the main library given its circulation data contained all automatic renewals for the system and was, therefore, not an accurate representation of the books circulated. this limitation also made it impossible to use circulation data for book renewals within the analysis. furthermore, we could not determine the degree to which lower circulation rates were related to branch accessibility (e.g., hours open, proximity to public transportation), book selection, in-house book use, or other factors influencing library usage. significance this study also has important strengths. it introduces the novel concept of the nle, which applies to diverse cultural and global contexts. the research involves a large dataset obtained over five years in a large midwestern city in the u.s., generating generalizable insights with the potential to positively impact child literacy outcomes (frijters et al., 2000; payne et al., 1994), both in the u.s. (hussar et al., 2020) and globally (unesco, 2017), where effective interventions are needed. this work employs an innovative mapping approach that helps convey findings to a broad audience clearly and intuitively. altogether, this study is essential to understand children's nle better. 76 inequities in public library branch access and children's book circulation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38127 conclusion public libraries are uniquely positioned to affect positive change. with other localized programs and resources, public libraries help overcome impediments to equity in child literacy and health. this study demonstrated that neighborhoods with higher childhood poverty rates were less likely to have a public library branch. higher poverty was associated with lower book circulation rates for those communities with a branch. we suggest that public libraries throughout the u.s. and internationally build and create relationships within neighborhoods of economic disadvantage. then, leveraging these relationships, the libraries and the communities can build upon existing neighborhood resources and strengths to improve literacy outcomes for all children. acknowledgements this project was supported by funds from the bureau of health professions (bhpr), health resources and services administration (hrsa), department of health and human services (dhhs), under national research service award (nrsa) grant number t32hp10027 general pediatrics research fellowship in child and adolescent health. the information or content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by, the bhpr, hrsa, dhhs or the u.s. government. references aaronson, d., hartley, d. a., & mazumder, b. 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(2018). "dream more, learn more, care more, and be more": the imagination library influencing storybook reading and early literacy. reading psychology, 39(7), 711-728. https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2018.1536094 whitehead, n. (2004). the effects of increased access to books on student reading using the public library. reading improvement, 41(3), 165-179. whitehurst, g. j., & lonigan, c. j. (1998). child development and emergent literacy. child development, 69(3), 848-872. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06247.x williams, d. r., & collins, c. (2001). racial residential segregation: a fundamental cause of racial disparities in health. public health reports, 116(5), 404-416. https://doi.org./10.1093/phr/116.5.404 wilson, w. j. (1998). when work disappears: new implications for race and urban poverty in the global economy. ethnic and racial studies, 22(3), 479-499. https://doi.org/10.1080/014198799329396 wood, c., clark, c., teravainen-goff, a., rudkin, g., & vardy, e. (2020). exploring the literacy-related behaviors and feelings of pupils eligible for free school meals in relation to their use of and access to school libraries. school library research, 23, 22pp. http://hdl.handle.net/11213/15777 wu, a. m. (2019). access to books matters: cultural ambassadors and the editorial task force. the reading teacher, 72(6), 683-688. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1796 clare c. crosh (clare.crosh@cchmc.org) is a general pediatrician and a third-year general academic pediatric fellow in the division of general and community pediatrics. she completed her medical school at midwestern university and her residency and chief residency at advocate children's hospital-oak lawn. her current research is under the umbrella of health equity, specifically literacy. dr. crosh is working to increase and create a culture around shared reading starting at birth. john s. hutton (john1.hutton@cchmc.org) is an attending pediatrician and director of the reading literacy discovery center at cincinnati children's hospital medical center and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the university of cincinnati college of medicine. his reading background includes almost 20 years running an independent children's bookstore and authoring over 40 children's books, many with health-promoting themes, including dialogic reading and limiting screen time. dr. hutton's research involves both health and general literacy, including early screening tools and using mri to better understand the influence of aspects of home reading and screen environments on early brain development. he is on the national medical advisory board of the reach out and read program and neuroscience lead for the workgroup revising american academy of pediatrics literacy promotion guidelines. greg a. szumlas (greg.szumlas@cchmc.org) is an assistant professor at cincinnati children's. dr. szumlas presently works as an attending physician in the pediatric primary care center. the center serves a large, underserved population and is also a major center for medical student and resident training. his areas of special interest are early childhood literacy and kindergarten http://hdl.handle.net/11213/15777 81 inequities in public library branch access and children's book circulation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38127 readiness. he presently serves as the medical director of the hospital's reach out and read program, the greater cincinnati reach out and read coalition, and the hamilton county affiliate of the ohio governor's imagination library. with a passion for early childhood literacy, he participates in research and quality improvement projects to increase reading at home and improve kindergarten readiness. dr. szumlas has been part of cincinnati children's for over 25 years. before moving to cincinnati, he completed his pediatric residency training at vanderbilt university and attended medical school at the university of iowa. yingying xu (yingying.xu@cchmc.org) is currently a senior biostatistician at cincinnati children's hospital medical center. she supports multiple nih-funded epidemiological studies, primarily involving the health outcomes and measures of the environment (home) cohort. she also supports faculty members and postdoctoral fellows in the division of general and community at cincinnati children's. andrew f. beck (andrew.beck1@cchmc.org) is an attending pediatrician at cincinnati children's hospital medical center and an associate professor of pediatrics at the university of cincinnati college of medicine. he is a faculty co-lead of the cincinnati children's community health initiative and the director of research and innovation for healthvine, a network of pediatric care providers and organizations backed by cincinnati children's that connect to help children be healthier, more effectively and affordably. carley l. riley (carley.riley@cchmc.org) is an attending pediatrician at cincinnati children's hospital medical center and an associate professor of pediatrics at the university of cincinnati college of medicine. she is a faculty co-lead of cincinnati children's community health initiative and lead of the cross-sector, community-based portfolio of improvement work to address social influences on well-being so that every child and family can thrive. border optics: surveillance cultures on the us-mexico frontier the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39210 t ijidi: book review fojas, c. (2021). border optics: surveillance cultures on the usmexico frontier. new york university press. isbn: 978-1479807017. 224 pp. $36.95 us. reviewer: sophia martinez-abbud, rice university, usa book review editors: halie kerns, suny canton, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: border; drones; migration; optics; surveillance publication type: book review he us-mexico border has a long history of surveillance and control, which has only extended its reach, scope, and budget in recent years. neoliberal capitalism exacerbates the need for constant supervision of the border between the global north and the global south— one which is porous regarding market needs but insists on the relentless supervision of migration patterns. since the implementation of the north american free trade agreement (nafta), and in the wake of 9/11, as well as narco-violence, both migration and surveillance methods at the usmexico border have intensified contiguously. the discourse prevailing in the u.s. is one which mimics the discourse regarding the frontier in the latenineteenth century— that is, it establishes the borderlands as a zone in which there is a constant threat of attack or penetration by foreigners, where the stability of the nation is at risk, and where it is imperative to establish security measures against these threats. alongside discourse and policy informed by an imperialist logic, the image of the borderlands is also influenced by digital technologies and cultural representations, which sometimes continue and sometimes subvert this constructed image. in border optics, camilla fojas engages with various archives that represent the borderlands as a vulnerable and precarious site that must be defended and traces how this image influences the evolution of border surveillance technologies. the book accomplishes its goal of laying bare the border optic; that is, a way of seeing informed by the multimedia apparatus of cultural productions and policymaking, and “a consequence of the interface of militarism, technology, and the media archive of the region, which all work inextricably together” (p. 8). analyzing policy, surveillance technology, and cultural productions, fojas engages the “complete visual apparatus, from recording and representation to the infrastructure and institutions that support the visual regime” (p. 8). the primacy of visual data in the contemporary moment creates a specific image of the border and its different characters, from the border patrol agent to the civilian and their duty to protecting the country, and finally to undocumented migrants. the categorization of bodies at the border is a result of what fojas calls “borderveillance” or “a combination of vigilance and visual sorting underwritten by a vast political economy of surveillance, one with a long history in colonial practices of social control that expanded at an unprecedented rate during the rise of the ‘war on terror’” (p. 9). in other words, the book explores how the primacy of optics—the constructed images and ways of looking at the border from various perspectives—functions as a technology of neoliberal control. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 146 border optics the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39210 fojas begins by calling attention to how the increased reliance on borderveillance technology caused an important shift in immigration policy: from instructions to “catch and release” undocumented migrants toward a stance of “prevention through deterrence” (p. 6). with this context in mind, fojas proceeds to examine different cultural productions that are primarily informed by, and have a stake in, this crafted border optic. chapters one and two trace the evolution of surveillance technology since 9/11, especially that which relies on the visual field. fojas masterfully explores how the insistence on the visual justifies the increased expenditure of surveillance technology along the most precarious and desolated parts of the trail—those through which migrants are forced. chapter one narrates the evolution of “borderveillant media,” in particular, programs such as the secure border initiative network (sbinet). this is the first program that promised to live-stream the border, with the intention to have the space “fully managed, monitored, and defended by a virtual technological barrier” (p. 31). fojas demonstrates how the insistence on crafting an optic of complete visual surveillance inspires the shift from vigilantism through sbinet to the use of military-grade technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles (uavs), in particular the emblematic predator drone. in chapter two, fojas narrates the history of the development and implementation of drones as a tool for borderveillance—one that opens the field of surveillance both laterally and vertically, extending the reach of us imperialist control over its southern borderlands. the hypersurveillance of this site continues a frontier ideology that insists on the inherent wilderness of the border in terms of both people and the elements. chapter three begins to engage more deeply with the cultural productions that represent exaggerated images of vulnerability at the border, particularly by examining documentaries in outlets like animal planet and the discovery channel, where the matter of border security must be understood in the context of the natural dangers that border patrol officers must face to perform their task. similarly, chapter four focuses on more pointed examples, particularly reality tv shows like border wars and its multinational iterations, including the u.s., canada, and new zealand versions. fojas identifies the anxiety felt in the global north about the fading border with the global south and traces this affective policymaking through cultural productions that create a need for increased border surveillance. this chapter demystifies the ways in which ideas of borderveillance become widespread even far away from the borderlands. although the book centers the us-mexico border, fojas contextualizes border security along global lines, and chapter four in particular, demystifies the ways in which ideas of borderveillance become widespread even far away from the borderlands. having grown up at the border, i deeply appreciate fojas’ attention to borderlands residents and the particular kind of border consciousness that surveillance creates. each chapter balances discussion of surveillance technology with the different ways in which borderlands residents subvert these technologies: through short and feature-length films that bring out the dystopic elements of the borderlands, as well as the use of technologies of seeing—such as drones—to locate and aid migrants crossing through the most dangerous parts of the border. fojas never loses sight of the people and communities affected by such surveillance; indeed, fojas gestures toward the liberatory possibilities embedded in such border consciousness, one which sees the border as a space of passing rather than following “the restrictive and exclusionary logic based in neoliberal forms of racial capitalism” (p. 150). in the concluding chapter of the book, fojas gestures toward the different “border futures” available when divesting from visual data as a means of imperialist control and shifting our consideration of the border as a space of passing rather than a space of limitation and boundedness (p. 156). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 147 border optics the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39210 this book will be of interest to scholars of the us-mexico border in general, as it provides a valuable trajectory regarding the evolution of surveillance policy. scholars of borders more broadly will also find information about how the us-mexico border works as “both laboratory and archive” to experiment with border surveillance between the global north and the global south (p. 8). media scholars might find value in the way fojas traces the evolution of visual technologies in relation to the apparatus of state surveillance. this engagement with multimedia technologies of seeing, cultural productions, and policy change provides a model for scholars seeking to contextualize public attitudes toward migration and the continual crafting of the borderlands as a zone of national vulnerability. border optics is an excellent companion to recent publications on borderlands histories from below, including but not limited to harsha walia's border and rule and monica muñoz martinez's the injustice never leaves you—both of which are referenced in fojas’ work. like walia and muñoz martinez, fojas engages with the strategies and counternarratives that emerge from below these systems of oppression. camilla fojas’ book provides an excellent framework with which to think about the trajectory of border policy in the last thirty years—one that should inspire us to move beyond visual surveillance, deterrence, and bordered worlds. sophia martinez-abbud (snm7@rice.edu) grew up along the us-mexico border and has always been affected by surveillance technologies. she is a ph.d. candidate in the department of english at rice university. she specializes in chicanx literature, history, and culture and is interested in narratives and genres of anti-colonial resistance throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. sophia’s dissertation examines the ways in which chicanx and latinx communities make use of punk—as a genre, an effect, and a praxis—to perform sociocultural resistance against systems of oppression through literature and other multimedia outlets of cultural and political commentary. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:snm7@rice.edu book review: humanizing lis education the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36307 ijidi: book review dali, k., & caidi, n. (eds.). (2021). humanizing lis education and practice: diversity and design. routledge. isbn 9780367404499. 179 pp. $44.95 us – paperback. reviewer: vanessa irvin, university of hawaii – manoa, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: diversity; library and information science; lis education; professional practice; research publication type: book review umanizing lis education and practice is an engaging collection of 10 chapters that demonstrate ways in which the diversity by design (dbd) concept has been enacted by library and information science (lis) scholars and practitioners, theoretically, and in the field. originally conceived by editors keren dali and nadia caidi, the dbd concept was originally articulated in their 2017 article, “diversity by design”. the editors begin this book by republishing that article as a conceptual framework to contextualize the nine chapters that follow. the text is organized into three parts: diversity by design (chapters 1 and 2), dbd in lis education (chapters 3-6), and dbd in lis practice (chapters 7-10) as an assemblage of “case studies, practice models, and successful application [of the dbd approach] in lis higher education and professional practice” (p. 6). dali and caidi state that the primary audiences for the book are lis educators, graduate students, and practitioners, worldwide. indeed, authors included in the tome are a balanced representation of the lis field with 10 authors hailing from lis education (including two who are practitioner doctoral students) and nine authors who are active practitioners in the lis field. the authors’ research foci derive from diverse interests: indigenous library services, assistive technologies in libraries, diversity initiatives for lis professional development, lis publishing, and accessibility and usability in the lis classroom, within academic, public, and community-based library settings. contributors hail from south africa, canada, and the united states, offering perspectives on diversity from african, canadian (including indigenous), and american lenses. each chapter presents footnotes and a reference list at its end. the purpose of humanizing lis education and practice is to demonstrate and promote the diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) concept as more than a discursive idea or trendy best practice, but rather, as an intentional, meaningful, systematic approach for librarians and information professionals living as citizens of a multi-cultured, social world. to that end, dali and caidi posit in their introduction that diversity needs to be embedded within lis on all levels and within all layers, by design. “by design” denotes intentionality and mindful intersectionality. to punctuate the point, dali and caidi author part i of the book to explain their conceptualization and application of their concept of diversity by design. in chapter 1, the editors outline the six elements of dbd for lis education, summarized concisely, as follows: h https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index humanizing lis education and practice the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36307 1) lis instructor awareness of the need for diversity as a fundamental aspect of their pedagogical framework and methodologies, 2) lis faculty and administrative support for a core diversity course as part of the lis curriculum, 3) lis student awareness, interest, and willingness to connect with diverse people and communities, 4) learning-oriented partnerships with community stakeholders that are representative of diverse constituencies, 5) a vast array of educational resources and platforms “that facilitate diverse learning styles,” and, 6) “the diversity mindset,” which is an articulation and actualization of diversity as a way of life based on a “deep conviction that diversity is not an option: it is integral to social structure, daily interactions, learning environments, professional settings, and human relationships” (p. 16). due to the interdisciplinary nature of lis, dali and caidi discuss various ways that dbd could be interpreted and applied. the editors proclaim that as a profession, it is time for lis to move beyond tokenism and pithy diversity and inclusion statements and policies, to bring the diversity conversation “to the next level” (p. 21) by embracing the diversity we all inherently possess individually, communally, and collectively as a human family, and as information professionals. they state that only when lis fully appreciates diversity as a naturally present aspect of the discipline and field, and of everyday life, will diversity by design become a model fully realized. in chapter 2, the editors decree a clarion call for dbd by presenting detailed research outcomes on a study they performed in 2014, where 119 lis students responded to a survey dali and caidi distributed to the 57 north american lis programs accredited by the american library association (ala). the data, presented in the voices of the respondents, offer an unapologetic appeal for all lis theoreticians and practitioners to take intentional accountability for exploring the complexities of ways in which we claim and incorporate (or not) our own identity constructions, pedagogical objectives, and practice-focused raison d’être towards ourselves, one another, and the cohorts, communities, and constituencies in which we serve. authors kim m. thompson and clayton a. copeland assert in chapter 3 that lis educators can consistently embrace dbd as they describe their model for inclusive course design which incorporates four principles: andragogy, content, communication, and assessment. the authors discuss and provide concrete examples of how lis educators can design their courses to incorporate diversity within each of these realms. in chapter 4, clara chu and jaya raju state the case that diversity needs to be included in lis education, by design, in every lis program, globally. the authors share their research where they performed textual analysis of the websites of lis schools in africa to argue that diversity is not just a band-aid fix for lis education, but more urgently, it is an emic aspect of lis that must be realized, honored, and lived, starting with inclusive pedagogical approaches in the lis classroom, transparent diversity prioritizing of lis professional associations, coupled with identity-construction of lis faculty, everywhere. diane dechief contributes chapter 5 where she shares her research into how lis faculty can apply 140 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index humanizing lis education and practice the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36307 dbd on names and naming practices by facilitating in-class activities that engage students to call-name-claim themselves as they want to be identified. dechief emphasizes that such pedagogical intentions are ever-evolving, always in need of adjustment because such a “diversity mindset” is vital to “enhance class activities with the goals of improving students’ experiences in the classroom and increasing their opportunities to engage with strategies that diminish social inequities and microaggressions” (p. 103). as such, dbd empowers students because “it creates opportunities for students to informally teach peers and instructors” (p. 103). in chapter 6, bharat mehra offers a critical examination of dbd challenges within the tenure process of lis academia. this chapter incisively analyzes how the tenure and promotion process in north american lis academia is toxically intertwined with the political landscape of lis scholarly publishing practices. mehra calls to task the “white-ist (white + elitist)” (p. 105) foundations of lis academia and shares his experience of applying dbd to his tenure and promotion process as a holistic approach to challenging the linear perceptions of the teachingresearch-service model within the white-ist lis academia paradigm. chapter 7 opens up part iii of the book, which focuses on lis practice. laurie davidson, kimberly johnson, and daniella levy-pinto provide an intriguing contribution in chapter 7 where they explore print accessibility issues within public librarianship where “[a]ccessibility … entails the identification and removal of barriers, be they physical, technological, procedural, attitudinal, or environmental, which inhibit people’s participation in activities or in daily life” (p. 125). conveyed from a canadian context, davidson, johnson, and levy-pinto’s story about their work with their country’s national network for equitable library service (nnels) disrupts traditional notions of accessibility services in libraries. for example, the authors share how the nnels creates textual content on-demand for patrons with print disabilities, rejecting the model of outsourcing library accessibility services (which perpetuates inequitable access to information). nnels’s approach and practice illustrates how print accessibility becomes an equitable aspect of library service akin to the benefits of interlibrary loan as an information service amenity. in chapter 8, academic librarian norda bell declares that challenges in lis professional conference planning are due to two problematic approaches: “diversity as ‘add-on’” and “diversity as ‘separate, but equal’”. by examining diverse people’s challenging online engagements with lis conference websites, bell cites benefits and limitations of conference approaches to diversity, equity, and inclusion. bell then applies the dbd model to reframe lis conference planning so that “conference committees can work towards cultivating a diversity mindset” (p. 140) where planners reconsider their understandings to view dei in all its dimensions, “not solely around representation from poc [people of color]” (p. 141). bell calls for an intentional approach to conference planning that is inclusive, rather than performative. localized within a south african context, chapter 9 looks at the role of the academic library as an equitable and inclusive publisher of african research. authors reggie raju, jill claassen, and lena nyahodza contend that the library “as a publishing service is presented as one of the drivers in the disruption of the traditional publishing landscape” (p. 151). they present the university of cape town (uct) libraries system as a case study to demonstrate the rapid growth of uct libraries as a publisher of peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed journals, monographs, and textbooks. since 2015, uct libraries has been a library publisher having “contributed to publishing african scholarship using denorthernization [i.e., non-western/euro-centric] guidelines” (p. 154) as a relevant demonstration of actualizing diversity by design. 141 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index humanizing lis education and practice the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36307 in the last chapter of the book, chapter 10, authors sharon farnel, anne carr-wiggin, kayla larson, and kathleen de long provide an overview of the ways in which the university of alberta library in canada follow an inclusive framework within their strategic plan and actions via various initiatives that are responsive to and inclusive of first nations, métis, and inuit campus community members. citing successes and critically exploring the challenges of staff development and student-oriented initiatives, the authors ask an important question: “is decolonization by design truly possible within a colonial setting, or is one simply engaged in retrofitting, placing a veneer of decolonization over a structure that can never be anything but colonial?” (p. 169). the strength of humanizing lis education and practice is the inclusivity of a diverse group of authors, worldwide, who are lis scholars and practitioners committed to inclusive work in emically diverse libraries and communities. this inclusivity is also evident in the structure of the book: it is refreshing to see the contributor list at the beginning of the book rather than at the end of the book. this presentation allows readers to immediately connect with the authors as a collective group speaking in one voice. each chapter is a strong contribution to the field independently, which makes for an overall robust collection on the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion in library and information education and services. one weakness of the book is that while chapter 10 ends with an excellent, monumental question, the question begs to be picked up and discussed across the breadth of all the research and voicedness illustrated throughout the text. as a reader, i turned the page truly anticipating an editors-authored concluding chapter that would cite the text throughout its entirety as evidence to firmly (re)state the case for the urgency and efficacy of diversity by design. such a chapter would not be a reiteration of the introduction, but instead, a discussion where commonalities within the stories told throughout the chapters would be highlighted to signify the six elements of the diversity by design method. notwithstanding this one item on my reader response wish list for this volume, i highly recommend dali and caidi’s book to all lis researchers who are invested in research and practice that propels a progressive conversation on applied diversity theory and practice within the lis profession, throughout the world. references dali, k., & caidi, n. (2017). diversity by design. the library quarterly, 87(2), 88-98. dr. vanessa irvin (irvinv@hawaii.edu) is an associate professor with the library and information science program at the university of hawai'i-mānoa. she received her master’s in library and information science from clarion university of pa and her edd in reading/writing/literacy from the university of pennsylvania. dr. irvin’s primary areas of expertise include reference services, public librarianship, genealogical information sources, and librarian professional development. dr. irvin is particularly interested in studying the evolution of librarian professional practices with reference services under the influence of emerging technologies, and she has published actively and led multiple research projects in this area. she currently serves as editor-in-chief of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi). 142 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:irvinv@hawaii.edu references developing reading access: study of the liberal feminist movement of aisyiyah in east java the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 developing reading access: study of the liberal feminist movement of aisyiyah in east java tri soesantari, universitas airlangga, indonesia fitri mutia, universitas airlangga, indonesia yunus abdul halim, universitas airlangga, indonesia adam syarief thamrin, universitas airlangga, indonesia abstract the awakening of women has been felt through movements and forms of struggle for hundreds of years, and this awakening has given birth to many influential women in the world. in indonesia, many women's movements face various dynamic and persistent struggles to acquire an education. one association addressing these struggles is aisyiyah, headquartered in east java. aisyiyah is a grassroots organization that aims to lessen the inequality experienced by women, especially in the areas of education and literacy. this study used a qualitative research method with a descriptive approach to focus on how aisyiyah women navigate their educational journeys to build and provide access to reading for women in east java so that aisyiyah women are fortified to participate in modern life. the location of this research was in east java, indonesia, namely the areas of sidoarjo regency, malang city, and banyuwangi regency, with a total of 30 respondents consisting of aisyiyah leaders and members. the results represent the collaborative efforts of aisyiyah and the larger indonesian community in increasing public awareness of the importance of women’s education and literacy. keywords: east java; feminism; information access; reading practices; women’s movement publication type: research article introduction omen's awakening emerged after centuries of struggle and the formation of various women’s movements. women's movements do not stop at mere discourse and theory; concrete forms of their struggles are dynamic and consistent. there are many influential women worldwide, such as megawati soekarnoputri (former president of the republic of indonesia), gloria macapagal-arroyo (former president of the philippines) and queen elizabeth ii (former queen of the united kingdom and longest reigning monarch in british history). the emergence of female leaders on a global scale verifies that the conservative and traditional tendency to place women as the second person is declining. in 21st-century indonesia, women can maintain their careers and even play essential roles in the public sector. in general, women have careers in the public sector due to social, psychological, and economic demands (azizah, 2021; djamaluddin, 2018; sari, 2022; tuwu, 2018). in indonesia, many women's movements have dealt with various ongoing struggles. women in java (indonesia) in the early 20th century were forbidden from receiving education in public places and had to devote their lives to caring for their families and homes. the seclusion of women was a typical practice among javanese families when aisyiyah was founded in 1917. w https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 developing reading access the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 2 ahmad dahlan (1868–1923), a well-known indonesian islamic reformer, is credited with encouraging muslim women’s participation in public life and education (mu’thi et al., 2015). in response to dahlan’s message, aisyiyah worked to improve the status of women in indonesia by championing women's education and access to public space. aisyiyah’s early efforts provided opportunities for women to receive education, especially religious education (aryanti, 2013; rinaldo, 2011). aisyiyah is the largest religious women's organization in indonesia, with its work spanning more than a century. aisyiyah is a unit within the muhammadiyah association engaged in islam and preaching amar ma'ruf nahi munkar1, with islamic ideology from the al qur'an and as-sunnah (ozdemir, 2018). the aisyiyah organization focuses on women’s empowerment. aisyiyah's achievements in fighting for women's rights have been recorded since its founding in 1917 (aryanti, 2013; rinaldo, 2011). aisyiyah currently has 34 regional leaders (provincial), 370 regional leaders (district/city), 2,332 branch leaders (district) and 6,924 branch leaders (village) (aisyiyah east java, 2017). within two years of its founding, aisyiyah pioneered establishing the first education initiative for children in indonesia with the frobel school, currently called aisyiyah bustanul athfalor, also called kindergarten aba. during their early years, aisyiyah also promoted literacy with students learning latin and arabic, provided religious education for batik workers, and established the first women's prayer room in 1922, later replicated across indonesia and becoming a hallmark of aisyiyah. these activities initiated by aisyiyah were efforts to increase knowledge and encourage women's participation in the public sphere. to spread their ideas, aisyiyah first published an organizational magazine called suara aisyiyah in 1926, which is still being published today (aisyiyah east java, 2017). the aisyiyah movement continues to grow and work toward increasing and advancing the dignity of indonesian women. a natural result is a form of charity work in the field of education where aisyiyah is currently managing and coaching as many as 86 early learning preschools, 5,865 kindergartens, 380 madrasah diniyah2, 668 al quran educational parks, 2,920 aisyiyah teachers' associations in bustanul athfal, 399 ikatan guru aisyiyah teachers’ associations (iga), ten special schools, 14 elementary schools, five junior high schools, ten islamic junior high schools (madrasah tsanawiyah3), eight high schools, two vocational schools, islamic senior high schools (madrasah aliyah4), five female boarding schools, and 28 knowledge and employability education centers. currently, aisyiyah is also trusted by the indonesian government to organize hundreds of early childhood education centers throughout the country. as for higher education, aisyiyah has three tertiary institutions: two sekolah tinggi ilmu kesehatan (institutes of health sciences) (stikes), three akademi kebidanan (midwifery academies) (akbids), and two akademi keperawatan (nursing academies) (akpers) throughout indonesia (aisyiyah east java, 2017). in their study entitled the world’s most literate nations, miller and mckenna (2016) report that out of 61 reading-interest countries, indonesia is in 60th place, indicating that the level of interest in reading in indonesia is low. in miller and mckenna’s (2016) study, indonesia is ranked below thailand and slightly above botswana. according to a study by unesco, only one out of every 10,000 indonesians is interested in reading, equal to 0.1 percent (sartono et al., 2022; psaki et al., 2022). the badan pusat statistik’s (bps: statistics indonesia) data for 1999 showed that among indonesians in the age group 20-44 years, male illiteracy was four per 100 people, while women's illiteracy for the same age group was nine per 100 people, indicating that the education gap between men and women that have been around for hundreds of years, still exists (central https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 developing reading access the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 3 bureau of statistics, 2021). although many bookstores are scattered in various corners of cities, in shopping centers and public facilities, the government has also embedded reading facilities within residential communities, such as community reading parks (nura’ini, 2013; yanti et al., 2020; sartono et al., 2022). on the central bureau of statistics website, the education gap in the east java region of banyuwangi is recorded as only 26% of women have completed elementary school, and around 35% of women have completed their education through primary school. these statistics show that over 50% of banyuwangi women have completed elementary school. in 2020, the average number of citizens who completed primary schooling in banyuwangi regency was 7.16 percent. this figure is still below the average length of primary schooling in east java province at 7.30 percent. the number of banyuwangi residents needing to upgrade their educational status to the high school level is approximately 660,000 (central bureau of statistics banyuwangi, 2020). the same thing happened in the sidoarjo area; based on data obtained from the sidoarjo government, the highest level of education for most women in sidoarjo was a high school education (central bureau of sidoarjo, 2018). in contrast to women's education in banyuwangi regency, the central bureau of statistics (2020) recorded that in neighboring malang regency, women's participation in education is nearly equal to that of men. the results indicate that women’s aps is higher than men’s at the elementary and junior high school levels. meanwhile, education at the senior high school level indicates that the male enrollment rate is higher than that of the female school enrollment rate. based on the data above, these problems can be addressed by coordinating and increasing access to reading resources for women. the main concerns for aisyiyah are education, literacy, reading interest, and other related issues, which aim for women to gain a broad understanding and knowledge of life skills without giving up their household responsibilities as wives and mothers for their families and children. in this vein, aisyiyah’s work is aligned with the basic principles of feminism, including the abolition of slavery and the attainment of women's rights in indonesia, especially the right to participate in and obtain an education that is equal to men (alonso-sanz & ramon, 2022; soesantari & isvandiari, 2017; stieber, 2022). this study focuses on how women in aisyiyah develop and provide access to reading for women in select locations in east java province. this research was conducted from a perspective of empowerment to document how indonesian women receive the necessary education to enhance their knowledge and literacy practices so they can have agency as women who are actively engaged in modern life. to achieve these goals, aisyiyah employs various methods, such as publishing a monthly magazine to foster a culture of literacy among aisyiyah members at every level, conducting regular meetings that build relationships and encourage insight, knowledge, and interest in literacy practices such as reading, that support women's issues. the study aimed to offer voicedness for aisyiyah women in east java by documenting their reading interests and how those interests help women carry out their daily activities in sidoarjo, malang, and banyuwangi. these areas were chosen because aisyiyah in these three regions actively implemented literacy programs for cadres (local volunteer groups), aisyiyah members, and the general public. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 developing reading access the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 4 figure 1. sidoarjo, malang, and banyuwangi theoretical framework liberal feminism mary wollstonecraft first described liberal feminism in her book, a vindication of the rights of women, published in 1792. wollstonecraft promotes women's participation in decision-making and self-governing policymaking. liberal feminism demands equal rights and opportunities for men and women (lubis, 2006). such rights are attainable through education (soesantari & isvandiari, 2017). wollstonecraft’s wisdom from centuries ago guides us to understand that highly educated women do not need to be economically independent to be civically active, nor must they be politically active to be economically independent. the liberal feminism movement, apart from promoting equality of civic opportunity or economic opportunities between men and women, also emphasizes the start of equality between men and women in education (tong, 2009). education is a determining factor for women so that they can educate themselves to have the same skills, abilities, and competencies as men and to be empowered to participate in community life so that the agency of women is not underestimated (fitriani & neviyarni, 2022; novianti et al., 2022; rahmah, 2022). this study's liberal feminist framework discusses how women meet their information needs and how efforts to empower women, especially women who are members of aisyiyah in east java, build access to reading so that they develop insights and knowledge to improve their economy and welfare. the movements and struggles of the women in this study aim to get equality in obtaining education, gaining access to reading, and increasing their culture of interest in reading. they deserve equal treatment to men. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 developing reading access the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 5 information society yoneji masuda, a pioneer of computerization in japan, predicted the emergence of an information society in his seminal book, the information society as post-industrial society (1981). masuda also maintains that in an information society, there is a transition where the output of information values controls the development of society (masuda, 1990). the information science and social science fields have taken up his position that the transformation of society brings human intellectual creativity into rapid growth rather than using abundant material (lovejoy & saxton, 2012; mansell, 2009; webster, 2014). daniel bell (1973; 1999) used the term post-industrial society, a shift in the production of goods to a system of knowledge, insight, and innovation in services or services as a strategy and source of transformation in society. analytically, bell delineates society into three realms where technology and economics are intertwined: pre-industrial, industrial, and post-industrial. a preindustrial society focuses on machines as central to the economy, whereas an industrial society focuses on an intellectual economy. bell posits that a post-industrial society combines preindustrial and industrial to center information as a technology, thus making information a commodity (1999, p. xxx). post-industrial society combines the technologist and the economist (vidickiene, 2017). society in the post-industrial era is supported by information technology. according to castells (2010), what is referred to as the information society is a network society that emphasizes the role of information as a commodity. castells argues that there is a new space based on the characteristics of mainstream cultural activity. it is a type of community network, namely flow space, where information exchange activities are carried out through streams (castells, 2010). martin (1995) also pointed out that the information society is a situation in which quality of life, the spread of social change, and economic development depend on the flow of information and its usefulness (ryo, 2020; silva et al., 2017; wu & hu, 2018). in the case of the aisyiyah organization in east java, especially in banyuwangi, malang, and sidoarjo, one consideration is understanding how information becomes a flowing commodity to develop the quality of life of aisyiyah women. asisyiyah creates an information stream via various programs that empower women through access to reading. each of the initiated programs aims to improve education, literacy, and religion in the economy of aisyiyah women. method this research uses a qualitative research method with a descriptive approach. the descriptive approach describes aisyiyah women’s movement in east java. this research was conducted in three east java regions: sidoarjo regency, malang city, and banyuwangi regency. these areas were chosen because aisyiyah in these three regions actively implemented literacy programs for cadres (local volunteer groups), aisyiyah members, and the public. this study included a total of 30 participants, with ten respondents coming from each of the three regions, including the head of the aisyiyah east java, the head of the aisyiyah education board east java, the head of arts and culture aisyiyah east java, the head of the charity agency aisyiyah east java, the cadres of aisyiyah east java, the editorial team of the monthly magazine aisyiyah jawa timur “walida,” and the teachers' association of aisyiyah east java. this study collected data through interviews, which were carried out systematically with guidelines that had been made and based on the research objectives: to learn how aisyiyah women develop literacy practices to provide access to reading for women's empowerment. data collection was also carried out through observations to support the research results. observations https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 developing reading access the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 6 were done to gather information on how aisyiyah women in east java navigated their environment to build resources and organize their access. observations were made by visiting several aisyiyah reading centers in each region studied: sioarjo, malang, and banyuwangi. data analysis involved reducing data into a summary by selecting primary data, focusing on critical elements, and categorizing the data. data display was then performed by presenting data as brief narrative descriptions. this was done to make it easier for researchers to analyze and understand the results. finally, conclusions were drawn and verified. meaning-making at this stage was influenced by the extent of the researchers’ understanding and interpretation. the interviews and observations conducted in the three regions, aisyiyah sidoarjo, malang, and banyuwangi, were analyzed systematically, carefully, and accurately (sugiyono, 2020). results and discussion overview of women's education in east java awareness of the importance of education has made women improve their social skills in east java. the development of women's education in indonesia, especially in east java, has increased yearly. the development of women’s education can be seen from the percentage of east java's gender development index (ipg), which shows an increase in the level of ipg from year to year. in 2015, ipg reached 91.67 percent (central bureau of statistics, 2021). this percentage shows how the education level of women in east java has increased, as has their awareness of its importance. education that supports women will provide women with opportunities to help the surrounding community and assist in solving societal problems. additionally, higher education influences women's knowledge about personal problems and social issues so that they can contribute to solving problems with their knowledge (novianti et al., 2022; yanti et al., 2020). east java statistical data showed that the gender empowerment index in 2021 reached 72.36 percent (central bureau of statistics, 2021). based on the data, more than half of the women from the female population in east java have succeeded in establishing themselves as professionals and involving themselves in society. education at aisyiyah is considered exceptionally qualified. aisyiyah is an institution engaged in da'wah5 and community development. aisyiyah women have their role in developing da'wah in society and community life. the actions of these women cannot be separated from their level of education. based on the results of the interviews conducted in this study, it is known that the education level of aisyiyah women in sidoarjo, malang, and banyuwangi is high, which shows that almost all women who have important positions and roles in aisyiyah have a bachelor's-level degree, both strata 1 to strata 2.6 through this data, women who take essential roles in the organization are also aware of the importance of education so that women are not looked down upon compared to men. the idea of equality in perception between the sexes follows wollstonecraft’s concept, which encourages women to participate in autonomous decisionmaking and policy-making. this improved perception can be achieved through education (soesantari & isvandiari, 2017). the concern of women in banyuwangi, malang, and sidoarjo has made aisyiyah women move and participate in elevating women's education which tends to be lacking in east java society. the education level of these women is related to the availability and access to reading. research has shown that one factor that influences a person's knowledge is their education (christian-smith & kellor, 2021; kim, 2021). aisyiyah has implemented many programs to improve women's education in east java, which still needs improvement. these educational programs aim to improve the quality of aisyiyah's https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 developing reading access the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 7 educational practices as a strategy for forming whole, knowledgeable, integral human beings. programs in the east java education sector have three sub-sectors/divisions: 1) early childhood education and family education, which covers kindergarten, family planning, the al quran education park, similar early childhood education units, and parenting; 2) general and religious education of all types and at all levels, including elementary school/islamic elementary school, junior high school/islamic junior high school, senior high school/islamic senior high school/vocational high school, special needs school, inclusive schools, islamic boarding schools, boarding schools, the al quran education park, and islamic school; and 3) community education, which includes pendidikan luar sekolah [out of school education] (pls), pendidikan non formal [non-formal education] (pnf), pusat krisis berbasis masyarakat [community-based crisis centers] (pkbm), taman bacaan masyarakat [community reading centers] (tbm), courses, equality, literacy, women's and gender empowerment education, and life skills. improvements can be seen according to the results of the interview with participant m, who stated the following: for the welfare of hr [human resources] cadre members whose education is still high school, they can get a bachelor's degree; usually, they have a bachelor's degree at the muhammadiyah university of sidoarjo, if not at the university of muhammadiyah malang. in addition to improving education both in terms of quantity and quality. (participant m, personal communication, august 16, 2018) informant m explained that aisyiyah has succeeded in bringing prosperity to hr cadres whose education is still classified as a high school level through the opportunity to continue their education to the bachelor level. m’s testimony evidences that aisyiyah successfully empowers women, especially in education. aisyiyah not only provides education to women, but they also conduct various pieces of training that improve women's reading abilities, which can be used to increase their knowledge. as conveyed by participant a, the education program follows seminars and training organized by the branch. usually, branches hold seminars and training; all teachers and principals must attend to add insight and knowledge. usually, there are the latest programs from the government, such as the curriculum 2013 branch, to keep us informed. moreover, it helps in activities and applications to our assignments. (participant a, personal communication, july 12, 2018) according to informant a, the program was beneficial in fulfilling assigned tasks and adding insight and knowledge. aisyiyah’s work emphasizes the importance of women’s education. in doing so, women are seen as rational and logical beings with the same skills, abilities, and competencies as men, thus allowing women to have a role in society so that their position, and the position of women in general, is not underestimated. women have equal rights and opportunities to advance themselves. aisyiyah's awareness and concern for the importance of women's education and knowledge lead them to take actions that can further increase women’s knowledge. based on this analysis, it can be seen how the education of aisyiyah women plays a role in their abilities to address others’ problems and provide solutions and equal opportunities to women in east java (casad et al., 2021; halliday et al., 2021). efforts by aisyiyah to build access to women's reading the aisyiyah movement7 began its focus on eradicating illiteracy for young women in 1923, published a women's magazine, suara aisyiyah, in 1926, and began educating children by establishing bustanul athfal aisyiyah kindergarten in 1973 (chandrawaty, 2021). aisyiyah's https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 developing reading access the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 8 awareness and concern for preparing women for an impending information society made aisyiyah a pioneer in providing access to reading for the community. efforts made by aisyiyah included establishing various schools from early childhood education, kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, and high school to tertiary institutions in the community. aisyiyah established libraries at various educational institutions. libraries and community reading gardens complement schools and provide students with reading access. however, the public needs information to become aware of the availability of community-based reading gardens that can be used to meet the community's information needs (castells, 2010). according to participant i, [t]here is a program...a love of science, such as creating a library corner. the strategy we instruct is to form a library in the management structure and business charity; the business charity here is an aisyiyah school or educational institution; aisyiyah educational institutions include kindergarten, early childhood education, madin, the al quran education park and so on. (participant i, personal interview, june 9, 2018) aisyiyah began their literacy movement by promoting a love of science via reading, writing, and library activities. one of the clear pieces of evidence that aisyiyah’s scientific literacy movement is still going strong is the continued publication of their suara aisyiyah magazine since its founding in 1926. suara aisyiyah exemplifies how literacy is maintained and carried out by aisyiyah. another commitment that aisyiyah has regarding science and literacy includes the introduction of literacy to children from an early age. aisyiyah carries out this commitment through early childhood education, where the central leadership cultural institute aisyiyah strives for literary engagement with fairy tales and children's stories (aisyiyah east java, 2017; central leadership aisyiyah, 2022). the efforts made by aisyiyah banyuwangi in building reading access to increase community literacy continued beyond providing libraries on a small to large scale. mobile libraries are one of aisyiyah banyuwangi’s innovations, providing an alternative for providing information to women in banyuwangi so they can more easily meet their information needs. aisyiyah malang also established mobile libraries for its community. mobile libraries are an indication of information accessible to all parts of society. communal accessibility is one of the characteristics of an information society (alsufyani & gill, 2022; nazarenko et al., 2022). according to participant a, aisyiyah malang established mobile libraries “to increase children's love of reading… one of us, from the teacher, arranged a schedule for visits. apart from that, we were also invited to the regional library. we also brought in a mobile library” (participant a, personal communication, july 12, 2018). aisyiyah banyuwangi and aisyiyah malang's mobile libraries are vital resources that build access to reading to increase community literacy. meanwhile, the efforts made by aisyiyah sidoarjo are in the form of empowering aisyiyah women there to play a role in providing access to reading materials. as explained by participant n from sidoarjo, [t]hank god, members of the aisyiyah women gave books to the library, so there were more and more of them. then when cadres leave java, or there is a bazaar event, they will come home bringing souvenirs so they will be placed in the library. (participant n, personal communication, august 16, 2018) efforts made by aisyiyah sidoarjo, malang, and banyuwangi can answer the problem of the community needing more time or opportunities to come to the library by people being able to https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 developing reading access the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 9 get the information they want and need quickly. for example, in malang, aisyiyah's goal for optimal reading access not only focuses on the struggle in the city, which is the location of aisyiyah's headquarters, but it also targets the surrounding community. it is aisyiyah's effort to provide reading material to the community widely and try to increase the knowledge of local people who receive less information than those in the city. following the focus of liberal feminism, studies have emphasized how women have equal rights in education (fitriani & neviyarni, 2022; rahmah, 2022; rinaldo, 2011). apart from that, by distributing suara ’aisyiyah, aisyiyah tries to provide knowledge to its members and the local community. the efforts made by aisyiyah through literacy programs have become evident in helping the government overcome educational inequality in indonesia, especially in east java. illiteracy eradication, better known as functional literacy, is intended for people who receive late education. statistical data in east java illustrate that many people between the ages of ten and 44 with illiterate status come from underprivileged families, representing a portion of the working-age population (central bureau of statistics, 2021). to provide opportunities to obtain education and meet the goals of the illiteracy eradication movement, aisyiyah’s functional literacy program aims to develop reading, writing, and arithmetic abilities. additionally, the program provides religious education through three learning stages: the eradication stage, the construction stage, and the preservation stage. the functional literacy program also provides diplomas that can be used administratively to qualify for work. this approach is related to the principle of liberal feminism that both women and men have equal rights to advance themselves (aryanti, 2013; nura’ini, 2013). aisyiyah's mission is based on the desire for all women to be able to read, impact their quality of life, and solve the problems they face, including their economy. aisyiyah considers the economic value obtained from education while empowering women's knowledge. aisyiyah sidoarjo, malang, and banyuwangi created programs that required aisyiyah women to work through writing. each informant explained this. according to participant l, each of our leaders requires us to subscribe to and read walidah magazines and aisyiyah's voice. apart from that, we also encourage members to write in the rubrics provided in walidah magazine so that it can be a means of expressing their ideas. (participant l, personal communication, june 9, 2018) based on these interviews, we see ways in which aisyiyah encouraged aisyiyah women to write their ideas, information, insights, and knowledge in written form, which were then recorded in suara aisyiyah. suara aisyiyah was then sold and now has economic value to its contributors. it can be seen that aisyiyah women have been successful in empowering themselves and in feeling challenged by making significant efforts to better themselves through these specific literacy practices. in this era of the information society, the commodity that sustains people's lives is information. the information society can manage information to present it in a new form and package it using technology. in this case, aisyiyah uses a computer to document women's reflections in suara aisyiyah, which becomes a commodity with economic value. an information society exists when the quality of life, the spread of social change, and economic development depend on information and its usefulness (aryanti, 2013; lovejoy & saxton, 2012; lukens-bull & woodward, 2020). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 developing reading access the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 10 the purpose of empowerment refers to the conditions or results achieved by a localized symbiotic process to enact social change. people who are empowered have the knowledge and ability to meet their physical, economic and social needs (christian-smith & kellor, 2021; nazarenko et al., 2022; yanti et al., 2020). the efforts made by aisyiyah, banyuwangi, malang, and sidoarjo reflect women’s personal empowerment and community empowerment. by providing multiple avenues of access to reading, aisyiyah has contributed to meeting the information needs of society, especially women, in the current information age. thus, empowerment through access to reading provided by aisyiyah banyuwangi, malang, and sidoarjo can help improve the ability of the overall indonesian community to meet their basic needs so that they have freedom, economically, intellectually, and civically so that the citizenry can participate in the processes and decisions that affect them (guzman et al., 2022; yanti et al., 2020). conclusion even though awareness of the importance of education is increasing yearly, the educational profile of women in east java still needs to be on par with that of men in east java. the increasing awareness of the importance of women's education has not escaped aisyiyah’s mission as womencentered. aisyiyah strives to provide supporting initiatives for women to access literacy resources that align with aisyiyah's vision and mission. aisyiyah's efforts to improve people's reading habits entail building schools starting from early childhood education programs, kindergarten, elementary school/junior high school, and senior high school/state islamic senior high school to tertiary institutions, as well as increasing access to libraries and reading materials through community reading parks or reading corners. aisyiyah also provides magazines and maintains the sustainability of the magazines so that access to reading is given to the community. this supports the community as they face the flood of information from the current information age and developing information technology. apart from efforts to provide access to reading, aisyiyah also seeks to improve women's education and knowledge. these efforts are carried out by improving reading skills and other abilities. aisyiyah's goal is for women to get their education and understand their rights. by advancing women's education, women's economy will also increase. aisyiyah understands that education will be achieved if reading skills are supported through access to reading and continuous training. this goal aligns with the objectives of aisyiyah's functional literacy program to provide sustainable continuing education. endnotes 1 amar ma'ruf nahi munkar is something that is widely believed to be good and is in line with the religious values of a society, while munkar is something that is contrary to religious values. in simple terms, amar ma'ruf nahi munkar is upholding what is right and forbidding what is wrong ordering. 2 madrasah diniyah is an educational institution whose entire curriculum is islamic religious subjects, allowing students to master religious material well due to the dense and complete religious material presented in the learning process. 3 madrasah tsanawiyah is the basic level of formal education in indonesia, equivalent to junior high school. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 developing reading access the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 11 4 madrasah aliyah is a secondary education level in formal education in indonesia equivalent to senior high school. 5 da'wah is an activity that calls for, invites, and summons people to believe in and obey allah in accordance with islamic creed, morals, and law in a conscious and planned manner. the main goal of da'wah is to achieve happiness in this world and in the hereafter. 6 in the education system in indonesia, the academic pathway for higher education is divided into three strata: strata 1, which produces undergraduate graduates; 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[qualitative research methods, qualitative and r&d] alfabeta. https://cvalfabeta.com/product/metodepenelitian-kuantitatif-kualitatif-dan-rd-mpkk/ https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 https://repository.ar-raniry.ac.id/id/eprint/3595/ https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1207 http://eprints.uniska-bjm.ac.id/9225/ http://eprints.uniska-bjm.ac.id/9225/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-011-9204-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-011-9204-2 https://doi.org/10.4200/jjhg.72.04_361 http://repository.uinbanten.ac.id/8332/ https://doi.org/10.18844/cjes.v17i4.7136 https://doi.org/10.5220/0006284900460057 https://doi.org/10.21070/jkmp.v5i2.1311 https://doi.org/10.1215/07990537-9724037 https://cvalfabeta.com/product/metode-penelitian-kuantitatif-kualitatif-dan-rd-mpkk/ https://cvalfabeta.com/product/metode-penelitian-kuantitatif-kualitatif-dan-rd-mpkk/ developing reading access the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 15 tong, r. p. (2009). feminist thought: a more comprehensive introduction. colorado: westview press. tuwu, d. (2018). peran pekerja perempuan dalam memenuhi ekonomi keluarga: dari peran domestik menuju sektor public [the role of women workers in fulfilling the family economy: from domestic roles to the public sector]. al-izzah: jurnal hasil-hasil penelitian, 13(1), 63-76. https://doi.org/10.31332/ai.v13i1.872 vidickiene, d. (2017). attractiveness of rural areas for young, educated women in postindustrial society. eastern european countryside, 23(1), 171–190. https://doi.org/10.1515/eec-2017-0008 webster, f. (2014). theories of the information society (4th ed.). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315867854 wu, c., & hu, x. (2018). a study on the behavior of using intelligent television among the elderly in new urban areas. in j. zhou & g. salvendy (eds.), human aspects of it for the aged population: acceptance, communication and participation (pp. 194–205). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92034-4_15 yanti, b., mulyadi, e., wahiduddin, w., novika, r. h. n., arina, y. m. d., martani, n. s., & nawan, n. (2020). community knowledge, attitudes, and behavior towards social distancing policy as prevention transmission of covid-19 in indonesia. indonesian journal of health administration, 8, 4–14. https://ejournal.unair.ac.id/jaki/article/view/18541 tri soesantari (tri.soesantari@fisip.unair.ac.id) is a lecturer in the department of information and library in universitas airlangga. she specializes in library and information science and is active in organizations, namely psgis, which studies and publishes articles about gender, women, and children. tri soesantari is a powerful force in the workplace and uses her positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. she is also active in social activities organized by the government, especially those related to women's empowerment. areas of interest include information organization, collection development, and the field of information and gender. the courses she teaches are also in accordance with her interests and expertise. fitri mutia (fitri.mutia@fisip.unair.ac.id) is working as teaching staff for the department of information and library in universitas airlangga. fitri mutia has a research interest in library and information science. besides being a lecturer, he currently serves as secretary of the department. areas of expertise are related to information and special groups, knowledge management, and information ethics. yunus abdul halim (yunus.halim@fisip.unair.ac.id) has been working as a teaching staff in the department of information and library since 2008. currently, he is the head of the archives of universitas airlangga. he is interested in software engineering, information systems, data science, and network society. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 https://doi.org/10.31332/ai.v13i1.872 https://doi.org/10.1515/eec-2017-0008 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315867854 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92034-4_15 https://e-journal.unair.ac.id/jaki/article/view/18541 https://e-journal.unair.ac.id/jaki/article/view/18541 mailto:tri.soesantari@fisip.unair.ac.id mailto:fitri.mutia@fisip.unair.ac.id mailto:yunus.halim@fisip.unair.ac.id developing reading access the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 16 adam syarief thamrin (adamsyariefthamrin@gmail.com) is the human resources and marketing director of pt catur putra perkasa related. thamrin is an experienced researcher with a demonstrated history of working in the writing and editing industry. he is skilled in negotiation, management, budgeting, and human resources development. thamrin is a graduate and a research assistant at universitas airlangga. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39284 mailto:adamsyariefthamrin@gmail.com the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37112 copyright remix (it’s tricky): sampling to revitalize u.s. copyright law krystal kakimoto, chaminade university of honolulu, hawaii, usa abstract over the past five decades, hip hop has become a widely celebrated genre of music, yet misconceptions still exist surrounding the hip hop community’s norm of sampling. this paper explores the origins of hip hop and the concept of sampling that is central to the genre. sampling can be conceptualized as an eight-pronged framework involving three types of wholesale appropriation, three types related to lyrical quotation, and two types related to the variety of music or beats. each type is discussed, and some examples are given. following this overview, the ethics of sampling is explored via the context of the origins of copyright in the united states, which, some consider, to be a sampling of the first copyright law from great britain, the statute of anne. historic litigation against hip hop artists is also discussed, as well as how these specific cases changed the attitude of record labels and their willingness to allow their artists to sample from outside the genre. the paper culminates with a discussion on various sampling norms within various communities and how they can be viewed as potential ways to revitalize u. s. copyright law. keywords: cultural norms; derivative works; ethics of sampling; fair use; hip hop; licensing; sampling; united states copyright law publication type: research introduction: the roots of hip hop irthed from the passion and poetics of the bronx during the early 1970s, hip hop emerged in conjunction with the “first graduating class” of affirmative action policies of the 1960s (george, 1998). the genre took shape as an underground urban movement that evolved to become one of the world's most celebrated yet highly misunderstood musical genres. today, many connote hip hop with shocking lyrics, promotion of lavish lifestyles, and outrageous performances. however, the roots of hip hop humbly began as a movement of pushback against systemic subjugation and a way for the disenfranchised youth of marginalized backgrounds and low-income areas to find their voice (aldridge & steward, 2005). from house parties to an empire many associate the creation of hip hop with clive campbell, a jamaican-born dj better known by his stage name, dj kool herc. the story goes that clive’s sister, cindy campbell, was looking to raise money to buy new clothes before the start of the school year. cindy rented the firstfloor recreation room of the 100-floor apartment building that she lived in with her family in the bronx (new york, usa) and charged admission for a party. despite the food, drink, and b https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi copyright remix (it’s tricky): sampling to revitalize u.s. copyright law the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37112 43 socializing, the real draw to the party was the entertainment provided by cindy’s brother, clive, who went by the nickname herc (short for hercules as a nod to his impressive height and muscle mass). at the “back to school jam” held on august 11, 1973, at 1520 sedgwick avenue in the bronx, herc kept the crowd moving with his lively and unexpected playlist where he blended various records and experimented with audio technology while his friends shouted out the names of other friends over the music (batey, 2011). it was at this historic first hip hop event that dj herc originated the “break-beat”: [where he] developed a two-turntable technique that he called "merry go round," which put a copy of the same record on each of the turntables and switched back and fourth (sic) between them to loop the best parts of the record. in essence, herc invented the break beat, which became the foundation over which mcs would later spin their rhymes and tell their stories. (anderson, 2010, para 2) others may consider the creation of hip hop to be a ‘slow born’ movement, noting that if you visited house parties or attended neighborhood block parties in the bronx in the 1970s, you would likely be treated to entertainment that held elements of what we categorize as hip hop today (pq, 2019). disc jockeys fished through vinyl record collections stored in milk crates to select songs to play and, rather than allow dead air between tracks, they blended and scratched different records together with the use of two turntables. meanwhile, emcees (mcs) hyped the crowd with their rhymes and “capped”1 one another with playful word jousts in attempts to outdo their opponent to gain the favor of the crowd (neumann, 2000). whether mcs were boasting of their prowess or “spitting”2 commentaries on political issues of the day, the rap lyrics they delivered became an integral part of the hip hop music experience along with the concept of sampling3 from different songs. while rapping at underground parties was prevalent during the 1970s, it was not until 1979 when the fatback band released their song entitled “king tim iii (personality jock)” that hip hop began to see wider popularity (songfacts, 2022). “king tim iii”, the first official commercially released rap song, was followed a few months later with the sugarhill gang’s “rapper’s delight,” which brought even more attention to the genre due to the song’s nationwide success (songfacts, 2022). sugar hill records, the producer of “rapper’s delight,” was founded in 1979 by new jersey (u.s.)-based r&b singer sylvia robinson (greene et al., 2011). robinson’s sponsorship of “rapper’s delight” marked another milestone for hip hop with the launch of a record label specializing in hip hop music. notably, some of the most influential records in hip hop history were released by sugar hill records, creating a solid foundation for the musical genre to grow and evolve. in the decades that followed, a billion-dollar industry was built. new artists were signed, record labels launched, and a lifestyle of hip hop blossomed. worldwide, it is estimated that hip hop generates nearly $10 billion annually with the expansion from just the creation of music to clothing, jewelry, and food and beverage (watson, 2006). a deep dive into sampling lyrical in its simplest form, sampling can be thought of as using a portion from a previously recorded piece of music in a new recording (krasilovsky et al., 2003). sampling encompasses the use of a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index copyright remix (it’s tricky): sampling to revitalize u.s. copyright law the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37112 44 rhythm, melody, beat, vocals, or even spoken word. in the world of hip hop, sampling is a much more nuanced concept. anderson (2011) posits eight ways to imitate an existing work in the context of hip hop with three types relating to wholesale lyrical or musical appropriation, three types related to lyrical quoting, and two types related to musical sampling. when discussing the first type of wholesale appropriation, anderson introduces the concept of “biting” where one artist passes the lyrics of another off as their own. this is often done without consent or authorization from the original artist and is considered the most egregious type of imitation which can often ruin the career of the “biter” (anderson, 2011). the next form of appropriation concerns taking the beats of another artist and is considered the non-lyrical equivalent of biting, called “beat-jacking” (anderson, 2011). in beat-jacking, an artist will take the beats of an existing song and use it as their own without the consent or authorization of the original dj or music producer. this is seen as a lack of creativity and the laziness associated with beat-jacking leads some to think the beat-jacker lacks skill. throughout the hip hop industry, these types of imitation are looked down upon with notable artists grand master caz calling acts such as biting “pure treason” and slick rick calling those who bite “backstabbers” (anderson, 2011). the final type of appropriation is what anderson (2011) calls “ghosting”, and this is a somewhat authorized type of biting. in ghosting, the imitating artist will use expressions of another artist with consent. ghosting, while not favored but not fatal to an artist’s career, is still looked down upon since the hip hop community “has traditionally placed a premium on having the ability to write one’s own lyrics” (anderson, 2011) in an industry where authenticity is king, ghostwriting in hip hop is not as normalized as is songwriting in other genres of music. one caveat presented by anderson (2011) deals with an artist who has created lyrics but feels they would be better suited for another artist. an example of ghostwriting situation which displays intergenerational respect concerns the notorious b.i.g. and lil’ kim. american rapper kimberly denise jones, better known by her stage names lil’ kim and the queen bee, became a premier female artist associated with bad boy records. a major pull for her to become a rapper and an introduction to bad boy records was the notorious b.i.g., also known as christopher wallace, biggie smalls, or simply biggie, as a teen. wallace and jones continued a deep friendship, with wallace writing numerous songs for jones including one of her hits, “queen bitch.” the first three types of imitation listed above fall within the appropriation category and are not applauded within the hip hop community whereas the following types are more welcomed forms of imitation. the first type of quoting deals with an artist who takes the lyrics of another artist when they are battling and remixes the original lyrics to belittle their opponent (anderson, 2011). in cases such as these, an artist may take the words of others and riff off the lyrics to display lyrical agility, their creativity, or to bite their opponent using their own words against them (anderson, 2011). an example of this is born from the infamous feud between female rappers nicki minaj and cardi b. in a verse performed by minaj on david guetta’s 2014 song “hey mama”, the trinidadian-american rapper starts a verse with the words “yes i do the cooking; yes i do the cleaning” (guetta et al, 2014). minaj’s rival, cardi b, turned these lyrics around on her in the 2020 hit wap, performed with megan thee stallion, in which she raps, “i don’t cook, i don’t clean; but let me tell you, i got this ring (ayy, ayy)” (almanzar, 2020). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index copyright remix (it’s tricky): sampling to revitalize u.s. copyright law the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37112 45 however, the final case of quoting which can bring the most joy to listeners is when an artist takes the lyrics of another artist and uses the lyrics in their own song to show their respect for the original artist which can tie generations of hip hop together. an example of this is the case of jay-z who will often mention the notorious b.i.g. in his songs or even directly quote biggie to show his utmost respect for the artist and show the public that he carries biggie wherever he goes. musical the last two types of imitation relate to the use of the beats from a published song in a new song, also known as sampling. whereas some view sampling as a lazy way to take the beats of others and reuse them in a new song, others like webber (2007) point out the immense creativity it takes to take an existing piece of music, rework and recontextualize the music, and create a new piece of musical expression. there are two ways to sample music. the first way involves taking the music of others whereas the second form of sampling deals with self-sampling where an artist will repurpose their previously released songs. in the 1970s, during the early years of hip hop, sampling was a more physical activity due to the analog technology of the time. djs would play two records on separate turntables blending elements from different songs to create a new musical experience. slowly, technology became available to artists allowing them to mix songs via the computer with a milestone advance being the 1970s fairlight computer musical instrument. while pulling portions of songs and reusing these portions in new songs was not the focus of the instrument at creation, artists were now able to digitize real sounds and manipulate the tone and pitch for reuse (george, 1998). within a decade, the first real technology was created whose main purpose was sampling. in 1981, e-mu systems launched their e-mu emulator which was a series of digital sampling synthesizers that utilized floppy disc storage allowing artists to store, manipulate, playback, and use any sound (george, 1998). over decades to follow, technology has grown considerably, but at its core, sampling retains the goals of building upon the creativity of artists of the past to create a new expression of music. the ethics of sampling many from outside the hip hop community hold sampling as an act infringing upon copyright and a way for artists to save time by just clipping samples from the work of others. this is because digital sampling affords artists the capacity to reproduce exactly, note-for-note, original musical recordings. as pointed out above, sampling is a much more nuanced and skillful act than just cutting and pasting. sampling is not only seen as an acceptable form of imitation in the hip hop community, but also a way to tie the past to the present. as anderson (2011) explains, there are norms in the hip hop community that artists abide by to make their samples more acceptable within the community. one norm is seeking consent from the original artist or their record label to use the sample. if a lyric sample is sought, consent is needed from the singer as well as the writer whereas if a music sample is employed, consent is sought from the composer. another norm is if the source is made identifiable, there will be more likelihood of the sample passing as “sound” versus an artist trying to pass off the work of others as their own. finally, another norm within the hip hop community relates to the finished work – if, for example, the work incorporating the sampled piece of music was enhancing both the new and existing work, there would be a higher likelihood of acceptance. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index copyright remix (it’s tricky): sampling to revitalize u.s. copyright law the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37112 46 while some may see sampling as a lazy way to save time or money, the art of sampling is a much more creative process resulting in densely layered collages where, at times, the original work is hardly recognizable to the untrained ear (mcleod, 2010). ethically, the proper use of sampling is seen as a fair and just way to create new music. a brief introduction to copyright copyright can be thought of as an invisible bundle of rights that copyright holders possess. with music, the five exclusive rights owners possess include the right to reproduce their work, the right to create a derivative work from their original work, the right to distribute their original work, the right to perform their work, and the right to publicly display their work. notice in previous sentences i chose the word “copyright owner” rather than an artist and that is because an artist may choose to transfer their ownership and copyright of their work to someone else. to do so, an artist would need to create and sign a document transferring their rights4 and record this in a copyright office (krasilovsky et al., 2003). if someone were wishing to obtain the copyright of a song to perhaps perform or sample from, they would need to gain multiple clearances including the rights from both the composer as well as the performer, but an interesting loophole in u.s. copyright law states that if someone were to cover a song – word for word and note for note – obtaining copyright clearance would not be required (webber, 2007). an interesting way to envision u.s. copyright law is by thinking of it as a sample of a law created in great britain. the statute of anne, also known as the copyright act of 1710, was an act passed by the parliament of great britain aimed to reduce the monopoly publishers possessed and eliminate perpetual copyright (webber, 2007). simply put, prior to the act, publishers, not authors, owned the copyright to manuscripts and decided where and in what quantity items were published without ever having to gain consent from authors. after the act was passed, authors were required to deposit a copy of their book and then retained exclusive rights over their book regarding copying and printing. according to copyright authors such as deazley (2006), the statute of anne was the first statute in the world to provide copyright to authors. in the u.s., copyright law can trace its inspiration to the statute of anne. the first u.s. federal copyright law came into effect in 1790 and encourages learning by granting authors exclusive rights over the printing, reprinting, publishing, and vending of their maps, charts, and books. in this first round of copyright law, musical compositions were not included. music was not covered until the copyright act of 1831 and previously, musical compositions were registered under copyright law as “books” (patry, 2000). it was not until the addition of section 101 of the u.s. copyright act of 1972 when “sound recording” was added to the umbrella of copyright protection. before 1972, no u.s. copyright law made it illegal to duplicate master recordings (webber, 2007). originally, all sounds created prior to the act were in the public domain but the u.s. copyright office has since brought all pre-1972 sound recordings under copyright protection under state law until february 15, 2067, (united states copyright office, 2011) despite sampling being ethically permissible within the hip hop community, the constraints of the law hold sampling as an infringement of copyright law. copyright and the hip hop community bringing forth actions of infringement is not always an easy task. there are no set structures within which to compare songs against; there is no pre-established number of words or set https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index copyright remix (it’s tricky): sampling to revitalize u.s. copyright law the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37112 47 number of seconds of sampling which would be considered copyright infringement. in some cases, courts rule against imitators using the “one-drop rule” where, if even the tiniest fragment of work by another is included in the new song, the entire work is considered legally tainted no matter how much the existing piece had been transformed or recontextualized (mcleod, 2010). since sampling is such an integral part of hip hop and has been acted upon innumerous times, one would assume that obtaining the copyright would include a simple set of steps, but it can be cumbersome. firstly, artists or record labels are not required to grant copyright clearance, meaning some requests are ignored or disregarded. secondly, as mentioned above, there can be more than one license to obtain when reusing musical compositions which means there are more steps to clear copyright – one for the musical composition and one for the sound recording. finally, since there is no scale of pay required with copyright requests, artists and record labels can arbitrarily charge fees to allow for copyright release and this sometimes exorbitant fee can serve as a barrier to imitators (claflin, 2020). despite sampling being central to hip hop, newer record labels are less likely to want to pursue an artist wanting to sample from an existing recording for a few reasons. first, as mentioned in the paragraph above, the fees associated with obtaining the clearance to use the sample can be exorbitant. the second is a complex catch-22 of the industry. in many cases, to obtain copyright clearance, an artist must present the copyright holder with a submission featuring the sampled piece of music before the license is issued. however, this act is a copyright violation when creating the piece for submission, resulting in a sticky zone (webber, 2007). historic litigation throughout the 1970s and 1980s, not many cases were brought against artists sampling the works of others. while infractions may have occurred, it was not until 1991 that the first major case was brought against an artist. in the case of grand upright music ltd. v. warner bros. music, the southern district of new york decided that biz markie, birth name marcel theo hall, violated copyright when he sampled three words from raymond “gilbert” o’sullivan’s song “alone again (naturally)” on his song entitled “alone again”. the judge ruled that the defendant knowingly violated the plaintiff’s rights with “callous disregard for the law” and forwarded the case to a u.s. attorney for possible criminal prosecution (weiler et al., 2015). many felt this case struck fear in the hearts of record companies after realizing their artists may have been infringing on the copyright of artists each time sampling occurred whether it was deemed permissible within the hip hop genre or not. this case was followed by the landmark decision in the jarvis v. a & m records case. in this case from 1993, the crew sampled boyd h. jarvis’s song “the music got me” in their song titled “get dumb (free your body)”. in this instance, the court ruled that there was no case of infringement since the songs would not sound similar to a lay listener and the term “fragment literal similarity” was used (anderson, 2011). the following year, another monumental case concerning copyright was brought to court. in the case of campbell v. acuff, 2 live crew parodied roy orbison’s song “oh, pretty woman” in their own song entitled “pretty woman”. the court ruled in favor of the defendants stating fair use covered the new lyrics the group created to the tune of orbison’s song thus establishing the case of fair use if new lyrics accompany established music (sewell, 2014). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index copyright remix (it’s tricky): sampling to revitalize u.s. copyright law the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37112 48 these early cases shaped the way the record industry began to approach sampling. moving away from a handshake style agreement commonly practiced in the hip hop community, the law stepped in to rule that whether it was an agreed upon norm or not, the community norm would not stand up in court. the early 2000s gave birth to another issue regarding copyright infringement with the rise of “sample trolls”. one of the most well-known “sample troll” companies is a music publishing company called bridgeport music who launched nearly 500 cases of copyright infringement against hundreds of artists after they bought the music catalog of notable funk artists george clinton and funkadelic. clinton has argued that his copyright was never purchased but rather stolen by bridgeport music. bridgeport used their newly acquired copyrights to search for songs featuring samples of items within their catalog and pursued legal action to retroactively seek payment (sewell, 2014). musings on paradigm shift at the time of the first codification of u.s. copyright law, society had just acquired the printing press. it was not until the piano player caused musical works to be added to copyright protection; but now, with computers and technology, we reproduce, adapt, and share information differently and many argue this is a valid reason to reexamine copyright law (anderson, 2011). the various uses of sampling in the hip hop context prove to be a much-nuanced art requiring copyright attention that is equally as refined and much less a blanket statement like we have today. one way to potentially revise u.s. copyright law is by looking toward polish law which never uses the term “sampling” but rather uses the term “derivative works” created on a basis of imitation. rather than cause artists or record labels to pay exorbitant fees to secure copyright release, the author of the derivative work is only required to gain the consent of the original creator and mention the creator in their work (rychlicki & zielinski, 2009). treating sampling and copyright as a gentleperson’s agreement rather than an opportunity to make money brings the community back to the original days of hip hop where artists sought the consent of one another and, as anderson argues, so long as the work is recognizable, the imitating artist is not guilty of biting or beat-jacking (anderson, 2011). another potential revision to current us copyright law would relate to requiring original creators or copyright holders to allow sampling to occur. as mentioned earlier, there are instances where the sampling artist seeks copyright clearance but does not receive an answer. a compulsory licensing system would mitigate this time loss and heartbreak by imitators if, once a copyright owner allows the license of their work to be used, the copyright owner is compelled to allow future imitators to use their work (webber, 2007). this would erase some of the incongruity and headaches related to sampling and create a more structured system. finally, “fair use” is a term thrown around a lot when discussing sampling. fair use is a doctrine that allows “unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances” (u.s. copyright office, 2021). under section 107 of the copyright act, the purpose and nature of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount used, and the effect upon the potential market for the copyrighted work is evaluated whether use can circumvent copyright under the fair use clause (u.s. copyright office, 2021). while fair use is typically used in cases where items are used for educational purposes, when the created work is not commercial, or when the https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index copyright remix (it’s tricky): sampling to revitalize u.s. copyright law the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37112 49 amount used is so tiny that it falls within the de minimus zone, there are a few cases that back up the fair use clause for sampling. one major argument relates to visual arts. often artists are allowed to use existing art and reuse the art in their new piece without licensing if they are creating a collage. an example of this relates to the blanch v. koons copyright infringement case in which andrea blanch, owner of the copyright in silk sandals by gucci, claimed jeff koon’s use of the image was copyright infringement (u.s. copyright office, n.d.). koons used the image taken by blanch in a collage that the court held to be transformative because the defendant used the original image as a “raw material” and therefore was protected by fair use. if we reimagine sampling as a musical collage, the same would hold. you would take another artist’s “raw material” and layer it within the new work creating an audio collage. conclusion whether you are on the copyright or copyleft side of the sampling argument, one thing is sure; it is high time we rethink copyright law in the u.s. with laws created in the 1770s that benefit major record labels or copyright owners versus the original creators, copyright law has become big business. while still necessary to protect creators and incentivize new works, copyright should not be a static law, but rather something that we can change to reflect the current trends and ways it is used. a paradigm shift in the way we envision and interact with copyright law to allow for more flexibility in use and payment would benefit creators and “eliminate biting while leaving space for creative quoting and sampling” (anderson, 2011). endnotes 1 “capping” is a form of word battle, where the speaker is putting someone else down. 2 spitting is a term in the hip hop community that represents the act of rapping. also known as spittin’. 3 “sampling” is the reuse of a portion of one artist’s song as part of the composition of another artist’s song. 4 in many cases, if you write the song, create the recording on your own, pay for your studio fees, etc., you will own the recording. if there are multiple people who contributed to creating the song or the musical accompaniment, multiple people may hold copyright to the recording. often, artists will sign the rights to the masters of their songs to record labels for a set number of years per contract agreement. in return, the label will pay artists an advance. if an artist owns their masters, they can transfer ownership to another party. references aldridge, d. p., & steward, j. b. (2005). introduction: hip hop in history: past, present, and future. journal of african american history, 90(3), 190-195. https://doi.org/10.1086/jaahv90n3p190 almanzar, b., pete, m., owens, a., foye iii, j., rodriguez, f., & thrope, j. (2020). wap [recorded by cardi b featuring megan thee stallion]. atlantic. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1086/jaahv90n3p190 copyright remix (it’s tricky): sampling to revitalize u.s. copyright law the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37112 50 anderson, h. e. (2011). no bitin' allowed: a hip-hop copying paradigm for all of us. texas intellectual property law journal, 115, 115-178. anderson, k. (2010, august 11). dj kool herc invents hip-hop: wake-up video. mtv news. http://www.mtv.com/news/2579280/dj-kool-herc-invents-hip-hop/ batey, a. (2011, june 12). dj kool herc djs his first block party (his sister's birthday) at 1520 sedgwick avenue, bronx, new york. the guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/13/dj-kool-herc-block-party claflin, s. (2020). how to get away with copyright infringement: music sampling as fair use. boston university journal of science & technology law, 21(1), 101-130. dean, e., douglas, s., guetta, d., tuinfort, g., maraj, o., rexha, b., van de wall, n., & lomax, a. (2015). hey mama [recorded by david guetta featuring nicki minaj, bebe rexha, and afrojack]. listen. parlophone and atlantic. deazley, r. (2006). rethinking copyright: history, theory, language. edward elgar publishing. george, n. (1998). hip hop america. penguin books. greene, a. (2011). 2011 in memoriam. rolling stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/2011-in-memoriam-22904/donkirshner-january-17th-140242/ krasilovsky, m. w., shemel, s., & gross, j. m. (2003). this business of music: the definitive guide to the music industry. watson-guptill publications. mcleod, k. (2010). everything is connected. quarterly journal of speech, 96(4), 421-426. https://doi.org/10.1080/00335630.2010.521178 neumann, f. (2000). hip hop: origins, characteristics and creative process. the world of music, 51-63. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41699313 patry, w. f. (2000). copyright law and practice. digital law online. http://digital-law-online.info/patry/patry5.html pq, r. (2019). hip hop history: from the streets to the mainstream. icon collective. https://iconcollective.edu/hip-hop-history/ rychlicki, t., & zielinski, a. (2009, november). is sampling always copyright infringement? wipo magazine. https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2009/06/article_0007.html sewell, a. (2014). how copyright affected the musical style and critical reception of samplebased hip-hop. journal of popular music science, 26(2-3), 295-320. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpms.12078 songfacts. (2022). king tim iii (personality jock) by the fatback band. songfacts. https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-fatback-band/king-tim-iii-personality-jock https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.mtv.com/news/2579280/dj-kool-herc-invents-hip-hop/ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/13/dj-kool-herc-block-party https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/2011-in-memoriam-22904/don-kirshner-january-17th-140242/ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/2011-in-memoriam-22904/don-kirshner-january-17th-140242/ https://doi.org/10.1080/00335630.2010.521178 https://www.jstor.org/stable/41699313 http://digital-law-online.info/patry/patry5.html https://iconcollective.edu/hip-hop-history/ https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2009/06/article_0007.html http://doi.org/10.1111/jpms.12078 https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-fatback-band/king-tim-iii-personality-jock copyright remix (it’s tricky): sampling to revitalize u.s. copyright law the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(1/2), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i1.37112 51 u.s. copyright office. (2021, may). more information on fair use. copyright.gov. https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html u.s. copyright office. (n.d.). blanch v. koons. copyright.gov. https://www.copyright.gov/fairuse/summaries/blanch-koons-2dcir2006.pdf u.s. copyright office. (2011, december). federal copyright protection for pre-1972 sound recordings. copyright.gov. https://www.copyright.gov/docs/sound/pre-72-report.pdf watson, j. (2006, january 5). hip-hop: billion-dollar biz. abc news. https://abcnews.go.com/business/story?id=89840&page=1 webber, a. (2007). digital sampling & the legal implications of its use after bridgeport. journal of civil rights and economic development, 22(1), 373-415. weiler, p., myers, g., & berry iii., w. (2015). entertainment, media, and the law: text, cases, and problems (american casebook series). west academic publishing. krystal kakimoto (krystal.kakimoto@chaminade.edu) is an academic librarian at chaminade university of honolulu liaising to the nursing, community public health, and hawaiian-pacific disciplines. she earned her master’s in library and information science from the university of hawaiʻi at mānoa and is an mba candidate at chaminade university of honolulu. her research interests include accessibility, advocacy, and indigenous knowledges. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/summaries/blanch-koons-2dcir2006.pdf https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/summaries/blanch-koons-2dcir2006.pdf https://www.copyright.gov/docs/sound/pre-72-report.pdf https://abcnews.go.com/business/story?id=89840&page=1 mailto:krystal.kakimoto@chaminade.edu introduction: the roots of hip hop from house parties to an empire a deep dive into sampling lyrical musical the ethics of sampling a brief introduction to copyright copyright and the hip hop community historic litigation musings on paradigm shift conclusion endnotes references socializing engagement: from words to action the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(1), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: errata editorial team please note that the footer of two articles published in the ijidi vol. 3, no. 2 "diversity & reading" erroneously reads 2018. it should read 2019 in the following publications: irvin, v. (2019). reading through the lens of diversity: responses, practices, traditions. ijidi, 3(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32590 adkins, d., bossaller, j. s., & moulaison sandy, h. (2019). exploring reader-generated language to describe multicultural literature. ijidi, 3(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v3i2.32591 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi references racialized visions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39196 “h ijidi: book review valdés, v. (ed.). (2020). racialized visions: haiti and the hispanic caribbean. state university of new york. isbn: 9781438481036 (hardcover). 292 pp.$95.00 us. isbn: 978-1438481043 (paperback). 292 pp. $24.95 us. reviewer: m. stephanie chancy, florida international university, usa book review editors: halie kerns, suny canton, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: cuba; dominican republic; haiti; hispanic caribbean; puerto rico publication type: book review ow are they categorizing latino?” i asked this question when chatting with someone about the smithsonian national museum of the american latino. the friend and colleague with whom i was speaking understood what i had left unsaid—will haiti be included when this new smithsonian museum tells latinx stories? racialized visions haiti and the hispanic caribbean, a compilation of eleven essays, makes the argument that in terms of history and cultural production, haiti is a key player in the hispanic caribbean and should be included in conversations about the region and its people. the book, as the editor vanessa k. valdés explains, “explores the cultural impact that haiti and its writers and artists have had on their counterparts in the surrounding spanish-speaking nations of cuba, the dominican republic, and puerto rico” (p. 2). valdés and the other contributors challenge the idea that people of the caribbean are separated because of differences in language and nationality. rather, they focus on emphasizing the cultural, historical, and other exchanges that have been happening among the nations and territories in the caribbean since the days of the haitian revolution. the volume also grapples with the question of how our understanding of the caribbean would change if haiti was placed as part of the center in our studies, instead of following the usual trend of placing it on the periphery. what if, instead of viewing it as an outlier and, invariably, as a disaster, scholars focused on haiti’s impact in the caribbean and in the americas? the contributors further question how haiti’s historical role as the first free black republic in the western hemisphere influences how scholars who study african-descended people in latin america and the hispanic caribbean approach and understand their subjects. heretofore haiti, haitians, and their contributions to the cultural and historical developments in the hispanic caribbean have been, as valdés puts it, overlooked, ignored or “used to signify a nightmare” (p. 16). the latter is particularly true when discussing the haitian revolution in its immediate aftermath. she and her contributors join other scholars in attributing the evident and continuing marginalization of haiti and haitians to “the rampant anti-blackness of the region…” (p. 3). racialized visions is part of the scholarly discussions that show, as myriam j.a. chancy’s foreword states, why “haiti, past and present, matters in the caribbean basin” (p. xv). chancy also argues that by talking about haiti, particularly its exclusion from caribbean conversations, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 142 racialized visions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39196 attention is brought to “issues of nationalism, colorism, ethnocentrism…” and whitening efforts in the hispanic caribbean (p. xv). these are important discussions that move the field of study forward and, indeed, expand it. racialized visions joins several other works where these conversations have begun. this literature includes myriam j.a. chancy’s from sugar to revolution: women’s visions of haiti, cuba and the dominican republic (2012). chancy’s book, which many of the contributors cite, is credited with starting to broach the argument of why haiti should be considered when the hispanic caribbean is studied. racialized visions expands on chancy’s book and the other literature by including voices from puerto rico. having puerto rican writers and thinkers in conversation with their haitian, dominican, and cuban peers may be a first, according to valdés. another important work that guides the discourse in racialized visions is michel-rolph trouillot’s silencing the past: power and the production of history (1995), which addresses silences and erasures and how these enter the historical narrative. trouillot’s influence is clear in most of the essays. similarly, several of the authors cite sybille fischer’s modernity disavowed: haiti and the cultures of slavery in the age of revolution (2004). fischer’s book is an early work that focuses on haiti’s influence on cultural production in the hispanic caribbean, specifically cuba and the dominican republic. other scholars whose work looks at the representation of haiti by its spanish neighbors include pedro l. san miguel, lucía m. suárez, emilio jorge rodríguez, and maria c. fumagalli. more generally, racialized vision is part of the scholarly dialogue centered on the black atlantic, which includes paul gilroy’s the black atlantic: modernity and double-consciousness (1993), which was one of the first to argue for a black atlantic analytical framework. within this corpus, one finds many scholars such as julius s. scott, sara johnson, philip kaisary, marlene l. daut, and grégory pierrot. racialized visions is focused on cultural production and thus, as expected, several contributions highlight literary works such as short stories, novels, and poetry. reflections on film, oratory, and histories are also included. a somewhat unexpected but welcome addition was an essay by cécile accilien entitled “haiti and the dominican republic teaching about the un/friendly neighbors of hispaniola,” which presented teaching and course design as a form of cultural production. accilien outlined her approach to teaching a class on the relationship between haiti and the dominican republic to a group of upper-level undergraduate students from different disciplines. the aim of the class was to foster critical thinking and understanding among the students by bringing in diverse guest speakers and having the class read, discuss, and analyze material written from different perspectives. the essays in racialized visions also fall into geographical categories, two focus on puerto rico, three on cuba, and six on the dominican republic. they address liberation, violence, and brutality, as well as the negative perceptions of haiti. collectively, the scholars answer the challenge of fashioning more current narratives for haiti by creating spaces and opportunities for new ways of thinking about haiti. the puerto rico pieces by vanessa k. valdés and mariana past point to the commonalities between haiti and puerto rico. this is significant since valdés indicates that “in the curricula of puerto rico,” haiti is typically erased (p. 3). past, for her part, concludes her analysis of ana lydia vega’s short story, “encancaranublado,” which features a haitian, a dominican, a cuban, a puerto rican, and a racist white character, by stating that it is a call for “caribbean racial solidarity” (p. 168). two of the three cuban contributions study works that center the haitian revolution and its influence on cuba in the eighteenth and nineteenth century and on the 1959 cuban revolution. for example, in her analysis of alejo carpentier’s the kingdom of this world, natalie marie léger states that both the haitian revolution and the 1959 cuban revolution happened under circumstances and conditions that made them unlikely. the third cuba contribution by erika v. serrato analyzes how the poetry of haitian intellectual jacques roumain influenced cuban poet jesús cos cause’s work. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 143 racialized visions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39196 most of the essays in racialized visions focus on the relationship between haiti and the dominican republic. this is not surprising since they share the island of hispaniola. all the dominican pieces discuss the border between the two nations and present it as a zone of contrasts. along the border, one finds robust trading enterprises where the residents intermingle, socialize, and cooperate with each other. as claudy delné’s essay shows, regular dominicans and haitians living on the border are more alike than different, and both equally fall victim to corrupt governments and greed. the conflict, violence, and mistrust that is also prevalent on the border is typically presented as fomented by unscrupulous politicians and their supporters. the dominican dictator, rafael trujillo (ruled 1930-1961), and the 1937 massacre of haitians in dominican border towns loom large in these pieces, as does discussing anti-haitian sentiment. carrie gibson’s analysis of the work of pro-trujillo historian, emilio rodríguez demorizi, shows how trujillo encouraged the resentment towards haitians and how he used a hierarchy of skin color to do it. darker skin, which is associated with haitians was/is viewed as bad. trujillo’s legacy is evident in the 2013 dominican constitutional tribunal decision that stripped citizenship rights from dominicans born of haitian parents living and working in the dominican republic without immigration papers. the controversial 2013 decision is mentioned in almost all the dominican compositions. taken together, the essays make a clear case as to why haiti should be included in conversations and scholarship about the hispanic caribbean. they also detail the reasons why, to date, this inclusion has not often happened. racialized visions successfully counters the tradition and belief that haiti and the hispanic caribbean are not necessarily connected and that they are different. even those addressing anti-haitian sentiment and prejudice underscore the commonalities between haiti and the hispanic caribbean. the authors also illustrate that when it comes to dealing with the hemisphere’s superpower, the u.s., it is in the caribbean nations’ best interest to work together rather than against each other. in a work such as this one, it is unavoidable that some chapters are stronger than others. one of the strongest in this book is philip kaisary’s "the haitian revolution and tomás gutiérrez alea’s la última cena (the last supper, 1976).” here the focus is on cuban cinema and kaisary’s analysis shows the connections between cuba and the haitian revolution bringing attention “to a transnational, pan-caribbean history of resistance…” (p. 115). a minor negative in some, not all, of the chapters were instances when entire non-english passages were cited without translation. to be fair, translations were provided in the endnotes but it was an interruption to go to the endnotes to see the text in english. while i understand and commend the motivation to avoid silencing the original author’s voice, providing a translation in line with the text would benefit the non-spanish/french/kreyòl reader. the latter does not detract from this book’s importance to the field. since a broad definition of cultural production appears to have been used in the essay selection process, genres that may not always be considered “cultural products” were included, making for a more interesting and inclusive book. the diversity of voices is also a strong point. the contributors represent different disciplines and areas of research, and their essays bring forth the perspectives of people of varied ethnicities, nationalities, and socio economic positions. i recommend this book as it makes a strong, persuasive, and well-supported argument for including haiti in conversations about the hispanic caribbean. as to the question with which i began this review, to the best of my knowledge, the answer has yet to be determined. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 144 racialized visions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39196 endnotes it is likely that myriam j.a. chancy and i are related, though i cannot say for sure, a situation that is not unusual among haitian families. other than a brief meeting at a conference several years ago, dr. chancy and i do not know each other. m. stephanie chancy (chancyms01@gmail.com) holds a ph.d. in history from florida international university (fiu) (usa). her research focuses on eighteenth and nineteenth-century black atlantic material culture and incorporates elements of caribbean, u.s., and european history as well as material pieces such as paintings, sculptures, and photographs. she is currently a post-doctoral associate in the history department at fiu. while completing her dissertation, dr. chancy served as the green family foundation fellow at the digital library of the caribbean. she has curated several exhibitions that highlight haitian art and history and how haitian and european art and cultural traditions intersect. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:chancyms01@gmail.com profiles in resilience: books for children and teens that center the lived experience of generational poverty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38360 ijidi: book review dorr, c. h. (2022). profiles in resilience: books for children and teens that center the lived experience of generational poverty. ala editions. isbn-13: 978-0838937884. 224 pp. $49.99 us. reviewer: ke hones, keyinfo, inc, united states book review editors: halie kerns, suny canton, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: books, children, diversity, generational poverty, teenagers publication type: book review rofiles in resilience: books for children and teens that center the lived experience of generational poverty explores a socioeconomic aspect of diversity: that of generational poverty. the book is organized in chapters that profile renowned children’s authors and american cultural and historical icons. thus, the book seeks to inform its target audience of library and information professionals (particularly school media specialists) by highlighting the biographies of children’s authors (for theoretical foundation) and featuring biographies of historical icons for children’s work (for professional practice). the foreword is penned by renowned children’s literature scholar, dr. rudine sims bishop, professor emeritus from ohio state university. considered the “mother of multicultural children’s literature” (chenoweth, 2019), dr. bishop cosigns that profiles in resilience “helps to expand the definition of diversity in children’s books by shedding light on an element of diversity that is sometimes overlooked—economic situation or income” (p. xi). in her introduction, author christina h. dorr relates her personal experiences growing up as part of a large family cycling through generational poverty. dorr references several authors who have researched and written about generational poverty. she cites the 15 characteristics of generational poverty from ruby payne’s 2005 book, a framework for understanding poverty to conceptualize that for library and information professionals, empathy “is a must for being able to provide library and educational service s that are meaningful and meet their needs” (p. xxvii). payne (2005) states “that education is the key and that several supports and skills are necessary: role models and emotional resources, support systems, discipline, instruction to improve academic achievement, and developing positive relationships with adults. this is where librarians, teachers, counselors, and other personnel who work with children and teens are crucial” (as cited in dorr, 2022, p. xxvii). in the two main sections of profiles in resilience, inspiring storytellers and inspiring stories, the twenty facets of generational poverty are explored and expanded via the biographical profiles of various children’s authors and historical figures. part one, inspiring storytellers, p https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index profiles in resilience 95 features biographical sketches of the following legendary children’s authors and illustrators: cynthia rylant, matt de la pena, christian robinson, gary paulsen, kelly yang, patricia polacco, elizabeth acevedo, rex ogle, joseph bruchac, and jason reynolds. part two, inspiring stories, profiles the lives of the following historic luminaries: sonia sotomayor, john lewis, jose hernandez, coco chanel, carlos santos, kareem abdul -jabbar, wilma mankiller, diane guerrero, homer hickam, barack obama, kamala harris, and ruth bader ginsberg. the stories of the featured authors, illustrators, and historical figures, provide authentic voices that can help build empathy in readers. the biographical chapters provide a mirror and self-affirmation for library practitioners seeking stories about generational poverty as a source of guidance and inspiration for developing diverse library collections and providing information for the communities they serve. dorr provides a compilation of narratives about the lives of authors, illustrators, and historic figures from diverse backgrounds. for example, in african american children’s illustrator christian robinson’s profile, he shares his story of how he grew up in a crowded apartment with his grandmother and several relatives. “we didn’t have a lot growing up, but i at least always had a pencil and paper. i couldn’t control the circumstances around me, but i could at least decide what i wanted on that piece of paper, what sort of world i wanted to create. … today i recognize that drawing was a way for me to create space for myself” (p. 23). award-winning children’s author and illustrator, patricia palocco, grew up in poverty and in her profile chapter, she discussed how she looked to both the real and imaginary worlds in art and nature. palocco had trouble reading as a child, when finally, one of her teachers discovered that she was dyslexic. even so, palocco was confident that she “was very smart and could cover up the fact that she couldn’t read—even though her own mother was a teacher” (p. 38). many of palocco’s books recreates stories and experiences from her childhood growing up with russian and ukrainian grandparents in a diverse community. native american children’s writer joseph bruchac grew up living with his grandparents. in his profile chapter, bruchac reflects that “it’s really important to recognize our common humanity. we feel sorry for someone because they’re not as well off as we are. but every human being has their own resources, their own strengths, their own weaknesses” (p. 61). sonia sotomayor, the first latinx u.s. supreme court justice, grew up with a strong extended family, of rich puerto rican heritage where oral storytelling was cherished. while civil rights activist and u.s. congressman, john lewis (1940-2020) shared in his profile that he had “a wonderful teacher in elementary school who told me: ‘read, my child, read,’ and i tried to read everything” (p. 83). each inspiring storyteller and inspiring profile includes titles written by and about the featured person. profiles in resilience also boasts four appendices of book lists and resources featuring several of the profiled authors and illustrators and additional stories of resilient individuals. dorr has selected a wide range of authors and illustrators, who write ab out generational poverty. although, coco chanel is an unusual choice because youth readers of today may not readily be aware of chanel’s historic impacts, aside from her contributions to the fashion industry. also, the coverage in the inspiring profiles section presented many political figures and could be more balanced in future editions with a stronger focus on sociocultural icons from diverse cultures. overall, profiles in resilience is an introduction for librarians, teachers, and communitythe international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38360 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index profiles in resilience 96 based information professionals to learn how authors, illustrators, and historical figures have led lives of resilience in response to generational poverty. while this book is a start for developing resources, for future editions, it will be important to continue to find and share stories from a wide variety of cultures (i.e., globally), immigrant/refugee voices, and perhaps, teen authors. as author and poet jason reynolds said in his profile, “children don’t need your salvation, they need you to see them, and thank them for coming to the library” (p. xxxii). it is in this spirit that librarians, educators, and community -based information professionals can make the highest use of christina h. dorr’s unique resource guide. references chenoweth, r. (2019, september 5). rudine sims bishop: ‘mother’ of multicultural children’s literature. https://ehe.osu.edu/news/listing/rudine-sims-bishop-diverse-childrens-books ke hones (kayhones@yahoo.com) worked in k-12 san francisco (usa) school libraries from 1987-2020. in 2013 she became the librarian at three san francisco county high schools: downtown continuation high school, civic center secondary school (7-12), and hilltop pregnant minors high school. she established the first libraries at civic center and hilltop. hones is a national board credentialed librarian. she has supported teachers, counselors, and librarians who are national board candidates. she has tutored new teachers taking required state credentialing tests. she writes grants to support the school libraries and also has presented several workshops on grant writing. ke presents workshops locally, at state and national libraries, teacher conferences, and internationally with the international association of school librarianship (iasl). the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38360 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://ehe.osu.edu/news/listing/rudine-sims-bishop-diverse-childrens-books mailto:kayhones@yahoo.com hopeful visions, practical actions: cultural humility in library work the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41260 ijidi: book review kostelecky, s. r., townsend, l., & hurley, d. a. (eds.). (2023). hopeful visions, practical actions: cultural humility in library work. ala editions. isbn: 978-0-8389-3830-0. 264 pp. $54.99 us. reviewer: kael moffat, saint martin’s university, usa book review editors: halie kerns, binghamton university, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: cultural humility; power; relationality; workplace diversity publication type: book review his edited collection, hopeful visions, practical actions: cultural humility in library work from sara r. kostelecky, lori townsend, and david a. hurley, invites us to delve into how we do library work, focusing not so much on the tasks but on the relationships that arise through professional practice. in the introduction, the editors assert that a “culturally humble approach...recognizes the need for partnership” that empowers library workers to shape environments and services that challenge incidental and structural power imbalances “with patience and hope” (p. xv). this 13-chapter volume is a follow-up to the editors’ 2019 paper, “cultural humility in libraries,” and their 2022 ala special report on cultural humility (hurley et al., 2019; 2022). hurley et al.’s work, notes that cultural humility can be an antidote to the problematic stance of cultural competency, which is a mid-20th century reaction to the increasingly global nature of the model that spread to other fields like medicine and nursing, social work, and education (hurley et al., 2019). while cultural competence acknowledges that one-sizefits-all solutions are inappropriate when multiple cultural contexts are involved in interactions, it runs the risk of becoming reductive, as well as of becoming a “demonstrable mastery of [finite bodies] of knowledge” that may have very little to do with the actual persons interacting with each other (tervalon & murray-garcía, 1998, p. 118). such knowledge can quickly reproduce power imbalances between dominant and marginalized communities. more recent critiques suggest the very notion of competency may be rooted in western ways of knowing that undergird white supremacy culture (beckford, 2020; grenier, 2020) and that while cultural competency training may raise awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) issues, they may not lead to active commitment of addressing inequities, which may reduce what is learned to simplistic notions that reinforce oppressive structures (lekas et al., 2020; comeaux et al., 2023). an important thread running through hopeful visions, practical actions addresses power imbalances. for example, in chapter two, twanna hodge and xan goodman explore the relationship between cultural humility and power. hodge and goodman are black women who acknowledge that cultural humility for marginalized persons and communities is a “survival mechanism” (as cited in kostelecky et al., 2023, p. 20). because libraries and library structures have traditionally shown “a distinct preference for white people, whiteness, and those who adhere to white supremacy culture” (p. 26), goodman and hodge t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hopeful visions, practical actions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41260 2 recommend that both library leaders and library workers adopt a position of cultural humility to help them examine their positionalities in library structures and broader cultural structures as a way of discovering where persons and communities may be erased or entirely dismissed. the authors speak about how they engage with cultural humility as a way to interrogate their own practice. they do this with the underlying assertion that if everyone were to engage in such reflective practices, we might start seeing and honoring each other's humanity in richer ways. in chapter three, liliana montoya and sara polkinghorne deconstruct textbook notions of approachability in reference interactions. for example, montoya and polkinghorne note that being approachable is more than a checklist of behaviors (i.e., smiling and offering a warm welcome) to manage first impressions, it is also about how patrons perceive us. concepts of approachability must acknowledge that we enter into relationships with patrons and must become attentive to their experiences and needs. montoya and polkinghorne suggest that adopting a culturally humble approach to reference services “promotes self-reflection,” “provides new ways to think about service quality and improvement,” and “encourages awareness of partial expertise,” which reminds us that our own perspectives are not the only ones that matter (pp. 42–43). hopeful visions, practical action includes a chapter from rhiannon sorrell, a diné tribal college librarian, who recounts how she needed to relearn tribal concepts of humility and how to unself herself after being away from the community for a time. in re-rooting her practice in relationship and humility, she notes that interactions “almost always ended with gratitude, a plan for moving forward, and a stronger sense of community” (p. 119). the underlying lesson here is that as we come to see each other as related, we may develop a more substantial commitment to serve each other in more open and authentic ways. in chapter 11, emmons’ chapter carries hodge and goodman’s positionality about inequities in power dynamics. emmons notes that humility and servitude are conflated in many mainstream conceptions of power. this error is especially problematic when we consider how humility has been weaponized against women, persons of color, and other marginalized groups. thus, using the language of humility runs the risk of evoking these old and deeply established cultural scripts. as a possible way through this minefield, emmons encourages us to think differently about power. he observes that “power, at its most basic, is the capacity to influence” (p. 159). furthermore, the most enduring and meaningful conceptions of power emerge not from position or the ability to coerce and reward, but from “relationships with collaborators” (p. 160). leaders who embody humility keep their “own interests, talents, and achievements” in perspective with the overall mission and progress of the group (p. 157). in chapter 12, nicholae cline and jorge r. lópez-mcknight posit that cultural humility is a “theory of change” that puts relationality at the center of our labors (p. 181). the hopeful vision offered in kostelecky, townsend, and hurley’s collection stems from a more humanizing approach that centers on “authentic and long-lasting relationships” (p. 190). naghem swade and daniyom “dani” bekele, the co-authors of the final chapter, remind us to be patient with ourselves because humility is a long journey, and we will make mistakes, but it can bring consolation, if not joy, because it is about “honoring the validity and humanity of one another” (p. 202). for those library workers who have committed themselves to paths of equity, this collection offers a good deal of encouragement and advice. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hopeful visions, practical actions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41260 3 references beckford, m. (2020). naturalising whiteness: cultural competency and the perpetuation of white supremacy. social work & policy studies: social justice, practice and theory, 3(1), 1–15. https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/swps/article/view/14277 comeaux, e., grummert, s. e., & mireles, d. c. (2023). a critical review of the literature on cultural competency in student affairs: toward transformative cultural responsiveness. journal of diversity in higher education, 16(5), 563–574. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000363 deloria, v., jr. (1999). relativity, relatedness, and reality. in b. deloria, k. foehner, & s. scinta (eds.), spirit & reason: the vine deloria, jr. reader (pp. 32–39). fulcrum. grenier, m.-l. (2020). cultural competency and the reproduction of white supremacy in occupational therapy education. health education journal, 79(6), 633–644. https://doi.org/10.1177/0017896920902515 hurley, d. a., kostelecky, s. r., & townsend, l. (2019). cultural humility in libraries. reference services review, 47(4), 544–555. https://doi.org/10.1108/rsr-06-2019-0042 hurley, d. a., kostelecky, s. r., & townsend, l. (2022). cultural humility. ala editions. lekas, h.-m., pahl, k., & lewis c. f. (2020). rethinking cultural competence: shifting to cultural humility. health services insights, 13, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178632920970580 tervalon, m., & murray-garcía, j. (1998). cultural humility versus cultural competence: a critical distinction in defining physician training outcomes in multicultural education. journal of health care for the poor and underserved, 9(2), 117¬–125. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2010.0233 kael moffat (kmoffat@stmartin.edu) is the information literacy librarian at saint martin’s university in lacey, washington, usa. his areas of interest include social justice in librarianship, with a particular interest in where it intersects with indigenous rights and sovereignty, information literacy, and open educational resources. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/swps/article/view/14277 https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000363 https://doi.org/10.1177/0017896920902515 https://doi.org/10.1108/rsr-06-2019-0042 https://doi.org/10.1177/1178632920970580 https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2010.0233 mailto:kmoffat@stmartin.edu references the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: documenting transborder latinidades: archives, libraries, and digital humanities mario h. ramirez, california state university, usa lorena gauthereau, university of houston, usa abstract this introductory article serves as an editorial for the special issue, documenting transborder latinidades: archives, libraries, and digital humanities, for volume 6, issue 4, edition of the international journal of information, diversity, and inclusion (ijidi). the article lays out some of the fundamental issues and terminologies that are at the heart of the interrelationship between archives, libraries, and the digital humanities, and how they intersect with the lived and documented realities of transborder latinidades. the paper also provides a roadmap and summarization of the core arguments in the articles and case reports of this special issue. keywords: archives, digital humanities; latinidades; latinx; transborder publication type: introductory article ith the growing prominence of reporting on the migration of refugees from latin america and ensuing allusions to the invasion of the united states by “foreign” bodies, little, if any, attention is paid to the historical, political, cultural, and diasporic through lines between latinx populations stateside and their relatives and antecedents in the global south. confronted with legacies of colonialism and decades of invasion and forced displacement, the mainland united states is compelled to navigate the consequences of its geopolitical machinations and to reckon with the communities, identities, histories, and hybrid cultural formations that have resulted from its interventions in latin america, alongside nativist and racist policies that have marginalized and stigmatized u.s. latinx communities. the term latinidad encompasses communities of latin american descent; it is an “imagined community” (anderson, 2006, p. 6) based on a geopolitical landscape that emphasizes similarities in language, culture, traditions, and experience (flores, 2000). these shared experiences play significant roles in conceptualizing “local, regional, national, transnational (global), and hemispheric modalities of belonging” (coronel-molina, 2017, p. 9), especially when negotiating transborder and bi/multi-cultural identities within the united states. despite the similarities and emphasis on “a particular geopolitical experience,” latinidad also “contains within it the complexities and contradictions of immigration, (post)(neo)colonialism, race, color, legal status, class, nation, language and the politics of location” (rodríguez, 2003, pp. 9–10). indeed, despite being anchored in specific geographies and nation-states, a transborder latinidad reconfigures spaces of identity, political ideology, gender, ethnicity, and race, and it reminds us of the complex interplay of positionalities that constitute diasporic latin american and latinx1 communities throughout the americas. constantly shifting between place, language, and culture, w https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi documenting transborder latinidades the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39534 transborder latinidades exist at the nexus of intersectionality and hybridity and demonstrate the ability to transgress normative and reductive conceptualizations of belonging and being. the challenge and opportunity at the heart of the transborder experience is this embrace of border crossing (physical, ideological, and identity-based) that resists, specifically, u.s.-based efforts to severely circumscribe and vilify latin american and latinx identities and communities and, in turn, to deny their rich and diverse historical, cultural, political, economic, and social contributions (stephen, 2007; stephen, 2012; irazábal, 2013; tapia ladino, 2017). latinx studies scholars have considered latinidad from the perspectives of problematic homogenization, transnational experience, solidarity and activism, linguistics, race and ethnicity, u.s. immigration studies, queer latinidad, and historiography, including marta caminero-santangelo (2007), serafín m. coronel-molina (2017), rodrigo lazo (2016), marissa k. lópez (2011), and juana rodríguez (2003), among others. such discussions have brought to the fore questions of gender, especially as expressed through language. appearing in online forums as early as the 1990s (rivas, 2017), the term latinx contests the gender binary while simultaneously disrupting the spanish (european colonial) language. much dispute has arisen around the term both in and out of academia. proponents of the “x” emphasize how the linguistic binary of latina/latino erases individuals and communities who did not and do not ascribe to these cis-defined terms. instead, the “x” attempts to leave space for the entire gender spectrum. through these disruptions, “latinx” has the potential to create critical conversations about coloniality, or the colonial structures of power that defined and continue to define culture, labor, knowledge, language, gender, sexuality, class, race and ethnicity (lugones, 2007; maldonadotorres, 2007). latinx transgresses defined borders of language and identities, emphasizing fluidity and multiple modes of being. since the respective fields' collective inception, the intersection of archives and the digital humanities has been the subject of some debate. while the digital humanities owe their foundations to the materiality of archives, some speculation persists as to whether digital humanists fully acknowledge the praxis and materiality of archives as a reference point (caswell, 2021; manoff, 2010; speck & links, 2013). at times accused of playing fast and loose with formulations of “archives” or “the archive,” digital humanists have contributed to increased dissemination of digitized or born-digital historical resources that have impacted several fields and disciplines, as well as various audiences. rather than perpetuate that which divides the digital humanities from archives, it is more generative to consider how this boundary-crossing can, instead, serve as a nexus for a transborder latinidad that exerts identity and community on multiple fronts. if archives are, at times, the exclusionary terra firma of historical representation, could the digital humanities, once wrested from their gatekeeping tendencies, provide an intersectional and more democratic vehicle for documentary cross-pollination? how can we combine a community archive’s impulse with the possibilities for broader participation and dissemination that is among the promises of the digital humanities? clement et al. (2015) assert that “the emergent work of the archives of the future show an increased reliance on a deeper sense of community building among archivists, librarians, and scholars who work with new technologies” (p. 123). clement et al. also note that archives as sites of collaboration within these communities imply the ongoing negotiation of the stewardship of future archives. in turn, owens and padilla (2020) argue that it is indeed the digital reproduction of historical resources that has encouraged a greater focus on primary sources by historians and point towards historian joshua sternfeld’s suggestion that the “diverse range of products” now being created by historians from digitized sources, which include databases and 2 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index documenting transborder latinidades the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39534 visualizations, fall under the genre of “digital historical representations,” which proposes a definitional space outside of the more commonly used “digital archive” (sternfeld, 2011, p. 334, as cited in owens & padilla, 2020, p. 10 of 17). suffice it to say, as the relationship between archivists, librarians, technology, and scholars evolves, so too will the digital, material, and definitional boundaries of archives expand and work towards encompassing a transborder consciousness that incorporates multiple historical realities. crossing cultural, geographic, historical, and digital divides, this special issue mines the ties that connect families and communities across the diaspora; how they manifest themselves in archives, digital humanities projects, library collections, and community-based organizations; and their impact on historical and cultural narratives about the movements, contributions, and communal formations of u.s. latinx and latin american populations. the documentation and preservation of stories described in this issue speak to the varied lived realities of transborder latinidades and how they represent themselves across diverse media. divided between research articles, special reports and case studies, and inclusive of digital art, the materials gathered here demonstrate a range of interpretations of the special issue theme and our investment in locating and empowering multiple expressions of transborder latinidades. from dominican communities in new york and diverse latinx communities in ohio, miami, and southern california, to transnational historical figures such as the cuban anarchist violeta miqueli and the contemporary digital art of darleen martinez, this special issue casts a wide net to capture the many identities, histories, and border crossings that are at the heart of the lives and experiences of latinx communities and diasporas, and which shatter reductive or homogenizing interpretations of our realities. as this issue demonstrates, the forefront of this effort to accurately represent the multiplicity of these realities is led by community archives, which “are often formed in reaction to the failure of mainstream archives to tell the accurate and complex stories of marginalized communities” (caswell et al., 2018, p. 4). these projects, thus, seek to document the lives, experiences, and stories of the latinx community, which have often been left out, whitewashed, or erased from the historical canon. community-based archival projects “invite and empower communities to have a stake in their own history, often through practices that value and encourage the participation of their users and larger communities” (caswell et al., 2018, p. 4). emily lynell edwards’s “digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio” considers how digital humanities archival projects help to (re)produce latinx community memory, specifically in small institutions, by filling in the archival gaps that have historically marginalized the experiences of latinx community members. the process of capturing the nuances of latinidad embedded in the archive, as well as making these stories accessible to the community, pose unique challenges, including accessibility. elena foulis and brandon d'souza discuss how to increase access to public-facing projects in “archiving bilingual latin@ stories.” they describe decolonial approaches toward preserving oral histories through community outreach, bilingual descriptive metadata, and file naming procedures employed for oral narratives of latin@s in ohio (onlo). in addition, this article highlights the significance of collaborative work through the involvement of community members and students in the preservation of local histories. marisa hicks-alcaraz’s special report, “voices from the cracks of the latina diaspora: the counter-memorias testimonios archive,” builds on the level of collaboration and confianza (trust) required to holistically “collect and generate knowledge.” by pushing back against traditional understandings of a homogenous latinidad and archive, the counter-memorias testimonios archive allows space for new dialogues that more accurately represent the varied experiences of latinx communities. 3 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index documenting transborder latinidades the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39534 montse feu’s overview of the revolutionary awakening of anarchist feminist violeta miqueli in her article “violeta miqueli (1891–1972): u.s, journalist, anarchist, feminist, and antifascist,” traverses multiple countries and historical periods to provide the reader with insight into miqueli’s passionate commitment to anti-fascist and anarcha-feminist thinking and direct action. written to accompany the digital exhibit, “fighting fascist spain—the exhibits,” and a section that focused on miqueli, feu’s essay tracks how, through her writings, talks, and activism, miqueli challenged the boundaries of societal norms surrounding marriage and the role women in society, while effectively organizing workers in new york and florida, and fighting against fascism in spain. transnational and radical in its positioning, feu’s essay serves as a reminder of the need to document the contributions of women throughout the latinx diaspora particularly. “transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom” by nelson santana, emmanuel espinal, and amaury rodríguez focuses on the documentation of transnational dominican activism by journalists. the esendom has compiled information on news, culture, sports, and music since 2009. while esendom is not a traditional archive or digital repository, the authors underscore its role as a community resource, which not only preserves dominican culture but also reflects the many transborder latinidades of dominicanidad. this case study provides a launching point to discuss how grassroots efforts to preserve and share cultural information contribute to history and knowledge production. “contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca” by anita huizarhernández, angela corsa, alejandra encinas garcía, carmen rivero, and ashely ávila documents a digital humanities project that applies a decolonial lens to a canonical colonial text. among the earliest european accounts of north american colonization, la relación describes the failed pánfilo de narváez expedition and imposes colonial structures onto land, people, cultures, languages, and experiences. the project seeks to decenter the narrative by allowing users to toggle between cabeza de vaca’s text and the indigenous descriptions they displaced. by putting into conversation different ontologies and epistemologies, this project creates a space to critically engage with the origins of transborder latinidades. katie coldiron and julio capó argue that miami studies offers a place-based critical lens for examining transborder latinidades in “making miami’s history and present more accessible.” this approach, informed by the fields of ethnic studies, latinx studies, black studies, indigenous studies, urban studies, cultural studies, digital studies, feminist, gender, and queer studies, shifts conversations away from a homogenous experience and toward the translocal to “transcend traditional boundaries” by recognizing the global and transborder identities of the miami community. they specifically focus on florida international university’s wolfsonian public humanities lab (wphl) community-driven digital initiatives, which offer insight into the formation of ethno-racial identities. “soy de aquí y de allá: the selfie as queer latinx representation in digital landscapes” features digital art by darleen martinez, which explores the multiplicity of identity and culture through the social media form known as the selfie. employing what martinez terms a “transglitch performance,” these self-portraits create an intentional, queer self-representation that challenges distinct modes of white, cis, heteronormative identification. martinez asserts the body as an art space from which the artist can perform and enunciate lived experiences. this digital art, much like the archival records, testimonios, and digital projects in this issue, “generate[s] a record of presence” that transcends “real and imagined borders” to demand an 4 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index documenting transborder latinidades the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39534 acknowledgment of existence for marginalized bodies, cultures, languages, communities, and histories. overall, this special issue looks towards these multiple iterations of latinidad as a means to explore how cultural heritage workers, community-driven memory projects, archivists, and digital humanists, on both sides of the proverbial border, document and represent the multifaceted nature and dynamism of latin american and u.s. latinx life, community culture, migratory experiences, and cultural productions. aiming to transcend misinformed representations of latinidad, which continue to lack the long view of historical perspective, this special issue provides a counterbalance to these circumscribed narratives, which document the resilience, tenacity, richness, and rebelliousness of the latin american diaspora and u.s. latinx communities. endnotes 1 we use the term latin american to specify people living in latin america or those who are newly arrived to the united states. we use the term u.s. latinx to refer to people of latin american descent who currently live in the united states. references anderson, b. (2006). imagined communities: reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. (rev. ed.). verso. caminero-santangelo, m. (2007). on latinidad: u.s. latino literature and the construction of ethnicity. university press of florida. caswell, m. l. (2021). “‘the archive’ is not an archives: on acknowledging the intellectual contributions of archival studies.” reconstruction: studies in contemporary culture, 16(1), 1–21. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7bn4v1fk caswell, m., gabiola, j., brilmyer, g., zavala, j., & tai, j. (2018). assessing the affective impact of community archives: a toolkit. ucla community archives lab. https://communityarchiveslab.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/initialtoolkitcompressed.pdf clement, t., hagenmaier, w., & levine knies, j. (2013). toward a notion of the archive of the future: impressions of practice by librarians, archivists, and digital humanities scholars. the library quarterly, 83(2), 112–130. https://doi.org/10.1086/669550 coronel-molina, s. m. (2017). the politics of language from multiple perspectives: latinidad and indigenidad. chiricú journal: latina/o literatures, arts, and cultures, 1(2), 6–17. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/10.2979/chiricu.1.2.03 flores, j. (2000). from bomba to hip-hop: puerto rican culture and latino identity. columbia university press. 5 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7bn4v1fk https://communityarchiveslab.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/initialtoolkit-compressed.pdf https://communityarchiveslab.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/initialtoolkit-compressed.pdf https://doi.org/10.1086/669550 https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/10.2979/chiricu.1.2.03 https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/10.2979/chiricu.1.2.03 https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/10.2979/chiricu.1.2.03 documenting transborder latinidades the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39534 irazábal, c. (ed.). (2013). transbordering latin americas: liminal places, cultures, and powers (t)here. routledge. lazo, r. (2016). historical latinidades and archival encounters. in r. lazo & j. alemán (eds.), the latino nineteenth century (pp. 1–19). new york university press. lópez, m. k. (2011). chicano nations: the hemispheric origins of mexican american literature. new york university press. lugones, m. (2007). heterosexualism and the colonial/modern gender system. hypatia: a journal of feminist philosophy, 22(1), 186–219. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.15272001.2007.tb01156.x maldonado-torres, n. (2007). on the coloniality of being: contributions to the development of a concept. cultural studies, 21(2), 240–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601162548 manoff, m. (2010). archive and database as metaphor: theorizing the historical record. portal: libraries and the academy, 10(4), 385–398. http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/71216/manoff10.4.pdf owens, t., & padilla, t. (2020). digital sources and digital archives: historical evidence in the digital age. international journal of digital humanities, 1(3), 325–341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42803-020-00028-7 rivas, j. (2017, april 13). what we mean when we say latinx. splinter. https://splinternews.com/what-we-mean-when-we-say-latinx-1794092929. rodríguez, j. m. (2003). queer latinidad: identity practices, discursive spaces. new york university press. speck, r., & links, p. (2013). the missing voice: archivists and infrastructures for humanities research. international journal of humanities and arts computing, 7(1-2), 128–146. http://10.3366/ijhac.2013.0085 stephen, l. (2007). transborder lives: indigenous oaxacans in mexico, california, and oregon. duke university press. stephen, l. (2012). conceptualizing transborder communities. in j. tichenor (ed.), the oxford handbook of the politics of international migration (pp. 456–477). oxford university press. sternfeld, j. (2011). archival theory and digital historiography: selection, search, and metadata as archival processes for assessing historical contextualization. the american archivist, 74(2), 544–575. https://doi.org/10.17723/aarc.74.2.644851p6gmg432h0 tapia ladino, m. (2017). borders, mobility and the transborder space: reflections for a discussion. estudios fronterizos, 18(37), 61–80. https://doi.org/10.21670/ref.2017.37.a04 6 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.2007.tb01156.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.2007.tb01156.x https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601162548 http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/71216/manoff10.4.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42803-020-00028-7 https://splinternews.com/what-we-mean-when-we-say-latinx-1794092929 http://10.0.13.38/ijhac.2013.0085 https://doi.org/10.17723/aarc.74.2.644851p6gmg432h0 https://doi.org/10.21670/ref.2017.37.a04 documenting transborder latinidades the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.39534 dr. mario h. ramirez (mario.ramirez2@calstatela.edu) is the head of special collections and archives at the california state university, los angeles. he received a phd in information studies and a certificate in experimental critical theory from the university of california, los angeles in 2017. previously, he has held appointments as project archivist at the bancroft library (uc berkeley) and at the center for puerto rican studies (hunter college, cuny). from 2018 to 2019, he was a clir postdoctoral fellow in data curation for latin american and caribbean studies at indiana university, bloomington. dr. lorena gauthereau (lgauthereau@uh.edu) is the digital programs manager for the u.s. latino digital humanities center at the university of houston’s recovering the u.s. hispanic literary heritage and teaches interdisciplinary courses through uh’s center for mexican american and latina/o studies. she is currently a fellow for the rare book school and the andrew w. mellon foundation fellowship for diversity, inclusion & cultural heritage, a member of the executive committee for the association of computers and the humanities, and part of the reviews in digital humanities editorial board. previously, she served as a council on library and information resources (clir)-mellon postdoctoral fellow. dr. gauthereau received her ph.d. in english literature and her ma in hispanic studies, both from rice university. her research interests include chicanx studies, u.s. latinx studies, digital humanities, affect theory and decolonial theory. 7 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index endnotes book review: bodies of information: intersectional feminism and digital humanities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33152 ijidi: book review losh, e., & wernimont, j. (eds.). (2018). bodies of information: intersectional feminism and digital humanities. university of minnesota press. isbn 9781517906115. 491 pp. $35 us. reviewer: dawn betts-green, florida state university, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: digital humanities; information technology; intersectional feminism publication type: book review igital tools are often integral to the survival of marginalized groups (p. xii), yet the structure of digital humanities is typically presented as an overwhelmingly white, heterosexual, cisgender, male endeavor. the voices and frameworks of marginalized peoples are either absent all together or not integrated into the larger work of digital humanities. when they are integrated, there is little to no attempt in most cases to make the types of connections that intersectional feminism is grounded in, thus eliminating or obscuring perspectives that could improve lives and scholarship. losh and wernimont’s anthology brings together 25 of these obscured perspectives, allowing both the novice digital humanities student and the more experienced scholar to enrich their understanding of digital humanities and the role that intersectional feminism can and should play in scholarship. in multiple places, the editors and contributors point to the work of katherine hayle and her notions of how “information lost its body” (p. xiv, 47, 144, 163, 213, 275). in other words, information became such an electronic concern post-world war ii that we have become disconnected from the creators of information and their biases and intentions. it has become a “transcendent entity” that has been “abstracted from materiality, embodiment, and reflexivity” (p. xiv). and this abstraction has allowed for the previously noted obscuration of voices. the volume’s overarching argument lies in the belief that integrating intersectional feminism into the framework and day-to-day work of digital humanities will assist in mitigating this abstraction and boosting the practicality of digital humanities scholarship. though i would argue against the general notion that practicality is required of education and research, when focusing on marginalized groups, actionable outcomes are a primary concern as these are how we make changes in systems and improve access and inclusion. one particular point of interest is the interrogation of data visualization and its uses. data visualization can be both a means of protest, resistance, and access expansion (as demonstrated in knight’s “danger, jane roe”) and a means of manipulation and control (as demonstrated by the colonization of information this volume is arguing against). the employment of visual strategies to disseminate and re-embody information and scholarship not only makes much of the information more accessible to the world outside the academy, but it also forces those already a part of the discipline to meet the data and its implications in a much more visceral way. it also allows for the use of techniques not often incorporated in formal scholarship which helps redefine and/or reframe them. fine arts have long subverted the notions of what is possible with so-called traditional crafts (i.e., “feminine” arts) like fiber arts, but the possibilities d https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bodies of information: intersectional feminism and digital humanities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33152 inherent in these media have not been fully explored in adjacent yet entirely separate disciplines such as humanities and the social sciences. knight cites gaviria’s notion that data presented using these types of media are intentionally provoking an emotive and visceral response from the reader/viewer which forces them to resituate the information in the context of its creators, subjects, and implications. this resituating of the data is critical to the rehumanization of the data that we use every day in our research. stem fields, while not necessarily intentionally doing so, tend to separate the data from the subjects in an effort to be neutral and provide analysis of the data without bias, but as we know, bias is inherent in all work, regardless of field. so the result of this attempted neutrality is really just sterilization and dehumanization of the information, removing all context and implications—and also any potentially fruitful connections that might have been made. as noted by risam, even our supposedly objective coding and algorithms are deeply embedded with the creator’s biases. the example she uses is the flawed youtube algorithm which labeled lgbtq+ videos as not suitable for those under the age of eighteen despite their lack of violence, profanity, or nudity (p. 47). both virginia eubanks (2018) and safiya umoja noble (2018) also discuss this issue extensively from separate angles—social services and the digital poorhouse and reproduction of racism in search algorithms, respectively. “algorithms [are deployed] with biases that are not obvious but reflect the values of engineers who create them and the purposes for which they were created” (p. 47). none of this is to say that we need to entirely scrap digital humanities and the work that has already been done. eichmann-kalwara, jorgensen, and weingart rightfully state that “it is possible to acknowledge an ontology’s shortcomings while still occasionally using that ontology to a positive effect” (p. 79). by taking existent digital humanities frameworks and integrating feminist methodologies, attention can be drawn to the complex and problematic politics, results, and residual consequences of colonialism. the intent is to discover ways to present and explore data that “represents people’s lives as they have been experienced, not as they have been captured and advanced by businesses and governments” (p. 132). however, the solution to the issues discussed in this volume cannot be found in simply increasing access to data for marginalized groups. we must use the work of intersectional feminists to understand the colonial system in which digital humanities and, indeed, all disciplines are inextricably rooted so that it cannot be replicated or reinforced by future work. “equity is proactive, not passive,” (p. 148) and it requires far more than simply agreeing and understanding that people are marginalized and oppressed. there must be active commitments to re-centering the voices of marginalized people and to reserving space for those marginalized voices. systemic problems such as racism, colonialism, heterosexism, transphobia, and many others do not just appear overnight, and they cannot be solved overnight. but if scholars make the concerted effort to understand their work as being rooted in a discipline which has these systemic issues and to ensure that their work does not replicate them, digital humanities (and other disciplines) will be able to expand their reach and potential to provide the difficult solutions needed. in terms of usability, this volume scores high for educational and research purposes. those focusing on digital humanities will find a wealth of information to improve and decolonize their practice. in addition, practitioners at the library level would also benefit in that it provides a lens through which to view current and future materials in order to ensure a balanced and representative collection. i will say that though there is some international focus, it is generally more broadly couched in case study and philosophy, allowing for broad applicability. 144 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bodies of information: intersectional feminism and digital humanities the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33152 lis has, of late, become ever more interested in digital humanities. rightfully so as it combines the connected field of information technology with the social science and humanities blend often found in library-focused research. this particular volume offers a much-needed exploration of the colonized nature of information used at the intersection of these foci. this is not to say that lis does not incorporate intersectional feminism. however, it is not a focus as often as one might hope, and this type of research will become more and more necessary as academia and the general library world work to improve diversity and inclusion through decolonization of our institutions. though i and many readers are lis focused, digital humanities spans and touches many disciplines—nearly all of them in some way, in fact—and this volume would be an appropriate addition to the libraries of most of them as a central text in understanding how to take our work and develop it in a more fruitful and productive way. references eubanks, v. (2018). automating inequality: how high-tech tools profile, police, and punish the poor. st. martin’s. noble, s. u. (2018). algorithms of oppression: how search engines reinforce racism. nyu press. dawn betts-green (cbettsgreen@fsu.edu) is a visiting assistant professor in the school of information at florida state university. her focuses include lgbtq issues within information studies, small and rural libraries, information ethics and literacy, radical librarianship, and social justice. she has co-authored work on lgbtq graphic novels and diversity within lis programs as represented on their program websites. she is also an alumna of the point foundation lgbtq scholars program. 145 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:cbettsgreen@fsu.edu references engaging with silences: clayton state master of archival studies program’s approach to teaching the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34818 engaging with silences: clayton state master of archival studies program’s approach to teaching joshua f. kitchens, clayton state university, usa abstract this paper will discuss the theoretical framework and approach to educating archivists in the clayton state master of archival studies (mas) program. the mas program is an entirely online program based in the state of georgia in the u.s. across the curriculum of the mas, we approached developing our curriculum to ensure that students engage with social justice issues through wrestling with archival silences. through creating a theoretical framework, class discussion activities, and assignments, our hope is for our students to be prepared to engage with issues of representation in archival collections once the students are in the field. this paper explains the basis for our approach and provides example assignments which other institutions can use as inspiration for their archival education curriculum. for many, archival education emphasizes fundamentals. archival educators and professionals seem most concerned with educating new archivists on topics such as how to preserve materials, how to provide access, and how to acquire materials. these activities are the work of archivists, but emphasis on the technical disguises the complexities of cultural, economic, and social issues that surround archival work. technical archival work often silences the voices of many groups found within our collections through emphasizing standardization and mechanics of archival work. student archivists need exposure to discussions that go beyond the technical. the mas program does this by encouraging students to engage with the silences that occur during our work. keywords: archival education; social justice publication type: special section publication introduction urriculum shifts are a common occurrence in higher education worldwide. opportunities to review and revise curricula are an effective way to identify gaps in student learning, so that those gaps can be filled with relevant knowledge to meet the goal of an effective, holistic education. part of the process of identifying those knowledge gaps is in acknowledging where faculty overlook perspectives, or do not incorporate a diversity of ideas and knowledge coming from a variety of socio-cultural heritages, over time. this case study describes how a curricular review of the master of archival studies (mas) program offered at the clayton state university in the state of georgia in the u.s. provided opportunities for faculty and administrators to go beyond a traditional perspective for curriculum overview. the faculty identified models of archival silences and social justice, and these models served as conceptual guides to frame the c https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi engaging with silences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34818 program design that included a diversity of knowledge and intellectual heritages for the purpose of offering meaningful, well-rounded archival education. these intellectual frameworks helped faculty consider community information needs and heritages and were incorporated as part of the clayton mas program’s vision. to rightly adjust the clayton mas curriculum, knowledge gaps within the discipline of archival studies itself needed to be recognized and challenged. for example, many archivists have long recognized that archives in and of themselves are not neutral; that ways in which artifacts and collections have been appropriated throughout the world affirm institutional hegemony, privilege, and power, thus perpetuating the obscurity (whether intentionally or unintentionally) of authentic voices of various cultural groups’ intentions, perspectives, values, and knowledge (greene, 2009; greene, 2013; jimerson, 2009; pell, 2015; collins, 2018). to reconcile this kind of egregious inequity requires a rigorously reflective form of intervention to begin to resolve the problem. to that end, there are additional layers of knowledge-based problems at play in the archives field that must also be addressed in order to develop an honest approach to renewing a curriculum that is based on the ideals and motivations of social justice. archivists have been wrestling with the issue of representation in their institutions (schwartz & cook, 2002; cook, 2013; taylor, 2017). mitigating traditionally western notions of what archives are, what they do, and who they are for, inclusion and representation of the people of the archives of a community or cultural group require archivists to think about how their own identity constructs impact the decisions that they make for materials accession, installation, preservation, and access. taylor (2017) explains that "when our worldviews have been formed within the dominant culture, the dominant culture is what we tend to project through our work" (p. 21). this cultural projection, often unrealized, marginalizes the presence of cultural groups, whose narratives and inheritances are appropriated and on display without knowledge or permission, thus, becoming “invisible” in the archive because the dominant culture obscures their stories and separates their humanity from their artifacts—thus nulling their existence. past and current presidents of the society of american archives (saa) regularly implore archives and archivists to embrace a “behavior of inclusion” (messiner, 2017, para. 5). the proposed solutions to increase inclusion in archival practice can be understood as an act of social justice where information-related actions help to empower communities, ensure equity, and avoid adding trauma to the stories and experiences of disenfranchised groups (mehra, 2015; mehra & rioux, 2016). for social justice to be realized in the archives, archivists must acknowledge and understand their own perspectives and identities. clayton mas embraced this reflective approach by centering, what is known in archival studies as “archival silence,” as a social justice-based approach to restructuring the program’s curriculum. during the process of unpacking the curriculum, mas faculty reflectively sought knowledge gaps (i.e., the silences) that were evident conceptual witnesses to the program’s structure. this archival silence perspective required faculty to understand how archival theoretical and methodological approaches can act to isolate the techniques of archival practice, thus needing to incorporate knowledge from other disciplines and worldviews (kaplan, 2009; lee, 2019). a vital aspect of identifying the silences of the curriculum was the need for the clayton mas faculty to acknowledge their own socio-cultural privilege and how their identities and constructs may impact the curriculum in limiting ways. examining archival silences gave the mas program a 100 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index engaging with silences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34818 framework for explaining why social justice solutions existed to combat the lack of diverse voices within the content of the program (e.g., textual readings for classes, hiring and/or involvement of faculty members from diverse backgrounds, and interdisciplinary relationship building across campus). by wrestling with various issues, ideas, and approaches inside the classroom, throughout the campus, and in communities, future archivists may be better prepared to combat silences in archival settings in which they would work during their careers. the clayton mas program took up this challenge to wrestle with archival silences, why they existed, and how they are mitigated. this introspective process required not only acknowledging the work of archivists, but also included interdisciplinary approaches to understanding archives and integrating social justice perspectives and actions in the curriculum-(re)building process. during the curriculum review, the mas faculty found that courses were not engaging with social justice issues and thus, by extension, were perpetuating archival silences. the curriculum review began in 2015, led by the mas faculty in consultation with the dean of college of information and mathematical sciences at clayton state university. the first task was to align the mas curriculum with other archival studies and library science programs around the country (u.s.) in terms of credit hours, required and elective courses, desired student learning outcomes and program objectives, and impact beyond the profession. this initial review process led to the realization that there were many silences in the clayton mas curriculum, particularly around social justice topics. this curriculum review allowed the mas faculty to think about archival silences as a social justice issue for improving course topics and pedagogical procedures across the entire structure of the program. the mas program's case study is illustrative that review processes are an opportunity to effect meaningful changes to archival education and, more importantly, an opportunity to include social justice reflections throughout the curriculum. clayton mas program: the context the mas program started in 2009 as a collaboration between the georgia archives, clayton state university, and the national archives and records administration-southeast region to create a master's level program on archival administration in the southeastern u.s. writing about the mas program's formation, cherie long (2011), a member of the planning committee, noted: from its inception, the advisory committee insisted that the proposed program goes beyond the traditional archival education supplied by history or lis programs to incorporate a broad range of technological skills and approaches to digital preservation of information, as well as incorporate service-based learning throughout the curriculum. (p. 113) early on, the curriculum centered around a rigid sequence of 45 credit hours, with courses focused on the core archival domains established by the academy of certified archivists (aca), courses in database design, introduction to archival technology, and digital preservation. these core areas became a hallmark of the clayton mas program. before curriculum updates, the clayton mas faculty consistently emphasized, pedagogically, how important it was to think about the archival enterprise holistically, with a focus on two critical questions: “what does archivists' work represent?” and “why is it societally important?” (csu, 2021). these considerations became central to the program's overall approach to teaching archives. 101 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index engaging with silences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34818 in fall 2015, a new program director was appointed to the clayton mas program. one of the campus administration's first mandates to the new program director was to update the curriculum to improve graduation rates. in response to this charge, the clayton mas faculty reflected on the student body makeup of the program, its online status, and current archival education trends. the first decision was to streamline the program’s 45 credit hours to 36 credit hours. with this reduction, the mas program had to then consider the following: • what was missing from our curriculum? • would there be enough time in a semester to add to an already full curriculum that was now missing several courses? these questions are examples of the “silences” that the faculty was determined to explore and understand. they reviewed the current archival research literature to confirm what the mas program was in alignment with, and explored the contemporary ideas within archival education discourse that would be needed in their revived program. one important result of the literature review was learning that social justice was becoming a central core of the archival field, in response to evolving social and cultural shifts happening in u.s. life. the clayton mas curriculum was missing that essential aspect of archival discourse. part of this realization involved conversations about the crucial aspects of archival education and the role the clayton mas program plays in that educational process. faculty believed that it was important to teach students how to not just see or read the archival record but, just as importantly, to listen to the archival record. listening to archives can be understood as looking for the stories, narratives, and facts that a collection or repository tells (namazi, 2021). this listening activity is not just related to data that is most obvious in a collection but, more so, becoming aware of nuances beyond the surface of an artifact that might be barely a whisper or even unheard–a means of actively searching for and locating the collective memory of a text or object in the personification of the archive. active listening also requires engaging with the speaker, text, or object as an active engagement with the embodiment of that text or object (nemec et al., 2017). the program faculty asked what active listening might look like for an archives curriculum. they realized active listening requires teaching students that engagement is not just with the records, but also with the record creators and the communities who utilize those records. active listening further requires archivists to acknowledge past pain and trauma that might be demonstrated in silent ways within archival records and artifacts. this form of critical engagement is strongly connected to a social justice approach. one of the mas program's goals in reviving the curriculum was to teach students how to actively listen to collections when identifying whispering or absent voices. theoretical intersections: social justice and archives social justice in library and information science (lis) requires valuing the voicedness of everyone in society, not just the dominant culture, in respecting and empathizing with the human condition with a sensitivity that redeems, rather than perpetuates trauma (jaeger et al., 2015; tansey, 2020). the clayton mas program realized that it could readily teach the skills and techniques of archival professional practice, but the faculty were concerned: has the program identified a conceptual framework for understanding the socio-cultural nuances of the archives 102 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index engaging with silences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34818 field? are the faculty prepared within their own identities to teach their students the societal, emotional, or cultural perspectives that could impact archival practice? this reflective inquiry required exploring beyond any traditional approach and determining where theory and practice converged with heritage-based archival perspectives. for the mas program, this inquiry involved going beyond archival literature and examining how to make the curriculum more theoretically and pragmatically inclusive. for faculty, this required that they, too, engaged in a reflective examination of their own theoretical stances and professional practices alongside an active discussion about power, archival silences, social justice, and critical pedagogy. this multifaceted review included seeing how these theoretical approaches might intersect with archival work and add value to practical archival education. from a philosophical point of view, the clayton mas faculty considered philosophers like michel foucault (via monod, 2019) and jacques derrida (1996) who forced archivists to deal with our role in society, specifically looking at how the ways we archive can further the notion of silences. following a foucaultian view, lynne huffer (2016) believed that "when we look at the details of those primary sources, we can see immediately that the archival 'text itself' is not the voice of 'madness itself' but, conversely the voice of its captors" (p. 31). foucault saw archives as created by oppressors, a process that would lead to limitation or at least control of the voices in the archives (millar, 2017; monod, 2019). the silences framework provided a method for explaining where foucault and derrida's ideas intersected with archival theory and practice. case in point, rodney carter (2006) states: silence can be actively entered into or, as occurs where the power is exerted over an individual or group, it is enacted upon that individual or group. in the archives, silences can occur as marginal groups are actively denied entry. (p. 216) carter (2006) engaged with both derrida and foucault to understand archival silences and how this methodology reflects what can be understood about archives creation. building upon these concepts, thomas et al. (2017) remark in the silence of the archives, that: [m]uch of the impetus for this way of thinking came from colonial historians, who came to see that what survived in the archive was a function of power relationships in the past and future societies; the voice of subordinate groups is excluded from the archive. (p. 174) here archivists are wrestling with how both derrida and foucault impact our way of thinking about archives. carter (2006) and thomas, et. al (2017) provide readers with an understanding of how power relationships within colonized societies invariably result in archival silences. so, how are archival silences transmuted through a social justice lens? mehra and hernandez (2016) found that social justice provides a set of actionable items that can activate all library and archival settings to positively impact the communities they serve. further, the authors state that “it is important for lis professionals to question who is ‘left out’ and considered on the margins of society and what can we do to improve their life circumstances and experiences" (p. 176). this approach demonstrates the efficacy of social justice as a tool to empower silenced and “left out” stories in communities where embedded power structures like libraries and archives represent dominant cultural forces. therefore, creating a framework around silences to affect social justice principles required the clayton mas program to go beyond the archival field to learn how understanding power and justice might intersect with archival work. 103 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index engaging with silences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34818 revived pedagogy: integrating social justice into the curriculum with social justice principles and theoretical frameworks from other disciplinary origins to help guide them, the mas faculty led students through a process of exploring both social justice and silences. derrida, foucault, harris (2015) and others provided the initial inspiration, but some of these scholars proved challenging for students. in turn, the faculty selected a diverse group of authors of multiple disciplines, from all over the world, to help students understand social justice issues surrounding silences and how archival approaches intersected with other forms of scholarly thought. this scholarly collection became part of many of the clayton mas course readings and class materials. casting a wide net into different disciplines proved helpful in the mas program's attempt to understand and integrate a more global and interdisciplinary perspective. these perspectives came especially from historians and their critiques of colonialism and capitalism. archivists often turn to historians to gain an understanding of complexities in the historical record. during the curriculum review, readings cited from historians focused directly on ways in which silences tell the story of social shifts and power relationships over time. for example, historian michel-rolph trouillot (2015) revealed "that silencing also is due to the uneven power in the production of sources, archives, and narratives" (p. 27). trouillot (2015) explains why silences exist. thomas et. al (2017) explained the reasoning for the uneven relationship. thomas et al. (2017) also found that governments were complicit in creating silences. in simon fowler’s chapter “enforced silences”, from thomas et al. (2017), he found that archives could have numerous silences from informal, intentional, governmental secrets and collecting the wrong topics (fowler, p. 6). these authors provided students with insights into information creation and archival silences. to incorporate the ideas of the new curriculum’s bibliography, the clayton mas faculty asked their students to critically think about how archives are created and how society views information in them. while engaging with trouillot, thomas et al. (2017), among others, class learning objectives typically included: • students will justify their decision related to collection development to ensure that they are inclusive. • students will analyze situations that may lead to the underrepresentation of diverse cultural heritages and communities in archival collections in each scenario. • students will discuss how and why silences occur in archives. faculty intended these objectives to teach students where silences come from and give them insight into social justice perspectives, such as community engagement. the program faculty found further inspiration in discussions around how capitalism and colonialism have impacted communities abroad and in the u.s. one topic that was a compelling conversation for students involved the concept of “extractive capitalism.” for example, in the text, the extractive zone, gómez-barris's (2017) definitions proved useful for explaining imbalanced economic relationships. gómez-barris (2017) gives the example of south america whose economic system "engages in thefts, borrowings, and forced removals, violently reorganizing social life as well as the land by thieving resources from indigenous and afrodescendant territories" (p. xvii). stated differently, extractive capitalism is a form of colonial capitalistic enterprise which seeks only to take and not give back to communities. 104 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index engaging with silences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34818 akin to gómez-barris’s point, archives, too, extract prestige from the records they collect. if archives are not extracting prestige, they may be unfairly extracting cultural property or intellectual property rights. students needed to think about what an archive gives and takes from their communities. these conversations were brought up in the appraisal, law and ethics, and some special topics courses within the clayton mas curriculum. readings that addressed these issues helped students think through ways in which archives extract knowledge, identity, and power from the communities they purportedly represent. learning objectives that discussed the extractive nature of capitalism included the following: • students will design policies and procedures that ensure various property rights are not infringed. • students will investigate collecting practices for unfairness based on how an organization requests copyright or acknowledges cultural property rights. plainly stated, faculty should engage students to critically inquire who really should own archival records physically, intellectually, and culturally. this line of thinking can prompt students to think of archiving as a collaborative process. another work that has inspired the mas program is patel and moore's (2017) history of the world in seven cheap things. while patel and moore's (2017) explanation of cheap things relied on capitalism and colonialism to discuss the cheapening process, mas program faculty were more interested in the monetary thought process illustrated by their book. the authors stated that "[c]heapening marks the transition from uncounted relations of life making to the lowest possible dollar value. it's always a short-term strategy" (patel & moore, 2017, p. 22). the clayton mas faculty identified the cheapening process occurring in archives in two critical ways. one, when society cheapens lives, as was suggested by patel and moore (2017), people’s stories are obscured. patel and moore (2017) asserted that individuals, namely marginalized people, are only valuable because of their labor. therefore, their documents are undervalued unless related to their work. secondly, archives often reversed the cheapening process by overvaluing certain types of records over others, essentially cheapening (and therefore silencing and marginalizing) documented stories of cultural groups on the fringe of the dominant culture. patel and moore (2017) further remarked, in their discussion of colonialism and commodification of work, that "cheapening is a set of strategies to control a wider web of life" (p. 2). for archives, this means that archivists can control the narrative by overvaluing the records of the wealthy (in terms of access) and powerful (i.e., governments). from patel and moore (2017), the mas program faculty understood and could discuss processes that cheapen/marginalize people, their stories, and their communities at-large. further, the clayton mas faculty took what they learned about capitalism and connected it to archival literature. for example, ramirez (2015) posits, “recognizing the link between educational and economic disparities, and the whiteness of the profession is also to acknowledge how committing to diversity as a core organizational goal necessitates the examination of structural inequalities and one's role in perpetuating them” (p. 350). by triangulating the hubris of scholars such as ramirez (2015) and patel and moore (2017), the mas faculty learned how to synthesize different disciplines to frame discussions around marginalization, economics, and how an activist approach may help to guide students along a social justice-oriented stance for the archives profession. these authors helped the mas program faculty think through the archivist's 105 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index engaging with silences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34818 role, in capitalist and other oppressive systems, in creating silences. the following learning objectives of the program’s course on archival principles and practices were useful for assisting first semester students in exploring this idea: • students will discuss why economic disparities may lead to underrepresentation in archives. • students will identify communities that have traditionally been excluded from archives due to socio-economic status. this integration of social justice and silences into the mas program was an iterative process of creating new objectives inspired through an interdisciplinary approach to see how differing theories and methods can come together to produce a better way of fusing theory and practice into an inclusive identity construction for the professional archivist. showing students how differing viewpoints concern the archives helped them see how our work matters, and more importantly, how our work could lead to equity and inclusion. these ideas helped the mas program faculty frame experiences and develop our curriculum for archival studies students. conclusion: social justice as a methodology in class activities inspired by interdisciplinary readings and a broad framework of silences, the mas program needed to construct assignments, discussion prompts, and other activities to help students engage with these concepts. the faculty wished for a shared set of experiences for each student to have as they moved through the mas program. faculty asked: what shared experiences, such as readings or assignments, did all students have in their courses? when did they have them? what did the experiences represent for these students? did students engage with difficult topics surrounding silences? the faculty decided on two initial goals for student experiences: • students should engage with archival silences at multiple points across the curriculum. • students should engage with case studies, discussion posts, and assignments that ask them to learn more about underrepresented groups in archives. these goals were rudimentary but gave faculty a place to create activities that would honor and center silences. the hope was to complement existing shared experiences around technology and core archival concepts with new ones that emphasized social justice. as another means of honoring silences as a social justice approach to archival education, case studies formed a core experience in many of the reformed clayton mas courses. students engaged with case studies by intersecting current events with archival literature. for example, during 2020, the year of the emergence of the covid-19 pandemic, case studies included content discussing the u.s. elections of that year and social justice events such as the destruction of u.s. confederate monuments and the momentum of the black lives matter protests which spread throughout the world. case study experiences, explored with a social justice lens, provided an opportunity for students to ask themselves hard questions about their own biases and (mis)understandings of archives. faculty constructed these experiences within the social justice framework of archival silences. with these experiences, the faculty wanted to allow students to understand how their decisions impact archival silences and how understanding social justice issues could help dissipate those silences. 106 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index engaging with silences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34818 the archival field is more expansive than just technological prowess and professional practices. skills are most meaningfully applied when archivists understand the heritage and values of the people in the communities they serve and how their role, as archivists, may create or perpetuate silences. the clayton mas program's case demonstrates that a reflective, collaborative curriculum review be an opportunity to think about how students can gain a more inclusive understanding of the social, cultural, and political forces that archival studies may create and participate in with communities; specifically, how various theoretical approaches that go beyond professional practice intersect, interact, and impact ways in which archive are situated as community-based institutions. the clayton mas program embraced a social justice lens to enact a curriculum where students could begin to explore more topics and issues which can better prepare them to empower new voices in archival collections through these experiences. other archival educators may find some inspiration in the mas approach. this article presented examples of how mas faculty integrated a social justice framework to integrate a means of honoring archival silences into the curriculum. this work is just beginning. the next step for the mas program includes new courses on diversity and inclusion in archives where students will engage with various communities to collect, access, and describe. additionally, clayton mas faculty members are in the process of creating a diversity statement for the program that will explain the program's inclusive educational philosophy and approach to understanding archives. the faculty plan on incorporating this statement into the program's assessment practices. there is hope that the mas program's process may help others think through how archival education can benefit from social justice frameworks. finally, any form of program review can be an opportunity to create lasting change in education and is a perfect time to incorporate social justice ideals in the curriculum. it was an active decision by the mas faculty to embrace our chance during a program review and make the curriculum more inclusive. references carter, r. g. s. 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(2017). archives: principles and practices. facet publishing. monod, j. c. (2019). archives, thresholds, discontinuities: blumenberg and foucault on historical substantialism and the phenomenology of history. journal of the history of ideas, 80(1), 133–146. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhi.2019.0007 namazi, m. (2021). listening back to the archives. art monthly, 444, 40–42. nemec, p. b., spagnolo, a. c., & soydan, a. s. (2017). can you hear me now? teaching listening skills. psychiatric rehabilitation journal, 40(4), 415–417. https://doi.org/10.1037/prj0000287 patel, r., & moore, j. (2017). a history of the world in seven cheap things: a guide to capitalism, nature, and the future of the planet. university of california press. pell, s. (2015). radicalizing the politics of the archive: an ethnographic reading of an activist archive. archivaria, 80, 33–57. https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13543 ramirez, m. h. (2015). being assumed not to be: a critique of whiteness as an archival imperative. the american archivist, 78(2), 339–356. https://doi.org/10.17723/03609081.78.2.339 schwartz, j. m., & cook, t. (2002). archives, records, and power: the making of modern memory. archival science 2, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02435628 tansey, e. (2020, june 5). no one owes their trauma to archivists, or, the commodification of contemporaneous collecting. http://eiratansey.com/2020/06/05/no-one-owes-theirtrauma-to-archivists-or-the-commodification-of-contemporaneous-collecting/ taylor, c. (2017). getting our house in order: moving from diversity to inclusion. the american archivist, 80(1), 19–29. https://doi.org/10.17723/0360-9081.80.1.19 thomas, d., fowler, s., & johnson, v. (2017). the silence of the archive. facet publishing. trouillot, m. (2015). silencing the past: power and the production of history. beacon press. joshua kitchens (joshuakitchens@clayton.edu) is the director of the clayton state archival studies program. josh teaches a variety of courses at clayton state that cover archival topics including digital preservation, law and ethics, appraisal, and various special topics courses. currently, josh is researching appraisal practices and representation/access to archival collections and public records. josh previously served as an archivists for special collections at the georgia college ina dillard russell library where he was responsible for digital collections, the library’s institutional repository known as the knowledge box, and university archives. he holds a ba in history from georgia college, an ma in applied history from george mason university, and a master’s of archival studies from clayton state university. joshua is currently working on a phd in public 109 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1353/jhi.2019.0007 https://doi.org/10.1037/prj0000287 https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13543 https://doi.org/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.339 https://doi.org/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.339 https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02435628 http://eiratansey.com/2020/06/05/no-one-owes-their-trauma-to-archivists-or-the-commodification-of-contemporaneous-collecting/ http://eiratansey.com/2020/06/05/no-one-owes-their-trauma-to-archivists-or-the-commodification-of-contemporaneous-collecting/ https://doi.org/10.17723/0360-9081.80.1.19 mailto:joshuakitchens@clayton.edu engaging with silences the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.34818 history at georgia state university. joshua is also a certified archivist and serves on the examine development committee for the academy of certified archivist. 110 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index introduction clayton mas program: the context theoretical intersections: social justice and archives revived pedagogy: integrating social justice into the curriculum conclusion: social justice as a methodology in class activities references digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries: promoting student success for all learners the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries: promoting student success for all learners jacqueline frank, montana state university library, usa meghan salsbury, montana state university library, usa hannah mckelvey, montana state university library, usa rachelle mclain, montana state university library, usa abstract student success in higher education depends on access to digital resources and services, and today's students rely heavily on the library to facilitate that access. reliance on digital library resources and services surged in march 2020, when many u.s. higher education institutions moved to remote learning in response to the covid-19 pandemic. this move exposed a lack of awareness about the ongoing digital divide in higher education in montana, a rural state with a small population located in the western u.s., and the underestimation of how student success would be affected in an online learning environment. many students do not have a computer or device with internet access, or access to reliable, high-speed internet. these barriers inhibit students from experiencing digital equity and inclusion in the realm of remote learning. this article discusses the impact on students, and how librarians working at montana state university are working to address challenges and advance digital equity and inclusion in their state. it demonstrates how access, or lack of access to resources impacts digital inclusion and digital equity, including personal device ownership, access to the internet or cell service, the ability of libraries to implement remote authentication methods, and digital accessibility. the article shares perspectives and strategies from librarians working in public services and instruction, acquisitions, and electronic resources management, and how they are working together to promote digital equity and inclusion and increase the accessibility of library resources in their community. keywords: access; digital divide; digital equity; digital inclusion; student success publication type: viewpoint article introduction ccording to the national digital inclusion alliance (ndia), “digital inclusion refers to the activities necessary to ensure that all individuals and communities…have access to and use of information and communication technologies (icts)” while “digital equity is a condition in which all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy and economy” (ndia definitions, n.d.). though great strides have been made to increase digital equity and inclusion over the past decade, the sudden shift to remote learning by many u.s. higher education institutions in march 2020 highlighted a lack of awareness of the ongoing digital divide in higher education. the divide a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 is especially prevalent in vulnerable student populations and impacts student success for these populations in remote learning environments. digital equity and digital inclusion hinge on access, which is complicated by the ongoing digital divide—if students cannot access electronic content or instructional materials, it limits their academic success (nagle & vitez, 2021). attaining access includes many factors such as device ownership, internet access, availability of resources, and digital accessibility; however, race, age, socioeconomic status, and geographic location are also key facets of digital access (fairlie, 2014, 2017; walker et al., 2020). about three-quarters of adults in the u.s. (over age 18) use broadband internet at home, according to the pew research center’s 2019 internet/broadband fact sheet (2019a). income, race, and community type all impact an individual’s use of the internet, with black and hispanic adults using the internet much less than white adults. similarly, adults living in rural communities and those that make less than $30,000 per year use the internet less than those in urban areas and those with higher income. minorities, low-income, and rural households have the least access (56-63%) to broadband internet (2019). as a rural state, montana has even less digital access than many other u.s. states. the imls indicators workbook: economic status and broadband availability and adoption (2020) shows only 63.6% of people in montana have broadband available to them (this is the 12th lowest in the nation), and the average cost of internet access per month is $91.54 us (the 3rd highest in the nation). a little more than one-tenth (12.7%) of montana residents do not have a home computer, and 21% have no home internet access, which is higher than the national averages in both categories. in more than twenty of montana’s counties, less than 50% of the population have access to broadband internet. tribal members on montana’s reservations1 suffer even further from a lack of broadband access. only 23% of the blackfeet tribe of the blackfeet indian reservation have access to wired broadband. other tribes have higher individual access rates, but in total only 72% of the populations on montana reservations have wired broadband access, and there is no low-cost access available (tanberk & cooper, 2020). though these numbers are not specific to students enrolled in a montana college or university, 61% of students at montana state university are in-state residents and 4.3% are american indian/alaska natives. as such, these students are affected by the limited internet options throughout the state (montana office of planning & analysis, 2019). while the digital divide is not new, it was amplified by the 2020-2021 covid-19 pandemic. this is an unfortunate reality of accessibility awareness; it took a major event for access to become a visible issue and priority, while people with disabilities have long been advocating for remote access and accommodations (beery, 2020; crespo, 2020; keegan, 2020). this reality led to an increased awareness of digital equity and inclusion, and the ways in which libraries can enable and promote student success for all learners. de los santos and rosser (2021) note: [e]quitable [student] outcomes require that we invest equitably in technology, infrastructure, and practices that support equitable outcomes for all students. we will need to over-invest in some [higher education] institutions to ensure equitable access to the same technology and resources available at more robustly funded institutions. (p. 24) academic libraries are a central point of access for students in higher education, providing extensive digital resources, online services, and information literacy instruction. with their unique combination of services, academic libraries have the opportunity to advance digital equity 186 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 and inclusion with strategies and services that help bridge the digital divide, enable access, and promote digital accessibility. this viewpoint article discusses how the covid-19 pandemic amplified the impacts and challenges of the digital divide in montana and describes a localized view with montana state university as the case study for the paper. the authors discuss challenges facing students and libraries from various perspectives and share their responses and solutions. then this localized example is extended to suggest specific strategies that any library could implement to better support digital equity and inclusion in their community. the challenges, strategies, and services that montana state university library utilized are discussed from the following perspectives: ● access is an essential library service ● public services to advance digital equity and inclusion ● remote/online library instruction ● purchasing accessible materials for library users ● digital accessibility these five areas are intertwined and work together to promote digital equity and inclusion and increase the accessibility of library resources. while the covid-19 pandemic exposed remote access and digital accessibility as critical and ongoing issues, the challenges will remain even after the pandemic subsides. therefore, the strategies discussed in each of these five areas are collocated into a concluding list of recommendations and actions that other libraries can take to help support digital equity and inclusion moving forward. access is an essential library service at the core of all libraries is the ability to provide equitable access to information for users in physical and electronic formats. the american library association (2019) states that “all information resources that are provided directly or indirectly by the library… should be readily, equally, and equitably accessible to all library users”. to help accomplish this, academic libraries can support remote access for online resources and offer additional services to help make physical collections accessible to users based on their needs. remote access for online resources while many libraries can provide remote access to digital resources, not all are able to offer this to their users off-campus. the ability of libraries to implement remote authentication methods that allow for remote access to paid subscription resources directly impacts digital equity in their community. even in communities where students have access to the internet and compatible devices, the right technologies and expertise are needed in order for a library to implement methods of remote access. in 2011, sunithaland & sreekumar asserted that “users in general prefer not to come to the library and expect access to library materials from remote sites. they expect to access all the resources seamlessly” (p. 64). however, while authentication methods and remote access for libraries have come a long way, “anywhere and anytime access” (sunithaland & sreekumar, p. 68) for some library users is still not a guarantee, thus continuing to further the digital divide. 187 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 the importance of remote access to library resources has been elevated due to the pandemic. in april of 2020, only 14 of 22 higher education institutions belonging to montana’s academic library consortium reported using a proxy server—an authentication method that relies on ip recognition by “proxy[ing] the user who is outside the ip range by relaying that request through an ip that is inside the ip range” (third iron, n.d.). the remaining eight institutions, seven tribal colleges, and one community college, noted relying on username and password authentication for remote access. proxy servers, ip authentication, and username and password are only a few options libraries have for remotely authenticating users. large library resource providers, such as ebsco, offer several alternatives for connecting users remotely to library resources including referring url authentication, patron id, cookie authentication, google sign-in, and more (ebscoconnect, 2020). federated access, a form of single-sign-on, is also becoming popular through the ra21 initiative and seamlessaccess service. however, in addition to having the expertise and local technology required to implement some of these methods, the biggest challenge to libraries is still the lack of internet access by their users. most patrons of montana’s tribal libraries have traditionally used electronic library resources while on-site, requiring no login, because they do not have a device or internet access at their home. in an interview for the montana-based newspaper, billings gazette, david yarlott, president of little big horn college (lbhc) in crow agency, montana, stated that “internet access has been the school's biggest challenge during the abrupt transition to remote learning this spring” (hoffman, 2020, para. 10). perhaps there has not been a pressing need to implement remote authentication methods prior to the pandemic, other than username and password authentication for smaller libraries, but this need now seems more pertinent than ever to ensure continued access to library resources. funds provided to these small institutions through the cares act2 have offered some relief, for example, lbhc was able to replace college computers with new ones and give the older machines to their students to use at home (st. amour, 2020) however, the issue of no internet access still prevails. libraries understand that while they cannot solve the lack of internet singlehandedly, they can offer solutions to their patrons to try and help the issue. public services to advance access, digital equity, and inclusion in addition to providing remote access to online resources, libraries offer a multitude of public services to help meet the needs of their users. the issues of internet access and device ownership are central to digital equity and inclusion, and libraries can support users by offering a technology checkout program to lend devices such as laptops, tablets, and even internet hotspots. as libraries work to support remote access to subscription resources and offer devices for checkout that enable access to the internet, they can also offer traditional in-person services virtually, such as research consultations to increase the ways that users can receive assistance from the library to further support inclusion. technology checkouts many libraries provide technologies for patrons to facilitate self-checkout, to borrow laptops and ipads, and more recently, to utilize in-house wi-fi hotspots. technology checkouts are an important public service that helps address digital equity and inclusion because not all students have access to a device with internet capabilities. 188 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 at montana state university, the technology checkout service was especially helpful during the height of the pandemic (the year 2020) due to the increase in online instruction, when more students needed to access their courses or materials remotely. in response to this increased need, the library acquired an additional 100 laptop computers during the summer of 2020 and offered extended checkouts to users who needed to borrow a device. these laptops were purchased to add to an inventory of 16 existing laptops. the laptops have a 24-hour checkout period, and 24 ipads can be checked out for up to three days. the library also offers other expensive technologies for checkout that are commonly used by students, such as graphing calculators, and video and audio recording equipment. having a comprehensive technology checkout program allows users to access the technology they need to complete coursework and assignments without having to spend valuable, and often limited, funds on personal equipment and devices. hotspot lending programs to address the needs of users who do not have internet access, many libraries, including montana state university library, now lend wireless hotspots. the wi-fi hotspot lending program was funded by a network of the national library of medicine (nnlm) technology innovation grant (bridging the gap: ensuring digital equity through wi-fi hotspot lending) and supplemented by the montana state library hotspot lending program. the library was able to acquire 17 wi-fi hotspots and data plans to increase access to the internet for those students most in need. the wi-fi hotspots were loaned to students on medium to long-term check-outs to enable them access to their course content either as on-campus or online students. the hotspots “come with a prepaid one-year unlimited data plan…. with verizon3, there is a possibility that data could be limited if a device exceeds 25gb/month for three consecutive months” (montana state library, n.d.). in most situations, this amount of data should be plenty for users, however, verizon states that “any data that's used while your device is connected to the verizon wireless network… uses your monthly data allowance” (verizon, n.d.). david yarlott, president of lbhc notes that “one house can have up to seven families living together, which does not leave much [hotspot] bandwidth” (st. amour, 2020, para.17). according to at&t’s4 general guidelines for data (at&t, 2021), streaming a standard-definition video for one hour would use 700 megabytes (mb) per hour, while streaming a high-definition video for that same amount of time would use approximately 2,500 mb per hour, or 2.5 gigabytes (gb). this means a user could potentially consume 10% of their allotted 25gb, after only one hour of streaming a high-definition video. verizon points out that “it’s hard to know how much each activity is eating up your data allowance because actual file sizes and download times vary” (verizon, n.d). they further state that “for a 4g lte smartphone, a text-only email could be as small as 10 kb. it might take 400 kb to gain internet access” (verizon, n.d.). table 1 shows at&t’s general guidelines for the amount of data that various activities might use, including opening an email, downloading a song, streaming a video, or playing a game. the figure demonstrates just how quickly data can be used by basic actions. if students are expected to read emails, watch streaming videos, and complete other various assigned tasks, their data will disappear quickly. 189 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 table 1. provides a general guideline for the amount of data used for each activity. activity data size 1 email (no attachments) 20kb 1 email (with standard attachments) 300kb 1 min. of surfing the web 250kb (15mb/hr.) 1 song downloaded 4mb 1 photo upload to social media 5mb 1 min. of streaming standard-definition video 11.7mb (700mb/hr.) 1 min. of streaming high-definition video 41.7mb (2500mb/hr.) 1 min. of streaming 4k video 97.5mb (5850mb/hr.) 1 min. of online games 200kb (12mb/hr.) note. these examples are just estimates based on typical file sizes. your usage may vary. 1mb = 1,000kb approximately 1gb = 1,000mb approximately 1tb = 1,000gb approximately while wi-fi hotspots may not be the perfect long-term solution, they do afford students remote internet access. to ensure that students are getting the most out of any hotspot they borrow from their library or pay for themselves, it would be ideal if more library online resource providers shared information about how much bandwidth their products require. alexander street press, a well-known provider of streaming content, says that “variable bit rate streaming automatically selects the best quality based on a user’s available bandwidth, all the way up to hd quality” (proquest support center, 2019). kanopy, another popular provider of streaming video, states “our auto bandwidth detection calculates the quality of the user's internet connection, and will select the most appropriate file to stream” (kanopy, n.d.). essentially, what this means for students is that even if they can stream a video, the quality may be far less superior to that of their peers who have access to a reliable internet connection. libraries invest a lot of money and time acquiring accessible materials for users, and the fact that they are limited from getting the highest quality access to subscription resources due to bandwidth restrictions is frustrating for students and library staff alike. remote public services in addition to providing technology checkouts and wi-fi hotspots, libraries can increase access to their public services by offering remote options to help meet user needs. mehta & wang (2020) explain that “the pandemic has brought a revolution not only in the online teaching of higher education but also in the effective ways academic libraries can deliver their services virtually.” (p. 355) furthermore, justin harding, senior director for instructional design and new media for 190 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 arizona state university’s edplus, predicts that after the covid-19 crisis “students are going to want to have options and to be able to choose how they interact” (hayhurst, 2020, para. 9). offering virtual research appointments, as well as in-person appointments, allows users to choose if an online or face-to-face meeting with librarians works better for them. in the spring of 2020, the montana state university librarians began offering virtual research consultations to students, and while remote research consultations had occasionally been offered in the past, they were not the preferred option by librarians. although this service expansion was the result of the coronavirus pandemic, the library plans to continue offering research consultations in both formats so that students can choose the option that best fits their needs. during these research consultations, trained librarians help students find and access print and electronic research materials. offering the option for online consultations, in addition to an online chat and email service, allows users remote access to research help and supports digital inclusion. another important service the library offers is a document delivery service through interlibrary loan (ill) where library patrons can request scanned copies of physical articles or book chapters that are in the library’s print collection and are delivered electronically. often, students request an item through ill not knowing that the library has it available in print, or even electronically, so the library adds a note to those requests letting them know it came from our collection. while the library has offered this service for many years, its importance was highlighted during the coronavirus pandemic when remote access increased, and in some cases, it was the only method available to access library print materials. additionally, the library’s ill department remained open and mailed physical materials to users when the library building was closed to the public in early spring 2020 and covered the shipping and return postage fees for both users who lived in town or elsewhere. lastly, the library established a new service for users to submit accessibility requests for library materials. if users encounter library resources that do not meet their accessibility needs, they can submit a request in multiple different ways to get the content in the format needed, including an online request form (frank, 2021). while the library strives to provide accessible content and is continually improving the user experience, we also acknowledge that what works for one user may not work for another, because we all have diverse needs (one-size-fits-one, n.d). this service helps address that reality, and directly incorporates the advice of the floe inclusive learning design handbook (n.d.) to harness “digital content and digital delivery mechanisms ...to assist in addressing the diversity of learning needs”. another opportunity to incorporate this advice is through instruction and instructional technology. instruction & instructional technology even if academic libraries can be aware of device and internet access issues, provide off-campus access through remote authentication to accessible digital materials, and create accessible services, students will still face barriers to academic success if the instructional tools and methods for their courses are not well planned. online courses, by necessity, look and function differently than standard face-to-face courses. online instructors must apply the tenets of universal design for learning (udl) to their course materials and assignments in order to accommodate students' varying levels of access. many students use smartphones to complete their online courses as “reliance on smartphones for online access is especially common among younger adults, non-whites and lower-income americans” (pew research center, 2019b, para. 191 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 6). accessing courses via smartphone leads to high data usage and furthers accessibility issues if the content is not optimized for mobile learning. universal design for learning (udl) universal design for learning (udl) as defined by cast is “a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people” (2018). the guidelines for udl are organized into these three areas: engagement, which stimulates interest and motivation for learning; representation, which is to present information and content in different ways; and finally, action and expression, which offers different ways students can express what they know. in an online learning environment, the udl guidelines for representation, action, and expression are especially important since some students will not have a device and/or internet access to utilize high-definition video, graphics, and complete timed exams or quizzes. ensuring students can both access course content and provide required responses (assignments, quizzes, discussions, and exams) in a variety of ways alleviates stressors for those students already facing the digital divide. representation while the udl guidelines 2.2 (2018) encourage the use of multiple means of representation because “there is not one means of representation that will be optimal for all learners”, in an online learning environment, multiple means of representation takes on a new perspective. in an online course, it can be said that “there is not one means of representation that will be accessible for all learners” as certain high-bandwidth objects are unavailable to students with poor internet connections and/or those using smartphones. as noted in the section on remote access, streaming a high-definition video uses approximately 2.5gb/hour, and joining an hourlong zoom or webex video call can use somewhere between 540mb and 1.62gb of data per hour (abbott, 2020). some examples of low-bandwidth solutions for students with access barriers include: ● downloadable transcripts for all videos ● reducing the number of participants on video calls ● turning off cameras and screen sharing during synchronous sessions ● allowing call-in options for webex or zoom meetings ● provide independent student learning options (readings, podcasts, worksheets) that can be downloaded for offline access ● use collaborative tools like google docs or forms ● limit the use of animations and transitions in presentations it is important to discern students’ access at the beginning of the course, so instructors can provide the necessary accommodations to allow students to fully participate in the course (lobue, 2020). 192 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 action and expression the udl guidelines concerning action and expression encourage instructors to allow students to choose the way they convey what they know as “no one means of action and expression that will be optimal for all learners” (principle: provide multiple means of action & expression). it is also true that many forms of traditional assessment will be inaccessible to students without consistent internet access (including smartphone users). for this reason, synchronous or timed exams are not optimal in an online learning environment. rather, instructors can offer project-based, lowbandwidth alternatives such as self-reflection papers, recorded video/audio responses, illustrations, storyboards, and visual art that can easily be completed offline and then emailed or uploaded to a central site. mobile optimized learning when the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic necessitated an abrupt switch to full-time remote learning, many students were forced to use smartphones to complete their online courses as “reliance on smartphones for online access is especially common among younger adults, nonwhites and lower-income americans” (pew research center, 2019b). because of the unplanned transition, many instructors did not have the opportunity to optimize their course material for mobile learning, which inhibited students from accessing required resources. as the pandemic waned, instructors had time to rethink course design for online learning. spencer’s (2019) design techniques to maximize mobile accessibility can be utilized to optimize online course planning as follows: ● collapse content to one or two columns ● insert section breaks so students do not miss important information ● reduce the number of clicks required to access materials ● keep navigation obvious and simple ● scale media to limit download size ● clearly indicate interactive elements as there is no cursor or hover function ● chunk your content in a way that can be divided into various arrangements ● maximize space with icons library instruction within the public services department at montana state university library, librarians were forced to change to remote learning in march 2020 (at the onset of the pandemic lockdowns) along with all other formal course instruction. since the department collaborates with instructors across campus, the librarians adapted class sessions individually with either synchronous or asynchronous activities. for single guest lectures, the scheduled librarian and instructor worked together to choose the best format for instruction. for curriculum integrated instruction, librarians worked together to quickly create consistent instruction across multiple sections of a freshman seminar course. 193 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 after discussing the various issues facing both the students and librarians, it was decided an asynchronous approach would be best for instructors, librarians, and students. librarians created videos based on the in-class presentation and uploaded these into the learning management system (lms). then, a dedicated discussion forum was created in each section of the seminar for students to post topics, ask questions, and get feedback from the librarians. a worksheet was also provided to students so they could track their work, and it gave the instructors an optional assignment to grade for the week’s classes. this fast, asynchronous approach worked well enough for a quickly redesigned remote learning exercise, as it allowed students to view the content, work on the discussion forum, and receive feedback without requiring constant internet connectivity. though not perfect, this effort worked given the quick turnaround required. for individual guest lectures where librarians were invited to present during one class session, multiple means of instruction were available, and the librarian worked with the instructor to choose the best format. the university utilizes both webex and microsoft teams for synchronous learning, but as noted above, many students may not be able to watch a library demonstration via screen sharing if they do not have high-speed broadband connectivity. asynchronous options for library instruction include pre-recorded video lectures and demonstrations created by individual librarians, discussion forums within the learning management system, tutorials, and broad topic cross-disciplinary interactive learning modules. depending on the course level and the rigor of the material, any of these asynchronous forms of instruction can be successfully utilized to engage students with library content. all students are also encouraged to reach out to the library via chat, email, or by making an appointment for one-on-one support. this combination of asynchronous instruction followed by individual support allows for scaffolding of instruction and better utilization of librarians’ limited time. both synchronous and asynchronous instruction has continued in the 2020-21 academic year and librarians are constantly updating techniques to better improve online learning. purchasing accessible materials for library users not only did instruction shift online in spring 2020, the library’s collection development (cd) unit suddenly found themselves fulfilling requests from instructors across campus to track down ebook versions of textbooks and other physical monographs that their students needed. for the most part, the cd unit was successful in quickly finding alternative and low-cost or free solutions, thanks to initiatives like the hathitrust emergency temporary access service and the national emergency library (internet archive). they were also able to fund several purchases of more costly ebook titles that met their access, technology, and pricing requirements. while the pandemic certainly created a sense of urgency around using streaming media in online instruction sessions, over the last few years the library has seen a consistent spike in requests for digital materials. while libraries typically know which vendors are reliable, responsive, and affordable, they are usually not privy to who the ultimate end user is, and the digital challenges that they may face. libraries are placed in a position to make assumptions about what their diverse student body can or cannot access, unfortunately. however, there are steps that libraries can take to make informed decisions about purchases. 194 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 procuring accessible digital resources implementing access to digital resources can be intricate and time consuming, especially if a library is working with a new digital provider for the first time. setup often takes time and technical skills, two things that can be in short supply in many academic libraries. additionally, budget constraints are making it increasingly more challenging to start new subscriptions that can benefit a diverse student body, and libraries must be savvy to the different formats they opt to purchase. the cd unit at the library usually considers the following when procuring any new digital resource: ● is the resource affordable with the library’s current budget? ● will it work with our current authentication methods? ● does the resource meet accessibility standards? ● can it be integrated into our discovery layer? montana state university, like many higher education institutions, is a heavy user of streaming films and ebooks in the classroom. faculty rely tremendously on these modalities for effective teaching. in addition to the above requirements, to ensure that these resources will be accessible to users, the cd unit has specific considerations when purchasing these formats: ● does it allow for an unlimited number of simultaneous users? ● if it’s a streaming film, does it come with public performance rights (ppr)? ● how long is the length of the license? one-year? perpetual? ● does the streaming video include closed-captioning and transcripts? ● is it hosted by the platform or will the library need to host it? ● is it drm-free? ● are their marc records available for free (or for an additional fee)? on-demand acquisitions up until spring 2020, the library ran a well-used course reserves system, where instructors could place physical materials to be borrowed by students for short periods of time. this service was put on pause due to the pandemic. in response to this, instructors were left scrambling to find streaming versions of films, and electronic copies of books for their students. ultimately, the cd unit saw an increase in requests for the library to find and purchase these materials. while the cd unit has slowly been moving to an on-demand acquisitions program, the pandemic, along with budgetary constraints, has sped up this move. the montana state university library always tries to find if the requested resources are available from a platform that meets their requirements. the cd unit’s preference is to find a streaming film license that is hosted by an outside platform, such as kanopy. in fact, if kanopy does have 195 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 a film available, the library will readily purchase a one-year film license. at a typical cost of $150.00 u.s. per license, while costly, kanopy provides very easy access for instructors and students because the platform is user-friendly. films can be accessed by going directly into the kanopy database and searching for title, supplier, subject, and other field codes; by searching for a film in the library’s online catalog; or, an instructor can share a film’s proxied link with their students. the administrative side of kanopy is also straightforward for librarians purchasing films, monitoring use, seeing which film licenses are due to expire soon, and managing budgetary expenses. however, especially with streaming media requests, the resources cannot always be obtained on an institutional-friendly platform. in many cases, the films are available on popular streaming services meant for individual use like hulu, netflix, amazon prime, youtube, and more. librarians will inform the instructor of availability at these platforms and have stated on the library’s “streaming media” webpage (msu library, n.d.) that the library may suggest instructors ask their students to rent from, purchase from, or subscribe to a streaming film platform. there have been times when instructors have pushed back, stating they do not want to ask their students to purchase one more thing for school. they, and the library, are aware that this is potentially an unexpected expense for students, one not necessarily budgeted for at the beginning of the school year. the library also encourages instructors to look through the film libraries that the library subscribes to prior to making a request for an additional film license purchase. we have had sparing success with that suggestion. some state that they have looked through and do not find what it is they need or want. many instructors have their favorites they have used year after year, and seemingly will not budge to using an alternative. hosting and digitization services we often wonder if the library’s inability to host streaming films on library servers is prohibiting access to streaming films for students and instructors. we often wonder, is this prohibiting access to streaming films for our students and instructors? with a small staff, the library is not able to support everything we would like to. we already spend a lot of time managing the acquisition of film licenses supported on other platforms and navigating those purchases for instructors. we do not have a good sense of how those are even being used, if at all, by the end user (i.e., the students). the idea of creating a whole new workflow, finding the staff to assist with hosting film licenses and the maintenance that comes along with that, is daunting. the library also sees requests from faculty asking whether it is possible to digitize dvds. while the legality of this is questionable, it also poses the questions: where would the digitized files live, and how can we ensure our users can access them seamlessly? certainly in these times where many of our users are learning online, it would be advantageous to digitize the dvds we already own and host them ourselves for explicit access to our students. the library has also investigated whether it is possible to host films that we have licensed on one of our servers. we did try this with just a few titles in march 2020, and it was not ideal. according to our library it staff, the videos were not optimized for streaming, and not all of them provided transcripts that the university would have needed under an americans with disabilities act (ada)5 requirement. the videos were low quality, low resolution, too large, and required re-encoding. there were also issues with lack of sound that needed troubleshooting. one must consider the maintenance of running a video hosting service to include licensing, ensuring that videos are removed after the license expires (if not a life of file purchase), and the time needed to possibly re-encode for compatibility. again, every request will be a little different, likely involving a different vendor, 196 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 and need additional time devoted to each request. most important is ensuring that the files are optimized for all devices and bandwidth. technical services librarians, as well as public services librarians, should make a concerted effort to keep up with the requirements that enable technology to be successfully accessed by users. it does not seem to be enough to educate ourselves as requests come in; it is increasingly necessary that we make this a part of our regular, daily work. policy decisions need to be made across the library about what is acceptable when making a purchasing decision. questions should be asked of libraries--are we reaching enough of our users with our current decision-making, or do we need to be more proactive to ensure that we continue to reach a diverse group of users. while on demand acquisitions have changed much of collection development for the better, it still requires constant librarian evaluation and assessment. digital accessibility not only must libraries ensure the items purchased are accessible and help provide remote access to resources, services, and instruction, but also ensure the digital content they create meets accessibility standards as an important component of digital equity and digital inclusion. digital content includes, but is not limited to, the library website, libguides, and library instruction materials such as word and pdf documents. even if students have a device, internet access, off campus access through remote authentication, and the library already owns the materials they need, the resources they come across might still not meet their accessibility needs. this may be due to the reality that digital library content does not always follow accessibility best practices, or the ongoing challenge that users have diverse and unique needs and what works for one person does not work for another (one-size-fits-one, n.d.). as libraries work to update their resources to meet accessibility guidelines, a process called remediation, they can share information about their efforts along with contact information and the option to request materials in a different and more accessible format, which would help meet the specific needs of the individual user. however, this is not a substitute for working to ensure that library resources meet current accessibility guidelines, because when accessibility best practices are followed, it increases user access to resources from the beginning (gerard & bronsema, 2020). another challenge to ensuring digital accessibility is that it is a distributed responsibility among everyone creating content, from librarians creating libguides or library instruction materials, to the library website, to instructors creating or choosing materials that may or may not meet accessibility standards. therefore, the library created a library digital accessibility committee (ldac), with members from each department in the library, to help track digital accessibility remediation as well as integrate accessibility guidelines into the creation process for new content across the library. forming a library accessibility committee has allowed us to get an organization-wide lens on accessibility, including where we need to focus our improvement efforts moving forward to ensure equitable access for all users. having the knowledge of accessibility guidelines, and the skills to ensure digital content and documents meet those guidelines, are also challenges that take valuable time. however, it is much easier and faster to incorporate accessibility best practices when creating documents or digital content from the start, rather than having to remediate it in the future which can take far more time (gerard & bronsema, 2020). therefore, libraries can play an integral part in promoting accessibility awareness, including why accessibility matters, the impact on student success, digital equity and inclusion, as well as training for accessibility best practices. 197 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 when promoting and offering training on digital accessibility best practices, it is helpful to start with why accessibility matters to gain buy-in, before explaining the best practices and showing examples of how they are used. this approach can help persuade people who might fall into the trap of mistakenly thinking that disabilities are not prevalent, that the time it takes to make resources accessible is not worth it, or that they will know if a student needs an accessible version and can make it accessible in the future. in reality disabilities can be invisible, such as hearing loss or learning disabilities (dolmage, 2017, p. 244); students are not required to disclose a disability, and may not request accommodations or materials in a different format even if it might be helpful. one quarter of people in the u.s., or 26%, live with disability (cdc, 2020); one fifth, or 19%, of undergraduate students report having a disability (nces, 2018); and everyone will experience a disability at some point in their life according to access lab (sethfors, 2017). that is because disability can be permanent, temporary, or situational (shum et al., 2016). for example, temporary injuries are common, and a cast or sling could hinder a student’s ability to type an assignment or use a keyboard (shum et al., 2016). situational disabilities can range from being affected by a loud environment, to being extremely sleepy which impairs focus and performance (sethfors, 2017). ultimately, following digital accessibility best practices benefits all users (w3c, 2019) and helps ensure library users can access what they need, when they need it. without access to all learning materials, student success is limited (nagle & vitez, 2021) and therefore following accessibility best practices can help support student success, and ensure that students with disabilities have access. this in turn helps support digital equity and inclusion. accessibility is, and should remain, focused on users with disabilities (henry et al., 2014), although following accessibility best practices will benefit everyone (w3c, 2019). for example, making your pdf searchable by running ocr (optical character recognition) is not only a first step towards making pdfs more accessible to screen readers, but also allows users to search by keyword to locate specific information quickly; including headers helps structure documents so users can scan and navigate by section; captions help people who have hearing impairments, speak english as a second language, or who need to view videos in noisy or quiet environments without headphones; alttext and transcripts allow users to read the content if they have visual impairments, insufficient internet or bandwidth to view the content, and can be read using glasses, magnification, a screen reader, braille, or other assistive technology. additional information about digital accessibility best practices, how to use them, as well as training resources can already be found in the literature (arlitsch, 2018; de macedo & ulbricht, 2012; cervone, 2013; mccann & peacock, 2019) and the web content accessibility guidelines (wcag) from w3c web accessibility initiative (2020). lastly, it is always best to get direct feedback from users with disabilities (pionke, 2017) when creating new content for the library website, libguides, course materials, or any digital content, although following accessibility best practices is a fundamental first step. following accessibility guidelines helps ensure access to library resources, and is an integral step to supporting digital equity and digital inclusion. user feedback and best practices for digital accessibility should be incorporated across library services, including offering remote access, public services, purchasing materials, and library instruction. strategies for supporting digital equity & inclusion in libraries providing access, in all its many forms, is what brings together the ideas discussed from various perspectives across the library. though the pandemic highlighted various challenges to providing 198 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 equitable and inclusive access, those challenges existed prior to covid-19 and will remain ongoing issues. access is still the root of accessibility as well as digital equity and digital inclusion, and the digital divide impacts certain communities more than others, even in higher education. while we have examined this from a local, case-study perspective in montana, we also acknowledge that these challenges extend beyond the scope of our paper, and exist within the landscape of much broader circumstances like absolute poverty and the global digital divide (hill & lawton, 2018). therefore, we invite others to build on this topic to include further comparisons and global perspectives. access is also at the heart of the purpose and work of libraries. indeed, there are numerous ways that any library can support digital equity and inclusion, as shared throughout this article: ● implement remote access authentication methods for patrons if possible ● provide technology checkouts and hotspots to enable access ● expand in-person services to offer remote options as well ● offer the option for users to submit accessibility requests in order to get material in a more accessible format ● utilize the udl framework when developing instruction ● when teaching, offer low-bandwidth solutions for students with access barriers ● utilize design techniques that maximize mobile accessibility ● suggest ways that your users can maximize bandwidth, such as downloading a resource for use offline rather than viewing resources in their browser ● ask questions when procuring resources to ensure they are accessible ● offer on-demand acquisitions in the preferred format of the user ● follow digital accessibility best practices ● form a committee to help implement digital accessibility workflows, and/or advance digital equity and digital inclusion in the library these strategies are informed by our experiences at montana state university and the five different perspectives discussed: access is an essential library service; public services; online library instruction; purchasing accessible materials; and digital accessibility. the strategies can also be extended to other libraries, and adapted for their communities. academic libraries can work to promote digital equity and inclusion for their users through a range of cohesive services that help bridge the digital divide by supporting student needs and removing barriers that inhibit success. 199 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 endnotes 1 “a federal indian reservation is an area of land reserved for a tribe or tribes under treaty or other agreement with the united states, executive order, or federal statute or administrative action as permanent tribal homelands, and where the federal government holds title to the land in trust on behalf of the tribe”. https://www.bia.gov/frequently-asked-questions 2 coronavirus aid, relief, and economic security act (cares act). to provide emergency assistance and health care response for american individuals, families, and businesses affected by the covid-19 pandemic. enacted by the 116th united states congress. effective march 27, 2020. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/plaw-116publ136/pdf/plaw-116publ136.pdf 3 verizon is an american telecommunications company and provider of mobile telephone services https://www.verizon.com 4 at&t is an american telecommunications company and provider of mobile telephone services. https://www.att.com/ 5 the americans with disabilities act of 1990 (ada) is civil rights laws in the united states that makes it unlawful to discriminate against citizens with disabilities. the ada also outlines provisions to ensure equitable standards to access public services for disabled citizens. for more information, visit: http://www.ada.gov references abbott, t. 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(2020). low-bandwidth teaching strategies in response to the covid-19 pandemic: addressing technology access inequity in distance learning and online education. the education redesign lab: harvard graduate school of education. https://edredesign.org/files/edredesign/files/low_bandwidth_teaching_strategies_2.p df?m=1596823789 mccann, s., & peacock, r. (2019, may 3). be an ally for accessibility: tips for all librarians. college & research libraries news, 80(5), 266. 10.5860/crln.80.5.266 mehta, d., & wang, x. (2020, may 19). covid-19 and digital library services–a case study of a university library. digital library perspectives. 10.1108/dlp-05-2020-0030 montana state university library (n.d.). streaming media. https://www.lib.montana.edu/services/information-access/discover/streamingmedia/ montana state library. (n.d). montana state library hotspot lending program. services to libraries. https://libraries.msl.mt.gov/hotspotlendingprogram montana state university library. (n.d.). streaming media. https://www.lib.montana.edu/services/information-access/discover/streamingmedia/ montana state university office of planning & analysis. (2019). student data. https://www.montana.edu/opa/students/ nagle, c., & vitez, k. (2021). fixing the broken textbook market. u.s. pirg education fund. https://uspirgedfund.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/fixing%20the%20broken%20textbook %20market%2c%203e%20february%202021.pdf national digital inclusion alliance. 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(2018). digest of education statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/ch_3.asp pew research center. (2019a, june 12). internet/broadband fact sheet. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/internet-broadband/ pew research center. (2019b, june 12). mobile fact sheet. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/ pionke, j. j. (2017, september 1). toward holistic accessibility: narratives from functionally diverse patrons. reference and user services quarterly, 57(1), 48-56. https://doi.org/10.5860/rusq.57.1.6442 proquest support center. (2019). what is the quality of the streaming video content? https://support.proquest.com/articledetail?id=ka01w000000k9yhsaq sethfors, h. (2017). statistics on disabilities – the one stat you need to know. axess lab. https://axesslab.com/statistics-on-disabilities/ shum, a., holmes, k., woolery, k., price, m., kim, d., dvorkina, e., & malekzadeh, s. (2016). inclusive: a microsoft design toolkit. https://download.microsoft.com/download/b/0/d/b0d4bf87-09ce-4417-8f28d60703d672ed/inclusive_toolkit_manual_final.pdf spencer, t. (2019, june 11). 8 responsive design techniques to optimize mobile learning. elearning industry. https://elearningindustry.com/mobile-learning-8-responsivedesign-techniques-optimize st. amour, m. (2020, october 6). tribal colleges are innovating this fall but will still need longterm support. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/10/06/tribal-colleges-areinnovating-fall-will-still-need-long-term-support sunithal, t., & sreekumar, m. g. (2011, february). a single-sign-on and a remote login solution to library e-journals and e-resources. in international conference on digital libraries and knowledge organization (icdk 2011) (pp. 14-16). http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.452.3910&rep=rep1&type= pdf tanberk, j. & cooper, t. (2020, august 18). 82% of residents in tribal zip codes have broadband internet access, compared to 94% of non-tribal residents. broadbandnow research. https://broadbandnow.com/research/tribal-broadband the floe inclusive learning design handbook. (n.d.). https://handbook.floeproject.org/ third iron. (n.d.). what is a proxy server and how does it work? customer feedback for third iron library technologies. https://support.thirdiron.com/knowledgebase/articles/542038-what-is-a-proxy-serverand-how-does-it-work 203 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/ch_3.asp https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/ch_3.asp https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/ch_3.asp https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/internet-broadband/ https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/ https://doi.org/10.5860/rusq.57.1.6442 https://support.proquest.com/articledetail?id=ka01w000000k9yhsaq https://axesslab.com/statistics-on-disabilities/ https://axesslab.com/statistics-on-disabilities/ https://axesslab.com/statistics-on-disabilities/ https://download.microsoft.com/download/b/0/d/b0d4bf87-09ce-4417-8f28-d60703d672ed/inclusive_toolkit_manual_final.pdf https://download.microsoft.com/download/b/0/d/b0d4bf87-09ce-4417-8f28-d60703d672ed/inclusive_toolkit_manual_final.pdf https://download.microsoft.com/download/b/0/d/b0d4bf87-09ce-4417-8f28-d60703d672ed/inclusive_toolkit_manual_final.pdf https://download.microsoft.com/download/b/0/d/b0d4bf87-09ce-4417-8f28-d60703d672ed/inclusive_toolkit_manual_final.pdf https://elearningindustry.com/mobile-learning-8-responsive-design-techniques-optimize https://elearningindustry.com/mobile-learning-8-responsive-design-techniques-optimize https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/10/06/tribal-colleges-are-innovating-fall-will-still-need-long-term-support https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/10/06/tribal-colleges-are-innovating-fall-will-still-need-long-term-support http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.452.3910&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.452.3910&rep=rep1&type=pdf https://broadbandnow.com/research/tribal-broadband https://handbook.floeproject.org/ https://support.thirdiron.com/knowledgebase/articles/542038-what-is-a-proxy-server-and-how-does-it-work https://support.thirdiron.com/knowledgebase/articles/542038-what-is-a-proxy-server-and-how-does-it-work digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 verizon. (n.d). data usage faqs. manage cellular data. https://www.verizon.com/support/data-usage-faqs/ verizon. (n.d.). making sense of data: how much data do you need? https://www.verizon.com/articles/making-sense-of-data-how-much-do-you-need/ walker, d., hefner, j., fareed, n., huerta, t., mcalearney, a. (2020). exploring the digital divide: age and race disparities in use of an inpatient portal. telemedicine and ehealth, 26(5) 603-613. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2019.0065 w3c. (2019). introduction to web accessibility. https://www.w3.org/wai/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/ jacqueline frank (jacqueline.frank@montana.edu) is the instruction & accessibility librarian at montana state university. jacqueline has led library wide accessibility remediation efforts and has presented nationally on accessibility. she works to build awareness and offer training on ways to make instruction more accessible, and is interested in the overlap between accessibility, diversity, equity and inclusion. she holds a master’s degree in environmental engineering from montana state university, and an mlis from the university of kentucky. outside of work you can find next to the closest body of water, walking her dogs, or binge-watching bad television. meghan salsbury (meghan.salsbury@montana.edu) is the instructional technology librarian at montana state university (msu). she works with students and faculty to create online learning opportunities, manages the library’s libguides, and teaches information literacy instruction sessions and credit-bearing courses. she joined the msu library in may 2019 and has focused her efforts over the past two years on developing and implementing the library’s online education infrastructure and collaborating with colleagues across campus to incorporate the library into the campus learning management system. meghan holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in history and graduated from the school of library and information management at emporia state university with a master’s in library science in 2015. hannah mckelvey (hannah.mckelvey@montana.edu) is an assistant professor and electronic resources & discovery services librarian at montana state university (msu) library in bozeman, montana. her current role and responsibilities at msu library include managing all aspects of electronic information licensed by the library through third-parties and to facilitate discovery and access to the library’s electronic resources and physical materials. hannah describes her research interests as practice-based and applicable, focused around current work she is doing in the library. she is interested in discovery, broadly, of third-party subscription content, locally created resources, such as digital collections, physical library collections, and promoting these resources through outreach. hannah holds a bachelor’s degree in english literature from montana state university and completed her master’s in library and information science at the university of illinois at urbana-champaign in 2011. rachelle mclain (rachelle.mclain@montana.edu) is the collection development librarian at the montana state university library. she manages the library’s collections budget and oversees the acquisition and deselection of resources to meet the research and learning needs of the montana and msu communities. she holds a bachelor of arts in art history from western washington 204 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.verizon.com/support/data-usage-faqs/ https://www.verizon.com/articles/making-sense-of-data-how-much-do-you-need/ https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2019.0065 https://www.w3.org/wai/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/ mailto:jacqueline.frank@montana.edu mailto:meghan.salsbury@montana.edu mailto:hannah.mckelvey@montana.edu mailto:rachelle.mclain@montana.edu digital equity & inclusion strategies for libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36190 university and an mlis from the university of washington. she has presented and been asked to serve on panel discussions at both local and national conferences, in person and virtually. 205 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index introduction remote access for online resources public services to advance access, digital equity, and inclusion technology checkouts hotspot lending programs remote public services instruction & instructional technology universal design for learning (udl) representation action and expression mobile optimized learning library instruction purchasing accessible materials for library users procuring accessible digital resources on-demand acquisitions hosting and digitization services digital accessibility strategies for supporting digital equity & inclusion in libraries endnotes references book review of a matter of facts: the value of evidence in an information age the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33596 ijidi: book review millar, l. a. (2019). a matter of facts: the value of evidence in an information age. ala editions. isbn 9780838917718. 192 pp. $44.99 us. reviewer: jennifer grant, york university, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: digital records; evidence; information literacy; recordkeeping; truth publication type: book review t the time of writing this review, u.s. president donald trump’s impeachment trial had just begun, capping off a tumultuous first presidential term that made popular terms such as “fake news” and “alternative facts”, and set media organizations on a race to track the numbers and nature of lies and mistruths uttered by trump since his inauguration in december 2016. also making headlines, although smaller ones, the u.s. national archives and records administration (nara) was bracing itself against criticism about the creation and display of a photograph censored by nara staff, originally taken at the 2017 women’s march in washington, dc. nara’s censorship of this photo included the blurring of anti-trump slogans and references to female anatomy considered by nara staff to be too political or vulgar for display in nara’s public exhibition space. aside from the trump connection, though, what do these two news items have in common? certainly, the election of donald trump has focused much public attention on questions of truth and trust, abuse of power, and the dangers of unregulated and unprotected data. as an agency of the u.s. federal government, tasked with the responsibility to acquire, preserve, and protect the official records of the u.s., nara created doubt about its trustworthiness as keeper of the nation’s historical record with this simple act of photo manipulation. these examples serve as reminders of how destructive the erosion of evidence and trust can be. it seems likely the era of trump has added fuel to archivist laura millar’s fire, whose book, a matter of facts, presents a timely, emphatic, and passionate case for the importance of creating, preserving, and understanding evidence in a period of great technological and social change. indeed, examples pertaining to the trump administration feature prominently throughout the book. however, millar has a broader, more wide-ranging purpose with this book, which is, in effect, a public call to action. as she methodically details throughout its ten chapters, the rapid pace of technological change has produced quantities of data that professional recordkeepers cannot manage alone, and yet the nature of digital records necessitates early intervention and responsible stewardship to ensure the survival of data that is both authentic and accessible. this problem is at the heart of the book, and her solution is that everyone must make the protection of evidence their concern through personal action and demands for better accountability from government, industry, and business. a matter of facts is the first volume in a joint endeavour by the american library association (ala) and the society of american archivists (saa) entitled archival futures, which seeks to examine the broader social role of archivists and archives in a changing information landscape. millar explains her archival credentials in the book’s introduction and provides a brief history of a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index a matter of facts the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33596 recordkeeping professions and the value of that work through the ages. yet despite millar’s extensive experience as an archivist and consultant, a matter of facts is a book written for the public, not for other workers in the archival profession or archival theorists. its language is inclusive (the use of the collective ‘we’ features heavily throughout the book) and straightforward, and the structure of the book, with short chapters broken up by subheadings and extensive citations in chapter endnotes, mirrors millar’s belief in the importance of information exchange supported by facts and evidence. instead of drawing on archival theory for the basis of her arguments, she instead uses news stories and examples from popular culture, both historic and recent, to tease out the far-reaching impact and value of evidence on people and societies around the world. chapters maintain a consistent structure, with an introductory thesis statement, paragraphs with subheadings consisting of these news-based supporting examples, and a concluding paragraph. each chapter addresses millar's overarching thesis in a slightly different way to highlight how interrelated concepts of truth, authenticity, value, accountability, identity, and memory affect our lives as individuals, consumers, and citizens. this populist approach and its emphasis on the “we are all in this together” concept situates this book as relevant to a potentially wide audience. it would be a particularly suitable addition to university or even high school curricula, as it contains important information about how borndigital generations, currently in their teens and twenties, can think about the large quantities of data they produce, manage, and access. it is perhaps this generation of digital creators that may benefit the most from the book’s messages about the importance of creating and preserving personal digital memory objects, understanding the difference between facts and feelings or personal truth and verifiable proof, demanding accountability from government and business in the creation and protection of data and evidence, and questioning assumptions about the stability of technologies to preserve evidence. however, this book has relevance to a broader audience than just the young. as millar points out, ‘digital immigrants’ such as baby boomers and generation xers also need to engage actively with these issues if they are to lead by example and have influence in their roles as parents, educators, and public officials (p.137). a matter of facts is a book that foregrounds the life, work, and interests of its author. the reader can see the personal nature of millar’s writing in her numerous asides and anecdotes found throughout the text. some of these, particularly references to millar’s husband, domestic life, and family genealogy, are unnecessary additions to the book that may serve to distance the reader from the subject matter at hand and shift focus from the collective ‘we’ to the subjective ‘she’. despite this, the many stories and examples used to illustrate her points throughout the book have an international focus and include accounts from south america, africa, asia, europe, north america, and australia. these examples emphasize the relevance of evidence and its protection to populations around the world, even though millar's voice is the lone and dominant force in this text. millar also highlights the ways evidence and its absence disproportionately affects immigrants, refugees, indigenous people, and racialized populations. millar does this work most effectively in chapters five and six, where she recounts examples from canada, the u.k., and australia, with a focus on the connections between evidence, identity, personal rights, and justice. millar’s knowledge of and passion for her subject is clear, and as a reader, this is both a bit of a curse and a blessing. the methodical way in which she has structured the book results in a certain level of redundancy from chapter to chapter, as she hammers home her points from slightly different angles. this approach is less effective than perhaps intended, and the reader may be left overwhelmed, jumping from example to example, as millar ensures she has proven her thesis 135 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index a matter of facts the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33596 in each chapter. whether intentional or not, the result is that each chapter could effectively stand alone as a discrete unit of information, potentially making individual chapters useful as assigned readings for students. the tone of the book is emphatic but also didactic, and millar does not restrain herself, telling the reader what they (we) need to do and care about to ensure the continued creation and protection of digital evidence. the reader must decide whether such exhortations are inspirational enough to prompt action or not. nevertheless, a matter of facts is a topical, valuable work that offers a compelling and thoroughly argued case for why we should all care about the enduring existence of authentic evidence. millar has done her research, and her choice to target a general audience is a smart one in keeping with her belief that the challenges of curating, protecting, and preserving evidence are collective ones. the book’s densely presented information is counterbalanced by the relevance of the supporting examples, which will resonate with many readers, including information professionals, students, and others. when millar concludes, “we are all archivists now”, it is hard not to feel convinced that she is right. jennifer grant (grantj@yorku.ca) is an archivist at the clara thomas archives and special collections, york university libraries. she is currently the vice-president of the archives association of ontario. grant has a master’s degree in information studies with a specialization in archival studies from the university of toronto and a master’s degree in english from york university. her research interests relate to the management of born-digital personal records in university archives. 136 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:grantj@yorku.ca archiving bilingual latin@ oral histories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38297 archiving bilingual latin@ oral histories elena foulis, texas a&m, usa brandon d’souza, ohio state university, usa abstract over the past ten years, digital archives documenting underrepresented communities have been rising. for example, oral and print historical projects about minoritized communities and ethnic cultural heritage centers have existed for decades (daniel, 2010), yet few are fully accessible online. the increased presence of these types of archives points not only to the need to document the histories of these communities but also to the interest in making this work accessible to all. there is an urgency in documenting, archiving, and curating histories—audio, print, video, and other ephemera—because minoritized communities have consistently faced exclusion from majority historical documents. as precarious and essential as this work is, important projects like the one discussed here are often shared as an in-process version. this process allows us to shape and consider new ways of archiving, perhaps even disrupting traditional collecting and accessioning methods beyond canonical (white) standards. this article shows our interest in developing a decolonized model for archiving digital oral history collections. indeed, much of the way we are thinking about making the collection accessible is by centering it on bilingual descriptions of each item in the collection signals a non-traditional and, thus, decolonial way of documenting a community. “archiving bilingual latin@ oral histories” is an initiative to make an already existing digital oral history archive accessible to the community it documents. from collecting stories, accessioning, and website design and content, it seeks to work collaboratively with students and the community to present a bilingual archive representing the latina/o/x community in ohio. keywords: archives; bilingual; latinx; oral history publication type: case study introduction ver the past ten years, digital archives that document underrepresented communities have been on the rise. for example, oral and print historical projects about minoritized communities and ethnic cultural heritage centers have existed for decades (daniel, 2010), yet few are fully accessible online. the increased presence of these types of archives points not only to the need to document the histories of these communities but also to the interest in making this work accessible to all. indeed, there is an urgency in documenting, archiving, and curating histories—audio, print, video, and other ephemera—because minoritized communities have consistently faced exclusion from majority historical documents. as precarious and important as this work is, important projects like the one discussed here are often shared as an in-process version. that is, oral historians, digital archivists, and public humanities scholars make choices that are based on time, access, and support from technical or specialized personnel o https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi archiving bilingual latin@ oral histories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38297 and funding, all of which are often scarce. the reasons for the lack of resources are many. still, one important consideration is what boyles et al. (2018) have noted: academia, although interested in public digital humanities, still values print monographs over digital labor. yet, for those of us producing public-facing work, in this case, an oral history that centers on the local community and who engage students in several steps of this work (interview training, digital photography, video editing, and accessioning), digital access is crucial, and the need to make the content available is pressing. undoubtedly, we are met with these questions: when is a digital archive ready for the public? do we wait to make a project public until all the elements are completed? how will the community know their contributions are valued if we wait too long to publish them? background and mission of oral narratives of latin@s in ohio (onlo) archiving bilingual latina/o/x stories in ohio responds to these pressing questions and, as such, is an initiative to make an already existing digital oral history archive accessible to the community it documents. it seeks to work collaboratively with students and communities to present a bilingual archive that represents the latina/o/x population in ohio during all stages of the process, including collecting stories, accessioning, designing the website, and curating content. the archive, understood as a collection of photographs, video, and audio (potter, 2007), should be accessible to the community and researchers. indeed, with this in mind, we continue to work towards designing an archive that is not only just but also an accurate representation of the latina/o/x community that includes information in spanish and english. onlo, a growing oral history archive about latinas/os/x in ohio, documents life stories of the latina/o/x community across generations, decades, and heritages. the project began in 2014 and has archived over 130 oral histories. the archive itself seeks to provide narratives of latina/o/x life that counter the overrepresentation of one-sided views, the misrepresentation in the media of this community, and, indeed, the absence of their presence and contributions altogether. while onlo is not designated as a community archive, we aspire to provide a fair and just representation of the community that reflects their values and identities. therefore, we want to provide a more inclusive historical record in the way we present each aspect of this collection. caswell (2014) argues that community archives empower the communities they seek to document, stating that “[p]ower is central to this conversation; the need to uncover and provide a platform for previously marginalized voices” (p. 32). in this sense, onlo has sought to fill this gap. while we continue to respond to feedback from communities and students who interact with the archive, our effort towards creating a resource that is available to anyone with online1 access is a step towards helping us make sense of our own histories in relation to this community. while our collection is unique in that it is, to our knowledge, one of only a handful of digital archives of oral narratives to intentionally present content in both english and spanish, thus increasing the accessibility of multimedia collections through online resources, early examples include projects such as from lunchroom to boardroom, a series of recorded interviews and accompanying transcripts from 1991 that document the stories of women who participated in the queensland labor movement between 1930 and 1970 (horn & fagg, 2001). in 2000, the university of queensland library decided to digitize the collection and created indices that distinguished and organized segments within each interview, thus creating a searchable online database (horn & fagg, 2001). 73 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index archiving bilingual latin@ oral histories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38297 the last five years have also seen a rise in internet services similar to europeana, which provides access to over 50 million digitized resources from libraries, museums, and other archives across europe. beyond simply making their resources available via the internet, close attention is paid to creating metadata to maximize the ease of navigation and, ultimately, the usefulness of a collection (kuzma & moscicka, 2018). nowadays, guides published by organizations such as the dublin core metadata initiative (https://www.dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/dces/) help to standardize the pieces of information that digital collections provide to their users. they stress the importance of key elements such as the contributor, date, description, and format of a resource, among other descriptors. similarly, in the u.s., we have seen an increased number of projects that stress the importance of documenting underrepresented communities. in just the last 20 years, there has been a growing interest in documenting latina/o/x histories. projects such as the bracero history archive (https://braceroarchive.org/), voces oral history center from the university of texas at austin (https://voces.lib.utexas.edu/), chicagolandia oral history archive (https://www.chicagolandiaoralhistory.org/), cartas a la familia: de la migración de jesusita a jane/family letters: on the migration from jesusita to jane (https://familyletters.unl.edu/), and migration is beautiful (http://migration.lib.uiowa.edu/) are a few examples of this increased archival presence in local communities. however, only a few archives, such as nuestras raíces: the latino oral history project of rhode island (nuestrasraicesri.org) and new roots: voices from carolina del norte/nuevas raíces: voces de carolina del norte (https://newroots.lib.unc.edu/) offer a bilingual format to their archives. we used many of these collections as examples and as inspiration when thinking about the purpose of our archival work and the impact improvements to the onlo collection could have on the future. with the reflections produced by these initiatives serving as launching points, our goal was to adapt these archival and accessioning practices to fit the needs of a community-centric collection of bilingual oral narratives. historical and recent barriers facing the onlo collection while the stories are collected in the preferred language of the narrator (spanish and english) and uploaded to the center for folklore studies (cfs) website at the ohio state university, little has been done to pay attention to the way in which the archive is inviting to community members, participants, and researchers. this is primarily due to time limitations, personnel access, and funding. these narratives are a central part of the service-learning course at the ohio state university entitled spanish in ohio. students view or read these oral history narratives as they prepare to work directly with the local latina/o/x community in central ohio. the director of the folklore archives and the onlo director worked with five students to create an archive that represents the community it seeks to document. in other words, we worked towards creating an archive where component elements (the collection, website content, and the accessioning processes) are all fully bilingual. given our covid-19 restrictions, the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters presented the perfect opportunity to provide students with a unique way to engage with the archive. under nonpandemic conditions, students are discouraged from working online because a service-learning class's primary goal is to work with the community. the pandemic has taught us that we can continue to work collaboratively and learn from the community in different ways, which has now expanded the way we think about community engagement. for example, while we could not work in person, we could host two virtual presentations to present the work on the archive and 74 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/dces/ http://migration.lib.uiowa.edu/ https://newroots.lib.unc.edu/ archiving bilingual latin@ oral histories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38297 receive feedback. this virtual setting, primarily due to covid-19, provided a convenient platform for exchanging knowledge and information. expanding accessibility of onlo through student engagement after expressing interest in working as archival interns, students became familiar with the cfs’s folklore archives collections, and they eventually focused on the onlo collection to understand the relationship between the onlo collection and the larger body of collections housed at the folklore archives. via zoom, we trained students on how to understand the relationship between archiving, oral history, and social justice. they listened to interviews and discussed the narratives, thereby critically engaging with latina/o/x stories. a vital element of this work was requesting feedback from the community and having public presentations about the progress of this work, which could help us understand where the gaps might be and assure us that we were moving in the right direction with this project. during their self-guided explorations, students were asked to consider the similarities and differences between the various collections, as well as the unique aspects that stood out to them. only then was their attention directed to the onlo collection in particular. additionally, students reflected on the value of oral history, the roles of digital archives, and the importance or purpose of archival work. in doing so, they engaged in participatory pedagogy, which foulis (2018) describes as learning that is promoted by selfreflection on personal experiences in relation to others. it was important to us that students developed a sense of ownership and mutual collaboration during each step of the process, so they offered insights and were asked to provide feedback on how to name files with the latina/o/x community in mind. together, we began to look for ways to modify the finding aid template best to meet collection, researcher, and community needs. students eventually shared ideas produced by these prompts during a virtual training session that laid the foundation for their internships' relevance and learning objectives. during this introductory meeting, we also reviewed how the students would complete the two primary tasks of their position: establishing and implementing an effective naming scheme for the various files associated with the onlo collection and organizing valuable pieces of metadata in an electronic finding aid. walking through a document that outlined the proper formats for each type of file’s names and using archives from the collection as examples, we explained the importance of a consistent naming pattern. we defined the significance of each element in a name stem, specifically regarding a bilingual collection such as onlo. we also thoroughly discussed the significance of each element, for example, the importance of specifying which narrative a photograph is associated with and describing what information this provides to our viewers. we then introduced students to the finding aid and the metadata categories that we thought would be most useful in terms of accessibility. we made sure to explicitly note how our finding aid is tailored to a collection of oral histories, specifically, one that contains knowledge presented in both english and spanish. we also emphasized the value of this accompanying resource to the potential of the collection. since our restrictions for gathering in-person modified our workflow, instead of solely instructing students on how to complete their tasks, our initial meeting as an archival group operated as an open exchange of ideas, serving to model collaborative work and build community. questions and concerns introduced by the students were critically thought about, not only in the immediate scope of the onlo narratives but also regarding oral histories, bilingual collections, and digital archives of cultural value in general. we remained mindful of our roles in shaping how history is perceived and the importance of deviating from historically dominant approaches to archival 75 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index archiving bilingual latin@ oral histories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38297 work. doing so allowed us to remain intentional about how our archive should be organized and what information should be available to those interested in the collection. in accordance with views held by others, such as smithies et al. (2019), we sought to ensure that our archival work was an ongoing process as opposed to an undertaking that would eventually be marked as complete. specifically, we remained open to changing our approaches throughout the entirety of the semester based on the continuous insight and feedback offered by students during biweekly meetings. for example, concerns about the inclusion of special characters resulted in adjustments to our naming schemes for the future and in corrections to previously named files. this flexibility was also reflected in the approach we took to document our process, namely, the use of an easily editable accessioning guide that was accessible to the entire archival team. accessioning the onlo collection: student tasks and findings following the initial meeting, we provided each student with an external drive, which initially held five folders. each drive contained the files associated with a different oral narrative from the onlo collection. while the collection found on the cfs website presents polished interviews and, in some cases, pictures from that day, each published story is composed of many additional files that collectively form the narrative. for example, artwork in the home of an interviewee, or the interviewee themselves, may have been photographed from multiple angles. similarly, an interview may have been broken up into multiple clips before being spliced into the published version. finally, it is also important to note that with this being a bilingual collection, some narratives have transcripts of translations that coincide with the interview. while not every file is presented to viewers of the collection, each contains knowledge and value that helps preserve the histories of the latino/a/x community in ohio and should therefore be properly organized and readily available upon request. after providing them with their respective archives, the first task we asked of the students was renaming each file based on the schemes discussed during the training meeting. the naming schemes for each file type can be found in the appendix, along with examples from the onlo collection. this was especially important because students structured descriptive information in a homogenous manner, thereby maximizing the accessibility of the collection. in this sense, the overarching collection, the date of creation, and, in some cases, the specific narrative that a file pertains to were all clearly stated. as the students renamed their files, they meticulously reviewed their work, ensuring that each component was numbered appropriately and that names were free of spelling errors. during this process, students also brought concerns to our attention, and the naming schemes were constantly modified to meet the needs of the collection. for example, in particular, regarding the bilingual nature of the collection, students expressed concerns about how the filenames of translations might be interpreted. through deliberation by our entire archival group, we came to the consensus that simply naming a file as being a translation was insufficient, and it was necessary also to specify the original language of the interview followed by the language of the translation. after completing the renaming process, students copied and pasted the new filenames into a collaborative finding aid (see figures 1 and 2). in doing so, students brought together the narratives they were individually assigned, once again attempting to increase the accessibility of the onlo collection. in addition to adding the filenames, the finding aid contained other metadata categories as well, including the location of the interview and the language in which the interview was conducted (see figure 2). the purpose of this was not only to organize the collection on the basis of additional characteristics but, more importantly, to provide cultural 76 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index archiving bilingual latin@ oral histories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38297 context about the latino communities in ohio that we attempt to present. in other words, while they are crucial for the organization of such an extensive archive, the date of collection, the type of file (see figure 1), and even the names of the interviewees provide little information about the content of the file when presented alone. therefore, students helped to contextualize each file in the larger scope of the history of latinos/as in ohio by including supplementary information such as keywords or topics that characterized each file, as well as full descriptions of each interview (see figure 1). our reason for doing this was to allow specific files or narratives to be easily identified based on students’ own interests or backgrounds. similar to the naming schemes, the metadata categories were adapted throughout the semester. initially, only descriptions of the completed interview files were to be included in both english and spanish. however, after thinking about the specific needs of our collection and our goals of decolonizing traditional archival ideologies, we recognized the importance of extending this practice to every file. by describing these pieces in both english and spanish, we deliberately increased the accessibility of the collection to include students, scholars, or community members who speak either language. furthermore, this action signified initial steps towards maintaining a strong connection with those who have contributed to the collection, thus ensuring they continue to be active participants in our archival processes. figure 1 77 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index archiving bilingual latin@ oral histories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38297 figure 2 shifting archival practices towards decolonial models while still very much a work in progress, we are striving towards a decolonial model of archiving digital oral history collections. indeed, much of the way we are thinking about how to make the collection accessible is by centering it on bilingual descriptions of each item in the collection, which signals a non-traditional and, thus, decolonized way of documenting a community. risam (2018) warns us about the use of decolonization in digital humanities as a term that signals diversity, that is, merely including more diverse voices and communities while continuing to recreate colonized dynamics. risam (2018) notes that “the move to decolonize digital humanities requires redress of the traces of colonialism that appear in digital scholarship, which has political and epistemological implications” (p. 79). perhaps careful attention to these legacies of colonial practices explains why print in academic settings continues to hold more weight, why written histories seem more credible than oral history, and why digital humanities projects are currently seen as creative work in the sense that they produce less rigorous/intellectual work. if the process of decolonization in digital humanities requires that we center the local rather than the global, the work described here is a step towards a decolonial model in archiving and representing the latina/o/x community in each step of the process. the collection process of archiving wants to recognize and show the diversity and contribution of the latina/o/x community locally—in ohio—but also in relation to how it has been shaped by the majority white population and multiple migrations, forced or not. to offer just one example, when we approached immigrant latinas/o/x about the project, we often needed to explain it in relation to testimonios, a term more common in latin america. in general, when we approached u.s.-born latinas/o/x, this explanation was typically not necessary. similarly, we invited them to use their preferred language: spanish or english and to code-switch if that was natural to 78 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index archiving bilingual latin@ oral histories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38297 them. in the archiving process, we intend to use similar practices to reflect the collection and production of knowledge from this community more clearly and purely. indeed, we acknowledge that in order to do this work, as risam (2018) concludes, we must embrace and demonstrate the flexibility needed to execute decolonial strategies as we work to represent a community that is whole and complex. community feedback and ongoing discussions during the public presentation of the students’ work at the end of the fall 2020 semester, a librarian in the audience asked why we departed from the prescribed or traditional way of naming files, as the library of congress suggests. we mentioned that those values or metrics did not reflect our work or, even less, our community’s ways of knowing. perhaps, as winn (2017) notes, we have stepped outside of the role of the archivist to activist, in which we think of library collections and archives within a social justice framework that seeks to amplify and represent our community as fairly, though perhaps not entirely neutral, as possible. quite frankly, our work is far removed from traditional ways of archiving. winn (2017) notes that archival programs contribute to the one-size-fits-all mentality in which “[w]e establish and teach a ‘neutral’ vocabulary and narrative style that conforms to the expectations of the hegemonic default— white, male, heterosexual, gender-normative, upper-middle class, global north—an allegedly blank canvas against which any deviation will contrast” (para. 8). we add monolingual englishspeakers to this list. in fact, critical language awareness applies to the effort of creating an inclusive and equitable representation of the onlo archive because it acknowledges language— in this case, spanish and racialized ideologies ascribed to it—in reinforcing damaging power relations that continue to render invisible those who are not white or english dominant/monolingual (achugar, 2015; alim, 2005). arroyo-ramirez (2016) argues that “[w]ithout this critical awareness archivists run the risk of projecting the (in)visible default onto these collections, which, in turn, influences the outcomes of our processes, and the way we provide access to, and (mis)represent, information” (para. 4). indeed, one of the goals of working to make this archive accessible to a larger audience—both englishand spanish-speaking researchers, students, and wider communities—is to make a community visible and to honor the languages they speak. in this regard, allowing languages to exist in a non-hierarchical space also signals a push for equity in linguistics practices. olivo and ferrufino’s (2019) work on creating a digital spanish linguistics corpus of anarchist newspapers serves to give access to cultural, linguistic, and historical research for those who are interested. yet, it provides so much more. it gives open access to documents only previously found in a physical space. although one could argue that while this corpus primarily serves linguists, it also responds to “[t]he critical necessity of this corpus is demonstrated by the absence of a spanish corpus of this nature until now," that is, not only must we think of ways that the archives fully represent the community we are working with, in designing a bilingual project, we have moved one step closer to establishing a nonhierarchical multilingual space” (olivo and ferrufino, p. 19). in “archiving while black,” farmer (2018) writes about the less visible spaces where black and other marginalized groups have been excluded. indeed, we must consider what is represented in libraries, art museums, and digital archives as a decolonial practice. is what we see in these spaces a representation of whiteness or white standards; does it include other groups in their permanent collections, or is it even made accessible to all groups? meaning, are exhibits or collections (whether in digital or physical spaces) only showing black, latino, or other underrepresented groups during latinx heritage or black history months, or is there a fair and just representation of this community year-round? 79 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index archiving bilingual latin@ oral histories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38297 archiving latina/o/x stories adopt a decolonial practice to archiving in which the community, the main contributor to this collection, is what we center when naming and providing bilingual descriptions of each item in the files and website. additionally, bringing in the students’ and the community’s perspectives allows us to continue to build and modify based on how our students can work and draw knowledge from the archive in a way that honors each participant included in the collection. becerra-licha (2017) notes that “[d]igital archiving, moreover, invites archivists to revisit core assumptions about authorship and authority, about context and hierarchy, and about advocacy versus agency” (p. 90). her description helps us consider the core of decolonial archiving, that is, challenging any practice that would remove the intended purpose of building a platform that documents latina/o/x voices. furthermore, becerra-licha (2017) pushes us to think of an archive not as a non-static or final product but instead as one that can and should include and address current events. she says, “participatory and post-custodial digital archives initiatives are also visibly and proactively responding to document current events, seeking contributions on an ongoing basis, and documenting events close to home, with an emphasis on a digital presence” (becerra-licha, p. 91). while the ongoing work of archiving will respond to these concerns, the onlo collection is already doing this. for example, an additional 20 interviews were added to the archive between august 2020 and january 2021 that documented the stories of latinas/o/x in ohio during the covid-19 pandemic. since 2021 continued to present covid-19-related limitations, the spring 2021 semester provided another opportunity to continue working with students in accessioning the onlo archive; additionally, students created a survey to gather community feedback from oral history narrators, the latina/o/x community, and other oral historians about the work that has been done on the website and how each item has been cataloged. at the end of the semester, students gave a public presentation via zoom. the students presented information about the archive, the work they had completed, and the importance of receiving feedback from our audience. they walked the audience through each item found in the archive and asked them to consider and review the languages, the included information, and the finding aid. together, we created a survey (in spanish and english) to be sent out to the community to receive feedback about the changes and for additional suggestions. the information we gathered has already provided us with details about how each person interacts with the archive and areas we can continue to modify. we have also started changing the survey to prompt more responses regarding design, representation, and accessibility. in addition to becerra-licha's (2017) points about modifying archival practices to stay up-to-date with the changing world around us, we argue that approaches should continue to be dynamic with respect to how a community would like to be presented along with their current ideologies, both of which are certainly subject to change over time. in other words, singular consultations with community members or short spurts of outreach efforts are insufficient for the proper and complete decolonization of digital humanities practices. instead, we posit that cultivating longlasting relationships between academic institutions and communities are necessary to avoid reverting to unjust practices and to ensure that collaborations that do take place are not sole occurrences. we anticipate that our work with the onlo collection will continue to evolve as we present updates, gather feedback, and strengthen our relationships with the latino/a community in ohio. certainly, the work thus far helps us respond to the questions posed at the beginning of this article: the archive is ready as soon as we can collect, edit, and upload the oral history; we do not wait until all the elements are completed because, often, the community is ready to have access to the stories as soon as they are collected, and, perhaps most importantly, because we want our contributors to know their contributions are valuable. 80 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index archiving bilingual latin@ oral histories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38297 conclusion during 2020 and 2021, many inequities resurfaced in our society, such as healthcare access, racism, and police violence against marginalized groups. these social issues are not entirely unrelated to the work of thinking about how we present and represent the stories and lives of people who give their voices to the onlo project. that is, we not only want to remain true to the way people tell their stories, but we also want to push against prescriptive ways of archiving that might limit access to the same communities the archive documents; in essence, we want to model equity in each step of the work we do to build the archive. many museums and museumlike collections centered around minoritized groups and cultures have already recognized the importance of decolonizing their curatorial and archival practices by adopting interdisciplinary approaches and actively attempting to incorporate the presented communities into their processes and decision-making. taking cues from d’souza (2021), whose call to action is primarily directed at physical exhibits of indigenous art and who maintains that a combination of both strategies, physical and digital, would promote the greatest success, we encourage other oral history archives to follow our lead in increasing the accessibility of the stories they contain by beginning to adopt digital approaches to organization and presentation, as well as by laying the foundation for collaborative partnerships with the very groups that are contributing to our collections. this is an imperfect process because we must pause, reassess, publish, edit, and continue to review and ask for feedback from students, communities, and other scholars engaged in this work. these initial steps, however, are vital for growing and improving already existing oral history archives, facilitating the creation of new collections, and ensuring the proper preservation of the histories that have been ignored and excluded for far too long. endnotes 1 we are aware that many people continue to have limited or no access to broadband and technology. however, the fact that this archive and many other digital archives can be accessed at any given time, signals our interest in providing access to a wide audience. references achugar, m. 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(2021, april). interactive technologies and indigenous art: exploring the use of immersive resources to increase audience engagement with ceramic pieces in the andean and amazonian indigenous art and cultural artifacts collection at the ohio state university [undergraduate thesis, the ohio state university]. the ohio state university digital archive. https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/92579/ thesis_dsouza2021.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y farmer, a. (2018). archiving while black. the chronicle of higher education, 64(39). https://www.chronicle.com/article/archiving-while-black/?cid=gen_sign_in foulis, e. (2018). participatory pedagogy: oral history in the service-learning classroom. journal of higher education outreach and engagement, 22(3), 119–134. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1193437 horn, a., & fagg, m. (2001, september 26-28). from lunchroom to boardroom: an audio digitisation project [paper presentation]. computing arts: digital resources for research in the humanities 2001 conference, sydney, australia. https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/handle/2123/6218/horn.pdf?sequence=1&is allowed=y kuzma, m., & moscicka, a. (2018). evaluation of the accessibility of archival cartographic documents in digital libraries. the electronic library, 36(6), 1062–1081. https://doi.org/10.1108/el-06-2017-0130 olivo, r.a., & ferrufino, d. r. (2019, november). creating a spanish linguistic corpus of us hispanic anarchist newspapers. american periodicals: a journal of history & criticism, 29(1), 17–20. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/720288 potter, l. a., & smith, c. r. (2003). who uses the national archives? cobblestone, 24(6), 40. risam, r. (2018). decolonizing the digital humanities in theory and practice. in j. sayers (ed.), the routledge companion to media studies and digital humanities (pp. 78–86). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315730479 82 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://er.educause.edu/-/media/files/articles/2017/10/erm176110.pdf https://er.educause.edu/-/media/files/articles/2017/10/erm176110.pdf https://doi.org/10.1353/aq.2018.0054 https://doi.org/10.1525/tph.2014.36.4.26 http://www.jstor.org/stable/27802716 https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/92579/%20thesis_dsouza2021.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/92579/%20thesis_dsouza2021.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y https://www.chronicle.com/article/archiving-while-black/?cid=gen_sign_in https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1193437 https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/handle/2123/6218/horn.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/handle/2123/6218/horn.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y https://doi.org/10.1108/el-06-2017-0130 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/720288 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315730479 archiving bilingual latin@ oral histories the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38297 smithies, j., westling, c., sichani, a-. m., mellen, p., & ciula, a. (2019). managing 100 digital humanities projects: digital scholarship and archiving in king’s digital lab. digital humanities quarterly, 13(1). https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/managing100-digital-humanities-projects/docview/2555194359/se-2 winn, s. (2017, april 24). the hubris of neutrality in archives. medium. https://medium.com/on-archivy/the-hubris-of-neutrality-in-archives-8df6b523fe9f dr. elena foulis (elenafoulis@tamusa.edu) is a student-centered educator with over 15 years of experience in higher education. she holds b.a and m.a degrees in spanish and latin american literature and a ph.d. in comparative literature and cultural studies. her research and teaching interests include u.s. latina/o literature, spanish for heritage learners, and oral history. she has presented her work at national and international conferences. she teaches undergraduate courses in service-learning, latin american literature, and spanish for heritage learners. her articles explore latin@ voices through oral history and performance, identity and place, linguistic landscape and ethnography, and family history in advanced heritage language writing courses. dr. foulis is working on a digital oral history project about latin@s in ohio. brandon d'souza (dsouza.80@buckeyemail.osu.edu) is a recent graduate of the ohio state university, where he earned a b.s. in biology and evolution & ecology, as well as a b.a. in spanish. at ohio state, his interest in increasing the accessibility of physical and digital collections led him to work as a student-curator of the andean and amazonian indigenous art and cultural artifacts collection and as an archival intern with the onlo collection. currently, brandon works at the national institutes of health (nih) as an intramural research training award postbaccalaureate fellow and plans to attend medical school in the near future. 83 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/managing-100-digital-humanities-projects/docview/2555194359/se-2 https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/managing-100-digital-humanities-projects/docview/2555194359/se-2 https://medium.com/on-archivy/the-hubris-of-neutrality-in-archives-8df6b523fe9f mailto:elenafoulis@tamusa.edu introduction background and mission of oral narratives of latin@s in ohio (onlo) historical and recent barriers facing the onlo collection expanding accessibility of onlo through student engagement accessioning the onlo collection: student tasks and findings shifting archival practices towards decolonial models community feedback and ongoing discussions conclusion endnotes promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion: incorporating machine translation literacy into information literacy instruction for undergraduate students the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion: incorporating machine translation literacy into information literacy instruction for undergraduate students lynne bowker, university of ottawa, canada abstract using a lingua franca for scholarly communication offers some advantages, but it also limits research diversity, and there is a growing movement to encourage publication in other languages. both approaches require scholars to access material through other languages, and more people are turning to machine translation to help with this task. machine translation has improved considerably in recent years with the introduction of artificial intelligence techniques such as machine learning; however, it is far from perfect and users who are not trained as professional translators need to improve their machine translation literacy to use this technology effectively. machine translation literacy is less about acquiring techno-procedural skills and more about developing cognitive competencies. in this way, machine translation literacy aligns with the overall direction of the association of college & research libraries’ (2015) framework for information literacy for higher education, which encourages a conceptual, rather than a skills-based, approach. this case study presents a pilot project in which machine translation literacy instruction was incorporated into a broader program of information literacy and delivered to first-year students—both anglophone and nonanglophone—at a canadian university. students were surveyed and, overall, they found the machine translation literacy module to be valuable and recommended that similar instruction be made available to all students. academic librarians are well-positioned to participate in the delivery of machine translation literacy instruction as part of a broader information literacy program, and in so doing, they can promote linguistic diversity and better enable students and researchers from all regions to participate in scholarly conversations. keywords: academic librarians; inclusion; information literacy; linguistic diversity; machine translation; machine translation literacy publication type: case study introduction lthough numerous specific definitions exist, the concept of information literacy is generally understood to refer to the ability to identify, find, evaluate, and use information effectively. as noted by polkinghorne and julien (2018), high-quality instruction in information literacy is crucial for helping students to succeed academically. thus, information literacy instruction has become a staple offering for undergraduates at a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 universities, where students of all disciplines need to learn how to research, weigh, and apply information in their field of study. in the context of undergraduate education, common aspects of information literacy instruction include helping students to develop effective research strategies, to navigate both relatively constrained academic databases and the much broader internet, to distinguish between highquality sources and more dubious materials, and to appropriately cite and reference their selected sources (julien et al., 2018). the 2015 framework for information literacy for higher education by the association for college & research libraries (acrl) encourages academic librarians to look beyond a skills-based approach to information literacy instruction and to adopt a more conceptual approach within the following six concepts or “frames”: 1. authority is constructed and contextual 2. information creation as a process 3. information has value 4. research as inquiry 5. scholarship as conversation 6. searching as strategic exploration (acrl, 2015, p.8) since the release of this framework, researchers in various countries have surveyed academic librarians with a view to better understanding their information literacy instruction practices within a contemporary, digital information world. as part of a 20-year longitudinal study in canada, polkinghorne and julien (2018) enquire whether information literacy instruction is changing in response to the contemporary information retrieval environment. according to the results of polkinghorne and julien’s (2018) fifth and most recent survey conducted in 2017, the situation in canada appears to have remained relatively stable, although “numerous respondents [academic librarians] are teaching in timely conceptual areas such as scholarly communication” (p. 84), which includes open access publishing and open education resources within the context of the survey. julien et al. (2018) adapted the instrument used in the canadian study to survey academic librarians in the u.s., and they observed that u.s. information literacy instruction focuses on using databases, search strategies, general library use, and use of the online catalogue. julien et al. (2018) concluded that while these topics reflect needed skills, they also represent the mainstay of traditional instructional pedagogies. however, the researchers acknowledge that the instruction does appear to be integrating information technology to a greater extent, and they note that some respondents reported addressing topics such as social media, open access publishing, images and fair use, and citation metrics in their pedagogy. meanwhile, aharony et al. (2020) also used the same instrument to survey academic librarians in israel and found that in this country too, the focus of information literacy instruction tends to be on database use, search strategies, library use in general, and use of the online catalogue. once again, the majority of respondents suggested that they were integrating more information technology into their instruction. overall, the surveys carried out in canada, the u.s., and israel reveal that information literacy instruction in these countries still place considerable emphasis on skills development, although there are some encouraging signs to suggest a movement towards 128 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 greater incorporation of critical thinking and information evaluation as put forward by acrl’s (2015) framework. while each survey reveals several challenges to be overcome or areas of improvement that are needed, none specifically mentioned the issue of language, which can be a potentially complicating factor that is not always explicitly addressed as part of information literacy training. similarly, while all of the survey results suggest greater incorporation of technology in information literacy instruction, none mentioned machine translation technology specifically. in response to this concern, the overarching research question to be explored in this article is: can information literacy instruction be usefully broadened to include machine language translation in order to help university students become more critical and informed users of this technology within an academic context? language does come up indirectly in the acrl’s (2015, p. 20) framework, which presents the concept of “scholarship as conversation”. within this frame, it is noted that learners who are not fluent in “the language and process of a discipline” may be hampered in their ability to engage and participate in the conversation (acrl, 2015, p. 21). in this context, i interpret “language” to mean the specialized discourse of a given field rather than meaning a language such as english, french, or spanish. however, i believe that both readings of the term language are valid here since a learner who does not know the language (e.g., english) in which the sought-after information is expressed will not be able to participate in the scholarly conversation. unfortunately, this situation is all too common. in recent decades, english has become increasingly entrenched as the language of science, research, scholarly communication, and higher education, even though less than 5% of the world’s population speaks english as a native language (montgomery, 2013). because of the importance of english as a lingua franca, wächter and maiworm (2014) posit that many universities around the world offer programs taught in english, even when english is not an official language of their country. in their research, wächter and maiworm (2014) report that there were 725 english-taught programs offered in continental europe in 2002, and by 2014 this number had jumped to 8,089, representing an increase of more than 1,000 percent. in addition, in countries where english is an official language, universities are welcoming growing numbers of non-anglophone international students. for example, in the u.s., the number of international students rose by 63% between 2008 and 2018 (iee, 2019); in australia, it jumped by 97% during this same period (ferguson & spinks, 2019); while in canada, this number shot up by 175% between 2007 and 2017 (ircc, 2017). on the other side of the coin, we also see an increasing recognition that the dominance of any one language in scientific research hinders diversity (pérez ortega, 2020). for instance, any research published in a language other than english risks being overlooked, which contributes to biases in our understanding (konno et al., 2020). in this way, the english language has become a sort of gatekeeper of science, excluding other opinions and perspectives, which makes this a critical issue not only for non-anglophones but for english speakers too. in response to this phenomenon, there is a growing movement to diversify science and make it fairer and more equitable by encouraging researchers to report their findings not only in english but also in other languages. 129 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 indeed, unesco has been consulting with member nations for input in the process of preparing a document entitled recommendation on open science (unesco, 2021). in the preliminary report on the first draft of the recommendation on open science, unesco (2020) notes that some nations have called for the recommendation to promote multilingualism, stating: promoting multilingualism, to embrace worldwide inclusiveness, information-sharing, collaborative knowledge construction, and equity, by enabling global interaction with multinational and multidisciplinary researchers, and other openscience actors. (unesco, 2020, p. 11) in either case, whether it is non-anglophones needing to use english as a lingua franca, or more researchers choosing to disseminate their work in other languages, there is a need for some type of interlingual transfer on the part of the information creator or seeker. professional translation is costly and time-consuming, and it is simply not feasible to expect that all the information that is created in the world can be professionally translated into every one of the world’s languages in an affordable and timely fashion. much of the time, people need to find their own solutions for processing information in other languages. increasingly, this challenge is being tackled with the help of machine translation tools, such as google translate, deepl translator, baidu translate, and similar software. indeed, as part of their trend report and insights document, the international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla) identified machine translation technology as one of the five, key high-level trends to watch in the global information environment, noting that it has the potential to give researchers and others unprecedented access to information from other countries (ifla, 2013). given that there is a growing need for everyone, everywhere to be able to access and use information in multiple languages, we believe it would be useful to extend the information literacy instruction offered to university students to include training in how to use machine translation tools critically. indeed, when johnston et al. (2018) investigated information literacy instruction for international students, they found that both reading and writing in the local language posed significant barriers for many students. however, a systematic review of library and information science (lis) literature on information literacy and international students conducted by houlihan et al. (2017) uncovered just 23 articles published on this topic between 1990 and 2014. some of those articles included language-based recommendations such as encouraging library instructors to speak clearly and to use plain language or embedding information literacy instruction within english-as-a-second-language (esl) composition courses. however, none of these studies investigated the use of machine translation in the context of information literacy instruction or the need for machine translation literacy. if, as noted above, we essentially understand key elements of information literacy to be an ability to think critically and make balanced judgements about any information we find and use, then being able to make informed decisions about the information that has been accessed via machine translation technology will be a useful and increasingly necessary skill for speakers of all languages. the goal of this article is to describe and evaluate a pilot project where anglophone and nonanglophone students in the faculty of arts at the university of ottawa were taught to use and reflect on machine translation tools as part of a machine translation literacy module that was integrated into a first-year undergraduate course on “new literacies for the digital age.” although the data was gathered from a single institution, the situation is not unique to this institution. as emphasized above, students all around the world will benefit from being able to 130 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 engage with information in or through another language. therefore, this project serves as a useful case study whose findings may inspire similar machine translation literacy activities at other institutions. following this introduction, the article is divided into four main sections. we begin with a brief presentation of machine translation, and the concept of machine translation literacy, establishing why it is needed. next, we describe the pilot study, including a description of the broader course in which the machine translation literacy module was embedded, the demographic profile of the students in the course, the general content of the machine translation literacy module, and some of the pedagogical practices used to deliver and evaluate it. then, we present student feedback on the module that was collected via an anonymous online survey. finally, we offer some concluding remarks and suggestions for the next steps. machine translation and machine translation literacy efforts to develop machine translation systems date back to the period following world war ii; the earliest approaches involved programming computers to apply grammar rules and look up words in large bilingual dictionaries (hutchins & somers, 1992). this so-called rule-based approach to machine translation had limited success, and the quality of the translations produced by these systems was usually quite poor, meaning that few people used them. half a century later, around the year 2000, researchers began to experiment with a data-driven approach to machine translation known as statistical machine translation (koehn, 2010). this approach played more to the strengths of computers, which include number crunching and pattern matching, which led to a considerable improvement in the quality of machinetranslated texts overall, although this quality remained far from perfect. even more recently, since around late 2016, there has been another paradigm shift in the underlying approach to machine translation. now, researchers have introduced artificial intelligence techniques, such as machine learning, in an approach that is referred to as neural machine translation (forcada, 2017). this approach, which also relies on providing the computer with enormous collections of previously translated texts, incorporates an artificial neural network that can be trained to “learn” from these examples. whereas both the original rule-based approach and the later statistical approach produced translations that often contained semantic errors and sounded awkward, the translations produced by neural machine translation systems are much more accurate and natural sounding. though still not perfect, the output of neural machine translation systems is more viable as a starting point than was the output of the older systems. since the results may be usable for some purposes (e.g., basic knowledge acquisition), or may at least provide a viable first draft that can then be improved (e.g., for academic writing), more and more people are beginning to use machine translation, which is now freely available online and thus easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection. adding to their appeal is the fact that, from a user perspective, machine translation tools are very straightforward to use because they require users to do little more than copy/paste a text and select the language for translation. among the group of active machine translation users, we can find students who, as noted above, may need to engage with information in or through multiple languages as part of their studies. indeed, numerous researchers, including mundt and groves (2016), alhaisoni and alhaysony (2017), nurminen and papula (2018), and lee (2020), have identified university students as avid 131 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 users of machine translation tools. however, just because machine translation technology is relatively easy to access, very easy to use, and capable of producing a reasonable quality first draft, this does not mean that students inherently adopt a critical mindset when using it. in order to become informed and critical users of machine translation tools, and of their translated output, students need to develop machine translation literacy. as noted above, the how-to skills of using machine translation tools are very easy to acquire since they consist of little more than copying and pasting a text, choosing a language pair, and clicking the “translate” button. using machine translation is easy, but using it critically requires some thought. therefore, as will be explained in more detail in an upcoming section, machine translation literacy is mainly about developing cognitive competencies, rather than technoprocedural skills. in this way, machine translation literacy is in line with the more conceptual approach to information literacy instruction that is encouraged by acrl’s (2015) framework. what is driving the need for machine translation literacy? professional translators are trained both in translation and in how, when, and whether to use translation technology, as well as how to recognize and compensate for its limitations. however, people outside the translation professions do not typically receive such training. for non-language professionals, the popular media play a key role in reflecting and shaping people’s perceptions of machine translation. several researchers have investigated the way that the media from various countries present this technology. bowker (2020) considers the press in canada between 1990 and 2015, noting that in this period there were 44 articles about translation technology in the english-language press and 70 in the french-language press. according to bowker (2020), these news reports often invoke science fiction references (e.g., star trek and hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy), and they frequently take a humorous tone and regularly poke fun at machine translation’s inability to cope with translations of poetry or songs—tasks that are particularly challenging even for professional human translators. meanwhile, wang and ping (2020) examine 50 articles collected from chinese media outlets between 2017 and 2019 and note that a majority (68%) of the articles focus on the excitement about progress made in machine translation in recent years following the introduction of the neural approach. however, wang and ping (2020) also comment that half of the articles contain what they describe as “hype,” such as when the chinese media generally positions machine translation as doing away with the need for human translators (p. 11). finally, nuñes vieira (2020) conducted an international study by searching the newspapers section of the westlaw database. this search identified 284 english-language articles, from 1986 to 2019, about machine translation coming from the u.k., the u.s., india, japan, china, and south korea. nuñes vieira (2020) established that the coverage of machine translation in the written press tends to emphasize the positive aspects of the technology; however, at times these reports “inflated the capabilities of the technology by comparing it to human translators or by implying that mt had the power to make users speak and understand any language without the prospect of encountering any issues” (p. 13). meanwhile, those articles which took a negative view were more narrowly focused on the poor quality of the output and used a sensationalist tone to draw particular attention to errors that were either humorous or shocking. taken as a whole, these three investigations into news coverage about machine translation from various regions suggest that the reporting lacks nuance and tends either to overstate the capabilities of this technology or to position it as being good mainly for a laugh. the truth of the matter lies somewhere between these two extremes, and people who are outside the language professions need help 132 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 to increase their awareness of how machine translation works, when and where it can be usefully employed, and how to work with it more effectively to optimize the output. nuñes vieira (2020) notes, mt [machine translation] has great potential to facilitate and promote multilingualism, but its speed and usefulness may also prompt end-users to underestimate the complexities of translation while overestimating the capabilities of the technology, which in turn may lead to its misuse. (pp. 98-99) in addition to pointing out how the popular media may distort the view of non-translators concerning machine translation and its capabilities, the literature also provides examples of machine translation being used by non-translators with varying degrees of success. for instance, anazawa et al. (2013) describe how practicing nurses in japan use machine translation to stay on top of the latest developments in international nursing literature. bowker and buitrago ciro (2019) investigate the use of this tool by researchers who want to publish in other languages, nurminen (2020) explains that patent professionals use this technology to search for international patents, and o’brien and ehrensberger-dow (2020) observe that machine translation may be used to facilitate communication in a crisis (e.g., following an earthquake). in each case, the researchers emphasize that some form of machine translation literacy instruction is needed to allow users to make better decisions about employing the technology and to optimize its use. in line with these researchers, i believe that expanding information literacy instruction to include training in machine translation literacy—whether for journalists, health practitioners, educators and information professionals, patent professionals, crisis communicators, or for the public at large—can represent a meaningful step in this direction. in the next section, i describe a pilot project where i integrated a machine translation literacy module into a broader information literacy course aimed at first-year undergraduate university students. pilot project: teaching machine translation literacy to first-year undergraduate arts students to explore the viability and value of training university students in machine translation literacy, i built and incorporated a module on the topic into a course called introduction to interdisciplinary study in the arts at the university of ottawa. at the university of ottawa, all first-year students in the faculty of arts are required to take a minimum of four full-semester (12-week) courses from a pool that includes several philosophy courses, english courses, and the aforementioned interdisciplinary course. the high-level goal of all the courses in this pool is to help students develop skills in critical reading and academic writing. the interdisciplinary course must be team-taught by two or three faculty members who come from different departments, and it must respond to the following official course description, which appears in the course catalogue: ahl 1100 introduction to interdisciplinary study in the arts (3 units) exploration of at least two disciplines in the faculty of arts whose conjunction illuminates contemporary situations and debates. development of critical reading and academic writing. this course has variable themes. students may take this course twice with different topics. (university of ottawa, 2021) 133 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 the theme or topic of the course changes from one semester to the next, depending on who will be teaching. each year, professors are invited to pitch an interdisciplinary teaching team and a topic for consideration. for the winter 2021 semester, i successfully pitched the topic “new literacies for the digital age” to be co-taught by a professor from the school of information studies and a professor from the school of translation and interpretation. along with modules on more traditional aspects of information literacy, the course also contained instruction on media literacy (e.g., fake news) and scholarly communication literacy (e.g., predatory publishing), as well as a specially designed module on machine translation literacy. a total of 80 students registered for the course, coming from 13 different programs within the faculty of arts as summarized in table 1. table 1. disciplinary backgrounds of students in the “new literacies for the digital age” course program number of students communication 35 visual arts 12 linguistics 8 environmental studies 6 second-language teaching 4 history 4 art history 2 english 2 general arts 2 philosophy 2 creative writing 1 music 1 interdisciplinary studies 1 total 80 as the table shows, 35/80 (44%) students were from the communication program, which is the largest program in the faculty of arts. many students in the communication program go on to work as journalists or as other media professionals, meaning that this machine translation literacy module had the potential to reach a population that may later be able to portray machine translation in the media in a way that is more nuanced than that found in the news reports studied by bowker (2020), wang and ping (2020), and nuñes vieira (2020). in addition, 134 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 six students are from the environmental studies program, which may not seem like a typical program from the arts; however, at the university of ottawa, this interdisciplinary program is coordinated through the department of geography, which is housed in the faculty of arts. overall, the student population in the course is relatively diverse with regard to their program of study and this group represents a cross-section of students from programs in the faculty of arts. students in the class were asked to voluntarily share their native language and their responses are summarized in table 2. table 2. native language of students in the “new literacies for the digital age” course language number of students english 44 chinese 14 french 8 arabic 5 hindi 3 spanish 3 persian 1 ukrainian 1 vietnamese 1 total 80 out of 80 total students in the course, 55% (44/80) identified as native english speakers, while the remaining 45% (36/80) indicated that their native language was a language other than english. while this may appear to be a high percentage of non-anglophones, there are several factors to consider. firstly, canada is an officially bilingual (english-french) country and the university of ottawa, which is located in the nation’s capital on the border of ontario (an english-speaking province) and quebec (a french-speaking province), is an officially bilingual university. approximately 30% of the overall student population of the university is francophone, and many of these students are bilingual and take courses taught in english (university of ottawa, 2020). in addition, canada is a country with a strong history of immigration, meaning that many people living in canada have come from elsewhere and may speak a heritage language in addition to english or french. according to the most recent census, 21.8% of people living in canada report using a language other than english or french at home (statistics canada, 2020). finally, owing to the covid-19 pandemic, the vast majority of programs offered by the university of ottawa in the 2020/2021 academic year were delivered online, meaning that students did not need to be present on campus to take courses and could 135 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 be located anywhere in the world. in this particular academic year, international students made up 17% of the university’s total undergraduate population (university of ottawa, 2020). machine translation literacy module the module on machine translation literacy was integrated into the “new literacies for the digital age” course as a module for one week of the 12-week course. this module comprised three in-class contact hours; students were also expected to do some before-class preparation (e.g., consulting introductory texts and videos on how machine translation systems work), as well as some after-class homework (e.g., exercises on revising machine translation input and output, quiz). as previously noted, machine translation literacy has a strong cognitive or conceptual element. as such, the content of the module is less about “how to” use machine translation (i.e., which buttons to push) and more about whether, when, and why to use the tool. the learning module focuses more on critical thinking tasks, such as evaluating the suitability of a text for translation by machine or weighing the benefits and risks of using machine translation against other translation solutions. the overall aim of the machine translation literacy module is to teach students to approach machine translation use in a critical way where students will be able to: • explain the general concept of machine learning and the overall neural approach to machine translation • appreciate the type, quantity, and quality of data required for data-driven neural machine translation, identify how machine translation systems can be sensitive to data, and articulate the potential consequences of data insufficiency • describe the need for transparency around machine translation use • conduct basic risk assessment regarding machine translation use • compare and evaluate the results produced by a selection of free online machine translation systems • modify input texts to reduce ambiguity and improve the quality of the machine translation output • apply basic post-editing techniques to improve machine translation output according to fit-for-purpose principles to enable students to achieve these learning outcomes, the machine translation literacy module was divided into four main parts: data-driven approaches to machine translation with the help of some introductory videos and readings (viewed/read before class), as well as a short lecture from the professor, students learned how data-driven machine translation systems (neural machine translation systems) are built and operate. this knowledge is 136 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 important for helping students to understand the strengths and limitations of these tools. for example, understanding the concept of sensitivity to training data can help users to realize why machine translation systems could be more or less useful for different language combinations, different domains, or different text types. a machine translation system operating between widely used languages (e.g., english and french) may produce better results than one operating between less widely used languages (e.g., finnish and polish) because a greater volume of training data is available for the former group. likewise, a machine translation system that has been trained using texts from one domain, such as medicine, may not do a good job translating documents from another domain—for example, the law. an understanding of how data-driven machine translation systems are trained also alerts students to the fact that each machine translation system is likely to produce different results. for instance, google translate is a well-known free online machine translation tool, but it is not the only one. since each tool is trained using a different corpus, the various tools are unlikely to produce identical results. in particular, different tools may perform better or worse depending on the language in question. for instance, baidu translate is a tool that is strong in chinese, while yandex.translate works well with russian, and deepl translator might be a better choice for the more commonly used european languages (e.g., french, german, spanish). in addition, neural machine translation systems are always ‘learning,’ so their results may improve from one day to the next. students learn that it is a good idea to try different systems and to refrain from writing off a tool altogether because it performs poorly on one occasion. finally, knowledge about sensitivity to training data also alerts students to the potential for different types of algorithmic bias, such as gender or racial bias, if the training data is not well selected. for instance, when translating from a language that has gender-neutral, third-person singular pronouns (e.g., finnish, hungarian) into a language where third-person, singular pronouns are marked for gender (e.g., english, french), there are reports that google translate generally skews toward choosing male pronouns (e.g., he) for words like “strong” or “doctor” and female pronouns (e.g., she) for “beautiful” and “nurse” (monti, 2020). transparency to help students learn the importance of transparency regarding machine translation use, they are presented with a number of mini-case studies to analyze. for example, in an academic context, one important ethical consideration is academic integrity. using machine translation for coursework may not be accepted if it is contrary to the learning objectives of the course. in contrast, it may be perfectly fine to use machine translation as an academic writing aid to help produce an assignment for a geography or history course, where the objective is to demonstrate an understanding of the concepts in question, rather than to demonstrate a mastery of linguistics. however, when using machine translation to translate academic works, it is still essential to cite and reference the original ideas that are borrowed, even if these are being presented in a different language. beyond academic contexts, it is also worth considering the issue of fair use of machine translation and sustainability, which includes encouraging users of machine translation not to use this technology in a way that might harm the language industries. for example, users should be transparent about their use of machine translation (e.g., clearly label machine137 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 translated texts as such) as this will allow readers to take this information into account when deciding how much they should trust the content. risk assessment mini-case studies are also used to help students develop their judgement about assessing the benefits and risks of using machine translation for a particular task. one key piece of information to share with machine translation users is the fact that information pasted into a free online machine translation tool does not disappear when the window is closed. rather, companies that own the tools can keep the data and use it for other purposes. therefore, users should not enter sensitive information into free online machine translation tools. however, a risk assessment needs to take place on another level also, such as determining whether the translation task is a high-stakes or a low-stakes task. for example, using machine translation to help read a manga comic book or to send a casual email to a friend is a lowstakes scenario because a poor translation is unlikely to have serious consequences. in contrast, using machine translation to translate texts in healthcare or in a legal setting is a high-stakes scenario because translation errors could lead to serious consequences (nuñes vieira et al., 2020). translation can be undertaken for different purposes. using raw machine translation to help understand texts in a subject area that is already familiar to the reader may be a good use of this tool, whereas if the purpose is to publish a document, then a machine-translated text may first need to be revised before being distributed more widely. using machine translation for short texts, such as translating keywords to search in a database (bowker, 2018) may produce different results than translating longer texts, such as an abstract or even a complete article. on the one hand, translating isolated words presented out of context may be problematic (e.g., without some context, it is impossible to know whether the word “bank” is referring to a financial institution or the side of a river). on the other hand, a long and complex sentence offers more opportunities for the machine translation system to stumble. likewise, as noted above, a machine translation system that has been trained using texts from one domain (e.g., medicine) may not do a good job translating documents from another domain (e.g., law), and similarly, a system trained to handle a particular text type, such as contracts, may not perform well with another text type, such as user manuals. the conditions of the job may also come into play. the well-known “triple constraint”(wright & lawlor-wright, 2018, p. 1), where competing parameters such as time, cost, and quality come into play, could help to determine whether it makes sense to use machine translation or whether the services of a professional translator are needed. machine translation is almost always faster and cheaper than professional translation, but language professionals are usually capable of producing higher-quality text if this is what the job requires. determining the level of quality needed and figuring out how to best achieve this while respecting the specified budget and deadline is a skill that students work on developing as part of their machine translation literacy training. in summary, it is important to consider the stakes, purpose, content, form, and audience of the translation and to conduct a sort of risk assessment (e.g., canfora & ottmann, 2020) before deciding whether machine translation is the right option. 138 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 interacting with machine translation finally, students engage in several text editing exercises to learn how they can interact with machine translation systems to improve their output. the biggest challenge for machine translation is the inherent ambiguity of natural language. one key way to improve machine translation output is to ensure that the input text is written in plain language with little to no ambiguity (e.g., using the active voice, short sentences, consistent terminology). a text that is easier to read is also easier to translate, and when users are translating from their dominant language to a language that they know less well, it may be easier for them to improve the input text rather than to fix up the translated text. another way for users to interact with machine translation is by revising the output. in many cases, the raw output produced by a machine translation system must be fixed up or improved (such as before submitting a text to a professor or a journal). although the types of errors made by a machine translation system will likely differ from one system to the next, from one text type or domain to the next, and from one language to the next, it is worth learning some basic techniques to spot and fix errors. in particular, neural machine translation systems are known to produce texts that sound very plausible, even though they may not be correct (way, 2020), and such errors may be easily overlooked if users are not vigilant or do not know where to look. by practicing both preand post-editing and comparing the results of different machine translation systems, students become more comfortable with manipulating texts to achieve a desired level of quality. pedagogical approaches and evaluation of learning outcomes as noted above, a variety of pedagogical approaches were incorporated into the machine translation literacy module. for example, students were asked to watch some short introductory videos on neural networks and machine learning and to read to an introductory text on data-driven machine translation before the class. this material was supplemented with a short lecture that focused on explaining the type of data needed for successful data-driven approaches, an analysis of the ways in which machine translation algorithms are sensitive to data, and the potential problems that can arise if there is not enough data or the data is not of high quality. the students’ knowledge of these issues was evaluated with a 20-question quiz containing a variety of multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, matching, and ordering questions. the quiz was developed using the university’s learning management system and could therefore be auto-corrected. the class average for the quiz was 85% and the median grade was 84%, indicating that the majority of students competently absorbed the material. meanwhile, for the parts of the machine translation literacy module that focused on issues of transparency and risk assessment, the main teaching method used was a short lecture combined with a series of mini-case studies. following the lecture, students were divided into smaller groups (10 students per group) and presented with a series of short scenarios. each group was tasked with analyzing one scenario and presenting the results of their analysis to the rest of the class for a brief discussion. the rapporteur for each group also posted the main points of their analysis to the online discussion forum and students from other groups were encouraged to comment on the analyses for homework. because the discussion forum was an optional, rather than a required activity, there was less discussion than i would have liked to see; however, the 17 comments that were posted showed a meaningful engagement with the material, including the presentation of counterarguments and the development of some mini139 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 debates about whether or not machine translation was the best choice for a given scenario. after seeing the results of the online discussion and observing its value for promoting critical reflection among the students, i am considering either making the discussion item compulsory in a future iteration of the course or modifying the presentation-style format. future iterations could include converting at least some of the mini-case studies into more of a debate format where different groups take “for” and “against” positions and argue their merits. for the parts of the machine translation literacy module that focused on interacting with the input and output, students worked on exercises that involved both pre-editing and post-editing. for the pre-editing exercise, students were invited to select a short extract of approximately 150-200 words from a general news text in their strongest language and to run it through a machine translation system to obtain output in another language that they know reasonably well. next, they were asked to study the machine translation output and to identify those areas where there were problems. then, the students were told to return to the original source text and try to rephrase or clarify the elements that had not been translated well. for example, this could mean shortening a long sentence, replacing an ambiguous term with a more precise term, or clarifying the relationship between two elements (e.g., inserting an optional relative pronoun such as “that”). finally, students were instructed to run their modified text through the machine translation system again to see whether the modifications had the desired effect of improving the output. this process could be repeated in multiple iterations. owing to the limited amount of class time available for the module, students did not work on post-editing during class time but instead did this activity as a graded assignment. for the postediting assignment, students were asked to once again find a news article extract of approximately 150-200 words, but this time, the text should be in their second or less dominant language. students were invited to run this text through at least two free online machine translation systems into their strongest language. students were asked to compare the results produced by the different tools. next, they were asked to take these two different output texts, and use a “track changes” tool to edit each text differently according to the guidelines provided by the translation automation user society (taus, 2011). one text was to be edited to a “good enough” quality, meaning it was essential to correct any errors of meaning, but not necessary to improve the style. meanwhile, the second text was to be edited to a “publishable quality,” wherein both errors of meaning and stylistic problems had to be corrected. finally, students were asked to explain the nature of the changes that they implemented and their motivation for doing so. this work was scored and incorporated into their overall grade for the “new literacies for the digital age” course. the class average for the assignment was 81%, and the median was 83%, indicating that the majority of students performed competently with regard to post-editing—although it must be acknowledged that this was a very small-scale assignment. feedback on the machine translation literacy module to obtain some feedback on the machine translation literacy module, we invited the students to participate in a voluntary and anonymous 10-question online survey distributed one week after the module using the online tool survey monkey. the survey was designed to gather information about the students’ general use of machine translation as well as to obtain their feedback on the efficacy of the machine translation literacy module (see appendix a). in total, 140 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 67 of the 80 students completed the survey, representing a completion rate of approximately 84%. when asked how often they use machine translation, 85% of students claim to use this technology more than once a month, 15% of this group state that they use it every day, 21% indicate that they use it three to four times per week and another 16% reply that they use it at least once per week. the students indicate that they use machine translation in multiple areas of their lives, with 72% of respondents using machine translation for their studies, 64% using it for leisure activities, and 15% using it for their job. in answer to the question about whether they use machine translation to help them with reading/understanding a text or with writing/producing a text, 66% of students claim to use it for both tasks, while 13% indicate that they use it only when they need to write in another language, and 21% only for reading in another language. when asked to comment on what they would do if they did not have access to free online machine translation, 85% of the students said they would ask a friend or colleague to help them translate the text, while 15% said they would not bother to translate the text at all. no student indicated a willingness to hire a language professional to translate or edit the text. with regard to the language for which they use machine translation, 9% of respondents indicate that they tend to use this technology when working with a language that they already know quite well, while 27% said they use it for a language they know a bit, and 31% use it for a language that they don’t know at all. the remaining 33% specified that they use machine translation with a language that they are actively learning. finally, in answer to the question about how satisfied they are with the results of machine translation overall, 4% of the students stated that they were completely satisfied, 49% indicated that they were very satisfied, 42% noted that they were moderately satisfied, and 5% claimed that they were not very satisfied. no student claimed to be not at all satisfied. of the key items covered in the machine translation literacy module, students were asked to indicate which item they found to be the most surprising or novel thing that they did not previously know. forty-two percent of the students selected the issue of privacy/confidentiality, 24% were surprised to learn about potential algorithmic bias, 15% were surprised to learn that different tools could produce different results, 9% had never previously considered that changing the input could improve the output, 6% found the information regarding academic integrity to be new to them, while just 4% had not previously thought about how the nature of a translation task might influence its suitability for machine translation. no students reported being surprised to learn about the likelihood of needing to revise the output of a machine translation system. likewise, no students indicated that they had not learned anything new. respondents were asked to weigh in on whether they thought that machine translation literacy instruction was valuable for undergraduate students. in response, 21% identified it as being essential, 61% said it was very important, and 18% suggested it was moderately important. no students selected the categories not very important or not at all important. the members of the class were asked whether, in their opinion, the university of ottawa should make machine translation literacy instruction available to all students. in response, 43% of the students replied definitely, 40% answered probably, and 15% said maybe. only 1% of the respondents replied probably not, while no students selected the category definitely not. finally, students had the option of providing any other comments that they wished to share about the machine 141 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 translation literacy module, and 27 students availed themselves of this opportunity. their comments fall into three main categories: 1) observations about former naïve use of machine translation, 2) indications of intent to change behaviour following the completion of the module, and 3) expressions of gratitude for the module. these are summarized in table 3. table 1. comments shared by students about the machine translation literacy module theme number of comments sample comments former naïve use of machine translation 3 • i never realized how much i was on auto-pilot when i used mt before. this was a wake-up call! • i see i was too trusting of results. i need to pay more attention. • i did not think to make a better start text to get a better translation text. this is a great idea! intent to change behaviour following the machine translation literacy module 4 • machine translation is only as good as its users. i feel like a smarter user now and i hope this tool will be even more useful to me now too. • i use google translate more often than i’d like to admit… it’s just so convenient so i always figured there was nothing to lose. but sometimes the results are frustrating so now i’ll try and be more selective about what i use it for because i see that some tasks don’t make sense for machines. • i feel like i should not have been surprised to learn that google is keeping my data, but i was. i’m going to be more careful in future. • i want to know more how i can make my texts better after machine translation. can you give us even more information after this class? expressions of gratitude 20 • thank you for teaching us about machine translation literacy, professor! • i learned a lot of new things – thanks! • this was a very interesting lesson • i do believe each person should know the key essentials of machin [sic] translation literacy. i am very glad to know now. 142 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 discussion the survey confirms that undergraduate students—both anglophones and non-native speakers of english—are frequent users of machine translation and that they use this technology in various areas of their lives to support comprehension as well as text production tasks. moreover, it is not too surprising to learn that students who need translation services are not willing/able to pay for them, meaning that free online machine translation is a key tool for this group and so it is in their best interests to learn how to incorporate it more effectively into their activities. it also means that this type of machine translation use is not taking business away from professional translators, so it falls into the category of fair and sustainable use of this technology. interestingly, nearly 70% of students report using machine translation for languages that they know to some degree or are actively learning, and comparatively few use it for languages that they don’t know at all. this suggests that even students who appear to be reasonably competent in a given language—which is likely the case for most international students, who are usually required demonstrate a minimum level of competence in the language of instruction before being admitted to a program—turn to machine translation for some of their needs. it is well known that operating in a non-native language has a higher cognitive load than working in a native language, and some people may turn to machine translation because it could help them to either work more quickly or more confidently, allow them to verify their understanding, or reduce their cognitive load in some other way (o’brien & ehrensberger-dow, 2020). in other words, even if students demonstrate a certain level of competence in a language, they may still turn to machine translation for support. failing to recognize that even reasonably competent speakers use this technology represents a missed opportunity for providing better support to this group since improved machine translation literacy could help to lighten a user’s cognitive load. in terms of satisfaction, students report that machine translation does a reasonable job of meeting their needs overall, but there is still room for improvement since only 4% of respondents were completely satisfied, and nearly half the respondents were only moderately or not very satisfied. what’s more, since no students reported being completely dissatisfied, this suggests that students will continue to use machine translation, imperfect as it is. although the technology continues to improve, there are steps users can take to use it more critically and get better results, and so machine translation literacy instruction could potentially help students make better decisions about its use and to get more out of this technology. the responses to the question about which element of the machine translation literacy instruction was most novel or surprising were diverse and covered six elements discussed in the module, which suggests that people’s knowledge on this topic is varied, partial, or fragmented and that there is still lots to be learned by students about effective use of machine translation. although some of these things may be obvious to language professionals, they are not obvious to non-translators and need to be taught. these observations seem to be confirmed by the fact that all of the respondents felt that machine translation literacy instruction was at least moderately important for university students, and more than 80% emphasized that it was at least very important. similarly, a combined 83% of the respondents felt that the university of ottawa should probably or definitely make machine translation literacy instruction available to all students. finally, students appear to have engaged with the material and their comments reveal a general appreciation for the module. some students explicitly recognized that their 143 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 prior approach to using machine translation may have been naïve, while others signaled an intention to do better by approaching this technology from a more critical and informed perspective moving forward. many students acknowledged their appreciation for the machine translation literacy module overall. although the survey captured some simple factual data (how often machine translation is used and what types of tasks it is used for) and perceptual responses (satisfaction with machine translation and whether the module should be available to all students), this format did not allow for the collection of more substantive data on whether or how the students applied some of the content taught through specific assignments or tasks (although some evidence has been provided in the section on pedagogical approaches and feedback above). in the pilot study described above, the machine translation literacy module came towards the end, taking place in week 10 of the 12-week course, so there was no time to implement a more longitudinal assessment, although it would be interesting to integrate this into a future iteration of the course. for instance, if the machine translation literacy module came earlier in the course, it could be interesting to survey students later in the course to investigate whether there had been any changes to the frequency or nature of their interactions with this technology, or with their level of satisfaction with it. similarly, it could be interesting to build translation-related elements into other aspects of the course, or into other assignments for the course, so that elements of machine translation literacy would be integrated throughout the course rather than being concentrated in a single module. for example, in the module on media literacy and fake news, it could be beneficial to incorporate some news texts that have been translated from other languages with the help of machine translation and to consider whether this presents additional challenges to the evaluation of the material. similarly, in the module on internet search strategies, it could be useful to assess the extent to which machine translation can help translate keywords. conclusion machine translation looks set to stay, and if used properly, it has the potential to help people access or produce information in multiple languages. in the context of higher education and research, english is currently a dominant lingua franca, meaning that many students and researchers must read and write in english, even though it may not be their native language. meanwhile, organizations such as unesco, among others, have signaled a strong need to make the education and research arena more linguistically diverse, which means that everyone— including english speakers—will need to be able to access information in other languages. machine translation technology has improved considerably in recent years with the introduction of artificial intelligence techniques such as machine learning; however, this technology is far from perfect and must be approached and applied with a critical eye. at present, universities—and particularly academic libraries—invest considerable effort in providing information literacy instruction to students, and while this instruction is increasingly integrating information technology, machine translation literacy does not yet seem to be widely taught. machine translation literacy is less about learning how to use this tool (i.e., which buttons to push) and more about critical thinking, such as deciding whether, when, or why to use this technology, and how to interact with it meaningfully (e.g., human-computer interaction). in this way, machine translation literacy instruction aligns with the overall direction of acrl’s (2015) framework for information literacy for higher education, which encourages a conceptual rather than a skills-based approach. the pilot project to offer 144 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 machine translation literacy instruction to first-year undergraduates at the university of ottawa as part of a broader course on “new literacies for the digital age” was well received by both anglophone and non-anglophone students from a diverse range of programs in the faculty of arts. overall, students found the module on machine translation literacy to be valuable, and they recommended that similar instruction be made available to all students. this pilot project would seem to confirm that machine translation literacy instruction can find a comfortable home within a broadened approach to information literacy instruction on university campuses. academic librarians have a long history of delivering information literacy instruction in a university environment, and some are also stepping up to address other literacy needs in our evolving society, such as offering instruction in artificial intelligence literacy (wheatley & hervieux, 2020). with this in mind, academic librarians could become key partners for offering machine translation literacy instruction to students across all disciplines moving forward. in doing so, librarians could support and promote linguistic diversity and multilingual access to information. this in turn will diversify research and promote fairness and equity by making it possible for students and researchers from all corners of the globe to participate in scholarly conversations, regardless of the language they speak. finally, given the interest in and relevance of machine translation for first-year university students, it is quite reasonable to accept that high school students, and likely even primary school students, are using this technology also (stapleton & leung, 2019), and may similarly benefit from some basic machine translation literacy at that level too. courses, where information literacy is introduced in high schools or primary schools, could be a good place to consider incorporating elements of machine translation literacy, and school librarians may also have a role to play here. other possibilities include working teachers or with offices on campus that do outreach activities in the community, such as the university of ottawa’s outreach unit, which offers a variety of experiential learning opportunities for children and teens, including clubs, workshops, summer camps, and credited high-school courses. of course, whether we are considering academic librarians, school librarians, university professors, school teachers, or outreach teams as potential instructors for delivering machine translation literacy training, an important next step is considering how to “train the trainers.” in other words, members of these groups will first need to become machine translation literate themselves before being able to engage in meaningful instruction for others. i hope this report on a pilot project to deliver machine translation literacy instruction to first-year undergraduate students will provide some food for thought to be carried forward into future investigations of training the trainers and enhancing the content of machine translation literacy instruction. acknowledgements this work was supported by an insight grant from the social sciences and humanities research council of canada (grant number 435-2020-0089). thanks are owed to the students who participated in the voluntary survey to offer feedback on the module. appendix a: survey on machine translation use and machine translation literacy q1: i use machine translation to help me with the following tasks: • read / understand a text in a non-dominant language 145 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 • write / produce a text in a non-dominant language • both read and write in a non-dominant language q2: i use a machine translation tool (e.g., google translate, deepl translator, baidu translate or a similar tool) • every day • 3 or 4 times a week • once a week • 1 or 2 times a month • less than once a month q3: i use machine translation to translate texts for activities related to my [select all that apply] • job • leisure activities • studies q4: i am most likely to use machine translation to help me with a language that i • don't know • know a bit • know quite well • am actively learning q5: on the whole, how satisfied are you with the results of machine translation? • completely satisfied. it meets all my needs. • very satisfied. it meets most of my needs. • moderately satisfied. it meets a reasonable number of my needs. • not very satisfied. it meets a few of my needs. • not at all satisfied. it does not meet any of my needs. q6: if i did not have access to a free online machine translation system, i would do the following instead 146 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 • pay a professional translator to translate (or edit) the text. • translate the text myself. • ask a friend or colleague to translate the text. • nothing. i simply would not translate that text. q7: which of the key elements of machine translation literacy was the most surprising to you (i.e., something that you didn’t know before or hadn’t thought of in your previous experience of using online machine translation tools)? • privacy/confidentiality • academic integrity • potential for algorithmic bias • awareness of different tools • awareness of different translation tasks • improving the output by changing the input • improving the output through revision • none. i already knew everything covered in the module. • other (please specify) q8: "machine translation literacy" means learning about how machine translation tools work and how we can interact with these tools to get better results (such as by pre-editing the source text or post-editing the target text). for people who are not language professionals, i think that machine translation literacy is • essential • very important • moderately important • not very important • not at all important q9: do you think that the university of ottawa should make machine translation literacy training available to everyone? • definitely. machine translation literacy training will be useful to all students regardless of what they are studying. 147 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index promoting linguistic diversity and inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36159 • probably. machine translation literacy training could be useful to many students. • maybe. machine translation literacy training could be useful to some students. • probably not. machine translation literacy training would be useful to just a few students. • definitely not. this topic is not relevant or interesting for any students unless they specifically want to become language professionals. q10: is there anything else that you would like to share with us on the 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(2018). project success and quality. routledge. lynne bowker (lbowker@uottawa.ca) is a full professor at the university of ottawa, she holds a cross-appointment between the school of information studies and the school of translation and interpretation. she holds a ph.d. in language engineering and has published on various aspects of language technologies, including co-authoring machine translation and global research (emerald, 2019). 151 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://catalogue.uottawa.ca/en/courses/ahl/ https://doi.org/10.4018/ijtial.20200701.oa1 https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350024960.0018 https://doi.org/10.3233/isu-190065 mailto:lbowker@uottawa.ca introduction machine translation and machine translation literacy what is driving the need for machine translation literacy? pilot project: teaching machine translation literacy to first-year undergraduate arts students machine translation literacy module data-driven approaches to machine translation transparency risk assessment interacting with machine translation pedagogical approaches and evaluation of learning outcomes feedback on the machine translation literacy module discussion conclusion acknowledgements appendix a: survey on machine translation use and machine translation literacy references against whitewashing: the recent history of anti-racist action in the british archives sector the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 against whitewashing: the recent history of anti-racist action in the british archives sector alicia chilcott, st bride foundation, united kingdom kirsty fife, ucl/leeds conservatoire, united kingdom james lowry, city university of new york, u.s.a. jenny moran, archives and records association, united kingdom arike oke, black cultural archives, united kingdom anna sexton, university college london, united kingdom jass thethi, intersectional glam cic, united kingdom abstract this article is an account of recent activity in the u.k. archives sector against white supremacy which is written by a number of people active in the work. through our work, we are aware of previous initiatives in this area, but written sources about the history of this work are patchy at best. this account offers a description of recent activity so that it is “on record”. we recognise that a historical account of previous efforts would be valuable, but that is not our objective here. this article offers a statement of the problem of white supremacy in the u.k.’s archives sector. it then provides an overview of the work of organisations such as the black cultural archives (bca), the national archives (tna), and the archives and records association (ara). this is background for more grassroots activities and networks, which are described in the article. the article discusses the events at the ara 2019 conference, which was a flashpoint for resistance to white supremacy in the profession, before discussing a number of subsequent activities that sought to define a vision for the profession in which white supremacy and other violent power structures are abolished. the article concludes by offering some thoughts about the future of this work. keywords: anti-racist action; archives; british archives sector; structural racism; white supremacy publication type: review introduction n 2015, the u.k.-based chartered institute of library and information professionals (cilip) and the archives and records association (uk & ireland) (ara) undertook a survey of workers in the u.k. information sector. the results of the survey illustrated, amongst other trends, that the workforce has lower ethnic diversity than the national u.k. labour force survey statistic, with 96.7% of workers identifying as ‘white’ (almost 10% above the national workforce average). this whiteness of the information sector workforce is mirrored in the demographics of users of archives, with ara’s 2018 survey of visitors to u.k. archives indicating that across the 106 self-selecting participating archives, 96% of visitors completing the survey self-classify as white. i about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 in response to the cilip/ara (2015) survey results, ara chief executive john chambers went on the record to say that, “the results show that we have much to do to get our own house in—not least on diversity and gender disparities” (ara, 2015). diversity has become something of a catchall word to describe a sought for change within the sector, with the problem facing the sector often framed as being a lack of representation. in writing about the state of library and information studies, honma (2005) seeks to get under the skin of such “representational politics” and surfaces how a focus on improving the status quo through fuller and more diverse representation can lead to a failure to engage with the underlying “social and institutional structures of discrimination.” honma (2005) warns against efforts that “tokenize bodies of color” through investing in a rhetoric of inclusion and accommodation on the one hand, whilst avoiding articulating or challenging the structural oppression, historical legacies of violence, and institutional manifestations of racism and discrimination that create impossible power differentials and run like fault lines through our sector. honma (2005), instead, draws on chu (1999) to call for “social and color consciousness in our field in order to account for racist and other oppressive practices and the experience of disenfranchised people” (p.6). such colour consciousness, as described by honma (2005), must begin with a critical engagement with whiteness both as a category for defining normativity and therefore constructing difference, and as an organizing and structuralising principle in social and cultural relations. “whiteness” works as an invisible and elusive structure of privilege, one that allows for constant reinvention and rearticulation to protect the interests of a white racial ruling class. the identification of whiteness and its structuralizing principles is necessary in order to combat its invisibility and normative effects. (honma, p. 5) hathcock (2015) draws attention to how the normativity and pervasiveness of whiteness “works insidiously, invisibly, to create binary categorizations of people as either acceptable to whiteness and therefore normal, or different and therefore other”. therefore, if we really want to transform our sector into one that is inclusive and diverse then we must lift the lid on the invisibility of whiteness within our profession and our wider society, and more adequately interrogate how whiteness pervades through our principles, values, and practices. for some, white supremacy is an uncomfortable term associated with overt and extreme acts of racism and far-right ideology. we use “white supremacy” in this paper in an all-encompassing sense to point to the pervasive structure of white privilege running through our society, as well as the racial exploitation that has resulted. in keeping with caswell (2017), who first introduced the term in archival literature, we draw on frances ansley’s definition of white supremacy: a political, economic, and cultural system in which whites overwhelmingly control power and material resources, conscious and unconscious ideas of white superiority and entitlement are widespread, and relations of white dominance and non-white subordination are daily reenacted across a broad array of institutions and social settings. (ansley, 1989, p. 1024, fn. 9) white supremacy, therefore, does not only point to overt, explicit, and extreme acts of racial and ethnic hatred and violence but also to daily enactments of dominant white values that underpin systems, procedures, rules, principles, and regulations where overt prejudice gives way 34 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 to banal repetition of an accepted status quo coupled with uncritical acceptance. honma (2005) uses allan bérubé’s (2001) analysis on the unintentionality of gay whiteness to draw the more unconscious aspects of white supremacy to the fore. bérubé states that, it seems that so long as white people never consciously decide to be a white group, a white organization, a white department, so long as we each individually believe that people of color are always welcome, even though they are not there, then we do not have to examine our whiteness because we can believe it is unintentional, it’s not our reason for being there. (2001, p. 252) in exploring white people confronting racism, peggy mcintosh (2009) introduces and explores some pervasive white cultural myths that have helped to keep racism in place. through this work she asks that white people intentionally develop a new awareness of their white racial history and of how this impacts the present. unpacking how white supremacy manifests in our institutions, our profession, our relationships, and our individual behaviours is therefore a vital component in developing anti-racist actions to dismantle and rebuild the sector for the benefit of us all. in the context of this article, we use the term “anti-racist action” to refer to instances of active and conscious opposition to racism and white supremacy where the focus is on change and transformation to existing inequitable infrastructures, systems, behaviours, and practices, building on the definition from the racial equity tools (2020) resource which states that antiracism is the “work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in political, economic, and social life”. we recognise that in this article, in describing the work of different institutions, networks, and individuals that some institutional efforts are perhaps more aligned to diversity and inclusion work where the emphasis is on accommodation in the status quo as opposed to more explicit anti-racist work where enacting fundamental transformation is the starting point. however, these are included as they help contextualise the more directly anti-racist work of recent years. we acknowledge that there are not always clear definitions or consensus about distinctions between inclusivity and diversity and anti-racist action in the networks of people involved in these activities. the purpose of this article is to give an account of recent activity to counter white supremacy and develop anti-racist action in the archival sector in the united kingdom. it covers the period from 2017 to the time of george floyd’s murder on 25 may 2020, when the renewed vigour of the black lives matter movement, and particularly the toppling of the statue of edward colston who traded in enslaved africans, in bristol on 7 june 2020, finally sparked a conversation in the u.k. archives sector about structural racism and white supremacy. these developments have led to new energy in anti-racist work in the u.k. archives sector, but it is too soon for us to characterise and reflect on its nature and effects. we confine our account to the few years that preceded the current work. we recognise that this work can be connected to a history of previous efforts and dialogue around the representation of the black british experience in archival spaces. we recognise that a historical account of previous efforts would be valuable, but that is not our objective here. this account offers a description of recent work so that it is on record and may inform future work. we begin with a discussion of the black cultural archives (bca), which is the major site of black archival representation in the united kingdom, before sketching out the activities of national bodies such as the national archives (tna) and the archives and records association (ara). this provides context to our subsequent discussion of the work of grassroots groups, universities, and informal networks of individual professionals. 35 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 black cultural archives in focus there are a small number of archive services in the united kingdom and europe which specifically collect archive material that relates to and comes from the experiences of people of african descent born and/or raised in the british/european parts of the african diaspora. in london, the george padmore institute (founded 1991), the huntley archives at london metropolitan archives (deposited by jessica and eric huntley, 2005), the institute of race relations (founded 1958), and black cultural archives (conceived 1981, constituted as a charity in 1995) are the collections and archive services with the longest running remit for documenting and preserving the british black experience. these collections and archive services share commonalities in how they were founded, and by whom. a network of black academics, creatives, activists, educators, and politically active individuals were the starting point for addressing what had been identified as a lack of recognition of the black heritage of the united kingdom, and specifically the contribution of black communities and people to british identity and society. the swell of post-war activism and community building that prompted the creation of centres of study for black history was led by people who had lived through the second world war and witnessed the changing social dynamics of the immediate post-war period (ishmael, 2020). this period in black british history is punctuated by the arrival, and return, of british black citizens from the british overseas territories and colonies. the period is named after the ss empire windrush, one of the ships on which migrants from british colonies, in this case predominantly from the caribbean, arrived (national audit office, 2018). the windrush period was characterised by an invited migration of people from the then british empire to support the rebuilding of the british isles’ infrastructure and economy after the second world war (hall, 1998). the migration of people from the caribbean, especially people of african descent, to what imperial education systems framed as the “mother country”, was a turning point in post-war britain’s cultural, philosophical, and ethnic diversity, but was not the first time that britain was formed by migration, and not the first time that british history was influenced by people of african descent (see, for example, fryer, 2018). that the mainstream archival narrative, and collections of britain did not, and do not, reflect britain's diverse and global inheritance has been cited as part of a wider “whitewashing” of british-ness (williams, 2020), contributing to racist stereotypes, educational attainment gaps, perpetuation of social inequalities, and unbalanced policy making. contributing to the archival record are the sites in which black archival history are collected and preserved. beyond the general incidence of people of colour within wider institutional collecting locally and nationally, black communities and intellectuals perceived that taking ownership of black history would mean ownership and collecting of their own archives. the black cultural archives (bca), the working name of the african people's historical monument foundation, is today the black-led archive that has been able to secure a permanent building, keeping its collections to industry standards and maintaining its independence as a standalone charity. with all of these factors coming together bca is able to interact within forums, committees, and other spaces not normally inclusive to archives perceived as community-led. bca traces its origins directly from community action in direct response to specific incidents that highlighted a need for black communities to not only see themselves represented in history and the curriculum in a realistic and non-discriminatory way, but also to reserve an anti-racist space for black communities to be able to access heritage objects and collections. this act of self-help 36 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 expanded into the creation of what bca’s founders called an “archive-museum” containing material, deposited by members of the community, that evidenced and painted a more comprehensive picture of black presence in britain (young, 2003). the 2003 report created by bca and the university of middlesex on black archives observed that, “throughout the 1980s many attempts were made, unsuccessfully, to attract interest from mainstream museums and archives to give moral and other support to the idea of creating a black cultural archives” (young, 2003, p. 3). a network of community activists lobbied the greater london authority and the london borough of lambeth, and each gave foundational financial support. lambeth council went on to contribute a sum towards the core costs of running bca, and this arrangement is renewed by negotiation at intervals (lambeth council, 2019). other funded support in the early phase of bca came from the national lottery via the heritage lottery fund. the university of middlesex worked with the bca collective to establish a baseline of data on the collections held by bca and a way forward. over time the bca acquired professionally qualified archives staff and support to conserve and store the collections. bca has not, to date, established a stable funding source, remaining as an independent charity dependent on grants and individual giving. by 2014, and almost four decades of fundraising and activism, bca finally opened the doors to a dedicated headquarters for the charity. what had been the grade ii*1 listed, but derelict, shell of raleigh hall, a georgian townhouse in the centre of brixton, became 1 windrush square. at 1 windrush square, bca can host exhibitions, workshops, programme black visual and performing artists, residences, a literature programme, and weekly performance poetry. bca currently codelivers a module of the kings college london undergraduate history course, has a collaborative doctoral student in residence, offers free legal surgeries for people affected by the 2018 windrush scandal, and provides free access to the unique heritage collections (bca, n.d.). it is still without a stable funding income but is able to generate a small trading revenue from hires of 1 windrush square and its shop. the collections at bca remain essential to a study of britain's post-war social history as well as black british history since roman britain. bca now holds the personal papers and oral histories of individuals and groups that illustrate and contextualise the development of race relations in the united kingdom. further evidence of the importance of bca’s collections came when bca was a lead partner on bbc television’s 2016 black and british series, spearheaded by professor david olusoga. bca partnered with google to create the world’s first internationally accessible platform for black british history, showcasing digitised collections online through google’s arts & culture initiative.2 in may 2020, the bca team launched a 10-year strategy to map the next phase of bca. the five aims for 2030 for bca include sharing the collections online, touring and in-person, and having an opinion and an active voice on relevant issues (black cultural archives, n.d.-a). for a blackled heritage organisation, much less for an archive, it is not acceptable to take a position of neutrality. neutrality would not have achieved any of the progress that bca has made in repositioning black perspectives in u.k. archives. the bca is an important component of the u.k.’s national archival infrastructure, holding as it does so much of the documentation of black british experiences. however, much of the archival sector leadership comes from the national archives (tna), and some of its recent work relates to the structural problems we are concerned with here. 37 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 the national archives sector context between 2003 and 2006, four government bodies, the public records office, the royal commission on historical manuscripts, her majesty's stationery office, and the office of public sector information—each specialising in particular aspects of managing information—joined together to form a single organisation in the national archives (tna). today, tna is a non-ministerial department, and the official archive and publisher for the united kingdom government, and for england and wales. the records which stretch over 1,000 years of history are largely interactions between the state and individuals. they include the records from the colonial office, the home office, the foreign office, and many more. the records show the changing narrative of our country, resistance to change as well as resistance to oppression, the changing demographic of the nation, the changing understanding of what this nation is, and what it will become. alongside tna’s responsibilities as an archive, it also has an important role in sector leadership and development, sharing the resources held by the institution to improve the sector for both users of records and record keepers. on the 9th of june 2020, jeff james (2020), the chief executive of tna, released a statement on racial equality. created from the perspective of state and empire, we hold important records that bear witness to past injustice and the long fight for equality in the black community. our records describe the incremental changes, the debates which took place behind closed doors, the policing and monitoring. our records, like those of other archives, also show the ongoing and ever-present forms of resistance to racism, and struggles for social justice from within the black community both globally and at home. (para. 3 ) in 2019, tna recruited two new permanent roles, one of black asian and minority ethnic records specialist in the collections expertise and engagement department, and the other an inclusion and change manager in archives sector development. in 2020, they began a diversity review of the grants they administer under the programs collaborate and innovate (comprising of networks for change fund, grants up to $15,000 gbp, and archive testbed fund grants up to £5,000), archives revealed (comprising of the cataloguing grant, awarding up to £40,000, and the scoping grant which funds a report with expert advice on managing collections). this review has resulted in reflections on and adjustments to the programs and a commitment to be clearer in regard to definitions of, and commitments to, diversity. alongside reviews of the grants administered, there has been a concerted effort to explore the barriers that exist in diversifying the archive sector workforce, specifically the record keeping profession. archives unlocked, tna’s strategy for the recordkeeping sector, was influenced by a number of previous projects. the workforce element built upon lessons learnt through opening up scotland’s archives and transforming archives, two separate three-year projects funded by the heritage lottery fund (skills for the future) 2014-2017 which worked in parallel to change the skills base of the archives sector across scotland and england. the projects provided 55 trainees with new entry points into the archive sector. 21% of these trainees in england were from a bame (black, asian, and minority ethnic) background, 24% of the trainees in scotland identified as having a disability, 49% of the trainees had degrees in subjects other than humanities, while 89% of the trainees brought skills from a different career. while 70% of trainees carried on working in the archives or heritage sector after their traineeships, the trainees found 38 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 that many jobs advertised required a postgraduate qualification in archives and some trainees worried that they would not be able to progress in the sector without this qualification. as such, 50% of trainees, across both programmes, who were still working in the sector, went on to undertake the postgraduate qualification in archives (bolton & mckenzie, 2017). as a part of the current strategy, tna has continued efforts to develop and diversify the archive workforce, currently delivering “bridging the digital gap”, a national lottery heritage funded training programme that provides 24 paid technical traineeships in archives around the united kingdom. the 15-month programme aims to meet skills shortages and to help diversify the workforce by providing paid, high quality opportunities for new entrants to the sector. in 2019, tna initiated work on the level 7 archivist and records manager apprenticeship, and now chairs the trailblazer group responsible for the development of the apprenticeship standard. archives and records offices across the country have worked together to create an apprenticeship that will enable people to train to be a qualified archivist or records manager whilst in paid employment. as a part of recent moves to place more value on collection building projects that develop the representativeness of the national collection, and to ensure that research in black, asian, and minority ethnic history through records could be done in a rich and sustainable way, the education and outreach team consolidated the resources for black, asian, and minority ethnic histories on the tna website into a finding aid. it includes education resources, exhibitions, research guides, blog posts, and podcasts by staff and external writers, and links to external websites (tna, 2020) recent examples of tna’s engagement with groups from black and asian communities include: • ongoing work with the young historians project (yhp), a non-profit organisation formed by young people aged 16-25, which encourages the development of young historians of african and caribbean heritage in britain. tna has facilitated workshops with the yhp geared around archival research skills for their project exploring african women and the british health service from 1930-2000. • collaborations with counsellors at stillpoint spaces, which describes itself as an “international community for the psychologically curious”, (stillpoint spaces international, n.d.) to put on a series of workshops entitled, “racism past and present: an exploration with the national archives”, which explored stories, documents, and archives relating to the history of “race” and racism in britain. these endeavors have developed into further work with the black, african and asian therapy network, which will result in an online workshop on indian indentured labour and working with nutkhut on their new project, girmit.3 • a series of podcasts which have drawn out aspects of black and south asian history, including stories as part of refugee week 2020 on the partition of british india and the “with love” podcast featuring the story of the jamaican seafarer, james gillespie, who was caught up in the 1919 race riots.4 tna is aiming to ensure that inclusion and diversity do not become perceived as additional or optional to the archives sector core aims, and to maintain the pledge that archives are for everyone because they are about everyone. similarly, the national professional organization, the archives and records association, has moved to address racism and white supremacy in archives and the archival sector, but it has also 39 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 been criticised for making these moves late and slowly, and it is a widely held view that its 2019 conference was a turning point in the professional dialogue around racism. the activities of the archives and records association the ara (uk & ireland), was formed in 2010 following the merger of the society of archivists with the national council on archives and the association of chief archivists in local government (ara, 2010). today, the ara has around 2,500 members, primarily in the united kingdom and ireland but also internationally (ara, n.d.-a). the ara aims to be the lead body and voice of the record-keeping sector. its objectives are to embrace the challenge of broadening access to records and participation in record-keeping for all. it asserts that inclusivity is at the core of its ethos and there are a number of ways in which it promotes this ethos. during the period of 2015 to 2018, several pieces of research were undertaken which indicated the record-keeping profession was 97% white, a profile reflected by volunteers and users in the sector (see ara n.d.-b; cilip/ara, 2015). workers who identified as “marginalized” felt isolated and unsafe, there was lack of diversity especially at senior levels, and it was harder for people from certain backgrounds to obtain professional qualifications (see cilip/ara, 2015). in 2018, the ara commissioned an independent report (dabiri, 2019) into previous efforts to diversify the workforce. the report highlighted that minimal progress had been made since 2009 and identified that “hand-wringing”, “hand-washing”, and “diy” initiatives had had a little overall effect on the diversity of the record-keeping sector. following the report, the delegates and speakers at the ara’s 2018 annual conference, which was held in glasgow, agreed on the need to drive change across the sector. this resulted in the publication of the glasgow manifesto (ara, 2018). the manifesto outlines the ara’s commitment to being an agent for change and championing the variety and diversity of the communities it serves in the records ara members manage, preserve, and keep. working in collaboration with groups and organisations across the record-keeping and cultural sectors is one of the ways in which ara recognises that it can create lasting change. in response to dabiri’s (2019) report, ara took the lead in lobbying the u.k. archives services accreditation committee (aac) to promote increased focus on diversity and inclusion as part of the archive service accreditation process. the ara board instructed its representative on the aac to ask that diversity and inclusion be fully integrated into the standard. the u.k. archive services accreditation committee has now accepted this and will be publishing its plans shortly. in early june 2020, the ara, along with membership bodies across u.k. museums, galleries, heritage, and archives, signed a joint statement of intent for the heritage sector (ara, 2020) calling for an end to racism in the heritage sector. this work cuts across all aspects of the recordkeeping sector—from the archives that are collected, curated, and preserved and the people who make up the archival workforce, to the evidence, accountability, research, and engagement our collections provide. ara is also facilitating conversations through its ara together online community.5 ara together is both an online support hub and a free online community where individuals (not just ara members) can chat with each other and share openly via text, voice chat, and video.6 fortnightly calls provide an opportunity to speak to each other about the latest challenges and developments in the sector. ara together aims to support and connect individuals with each other regularly 40 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 and learn from one another as a community, sharing experiences, advice, and examples of best practice. in may 2020, ara planned to host the first of a series of ara together calls on the subject of racism in archives in the following month. since 2015, the ara has partnered with tna and the scottish council on archives on skills for the future projects which aim to improve the diversity of the profession. the current project is the “bridging the digital gap traineeships” in england and ara hopes that these alternative routes into the profession will have a positive impact on making the sector more inclusive (the national archives, n.d.). ara, along with others in the sector, including tna and cilip, has played a key role in the development of the level 3 library, information and archive services apprenticeship in england. ara is also supporting the emerging level 7 archivist and records manager apprenticeship in england. ara’s own professional development programme is open to and welcomes all ara members, whether academically qualified or not. by removing the barriers for those who have been excluded from university qualification, ara hopes to help develop a more diverse workforce. our description of the activities of the bca, tna, and ara form the broad background to less institutionally led activity, much of it grass roots and less formal in organisation. our account of these activities begins with an overview of groups that continue to work in this space. museums detox, archives download and we are transmission in 2014, a group of heritage workers of colour, including sara wajid (museum of london), miranda lowe (natural history museum) and sandra shakespeare (formerly of tna) among others, set up a network called museums detox. this group was established to provide not only a network of support, but also as a space to share practice and experience for heritage workers of colour. following the rapid growth of museums detox, another group was set up for the archives sector, initially administered by maureen roberts (london metropolitan archives/ bca). the archives download group is not limited to people of colour or to qualified archivists. this group meets to share practice, news, and to offer mutual support. we are transmission is a collective of archivists and historians of african heritage working to support and build archives and heritage in and with african diaspora communities. one of its significant activities in the timeframe covered by this article was the 2019 “takeover” during the archival education and research institute at the university of liverpool. this takeover sought to highlight and make more visible “the important scholarship that engages with the presences and absences of black british history” (archival education and research institute, 2019). this takeover took place over one half day of the conference and presented innovative and affective critical reflection on the intersection of methodologies and practice in particular. intersectional glam cic intersectional glam (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) cic 7 is dedicated to reimagining archives through an intersectional lens, by dismantling historically colonial and heteropatriarchal cataloguing, collection, and exhibition practices. intersectional glam, founded in 2018 by jass thethi, began as a simple blog which worked as an 41 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 outlet for jass’s feelings of being a minority within the glam sector, and using her lived experience and decade of knowledge of working in the sector, jass outlined practical changes she felt could be made to the sector to establish intersectionality. through voicing her opinion through the blog and on twitter, institutions began to reach out as there was a clear need and want to understand how to bring intersectionality into the archival world. jass took on the title of managing director and principal trainer of intersectional glam, she traveled the united kingdom to run training sessions on intersectional equity, anti-racism, and lgbtqia awareness. since then, intersectional glam has continued to grow. in april 2020, an array of online, self-taught courses aimed at glam professionals were launched. this currently includes diversity, inclusion and intersectionality training, implicit and unconscious bias training, and transgender awareness training. anti-racism training was released in november 2020 and disability awareness training will be released in 2021. jass also co-hosts well spoken tokens, with esther lisk-carew, a free podcast dedicated to discussions around dismantling white supremacy in galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. each episode welcomes a guest from the cultural sector to discuss important matters such as decolonisation, disability access, gender variance in archives, and practical ways to support minorities in the sector. the intersectional glam conference, entitled disrupt and empower has been planned for 2021. it is a grassroots conference organised to empower everyone within the sector by centering stories and opinions of overlooked and erased peoples while prioritising accessibility in a lgbtqia, transgender, bame, and disability friendly building. accessibility is the top priority for intersectional glam, therefore in addition to choosing a location which minimises physical barriers, speakers will be paid and tiered pricing is available to ensure socio-economically diverse participants. in addition to this ongoing work by museums detox, archives download, we are transmission, and intersectional glam cic, there are some particular events and efforts that feature in the recent history of anti-racist work in the british archives sector. what follows is a description of work by practitioners, archival studies scholars, and students, including work on racism in archival description, curriculum decolonisation, and spaces for critical reading, reflection, and planning. protocols for describing racist records in 2017, research was conducted at the liverpool university centre for archives studies (lucas) by alicia chilcott (2019), looking at the potential for developing protocols for the description of records containing racist terminology. this research sought to encourage better practice in the description of such records, contextualising them through more appropriate and sensitive description, improving their discoverability, and providing content warnings for potentially disturbing materials. this research was conducted within the context of the department for culture, media & sport’s “culture white paper”(dcms, 2016) and tna’s archives unlocked (tna, 2017) strategic vision for the sector calling for the archives workforce and collections to reflect the full diversity of society. it was felt that in order to improve ethnic diversity in the sector, it was necessary to adopt anti-racist practices in all areas of archival work, creating a sector more respectful of and 42 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 sensitive to racialised groups, and more capable of appropriately managing collections that represent these groups. this research focused on description as one area for improvement, establishing specific actions and changes that could be taken. additionally, this research included an assessment of existing common practice in the united kingdom and compared them to the descriptive methods recommended by protocols developed in north america and australia for the culturally sensitive description of archival records about indigenous communities (atsilirn, 2012; first archivist circle, 2007). these protocols recommend actions ranging from smaller practical changes—such as using subject indexing to improve discoverability or adding content warnings to sensitive records—to broader, more longterm processes such as engaging relevant communities in descriptive processes in a sustained participatory approach and improving cultural awareness among archive staff. applying these ideas to the u.k. context, some initial recommendations were proposed within a scalable format of good, better, and best practice, with the aim of identifying those actions that are more easily achievable with minimal resourcing as well as the more long-term and complex processes to be worked towards (chilcott, 2019). on 9 may 2018, a meeting was held at lucas, organised by james lowry of the university of liverpool, and facilitated by arike oke and simon demissie then both of wellcome collection, to discuss the practicability of these recommendations and what form u.k. descriptive protocols might take. the discussions focused on the questions “what would following these recommendations look like for your archive?” and “what support and resources would your archive need to achieve this?”. the discussions concluded that resourcing and institutional buy-in were the main barriers to the success of this work. the following issues were highlighted as key areas of focus: training, internal engagement and stakeholder management, community engagement, the need to develop a subject thesaurus of preferred terms, the need for an intersectional approach, and acknowledging all forms of marginalisation and misrepresentation present in our collections. the meeting also facilitated the formation of a network of professionals who were keen to contribute to this work. a working group was formed, including representation from the archives profession, academia, and organisations such as museums detox, tna, and the british records association and was chaired by simon demissie and alicia chilcott. from an initial working group meeting in october 2018, and subsequent discussions, the group identified the aims of this work: to develop practicable protocols for description of racist archive materials, and to encourage improved practice in the u.k. sector. these initial discussions have prioritised and highlighted the following issues: • funding: exploring options to fund the development of protocols and allowing for fair payment for people’s time and expertise • researching and building on previous efforts by learning from the australian and north american examples but also from previous work within the united kingdom, including the work of the black and asian studies association and the casbah project (uk web archive, 2014) 43 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 • international best practice: establishing what anti-racist archival practice, and in particular description, looks like and drawing on positive examples • engagement: this was recognised to encompass internal engagement to gather institutional support, sector engagement to raise awareness, develop a network to inform and test ideas, and community engagement to ensure the protocols reflect the needs and views of communities of colour that use and are represented by archives whilst some practical aspects of this work are fairly easily achievable, the protocols developed in australia and north america have required a level of engagement that the u.k. sector has not historically managed to commit to. previous work in this area has received limited or short-term support, showing that the sustainability of such efforts relies not only on individual action but a wider cultural change and dedication across the sector. this work is ongoing, but progress has been slowed by the usual drawbacks of individually led efforts such as this—namely the changing availability of those involved and capacity to take on the additional workload. institutional backing would be beneficial in securing a sustainable approach that does not rely solely on the efforts of individuals. nevertheless, work at university college london (ucl) has also been led by individual academics and students. critical archives and records reading group and decolonising the master’s curriculum (ucl) the critical archives and records reading group was an initiative led by phd students and early career researchers kirsty fife, victoria hoyle, hannah smyth, and hannah ishmael between 2019 and 2020. the group met on a monthly basis during term time to discuss intersectional approaches to archival theory, beginning in january 2019 with a session that explored white supremacy in archival practice and utilised michelle caswell’s (2017) “dismantling white supremacy in archives” exercise to encourage attendees to think about the ways in which white privilege manifests through archival processes. following this session, future events explored queering recordkeeping, feminism in the archives, critical heritage and commemoration, disability studies and archives, and diy cultural heritage amongst other themes. whilst our readings predominantly drew on archival theory, we also explored alternative sources including blogs and zines, such as “archiving the underground” (brager & sailor, 2010). we sought to create a space for academics, students, and practitioners to critically discuss archival principles and practices, with ambitions to: • encourage reflection on the current state of archives and recordkeeping practice and research using critical approaches from across humanities and social science disciplines. • share knowledge, experiences, and challenge and confront assumptions in a safe, open environment. • discuss practical goals and actions as educators, researchers, and practitioners to generate change. • participate in the “societal grand challenge” of the transformation of archival and 44 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 recordkeeping practices in pursuit of a more just and equitable world (gilliland, 2015). the establishment of a reading group was designed to be an opportunity for ongoing critical learning and thinking beyond the scope of formal archival education—whilst the group was hosted by ucl staff and students, it existed independently of postgraduate programmes in the department. the group also sought to share its learning and reading suggestions by publishing the reading list online for those unable to attend physically. the independence of the reading group is a significant point to note, given the persistent debates about the central role of postgraduate education in the archive profession (henthorn & fife, 2018; see fife & henthorn in this issue) and how this intersects with the whiteness of information sector workers in the united kingdom as demonstrated by cilip and ara’s (2015) report “a study of the uk information workforce: mapping the library, archives, records, information management and knowledge management and related professions”. providing a free space for critical thinking was useful for both professionals seeking to keep up-to-date with developments in archival theory, and to provide access to materials to those otherwise unable to afford to undertake an master of arts in the department. the attendees of the group were predominantly archive workers, which demonstrated the value of creating spaces for ongoing critical development before and after postgraduate courses. the discussions raised questions about the nature of records and archives, the foundations and principles which underpin archival practice (for example, preservation, public/private access, stability, gatekeeping, and custody), collections development practices, dynamics between institutional and community-led heritage, and the make-up of the archive profession. in various ways, everyday activism within the archival profession emerged as a concern of the group, and the group agreed that systemic inequalities and inequities must be tackled from within and without. group participants asked themselves how they could translate their reflections into their workplaces and research environments: how could they empower themselves and others in the field to talk about and address these critical concerns? and how can they transform practices in a way that does not appropriate or remarginalise, that recognises the intellectual contributions of scholars and practitioners outside the archival canon, historically and in the present? using reflexivity as a central tenet, attendees were encouraged to build actions and share experiences to encourage the application of these ideas within workplaces and community heritage projects. while these conversations were happening, archival studies academics were re-evaluating how ucl prepares its students for archival work. in 2018, the masters in archives and records management programme was challenged to examine its teaching through a decolonial lens as part of a ucl wide push to decolonise the curriculum. areas that were considered under this evaluation exercise included the subject areas embedded in the course, the balance of readings and perspectives introduced to the students, the balance of voice in the delivery of content, and teaching arrangements including aspects such as how students were allocated to group work and encouraged to engage with course content. this review revealed the need for shifts to be made across these aspects, and work to do so began with a revision of the main archival theory module underpinning the programme “concepts & contexts” which runs across two terms and has the highest grade weighting attached to it out of all the modules. the review revealed the centrality of a particular “white, founding father” narrative of the development of archival theory and practice, and in particular the central prominence given over to considering the conceptual framework around records and archives offered by sir hilary jenkinson, who was himself a civil servant whose life and work, as hannah ishmael (2019) illustrates, was tethered to the very heart of english colonial administration. whilst it has long been the concern of the course to offer 45 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 counter-perspectives and alternative viewpoints to the jenkinsonian position on archives, recent changes have sought to further shift the balance of power to ensure that jenkinson’s theories are present but no longer untouchable foundational anchors in the way that archival theory and practice is taught at ucl. new routes were created into thinking about what records and archives have been introduced at an earlier stage in the course including introducing new conceptual anchors such as stuart hall for the students to wrap their growing understandings around. the reading list has been revised and expanded to better represent the rich emerging scholarship from black archivists and activists in our field, and the balance across international borders has also been revisited. self-reflection as a key skill, and enabler to developing understanding, has been deeply embedded in the ways in which the course unfolds and the coursework is framed. new exercises in seminars have encouraged students to consider their cultural backgrounds and be aware and open to learning from each other. intersectional examination of privilege has also taken shape in group exercises. these first steps towards shifting the course will continue to be refined and worked on over the coming years. the ucl and liverpool courses are the two oldest archival science post-graduate courses in the united kingdom, and while ucl moved through a formal decolonial revision of its curriculum, changes in the liverpool curriculum have been less systematic. some of the most recent changes followed an activity held in march 2019. dismantling white supremacy at the liverpool university centre for archive studies on 6 march 2019, the liverpool university centre for archive studies (lucas) ran michelle caswell’s (2017) “dismantling white supremacy in archives” exercise. the meeting was attended by a small group of people, including practitioners, historians, archival educators, and students. the exercise calls for the group to read peggy mcintosh’s 50 white privileges (mcintosh, 2010). following this reading, there was a discussion of the additional or different white privileges experienced in the united kingdom. this discussion included blind spots in white british versions of history, particularly in the popular imagination, where britain has not had (racial) segregation laws and tends to cast itself as the hero of the anti-slavery campaign rather than the greatest beneficiary of the slave trade. structural racism and other legacies of slavery can more easily be dismissed as being american problems because of this mythologising. the resulting dismissal of racism as a lesser problem here in britain is a specifically british white privilege. the discussions also considered that the united kingdom has never been a “mother of exiles”, crying "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore”. british white privilege may therefore include a greater sense of entitlement to “belonging” to a motherland with an indigenous culture that might be seen as rightly dominant (with implications for archives). this may feed into racism and xenophobia. within this discussion, distinctions were made between racism and xenophobia: the racial hierarchy created by british colonialism that survives through the concept of a commonwealth “family”; some bame (black, asian, and minority ethnic) people can be more “foreign” and less welcome in britain than others while some “foreign” cultural signifiers (including cultural practices, attire, and accents) become welcome reminders of the glory of britain’s empire. this dynamic of xenophobia can further diminish the recognition of racism. 46 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 finally, the discussion acknowledged the stratification of whiteness in the united kingdom, thinking about the prominence of class in british culture, the devalued labour of eastern europeans, and the othering of roma and irish traveller communities—within white privilege there are hierarchies of privilege. turning to white privileges in archives, the discussion identified numerous privileges. in the area of description, examples included “i am confident that i will find records that support dominant narratives about ‘my’ national history/ies” and “i am confident that i can find records about people of my race without having to use fuzzy search strategies, different forms of spelling or derogatory search terms”. regarding access, identified privileges included “i am confident that, as a white person, i will be granted full access to archival resources in any environment” and “when i visit an archive, i will see people of my colour represented in embedded outreach activities”. the discussion specifically addressed record-making in addition to archival considerations. here privileges were identified such as “i am confident that the records protecting my rights will be available to me” and “i am confident that the design of processes and systems of data capture will accommodate my records needs”. numerous privileges were acknowledged in the area of appraisal and selection, including “i am confident that i will find records relating to my ancestors in a public records office” and “i can challenge appraisal and selection decisions in my workplace without appearing biased”. white privileges in archival education included “i am confident that the authors on my reading lists will be from my race” and “i am aware of archives as a career option”. with these privileges in mind, several commitments were made. the archival educators in the room committed to run the exercise annually with students, build links with representatives of diverse communities to give paid talks about their record-keeping traditions, analyse and diversify reading lists, and find records representing the diversity of the u.k. population as examples for the teaching of early modern palaeography. the exercise also prompted the creation of “widening participation workshops”, which offered fully funded workshops for bame people seeking pre-qualification experience (a prerequisite for admission to archival science degrees in the united kingdom). the student archivists committed to run the “dismantling white supremacy in archives” exercise in their workplaces when in a position to do so. the practitioners at the meeting undertook to do the exercise at the next meeting of ara’s regional training officers and to encourage the training officers to run the exercise in their regions, write about the experience in the ara magazine, explore how white supremacy could be surfaced and discussed during archives hour (which would take place on 31 october 2019), discussing, within ara, the possibility of reflecting these discussions in the criteria of the archives accreditation scheme, and attempting to get the exercise offered at the ara conference in 2019. this latter action would not materialise, and instead, ara 2019 became a defining moment in the racism of the sector. ara 2019 in this section we refer to one specific incident of racism that happened during the 2019 archives and records association conference. this example is used to explore the ways in which white supremacy manifests in professional spaces but is far from the only instance that has occurred over recent years. the description of this event is used to illustrate the way in which professional spaces and networks are often unsafe for people of colour due to a lack of commitment to antiracist action and accountability practices. for the purposes of this article, all involved in the 47 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 incident have been anonymised. professional spaces within the information sector have been described as uncomfortable spaces for people of colour—these include conferences (as in the below example), but also workplaces, sector networks, and education spaces (espinal, 2001; espinal et al., 2018; neal, 1996; ramirez, 2015; schlesselman-tarango, 2017; thethi, 2018). in the context of conferences, jass thethi (2018) has highlighted how the language of diversity can be alienating, draining, and othering to people of colour within the profession, if this presentation were aimed at me the speaker would not use words like “ne[gr]o” and “coloured”. if this presentation was for me i would feel safe in the knowledge that if i felt discomfort leaving would not cause offence. if this presentation was for me i would not feel words like “diversity” and “community group” other me from the profession i am in, but paint me as an outsider. if it was all with marginalised groups in mind, i would not leave feeling emotionally drained with at least 10 stories of racial microagressions. (para. 6) this is echoed by academics writing about diversity within the context of universities (ahmed, 2017; musser, 2015). in 2019, during the ara conference a person of colour shared, via social media, concerns that they were the only person of colour present at the conference. this comment was replied to by a senior officer at ara, who dismissed the individual’s concerns. what followed was a public “debate” in which a senior white man continued to minimise and refute valid issues that were raised by someone who had felt repeatedly othered in the conference space. because of the use of the conference hashtag, this social media conversation was observed by a high number of conference attendees and archive sector workers. subsequently, some users began to express support and solidarity to the attendee with the original concerns, and others dismissed the concerns and displayed defensive behaviour that centred the discomfort of white people. this can be understood as the display of “white fragility” (diangelo, 2019). following the events of ara 2019, a statement was issued by ara which confirmed that the employee in question would be resigning their post. the statement said: i would like to apologise to members and others for any offence caused by social media activity last saturday 31st august 2019. the tweets concerned do not represent the views of the ara or its governing board. (magee, 2019) whilst the decision to leave a professional post for these actions was appropriate, the conference participant who made the initial tweet received no updates or support from the ara and was left to discover this information from various news sources. furthermore, when it was discussed with them, they were asked to provide ara with consultancy services around changes that could be made within ara to increase diversity, with no compensation for their labour. the ara’s actions and comments can be criticised for employing distancing rhetorical devices (barnes et al., 2001) to attach racism to the actions of one individual rather than also acknowledge the racism embedded in the structure of a professional body in which that individual was employed. this strategy suggests that white supremacy can be “solved” by removing an individual who has behaved inappropriately, rather than holding a body to account and seeking 48 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 to transform its behaviours and structures. ara’s dismissal of the need for communication and emotional support, combined with subsequent expectations of assistance from those most affected in this scenario, shows a lack of understanding of the emotional damage that can be caused by racist incidents. the following year’s conference, which has subsequently been postponed due to covid-19, was originally planned to focus on diversity. this decision was also criticized, as no public communications indicated any actions were taken to improve accessibility to the conference (for instance, by lowering pricing for attendance), or to embed accountability agreements or safer spaces policy to support those who have previously felt marginalised within the space. following ara 2019, there were animated discussions within the profession but many of them were private, and in the public professional fora there was a kind of tense silence, as seen in the hesitation to engage in archive hour that october. archive hour at the dismantling white supremacy in archives meeting in liverpool, pauline soum-paris suggested working with ara to host an archive hour on the topic of white supremacy in the sector. archive hour is an hour-long twitter conversation that happens on the last thursday of each month hosted by one of nine ara nations, regions, or sections plus a guest host, using #archivehour in each post. in a demonstration of ara north west’s ongoing support for the anti-racist agenda, they readily agreed to the proposal to discuss “power, diversity and inclusion” during their next turn at hosting on 31 october 2019. the following questions were asked: 1. we are living in a moment when inherited power structures, and the ideas that support them, are being challenged. what tools are available to help us critically think about racism, sexism, homophobia and other forms of oppression in the archival profession? 2. fighting white supremacy and heteropatriarchy in archives involves critically reexamining our intellectual history and telling different stories about our profession. which ‘other’ writers belong in the archival canon? 3. jenkinson’s manual is getting an overhaul. what should it include? what are the most important changes in archival theory in the last 100 years? 4. power imbalances happen locally and globally. despite requests since the 1960s for the migrated archive to be returned, they’re still in uk custody. do you work with collections whose custody constitutes a power imbalance? 5. at the @livunilucas annual archives lecture this year, @arikeoke suggested that we didn’t all need to strive to do appraisal in the same way. how do you think about your positionality in appraisal and selection? how do you check personal bias or prejudice? 6. following @aliciachilcott’s research into the description of #racistrecords, work has been going on around protocols for describing offensive records. how do you deal with racist, sexist and phobic language in records? how do you describe offensive material? 49 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 7. in your design and delivery of services, how do you think about access and ableism? what’s best practice in this area? is there enough about diffability in archives accreditation requirements? 8. the #araglasgowmanifesto responds to concerns about diversity and inclusion. do you think it goes far enough? what would you like to see it include? 9. there has been a lot of discussion about barriers to and access routes into the profession. how can we empower a diverse and representative profession? 10. what did you read in 2019 that changed how you think about power, diversity or inclusion in archival work? in the aftermath of ara 2019, the discussions were muted, with the archive hour coordinator reporting that engagement was lower than usual. those involved felt that this reflected anxiety about discussing the topic in general, and particularly on social media, rather than a lack of interest in or concern for the topic. the reticence of colleagues to speak publicly about these issues spurred numerous conversations locally. meetings in london, liverpool, and st andrews following ara 2019, and the low engagement with archive hour, conversations in informal professional networks across the north west of england began to galvanise into action, and a meeting was planned at the liverpool university centre for archive studies. similar meetings were planned for london and st andrews. taking place on 12 december 2019, the meetings were attended by archivists who expressed disillusionment with the sector and sector leaders in the fallout of ara 2019, experiences of exclusion, and awareness of personal responsibility to effect change in the profession. through these meetings, the following problems were articulated. white fragility: the profession struggles to acknowledge that white supremacy exists in the united kingdom because of: • a lack of awareness of what structural racism is • an instinctive defensiveness and denial of white privilege • an unwillingness to accept the lived experience and testimony of those who are negatively affected by white privilege. these patterns of denial, defensiveness and minimisation can also be seen in relation to other characteristics such as gender, class, disability, sexual orientation, etc. leadership: there is a lack of action, leadership and accountability from professional associations and other sector leaders. there is a sense that they are not listening, that their priorities in this area are unclear, and that their decision-making mechanisms are opaque. there is very limited diversity at the highest levels of the profession and those at the top seem disconnected from the problem. awareness of heritage and the archives profession: the fact that our school curricula and dominant historical narratives centre the white, largely middle-class british experience engages 50 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 those who are ‘interested’ (and over-represented), which perpetuates a white, middle-class workforce. in turn, this reinforces our perceptions of our profession as an insular and exclusive one, which is not representative of many, many people and histories. barriers to qualification and precarity in work: there are barriers to entering the profession of finance, geography, access to technology, academic requirements, and lack of paid traineeships. current/previous efforts to reduce these barriers haven’t been effective. in order to achieve diversity in ethnicity, class and economic background, consideration should be made of the amount of money required to gain work experience, pay student fees etc. funding is needed for paid placements, and the profession is suffering from a lack of long-term roles. to address these problems, the following actions were identified. individual actions we will take at our organisations and in our practice • be braver. critically examine ourselves and our assumptions and biases. find out what our unconscious biases are. • listen more. listen to the lived experiences of others. listen to communities. create spaces for conversations about race and representation, power and social justice. • speak out at work. support colleagues experiencing racism and other prejudices. • educate ourselves. read some critical race theory. make learning opportunities for ourselves and others. take advantage of free training programmes from charities for staff. use the archivists against8 collective’s resources in our workplaces. • connect. seek allies and commit to allyship. work with more diverse networks. • reassess acquisitions and collecting policies. what is valued and who is being represented? • critically rethink our tools and techniques. how are we cataloguing? which records are prioritised for cataloguing? • look at our own operations. are our values embedded in our procedures, hiring practices, corporate language, etc? • think historically, and think globally. acknowledge colonial legacies. white supremacy is built into and on our collections and helps to determine our place in the international archival community. • pay up, and pay forward. commit to finding funds to pay trainees. recruit trainees who have the potential to change our profession for the better. • celebrate positive action, loudly. action will we take collectively to influence the sector • support and participate in current ara and the national archives efforts to address 51 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 structural racism in the profession. insist that these efforts are expanded or continued until structural racism is eliminated. • ask ara to appoint paid advisors to conduct a thorough internal review of its structure, culture, and practices to discover what needs to change within the organisation to make it a safer, more inclusive professional body. • insist that all accreditation guidelines, competency frameworks, etc surface and work to correct structural biases. • recognise that british archives hold records that don’t belong to us. through ara and the national archives, do something about that. • support the work around descriptive protocols for racist records. • expect the university courses to decolonise their curricula and reassess the skills they teach, with a greater focus on human-centred approaches and skills for challenging and speaking up, handling difficult conversations and conflicting perspectives. • support alternative routes into the profession that diversify the sector, without deprofessionalising it. • work to positively influence primary and secondary school history curricula so that historical research and archives are opened up to those presently disengaged and excluded through white hegemony. • participate in these efforts instead of expecting others to do the work for us. these actions were posted on an online site9 and archivists were invited to sign as a public commitment to action on structural racism. uptake was initially low, confined mainly to people who had attended the december meetings, until the toppling of colston’s statue in june 2020 prompted a heated conversation on the professional list-serv. this conversation prompted a surge in signatures to the statement, cancellations of ara membership subscriptions, and the establishment of an “activist archivist” discord channel. conclusion this brings the history up to date until june 2020, just before a new burst of energy against structural racism in the sector. we do not know if the anti-racist energy we can see in the profession as we write this will hold, or if it will come to anything at all, but it feels like there has been more progress than ever before. but as this article makes clear, there is work to be done to understand the history of racism and anti-racist work in our sector; while our account is fairly comprehensive for the short period it covers, much previous work is less fully documented at present. the future is just as unclear. the profession can no longer claim ignorance of the issue of racism, but for those who recognise it as a problem, what next? statements, action plans, manifestos, and strategies have proliferated in these past few years, and all outline more or less useful actions. there is a very real risk that the current energy will flag if the talking and statement52 about:blank against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 making do not start to translate into the implementation of these action points and undertakings. how to avoid “representational politics”? the problem statements and proposed actions in the document drafted after the december 2019 meetings recognise that organisational policies for diversity and inclusion, and fast-tracking bame people into positions of visibility, do little to dismantle the structural biases that support the current white hegemony of the british archives sector (change.org, n.d.). honma’s (2005) arguments against tokenisation and for chu’s (1999) “social and color consciousness” tell us how that goes. the colour consciousness chu (1999) discusses is deeply personal, beginning with examinations of personal privilege and bias. to return to honma (2005), “the identification of whiteness and its structuralizing principles is necessary in order to combat its invisibility and normative effects” (p.5). it is not enough to watch—like the trepidation around october 2019’s archive hour—and wait for professional bodies and other sector leaders to fix racism in the sector. our overview of recent developments shows a turn to grassroots action, particularly after the 2019 ara conference. though tna and ara must, and are continuing to grapple with, the interconnected issues that keep u.k. archives in the grip of whiteness, the shift towards personal responsibility and action must continue if things are to change. we cannot fight racism in a profession without understanding ourselves, as its members, in terms of race. those of us who operate in these predominantly white spaces as people of colour, know that while the fight is long and progress is slow, we are not alone, and our strength and value will continue to grow through solidarity. and we can look to a future where white supremacy is dismantled and our history no longer sits invisible or on the margins, but as well-funded central narratives taught to all children. as we work to manifest this future, we welcome strategic and structural changes alongside our white allies. those of us who are white must see what our society has made invisible—our own colour and its attendant privileges—our “birthrights”, and all the expectations and assumptions surfaced in caswell’s (2017) exercise. mcintosh (2009) has called us to understand white racial history and how it has brought us to today’s status quo. we will not see real change until we understand how it came to be this way and how all the pieces fit together. then we can take it apart. endnotes 1 in england some buildings are “listed”, which refers to the practice of listing buildings and sites of historic interest in order to confer certain protections on those sites. “grade ii* listed” buildings are “particularly important buildings of more than special interest”, comprising 5.8% of listed buildings (historic england, n.d.). 2 black cultural archives on google: arts & culture: https://artsandculture.google.com/project/black-cultural-archives. 3 nutkhut is a london-based performance company. their project girmit “aims to highlight the centenary of the abolishment of indentured labour and the 50th anniversary of the independence of fiji, to inform the public of this neglected part of british history, which remains relatively unknown outside of academic circles” (nutkhut, n.d.) 4 see https://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/category/podcasts-2/. 5 see https://www.archives.org.uk/ara-together/ara-together-online-community.html. 6 the conversation is held on a discord server: dismantling oppressive practices, archives and 53 about:blank https://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/category/podcasts-2/ against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 records association discord channel. visit: https://discord.com/channels/704677916612493332/734684971071176785. 7 cic is the abbreviation for the company type: “community interest company”. a community interest company is a type of company introduced by the u.k. government in 2005 under the companies act 2004, designed for social enterprises that want to use their profits and assets for the public good. 8 see https://www.archivistsagainst.org. 9see https://www.archives.org.uk/publications/workforce.html. references ahmed, s. 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(2019, september 2). statement from the chair of the board of the ara. archives and records association. https://www.archives.org.uk/news/765-message-from-arachair-karl-magee.html mcintosh, p. (2010). ‘white privilege: unpacking the invisible knapsack’ and ‘some notes for facilitators’. the national seed project. https://nationalseedproject.org/key-seedtexts/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack mcintosh, p. (2009). white people facing race: uncovering the myths that keep racism in place. the saint paul foundation. https://www.whitworth.edu/cms/media/whitworth/documents/administration/diversi ty-equity--inclusion/peggy-mcintosh-white-people-facing-race.pdf musser, a.j. (2015). specimen days: diversity, labor, and the university. feminist formations 27(3), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1353/ff.2016.0006 the national archives. (2017). archives unlocked: releasing the potential [brochure]. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/archives/archives-unlockedbrochure.pdf the national archives. (2020). black, asian and minority ethnic histories: finding aid. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/black-asian-and-minorityethnic-histories/ national audit office. (2018, december 5). report by the comptroller and auditor general: home office: handling of the windrush situation. hc 1622, session 2017–2019. https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/handling-of-the-windrushsituation-1.pdf neal, k. m. (1996). the importance of being diverse: the archival profession and minority recruitment. archival issues 21(2), 145–158. nutkhut. (n.d.). girmit. https://www.nutkhut.co.uk/projects/girmit/ racial equity tools. (2020). anti-racism. in racial equality tools glossary. https://www.racialequitytools.org/glossary#anti-racism ramirez, m. h. (2015). being assumed not to be: a critique of whiteness as an archival imperative. the american archivist 78(2), 339–356. https://doi.org/10.17723/03609081.78.2.339 schlesselman-tarango, g. (2017). topographies of whiteness: mapping whiteness in library and information science. litwin books. stillpoint spaces international (n.d.). mission. https://www.stillpointspaces.com/mission/ thethi, j. (2018, november 23). the fallacy of diversity presentations. intersectional glam. https://intersectionalglam.org/2018/11/23/the-fallacy-of-diversity-presentations/ 57 about:blank https://moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk/iedecisiondetails.aspx?id=4416 https://www.archives.org.uk/news/765-message-from-ara-chair-karl-magee.html https://www.archives.org.uk/news/765-message-from-ara-chair-karl-magee.html https://nationalseedproject.org/key-seed-texts/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack https://nationalseedproject.org/key-seed-texts/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack https://www.whitworth.edu/cms/media/whitworth/documents/administration/diversity-equity--inclusion/peggy-mcintosh-white-people-facing-race.pdf https://www.whitworth.edu/cms/media/whitworth/documents/administration/diversity-equity--inclusion/peggy-mcintosh-white-people-facing-race.pdf https://doi.org/10.1353/ff.2016.0006 https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/archives/archives-unlocked-brochure.pdf https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/archives/archives-unlocked-brochure.pdf https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/black-asian-and-minority-ethnic-histories/ https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/black-asian-and-minority-ethnic-histories/ https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/handling-of-the-windrush-situation-1.pdf https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/handling-of-the-windrush-situation-1.pdf https://www.nutkhut.co.uk/projects/girmit/ https://www.racialequitytools.org/glossary#anti-racism https://doi.org/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.339 https://doi.org/10.17723/0360-9081.78.2.339 https://www.stillpointspaces.com/mission/ https://intersectionalglam.org/2018/11/23/the-fallacy-of-diversity-presentations/ https://intersectionalglam.org/2018/11/23/the-fallacy-of-diversity-presentations/ against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 uk web archive. (2014). casbah home. https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/en/archive/20141103120834/http://www.c asbah.ac.uk/index.html williams, w. (2020). windrush lessons learned review. house of commons, hc93). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach ment_data/file/874022/6.5577_ho_windrush_lessons_learned_review_web_v2.pdf young, l. (2003). report of the archives & museum of black heritage. university of middlesex. alicia chilcott (alicia.chilcott@live.co.uk) is assistant archivist at st bride library, london. she researched protocols for describing racist records whilst a student of the university of liverpool centre for archive studies and has co-chaired a subsequent working group aiming to establish a uk set of protocols. kirsty fife (k.fife.12@ucl.ac.uk) is a phd student in the department of information studies and university college london and a lecturer in popular music at leeds conservatoire. their phd research explores memory, history, and archival practice in uk diy music communities. kirsty is also a qualified archivist with a background of working in outreach, community engagement, and public service roles for organisations including the uk parliamentary archives, national science and media museum, and hoxton hall. james lowry (james.lowry@qc.cuny.edu) is assistant professor in the graduate school of library and information studies at queens college, city university of new york (cuny). he is an honorary research fellow at the university of liverpool, where he was former co-director of the centre for archive studies (lucas). james is the founder and director of the archival technologies lab at cuny and he is the series editor for the routledge studies in archives book series. jenny moran (jenny.moran@archives.org.uk) has been an archivist since 1994 and is old enough to have worked with many community groups and on the mla diversity and inclusion toolkits. at northamptonshire archives she worked on the flagship black history project which mapped the black presence in the county through research, worked with communities on preserving their records, and created a permanent archive of the memories of community members. she is currently the joint manager of the record office for leicestershire, leicester and rutland, home of the famous thomas cook archive, and the diversity portfolio holder on the board of the archives and records association. arike oke (arike.oke@bcaheritage.org.uk) is the managing director for black cultural archives— the home of black british history. she is a board member for the national archives’ strategic unlocking archives initiative, advises bafta as a heritage board member, advises uk government as part of the cross government windrush working group, and is a fellow of the arts council’s museums and resilient leadership programme. anna sexton (a.sexton.11@ucl.ac.uk), lecturer in archives and records in the department of information studies at university college london, is an archivist whose interests include research use of government administrative data, participatory archive practice, community-based research, record access and rights issues, archival ethics, and new thinking around digital records and computational methods. anna holds a phd and ma in archives and records management from 58 about:blank https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/en/archive/20141103120834/http:/www.casbah.ac.uk/index.html https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/en/archive/20141103120834/http:/www.casbah.ac.uk/index.html https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/874022/6.5577_ho_windrush_lessons_learned_review_web_v2.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/874022/6.5577_ho_windrush_lessons_learned_review_web_v2.pdf mailto:alicia.chilcott@live.co.uk mailto:k.fife.12@ucl.ac.uk mailto:james.lowry@qc.cuny.edu mailto:jenny.moran@archives.org.uk mailto:arike.oke@bcaheritage.org.uk mailto:a.sexton.11@ucl.ac.uk against whitewashing the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.34731 ucl and has twenty years of experience working across the archive sector and academia—most recently as head of research at the national archives. anna is also the current deputy director for collaborations and partnerships for the london arts and humanities partnership (lahp) ahrc doctoral training partnership. jass thethi (intersectional.glam@gmail.com) is the founder, principal trainer, and managing director of intersectional glam. intersectional glam is dedicated to re-imagining galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (glam sector) through an intersectional lens by dismantling the historically colonial and hetero-patriarchal practices. 59 about:blank mailto:intersectional.glam@gmail.com introduction black cultural archives in focus the national archives sector context the activities of the archives and records association museums detox, archives download and we are transmission intersectional glam cic protocols for describing racist records critical archives and records reading group and decolonising the master’s curriculum (ucl) dismantling white supremacy at the liverpool university centre for archive studies ara 2019 archive hour meetings in london, liverpool, and st andrews conclusion endnotes references the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 the role of digital skills in refugee integration: a state-of-the-art review miriam potocky, international rescue committee and florida international university, usa abstract two concurrent 21st-century phenomena—the nearly unprecedented number of forced migrants and the near-ubiquity of information and communications technology—have given rise to increased scholarship in “digital migration studies.” one area of investigation in this emergent interdisciplinary field is the role of digital skills in refugee integration. given the accelerated global reliance on technology resulting from the covid-19 pandemic, the author conducted a state-of-the-art literature review to identify emerging issues and highlight research needs in this area. a search of 10 databases yielded 39 studies spanning the major resettlement regions (north america, western europe, oceania) and including refugees from across the globe. the inclusion criteria were studies focused on refugees’ practical use of digital technology in integration, published from january 2020-april 2021. exclusion criteria were studies on refugees in transit or protracted displacement, digital connectivity and accessibility, use of digital technology by humanitarian actors, software development, analyses of digital representations of refugees, public attitudes toward refugees as expressed in digital media, and literature reviews. ndofortah et al.’s (2019) refugee integration framework was used to organize and synthesize the findings. the studies demonstrated how digital skills affect all domains of integration. additionally, the studies confirm that many refugees in resettlement have limited digital skills for necessary integration tasks, such as navigating websites and assessing the credibility of online information. limitations of this state-of-the-art review include its cross-sectional nature, having only one reviewer, and only published literature accessible online through public websites or subscription databases. an important emerging issue for future research is assessing, teaching, and learning digital skills among this population. the study’s contributions to the knowledge base and theory, and its implications for information science scholars and practitioners and those in allied disciplines within digital migration studies, are discussed. keywords: digital proficiency; digital skills; integration; literature review; refugee; resettlement publication type: literature review introduction he past decade, 2010-2020, has witnessed an increasing body of scholarship on the convergence of two early 21st century phenomena: the nearly unprecedented number of refugees worldwide and the near-ubiquity of information and communications technology (ict). this growth in scholarship showed a notable spike after 2015 (figure 1), a year when over one million refugees, primarily from syria, afghanistan, and iraq, sought asylum in europe (united nations high commissioner for refugees, 2015). research on refugees’ ways of engaging t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 70 with icts has ultimately given rise to the new interdisciplinary field of “digital migration studies” (leurs & smets, 2018). over time, digital migration studies have undergone a paradigm shift. early studies were based on a techno-optimist lens that views technology as the solution to the numerous challenges faced by refugees (kaurin, 2020). in this perspective, technology reunites families, enhances access to information and services, and promotes equality (bouffet, 2020; kaurin, 2020). however, this techno-optimist lens fails to account for the multi-faceted social, economic, and cultural influences that mediate technology use (kaurin, 2020). it soon became evident that technology replicated, if not amplified, existing social inequities (bouffet, 2020; kaurin, 2020). consequently, digital migration studies typically adopt a techno-realist critical paradigm, which considers the social networks, structures, positionalities, and intersectionalities that influence the development and use of technology (kaurin, 2020). this paradigm critiques top-down and supply-driven digital initiatives instead of needs-driven projects developed in partnership with end-users (kaurin, 2020). further, this paradigm recognizes both the benefits and risks of refugees’ technology use (maitland, 2020). figure 1. google scholar hits for “refugee and (digital or ict)” by year, 2010-2020; source: author’s search, may 26, 2021. information science plays a vital role in the digital migration studies field. lloyd (2020) asserts: when viewed from [an information] perspective, forced migration and resettlement can be problematized against concepts of information landscapes, literacies, information resilience, and affordances, with practice and social capital theories providing explanatory frameworks. forced migration creates complex social, cultural, and political information problems for people by fracturing established information landscapes created and anchored in previous lives and reflected in lived experiences of social 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 20,000 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 n um be r of h it s year https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 71 networks. knowing what is needed, where and when it is needed, how to acquire and access information, and what or whom to trust for information is predicated upon understanding what information is essential within a cultural context and then reconciling that knowledge with an internal understanding of what constitutes information and knowledge. (p. 12) one area of investigation in this emergent field is the role of information behavior in refugee integration (oduntan & ruthven, 2020). integration refers to the mutual adaptation between refugees and their host societies in their countries of resettlement. ager and strang (2008) pioneered a now-classic refugee integration framework, which was recently updated (ndofortah et al., 2019). this framework defines the goal of integration as “communities where people, whatever their background, live, work, learn and socialise together, based on shared rights, responsibilities and opportunities” (p. 2) and identifies key domains that evidence suggests are central to achieving this aim. a significant revision in the updated framework was the addition of “digital skills” as a domain of refugee integration. the concept of digital skills or digital literacy (used interchangeably here) refers to one’s cognitive and technical abilities to use information and communication technology to locate, appraise, produce, and communicate information (american library association, 2021). digital skills were added to the refugee integration framework in recognition that access to people, services, and rights often depends on, or is facilitated by, technology (ndofor-tah et al., 2019). the covid-19 pandemic, which struck only months later, has accelerated the global reliance on technology to meet essential human needs. inevitably, the gap between the digital haves and have-nots has exacerbated pre-existing inequities in all spheres of life. although many resettled refugees are tech-savvy, many others have low levels of digital literacy and socio-economic, linguistic, and cultural barriers that can hinder their use of technology (alencar, 2020). additionally, while many refugees use smartphones, these devices are insufficient to fully develop digital skills (cherewka, 2020). people whose sole digital connection is a smartphone are likely to have fragmented digital knowledge. for example, they may connect with family members abroad using a mobile app but may not know how to complete and submit a job application on a desktop computer. such fragmented knowledge may allow people to perform some digital tasks needed for everyday life but may restrict them from developing broader and deeper digital problem-solving skills (cherewka, 2020). conversely, people who cannot use smartphones are increasingly disadvantaged, as many daily life skill functions require mobile technology. survey data further demonstrate the refugee digital divide. although data specifically on resettled refugees are not available, a survey of digital skills across the technology-rich organisation for economic co-operation and development (oecd)1 countries where refugees resettle found that 13% of foreign-born, foreign language adults had no computer experience, compared to 8% of native-born, native language adults (oecd, 2015). further, only 17% of the former group was highly proficient in digital problem-solving (e.g., coordinating the use of multiple apps, evaluating web search results, troubleshooting) compared to approximately onethird of the latter group (oecd, 2015). in a survey of the training needs of nearly 200 refugee service providers throughout the u.s., information about digital access and literacy was the most requested training topic, with 57% of respondents, together with 58% of respondents requesting mental health training (switchboard, 2021). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 72 background: digital skills in refugee integration the refugee integration framework provides a conceptual basis for unifying, organizing, and understanding the positive and negative ways digital skills affect multiple aspects of refugees’ lives in resettlement (alencar, 2018; eskola et al., 2020). the framework consists of four levels, each entailing a set of domains (figure 2). the refugee integration framework provides a conceptual basis for unifying, organizing, and understanding the positive and negative ways digital skills affect multiple aspects of refugees’ lives in resettlement (alencar, 2018; eskola et al., 2020). the framework consists of four levels, each entailing a set of domains (figure 2). figure 2. refugee integration framework; source: ndofor-tah et al. (2019). contains public sector information licensed under the open government licence v3.0. the ground level is the foundation, which entails one domain: rights and responsibilities. this foundation represents the social contract between refugees and their host societies, constituting mutual expectations and obligations of integration. at this level, technology is valuable as a source of information about rights and responsibilities in the host society and a means of promoting the right to freedom of expression (alencar, 2020; bouffet, 2020; eskola, 2020; orrnert, 2020). however, there are rights-based concerns related to refugees’ agency in producing and consuming digital content. potential rights violations include property and privacy concerns. these include a lack of ownership of one’s digital representation or a lack of control over the dissemination of private information (bouffet, 2020; maitland, 2020). a related concern is the potential exploitation of refugees’ data by for-profit and humanitarian actors (bouffet, 2020; maitland, 2020). for example, technology providers monetize their users’ data, while nongovernmental organizations (ngos) do likewise in fundraising appeals (e.g., using refugees’ images and narratives). refugees’ freely given consent in these situations may be questionable https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 73 given their dependence on these services. compounding this ethical dilemma is the fact that these two sectors often work in partnership. technical and cognitive limitations among some refugee subgroups, such as older adults and those with disabilities, are additional rights concerns (maitland, 2020). the next level of the integration framework is facilitators, consisting of language & communication, culture, digital skills, safety, and stability. these domains represent key factors that aid the process of integration. digital skills affect all the other domains at this level. in language & communication, refugees benefit from online language learning tools, translation apps, and the capability to communicate digitally (culbertson et al., 2019; patil, 2019; maitland, 2020; taftaf & williams, 2020; türkay, 2020). in the culture domain, refugees use online communities, online content in their native language, and digital storytelling to develop and maintain connections to their native and host cultures (orrnert, 2020; patil, 2019). some use technology to access religious content and faith-based assistance (culbertson et al., 2019). culture is preserved and evolves through memory and identity, and refugees use technology for this purpose. examples include storing images on smartphones or using social media to help establish a new, bicultural identity (culbertson et al., 2019). refugees, especially youth, have used digital media production, such as digital storytelling, to express their identity and assert ownership of their narratives (alencar, 2020; maitland, 2020; michalovich, 2021; pottie et al., 2020; türkay, 2020). in the domain of safety, mobile phones can be a crucial lifeline for accessing needed resources; on the other hand, concerns have been raised about refugees’ cybersecurity and personal safety connected to technology use, as well as misinformation and disinformation disseminated digitally (alencar, 2018; bouffet, 2020; culbertson et al., 2019; eskola et al., 2020; maitland, 2020; patil, 2019). the final facilitator is stability, which refers to predictability in one’s work, education, living circumstances, and access to services. digital skills affect obtaining information and communicating with employers, schools, landlords, and service providers. the third level of the refugee integration framework is social connections, encompassing three domains: social bonds, social bridges, and social links. social bonds are connections with others with a shared sense of identity, such as family and close friends; they are a source of social support. refugees use mobile phones and social media to maintain and develop transnational social bonds for emotional and psychological support (alencar, 2020; culbertson et al., 2019; orrnert, 2020; patil, 2019; pottie et al., 2020). however, these relationships also require emotional labor due to traumatizing stories or unrealistic expectations from family members remaining in the country of origin (alencar, 2020). social bridges are connections with people of different backgrounds. these ties are weaker than social bonds, but they are critical sources of resources and opportunities. in this domain, refugees use digital media to exchange information about the host community’s cultural, social, health, and economic aspects (maitland, 2020; pottie et al., 2020). on the negative side, refugees have reported resorting to mobile technology instead of interacting in-person with host culture members due to negative experiences. hence, refugees may view their digital connections as a hindrance to forming real-life relationships with host culture members (alencar, 2020; bouffet, 2020). social links are connections with institutions, including government services. these links are necessary to access rights or services and to fulfill obligations. developers have created thousands of apps for refugees to facilitate social links (alencar, 2018; kaurin, 2020; maitland, 2020; patil, 2019), although refugees most typically use mainstream apps to link to resettlement resources (alencar, 2020). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 74 the final level in the integration framework, markers and means, contains five domains: work, housing, education, health and social care, and leisure. these domains are “markers” because they are outcome indicators of integration; they also serve as “means” because success in these domains assists the broader integration goal. refugees use digital technology for employmentseeking and entrepreneurship (culbertson et al., 2019; patil, 2019). they use various technologies to find housing, including social media and housing-matching services (culbertson et al., 2019), an increasingly critical function against the backdrop of affordable housing shortages in resettlement areas. in education, refugees benefit from technology-enabled remote learning and game-based learning apps for both adults and children in formal and informal educational settings (alencar, 2020; culbertson et al., 2019; maitland, 2019; patil, 2019; taftaf & williams, 2020). in health and social care, refugees use technology to seek healthcare or find health-related information (culbertson et al., 2019; maitland, 2020; patil, 2019; pottie et al., 2020). digital mental health apps improve refugees’ mental health symptoms, and refugees perceive these apps positively (liem, 2021). digital storytelling shows some evidence of effectiveness as a mental health therapeutic technique (maitland, 2020). finally, leisure represents a significant technology element for all users, including refugees (maitland, 2020; türkay, 2020). purpose of the study given the rapid developments in technology and its use, which were already accelerating and further propelled by the pandemic, the author conducted a state-of-the-art literature review in digital migration studies of refugee integration. a state-of-the-art review is one of 14 types of empirically identified literature reviews (grant & booth, 2009). this type of review has the following features: it addresses current matters; it may offer new perspectives on issues or identify areas for further research; it aims for comprehensive searching of current literature; it does not include formal quality appraisal; it is typically narrative; and it analyzes the state of knowledge and priorities for future research (grant & booth, 2009). accordingly, this review aimed to identify emerging issues and highlight research needs in digital migration studies. methods a state-of-the-art review utilizes comprehensive searching and narrative synthesis of current literature (grant & booth, 2009). accordingly, the author searched the following databases: google scholar, lisa, lista, pubmed, eric, psycinfo, social service abstracts, sociological abstracts, web of science, and scopus, using the boolean string “refugee and (digital or ict)” with publication date parameters of january 2020-april 2021. the search included studies focused on refugees’ practical use of digital technology in integration. exclusion criteria included studies on the following topics: refugees in transit or protracted displacement, digital connectivity and accessibility, use of digital technology by humanitarian actors, software development, analyses of digital representations of refugees, and public attitudes toward refugees as expressed in digital media. also excluded were literature reviews, in line with the current rather than the retrospective focus of the state-of-the-art review; however, the author incorporated these literature reviews into the preceding background section of this study. the author conducted the search and screen. the author then used deductive content analysis (kyngäs & kaakinen, 2020) to classify each included study into its corresponding integration domain. finally, the author narratively synthesized the findings within each domain. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 75 results out of 353 studies initially retrieved and screened (abstract or full text), 39 met the inclusion criteria after removing duplicates and excluding ineligible studies. table 1 shows the breakdown of the included studies by integration level and domain of the refugee integration framework described above (ndofor-tah et al., 2019). subsequently, the identified studies within each level and domain are discussed. table 1. studies on digital skills in refugee integration, january 2020-april 2021 (n=39) integration level integration domain number of studies foundation rights and responsibilities 4 facilitators language & communication 7 culture 7 digital skills 5 safety 4 stability 2 social connections bonds 4 bridges 8 links 2 markers and means work 2 housing 2 education 7 health and social care 12 leisure 4 note. some studies are included in multiple domains. foundation rights and responsibilities the recent literature on rights and responsibilities aligns with the contemporary critical technorealist paradigm, examining the socio-political-economic contexts in which refugees use technology and identifying the benefits and risks. cotton (2021) argues that the perspective of refugees is systematically overlooked in the development of digital apps to assist integration. this exclusion perpetuates a one-way view of integration that holds refugees solely responsible https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 76 for their integration experience and suppresses their ambitions for integration in favor of those of the host society. cotton advocates the discontinuation of refugee-specific apps and the promotion of mainstream apps already used by refugees to reduce refugee marginalization and build on existing trust networks. alonso et al.’s (2020) findings in sweden support this position, showing that although nearly 60% of newly-arrived refugees use the internet to find information about their rights, only 8% use refugee-specific apps for this purpose due to lack of confidence and trust. in contrast, beginning from the same premise of refugee exclusion, bock et al. (2020) reach a different conclusion, arguing that refugee integration apps have value. however, future development must involve a diverse sample of end-users (disaggregated by gender, age, language, and geographic origin) from the initial stage throughout subsequent phases, leaving capacity for modifications once cultural attributes are better understood (bock et al., 2020). finally, awad and tossell’s (2021) exploratory study of syrian refugees in the netherlands highlights how refugees’ technology use is perceived simultaneously as a valuable tool and a burden imposed by the host society and family members abroad. like cotton, these authors call for a nuanced perspective on refugees’ digital skills to avoid perpetuating the marginalization of refugees. facilitators language & communication and culture within the current literature on refugees’ digital skills, the language and communication and culture domains are closely tied. the recent studies in these domains have reaffirmed the crucial role of technology in communication with both the home and host cultures and further explored themes of cultural and linguistic identity, cultural maintenance, and community rebuilding. based on studies of diverse refugee groups in australia and sweden, lloyd (2020) examined the role of technologies as information and communications resources. consistent with the technorealist perspective, lloyd identified both enabling and constraining technology functions. enabling functions included establishing new social networks that serve as information sources, confirming the veracity of information from multiple sources, and connecting with family through discussion of everyday activities and events, thereby creating transnational shared lives. constraints included potentially inhibiting integration by creating virtual refugee communities disconnected from the broader host society. additional constraints were fear of electronic surveillance, uncertainty about information due to the speed of information delivery and the complexity of the digital environment coupled with refugees’ low host language proficiency, and limitations of algorithm-driven refugee-specific apps that do not account for individual differences and needs. alonso et al.’s (2020) study of 67 newly-arrived refugees in sweden found that most used technology to communicate with family abroad, often through closed social media groups. however, when it came to communication with local businesses or people, the respondents preferred visiting or calling, expressing concerns about the security of their personal information online, and echoing lloyd’s (2020) findings regarding family connection as an enabler and privacy concerns as a constraint. in a rare study examining technology use by refugee communities decades after resettlement, as opposed to recent arrivals, halilovich and kučuk (2020) described how local bosnian https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 77 communities in the u.s. and austria have digitally recreated their physically destroyed native villages. these “cyber villages” include pictures of the former village, cultural symbols, videos featuring local music, an online library, blog posts by community members, and individual and group chats. these imaginary spaces provide a platform for political expression, social interaction, memory preservation, and maintenance of translocal identity. two studies further explored translocal identity maintenance. in a participatory art workshop in the u.k., recently arrived young syrian men used digital photography and collage art software to create digital self-portraits to express their embodied feelings about speaking different languages, ways of communicating, and anything else they wanted to convey about their identity (evans, 2020). the participants then discussed their creations and why they had chosen to include particular symbols, words, or colors. their representations highlighted the process of becoming bilingual and bicultural. a different form of expression, writing, was used with newcomer immigrant and refugee high school students from honduras, guatemala, and rwanda in the u.s. (kelly et al., 2021). in a literacy workshop, the students wrote brief sentences in english about topics such as “what i care about” and “school here and there.” the students then crafted their work into digital presentations that they shared in roundtables. content analysis of the students’ presentations identified aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant capital themes. in both studies, the digital expressions fundamentally provided their creators a forum for asserting a strengths-based counter-narrative to the dominant hostile, deficit-based discourse about them in their host countries. neag and supa (2020) observed adolescents’ identity negotiation in a study where they monitored the social media posts by 16 unaccompanied refugee minors in sweden and italy. the study revealed that the youths’ social media practices helped them maintain and develop multiple cultural identities. examining the language use of colombian refugee families in new zealand, revis (2020) found that children’s use of social media to connect with local and transnational colombian friends helped them maintain their native language. revis observed strategic use of social media in different languages for different purposes among the adults in these families. for example, one participant deliberately restricted her transnational, native-language social media interactions to engage more with members of the host country in their language. such activity in the digital space provides yet another counter-narrative to the dominant view in the host society that refugees do not desire to integrate. digital skills in the domain of digital skills, lloyd’s (2020) studies on diverse refugee groups in australia found that while refugees frequently use technology, they often lack the skills to navigate and judge the reliability of internet resources capably. similarly, in a mixed-methods study of technology use among 70 iraqi, burmese, congolese, and somali refugees in the u.s., respondents generally felt only slightly confident about using technology (bletscher, 2020). however, using technology for tasks such as online banking, applying for public benefits, and completing job applications, was extremely difficult for participants to learn. these interfaces were hard to understand due to their complex terminologies and navigation processes. in recognition of the gap between access and skills, three recent studies have examined how digital skills are taught to refugees. focusing on digital skills training using interviews with 21 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 78 resettlement service providers in the u.s., dahya et al. (2020) found that some providers offer digital literacy programs, with a few explicitly addressing mobile literacy. apart from resettlement service providers, public libraries are another resource used by refugees for digital skills training. besides formal training programs, resettlement service providers teach clients how to use mobile apps for everyday life, such as texting, navigation, banking, and translation. digital skills training often occurs in other group learning activities, such as language and employment classes (dahya, 2020). in this regard, pei and crooks (2020) and tour et al. (2021) conducted ethnographic studies of refugees’ digital use and skills in adult english language courses in the u.s. and australia, respectively. pei and crooks (2020) studied the perspectives and practices of the students, and tour et al. studied those of the teachers. while acknowledging the benefits of digital skills training, pei and crooks identified several emotional costs associated with the learning process: confusing advertisements often saturated screens, draining students’ attention and time (i.e., participants struggled with the constantly changing digital environment that demanded ongoing learning), and participants were concerned about internet addiction and meaningless technology use. from the teachers’ perspective, tour et al. (2021) found that despite being highly compassionate, empathetic, and goal-oriented, teachers generally held a normative deficitbased view of their students that focused on what they lack more than what they bring. nonetheless, the teachers used some strengths-based teaching practices for digital literacies. these included appropriately teaching for each student’s developmental level, capitalizing on students’ prior knowledge and skills, using authentic teaching materials reflecting the students’ experiences and environments, developing trusting relationships and learning communities, and using strategies to empower students, promoting autonomy, and maintain lifelong learning. tour suggested that the apparent disconnect between teachers’ perspectives and practices may be because they recognized their students’ strengths and leveraged them when teaching digital skills. still, they did so intuitively rather than intentionally. all three studies on digital skills pedagogy found that refugees, especially women, often depend on intermediaries such as family members (often children) for tech support. however, sometimes these intermediaries aim to simplify specific apps or processes without giving the users a deeper understanding of how to use the device overall, thereby limiting users’ autonomy. moreover, the users are often reluctant to ask their family members for help for fear of burdening them, resulting in extended periods where users cannot use their device, thereby hampering their digital and language learning. further, any digital task essentially requires double the labor, thereby draining families’ energy. similarly, several participants in bletscher’s (2020) study indicated that their reliance on resettlement agencies to use technology limited their ability to become self-sufficient in technology use. the findings showed that resettlement agencies enabled this dependency. safety and stability two studies addressed technology and violence against refugee women in the safety domain, and two concerned refugees’ sense of safety. henry et al. (2021) studied technology-facilitated domestic violence against immigrant and refugee women. such violence includes online threats or harassment, monitoring and surveillance, revenge porn, and controlling access to technology. based on interviews with 29 domestic violence survivors and 20 service providers in australia, the authors found that perpetrators often used the women’s marginalized positionalities (ethnic, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 79 religious, socio-economic, and migration status) to enhance their power and control over the women, to isolate them from their support networks further, and to bind the women even more to their abusive partners. in contrast, technology can also serve safety functions. in a study of 21 resettlement service providers in the u.s., dahya et al. (2020) described how the staff taught female clients to use their mobile phones to call for help if harassed on the street based on their appearance or apparel. in another perspective on safety, udwan et al. (2020) and wilding et al. (2020) described refugees’ ability to reassure themselves of their loved ones’ safety abroad through daily transnational digital connections, which in turn, engendered a sense of safety within the refugees and helped them perform their other life functions. finally, two studies noted the benefit of online education in providing one form of stability in refugees’ otherwise precarious life circumstances (bock et al., 2020; o’connell & lucić, 2020). social connections studies of social connections demonstrated reciprocal linkages between the three domains of this level—social bonds, bridges, and links—thus supporting the conceptual cohesiveness of this overall construct. for example, studies consistently find that increased digital social bonding risks decreased social bridging. the studies also illuminate reciprocal connections across levels, thus supporting the overall integration model. for example, language & communication and culture are closely tied to social connections; in turn, social connections influence and are influenced by health and education. specific instances of these linkages within and between levels and domains are highlighted below. bonds the recent studies on technology use and social bonds are notable for their focus on specific refugee subgroups—women, lgbtq people, and older adults—representing three of the four studies found in this domain. almenara-niebla and ascanio-sánchez (2020) conducted a social media ethnographic study with young sahrawi refugee women in spain. they found that the women’s transnational social media networks pressured them to conform to traditional cultural gender norms through transnational digital gossip. to avoid becoming the subjects of such gossip and subvert these norms, the women employed various strategies such as using different social media profiles, privacy settings, or not posting photos. the strategy of using multiple profiles also emerged in interviews with nine gay male refugees in belgium (dhoest, 2020). although the respondents used digital media to stay connected to family and other people in the country of origin, stigma strained this bond. they used social media and dating sites to bond with other gay men, but this posed the danger of exposure in the country of origin. thus, some participants created separate profiles to keep their gay lives disconnected from their family lives. this study found that identity formation and negotiation are central to lgbtq refugees’ digital and social media use. they aim to redefine themselves in a new context and develop new networks based on sexual orientation rather than nationality or ethnicity. wilding et al. (2020) conducted ethnographic interviews with 51 refugees aged 50 and over from burma, sri lanka, and somalia within australia. some refugees had lived in australia for decades, while others had arrived more recently. the authors described the participants as sharing a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 80 strong desire to use digital media to contact transnational family members. the participants reported using digital media transnationally as a routine part of everyday life. they engaged in affective exchanges of both positive and negative emotions with their transnational family members, creating a sense of mutuality and togetherness. in the final study within this domain, udwan et al. (2020) conducted in-depth interviews with 22 male and female syrian refugees in the netherlands. the respondents reported feeling compelled to communicate with family in syria daily. although these bonds provided social support, they were also a source of emotional labor from deciding which feelings and information to share and which to withhold and negotiating different and conflicting online identities, as seen earlier in studies within the cultural domain. bridges in the domain of social bridges, recent studies have examined a variety of digital modes of connecting refugees with members of the host society. these modes include social media, collaborative platforms, digital storytelling, learning, and mentorship. several studies have examined the role of social media in social bridging. marlowe (2020) conducted a digital ethnography with 15 diverse refugees in new zealand to examine the effect of their transnational social media practices on their sense of belonging. the participants unanimously agreed that social media helped them develop a sense of belonging. they emphasized that their initial contacts with host society members had been in person, primarily through formal educational programs. these initial interactions occurred in real life then evolved in digital space. marlowe (2020) further demonstrated the reciprocal linkages between and within the levels of integration the participants experienced by positing that: [i]nteractions with friends and family [social bonds domain] provided [participants] with the basic level of well-being [health & social care domain] they needed to engage in civic activities [social bridges domain] such as work, education, sports and community events [work, education, leisure domains] which in turn helped them to identify and access opportunities related to such activities [language & communication and digital skills domains]. (p. 281; content in brackets added by the present author). the participants also articulated the risks of social media use. they cited the potential for isolation from the host society if a user’s social media interactions are solely transnational. furthermore, over half the participants referred to their social media use as an addiction. anderson et al. (2020) studied an anonymous social media forum dedicated to refugee issues. a qualitative analysis of 171 posts showed that refugees used the forum to seek advice, share their stories, and clarify misinformation about them. members of the host society used the forum to offer help during times of crisis. similarly, modesti et al. (2020) studied refugee-led associations in italy. they found that their participants also promote social bridging by sharing stories on social media about their social integration and active participation in their resettlement communities. as noted earlier, such messaging aims to counteract prevailing negative media representations. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 81 interviews with eight young refugees in norway sought to examine how they use social media in their everyday lives in norway, identify capabilities associated with this use, and make connections between these capabilities and their well-being (anderson & daniel, 2020). the three main motivations reported by the refugees for their use of social media were communication, accessing information, and learning. in addition to successfully attaining these capabilities, they also reported enhanced social connections. another italian association illustrates a direct means to connect refugees and host community members using an online collaborative platform to connect hosts with refugees looking for housing to promote social inclusion (ferrari et al., 2020). as such, the platform offers a service, stimulates reciprocity, and activates relationships aimed at inclusion. combining online collaboration with face-to-face relationships encourages a sense of belonging and mutuality in the social inclusion process. digital storytelling fostered social bridging in an educational program where refugees codeveloped digital resources (svoen et al., 2021). the project, implemented with 300 refugees and 50 educators in four european countries, supported new digital skills and enhanced feelings of social inclusion and well-being as students created and shared knowledge of the new society and culture. the participants were selective in their choice of social media platforms and expressed “social media fatigue” about the prospect of signing up for more accounts. consistent with certain arguments in the rights/responsibilities domain, svoen et al. advocate using social media platforms that refugees already use and regard as trustworthy. they recognize that refugees usually use the same platforms as host populations and should not be further stigmatized by having separate platforms and apps. abujarour (2020) examined how digital learning impacts the social inclusion of syrian refugees in germany. a sample of eight participants reported that using technology for language learning and educational purposes helped them become more socially included in the host society. a final example of intentional social bridging is a digitally mediated homework mentorship program in germany designed to mitigate refugee children’s barriers to social interaction and education caused by the covid-19 pandemic (o’connell & lucić, 2021). sixteen students were paired with a native german-speaking adult whom they could turn to for help. the mentorship structure entailed completing an online needs assessment and goals contract, regular communication between the mentor and mentee via phone calls and texting, weekly videocall supervision, and motivational incentives when students achieved their goals. the study found that such direct and individualized attention to the needs of newly arrived refugee children can start to bridge the cultural divide with the host society. beyond offering homework assistance, mentors filled communication gaps between teachers, social workers, and parents, essentially acting as case managers for children. social links one study specifically examined the social links between refugees and resettlement agencies in sweden among 89 refugees (jensen et al., 2020). the government had accelerated the digitalization of the resettlement processes. as a result, participants felt coerced to engage through digital means, as there was no alternative. consequently, participants felt that increased digitalization had expanded the distance between them and resettlement services. they felt unable to understand how digital services worked because their interactions with local and national authorities had been primarily in person in their home country. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 82 finally, bletscher’s (2020) previously mentioned study of refugees in the u.s. examined all three domains of social connections: bonds, bridges, and links. echoing the findings of other studies, multiple respondents reported that technology use increased social bonding, well-being, and access to support resources, such as food, global news, education, job preparation, and financial savings. however, increased social bonding with ethnic group members discouraged respondents from developing english fluency. ultimately, the study found that while encouraging social bonding, technology discouraged bridging and linking. means and markers work two small studies have examined refugees’ use of technology to search for employment. alonso et al.’s (2020) survey of 67 newly arrived refugees in sweden found that about half of the respondents used computing apps to find employment in sweden. however, they generally were disappointed in the results of these searches. taking a deeper dive into such search processes, köhler (2020) examined refugees’ online employment-seeking strategies and challenges to successful search results. the study was a laboratory experiment with seven refugees from syria and iraq in germany who had intermediate german proficiency. they completed various online search tasks, during which their actions were video recorded and analyzed using mixed methods. the study found that participants did not utilize any discernible search strategy. they primarily used three tactics: copying, suggestions, and autonomous formulating. formulating a search query seemed to be the most challenging to the participants. they relied on the search engine to provide suggestions or corrections on language translation applications. most of the difficulties participants encountered were due to language and possibly cultural barriers such as spelling, grammatical errors, or misunderstanding. housing alonso et al. (2020) found that over half of the participants used computing applications to find housing, and most were moderately satisfied with the experience and services obtained. as previously described, a collaborative platform that connects hosts with refugees seeking housing served the instrumental function of connecting refugees with needed resources and a social bridging function by connecting them to the community (ferrari et al., 2020). education studies in the education field have examined refugees’ use of technology for education-seeking and e-learning. the previously mentioned survey of refugees in sweden (alonso et al., 2020) found that half of the sample had used online apps to seek educational opportunities, and about half of those users were satisfied with the services offered by the apps. anderson and daniel’s (2020) study in norway and abujarour’s (2020) study in germany found that learning was a primary function of social media use. participants in both studies reported using social media to practice language skills and watching video tutorials on language. they also used video tutorials to learn how to create and fix things (e.g., cooking, repairing a laptop) because they had no one to show them. abujarour identified several appealing features of video tutorials, including liveliness, a wide range of content, flexibility, and accessibility. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 83 several studies have examined the role of technology in vocational training for refugees. a study of 10 syrian female teachers seeking to re-establish their careers in sweden found that digital literacy was critical to this endeavor (bradley et al., 2020). the respondents’ digital literacy provided a basis for their language learning, informal learning, and professional development. similarly, a study of refugees enrolled in an adult education program in the united states found that their intent to use e-learning depended on their computer self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, computer skills, ease of use, and an enabling environment (nyakondo, 2020). two studies have examined training refugees to work in the i.t. sector. both studies took place at a coding school for refugees in germany. studying students enrolled in 2019-2020, abujarour and abujarour (2020) found them highly qualified; 70% held at least a bachelor’s degree and had good german and english language proficiency, and 83% had prior coding skills. rushworth and hackl (2021) surveyed the school’s alumni. they found that 40% of the responding alumni who had completed courses between 2016 and 2019 were employed full-time by summer 2020, in primarily digital fields of work. however, the authors emphasized the unrealized expectations among the remaining graduates. attracted by promises that anyone can succeed as a coder, that i.t. specialists are needed, and that the international tech sector is inclusive and nondiscriminatory, the graduates find instead a highly competitive market with demands for cultural conformity. they take unpaid or underpaid internships and short-term work with the unfulfilled aspiration that better opportunities will follow. refugees are particularly susceptible to these false promises due to their experiences with deskilling, disqualification of their work history, and lack of pathways for reaccreditation of pre-existing qualifications. health and social care as described earlier, several studies have established associations between technology-enabled social connections and overall well-being (bletscher, 2020; marlowe, 2020; o’connell & lucić, 2021; svoen et al., 2021). two studies examined how refugees used technology to find health information and access healthcare. alonso et al.’s (2020) previously-mentioned study in sweden found that about 40% of survey respondents had used computing applications to find information about healthcare services. a third of these were satisfied with the information they found. udwan et al.’s (2020) study of syrian refugees in the netherlands found that they searched for practical health information online to help them understand and connect with the healthcare system, such as finding nearby physicians, clinics, and hospitals. however, some participants were hampered in this effort by inadequate linguistic and digital skills. overall, respondents experienced difficulty getting detailed and adequate health information through official institutions and websites. consequently, they used social media to share their experiences and feedback regarding health procedures and assistance in the host country, such as a refugee social media group dedicated to health and health care topics in the host country. however, most respondents preferred discussing their health issues via social platforms with trusted social networks or family members with medical backgrounds. all the other studies within this domain have focused on mental health. sharing digital stories of mental health recovery was an empowering experience for 10 firstand second-generation immigrants and refugees in australia (mcdonough & colucci, 2020). the remaining studies in mental health have examined the use of technology for mental health screening and treatment. willey et al. (2020) examined the feasibility and acceptability of digital mental health screening among 17 refugee women from afghanistan and burma attending a prenatal clinic in australia. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 84 the women completed a standardized depression scale in their preferred language using a tablet. the app generated a report based on their score and sent the report with links to further information to the participants. the information was also immediately available to the healthcare provider, who could then discuss results with the women and initiate a referral as needed. the women found the program feasible and acceptable, offering them more privacy and opening up discussions with their health care providers about mental health. ashfaq et al. (2020) conducted a systematic review of mobile mental health services among arab populations, including syrian refugees in denmark, switzerland, germany, and sweden. the researchers broadly defined mobile mental health as medical and public health practice supported by mobile and wireless devices. the study found that the majority of syrian refugees perceived mobile mental health positively. mobile screening tools were found to be effective, but there was little data on the effectiveness of mobile interventions. identified barriers to uptake included stigma, digital access and literacy, and general distrust of healthcare providers. studies by goodman et al. (2020) and rubeis (2021) highlighted the potential for digital mental health use by refugees. these digital interventions vary in professional guidance—from therapy by videoconference to text-messaging with a therapist to self-help using a website or app with no guidance. apps have different therapeutic contents, such as writing tasks, a diary function, or psychoeducation. both studies state that growing evidence is promising when comparing the effectiveness of digital versus face-to-face interventions, including the mental health conditions most frequently experienced by refugees: depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. the potential benefits of digital interventions for refugees are increasing access to mental health support in geographically underserved areas and reducing reliance on specialists, whose cost and limited availability pose barriers. goodman et al. (2020) report that substantial efforts are underway to develop and test digital mental health interventions for refugees. both studies stress the need to attend to sociocultural contexts, promote refugee agency, and center refugees in developing and using digital mental health interventions. finally, tachtler et al. (2021) studied mental health technologies with unaccompanied migrant youth in austria. they investigated how mental health apps integrate into the youths’ socialecological environment, how social-ecological factors support or hinder users’ ability in using the resources, and how mental health apps can be better designed. the researchers conducted two workshops in which the youth were co-designers of mental health apps for sleep and stress to explore these questions. the focus was on the factors that influenced the youths’ design decisionmaking. the findings showed that the youths’ macro-system hindered their ability to use the apps due to a lack of privacy in their living situations. therefore, the authors argued that mental health technologies need to account for the social and ecological factors in the everyday lives of unaccompanied migrant youth. leisure several of the studies mentioned above have also examined the role of technology in refugees’ leisure activities. anderson and daniel (2020) note that the bulk of research on the role of technology in refugee integration has been concerned with how technologies can assist in the achievement of outcomes such as employment, social inclusion, and political engagement. they argue that this approach regards technology as a means of fulfilling presumed needs instead of considering what users themselves desire or how they want to incorporate technology into their lives. as such, non-instrumental uses of technology, primarily for entertainment (e.g., movies, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 85 games, music), are dismissed as wasting time, although they have essential well-being outcomes for users. some refugees express concern about using the phone for entertainment instead of instrumental uses such as paying bills (pei & crooks, 2020). perhaps, for this reason, anderson and daniel (2020) found that using social media for entertainment was reported less than expected based on prior research. from another perspective on social media and leisure, udwan et al. (2020) and almenara-niebla and ascanio-sánchez (2020) reported that refugees in their samples experienced affective costs related to their social media posts about their offline leisure activities. in udwan’s study, syrian refugees expressed feeling ashamed sharing their leisure experiences with family and friends in syria who were still living in war. in almenara-niebla and ascanio-sánchez’s (2020) study, the sahrawi women were often targets of transnational gossip stemming from posts about their leisure activities in spain. summary of findings this state-of-the-art literature review has shown that technology use affects every aspect of refugee integration. additionally, consistent with the techno-realist paradigm, the current literature highlights both functions/benefits and risks of refugees’ technology use. table 2 summarizes these findings. foundation rights and responsibilities the recent literature on rights and responsibilities aligns with the contemporary critical technorealist paradigm, examining the socio-political-economic contexts in which refugees use technology and identifying the benefits and risks. cotton (2021) argues that the perspective of refugees is systematically overlooked in the development of digital apps to assist integration. this exclusion perpetuates a one-way view of integration that holds refugees solely responsible for their integration experience and suppresses their ambitions for integration in favor of those of the host society. cotton advocates the discontinuation of refugee-specific apps and the promotion of mainstream apps already used by refugees to reduce refugee marginalization and build on existing trust networks. alonso et al.’s (2020) findings in sweden support this position, showing that although nearly 60% of newly-arrived refugees use the internet to find information about their rights, only 8% use refugee-specific apps for this purpose due to lack of confidence and trust. in contrast, beginning from the same premise of refugee exclusion, bock et al. (2020) reach a different conclusion, arguing that refugee integration apps have value. however, future development must involve a diverse sample of end-users (disaggregated by gender, age, language, and geographic origin) from the initial stage throughout subsequent phases, leaving capacity for modifications once cultural attributes are better understood (bock et al., 2020). finally, awad and tossell’s (2021) exploratory study of syrian refugees in the netherlands highlights how refugees’ technology use is perceived simultaneously as a valuable tool and a burden imposed by the host society and family members abroad. like cotton, these authors call for a nuanced perspective on refugees’ digital skills to avoid perpetuating the marginalization of refugees. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 86 facilitators language & communication and culture within the current literature on refugees’ digital skills, the language and communication and culture domains are closely tied. the recent studies in these domains have reaffirmed the crucial role of technology in communication with both the home and host cultures and further explored themes of cultural and linguistic identity, cultural maintenance, and community rebuilding. based on studies of diverse refugee groups in australia and sweden, lloyd (2020) examined the role of technologies as information and communications resources. consistent with the technorealist perspective, lloyd identified both enabling and constraining technology functions. enabling functions included establishing new social networks that serve as information sources, confirming the veracity of information from multiple sources, and connecting with family through discussion of everyday activities and events, thereby creating transnational shared lives. constraints included potentially inhibiting integration by creating virtual refugee communities disconnected from the broader host society. additional constraints were fear of electronic surveillance, uncertainty about information due to the speed of information delivery and the complexity of the digital environment coupled with refugees’ low host language proficiency, and limitations of algorithm-driven refugee-specific apps that do not account for individual differences and needs. alonso et al.’s (2020) study of 67 newly-arrived refugees in sweden found that most used technology to communicate with family abroad, often through closed social media groups. however, when it came to communication with local businesses or people, the respondents preferred visiting or calling, expressing concerns about the security of their personal information online, and echoing lloyd’s (2020) findings regarding family connection as an enabler and privacy concerns as a constraint. in a rare study examining technology use by refugee communities decades after resettlement, as opposed to recent arrivals, halilovich and kučuk (2020) described how local bosnian communities in the u.s. and austria have digitally recreated their physically destroyed native villages. these “cyber villages” include pictures of the former village, cultural symbols, videos featuring local music, an online library, blog posts by community members, and individual and group chats. these imaginary spaces provide a platform for political expression, social interaction, memory preservation, and maintenance of translocal identity. two studies further explored translocal identity maintenance. in a participatory art workshop in the u.k., recently arrived young syrian men used digital photography and collage art software to create digital self-portraits to express their embodied feelings about speaking different languages, ways of communicating, and anything else they wanted to convey about their identity (evans, 2020). the participants then discussed their creations and why they had chosen to include particular symbols, words, or colors. their representations highlighted the process of becoming bilingual and bicultural. a different form of expression, writing, was used with newcomer immigrant and refugee high school students from honduras, guatemala, and rwanda in the u.s. (kelly et al., 2021). in a literacy workshop, the students wrote brief sentences in english about topics such as “what i care about” and “school here and there.” the students then crafted their work into digital presentations that they shared in roundtables. content analysis of the students’ presentations https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 87 identified aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant capital themes. in both studies, the digital expressions fundamentally provided their creators a forum for asserting a strengths-based counter-narrative to the dominant hostile, deficit-based discourse about them in their host countries. neag and supa (2020) observed adolescents’ identity negotiation in a study where they monitored the social media posts by 16 unaccompanied refugee minors in sweden and italy. the study revealed that the youths’ social media practices helped them maintain and develop multiple cultural identities. examining the language use of colombian refugee families in new zealand, revis (2020) found that children’s use of social media to connect with local and transnational colombian friends helped them maintain their native language. revis observed strategic use of social media in different languages for different purposes among the adults in these families. for example, one participant deliberately restricted her transnational, native-language social media interactions to engage more with members of the host country in their language. such activity in the digital space provides yet another counter-narrative to the dominant view in the host society that refugees do not desire to integrate. digital skills in the domain of digital skills, lloyd’s (2020) studies on diverse refugee groups in australia found that while refugees frequently use technology, they often lack the skills to navigate and judge the reliability of internet resources capably. similarly, in a mixed-methods study of technology use among 70 iraqi, burmese, congolese, and somali refugees in the u.s., respondents generally felt only slightly confident about using technology (bletscher, 2020). however, using technology for tasks such as online banking, applying for public benefits, and completing job applications, was extremely difficult for participants to learn. these interfaces were hard to understand due to their complex terminologies and navigation processes. in recognition of the gap between access and skills, three recent studies have examined how digital skills are taught to refugees. focusing on digital skills training using interviews with 21 resettlement service providers in the u.s., dahya et al. (2020) found that some providers offer digital literacy programs, with a few explicitly addressing mobile literacy. apart from resettlement service providers, public libraries are another resource used by refugees for digital skills training. besides formal training programs, resettlement service providers teach clients how to use mobile apps for everyday life, such as texting, navigation, banking, and translation. digital skills training often occurs in other group learning activities, such as language and employment classes (dahya, 2020). in this regard, pei and crooks (2020) and tour et al. (2021) conducted ethnographic studies of refugees’ digital use and skills in adult english language courses in the u.s. and australia, respectively. pei and crooks (2020) studied the perspectives and practices of the students, and tour et al. studied those of the teachers. while acknowledging the benefits of digital skills training, pei and crooks identified several emotional costs associated with the learning process: confusing advertisements often saturated screens, draining students’ attention and time (i.e., participants struggled with the constantly changing digital environment that demanded ongoing learning), and participants were concerned about internet addiction and meaningless technology use. from the teachers’ perspective, tour et al. (2021) found that despite being highly compassionate, empathetic, and goal-oriented, teachers generally held a normative deficithttps://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 88 based view of their students that focused on what they lack more than what they bring. nonetheless, the teachers used some strengths-based teaching practices for digital literacies. these included appropriately teaching for each student’s developmental level, capitalizing on students’ prior knowledge and skills, using authentic teaching materials reflecting the students’ experiences and environments, developing trusting relationships and learning communities, and using strategies to empower students, promoting autonomy, and maintain lifelong learning. tour suggested that the apparent disconnect between teachers’ perspectives and practices may be because they recognized their students’ strengths and leveraged them when teaching digital skills. still, they did so intuitively rather than intentionally. all three studies on digital skills pedagogy found that refugees, especially women, often depend on intermediaries such as family members (often children) for tech support. however, sometimes these intermediaries aim to simplify specific apps or processes without giving the users a deeper understanding of how to use the device overall, thereby limiting users’ autonomy. moreover, the users are often reluctant to ask their family members for help for fear of burdening them, resulting in extended periods where users cannot use their device, thereby hampering their digital and language learning. further, any digital task essentially requires double the labor, thereby draining families’ energy. similarly, several participants in bletscher’s (2020) study indicated that their reliance on resettlement agencies to use technology limited their ability to become self-sufficient in technology use. the findings showed that resettlement agencies enabled this dependency. safety and stability two studies addressed technology and violence against refugee women in the safety domain, and two concerned refugees’ sense of safety. henry et al. (2021) studied technology-facilitated domestic violence against immigrant and refugee women. such violence includes online threats or harassment, monitoring and surveillance, revenge porn, and controlling access to technology. based on interviews with 29 domestic violence survivors and 20 service providers in australia, the authors found that perpetrators often used the women’s marginalized positionalities (ethnic, religious, socio-economic, and migration status) to enhance their power and control over the women, to isolate them from their support networks further, and to bind the women even more to their abusive partners. in contrast, technology can also serve safety functions. in a study of 21 resettlement service providers in the u.s., dahya et al. (2020) described how the staff taught female clients to use their mobile phones to call for help if harassed on the street based on their appearance or apparel. in another perspective on safety, udwan et al. (2020) and wilding et al. (2020) described refugees’ ability to reassure themselves of their loved ones’ safety abroad through daily transnational digital connections, which in turn, engendered a sense of safety within the refugees and helped them perform their other life functions. finally, two studies noted the benefit of online education in providing one form of stability in refugees’ otherwise precarious life circumstances (bock et al., 2020; o’connell & lucić, 2020). social connections studies of social connections demonstrated reciprocal linkages between the three domains of this level—social bonds, bridges, and links—thus supporting the conceptual cohesiveness of this overall construct. for example, studies consistently find that increased digital social bonding https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 89 risks decreased social bridging. the studies also illuminate reciprocal connections across levels, thus supporting the overall integration model. for example, language & communication and culture are closely tied to social connections; in turn, social connections influence and are influenced by health and education. specific instances of these linkages within and between levels and domains are highlighted below. bonds the recent studies on technology use and social bonds are notable for their focus on specific refugee subgroups—women, lgbtq people, and older adults—representing three of the four studies found in this domain. almenara-niebla and ascanio-sánchez (2020) conducted a social media ethnographic study with young sahrawi refugee women in spain. they found that the women’s transnational social media networks pressured them to conform to traditional cultural gender norms through transnational digital gossip. to avoid becoming the subjects of such gossip and subvert these norms, the women employed various strategies such as using different social media profiles, privacy settings, or not posting photos. the strategy of using multiple profiles also emerged in interviews with nine gay male refugees in belgium (dhoest, 2020). although the respondents used digital media to stay connected to family and other people in the country of origin, stigma strained this bond. they used social media and dating sites to bond with other gay men, but this posed the danger of exposure in the country of origin. thus, some participants created separate profiles to keep their gay lives disconnected from their family lives. this study found that identity formation and negotiation are central to lgbtq refugees’ digital and social media use. they aim to redefine themselves in a new context and develop new networks based on sexual orientation rather than nationality or ethnicity. wilding et al. (2020) conducted ethnographic interviews with 51 refugees aged 50 and over from burma, sri lanka, and somalia within australia. some refugees had lived in australia for decades, while others had arrived more recently. the authors described the participants as sharing a strong desire to use digital media to contact transnational family members. the participants reported using digital media transnationally as a routine part of everyday life. they engaged in affective exchanges of both positive and negative emotions with their transnational family members, creating a sense of mutuality and togetherness. in the final study within this domain, udwan et al. (2020) conducted in-depth interviews with 22 male and female syrian refugees in the netherlands. the respondents reported feeling compelled to communicate with family in syria daily. although these bonds provided social support, they were also a source of emotional labor from deciding which feelings and information to share and which to withhold and negotiating different and conflicting online identities, as seen earlier in studies within the cultural domain. bridges in the domain of social bridges, recent studies have examined a variety of digital modes of connecting refugees with members of the host society. these modes include social media, collaborative platforms, digital storytelling, learning, and mentorship. several studies have examined the role of social media in social bridging. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 90 marlowe (2020) conducted a digital ethnography with 15 diverse refugees in new zealand to examine the effect of their transnational social media practices on their sense of belonging. the participants unanimously agreed that social media helped them develop a sense of belonging. they emphasized that their initial contacts with host society members had been in person, primarily through formal educational programs. these initial interactions occurred in real life then evolved in digital space. marlowe (2020) further demonstrated the reciprocal linkages between and within the levels of integration the participants experienced by positing that: [i]nteractions with friends and family [social bonds domain] provided [participants] with the basic level of well-being [health & social care domain] they needed to engage in civic activities [social bridges domain] such as work, education, sports and community events [work, education, leisure domains] which in turn helped them to identify and access opportunities related to such activities [language & communication and digital skills domains]. (p. 281; content in brackets added by the present author). the participants also articulated the risks of social media use. they cited the potential for isolation from the host society if a user’s social media interactions are solely transnational. furthermore, over half the participants referred to their social media use as an addiction. anderson et al. (2020) studied an anonymous social media forum dedicated to refugee issues. a qualitative analysis of 171 posts showed that refugees used the forum to seek advice, share their stories, and clarify misinformation about them. members of the host society used the forum to offer help during times of crisis. similarly, modesti et al. (2020) studied refugee-led associations in italy. they found that their participants also promote social bridging by sharing stories on social media about their social integration and active participation in their resettlement communities. as noted earlier, such messaging aims to counteract prevailing negative media representations. interviews with eight young refugees in norway sought to examine how they use social media in their everyday lives in norway, identify capabilities associated with this use, and make connections between these capabilities and their well-being (anderson & daniel, 2020). the three main motivations reported by the refugees for their use of social media were communication, accessing information, and learning. in addition to successfully attaining these capabilities, they also reported enhanced social connections. another italian association illustrates a direct means to connect refugees and host community members using an online collaborative platform to connect hosts with refugees looking for housing to promote social inclusion (ferrari et al., 2020). as such, the platform offers a service, stimulates reciprocity, and activates relationships aimed at inclusion. combining online collaboration with face-to-face relationships encourages a sense of belonging and mutuality in the social inclusion process. digital storytelling fostered social bridging in an educational program where refugees codeveloped digital resources (svoen et al., 2021). the project, implemented with 300 refugees and 50 educators in four european countries, supported new digital skills and enhanced feelings of social inclusion and well-being as students created and shared knowledge of the new society and culture. the participants were selective in their choice of social media platforms and https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 91 expressed “social media fatigue” about the prospect of signing up for more accounts. consistent with certain arguments in the rights/responsibilities domain, svoen et al. advocate using social media platforms that refugees already use and regard as trustworthy. they recognize that refugees usually use the same platforms as host populations and should not be further stigmatized by having separate platforms and apps. abujarour (2020) examined how digital learning impacts the social inclusion of syrian refugees in germany. a sample of eight participants reported that using technology for language learning and educational purposes helped them become more socially included in the host society. a final example of intentional social bridging is a digitally mediated homework mentorship program in germany designed to mitigate refugee children’s barriers to social interaction and education caused by the covid-19 pandemic (o’connell & lucić, 2021). sixteen students were paired with a native german-speaking adult whom they could turn to for help. the mentorship structure entailed completing an online needs assessment and goals contract, regular communication between the mentor and mentee via phone calls and texting, weekly videocall supervision, and motivational incentives when students achieved their goals. the study found that such direct and individualized attention to the needs of newly arrived refugee children can start to bridge the cultural divide with the host society. beyond offering homework assistance, mentors filled communication gaps between teachers, social workers, and parents, essentially acting as case managers for children. social links one study specifically examined the social links between refugees and resettlement agencies in sweden among 89 refugees (jensen et al., 2020). the government had accelerated the digitalization of the resettlement processes. as a result, participants felt coerced to engage through digital means, as there was no alternative. consequently, participants felt that increased digitalization had expanded the distance between them and resettlement services. they felt unable to understand how digital services worked because their interactions with local and national authorities had been primarily in person in their home country. finally, bletscher’s (2020) previously mentioned study of refugees in the u.s. examined all three domains of social connections: bonds, bridges, and links. echoing the findings of other studies, multiple respondents reported that technology use increased social bonding, well-being, and access to support resources, such as food, global news, education, job preparation, and financial savings. however, increased social bonding with ethnic group members discouraged respondents from developing english fluency. ultimately, the study found that while encouraging social bonding, technology discouraged bridging and linking. means and markers work two small studies have examined refugees’ use of technology to search for employment. alonso et al.’s (2020) survey of 67 newly arrived refugees in sweden found that about half of the respondents used computing apps to find employment in sweden. however, they generally were disappointed in the results of these searches. taking a deeper dive into such search processes, köhler (2020) examined refugees’ online employment-seeking strategies and challenges to successful search results. the study was a laboratory experiment with seven refugees from syria https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 92 and iraq in germany who had intermediate german proficiency. they completed various online search tasks, during which their actions were video recorded and analyzed using mixed methods. the study found that participants did not utilize any discernible search strategy. they primarily used three tactics: copying, suggestions, and autonomous formulating. formulating a search query seemed to be the most challenging to the participants. they relied on the search engine to provide suggestions or corrections on language translation applications. most of the difficulties participants encountered were due to language and possibly cultural barriers such as spelling, grammatical errors, or misunderstanding. housing alonso et al. (2020) found that over half of the participants used computing applications to find housing, and most were moderately satisfied with the experience and services obtained. as previously described, a collaborative platform that connects hosts with refugees seeking housing served the instrumental function of connecting refugees with needed resources and a social bridging function by connecting them to the community (ferrari et al., 2020). education studies in the education field have examined refugees’ use of technology for education-seeking and e-learning. the previously mentioned survey of refugees in sweden (alonso et al., 2020) found that half of the sample had used online apps to seek educational opportunities, and about half of those users were satisfied with the services offered by the apps. anderson and daniel’s (2020) study in norway and abujarour’s (2020) study in germany found that learning was a primary function of social media use. participants in both studies reported using social media to practice language skills and watching video tutorials on language. they also used video tutorials to learn how to create and fix things (e.g., cooking, repairing a laptop) because they had no one to show them. abujarour identified several appealing features of video tutorials, including liveliness, a wide range of content, flexibility, and accessibility. several studies have examined the role of technology in vocational training for refugees. a study of 10 syrian female teachers seeking to re-establish their careers in sweden found that digital literacy was critical to this endeavor (bradley et al., 2020). the respondents’ digital literacy provided a basis for their language learning, informal learning, and professional development. similarly, a study of refugees enrolled in an adult education program in the united states found that their intent to use e-learning depended on their computer self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, computer skills, ease of use, and an enabling environment (nyakondo, 2020). two studies have examined training refugees to work in the i.t. sector. both studies took place at a coding school for refugees in germany. studying students enrolled in 2019-2020, abujarour and abujarour (2020) found them highly qualified; 70% held at least a bachelor’s degree and had good german and english language proficiency, and 83% had prior coding skills. rushworth and hackl (2021) surveyed the school’s alumni. they found that 40% of the responding alumni who had completed courses between 2016 and 2019 were employed full-time by summer 2020, in primarily digital fields of work. however, the authors emphasized the unrealized expectations among the remaining graduates. attracted by promises that anyone can succeed as a coder, that i.t. specialists are needed, and that the international tech sector is inclusive and nondiscriminatory, the graduates find instead a highly competitive market with demands for cultural conformity. they take unpaid or underpaid internships and short-term work with the unfulfilled https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 93 aspiration that better opportunities will follow. refugees are particularly susceptible to these false promises due to their experiences with deskilling, disqualification of their work history, and lack of pathways for reaccreditation of pre-existing qualifications. health and social care as described earlier, several studies have established associations between technology-enabled social connections and overall well-being (bletscher, 2020; marlowe, 2020; o’connell & lucić, 2021; svoen et al., 2021). two studies examined how refugees used technology to find health information and access healthcare. alonso et al.’s (2020) previously-mentioned study in sweden found that about 40% of survey respondents had used computing applications to find information about healthcare services. a third of these were satisfied with the information they found. udwan et al.’s (2020) study of syrian refugees in the netherlands found that they searched for practical health information online to help them understand and connect with the healthcare system, such as finding nearby physicians, clinics, and hospitals. however, some participants were hampered in this effort by inadequate linguistic and digital skills. overall, respondents experienced difficulty getting detailed and adequate health information through official institutions and websites. consequently, they used social media to share their experiences and feedback regarding health procedures and assistance in the host country, such as a refugee social media group dedicated to health and health care topics in the host country. however, most respondents preferred discussing their health issues via social platforms with trusted social networks or family members with medical backgrounds. all the other studies within this domain have focused on mental health. sharing digital stories of mental health recovery was an empowering experience for 10 firstand second-generation immigrants and refugees in australia (mcdonough & colucci, 2020). the remaining studies in mental health have examined the use of technology for mental health screening and treatment. willey et al. (2020) examined the feasibility and acceptability of digital mental health screening among 17 refugee women from afghanistan and burma attending a prenatal clinic in australia. the women completed a standardized depression scale in their preferred language using a tablet. the app generated a report based on their score and sent the report with links to further information to the participants. the information was also immediately available to the healthcare provider, who could then discuss results with the women and initiate a referral as needed. the women found the program feasible and acceptable, offering them more privacy and opening up discussions with their health care providers about mental health. ashfaq et al. (2020) conducted a systematic review of mobile mental health services among arab populations, including syrian refugees in denmark, switzerland, germany, and sweden. the researchers broadly defined mobile mental health as medical and public health practice supported by mobile and wireless devices. the study found that the majority of syrian refugees perceived mobile mental health positively. mobile screening tools were found to be effective, but there was little data on the effectiveness of mobile interventions. identified barriers to uptake included stigma, digital access and literacy, and general distrust of healthcare providers. studies by goodman et al. (2020) and rubeis (2021) highlighted the potential for digital mental health use by refugees. these digital interventions vary in professional guidance—from therapy by videoconference to text-messaging with a therapist to self-help using a website or app with no guidance. apps have different therapeutic contents, such as writing tasks, a diary function, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 94 or psychoeducation. both studies state that growing evidence is promising when comparing the effectiveness of digital versus face-to-face interventions, including the mental health conditions most frequently experienced by refugees: depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. the potential benefits of digital interventions for refugees are increasing access to mental health support in geographically underserved areas and reducing reliance on specialists, whose cost and limited availability pose barriers. goodman et al. (2020) report that substantial efforts are underway to develop and test digital mental health interventions for refugees. both studies stress the need to attend to sociocultural contexts, promote refugee agency, and center refugees in developing and using digital mental health interventions. finally, tachtler et al. (2021) studied mental health technologies with unaccompanied migrant youth in austria. they investigated how mental health apps integrate into the youths’ socialecological environment, how social-ecological factors support or hinder users’ ability in using the resources, and how mental health apps can be better designed. the researchers conducted two workshops in which the youth were co-designers of mental health apps for sleep and stress to explore these questions. the focus was on the factors that influenced the youths’ design decisionmaking. the findings showed that the youths’ macro-system hindered their ability to use the apps due to a lack of privacy in their living situations. therefore, the authors argued that mental health technologies need to account for the social and ecological factors in the everyday lives of unaccompanied migrant youth. leisure several of the studies mentioned above have also examined the role of technology in refugees’ leisure activities. anderson and daniel (2020) note that the bulk of research on the role of technology in refugee integration has been concerned with how technologies can assist in the achievement of outcomes such as employment, social inclusion, and political engagement. they argue that this approach regards technology as a means of fulfilling presumed needs instead of considering what users themselves desire or how they want to incorporate technology into their lives. as such, non-instrumental uses of technology, primarily for entertainment (e.g., movies, games, music), are dismissed as wasting time, although they have essential well-being outcomes for users. some refugees express concern about using the phone for entertainment instead of instrumental uses such as paying bills (pei & crooks, 2020). perhaps, for this reason, anderson and daniel (2020) found that using social media for entertainment was reported less than expected based on prior research. from another perspective on social media and leisure, udwan et al. (2020) and almenara-niebla and ascanio-sánchez (2020) reported that refugees in their samples experienced affective costs related to their social media posts about their offline leisure activities. in udwan’s study, syrian refugees expressed feeling ashamed sharing their leisure experiences with family and friends in syria who were still living in war. in almenara-niebla and ascanio-sánchez’s (2020) study, the sahrawi women were often targets of transnational gossip stemming from posts about their leisure activities in spain. summary of findings this state-of-the-art literature review has shown that technology use affects every aspect of refugee integration. additionally, consistent with the techno-realist paradigm, the current https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 95 literature highlights both functions/benefits and risks of refugees’ technology use. table 2 summarizes these findings. table 2. functions/benefits and risks of refugees’ technology use in integration integration level and domain functions/benefits risks foundation rights and responsibilities • access to information about rights and responsibilities • right to freedom of expression • property concerns • privacy concerns • exploitation concerns • exclusion of some subgroups due to technical and cognitive limitations • forced reliance on technology to access services • refugee perspectives excluded in app development • refugee-specific apps marginalize refugees facilitators language and communication • online language learning tools • translation apps • native language maintenance • digital communication • speed of digital communication is overwhelming to those with limited linguistic and digital skills culture • online communities • online native language content • online religious content • digital storytelling and expressive arts • digital storage of memories • transnational identity development and maintenance • counter-narratives and political expression https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 96 digital skills • refugees use mainstream apps, not apps created for them • resettlement agencies and libraries are learning resources • generally limited skills and limited confidence in using technology • steep learning curve • reliance on family members or resettlement providers safety • access to resources • mobile phone as a safety tool to call for help, receive reassurance from family abroad • cybersecurity concerns • misinformation/disinformati on • personal safety concerns • technology-facilitated domestic violence stability • technology is a source of stability in otherwise precarious circumstances social connections bonds • maintenance of transnational bonds • bonding with multiple groups through use of multiple identities among particularly marginalized subgroups (e.g., lgbtq refugees) • emotional labor of maintaining transnational bonds and/or multiple identities • increased bonding is associated with decreased bridging, linking, and language learning https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 97 bridges • access to information about host culture • bridging via social media following face-to-face interaction • collaborative platforms, digital language learning, digital education, digital mentorship all build bridges • digital communication with host society may replace or hinder face-to-face interactions links • digitalized services create distance between refugees and service providers markers & means work • seeking employment • entrepreneurship housing • seeking housing via social media and collaborative platforms education • seeking educational opportunities • video tutorials on language and other skills • remote learning • game-based learning apps health and social care • seeking health and health care information • increased access to mental health services • digital mental health apps • digital storytelling and digital bonds and bridges all enhance well-being • limited access to adequate information from official websites leisure • online entertainment (movies, videos, music, games) • internet addiction • shame https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 98 discussion contributions to knowledge: emerging research issues and needs in a 2020 special issue of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi) on the topic of forced migration, the editors identified two epistemological standpoints at the intersection of information science and refugee studies. the first standpoint is rooted in an analytic endeavor to understand the situational challenges surrounding the refugee experience. the second pursues the pragmatic aim of reshaping a world that incorporates and builds on refugees’ social reality and imaginaries (caidi et al., 2020). this present study extends knowledge within this latter standpoint, focusing on refugees’ practical use of information and communications technology as they navigate their new lives. this state-of-the-art literature review has identified several emerging research issues and needs related to the role of digital skills within each level and domain of refugee integration. at the foundation level, the recent literature demonstrates continued and consistent calls for increasing refugee agency in technology development and reducing refugee marginalization by discontinuing refugee-specific apps and promoting mainstream apps instead. research also emphasizes refugee agency at the level of facilitators, highlighting digital expression as a medium for producing and disseminating counter-narratives to host societies’ negative discourses about refugees. more critical and human rights perspectives are needed in digital migration studies to further the field’s social justice aims (leurs & smets, 2018). the recent literature strengthens prior findings showing that digital expression such as storytelling and photography is associated with multiple benefits, including empowerment, identity development, cultural maintenance and development, digital skills learning, social bridges, and well-being. additional insights from the recent literature concern safety, which researchers examined from the lens of gender-based violence in two studies. other studies expanded the concept of safety beyond refugee family units in their host setting to include transnational relatives, demonstrating how service providers must view refugees’ sense of safety from a collective perspective in which digital communication plays a crucial role. at the social connections level, the accumulation of studies from the current review (as well as prior literature) demonstrates that digitally mediated social bonding provides benefits such as transnational social support and linguistic and cultural maintenance, and is associated with emotional labor, decreased social bridging, and linking (both digital and in-person), and decreased host-language acquisition. the recent literature has also illustrated the challenges that multiply-marginalized refugee subgroups—such as women or gay men—face in performing multiple social media identities for multiple audiences. the recent literature includes a rare study of older adult refugees, highlighting their benefits from digitally mediated transnational social bonding. these studies help address the ongoing need to research technology use among understudied refugee subpopulations (alencar, 2020; leurs & smets, 2018; patil, 2019). regarding the means and markers of integration, recent studies have illuminated the linguistic and knowledge barriers some refugees encounter in using technologies for seeking employment. studies have highlighted the value of technology in informal education and its critical function as a gateway to vocational and higher education. in the health and social care domain, in january 2019, patil presciently asked, “can we leverage social media and mobile applications during emergency outbreaks to disseminate important health information?” (p. 4). descriptions and evaluations of such interventions during the covid-19 era are undoubtedly forthcoming. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 99 responding to another research need, as expressed by patil (2019), “how can social media and the internet help in supporting the mental health of refugees?” (p. 4), the recent literature has emphasized the potential value of digital mental health interventions, ranging from digital screening to mental health apps to videoconferencing. overall, the recent literature suggests that digital screening is acceptable and effective. mobile interventions suggest potential benefits for refugees (e.g., increased access to mental health services) but have not yet been evaluated. future research is needed to develop evidence-based, culturally competent, user-centered conceptual frameworks and adaptations of mobile mental health for refugees (ashfaq et al., 2020; goodman et al., 2020). regarding the use of technology for consuming or sharing leisure activities, both researchers and refugee participants perceived such activity as beneficial to well-being on the one hand, yet simultaneously a waste of time and source of shame on the other. perhaps the most important development in the recent literature is the appearance of studies on assessing, teaching, and learning digital skills among refugees. these studies confirm that refugees in resettlement generally have limited digital skills for necessary integration tasks such as navigating websites and assessing the credibility of online information. the studies have yielded initial descriptions of where and how refugees are taught and learn digital skills, without evaluating these educational efforts. the research also illuminated the unintended consequences of technical assistance from family members or resettlement service providers, fostering dependency instead of promoting autonomy. future research is needed to develop key performance indicators for technology use assessment, identify potential differences across geographic and demographic settings, and develop core indicators for monitoring and evaluating technology education projects for refugees (bletscher, 2020; patil, 2019). contributions to theory this review lends further empirical support to ndofor-tah et al.’s (2019) theoretical framework of refugee integration and its predecessor model (ager & strang, 2008). this review supports the validity of the framework in three ways: (1) it provides evidence for the theorized linkages across different domains within each level as well as across levels themselves; (2) it provides evidence for the exhaustiveness of the framework, as all reviewed studies could be classified into one or more domains, meaning that the framework encompassed all aspects of refugee integration as reflected in the literature; and (3) it provides evidence supporting the recent addition of digital skills to the framework, showing how digital skills connect to all the other domains. this refugee integration framework may provide a useful interdisciplinary lens unifying the diverse yet interrelated fields of inquiry engaged in scholarship on digital skills and refugee integration. as reflected in the journal titles of the reviewed studies, these fields include sociology (6), library and information science (4), human-computer interaction (4), education (4), cultural studies (4), migration studies (3), information systems/information technology (3), health (2), anthropology (2), technology policy (1), communications (1), psychology (1), and linguistics (1). the findings of this study also support calls for adding an information perspective to this framework (eskola et al., 2020; lloyd, 2020) and forced migration studies more generally (caidi et al., 2020). eskola et al. (2020) proposed adding a cross-cutting dimension of information literacy to the integration framework. they defined this as a set of integrated skills for finding information, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 100 understanding how information is produced and valued, and using the information to produce new knowledge. lloyd (2020) situates information literacy practice within the broader context of refugees’ fractured information landscapes, which necessitate rebuilding refugees’ information experiences, sources, practices, and behaviors. this perspective focuses on information as a core resource essential for successful integration. accordingly, some relevant overarching research questions for information science scholarship include: how does digital technology affect refugees’ construction of new information landscapes? what are the actions and outcomes of refugees’ information practices as they participate across local and global digital networks? how do language, illiteracy, and non-literacy affect refugees’ digital information experiences? what influences refugees’ trust/mistrust in digital information, misinformation, and disinformation? how are varying information experiences, sources, practices, and behaviors associated with the varying domains of integration? implications for programming the literature bears two direct implications for action. first is the need to develop, tailor, scale, evaluate, and sustain formal and informal, in-person and online digital skills training for refugees in integration. this need follows from the documented centrality of digital skills to all other domains of integration; just as a linguistic skill has always been a significant indicator of and gateway to successful refugee integration, so today are digital skills. as found in this review, the research on digital skills training specifically for refugees in integration is nascent. however, several systematic reviews of digital skills programs for marginalized populations, including lowincome, low-skill, low-literacy, and hard to reach, find that successful programs share several characteristics. these include social support, collaborative learning, hands-on experience, inclusive program design, a multi-faceted approach, and simple user interfaces (borg et al., 2019; mcgillivray, 2017; zelezny-green et al., 2018). these are relevant principles for application with refugee populations, as are the previously described strengths-based teaching practices identified by tour et al. (2021). further, future research should examine what specific technology skills are most helpful to learn during different stages of the integration process (bletscher, 2020). existing digital skills curricula for refugees commonly include information on how to mitigate safety risks, such as identifying misinformation, avoiding scams, and protecting private information (cultural orientation resource exchange, 2021; hias, 2021). however, they do not address the risks identified within the other domains, such as emotional labor and shame; social bonding at the expense of bridging, linking, and language learning; reduction of face-to-face interactions; and the risks of exploitation, exclusion, and marginalization. future research and program development must address these risks, including input from all stakeholders. the second programmatic implication is the need for inter-agency and interdisciplinary collaboration in this effort. one natural partnership appears between the two existing primary providers of digital skills training: libraries and resettlement service agencies (cultural orientation resource exchange, 2021; dahya et al., 2020; felton, 2015; hias, 2021; bowdoin et al., 2017). project welcome (2018), a u.s. national initiative to assist libraries with addressing the information needs of refugees and asylum seekers in the resettlement and integration process, stresses the collective impacts to be gained through collaboration among libraries, resettlement agencies, direct and indirect service providers (e.g., educational institutions, museums), and ethnic community-based organizations. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 101 a growing number of public libraries employ social workers, many of whom serve immigrant and refugee patrons. these staff could serve as natural liaisons of library/resettlement agency collaboration. there is a natural partnership between the two professions based on shared historical roots, a strong alignment of values, and shared goals of addressing community needs, with today’s libraries serving similar functions for immigrants and refugees as the social work settlement houses of the past (soska & navarro, 2020). academic libraries can also play essential roles in multiple ways. some approaches for supporting research about refugees include: • collecting, archiving, and digitizing primary materials; • providing guides to library resources and information literacy instruction; • collecting digital stories for future research and education; and • providing refugees access to resources, such as native-language digital media, that may not be available through the public library (bowdoin et al., 2017). limitations this state-of-the-art review is limited by its cross-sectional nature, which provides a snapshot of the current literature. the risk of subjectivity arising from having one reviewer was necessitated by the time-sensitive nature of this type of review (grant & booth, 2009). additionally, this review is limited to published literature accessible online through public websites or subscription databases. because technology evolves more rapidly than academic publications, the author assumes that this review does not fully represent developments in the field. conclusion perhaps the most revealing insight from this state-of-the-art review is how similar refugees are in their use of technology to everyone else; in many ways, they experience the same benefits and risks in all domains of their lives as do other users. nevertheless, some of the emotional, social, financial, and human rights risks refugees face arise from their forced displacement and their marginalized position in their host society. thus, the author hails the contributions of the studies in this review and calls for continued interdisciplinary research and practice in this evolving area of inclusion and equity. endnotes 1 oecd is an intergovernmental organization of 38 primarily high-income countries working to find solutions to common challenges. acknowledgements the author thanks dr. graeme rodgers for his valuable insights and encouragement on this article. the irc received $1,194,063 through competitive funding through the u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, grant # 90rb0052. the project was financed with 100% of federal funds and 0% by non-governmental sources. the https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 102 contents of this document are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of the u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families. references abujarour, s. a. 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(2020). there’s an app for that: context, assumptions, possibilities and potential pitfalls in the use of digital technologies to address refugee mental health. journal of refugee studies, 34(2), 2252-2274. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feaa082 grant, m.j., & and booth, a., (2009). a typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. health information & libraries journal, 26(2), 91-108. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x halilovich, h., & kučuk, i. (2020). refuge(e)s in the digital diaspora: reimagining and recreating ethnically cleansed villages as cyber villages. etnološka tribina: journal of croatian ethnological society, 50(43), 182-196. https://doi.org/10.15378/18489540.2020.43.08 henry, n., vasil, s., flynn, a., kellard, k., & mortreux, c. (2021). technology-facilitated domestic violence against immigrant and refugee women: a qualitative study. journal https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://coresourceexchange.org/lessonplan/digital-awareness-for-refugees/ https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/rr4322.html https://tascha.uw.edu/publications/technology-access-education-for-refugee-women-in-seattle-king-county/ https://tascha.uw.edu/publications/technology-access-education-for-refugee-women-in-seattle-king-county/ https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1367549419869348 https://doi.org/10.47989/irisic2009 https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2303 https://eprints.qut.edu.au/77888/27/77888.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.33788/rcis.68.5 https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feaa082 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x https://doi.org/10.15378/1848-9540.2020.43.08 https://doi.org/10.15378/1848-9540.2020.43.08 the role of digital skills in refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37514 105 of interpersonal violence. advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f08862605211001465 hias (2021). digital literacy toolkit. https://coresourceexchange.org/wpcontent/uploads/2020/12/digital-literacy-toolkit_english.pdf jensen, r. b., coles-kemp, l., & talhouk, r. 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(2020). digital media and the affective economies of transnational families. international journal of cultural studies, 23(5), 639-655. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1367877920920278 willey, s. m., blackmore, r. p., gibson-helm, m. e., ali, r., boyd, l. m., mcbride, j., & boyle, j. a. (2020). “if you don’t ask… you don’t tell”: refugee women’s perspectives on perinatal mental health screening. women and birth, 33(5), e429-e437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2019.10.003 zelezny-green, r., vosloo, s., & conole, g. (2018). digital inclusion for low-skilled and lowliterate people: a landscape review. unesco. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000261791 miriam potocky (miriam.potocky@rescue.org) is a research officer at the international rescue committee and professor of social work at florida international university. her scholarship focuses on disseminating and implementing evidence-based practice and policy in refugee resettlement. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1177%2f2056305120915587 https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/stories/2015/12/56ec1ebde/2015-year-europes-refugee-crisis.html?query=europe%20crisis https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/stories/2015/12/56ec1ebde/2015-year-europes-refugee-crisis.html?query=europe%20crisis https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1367877920920278 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2019.10.003 https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000261791 mailto:miriam.potocky@rescue.org introduction background: digital skills in refugee integration purpose of the study methods results foundation rights and responsibilities facilitators language & communication and culture digital skills safety and stability social connections bonds bridges social links means and markers work housing education health and social care leisure summary of findings foundation rights and responsibilities facilitators language & communication and culture digital skills safety and stability social connections bonds bridges social links means and markers work housing education health and social care leisure summary of findings discussion contributions to knowledge: emerging research issues and needs limitations conclusion endnotes acknowledgements references operationalizing theories and methods to integrate social justice in lis scholarship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36678 operationalizing theories and methods to integrate social justice in lis scholarship guest editor: bharat mehra, university of alabama, usa keywords: lis scholarship; methods; research; scholarship; social justice; theories publication type: editorial editorial n april 2021, with the indictment of the murderers of george floyd and ahmaud arbery in the united states, the quest for racial justice found a sliver of hope. this sliver of hope gleamed only slightly though, for the genetic legacy of human oppressions and all forms of subjugation towards each other are deeply entrenched in our evolutionary record and cultural history. so too, are the interlocking social, cultural, political, and economic systems of privilege that systemically continue to favor some groups of people, while disenfranchising others from similar freedoms of thought, expression, equitable opportunity, and human fulfillment. thus, these momentous judicial verdicts serve as only a measure of justice. yet, they provide an urgent opportunity for all of us to find the voice to speak up, speak out, and take actions to dismantle white privilege and to destabilize white superiority that all too often seem to throttle the whole of humanity into “the sunken place,” an abyss of darkness. we, as library and information professionals across the world, still have much work to do to continue challenging the intersecting injustices we encounter in our everyday lives at work and at home, in all its ugly shapes and intensities. the journey to reform our institutions and communities and achieve any substantive transformations and measurable progressive changes is still a long, dark, and winding road. in response to our contemporary racial trauma and political turbulence, this special issue of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi) (volume 5, issue 2) highlights excellent examples of social justice scholarship in library and information studies (lis) that illustrate intersecting theories and methods in the delivery of research, teaching, service, and engagement activities. this collection of articles includes novel contributions that exemplify creative weaving of these intersections that are empirical, methodological, theory-focused, pedagogical, and/or practical in nature. the purpose of this special issue is to bring together voices of both emerging and established lis researchers with ranging interdisciplinary perspectives and transdisciplinary paradigmatic roots that embrace social justice as an intentional and deliberate strategy to generate impact via information-related work (bernier, 2019; cooke et al., 2016). the term “scholarship” in the title of this special issue is intentionally used to serve multiple agendas. first, it contextualizes documentation and analysis through intersecting lenses of diverse theories and alternate methodologies from interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary origins i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi operationalizing theories and methods the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36678 to promote a social justice standard in lis research and practice, education and teaching, policy development, service design, and program implementation. furthermore, when we think of the term, “information scholarship” (embedded within the concept of “lis scholarship”) the idea also broadly reflects intersections and overlaps within the traditional teaching-researchservice/community engagement paradigm where these tenets are all too often treated as isolated and separate in an elitist and exclusionary western-centric academy, with marginal relationships and relevance to community-embedded contexts (mehra, in press; mehra & gray, 2020). also, the idea of “information scholarship” challenges privileged notions surrounding constricted and fragmented constructs of pedantic theory in information research that have been traditionally considered highbrow and separate from library practice or methodology. further, the expression highlights the problems in the reliance on narrowly operationalized qualitative research in lis during its infancy on primarily mimicking biased western-centric sources of the social sciences (such as sociology, anthropology, and psychology) with their own shortcomings (e.g., internalization of positivist and postpositivist strategies and research representations exclusively disseminated through closed networks) (creswell & creswell, 2018; cronin, 2008; fidel, 2008; mehra, 2021a; olson, 1995; sandstrom & sandstrom, 1995). these unhealthy legacies might still be considered inherent, for example, in editorial practices of mainstream journals in lis and beyond, that impose stringent word-count stipulations emerging from descriptions of positivist or postpositivist research on humanistic, interpretive, and critical scholarship, as if they are the same (mehra, 2021b). this probably led to a “watering down” of their analysis in the latter, that then seemingly gets misperceived as incomplete, ad hoc, and lacking rigor. with a shift in perception for lis scholarship in mind, this collection showcases research that adopt rigorous models, frameworks, theories, methods, and approaches to further social justice and inclusion advocacy in the lis field to further principles of fairness, justice, and equality/equity for all people. the six articles included in this collection selectively present a diverse array of lis scholarship using intersecting theories and methods highlighted in their analysis. table 1 summarizes this research collection in terms of their category/functional role, context of study, representative theoretical bent, operationalized research methods, and deliverable/implications for social justice scholarship in lis. table 1. overview of issue contents article name and author category/ functional role context of study theoretical bent operationalized research methods implications for social justice in lis more than lip service (winberry) research/ framing lista and liss databases drawing ties between theory and methods in lis content analysis of 247 records typology of social justice in lis literature understanding social justice through practitioners’ language (mills, kociubuk, & campana) research/ framing public librarians bridging divides in theoretical notions of equity, engagement, and empowerment across to the practitioners’ world grounded theory analysis of 20 semistructured interviews with public library staff demonstrate a complex, multifaceted portrait of how practitioners describe equity, engagement, and 2 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index operationalizing theories and methods the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36678 empowerment case study inquiry & black feminist resistance (gray) research/ approaches + context reflections of research into the role of activistmothers in a chicago public housing community role of familial in an ethnic, racial, and gendered community; black feminist resistance case study inquiry of the personal narrative; storytelling significance of a critical-qualitative case study approach in community-focused research meaning and memory: reconsidering the appalachian oral history project (sikes) research/ approaches + context appalachian oral history project; black identity in central appalachia community archival studies; oral histories and black identity ethnographic methods in archival and historical scholarship complex understanding of place and identity; reclaiming of stories and oral histories; space for traditional research to push boundaries and embrace political advocacy as an aspect of the fight for social justice engaging with silences (kitchens) report from the field/ approaches + context clayton state’s master of archival studies program theorizing of educating archivists analysis of class discussion activities + course assignments insights for development of social justice intersections in the archival education curriculum a qualitative study exploring neurodiversity conference themes, representations, and issues of inclusivity (mellifont) viewpoints/ emerging domains ocd as a form of neurodivergence inclusivity of neurodiversity conferences content analysis of 22 conference flyers and 14 scholarly articles evidence-based justification for intersectionality and explicit inclusion of ocdfocused content in neurodivergence conferences note: category/functional role, context of study, representative theoretical bent, operationalized lis research methods, and deliverable/implications for social justice scholarship in lis represented in the articles published in this special issue. the first two research manuscripts play a “framing” representational role in the collection. joseph winberry’s opening article “more than lip service: identifying a typology of “social justice” research in lis” presents a purely scholarly context in reporting findings of a literature review of self-identified “social justice” research in two large academic databases of lis—the library information science & technology abstracts (lista) and library and information science source (liss)—to identify the components that make social justice research intersections possible. the results present a valuable typology of two research types and eight sub-types for organizing existing social justice research within lis, arguably as an emerging sub-discipline. j. elizabeth mills, jacqueline kociubuk, and kathleen campana’s article “understanding social justice through practitioners’ language” develops a critical semantic foundation of social justice 3 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index operationalizing theories and methods the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36678 concepts, situated within the public librarian practitioner’s understanding. this works-inprogress study presents a grounded theory analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews with library staff and their community partners. the research explores and unpacks the practitioners’ language to demonstrate a complex, multifaceted portrait of how these practitioners describe equity, engagement, and empowerment. the next two research manuscripts describe select approaches and contextual settings for the study of social justice in lis. laverne gray’s article “case study inquiry & black feminist resistance: reflections on a methodological journey in the furtherance of lis social justice research” explains the researcher’s ownership of tools of inquiry using personal narrative. using the researcher’s journey as an example, a narrative inquiry approach is explored through a theoretical and methodological iterative case development process. the paper calls for a need in lis social justice inquiry models to utilize a critical-qualitative approach of case study development in the pursuit of community-focused research. scott sikes’ contribution, “meaning and memory: reconsidering the appalachian oral history project,” employs emerging ethnographic methods in archival work and historical scholarship to provide an enhanced understanding of place and identity, allowing for a reclaiming of stories by black residents in central appalachia, united states. in this process, the author generates intellectual space within the intersections of theory, method, and discipline of traditional information science research to advance the discipline’s boundaries by embracing political advocacy as an aspect of the fight for social justice. joshua f. kitchens’ article “engaging with silences: clayton state master of archival studies program’s approach to teaching” reports from the field and discusses the theoretical underpinnings to educating archivists, systematically integrating social justice in its various components. analysis of class discussion activities and assignments illustrate how an archival education curriculum can prepare students to engage with issues of representation in archival collections once they are in the field. the last article by damian mellifont entitled “a qualitative study exploring neurodiversity conference themes, representations, and issues of inclusivity” represents a special viewpoint in emerging opportunities as it critically investigates inclusion in conferences related to ocd-focused content. the exploratory research applies content analysis of 22 conference flyers and 14 scholarly articles to generate evidence-based justifications for a greater inclusion and intersectionality in generating future conference themes and representations. i was or currently am affiliated with three doctoral committees of authors in this collection. their work as well as those of others went through a rigorous review process to sharpen, strengthen, and eventually polish the manuscripts to make them shine. i intentionally draw attention to these professional connections with the authors in order to take ownership of my positionality and situatedness of these social and professional ties in the emergence of this lis scholarly network of social justice advocates. through the process, i also challenge misrepresented notions of objectivity of positivist and postpositivist researchers and their reliance on citing each other’s work in high impact-factor journals that failed to acknowledge the existence of their “invisible colleges” for a very long time (crane, 1972). here, my strategy to “make visible” my own professional ties with the authors is a direct confrontation of these lapses of the past. further, my critical strategy serves to pinpoint the “dirty economics” associated with the scholarly publication business models that have created partial tenure and promotion policies favoring positivist and postpositivist research in their predominant resistance to action research, social justice/advocacy, and community-engaged scholarship, amongst other 4 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index operationalizing theories and methods the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36678 alternate modes of assessment and research productivity (mehra, bishop, & partee ii, 2018). the development of such a social network of lis professionals as social justice advocates involved in social justice scholarship is noteworthy. the emergence of social justice-oriented lis research is significant within lis and its predominant majorities of white and female constituents that have sustained their own hegemonic canons, theories, methods, and paradigms to entrench themselves and their impact, while including some and excluding others. i truly appreciate the partnership with ijidi in providing a valuable opportunity to publish emerging scholarship in this regard. developing such a collection allowed for exploring creative integrations of lis theories and methods to further social justice agendas through a scholarly venue. the generosity and commitment of the editorial staff and anonymous reviewers in providing timely, constructive, and detailed feedback on the manuscripts was most humbling. the epistemic protest waves against racially motivated police hostilities (e.g., black lives matter movement) have exposed the wide and deep cracks in the practice of american justice, equality, freedom, human dignity, fair government, and the “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” espoused in united states declaration of independence (u. s. citizenship and immigration services, 2007/2008). lis professionals have played a limited role in applying their theory development and methods applications (amongst other efforts) to mobilize actions in supporting the recent public outcry for an immediate stop to human rights violations of african americans and other racial minorities in the united states (carney, 2016; lebron, 2017; mehra, 2021c). lis professionals now have this potential to extend their scholarship from its shackles of a limited past and current constraints (winberry & bishop, 2021). the contextual situatedness in this current problematic racial age and political divisiveness in its scale of horror, which includes: implications of racial violence, propensity of white resistance to justice, degree of intensity in the public outrage, and its national-and-global spread has now forced complacent lis scholars and educators (amongst others) around the world to integrate action-oriented social justice efforts of community activism, racial advocacy, and progressive change (mehra, 2021b; cooke 2020). social justice and inclusion advocacy in lis through an information lens of analysis and communication action can promote fairness, justice, and equality/equity for all people. in the past lis scholars have tip-toed around these issues, clinging on to outdated notions of perceived neutrality, being passive bystanders as community dynamics enfold, and exhibiting resistance to decenter their inherent privileged positions of power and authority (gibson et al., 2017). the selected articles in this special issue begin to challenge some of these blinders and provide a glimpse of how progressive lis scholars are drawing on varied intersections of theory and methods to generate social justice impacts that are intentional (deliberate), systematic (rigorous), actionoriented, and outcome-driven to deliver meaningful information systems, services, and other forms of information products (jaeger et al., 2014; mehra et al., 2019). they illustrate ways to address the gap of the “how-tos” in developing lis scholarship and technological deliverables that change imbalanced status quo power dynamics in tangible and meaningful ways (allen et al., 2019). in conclusion, i share select themes and my strategies in compiling this collection. i tried to focus on action-oriented initiatives in lis scholarship that further social justice principles in specific contextual settings of lapse. the degree and intensity of actions and the involvement of various internal and external stakeholders obviously varied. we will continue to see a threading of emerging lis and non-lis theoretical and conceptual groundings in conjunction with traditional 5 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index operationalizing theories and methods the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36678 and non-traditional methods and methodologies to further aspects of impact beyond the ivory tower of the academy. lis scholars are beginning to apply entrenched research paradigms and methods of the past (e.g., postpositivist and quantitative approaches) towards new conceptualized research modes in their study of social justice content and related matters of significance. these efforts represent a new wave of social justice scholarship and provide possible beginnings for postpositivist researchers to engage more deeply in the explorations of relevance of their work towards social justice concerns. the “so what” implications and specific strategies to change the existing scenarios of inequities and conditions of marginalization will continue getting strengthened with such efforts. for example, it is more than an occurrence of “social justice” vocabularies in various exclusive electronic databases to identify trends in a white-ist (white + elitist) lis scholarship that makes the research itself, an example of social justice work (mehra & gray, 2020). also, documenting the number and themes from big datasets of online contributions of diverse underserved constituencies on twitter about their experiences and perspectives, presents a correlation distribution or regression analysis of the findings. what is done as a result of these research findings and what role underserved stakeholders are playing in making changes to their disenfranchised circumstances are valuable directions in social justice to explore such examples. tangible and concrete information-related deliverables that improve an understanding of a phenomenon under study and provide actions to change deliberating conditions, are valuable goals to consider in forthcoming lis scholarship integrating social justice theories and methods. that said, this collection of social justice lis research contributes to the ongoing discourse within our profession that can lead towards individual and social empowerment, change agency, community building, and community development outcomes, thereby, generating greater impact beyond our predominantly white-ist isolated ivory towers of the academy and other exclusive spaces of power and privilege (mehra & gray, 2020). references allen, d., given, l. m., burnett, g., & karanasios, s. (2019). guest editorial: information behavior and information practices: a special issue for research on people’s engagement with technology. journal of the association for information science & technology 70(12), 1299-1301. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24303 bernier, a. (2019). isn’t it time for youth services instruction to grow up? from superstition to scholarship. journal of education for library and information science 60(2), 118-138. https://doi.org/10.3138/jelis.2018-0055 carney, n. (2016). all lives matter, but so does race: black lives matter and the evolving role of social media. humanity & society 40(2), 180-199. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0160597616643868 cooke, n. a. (2020, september 11). turning antiracist knowledge and education into action. publishers weekly. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industrynews/libraries/article/84313-are-you-ready-to-stand-in-the-gap.html cooke, n. a., sweeney, m. e. & noble, s. u. (2016). social justice as topic and tool: an 6 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24303 https://doi.org/10.3138/jelis.2018-0055 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0160597616643868 https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/84313-are-you-ready-to-stand-in-the-gap.html https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/84313-are-you-ready-to-stand-in-the-gap.html operationalizing theories and methods the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36678 attempt to transform a lis culture and curriculum. the library quarterly: information, community, policy 86(1), 107-124. https://doi.org/10.1086/684147 crane, d. (1972). invisible colleges. university of chicago press. creswell, j. w., & creswell, j. d. (2018). research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th edition). sage. cronin, b. (2008). the sociological turn in information science. journal of information science 34(4), 465-475. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0165551508088944 fidel, r. (2008). are we there yet?: mixed methods research in library and information science. library & information science research 30(4), 265-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2008.04.001 gibson, a. n., chancellor, r. l., cooke, n. a., dahlen, s. p., lee, s. a., & shorish, y. (2017). libraries on the frontlines: neutrality and social justice. libraries 99. http://commons.lib.jmu.edu/letfspubs/99 jaeger, j. t., gorham, u., taylor, n. g., & kettnich, k. (2014). library research and what libraries actually do now: education, inclusion, social services, public spaces, digital literacy, social justice, human rights, and other community needs. the library quarterly: information, community, policy 84(4), 491-493. https://doi.org/10.1086/677785 lebron, c. j. (2017). the making of black lives matter: a brief history of an idea. oxford university press. mehra, b. (in press). social justice design and implementation: innovative pedagogies to transform lis education. journal of education for library and information science 62(4). mehra, b. (2021a). elfreda annmary chatman in the 21st century: at the intersection of critical theory and social justice imperatives. journal of critical library and information studies 3 (special issue chatman revisited: re-examining and resituating social theories of identity, access, and marginalization in lis. edited by n. a. cooke and a. n. gibson). https://journals.litwinbooks.com/index.php/jclis/article/view/142 mehra, b. (2021b). overcoming interrelated challenges to “diversity by design” in the lis tenure and promotion process in the american academy. in k. dali and n. caidi (eds.), humanizing lis education and practice: diversity by design (pp. 105-118). routledge. mehra, b. (2021c). enough crocodile tears! libraries moving beyond performative antiracist politics. the library quarterly: information, community, policy 91(2), 137-149. https://doi.org/10.1086/713046 mehra, b., bishop, b. w., & partee ii, r. p. (2018). a case methodology of action research to promote economic development: implications for lis education. journal of education for library and information science 59(1-2), 48-65. https://doi.org/10.3138/jelis.59.12.06 7 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1086/684147 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0165551508088944 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2008.04.001 http://commons.lib.jmu.edu/letfspubs/99 https://doi.org/10.1086/677785 https://journals.litwinbooks.com/index.php/jclis/article/view/142 https://doi.org/10.1086/713046 https://doi.org/10.3138/jelis.59.1-2.06 https://doi.org/10.3138/jelis.59.1-2.06 operationalizing theories and methods the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(2), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i2.36678 mehra, b., elmborg, j., & sweeney, m. (2019). a curricular model in a “social justice and inclusion advocacy” doctoral concentration: global implications for lis (juried paper). proceedings of the association for library and information science education (alise) annual conference: exploring learning in a global information context, knoxville, tennessee, september 24-26, 2019. mehra, b., & gray, l. (2020). an “owning up” of white-ist trends in lis to further real transformations. the library quarterly: information, community, policy 90(2), 189239. https://doi.org/10.1086/707674 olson, h. (1995). quantitative “versus” qualitative research: the wrong question. proceedings of the annual conference of the canadian association for information science. https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/ojs.cais-acsi.ca/index.php/caisasci/article/view/414/362 sandstrom, a. r., & sandstrom, p. e. (1995). the use and misuse of anthropological methods in library and information science research. the library quarterly: information, community, policy 65(2), 161-199. https://doi.org/10.1086/602775 u. s. citizenship and immigration services. (2007/2008). (revised). the declaration of independence and the constitution of the united states. u. s. citizenship and immigration services. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/uscis/office%20of%20citizenship/citizenshi p%20resource%20center%20site/publications/pdfs/m-654.pdf winberry, j. & bishop, b.w. (2021). documenting social justice in library and information science research: a literature review. journal of documentation 77(3). https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-08-2020-0136 bharat mehra (bmehra@ua.edu) joined the school of library and information studies at the university of alabama as professor and ebsco endowed chair in social justice in january 2019. from january 2005 to december 2018, he was a faculty member in the school of information sciences at the university of tennessee. his research focuses on diversity and social justice in library and information science and community informatics or the use of information and communication technologies to empower minority and underserved populations to make meaningful changes in their everyday lives. he has applied action research to further engaged scholarship and community engagement while collaborating with racial/ethnic groups, international diaspora, lgbtq+ people, rural communities, low-income families, small businesses, and others, to represent their experiences and perspectives in the design of community-based information systems and services. homepage: bmehra.people.ua.edu. 8 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1086/707674 https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/ojs.cais-acsi.ca/index.php/cais-asci/article/view/414/362 https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/ojs.cais-acsi.ca/index.php/cais-asci/article/view/414/362 https://doi.org/10.1086/602775 https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/uscis/office%20of%20citizenship/citizenship%20resource%20center%20site/publications/pdfs/m-654.pdf https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/uscis/office%20of%20citizenship/citizenship%20resource%20center%20site/publications/pdfs/m-654.pdf https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-08-2020-0136 mailto:bmehra@ua.edu http://bmehra.people.ua.edu/ references toporadio: mapping research on spanish-language radio in the united states the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38691 toporadio: mapping research on spanish-language radio in the united states eric silberberg, queens college, city university of new york, usa abstract this article analyzes the construction of toporadio (toporadio.org), an interactive map that showcases publications and archives about spanish-language radio in the u.s. the map aims to promote a more inclusive and comprehensive representation of u.s. radio history by improving the visibility of contributions from latinx broadcasters. the article addresses how map-making historically suppressed spanish-language radio programs and proposes using critical cartography as a framework for mapping back this history. the technical elements of toporadio, including publication selection criteria, metadata design, geocoding process, and the appraisal of geographic information systems (gis) software, are described to provide scholars with a reproducible method for creating interactive mapping projects. the article concludes with an assessment of the map's effectiveness as a research tool and an analysis of the publications in the field of spanish-language radio studies included on the map. keywords: critical cartography; digital humanities; geographic information systems; latinidades; spanish-language radio publication type: research article introduction panish-language radio has been part of the united states' broadcast landscape since the radio era's dawn. while english-language listenership has declined, spanish-language stations continue to expand their audience, geographic reach, and market share, yet their contributions remain inaudible within the dominant radio history (casillas, 2013; castañeda, 2014; paxman, 2018; rodriguez, 1999). however, the spanish-language and bilingual caucus of the radio preservation task force (rptf) is working to amplify the voices of latinx broadcasters and operates under a mandate from the library of congress to create a “comprehensive inventory of extant american radio archival collections, aid in the preservation of radio history, and develop pedagogical [tools] for utilizing radio and sound archives” (vancour, 2016, p. 396). toporadio (toporadio.org) was developed in partnership with the caucus to address these three goals. the project is an online, interactive map that invites the public to discover books, articles, and archives on the history and ongoing cultural and economic impact of spanish-language radio in the united states based on the locations of the radio stations examined by each publication. this article explores the theoretical and technical development of toporadio while arguing that a geographic discovery tool is a viable option for presenting bibliographic information and that such a tool can contribute to expanding public recognition of the power of spanish-language radio. the first part of the article examines map-making as a site of social action through the theory of critical cartography. this concept is especially relevant given how the united states s https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi toporadio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38691 2 government historically used maps to suppress spanish-language broadcasts. this critical cartography framework is then applied to the work of other scholars who have developed geographic discovery tools that reconstruct marginalized or fragmented histories. the second part of this article details each step in building toporadio, including selecting, analyzing, geocoding, and mapping each publication. this technical overview offers a reproducible method for building interactive maps supporting similar activist-minded projects. finally, this article uses the geospatial representation of books and articles to conduct a bibliometric content analysis of the current state of scholarship on spanish-language radio and to provide suggestions for further research. literature review map-making as social action on its face, a map appears disinterested: it reports the features found in an area. however, the world is too detailed and complex to be entirely represented on a map. a cartographer must decide what a map will and will not include based on their criteria for what is essential to map readers. halder and michel (2018) argue that “maps articulate statements that are shaped by social relations, discourses, and practices, but these statements also influence them in turn. hence maps are always political” (p. 13). cartographers choose which features and populations to chart based on the existing social values and power relationships that are determined to be essential to map readers. the opposite has graver consequences. when features or populations are not deemed map-worthy, this has the power to, quite literally, wipe whole communities or historical narratives off the map. as cartographers continue to rearticulate social value judgements through their maps, they promote wider circulation and credence to structures of power that marginalize specific communities and historical narratives. as crampton (2010) puts it, “mapping creates knowledge as much as (and for some, instead of) reflecting it” (p. 46). mesquita (2018) rejects the notion of political neutrality in map-making and describes how maps are used to execute the “domination of colonizers over the colonized, for consolidating economic blocks, for justifying private control over public spaces” (p. 26). maps have long accompanied and legitimated colonial conquests. they were instrumental in delivering over half of mexican territory to the u.s. during negotiations of the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo (st. john, 2011), which is a pertinent example for scholars of spanish-language radio. alternatively, maps can support social action if they draw from an anti-colonial political posture. mesquita (2018) promotes an approach to mapping known in cartographic and geographic information systems (gis) circles as counter-mapping or critical cartography, which inverts the “sovereignty of a cartography of control” into “starting points for subversive actions” (p. 29). he contends that instead of erasing communities, maps can make “obscure and established powers more perceptible in front of them” (p. 26), thus fostering grassroots social change. halder and michel (2018) also discuss the strategy of counter-mapping, which was developed among native communities to map-back territories seized by the u.s. government. counter-mappings “often contain a paradoxical element: to be heard and recognized, the claim for territory and empowerment has to translate indigenous cosmovisions into dominant cartographic tools. hence, there is always the danger of distorting original messages or intentions” (halder & michel, 2018, p. 16). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index toporadio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38691 3 critical cartography does not offer a regimented system or method for charting anti-colonial maps. instead, it can be understood as a series of questions that examine the political forces driving map production. the current project, toporadio, positions itself within this critical cartography discourse. through mapping the marginalized history of spanish-language radio, the project exposes how maps have been used to suppress spanish-language broadcasters. for example, the federal communications commission (fcc) regulates public access to the wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum reserved for radio by granting broadcast licenses based on geographic area. only in 1946 did kcor of san antonio become the first fully-fledged spanish-language station after years of discriminatory license denials by the fcc. the fear was that licensed spanish-language stations would counteract assimilation into the english mainstream (castañeda, 2013). also, in line with critical cartographic thinking, toporadio questions its own aim to map a marginalized history, which could come at the expense of co-opting or distorting the original intentions of latinx radio producers. the rptf, whose expertise guides the development of toporadio, is cognizant of the power that collection choices have over shaping a “comprehensive inventory” of radio history (vancour, 2016, p. 396). goodman et al. (2019), themselves members of the rptf, argue that cultural memory work is laden with “decisions surrounding which types of collections and collecting institutions to privilege or deemphasize, determining whose histories and cultural experiences are granted legitimacy, and whose are marginalized or suppressed” (p. 3084). hence, toporadio needs to question the process by which publications are selected for mapping. toporadio does not pretend to hold expertise on the social impact of spanish-language radio. instead, the project seeks to promote those scholars who have dedicated their careers to its study. the project amplifies their work and repurposes traditional avenues of power (e.g., mapmaking) to achieve the medium’s due recognition. for example, casillas (2010) discusses how audiences and broadcasters already use call-in programs to create a “biographical moment across distance” (p. 46) or to report checkpoints by immigration and customs enforcement around los angeles (casillas, 2011). this research shows that choosing an interactive map has a profound significance. geography is essential to radio research, including granting fcc licenses, transmission range, and connection between the community of listeners and radio hosts. review of geographic discovery systems toporadio takes inspiration from three interactive mapping projects that have similarly sought to make power imbalances visible through mapping. the first, borderlands archives cartography (bac), fully demonstrates the notion of mapping back, as explained by halder and michel (2018). bac uses an interactive map as a discovery tool for 19th and mid-20th-century newspapers from the u.s.-mexico border region. álvarez and fernández (2019), authors of the project, orient bac to highlight examples of local press coverage by and for residents of the border region to contradict “the idea of the region as static, a recent division, and threat” (para. 3) that is so often peddled by the national media. noticeably absent from the bac map of the border region is the u.s.-mexico national border (a solid line, the political boundary). plotted over this borderless border region are the locations of historic newspapers, which further the map’s political goal of showing the wide geographic range of the border region and understanding “the https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index toporadio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38691 4 region and its communities before and after it became a division line” (álvarez & fernández, 2019, para. 4). bac uses a wix template for its project website and carto for its geospatial visualization. however, this arrangement presents a few limitations. first, carto requires a yearly subscription fee. second, when carto is embedded on a wix site, the information panels that open when a researcher clicks on a newspaper’s location are sized so that the top fields of metadata about the newspaper fall outside the map frame. lastly, some newspaper collections are not freely available and are behind the paywall of services such as readex. the second project that toporadio evaluated during its development is a history of dominican music in the united states, curated by the dominican studies institute (dsi) at the city college of new york. dsi (2020) orients the map to highlight musicians who “have been excluded from mainstream narratives documenting american music. in the end, this project embeds the history of dominican music into the history of u.s. musical traditions and the larger cultural legacy of american society” (para. 10). the project allows researchers to see overlaps in communities and events over time by linking historical photos and handbills to current locations on the map. this arrangement also works to counteract the misconception that dominican music developed in isolation from the mainstream: the music was everywhere in the city. a history of dominican music uses a custom map built with the google maps api. this development-intensive model provides the most room for customization. dsi (2020) takes full advantage of this customization. it has created a seamless method for researchers to bring up information, pieces of ephemera, and photographs from dsi’s collections when they click on a point on the map. the third project demonstrating critical cartography that toporadio considered during the development phase is where we were safe. this project is primarily an archive of oral histories, maps, and testimonies about the cultural and political development that accompanied the advent of salsa music to specific venues and businesses mentioned in the interviews. echeverría ortiz (2021), one of the project’s authors, states that the project “utilize[s] memory as resistance to preserve a collective knowledge” (para. 11). this is similar to mesquita’s (2018) concept of “collective intelligence” in map-making (p. 29). those who participated by giving oral histories were making their mark on the map. while many venues have fallen victim to the wrecking ball, oral histories combined with archival material can recreate these lost spaces. the website, map, and associated media are presented and hosted through klynt. this service, which markets itself as a digital storytelling tool, enables the project to draw together oral histories, archival materials, and geospatial data. klynt requires a one-time fee to register an account. cultural memory projects that rely on third-party services run the risk of one day finding out that the service will be discontinued. this is a severe risk for projects that seek to document and preserve the past. methodology toporadio borrows many lessons regarding the geospatial design and display of information from the three projects reviewed in the previous section. toporadio departs from these three in its novel approach to mapping bibliographic resources based on the radio stations mentioned in each publication’s text. the name toporadio is a blend of the words topografía and radio. topo is https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index toporadio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38691 5 the spanish word for mole, from which the project derives its mascot: the humble, subterranean talpid who sniffs through the soil just as toporadio does through scholarly literature. the following section examines the process of building the toporadio prototype, which includes selecting a pilot body of publications, establishing a metadata schema, determining radio station identities, and plotting the publications geospatially. project design toporadio offers researchers an online, interactive map to find bibliographic and archival resources relating to spanish-language radio's social and economic impact in the united states. the primary purpose is for researchers to discover scholarly articles and archives by zooming into regions of the map. a secondary discovery method is to use a keyword search. the locations of the radio station studios plotted on the map serve as the primary point of contact between the publications and the researcher. to facilitate this point of contact, gis software links the geospatial coordinates of a radio station, the publications that discuss that station, and bibliographic information about that publication. the street address of a radio station is a discrete geographic location and thus lends itself to geospatial representation. furthermore, connecting publications to the radio stations they examine can quickly demonstrate overlap among the publications, as different publications addressing the same radio station would be linked to the location of that studio. the map is embedded in a custom website, toporadio.org, which offers space for contextual information about spanish-language radio history. selecting publications the first stage of the project involved collecting a pilot set of publications. rptf members dr. dolores inés casillas, director of chicano studies institute at the university of california, santa barbara, and dr. sonia robles, assistant professor of history at the university of delaware, are two scholars of spanish-language radio who marry their scholarship with social action. they provided the project with subject area expertise. their recommendations, casillas’s (2018) bibliography, and searches in the hispanic american periodicals index provided the pilot set of articles (n = 30). this project then consulted with the rptf database, archivists, and librarians at major radio or latinx studies collections to compile the list of archival collections. metadata schema the second step of the project was to formulate the metadata schema. rptf members were integral in developing the fundamental requirements for displaying stations and publications on the map. the primary entry point to the data set is the radio station’s location. clicking on the station opens an information panel where the identifying information about that station should first be presented. although the project aims to promote scholarship on radio stations, immediately displaying information on a publication after clicking on a radio station could confuse researchers. table 1 lists toporadio’s metadata schema for stations and publications. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index toporadio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38691 6 table 1. metadata elements for radio stations and publications no. metadata element description 1 call letters the 3–4 letters assigned by the fcc that stations use to identify themselves on air (e.g., kdna) 2 frequency the am or fm band of the electromagnetic spectrum on which a station transmits its programs (e.g., 1250 am) 3 station name the name the station uses to identify itself 4 station location the place where the station has its primary studios. for places in the u.s., this will take the form of city, state. for foreign locations, this will take the form of city, country (e.g., los angeles, california; monterrey, mexico) 5 station link an active url to the station’s website. if a historic station predates the internet, a link to a historical repository or fan site will be used instead 6 research about this station the title of the publication in capital case 7 author the first and last name of the author (e.g., sonia robles) 8 publication year the year that the publication was published 9 publication type controlled vocabulary: article, book, book chapter, doctoral dissertation, master’s thesis, monograph 10 broader work for book chapters, this would be the name of the book in which the chapter was published. for articles, this would be the name of the journal 11 publisher name of the organization that published the article 12 publication link permalink to worldcat record. if the work was published as a free pdf, such as a report, the link will direct users to this pdf 13 research notes brief synopsis of the publication’s research on the radio station 14 latitude north-south component of the location coordinates for the radio station. this is required by the gis platform to plot the station’s location but will not be visible to the researcher https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index toporadio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38691 7 15 longitude east-west component of the location coordinates for the radio station. this is required by the gis platform to plot the station’s location but will not be visible to the researcher table 1 demonstrates how specific fields are named for the researcher’s convenience. for example, while the label for element six could be “publication title,” the label “research about this station” explicitly links the publication to the radio station. to facilitate the discovery of a publication, the schema includes permalinks to worldcat in element 12 so that researchers can secure a copy from the closest library. radio station identification the project’s third stage was to determine the identities of the radio stations profiled in each publication. articles were individually scanned for mentions of radio stations in their text. stations were often only identified according to element three from table 1 (“station name”). if a publication did not identify elements one, two, or four from table 1, the project used several strategies to fill in the holes in the metadata. for contemporary stations, the project consulted the fcc’s public inspection files database (publicfiles.fcc.gov). for historic stations, toporadio consulted informal sources, such as fan sites or trade magazines. for example, keith elster’s phoenix broadcasting history page (keithelster.tripod.com/phxradiotv) was last updated in 2000. similarly, metadata from archival collections, such as the university of california online digital collections at calisphere, provided missing metadata about stations. numerous other examples exist, but this sort of detective work proved incredibly time-consuming. geocoding and gis preparation the fourth and final stage of the project involved plotting the data using gis software. transforming text information, such as a radio station’s address, into mappable geospatial coordinates is called geocoding (united states department of agriculture, 2006). after identifying a station’s address through the process described in the previous section, google maps was used to geocode or determine the geospatial coordinates of a radio station. this information was recorded using elements 14 and 15 of table 1. the evaluation of the three previously described interactive maps conducted during the literature review informed the selection of gis software. the functional requirements of the gis software included that it: (a) accept the data set in a comma-separated values (csv) document, (b) present a unique icon that indicates the location of a radio station, (c) permit users a desktop and mobile experience, (d) reveal further information about the station and scholarly publication after clicking by way of a customizable information box, and (e) offer a keyword search box. furthermore, the long-term maintenance of the project was a concern. the gis software needed to display the data set at minimal or no cost and be supported by a company or community that would not discontinue its service. qgis, arcgis online, klynt, google maps, and carto were considered. while qgis is free and supported by an expansive and passionate community of users, it does not have a web application component, so creating an interactive experience for toporadio’s website would be challenging. klynt and carto, used effectively by where we were safe and borderlands archives cartography, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index toporadio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38691 8 respectively, require a subscription fee, and the staying power of these platforms remains untested. additionally, subscription fees play into the long-term maintenance of a website. what happens to the data set when a subscription expires or the company is sold? mckee (2019) describes a frustrating experience after mapping the institute for the study of the ancient world’s collections with google fusion tables; google suddenly announced that it would discontinue support for fusion tables, and the library was forced to redevelop the project with a new custombuilt gis solution. arcgis online is the web version of esri’s desktop gis software arcgis, which is an industry standard. esri offers free public accounts, which are free individual accounts for this service. maps are developed in the browser and are optimized for embedding or use as a standalone, interactive map with a connected service called web application. toporadio created layers on its map by uploading csv files of its dataset to arcgis online. then the project curated the search feature, starting view, and arrangement of interactive buttons for toporadio.org with the web application service. the map is served through a custom website designed according to the recommendations and testing tools made available by the a11y project. the site is hosted for free on github pages (github.com/esilberberg/toporadio). results the toporadio prototype maps 30 publications and 23 archives. it provides conceptual proof that maps can serve as an interface for discovering scholarly publications and bringing to light trends within a body of research. figure 1 shows the toporadio homepage and illustrates the project's functional requirements for the interface. radio locations are marked by a broadcast tower logo and the station’s call letters. when users click on a logo, it opens an information panel that presents the bibliographic and station identity information from table 1. the radio station name and publication title are offered as links to the station's homepage and the worldcat entry, respectively. articles that address the same radio station are connected to the same logo, and users can cycle through all publications via arrow buttons at the bottom of the information panel. arcgis web application also enables customization of the search bar, which allows the project designer to enable keyword searching of all metadata fields from table 1. for example, the search bar can access the publication title and research notes (elements 6 and 13, respectively, from table 1), which facilitates searching using keywords such as “community radio.” https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index toporadio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38691 9 figure 1. homepage of toporadio.org. copyright 2023 by eric silberberg. the display of books and articles geospatially enables bibliometric content analysis of scholarship on spanish-language radio. haddow (2018) defines bibliometric content analysis as those methods that seek to understand the scope and interconnectedness of scholarly publications within a domain by applying quantitative measures to authorship, citation, or content. the first 30 geocoded books and articles yielded 102 data points that covered 63 different radio stations. research on spanish-language radio is a new field, with 74.1% of publications included on the map being published since 2011. additionally, research in the field is conducted mainly by women, who account for 68.7% of authorship. overall, 15 stations appear in two or more publications. table 2 lists the stations referenced by three or more publications. rptf collaborators casillas and robles asked whether scholarship has extended beyond radio markets in historically spanish-speaking communities. toporadio, specifically table 2, demonstrates that research needs to increase the study of spanish-language radio outside traditional latinx communities in texas and california. few publications address radio in the southeastern united states outside miami, florida. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index toporadio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38691 10 table 2. radio stations referenced at least three times within publications station location number of references kcor san antonio, tx 6 xew mexico city, mexico 6 kdna granger, wa 4 kelw burbank, ca 4 klax east los angeles, ca 4 ksca los angeles, ca 4 ksjv fresno, ca 4 kbbf santa rosa, ca 3 discussion this article emphasizes the reproducibility and affordability of the methods used to create a project like toporadio. the reason for this is to offer other scholars a road map for creating similar projects that seek to reconstruct marginalized histories. the combination of an arcgis web application via esri's free public account option and a custom website hosted on github offers a sustainable model given that there is no annual cost to maintain the site, and both platforms have strong online support communities, which allows scholars to find answers to their technical questions online quickly. the biggest threat to the sustainability of this model is whether esri will continue to offer its free public account in the future. another concern is that identifying the radio stations in each publication took time, requiring a manual review of each publication. this article imagines a future iteration of the project that uses natural language processing to automate, at least partially, the station identification process. the technical application of this model would only be complete with a theoretical grounding in critical cartography. halder and michel (2018) state that while maps reinforce social power relations, they also hold liberatory potential. this requires scholars to believe that one can use the instruments of oppression against oneself. in the case of toporadio, map-making as social action plays out in three key ways. first, the irony is not lost on the project collaborators that the fcc, which had denied licensure to latinx broadcasters from the start of the commercial radio era in 1920 until kcor received the first license in 1946, served as a critical and trustworthy resource for identifying spanish-language stations. the fcc’s public inspection files database provided toporadio with the studio addresses for most radio stations, which was essential information for geocoding. simply put: no addresses, no map. second, critical cartography calls attention to relatively few radio archives on the map and the social and economic forces that created this absence. nearly all the 23 archives mapped by toporadio are not from a specific radio station but from other types of archives containing a few https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index toporadio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38691 11 folders or boxes relating to spanish-language radio. de la torre (2022) points out that the cost of maintaining an archive has been beyond the budget of community radio stations. she employs the techniques of community archiving to document the history of independent latinx broadcasters, allowing toporadio to highlight the critical role stations like kdna play in building community. on the commercial side, castañeda (2014) cites the consolidation of the spanishlanguage media market as a primary cause for the complete lack of archives. as a result, toporadio has relied on the work of scholars and secondary sources, rather than archives, to piece together this history. third, a critical cartography framework would question the absence of stations mapped across the southeast, as previously discussed and visible in figure 1. this is a concerning blank space on the map, considering that the region has seen the most significant growth of spanish-speaking communities since 2010 (noe-bustamante et al., 2020). there is spanish-language radio in the southeast, and there is room for further research on the development of broadcasting in this region. there is some evidence of toporadio's ability to broaden public access to books, articles, and archives about spanish-language radio. the project has received five research consultation requests from scholars who have used toporadio in their research. their queries have focused on acquiring specific titles and gaining access to archives on the map. additionally, two families conducting genealogical research have contacted toporadio to learn more about a family member who worked in radio broadcasting and to get a hold of all publications about their family members. these examples highlight two areas for further research. one is to conduct a round of user-testing to determine how well toporadio's functions and metadata schema serve the public. the other is to develop lesson plans on how to use toporadio in media and ethnic studies classes in a way that empowers students to identify holes in scholarship on spanish-language radio and to develop their research topics based on those observations. conclusion this article offers librarians, scholars, and radio enthusiasts a technical and theoretical blueprint for constructing a geospatial visualization tool for bibliographic discovery. the combination of an arcgis web application and a custom website hosted on github results in a free, sustainable model with a manageable learning curve. however, the full significance of the technical evaluation presented in this article becomes apparent only when viewed within the framework of critical cartography. toporadio uses technology to map back the previously overlooked contributions of spanish-language broadcasters in the united states. the project's foundation lies in mesquita's (2018) assertion that maps stem from "collective intelligence" (p. 29), as toporadio is greatly indebted to the extensive research and academic labor of scholars in the field. these scholars have reconstructed the history, and toporadio serves as a vehicle to amplify that work. the toporadio collaborators hope the project will further the rptf's mission and provide a unique experience for the public to learn more about the history of spanish-language radio in the united states. the project seeks to add books, articles, and archives to the map as other researchers and students continue exploring spanish-language radio's social and economic impact. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index toporadio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38691 12 references álvarez, m. e., & fernández, s. a. (2019). borderlands archives cartography. https://www.bacartography.org/ casillas, d. i. (2010). "¡puuurrrooo méxico!": listening to transnationalism on u.s. spanishlanguage radio. in g. m. pérez, f. a. guridy, & a. burgos (eds.), beyond el barrio: everyday life in latina/o america (pp. 44–62). nyu press. casillas, d. i. (2011). sounds of surveillance: u.s. spanish-language radio patrols la migra. american quarterly, 63(3), 807–828. https://doi.org/10.1353/aq.2011.0047 casillas, d. i. (2013). listening to race and migration on contemporary u.s. spanish-language radio. in j. loviglio & m. hilmes (eds.), radio's new wave: global sound in the digital era (pp. 91–105). routledge. casillas, d. i. (2018, march 28). us spanish-language radio. in oxford bibliographies, retrieved march 24, 2023 from https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo9780199913701/obo-9780199913701-0129.xml castañeda, m. (2013). the significance of u.s. spanish-language radio. in p. m. mantilla (ed.), latinos and american popular culture (pp. 69–86). praeger. castañeda, m. (2014). the roles of media policy in shaping the us latino radio industry. in a. dávila & y. m. rivero (eds.), contemporary latina/o media: production, circulation, politics (pp. 186–205). nyu press. crampton, j. w. (2010). mapping: a critical introduction to cartography and gis. wileyblackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444317411 de la torre, m. (2022). feminista frequencies: community building through radio in the yakima valley. university of washington press. dominican studies institute. (2020). a history of dominican music in the united states. http://dominicanmusicusa.com/ echeverría ortiz, m. (2021, july 13). “where we were safe”: mapping resilience in the 1970s salsa scene. the latinx project. https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/intervenxions/where-we-were-safe-mappingresilience-in-the-1970s-salsa-scene goodmann, e., matienzo, m. a., vancour, s., & vanden dries, w. (2019). building the national radio recordings database: a big data approach to documenting audio heritage. 2019 ieee international conference on big data, 3080–3086. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1911.04625 haddow, g. (2018). bibliometric research. in k. williamson & g. johanson (eds.), research methods: information, systems and contexts (2nd ed., pp. 241–266). elsevier ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/c2016-0-03932-3 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.bacartography.org/ https://doi.org/10.1353/aq.2011.0047 https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199913701/obo-9780199913701-0129.xml https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199913701/obo-9780199913701-0129.xml https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444317411 http://dominicanmusicusa.com/ https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/intervenxions/where-we-were-safe-mapping-resilience-in-the-1970s-salsa-scene https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/intervenxions/where-we-were-safe-mapping-resilience-in-the-1970s-salsa-scene https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1911.04625 https://doi.org/10.1016/c2016-0-03932-3 toporadio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.38691 13 halder, s., & michel, b. (2018). editorial—this is not an atlas. in k. orangotango (ed.), this is not an atlas (pp. 12–25). transcript. https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839445198 mckee, g. (2019). the map as a search box: using linked data to create a geographic discovery system. information technology and libraries, 38(1), 40–52. https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v38i1.10592 mesquita, a. (2018). counter-cartographies: politics, art and the insurrection of maps. in k. orangotango (ed.), this is not an atlas (pp. 26–37). transcript. https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839445198 noe-bustamante, l., lopez, m. h., & krogstad, j. m. (2020). u.s. hispanic population surpassed 60 million in 2019, but growth has slowed. pew research center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/07/u-s-hispanic-populationsurpassed-60-million-in-2019-but-growth-has-slowed/ paxman, a. (2018). the rise of u.s. spanish-language radio: from “dead airtime” to consolidated ownership (1920s–1970s). journalism history, 44(3), 174–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/00947679.2018.12059208 rodriguez, a. (1999). making latino news: race, language, class. sage. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452233345 st. john, r. (2011). line in the sand: a history of the western u.s.-mexico border. princeton university press. https://doi.org/10.23943/princeton/9780691141541.001.0001 united states department of agriculture (usda). (2006). cartographic and gis technical note mt-1 rev. 1. https://web.archive.org/web/20211221162807/https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/internet/f se_documents/nrcs144p2_051844.pdf vancour, s. (2016). locating the radio archive: new histories, new challenges. journal of radio & audio media, 23(2), 395–403. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376529.2016.1224434 eric silberberg (eric.silberberg@qc.cuny.edu) is an assistant professor librarian for instructional design and education at queens college, city university of new york, usa. his current research looks at library pedagogy, comparing library services for teacher training programs in mexico and the united states and computational methods for library collection analysis. previously, he studied regional music and the educational profiles of us-born young people of mexican parents in puebla, mexico, while at the benemérita universidad autónoma de puebla. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839445198 https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v38i1.10592 https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839445198 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/07/u-s-hispanic-population-surpassed-60-million-in-2019-but-growth-has-slowed/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/07/u-s-hispanic-population-surpassed-60-million-in-2019-but-growth-has-slowed/ https://doi.org/10.1080/00947679.2018.12059208 https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452233345 https://doi.org/10.23943/princeton/9780691141541.001.0001 https://web.archive.org/web/20211221162807/https:/www.nrcs.usda.gov/internet/fse_documents/nrcs144p2_051844.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20211221162807/https:/www.nrcs.usda.gov/internet/fse_documents/nrcs144p2_051844.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/19376529.2016.1224434 mailto:eric.silberberg@qc.cuny.edu book review: diversity and inclusion in libraries: a call to action and strategies for success the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.33938 ijidi: book review jones, s.d., & murphy, b. (eds.). (2019). diversity and inclusion in libraries: a call to action and strategies for success. rowman & littlefield. isbn 9781538114391. 192 pp. $35 us. reviewer: marcia k. salmon, york university, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: diversity; inclusion; libraries publication type: book review cademic, public, and research libraries in the u.s. serve a diverse community of library users and therefore it is imperative that diversity and inclusion practices are embedded in all aspects of librarianship, including collection development, cataloguing and classification, preservation, teaching, service delivery, and space planning. diversity and inclusion in libraries: a call to action and strategies for success—part of the medical library association’s book series library management-diversity and inclusion—provides strategies to create a more inclusive library for both staff and library users. the purpose of this book is to increase cultural awareness and sensitivity to diversity and inclusion issues in libraries as well as to issue a call to action for libraries to be more intentional and proactive with diversity and inclusion issues. the book editors argue that perpetuating stereotypes does not help the library profession and therefore increasing cultural awareness will better equip library staff to engage with diversity and inclusion in the library. the book’s target audience is professional librarians, library administrators, and paraprofessional library staff in general. although diversity and inclusion in libraries is published by the medical library association the subject matter is not limited to those of specific interests to medical and health librarians as the book includes examples from public and academic libraries in addition to medical libraries. however, the book does emphasize the interplay between race and health. diversity and inclusion in libraries: a call to action and strategies for success is an edited collection of articles divided into three parts: 1. part 1 sets the groundwork by addressing “why diversity and inclusion matter”; 2. part 2 discusses “equipping the library staff” for creating a more diverse and inclusive library; and 3. part 3 provides “voices from the field”, diverse voices from library professionals discussing inclusion issues in libraries. part 1, “why diversity and inclusion matter”, sets the groundwork by providing an overview of diversity and inclusion in librarianship, and why it matters. the five chapters of this section include a historical perspective of african american contributions to librarianship; a literature review of diversity and inclusion in libraries; library policies that promote diversity and inclusion; the topics of implicit bias and microaggression; and a discussion of social justice and activism in a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity and inclusion in libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.33938 libraries. chapter 4: “implicit bias and microaggressions in library and information sciences (lis)” (cooke and sweeney) gives some practical suggestions for mitigating implicit bias and microaggression, including teaching about microaggression; conscious development of empathy and cultural sensitivity, and developing workplace policies or norms that prohibit microaggression. part 1 concludes with hankins’ discussion of subversive librarianship, social justice, and activism in libraries (“subversive librarianship as a strategy for social justice and activism”). this is a particularly interesting chapter which addresses subversive librarianship. hankins states, “rarely do we look at librarians as heroes, but there have been some heroic stories of librarians who have used their skills to subvert and ultimately save libraries" (p.46). the iraq national libraries and connecticut librarians are cited as examples of this heroism. during the 2003 iraq and u.s. war many of the libraries and cultural institutions in iraq were damaged by looting and vandalism. the director of the national library of iraq publicly rebuked the looting to iraq’s cultural institutions including libraries despite being criticized and receiving death threats for his position on the damage to iraq’s cultural institutions. another compelling example of subversive librarianship discussed was the four connecticut librarians who fought and legally challenged the patriot act 2001 as unconstitutional to americans. in addition to these cases, hankins highlights several ways that librarians and archivist have demonstrated social justice principles in cataloguing or descriptive metadata and classification, such as using controlled vocabulary terms that are more inclusive. in particular, a push to change indigenousrelated headings that are respectful is still an ongoing concern. part 2, “equipping the library staff”, offers guidance and practical strategies for recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce which is culturally sensitive and able to serve a diverse clientele. the core theme in part two of this book is about preparing library staff to work with diversity issues that are common in libraries. some of the highlights of this part of the book include how to effectively lead a diverse and inclusive public library; guidance on aligning the libraries strategic direction with the strategic direction of the parent organization as it relates to diversity issues and how to recruit and retain a diverse library staff. this section offers suggestions for developing cultural competency and sensitivity in libraries, including providing training in this area. the final chapter in this section of the book deals with professional development in the area of diversity and inclusion training as a professional growth strategy. part 3, “voices from the field”, illustrates the experiences of library and information professionals in managing diversity and inclusion issues. this section provides a range of diverse “voices from the field” including the perspective of african american male librarians; african american women in leadership positions; hispanic american women in public library administration; people with disabilities; and transgender people. this section also includes practical strategies on recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce in an academic library; how to effectively prepare a diversity plan; creating an education program for training culturally sensitive librarians; and advice on creating a successful task group on diversity. the book concludes with railey’s chapter, “prescription for critical consciousness, courage, and cultural humility in cross cultural communications”, and provides recommendations for achieving cultural humility and critical consciousness in cross-cultural communications. cultural humility, as defined by hook, davis, owen, worthington and utsey (2013), is the “ability to maintain an interpersonal stance that is other-oriented (or open to the other) in relation to aspects of cultural identity that are most important to the client” (p. 354). cultural humility may be applied to librarianship in several ways, including being culturally sensitive and aware when providing services, building a library collection; and describing library materials or interpersonal interactions with colleagues. railey’s specific recommendations for developing cultural humility 119 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity and inclusion in libraries the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(1), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i1.33938 and critical consciousness are particularly useful to readers. these include consistently practicing cultural humility and critical consciousness; critically examining race; contemplating and selfreflecting on our implicit and cultural bias as well as actively working to overcome these biases; as well as contact and empathy. diversity and inclusion in libraries: a call to action and strategies for success fulfills its purpose of advancing cultural awareness and sensitivity to diversity and inclusion issues in libraries by giving a voice to information professionals with diverse perspectives on diversity and inclusion issues. of value is the historical perspective of research on diversity and inclusion in library and information science literature from 1970 to 2017. however, there are several weaknesses. one such weakness of the book is that the examples and “voices from the field” were primarily taken from academic and public libraries. unfortunately, diversity and inclusion issues in special and governmental libraries were not featured in this book. another weakness of the book is that the contributors were mostly visible racial minorities who, while writing from personal experiences, fell short on giving a broader perspective on issues of diversity and inclusion in libraries. diverse ideas and opinions as well as diversity of library user groups have a place within this wider perspective. whereas it appears there was a conscious attempt to reflect the views and experiences of racial groups of colour, a broader perspective would have added more weight to the argument of diversity and inclusion. a more balanced representation of perspectives throughout the entire book, not just the voices from the field section, would strengthen the text. in addition, sensitivity to the representation of voices is warranted. chapter 17, "say my name: transgender acceptance across campus" discusses a program at the university of california sacramento meant to improve the quality of educational experience for transgender students. this chapter was written by library administrators and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of transgendered individuals. this book does a commendable job of providing a perspective of african american librarians working in public and academic libraries, which i can personally relate to as a canadian academic librarian with afro-caribbean ancestry. it is noteworthy that this book provides some good practical strategies that could be implemented in libraries that would like to develop a diversity program. i would highly recommend this book for any library administrator interested in implementing a diversity program or any library staff member wanting to increase their cultural sensitivity to diversity issues. references hook, j. n., davis, d. e., owen, j., worthington, e. l., jr., & utsey, s. o. (2013). cultural humility: measuring openness to culturally diverse clients. journal of counseling psychology, 60(3), 353-366. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0032595 marcia k. salmon (msalmon@yorku.ca) is an associate librarian at york university, toronto. she currently holds the position of digital scholarship metadata librarian and is a member of the health, sciences and engineering disciplinary cluster. 120 book review: cultivating civility: practical ways to improve a dysfunctional library the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34283 ijidi: book review henry, j., eshleman, j., & moniz, r. (2020). cultivating civility: practical ways to improve a dysfunctional library. ala editions. isbn 9780838947166. 216 pp. $59.99. reviewer: maura matesic, york university, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: communication in library administration; conflict management; library employees management; organizational behavior; team librarianship; workplace relationships publication type: book review ibraries are spaces of peace. they are spaces of goodwill. they are spaces of intellectual stimulation. at least that is what most people who have never actually worked in a library tend to think. and while it is undoubtedly true that libraries can be all these things, they, like any other complex organization, are routinely beset by internal and external stresses, poor communication practices, difficult interpersonal relations, and toxic behaviours. in cultivating civility, authors jo henry, joe eshleman, and richard moniz set out to investigate and propose solutions to remedy these and myriad other challenges that not only impact the effectiveness of libraries within their communities of users, but also threaten to transform our workplaces into systemically dysfunctional environments for librarians and library workers. the commitment these authors bring to workplace restoration is longstanding. all three previously collaborated on a survey of more than 4,000 u.s. library workers that resulted in the publication of their first book together, the dysfunctional library: challenges and solutions to workplace relations (2017). the present title builds on and extends the findings uncovered in this first study. indeed, cultivating civility was not only based on this earlier work, but was prompted by a series of practical questions about dysfunctional library workplaces that their first book provoked. readers wanted more than diagnosis. they wanted to know what might be done to remedy these problems and how individuals—from frontline workers to senior administrators—could develop healthier strategies for working together while at the same time affirming their individual perspectives and leveraging their individual strengths. librarians and library workers, keen to develop stronger and more productive workplaces, will find much to consider in the creative advice and evidence -based solutions provided in the pages of this new book. cultivating civility: practical ways to improve a dysfunctional library is a realistic and solution-oriented book that presents practicable ideas for improving workplace communication, streamlining administrative functions, and restoring workplace relationships. the book is divided into four thematic areas organized around concepts relating to the individual worker, teamwork and collaboration, leadership, and the organization as an organic whole. the first five chapters focus on the individual as a workplace agent whose decisions—regardless of their place in the organizational hierarchy— have the potential to impact their colleagues. one goal of these initial chapters is to l https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index cultivating civility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34283 persuade the reader that they, whether a frontline worker or an administrator, can contribute in powerful ways to the effective operation of the library through carefully curated professional and interpersonal relationships. the next three chapters address team formation and operation with a strong focus on teambased communication, project management, and goal assessment. these chapters also foreground the importance of fostering a diverse library workforce and the need for visible functional teams that represent the racial and ethnic diversity of the communities they exist to serve. effective leadership is the theme around which chapters nine to fourteen are organized. here the authors urge library leaders to be self-reflective and self-aware in their managerial practices while stressing the importance of authenticity, positive role modeling, and clear communication styles. these chapters also offer practical advice for aspiring leaders, including methods for developing sound management skillsets, that will promote one’s ability to deal with workplace conflict effectively, manage resistance to change, and encourage collaboration across departments, units, and functional teams within the organization. attention is also given, particularly in chapter twelve, to the ways in which all of these managerial and leadership practices must be tempered and adapted to accommodate the diversity of cultural backgrounds and practices that people bring with them to the workplace. the book’s final four chapters address the problems of dysfunctional organizations as a whole. topics covered in these chapters include hiring practices and priorities, evolving organizational structures (especially relevant today as libraries worldwide struggle to implement sweeping technological and social changes as a result of the covid-19 pandemic), and workplace training. trust, inclusivity, and respect for diversi ty all emerge as central concerns that require careful attention as workers and administrators strive together to construct healthier and more productive workplaces. cultivating civility has much to recommend it. the visual structure of the book is clear, and the language is approachable and direct. as a result, it is easy for the reader to move through the content and exercises without getting lost in jargon. at the same time, it is clear the authors enjoy language as they discuss new ideas and new phrasings—a few of these include fobazi ettarh's concept of “vocational awe” to denote one’s devotion to the profession and the zen-based idea of the “beginner’s mind” to refer to subjective reflection on past experiences to surface hidden (remove the hypen) biases. the book’s typographical layout is also easy to follow. key information is often spotlighted in easy to follow steps utilizing numbered or bulleted lists, and/or highlighting additional suggestions in framed boxes. the authors employ these framed boxes to draw attention to individual and group exercises and to highlight questions and exercises designed for reader and even group reflection at the conclusion of each chapter. innovative suggestions include mindfulness meditation, labyrinth walks, and nature breaks. as one might expect for such a clearly written book, the individual chapters are short and to the point. and each chapter offers good practical solutions to challenging real-world workplace situations. many also include case studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of the strategies proposed. for example, in one chapter about the importance of diversity in hiring practices, the authors not only refer to a variety of academic studies and workplace statistics, but also present a valuable case study of efforts being made at the j. murrey atkins library at university of north carolina at charlotte to bolster diversity in the workplace (pp. 162-163). 88 about:blank cultivating civility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34283 here then, is a book that is as readable as it is practical; nor do the authors shy away from difficult topics. i found their approach particularly forthright in the books’ fourth chapter where they set to examine strategies for dealing with workplace conflict. included in this chapter is the very unpleasant topic of workplace bullying. librarianship is a helping profession, and as a result, tends to attract individuals with personalities hardwired to minimize conflict and disagreement of all kinds. regrettably, as my own research on workplace harassment in academic libraries has demonstrated, this provides an ideal environment in which bullying and other aggressive behaviours can flourish. this is particularly problematic in environments that seek to foster workplace equity and diversity. cultivating civility is unflinching in its assessment of this endemic problem within librarianship. the authors note, for example, that such workplace harassment often goes unaddressed precisely because human resources departments typically act to protect the organization rather than the individual. structural problems like this one can be addressed only if frontline workers, senior administrators, and everyone in between, work together to put an end to these toxic practices. the first step on that road is willingness on the part of authors like these to address publicly difficult subjects like this in a spirit of sincere honesty. the seriousness with which these authors address issues of diversity and inclusivity is perhaps nowhere more evident than in a careful reading of the book’s index. among the many relevant entries one finds: “diversity,” “lack of diversity in libraries,” “divers ity audits,” “diversity, treatment of staff and lack of,” “diversity librarians,” “bias,” “implicit bias,” “bias, training to reduce,” “discovery systems, bias in library,” “organizational training, bias training,” “diversity training,” “search engines, racism reinforced by,” and “teams, diversity”. although i was somewhat surprised not to find entries concerned with gender issues and accessibility, it became clear that these issues had been folded in under entries dealing with inclusivity concerns more broadly. cultivating civility: practical ways to improve a dysfunctional library is a book designed for all those employed in the library environment. its themes of communication, forming cohesive and functioning teams, vision and role modeling by library adm inistration and engaging all employees in the change process, are widespread and applicable to almost all libraries. i have only a few quibbles to offer. the first is that the authors tend to conflate leaders and administrators. although it is very trendy to refer to administrators, managers, and supervisors as leaders in professional literature as well as in internal documents, leaders are not made by their place in the hierarchy. leaders, in the genuine sense of the word, possess interpersonal qualities that manifest themselves in positive outward behaviours. if only all administrators were also genuine leaders, so many of the problems addressed in this book would simply not exist. it may have also been useful for the authors to draw some distinguishing lines between academic, public, and corporate libraries. the communities these libraries serve result in divergent working cultures that require nuanced approaches when addressing organizational dysfunction. for non-american readers, however, the fact that this book was written and published in the u.s. does nothing to diminish its value. the importance of workplace civility is constant regardless of one’s geopolitical context. as we collectively face the world’s challenges together —from climate change to covid-19—the lessons cultivating civility sets out to teach seem all the more pressing. a book like this belongs in almost every library. 89 about:blank cultivating civility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.34283 maura matesic (mmatesic@yorku.ca) is a senior librarian and adjunct professor at york university. maura is currently teaching courses in research methodologies in the law and society program at york and has published her work in a variety of journals including partnership: the canadian journal of library and information practice and research, the charleston adviser, and college & undergraduate libraries. her current research centers on workplace bullying in canadian academic libraries. she is particularly interested in exploring institutional structures that contribute to negative work environments; that enable bullying behaviours; and that prevent employees from seeking timely remedies through personal advocacy, grievance, and union activity. 90 about:blank mailto:mmatesic@yorku.ca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.42079 shifts of labour: the ever-changing contexts of our information worlds vanessa irvin, co-editor, ijidi vanessa reyes, co-editor, ijidi abstract this paper introduces volume 7, issue 3/4 of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi). in this section, the ijidi co-editors-in-chief, vanessa irvin and vanessa reyes, discuss the theme, ‘shifts in labour,’ as the concept is exhibited in the expansion of the journal’s editorial team and via the papers in this issue that cover libraries as inclusive workplaces, focusing on women and labour in both visible and intangible contexts. keywords: labour; librarians; libraries; social inclusion; women publication type: introductory article introductions he international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi) has expanded its editorial team with positive labour shifts since the last issue. we have developed our team to 20 librarians and information professionals worldwide, working collaboratively to heighten the quality of our production processes so that authors’ papers are published with the best presentation possible. labour has shifted with shared work across timelines, contexts, and time zones. the cover art for this issue conveys how we envision the ways in which the articles are threaded through the topics of the library workplace, social inclusion within the flow of information, and women’s connection to labour. we view these connections as multi-faceted: visible yet intangible, fluid in intensity, and organic in motion. in tandem with this issue’s theme of ‘shifts of labour,’ the ijidi editorial team has evolved with new members. case in point, the ijidi has added a second editor-in-chief, dr. vanessa reyes, ph.d., who is a new faculty member with the journal’s sponsor, the east carolina university (ecu) master of library science program (usa). joining dr. vanessa irvin as co-editors, together as irvin and reyes (or, as some colleagues are starting to call us, “the vanessas”), we are enjoying working together alongside senior managing editors laina kelly (alberta, canada) and mona elayyan (ontario, canada) to optimize the journal’s structure and workflow so that the ijidi’s voice in library and information science discourse is stronger than ever. dr. travis wagner of the school of information sciences at the university of illinois urbanachampaign (usa) signs on to the team as the journal’s new book review editor, as this is the last issue for the amazing book review editor team, librarians stephanie robertson (byu-hawaii, usa) and halie kerns (suny-binghamton, usa) as their tenure ends. we are grateful for a full roster of managing editors who hail from various parts of the globe: canada: michelle albrecht, kelly dickinson, jennifer mcdevitt, and emily villanueva t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi shifts of labour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.42079 2 iran: elaheh hassanzadeh united states: elizabeth gross, vernita irvin, dunyau maqsoudi-moreno, zach motts, caterina reed, cara b. stone, and lori wienke our copyeditor, caitlin mccann (who is a graduate student in the ecu library science program), is an excellent editor and collaborator, and our long-term colleague, leah brochu (canada), continues to grace us with her creativity and technical knowledge to render beautiful graphics for our compiled issues. we are profoundly grateful for such a talented, committed editorial team. likewise, our editorial board sustains our foundation for the journal with its ongoing support for reading new papers for peer review and sharing its knowledge to keep the vision of the journal vibrant and relevant during these geopolitically challenging times. the work of the ijidi thrives because the editorial board and team have created a culture where work/labour is collaborative, communal, and shared. we all share in the labour of passionate service to ensure that ijidi’s voice remains ever-present in library and information science (lis) discourse. this labour crosses and intersects with many boundaries: geographically, technologically, socially, and culturally because we perform all our work virtually across multiple time zones, regions, languages, and cultures. our common thread is that we are all librarians and information professionals possessing a joy for research and community building in the lis field. shifts of labour the papers presented in this issue share synchronicity with the concept of the multilayered ways in which labour shifts based on intersecting contexts and information worlds (barton & hamilton, 1998; feng et al., 2023; jaeger & burnett, 2010). this shift is salient in communities of practice: the scholars and practitioners whose papers are featured highlight shifts in community building while bringing forth new knowledge about ongoing shifts in lis practice and community membership. laura schelenz’s research about the digital experiences of afghan refugee women in germany argues that information and communication technologies (ict) solutions for the social inclusion of afghan refugee women must be centered on their experiences. furthermore, digital literacy training is required to help them adapt to german communication practices. however, schelenz also argues that ict-based social inclusion constitutes an unjust strategy of one-sided integration and that structural change in the german migration management infrastructure is needed. melina ghasseminejad, anneke sools, luc herman, and maría-ángeles martínez present a study of urban readers in a european context. the authors argue that previous research on readers has turned to hermeneutic shortcuts like iser's "implied" or fish's "informed" reader but that these shortcuts cannot be seen as studying "actual" readers. the authors propose a participant sampling strategy for empirical reader response research with antwerp as the location for a study of urban readers in a european context. they suggest using a social milieu rather than traditional descriptive markers by recruiting from different neighbourhoods. yanli li, maha kumaran, allan cho, valentina ly, suzanne fernando, and michael david miller share their research on experiences of racial microaggressions among visible minority librarians in canada. the authors found that 69% of respondents experienced at least one stated racial microaggression. they also found that librarians with less than five years of work experience https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index shifts of labour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.42079 3 encountered microaggressions less frequently than those with 11-15 years of experience. the authors argue that professional library associations and libraries can strengthen education about racial microaggressions and offer support to visible minority librarians when they are confronted with microaggressive behaviours. silvia vong, allan cho, and elaina norlin’s study reports on the experiences of academic librarians who identify as racialized. the authors found that these librarians often engage in emotional, interpretive, and identity labour, as well as racialized labour and aspirational labour. they argue that these forms of labour are often oversimplified, unacknowledged, or unquantifiable. the authors conclude that it is essential to unpack the complexity of the work to demonstrate how to support better-racialized librarians who engage with this work. katy miller and kristine j. shrauger’s case study conveys the equitable, diverse, and inclusive efforts of an interactive exhibit created by librarians at the university of central florida, usa. the exhibit was designed to give students a platform to express themselves on topics related to inclusion and diversity. the exhibit was very popular with students and received over 3,000 individual responses. the authors argue that this exhibit can be valuable for promoting dei on campus. wanda s. thomas reports on her experiences as a clinical librarian who served as a chief diversity officer promoting dei in healthcare and medical education. thomas posits that clinical librarians are uniquely positioned to promote dei in healthcare by providing culturally responsive resources to healthcare professionals and patients. the author also discusses the benefits of appointing a clinical librarian as a chief diversity officer. we feature three book reviews by kael moffat, lilly ho, and stephanie robertson. the reviews are three recent works in library and information science scholarship that explore the layers of diversity, equity, inclusion, and cultural humility and competency in the lis workplace. conclusion these texts comprehensively cover the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) in communities where libraries serve citizens and where librarians practice. the authors present the multilayered ways labour shifts based on intersecting contexts. our team encourages readers to benefit from these remarkable works and anticipate the next thematic issue with a forthcoming call for participation. stay tuned as we continue to honor dei and all its nuances and complexities within lis. we are continuously excited about the thoughtful research and field reports that come our way to share with the lis world. references barton, d., & hamilton, m. (1998). local literacies. routledge. feng, w., zhou, l., wang, d., & shi, q. (2023). bridging the research-practice gap in librarianship: exploring the mediating role of library societies. library & information science research, 45(4), 101267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2023.101267 jaeger, p. t., & burnett, g. (2010). information worlds: social context, technology, and information behavior in the age of the internet. routledge. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2023.101267 shifts of labour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.42079 4 vanessa irvin (irvin22@ecu.edu) is the co-editor-in-chief of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi). dr. irvin is an associate professor in the master of library science program at east carolina university, greenville, north carolina, usa. vanessa reyes (reyesv23@ecu.edu is the co-editor-in-chief of the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion (ijidi). dr. reyes is an assistant professor in the master of library science program at east carolina university, greenville, north carolina, usa. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:irvin22@ecu.edu mailto:reyesv23@ecu.edu introductions shifts of labour conclusion references book review: beyond guilt trips: mindful travel in an unequal world the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33349 ijidi: book review taranath, a. (2019). beyond guilt trips: mindful travel in an unequal world. between the lines press. isbn 9781771134323. 208 pp. $22 us. reviewer: kalina grewal, york university, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: colonialism; equity; inclusivity; race; travel publication type: book review n beyond guilt trips: mindful travel in an unequal world, dr. anu taranath explores the promises and problems inherent in travelling to "exotic", "impoverished", or "developing" countries. dr. taranath, an esteemed professor at the university of washington, is deeply involved in its comparative history of ideas (chid) program, a “one-of-a-kind interdisciplinary major.” (university of washington), 2019). she also runs dr. anu consulting: a dialogue for justice and is a sought-after speaker and facilitator on issues of diversity, inclusion, education, and travel. through chid and her consulting work, dr. taranath organizes and/or leads study trips for university students who are seeking first-hand experiences of another culture or country as a part of their post-secondary education. throughout the book, it is evident that dr. taranath is writing from a wealth of personal experience and academic research as well as a genuine interest in transformational cross-cultural conversation. beyond guilt trips is a unique combination of analysis, reflection, and integrated understanding of post-colonial, feminist, intersectional, and educational theories intertwined with eastern spiritual philosophies. this is not a standard academic tome, a light travel memoir, nor a prescriptive travel guide for the well-meaning westerner. most chapters of the book employ a layout that bridges the academic or theoretical with the personal or practical. dr. taranath tends to introduce difficult concepts by paraphrasing or quoting a theorist, a novelist or a specialist of some kind. she reads widely and is inspired by the works of poets, novelists, activists, and academics in a variety of fields. some of the instantly recognisable novelists are toni morrison, maya angelou, and james baldwin. not as well known to me are the writers gloria anzaldúa, kamal al-solaylee, and ta-nehisi coates. her theorists span the academy and include audre lorde, kobena mercer, eli clare, kimberle crenshaw, michelle liu, beverly daniel tatum, peggy mcintosh, and edward said. some of the main concepts discussed in the book, or that subtly inform the analysis, include: intersectionality, the other, the mythical norm, hyper-visibility, and invisibility, western gaze, colonialism, imperialism, and neo-liberalism. after dr. taranath introduces a concept, for example, audre lorde’s “mythical norm,” she relates a first-person account from one of her trips abroad as an educator, a student or a traveller. she closes the chapters with the sections "holding space" and "holding space together." here dr. taranath invites the reader to reflect on the issue or theme by asking questions that encourage empathy for themselves and for others. many of her suggestions for reflection stem from eastern spiritual traditions and she emphasizes mindfulness practice, the development of empathy, and the cultivation of sensory perceptions as a means to gain perspective, equilibrium, and wisdom. as an immigrant woman of colour living in the global north, the book resonates with me. i have i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index beyond guilt trips: mindful travel in an unequal world the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33349 asked, and continue to ask myself, "should i be here?", "what am i doing here?", and "for whose benefit am i here?" when travelling outside canada. the degree of questioning or discomfort changes depending on my travel destination. dr. taranath believes that this is a natural and useful beginning to any journey. using her position as a woman, an immigrant, an academic, an educator, and as a mother, she explores the complicated relationship all of us have with the history of our home country, our current home, and with each other. the complexity of everyone’s identity (including white and western persons) is an outcome of the legacy of imperialism and colonialism. dr. taranath quotes robert gordan, who states that "travel reproduces in large part relations similar to those that imperialism did..." (p. 115). gordan further asserts that travellers who choose global south destinations to “acquire nature, sun, beaches, sex, and adventures” are mirroring imperialists who sought wealth and resources from these very same regions (p. 115). these statements clarified for me why, as a woman of colour who was raised working class, i feel uncomfortable hearing about people’s enthusiasm for vacations in the global south. to me, old inequalities are being kept alive under the new disguise of a quick, cheap getaway. furthermore, the inherent racism in expecting people to live in impoverished conditions so that i can experience a good time for less just rankles. while some people in the global north may be introspective about their reasons for travelling to the global south, dr. taranth explains how difficult it can be for others to understand the complicated power dynamics that are at play when we board a plane. she uses audre lorde's theory of power emanating from the "mythical norm" as a way to explain how people can be more or less attuned to the problematics of “sun and sand” travel. lorde states that, "somewhere, on the edge of consciousness, there is what i call the mythical norm ... in the west, this norm is usually defined as white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, christian, and financially secure. it is with this mythical norm that the trappings of power reside…" (p. 49). the most interesting and powerful element of dr. taranath's book is that she teases apart these intersecting elements of race, size, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, and class. yes, there are some people who have all the markers of power, but in real life, most people are like the volume button of a stereo: they are moved (or are moving themselves) up and down the powerless-to-powerful dial depending on their context. she argues that depending on the country a person visits, the combination of these personal identifications will influence how she/he/they will experience the culture and how the people in that culture will experience her/him/them. i valued dr. taranath's argument that there is no inevitability that power, pleasure, or status always goes to a white man or a white woman. one of the joys of travel is the promise it holds to upend the societal or cultural norms we experience in our backyard. dr. taranath observes that hyper-visibility and under-visibility, which can be oppressive at home, can be affirming and uplifting abroad. hyper-visibility, as any immigrant child at school knows, means that differences are perceived as markers of inequality or inferiority. travel, however, can help us learn a new narrative. as an example of positive super-visibility dr. taranath was “fawned over” (as she states it) in brazil for her perfect brown skin whereas her white but fluently spanish-speaking friend was ignored. or in the case of racialized queer people in the united states, the invisibility of their intersecting identities can often make for a lonely existence; but, travelling abroad, the lack of notice can be peaceful. for example, one of dr. taranath’s student, a gay chicano man, felt more comfortable in the homosocial culture of southern india than the racist culture of u.s. in the u.s., this invisibility was a product of others refusing to see him, yet in india it was felt as a peaceful merge into the street scape as another brown man. 141 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index beyond guilt trips: mindful travel in an unequal world the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33349 the book is an interesting read. one quibble i had with it is the lack of a bibliography (though there is an index). it is very difficult to determine which article, book, novel, or poem dr. taranath is quoting or using. the other quibble is the sometimes repetitive nature of the passages—it seemed that a more rigorous edit would have pulled the themes and concepts in tighter. these are only small issues. overall, i believe that dr. taranath persuades us that conscientious global travel is possible if we keep our eyes, ears, and hearts open. and ask a lot of questions of ourselves before, during, and after the journey. the wealth of insight contained in beyond guilt trips makes it an important book for educators and students in the fields of health, education, social work, sociology, and anthropology. a growing trend in universities is the development of programs or courses to turn students into “global citizens”. these programs, however well-meaning, have the potential to reinforce the imperial/colonial dynamic whereby students from the global north gain even more advantages (another culture, another course, another experience) by visiting the global south. hopefully, a critical mass of educators will read beyond guilt trips and understand the promises and problems of this kind of educational opportunity and develop truly useful internships, placements, and trips abroad for their students. references university of washington (2019). comparative history of ideas. https://chid.washington.edu/undergraduate-programs. kalina grewal (kgrewal@yorku.ca) works at york university libraries and is the anthropology, sociology and gender studies librarian. 142 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://chid.washington.edu/undergraduate-programs mailto:kgrewal@yorku.ca book review: knowledge justice: disrupting library and information studies through critical race theory the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37201 ijidi: book review leung, s. y., & lópez-mcknight, j. r. (eds.). (2021). knowledge justice: disrupting library and information studies through critical race theory. mit press. isbn electronic: 9780262363204; isbn: 978-0262043502. 358 pp. $35.00 us reviewer: shawn(ta) smith-cruz, new york university, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: critical librarianship; critical race theory; queer critique publication type: book review nowledge justice is dedicated to irlanda estelí jacinto, who is named as a colleague who began the journey of the construction of this book, but chose to leave librarianship, “and for all the other irlandas in lis” (p. v). entering this text with a nod to this departure puts at issue the impact of racism on our profession, and livelihoods, as well as highlight the urgent need for this active and liberatory scholarship. why do librarians of color leave the profession? how does white supremacy reign in lis? and what is critical race theory (crt)? defining, articulating, and practicing knowledge justice is the act of disruption that this book introduces. crt is the framework and lens for which this text is built with a purpose to “produce a volume that reenvisions what lis could be with critical race theory as a central philosophy… [and] is the first to focus solely on applying crt to lis” (p. 7). to learn more about crt, the “introduction” illustrates core concepts, tenets, historical formations, and instances in lis of crt. the “introduction” must be read by every lis student, library manager, and all who work as information professionals. as an educator to first-year lis students, for example, in my class, this will be required reading in that we may all be steered in a common understanding of crt application. editors sofia y. leung and jorge r. lópez-mcknight provided space for the contributors--all black, indigenous, and people of color (bipoc)--to use crt to challenge the foundational principles, values, and assumptions of library and information science in the u.s. the positionality and identities of the contributors further substantiates the writing. during several book launches attended by hundreds, the editors described the curation process: authors were invited to periodic, virtual meet-ups (this is before the pandemic transition to universal zoom) where questions related to individual research were subject to analysis and care. authors were also invited to peer review other chapters, creating an interlocking web of structure, community, and support, evident in the contributor editing of introductory chapters. readers will find the collaborative structure of its curation apparent in the referential and reflective portions of the collection. there is a synchronicity to the writings, the tone, the urgency, and i would argue, as a result of this level of caretaking, this book’s impact on the profession. readers will also find that the contributors of this text have formed a community of lis scholars and practitioners committed to racial justice. this book review encourages u.s.-based readers as well as those from an international audience to engage with this community of thinkers as change agents, innovators, and mostly library and information science professionals who dare to shed light on structures k https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index knowledge justice the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37201 that perpetuate white supremacy, holding the profession accountable to right structural wrongs. additionally, this book review experimentally takes on crt tenets, with an aim to exemplify the text’s teachings, applying what would be for me, an ordinary reading and intersectional perspective, for which my interests converge, through a queer review of its chapters. from the introduction alone, i agree that knowledge justice is “destined to become the foundational seminal primer for those seeking illumination and inspiration regarding the application of crt” (p. 131-132). yet, this review focuses on queer contexts within, beginning with my positionality, replicating the form of authors, jennifer brown, nicholae cline (coharie), and marisa méndez-brady in their chapter “leaning on labor: whiteness and hierarchies of power in lis work”, who state, “we write this from myriad perspectives --blackness, queerness, latinidad, femme, indigeneity, non-binary…”(p. 104). vani natarajan’s chapter is also a guide to situate oneself, as they did: “i am a south asian american with us citizenship… i am both a nonblack person of color and a settler of color” (p.142). both chapters recognize our absences and subjective connections at “the level of society” (p. 133). and now mine: i am a black-garifunabelizean-second generation-jamaican-first generation american born with u.s. citizenship privilege. i am a black settler, a lesbian mother to a black girl, with a legally disabled puertorican wife, in a predominantly white neighborhood in lenape and wappinger territories in northeastern u.s. thank you jennifer brown, nicholae cline (coharie), and marisa méndez-brady for your formulas. anastasia chiu, fobazi m. ettarh, jennifer a. ferretti’s chapter, “not the shark, but the water: how neutrality and vocational awe intertwine to uphold white supremacy” highlights crt tenets including “racism as ordinary, critique of liberalism, and whiteness as property” to further explore two often quoted and what have become foundational concepts in library science “neutrality” and “vocational awe” (pp. 29, 49-71). authors quote lesbian poet and activist, tatiana de la tierra’s 2008 essay, “latina lesbian subject headings: the power of naming” in their acknowledgement that attests library of congress subject headings uphold white supremacy (p. 65). these authors demand a paradigm shift, which acknowledges racism as the water that surrounds us, in four sections: collection development, facilities access, public services, and in metadata and discovery. they conclude that “no part of the library work cycle benefits from intertwining neutrality and vocational awe. although well intentioned, these values work together to normalize and uphold racism and white supremacy in libraries, even when they are espoused with the intent of working toward equity” (p. 66). myrna e. morales and stacie williams in, “moving toward transformative librarianship: naming and identifying epistemic supremacy” introduce readers to “transformative librarianship” an understanding of “how information fosters our self-awareness while at the same time holding an awareness of the community to which we belong” (p. 89). authors identify connections of epistemic supremacy in relation to crt including “...the disproportionate killings of black and indigenous people, especially women; and the assault on gender-oppressed bodies” (p. 76). authors cite epistemic supremacy targeted by the federal bureau of investigation’s counterintelligence program’s (cointelpro) thirty years of surveillance, “including clergy who were civil rights organizers as well as members of the lgbtqia community” (p. 80). authors also reference audre lorde as a critical race theorist who coined vulnerability theory, “which identifies all people as ‘embodied creatures’ who are susceptible to harm and notes that people with marginal identities are especially vulnerable to institutional harms” (p. 81). queer content is heavily present in this chapter of transformative librarianship which concludes with examples for how glam institutions and professionals may recall black lesbian feminists’ practices, such 159 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index knowledge justice the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37201 as that with the combahee river collective, to consider transformative librarianship as praxis to “create conditions for radical change” (p. 87). adrienne maree brown’s emergent strategy, is referenced in jennifer brown, nicholae cline (coharie), and marisa méndez-brady’s chapter, “leaning on our labor: whiteness and hierarchies of power in lis work”. authors embody the practice of emergent strategy, and the radical, aweinspiring work of visionary writers such as octavia butler (p. 106). this is foregrounded as authors identify heteronormativity (p. 100) and “misogynoir (a particular type of misogyny directed at black women and black femmes)” (p. 105), as two examples of interest convergence, a crt tenet, as playing a role in the refusal of our libraries to name whiteness in diversity programs, initiatives, and documents. in their concluding section, the authors cite queer speculative fiction writers as crt theorists to provide readers with tools to “explore what systemic change might look like” using a ten-part outline of radical practices. miranda h. belarde-lewis and sarah r. kostelecky’s chapter, “tribal critical race theory in zuni pueblo: information access in a cautious community” do not have explicitly queer themes, yet this chapter’s community and ancestral focus foregrounds desire as a central component of the tribalcrit theoretical framework. to counteract tribalcrit’s tenet 2, that “us policies toward indigenous peoples are rooted in imperialism, white supremacy, and a desire for material gain,” tenet 4 denotes, “indigenous peoples have a desire to obtain and forge tribal sovereignty, tribal autonomy, self-determination, and self-identification” (p. 114). desire is connected to an imperative need for native communities to “know” and that knowing is grounded in the ancestors, the communities, and the plants (p. 116). nicholae cline and april m. hathcock are editors for “part ii: illuminate erasure”, which centers queer subjectivities. this section begins with anthony w. dunbar’s essay, “the courage of character and commitment versus the cowardliness of comfortable contentment”, which attests that the move to bring crt outside of marginal conversations and into the mouths of every librarian is “certainly a highly spiritual journey” (p. 131). “a queer south asian librarian in academia: counterstory, theory, strategies” by vani natarajan reads as a self-reflective manifesto. natarajan ponders, “i wonder how i measure ‘success’ at centering qtpoc voices and lives in my work” (p. 146). the author provides a narrative of counterstory through their own experience in academia, as a student aiming to learn more about their south asian roots and as a sole librarian of color at their prestigious campus library. to answer this question of attributing success, natarajan points readers to engagement practices centered on building connections and cross-collaborations outside of the library. the nuance in natarajan piece is in the method of counterstory, which interjects the practice of situating oneself within the structure of race and privilege, or power and value. in response to a university general statement on collections, natarajan writes, “the statement lists many verbs (serve, managed, built, arranged) without subjects. who is building and maintaining the collection?”, acknowledging that staff of color “get no recognition in the above statement for their work” (p. 147). natarajan interprets their counterstory with three crt frameworks: community cultural wealth, intersectionality, and queer of color critique, and applies these to the limitations and imagined possibilities of library and archival structures. “ann allen shockley: an activist-librarian for black special collections” by shaundra walker uses the counternarrative tool to identify the building of black special collections in hbcus, namely through the work of ann allen shockley, coined as an activist-librarian. walker’s biographical 160 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index knowledge justice the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37201 narrative of shockley pays homage to shockley’s genealogy, connects her studies in journalism to her work as a creative writer, and finally introduces readers to shockley’s published novels, including loving her, the first ever published black lesbian novel. walker acknowledges shockley’s work as an author of “literary works centering the lives of black lesbians” and that this is an overlooked demographic (p.166). this chapter raises queer questions: how could shockley have been so brave, and so knowing? walker concludes that, “while [shockley] was not viewed as an activist-librarian during her library career, viewing shockley’s accomplishments through the lens of crt allows one to reveal, expand, and acknowledge her activism in new ways” (p. 172). i would recommend readers follow walker’s directive and include shockley’s contributions to the black lesbian literary political landscape as a significant component of the reimagining of her radicalisms. as a book editor myself, i often recognize a publication’s index. though indexing is a separate field of study and practice, lori salmon curated the index, a librarian in her own right, who added labor and value to this text. as librarians with interest in taxonomies and knowledge organization as a whole, i’d also like to acknowledge some of the choices made. the knowledge justice editors continually introduce the indexer as an equal contributor to the text, adding salmon’s name in the table of contents for the electronic version. i view this attribution as an intentional and critical response to our labor as librarians and scholars. the index has a singlesubheading structure with cross-references that compile and organize a variation of unique terms, contributors, organizations, and phrases such as: non-binary: lived labor experiences, 104; racial justice: gender-inclusive bathrooms, 151” (index). in seeking queer concepts from this text, there are only two main headings, each of which reference vani natarajan’s chapter, though from this review, it is evident that multiple queer contexts exist throughout the collection. despite this criticism, salmon does provide multiple locators for each instance. for those seeking queer content, the index will only provide a starting point. do not stop there; continue to explore the language of the chapters and draw new conclusions, using this review as a guide. as outlined in the “conclusion:afterwor(l)ding toward imaginative dimensions”, this text is a call for transformation of the lis profession with an “abundance agenda” that “position(s) crt more centrally in lis” by centering bipoc voices (p. 319). together, “we can push for bipoc knowledge without invalidating or rejecting other knowledge(s)” (p. 320). this book is recommended for qbipoc and bipoc lis professionals who have waited to find themselves inside a scholarly text. it is also recommended for a global audience of scholars and readers, especially given the arcadia fund’s contribution to a drm-free, downloadable open access copy. finally, it is recommended for lis programs beginner and advanced courses and lis professionals seeking scholarship to formulate conversations on racial justice using crt. the works in this text i anticipate will be oft cited in our recurring scholarship, as the expectation is we will all join this movement on racial justice. knowledge justice: disrupting library and information studies through critical race theory is our ticket. shawn(ta) smith-cruz (shawntasmithcruz@gmail.com) is an assistant curator and associate dean for teaching, learning, and engagement at new york university division of libraries. she is also a visiting assistant professor at the pratt school of information. shawn is co-editor of grabbing tea: queer conversations in librarianship, litwin books and a co-coordinating volunteer archivist at the lesbian herstory archives. 161 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:shawntasmithcruz@gmail.com https://litwinbooks.com/cfp-grabbing-tea-queer-conversations-in-librarianship/ http://lesbianherstoryarchives.org/ social justice design and implementation in library and information science the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38798 ijidi: book review mehra, b. (ed.). (2021). social justice design and implementation in library and information science. routledge. isbn-13: 978-0367653835 (paperback). 312 pp. $44.95 us. reviewer: halie kerns, suny canton, usa book review editor: stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: diversity; inclusion; librarians; library and information science; social justice publication type: book review ibraries are in a constant state of flux, reinventing themselves to align with the needs of their community. as part of this metamorphosis, they continue to assess and change their missions and goals. social justice design and implementation in library and information science, edited by bharat mehra and published in 2021 aims to give concrete examples of different libraries’ approaches their evolution of services, resources, and more than anything, their purposes. the volume comprises eighteen different chapters, each one written by librarians presenting social justice motivated approaches to the field of library and information science. as a librarian living in and serving a rural, primarily low-income community, the book’s passion for taking action resonated with me deeply. additionally, as a new librarian, it is proven examples like these that help shape my practice. ultimately, this book is a call to action and guide for librarians to improve the lives of people in their community through the conduit of library services. paul t. jaeger’s forward starts the book off by deeply tying the tradition of social justice to information institutions. using missions of longstanding library organizations as the metric, jaeger concludes, “the modern history of the field of library and information science is a history of continually innovating to promote equity and inclusion for the individuals and communities served by its institutions,” even if it not always as clearly codified (p. xvi). he continues to outline historical examples of social justice to cement this legacy, noting that the list does not mean every library has automatically been on the right side of history. again, jaeger makes it clear that this kind of action does not happen by accident. it must be purposeful work. the editor and contributor, bharat mehra, continues to expand on this assertion by introducing why a library necessitates strong social justice advocacy, especially in the twenty-first century and during the pandemic era. at this point, the ability to highlight and share accurate information in a sea of mis/disinformation is a vital act of resistance that cannot be done passively. this resistance needs to involve action and not just weak lip service. mehra is clear on that by stating, “lacking in today’s lis world is an understanding of the ‘how to’s’ in operationalizing and implementing social justice beyond a ‘feel good’ and ‘loosy-goosy’ approach” (p. 13). the book presents an antidote to such half-hearted movement, which is powerful because it shows specific l https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index social justice design and implementation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38798 85 actions that library workers and libraries have taken to work toward their social justice goals and weave social justice theory into their everyday practices. there is no one way to summarize the chapters in the book; they share projects, data, and theories that cover a vast array of topics. each chapter is a peek into a different approach or project created and carried through by library workers. reading front to back is a rich and colorful adventure, but as an encyclopedia of ideas to flip through for inspiration, the book stands strong too. to give an idea of the topics covered, the chapters are organized into five different thematic sections (listed below). each one brings something fresh to the table regarding the role of libraries in people’s lives while giving the reader examples of tangible changes that can be made in the way they think about and carry out their work. part i, “emerging responsibilities,” starts off with chapters that detail the effect of the pandemic on libraries (“libraries fighting for social justice during the covid-19 pandemic”) and the unique role of rural libraries as social justice epicenters in their communities (“role of rural libraries in supporting social well-being in their communities”). while the latter sounds specific to libraries in rural areas, it actually contains insights that rural librarians have gained through their “local nested connections” which librarians in any setting can apply to grow a sense of belonging and inclusion in their communities. as times change, so do people’s ideas about the role the library should play in everyday life, and this volume contains many examples of library workers who are ready to embrace these changes. part ii, “reflective case practices,” is chock-full of tangible examples of positive additions to library ecosystems. two chapters (“wilkes county public library’s involvement in the food justice movements in rural north carolina” and “a public library’s response to substance abuse recovery”) outline examples of programs that targeted underserved patrons and coordinated to meet their needs in the library. the two other chapters take a more theoretical approach, one centering on practitioner inquiry as a mode of social justice to create empathetic and supported librarians (“understanding the librarian identity”) and one centering on digital storytelling as a tool for community empowerment when integrated with critical thought (“digital archives and inclusion of underrepresented groups”). these four chapters outline the steps and stumbles, helpful outlines, and inspirations for all. part iii, “reaching out: new research approaches and strategies,” focuses on specific communities’ use of the library and their unique needs. two chapters (“positioning social justice in a black feminist information activist community context” and “conceptualizing co-mapping knowledges to promote social justice outcomes with aboriginal communities through design pedagogy”) consider librarianship within different pedagogical and theoretical frameworks to better connect with the community by thinking critically about whose knowledge may be left out of library design. similarly, the other two chapters look at two different specific populations: migrant latinas (“everyday information practices of migrant latinas living in boston”) and older adults (“multidisciplinary perspectives for an integrative critical gerontology information framework”). each chapter asks how a social justice driven agenda can grow the services these populations need in the library. together, the chapters in this section demonstrate a transformation from simply providing general services to targeting specific needs. part iv, “transforming lis education,” aims to create change from the start through the educational experience of emerging librarians. each chapter takes on a different social justice perspective that future librarians should be familiar with to form an inclusive professional https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index social justice design and implementation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38798 86 practice. the section opens with a discussion on how lis programs fail to produce culturally competent librarians, which becomes an issue that is then echoed throughout the field (“the mis-education of the librarian”). from there, readers are provided with a discussion on creating resources with accessibility in mind, which is particularly useful since librarians can be leaders who guide instructors (“creating accessible learning environments and informing social justice through inclusive course design”), as well as a chapter outlining lis classes that give students hands-on tools for addressing community homelessness (“the social responsibility of libraries to address community homelessness”). “indigenous-engaged education” discusses the recruitment and engagement of indigenous scholars as part of mlis programs to grow the numbers of indigenous librarians and lis academics in canada and abroad. this chapter bookends the first chapter about shortcomings in lis education by presenting a case study on actively preparing lis students to promote social justice in their communities (“designing for social justice in the mlis curriculum”). overall, this section is a powerful answer to many feckless declarations about what changes can be made in lis to grow diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workforce. finally, part v, “instruments of action and change,” ends the book on a strong note of resilience and inspiration. “an autoethnographic narrative of institutional injustice” plots the journey of one librarian to combat the conservative tide of homophobia and transphobia that swept her campus by creating an lgbtq+ history project to document people’s experiences, starting with her own. the next piece (“inspiring information communities to advance the un sustainable development goals”) lays out the process of using information action briefs related to the united nation’s own development goals to inspire change concerning social inequalities in libraries. this section ends with an international librarian perspective on social justice initiatives for lgbtq+ people in libraries worldwide (“implementation of social justice design in developing international guidelines for lgbtq+ library resources, services, and programming”). all chapters manage to further these discussions on a broader level than just the individual institutions, reminding us that libraries are part of many different overlapping communities. if anything, the main shortcoming of this book is its immensity. it is impossible to synthesize all the information and examples in just one book review. as the editor, mehra presents so many rich texts and each could easily be expanded into a short book on its own. social justice focused library texts have been popular for many years. however, this book stands out due to its use of concrete examples of success and failure to back up its social justice theory. all library students and/or professionals can benefit from the knowledge in this book at any stage of their careers. as mehra states in the introduction, it is not enough to simply talk or theorize about social justice as a library pillar; it is the actions taken by library workers to serve their communities that make the tangible difference. this book outlines both the theory and the practice of materially creating the social justice driven libraries the world deserves. halie kerns (kernsh@canton.edu) is access services librarian at suny canton where she focuses on creating accessible and inclusive library services for her community. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:kernsh@canton.edu reiterating visibility: canadian librarians’ experiences of racial microaggressions via findings from a minority librarians network redux survey the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 reiterating visibility: canadian librarians’ experiences of racial microaggressions via findings from a minority librarians network redux survey yanli li, wilfrid laurier university, canada maha kumaran, university of saskatchewan, canada allan cho, university of british columbia, canada valentina ly, university of ottawa, canada suzanne fernando, toronto public library, canada michael david miller, mcgill university, canada abstract based on the data from the visible minority librarians of canada 2021 redux survey, this study examines experiences of racial microaggressions among visible minority librarians in canada. this research fills the gap in the library and information science (lis) literature regarding racial microaggressions in librarianship in the canadian context. of the 148 respondents, 69% (n=102) experienced at least one stated racial microaggression. the result of a kruskal-wallis h test revealed a significant association between years of experience as a librarian and a librarian’s overall experiences with microaggressions. a post hoc test based on bonferroni correction was run, which indicated that librarians with less than five years of work experience encountered microaggressions less frequently compared to those with 11–15 years of experience. for the ten stated types of racial microaggressions, the most frequently reported type was “i was told that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion,” and the least frequently reported type was “a colleague claimed that he/she felt threatened because of my race.” fisher's exact tests were further performed to examine how the respondents differed in their experiences of each microaggression. the test results revealed that the librarians with different personal attributes (ethnicity, disability status, gender identity, language used) and employment attributes (librarian experience, management position, library type) had significantly different encounters with eight forms of microaggression. professional library associations and libraries must strengthen education about racial microaggressions and offer support to visible minority librarians when they are confronted with microaggressive behaviours. keywords: librarian; professional networks; racial microaggressions; visible minority librarians of canada (vimloc) publication type: research article https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 2 introduction t is well established that the library is a work environment dominated by white librarians and that visible minority librarians (vml) are less represented in the workplace (lee & kumaran, 2014). according to the canadian 2016 census, there was 11.0% vml compared to 22.2% representation in the general population and growing to 26.5% in the 2021 census (statistics canada, 2017, 2018, 2022). understandably, with such small numbers, there was a lack of community for vml at the time, so the visible minority librarians of canada (vimloc) network was formed through the canadian library association at the end of 2011. soon after forming, vimloc disseminated a survey to better understand who the vml were, where they were working, and to inform vimloc’s future work. in 2015, kumaran and cai published their survey results, which provided more detailed information about a sample of vml that canadian census statistics could not offer. intending to repeat the survey to follow the evolution of the professional demographics, in 2021, vimloc put out a redux of the original 2013 survey, this time in french and english. based on the responses from 162 vml, the demographic portion of the results was published in 2022. with the redux survey, additional questions were added to gain further insight into the issues canadian vml faces in the workplace, particularly microaggressions. while anecdotal examples in library and information science (lis) literature convey the understanding that racial microaggressions exist in the library workplace (alabi, 2015a; 2015b; prieto-gutierrez & colmenero-ruiz, 2023; wheeler, 2016), the types of microaggressions and their frequency have not often been described, especially in the canadian context. this quantitative analysis better quantifies racial microaggression experiences and the corresponding associations with the respondents’ demographics. this research seeks to answer the following questions: 1) overall, how do vml experience microaggressions? what factors are associated with these experiences? 2) specifically, how do vml experience ten different forms of microaggression? what factors are associated with these experiences? literature review many types of discrimination are discussed in recent library and information science literature, and microaggressions are one of them (alabi, 2015a; arroyo-ramirez et al., 2018; ishaq & hussain, 2022). microaggressions are often intricately connected to racism, subtle, difficult to quantify, and affect employee morale and library culture (kendrick & damasco, 2019; sue, capodilupo, et al., 2007b). while the literature review’s primary focus is on microaggressions and their presence in libraries, the topic also peripherally touches on the tenets of critical race theory and whiteness studies. one of the tenets of critical race theory is that racism is endemic; thus, it is essential to hear the counterstories of canadian vml, as done in this study, to present their perspectives and experiences (solórzano & yosso, 2002). the examination of academic libraries using critical race theory by nataraj et al. (2020) argued that black, indigenous, and people of colour (bipoc) library workers were often silenced by bureaucratic structures that adopted socially progressive values to falsely give the appearance that library workers were invested in a shared purpose. in particular, the study found that bipoc library workers’ recommendations, feedback, and i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 3 concerns were met with feigned interest, only for senior (predominantly white) management to enact something entirely different, thereby maintaining the institution’s hegemonic power structures (nataraj et al., 2020). critical white studies (cws) highlights the visible and invisible presence of whiteness as a social norm and the invisible and unspoken privileges associated with whiteness. a quantitative study on microaggressions concretizes the “hazy academic ideal that race is socially constructed” (nayak, 2007, p. 752). whiteness studies help reveal that subtle and nuanced microaggressions exist and perpetuate white supremacy and privilege. counterstories from vml would be relevant testimonies that center on the presence of microaggressions not only in librarianship but also academia, in which academic libraries are embedded. definition of microaggressions microaggressions are “brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to people of colour because they belong to a racial minority group” (sue, capodilupo, et al., 2007b, p. 273). the term “microaggressions” was first coined by chester m. pierce, an african american psychiatrist, who defined microaggressions as “subtle, stunning, and often automatic, and nonverbal exchanges which are ‘put downs’” (pierce et al., 1977, p. 66). more recently, jana and baran (2020) have proposed “subtle acts of exclusion” (sae) as another term to illustrate microaggressions. jana and baran (2020) argue that sae destigmatized microaggressions and helped to understand how microaggressions caused severe harm to people regarding job satisfaction and mental and physical health. measures of racial microaggressions research conducted on measuring racial microaggressions through scales and categories has helped to better understand and contextualize microaggressions. sue, capodilupo, et al. (2007b) created a taxonomy of racial microaggressions in everyday life. they claimed that microaggressions appeared in three forms: microassault, microinsult, and microinvalidation. microassaults are explicit racial derogations delivered verbally or nonverbally meant to hurt people of colour through name-calling, avoidant behavior, or purposeful discriminatory actions. microinsults convey rudeness and insensitivity and demean a person’s racial heritage or identity. microinvalidations “exclude, negate, or nullify the psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of a person of color” (sue, capodilupo, et al., 2007b, p. 274). sue, capodilupo, et al. (2007b) also identified nine themes of microaggressions: alien in one’s own land, ascription of intelligence, color blindness, criminality/assumption of criminal status, denial of individual racism, myth of meritocracy, pathologizing cultural values/communication styles, second-class status, and environmental invalidation. exploring how black college students’ experiences correspond to or differ from the microaggression types originally proposed by sue, capodilupo, et al. (2007b), williams et al. (2020) identified 15 categories of racial microaggressions, broadly consistent with the original taxonomy. however, they expanded sue, capodilupo, et al.’s work in several notable ways. for instance, williams et al. (2020) split sue, capodilupo, et al.’s “alien in one’s own land” into two categories, “not a true citizen” and “racial categorization & sameness”. their category called “pathologizing minority culture or appearance” extended sue, capodilupo, et al.’s category called “pathologizing cultural values/communication styles,” by adding judgements about appearance. williams et al. also added new categories such as “connecting via stereotypes” and “exoticization and eroticization”. also, based on the original taxonomy of racial microaggressions presented by sue, capodilupo et al. (2007b), nadal (2011) introduced the racial and ethnic https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 4 microaggression scale (rems), which evaluates the types of racial microaggressions that individuals experience in their everyday lives. six major components were identified: assumptions of inferiority, second-class citizen and assumptions of criminality, microinvalidations, exoticization/assumptions of similarity, environmental microaggressions, and workplace and school microaggressions (nadal, 2011). torres-harding et al. (2012) developed the racial microaggressions scale (rmas) as a multidimensional tool to assess perceptions of racial microaggressions by racialized individuals. microaggressions associated with gender, ethnicity, position of power, and disability gender-based studies have found plenty of evidence regarding sex discrimination in the general labour market (berger, 2021; carr, 1983; jain, 1982). sex orientation and gender identity microaggressions also exist in the workplace (rivera et al., 2012; warner et al., 2023; yang & carroll, 2018). trans-related employment discrimination cases have increased (christensen, 2008; mallory & sears, 2015). the intersectionality of gender and race is an often-cited aspect of microaggressive acts in the workplace (salter et al., 2021). coined by the legal scholar kimberlé crenshaw, “intersectionality” describes how race, class, gender, and other individual characteristics intersect and overlap (crenshaw, 2017). for instance, many studies address the experiences of microaggression among asian women (le et al., 2020), black women (donovan et al., 2013; moody & lewis, 2019), and black men (pitcan et al., 2018). in their study of the experiences of microaggressions toward asian americans, sue, bucceri, et al. (2007a) identified eight major microaggressive themes directed toward asians in the united states. the findings from torresharding et al. (2012) revealed that males and african americans were more frequently stereotyped as being aggressive or criminal, latinos and asian americans reported more occurrences of being viewed as “foreigners,” and women reported being sexualized more often than men. microaggressions could be explored as expressions of power and privilege. sweeney and cooke’s (2018) findings revealed multiple and conflicting understandings of microaggressions, along with significant gaps in knowledge regarding how microaggressions related to larger systems of power and privilege in libraries. however, microaggressions were more often discussed as individual instances of personal offense (sweeney & cooke, 2018). while substantial studies have been conducted on the effects of microaggressions in the public sphere, there is not as much research examining microaggressions in the workplace, particularly within the organizational hierarchy. young et al. (2015) explored the “hierarchical microaggressions” that affected individuals of different employee groups at universities. they discerned four hierarchical microaggressions: valuing/devaluing based on role/credential, changing accepted behavior based on role, actions (ignoring/excluding/surprise/interrupting) related to role, and terminology related to the work position. their research findings indicated that the roles people held at universities were associated with their experiences with microaggressions in their day-to-day workplace interactions (young et al., 2015). similarly, there are few studies of disability microaggression. keller and galgay’s (2010) article is one of the few studies that explores different types of microaggressions. they found ten specific themes: denial of personal identity, denial of disability experience, denial of privacy, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 5 helplessness, secondary gain, spread effect, infantilization, patronization, second-class citizen, and desexualization (keller & galgay, 2010). furthermore, snyder et al. (2010) and villanuevaflores et al. (2014; 2017) found that employees with disabilities reported higher rates of discrimination and harassment due to their disability status. regarding disability status, oud’s (2018) survey of canadian academic librarians revealed that librarians with disabilities felt that their workplace was less accepting of diversity than nondisabled respondents. sixty-one percent of the respondents sometimes, often, or always experienced at least one microaggression (oud, 2018). the existence of microaggressions such as “someone avoids me because of my disability” and “someone minimizes my disability” (oud, 2018, p.14) was similar to alabi’s (2015a) findings of microaggressions, although oud’s study did not focus on racial minorities. in addition, research on microaggressions by gender in libraries is limited. despite the predominance of women in the library world, women in top administrative positions continue to encounter obstacles and barriers to equality (bladek, 2019). racial microaggressions in academic libraries while there is an emerging body of library-related research about racial microaggressions in libraries, such research has focused almost exclusively on academic libraries in the united states (alabi, 2015a; 2015b; prieto-gutierrez & ruiz, 2023; wheeler, 2016). there have been few studies done in the canadian context. the united states one of the first studies done on microaggressions in academic libraries, conducted by alabi (2015a), examined how academic librarians of colour experienced racial microaggressions from their library colleagues and how white academic librarians observed microaggressive exchanges directed at their minority colleagues. alabi (2015b) concurrently studied the experiences of members of the association of college and research libraries (acrl) and identified seven themes of microaggressions, including microassaults, microinsults, microinvalidations, environmental microaggressions, uncertainty or racism not observed, being excluded or isolated, and implications for recruitment and retention. the racialized identities of academic librarians experiencing microaggressions in swanson et al. (2018) revealed the complex, nuanced, and varied lived experiences of academic librarians of colour and explored what it meant to be a person of colour working in a predominantly white profession and in predominantly white institutions. prieto-gutiérrez and colmenero-ruiz’s (2023) study analyzed the incidence of various types of microaggressions in academic libraries from the viewpoint of academics and researchers. their study revealed that academic libraries were less aggressive spaces and, therefore, safer from microaggressions, partly due to the vocational nature of library work in higher education (prieto-gutiérrez & colmenero-ruiz, 2023). aside from the physical space, prieto-gutiérrez and colmenero-ruiz found that academic librarians of colour experienced microaggressions more often than university faculty of colour. in fact, among the academic staff surveyed, of the 56% of participants who identified as white, 15% indicated that they “do not deny ignoring the librarian because of his or her race” (prieto-gutiérrez & colmenero-ruiz, 2023, p. 5). studies on experiences of microaggressions among black librarians are noteworthy. dalton et al. (2018) reported stories of microaggressions based on actual events and interactions through a fictitious character to avoid identifying their colleagues and students. while their intention was https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 6 not to humiliate or condemn, their piece offered a glimpse into participants’ unique challenges. dalton et al.’s research provoked a change in the profession’s culture by black librarians in academia. adding to black librarians’ challenges, epps (2008) explored the experiences of black women library leaders and found that many dealt with discrimination and additional barriers in the profession due to their race. the respondents described instances of microaggressions, such as lack of respect, inclusion, and courtesy, without explicitly stating they were microaggressions (epps, 2008). the literature has described many of these experiences of racial microaggressions, subtly or explicitly, but the theme is that they are common occurrences for vml. academic librarians of colour can internalize their negative interactions within their work environments (swanson et al., 2018), but there is less research on the downstream effects of microaggressions. one of the microaggression themes identified by alabi (2015b) is regarding recruitment and retention. which needs to be better understood in relation to the impact of microaggressions. for example, in a study of low morale amongst american academic vml, racial microaggressions were the second-most low-morale experience, negatively affecting the ability to recruit and retain a diverse workforce (kendrick & damasco, 2019). furthermore, in johnson’s (2016) thesis, their thematic analysis after interviewing nine minority librarians found that eight respondents identified instances of microaggressions, and six explicitly identified microaggressions as barriers to working in academic libraries. due to negative stereotypes and preconceived notions of their abilities, some academic librarians of colour must perform, demonstrate, and convince patrons and colleagues of their place in the profession (swanson et al., 2018). african-american women leaders in academic research libraries were found to have to work twice as hard as their white counterparts to be considered equal and to receive recognition (epps, 2008). this echoed a statement by boyd et al. (2017) by an academic library diversity resident who said, as a visible minority, i’ve also experienced microaggressions that made me feel like i didn’t belong in the profession. i definitely felt like i had to work four times as hard and do it twice as cheery because of my race and my residency status. (p. 495) to address these experiences, alabi (2018) continued her line of research on microaggressions and identified steps that white academic librarians could take to prevent and address racial microaggressions in order to become better allies to their colleagues of colour. canada alwan et al. (2018) looked into the “status-based microaggressions” that academic librarians faced when working with faculty and their effect on collaboration in information literacy. based on a survey of u.s. and canadian academic librarians, their study revealed that librarians experienced more frequent instances of status-based microaggressions due to their selfidentified minority status (alwan et al., 2018). winn’s (2022) article, “why are you brown? racial microaggressions in canadian academic libraries,” is a personal narrative of one academic librarian’s experience as a black librarian in canada. this study revealed disturbing anecdotes of microaggressions she experienced in canadian academic libraries and the decision to leave canada. the lack of canadian literature on racial microaggressions reveals a need to explore this further. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 7 data and methodology this study’s quantitative analyses are based on data from the vimloc 2021 redux survey. the employment equity act defines visible minorities as “persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-caucasian in race or non-white in colour” (government of canada, 2021, p. 2). the canadian visible minority population consists mainly of the following groups: south asian, chinese, black, filipino, latin american, arab, southeast asian, west asian, korean, and japanese (statistics canada, 2021). respondents to the vimloc 2021 redux survey submitted 101 comments through the open-ended text box on the survey, detailing their encounters with racial microaggressions. with consent from the respondents, direct quotes were used throughout the findings, with some edited for length into excerpts. the vimloc 2021 redux survey the questions from the first vimloc 2013 survey (kumaran & cai, 2015) were updated for the vimloc 2021 redux survey to reflect changes made to the professional language. an additional 24 new questions were also included, with the researchers referring to other studies to inform the new questions (alabi, 2015a; canadian association of professional academic librarians, 2019; delong et al., 2015; kandiuk, 2014). using qualtrics xm, the english language survey was circulated in january and february 2021, with a french translation of the survey made available in march 2021. the survey invitations were distributed through the canada library associations’ electronic mail lists, and vimloc’s website, and social networking platforms. only respondents who identified as currently employed visible minority librarians were permitted to complete the survey. there were ultimately 162 respondents; 138 librarians completed the english survey, and 24 librarians completed the french survey. the vimloc 2021 redux survey consisted of six questions about demography, ten about education, and 20 about employment, including two about racial microaggressions (see appendix a). in the survey, based on sue, capodilupo et al. (2007b), “racial microaggressions” were defined as “subtle hostile, derogatory, or negative slights and insults (verbal, nonverbal, and/or visual) directed toward people of colour, whether intentional or unintentional”. respondents were asked to rate how frequently they experienced ten forms of racial microaggressions throughout their careers. unlike alabi’s (2015a) survey, which was based on a six-point scale (never, rarely, occasionally, often, regularly, and frequently), the vimloc 2021 redux survey used a five-point likert scale: 1 = never, 2 = rarely, 3 = sometimes, 4 = often, and 5 = always. cronbach’s alpha coefficient helps determine whether a set of survey items consistently measures the same characteristic. the scale reliability showed high internal consistency, with a cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.904. data analysis to examine librarians’ overall experiences of racial microaggressions, researchers calculated composite scores for each respondent by summing up the scores for ten individual items. as 14 librarians did not provide answers to all questions, their composite scores were not calculated. thus, 148 librarians were included in the analysis of composite scores with a possible range from 10 to 50, with higher scores indicating experiencing microaggressions more frequently. researchers examined if librarians’ microaggression composite scores would significantly differ https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 8 concerning six personal attributes (ethnicity, generation, age, gender identity, disability status, and language were chosen to complete the survey) and five employment attributes (librarian experience, library type, full-time/part-time position, permanent/temporary employment, and management position). as the sample size was relatively small and the microaggression composite scores for comparison groups did not have normal distributions verified with the shapiro-wilk goodness of fit test, this violated the assumption of the parametric anova f-test. instead, the kruskal-wallis h test was conducted, which is the nonparametric equivalent of anova and is used for testing whether samples originate from the same distribution. the kruskal-wallis test does not make assumptions about normality and uses the ranks of the data rather than the raw data (ostertagová et al., 2014). when the kruskal-wallis test identifies significant results, it suggests that at least one of the samples differs from the others. however, the test does not identify where or how many differences occur. hence, for the variables having three or more groups, a post hoc test for making pair-wise comparisons is needed (ostertagová et al., 2014). in this study, dunn’s test was performed to determine which groups differed, with bonferroni adjustment to control the familywise error rate (dinno, 2015). to examine which form of racial microaggression was experienced more often, the mean scores for individual items were compared. to explore the factors that might be associated with librarians’ experience in each form of microaggression, fisher’s exact tests were conducted rather than chi-square tests because the expected counts were less than five in 20% or more of the cells in the contingency tables (kim, 2017). the freeman-halton extension of fisher’s exact test was employed for more than two rows by two-column contingency tables (ibraheem & devine, 2013). stata 13 was used to perform all data analyses. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 9 measures researchers used ten items in the racial microaggressions scale. nine items were adapted from alabi (2015a, p. 50), and one item was created by the authors (“a colleague assumed that i would have a lower english proficiency because of my race.”). these items aligned with five themes described by nadal (2011). table 1. themes and items included in the racial microaggressions scale theme 1: assumption of inferiority • a colleague assumed that i would have a lower english proficiency because of my race. • a colleague showed surprise at my professional success. • i was told that i was hired because of my race. theme 2: assumption of criminality • a colleague claimed that he/she felt threatened because of my race. theme 3: microinvalidations • i was told that people should not think about race anymore. • i was told that people of colour do not experience racism anymore. • i was told that i was overly sensitive about issues of race. • i was told that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion. theme 4: assumption of similarity • i was told that all people in my racial group are all the same. theme 5: workplace and school microaggressions • my opinion was ignored in a group discussion because of my race. 1) assumption of inferiority: three items “a colleague assumed that i would have a lower english proficiency because of my race”, “a colleague showed surprise at my professional success”, and “i was told that i was hired because of my race.” 2) assumption of criminality: one item “a colleague claimed that he/she felt threatened because of my race.” 3) microinvalidations: four items – “i was told that people should not think about race anymore”, “i was told that people of colour do not experience racism anymore”, “i was told that i was overly sensitive about issues of race”, and “i was told that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion.” 4) assumption of similarity: one item – “i was told that all people in my racial https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 10 group are all the same.” 5) workplace and school microaggressions: one item “my opinion was ignored in a group discussion because of my race.” for the variables having more than three categories and small numbers, it was necessary to pool categories to achieve adequate counts and increase the power of fisher’s exact test to detect a significant difference (mcdonald, 2014). specifically, researchers pooled categories for the following variables: 1) each form of microaggression: response categories collapsed from five to three. “never” and “rarely” were pooled to indicate a low degree of frequency, “sometimes” indicated a moderate degree of frequency, and “often” and “always” were pooled to indicate a high degree of frequency. 2) ethnicity: respondents from arab, filipino, japanese, korean, west asian, southeast asian, and latin american ethnic groups were combined into “other visible minorities.” those who identified as “multiple visible minorities” and “white and visible minorities” were grouped as “multiracial.” hence, respondents were divided into five ethnic groups: black, chinese, south asian, other visible minorities, and multiracial. 3) age: nine age groups were collapsed into three age groups: 35 and under, 36–55, and 56 and over. 4) gender identity: four librarians selected “prefer not to answer,” and two librarians selected “other,” but without elaboration on the details; the responses for these two categories were combined. no one selected “transgender” or “two-spirit;” therefore, gender identity consisted of three groups: male, female, and “prefer not to answer or other.” 5) library type: “regional library” was combined with “public library,” and “college library” was merged into “academic library.” no respondents worked at school libraries; therefore, library type was categorized into four groups: “academic library,” “public library,” “special library,” and “other.” results demographics table 2 presents the demographic information of vml in the survey. chinese was the largest single ethnic group, followed by south asian and black. other ethnic minorities and multiracial groups accounted for nearly one-half. respondents were predominantly female (81%, n=130). more than half were aged 36–55, and 8% (n=12) indicated having a disability. eighty-five percent (n=138) filled out the english survey compared to 15% (n=24) who completed the french survey. regarding employment characteristics, the number and percentage of respondents decreased as their experience as a librarian grew. those having less than five years of experience accounted for 35% (n=56), and librarians with more than 20 years of experience made up 15% (n=23). nearly half (48%, n=78) of the respondents worked at academic libraries and one-third (34%, n=55) in public libraries. most worked full-time (90%, n=143) and in permanent positions (87%, n=140). regarding management positions, 69% (n=110) were in non-management positions. supervisors https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 11 and middle managers accounted for 13% (n=21) each, and senior administrators comprised only 5% (n=8). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 12 table 2. demographic characteristics of respondents variable categories number percentage personal characteristics ethnicity chinese south asian black other visible minorities multiracial 38 24 19 43 35 24% 15% 12% 27% 22% generation first generation second generation other 88 63 6 56% 40% 4% age 35 and under 36-55 55 and over 56 89 16 34% 56% 10% gender identity female male prefer not to answer or other 130 25 6 81% 15% 4% disability status no yes 147 12 92% 8% language used english french 138 24 85% 15% https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 13 employment characteristics librarian experience (in years) 0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 25 and over 56 41 21 20 14 9 35% 25% 13% 12% 9% 6% library type academic public special other 78 55 20 8 48% 34% 13% 5% full-time position no yes 16 143 10% 90% permanent position no yes 21 140 13% 87% management position non-management supervisor middle management senior administration 110 21 21 8 69% 13% 13% 5% note. as the number of librarians responding to each question varied, the total number might not always add up to 162. overall experiences of racial microaggressions librarians generally reported moderately frequent encounters with the ten stated forms of microaggression. the microaggression composite scores ranged from 10 to 40, with a median score of 18. the average composite score was 19.01 (sd = 7.76). table 3 presents the numbers and percentages of librarians who experienced various numbers of microaggression https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 14 with different frequencies. of the 148 respondents, 31% (n=46) never or rarely encountered microaggressions, meaning conversely that 69% (n=102) experienced at least one stated microaggression. in particular, four librarians experienced all ten types, sometimes, often, or always. meanwhile, 64% (n=94) indicated they did not encounter any of these microaggressions either often or always. these librarians might still have had such experiences but with a lower frequency (rarely or sometimes). in other words, 36% (n=54) often or always ran into at least one microaggression. eight percent (n=11) often or always encountered at least five types, including one librarian having often or always experienced all types. ten percent (n=16) experienced five or more microaggressions sometimes. table 3. occurrence of racial microaggressions total number of microaggressions experienced librarians who experienced microaggressions (n=148) never or rarely sometimes often or always number percentage number percentage number percentage 0 4 3% 50 34% 94 64% 1 4 3% 24 16% 21 14% 2 6 4% 29 20% 9 6% 3 8 5% 16 11% 6 4% 4 9 6% 13 9% 7 5% 5 11 7% 11 7% 8 5% 6 9 6% 2 1% 1 1% 7 14 9% 2 1% 0 0% 8 17 11% 1 1% 0 0% 9 20 14% 0 0% 1 1% 10 46 31% 0 0% 1 1% factors associated with overall experiences of racial microaggressions kruskal-wallis h tests were conducted to analyze the associations of six personal attributes and five employment attributes with librarians’ overall experiences of microaggressions. the test results did not identify significant personal factors but revealed three significant employment factors: full-time, permanent, and librarian experience. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 15 specifically, full-time librarians experienced microaggressions significantly more often than parttime librarians, h (1) = 4.04, p = .045. meanwhile, librarians in permanent positions experienced microaggressions significantly more often than librarians in temporary positions, h (1) = 3.88, p = .049. it should be noted that the p values in the above two cases were minimally below 0.05, which is the traditional cutoff used to indicate significance. further studies are needed to corroborate these findings with a larger dataset. the kruskal-wallis h test also revealed a significant association between years of experience as a librarian and overall experiences of microaggressions, h (5) = 13.85, p = .017. a post hoc test based on bonferroni correction was run to identify where the differences were. the test result confirmed that experiences of microaggressions were significantly different between the group having less than five years of experience and the group having 11–15 years of experience (p = .008). this result suggested that early-career librarians encountered racial microaggressions less frequently compared to mid-career librarians. experiences of each form of racial microaggression in the survey, respondents rated how frequently they had experienced ten forms of racial microaggression. the mean scores for each microaggression for all respondents are presented in table 4 from the highest to the lowest mean. on a five-point scale, the mean scores ranged from 1.39 to 2.27, with a higher score indicating experiencing a microaggressive act more often. table 3 also contains the number and percentage of respondents who indicated often or always experiencing each microaggression. the most frequently reported microaggressions were: • i was told that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion (17%, 27 respondents). • i was told that all people in my racial group are the same (15%, 24 respondents). • a colleague assumed that i would have a lower english proficiency because of my race (13%, 20 respondents). • i was told that i was overly sensitive about issues of race (12%, 19 respondents). the least frequently reported microaggressions were: • i was told that people of colour do not experience racism anymore (8%, 13 respondents). • i was told that people should not think about race anymore (7%, 11 respondents). • i was told that i was hired because of my race (6%, 10 respondents). • a colleague claimed that he/she felt threatened because of my race (4%, six respondents). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 16 table 4. occurrence of 10 forms of racial microaggressions forms of microaggression all respondents indicating “often” or “always” number mean score number percentage i was told that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion. 158 2.27 27 17% i was told that all people in my racial group are the same. 155 2.10 24 15% a colleague assumed that i would have a lower english proficiency because of my race. 158 2.07 20 13% i was told that i was overly sensitive about issues of race. 154 2.03 19 12% my opinion was ignored in a group discussion because of my race. 155 2.02 15 10% a colleague showed surprise at my professional success because of my race. 158 1.97 16 10% i was told that people of colour do not experience racism anymore. 155 1.93 13 8% i was told that people should not think about race anymore. 157 1.90 11 7% i was told that i was hired because of my race. 157 1.52 10 6% a colleague claimed that he/she felt threatened because of my race. 155 1.39 6 4% alabi (2015a) provided mean scores for 41 academic minority librarians who experienced the same nine microaggressions. for comparison, the researchers calculated the mean scores for the 78 academic vml in the vimloc 2021 redux survey. as the likert scales used in the two studies were different, it was inappropriate to compare the mean scores for each microaggression directly. instead, their mean scores were ranked separately from one to nine (see table 5). comparing their ranks could help us understand the different experiences of microaggressions among academic minority librarians in the two studies. compared with the results of alabi (2015a), academic vml in the vimloc 2021 redux survey experienced this microaggression more https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 17 often: “i was told that all people in my racial group are all the same.” conversely, they experienced two microaggressions less often: “i was told that people of colour do not experience racism anymore.” and “i was told that people should not think about race anymore.” comparatively, librarians in the two studies were very similar in ranking the other six microaggressions. table 5. occurrence of racial microaggressions among academic minority librarians forms of microaggression vimloc 2021 redux survey alabi (2015a) mean score rank mean score rank i was told that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion. 2.28 1 2.05 1 i was told that i was overly sensitive about issues of race. 2.08 2 1.95 3 i was told that all people in my racial group are all the same. 2.07 3 1.33 9 my opinion was ignored in a group discussion because of my race. 2.03 4 1.84 5 i was told that people of colour do not experience racism anymore. 2.01 5 2.00 2 i was told that people should not think about race anymore. 1.96 6 1.95 3 a colleague showed surprise at my professional success because of my race. 1.92 7 1.76 6 i was told that i was hired because of my race. 1.57 8 1.65 8 a colleague claimed that he/she felt threatened because of my race. 1.39 9 1.66 7 factors associated with each form of racial microaggressions fisher’s exact tests were performed to examine the associations of the librarians' six personal attributes and five employment attributes with their experiences of each microaggression. none of the attributes were found to be significantly related to experiences of two microaggressions: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 18 “i was told that i was overly sensitive about issues of race.” and “a colleague assumed that i would have a lower english proficiency because of my race.” for the remaining eight microaggressions, seven attributes were identified as significant factors. results are summarized in table 6, including p values from fisher’s exact tests. the associated factors for each microaggression are explained in detail in the following section. table 6. significant factors associated with different forms of racial microaggressions forms of microaggression significant factors p-value n 1) i was told that people should not think about race anymore. librarian experience management position .026 .004 157 156 2) i was told that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion. gender identity management position .027 .001 158 157 3) i was told that people of colour do not experience racism anymore. librarian experience .022 156 4) i was told that all people in my racial group are all the same. librarian experience .009 155 5) my opinion was ignored in a group discussion because of my race. library type librarian experience .023 .005 155 155 6) a colleague claimed that he/she felt threatened because of my race. disability status librarian experience .026 .032 153 155 7) a colleague showed surprise at my professional success because of my race. ethnicity .041 156 8) i was told that i was hired because of my race. language used .044 157 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 19 microaggression #1: i was told that people should not think about race anymore. librarians’ experiences were found to be significantly associated with their encounter with this microaggression (p = .026). specifically, librarians with less than five years of experience differed significantly from the other four groups: 6–10 years (p = .049), 11–15 years (p = .005), 16–20 years (p = .043), and 21–25 years (p = .013). in figure 1, 89% (n=49) of the respondents having less than five years of experience never or rarely ran into this microaggression, which is higher than the proportions of any other groups. on the other hand, this group had the lowest rate (2%, n=1) of often or always experiencing it. figure 1. experience of microaggression #1 by librarian experience management position also affected the frequency of experiencing this microaggression (p = .004). mainly, librarians in non-management positions differed significantly from supervisors (p = .028) and middle managers (p = .015). as shown in figure 2, 81% (n=87) of the respondents in nonmanagement positions never or rarely encountered this microaggression, compared to 62% (n=13) of the supervisors and 52% (n=11) of the middle managers. meanwhile, no supervisors often or always confronted this challenge, compared to 6% (n=6) of those in non-management positions and 14% (n=3) of the middle managers. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 20 figure 2. experience of microaggression #1 by management position microaggression #2: i was told that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion. gender identity was found to be significantly related to experiences of this microaggression (p = .027). a significant difference existed between females and those who preferred not to disclose their gender identity or who indicated they had another gender identity not listed in the survey (p = .037). as shown in figure 3, 57% (n=73) of females reported that they never or rarely encountered this microaggression compared to 68% (n=17) of males and half (n=3) of those who selected “prefer not to answer” or “other.” females (28%, n=36) were 3.5 times more likely to experience this than males (8%, n=2) on an occasional basis. twenty-four percent (n=6) of males versus 14% (n=18) of females often or always faced this issue, compared to half (n=3) of the respondents who selected “prefer not to answer” or “other.” https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 21 figure 3. experience of microaggression #2 by gender identity management position was also significantly associated with librarians’ experiences with the second microaggression (p = .001). librarians in non-management positions significantly differed from supervisors (p = .027) and senior administrators (p = .012). supervisors were significantly different in their experience from middle managers (p = .001) and senior administrators (p = .000). in figure 4, 62% (n=68) of the librarians in non-management positions versus 52% (n=11) of the supervisors and 33% (n=2) of the senior administrators never or rarely experienced it. senior administrators most likely often or always encountered this microaggression compared to supervisors and middle managers. these results seemed to suggest that with a higher level of management position, librarians were more inclined to disagree with the statement, “people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion.” https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 22 figure 4. experience of microaggression #2 by management position microaggression #3: i was told that people of colour do not experience racism anymore. librarians with varying years of work experience had significantly different encounters with this microaggression (p = .022). librarians with fewer than five years of experience less frequently encountered this microaggression compared to those with 21–25 years of experience (p = .006). in addition, librarians with 6–10 years of experience ran into this microaggression less often than their peers with 21–25 years of experience (p = .043) (see figure 5). with relevance to this type of microaggression, one librarian with 6–10 years of experience noted it was challenging “hearing white colleagues argue over the validity of racist claims or that conversations about race are hard for them.” another librarian with fewer than five years of experience also described her interaction with white colleagues who seemed to ignore the existence of racism: “at the height of blm [black lives matter] movement in 2020, post-george floyd protests, i was personally asked, ‘have you ever experienced racism in canada?’ and when i responded i have, the questioner walked away in disbelief.” similarly, a respondent with 11–16 years of experience observed one of her colleagues claiming that “the library shouldn't be doing anything to celebrate black history month and that if they were doing something for black history, they should be doing something special for the histories of all groups.” https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 23 figure 5. experience of microaggression #3 by librarian experience microaggression #4: i was told that all people in my racial group are all the same. fisher’s exact test yielded a significant (p = .009) relationship between librarians’ experiences and their encounters with this microaggression. significant differences existed between 0–5 years and 11–15 years (p = .029), between 6–10 years and 16–20 years (p = .008), and between 11–15 years and 16–20 years (p= .008). their frequency distributions are presented in figure 6. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 24 figure 6. experience of microaggression #4 by librarian experience a couple of respondents commented that their white colleagues mistook them for someone else of the same race. a chinese librarian with 6–10 years of experience indicated, “we were called by each other’s names, or i would be referred to as having done or said something when it wasn’t me. …one manager couldn't tell us apart on more than one occasion, despite us working in the same building for years.” the other chinese librarian with 21–25 years of experience also pointed out, “i guess sometimes people do not realize that there are great differences even within a minority group, [for example], chinese people from mainland china, taiwan, hong kong, malaysia, singapore. [they] can be very different in language, food, and culture, and sometimes there seems to be an expectation that i, being chinese, should know everything about chinese when a topic comes up in conversation or project.” a south asian librarian with 11–15 years of experience noted, “i am often asked to answer questions on behalf of my race (as though i should be a spokesperson for anyone who is the same colour).” although not aligning entirely with the stated microaggression, four respondents encountered a situation where their race was mistaken for a different race without acknowledging that they were different. a respondent described her feeling: “i am the token bipoc, so i am treated like i represent all bipocs.” microaggression #5: my opinion was ignored in a group discussion because of my race. fisher’s exact test yielded p = .023, suggesting that the type of libraries where respondents worked was significantly associated with their experience of this microaggression. the difference between academic and public libraries was significant (p = .027). academic libraries seemed to be more inclusive and respectful of opinions from vml, with 70% (n=53) of the respondents in https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 25 academic libraries indicating that they were never or rarely ignored in a group discussion due to race, compared to 57% (n=31) of those in public libraries. on the contrary, this microaggressive incident often or always happened to librarians in public libraries (19%, n=10), which is nearly five times as much as it happened to academic librarians (4%, n=3) (see figure 7). this was manifested in the experience of one respondent working in a public library: “[m]y opinions are often shot down in meetings. i used to be very vocal about the racial injustices and disparities that my organization failed to recognize when dealing with bipoc staff and patrons. i have since stopped as i was always silenced, spoken over[,] or made to believe i was being too radical.” figure 7. experience of microaggression #5 by library type the length of librarians’ work experience was also a significant factor in their encounters with this microaggression (p = .005). librarians with less than five years of experience felt ignored in a group discussion less frequently than those with 11–15 years of experience (p = .002). librarians with 6–10 years of experience encountered the same incident less frequently compared to librarians with 11–15 years of experience (p = .001) and those with 21–25 years of experience (p = .017) (see figure 8). these findings seem to suggest that librarians who stay longer in the profession increase the likelihood of exposure to this microaggression. curiously, those having 16–20 years and more than 25 years of experience were not significantly different from other groups, which needs further study. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 26 figure 8. experience of microaggression #5 by librarian experience microaggression #6: a colleague claimed that he/she felt threatened because of my race. librarians with and without disabilities differed significantly in experiencing this microaggression (p = .026). ninety-four percent (n=133) of the librarians without disabilities never or rarely encountered this microaggression, compared to seventy-five percent (n=9) of the librarians with disabilities. a much higher percentage of librarians with disabilities experienced it sometimes. five (4%) librarians without disabilities and one (8%) librarian with disabilities indicated that they often or always encountered this microaggression (see figure 9). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 27 figure 9. experience of microaggression #6 by disability status librarians with varied levels of work experience also differed significantly in their encounters with microaggression #6 (p = .032). the differences existed between 0–5 years and 11–15 years (p = .009) and between 0–5 and 21–25 years (p = .025). ninety-eight percent (n=53) of the librarians with less than five years of experience never or rarely confronted this behaviour, compared to 76% (n=16) of the group with 11–15 years of experience and 79% (n=11) of the group with 21-25 years of experience. ten percent (n=2) of the group with 11–15 years of experience and 14% (n=2) of the group with 21–25 years of experience often or always ran into this microaggression, compared to none from the group with less than five years of experience (see figure 10). one south asian librarian with 21–25 years of experience noted, “people of my race are [assumed to be] criminal and drug dealers…my colleague and his/her neighbours were concerned that family from my race bought a house in their neighbourhood.” although this did not happen during an interaction at work, the recipient did feel harmed due to being stereotyped. another librarian with 6–10 years of experience expressed her frustration because her colleague portrayed her as being aggressive and threatening due to her race. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 28 figure 10. experience of microaggression #6 by librarian experience microaggression #7: a colleague showed surprise at my professional success because of my race. librarians of various ethnic backgrounds significantly differed in their experience of this microaggression (p = .041). significant differences existed between chinese and black (p = .005), chinese and south asian (p =.034), and chinese and multiracial librarians (p = .026). in figure 11, chinese librarians had the highest rate of experiencing this microaggression sometimes (32%, n=12), while no one encountered this often or always. librarians in the multiracial group (79%, n=27) most likely never or rarely experienced this incident. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 29 figure 11. experience of microaggression #7 by ethnicity compared with other ethnicities, black librarians had the highest proportion of experiencing this often or always (26%, n=5) and the lowest proportion of experiencing it never or rarely (53%, n=10). one black librarian in the survey described what she encountered: “[a user] asks to speak with a librarian at the reference desk, i approach [the] user, they ask ‘are you a librarian?’” this also echoed the findings from other research on the pervasiveness of racism, discrimination, and microaggressions experienced by black or african librarians. in dalton et al. (2018), the black female law librarian’s competency and authority as a supervisor were questioned; a white patron, in a separate event, showed surprise knowing that she had attended law school. a survey of the experiences of african librarians in american academic libraries revealed that more than 40% of the respondents had encountered workplace discrimination (ibraheem & devine, 2013). the qualifications of black librarians for a job were often questioned, as indicated by curry (1994): it seems to make little difference that those of us who make it through higher education have graduated from the same institutions, been awarded the same degrees, and received the same honors as our non-black colleagues. yet, questions regarding our ability still persist. (p. 303) non-black librarians in the survey also shared their experiences that reflected the assumption of inferiority towards minority librarians. a librarian of south asian descent described this incident: “colleagues are surprised that i speak english well, and they constantly ask where i’m ‘really’ from because ‘obviously’ i’m not canadian.” a librarian of filipino descent reported encountering https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 30 this often: “many patrons or employees within the town assumed that i held a lower position … and would ask to speak to a librarian when i was the only one who held that position at the time.” microaggression #8: i was told that i was hired because of my race. of the 157 librarians who answered the question about the eighth microaggression, 134 librarians responded in english and 23 responded in french. fisher’s exact test indicated significantly different experiences of this microaggression between the two groups using different languages in the survey (p = .044). eighty-five percent (n=114) of librarians using english never or rarely experienced it, compared to 78% (n=18) of those using french. the french survey respondents were more likely to encounter this sometimes (22% versus 7%), and no one often or always experienced it, while 7% (n=10) of the english survey respondents did (see figure 12). as the french survey was distributed primarily amongst québecois library associations, all 23 respondents except one person worked in québec. all english survey respondents worked in the other nine provinces. hence, the findings could be interpreted as the different occurrences of microaggression between librarians in québec and other provinces. figure 12. experience of microaggression #8 by the language used in addition, when asked whether there was anything the respondents would like to share regarding their experiences of microaggressions through an open-ended text box, they depicted many microaggressive incidents that could not be classified under any of the ten stated types of microaggressions; however, their responses could offer some insights (see appendix b). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 31 discussion experiences of microaggressions associated with career stage the survey results indicated that 69% of the respondents experienced at least one stated microaggression and 36 often or always experienced at least one stated microaggression. each of the eight microaggressions was statistically significantly associated with various personal attributes (race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, language used) or employment attributes (years of experience, library type, management position). figures 1–12 show these significant relations, and further comments gathered from survey respondents showed how these microaggressions were manifested. it is interesting to note that in most cases early career librarians (0–5 years of experience) had significantly lower encounters with many of the microaggressions. while it was possible that the profession was more welcoming to these librarians, it was also possible that early career librarians were more focused on settling into their positions or careers and, unlike experienced librarians, were not recognizing or were choosing to ignore microaggressions. in contrast, librarians with more experience understood the nuances of their organizational culture and historical practices and might be keenly aware of whether subtle aggressions were intentional. as librarians worked in the field longer, their exposure to microaggressions might extend over a prolonged period, leading to an increased likelihood of reporting a higher number of such encounters. experiences of microaggressions associated with gender identity this research provides evidence that racialized librarians in canada of different gender identities significantly differed in their experiences of this microaggression: “i was told that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion.” in the vimloc 2021 redux survey, most additional comments were from female respondents. they shared that their employment experiences were affected by both gender and race. a black female librarian stated, “it is sad being a female of colour in this library system. you see other people move up quicker than the rules indicate they should (i.e., need ‘x’ amount of years being a librarian before becoming a senior librarian).” a librarian who identified as white and chinese noted, “i have been sexualized by white men in the workplace in a way that focused on racial fetishization.” this would fit with the theme of exoticization, a microaggression very likely against asian women, which could be interpreted as indicating that asian women were only needed for the physical needs of white men (sue, bucceri et al., 2007a). this is a way of demeaning the value of women in the workplace, which could cause psychological harm and constitute a barrier to their professional success. experiences of microaggressions associated with career advancement the research results suggested that with a higher management position, vml were more likely to disagree that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion. unfortunately, the employment opportunities for vml have been limited, and they are underrepresented in the profession (bonnette, 2004; kumaran, 2015). although all racial groups generally have to face some common career-related barriers, evidence of the metaphorical glass ceiling for specific minority groups has been documented. for instance, chinese american librarians did not see much improvement in the percentages of top-level positions for three decades (ruan & xiong, 2008). in the vimloc 2021 redux survey, despite representing the most respondents, chinese librarians (21%, n=9) were the group least represented in managerial roles https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 32 compared to black (36%, n=9) and south asian librarians (44%, n=11). only 2% (n=1) of chinese librarians were senior administrators, compared to 16% (n=4) of south asian librarians and 8% (n=2) of black librarians. there are many factors accounting for notable ethnic gaps in leadership. li (2023) discussed that the underrepresentation of chinese librarians in canada in taking up leadership opportunities could be attributed to several reasons, including a lack of role models in leadership positions, racial background, and lack of interest in moving up the career ladder. in the vimloc 2021 redux survey, chinese librarians noted that microaggressions could have deferred them from moving up. as a chinese librarian in a supervisor role indicated, “different set of rules applied when i was applying for a management position, which made decisions easier to justify choosing other non-minority candidates.” other ethnic groups also faced challenges that impeded employment or career advancement opportunities. a south asian librarian in a middle management position stated, “i have been turned down for jobs because of my accent. even though i had over 20 years supervisors experience and manager job was given to brand new graduate, and i didn’t even get an interview for the job.” another south asian librarian in a supervisor role was sadly surprised that a white woman with no librarian skills, experience or even the essential american library association (ala)-accredited masters’ degree got the library director position. a multiracial respondent in a non-management position noted, “in past jobs, when opportunities presented themselves for promotion or to take on more responsibility, such job advances were denied. it was always the non-minority people who got promoted and given higher responsibilities.” another librarian belonging to the “other visible minorities” group in a non-management position also mentioned having experienced discrimination during selection when applying for a job. uncertainty of instances of microaggressions it was noteworthy that this survey examined only ten types of microaggression. two respondents commented that these were overt instances of microaggressions, but what they experienced was more subtle and not necessarily aligned with the questions asked. for some respondents, it was difficult to know whether the microaggressions were due to race in that they were not outright verbal. for instance, there were times when they were left out of introductions, or their turn was missed at the roundtable. they were left wondering if this was a mistake that any colleague could make or if it was something more than that. as a result, they tended to note the stated microaggressions as lower in incidence (i.e., “rarely,” “never”). this uncertainty of whether a microaggression occurred was also documented among the minority respondents (alabi, 2015a; sue, capodilupo, et al., 2007b). experiences of microaggressions among vml in québec one of the significant strengths of this study was that it focused on canadian vml. while data from academic librarians were included, this study had a more significant focus. although fewer in number, this study included librarians in québec, about whom little research has been conducted. one of the reasons could be that québecois academic librarians in francophone colleges and universities do not hold academic status. thus, they are in a position that does not require scholarly publication. it could also be due to the lack of french language journals where francophone researchers can publish their work (st-onge et al., 2021). as this research revealed significant differences between the librarians in québec and other provinces regarding their experience of the microaggression “i was told that i was hired because of my race,” more https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 33 research is needed to examine their library environment to understand why this microaggression occurred. limitations this research used data from the vimloc 2021 redux survey. the survey aimed to gather information on vml in canada and examine their demographic changes as a follow-up to the first 2013 survey. thus, the questions about racial microaggressions constituted a small part of all questions, and due to the survey format, these questions were not very comprehensive. only ten items were analyzed in the racial microaggressions scale, compared to 20 in alabi (2015a) and 45 in nadal (2011). second, this study was based on a relatively small sample size. there were 162 vml that completed the vimloc 2021 redux survey, comprising only 15% of the canadian vml population, according to the 2016 census (statistics canada, 2018). as all questions were optional, the respondents might not answer all questions examined in this study. thus, the total number of responses analyzed was lower than 162. it would be meaningful to do further research with a larger dataset in the future. third, there were uneven data representations. most respondents were females, had less than ten years of librarian experience, and worked in permanent or full-time positions. their high representations in the survey should be noted when we interpret the research findings. moreover, canada is a bilingual country with french and english populations, with french spoken by 22.8% of the population (canadian heritage, 2019). however, only 15% of the respondents completed the french survey. therefore, this study might not necessarily encompass a full spectrum of microaggressions experienced by librarians in francophone settings. fourth, the data regarding the representation of members from visible minorities were collected through voluntary self-identification. it is important to note that the 2021 survey employed binary biological terms, specifically “male” and “female,” which are traditionally associated with gender and are not interchangeable with gender identity. furthermore, transgender identity was recorded as a distinct category separate from male and female identities, which could potentially have led to some reporting errors. finally, for performing fisher’s exact tests, it was necessary to collapse across categories to obtain adequate cell counts. however, some information was lost when categories were combined. for instance, arab, filipino, japanese, korean, west asian, southeast asian, and latin american ethnicities were pooled as “other visible minorities,” making it impossible to distinguish between ethnic groups. conclusion based on the data from the vimloc 2021 redux survey, this study examined experiences of racial microaggressions among vml in canada. previous research examined the factors associated with racial microaggressions, such as gender, ethnicity, and library type. in contrast, this research explored many other factors, including disability, work experience, management position, employment type, and language used to complete the survey. this research indicated that vml in canada experienced racial microaggressions in various forms and frequencies. thus, this research fills the gap in the lis literature regarding racial microaggressions in librarianship in the https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 34 canadian context. more research is needed to fully understand why librarians of different demographics have significant differences in the experiences of each microaggressive incident. the research findings also have practical implications. nearly 70% of the respondents in the survey encountered at least one racial microaggression. it is concerning that microaggressions are everyday experiences amongst vml in canada. this study demonstrates that it is important that professional library associations and libraries everywhere strengthen education about racial microaggressions and offer support to vml when they are confronted with microaggressive behaviours. appendix a survey questionnaire section one: demographic information 1. the canadian employment equity act defines visible minorities as “persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-caucasian in race or non-white in colour.” the visible minority population consists mainly of the following groups: chinese, south asian, black, arab, west asian, filipino, southeast asian, latin american, japanese, and korean. are you a visible minority librarian currently working in canada? (if “no” is selected, the survey is closed) o yes o no 2. what group do you belong to or which group fits you the best? o arab only (includes egyptian, kuwaiti and libyan) o black only o chinese only o filipino only o japanese only o korean only o latin american only o south asian only (includes bangladeshi, indian, pakistani, and sri lankan) o southeast asian only (includes vietnamese, cambodian, malaysian, and laotian) o west asian only (includes afghan, assyrian, and iranian) o white and arab https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 35 o white and black o white and chinese o white and filipino o white and japanese o white and korean o white and latin american o white and south asian o white and southeast asian o white and west asian o white and multiple visible minorities o multiple visible minorities o other (please specify) _________________ 3. tell us if you are a first-generation minority librarian or not. first generation would mean that you were born elsewhere but moved to canada at some point in your life. second generation would mean you were born in canada to immigrant parents. if you would like to add an explanation about this, please use the text box below, such as your age or the year when you came to canada. o first generation ___________________ o second generation ________________ o other ___________________________ 4. do you consider yourself to have a disability? o yes (please elaborate if you wish) ___________________ o no 5. what is your age? o 20–25 o 26–30 o 31–35 o 36–40 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 36 o 41–45 o 46–50 o 51–55 o 56–60 o 61–65 o 65+ 6. what is your gender identity? o female o male o transgender o two spirit o other (please elaborate if you wish) ________________ o prefer not to answer section two: education 7. when did you receive your mlis / mls degree or equivalent? o before or during 1980 o between 1981 and 1989 o between 1990 and 1999 o between 2000 and 2009 o between 2010 and 2019 o after 2019 8. where did you receive your mlis / mls degree or equivalent? o from an ala-accredited canadian library school o from an ala-accredited american library school o from a library school outside north america o other (please specify) _______________ https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 37 9. please select the university where you received your degree. o university of british columbia o university of alberta o university of western ontario / western university o university of toronto o university of ottawa o université de montréal o dalhousie university o mcgill university 10. please specify the country where you received your library degree:____________ 11. please provide the name of your institution:_____________ 12. does your current employer recognize your professional library degree in terms of your position? o yes o no 13. have you taken any courses of study or programs in canada to supplement your library degree? o yes o no 14. please provide the name of the course or program:______________ 15. how, if at all, has this made a difference to how your employer and the library community recognize your credentials?__________________ 16. in addition to your mlis / mls degree or equivalent, please indicate other education you attained. select all that apply. o professional degree (what degree? e.g., law)__________________ o second masters degree (what discipline?) ________________ o third masters degree (what discipline?)________________ o ph.d. (what discipline?) ___________________ https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 38 o additional degrees, certificates, or diplomas (what type?) ________________ o none of the above section three: employment 17. how many total years have you worked as a librarian? o 0–5 o 6–10 o 11–15 o 16–20 o 21–25 o 25+ 18. what inspired you to enter the library profession? select all that apply. ▢ i was inspired by a family member or friend that worked in the profession ▢ i got an entry-level job in a library ▢ library role models influenced me ▢ i thought it would be an interesting profession ▢ i thought it would be a well-paying job ▢ i thought it would be a rewarding job because i would have the opportunity to help others ▢ i liked the work environment in a library ▢ i had the expertise and skills fit for the library job ▢ i enjoyed books and reading ▢ other (please elaborate) ___________________ 19. which province / territory do you currently work in? o alberta o british columbia o manitoba o new brunswick https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 39 o newfoundland and labrador o northwest territories o nova scotia o nunavut o ontario o prince edward island o quebec o saskatchewan o yukon o other (if you are working for a canadian library outside of canada) _________ 20. what type of library are you currently working at? o public library o regional library o academic library o college library o special library (what type? e.g., government, religious organization) _______ o school library o other (please specify) __________ 21. please select the job category(ies) that matches your current job responsibilities. select all that apply. o acquisitions / collection development o administration o adult services o archives o assessment o automation / systems / it services o bibliometrics https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 40 o cataloguing / metadata management o children’s services o circulation o consultant / knowledge management / researchers o copyright o data management and curation o digitization and preservation o e-resources and serials o government documents o instruction services o interlibrary loan services o liaison librarian o licensing o marketing / outreach / community services o media specialist o project management o public services o rare books and special collections o reference / information services o research services o school / teacher librarian o scholarly communications o user experience o web services o youth services o other (please specify) _______ _________ https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 41 22. do you work part-time (less than 30 hours/week), full-time (30 or more hours/week), or casual hours? o part-time o full-time o casual hours o other _____________________ 23. approximately how many hours are you expected to work per week? o 20 hours or less o 21–25 o 26–30 o 31–35 o 36–40 o 40+ o no hours specified (until the job is done) 24. what type of appointment do you have? o permanent o temporary (e.g., contract, limited-term) o other (please specify) ________________ 25. what is your gross (before taxes) yearly salary from your employing library? o $10,000 or less o $10,001–$20,000 o $20,001–$30,000 o $30,001–$40,000 o $40,001–$50,000 o $50,001–$60,000 o $60,001–$70,000 o $70,001–$80,000 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 42 o $80,001–$90,000 o $90,001–$100,000 o $100,001–$110,000 o $110,001–$120,000 o $120,001–$130,000 o $130,001–$140,000 o $140,001–$150,000 o $150,001+ o prefer not to answer 26. please describe your experience with respect to the following statements: (1) i am treated with respect and accepted as an equal member by colleagues in my department. o strongly agree o agree o neither agree or disagree o disagree o strongly disagree (2) my knowledge and work contributions are valued by colleagues in my department. o strongly agree o agree o neither agree or disagree o disagree o strongly disagree (3) i feel free to speak my mind and express my views openly amongst colleagues in my department. o strongly agree o agree o neither agree or disagree https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 43 o disagree o strongly disagree 27. racial microaggressions are subtle hostile, derogatory, or negative slights and insults (verbal, nonverbal, and/or visual) directed toward people of colour, whether intentional or unintentional. please rate how frequently you have experienced each of the following forms of racial microaggressions throughout your career (never, rarely, sometimes, often, always) (1) i was told that people should not think about race anymore. (2) i was told that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion. (3) i was told that people of colour do not experience racism anymore. (4) i was told that i was overly sensitive about issues of race. (5) i was told that all people in my racial group are all the same. (6) my opinion was ignored in a group discussion because of my race. (7) a colleague assumed that i would have a lower english proficiency because of my race. (8) a colleague claimed that he/she felt threatened because of my race. (9) a colleague showed surprise at my professional success because of my race. (10) i was told that i was hired because of my race. 28. other forms of racial microaggressions you have experienced throughout your career: ________________________________________________________________ 29. overall, how satisfied are you with your current job? o very satisfied o satisfied o neither satisfied nor dissatisfied o dissatisfied o very dissatisfied 30. what level is your current position? o non-management o supervisor o middle management (e.g., branch head, department head) https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 44 o senior administrator (e.g., head / chief librarian, director, or deputy / assistant head, chief, director) 31. please indicate the extent to which race or ethnicity is a barrier to your library career aspirations? o not at all o to a small extent o to some extent o to a moderate extent o to a great extent o to a very great extent 32. have you ever sought support from a mentor? o yes o no 33. have you participated in any formal mentorship program(s)? o yes (what program?) ______________________ o no 34. have you ever had a mentor who is a member of visible minority group? o yes o no o don’t know 35. how helpful do you think the mentors have been in your career development? o extremely helpful o very helpful o moderately helpful o slightly helpful o not at all helpful 36. please use the box below to add anything else that we may have missed asking you or that you would like to share: ______________________________________________ https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 45 appendix b additional responses about experiences of racial microaggressions ● “a colleague said that after vacation, they are going to be ‘as dark as i am’." ● “a co-worker told me that latinos are good for the local economy because they are in the least interesting jobs in the population and would be vacant if latinos didn't take them.” ● “a colleague told me that a colleague of arab origin sometimes has a difficult character for cultural reasons.” ● “a librarian said to me, ‘you look like you're going to punch something’ while i was looking for a stapler at the reference desk. my face was just unsmiling, not anger, just unsmiling. why must black women have to be performing and happy all day long?” ● “being told that asian people do not count as a minority or count as white.” ● “comments about my natural hair that was demeaning (not the typical eurocentric version of what nice hair should be).” ● “i'm aware that there are several filipino nurses, but working in a hospital, i’ve had people assume i’m a nurse right away because i am filipino.” ● “i have experienced preferential treatment between me and another colleague (white) where we both asked for the same thing (at different times), and they would get a ‘yes’ immediately while i would get an explanation why i can ask for it this time but not next time.” ● “i have had enough of feeling invalidated by others and tired of feeling invalidated by myself, after absorbing years of microaggressions in my personal and professional life.” ● “i won a scholarship to attend a conference sponsored by a canadian university. the criteria for the scholarship were for librarians in particular demographic groups, including visible minorities, those with disabilities, and those with financial needs. i shared my win with a white colleague (same level/position, i.e., equals), and she commented something along the lines of ‘i guess it doesn’t hurt to be brown then’.” ● “in a meeting, a library colleague stated that folks from a particular area of our city would not appreciate arts programming so we should not host the arts program we were discussing in that area. this area of the city has a lot of racialized folks and although the staff did not say it explicitly, it seemed like he was indicating folks of colour would not appreciate arts-based programming.” ● “it was during a christmas party and people made comments that reflected cultural stereotypes of jamaican people.” ● “lots of microaggressions from patrons that are often also forms of sexual harassment.” https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 46 ● “my white supervisors and managers never seem to consult me on projects/issues, to look for ‘minority’ perspective, because of my lower status in the hierarchy.” ● “people suggesting racism against white people isn’t a thing, thereby perpetuating idea and acceptability of rude/racist people of colour.” ● “sometimes angry/problem patrons refer to my race or language accent in a negative way.” ● “sometimes i get seemingly nice comments about my physical appearance or accent. for example, ‘surely the professors and students of your faculty like you because you are exotic and you have a nice accent’, i have already had my hair touched without permission to tell me ‘how beautiful! you have a lot of them!’ or being touched without permission to ask me how i got that tan. these are gestures and comments probably made with good intentions, but very uncomfortable for me.” https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 47 references alabi, j. 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(2016). about microaggressions. law library journal, 108(2), 321-329. https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/131 williams, m. t., skinta, m. d., kanter, j. w., martin-willett, r., mier-chairez, j., debreaux, m., & rosen, d. c. (2020). a qualitative study of microaggressions against african americans on predominantly white campuses. bmc psychology, 8, article 111. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-020-00472-8 winn, d. (2022). why are you brown? racial microaggressions in canadian academic libraries. in t. y. neely & m. montañez (eds.), dismantling constructs of whiteness in higher education (pp. 79–89). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003029564 yang, y., & carroll, d.w. (2018). gendered microaggressions in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [special issue]. leadership and research in education, 4, 28–45. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1174441.pdf young, k., anderson, m., & stewart, s. (2015). hierarchical microaggressions in higher education. journal of diversity in higher education, 8(1), 61–71. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038464 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027658 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027658 https://doi.org/10.1108/cdi-02-2013-0022 https://doi.org/10.1108/cdi-02-2013-0022 https://doi.org/10.1108/pr-04-2015-0098 https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/131 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-020-00472-8 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003029564 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1174441.pdf https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038464 reiterating visibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376 53 yanli li (yli@wlu.ca) is a business and economics librarian at wilfrid laurier university. she holds a phd in economics from the renmin university of china and an mlis from the university of british columbia. her research interests lie within diversity in librarianship and information-seeking behaviours. she is the principal investigator of the vimloc 2021 redux survey and served as chair of the vimloc mentorship committee from 2017 to 2022. maha kumaran (maha.kumaran@ussk.ca) is a librarian at the education and music library of the university of saskatchewan. her research interests are equity, diversity, and inclusion in librarianship. more about her work can be found in her orcid profile at https://orcid.org/00000003-4643-865x. apart from serving or leading edi committees or working groups within her library and institution, maha has served as the first visiting program officer for carl’s equity, diversity, and inclusion and is an active member of the arl leadership & career development program task force. allan cho (allan.cho@ubc.ca) is a community engagement librarian at the university of british columbia. his research interests are edi in libraries. allan’s work includes supporting ongoing community initiatives and leading new ones, focusing on community engagement with historically underrepresented groups. he manages ubc library’s equity, diversity, and inclusion (edi) scholars-in-residence program and is the subject liaison librarian to the school of information. valentina ly (vly@uottawa.ca) is a research librarian for the health sciences and sciences at the university of ottawa library. since graduating with an mlis from the university of alberta in 2018, she has been focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion work through the visible minority librarians of canada (vimloc) network and ontario library association’s cultural diversity and inclusion committee. suzanne fernando (sfernando@tpl.ca) is a senior services specialist in the children’s services department at the toronto public library. she holds an med in adult education and community development from the university of toronto, and an mlis from western university. she is a member of the ontario library association’s cultural diversity and inclusion committee, and former co-chair of the toronto public library’s equity and diversity group for employees. michael david miller (michael.david.miller@mcgill.ca) is an associate librarian and liaison librarian for french literature, québec studies, economics and gender studies at the mcgill university library. he holds an mis from the université de montréal. his edi professional and scholarly contributions primarily intersect with librarianship and the francophone wikimedia movement. michael david is also one of the co-founders of the edi committee of the fédération des milieux documentaires. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index introduction literature review definition of microaggressions measures of racial microaggressions microaggressions associated with gender, ethnicity, position of power, and disability racial microaggressions in academic libraries the united states canada data and methodology the vimloc 2021 redux survey data analysis measures results demographics overall experiences of racial microaggressions factors associated with overall experiences of racial microaggressions experiences of each form of racial microaggression factors associated with each form of racial microaggressions microaggression #1: i was told that people should not think about race anymore. microaggression #2: i was told that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion. microaggression #3: i was told that people of colour do not experience racism anymore. microaggression #4: i was told that all people in my racial group are all the same. microaggression #5: my opinion was ignored in a group discussion because of my race. microaggression #6: a colleague claimed that he/she felt threatened because of my race. microaggression #7: a colleague showed surprise at my professional success because of my race. microaggression #8: i was told that i was hired because of my race. discussion experiences of microaggressions associated with career stage experiences of microaggressions associated with gender identity experiences of microaggressions associated with career advancement uncertainty of instances of microaggressions experiences of microaggressions among vml in québec limitations conclusion appendix a survey questionnaire appendix b additional responses about experiences of racial microaggressions references decolonizing the authority file: creating contextualized access to the university of calgary’s indigenous authors collection the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 decolonizing the authority file: creating contextualized access to the university of calgary’s indigenous authors collection susan dahl, university of calgary, canada kaia macleod, university of calgary, canada abstract this article examines decolonization efforts at the indigenous authors collection at the university of calgary in canada. the 47-book collection is an example of a decolonization attempt by the university, which aligns with the institution's indigenous strategy. this project enhanced the indigenous collection by adding canadian authors and providing culturally appropriate metadata to increase visibility and access in the library’s catalogue. the authors discuss the problems they faced with current metadata standards not allowing the use of special characters, enhancements made, and the implications of cataloguing policies and workflow for other collections. the authors also demonstrate how users view and access their changes and show new ways that users can interact with the collection. they also explore future possibilities that linked data practices offer to display enhanced author information from local authorities and broaden the collection’s reach even further. keywords: canada; cataloguing; decolonization; indigenous; linked data; metadata publication type: report from the field introduction his paper examines the indigenous author collection at libraries and cultural resources (lcr) at the university of calgary in alberta, canada. respectfully, we wanted to start by acknowledging the land where the university is located. likewise, we would like to take this opportunity to recognize the traditional people and territories from the treaty 7 region in southern alberta. namely, the blackfoot confederacy comprises the siksika, piikani, and kainai first nations. also, the tsuutina first nation, the stoney nakoda, the chiniki, bearspaw, and wesley first nations. in addition, the city of calgary is also home to the métis nation of alberta in region iii. one of the ways a library can decolonize is by bringing in indigenous voices. this can be through hiring staff or selecting relevant and meaningful materials for the library’s collection. gyebiababio (2021) posits that “decolonisation is about reimagining education and all aspects of our societies; education is the key that unlocks knowledge, fuels passions and curiosity, and defines the truths that allow students to carve out their identity in the world” (p. 8). since the university of calgary is an academic institution, we examine decolonization through an educational lens. t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 decolonizing the authority file the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 2 having a collection of books dedicated to enhancing the indigenous voice is nothing new. publications such as ibby canada’s (2023) from sea to sea to sea: celebrating indigenous picture books and read alberta’s (2021) prairie indigenous ebook collection confirm that collections highlighting indigenous stories are perpetually needed and relevant. public libraries often highlight indigenous items for indigenous history month (toronto public library, 2023). academic libraries are now creating and highlighting these collections; this can be seen with simon fraser university’s lutz collection of indigenous poetry (delanowski, 2022). the indigenous authors collection (iac) at the university of calgary contributes to the discourse of indigenous collections by ensuring we showcase contemporary indigenous voices within our library’s corpus of materials. it is important for the community to see themselves reflected within library walls. canadian context in canada, the term indigenous is used to describe the first nations, métis, and inuit people (statistics canada, 2021). first nations is an umbrella term describing a variety of nations like the innu people of quebec or the wesley people in alberta (gadacz, 2022). the métis people are a distinct culture and mixed heritage of those born from french-speaking and indigenous heritages (gaudry, 2023). inuit is a term used to describe all the indigenous people of northern canada and parts of greenland and alaska (freeman, 2023). canada is a member of the commonwealth (hilmer & mcintyre, 2022). there are 11 numbered treaties between indigenous peoples and the british crown (government of canada, 2023). however, this research does not include all indigenous groups in canada or cover all of canada. case study: indigenous authors collection the iac is a newer collection at the university of calgary’s lcr. the collection focuses on contemporary indigenous authors from canada. the rare books and special collections librarian explained the selection process: through its various approval plans and established collections in canadian literatures, the university of calgary has always collected the writings of indigenous authors from turtle island. however, i wanted to create a dedicated, named research collection in our special collections that would recognize the achievements and the variety of works being created by indigenous authors living in canada. i also wanted to create a place in our rare books vault for these books. rare books and special collections departments tend to be oriented around european book traditions; they become rarified spaces that can exclude new non-european or settler voices. (a. murray, personal communication, june 8, 2022) as of september 2022, there are 47 books in the iac with room to grow. the university’s library ensured there was one copy in our unique collection and another for circulation. some examples of the types of books in the collection are as follows: thomas king’s (2019) 77 fragments of a familiar ruin, eden robinson’s (2017) son of a trickster, and jesse thistle’s (2019) from the ashes: my story of being métis, homeless, and finding my way. these books show the variety of literature imbued within the collection. thomas king’s work is poetry, robinson’s is fiction, and thistle’s is a memoir. the iac offers fiction, non-fiction, comics, memoirs, and poetry. the https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 decolonizing the authority file the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 3 university of calgary’s discovery layer (primo) has a gallery feature that can create curated online collections. the iac is a featured collection in the catalogue (university of calgary, n.d.)1. subject metadata because the iac is an indigenous collection, there were specific changes to the metadata we wanted to implement. first, we wanted to utilize the canadian subject headings (csh) over the library of congress subject headings (lcsh) when it made sense. the csh is a supplementary vocabulary with terminology focused on canada that the lcsh would not have. library and archives canada maintain the csh, and changes were most recently made in 2021, which included changes to indigenous headings. canada and the united states employ different terminology when considering indigenous peoples. for example, the library of congress would use the term “indian boarding schools,” while library and archives canada would use the term “residential schools.” each description makes sense in its given context, but as the iac comprises authors indigenous to canada, the appropriate choice is “residential schools.” the same differential goes for specific nation names. for example, the cree people are called “cree indians” in the lcsh but would be referred to as “cree” in the csh. overall, converting inappropriate or outdated lcsh headings to newly revised csh headings served the needs of the iac collection records without creating new local headings. as we continue the process, however, we may need to supplement this work with locally created subject headings, especially for our collections that contain subject matter very specific to our region. we also started using an external vocabulary called homosaurus, which is an internationally linked data vocabulary of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and twospirited (lgbtq2+) terms2. in hardesty and nolan’s (2021) article “mitigating bias in metadata: a use case using homosaurus linked data,” we see that other institutions, like indiana university in the u.s., have had success using homosaurus. the goal of using an external vocabulary like homosaurus always has the end user in mind. as hardesty and nolan (2021) state: providing access to controlled vocabularies created by marginalized communities and linking them to existing vocabularies such as lcsh can help make the search process more representative of the people who are using discovery systems and can connect them to resources that better represent themselves and their needs in a complex information world. (p. 1) this linked data vocabulary arrived in june 2020 and seemed to release new versions yearly. for instance, homosaurus v.3.1 was released in december 2021, and homosaurus v.3.2 was released less than a year later, in june 2022. as we created more robust local authority records for each author, we discovered biographical information that could be used to create a better record, including when authors describe themselves as queer, like canadian poet billy-ray belcourt. in that instance, we could use homosaurus in alma by using their code “homoit” and the url3. another example, in a catalog record with “indigiqueer” as a subject heading, a designation within a machine-readable cataloguing (marc) record on the 650 subject lines would be expressed as follows: 650_7 $a indigiqueer. $2 homoit $1 https://homosaurus.org/v3/homoit0001810 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 decolonizing the authority file the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 4 we had the chance to interact with the homosaurus team when we came across a term that was not in their vocabulary. joshua whitehead’s (2017) book full-metal indigiqueer: poems had us question the best word for indigiqueer. we emailed the homosaurus team and asked if there was a better term that already existed on their list. they acknowledged the gap and quickly added the term “indigiqueer” so that we could use the term in our iac bibliographic record. author metadata in addition to adding updated and more culturally appropriate subject headings to the catalogue records in the iac collection, we added further context about the indigenous background of the authors themselves. by allowing the indigenous cataloguing librarian time to focus on this project, she was able to research and present aspects about authors that may not ordinarily have been captured. researched interviews and bibliography notes were consulted to flesh out the records. additional aspects discovered include languages spoken or used by the authors outside of publishing, their demographic group or name, and biographical notes. this contextual information was captured in local authority records according to the marc 21 format for authority data (library of congress, 2022). for example, the 377 marc field for associated languages could be attributed to more than just english and include indigenous languages like dogrib when applicable. the iac records also used the library of congress demographic group term list in the 386 creator/contributor characteristics marc field, where identifiable traits like “cree (north american people)” can be listed. the iac list is far from perfect, and as a pilot project, it is in continual development. lastly, we ensured that the iac records had biographical notes in the 680 public general note field; this designation allowed us to use special characters and syllabics. for example, in the iac record for dogrib author richard van camp, we added the note: “richard van camp is a dogrib tłı ̨chǫ writer of the dene nation from fort smith, northwest territories, canada.” other data that can be captured where applicable include geographic places where the authors lived and worked in the 370 associated place field. iac records could also include expressions of these areas in the indigenous languages used by the author or linked geospatial coordinates to be machine-actionable. implications of local authority records there are advantages and disadvantages to using authority records to present this data and creating local records rather than incorporating standardized ones. including this data in the bibliographic record for a work rather than an authority record would require repeating the same information in each record if an author has written multiple works. this would work for a smaller defined collection such as the iac, but it would only be sustainable as a general practice across some collections in a more extensive catalogue. including author-specific data in bibliographic records would also deviate from including only the metadata that describes and provides access to the work. on the other hand, an authority record allows centralizing all context around an author as an entity together in one record. moreover, authority records have dedicated fields to present this type of biographical information in several fields in a structured way. if this type of metadata were added to a bibliographic record, it would most likely be entered as an unstructured written note in a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 decolonizing the authority file the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 5 biographical or historical data field. the loss of structure makes the metadata less useful and machine-actionable in a linked data capacity. the advantage of using local authority records rather than linking to nationally established authority files is that they offer the possibility of compiling and enriching our records with data that highlights these specific aspects about the authors in the collection, in this case, the authors’ indigenous context. in most cases, data elements of this nature do not already appear in standard authority records. for example, the name authority records for richard van camp from the library and archives canada and the library of congress include a cross reference of a variant form of the name along with citations of source data (virtual international authority file [viaf], n.d.). this data supports the functionality of the record of creating an established form of the author’s name that will search and gather his works efficiently. in most cases, the records do not go further with other biographical data or context relating to the author. thus, the functionality of compiling and providing further biographical context for the author is not there. however, the disadvantage of creating local authority records is that if there is already a standard authority record linked to that author in the catalogue, these new records attached to a locally added authority record become outliers. this affects the user’s ability to search and retrieve all bibliographic records for an author efficiently. there will be additional work to reconcile and possibly re-link existing records to the local heading. this will also be the case if local subject headings are created in place of, or in addition to, library of congress or canadian subject headings. a possible solution to this issue would be to submit the local name or subject authorities through the name authority or subject authority cooperative programs, which the lcr’s content services department is considering pursuing. another more fundamental issue with using authority records to compile this information is how users will access that information in the catalogue. in many current online catalogues, authority records function solely as mechanisms to index authorized headings and link cross-references for users to aid in discovery. the authorized and variant headings are indexed in our library services platform (alma/primo). users who search with a variant term are brought to records matching the authorized heading. the authority record does not display, instructing users to access or link to another form of the term, which happens automatically as part of the operability of the catalogue’s interface. the users will not see the information in the authority record. this configuration will cause a problem if the authority record is used for something other than navigation; in our case, the descriptive elements are lost to the user unless other mechanisms are used. the future: linked data fortunately, the advent of linked data formats can help to resurrect these more descriptive elements in an authority record that are not readily available to users in the discovery layer. because we have formatted the elements about our entity in a structured way, we can convert these elements into a linked data format. if we took traditional library metadata that is a humanreadable string of text (e.g., an author’s name) and added a machine-readable identifier to it (e.g., the link for a viaf or wikidata record for that author), users could draw in information about that author from these external sources (schilling, 2012). in this way, we could enrich our records with external sources and expose our data to these sources as well. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 decolonizing the authority file the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 6 one linked data format that translates library metadata to more web-conversant formats is the bibliographic framework (bibframe) (library of congress, n.d.). converting authority records into bibframe is under development, and there is currently no conversion tool for this in alma’s system4. another possibility is to convert the authority data to a wikidata instance. a wikidata instance is a structured, online, open data record that can be collaboratively edited (wikidata, 2023). in many cases, there is already a wikidata instance for the authors in the iac primarily based on the viaf. we could work on adding or mapping the aspects of language, geography, or demographic characteristics from our authority records that are not in the wikidata record. alternatively, we can map our local authority data to create a new wikidata record if it is not already there. once there is a satisfactory wikidata record, we can embed its uniform resource identifier (uri) into our local authority record. it is then possible to configure our discovery layer to retrieve the data from the wikidata instance via the uri in our authority record. the interface can then display the information from the authority record in our catalogue in the form of an “author card” or “knowledge card” (weisman, 2020). in this way, when a work by an iac author is searched in the catalogue, the added context about the author also displays. this uses our existing marc authority data in a new way and elevates and recognizes the achievements and variety of works created by indigenous canadian authors inside and outside our catalogue. workflow considerations this collection and workflow offer the opportunity to act as a pilot for testing the creation and use of local authority records and new linked data solutions in our catalogue and discovery tool. because of the different processes and issues involved with using local authority records, we must consider the scalability of implementing the process further in our catalogue. this process lends itself to specific collections and authors we want to highlight to give them more exposure. however, applying enhanced metadata in local authority records across the entire catalogue would not be feasible. other methods could be considered to bring in author metadata more efficiently, such as automatic tools to bring in and add author information from other sources. for example, ex libris is doing some work on providing a linked data author card feature in a future release (ex libris, 2023). we also need to do further work to update and decolonize more of the subject metadata across our catalogue on a larger scale. this project gives us a manageable set of subject headings to update and test. from there, we can tweak the process and test these updated headings’ impact on our catalogue. outcome this project has allowed us to test many new ways to present information on a valuable collection for lcr users. we have increased visibility and access to the iac by presenting it as an online curated collection. we updated the records’ subject headings to reflect newly revised and culturally appropriate csh and homosaurus headings. we have provided further context about indigenous authors by including value-added data to local authority records. finally, we have begun looking into possibilities to incorporate this author information in new ways. next, we will explore using our integrated library system’s upcoming features to display author cards to relevant bibliographic records and incorporating this data into wikidata. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 decolonizing the authority file the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 7 conclusion the iac is an essential collection of lcr at the university of calgary. these updated headings impact indigenous authors in our collections and catalogue. because of the nature of the collection, we wanted to decolonize and enhance the subject and author metadata in these records as we catalogued them rather than wait and develop a large-scale process across our entire catalogue. this collection allows us to test and implement new processes, vocabularies, and technologies that can be applied to other indigenous records and sets of records in our catalogue. the future research we wish to embark on examines how the collection has been accessed over its first three years. endnotes 1 the full collection can be seen on the library website at: https://ucalgary.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/collectiondiscovery?vid=01ucalg_inst:uc algary&inst=01ucalg_inst&collectionid=81811169880004336 2 homosaurus is an international linked data vocabulary of lgbtq+ terms: https://homosaurus.org/ 3 alma is an ex-libris end to end library software system (ils). 4 using a linked data standard like bibframe enhances accessibility in the larger metadata and online community, as it increases the use of machine-actionable identifiers. references delanowski, e. (2023, february 28). visit the special collections exhibit: indigenous poetry: verse from the lutz collection. retrieved february 24, 2023, from https://www.lib.sfu.ca/about/branches-depts/special-collections/indigenouspoetry ex libris. (2023). primo ve roadmap highlights. retrieved february 16, 2023, from https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/primo/product_materials/roadmap/020primo_ve _roadmap_highlights freeman, m. a. (2023, january 10). inuit. in the canadian encyclopedia. retrieved october 7, 2022, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/inuit gadacz, r. r. (2022, september 23). first nations in canada. in the canadian encyclopedia. retrieved october 7, 2022, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/first-nations gaudry, a. (2023, january 13). métis. in the canadian encyclopedia. retrieved october 7, 2022, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/metis government of canada. (2023, march 15). the numbered treaties (1871–1921). retrieved october 7, 2022, from https://www.rcaanccirnac.gc.ca/eng/1360948213124/1544620003549 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 https://ucalgary.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/collectiondiscovery?vid=01ucalg_inst:ucalgary&inst=01ucalg_inst&collectionid=81811169880004336 https://ucalgary.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/collectiondiscovery?vid=01ucalg_inst:ucalgary&inst=01ucalg_inst&collectionid=81811169880004336 https://homosaurus.org/ https://www.lib.sfu.ca/about/branches-depts/special-collections/indigenous-poetry https://www.lib.sfu.ca/about/branches-depts/special-collections/indigenous-poetry https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/primo/product_materials/roadmap/020primo_ve_roadmap_highlights https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/primo/product_materials/roadmap/020primo_ve_roadmap_highlights https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/inuit https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/first-nations https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/metis https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1360948213124/1544620003549 https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1360948213124/1544620003549 decolonizing the authority file the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 8 gyebi-ababio, h. (2021). decolonising the library: from personal experience to collective action. in j. crilly & r. everitt (eds.), narrative expansions: interpreting decolonisation in academic libraries (pp. 3–12). facet. https://doi.org/10.29085/9781783304998.003 hardesty, j. l., & nolan, a. (2021). mitigating bias in metadata: a use case using homosaurus linked data. information technology & libraries, 40(3), 1–14. https:/doi.org/10.6017/ital.v40i3.13053 hilmer, n., & mcintyre, w. d. (2022, january 23). commonwealth. in the canadian encyclopedia. retrieved october 7, 2022, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/commonwealth ibby canada. (2023). from sea to sea to sea: celebrating indigenous picture books. retrieved february 24, 2023, from https://www.ibby-canada.org/indigenous-picture-bookcollection/ king, t. (2019). 77 fragments of a familiar ruin. harper collins. library of congress. (n.d.). bibliographic framework initiative. retrieved february 27, 2023, from https://www.loc.gov/bibframe/ read alberta. (2021, july 1). prairie indigenous ebook collection. retrieved february 24, 2023, from https://readalberta.ca/libraries/the-prairie-indigenous-ebook-collection/ robinson, e. (2018). son of a trickster. vintage canada. schilling, v. (2012, september 25). transforming library metadata into linked library data. american library association. retrieved february 27, 2023, from https://www.ala.org/alcts/resources/org/cat/research/linked-data statistics canada. (2021, september 28). indigenous group of person. retrieved october 7, 2022, from https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p3var.pl?function=deci&id=1324435 thistle, j. (2019). from the ashes: my story of being métis, homeless, and finding my way. simon & schuster canada. toronto public library. (2023). native peoples collection. retrieved february 24, 2023, from https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/books-video-music/specializedcollections/native-peoples.jsp university of calgary. (n.d.). indigenous authors collection. retrieved october 7, 2022, from https://ucalgary.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/collectiondiscovery?vid=01ucalg_ inst:ucalgary&inst=01ucalg_inst&collectionid=81811169880004336 virtual international authority file. (n.d.). van camp, richard, 1971– . https://viaf.org/viaf/49451678/ https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 https://doi.org/10.29085/9781783304998.003 https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v40i3.13053 https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/commonwealth https://www.ibby-canada.org/indigenous-picture-book-collection/ https://www.ibby-canada.org/indigenous-picture-book-collection/ https://www.loc.gov/bibframe/ https://readalberta.ca/libraries/the-prairie-indigenous-ebook-collection/ https://www.ala.org/alcts/resources/org/cat/research/linked-data https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p3var.pl?function=deci&id=1324435 https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/books-video-music/specialized-collections/native-peoples.jsp https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/books-video-music/specialized-collections/native-peoples.jsp https://ucalgary.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/collectiondiscovery?vid=01ucalg_inst:ucalgary&inst=01ucalg_inst&collectionid=81811169880004336 https://ucalgary.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/collectiondiscovery?vid=01ucalg_inst:ucalgary&inst=01ucalg_inst&collectionid=81811169880004336 https://viaf.org/viaf/49451678/ decolonizing the authority file the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 9 weisman, j. (2020, april 16). a linked data author card for primo. tech blog. retrieved october 7, 2022, from https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/blog/linked-data-authorcard-for-primo/ whitehead, j. (2017). full-metal indigiqueer: poems. talonbooks. wikidata. (2023, january 22). homepage. retrieved october 7, 2022, from https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/wikidata:main_page susan dahl (susan.dahl@ucalgary.ca) is the director of content services at the university of calgary. she has been responsible for the cataloguing team at the university of calgary’s libraries and cultural resources since 2019. she works to create access to the lcr’s vast print and digital collections and is always looking to find new and innovative ways to transform cataloguing and metadata processes. before that, she held positions working in cataloguing, metadata, and research services in a variety of academic, corporate, and special libraries. she holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in library and information studies from the university of alberta. kaia macleod (kaia.macleod@ucalgary.ca) (she/her/hers) is a member of the james smith cree nation, is a recent graduate of the university of alberta mlis program (2021), and is the university of calgary's indigenous cataloging librarian. she has worked on projects like the indigenous authors collection and implementing indigenous artwork within the main library. kaia is also a 2020 ala spectrum scholar, 2020 arl kaleidoscope scholar, and a 2020 aall george a. straight minority scholarship recipient. her bachelor's degree is in film studies, which she sometimes calls a degree in "movie watching." she enjoys exploring how folklore is represented through film and online content. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39366 https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/blog/linked-data-author-card-for-primo/ https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/blog/linked-data-author-card-for-primo/ https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/wikidata:main_page mailto:susan.dahl@ucalgary.ca mailto:kaia.macleod@ucalgary.ca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 technology, power, and social inclusion: afghan refugee women’s interaction with ict in germany laura schelenz, university of tübingen, germany abstract afghan refugee women settle in germany to escape persecution by militant groups and social marginalization in afghanistan, among other things. they face challenges in germany, such as language barriers, demanding bureaucratic requirements from german administrations, and discrimination. academic and public discourses promote the information and communication technologies (ict)-enabled social inclusion of refugees into the host society. ict is widely seen as an essential tool to support refugees. against this backdrop, this paper presents a focus group study with 14 afghan refugee women in germany to understand their experiences with technology: how do afghan refugee women in germany experience ict? what structural factors influence their interaction with technology? what are the design features in an application that can support their settlement in germany? this paper uses a critical perspective inspired by black feminist theory to foreground the dynamics of power in afghan refugee women’s experiences with ict. the analysis reveals significant barriers to the participation of afghan refugee women in german digital society, like digital illiteracy and the need for safety and privacy, making accessing technology difficult. designs of ict that may benefit afghan women offer audio messages instead of text, real-time assistance, intuitive commands, and registration without an email address. apart from the analysis of afghan refugee women’s interaction with technology in german society, this paper reflects on the german migration management infrastructure and its potential to adapt more to the communication practices of refugees, including offering inperson services for afghan refugee women. keywords: afghan women; ict; power; refugees; social inclusion publication type: research article introduction t the beginning of 2022, germany hosted around 240,000 asylum seekers from afghanistan (statistisches bundesamt, 2022). asylum seekers or refugees are people who leave their home country because they have a “well-founded fear”(p. 3) of being persecuted for their race, religion, nationality, or politics (un refugee agency, 2023).1 afghan women face oppression in afghanistan due to political, economic, and cultural conflicts (wörmann, 2003). once they arrive in germany, afghan asylum seekers face language barriers, discrimination, and demanding bureaucratic requirements such as responding to german-language letters from various german administrations (abdelhady et al., 2020; die et al., 2023). to support refugees in overcoming these challenges, administrations and non-profit organizations (ngos) have teamed up with a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 2 researchers to explore the potential of information and communication technologies (ict) to foster the social inclusion of refugees. social inclusion can be understood as the possibility for “individuals, families, and communities” to “fully participate in society and control their own destinies” (warschauer, 2003, p. 8). one example of an ict project in germany is the app “integreat,” which was developed to provide information to refugees (schreieck et al., 2017a). while such solutions carry potential benefits for newcomers, they can also inhibit use due to the influence of cultural factors and social inequalities. for instance, refugees may lack the knowledge and skills of navigating ict in the first place (alam & imran, 2015; sabie & ahmed, 2019; warschauer, 2003). therefore, it is vital to understand how social factors and power relations affect refugees’ interaction with ict and how solutions can be designed to their advantage. this paper presents findings from an empirical study with 14 afghan refugee women about their attitudes toward existing technologies and visions for future innovations that can support their social inclusion in germany. the study’s findings answer the following questions: how do afghan refugee women in germany experience ict? what structural factors influence their interaction with technology? what are the design features in an application that can support their settlement in germany? qualitative data from four focus group workshops held between march and june 2022 will be analyzed, including field notes, audio recordings, transcripts, drawings, and photographs. for a critical analysis of the findings, the paper draws on black feminist theory, which theorizes social inequities and societal power relations (collins, 2000; guy-sheftall, 1996).2 the theory is increasingly applied to the study of technology, as it offers insights into the experiences of marginalized groups with mainstream technology designs (benjamin, 2019b; noble, 2016, 2018). this paper applies black feminism as a way to extend its contemporary engagement with technology design to new cultural and social contexts, namely the case of afghan refugee women in germany. the application of the theory in this paper showcases its strengths in understanding complex configurations of power in different contexts. while this research does not claim that afghan women are black women or that their experiences are the same, the analytical methods of black feminism are well suited to understanding power dynamics at play in afghan refugee women’s interactions with technology. this is because black feminism looks at structural experiences (i.e., experiences beyond an individual’s lived reality and capture broader societal dynamics). in the case of afghan women, although they are situated in a different cultural, religious, and social context than black american women, they too share experiences of marginalization that transcend individual experiences (shahalimi, 2022a, 2022b). my application of black feminism and my interpretation of afghan refugee women’s experiences is limited, though, by my background as a white german citizen. interpretations are made from an outsider's perspective, and participants’ lived reality cannot be fully grasped. the ethical implications of my position are considered in the methodology section. previous research on using ict for social inclusion is scattered across various fields, including ict for development (ict4d), human-computer interaction (hci), migration studies, media and communication studies, and information systems. previous works relevant to this paper study the use of ict by refugees and the development of apps and services for social inclusion (berg, 2021; z. chen et al., 2020; fisher, 2018; patil, 2019; schreieck et al., 2017a; schreieck, 2017b). in these works, ict is often presented as an enabler of refugees’ social inclusion in a technohttps://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 3 determinist way (e.g., galletta et al., 2019; schreieck et al., 2017a). this work challenges this notion and argues that ict can be a barrier to the social inclusion of afghan refugee women due to their experiences of marginalization and biased design. digital illiteracy, concerns over safety, and distrust of online communities limit afghan women’s participation in german digital society. the design of applications can be exclusionary if it consciously or unconsciously reproduces the needs and preferences of the majority society rather than considering the experiences of the marginalized. this paper makes three contributions to the academic and practitioner community engaged with ict for social inclusion. firstly, it presents design features proposed by study participants for an ict solution that could offer orientation to afghan refugee women in germany. this paper underlines the importance of centering marginalized people in design discussions to understand their lived reality, as proposed previously (costanza-chock, 2020; erete et al., 2018). secondly, this paper reflects on the broader infrastructural conditions for migrants’ and refugees’ integration in germany. the german migration management system is designed to increasingly rely on digital tools, which creates barriers for low-literate groups of refugees. expanding inperson services instead of developing another app may give afghan refugee women a real opportunity to become members of german society. thirdly, this paper calls to rethink the takenfor-granted benefits of ict-based social inclusion, as presented in galletta et al. (2019). contextualization: a black feminist perspective on technology, power, and social inclusion the analytical perspective applied in this paper is inspired by black feminism, a critical social theory developed by black american women that foregrounds the analysis of power, structural inequalities, and social relations in society (collins, 2000; guy-sheftall, 1996). the concept was developed as a form of resistance against the oppression of black women in the us during and after slavery. black feminism has developed analytical instruments such as “intersectionality” to understand and counter systems of oppression (collins & bilge, 2016; crenshaw, 1989, 1991). intersectionality, while contested as to its scope and meaning for a black feminist agenda (dhamoon, 2011, 2015; nash, 2008, 2019), is about the interplay of discriminatory structures. systems of oppression are designed based on socially constructed concepts like race, gender, and class that promote specific ideas about “the norm” and “the abnormal” and thus structure social relationships between groups of different skin color, genders, and economic power (davis, 1981/2011; hull et al., 1982/2010; yuval-davis, 1997/2011). intersectionality and the study of systems of oppression have been picked up and developed further in numerous contexts, including in great britain (mirza, 1997), germany (kallenberg et al., 2013; salem, 2018), and in the realm of technology studies (benjamin, 2019a, 2019b; noble, 2018; noble & tynes, 2016) and technology design (erete, 2021; erete et al., 2023). this paper adds to this application across contexts by focusing on the experiences of afghan refugee women with technology in germany. a concept relevant to this paper is “diversity,” as it relates to social inclusion. black feminists have criticized mainstream diversity discourses based on their own experiences of oppression and as part of their critical analysis of power. according to this critique, common diversity narratives promote the social inclusion of black women without fundamental, structural changes in society (s. ahmed, 2009, 2012; crawley, 2006). here, diversity and social inclusion connect because diversity efforts are expected to bring about social inclusion. nash (2019) criticizes the apolitical nature of diversity narratives in mainstream liberal discourses focusing on diversifying https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 4 college campuses. diversity is associated with positive feelings, tolerance, and multiculturalism rather than a political call for changes in racial hierarchies (s. ahmed, 2012; berrey, 2015). nash (2019) also posits that the concepts ‘diversity’ and ‘intersectionality’ are often mixed, conflated, or appropriated: “where diversity is a project of including bodies, intersectionality is an anti-subordination project, one committed to foregrounding exclusion and its effects” (p. 24). the inclusion of bodies as a diversity practice is then considered insufficient to counter existing hierarchies of power, as those “bodies” would be included in an existing unjust system. intersectionality renders power inequities visible, which is a first step towards transformation. this perspective is relevant to the present paper as it raises questions about ict-based social inclusion (if practiced as the inclusion of “bodies” in digital services without regard to power) as a potentially non-transformative practice that keeps the marginalization of afghan refugee women in place. black feminist technology studies expands the black feminist theoretical framework to investigate questions of power in the design, development, distribution, and use of technology (benjamin, 2019b; noble, 2016, 2018). in human-computer interaction (hci), black feminists have criticized the western-centric and white design of technology (erete et al., 2018; erete et al., 2021; rankin et al., 2021). this argument relates to the question: who designs the digital services that diverse populations use? with a predominantly white and male perspective in silicon valley (boyd, 2019; wachter-boettcher, 2017), technology may incorporate the implicit biases of this group and marginalize the needs and preferences of users of color (benjamin, 2019a; hankerson et al., 2016). noble (2018) posits that “[t]he human and machine errors [coming to light in recent years] are not without consequence, and there are several cases that demonstrate how racism and sexism are part of an architecture and language of technology” (p. 9). while noble’s perspective has to be understood within the context of institutionalized racism due to the history of enslavement in the united states (alexander, 2012; aclu, 2021; hinton, 2021), this perspective is relevant to this research because afghan refugee women are situated in a position where they experience structural discrimination (shahalimi, 2022b; wörmann, 2003). the effects of these experiences should be considered when designing digital services for social inclusion (erete et al., 2018). furthermore, a critical perspective on diversity efforts, such as developing ict for refugees’ social inclusion, sheds light on the politics involved. according to keshavarz (2020), when designing ict for refugees, we have to keep in mind that european border regimes with hightech “shields” against refugees (i.e., cameras, tracking devices, biometric surveillance) are designed as well. they are designed to keep “the other” out and away from european wealth and comfort (keshavarz, 2020). from a black feminist perspective on structural discrimination, the techno-socially mediated relations between europe and refugees must be considered when discussing one-off ict solutions that are promoted as fundamental to social inclusion. background: structural experiences of afghan women this section offers an overview of the structural experiences of afghan women in afghanistan and germany and their interaction with ict. structural experiences refer to a lived reality observed across individual contexts. structural experiences are big-picture trends of how a person belonging to a particular social group is received and treated in society. this section focuses on widely shared experiences of afghan women in their home country, in the host country, germany, and when they engage with technology. three insights from black feminism https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 5 help present the experiences of afghan refugee women. guidance from black feminism does not imply that afghan women are black women or that their experiences are the same. instead, insights about black women as a marginalized group in the us offer inspiration for analyzing marginalized women in other contexts. the first insight is that different configurations of oppression and privilege may affect group members. oppression refers to the systematic deprivation of resources of one group by another group, including material items, knowledge, and power (collins, 2000). this oppression is based on perceived features of group members (which are social constructs marking differences), such as their race, ethnicity, religion, class, gender, and sexuality. privilege means a person enjoys unearned societal advantages (mcintosh, 1988). the second insight is about the structural experiences of black women. according to collins (2000), not every individual black woman has to experience oppression for it to be a structural experience of most black women. this means a structural experience remains structural even if an individual has a different experience. this paper does not claim that the experiences of afghan refugee women are homogenous. there is diversity in the group of afghan refugee women, with some being highly educated, running their businesses, and being financially independent, while others are socio-economically marginalized (putnam, 2021; shahalimi, 2022a). nevertheless, this research conveys the bigger picture (i.e., a structural understanding) of political, economic, and cultural influences on the lives of afghan women. third, there is a dialectic of oppression and resistance that shapes the experiences of black women (collins, 2000). generalizing this insight means that a marginalized group may be oppressed but simultaneously resist this oppression and become an agentic group. in terms of ict, an example is the appropriation of technology by marginalized groups that has been designed by and for members of the majority society (martinez demarco, 2023). such appropriation can be part of an empowering strategy that uplifts the voices of previously underrepresented groups. the third insight about the dialectic of oppression and resistance is particularly relevant for presenting afghan women’s experiences. given the persisting global narratives about the victimhood of afghan women (abdelkarim, 2021; ellis et al., 2007), it is vital to avoid falling into the trap of reinforcing such narratives. for example, afghan women should not be presented as helpless in terms of using ict. this study shows that afghan women have their own suggestions for technology design. at the same time, it is important to recognize structural disadvantages, especially in the context of research with afghan women. for example, afghan refugee women’s situation of deprivation in germany may influence their ability to give informed consent to participate in the study presented in this paper (ellis et al., 2007). i will begin with the situation of afghan women in afghanistan. on august 15, 2021, the militant islamist fundamentalist group taliban took over the government in afghanistan. subsequently, the situation for afghan women and girls has deteriorated to the extent that women are beaten and imprisoned for leaving the house without a male guardian (pbs newshour, 2022). also, before the taliban takeover, afghan women experienced oppression from taliban fighters and warlords. given threats from these groups, afghan women have barely received education, let alone political power (joya & o'keefe, 2010). although educational opportunities increased significantly for girls between 2001 and 2020, women’s literacy rate is around 30 % (unesco institute for lifelong learning, 2020). traditional customs and strict interpretations of islam https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 6 make it more difficult for afghan women to participate in public life, the economy, and politics (nordland et al., 2019; wörmann, 2003). insights into the contemporary experiences of afghan women are offered in nahid shahalimi’s book we are still here: afghan women on courage, freedom, and the fight to be heard, first published in german in 2021 (shahalimi, 2022a, 2022b). the author emphasizes the patriarchal nature of afghan society with a divide between conservatives and liberals. the family's male members strongly influence a woman’s life, representing her publicly and managing her wealth (shahalimi, 2022b). progressive afghans support women’s education, while conservatives prescribe women’s role in the household (shahalimi, 2022b). conservative forces like the council of mullahs and the taliban enforce strict rules that prohibit women from dancing, singing, or following a career (shahalimi, 2022b). women in politics are threatened with death (shahalimi, 2022b). these power configurations, like gender hierarchies, influence afghan women’s relationships with technology. the patriarchal afghan society pressures women to be reserved, which means not sharing content, photos, and real names on social media (n. ahmed et al., 2022; hussain & amin, 2018; nader, 2020). women in afghanistan are also conscious of the fact that they could be (sexually) harassed online without legal remedy or support from the family (n. ahmed et al., 2022). at the same time, ict can be a tool to circumvent rigid gender regimes. putnam (2021) finds that afghan businesswomen rely on ict to run their businesses anonymously, thus not visibly violating social norms. when fleeing from afghanistan to germany, afghan women face hardship similar to other refugees (berg, 2022). in the host country, refugees face insecurities about the outcome of an asylum application and deportation (suerbaum, 2021), as well as poor living conditions and economic marginalization (lewis et al., 2015). germany has a specific configuration of bureaucracy and power. there is enormous pressure from authorities on all refugees to fulfill bureaucratic obligations and follow the correct legal processes, which no less affects afghan women (abdelhady et al., 2020). furthermore, afghan refugee women experience islamophobia and racism. especially after 9/11, afghan women have been portrayed as terrorists in western media (osman, 2019). at the same time, afghan women are considered victims in need of saving, which obscures their activism for women’s rights, education, and political involvement (joya & o'keefe, 2010). indeed, afghan women have actively protested their oppression in political campaigns, as local leaders, and online (joya & mallett, 2009; shahalimi, 2022b). ict supports these political efforts to campaign for afghan women's rights because it allows women to voice their opinions online, receive remote education, and work from home (code to inspire, 2015; shahalimi, 2022b). a concrete example is the launch of social media campaigns such as #whereismyname to support afghan women’s rights (nader, 2020). state of the art: ict use by refugees and designing for social inclusion previous research about the use of ict for the social inclusion of refugees is scattered across scientific communities. ict4d studies the potential of ict to assist the self-help and development of refugees’ livelihoods in host countries (bock et al., 2020; schreieck et al., 2017a). hci also has a research stream on ict and development that deals with refugee and migrant experiences (sabie et al., 2021). information systems investigates the use of ict by refugees. examples https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 7 include the workshops “empowering refugees with technology: best practices and research agenda” at the european conference on information systems 2017 and “leveraging technology for refugee integration: how can we help?” at the international conference on information systems 2016 (galletta et al., 2019). communication and media studies is interested in refugees' digital, multimedia, and information literacy (alam & imran, 2015; lloyd et al., 2013). new fields have also formed around ict and (forced) migration, such as “digital migration studies” (leurs & smets, 2018). this section brings together previous research from different disciplinary backgrounds, covering the experiences of refugees with ict in host countries and the design of ict for refugees’ social inclusion. my research extends prior work in the following ways: firstly, it fills a gap since afghan refugee women’s use of ict in germany has not received attention. although previous research has looked at refugees’ experiences in germany, these refugees have been groups of various nationalities. conducting research specific to afghan women sheds light on a group situated uniquely in german society due to social, cultural, and political factors. secondly, this paper challenges previous research that exclusively promotes the benefits of ict without critical reflection. while i do not deny the potential advantages of using ict for isolated goals related to social inclusion, there are limitations to using ict for social inclusion, and these limitations should be considered in a german program for integration and migration management. in previous works studying refugees’ use of ict, refugees were portrayed as heavy users of technology (patil, 2019), and ict was characterized as refugees’ “lifelines to the past, present, and future” (fisher, 2018, p. 100). in the german context, kreß and kutscher (2016) reported that refugees first buy a sim card and create a facebook, whatsapp, and email account. in a study with refugee women in germany, berg (2022) showed that ict is crucial to women’s wellbeing because it offers access to language training, emotional support from family members back home, and distraction through entertainment. ict provides access to spirituality, as online videos of religious leaders reciting the quran can be consumed without being present in a mosque (akca, 2020). a significant barrier to ict use is the lack of internet access in refugee accommodations in germany (berg, 2022). this was also shown in a study with unaccompanied refugee youth who use public wi-fi in fast food chains (kreß & kutscher, 2016). while ict is essential to communicate with families back home, there are also downsides. unaccompanied refugee girls experience surveillance by families who are concerned about their conduct in germany (thomas et al., 2018). stories of war at home reach refugee children via social media, which may cause psychological distress (thomas et al., 2018). witteborn (2015) found that communication with families exposes refugees to unrealistic expectations (i.e., finding suitable employment and sending money to afghanistan) because families are unaware of the hardships refugees experience in germany. social media can offer a remedy by allowing refugees to create their own identity and speak out “against restrictive asylum laws and social marginalization” (witteborn, 2015, p. 363). some research focuses specifically on the use of ict by afghan refugees. in canada, afghan refugee women use ict to learn english and find accommodation (quirke, 2012). in a study with afghan refugees in iran, jauhiainen et al. (2022) noted that afghan refugees who grew up in iran, a neighboring country of afghanistan, had access to ict in their youth, while afghan refugees born in afghanistan lacked such access. afghans living abroad may thus have more experience with ict than afghans in afghanistan. in a study with afghan sikh refugees in india, pandey and ilavarasan (2019) found that social media increased their social and economic capital. facebook https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 8 groups were utilized to share cultural events in the host country that reminded afghans of their traditions. previous works have emphasized the potential of ict to support the social inclusion of refugees in host societies. galletta et al. (2019) presented a research agenda for their paper, "ict-enabled integration of refugees," where they argued that through access to digital services (i.e., mobile health apps), ict empowers marginalized groups to collaborate and share with others in the public sphere. in germany, several apps have been developed with the motivation to ease the settlement of refugees: the app “ankommen [arrival]” by the german federal ministry of migration and refugees; the app “welcome” by heinrich & reuter solutions gmbh; the app “integreat” by tür a tür – digitalfabrik ggmbh (schreieck et al., 2017a). the app integreat is a frequent best practice example for refugees’ ict-based social inclusion (i.e., galletta et al., 2019). it allows local administrations to provide accurate and timely information to refugees in various languages and in a centralized manner (schreieck et al., 2017a; schreieck et al., 2017b). information retrieval was also at the heart of a design probe for a chatbot that answers refugees' questions (z. chen et al., 2020). the chatbot was developed with economic migrants in finland and breaks down information into easily consumable pieces, making information-seeking more pleasant. in australia, almohamed et al. (2018) developed a prototype website that connects refugees to ngos. through the matching via the website, volunteers could assist refugees with questions of citizenship and visa applications (almohamed et al., 2018). brown and grinter (2016) observed that language is a crucial challenge for refugees arriving in the us. to assist refugees’ interaction with volunteers, brown and grinter (2016) developed “rivrtran [refugee ivr translation],” which is a messaging platform that provides translations between refugees and their host families. external volunteers make translations with a slight delay, which is suitable for less urgent interactions (brown & grinter, 2016). weibert et al. (2019) designed “language wizard,” an app that helps refugees in germany find (free) language classes by quickly navigating different types of classes, costs, and eligibility to enroll. getting around in their new environment is another challenge for refugees. to assist refugees in understanding accommodation and transportation in the us, baranoff et al. (2015) developed “lantern.” based on near-field communication, refugees can scan a sticker on a door or wall and receive immediate assistance. such works focus on the benefits of ict in addressing refugees’ challenges, including information gaps, language, and navigation of new environments. literature acknowledging the limitations of ict use for social inclusion is rare. among the few works offering a critical perspective on ict development for refugees’ social inclusion is alam and imran (2015), who investigated the relationship between access to ict and social inclusion. they find that the availability of ict for integration purposes is not enough. refugees also need digital literacy skills and the financial means to afford broadband. keshavarz (2020) criticized the “blind” designing of ict solutions for refugees while the same refugees are systematically prevented from entering the european union or deported. he argued that designers lack awareness of the politics behind refugees’ “social inclusion” and called for a justice movement. critical perspectives on the design of ict for refugees thus qualify the affirmative discourse that focuses only on the benefits of ict. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 9 figure 1. screenshot of the dari-language app “ask for help” methodology this empirical study involved 14 afghan refugee women between the ages of 20 and 50 in a large city in germany. the study was conducted in four workshops between march and june 2022 in cooperation with an ngo for the rights of afghan women. participants were recruited via the internal communication channels of the ngo, including a telegram chat group, phone, and personal contact. participants had different levels of education; three had a high-school diploma or higher education; three did not go to school whatsoever; and the other participants had between three and seven years of school experience. this study used focus group discussions to gather data. focus groups are considered appropriate methods to generate insights into the attitudes of a group but also to identify disagreement https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 10 (bloor et al., 2001). conducting focus groups with ethnic minorities requires adjusting elements of the method to the culture at hand (colucci, 2008). my colleague at the ngo and i thus made culturally sensitive considerations. afghan society has a strict segregation of gender in public spaces. interacting with men outside the family can be seen as immoral (shahalimi, 2022b). the instructor, translator, and participants were all female. given my german nationality and lack of dari language skills (dari is one of the major languages spoken in afghanistan), the ngo worker served as a translator and cultural mediator. for refugees, german authoritative figures can be associated with government administrations and the struggle for legal recognition. the presence of the ngo worker, whom participants knew beforehand, provided reassurance. no meetings were scheduled during the month of ramadan (an important muslim religious practice). due to some participants’ illiteracy, focus group exercises used visual and oral elements (table 1). table 1. list of exercises conducted during focus groups exercise # name activity 1 pile sorting and ranking (colucci, 2007, p.1425) participants reflected on how ict services created positive and negative experiences for them. 2 choosing among alternatives (colucci, 2007, p.1425) participants reflected on their preferences for communicating with an online community or family and friends. 3 testing the chatbot “ask for help” (z. chen et al., 2020) the participants downloaded and tested the chatbot “ask for help.” 4 roleplaying (colucci, 2007, p. 1427) two participants enacted a scene where a designer and a tester talk about the chatbot “ask for help.” 5 storytelling (colucci 2007, p. 1426) the participants each told one sentence of a story about the development of an app. 6 drawing a picture (colucci, 2007, p. 1428); fisher et al., 2016); almohamed et al., 2020) participants drew a technology that can help afghan refugee women adjust to life in germany. the focus groups involved the use of the chatbot “ask for help,” which was developed in an eu-funded research project where i worked as an ethics researcher. the text-based chatbot was built on top of telegram and allowed users to ask questions in a community (schelenz et al., 2021). the chatbot’s algorithms pick a user from the community who is deemed best suited to answer the question. the chatbot then allows communication and the sharing of expertise in a pool of individuals with similar or different social practices and skills. it can facilitate mutual help with specific tasks or questions. although the chatbot was initially developed with students, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 11 its potential to support refugees should be explored. z. chen et al. (2020) showed that chatbots can be helpful tools for migrants and refugees during the orientation phase in a new country. for this reason, the chatbot was translated into dari and tested with a group of afghan women. the study used elements from participatory design. participatory design is a method that engages the stakeholders (mostly anticipated users) of a technology in its design (bustamante duarte et al., 2018). the study's primary objective was to survey participants' attitudes towards ict, not necessarily develop an ict solution. the prototype chatbot was a starting point to solicit participant feedback on ict design. if the chatbot had been subject to development together with the participants, the study would have required the inclusion of participants in the first stages of participatory design (i.e., developing a scenario with participants, surveying needs, and collecting design suggestions) (bustamante duarte et al., 2018). participatory design was applied particularly when participants imagined future technologies for afghan refugee women’s social inclusion in germany. the analysis was conducted in english, based on my field notes, as well as transcripts of recorded focus groups, which were translated from dari into english. i used the qualitative content analysis (qca) method to identify reoccurring themes that shaped the discourse among participants (mayring, 2000). qca is a method where empirical phenomena, experiences, and values are identified through qualitative text analysis and connected to theory. i circled words that stood out in the transcripts, color-coded statements according to emerging themes, and connected them by drawing lines to other text parts. the themes from the material were privacy and safety concerns, distrust, digital illiteracy, uncertainty and insecurity, and preferences for ict solutions that constitute an alternative to existing designs. these themes were then considered in relation to black feminist insights about structural inequalities and dynamics of power. the results of this theoretical contextualization of the empirical material are presented theme by theme in the section of this paper detailing the results. ethical considerations the study was approved by the department of philosophy ethics committee at the university of tübingen. in preparation for the study, a data protection impact assessment was conducted in line with the european union general data protection regulation (european parliament, 2016). the information sheet and consent form were translated into dari and verbally explained to the participants. all participants signed the consent form, agreeing to the audio recording of focus groups and data collection via the chatbot. despite this, questions remain about the quality of consent. the study took place at the ngo headquarters, and an ngo worker was present during all workshops. since the ngo provides essential services to the women (i.e., language classes, counseling), consent may have been given out of respect or for fear of losing support from the ngo (ellis et al., 2007). beyond informed consent, research with refugees requires further ethical considerations. power relations between the researcher and refugees are not equal. this inequality puts a moral obligation on the researcher to contribute to the improvement of participants’ situations (mackenzie et al., 2007). the study considered this moral obligation in the following ways: the first workshop was dedicated to building trust and a positive working atmosphere; breakfast was provided in all four workshops; and all participants received a gift and a certificate at the end of the study. the nature of the gift, which was a voucher for a drug store chain, was disclosed at the end of the study to prevent participants’ socioeconomic precarity from coercing them to https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 12 participate. finally, the research presented here will be broken down into a one-pager in simple german and dari and handed to participants. biases of the study may emerge from inclusion and exclusion factors. facilitators at the ngo targeted, particularly, dari-speaking afghan women. the workshop was held in dari/farsi (the iranian ngo worker spoke farsi, which is very similar to dari except for specific vocabulary.), and the chatbot “ask for help” was translated into dari. however, afghanistan is a multi-lingual country with dari and pashto as main languages and multiple other spoken languages. some potential participants may have been excluded because dari is not their first language. during recruitment, we asked potential participants to bring a smartphone, and this may also have been an exclusion factor because not all afghan refugee women have access to a smartphone. positionality of the author and implications my positionality as a german citizen has implications for the research and its results. i am an outsider in the group of afghan refugee women. i was also perceived as an authority figure during the study, which means that interactions between participants may have been adapted to my presence. interpretation of the data was done without consultation of the participants due to resource constraints. this poses the risk of misinterpretation. moreover, due to my privilege, i am unable to grasp the lived reality of afghan refugee women. these constraints may lead to complicity in colonial practices of knowledge production about afghan refugee women. following lazem et al. (2022), this paper falls into the category of a western postcolonial approach rather than a decolonial practice. while the research sheds light on an underserved community, it speaks about afghan refugee women to a western audience. as such, it does not actively counter western colonial ways of knowledge production. notwithstanding this concern or flaw, i decided to pursue this research to drive attention to the complexities and intersectionalities of the nuanced experiences of marginalized women’s use of technology (ellis et al., 2007). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 13 results safety and privacy concerns one theme emerging from the qualitative data was afghan refugee women’s concern for safety and privacy, especially safe communication with relatives in afghanistan. in the exercise “pile sorting and ranking,” participants were asked to sort pieces of paper with the logo of an ict service to their emotions towards those services. this exercise helped them express their attitudes towards different apps (figure 2). figure 2. results of focus group exercise “pile sorting and ranking” many participants “loved” whatsapp and imo. the latter was explicitly mentioned, although it was not included in the given examples. one participant said whatsapp allowed her to communicate with her family and friends in afghanistan. several participants agreed, but they also expressed the value of security. one participant stated: “we like whatsapp because it has good security. a whatsapp account cannot be hacked easily.” the group asked me about the likelihood that governments or individuals hacked their phones. they wanted to know how they could protect their phones and which mobile brands were the safest. participants’ concerns about safety may be attributed to their experiences with persecution by militant groups. they may be afraid of the taliban or other groups surveilling their families. this extends previous findings that point to refugees’ awareness of government surveillance and abuse by militant groups through ict (mancini et al., 2019). in their interaction with ict, afghan refugee women may then want to rely on privacy-aware services but lack expertise in navigating the landscape https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 14 of privacy affordances of different apps. here, digital literacy training could help empower afghan refugee women to protect their own and their family’s privacy. another reason for valuing safety and privacy in online communication may be gender norms, as they prescribe “appropriate” behavior for women in the physical world but also online. in afghan society, it is considered inappropriate for women to interact with men outside of the family. safety and privacy may prevent unsolicited contact with strangers and avoid conflicts in the family. one participant in the study complained that she was contacted by a stranger via instagram. she was concerned that strangers could see her private photos. she asked how she could prevent strangers from contacting her on instagram. another participant shared her skepticism about the true identity of other users: “i’m saying, it is possible that someone writes to you and says they are this person. however, they are lying in this moment, and they are not this person.” this reflects the fear of interacting with a fake profile. participants were also aware of the real-life consequences of privacy violations. one participant shared a negative experience with facebook. back in afghanistan, she wanted to share a photo of her new haircut with a friend. she did not understand that posts are seen publicly unless settings are changed, and she accidentally sent the photo to the public. given the norm of wearing a headscarf in public, the accidental posting caused severe conflict in her family. these findings confirm previous research. n. ahmed et al. (2022) highlighted the difficulty of afghan women juggling online visibility with family expectations and their protection against sexual harassment. girls are significantly affected by the family’s scrutiny (thomas et al., 2018). in this context, n. ahmed et al. (2022) discussed the challenge of designing ict solutions for afghan women. if conservative gender regimes motivate afghan refugee women’s interest in privacy, then culturally sensitive design, in this case, reaffirms patriarchal systems (n. ahmed et al., 2022). distrust another theme identified in the qualitative data was afghan refugee women’s distrust of online communities. this is reflected by the earlier quote about the threat of fake profiles. in the exercise “choosing among alternatives,” participants were confronted with a topic and had to decide whether they would ask a question about this topic to an online group or their friends and family in person (figure 3). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 15 figure 2. results of focus group exercise “choosing among alternatives” the topics ranged from finding employment to finding an afghan restaurant to advice about a child’s illness to getting married. the group disagreed in this exercise. depending on the participants’ prior experiences, they had higher or lower standards for trust. in general, though, participants were more on the skeptical side towards online communities. one participant expressed value in having a social media group consisting of her many friends and relatives. given the large size of afghan families, her question would reach numerous trusted individuals. another participant argued that a big group with unknown people always meant many answers, which can be confusing. asking just one highly trusted person guaranteed a straightforward and reliable answer. for sensitive topics like marriage, one participant questioned other users’ intentions in a more extensive chat group: “there are some people that you don’t know, and they don’t want good things for you and will betray you behind your back.” another participant questioned the efficiency of asking about marriage in a big group: “everybody has their opinion, and it will not have a good result.” given participants’ skepticism towards asking questions in a chat group, especially for personal issues, chat groups may not be appropriate for seeking advice.3 in-person interaction in smaller groups or one-on-one may be more valuable. this confirms previous research by quirke (2012), who reported in her study on afghan refugee women in canada that “the most trusted settlement information sources are people [instead of technology], including family, friends, teachers and settlement workers” (p. 536). hence, in-person contact when asking for help may be more attractive to afghan refugee women than ict solutions. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 16 digital illiteracy a relevant issue to the group of afghan women was digital illiteracy. this became clear during the testing of the telegram-based chatbot “ask for help.” the onboarding process that allows users to register in the chatbot was too complicated and caused frustration. the onboarding consisted of multiple steps: locating the chatbot in telegram, following english-language instructions to register an account on the website of the eu project that was developing the chatbot, checking the email inbox (spam folder), and clicking the link therein for confirmation, filling in a profile, and returning to the chatbot and accessing a link to agree to the data processing guidelines. although the chatbot itself was translated into dari, the user had to register an account following english-language instructions before being able to specify the language in their profile. none of the participants had english-language knowledge. in addition, some of the participants did not have an email address. the ngo worker and i registered email accounts for them so that they were able to use the chatbot at all. one participant expressed her frustration: i’m talking for myself! i actually cannot use this. i cannot download or upload these requirements for this chatbot. i don’t have an email address or gmail. then how can i ask for your help [in the chatbot]? you are doing all this for me. (study participant, n.d.) difficulty in navigating the chatbot partly stems from participants’ lack of digital literacy, which can be attributed to the violence-induced lack of education in afghanistan. digital illiteracy is also observed in steinbrink et al. (2021), who demonstrated that afghan refugees in germany have particularly low digital literacy compared to other nationalities. however, the design of the chatbot also produced barriers. the latin alphabet, english language, and text-based communication in the onboarding process made usage of the chatbot difficult for participants (warschauer, 2003). the design of the chatbot “ask for help” reflects designers’ bias that users’ preferred mode of communication is through written exchange. dell and kumar (2016) emphasized the importance of moving from text-based designs to voice and graphics when designing for low-literate populations. almohamed et al. (2020) also stress the advantage of having voice-based assistants for refugees to retrieve information and book appointments. another issue that came up in the study was the accessibility of the chatbot for afghan refugee women who had just arrived in germany. in a roleplaying exercise, participants enacted a conversation between a designer of the chatbot “ask for help” and a user. one participant playing the user observed: “when somebody is new to this country, she doesn’t know about this chatbot.” another participant said, “there are times that the person does not have a sim card.” several ideas were raised to circumvent these barriers: the chatbot could be pre-installed on any phone and immediately usable; it could be advertised at the immigration office and in reception camps; a phone having the chatbot installed could be shared with newcomers; a web version of the chatbot could be accessed via an internet café or ngo computer. hence, creativity in tapping the sharing economy and cooperating with technology providers, administrations, and public services might reduce barriers to accessing ict. uncertainty and insecurity the study revealed that participants had a strong feeling of uncertainty and insecurity when interacting with the chatbot. one issue was uncertainty about the peers’ availability. not https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 17 knowing whether another user would see and respond to a question sent to the chatbot made participants feel vulnerable. the chatbot matches the question of user a with a competent user b, who answers in their own time. user a must then wait for user b to answer the question. this delay in answering a question clashed with afghan refugee women’s everyday needs for realtime assistance, like navigation. one participant described the problem: i have moved to this country recently, and i want to find an address. to find this address, i want to use my phone and this chatbot to ask for your help. unfortunately, i will wait and wait for five, 10, and 15 minutes and i don’t receive any answers. now i’m waiting in a square in the city and don’t know what to do. (study participant, n,d.) the discontent with a service that offers delayed communication can be attributed to language barriers and cultural unfamiliarity with german infrastructures. while most individuals may prefer a quick answer to a question, afghan women are dependent on real-time digital assistance in the case of navigation as they cannot ask a person in the street for help due to language barriers. participants criticized that the chatbot design does not allow the user to see if user b has already seen the question like they can in other app services that provide a read confirmation via tick marks. the participants stressed that they preferred other online services, like whatsapp, over the chatbot for urgent tasks. an ict solution for afghan refugee women’s social inclusion should thus offer reassurance that the community of peers is reachable at an instant. another issue was insecurity caused by confusion around the features of the chatbot. participants were unable to register in the chatbot and later had difficulty navigating the app, which caused frustration. in previous research, talhouk et al. (2019) found that refugees experience frustration with failing technology. if technology does not work properly or refugees note that they are unable to use it, their self-confidence decreases, and their motivation to participate in finding design solutions may be compromised. given afghan refugee women’s experiences of uncertainty in critical areas of their lives (i.e., the survival of their family in afghanistan, the outcome of their asylum application, financial insecurity), experiences of failure with the chatbot may compound psychological distress. ict for afghan refugee women should thus foster even the most minor experiences of success to support well-being and confidence. preferences for an ict solution for afghan refugee women’s social inclusion throughout the study, participants voiced their preferences for ict-based solutions that support afghan refugee women’s integration into german society. the discussion of the shortcomings of the chatbot “ask for help” led to suggestions for improved design features. they are summarized and linked to their underlying value in table 2. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 18 table 2. design features for an ict solution that can support afghan refugee women’s social inclusion supported value design feature explanation and examples reassurance real-time assistance the ict solution connects users to real people in an instance who can assist them with urgent tasks. read confirmation the ict solution makes it transparent if a request or message was seen by the respondent. safety trusted respondents the ict solution connects users to trusted individuals, like family and friends, volunteers, and ngo workers. good privacy and security conversations in the ict solution must be private, so outsiders cannot contact the user. independence self-efficacy access without the help of others the ict solution can be set up without the help of others. no english language, no latin alphabet the ict solution uses arabic letters, if there is text at all, and the native language of users. audio feature the ict solution should be audio-based or, if necessary, text-based and offer an audio option. easy to use any commands or features must be intuitive. straightforward registration and simple interface the registration process must be straightforward; the ict solution does not require an email address to create an account. experience of success the ict solution promotes moments of success through simple navigation and good results well-being friendly communication the ict solution ensures that communication is polite and respectful. positive feedback the ict solution provides reassurance when the ict was used correctly to reduce insecurity of the user (i.e., “you did great,” “this worked,” “well done”). in a “storytelling” exercise, participants each completed one sentence of a story. in this story, an afghan designer from kabul was researching the needs of afghan women for an app. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 19 participants came up with the following features for an app: communication like video chatting and phone calls, but the conversations should be kept private; trustworthiness, “so that the girls feel comfortable to talk in it;” german language training; informational and educational services; and entertainment. in the exercise “draw a picture,” the participants imagined real or fictional technologies for afghan refugee women. figure 4 shows a magic car that becomes invisible when crossing a border. asylum seekers are not allowed to leave germany until their case is decided. figure 3. drawing: a car invisibly crosses borders the car allows refugees to still visit families and friends across europe. the magic glasses in figure 5 allow afghan women to read any document in their native language. moving through foreign countries and reading road signs but also reviewing letters from the job center in germany, the glasses enable real-time translation. figure 4. drawing: magic glasses https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 20 technologies closer to existing ones were also imagined. one participant developed the idea of an “afghan app,” which focuses on translation. another participant extended this idea to include non-afghans in the app. she imagined “a public or global app with different languages and, like youtube, with different pages for different purposes: for example, ‘doctor page’ [to find medical advice].” such a general app should also help users find an attorney, learn german, navigate abroad and in germany, and find friends. one participant imagined an app “like a psychotherapist so that i can share my problems with [it].” however, not all imagined solutions were technology-based. one participant imagined an ngo from afghan women for afghan women: “[…] apart from translating the letters from the job center, we could help to solve more serious and fundamental problems of these women.” the participant’s idea stresses the importance of programs that are not ict-based but rather connect afghan refugee women with each other in person. discussion information and communication are essential to social inclusion because they are the tools to bridge divides between the newcomer and the host society in terms of cultural and social practices, resources, and skills. social inclusion is at risk when newcomers lack the information practices required to participate in communication (lloyd et al., 2013). the study results in this paper suggest that afghan refugee women are challenged by navigating the digital mode of information and communication in germany. challenges in accessing ict can be experienced by numerous groups including german elders, but reasons for a lack of access may differ. in the case of afghan refugee women, experiences with technology are shaped by culturally specific gender configurations, their persecution by militant groups, and a severe deprivation of education. these experiences are intersectional and should be considered when designing ict-based solutions for afghan refugee women’s social inclusion, as centering marginalized communities in technology design, can be a step toward social justice (costanza-chock, 2020). however, it would be short-sighted to merely focus on improving one-off design solutions. instead, the design of germany’s migration management infrastructure produces barriers to social inclusion. refugees must rely on the use of digital services to receive essential services. in some cities in germany, making an appointment at the immigration office requires the use of a web browser, an email address, and filling out a lengthy online form. sabie and ahmed (2019) argue that “[t]he political values that a state embeds in its infrastructure thus determine the quality of access of migrants to the critical services of their life” (p. 219). the (infra)structural exclusion as it presents itself for afghan refugee women in germany is further exacerbated by the common narrative that refugees are heavy users of technology and benefit from ict (fisher, 2018; galletta et al., 2019; patil, 2019). to counter their exclusion, large-scale digital literacy classes need to be implemented for afghan refugee women during their orientation in germany. this said, providing large-scale digital literacy training would present a one-sided integration of afghan refugee women into german society. afghan refugee women must adapt to german communication practices in a one-sided manner. social inclusion is all too often seen as the adoption of white, male, and christian practices by the cultural “other” instead of coming from both sides of the sociocultural divide and meeting in the middle (berrey, 2015). an alternative approach would be to reconfigure power relations and redistribute resources to ensure that those who are marginalized can become full members of society. in this vein, in-person services for https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 21 low-literate refugees should be considered to foster social inclusion. these in-person services must be provided in a welcoming manner and defy any discriminatory treatment. previous research suggests that in-person services can increase trust (quirke, 2012) and be meeting points for afghan refugee women to connect and socialize (warschauer, 2003). conclusion this paper has investigated the experiences of afghan refugee women in interaction with technology. ultimately, it has raised the following issues: while ict solutions can support the social inclusion of afghan refugee women in aspects like communication with peers and ngos as well as navigation, they are not the only and not necessarily the most effective ways to foster inclusion. this is because experiences of marginalization, including a lack of digital literacy, rigid gender regimes, and the fear of persecution by militant groups shape afghan refugee women’s needs for trustworthy and simple-to-use ict. to ensure that afghan women can take advantage of ict designed for refugees, the design must center their needs, for instance by offering audio features, intuitive commands and navigation, real-time assistance, and registration without an email address. in addition, digital literacy classes are required to help afghan refugee women adapt to the increasingly digital communication practices prevalent in german society, especially when it comes to interaction with administrations. finally, it is crucial to offer in-person services to afghan refugee women and other low-literature refugees (and even low-literate german citizens, for that matter). in-person services can meet expectations of trust and safety and allow for in-person contact between the host society and refugees and among the refugees themselves. in thinking about how german society may develop new strategies to meet the growing demand for social inclusion of newcomers, three avenues for social inclusion should be followed: (1) provide ict services that center the needs and assets of refugees in their design; (2), offer free-of-cost digital literacy training to refugees; and (3) establish in-person services based on trust and kindness. this three-fold approach can meet the diversity of practices and experiences among refugees and can be a comprehensive blueprint for social inclusion with and without technology. endnotes 1 for the purpose of this paper, there is no distinction between refugees and asylum seekers. the german legal system makes a distinction, though. refugees have received a case review and were determined as being under threat of persecution in their home country, thus they are “real” refugees. asylum seekers have claimed to be refugees but have not yet received a review of their case by the german authorities. this paper is interested in the lived reality of afghan technology-users who have fled their country rather than in their legal status under the german system. therefore, the terms refugee, asylum seeker, and forced migrant are used interchangeably. 2 black feminism has been developed in numerous contexts, including great britain and african countries. this paper uses a us-centric version of black feminism as black feminists in the united states have engaged heavily with technology-related discourses in recent years (see benjamin 2019b; noble 2016, 2018). the paper builds on these discussions and extends the application of black feminist theory to other cultural and social contexts to show its strength as a framework for structural analyses beyond a specific historical and socio-cultural context. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 22 3 these findings may not necessarily be specific to afghan women but apply to various individuals who value their privacy. nevertheless, the findings have implications for attempts to design ict for social inclusion, as designs involving a bigger chat group may not be adopted by afghan women. acknowledgments this research has received funding from the european union's horizon 2020 fet proactive project “wenet the internet of us,” grant agreement no. 823783. additional funding was received through digilog@bw—digitalisation in dialogue, funded by the ministerium fuer wissenschaft, forschung und kunst baden-wuerttemberg, germany, with resources for digitalization efforts of the state of baden-württemberg digital@bw. i thank prof. astrid franke, university of tübingen, and prof. daniel gatica perez, epfl, for their valuable advice. thanks also to members of the ph.d. colloquium of prof. astrid franke for their feedback on earlier drafts. references abdelhady, d., gren, n., & joormann, m. 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(2018). algorithms of oppression: how search engines reinforce racism. new york university press. noble, s. u., & tynes, b. m. (eds.). (2016). the intersectional internet: race, sex, class and culture online (vol. 105). peter lang publishing. nordland, r., faizi, f., & abed, f. (2019, january 27). afghan women fear peace with taliban may mean war on them. the new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/27/world/asia/taliban-peace-deal-womenafghanistan.html osman, w. (2019). media and imperialism in the global village: a case study of four malalais. in a. punathambekar & s. mohan (eds.), global digital cultures: perspectives from south asia (pp. 280–296). university of michigan press. https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/166/oa_edited_volume/chapter/2793004 pandey, s., & ilavarasan, p. v. 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(2021). migration and mobility in hci: rethinking boundaries, methods, and impact. in y. kitamura, a. quigley, k. isbister, & t. igarashi (eds.), extended abstracts of the 2021 chi https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/27/world/asia/taliban-peace-deal-women-afghanistan.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/27/world/asia/taliban-peace-deal-women-afghanistan.html https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/166/oa_edited_volume/chapter/2793004 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2019.06.005 https://doi.org/10.1145/3287098.3287144 https://www.pbs.org/video/one-year-on-sot-1660596988/ https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/ciima/vol19/iss1/4 https://doi.org/10.1145/2132176.2132278 https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3432432 https://doi.org/10.1145/3314344.3332481 technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 29 conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 1–6). acm. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411763.3441352 salem, s. (2018). intersectionality and its discontents: intersectionality as traveling theory. european journal of women's studies, 25(4), 403–418. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506816643999 schelenz, l., bison, i., busso, m., de götzen, a., gatica-perez, d., giunchiglia, f., meegahapola, l., & ruiz-correa, s. (2021). the theory, practice, and ethical challenges of designing a diversity-aware platform for social relations. proceedings of the 2021 aaai/acm conference on ai, ethics, and society, 905–15. acm press. https://doi.org/10.1145/3461702.3462595 schreieck, m., wiesche, m., & krcmar, h. (2017a). governing nonprofit platform ecosystems: an information platform for refugees. information technology for development, 23(3), 618–643. https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2017.1335280 schreieck, m., zitzelsberger, j., siepe, s., wiesche, m., & and krcmar, h. (2017b). supporting refugees in everyday life: intercultural design evaluation of an application for local information. pacis 2017 proceedings. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318211941_supporting_refugees_in_every_ day_life_-_intercultural_design_evaluation_of_an_application_for_local_information shahalimi, n. (ed.). (2022a). we are still here: afghan women on courage, freedom, and the fight to be heard. plume. shahalimi, n. (ed.). (2022b). wir sind noch da! mutige frauen aus afghanistan [we're still here!: brave women from afghanistan] (2nd ed.). elisabeth sandmann verlag. statistisches bundesamt. (2022). migration and integration. https://www.destatis.de/de/themen/gesellschaft-umwelt/bevoelkerung/migrationintegration/tabellen/schutzsuchende-staatsangehoerigkeit-schutzstatus.html steinbrink, e., reichert, l., mende, m., & reuter, c. (2021). digital privacy perceptions of asylum seekers in germany: an empirical study about smartphone usage during the flight. proceedings of the acm on human-computer interaction, 5(cscw2), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1145/3479526 suerbaum, m. (2021). embodying legal precarity: living with ongoing short-term protection in germany [special issue]. international migration, 61(3), 25–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12903 talhouk, r., balaam, m., toombs, a. l., garbett, a., akik, c., ghattas, h., araujo-soares, v., ahmad, b., & montague, k. (2019). involving syrian refugees in design research. in s. harrison, s. bardzell, c. neustaedter, & d. tatar (eds.), proceedings of the 2019 on designing interactive systems conference (pp. 1583–1594). acm. https://doi.org/10.1145/3322276.3322335 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1145/3411763.3441352 https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506816643999 https://doi.org/10.1145/3461702.3462595 https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2017.1335280 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318211941_supporting_refugees_in_every_day_life_-_intercultural_design_evaluation_of_an_application_for_local_information https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318211941_supporting_refugees_in_every_day_life_-_intercultural_design_evaluation_of_an_application_for_local_information https://www.destatis.de/de/themen/gesellschaft-umwelt/bevoelkerung/migration-integration/tabellen/schutzsuchende-staatsangehoerigkeit-schutzstatus.html https://www.destatis.de/de/themen/gesellschaft-umwelt/bevoelkerung/migration-integration/tabellen/schutzsuchende-staatsangehoerigkeit-schutzstatus.html https://doi.org/10.1145/3479526 https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12903 https://doi.org/10.1145/3322276.3322335 technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 30 thomas, s., sauer, m., & zalewski, i. (2018). unbegleitete minderjährige geflüchtete: ihre lebenssituationen und perspektiven in deutschland [unaccompanied minor refugees: their living situations and perspectives in germany]. transcript verlag. unesco institute for lifelong learning. (2020, march 17). interview: "literacy rate in afghanistan increased to 43 per cent." https://uil.unesco.org/interview-literacy-rateafghanistan-increased-43-cent un refugee agency. (2023). convention and protocol relating to the status of refugees. https://www.unhcr.org/3b66c2aa10.html wachter-boettcher, s. (2017). technically wrong: sexist apps, biased algorithms, and other threats of toxic tech. w.w. norton & company. warschauer, m. (2003). technology and social inclusion: rethinking the digital divide. the mit press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/6699.001.0001 weibert, a., krüger, m., aal, k., salehee, s. s., khatib, r., randall, d., & wulf, v. (2019). finding language classes: designing a digital language wizard with refugees and migrants. proceedings of the acm on human-computer interaction, 3(cscw), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1145/3359218 witteborn, s. (2015). becoming (im)perceptible: forced migrants and virtual practice. journal of refugee studies, 28(3), 350–367. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feu036 wörmann, s. (2003). afghanische frauen zwischen islam und sozialismus: gesellschaftliche realitäten von 1920 bis 2001 [afghan women between islam and socialism: social realities. tectum. yuval-davis, n. (2011). gender & nation. sage. (original work published in 1997) https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://uil.unesco.org/interview-literacy-rate-afghanistan-increased-43-cent https://uil.unesco.org/interview-literacy-rate-afghanistan-increased-43-cent https://www.unhcr.org/3b66c2aa10.html https://doi.org/10.1145/3359218 https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feu036 technology, power, and social inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40292 31 laura schelenz (laura.schelenz@uni-tuebingen.de) is an interdisciplinary researcher by training. she holds a b.a. in american studies from heidelberg university, germany, and an m.a. in peace and conflict research from frankfurt university, germany. she has studied abroad in the us and hungary and worked in conflict research and human rights advocacy in different organizations in germany. since 2017, laura works at the international center for ethics in the sciences and humanities at the university of tübingen, germany. her research has dealt with the ethics of digitalization in africa, the ethics of technology development, and critical perspectives on power relations in society and technology. in 2023, laura has been named one of the top “100 brilliant women in ai ethics.” https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:laura.schelenz@uni-tuebingen.de introduction contextualization: a black feminist perspective on technology, power, and social inclusion background: structural experiences of afghan women methodology ethical considerations positionality of the author and implications results safety and privacy concerns distrust digital illiteracy uncertainty and insecurity preferences for an ict solution for afghan refugee women’s social inclusion discussion conclusion endnotes acknowledgments references book review: information activism the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37573 ijidi: book review mckinney, c. (2020). information activism: a queer history of lesbian media technologies. duke university press. isbn 9781478008286. 290 pp. $27.95 us. reviewer: dawn betts-green, old dominion university, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: activism; archive media; lesbian; lesbian archives; queer archives publication type: book review nformation matters differently to precarious populations for whom reliable access is never guaranteed” (p. 20). while this is true for multiple populations and has remained true over the years, when discussing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (lgbtq) information and resources, this is particularly salient. as a population that has found and still often finds it necessary to be cautious or even secretive about identity, lgbtq individuals have had to rely on methods with less infrastructure to communicate and preserve information. frankly, it is surprising that queer history survives at all, which is what makes the work highlighted in cait mckinney’s information activism: a queer history of lesbian media technologies even more striking and important. looking at the progression of media technologies from analog to digital, information activism walks the reader through the particular difficulties of communication pre-internet for lesbian communities. large amounts of information flowed through the physical mail in the form of letters, mimeographed newsletters, and other ephemera; far flung members of these networks would forward clipped newspaper stories and letters filled with news and responses to previous newsletters. further, mckinney takes us from the original communication and distribution to the more current issue of preservation and archival work. everything from these early networks plus items such as call logs for hotlines and video and audio cassettes fill archival spaces, creating some typical and some unique concerns. a primary concern that is well described in this work is the shortcomings of the standard subject headings in terms of queer materials. library of congress subject headings (lcsh) are the standard for libraries and archives alike, but as all who work in information fields should be aware, these and other standard schema are not as useful for queer materials as one would hope. they lack nuance and detail and most often fail to describe queer “materials in sufficient detail or in affirmative, subculturally meaningful terms” (p. 7). furthermore, a great deal of events and ephemera desired in queer archives leans toward the day-to-day, which also fails to be properly covered in existent cataloging schema. large events, such as supreme court battles or other things covered in national news, have other terms that lend themselves to cataloging with some ease; everyday lives of queer people don’t. mckinney outlines the issues and minutiae of media technologies and the archiving of lesbian materials extensively, using a media studies approach more often than that of information studies. in this way, we get an interesting look at how the media lends itself to archival practices and representing history but not as much conversation about how any of the media technology i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index information activism the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37573 might affect the information itself. given mckinney’s background in communication, this does make sense. however, library and information science (lis) scholars might find the text lacking if the media-information interaction is of higher importance to them. that being said, both throughout the book and in the epilogue, a conversation appears which is useful for all disciplines: how does social media, digitization, and the ubiquity of the internet affect the accessibility and understanding of queer history? the commodification of lesbian history drives the epilogue, describing the use of photos and slogans drawn from queer archives, particularly instagram accounts, both as fodder for reposting and as profit-making ventures. the history is sometimes, but not always, contextualized and labeled in such a way that makes it clear this is historical, that the image is representing a piece of the queer past all but otherwise inaccessible to the viewer were it not for the posting account. mckinney describes the activism of instagram users who police the lack of historical information and credit to the archive or original creator from whom the object is drawn as well as otherwild, a company making products with historical images that makes sure the product and its historical context are inextricable. and though this is fascinating, what is more interesting is the underlying discussion of social media “archiving” which is not as focused upon but could, in fact, constitute a body of work all its own. what it does highlight and what mckinney explicitly points out is the current stress of and on digitization and on the particular intricacies of archival access. many, even some in academic or archival settings, do not know that these small, queer archives exist, or they do know but are unable to access them due to distance (or currently, the pandemic). this lack of access creates a situation in which the information held here is all but nonexistent to the researcher and, more importantly, the community. unlike some archival materials, queer archives of everyday interaction and life represent a history that lacks representation and exposure and which the community they represent needs and wants to access—thus, the drive for digitization and distribution on digital platforms. however, the mere fact of an archive’s existence online does not automatically equate to people knowing about or finding the collections. in fact, it does not necessarily mean that the entirety of the collection can be online. archives may or may not have full permissions or ownership of the materials, and even if they do, proper digitization and presentation online is neither simple nor quick, depending on the archive’s budget and how much staff or volunteer time can be allotted to the task. and as mckinney notes in reference to a letter from leslie feinberg, it is possible that pieces, even important ones, may be backlogged, waiting on processing for lengthy amounts of time, which also adds to the accessibility issue. information activism is a useful text for those interested in the history of community and small archives, specifically those dealing with historically unrepresented populations. i appreciated the discussion of how, though inherently activist and revolutionary, lesbian archives have (and sometimes still do) homogenized difference to create a collecting and cataloging framework that leaves out all but the most mainstream of the community. mckinney notes that “activist work with information can shore up what kind of lesbian life counts as a life worth…preserving in the archive” (p. 23), and this point is at the crux of issues related to queer archiving and information in general. we have long preserved what can best be termed cis white lesbian history, regardless of the level of accessibility, and we need to take the lessons this preservation has taught us about media, archiving, information, and networks and apply it to a more diverse view of history in our community, which mckinney does a good job of scaffolding here. 151 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index information activism the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37573 dawn betts-green (cdbettsgreen@gmail.com) is a visiting lecturer for old dominion university and the newly named assistant director of the invisible histories project, an organization seeking to preserve queer history in the u.s. south. she holds a phd in library and information studies from florida state university, and her research interests center on lgbtqia+ issues in public libraries, particularly small and rural areas of the u.s. south, radical librarianship, information ethics, and information literacy. 152 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:cdbettsgreen@gmail.com mind the five card game: participatory games to strengthen information practices and privacy protections of migrants the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33216 mind the five card game: participatory games to strengthen information practices and privacy protections of migrants ricardo gomez, university of washington, usa bryce clayton newell, university of oregon, usa sara vannini, university of sheffield, uk; university of washington, usa abstract the authors discuss mind the five, a participatory card game to help increase awareness of privacy protections of undocumented migrants and other vulnerable populations. mind the five and other participatory games can be used in public libraries and small humanitarian organizations to promote safe and engaging information spaces for migrants and refugees. participatory games provide a supportive and unique approach to building safe spaces that allow participants to discuss and engage with issues on a personal level in a fun and creative way. combined with other active learning experiences, such as participatory photography and codesign activities, mind the five is an educational tool to help bring stronger awareness of the vulnerabilities of undocumented migrants, and to encourage information practices that better protect the privacy of migrants and other vulnerable populations. keywords: active learning; migration; participatory games; serious play publication type: special section publication introduction: the privacy limits of humanitarian information activities igration and information privacy are both crucially important issues of our time. we bring them together to explore the enhanced need for privacy by undocumented migrants, whose vulnerability is only exacerbated by privacy leaks or disclosures. there are an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the united states today, most of which have well-established ties and deep roots in their communities, including families, homes, and jobs. they pay taxes and participate in community life. thousands more continue to overstay their visas or cross the border without authorization every year, fleeing from violence, climate change, or lack of opportunity, and seeking to live a better life in the united states. under president trump their lives have been upended. border enforcement under president obama had already greatly increased the number of deportations of migrants caught at the us-mexico border and of immigrants with criminal records, but the trump administration has extended the reach of ice (immigration and customs enforcement) to prey on anyone they can trace, including the most vulnerable: detaining families with children, and arresting and deporting established, lawabiding undocumented migrants (funk, 2019). undocumented migrants are in an extremely precarious situation and need to take extra steps to protect their privacy online. the most vulnerable are migrants who have just recently arrived m https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi mind the five card game the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33216 and are seeking the help of humanitarian organizations, churches, and other social institutions that offer services to all, regardless of immigration status: public libraries, schools, health centers, and similar institutions. organizations working with undocumented migrants need to be aware of the additional privacy risks experienced by undocumented migrants, and adjust their practices to collect, retain, use, and disseminate information without putting them at risk. information technologies can help organizations by making their work effective and efficient, and can assist them with better serving vulnerable populations by giving them access to relevant information and services. however, information technologies also increase security risks through breach, hacks, leaks, or other inadvertent disclosures, in addition to forced disclosure through legal processes such as court orders. in the case of undocumented migrants and other extremely vulnerable populations, the disclosure of sensitive and personal information can lead them to detention and deportation, with life-changing and potentially life-threatening consequences. in our work with humanitarian organizations serving undocumented migrants, we noticed that some of these organizations are trying hard to protect migrants’ privacy, but we also noticed a worrying trend. the lack of means or proper training has caused some of these organizations to engage in information practices that do not adequately protect the privacy and security of migrants’ personal information. these information practices include storing personal information collected through online intake forms on services like google docs or other insecure cloud storage sites, using a single google account and password for all or many of the organization’s documents, and using facebook groups to discuss issues related to migratory status. other researchers have identified similar behaviors (guberek et al., 2018; shoemaker et al., 2019; vannini et al., 2019). we identify three main trends in the literature on humanitarian information activities: 1. risks are caused by both people and technology, and solutions need to take care of both human and technical interfaces; 2. there are no clear guidelines to deal with data protection in humanitarian contexts, and no clear mechanisms to enforce the few and incomplete guidelines that exist; and 3. organizations need to adopt safer practices, going beyond the logic of privacy selfmanagement. currently, self-management and informed consent are invoked as the best way to guarantee people’s privacy. however, subjects, and vulnerable populations in particular, are not always able to make decisions about giving or withholding consent to the collection and use of personal data, and may not be aware of the long-term consequences of such consent (vannini et al., 2019). these three trends in the humanitarian information literature led us to develop a set of privacy guidelines in humanitarian information activities (hia) that humanitarian organizations can use to assess and guide their data privacy and security practices: 1. prudence: collect as little information as possible 2. protection: secure the information you do need to collect and store 117 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mind the five card game the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33216 3. training: make sure volunteers and staff are aware and trained on privacy protection; help your users be more privacy aware 4. share alike: work with collaborators and partners who share your concern 5. non-discrimination: offer services to all, including those who do not want to share their personal information these guidelines serve to strengthen privacy protections in the context of irregular migration. mind the five cards: serious play to protect the privacy of vulnerable populations building on the work to create privacy guidelines in humanitarian information activities discussed above, we created different information artifacts to use with humanitarian organizations and service agencies in order to help strengthen their information practices for the protection of undocumented migrants and other vulnerable populations (gomez et al., n.d.). one of the artifacts is a set of cards, the mind the five cards, which is a card game designed to build empathy with the vulnerabilities of undocumented migrants and to strengthen information practices to better protect the privacy and security of their information. the mind the five card game is an example of serious play, a type of activity that is based on play in order to accomplish learning about serious topics (hinthorne & schneider, 2012; wartenweiler, 2018). serious play has been used in a variety of contexts from teaching social studies in the classroom (baker & hunter, 2013), to small group activities with health professionals to address bullying in the workplace (ulrich et al., 2017). serious play has been shown to be an excellent way to learn about social justice (wartenweiler, 2018). it can strengthen empathy, which is critical to the task of protecting vulnerable populations, and particularly the privacy protections needed by undocumented migrants. as an example of serious play, the mind the five card game has five advantages as a tool to build empathy with undocumented migrants (chin et al., forthcoming): 1. it highlights lived experiences of vulnerable populations 2. it places players in the shoes (lived experiences) of the other 3. it centers the difficult conversation of vulnerability on the game 4. it builds empathy through identification and reflection in a low-risk situation 5. it offers concrete actions and ways to reach out mind the five card game the mind the five card game is free to download and is designed to be easy to print and ready to use. it is based on the mind the five privacy guidelines for humanitarian information activities, with each guideline printed on an info (information behavior) card, plus one fill-in-the-blank card for additional guidelines. the game also focuses on three different types of organizations, each one printed on an org (organization) card, plus one blank card for an additional type of organization, as scenarios for the deployment of different information behaviors. finally, the 118 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mind the five card game the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33216 game draws from the idea of user reviews and ratings, as a playful way to imagine information behaviors in each type of organization, with three rate (rating or review) cards containing smiley faces to indicate ratings (see figure 1). figure 1. mind the five card game sample images (info, rate, org cards). to play, a player draws one card of each type, and has one minute to describe an information behavior that corresponds to the info card, at the type of organization that corresponds to the org card, and that deserves the rating that corresponds to the rate card. the next player draws cards and plays in the same way. after a few players have played, they can start to have a discussion of the types of information practices in their organization, how they impact the privacy of undocumented migrants or other vulnerable populations, and how they can improve these practices to offer stronger privacy protections in the future. as with any serious play activity, the goal is not the game itself, but rather the discussion and the potential action that follow. the tool is designed to identify issues that the organizations might not have fully considered up to that moment and to brainstorm ideas on possible solutions to those problems. playing the game the authors have demonstrated the mind the five card game in a variety of educational settings and with different types of organizations (a total of 50 participants at an academic conference, an academic talk at a university, and two separate trial play opportunities in graduate courses). we have received encouraging and constructive feedback from these sources, both verbally on the spot and through an online anonymous survey. our participants found that the game made it “easy, fun, […] and memorable” (participant 1) to talk about data privacy and security-related 119 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mind the five card game the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33216 issues. ease, fun, and memorability are three important elements for working with practitioners who might be familiar with, but not experts on, the subject of data privacy and security. the ease of accessing the topic makes it effective for reaching staff members in charge of a wide range of tasks and who may not have a lot of time at their disposal to learn about the topic otherwise. the fun makes it memorable, so that practitioners can bring what they learned about the topic back into their work and service. our participant also found using the game to talk about the topic put them in a “non-judgmental” space (participant 1), which is also conducive to have participants openly assessing their current practices and identifying possible associated risks. finally, explaining the game and having practitioners play one card at a time can help them learn step-by-step: …it might be overwhelming [otherwise] for practitioners to think about all these dimensions at once. introducing one thing at a time, with good practices associated to it, might be helpful. (participant 2) during our trials, we found it necessary to have the presence of either explanatory instructions or a moderator to set the ground rules, explaining the privacy guidelines and giving examples of risky behaviors. this helps practitioners identify possible risks they are engaging in within a shorter amount of time and to be more comprehensive about them. in general, a longer time dedicated to set-up and debrief, in addition to play, was preferred. open questions when debriefing, practitioners reflected on a number of things related to their work, which the game helped them conceptualize. first, they mentioned that the game was effective because it included operational risk elements, such as the human risk and the infrastructural factors (e.g., court orders, subpoena, inadvertent disclosure etc.) in the discourse. usually, in fact, data privacy and security issues are only considered technical issues, which should be solved exclusively by technologists with more technology, as illustrated by one of our participants: there is a naivety among tech people: they often tend to think that to protect technology you only need new technology solutions. (participant 3) the game made participants understand that some data privacy issues can be prevented with more targeted educational activities for both staff members and clients/users. however, many among the practitioners recognized there is a tension between educating and allowing people to practice privacy self-management and protective practices that might result in paternalism—in the end, who is the right actor to decide how much data is safe to collect, store, or share? conclusion at the crossroads of migration and privacy, we suggest five guidelines to protect the privacy of undocumented migrants, who are particularly vulnerable if their private information is disclosed, leaked, or hacked. building on privacy guidelines developed through prior research, we suggest mind the five cards, a serious play game in which players can build empathy with migrants and other vulnerable populations and discuss ways to implement the proposed privacy guidelines in their organization or service agency. serious play is a powerful way to engage with difficult conversations. the mind the five card game is a serious play activity that helps unpack the 120 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mind the five card game the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33216 privacy guidelines for humanitarian information activities, and to adapt them to different contexts and organizational settings including humanitarian organizations, schools, public libraries, and other service agencies that serve the needs of undocumented migrants and other vulnerable populations. the authors reckon that the power of the game resides in sparking discussions about privacy issues that might have remained unaddressed and unnoticed within these organizations, and to brainstorm and identify possible ways forward to ensure improved data privacy practices. references baker, j. f., & hunter, j. (2013). teaching for a safer world: lessons from the world peace game. independent school, 72(2). national association of independent schools. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1651844351/ chin, a., lopez, d., & gomez, r. (forthcoming). reducing barriers and opening up community dialogue through serious play. in a. ndumu (ed.) borders & belonging: critical examinations of lis approaches toward immigrants. library juice press. funk, m. (2019, october 2). how ice picks its targets in the surveillance age. the new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/magazine/ice-surveillancedeportation.html gomez, r., vannini, s., & newell, b. (n.d.). mind the five: protecting the privacy of vulnerable populations in humanitarian contexts. university of washington information school. www.mindthefive.org guberek, t., mcdonald, a., simioni, s., mhaidli, a. h., toyama, k., & schaub, f. (2018). keeping a low profile?: technology, risk and privacy among undocumented immigrants. proceedings of the 2018 chi conference on human factors in computing systems, 114, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173688 hinthorne, l. l., & schneider, k. (2012). playing with purpose: using serious play to enhance participatory development communication. international journal of communication, 6, 2801-2804. shoemaker, e., kristinsdottir, g. s., ahuja, t., baslan, d., pon, b., currion, p., gumisizira, p., & dell, n. (2019). identity at the margins: examining refugee experiences with digital identity systems in lebanon, jordan, and uganda. compass’19. acm sigcas conference on computing and sustainable societies, accra, ghana. https://doi.org/10.1145/3314344.3332486 ulrich, d. l., gillespie, g. l., boesch, m. c., bateman, k. m., & grubb, p. l. (2017). reflective responses following a role play simulation of nurse bullying. nursing education perspectives, 38(4), 203-205. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nep.0000000000000144 vannini, s., gomez, r., & newell, b. c. (2019). “mind the five”: guidelines for data privacy and security in humanitarian work with undocumented migrants and other vulnerable populations. journal of the association for information science and technology, 121 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://search.proquest.com/docview/1651844351/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/magazine/ice-surveillance-deportation.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/magazine/ice-surveillance-deportation.html http://www.mindthefive.org/ https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173688 https://doi.org/10.1145/3314344.3332486 https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nep.0000000000000144 mind the five card game the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33216 (online early access). https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24317 wartenweiler, t. (2018). serious play in education for social justice: an exploratory study. journal of new approaches in educational research, 7(1), 61-69. https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2018.1.260 ricardo gomez (rgomez@uw.edu) is an associate professor at the university of washington information school, and faculty affiliate with the latin american & caribbean studies program, the harry bridges center for labor studies, and the uw center for human rights. his research interests focus on the uses of information and communication technologies in international and community development contexts, and on migration, human rights and social justice. he specializes in social dimensions of the use (or non-use) of communication technologies, and how they contribute to well-being. he is particularly interested in qualitative research methods and in group facilitation and process design. bryce clayton newell (bcnewell@uoregon.edu) is an assistant professor of media law and policy in the school of journalism and communication at the university of oregon, and a research associate with the tilburg institute for law, technology, and society (tilt) at tilburg university’s law school (in the netherlands). previously, he was an assistant professor at the university of kentucky, a postdoctoral researcher at tilt, and google policy fellow at the samuelson-glushko canadian internet policy and public interest clinic (university of ottawa, faculty of law). bryce is also a board member of the surveillance studies network (ssn) (a british charity); dialogue editor of the ssn’s academic journal, surveillance & society; and a founding member of the editorial board committee for the new open-access journal, technology and regulation (techreg). sara vannini (vanninis@uw.edu) is lecturer at the integrated social science program and at the department of communications of the university of washington college of arts and sciences, and a visiting researcher at the technology and social change group (tascha) of the university of washington information school, seattle, usa. she holds a phd in communication sciences, in the field of information and communication technologies for development (ict4d), from the università della svizzera italiana – usi, lugano, switzerland, and a m.a. in latin american literatures from the university of bologna, italy. 122 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24317 https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2018.1.260 mailto:rgomez@uw.edu mailto:bcnewell@uoregon.edu mailto:vanninis@uw.edu introduction: the privacy limits of humanitarian information activities mind the five cards: serious play to protect the privacy of vulnerable populations mind the five card game playing the game open questions conclusion references ijidi book review: calzada-prado, f.-j. (ed.). (2022). boosting the knowledge economy: key contributions from information services in educational, cultural and corporate environments. the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41458 ijidi: book review calzada-prado, f.-j. (ed.). (2022). boosting the knowledge economy: key contributions from information services in educational, cultural and corporate environments. chandos publishing. isbn 978-1843347729. 232 pp. $59.21 us. reviewer: lilly hoi sze ho, library & archives nt, australia book review editors: halie kerns, binghamton university, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: e-learning services; educational program; information services; knowledge economy; knowledge management publication type: book review nformation services play an essential role in the context of the knowledge economy, which the world bank defined as the key engine of economic growth (chen & dahlman, 2006). boosting the knowledge economy: key contributions from information services in educational, cultural and corporate environments, edited by francisco-javier calzada-prado, provides insights into educational services and programs in libraries, archives, and cultural heritage institutions as a strategic value of information services in a knowledge economy. the book is, therefore, suitable for international readers wishing to learn the implications of educational program design in these changing times from other information professionals. the book also presents an overview and analysis of cutting-edge practices in information services, focusing on learning services and their contribution to brand awareness and social capital building of libraries, archives, and museums. professional practitioners who work across sectors of library and information services (lis) would greatly benefit from the book’s ideas on learning-oriented services at various library settings and knowledge organisations and how those services relate to the united nations sustainable development goals (sdgs) before searching for deeper context in the relevant areas. the book is organised into three sections: “learning-oriented services in libraries,” “learningoriented services in archives and cultural heritage institutions,” and “implications for the lis profession.” contributors for chapters include international librarians and professors who have written academic journal articles such as literature reviews, case studies, and research papers. international readers familiar with academic writing will find the book easy to read because the contents are descriptive and always have clear arguments and focus on the ideas. chapter one is an introduction from the editor about the book’s structure. this overview enables readers to understand the content in a better way. chapter two discusses the relevance of education services and programs in information services and marketing’s role in their design and promotion. it also discusses measuring the services and programs’ impact on organizational strategic goals. this chapter also explores how valuable learning support services and programs i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index boosting the knowledge economy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41458 2 developed by information services are to society. the concept of the knowledge economy and its four pillars (education, innovation, information and communication technologies, and a conducive economic and institutional environment) are mentioned here for the first time. information services in education, cultural institutions, and corporate environments are further discussed in the rest of the book. international standards (iso, 2013 & 2014; ansi/niso, 2013) are explained to identify the elements of analysis on the educational services and programs in the context of libraries as a strategy for achieving organisational conversion objectives. this chapter also differentiates the terms ‘library programs’ and ‘educational programs’ as they are expressed in the fields of libraries and archives. chapter three opens the book’s first section, “learning-oriented services in libraries,” with a discussion about the possibilities and limitations of artificial intelligence (ai) as applied to the delivery of information services through the professional practices of japanese chess shogi players, patent attorneys, and librarians. hypotheses are used to examine the professionals’ dilemma in the era of ai and to explore scenarios in which ai learns from humans, ways in which humans learn from ai and ai learning boundary objects, and how boundary objects learn from ai. chapter four is a literature review that describes the current role of knowledge organisation in lis and the latest research trends. the chapter gives an overview of knowledge organisation systems and processes, such as the application of indexing and linked open data. chapter five examines the use of the european foundation for quality management (efqm) as a framework to analyse the contributions of quality management in generating the social impact of libraries. this chapter’s central point is that libraries play a fundamental role in promoting the sustainable development of a knowledge-based society and in disseminating information and culture, thus having an active involvement in education and life-long learning. nevertheless, international readers may be interested in the pros and cons of using the efqm as a framework to guide libraries as agents of sustainable development. chapter six closes section one of the book with a case study analysing massive open online courses (moocs), which are considered expressions of connective knowledge that give new horizons to explore and exploit in spanish universities. chapter seven, which opens the book’s second section, “learning-oriented services in archives and cultural heritage institutions,” analyses the role of audiovisual television archives in the participation and creation of content in today’s knowledge economy. this chapter gives a comprehensive overview of legal, copyright, and protection systems and regulations that apply to audiovisual television archives. the chapter also introduces the access, use, and reuse indicators of european television archives’ content. chapter eight proposes a generalized data model to describe digital archival objects, which are digitized objects created from original artifacts. the model aims to be a framework for designing metadata schemas for digital archives in various domains, as well as enable interoperability among digital archives. this chapter not only explains the basic concepts of digital archives but also illustrates the metadata standards that underlie data models. the use of metadata standards/aggregation such as dublin core, european data model, and open archives initiative object reuse and exchange are presented in a relatively technical manner when compared to other chapters. information professionals with a relevant background may find this chapter practical in informing their practice. chapter nine addresses the strategic value of corporate archives for business management by highlighting that document management in a business https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index boosting the knowledge economy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41458 3 organisation is manifested in the archive, which is the collective memory of a company. a corporation’s documents reflect the company's current experience, knowledge, and know-how for the team that will manage it in the future. these documents are not intended to be historical. still, they should nevertheless be recognized as a source for historical research, as they are kept in the archive as evidence and testimony of the organisation’s activity. the chapter emphasizes that although an expensive investment, archival management is a necessary part of a corporation’s infrastructure. chapters ten and eleven comprise the book’s third and final section. chapter ten focuses on the issue of transparency as an exercise of accountability by information services. this chapter reports the outcomes of a survey that captured the opinions of head librarians and archivists in spain about the types of information suitable for inclusion on their institutions’ websites to enhance transparency. it is interesting to see the different perceptions of transparency-related areas and indicators between librarians and archivists. this chapter allows readers to reflect on transparency as a social responsibility and the situations in their countries. the book concludes with chapter eleven, “the 2030 agenda and the information professionals,” which echoes the concept of the knowledge economy and its four pillars discussed in chapter two. this chapter describes and explains the information professionals’ responsibilities, and it also analyses the current challenges information professionals face in the context of the united nations millennium development goals (mdg). it also provides clear information on the goals, targets, and indicators of mdgs and how they are related to the human development index (hdi) and sustainable development goals (sdg). this chapter discusses the relevancy of newer aspects of the open movement (hamilton & saunderson, 2018) in terms of open access, open education, open science, and open data, as well as ways in which these aspects of the open movement play an important role in actualizing the sdg of the 2030 agenda. readers are advised to start with this chapter and then circle back to chapter one to follow the sequence of chapters. under these circumstances, readers will have a better understanding of the heavy responsibilities shouldered by lis professionals and the road ahead. references ansi/niso. (2013). information services and use: metrics and statistics for libraries and information providers data dictionary (ansi/niso z39.7 – 2013). national information standards organisation. chen, d. h. c., & dahlman, c. j. (2006). the knowledge economy, the kam methodology, and world bank operations (english). washington, d.c.: world bank group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/695211468153873436/the-knowledgeeconomy-the-kam-methodology-and-world-bank-operations international organisation for standardisation. (2013). information and documentation: international library statistics (iso 2789:2013). iso. international organisation for standardisation. (2014). information and documentation: library performance indicators (iso 11620:2014 (e)). iso. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/695211468153873436/the-knowledge-economy-the-kam-methodology-and-world-bank-operations http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/695211468153873436/the-knowledge-economy-the-kam-methodology-and-world-bank-operations boosting the knowledge economy the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41458 4 international organisation for standardisation. (2014b). information and documentation: methods and procedures for assessing the impact of libraries (iso 16439: 2014). iso. hamilton, g., & saunderson, f. (2017). the open movement: its history and development. open licensing for cultural heritage (pp. 7-30). facet. https://doi.org/10.29085/9781783302505.002 lilly hoi sze ho (she/her/hers) (lillyho@gmail.com) is an assistant director of collections and content at the library & archives nt, the northern territory’s state library and archive services in australia. her primary roles are to provide strategic advice about the ongoing development of the library’s ict environment, to develop a sustainable approach to digital collections, and to lead the continuing development of the library’s digital infrastructure. lilly represents the northern territory state library in the national edeposit steering group and nlsa head of collection advisory group. she is also a library representative of the standard australia technical committee on learning, education, training, and research. ho is chair of the ifla acquisition and collection development section and secretary of the professional division. she is interested in diversity and inclusion, particularly in the topics of indigenous peoples and contexts within higher education. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.29085/9781783302505.002 mailto:lillyho@gmail.com book review: digital citizenship in a datafied society the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33335 ijidi: book review hintz, a., dencik, l., & wahl-jorgensen, k. (2019). digital citizenship in a datafied society. polity. isbn 9781509527199. 194 pp. $22.95 us. reviewer: vanessa reyes, university of south florida, usa book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: critical data studies; data ethics; data surveillance; datafication; digital citizenship publication type: book review s citizens, we are entitled to learn how our digital footprint impacts our digital life. digital citizenship involves communication and collaboration within a social and political environment. there are two types of citizens: those who are active, and those who are passive active; both of which form part of how the overall concept of citizenship is understood today. moreover, digital citizenship is evolving to keep up with the diverse ways we engage online. the focus is on privacy, security, and how these areas affect the way users access digital tools and platforms. digital citizenship in a datafied society examines the foundations of digital citizenship and how it relates to our digital world and the society in which we live. the book attempts to answer an important question: how can we understand citizenship in an age of data collection and processing? according to the authors, digital citizenship is understood as the rights and obligations in relation to a nation-state, performative enactment facing challenges in a context marked by data-based profiling and new forms of social sorting. power, agency, and control are prominent topics discussed throughout this book, noting prominent notions of digital citizenship related to data collection infrastructures. datafication is a way to generate new possibilities for citizen actions revolving digital citizenship, because digital citizenship is not only selfconstructed but also self-defined and equally constructed by government and businesses (p. 36). this text reviews contemporary debates throughout various disciplines and draws from the authors’ empirical research which was funded by the united kingdom economic and social research council. overall, the book’s premise is based on the “snowden movement” as a centerpiece to describe the historic juncture beginning with the emergence of our “datafied society” and the start of the debate around the challenges and implications we see as a result of living in this type of society. this book paves the way into societal transformations which invite the rethinking of the foundations of citizenship and how they shape us at a personal level as well as on the state corporate political level. throughout this book, there are several reoccurring terms that are used to explain the evolution of digital citizenship and what it means to live in a “datafied society”. the authors introduce the readers to such concepts as “active citizenship,” “datafication,” and “the datafied social world.” “active citizenship” refers to active involvement in society, whether it is through politics or the social environment. it is defined through identifying the themes and trends in citizenship studies a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital citizenship in a datafied society the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33335 that involve contemporary issues such as privacy, security, and affairs of gender, race, and class. the datafied social world is described as the world we live in and it is identified as an abstraction of citizens where our lived experiences create new grounds for new data policies that lead to new data politics. data ethics, a prevalent theme in the book, is described as the branch of ethics which studies and evaluates moral problems related to data, algorithms, and practices. data ethics provides a framework for society to target ethical challenges, specifically to those related to risk for privacy breaches, discrimination and abuse, lack of trust, reliability, and transparency. data surveillance is defined when describing the “the snowden leaks movement,” and is broken down by providing basic examples of what digital data surveillance is. the authors often use this term to define the relationship between digital technology and surveillance to better convey how the structures and agency of information are changing since the occurrence of the snowden leaks. these terms help introduce the reader to several aspects of critical data studies. furthermore, the use of these terms invites discussion about how data is perceived, managed, and manipulated. misuse of privileged access to confidential information is becoming commonplace. data can be easily manipulated, as well as analyzed to produce other sources that are transformed in a way that is different than what it was originally intended for. throughout this book, the authors discuss the edward snowden revelations as an example of how all data is vulnerable. this title directly addresses diversity and inclusion. for example, when it comes to interpreting citizen’s digital power, the authors thoroughly go over the concerns associated with modern data surveillance, and take into consideration the effects of historical biases as well as provide correlations to the privacy of user’s data in an effort to educate and help diminish the possibility for discriminatory outcomes that are the result of biased-faulty algorithms. hintz, dencik, and wahl-jorgensen discuss what it is to experience “inequality of legibility,” in that while digital power creates a space for political activities to take place, there is the advantage that digital power offers legibility to those looking for information. this is due to a prominent concern associated with how data systems are set to incorporate historical biases that happen through something the authors label as an “algorithmic bias.” the algorithmic bias happens due to system errors, meaning the content programmed is inaccurate and inappropriate. what is clear is that systemic and unconscious biases in the human world are reflected in the systems created by biased humans and that this “bad data” needs to be addressed. after reading digital citizenship in a datafied society i learned that we need to maintain our focus on the current state of the digital era. this book provides an overview of the social, political, and diverse discursive contexts of digital citizenship and documents how our digital economy has changed a large part of our life through social media. throughout this book, hintz, dencik, and wahl-jorgensen introduce various frameworks that affect data and how it is collected from us for later use and analysis. readers are introduced early in the text on how the term “datafication” is reflected in, and maintained through, media coverage; specifically, how it relates to citizen’s knowledge and understanding of mass data collection; and possibilities for dissent and resistance. 138 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digital citizenship in a datafied society the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33335 the book suggests that the understandings of digital citizenship require significant review and that key principles of the concepts need substantial revision. the authors propose a new perspective on digital citizenship that takes the processes and practices of “datafication” into account. the book covers the history of data surveillance studies and explains how the practices of surveillance studies and critical data studies are closely connected to normalization, policymaking, technological standards, and how it influences the media, citizens and activists in this type of discourse. i recommend this book—ideally for readers who are academics, researchers, and library practitioners—as a valuable resource depicting how our digital society has changed over time. this book fits within the lis/diversity researcher/librarian practitioner literature specifically because it documents the advent of digital citizenship and the effects of datafication on society by using “snowden leaks” as a significant event that changed the research lens for critical data studies, information ethics, and data surveillance. the authors provide a multifaceted explanation based on the extensive research conducted by a great number of scholars on the emerging context of datafication and the implications for society and citizenship. overall, anyone interested in reading about critical data studies and the datafication of society and citizenship would benefit from reading this book. the authors thoroughly cover the main concern with digital citizenship: the disregard for the arbiters of our data and governance. the intended audiences for this book are those seeking to find a multidisciplinary perspective on the intersection of equity, social justice, and information specifically because the authors take on various angles on how the snowden movement integrated and implicated the modes of governance. this was done by documenting the data that is collected through digital technologies and how they are commonly used by people. this book is also of relevance to international readers because the topics relating to digital citizenship affect everyone on a global level. although countries may have different information ethics and processes, the authors cover a movement that changed the way citizen data is controlled on a universal level. dr. vanessa reyes (vanessareyes@usf.edu) is an instructor in the school of information at the university of south florida. she received her phd in 2016 from simmons school of library and information science and holds an m.s. in library and information studies from florida state university. reyes’ work in public libraries as well as special collections and archives inspired her to pursue research in preservation, digital libraries, and archives. reyes works closely on research that analyzes personal digital collections to understand how they are created, managed, and made accessible. she is also interested in how students and professors use personal digital information. her current research contributes to the emerging field of personal information management (pim), quantifying how individual users are organizing, managing, and preserving digital information. 139 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:vanessareyes@usf.edu learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future: using a tripartite model of information access and digital inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future: using a tripartite model of information access and digital inclusion kim m. thompson, university of south carolina, usa amanda reed, richland library, usa abstract public libraries are known as places for information, communication, and gathering, but what happens when a pandemic restricts social contact? in the years 2020 and 2021, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, libraries worldwide revised services and explored new ways to provide information and support to communities—primarily through digital services. this conceptual analytical paper responds to this approach by suggesting the use of a tripartite information access and digital inclusion model that can be used for evaluative processes related to ensuring ongoing physical, intellectual, and social access to public library services during a public crisis shutdown. we provide an overview of some of the new and altered services provided within the case of the richland library system in south carolina, usa, and then discuss these changes using the tripartite model as a means to illustrate how this theoretical model can be employed for practical evaluation and decision-making. keywords: covid-19; digital inclusion; public libraries; social distancing; tripartite information access model publication type: special section publication introduction n the u.s., as in many countries throughout the world, public libraries are places of community gathering, innovation, and learning. much of the discussion about the value of public libraries has historically been focused on physical and in-person services such as building access and programming events. researchers have urged more accessible buildings to meet the needs of disabled users (e.g., bodaghi & zainab, 2013; irvall & nielsen, 2005), explored the outcomes of creating innovative social gathering opportunities such as live gaming events (e.g., oravet, 2014), and studied the concept of “library as place” (e.g., council on library and information resources, 2005; buschman & leckie, 2007) or as “third place” (e.g., montgomery & miller, 2011). in fact, early reflections on the role of the public library at the turn of the 21st century questioned whether public libraries could survive the advent of the internet and the digital age (e.g., d’elia et al., 2002; nunberg, 2001). with the quick integration of online interactions, it soon became clear that libraries are not simply physical collections of books and print-focused librarians—they are social institutions driven by “an i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 ethos of sharing and egalitarianism” (halpern, 2019) that can therefore adapt and respond to social changes as they occur. during times of economic downturn, social upheaval, or natural disaster, public libraries are often providers of informational, technical, and social support, as well as intellectual and educational infrastructure and safe meeting spaces for social and community-based interactivity (chircop, 2009; rose, 2013; simon, 2020; vårheim, 2009). nevertheless, headlines in the past decade have continued to question the role of the public library in the digital age, but with a more teasing tone as they ask, “are libraries finished?” (jackson, 2011), “what will become of the library?” (agresta, 2014), or “does the digital world need libraries?” (burton, 2017), and then accompanying articles provide a long list of ways that public libraries have evolved alongside the social changes that have followed in the blazing wake of the world wide web. in 2020–2021, during the covid-19 shutdowns and with local, national, and global requirements for social distancing, public libraries have needed to shift their focus from how to gather and bring the community together physically, to how to provide information infrastructures and services, training, social connection, and supports virtually (feldman, 2020a, 2020b). this shift is spotlighted in the international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla, 2020) statement for the united nations 59th session of the commission on social development, reiterating the need for libraries to provide greater digital outreach: [l]ibraries globally have broadly strongly welcomed the emergence and spread of digital technologies, and indeed have participated actively in elements of their development. they offer exciting possibilities to bring more information to more people, in new formats, and to give previously excluded or unrepresented groups a voice, outside of traditional and often strictly controlled channels. (p. 2) the ifla statement also highlights that the covid-19 pandemic brought with it a new issue in the evolution of public libraries: the pandemic “illustrated the costs of being offline, with children excluded from education, adults from their work, patients from ehealth solutions, and people from their friends and families” (p. 3). indeed, the 2020-2021 pandemic situation underscored the importance of ensuring that public library services extend much further beyond in-person services inside of the traditional brick and mortar building. to further this analysis, we will use richland library in the u.s. state of south carolina to describe and explore the way a public library can and has continued to meet their mission of “helping customers learn, create and share” by “providing free, accessible information and services for people of all ages and backgrounds” (richland library, 2019) during the 2020-2021 pandemic and ensuing community shutdowns and shifts in service delivery. one of the authors, amanda reed, is assistant director of library experience at richland library and so brings to this discussion practical insights about the library decision-making process and an overview of the services offered during the pandemic. kim thompson is a professor at the university of south carolina and brings to this discussion theoretical perspectives using the tripartite information access model (thompson, 2016; thompson & afzal, 2011; thompson et al., 2014), which we use for our analysis. we apply a deductive approach, employing the tripartite information access model to explore facets of information access and digital inclusion based on the idea that full access and inclusion are predicated on physical, intellectual, and social factors. 207 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 theoretical approach to practice: the tripartite model of digital inclusion theoretical frameworks and models are used to help us understand and explain aspects of the social world. when we use an existing theoretical model to analyze new data, this is a deductive approach to using theory (matthews & ross, 2010). in their book theory building in applied disciplines, swanson and chermack (2013) note that in applied disciplines—or disciplines that apply scholarly research to professional practice (which, we argue, aptly describes library and information science)—theory matters. without theory, swanson and chermack note, we run the risk of putting more weight on opinion than on inquiry or “celebrat[ing] rock star practitioners who are hollow role models” (p. 10), leading to incomplete evaluations and scattered decisions. the goal is not to just do what others have done before us, the goal is to provide the best services for our own communities and users. theory helps us do this. thompson et al.’s (2014) book digital literacy and digital inclusion provides a model that represents the concept of digital inclusion through three lenses – tripartite: physical, intellectual/literacy, and social access. physical digital inclusion focuses on physical access to digital technologies and devices, including but not limited to wi-fi and other infrastructures, public and personal resources, as well as physical spaces that provide digital services such as public libraries. pandemic-related social distancing, public restrictions during times of social unrest, and natural disasters were three 2020-2021 phenomena that created the need for public libraries worldwide to either practice voluntary or government-mandated shutdowns, or otherwise made it difficult or impossible for regular physical library and information services to be offered. during times when the doors of the library cannot be opened, how can the public library support physical access to information and digital inclusion? how can libraries know whether they are supporting stakeholder physical access to information? the second lens through which to view digital inclusion and information access is through an intellectual or literacy lens which focuses on a central question: what are the literacies and trainings needed for optimal or even basic access to digital information and resources? traditional education, digital, and other literacy trainings are provided today by school systems, professional development opportunities in the workplace, and through public opportunities such as those provided by public libraries and other information organizations. if someone has physical access to the infrastructure but does not know how to navigate or use the digital resources and services, it is difficult or even impossible to be digitally connected or engaged. the covid year of 2020-2021 induced social restrictions and/or prevented in-person contact for tutoring, training, and mentoring except via digital platforms. while online learning and teaching can be an excellent and inclusive method used in public libraries (banas & wartalski, 2019; cadima et al., 2012), it can also be ineffective and a waste of resources if done without proper planning and pedagogical understanding. what can public libraries do during a pandemic shutdown to ensure they are engaging in best practices in terms of intellectual access to information, and providing digital trainings, and literacy support? social access and inclusion are the third lens of the tripartite model, with a focus on the social supports and barriers to information and digital inclusion. social information access and inclusion efforts include building community through events and activities targeting a range of demographic groupings, providing outreach services, and sincerely seeking to foster unity and “radical civility” (cameron, 2018). it is through social inclusion that public libraries advance adoption of innovative means of community engagement where individuals have the 208 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 opportunity to build their own identity (williams, 1956) as integrated library users and a necessary part of the information landscape, as well as contributing to building an overall community identity and social culture (leckie & hopkins, 2002). what can public libraries do with social media (pundsack, 2019) and other resources to support and expand social justice (gustina & guinnee, 2017) and civic engagement (wilson, 2017) during local or national crises? we notice that these same three aspects of digital inclusion—physical, intellectual, and social access—are highlighted in the ifla (2020) statement, which reflects this tripartite structure. its first area of focus, “everyone connected,” asks the united nations commission on social development to ask governments to provide (physical) connections and infrastructures (schools, libraries), “and other community anchors” and ensure that digital technologies and infrastructures be supported to provide physical access and reduce the digital divide (p. 3). “everyone enabled” (intellectual) is their second touchpoint, asking that governments and organizations support training in skills for “effective use of the internet,” particularly for vulnerable individuals (p. 3), and their third subsection, “everyone informed,” (social) stresses the importance of social inclusion, particularly for children and other beginner users of digital technologies. figure 1 below overlays the ifla areas of focus over the tripartite model of digital inclusion (see figure 1). figure 1 ifla focus overlaying the tripartite information access and digital inclusion model the beauty of theoretical models is that they are a visual representation of more generalized ideas and can be extremely useful for analyzing, evaluating, and making decisions about practice. once the model is understood, it is not difficult to use, as will be demonstrated in this article with this very simple but meaningful model. this tripartite digital inclusion model provides a facilitative structure for understanding and evaluating decisions about the physical, intellectual, and social facets of information access and digital inclusion and can be used to examine how public libraries are designing and offering resources and services to ensure that community information and digital needs are being met. physical access and digital inclusion (ifla: everyone connected) intellectual access and digital inclusion (ifla: everyone enabled) social access and digital inclusion (ifla: everyone informed) 209 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 in the following section we will provide an overview of the 2020-2021 context and outline the changes in richland library that followed the march 2020 pandemic shutdowns, using the tripartite model as a structure for analysis. we will provide cues (i.e., physical access; intellectual access; social access) to note where we have identified topics that relate to the three corners of the model. after providing the overview, we will provide a broad conceptual analysis of the new programs offered and changes made using the tripartite model as a theoretical lens to examine concepts of digital inclusion and information access. the context of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 in january and february of 2020, richland library, in richland county, south carolina, u.s. was keeping a close eye on the emerging covid-19 outbreak, never imagining its physical spaces would be so deeply affected. yet, by march 15, 2020, the state’s governor closed all schools across the state and, a few days later, directed state agencies to identify non-essential activities (mcmaster, 2020a) leading to executive order 2020-17 which closed entertainment, recreational, and other non-essential close-contact entities (mcmaster, 2020b). richland library, a public library system in a county of 415,759 residents (us census bureau, 2019) with a main library and 12 branch locations, had fully closed with this first wave of shutdowns, quickly realizing that its communities would need key information services to function during the pandemic crisis. the digital divide, or the gap between those who have digital access and inclusion and those who do not, was something the richland library was already aware of and trying to help overcome; however, covid-19 made this issue balloon into the number one challenge for staff to address. to proactively address the immediate impacts of the pandemic on library information services, the first line of service library staff enacted was on-demand phone call response. within the first week of shut-down richland library staff were working from home, with library phones forwarded to staff personal phones for them to answer questions including: “what is covid?” “how dangerous is this, really?” “what are the symptoms?” “what precautions do i need to take?” while much information was posted online, or being pushed out through news broadcasts (television, radio, newspapers), community members had localized questions and were looking for authoritative and trustworthy resources for answers. to that end, richland library partnered with organizations like the south carolina department of employment and workforce (scdew) to assist in answering phones for people needing to file for unemployment as businesses closed and jobs were eliminated or working hours reduced. eleven percent of south carolina residents were unemployed within the first month of the pandemic and scdew could not manage the sheer volume of calls, totaling more than 85,000 claims the first week of april 2020, which was the second month of the pandemic shutdown (coleburn, 2020). in addition, the library saw spanish-language phone inquiries spike (the demographics of richland county are 45.4% white, 48.7% black or african american, 5.3% hispanic or latino, 3% asian [u.s. census, 2019]). while many households had broadband internet connections, nearly six percent, or 10,300 residences, in richland county relied on school, workplace, or public wi-fi connections for daily access (ellis, 2020). for the most part, schools and places of business provided laptops and other devices to students and employees for workand study-related outcomes, but wi-fi connections were not as easy to access. richland library sought funding and partnered with organizations like the housing authority to assist in identifying households that needed wi-fi access and ensured that wi-fi was turned on in library parking lots where locals could sit in 210 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 their cars to apply for federal assistance or log in for work or school purposes (richland library, 2020). as the weeks passed and covid-19 cases rose, it became clear that the county would continue to be on socially distanced restrictions for many more months, so the richland library administration began designing a phased crisis plan for reopening the physical building based on the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention guidelines. however, cases continued to rise, postponing re-openings time and time again, encouraging the library staff to reinvent all services possible to suit online and socially distanced formats. in the following sections we will provide a brief overview of these changes in service. changes to richland library infrastructures and services the first changes made in richland library were emergency responses to pressing needs. a spanish language phone tree was set up as quickly as possible, routing spanish language calls to a messaging service, and spanish-speaking staff would quickly return the call to answer inquiries (this action indicates the intellectual access to information and social connection aspects of the tripartite model). the richland library website was already well organized and well-used, but updates were made daily to keep up with the many changes in service and opportunities as they arose. announcements of these changes were communicated with the richland library audience through its website (https://www.richlandlibrary.com/) and social media channels. publishers expanded online service policies and contracts for e-books, audiobooks, and physical access to other digital library services (tripartite model: physical access). for example, prior to the covid-19 pandemic shutdowns, with one publisher, a public library could purchase only one copy of a newly released book after the first eight weeks of publication. with covid-19, this policy was relaxed to allow multiple library purchases as soon as a book went on sale (friedman, 2020). similarly, streaming e-book, music, video, and audio-book providers such as hoopla, cloudlibrary, and kanopy temporarily opened up their check-out restrictions, allowing users to circulate more items than usual (eubank, 2020). the richland library also provided a new service in personalized reading recommendations via their website to ensure readers were supported in finding appropriate and desirable reading whether for learning, self-help, or for leisure (tripartite model: intellectual access, social access). printing was a physical service that customers of richland library continued to request throughout the pandemic shutdown period. while scanning was not possible to work around, as scanning requires more touching of devices and papers, the library was able to continue other services with minimal difficulty. users were asked to use a proprietary library printing system, smartalec, to order print jobs. smartalec allows users to send print jobs directly to the printer from their own smartphone or laptop, and then the patron could pick up the hard copies through drive-through or curb-side services. in addition, richland library’s library of things (https://www.richlandlibrary.com/libraryofthings) added 60 new items to provide community members resources including media arts equipment, access to adobe creative suite, and the library also loaned woodworking equipment and tools, giving entrepreneurs and at-home workers free access to checkout items online or via curbside pickup. due to covid-19, the brick-and-mortar branches throughout the library system were closed to the public from march 2020 until october 2020; however, library patrons could pick up materials at drive-through locations as early as june 2020, and curbside pickup shortly thereafter, thus ensuring continued physical access to the library’s information services 211 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 (tripartite model: physical access). setting up these kinds of distal services meant that the library staff needed to have an understanding of how to comply with the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention1 and the american library association’s2 guidelines for materials handling and safe interpersonal interactions, such as avoiding card handling and minimizing physical contact. when the main library reopened for limited in-door services in october 2020, plexiglass barriers were erected, and furniture removed to create space in compliance with established covid-19 protocols. staff worked to create a “warm and welcoming” atmosphere with directional signage to show movement patterns and help users navigate spaces safely (tripartite model: social access, intellectual access). for the most part, user feedback was overwhelmingly positive, noting appreciation of the safety protocols, provision of masks, guarding of social distance, and other small changes that ensured their ability to use the physical spaces but also maintain the community’s health and safety, including that of the library staff. user feedback was provided passively by phone and in-person customers who shared their experiences with staff. services for small businesses and entrepreneurs one of the first digital service adjustments made in response to covid-19 was in helping small businesses and unemployed individuals sign up for government subsidies. richland library was able to work with community partners and create virtual information services to connect with small businesses, solopreneurs, and workers facing unemployment (tripartite model: intellectual access, social access). with the many loans and grants available, the library could help reduce the guesswork of the application process and help customers connect directly with needed resources (tripartite model: physical access). indeed, richland library’s employment & small business help page3 was built and cultivated by the library’s marketing department and business and careers team to help the community navigate financial assistance opportunities, identify next steps for loan and grant applications, and to find resources available through the library and other community organizations. the library’s business and careers4 and studio services5 teams also began hosting a weekly meeting with local partner organizations to share information and resources relevant to small businesses and unemployed workers (tripartite model: intellectual access). representatives from scdew, the small business association, and the south carolina small business development center, along with city and county representatives, continued to meet online to discuss community needs and to collaborate on programming and community engagement (tripartite model: social access). appointments for job searching and unemployment assistance shifted to zoom and phone appointments with a dedicated phone line for job seekers to reach one of the library’s 30 career coaches (tripartite model: physical access). the library invested funds to post billboards to advertise this service around town to try and reach those who may not be seeing this information online (tripartite model: intellectual access). richland library also created a facebook group for entrepreneurs and small businesses6. this facebook group is managed by a group of library staff and community-based small business experts to provide tips, webinars, and practical advice to over 1,800 group members who have been able to network and continue connecting virtually with their small business colleagues (tripartite model: intellectual access). this activity feeds into the richland library entrepreneurs in residence program wherein entrepreneurs are identified from different 212 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 business backgrounds and areas of expertise and are recruited to offer one-on-one virtual small business coaching and zoom programs geared toward small businesses (tripartite model: social access, intellectual access). an ala libraries build business grant was successfully sought to allow the library’s entrepreneur in residence7 program to go virtual (tripartite model: physical access). services for students and home learning richland library’s education studio8 already existed, with a mission to improve the educational outcomes for the youth of richland county. this department specializes in providing resources and programming for struggling and emerging readers. it is also an information hub for homeschool parents because of its curated curriculum for reading, writing, and math. the studio’s reading specialists continued to meet one-on-one with parents, teachers, and tutors in “coaching appointments” and outline strategies to help struggling readers become stronger readers (tripartite model: social access, intellectual access). in the past, physical access to books, materials, and educational programming was readily available and the specialists conducted parent workshops on helping struggling readers at home. due to the pandemic, these services were updated to provide digital access (tripartite model: physical access). the specialists also traditionally have offered a weekly pre-literacy class to 4and 5-year-olds and conducted a yearly two-week summer camp for children with dyslexia and struggling readers (tripartite model: intellectual access). social distancing protocol caused the education studio to rethink how to provide services in the virtual world. staff brainstormed on how to recreate educational programming and provide services to a large population of struggling readers. they channeled funding into lexia core 59, a digital reading intervention program, allowing parents and tutors to continue to provide literacy support from home (tripartite model: physical access). with more parents and caregivers educating their children at home on a limited income, the education studio saw an uptick in customers seeking educational resources. purchasing quality materials to help a child learn to read can be quite expensive, and this was particularly troublesome during a time when small businesses were closing and many were losing work, were on furlough, or simply did not know if their income would continue throughout the year. the reading specialists responded to potential community learning support needs by purchasing multiple sets of all about reading curriculum10. this reading curriculum includes teacher/parent guides, student workbooks and reading manipulatives that carefully map out how to teach reading at home (tripartite model: physical access, intellectual access). staff also had to reimagine their pre-literacy program. they developed take-home kits, as “pre-literacy in a box,” that encourage problem solving, exploration, narrative expression, handwriting development, and phonemic awareness. a total of 250 physical kits were distributed across richland county and each kit included a parent guide and materials to help grow important early literacy skills (tripartite model: intellectual access, physical access). in addition to seeking reading support, parents and caregivers found themselves trying to prepare lessons from home using the south carolina education standards. the studio supported this with their education studio’s sc standards blog11, written in parent-friendly language and including premade lessons and booklists (tripartite model: intellectual access). richland library also created a dedicated page on their website12 to help support caregivers and educators 213 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 navigating their new learning environments, as well as creating a facebook group where ideas and resources were shared (tripartite model: intellectual access, social access). richland library’s education studio is gearing up for more virtual programs, including parent reading workshops via zoom and distributing additional resources throughout the community in the summer of 2021. services for social justice and civic engagement during the summer of 2020, the black lives matter movement led to a global focus on social injustice based on race and systemic oppression. one event richland library designed to support community engagement in social justice was a virtual teen panel which gave teens a safe place to unpack their reactions to world events by talking about their own experiences (tripartite model: social access). a landing page on the library’s website13 was curated to provide community members with resources to understand and discuss topics of race, equity and inclusion (tripartite model: intellectual access, physical access). public libraries in many cities today take an active role in fostering civic engagement (edwards et al., 2013; kranich, 2005). two significant u.s. civic engagement events that occurred during the pandemic was the 2020 u.s. census and the 2020 presidential election. in response to these events, richland library established two short-term priority service groups to inform and assist citizens regarding completing the census and voting in the election (tripartite model: physical access, intellectual access). among several projects, the census participation team created and staffed a dedicated phone line to answer questions and provide assistance; conducted a census-themed story time that was broadcast on the library's facebook page; and participated in local and regional phone and text banks (tripartite model: social access). also, a voter participation team compiled a master list of municipal, county, state, and federal election information, recruited 22 staff members to train and work as poll managers (for whom they also created care packages), and conducted a virtual voter registration drive (tripartite model: intellectual access, physical access). they also collaborated with the census participation team to write a series of civic engagement tips for the library's social media channels (tripartite model: intellectual access). all open locations distributed informational flyers and absentee ballots through holds pick-up and both teams published pertinent blog posts on the library's website with topics including privacy & the census; latinos/as, hispanics, latinx in the census; how to vote absentee; and first time voter: 2020 elections & covid-19. in addition, the library sponsored a virtual civic engagement tele-town hall14 that garnered 871 participants (tripartite model: intellectual access, physical access, social access). services for health and safety in the beginning of the pandemic, it was clear that people experiencing homelessness in the community would need additional support. with shelters no longer taking in individuals and public parks closed, many homeless citizens did not have access to restrooms or sanitizing stations. the main library of the richland library system is positioned in downtown columbia, south carolina, where in 2019, the staff serviced as many as 819 people experiencing homelessness. to ensure the public health of this patron community, richland library placed handwashing stations and portable toilets around the exterior of the building, as an accommodation due to the closed status of library buildings during the height of the pandemic 214 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 (trainor, 2020). richland library also deployed eight of its hand sanitizing stands with refills to local organizations that serve individuals experiencing homelessness. online public health resources provided on the richland library coronavirus resources & information blog15 outlined various local and global organizations and information about where residents could get tested and, eventually, vaccinated (tripartite model: intellectual access). through continued partnerships, richland library worked with the south carolina department of health and environmental control (scdhec) to provide an outdoor space for covid-19 testing at two library locations in designated high-risk communities. staff were able to volunteer during work hours for shifts at active vaccination sites, assisting users with registration to receive the covid-19 vaccine (tripartite model: intellectual access, social access). lastly, although library spaces were closed for several months, the public library was still a place library customers thought of when planning their outdoor, socially distanced meetings. a wide range of requests were made such as permissions to hold memorials for deceased friends and family members or to host church services in library parking lot spaces. although the library was not able to accommodate these requests because of social distancing and security protocols, the fact that the requests were even made shows that public libraries are considered important physical locations in the community for gathering during times of crisis. discussion and analysis of these changes to library services times of social crisis can be periods of stopping and retrenching but they can also be times of growth and revitalization (reed & thompson, 2021). the ifla 2020 statement’s call for libraries to ensure physical (everyone connected), intellectual (everyone enabled) and social (everyone informed) access to services and digital inclusion encourages libraries to look for ways to take advantage of the digital technologies available to recreate library services to creatively meet the needs of the communities served. the previous section provided a narrative account of changes to richland library services that responded to the emerging needs during the covid-19 pandemic year. the following table provides a breakdown of the services outlined in the narrative. this section will provide discussion and analysis. table 1. richland library and the tripartite model physical access and digital inclusion (ifla: everyone connected) intellectual access and digital inclusion (ifla: everyone enabled) social access and digital inclusion (ifla: everyone informed) general services augmented spanish language services na intellectual access social access expand publisher contracts/policies physical access na na personalized reading recommendations na intellectual access social access 215 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 online check-out; drive-thru and curbside pickup physical access na na directional signage for health and safety na intellectual access social access services for small businesses and entrepreneurs expanded small business supports including grant and loan resources physical access intellectual access social access collaborative programming and community engagement supports na na social access job search and unemployment assistance physical access na na billboards advertising new services na intellectual access na facebook groups and zoom programs for small business expert supports na intellectual access social access library’s entrepreneur in residence physical access na na services for students and home learning education studio support for parents with at-home schooling physical access intellectual access social access preliteracy classes for struggling readers; lexia core 5, all about reading curriculum physical access intellectual access social access facebook support group for home schooling, sharing ideas na intellectual access social access services for social justice and civic engagement resources to learn about and discuss topics of race, equity, and inclusion physical access intellectual access social access support to complete 2020 us census; civic engagement tips and tele-town hall physical access intellectual access social access socializing voting registration; virtual voter registration drive physical access intellectual access social access services for health and safety physical resources to support individuals experiencing homelessness physical access na social access covid-19 testing information blitz and socialization; volunteer hours at testing sites na intellectual access social access physical access to information and digital inclusion: everyone connected as noted in the sections above, physical modifications to library services were needed to continue to meet user needs and expectations. while no-touch service was important, this could sometimes be translated into digital-only from-home service, but sometimes needed to be low-touch in-person service. the library’s website was revised and updated daily to ensure 216 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 that users and potential users could stay connected and meet their information needs. new physical services that were not on the horizon before covid-19 include qr “quick response” codes scannable with mobile phones for mobile self-checkout, curbside pick-up at every branch, more drive-thru options than were previously available such as printing pickup, socially distanced in-house browsing, and a new array of digital services. digital connections with health, safety, and civic community service providers helped ensure community members could stay connected with wi-fi, websites, and phone-help when needed. next steps might be to further explore physical access issues, including which pockets of the community do not have access to school or workplace devices. when it comes to digital access, the goal of public libraries is not necessarily to ensure that all individuals own devices, but rather to ensure access to needed information and communication technology infrastructures to be able to meet local information and social inclusion needs. this access might involve loaning tablets or other devices to library users, being in partnerships within the community (e.g., schools, civic centers, health services, businesses), or by providing computer labs in community spaces beyond library walls. these kinds of decisions will depend on the funding and resources available to the library itself, and the connections with, and support provided by the local community. intellectual access to information and digital inclusion: everyone enabled richland library built bridges to reach members of the community with low or no online skills by creating services to support intellectual access to information and emerging infrastructures. these services included career coaching and small business help over the phone, social work appointments to assist users navigating the changing economic and business landscape, voting and census training and support mechanisms. school and parenting support allowed broader access to digital educational tools, and reader’s advisory teams expanded personalized recommendations for at-home reading. government interventions related to the pandemic have led to government paperwork and processes that are new to users and sometimes are processes that have never been seen before. next steps for richland library might be to have additional training for navigating government assistance such as the emergency rental assistance program and scdew applications, and health literacy training. there are visible equity issues in the community that will also need consideration, including language-based disparities (i.e., materials and services offered in a limited number of languages). public libraries can play a critical role in providing the training and outreach needed to ensure an informed and engaged populace during times of crisis, and help meet the communication needs between government and residents. social access to information and digital inclusion: everyone informed socially, richland library built community by expanding their use of social media with facebook groups and other facebook features, blogs, and virtual gathering activities such as story times and study groups. to keep richland library’s blog on the cutting edge, the library’s administration team tripled the number of staff members trained to post on the blog, leading to blog posts with tips for what to do from home during shutdowns, book recommendations, reading lists, mental health supports, brainbreaks for students, racial injustice and a civil unrest safe space. this also meant library staff needed to have clear discussion about how to provide robust information services, while still preserving the privacy and security of library 217 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 staff members (e.g., returning phone tree calls from home but in a way that would not disclose a staff member’s personal phone number; engaging with social media on a personal level, but without providing access to one’s personal social media groups unwittingly). as noted above, richland county has a hispanic minority population of about 5.3% of the county’s population, or 21,500 people (u. s. census, 2019). richland library has come a long way in providing more spanish-language services and resources via their facebook page, but there is still a long way to go. pre-recorded closing announcements at the end of the day are now made in both english and spanish and the spanish-speaking employees of the library are designing additional programs and services that will meet the social needs of spanish-speaking members of the community. reflections and conclusion when making decisions about service changes during times of social crisis or change, physical access may often be the first layer of access we think of: getting laptops and wi-fi to patrons, resource lending, and allowing users back into the building. while physical access is vital to library use, intellectual and social access and inclusion cannot be overlooked. when considering which is more difficult or more important, the answer is that all three are needed for full access and digital inclusion. through this analysis of the physical, intellectual, and social needs met by richland library during the covid-19 shutdowns and social-distancing period, we argue this tripartite model can be used to help public libraries ensure they are meeting the appropriate array of user needs during times of crisis and sudden social change, thus responding to the ifla 2020 statement for the commission on social development. a tootight focus on physical access could ignore the need for training and social supports; a skewed focus on social aspects may overlook physical and intellectual needs; and similarly, overconcentration on intellectual aspects could ignore physical and social needs. this tripartite model can help decision makers evaluate the services they already offer and analyze whether they are building a well-balanced structure to support digital inclusion in the community and meet the needs including but not limited to the specific digital inclusion topics listed in the ifla 2020 statement. it is also very important that we note that all these decisions were made by on-the-ground and behind-the-scenes staff members, including but not limited to managers, support staff, the marketing department, the social work department, the library experience team, and so many others who gave time, expertise, and talent to designing and redesigning services and processes as the 2020-2021 experiences unfolded. evaluation was a daily experience during this time of unexpected change, as was innovation and preparation, flexibility, and willingness to collaborate with new partners and make new connections. meeting the needs of the whole service population, including typically marginalized and situationally excluded library users, by offering robust, timely, and responsive library services was the vision of richland library and led decision-making throughout the 2020-2021 pandemic experience. endnotes 1 https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/index.html 2 https://www.ala.org/alcts/preservationweek/resources/pandemic 218 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/index.html https://www.ala.org/alcts/preservationweek/resources/pandemic learning from pandemic mode to create a sustainable digital future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195 3 https://www.richlandlibrary.com/employment-small-businesses-help 4 https://www.richlandlibrary.com/business-careers-and-research-center 5 https://www.richlandlibrary.com/studio-services 6 https://www.facebook.com/richlandlibrary/groups/ 7 https://www.richlandlibrary.com/work-for-us/entrepreneur-residence 8 https://www.richlandlibrary.com/educationstudio 9 https://www.lexialearning.com/products/core5 10 https://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/all-about-reading/ 11 https://www.richlandlibrary.com/educationstudio 12 https://www.richlandlibrary.com/educators 13 https://www.richlandlibrary.com/race 14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzbcm1cvwuw 15 https://www.richlandlibrary.com/blog/2020-03-03/coronavirus-resources-information acknowledgements the authors gratefully acknowledge the generous contributions of director of library experience sarah shuster, librarian sarah schroeder, and reading specialist emily johansson who provided details about specific richland library services and changes during the covid-19 pandemic. we would also like to thank richland library community and media relations coordinator emily stoll for reading and providing feedback. references agresta, m. 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(2014). digital literacy and digital inclusion: information policy and the public library. rowman & littlefield. trainor, c. (2020). columbia stretches to deal with its homeless population during covid-19. freetimes. https://www.postandcourier.com/free-times/news/covid19/columbiastretches-to-deal-with-its-homeless-population-during-covid-19/article_8c89c93a-774b11ea-a2b1-bb6d76023b69.html u.s. census bureau. (2019). quickfacts: county, south carolina. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/sc vårheim, a. (2009). public libraries: places creating social capital? library hi tech, 27(3), 372381. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/07378830910988504 williams, b. a. o. (1956). personal identity and individuation. in proceedings of the aristotelian society (vol. 57, pp. 229-252). aristotelian society, wiley. wilson, p. (2017, may 18). civic engagement: democracy thrives at the library. public libraries online. http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2017/05/civic-engagement-democracy-thrivesat-the-library/ kim m. thompson (kimthompson@sc.edu) is a professor in the school of information science at the university of south carolina. her background spans information studies, library science, and international consulting, with research focusing on information poverty and information access. her work involves underrepresented populations and employs qualitative and theoretical analyses. implications of her research extend to improving information services in libraries and other information organizations and providing greater understanding of information poverty issues. she is an adjunct associate professor with charles sturt university school of information studies and an affiliate faculty of the university of maryland information policy & access center. amanda reed (areed@richlandlibrary.com) is the assistant director of library experience for richland library, richland county, south carolina, usa. her work includes managing programming and partnership initiatives and liaising with department and locations to ensure cohesion as well as logistical support. 223 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/8824030/pid33331postpub.pdf https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/8824030/pid33331postpub.pdf https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/8824030/pid33331postpub.pdf https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/8824030/pid33331postpub.pdf https://www.postandcourier.com/free-times/news/covid19/columbia-stretches-to-deal-with-its-homeless-population-during-covid-19/article_8c89c93a-774b-11ea-a2b1-bb6d76023b69.html https://www.postandcourier.com/free-times/news/covid19/columbia-stretches-to-deal-with-its-homeless-population-during-covid-19/article_8c89c93a-774b-11ea-a2b1-bb6d76023b69.html https://www.postandcourier.com/free-times/news/covid19/columbia-stretches-to-deal-with-its-homeless-population-during-covid-19/article_8c89c93a-774b-11ea-a2b1-bb6d76023b69.html https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/sc http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/07378830910988504 http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2017/05/civic-engagement-democracy-thrives-at-the-library/ http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2017/05/civic-engagement-democracy-thrives-at-the-library/ mailto:kimthompson@sc.edu mailto:areed@richlandlibrary.com introduction theoretical approach to practice: the tripartite model of digital inclusion the context of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 changes to richland library infrastructures and services services for small businesses and entrepreneurs services for students and home learning services for social justice and civic engagement services for health and safety discussion and analysis of these changes to library services physical access to information and digital inclusion: everyone connected intellectual access to information and digital inclusion: everyone enabled social access to information and digital inclusion: everyone informed reflections and conclusion endnotes acknowledgements references epistemicide beyond borders: a literature review addressing epistemic injustice in global library and information settings through critical international librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders: addressing epistemic injustice in global library and information settings through critical international librarianship jieun yeon, syracuse university school of information studies (ischool), usa melissa smith, syracuse university school of information studies (ischool), usa tyler youngman, syracuse university school of information studies (ischool), usa beth patin, syracuse university school of information studies (ischool), usa abstract this conceptual research examines epistemic injustices in library and information science (lis) due to the power imbalance between western and non-western lis curricula, theory, and practice. it is equally critical to consider the presence of epistemic injustices in adjacent lis domains (e.g., classification, preservation, digital scholarship); for if we work to prioritize access or digitize materials without considering historical oppression, we are at risk of perpetuating these same injustices. in this work, we utilize the concept of epistemic harm to understand the international dimension of epistemic injustice. this paper introduces the concept of critical international librarianship, which we define as recognizing, examining, critiquing, and subverting the power structures and hegemonies in library and information systems that exist among two or more nations in practice, pedagogy, and research. critical international librarianship serves as an intervention for epistemic injustices. it provides a direction for the practitioners and researchers who pursue critical international librarianship to move toward a long-overdue epistemic justice in international lis. keywords: critical international librarianship; epistemic injustice; epistemicide publication type: research article conceptual introduction or some time now, we have witnessed a celebration of internationalization and globalization1 in the library and information science (lis) field. barbara j. ford, a past president of the american library association (ala), one of the largest library organizations in the world, praised international cooperation in her presidential theme, “libraries: global reach local touch,” which focused “on a unique, exciting, and invaluable aspect of what today’s libraries offer: access to worldwide information resources and local accessibility” (ford, 1998, p. 3). the ala continues to promote international exchange through the “i am ala international spotlight” initiative, which is a list that highlights new international ala members. the spotlight list was initiated in 2018 by another ala president, loida garciafebo, in collaboration with the international relations round table, a unit of the ala. notwithstanding ala’s outreach efforts, most national libraries are mandated to collaborate internationally (landry, 2017). additionally, the international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla) works as an overarching organization dedicated to a global effort to form f https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 2 “a strong and united global library field powering literate, informed and participatory societies” (ifla, n.d., para. 1). similarly, many books have been published to celebrate and encourage the international efforts of librarians. for example, chakraborty and das (2013) honored international librarianship as a way of broadening minds of lis professionals and equipping them with the ability to perceive the world differently. with this, an enlightened lis community hopes to create future citizens who can bond better with their fellow humans and bring wisdom, values, and understanding into the world. (p. xxv) singh (2020) similarly celebrated the publication of internationalization of library and information science education in the asia-pacific region by saying, “the book is a welcome resource in creating greater awareness on2 lis education in other countries, which can lead to better exchanges of ideas and resources and enhance cooperation and collaboration” (p. xvi). indeed, academic and practical efforts to promote international collaboration and cooperation have played a positive role in preserving heritage across cultures and promoting equal access to information throughout different corners of the globe. nevertheless, a deeper investigation into the international lis landscape presents a myriad of troubling revelations. between 1996 and 2021, 68% of lis publications worldwide were published in the top ten countries; at the top of the list, the united states publishes 31% of lis publications as of 2021 (scimago research group, 2022). contrastingly, considering its century-long history, all but two ifla presidents were from europe or north america. furthermore, “international librarianship”— a subarea of lis research and practice focusing on international issues—is a term often used to describe the activities of american or british librarians outside of their home country (bordonaro, 2017; laugesen, 2019). while not necessarily rooted in intentional suppression, these distinctions indicate invisible barriers that inhibit diverse groups and knowers from engaging with the international lis scene. we approach this work critically while acknowledging that our positionality creates perspectives that allow us insights but also biases in undertaking this work. collectively, we represent a research group at a large private r1 university in the united states and bring western educational values and ideals embedded within us during our study and work in this context. however, we work to critically interrogate those values and ideals within the scope of this paper. the first author was educated in south korea until she moved to the u.s. for a doctoral degree. her first experience in a western educational environment motivated her to coin and conceptualize the term critical international librarianship after realizing how many things learned from the western model of lis do not accommodate or reflect situations encountered in local information environments. additionally, the second author has worked extensively as a language editor in the academic publishing sphere, serving non-u.s. researchers seeking to publish their research in english. this has informed her perspective in this paper, especially regarding the burden that english and western dominance and academic models can create. the third author, educated in the u.s., approaches this project with past work experiences in american libraries-archives situated in community, academic, and federal information settings. the fourth author, a former school https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 3 librarian, now an assistant professor of lis, approaches this work as a marginalized person in the u.s. educational system. in this research, we engage the concepts of epistemic injustice and epistemicide because both concepts identify biases in the formation and transmission of knowledge and provide appropriate frameworks for diagnosing the current situation of international lis (patin et al., 2020). this study applies epistemic injustice and epistemicide as a fundamental approach to examine what, how, and why biases in the international lis field are perpetuated. the concept of epistemicide is employed to emphasize how simultaneous epistemic injustices in lis not only occur in the present in a single geographical location but also have intergenerational repercussions that are simultaneously local and global. our research addresses five types of epistemic injustices in lis that occur across borders to introduce the concept of "critical international librarianship" as a conceptual means to provide language for collective action to address and stop epistemicide in lis. finally, this paper presents potential ways to intervene in the epistemic injustices across lis research, education, and ethics. this research contributes to a genuinely international lis field that connects people and knowledge to benefit all humanity, not just a select few. theoretical background epistemic injustice and epistemicide epistemicide is the devaluing, silencing, killing, or annihilation of a knowledge system or a way of knowing (patin et al., 2020). it consists of repeated and persistent epistemic injustice, which is the “wrong done to someone specifically in their capacity as a knower” (fricker, 2007, p. 1). epistemic injustices refer to the types of harm done that can potentially impede a person's capacity to know or to develop their own epistemological framework. the use of epistemicide and epistemic injustice as a theoretical lens is growing in the lis field (budd, 2022; fisher, 2022; jimenez et al., 2023; oliphant, 2021; patin et al., 2021a; patin et al., 2021b). though there are more types of epistemic injustice, thus far, five have been discussed in the lis literature. testimonial injustice is defined as occurring when “prejudice” causes the receiver of the information “to give a deflated level of credibility to a speaker’s word,” whereas hermeneutical injustice happens “when a gap in collective interpretative resources puts someone at an unfair disadvantage when it comes to making sense of their [or someone else’s] social experiences” (fricker, 2007, p. 4). curricular injustice happens when educational resources are not available to help support epistemic growth, whereas participatory injustice is the exclusion of someone from participation in their own epistemological development (patin et al., 2021a). finally, commemorative injustices—which encompasses memorial, performative, and documentary injustice—can occur when harm is committed during acts of commemoration and memorialization (youngman et al., 2022). once a single injustice occurs, the other specific types of injustices may occur in singular or simultaneous forms. this experience is cumulative and, unless interrupted, leads to epistemicide. bonaventura de sousa santos (2014) describes epistemicide as a “traumatic experience” and argues that it creates repercussions for generations. while these injustices first harm the individuals who experience them, that first harm radiates beyond the individual to their immediate communities, which fricker (2007) terms the second harm, and then to future generations, which is deemed by patin et al. (2021a) as the third harm. andrews (2018) writes about resistance in the lis tradition and draws on historical trauma theory to discuss the process https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 4 of decolonization through indigenous scholarship. as andrews points out, this kind of harm sometimes creates intergenerational harm, as colonization attempts to exterminate entire cultures via assimilation into a new dominant one. still, often it occurs without purposeful intention or malice. the violence of epistemic erasure inflicted upon one generation will impact the next. thus, the egregiousness of the harm can be difficult to recognize when it comes in the form of beneficence (patin et al., 2021a; patin et al., 2021b). international librarianship & comparative librarianship this section establishes a link between our argument of epistemic injustices and international librarianship, serving as our theoretical foundation. international and comparative librarianship have long been discussed to address cross-national library issues. many academics have used comparative librarianship to define international librarianship (harvey, 1973; kawatra, 1987; liu & cheng, 2008). by tradition, we will first examine how international and comparative librarianship have been defined before introducing the concept of critical international librarianship in the following section. international activities in the modern library field have existed since the 19th century and have gradually developed into the distinct field of international and comparative librarianship (lor, 2019). as international cooperation and cultural exchange were promoted after world war ii, the field of international and comparative librarianship began to attract the attention of library professionals and grew substantially in the 1960s and 1970s (harvey, 1973; lor, 2018). chase dane (1954) was the first to examine comparative librarianship. he defined comparative librarianship as “a study of library science in many countries to discover what factors are common to those countries and which are unique to one” (dane, 1954, p. 89). in addition, he argued that the objective of comparative librarianship is to evaluate "the philosophy of library from many points of view" (dane, 1954, p. 89) and to promote internationally applicable best practices. since then, academics have proposed various definitions for comparative librarianship, focusing primarily on the similarities and differences between libraries located in various contexts and, typically, in different countries (harvey, 1973; wang, 1985). furthermore, a theoretical and philosophical contribution has been proposed as the goal of comparative librarianship. for example, based on danton’s discussion (1973), lor (2014), a prominent scholar in international and comparative librarianship, characterized comparative librarianship as “the area of scholarly study that analyses and explicitly compares library phenomena in two or more countries [...] to distinguish and understand underlying similarities and differences and arrive at valid insights and generalisations” (p. 28). kawatra (1987) further argued that comparative librarianship aims to discover the cause and effect of library development by comparing libraries in different contexts. in contrast, international librarianship needs a narrower and more coordinated scope (bliss, 1993; bordonaro, 2017). even though international cooperation among librarians advanced significantly by the middle of the 20th century through international organizations such as ifla and the united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (unesco), no comprehensive discussion of international librarianship appeared until wormann (1968) examined the history of international cooperation in the library field (keresztesi, 1981). without defining international librarianship, wormann focused on the collaboration between european and american libraries since the 17th century, reflecting the practical orientation of international librarianship at the time. later, researchers investigated the purpose and scope of international librarianship. for https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 5 example, parker (1974) identifies the scope of international librarianship as “activities carried out among or between governmental or non-governmental institutions, organizations, groups or individuals of two or more nations, to promote, establish, develop, maintain and evaluate library, documentation and allied services, and librarianship and the library profession generally, in any part of the world” (p. 221). harvey (1973), similarly, defines it as “a generic term to cover all aspects of the international affairs of libraries, all kinds of library studies involving more than one country, anything not local or national" (p. 297). in contrast, keresztesi (1981) limits international librarianship to the activities of “the multilateral, supranational organizations and institutions that were brought into existence through some joint effort with a view to promoting and developing library and information services, as well as the profession as a whole, all over the world” (p. 439). these well-accepted definitions show that international librarianship encompasses a broad range of issues that involve at least two countries. overall, international and comparative librarianship are closely related subareas of librarianship that have often been used interchangeably. however, to clarify the concept of international librarianship, it is essential to examine these two concepts' similarities and differences (lor, 2018). first, as a point of differentiation, we assume that international librarianship encompasses all library-related issues involving multiple countries. in contrast, comparative librarianship is a more specific concept applicable to cross-national library comparison. thus, we conceptualize comparative librarianship as a subset of international librarianship. the term ‘international librarianship’ denotes a broader, more inclusive field encompassing both theoretical and academic issues, which have historically been the primary areas of comparative librarianship (kawatra, 1987), as well as more practical concerns such as global standardization and international cooperation. second, as a similarity, we assume that international and comparative librarianship share an interest in the cross-national aspects of librarianship. as harvey (1973) addressed, “theoretically, the term ‘comparative’, when applied to library science, can refer to comparisons of any kind of library science, such as a study of danish public and school libraries” (p. 296). however, it is undesirable to extend the meaning of "comparative" too far “since comparisons are inherent in empirical research,” so that “the greater part of research in library science could be labeled as ‘comparative librarianship’” (lor, n.d., para. 12). therefore, for our purposes, we limit comparative librarianship to research comparing libraries from two or more countries. in addition, it is essential to exercise caution in classifying "foreign librarianship," which lor (2019) defines "librarianship in other countries countries other than that of the author" as a subset of international librarianship (p. 85). the description of "exotic" libraries or "marginalized users" in developing countries by western librarians does not necessarily involve multiple countries in the discussion. to fall under the umbrella of international librarianship, the discussion should include international concerns, such as a practical comparison of libraries between nations or a discussion of the transnational influences on libraries. regarding the expansive nature of international librarianship, this research aims to establish a connection between international librarianship and epistemicide to address the international dimension of epistemic injustices in lis. epistemic injustices in the international lis scene in the context of lis, predominately white-european cultural regimes have established dominant approaches, standards, and values related to knowledge organization, information representation, and intellectual freedom. in an age of academic imperialism, the overarching https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 6 declarations from powerhouse information institutions have pressured library and information professionals to adapt to standardized knowledge about the processes and practices—informed mainly by eurocentric cultural traditions, education, and practices—within our modern information environments. these overarching conditions in global library and information settings present new risks for committing and perpetuating epistemic injustice. testimonial injustice testimonial injustice entails an individual’s words, story, or testimony being dismissed, and previous scholars have specifically associated this with a “lack of belief” in that person’s credibility (patin et al., 2020, p. 1308). though this phenomenon is considered to occur at the individual level, in information studies, the broader historical and international contexts explain why a person’s—even an information professional’s—testimony may be discounted. eurocentric traditions often assume the universality of knowledge (de sousa santos, 2014). the belief in universal knowledge presupposes that there is “more correct” and “less correct” knowledge. these ideas pervaded the colonial endeavors by which many library systems were introduced to non-western contexts. as amadi (1981) described, “libraries and formal education featured among the various cultural artifacts imported from the mother country, with love, into ‘the heart of darkness,’ to enlighten, civilize, and westernize africans” (p. 56). thus, based on this false belief in universality, europeans forcefully oppressed and disregarded the knowledge systems of colonized people because their knowledge appeared "less accurate" when the universality of knowledge became the handmaiden of colonial aims. one prominent manifestation of this belief is the suppression of indigenous oral traditions and their aggressive replacement by a (non-local) reading culture. fitzpatrick (2008) describes how orality challenged colonial power in the dutch east indies. performances of traditional literary texts allowed the community to gather, reinforce its values, and offer critical commentary on contemporary events. in contrast, fitzpatrick (2008) points out that print texts and library collections could be more easily controlled in terms of content, and solitary reading practices were less dangerous than community gatherings. similarly, the oral tradition of sub-saharan nations was labeled “illiteracy,” which needed to be eradicated to “civilize” the continent (amadi, 1981, p. 52, 56). amadi (1981) summarizes, “libraries and the concept of literacy usually associated with them were to deaden the dynamism and effectiveness of the oral tradition” (p. 61). this suppression of orality among those colonized painted the oral testimony and aurally derived knowledge of non-western peoples with a shade of illegitimacy and even threat. moreover, even the vibrant local print culture sustained by indonesians, which included “stories from the malay and javanese oral performance traditions'' and tended to have “a nationalist bent”, was subject to “outright censorship” by colonial authorities, which reinforced the subsequent false representation of indonesian literary output as negligible (fitzpatrick, 2008, p. 278). such efforts at suppressing local peoples attempting to make their voices heard constitute an early example of how the import of libraries and western reading materials perpetuated testimonial injustice. an identifiable descendent of european colonialism is academic imperialism, which can perpetuate not just testimonial injustice but also hermeneutic, participatory, and curricular injustice in the information field, which will be discussed further below. academic imperialism is evident in “the west’s monopolistic control of and influence over the nature and flows of […] knowledge” and is maintained by “academic dependency” (alatas, 2003, pp. 602–603). for https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 7 instance, if scholars depend on aid from the global north to carry out their research, they can pursue only those lines of inquiry prioritized by other nations and are kept in a state of academic dependence. dependence on ideas, methodologies, and theories is another issue that alatas (2003) identifies. consider how such dependence is manifest or could develop in the situation observed by flagg (2000): there's a tendency to view [the united states’s] involvement with libraries elsewhere as largely a one-way street, with american librarians bringing their know-how to colleagues in less-developed nations. foreign librarians always participate prominently in ala meetings—437 registrants from 70 countries attended this year's annual conference—but such activity remains mostly one-sided. (p. 37) testimonial injustice emerges quickly when perceived expertise and resources favor one party. revealing how this dynamic is reproduced on a larger scale, scale (2021) explains, “most studies of international librarianship emanate from american sources and examine research initiatives within the global north or which originates from the global north to reach out to the global south” (p. 88). thus, librarians and libraries in the global south are likely to be over-represented as recipients rather than possessors of knowledge in information studies scholarship and those from the global north as teachers or experts; this power dynamic perpetuates testimonial injustice. these factors can affect attitudes toward librarians’ professionalism and credentials, which can be especially damaging when employment is concerned. one librarian at a university in the united arab emirates noted that the institution considered only applicants with degrees from ala-, canadian library association-, chartered institute of library and information professionals (cilip)-, or australian library association-accredited programs. “the effect was to prevent us from hiring great librarians from our neighbors in the region, while we sometimes brought on less experienced or less talented librarians from the west simply because they were from the west” (evans, 2016, para. 3). in other words, even candidates with evident job readiness were not credited for their experience because they had the ‘wrong’ credentialing. clearly, “international” has not always meant cooperation on equal footing, and the harmony envisioned by internationalization can easily shade into the imperial. critical international librarianship can help reveal sources of inequity that perpetuate testimonial injustice. as liu and cheng (2008) assert, “when we realize […] that other countries have systems and ideas that can help us, then, and only then, can we come together as a world community of knowledge” (p. xvii). hermeneutic injustice as was mentioned in the preceding section, libraries were one of the instruments utilized to colonize knowledge systems. according to the western view of the “universality”3 of knowledge, true knowledge should be the goal of all knowers (meyer, 2001; shohat & stam, 2014). relatedly, scale (2021) describes the result of being exposed to this perspective in a caribbean context where “north american and british texts by north american and british authors” (p. x) predominated in lis education. in keeping with the eurocentric notion of universal knowledge, scale recalls that he once “saw librarianship as a truly universal and global profession which had https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 8 adopted widely accepted best practices and evidence-based solutions to information and communication problems” (2021, p. 8). however, the western knowledge system itself is contextual knowledge situated in western experiences and is not universal (lebakeng et al., 2006). scale (2021) concurs: “i now see librarianship as an institution struggling between facilitating intercultural understanding among global library users and supporting the hegemonic communications of dominant cultures at the expense of others” (p. 8). the academic imperialism experienced by scale and described in the prior section effectively began with the setting up and direct control of schools, universities and publishing houses by the colonial powers in the colonies. [truly], the ‘political and economic structure of imperialism generated a parallel structure in the way of thinking of the subjugated people.’ (alatas, 2003, p. 24) such imperialistic endeavors did not cease with colonialism. laugesen (2014) discovered that unesco’s library development work was to implement the western, specifically angloamerican4, library model in “underdeveloped” countries in an effort to aid their “civilization” (p. 6, 13). in short, "well-intentioned" westerners equipped with “universal” knowledge have suppressed traditional knowledge systems. as a result of devaluing the knowledge systems of non-western cultures with love, the patronized lost their autonomy as knowers, which is an example of hermeneutical injustice (bernal & axtell, 2020). after experiencing paternalistic intervention during the colonial and post-colonial periods, librarians and scholars in non-western countries perceive themselves as pupils who need to learn from the western world. some non-westerners have internalized this western centricity to such an extent that it is difficult for them to critique why and how western knowledge has become the global norm (patin et al., 2021a). for example, the following quotes from academic lis journals display how non-western scholars revere western standards: kenya has been included, despite being a developing country that is faced with the challenge of poor funding. few academic, public and special libraries have built modern libraries for their institutions of a high standard to the level of some libraries in europe and north america. (mwanzu & wendo, 2017, p. 7) as this evolves, we should examine emerging web 2.0 theories and applications to envisage the future of academic libraries. best practices, risks and policies involved, challenges and lessons learned for using web 2.0 applications from developed countries will help asian libraries to move forward. (balaji et al., 2019, p. 542) in these quotations, the authors express their belief that western knowledge is authoritative without questioning why western knowledge and institutions are held to a "high standard" while their countries suffer from "poor funding" and a lack of experience or in what way western knowledge is better than their own knowledge. we do not imply that non-western librarians and scholars are negligent in developing library services that specifically serve local needs or critiquing lis’s western-centric bias (civallero, 2017; scale, 2021). instead, we claim that the lis field lacks the language and tools to criticize the western centricity of this intellectual space collectively. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 9 international librarianship is in a preferred position to help address this hermeneutical injustice, as it focuses specifically on international knowledge flow and cooperation between libraries around the globe. however, international librarianship often contributes to hermeneutical injustice by actively incorporating the concept of universal knowledge and linear progression. for example, in the introduction of international and comparative studies in information and library science, liu and cheng (2008) lamented the lack of international comparison librarianship studies, which seemed problematic to them because “underdeveloped countries have their libraries looking towards developed countries all the time for guidance and protocol” (p. xxix). constantinou et al. (2017) used the term "international librarianship" to encompass american librarians’ work in other countries: “echoing concerns about global leadership within the profession (asselin, 2011), we wanted to learn about the impact of international librarianship on information access and overall education in emerging and developing countries” (p. xv). these remarks imply that librarians from “developed” countries are lis leaders who can provide "developing" countries with knowledge, protocol, and best practices. moreover, as bordonaro (2017) and scale (2021) point out, international librarianship is overflowing with volunteer and travel experiences for north american librarians. similarly, lor (2019) critiques how international librarianship is used to denote "foreign" libraries without addressing library issues involving more than two countries. when international librarianship disproportionately amplifies the experiences of certain groups, we lose the potential to address power dynamics between countries, resulting in a lack of critical praxis in lis that inhibits professionals from identifying, naming, and addressing these injustices. to intervene in this hermeneutical injustice, we propose using critical international librarianship to provide a language and intellectual space to discuss the dominance of western ideas in lis and local library services without venerating knowledge from the so-called developed world. curricular injustice curricular injustice is “specific to the academy” and occurs when learners are denied “an education that allows for diverse epistemologies, disciplines, theories, concepts, and experiences” (patin et al., 2021a, p. 5). because of the centrality of curriculum to shaping the hermeneutic framework of new professionals, it is a crucial site for disrupting international information injustices. however, the colonial histories and academic imperialism discussed above must be acknowledged and directly addressed in lis education. first, considering the lopsided nature of the information flow discussed earlier, it is critical to consider whether and how students from more dominant cultures in library development are exposed to ideas of international cooperation among libraries and library and information systems worldwide. an informal review of the top lis programs in the u.s., as ranked by u.s. news in 2021 (u.s. news & world report, 2021), reveals that several appear to offer a class on international librarianship in some form. web searches and course catalog searches turned up, for example, an “international librarianship” course at the university of illinois–urbanachampaign, “information and migration” and “indigenous systems of knowledge” at the university of washington, “international and cross-cultural perspectives for information management” at unc-chapel hill, and a seminar in “international and comparative librarianship and information science” at the university of maryland-college park. an additional web search brings up an “international and comparative librarianship” course once taught at the university of wisconsin-milwaukee. if these are a bellwether, then some new professionals (though perhaps https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 10 the minority) may experience exposure to ideas about international librarianship in their programs. the caveat is that classes on international librarianship or adjacent topics may be “special topics” courses rather than core courses in the curriculum that are taught regularly; they may not have full-time faculty who are dedicated to teaching them, and they may not be integrated into an overall program designed to foster an international or multicultural perspective. moreover, without a critical mass of lis researchers developing the field of international librarianship, including through mentorship of future faculty members, the ability of such courses to be offered more widely, not to mention the possibility of a paradigm shift in american lis education, will prove challenging. however, such a transformation is necessary to address the academic imperialism that can implicitly underlie north american lis education. curricula across the global north and global south may also favor anglo-american librarianship models to the detriment of indigenized lis models and international cooperative understanding. consider peter lor’s (2019) surprise at the operation of french libraries after his anglo-focused education in south africa in the 1960s, as well as scales' (2021) awakening to the anglo-centricity of the lis curriculum in the caribbean described above. despite lor’s (2019) lifetime of work in international librarianship, barriers to international understanding, including language and travel difficulties, prevent sharing lis experiences. for instance, if scholars participate in academic conversations that are highly localized because of language barriers, information systems become siloed and critical insights are lost. one study conducted on biodiversity conservation research, a field in which broader understanding is reliant on local knowledge, revealed that: (1) most of the 35.6% of scientific documents written in a non-english language cannot be understood fully without the relevant non-english language skills, and (2) up to half of the non-english scientific documents are, in theory, unsearchable using english keywords. (amano et al., 2016, p. 2) the authors point out that missing so much “non-english knowledge can cause biases in our understanding of study systems” (amano et al., 2016, p. 1). the same is true for our local and global information systems. the most readily available information is what will make its way by the path of least resistance into lis education. addressing inequities in information flows through the concept of critical international librarianship is thus central to addressing curricular injustice in lis education. participatory injustice many of the described injustices imply participatory injustices in the international librarianship scene. for example, when librarians are seen as having the wrong credentials to succeed in a library position they are otherwise qualified for according to their testimony and demonstrated experience, they are prevented from participating in further professionalization in the setting of their choosing, thus limiting their epistemic development as library professionals. moreover, the loss to institutions of the diversity of global librarianship experiences that these workers would bring with them is one of the factors that keeps library and information systems siloed, perpetuating the epistemic injustices in the international librarianship context. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 11 currently, library workers seeking employment in the united states must have received their degree “from an institution that is included on the […] lists of accredited institutions/programs” from the following countries: australia, germany (two institutions), ireland, new zealand, norway, singapore, south africa (one institution), and the united kingdom (ala, 2022, para. 7). notably, this list favors anglophone countries and western (and perhaps even anglo-american) library traditions. those without a degree from one of the listed institutions must go through an extra step of having their credentials evaluated by an independent agency, which is undoubtedly a barrier to job-seekers due to the time and effort (and possibly money) that must be expended, without a guarantee that a prospective employer will accept the external evaluation. thus, library professionals with anglo-dominant lis education seem to have a built-in advantage in the international job market. those with other credentials may often work as paraprofessionals below their qualifications if they desire or are forced to seek work outside their region. participatory injustice is also experienced by lis researchers from non-anglo-american contexts, who encounter multiple barriers to their participation in knowledge creation and dissemination in their field. for example, patra and mahesh (2018) note that their bibliometric analysis showed a relatively small output of lis research from african countries. however, they also note that “only one lis research journal from the continent is indexed in scopus” and mention that developing countries, including india, have established their citation databases due to the “low coverage of journals from developing countries by international citation databases” (patra & mahesh, 2018, p. 113). failure to make the publications of certain regions discoverable suppresses the spread of information and sharing of experiences from places like india and africa. it makes the practical library work and scholarship of such regions less visible. the invisibility of these library workers and researchers is further enforced by databases’ and academia’s domination of the english language: western publishers dominate, and english dominates as the language of academic exchange. onyancha (2007) notes, “the isi prefers indexing records that are published in english, and whenever a paper is prepared in any other language, the institute requires that an english version be provided. this limits its coverage of records published in other languages, including those written in arabic or other african languages” (p. 106). in other words, scholars must bear additional costs for translation or language editing services or be faced with significantly global curtailed exposure of their ideas and work. information studies is subject to considerable harm from the knowledge lost to this participatory injustice. moreover, this suppression of knowledge production makes it more difficult for some librarians and scholars than others to establish themselves as epistemological equals in the profession, further limiting their participation in the library workforce, as noted above, and even in forums for academic exchange. the issues of academic imperialism described above also entail an element of participatory injustice in terms of lis researchers’ ability in all regions but especially the global south to break out of information silos and fully engage in collaboration, exchange of information, and idea sharing. through the lens of critical international librarianship, practitioners and professionals can work to ameliorate these injustices by discussing how they source information and their policies for hiring. there is a need to work towards an international accreditation schema informed by global experiences and local knowledge related to librarianship and information practices. critical international librarianship is a step toward this vision. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 12 commemorative injustices as a recent addition to the epistemicide framework, commemorative injustices describe the “collection of epistemic injustices that occur within commemorative information contexts, which encompass our participation in acts of commemoration, processes of memorialization, and interactions with tangible and intangible cultural heritage” (youngman et al., 2022, p. 362). these commemorative injustices—including memorial, performative, and documentary injustice—are described differently depending on both the physical medium and social settings where such interactions with cultural information take place. regardless of intentionality, commemorative injustices seriously threaten a knower’s capacity to understand and situate information about the past. likewise, it inhibits a knower’s potential for future epistemological development. through weaponizing the recording processes and recorded products of cultural information, knowers lose agency when determining the terms on which they acquire new knowledge and derive new understandings of the past. to understand commemorative injustice from an international institutional perspective, we can examine the case of the harvard-yenching institute library, in which qing (2020) explores the implications of knowledge extraction. specifically, qing details how harvard scholars believed that “native chinese scholars were unfit and ill-suited for the duty of protecting their own cultural heritage” because “they were thought to be unaware of ‘modern’ academic standards and incapable of the same intellectual precision as their western counterparts” (2020, p. 57). qing (2020) continues: “chinese scholars were perceived to be ‘unscientific,’ because they suffered from a lack of western training and therefore did not—and purportedly could not—know china as well as westerners did” (p.57). this testimonial injustice accuses the “native” scholars of being incapable of protecting cultural materials because they are not trained under the standards of western scholarship. simultaneously, this commemorative injustice enabled the savior mindset espoused by this library and information institution to effectively deprive chinese scholars of the agency to study, share, and commemorate their cultural heritage under the colonial guise of “saving” that knowledge. this paternalistic form of epistemicide echoes the sentiments of schlesselman-tarango (2016) that western library ideology is paternalistic in assuming that “users,” “foreigners,” “people of color,” and “the other” do not know what is best for them and always need support from the bountiful librarian (pp. 676, 678, 679). to understand commemorative injustice from a more collaborative international perspective, we can examine the reflection from britz and lor (2004) on the ethics of digitizing african documentary heritage and the implications of digital preservation and accessibility in enabling knowledge extraction. britz and lor (2004) assert a need for “information-based human rights” in their discussion of implementing a four-part typology of social justice as a social contract for our interactions with cultural materials made available from such digitization (p. 220). in consideration of their discussion of ethical concerns regarding compensation, prioritization, ownership, and means of access, the notion of “information-based human rights” (britz & lor, 2004, p. 218) adjacently posits a commitment to commemorative justice for all parties that interact with the physical and digital materials, thus promoting a commitment to acknowledging the legal, historical, and social origins of cultural information. beyond the examples above, the manifestation of commemorative injustices can also reflect long-standing colonial attitudes regarding who is deemed worthy of producing, preserving, and disseminating knowledge (fanon, 2015). in considering how we value information, it is essential to consider how our shared cultural conditions and traditions can reflect practices of saviorism, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 13 gatekeeping, and paternalism derived from colonial domination, potentially leading to the destruction and misrepresentation of heritage and memory. as fanon (2015) reminds us, colonialism is not satisfied merely with hiding a people in its grip and emptying the native's brain of all form and content. by a kind of perverted logic, it turns to the oppressed people’s past, distorts, disfigures and destroys it. (p. 37) therefore, library and information professionals are responsible for refusing and mitigating the proliferation of such behaviors in their practice to hold space for non-dominant knowledge and ways of knowing. by breaking out of the sphere of academic imperialism and looking to international settings for how information is valued, conceptualized, and organized, we can better understand how epistemic injustices are inflicted and create a more representative library and information landscape. in disrupting colonial research attitudes, recentering suppressed knowledge, and enabling more representative manifestations of commemoration, we can collaboratively build our capacity for implementing justice-driven library and information services. expanding epistemic harm into international lis in the prior section, we examined how epistemic injustices have harmed the lis field internationally. deeply rooted in western centricity, international knowledge exchange in lis remains unrealized, and a significant amount of knowledge is being lost due to prejudice. to overcome this situation, diagnosing how epistemic injustices operate accurately is necessary. in this section, we expand the discussion of epistemic harm in the international lis field, which was indicated in patin and yeon's (2019) initial conceptualization of epistemicide in information professions. we examine how these injustices are intertwined and mutually reinforcing. in addition, we supplement the concept of epistemicide by elaborating that the third harm is intergenerational and international. understanding concurrent epistemic injustices identifying the different types of epistemic injustice is essential, but it is also necessary to simultaneously address all types of epistemic injustice, as they are not independent. in most cases, epistemic injustices coexist and reinforce one another (youngman et al., 2022). here, we posit that international dimensions of epistemic injustices in lis further exemplify how such injustices work concurrently. for example, when the concept of a western library system was exported to non-western regions, the inhabitants already had their knowledge systems and ways to transmit and manage knowledge, even if it was not always referred to as a library (amadi, 1981; fitzpatrick, 2008; green, 1988; roy, 2022). in sub-saharan africa, knowledge was transmitted orally from generation to generation. many countries in northern africa and asia systematized their knowledge based on their writing and language systems. however, over the last two centuries, the western library system was introduced, and as mentioned above, the “good-minded” westerners paternalistically suppressed the knowledge systems of the non-western world. in this process, non-westerners experienced testimonial injustice, not being trusted as knowers. accordingly, modern library education has been achieved through a westernized curriculum, and non-western knowledge systems are frequently excluded from the curriculum or become electives rather than the core of the curriculum (chang, 2000; méndez, 2020). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 14 when western hegemony is institutionalized through education, it becomes difficult for students to acquire a language for recognizing experienced injustices. from the moment one enters the profession through lis education, the entire educational process becomes a process of building the “hermeneutical gap” (fricker, 2006, p. 103). students who have studied this curriculum would not doubt that the western library model is universal knowledge and the standard that information professionals must follow. however, is it really possible to apply a western curriculum to a place where the context differs from a western one? it is not a coincidence that the literature produced by so-called ‘developing’ countries critiques their insufficient lis education compared to the west (kaur, 2015). this self-criticism implies that lis has an international epistemic hierarchy and that librarians in “developing” countries endlessly reflect on their inferiority by comparing themselves to u.s. or european librarians without recognizing contextual differences or the hegemony they live in. different types of epistemic injustice are pervasive and mutually reinforcing to maintain hegemony. the tight interplay among epistemic injustices is one of the reasons why epistemicide is particularly devastating when it occurs across time and space. the following section discusses the implications of the international dimension of epistemic harm caused by epistemicide. intergenerational and international epistemic harm patin et al. (2021a) argue that epistemic harm is exponential because it harms “not only the individual (primary) at this moment in time, and the current collective community (secondary), but…the future” (p. 7). they named this temporal dimension of epistemic harm the third harm. in their conceptualization, time works as a multiplier of epistemic harm, and it eventually magnifies the negative impact of epistemicide. similarly, space also works as a multiplier of epistemic harm that magnifies the impact of harm. as the impact of epistemicide extends over generations, the epistemic harm that crosses national borders expands epistemicide to all humanity. based on the five types of epistemic injustice identified in the international lis scene, we have found two distinctive aspects of the international dimension of epistemicide. first, epistemic injustices are often institutionalized when transplanted to another country, where they thrive independently. for example, the story of a librarian in the united arab emirates highlights how western hegemony is institutionalized in a post-colonial nation, as described in the prior section (evans, 2016). notably, this university's hiring policy prioritized western librarian credentials despite the end of british colonial rule in 1971. in the case of south korea, the united states agency for international development and the united states military government in korea aided the implementation of lis research and education for twenty years following the end of world war ii as a form of cultural propaganda (chang, 2000). although south korea is no longer a recipient of foreign aid, dependence on the united states is institutionalized in south korean library education and research, resulting in the lis academic community looking up to american libraries to solve social issues in south korea (choi & ha, 2019; oh & kim, 2019). both examples illustrate the international influences in lis that have passed down epistemic domination through generations. in other words, the international transfer of epistemic injustice often plants a seed in a different soil to grow a tree of epistemic injustice that will survive for decades. second, the intersection of the international and intergenerational dimensions of epistemicide in lis exacerbates the dilemma between autonomy and paternalism. autonomy and paternalism are frequently discussed in public health, public policy, international relations, and social work ethics, but they are unfamiliar within lis. “the concept of paternalism is intricately tied to the https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 15 concept of autonomy” because paternalism is the restriction of personal autonomy for an individual's benefit (sullivan & niker, 2018, p. 649). although paternalism is condemned as unethical in many fields, paternalism still presents moral dilemmas, such as when a medical practitioner prescribes a life-saving medication, and the patient refuses to take it. similarly, librarians sometimes encounter valuable knowledge in different countries that requires preservation for future generations. what should librarians prioritize if librarians and institutions in a particular country do not have enough resources to preserve knowledge or are not motivated to protect knowledge? autonomy of the country or paternalistic intervention? since the international library scene is biased regarding knowledge and economic power, the resources for preserving and disseminating specific knowledge in less developed countries are often only available to developed countries. in this case, it is hard to say that external intervention from resource-rich countries is always wrong and harms the autonomy of librarians and citizens of a particular country. without international collaboration, valuable knowledge will be lost, and the global distribution and representation of knowledge will become more unequal. to avoid the pitfalls of paternalism, librarians must walk the fine line between autonomy and paternalism for the preservation and dissemination of knowledge. existing discussions and suggestions regarding the autonomy-paternalism dilemma provide hints for resolving our conundrum. for instance, zomorodi and foley (2009) argue that in communication between nurses and patients, clarifying information and educating are essential elements that differentiate advocacy from paternalism. sullivan and niker (2018) similarly proposed the term “maternalism” to argue that it is crucial to respect one’s autonomy by “relationally acquired understanding” in interpersonal interventions (p. 666). to form this understanding, epistemic injustices serve as a warning to librarians practicing international librarianship to respect the epistemic autonomy of others. critical international librarianship as intervention international librarianship has been a subarea of lis that addresses issues relevant to libraries in multiple nations. as a cooperative approach, it has contributed to helping librarians and researchers to have a space to understand libraries in different countries and encourage international collaboration. however, unless the power dynamics and hegemony impeding epistemic justice in global lis are addressed, international librarianship can easily become a sanitizing term that conceals the western-dominated intellectual foundation of lis. in this section, we propose “critical international librarianship” as a new area that combines the tradition of critical librarianship and international librarianship as an intervention against epistemicide in the international lis field. critical librarianship often refers to social justice-oriented activism within the lis profession (ferretti, 2020). at its core, critical librarianship tasks the field of librarianship with approaching our practice with a framework that is “epistemological, self-reflective, and activist in nature” (garcia, 2015, para. 1). critical librarianship “acknowledges and then interrogates the structures that produce us as librarians, our spaces as libraries, our patrons as students, faculty, and the public, whose interface with the sum of human knowledge” (drabinski, 2019, p. 49). acknowledgment and interrogation of our structures, processes, procedures, and policies are necessary to further a critical perspective in our field. following the core ideas of critical librarianship, critical international librarianship focuses on recognizing, examining, critiquing, and subverting the power structures and hegemonies in https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 16 library and information systems that exist among two or more nations in practice, pedagogy, and research. addressing epistemic injustice is one crucial intervention of critical international librarianship since libraries are one of the institutions of knowledge that select, preserve, and disseminate information for the benefit of humanity. critical international librarianship assists oppressed knowers in regaining their self-confidence by providing a conversation forum where they, particularly those from less privileged nations, can discuss and name their experiences with libraries that never made sense to them. as many countries implemented modern libraries due to colonial or imperial activity, it is essential that the lis field collectively acknowledge this traumatic past in multiple nations to advance justice. this awareness will serve as the first step toward reconciliation, and the second step is for libraries to “acquire the hope necessary to anticipate a shared future” (rigby, 2005, p. 869). therefore, any international collaboration should be based on a thorough examination of the past and the belief that libraries can collectively achieve justice through their efforts. situating critical international librarianship as previously stated, epistemic injustices are interconnected and mutually reinforcing, necessitating simultaneous global interventions for all types of injustice. thus, critical international librarianship encourages activities in different areas of librarianship, such as research, education, and practice, to address epistemic injustices. we propose multiple instances of critical international librarianship in research, education, and practice, as well as the ethical tensions that emerge from such an intervention, to break the vicious cycle of epistemicide. this section suggests a few examples of interventions for research in the international lis field. recognizing imperialism and colonialism in library development critical international librarianship should build upon cross-national studies focusing on colonial and imperial influences on library development. library development has been suggested as an appropriate topic for comparative librarianship because cross-national comparison may identify core factors that contribute to the development of libraries (kawatra, 1987). however, recognizing colonial and imperial influences on library development is necessary to produce knowledge relevant not only to westerners but to the entire world. as mentioned above, colonizers forced many non-western countries to import western library systems. the starting point of modern library systems in these countries is far different from that of library systems that grew out of necessity to serve citizens (shera, 1971). thus, cross-national analysis among non-western countries would reveal how colonialism and imperialism have affected library development. ignatow et al.’s. (2012) comparative study of malawi, namibia, and nepal is a rare example that incorporates colonialism into discussing the relationship between library development and democratization. ignatow et al. (2012) successfully criticized the ideology that believes in “the relations of public libraries to democracy [which is] derived from the broad enlightenment tradition” (p. 78), which does not explain non-western librarians’ and library users’ experiences. as this research demonstrates, more comparative studies are required to comprehend the long-lasting effects of colonialism and imperialism and assess the current state of non-western libraries. examining the experiences of non-western librarians and scholars https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 17 we propose empirical studies of international epistemic injustices experienced by librarians and scholars to amplify their voices. such research may provide a space where librarians and scholars share cases of epistemic injustice in their research, learning, and practicing librarianship and have their feelings and thoughts validated. critical studies of librarianship present the lived experiences of librarians of color, primarily in an american context (chou & pho, 2018; hill, 2019). using epistemic injustice and epistemicide as a framework, similar efforts to collectively record librarians’ experiences in the context of international collaborations or knowledge flow can shed light on the international dimensions of epistemicide, which will serve as the foundation for resolving epistemic biases in lis. these collective research efforts may lead to collaboration among non-western librarians and scholars, allowing them to see the inherent problems within their libraries and then dream of a new model of librarianship that reflects the actual needs and epistemologies of their users. critiquing lingua franca and identifying alternative approaches english as a lingua franca is one of the most unique and challenging issues in international knowledge dissemination (jenkins, 2013). bennett (2013) argues that the dominance of english in academic discourse erodes traditional knowledge when translated into english, thereby contributing to epistemicide. although the international lis academic community faces the same challenges, there is only a small amount of relevant research on this issue compared to other issues, such as subscription fees and open access (mochridhe, 2019). for instance, tariq et al. (2016) presented a remarkable examination of the language barrier encountered by pakistani lis scholars and students. they found that most of their participants perceived english as a significant barrier to research productivity (tariq et al., 2016). declève’s (2010) study suggests that the english barrier is not an issue exclusively in non-western countries. declève found that belgian librarians are unaware of evidence based library and information practice (eblip) and questioned if this was related to its availability only in english. this was validated by bennett (2013), who found that “english academic discourse, and the knowledge paradigm that it encodes, are deeply bound up with the power structures of the modern world (industry, technology, capitalism)” (p. 188). however, some examples may inform scholars who intend to pursue critical international librarianship. for example, meneghini and packer (2007) proposed a bilingual journal policy encouraging authors to publish the same manuscript in their language and english. bennett (2013) and luo and hyland (2019) argued for the acknowledgment of translators’ role in publishing eal (english as an additional language) researchers' intellectual work in english journals. nonetheless, recognizing the taken-for-granted position of english as a universal language in lis academia is the most crucial step toward epistemic justice. more studies and efforts addressing english dominance may also help diversify the editorial boards of journals and publications (harzing & metz, 2012). subverting injustice by moving towards critical pedagogy to move towards a critical international pedagogy in the lis field, lis programs must conduct a diversity audit (cooke & sweeney, 2017) to help identify which international topics, perspectives, and authors are covered across the program. diversity audits are limited in what one can learn about the curriculum, but they are an important place to start. furthermore, audits encouraging collaborative engagement from multiple countries will enable global library and information institutions to critically self-reflect on barriers in culture, language, practice, and policy and derive justice-driven goals for overcoming such obstacles in education. while it was established that there were multiple courses across lis programs covering international https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 18 librarianship, often, these courses were relegated to electives. it is imperative that international perspectives, practices, and cases are shared with our students in their core courses as a means to further embed multiple perspectives in our educational content. finally, we encourage lis educators to move towards dialogue in their courses, allowing students to speak as experts of their own experiences. ethical tensions: an invitation to critical international librarianship an internationally informed perspective of critical librarianship requires us first to acknowledge the influence of lis's policies, practices, and procedures across global contexts. it is essential to consider how lis governing organizations contribute to divergent perspectives of the roles, responsibilities, and challenges lis professionals face. rather than espousing interventions that often advocate for universalist solutions to practice, pedagogy, and research that hegemonize interpretations of library and information work, our distinctions here emphasize an intentional commitment to dissecting these differences to understand the gaps in our professional knowledge better. such explorations lend themselves to new opportunities for collaboration and identifying emergent areas of inquiry, including a shared commitment to combating manifestations of epistemic injustice. when examining governance, library and information organizations' core values and standards provide an initial indication of lis professionals' aspirations and shared expectations. here we examine the core values and ethics policies from three globally dominant organizations: the ala (2021) code of ethics, the cilip (2018) ethical principles framework, and the ifla (2012) code of ethics. ala (2021) prioritizes library services, intellectual freedom, confidentiality, intellectual property, public benefit, professional development, and human dignity, signaling a commitment to information-centric approaches to professional work. conversely, cilip (2018) prioritizes human rights, public benefit, preservation, intellectual preservation, impartiality, confidentiality, and information literacy, signaling a human-centric approach to professional work. ifla (2012) prioritizes access to information, societal responsibility, privacy and transparency, open access, intellectual property, neutrality, and collegiality, signaling a balance of responsibilities between people and information. while these policies initially appear to have standardized purposes, they are disjointly aligned through their use of ordering that reflects differing interpretations of the importance of professional responsibilities, addressing social change, and recognizing historical precedents that have influenced the values held by our profession. given the dominating presence of these organizations in the global library and information community, there exists a risk of perpetuating harm through the need for a unified approach to ethics and values. however, we are reluctant to advocate for centralized and universalist approaches to professional ethics, standards, and values, as we recognize that divergent information needs across global communities cannot be dismissed. rather, for our profession to progress toward promoting shared ideals, we must acknowledge that tension will always exist within our desire to advocate for universalist solutions and alignments. however, we must recognize that acting upon such desires would remove autonomy from library and information institutions and organizations to make decisions reflective of the needs of their respective communities. this would ultimately discredit the aims to recognize the variety of philosophical, organizational, and epistemological approaches to information. critical international https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 19 librarianship does not suggest a forced alignment of governance, values, educational standards, and access requirements. instead, it must be an engine for extending an invitation for library and information institutions and organizations to come together to promote shared accountability, derive mutual agreements, and demonstrate action that helps us live up to the values we espouse. conclusion our discussions on the manifestation of epistemic injustice in international library and information settings have yielded new insights into the global consequences and intergenerational harm of epistemicide. in presenting critical international librarianship as an approach to addressing the influence of epistemic injustice in international lis, we encourage lis professionals to consider how a critical praxis for research, pedagogy, and ethics on a global scale can collectively contribute to the amplification of marginalized knowledge. while our discussions explore specific interpretations of critical international librarianship, it is equally important to note what critical international librarianship is not. while this study focuses on inequities between western and non-western nations, the application of critical international librarianship is by no means restricted to this dichotomy. epistemic injustice can be inflicted between nations with any power differential. one paternalistic and political example occurred when the national library of korea invested in nurturing “pro-korean” librarians by inviting librarians from nepal, mongolia, vietnam, and so on (national library of korea, n.d.). thus, critical international librarianship has excellent potential for explicating and criticizing epistemicide in various contexts that have not been foregrounded. future scholarship should explore how collaboration allows for closer examination of the tensions between universality and autonomy, shared development of and access to resources, and moving away from proposing reactive interventions toward promoting proactive dialogue on the implications of critical approaches to international librarianship. such explorations require a collective and equitable effort from librarians in different contexts, which will also demand creative solutions to tear down the linguistic, financial, and cultural barriers that inhibit international collaboration. in particular, as the gap between time and space has narrowed and people living in different societies or cultures are connected more directly, it will be a task given to critical international librarianship to find out how globalization affects epistemic injustice and find countermeasures. for example, examining how lis can “realize the opportunities and mitigate the damages of a common language” through an epistemic injustice framework could be a way to unravel the complex effects of globalization (salomone, 2022, p. 378). we must recognize that libraries and information institutions do not exist in a vacuum and that combating epistemic injustice in the lis field requires constant resistance to hegemonic structures and power dynamics. however, by emphasizing that libraries and information institutions around the globe can intervene in epistemicide by accumulating and disseminating more just representations of knowledge systems, we begin to take a more meaningful step toward justice through critical international librarianship. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 20 endnotes 1one common way to understand internationalization and globalization is to view globalization as a phenomenon and internationalization as a response to this phenomenon (click et al., 2017). globalization is “spatial-temporal processes, operating on a global scale, that rapidly cut across national boundaries, drawing more and more of the world into webs of interconnection, integrating and stretching cultures and communities across space and time, and compressing our spatial and temporal horizons” (inda & rosaldo, 2008, p. 9). internalization is “the process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of” national, sectoral, or institutional-level actions to cope with globalization (knight, 2003, p. 2). 2we opted not to put [sic] despite the incorrect usage of "on" in the sentence. we believe that in international academic communication, minor grammatical errors should be accepted so long as the authors' ideas are conveyed. this practice could be an intervention that reduces the language barrier faced by eal (english as an additional language) researchers. 3there can be various manifestations of “universality.” for example, meyer (2001) described an indigenous way of viewing universality by illustrating a “‘sequence of immortality’ [that] summarizes this sense of spiritual continuity” (p. 144). this quote implies that there is a generational continuity of knowledge besides immediate knowledge from an individual's bodily experience. however, in this article, we specifically critique the western manifestation of universality that idealizes objective knowledge. 4the terms "anglo-american" and "anglo-centric" are used in this paper to refer to the british and "a north american whose native language is english and whose culture or ethnic background is of european origin" (merriam-webster, n.d.). references alatas, s. f. 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(2018). relational autonomy, paternalism, and maternalism. ethical theory and moral practices, 21, 649–667. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-018-9900-z https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003129219-16/mis-education-librarian-beth-patin-melinda-sebastian-jieun-yeon-danielle-bertolini-alexandra-grimm https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003129219-16/mis-education-librarian-beth-patin-melinda-sebastian-jieun-yeon-danielle-bertolini-alexandra-grimm https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003129219-16/mis-education-librarian-beth-patin-melinda-sebastian-jieun-yeon-danielle-bertolini-alexandra-grimm https://doi.org/10.5530/jscires.7.2.16 https://doi.org/10.1108/her-11-2019-0044 https://doi.org/10.1108/her-11-2019-0044 https://doi.org/10.1108/her-11-2019-0044 https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190625610.001.0001 https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2016.0015 https://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php?category=3309&area=3300 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-018-9900-z https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-018-9900-z epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 27 tariq, m., ahmad, t, & ur rehman, s. (2016). is the english language a barrier to research productivity among information professionals? a descriptive study. pakistan journal of information management & libraries, 17, 162–173. u.s. news & world report. (2021). best library and information studies programs. retrieved august 2022, from https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-libraryinformation-science-programs/library-information-science-rankings wang, c. (1985). a brief introduction to comparative librarianship. international library review, 17(2), 107–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/0020-7837(85)90002-0 wormann, c. d. (1968). aspects of international library co-operation: historical and contemporary. the library quarterly: information, community, policy, 38(4), 338–351. https://doi.org/10.1086/619694 youngman, t., modrow, s., smith, m., & patin, b. (2022). epistemicide on the record: theorizing commemorative injustice and reimagining interdisciplinary discourses in cultural information studies. proceedings of the association for information science and technology, 59(1), 358–367. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.759 zomorodi, m., & foley, b. j. (2009). the nature of advocacy vs. paternalism in nursing: clarifying the “thin line”. journal of advanced nursing, 65(8), 1746–1752. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05023.x jieun yeon (jiyeon@syr.edu) is a ph.d. candidate at syracuse university’s school of information studies. as a member of the library and information investigative team (liit), her research focuses on social justice in libraries and critical librarianship. she has worked with dr. beth patin to conceptualize epistemicide and epistemic injustice. currently, she is studying library governance to implement social justice values to public library boards. she holds m.a. in library and information science at yonsei university and b.a. in library and information science and public administration at yonsei university, south korea. melissa smith (msmit128@syr.edu) is a second-year master’s student at syracuse university’s school of information studies, where she is focusing on archives and cultural heritage. as a recipient of the ischool’s wilhelm library leadership award, she has worked with dr. beth patin on a book chapter and several papers related to epistemicide and epistemic justice in information studies. she is also coauthor with dr. sebastian modrow on a new translation of the papal bull inter caetera for the doctrine of discovery project and a paper on 19th-century library historiography and public library activism, presented at the annual conference of the canadian association of information science. she earned a ph.d. in english literature from the university of texas at austin. tyler youngman (tdyoungm@syr.edu) is a 2nd year ph.d. student in information science & technology at the syracuse university school of information studies. tyler’s research examines knowledge destruction in relation to libraries, archives, and museums and how digital technologies can amplify suppressed knowledge. prior to doctoral studies, tyler worked in libraries and archives and earned their mslis and bs/ba from syracuse university. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-library-information-science-programs/library-information-science-rankings https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-library-information-science-programs/library-information-science-rankings https://doi.org/10.1016/0020-7837(85)90002-0 https://doi.org/10.1086/619694 https://doi.org/10.1086/619694 https://doi.org/10.1086/619694 https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.759 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05023.x mailto:jiyeon@syr.edu mailto:msmit128@syr.edu mailto:tdyoungm@syr.edu epistemicide beyond borders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 28 beth patin (bjpatin@syr.edu) is an assistant professor at syracuse university’s school of information. her research agenda focuses on equity informatics, community resilience, and cultural responsiveness. the co-founder of the library information investigative team research group and director of the rocket city civil rights initiative, beth was also recently appointed to the new york state regents advisory council on libraries. her work focuses on epistemicide (the silencing, killing, or devaluing of knowledge systems), how libraries help support resilient communities, and digital humanities and the civil rights movement. her work on epistemicide was named the best information ethics and policy paper of 2021 by the association for information science and technology, and her latest paper, the sankofa intervention: combatting the epistemicide of parasitic omission through civil rights literacy in community information contexts, won the award for the best paper at the association of library and information science educators conference in 2022. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39251 mailto:bjpatin@syr.edu diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility aspects, and outcomes of a mobile digital library and information service model for a developing country: the case for lesotho the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility aspects, and outcomes of a mobile digital library and information service model for a developing country: the case for lesotho matseliso ‘mamahlape moshoeshoe-chadzingwa, national university of lesotho, lesotho abstract the provision of library services through rigid compartmentalisation of academic, public, school, and special libraries operating in one country can be cost-effective if a country has strong socioeconomic, cultural, educational, and political structures. this arrangement is apparently a fallacy for countries that lack such structures, as is the case with lesotho. this study examined the outcomes and the impact of the unesco-funded project titled distance and rural learnerteacher support through a mobile digital library (druletsmodil) in lesotho. the national university of lesotho (nul) library proposed druletsmodil whose objective was to reach out to nul’s de jure distant teachers and learners. additionally, the project expanded its scope to include library services to rural and poor communities. this paper outlines how use of the descriptive method, called the corporate social responsibility (csr) principle, utilised the case study approach to interrogate druletsmodil’s performance. the findings reveal that the project embodied various levels of diversity, inclusivity, and (mainly) social responsibility aspects of providing information for free, to the marginalized communities. from druletsmodil’s three phases covering all the ten districts of lesotho, positive outcomes were recorded. through information, communication, and technology apparatuses, druletsmodil’s offerings, and the support of participatory initiative for social accountability (pisa), diverse information was easily and cost-effectively accessible. the project attracted various partners; beneficiaries included academic library users, secondary schools, and male and female youth and adults in the villages. the study recommends advocacy on csr for all types of businesses and consideration of this model for developing countries. keywords: corporate social responsibility; diversity; inclusivity; lesotho; mobile digital library publication type: case study introduction he kingdom of lesotho is a small, mountainous, land-locked country populated by 2.3 million people (bureau of statistics, 2018). the country’s high-altitude mountainous topography sees the majority of its population located in the rural highlands which are not easy to access by ground or air transportation. the lowlands constitute the urban areas where 31.5% of the overall population live (worldometer, 2020). as a landlocked enclave, lesotho is completely surrounded by one neighbour, the republic of south africa (rsa), which is a larger, more economically and politically influential nation. t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 on a full spectrum of economic, cultural, political, and social matters in lesotho, politics is covered in the media more than any other sector, by both national and private media houses (african media barometer, 2018). it is often the negative politics, such as the 1986 coup d’états, where volatile incidents of electoral disputes and political assassinations (southall, 2010) are reported. notably, lesotho is a country of ironies and contradictions. while it is a neighbour to the rsa which is africa’s second largest economy after nigeria (oyekunle, 2019), lesotho has the 36th lowest gdp per capita in the world (global finance, 2020). despite the nation’s poverty, historically, the lesotho government has successfully promoted basic as well as functional literacy, for both in and out of school youth and adults (lesotho ministry of education, 2000). therefore, it may be understood that the majority of lesotho citizens do not have much challenge with reading. in a study that looked at poverty and illiteracy rates as obstacles to book trade in 10 southern african countries, the lesotho literacy level was the highest with 70% (makotsi, 2001). however, the same study revealed that four countries, including lesotho, lacked evidence of the availability and the role of public libraries as channels for book and reading promotion (makotsi, 2001). by implication, there is seemingly no correlation between the high literacy rate in lesotho and library use. moreover, the high literacy rate that may translate to presumably educated, skilled, and employable citizens, is in contrast to high unemployment rates. although unemployment rates decreased slightly from 23.6% in 2018 to 23.5% in 2019 (trading economics, 2019), that is still a high figure with the majority of citizens residing in the rural areas, where there is abject poverty (callander, 2017). the emerging trend, however, is that young females migrate from rural to urban areas to seek jobs, mainly from the factories that produce garments for export, and as domestic workers in the rsa (botea et. al., 2018; southall, 2010). historically, males migrated to rsa to secure long-term contracts in mining (cobbe, 2004). by 2020, it is the women who migrate from the rural areas. introducing the national university of lesotho as the context located at roma, lesotho, the national university of lesotho (nul) was founded in 1945, under the name, pius xii college. pius xii was succeeded by the university of basutoland, bechuanaland, and swaziland, and later, the university of botswana, lesotho, and swaziland that existed from 1966 to 1976 when nul was born (national university of lesotho calendar, 2002/3-2005/6). nul operated as the only university in lesotho until 2008 when limkokwing university, an international and privately-owned university, opened in the capital city of maseru (lesotho universities, n.d.). nevertheless, today, nul operates five teaching faculties, and one institute of extra mural studies (iems) as the open and extension arm of the university. in line with the ideals of the world summit on information society (wsis), by 2011 the nul library endorsed the budapest open access initiative and the berlin declaration on open access. as a signatory to such protocols, the united nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation (unesco) appreciated that the nul library was committing “to the “principle of open access as well as to pursuing solutions that advance the internet” and also “as an emerging functional medium for distributing knowledge” (unesco, 2020:1). it was further noted that the library had established the first institutional repository in lesotho (unesco, 2020). in 2003, the nul library became the founding member of the lesotho library consortium (lelico), which is outcome of the local libraries’ network that was established through the assistance of the international network of electronic information for libraries (eifl). through this scheme, the nul library has been active in securing the often cheaply negotiated or freely available e-resources that are, most of the time, shared nationally. thus, the nul library seized 52 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 the opportunity to seek unesco funding that would promote both the information, communication and technologies (icts) and electronic resources for use by disadvantaged communities that are supposed to be the clients of the public section of the lesotho national library services (lnls), but are mainly excluded. lastly, the nul library is to be regarded as an academic service of a university. an academic library, similar to a faculty, has a tripartite role to play: it participates in college-level teaching, scholarly research, and community service. introducing the druletsmodil project in the years 2015, 2016, and 2017, the lesotho national commission for the united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (unesco) issued annual calls inviting proposals for funding projects which national institutions could prepare within that year’s focus on the use of icts by disadvantaged communities (unesco, 2016). the nul library proposed druletsmodil. from 2017, when the project commenced, until january 2020, druletsmodil went through three distinct phases of study of providing ict-driven library services to the 10 districts of lesotho as follows: northern districts (phase 1), southern districts (phase 2), and rural lesotho (phase 3) that were examined here in terms of ict mobile access and performance, specifically to determine the project’s levels of diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility aspects, and learning outcomes. by november 2019, the druletsmodil vehicle had operated three phases in all the ten administrative districts of lesotho, namely butha-buthe, leribe, berea, maseru, mafeteng, mohale’s hoek, quthing, qacha’s nek, mokhotlong, and thaba-tseka. in each district town, there is a district branch library of the lesotho national library services (lnls). since 1977, when the lnls was established with the british council financial support, 43 years have gone by but lnls has not yet reached out to the rural areas at village, council, community, or individual school levels. as it is deduced from the british council’s reports (coombs, 1988), the first ever attempt for lnls to operate a mobile library in the country between 1978 and 1979 was through the danish development programme, the externally-funded scheme operating under the british council’s support for the establishment of the lnls. the british council reports that after four years the lnls had been backed with “funds for building, furniture and equipment, books, mobile libraries [author’s emphasis] and staff training” (coombs, 1988, p. 245). however, the project came to a halt soon after the british council had served only a limited number of school libraries in the five lowland districts. the british council’s report further indicated that, “[w]ith hindsight it seems that a central, though perhaps unavoidable, weakness of the scheme was that for most of its existence it was dedicated to setting up free-standing public libraries on the british model, rather than to giving direct assistance to the library needs of rapidly developing educational systems” (coombs, 1988, p. 275). the report concluded that such assistance would have been more likely to ensure effective and continued support from the host governments. by implication, there has been ineffective outcomes and discontinuity. as a result, lnls has not resuscitated the mobile library service which the british council introduced. in this regard, lnls is different from many other public libraries in the english-speaking countries of southern africa such as botswana, eswatini, namibia, and rsa (personal communication, march 2020). lnls is devoid of a mobile library service that touches the communities and the sparsely populated rural areas that cannot be easily accessed by lnls branches located in district towns. compared to the outreach of lnls, druletsmodil covered a more intensive and extensive field, within a shorter period of four 53 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 years, druletsmodil comparatively covered more ground and achieved more impacts with communities. literature review and conceptualising relevant terms the concepts that define the inherent features and value of druletsmodil are here semantically unpacked in relation to the library and information services (lis) field. mobile library and mobile digital library the international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla) provides guidelines for mobile libraries at two levels. in the first general sense, ifla discusses mobile libraries under the mission of public libraries, and in the section of “libraries without walls” (koontz & gubbins, 2010, p. 14). in the latter topic, the examples of mobile libraries that are connected with extended pods and internet are in developed countries. in africa, only ethiopia, a developing country, is mentioned in the guidelines by depicting its simple donkey-drawn carts that have no internet. ifla further describes the “bibliobus” as the name of the modern mobile library centre providing the internet and having operated successfully in the united kingdom (uk), the united states (u.s.), germany, finland, and russia. of note is that the approach of a mobile library “allows residents of remote rural areas to access information and education services, helping overcome the digital divide” (koontz & gubbins, 2010, p. 15). in the same way, “digital divide” is referred to as inequitable access to computerbased icts such as the internet (chisa & hoskins, 2013, p. 229). it is stressed that in sub-saharan africa, the digitally disadvantaged mostly include the indigenous communities and other vulnerable groups such as those living in the rural areas. in the case of lesotho, these are the rural dwellers who form the majority while the urban demographic constitutes about 31.5% of the population (worldometer, 2020). on the other hand, ifla’s mobile library guidelines (2016) are published as standards which address the issues of authorities that normally establish mobile libraries by government agencies to the types of mobile libraries, governing factors, amenities, and equipment that incorporate technological devices such as computers, staffing, and collections. even in these guidelines, ifla still defines mobile libraries as being “essential to the public library service and should be seen as an integral part of it” (stringer & ifla, 2016, p. 5). what is mobile is on the move, operating from one place to another. it perhaps makes sense that this move occurs when the services are extended from the organisation’s headquarters, beyond its inner circle to the outer periphery. since the topic of this study refers to a mobile ‘digital’ library, definitions further consider the understanding that is provided by ojedokun and moahi (2007), who elaborate on not only a digital library but also its relationship to an electronic library as well as hybrid and virtual libraries that fit druletsmodil by stating, “a digital library is an umbrella concept for diverse activities and diverse offerings. other terms used with a similar connotation include, for instance, the electronic library, the virtual library, the universal library, the future library and the library without walls” (2007, p. 212). this means that the library defies the tradition of library buildings as modern types, which have adjusted to modern and advanced offerings of icts. from its heritage of operating in lesotho as the only university since 1945 until 2008, the national 54 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 university of lesotho has tended to carry out several nationwide academic and related responsibilities (moshoeshoe-chadzingwa, 2009). although the nul library seemingly had its de jure clientele in mind, within the culture of also shouldering the national interests, off-campus general library users still dominated nul’s consideration when druletsmodil was conceived. that notwithstanding, there is a paucity of literature providing proof that, in english-speaking southern africa, mobile libraries of any sort operate beyond the public libraries. the eswatini national library service, as well as the namibia national library services are examples that attest to this pattern (personal communication with deputy librarians from eswatini and namibia, june, 2020). in a sense therefore, the nul library as an academic instead of a public library has performed above the expected level to operate a mobile library that is open to the public. diversity diversity is the condition or quality of being diverse (“diversity”, 1991). it is a range of different things, including the condition of having several unique elements. the nul library boasts a diverse collection, that is accessible in print and electronic formats, has a diverse workforce comprising academic, non-academic, and non-governmental clientele in terms of age, gender, race, sexual orientation or cultural background, geographical location such as rural versus urban, and advantaged against disadvantaged. diversity is therefore about these differences that, on the one hand, may breed asynchrony, friction, disharmony, and inequalities between the haves and have-nots. on the other hand, diversity may enhance the materials the library offers and the services it provides. these are two polarities that may be linked by a mobile digital library that has remained a constant variable in the three phases of the druletsmodil project. inclusivity / inclusion inclusivity or inclusiveness denote a practice or policy of including people, members or participants who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized due to their gender, race, class, sexuality, physical disability, or such challenges (“inclusivity”, 2012). people could also be excluded on the grounds of being distant, unknown, or not being influential. prospective library users may be excluded from normal services on account of comparatively inaccessible rural, distant places or due to poor, inadequate internet connectivity or ict-related facilities. potential library users may be excluded from library and information services if such users are already library and information illiterate. a policy that deliberately brings marginalised groups to the fold of services translates into advocating for inclusiveness, inclusivity, and inclusion. a relevant lesson may be drawn from the perspective of south australian research conducted by kaeding et al. (2017) on public libraries and access for children with disabilities whose special needs are not catered for in the mainstream public library services. these researchers propose an inclusive library model which is broad and encompasses the “collections, physical barriers (space and equipment), partnership, programmes, training and marketing” (p. 15). the model suggests that all these issues require supportive management. adjusting the buildings, providing collections that suit groups with physical disabilities, for example, widens the scope of information services so that groups that are different from others can be included into an expanded arrangement that includes diverse clients. this is an ethical outcome that can also bring about synergy between engaged stakeholders. institutions, services, and corporate bodies that deliberately address inclusivity policies demonstrate a social responsibility to their communities. 55 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 social responsibility and corporate social responsibility the literature on social responsibility (sr) is extensive and intensive. chen (2020) defines the term as “a theory that asserts that businesses, in addition to maximizing shareholder value, have an obligation to act in a manner that benefits society”. relating sr to value is further brought to the fore by smit (2020) who diagrammatically illustrates that, on the one hand, the corporate social responsibility (csr) value chain entails shareholder as well as stakeholder considerations. smit (2020) posits that the csr value chain is, in principle, similar to other value chains. that the csr value chain is like any other value chain becomes clearer by comparing it to the marketing infrastructures for the horticultural value chain in lesotho. the horticultural value chain in lesotho also depicts similar categories of consumers, government, organisations, and their policies as well as retailers and partners (lesotho ministry of trade, industry, cooperatives and marketing, 2012). csr means “a self-regulating business model that helps a company to be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders and the public” (chen, 2020) for its activities and the results. although the principle of csr has been around from as far back as the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, and gaining a common use with the emerging term ‘stakeholder’, the american society of quality (asq) explains that csr “is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of … as well as local community and society at large” (holme & watts, 2000). whereas the idea of a ‘business model’ may give the notion that csr suits profit-making enterprises and industries only, that is not the case. in 2010, the international organization for standardization released a set of voluntary standards, namely iso 26000 which “is aimed at all types of organizations, regardless of their activity, size, or location” (iso, 2010, p. 1). csr means the character emanating from a sociable conduct, fitting a friendly environment and a social obligation. it is the behaviour expected of the individuals, institutions, services, corporate bodies, and businesses to go beyond a call of duty, rule, profit, or norm. it is the ethical manner of giving and offering for the sake of it and as the good thing to do. in the library sector, khoir (2011) reports on csr and gadjah mada university library collaborative partnership whereby the disadvantaged poor in indonesia were generally supported. the case applies the carroll’s pyramid of csr (khoir, 2011) constituting key social, philanthropic, ethical, legal, and economic considerations that correspond to the dimensions listed above (chen, 2020; smit, 2020). methodology there are possibly various libraries that operate mobile digital libraries that are diverse, inclusive, and embracing csr, but this study looks at the single case of lesotho. this study employed the descriptive research design, using the case study method. mixed research methods employed included synthesizing quantitative and qualitative data in order to examine and assess levels of diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility aspects, and outcomes of druletsmodil. the study therefore relied mainly on secondary sources for data, such as the researcher’s own experiences as an information professional. additionally, secondary sources constituted both published and semi-published literature as well as official records from the partners of the projects. this methodology was favoured because of its affordability in terms of costs, time and similar logistical arrangements. field work and in-depth data collection would be expensive and time-consuming. notably, a case study, according to payne and payne (2004) looks at an example 56 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 from a broad process, and examines that unit closely. in kind, testimonies of the participants and experiences of relevant informers also contributed data significantly. mchombu (1995) as well as moser and korstjens (2018) contend that measurement studies may yield more reliable information if carried out and observed while the services are happening in the moment, rather than relying on memory later. this is understood to mean that the study of a unit is time and space bound. in this regard, moser and korstjens (2018) outline the effective methods of observations in research, and state that an observer who is there as part of the setting, who is located where the process and action is taking place, make a suitable method especially for qualitative data collection. for this case study on diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility aspects, and outcomes, data was coupled with observations, the researcher’s own experience, interviews with relevant individuals, and communication with personal contacts for a qualitative analysis that defined the author’s viewpoint. corporate social responsibility made the framework upon which to examine performance of druletsmodil during its three phases of operation. as mentioned, the csr framework is similar to methodology that an academic library of gadja mada university in indonesia also used when it partnered with institutions that were not necessarily academic (khoir, 2011). that academic library further embraced non-academic users within its premises where special corners were created. in like manner, the assessment focused on the following issues: • vision, business integration of the main service provider which is the nul library on the one hand, and the disadvantaged group and groups that were socially and ethically being included in the csr model, on the other hand • stakeholder consideration, the partnerships involved and empowerment • and, shareholder considerations, return of investment, public reputation. the planned functions of druletsmodil druletsmodil aimed to: • provide electronic and printed materials, mainly to the open and distance arm of nul, the institute of extra mural studies (iems), part-time learners and lecturers, and (secondarily) where possible, to the communities residing in the remote areas of lesotho where library services are either limited or unavailable; • provide, for free, internet connectivity to the disadvantaged iems branch libraries (one in the north and two in the southern region); • remain open to any interested rural communities, particularly to the rural youth in secondary schools, who are prospective nul students as well as primary school pupils, because the e-resources do not necessarily deplete with the increasing number of users; • enhance the capacity of the unesco supported information depot in the botha-bothe and mohale’s hoek districts; and 57 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 • facilitate the dissemination of instructional materials from the iems instructors to the registered learners. phase 1: the functions of druletsmodil in the northern part of lesotho from 2015 to 2016 beginning in march 215, druletsmodil’s mobile vehicle belonging to nul left maseru, iems headquarters, to provide distance and part-time learners and instructors with library services. through one year’s funding from unesco, the vehicle followed the schedule that was agreed upon with the hosting schools and users in the vicinity. impressed by the innovation of druletsmodil, and the prospects of influencing the clients, the commercial vendor who initially charged for the wi-fi, began to offer reduced rates. the vehicle stopped at the designated secondary school for a week. during that period, druletsmodil services were accessed by the iems distant part-time students, who are primary target users, and secondary school pupils and teachers. local community members were also free to visit the mobile library vehicle where the following items and services were offered: • a fitted wi-fi facility (accessible within the radius of about 4km) and laptops; • printed material such as the newspapers and books for reference or for borrowing; • some of lesotho library consortium’s free electronic databases on general areas such as dictionaries; and • guidance by staff from both the nul library and unesco national commission. on its return journey, the vehicle stopped at the same stops and, in some cases, at additional ones. the northern region covered the berea, leribe, and botha-bothe districts. in leribe personal testimonies were provided by high school teachers and learners comprising a female pupil (user number 1) from st boniface high school, a male pupil (user number 2), as well as another male pupil (user number 3). user number 3 rejoiced, “i have managed to find great books and resources that are relevant to my schoolwork. for instance, i always struggled to understand our set-book, julius caesar, but the notes that i found in this library have been very useful to me.” while user number 3 showed off a copy of hamlet, user number 1 said that the text was one of her “favourite works by the english writer, william shakespeare.” in teyateyaneng (town in the berea district of lesotho), where the druletsmodil vehicle was part of the celebrations of international school day, teachers confessed that they initially dissuaded the pupils from taking cellular phones into the classrooms. however, after seeing how a cellular phone could be used to access some educational material through the internet provided by druletsmodil, they found the use of cellular phones appropriate (serabele, 2015). this change of attitude implies the project’s positive impact. in butha-buthe, druletsmodil cooperated with the unesco-supported community radio station. the two services enhanced each other’s visibility in the area. as an academically-oriented arm of a university, the nul library met its obligation to serve the nul clients. but to extend a mobile digital library at this stage, the library assumed a corporate ethical responsibility to embrace the needy. the library did this voluntarily as the iso 2000 standard recommends. clearly, the secondary school pupils who benefited from the mobile library are an indirect investment return to nul whose students come from the secondary schools which benefitted from druletsmodil. during phase 1, unesco 58 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 was the main stakeholder. the commercial internet provider also sustained the service. the range of participants, such as the school authorities and the district administrator who contributed something to the library, had something valuable to reap from the operation. the librarian’s report to the nul library board (nul library board, 2018) reported that by the end of the first phase, 45,000 people had been offered diverse library and information services. phase 2: the functions of druletsmodil in the southern part of lesotho from 2017 to 2018 subsequent to unesco’s approval to fund the second phase of the mobile library, the project team further set off on a second leg from maseru to the southern districts, with the functions similar to those of phase 1. it began at masianokeng high school, where a number of the users converged around it. at mazenod high school, the principal welcomed the service, noting that it instilled a sense of fun and excitement for the students. neither the male nor the female pupils had felt that way before. at holy cross high school, in mohale’s hoek, the teachers advised that the library hours should be extended, mainly to the evenings. during its first two phases of operation, the project had become the subject of research by a university postgraduate student in the library sector. a mobile library service became a topic for a university dissertation. kubutu (2018), a local student studying outside lesotho, conducted a study on the impact of a mobile digital library. the study revealed that the project had reached and met the information needs of the rural learners, which included not only the target iems academic learners but also the school pupils. this proves that the project is significant and worth assessing. subjecting the operations of druletsmodil to scholarly scrutiny allows for some improvements where necessary. druletsmodil boasts an ingredient of icts. in line with the budapest and open access protocols that the nul library commits to, the project introduced a digital mobile library, embedding openness during the first two phases. this condition is derived from the arrangement where free electronic resources are openly accessible and available to all. the project thus embraced diversity, inclusion, and social responsibility aspects whose outcomes benefit a wide spectrum of communities at once. druletsmodil also provided specialized children’s library services. during this phase, the nul vehicle connected with the internet and the unesco funding continued to be the company’s brand that attracted library users. records indicate that when the internet was off, the youth did not stay at the mobile centre (personal communication with the attendant of the centre, 2017). similar sentiments were heard at the event where the druletsmodil vehicle was officially toured and was an attraction to participants of the unesco celebrations of the world book and copyright days at the royal archives and museum centre, at the royal village in matsieng, lesotho (personal communication with guests at the copyright day celebrations, 2017; unesco, 2016; “prince seeiso calls for reading culture”, 2017; royal archives, 2017). phase 3: the functions of the project in the districts of lesotho from 2018 to 2019 prior to the end of the unesco funding, the deutsche geselleschaft fur international zusammernarbeit german corporation for international development (giz) had approached the nul library to offer its contribution as a partner in the project. the agreement between the nul library and giz marked the beginning of phase 3 of druletsmodil. this initiative broadened public library services to adult community members, which was a slight shift from phases 1 and 2 that mainly covered academic and school library clientele. towards the end of 2018, the 59 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 druletsmodil van was re-branded nul with giz slogan of “participatory initiative for social accountability” (pisa) and it started to make stops in the rural and urban areas, the lowlands and highlands, and the community councils of lesotho. giz works mainly on behalf of the european union (eu) and supports the lesotho government to implement its strategic plan. the priority areas of cooperation between the giz and lesotho include ‘decentralisation and local development’, ‘citizen’s participation and political education’ as well as the ‘social welfare systems’. it is within this broad framework that pisa applied some information aspect on the druletsmodil approach of an outreach to the distant communities, with the slogan, “it is the responsibility of all of us” translatable into sesotho, the local official language as: “boikarabello ke ba rona bohle”. the emphasis is inclusion, social participation, and responsibility. by 2019, almost one year after joining druletsmodil, pisa reached out to 45,000 users, comprising the previously information-poor and information-illiterate communities. through that effort, druletsmodil and pisa positively stimulated ict literacy among rural learners and adults. in that way, the project has contributed to ushering lesotho into the ideals of the world summit on information society (wsis), which recommends that each country should seize the icts opportunity to facilitate access to information by all. some of druletsmodil’s positive outcomes include: • enhanced citizen engagement in democratic matters in lesotho; • created dialogue platforms with effective engagement for local and national structures; • facilitated community awareness and participation in public policy processes; • in some districts, and together with unicef, provided library space for children’s “kiddies corner” which introduced relevant literature for children while the parents engaged in the debates of the day; • partnered with a local non-governmental organisation called development for peace education (dpe) through the “community parliament” to debate on topical and developmental issues for the marginalised communities in the rural highlands; and, • found a suitable audience for its own newsletter titled “boikarabello ke ba hao” (meaning “it is your responsibility”) and other local newspapers, leaflets, and materials that are available from the transformation resource centre (trc), the land administration authority, and other sources whose publications could previously not be easily distributed to the remote areas. phase 3 of the mobile library has, through pisa, further penetrated 45 out of 76 local councils within the three districts (mobile centre main report 2018-2019). this 59.2% of the coverage has not been covered by lnls, despite its national mandate, and scope to be ahead. lnls has not yet attained this milestone because it operates a traditional physical library whose branches firmly occupy fixed space in the ten urban centres of their respective districts. seemingly, this traditional pattern of library service is predominantly practised in most of the developing regions, especially in africa. the druletsmodil and pisa project, on the contrary, operate an 60 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 electronic library, virtual library and, perhaps a universal library, thus breaking the norm in this regard. this integrative approach seems to be synergistic. it serves the clients of the academic library, the public library, the special information centres, and the children’s library sections. an epitome of csr related lessons to be learnt from the pisa operations in which the endbeneficiaries participated is a record of the subjects that were debated and discussed (mobile centre main report 2018-2019). table 1 lists eleven places where participants (in three categories of gender-aggregated users) visited the centre. the topics range from politics, gender equality, income-generating schemes, and finance, to youth for employment and human rights. females participated more than males. table 1. mobile library statistics from phase 3: participation by sex, in interdisciplinary presentations made at pisa mobile center 2018-2019 place topic/theme participation figures by sex total male female 1. makhoarane community council arms of government open session visitors contacts 11 44 9 19 77 15 30 121 24 2.kubake community council moitsupeli tlali primary school tholoan’a lerato transparency during recruitment process/ human rights advocacy volunteerism citizenship food security open session open session open session open session contact 4 3 30 54 5 5 10 25 49 24 9 13 55 103 29 3. likolobeng community centre marakabei likolobeng pisa mobile centre education & icts financial management open session open session visitors contact 87 1 19 177 16 61 9 55 129 16 18 10 74 245 32 4. qiloane community centre training/ youth literacy youth management open session open session visitors contacts 20 1 35 9 18 13 67 24 38 14 102 33 5. manonyane community centre mafefooane liphakoeng -mafikeng world hiv / aids day financial management financial management financial management open session open session open session 15 35 25 13 18 4 19 11 33 39 44 24 6. semonkong urban council ha moahloli ha khonyeli financial management financial management open session open session 12 8 16 11 28 19 61 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 7. semonkong urban council likorolo khubetsoana good sherpard school ha konyanatsoana polateng ha pomela financial management environment/soil the role of herd boys financial accounts financial management good qualities of a leader open session open session open session open session visitors contacts open session 12 18 18 30 142 1 19 58 2 7 6 149 0 38 65 20 25 36 291 1 57 8. mazenod community centre mazenod thota-moli ha josiase -fika lemohala/’mantṡebo ha thaabe ha ’masana female’s role in combating corruption youth, democracy/ict’s gender inequality principles of democracy human rights public service delivery citizens’ participation in governance civic engagement open session open session open session visitors contacts open session open session open session open session open session 49 3 10 230 30 18 24 13 9 61 9 0 214 4 2 9 7 11 110 12 10 444 34 20 33 20 20 9. lilala community council tṡoeneng decentralisation/local government enhance citizens’ health participating in election open session open session 15 0 45 10 60 10 10. rothe community council role of democratic institutions open session visitors contacts 12 57 11 48 190 69 60 247 80 11. maseru industrial area financial management open session 25 78 103 note: the participation of females is further illustrated graphically in figure 1. table 1 does not only show the level of participation by males and females. the proportion of females to males as 54% to 46% (open sessions), 57% to 43% (visitors) as well as 65% to 35% (contacts) and still tallies with the already mentioned national ratios of 59% female to 41% males of the national statistics. table 1 also illustrates a wide range of topics that the users of the mobile centre were engaged in. the analysis is that the exposure of the communities to the library-related information has enabled the participants to apply their minds to issues that affect their everyday lives. pisa is about this level of involvement in a traditional or a digital library. what is important is that there is an actual and meaningful use of information. use in this case may be determined when a user actually takes the initiative and participates in the library services through visiting the mobile vehicle, reading, surfing the internet, and then understanding and acquiring knowledge (moshoeshoe-chadzingwa, 2002). the mere exposure of druletsmodil to the rural and marginalised communities is not automatically benefitting those 62 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 people if they are passive. it is the positive actions of getting to the mobile library as the school pupils in phase 1 did. the students accessed the internet, read school prescribed books, and then affirmed that they benefitted from the activities. the 3,030 participants listed in table 1 are understood to include those who made telephone calls to the national radio station to affirm that they were empowered by engaging in those pisa and dpe supported discussions of relevance to development projects within the communities. figure 1. proportion of participants by sex. attributes of druletsmodil and outcomes of the model although the attributes of the project may stand out, weak points too should be mentioned as they exist. to a certain extent, sustainability of the service depends on the external funding from unesco, giz, and unicef, consequently making continuity difficult. yet for a mobile library, it seems common that a vehicle is generally donated, or is an item prone to rapid breakage and poor maintenance (personal communication with the deputy librarians from eswatini and namibia, 2020). this is also the case with zimbabwe (doust, 1999) and the malawi’s cure mobile library (brock, 2018). by january 2020, there has already been no continuity with library services in the northern parts of lesotho which was covered by the first phase despite the high schools loudly asking for repeat services. in phase 3, the vehicle made a stop for a significant and continuous presence at each administrative council while it stayed for only two weeks at a time in the previous two phases. several advantages accrued from this seamless approach of the project. library and information services were introduced to large sections of the population that had never used any form of information services before. druletsmodil, as a hybrid type of a library, encompassed digital, electronic, and print materials for academic, school, children’s, and public groups. at its inception, the project was not necessarily designed along the csr theory. however, along the way, the service fits the model, which is appropriate for developing as well as developed countries. it is the model that works for any business, company, and 63 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 institution that looks at the value chain with all its stakeholders and partners. the voices are audible from the users of the two completed phases and the third, on-going one. testimonies are positive from most of the beneficiaries, constituting the members of the public, the academics, the learners from the secondary and high schools, and the children who use the “kiddies corner”. the service is attractive in all respects and has the potential to grow. on october 17, 2019, on seboping radio lesotho programme, and commenting on the usefulness of being engaged in public debates conducted by pisa and dpe, a female caller affirmed that they were empowered to inform their member of parliament from their constituency, about the transport-related challenges, comprising the need for a bridge. the project enabled that particular council not only to receive relevant information but also to respond by constructing a bridge. through druletsmodil and pisa, the project is diverse and inclusive. it embraces comprehensible and socially responsive services. the innovation of the nul library was that of tapping on the advantages of icts, and of serving beyond the academic boundary. by so doing, nul, the international bodies, and the local non-governmental organisations embraced intra institutional inputs. their visions converged, enabling the nul library to invest in the community, as csr urges. the project’s diversity is expressed by the varied formats of information materials and the wide number of subjects, geographical areas, staff members, and community partners. the model is inclusive and ethical, especially towards remote, rural, and underserved communities. the principle of inclusion and a non-discriminatory library practice resonates with the call by wsis, the unesco public library manifesto, as well as with the internet manifesto of the international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla). it is about time member states adhered to these protocols. when pisa contemplated suspending its services for a while, due to the unavailability of accommodation in teyateyaneng, the community opted to find a venue on their own. the community argued that the youth were enthusiastic to use the pisa internet and the library and that if the centre were to discontinue its services, the youth would revert to delinquency (personal communication with centre facilitator, february 13, 2020). this move is evidence of “being responsible” and of the community ownership of the library. significance of the study to a certain extent, the case study of lesotho tested the applicability and suitability of a theory of csr to library services. the test has provided a lesson that the csr business model may be considered to work in library services. the study has created awareness of how icts may be tapped by economically poor and developing countries, incorporating partners’ support to extend library services for otherwise excluded groups. the relevance, appropriateness, and value of this study as pertaining to diverse information offerings to the marginalised rural communities in lesotho cannot be overemphasised. in this respect, the study has highlighted the role of external technical and financial ambivalence in library development, especially in initiatives coming from academic libraries that normally may not be serving the general members of the public. the report has contributed knowledge on the subject of the efficacy of the mobile digital library, for practical library managers, and for lis learners and researchers. however, the scope has been too broad to be satisfactorily covered within the limits of the study. at this stage, the report has therefore laid the foundation for further evaluations of library services that extend to user studies that enquire in detail from the beneficiaries. by discovering more information on mobile digital libraries and csr from southern africa and in indonesia for instance, the study postulates that future comparative studies may follow, and from where this paper has left off. more 64 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 importantly, the study is a lesson for the value of this type of a library project to a broad spectrum of beneficiaries that are not compartmentalised in seemingly the same local people. in particular, it is time for the library organisations to aim at operating for quality and professionalism by evaluating their performance against the existing frameworks such as the corporate social responsibility. summary and conclusion the nul library requested unesco to fund the first phase of the project. when this phase succeeded, unesco easily supported the second phase, at the end of which giz offered to continue with the widened scope of the functions. within this period, a number of stakeholders participated, cooperated, and collaborated with the project. presumably, this support gives a good reputation to nul where it enjoys an active use of its library by the community at-large, including support from community-based stakeholders. for example, a commercial wi-fi service provider injected its assistance. the teyateyaneng council of berea district committed a physical space. the development peace education (dpe) voluntarily played its role; in conjunction with pisa, it enhanced debates as depicted in the topics and levels of participation in table 1. dpe’s inherent focus on education and peace building development, enriched the scope of the third phase of the project. these values accrue for diversified groups and visible signs of social responsibilities that occur when an innovative service is visible and successful. above all, the features of the library and information services of the project do not lend themselves to the normal operations of any single type of an academic, public, school, special, or children’s services. however, all these categories have been touched and have benefitted. could this be an option for the kind of the library of the future for lesotho? could it be a model to be tried, incorporating diversity, inclusivity, and social responsibility features? the author is convinced, and would like to conclude that the diversity, inclusivity, and csr features of druletsmodil project make it a suitable model not only for lesotho but for similar countries whose meagre resources make it difficult for library authorities to reach the marginalised through one stereotype library. the corporate social responsibility nature of the nul academic library service attracted local and international partnerships that extended their hands to offer hybrid library services that benefitted rural and urban schools, marginalised public library communities, and a previously information-poor section of ordinary people. the outcomes are voiced by the beneficiaries themselves. some school learners give testimonies that they would not have passed their classes without the project’s help; women in the communities confirm that the service empowered them. it is a successful mobile library service model. acknowledgements it is with gratitude that i thank institutions and individuals that helped me to carry out and complete this study. facilities and records of the nul faculty of humanities and the library were accessible to me. i should recognize the invaluable assistance of unesco national commission to lesotho as well as the office of pisa lesotho. the encouragement from colleagues and family members was immense; and so was the patience of the editors and reviewers. i have learnt a lot from them. i am indeed indebted to all these people and offices. 65 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33554 references (n. a.). 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(2020). the leading odl university. https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/about/the-leading-odl-university worldometer. (2020). lesotho population 2020. https://www.worldometers.info/worldpopulation/lesotho-population/ mm moshoeshoe-chadzingwa (mamahlape@gmail.com) has studied in lesotho, the uk and south africa. she has worked briefly for the lesotho national library services before proceeding to the national university of lesotho (nul) where she began as a documentalist in 1983 at the institute of southern african studies (isas), then the principal research arm of nul. at isas she gathered experience of servicing researchers with locally generated and often hard to get grey literature. she combined skills of managing grey literature with competencies of publishing in interdisciplinary areas that isas was researching. she then moved to the main nul library that has been pivotal in serving the nul academic information needs and those of lesotho library sector, including the birth of the library school that has started within the faculty of humanities where, since 2018 she has been teaching on a full-time basis. 69 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/about/the-leading-odl-university https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/lesotho-population/ https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/lesotho-population/ http://mamahlape@gmail.com/ introduction introducing the national university of lesotho as the context introducing the druletsmodil project literature review and conceptualising relevant terms mobile library and mobile digital library diversity inclusivity / inclusion social responsibility and corporate social responsibility methodology the planned functions of druletsmodil phase 1: the functions of druletsmodil in the northern part of lesotho from 2015 to 2016 phase 2: the functions of druletsmodil in the southern part of lesotho from 2017 to 2018 phase 3: the functions of the project in the districts of lesotho from 2018 to 2019 attributes of druletsmodil and outcomes of the model significance of the study summary and conclusion acknowledgements references digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio emily lynell edwards, st. francis college, usa abstract this article explores how digital humanities (dh) projects, specifically the building of digital archives and digital exhibitions, can be implemented to preserve, reveal, and highlight previously invisibilized histories. this piece examines the construction of the latino/a/x issues conference (lic) archive at bowling green state university (bgsu), a public university in rural northwest ohio. this article, from the perspective of the archivist, explores the following research questions: how can dh archival projects reveal and preserve invisibilized histories of latinx students at public universities against a series of constraints and serve as a means of (re)producing latinidad? this case study explores how to utilize the traditional form of the dh digital archive to document and preserve latinidad in institutional archives and advances the notion of digital archiving as a form of first-aid care to address the historical erasure of latinx communities in institutional archival contexts. in doing so, this article critically examines the process of archiving the bgsu lic as a means to consider the possibilities and limits of archival intervention, the production and preservation of memory, and the challenges and affordances of descriptive infrastructures that underlie archival work. keywords: archivization; digital archiving; digital humanities; latinidad; metadata publication type: research article introduction his article explores how digital humanities (dh) projects, specifically the building of digital archives and digital exhibitions, can be implemented to preserve, reveal, and highlight previously invisibilized histories of latinx1 students in higher educational institutions. i situate this process as a form of first-aid archival care, addressing histories in need of attention, care, and curation (arroyo-ramírez et al., 2022; morello, 2020, p. 144), while also exploring how digital archival initiatives can produce memory. this piece examines the construction of the latino/a/x issues conference (lic) archive2 at bowling green state university (bgsu), a public research university in rural northwest ohio, discussing the construction and exhibition of archival materials drawing together perspectives from critical archival studies and the field of dh. i argue that for communities whose histories have been strategically and structurally neglected in traditional archives (villarroel & baeza ventura, 2019), digital archiving is a means through which to preserve materials at risk of immediate loss and to ensure memories and stories are available to communities for future engagement, analysis, and possibly (re)creation. in situating the centrality of archives in the field of dh, alexis lothian and amanda philips have noted that digital archives are “the most legible form of digital humanities production” (2013, p. 6). a dynamic and growing field that frequently returns to the question of self-definition, early t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 dh practitioner wendell piez defined dh not only by its “study [of] digital media and the cultures and cultural impacts of digital media” but fundamentally by its scholarly processes of “designing and making” (2008, para. 9). as such, the construction of digital archives and practices of digital archiving has been deeply aligned with dh scholarly traditions of maker culture. at the intersection of archival studies and dh, there has also been spirited discussion of the way in which traditional physical archives have perpetuated inequalities and elisions through the historical situation of “the archive as the all-encompassing site of knowledge” (kim, 2015, p. ii). david j. kim classifies the current period as distinguished by a “‘digital archive fever’” among dh practitioners (2015, p. i), drawing attention to the mushrooming of digital archival projects across a variety of institutions. critical dh scholars have long argued for the imperative to decolonize digital archives, centering previously historically marginalized narratives and indigenous experiences and subjectivities while reflecting upon the limits of digital technologies to “reshape the power dynamics that distinguish between center and periphery” within the space of the archive (lothian & phillips, 2013; risam, 2019; risam, 2014, p. 38; cushman, 2013). in specifically discussing the potentially productive overlap between dh archival initiatives, latinx studies, and histories of latinx communities, kelley kreitz notes that digital “[a]rchival documents could become sources for rewiring nineteenth-century hemispheric notions of latinidad” (2017, p. 311), and, i emphasize here, potentially sources for rewiring 20th and 21st century national and urban-centered notions of latinidad through the implementation of smallscale institutional archival projects. the concept of latinidad, like the term latinx, has been contested, at times forwarding a uniting concept of an imagined cultural, socio-historical latinx community extending beyond national geographic borders (coronel-molina, 2017). alternatively, recent latinx scholars have forwarded critiques of latinidad as not merely reductionist but reproductive of anti-black erasures of afro-latinx communities (flores, 2021; vidal-ortiz & martínez, 2018), and thus not merely a theoretical concept that has outlived its usefulness but an exclusionary paradigm. despite these critiques, i deploy and utilize the term latinidad situating latinx identity, community, and latinidad as defined by “a post-regional and hemispheric configuration that includes us latino and latin american practices” (l'hoeste & rodríguez, 2020, p. 15). specifically, dh practitioners héctor fernández l'hoeste and juan carlos rodríguez have noted when discussing latinx dh approaches that “nation and the region do not simply vanish or go away [and we cannot] disregard material, economic, and sociopolitical differences” when invoking notions of latinidad and latinx identities (2020, p. 16). i engage with both concepts here drawing on kreitz’s work (2017). with the field of latinx dh studies actively growing (l’hoeste & rodríguez, 2020), there are a multitude of dynamic digital archival projects being developed to recover, preserve, and present latinx histories and explore and contest concepts of latinx identities. the university of houston’s recovering the u.s. hispanic literary heritage program, recovery, which collects and preserves the written record of latinx communities from the colonial period to 1980, is one such initiative that is currently facilitating the creation of the u.s. latino digital humanities center (usldh), the first dh center for latinx research (arte público press., n.d.). other digital archival projects include “the chicana por mi raza digital memory project and archive” (cotera et al., n.d.), “rhizomes: mexican american art since 1848” (davalos & cortez, n.d.), and “chicana diasporic, a nomadic journey of the activist exiled” (garcía merchant, n.d.). pérez et al., in discussing the state of latinx dh note that digital archival projects centering latinx experiences and voices not only “demonstrate resistance to the university” but also “specifically the archive, as colonizing spaces that keep latinx communities outside its gates” (2020, 6:20). pérez et al. (2020) have 9 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 argued for the importance of constructing latinx digital archives as forms of scholarly resistance particularly at institutions outside the r-1 scope, which refers to institutions characterized by high levels of research activity and spending. as such, my article explores how digital archival projects, when implemented in a targeted fashion in smaller institutions, can provide lasting memoric and historical interventions into existing university archival structures by assisting in (re)producing latinx community memory and serving as a front-line intervention in addressing exclusion from the historical record, including latinidad within the institutional archive. here, i consider archive in multiple contexts. primarily, i focus on the digital archive, which may be understood as “‘a conscious weaving together of different representational media’” (owens, 2014, para. 11), generally, historical documents and materials that are digitized. i also engage with the theoretical concepts of what archivist dorothy berry has termed the archive and archives, with the archives understood as nebulous and shifting, referring to any collection of materials reproductive of history, and archives as understood through the means by which institutions define “documentary history” (2021, p. 6). i situate the lic archival initiative as a process of collection, (re)production, and reunification of latinx histories through the construction of a digital archive that occurs against the backdrop of the larger institutional university archive (cotera, 2015). the lic archive, as i will explore, is both nebulous and shifting, a contingent collection, but also can be seen as a method by which latinidad was documented and became a more central part of bgsu’s history. in this article i investigate key questions: how can dh archival projects reveal and preserve invisibilized histories of latinx students at public universities against the backdrop of structural and technological constraints, and how can dh archival projects facilitate the (re)production of latinidad? i do so by discussing the material and technical considerations of building a small-scale digital archive, outlining the acquisition of materials, exploring the descriptive digital infrastructure that underlies the project, and reflecting on the process of not merely preserving histories but presenting and engaging with the larger community. as such, this article takes the construction of the lic archive and its exhibition as a case study to examine and reflect more broadly on the way in which digital memories from the latinx community can be preserved and cared for within the technological and institutional boundaries of the traditional university archive. focusing on the lic archive, i center a discussion of latinidad in the university archive, as one of a “complex range of latinidades” that makes up a larger “phenomenon of identity construction” of latinx communities across space and history (gerke & gonzález rodríguez, 2021, p. 3). as follows, i briefly discuss the context of the lic digital archival initiative against the backdrop of the university archives, then review how digital archives have historically been applied as a method of dh scholarly production, also drawing attention to the limitations of digital archives, particularly how they have replicated exclusions comparable to the traditional archive. i then recount the construction of the archive and digital exhibition as the lead archivist and exhibition curator, reflecting on the limitations and affordances of digitally archiving historically marginalized stories, considering both traditional archival practices and descriptive infrastructures such as metadata. i bring together both dh and critical archival critique of these technological infrastructures. i then turn from the often-depoliticized technical processes of digitization, which are in fact (re)productive of memory, towards the question of exhibition of 10 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 materials and community engagement with archival materials, exploring opportunities and challenges in opening the archive. ultimately, i argue that small-scale digital archival projects such as the lic archive, even when structured in normative archival formats, may enable a “greater democratization of knowledge” (kreitz, 2017, p. 309). revealing and preserving the histories of the lic and latinx students, scholars, activists, and cultural workers who participated in the lic over many years centers latinx subjectivities and latinidad in the university archives through memoric (re)production. small-scale digital archival initiatives ultimately serve as a form of front-line archival first aid in preserving and protecting latinx histories. context and review: the lic archival initiative and critical digital humanities approaches to archivization to contextualize this case study, i provide some brief background regarding bgsu and its university archives as well as the details of this archival initiative that included a multi-phased approach to collecting and digitizing materials, curating an exhibition, and engaging in community outreach. against this backdrop, i explore larger questions including the (re)production of the experiences and histories of latinx students at bgsu and the limits of enacting first-aid care to previously invisibilized histories in university archival contexts at bgsu, even when attempting to center what critical archivists arroyo-ramírez et al. (2021) have discussed more broadly as radical empathy in archival practice. bgsu is a public research university founded in 1910 as a teacher-training institution in northwest ohio (overman, 1967). while located in a predominately white and rural area, the university has a rich tradition of latinx and black student activism and scholarship intimately connected with the founding of the ethnic studies department at the university in 1970 (scott, 2021) and the establishment of the la unión de estudiantes latinos (lsu) founded in 1972 (latino student union, lsu). while lsu has and continues to be a strong presence at bgsu, it has not been the only organization that represents latinx students and issues at the institution. while these groups have evolved or concluded over the years, the vibrancy of the latinx community is demonstrated by the latino cultural arts organization, the latino alumni society, juntos, a latinx graduate student organization, la comunidad, a latinx living community, and the latino networking community (the center for multicultural and academic initiatives, 2021e). as such, while bgsu is distinguished by a strong tradition of latinx activism, cultural activity, and scholarly production, this historical reality has not always resulted in comparable archival care for these records and stories. while lsu’s records have been preserved by the university archives (ua 096—latino student union 2018), other aspects of bgsu latinx student history have only been newly preserved. these materials include records of the lic, founded in 1995 by the then office of multicultural affairs and co-sponsored by lsu. jeffrey schnapp, in discussing archival decolonization and production in a digital age, compares archives to burial grounds, noted that “[e]very burial ground needs to be cared for continuously if it is to endure” (2016, p. 22). comparatively, while radhika gajjala (2019) rightly questions the uncritical impulse of dh practitioners to archive, digitize, and datafy marginalized histories, i emphasize here the importance of thoughtful, slow preservation of latinx histories at bgsu as a dh method and mode of scholarly care. 11 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 at bgsu, only recently has this care been extended to preserve the extensive memories and histories of latinx students at the institution and the lic specifically. in 1995, the lic was founded with the theme of the “inclusive discourse of the 21st century” (office of multicultural affairs, 2021). with its founding in 1995, the lic has occurred for over 25 years at bgsu, bringing together faculty, staff, students, speakers, scholars, and community members to discuss institutional, local, national, and global latinx issues and thus has served as a significant event around which latinx student activity, activism, scholarship, and cultural expression has occurred at the university. in this sense, while the archival initiative focused on one particular event, the collection and presentation of materials serve as a particular window into the larger history of latinx communities at bgsu and in bowling green, ohio. i began work on the lic digital archive as the then-graduate student research assistant and member of the lic organizing committee. as part of the 25th commemoration of the conference, members of the committee which included students, faculty, staff, and alumni, sought to not only celebrate the conference’s history through programming, but to ensure that there was a historical record of the conference available for future committees, the student body, and historians. the goal was to both digitally preserve documents and materials and to bequeath the physical materials to the university archives to ensure institutional posterity. the collection and construction of the archive was a collaborative effort including university archivist, mark sprang; leading members of the organizing committee, susana peña and luis moreno; and myself as the digital archivist working directly with documents. as i will discuss in the following sections, this archival initiative was composed of a multi-phased approach which changed over the course of the project as a result of emergent challenges related to the onset of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020. this archival initiative included physically collecting all lic conference materials, digitizing all materials into a digital archival collection as part of the larger digital university archives, bequeathing physical materials to university archives, planning a pop-up archival exhibition at the conference, soliciting materials from the community, and finally producing a digital exhibition of select materials. considering the material construction of the digital archive and exhibition as a case study illuminates larger challenges digital archivists and dh practitioners may face when working to preserve and digitize materials from latinx communities, which is imperative to consider as new forms of archives and archivization are increasingly reimagined in what maría cotera has noted as the “digital turn” of archives, whereby dh practitioners increasingly deploy new digital tools and strategies to archive the past (2015, p. 789). however, even before more recent critical archival interventions, dh practitioners and scholars have long emphasized one key facet of dh scholarship as the building of archives (gossett, 2012; wernimont & losh, 2018). some of the earliest dh archival work has included translating physical archival collections into digital forms. text encoding documents and constructing digital archives, such as the early dh contributions of the rossetti archive and the walt whitman archive (risam, 2015), are landmark projects which were technologically transformative but served to reify a white, western, canon, thereby reaffirming the normative notion of archives that trevor owens (2014) defines as “the papers of so and so.” comparatively, some dh scholars have problematized an unreflexive approach to digital archiving and analysis, emphasizing the necessity of active scholarly interventions and intersectional critique in the context of an everproliferating landscape of digital texts, images, documents, and records. 12 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 as roopika risam has argued, the “digital cultural record exists in a media environment that is caught in a battle between corporate interest, academia and the cultural heritage sector;” as such, the “building [of] new archives” that center “politically, ethically, and social justiceminded approaches to digital knowledge production” is one such way to intervene in the digital cultural record and traditionally exclusive forms of archival practice (2019, p. 10, 4). the power of the digital archive lies in the ability to define the digital cultural record (risam 2019), which relates to earlier discussions of the power of the archive in relation to both socially constructed practices and the articulation of collective narratives about material(s), spaces, and events (derrida & prenowitz, 1995; foucault, 1972). here, the power of the lic is to articulate a shared, collective narrative about past histories of the conference. i also emphasize the power of digital archives in their ability to make materials accessible for scholars and the public to perceive histories in new ways, whether through direct contact, which i discuss in this piece, or through the application of computational textual analysis techniques. today new digital archival initiatives focusing on latinx, black, queer, feminist, anticolonial, and indigenous histories have served as historical re-visibilizations of previously masked histories (cushman, 2013; mcleod et al., 2014; baeza ventura et al., 2019; wernimont, 2013). however, indiscriminate archiving is not in and of itself transformative. as radhika gajjala has asked in relation to dh archival initiatives, “[i]s being consigned to a dataset doing justice to subaltern history?” (2019, p. 431). this impulse to save items is defined by a desire to have data work for us (gajjala, 2019). the practice of digital archiving, even when implemented alongside critical and intersectional approaches, must be contextualized against contemporary and historic “complex politics and power relations” (risam, 2014, p. 44). when archiving materials to construct a corpus of data, there is an expectation that these materials will be productive, in some sense, for scholars or for the community. archives perform a particular labor; they assist in the (re)production of ideological projects and of collective narratives (derrida & prenowitz, 1995). in this case, i seek to stress how the lic digital archival initiative may be read as (re)productive of memories and stories at risk of loss. working within and against the archive and informational infrastructure in this section, i discuss the material construction of the digital archive considering challenges in the collection and digitization of materials. as a small-scale digital archival initiative operating within the context and constraints of institutional archival practices, on the surface constructing the lic was a relatively seamless and smooth process with buy-in and support from various institutional offices. however, in reflecting on this process and detailing the behind-the-scenes procedures of archivization on both a structural and technical level, i discuss how specific processes, including the identification of materials for community and institutional memorialization and practices of metadata entry, illuminate a series of both practical and ethical difficulties. an immediate challenge in the construction of the archive was identifying and collecting documents that were spread across different offices and departments on campus. while the documents were contained within the same institution, personnel changes, student graduations, and office consolidations affected the way in which materials were preserved, with an array of items scattered about on various offices on campus. illustrating this issue was the shift where the conference was housed. initially, the event was produced and funded by the center for multicultural and academic initiatives, which was renamed later the office of multicultural affairs (oma); however, today, the school of cultural and critical studies (sccs) is the home of 13 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 the event. as a result of these shifts in sponsorship over the years, materials were housed both in the office of the sccs director and the director of oma, as well as in offices of faculty in the ethnic studies department, which supported the conference over the years. these minor difficulties in document collection hint towards larger issues archivists may face when preserving histories of latinx communities in educational contexts. this case study demonstrates a microcosm of this dynamic with the previous limited institutional care paid to the documents and materials of the lic until its 25th anniversary. carolina villarroel and gabriela baeza ventura have situated strategic archival neglect of latinx histories as a structural issue: [d]uring nearly two centuries of anti-latino propaganda and the creation of stereotypes and negative images in popular culture, it is no wonder that so much has been lost of the cultural history of latinas/os in the united states. the official institutions of the country often did not collect and preserve the hispanic community’s intellectual and cultural documents. (2019, para. 4) the presence of latinx communities is often elided in institutional archives not merely from benign neglect but rather is related to a set of normative archival practices that privilege “provenance, original order, [and] collective control” (berry, 2021, p. 2). dorothy berry (2021) has described the comparative erasure and neglect of black histories in the context of institutional archiving as a similarly structural issue whereby emphasis on provenance of archival objects frequently recenters the archive and cataloguer rather than the communities to which materials belong. more broadly, nancy liliana godoy, a queer latinx archivist, notes this particular experience of mourning the “loss of archival material and stories” of latinx communities which have been historically marginalized by white archivists and institutional archives as a result of these practices (2021, pp. 1–2). until the 2020 lic archival initiative, these stories and materials related to the conference history were at risk of being lost. in this larger archival context, when collections from black and latinx communities do enter the archive, normative archival practices of collecting and establishing provenance shifts the practice of preservation from “generative to the acquisitive,” positioning community memory and cultural production as merely “ephemeral” until materials are transformed into an archival collection (berry, 2021, p. 6). in this case, however, there was a desire to transfer these memories and stories into a permanent, fixed collection, but this process was spearheaded not by the university archives but by the lic organizing committee composed of students, faculty, staff, and alumni. this first step of archiving the lic required the identification of historic conference materials from previous organizing committees and the oma, typically previously tagged as “lic materials” by year with team members peña and moreno assisting in the identification of relevant materials. the collection of raw materials included binders of documents, notes, paper, vhs tapes, and a range of promotional materials and other ephemera. following this initial phase of collection and digitization, these physical materials were turned over to the university archives to be housed and preserved as a formal, singular, physical collection. the scattering of lic materials around bgsu’s campus emphasizes the importance of small-scale, front-line archival initiatives to preserve latinx histories that are at risk of being “underdocumented” (grimm & noriega, 2013, p. 107). while villarroel and baeza ventura have 14 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 discussed structural neglect of latinx histories in a nationalized sense, i emphasize the particular precarity of localized latinx histories at institutions outside the r-1 scope. rectifying this practice of under-documentation ensures the creation of a digital cultural record that guarantees future generations of students and scholars have the opportunity to access materials thereby facilitating the possibility of “writing back to dominant narratives” in the future (risam, 2014, p. 44). particularly, when through the process questions of cataloging, metadata entry, and description are critically interrogated and designed to ensure legibility of materials to students and the community for future engagement and use. this ensures the materials can be productive not for the university archives, but productive of memory for the community from which they were created. in this part of the process, i worked with the digital archival software omeka s (li, 2020). omeka is an open-source publishing platform and content management system (cms) used to curate digital collections and exhibitions (digital scholar, n.da.); it is frequently used by libraries to create online exhibitions (clement et al., 2013). omeka s is specifically focused on institutional use to digitally present historical, cultural collections (digital scholar n.db.). in the case of this project, omeka s served a variety of purposes including facilitating the production of a specific online exhibition but also as a cms whereby i was able to enter archival objects into the larger university archives collection for discoverability, which presented a particular set of challenges that i will discuss. despite the affordances of the system, it also presented a new set of concerns in terms of metadata entry, categorization, and identification, which also points towards a key issue in dh projects relating to workflows and labor arrangements. while dh projects at wellfunded, r-1 institutions are typically more externally visible and involve large teams (mcgrail et al., 2022), this small-scale project was undertaken as part of the normal working of the organizing committee. because of the targeted scope of the project, i was able to engage in the interpretive and creative work of building the digital exhibition alongside the technical aspects of archival construction, such as entering metadata, digitizing items, and building out a collection, while collaborating with susana peña, luis moreno, and mark sprang. here, archival construction refers to the physical and technological transformative work of taking objects and commodifying them through digitization into a permanent, static collection (berry, 2021). despite the implementation of an equitable and collaborative working arrangement that enabled all parties to participate in generative knowledge construction, this type of project structure is not always standard. i want to draw attention to larger patterns of the devaluation of the computational, technical labor that undergirds dh projects, such as metadata entry, that is frequently performed by (graduate) students. this type of work is often isolated from prestigious aspects of projects when in fact it is deeply imbricated within both the technical and ideological framing of historical documents (mann, 2019). this discussion of computational, technical labor sheds light on the way in which seemingly rote processes, specifically that of metadata entry, in fact directly shape, influence, and construct the narrative of the archive. this is particularly critical to consider in the case of the lic. scholars working specifically on latinx digital archival projects, while attending particularly to the structural importance of digitization and exhibition of materials, have framed digitizing and entry of materials as the “grunt work” that has been cobbled together by students, contingent faculty, and volunteers (morello, 2020, p. 145). while these labor patterns are a result of structural financial disinvestment in these types of archival projects, it is important to address how this type of “grunt work” in fact tangibly affects the meaning of the archive (morello, 2020, 15 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 p. 145). archivist itza a. carbajal argues that metadata in traditional digital archival practice has often been treated as an “afterthought” in the production process (2021, p. 92), but in fact involves critical decision-making that can change how materials are contextualized against the larger archival structure as they become legible and searchable through metadata tags. jacques derrida presciently noted before the digital turn that “the technical structure of the archiving archive also determines the structure of the archivable content…the archivization produces as much as it records the event” (derrida & prenowitz, 1995, p.17). metadata schemas are not neutral, and as kara long et al. note, the way in which the individual archivist categorizes items, “…sometimes described as the ‘power of the archivist,’—[can] change the ways users interact and understand objects in archival collections” (2016, p. 122). as such, the seemingly technical process of metadata entry thus not only has the potential to affect the larger historical and ideological narratives that archives present, but metadata entry can include anti-racist and anti-colonial practice that “unsettle[s] institutional archives,” according to carbajal, who has argued for the implementation of critical “post-custodial” metadata praxis in the archiving of materials of u.s. and latin american organizations (2021, p. 91). initially, post-custodial archival praxis was theorized in a technical sense, referring to the increasing necessity of archivists ceasing to take a custodial approach to materials and shifting the hosting, preservation, and maintenance of objects back towards the creator (ham, 1981). today, it refers to a more critical practice whereby creators or communities maintain archival records with assistance or support from archivists (zanish-belcher, 2019, pp. 14-15). over the course of this project, i was operating within a particular institutional context with limited abilities for archival intervention. as such, this project did not implement a postcustodial praxis; instead, i operated within a space amanda belantara and emily drabrinski (2022) have situated as the constant compromise and accommodation of the cataloguer, cataloging objects through a digital system, but attempting to engage in descriptive practice that would increase access to and legibility of the objects to the bgsu latinx community. berry has noted that while digital archiving and open searchable content may seem to idyllically open up the archive; in fact, these “descriptive systems are often the first interaction patrons have with our institutions” and frequently the “language and systems feel alienating” (2021, p. 10). berry (2021) and other scholars have increasingly advocated for practices of reparative description (kempton, 2022) that seek to re-center subjects featured in the content rather than deploying linguistic description that “serves the systems, not the subjects” (berry, 2021, p. 9). other scholars have noted that normative archival practices have the power to “name, broadcast, normalize, oppress, and exclude” marginalized histories (allison-cassin & seeman, 2022, p. 1). archival workers within the constraints of such systems can seek to resist systems through forms of reparative description (belantara & drabinski, 2022). despite the structural limits to reimagine and implement interventionist metadata praxis working within the context of omeka, i want to draw attention to strategic choice involved in metadata entry and emphasize that there are new modes of critical metadata praxis emerging that could be applied in future projects. particularly, as we see the implementation of not only new small-scale archival projects of latinx histories but also increased practices of community-led archiving. in this case, i worked with the digital archival software omeka s which employed the dublin core metadata classification schema. the dublin core metadata schema’s fundamental principles include “simplicity, semantic interoperability, international consensus, and flexibility for web resource description” (greenberg, 2005, p. 28). however, despite the schema’s flexible 16 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 structure, there were numerous actionable challenges in inputting information about lic items within the classification structure. other scholars have noted general difficulties in implementing the dublin core schema in the specific context of omeka (maron & feinberg, 2018). k. j. rawson has noted, “archival classification infrastructures come to bear on archival objects in ways that impact how those objects are organized, accessed, and, we can imagine, interpreted” (2018, p. 340). not only are archived objects affected by the individual performing the metadata entry, but the very application of a schema fundamentally transforms the data. every object i collected, scanned, and uploaded into the omeka system required a series of choices that would affect how users searched, accessed, and understood the digital object. for example, for each program, what was the appropriate entry for “publisher?” for many of the early conferences the then center for multicultural and academic initiatives funded and sponsored the conference, however, as time went on, co-sponsors were added. this category also glossed over the internal challenges, such as which internal entity funded the conference over the years, switching between the then center for multicultural and academic initiatives and later sccs. a more critical choice was labeling each object’s subject. which eventually, after much discussion amongst the team, was labeled “conference” and “latino/a/x” to reflect both the type of programming and the subject matter. this was a choice to reflect the conference’s change in title from latino issues conference to include the “a” and “x” over the years. the change in title, from latino to latino/a/x represents the way in which, over 25 years, the organizing committee articulated and modified a version of latinidad. the investment in community reflection on naming was captured by a thematic session “latinx: interrogating the x” in 2019 involving students, community members, and bgsu faculty (school of cultural and critical studies, 2021). as the cataloger of these objects, this notion of fixing subject within the collection, while seemingly technical, immediately called to larger debates of how to conceptualize, define, and fix latinx identity within a technical descriptive system, to produce a particular narrative of the event through the fossilizing process of digitization. choices of metadata entry matter. in small-scale projects, unlike larger dh projects that involve, for example, crowd-sourced labor of metadata entry which may introduce generative or problematic “folksonomies” (manzo et al., 2015), when implementing small-scale digital archival projects, metadata entry and the physical process of digitization cannot be conceptualized as remote from exhibition and analysis. it is critical, particularly for dh archival projects that seek to preserve and highlight latinx histories, to strategically think through the metadata entry process to prevent further erosion or misrepresentation of archival objects. one such strategy, as carried out here, was to discuss and decide on practices of metadata entry collaboratively before the digitization and entry process began. considering these questions, for example, retaining “latino” as a tag to honor the historical titling of the conference or selecting “latinx/a/o” to increase legibility of the topic for students searching the archive today, was an important step in the process. while in this case the central question centered on discoverability and community and student access to these materials, this issue is related to larger questions of the implications of normative or seemingly technologically neutral descriptive practice that may not merely reinscribe erasures but actively reproduce hegemonies (belantara & drabinski, 2022, p. 5). in some cases, however, the metadata schema presented opportunities to make archival materials more legible through categories such as “alternative title.” throughout the data entry 17 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 process, we had lengthy conversations about the appropriate title for the conference, and the team decided to emphasize chronology in the resources over theme. however, each lic had a particular theme; as such, inputting the thematic focus as an alternative title allowed not only for the community and alumni to search for materials according to relevant issues of interest, but revealed, throughout the process of digitization and uploading, the historic foci of the conference. while there were many items within the collection, including photographs, committee notes, newspapers, advertisements, and other documents, the most complete items we amassed were programs and posters. adding an alternative title provided insight into how the organizing committee of the lic conceptualized the scope of the event and offered historical commentary on how the lic imagined and articulated the boundaries of latinidad in a scholarly and social sense over the years at bgsu, all through a simple metadata category. for example, in the founding event in 1995, the committee declared the theme to be the “inclusive discourse of the 21st century” (office of multicultural affairs, 2021). this theme remained the same for the first four conferences, appearing in all programs as an alternative title for the materials as a means to group together these objects across temporal boundaries. in this sense, as the conference matured, we also saw the organizing committee explicitly address the question of latinidad through alternative titles such as “cornucopia of voices” at the 6th annual conference or at the 10th annual conference “in and out: making latino sense” (the center for multicultural and academic initiatives, 2021d; the center for multicultural and academic initiatives, 2021a). it is through the preservation of these small details within the larger lic archive and strategic metadata entry that we see not merely the particularities of the lic as an event, but the preservation and (re)production of part of the story of latinx students, alumni, and artists throughout bgsu’s history. considerations of how to label the subject of materials or title not only related to student and community access, but to fixing these materials through the digitization and metadata entry process. as amanda belantara and emily drabinski note, choices by an “individual cataloger can reverberate across library systems worldwide, sedimenting a particular point of view across cultures, time, and space” (2022, p. 1). as such, it is essential to think through the metadata model schema before digitizing and inputting objects. the inputting of documents and materials within the structure of omeka and utilizing the dublin core schemas, even before the process of articulating a digital exhibition, essentially (re)creates the event of the lic in a particular way (derrida & prenowitz, 1995). another key issue that arose in the process of digitizing materials and uploading them into the omeka system was identification of individuals depicted in conferences’ photographs and images. in the case of this archival project, i worked with both physical photographs and digital film, often with no context identifying who was depicted. to identify individuals, i relied upon the individual and personal memory of staff and faculty who had been at the institution for a long period of time. in archiving lic materials in an institutional context, the very setting and structure of the university became a challenge as many key individuals had passed through the institution as a result of job changes, retirements, and graduations. as such, one strategy we found to overcome these gaps in identification and to build connection and solidarity among the community was through sharing items we had digitized on social media channels for the conference, including twitter and facebook, asking followers to “tag” themselves or people they knew, essentially crowdsourcing archival classification. 18 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 for example, we found the photograph in figure 1 of the lic from 2006, of the lic committee, depicted here with an invitation for the 8th annual conference, with no context, and we struggled to identify every member in the photograph. figure 1 vintage photograph and ticket note. source: (licbgsu, 2020). posting images like this to increase engagement and to identify subjects not only allowed us to market and connect with audiences for contemporary programming, but also to identify with greater accuracy the people depicted. perhaps more importantly, current bgsu students, faculty, staff, and alumni were brought together by memorializing the conference in social media comments by (re)producing their own memories of the event. this strategy of crowdsourcing the metadata associated with archival objects has been applied in other contexts to engage lgbtqia+ community members in the process of archiving (blake, 2015). thus, this method 19 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 facilitated an opening up of the archive to the (digital) community through strategic outreach and involved the knowledge of the community in the archiving process. ultimately, despite the structural challenges in collecting, digitizing, and archiving lic materials, the process of constructing an lic digital archive was a means of ensuring even a partial set of memories and stories surrounding the event and latinx student community at bgsu were cared for and preserved and included as part of the broader bgsu institutional history. despite this, susana peña, luis moreno, mark sprang, and i reflected upon whether the project constituted an intervention or a resistance to the university archival system, arriving at a position of ambivalence on the notion of transformative intervention (peña et al., 2021), even as we affirmed the necessity and value of the project as a first step in preserving at-risk histories. even if the construction of the lic digital archive and its digitization through descriptive systems was aligned with normative archival practices, i position the action of construction (re)constructive of memories of the event and interventionist in the sense that archiving these materials functioned as a form of first-aid care to address the wound or absence of these stories within the institution, with the hope that future archival initiatives surrounding the lic have an initial collection to tend to and grow. taking the archive to the (digital) public in this section, i outline how the lic archival initiative functioned as a means to present materials, engage the community, and facilitate the articulation of latinidad among the bgsu student and alumni community. opening the archive through engaging with additional digital platforms facilitated the construction of digital latinidad (villa-nicholas, 2019), detailing the challenges of exhibiting materials from the lic archive in such a way that captured the history of the lic and included various community stakeholders. i look particularly at the phase of exhibition and how our strategies changed over the course of the project because of the then ongoing covid-19 pandemic that coincided with the physical conference and caused a pivot from a physical conference set for march 2020 to virtual programming and also necessitated a shift in our strategy of community outreach. in addition to preserving all items related to the lic conference as a digital archive and a specific digital exhibition, one initial key aim of the project was to exhibit materials in-person for conference attendees. as a complement to the digital archive, the committee planned to collaborate with university archives to present select materials at a station at the conference physically in the form of a pop-up archive for attendees to engage with the materials, a strategy to take the archive into the community and “disrupt normative archival power structures” (macdonald, 2020, abstract). pop-ups, whereby archivists bring materials or host exhibits outside the physical institutional archive, can address a structural challenge of how frequently communities “don’t see themselves using or situated in an archive” (macdonald, 2020, p. 32), by providing a different point of entry into collections rather than either the physical institution or the “alienating” digital systems patrons may encounter (berry, 2021, p. 10). another goal of having physical materials present at the planned physical event was to encourage attendees to bring materials for the purpose of donation and/or scanning to be entered into the digital collection. however, as a result of the virtual shift of the event, physical exhibition was no longer possible due to deteriorating health conditions in march 2020, and the conference, an event that regularly drew hundreds of attendees, was shifted to an online format. 20 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 this shift in programming format meant that the digital exhibition, entitled, 25 years of the latino/a/x issues conference at bgsu, became the primary medium through which the community could engage with the archived materials. in noting the distinction between a digital archive and exhibition, mary samouelian (2009) states that a digital archive may be understood as the broad repository of collected objects and a digital exhibit includes a curated display of select materials with detailed description. the digital exhibition was developed in close collaboration with susana peña and was designed to offer a retrospective of the conference and to highlight the most complete set of institutional records within the collection, in this case, an almost complete set of posters and programs from the conference, to demonstrate the historical continuity of the event and to allow audiences to potentially identify their own personal involvement in the conference. this digital exhibition thus represented a small portion of a larger archival collection of lic materials. the digital exhibit was designed to represent a series of mediums: posters, programs, newspapers, and ephemera. if posters and programs served as the institutional and official record of the event, collecting and presenting press coverage of the conference allowed visitors to see the event in a broader context. not only was coverage of the conference preserved from the student newspaper the bg news, but also from local papers such as the sentinel tribune (“bgsu’s 12th latino issues conference thursday,” 2006), and la prensa, the oldest weekly newspaper covering the latinx community in michigan and ohio (la prensa, 2005). newspaper coverage of the conference, ranging from digitized newspapers to physical clippings, was a critical category that showed how the conference was advertised to different audiences, student populations, bowling green community members, and the larger latinx community in northwest ohio and michigan. additionally, the newspaper coverage illustrated how reporters covered the event over the years and gave glimpses of other local and national political issues circulating at the time of the event. the category of ephemera served multiple purposes and allowed us to present photographs from years of the conference but also other items that did not fit in clear categories: ticket stubs, menus, floor plans, and committee documents. this category not only highlighted the students, staff, faculty, and community members involved in the event, but it personalized the conference and allowed us to document and present the labor that went into the programming and planning the event year after year. while the digital exhibition was initially conceived of as one of two points of entry into the archival collection, the modification to a virtual conference meant that the digital exhibition lost its unique digitality as all conference programming now occurred in virtual conference space. however, rather than simply publicizing the digital exhibition as a resource available for attendees to examine on their own, we developed a virtual session that introduced the exhibition and included a demonstration of how to access and interact with materials for attendees to ensure deeper engagement. illustrating how to engage with the digital exhibition interface and look at the materials more closely was particularly important. featuring myself, susana peña, luis moreno, and mark sprang, the virtual session included a discussion of the impetus behind the project, technical aspects of the project including its hosting on omeka, and a demonstration i led on how to navigate the exhibition and examine each object individually and its associated metadata so that attendees could then search themselves for materials of interest. in this session, attendees, including alumni, shared their stories of participating in lic when they were students prompted by the presentation of various digital items. 21 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 fundamentally, the roundtable was an opportunity for students, faculty, staff, community members, and alumni to engage not only with the archival materials, but to share their experiences and memories of the conference. this roundtable thus facilitated a moment of constructing through the demonstration of archival materials and discussion of “digital latinx memory,” which melissa villa-nicholas has discussed in the context of social media platforms as a “culmination of collective memory, mediated memories, and personal cultural memory” that can involve “remembrance, nostalgia, and revision around latinidad” (2019, pp. 3, 2). rather than simply a static digital exhibit that solitary individuals might engage with on their own, having a devoted roundtable, demonstration, and discussion via zoom facilitated greater community engagement and collapsed the geographical boundaries that previously prevented both alumni and former committee members, now spatially dispersed from bowling green, ohio to come together, memorialize the event, and articulate a sense of shared digital latinidad. here, the digital lic archive transformed from a static collection to a form of living memory, illustrating both the necessity of traditional curation, digitization, and preservation of materials but also the value of opening up space for the community to engage with the archive in a collaborative and generative sense where the focus is not necessarily on archival acquirement of more materials or the educative presentation of materials, but on community-led dialogue. however, despite the affordances of having a digital exhibition and a virtual roundtable, as scholars have noted in the context of the shift to virtual connection in a pandemic age, simply pivoting to a digital format does not inherently produce digital inclusivity, as issues of access, privacy, and equitable engagement must be directly addressed (kelly et al., 2020). additionally, overemphasizing the value of digital exhibitions, archives, and related virtual programming runs the risk of excluding a key part of the community we sought to connect and engage with through this archival initiative: older alumni and former faculty members, staff, and community members who had moved on from the institution and may be geographically dispersed. as alexander siefert has noted, “[i]f inclusion…means active participation in the digital world, then older adults who are not online or not active on the internet are at risk of social exclusion” (2020, p. 675). thus, as was initially planned but not fully executed, having multiple avenues of engagement with digital archival materials including physical pop-up exhibitions and digital exhibits and hybrid forms of connection (kelly et al., 2020) is critical for digital archivists to consider as they engage in community-informed collection and exhibition practices. however, in tracking individual visitor metrics post-conference, in a single month the exhibition reached 76 unique visitors and 703 total page views thus evidencing a strong form of engagement with the exhibition even after the planned programming concluded (edwards, personal communication, april 2, 2020). ultimately, both digitally and in-person focused forms of exhibition and community engagement have benefits and drawbacks. particularly with the digital shift, the acquisition of archival materials from alumni essentially put the onus on the community to reach out, digitize or physically send in copies of their materials. in addition to seeking out community help in identifying individuals in archival materials, we also attempted to crowdsource collection of materials through social media channels and promote discussion of materials we had digitized. while crowdsourcing of submitted materials remained a challenge, the sharing of lic archival documents via social media such as facebook and twitter for the digital community to engage with was more successful. bypassing digital archival infrastructure all together and taking archival objects out of the context of the digital exhibition on omeka to social media platforms presented lic materials as objects to be shared and engaged with rather than examined. one 22 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 such example of this strategy of engagement was combining archival objects with social media trends such as the “10-year challenge” to connect with alumni and other community members; in figure 2, we shared an archival object from 20 years ago. figure 2 5th annual conference poster note. source: (licbgsu, 2019). 23 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 this mode of sharing materials with the community, even if we only reached a small audience who were active on social media platforms, served our goal of engagement and presenting materials outside the traditional model of a digital exhibition, thereby mediating a form of digital latinidad (villa-nicholas, 2019). however, even as we aimed to share materials, we did hope to acquire objects to add to the collection, but to do so in a way that was not acquisitive, rather by drawing on a post-custodial ethos. we hoped to allow community members to share materials for digitization and then retain ownership and possession of their physical materials. a potential model that mitigates this concern has been undertaken by the bgsu university archives as part of their collaborative effort with the islamic center of greater toledo to digitize items related to the muslim community in the northwest ohio region, whereby archivists physically traveled to the islamic center with digitization equipment and digitized materials from members, essentially taking the archive outside the university to the community. to fully connect with alumni and all community partners, it is necessary to implement multiple forms of engagement and to build trust that materials will be preserved and cared for. extending care to archival materials is critical. while jeffrey schnapp has spoken of treating archives as burial grounds (schnapp, 2016), perhaps we can imagine a different model of extending slow and methodological care. as radhika gajjala has argued for, to “build caring dh projects—much deeper groundwork is needed” (2019, p. 432). building small-scale projects like the lic is but a first step to lay deeper groundwork towards future, more transformative archival interventions. tending archival burial grounds or first-aid care in preserving latinx digital histories digital archives are not only a powerful form of dh scholarly production, but they also have the ability to assist in the (re)construction of latinidad across space and time. in a period where the field of dh continues to undergo necessary interrogations concerning its possible (re)production of not only racial hegemonies but neoliberal forms of knowledge (allington et al., 2016; gajjala, 2019; mcpherson, 2012; risam, 2019), considering how to harness the affordances of digital archival initiatives to not merely “add” latinx voices to the digital cultural record (risam, 2019), but to preserve and recreate locally and institutionally specific forms of latinidad through the digital archival process is imperative (kreitz, 2017). digital archival projects such as the lic archive and its exhibition are forms of interventionist dh scholarship in so far as they seek to tangibly preserve and share with a local public the long and rich history of latinx students, scholars, and community members at bgsu, even if such projects do not reform the archive itself. even when working within a set of constraints, whether informational infrastructures or the external challenges of presenting materials in a digital environment with unequal levels of access, there are opportunities for archivists to engage in empathetic and thoughtful curatorial practice (arroyo-ramírez et al., 2022). in this article, i have sought to emphasize the value of small-scale archival projects in the larger context of dh digital archival production while also highlighting challenges in terms of preservation and exhibition of digital archival initiatives of latinx histories. the construction of the lic archive at bgsu actively sought to re-visibilize and preserve latinx histories, and this dh project achieved that goal. however, this project is still ensconced with the logics and structures of the institutional university archive. i situate this dh project as a form of frontline archival first-aid care to immediately and critically address a historical absence or wound in bgsu’s 24 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 university archive. yet, this is not to say after the application of first-aid archival care historical scars do not remain. through the preservation of the history of the lic, now students and scholars have access to a historical record and memory of a quarter century of inclusive latinx scholarly discourse that can serve as both inspiration and evidence with which to address the current historical moment. extending this care is thus a critical act that is aligned with the historic spirit of the lic, to work to “edify a less exclusive universe of [archival] discourse” (the center for multicultural and academic initiatives, 2021c, para. 1). this archival initiative, operating in conditions of historical emergency, has thus laid the groundwork for future historical (re)construction and growth as archivists tend to this collection and the community and students are able to engage with materials to (re)build new histories and stories. endnotes 1 there has been considerable discussion of the term latinx to refer to latino/latina communities. some scholars have been critical of the term as a form of linguistic imperialism that is divorced from material realities (guerra & orbea, 2015). however, others have argued for the generative usage of the term. christine garcia has suggested that the “conceptualization of the ‘x’ is rooted in the decolonization of the terms latina/latino on two levels: first, confronting and challenging the gender binary, and second, rejecting the silencing and erasure of afrolatinx and indigenous languages” (2017, p. 210). however imperfect the term i deploy it in this article in accordance with salvador vidal-ortiz and juliana martínez’s argument that using the term “latinx foregrounds tensions among self-naming practices and terms that encompass all members of a diverse and complex ethnoracial group: latinx acts as a new frame of inclusion, while also posing a challenge for those used to having androcentric terms serve as collective representational proxies” (2018, p. 384), which i attempt to do here, localizing and articulating the archival representation of the latinx community at bgsu. 2 the total bgsu lic archive is still being processed, however, some items in the archive are available for view as part of a digital exhibition, 25 years of the latino/a/x issues conference at bgsu. i discuss the differences between these two mediums in following sections. https://digitalgallery.bgsu.edu/exhibits/show/latinxconference/licintroduction acknowledgements i would like to acknowledge susana peña, associate professor of ethnic studies and lead organizing committee member, for spearheading the creation of the archive and providing resources and vision to make this project a reality. i would also like to acknowledge luis moreno, associate teaching professor in the department of ethnic studies, for collaborating on the archive and providing key insights from his background working in and with archives. i would like to acknowledge archivist mark sprang from the university archives and stefanie hunker the head of special collections and digital resources librarian for supporting the preservation of records and providing project support. i would like to acknowledge lic graduate assistant rene ayala, who continues the archival work. finally, i would like to acknowledge the 2019-2020 lic organizing committee who persevered and put on the 25th anniversary conference in the face of a global pandemic. 25 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://digitalgallery.bgsu.edu/exhibits/show/latinxconference/licintroduction digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 references allington, d., brouillette, s., & golumbia, d. 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(ed.). (2020). american studies and digital archives. a forum on collaborative knowledge preservation, accessibility, and pedagogy. américa crítica, 4(2), 143–155. https://doi.org/10.13125/americacritica/4522 office of multicultural affairs. (2021, july 31). the latino issues conference 1st annual poster [online image]. digital gallery: bgsu university libraries. https://digitalgallery.bgsu.edu/collections/item/39267 overman, j. r. (1967). the history of bowling green state university. bowling green state university. owens, t. (2014, february 27). what do you mean by archive? genres of usage for digital preservers. the signal. https://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2014/02/what-do-you-meanby-archive-genres-of-usage-for-digital-preservers/ peña, s., moreno, l., edwards, e., & sprang, m. (2021, november 6). intervening in the university archive: 25 years of latinx voices at bgsu [roundtable]. association for ethnic studies conference, bowling green, oh, united states. pérez, a., baeza ventura, g., villaroel, c., cotera, m., garcía merchant, l., & davalos, k.m. (2020, july 24). #whereislatinxdh [panel]. adho. https://citedatthecrossroads.net/blog/2020/07/24/dh-2020-whereislatinxdh/ piez, w. (2008). something called “digital humanities.” digital humanities quarterly, 2(1). http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/2/1/000020/000020.html rawson, k. j. (2018). the rhetorical power of archival description: classifying images of gender transgression. rhetoric society quarterly, 48(4), 327–351. https://doi.org/10.1080/02773945.2017.1347951 risam, r. (2014, december). revising history and re-authouring the left in the postcolonial digital archive. left history, 18(2), 35–46. https://doi.org/10.25071/1913-9632.39310 risam, r. (2015). beyond the margins: intersectionality and the digital humanities. digital humanities quarterly, 9(2). http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/9/2/000208/000208.html risam, r. (2019). new digital worlds: postcolonial digital humanities in theory, praxis, and pedagogy. northwestern university press. samouelian, m. (2009, spring–summer). embracing web 2.0: archives and the newest generation of web applications. the american archivist, 72(1), 42–71. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40294595 schnapp, j. (2016). buried (and) alive. in r. ištok (ed.), decolonising archives (pp. 17–22). l’internationale books. 30 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/read/untitled-88c11800-9446-469b-a3be-3fdb36bfbd1e/section/20df8acd-9ab9-4f35-8a5d-e91aa5f4a0ea#ch09 https://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/read/untitled-88c11800-9446-469b-a3be-3fdb36bfbd1e/section/20df8acd-9ab9-4f35-8a5d-e91aa5f4a0ea#ch09 https://doi.org/10.13125/americacritica/4522 https://digitalgallery.bgsu.edu/collections/item/39267 https://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2014/02/what-do-you-mean-by-archive-genres-of-usage-for-digital-preservers/ https://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2014/02/what-do-you-mean-by-archive-genres-of-usage-for-digital-preservers/ https://citedatthecrossroads.net/blog/2020/07/24/dh-2020-whereislatinxdh/ http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/2/1/000020/000020.html https://doi.org/10.1080/02773945.2017.1347951 https://doi.org/10.25071/1913-9632.39310 http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/9/2/000208/000208.html https://www.jstor.org/stable/40294595 digitizing the archive: historicizing latinx issues in northwest ohio the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38589 school of cultural and critical studies. (2021, august 4). 24th latino/a/x issues conference 2019 [online image]. digital gallery: bgsu university libraries. https://digitalgallery.bgsu.edu/exhibits/show/latinxconference/item/39293 scott, j.-j. (2021). the origin of ethnic studies at bowling green state university: a legacy of black scholar activists [master’s thesis, bowling green state university]. ohiolink. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_olink/r/1501/10?clear=10&p10_accession_num =bgsu1621955882676684 seifert, a. (2020). the digital exclusion of older adults during the covid-19 pandemic. journal of gerontological social work, 63(6–7), 674–676. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2020.1764687 vidal-ortiz, s., & martínez, j. (2018). latinx thoughts: latinidad with an x. latino studies, 16(13), 384–395. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-018-0137-8 villa-nicholas, m. (2019 october–december). latinx digital memory: identity making in real time. social media + society, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305119862643 villarroel, c., & baeza ventura, g. (2019, june 24). recovering the u.s. hispanic literary heritage: the preservation of the latina/o legacy. northeastern university library. https://des4div.library.northeastern.edu/recovering-the-us-hispanic-literary-heritagethe-preservation-of-the-latina-o-legacy-carolina-villarroel-and-gabriela-baezaventura/#more-2058 wernimont, j. (2013). whence feminism? assessing feminist interventions in digital literary archives. digital humanities quarterly, 7(1). http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/7/1/000156/000156.html wernimont, j., & losh, e. (2018). introduction. in j. wernimont & e. losh (eds.), bodies of information: intersectional feminism and the digital humanities (pp. ix–xxvi). university of minnesota press. https://doi.org/10.5749/j.ctv9hj9r9.3 zanish-belcher, t. (2019). keeping evidence and memory: archives storytelling in the twentyfirst century. the american archivist, 82(1), 9–23. https://doi.org/10.17723/03609081-82.1.9 dr. emily lynell edwards (eedwards2@sfc.edu) is an assistant professor of digital humanities and educational technologist at st. francis college in brooklyn, ny. dr. edwards currently serves as co-director of the grant digital humanities across the curriculum (dhac), funded by the national endowment for the humanities (neh). she is also a general editor at digital humanities quarterly (dhq). her research focuses on the intersection of digital media, technologies, and platforms, and race, gender, and politics in global contexts. her work has appeared in journals such as new media & society, critical studies in media communication, and glocalism: journal of culture, politics and innovation. 31 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://digitalgallery.bgsu.edu/exhibits/show/latinxconference/item/39293 https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_olink/r/1501/10?clear=10&p10_accession_num=bgsu1621955882676684 https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_olink/r/1501/10?clear=10&p10_accession_num=bgsu1621955882676684 https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2020.1764687 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-018-0137-8 https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305119862643 https://des4div.library.northeastern.edu/recovering-the-us-hispanic-literary-heritage-the-preservation-of-the-latina-o-legacy-carolina-villarroel-and-gabriela-baeza-ventura/#more-2058 https://des4div.library.northeastern.edu/recovering-the-us-hispanic-literary-heritage-the-preservation-of-the-latina-o-legacy-carolina-villarroel-and-gabriela-baeza-ventura/#more-2058 https://des4div.library.northeastern.edu/recovering-the-us-hispanic-literary-heritage-the-preservation-of-the-latina-o-legacy-carolina-villarroel-and-gabriela-baeza-ventura/#more-2058 http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/7/1/000156/000156.html https://doi.org/10.5749/j.ctv9hj9r9.3 https://doi.org/10.17723/0360-9081-82.1.9 https://doi.org/10.17723/0360-9081-82.1.9 mailto:eedwards2@sfc.edu introduction context and review: the lic archival initiative and critical digital humanities approaches to archivization working within and against the archive and informational infrastructure taking the archive to the (digital) public tending archival burial grounds or first-aid care in preserving latinx digital histories endnotes acknowledgements references situational information behaviour: exploring the complexity of refugee integration the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 situational information behaviour: exploring the complexity of refugee integration olubukola oduntan, university of strathclyde, scotland ian ruthven, university of strathclyde, scotland abstract this paper discusses how the knowledge gained from information studies creates the possibility of dealing with the challenges of refugee integration. we demonstrate that a situation-focused approach creates a systemic understanding of information needs that is useful not only for the individual but also for the design of institutional responses to forced migration. we analysed findings from our research into refugee integration using the sense-making situation-gap approach and found microand macro-situations affecting information behaviour and use. the combined analysis of individual and contextual factors highlighted the characteristics of situations for actors, actions, interactions and events of context. we show that overarching situations faced by refugees determine individual information gap moments, and we discuss situational information behaviour in light of these findings. the findings show how a situational approach expands understanding in information studies and emphasises the depth information behaviour adds to the social and behavioural sciences. keywords: information behaviour; information needs; refugee integration; sense-making; situational approach publication type: research article introduction he goal of situational approaches to research is to create knowledge that recognises the social processes and systems that create the context in which people operate. in information behaviour, situation is the dynamic environment in which interpretive processes unfold (cool, 2001). situation determines information needs and information sources (sonnenwald, 1999) and is at the heart of many information theories and models (fisher et al., 2005). situation, as a focus of analysis, has the potential to bring together individualand sociallevel analyses of human information behaviour (cool, 2001). however, despite evidence of the power of situation in information studies, the specific characteristics of situations in information studies context are not explicit. dervin proposed a situational sense-making methodology for understanding contextual information needs, as well as the process of seeking and using information (dervin, 1992). sensemaking conceptualises context as the container in which phenomena reside—a site of struggle where a new kind of understanding is reached (dervin & foreman-wernet, 2003). dervin posits that situations arise when an insufficiency is realised in context, and a gap exists (the difference between the current situation and the desired situation), with acquisition of information necessary to achieve a desired outcome. while sense-making studies have yielded findings t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 immediately useful to practitioners (dervin & foreman-wernet, 2003), the investigation of situation in empirical information studies remains limited. although contextual understandings of information needs abound (fisher & julien, 2009; fourie et al., 2018), these are often set in an individual informational context—information for the individual. this inadvertently excludes the origin of need, the processes and systems that may be active within the context which affects information needs. similar observations have long been reported in information behaviour studies for example, dervin (1992) pointed out how the information field recognises the power of process views of human behaviour, but process views are scarcely implemented in research. reddy et al. (2010) highlighted the limitations of individual information behaviour in organisational settings and cibangu (2013) noted the tendency of information studies to focus on information rather than on the phenomena studied. this research looks at a situation within the framework of forced migration. studies of forced migrants have also described individual information needs, as well as the process of seeking and using information. the information needs are present in most experiences of forced migrants but does not inform institutional processes. a situational approach combines individual and contextual factors to achieve an understanding of information behaviour that is relevant for the individual and the design of processes and systems (oduntan & ruthven, 2020). using the context of forced migration within the united kingdom (uk), this article demonstrates how focusing on situations encapsulates both individual and contextual information needs—the type of information that is useful for understanding processes and designing systems. first, we review the literature and broadly examine the concept of situation and its use in information behaviour. we apply sense-making situational approach to analyse the findings from our information behaviour study of refugee integration (oduntan, 2018), then discuss the significance of situational approaches for complex investigations and the implications of this for the field. background increasingly, information studies highlight information needs as situation-dependent. ruthven (2019) used situations to differentiate between conscious and formalised information needs. willson (2019) and gatson (2013) observed situations and changing information needs during transitions. this is also evident in literature relating to the general migration context (caidi et al., 2019; lingel, 2015; allard & caidi, 2018; du et al., 2019). such studies create understandings of personal and situational characteristics that facilitate or constrain the abilities of individuals to meet their information needs (allen, 1996; dunne, 2002; gibson, 2016; naveh & bronstein, 2019; agarwal, 2017). however, holistic understandings of situation in complex contexts has not been established. information studies of forced migration have shed light on refugees’ experiences, even though this is an emerging area (caidi et al., 2008, 2010; kennan et al., 2011). insights that can enable the information needs of refugees to be met are apparent, such as refugee students (shankar et al., 2016), syrian refugees (lloyd et al., 2017; mansour, 2018; martzoukou & burnett, 2018) and asylum seekers (le louvier & innocenti, 2019). also, information studies have created awareness of refugees’ use of information and communication technologies (icts) to meet information needs including mobile phones (fisher et al., 2016; diaz & doolin, 2018) and social media (borkert et al., 2018; dekker et al., 2018). research findings indicate the information needs that refugees have but these are not embedded in institutional processes responsible for the lived experiences of forced migration—integration remains challenging. 6 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 refugee integration is the dynamic relationship between host society and refugees to achieve inclusion. it involves host societies supporting forcibly displaced peoples to live successfully (unhcr, 2014). however, administering this system is not straightforward (sigona, 2005, castles et al., 2002). the process of integrating refugees into host societies is complicated for both parties and is increasingly challenging with each occurrence of disaster. simply providing information is insufficient for the level of complexity refugees encounter during integration. information should be coordinated with service delivery at a systemic level within the host society. the constantly evolving nature of displacement complicates the context not only for the refugees but also for the institutional processes. an information gap exists between the refugee’s access to services and the host society’s provision for refugees needs. the information gap prevents refugees from meeting their needs and the host society from making provisions successfully. these variables in refugee integration can be explored together in information behaviour studies. the information required is multifaceted, refugees need information to navigate complex social processes and systems, while host societies require information to create institutional responses. efforts to create understanding of information needs during refugee integration should therefore consider key elements of this multi-faceted relationship. the field of information behaviour has the capacity to contribute at this level and facilitate social responses. to achieve this, refugees and host societies can be examined situationally, a focus that encapsulates the relationships and interactions of refugee integration. along these lines, our information behaviour investigation into refugee integration found dependencies in refugee experiences (oduntan, 2018). the study found an order to how information needs arose during integration and formulated an information needs matrix that mirrored the institutional responses that emerged. the investigation also highlighted that system complexities, such as arrival route and persecution reasons, were determinants of integration and pointed to sources of information required on the integration journey. these findings validated the uk indicators of integration (ager & strang, 2008) and are consistent with other fields that have highlighted how legal status (da lomba, 2010), country of origin (craig, 2015) and changing policies (mulvey, 2015) constrain refugee integration. a situational approach to information behaviour enables dynamic interactions in context to be captured such that individual and contextual characteristics can be combined to determine information needs. situation as concept situation is a discipline-independent conceptual lens through which we can interpret social complexity. according to reis (2008), situation emphasises how “external factors” determine human behaviour, as well as how interactions and relationships moderate social psychological processes. methodologically, the situational approach enables the intricate details and complexities of social life to be captured (clarke, 2005). reis (2008) opined that situations should be characterised by their objective properties, and further, that the emphasis on situation should produce deep understanding of context at any level—individual, collective, organisational, geographical, and institutional. from a relativist philosophical point of view, clarke asserts that situational analysis makes the situation the focus of interest by stating, “the situation per se becomes the ultimate unit of analysis” (clarke et al., 2018). clarke’s situational analysis combines situational maps, social worlds and positional maps for capturing key elements, structures, and conditions that characterise complex situations of life to create inclusive 7 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 understanding. for this analysis, we discuss situation within the context of dervin’s sense-making theory. in dervin’s sense-making theory, situation is one of the many attributes of context—multidimensional and describable by a variety of attributes (dervin, 2005). according to dervin, sensemaking is both an internal and external behaviour which allows the individual to construct and design their move through time and space. the essence of sense-making is in the strength and profundity of its assumptions about the nature of reality, human beings, and observation. an individual may have multiple interpretations of the same situation at different times, particularly when a comparison is made between different people at the same time (dervin & foremanwernet, 2003). sense-making combines human observations, and this makes it stronger than the interpretations of one person. therefore, there is strength in varied human observation rather than weakness. methodologically, sense-making uses a “situation-gap” procedure to investigate lived experiences with a focus on where people come from, what they struggle with, and where they are going, to arrive at comprehensive understandings of context (dervin, 2005). the situationgap is an iterative process of asking research participants pertinent questions about their state at any given point in time. a form of questioning which involves asking a respondent to detail systematically what happened in a situation in terms of what occurred first, second, and so on. for each step, the respondent is then asked what questions they had, and what things they needed to find out, learn, come to understand, clarify, or make sense of in the situation (dervin & foreman-wernet, 2013). the systematic process ties human experiences and constructions to specific times, places, perspectives, and human conditions in such a way that the outcome honours individual diversity while at the same time addressing human universals. given the complexities that surround forced migration, a situational perspective considers all actors (individuals and host societies), their actions, and their interactions (access to needs and provisions for needs), to create an inclusive understanding of key elements and relationships. the properties of situations can be sub-contextual characteristics of complex systems, where information gaps experienced by more than one person can be identified. this inside-out focus enables information needs to be elicited from the situation rather than as expressed by an individual. for instance, multiple people with different experiences of forced migration each indicating information gaps related to the same provision, highlight situational information needs. a focus on objective properties of situation in relation to human construct of experiences directly expands the scope of information need beyond the individual. methods primary data collection took place through semi-structured interviews designed using the sensemaking situation-gap approach. sense-making’s focus on movement, change, and the forces facilitating or constraining this was a strength in the context of the study. refugees navigating the processes and systems in unfamiliar countries were moving across time and space on a journey of integration and the evidence of this journey is found in their story. prompted by the researcher, participants recounted their lived experiences of forced migration situationally, such that information gaps tied to specific times, places, and human conditions were elicited. for instance, the recounted experiences were framed around questions such as “tell me about how you got here” and “describe your current situation”. this enabled information gaps elicited to be time and conditions bound. the process was repeated for each distinct event on all 8 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 interviewees’ journey to establish situations and information need. the detailed interview protocol is published in oduntan & ruthven (2019). the situational approach allowed certain characteristics of context (previously unrecorded in information studies) acting on the individual information needs to be captured. for instance, reasons for persecution varied and included business, political, safety, religious, sexual, and warrelated motivations. in addition, there was no one method of arrival into the forced-migration system. routes of arrival included road, ports of entry, in-country routes, and humanitarian/family reunions. these contextual characteristics determine what information needs arise on the integration journey (oduntan & ruthven, 2019). as a result of the breadth of experiences, it was possible to examine individual experiences in relation to contextual conditions, which led to the discovery of related information needs. adopting a situational approach resulted in an interview focus on the contextual conditions of time and place, in which the information needs occurred. the interview population comprised 20 individuals of different origins and at different stages in the integration system. the population included 11 female and nine male participants, including two minors (below the age of 18), and individuals who were part of families. participants’ ages ranged from 15 to 48, with ten educated to primary school level and ten educated to university graduate level. participants’ geographical origins spanned 14 countries, including the top countries in the united kingdom home office list of nationalities applying for asylum, such as iran, iraq, pakistan, eritrea, afghanistan, and syria. there were other countries in the population such as sudan, somalia, the democratic republic of the congo, ethiopia, uganda, ghana, and malaysia. participants had lived for periods of between one month and 15 years in the country at the time of data collection. the interview data showed information behaviour during refugee integration revolved around contextual factors including the refuge-seeker’s status, provisions accessed, and length of stay in the host society. an individual journey through the integration system is either as an asylum seeker1, refugee2, or refused asylum seeker3, collectively referred to as refuge-seekers. there were ten refused asylum seekers, five asylum seekers, and five refugees in the study. all participants had similar information needs irrespective of status but different access to provisions due to institutional processes in place in the host society (oduntan & ruthven, 2019). the findings from interviews were substantiated with observation data recorded during an eightmonth volunteer role with scottish refugee council—a national service provider that delivers financial assistance, essential information, and advice to people seeking asylum in scotland. ten observation sessions were completed, with the focus of data collected on the refuge-seeker status, provisions accessed, and the length of stay in the host society. the observed included three refused asylum seekers, two asylum seekers, and five refugees, which made it possible for homogeneity of data to be assessed. the observation data was consistent with the interview data, it showed institutional processes determined access to provisions (oduntan, 2018). data analysis the data analysis in the study involved an iterative process of thematic coding and circling out information gaps in the recounted experiences. the data collected reflected the complexity of refugee integration, as refugee conditions were significantly different. our analysis revealed microand macro-level situations in refugee integration and situation became the unit of 9 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 analysis. the data collected using sense-making’s situation-gap perspective was micro-level; they are individual situation-gap moments on the integration journey. these situations resided within an overarching contextually conditioned situation which we refer to as a macro-level situation. the sense-making mandate that analysis be anchored in time, space, movement, gap, power, force, constraint, constancy and change, allows context to be covered in greater depth, making possible microand macro-level analysis of information gaps. in our study, situation is input and output, in that, the micro-level situation (individual situationgap from interviews) was the input and focus of a further analysis where commonalities and differences in lived experiences were circled out that resulted in macro-level situation (context conditioned situation). the interview data showed individual situations where information was required for basic needs such as housing or where travel was a problem that required information. the circling process revealed that these situations exist as a result of contextual conditions such as legal and social status incorporated in host society processes. this led us to two distinct cases as macro-level situations, what we refer to as ideal situation—the status of refugee and asylum seeker, and unideal situation—the status of the refused asylum seeker. figure 1. situations in refugee integration. our information needs matrix (oduntan & ruthven, 2019) in figure 1 above is used to illustrate the microand macro-level situations in refugee integration. the matrix sums up refugee integration as an information need journey through sociological provisions in the host society. in the uk, changing legal statuses determine provision levels, irrespective of needs. as refugeseekers passed through the different states, the information need consistently revolved around basic needs. each status’s information need was highlighted using a green color-coding scheme, a central-green shade for the asylum seeker, a deep-green shade for the refugee, and a light individual minor/accompanied support cash allowance caseworker social services norms grants health emergency health centres social community sports formal employment volunteering job bank education language informal extracurricular benefits jobseeker allowance child benefit child tax credit mobility transportation travel dispersal legal housing allocation state content size card allowance appeals court solicitors detention refused refugee asylum seeker unideal situation ideal situation general minimum specific maximum 10 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 green shade for the refused asylum seeker. this made visible the individual and contextual transitions that occur during refugee integration. findings and discussion the study found that the individual situations and gaps of refuge-seekers were embedded within an overarching macro-level situation. our situation-gap analysis showed a transition on the information need journey based on the contextual conditions of access and provision, described as ideal and unideal situations (figure 1). although individual information needs are important, contextual conditions determine experiences, meaning that individual information gaps and contextual information gaps exist. the situational approach tied together microand macro-level information gap situations, resulting in situational information needs of systemic relevance useful for the individual and the design of contextual systems. ideal situation this is a macro-situation seen as ideal for refugees and asylum seekers because these categories of people have unrestricted access to provisions to meet integration needs, although there were differences in levels of provisions for each category. the matrix in figure 2 shows the information needs journey in the ideal situation. asylum seekers, while waiting for a decision on their asylum applications, are provided with basic needs such as housing, financial support, travel support, health and basic education, and also receive some social support. in addition, refugees are provided with benefits (statutory financial support as citizens) and allowed employment. different shades are used to differentiate each status provisions, the lighter for the asylum seekers and the darker shade for the additional provisions for the refugees. the legal provision was not a requirement in this situation hence is not coloured in figured two. these provisions are explicit and highlight host countries’ commitment to the united nations refugee convention and the global compact on refugees. figure 2. the ideal situation. 11 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 however, despite the ideal nature of this situation, our study found numerous individual and contextual information gaps that prevented successful access to and delivery of provisions for refugee integration. at the micro-level, the data showed all asylum seekers and refugees in the ideal situation had no information on their specific provisions and providers during their journey. as a result, there were misconceptions about which provisions they were entitled to, as highlighted in the matrix. “i went to red cross to apply for english language class, but no one accept me and i have to go because i have no english at all. the college all full so they put me on waiting list. i have gone directly but still full.” 2-month asylum seeker on the other hand, the three refugees who arrived via the family reunion or humanitarian route appeared to be well received with information on arrival into their host countries. they are provided with much information and training on how to integrate into the community. this is in addition to the spousal or parent-in-country edge in the case of family reunion refugees. while preparation of information and training highlights the importance of information for the individual, the data showed that refugees encounter similar unknowns. “the job is a problem, it is so difficult, and you need to have experience but when you are not employed how you get experience.” 7-year refugee at the macro-level, a lack of co-ordination and communication between service providers caused an imbalance in provision, resulting in under-served and over-served occurrences. for instance, one asylum seeker had never received travel support in the form of, for example, bus passes or tickets, whilst others received multiple bus passes from different service providers. the refugeseeker with information about service providers, has more opportunity to meet needs than the refuge-seeker without information, especially when information is not publicly available. “they (red cross and refugee council) are so helpful but it is not enough for a person that has decided to stay permanently in this country. now we have to try by ourselves and with the help of friends and not depend on the red cross and refugee council.” 20month refugee also, within service providers, information on the delivery of provisions was undefined. the information on what should be provided and what has been accessed by a refuge-seeker is not explicit. as a result, there was inconsistency in provision. refuge-seekers in ideal situations received help when they went to certain service providers in times of destitution but others with the same status and similar situations were turned away for the same problems by the same organisations or signposted to other service providers. “the refugee council said they don’t have anything for me and that i should go to the home office.” 2-month asylum seeker the lack of communication between service providers caused a “survival of the well-informed” syndrome which had a ripple effect. service providers with defined services struggled with consistency while individual access to provisions arguably depended on the number of service providers known. for instance, an asylum seeker might access transportation provisions from a service provider in a particular week and receive the same provision from another service provider the following week. meanwhile, someone else in a similar situation might not receive 12 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 any, if support was exhausted at that time. the inconsistencies in the ideal situation highlight the individual and contextual information gaps in refugee integration and points to the need for information to be coordinated with service delivery at the systemic level within the host society. unideal situation this is a macro-situation seen as unideal and applies only to the refused asylum seeker—the category with restricted access to provisions to meet integration needs. the matrix in figure 3 shows the information needs journey in the unideal situation. this status had provisions and basics needs such as housing, financial support, legal support, mobility, education, and social support. however, the provisions are heavily impacted by restrictions and limits, as is extensively discussed by oduntan and ruthven (2017). our analysis in this paper points to a lack of clarity at micro-level and a lack of accountability at macro-level. the information gaps in this situation concerned not only access to provisions but also clarity on the status of refused asylum seeker. at micro-level, participants did not have sufficient information to deal with the asylum refusal process. for example, all the refused asylum seekers in this study associated this time with uncertainty, confusion, depression, and ill health. figure 3. the unideal situation. the data showed similar difficult experiences among refused asylum seekers, particularly for newly arrived asylum seekers. even in-country applicants who might be thought of as having the advantage of being in the country do not understand the process. as soon as a negative asylum decision is reached, financial support might stop, and the failed asylum seeker could be sent out of their accommodation. in cases where refused asylum seekers are sent to detention, they have to start all over again when they are released. the participants highlighted their inability to resettle back into society when released. “after the interview one month later, they refused; they say i am lying, i am not from eritrea. when they refused, they say i am not a christian when i am even a singer in 13 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 church. i got confused. i ask myself all the time who am i? so i have a court appointment, i took all my photos etc. then the court said i am a christian but not eritrean. i am confused more.” 11-month refused asylum seeker at the macro-level, provisions for this category appear even more difficult for service providers to administer. while there are provisions for this category, knowledge and conditions of provisions are neither explicit nor consistent. individual situations are hard as refused asylum seekers do not understand their situations and have no information to meet their integration needs. the macro-level situation is even more chaotic because information is not shared, and administration takes place out of moral decency rather than for obligatory reasons. an integration bottleneck arguably exists. the refused asylum seeker’s access to provisions is regarded as a privilege, which contradicts the primary purpose of provisions for basic needs. theoretical implications: situational information behaviour our findings show that, in information behaviour, the information gaps are conditioned by micro and macro-level situations. at the micro-level, individual descriptions of experiences lead to individual information needs while at the macro-level, further analysis based on contextual conditions leads to operational information needs. this implies information need is individual and collective, arising from multiple people with different experiences and backgrounds, each indicating related information gaps on host society’s integration provisions. thus, although information need is individual, the macro-level situation is common to all individual’s experiences demonstrating a collective journey and situational information need. these individual–collective information needs journeys, via situations, deconstruct the context and emphasise sense-making outcomes that honour diversity as well as human universals. situational information behaviour can be posited, investigating situationally enables multiple variables in a context to be combined in determining information needs. the basis of situational information behaviour follows directly from cool’s (2001) statement that situations have the potential to bring together individual cognitive-level and social-level analyses of human information behaviour. fundamentally, “information behaviour follows the properties of information in a given context” (bates, 1999) and “situation is one of the attributes of context” (dervin & foreman-wernet, 2003). if information behaviour follows the properties of information in any given context, and situation is one of the attributes of context, situations contain subcontextual characteristics of context where information gaps lie. we demonstrate that situational information behaviour investigates the properties of information at microand macro-level in any given context. situational information behaviour can also be viewed as the cumulative of individual experiences and contextual conditions, arriving at situational information needs. for instance, our study resulted in an information needs matrix that represented individual information needs during the refugee integration process and, at the same time, addressed contextual design of institutional processes and systems. furthermore, situational information behaviour is a higher-level interpretation of information needs. according to dervin, researchers are not required to suppress their own interpretations or understandings, but rather to act as vehicles of dialogic practice (dervin & foreman-wernet, 2003). the individual may be unable to make sense of their information needs beyond their personal situation as a consequence of the conditions of context, including observational constraints of time, place, change, and physiological limitations. given the ambiguity of 14 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 information needs, the need and use of information is a creative process (dervin & foremanwernet, 2003). it is therefore possible for information needs to be situational, though data collected is based on the individual’s situations and gaps. situational information needs are overarching and also individual. ruthven et al. (2018) observed that information needs are often expressed as situations in the hope that someone else can turn situations into questions that can be answered. our findings emphasise the distinct situations that can emerge: individual micro-level, upon which the field predominantly reports, and overarching macro-level, which enhances information needs but is rarely reported. this suggests that familiarisation with context is crucial for a situational information behaviour investigation to prevent isolation of the individual from context. the findings show that contextual and individual characteristics of situations can be explicitly found in the time and place of constructed experiences. the contextual characteristics arose from system-imposed conditions, acting on individuals that could not be ignored. these include the different refuge-seeker statuses. furthermore, from our situational focus on place and time, we discovered that arrival route and persecution reasons affected the information needs and sources of the individual. this suggests that intricate details of context can be easily omitted and the applicability of situations in information behaviour depends on contextual complexity. the characteristics of complex context can be defined from conditions and actions, while individual characteristics are personal and specific. analysis of changing individual and contextual factors revealed overarching situations in refugee integration. the situational characteristics is in-line with sonnenwald’s (1999) argument that situations may be characterised by actions or behaviours that occur over time and are connected by participants. the situational approach’s attention to constraints of time, place, and human conditions cannot be overemphasised. viewing each person’s information needs from their individual situations in relation to contextual conditions reduces individual bias and creates an inside-out perspective. exploring information behaviour using a situational approach opens up interesting opportunities for information studies to contribute to the detangling of complex social systems, including forced migration. practical implications forced migration is increasingly challenging and refugee integration processes and systems are deteriorating. if the goal of a society is to successfully integrate refuge-seekers, knowledge from information studies creates the possibility of dealing strategically with failing integration systems. taking a view from a situational perspective is a means to re-define and align integration provisions, thereby strengthening host societies’ capacity to respond to the sociological and psychological consequences of forced displacement in any given population. our systematic analysis, using information behaviour sense-making, sheds light on a system inherently divided and encapsulates refugee integration processes. the findings point to coordination of information with service delivery at the systemic level as best practice, information will no longer create privilege but will create equal opportunity for access to integration provisions. a situational information need is the bridge between individual and contextual information gaps causing the inability of refuge-seekers to meet needs and the lack of coordination and communication between service providers. 15 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 the understanding of needs alongside status and stage, eliminates ambiguity in provisions for refuge-seekers and service providers, enabling a strategic integration system. the individual and situational transitions highlighted can be translated to checkpoints for the system, service providers, and refuge-seekers. the findings can also form the basis of response in design to refugees use of technology and social media in host societies. although the use of digital media is beneficial to refugees and service providers, it raises the challenges of accuracy of information (fisher, 2018). the situated needs create an avenue for information across digital media platforms to be targeted and consistent. a revolving geopolitical issue such as forced migration will always be complicated, but consolidated understanding from interdisciplinary investigations reveals robust insights. conclusion this paper makes explicit assertions on the nature of situations in a complex context. through our research into refugee integration, we demonstrate situational information behaviour and point out situations conditioned at microand macro-levels. using sense-making, we describe the characteristics of context and highlight time and place as fundamental for situational investigation, particularly in a complex context, such as forced migration. the situational approach elaborates on the multi-faceted properties and subtleties of context to enable richer and more inclusive understanding of information needs. the outcome is of systemic relevance that is useful individually for refugees to meet needs and contextually for the design of institutional responses. we conclude that human information behaviour as a study of the properties of information in context can be investigated in two ways—unilateral and bilateral, each type creates its own kind of understanding depending on the goal of the study. for instance, previous studies that identified individual information needs are unilateral investigations that followed the properties of information individually. meanwhile, our study can be deemed a bilateral investigation as it followed the properties of information situationally to achieve individual-collective information needs. information behaviour studies are no longer only informational but also operational, increasing the significance of the field of information theoretically and practically. we put forward the situational approach and characteristics as directions to be pursued. in a complex context, situations are as much a collective as it is individual, combining individual and contextual factors will extend research outcomes and increase the significance of information studies. endnotes 1 asylum seeker – a person who has applied for protection (asylum) in a host society and is awaiting a decision. 2 refugee – a person who has been granted asylum either after an application or by selection from a refugee camp. 3 refused asylum seeker – a person whose asylum application has been refused but has been given the chance to appeal. 16 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 acknowledgements we are grateful to the three anonymous 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(2011). settling in: the relationship between information and social inclusion. australian academic & research libraries, 42(3), 191–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048623.2011.10722232 le louvier, k. & innocenti, p. (2019). the information mapping board game: a collaborative investigation of asylum seekers and refugees’ information practices in england, uk. in proceedings of isic, the information behaviour conference, krakow, poland, 9–11 october: part 2. information research, 24(1). http://informationr.net/ir/241/isic2018/isic1835.html lingel, j. (2015). information practices of urban newcomers: an analysis of habits and wandering. journal of the association for information science and technology, 66(6), 1239–1251. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23255 lloyd, a., pilerot, o., & hultgren, f. (2017). the remaking of fractured landscapes: supporting refugees in transition (spirit). information research, 22(3), paper 764. http://informationr.net/ir/22-3/paper764.html mansour, e. (2018). profiling information needs and behaviour of syrian refugees displaced to egypt: an exploratory study. information and learning science, 119(3/4), 161–182. https://doi.org/10.1108/ils-08-2017-0088 martzoukou, k., & burnett, s. (2018). exploring the everyday life information needs and the 19 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1002/aris.2009.1440430114 https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2930701 http://informationr.net/ir/23-4/isic2018/isic1802.html https://doi.org/10.1002/meet.14505001060 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f2333393616680967 https://doi.org/10.1080/00048623.2011.10722232 http://informationr.net/ir/24-1/isic2018/isic1835.html http://informationr.net/ir/24-1/isic2018/isic1835.html https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23255 http://informationr.net/ir/22-3/paper764.html https://doi.org/10.1108/ils-08-2017-0088 situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 socio-cultural adaptation barriers of syrian refugees in scotland. journal of documentation, 74(5), 1104–1132. https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-10-2017-0142 mulvey, g. (2015). refugee integration policy: the effects of uk policy-making on refugees in scotland. journal of social policy, 44(2), 357–375. https://doi.org/10.1017/s004727941500001x naveh, s., & bronstein, j. (2019). sense making in complex health situations, aslib journal of information management, ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/ajim-02-2019-0049 oduntan, o. (2018). navigating social systems: information behaviour in refugee integration. ph.d. thesis. glasgow: university of strathclyde. oduntan, o., & ruthven, i. (2017). investigating the information gaps in refugee integration. proceedings of the association for information science and technology, 54(1), 308–317. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2017.14505401034 oduntan, o., & ruthven, i. (2019). the information needs matrix: an information guide for refugee integration. information processing and management, 56(3), 791–808. oduntan, o., & ruthven, i. (2020). people and places: bridging the information gaps in refugee integration. journal of the association for information science and technology. advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24366 reddy, m. c., jansen, b. j., & spence, p. r. (2010). collaborative information behavior: exploring collaboration and coordination during information seeking and retrieval activities. in j. foster (ed.), collaborative information behavior: user engagement and communication sharing (pp. 73-88). igi global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-61520797-8.ch005 reis, h. t. (2008). reinvigorating the concept of situation in social psychology. personality and social psychology review, 12(4), 311-329. ruthven, i. (2019). the language of information need: differentiating conscious and formalized information needs. information processing and management, 56(1), 77–90. ruthven, i., buchanan, s., & jardine, c. (2018). relationships, environment, health and development: the information needs expressed online by young first-time mothers. journal of the association for information science and technology, 69(8), 985–995. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24024 shankar, s., o’brien, h. l., how, e., lu, y. w., mabi, m., & rose, c. (2016). the role of information in the settlement experiences of refugee students. proceedings of the association for information science and technology, 53(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2016.14505301141 sigona, n. (2005). refugee integration(s): policy and practice in the european union. refugee survey quarterly, 24(4), 115–122. sonnenwald, d. h. (1999). evolving perspectives of human information behavior: contexts, 20 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-10-2017-0142 https://doi.org/10.1017/s004727941500001x https://doi.org/10.1108/ajim-02-2019-0049 https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2017.14505401034 https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24366 https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-61520-797-8.ch005 https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-61520-797-8.ch005 https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24024 https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2016.14505301141 situational information behaviour the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34033 situations, social networks and information horizons. in t.d. wilson & d.k. allen (eds.), exploring the contexts of information behavior: proceedings of the second international conference in information needs, seeking and use in different contexts (pp. 176-190). taylor graham. unhcr, united nations high commissioner for refugees (2014). integration of refugees: a discussion paper. united nations high commissioner for refugees (unhcr). https://www.unhcr.org/cy/wpcontent/uploads/sites/41/2018/02/integration_discussion_paper_july_2014_en.pdf willson, r. (2019), transitions theory and liminality in information behaviour research. journal of documentation, 75(4) 838–856. https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-12-2018-0207 olubukola oduntan (bookuey@icloud.com) is a postdoctoral researcher. she completed her phd from the department of computer and information science, university of strathclyde. ian ruthven (ian.ruthven@strath.ac.uk) is a professor of information seeking and retrieval in the department of computer and information sciences, university of strathclyde. 21 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.unhcr.org/cy/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2018/02/integration_discussion_paper_july_2014_en.pdf https://www.unhcr.org/cy/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2018/02/integration_discussion_paper_july_2014_en.pdf https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-12-2018-0207 mailto:bookuey@icloud.com mailto:ian.ruthven@strath.ac.uk introduction background situation as concept methods data analysis findings and discussion ideal situation unideal situation theoretical implications: situational information behaviour practical implications conclusion endnotes acknowledgements references transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom nelson santana, bronx community college of cuny, usa amaury rodriguez, esendom, usa emmanuel espinal, esendom, usa abstract dominican-descended people are one of the most dynamic caribbean and latin american ethnic and cultural communities in the united states. whether in the dominican republic or as members of a transnational community, the dominican population has a long and rich history of challenging the powers that be, confronting unjust acts, and opposing oppressive laws within the communities they inhabit through their civic engagement. this paper addresses one question: as dominican society and the world have evolved, what has been the role of u.s.-based online media in sustaining, disseminating, and rescuing the long tradition of civic involvement and struggle exemplified by dominicans at home and abroad? to answer that question, we explore the role of the ongoing online dominican-centric magazine esendom to demonstrate how online journalism documents activism within the dominican community. esendom and similar media have filled gaps that the mainstream media has failed to fulfill, as there is a media blackout on the dominican republic and its people. this project is one about activism. this humanistic project documents some of the most important social movements to take place in the dominican republic and the united states in the past thirteen years (2009–2022), coinciding with the founding of esendom in 2009. this project will present a timeline and an attempt to chart a chronology of political dissent and social struggles within dominican communities in the united states and the dominican republic. keywords: activism; dominican; dominican republic; media; social justice publication type: research article introduction hether in the dominican republic or as members of a transnational community, the dominican population has a long and rich history of challenging the powers that be, unjust acts, and oppressive laws within the communities they inhabit through their civic engagement. this article addresses one question: as dominican society and the world have largely evolved, what has been the role of u.s.-based online media in sustaining, disseminating, and rescuing the long tradition of civic involvement and struggle exemplified by dominicans at home and abroad? to answer that question, we explore the role of the ongoing online dominicancentric magazine esendom1 to demonstrate how online journalism documents activism within the dominican community. esendom and similar media have filled gaps that the mainstream media failed to fulfill, as there is a media blackout on the dominican republic and its people. this project is one about activism. this humanistic project documents some of the most w https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 important social movements to take place in the dominican republic and the united states in the past thirteen years (2009–2022), coinciding with the founding of esendom in 2009. dominican writers, artists, and journalists have a long history of using both the written word and audiovisual material to denounce injustice and state repression. one example is the case of orlando martínez howley (1944–1975), a prominent journalist who was killed during the 12-year authoritarian regime of president joaquín balaguer (1966–1978), and whose murder was widely disseminated across media, especially by independent and amateur journalists. before the emergence of socially conscience digital media websites such as remolacha2 and esendom in the 21st century, dominican intellectuals, writers, and artists used physical newspapers, pamphlets, bulletins, audiovisual recordings, literary works, and other tools to voice their opposition to those powerful ruling elites governing the dominican republic or to bring attention to issues affecting the dominican population in the dominican republic and abroad. in addition to discussing the role of esendom as an informal digital repository or, at the very least, an eresource that has documented the activism of the transnational dominican community—with a focus on the cities of new york, santo domingo, and santiago—this paper will also briefly touch upon the activism work of dominican journalists, writers, and artists in the 20th century and connect—by comparing and contrasting—their work to journalists, artists, and writers in the 21st century, but, more specifically, those in the realm of esendom and similar initiatives. the methodological approach of this work is ethnographic in nature. through their writing and audiovisual tools, esendom’s team of writers, photographers, and videographers have captured, documented, and, in some instances, analyzed grassroots social movements within the dominican sphere using a participatory ethnographic approach. although they may not always view themselves as activists, esendom’s team comprises socially conscious individuals who embrace and actively engage with grassroots movements to affect societal change. for the record, this research does not intend to be an all-encompassing work on dominican activism. still, it will provide a snapshot of transnational dominican activism in the united states and the dominican republic. centering dominican activists and the particularities of dominican activism within its political lingua franca with its own internal dynamics and contradictions and shortcomings, this project will present a timeline and an attempt to chart a chronology of political dissent and social struggles within dominican communities in the united states and the dominican republic. digitally documenting latinx and latin american-focused communities conducting a literature review and compiling a list of all latinx, latin american-focused, and caribbean repositories in the united states is beyond the scope of this research. nonetheless, it would be fitting to take a moment to acknowledge that such repositories exist. some renowned repositories include the university of california, los angeles’ chicano studies research center; the benson latin american collection at the university of texas at austin; centro de estudios puertorriqueños at hunter college; city university of new york’s dominican studies institute; the cuban heritage collection at the university of miami; and recovering the u.s. hispanic literary heritage at the university of houston. although a multi-institutional and international digital library and not necessarily a repository, it is also worth noting the digital library of the caribbean (dloc), which links to multiple e-resources and repositories. founded in 2004, dloc “is a cooperative of partners within the caribbean and circum-caribbean that provides users with access to caribbean cultural, historical, and research materials held in archives, libraries, and 48 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 private collections” (digital library of the caribbean, n.d.).3 esendom is not unique in the way it is documenting black and latinx communities, and a diverse pool of communities of color. organizations, journals, and collectives such as the black latinas know collective, taller electric marronage, the afro-hispanic review, the caribbean memory project, and repeating islands are all forums that document and preserve latinx, caribbean, and latin american cultures in their own unique manner. individuals and associations such as the seminar on the acquisition of latin american library materials (salalm) have played a critical role in bringing together entities that have housed the collections of latin american-descended people. salalm comprises librarians, archivists, book dealers, scholars, students, and individuals interested in “collecting, preserving, and providing access to latin american, caribbean, iberian, and latino information resources in all formats” (salalm, n.d.-c). in essence, salalm is the preeminent worldwide association pertinent to latinx and latin american repositories. the most recent and perhaps the best scholarly publication pertinent to the work currently undertaken by librarians and archivists specializing in latin american collection is the edited volume, latin american collection concepts essays on libraries, collaborations and new approaches, edited by gayle williams and jana krentz (2019)— a book project born at the annual salalm conference. some salalm-related initiatives include the latin america north east libraries consortium (lane) and latin american, caribbean, u.s. latinx, and iberian online free e-resources (lacli) (salalm, n.d.-b).4 lacli, a collection of free online e-resources, is a project that emerged from lane—a group of academic and research libraries in the northeastern united states that builds and maintains collections in the area of latin america ((latin american, caribbean, u.s. latinx, and iberian online free e-resources, n.d.). functioning as a database, lacli provides users with a summary and link to e-resources one can access online, including multiple digital repositories. some of these repositories include the latin american digital initiatives repository (ladi) (benson latin american collection at the university of texas at austin), the archive of immigrant voices (university of maryland), and conexión oral history project (dominican studies association). lacli also contains digital repositories housed within national archives across latin america such as the “archivo general de la nación. publicaciones (república dominicana)” in the dominican republic and “archivo general de la nación de colombia. sección colonia. negros y esclavos” in colombia. as opposed to the digital repositories noted in the preceding passages, esendom is not a digital repository. instead, it maintains digital content on a public-facing website. as such, esendom is an e-resource that follows in the vein of digital projects contained within lacli and similar resources. as of the most recent iteration of esendom, much of the original content is also being digitized in pdfs to preserve the information, allow access to the material for educational purposes, and disseminate it easily, essentially web archiving this content. a specific example of this is the dossier on women in translation, which compiles articles and interviews esendom conducted and published previously on the website (santana et al., 2017). some pdfs are made accessible via the esendom website. however, all pdfs, as well as all digital content, are stored within hard drives and in the cloud. esendom’s metadata is automated through a commercial web hosting vendor. said metadata includes tags and categories. several prominent grassroots movements, such as #blacklivesmatter and #rickyrenuncia (in puerto rico), have lived mainly on digital platforms like instagram, twitter, and hosted websites. some entities do not have the funds to cover hosting costs, opting instead to post their digital 49 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 content on platforms like instagram and facebook; should these platforms disappear, the digital content stored on these platforms could also vanish. esendom has aimed to capture similar grassroots movements within the transnational dominican community. while esendom editors do not claim that the website is a formal digital repository, digital archive, or digital library, it serves the role of an e-resource that documents the transnational dominican community in the new york region. esencia dominicana (esendom) founded in 2009, esendom is an online bilingual (english and spanish) platform that documents people who trace their ancestry to the dominican republic by publishing articles, interviews, oral histories, photographs, and videos. esendom’s founders met while obtaining undergraduate degrees at baruch college. emmanuel espinal and nelson santana shared each other’s ideas about creating a magazine about dominican culture, and this is where the idea for esendom began: espinal baptized the platform esencia dominicana (dominican essence). at the same time, santana shortened the name to esendom. two esendom collaborators who helped to transform this digital platform are amaury rodríguez and john carrero. esendom’s team of writers, photographers, and videographers have provided commentary on the political landscape and popular culture since its inception. per its mission statement: “esendom is a cultural magazine that blends the beauty of dominican culture with current and past social issues that affect the dominican community today, examining these areas of concern and putting them into perspective” (esendom, n.d., mission). music, culture, and sports are among the most popular content covered by esendom. opinion pieces, essays, and coverage of popular culture, trending news, and academic articles tend to draw the most interest from esendom’s audience. esendom has provided coverage of events headlined by popular figures, including junot díaz, antony santos, el prodigio, and president leonel fernández. esendom has interviewed artists, composers, dance instructors, and radio and television personalities. the focus of esendom reflects the editors’ interests, educational backgrounds, and professional interests, ranging from music (fefita la grande, robert liriano, rafael mieses, aris jackson, jonatan piña duluc, ruth violín, sención minaya, ray chino díaz), to politics (leonel fernández, yovan collado, luis abinader), to academia with a focus on the growing field of dominican studies (lorgia garcía peña, dixa ramírez, elizabeth manley, zaire z. dinzey-flores, álex gil, lissette acosta corniel, sophie maríñez, amarilys estrella, ivette romero, lisa paravisini-gerbert, zaida corniel), to literature (johan mijail, michèle voltaire marcelin, aída cartagena portalatín, lorena espinoza peña, raquel virginia cabrera, nelson ricart-guerrero), and sports (alex rodríguez, albert pujols, karl-anthony towns, al horford). esendom, in documenting and preserving dominican culture, serves an underserved niche and fills the gap that traditional media sometimes overlooks. an example is esendom’s coverage of playwright marco antonio rodríguez’s work. esendom has been actively following and documenting the arc of his output from his first play exhibited in new york city, la luz de un cigarrillo, at latin american theater experiment associates (latea) to his latest work titled bloom (espinal, 2011; espinal, 2022). esendom has published a review of rodríguez’s play and conducted three interviews with him. other than the occasional brief interview as part of a media tour, the traditional media have not provided consistent coverage of rodríguez’s work to the extent that esendom has contributed of this budding artist. effectively, esendom has archived rodríguez’s work, thereby documenting a figure who is quickly becoming one of the most prominent playwrights of dominican descent in the united states. 50 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 esendom’s team of journalists, writers, artists, photographers, and videographers have documented some of the most important social movements of the past 13 years to impact the transnational dominican community. esendom’s work includes articles, essays, photographic images, video footage, and oral histories of dominican activism at events including the worldwide anti-corruption marcha verde movement that led to the eventual political defeat of the partido de la liberación dominicana (pld) party in the dominican republic, the anti-femicide marcha de las mariposas, dominican-haitian solidarity movements, the international #niunamás movement that denounces femicides and anti-abortion legislation, and the #blacklivesmatter / george floyd protests in washington heights and santo domingo in 2020. esendom’s extensive archives include videos, photographs, interviews, and articles pertinent to multiple social movements, protests, and marches both in the dominican republic and the united states. documenting, preserving, and making accessible dominican activism based on commonly accepted definitions, esendom is not a digital archive, web archive, digital repository, or digital humanities project. yet, this critical platform allows esendom’s custodians to document the dominican community, filling a much-needed gap. what separates a website from a digital repository, web archive, or similar digital tool? ordinarily, these tools are governed by established guidelines and policies aimed at planning for, managing, making accessible, and preserving born-digital or digitized content. unlike formal institutional repositories (e.g., archives, libraries, museums), esendom does not adhere to the types of policies that are often used to describe formal repositories. to reach their level of formality, these institutional bodies often undergo a rigorous, time-consuming process that can take years to establish the repository formally. because esendom is not a formal digital repository, digital archive, or digital library, some readers, scholars, or even digital practitioners might neglect its importance as an e-resource.5 to the contrary, esendom is part of a larger tradition of individuals and entities who start informal projects at a small scale that over time move toward formalization. for example, the now renowned city university of new york’s dominican studies institute (cuny dsi) library and archives were each established in 1994 and 2002, respectively, and led by individuals who, at the time, did not possess a graduate degree in library and information science or archival science.6 chief librarian, sarah aponte, obtained her degree while employed at cuny dsi. founding chief archivist, idilio gracia peña, never obtained a graduate degree, and yet, his vast experience during his 50-plus years as an information professional supersedes that of many professionally-trained archivists and librarians.7 many of the most important latinx and latin american-related repositories have their origins in informal initiatives including cuny’s own center for puerto rican studies, the cuny dominican studies institute, and jaime lucero mexican studies institute.8 similar to these three physical repositories documenting the dominican, puerto rican, and mexican communities in the united states through their archives and libraries, esendom is also documenting the dominican community through oral histories and audiovisual materials, and written content. esendom’s team includes writers, journalists, artists, photographers, and videographers. they utilize various methods to document the dominican community, including photography, videography, and the written word. as avid readers and consumers of dominican media in all its manifestations, esendom editors have placed premium importance on editing as a collective before publication. this approach ensures readability, clarity of syntax, and clear presentation. deep down, esendom creates content for a general audience. esendom publishes news articles, 51 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 editorials, opinion pieces, personal reflections, and creative writing pertinent to the dominican experience, which in turn reflects dominicanidad and preserves its cultural heritage. because dominicanidad is not a concept that can always be captured with written words, esendom publishes audiovisual content to complement the writing of esendom’s contributors. as such, the team has photographed or recorded several events over the years. ranging from cultural gatherings that include festivals and musical performances to miles-long protests, esendom has documented several dominican-led or dominican-focused initiatives via an audiovisual lens. although esendom’s founders envisioned creating a physical magazine, esendom launched as a born-digital platform and continues to operate under this model. this model allows the editors to publish content that is cost-effective and time-efficient without the constraints associated with physical publications. consequently, born-digital content has allowed esendom’s contributors to present the dominican experience in a myriad of ways whether through still images, video, or writing. tracing the origins of documenting the u.s. dominican community tracing the intellectual history of dominican migration to the united states is an arduous task. per dutch archival documents, juan/jan/yan rodríguez/rodrigues is the first-known person from santo domingo to arrive in new york (stevens-acevedo et al., 2013). nearly three centuries after rodríguez’s arrival, close to 5,000 people from the dominican republic entered the united states through the ellis island port in new york city between 1882 and 1924 (hernández, 2012). as noted in the cases of rodríguez and immigrants who passed through ellis island, documents allow us to construct and preserve our histories. dominicans in the united states have been contributing their granito de arena to document communities in the united states throughout latin america since at least 1909, when las novedades (1876–1918)—at times referred to as a magazine and at other times a newspaper—, a periodical founded in new york city by spaniard immigrants in 1876, transferred ownership to dominican brothers in 1909 (aponte, 2022). as sarah aponte (2022) notes, news pertinent to the dominican republic was published prior to the purchase of las novedades by dominican entrepreneurs, referencing articles about the dominican republic published as early as 1881. topics in las novedades included literature (poetry and prose), the socio-political climate in the dominican republic including the economy and elections, u.s. intervention in the dominican republic and other latin american nations, dominican-haitian relations, and the dominican presence in new york, such as the arrival of dominican violinist gabriel del orbe from europe to new york (aponte, 2022). as of this moment, las novedades appears to be the first-known significant dominican-owned publication in the united states; if this statement holds true, then one can safely assume that dominican-related publications that came into existence after las novedades followed in the footsteps of its editors with their coverage of dominican-related content. in the united states, multiple magazines (dominican times magazine, merengue, la galería), newspapers (listín usa, patria), and audiovisual platforms (remolacha.net, esendom) that document the dominican experience or discuss dominican-related topics have been established. some of these platforms have disappeared overtime, such as merengue and patria, some have gone dormant for a period of time such as esendom and la galería, and others have been forced to adapt to changing technology such as most dominican and non-dominican newspapers, which publish content accessible via the world wide web. 52 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 some entities, however, have toned down the dominican content or have moved away from covering dominican-themed topics in favor of a more global or diverse audience. dominican times magazine, for instance, has undergone multiple name changes such as dtm and latintrends. known today as latintrends, this digital site originally catered to a dominican clientele or audience interested in dominican content. founded on september 11, 2001, by publisher juan guillén and editor josé morillo, dominican times magazine—even through its different iterations—provided a generation of u.s. dominicans with a new, hip, magazine that revolved around dominican culture, featuring interviews with dominican pop culture icons such as composers and singers raúl acosta and antony “romeo” santos, intellectual junot díaz, actress zoe saldaña, actor anthony álvarez, major league baseball player alex rodríguez, and several other celebrities or well-known dominicans (santana, 2013). eventually, dominican times magazine changed its name to dtm, while still featuring the dominican community, but providing more coverage of non-dominicans such as new york city-based colombian disc jockey alex sensation. print to digital dominican print culture (newspapers, magazines, bulletins, etc.) was forced to adapt to the digital revolution that started in the mid-to-late ‘90s and continued into the 2000s. much like established periodicals such as the new york times, washington post, essence magazine, and several magazines published by condé nast (gq, the new yorker, wired, vanity fair, glamour, and teen vogue) that were forced to provide readers with online content or transition to a digital platform, dominican periodicals, too, had to adapt to this new 21st century model. because online platforms such as blogs and online periodicals provide readers with instant access to content, as opposed to print issues of newspapers and magazines that one would have to wait to arrive via mail or purchase at a store, advertisers especially began to scale back on print advertising, due to exorbitant fees charged by publishers, causing several print periodicals to shut down. dominican print periodical, listín usa, for example, appears to have shut down. however, there is an online magazine that goes by this name today, yet it is unclear whether this current online platform is a continuation of the now defunct print version. although the digital revolution led to the unfortunate death of several periodicals, it also allowed newcomer hobbyists and entrepreneurs with little capital to launch their projects virtually. born in santo domingo, ángel manuel del orbe cruz—popularly known as remo—migrated to the united states at the age of 8 (peguero, 2020). he founded remolacha.net in 2004 or 2005 to connect with fellow dominicans (¡henrry!, 2020). remolacha has established itself as the most popular dominican blog in the world due to its unique content. at the time of remolacha’s founding, it emulated the drudge report, a news aggregation website built on gossip-oriented news stories. recent visitors of remolacha may not be aware that the website’s initial popularity can partly be attributed to remo posting naked images of women and links to pornographic content, especially in the mid-2000s. over the years, however, remolacha established itself as an online platform that at times advocates for political accountability and the rights of the dominican people. the platform has also been used to bring awareness pertinent to missing people, abuse, and the promotion of fundraisers aimed at helping the poor or individuals that need a medical operation. 53 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 parallels between esendom and anti-trujillo publications esendom represents a continuity of those early attempts by the editors of las novedades to make the community visible, since the major mainstream media mostly focuses on sports, music, and aspects of popular culture such as porfirio rubirosa’s next love conquest, or crime when it comes to dominicans. when dominicans took over las novedades in 1909, they expanded the coverage of dominican-related content ranging from literature to politics, celebrities, and businesses, as well as providing coverage of dominicans in the united states to the dominican community and non-dominicans alike. similar to immigrants from other countries who migrate to the united states, dominicans in the united states kept an eye on the politics “back home.” although las novedades shut operations in 1918—the final year of the first world war— dominicans continued to disseminate information pertinent to dominican politics. one of the most invigorating times for dominican publications took place during the 31-year dictatorship of rafael leonidas trujillo molina (1930–1961). anti-trujillo and pro-trujillo movements clashed with one another for four decades, yet one of the most interesting and understudied battles took place via the written word. pro-trujillo forces commissioned biographical sketches of the dictator with a boom in the ‘30s, and anti-communist books in the 1950s at the height of mccarthyism.9 the trujillato commissioned several biographies that painted the dominican leader as benevolent, a pious catholic, and staunch supporter of the united states (ariza, 1939; de besault, 1936; nanita, 1957; ortíz álvarez, 1937; and secretaría de educación pública y bellas artes, 1939).10 to combat trujillo’s propaganda, anti-trujillistas established rival associations and political parties that published bulletins, newspapers, magazines, books, and other publications as a means to disseminate trujillo’s abuses. in some instances, anti-trujillo forces, especially those who were exiled, produced press releases and a multitude of publications, distancing themselves from the communism of which trujillo accused them (santana, 2022). dominican exiles in the united states and abroad established journalistic networks to combat trujillo’s tentacles, which often reached the locations of trujillo’s enemies abroad: costa rica, guatemala, mexico, puerto rico, and spain, among several nations and territories. some of these entities and their publications include the asociación reivindicadora dominicana del exilio, founded in the 1940s, which established the boletín arde: asociación reivindicadora dominicana del exilio; the partido revolucionario dominicano, established in 1939, founded the newspaper quisqueya libre; and the committee for dominican democracy, established circa 1952, launched the publication the voice of the dominican republic. though not as aggressive as the exiles and political enemies of the trujillato and afterward those against balaguer’s regime, this activist spirit remains vibrant among today’s generation of dominicans, manifesting through the works of entities including remolacha.net, la galería magazine, and esendom. activism at its core esendom did not emerge as an activist entity. early on, esendom started as a news aggregation blog, similar to remolacha.net and the drudge report. but unlike remolacha, esendom covered live cultural events, photographing these occurrences with a nikon d300 digital single-lens reflex (dslr) camera. collaborating with john carrero, founder of salsamerengue.com and canal urbano, esendom found the means to create audiovisual recordings of events since esendom’s founders did not have a video camera. the first event covered by esendom’s team was a party by merengue típico artist, el prodigio, at baruch college on march 11, 2009, nearly two weeks 54 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 after esendom’s founding on february 27 (santana, 2009). cultural events documented by esendom throughout the years include festivals (the “dominican arts festival”), parades (dominican parade in paterson, new jersey), and conferences (2010 dominican studies association conference) ((espinal & santana, 2018; santana, 2010b; and santana, 2010). since its inception, esendom’s founders focused primarily on cultural aspects of dominican culture. with the addition of amaury rodríguez in the second half of 2009, esendom began to tackle more social and political issues. taking a leadership position on the editorial team, rodríguez’s involvement not only led to unique articles written by him, but during his tenure in esendom, he has also recruited thinkers who have contributed articles, literary works, and audiovisual content to esendom. some of these contributors include ecuadorian-born human rights activist, graphic designer, and artist residing in santo domingo, lorena espinoza peña; dominican-born writer and faculty living in argentina, daniel infante; and argentine-born artist and writer living in the dominican republic, graciela azcárate.11 since its first year, esendom has published pieces that analyze contemporary dominican society. over time, however, esendom began to immerse itself further into the political landscape, publishing editorial pieces, satire, and documenting social movements involving dominicans and the communities they inhabit. satirical pieces, for instance, typically focus on the president and political party in power, although satire is not exclusive to politics and members of the political party in office. nonetheless, esendom has served as a platform that reflects the concerns of the dominican population both internally and abroad. some of these topics covered by esendom include the arizona senate bill 1070 (rodríguez, 2010; santana, 2010a) and women’s march against president donald trump (santana, 2018a). the dominican republic—like most latin american nations and territories—is heavily influenced by u.s. politics, not only because of the strong marketing machinery of business entities like mcdonald’s or cultural influences through pop culture such as music, but also because of foreign intervention as in the case of the multiple u.s. interventions and foreign policy meddling ((crandall, 2006; grow, 2008; mcpherson, 2014; rodríguez, 2022; and roorda, 1998).12 from its first year in existence, esendom has documented mass mobilizations and other activist work aimed at disseminating information about the partido de la liberación dominicana (pld) and its vast network. except for a brief period between 2000 and 2004, the once promising (pld) turned right-wing political party governed the dominican republic for nearly two decades. amaury rodríguez notes: as payback to right-wing electoral support, the pld leadership have given right-wing politicians access to power including top positions in government agencies and embassies — and, most important of all, a platform that, over the years, revitalized right-wing ideology. (rodríguez, 2019, para.1) writers, photographers, artists, and political activists have contributed content that analyze, critique, and document the pld and their actions. in 2010, esendom was one of several nonstate-sponsored media outlets to report that journalist, marino zapete, accused the then chief of police of plotting an assassination attempt on the journalist, although this hunch by zapete never materialized (estrella, 2010). following journalists’ leads, esendom publishes pieces, including satire, that shed light on the corruption in which some members of the pld have engaged or been embroiled. 55 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 political humor is intrinsic to the dominican mediascape. historically, satire has been employed by writers and dissenters to denounce wrongs in society and speak truth to power. in the dominican case, targeting those in power has its risks, as there is a long authoritarian tradition that aims to silence any kind of political dissent. thus, satirists in the dominican community challenge the status quo through their razor-sharp critiques of the state of affairs. sections within esendom containing satire or other forms of creative expression include “los poderosos escriben,” “humor,” and “diarios secretos,” often taking aim at high ranking officials of the pld and conservative sectors of dominican society, including dominican presidents, leonel fernández and danilo medina; former first lady and vice-president, margarita cedeño; former cardinal and archbishop of santo domingo, nicolás lópez rodríguez; and politicians, max puig and jaime fernández mirabal, among many more. within certain circles, esendom has been lambasted for its harsh critique of political figures and has even been deemed a sensationalist medium, especially during its earlier years. a silver lining for this platform, however, has been the eventual confirmation that esendom’s collaborators were correct in their assessment of the dominican republic government’s corruption. over the years, esendom journalists have provided coverage of talking heads, both famous and non-famous, who have expressed their opinion on the state of dominican politics. in addition to esendom, established journalists, such as nuria piera and marino zapete, have provided coverage of the pld’s corrupt political machine. referencing pld senator félix bautista, in 2018, the u.s. department of the treasury communicated the following through a press release: these actions are part of our continuing campaign to hold accountable government officials and other actors involved in human rights abuse and corrupt activities. senator bautista used his position to engage in corruption, including profiting off of humanitarian efforts related to rebuilding haiti. (esendom, 2018; united states department of the treasury) bautista’s case mirrors that of several politicians. in a news report from 2010, reputable journalist, nuria piera, drew attention to bautista’s rags to riches personal story, noting that bautista, similar to many dominican politicians, transformed himself, having accumulated an abundance of wealth upon entering politics (myvideodellkilsy183, 2010; esendom, 2018a; and esendom, 2018c). prominent individuals are polled in the video, including lawyer, cándido simó, and television personality, domingo bautista, with nearly all of them confirming félix bautista’s appearance in a music video filmed in new york in the mid 1980s. “plátano maduro” (1984), a song popularized by “el varón” nelson cordero, led to a music video, which provides a snapshot of the dominican migrant experience in new york. one of these snapshots involves dominicans at a bodega, with cordero purchasing plátanos. the employee in the video responsible for charging the lead singer/customer bears a striking resemblance to félix bautista. bautista’s appearance in the video is the talking point in piera’s news story, with piera questioning bautista’s humble beginnings and pondering how he built wealth during his time as an elected official. at the time of the news report, bautista had a program on network television, which remains on the air. iluminando el camino features bautista and documents his “humanitarian” efforts, wherein he makes donations to economically challenged dominicans. donations vary and, in the past, have come in the form of a house or for defraying the cost of a medical operation. music artists and television personalities have played a critical role in dominican politics, with many enjoying political clout. following in the footsteps of previous dominican presidents before him, danilo medina (2012–2020) did his best to recruit three celebrities: santiago matías 56 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 “alofoke,” bolívar valera, and aquiles correa. although the three prospects were honored to be recruited and early on expressed their interest in becoming elected officials, word of the initiative quickly spread and several of these public figures backtracked due to criticism received from the public court (santana, 2019a). politics provides individuals with opportunities not available to those on the outside looking in. individuals, including music artists, raulín rodríguez, sergio vargas, héctor acosta “el torito,” and the late johnny ventura, are among several music artists who have held posts as elected officials. elected the first mayor of the town of santa maría, monte cristi, under the pld banner, rodríguez has been accused of using his political power to enrich his pockets. among the complaints raised against rodríguez by members of the frente amplio de lucha popular (falpo) are that rodríguez has stolen land from agricultural workers and impoverished constituents in his community, using the national police as personal bodyguards to intimidate members of his community (santana, 2018d). some socially conscious artists and musicians have run for office, condemning political corruption. one artist who regularly uses his voice to bring attention to corruption and injustice is affectionately known as el torito. in 2019, music legend and elected official, héctor acosta “el torito,” used social media platforms, urging fellow artists to denounce political corruption (espinal, 2019). not one to shy away from calling out elected officials, el torito’s social media post went viral, receiving praise from fellow musicians and non-musicians alike. one catalyst of marcha verde: a history of police repression in contrast to mainstream media in the dominican republic and the united states, esendom has taken an independent stance, disseminating news from a people’s perspective. this digital online project has evolved as a response to traditional practices within dominican media. a major movement esendom has covered since its inception in 2017 is the marcha verde movement (green march movement). for more than three years, the movement produced mass gatherings of people who were disillusioned with dominican politics. dominicans became weary of the 16year rule of the partido de la liberación dominicana (pld), which lasted from 2004 to 2020, but extends even further when one considers leonel fernández’s first presidential term (1996–2000). during the pld’s 20 years in power, only two men served as president: fernández (1996–2000, 2004-2012) and danilo medina (2012–2020). like other nations in latin america, the dominican constitution has seen several changes, revisions, or previous versions have been entirely replaced by a new constitution. although praised by scholars and journalists as a progressive president who had been “governing quite well” (castañeda, 2008, p. 133), the truth is that during fernández’s tenure as president, in 2010, the dominican republic enacted one of the world’s most conservative constitutions, reversing human rights in the dominican republic. article 37: right to life notes “the right to life is inviolable from conception until death. the death penalty may not be established, pronounced, nor applied in any case.” article 55: rights of the family stipulates that “it [the family] is formed by natural or legal ties, by the free decision of a man and a woman to enter into marriage or by the responsible willingness to conform to it.” articles 37 and 55, respectively, ban abortion and marriages that are not between parties that the state denotes as a man and a woman (dominican republic const., 2010 art. xxxviii; and dominican republic const., 2010 art. lv). fernández’s 12 years in power are sometimes paralleled with joaquín balaguer’s second presidential reign, which lasted 12 years (1966–1978). balaguer is a unique case in dominican history, as his presidencies spanned multiple decades: 1960–1962, 1966–1978, and 1986–1996. 57 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 balaguer’s first presidential term occurred during trujillo’s 31-year dictatorship (1930–1961). balaguer’s infamous 12-year reign came to be as a result of political turmoil due to trujillo’s ajusticiamento (assassination) in 1961, juan bosch’s ouster as president—february 1963 to september 1963—due to collusion among conservative dominicans and the united states who branded bosch a communist in 1963, and the dominican republic’s civil war of 1965. although milder, the balaguerato is at times viewed as a continuation of the trujillato, wherein those who opposed trujillo or balaguer’s governments, were often the recipients of severe punishment which included imprisonment, torture, or death. several opponents of the balaguerato, including journalists and intellectuals, disappeared while he held office. some of the disappeared include journalist, orlando martínez howley (1975), and university professor, narciso “narcisaso” gonzález (1994). even though a select group of scholars do not brand balaguer a killer, the majority agree that he was complicit in the deaths of political adversaries. as noted by emilio betances (2005), page 333 of balaguer’s memoirs is blank with a message stating that the contents of what balaguer wrote “will remain mute, but it will speak one day so its voice can be heard by history” (p. 45).13 police repression in the dominican republic is as active in the 21st century as it was during the 20th century. like police repression during the balaguerato, many instances of police violence have taken place since the arrival of the pld. per eyewitness accounts, juan almonte herrera disappeared after being taken into custody in santo domingo on september 28, 2009, during leonel’s third presidential term (amnesty international cz, 2012; metro, 2012).14 joining organizations like amnesty international and media outlets not sponsored by the state, esendom has joined the efforts of independent journalists aiming to disseminate news of people and groups who have suffered from police repression. one example is the case of ney. it is alleged that in 2015, artist nelson “ney” rafael díaz henríquez was viciously murdered by the national police. esendom’s journalists communicated with ney’s loved ones, resulting in english and spanish articles that aimed to spread awareness about ney’s death, a tragedy that has mostly been ignored by the media (santana, 2018b; santana, 2018c). mental health is still taboo in many circles. therefore, it is plausible that the taboo surrounding mental health in dominican society has played a role in the lack of coverage paid to ney’s death, as ney was naked when the police intercepted him on avenida 27 de febrero in santo domingo. marcha verde and (momentary) fall of the partido de la liberación dominicana esendom’s video, photographs, and interviews with activists document the marcha verde events both in the dominican republic and the united states that protest political corruption and police repression. this worldwide anti-corruption movement led to the eventual political defeat of the pld in the dominican republic’s presidential elections of 2020. how did we get here? on january 22, 2017, dominicans and allies took to the streets in the dominican republic and across the globe to voice their disdain for the dominican government’s history of repression, corruption, and impunity. tens of thousands of people—dressed in green as a symbol of hope— marched in santo domingo from avenida 27 de febrero and calle 30 de marzo to the parque de la independencia. participants walked, demanding transparency, that government authorities take action to curb corruption, and bring to justice those involved with repression and political corruption.15 using the party model theoretical framework developed by richard. s. katz and peter mair, social scientist jacqueline jiménez polanco branded the pld a “party cartel” due to the pld using state resources to maintain its position of power (jiménez polanco, 2016, katz & mair, 1995; and katz & mair 2002). a heterogenous movement, marcha verde participants include 58 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 workingand middle-class people, students, children, informal workers, people with disabilities, artists, feminists, lgbtqia communities, left-wing activists, religious groups, non-profit organizations, intellectuals, professionals, dominicans of haitian descent, migrants across the globe, celebrities, and people from all walks of life. this major, monumental march in santo domingo was replicated across the globe, with dominicans and allies spearheading similar protests in places with a significant and passionate population of dominicans like germany; spain; washington heights, new york; new jersey; and puerto rico. although the marcha verde movement alone did not result in the political defeat of the pld, it contributed to a watershed moment in dominican republic history: the temporary end of the pld with the election of luis abinader as president in 2020. documenting dominican activism on a transnational scale mobilizations against the political elite documenting the dominican community via literature and audiovisual content has been the essence of esendom since its founding. through written and visual lenses, esendom has captured mobilizations against government corruption, anti-femicide protests, and dominican-haitian solidarity, among notable activities within dominican activism. esendom is fueled, in part, by citizen journalism, as opposed to traditional media. social media platforms such as twitter, instagram, and facebook have led to an explosion of citizen photojournalism in service of social justice. taking full advantage of these tools, esendom has an account with the aforementioned social media platforms, incorporating posts into articles. youtube plays a crucial multi-part role in esendom, as this platform makes accessible videos produced by esendom and hosts them. furthermore, this style of capturing and documenting the dominican community allows esendom to provide a first-hand account of events that may not be available to scholars who typically analyze events “once the dust settles.” although sociologist emelio betances (2020) is correct in many of the assertions he makes about the marcha verde movement, his analysis is not completely accurate. betances (2020) is correct in writing that the political parties that supported the movement were only interested in weakening the pld. he is also partly correct in asserting that, thus far, the movement has failed to bring to justice those responsible for the odebrecht corruption scandal (betances, 2020).16 however, betances’ (2020) analysis notes the odebrecht scandal as the main catalyst of the movement, which is not completely accurate, since the odebrecht scandal—spanning multiple latin american nations and countries across the globe such as angola and mozambique—is one case in a line of noteworthy examples of corruption in the dominican republic. betances’ (2020) article focuses on the medina administration (2012–2020), disregarding the presidencies of hipólito mejía (2000–2004), where the odebrecht scandal can be traced, and leonel fernández’s last two presidential terms (2004– 2012). mobilizations in cities outside the dominican republic are also overlooked in the analysis provided by betances. complementing esendom’s rich audiovisual content, writers published articles that reported on the odebrecht scandal and several cases of corruption (esendom, 2017a; esendom, 2017b; esendom, 2018a; esendom, 2018b; esendom, 2018c). documenting the marcha verde movement and related protests, esendom’s team of journalists and photojournalists attended multiple events across the cities of santo domingo and santiago in the dominican republic, as well as new york city. some marcha verde and anti-corruption marches covered by esendom’s team include the july 16, 2017, march in washington heights, new york; marcha del millón in santo domingo on august 12, 2018; and marcha del cibao in 59 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 santiago on july 14, 2019 (esendom & espinoza peña, 2018a; santana, 2017a; santana, 2017b; santana, 2017c; and santana, 2019c). esendom’s archives includes videography of the marches as well as interviews with common people and public figures such as archeologist, ángel caba fuentes; mario fernández (president of the non-profit santiago somos todos); and journalist and writer, sara pérez (santana, 2017a; santana, 2017b; santana, 2017c). esendom made a connection between two monumental occurrences that took place in the summer of 2019: the resignation of puerto rico’s governor, ricky roselló, and danilo medina’s announcement in which he declared that he was no longer going to campaign for a third consecutive presidential term. a third consecutive presidential bid would have required modifications to the dominican constitution, as presidents can only serve two consecutive terms per the current iteration of the dominican constitution. although marcha verde’s focus and that of massive mobilizations in the dominican republic tend to hone in on santo domingo, the republic’s capital, santiago’s marcha del cibao on july 14 played a key role in medina’s decision. scholars like betances, as well as political elites and major media outlets in the dominican republic have called the efforts of marcha verde a failure, and yet there have been triumphs, as captured by esendom. as noted in the previous section, marcha verde is not a homogenous movement, as it also includes right-wing elites, political elites, and elected officials. betances (2020) notes that marcha verde’s call for president medina’s resignation divided its members, as some moderates felt the electoral process was the proper way to decide the fate of the next administration. this is a critical piece that has not received the attention and analysis it warrants, and, in fact, scholars of marcha verde have failed to connect the marcha del cibao with the occurrences of the ricky renuncia protests in puerto rico during the summer of 2019—a connection made by esendom upon medina’s admission that he would not seek reelection (santana, 2019c). esendom argued two points: 1) the resignation of governor roselló after massive protests by puerto ricans prompted medina to rethink his election bid. 2) the aforementioned resignation coupled with the activism of dominicans during the marcha del cibao, in which a unified heterogenous coalition demanded that medina not seek a third presidential term, led to the end of the pld’s consecutive 16-year rule in office. a year earlier, on the morning of august 13, 2018, government officials published pro-government advertisements on the front page of major print news outlets (e.g., hoy, listín diario, el día, and diario libre), highlighting the “positive” work being conducted by medina’s administration. the tactic aimed to blackout coverage of the previous day’s massive demonstrations, drawing hundreds of thousands of protestors (rodríguez & santana, 2018). not only did esendom provide an analysis, but it also shared images and social media posts from that sunday’s demonstrations as evidence to debunk lies pushed by the pld-led administration where they vehemently claimed that the previous day’s demonstrations were an utter failure. dominican blackness and dominican-haitian solidarity dominicans are often demonized and labeled anti-black by scholars and authors unfamiliar with dominican blackness. esendom, however, has engaged with several aspects of dominican blackness as well as the concept of anti-blackness. u.s. media and some u.s. authors such as scholar, henry louis gates, jr., and journalist, michele wucker, often depict dominicans as antiblack and anti-haitian. using a u.s.-centric view on blackness, these scholars and content producers resort to making broad generalizations that demonize dominicans and depict 60 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 dominican and haitian people as warring enemies, without providing a nuanced, balanced analysis of the relationship between haitians and dominicans. in her book, why the cocks fight, wucker (1999) provides her account of the history between haiti and the dominican republic, analyzing this history through the prism of cockfighting, noting “[t]he cockfight is not about the roosters. it is about the men. that is the essence of the symbol of hispaniola’s two countries, where cockfighting and life imitate each other” (p. 26). through her analogy, wucker (1999) relegates dominicans and haitians to animals—warring roosters, a common theme that colonialdominant classes often imposed upon people of color. wucker’s (1999) continuous use of papa doc and baby doc to reference former haitian presidential father-son strongmen, françois duvalier and jean-claude duvalier, is in fact, indicative of the lackadaisical respect that some thinkers have toward haitians and the overall caribbean population. wucker is a non-person of color and accomplished author, whereas gates is a black scholar with a distinguished career in the black diaspora. gates, however, lacks background expertise in dominican-haitian relations and dominican blackness, which comes across in his perspective on dominican race relations. in the first episode of his renowned documentary and book, black in latin america, gates (2011) explores the historical relationship between haiti and the dominican republic. soundbites and unfounded simplistic arguments prevail as, according to gates (2011), haitians embraced their blackness, as opposed to dominicans, who historically have done everything possible to negate their blackness by embracing european culture and eradicating the legacy of their african ancestors. one who watches the documentary or reads gates’s book (2011), also titled black in latin america, and is unfamiliar with dominican blackness, may easily believe that all dominicans are anti-haitian and anti-black, with no sense that dominican culture (religion, music, quotidian life, etc.) are all influenced by their african heritage. although there are individuals from outside a culture who have produced stupendous scholarship and nonscholarly work, including both gates (2011) and wucker (1999), the work as outlined here may at times lack the sensitivity needed to discuss the nuances of a culture that is new to them, leading to the dehumanization of dominicans while simultaneously promoting division among haitians and dominicans. at the same time, both gates (2011) and wucker (1999) erase the long history of solidarity on the island. one cannot deny that tensions exist among people who trace their ancestry to haiti and the dominican republic. yet, there also have been several instances of collaborations, as captured by esendom’s team. a closer look at the concrete reality facing ordinary people in the dominican republic runs counter to the idea that haitians and dominicans are engaged in a permanent conflict. one instance of dominican-haitian solidarity revolves around the tc/0168 ruling, viewed rightfully by many as an anti-haitian political tactic. on september 23, 2013, the constitutional tribunal of the dominican republic ruled that juliana pierre, born in the dominican republic to haitian migrants in 1984, was not a citizen of the nation because her parents were not in the country legally (hintzen, 2014; perdomo cordero, 2016; shipley, 2015; “stateless,” 2011). although many dominicans and most elected officials in the dominican republic supported this ruling, a large number of dominicans within the dominican republic and abroad vocalized their disdain for the ruling, participating in public acts of defiance that included protests and panels. through its photographic and video lenses, esendom documented several events that not only captured protests opposing the tc/0168 ruling, but dominican-haitian solidarity. in an event organized by anthony stevens-acevedo, a longtime educator and community activist of dominican descent, activists marched from 207th street and seamen avenue in inwood, manhattan, to the consulate general of the dominican republic in times square. organized 61 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 approximately two months after the tc/0168 ruling and taking place on november 16, 2013, the march’s purpose was twofold: 1) to bring attention to what many perceived to be a racist ruling targeting people of dominican and of haitian descent and 2) to deliver a letter opposing the dominican government’s tc/0168 ruling to an official dominican government entity. continuing with the momentum of this march, esendom documented the “(un)making a dominican” panel discussion held at the graduate center of the city university of new york on december 5, 2013. co-sponsored by we are all dominican (waad), the event drew a large crowd and featured several speakers including activist, rocio silverio (dominicanos por derecho); historian, dr. edward paulino (john jay college of criminal justice and border of lights); documentarian, miriam neptune (haitian women for haitian refugees); anthropologist, dr. samuel martinez (university of connecticut); lawyer, angela fernandez (northern manhattan immigrant rights coalition); and lawyer, nassef perdomo who resides in the dominican republic. nearly seven years later, esendom interviewed amarilys estrella, a leading member of we are all dominican (waad) (rodríguez & santana, 2020). when esendom first met estrella in 2013, she was a doctoral student at the graduate center of cuny; today, she holds a doctoral degree in sociocultural anthropology. in this interview, estrella discusses her recent article on denationalization and racist policies implemented by the dominican government that affect dominicans of haitian descent as well as the rising grassroots activism in dominican society. in addition to capturing moments of dominican-haitian solidarity as well as conducting interviews and writing about dominican-haitian relations, esendom’s team has mounted panels and workshops. editor, amaury rodríguez, organized the panel, “hispaniola in revolt: critical perspectives on haiti and santo domingo panel discussion.” panelists included france francois, mitch abidor, and virgilio oscar arán. panelists: looked at the current haitian political crisis and popular revolt; the haitian revolution, its emancipatory legacy of liberation and contradictions; the lessons of the 1946 and 1986 revolts in haiti; race and class in santo domingo; the 1965 dominican revolution as well as prospects for cross-border and international solidarity and revolution on the island and beyond. (esendom, 2020) mobilization against femicide and violence toward women more recent mobilizations documented by esendom’s team are protests and demonstrations that bring attention to violence against women. dominicans in the dominican republic and cities with large numbers of dominicans—such as new york—have spearheaded events that bring attention to femicide, and the overall acts of violence committed against the bodies of girls and women. dominican women and their experiences have paved the way for days of remembrance that bring attention to violence toward women. november 25th has been adopted as the international day for the elimination of violence against women. this date forces the world to remember the brutal assassination of the three mirabal sisters (patria, minerva, and maría teresa) whose lives were ended by trujillo’s forces on november 25, 1960.17 another tragic event occurred on september 26, 1999, when gladys ricart, a dominican woman from washington heights, was murdered by a former boyfriend. since september 26, 2001, activists have organized the annual gladys ricart and victims of domestic violence memorial walk/brides’ march to raise awareness about domestic abuse. following the tragic deaths of the mirabal sisters and ricart, dominicans across borders continue to raise awareness pertinent to domestic abuse, advocating for women’s rights. two events 62 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 documented by esendom include the international #niunamás movement on november 26, 2018, and marcha de las mariposas that took place on november 25, 2019, with both events commemorating international day for the elimination of violence against women in santo domingo (esendom & espinoza peña, 2018b; esendom & espinoza peña, 2019). during the #niunamás protests in 2018, activists demanded the legalization of abortion, as well as laws that punish femicides and guarantee social equality. images from both events are courtesy of dominican-ecuadorian activist, lorena espinoza peña, an esendom correspondent residing in the dominican republic. conclusion during the early years of esendom, some scholars scoffed at the project. a mentor of one of its founders once referred to esendom as “una porquería” (a piece of crap). internalizing the experience, this founding member disconnected from the project for several years, sporadically contributing content—a decision that led to a dormant period for this online cultural magazine. fast-forward to 2017, when esendom relaunched, and through 2022, many of esendom’s interviewees and featured content include scholars and academics. the aim of this article was threefold: 1) to provide a snapshot of transnational dominican activism through the lens of esendom’s writers, photojournalists, and videographers; 2) to argue that esendom, although not a formal repository, is an electronic resource that documents, preserves, and makes accessible content pertinent to the transnational dominican community, thus fulfilling a need that structured entities and more formal institutions may be unable to fulfill; and 3) to center 21st century dominican digital activist journalism as a significant tool to raise awareness about the abuses committed by the governments of trujillo and balaguer. while esendom can be viewed as an informal digital repository or an e-resource, the authors do not engage with the literature or best practices in the realm of digital repositories or related areas, such as digital preservation or web archiving. although esendom is documenting the transnational dominican community, its founders may want to strongly consider transforming the platform into a more formal digital repository to ensure the preservation of the community they are documenting. endnotes 1 https://esendom.com 2 https://remolacha.net/ 3 although not an exhaustive list, partners include archives nationales d'haïti, biblioteca nacional aruba, caribbean community (caricom) secretariat, caribbean studies association, florida international university (fiu), pontificia universidad católica madre y maestra (pucmm) in the dominican republic, university of the bahamas, and universidad de oriente in venezuela. 4 as per its website, “the latin america north east libraries consortium (lane) is formed by a group of academic and research libraries in the northeastern united states committed to building and maintaining latin american studies collections.” similarly, “lacli is a collective effort to create a warehouse of online free e-resources with latin american, caribbean, u.s. latinx, and iberian full content.” 63 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://esendom.com/ https://remolacha.net/ transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 5 although esendom is not a formal digital repository, one of its founders and current editors is a professionally trained librarian and archivist with more than 10 years of experience. 6 the cuny dominican studies institute was founded in 1992, its dominican library in 1994, and the dominican archives in 2002. 7 retiring from the cuny dsi in 2022, chief archivist, idilio gracia peña, served as commissioner of the new york city department of records and information services (doris), director of the new york city municipal archives, and project archivist for the center for puerto rican studies archives. although he made his mark in the archival world, he started his distinguished career as an information professional in the library while serving in the united states military. for more information about idilio gracia peña, see cuny dominican studies institute (n.d.). 8 cuny is also home to the haitian studies institute (hsi). similar to centro and cuny dsi when they were first established, hsi is in the early stages and does not yet have its own physical archives and library. 9 contrary to popular belief, initially, communists were allowed to organize in the dominican republic during the early years of the trujillato. as time progressed with john mccarthy leading a witch hunt against alleged communists in the united states, trujillo’s forces quickly mobilized to distance themselves from communism, going as far as branding political enemies communists. they also published several anti-communist books including the white book of communism in dominican republic (1951) published by the dominican republic ministry for home affairs and la democracia en función de exito; democracia al comunismo (lamarche henríquez, 1951). 10 some biographies were commissioned, others were written by personal friends or associates. 11 esendom has provided a platform for some of its regular writers. although esendom’s collaborators publish articles in multiple sections, some writers have their own sections within esendom: “diario de una tesis en proceso” includes writings by daniel infante, while graciela azcárate has reworked previously published essays, sharing these with esendom’s audience in the section titled “historia de vida.” 12 these are some of several works devoted to united states foreign policy and interventions across the world, particularly in latin america. 13 balaguer published multiple books, but the memoirs betances is referencing is balaguer, j. (1988). memorias de un cortesano de la era de trujillo. (2nd ed.). editoral corripio. 14 it could be the case that those who abducted herrera were criminals dressed in police garb with no connection to the national police. there is precedent of criminals passing as members of the national police. 15 there are multiple green movements across the globe. the original, non-related marcha verde that took place in 1975 is part of the decolonization struggle. this event involved a mass demonstration coordinated by the moroccan government in relation to a territory dispute with spain in the sahara region in africa. similarly, there is the marea verde movement in latin america—a feminist movement intertwined with reproductive rights activism that appeared in argentina in 2003. in addition to police repression, corruption, and impunity, dominicans who have participated in marcha verde have joined millions across latin america (and beyond) to protest the odebrecht scandal involving multiple latin american governments including those in argentina, colombia, the dominican republic, venezuela, and brazil—where the conglomerate is headquartered. for more information, see (rodríguez, 2017). 16 few members of the pld appear to have been brought to justice under the incoming administration of president luis abinader, who is a member of the partido revolucionario moderno (prm). one critique is that those arrested have been low-ranking politicians and their 64 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 allies. one ranking official, former attorney general jean alain rodríguez, however, was prevented from boarding a plane from the dominican republic to florida and was subsequently arrested. 17 in 1981, activists organized the first latin american and caribbean feminist encuentros conference in bogotá, colombia, where they subsequently marked november 25 as the day to raise awareness about violence against women. entities such as the united nations and the dominican republic government adopted november 25 to commemorate and bring awareness to international day for the elimination of violence against women. references amnesty international cz. (2012, november 27). juan almonte herrera, dominican republic [video]. youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq3lfggatgs aponte, s. (2022). la presencia dominicana en el periódico las novedades, 1876–1918: de breve mención a propietarios en la ciudad de nueva york [the dominican presence in the newspaper las novedades, 1876-1918: from brief mention to entrepreneurs in the city of new york]. biblioteca nacional pedro henríquez ureña; cuny dominican studies institute. ariza, s. (1939). trujillo: the man and his country. orlin tremaine co. balaguer, j. (1988). memorias de un cortesano de la “era de trujillo” (2nd ed.). editoral corripio. betances, e. (2005). joaquín balaguer and contemporary dominican politics and society. socialism and democracy, 19(1), 33–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/0885430042000338417 betances, e. (2020, september). the rise and fall of marcha verde in the dominican republic. latin american perspectives, 47(5), 20–34. https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582x20939100 castañeda, j. g. (2008, september–october). morning in latin america: the chance for a new beginning. foreign affairs, 87(5), 126–139. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20699309 crandall, r. (2006). gunboat democracy: u.s. interventions in the dominican republic, grenada, and panama. rowman & littlefield publishers. cuny dominican studies institute. (n.d.). idilio gracia peña. https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/dsi/idilio-gracia-pena. de besault, l. (1936). president trujillo: his work and the dominican republic (2nd ed.). washington publishing company. digital library of the caribbean (n.d.). about dloc. https://www.dloc.com/overview. dominican republic const., 2010 art. xxxviii 65 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq3lfggatgs https://doi.org/10.1080/0885430042000338417 https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582x20939100 https://www.jstor.org/stable/20699309 https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/dsi/idilio-gracia-pena https://www.dloc.com/overview transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 dominican republic const., 2010 art. lv dominican republic ministry for home affairs. (1951). white book of communism in dominican republic. gráficas rey. esendom. (n.d.). misión [mission]. https://esendom.com/misin esendom. (2017a, july 19). cobertura internacional #marchaverde [international coverage #greenmarch]. https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2017/7/19/cobertura-internacionalspan-stylecolorgreenmarchaverdespan esendom. (2017b, september 25). este video detalla la financiación ilegal de la campaña electoral de danilo medina por parte de odebrecht [this video details the illegal financing of the electoral campaign of danilo medina via odebrecht]. https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2017/9/25/video-detalla-la-financiacin-ilegal-de-lacampaa-electoral-de-danilo-medina-por-parte-de-odebrecht esendom. (2018a, june 13). u.s. finally acknowledges what dominicans have been saying: félix bautista is corrupt. https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2018/6/13/us-finallyacknowledge-what-dominicans-have-been-saying-flix-bautista-is-corrupt esendom. (2018b, june 13). odebrecht scandal in the dominican republic refuses to go away. https://esendom.com/notis/2018/6/13/odebrecht-scandal-in-the-dominican-republicrefuses-to-go-away esendom. (2018c, june 14). por fin, estados unidos reconoce lo que los dominicanos han estado diciendo: félix bautista es un corrupto [finally, the united states acknowledges what dominicans have been saying: félix bautista is corrupt]. https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2018/6/14/por-fin-estados-unidos-reconoce-lo-quelos-dominicanos-han-estado-diciendo-flix-bautista-es-un-corrupto esendom. (2020, january 30, 2020). hispaniola in revolt: critical perspectives on haiti and santo domingo panel discussion. https://esendom.com/cultura/2020/1/30/hispaniolain-revolt-critical-perspectives-on-haiti-and-santo-domingo-panel-discussion esendom, & espinoza peña, l. (2018a, august 13). imágenes de la marcha del millón en república dominicana [images from the march of the million in dominican republic]. https://esendom.com/notis/2018/8/12/imagenes-de-la-marcha-del-milln-en-repblicadominicana esendom, & espinoza peña, l. (2018b, november 26). imágenes de la marcha en contra de la violencia machista en r. dominicana. https://esendom.com/notis/2018/11/26/imgenes-de-la-marcha-en-contra-de-laviolencia-machista-en-r-dominicana esendom, & espinoza peña. l. (2019, november 25). imágenes de la marcha de las mariposas en contra de la violencia machista [images from the butterflies march opposing gender violence]. https://esendom.com/notis/2019/11/25/imagenes-de-la-marcha-de-lasmariposas-en-contra-de-la-violencia-machista 66 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://esendom.com/misin https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2017/7/19/cobertura-internacional-span-stylecolorgreenmarchaverdespan https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2017/7/19/cobertura-internacional-span-stylecolorgreenmarchaverdespan https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2017/9/25/video-detalla-la-financiacin-ilegal-de-la-campaa-electoral-de-danilo-medina-por-parte-de-odebrecht https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2017/9/25/video-detalla-la-financiacin-ilegal-de-la-campaa-electoral-de-danilo-medina-por-parte-de-odebrecht https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2018/6/13/us-finally-acknowledge-what-dominicans-have-been-saying-flix-bautista-is-corrupt https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2018/6/13/us-finally-acknowledge-what-dominicans-have-been-saying-flix-bautista-is-corrupt https://esendom.com/notis/2018/6/13/odebrecht-scandal-in-the-dominican-republic-refuses-to-go-away https://esendom.com/notis/2018/6/13/odebrecht-scandal-in-the-dominican-republic-refuses-to-go-away https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2018/6/14/por-fin-estados-unidos-reconoce-lo-que-los-dominicanos-han-estado-diciendo-flix-bautista-es-un-corrupto https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2018/6/14/por-fin-estados-unidos-reconoce-lo-que-los-dominicanos-han-estado-diciendo-flix-bautista-es-un-corrupto https://esendom.com/cultura/2020/1/30/hispaniola-in-revolt-critical-perspectives-on-haiti-and-santo-domingo-panel-discussion https://esendom.com/cultura/2020/1/30/hispaniola-in-revolt-critical-perspectives-on-haiti-and-santo-domingo-panel-discussion https://esendom.com/notis/2018/8/12/imagenes-de-la-marcha-del-milln-en-repblica-dominicana https://esendom.com/notis/2018/8/12/imagenes-de-la-marcha-del-milln-en-repblica-dominicana https://esendom.com/notis/2018/11/26/imgenes-de-la-marcha-en-contra-de-la-violencia-machista-en-r-dominicana https://esendom.com/notis/2018/11/26/imgenes-de-la-marcha-en-contra-de-la-violencia-machista-en-r-dominicana https://esendom.com/notis/2019/11/25/imagenes-de-la-marcha-de-las-mariposas-en-contra-de-la-violencia-machista https://esendom.com/notis/2019/11/25/imagenes-de-la-marcha-de-las-mariposas-en-contra-de-la-violencia-machista transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 espinal, e. (2011, may 30). crítica: «la luz de un cigarrillo» relumbra en las noches de nueva york [“ashes of light” gleams in new york nights]. esendom. https://esendom.com/obras-y-el-cine/2016/11/19/crtica-la-luz-de-un-cigarrillorelumbra-en-las-noches-de-nueva-york espinal, e. (2019, august 12). el torito incita a otros artistas a expresar solidaridad en contra de la corrupción [el torito encourages other artists to express solidarity against corruption]. esendom. https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2019/8/12/el-torito-incitaa-otros-artistas-a-expresar-solidaridad-en-contra-de-la-corrupcin espinal, e. (2022, march 22). marco antonio rodríguez florece de nuevo con nueva obra de teatro titulada «bloom» que debutará en el iati [marco antonio rodríguez blossoms again with a new play entitled “bloom” that will debut in iati]. esendom. https://esendom.com/arte/2022/3/21/marco-antonio-rodrguez-florece-de-nuevo-connueva-obra-de-teatro-titulada-bloom-que-debutar-en-el-iati espinal, e., & santana, n. (2018, september 11). robert liriano le da toque vip al desfile dominicano de paterson. [robert liriano gives vip touch to the dominican parade of paterson]. esendom. https://esendom.com/cultura/2018/9/11/roberto-liriano-le-datoque-vip-al-desfile-dominicano-de-paterson?rq=desfile estrella, j. e. (2010, june 17). periodista dominicano marino zapete acusa al jefe de la policía de planificar su asesinato [dominican journalist marino zapete accuses police chief of planning his murder]. esendom. https://esendom.com/poltica/2016/11/19/periodistadominicano-marino-zapete-acusa-al-jefe-de-la-polica-de-planificar-su-asesinato gates, h. l., jr. (director). (2011). black in latin america [film]. pbs distribution. gates, h. l., jr. (2011). black in latin america. new york university press. grow, m. (2008). u.s. presidents and latin american interventions: pursuing regime change in the cold war. university press of kansas. ¡henrry! (2020, may 20). entrevista a remo del orbe creador de remolacha.net [video]. youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czflorgrfc8&t=80s hernández, r. (2012). the dominican american family. in r. wright, jr., c. h. mindel, t. van tran, r. w. habenstein (eds.), ethnic families in america: patterns and variations (5th ed., pp. 148–173). pearson. hintzen, a. (2014, spring). historical forgetting and the dominican constitutional tribunal. journal of haitian studies, 20(1), 108–116. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhs.2014.0003 jiménez polanco, j. 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(2020, september 9). muertes civiles in dominican republic— interview with amarilys estrella. esendom. https://esendom.com/interviews/2020/9/9/muertes-civiles-in-dominicanrepublicinterview-with-amarilys-estrella roorda, e. p. (1998). the dictator next door: the good neighbor policy and the trujillo regime in the dominican republic, 1930–1945. duke university press. salalm. (n.d.-a). lacli (latin american, caribbean, u.s. latinx, and iberian online free e resources). https://salalm.org/lane/lacli/ salalm. (n.d.-b). lane (latin america north east libraries). https://salalm.org/lane salalm. (n.d.-c). mission, organization, activities, and documents. https://salalm.org/mission santana, n., espinal, e., & rodríguez, a. (2017). dossier on women in translation. esendom. https://esendom.com/women-in-translation/2018/2/14/dossier-on-women-intranslation santana, n. (2009, march 11). el prodigio estremece a baruch college [el prodigio thrills baruch college]. esendom. https://esendom.com/new-blog-4/2016/11/6/el-prodigioestremece-a-baruch-college santana, n. (2010a, may 18). concejal ydanis rodríguez es arrestado por defender derechos de inmigrantes [councilman ydanis rodríguez is arrested for defending the rights of immigrants]. esendom. https://esendom.com/poltica/2016/11/19/concejal-ydanisrodrguez-es-arrestado-por-defender-derechos-de-inmigrantes santana, n. (2010b, may 19). analyzing the dominican diaspora: memory, culture and geography. esendom. https://esendom.com/english/2016/11/20/analyzing-thedominican-diaspora-memory-culture-and-geography 69 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://nacla.org/news/2017/06/19/%e2%80%9cgreen-tide%e2%80%9d-engulfs-dr https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/5359-we-decided-that-we-would-burn-our-draft-cards-interview-with-mike-davis https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/5359-we-decided-that-we-would-burn-our-draft-cards-interview-with-mike-davis https://jacobin.com/2019/12/dominican-republic-haiti-pld-juan-bosch-trujillo https://jacobin.com/2019/12/dominican-republic-haiti-pld-juan-bosch-trujillo https://esendom.com/notis/2018/8/16/dominican-republic-a-government-media-blackout-gets-a-black-eye-from-marcha-verde-dominican-day-parade-coverage?rq=media%20blackout https://esendom.com/notis/2018/8/16/dominican-republic-a-government-media-blackout-gets-a-black-eye-from-marcha-verde-dominican-day-parade-coverage?rq=media%20blackout https://esendom.com/notis/2018/8/16/dominican-republic-a-government-media-blackout-gets-a-black-eye-from-marcha-verde-dominican-day-parade-coverage?rq=media%20blackout https://esendom.com/interviews/2020/9/9/muertes-civiles-in-dominican-republicinterview-with-amarilys-estrella https://esendom.com/interviews/2020/9/9/muertes-civiles-in-dominican-republicinterview-with-amarilys-estrella https://salalm.org/lane/lacli/ https://salalm.org/lane https://salalm.org/mission https://esendom.com/women-in-translation/2018/2/14/dossier-on-women-in-translation https://esendom.com/women-in-translation/2018/2/14/dossier-on-women-in-translation https://esendom.com/new-blog-4/2016/11/6/el-prodigio-estremece-a-baruch-college https://esendom.com/new-blog-4/2016/11/6/el-prodigio-estremece-a-baruch-college https://esendom.com/poltica/2016/11/19/concejal-ydanis-rodrguez-es-arrestado-por-defender-derechos-de-inmigrantes https://esendom.com/poltica/2016/11/19/concejal-ydanis-rodrguez-es-arrestado-por-defender-derechos-de-inmigrantes https://esendom.com/english/2016/11/20/analyzing-the-dominican-diaspora-memory-culture-and-geography https://esendom.com/english/2016/11/20/analyzing-the-dominican-diaspora-memory-culture-and-geography transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 santana, n. (2010c, june 29). dominican culture in the lower east side. esendom. https://esendom.com/english/2016/11/20/dominican-culture-in-the-lower-east-side santana, n. (2013, october 22). too dominican for a magazine? flow journal, 18(9). https://www.flowjournal.org/2013/10/too-dominican-for-a-magazine-nelson-santanacuny-dominican-studies-institute/ santana, n. (2017, july 17a). marcha verde – ángel caba fuentes – 16 de julio 2017 [green march – ángel caba fuentes – july, 16 2017]. esendom [video]. youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oycbnxvorhu santana, n. (2017, july 17b). marcha verde: washington heights se viste de verde y le dice no a la impunidad [green march: washington heights wears green and says no to impunity]. esendom. https://esendom.com/cultura/2017/7/17/esendom-washingtonheights-se-viste-de-verde-y-le-dice-no-a-la-impunidad santana, n. (2017c, july 26). washington heights joins dominican republic in solidarity against impunity while covered in green. esendom. https://esendom.com/new-blog2/2017/7/25/washington-heights-joins-dominican-republic-in-impunity-solidaritycovered-in-green santana, n. (2018a, january 21). women’s march manifests into anti-trump call for action in new york. esendom. https://esendom.com/notis/2018/1/21/womens-marchmanifests-into-anti-trump-call-for-action-in-new-york santana, n. (2018b, october 23). #justicia para ney; su crimen todavía está impune [#justice for ney; his murder is still unsolved]. esendom. https://esendom.com/cultura/2018/10/22/ney santana, n. (2018c, october 29). #justice for ney; an unresolved crime. esendom. https://esendom.com/cultura/2018/10/29/justice-for-ney-an-unsolved-crime santana, n. (2018d, september 10). bachatero raulín rodríguez subverts the law & jails enemies; steals lands. https://esendom.com/notis/2018/9/10/bachatero-raulnrodrguez-subverts-the-law-jails-enemies-steals-lands santana, n. (2019a, july 9). danilo medina recluta tres estrellas: alofoke, bolívar valera, y aquiles correa [danilo medina recruits three stars: alofoke, bolívar valera, and aquiles correa]. esendom. https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2019/7/8/alofoke-bolvar-ycorrea-tres-gatos-del-pld-que-anhelan-la-teta santana, n. (2019b, july 25). marcha del cibao: pueblo dominicano sale a la calle en santiago [green march of the cibao: the dominican people take to the streets in santiago]. esendom. https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2019/7/18/marcha-del-cibao-pueblodominicano-sale-a-la-calle-en-santiago santana, n. (2019c, september 18). marcha del cibao stops danilo medina’s presidential bid. esendom. https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2019/7/18/marcha-del-cibao-pueblodominicano-sale-a-la-calle-en-santiago-fzegs 70 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://esendom.com/english/2016/11/20/dominican-culture-in-the-lower-east-side https://www.flowjournal.org/2013/10/too-dominican-for-a-magazine-nelson-santana-cuny-dominican-studies-institute/ https://www.flowjournal.org/2013/10/too-dominican-for-a-magazine-nelson-santana-cuny-dominican-studies-institute/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oycbnxvorhu https://esendom.com/cultura/2017/7/17/esendom-washington-heights-se-viste-de-verde-y-le-dice-no-a-la-impunidad https://esendom.com/cultura/2017/7/17/esendom-washington-heights-se-viste-de-verde-y-le-dice-no-a-la-impunidad https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2017/7/25/washington-heights-joins-dominican-republic-in-impunity-solidarity-covered-in-green https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2017/7/25/washington-heights-joins-dominican-republic-in-impunity-solidarity-covered-in-green https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2017/7/25/washington-heights-joins-dominican-republic-in-impunity-solidarity-covered-in-green https://esendom.com/notis/2018/1/21/womens-march-manifests-into-anti-trump-call-for-action-in-new-york https://esendom.com/notis/2018/1/21/womens-march-manifests-into-anti-trump-call-for-action-in-new-york https://esendom.com/cultura/2018/10/22/ney https://esendom.com/cultura/2018/10/29/justice-for-ney-an-unsolved-crime https://esendom.com/notis/2018/9/10/bachatero-rauln-rodrguez-subverts-the-law-jails-enemies-steals-lands https://esendom.com/notis/2018/9/10/bachatero-rauln-rodrguez-subverts-the-law-jails-enemies-steals-lands https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2019/7/8/alofoke-bolvar-y-correa-tres-gatos-del-pld-que-anhelan-la-teta https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2019/7/8/alofoke-bolvar-y-correa-tres-gatos-del-pld-que-anhelan-la-teta https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2019/7/18/marcha-del-cibao-pueblo-dominicano-sale-a-la-calle-en-santiago https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2019/7/18/marcha-del-cibao-pueblo-dominicano-sale-a-la-calle-en-santiago https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2019/7/18/marcha-del-cibao-pueblo-dominicano-sale-a-la-calle-en-santiago-fzegs https://esendom.com/new-blog-2/2019/7/18/marcha-del-cibao-pueblo-dominicano-sale-a-la-calle-en-santiago-fzegs transnational dominican activism: documenting grassroots social movements through esendom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38944 santana, n. (2022). the tancredo martínez assassination attempt: frances grant and communistic discourses. estudios sociales, 54(44), 191–200. https://estudiossociales.bono.edu.do/index.php/es/article/view/1043/1000 shipley, k. (2015, fall). stateless: dominican-born grandchildren of haitian undocumented immigrants in the dominican republic. transnational law & contemporary problems, 24(2), 459–487. stateless; the dominican republic. (2011, december 31). the economist, 24(us). https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2011/12/31/stateless stevens-acevedo, a., weterings, t, & álvarez francés, l. (2013). juan rodríguez and the beginnings of new york city. cuny dominican studies institute. trujillo, primer maestro de la república. (1939). secretaría de educación pública y bellas artes. united states department of the treasury. (2018, june 12). treasury sanctions two individuals and five entities under global magnitsky. https://home.treasury.gov/news/pressreleases/sm0411 williams, g.a., & krentz, j. l. (eds.). (2019). latin american collection concepts: essays on libraries, collaborations and new approaches. mcfarland & company, inc. wucker, m. (1999). why the cocks fight: dominicans, haitians, and the struggle for hispaniola. hill and wang. nelson santana (nelson.santana02@bcc.cuny.edu) is an information professional and scholar of dominican, caribbean, and latinx studies. at present time he is deputy chief and collection development librarian at bronx community college of the city university of new york. nelson’s research interests focus on the lived experiences of dominican migrants in the united states; the role of libraries and archives in underserved communities; and cultural production that looks at the links between social movements and music in the caribbean. his scholarship has been published in journals, edited volumes, and online peer-reviewed forums including estudios sociales; latinx talk; dictionary of caribbean and afro-latin american biography (2016) edited by henry louis gates, jr. and franklin w. knight; and latin american collection concepts: essays on libraries, collaborations and new approaches (2019) edited by gayle ann williams and jana lee krentz. nelson is also the recipient of several fellowships, grants, and awards. amaury rodriguez (amaury.rodriguez@esendom.com) is a digital archivist and translator originally from the dominican republic. he is co-editor with raj chetty of dominican black studies (2015), a special issue of the black scholar journal. emmanuel espinal (emmanuel.espinal@esendom.com) co-founded esendom in 2009. he has a bachelor of business administration in accounting from the city university of new york baruch college and a continuing studies paralegal degree from new york university. he is american by virtue of being dominican. he is a photographer, student of life, and writer. 71 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://estudiossociales.bono.edu.do/index.php/es/article/view/1043/1000 https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2011/12/31/stateless https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm0411 https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm0411 mailto:nelson.santana02@bcc.cuny.edu mailto:amaury.rodriguez@esendom.com mailto:emmanuel.espinal@esendom.com introduction digitally documenting latinx and latin american-focused communities esencia dominicana (esendom) documenting, preserving, and making accessible dominican activism tracing the origins of documenting the u.s. dominican community print to digital parallels between esendom and anti-trujillo publications activism at its core one catalyst of marcha verde: a history of police repression marcha verde and (momentary) fall of the partido de la liberación dominicana documenting dominican activism on a transnational scale mobilizations against the political elite dominican blackness and dominican-haitian solidarity mobilization against femicide and violence toward women conclusion endnotes references facts, truth, and post-truth: access to cognitively and socially just information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33678 facts, truth, and post-truth: access to cognitively and socially just information rachel fischer, university of pretoria, south africa erin klazar, university of pretoria, south africa abstract this article addresses facts, truth, post-truth, and the impact on access to cognitively and socially just information. it is predominantly situated within the post-truth context where information is manipulated to such an extent that it becomes disinformation, disguised as truth. the article consists of four main sections: the first section will provide an introduction and overview of key concepts intrinsic to understanding the concerns at hand. the next section is a case study of the role the pr firm, bell pottinger, played in south africa and iraq and the cognitive and social injustices visible in the corresponding events. the selection of these countries provides an opportunity to demonstrate the effect of post-truth and whistleblowing in relation to the challenges experienced in the global south. the third section, on cambridge analytica and digitality, is a discussion of the infamous cambridge analytica and its interferences in political campaigns in trinidad and tobago and the u.s. these discussions lead to the final section as an antidote to post-truth influences, which reflects on the way forward. this section makes recommendations for south african and international initiatives based on unesco’s intergovernmental programme known as the information for all programme (ifap). keywords: cognitive justice; disinformation; fake news; post-truth era/politics; social justice publication type: research article introduction his article will focus on the role of information in the fairness with which economic, political, and social benefits and burdens are distributed in society. it is predominantly situated within a post-truth context where information is manipulated to such an extent that it becomes disinformation, or a kind of ‘fake news’, disguised as truth. this has particularly been seen in the south african political discourse over the past few years where political ideology, mainstream media, and social discourse do not always appear to be aligned to benefit society, but rather adheres to the interests of a select group of individuals abusing positions of power who manipulate the narrative of the society to further self-interest. considering this, this article will predominantly focus on two case studies: the actions of bell pottinger in south africa and the global impact of cambridge analytica’s actions in promoting disinformation. both case studies were made public through the actions of whistle-blowers. whistleblowing is proposed as one antidote to the challenges exposed in the case studies, where involved parties expose the truth amongst the manipulation of media and facts. margaret mead said one should “never doubt t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi facts, truth, and post-truth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33678 that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has”. (mead, n.d.). whistleblowers are essentially those individuals, who expose potentially corrupt behaviour, which could result in them risking retaliation by, or exclusion from, the organisation. going forward, the discussion will therefore address the importance of access to transparent and quality information, the impact of post-truth era disinformation and the role of whistle-blowers in combatting the effects thereof. furthermore, a matrix is provided of unesco’s information for all programme (ifap) as a means to address the economic, political and social challenges brought about by the spread of disinformation. background in order to understand the informational ethical concerns surrounding the post-truth era, key concepts intrinsic to understanding the concerns at hand need to be discussed. concepts to be covered include disinformation and post-truth. disinformation is false information spread with harmful intent towards a person, social group, or country (ireton & posetti, 2018). post-truth is a term to describe a situation where facts are ignored and considered less important than personal beliefs and where emotional appeals are used to influence public opinion, resulting in us living in a post-truth era, which is “an era in which audiences are more likely to believe information that appeals to emotions or existing personal beliefs, as opposed to seeking and readily accepting information regarded as factual or objective” (cooke, 2017, p. 212). together with the notions of disinformation and post-truth, the main themes of this article are cognitive and social justice. cognitive justice is not just tolerance towards alterity, also understood as difference, in knowledge representation, but also active endeavours towards inter and intracultural dialogues and recognition of diversity. it is realised through “open and flexible designs that do justice to different ways of knowing and being” (van der velden, 2009, p. 38). boaventura de sousa santos argues in similar lines; that the empowerment of the global south can be achieved once we recognise a plurality of knowledges and situate our “epistemological perspective” within the global south, contra western/eurocentric ways of doing and being (de sousa santos, 2007, p. 66). the notion of the ‘south’ is employed to question the dominance of the “eurocentric foundation of […] knowledge production and circulation” which could potentially marginalise or delegitimise indigenous knowledge from the geopolitical ‘southern’ or ‘third world’ (zembylas, 2017, p. 399). consider, for example, the increased deference in discourse that is accorded to individualised value systems or clinical medical science that is valued by the ‘north’ or ‘first world’, as opposed to communal values or more traditional naturopathic medicine often valued in the ‘south’. social justice, as an equally important concept, is the fair and equitable access to and use of information. it also recognises one's right to quality information and one's ability to contribute to the knowledge society (britz, 2006). in terms of intercultural exchanges, one cannot assume that value systems are the same globally. though there may be similarities, there certainly are marked differences too. this notion is supported by capurro and britz when they write “in search of a code of global information ethics: the road travelled and new horizons”, that the values and principles contained with the universal declaration of human rights (udhr) may be interpreted differently by various cultural frameworks (2010). they continue that there may indeed be common terms and common grounds for sharing these values and principles, but that issues such as “solidarity, social justice or indigenous knowledge” are of more importance in “some regions of the world” compared to others (capurro & britz, 2010, p. 33). 6 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index facts, truth, and post-truth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33678 therefore, a cognitively and socially just society is one that allows for diverse discourse resulting from equitable access to information and a broader understanding outside of an individual’s personal belief system. staying only within one’s personal belief system will make one vulnerable to being misled in a post-truth era. we would therefore go one step further, and suggest that for cognitive justice to be realised, even though different forms of knowledge ought to be considered valid and deserving of representation, it must be created, distributed, and consumed responsibly. together with this cognizance of cultural situatedness, which in turn influences the research approach, will promote awareness of a difference in representation. for instance, replication, verification, falsifiability, and so on, are considered to be intrinsic to a (western) research method, ensuring value-free results (coleman & dionisio, 2009). but what if one were to place political values and morals at the centre of the research project, avoid structured theoretical frameworks, implement multi-method research approaches, and include a plurality of or rival and alternative knowledges (coleman & dionisio, 2009). a balance must be struck between the safe and responsible use of information and potential epistemicide, where the validity of cultural knowledge and dialogue is being undermined in the search of a unified theory (zembylas, 2017). the death of knowledge through the manipulation of information, ultimately prevents citizens from enjoying the rights outlined in the definition of social justice. in this instance it becomes clear why this is a concern related to access to information. if the public are given access to fake information or news, or their access is manipulated, the cultural discourse of a society will be fundamentally changed. this is an act of cognitive and social injustice. in south africa, the case study involving bell pottinger and the role they played in state capture, has stood out as a particular reference to media manipulation as part of post-truth political discourse and the social injustices visible in the corresponding events. media manipulation is a manifestation of coerciveness by means of information and communication technologies (icts) and social media, employed by media, politicians, and people in positions of power, to influence one’s awareness of the self and the world (siwak, 2018). due to our various digital activities and ‘presences’, one becomes more susceptible to online or digital influences. this is particularly the case when one’s digital activities are used by organisations to create a digital profile or identity. as seen in cases such as cambridge analytica, which is discussed later in the article, these profiles are used to ‘push’ tailored information that echoes one’s personal belief system, thereby making one vulnerable to post-truth disinformation. therefore, we are not only having real life embodiment, experiences, and influences, but also digital embodiment, experiences, and influences, known as ‘digitality’. this digitality is therefore the expression of oneself in the digital space, together with the creation of related values and relationships which are only made manifest online. siwak refers to the coercive effects of this digitality on “personal relations and desires” (siwak, 2018) in the offline, non-digital world. a similar coerciveness can be observed in the south african instance of state capture, brought to light by the #guptaleaks. state capture and the gupta leaks the concept of state capture was first identified by hellman, et. al (2000) during a 1999 survey on behalf of the world bank and european bank for reconstruction and development. they defined it as “the efforts of firms to shape the underlying rules of the game (i.e. legislation, laws, rules and decrees) through private payments to public officials” (hellman, et.al, 2000, summary findings). in south africa, this term is used to describe the tactics of a complex web of key individuals or ‘oligarchs’ to take advantage of government tenders, a culture of corruption, and the weakening of legislation and law enforcement agencies to maintain dominance of a market. in south africa, these tactics were predominantly effectuated by the gupta family 7 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index facts, truth, and post-truth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33678 through their relationship with former south african president jacob zuma, as well as a network of informally constituted elites amongst the public and private sector (public affairs research institute, 2017). this network worked over many years to manipulate the appointments of specific individuals into power positions in government departments and state owned companies to assist in advancing business interests of the gupta family and their associates. this was done by redirecting high value contracts and tenders to enrich individuals and organisations in the network. the network also acted to ensure that accountability mechanisms, which prevent illegal and unethical associated practices, were not in place, thereby effectively crippling safeguards which ought to have ensured corporate governance. the gupta family received some media attention before 2013, mainly due to their apparent relationship with former president jacob zuma. however, in mid-2013, a spotlight was shone on the family and their political and societal influence. they landed a private plane, carrying guests for a family wedding in sun city, at a military airbase in the capital city of pretoria. it is against the law for private citizens to make use of a military airbase for personal reasons. this seemed to be a turning point for the family, with the media and civil society scrutinising what appeared to be more than just a casual relationship with the president. in mid-2017, two whistle-blowers, with the assistance of investigative journalists, released a cache of emails known now as the #guptaleaks. the emails appeared to have come from a computer or server inside sahara computers (pty) ltd, a gupta-owned company. amongst a number of revelations of corruption and political influence, the emails also revealed that around 2016, the gupta family, through their company oakbay capital (pty) ltd, hired public relations (pr) company bell pottinger based in the united kingdom (uk) to start a campaign using fake news, disinformation, and other propaganda (public affairs research institute, 2017; segal, 2018). this campaign saw the development of the white monopoly capital narrative, placing blame on economic apartheid for the social inequalities in south africa and twisting the meaning of radical economic transformation, all with the purpose of distracting the public away from the activities related to the state capture related corruption (public affairs research institute, 2017). the campaign developed by bell pottinger was part of a multi-pronged approach by the gupta family to redirect public discourse away from their actions, using social media, fake websites, and their own media houses: the new age, a printed newspaper, and ann7, a national television news channel (finlay, 2017). armed with thousands of twitter “guptabots” and other fake social media sites, they began a campaign now known now as race-baiting, specifically aimed at further inciting racial tensions in south africa. the south african social media environment became contaminated with disinformation influencing public and cultural discourse in south africa. external campaigns also managed by bell pottinger, and paid for by the guptas, included black first land first (blf), a revolutionary socialist political movement that drove the same rhetoric and confronted, both online and physically, any journalists that spoke out against the guptas or their business partners. an example of such an attack is when peter bruce, former business day and financial mail editor, was attacked outside of his home by members of the blf, telling him to “go back to europe” and wanting to occupy his home. he had written a number of opinion pieces about the gupta family (goba, 2017). karima brown, a seasoned investigative journalist, was also assaulted by blf supporters at the demonstration outside the home of peter bruce (magwedze & kubheka, 2017). in a country with such a young democracy, still struggling with economic imbalances, press freedom, and cognitive and social justice issues, this campaign had far reaching effects on south africa’s progress. 8 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index facts, truth, and post-truth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33678 the bell pottinger story has demonstrated how an organisation, regulated in their own country, can cause havoc and a breakdown in cognitive and social justice in another country (with little to no personal or professional consequence), if it had not been for the whistle-blowers that released the #guptaleaks. bell pottinger are by no means the only strategists employing disinformation and fake news to fulfil a questionable contract. according to chutel et al (2017), major public relations agencies have historically not shied away from controversial contracts, especially given the lucrative retainers they offer. it would be unfair, however, to paint pr companies as the villains of the information age. in both the us and the uk, where the industry leaders are headquartered, the pr community has a clear set of ethical guidelines against which to measure the actions of agencies, as the public relations and communications association did when it expelled bell pottinger. (2017) however, bell pottinger, working in another country, seemed to have forgotten and contravened these ethical guidelines, as well as general universal values of ethical behaviour. as a result, the public relations and communication association (prca) acted against bell pottinger, which subsequently went under administration. this is an example of an otherwise global phenomenon where those with a modernist transactional approach, superimpose their interests above those with a post-modern interactional approach, resulting in cognitive and social injustice (verwey & muir, 2019). what this means is that dialogical and interactional communication, which are representative of communal values and collective experiences, are undermined. instead, preference is given to individualist values which seek to serve the interests of the individual, or in this instance, the client. according to verwey and muir (2019), “the moral and business failure of bell pottinger cannot simply be understood as a failure to adhere to industry codes of conduct, or as simple greed, criminality of complicity in the state capture project”(p. 98). it should be understood at a much deeper level as a failure of moral philosophy that resulted from a lack of respect for communal values and the societal context in which bell pottinger plied its ‘dark arts’. the actions of bell pottinger were not just a matter of “clever” public relations, but a method of sowing dissent and division amongst the members of a young and polarised democracy. what is needed to rectify this conflict between communal and individual worldviews or value systems, is an ethics of inter-subjectivity. it is argued that by establishing “otherness, difference and marginality” as valid modes of approach to experience, inter-subjectivity opens the way for acceptance of plurality and difference, essentially the core argument of cognitive justice (verwey & muir, 2019). it should be noted that this is not the first instance of this interference in political and societal discourse by bell pottinger. another example was seen between 2006 and 2011, when bell pottinger carried out work for the us pentagon and department of defence for “top secret influence operations during the iraq war” (purkiss & fielding-smith, 2018), valued at over half a billion dollars. according to martin wells, a former employee of bell pottinger, who spoke out about this contract, these operations included the creation of “short tv segments made in the style of arabic news networks and fake insurgent videos which could be used to track the people who watched them” (black & fielding-smith, 2016) on behalf of the u.s. military. this resonates with david joselit when he argues that “anything can now be called fake news, as long as the accuser [or creator] possesses the power (i.e., the platform) to publicise his or her claims” (joselit, 2017, p. 15). in essence, information inherently is always a power-laden construct, for it can be politicised and ab/used by those with the means and authority to do so. 9 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index facts, truth, and post-truth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33678 interpreting cambridge analytica through digitality the role of agency, especially individual agency, is an aspect that becomes questioned by two cambridge analytica scandals. this is illustrated by the revelations of whistle-blower, brittany kaiser, in the documentary “the great hack”, which discussed cambridge analytica’s involvement not just in the brexit election, but also in the 2013 trinidad and tobago election (bradshaw, 2019; seadle, 2019). in a recording of cambridge analytica ceo alexander nix, he stated that during another campaign contract in trinidad and tobago, working for majorityindian united national congress (unc) party, they found the youth in both the indian and afrocaribbean communities were feeling disenfranchised. with the population split between afrotrinidadians and indo-trinidadians being almost equal, cambridge analytica representatives knew they needed to appeal to culture to help swing the vote. they decided to run a non-political campaign targeting the youth to generate a culture of apathy amongst the youth when it came to voting. in the recording, nix states: “we came up with this campaign which was all about ‘be part of the gang, do something cool, be part of a movement.’ and it was called the ‘do so’ campaign […] do so. don't vote. don't be involved in politics. it is like a sign of resistance against – not government, against politics. and voting” (hilder, 2019). nix further justifies the value of the campaign stating: ‘the reason why this was such a good strategy is because we knew, and we really really knew, that when it came to voting, all the afro-caribbean kids wouldn't vote, because they ‘do so’. but all the indian kids would do what their parents told them to do, which is go out and vote. and so all the indians went out and voted, and the difference on the 18-35-year-old turnout is like 40%, and that swung the election by about 6% – which is all we needed!’ (hilder, 2019) this relates to joselit’s argument that we are caught in “a cacophony of irreconcilable truths”, where it appears we have lost the ability to distinguish between blatantly false or true information. those that have the means and the authority, have the power to present the most spectacular—and hence most ‘true’—information (joselit, 2017), leading to cognitive conflict. post-truth is a term to describe a situation where facts are ignored and considered less important than personal beliefs and where emotional appeals are used to influence public opinion, resulting in us living in a post-truth era. cambridge analytica, knowingly, adopted a post-truth strategy in their campaign, using culture, emotional appeals, and personal beliefs to influence the opinion on a specific portion of the population. another whistle-blower was christopher wylie, who exposed the organisation in 2018, implicating how personal information collected from facebook users allowed cambridge analytica to create tailored political campaigns targeted at those same users, that echoed their personal belief systems. this was not only done in the u.s., but also in more than 30 other countries (ghoshal, 2018). insofar as the facebook users ‘agreed’ to the terms and conditions of the applications they used, one must consider to what extent were they aware of the consequences. and specifically, if they were aware, why did they still agree to the application accessing their personal, and their friends’ personal information, available on facebook? is human agency exchanged for benefits mediated by information technology? in his article “digital communication and agency: unseen infrastructures that influence our communicative capacities online”, jakub siwak (2018) utilises gilles deleuze’s notion of ‘digital 10 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index facts, truth, and post-truth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33678 societies of control’ to problematise how our agency, as information users and providers, is potentially negated by digital communication. siwak questions how much agency we have as individuals to formulate and express our political ideas and partake in democratic processes. much of this supposed agency could be manipulated by unseen forces. this article does not consider michel foucault’s surveillance, dossiers, and panopticism as found in his writing on disciplinary societies (foucault & sheridan, 1991), but foucault’s stance is a useful foundation for appreciating deleuze’s concept of control societies. disciplinary societies are predicated on the concept that society can be disciplined, observed, and kept docile—in short, be regulated. conversely, control societies expand on disciplinary societies by means of technological advancements which “extend their reach through interconnected, flexible and networked architectures” (siwak, 2018), ensuring digital surveillance and entrenching capitalism. due to the ever-changing, expanding, and advancing nature of technologies, everything in control societies becomes transformable, but also observable. siwak, vis-à-vis deleuze, argues that this is the precise function which the state and capitalism seek to achieve: one is constantly engaged with the features of digital, information and communication technologies ingrained in societal, political, and economic organisation, impacting one’s ability to operate autonomously. this is exacerbated by the datafication of individual identifiers, such as one’s age, gender, income, and so on, which in turn lead to targeted, personalised advertising based on predictive models of purchasing behaviour. one can then also see this manifested in the targeted interferences of cambridge analytica; the ability to sway voter preferences by data collected from individuals’ facebook pages. this is the “progressive loss of agency” which dissolves autonomy, critical thinking, and individuality (siwak, 2018). one is continually connected, being updated, receiving, and contributing information. he argues this is reason for facebook’s popularity, and other social media platforms, for users are willing to disclose this information in turn for perceived benefits. interpreting deleuze, alexander galloway (2004) argues that these control societies are based on “hyper-speed, digital simulation and replication [and] leave virtually no space for adversarial reflection, creativity [and] modes of experience different to ubiquitous dividuality”(p. 22). accordingly, in the control societies it becomes difficult to distinguish between the ‘individual’ and the ‘mass’, leading to the deindividualized ‘dividual’ and ‘samples’. it becomes a dangerous issue when the state, or government, no longer sees its citizens as participants in free society, but rather ‘things’ to be controlled and manipulated. once again referring to the media manipulation as a manifestation of coerciveness, the coercive effects of this digitality become clearer. it is coercive for it can sway one’s opinion, and if one does not partake in these platforms, you may become an ‘unknown variable’ which is much harder to control, leading to ‘peer pressure’ in participating online (joselit, 2017). much more than this, the online peer pressure may result in active peer pressure to partake in real-life political activities such as voting, demonstrations, protests, for example, as seen in blf and the trinidad and tobago voting campaign. this is supported by the research conducted by jost et al. on how social media facilitates political protest. they argue that social media is an efficient medium for the quick communication of information about events and political developments, “facilitating the organization of protest activity” (jost et al., 2018, p. 86). they do however underscore that while it may assist citizens in collective action towards public engagement, social media is also an instrument for authorities to detect, monitor, and suppress such activity. in consideration of cambridge analytica, it is interesting to consider then how organisations, together with government, may be more concerned with finding ways of influencing and 11 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index facts, truth, and post-truth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33678 controlling citizens, than to provide platforms for civic participation, deliberation, and free speech. the discussions of bell pottinger and cambridge analytica are relevant for two reasons: 1) it is indicative of how corporations and political entities alike can manipulate societies, influencing decisions such as whom to vote for and to encourage civic protests based on alternative facts or disinformation; and 2) it is a manifestation of hegemony and cognitive injustice for it effectively commits epistemicide by subjugating ‘true knowledge’ with ‘popular knowledge’ (de sousa santos, 2007; joselit, 2017; zembylas, 2017). whereas hegemony is the “dominance of one system over another” and epistemicide the “murder of knowledge”, cognitive injustice becomes attained by alternative facts when it is politically, culturally, socially, ideologically, and technologically legitimised to serve the interests of the few (fischer & klazar, 2019). one might argue that alternative facts is another perspective of perceived facts, which allows for a plurality of knowledge representation, but certainly it should not be at the expense of society. this hearkens back to the ethics of inter-subjectivity, which positions the needs of others, and the community, over and above the privileging of the few or the individual (verwey & muir, 2019). in terms of the fight against post-truth globally, as seen in the above discussions, two instances of cultural hegemony impacting public discourse are at play. fundamentally at the root of this is access (or the lack thereof) to quality information. the authors review the fact that the examples are not unique, and they postulate the possibility that this is a manifestation of a global phenomenon where information, as a commodity and a tool, is manipulated by those in power. therefore, the misuse of authority becomes an issue of ethics—as the analysis of good and bad conduct—and a social injustice. it becomes a social injustice when members of society are excluded from fair, open, and transparent discourse. both instances—bell pottinger in south africa and cambridge analytica globally—were brought to light through whistle-blower disclosure. they effectively opened access to information and allowed for more transparent discourse to force those in power to account for their actions. since social justice promotes equitable access to benefits and opportunities to all, and particularly among the least advantaged members of society, the concepts of diversity, inclusion, and access to information have never been so critical. an antidote to post-truth influences the question then is, what happens when information is not created, distributed, and consumed responsibly as a result of political manipulation? cognitive and social injustices are then used as a mechanism by the ideological state apparatus to influence the thinking and decision-making of its citizens. post-truth seeks to directly promote its own (post-)truth. this is manipulative and unjust. lies, propaganda, and manipulation of facts is by no means new. however, due to the ubiquitous nature of icts and the broader channels of distribution used by the media, the distribution of manipulated information results in new challenges. the ability to generate post-truth information, that is pushed directly into our homes and personal space and echoing personal biases through social media, makes it so much more powerful. the use of ‘bots’ and artificial intelligence (ai) means that the scale at which posttruth information is produced far exceeds any soviet union or u.s. war propaganda poster. the scale of fake news and post-truths has a direct impact on cognitive and social justice, influencing economic, political, and social freedoms at all levels. 12 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index facts, truth, and post-truth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33678 these concerns lead the way forward, towards making recommendations for south african and international initiatives that will equip society to better deal with occurrences of post-truth. the united nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation (unesco) has an intergovernmental programme known as information for all programme (ifap). its six objectives include: information for development, information literacy, information accessibility, information preservation, information ethics, and multilingualism in cyberspace (unesco, 2017). ifap seeks to ensure equitable access to and use of icts. however, in consideration of its various parts, it could function as a normative tool to guide efforts in education and policymaking. though many would agree the prevalence of disinformation are disconcerting, there tends to be a lack in accessible normative tools that equips one to differentiate between these types of information. it is precisely the aims of the unesco ifap and the unesco media and information literacy programmes to furnish one with the requisite skills to access, search, critically assess, use, and contribute content wisely, both online and offline (unesco, 2016). the following matrix is provided to 1) give an overview of the ifap objectives, 2) postulate questions applicable to the specific concerns related to the case studies, and 3) recommend activities which could be hosted in countries to combat fake news and disinformation practices, thereby empowering citizens to become more active participants in their democracies and the knowledge society. table 1: ifap matrix towards educating and empowering citizens1 ifap objective guiding questions recommended actions ifap objective 1: information for development: information is key to development, transparency, good governance, and a central requirement to addressing information poverty. • how does the manipulation of information influence developmental requirements of a country? • does the manipulation of information directly, or indirectly, impact the development of social, economic, and political practices within a country? • contributing to the development of skills that help citizens identify quality information; • supporting civil society, the private sector, and government to develop guidelines for best practices; • expanding the reach of oversight bodies, such as public relations institute of south africa, and collaboration with the international programme for the development of communication (ipdc); • promoting freedom of information and access to public information as key to the role of information in development and good governance. 13 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index facts, truth, and post-truth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33678 ifap objective 2: information literacy: information literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use, and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational, and educational goals. • how does being information illiterate disempower citizens to effectively distinguish between accurate, misand disinformation? • what is the responsibility of government towards promoting literacy levels of citizens? • supporting the development of human capabilities (capacitybuilding) in accessing, discerning, critiquing, using, and creating information (information literacy) and participation in an online environment (digital literacy); • promoting the inclusion of the new literacies into national education curricula. ifap objective 3: information preservation: the pace of ict development challenges the safeguarding of documents and the ability to stay abreast of updates and technological developments. this also presents challenges to the preservation of indigenous and traditional forms of knowledge. • how does fake news impact the preservation of information, as a representation of actual or fake events, within a particular milieu? • if the cultural and public discourses are manipulated, to what extent does it affect the perception of traditional and indigenous knowledge? • promoting the preservation of cultural and indigenous heritage; • supporting the development of preservation standards and management tools; • collaborating with international and local ngos to increase awareness of the importance of information preservation. ifap objective 4: information ethics (ie): concerns all ethical considerations resulting from the information lifecycle. also extends to notions of freedom of expression and freedom of access to information, social justice, and social responsibility. • how can government, media, and people in positions of power, enact their social responsibility towards developing an information ethical society which promotes freedom of access to quality information? • how can information ethics education prevent cognitive and social injustice in the future? • promoting freedom of access to information and development and promotion of governmental public domain information; • integrating ie into the mainstream discussions on ethics and integration into educational curricula; • collaborating with other ie centres and initiatives to provide training on ie and e-government. 14 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index facts, truth, and post-truth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33678 ifap objective 5: information accessibility: citizens should have access to crucial information that impacts their livelihoods and should not be precluded from accessing information that should be in the public domain. access to quality and accurate information should be ensured at all times. • what role does government and media play towards empowering citizens to freely and equitably access quality and accurate information? • does the post-truth era imply that we are in an era of censorship, under the guise of freedom of access to information? and if so, why? • working with governments at both the country level and in international forums to advocate for an open platform internet which is accessible to all; • supporting the development of “open” information processing tools, interoperability standards, metadata, content ordering, interfaces to digital collections, search, and preservation tools. ifap objective 6: multilingualism: language is a primary means for communicating information and knowledge. citizens should be able to access and communicate information in a language they understand. • do governments have an obligation towards providing education in all official languages, to ensure citizens are better equipped to read, understand, and distinguish information presented to them via public and other media platforms? • how does the manipulation of language representation exacerbate the distribution of fake news? • promoting a better understanding of open and multilingual access to information through thematic debates and regional campaigns; • collaboration with international initiatives on multilingualism in the cyberspace; • supporting the creation of linguistically and culturally diverse content in cyberspace and offering possibilities for the preservation of endangered languages. conclusion the case studies on bell pottinger and cambridge analytica are instances of developing issues related to all six ifap priority areas. the manipulation or restriction of access to information is fundamentally unethical, and, if actively practiced and endorsed, becomes a cognitive and social injustice. unfortunately, this practice is seen all too often in situations where western institutions seek to subjugate their global south counterparts, albeit argued for liberal or democratic purposes, as seen in the case studies of this article. notwithstanding the various codes of ethics and conduct, which ought to guide behaviour, manipulation of information, for the benefit of the few, still occurs. one should then argue that 15 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index facts, truth, and post-truth the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33678 for the needs of the many, and to ensure cognitive and social justice, information should be created, distributed, and consumed responsibly. this should be done in order to achieve developmental goals, universal literacy, and free and equitable access to information. this information should then be preserved for the good of the community, presented in a language they can understand, unchanged by hegemonic forces, and observing ethical considerations throughout the information lifecycle. hence in the spirit of promoting social and cognitive justice, including its inherent construct of fair distribution of both benefits and burdens, voices in the global south become critical in achieving a more holistic understanding of the role of diversity, inclusion, and information access. if one is to manage information responsibly, one needs to raise the standards of society through education, communication, and empowerment, as aligned with the six objectives of ifap. when political leaders and people in positions of power behave irresponsibly and leverage communication technologies to manipulate facts to an ‘alternative truth’ that suits their rhetoric, it can have far reaching consequences, as seen in the case studies. the post-truth era concern is therefore not just what media, political leaders, and people in positions of power are saying but is further compounded by how pervasive icts are in microand macro-environments. due to this, the role of whistle-blowers and active citizens as antidotes to this growing epidemic of fake news and disinformation distribution cannot be over-emphasised. as is stated by george orwell, “in times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act” (orwell, 1948). endnote 1 the recommended activities are extracted and adapted from unesco’s information for all programme strategic planning (unesco, 2017) references black, c., & fielding-smith, a. 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(2009). design for a common world: on ethical agency and cognitive justice. ethics and information technology, 11(1), 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-008-9178-2 verwey, s., & muir, c. (2019). bell pottinger and the dark art of public relations: ethics of individuality versus ethics of communality. communicare: journal for communication sciences in southern africa, 38(1), 96–116. https://journals.co.za/content/journal/10520/ejc-173da3f023 zembylas, m. (2017). the quest for cognitive justice: towards a pluriversal human rights education. globalisation, societies and education, 15(4), 397–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2017.1357462 rachel fischer (rachel.fischer@up.ac.za) is a certified ethics officer and an extraordinary research officer at the african centre of excellence for information ethics (aceie) at the information science department, university of pretoria. she manages the communication and activities for this hub which is central to the african network on information ethics. as an information ethicist her functions include being the co-chair of the icie and representing her research at international conferences aligned with unesco’s information for all programme (ifap). she seeks to represent the global south by championing inclusivity and promoting the ifap objectives. her phd research focal areas include information ethics, multilingualism, cognitive justice and exploring the spaces for intercultural dialogue. erin klazar (erinklazar@gmail.com) is a freelance investigative researcher and certified ethics practitioner, focussing on corporate governance and ethical business practices in south africa. she works closely with academia in information ethics and information science and is a part-time lecturer in knowledge management and information ethics at the information science department, university of pretoria. she has completed multiple research papers and projects on information ethical issues related to privacy and surveillance and the need for education in digital wellness throughout all sectors of society. her research interests include cognitive and social justice and responsibility, ethics awareness, as well as the development of educational programmes supporting community engagement. 19 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-008-9178-2 https://journals.co.za/content/journal/10520/ejc-173da3f023 https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2017.1357462 mailto:rachel.fischer@up.ac.za mailto:erinklazar@gmail.com introduction background state capture and the gupta leaks interpreting cambridge analytica through digitality an antidote to post-truth influences conclusion endnote references the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 l expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty and staff nastasha e. johnson, purdue university, usa william c. ledbetter, purdue university, usa abstract libraries and library professionals are challenged daily to adapt to the changing cultural makeup of the colleges and universities in which they are situated. being culturally competent is a journey, and more research needs to be done to determine where library workers are in their individual journeys in order for libraries to be inclusive and adaptive. in this project, we measure the intercultural competence of a small sample of library workers at a large research-intensive university using the intercultural development inventory (idi) and the beliefs, events, values inventory (bevi). participants identified and engaged with cultures that were not their own and then self-debriefed about them. our research suggests that those who intentionally engage with other cultures will become more culturally competent. keywords: academic libraries; intercultural competence; intercultural development; professional development publication type: research article introduction ibraries can be an integral part of a higher education institution. an academic library can meet the needs of its residential and virtual clientele in every way contextually appropriate: course support, technological support, and even entertainment and social needs. in some countries, they function as central repositories of data and knowledge about and for the communities they serve (field & tran, 2018). however, little to no research has been done to measure the intercultural adeptness of the library workers who serve and teach in their communities. some research exists regarding preparing future librarians within the library and information science (lis) curriculum (alajmi & alshammari, 2020; costello, 2018; villagran & hawamdeh, 2020), but even those are limited in the perspective of the day-to-day realities of the job. conversations about inclusion and diversity have been largely limited to the attraction of an ethnically representative workforce or to working with a diverse student population (jones & murphy, 2019; kung et al., 2020; vinopal, 2016). furthermore, there is a lack of research extending the conversation about the continued training and development of library faculty and staff as the international population of students in the u.s. has increased (click et al., 2018; moody, 2021). blackburn (2015) suggests expanding the notion of a “learning circle” to include an understanding of how intercultural competence is reflected in the services offered. in this study, the aim was to extend the narrative to include an understanding of the cultural competence of those who offer said services. at a research intensive library in the u.s. midwest, we studied a sample of the library staff’s preconceived https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi 5 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 notions and beliefs about people and their experiences with other cultures, and we offered them opportunities that encouraged intercultural competence and development. literature review intercultural competence continuum the intercultural competence continuum (icc) is adapted from the development model of intercultural sensitivity (dmis) created by milton bennett, which is a grounded theory built on cognitive constructivist and communication theories (bennett, 1993). bennett theorized that intercultural competence is a progressive cognitive process. there are five developmental stages: denial, polarization, minimization, acceptance, and adaptation. on one end of the spectrum, a person with a monocultural mindset will deny the difference in denial, recognize difference but have an “us versus them” mentality in polarization, and then minimize the difference in the minimization stage. progressively, a person with a multi-cultural mindset will accept and appreciate differences in the acceptance stage and actively shift behavior in the adaptive stage. built on the dmis model, the intercultural development inventory (idi) was designed to measure and predict someone’s developmental orientation along the continuum and recommend paths to progress along the continuum to more advanced and multi-cultural mindsets as appropriate (hammer et al., 2003). the idi is a 50-item survey that averages 15–20 minutes to complete. after the inventory, an individual can optionally participate in a one-on-one debriefing with an idi-qualified administrator. this is the only way that someone has access to their individual results. however, if a person is participating as part of a group, a qualified administrator gives a group debriefing with an aggregate summation of the group’s individual results from the idi. group debriefings are common with working groups and leadership teams of organizations and schools. for this project, the participants served as a non-representative sample of the library faculty and staff; therefore, it was only potentially reflective of the entire faculty and staff of the project organization. there is scant literature on the use of the idi assessment with library professionals. clemson university recently published about their plan to administer the idi to its staff as a part of diversity-related professional development (redd et al., 2020). beliefs events and values inventory the beliefs, events, & values inventory (bevi) is a 494-item questionnaire that helps those who take it understand what their belief and value structures are, and how they interplay with their goals, plans, and behaviors. according to the bevi’s (2021) website, it has built an instrument that evaluates "1) extensive demographic information, 2) a life history questionnaire, and a comprehensive assessment of beliefs, values, and attitudes, and worldviews, and 4) qualitative ‘experiential reflection’" into a single instrument (shealy, 2016). specifically, the bevi was built on the equilintegration theory (ei) which explains the internal processes by which one's worldviews are formed (shealy, 2015). the bevi instrument measures people's responses to likert-scaled questions in seven domains and 17 processes. the domains and processes are listed in table 1 with more detail further in the paper. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 6 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 table 1. scales of the bevi inventory bevi domains bevi scales formative variables negative life events fulfillment of core needs needs closure needs fulfillment identity diffusion tolerance of disequilibrium basic openness self-certitude critical thinking basic determinism socioemotional convergence self-access self-awareness meaning quest other access religious traditionalism gender traditionalism sociocultural openness global access ecological resonance global resonance note. reproduced from “bevi scales” by bevi, 2021 (https://thebevi.com/about/scales/). copyright 2021 by bevi—beliefs, events and values inventory. structured debrief/ thiagi method of structured debrief structured debriefs are a tool similar to structured reflections that can help people engage with progressively unfolding and digging deeper in the event or situation being analyzed. debriefing is believed to have started in military training as an efficient way to assess and adjust in preparation for combat, but it is also commonly associated with psychology and nursing practices (fanning & gaba, 2007). debriefing is a means of recollection and sense-making of event, simulation, or experience, and it may entail contextual questions. despite how specific debriefs may differ, lederman (1992) states that there are seven common structural elements: debriefer, participants to debrief, an experience, impact of the experience, recollection, report, and time. for participants in this project, the experiences differed, but the intent and subject matter of the experiences were the same. the participants were tasked with engaging with cultures that were different from their own, which is an individual and private assessment that is tangential to this project. also for this project, the authors created questions based on the thiagi debriefing method (thiagarajan, 1992), which includes a six-part questionnaire that asks participants to explain their feelings, what they think their feelings or impressions mean, and how their feelings may affect their behavior in the future. the primary objective of this study was to determine the influence of cultural exposure on the intercultural competence of the test group. the research question is: will the deliberate exposure to intercultural events increase the intercultural competence of library faculty and staff? https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 7 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 methods in this project, we recruited a heterogeneous group of library faculty and staff to participate in a three-phase intercultural assessment and intervention project. we sent a recruitment email to the entire library staff of approximately 130 people using a library list-serv and enrolled the first respondents to the study. this list-serv was accessible by staff, faculty, administration, and administrative professionals at a large research-intensive university in the midwest u.s. the first 18 people to respond to the call were included in the study. the participants were a mixture of both men and women with 15 women and three men in the group. there was only one visible minority in the sample, which is perhaps due to the lack of diversity within the studied library setting. the study included three phases: (1) assessment of the group's intercultural competence at the start of the study, (2) their exposure to other cultures, and (3) measurement of their intercultural development at the end of the study. in the first step, using the idi and bevi, we pre-assessed participants' intercultural competence. in the second phase, an intervention was implemented that incentivized engagement with other cultures around the campus and the local area. the third phase reassessed their intercultural development using the idi for any change in the intercultural knowledge and awareness of the faculty and staff. we hypothesized that with intentional exposure to other cultures, the mean intercultural competence of the study group will increase. phase 1 study participants, consisting of library faculty and staff, were asked to take the idi and bevi surveys for the determination of their intercultural competence at the beginning of the study. each participant was debriefed individually and as a group by a certified idi/bevi debriefing administrator. only aggregated results were revealed and discussed in the group debriefing. phase 2 to facilitate their exposure to other cultures, subjects were asked to participate in at least five intercultural activities for a minimum of one hour in the greater local area. to help participants identify an event involving a culture different than their own, a calendar list of multicultural events was posted on the project’s private website. this suggested list of events covered a diverse array of activities (e.g., dance, conversation groups, beading workshops, etc.) and ethnicities (e.g., native american, asian, black, latino, etc.). participants were asked to self reflect on their intercultural experiences during the event by answering a collection of pre designed, thought-provoking questions (see table 2) via qualtrics software. participants were incentivized with $5 gift cards at the completion of every reflection survey. at the end of the project, there was a drawing for a $100 gift card for those who completed five or more surveys/events. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 8 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 table 2. structured debrief questionnaire questionnaire q1. how do you feel about the cultural exercise? what is your reaction to the people and the activities? q2. what was the significance of the activity for the target audience? (for example, was it a celebration, a commemoration, a community forum?) q3. what did you learn from the exercise? what insights did you gain about other people's behavior? about your own behavior? q4. how does the exercise relate to other real-world events? (for example, is this event part of a series or local version of something national?) q5. if you were to participate in this activity all over again, how would you behave differently? q6. as a result of your new insights, how would you behave differently in your workplace? q7. upload proof of attendance (please make sure your anonymity is preserved in the uploaded files, e.g., no selfies) q8. please provide the last number of your idi username. for example, if your idi username was 4107-2018librariesinterculturalpre27, enter 27. q9. did you speak with anyone (including family or coworkers) about your experience prior to completing this reflection? note. the qualtrics reflection survey was designed to ensure the anonymity of the reflections, and participants were informed about privacy and confidentiality when they signed their consent to be a part of this irb-approved project. the project was funded by an internal grant provided through the office of the provost and a campus center that focuses on intercultural learning and mentoring. phase 3 participants were asked to complete a post-intervention idi survey at the end of the study. the group was debriefed on the aggregated survey findings and their corresponding intercultural competence growth measured during the project. results preand post-intervention idi results the intercultural competence continuum (icc) is adapted from the development model of intercultural sensitivity (dmis) created by milton bennett, which is a grounded theory built on cognitive constructivist and communication theories (bennett, 1993). bennett theorized that intercultural competence is a progressive cognitive process. there are five developmental https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 9 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 stages: denial, polarization, minimization, acceptance, and adaptation. on one end of the spectrum, a person with a monocultural mindset will deny the difference in denial, recognize difference but have an “us versus them” mentality in polarization, and then minimize the difference in the minimization stage. progressively, a person with a multi-cultural mindset will accept and appreciate differences in the acceptance stage and actively shift behavior in the adaptive stage. built on the dmis model, the intercultural development inventory (idi) was designed to measure and predict someone’s developmental orientation along the continuum and recommend paths to progress along the continuum to more advanced and multi-cultural mindsets as appropriate (hammer et al., 2003). figure 1. pre-intervention idi results the first administration of the idi revealed that the group's po score is 120.84. the po is where the group "thinks" it is along the intercultural development continuum (idc). this score is in the middle range of the acceptance phase, where participants believe that they are appreciating and accepting of differences between people's life experiences and cultures. the group as a whole overestimated their intercultural competence which is common. the do of the group, which is the actual position along the continuum, is 91.73. this score is on the lower end of the minimization phase. this means that the group as a whole focused on the commonalities between cultures, thereby minimizing the nuisances within cultures. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 10 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 figure 2. images of post-intervention idi results after all the participants had completed at least one intervening intercultural event, with half the group completing five or more, the group's po was 127.27 points, which is a 6.43-point increase from where they thought they were before (see figure 1). the actual do increased by 16.27 points to 108 points (see figure 2). the group as a whole remained in minimization, but the score increased significantly. in terms of validation between answers, the consistency score was 75, which means that similarly worded questions got the same responses. the congruency score was 83, which reflects the degree to which answers were responded to in a pattern. the negative life events score was high, which is a subjective measure of early traumatic experiences. however, the group expressed high resiliency with a lower need for closure and a higher need for fulfillment. this is often not the case for those who indicate higher rates of negative life events. considering the group was fully comprised of adults 30 years old and older, there was a relatively surprising mid range score on identity diffusion, thus suggesting that some were in the midst of an identity crisis, perhaps in their family lives or marital lives. basic determinism of the group was relatively low as well, which suggested a high propensity to think critically, not to be particularly strong willed, and not to prefer simplicity. the group's sociocultural openness was 94, the highest score measured, which directly coincides with the purposes of this project. the group's self-awareness score was also very high, with a score of 83. lastly, the gender traditionalism of this group was very low, thus suggesting that the group was more flexible on gender norms, which is also directly related to the purpose of this project. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 11 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 findings & discussion of the 18 participants who began the inventory, 11 completed a post-intervention idi inventory. a total of 28 self-reflection responses from seven individuals were received from the survey at the time of this writing, which means that some opted out of documenting their reflections and/or linking their study i.d. number to their responses. (the authors are aware of one participant who did not want the gift cards, so they did not self-identify). eight of the 11 who completed both preand post-intervention idis were found to have grown in their overall idi score, while two remained the same, and one regressed along the continuum. those who grew were in minimization or polarization phases and moved to the next phases of acceptance and minimization, respectively. interestingly, the group's difference between their po before and after the intervention events increased less than their actual orientation before and after the intervention events. this suggests that though they increased significantly as a group, they did not think they had increased as significantly as they did along the idc. individually, this also suggests that those who have a large gap between their perceived and actual orientations are more likely to be able to grow as part of this exercise, but a larger sample size is needed to verify this finding. though the sample is relatively small and not globally representative of the staff in the library field, it provides a means to demonstrate the impact of intentionality of professional development in the areas of intercultural competence. in addition, we realize the gender identity of the participants may be correlated to their willingness to be involved in and participate in the project (see figure 3). figure 3. individual idi perceived orientation & developmental orientations with differences https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 12 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 reflection analysis a combination of qualtrics survey software along with python semantic processing was used to inspect the qualitative data created from the self-reflections (see figure 4). reflections of the cultural experience were then analyzed using the intercultural knowledge and competency value rubric from the american academies of colleges and universities (aac&u). idi results were analyzed and linked to their qualitative data. we compared the attitude of the participants with the outcome of their growth. for the sentiment analysis, we looked at the depth differential (δ) and sentiment for each librarian individually. the sentiment analysis code script was developed using python and textblob. figure 4. sample reflection responses overall sentiment for the semantic analysis, textblob was used to analyze the data. textblob is a python library for processing textual data. the library looked at the polarity of a word, along with its occurrence, to describe its importance in determining the sentiment of the qualitative data. positive or negative values were hand-coded by the authors to the words, which were then https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 13 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 averaged to give a range of values from a negative one to one. this sentiment analysis was then compared to a score of the empathy and openness rubric values of the aac&u intercultural knowledge rubric to create the δ between the described skills and attitudes during the cultural event. to conduct the semantic analysis, the raw files were pre-processed using python. the files were downloaded from the qualtrics site and converted into the appropriate file type. before inserting the data into the processor, it needed to be cleaned of extraneous information. the data columns that were not relevant to the text analysis were removed from the file, including location information, digital proof of attendance, and identifying information of the responders. any blank responses from testing the survey or incomplete responses were removed. the integrity of the data was reviewed in python, paying close attention to any truncated columns or misrepresented data values. the researchers were able to reduce the reflection results for questions one, three, and five to their root values, a process known as lemmatization. by lemmatization, we mean that the differences in case intense between words were removed, leaving only the lemma (root of the words). by doing this, it is possible to find the frequencies of words to count their occurrence. the existing stop words library in python, which is a collection of common english words such as "for," "to," and "the," were also removed. stop words are often removed from things such as search engines, as they appear so frequently that it is not relevant to the overall meaning of the query. when we applied the technique to the results, it gave a large range of values with a high variation for some. median is a better suited metric than average in our case, and table 3 reflects the data for each participant who completed both the reflections and the post-intervention idi. the median gives us the middle value considering our small sample size and the asymmetrical data. though the sample was small, the range was quite large. the coefficient of variation is the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean, and it was greater than 60% for all but two participants. the standard error is the ratio of the standard deviation to the square root of the number of samples, which was important due to there being some participants who only had a few reflections to as many as ten. table 3. structured debrief questionnaire id mean median range variance standdev standerr coofvar 1 0.1100 0.1100 0.1800 0.0162 0.1273 0.0900 166% 4 0.1150 0.1150 0.1500 0.0028 0.0532 0.0217 46% 6 0.1567 0.1800 0.1300 0.0046 0.0681 0.0393 43% 11 0.1333 0.1500 0.2400 0.0071 0.0843 0.0344 63% 13 0.1560 0.1200 0.2500 0.0111 0.1055 0.0472 68% 14 0.0780 0.0950 0.5100 0.0245 0.1565 0.0495 201% 15 0.0533 0.0400 0.1000 0.0026 0.0513 0.0296 96% https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 14 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 variation (anova) analysis of variance (anova) is an effective method to demonstrate the variation among different samples of an experiment. we used the method outlined by analytics vidhya to analyze the sentiment data in microsoft excel (singh, 2018), the sum of squares values both between and within the groups is analyzed along with degrees of freedom to provide a number known as an f-value, which can then be compared to hypothesis tests using known statistical tables. if the values do not differ the f-value is less than the f-critical value for the alpha (or confidence interval) selected. the p-value should also be higher than the alpha to show similarity in the samples. using a box and whisker chart to display the values was a way to show the variation among some of the participants. in figure 7 we used microsoft excel to create the graphic and used the existing values from our sentiment analysis in textblob. we also stored both the text responses and results of the idi in an access database for ease of access and query. this proved useful, as the results for the sentiment analysis were repeated multiple times to confirm their accuracy. moderate correlation we took the results of the differences between the pre-intervention idi do and the post intervention idi do (see figure 4) to represent the change in the participants' competency and awareness of intercultural ideas. "the underlying assumption of the model is that as one's experience of cultural difference becomes more complex and sophisticated, one's potential competence in intercultural relations increases" (hammer et al., 2003, p. 423). our extension of this result was to tie it into the sentiment of the participants by using the key-id from their qualtrics survey. by using both the values of the textblob analysis and the idi, we found moderate correlations. we also analyzed the po change. the length of time spent during the qualtrics survey and the number of responses was also beneficial to the analysis. we took the average length in minutes of the responses on qualtrics along with a count of the unique verified events that were attended and responded to as compared to the sentiment score for that participant. we found these have little correlation to the growth in our case study. depth differential the δ was calculated by reading the responses for questions one, three, and five and by determining how they aligned with the associated rubrics from the aac&u. questions one and three were used to analyze the feelings of the reflector and aligned with the skill rubric of empathy. five was used to analyze the attitude of openness. once the value of each was found, the δ was calculated as the difference between the behavior score and the feeling score. the overall score, which was the sum of the two values for empathy and openness, was also assigned a value to group the participants together. this was based on the perfect score of eight and the number of scores at each value. this was done to allow comparison between those that were actively and minimally engaged in the cultural experience but had a similar δ and for the comparison of respondents who were aligned in their anticipated behavior to those who had a conflict. this will need to be confirmed in a larger population, but it is interesting in our case study. in short, we found that people who demonstrated openness and empathy scored higher https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 15 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 on idi after their events. this finding is aligned with the entire group's high empathy and high critical thinking values on the bevi assessment. figure 6. overall competency score based on aac&u rubric compared to δ there was a moderate correlation when looking at the median and textblob sentiment for each librarian. the librarians did not vary significantly. the depth differential (see figure 7) shows conflict that may suggest movement along the continuum. the box and whisker plot shows (see figure 7) that some had tight clustering of sentiment for each event, while others were more varied. the sentiment is not related to the overall intercultural competency score, but the overall score is related to the depth differential. people who scored at the extremes in competency tended to have a lower depth differential, which means that their overall sentiment did not vary greatly from their score using the aac&u rubric. those with a high amount of conflict between feelings and behaviors tended to score in the middle of the competency evaluation. this suggests that at the ends of the spectrum, being those with high intercultural competency and low intercultural competency, there is little difference between feelings (sentiments) and behaviors (from reflections). those in transition may be experiencing discomfort and conflict between how they feel and the way they act in a new cultural environment. the sentiment was not correlated with the overall competency or engagement of the reflectors. some enjoyed the exercise but were not active participants, while others reflected strongly on the experience but not in an engaging way. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 16 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 those who scored high or low on the aac&u rubric analysis were similar in their feeling and behavior. those in the middle score in overall competency had some conflict between the two. this may suggest that there is a conflict between how we behave and our attitudes as we move along the spectrum. again, this will need to be explored in a larger study to gain confidence in the conclusions. overall sentiment the average value of the textblob semantic analysis was 0.11, with negative one representing a negative impression and one being the most positive possible. the median was 0.11. the first quartile value is 0.05, and the third quartile value is 0.18. overall, the data appears roughly linear with a slope of 0.01 when the data is arranged sequentially. the fact that there were few negative responses seems to suggest that overall, the respondents were either unclear in their preference for the activity or positive. it is important to note that the polarity is an average, meaning someone with a high score did not necessarily have only positive qualitative data. it simply means that the average of the sentiment was positive. variation (anova) figure 7 shows that the data was spread for some participants but not as varied for others. the number of responses varied for each librarian, but the average for all was in the high neutral range. looking at each event as a source of possible unknowns, it is not surprising the attitude of the responses differed. some events may have been more welcoming to the respondent, or the respondent may have simply not been interested in the event. we placed no restrictions on the cultural event other than that it was outside of their norm. this is likely a cause of the high variation in the sentiments. figure 7. sentiment overall vs sentiment per event https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 17 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 moderate correlation our participants with the highest number of responses were also the ones with the most variation in the sentiments. however, we did find a moderate correlation in the sentiment of all responses for an individual with their growth on the intercultural continuum (see figure 8). the 𝑅2 value is 0.72 when comparing the sentiment and change in do. the change in po and sentiment has an 𝑅2 value of 0.6. since these are higher than 50%, we can say that there is a better chance than flipping a coin that the sentiment of a participant when reflecting will influence the change in their do and po. this should also be taken into consideration with our small sample size and explored further for more certainty. the other metrics did not have a strong correlation including change in po and do compared to the average duration of the qualtrics survey. other factors that did not show a significant correlation were the number of responses. this seems to suggest that the times a person repeats the cultural event outside of their own does not influence the growth on the idc as much as the attitude with which they approach those events. from our small sample, it also does not seem important that a time requirement is placed on the duration of the responses to the survey. figure 8. overall sentiment of each librarian compared to change in do conclusion intercultural competence and growth are more necessary than ever within libraries and beyond. the authors of this project were pleased with the participants’ commitment to the process of https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 18 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 finding intercultural events that challenged them and intentionally reflecting on them. though the physical load of the participation was minimal, the cognitive load of intercultural growth was challenging. when library faculty and staff make an intentional effort towards intercultural growth, they can change the way they personally and professionally function. overall, we found the experience had a positive influence on the intercultural development of library faculty and staff. though the sample size was relatively small and heterogenous, the work can be a part of a larger conversation in the field about the impact of intentional intercultural development work. future research is needed to study the impact that intercultural personal and professional development can directly have on library services, collections, and instruction, as well as on the people that manage those programs. it is especially important to consider given the context of the study at a research-intensive university in the midwest u.s. that has large international student and faculty populations in a region of the country that is not particularly diverse. as library staff, though the sample population was not particularly diverse, they are tasked with meeting the research and information needs of a diverse campus population. it was particularly exciting to see the progress that could be made with intentionality and resources despite the backgrounds of the participants. we found that there was a moderate correlation in the sentiment of all responses for an individual with their growth on the intercultural continuum. that is, as their sentiment shifted positively, their idi scores also shifted positively. the hope is that interculturally competent faculty and staff will create a culture within libraries that are interculturally responsive to the needs of the clientele. future work will be tracing the impact of intercultural competence in direct-to-patron library work, that is, the relationship between intercultural competent instruction, inclusive collection practices, and inclusive library instruction. more quantitative and qualitative assessments of the impacts of the deliberate intercultural interactions outside of study abroad experiences, and for library workers, need to be done to explore the possibilities of interculturally engaged libraries. this project was promising to see the impact of intentional intercultural development with library workers. references alajmi, b. m., & alshammari, i. 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(2016, january 13). the quest for diversity in library staffing: from awareness to https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.79.7.992 https://doi.org/10.1097/sih.0b013e3180315539 https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2017.1422174 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0147-1767(03)00032-4 https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.81.1.96 https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878192232003 https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/declining-international-student-numbers-stabilize/ https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/declining-international-student-numbers-stabilize/ https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/declining-international-student-numbers-stabilize/ https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2019.1698920 https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/blog/2018/01/anova-analysis-of-variance/ https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878192232004 https://doi.org/10.1080/2005615x.2020.1756091 20 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 action. in the library with the lead pipe. http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2016/quest-for-diversity natasha e. johnson (nejohnson@purdue.edu) is an associate professor of library science at purdue university libraries & school of information studies in west lafayette, indiana. she also serves as a provost fellow in the office of the provost: division of diversity & inclusion and as an intercultural learning officer for the center of intercultural learning, mentoring, assessment, and research (cilmar). she is a qualified administrator of the intercultural development (idi) and the beliefs, events, values inventory (bevi). she is currently a facilitator of the purdue institute on racial equity where faculty, staff, and graduate students are led through six modules that elevate anti-bias intervention, inclusive excellence, and equity-mindedness. some of her other responsibilities include being a library liaison to the mathematics & physics departments and maintaining the mathematical sciences library and the physics and astronomy library collection. william c. ledbetter (wledbett@purdue.edu) is a lecturer in the computer and information technology department at purdue university. will has over five years of experience working in the industry, primarily as a database administrator for the retail, financial, and healthcare sectors. he received his master of science degree in information systems from middle tennessee state university. his concentrations included business intelligence and analytics, database development, and cybersecurity. he has had the opportunity to work with mitre over several summers at the national cybersecurity ffrdc as an intern while pursuing his doctorate from purdue. his research interests are natural language processing, cybersecurity, and technology based learning. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2016/quest-for-diversity mailto:nejohnson@purdue.edu mailto:wledbett@purdue.edu 21 expanding the narrative of intercultural competence: a study of library faculty the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38698 [ this page is left intentionally blank. ] https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging information worlds: talking to northern students and southern scholars about global inequities in scholarly communication the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33520 bridging information worlds: talking to northern students and southern scholars about global inequities in scholarly communication laurie kutner, university of vermont, usa abstract the topic of global inequities in scholarly communication is complex and may be viewed from different perspectives depending upon multiple variables, including where you live in the world. this “report from the field” presents the author’s experiences and reflections on facilitating formal discussions of this topic at the monteverde institute (mvi) in costa rica. the monteverde institute (mvi) is a costa rican non-profit organization that provides infrastructure and support for education abroad programs focused on community engaged scholarship, as well as support for both international and locally based researchers who focus their study in the area. its middle vantage point provides unique advantages for engaging multiple constituencies in conversations about the inherent inequalities of our current scholarly information universe from both global north and global south perspectives. this report focuses on the author’s experiences and reflections on discussions about equity issues in scholarly access and production, with north american students as well as local researchers and community members in latin america that took place between 2017-2019. the richness of engagement with this topic was facilitated by the opportunities afforded by the ability to hear multiple perspectives, backgrounds, and lived realities in this single space. keywords: global scholarly communication ecosystem; inequity; information literacy; information social justice; latin america publication type: special section publication introduction lobal inequities in the production and dissemination of research and scholarship between countries in the global north and countries in the global south inhibit the equitable flow of research in all directions, which has broad implications for the advancement of knowledge especially when considering complex global issues and problems. the purpose of this “report from the field” is to explain and reflect upon discussion-based presentations that i have had on the complex topic of global inequities in scholarly communication, with both northern students and southern scholars on site at the monteverde institute in costa rica. the opportunity to have these discussions in a single place with multiple perspectives represented has been unique and illuminating, and points to the inherently global importance of a critical view of our global scholarly information ecosystem. literature that has informed my knowledge of the subject is interspersed throughout the descriptions and reflections of the discussions. for the purposes of these discussions, broad characteristics of north/ south inequities in scholarly g https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi bridging information worlds the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33520 communication have been elucidated. scholarship that is widely recognized as the most prestigious global scholarship is published by just a few proprietary publishers in the global north, such as elsevier, wiley, and springer, who publish primarily english language journals, with cost prohibitive pricing policies for much of the world. increasingly, these publishers offer open access options for research publication that necessitate authors paying substantial article processing charges, also preferencing larger and funded research studies that predominantly have lead authors from north american and european nations. on the flip side, researchers from countries in the global south, such as african and latin american countries, are challenged by more limited resources for research infrastructure and availability of funding for all phases of the research and publication process. while there are increasing, predominantly open access publication outlets for research in the global south (such as the long-standing scielo portal for predominantly latin american journals), the regional journals accessible in these portals do not carry the same level of global prestige as the proprietary journals originating in the global north, although they cover important local and regional research. southern scholars have recognized this as a preferencing of knowledge that has evolved through a history of colonialism (gómez et al., 2013; santos, 2018). setting and background the monteverde institute (mvi) is a costa rican non-profit organization that provides infrastructure and support for education abroad programs focused on community engaged scholarship, as well as support for both international and locally based researchers who focus their study in the area. mvi students in education abroad programs, generally from north american institutions, are involved in community-engaged scholarship and develop ties to the local community through their work, their homestay experiences, and locally based researchers and instructors who engage with them. as a local community organization, the monteverde institute is in a unique and strong position to organize, facilitate, and support a high level of community interaction. hamilton’s 2019 article entitled, “facilitating engagement among academic and community partners: the monteverde institute’s view from the middle,” provides a detailed description of the opportunities afforded to the success of the organization due to its uniquely intermediary role and middle ground of being locally and community-based, while supporting global education and research that is grounded in community. the intent of this “report from the field” is to build upon the idea that the monteverde institute’s middle ground provides multiple advantages, and to focus on something not generally considered: information social justice issues and the inherent inequality of our current scholarly information universe are well-illustrated in this middle environment, and this vantage point provides an excellent and experientially-based educational opportunity to engage multiple constituencies in a conversation about these inequities. the reflections in this article are based on an amalgam of experiences discussing global inequities in access to and production of scholarly research from a place-based latin american research perspective, both with education abroad students and members of the local research community in monteverde. the focus will be on six talks and discussions that took place at the monteverde institute in costa rica in june and july of 2017–2019, when i was on-site. five of these talks were given primarily to undergraduate university students from the united states, with local staff and researchers present. one of these talks was geared to the local biologists’ group, with 71 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging information worlds the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33520 an open invitation to the community. it is important to recognize from the outset that all talks were given in the english language, with translation services available for the local biologists’ group. monteverde is an area that is located at the top of the continental divide in northwestern costa rica, in the province of puntarenas. a population of roughly 7,000 in the monteverde zone, the area is unique in that it is a rural costa rican community, home to a small north american quaker community that settled in the higher elevation in the early 1950s, and an international ecotourism destination. there is daily intercultural communication among the residents and visitors. in the late 1970s ecotourism began to develop, as monteverde became known as a destination for scientific researchers and students focusing their research in the monteverde cloud forest preserve. home to an extremely biodiverse high elevation cloud forest ecosystem, the monteverde cloud forest preserve is a private protected area that sits at the top of the continental divide. in the mid 1980s, as the costa rican economy recovered from a serious debt crisis, and there was investment in both domestic and foreign infrastructure focusing on naturebased tourism, monteverde continued to develop as an international ecotourism destination (jones & spadafora, 2016). recognizing the increased scientific interest in the area, increasing ecotourism, and the resulting changing nature of the local economy and community, the monteverde institute was established in 1986, to facilitate “high quality educational programs” for international students and provide a context for additional jobs and opportunities for local residents (burlingame, 2019, p. 2). over 30 years later, the monteverde institute focuses strongly on community engaged scholarship, and has hosted more than 600 courses for 11,000 students (burlingame, 2019). additionally, the monteverde institute provides resources and infrastructure for international and domestic research affiliates. the monteverde institute successfully upholds its three-pronged mission of the intersection of education, research, and community. mvi is home to a small library, and i have been involved in developing its online presence and facilitating access to locally based research through creation of open access digital collections since 2007. in 2007, as a result of conducting a series of interviews with researchers in the area, i initially noted a large disconnect between locally based researchers and their inability to access the proprietary, scholarly journal literature they needed to frame their research, and the international researchers and students who had unfettered access to that important body of research-based literature through their home institutions primarily in north america. the frustration expressed by the community of local researchers and lengths they went through to get the information they needed provided a locally impactful example of the implications of global inequities in access to scholarly research. additionally, initial consideration of the inequities associated with a predominantly one-way scholarly information flow from the global north to the global south prompted a multi-institutional collaboration (2008-2014) to create small-scale open access digital collections of locally based research outputs. from the middle vantage point of the mvi, i began giving talks to education abroad students, local staff, and local researchers in 2017, focusing on discussing equity and justice issues in the scholarly communication landscape from a latin american experientially based perspective, while considering the position of those of us associated with northern institutions. largely, our northern students are unaware of the advantages they have in our scholarly information universe, 72 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging information worlds the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33520 the societal forces that drive knowledge production and dissemination which privilege some and marginalize others, and the resulting implications for working toward solving complex global problems. however, they become thoughtfully engaged with these information social justice issues, more powerfully so when local researchers and instructors that they are working with contribute their perspectives. the reflections below represent the rich discussions that ensued from six presentations to different groups in june-july of 2017, 2018, and 2019. in all discussions, the ability to have multiple place-based perspectives in the room has led to very thoughtful discussions and commentary. in a sense, this defines the opportunities that the fairly unique middle ground of the monteverde institute provides for experientially broadening understanding of the fundamental inequities present in our complex global scholarly ecosystem. the student presentations and discussions from the perspectives of being active participants in community engaged scholarship in rural costa rica, students from six education abroad programs, representing three universities in the united states, participated in a one hour long formal discussion entitled “equity and justice in research access and production: a view from latin america”. in 2017, the first year these discussions were incorporated into the content of two education abroad programs at the monteverde institute, they were considered a pilot project to gauge the relevancy, interest levels, and engagement by students and staff, as this was outside the realm of the direct daily student focus of tropical ecology and conservation issues. the 2017 pilot project was deemed successful as a result of positive student and staff feedback, and the degree and level of engagement of students, and their ability to provide thoughtful, written, reflective ideas in response to the prompt, “as future potential contributors to the scholarly information universe as the next generation of researchers …what can the next generation of researchers do to work toward leveling the global information playing field?” the pilot project and its pedagogical grounding in the association of college and research libraries framework for information literacy in higher education is the focus of a recently published book chapter (kutner, 2019) that contains detailed discussion and analysis of the experiences of that initial year engaging with education abroad students about structural inequities in our scholarly communication landscape from a place-based social justice perspective. topics covered in our discussion include: • examining web of science search results on “monteverde costa rica” to discuss: 1) why those affiliated with well-resourced higher education institutions have access to web of science and what that costs 2) the body of largely proprietary scholarly journal literature contained within and the restrictiveness of that model for sharing scholarship 3) the inherent linguistic bias of the english language in the database that represents “global” scholarship and cultural bias that represents northern scholars; • implications of global northern dominated scholarship on global climate change for developing place-based policy and practice and working toward global/ local understanding and culturally relevant modes for solving complex environmental problems (blicharska et al., 2017); • bias in publication by eco-climatic zone toward the global north in comparison to the earth’s land surface area (karlsson, et al., 2007); 73 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging information worlds the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33520 • production of knowledge in northern countries vs. southern countries and linguistic bias in agroecology publications (gómez et al., 2013); • impacts of the competition-based scholarly publishing model on latin american scientific publishing (vessuri et al., 2014); • latin american open access modes for scholarly communication and how they have evolved (examples of scielo, redalyc, latindex, la referencia were discussed); • global north evolution of open access publications primarily through article processing charges (apcs); importance of institutional repositories for open access information dissemination; and • infrastructure challenges in research production and dissemination in the global south, with a latin american focus. the presentation and discussion have been annually updated, particularly regarding the evolution of the wider open access movement, such as plan s and the university of california’s cancelling of their elsevier subscriptions (global north), and latin american open access approaches based on non-commercial scholarly publishing platforms (global south). additionally, updated relevant content is added that contributes dimensions to the discussion of global structural biases inherent in our knowledge production system. for example, resulting implications for developing effective place sensitive solutions to complex sustainability challenges are addressed (nagendra et al., 2018). the presentation and discussion with the local biologists’ group and community (2018) much of the content described above also served as the basis for the local biologist and open community discussion. additionally, more time was spent characterizing global scholarship (published largely by commercial, for-profit publishers; authors or lead authors are affiliated with institutions in the global north; predominant language is english; indexed in web of science or scopus) vs. regional scholarship (published in global south regional publications, by regional authors, about regional knowledge, in the regional language, and in predominantly open access journals that are considered less impactful and of lesser quality by “mainstream” authors and academic institutions). also figuring more prominently into this discussion was the large shift in commercial academic publishing in the digital era from numerous small publishers to few large publishers, and the resulting implications of significantly rising costs of journal subscriptions and new publisher pricing models that are increasingly restrictive. the ways that open access are evolving differently in the global north and the global south were also covered, as was important functions of southern regional journal publications for communicating locally relevant research and knowledge in local languages, accessible to all for pragmatic use to benefit local populations and as educational materials for local students. southern theory that deconstructs global geopolitical forces of the core and periphery of knowledge production and dissemination was drawn upon, particularly as there are deleterious effects of uneven representation of scholarship from the global north on the fundamentally 74 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging information worlds the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33520 global issue of climate change. for example, the intergovernmental panel on global climate change has an underrepresentation of southern researchers that impacts resulting strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation (czerniewicz et al., 2017). the discussion, which lasted 90 minutes, was very active and passionate with this audience, raising large feelings of frustration with our predominant scholarly publishing ecosystem that preferences some and marginalizes many. the audience, a group consistent with the middle ground that the monteverde institute occupies, was a blend of expatriate and visiting native english-speaking scientists and community members, and latin american scientists, bringing both multiple perspectives and common concerns into the discussion. reflections and observations student conversations as an academic instruction librarian from the united states, the conversations reflected my professional background, interests, and expertise, privileged by wider societal forces, geolocation, and affiliation with a well-resourced university. at the same time, my experiences over twelve years of affiliation at the monteverde institute, understanding local researcher frustration with lack of access to scholarship they needed to inform their research, as well as the first-hand challenges involved in creating open access collections of locally based research with no budget, no existing infrastructure, unreliable internet, and only through the perseverance of graduate student interns who themselves were engaged in a high impact learning experience, provided some context for understanding research and information challenges in rural latin america. drawing on these multiple experiences provided a middle place that grounded discussion with the multiple players who, from different perspectives, form a diverse research community in monteverde. the growing area of critical information literacy, defined as “a theory and practice that considers the sociopolitical dimensions of information and production of knowledge, and critiques the ways in which systems of power shape the creation, distribution, and reception of information” (drabinski & trewell, 2019, p. 1) was centrally represented in the student discussions. additionally, the idea of critical information literacy as linked theory, reflection, and practice that was presented by heidi jacobs (2008) was contextualized in the student discussions that took place in high impact, experiential learning settings as seminally defined by kuh (2008). students who had engaged with local researchers who were experts in their fields but lacked access to the proprietary scholarship that was needed to inform their studies indicated strongly that the future must be in open access publishing of scholarship. their reflective responses indicated a serious sense that as the next generation of researchers they must be actively engaged in this endeavor. the students, who are focusing on community engaged scholarship in monteverde, interact with local community members and understand from an experiential perspective that communication of the processes and products of their work, in the spanish language, through multiple venues of accessible communication, is a highly important part of their outputs. monteverde institute staff, as local community members themselves, reinforce this. students articulate the importance of communicating community-based research to the local community in the local language, in a variety of venues. they also advocate for use of local residents as research assistants. 75 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging information worlds the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33520 students, who were learning about their information privilege in powerful ways they had not previously considered consistently displayed empathy for those unable to access research and scholarship they needed due to prohibitive costs associated with expensive, proprietary journal subscriptions. demonstrated in both student discussion and in their reflective responses to the prompt asking them to provide ideas for leveling the global information playing field as the next generation of researchers, a need for equitable global access to research and a desire to actively work toward that goal was an overwhelmingly recurring theme. both importance of opportunities for reflection in successful international service-learning experiences and the development of empathy through this medium are reinforced by stanlick and hammond (2016). students also clearly understood the structural inequities inherent in a research landscape dominated by those from richly resourced countries with well-developed research infrastructure and the implications of this for limiting understanding of complex global issues. additionally, students understood the clear disadvantages associated with an inability to read and write proficiently in the english language as a latin american scholar, and the implications of the linguistic bias of what is considered highly regarded global scholarship. they were particularly empathic to this issue, as they were working alongside and interacting daily with native spanish speakers who are the local experts in the community context. student reflections overwhelmingly mentioned the need for community-based research to be first and foremost published in the native language of the community. mochidrhe (2019) addresses the “hidden paywall” that the english language as the language of choice of global scholarly communication presents for non-english speakers. so long as english remains the de facto language of global research and scholarship, the high costs in time and money that it imposes on non-native learners will inhibit information exchange, handicap academic careers, and impede public participation in research, especially in those regions where there is the greatest need for the opportunities that engagement with global scholarship promises and where articulate voices are most acutely missing from broader global conversations. (mochridhe, 2019, p. 426) finally, the overwhelming empathetic response by students was their concern that communitybased research in latin america addresses problems or issues identified by the community as relevant to them, includes community members as active participants in the research process, and makes results of research widely accessible to community members through a variety of communication venues in the community’s native language. while this is a reflection of the impactful community-engaged scholarship experiences the students were in the midst of, it also points to student ability to contextualize their experiences with regard to wider scholarly communication justice issues. this outcome is consistent with the philosophical concept of “moralized compassion” as applied to the student experience at engaged universities in a global and unequal world (maginess & mackenzie, 2018). student emotive responses were characterized by feelings of empathy, understanding, and a need for relevant and accessible community engaged research and scholarship. additionally, they were quite clear that as the next generation of researchers, open access to research must be a priority and they repeatedly expressed that it is their responsibility to be actively involved with this endeavor. as undergraduates from richly resourced higher education institutions, they were largely engaging with concepts of global information inequities both in production and dissemination of scholarship for the first time. in that sense, the conversation was simplistic and 76 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging information worlds the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33520 not fully representative of the complexities and inequities in open access publishing that are continuing to evolve (for a critical discussion of the inequities emerging in open access publishing see: schopfel & herb, eds., 2018). additionally, the ideas of cognitive injustice and epistemological injustice regarding representation of knowledges from the global south (in the case of our discussion, latin america) were only very briefly introduced to students and ultimately warrants further discussion as a much wider educational endeavor (see santos, 2014 and santos, 2018 for detailed, broad-ranging thought on the concept of epistemic injustice). local biologists and community members conversation discussion with the group of local biologists and community members elicited a different set of pragmatic and emotive responses. first-hand frustration with the dominant system of restrictive access to research and scholarship was a recurring theme, both with this group and with local researchers and staff present in the student discussions. inability to access scholarly information at the point of need and the injustice of the restrictive commercial model of scholarly communication continues to be a large challenge for local researchers. though access to the body of global scholarship has been made easier through services such as researchgate and academia.edu, this still at times requires e-mailing authors for articles and waiting for responses. sci-hub was mentioned by one participant as his go-to place for accessing the scholarly journal literature that he needs for his research. he commented on his high success rate of obtaining articles he needs in sci-hub, and though aware that these articles are made available illegally, he felt that the immorality of the system behind the model of restrictive access to scholarship warranted and justified his use of sci-hub. additionally, this group continues to use their social networks of colleagues largely affiliated with universities in north america to obtain and e-mail articles to them. the model that has emerged as the predominant model for open access publishing in the global scientific literature, also driven by the few large commercial publishers of scholarship, is that of article processing charges (apcs), shifting the burden of paying for publication to the authors. there was, as well, a large feeling of frustration with this model expressed by the discussion participants who do publish in this body of literature but cannot afford to pay the apcs, as researchers with little to no funding to support their research. although fully and actively supportive of the concept of open access, the reality for at least one recently published author in the room was that he and his co-authors could not afford the $3,000 apcs required to make their publication available as an open access publication in the specialized journal in which they chose to publish. therefore, in order to publish in the prestigious journal that accepted their article, their scholarship became restricted to only those who could afford the journal subscription costs. in this particular case, the journal made an editorial decision to provide free access to the article, which was openly available for a period of time before it reverted to subscription-only access at the discretion of the journal. discussion ensued about factors to consider when making choices about where to publish and authors’ rights regarding author agreements with proprietary publishers. another theme that emerged in this discussion was the recognition of the english language as the lingua franca of scientific publication in the body of journal literature considered most prestigious, and what that meant particularly for the native spanish speakers in the audience. one native spanish speaker commented on the amount of time she spends translating articles for local colleagues who do not have the command of the english language that she has. she indicated that translation services such as google translate are so poor for translating scientific 77 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging information worlds the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33520 research that she ends up doing it all by hand. others felt confident that the technology exists to provide better translation services for scholarly research publication than is presently available. stepping up the quality of translation services for scholarly publications should be a priority for journal publishers. finally, both native english speakers and native spanish speakers in the audience acknowledged the prestige of publishing in the body of scholarly literature considered to be global publications. however, the native spanish speakers were much more aware of the body of latin american open access publications and the corresponding publishing platforms and discovery tools of scielo and redalyc.org than were the local expatriate native english language speakers. as a group, they were all unaware of the ability to search the scielo database in web of science (from a pulldown menu that is not obvious and separate from their core collection). web of science provides a more powerful search interface than does the native scielo interface, and additionally provides detailed scholarly metrics information. there is no reason they should have been aware of this, given their inability to access the extremely expensive web of science database, and is yet another ironic reminder of the unequal scholarly information world in which we live. referring to the inclusion of the scielo database in web of science, leslie chan (2018) asks in a blog post, “has scielo redrawn the unipolar and northern-centric nature of the global publishing system, enabling a multi-polar intellectual and linguistic diversity to flourish, or has (is) scielo itself being redrawn in the image of the global north?” this is a complicated question that was mentioned but not adequately addressed in the discussion due to its complexity, the need to provide further background and contextual information for the audience, and the reality of our time constraints as darkness descended and the discussion had gone well over time. concluding remarks the middle ground that the monteverde institute occupies as a costa rican organization supporting community-engaged scholarship, with its strong ties to both the local community and north american higher education institutions, enables meaningful conversations about global inequities in scholarly communication across multiple perspectives, backgrounds, and lived realities. the monteverde institute is fully committed to making the research conducted under its auspices available in its open access digital collections, bilingually whenever possible, and recognizes the importance of both its educational and pragmatic role to this commitment. globally, the next generation of researchers are entering a research world that includes greater collaboration, open preprint servers providing access to research before peer review, and increased recognition of the importance of non-profit models of open access, open science, and open data. these are hopeful signs that we are moving towards more open and equitable scholarly communications systems. from whatever vantage points we occupy in the world as educators, researchers, and information specialists, the opportunities for critical discussions and evaluations of our current and future scholarly communications ecosystems, are potential precursors to change. finally, monteverde, costa rica is not representative of rural communities in impoverished countries in the global south, but because of its uniquely situated middle ground and multiple realities (rural costa rican community, international ecotourism destination, small north american quaker community, scientific interest in the high elevation cloud forest, to name a few), becomes an accessible place to engage with multiple constituencies and multiple perspectives regarding global inequities in access to and production of research and scholarship. 78 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging information worlds the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33520 the opportunities for engaging with multiple perspectives in a single space has made the conversations all the more poignant. references blicharska, m., smithers, r. j., kuchler, m., agrawal, g. k., gutiérrez, j. m., hassanali, a., huq, s., koller, s., marjit, s., mshinda, h., masjuki, h., solomons, n., staden, j., mikusiński, g. (2017). steps to overcome the north–south divide in research relevant to climate change policy and practice. nature climate change, 7(1), 21-27. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3163 burlingame, l. (2019). history of the monteverde institute. https://mvinstitute.s3.amazonaws.com/a-forms-pdf/mvi%20hist%208-19.pdf chan, l. (2018, september 3). scielo, open infrastructure and independence. scielo in perspective. https://blog.scielo.org/en/2018/09/03/scielo-open-infrastructure-andindependence/#.xfpk6nzkg6i czerniewicz, l., goodier, s., & morrell, r. (2017). southern knowledge online? climate change research discoverability and communication practices. information, communication & society, 20(3), 386-405. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2016.1168473 drabinski, e., & tewell, e. (2019). critical information literacy. the international encyclopedia of media literacy, (pp. 1-4). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118978238.ieml0042 gómez, l. f., ríos-osorio, l., & eschenhagen, m. l. (2013). agroecology publications and coloniality of knowledge. agronomy for sustainable development, 33(2), 355-362. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-012-0109-6 hamilton, d. (2019). facilitating engagement among academic and community partners: the monteverde institute’s view from the middle. social sciences, 8(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci8040121 jacobs, h. l. m. (2008). information literacy and reflective pedagogical praxis. the journal of academic librarianship, 34(3), 256-262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2008.03.009 jones, g. & spadafora, a. (2016, june). entrepreneurs and the co-creation of ecotourism in costa rica. harvard business school working paper, no. 16-136. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.instrepos:31680683 karlsson, s., srebotnjak, t., & gonzales, p. (2007). understanding the north–south knowledge divide and its implications for policy: a quantitative analysis of the generation of scientific knowledge in the environmental sciences. environmental science & policy, 10(7-8), 668-684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2007.04.001 kuh, g. d. (2008). high-impact educational practices: what they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. association of american colleges & universities. 79 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3163 https://mvinstitute.s3.amazonaws.com/a-forms-pdf/mvi%20hist%208-19.pdf https://blog.scielo.org/en/2018/09/03/scielo-open-infrastructure-and-independence/#.xfpk6nzkg6i https://blog.scielo.org/en/2018/09/03/scielo-open-infrastructure-and-independence/#.xfpk6nzkg6i https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2016.1168473 https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118978238.ieml0042 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-012-0109-6 https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci8040121 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2008.03.009 http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.instrepos:31680683 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2007.04.001 bridging information worlds the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33520 kutner, l. (2019). undergraduate education abroad in community settings: pedagogical opportunities for librarians. in y. luckert & l.i. carpenter (eds.), the globalized library: american academic libraries and international students, collections, and practices (pp. 299-314). association of college and research libraries. mochridhe, r. (2019). linguistic equity as open access: internationalizing the language of scholarly communication. the journal of academic librarianship, 45(4), 423-427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2019.02.006 maginess, t., & mackenzie, a. (2018). achieving moralised compassion in higher education. journal of perspectives in applied academic practice, 6(3), 42-48. https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v6i3.370 nagendra, h., bai, x., brondizio, e. s., & lwasa, s. (2018). the urban south and the predicament of global sustainability. nature sustainability, 1(7), 341-349. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0101-5 santos, b. d. s. (2014). epistemologies of the south: justice against epistemicide. paradigm publishers. schopfel, j., & herb, u. (eds.). (2019). open divide: critical studies on open access. library juice press. stanlick, s. e., & hammond, t. c. (2016). service-learning and undergraduates: exploring connections between ambiguity tolerance, empathy, and motivation in an overseas service trip. the international journal of research on service-learning and community engagement, 4(1), 273-289. http://journals.sfu.ca/iarslce/index.php/journal/article/view/224 vessuri, h., guédon, j.c., cetto, a. m., & beigel, f. (2014). excellence or quality? impact of the current competition regime on science and scientific publishing in latin america and its implications for development. current sociology, 62(5), 647-665. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392113512839 laurie kutner (laurie.kutner@uvm.edu) is a library associate professor in the information and instruction services department at the university of vermont howe library, holds a secondary faculty appointment in the environmental program at the university of vermont, and is a research affiliate at the monteverde institute in costa rica. laurie has worked on several initiatives with libraries in costa rica and peru. her scholarship has recently focused on her international work and on internationalization and the academic library. she holds master’s degrees in library and information science and anthropology from syracuse university. 80 jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2019.02.006 https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v6i3.370 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0101-5 http://journals.sfu.ca/iarslce/index.php/journal/article/view/224 https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392113512839 mailto:laurie.kutner@uvm.edu introduction setting and background the student presentations and discussions the presentation and discussion with the local biologists’ group and community (2018) reflections and observations student conversations local biologists and community members conversation concluding remarks references in search of the missing narrative: children of polish deportees in great britain the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34029 in search of the missing narrative: children of polish deportees in great britain julia devlin, center for flight and migration, germany abstract the trauma of forced migration is not only detrimental for the victims themselves, but can overcast subsequent generations as well. this article examines the role of the family narrative in the case of polish deportees and their descendants. drawing upon aleida and jan assmann's concepts of communicative and cultural memory, i address how the development of selfconstruction and identity of the second generation was impeded by their parents' difficulties to verbalize a traumatic past. i argue that aside from the communicative memory, the cultural memory of this group was affected as well as their experiences of victimization were politically and socially not recognized. keywords: biographical reconstruction; communicative memory; cultural memory; family narrative; forced migration publication type: research article introduction igration challenges the traditional notion of communicative and cultural memory as a supportive source of identity. migrants are faced with the challenge of trying to retain their memories to stay connected to their cultures of origin, while at the same time trying to fit into the society in which they have relocated. if the migration was not voluntary, trauma can make it all the more difficult for the stories of an individual's or a family's past to be handed down to the next generation. my research rests at the nexus of historical migration studies and memory studies. it seeks to understand how the forced migration of polish citizens during world war ii affected family narrative, and thus communicative memory, in that community. the power of the narrative merriam webster dictionary defines narrative as “a) something that is narrated [...]; b) a way of presenting or understanding a situation or series of events that reflects and promotes a particular point of view or set of values.” narratives reach beyond the mere account of an event, and because of this, scholars of various academic backgrounds have relied on them for insight into the human experience. psychologists were among the first to explore this field (boder, 1949; sarbin, 1986; bruner, 1990; linde, 1993), but those from other disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, education, literature, and history, have turned their attention to narratives as well. by constructing narratives, people make sense of personal experiences. baumeister and newman (1994) pointed out that “constructing stories can thus be understood as one mode of, or one phase in, the process of making sense of one's experiences” (p. 677), and m https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi in search of the missing narrative the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34029 according to rosenwald and ochberg (1992), personal stories are not merely a way of telling someone (or oneself) about one's life; they are the means by which identities may be fashioned. it is this formative—and sometimes deformative—power of life stories that makes them important. (p.1; see also welzer, 2002) life stories are formative not only for an individual, but for group identity as well. in the case of families, psychologists stress the significance of informal communication for the construction of a shared past. as studies conducted at emory university have shown, family narratives are fundamental to the holistic development of children (fivush, 2008; fivush, 2011; bohanek et al., 2009). psychologists examined the relationship between family narrative interaction style when reminiscing and the sense of self of preadolescents, and found that: narratives provide understanding, evaluation, and perspective on the events of our lives. through narrative interactions about the shared past, parents help shape children's understanding of who they were, who they are now, and presumably who they will be in the future, both as individuals and as members of the family. thus, although family communication and interaction in other contexts and settings is clearly important, the role of family narratives may be particularly critical for children's developing sense of self. (bohanek et al., 2006, p. 50) narrative and memory the family narrative is a medium of communicative memory. in the 1920s, french sociologist maurice halbwachs (1992) noted that the central role of memory is the construction of identity and the sense of self. jan and aleida assmann took this pioneering work further, focusing on the distinction between communicative memory and cultural memory (assmann, 2008; assmann, 2016). communicative memory refers to memories shared between the members of a (smaller) social group. it requires personal interaction, is limited to the recent past, spans three to four generations, and focuses on the autobiographical and the personal. the most important medium for conveying these memories is informal verbal communication such as that which is practiced in regular family life. according to jan assmann (2008), cultural memory “is a form of collective memory, in the sense that it is shared by a number of people and that it conveys to these people a collective, that is, cultural, identity” (p. 111). cultural memory is formed through a symbolic heritage that can be embodied in enduring media such as texts, monuments, or museums, as well as through symbolic rituals, celebrations, or music. these media function as mnemonic triggers; they initiate meaning. cultural memory transcends generations—it can span decades, centuries, or even, as in the case of religions, millennia. both communicative and cultural memory are important for identity formation. they enable the construction of a narrative picture of the past, and through this, the development of a personal image and identity; at the same time, they can affirm membership in a particular cultural group. memory in the context of forced migration the processes of both communicative and cultural memory are affected by forced migration. in the case of voluntary migration, there are frequently narratives about the country of origin, the process of separation from that country, and the process of relocation (e.g., conversation about 23 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index in search of the missing narrative the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34029 the motivation to leave and discussion of the benefits or disadvantages), but in the case of forced migration, there tend to be few narratives, as communicative memory is disrupted by the experience of trauma (assmann, 2011. furthermore, victims of forced migration tend to be passive victims. aleida assmann differentiates between active victimhood and passive victimhood. active victimhood can turn the trauma of persecution into a heroic, meaningful sacrifice, while passive victimhood is characterized by powerlessness, and does not offer the possibility to prepare for a fight or to resist. thus, the trauma does not enter active memory easily, as it cannot be integrated into a positive individual or collective self-image (assmann, 2016). it may take time before it is recognized and articulated in the private or societal sphere, if that happens at all. but a trauma can only become part of communicative or cultural memory when it is articulated. which form of memory—cultural or communicative—the victimization experience of a group will be codified into depends on whether the group succeeds in organizing itself as a community of solidarity and develop an intergenerational form of commemoration (assmann, 2016, p. 73). the effects of forced migration on the intergenerational form of commemoration have been the subject of several studies. elizabeth colson's pioneering work the social consequences of resettlement (1971) investigated the effects of the forced relocation of the gwembe tonga in zambia. peter loizos explored, with a focus on how memory works, how forcibly displaced peoples of the ottoman empire and the early turkish republic managed their past. he coined the term “half-life or relocation” to describe the idea that memories resonate long after traumatic events have occurred (loizos, 1999). jo laycock investigated the narratives of repatriated armenians in the aftermath of the armenian genocide (laycock, 2016). vasso stelaku examined how generations of greeks expelled from cappadocia pass on a memory of their former homelands (stelaku, 2003). the case of collective memory in two small communities in the polish-ukrainian borderland that suffered ethnic cleansing, displacement, and forced relocation has been investigated by anna wylegała (2019). over the last 15 years, ample research has been done on the interrupted communication between generations in the context of the forced migration of ethnic germans during and after world war ii (janus, 2006; radebold et al., 2008; kitzmann, 2011; reddemann, 2018; meyer, 2020). in my research, i will focus on the experience of the forcibly displaced poles from the eastern borderlands. the late social anthropologist keith sword explored the historical events surrounding these deportations in his polish migration project. his work focused on the historical aspects and ethnic identity of secondor “half-” generation poles (sword et al., 1989; sword, 1994, 1996). a polish odyssey in 1940 and 1941, the people's commissariat for internal affairs (nkvd) deported thousands of polish citizens from eastern poland—the kresy—to the interior of the soviet union, mainly to siberia, kazakhstan, and uzbekistan. one conservative estimate gives the number of deported citizens as 320,000 (ciesielski et al., 2002, p. 33), while other authors speak of 1.5 million people (lane, 2004, p. 79). many of the deportees did not survive the journey, and many others died due to the harsh conditions of their exile (devlin, 2014, p. 19). in 1941, after nazi germany attacked its former ally, the remaining kresy were released as a 24 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index in search of the missing narrative the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34029 consequence of the sikorski-majski agreement. more than 110,000 poles were evacuated to persia via the caspian sea; men fit for the military joined the war effort in support of the allies, while 34,000 civilians were sent to refugee camps in africa and india. after the war, these camps were closed, and most of the refugees emigrated to the u.s., canada, great britain, and australia, while a small group of orphans was allowed to settle in new zealand in 1944. most of the poles who had fought alongside the allies settled in great britain, where they were granted assistance (knox & kushner, 1999, pp. 217-240). the poles who had stayed behind in the soviet union were repatriated to poland after the war. some of them opted for further migration, as they were familiar with the conditions they would be facing under communism. moreover, their prewar homes no longer existed, since the kresy borderlands had been incorporated into the belarussian, lithuanian, and ukrainian soviet republics (sword, 1994). method research objectives and questions with this research, i extend the scholarship on transgenerational transmission of trauma and the formation of communicative and cultural memory in the survivors of the 1940/41 deportations from the polish kresy borderlands. i explore how the trauma of deportation and the ensuing ordeals influenced the second generation, focusing on intra-family communication. more specifically, i ask: rq 1: how is the family narrative affected in the aftermath of forced migration? rq 2: how did children of deportation make up for missing information about their parents' lives? rq 3: what role does information play in the process of identity formation? research approach in-depth interviews in-depth interviews were conducted during february and march of 2019 to gather information narratives from four children of deportation survivors: three women and one man (n=4). these respondents were chosen because they covered a wide age range, having been born between 1946 and the early 1960s. their mothers or fathers also covered several age groups—some had been teenagers, others young adults, and another, a small child when they were deported. participants were located at a polish community center in london during an annual event commemorating the deportations, which began in february 1940, during the second world war. the method used was a narrative, semi-structured interview administered in two sessions, based on the concept developed by schütze (2008) and rosenthal (2018). the first interview lasted between 1.5 and 2 hours and was structured by the interviewee, with a set of guideline questions as stimuli. the interviewee was asked to describe the biography of the deported parent and their family life in england. the questions centered on the experiences of the deported person and aspects of polish identity in exile, the knowledge the grown child had about their polish-deportee 25 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index in search of the missing narrative the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34029 parent, and how this knowledge had been transmitted. the second session took place on the following day, after a review of the first interview. it took in the form of a reflective inquiry session in which the interviewer asked questions about ideas that had been mentioned the day before, or that had not been mentioned but were of interest to the researcher (rosenthal, 2018, p. 133). the second interview was slightly shorter, lasting between 1 and 1.5 hours. all volunteers received a letter explaining the aim and method of the study. it contained an assurance that the interviews would be anonymized and then transcribed, after which the recordings would be deleted. the data were stored according to the european union's general data protection regulation (general data protection regulation, 2016). participants agreed to the interviews being audio recorded and to the use of anonymized quotes in publications. all participants were of legal age. their names have been changed as per their request. interview data were coded in a line-by-line analysis, according to the grounded theory first outlined by glaser and strauss (1967) and further developed by charmaz (2006). these qualitative codes provide “an analytical handle to develop abstract ideas for interpreting each segment of data” (charmaz, 2006, p. 45). data were screened for patterns in intergenerational communication behavior among deportation survivors and their children. this resulted in information about how the family narrative was perceived and ways in which the second generation coped with missing information. the examination of the data and the coding process was facilitated by maxqda qualitative data analysis software. documentary analysis i triangulated the interview data with a documentary analysis of archival documents from the polish institute and sikorski museum, the national archives (london), published autobiographical records, and testimonies from internet forums. some survivors published their memoirs in the decades after their deportation, once they were economically and socially secure enough to reengage with their past (e.g., anders, 1949; hautzig, 1968; skwarko, 1974; teczarowska, 1985; waydenfeld, 1999; adamczyk, 2004, protassewicz, 2019). since then, a range of publications by the children and grandchildren of survivors has explored “concealed” family pasts and investigated the life courses of their parents and grandparents (zajączkowski, 2010; urbikas, 2016). for example, krystyna mew has edited her father's wartime journals (herzbaum, 2010). on a complementary website, she has related more about her father's and her family's life, and how the discovery of the journals set in motion a search for more information that motivated an actual journey to the physical sites of her father's imprisonment in russia and military deployment in italy (mew, 2012). matthew kelly embarked on a similar journey, following in the footsteps of his grandmother and great-grandmother (kelly, 2010), as did filmmaker jonathan kołodziej durand (durand, 2018). discussions, reminiscences, and information exchanges between second-generation poles abound in internet forums.1 these resources also provide insight into the second generation’s ongoing search for information. 26 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index in search of the missing narrative the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34029 exploring the preterite my father died when i was ten years old. as i was growing up, i became aware of the existence of some journals which he had written during the war. my mother didn't seem to want to delve too deeply into what was in them [...]. when she died in 2002, i inherited the journals. the journals had been lying in an old leather suitcase for nearly 60 years. (herzbaum, 2010, p. 239) this story of krystyna, the daughter of a deportation survivor, is a story told by many children of polish deportees. one or both of their parents arrive in great britain after the war, marry, and start a family. the children—the second generation—grow up in british surroundings. they tend to master life’s challenges quite well; for the most part, they conform, get jobs, and start families of their own. this second generation, however, feel they must cope with their parents' emotional distance, inexplicable behavior, and family secrets. only when they reach a particular age or stage of life—such as when they are nearing retirement, when their children leave home, or when a parent dies—do they begin to investigate their parents' biographies and piece together the family's history. celina, the daughter of a deported pole, shared a typical story on an internet site dedicated to the polish resettlement camps for demobilized polish soldiers in great britain: i don’t think i am alone as a child of a displaced pole, in not previously knowing or understanding just how cruel, inhuman, and tragic their experiences must have been. my father was incapable of sharing with us what happened to him, calmly, coherently or in any detail. he did, however, make sure that we were left in no doubt about the evils of hitler and particularly stalin, or the anger he felt towards the british. i didn’t until recently, fully understand why. the internet sites dedicated to dp camps and the wider aspects of wwii history, have gone a long way to providing many missing pieces for me. i just wish i had known a long time ago. (dębińska, n.d.) looking forward, omitting the past children of deportation survivors frequently report that the parent who lived through the trauma of deportation would talk very little about the past. research participant “aga” (name changed) described this phenomenon, saying it was "because they were survivors, and survivors don't live in the past" (interview 1, aga, march 2019, great britain). aga was born in the mid-1940s. as young adults, her parents were taken to arkhangel'sk in the arctic circle during the first wave of deportations in february of 1940. they had just recently married. aga was asked during her interview if she knew any details of her parents' experiences of deportation and exile. at first, she stated that she had not been told anything about it, but after she was asked specifically about her parents’ journey, she remembered two details about their journey in the cattle car: they said, in the train/i don't know if it was in the train, if they died at night, the bodies weren't removed until the morning. and also, as you relieved yourself, the hole in the bottom of the train. they talked about that. that's all i know about the journey. those two years in arkhangel'sk and i only know what, a few words really of what happened. (interview 1, aga, march 2019, great britain) isa's (name changed) father had been deported at the age of 20, had survived the mass executions 27 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index in search of the missing narrative the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34029 at katyn, had been sent to the arctic circle for slave labor, and had ended up joining the 2nd polish corps (part of the british 8th army) to fight in the battle at monte cassino. he was demobilized in england, where he met isa's mother, married, and raised a family. isa was born in the early 1950s. isa reported that she just accepted her father's silence, attributing it as much to his trauma as to a behavior perceived as typically male in his generation. it was clear from her interview that isa had a good relationship with her father and that she admired him for his resilience and his intelligence. she had collected some information about her father by doing research (mainly over the internet), connecting with people who knew him, and traveling to the town in poland where he had lived before the war. she had also actively encouraged her children to ask their grandfather about his past. both aga's and isa's stories reveal an acceptance of the fact they had not known more about the life of their polish parent(s) while those parents were alive, which is common among second generation poles. artistic approaches to a strained relationship more complex is the case of research participant gosia (name changed), who reported that her relationship with her late mother had been extremely difficult. gosia was born to polish parents in england in the 1960s.while she described her father as calm, she characterized her mother as unbalanced and aggressive. both gosia’s mother and father had a background of forced migration, and they both came to england after the war. as a teenager, her father was deported from western poland to nazi germany for forced labor. after liberation, he lived in north germany in a displaced persons camp, and later emigrated to england. her mother, who came from the kresy, was deported to siberia when she was three years old, with her mother, an older brother, and a younger sister. the family's father, gosia's grandfather, had been arrested by the nkvd, and his whereabouts were unknown to his family. gosia's grandmother and her aunt both succumbed to tuberculosis in siberia. when gosia described the upbringing of her orphaned mother and uncle, she said that they were “just brought up by whoever was there.” after the war, gosia's mother was repatriated to poland and placed in an orphanage. during gosia’s interview, she seemed to surmise quite a bit about her parents' lives, often using phrases such as, "i think," "i guess," "i don't know," and "i'm not sure." gosia’s description of how her mother had come to great britain also contained a lot of guesswork: my mother went to the uk because the red cross international tracing service contacted her and said, “we found your father. he's not dead. he's alive.” so i guess she would've then started saving money, or he sent money over i imagine, because he was working in a mine. he must've done that because she wouldn't have/i think she was working as a teacher, but he must've sent some money because there were no such things as cheap flights then or coaches. she would've/i think she would've got a plane over probably, or maybe a ship. i don't know, actually. maybe a ship. (interview 1, gosia, february 2019, great britain) 28 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index in search of the missing narrative the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34029 during the interview, gosia appeared to be astonished at how little she knew. considering that in the immediate postwar years, traveling from poland to england could be considered an extraordinary journey, and that the circumstances—a reunion with a father who had been believed to be dead—would have been extremely emotional, the event received surprisingly little mention in the family narrative. when asked if her mother had any memories of siberia, gosia responded in the negative: she said not. she said not, but i find that hard to believe because i remember things when i was that/well, maybe she didn't remember things from three, four, five years old, but i certainly remember lots of things from when i was seven and eight and nine. so i really/i never really/she was quite dismissive of it. she would always say that she didn't remember. and she said that there's nothing to tell. there was nothing there. there was nothing there but wolfs [sic] and snow. that's all she would say. (interview 1, gosia, february 2019, great britain) later, however, she remembered having been told one story about her mother's life in siberia: and it was a story that my mother told me. it was about the only story she told me that she once stole some carrots with her brother, and they hid them under their pillow. so i thought, "oh, they had pillows. that's strange." anyway, her mom found these carrots, and she told them off. she said, "don't ever do that again because, if you do and i get caught, i'll get thrown into the prison, and that'll be the end of you." so that is the most complete story that i have. (interview 1, gosia, february 2019, great britain) gosia's grandfather had been deported separately from his wife and children, and he later joined the 2nd polish corps, the anders' army. gosia presumed he worked in a mine in the gulag. when she was asked for more details about the mine, gosia admitted, “i don't really know. in a way, i've sort of made up my own history to fill in the bits i don't know” (interview 1, gosia, february 2019, great britain). a child of a deportation survivor "filling in the bits" by herself instead of relying on a functioning family narrative developed through conversation with her parents demonstrates a need that goes beyond a mere desire for information. furthermore, the grudge gosia bore against her mother for not being able to remember anything, which she interpreted as a deliberate denial, was remarkable: whilst i don't want this polish/this part of polish history to be forgotten, i don't want to dwell in the misery of it either because i don't think it's good for me because i felt i lived my mother's misery all my life. (interview 1, gosia, february 2019, great britain) gosia went on to relate how her mother's misery was the cause of estrangement between members of the family: and my/this is probably the saddest thing that i'll tell you. my parents never knew me. they never knew me. and in some ways, i didn't know them because i think my mother had too much pain. she/her need was so great; we could never meet her need. (interview 1, gosia, february 2019, great britain) gosia’s mother was not able to develop a healthy parent-child relationship with her daughter as a consequence of her having been deported, orphaned, and abandoned. the formation of a family 29 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index in search of the missing narrative the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34029 narrative of a redemptive character could not take place, as the mother could not or would not remember anything about her time in siberia. as aleida assmann states, "the workings of memory are sporadic, fractured, and enervated under the impact of trauma" (2011, p. 8). at the same time, she clearly suffered, and so did gosia. ellen sydney fine observed the phenomenon of "absent memory" in second-generation holocaust survivors: they are haunted by the world that has vanished; a large gap exists in their history, and they desire to bridge this gap, to be informed about what occurred, to know something about members of their family who perished. however, they feel frustrated by the impotence of incomprehension; the past eludes and excludes them. (fine, 1988, p. 42) fine was referring to writers, but gosia found a similar strategy to “bridge the gap” and gain a sense of agency. whereas most other participants use a cognitive, knowledge-based approach to fill in the missing information, she employs art. she writes books, designs animated films, and performs standup comedy in which she explores her difficult relationship with her mother, always returning to the deportation experience. discussion and implications forced migration is a traumatic experience that can cast a shadow over subsequent generations. victims are placed in a passive, powerless role. thus, they cannot integrate their sufferings into a positive self-image, as aleida assmann (2016) observed: it often happens that a traumatic experience will only be represented and socially recognized belatedly, often decades or even centuries after the historical event. only then can it become a part of a collective or cultural memory. whether or not the group experience of victimization takes on the form of a collective and cultural memory also depends upon whether the group affected succeeds in organizing itself as a collective and whether it develops commemorative forms that can span generations. in the absence of such symbolic memorial forms, it can also happen that the psychic wounds of trauma are unconsciously passed on to subsequent generations. (p. 57) in a similar vein, loizos (1999) spoke of “half-lives of dislocations” to “suggest power which goes on being active for many years but slowly loses force.” he observed that the duration of halflives depended on how “memories of past wrongs and emergent identities were managed, both by the groups themselves, and by the political influences to which they were exposed” (p. 238). the ability to cope with forced migration, however, could be encouraged by a supportive environment: but how they manage their pasts does not only depend on their own personal social constructions, but is greatly influenced both by the political attention they receive in their new situations, and the recognition—or lack of it—accorded by those associated, directly or distantly, with their original losses. (loizos, 1999, p. 260) loizos points to both communicative and cultural memory. in the case of the deported poles, neither the former nor the latter could thrive. the trauma of being victimized affected how deportation survivors communicated about their past. this was especially detrimental to the 30 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index in search of the missing narrative the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34029 children of these survivors, as they depended on their parents' communicative skills for their emotional well-being and identity development. the formation of life narratives that describe a redemptive character, thereby shaping communicative memory, can create a positive connection with the next generation. if, as in the case of forced migration, the trauma is too difficult to verbalize, the awareness of selfhood might be hindered. a collective memory could not develop either. the recognition loizos speaks of, a supportive environment, was clearly missing. their experience of victimization was not accorded political recognition. their homeland was lost when the eastern polish kresy were ceded to the soviet union in the yalta agreement. their share in the allied victory over nazi germany was not acknowledged, and the polish armed forces were not invited to take part in the 1946 victory parade. the government of the republic of poland in exile, legitimate representatives of the prewar republic, was no longer recognized, and the deportations were never mentioned in postwar poland. it was not possible to create what aleida assmann (2016) calls the “victim memory” (p. 59). not only was the communicative memory of the exiled poles hampered by individual experience, but their cultural memory was also affected. for the second generation, this has meant a gap in their identity construction, which has left them with a desperate need to piece the puzzle together in an attempt to fill the void and to regain control of traumatic events. this points to the importance of access to information. all interview participants were well-read on the history of poland and the soviet union during world war ii. they had read autobiographies of survivors. they agreed that the wealth of information available in the internet was a great help, and they frequently consulted the websites connected with the deportations. virtual museums providing databases with video-recorded survivor testimonies where memories were voiced and kept alive were extremely popular with some participants. other children of deportees were active in social forums where they exchanged information, looked for missing relatives, and found and administered encouragement. this amassing of knowledge had a reassuring effect, as it gave participants a sense of agency. moreover, it had a reconciliatory effect, as it made the participants feel closer to their deported parents and enabled them to understand their erratic behavior. finally, it had the effect of allowing them to feel part of a community of fate and triggered identity formation. for example, they experienced the often-mentioned “pride of being polish” as a collective memory of polish deportation survivors took shape. forced migrations are still taking place in all parts of the world, caused by natural disasters, war, ethnic cleansing or other types of persecutions. the findings point to the importance of researching and documenting these experiences and providing information— professional, factbased, non-judgmental, and easily accessible—about what has happened. cultural and memory institutions such as libraries and museums can recognize and represent traumatic experience and provide a supportive structure for cultural memory (in oral history projects, for example), thus encouraging communication and breaking the cycle of silence that can be so detrimental for migrants, their families, and generations to come. 31 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index in search of the missing narrative the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34029 endnote 1 for examples, see: https://kresy-siberia.org/museum/discussion/, https://www.facebook.com/groups/kresysiberiagroup, and http://www.polishresettlementcampsintheuk.co.uk/. references adamczyk, w. 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(2010). passage from england: a memoir. createspace independent publishing platform. julia devlin (julia.devlin@ku.de) is executive director of the interdisciplinary center for flight and migration at catholic university eichstätt-ingolstadt. she is a historian with a focus on voluntary and forced migration with a particular interest in transgenerational transmission of trauma and the relevance of memory in diasporic communities. she studied eastern european history, modern history, history of art and slavistics at school of slavonic and east european studies london, moskovskij linguistic university moscow and ludwig-maximilians-universität munich, where she earned her phd in 2002. julia devlin has taught a wide range of graduate courses at ludwig-maximilians-universität munich and catholic university of eichstätt, including aspects of cultural and architectural history and memory studies. besides she is involved in programs for refugee education. she is a regular author with bayerischer rundfunk, the bavarian broadcast company. 35 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index julia.devlin@ku.de introduction the power of the narrative narrative and memory memory in the context of forced migration a polish odyssey method research objectives and questions research approach in-depth interviews documentary analysis exploring the preterite looking forward, omitting the past artistic approaches to a strained relationship discussion and implications endnote references minding the design reality gap: an empirical evaluation of telecentre initiatives in rural ghana the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 minding the design reality gap: an empirical evaluation of telecentre initiatives in rural ghana daniel azerikatoa ayoung, bolgatanga technical university, ghana pamela abbott, sheffield university, united kingdom abstract this paper focuses on evaluating an information and communication technology (ict) intervention promoted as a pro-poor telecentre initiative in rural ghana. our evaluative tool is the design reality gap (drg) framework used to analyse the community information centre (cic) initiative in ghana. data were collected through a qualitative multi-site case study. by tracing the linkages between the investment and outcomes, we found a worrying trend of failed implementations and sustainability, although implementers did sustain efforts at planning new initiatives. based on the findings, we argue that the cic initiative in ghana is a failing ict intervention. we also found that the tailored drg approach allowed us to tease out the nuances that account for the cics' status. we conclude by proposing gap closure measures for the failing intervention. this paper contributes to ict evaluations by demonstrating the utility of the drg framework in evaluating one of the most significant pro-poor ict initiatives in lower-to-middleincome communities: telecentres. this research also contributes to the current ict literature by enhancing our current knowledge about publicly accessible ict facilities in an under-investigated setting, and further offers an approach to telecentre evaluations in similar contexts inspired by the drg model. keywords: community information centres; design-reality gap; ghana; ict; information and communication technology; evaluation; telecentre publication type: research article introduction nformation and communication technology (ict) interventions help alleviate poverty by supporting social, economic, and political progress (walsham, 2012). these interventions' primary aim has been to modernize the state and help citizens in lower-middle-income countries (lmics) (lin et al., 2015; furuholt & sæbø 2018). through the diffusion of public information systems (is) to deprived communities, governments have sought to bridge the ict gap and allow such groups to participate in decision-making activities (world bank, 2008). the objective of these initiatives has been broadly threefold: (1) to ensure citizens are not unduly excluded from the benefits of icts (madon et al., 2009); (2) to alleviate poverty in deprived communities (may & diga, 2015) and; (3) to deliver government services to the broader society (cordella & tempini, 2015). i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 arguably, a pervasive ict intervention deployed widely in lmics to support rural communities' development efforts has been telecentres (pick et al., 2014). telecentres are strategic facilities where ict-based services and applications are accessible to the public (mukerji, 2008). telecentres seek to help integrate marginalised citizens into the wider community and empower them with information and growth opportunities (chawinga & ngwira, 2015). these initiatives aim to give beneficiary communities the chance to improve their well-being while also enabling them to increase their levels of relative social change, cohesion and empowerment (kapondera, et al., 2019; yasya, 2020). enticing as the benefits may be, along with the unparalleled support telecentre initiatives in emerging economies have received from governments, international institutions and nongovernmental organisations, evidence suggests that their implementation has been fraught with significant levels of failure (chaudhuri, 2012; toyama, 2010). for instance, gollakota and pick (2020) suggest that although india set out to establish over 250,000 telecentres in rural india, only a few (notably e-choupals and ekutir) have been successful. the literature is replete with several of these failures (see best & kumar, 2008; attwood et al., 2013; wamuyu, 2015; kante et al., 2017). irrespective of the significant number of failed ict interventions in lmics, a substantial amount continue to implement such projects. governments' difficulties in implementing public services come to light because of the significant investment of resources in systems to increase efficiency (heeks, 2002; avgerou, 2008). hence, there is the need to evaluate the viability of implemented ict projects and justify their continuity (heeks, 2009). according to uys and pather (2020), the evaluation of public access icts, like telecentres, is necessary to determine whether socio-economic development goals have been achieved. telecentre evaluations can serve several purposes: for example, they can recognise benefits, appraise value, measure success, draw lessons from past interventions, and use the evaluations to improve future interventions (stockdale & standing, 2006). evaluations can also bring different perspectives to policy-makers and practitioners, facilitating their decision-making through improved understanding of the interventions' possible implications (sampson, 2007). with sufficient rigor and consistency, evaluations can support stakeholders with “local learning” (clements et al., 2008, p. 207) and broaden our knowledge of how successful or failed initiatives derived their outcome (pade-khene & sewry, 2011). we undertake an in-depth study of the apparent failure of a telecentre initiative in rural ghana, which was initially seen as successful in granting universal access to icts in underserved communities. telecentres (known as a community information centre (cic) in ghana) have been in existence since 2005, spearheaded by a government initiative (gifec, 2013). the cics were established with multiple objectives, as an inclusive drive and to bridge the gap between marginalised and unserved communities/groups (i.e., bridging the diversity gap) by providing access to ict facilities, and relevant information in communities that do not have any form of libraries or information centres. the design inscription of the cic was to make room for a diverse group of individuals who by virtue of their socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, were marginalised. the value of these centres must be brought into consideration to justify their continued existence. therefore, this study, at one level, is to empirically establish the current status (regarding success or failure) of cics in ghana and to discover why the evaluated situation (success/failure/partial failure) exists. the following questions will be investigated in the present study: what is the current status of ghana's cic initiative? why does the evaluated situation exist? 65 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 the following section reviews the literature on telecentre evaluation, then proposes the designreality-gap framework as our evaluation methodology. the study context and research approach are then described, followed by the study findings, analysis and discussion. the final section concludes the paper with an indication of limitations and future research. literature review telecentre (tc) evaluation to some extent, telecentres have become an unfortunate exemplar of information and communications technology for development (ict4d) failure (best & kumar, 2008). one of the critical issues highlighted about these telecentre ventures' failure is that they were essentially developed to help bridge the digital divide of internet access between rural and urban communities, and between the socially advantaged and disadvantaged. with this emphasis on access, common telecentre evaluation methods would focus on quantitative measures of “success” such as numbers of people served by the facilities, the number of facilities commissioned, and the amount of infrastructure installed. related studies have also revealed that simply making telecentres available and accessible is not enough to address the many levels of the digital divide as they are now understood (chaudhuri, 2012; joseph & thomas, 2021; kumar & kumara, 2018). some telecentre evaluation studies have attempted to address these difficulties. the international development research centre (idrc), for example, developed an approach to telecentre evaluation based on participatory design, which reflected some guiding principles developed from idrc-sponsored studies of telecentre impact in asia, africa, and latin america. the idrc’s guiding principles include being useful, financially responsible, building local capacity, and enabling shared learning. the acacia1 framework for evaluating telecentres is based on similar principles, where success is measured based on “financial sustainability, service performance and community benefits” (whyte, 1998, p. 5) and various methods, including user surveys, focus groups and participatory research, are used as evaluation approaches. acacia is deployed at the telecentre operation's design and implementation stages to guide pre-hoc and post-hoc evaluation. first-order and second-order levels of access (riggins & dewan, 2005) have also been subsequently explored in the global impact study (sey et al., 2013) project, which investigated the potentially continuing relevance of public access computing venues (including telecentres) by surveying and studying their usage in eight different predominantly lower-middle-income countries. one of the issues identified by this project was the difficulty of measuring direct and indirect socio-cultural impacts of usage. the researchers resorted to using self-assessments of these impacts from surveys answered by the respondents. several other cross-sectional evaluation methods were used in the study because it was also deemed too difficult to obtain historical data to understand path dependencies, if they existed. in-depth case studies further supplemented the research since the researchers found that country contexts differed and that any study about the impacts of the public access computing venues needed to consider the differences in usage that had emerged in these different contexts and to study them in detail. through the global impact study, sey et al. (2013) identified nuances and complementarities in how public access computing supported its users' day-to-day lives. this work and several other supporting studies (sey & fellows, 2011; sey et al., 2015; siefer, 2014; guijt, 2014) also 66 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 demonstrate the importance of various stakeholders' multiple views in establishing a shared understanding of these complex issues. to address this research's objective, we lean more towards applying a practical evaluation tool– design reality gap (drg) framework–which draws on contingent factors to assess is in context. the following section gives an in-depth exposition on the drg framework, clearly defining the rationale and its utility for telecentre evaluations. analytical framework design-reality gap (drg) framework the focal point of heeks’ (2002) model is to interrogate how any socio-technical system (in this paper equated to an ict initiative) fits meaningfully into the environment of implementation. in essence, the system must be in harmony with the environment in which it is implemented to succeed. the reasons for success or failure are multifactorial. using a contingency approach, heeks (2006a) argues that there needs to be a fit between an organisational system and its environment. hence, design inscriptions for a system should not depart from the context. recognising that information systems are socio-technical in nature, the framework employs multiple factors (seven dimensions) to investigate a phenomenon (see appendix a for a description of the seven dimensions). the assumption is that there is a gap between design requirements and current implementation (heeks, 2008). the magnitude of the gap between design and the outcome determines whether the project will succeed. the smaller the gap, the higher the project's likelihood of success, while a large difference indicates the probability of failure. heeks (2002) suggests that the drg framework is much more useful in assessing information systems in lmics than in advanced economies. in lmics, it is thought that the context of design is often divorced from the context of implementation (heeks, 2002; avgerou, 2008, 2010). the framework is grounded theoretically from “literature on the social construction of technology” and that of “contingency in organisational change” (bass & heeks, 2011, p. 5). the design-reality gap (drg) framework is intended to explicitly rate a particular information system (is)'s success/failure status. its underlying assumption is that there is no single avenue to determine this status in any given is, but rather the success or failure of a system is influenced by its context. the drg has the advantage of simplicity, yet is endowed with methodological rigor in its application. it allows researchers to evaluate an ict initiative (such as telecentres). drg can explain and predict occurrences of failure or success. although a relatively new assessment tool, its application is increasing due to its ease of use in the assessment of is in lmics (macias-garza & heeks, 2006; lessa et al., 2012). several researchers recognize its benefits in is evaluations (syamsuddin, 2011; hewapathirana & rodrigo, 2013; baraka et al., 2015; afolayan, 2016). palvia et al. (2015) suggest that the drg's expediency lies in its ability to identify dimensions of design and reality. critiques of the drg while the framework is useful in assessing ict initiatives, it must be emphasised that it has certain shortfalls. the drg is a standard metric that classifies an ict4d intervention using a 67 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 defined set of parameters. practical implementations of the framework have measured these dimensions in isolation. this efficiently acknowledges the reasons that caused the failure or success of an ict4d initiative, but since such an evaluation is static, the drg fails to allow insight into the processes that have led to the assessed result. a concern is whether researchers have undue influence in the scoring of the various drg dimensions, since the assignment of scores is subjective. researchers and assessment teams often choose to score each dimension on research findings (heeks, 2008). heeks (2003) suggests a workshop for key stakeholders to increase the number of participants in the assessment process. in reducing subjective bias, workshops would be considered a broader resource base to increase bias. the drg is good at identifying constraints that prevent the successful implementation of projects, but not the drivers that push for success (heeks, 2006). strong project drivers have the potential to overcome constraints that can cause the failure of projects (heeks, 2006). additionally, the framework cannot justify the implementation of unsuccessful ict4d initiatives in developing countries. bass and heeks (2011), in calling for an extension of the original framework, suggest that it is limited in application, especially in non-it evaluations and propose that perhaps the framework needs a review. application to telecentre evaluation in this study we chose to use the drg framework for our telecentre investigation for multiple reasons. stakeholder involvement is critical to the drg approach, as each stakeholder is actively involved in the evaluation. the involvement of stakeholders increases the probability of beneficiaries accepting the assessment outcome. guijt (2014) suggests that the participation of stakeholders in evaluation produces “better data, better understanding of the data, more appropriate recommendations, better uptake of findings” (p. 2). the presence of stakeholders ensures that gap scores are derived through a systematic and empirical process. the ease in which we can comprehend and adapt drg to investigate is promotes a more flexible incorporation of new techniques and approaches (in the form of ‘gap closure’ measures) to avoid failure, unlike the “traditional methodology” (heeks, 2006, p. 135). a one-size-fits-all implementation approach has often been shown to be ineffective. even though the seven components of drg reflect characteristics that earlier studies have taken into account, their research outcomes mainly deal with only one or two factors of the framework. for example, heeks and arun (2010) worked with the context of implementation, bailey and ngwenyama (2009) dealt with the lack of digital skills/illiteracy, ramírez et al. (2014) focused on quality data/information, fillip and foote (2007) examined financial constraints, and souter (2011) examined technology and strategy. however, the drg does incorporate all these factors into a single measurement category to keep track of ict initiatives throughout a project’s duration (hawari & heeks, 2010). this method helps countries avoid the one-size-fits-all approach common to ict implementations in developing countries (hawari & heeks, 2010). to undertake a longitudinal analysis of the cic, we were interested in undertaking a project evaluation to assess the gaps between the design inscriptions of the cic as inscribed by the implementers of the system, and the reality at the time of assessment (bass & heeks, 2011). from this review, it is clear that drg is theoretically grounded, incorporates intangible aspects and multi-stakeholder perspectives in the evaluation method, as well as sensitising the assessor 68 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 to the situated nature of the ict4d intervention being evaluated by representing and interpreting the “gap” between the context of design and the context of reality. methodology this research adopted a qualitative multi-site case study approach (grimes & warschauer, 2010) consisting of eight different telecentres to appreciate the broader perspective of the phenomenon under investigation. we use the case study approach to evaluate a phenomenon in its natural context of use. data collection methods the drg framework served as a guide for the formulation of the data collection protocols. the study participants needed to be drawn from community members in the catchment area (boyce & neale, 2006). for this study, the participants were selected purposively. this sampling strategy is often employed when a particular issue, such as the cic, is being studied. the stakeholders were carefully selected because they had detailed knowledge and were informative (creswell, 2012) because they were involved in its usage and management. the selected stakeholders were assembly officials and managers of the facilities (see table 1). snowball sampling (browne, 2005) was also employed to recruit a section of participants (centre users) who were ‘heavy users.’ this method started by talking to well-known individuals in the research community. to start with, the centre managers informed the researcher of the frequent users of the facility. they, in turn, pointed us in the direction of other users they frequently encountered. an appointment was then scheduled for those who agreed to take part in the study. data collection data was drawn from multiple sources/stakeholders. in-depth interviews were conducted with centre managers to allow participants to express their thoughts and experiences in an unconstrained manner (boyce & neale, 2006). it should be noted that the various centres' managers had indicated that they were familiar with the design inscriptions of the cics through workshops and seminar presentations organized by the ghana investment fund for electronic communications (gifec). similarly, assembly officials (owners of the cic) as implementers of the project were familiar with the cic design inscriptions. as such, both groups could aid in the collection of adequate data. the third category of stakeholders were users of the various facilities. personal experiences of users of the facilities could prove invaluable, especially in assessing the impact of the cics on beneficiaries. they were asked questions mainly structured around the seven dimensions. the content of their responses illustrated their working relationship with the system and gave researchers insight into the benefits derived from its use. at the end of the interview, respondents (assembly officials, managers, and users) were then instructed to evaluate the seven dimensions with the scale given. the cic blueprint document, community information centres (cics) in the age of ict: ghana’s blueprint for action, was useful in the research process (ministry of communications, 2004). the benchmark for comparison between design and actual reality at the time of the study was derived from the cic project objectives stipulated in the cic blueprint. this was the main source 69 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 document consulted since it was the official implementation document. palvia et al. (2015) suggest that the expediency of the drg also lies in its ability to identify dimensions of design and reality, that is, “…dimensions of design can be derived from legal/policy documents” (p. 4). the adoption of multi-stakeholder involvement in collecting data allowed for triangulation of data to validate the information gathered. table 1: interviews and role of interviewees people interviewed profile content of interviews number interviewed assembly officials the main officials here were the district coordinating director (dcd) or the cic schedule officer. the dcd is the administrative head of each district. they are usually civil servants without political affiliations. implementation and management of cics 8 gifec official technical advisers to the implementing organisation with direct responsibility of planning, implementing and monitoring cics in various communities the history of gifec and its involvement in the design and implementation of various cics 1 centre managers staff of the district assembly recruited to manage cic and under the direct supervision of the dcd or schedule officer. user/patron information needs, management issues, services offered and service delivery 11 beneficiary /users users who frequented the cics use and impact 30 data analysis–evaluation using the drg framework we adopted a descriptive approach to data analyses. data were analysed through a deductive thematic approach where existing concepts or ideas influenced coding and theme development. thematic analysis is pattern recognition (themes drawn from data gathered) (braun & clark, 2006). using the drg framework implied, we had a predetermined set of themes (the seven dimensions) to use as our basis for analysis. using the qualitative software nvivo 10, a priori themes were created as nodes for relevant data to be coded. the research followed a systematic process to ensure that all data were coded to the appropriate theme. a transcript was selected and read while coding to the various themes related to the selected text and continued until the author was satisfied that all relevant data had been adequately coded to matching themes. duplicates were removed and similar codes 70 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 were consolidated into one number. this was done systematically for each theme. the research followed a systematic process to ensure that all data were coded to the appropriate theme. deriving the drg score during the interviews, participants were acquainted with the rating scale and then responded to it on a rubric. the rating was done through a scale between 0 and 10, with 0 representing no gap at all (system addressed intention) and 10 being the most likely cause of failure. the result was then summed up and compared with the table devised by heeks (2003) (see appendix c). an interpretation was given as to whether the project was a success or failure. a sum of all dimension scores was computed and a weighted average was calculated (see table 2). the average total scores were then summed up to produce the final drg score for the cic initiative. a numerical rating is obtained, which reflects a qualitative judgement of the extent of success and failure. it is qualitative in nature because it does not measure the dimensions, but rather allows a ranking to be applied, thus revealing the relative importance of a specific dimension. the rating process was slightly different from the original approach (heeks, 2008). in the original approach, researcher(s) determine the rating based on the assessment of the project under study and sometimes organise workshops with key stakeholders where the rating was also done with researchers facilitating the process. in this study, we asked assembly officials, managers of the centres, and participating users to rate the drg dimensions individually, explaining the rating scale. lastly, we interpreted a gap score to be small if it is rated from 1-4, medium gap if rated 5 and a large (sizable) gap if rated 6-10. context and case ghana is divided into 16 administrative regions. according to the ghana living standards survey round 7 (glss7)2, the upper east region is the third poorest and underserved area of the country (ghana statistical services (gss), 2018). the upper east region is also the least urbanised area of the country. we conducted our study in this part of ghana because the region has some of the oldest cic telecentre facilities, with the first centre opening in 2005 and the most recent centre having opened in 2009 (see appendix b for telecentre profiles). given the centres’ longevity, their outcomes while providing information services over the years would inform researchers of significant hurdles cics have faced and why some of the centres have closed. also, there has been minimal research on information services of telecentres at this depth of analysis in the ghanaian context. the above considerations further justify the current investigation. this research was conducted in eight separate centres (see appendix b for telecentre profiles). these sites are all located in the upper east region of ghana. as previously indicated, these centres were established by the government of ghana using the same blueprint (in terms of concept, structure, and equipment) applied to telecentres throughout the country, and thus share similar characteristics in terms of mission, vision, and services provided. three out of the eight centres were operational at the time of the study (appendix b). we were equally interested in the five closed centres because we wanted to understand the multi-layered reasons for their closure from a tri-lensed managerial, staff, and user point of view. we appreciate that the closure of a centre might not necessarily imply failure of the project, hence their inclusion in this study. the map below (figure 1) indicates the locations of cics in the upper east region. 71 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 figure 1. map showing cic sites (not drawn to scale). (google, n.d.). table 2. summary of gap scores (see appendix d for detailed gap score) drg dimensions respondents information technology processes objective s and values staffing and skills management systems and structures other resources: time and money drg score users 6.6 6.6 5.9 5.6 6.6 6.7 7.1 45.0 assembly officials 6.6 6.8 6.2 7.1 6.3 6.9 7.4 47.2 managers 6.3 5.9 6.2 5.6 6.5 6.7 7.3 44.6 researchers 7 6 5 5 5.5 7 7 42.5 total average drg score 6.6 6.3 5.8 5.8 6.2 6.8 7.2 44.8 findings in this section, a qualitative analysis using the seven dimensions of the drg is presented. the format of this presentation is two-fold: first, stating the researchers’ interpretation of the design expectations of the system as envisioned by implementers of the project (documented in the cic 72 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 blueprint) and second, describing respondents’ perception of reality as it was discovered at the time of the research. this analysis is presented under the seven dimensions of the drg framework. a summary of gap scores for the various dimensions is presented in table 2 below, while an interpretation of the overall gap is discussed at the end of this subsection where we present the intended design for telecentres that were to meet the particular drg dimension, along with an analysis of the reality of the specific drg dimension in action within the community. information the information dimension's objective was to elicit insights into the information needs of users of the cics and determine whether these information needs were met. this theme was vital in that it fulfilled the primary mandate for the establishment of the cic initiatives: to provide relevant information for beneficiary communities, to enhance their ability to participate favourably in the growth of the local economy and consequently allow users to make informed decisions based on the knowledge acquired from centres (ayoung, 2016). design. the centres' principal goal was to assist the users to get the most value out of the information provided. as part of the design, therefore, users' information requirements primarily focused on specific kinds of information; government information, food and other commodity prices, and the current weather and disease information. online portals for the district assemblies were also to be developed and linked to the cics to promote online communications, thus becoming an integral part of the ghana e-government strategy. further, it was to provide useful information to users that was relevant to their daily livelihood. therefore, content developers were encouraged to create content that was appropriate to user needs and cater to all sectors of the community. to be more successful, managers were required to anticipate the information needs of users and synthesize this information for local consumption. reality. evidence from the study is, however, contrary to this position. the centres had little to no locally sourced information. neither did the centres provide any information on market prices for agricultural products, hiv/aids, for civic groups, or small businesses that cater to women. a small number of people visited the cics searching for government information, crop prices in nearby markets, weather information, extension services, and public health information. however, users' information-seeking behaviour suggests that most people came to the centre to communicate via email with friends and for secretarial services. one user commented “i live not far from the cic. i mostly come here to check my mails or print documents and sometimes do photocopies” (user9). one manager stated that the information provided is dependent on the information needs of users. no conscious effort was put in to make certain kinds of information accessible. nevertheless, an attempt was made to meet customer needs when searching for specific information. therefore, information delivery was demand-driven. information demand was skewed towards employment, education, and to a lesser extent, health-related information. linkages with other government institutions such as the information services department were not apparent. 73 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 design-reality gap. for the information dimension of the drg, the reality at the telecentres was far below the design expectation. design intentions were nowhere near what occurred, thus creating a sizable design-reality gap. technology ict projects such as cics tend to be focused on technological and infrastructural efforts. such efforts include the deployment of computers and accessories, reliable internet setup, wider telecommunication infrastructure and electricity. the cics must have these resources available and be sufficient to operate efficiently. design. a major condition for a community to qualify for a telecentre was easy and reliable access to electricity in various forms. based on the design, each telecentre was meant to have about 30 networked desktop computers, to serve users and for training purposes, installed in two adjoining rooms. one section is intended for browsing and the other designated for training sessions. additionally, internet connectivity is a crucial component of the cic to facilitate access to consistent internet services so that users have multiple opportunities for quick information and to facilitate efficient communication. radio stations were to be established in each centre to complement the centre's activities with regards to the broadcast of information to the local community. ultimately, the cic and radio station's convergence was to be a novel strategy to integrate new and traditional ict systems to propagate local content to community folks. the notion is that when these two modalities are combined, they offer excellent opportunities for community engagement and information dissemination. lastly, multimedia facilities offered video capture and editing of various programmes for a fee as well as access to fax machines, printers, telephones, televisions and copy facilities. reality. the findings show that although these amenities were present at some centres, they were unreliable. only three centres had working, reliable internet connectivity. most users that frequent the cic mainly use the internet. therefore, the loss of internet connectivity led to a decrease in usage and the subsequent closure of some centres. when the internet breaks down, nobody comes here again. on a normal day, the number of people who come for services like printing, photocopying is not that much like those who come to access information from the internet and at the close of the day the highest revenue received is from internet services. (manager10) some cic users complained about the poor quality of the internet connections. frequent power outages and the installation of prepaid electricity metres were issues of concern, accounting for the closure of the three centres due to unpaid electricity bills. one manager stated: “we use the prepaid system to purchase credit for electricity. whenever we run short of credit, it takes me close to two to three days to buy credit after the request has been sent to the district assembly” (manager3). for the majority of cics investigated, computers had not been replaced since they were installed at the inception of the cics (i.e., between 2005 and 2007). at the time of the administration of the survey, the community radio station, which is another critical implementation, had still not been realised. design-reality gap. a large design-reality gap emerged on the technology’s dimension. although pieces of equipment were supplied to centres at their inception, no conscious effort was made to repair or replace them over time. this was prevalent at all cics investigated. in most cases, 74 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 centres were handicapped in delivering their mandate, due mainly to the inadequate availability of ict equipment. processes this theme depicts various work and information flows throughout the entire cic operations. well-planned and well-intentioned processes only yield good results if applied. design. stakeholder participation was to serve as the bedrock for the implementation of the whole project. the design principle of the system took into consideration the user community’s need for an ict centre. as such, its siting, furnishing, and information/content needs were conditioned on stakeholder input. therefore, steps were to be taken to organise stakeholder meetings in beneficiary communities to solicit relevant information to this end. reality. the reality from the data indicates that there was hardly any stakeholder involvement regarding decision-making and information dissemination from the cics. assembly officials indicated that they were not directly involved, which explains why there were doubts about the ownership of some centres. expressing lack of participation, one assembly official from a closed centre stated that: yes, it is in principle in our hands but the way the whole setup was carried out came with its problems, i must say it was not properly done. it looks like the stakeholders were not properly involved in the policy framework to understand it to know their roles and responsibility which has been carried through to let the assembly know who owns the project. (assem.off.5) concerning the establishment of new cics, an official from the gifec explained how some politicians circumvented established practice: “some politicians have used their clout to influence the location [siting] of some of these centres in their constituencies even though they have cics. as a result, needy communities are neglected” (assem.off.3). such interventions met the political aspirations of local politicians and incumbent governments but failed to fulfil the objectives and rationale for establishing the cics in deprived communities. design-reality gap. the procedure for establishing a cic for any given community involves several processes including the period of feasibility study through to the handing over to the assembly responsible from which point it is open to the general public for use. however, major stakeholders such as users, community leaders, and some government agencies like the information services department were not involved. thus, this dimension yielded a medium gap since design inscriptions were partially fulfilled. objectives and values this theme represents the pivot of the cics mandate that became essential to the survival of the whole initiative. cic objectives and values demonstrate the rationale for the establishment as a poverty-targeted initiative to support underprivileged communities. the cic system was designed to cater to a context with cultural and social values that recognised structure and authority situated in the local government system. it was thus projected that such structures, when used in this manner, would yield positive outcomes for beneficiary communities. 75 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 design. the telecentres were designed to operate within the local government system as an additional unit. therefore, their operation and sustainability were to be subsumed under the organisational culture that emanates from the assembly. consequently, cics were to inherit the value system or norms (such as structure, authority, maintenance culture and political nuances) of the local government. the objectives of the cics include: bridging the digital divide between rural and urban areas; helping to empower women by providing them with training and information for establishing micro-enterprises; improving governance and inclusiveness at the local level towards national integration; creating ict awareness in the rural areas; disseminating information, especially in areas of health, local government, environment, agriculture; providing an opportunity for ict training for users; supporting community-based organisations through the promotion of workshops and publication resources; and ultimately, serving as a mechanism for poverty reduction. reality. the values and norms which inspired the gifec to transfer ownership to assemblies were, however, not apparent in the cics studied. instead, the mission of the centres was overshadowed by a political culture that favoured the use of power vested in political appointees at the assemblies to subvert due process in managing cics with a preference for political affiliation. despite the efforts that had been made to include and empower women, gender inequalities still remained. women made up a smaller proportion of the clientele in the centres. on average, managers agreed that three out of ten centre users were women. there was no strong evidence of empowerment of beneficiaries to improve their economic and social status significantly. as a facility built to close the diversity and exclusion gap, it was problematic that this vision was far from reaching the ideal. case in point, one centre manager reflected: “how many of users even know that this centre exists, let alone use it to empower themselves" (manager2). despite these difficulties, the reality was that the objectives of the cics had been partially completed. for instance, it was observed that the facility was in use by nearby schools for their lessons at a point in time. the managers of these centres had scheduled timetables so that during ict periods, teachers visited the facility to augment the training given in class. also, some centres provided an internet point of presence, albeit sporadically, to community members, which facilitated computer skills learning. design-reality gap. for those who frequently used the cics, it facilitated bridging the digital divide, created an ict awareness in the rural areas where they were established, although marginally, and provided an opportunity for ict training for users. therefore, this dimension yielded a medium gap since design inscriptions were partially fulfilled. staff and skills this dimension looks at the manpower requirements necessary to run an efficient cic. design. the design of the cics anticipated the presence of staff possessing information technology, managerial, and business/entrepreneurial expertise to operate the centres successfully. the cics recruited specialized professionals based on the expectation that the project's success hinged on the quality of staff trained or engaged to effectively manage the information centres. the design made provision for a centre administrator (manager) with 76 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 sufficient ict skills to facilitate smooth service delivery in the centre and additional support staff. reality. in reality, all centres except one had a permanent staff person to handle the facility. occasionally, entities such as the gifec, the united nations development programme (ghana), and other agencies trained the staff and supplied equipment to operate the centres. staff attrition has been a problem since the centres were established. all but one of the centres have experienced the turnover of several managers. based on interviews, some of the staff members who left for better-paying positions elsewhere cited that the skills attained in their role as cic managers were the primary catalyst for obtaining their new jobs. when patronage was high, managers reported that they were often overwhelmed with the number of clients. in many cases, frequent requests were made for additional staff, but some assemblies were not able to send specialized staff, deploying employees they considered ‘redundant’ or ‘idling’ to support cic managers. one previous cic manager states: the centre usually has only the manager as the main staff but when there is pressure, we send any staff of the assembly who is idling to support him. we know it is not the best but that is what we can afford to spare.” (manager1) another relevant issue was the remuneration of centre managers and volunteers. an assembly administrator gave a picture of the financial difficulty they face and why they are unable to pay the centre manager in the following statement: some of the small assemblies are in financial crises. we are hardly able to fulfil all our obligations financially. it is true that we are always behind in the payment of the cic manager, sometimes about eight to nine months’ arrears. (assem.off.3) some of the managers who left the cics attested that they were being paid better in private establishments. the lack of pay at the cic was demoralising, considering it often took several months before they could be paid. to survive, most of the cic managers worked additional jobs in the area of computer repair, homework support for pupils, and technical support for other organisations. schedule officers of the cics confirmed that various assemblies did not have salaried cic managers. the schedule officers' claim was that the centres were operating at a loss, and thus it was not sound financial planning to reward managers for the poor (schedule officer, personal communication, november 26, 2019). ironically, the only fully operational cic centre had its manager on the assembly’s payroll. also, it was discovered that political influences on managerial hires were significant. similarly, some centre managers complained they were hounded out of their positions because they were branded as belonging to an ‘opposition party’ (managers 2, 3, and 6). often these conditions led to the departure of dissatisfied staff, unable to perform their duties. conversely, assembly officials complained that some managers did not feel accountable to schedule officers because of their political affiliations leading to a clash of egos. design-reality gap. overall, staff capacity relates directly to managers' ability to evaluate information for localised usage according to the information dimension. the gap between project design and actual reality was exacerbated by political manipulation, interpersonal friction and staff attrition, resulting in a huge design-reality gap for the staff and skills theme of the drg. 77 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 management systems and structures the management theme of the drg has to do with the management and reporting of processes and structures within the assembly and its cic. design. the cics’ administration was conceived on the principle of decentralization implemented by the local government of ghana. this approach was to encourage more structured decision-making with the assembly taking ownership and direct responsibility for the cics. the management style was fashioned along the decentralisation concept which advocates participatory governance. in line with this notion, the frontline management structure was made of nine representatives from diverse stakeholder groups to form steering committees. the steering committees were assigned to manage the telecentres on a day-to-day basis and required to follow sound management practices. periodic meetings were to be organized by the committees' chairpersons to evaluate the centres' progress and streamline their activities to ensure financial value. ultimately, the vision was for these committees and assemblies to devolve authority of running the centres to a broad community-based steering committee to consolidate a sense of ownership by the community in which the centres operate. reality. the findings indicate that most of these committees were never established. most facilities never created steering committees and those that did barely functioned as such. case in point, one assembly official stated: our [steering committee] was not formed from the beginning and that is why i said that the way [the cics] were rolled out, it was when they finally engaged the assembly to let the assembly understand that [the cic] was its project, and we should see to the maintenance of the place, that management decided to form a three-member committee. (assem.off.8) probing further, it was revealed that the said committee never actually executed its mandate because members hardly met as a team to deliberate. another negative trend was the delay in responding to requisitions from managers. managers complained that when they made requisitions for stationery or repair of damaged equipment, it often took several weeks to fulfil such requests. this usually disrupted service delivery to customers. a manager of a closed centre lamented: “there is no respect for our work. when we ask for materials to manage the centre, they ignore us, making our work difficult” (manager7). this proved to be the case with some managers, who demonstrated an inability to determine where their loyalties lay between the implementing agency and the facility owners (the assembly officials). one instance of this conundrum can be seen in the following quote from a previous centre manager: “our mother organisation [gifec] from accra came and installed phone booths” (manager7). during our interview, manager7 was asked to substantiate what he meant. he explained that the assembly did not care about the state of the cics and often referred the centre managers to the gifec to inquire about equipment replacement and in-service training. to a number of manager7’s colleagues, external organisations were more interested in the survival of the cics than their owners. 78 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 a major observation was the lack of, or inadequate records-keeping culture at all centres investigated. although the cic managers all admit they have been given some training on recordskeeping, it was not immediately apparent why such practices were not being practiced. another critical concern was evidence of ways in which traditional bureaucracies and hierarchies had made it difficult for centre owners to get third-party collaborators to manage their facilities. it was apparent from the accounts of assembly officials that external support was necessary for the survival of the cics in the face of dwindling funding. despite interest from the private businesses to invest in the initiatives, bureaucratic inertia limited investor enthusiasm. design-reality gap. the constant conflict between staff and management and the inherent red tape delayed service delivery and thus created a medium to large design-reality gap with a score of 6.8 (see table 2). other resources: finances/revenues/time this theme represents other factors apart from any of the themes above, but also essential for evaluating the status of the cic, such as finance and timetable. design. the centres were established to cater to the underprivileged and needy in the community. therefore, service and product charges, especially secretarial services, were supposed to be affordable for everybody in the community. the sustainability of the cics was a vital component for the roll-out of the initiative. this depends not only on financial stability but also a conducive environment. the ghana government, through its implementing agency (gifec), recognised the most challenging factor would be sufficient long-term funding to sustain the initiative. as a design inscription, the government envisioned domestic resource mobilisation rather than donor-led support. one such approach was to shift ownership to the community, which could then mobilise community-based funding to achieve sustainability by building local capacity to operate and maintain the centre under the district assembly's supervision. reality. the cic managers and clients interviewed agreed that the cost of services at the cics were the lowest compared to privately-owned icts. irrespective of these seemingly ‘cheap’ charges, the cics were expected to generate sustainable revenue. in general, the respondents felt that opening hours were inconvenient. according to managers, a significant proportion of users were school children and working individuals. it was only when students finished school or adults completed their workday that they could make good use of the facility. nevertheless, these centres were set to close by 5 pm each working day. cics were also officially closed on weekends and holidays. one user commented: “i wish the manager could extend the opening hour to say 7 pm. i close at 5 pm, so i will be able to browse for at least two hours and hopefully get some work done” (user13). space was also a concern. the following are statements from two users of two separate centres: the place is not big. so, if you even encourage people to come, you cannot contain them. so, i proposed that they introduce a wireless service which can cover a wide area so that if you have a laptop, you can browse even outside the centre by coming to buy time you need. now look. i am using a laptop, but i am covering space which another could have used. (user7) 79 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 they should have a schedule so that we know when the students are coming so we don’t have to come when they are here. we don't have to be waiting when the students have their classes. (user2) however, the facility's management had no immediate plans to expand the structure to accommodate more users or provide wi-fi services for individuals with mobile devices. there was a constant conflict between the centre managers and assembly officials regarding the release of funds for day-to-day activities. this condition was prevalent with most cics. it was observed that there was no separate facility account as required by management procedures. the managers were instructed to deposit money in the mother company's main accounts instead. in a setting such as the local government, administrative systems tend to be slow to respond to day-to-day requirements. a significant financial constraint was the irregular release of funds by the central government to the assemblies. with minimal internally generated funds, assemblies cannot spend adequately on their core duties and see the cics demands as peripheral. design-reality gap. the resulting inefficiencies and poor resource management resulted in insufficient service delivery levels and thus produced a large design reality gap on this theme. interpretation of drg scores table 2 summarises the individual responses and aggregates the average score for each of the seven dimensions of the drg obtained from the study. the scoring was relatively consistent across the various respondent groups, thus demonstrating some common interpretation of their perception of the cic implementation reality. the drg score for the cic initiative comes to 44.8 which, when interpreted using the ‘likely outcomes’ table (see appendix c), indicates that the: “ict project may well fail unless action is taken to close design-reality gaps.” thus, the evaluation results are an assessment of partial failure. discussion gap closure measures for many users, managers, and officials of the telecentres of the upper east region, the cic initiative has fallen short of intended objectives. we argue, based on the findings, that the cic initiative in ghana is a failing ict intervention that needs urgent attention from the government and respective district assemblies. this study reasoned that though cics disseminated traditional, relevant, local content to beneficiaries (community users), the dearth of access due to inadequate hours of operation, low administrative efficiency, and inadequate staffing discouraged the continuous use of the centres and consequently led to the minimal adoption and adaptation of the cics to support daily endeavours. this means that future cic design and implementation should look beyond stakeholder-inscribed needs for communities, and realise the importance of information needs assessment by incorporating participatory mechanisms where potential user needs are captured and integrated into the design process (siefer, 2014). this kind of approach can lead to improved community buy-in for the telecentres. 80 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 as mutula (2008) observed, community members will not hasten to utilise the most modern and fully equipped ict facility merely because they view other necessities (electricity, potable water, toilets, and health services) as more critical to improving their wellbeing. to make telecentres in ghana just as vital of a community resource, cics should be built upon communityled participatory processes coupled with the support of local and national governmental agencies (mutula, 2008). community ownership allows telecentres to evolve and meet the changing needs of users. thus, a community will be able to embed specifications that allow them to find a way to fulfill their local needs. the question then becomes, “who in the community would or could take up this charge? who will fill this institutional void?” khanna and palepu (2010) describe institutional voids as the absence of efficient intermediaries in an organisational environment whose supporting roles are critical in implementing an institutional mandate. a criterion for success lies in acknowledging that there are voids (i.e., design gaps) in an institution and devising ways to exploit them to one's advantage. this study discovered a severe deficiency in the cic initiative's governance that needs immediate attention from the stakeholders of the cics. to plug the gap, the governance models currently in place within the cics must be revised and the private sector brought in to deliver services (mukerji, 2020). public-private alliances may exploit these facilities to engage younger and more innovative users in these disadvantaged communities. there could be cic locations where budding entrepreneurs can nurture and foster their dreams or receive education to initiate new businesses. institutional structures are in place to support these initiatives. in ghana, as with all developing countries, resource constraints inhibit growth and consequently adversely affect any indications of sustainability. it is significant to note that the cics did not fail because they were not fit for purpose; their failure was largely due to a lack of commitment on the part of implementers/owners of the system (the assembly officials) which relates to a lack of budgetary support from the government, the main financier of the cic centres. as a social intervention, the cics in the upper east region of ghana needed political will and financial support to survive in most cases. the assemblies that own the cics were themselves underfunded. therefore, as observed in the findings, it was challenging to pay cic staff meaningful wages and to maintain much needed ict equipment. in essence, the funding model was weak for sustainability purposes. for the initiative to survive, the funding model needs to evolve to a more sustainable form, like a public-private partnership model (ppp)3 we are suggesting based on the outcomes of this study. there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that private ownership or a collaborative, community-led (public) initiative with private support, a ppp model, is a more viable governance model. two examples of the ppp model in action include the e-choupals of india (mukerji, 2020) and the union digital centres in bangladesh (faroqi et al., 2019). similarly, telecentres in ghana need to be empowered to adequately provide for the needs of the clients. it is apparent from this study that ghanaian facilities and staff in the upper east region were not empowered to provide adequate and sustainable information services for the communities they served. finally, a major failure factor observed was the widespread lack of good record-keeping practices from both the cics’ managers and owners. there were scant or no records on usage patterns, maintenance regimes, and income generation. it was difficult for both parties to adequately assess and identify relevant design gaps that might lead to unsustainability in the absence of records. as a gap closure measure, records keeping and management must necessarily be practiced within the scope of a stringent monitoring regime. 81 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 a critical assessment of the drg for telecentre evaluation although we argue that the drg helped evaluate the cic telecentre initiative, we must admit that we identified three main limitations. the first two emanate from an inherent design problem with the drg framework itself (requiring future applied modification of the framework), while the third is explicitly concerned with our study and similar applications. we now proceed to discuss these limitations. multiple designs and reality scenarios we realised that although design inscriptions depicted the design inspirations of implementors of the cic initiatives, users also had their impression of design conceptions which they felt should have inspired the design of the entire project. the drg fell short in accommodating multiple scenarios as it was not feasible to create two designs (expectations of designers and users) against which the realities of system use could be compared. static vs. dynamic the drg does not explicitly offer a means of establishing a relational analysis of the actors, entities, settings, and technologies constituting the context of implementation, although such information is probably captured in rating the dimensions. such an examination would give insight into the development processes underlying the outcome evaluated by the drg method. secondly, related to this point, the drg also fails to offer explanations for the reasons for the outcome of the evaluation of success, failure, or partial failure, a finding also argued by masiero (2016). for instance, the drg seeks to unearth gaps that lead to failure while neglecting to appreciate the reasons for those gaps. the initial evaluation is therefore static, not giving insight into procedural issues underlying a contextual understanding of the reasons for success or failure. without this understanding, telecentre projects could continue to suffer sustainability failure with actors continuing to invest in the same failing efforts. as a remedy, we propose a further analysis that considers interesting and relevant emerging themes from the coding process: the root causes underlying design reality gaps should be as important as the gaps themselves (masiero, 2016). our critique supports masiero’s emphasis on the notion that these gaps interact dynamically with processes that eventually result in an initiative's failure or success by performing causal analysis for those gaps. she concurs with the argument that the failure of information systems in lmics is not simply a malfunction of the technological centre, but a disjunction between the telecentre and its social environment. such an approach resonates with hayes and westrup’s (2012) assertion that contexts of ict implementation are dynamically coproduced with actors, entities, settings, and technology in an initiative's development processes. furthermore, it is in the understanding of the relationships between these aspects that the contingent and provisionally natured telecentres can be made visible by assessing what counts as success, failure, or partial failure based on community resourcefulness, use, and engagement. time frame/lapse the time frame of an evaluation is relevant in research to justify the validation of findings. for ghana’s upper east region cics, therefore, the argument is if the drg can handle the significant time difference between the design of the first telecentre in 2004 and the time of evaluation for cics that had closed by 2019. the juxtaposition of this timeline was problematic because it was difficult to contact some officials and managers for those centres. however, we could get around 82 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 this issue by spending ample time to locate managers and assembly officials of the closed centres. for the assembly officials, most of those in active service had been transferred to other district assemblies within the local government service, working in other non-ict capacities. through contact tracing though, we were able to interview these knowledgeable informants. admittedly, it could be argued that the interview approach might also suffer from recall and memory bias because of the time-lapse, as the interviewees might not correctly recall design inscriptions that occurred in 2004. to mitigate this variance, we relied on other documents and reports (such as the cic blueprint) to construct a timeline of events and activities to triangulate and validate findings. conclusion this study reviewed literature on the evaluation of telecentres in ghana’s upper east region, and brought to light several methods used to evaluate those telecentres. following this broadbased critique, the paper established an approach by which a pragmatic evaluation of telecentres in ghana could be approached. the problem of context and its relation to the failure of icts to produce relevant development outcomes has been highlighted many times in the ict4d literature (avgerou, 2010; hayes & westrup, 2012; heeks, 2002). further analysis of these processes would probably reveal systemic, institutional, and other structural factors. this study helps to understand the state of ghanaian telecentre facilities and their use in the upper east region. data outcomes allow for recognising situation-specific factors that determine the success and failure of the design, management, and use of eight community information centres (cics) in the upper east region of ghana. specifically, this research gives a deeper insight into how a wide design reality gap (drg) occurred in the cics, and how such deficiencies subsequently affected the users who participated in the study. our findings are more contextspecific, thereby giving a deeper understanding of the ghanaian context for identifying and meeting information needs in lmic communities. the findings provide a lens for stakeholders and policy-makers to view the cics' performance and usefulness as a means of granting universal access to icts. this paper contributes to the ict4d literature in three forms. first, it demonstrates the utility of drg in evaluating by far one of the biggest pro-poor ict initiatives in lmics–telecentres. it further demonstrates that the evaluation method used here unearthed meaningful insights into the upper east region’s cics’ problematic status and serves as a first attempt, to our knowledge, to use the drg framework to evaluate a telecentre initiative. second, this research contributes to the current ict4d literature by enhancing our current knowledge about public access to ict facilities in an under-investigated setting. third, we further offer an approach to telecentre evaluations in similar contexts inspired by the drg framework while highlighting the drg’s strengths and limitations. this study successfully determined the status of the cics of the upper east region of ghana as a failing initiative, but did not surface the underlying reasons for the reported failure. future research should investigate the rationale for the sustained launch of new cics in the face of the evaluated situation. 83 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 endnotes 1 the project by international development research centre (idrc) was named after the acacia tree which is found throughout sub-saharan africa. 2 since 1987, the ghana statistical service (gss) has been conducting the ghana living standards survey (glss) with the aim of measuring the living conditions and well-being of the population. the glss has been useful to policymakers and other stakeholders as it provides timely and reliable information about trends in poverty and helps identify priority areas for policy interventions that aim at improving the lives of the population. previous rounds of the survey were conducted in 1987/88, 1988/89, 1991/92, 1998/99, 2005/06, and 2012/13. 3 see the world bank’s website at: https://ppp.worldbank.org/public-privatepartnership/overview/what-are-public-private-partnerships for more information on the ppp model. 84 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://ppp.worldbank.org/public-private-partnership/overview/what-are-public-private-partnerships https://ppp.worldbank.org/public-private-partnership/overview/what-are-public-private-partnerships minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 appendix a: a description of the seven drg dimensions drg dimensions constituent features information information needs of patrons, how information is used, sources, information flow from managers to patrons technology ict equipment availability e.g. computers, printers, internet, power, scanners, photocopiers, etc. (hardware and software) processes work, managerial and institutional processes necessary for successful implementation of a project objectives and values the goal of establishing the initiative, organisational politics, organisational context in which it operates, cultural values of users staffing and skills adequate number of staff and requisite it and managerial skills management systems and structures ownership of centres, reporting structures other resources: time and money time frame for implementation, adequate financial support, remuneration 85 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 appendix b: profile of cics cic name year of establishment population of catchment area resources/services service delivery models status at the time of evaluation bawku 2005 98,538 -20 lan points, 10 workstations, server, printer and scanner, no internet, no electricity (disconnected) -secretarial, it training hybrid forprofit closed bolgatanga 2005 131,550 -20 lan points, 15 workstations, server, printer, scanner, photocopier, projector, -internet, secretarial, it training hybrid forprofit operational bongo 2008 84,545 -20 lan points, 10 workstations, server, printer and scanner, no internet, no electricity (disconnected) -secretarial, it training hybrid forprofit closed nabdam 2008 33,826 -20 lan points, 15 workstations, server, printer, scanner, photocopier -secretarial service hybrid forprofit closed navrongo 2005 109,944 -20 lan points, 15 workstations, server, printer, scanner, photocopier, internet connection -internet, secretarial, it training hybrid forprofit operational sandema 2005 56,477 -20 lan points, 15 workstations, server, printer, scanner, photocopier, internet connection -internet, secretarial, it training hybrid forprofit closed tongo 2009 81,194 -20 lan points, 20 workstations, server, printer, scanner, photocopier, internet connection -internet, secretarial services hybrid forprofit operational zebila 2007 94,034 -20 lan points, 10 workstations, server, printer and scanner, no internet, no electricity (disconnected) hybrid forprofit closed 86 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 appendix c: ict projects likely outcomes table (adapted from heeks (2003)) overall rating likely outcomes table 57–70 ict project will almost certainly fail unless action is taken to close design-reality gaps 43–56 ict project may well fail unless action is taken to close design-reality gaps 29–42 ict might fail totally, or might well be a partial failure unless action is taken to close design-reality gaps 15–28 ict project might be a partial failure unless action is taken to close design-reality gaps 0–14 ict project may well succeed 87 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 appendix d: detailed drg scores for all categories of participants. drg dimensions respondents information technology processes objectives and values staffing and skills management systems and structures other resources: time and money d r g s c o re s user1 6 7 6 5.5 6 6 7 user2 6 7 6 6 6 7 7 user3 6 6 5 5 7 6 7 user4 7 7 6 5.5 6 7 6.5 user5 7 7 5 5 6 6 7.5 user6 6 6 6.5 6 7 6 7 user7 7 6 6 6 7 7 8 user8 7 6 5 5 7 6.5 7.5 user9 6.5 6 5 5 7 6.5 7.5 user10 6.5 6 5 6 7 6 7 user11 7 6.5 6 6 7 7 7 user12 7 6 6 5.5 6 7 7 user13 7 6 7 6 7 7 8 user14 7 6 5.5 6 6 6.5 6.5 88 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 user15 6 7 6 6 6 6.5 6.5 user16 7 7 7 6.5 6.5 8 7 user17 6.5 7 6 5 7 7 7 user18 6 7 7 5.5 6 7 6.5 user19 6 7 6.5 5.5 6 7 6 user20 6 6.5 6 6 6 6.5 7 user21 6.5 6.5 6.5 6 6.5 6.5 7 user22 7 7.5 5.5 6 7 6 7 user23 7 7 5.5 5 7 6 8 user24 7 6 6 6 8 7 8 user25 7 7 5 5 7 6.5 7.5 user26 6 6 5 5.5 7 6.5 7.5 user27 6.5 7 6 5 7 7 7 user28 6.5 7 6 5.5 6 7 6.5 user29 7 7 7 6 8 8 7 user30 7 6 5 5 6 7 6 average score 6.60 6.57 5.87 5.60 6.63 6.70 7.07 89 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 d r g s c o re s assem. off.1 6 7.5 6 7 6 7 8 assem. off.2 7 6.5 6 7 7 7 7 assem. off.3 7 7 6 6.5 6 6 7.5 assem. off.4 7 7 6.5 7 7 7 7 assem. off.5 6.5 7 7 7 6 6 8 assem. off.6 6 7 6 7 5 7 7 assem. off.7 6 6 6 8 7 8 8 assem. off.8 7.5 6 6 7 6 7 7 average score 6.63 6.75 6.19 7.06 6.25 6.88 7.44 d r g s c o re s manager1 6 6 6.5 7 7 6 7 manager2 7 6 6 6 7 7 8 manager3 7 6.5 6 5.5 6 6.5 7 manager4 6.5 6.5 7 5.5 7 6.5 7.5 manager5 6.5 5 6 5 7 7 7 manager6 6 5.5 7 6 6 7 7 manager7 6 6 6.5 5.5 6 7 8 manager8 6 6.5 6 6 7 7 7 90 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 manager9 6 6 6 5.5 6 6 8 manager10 6 5 6 5 6 7 7 manager11 6 6 5 5 7 7 7 average score 6.27 5.91 6.18 5.64 6.55 6.73 7.32 researcher 7 6 5 5 5.5 7 7 references afolayan, g. e. 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(2014). infomediaries: brokers of public access. final report (global impact study research report series). technology & social change group, university of washington information school. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/item/25410/gis_infomedi aries_final_report.pdf?sequence=1 riggins, f.j. & dewan s. (2005, december 1). the digital divide: current and future research directions. journal of the association for information systems, 6(12), 1. https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00074 sampson, a. (2007). developing robust approaches to evaluating social programmes. evaluation, 13(4), 477-493. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1356389007082132 sey, a., & fellows, m. (2011). loose strands: searching for evidence of public access ict impact on development. in proceedings of the 2011 iconference (pp. 189-194). acm. https://tascha.uw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/p189-sey.pdf sey, a., c. coward, f. bar, g. sciadas, c. rothschild, & koepke l. (2013). connecting people for development: why public access icts matter. research report; 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10625/51520 sey, a., f. bar, c. coward, l. koepke, c. rothschild, & sciadas g. (2015). there when you need it: the multiple dimensions of public access ict uses and impacts. information technologies & international development 11(1), 71-86. https://itidjournal.org/index.php/itid/article/view/1363.html siefer, a. (2014). engaging stakeholders: the first step to increasing digital inclusion. the journal of community informatics, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.15353/joci.v10i1.2667 souter, d. (2011). realising the potential of icts in tanzania. panos institute. http://panoslondon.panosnetwork.org/wp-content/files/2011/01/panos-londonicts_and_tanzania-policy.pdf stockdale, r. & standing, c. (2006, july 1). a classification model to support sme e-commerce adoption initiatives. journal of small business and enterprise development, 13(3), 381394. https://doi.org/10.1108/14626000610680262 syamsuddin, i. (2011). evaluation of e-government initiatives in developing countries: an itposmo approach. international research journal of applied and basic sciences, 2(12), 439-446. https://irjabs.com/files_site/paperlist/r_234_121014152607.pdf toyama, k. (2010). can technology end poverty? boston review, 35(6), 12-29. https://inworks.ucdenver.edu/jkb/iwks2300/readings/bostonreview_cantechendpove rty.pdf uys, c., & pather, s. (2020). a benefits framework for public access ict4d programmes. the electronic journal of information systems in developing countries, 86(2), e12119. https://doi.org/10.1002/isd2.12119 walsham, g. (2012, june). are we making a better world with icts: reflections on a future 96 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/item/25410/gis_infomediaries_final_report.pdf?sequence=1 https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/item/25410/gis_infomediaries_final_report.pdf?sequence=1 https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00074 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1356389007082132 https://tascha.uw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/p189-sey.pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10625/51520 https://itidjournal.org/index.php/itid/article/view/1363.html https://doi.org/10.15353/joci.v10i1.2667 http://panoslondon.panosnetwork.org/wp-content/files/2011/01/panos-london-icts_and_tanzania-policy.pdf http://panoslondon.panosnetwork.org/wp-content/files/2011/01/panos-london-icts_and_tanzania-policy.pdf https://doi.org/10.1108/14626000610680262 https://irjabs.com/files_site/paperlist/r_234_121014152607.pdf https://inworks.ucdenver.edu/jkb/iwks2300/readings/bostonreview_cantechendpoverty.pdf https://inworks.ucdenver.edu/jkb/iwks2300/readings/bostonreview_cantechendpoverty.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/isd2.12119 minding the design reality gap the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36213 agenda for the is field. journal of information technology, 27(2), 87-93. https://doi.org/10.1057%2fjit.2012.4 wamuyu, p. k. (2015, april 3). the impact of information and communication technology adoption and diffusion on technology entrepreneurship in developing countries: the case of kenya. information technology for development, 21(2), 253–280. http://erepo.usiu.ac.ke/11732/307 whyte, a. (1998) telecentre research framework for acacia. report to international development research centre, ottawa, on, canada. https://idl-bncidrc.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/10625/15574/108351.pdf?sequence=13&isallo wed=y world bank. (2008). ict: connecting people and making markets work. the world bank group. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/878971468316431008/pdf/463150bri0 box310making0markets0work.pdf yasya, w. (2020). rural empowerment through education: case study of a learning community telecentre in indonesia. international journal of modern education & computer science, 12(4), 12-26. 10.5815/ijmecs.2020.04.02 daniel azerikatoa ayoung (daniel.ayoung@bolgatu.edu.gh) is a lecturer and researcher in information systems at the bolgatanga technical university, ghana. he holds a ph.d. in information systems from brunel university london. his specific research interest relates to the implementation of ict4d initiatives and information and knowledge management systems in developing countries. his current focus is on it/ict implementation and user adaptations in the work environment. pamela abbott (p.y.abbott@sheffield.ac.uk) is a senior lecturer in information systems at the information school, university of sheffield, united kingdom. her research interests lie in global sourcing, distributed collaborative work, and information and communication technologies (icts) and development. she has authored an award‐winning paper, capturing the prestigious best publication award in 2013 from the association of information systems (ais) scholars. the paper charted a five‐year, multiply‐funded project on the fragmented offshore software services outsourcing industry in china. recently, she was an investigator on two eu‐sponsored infrastructure‐related projects in africa, focused on developing sustainable models of research and education networks in the west and central regions. her current research continues this work by looking at information professionals in the west and central african regions, and the roles they can play in ict‐led transformations in the higher education sector. additionally, she is senior editor for the journal of information technology, one of the eight best ais journals. 97 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1057%2fjit.2012.4 http://erepo.usiu.ac.ke/11732/307 https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/10625/15574/108351.pdf?sequence=13&isallowed=y https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/10625/15574/108351.pdf?sequence=13&isallowed=y https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/10625/15574/108351.pdf?sequence=13&isallowed=y https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/878971468316431008/pdf/463150bri0box310making0markets0work.pdf https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/878971468316431008/pdf/463150bri0box310making0markets0work.pdf mailto:daniel.ayoung@bolgatu.edu.gh mailto:p.y.abbott@sheffield.ac.uk introduction literature review telecentre (tc) evaluation analytical framework design-reality gap (drg) framework critiques of the drg application to telecentre evaluation in this study methodology data collection methods data collection data analysis–evaluation using the drg framework deriving the drg score context and case findings information technology processes objectives and values staff and skills management systems and structures other resources: finances/revenues/time interpretation of drg scores discussion gap closure measures a critical assessment of the drg for telecentre evaluation multiple designs and reality scenarios static vs. dynamic time frame/lapse conclusion endnotes appendix a: a description of the seven drg dimensions appendix b: profile of cics appendix c: ict projects likely outcomes table (adapted from heeks (2003)) appendix d: detailed drg scores for all categories of participants. references the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work of racialized academic librarians the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work of racialized academic librarians silvia vong, university of toronto, canada allan cho, university of british columbia, canada elaina norlin, association of southeastern research libraries, usa abstract this study unpacks the experiences of academic librarians who identify as racialized, a concept that refers to actions and processes rather than an identity, to better understand the weight of equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work. the themes that emerged from the interviews with the librarians were emotional labour, interpretive labour, identity labour, racialized labour, and aspirational labour. these forms of labour are often oversimplified, unacknowledged, or unquantifiable. for one line on a curriculum vitae, committee, advisory, or working group, equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work may not be compensated or financially supported to reflect the intensity and expertise needed for the work. it is essential to unpack the complexity of the work to demonstrate how to better support racialized librarians who engage with this work that contributes to changes in the academic library and profession. keywords: academic librarians; anti-racism; equity; labour publication type: research article introduction n the last two decades, scholars have critiqued, studied, and shared experiences with diversity work in academic libraries and institutions in the united states (brown, 2004), canada (guo & jamal, 2007), and the united kingdom (ahmed, 2012; kimura, 2014). in the last few years, social movements such as black lives matter and anti-asian and pacific islander racism in the u.s. and canada have prompted universities and colleges in north america to produce diversity statements and create diversity-focused committees, working groups, task forces, or special advisory positions. moreover, diversity work has shifted to include concepts such as equity, inclusion, and anti-racism, as well as to consider terms such as racialized and racialization. defining “racialized” and “racialization” the authors have chosen to use the terms racialized and racialization because the concept refers to the process through which racial meaning is attached to something that is to perceived to be ‘unracial’ or devoid of racial meaning. racialization plays a central role in the creation and reproduction of racial meanings, and its inclusion enriches the study of race and ethnicity. (gonzalez-sobrino & goss, 2019, p. 505) i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 2 one of the major critiques of racialization is that it envelopes all experiences of black, indigenous, and people of colour (bipoc) communities into a monolithic category. the lack of specificity means that black and indigenous people’s experiences become enveloped with anyone who is non-white. it should be noted that racialized and racialization are often misused terms. racialized or racialization is a concept that does not intend to essentialize or encourage identity through one general term; instead, the concepts refer to actions and processes rather than identity. furthermore, the concept works as a tool to understand how “racial meanings [are] attached to actions, places, or organizations, or... to a group of people” (gonzalez-sobrino & goss, 2019, p. 508). in critical race theory (crt), this concept is used to understand how structural inequality and discrimination manifest in these interactions or environments (delgado & stefancic, 2017). henry et al. (2017) explain that “racialization practices are employed to categorize how race is attributed to particular social practices and discourses, such as, for example, the racialization of crime” (p. 4). thus, the concept of racialized people is used in this paper; however, this is a concept that may not necessarily be the preferred term by participants. the terminology about race and identity has shifted over time. in the past, scholars used the expressions ‘visible minorities’ and ‘people of colour’. the terms bipoc, racialized, or racialization are more common in recent scholarship. to respect participants' chosen terms for their identity, their preferred terms will be used according to each participant’s usage during the interviews. this does not mean the terms are interchangeable, as each has its history, meanings, and criticisms. this study aims to define and identify the forms of labour involved in racialized academic librarians executing equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work as part of their professional practice. additionally, the study will share data collected from participants’ interviews and the impact of the various forms of labour related to equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work. the results of the study should not essentialize the experiences of all racialized academic librarians; instead, it presents potential considerations and critical reflections on how we approach equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work, as well as ways to ensure that racialized academic librarians are not overworked and to reflect on the racialized and gendered practices of assigned equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work. research focus some racialized librarians have volunteered or been assigned equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work in addition to their core professional responsibilities. though this work is significant in supporting the embedment and engagement of equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism in academic libraries, the added labour can be unduly placed upon racialized librarians, particularly librarians who identify as racialized women (anantachai & chesley, 2018). as some studies in librarianship and education have demonstrated, adding extra work to core responsibilities can cause burnout (brown et al., 2018; mahatmya et al., 2022; mohamed & beagan, 2019) and unevenly distributed workload (guillaume & apodaca, 2022; hollis, 2023; joseph & hirshfield, 2011). this discussion will focus on the undervalued work (also referred to as invisible labour) of diversity, equity, inclusion, or anti-racism work by racialized librarians. there is a layer of complexity in the experience of supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism work in higher education. james (2012) found that racialized faculty responded differently to https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 3 institutional pressures about equity work (e.g., compliance, pragmatism, or critical participation). james (2012) identified that racialized faculty are often perceived as “experts” on “diversity” (read, minority) issues, racialized faculty members—on their own initiative or by assignment—are often expected to undertake additional responsibilities such as speak on minority issues, serve on “diversity committees, mentor and advise racialized students” and/or handle minority-related problems. (p. 136) thus, it is essential to explore this issue of projected labour in the context of academic libraries to better understand how this work as a form of labour impacts racialized librarians’ practice and redress any issues that may arise in these situations at work. the purpose of this discussion is to identify, define, and deconstruct the various forms of labour undertaken by racialized academic librarians so that administrators and managers understand (a) the resources needed for diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism work are allocated and (b) how to better acknowledge and support the librarians that are engaged in this work. indigenizing and decolonizing work in the academy by librarians identifying as indigenous peoples should not be conflated with equity, diversity, inclusion, or anti-racism work. this is not to say that indigenizing and decolonizing work is a separate form of invisible labour; instead, this area warrants a separate study; furthermore, no interview participants identified as indigenous peoples. a background on diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism before delving into the research study, we note the differences between the terms equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism. some terms' meanings, purposes, and criticisms differ and should not be mistaken as interchangeable, nor should these terms be turned into acronyms for convenience. in this study, each term enacts different forms of work. often, the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion are used together, and the depth and meaning of each term can become lost as each term means very different things and requires different critical actions. several analogies in various forms are used to understand the difference between each term, often in the form of a party or meeting. equity involves looking at an organization's structural and procedural aspects to identify barriers and find ways to remove those barriers. finally, inclusion is collective and individual work that everyone must do to ensure that different approaches and voices are given space, legitimized, and or included in critical decision-making processes that impact an organization. universities and colleges do not consistently utilize the term anti-racism. though equity is a necessary term that signals active resistance to racism (kendi, 2019), some organizations claim that the term neutrality or more “inviting” terminology is more appropriate for their organizations because they are perceived as less aggressive. equity refers to “an ongoing process of assessing needs, correcting historical inequities, and creating conditions for optimal outcomes by members of all social identity groups” (akbar & parker, 2021, p. 12). in the context of higher education, it means examining how admissions and hiring standards and processes privilege certain groups and exclude additional groups intentionally or unintentionally. in relation to diversity, equity can contribute to diversifying a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 4 student population or hiring and retention by examining structures that privilege certain groups. it is often argued that equity should be emphasized, as diversity and inclusion cannot be achieved without reviewing and removing barriers to higher education as a student or job seeker. one of the challenges with equity is that it is often conflated with equality, which is very different, as equality assumes different groups have the same resources to achieve the same goal. in contrast, equity recognizes privileges and challenges that create barriers for specific groups. furthermore, equity requires interrogating systemic obstacles, often resulting in little action as the status quo currently benefits dominant groups. it can be argued that inclusion is necessary as it gives power and puts diverse voices in important decision-making spaces and groups that can prompt this review and change in systemic practices and barriers. diversity is inviting people from different backgrounds with different perspectives to a party or meeting. at the same time, equity ensures that those very people can get to the party or vote in the meeting. inclusion is being asked to dance or giving space for different people to speak up and giving weight to their perspectives and opinions. thus, diversity refers to representation within an organization and requires recruitment and efforts to increase representation from under-represented groups. the term diversity is often used in higher education regarding the admission of students, recruiting, and hiring of faculty, librarians, and staff with under-represented identities. akbar and parker (2021) define diversity or a diverse group as involving the representation or composition of various social identity groups in an organization or community. the focus is on social identities that correspond to societal differences in power and privilege and, thus to the marginalization of some groups based on specific attributes—e.g., race, ethnicity, culture, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religion, spirituality, disability, age, national origin, immigration status, and language. (other identities may also be considered where there is evidence of disparities in power and privilege.) there is a recognition that people have multiple identities and that social identities are intersectional and have different salience and impact in different contexts. (p. 12) ahmed’s (2012) work examines the institutionalization of the term and concept of diversity. moreover, ahmed (2012) identifies the commercialization of the word diversity in branding universities and colleges to imply or promote diversity at the institution. tamtik and guenter (2019) refer to this as cosmetic diversity, where diversity is used to perfect an institution’s image via diversity that can be seen but does not redress retention and barriers that marginalized groups experience in the institutions. however, the term diversity can be vague and broad, and its lack of specificity may mean an institution can claim diversity even though that diversity is focused on one identity rather than multiple identities or groups that have historically been or currently are being excluded and marginalized. implementing diversity alone tends to manifest as tokenism and prompt issues around recruitment and representation, as diversity assumes that different groups of people have access to the same resources, pathways, and privileges. for that reason, equity accompanies the term diversity to acknowledge the barriers that may exist that can lead to a low number of equity-deserving applicants to a job or how institutions and professions have low numbers and representation from equity-deserving groups. inclusion refers to “[a]n environment that offers affirmation, celebration, and appreciation of different approaches, styles, perspectives, and experiences, thus allowing all individuals to bring https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 5 in their whole selves (and all of their identities) and to demonstrate their strengths and capacity” (akbar & parker, 2021, p. 12). in higher education, this may ensure that different voices and ways of being/doing are supported and represented by a decision-making body. inclusion requires diversity and equity to ensure that these voices are represented and respected at every level of the institution. artiles et al. (2006) examine how inclusion aims to redistribute power to those who have been marginalized and does so in the same system, leading to a lack of transformation to oppressive systems. however, jayakumar et al. (2018) note that white fragility and avoidance of discomfort have led to a watering down of the problematic issues that equity-deserving groups face in an organization. the term inclusion is a positive and good feeling term that skirts confronting more problematic ideologies such as white supremacy. for that reason, some argue that organizations must be explicit and cite the ideologies they are actively fighting and standing up against, such as anti-racism, anti-homophobia, and anti-patriarchy. anti-racism has been used by education scholars (dei, 1999) or conceptually developed by african-american feminist scholars (hooks, 1994) to identify the hidden and deep curriculum of white supremacy and colonialism in education. anti-racism focuses on supporting racial equity in society. one of the major criticisms of this concept, when utilized by organizations, is that it is a speech act, [that] might accumulate value for the organisation, as a sign of its own commitment…[d]eclarations of commitment can block recognition of racism, whilst the recognition of racism can function as a declaration of commitment, which then retrospectively undoes the recognition of racism. (ahmed, 2006, para. 11) in addition, the term anti-racism does not acknowledge the complexity and intersectional racialized identities (e.g., gender, sexual identity, age, and dis/ability). the depth of anti-racism work requires knowledge drawing from crt, such as intersectionality (crenshaw, 1989), to ensure that anti-racism work avoids essentializing racialized groups and interest convergence (bell, 1980) to be able to identify when anti-racism work is performative and only benefiting the institution rather than equity-deserving groups. when we unpack the meanings behind diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism, the work is insurmountable if assigned to an individual or small group. the work and forms of labour involved in these areas, particularly in departments and institutions that lack staffing and funding, mean that as institutions, individuals or committees must dedicate professional and personal time and resources to the work. this is often done in academia without compensation or release from other responsibilities and limited resources. though many institutions have textually committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism, many initiatives and programs related to this work are much needed, and at some institutions, diversity, equity, inclusion, or anti-racism have become embedded in the form of offices and departments. at times, diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism work can be particularly challenging and require heavy and intensive working periods. for example, some working groups may run a study and generate a self-study report based on chronicled assessments and data analysis. some committees may be reviewing institutional policies and providing recommendations. in addition, individuals who do this work in departments may take on leading and organizing affinity groups, events such as speaker series, or creating “cultural” displays. some faculty and librarians involved in the work temporarily, such as working groups, committees, and term appointments, express this work as one line of service in their curriculum vitae or their annual reports as a short https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 6 description. invisible forms of labour emerge in this work that go unacknowledged, underfunded, and understaffed. multiple forms of labour often occur when doing diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism work. this research highlights why library managers and administrators must understand the capacity required for equity, diversity, inclusion, or anti-racism work. literature review this study focuses on participants from the united states and canada; thus, the literature review is drawn mainly from research from those countries. furthermore, this approach to the literature review does not intend to imply that the results of this study apply to librarians and libraries outside of the united states and canada if no participants identified as academic librarians from different countries. moreover, this study does not discuss decolonizing and indigenizing as all interview participants focused on anti-racism or diversity, equity, and inclusion work. it is important not to assume or conflate decolonization and indigenization though the work may intersect in some contexts. invisible labour some scholars explore the topic of diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism work with racialized people or communities through the concept of invisible labour. feminist scholars initially developed the term invisible labour used to identify the unpaid domestic and reproductive labour of people who identify as women (poster, et al., 2016). examples of this can be found in devault’s (1991/1994) research that identifies society’s belief that household work such as cooking, shopping, and caring for the family is considered an act of love rather than a form of labour that requires a specific set of skills and knowledge. adams (2022) examines how this kind of work is valued by labour law and explains that caring labour is not, then, readily commodifiable in the sense that it cannot be easily reduced to quantitative metrics such as time, effort, and output; in other words, when it comes to care, what matters is not how much labour or how quickly it is provided, but how, and with what subjective effects...this is simply compounded by the fact that the motivations for performing caring labour, and doing so in a particular way, assume an extraordinarily complex and multi-faceted form; because the work itself implies selflessness, an ability to prioritize the needs of the care recipient, it is deemed inimical to the sort of ‘extrinsic’ motivations associated with work, which are linked in the law with ideas of employer control. (p. 397) the research on invisible labour has expanded and been applied to various fields that discuss labour and work. budd (2016) explains that the invisible label has become a term to reference work that is “undervalued and overlooked” (p. 28); budd identifies that invisible work is further made complex by contextual factors (e.g., political or institutional culture). in addition, budd (2016) argues that the way we view or understand work can “shape our beliefs about who is valued as a worker and what is valued at work” (p. 44). the literature on invisible labour and diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism work in higher education often identifies themes of workload inequity, lack of support or compensation, and undervaluation of the work. through a feminist perspective and interviews, gordon et al. (2022) identify how racialized women face challenges with the “just say no” mantra in higher education. they found that there was an expectation of taking on extra work related to diversity, equity, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 7 inclusion, or anti-racism due to their identity. even when they said “no,” the pressure of future equity work was placed on them (gordon et al., 2022). dariotis and yoo (2020) surveyed how asian american women in academia engage with care work as a form of invisible labour to support diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism work. dariotis and yoo (2020) found that asian american women experienced more care work and emotional labour to engage with this work as well as having to support their colleagues and students. however, a challenge faced in this work is that the false narrative of the over-representation of asian americans in academia compared to different racialized groups means that this kind of service is further devalued and deemed unimportant by hegemonic groups. to further deconstruct these forms of invisible labour in the academy, crapo kim et al. (2020) conceptually explore and identify three forms of invisible labour: scholarly midwifery, diversity and liberatory labour, and ontological labour. they identify that invisible labour can move beyond the diversity committee and mentorship work and into the day-to-day navigation of dominant white norms in the academy (ontological labour), as well as the running of events, conferences, and other scholarly communication work (scholarly midwifery). co (2021) examines and identifies disparities in workload in legal academia and uses the terms invisible labour and critical race feminism to explore the impact such labour has on racialized faculty that identify as women. co (2021) also identifies how this work is undervalued yet over-assessed, often attributed to requirements in academic culture to perform service despite studies demonstrating that women receive 3.4 times more requests for service and mentorship than their male colleagues. invisible labour in relation to racialization was discussed by wingfield and skeete (2016), and wingfield and alston (2014). wingfield and alston (2014) explore how organizational hierarchies maintain power imbalances and inequality where racialized workers often reproduce the very oppressive structures of the organization as directed by people in management or senior administration roles who seek to maintain the status quo to their benefit. furthermore, wingfield and alston (2014) identify how invisible and unspoken forms of labour, such as identity work, are expected of racialized workers where their mannerisms and appearance must assimilate and emulate the dominant cultural norm in predominantly white organizations. in the library and information science (lis) literature, invisible labour is often applied more broadly to the labour that goes unacknowledged by administrators. clarke et al. (2022) look at academic library work overall and identify various items, from after-hours duties and information technology troubleshooting to supporting and mentoring student workers just to name a few. kendrick (2020) explores invisible labour in the public library sector. they identify that the invisible work done by librarians in public library settings is why there is low recognition and support invested in the staff and public libraries. henninger et al. (2019) explore how librarians in precarious positions also take on invisible forms of labour. though briefly mentioned, they focus on the impact and workload of librarians in precarious positions. through a critical lens, nicholson (2019) identifies the invisibility of labour in academic libraries and the heavy commitment of time put into library instruction work (e.g., creating video tutorials). neumann (1999) also mentions invisible labour in the context of “behind-the-scenes” work done to keep libraries running. kendrick and damasco’s (2019) research touches on invisible labour in discussing the morale among ethnic and racial minority academic librarians. they interviewed librarians who identified as part of a racial or ethnic minority group experiencing low morale. kendrick and damasco https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 8 briefly discuss invisible labour in diversity work. however, they focus on abuse and morale and provide specificity in forms of abuse. their work identifies various responses to emotional, verbal/written, system, and negligent abuses experienced by racial or ethnic minority librarians in academic libraries. method recruitment the participants were recruited through a survey related to their experiences and challenges with organizational barriers. the respondents were contacted through e-mail and provided information about the study and a consent form approved by research ethics boards at the university of toronto and the university of british columbia. the data was drawn from interviews with 14 participants (five participants were early-career librarians, six were mid-career librarians, and three were late-career librarians)1. most participants (n=10) worked at a college or university in the united states; fewer participants (n=4) worked at a canadian university. all participants were academic librarians who identified as members of the bipoc or racialized community. due to the size and adherence to privacy and confidentiality, identities have been anonymized to protect the participants. analysis participants were interviewed for one hour using a semi-structured format. interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded with nvivo. the interviews were part of a more extensive study on organizational barriers, and the emergence of equity, diversity, inclusion, and antiracism work was unexpected and a strong topic of conversation when we interviewed the selected librarians. the initial questions focused on management, human resources, identity work/workload, professional development, and the tenure process. however, much of the interviews were taken up on the topic of identity work and the workload related to it. most of the conversations in the recordings were about labour and work related to equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism. as a result, we chose to analyze the transcripts separately from the survey data from the more extensive study on organizational barriers. we familiarized ourselves with the transcripts by reading through each one and taking notes on our own to avoid influencing one another. once we were familiar with the transcripts and with each participant’s responses, we began coding through an inductive approach where the codes and themes were informed by the data in the transcripts. we met again to review our coding work through nvivo and written notes to ensure that the codes were clear and defined the same way by each of us. we conducted a second round of coding to ensure consistency. we met again and discussed the codes to construct themes. once we named themes, we conducted further research to identify concepts and terms that were relevant or related to the themes from the coding process. participants could withdraw at any time during and after the interview before the anonymization and aggregation of data. they were also compensated for their time. the interview questions were themed around structural and organizational processes and actors. one of the areas discussed was identity work performed by racialized academic librarians. participants shared and discussed workload as an issue, but many specified that despite the workload, they were committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, or anti-racism work. instead, some participants https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 9 expressed frustration at the need for more acknowledgement and the need for resources. this work was identified as unrelated to retention issues; however, given the time and emphasis on this topic, a subset of data was drawn out and further coded related to types of labour enacted and equity, diversity, inclusion, or anti-racism work. after several readings by the researchers, themes and codes were identified in the transcripts. the researchers analyzed the data through the concept of invisible labour and ways in which cultural taxation is experienced by academic librarians. to further unpack the interview data related to the topic, the data were also analyzed using terms developed by scholars who had examined forms of labour in a higher education setting. all participants identified two to five forms of labour that emerged when tasked with or engaged in discussions on diversity, equity, inclusion, or anti-racism work. the five forms of labour that emerged in the discussions were: (a) emotional labour: maintaining and repressing certain emotions (e.g., anger, frustration, etc.) in service positions or work. (b) interpretive labour: understanding how to navigate the dominant culture and reading social cues and contexts to further advocacy or influence. (c) identity labour: modifying one’s identity to assimilate to the dominant culture and norms to be heard and legitimized. (d) racialized labour: navigating predominantly white institutions and discrimination based on racial identity. (e) aspirational labour: persisting and sustaining hope for change and the future or attitudinal or internal struggles as a result of the constant persistence under challenging circumstances. to better understand how these forms of labour may have an impact on racialized librarians while doing diversity, equity, inclusion, or anti-racism work, we unpack, in detail, the meaning of these forms of labour and the ways racialized librarians experience it (see table 1). table 1. concepts, codes, and examples form of labour code(s) example(s) emotional labour • concealing emotions • emotional support for others “i’m willing to take that retaliation, but i’d rather protect [bipoc] folks who are brand new and speak up for them.” interpretive labour • navigating rules and procedures • workplace politics “the dei person would kind of work with hr... they ended up having to work with hr because of a lot of hrrelated concerns. but that’s not her job. and i know that one of her frustrations was that there was no power.” https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 10 identity labour • race and ethnic identity • edi/dei work assignment “i identify as an asian person, and i was asked to contribute my perspective on race issues related to non-asians.” racialized labour • racism • microaggression “there were some interpersonal comments, for example, asking if i would help teach my co-workers spanish in a leisurely kind of way...it was never part of my job to do that.” aspirational labour • hope/positive outlook • internal struggle “the biggest challenge of my career has been this idea that i’m passionate about anti-racism work but how do you balance that between the fact that it shouldn’t just be on you?” themes equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work most participants identified that they were involved in some form of equity or anti-racism work in libraries: • 11 of the 14 participants identified that equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, or anti-racism work was important to them personally and professionally. • 12 of the 14 participants identified some form of involvement in equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, or anti-racism work (e.g., committees, working groups, advisory positions, mentorship programs, and affinity groups). • 11 of the 14 participants identified that they were not compensated fairly for the work, whether in pay or weight in service. by taking on equity, anti-racism projects, or committee work, racialized librarians may face challenges or be interested in engaging in the work early in their careers. one of the participants shared that: edi work is a workload that is sometimes expected from bipoc. and then not often weighted the same when you go up for promotion or review. i think it’s not seen as a skill that has been learned. someone who is doing incredible work on instruction, that’s a great skill that they’ve managed to cultivate. but somehow, if you’re [bipoc], you’re just like born with that inherent knowledge, which is untrue. it takes a lot of selfeducation, research, and work. even when librarians engage in self-education and research to develop knowledge and skills for operationalizing diversity, equity, inclusion, or anti-racism work, different forms of labour emerge that impact workload, adding to core responsibilities. this form of taxation impacts https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 11 librarians who may already be overworked, burnt out, vulnerable or in precarious positions where they need to focus on scholarship and developing basic skills related to multiple areas in librarianship. conversely, shavers et al. (2015) identified some benefits to bipoc service in equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work. through interviews with faculty who identify as black, shavers et al. discovered that there was a difference between general service and racerelated service. shavers et al. explain that race-related service benefited participants because the work spoke to black faculty’s desires to give back, actualize political benefits to the racial community, and connect faculty members with an inclusive community to combat isolation. emotional labour emotional labour was initially a term used to describe the work of airline employees, specifically flight attendants, who expressed pleasant smiles and friendly behaviours while suppressing emotions such as annoyance, anger, or sadness. hochschild (1983/2012) explains that when “emotional labour is put into the public marketplace, it behaves like a commodity: the demand for it waxes and wanes depending upon the competition within the industry” (p. 24). rafaeli and sutton (1987) expanded on this concept to identify emotional labour between employees and employers. in the interviews conducted during this study, the participants identified various experiences of emotional labour where they had to suppress feelings or express positive feelings about equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work with individuals or in groups. one participant described how white fragility can prompt them to shift into a supportive role rather than being supported as a racialized person dealing with racism. they shared about an incident related to racism and a co-worker: my boss is like really freaking out about her feelings. i have to help my boss process all of these, complex feelings about being a white person who let her department run not in a very functional way...and that’s been much more frustrating. it’s emotionally exhausting. it’s also frustrating from a workload perspective because it is labour, it’s my time that’s being taken for doing this instead of doing something else. despite their passion for the work, several of the participants mentioned some form of burnout related to the constant emotional labour needed to educate and advocate for equity-deserving groups. interpretive labour higher education institutions are notoriously built on hegemonic practices steeped in traditional institutional practices. some of these practices are unspoken, socialized, and instilled in select groups or drawn on texts developed for and by dominant groups (e.g., robert’s rules of order). graeber (2012) explores the impact of navigating bureaucratic structures and processes. using the example of 1950s american comedies, graeber (2012) states that the constant efforts women end up having to expend in managing, maintaining, and adjusting the egos of oblivious and self-important men, involve a continual work of imaginative identification, or what i’ve called “interpretative labour.” this carries over on every level. women are always expected to imagine what things look like from a male point of view. men are rarely expected to reciprocate. (p. 117) https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 12 interpretive labour about equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work in predominantly white institutions means that racialized librarians are doing the work within the traditional rules and bounds in the university or college. graeber (2012) theorizes that there are two elements to consider: (1) the process of imaginative identification as a form of knowledge and (2) sympathetic identification. the process of imaginative identification as a form of knowledge is the work expected of those who have been excluded or marginalized to understand issues and “social relations in question” (graeber, 2012, p. 118). participants identified managers would assign or task them with equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work in libraries or the university and college despite the lack of experience or knowledge of complex crt concepts. many shared having to spend time learning and understanding the concepts, particularly through self-education and workshops. crt concepts are complex, and the literature is expansive and includes branches of crt (e.g., asiancrit, latcrit, etc.). sympathetic identification is described as “those on the bottom of a social ladder spend a great deal of time imagining the perspectives of, and genuinely caring about, those on the top; it almost never happens the other way around” (graeber, 2012, p. 119). most participants in our study shared experiences of expectations that racialized people were going to sit on equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism committees or teach and educate colleagues. one participant shared the following: i noticed i was the only person taking on any of the months [related to diversity and ethnic groups]. nobody would do them. the feedback i heard from colleagues who were all white was that they felt uncomfortable, or they weren’t “fun displays to do.” interpretive labour requires time and resources like many other forms of labour. one needs to take workshops and webinars, read through crt or social justice-related literature, gain allies, and navigate bureaucratic structures to gain funding or start projects and initiatives. identity labour hirshfield and joseph (2012) identify the term identity taxation in reference to the ways racialized women are expected to take on mentoring and advocacy work. they identify the stereotype of maternal and nurturing as a challenge in the academic community, as this means they are often expected to advocate for all equity-deserving groups even though they may not identify with all groups. hirshfield and joseph (2012) state that “women of colour in our sample said that they sometimes feel their utility in their department boils down to their gender and race, so much so that their identity as a faculty member is almost negligible” (p. 220). some of the participants in our study who identify as racialized women shared instances of having to do displays, events, or workshops for equity-deserving groups. one participant shared the following experience: “i identify as an asian woman...i was asked to contribute my perspective about indigenous learners, but much of what i brought to the previous role was based on my own experiences as a racialized learner.” https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 13 another participant who identifies as a racialized woman shared an experience where a manager, without prompting, told her, “you know what, your superpower is diversity.” and i replied: “excuse me? diversity should be done by everyone, not just one person.” she responded with: “oh...well...you’re always talking about it, how we need it. it was meant as a compliment.” it is important to emphasize that all participants agreed that this work was necessary. however, the challenge is that this work tends to fall on racialized people, assuming that identity equates to willingness and capacity to take on equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work. this can be a heavy workload unfairly distributed and absolves non-racialized people from doing the important work to engage with important topics related to equity, diversity, inclusion, or antiracism. racialized labour reidinger (2022) explores the invisible labour that people from the queer community experience and identifies the invisible labour that comes in the form of emotional labour, emotional support, and extracurricular support (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirited student groups). moreover, reidinger (2022) identifies the discrimination and microaggressions the queer community experiences in academia and the labour needed to navigate and respond to these interactions as another form of invisible labour. dhamoon (2020) also identifies racism as a form of workload that bipoc faculty experience in canadian universities. grier-reed et al. (2020) very pointedly identify racialized labour as the effort expended to navigate hostile environments steeped in white racial frame...the extra effort or racialized labour required for people of color can lead to racial battle fatigue (rbf) or anxiety, frustration, and anger along with helplessness, hopelessness, and depression. (p. 96) every participant in our study shared an experience with some form of racism, whether discrimination or microaggressions. participants shared several incidents where they experienced microaggressions related to their clothing and identity, comments that were hurtful stereotypes, hateful comments towards a specific ethnic group, or credit stealing. one participant shared an experience where a racist comment was made about african americans: i was very taken aback and upon hearing the comment, i suggested that my colleague who heard the comment should go to the supervisor. the supervisor did what they have done in the past, and never submitted anything to hr [human resources]. finally, they sent it to hr but that person ended up leaving the organization. these experiences can lead to retention issues and make doing equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work more challenging. it can feel impossible as if one is trying to move mountains. it can also feel isolating and confusing for those trying to navigate and understand who they can trust and who will act to redress these situations. one participant shared the following: i experienced a lot of racist comments as a frontline person...i couldn’t quite understand where in all the different committees and groups where we’re in, where i should bring it up. and nobody tells you...you’re just sort of going in it with no direction. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 14 racism is mentally, emotionally, and physically taxing. for some institutions and librarians in precarious positions, there is no access to paid therapies that help to restore and heal racialized librarians who experience harm. aspirational labour duncan-andrade (2009) identifies that critical hope is significant for urban educators who support students who may have experienced challenges and inequity throughout their lives. duncanandrade (2009) explains that, critical hope is audacious in two ways. first, it boldly stands in solidarity with urban communities, sharing the burden of their undeserved suffering as a manifestation of a humanizing hope in our collective capacity for healing. second, critical hope audaciously defies the dominant ideology of defence, entitlement, and preservation of privileged bodies at the expense of the policing, disposal, and dispossession of marginalized “others.” (p. 190) this concept of critical hope contextualized in higher education and with racialized librarians means that hope through shared experiences to heal from the challenges and experiences is essential in avoiding despair and pessimism with equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work when one encounters institutional pushback or challenges. in addition, yosso (2005) identifies aspiration as an important part of the success of latinx students in higher education. yosso (2005) explains that “aspirational capital is the ability to hold onto hope in the face of structured inequality and often without the means to make such dreams a reality” (p. 77). the labour of hope should be considered, as it draws on the psychosocial abilities (brackney & westman, 1992; duggleby & williams, 2010) of those engaged with the work. aspiration or hope is an important form of labour that motivates, inspires, and maintains an emotional and mental commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, or anti-racism work. one participant shared their experience with advocating for more than diversity at their institution by engaging with inclusion and equity: but we shouldn’t be just striving for the minimum, we should be actually setting the example or trying to be part of what all libraries are trying to strive for with this work, which is to increase inclusion, equity, and diversity within libraries. many of the participants expressed some form of aspiration by reaffirming the work's importance. though many expressed some form of burnout, they still emphasized that the work needed to be done. there was often an expression of internal struggle before reaffirmation that the work was necessary. making invisible labour visible and valued though these forms of labour emerge in various contexts and are not just unique to equity, diversity, inclusion, or anti-racism work, if not addressed, they may inflict harm in the form of burnout and moral injury. participants provided helpful advice on addressing the concerns raised or identified practices that needed to change. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 15 hiring an edi specialist in a permanent position if equity, diversity, inclusion, or anti-racism work is a priority for universities and colleges, it is essential to treat it as such. this type of work should be treated as something other than an afterthought and as something more than what someone can do on the side of their desk. it is critical to advocate for funds for an equity work-related position. if base funding is available, creating permanent positions that help support the work is essential. moreover, those who are hired should have education and experience in social justice work. this means allowing nonlibrarians to take on the role if needed. one participant shared: people say they like my perspective, they want to hear my perspective on a lot of other things. and so, i’m being pulled in a lot of ways, and i had to recently say no a lot because i’m already overwhelmed and i am on the verge...of burnout because i’ve been on this committee, that committee, and all the committees because people are asking me to be on them. another participant shared that scope creep can also impact workload and the informal ways this work is assigned to a racialized person: i think that the more frustrating thing has been the informal contexts i feel like scope creep happens. they tried to imply my work [related to technical areas of lis] was related to it [deia] but in a way that’s coded. they would say, “oh, you’re really good with people and we historically struggle with deia work. so this would be a good opportunity for you to bring your perspective.” it should not be assumed that all racialized librarians want to, or have the capacity to take on equity, diversity, inclusion, and/or anti-racism work. it is important that racialized librarians are given the power to choose whether they want to take on equity, diversity, and inclusion work. though an institution may hire a specialist or librarian in a permanent position, it is still important to make space and invite racialized librarians and staff to contribute their perspectives and avoid essentializing different groups. gorski and erakat (2019) examine activist burnout and focus on racialized scholars. by interviewing racialized activist scholars, gorski and erakat (2019) found that white scholar activists impacted and sped up their burnout by embracing unevolved or racist views, undermining or invalidating the work or racial justice activists of colour, showing a lack of willingness to step up and take action when needed, exhibiting white fragility in activist spaces, and taking credit for the work and ideas of activists of colour. (p. 793) given these vulnerabilities when engaging with the work, it is imperative to invest in permanent positions with the time, knowledge, and expertise to support this work and not have it fall solely on those whose expertise lies in other areas. in addition, these positions should be protected from the influence of management and/or senior administration so that a person in an edi position can address institutional and management practices without the threat of losing their job. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 16 compensating, weighting, and approving work releases the administration is often provided with higher salaries or stipends to reflect the level of responsibilities that come with the position. in turn, if equity, diversity, inclusion, and antiracism work must be done by librarians and staff in-house, compensation should be offered or discussed with those who take on the role. however, in academia, we argue that this goes towards service. as discussed, racialized librarians experience several forms of labour that make the work more challenging. what is more, it is not simply service work, it requires a level of expertise and labour that quickly leads to burnout. participants shared that they were aware that equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work was a heavy workload that was not often reflected in pay or reviews. moreover, the work can emerge in informal ways. one participant shared: right now, i sit on our library’s edi committee. i think as far as edi work, i think i do a lot of it for the institution. but i do think that the edi work is a workload that is sometimes expected from bipoc. and then not often weighted the same when you go up for promotion or review. many studies have demonstrated how racialized faculty often face barriers during the tenure and promotion process (croom, 2017; arnold et al., 2016; urrieta et al., 2015; damasco & hodges, 2012; henry & tator, 2012; hao, 2003; curry, 1994; braddock, 1978). to better compensate and weigh this form of activity, administrators need to discuss methods of compensation with human resources and budget for it. moreover, this work cannot simply be done by one person or a few people without funded resources such as an edi budget that includes honorariums, stipends, or fees for trainers/online modules to name a few. re-imagining equity and anti-racism training and education assumptions that a racialized person can immediately comprehend crt and other terminology mean that they will need more tools or language to navigate these complex topics. expertise must be built, thus if this work is done in-house, investment in training and education must be provided to ensure that librarians are well-equipped with conceptual tools and knowledgeable in navigating these topics and issues. one participant shared an experience where they were assigned equity, diversity, and inclusion work outside their core responsibilities: “outreach is not even on my job description. i did all the [edi] outreach events i attended and put together our activities for an event. i did all those things.” in addition, this work and education should not fall on equity-deserving groups; instead, this is training and education that all members of the institution should seek out. the same participant shared the following: “at my current position, all of my supervisors that have been white...they always make very inappropriate comments. and microaggressions, towards me for being racialized, for being non-white, and for speaking [a non-english language], all kinds of things.” though some argue that training and workshops can be surface-level engagement (ahmed, 2006; dei, 1996; kimura, 2014), they are one of many forms of engagement that should be done and offered. crt and equity or anti-racism frameworks are not simply learned by reading a few articles or attending one workshop. instead, extensive study and self-work are involved in gaining insights and expertise. dei (2001), a renowned canadian anti-racist educator, emphasizes that the way we educate is an integral part of increasing engagement and empowerment that inspires action. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 17 funding support groups for racialized librarians engaged in the work yosso (2015) identifies that families or communities play an essential role in the academic success of latinx students. these groups can be beneficial in allowing those involved in the work from equity-deserving groups to share and unpack experiences. one participant shared the following: with respect to the emotional, mental, and kind of physical burden that this type of work takes on bipoc individuals, bipoc groups can be a real safe space. [this] bipoc group that i’m a part of has been a real safe space...it’s a space where we can run a meeting that is not tied to bureaucratic norms of robert’s rules. [the rules] are tied to the experiences and relationships that we have within this group. administrators and institutions, in consultation with other groups, should offer some space, time, and funds to demonstrate that racialized groups or affinity groups are welcome in the library. these funds can allow for refreshments or training and workshops for equity-deserving groups. in addition, space should be given to those involved in the group in an attempt to be conscious that the presence of supervisors or managers may create an overly formal space. pour-khorshid (2018) examines how a racial affinity group helped members develop knowledge and practices and heal from toxic experiences. creating community and actions for leadership accountability several participants in our study identified a manager or supervisor as having a role in their challenges with equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work. one participant shared about an incident where they had to deal with racist comments while working on a banned book inquiry, which can be taxing to navigate if one is not trained as an equity practitioner. the participant shared the following: “my boss said they didn’t understand why the book was bad. they asked, ‘was the boy a [derogatory term]? was he a drug dealer?’ and then she looks at me...she kept asking what i thought about it.” these situations should not arise as a part of the collective institutional effort to redress racism and inequities in the institution. if they do, institutions need to hold leaders and managers accountable. accountability should not fall solely on workers; managers should also demonstrate ways in which they engage in equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work. this kind of accountability can be expressed through a university librarian or dean of libraries report that lists workshops attended, committees chaired, and so on that is openly shared with librarians and library staff. conclusion the discussions from the interviews are in no way meant to essentialize or imply that all racialized librarians are experiencing these labours. however, the study intends to point to issues that have arisen for racialized librarians, managers, and institutions to pay attention to and have conversations with those engaged in equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work. simply put, equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work is not just another committee or working group. this work is intended to make system-to-organizational level changes and put redress into action. in reference to diversity practitioners in institutions, ahmed (2012) writes that “diversity workers encounter obstacles that are often not visible to other staff with whom they https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 18 work...diversity work can take the form of repeated encounters with what does not, and seemingly will not, move” (p. 51). through interviews, participants shared forms of labour that were not recognized or reflected in compensation or academic reviews. this includes emotional, identity, interpretive, racialized, and aspirational labour. to address this, some actions that administrators can take include investing in positions that focus on equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work; work releases, compensation, or heavier weighing for this kind of service for racialized librarians; committing to continual training and education for everyone in the institution; funding support groups for racialized librarians; and creating opportunities for leaders and managers to communicate and act on equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism commitments. however, it is vital to note that all these changes to value equity, diversity, inclusion, and antiracism work also require follow-through action from administrators and institutions. the labours of racialized librarians must lead to broader organizational changes that can be seen through policies, procedures, and implementation of recommendations. otherwise, the work is performative and is perceived to not be as valuable or worthy of action. the impact of changes to institutional practices and culture through equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism work on people’s lives and experiences means that this work deserves recognition beyond the usual committee or working group one-liner. positionality statements silvia vong identifies ethnically as a chinese person and identifies as a woman and settler living in the land now called canada. her current research area focuses on equity and anti-racism work in higher education in canada. silvia’s research approach typically uses bourdieu to examine structural issues in higher education institutions while drawing on crt to identify where whiteness, colonialism, and racism are embedded in these structures. allan cho identifies ethnically as a chinese person and identifies as a cisgender male and settler living in the land now called canada. his current research focuses on anti-racism and traumainformed librarianship. elaina norlin identifies ethnically as an african american person and identifies as a cisgender female living in the land now called the united states of america. her current research interests focuses on healing toxic and dysfunctional workspaces and leadership development. acknowledgements a special thanks to the participants who provided valuable insights and thoughts on this topic. we did not approach this work lightly, and we are grateful for the time and personal experiences that were shared in the interviews. endnotes 1 librarians with five or fewer years of experience were coded as early-career. librarians with six to ten years of experience were coded as mid-career. librarians with ten or more years of experience were coded as late-career. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 19 references adams, z. 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(1999). paper, piles, and computer files: folklore of information work environments. library trends, 47(3), 439–469. https://hdl.handle.net/2142/8232 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2011.606208 http://www.doi.org/10.33011/newlibs/13/12 https://doi.org/10.1353/ces.2012.0007 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72490-4_2 https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2010.496489 https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v15i2.5932 https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0036 https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2013.777207 https://doi.org/10.3138/jehr-2021-0007 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2018.1511532 https://hdl.handle.net/2142/8232 the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 23 nicholson, k. p. (2019). “being in time”: new public management, academic librarians, and the temporal labour of pink-collar public service work. library trends, 68(2), 130–152. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0034 poster, w. r., crain, m., & cherry, m. a. (2016). introduction: conceptualizing invisible labour. in m. crain, w. r. poster, & m. a. cherry (eds.), invisible labour: hidden work in contemporary world (pp. 3–27). university of california press. pour-khorshid, f. (2018). cultivating sacred spaces: a racial affinity group approach to support critical educators of color. teaching education, 29(4), 318–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2018.1512092 rafaeli, a., & sutton, r. i. (1987). expression of emotion as part of the work role. the academy of management review, 12(1), 23–37. https://doi.org/10.2307/257991 reidinger, z. (2022). invisible and exhausted on the margins of academia. in k. j. cross, s. m. farrell, & b. hughes (eds.), queering stem culture in us higher education: navigating experiences of exclusion in the academy (pp. 113–127). routledge. shavers, m. c., butler, j. y., & moore iii, j. l. (2015). cultural taxation and the overcommitment of service at predominantly white institutions. in f. a. bonner, a. f. marble, f. truitt, p. a. robinson, r. m. banda, & r. l. hughes (eds.), black faculty in the academy: narratives for negotiating identity and achieving career success (pp. 41– 51). routledge. tamtik, m., & guenter, m. (2019). policy analysis of equity, diversity and inclusion strategies in canadian universities — how far have we come? canadian journal of higher education, 49(3), 41–56. https://doi.org/10.7202/1066634ar urrieta, l., jr., méndez, l., & rodríguez, e. (2015). “a moving target”: a critical race analysis of latina/o faculty experiences, perspectives, and reflections on the tenure and promotion process. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 28(10), 1149–1168. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2014.974715 wingfield, a. h., & alston, r. s. (2014). maintaining hierarchies in predominantly white organizations: a theory of racial tasks. american behavioral scientist, 58(2), 274–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764213503329 wingfield, a. h., & skeete, r. (2016). maintaining hierarchies in predominantly white organizations: a theory of racial tasks as invisible labour. in m. crain, w. r. poster, & m. a. cherry (eds.), invisible labour: hidden work in contemporary world (pp. 47–67). university of california press. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0034 https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2018.1512092 https://doi.org/10.2307/257991 https://doi.org/10.7202/1066634ar https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2014.974715 https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764213503329 https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 the five labours of equity, diversity, inclusion the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.41002 24 silvia vong (silvia.vong@mail.utoronto.ca) is the former associate dean of scholarly, research and creative activities at toronto metropolitan university and will be an assistant professor at the faculty of information at the university of toronto. her research interests focus on equity, and anti-racism work in higher education and the impact of neoliberal conventions. allan cho (allan.cho@ubc.ca) is the community engagement librarian at the university of british columbia. he is also an editor, writer, and edi facilitator. in addition, allan’s research ranges from postwar china and the intellectual history of different chinese populations to anti-racism initiatives. elaina norlin (enorlin@aserl.org) is the professional development dei coordinator for the association of southeastern research libraries. she is the author of four books usability testing for library websites, e-learning and business plans: national and international case studies, creating amazing organizations: an insider look at employment engagement trends, and the six step guide to library worker engagement. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:silvia.vong@mail.utoronto.ca mailto:allan.cho@ubc.ca mailto:enorlin@aserl.org introduction defining “racialized” and “racialization” research focus a background on diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism literature review invisible labour method recruitment analysis themes equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work emotional labour interpretive labour identity labour racialized labour aspirational labour making invisible labour visible and valued hiring an edi specialist in a permanent position compensating, weighting, and approving work releases re-imagining equity and anti-racism training and education funding support groups for racialized librarians engaged in the work creating community and actions for leadership accountability conclusion positionality statements acknowledgements endnotes the civilized war within american librarianship: teaching strategies for battling colorblindness in the lis classroom the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. d the civilized war within american librarianship: teaching strategies for battling colorblindness in the lis classroom mónica colón-aguirre, university of south carolina, usa nicole a. cooke, university of south carolina, usa lisa k. hussey, simmons university, usa abstract library and information science (lis) has struggled to improve diversity, representation, and retention in the profession throughout the years. yet, despite a broad range of efforts, the profession, particularly in the u.s., remains primarily white, which mirrors american higher education in general. this disparity makes it imperative for the field to recognize more subtle forms of racism, such as colorblindness or the belief that the u.s. has moved into a post-racial world. this work will present strategies that lis educators and librarians can employ to battle colorblindness through specific interventions in the lis classroom. we believe lis educators and librarians are uniquely positioned in higher education to impact students' learning when it comes to navigating the issues of racism in modern-day society. here, we use reflective practice to explore ways in which we, as lis educators and professionals, have dealt with racism and various related topics in the lis classroom without falling into the trap of colorblindness. our goal is to advance conversations related to colorblindness in higher education to allow it to be tackled and appropriately managed to benefit both students and faculty. keywords: colorblindness; diversity; pedagogy; racism; reflective practice publication type: research article introduction iversity is a word everyone claims to understand, but no one really defines. if the events of 2020, a year rife with social unrest triggered by the murder of george floyd by minneapolis police officers, have shown us anything, it is that we are not the post-racial society as often claimed in america. higher education is no different, and that extends to the library and information science (lis) field. for the past two decades, lis has struggled with improving diversity, representation, and retention in the profession, which despite various efforts to recruit ethnic and racial minorities, remains mostly white (kung et al., 2020). this lack of representation is also prevalent in higher education, especially among faculty (heilig et al., 2019). while topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) are explored in various forms in the lis field, sustainable activism and engagement are still needed. one aspect of the discourse about racism that needs further consideration when discussing dei in higher education is the concept of colorblindness (neville et al., 2016). this phenomenon refers to issues of race being ignored due to the belief that we live in a post-racial society where https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi 23 the civilized war within american librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. racial discrimination is no longer a social problem (bonilla-silva & dietrich, 2011). this notion of colorblindness helps maintain systems of white supremacy and oppression by excluding racial minorities while maintaining a veneer of tolerance and "neutral" acceptance of all races. this work will present strategies that educators and librarians can employ to battle colorblindness in higher education, especially through specific interventions in the college classroom. educators and librarians are uniquely positioned in institutions of higher education in terms of their possible influence on the students' learning. their versatility in teaching, helping design learning opportunities, and even collaborating on research give lis educators and librarians an entry point into academia that not many groups have. our goal with this discussion is to advance conversations related to colorblindness in higher education in a way that can be tackled and appropriately managed to benefit students, faculty, and society. our position as lis educators gives us a unique perspective. as information professionals, we can see how dei topics can be incorporated into curricula to help normalize a dei-based stance and agency for everyone in the college classroom. as jaeger and franklin (2007) point out, within the field of librarianship, the education of its professionals and the subsequent service to communities that librarianship affords, is a cycle of constant collaboration. as lis educators, we strive to positively impact our students to be influential library professionals who, in turn, will positively impact the communities they serve. if we prioritize and normalize dei and negate colorblindness and other racial tropes and fallacies, our students will be able to do the same not just in the lis classroom but also in their workplaces, as practitioners, and in their service communities, as leaders. thus, our reflective work shared in this paper contributes to the field by presenting some issues we have experienced in the classroom around topics related to colorblindness. more specifically, we reject the idea that colorblindness is a desirable goal by taking an inquiry-based approach to how we have managed to navigate that issue. literature review colorblindness in higher education studies point out that colorblindness is a new form of racism prevalent in american society and higher education (bonilla-silva, 2018; bonilla-silva et al., 2004; lewis et al., 2000). williams (2011) defines colorblindness as "…the racial ideology that posits the best way to end discrimination is by treating individuals as equally as possible, without regard to race, culture, or ethnicity" (para. 1). this rhetoric purports that race is no longer socially significant in modern society, that it is only a problem of the past and that it was solved with events such as the emancipation proclamation (1863) or the u.s. civil rights movement (1954-1968) (bonilla-silva & forman, 2000; lewis et al., 2000; vue et al., 2017). this erroneous and simplified version of race in american history and its role in shaping modern systems of exclusion and oppression has led many to believe that white people are victims of legislation intended to exclude and victimize them, such as is the case with affirmative action (lewis et al., 2000). many issues make colorblindness a form of racism rather than an effective approach to incorporating dei. one of the most obvious issues is that non-minorities, especially white people, can easily ignore racism and anti-blackness. this positionality is not the case for people of color who find themselves living in a world and a reality that does not afford them the luxury of avoidance or denial, particularly within educational systems designed to exclude them and act more as obstacles rather than enabling their education. lewis et al. (2000) pointed out that https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 24 the civilized war within american librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. "white" especially in academic institutions is seen as a neutral stance, lacking racial and cultural specificity. in their research, the authors contend that this conception leads to a mentality among white individuals to see their socio-cultural norms as universal, leading to the belief that others, especially people of color, are deviant or divergent from the hetero-cultural norm (lewis et al., 2000). colorblindness creates the perception that negative racist experiences are invalid. colorblindness is also a silencing mechanism directed at muting racialized events, rendering people of color's life experiences invisible and leaving them voiceless (vue et al., 2017). there is plenty of evidence that race and ethnicity are vital aspects of the american experience, historical and contemporary. when experienced as discriminatory events, these identity constructs can directly and negatively affect people's health, income, life expectancy and quality of life. colorblindness redirects this conversation towards mere contextual or tangential issues rather than tackling real racial issues. one of the main distractors in colorblind approaches is treating inequality and racism as rooted in the individual when it is rooted in institutions (vue et al., 2017). this systemic inequity is particularly prevalent in academic institutions, manifested through curricula, teaching methods and overall campus experiences, where students of color are treated as 'others', outsiders, unwelcomed guests, and unworthy participants of what white people see as their hard-earned education (vue et al., 2017). diversity, equity, and inclusion in lis education lis has a conflicted history of reconciling its ethical principles of information for all with its overt and covert racist practices. from early on, libraries in the u.s. were used to indoctrinate poor european immigrants into the american way of life and assimilate them into a class stratification, ensuring social order controlled by elitist aristocrats (harris cited in rubin, 2015). but even more importantly, libraries were segregated institutions, especially in the american south, with services to african american communities not common until the 20th century. by the 1930s, african americans were offered information services in segregated public libraries that functioned as separate governmental units with no official connection to the standard public libraries in the systems (dumont, 1986). furthermore, the education of black librarians was directly impacted by segregation policies which prevented the acceptance and education of african americans in most academic institutions in the southern u.s. (dumont, 1986). these are just a few of the underlying problems with the idea of colorblindness. the approach fails to consider minoritized experiences by privileging the white experience. concrete steps have been taken to correct this approach and consider how race and racism undergird academic institutions. for example, diversity courses have proven effective in higher education especially benefiting white students. case in point, cole et al. (2011) showed that students who took a college-level diversity course reported an increased understanding of white privilege, acknowledgment of blatant racism, acceptance of intersectional consciousness1 and an appreciation for the impact of intersectional consciousness on white students compared with students of color. problem statement as lis educators, in this article, our primary purpose is to share with colleagues, especially librarians, how we have disabused the notion of colorblindness in the lis classroom. we base our work on the principles of reflective practice, a process for group learning based on sharing stories https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 25 the civilized war within american librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. and analyzing cross-cutting themes (patton, 2015). this work presents the results of a discussion between the three authors. we work in majority-white academic institutions in new england, and the southeastern u.s. two of us are representatives of minority groups, one is a latina faculty member, and one is an african american faculty member. we acknowledge that our experiences as racial and ethnic minorities cannot be excluded from our pedagogy, which we claim as a strength that broadens our perspectives on this topic. the third co-author identifies as a cis-gender white woman who studies the topic of dei in lis and has developed courses exploring racism in libraries. collectively, we have over 38 years of experience teaching in lis, and all three of us have taught at least one course focused on dei topics. in addition, we believe that to be far-reaching and more impactful in our students' experiences, dei topics in lis need to be considered in all parts of the lis curriculum, not just within the confines of a targeted elective. this holistic approach to dei topics in lis higher education is the key to providing students with the basic skills and knowledge they will need to become information professionals who genuinely strive to respond to the needs of society. as newly minted librarians graduate from library schools in america, they will operate in library systems that we acknowledge as biased, which heightens the possibility of a new generation of librarians falling prey to the colorblind mentality that glorifies meritocratic approaches to higher education and society. this work focuses on how we address dei issues in our courses in ways that actively move towards avoiding a colorblind, meritocratic, and exclusionary rhetoric. we present our strategies, lessons learned, and best practices we have accumulated as part of our teaching experiences in the lis classroom. the main goal of this work is to present these approaches to librarians and other lis educators to advance the conversation regarding dei in lis and beyond, especially in our classrooms. we acknowledge the shortfalls in some of our approaches and recognize that we will always be working to improve, as is the nature of reflectively approached pedagogy if we are to ascribe to the tenets of cultural humility and culturally responsive teaching (cooke, 2016). cooke points out that, by definition, cultural humility is a process in which practitioners take a step back in their practice so that patrons have the freedom to assert themselves and their expertise related to their lives and culture. culturally responsive pedagogy aims at having teachers engage in honest, critical reflection of how their positionality and intersectionality influence their students' learning (cooke, 2016). thus, we consider the work we share in this research necessary to help prepare future information professionals and inform the practice of lis practitioners already working in the field. considerations when teaching dei teaching dei beyond colorblindness requires instructors to be brave, which takes many forms. in classroom settings, any topic can turn into an emotionally charged discussion, which is particularly true of dei topics. social inequalities, derived from america's history of exclusion and prejudice based on socially constructed racial differences, are something experienced only by members of minority racial groups. this point is critical because our discussion focuses on strategies that can be applied to improve curriculum and teaching practices to nullify systemic racist constructs. these strategies are classified into four main categories: directness and intentionality, managing tough conversations, selection of materials, and contextualization (see table 1). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 26 the civilized war within american librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. table 1. considerations when teaching dei directness and intentionality • curriculum should provide more than one dei-focused course. • course titles should be forthright in their approach to dei. • dei topics should be infused throughout the entire curriculum; not just confined to a single dei elective course. managing tough conversations • correct students' misconceptions, misinterpretations, and misunderstandings gently, directly, and intentionally. • avoid conversations and discussions that degenerate into a "suffering olympics." • invite students to self-reflect on possible origins of their discomfort around certain topics. • have a statement of conduct on the syllabus and where relevant (e.g., as part of the instructions on discussion boards or as reminders before classroom discussions). selection of materials • provide interdisciplinary readings from fields beyond lis. • choose readings and materials by people of color, as well as lgbtqia+ and non-north american authors. • leverage topics to advance dei issues (e.g., topics on popular culture to present concepts such as hegemony). • contextualize course assignments to guide deeper, more meaningful discussions. • consider the validity of assignments (i.e., do they enable students to learn what is intended?) • ask for help from colleagues who specialize on dei when creating assignments. contextualization • constantly remind students of how dei connects to course objectives, course materials and greater issues in society. • recognizing that dei topics might contradict what students have been taught all their lives. • identify and self-reflect on your own biases as an instructor. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 27 the civilized war within american librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. directness and intentionality of teaching dei although there have been recorded positive effects on college students taking diversity courses (cole et al., 2011), researchers warn that students might need more than one diversity course to sustain their identity construction of embracing differences (bowman, 2010). recent studies emphasize offering more than one dei course by imbuing dei topics throughout the curriculum to reinforce inclusive concepts and practices. this approach is more effective than just a single dei course and is more relevant to lasting positive student outcomes (cooke, 2016; denson et al., 2020). furthermore, in higher education, the preference seems to be to create courses framed as "diversity." not many courses directly address racism, anti-racism, or anti-blackness. specifically, in lis, we see course titles like diversity, social justice, and services for diverse users. still, we are less likely to see course titles like anti-racism in information science, racism in libraries, or colorblindness in the information professions. sanitized course titles seem to mirror a generalized practice exhibited throughout lis. rather than offering forthright concepts critically relevant to the field's maturation, lis considers topics like racialized power and cultural nuance through the polite lens of multiculturalism. (hudson, 2017). being direct about which topics and approaches will be employed in lis courses is crucial. it is equally important not to limit dei topics to only a specialized course, which in most lis programs and areas of study is an elective course. it is essential to infuse dei topics throughout the entire lis curriculum. this inclusive approach reinforces an ongoing discourse and helps put the topics discussed in context with direct application to lis professional practice. this method will ultimately produce positive student outcomes related to dei and reduce any possible resistance to learning about diversity topics (denson et al., 2020). managing tough conversations we have found that when managing classroom interactions, especially around complex topics, which can quickly arise when covering dei, it is important to correct problematic behavior and language as soon as it happens. it is also essential to correct misconceptions, misinterpretations, and misunderstandings gently, directly, and intentionally. as instructors, our purpose is to share our knowledge and be in conversation with students. still, our role—which carries inherent privilege and power in and of itself— also demands that we point out and correct inappropriate behavior when it occurs. with dei as our pedagogical framework, we must immediately unpack racist and discriminatory language and attitudes and engage students in a discussion that signifies the issues. although it is sometimes necessary to move on with a lesson and return later to address a problematic issue, some comments, language, or ideas expressed by students must be tackled in the moment, as they arise in the classroom or in online class forums. intricate and complex conversations are often fertile ground for profound growth in librarian identity formation. another issue that might be more difficult to tackle than egregious and blatant racist language or behaviors is reading responses that arise when comparing stories of the trauma of various cultural or identity-based groups. when discussions veer into this territory, sometimes a phenomenon that antony polonsky has described as the "suffering olympics" can occur (cohen, 2012). on a personal level, this happens when we compare our grief to another's experience in a way that delegitimizes the other party (amgalanbaatar, 2020). it is important to manage https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 28 the civilized war within american librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. a conversation like this without invalidating the experiences of various groups by contextualizing and focusing on the overarching themes of the class discussion. a strategy to tackle such a situation in the lis classroom is to redirect the conversation to the overarching topic, not the particular story of a specific demographic or historical context. for example, when discussing a topic such as slavery in the u.s. and its long-term effects on african americans, this topic is also the trope of the irish being enslaved. as an instructor, it is essential to bring the conversation back to the issues at hand and establish significant contextual differences. in this specific example, the differences between the slavery of african americans and the indentured servitude of early irish americans triangulated with issues such as anti blackness, make aspects such as discrimination based on skin color more difficult to conceal than national or ethnic origin. instructors should intentionally deliver this type of argument to present facts instead of avoiding the topic, dismissing the issues at hand, or downplaying the experience of either group. in the case of someone pressing on with a flawed argument, it is also important to invite the person to self-reflect and explore the possible feelings they are encountering and their probable origins. it is essential to highlight the usefulness of having a statement that directly addresses classroom conduct expectations. instructors should create these statements and make them part of the main components of the course, including the syllabus, assignment instructions, preamble to starting a new lesson, evaluation rubrics, and discussion board instructions. this conduct statement should directly address expectations for behavior and the rules of engagement in how topics and conversations will be approached in the course. common statements may include but are not limited to: using "i" statements so that it is clear that the individual is speaking from their point of view instead of generalizing; that the use of racial slurs or other derogatory language will not be tolerated; the importance of critiquing ideas, not individuals or groups; avoiding inflammatory language (e.g., including name-calling); asking questions when one does not understand a point or term; not assuming one knows others' thinking or motivations; not expecting any individuals to speak on behalf of their gender, ethnic group, class, status, etc. (or the groups we perceive them to be a part of); and, acknowledging that the topics will make students uncomfortable. selection of materials dei literature has grown significantly in the last decade, so locating information on these topics is not as difficult as it used to be. instructors should also consider consulting the dei literature in various disciplines to locate relevant interdisciplinary information about the courses they teach and their program's objectives. fields such as education, sociology, psychology, and cultural anthropology have a long history of literature and methodologies supporting dei work; https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 29 the civilized war within american librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. therefore, introducing students to these disciplines would benefit their development as information professionals. when selecting course materials, it is of utmost importance to select authors of color, lgbtqia+ authors, and non-north american authors. while this can be challenging, especially when incorporating readings that move beyond dei topics, it is well worth the effort. another strategy we recommend is not to immediately address the fact that these are minority or underrepresented authors with the students until the end of the semester. here the purpose is to gauge students' reactions to materials and then move on to a discussion regarding the rationale for picking the specific materials, the different points of view represented by the authors, and what the students liked or did not like about the readings. instructors need to leverage the topics discussed in class to advance discussions of dei. discussions such as those centered on topics like popular culture are a great way to introduce concepts such as hegemony and the role of popular culture in helping disseminate specific images and tropes into the general consciousness. this way, the discussion can move into more meaningful and directly applicable dei principles that students can put into practice or be aware of in their future as lis professionals. moreover, including dei content goes beyond just course readings. therefore, it is important to caution about the need to be careful about the assignments we give students and consider their unintended consequences. assignments that guide discussions to more meaningful topics are highly effective and essential for teaching dei topics. classroom (or electronic) discussions and assignments must delve into hard conversations and highlight subtle institutional barriers to dei instead of staying on the general, polarized, or easy-to-identify examples of wrongdoing throughout history. dei is a complex, multifaceted concept. assignments need to reflect this complexity with instructor expectations for students to engage beyond just lip service and surface-level support for minority groups. for example, when using pre-designed material for classroom activities, modules such as the circles of my multicultural self 2 or the privilege walk exercise3 require the instructor to guide the conversation towards meaningful self-reflection. issues easily separated from the topic of race, such as poverty or intersectionality, can be avoided unless the discussion guides students to these more nuanced avenues of self-reflection. additionally, instructors must consider the validity of the assignments given to students: are they learning what we want them to learn? a popular assignment is still used, especially in dei-focused courses, which at first glance, is intended to encourage students to engage with people who are different from themselves. this assignment instructs students to go to a place they would not usually go, and some of the suggestions include a local gay bar, a black church, or a latinx community center, to name a few places. after their visit, students are instructed to write about their experiences and discuss how they interacted with people in these locations, all within a dei context, tied to class readings or discussions. whether we in lis have considered this kind of approach or not, this kind of assignment sends students into places that are long-held safe spaces for members of those cultural groups. thus, the students' uninvited, voyeuristic presence stands to colonize those safe spaces and violate their sanctity. kenny (2001) offers an essential definition for a safe space as a public space where an individual is encouraged to have "...a certain license to speak and act freely, form collective strength, and https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 30 the civilized war within american librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. generate strategies for resistance" (as cited in roestone collective, 2014, p. 1346). therefore, when we send students to these spaces, especially when students are not prepared or have not come to terms with their own biases and the systemic nature of racism and prejudice present in many of our organizations in american society, we are endangering those who inhabit the safe space. we dismiss the importance of the safe space and its meaning to those who frequent it, seeking solace and fellowship among other like-minded individuals who are rejected or stigmatized in mainstream society. this assignment also objectifies and further marginalizes the people being 'studied.' as lis instructors, we must approach dei assignments mindfully to support the need for students who belong to non-minoritized groups to take personal responsibility to do the work to embrace dei concepts and understandings. one way this can be accomplished is to have students do their own research and take the time to engage with the topics instead of having others educate them. otherwise, the effort is placed on minority groups, akin to tokenizing their agency and experiences. another essential strategy is to ensure that assignments do not have unintended negative consequences and are counterproductive to our efforts. if you, as the instructor, have any hesitation related to the potential risks of students misunderstanding course content or misinterpreting the intentions of an assignment, a good practice is to reach out to black, indigenous, people of color (bipoc) colleagues or those who specialize in dei topics for suggestions and, if possible, ask them if they are willing to review materials, comment, or brainstorm when creating assignments. contextualization when teaching dei topics, it is also important to constantly remind students of the reasoning for the topics' inclusion in the course, the connections to course objectives and other course materials, and their relevance to being a contributory citizen in society. as instructors, we must contextualize discussions, assignments, and readings and remind students about the interplay of different phenomena within the profession. more importantly, we need to recognize that this may be the first time many students will encounter some of these topics or issues that go against what they have been taught throughout their lives. they need time and space to process the information presented to them and the contradictions of what they had been taught throughout their lives. this unfamiliarity with the topics and issues covered in the course, and the anxiety they may provoke in some students, might drive some of them to resist the topic actively. this issue, as pointed out by venner and verney (2015), might include minimizing instructor expertise and relevance to practice and research, with resistance manifesting itself in the classroom with students challenging the instructor's authority and competence; specific behaviors demonstrated by students might also include discounting, arguing, or outright ignoring the instructor. as unnerving as an experience like this can be, it is essential to point out that ignoring the issue will not yield a positive outcome in the classroom, especially when dealing with incidents in which students disagree. research on the matter insists on the importance of effective classroom management, which includes giving the student the space to comment on the process and dynamics of tense discussions while also allowing them the time and space to reflect on the negative emotions they are experiencing in the context of the discussion at hand (sue et al., cited in venner & verney, 2015). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 31 the civilized war within american librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. self-reflection regarding the topics discussed in the course allows students to explore their emotions, thoughts, reactions, and—most importantly— the root of these, especially those that trigger discomfort. it is imperative to highlight here that this is not only applicable to students, but as instructors, we also need to take the time to think about why some topics make us uncomfortable and are aware of our own biases. for lis instructors it is also important to highlight the significance of lis instructors having colleagues who do dei work to create a supportive community of practice because teaching and research that prioritizes dei can be isolating. this isolation factor is especially relevant for bipoc lis faculty and librarian practitioners. additionally, when lis students do not have connections with classmate colleagues, librarians, or lis faculty who are as invested in issues of dei, the student might receive an education that affirms their dominant role in society. then, when they get to a class that directly addresses issues such as oppression and racism, these students often get the feeling that the class is oppressive, that the instructor is picking on them, or that the objective is to provoke guilt or to put them in a position in which they must justify their existence. this misunderstanding can make students angry and defensive of their points of view and place in society. this perspective reinforces the importance of having dei infused throughout the curriculum and consistently offering specialized courses and electives as part of the overall course schedule. we tap into our personal networks, especially with other faculty of color and proven non-bipoc accomplices, especially when trying to incorporate new assignments/projects, revise course content, locate new activities or materials and critically evaluate the content of our own assignments. these interactions with faculty of color and white faculty enrich our teaching and create a support system. at least one of us has sat down with a bipoc faculty colleague to rewrite and co-create assignments for use in classes taught by both instructors. in addition, teaching dei content can be risky. pushback to these topics can come from colleagues, administration, students, parents, elected officials, and beyond. for bipoc instructors, there is an additional risk of students saying that one is sensitive because of one's ethnicity or race or has a chip on their shoulder. these issues come out in our teaching evaluations because when students are challenged academically in a way that makes them question their frames of reference, especially in classes where the instructor is the only visible minority in the space, it opens the door to challenges to one's qualifications and suitability as an instructor. one aspect we must point out here is the lack of diversity these students have had throughout their academic lives. in our experience as instructors, we have had graduate students tell us that they have never had a teacher who is a person of color, which means these students most likely have never had to deal with this type of power imbalance before. in the classroom, the student instructor dynamic can take the form of students challenging the bipoc instructor, trying to talk about 'reverse racism' issues, and giving poor teaching evaluations. teaching evaluations of bipoc instructors tend to stray away from constructive comments regarding teaching skills and become very personal towards topics such as the instructor's appearance, tone of voice, or accent. in our experiences as instructors, student comments on course evaluations have veered into full-on criticism of the curriculum (which we as faculty have limited control over), linguistic accents, communication style, body size and hairstyles, choice of shoes and clothing, to name only a few https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 32 the civilized war within american librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. potentially discriminatory and detrimental topics. while some of these components may be perceived as relevant to providing high-quality education (e.g., curriculum concerns), our experiences as bipoc faculty are not the same as those experienced by white colleagues and can ultimately impact advancement and retention in the lis professoriate (bourg, 2014; cooke et al., 2018; irvin, 2019; mehra & gray, 2020). the issue of course evaluations veering into aspects that the faculty member has little control over should also be an essential consideration for those in charge of evaluating teaching personnel to make decisions related to promotion and retention. student evaluations of teaching (set), also known as student course evaluations, are generally accepted ways to evaluate the performance of faculty members in higher education. these evaluations are usually tied to retention and compensation. however, a substantial body of work demonstrates that set are highly flawed systems and that basing personnel decisions on these can lead to discriminatory employment practices (kreitzer and sweet-cushman, 2022; lohman, 2021). some issues with a reliance on student evaluations of teaching include the reciprocity effect, which happens when students use course evaluations as a punitive action for a lower grade received (boring & ottoboni, 2016; reid, 2010). the issues related to set go beyond being used as a way to punish faculty members for not awarding the expected grade. research has found that student evaluations of teaching are marred with sexist comments, tend to judge racial minorities more harshly than whites (reid, 2010), as well as express more negative performance evaluations of faculty when diversity and inclusion topics are the focus of the courses being evaluated (boatright-horowitz & soeung, 2009). furthermore, faculty of color are not only underrepresented in higher education, especially in higher-ranking positions, but also face work environments in which they must overcome bullying, stereotyping, and institutional neglect to achieve their ranks in their universities. adams and batty (2019) highlighted these hardships as part of the finding of their study focusing on black female academics in the u.k. these adversities echo the experiences of female faculty of color in the u.s. (turner et al., 2008). faculty of color, despite gender, are also more prone to bias in student evaluations (reid, 2010). therefore, academic institutions and the leadership in academic programs must recognize these biases and support those teaching dei content, especially bipoc faculty. conclusion to maintain and strengthen the collaboration inherent in this virtuous circle of lis education, service, and practice, we offer our reflections to our professional colleagues in the form of meaningful suggestions for avoiding colorblindness in lis classrooms and learning environments. the topics of dei, which call for a direct approach to teaching that rescinds colorblind rhetoric, are essential in providing a well-rounded educational experience for all college students. creating a sense of belonging and inclusiveness depends on students seeing themselves reflected not only on the faculty but the curriculum to which they will be exposed (u.s. department of education, 2016). therefore, imbuing dei topics throughout the curriculum should be a core consideration for institutions of higher education, given the fact that the general population in the country is ever more diverse (united states census bureau, 2020). by 2026, the number of latinx/hispanic students in american higher education may exceed 41 million (hispanic association of colleges and universities, 2022). according to a report by the national center for https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 33 the civilized war within american librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. education statistics (2020), between the years 2000 and 2018, college enrollment rates among 18to 24-year-olds increased among african american/black (from 31 to 37 percent) and latinx/hispanic (from 22 to 36 percent). this data conveys that in higher education in america, the diversification of the student body is not an expected future trend. still, students who belong to racial and ethnic minorities are already part of academia. our duty as instructors is to provide students with a collegial experience inclusive of their racial/ethnic identity, which celebrates and studies their heritage instead of erasing and colonizing it. for instructors, teaching and engaging with directness and intentionality, managing tough conversations, selecting appropriate materials, and contextualizing the entire learning event can be challenging. this work requires ongoing, dynamic individual self-reflection and cultural humility and can feel like it is more trouble than it is worth. however, once we normalize this lens and apply it to our pedagogy and practice, we promise it becomes easier. more importantly, it will benefit us as lis instructors, our colleagues as lis practitioners and students, and the profession worldwide. this stance is how we implement radical pedagogies (cooke, 2019) and work toward decolonizing our practices. we need to continue having these collective and collaborative conversations across the virtuous collaboration cycle between lis faculty and librarian colleagues, librarians and their community members, lis faculty and lis students, and stakeholders. the collaborations needed to eliminate colorblindness in the profession run the gamut, and collective understanding and efforts will ensure that the work is substantive and perpetual. endnotes 1 to learn more about the concept of intersectional consciousness, consult boveda, m. (2019). an afro-latina's navigation of the academy: tracings of audacious departures, reroutings, and intersectional consciousness. feminist formations, 31(1), 103–123. https://doi.org/10.1353/ff.2019.0011 2 circles of my multicultural self is available at: http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/activities/circlesofself.html) 3 the privilege walk exercise is available at: http://doloreshuerta.org/wp content/uploads/2020/04/privilege-walk.pdf. acknowledgements this article emerged from the authors' edi accelerator series session, presented at the 83rd annual meeting of the association for information science and technology (asis&t), "information for a sustainable world: addressing society's grand challenges," october 23 – november 1, 2020, virtual conference. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1353/ff.2019.0011 http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/activities/circlesofself.html http://doloreshuerta.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/privilege-walk.pdf http://doloreshuerta.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/privilege-walk.pdf 34 the civilized war within american librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. references adams, r. & batty, d. 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"i have two legs, not four": navigating the -isms of the lis minefield. journal of education for library and information science (jelis), 60(3), 231-238. https://doi.org/10.3138/jelis.2018-0061 jaeger, p. t., & franklin, r. e. (2007). the virtuous circle: increasing diversity in lis faculties to create more inclusive library services and outreach. education libraries, 30(1), 20-26. kreitzer, r. j., & sweet-cushman, j. (2022). evaluating student evaluations of teaching: a review of measurement and equity bias in sets and recommendations for ethical reform. journal of academic ethics, 20(1), 1-12. kung, j. y., fraser, k. l., & winn, d. 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(2015). qualitative research & evaluation methods: integrating theory and practice (4th edition). sage. reid, l. d. (2010). the role of perceived race and gender in the evaluation of college teaching on ratemyprofessors.com. journal of diversity in higher education, 3(3), 137–152. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019865 roestone collective. (2014). safe space: towards a reconceptualization. antipode, 46(5), 1346 1365. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12089 rubin, r. e., & janes, j. (2017). foundations of library and information science (4th ed.). american library association. turner, c. s. v., gonzález, j. c., & wood, j. l. (2008). faculty of color in academe: what 20 years of literature tells us. journal of diversity in higher education, 1(3), 139-168. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012837 united states census bureau. (2020). 2020 census illuminates racial and ethnic composition of the country. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html u. s. department of education. (2016). advancing diversity and inclusion in higher education: key data highlights focusing on race and ethnicity and promising practices. u. s. department of education, office of planning, evaluation and policy development and office of the under secretary. https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/advancing-diversity-inclusion.pdf venner, k. l., & verney, s. p. (2015). motivational interviewing: reduce student reluctance and increase engagement in learning multicultural concepts. professional psychology: research and practice, 46(2), 116-123. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038856 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1086/707674 https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2020/2020144.pdf https://doi.org/10.1037/14754-000 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019865 https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12089 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012837 https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/advancing-diversity-inclusion.pdf https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038856 37 the civilized war within american librarianship the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38315. vue, r., haslerig, s. j., & allen, w. r. (2017). affirming race, diversity, and equity through black and latinx students' lived experiences. american educational research journal, 54(5), 868-903. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831217708550 williams, m. t. (2011). colorblind ideology is a form of racism. psychology today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culturally-speaking/201112/colorblind ideology-is-form-racism mónica colón-aguirre (colonagm@mailbox.sc.edu) is an assistant professor at the school of information science, university of south carolina, usa. dr. colón-aguirre is a recipient of the american library association's spectrum doctoral fellowship (2008) and has more than 10 years of experience as an instructor and researcher. her areas of research include academic libraries, library management, user services, services for underserved populations, information behaviors of spanish-speakers. before colón-aguirre became a faculty member, she worked in libraries both in the continental united states and in her native puerto rico. nicole a. cooke (ncooke@mailbox.sc.edu) is augusta baker endowed chair and associate professor at the school of information science, university of south carolina, usa. dr. cooke's research and teaching interests include human information behavior, critical cultural information studies, and diversity and social justice in librarianship. cooke received the 2019 association of library and information sciences education excellence in teaching award, and she has edited and authored several books, including information services to diverse populations and fake news and alternative facts: information literacy in a post-truth era. lisa hussey (lisa.hussey2@simmons.edu), who joined the simmons college school of library and information science (boston, massachusetts, usa) faculty in fall 2008, was formerly the director of library services at devry university in arizona and has taught at the university of british columbia (canada) and the university of missouri (usa), where she received her doctoral degree. dr. hussey also served as program manager for the university of arizona school of information resources and library science. hussey has given several presentations on diversity in librarianship and what motivates minorities to choose a library science career. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831217708550 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culturally-speaking/201112/colorblind-ideology-is-form-racism https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culturally-speaking/201112/colorblind-ideology-is-form-racism mailto:colonagm@mailbox.sc.edu mailto:ncooke@mailbox.sc.edu mailto:lisa.hussey2@simmons.edu what about us? preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 what about us? preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement renee e. dixson, the australian national university, australia abstract this article outlines the research being undertaken to develop the assembling queer displacements archive (aqda). this open digital archive is the central focus of a research project that will address the lack of understanding of lgbtiq+1 experiences of forced displacement. these experiences are unique but have not received adequate attention. the existing body of work on ‘queering archives’ has been focused on challenging the archival approaches and practices in order to either queer these practices and/or make them more inclusive. however, this work has tended to ignore lgbtiq+ stories of forced displacement. one reason for this lack of engagement is the lack of direct knowledge and experience of such stories by the researchers and archivists themselves. my positionality as an lgbtiq+ forcibly displaced person has motivated me to embark on the present research project and to demonstrate inclusive practices to address these gaps in archives. in this article i explore the role that positionality plays in creating an lgbtiq+ forced displacement archive. i offer solutions for creating an inclusive practice to collect stories of lgbtiq+ forcibly displaced people. these solutions have the potential to support a range of digital archival projects that engage with structurally marginalised and oppressed communities. keywords: archival approaches; lgbtiq+ forced displacement; lived experience; oral history; positionality publication type: research article introduction n december 2019 the first ever historic global refugee forum (grf) (unhcr, 2019d) took place at the united nations (un) in geneva. this followed the actions outlined in the global compact on refugees (unhcr, 2019a) that was adopted a year earlier. the global compact on refugees was designed to be an addition to the un convention on refugees, given the unprecedented number of displaced people around the world. the grf was intended to bring un member states, various stakeholders, and refugees together for a mobilised global commitment to address displacement. attendees were encouraged to make pledges of financial or other commitments, such as pro bono legal assistance, provision of training to decision makers, or increased number of resettlement places as a way to offer solutions to the ‘global refugee crisis’. by the time of the 2019 grf, i had been living in australia with my partner tina for seven years as an lgbtiq+ refugee. when tina was invited to attend grf as one of the six refugee cosponsors, we knew this was the highest platform to which we could take our advocacy on lgbtiq+ forced displacement. at the united nations, her role as a refugee co-sponsor was to elevate and i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 promote a particular action area of the global compact on refugees—the protection needs of displaced people (unhcr, 2019c). this meant that as a refugee co-sponsor she would be invited to speak at various high-level panels and events alongside un members states and international non-governmental organisations. given that we were doing this work together in australia, unhcr agreed to support my participation too. our expectations quickly clashed against reality. in regards to openly advocating for the rights of lgbtiq+ forcibly displaced people and their ongoing protection needs, the only speaking opportunity allocated to us was a presentation at a speakers corner, an optional side event that lasted for the duration of six minutes. in preparation, we submitted an abstract proposing a discussion of the challenges faced by lgbtiq+ people seeking asylum, their protection needs, and what solutions could be implemented. we titled our presentation queer refugee women organising. shortly after submitting an abstract (that did not need to be approved, only submitted) we received a call and were asked to reconsider the title of the presentation. we were informed that ‘several states’ were threatening to boycott the entire grf if there was a mention of words such as ‘queer’ or ‘lgbtiq+’ in writing on the program. if we were not willing to change the title, we would be pulled out of the program. after much deliberation, we dropped the word in question. on the day of our presentation, everyone who came to listen knew in advance what we would talk about (unhcr, 2019b, p. 9). by the end of the grf only ten pledges2 out of the total 1400 pledges submitted mentioned lgbtiq+ persons. most of these only mentioned lgbtiq+ people in a long list of diverse groups without a pledge dedicated to this group.3 the final report, the outcomes of the global refugee forum 2019, does not contain any mention of lgbtiq+ populations.4 in terms of official records, lgbtiq+ experiences at best are a minor issue, and at worst do not exist at all. i begin this article with an account of this experience to show the implications of ideologically driven absences of memories and records about marginalised groups from official cultural memory records. where official records are treated as a proof of existence, the story highlights the role that power plays in selecting whose lives are deemed ‘liveable’ (butler, 2009) enough to be memorialised. this story also reaffirms why it is important to collect and preserve oral histories of the lived experiences of people who are absent from written records. this absence is not only due to ignorance. as this story shows, the absence is due to active resistance against preserving them. when the most important human rights institution succumbs to conservative pressures and does not include mentions of lgbtiq+ forcibly displaced people, how does one resist such erasure and preserve these histories? it is in response to this challenge that i am creating world-first digital archive about lgbtiq+ forced displacement. before i describe the development of the archive, i want to outline my positionality as my engagement with it is at the core of my practice in creating the archive. i was born in one of the world's most isolated settlements in the arctic circle during a period of polar nights that last for months. my family was originally from kazakhstan. my father was a military officer and my mother worked in childcare. in our culture there is a saying that in a military family, the whole family is in service. the values of keeping your word, being reliable, and being resourceful were very important in our family. when my father was deployed to a new place, the family followed. this is how we ended up in ukraine, a new country with a language we did not speak, and a cultural identity we did not share. 44 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 when the ussr separated, i was seven or eight years of age. like many other soviet children, i was growing up in a country that assigned me my nationality in a passport, but gave no guidance on who i was ethnically. the remnants of the soviet homogeny were all too prevalent, as was the fear of questioning anything especially history. i do not know much about my family. when i asked my father to tell me anything about the history of my family, he said that he did not know much about them either. in the ussr, just asking a question could result in being sent to gulag camps. the older my parents get, the more details dissolve in time. the great terror inflicted by the ussr, of forced labour, genocide, ethnic cleansing, classicide5,6 left a mark and shaped what we remembered about our family. with the collapse of the ussr and ukraine gaining its independence, a different era began, free from immediate colonial and soviet grasp, yet full of new challenges. the economy collapsed and my parents, in addition to many people around the country, did not receive wages for their work for many months. my school memories are about doing homework under the light of a kerosene lantern. we baked rations of potatoes in the oven and ate them plain. cold water and electricity in our apartment building were provided on a schedule, only for several hours per day. my aunty, who lived in a different country, took care of us. sometimes she sent us parcels with money, clothes, and sweets to share with the whole family. we would share a snickers chocolate bar, dividing it with a ruler equally between all family members. at school i was not the best student in class because of my difficulties with reading and writing. i was bullied for not fitting heteronormative expectations of how a ‘real’ girl should look and behave. i tried to blend in and be ordinary to minimise this, with little success. what saved my life was my introduction to the internet by a classmate. i could search for information about sexuality, and know that i was not alone. i found my community and its support online. this was when i understood that the longer i was silent and tried to blend in, the more chances there were that my death and the deaths of many lgbtiq+ people would go unnoticed. by the time of my final exam at university, i had established the first organisation for lgbtiq+ people in my region and secured several international grants. this organisation successfully provided many services. we engaged in national and international advocacy. most importantly, it was a safe space where community members could come, have a cup of tea, access the internet, feel safe, and know that they belonged. as a result of this publicly visible work and the persecution that followed, i was forced to leave ukraine. i choose not to go into detail of what ‘exactly happened’ to me, because the experience of persecution was just a final stroke in my displacement. yet it seems that to become a refugee is to fix your identity in time and space. to obtain the legal status of a refugee, one is put “in a situation where protection depends upon telling one’s story” (zagor, 2011, p. 10). to preserve one’s status of deserving protection, the demand for one’s story will never cease. remembering your childhood is no longer of interest; talking about your country fondly is no longer appropriate; only depictions of violence, disavowal of your homelands, and gratitude towards a new country is welcomed. coming back to my earlier point about how one is able to preserve their history in the face of resistance, an additional question needs to be asked: how can one preserve their history outside “conventions of model narratives” (vogl, 2013, p. 64) without being de-legitimised? i do so through the development of the digital archive about lgbtiq+ forced displacement. 45 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 while we can see increasing representation of lgbtiq+ stories of forced displacement through articles and interviews (henley, 2020; j. jones, 2018; taylor, 2018; truu, 2019), art (keung, 2019; lynes, 2018; pujol-mazzini, 2016; rose, 2019; when home won’t let you stay: art and migration, 2020), and documentary films (d’entremont, 2012; france, 2020; ring, 2020), these experiences are still presented and told by people without lived experience, those who hold privilege and have the capacity, money, social, and economic status to re-tell the stories of lgbtiq+ forcibly displaced people. in this article, while discussing the development of the assembling queer displacement archive (aqda), i have two aims. first, i aim to articulate the importance of preserving the histories of lgbtiq+ forced displacement. second, i aim to explore the importance of the role positionality plays in creating an lgbtiq+ forced displacement archive. both these aims are intertwined, and will offer unique insights into archival methods and practices of collecting oral histories of such structurally marginalised populations. other archivists might find them useful in embedding inclusivity and trauma-informed approaches in their work. the assembling queer displacement archive (aqda) the assembling queer displacement archive (aqda) is being established to counter the hegemonies that permeate displacement narratives,7 to give visibility to the experiences of lgbtiq+ forced displacement, and to offer opportunities for the replication of these methodologies for other similar work with marginalised communities. its development is underpinned by my professional expertise, my own lived experience of lgbtiq+ forced displacement, and draws on the collective knowledge of all of those who have experienced, or are still experiencing, these journeys. starting this work from the premise of lived experience has transformed my approach to archival practice, and resulted in valuable insights that i believe are important to the broader practice of archiving. i create the aqda as an experimentally born, digital archive of oral histories about lgbtiq+ forced displacement. this will be the first archive to capture and preserve the phenomenon of lgbtiq+ displacement. beyond being simply another archive about a particular phenomena, this archive is a political act of survival (horak, 2018). to populate the archive, i am collecting the oral histories of lgbtiq+ persons who are either refugees, asylum seekers, or migrants from non-western countries who are over 18 years old. i group these legal categories under the term forced displacement to connote an element of coercion that drives people to relocate to safer countries8. for asylum seekers (those still in the process of claiming protection) and refugees (those recognised in the need of protection and granted a visa to stay) the element of coercion and violence is central to their displacement. this is enshrined in the definition as provided in the un convention on refugees (un general assembly, 1951). migrants are more commonly seen as people who are making a choice to relocate to another country9. however despite this choice, in the context of lgbtiq+ rights, globally10 such definitional boundaries often get blurred. a person may be subjected to violations of their rights and violence because they are lgbtiq+. the intensity of pervasive homophobia and transphobia will limit the possibility for them to live their lives in safety, dignity, and freedom in their country of origin, so they decide to leave. despite these experiences being refugee-like, they may have other visa pathways available for them to pursue. others may not experience a sufficient amount of persecution (un general assembly, 1951) to qualify for refugee status, yet still cannot live their lives openly and freely, thus again they use a different visa pathway. in these two examples, it is clear that while lgbtiq+ migrants seem to have a choice to reallocate, an element of coercion driving the relocation is present, which makes their 46 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 case refugee-like. thus, i adopt a broader understanding of the term forced displacement that transcends the constraints of legal definitions. using the term ‘forcibly displaced person’ is important for two reasons. first, the use of the word person humanises those to whom it applies. second, it allows us to move beyond the limitations of the label ‘refugee’. ‘forcibly displaced person’ encompasses more groups than those recognised as refugees, such as those who are undocumented, still seeking asylum, or those who have had access to other migration pathways with motivation for leaving due to the impossibility of staying in their countries of origins or residency. the term ‘forcibly displaced people’ is also used by the united nations refugee agency (unhcr)11. narrators can contribute their stories to the archive in several ways through participating in an interview recording. i am recording all interviews as either an audio only or a video record. for the safety and privacy of narrators, they may use a pseudonym and apply some additional protections such as voice and video distortion to protect their identities. the aqda offers sensitive and respectful representations of oral histories through the use of a “generous interface” (whitelaw, 2015, para. 3). drawing on the work of whitelaw, the concept of generous interface refers to a design that allows users to see and explore all available interviews in the archive, in a way beyond a standard search box. the aqda is currently a phd project, and once launched it will be available to access from the internet at no cost. in this work i am guided by the feminist standpoint appraisal methodology that “explicitly and unapologetically gives epistemological weight (thereby assigning value) to records created and preserved by, and potentially activated in service to, those individuals and communities oppressed by capitalism, white supremacy, and heteropatriarchy” (caswell, 2019, pp. 6–7). according to caswell (2019), this methodology refuses the demand for archivists who are from marginalised communities to “overcome their positionalities” to meet the standards and procedures of archiving (p. 2). instead, positionality is at the heart of this archive. i am also guided by jamie ann lee’s queer/ed archival methodology (2015), which offers reflexivity, flexibility, and attentiveness as ways to challenge conventional archival practices. literature review: defining the need despite being a recognised phenomenon, there is no reliable global data on lgbtiq+ forced displacement. unhcr does not disaggregate data on the basis of gender identity or sexuality12. most countries accepting refugees do not collect data on how many lgbtiq+ people have been granted asylum. this creates invisibility in the data record and contributes to a construction of single narratives about who can be a refugee (it assigns ‘compulsory heterosexuality’13) and what the drivers of displacement are (it assumes the most common ones such as war conflict). the experiences of lgbtiq+ forcibly displaced people are being delegitimised in the context of prevailing heteronormativity and cisgenderism in the refugee narratives. eithne luibheid has observed that “most scholarship, policymaking, service provision, activism and cultural work remain organised around the premise that migrants are heterosexuals (or on their way to becoming so) and queers are citizens (even those second-class ones)” (luibhéid, 2008, p. 169). similarly, hajdukowski-ahmed argues that all refugee women are presumed to be heterosexual (hajdukowski-ahmed et al., 2008). such invisibility in data and refugee narratives flows on to the spaces of cultural memory. archives and libraries are traditionally viewed as places of authority and truth. however, with 47 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 little memory preserved on lgbtiq+ forced displacement, questions remain about whose stories are written in history and remembered. it has been widely argued that the official cultural memory collected and preserved in libraries and archives is a product of judgement and discrimination by those who are in power positions (caswell, 2019; mbembe, 2002; stone & cantrell, 2015; zinn, 1977). for example, mbembe (2002) argues there are no archives that are secular because social processes of normativity reproduce marginalisation, and thus follows the exclusion of lgbtiq+ materials in archives and libraries. similarly, carter writes: “archivists are constantly confronted with choices about what to include and what to exclude, allowing for some voices to be heard while others are silenced.”(carter, 2006, p. 219) there is growing body of literature about queering archives and archival practices, including the most recent documenting rebellions: a study of four lesbian and gay archives in queer times by rebecka taves sheffield (2020). yet in this literature, engagement with lgbtiq+ forced displacement is missing. caswell (2019) has argued that archival practices are “written almost exclusively by white men working for government archives” (p. 5). in this context, it seems unlikely that the experiences of relatively invisible minorities, like lgbtiq+ people experiencing forced migration, will be made more visible in the archival record. this problem is not restricted only to large-scale, state-run types of archives. stone and cantrell (2015) have argued that even in dedicated lgbtiq+ archives, the records are dominated by the experiences of the “white, middle-class or upper-class gay man, and visible queer life” (p. 8). in addition, the majority of lgbtiq+ archives are located in western countries and therefore privilege the normative experiences of those countries. the politics of respectability14 implicated by homonormativity (lee, 2015) have rendered invisible the stories of people of colour, transgender, bisexual, intersex and two spirit people, migrants, refugees, and people from different religious backgrounds in archival records. within refugee spaces, a lack of attention to lgbtiq+ experiences of displacement is also prevalent. for example, the refugee project15, a large-scale data visualisation project, does not provide disaggregation of data by sexual orientation given that they use unhcr data as a source. the refugee rights in records initiative, in its framework, also misses the opportunity to acknowledge the existence of lgbtiq+ refugees. they define their purpose in terms of: “the right to have one's self-identity acknowledged in records about oneself, including, but not limited [emphasis added] to name, gender, and ethnicity” (ucla, 2019). such omissions are missed opportunities, signalling that no engagement with lgbtiq+ people formed part of their process. thus, through the development of the aqda i aim to make both a contribution to academic scholarship and to the existence of archival records that are told from the point of view of these lived experiences. the aqda moves away from “consultation with” (as indicated in the refugee rights in records initiative) to co-design. this approach shifts control to narrators, from the initial expression of interest to undertaking the interview and through to the final product. politics of location and points of difference “as a radical standpoint, perspective, position, “the politics of location” necessarily calls those of us who participate in the formation of counter-hegemonic cultural practice to identify the spaces where we begin to process of revision”. (hooks, 1989a, p. 15) archivists have long been encouraged to engage with their positionality and ensure the representations of marginalised groups. jaggar argued that “[w]e can only start from where we 48 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 are,” claiming that everything from our emotions to systems of knowledge has been created and shaped by the “cruelly racist, capitalist, and male-dominated society” (jaggar, 1989, p. 170). sharon crowley wrote that “the illusion of ideological neutrality is a luxury available only to those who espouse a dominant ideology” (1994, p. 15). more recent work includes ritter (2012) who has argued for adopting principles of archival ethnography, brilmyer (2018) who offered a “political/relational model of disability” (p. 96) framework to reimagine the archives and their materials, and dunbar (2006) who writes on the need to apply critical race theory to archival discourses. attention to positionality and diverse representations go hand in hand as without a critical interrogation of one’s privilege and biases, one may not see the exclusions and silence (even if unintentional) to which one may contribute. reflecting on my positionality is not just about having reasons to engage in particular work; it is about not having any choice not to. as hanisch writes, “the personal is political” (hanisch, 1969, p. 76). class, gender, race, age, religion, sexual orientation, culture, childhood experiences, and more shape us and our positionalities. bell hooks (1989) called knowledge producers “to identify the spaces where we begin the process of revision” (p. 15). engaging with the questions of positionality means initiating a reflexive look at how we as archivists and researchers are engaging with notions of power and vulnerability in our practice when working with marginalised communities. for myself at the aqda, the attention to positionality is a tool of resistance in the archival practice. in writing this article, i have chosen to discuss my personal story because, as bell hooks argued, positionality “informs the way we speak about issues, the language we choose” (1989, p. 15). my experience of becoming a forcibly displaced person did not occur in a vacuum. my childhood experiences and background led me to my activism, and my activism in turn led to my displacement. growing in a country that experienced a different form of colonisation, with no ethnic community or history to hold on to, made the displacement experience more acute. my positionality also shapes how i relate to others who have been through similar experiences. it helps me attain a different standpoint and develop hermeneutical resources16 to understand the experiences of other lgbtiq+ forcibly displaced people differently and more comprehensively. i want to share these learnings here. the work i have already done on developing the archive has highlighted several key issues that can inform and enrich archival practices. i will discuss these below beginning with challenging the idea of a universal lgbtiq+ terminology, what a conventional lgbtiq+ refugee storytelling looks like and why one needs to focus an archive on a specific cohort like lgbtiq+ forcibly displaced people. this discussion is then followed by points challenging the sameness of all stories of lgbtiq+ forcibly displaced people. i then discuss important learnings about what impact a researcher’s positionality has on the project and narrators. lastly, i conclude by examining questions of power, visibility, and vulnerability, all three of which are central to developing an archive that deals with marginalisation. discussing the findings, approaches to archiving, and lessons learned, i aim to contribute to the ongoing debate on the use of positionality in archival studies and practice. i hope that the approaches i have taken can be replicated in work with other marginalised groups. 49 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 challenging the universality of western categorisation of bodies, identities and sexualities it is essential that i begin by addressing the fact that the term lgbtiq+ itself is a western term. gloria anzaldua (2009) has argued that words like ‘homosexual’ and ‘lesbian’ which originated from western cultures often come with pathologising history. yet people from non-western backgrounds have had no choice but to operate and live through these concepts. anzaldua wrote that despite being a part of a category ‘lesbian’, she was still not equal to her western counterparts as neither her colour nor her class were part of that category in the western understanding (2009). anzaldua (2009) wrote that “naming [emphasis added] is how i make my presence known, how i assert who and what i am and want to be known as. naming myself is a survival tactic” (p. 164). rawson (2010) in his work has also reflected that some terms have the capacity to inflict ‘socio-linguistic violence’ on those who become trapped in them (p. 55). consider my analysis above about the conventions of storytelling imposed on lgbtiq+ refugees and the opening quote in the beginning of this article. for narrators who are contributing to this archive the question of identity is prominent. on the one hand, as discussed above, those who are seeking safety become trapped by the ‘refugee’ label. on the other hand, they also need to identify with the ‘lgbtiq’ label, for both legal reasons (to prove to immigration that they are in need of protection) and social reasons (to find communities of belonging). in recognition of these complex positions, in the aqda i am providing narrators with a choice to use labels, identities, and names according to the western terminology and to use their own cultural identities if such exist17. examples of other terms include muxe in mexico, hijra in india, and, fafafine in fiji, among many others. through centring selfidentification when recording these stories, which reflect wide diversity within communities, we are making ourselves known and remembered. stories we are expected to tell there are three persons in the whole world who know most of the details of my story and the events that have left with me with no choice but to seek asylum. they are my immigration lawyer representing my case, the immigration officer assessing the protection claims, and my counsellor helping me recover. telling my story to these three people seems appropriate as my survival equally depended on all three and their ability to treat my story properly18. one of the foundations of trauma theory, originating from holocaust studies, is the importance of an empathetic listener, who can validate the experience (felman & laub, 1992). in the mainstream, refugee stories are treated with entitlement and voyeurism. a refugee must keep providing a justification of their legitimacy through “good stories” (vogl, 2013) long after their case has been decided by immigration officials. in such stories, a display of gratitude is essential to being recognised as a humanitarian subject in need of protection (moulin, 2012). the voyeurism comes from a desire to know increasingly more details (radstone, 2007). survival testimonies are treated as confessional speech, where this speech is constituted by an imperative to speak, where a survivor should “be given an empowering permission to speak” (alcoff, 2018, p. 189) and where there is an ever-present power imbalance between a survivor who is in a submissive position and an expert who is there to validate the speech. a refugee story also locks one’s identity in time, only allowing a slight movement from “genuine refugees with a right to protection […]” to “successful citizens and devoted workers” (vogl, 2018, p. 82). 50 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 dixson writes: there are two expectations of you when you are from a refugee background. the first is that you perform your refugee identity for people in a particular way – in other words, as a victim. the second is that you are keen to tell your story over and over again. the more tragic details you disclose, the better you perform your refugee identity, in the public’s view. (2017, p. 81) in the article, she writes that one’s legitimacy as a refugee and one’s deservingness of protection are judged based on how well they can perform their ‘expected’ refugee identity. this adherence to this conventional storytelling comes at the cost of re-traumatisation through remembering and retelling, voyeuristic responses demanding more details to be disclosed, and an absence of justice as solidarity actions rarely follow such storytelling (dixson, 2017). defying the pressure to adhere to this conventional storytelling or attempting to challenge those norms, i would argue, results in silencing and erasure. it will move one out of the realm of being a humanitarian subject to being a political one, thus no longer in need of protection (moulin, 2012). i decided to engage with storytelling about displacement experiences because i suddenly found myself suffocating in the middle of the single story about forcibly displaced people. this single story was both produced by other refugees, wanting to be intelligible and advocates, assuming they were eliciting empathy. in this story all refugees were either very poor, vulnerable, and damaged or they were high achievers. regardless of the story line, all refugees in these stories were heterosexual, cisgender, able-bodied and mostly male or in a (heterosexual) family unit. there are many examples of such storytelling that never even mention the existence of lgbtiq+ refuges. for example, the most recent, temporary19, an eight-part podcast series showcases stories from those seeking asylum in australia who are on the temporary protection visas. none of the stories mention lgbtiq+ issues. when stories of lgbtiq+ forced displacement are told, they are often exaggerated. these narratives are still expected to be shaped and curated to fit certain conventional storytelling frames. lgbtiq+ refugees are either represented as the most vulnerable (where vulnerability is equated with victimhood and passivity), or as very progressive because they were queer in such oppressive (meaning ‘backwards’ and ‘barbaric’) countries of origin (puar, 2017). thus, in the narratives that are produced about lgbtiq+ refugees, they are expected to be grateful to live in an egalitarian country. in this instance their queerness is associated with being a desired feature of a refugee because it signals modernity. however, it instead reinforces racist narratives about refugees that see them as a threat – if you are queer, you are like us; if you are just a brown body, you may be a terrorist (puar, 2007). yet still in the mainstream of refugee activism, we lgbtiq+ forcibly displaced people are treated as insignificant or controversial and as a very small group to care about. lgbtiq+ spaces provide no respite either. in those spaces, we face similar erasure, compounded by the added stigma of being an lgbtiq+ person who fled instead of staying in your country of origin to fight for your rights to the death. this invisibility is a double-edge sword: lgbtiq+ people are either not represented at all (as if they do not exist), or represented as the other, unlikely to come across (again by making them so exceptional, the cohort is made invisible). for example, fobear (2015) argued that in canada, because lgbt refugees’ stories are constrained by “western and colonial scripts in the refugee hearing process, they can also be used to dismiss ongoing violence against queer individuals” (p. 109). 51 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 following the conventional storytelling, stories of lgbtiq+ refugees are required to “go back to the beginning” (vogl, 2013, p. 63) and to “announce the truth of one’s sexuality (or gender) by coming out” (hall, 2017, p. 158). the storytelling is expected to follow a coherent narrative, yet be confined to the events that led to one being displaced. there is little understanding that for lgbtiq+ persons, their ‘displacement’ may have begun long before a border was crossed. following the conventions of survival discourse, (alcoff, 2018) it is expected to produce just the right amount of details to prove that one is indeed a refugee and display the right amount of emotions (especially for women (gilmore, 2017)) to elicit public sympathy and to be believable. such storytelling is not only re-traumatising but locks people in the refugee identity not allowing them to produce different narratives about their lives. even two out of four first reviewers of a draft of this article encouraged me to share more details about why exactly i have become displaced. just stating this as a fact was not sufficient. traumatic and often violent experiences of displacement are marked by the loss of control. losing control over the narrative of your life, whether when you are asked to adhere to conventional storytelling scripts or when the stories are told about you, without you, is a re-enactment of that trauma. the aqda takes a radically different approach to collecting the stories of lgbtiq+ forced displacement, taking a great care to avoid re-traumatisation (see a section below for a further discussion on this) and ensuring that stories are not forced to follow the conventional storytelling expectations. here i am guided by woodiwiss’s (2014) approach that raises the importance of “challeng[ing] the dominance of any singular story and in doing so creat[ing] a space and a framework in which those who are silenced by dominant narratives are able to tell different stories and draw on different narrative frameworks to make sense of their lives” (p. 3). preparing for an interview, i do have some guiding questions, but i let the conversation flow without prescribing what a story should look like. i come to an interview with an understanding that my narrators may “have only talked to a handful of people, or none at all, about their sexual orientation” (berg & millbank, 2009, p. 198) and thus my role is not to elicit some truth about their grounds for protection, but to witness and preserve their stories in their diversity and complexity. there is a mistaken belief that one needs to tell the story in order to “resolve the symptoms” (fisher, 2017, p. 46). for example, the refugee rights in records initiative states that one of its objectives is to “understand […] the role played by archives and storytelling in memory transmission and recovery from trauma [emphasis added]” (ucla, 2019). in the context of refugee storytelling, a request to ‘tell me your story’ or ‘tell me what happened to you’ is too common. fisher writes that this approach, even in the therapeutic settings let alone in a public space is traumatising: “it is the details of memory and chronological scene-by-scene retelling that activates associated implicit memories, dysregulates the nervous system and can have a retraumatising effect on the client.” (fisher, 2017, p. 47) instead, i am asking the question ‘what led you to make a decision to leave?’ answers that follow do not have to give any details. some of my narrators did recall what happened to them; others completely refused and discussed an incident that may seem so minor, yet it was the final blow. i ask questions about who they regard as their community. we talk about the future without being too focused on the past. we discuss how their lives look now. narrators share their critique about the country they are in without a fear they may seem too ‘ungrateful’. i too come with an understanding that not every narrator wants to be identified as a refugee for the rest of their lives. i explain what it means to have your voice, appearance, and name recorded in an open 52 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 digital archive. i surrender complete control to the narrator to decide how they appear and what is told. such an approach allows for the collection of stories that are otherwise untold. the need for the visibility of lgbtiq+ forced displacement the need to collect and preserve these experiences strongly arises from the imposed conventional storytelling scripts. it is, of course, also coupled with the fact that globally the rights of lgbtiq+ people remain under attack. in 2020, according to the international lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex association (ilga world) there are 67 un member states with provisions criminalising consensual same-sex conduct. among them, “the death penalty is the legally prescribed punishment for consensual same-sex sexual acts in six un member states, namely: brunei, iran, mauritania, nigeria (12 northern states only), saudi arabia and yemen” (mendos et al., 2020). there are an additional five un states where the death penalty is a possible punishment. beyond criminalisation, there is also ongoing stigma, discrimination, and violence inflicted globally on lgbtiq+ people. many are murdered before they can make it to safety. many seek safety, yet in finding it they remain invisible. attention to the need for preservation of lgbtiq+ histories has been growing. ann cvetkovich writes that “in the face of institutional neglect, along with erased and invisible histories gay and lesbian archives have been formed through grassroots efforts” (cvetkovich, 2003, p. 8). yet, it has been common that general lgbtiq+ archives present narratives that exclusively focus on pride and histories of the liberation movement (gutterman, 2019). this focus solely on political progress “produce[s] normative narratives about queer pasts” (lee, 2015, p. 42). normative queer pasts tend to be inseparable from whiteness. in terrorist assemblages: homonationalism in queer times jasbir puar writes that queer sexualities are framed through “the notion of ‘ascendancy of whiteness’ – [which] repeatedly coheres whiteness as a queer norm and straightness as a racial norm” (2007, p. xxiv). this results in the erasure of the diversity of lgbtiq+ experiences and requires a response. the aqda has been designed as a response, born out of necessity to resist the erasure and silencing of lgbtiq+ displaced people. similar to other lgbtiq+ archives that have emerged as places of resistance and political strategy (rawson, 2010), the aqda is continuing this path and resists the erasure of lgbtiq+ lives and experiences in non-western cultures. in addition to the resistance to normativity of lgbtiq+ lives, the aqda challenges the silencing of these experiences within other realms such as migration. judith butler (2004) and later sara ahmed (2004) have both argued that queer lives in general are not seen as a form of life because they violate the scripts of compulsory heterosexuality. puar has extended this argument and posits that: “if the ‘turn to life’ for queer subjects is now possible, how queerness folds into racialisation is a crucial factor in whether and how that turn to life is experienced, if it is experienced at all” (2007, pp. xii–xiii). someone who is non-living cannot be credible either. the possibility to record and represent these stories in the form of the archive is a political act of resistance and attempt to legitimise lgbtiq+ forcibly displaced people’s lives that survived “in the face of multiple forms of oppression” (horak, 2018, p. 104). the choice to preserve these stories in a digital open access archive is intentional. mccracken and hogan, in the context of indigenous archives, write that government or public archives “can be physically stressful, hostile and unwelcoming to indigenous researchers” (mccracken & hogan, 2021, p. 97). they often replicate surveillance and colonial practices. 53 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 this bears resemblance to the experiences for lgbtiq+ persons. for lgbtiq+ persons, access to an archive may also be impeded by the requirement to show their id (especially when the name or gender on the id do not match who a person is) or a requirement to be affiliated with an institution. rawson (2010) reflects on his personal experiences engaging with the physical environment of archives, and how it can be profoundly influential. drawing on the report opening the door to the inclusion of transgender people (mottet & tanis, 2008) he suggests that environmental clues like “the physical environment, bathrooms, the verbal environment, the questions you ask people, and communications materials” (rawson, 2010, p. 181) indicate to the users of archives, in this case trans people, whether they are welcome in the space or not. as i outlined at the start of this article, the majority of lgbtiq+ community archives are located in western countries. this means that access to them is contingent on having a visa and/or financial resources to travel. there are no guarantees that those archives have an extensive collection about lgbtiq+ forced displacement. for example, by searching ‘refugee' through the websites of four lgbtiq+ archives that formed case studies in documenting rebellions: a study of four lesbian and gay archives in queer times by rebecka taves sheffield (2020), only two archives, the one national gay and lesbian archives (los angeles, california) and the arquives: canada's lgbtq2+ archives (toronto, ontario) (sheffield, 2020) showed one result each. upon a closer look through their digital collection, a few more titles came up. overall, when browsing a collection one is presented with a long list assuming that one knows what one is searching for and is familiar with names or key events. it is also impossible to know if there are more records in these archives without physically visiting them or making a research request (and knowing how to make one even if you are not a part of an institution). the aqda aims to remove the access barriers and elitism underpinning most existing archives. there are no fees and no need to show id or prove affiliation. being a digital open access archive, all the physical access barriers are mitigated. using the concept of generous interface as described in the beginning of this article, the user experience is improved and made accessible. the aqda removes a requirement to be anything other than curious, yet preserves all the necessary features for researchers. these include the ability to cite records, the ability to view or listen to part of the record based on a key word, the ability to engage with contextual information, and so on. the aqda foregrounds visibility. recognising similarities not assuming sameness it is often assumed that when a researcher originates from the same cultural background, it makes it easy for them to get access to a group as they are perceived as sharing the same values, language, knowledge or struggles (merriam et al., 2010). expanding on this argument, merriam et al. (2010) engaged with the typologies of this insider/outsider position and analysed its advantages and disadvantages for research. they argued that researchers’ insider/outsider views “must be accepted as legitimate attempts to understand the nature of culture” (merriam et al., 2010, p. 415). however, louise ryan (2015) has instead argued that these notions of an outsider/insider are unhelpful and should be eliminated in the context of migration research. the assumptions that a shared ethnic identity gives one a better understanding of the group simply does not work in the context of migration research. in my work i echo ryan’s (2015) argument that identities are negotiated and re-constructed through displacement experience. my positionality as a researcher is not fixed but fluid, evolving and engaged in a constant process of assembling. in my case, both the narrators’ identities and 54 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 mine are shifting. when narrators share their oral histories and i bear witness to them and recognise their experiences, together we engage in the process of assembling. we both individually reflect on who we are, and collectively come closer to understanding our stories in relation to each other. new stories are recalled, and we share them. we open up to each other more. this process of assembling does not foreground one specific identity, instead it captures the complexity of all its layers. in migration research, it is common that ethnic identity is central in epistemology. however, such an approach is rather limiting. for example, nazroo and karlsen (2003a) note that "[e]thnicity is just one part of who we are and should not be viewed as operating independently of other elements" (p. 928). they argued that while the attention to ethnicity is important, the way it affects people’s lives is “variable and context dependent” (nazroo and karlsen, 2003b, p. 928). similarly, it is common in migration research that "community" is also defined through an ethnic belonging. yet, ganga and scott (2006) argue that what is perceived as a cohesive migrant community needs to also be disaggregated by class, gender and so on. at the same time, anzaldua (2009) has pointed out that while we can unite under the lgbtiq+ umbrella, we are not a homogeneous group. my lived experience as a researcher who has experienced forced displacement makes me more conscious of the need to not assume that narrators have a “fixed collectivity” (ryan, 2015, para. 1) based on their ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity or sex characteristics as well as their displacement history. there are similarities in how we experience displacement, but certainly not sameness. during my unrecorded conversations, the narrator vald said that disclosure of their identity depended on the context and statement that they wanted to make. it also depended on their available emotional resources to deal with responses that would follow a disclosure. what vald alluded to is a common experience of “epistemic exploitation” (berenstain, 2016) that marginalised groups are subjected to. for berenstain, epistemic exploitation arises in a situation where a marginalised group is compelled by a dominant group to educate them on the nature of the oppression, yet such accounts are often met with disbelief or dismissal (berenstain, 2016). in the context of recording an interview for the aqda, i strive to provide a safe, trauma-informed space, and give control to the narrator in terms of their identifications. i also make sure that my positionality is known to them. it would be erroneous to assume that even when a narrator knows that i too come with an experience of forced displacement, our stories are the same and thus we immediately connect. a narrator giving an interview for the archive will construct my location and this will set a frame for the start of our engagement. they will construct my location by evaluating my gender, age, skin colour, class, education, the type of my protection visa20, the country that i escaped from, my sexual orientation and gender identity, the way i use language, in what clothes i will be dressed, and so on. this constructed positionality as a researcher will determine if an interview will happen at all, what dynamics will take place during the interview, and how our “multiple standpoints” (ryan, 2015, para. 14) will be negotiated during this process. working within the community of lgbtiq+ forcibly displaced people is also about the understanding that we all come from different parts of the world with different backgrounds. thus, the way a narrator constructs my positionality has the potential to create potential tensions, misunderstandings, assumptions, points of connections and belonging, or points of diversion. 55 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 to preserve and record this in detail, after each interview i write notes about contextual information associated with an interview that provide a viewer or researcher with more information to analyse. these notes will include information about how i met with the narrator, how an interview went, what happened after, and any follow up questions that i did or did not ask during the interview. i also write my own personal reflections of myself and the process. such files will have unified a structure for all interviews and are named according to accession number. embedding trauma-informed approaches the development of this archive is embedded in a trauma-informed practice. telling a story of one’s life and voicing traumatic memories, perhaps for the first time, may bring a lot of emotions to the surface. this experience of telling a story affects both the researcher and the narrator. being trauma-informed means being aware of trauma, being sensitive in operationalising this awareness, and being responsive to survivors21. on a practical level, these approaches are manifested in several ways. before an interview begins, together with a narrator we develop a care plan. this involves a discussion where i ask them how they would like me to act if they get emotional or upset during an interview. i then share with them what my reactions may be and how i would like them to act. talking about how we express our emotions and what support we need helps narrators to feel in control, be validated, and feel supported. if something triggers them there is no need for explanation, as this is discussed from the beginning to help build trust. for each interview, together with my recording equipment, i always bring tissues, chocolates, and water. these simple things can provide a sense of care and grounding. i have a detailed plan explaining how i would ensure other support for narrators. this includes providing a safe space for an interview and offering an opportunity to review their interview to make any necessary changes. i engage with the narrators in filling and checking the information that will go with their interview such as their gender identity, sexual orientation, pronouns, and other details. narrators themselves choose how they want to be recorded in the interview, and what they will or will not talk about. i also created a tailored a list of different support services that i provide narrators with. this includes lgbtiq+ services, non-governmental legal support, health and mental health support, domestic, family, and sexual violence support services, services for transgender and gender diverse people, support services for intersex people, other peer-support and entertainment, housing support, and employment support. this list of organisations is not exhaustive. it is limited by my knowledge and ability to find information about a specific country and region, and my knowledge of three languages. for example, for participants in germany i had a language barrier (i could only search information in english) and a lack of insider knowledge of existing support services and their track record in supporting lgbtiq+ refugees. another important issue to address is vicarious trauma and the impact on a researcher or an archivist in listening to these stories. recent literature in archival studies demonstrate growing attention to the impact on staff who work with trauma related materials. for example, the uk and ireland archives and records association22 have issued emotional support guides and the australian society of archivists has launched an online learning course on a trauma-informed approach to managing archives designed by nicola laurent & kirsten wright (2020)23. 56 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 the attention to the emotional wellbeing of oral historians is evolving.24 examples of why this attention is needed include: “the fact that the interview we conducted with this particular person had been bothering us for almost a year” (sheftel & zembrzycki, 2010, p. 207).“i was not prepared for the number of stories about sexual abuse and trauma” (johnson, 2018, p. 7). “i was quite unprepared to deal with the overwhelming feelings of sadness, regret, guilt, and shame that emerged regularly in their testimonies and that lingered with me long after our conversations had ended” (gutterman, 2019, pp. 49–50). while recognising these issues indirectly, some major works on the oral history method do not fully investigate them. for instance, jacob and furgerson (2012) in writing interview protocols and conducting interviews: tips for students new to the field of qualitative research or hajek (2014) in oral history methodology did not raise questions about psychological self-care for a researcher. in distressing histories and unhappy interviewing jones (1998) wrote: “for interviewers to become exempt from that pain would perhaps be simply to become removed from the conversation and the communication” (p. 56). however, this is not a solution. oral history methodology has a gap in addressing the need for self-care for a researcher. it is often overlooked. through my research, i am trying to address this gap and include mechanisms that i will develop for this research. while researchers like hajek (2014) have recognised that ‘your gender, age, nationality, race, physical appearance and political/religious conviction may have an impact on the progress and outcome of the interview” (p. 7), there is a lack of recognition that a researcher’s emotional condition will also affect the interview flow. taking care of the researcher’s mental health is a responsibility to oneself as a researcher and towards the narrator. researchers should come to every interview not only with charged batteries for their recording device, but they must also come emotionally composed. a researcher should know and be able to identify the signs of stress on themselves as well as upon the narrator, and to be able to deal with them appropriately. before starting to record oral histories for the aqda, i developed strategies for coping with the stress for myself.25 i undertook a mental health first aid26 program that provided me with a better understanding of mental health issues and skills to provide initial support to persons experiencing a mental health crisis. it is important that researchers, archivists, or librarians have traumainformed practices at their workplace and have access to regular debriefing with a mental health professional. reflections on power, visibility and vulnerability the aim for the aqda is to be a radically open archive that will preserve and collect stories in queer ways that can contradict each other, resist and “recover, reconcile, reunite and renew” (hooks, 1989, p. 16) history about lgbtiq+ displacements. however, ensuring that stories are collected in this way is challenging due to existing expectations and norms about how stories are told. according to fanon, as forcibly displaced people, we arrive in places of meaning that preexist us (fanon, 1952). this means that, even though we may not know it, we end up telling stories according to expectations of how such stories should be told. this can lead to the reproduction of normative stories. hence, it is important to reflect on the power that is present in research as well as questions of visibility and vulnerability. merriam et al. (2010) argued that in some models of research, a “researcher holds all the power” (p. 413). those who practice a strict separation between research participants and the 57 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 researcher remove power and agency from the former. in developing the aqda, i am guided by the feminist scholarship to foreground people with lived experience, engage them in decision making about their interviews, and ensure that they have control over the process. in the aqda narrators have an opportunity to exercise power, being recognised as active agents. narrators’ exercise of power is strongly linked to the choices that narrators have during the process of sharing their oral histories. they make choices from the moment they agree to contribute to the archive to the final stage of a record creation. i approach potential narrators to explain what research is about and what benefits there are. i spend time discussing the potential risks that can be associated with giving an interview and what steps we can take to minimise these risks. i do not rush people; instead, i prefer to give them time to decide. sometimes there may be a period of several months between the first discussion and recording of the interview. the narrator can also choose the type of interview.27 they can request changes to a record’s metadata at any point, even after it has been published. for example, in 2019 i conducted my first interview where a narrator signed research documents and agreed to a video interview and a use of a pseudonym. the interview was recorded, and it went well. several days later they contacted me and asked me to blur their face on video. they took a decision to still appear and not simply to be converted into an audio interview. i complied with their request. i also engage the narrators in the process of record creation (i.e., their interview and its subsequent entry into the archive). i share the recording of their interview to give them an opportunity to review it. they may provide written clarifications that can be included in the contextual information, and they can request deletions of parts of the interview if they think they disclosed information that could cause harm to them or people they discussed. such changes are possible before an interview is published online. often, personal relationships are developed with narrators during the interview process. this too can influence how much information they share with me. at times an interview can be very personal, and narrators can disclose more information than they would otherwise tell to strangers. the revision of the interview and cool down period can help them look at an interview with a fresh eye. sometimes narrators do not want to do this though, and the responsibility to make a decision about certain parts of the interview rests with me. there is no pre-determined script or expectation about how one’s history should be told. there are guiding questions, yet narrators are in control of what they tell and what they deem as important to be recorded and preserved in the archive. the goal is not to examine or analyse themes, but rather to record oral histories in an attempt to legitimise our lives and our history. in developing this archive, i am aware of my power position as a researcher, no matter how much i attempt to blur the boundary. thus, i give narrators space to decide on the content, refuse any questions, be flexible with time, day, and place, or even withdraw their interview from the archive. telling the stories of lgbtiq+ forced displacement in narrators’ own voices is an essential task in preserving history. my examination of the power relationship between researcher and narrator also seeks to unpack the notion of vulnerability. this is relevant to both my research and broader archival practice. the first challenge is to understand vulnerability, and the second challenge is what we do with it. it is common for people who have experienced forced displacement to be referred to as vulnerable by default. think, for example, about university ethics committees and who they have on their list as vulnerable groups. forcibly displaced people are deemed vulnerable in research due to their precarious visa status or lack of language skills. this label of vulnerability is intended 58 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 to offer protection, however it also has the effect of denying agency and can end up making diverse experiences less visible. my research challenges this notion of individualistic vulnerability arising from one’s experience, and instead aims to highlight the systemic and structural conditions that create this vulnerability. this means that an lgbtiq+ person seeking asylum, who is still on a temporary visa, is not vulnerable because they are on a temporary visas per se, but because the politics and regulations of migration deprive them of equal access to services and support and render their lives as disposable and ungrievable. engaging with vulnerability is crucial, however it must be done through this systemic lens rather than a simplistic application of this status to certain identities. the way researchers engage with vulnerability depends on our understanding of it. sometimes vulnerability is exploited. this is particularly true in the context of forced displacement where, as discussed above, refugee stories are desired only under certain conditions. these types of stories and their reception are linked to the display of vulnerability: the more a narrator performs their vulnerability, the more credible their story is perceived to be. this can lead to researchers intentionally or unintentionally privileging such accounts as the only credible refugee stories. this then contributes to the construction of a single story about the displacement experience. it also benefits researchers more than the narrators, as researchers are seen as the ones bringing those stories to the forefront. the engagement with vulnerability as simply an individual phenomenon creates only individual benefits for those who exploit it. shared stories no longer belong to those who lived them, both because they are told only in ways that are intelligible for the audience (no control over content from a displaced person) and because their ownership is mediated through those who ‘discovered’ those stories. bell hooks (1989) powerfully writes: silenced. we fear those who speak about us, who do not speak to us and with us. we know what it is like to be silenced. we know that the forces that silence us, because they never want us to speak, differ from the forces that speak, tell me your story. only do not speak in the voice of resistance. only speak from that space in the margin that is a sign of deprivation, a wound, an unfulfilled longing. only speak your pain. (p. 23) however, if we approach vulnerability from a structural point of view, we can use it for a different purpose. laura horak (2018) has argued that the visibility of an issue is inextricably connected with issues of vulnerability. increased visibility can trigger and make lgbtiq+ communities vulnerable to further violence. narrators engage with visibility differently. for some it is a political statement and testimony of their survival. thus, i have encountered participants who insisted that they do a video interview. for some, this is a different kind of resistance and an exercise in agency: not necessarily defiant yet still effective28. while some participants have hidden their faces and names in the recording, they are still producing resistant narratives. when engaging with questions of power and vulnerability, i am not creating a separation between me and narrators or presenting myself as an ‘objective’ researcher. i open up to the narrator in the same way they open up to me. with many of them, i continue to have different levels of connection. i hold myself accountable and believe that the lgbtiq+ community will hold me accountable too. i will treat their story with care and respect without inflicting unnecessary vulnerability. i am sharing my vulnerability with narrators by making my story visible too, and therefore also possibly placing myself at risk of attacks from homophobes, terfs29 or nationalists. 59 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 recommendations and considerations for archival practice in developing the aqda i have drawn on caswell’s (2019) feminist standpoint appraisal that offers us a possible approach to make archives inclusive “and help liberate a profession whose theories and practices have done far too much damage to oppressed communities” (p. 31). at the core of this methodology is using one’s own privilege to dismantle oppressive practices. i wish to further share more recommendations and considerations for archival practice: • inclusion: make use of existing theories and methodologies of queering archives (such as caswell, 2019; lee, 2015), to enact inclusive collection policies and practices. • positionality matters: record your positionality and reflections on the process and yourself, and add this to a research project or an archive. record contextual information records. reflect on what you do not know (and why) and which types of knowledge you privilege. • meaningful engagement: support peer run programs; co-design programs and projects with communities; fund community co-designed collections. when you bring a person to the table ensure all possible supports and guidance are in place so that a community can benefit as much as possible. meaningful engagement must embed an intersectional framework. • mental health and trauma-informed practice: provide a list of available and tailored support for those who share their experiences with you. look after your mental health too. practice trauma-informed approaches. • collect stories respectfully: reflect on which stories are not being told. rethink what constitutes a ‘good story’ about one’s marginalisation. relinquish control over the narrative. conclusion i began this article with an example of participating in the global refugee forum, which illustrated how often active and wilful resistance is present and rejects the need for visibility of lgbtiq+ forcibly displaced people. i have argued that if we as researchers are relying only on the official cultural and institutional memory as a proof of one’s existence, we may erroneously treat an absence of mentions about lgbtiq+ people in that context as an absence of the group at all. such an absence is then further justified by the group vulnerability and the risks of violence to the group when they are publicly seen. i have also outlined the damage that imposed conventions of storytelling can cause when all that is desired from a refugee is their story. i have argued that meaningful engagement with positionality and foregrounding the lived experience can bring a potential to rectify power imbalances and provide representation of marginalised groups on their own terms. reflecting on and using my positionality has led me to find frameworks to create an archive that can become a space of resistance to the intentional forgetting, misrepresentation, and omission of lgbtiq+ experiences. developing the aqda by applying the feminist standpoint appraisal methodology and queer/ed archival methodology has offered possibilities for creating the archive as open, with new ways of seeing an archive and the records in it. it has allowed for the recognition of injustices in normative archival practices. 60 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 resisting dominant narratives, the aqda aims to open the possibility for social justice for lgbtiq+ people in forced displacement. at the heart of the aqda is the refusal to be erased, and as such it is a deliberate act to queer and disrupt institutional archival practices. by actively and meaningfully engaging with power and vulnerability, the archive will open up more spaces of resistance. endnotes 1 it is important to acknowledge that lgbtiq+ acronym is a western terminology, which has become adopted in non-western countries for a variety of reasons (anzaldua, 2009). these reasons include this terminology being a legacy of colonisation, a potential lack of respectful terminology in country languages and out of necessity to adopt commonly used language when engaging globally. these reasons are not limited to those above and may vary in different contexts. when using a term ‘lgbtiq+’ in this article i am referring to the diversity of sex, gender, sexual orientation, bodies and relationships. the ‘plus’ sign in the acronym signals fluidity and further possible identifications. 2 note that this number only includes those pledges made in december 2019. since then, more have been added. 3 see more at https://globalcompactrefugees.org/channel/pledges-contributions. accessed on 2021-03-22 4 see more at https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/5ecd458c4. accessed on 2021-03-22 5 classicide refers to a systematic destruction of a particular social class. in the context of ussr, it was a goal of the stalin regime to destroy the class of farmers that had more land and livestock than the majority of other farmers. they were declared enemies of the state and to communist rule. 6 for example, after the famine in the territory of ukraine that killed millions of ukrainians, ethnic russians were resettled in their empty homes. 7 this includes both the ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ of refugees and the ways refugee stories are expected to be told. 8 see the full definition here: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-wedo/networks/european_migration_network/glossary_search/forced-migrant_en. accessed on 2021-03-22 9 for example, see an explainer ‘what is the difference between a refugee and a migrant?’, available at https://www.ssi.org.au/faqs/refugee-faqs/148-what-is-the-difference-between-arefugee-and-a-migrant accessed on 2021-03-22 or ‘migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants: what’s the difference?’, available at https://www.rescue.org/article/migrantsasylum-seekers-refugees-and-immigrants-whats-difference 10 here i am alluding to the fact that in around one thirds of un member states there are different levels of discrimination and persecution in place against lgbtiq+ people, according to the ilga international. you can find the most recent reports here: https://ilga.org/statesponsored-homophobia-report. accessed on 2021-03-22 11 see more at https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/. accessed on 2021-03-22 12 see more here for key indicators used in the data collection: https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/ 13 i use the term ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ to draw on the work of adrienne rich (1980) and butler (1990) 61 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://globalcompactrefugees.org/channel/pledges-contributions https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/5ecd458c4 https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/glossary_search/forced-migrant_en https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/glossary_search/forced-migrant_en https://www.ssi.org.au/faqs/refugee-faqs/148-what-is-the-difference-between-a-refugee-and-a-migrant https://www.ssi.org.au/faqs/refugee-faqs/148-what-is-the-difference-between-a-refugee-and-a-migrant https://www.rescue.org/article/migrants-asylum-seekers-refugees-and-immigrants-whats-difference https://www.rescue.org/article/migrants-asylum-seekers-refugees-and-immigrants-whats-difference https://ilga.org/state-sponsored-homophobia-report https://ilga.org/state-sponsored-homophobia-report https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/ https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/ preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 14 the politics of respectability refers to assimilationist ideas that seek to see lgbtiq+ persons replicate heteronormative ideas as a desired norm and to be included in a wider society. 15 see more at https://www.therefugeeproject.org. accessed 2021-07-26 16 in making this point, i am thinking of miranda fricker’s (2007) concept of hermeneutical injustice, a form of epistemic injustice, where a marginalised group is lacking hermeneutical resources to conceptualise their experiences, often due to unwillingness or resistance from a dominant group to regard those as true and credible. 17 it is important to note that i am still actively using and engaging the western terminology in order to make this archive accessible for the governmental structures in the hope it will assist with the preparation of country reports necessary in the process of refugee status determination. 18 yet, even my counsellor does not fully know everything as this is not essential for my successful engagement with a therapeutic process. 19 https://temporary.kaldorcentre.net. accessed on 2021-03-22 20 currently australia offers permanent or temporary protection visas based on the mode of arrival. for more information visit: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/refugee-andhumanitarian-program/onshore-protection. accessed on 2021-07-21 21 my understanding draws on the resources developed by the blue knot foundation https://www.blueknot.org.au/. 22 the united kingdom and ireland archives and records association emotional support guides https://www.archives.org.uk/what-we-do/emotional-support-guides.html accessed on 202107-21 23 although a positive move, this course costs 300 aud to access. the price can be prohibitive for community based archives. see more at https://www.archivists.org.au/events/event/atrauma-informed-approach-to-managing-archives accessed 2021-07-26 24 i am focusing on the subject of oral histories, as this is the main methodology for the collection of interviews in this archive. 25 stress management. approaches for preventing and reducing stress. https://cms.emergency.unhcr.org/documents/11982/34619/strtess+managementtextbook/444b08a2-2a23-48ba-a527-79fd8640092e accessed on 2021-03-22; https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/stress-management-strategies accessed on 2021-03-22; https://emergency.unhcr.org/entry/34679/dealing-with-critical-incidents-and-trauma-staff. accessed on 2021-03-22 26 see more at mental health first aid (mhfa) https://mhfa.com.au/ accessed on 2021-03-22 27 i have discussed the options in the introduction. 28 i am guided here by saba mahmood’s (2005) work in her book politics of piety where she critiqued western conceptualisations of agency that only saw it being legitimate when it was resistant. mahmoud on the example of muslim women who exercised their agency through following the rules of piety, has argued that agency could also take non-resistant forms. 29 terf refers to a feminist who excludes the rights of transgender women from their advocacy of women's rights. references ahmed, s. 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(2019b). global refugee forum agenda. https://www.unhcr.org/5e1dd4747 unhcr. (2019c). refugee co-sponsors. https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-co-sponsors.html unhcr. (2019d). unhcr: global refugee forum. https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/global-refugeeforum.html vogl, a. (2013). telling stories from start to finish: exploring the demand for narrative in refugee testimony. griffith law review, 22(1), 63–86. routledge. https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2013.10854767 vogl, a. (2018). the genres and politics of refugee testimony. law and literature, 30(1), 81– 104. routledge. https://doi.org/10.1080/1535685x.2017.1346961 when home won’t let you stay: art and migration [video]. (2020). minneapolis institute of art home. https://vimeo.com/showcase/6957005 whitelaw, m. (2015). escaping the search box: contexts and precedents for generous interfaces. dhq: digital humanities quarterly 9(1), 1–16. http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/9/1/000205/000205.html woodiwiss, j. (2014). beyond a single story: the importance of separating ‘harm’ from ‘wrongfulness’ and ‘sexual innocence’ from ‘childhood’ in contemporary narratives of childhood sexual abuse. sexualities, 17(1–2), 139–158. sage publications. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460713511104 zagor, m. (2011). recognition and narrative identities: the legal creation, alienation and liberation of the refugee. ssrn electronic journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1906507 67 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.buzzfeed.com/joshtaylor/heres-what-its-like-to-come-to-australia-as-a-gay-refugee https://www.buzzfeed.com/joshtaylor/heres-what-its-like-to-come-to-australia-as-a-gay-refugee https://www.sbs.com.au/news/this-is-what-it-s-like-to-be-an-lgbtiq-asylum-seeker-in-australia https://www.sbs.com.au/news/this-is-what-it-s-like-to-be-an-lgbtiq-asylum-seeker-in-australia https://informationasevidence.org/refugee-rights-in-records https://informationasevidence.org/refugee-rights-in-records https://www.refworld.org/docid/3be01b964.html https://doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/eez010 https://www.unhcr.org/5e1dd4747 https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-co-sponsors.html https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/global-refugee-forum.html https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/global-refugee-forum.html https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2013.10854767 https://doi.org/10.1080/1535685x.2017.1346961 https://vimeo.com/showcase/6957005 http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/9/1/000205/000205.html https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460713511104 https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1906507 preserving lgbtiq+ history of forced displacement the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36524 zinn, h. (1977). secrecy, archives, and the public interest. the midwestern archivist 2(2) 14– 26. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41101382 renee e. dixson (renee.dixson@anu.edu.au) has been working as a human rights defender at international and national levels since 2004. as a result of visible work, they were forced to leave the country where they lived. the process of settling down in australia and their position as both outsider and insider have given them an opportunity to see how discourses shaped stories around lgbtiq and refugee communities. currently, renee dixson is a phd candidate at the australian national university. in their phd research, renee is building the first in the world queer digital archive of oral histories about lgbtiq forced displacement. renee continues their work as an emerging academic and activist by trying to build bridges and make a systematic change to support lgbtiq displaced people. 68 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.jstor.org/stable/41101382 mailto:renee.dixson@anu.edu.au introduction the assembling queer displacement archive (aqda) literature review: defining the need politics of location and points of difference challenging the universality of western categorisation of bodies, identities and sexualities stories we are expected to tell the need for the visibility of lgbtiq+ forced displacement recognising similarities not assuming sameness embedding trauma-informed approaches reflections on power, visibility and vulnerability recommendations and considerations for archival practice conclusion endnotes references the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40709 building inclusion: student outcomes from an academic library’s gallery exhibit in florida katy miller, university of central florida, usa kristine j. shrauger, university of central florida, usa abstract in october 2022, university of central florida librarians created an interactive exhibit for students to express themselves on topics related to inclusion and diversity. at the main entrance to the library, there is a long gallery wall that typically showcases artwork or informational exhibits. to create a more inclusive exhibit of students’ voices, librarians created a series of prompts, and students posted their reactions to the prompts on this wall. librarians developing the exhibit purposely decided to reimagine the exhibit from one that tells a story about a traditional diversity topic to one that creates a positive sense of community among students. the popularity of the wall was overwhelming, with over 3,000 individual responses from students. the exhibit acted as a conversation prompt and a way for students to share their perspectives. this paper outlines the steps to creating a similar exhibit and an analysis of students’ responses. keywords: diversity; exhibit; inclusion; interactive; student engagement publication type: report from the field introduction or the past decade, the office of diversity and inclusion at the university of central florida (ucf) has celebrated diversity during october. this event coincides with america’s national lgbt history month and global diversity awareness month, which is promoted by international organizations such as the united nations and the world economic forum. previously, the john c. hitt library (ucf’s main library) participated in this celebration through displays, workshops, and speaker presentations. for october 2022, ucf libraries wanted to create a more interactive exhibit about inclusion and diversity for students instead of a traditional display. the 2022 ucf libraries exhibit was posted on a 72-foot gallery wall located on the busy main floor of hitt library. historically, exhibits on this wall displayed artwork or copious informational texts. there were two primary goals for the exhibit. the first was to generate a connection with students, which would enable them to share their voices on an important topic. the second was to allow students to identify aspects of themselves and highlight differences in a safe environment. to achieve this result, librarians created a series of posters with prompts for students to reflect on, answer, and engage with one another. f https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi student outcomes from a gallery exhibit in florida the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40709 2 the exhibit was in a library space that is open past midnight on most evenings and would not be monitored. as a result, there were concerns about inappropriate comments changing the tone and impact of the exhibit, so prompts that explicitly asked questions about lgbt topics or racial identity were not included. the goal of gathering a reflection of the variety of viewpoints that compose the student body was timely because they occurred during a time when this topic was a part of the current state conversation. later that same semester, an executive memo from the office of governor ron desantis was sent on december 28, 2022, requesting the provision of detailed information on the funding of diversity and critical race theory programs, as well as the subsequent ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion spending at florida’s universities and colleges (florida state, 2023). although this exhibit was not initially developed as part of a research study, the overwhelming response by students engaging with the material offers insight into how conversation and education can be achieved through a low-cost and straightforward technique that can be replicated in various library settings. the motivation for an interactive exhibit was to increase engagement with the students. anecdotally, organizers of the exhibit noticed an increased desire for personal connection by students post-covid, most of whom were remote during the final years of high school. the organizers hoped to generate more interest in an exhibit focused on students’ voices. literature review the current political climate in florida is divided; thus, the most significant concern for the usf exhibit was the potential for inappropriate commentary, which could counteract the goal of bringing students together to share their voices in a positive light. concerns about florida’s political climate were echoed in findings by bresnahan (2022) in her study of library diversity in action. she identifies “concerns for political climate” as one of the three barriers to the success of library diversity initiatives (p. 435). instead of highlighting age, race, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity, the prompts in the ucf exhibit asked students to identify preferences on topics to find common areas of interest. examples of prompts included e-books versus print, waffles versus pancakes, and sneakers versus sandals. one could argue that this approach was a watering down or denial of the critical issues and conversations that need to take place in library spaces; however, these prompts aimed to showcase differences between students on benign topics and allowed opportunities for selfexpression. similarly, the librarians who curated the ucf libraries exhibit purposely wanted to highlight differences beyond the traditional diversity topics. this sentiment is supported by woody (2017), who states that “[f]or ‘inclusion,’ there should be no insurmountable or impenetrable barriers between the members of diverse groupings. the goal of inclusion is bringing ingroup and outgroup people together” (p. 522). this concept is reinforced by gilbert (2016), who states that “[t]he best programs are ones that reduce barriers to entry for all” (p. 526). in “what is diversity: an inquiry into preservice teacher beliefs,” silverman (2010) finds that the terms ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘diversity’ incorporate a variety of meanings that may vary widely based on individual experience. gilbert’s (2016) survey of national liberal arts college libraries found that displays make up 50.9% of diversity-related activities for patrons. bresnahan’s findings (2022) further confirmed that displays are standard practice for diversity initiatives. in researching other diversity programs, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index student outcomes from a gallery exhibit in florida the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40709 3 the current literature in library science focuses mainly on organizational and hiring practices, such as those outlined by edwards (2016). we could not find any articles that described an interactive library display or exhibit to build inclusion. many library programs focus on a specific aspect of diversity or representing a particular group (duffus et al., 2016; hanna et al., 2011; yap et al., 2017). the few articles discussing interactive exhibits and diversity highlighted the use of new technology (bresnahan, 2022; gilbert, 2016; woody, 2017), which was not conducive to the space or within the 2022 ucf libraries exhibit budget. methods the 2022 ucf libraries exhibit was displayed october 10–31, 2022. although initially scheduled for the entire month, the exhibit was up for 21 days due to delays from hurricane nicole. the exhibit began with an introduction poster that oriented students on how to best respond to and interact with the eight prompts that were also displayed as posters along the gallery wall. notably, one student created an additional prompt on the wall: “what song do you see yourself represented in?” which elicited student responses that are also included in the findings. intermingled with the interactive aspects of the gallery wall were quotes about diversity and facts about diversity efforts at the university. after the exhibit’s conclusion, all sticky note responses were recorded in an excel spreadsheet with a separate tab for each prompt. the total number of responses was counted for each prompt, except for stars placed on the “share your origin story” wall map, which garnered a large response of more than 600 stars across the map. for the “pass on the positivity” prompt, the exhibit organizers independently coded the responses into three categories: positive, negative, and unknown/not relevant. a thematic analysis was used on the positivity responses. the other prompts were analyzed by counting and ranking the responses. “unknown/not relevant” comments were either in another language or used terminology or slang where it was difficult to determine whether the response was positive, negative, or irrelevant to the prompt. regardless of intention, all comments were coded independently a second time to identify patterns, allowing the comments to be coded for multiple themes. six themes were identified (see table 1). table 1. themes from positivity responses theme criteria don’t give up sentiments encouraging students to continue through a struggle, such as: • don’t give up • everything happens for a reason • it is hard but worth doing • you got this • it will be worth it • keep going • take things one day at a time https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index student outcomes from a gallery exhibit in florida the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40709 4 happy face happy face icon was included heart heart symbol was included great sentiments praising students for various characteristics, such as: • you are amazing • variations of the word slay • you are beautiful • you are strong loved sentiments with the words love included worthy sentiments telling students they have value, such as: • you are worthy • you are enough • you are perfect • you matter a comment could receive multiple themes. for example, the comment “grow through what you go through … you're stronger than you think! (with a heart symbol)” was coded for positivity and the additional themes of worthy, heart symbol, and hang in there. findings students immediately started engaging with the exhibit as the posters were being installed. over 21 days, there were 3,368 textual responses from all eight posters. the total responses do not include the more than 600 stars added to the “share your origin story” world map or the artistic drawings that students created as responses. negative comments were removed from the exhibit. library staff handled these collectively as they walked through the exhibit daily. the initial concerns of organizers regarding hurtful comments proved to be a tiny portion of the responses. reactions to the prompts prompt one: “which do you prefer?” no responses were posted. prompt two: “something i forget to be thankful for is…” these prompts were full by the first day of the exhibit. forty-six students added sticky notes from other prompts to it, but the content was not noteworthy compared to other prompts. the lesson learned from this exhibit was to provide more opportunities for students to share feedback in their own words instead of marking a selection. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index student outcomes from a gallery exhibit in florida the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40709 5 prompt three: “share your origin story.” in addition to the 600+ stars added to the “share your origin story” map, this popular prompt generated 263 comments added by sticky note or by writing directly on the map. this prompt tapped into a way for students to display their heritage and the pride students felt regarding their cultural origins. due to the popularity of this prompt, a subsequent display was developed that expanded on the global theme. a collage of the sticky notes shared by students during this exhibit was included as part of the supplemental display. prompt four: “what can the library do to be more inclusive?” prompt four generated 371 responses. many of these responses addressed a different question than the one intended. instead of the expected responses regarding library programming or the library’s collection, students used this prompt to address requests about the facilities, such as operating hours, additional study rooms, and other physical changes or improvements. although initially surprising to exhibit organizers, upon reflection, this was a logical student response due to an ongoing library renovation. one floor was under construction and off-limits to students, faculty, and staff. the students have watched and heard construction workers leave the building for over a year. responses included requests to open the floor under construction, update the bathrooms, as well as add more group study rooms, comfy chairs, sleep pods, natural light, electrical outlets, and water filtration systems. due to construction, there was also a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (hvac) issue in the library in october. thus, there were numerous comments from students regarding air conditioning issues. thirty-one responses mentioned an improvement regarding diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. the issues relating to inclusion that were brought to the library's attention included making closing times and offering announcements in multiple languages, establishing a praying area, adding height-accessible tables for people of different heights, creating sensory-friendly spaces and chairs, offering ethnic food options at the coffee shop housed in the library, adding more disability-friendly seating, adding books in multiple languages to the collection, and hosting author talks highlighting a diversity of cultures. prompt five: “what book do you see yourself represented in?” although prompt five received 485 responses, no specific title emerged as a leader in responses, indicating that the books students resonated with covered personal interests rather than interests from popular culture. it should be noted that even though the qur’an and the holy bible were among the top responses for this prompt, they accounted for less than 3% of the responses for the entire exhibit. other titles with multiple votes included harry potter (rowling, 1997–2007), percy jackson (riordan, 2005–2015), the alchemist (coelho, 1993), diary of a wimpy kid (kinney, 2007–2023), my year of rest and relaxation (moshfegh, 2018), and the perks of being a wallflower (chbosky, 1999). prompt six: “what movie do you see yourself represented in?” prompt six elicited 714 responses, the most responses in the exhibit. again, no clear leader emerged; the top movie titles included american psycho (harron, 2000), everything everywhere all at once (kwan & scheinert, 2022), encanto (bush & howard, 2021), lady bird (gerwig, 2017), shrek (adamson & jenson, 2001), and crazy rich asians (chu, 2018). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index student outcomes from a gallery exhibit in florida the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40709 6 prompt seven: “what song do you see yourself represented in?” prompt seven was added by a student and generated 314 responses. the highest number of responses for a single song was five, which was “mirrorball” by taylor swift (2020). the remaining 99% of the responses came from a diverse representation of music genres, from k-pop to country, and spanned decades, with songs from artists such as abba and sza. prompt eight: “pass on the positivity!” this final prompt, “pass on the positivity!” had 713 responses. as with other prompts, students attached sticky notes to the surrounding wall when the poster was full. as illustrated by the majority of positive comments (65%) and the emerging themes, students told each other they had value and could overcome the obstacles they faced. students were observed taking photos of the exhibit, stopping to discuss aspects of the exhibit with one another, and commenting to library faculty and staff about how much they enjoyed the exhibit. some students thought outside the box and placed their comments, like “when you hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up,” at the bottom of the poster wall next to the floorboard instead of on the poster itself. this creative placement made students bend down to read the sticky note, only to look up and see a wall of more positive notes. one student approached one of the librarians (who is one of the authors of this article) while the exhibit was being dismantled and relayed a recent encounter where she felt bullied. the positivity notes helped the student deal with the encounter and made her feel like she was not alone and that other students cared for her. she asked the librarian if she could be included in planning for similar future exhibits. the student spent about 30 minutes quietly removing the sticky notes alongside the librarian and reading the positive affirmations. implications academic libraries are looking for low-cost and effective ways to engage with students. croxton and moore (2020) noted that academic libraries are increasingly being called upon to demonstrate their impact on students when requesting funding. student engagement is part of a larger initiative at most institutions in the 21st century (schlak, 2018) that can help demonstrate that impact. as illustrated by over 3,300 student responses to the 2022 ucf libraries exhibit, safe spaces for equitable social interaction in academic libraries can be created somewhat easily in a low-cost, low-tech manner, thus allowing students to interact with each other or express themselves on several topics. by selecting benign prompts, students can use socially interactive exhibits as an opportunity to share their voices and enjoy and appreciate their shared humanity. although a plan to maintain the exhibit is crucial to prevent damaging or hurtful comments, overall, the responses by ucf students were perceived by the exhibit organizers as positive. the 2022 ucf libraries exhibit built a community of inclusion for students by facilitating the discovery of commonalities and expressing different words of support for each other. one recommendation is to allow flexibility in how the prompts are interpreted, as they can provide insight into what is most important to students. the comments created by this exhibit can be analyzed for https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index student outcomes from a gallery exhibit in florida the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(3/4), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40709 7 recommendations on students’ perceptions of the library. they can be used as graphical elements in future exhibits to let students know their voices have been heard. references adamson, a., & jenson, v. 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(2011). diversity programming and outreach for academic libraries. chandos publishing. harron, m. (director). (2000). american psycho [film]. edward r. pressman productions; muse productions. kinney, j. (2007–2023). diary of a wimpy kid. amulet books. kwan, d., & scheinert, d. (directors). (2022). everything everywhere all at once [film]. iac films; gozie agbo; year of the rat; ley line entertainment. moshfegh, m. (2018). my year of rest and relaxation. penguin. riordan, r. (2005–2015). percy jackson. disney hyperion. rowling, j. k. (1997–2007). harry potter. scholastic. schlak, t. (2018). academic libraries and engagement: a critical contextualization of the library discourse on engagement. the journal of academic librarianship, 44(1), 133– 139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2017.09.005 silverman, s. k. (2010). what is diversity?: an inquiry into preservice teacher beliefs. american education research journal, 47(2), 292–329. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831210365096 swift, t. (2020). mirrorball [song]. on folklore. republic. woody, r. h. (2017). expanding diversity: noncategorical inclusion and equity. ethics & behavior, 27(6), 519–525. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2016.1193810 yap, j. m., labangon, d. l. g., & cajes, m. l. (2017). defining, understanding and promoting cultural diversity through the human library program. pakistan journal of information management & libraries, 19, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.47657/2017191012 katy miller (katy.miller@ucf.edu) is the department head for student learning and engagement and the connect libraries at the university of central florida. prior to this role, she served as ucf's textbook affordability librarian. before joining ucf, she worked as a title v grant project director for the east campus of valencia college and library director for valencia's winter park campus. she is interested in how libraries can connect with students and develop strategies to position the library as an essential part of their academic journey. kristine j. shrauger (kristine.shrauger@ucf.edu) has been the head of interlibrary loan and document delivery services at the university of central florida since 2004. she has also served on various dei committees throughout campus and the southeast united states. she received two ala carnegie-whitney grants to build a database that showcases diversity, equity, and inclusion within children's picture and young adult books. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2017.09.005 https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831210365096 https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2016.1193810 https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2016.1193810 https://doi.org/10.47657/2017191012 introduction literature review methods findings reactions to the prompts prompt one: “which do you prefer?” prompt two: “something i forget to be thankful for is…” prompt three: “share your origin story.” prompt four: “what can the library do to be more inclusive?” prompt five: “what book do you see yourself represented in?” prompt six: “what movie do you see yourself represented in?” prompt seven: “what song do you see yourself represented in?” prompt eight: “pass on the positivity!” implications references motivated and capable but no space for error: women’s experiences in contributing to open source software the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 motivated and capable but no space for error: women’s experiences in contributing to open source software vandana singh, university of tennessee, knoxville, usa brice bongiovanni, university of tennessee, knoxville, usa abstract this article presents the results of a research study about the experiences of women in open source software (oss) communities. the lack of women in computing professions serves as a cause of social inequity and in this research we develop a nuanced understanding of the experiences of women participating in open-source software. in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with eleven women representing multiple countries and a variety of open-source software projects. the theory of individual differences in gender and information technology (it) laid the foundation for data analysis and interpretation. the results demonstrate varied experiences of women, the need for women-to-women mentoring, and the need for presence and enforcement of codes of conduct in the online communities. women shared their experiences of working in a variety of roles and the importance of all the roles in product development and maintenance. the persistence of women in oss communities despite the toxic masculine culture, and their interest in improving the environment for other women and marginalized newcomers, was evident from the interviews. keywords: diversity and inclusion; gender and information technology; individual differences theory of gender and it; open source software; women in open source publication type: research article introduction he gender gap in the computing professions is important to understand and alleviate because it contributes to gender inequity in our society. statistics show that women tend to be overrepresented in lower-paying occupations such as healthcare, education, and administrative support, and that men are over-represented in higher-paying occupations like engineering and computer science (chamberlain & jayaraman, 2017). computing professions provide high status and financial rewards; if women are not participating in these professions in equal numbers, then this will mean continued lower status for women. men occupy 74% of the computer science and engineering career paths (chamberlain & jayaraman, 2017). the lack of women’s participation in information technology disciplines is an area of concern and has been so for a few decades. according to women in computing (wics), computer science jobs were projected to grow 15% to 20% through 2020, and the majority of these jobs are filled by men. in 2016, the national center for women and information technology (ncwit) reported that 26% of professional computing jobs in the u.s. workforce were held by women. t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 ensmenger (2012) reported that information technology has become one of the most stereotypically male professions and inhospitable to women. in february 2018, u.n. secretarygeneral antonio guterres, in his speech on the international day of women and girls in science, called for concerted “concrete efforts to overcome stereotypes and biases that dissuade women from pursuing careers in stem” (shein, 2018, p. 20). within information technology, lies open source software (oss), and this research study is set in that niche. oss refers to software for which the source code is accessible free of charge and the distribution, modification, and adoption of the source code is governed by licensing provisions from the open source initiative (osi). osi is a global nonprofit leading authority on oss1. participation in oss has been a major area of research for many decades, with various data outcomes having shed light on the motivations of oss developers as well as on participation barriers that exist in oss (steinmacher et al., 2015; mendez et al., 2018). for example, steinmacher et al. (2015) showed that 82% of industry newcomers dropped out of the profession after one contribution to apache hadoop, an oss project. in recent years, the interest in understanding and improving diversity and inclusion in oss projects has become a key issue to ensure the successful development of these projects. the barriers to participation are varied and complex and impact women exceedingly more than men. mendez et al. (2018) found that 83% of the barrier categories for participation in oss have a gender-biased facet to them. terrell et al. (2016) mined github2 projects and their results revealed that men’s and women’s acceptance rates for project participation were lower by 12% when the gender of the women was known. overall, women's participation rates in oss are no more than five percent, and that number has been stagnant for decades (singh & brandon, 2019; singh et al., 2021). however, some sources report that a more alarming two percent of oss developers identify as women (ghosh et al., 2002; robles et al., 2016; singh & brandon, 2019). we believe that a silent problem with oss project participation rates among women lies in how projects may be defining the term, “women,” or “woman,” or “gender.” thus, in this study, we define gender as a self-determined identity based on one’s own experience, as opposed to a more traditional definition of sex being the identity ascribed to an individual, based on the appearance of genitals at birth by a medical professional. our approach is based on guidelines from previous research which assert that taking gender as a binary variable discriminates against individuals who do not define themselves as men or women (nowakowski et al., 2016; froharddourlent et al., 2017). our position is also aligned with gender intersectionality theories that help us to better understand the nuanced differences within people’s gendered experiences along the continuum of femininity and masculinity (trauth, 2013). therefore, our study takes the theoretical approach that the “one size fits all” solutions to improving women’s participation in oss will not work, for women have diverse experiences. not all women face the same types of barriers or have the same experiences. the recognition and acknowledgment of varied life experiences are essential to identifying and rectifying any problems that women in general face because of their gender or intersectionality. the purpose of this study is to understand the varied experiences of women who participate in oss communities. the goal was to understand and learn from the experiences of these women in order to better support and empower women who would like to join oss. 99 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 theoretical foundation research about gender and information technology (it) has been around for a long time, and many researchers have studied the challenges faced by women in the technology industry. ahuja (2002) did a review of gender literature to propose a model of the barriers faced by women in the it field. according to this model, a combination of social and structural factors influence a woman’s career choice, career persistence, and career advancement. the structural factors include the culture of the field which is ripe with stereotypes and masculine influences, a lack of role models to provide examples of success in the field, and a lack of the kind of mentoring critical for advancement. the social factors include social expectation related to gender roles, work-family conflict, incompatibility between work and family, and lack of integration into informal networks within organizations. this model has led the way for many subsequent research studies that have advanced our understanding of this combination of factors (adya & ksailer, 2005) as well as studies that have expanded upon this model (armstrong & riemenschneider, 2014). ethnographic research conducted in oss (nafus, 2012) has highlighted how women receive harsh treatment in oss communities and concluded that oss is not so open for women. many women in oss experience “constant and extreme” sexist behavior. furthermore, nafus (2012) explores how the concept of ‘openness’ is constructed in oss communities in such a way as to exclude many women from important positions and activities. for example, code contributions are tied to the individual agency of the developers, who are mostly men and engage in what nafus calls “vociferous defense” and “highly masculinized, aggressive online talking”. nafus (2012) provides insight into cases where people contribute a lot to the code, but do not engage in flaming wars3, are considered less knowledgeable in the community which makes aggressive behavior a normalized and expected mode of communication among developers. beliefs about the role that gender plays in coding (e.g., a supposed “gender-blindness”), norms governing communication and how these function in the legitimization of specific coding achievements, and other factors lead to a situation in which women are excluded. this article goes in-depth to explain how flaming wars are carried out until one person backs down—a process that favors toxic masculinity. these type of flaming wars is what often leads women to leave communities (nafus, 2012; singh et al., 2021; jane, 2015). recent research shows that women of oss support each other and use governance tools, such as codes of conduct and community councils, to address discrimination and harassment they encounter in oss (ford et al., 2017; singh et al., 2021). research shows that diversity and inclusion in oss communities positively affect the productivity of the community (rock & grant, 2016). vasilescu et al. (2015) report that when women participate in oss communities, the communities are more productive, and show that diversity is important because productivity and turnover of software development teams are affected by team diversity. they conclude that when forming or recruiting a software team, increased gender and tenure diversity are associated with greater productivity. in terms of the experiences of women, vasilescu’s (2015) note that the women oss developers report experiencing “imposter syndrome” and it was observed that “men monopolize code authorship and simultaneously delegitimize the kinds of social ties necessary to build mechanisms for women’s inclusion” (p. 39). in an in-depth study, archives of our own (ao3), morrison et al. (2016) present valuable insights into an online community designed and built by women who learned computing skills in the process of creating this system. morison et al (2016) demonstrate participation in the community through the theory of legitimate peripheral participation and show the importance of context 100 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 for engaging women in computer science. the authors observe that an advantage for ao3 also became the challenge when a few very dedicated women programmers led the process and served as experts to users and novices. these experts mentored and trained newcomers, which increased their work significantly; therefore, the authors caution participants of other such communities to be cognizant and not get overburdened by the potential amount of work needed in mentoring and training new members. they propose solutions for designing such communities with an infrastructure for training, and to take into consideration the theories of distributed mentorship so that the experts in these communities are not overburdened. the research also proposes that learning technical skills for underrepresented groups in the computing field would be more successful if it is embedded in a meaningful context for the participants, as is the case of women participating in ao3. trauth (2013) conducted an in-depth literature review detailing the use of gender theories in the past twenty years from eight main association of information systems journals, spanning 132 articles. she grouped the theories used in these publications into three major categories: essentialist theories, social shaping of gender theories, and theories of gender intersectionality. essentialist theories assume opposite characteristics in males and females. they also conflate gender and sex. the research using these theories highlights the supposed inherent differences between the binary categorization of men and women. the assumption is that underlying biological and psychological differences lead to different experiences for men and women. the research that employs the social shaping of gender theories assumes that the social experiences of men and women determine the observed differences between them. in the context of these theories, males and females are two homogenous groups, and all men or women will experience the same social shaping through their cultures. according to trauth (2013) this approach is based on the idea that women develop certain roles and dispositions in the world because of their experiences, which are the same for all women, and, similarly, all men develop in the same way. in this theory, men and women are large homogenous groups. gender intersectionality theories take a more nuanced approach. they do not treat gender as a binary construct, but rather, consider biological sex along with sexual identity, sexual orientation, race, and/or ethnicity. these theories also differentiate between gender research and gender differences research. gender intersectionality research gives insight into the different experiences faced by people of color (particularly women of color) and gay or transgender people: and this is the approach that informs our research. this type of theorization acknowledges the differences in what were considered by the other two approaches to be two homogenous groups of people—men and women. based upon all this research the theory of individual differences in gender and it was developed. the theory took an aggregated but fresh view, wherein women were not seen as a homogenous group, but rather, their identities, journeys, and circumstances were studied to understand why there are so few women in the field of information technology. the theory of individual differences in gender and it was formed after trauth (2002) interviewed women is professionals in australia and new zealand. this theory focused on gender differences to develop an understanding of the successes and failures of women in it. the individual theory of gender and it has three constructs—individual identity (personal demographics and type of it work), individual influences (personal characteristics and personal influences), and environmental context (cultural, economic, societal, and policy influences). this theory has been expanded and improved upon in subsequent studies (howcroft & trauth, 2008; kvasny et al., 2009; quesenberry & trauth, 2012; quesenberry et al., 2006; trauth, 2006; trauth et al., 2016). and finally, mcgee 101 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 (2018) expanded the theory by adding leadership style in it research to the theoretical constructs. the version of the theory published in trauth et al. (2016), and presented in table 1, provided the theoretical framework for this research. table 1. constructs of the individual differences theory of gender and it [idgit] construct sub-construct examples individual identity personal demographics type of it work age, ethnicity, socio-economic class software development, is design individual influences personal characteristics personal influences educational background, personality traits, abilities mentors, role models, significant life experiences environmental context cultural influences economic influences societal infrastructure influences policy influences attitudes about women and it cost of living availability of childcare laws about gender discrimination note. from “the influence of gender-ethnic intersectionality on gender stereotypes about it skills and knowledge,” by e.m. trauth, c.c. cain, k.d. joshi, l. kvasny, & k.m. booth, 2016, the database for advances in information systems, 47(3), 16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2980783.2980785 the research goals for our study are to investigate the experiences of women in oss and the role of gender in these experiences. we wanted to know what the women of oss think about how gender affects their participation in these communities and how they perceive the experiences of other women in oss communities. we used the concepts of individual differences theory of gender and it to design our study. the survey questions were created to address each item listed in the sub-concept column of table 1. for example, demographic information and personal identity sub-concepts resulted in questions about age/gender/education level, and personal identity questions included the field of terminal degree and the oss community in which they participate. similarly, survey questions were mapped to all the sub-concepts. an initial survey request was sent to eight women-only oss listservs. in the request, we asked participants to volunteer for a follow-up interview by providing their contact information (email). the survey request resulted in fifty-eight responses, and, out of this total, eleven women volunteered for a follow-up interview. the results from that survey are being reviewed for publication in a separate article. the results of the follow-up interviews are being presented here. please refer to appendix a to view the list of women-only listservs on which the survey request was posted and appendix b to view the open-ended interview questions. 102 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2980783.2980785 women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 study design ethical considerations we received institutional review board (irb) approval from the “anonymous us r1 university” before recruiting participants for the study. irb approved the participant solicitation email, the survey questions, the interview questions, and the informed consent form. all the interviewees provided written consent for participating in the interview and our recording of the interviews. researchers promised confidentiality to the participants and signed confidentiality pledges for working on the interview transcripts. the interview participants volunteered to participate in this research through a survey of women in eight open source communities (appendix a). the interviews were open-ended, semi-structured, and conducted over the video conferencing software, skype. in one instance, the interview was conducted over synchronous chat, because the interviewee was more comfortable in that medium. each interview lasted between thirty and sixty minutes. the broad topics that the open-ended questions in the interviews explored included motivations to contribute to oss, perceptions of how their contributions are treated by the community, and how women’s contributions are treated generally. some topics that were added during the interviews included first-time experiences in oss, the roles of communities and community mentors, working with other women, and the need for more research on the topic of women’s participation in oss. (for a list of the specific interview questions, please refer to appendix b.) all of the interviews were transcribed completely to generate written text for qualitative data analysis. data analysis the transcribed interviews were imported into the qualitative data analysis software product, nvivo, for conducting a thematic analysis. an inductive and theoretical approach was used to identify themes. the constructs from the individual differences theory of gender and it (idgit) were used to understand themes in the data, and an inductive approach was used to account for data concepts that did not fit into the constructs of idgit. data that did not fit into the constructs added to a new understanding of the experiences of women. the data analysis strategy (adopted from braun & clarke, 2006) included a two-step coding and analysis process. the first step was familiarization with the data and initial coding using theoretical constructs from the theory of individual differences of gender and it. the initial coding was done by two researchers, who separately coded one interview and then finalized the coding schema for the remaining interviews. for the second step, search for themes was conducted in an organized manner: identifying themes, reviewing their connections with each other, and refining them to remove duplication or repetitive naming. after themes were refined, a few of them were combined to form broader themes, and codes were reorganized to better fit the themes. during this process of combining, themes and subthemes emerged, and better organization was achieved. theoretical analysis was the basis of this approach, but afterward, an inductive approach was used to code interview excerpts that did not fit into the existing coding scheme. 103 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 overview of participants out of the 11 participants, four were in the age range of 25–34, four in the age range of 35–44, two in the age range of 45–54, and one in the 55-65 age range. they have been participating in the open-source communities in a range from one year to 20 years, with an average participation length of about ten years and a median of seven years. the geographical location for the participants for this study are as follows: one participant each in romania, czech republic, norway, canada, and india; two in germany; and four in the u.s. the highest degree these women had attained was a bachelor’s degree for four women, a master’s degree for six women, and one doctoral degree. all of these women identified themselves as a woman and one identified herself as a trans woman during the interview. in this article, all participants are referred to as women to honor the wishes of all participants. the highest degrees were in a variety of fields of study, such as computer science, library science, mathematics, electronics, it, humanities, comparative literature, and art. the women described their contributions in oss communities as coding, bug reporting, testing, documentation, promotion and evangelism, packaging, translations, user support, documentation, testing, requirements analysis for feature development, and community building and advocacy. results data collected from the interviews provided insights into the experiences of women in open source communities. the challenges that the women faced, the factors that helped their integrations into these communities, and the benefits of participating in oss communities were discovered during the interviews and the analysis that followed. the analysis of the interviews revealed themes and sub-themes as presented in table 2. table 2. all themes and subthemes themes sub-themes underrepresentation initiation into oss first experience welcome person newcomer advice integration into oss experiences – neutral, positive, and negative role of mentors in success superfluous labor quality of work proving worth given “women work” 104 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 skill sets for oss not only technical skills personality traits characteristics for success community actions needed code of conduct safe places for women allies needed advice for community motivation the results are organized according to the themes and sub-themes of the theory of individual differences in gender and it (idgit) instead of being attributed to individual women under pseudonyms because participants raised a valid fear of this data not being confidential if we identify a woman from a country working on a particular software. the reason being that some of them are the only woman working on that software in their country, and they are afraid to attach any quotes to themselves for the fear of losing their anonymity and confidentiality of their responses. therefore, the differences in individual experiences will be reported in this study but not attributed to specific individuals. underrepresentation of women in oss communities not surprisingly, all the interviews revealed the theme of the underrepresentation of women. all eleven women confirmed the lack of women in their immediate environment, and a few explicitly expressed a sense of isolation in the open-source communities. the following interview excerpt indicates some of the frustration that women feel as an underrepresented group. “one thing i always hate is that they point me out all the time, ‘oh, you’re a female. what’s your opinion?’ like i’m some kind of a dinosaur in the room, and i have to have an opinion because i’m a woman. and i have to represent the multitude of women that are not in the room. no, i’m not representing them. they should be there with me. i think, again, almost equally, but because we are missing so much in numbers, we lack opportunities and presence, definitely.” this quote shows how women who are present in oss communities are often asked to represent “all” women, a burden that is often shared by minorities or marginalized people. not only do they have to deal with the isolation, but they are often made the voice of everyone who has been excluded. this singling out and expectation to represent all women, increases the labor required of marginalized people. the next comment highlighted the issue of misleading statistics presented by technology companies regarding women employed in the technology sector. the number of women in technical positions in technology companies is extremely low, but, as the number of women employed includes women in all departments in a company, the statistics presented by the companies are inflated. the actual number of women in technical positions is lower than the reported statistics because the quoted statistics include women in all departments in a technology company. one respondent explained that the statistics quoted are actually about the total number of women employed by technology companies, and thus includes women who work 105 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 in human resources or other non-technical areas. this respondent works in a large technology company and says that she does not know many women in technical positions in her company. she said: “i actually know only one girl whom is actually in a software developer position.” all of the women interviewed agreed that women are underrepresented in the tech sector, and oss, and they observed specifically that few women occupy software development roles. their responses to subsequent questions offer insight into what aspects of oss communities contribute to this gender imbalance. initiation of women into oss communities the interview results demonstrated that the experience of participating in an oss community for the first time is one of the most influential factors in whether women stay and continue to participate in the community in the future. the advice that the women gave for newcomers, who would like to contribute to oss, focused on persistence and strong personality traits. the role of the person or group that introduces a newcomer to an oss community is also very important in creating a positive experience for the newcomer. first experiences and the role of the “welcome person” the role of the first person who worked with women had a very positive impact on their experience. the following excerpt from an interview shows that despite the actual work being intimidating and labor-intensive, the woman was positive about the overall experience. “the first open-source project i contributed to was actually a pretty big project. it was for softwarename. it was kind of intimidating, and, in order to get the change accepted, i had to write tests. and this particular part of the codebase wasn't getting tested, so i had to write 50 lines of test for a one-line change basically. but the people that were working with me on it were very patient and very good at walking me through the whole process. so, in that regard, it was very positive.” this quote is important because it demonstrates that it is the socialization of newcomers that is critical to their experience and not necessarily the difficulty of the first task (steinmacher et al., 2015). the importance of meeting the right people at their initiation into the oss community was expressed by multiple interviewees. the role of the first person to introduce the women to the oss community was integral to their experience. this person did not necessarily end up being a mentor for them. sometimes all that the welcome person had to do was to introduce the women to the community and then women independently participated in the community. still, their introduction made participation easier for the women. in the following two instances, the welcoming person was male and helped the women’s initiation into the oss community. “it just went really nice and i immediately met the right people at the right time. the first person that replied was john4, who is a new council member as well. he’s just the best person that you can meet. he’s really nice, patient, and will break his back to answer your questions. if he has to, he will write a whole essay for you to get the point. he’s very nice.” 106 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 from this quote, we can see that the first positive experience for this woman led to her staying in oss and being a successful contributor. the role of allies is highlighted in this excerpt. the next response talks about having a positive first experience, but also discusses the role that leaders at different levels can play. allies and leaders together can create a memorable positive experience for a newcomer in the community, which would impact the retention of women in oss, as shown by this interviewee’s experience. “one of the absolutely most important things, i think, was that the leader of the workshop was experienced in making things comfortable for everyone. he sort of set the tone, even though there were people around who worked together before, coming from a lot of different countries. you may know the name (max), he was there. i didn’t know him. i didn’t know his face. i really didn’t recognize his name. this was back when i was really fresh. he was part of the crew there, and he’s famous for being nice, too. he’s famous for being very nice to women. again, i think it’s because (max), who led the workshop, was really experienced. simple.” next, we look at some examples of negative experiences that the women faced when they joined an oss community. some women pointed out that their first encounter with the oss community was uncomfortable because of their gender and that they had to find people to work with who would not make them uncomfortable for being a woman interested in technology. as the following interviewee explained, being complimented is not unwelcoming, but it does distract women from being comfortable in that environment. “when i got involved in open-source for the first time, i discovered that being a woman interested in technology and computers, i met men who thought i was really cool, and then they sort of were expecting, “whose girlfriend are you going to be?” they were like, “we’re thirty guys! surely you must be interested in one of us! because we’re interested in you!” of course, it’s nice to feel attractive, but it also felt very uncomfortable, because that was not why i was there. i was not there because as a woman; i was there as interested in technology. and they failed to see that, which made me uncomfortable, and i ended up finding a few people that do understand that i was interested in the technology (and not because primarily, i was a woman), and i grew from there.” this excerpt highlights one of the most common types of harassment that women deal with in the technology industry (women who tech, 2020), and it is no surprise that harassment happens to women in oss too because oss is very skewed in women representation and the community rules either do not exist or are not enforced (singh et al, 2021). this is the type of problem that can be reduced by awareness among oss contributors and establishing codes of conducts for communities to avoid this type of normalization of unwanted attention. in the example above, a positive first-time experience with oss involved supportive community members and mentors who reached out to new oss participants in a way that made them feel comfortable. in contrast, the woman with a negative first-time experience described receiving negative, uncomfortable attention because of her gender. while she continued in oss, she had to put in extra effort to seek out community support. 107 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 newcomer advice for joining oss the interviewee's key advice for newcomers included ignoring any harsh responses from the community and not taking any individual’s hostile behavior personally. it was highlighted that sometimes harsh responses from the community were not necessarily the result of these women’s gender or quality of work, but rather, just a common culture of the “techie guys.” it is this culture that nafus (2012) refers to as the culture of “openness” that has been cultivated to prove the worthiness of software code but leads to toxic masculinity and harassment of women. “my first and biggest advice (i’m not sure if i have many others) would be not to take things personally at the beginning. i consider that if they were to face hard times, they should tell themselves the others have misconceptions, they don’t know what i’m capable of, and i should just continue doing what i’m doing. and, of course, if you think at that point that you are not doing something good, ask for opinions and feedback. but again, don’t take it personally, like, “they said i’m wrong?!” if you submit a batch or other document or design and somebody old enough or grumpy enough will say, “oh, that’s bad. stop it.” you should not stop at all. say, “thanks for the feedback, let me know how to improve,” then continue.” as we can see from this excerpt, the women who succeed in oss have to develop a thick skin, handle rudeness, and people challenging their knowledge. these experiences often lead to women developing imposter syndrome and not believing that they belong in these communities. this type of toxicity becomes a barrier to continued participation, especially for women who are new to these communities (steinmacher et al., 2015). one interviewee discussed the importance of resilience and advised newcomers to tap into their motivation for participating in the oss community. as a coping mechanism, she suggests “detach yourself sentimentally” from the situation showing the understanding of the emotional burden that a negative experience can be for a newcomer. “persistence, yeah. and don’t let yourself get blocked by a situation. try to get the constructive part and then continue. that’s why i said don’t take it personally and try to detach yourself sentimentally from things that you do. because as a woman, or a man, you have feelings and you get affected by them, but starting to work with unknown people whose background you don’t and are maybe having a bad day and are just bad to you because they had to let it out or something and you were in the wrong place. don’t take it personally. you are not there to please them. you are there to do something that you like. at least i hope you like it, anyway.” several of the interview participants pointed out that newcomers should always remember that there are many projects out there and that their experience with one project or project community should not deter them from exploring other communities. many oss projects welcome women in their communities, so the newcomers should find those and participate in projects that identify themselves as encouraging diversity and inclusivity. newcomers should “be persistent” in their participation and selective in the projects to which they choose to contribute. “i do think that the open-source world is much bigger than you think, so if things don’t fit right in one place, it doesn’t mean that the whole world of open-source is not for you. it just means “find another project.” simple as that. there’s so many projects. find 108 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 another one. that’s one of the fun things about open-source; it definitely comes in every flavor.” in future research, the authors of this study are working on developing evaluation criteria for oss communities through which the communities can be categorized according to their support for women, marginalized populations, and commitment to diversity. when we asked the interviewees about their advice for women who are interested in participating in oss communities, they shared several ways in which they thought it would be best to start. the following excerpt shows that oss contributors do not have to always be technical because they can contribute to non-technical aspects of oss, such as translation. “starting out with translation is super easy, if you’re not very interested in coding. if you are interested in coding, start there. it’s a great way of starting to read code and seeing how things are structured, and you learn a lot from it. you can also submit patches, so you are contributing to the community, not being an island. you don’t have to create this whole big thing alone.” another woman shared her experience of starting as a contributor on email lists and then being invited to be a “committer” showing how women can start with a non-technical activity and can also participate in technical work. “i think i started and i started figuring out stuff, and i was answering questions on email lists, and then when i returned to softwarename with this job, which was about four years ago, they very quickly invited me to become a committer.” the next piece of advice is for women to not be intimidated and think that they are not capable of contributing like a man who is just starting. “another thing that women often do, they have this intimidation thing. they have this impostor syndrome. so being aware of that would help, i think. recognize that the guys start out as stupid as updaters.” the next excerpt laid the groundwork for the discussion about the concept of safe spaces, where the interviewee recommended that women who want to join oss communities should join women oss-related groups, which would be more supportive spaces that could also provide networking opportunities. “also, i think it's great being able to meet people in person, so maybe point to meetups or volunteer organizations. so the best thing they can do is to join all the women in foss /computing groups and geek feminism groups. there are groups like systers too.” this idea of safe spaces for women in technology has found support with many initiatives across technology communities and is receiving interest from researchers as well. the aforementioned advice emphasizes that women who want to enter oss should be resilient against negative experiences. women are instructed to toughen themselves against mistreatment and rejection and to work hard to find a position and a supportive community. not all of these recommendations relate directly to dealing with gender-based discrimination, but all involve women doing extra work to make up for shortcomings in the oss community environment. 109 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 integration into oss after joining the oss communities, women reported a mix of positive, negative, and neutral experiences. some examples of these varied experiences of women in oss communities are presented below. the positive experiences highlighted the absence of any discrimination, a culture of learning, and not being afraid of failing. “i never felt discriminated. i always felt that i’m empowered to do whatever i want. i contributed from code to organizing events. i always felt that i can do anything, no matter my gender nor my origin. i felt that i’m allowed to try and fail.” “i have really no complaints. it was generally a nice experience. everyone is very welcoming and helpful.” one interviewee expressed her excitement about learning how to contribute and share within an oss community. the collaborative aspect of the community was a positive for this interviewee. “i did start out with translation. it’s super-fast to get into. and then you sort of discover the whole structure that “anyone can contribute,” and you are taking someone else’s work, and you’re basing your work on someone else’s work, which is a fantastic experience when i had it. it’s like, “i actually get to do this? i don’t have to start from scratch?” we can actually share. it’s not mine, it’s not yours. it’s ours. that was nice.” among the challenges that the women shared as part of their experiences of regularly contributing to oss communities, gender bias was a major concern. the interviewees felt that women were always met with different expectations and were, by default, considered less technically proficient. “basically, everything was really down and like i don’t know what i’m doing.” one interviewee said that she has witnessed that women encounter hostility and general condescending responses from men in many of the oss community online forums. “i’ve observed that a lot of the forums and email lists, when there’s a discussion breaking out, and someone calls on (pardon the expression) bullshit or says that you’re over the line and they will attack someone just because of their gender. very often, any community online will claim that they are gender-neutral. they’re not. they’re not at all. it’s very obvious that women are met with different expectations, and they are met with a distrust, unfortunately.” the hostility from men in the oss community is damaging to the morale of the women participating, and in addition, it leads to feelings of isolation and normalization of this behavior. one interviewee articulated that if no one speaks out against the hostility, it makes the environment worse for the women who observe this response. when this type of hostility is experienced, allies must react to the situation, to handle the situation at hand, and also to send a message to the observers that this community treats women fairly. 110 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 “it’s met with a “are you sure that this is good enough?” this one really angry guy dominates the group a lot. and he’s like, “we’re not agreeing with him.” yeah, but you’re not protesting either. which creates an illusion of online communities being more hostile than they probably were meant to be or are seen from the friendly male perspective. bad eggs really get to pester the place and be annoying, and nobody really stands up to them while the women are around. but when things are good, it’s nice. it’s very nice. it feels like a double victory. but it’s very lonely when you’re battling these one or two or three annoying guys, and nobody supports you. nobody steps up, and especially if they don’t agree.” one interviewee stated that women, including her, face misogynistic discriminatory behavior in their interactions with oss communities. “i've certainly heard stories from other women through other communities, and that's something i have run into directly where it was clearly misogynistic activities.” women are often left wondering if their contributions are being scrutinized or rejected because of their gender. the following excerpt from an interviewee who is established in her community, and has participated successfully for a long time, demonstrates the lingering impact of perceived discrimination. this type of reaction has often been referred to as imposter syndrome by many researchers and has been observed and documented in the experience of women in it. “there was one incident when i had a pull request up against a library. it would've been a fairly small change that would've added a lot of new functionality, and they said basically "we don't want to do that". i've always wondered if i just had a male teammate put out that pull request instead, and i think it maybe could've gone through. i don't know. i don't have any way to know what exactly the circumstances are.” when asked if they believed that women were treated as equals to men in the oss communities, all the interviewees said that women are not treated equally and have to work harder to get recognition. even if they felt that they were personally treated as equals in their respective communities, they said that women, in general, are not treated as equals. “no, they are not treated equally. misogyny is too common. even when it comes to inviting speakers, i have seen event organizers of other [usergroupname] stick to men alone. in mailing lists, many instances of misogyny can be found” when asked to describe examples of misogyny that they have observed or faced, one interviewee explained the inherent bias that women face and the pressure that it puts on women to always be right. she saw it as unfair because men are allowed to fail and learn from their mistakes while women are harassed and condescended to in the same situation. “oh, she’s a woman. she doesn’t know how to code. that’s why she did something wrong.” or if they would bring a challenge to me and i would say from the beginning, “i don’t know. i need to document myself.” they would say, “of course she doesn’t know. she’s a woman. she doesn’t know how to code.” but if a man does that, he’s allowed easily to do his search. when asked about differences in the quality of contributions between men and women, one interviewee explained that she expects better code from women because she believes that a 111 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 person from a minority has to be outstanding to have a chance to participate at a higher level in the project. she stated that a man could be average and still make it to the next level of the project hierarchy. this type of extraneous, often vexatious labor, is part of the daily experience of women in oss. “mostly i see men’s code, you know. did i actually see code from a woman? i don’t know. i’ve seen ideas from a woman. i have this theory that if you’re from a minority, you can usually expect a higher standard or better than the average guy, but this is because you stick out. it just comes from the way the process works. if you’re just an average or below average programmer as a woman, you’re not going to be a committer in a project. you might be a committer in a project as a man, because there’s just a lot of them. the few that are there are probably better, but that’s just by the nature that they’re the survivors.” as was the case with their first-time experiences, the women interviewed described a positive experience of integration into oss as a matter of a supportive community environment that facilitated learning and the enjoyment of their work. negative experiences were characterized by community hostility, including gender-based discrimination. the women recognized that this discrimination was common, even if they had not experienced it personally. role of mentors all the women who were interviewed echoed that having a mentor would be very useful for participating successfully in an oss community. mentors were mostly described as experienced contributors who can guide newcomers regarding social interactions, taking criticism and utilizing it well, and feeling comfortable contributing. this mirrors the findings from previous research about the value of mentorship for marginalized populations. “it helps a lot to have a mentor of some kind. a one-to-one mentorship. this mentor would be able to answer the questions. more than a colleague, like a friend, and a person you wouldn’t be afraid of. someone who is friendly to approach if you have a problem, and they can help.” in the next quote, we see how the presence of mentors works in cultivating allies and sensemaking of discrimination and harassment. mentors impact the mentees' experiences and also emulate behavior for allies to follow. “mentors. i think that is a good thing, again because you need someone to have your back. sometimes you don’t always want to talk on the open forums, and it makes it easier to handle critics in a sensible way, because sometimes the critiques that you’re receiving are justified.” the participants in this research envisioned a continuing role for mentors, which is similar to the role that mentors can play in welcoming first-time women participants into oss. in both cases, the mentor is someone who helps improve the experiences of women participating in the oss. in the examples from the interviewed women, this help included dealing specifically with community-based problems, such as harsh criticism or mistreatment. 112 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 superfluous labor one theme that appeared consistently in all the interviews was this aspect of additional work that the women must do to be successful in oss communities. women reported that either they have done this or consistently witnessed women doing this additional work. the superfluous work does not concern the code, or the main contribution itself, but rather concerns making a case for that piece of work—that is, proving its accuracy, legitimacy, and value. while doing this superfluous work, women also feel the pressure to be perfect and not make any errors while contributing. the gender-biased approach of men makes this superfluous labor a necessary part of women’s contributions. “the amount of work invested, i think, is bigger in a woman. i still feel that, even to do something, we have to prove ourselves all the time. the code will speak for itself, but before implementing it, you might need to express your opinions to show why that would be the best solution. and at that point, i think we need to be perfect all the time, not to give space for errors, because they will take advantage and will say, “oh, she’s a woman. she doesn’t know how to code. that’s why she did something wrong.” or if they would bring a challenge to me and i would say from the beginning, “i don’t know. i need to document myself.” they would say, “of course she doesn’t know. she’s a woman. she doesn’t know how to code.” but if a man does that, he’s allowed easily to do his search. so i think for us, it’s always a struggle to do perfect. even if we know we are capable, in our minds, we cannot allow ourselves space for error, or research, or for thinking or brainstorming, maybe. because we feel we would be discussed” “because you have to work harder to get your point across.” women reported having observed other women doing this superfluous work in addition to their actual work and trying to prove themselves in almost every interaction. one interviewee also reported that they were often judged as being at a much lower skill level than they are. “they come in with a higher quality, or have done more research, or the emails from women are “this” long and very well-founded, and the guys are like, “i made this thing. it should be super.” this type of experience could potentially be the reason for women not wanting to reveal their gender or identity in their profiles. as one interviewee put it very succinctly, she wonders if her work would be easily accepted if she chose to hide her identity. “i often wonder how much easier it would be to get stuff done if i had a profile that didn't make it obvious what my gender was.” even the women who are successful, and are working hard to contribute to oss projects, deal with this sense of not being treated equal and their contributions not being taken on merit because they are a woman. in the example below, the interviewee felt that her gender might have been the cause of her not getting a job in oss. “i sort of wonder after the fact if that would have happened if i were a man. again, there’s so much that you can’t put a finger on. i did apply within here for a job working with open source stuff, and they did end up taking one of the committers, who was 113 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 outside. on the other hand, again, would they take me more seriously if i were a man? i thought i made good impressions.” overall, the women interviewed had the sense that women in oss were required to put in greater effort to achieve the same degree of success and respect as men. beyond their technical wo rk itself, they must defend and justify their work much more than men in a similar situation. this sense of doing extra work affects the women even if they do not describe experiencing open gender-based hostility. characteristics for success across all the interviews, there were many comments about what women felt made them successful in the oss community. their comments about how other women should interact in the oss environment also highlighted characteristics that they considered were important to succeed. they used words like “brave,” “stubborn,” “persistent,” and “detached” to explain their journey and characteristics for success. in the following comment, the interviewee expresses her awareness of the pressure that is put on women when they are told to be braver, but she does not see any other way to succeed in oss. “just be braver. it’s sort of rude to just say to women that everything would be fine if women were just braver, but i think it’s a necessity until the world saves us.” another interviewee indicated that being stubborn helps her succeed in oss. “i’m really stubborn. i don’t want to admit anything. i don’t give up.” one interviewee explained that she believes that detaching yourself from your work and not taking things personally is important to succeed in oss. “don’t take it personally. you are not there to please them. you are there to do something that you like.” “detach yourself sentimentally from things that you do.” these traits are all useful for dealing with the critical and sometimes hostile environment of oss, but particularly for dealing with the negative experiences of oss that are specific to women. bravery, stubbornness, and resilience to criticism are useful for enduring both gender-based hostility and the superfluous labor required of women in oss. skill sets for oss one theme that emerged in all the interviews was the importance of all skill sets within oss communities. the interviewees emphasized that an oss community is not just about coding. therefore, anyone who is interested in contributing should not hesitate solely because they are not coders. all skill sets are needed and are important for a successful product. this 114 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 recommendation goes for newcomers, as well as for the communities, who should value the different skills that are needed to create and maintain their software and community. “we need different people to have a successful product. i would try to emphasize that there should be a place for everything. if there is no place for documentation for less technical people, we should make a place for them, because they all deserve a place.” “because really, without documentation, the user won’t understand us if we are not documented, right? the user won’t understand the program if it is not well-designed or well-tested.” among these different skill types, the interviewees focused particularly on communications skills, such as documentation and translation. they highlighted these skills both to encourage less technically-oriented people to get involved in oss, but also to reinforce the necessity of good communication to participants and user experience of oss products. role of the community the interviewees recommended several things that the oss community can do to support women participants. the recommendations for the community ranged from being patient, helpful, open, and friendly to clearly articulate a code of conduct to support women. “and besides patience, always remember that those in open-source are trying to do something good from their volunteer time without any benefits like money. probably, someone at home will ask them, “what do you get in return?” they won’t be able to say money or anything material. so try to at least be nice, and if you can, of course, help.” “i’d say that it’s important to be friendly and not discourage someone. basic people management skills are necessary.” companies should be committed to increasing diversity and also allowing and supporting women to spend time with newcomers in mentor roles. mentoring and integrating newcomers is important for a community to be diverse and innovative. if the organization realizes this, then they should be compensating women who take mentorship roles so that it does not become a burden to the mentors. if companies do not support this type of collaboration, then they are not being supportive of women newcomers. “i could not do that on company time. if companies were willing to let whatever small number of women they have do it on company time and not let it slow them down, and it would be counted toward a career achievement.” “companies have to have a serious commitment to increasing their numbers.” codes of conduct help guide communities. they allow women to seek help and allies to point the code of conduct out to anybody who is violating it. “i think it's great that a lot of big conferences and larger open-source projects are adopting code of conduct. i think that's a really good place to start. just to have some point on contact with that, which i suppose would be part of the code of conduct, would 115 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 be good. the code of conduct is to have someone to reach out to if something does go wrong.” the suggestions made by the interviewees reflect their common emphasis on a supportive community, as expressed in their other responses. they encourage the oss community, in general, to be more supportive and patient with new participants, and particularly to support mentoring. they also recommend codes of conduct as a way to counter more direct forms of gender-based discrimination. both of these types of suggestions serve to counter the community hostility that most of the interviewees identified as a key cause of negative experiences in oss. discussion the main findings from this research are summarized according to themes in table 2. in this section, we use the idgit constructs to review the key findings. table 3 extends table 2 with specific examples from the results and showcases the impact of themes and sub-themes from the interviews. table 3. all themes and subthemes with context from the results themes sub-themes impact and examples underrepresentation isolation, have to be the voice of “all” women initiation into oss • first experience • welcome person • newcomer advice • the social aspect of first experience more important than technical difficulty • leaders and allies both play a role in welcoming • newcomers should research which community to join as that will determine their experience and chances of success, detach yourself, do not take it personally, tap into your “why” integration into oss • experiences – neutral, positive, and negative • role of mentors in success • not treated equally, experienced and observed harassment • useful as a mentee and observer superfluous labor • quality of work • proving worth • given “women work” • women have to consistently do extraneous work to prove their worth 116 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 • by default assumed to be nontechnical; given work like evens management. skill sets for oss • not only technical skills • personality traits • characteristics for success • contribution does not have to be technical • resilience, thick skin, persistent, stubborn community actions needed • code of conduct • safe places for women • allies needed • advice for community • clearly articulated code of conduct with enforcement information • create spaces where women are comfortable to join and learn motivation remember your “why” the individual identity construct, and specifically the type of it work, was very helpful in understanding the experiences of these women. one participant was very comfortable and confident in her initial contributions as a translator, and it allowed her to learn and “graduate” to tasks that are more complicated and higher level in the project. another participant explicitly stated that contributors, who are not technical contributors, are seen as contributing less or considered less important, which should not be the case because the software needs all types of contributors to be successful. this highlights the difference in approach among these women for the same aspect of contributing. “one thing for us to get down to is different levels of technology. one thing that i hate (that’s a strong word to use; i’m sorry i’m using it): in everything i do, there is the misconception that if someone is not technical, they are less worthy, which is not true. because really, without documentation, the user won’t understand us if we are not documented, right? the user won’t understand the program if it is not well-designed or well-tested.” this example also shows that although both women saw the non-programming roles in the oss project as important, they had a different expectation from doing that role. one wanted to “graduate” to more complicated roles and the other one wanted equal recognition for all the contributors to the project (irrespective of the role). this is tied to the individual identity construct and explicates the differences among women, another key point to consider when designing solutions for women in oss. trauth et al. (2016) discuss that technical and no-technical skills are becoming a part of gender identity for women. women imbibe the culture of their environment and reflect the stereotypes of “masculine work” versus “women’s work;” we found the same thing in our results where some women internalize a hierarchy in the work needed for maintaining a successful project. if they contribute to what is considered “woman’s work” will they ever see the success that is equal to the success that men find in these communities? 117 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 the individual influences construct was critical in understanding the approach of women towards the unfavorable environment in oss, and the personality traits construct helped in understanding what characteristics these women consider necessary for succeeding in an oss community. interviewed women used words like stubborn, unfazed, and detached to express their approach to participating in the community. most of the women believed that there is negativity in online communities, and they choose to “not take it personally” and be persistent in continuing to do what they love to do (contributing to oss, coding, etc.). similarly, for newcomers, the key pieces of advice about personality traits were to be brave, to be persistent, and not to be deterred by negativity. the personal agency that the women displayed in their work, their interactions, and their approach to contributing is what led to them being successful in their environment. it is well known from previous literature about f/loss that there is a “geek masculine stereotype” culture in oss (reagle, 2013; ensmenger, 2015; menking et al., 2019); our study demonstrates the strategies and approaches that women use to navigate an environment that is created by men and can be unappealing to women. women have to take the burden of responding and assimilating in this culture in order to participate in oss communities, either as volunteers or for their jobs. based on our study, their approach is to become detached and ignore negativity to complete their work. this leads us to question how this distinction between gender-based roles plays into expectations for workplace behaviors? many studies point out that “toxic masculinity,” flaming and aggressive interactions are part of the oss community; does that mean that to be successful in these communities women have to become more “masculine” and exhibit these traits in their interactions with the community? or that they have to take on the “masculine work” to be accepted into the community? the additional emotional burden of “detaching” and “ignoring negativity” as a coping mechanism cannot be inconsequential. repeated exposure to such toxicity, and the necessity to do this extra emotional labor, could have a lingering impact on the mental health of women. the personal influences construct helped us to understand the role of mentors, or “welcome people,” who encouraged these women to stay and contribute to the oss community. the women who met the “right people” when they first started reported a much easier, faster transition and felt like they were encouraged to participate and contribute. having the right mentor who could help them navigate the technical landscape, and more importantly, the social landscape, and who would stand up for them, made their experiences much more positive. women who did not have a mentor also believed that having a mentor would be beneficial to newcomers and would make the integration into the community faster. we believe that positive relationships with mentors, allies, and peers are critical for women to thrive in technology communities. ford et al. (2017) studied women participating in stack overflow to understand the influence of peer parity, which occurs when an individual can identify at least one other peer interacting in a community. in this study, the authors discuss that showcasing the success of women, pairing women for guidance, and revealing user identity will all positively influence peer parity and provide encouragement for women to participate in oss. our research also shows how women interviewees agreed that having a mentor, and seeing examples of successful women, would be useful for all women. understanding this concept of peer parity is critical for organizations wanting to implement successful mentorship programs and in helping alleviate “imposter syndrome” for women in oss. the environmental construct includes cultural influences, economic influences, societal infrastructure influences, and policy influences. the environmental context construct helped understand the integration of women into oss. one woman shared how she first heard about oss at her university as part of an event organized by a local student club. her experience, as noted 118 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 by her (and observed by the researcher), was unique and positive. she enjoyed meeting new people in her environment and attending regular meetups, which led her to continue to work with them and start contributing to other oss projects. most of the women reported that they are continually motivated to contribute to oss because it has become part of their life. they care about the philosophy of oss. also, they enjoy the like-minded people they meet, and the social aspect of oss participation keeps them engaged and motivated. economic influences could be very easily seen in the number of hours that the women spent in oss communities. for women who are paid to contribute to oss, advocating for oss is part of their job. they thus, understandably, spend significantly more hours contributing than women who volunteer their time. one woman also expressed that more women would become mentors to newcomers if their company gave them incentives to do so. they do not always want to take time from their work to mentor others. this is an important point to understand because oftentimes marginalized populations have to take on additional emotional and service-related labor to mentor other marginalized people. organizations need to do a better job of documenting this labor and creating compensation and recognition for this type of work. it is, as a matter of fact, an investment in the future of the organization and should not be the burden of the marginalized people to carry alone. emotional labor in wikipedia is explored in depth by menking and erickson (2015) where they discuss that women often have “taxing emotional labor” while they contribute to wikipedia. menking and erickson (2015) ask if such emotional labor is indeed a cost for enabling a complex project such as wikipedia. we see that in our study where it seems like women have to do the extra labor to support other women, and to succeed themselves, even though diversity improves innovation in the organization rock and grant (2016). therefore, should organizations be investing in the marginalized people who do the extra work for them? the cultural influences construct was visible in the experience of an asian woman participating in this study. she clearly articulated that she has experienced misogynistic behaviour. in future research, this is an area to further explore and in which to compare the experiences of women from different cultures and different races. attitudes towards women and it in culture would presumably impact the experiences of women in it in that culture, and these attitudes would be different among different cultures. most of the women who were interviewed said that the oss communities that have a code of conduct policy or set of guidelines are the ones that are friendly to women. these are the communities where senior male members or allies will often step up and point out the guidelines when there are incidents that could be inappropriate for newcomers. research on codes of conduct in oss shows that the presence of these codes, in tandem with visible enforcement of codes of conduct, improves the experiences of women (tourani et al., 2017; singh et al., 2021). interestingly, in the interviews, several women reported encouraging other women to participate as part of the motivation for joining, contributing, and staying in oss. another reason to participate in oss was to be part of a community of learners to improve their own skill sets. women said that if the project they were working on was successful, they would stay there and contribute irrespective of the community response. several women said that they believe in the philosophy of oss and the good that their software brings to its users, and, therefore, they continue to participate and keep encouraging other women to participate. women’s motivation and competence are not an issue but both aspects are challenged often. 119 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 one of the things that were striking in this research was the way women characterized how they approach and how other women should approach contributing to oss communities. it did not seem like they were contributing to something intellectually but rather seemed more like a daring endeavor. the advice for newcomers included comments such as “you have to be brave; you have to be strong; you have to ignore; you have to be extra smart; etc.” this kind of advice made the author wonder why participation in a community where you are contributing your skills, often without pay, should be such a crusade. in addition to the knowledge and skills that these women bring to the community, why do they also have to do this onerous labor of managing a hostile environment? limitations of the research as the authors continue to understand and explore this complex issue, we are aware of the limitations of this research study and plan to address some of these issues in future research. we acknowledge that this research presents results of interviews with women who volunteered to participate in this research, and therefore there is a self-selection bias in the results. we would also like to interview women who have left oss communities, because without their perspective we cannot completely understand the experiences of women in open source. in the results we present, we do not presume that these experiences are unique to women, but rather we present these as the experiences of women who participate and chose to stay. some of these experiences are very likely applicable to all newcomers, irrespective of gender, race, age, or sexual identity. the results presented here are based on the experiences of women who contribute and continue to stay in open source communities. in future research, we would like to continue this work by applying the lens of intersectionality and developing a deeper understanding of differences among the diverse women groups. ethnicity was not a major distinguishing factor for this data set and did not have much diversity concerning race. all the women interviewed were caucasian except for one asian (indian). the experiences of the only non-caucasian and non-western woman were very intriguing and will be part of a future study. none of the other women mentioned race as a factor in their experiences. conclusion in this study, we have focused on women who participate in oss as individuals with specific experiences; some of their experiences are unique, while others exhibit common elements with those of other women or members of other groups, and this nuanced focus has given us an insight into ways in which women navigate oss communities. we found that oss communities are complex, and women are motivated to join these communities and support other women in the communities. all the interviewed women face the impact of underrepresentation of women, either in the form of isolation or being put in a position to speak for all women. our results show that mentors, allies, and leaders in the community have a strong impact on the first experience of women contributors and their continued participation and their continued participation. if they meet the right person(s) in their first encounter with oss, they continue to participate; when they face challenges and allies and leaders speak up for them, women stay in the communities. recruitment and retention of women in oss are both impacted by the mentors, allies, and leaders. women who continue to stay in the oss community face a hostile environment but are committed to contributing and have to develop coping mechanisms in the form of being persistent, stubborn, developing a thick skin, and ignoring negativity. women are committed to 120 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 supporting other women, but communities need to step up compensation that rewards women for mentoring other women. women do not lack capabilities, skills, or motivation in contributing to the oss community, and in addition to their time and skills, they also contribute through emotional labor to the success of products. endnotes 1 please refer to the osi definition of oss for a complete reference (https://opensource.org/docs/definition.php) 2 github, inc. is a provider of internet hosting for software development and version control using git. it offers the distributed version control and source code management functionality of git, plus its own features. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/github 3 please refer to the wikipedia definition of “flame war” on wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/flaming_(internet) 4 all participant names have been changed to maintain confidentiality. appendix a the data collection request was posted on the following women-centered listservs for open source software: 1. debian women mailing list at debian-women@lists.debian.org 2. fedora women mailing list at women@lists.fedoraproject.org 3. linux chix women mailing list at announce-request@linuxchix.org 4. opensource.org women mailing list at women-request@opensource.org 5. kde women women mailing list at kde-women@kde.org 6. ubuntu women mailing list at ubuntu-women@lists.ubuntu.com 7. gnome women mailing list at gnome-women-list@mail.gnome.org 8. indi-chix at linux chix indichix@linuxchix.org the call for participation also asked potential participants to forward the request to anyone they believed could contribute to the research. 121 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://opensource.org/docs/definition.php https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/github https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/flaming_(internet) mailto:debian-women@lists.debian.org mailto:women@lists.fedoraproject.org mailto:announce-request@linuxchix.org mailto:women-request@opensource.org mailto:kde-women@kde.org mailto:ubuntu-women@lists.ubuntu.com mailto:gnome-women-list@mail.gnome.org mailto:indichix@linuxchix.org women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 appendix b open-ended interview questions 1. do you recall your first experience of participating in an oss project? if yes, could you please share that experience. 2. how would you describe your experience of participating in open source software? please share some specific examples. 3. what motivates you to continue to participate in oss? 4. in your opinion, are men and women treated equally in the oss communities you have participated in? please share some specific examples. 5. in your opinion, is there a difference between the quality of contribution among men and women? please share some specific examples. 6. what, if any, are the benefits of participating in oss? 7. what advice would you give to a female who would like to contribute to oss? 8. how can community members improve the experience of women participating in oss? 9. is there anything else on this topic that you would like to share with the interviewer? 10. is there anything else that you think is important for this topic that is not covered in the questions above? references adya, m., & kaiser, k. m. 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(2015). gender and tenure diversity in github teams. proceedings of the 33rd annual acm conference on human factors in computing systems (chi ’15), 3789– 3798. https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702549 125 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39225-7_13 https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter https://doi.org/10.1145/3231170 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-20883-7_7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11219-020-09543-w https://doi.org/10.1145/2675133.2675215 https://doi.org/10.1109/saner.2017.7884606 https://doi.org/10.1108/09593840210430552 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infoandorg.2013.08.003 http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2980783.2980785 https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702549 women’s experiences contributing to oss the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36197 women who tech. (2020). women who tech startup and tech culture survey [survey]. https://womenwhotech.com/sites/default/files/202009/womenwhotech_startupandtechsurvey2020.pdf vandana singh (vandana@utk.edu) is an associate professor at the ischool at university of tennessee knoxville. dr. singh has researched and published about open source software (oss) for over 15 years. in her latest research, she is diving deep into the experiences of women in oss and is committed to making a positive impact by her research, her role in educating women, and her presentations at diverse venues. her research focuses on the use of technology in various settings and includes computer supported cooperative work, human computer interaction and information systems, online communities, software development, and social justice. her research has been funded by federal agencies such as national science foundation (nsf), imls, and the united states geological society (usgs). her research is published in top information science journals, national and international conferences, and books. her research publications have received several awards at different venues, including best research paper awards. brice bongiovanni (bongiov@vols.utk.edu) is a current graduate student pursuing the ms in information science in the school of information sciences at the university of tennessee, knoxville. his areas of specialization are special collections and archives, digital collections, and academic/educational librarianship. prior to entering the information science field, he also completed an ma in religious studies at the university of texas at austin, and an ma in history and an ab in religious studies at the university of georgia. 126 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://womenwhotech.com/sites/default/files/2020-09/womenwhotech_startupandtechsurvey2020.pdf https://womenwhotech.com/sites/default/files/2020-09/womenwhotech_startupandtechsurvey2020.pdf mailto:vandana@utk.edu mailto:bongiov@vols.utk.edu introduction theoretical foundation study design ethical considerations data analysis overview of participants results underrepresentation of women in oss communities initiation of women into oss communities first experiences and the role of the “welcome person” newcomer advice for joining oss integration into oss role of mentors superfluous labor characteristics for success role of the community discussion limitations of the research conclusion endnotes appendix a appendix b references building welcoming communities: durham libraries engage diversity the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39282 ijidi: book review taher, m. (ed.). (2022). handbook of research on the role of libraries, archives, and museums in achieving civic engagement and social justice in smart cities. igi global. isbn: 978-1799883630. 620 pp. $292.50 us. reviewer: fiona collins, worcester art museum, usa book review editors: halie kerns, binghamton university, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: archives, information, libraries, museums, smart cities publication type: book review “some librarian brought the first printed book into the library; another brought the first microfiche reader. some librarians brought in the first game, and the first scroll, and the first illuminated manuscript. they did this to enhance access, yes, but also to expand the capabilities of the communities they served…. help, not document the world, but to change it.” (lankes, 2013, p. 1) ow does community engagement shape the purpose of libraries, archives, and museums? how do libraries, archives, and museums bolster the communities around them? the handbook of research on the role of libraries, archives, and museums in achieving civic engagement and social justice in smart cities , edited by mohamed taher (2022), suggests that the roles of information professionals are delineated by their ability to ask these questions of themselves and their institutions, and then adapt accordingly. the concept of community development has been woven into the western conceptualization of libraries, archives, and museums (lams) since the 19th century (lankes, 2013). more specifically, the concept has its historical roots in the establishment of public collections in the late victorian period—their vast array of services became a hallmark of what is known as the progressive era (asher, 2011). these services resulted in unprecedented access to information for the average person, and for the first time, lam collections were being built with a communal user base in mind. what we may consider the modern relationship between librarian and patron was heavily influenced early on by this symbiotic support of one another (be it financial, intellectual, or social) and is now often expressed in a c ycle of outreach and inreach—a term essentially referring to institutional self-contemplation of the mechanisms supporting outreach (germain, 2006). in his handbook, taher presents a roster of international scholars and practitioners whose research explores the successes and failures of modern lam as impacted by the covid-19 pandemic and global crises of inequity in intellectual spaces as a byproduct of capitalism. by extension, social justice initiatives are used as a metric for the success of community outreach initiatives in what the book calls “trusted institutions,” or in other h https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39282 handbook of research the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39282 2 words, those considered to be trusted sources of information. compiling the research of 34 contributors from 12 countries, each of the 22 chapters, report compelling case studies to bring attention to changing cultural dynamics and sociopolitical change —focusing on what is known as “smart cities.” the text explores a wide range of topics, from conservation practices for community engagement in indonesia to the digitized cultural heritage practices of smart cities in hungary and confronting fake news and disinformation in the smart cities of india. still, the chapters can be treated as part of a larger narrative documenting the evolution and adaptation of reference services when habitually reaffirming institutional inclusivity. this is not to say that the contents of every chapter are connected just thematically. instead, several methodological approaches to inclusivity become a thread through various scenarios. perhaps the best example of this is the topic of digital literacy. handbook continually promotes digital literacy as a catalyst for communal and civic engagement. the latter is defined in chapter 11 as “the ways in which citizens participate in the life of a community to improve conditions for others or to help shape the community’s future” (p. 255). in other words, when information professionals teach their patron base how to access and use resources available to them, it can help individuals to connect with their histories, more broadly aggregate information to bolster community aspirations (either virtually or inperson), or proactively combat the disadvantages experienced by marginalized citizens in smart cities and beyond. given that most readers from the information science profession will be interested in implementing solutions to common issues, the different case studies would help them interpret if the solutions presented are a good fit for their library’s collection and community. the case studies that are used to elucidate community engagement measures used by lam are pulled from culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse smart cities around the globe. the narratives provided in each chapter frame the chapter’s research and serve as a microcosm of the four themes of the book: lam and the workplace, lam in practice, lam and community outreach, and lam in smart cities. section 1, “lam in the workspace,” begins with the technical aspects of outreach and how information professionals can reconcile their limitations with the needs of their community. it deals with the recognition of and approach to the individual needs of lam institutions based on their collections, resources, and patrons—and back-end processes, which is perhaps the most significant consideration because such processes tend to be the most segregated from community function. the chapter also discusses issues in adjacent disciplines like preservation, which are designed to protect cultural heritage objects and information but too often remain unengaged with the culture from which they originated. in acknowledging such limitations, the authors open up space to critically discuss opportunities for growth. section 2, “lam in the community: weaving inclusive participation in practice,” comprises seven chapters that delve deeper into how community outreach can specifically impact inclusivity initiatives and catalyze institutional social justice reform. this section undoubtedly is the most confrontational regarding what co-author ramya a.v. from chapter 7, “digital divide among the tribals of kerala: a comparative study of kannavam and thavinjhal village,” has called an “apartheid” created when one group in the community has comparatively advanced digital literacy skills compared to those who do not. as a result, digital literacy training is treated as an essential function of lam as well as a necessary https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39282 handbook of research the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39282 3 foundation to lay before the start of community outreach with the goal of reform and education. this section also deals with the necessity of digital literacy in preventing the perpetuation of misinformation and bias in the digital era. another stand-out chapter is roderic vassie’s “helping communities confront extremism: a role for librarians in debunking the claims of extremists on social media.” section 3, “lam in the community: theory relating to facets,” is a natural progression from the themes of section 2 and focuses on the larger-scale impact of digital literacy generated by lam community outreach on individuals and groups. more focus is on representation, recognition, and the challenges a rural patron base faces. section 4, “lam in the smart city,” shifts focus from digital literacy and community generation in a broad sense to specifically identifying densely packed communities of smart cities—both in person and digital. there are six chapters focusing on transforming information and data in digital spaces. social justice and civic engagement both once again factor into the research of this section, where impacts by the development of technology over the years and how it plays a role in connecting people with ties to a lam institution are discussed. the case studies in handbook present a different facet of the complex and ever-changing landscape of lam community outreach. “community needs” is positioned as indelibly connected to an institution’s approach to access and collection development. the chapters' compilation is almost epistemic, all contributing to a greater narrative. this approach ensures that the book’s message speaks to a global audience and could serve as inspiration, if not a framework, for information professionals trying to evaluate the challenges of intersectionality in diverse contexts worldwide. the opinionated language used by the book can also help information professionals navigate topical or sensitive subjects about discrimination or inequality faced by patrons of their institutions. if not stated directly, a consistent argument is felt that lam cannot and should not exist in a cultural vacuum to serve its patrons. by nature of the patron-to-library symbiotic relationship, lam institutions must participate in services that encourage citizen participation in civic life. some authors even go as far as to call lam social justice institutions because of their inherent connection to community outreach and the sociopolitical repercussions that this connection espouses. even if readers do not identify their institution (that they are affiliated with professionally or socially) with such a label, handbook is an excellent way to become engaged with the topic and navigate more difficult discussions on how information can inform their professional identity and practice with not just the subject itself, but the world at large. taher’s handbook of research on the role of libraries, archives, and museums in achieving civic engagement and social justice in smart cities is an accessible read that covers a vast amount of ground on the intersecting topics of community engagement, digital literacy, and social justice in lam. taher has edited a book that is an excellent choice for lam professionals and those interested in how public cultural institutions shape the development of the cities where they thrive. taher’s handbook is highly relevant to the post-covid-19 world, as the examples illustrated throughout the work show that our differences connect us more than divide us. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39282 handbook of research the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39282 4 references asher, c. (2011). the progressive past: how history can help us serve generation 1.5. reference and user services quarterly, 51(1), 43–48. https://doi.org/10.5860/rusq.51n1.43 germain, c. a. (2006). inreach: the inside step to outreach. public services quarterly, 2(2-3), 221-227. https://doi.org/10.1300/j295v02n02_15 lankes, r. d. (2011). the atlas of new librarianship. the mit press. fiona collins (fecollins27@gmail.com) is a curatorial assistant of asian art at the worcester art museum, worcester, massachusetts, usa. she earned a b.f.a. in the history of art and design from pratt institute, new york, usa, and an m.a. with distinction in east asian languages and cultures from the school of oriental and african studies (soas), university of london, england. collins has a professional background in material culture preservation; her research interests include premodern japanese design and material culture studies. her most recent projects have focused on the canonical prioritization of art in art historical institutions based on western collecting practices. fiona is based out of providence, rhode island, usa. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39282 https://doi.org/10.5860/rusq.51n1.43 https://doi.org/10.1300/j295v02n02_15 mailto:fecollins27@gmail.com self-breeding fake news: bots and artificial intelligence perpetuate social polarization in india’s conflict zones the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news: bots and artificial intelligence perpetuate social polarization in india’s conflict zones p. r. biju, government brennen college, india o. gayathri, government college madappally, india abstract studies have found that artificial intelligence (ai) bots and cookies automate fake news in zones of social conflict such as race, religion, gender, and class. in this background, this paper investigates whether fake news is automated with the social structure unique to india. the research collected campaigning activities of political parties and politicians on the internet but was limited to a select number of facebook profiles, websites, hashtags, and twitter profiles during india’s 2014 and 2019 general elections. politicians and political parties on twitter, facebook and other websites formed the contact points where empirical data were collected in the research design. by reviewing hashtags such as #nationwantsrammandir; #naamvaapsi; #rammandir; #antinationals; #caste; and #hindutva, as well as fake social media accounts; discussion forums; and profiles of followers of politicians, the paper corroborated that bots, ai, and trolls serve fake news in the conflict zones of india and some forces are using it to perpetuate social divisions based on caste, class, religion, gender, and region. this paper argues that automated social media accounts spread false information that likely polarizes social conflicts in india. keywords: artificial intelligence; bots; fake news; self-breeding; social polarization publication type: research article introduction ccess to truthful information and citizens' faculty to discuss matters of public concern with fellow citizens is an integral part of a democratic polity. in india, even though access to information and news has improved significantly recently, there is widespread concern about the quality of online news (aneez et al., 2019). social media manipulation is one potential source of the deterioration of online news quality and political discourse. the role of social media and fake news in polarizing india on a communal line is already testified (rajgarhia, 2020). manipulating online news is motivated by making money, spreading ideologies, and gaining status. various tactics, such as forged documents, viral slogans, doctored photos, and so on, are deployed to achieve those objectives (buchanan, 2020). however, a critical force of fake news is technological feasibility, which is least understood in the broad frameworks (al-rawi & shukla, 2020; kertysova, 2018). this paper analyzes fake news in india and the role of bots, artificial intelligence (ai), and cookies in automating fake news. the paper identifies automation of disseminating fake news on the internet with a specific mechanism called self-breeding. the term used in the paper has two implications. first, it refers to the purposeful attempt to diffuse falsehood over a broad spectrum a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news 2 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 of the undecided public who consume information without validating the merit of the content. the second implication of the term is that it is the conscious attempt to spread unverified information by default using automata. this term involves a predetermined sequence of operations, which according to this paper, are performed by bots, cookies, and ai. literature review amid accusations that fake news was used in the 2016 u.s. presidential campaign, donald trump was elected president (bovet & makse, 2019). russian bots in americans' facebook and twitter profiles, which spread biased news, were confirmed by an inquiry commission (s. rep. 116-290, 2020). this issue was widely reported in world media; for example, the new york times titled the phenomenon “the fake americans russia created to influence the election” (scott, 2017). the same phenomenon was reported during the brexit campaign in the u.k. eurosceptic twitter users outnumbered and out-tweeted pro-europeans in the eu referendum campaign. research papers confirmed this (bastos & mercea, 2019). social media's contribution to political misperceptions was frequent in the u.s. presidential elections (garret, 2019; guess, nyhan, & reifler, 2020). the selective sharing of information that exaggerates politicians has become a commonplace strategy for political campaigning (arceneaux & johnson, 2013). on social mediabased political advertisements, politicians disseminate false information about their own and opponents’ activities to attract an audience that may not have otherwise paid attention. also, these politicians distribute misleading information about themselves. in this case, they exaggerate their behavior, making insignificant actions known to the public, and put excessive importance on their social roles, sufficient to deceive average citizens. there still needs to be a consensus on fake news in the literature. one survey of fake news literature argued that there is a typology of fake news: satire, news parody, fabrication, manipulation, advertising, and propaganda (tandoc et al., 2018). several studies similarly categorized fake news (mulroy, 2019; rubin et al., 2015; verstraete et al., 2021; wardle, 2017; watson, 2018; weiss et al., 2020). fake news can be totally or partially false (allcott & gentzkow, 2017; gelfert, 2018; kalsnes, 2018; potthast et al., 2017; recuero & gruzd, 2019; rini, 2017; tandoc et al., 2018). it may follow the media agenda and tries to distort and manipulate the truth (canavilhas et al., 2019; rini, 2017;). here the point is that fakeness depends on the intent of the creator. most authors consider fake news to be content that was created with the intent to mislead (allcott & gentzkow, 2017; gelfert, 2018; lazer et al., 2018; meneses, 2018; nielsen & graves, 2017; rini, 2017; shu et al., 2017; tandoc et al., 2018). the word "fake" gives a clue to the idea that there is an element of intention to deceive news consumers. fake is associated with imitating the real (fallis & mathiesen, 2019; gelfert, 2018). fake news seeks legitimacy by imitating the real to manipulate the news consumer (blokhin & ilchenko, 2015; lazer et al., 2018; levy, 2017). the goal of fake news on social media is to go viral (calvert et al., 2018; meneses, 2018; rini, 2017; silverman, 2016). on the other hand, there is an element of massive reach in a short time; hence, trolling is a tool. trolling and targeted dissemination of information contained in the form of fake news has transformed the internet. caste, religion, language, region, class, and other divisive factors contribute enormously to trolling (biju, 2019). in the book shame and internet trolling, george caspar (2014) documented the internet's use for hate trolls. in the book the fine art of internet troll slaying, author tobor eichmann (2016) deals with the subject and https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news 3 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 discusses how to manage and overcome the effect of internet trolling. this literature pinpoints that trolling comes out of hate, and the internet is now a new weapon for spreading unverified hate-filled materials. the idea that there is a neutral intention in fake news can also be disputed. the creator’s intention may be only financial, even if unintentionally, eyeing advertising revenue from online clicks. for example, fallis and mathiesen (2019) illustrate an example of young people who may unintentionally publish a fake story with the motivation to go viral. however, the outcome is that the teens generate money via clicks. previous studies have approached the problem from different angles. some writers treat creator intentionality as an attempt to mislead readers, while others consider creators’ content with pointed financial and ideological motivations (allcott & gentzkow, 2017). the coexistence of many possible meanings acquired by the term ‘fake news’ causes several authors to contest the use of the expression. one argument is that journalists and scholars misuse the terminology. depending on various contexts, ‘fake news’ does not have a stable meaning. it serves as propaganda that can jeopardize democracy (habgood-coote, 2019). the european commission's report prefers ‘disinformation’ (directorate-general for communication networks, content and technology, 2018). ‘disinformation’ covers a broader spectrum of fraudulent content, with a deliberate intent to mislead on various platforms (ireton & posetti, 2018). hence, this research prefers to describe fake news instead of defining it. we understand fake news as online disinformation that can be totally or partially forged content, often created intentionally. the purpose of its creation is to deceive or manipulate a specific audience. fake news has a specific format. this format imitates a news article or report to acquire credibility. it has an opportunistic structure, such as title, image, and content. the structure of the content attracts consumers of news. fake news can persuade consumers to believe in falsehoods to engage users in the content for articles to obtain and shares. therefore, in the end, the reward for fake news is higher advertising revenue, ideological gain, or both. considering these descriptions, there are intentions, actors, and motives in creating fake news. the typical attributes of fake news are that it spreads fast, is doctored, is incorrect, is sensational, is intentional, is unverified, and goes viral. regarding india's cultural context, these specifications differ from how fake news and disinformation may be perceived in the west. some research has begun to enter the scholarly discourse from an indian perspective. the works of gautam adhikari, the historian; ramachandra guha, the television anchor; and sagarika ghose (overdorf, 2012) are the best starting points to investigate this connection in the indian context (adhikari, 2011; guha, 2013). guha (2013) identified five distinct types of hate emails illustrative of the homo indicus hindutvawadi—a term used by guha in the book. the use of the internet for promoting hindutva has been documented in the book the virtual hindu rashtra by rohit chopra (2019). swati chaturvedi (2016), a journalist in india, investigated the nexus between social media and right-wing trolls in the book i am a troll: inside the secret world of the bjp's digital army. scientific testing of the correlation between fake news and social media is in vogue. some works (flaxman et al., 2016; shmargad & klar, 2019) attest to how different organizations and political actors gain visibility by deploying partisan information in india through polemical works (ganguly & dwivedi, 2019; jha, 2019; sharma, 2019). some literature in india that combines right-wing ideology with populism argues that diverse political players are gaining a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news 4 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 competitive advantage in the public domain by utilizing populist techniques in which largely rhetorical unedited information reaches a larger audience. instead of educating people with facts and logic, such right-wing literature and ideas rely heavily on rhetorical strategies that appeal to people's emotions and convictions. specifically, the use of the internet by right-wing political players to disseminate irrational ideas and rumors to organize a support base in india's cultural spheres increases their widespread acceptance. their preferred method of persuasion is thus the use of polemical works devoid of facts and science. other scientific documentations also posit that actors on the broad political spectrum are using the internet for partisan messaging, misinforming the public, distorting history, appealing to caste identity, and polluting news spaces on the internet to their advantage (chopra, 2019; guha, 2013; overdorf, 2012; revati, 2018; rushdie, 2013). in their survey about the spread of misinformation during elections, social media matters and the institute for governance, policies and politics (igpp) stated that one in two indians received fake news on facebook and whatsapp before the general elections (pti, 2019). more academic discussions of these issues and popular accounts about the internet's role in fostering social divisions are needed. research about the information universe and people's electoral decisions was minimally affected by media that primarily reinforces existing predispositions (lazarsfeld et al., 1944). more recent research strongly implies that newspapers and cable news outlets can change people's voting behaviour (dellavigna & kaplan, 2007; martin & yurukoglu, 2017; thaler & sunstein, 2009). small changes could disproportionately affect habits of information consumption that will have negative impacts. partisan information sharing has already attained more comprehensive scholarship (bozdag & van den hoven, 2015; jacobson et al., 2016; kitchens et al., 2020). previous writings on this method of social media broadcasting proposed the filter bubble effect (or echo-chamber effect), where people see the information they would like to see by default (flaxman et al., 2016). however, the reach of this scholarship in india needs to be advanced. this paper is a contribution to that discourse. it is also necessary to contextualize fake news with automation or robots that perpetuate fake news. fake news does not match editorial criteria and journalistic practices, regardless of the producer's intent (michaelson et al., 2019). to this end, newspapers embed bots in their online articles to protect the integrity of their brand. many types of malware infect end-user devices, enlisting them into a botnet. the device infects online communities with a command and control (c&c) center and performs automated activities under the c&c. studies on the interplay between ai and fake news are abundant, which substantiates the fact that ai-driven solutions can spread false information without human intervention (kertysova, 2018; nazar & bustam, 2020; woolley, 2020). bots are a short form for software robots, which indicates software programmes, including automated scripts and autonomous agents that perform actions according to pre-defined conditions (farooq & grudin, 2016; lebeuf et al., 2017). bots can perform the task they are given by their creators via a pre-written logic. bots bridge the gap between human actors and the automation of actions (van tonder & le goues, 2019). on the other hand, international literature processes directives and instructions to deal with ai-driven disinformation (villasenor, 2020). scientific works on automated detection and its various dimensions are in vogue (conroy et al., 2015; marsden & meyer, 2019). the biases in ai solutions that detect and counter fake news are also finding scholarly attention (lee et al., 2019). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news 5 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 this study identifies bots that play a vital role in messages that function in conflict zones unique to india. previous studies establish a synergy between untruth and bots or automated social media accounts (aldayel & magdy. 2022). social media bots can be used for several purposes that can create conflicts. bots help enlarge a person's popularity, event, or movement and can influence the outcome of even democratic elections (allcott & gentzkow, 2017). social media bots are automated programmes used to engage in social media with individual users on a massive scale. they behave autonomously, independent of a human actor and are primarily used in unfair and despicable ways. many social media bots do not communicate using language at all. they perform interactions such as “following” and “likes.” a single person can manage several bots. the literature review found that several international studies have widely defined and described fake news. the role of the internet in spreading disinformation has been found in several scientific studies worldwide. the literature on automation of dissemination or disinformation also attained scholarly inquiries internationally. however, the literature survey finds a gap in the literature regarding two critical points from an indian perspective. first, there needs to be more literature about fake news and conflict zones in india. the second is that the automation of fake news perpetuates conflict zones in india. within the background of the literature above, there are gaps about the automated social media accounts spreading false information that likely polarizes social conflicts in india. the present research tries to shed new insights. research hypotheses in india's zones of social conflicts, unidentifiable entities are leveraging fake news to perpetuate social divides such as caste, gender, class, religion, language, and regional variations. even though these groups operate in secret, it is possible to identify them by recognizing patterns in their operational dynamics. there are parallels between false news and india's conflict zones, which certain sections attempt to use for their selfish advantage. the operational dynamics of fake news dissemination suggest that social media is the landscape of disinformation. in india, some of these falsehoods originate from automated social media accounts. they are a form of social bots that contribute to the nation's increasing social polarization regarding race, caste, gender, and other social structural factors. methodology we collected political campaigning activities of political parties and politicians who maintain a social media presence. the field of study was limited to a select number of facebook profiles, websites, hashtags, and twitter profiles during india’s 2014 and 2019 general elections. twelve politicians and four political parties on twitter, the websites of four politicians and political parties, and three politicians and four political parties on facebook formed the contact points in our research design, where we collected empirical data. we analyzed profiles and their traffic in trackalytics.com to discover metrics on followers, followings, tweets, likes, and comments. we also triangulated the data from trackalytics against our random observation of activities, such as the number of posts, followers, likes, and most discussed topics. fake social media accounts were collected from politicians’ and political parties' profiles. these were scrutinized to reference them with viral hashtags such as #nationwantsrammandir, #naamvaapsi, #rammandir, #antinationals, #caste, and #hindutva. this approach presumed that bots were active promoters of false political information. the followers of politicians and political parties were observed to find fake social media profiles, which we define as social media https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news 6 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 accounts with no profile picture, activities and engagements, no followers, and primarily inactive1 . the activities were reviewed to explore how bots, cookies, and ai disseminated false content. this methodology presumed that bot activities were closely affiliated with fake profiles representing similar profiles across social media platforms. hashtags were examined concerning the conflict zones of india, such as #religion, #caste, and #gender. a content analysis of hashtags was organized to evaluate the nature of engagements and the type of information shared through hashtags. equal attention was furnished to examine the affiliation of inactive, fake profiles with hashtags. data this paper investigated two core themes: one, fake news finds synergy with conflict zones in india, in which some forces are using it to perpetuate divisions such as caste, gender, class, language, and regional differences in india, thereby trying to gain political fortunes. two, ai and bots are used to automate the dissemination of fake news, perpetuating social conflicts due to the social structure in india. the study's data points are evidenced in the social media profiles of select politicians and political parties. the data comes from a survey of facebook, twitter, websites, blogs, and hashtags of politicians and political parties. the data pertains to two general election periods: 2014 and 2019. table 1, table 2, and table 3 represent the study’s inquiry fields. the tables are empirical data sources where the study discovered bot activity perpetuating social conflicts. table 1. politicians on twitter sl no politicians followers in million by october 2021 political parties followers in million by october 2021 1 shashi tharoor 8.1 aam aadmi party 5.7 2 aravind kejriwal 23.2 bjp 16.7 3 nirmala sitharaman 4.4 congress 8.4 4 smriti irani 11.8 samajwadi party 2.6 5 rajnath singh 20.7 6 narendra modi 71.9 7 sambit patra 5.1 8 piyush goyal 10.4 9 amit shah 27 10 akhilesh yadav 14.83 11 mayawati 2.1 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news 7 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 12 lalu prasad yadav 5.9 table 1 shows the empirical sources of data for the study. here, the presence of bots that multiply the online visibility of political actors has been investigated. these bots also disseminate materials that bring the concerned actor a favourable position in electoral visibility. twitter profiles of 12 politicians and four leading political parties were investigated, with data collection extending to october 2021. the selection of the twelve politicians and four leading political parties is random because they need not be based on prefixed criteria, which may result in bias. we found some interesting evidence of bot activity in the twitter profiles surveyed. a twitter profile @maryam89837825, which follows prime minister narendra modi, has yet to upload profile pictures, acquire followers, or post tweets. there are plenty like this; for instance, @gn3366, @sunilsabal13, @mechmagic2, and @abhishe36556828 do not have a profile picture, followers, or tweets that were recently created, yet they seem to increase the followers of the prime minister. however, there is more to this story, as scrolling down gives the clear impression that these profiles, which are probably fake, operate as a bridge, as a facilitator, and as a potential reservoir of something hidden in the architecture of the communication possibilities of the internet. how do bots operate? bots are social media accounts that self-operate, send messages, and predict and suggest links and information. this is done through cookies and ai, which are embedded in the programming software of the bots. the fan followings on the social media profiles of political parties are apparent indications of bot activity. the connection between social media bots and the propagation of misinformation has not yet been empirically established. after examining the political actors indicated in table 1, the analysis verifies the likelihood that bots operate in fake news. typically, bots are divided into sub-classes. we only discuss one portion. for instance, news polluters are likely a subclass. content polluters are one subclass that diffuses malware and unsolicited content. others employ an algorithm that generates material automatically and interacts with humans on social media. the inactive social media profiles devoid of images and content are likely social bots that work in the social media environment to disseminate false information for the benefit of political players. the same pattern can be traced here, too. similar to inactive profiles following politicians, inactive profiles following political parties tend to exhibit the same pattern. for instance, the twitter handles @leo36798 following the congress profile, @modiiiiii7 following the bjp profile, and @amit69394171 following the aam aadmi party profile have neither profile images nor tweets. moreover, our analysis confirmed that these profiles were created in october 2021, and the relatively recent origins of these accounts indicate strong bot operation. websites operate as a one-stop solution for fan followers where access to all the social media profiles and other sources of information about the party, leaders, and so on are found, which caters to a vast audience. table 2 represents the websites of four politicians and five political parties. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news 8 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 table 2. politicians and political parties with websites politicians website political parties website 1 2 narendra modi <narendramodi.in> congress <aicc.org.in> omar abdullah <omarabdullah.com> bhartiya janata party <bjp.org> nitish kumar <cm.bih.nic.in/> samajwadi party <samajwadiparty.in> mamatha banerjee <wbcmo.gov.in/contact.aspx> bahujan samaj party <bspindia.org> aam aadmi party <aamaadmiparty.org> these websites act as one-stop solutions to almost all the social media profiles of the actors we have studied. indeed, they function as a vast repository of information dissemination. reading the websites and their pattern of information dissemination confirms that the users attracted to these sites come with complex information interests and needs. they are platforms representing the new phase of the information landscape shaping civic discourse in india. the story of facebook is about more than just fans connecting with their favourite leaders. table 3 represents the facebook profiles of politicians and political parties selected based on the highest visibility and fan following. table 3. politicians and political parties on facebook by october 2021 politicians followers in millions political parties followers in millions narendra modi 46 bjp 16 aravind kejriwal 8.8 aam aadmi party (aap) 5 shashi tharoor 1.5 congress 5 all india trinamool congress 1.3 as seen in table 3, each politician profile represents differing strands of political ideology along the political spectrum and political party. we incorporated trinamool congress because, in recent years, the party has single-handedly raised a solid alternative to the dominance of the bjp in national politics. thus, trinamool congress’ social media presence and the subsequent proclivity of its online followers to spread fake and partisan information needed to be placed in the discussion. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 http://cm.bih.nic.in/ http://www.samajwadiparty.in/ http://wbcmo.gov.in/contact.aspx self-breeding fake news 9 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 table 4. politicians and political parties on youtube sl no politicians followers in million by october 2021 political parties followers in million by october 2021 1 narendra modi 14.2 bjp 4.61 2 rahul gandhi 1.6 congress 2.95 3 aravind kejriwal 478k aap 4.48 after joining youtube on october 26, 2007, narendra modi, the leader of the bjp, gained 14.2 million followers, the largest following compared to other players listed in table 4. to date, congress has 2.95 million followers on youtube, a couple of thousand followers on instagram, and a few thousand on linkedin. the bjp as an organization has 4.61 million followers, and aap has 4.48 million followers on youtube. bjp had an active social media strategy and a “mission 272+”2 strategy on leading platforms like facebook and twitter in the 2014 general election. aam aadmi party developed a social media policy like a thunderclap strategy while maintaining district and state-wide social media profiles. on facebook, we found that pages thesanatanadharmis (sanathana, n.d.) and antireservationindia (anti reservation movement, n.d.) cater to particular audiences interested in conservative politics. these pages prove whether fake news reinforces divisions such as caste, gender, class, language, and regional differences in india. the audience of these profile pages is extensively connected to the social media profiles listed in tables 1, 2, and 3. table 5 presents a random sample of phony twitter handles found following the profiles of politicians and political parties listed in table 1, as well as twitter handles and hashtags that aggressively spread malicious content. these profiles and hashtags were selected after intense scrutiny of the profiles listed in tables 1, 2, 3 and 4. table 5. survey of hashtags and profiles where bot activity is likely strong twitter profiles surveyed hashtag 1 2 3 fake twitter profiles twitter profiles where fake profiles with a militant nature are active activity strong @imsumit99, @internet_hindus, @damru, @68e11543967046d, @atulkumarawasth, @as_465, @swamybhakt, @68e11543967046d, @vhskerala, @vhs_karnataka, @vhsindia, @harishmohamed58, @psjangin, @tiwariumeshlkw, @yogeshjangid592, @imaakhyan, @nimi2biju, @mukeskk, #rammandir, #removemughalhistory, #gaumata, #prayagraj, #ayodhya, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 https://www.facebook.com/thesanatanadharmis https://www.facebook.com/antireservationindia https://twitter.com/imsumit99 https://twitter.com/68e11543967046d https://twitter.com/atulkumarawasth https://twitter.com/as_465 https://twitter.com/68e11543967046d https://twitter.com/harishmohamed58 https://twitter.com/psjangin https://twitter.com/tiwariumeshlkw https://twitter.com/yogeshjangid592 https://twitter.com/imaakhyan https://twitter.com/nimi2biju https://twitter.com/mukeskk self-breeding fake news 10 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 @pbhavit, @rameshk43308659, @valaramkalbi981, @prakash9696p, @ganesh47224, @laxminarayan793, @ashutosh6485, @sunnytyagi545, @hindudharma1, @sagenaradramuni, @bhaskarg77g @atulkumarawasth, @avinashchoubey, @prakash9696p, @ganesh47224, @valaramkalbi981 #hindutva, #hindunationrow, #nationwantsrammandir, #naamvaapsi, #rammandir, #antinationals, #tajmahal, #tejomahalya bots are types of software that automate interactions across social networking sites. on twitter, the profiles we tested in column one in table 4 indicate that fake profiles with no profile picture and followers are intentional with a hidden purpose. the profiles we discovered are fake news sources in political communication. when one politician posts a particular message, it goes to a target audience networked through these kinds of profiles. there are blogs and facebook pages that talk to a conservative audience. the information disseminated through these blogs needs to be more scientific; instead, they are opinionated and partisan, which gets high treatment, appreciation, and acceptance among a vast audience (see table 6). table 6. blogs and facebook pages speaking to conservative audiences facebook page blogging site 1 2 thesanatanadharmis, antireservationindia indiannationalisticpost.blogspot.in, hinduonline.blogspot.in, varnam.nationalinterest.in, opindia.com, hindujagruti.org posting and sharing about divisive nationalistic sentiments have more takers; facebook pages are proof (see column one in table 6). hashtags subjected to rigorous digital, ethnographic scrutiny give insight into increasing attempts to discredit nationalist leaders and stalwarts of the freedom movement, and polarizing society along communal lines has become commonplace (see column three in table 4). after scrutinizing twitter profiles, it was evident that political opponents presented as inefficient and corrupt were more fashionable (see table 7). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 https://twitter.com/pbhavit https://twitter.com/rameshk43308659 https://twitter.com/valaramkalbi981 https://twitter.com/prakash9696p https://twitter.com/ganesh47224 https://twitter.com/laxminarayan793 https://twitter.com/ashutosh6485 https://twitter.com/sunnytyagi545 https://twitter.com/atulkumarawasth https://twitter.com/prakash9696p https://twitter.com/ganesh47224 https://twitter.com/valaramkalbi981 https://www.facebook.com/thesanatanadharmis https://www.facebook.com/antireservationindia http://indiannationalisticpost.blogspot.in/ http://hinduonline.blogspot.in/ http://varnam.nationalinterest.in/ self-breeding fake news 11 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 table 7. twitter profiles twitter profiles hashtags distorting history 1 2 @pbhavit, @rameshk43308659, @valaramkalbi981, @prakash9696p, @ganesh47224, @laxminarayan793, @ashutosh6485 #nationwantsrammandir, #naamvaapsi, #rammandir, #antinationals, #tajmahal, #tejomahalya there were scenarios in cases like @prakash9696p, @ganesh47224, and @laxminarayan793 in which profiles aggressively shared and promoted caste-related news (see column one in table 5). we found these profiles by closely observing the personal websites of politicians and political parties (see table 3). these websites were found to be single-handed solutions to gather all the social media profiles in one place. well-organized cyber armies created and shared hashtags (see column two in table 7). the content goes to the fan following, who share the same content with their extended networks. in this vein, the cyber armies are inscribing their perspectives on the head of the audience. we undertook a keyword search on facebook with the hashtag #nationwantsrammandir, leading us to a whopping list of profiles, public facebook forums, and discussions about ram mandir, a disputed site in india that is sacred to both hindus and muslims. some profiles tagged with the hashtag above are listed in table 8. table 8. profiles tagged with #nationwantsrammandir pages followers personal profiles followers @resurgingdharma 32826 shivangi kharwal (facebook.com/shivangiabvp1) 17157 @pratapgarhdevelopment 223862 r j kiran (facebook.com/kiranmai.rj/) 80543 @bhagwanshriganesh 14720 niladri bose (facebook.com/niladribose2015) 5232 @swayamsevaks 23944 vishal sharma (facebook.com/vishalsahotas) 1270 these fan pages and profiles aggressively follow hindutva right-wing ideologies and disseminate information. however, the authenticity of the shared news is not their priority; instead, strong faith in the leader, ideology, and right-wing causes defined their activities (see table 8). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 https://twitter.com/pbhavit https://twitter.com/rameshk43308659 https://twitter.com/valaramkalbi981 https://twitter.com/prakash9696p https://twitter.com/ganesh47224 https://twitter.com/laxminarayan793 https://twitter.com/ashutosh6485 https://twitter.com/prakash9696p https://twitter.com/ganesh47224 https://twitter.com/laxminarayan793 self-breeding fake news 12 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 consider the profile description of a twitter user we have studied in the digital ethnography, @avinashchoubey, on 12 june 2014. the description showed that “it professional. honorable pm shri modiji follows me. blocked by anti modi folkssushma, rajdeep, sagarika, farhan, mahindra, javed akhtar, etc.” (avinash choubey, n.d.). this profile is an example of partisan political communication. the user describes that the anti-modi faction blocked them, so they may not see competing perspectives online. our survey on twitter profiles like @hindudharma1, @sagenaradramuni, and @bhaskarg77g has found that aggressive partisan information sharing is most sought after (see column one in table 4). twitter activities, facebook posts, and streaming videos appear in parochial and subjective political culture. caste splinter groups, communal factions, lobby blocs, militants, and hate mongers take up their partisan dialogue colonies. results this paper investigated how automation of fake news through social bots operates in the conflict zones in india and validates the second proposition stated in our hypotheses. the following propositions are derived from the data. a 2017 estimate suggested that 23 million bots operate on twitter, whereas 140 million bots are on facebook and 27 million bots are on instagram (de lima salge & berente, 2017). humans need not tell bots what to do. they simulate the behaviour of human beings in a social media environment. they interact with other users and share information and messages (morstatter et al., 2016). on social media, bots are capable of several social interactions. these make them appear to be regular human-like people. they respond to postings. they respond to questions from other users. they can search for influential users on a particular social media platform. for instance, bots look for twitter and facebook users with many followers. the survey found fake profiles on the profiles listed in the data set (see table 6). the majority of them were created recently, and the same pattern can be found in the social media accounts of the politicians surveyed. notice that if rahul gandhi, a bot, has many followers, it can send that news to the followers’ news feeds that might interest them. it can even send false information to the news feeds that the followers may like. that also means bots need not verify the news shared to the timelines or news feeds. bots can contact influential social media platforms by sending them questions to get noticed and generate trust. when other twitter and facebook users see the exchanges taking place, the same bots also gather trust. bots generate debate by posting messages about trending topics (ferrara et al., 2016). due to the ai capabilities attached, social bots can spread fake news. they can search and retrieve information that has not been validated on social media. on social media sites, bots post continuously to newsfeeds. they spread unverified information using trending topics and hashtags (see column three in table 4). these are the main strategies to reach a broader audience; they can often perpetuate fake news in terrifying proportions. this study found that social bots spread fake news in two possible ways. first, bots keep telling fake news that is trending on the internet; however, they never testify to the facts of the news. bots provide users with that information because it might interest them. since bots know certain news that one might like, they want to let them know. second, bots use the same pieces of false information to reply to the postings of real social media users. they use false news to respond to comments and postings. the algorithms upon which bots function assume they are the correct information because the news is trending as per the assumption of their algorithm. that also https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news 13 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 means bots cannot distinguish between what is false or true as a human brain can do. after all, falsehood is a subjective issue. the tactics bots use can work because average social media users believe what they see being shared by others on facebook and twitter and through trending hashtags. here, a user is expected to scrutinize the veracity of user-profiles and the information sources that disseminate information more closely (extremist content and russian disinformation online, 2017). bots could be more efficient at deciding what is original and false. they could be smarter. however, humans are intelligent, albeit emotional. thus, it is worth factoring emotions into the role of real people in spreading fake news. bots may exist even in the future. however, most of the time, the spread of fake news results from human behaviours. artificial intelligence and people's sensitivity bots learn how people use social media sites, how often they visit a particular website, and which pattern of information people like the most. how bots spread fake news depends on how people behave on social media (vosoughi et al., 2018). therefore, it is the behaviour that bots learn which is the critical factor pushing fake news. human behaviour on social media sites approves a particular message to go into other users' news feeds. if a facebook post receives more likes on social media irrespective of the content, people are more likely to form their viewpoints upon seeing the content. the more likes people give to video content on youtube, the more youtube videos of the same nature people will see (walther & jang, 2012). the more agreement on a blog post discussion, the more likely it is to influence one's perspective (see table 5). hashtags fill news feeds with the same content one wants to see while preventing the same users from receiving opposing or alternative views or news. a user’s comment can influence others’ thoughts about the topic. this analogy works in the fake news environment. the more people see and agree with a fake piece of news; the more one would consider it true (walther et al., 2018). popularity indicators tend to disseminate more fake news among ordinary people. posts with more likes, comments, and shares attract more attention from the online audience. therefore, these popularity indexes are more likely to will attract more people to news and get more likes, shares, and comments (tandoc et al., 2018). people are likelier to share false than accurate information (vosoughi et al., 2018). humans like novelty, and they like to share it with others. false information is always novel. this is evident in columns one and two in table 5, illustrating how fake profiles operate and filter false information to a broader audience. the information conveyed through "clickbait" and rumours have novelty. it gets people's attention, and they spread it to as many other people as possible. emotions profoundly affect the dissemination of fake news on social media. this is evident in column two in table 7, which illustrates how hashtags that contain distorted historical information have a huge fan following and viewership. seeing genuine news produces mixed feelings. seeing fake news produces feelings of anxiety and shock. these emotions and feelings are essential when sharing something on social media. political news is one of many areas that draws emotions from social media users. fake news related to caste, science, ghost stories, minorities, inter-faith marriage, coronavirus, and love jihad finds an audience (lohr, 2018). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news 14 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 analytics and cookies social media analytics helps political actors sustain fake news. websites, facebook pages, and blogs that contain false information target their audience (see table 6). analytics enable them to ensure that what they send is what people are more than likely looking for (emplifi, n.d.). analytics gives the audience profile; it can then help send messages that convince each individual. political actors leverage the possibilities offered by cookies to create an audience where their messages get a liking. cookies on a computer or mobile system track users’ actions on the internet. they track all the websites one has visited. cookies, once agreed to be saved, even store cookies from websites that the users have not logged on to, which are called thirdparty cookies. this creates a problem. these cookies saved from websites someone has never visited report that the browser has visited them. that also means some third parties have collected data about people without permission. these are called tracking cookies, or trackers for short, and they lead to a big question: who would be so interested in tracking your movements on the internet? the answer is straightforward. it is everyone. we are living in the age of data capitalism. those possessing data about you control you. this is a gateway to an attention economy. trackers are deployed by certain firms that collect and then analyze users’ behaviours on websites to personalize ads. take the case of facebook. many web platforms embed facebook's like button on their website. why? facebook has a data-sharing arrangement with other websites. both share details about your habits, attitudes, preferences, interests, and dislikes through this data-sharing arrangement. every time you visit a website, it reports to facebook that you have visited them. this happens even if you do not press the like button on your visited website. it also happens whether or not you log into facebook. whether you are a facebook user or have a facebook account does not matter. what is the advantage for the owners of the website? the particular website can have a wider audience. the website can also look at reports from facebook about who visited its website (nield, 2017). furthermore, it can arrange deals with facebook to show user newsfeed ads. facebook, google, and other prominent data platforms provide trackers to analyze the websites users have visited. they profile what users do while on websites. they gather information about what other pages were opened, what was clicked on, and how much time was spent there. they can analyze it by running scripts on users’ web browsers. users may not even be aware of it (tiku, 2017). the website’s users visit, and their actions on those websites give valuable information about them to social media analytics firms. this information is used to calculate models to predict buying behaviour. the firms that collect these personality profiles sell their products through micro-targeting. they select and deliver the advertisements users will most likely react to positively. many are often unaware that facebook sells ads to companies to sell products like the ones users looked at on other websites. many users are often unaware that google and other data giants have data-sharing agreements with websites through which they show you ads to sell products. have you ever looked at shoes on a shoe-selling website, cars on a car-selling website, or clothes on a fashion website and then the next time you were on youtube, google, or facebook, there were ads for shoes, cars, or clothes? that is how the cookie works. some people do not mind that their data is used to show them ads for products they like and to make these ads look more appealing to them. however, some people object to the practice. one concern is the data’s purpose. not everyone is in the business of approving cookies and tracking https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news 15 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 internet service providers (isps) for promoting household or harmless products. some media analytics firms do not want to sell you a product like a car, a smartphone, or a book. what if some firms analyze your data to convince you to vote for a political candidate? what if a company specializing in analyzing data about you engages in impression management? what if an organization specializes in analyzing data to indoctrinate people ideologically and selectively shares news to your news feeds on facebook and twitter? these scenarios are not hypothetical situations. some firms specialize in "pushing your buttons" to persuade users to vote for one candidate or political party or another based on socio-political issues (howard, 2020). some firms specialize in creating perspectives (woolley & howard, 2018). these firms can let users see candidates' positions on issues that algorithms in these firms believe are appealing to them. these firms can make users see fake news stories using the web or social media. these firms can selectively share the news that reinforces users' views. this corporate practice is a dangerous blend of technology and ideology. once users respond to these stories or comment on them, the data about their preferences become even more refined. the media platforms do not decide what to show users. however, they get the profile of users’ preferences and associations. they sell access to everyday citizens to advertisers, and their messages automatically come to consumers using the social media platform (albright, 2016). micro-targeting uses data to show specific messages to those likely to read, like, and share such a post and click on the website where it originated. fake news thrives on these websites, which use cookies to conduct social media analytics. that said, potential actors with a blend of technology and ideology can create an ideological bias in users. the micro-targeting strategy used during the brexit campaign in the u.k. in 2016 and the 2016 u.s. presidential election proved this blend of technology and ideological bias. (grassegger & krogerus, 2016). fake news flourished during these events as cookies on web browsers of social media users showed them selective news, which created a favourable public image for political actors. cambridge analytica and its inventory of user data have profiled social media users for selectively filtering fake news on the social media feeds of voters. (cadwalladr & graham-harrison, 2018). people have raised concerns that ar micro-targeting affected outcomes in both elections. a lot of the micro-targeted messages were fake news. the point is clear that social media analytics combined with fake news websites will destroy civic discourse. it can micro-target groups and people for political and other advantages and reinforce a particular view as the reigning view among ordinary people (albright, 2016). it can thus lead to a situation of confirmation bias in which users love to see only those that they love to see. our brain loves to align with things that conform to our convictions and avoid those that refute them. that means cookies can create a situation called a filter bubble. microtargeting works in a situation of intense social polarization. the data in tables 5, 6 and 7 provide evidence of the role of cookies in sending fake news to a greedy audience. political actors can send cookies to users’ devices and store information about users’ likes and dislikes, thereby indoctrinating users in their favour. trolls trolls perpetuate fake news. it is their primary mechanism to sustain false information. in the context of fake news, they are humans having profiles on social media platforms, mostly fake. attacking a perceived enemy by any means forms their only purpose in cyberspace. they https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news 16 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 generate comments that argue with people. trolls insult and name-call their opponents. targeting public figures to undermine their public visibility, trolls can take drastic measures if they do not like an idea that one holds. constantly harassing people who align with an opposite ideology, trolls negate the spirit of democracy. trolls have no sense of tolerance. they intimidate individuals who post ideas that those behind troll accounts do not like. the data recorded in tables 5, 6, and 7 tracks the vile nature of trolling on the frontlines of conflict zones in india. political trolls operate through social divides. they support and promote fake news stories that they ideologically align with. trolls are often vicious in their comments and get other regular users to be wicked, too, making cruelty and disinformation a normal part of the online experience. that is how trolls turn fake news into truth for ordinary social media users. the russian internet research agency has been supporting trolls for many years. it allegedly produced fake news to manipulate the u.s. election in 2016. people behind trolls have a wellplanned cyber troop. they have agents. they created social media accounts long before the u.s. campaign started. it made their social media profiles look like typical americans. they chose american names. they used photos and descriptions of americans and used their fake family details online. they “liked” things and joined discussion groups. they issued innocuous messages. they made friends and acquired followers in the american social media space, thus gaining trust among a section of voters. finally, they infiltrated the american electoral scenario until the election. then they exposed the real nastiness. they supported fake news. it fostered disbelief in real news and distracted voters from facts. (reuters staff, 2019). this was well documented in the congressional investigations and indictments handed down by robert mueller’s investigation into possible 2016 election improprieties by russia (united states of america v. internet research agency et al., 2018). a summary of russia’s social media influence operations is available in the text of clint watts’s testimony before the senate judiciary committee, subcommittee on crime and terrorism (extremist content and russian disinformation online, 2017). this research found home-grown varieties of trolls in india (see tables 5, 6, and 7). social media campaigns in the general election of 2014 and 2019 are testimonials of this. fake accounts (see table 5), targeted attacks (see table 7), micro-targeting, fake discussions, defaming opponents, and trolls have significantly damaged civic discourse in india. however, less is known about them since what they do is not illegal, and they have not been formally investigated. as per laws in india, one cannot bring discussions and activities akin to hate speech on social media to the attention of law enforcement agencies. therein lies the problem. words used by people on social media and the ideas and emotions they represent are subjective facts. they cannot be quantified to appear as objective to laws. conclusion this research had two core propositions in the research hypotheses: fake news finds synergy with conflict zones of india in which some forces are using it to perpetuate divisions such as caste, gender, class, language, and regional differences, and automated social media accounts are spreading false information that adds to social polarization in india. tables 1, 2, and 3 represented the empirical sources of this proposition, where we found that facebook, twitter, websites, and online platforms serve the campaigning goals of political parties and politicians. we validated that fake news, bots, ai, and cookies find synergy and operate to destroy democracy with dangerous implications. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news 17 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 to answer the study’s second research hypothesis, how social media bots automate fake news in conflict zones, we found that several hashtags that form the constituency of conservative politics often gain visibility. we believe the number of fake profiles identified in this study is an essential indicator of automated accounts' presence and possible influence on social media. interestingly, many inactive social media accounts initially identified in the dataset that sent several tweets and timeline posts did not yield a bot score. the qualitative examination of one of these accounts, which sent several tweets, shows praise for right-wing politicians and spreads unverified information about the god-like image of prime minister narendra modi alongside tall claims that he can fix india’s problems. to understand who these bots primarily reference and mention, we found that they mostly cite content derived from social media, not mainstream media outlets. the hashtags are tagged by measuring their trending status in cyberspace. these bots are followed by personal accounts, citizen journalists, grassroots organizations, and anonymous accounts. the prominence of citing, retweeting, and mentioning social media content shows that the bots amplify news on india’s social divides, thus perpetuating polarization. this research identified hashtags, facebook posts, tweets, and social media accounts that synergized with fake news and conservative politics. the paper verified that fake news and automation of news found synergy with conflict zones in india. politicians share fake news using the opportunities of social bots, which, though not able to distinguish like the human brain, have the potential to identify what is trending and share the same with a broader audience. potential stakeholders use their knowledge of the sophistication of social media technology to their advantage and push their agenda with the help of manipulative technology. this research paper uncovered that bots, ai, and cookies are manipulative technologies that help people achieve gains they would not otherwise achieve. the proposition above is derived from several sources of data. even though some literature on social media bots highlights the controversial and anti-social nature of automated accounts, the findings of this study show that the majority of bots in the mainstay of the digital political communication landscape in india spread the news on caste, religion, and hindutva. technology infrastructure in the information-sharing universe on social media is fluid. therefore, the nebulous character of the information environment makes it more complicated to bring in regulations on each content delivery and reception point. the content requiring more regulation stems not from human actors but is factored by an autonomous delivery system, which this paper identified as self-breeding fake news. recommendations extremists benefit from online forums and escape law enforcers by the cover of subjectivity. they use connected technologies to promote their opinionated ideologies. the internet allows extremists the avenue to access a potentially enormous audience. it facilitates communication among like-minded people across borders and oceans by anonymously and cheaply enhancing their ability to promote and recruit for their extremist causes. only some of what we speak in cyberspace can fall under the purview of laws. outside the internet, our actions may invite legal sanctions, but activities attain a new form on the internet. the space where we engage is a critical point, to begin with. currently, no existing laws in india consider cyberspace as a physical https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 self-breeding fake news 18 the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 space. all laws connect cyberspace with devices and information-carrying mediums. the prevailing laws, even with the most liberal interpretation, could not deal with many crimes reported in light of cyberspace. we do not have a sound legal system to manage fake news in india, which also deals with automated fake news ecosystems. future research is required to investigate automated self-breeding of fake news under the radar of law enforcement agencies. endnotes 1 we have reached the conclusion that profiles are inactive tracking two factors; whether profiles are sharing content, and if they engage with other social media profiles over a period of time. those profiles which test negative are 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(2017). fake news detection on social media: a data mining perspective. acm sigkdd explorations newsletter, 19(1), 22–36. https://doi.org/10.1145/3137597.3137600 silverman, c. (2016, december 30). here are 50 of the biggest fake news hits on facebook from 2016. buzzfeed news. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/top-fake-news-of-2016 tandoc, e. c., jr., lim, z. w., & ling, r. (2018). defining “fake news”: a typology of scholarly definitions. digital journalism, 6(2), 137–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2017.1360143 thaler, r. h., & sunstein c. r. (2009). nudge: improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. penguin. tiku, n. (2017, november 16). the dark side of “replay sessions” that record your every move online. wired. https://www.wired.com/story/the-dark-side-of-replay-sessions-thatrecord-your-every-move-online/ united states of america v. internet research agency llc et al., 2018. https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download united states senate. 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(2018). evaluating health advice in a web 2.0 environment: the impact of multiple user-generated factors on hiv advice perceptions. health communication, 33(1), 57–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2016.1242036 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 https://doi.org/10.1145/3137597.3137600 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/top-fake-news-of-2016 https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2017.1360143 https://www.wired.com/story/the-dark-side-of-replay-sessions-that-record-your-every-move-online/ https://www.wired.com/story/the-dark-side-of-replay-sessions-that-record-your-every-move-online/ https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume2.pdf https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume2.pdf https://doi.org/10.1109/botse.2019.00019 https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3007971 https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3007971 https://www.brookings.edu/research/how-to-deal-with-ai-enabled-disinformation/ https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap9559 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2012.01592.x https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2016.1242036 self-breeding fake news the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 7(1/2), 2023 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 25 wardle, c. (2017). fake news. it’s complicated. first draft news. https://firstdraftnews.org/fake-news-complicated/ watson, c. a. (2018, february 1). digital literacy: detecting fake news in a post-truth era [paper presentation]. continuing legal education presentations, athens, ga, united states. https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1064& context=cle weiss, a. p., ahmed, a., garcia, e. p., & garcia, j. (2020). surveying fake news: assessing university faculty’s fragmented definition of fake news and its impact on teaching critical thinking. international journal for educational integrity, 16(1), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-019-0049-x woolley, s. (2020, january 8). we’re fighting fake news ai bots by using more ai. that’s a mistake. mit technology review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/01/08/130983/ were-fighting-fake-news-aibots-by-using-more-ai-thats-a-mistake/ woolley, s. c., & howard, p. n. (2018). computational propaganda: political parties, politicians, and political manipulation on social media. oxford university press. author bios dr. p. r. biju (bijugayu@gmail.com) is a writer and teacher specializing in digital technology, artificial intelligence, algorithms, and their impact on society. he is the author of political internet (2016), intimate speakers (2017), selfie sex (2018), and slave technology (2019). his upcoming book is about the impacts of artificial intelligence on society. dr. biju currently works at government brennen college, thalassery, india. dr. o. gayathri. (gayubijuspeak@gmail.com) is a researcher and teacher specializing in women, technology, and movement. dr. gayathri currently works at government college madappally, vadakara, india. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i1/2.39409 https://firstdraftnews.org/articles/fake-news-complicated/ https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1064&%20context=cle https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1064&%20context=cle https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-019-0049-x https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/01/08/130983/%20were-fighting-fake-news-ai-bots-by-using-more-ai-thats-a-mistake/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/01/08/130983/%20were-fighting-fake-news-ai-bots-by-using-more-ai-thats-a-mistake/ the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 library services to diverse communities in europe: the case of the roma community in spain carmen agustín-lacruz, university of zaragoza, spain julia saurin-parra, university of zaragoza, spain abstract public libraries have developed standards to provide reading and information services to diverse populations. this has helped the public library to fulfil an informal educational and social role, particularly in engaging traditionally excluded groups, such as the roma minority in spain. however, well-developed library initiatives in spain are scarce; in addition, culturally sensitive services do not thrive, and research and reflection on this reality from the library standpoint are rare. the overarching goal of this article is to provide librarians with suggestions for improved services for the roma community in spain. it is achieved through the critical analysis of public library services to the roma community that currently exist in the european union. based on this analysis, practical suggestions are offered. keywords: european union; library services; public library; roma community; spain publication type: research article introduction s many societies become increasingly multicultural, and as the world around us becomes increasingly globalized and interconnected, public libraries have begun to play a much more essential role in the provision of education, training, information, and cultural opportunities for their communities, serving many diverse users at once. public libraries in many countries are places of connection, participation, knowledge, and communication. they provide free access to reading, help with locating information, and research services. the objective of this article is to analyse the state of library services developed for the roma1 community in spain. this is achieved through the critical analysis of services currently offered to roma community members, which also allows for presenting a series of recommendations for public librarians on how to improve services, collections, programming, and community engagement. the roma community: characteristics and figures the roma are europe’s largest ethnic minority. out of an estimated 10 to 12 million roma living in europe, approximately 6 million are citizens or residents of the eu (european commission, 2020). their history starts between the 9th and 14th century, when different roma groups left north-west india (minority rights group international, 2021). when they arrived in europe, they occupied specific niches within the changing european division of labour (stewart, 2013) a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi library services to diverse communities in europe the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 a biased, stereotypical, and somewhat romanticized image of the roma people, largely fostered by cinematic and literary productions of popular culture, is that of people of "bronze and dream,” in the words of federico garcía lorca:2 free and sensitive people with a passion for music and dance. ostensibly meant as a positive reflection on the roma culture, this image nonetheless reduces this vibrant and complex community, with a rich socio-cultural history, to a collective fictional character. professionals working with roma community members, especially if said professionals are outsiders to the community, should exercise care and diligence in locating reliable research and statistical data when they begin a community study. it is also important to note regional variations in the roma cultural practices, demographic characteristics, and community structures, as roma communities are located in many countries across europe and north america. the roma face marginalization and exclusion all over europe (brüggemann, 2014). discrimination and prejudice have often forced them to live on the margins of society, in dilapidated settlements on the outskirts of cities. as a result, substandard housing conditions, social segregation, overcrowded neighbourhoods, and discrimination in access to private housing are some of the most serious issues with which the community contends (minority rights group international, 2021). similarly, the roma are severely disadvantaged in terms of educational participation (e.g., school attendance), outputs (e.g., school attainment) and outcomes (e.g., employment prospects) (brüggemann, 2014). their school attendance is lower than that of the general population, and their literacy rates are close to 60%. their socio-economic conditions also result in poor health outcomes, which are exacerbated by cultural incongruences, misconceptions, and misunderstandings when roma cultural beliefs and daily practices are factored in (e.g., eating habits, views on the health care system, and coping with birth and death (carrasco-garrido, 2010). the spanish roma community in spain, the largest roma communities are found in andalusia, with others residing mainly in madrid, barcelona and valencia. it is estimated that there are about 725,000-750,00 roma in spain (minority rights group international, 2021). even though the roma constitute the main ethnic minority of the country, there are no official figures, as spanish legislation does not include ethnic origins in the population count (ley orgánica, 2018, art. 5). their earliest presence in spain dates back to the 15th century. the roma groups who stopped or limited their travelling within the region mixed with the local sedentary population, often becoming bicultural or assimilating into the host culture (minority rights group international, 2021. romani is widely spoken, especially in eastern european and balkan countries, while its spanish counterpart, caló, is hardly spoken by anyone, with only few words retained in everyday speech. in spain, during franco’s dictatorship (1939-1975), the use of the caló language (and other minority languages) was strictly forbidden (mirga-kruszelnicka, n.d.). as of today, the roma have adopted spanish as a language of daily communication (carrasco-garrido, 2010). one of the interesting characteristics of the roma community is roma associations, which can be traced to the end of 60s, when the asociación de desarrollo gitano (roma development association) was created. in 1986, the unión romaní española (ur) acted as the first national 21 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library services to diverse communities in europe the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 umbrella organization and published the first roma newspaper, nevipens romani (romani news) between 1997 and 2004, the approximate number of associations grew to around 400. at present, it is difficult to estimate the exact number of roma organizations as there are no reliable data; however, they have grown significantly over the past decades due to international support and collaboration (mirga-kruszelnicka, n.d.). in this regard, it is important to highlight the presence of women’s associations, a space for dialogue, involvement, and collaboration among roma women. in 1991, the first roma women’s association, asociación de mujeres gitanas romi (association of roma women “romi”) was founded; since then, they have proliferated across spain (mirga-kruszelnicka, n.d.). the legal framework: european minority legislation & the roma community in spain, after the end of francisco franco’s dictatorship in 1975 and with the establishment of democratic society in 1978, racial discrimination became a constitutional crime, with the recognition of the roma as spanish citizens with equal rights (cabanes hernández et al., 1996).one of the first legal documents, specifically addressing civil rights of the roma community in europe, was the the resolución del parlamento europeo de abril de 1994 sobrelos gitanos en la comunidad (european parliament resolution on roma in the eu, of april 1994) (partido socialista obrero español, 1995). it acknowledged the responsibility of the nazi government for the persecution suffered by the roma people and called for the urgent definition of areas for social improvement for the roma community. from 2005 to the present, different european institutions have issued communications, reports, and resolutions that recognize the reality of the roma community, as shown in table 1. all of these measures identify the discrimination and the legal, social, and cultural problems experienced by the roma people and propose remedial measures that involve all european union member states. such organizations as consejo estatal del pueblo gitano (roma people state council) were created in 2005 for planning and promoting specific actions. according to recommendations given by european institutions, such actions as estrategia nacional para la inclusión social de la población gitana en españa 2012-2020 (national strategy for the social inclusion of the roma population in spain, 2012-2020) have been developed (ministerio de sanidad, servicios sociales e igualdad, 2012).the importance of the spanish roma community, one of the largest in europe, has forced spain to assume leadership in european policies focused on this ethno-cultural group. table 1. list of european union roma regulations year issuing body form of regulation name 2005 (28th april) european parliament resolution the situation of the roma in the european union (eu) 2008 (31st jan.) european parliament resolution the european strategy on the roma 2008(28th nov.) council of europe council framework decision the framework decision on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law 2009 (28th jan.) european parliament resolution the social situation of the roma and their improved access to the labour market in the eu 22 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library services to diverse communities in europe the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 2011 (5th april) european commission communication the eu framework for national roma integration strategies up to 2020 2013 (9th dec.) council of europe recommendation on effective roma integration measures in the member states 2015 (15th april) european parliament resolution on the occasion of international roma day: anti-gypyism in europe and eu. recognition of the roma genocide during world war ii 2016 (13th oct.) european court of auditors special report (nº 14/2016) eu policy initiatives and financial support for roma integration: significant progress made over the last decade, but additional efforts needed on the ground 2016 (8th dec.) council of europe conclusions accelerating the process of accelerating the process of roma integration 2017 (27th jan.) council of europe parliamentary assembly resolution 2153 promoting the inclusion of roma and travellers 2017 (3rd april) european commission european citizens’ initiative minority safepack: one million signatures for diversity in europe 2017 (25th oct.) european parliament resolution fundamental rights aspects in roma integration in the eu: fighting antigypsyism 2018 (4th dec.) european commission report on the evaluation the eu framework for national roma integration strategies up to 2020 2019 (12th feb.) european parliament resolution the need for a strengthened post2020 strategic eu framework for national roma inclusion strategies and stepping up the fight against antigypsyism public libraries and cultural minorities the international federation of library associations and institutions (ifla) recognizes and advocates for the inclusion of ethnic minority communities in libraries and has sought for decades to respond to their educational, cultural, and informational needs, as observed in ifla’s guidelines for public libraries (1988). issued two decades later, the guidelines for library services in multicultural communities (ifla, 2009) reflect the principle of equality of any ethnic, linguistic, and cultural group in relation to library services. its main contribution has been to establish that libraries should study and consider the information needs of any users equally and that attention to ethno-cultural minorities should be part of the global library service (pinto & sales, 2008). thus, during the first two decades of the 21st century, public libraries have been developing their work around two foci: educational services and social services (nes, 2015). the library is one of the engines of informal education, tasked with preserving social memory, providing access to knowledge, and promoting continuous learning. this educational work is key in information 23 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library services to diverse communities in europe the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 society since literacy, in all its expressions, determines the feasibility of access to sustainable living and productivity in society. the ifla/unesco guidelines for the development of the public library service (ifla, 2001) emphasize this educational purpose of public libraries. with the overwhelming amount of information available, barriers to information access have increased, making the role of public libraries even more urgent and profound. realities of the digital information environment position libraries as crucial mechanisms of helping library users to improve their own lives and the lives of their communities. by so doing, libraries also realize their social function, serving as meeting places to promote and support social inclusion. public libraries need to adapt their services to the characteristics of their communities, identifying and studying community needs and strengths and developing strategies to adequately assist community members (felicié soto, 2006). however, different studies (e.g., aabø et al., 2010; salaberría, 2010) show that, often enough, public library users who actively utilize collections and other resources belong to fairly homogeneous majority groups in terms of race, social class, age, and gender (e.g., white, middle class, middle-aged, and women). that is to say, it is libraries’ responsibility to pay more attention to those who do not use the library or use it occasionally or for specific purposes only (e.g., non-users; passive users) (pateman, 2000; karkee, & majumder, 2014; fernández-ardèvol, et. al, 2018). research has shown that passive library users are those who may use libraries as a space and a meeting/social place. one example would be the use of space by immigrants, whereby libraries become attractive because they allow access to both information services and free places of socialization and congregation (koerber, 2016). these usage patterns should steer libraries to take into consideration the following aspects: • the library institution must know or at least be well aware of active and passive library users from every segment of the community and should seek to build ongoing relationships with a diverse array of community members. • it is important to hire library staff who are representative of diverse cultural groups, as they facilitate access to the library (skot-hansen, 2002); this helps to develop cultural competencies to respond to and meet community needs (overall, 2009). • library services intended for minorities must include library collections in various languages since it is essential to provide material in the languages spoken by the community and to offer information services that reflect the unique culture of the community (miñarro, 2002). • multicultural programs help to honour and preserve the diversity of communities and are an integral part of library work (romera iruela, 2008). therefore, library programs must be included in broader social inclusion initiatives and linked to programs by social and educational agencies (madrid vílchez et al., 2008). additionally, library programs today often facilitate access to technology, including information technologies and the internet (muddiman et al., 2000; grace, 2013; lee & phillips, 2019). • on many occasions, probably due to the shortage of resources and the lack of specialized expertise, public libraries often design and provide services oriented to the general mainstream user, not paying enough attention to unique characteristics of smaller cultural groups who also live in their service communities. nowadays, the emergence of multiple socio-cultural realities makes the development of innovative, relevant 24 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library services to diverse communities in europe the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 community-based services imperative, turning libraries into a gateway to inclusive community engagement (romera iruela, 2008). library services for the roma community in europe although the roma people are the largest minority in europe, public library services for them are limited (nes, 2015). however, there have been a few initiatives developed primarily in central european countries, including slovenia, croatia, and the czech republic. based on our survey of library services for the roma community in 2019, we identified the following projects: metlika public library (slovenia). slovenia has the sixth largest roma community in europe, and of the 8,000 inhabitants of metlika, 300 are roma. in 2003, their public library developed projekt romi, povabljeni v knjižnico (project roma: you are invited to the library) which has attracted more than 60% of metlika roma to become library members (ljudska knjiznica metlika, 2014). its aim has been to engage this group through courses, activities, workshops, and so on. at the same time, it tries to bring library materials and cultural activities to their settlements through collaboration with the social center, which is a community hub where people gather for collaborative or recreational activities. the project offers a large number of activities, but it is not supported by any social program: the library isn't an information point, a meeting place, etc.; on the whole, it does not have the necessary institutional support. koprivnica public library (croatia). although croatia has only the ninth largest roma population, their local and national policies have been focused on this community. fran galović public library functions as a social, information, and educational support centre (fran galović public library, 2014). the library has been offering activities related to these areas since 2000. in 2010, their program jump on the train for a better world: ict support to roma people3 was created to help roma users develop technological skills. at the same time, it has implemented a training program for the library staff, intended to help them better deal with the problems that arise in connection with this group. it is an interesting educational and social program that has contributed to closing the gap between school and society in relation to roma children. ostrava-vítkovice public library (czech republic). the czech republic has the fifth largest roma population in europe, and ostrava has the second largest roma community in the country (among 350,000 residents, 20,000-40,000 are roma). in 2004, the romaňi kereka – romskýkruh project (the roma circle project) (2009) was developed to turn the library into the space for multicultural dialogue focused on the roma population; it offered activities that supported reading and information literacy (knihovna mesta ostrovy, 2009). the vítkovice library, where activities took place, was created in 2006 in order to help the project achieve its full potential (vaclavikova, 2006). this library has experienced municipal staff and is supported through the collaboration between ostrava university, the goethe institute (prague), hermann niermannstiftung foundation, and local educational centres. romafuturismo public library (prague, czech republic). this is a project that emerged in february 2018, with the intention of spreading the european roma culture through presentations by romani authors and prominent individuals, and through visits to locations where this ethnic group is present. the project objective is to engage the roma community in these meetings (romafuturismo public library, 2018). although the project has the support of the ministry of culture, it mostly moves forward thanks to the work of volunteers. since the library is new, it is difficult to predict its future impact. 25 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library services to diverse communities in europe the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 finally, there are two more library initiatives that we were able to identify, both located in croatia. one is the mobile library in ivan goran kovačić library in karlovac (croatia), which brings collections to suburban neighbourhoods where the roma live. there are also brief mentions of some initiatives in juraj šižgorić library in šibenik (croatia), but no specific information beyond a few references (sabolovic-krajina, 2019). library services for the roma community in spain although there is available research on roma education, health, employment, and social issues, research, advocacy initiatives, and professional engagements in libraries have been very limited (barrio garcía, 2002). the scarcity of library research on this community demonstrates the lack of interest in and knowledge about the roma, and is consistent with the limited understanding of the roma by the general public; this situation partially accounts for the continuous marginalization that they commonly experience. madrid vílchez (cited in miñarro, 2002), in her remarks at a discussion forum on public libraries and multiculturalism, mentioned the difficulty of developing a library service to specifically address immigrant4 information needs because of the generalized nature of spanish public library services, which cater to the majority population; in comparison, library services in neighbouring european countries have become more specialized and oriented toward diverse communities (chadnova, 2012; tanackovic, 2012; thorpe, 2016). as a result, the situation is marked by the following paradox. east european countries (e.g., slovenia or croatia), with less developed library systems, have greater awareness of the need to develop specialized library services for the roma. this is a function of not only fairly large roma communities in these countries but also more socially and culturally inclusive library practices. at the same time, countries with more developed library systems and more resources (e.g., spain) have limited services and programs focused on the roma. nevertheless, there are several documentation centers5 that stand out: centro de documentación de la fundación secretariado gitano (fundación secretariado gitano, 2019) and instituto de cultura gitana (roma culture institute), a specialized library: biblioteca del pueblo gitano (the roma people library), belonging to instituto de cultura gitana (the roma culture institute) located in biblioteca de trinitarios, alcalá de henares (trinitarian library, alcalá de henares). it has a collection of more than 1,000 items and a selection of activities (biblioteca del pueblo gitano, 2018) and the alcalá de henares university educational program which offers an optional course related to this culture (biblioteca del pueblo gitano, 2018) and a couple of educational classes: the alcalá de henares university, which offers an optional course centred around the culture of this community (biblioteca del pueblo gitano, 2018) and the navarra university, which offers a degree specialized on social intervention within this group. it should be noted that although there have been several national congresses on public libraries and multiculturalism, exclusion, and integration (e.g., first congreso nacional de bibliotecas públicas /first national congress of public libraries), there has been no specific initiative focused on the roma; while libraries acknowledge large communities of roma users, specific programs are limited to several locations, mainly in madrid and catalonia, as follows: • maría moliner public library (villaverde, madrid), with a center dedicated to the roma culture that offers information services (maría moliner public library, 2018). • nord library (sabadell) (a municipality with a large number of roma community members), with the first dedicated collection for and about the roma, available through 26 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library services to diverse communities in europe the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 the catalonia network of public libraries. (sabadell nord library, 2018). • font de la mina library (sant adrià de besós). although 70% of users are roma, the library services are available to all community members (espuga-condal, 2015); this library collaborates educational centres on neighbourhood development initiatives (font de la mina library, 2019). • bon pastor library (barcelona). as part of the barcelona public libraries network (bon pastor library, 2019), this has library several programs and services focused on the roma community: it works with roma mediators on specific actions; delivers programs that seek to establish connections with the roma community; and organizes courses tailored to their information needs. the success of these initiatives is recognized by the fundación biblioteca social award (fundación biblioteca social, 2019). analysis of library programs and recommendations for improvement the aforementioned programs, resources, and services show a wide range of variations: from specialized collections dedicated to the roma culture, on the one hand, to short-lived and haphazard library programs, on the other. despite these differences, all library projects have number of characteristics in common. first, they serve a very young population (minority rights group international, 2021), which prompts librarians to develop activities and specific collections for library users coming from the roma community. second, spanish libraries try to make the library an inter-group space, create a supportive environment for educational engagements, and to serve as an information centre inclusive of the roma people and their information needs. however, libraries lack sufficiently developed collections that reflect roma traditions and culture and/or provide materials on such issues as social inclusion and lifelong learning. we also noted that most spanish library programs and initiatives geared toward the roma community appear to be online and lack any backing by physical resources or events that take place in the library building. based on the preceding analysis, a number of recommendations for the improvement of resources, services, and programs are made. these recommendations are grouped into the following categories: (1) accounting for roma cultural characteristics in the development of library services and (2) policies. accounting for roma cultural characteristics in the development of library services in almost all european countries (with the exception of the great britain and spain), roma community members speak romani as their first language. this must be taken into account from a library standpoint when library services are planned. another community characteristic is the high percentage of children and youth in the roma population. roma communities have few aging members, and the average age should be factored into the design of programs and services. libraries will need to develop programs that include extracurricular activities, homework groups, and learning support sessions, all of which should be instrumental to children’s education. close collaboration between libraries and educational institutions will be required in order to provide the most effective literacy programs and offer lifelong learning opportunities at all levels, including information and digital literacy. similarly, 27 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library services to diverse communities in europe the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 the presence of mediators becomes essential in the library world. ongoing and engrained prejudice and discrimination against the roma impact their social conditions and detrimentally affect their education levels and sustainable employment. libraries join and lead the efforts counteracting biases and discrimination through community awareness campaigns, information actions and educational activities. community-based associations, social workers, and volunteer staff in public institutions are fundamental for relationship building between the roma and the mainstream spanish society. in this context, the work of intercultural mediators is important. even so, they may still be controversial figures: on one hand, they are representatives of the system that excludes the roma; on the other hand, their goal is to facilitate relationship building with the roma community. the role of roma women must become central in library connections to the roma community. although the family structure often remains traditional, women are considered pivotal figures; they are in charge of children’s education and the transmission of tradition, values, and culture. library programs and outreach to the roma should recognize, respect, and capitalize on the strengths and unique status of roma women. libraries should make a concerted effort to help roma women to have a voice and empower them to become cultural mediators who have the ability to engage and mobilize the entire community. when it comes to the provision of resources and services, the general literacy levels of the roma population should be taken into account and information and collections in a variety of formats should be considered (e.g., video, audio, digital, etc.). for the roma, community stands as the central point of reference, and role models are very important. the underrepresentation or absence of the roma in the professional workforce (i.e., teachers, librarians, social workers) has a negative impact. therefore, increasing the participation of roma professionals and staff in library initiatives would be a positive step forward. in the same vein, when programs and outreach are planned, it is crucial not only to invite community representatives and prominent personalities as participants but also to empower them to take the lead on library engagement offerings, including meetings, exhibitions, and workshops. engagement efforts should work simultaneously on the local and national levels. first and foremost, however, libraries should engage in soul-searching and fundamentally change the ways in which they relate to and treat the roma community. they must engage in cultural learning, devote special resources and attention to the incredibly large community with rich history and culture, make sure that library spaces are welcoming, inclusive, and safe for all, and develop a comprehensive policy framework to ensure equity for roma community members who use the library. policies many library regulations on minorities date back to the 1980s and 1990s and give little value to digital information technologies that are so prevalent in present. similarly, many library activities previously observed are not under the governmental purview but stand as isolated initiatives. hence, any modifications to the current library regulations should give more weight 28 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library services to diverse communities in europe the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 to institutional and administrative responsibility for actionable policy implementation and acknowledge the increasingly technological landscape. conclusion relying on the tenets of multiculturalism (chadnova, 2012; nes, 2015; romera iruela, 2008; sabolovic-krajina, 2019; skot-hansen, 2002; thorpe, 2016), best practices observed, and the ifla recommendations (ifla, 2001; ifla, 2009), an array of several different actions have been proposed. as a starting point, multiculturalism must be acknowledged and taken into account instead of expecting that the roma minority should assimilate into the majority group. as a result, it is not surprising that the roma do not have equitable opportunities to see their cultural practices and rich history represented through social institutions of the mainstream society, such as libraries; it also makes it more difficult to pass the cultural and linguistic heritage on to younger generations. roma cultural practices thus remain largely within communities and family units. to turn the situation around, library professionals need to re-envision libraries as spaces wherein the roma are able to find relevant and relatable information and have access to resources that will help them expand their cultural knowledge. at the same time, libraries must respond to the roma community’s informational needs through pertinent information and reference services; these should support their everyday information needs beyond utilitarian help with administrative paperwork. starting with the overview of cultural characteristics of the roma in spain and following with the analysis of library policies and spanish legislation, we have developed a set of recommendations for the improvement of library services, programs, and resources for the roma. to successfully implement these recommendations, the library must respect the cultural and social reality of the roma community and build the relationship with community members through empowerment and ongoing cultural learning. given how little society at-large knows about the roma culture, it may not be an easy task. endnotes 1 in this article, “roma” and “romani” are used interchangeably. 2 from federico garcía lorca’s (1898-1936) poem, “romance de la luna, luna (ballad of the moon),” originally published in gypsy ballads (1928), most recently translated by jeffrey b. frazier, 2017. 3 this project received several international awards, the main ones being: the eifl (electronic information for libraries) international award (2013) knowledge without boundaries (eifl, 2014); the world summit on the information society award (2015) (world summit on information society, 2015). as well, it has been mentioned by ifla in 1001 libraries to see before you die (ifla, 2014) and awarded an ala presidential citation for innovative international library projects in 2014 (american library association, 2020). 4 this article looks specifically at immigrants. however, spain lacks services for both local roma and immigrant roma people. 29 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index library services to diverse communities in europe the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 5 documentation centers are organizations or services responsible for collecting, organizing, processing, and making available to users research tools and documents that respond to their request for information). they are very common in the eu. references aabø, s., audunson, r. & vårheim, a. 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(2001). directrices ifla-unesco para el desarrollo del servicio de bibliotecas públicas [ifla-unesco guidelines for public library service development]. ministerio de educación, cultura y deporte, secretaría general técnica, subdirección general de información y publicaciones. https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/publications/archive/the-public-libraryservice/pg01-s.pdf 32 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/ta-8-2015-0095_en.html http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/ta-8-2017-0413_en.html http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/ta-8-2017-0413_en.html http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/ta-8-2019-0075_en.html https://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/epi/article/view/epi.2015.ene.05/17755 https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2018.may.19 http://www.sant-adria.net/sant-adria-per-temes/cultura/biblioteca-font-de-la-mina https://www.knjiznica-koprivnica.hr/ https://fundacionbibliotecasocial.org/es/que-hacemos/premio-anual-a-los-mejores-proyectos-de-compromiso-social/ https://fundacionbibliotecasocial.org/es/que-hacemos/premio-anual-a-los-mejores-proyectos-de-compromiso-social/ https://www.gitanos.org/centro_documentacion/publicaciones/fichas/128157.html.es https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2013.0008 http://hdl.handle.net/10421/432 https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/publications/archive/the-public-library-service/pg01-s.pdf https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/publications/archive/the-public-library-service/pg01-s.pdf library services to diverse communities in europe the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 ifla. (2009). comunidades multiculturales: directrices para el servicio bibliotecario [multicultural communities: library service guidelines]. https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/library-services-to-multiculturalpopulations/publications/guidelines-overview-es.pdf ifla. (2014, august 17). name of the library: public library “fran galovic” in koprivnica, croatia. https://1001libraries.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/name-of-the-library-publiclibrary-fran-galovic-in-koprivnica-croatia/ karkee, p., & majumder, k. (2014). library awareness among non-users of public libraries: a study with reference to the hilly areas of darjeeling district, west bengal. srels journal of information management, 51(1), 21–26. knihovna mesta ostrovy. (2009). http://cms.kmo.cz/www/cl-900/77-basic-information-in foreign-languages/8434-english-ostrava-city-library/ koerber, j. (2016, june 13). celebration & integration. library journal, 141(10), 48–51. lee, v., & phillips, a. (2019). reconceptualizing libraries: perspectives from the information and learning sciences. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315143422 ley orgánica 3/2018, de 5 de diciembre, de protección de datos personales y garantía de los derechos digitales [organic law 3/2018, of december 5, on protection of personal data and guarantee of digital rights]. jefatura del estado. españa. 6 de diciembre de 2018. https://www.boe.es/eli/es/lo/2018/12/05/3 ljudska knjiznica metlika. (2014). romi, povabljeni v knjižnico [roma invited to the library]. http://www.knjiznica-metlika.si/content.php?sif_co=p1 madrid vílchez, c., álvarez garcía, f. j., & pasadas ureña, c. (2008). alfabetización informacional en bibliotecas interculturales [information literacy in intercultural libraries]. iv congreso nacional de bibliotecas públicas (2008. coruña): bibliotecas públicas plurales (pp. 369-380). ministerio de cultura, subdirección general de información y publicaciones. http://travesia.mcu.es/portalnb/jspui/bitstream/10421/551/1/com_343.pdf maría moliner public library. biblioteca maría moliner (villaverde) [maría moliner public library (villaverde)]. (2018). http://www.madrid.org/cs/satellite?cid=1354380828373&language=es&pagename=port allector%2fpage%2fplec_contenidofinalnavegable ministerio de sanidad, servicios sociales e igualdad. (2012). estrategia nacional para la inclusión social de la población gitana en españa, 2012-2020 [national strategy for social inclusion of the roma population in spain, 2012-2020]. o tchatchipen: revista trimestral de investigación gitana, (80), 4-43. miñarro, d. (2002). foro de debate: biblioteca pública y multiculturalidad [discussion forum: public library and multiculturalism]. i congreso nacional de bibliotecas públicas: la biblioteca pública, portal de la sociedad de la información: actas, valencia, 29, 30 y 31 de octubre 2002 (pp. 300-304). subdirección general de coordinación bibliotecaria. 33 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/library-services-to-multicultural-populations/publications/guidelines-overview-es.pdf https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/library-services-to-multicultural-populations/publications/guidelines-overview-es.pdf https://1001libraries.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/name-of-the-library-public-library-fran-galovic-in-koprivnica-croatia/ https://1001libraries.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/name-of-the-library-public-library-fran-galovic-in-koprivnica-croatia/ http://cms.kmo.cz/www/cl-900/77-basic-information-in%20foreign-languages/8434-english-ostrava-city-library/ http://cms.kmo.cz/www/cl-900/77-basic-information-in%20foreign-languages/8434-english-ostrava-city-library/ https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315143422 https://www.boe.es/eli/es/lo/2018/12/05/3 http://www.knjiznica-metlika.si/content.php?sif_co=p1 http://travesia.mcu.es/portalnb/jspui/bitstream/10421/551/1/com_343.pdf http://www.madrid.org/cs/satellite?cid=1354380828373&language=es&pagename=portallector%2fpage%2fplec_contenidofinalnavegable http://www.madrid.org/cs/satellite?cid=1354380828373&language=es&pagename=portallector%2fpage%2fplec_contenidofinalnavegable library services to diverse communities in europe the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 mirga-kruszelnicka, a. (n.d.). a history of the roma associative movement in spain. romarchive. https://www.romarchive.eu/en/roma-civil-rightsmovement/history-roma-associative-movement-spain/ muddiman, d., durrani, s., dutch, m., linley, r., pateman, j., & vincent, j. (2000). open to all? the public library and social exclusion. volume 1: overview and conclusions. resource: the council for museums, archives and libraries. http://eprints.rclis.org/6283/1/lic084.pdf nes, b. (2015). bibliotek for alle: også for rom ogromanifolket? [library for all: also for a large number of the roma] https://www.bokogbibliotek.no/arkiv2/tidligereutgaver/nr-5-2010/bibliotek-for-alle-ogsa-for-rom-og-romanifolket58 overall, p. m. (2009). cultural competence: a conceptual framework for library and information science professionals. the library quarterly, 79(2), 175−204. https://doi.org/10.1086/597080 pateman, j. (2000). the state, communities and public libraries: their role in tackling social exclusion (social exclusion; an international perspective, part 2). open to all? the public library and social exclusion (pp. 111-144). resource: the council for museums, archives and libraries. http://eprints.rclis.org/6812/ pinto, m., & sales, d. (2008). alfabetización informacional para una sociedad intercultural: algunas iniciativas desde las bibliotecas públicas [information literacy for an intercultural society: select initiatives from public libraries]. anales de documentación, (10), 317-333. https://doaj.org/article/045dd4529d624374842c828412d98ef2 partido socialista obrero español. (1995). resolución aprobada por el parlamento europeo sobre la situación de los gitanos en la unión europea: (documento a3-0124/94): estrasburgo, 21 de abril de 1994 [the resolution approved by the european parliament on the situation of the roma in the european union: (document a3-0124 / 94): estrasburg, 21 april 1994]. [s. l.]: partido socialista obrero español. romafuturismo public library. (2018). http://romafuturismo.org/ romaňi kereka – romskýkruh. (2009). http://cms.kmo.cz/www/cl-900/91-projekt-romani kereka-romsky-kruh romera iruela, m. j. (2008). la perspectiva de las asociaciones de inmigrantes sobre las necesidades de información de sus poblaciones en las bibliotecas públicas de la comunidad de madrid [the perspective of immigrant associations on information needs of the communities of madrid public libraries]. anales de documentación, 11, 219-234. https://revistas.um.es/analesdoc/article/view/24901/24211 sabadell nord library. (2018). http://www.sabadell.cat/ca/biblioteques/biblioteca-del-nord salaberría, r. (2010). autodidactas en la biblioteca [self-taught in the library]. ediciones trea. sabolović-krajina, d. (2019). croatian public libraries in time of crisis. ifla journal 45(1), 4856. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0340035218811320 34 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.romarchive.eu/en/roma-civil-rights-movement/history-roma-associative-movement-spain/ https://www.romarchive.eu/en/roma-civil-rights-movement/history-roma-associative-movement-spain/ http://eprints.rclis.org/6283/1/lic084.pdf https://www.bokogbibliotek.no/arkiv2/tidligere-utgaver/nr-5-2010/bibliotek-for-alle-ogsa-for-rom-og-romanifolket58 https://www.bokogbibliotek.no/arkiv2/tidligere-utgaver/nr-5-2010/bibliotek-for-alle-ogsa-for-rom-og-romanifolket58 https://doi.org/10.1086/597080 http://eprints.rclis.org/6812/ https://doaj.org/article/045dd4529d624374842c828412d98ef2 http://romafuturismo.org/ http://cms.kmo.cz/www/cl-900/91-projekt-romani%20kereka-romsky-kruh http://cms.kmo.cz/www/cl-900/91-projekt-romani%20kereka-romsky-kruh https://revistas.um.es/analesdoc/article/view/24901/24211 http://www.sabadell.cat/ca/biblioteques/biblioteca-del-nord https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0340035218811320 library services to diverse communities in europe the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33516 skot-hansen, d. (2002). the public library between integration and cultural diversity. scandinavian public library quarterly, 35(1), 12–13. stewart, m. (2013) roma and gypsy "ethnicity" as a subject of anthropological inquiry. annual review of anthropology, 42, 415-432. http://www.jstor.com/stable/43049310 tanackovic, s. (2012). public libraries and linguistic diversity: a small scale study on the slovak ethnic minority in eastern croatia. libri, 62(1), 52–66. https://doi.org/10.1515/libri2012-0004 thorpe, k. (2016). indigenous voices in the state library of new south wales. the australian library journal, 65(1), 17–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049670.2016.1129682 vaclavikova, i. (2006) we are all at home here. municipal library in ostrava. in špacková, l. & štefková, j., (eds.). libraries as gateways to the integration of immigrants in the eu, (pp. 65-70). multicultural center prague. world summit on information society. (2015). nominated projects: c10. ethical dimensions of the information society. http://groups.itu.int/stocktaking/wsisprizes/wsisprizes2015.aspx#nominated-projects carmen agustín-lacruz (cagustin@unizar.es) has a phd in information science, and b.a. in hispanic philology and in library and information science. she is currently the headmaster of the documentation sciences & science history department. she has been a professor of information and documentation, as well as journalism at zaragoza university, where she has been lecturing on the information and communication consulting master's program and coordinating an information and communication phd program. finally, she worked as a librarian at zaragoza public libraries (spain). she has published a hundred academic papers and directed 5 doctoral theses. she has made several research stays in spanish, portuguese and brazilian universities. julia saurin-parra (jsaupar@hotmail.com) has a phd in information science and b.a. in english philology and in library and information science. she works currently as a librarian in the a coruña council library system (spain). she has published several academic papers and she is the author of a doctoral thesis on libraries and the roma community. 35 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.jstor.com/stable/43049310 https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2012-0004 https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2012-0004 https://doi.org/10.1080/00049670.2016.1129682 http://groups.itu.int/stocktaking/wsisprizes/wsisprizes2015.aspx#nominated-projects about:blank about:blank introduction the roma community: characteristics and figures the spanish roma community the legal framework: european minority legislation & the roma community public libraries and cultural minorities library services for the roma community in europe library services for the roma community in spain analysis of library programs and recommendations for improvement accounting for roma cultural characteristics in the development of library services policies conclusion endnotes references piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project: blackness in u.s. latinx and latin american racial politics the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project: blackness in u.s. latinx and latin american racial politics marisa hicks-alcaraz, university of illinois urbana-champaign, usa abstract the vision for the counter-memorias digital testimonio project is to create an online noncustodial archive of video-recorded testimonios and pedagogical resources centered on the memories and experiences of women from latin american and caribbean diasporas living in southern california. the project centers on those with social identities traditionally excluded from homogenous conceptualizations of latinidad, including, but not limited to afro/black, indigenous, asian, central american, muslim, queer, trans, and multi-racial/ethnic identities. in doing this, the project seeks to reformulate the latin american oral history methodology of testimonio to engage the voices of those often excluded from u.s. chicana/latina theorization of the genre, while critiquing colonial power relations. as a part of this process, the project decenters western digital archives methods by employing the everyday technologies used by diasporic migrant women (e.g., mobile phones and whatsapp) to forge networked connections with loved ones. currently, in its pilot phase, this essay focuses on the process of recording the project’s first testimonies, which come from two garifuna women, a grandmother and a granddaughter. garifuna (or garinagu) are an afro/black indigenous people descended from carib and arawak peoples and west africans who escaped colonial enslavement during a shipwreck in the 15th century near the caribbean island known today as st. vincent. the intervention made here is an attempt to highlight the stories of those who have been systemically erased, guided by the principles of reciprocity and redistributive relations to achieve social transformation even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. in this regard, i hope that our testimonio process will enact new modes of storytelling that move us further toward a translocal ethical-political strategy of liberation. keywords: black; counter-memorias; digital; latin america; latinx; testimonio publication type: special reports introduction don't look like the poster child, you know? i don't look like...the other [non-black central american] people. and we don't do all the same things and stuff. like even when my big mama...i was one of the last ones she taught how to make our traditional tamales. we use banana leaf instead of the corn husk. and a lot of...our process is different. and the sizes are definitely different…they chunky and they stuffed man (laughter). …even when it came to…our sweet ones. she [big mama] would get the stick of cinnamon and wrap it in the blanket and reach for the hammer and hand it to me and stuff, you know? she would talk to me in spanish. …as she got older and older in her i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 years, she spoke less and less english…but i never even knew what garifuna was until 19. coming home from college on the break, and my grandma is having a family meeting about where we come from. and this is the first time really hearing of this whole garifuna thing (laughter). (heads, 2022b, 1:57-3:19)1 jylynn heads is a vegan chef, food and “land-black” activist, and single mother in her mid-20s. she grew up christian but now questions the teachings of christianity. she is tall and thin. we met for the first time on october 19, 2021, to video-record her testimonio or life story (see figure 1). she wore hoops and a fitted purple tank top, and matching shorts. her hair was up in thin twists that fell softly alongside her cheeks. jylynn had requested that we meet in person rather than virtually to establish a human-to-human connection. the covid-19 pandemic has made this ever more challenging. however, we are in southern california, and octobers are (increasingly) warm, so we decided to conduct the interview outdoors in front of the city hall in claremont, california. figure 1. a screenshot from jylynn’s video testimonio recorded in front of claremont’s city hall (heads, 2022a). we nourished our new relationship with exchanges of gratitude, respeto (respect), and gifts— practices passed down to us from our ancestors. i gave thanks to jylynn for trusting me with her story, and in response, she expressed gratitude to me for listening and sharing her story with others. jylynn had just come from one of the outdoor produce markets where she sells her selfpressed organic juices. she brought two for me to choose from, strawberry lemonade and a green juice blend. i chose the green juice given the known healing properties of dark leafy greens. i took a sip—a delicious blend of citrus, sweet agave, and earthiness from the vegetable greens. i again expressed gratitude to her for this powerful medicinal gift. i, in turn, handed jylynn a $100 (usd) bill for the time and energy she spent on telling her story, and because the redistribution of financial resources to all project participants should be a standard practice in communitybased research. jylynn then introduced me to ah-sjhánay, her 2-year-old daughter. ah-sjhánay is innately curious and keenly fearless. during our interview, we took turns holding her in our laps, and each time we did, she quickly wiggled herself free to explore her new surroundings further. a skilled multitasker, jylynn kept a vigilant eye on ah-sjhánay throughout our interview, giving her 52 [9.34%] 505 [90.66%] 36 [7.13%] 108 [21.39%] 98 [19.41%] 139 [27.52%] 113 [22.38%] 11 [2.18%] 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 skipped questions answered questions 65+ 55-64 45-54 35-44 26-34 22-25 100 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 daughter autonomy to investigate her environment while calmly stepping in when ah-sjhánay took her boundary-testing too far, such as when she used her mouth to explore the gardens in front of city hall. i connected with jylynn through her 80-year-old grandmother, cynthia lewis, whose testimonio i had recorded a few months before our meeting. jylynn was in southern california visiting family and using the opportunity to sell her self-pressed juices when cynthia told her about the work i was doing with the counter-memorias digital testimonio project (which i will refer to as countermemorias moving forward). jylynn was interested in having her story recorded and shared publicly, and cynthia encouraged me to reach out to jylynn before she returned home to dangriga, belize, where she currently lives with ah-sjhánay. jylynn’s contribution to the project is motivated by her desire to provide insight into her experiences as a black garifuna and latina. in this, we share the desire to express the full complexity of our diasporic translatinidades to bring to light our distinct stories, exert our agency, and create deeper bonds of solidarity. here, i borrow from the practice-driven theorization of “trans-latinidades” by blind latinx activist, attorney, and scholar of decolonial latinx theory and critical disability studies, alexis padilla. padilla (2021) uses the term “translatinidades” to emphasize the multitude of boundary-crossing latinx identities, or latinidades, that opens up the possibility for radical latinx relationality, solidarity, and agency. i also draw on mari castañedas’s (2018) use of “diasporic trans-latinidades,” which she uses to refer to the translocal migrations of latinxs and latin americans. while we have a common desire to share our stories, our subjectivities emerge from different diasporic trans-latinidades informed by our own specific intersectional experiences with race, ethnicity, culture, language, migration, nationality, and geography.2 the excerpt from jylynn’s testimonio opening this article, for instance, demonstrates her experiences negotiating her complex and multiple subjectivities as black and latina, as well as her newly developing identity as garifuna. in paul joseph lópez oro’s (2021) “matrilineal love letter” to indigenous black women, he describes garifuna (also referred to in the plural form garinagu) as a black indigenous people whose ethnogenesis lies in a 15th century caribbean island in the lesser antilles, known today as st. vincent (p. 248). they are descendants of arawak and carib peoples and west africans who escaped spanish enslavement during a shipwreck near what is now known as st. vincent. as such, lópez oro (2021) identifies garinagu as being “born from marronage and resistance to european colonialism” (p. 248). after centuries of colonial resistance, british forces exiled garinagu to the honduran coast in 1797, which led to large transgenerational migrations to belize, guatemala, and nicaragua. the second-largest migration of garifuna took place in the mid-20th century following the economic decline of the united fruit company in central and south america. in search of work, garifuna settled in major u.s. port cities from new york to los angeles. in this way, garifuna embodies multiple and overlapping subjectivities that are simultaneously black, indigenous, latin american, central american, caribbean, and, in jylynn and cynthia’s case, north american. my own subjectivity emerges from my position as a cisgender, mixed-race woman of color and diasporic settler. more specifically, i am the daughter of parents from vastly different, even contradictory, worlds. my mother immigrated to the u.s. in her early 20s from méxico and is of indigenous rarámuri (more popularly known as tarahumara) and arab descent. my father is a white settler of anglo and celtic descent. i was born and spent half of my childhood on occupied 101 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 tongva land (also known as the los angeles basin). when i was seven years old, my father moved our family to a predominantly white town in south santa cruz county—the ancestral lands of the oholone people. while i am no longer practicing, i grew up catholic per my mother, who took us to misa (mass) for catholic holidays like ash wednesday and palm sunday. on the one hand, my skin color has been described primarily by white people, but also within my family as “tan” or “dark.” for example, when i went to a white dermatologist for a rash two summers ago, he repeatedly referred to my skin color as “very dark.” and when i was young, my mother referred to me as “chocolatito” (little chocolate)—a term of endearment that evokes internalized racist connotations. indeed, my mother has internalized the anti-indigenous racism she experienced growing up in the 1970s as a dark-skinned girl in méxico and later in the united states. while my mother reinscribed dominant racial formations by calling me chocolatito, i also see it as a way to embrace my darkness in a way that was not done for her. on the other hand, i have also been referred to as “güerrita” (white girl) or “gringa” (white foreigner) by some méxicans and méxican americans. while typically referring to light-skinned people, these terms can also be used to refer to someone born in the united states or assimilating into u.s. culture. the events of 9/11 further opened me up to islamophobia and anti-arab racism, especially in places with large muslim and arab populations like canada and the u.s. midwest. my academic privilege comes from my location in institutions of higher education that have provided me the luxury of pursuing my passion and accessing the resources and knowledge to actualize the work i am passionate about. but despite my relative privilege compared to most latinas, i continue to occupy a space at the margins of academia. my projects have been underfunded and undervalued by grant-funding institutions because my practice of scholarship has not conformed to disciplinary expectations. furthermore, the hidden labor of doing community-centered and project-based research means that i am chronically exhausted and emotionally burnt out. in this way, i embody what chicana ethnographer, sofia villenas (1996), describes as having “a foot in both worlds; in the dominant privileged institutions and in the marginalized community” (p. 714). queer chicana poet and scholar gloria anzaldúa (2002)3 describes the messy state of living among different worlds as “nepantla,” a nahuatl word that means “in the middle.” anzaldúa (2002) coined the term “nepantlera” in the essay “now let us shift…the path of conocimiento...inner work, public acts” to describe what analouise keating (2006) characterizes as “a unique type of visionary cultural worker. nepantleras are threshold people; they move within and among multiple, often conflicting, worlds and refuse to align themselves exclusively with any single individual, group, or belief system” (p. 6). as i forge a praxis on the margins of institutional formations, an essential part of this praxis is to interrogate not only dominant archives models but also the reclamation of archives for contrary purposes. as a self-reflexive endeavor, i locate myself within this research to acknowledge how i may inevitably reproduce the parts of colonialism i seek to change. the problem with “latinidad” following the release of the video depicting the police murder of george floyd on may 25, 2020, worldwide protests erupted against police brutality, pervasive racism, and complicit governments. many showcased their solidarity with black people, their suffering, and the black 102 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 lives matter movement through hashtags and slogans like “palestinian for black lives” or “asians for black lives.” many non-black latinxs, especially from younger generations, also came out strongly in support of the movement for black lives. they often approached this activism from a model of black-brown solidarity through phrases like “black and brown unity” and “latinxs for black lives.” these slogans, while well-meaning, were quickly met with vocal criticism from young, black, and indigenous writers, activists, and academics who brought attention to how such statements position all latinxs and latin americans outside of the realm of blackness, further perpetuating the erasure of afro/black descendants, as well as others who fall outside the hegemonic borders of latinidad. this is especially true in southern california, where the central american diaspora is largely nonblack. anti-black sentiment among non-black central americans in southern california is reflected in jylynn’s testimonio, in which she describes the contrasting racial landscapes between compton and her family’s villages in central america: when i go to two of these countries [guatemala and honduras] where i'm from on my mom's side, and everyone looks like me…i'm thinking, that's what everyone is supposed to look like. but then when i come back [to compton] and i interact with those other [non-black] people who are from these same countries, and then i'm ostracized and outcast and told i'm “not one of us." and all these other kinds of like...really...truthfully traumatizing things and stuff ((heads, 2022b, 1:19-1:43). indeed, the concept of latinidad has a long history rooted in anti-blackness. as articulated by philosopher and literary theorist walter d. mignolo (2005), the idea of latinidad, or latinitée, was advanced by france in the second half of the 19th century as a response to european imperial conflicts and u.s. racism that served a particular function in redrawing imperial difference. in the idea of latin america, mignolo (2005) defines latinidad as a colonial construct created by “white creole and mestizo/a elites, in south america and the spanish caribbean islands, after independence from spain…to create their own post-colonial identity” (p. 59). as a eurocentric colonial construct, “latins” were supposed to be “white creoles” or, at the most, mixed-race peoples, who were “europeans in mind” (p. 86), not black or indigenous. to mignolo (2005), “latin” america is not so much a subcontinent as it is the political project of and for creolemestizo/a elites. in a historical overview of the term mestizaje, hooker (2014) notes that the term is the precursor to “brownness” that emerged alongside latinidad. while these terms are all applied in different locations, they are inherently linked to each other as mechanisms of negotiation with and in approximation to white supremacy. mestizaje refers to racial and cultural mixing of amerindians with europeans. it originated in the colonial era to refer to a racial category of the castas or caste system and became the dominant political ideology of modern national identity, unity, and social progress in 20th-century méxico, parts of central america, the andes, and among u.s. latinxs with roots in these regions. throughout “new spain,” claims of mestizaje were meant to indicate a bond against spanish settlers with exclusive rights to high political office and to legitimate creole equality at home and in europe. other classifications of mixture in the caste system were not exalted, and the status of “mulattos” and others were not reconsidered. mestizaje thus functioned to reduce cultural, linguistic, and political diversity in nations like méxico and to authorize the privileged status of the ruling elites. the original conceptualization of mestizaje emphasized assimilation 103 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 and appropriation of indigenous and black cultures and the promise of progress and justice throughout europe. peter wade (1995) highlights the clear eugenicist implications of mestizaje in blackness and race mixture. wade (1995) explains that immigration policies in the early 20th century promoted the blanqueamiento (whitening) of the population through a massive miscegenation of european immigrants in hopes of eventually erasing blackness and indigeneity from the nation. beginning in the late 1960s, as part of a more significant effort to “cut the gordian knot with europe,” chicanx and u.s. latinx social critics, artists, and creative writers reformulated mestizaje (mignolo, 2005, p. 64). the earliest chicanx articulations of mestizaje were a strategy of affirmation, liberation, and identity. chicana and latina feminists in the u.s. reconceptualized the term as a form of resistance against racial hierarchies. most notably, anzaldúa (1987; 2003) used mestizaje as a coalitional form of consciousness opposed to dominating powers and oppressive racial and social hierarchies. in the 1990s, other chicana/latina feminist scholars like emma pérez (1999) and chéla sandoval (1998) revealed how a new mestizaje offered a politic for mobilizing oppositional forms of consciousness for equity that exceeded modes of assimilation, reconciling for the multiple social positions and perspectives as discussed by anzaldúa (1987; 2003). positive accounts of latin american mestizaje in the u.s., such as those noted above, have been met with productive scrutiny in the 21st century. political thinkers such as hooker (2014) and maria josefina saldaña-portillo (2001) argue that the uncritical adoption of mestizaje contributes to the silencing of present-day black and indigenous people. for instance, hooker (2014) explains that “much of latino political thought’s ‘borrowing’ of concepts from certain strands of latin american thinking on race has not been sufficiently self-critical” (p. 1). according to hooker (2014), these reconstructions ignore transnational dimensions of debates about race in the americas. still, they also might have ethical and political consequences on racial justice discourse in latin america. others, especially young afro/black-latinx writers and activists, have called for the “canceling” of latinidad in personal essays, podcast interviews, and social media posts (harris, 2022; hinjosa & varela, 2021; martinez, 2019; noel, 2019; salazar, 2019; simone, 2020). for instance, alan pelaez lopez (2018), an afro-indigenous formerly undocumented poet, artist, and public intellectual born in méxico city, coined the hashtag #latinidadiscancelled on their instagram feed in 2018. the hashtag quickly went viral, which curator and art critic, tatiana flores (2021), attests to “the sense of alienation from and frustration with the term many people felt” (p. 67). indeed, pelaez lopez’s declaration stemmed from their tendency to self-identify as undocumented rather than latin american as “the language that [they] had for [their] diasporic experience never felt like it belonged to the discourse of the latin american experience” (as cited in flores, 2021, p. 7). in this way, we remain keenly aware that many black and indigenous individuals from latin america do not identify with nor wish to be part of this “imagined community” (anderson, 2016). in response to this evidence, flores (2021) poses the critical question: “if scholars and the public at large understood latin america not as a cartographically bounded area of spanish speakers south of the u.s.-méxico border but as the anti-black construct that it is, would they continue to embrace the term latinidad and its cognate latino?” (p. 66). i reflect on this question as i theorize diasporic translatinidades to illuminate the complexity and multiplicity of the latin american diaspora in the u.s., while interrogating the anti-black and anti-indigenous constructs 104 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 of latinidad. in doing so, i recognize the limits imposed by employing the term and the risk of reinforcing the authority of white/european authority. even as i try to use the term for contrary purposes, it is nonetheless enmeshed with the relations of power and dominance that i strive to reject; in this regard, it both resists and complies with “official” narratives of “the other” (nonwhite). the intervention made here is an attempt to highlight the stories of those who have been systemically erased, guided by the principles of redistributive relations to achieve social transformation even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. in this regard, i hope that our testimonio process will enact new modes of storytelling that move us further toward a translocal ethical-political strategy of liberation. the counter-memorias testimonio project centering difference to build an active network of solidarity is at the heart of counter-memorias. this initiative emerged from pláticas (informal conversations) between myself and other members of the imaginx en movimiento (ixem) memory collective around our own specific intersectional experiences with race, ethnicity, culture, language, migration, nationality, and geography that do not fall neatly into the ethno-racial identity category of “latin”x. in 2019, i started at ixem, a grassroots digital archiving project in collaboration with fiction-writer and graphic designer aldo puicon; media arts high school teacher cassandra gonzales; and experimental filmmaker laura perez, to support the digitization projects of personal media collections by individuals of latin american diasporas. we began by digitizing a few vhs tapes, 8mm, and super 8 films in our own personal collections and those of friends. through word-of-mouth, we started to get inquiries from those in our community about how to digitize family home videos and upload them to youtube. ixem’s larger goal is to re-envision the digital archive not as a detached virtual storehouse of accumulated “data,” but as an interactive site of human agency that could realize the liberatory potential of archival work. the impetus for this project is to provide a collaborative space that expands solidarity, enacts new ways of being together, and builds new skills and capacities through collective “memory work” (gould & harris, 2014, p. 1). in the essay “memory for justice,” gould and harris (2014) frame memory work as a tool for actively building a liberatory future. the memory worker, they explain, includes anyone who explores, engages, and uses memory to reckon with past human rights violations, injustices, violent conflicts, or war (gould & harris, 2014). in response to larger systems of historical oppression and erasure, we are called to work collaboratively to forge bold and creative ways to share resources and social space for political and personal connection in the face of institutions that are insufficient, exclusionary, or exacerbate archival erasure. 105 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 figure 2. a screenshot of the counter-memorias website homepage (counter-memorias digital testimonio project, 2022). the early interactions between the project’s facilitators and advisors on apps like zoom and whatsapp organically interwove our life stories—particularly around race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality—revealing our multiple translatinidades. in creating our own social space to come together, share, and listen to each other’s lived experiences, we recognized the importance of testimonio as a crucial means of bearing witness to lived realities that would otherwise be lost to history. in this way, the impetus of counter-memorias is to center individuals of latin american and caribbean diasporas in southern california with social identities that have been traditionally excluded from homogenous conceptualizations of latinidad by adopting the feminist research methodology of testimonio, a latin american oral history tradition that seeks to construct a discourse of solidarity. our vision for the project is to create an online archive of video-recorded testimonios and a pedagogical resource centered on the intersectional and transmigrational experiences of latin american and caribbean diasporas living in southern california. we specifically center those traditionally excluded from homogenous conceptualizations of latinidad, including but not limited to black/afro, indigenous, asian, central american, muslim, queer, trans, and multi-racial/ethnic identities. as a part of this process, we retool digital media technologies4 used by many diasporic migrant women (e.g., smartphones and social media) as resources to develop collective identities and networked relations. to do this, we seek to (re)formulate the methodology of testimonio to include the voices of those often excluded from u.s. chicana/latina theorization of the genre. moreover, this process occurs within a digital archives praxis that moves away from accumulation. instead, it prioritizes redistribution and reciprocal relations to build solidarity across differences, collect and generate knowledge holistically, and move further toward collective liberation. in the last year since this project was launched, we have (re)generated meaningful connections, built confianza (trust), and enacted a relational practice of community 52 [9.34%] 505 [90.66%] 36 [7.13%] 108 [21.39%] 98 [19.41%] 139 [27.52%] 113 [22.38%] 11 [2.18%] 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 skipped questions answered questions 65+ 55-64 45-54 35-44 26-34 22-25 106 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 where we remain committed to continued dialogue, collaboration, collective care, and redistribution of material and affective resources. our archival process draws on critical feminist and anti-colonial digital archives that reimagine the archive as a site of connection, exchange, and community-building in the present. an excellent example of such an archive is the women who rock: making scenes, building communities (wwr) project directed by michelle habell-pallán and sonnet reman at the university of washington in collaboration with faculty, graduate students, community members, and scholars of gender, race and sexuality in music and social justice movements. habell-pallán et al. (2018) describe a collective process of building an online archive focused on musicians and activists who are documenting their own histories and have been excluded or pushed out from “official” archives. to decolonize and transform the power structures and silences of the archive, the wwr collective defines the digital archive as “a trace of relationships forged through collective archiving or archivista [emphasis added] praxis” (habell-pallán et al., 2018, p. 69). fusing archivist and activist practices, they describe an archivista praxis as rooted in “convivencia” (coexistence) that provides “a method for moving forward within a network of human relationships that connect people and communities working on related projects with similar aims” (habell-pallán et al., 2018, p. 71). the robust archive includes an annual, participantdriven community engagement conference and film festival; undergraduate project-based coursework that includes in-home production and recording; an oral history archive; photographs; and a wordpress site that includes dozens of oral history videos, performance recordings, and mini-docs shared through vimeo. in describing their collective process, the authors emphasize the value of “living process over finite product” (habell-pallán et al., 2018, p. 68). indeed, feminist archivista praxis shifts archives from that of colonial-capitalist modes of accumulation to “collaborative networks of production, performance, and [re]distribution” (habell-pallán et al., 2018, p. 69). the method of convivencia is similarly adopted by chicana feminist scholar, maría cotera, and filmmaker, linda garcía merchant, in their creation of the chicana por mi raza digital memory collective. this online archive brings together a transgenerational community of scholars, activists, archivists, and students to produce knowledge by and about chicanas collaboratively. in “nuestra autohistoria: toward a chicana digital praxis,” cotera (2018) explains that scholars working with the project leverage their connections to the academy and its infrastructure (e.g., digital tools, grants, and graduate and undergraduate students who wish to pursue research on chicanas) to create discourse on 1960s and 1970s chicana feminism from within and outside of the university. the digital archives praxis developed by ixem and adopted by the counter-memorias project builds on the critical re-definitions provided by the several feminist archives outlined above and the early pláticas between members of ixem on our collective values emphasizing human connection (fierros & delgado bernal, 2016). at the center of our praxis is a re-visioning of archival development as a collaborative project driven and sustained by a mycorrhiza-like process of redistributive care. according to merriam-webster (n.d.), mycorrhiza (my-cor-rhī-za) refers to “a symbiotic relationship between the mycelium of a fungus and the roots of a plant.” plant ecologist and enrolled member of the citizen potawatomi nation, robin wall-kimmerer, describes mycorrhiza as a nutrition-gathering process in which fungi support and redistribute mineral nutrients in the soil to plants and trees, exchanging oxygen for carbohydrates. through 107 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 this reciprocity, “life as we know it can flourish” even in the harshest environments (wallkimmerer, 2015, p. 34). this ecological example of redistributive relations in the natural world has been helpful in conceptualizing the digital archive as a site of solidarity-building cultivated through an archival praxis rooted in the long-standing practice of mutual aid across the americas to provide material resources, emotional support, and a space for political and personal connection in the face of institutions that are insufficient, exclusionary, or exacerbate archival erasure. (re)constructing testimonio grounded in the collective history of resistance, testimonio as a genre emerged in the 1970s from a critical latin american oral tradition aimed at challenging oppression and bringing attention to injustice by centering the voices of non-dominant groups (blackmer reyes & curry rodriguez, 2012; delgado bernal et al., 2012). in the article “testimonio: origins, terms, and resources,” blackmer reyes and curry rodríguez (2012) emphasize the construction of a discourse of solidarity as the main feature of the testimonial text, maintaining that testimonio is a result of collaborative liberation efforts and the geopolitical resistance movements to imperialism in the global south. in the u.s., generations of chicanx and latinx scholars and writers have used and reshaped testimonio as a tool to express marginalization resulting from race, gender, and sexuality, but also as a means of agency (the latina feminist group, 2001; moraga & anzaldúa, 2015; roque ramírez, 2005). in their book, telling to live: latina feminist testimonios, the latina feminist group (2001) explains a traditional approach to testimonio as a process in which the person bearing witness to intense repression or struggle tells their story to someone else who then transcribes, edits, translates, and publishes the text elsewhere. while testimonio is a critical method for feminist research praxis, they acknowledge that the traditional practice of the genre can reproduce hegemonic relations of power that maintain social hierarchies between the researcher and the subject. to mediate the power relations between themselves and their subjects, telling to live presents a series of essays that creatively merge “the spirit of testimonial disclosure” with various forms of autobiographical writing (e.g., feminist ethnography and autobiographical fiction and non-fiction) and traditional literary genres of poetry and short stories (the latina feminist group, 2001, p. 20). a critique of hegemonic relations of power in testimonio-making, however, must also extend to the colonial logics that constitute u.s. latinx and latin american ethno-racial formations reflected in traditional chicanx/latinx testimonio practices, which have primarily focused on the theorization and bridging of “brown bodies” (anzaldúa, 1990; delgado bernal et al., 2012; moraga & anzaldúa, 2015). this discursive practice racializes latinx bodies as uniformly “brown,” contributing to the erasure of blackness, indigeneity, asian experiences, and other marginalized racial formations that constitute latin american and caribbean diasporas. as political theorist juliet hooker (2014) argues in the essay “hybrid subjectivities, latin american mestizaje, and latino political thought on race,” the essentialized discourses of “brownness,” which she describes as vestiges of colonial logics and nation-building projects from ideas of mestizaje in latin america, have significant implications for who, and who does not, matter within social and political discourses of u.s. latinidad. 108 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 process in the following pages, i will describe my own personal process recording the testimonios of jylynn and cynthia as a case study to articulate some of the principles shaping the contours of a digital archives praxis of redistributive relations that draws on feminist and anti-colonial critiques, as well our own lived experiences. while the recordings stand on their own as critical cultural productions expressing specific diasporic translatinidades, this collaborative process, which primarily uses testimonio as a methodology, is framed by a common desire to build solidarity and to produce and exchange knowledge through our differential lived experiences. in this way, the process of creating an ethic and politic that centralizes relationality becomes entwined with the product. i began the testimonio process by working with cynthia and jylynn to develop a set of specific questions that would guide the stories they each wanted to tell around their transmigratory experiences as garifuna women spending time between the west coast of the united states and the central america countries of honduras, guatemala, and, in jylynn’s case, belize. cynthia was the first contributor to the project. i began by sharing a set of questions borrowed from the “how to do oral history guide” provided by the smithsonian’s oral history program (n.d.). the questions and topics they suggest are generic, indirectly asking questions around socioeconomic status (e.g., “how did your family get around?,” “tell me about the house you grew up in.,” “did you attend college?”) and an assumed migratory status (e.g., “where did your ancestors come from?,” “when did they come to the united states?,” “did your family name change when your family immigrated to the united states?”)(p. 7-10). gender is the category most directly addressed, but only as it relates to higher education (e.g., “tell me about any gender challenges you encountered in college.”) (p. 8; 10). sexuality, as an identity category, is omitted entirely. with these observations in mind, i met with cynthia at her home to review the guided questions. as we went through the list, we modified, added, and discarded questions to better reflect her lived experience as a black-indigenous latina. for example, we added questions around topics that were important to cynthia, like religion, spirituality, and ancestral home remedies, as well as her experience working as a nurse practitioner during the aids crisis, which provided insights into how she negotiates various complex and contradictory sets of beliefs, values, and practices. jylynn and i developed a similar process for her testimonio, with some modifications to accommodate her busy schedule, including using her ease with digital technology to our advantage. our primary method of communication was whatsapp, a free instant messaging app that plays a vital role among many diasporic communities, as anyone with a smartphone and internet connection can download it and reach people across national and international borders. i emailed jylynn a copy of the questions we developed for cynthia’s testimonio for her to review on her own. jylynn called me through whatsapp from a starbucks when she finished reviewing the list and together, we modified the questions to reflect her own specific experiences. jylynn was enthusiastic to get started and told me that her experiences have much to offer current discourses on latinidad. she shared that she is particularly interested in discussing the shaping and reshaping of her identity, including how she navigates racial, ethnic, and cultural differences across multiple transnational borders. 109 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 as a small collective on a micro-budget and limited time on our hands, we primarily use digital media technologies that are available to us through our own personal and professional networks or are little-to-no cost with a low learning curve. we also take into account social context and the technological resources used by migrant women of latin american and caribbean diasporas, such as smartphones, social media, and whatsapp, to exchange information and disseminate knowledge within the preferred networks of our collaborators. in other writing, i have referred to this method as “digital rasquachismo,” a socio-political praxis that retools everyday technologies to provide creative solutions and new pathways for black and non-black latinx memory work when resources are limited (hicks-alcaraz, 2020). both jylynn and cynthia preferred that i record their testimonios in-person rather than virtually to maintain a human-to-human connection.5 in cynthia’s case, we conducted her testimonio in her house in harbor city, los angeles. she usually lives alone, but on the occasion that i came to record her interview, her daughter and grandson were living with her until their house in wilmington, the same house cynthia grew up in, was finished being remodeled. with ample room in her living room to conduct the interview, i used my own camera and audio equipment that i had purchased in previous years for personal projects. my toolkit included a sony hxr-nx30 palm-size nxcam camcorder (now discontinued), a camera tripod, and a handheld zoom h4n audio recorder. to record jylynn’s testimonio, i used a simpler toolkit to call less attention to us while recording in front of claremont’s city hall. the toolkit i put together consisted of my personal iphone 11, a smartphone tripod i purchased online for the interview, and my zoom h4n audio recorder. i used proprietary platforms and applications to edit, transcribe, store, and share jylynn’s testimonio. for example, to edit the camera footage, i used the imovie application on my personal 13-inch macbook pro. i edited the two-hour interview down into shorter video segments ranging from 2 to 13 minutes. i titled them according to a specific theme or set of themes to help viewers find information quickly and easily, as illustrated in figure 3. figure 3. image of a video recording from jylynn’s testimonio edited on imovie (“jylynn clip 1 growing up in compton, washington state & central america”). 110 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 once i finished the editing process, i uploaded jylynn’s testimonio to vimeo (see figure 4). vimeo is a user-friendly video-sharing platform that offers several subscription-based tools and features, as well as various privacy options that provide greater control over who can watch and see videos. founded by a group of filmmakers in 2004 with the goal of creating a platform that better met their streaming needs, vimeo is geared toward a small but wide-ranging community of content-creators, primarily filmmakers, graphic designers, and animators. figure 4. image displaying jylynn’s video-recorded and edited clips on vimeo (heads, 2022c). to upload jylynn’s testimonio to the platform, i opened a basic account using her email6 and a generic password that she can later change. a basic account is free and can store up to 5gb of content. with jylynn’s permission, i uploaded the nine short video clips according to topic (a total of approximately 80 minutes) to the account and made them available to the public with some privacy and distribution restrictions, including removing the ability for users to download or embed the videos directly to third-party sites. a basic account also allows users to make videos private through password protection. additionally, vimeo allows creators to apply a set of creative commons licenses7 to their work at their discretion. jylynn and i chose a non-commercial no derivatives license, one of the most restrictive licenses offered by creative commons. this license will allow others to use jylynn’s videos and share them with others as long as they credit her, but it will not allow users to change the videos in any way or use them commercially. while downloading is permissible under the creative commons license, we removed the ability for people to download the videos directly from vimeo and instead encouraged folks to contact jylynn or counter-memorias for reuse or redistribution directly. although far from ideal, vimeo’s privacy policy regarding personal information collected, used, and shared by the company, in some circumstances, offers greater user rights than other popular 111 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 video-sharing platforms. for instance, as a vimeo user, you can opt-out of sharing your personal information with third parties (vimeo, 2022, “with whom we share your data” section). if you decide to delete your vimeo account and its content, including its videos, you can do so without the company’s retention of that content (vimeo, 2022, “data retention” section), unlike youtube, which retains server copies of videos that have been removed or deleted (youtube, 2022, “duration of license” section). according to youtube’s terms of service, the platform also has the right to monetize your content, which includes displaying ads on or within content or charging users a fee for access, without payments to content creators (youtube, 2022, “right to monetize” section). vimeo, on the other hand, does not feature ads and instead monetizes from paid subscriptions to provide additional hosting capacity and customization options. moreover, residents of california are subject to additional protections under california’s consumer privacy act, such as the right to know the personal information vimeo collects, their purposes for collecting the information, and the types of third parties that receive information (vimeo, 2022, “california users” section). additionally, california residents have the right to delete personal information vimeo has about you, as well as the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information and to request information about whether the company has sold your personal information (vimeo, 2022, “california users” section). however, vimeo also has several glaring limitations. storage on a basic non-subscription account is limited to a fixed 5gbs and only allows creators to upload 500mb of content weekly. in this case, however, i was able to “hack” the weekly storage limit by temporarily upgrading jylynn’s account to a “plus” subscription using a 30-day free trial that allows creators to upload up to 5gb of content a week, allowing me to update all nine videos (totaling 5gbs) at one time. once i had compressed and uploaded the videos, i canceled the subscription. additionally, while vimeo gives creators the option to not allow downloads or embedding of videos onto other platforms, there is no way of preventing people from using a third-party app to download or screen-record uploaded content. vimeo also has the right to terminate accounts at any time through a 30-day written notice. common reasons for terminating a creator's account include account inactivity and copyright infringement (which is decided by vimeo). this makes it necessary for creators to create and store multiple copies of content on other storage devices such as a hard drive, thumb drive, etc. as such, we save a copy of a testimonio to our own hard drive, for safekeeping purposes only, and another copy on a thumb drive that we give to the contributor. but while digital technology and online platforms can be necessary and potentially powerful tools for social justice, they can also be a source of disempowerment, extraction, and exploitation. for example, using proprietary communication tools such as social media enables diasporic women to forge interconnected networks with family and friends across time and space. digital humanities scholars like jessica marie johnson (2018), moya bailey (2015), and maría cotera (2018), for example, speak to the vital role digital tools play in the survival and life of those who have experienced marginalization or discrimination, including “insurgent archives” on instagram, tumblr, facebook, twitter, youtube, and vimeo. yet, digital technologies are also a double-edged sword that must be handled with care. critical media scholars have pointed to the ways facebook and twitter, as well as other internet technologies such as search engines, provide new opportunities for mass data collection by the state and private companies, as well as for deepening and reifying stereotypes and discrimination of groups that already face discrimination in western societies (benjamin, 2019; fuchs & trottier, 2015; noble, 2018). therefore, an essential part of this process is to acknowledge that 112 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 we may inevitably reproduce parts of colonialism that we seek to change. we navigate this conflicted terrain by acknowledging the flawed nature of the technological resources we employ while remaining committed to achieving transformational change by using the values of redistributive relations, such as respect, reciprocity, collaboration, and accountability to guide our efforts. though not an answer, it is a step forward. moving on to the transcription process, i am currently using a web-based open-source app called otranscribe (https://otranscribe.com/). while exceedingly time-consuming, the app makes it easy to transcribe recordings by allowing users to pause, rewind, and fast-forward audio or video files without taking your hands off the keyboard. importantly, otranscribe does not store uploaded audio or video files nor copies of user transcripts and instead temporarily saves edits to the user’s browser. counter-memorias facilitator, dani bustillo, and i worked together via zoom to transcribe jylynn’s testimonio. this process served not only as a space for collaborative transcribing, but also as an essential space for dani and i to share stories of our embodied experiences with race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, fostering a deeper bond in the process. once we finish transcribing the interview, we will review the transcript with jylynn for accuracy and to (re)confirm consent. while the project aims to democratize the archive by increasing the visibility and voice of marginalized groups, it also supports their efforts to regain control over how their cultural materials are used and what stories are told about them. a part of this process is reconfirming consent through the various stages of the project because consent is an active and on-going (re)negotiation between parties. this includes the right to withdraw their consent from the project at any time. as a non-custodial archive, counter-memorias does not require that contributors give up their ownership and any copies to the archive, unlike dominant archival agreements which require contributors to grant the repository a perpetual right to copy, distribute, publicly perform, and display their content. contributors to the counter-memorias archive retain rights to their own memorias, with the option of permitting us to hold a digital copy strictly for safekeeping. to use, distribute, or display copies beyond the counter-memorias website, we must request and be granted permission from the contributor on a case-by-case basis. we believe this is the most ethical engagement model with community partners, as it resists colonial notions of ownership and creates opportunities for horizontal collaboration. moving forward counter-memorias is sustained by the transgenerational relationships among community members, students, and faculty. future work involves nourishing this solidarity by redistributing material and emotional resources available to us (e.g., time, empathy, generosity, knowledge, skills, care, kindness, networks, and funds) to transform the status quo. communal relations ground our processes of testimonio-making, a very hands-on technical project that requires that we rely on one another to do the work of developing guiding questions that are specific to contributors, video-recording oral histories, editing them into short clips, transcribing audio files, designing the website and filling it with content, language translation, carefully selecting appropriate digital technologies and developing plans to mitigate their risks, navigating southern california’s explicitly segregationist freeways to meet contributors in person, and more. creating an archive without funding is not easy, but it has also given us the freedom to experiment and make the path as we go. it is both thrilling and terrifying. rather than moving toward an end product, this project will intentionally remain ongoing. as articulated by political 113 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://otranscribe.com/ piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 thinkers such as robin d. g. kelly (arablouei & abdelfatah, 2022), audre lorde (2007), and angela davis (2016), we must embrace the long struggle toward liberation, which cannot be done without community. with no room for complacency, meaningful change requires a commitment to the collective remaking of our vision, rethinking of our values, and continuing struggle for liberation. endnotes 1 the full testimonio of jylynn heads is available on vimeo: https://vimeo.com/showcase/9450415. 2 the concept of “intersectionality” was coined by kimberlé crenshaw, a black legal scholar working in the field of critical race theory, in her foundational 1989 essay entitled “demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex.” crenshaw developed intersectionality as a framework for challenging discrimination in the law. more specifically, it challenged what was a largely accepted “single-issue” approach to inequality in the u.s. legal system. crenshaw used intersectionality to highlight the ways in which inequalities in the law can be compounded for those who possess multiple and overlapping marginalized identities. although the genealogy of intersectionality was developed to address a particular problem in the law, it has been applied in many other settings outside the legal system and today is of central significance in cultural and scholarly conversations around equality, inclusion, and social justice. 3 in referencing the work of anzaldúa, i simultaneously acknowledge her valuable contributions to chicana feminist critical thought and the important criticism against anzaldúa’s erasure of blackness in her theorization of chicana/latina experiences. see: ariana brown (2021), juliet hooker (2014), and maría josefina saldaña-portillo (2001). 4 digital technology refers to electronic technology that collects, stores, processes, and shares information. digital technologies include social media, computers, laptops, smartphones, internet, hard drives, and so on. as digital humanities scholar tara mcpherson (2009) explains in “introduction: media studies and the digital humanities,” “technologies are not neutral tools” (p. 123). they are powerfully influential social systems. “it is thus imperative,” mcpherson (2009) argues, “that we be involved in the design and construction of the emerging networked platforms and practices that will shape the contours not only of our research, but of social meaning and being for decades to come” (p. 123). 5 technology has its limits, after all, plenty of them. 6 in the future, we plan to create “fake” emails to open new vimeo accounts to prevent the site and other data collecting services from extracting information tied to the personal emails of contributors. 7 a creative commons (cc) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the distribution of copyrighted material. a cc license is used when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use, and/or build upon work that they have created. authors have the flexibility to choose from several types of cc licenses that offer different terms of distribution. 114 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://vimeo.com/showcase/9450415 piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 acknowledgements i would like to offer my deep gratitude to cynthia lewis and jylynn heads for trusting me with their stories. i would also like to extend my thanks and appreciation to the members of ixem and counter-memorias, including aldo puicon, dani bustillo, jessica delgado, and brittany ribeiro brown, for their continued 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(2015). braiding sweetgrass: indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teaching of plants. langara college. 118 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1353/nlh.2019.0053 https://www.instagram.com/p/bpr2ed_hfwe/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=7f403825-f37e-4506-90bd-ffc81e8d747c https://www.instagram.com/p/bpr2ed_hfwe/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=7f403825-f37e-4506-90bd-ffc81e8d747c https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/hispanic-heritage-month-latinidad/ https://soundcloud.com/nydia-simone https://siarchives.si.edu/history/how-do-oral-history https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.66.4.3483672630865482 https://vimeo.com/privacy piloting the counter-memorias digital testimonio project the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38784 youtube. (2022, january 5). terms of service. https://www.youtube.com/static?template=terms marisa hicks-alcaraz (mchicks@illinois.edu) is a distinguished post-doctoral research associate in the department of media and cinema studies at the university of illinois urbana-champaign. her transdisciplinary research brings together critical ethnic studies, anti-colonial studies, media arts practice, liberationist political thought and praxis, u.s. latin american diasporic studies, intersectional feminism, and critical digital humanities and grassroots archival praxis. this research aims to de-center western ways of knowing and challenges extractivist neoliberal and colonial practices by adopting a relational framework to publicly-engaged scholarship that is committed to collective liberation. her writing has appeared in the journal of feminist media histories; interdisciplinary digital engagement in arts & humanities; and reviews in digital humanities. she is the co-founder of imaginx en movimiento, a grassroots memory collective that partners with individuals and cultural organizations of racialized identities of u.s. latin american diasporas to explore do-it-together (dit) methods for grassroots digital archiving and media arts production. she earned her ph.d. in cultural studies from claremont graduate university and her m.a. in cinema studies from new york university. 119 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.youtube.com/static?template=terms mailto:mchicks@illinois.edu introduction the problem with “latinidad” the counter-memorias testimonio project (re)constructing testimonio process moving forward endnotes acknowledgements references from “a limited space” to a much wider future: meaning-making practices on the part of young refugee women pursuing post-secondary education in the united states the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 from a "limited space" to a much wider future: meaning-making practices of young refugee women pursuing post-secondary education caseem luck, temple university, usa michele santamaria, millersville university, usa abstract this article analyzes the diverse migratory experiences that inform the narratives of refugee women from nepal, the democratic republic of congo (drc), and iraq while these women navigate higher education as refugees in a small city in the u.s. it is important to contextualize that these women’s experiences take place in lancaster, pennsylvania, especially given lancaster’s unique relationship to refugees. while refugee numbers have lagged more recently due to restrictions placed by the trump administration, the longstanding commitment on the part of organizations like church world services and bethany christian services to provide support to refugees signifies, to a certain degree, that lancaster is different than the rest of the u.s. when it comes to welcoming refugees (lancaster online staff writer, 2019). to analyze our informants’ migratory experiences which resulted in their pursuit of higher education in lancaster, pennsylvania, the article explores informant participation in a wide range of meaningmaking practices. in doing so, the article analyzes our informants’ varying levels of struggle with imposed narratives. these imposed narratives have to do with refugees as they resettle in the u.s. the perception of refugees as victimized, impoverished, and destitute informs some of these refugee women’s sense of being pitied in their new social structure. grappling with these perceptions also challenges the informants’ ability to construct their own narratives. the powerful yet nuanced influence of imagery on social discourses is pivotal in terms of shaping the narratives of refugees. in turn, this imposed imagery and imposed narratives render authentic narratives all the more necessary. keywords: democratic republic of congo; iraq; lancaster; nepal; refugees publication type: research article introduction his article analyzes the diverse migratory experiences that inform the narratives of refugee women from nepal, the democratic republic of congo (drc), and iraq as these women navigate higher education in the u.s. the article illustrates how these women view themselves as moving “from a limited space” of their past and present as refugees to “a much wider future” that is informed but not defined by their refugee status. while the local context of lancaster, pennsylvania (pa), and the broader context of being refugees in the u.s. are essential to our study, it is also important to note that wider trends of contemporary forced migration are applicable to our informants’ experiences. as delineated by de haas et al. (2020, pp. 9-11), “[d]omestic politics, bilateral and regional relationships and national security policies t about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 of states around the world are increasingly affected by international migration” (p. 10). as in other parts of the world, our informants find themselves at the center of a polemic between humanitarian and religious groups advocating for their protection, and groups who see their large-scale arrival as a threat to the state. we examine these tensions in the context of lancaster, pa. between 2013 and 2017, lancaster welcomed 1,300 refugees, a fact that earned it the moniker “the refugee capital” from the bbc (strasser, 2017). in turn, those refugees have found longterm support through refugee agencies such as lancaster’s local office of church world services. a key player in refugee services in lancaster, church world services was founded in 1946 by bringing together several religious groups in an effort to assist with a range of global humanitarian efforts. as verified by s. gromek, the development and communications coordinator at church world services in lancaster, the fact of the matter is that lancaster has been uniquely poised to provide for refugees for the nearly 33 years that her outpost of church world services has been supporting refugees in the city (personal communication, january 22, 2020). understanding lancaster’s unique context in relation to refugees assists in contrasting our informants’ experiences with that of refugees in other parts of the u.s. notwithstanding this uniqueness, refugees in lancaster and refugee agencies in the city have been deeply affected by the broader historical forces at play in the u.s. since being elected in 2016, the u.s. president, donald trump, has rolled out several executive actions designed to cut down on the total number of refugees, tightening that figure every year since 2017. according to s. gromek, at this point, the number has been cut down to 18,000, with refugees from the democratic republic of congo starting to be affected by the restrictions (personal communication, january 22, 2020). in contrast, muslim refugees from selected countries were swiftly and initially targeted by such measures as the 2017 travel ban, executive order 13769, entitled, “protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the united states” (rogers, 2020, p. 18), with these restrictions have intensified in 2020. even though lancaster’s more tolerant context is critical to understanding our informants’ narratives, this broader national and historical moment must also be contextualized as a variable in their narrative experiences. to analyze our informants’ migratory experiences, which resulted in their pursuit of higher education in lancaster, pennsylvania, the article explores informants’ participation in a wide range of meaning-making practices. in doing so, the article analyzes our informants’ varying levels of struggle with imposed narratives. the article’s focus on narrative is grounded in its use of the ethnographic methodology from the discipline of anthropology. an ethnographic narrative method is believed to be the closest one can get to the experience itself from a retrospective viewpoint (wong, 1991). the approach enables the individual to portray a multilayered experience, which uses facts from outer and inner reality—objective occurrences together with emotional states and attitudes towards what happened and what one did or felt at the event, or when one recounts it. all is controlled and chosen, “edited”, as rosenthal (1991) put it, by the narrator, which in this case are the refugees themselves (p. 39). thus, making use of ethnography as the article’s methodology allows for multiple truths associated with each woman’s story and meaning-making practices to be articulated in her own words. these sentiments regarding “truths” are further echoed by moore (1994), who asserted that “there are no transcendental truths, no absolute grounds on which one can stand to make judgment, no metanarratives” (p. 348). as geertz (1983) asserts, all ethnographic knowledge is 88 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 subjective, context-bound, and partial; it is committed to personal perspectives and starting points of the researchers, readers (and participants), and has to be accepted or rejected as such. hence, in search of multiple “truths,” ethnography, particularly interactive ethnographic storytelling, offers a fruitful method through which to express the journeys of these women. when speaking of journeys, we emphasize not just the spatial migration, but also their journeys of constructing their narrative identities through ongoing negotiation/updating of their meaningmaking systems. similar understandings of searching for “truth” concerning the “refugee experience” have been articulated in fontanari’s (2019) work lives in transit: an ethnographic study of refugees’ subjectivity across european borders. her use of multisided ethnography concerning the multiple lived journeys (or implicit “truths”) associated with the migration of several “protagonists” (p. 10) in part situated her participants as a constant authoritative voice at the foreground of an ever-changing physical landscape. in the case of our informants, they must grapple with several kinds of imposed narratives as they resettle in the u.s. the perception of refugees as victimized, impoverished, and destitute informs some of these refugee women’s impressions and experiences in their new social structure. grappling with these perceptions also challenges the informants’ abilities to construct their own narratives, from the ethnographic perspective of how narrative is shaped as a negotiation between objective occurrences and subjective truths. thus, our informants’ meaning-making is vital in terms of deconstructing the metanarrative of how a refugee woman is viewed through the contemporary discourse of migration. while prior depictions of “heroic” refugees focused on european individuals fleeing world war ii, another discourse emerged in the sixties and seventies regarding the developing world and its flight to the global north: one of floods of women and children fleeing the violence of volatile regions (johnson, 2011, p. 1030). the question must be raised regarding the stark historical romanticism of the past and the stigmatized depiction in the contemporary moment: where does the presentday refugee woman situate herself? more specifically, the article poses the following questions: how can the meaning-making found in narrative practices assist these women refugees in making sense of their past and present experiences as they pursue higher education in the u.s.? furthermore, how can creating these narrative identities for themselves help these young refugee women find ways to reconfigure their pasts and project themselves into meaningful futures? in this article, we will argue that this creation of narrative identity through meaning-making processes is a source of empowerment for our informants and that their storytelling includes several common themes. these themes include our informants’ experiences with trauma, their evolving understandings of their roles as women, and their experiences with english acquisition. for one informant, the trauma continues to be in the foreground of the present moment while for others, trauma is much less conspicuous. making sense of their roles as women in their home cultures and in their new cultural context is an important element in terms of creating narrative identities. finally, analyzing how the informants learned english and their current relationship to the language reveals a lot about their narrative identities and their sense of what the future holds for them. literature review refugees, labels and dominant narratives while there is significant evidence that shaping their narratives can assist refugees in making 89 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 positive sense of their experiences and shaping new identities, it is also important to note that the refugee label itself creates various complications. as zetter (2007) pointed out, “label” works better for refugees than the word “category” given the complex way that the word “label” implies both a process of identifying with an identity and as a mark of identity. zetter preferred to use the word “label” because it can be “independently applied” to someone and it is also a word that can be meaningfully chosen and amended. finally, zetter argued for the refugee label given how it functions in very concrete, real-world ways, as well as metaphorical and symbolic ones. as is clearly the case with our informants, there is a way that the refugee label plays a critical role for them in “forming, transforming, and politicizing an identity” (p. 172). shifts in the politicizing of the refugee label have occurred in a few distinct ways relevant to our informant context. according to johnson (2011), one such significant shift can be tracked from the much earlier depiction of refugees as respectably european to the nameless masses or “floods” coming from the “third” or developing world (p. 1023). “floods” of women and children were and have been portrayed as fleeing the violence of volatile regions. as johnson (2011) argued, this type of discourse “constructs victims” to mobilize donations and more poignantly, to mobilize discourses surrounding refugees with very real sociopolitical consequences. for johnson (2011), “[w]hile the european victims of persecution who initially embodied the figure of the refugee were political and angry, the current victims are instead vulnerable and destitute” (p. 1030). for martone (2006), the politicizing of the label on the part of refugee aid agencies to mobilize assistance through the deployment of “hopeless images” constitutes a failure to treat refugees with dignity, a provision that is an integral part of the universal declaration of human rights (p. 133). with the refugee crisis in the global south, the image of the refugee mother began to be deployed and then was further cemented in its use in the 1980s by the united nations high commissioner for refugees (unhcr). ultimately, johnson (2011) noted that within a changing political context in the global north, there has been an increased push to send aid “over there” and to draw firmer boundaries to prevent refugees from coming in, rather than asylum “here” (p. 1033). refugees and narrative processes while martone (2006) and johnson (2011) have focused on sympathy-provoking images that frame refugees as victims, other scholars have drawn attention to how sympathetic responses from the media have transformed to hostility (georgiou & zabrowski, 2017, pg. 3). in the case of our article, as is the case in bonini baldini’s (2019) “narrative capability: self-recognition and mutual recognition in refugees’ storytelling,” critical reflection upon these media-generated polarizing representations of refugees “brings attention to the need to view the process of recognizing the refugee in relation to the act of narration” (p. 133). furthermore, bonini baldini (2019) goes on to elaborate upon why the act of narration becomes so pivotal to refugee identity: the concept of recognition becomes central in media studies when one considers that the way the subject is narrated shapes the way we are able to think of it, and the way we narrate it shows who we are. consequently, the way refugees imagine themselves operates on two levels. the first is symbolic, where the refugee has already been portrayed by the person chosen to speak for them. the second is juridical normative, related to the possibility of being considered a social and political subject. (p. 133) to even be designated a “refugee” from a legal perspective, potential refugees must provide a cohesive and viable narrative; it is this storytelling that stands in as their evidence rather than 90 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 any other type of legal document (vogl, 2013, p. 64). aside from narration being inextricably implicated in the seeking of refugee status, our article also proposes that narratives are the sites where refugees can craft and convey alternative visions of what it means to be a refugee in the u.s. for several researchers focusing on refugee youth who have resettled in the u.s., a focus on narrative provides a way to discuss their subjects’ abilities to develop a sense of agency around their lives or a sense of empowerment (ryu & tuvilla, 2018; shapiro, 2018). for ryu and tuvilla (2018), who interviewed burmese adolescents resettled in a midwest city in the u.s., the ability to author their own narratives signifies being able to “contest marginalizing narratives” by demonstrating themselves to be “valuable members of local communities and change agents for a more equitable society” (p. 539). in doing so, these burmese adolescents are also projecting themselves into a meaningful future that offers them more space in which to realize their aspirations. refugees’ meaning-making, global and situational in order to make sense of repeating patterns in our informants’ transcripts, the article combines an attention to how informants craft their resettlement narratives with an analysis of how meaning-making plays a role in the crafting of those narratives. when it comes to refugees and meaning-making practices, most of the literature focuses on the role of trauma, with posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd) documented as the main psychopathology among refugees (fazel et al., 2005). aside from scholarship focused on trauma-informed meaning-making, there has also been increased attention to positive psychological adjustment on the part of refugees (levine et al., 2018). that said, regardless of whether or not a refugee is able to make a positive adjustment and experience posttraumatic growth, it is important to explain how psychological meaning-making occurs, particularly given how these meaning-making practices figure in the informant narratives featured in this article. broadly speaking, humans make meaning of their life experiences at global and situational levels. as park (2013) articulated in her article on the meaning-making model, the global level refers to an overall worldview comprised of beliefs, goals, and a sense of purpose. together, these beliefs, goals, and sense of purpose inform an individual’s orientation to the world. in contrast to this holistic outlook, situational meaning-making has to do with appraisals of individual situations. for meaning-making to undergo a more radical shift than might ordinarily be experienced, an individual must experience a significant change that does not jibe with either their global or situational meaning-making. to put it in a slightly different way, discrepancy provides the catalyst for the meaning-making practices that this article focuses on when analyzing our informant narratives. when situations are incongruent with an individual’s global sense of meaning, meaning-making occurs to reduce that discrepancy. when global meaning-making shifts, individuals can experience growth in terms of a new identity, a new way of looking at the world. another way of thinking about discrepancy as part of the meaning-making process is to consider how it can lead to shattering an individual’s core assumptions about themselves and their place in the world, thus providing a powerful need for meaning-making. when meaning-making leads to growth or post-traumatic growth, it is frequently likely that certain factors have affected the likelihood of this happening, amongst them: demographics, social support, religion, coping styles, and trauma. in the case of refugee populations, there are other powerful factors to 91 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 consider, such as culture and the refugee’s agency as experienced within their migratory experience. it is important to note in the case of refugees that the complicated landscape of resettlement in camps, and different phases of displacement, mark different phases in meaningmaking. the nepali context for the refugee experience for those who have argued for a unique context that refugee experiences bring to meaningmaking practices, the role of culture and the specificity of migratory experience are paramount. in the case of our informants, the specific contexts that inform their accounts are frequently evident in their narratives and quite different from one another. in terms of the nepalese context, it is critical to note that ethnicity in nepal cannot be understood apart from the external political factors that have made themselves inescapably palpable on villagers’ lives (levine, 1987, p. 86). nepal’s restrictive citizenship regulations have resulted in a complicated holding pattern of statelessness for many populations displaced to nepal, such as the bhutanese, or even for nepali who have been internally displaced. when gender is factored into this complex political situation, nepali women have and continue to be discriminated against when it comes to citizenship. in the 1990s, a new constitution restricted granting of citizenship by descent to nepali men. currently, married women cannot obtain a citizenship certificate “without the approval of their husband or father-in-law” (white, 2009, p. 29). on top of these restrictions placed upon women, white (2009) also notes “discriminatory and patriarchal practices in some communities which discourage women and girls from applying” for citizenship certificates (p. 28). the democratic republic of congo and the refugee experience in the case of refugees from the democratic republic of congo (drc) who resettled in south africa first, as is the case with our drc informant, this south african resettlement posed unique problems. in one study with adult refugees from zimbabwe and drc, common themes that emerged were issues with work, xenophobia/racism, mental health, physical safety, housing, healthcare, and quality of life (labys et al., 2017). drc refugees in south africa frequently encounter xenophobia that covers a broad range of behaviors, from verbal hostility to physical violence. in 2008, the xenophobia reached an all-time high with widespread attacks that left 62 people dead and many others fleeing the country; once again, in 2015, a similar pattern emerged with a death count of seven people and a resulting displacement of thousands of refugees. these outbursts were marked by violence which drew the attention of the los angeles times. on may 20, 2008, the newspaper’s headline read “migrants burned alive in s. africa.” the trauma of these experiences on the refugee consciousness cannot be downplayed. moreover, once the transition is made to the u.s., there is a documented loss of social support that impacts drc refugee women’s well-being (wachter & gulbas, 2018, p. 107). while wachter and gulbas (2018) were able to pinpoint how their drc study participants come to “learn how to stand alone,” they were simultaneously able to illustrate the price at which this self-sufficiency comes, with “implications for health, mental health, and overall well-being” (p. 112). iraqi context for refugee experience it is important to note that much research on iraqi refugees in the u.s. has focused on groups 92 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 that would have been displaced to refugee camps in conflicts that predated 2003. for the purposes of contextualizing our iraqi informants’ experiences, it is important to examine 2003 onwards. for those displaced due to the period of war between the u.s. and saddam hussein’s regime, their experience would not have included refugee camps and instead would have meant living in other urban areas in turkey, jordan, lebanon, and syria, prior to syria’s internal conflicts, which began in 2011 (gangamma, 2018, p. 325). it is important to note the significance of resettling in the country that “led the war against iraq” amidst “a current climate of religious and ethnic hostilities” that are different from what has been faced by other waves of iraqi refugees (gangamma, 2018; campbell, 2016). methods this ethnographic study blends an anthropological approach to interviewing informants with a more dialogic approach drawn from oral history methodology. in adapting the oral history approach to question-asking, we aimed to encourage our informants to feel as if the stories that they were telling were their own. the data collection consisted of in-depth interviews with three informants and took place over the course of two years between april 2017 and may 2019 at a medium-sized university in lancaster, pennsylvania. the interviews were completed by the first author. the first author also completed the transcription of the interviews. an initial questionnaire was drafted that was tested and refined subsequently. we provide more details about the methodology below, including a discussion of the setting, the recruitment of informants, and the analytical lens that was employed. setting lancaster, and its surrounding area, is considered a major refugee resettlement hub in pennsylvania (jeffries, 2017). located about 125 kilometers west of the city of philadelphia, (the largest city in pennsylvania), lancaster is one of the oldest inland cities in the u.s. (city of lancaster, n.d.) and one of the most populated cities in south central pennsylvania (u.s. census bureau, n.d.). the selected university for this study, millersville university, is classified by u.s. standards as a “predominantly white institution” (or pwi). however, located just three kilometers from the city of lancaster, the number of refugee students at millersville, in comparison to other universities in the south central pennsylvania area, is relatively high. millersville university functions as a mid-size comprehensive undergraduate institution, with some graduate programs. interviews for this research were conducted with women who had enrolled as undergraduate students at millersville university. millersville, pennsylvania, provides the setting for most of the interactions described by informants unless they are specifically describing off-campus interactions. thus, it is important to note that lancaster’s cultural attitudes toward refugees are arguably distinct from those at millersville, which attracts students from all over the state of pennsylvania. table 1 introduces the study participants. they ranged in age from 19 to 24 and came from nepal, the drc, and iraq. two of our informants had been forced to resettle more than once; these were our informants from the drc and nepal. we used the pseudonyms flower, sarah, and leyla to distinguish between our informants. all were in various stages of their undergraduate degrees at the time of the study. sarah and flower had just begun their undergraduate careers, each attending the same summer bridge program at the university prior to starting their fall semester term. in the u.s., summer bridge programs are designed to help students from 93 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 underrepresented groups get a head start on their academic careers. in contrast, leyla was finishing up her last semester at millersville university before graduating. table 1. overview of study informants pseudonym birth country country of resettlement number of years in u.s. languages year in college flower johnson democratic republic of congo south africa; u.s. four years english, french & swahili 2nd semester first year student sarah khan nepal u.s. (lancaster, pa) eight years english & nepali 2nd semester first year student leyla al-fayed iraq u.s. (lancaster, pa) eight years english & arabic 2nd semester junior (third year) each woman had come to the u.s. at a different age, and for different reasons. when sarah was 11 years old, her parents applied for resettlement while living in a refugee camp in rural nepal. in the case of flower, her family had fled the ongoing conflict in the drc, temporarily resettling in south africa for most of her teenage years. at age 19, flower and her family were resettled in philadelphia prior to her attending university in the lancaster area. leyla, in comparison to flower and sarah, migrated with her family to the central pennsylvania area because of family health concerns. thus, leyla’s family had moved to the u.s. temporarily so that her father could undergo a medical operation. due to the conflict happening in iraq at the time, leyla and her family stayed in the u.s., and established a second home in the united arab emirates (u.a.e). recruitment participants were recruited through a convenience sample. university programs that support students of color were contacted. in the u.s., the term “person of color” is used to designate anyone not considered white in order to highlight these groups’ experiences with systemic racism (vidal-ortiz, 2008). the significance of contacting this program lies in the fact that refugee students are frequently put in the same educational cohorts as u.s. minorities despite the label “students of color” more readily applying to the u.s. groups. both flower and sarah were part of a summer bridge program that focused on college readiness. in contrast, leyla and the coauthor who conducted interviews were both members of the same student organization that focused on civic engagement and social change. positionality and reflexivity concerning researcher self-reflexivity, the co-authors of this article situate themselves with the claim that we all embody multiple selves (darling-wolf, 2003). in the case of co-author luck, his position as an african american black cis-gendered man, coming from a marginalized community that has also been painted with a broad brush of uniformity, assisted him in empathizing with certain struggles expressed by each woman — in particular, flower, with whom he shared a sense 94 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 of black identity. nonetheless, luck finds it important to note that he was cautious in terms of how he drew conclusions about findings, instead attempting to identify how our informants make meaning of their experiences. in the case of the other co-author, santamaria interacted with several of these students during the context of their summer bridge experience. thus, she had met the informants known as sarah and flower. sarah’s nepali nationality was something that she discussed and shared during a writing exercise, although her status as a refugee was not. flower did not disclose her nationality or her prior refugee status. thus, as someone who served as an educator to some of our informants, embarking upon this study underscored the need to view these students from a threedimensional perspective rather than simply lumping them together with american minorities attending a summer bridge program. instrument interview questions were drawn up to elicit informant narratives with encouragement for informants to voice their stories in ways that felt true to their personalities. occasionally, questions were amended in the moment. the semiformal interview consisted of 15 questions that were meant to explore respondents’ re-resettlement experiences, present realities, and imagined futures. depending on their responses to various questions, the investigators would follow up with other questions to better understand each woman’s narrative. the full questionnaire is included in the appendix. procedure the study was reviewed by the university’s institutional review board. with the informants’ consent, interviews were audio recorded and then transcribed by hand. names were anonymized in consultation with the participants. participants were asked if they preferred any pseudonym; otherwise they were assigned one by the researchers, based on some relationship to their personas. analysis interviews were transcribed and coded thematically, then iteratively analyzed based on the thematic codes generated with our research questions in mind: how can the meaning-making that takes place during narrative practices assist our informants in making sense of their past, present, and future? to what degree will the current national context of the u.s. impact their sense of identity? to what degree will informants be able to imagine a less restrictive, more ample future for themselves? while the second author conducted and transcribed the interviews, both authors engaged collaboratively on the thematic analysis. our aim was to optimize intercoder reliability, i.e., to increase “the degree to which coders agree with each other about how themes are to be applied to qualitative data” (ryan & bernard, 2003, p. 104). we focused on repetitions in our informants’ transcripts, as well as to how metaphors framed their narratives and experiences of transition and resettlement. by doing so, we arrived at the claim that narrating their pasts and presents helped these young women arrive at an amplified sense of space in their projected futures. by focusing on repetitions, we were drawing from one of the qualitative methods for discerning 95 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 themes described by ryan and bernard (2003) as being one of the best ways to determine what seems uppermost in an informant’s mind (p. 89). paying attention to repetition as a way of discerning themes then allows a researcher to make the most of the fact that people tend to circle through the same network of ideas (d’andrade, 1991). in our search for this network of ideas, we found that our informants frequently came back to the themes of how refugees are perceived, how they processed trauma in their past, and what part english had played in their lives since resettlement. in the end, these themes began to add up to an answer about how our informants could envision a more spacious future in comparison to the past and present that they described. making meaning around perceptions of refugees in the case of our nepali informant, sarah, there is a different sense in which the refugee label has become more ingrained in her identity than that of the other narrators. unlike leyla and flower, sarah grew up in a refugee camp. that experience was so normalized for sarah that she was in fact unaware of what it really meant. in fact, sarah pointed out that she had not really come to understand until recently that she was even from nepal and that they were living in a refugee camp when she was very young. in sharp contrast, as a refugee in the u.s. context, sarah did feel a sense of stigma attached to the label. so did leyla and flower. sarah spoke about the issue of “poverty,” of being “uneducated” and “unhappy” as negative depictions often associated with refugees. her and others’ comments strongly evoked johnson’s (2011) argument about the portrayal of refugees who are often constructed as categories (the “destitute mothers and children”) in such a way as to mobilize aid, and making them less threatening, but along the way taking away their agency. ultimately, sarah exhorted people to pay attention to the voices and choices of the refugees themselves. in doing so, she claimed refugees like her can gain a better sense of empowerment, and even downplay elements of forced displacement that they may reject or resist. when she stated that “it was not like they were forced to leave their country, or they had to leave their country; they just wanted to make their future better,” sarah framed refugees as more akin to immigrants. indeed, as part of her meaning-making practices, sarah has arguably redefined the term “refugee” because the meaning does not align with how she views herself (or her family situation). she seemingly found it empowering to choose whether or not the “refugee” label accurately described her journey and her current identity. in doing so, sarah appeared to be partaking in a narrative strategy of reframing (and empowerment), which finds resonance in ryu and tuvilla’s (2018) study of burmese refugee adolescents. in their study, the adolescents also opted to reinterpret their refugee status as voluntary migration instead as an agentive act (p. 549). leyla seemed to regard the term “refugee” as a technicality rather than something that directly informed her reality. she explained that the term applied to her given that her “country of origin is in war” but simultaneously emphasized that her family moved primarily to address some health issues that her father was experiencing (i.e., seeking out medical care in the u.s.). this difference in leyla’s attitude toward the refugee label could perhaps also be ascribed to the fact that the iraqi refugee experience in the u.s. has been distinctly different from many other refugee populations. generalizations about iraqi refugees from 2003 onward also appear to apply to leyla. these generalizations include this group having been less likely to have experienced resettlement camps, and their having demographic and income profiles matching those of middle-income countries (gangamma, 2018). 96 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 given her longer-term experiences in living in the u.s., it might not be surprising that leyla refers to donald trump as “our president.” thus, even though she affirms early on during the interview that she is not quite american, leyla seems to strike a more tenuous balance in terms of her sense of identity than the other informants, tending to sound more like someone with a hybrid identity rather than aligning with the label “refugee.” however, when speaking about what she would like for people to know about refugees, leyla affirms that she would like for people to realize that “none of us wanted to come here.” besides affirming her status as a refugee in this sense, leyla also differentiates between her situation and that of other refugees in terms of her social class. in commenting upon the refugee label, leyla believes that there is a clear connection in people’s minds between refugees and poverty and expresses the hope that more americans would understand that professional people, such as her parents, could be a part of this population. in contrast to leyla, flower, our informant from the drc, was much more acutely aware of how the refugee label had affected her life, particularly in terms of other people’s perceptions of her based upon that label. flower experienced the refugee label not only in the context of being a refugee in the u.s., but also in terms of having been a refugee in south africa at the age of nine. for flower, a resurgence of what she herself characterized as “xenophobia” in south africa meant needing to go into hiding after nearly four years of living there peacefully. it is interesting to note that both flower’s and leyla’s accounts consider xenophobia to be an integral part of what it means to be a refugee. for flower, the term “refugee” also signified leaving one’s country of origin due to war in order to find a “better life,” but it also implied a necessary transience since her family needed to end up migrating once again to the u.s. in contrast to leyla, flower expressed a detailed understanding of the paperwork involved in applying for refugee status. flower was able to describe the bureaucratic processes involved when it came to moving to south africa and then to the u.s. the stigma attached to her refugee status seemed to motivate flower to argue against the use of the term, instead opting for the term “immigrants.” thus, at one point in her interview, she asked rhetorically, “why can’t you call me your sister instead of calling me a refugee?” thus, like sarah, flower turned a questioning lens on the label as part of her meaning-making. unlike sarah, flower’s request was a more universalized exhortation for unity. what sarah seemed to be looking for through her meaningmaking regarding the refugee label was using the chosen migration label instead to emphasize more empowerment than what is implied by the phenomenon of forced migration. for ryu and tuvilla (2018), who studied burmese refugee youth in a midwestern city, engaging in this type of meaning-making entails challenging the dominant narratives about refugees (p. 549). roles of women the destitute, fleeing image of the contemporary refugee woman stands in stark contrast with the earlier image of the european refugee, a heroic figure stepping off a plane. most notable is the fact that the latter is acknowledged as a powerful political figure with a sense of agency and voice. the perceived vulnerability that defines the image of the female refugee in much of the literature asserts her position as a contradiction: it means being vulnerable and having to show this vulnerability in order to receive protection, while, on the other hand, having to show resilience to be respected (vigil & abidi, 2018). in a sense, this required performance of vulnerability was best typified by the image of the drowned syrian refugee child, alan kurdi, which circulated in 2015 on a global scale and became emblematic of a certain kind of refugee representation. 97 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 to further investigate the narratives of our informants, there is a need to problematize the label of “refugee woman” and provide textual accounts of how each woman interprets the term in their meaning-making process. johnson (2011) argued that traditional gender assumptions about women’s inherent vulnerabilities and innocence have been mobilized to inform refugee policy, in addition to informing perceived social attitudes towards refugees. in their contemporary colonial contexts, traditional sociocultural norms that informed much of our participants’ roles as women prior to resettlement are in the present moment being deconstructed/reconstructed in a way that each woman sees as meaningful to them. in these reconstructions, roles of selfperception, self-efficacy, and self-worth are investigated, transforming their self-definitions in their present moment. these transformations and the subsequent journeys of self-discovery that take place are indicative of the unique experiences of each woman, while all touch on common themes of gender-based expectations, marriage, and otherness. each woman pulls from experiences of her past and reconstructs these experiences to be used in her present to make sense of her situation. the application and interpretation of each topic in the meaning-making systems of each woman furthermore offers insight into how these complex narrative identities take shape. sarah, leyla, and flower have all found themselves in both imaginative and physical spaces of otherness. in these spaces, each woman grapples with how to challenge problematic traditional cultural values and reductive contemporary labels. doing so allows our informants to move past the perceived imaginative and physical limits imparted on them. in sarah’s context, she recounted her experiences with gender discrimination as a product of patriarchal nepali cultural norms and how, in part, these experiences have influenced her self-efficacy as a woman. explaining her perception of the positionality of women in nepali hindu culture, sarah mentioned how spatial distance has offered some degree of “open-mindedness” on the part of the hindu nepali community in the u.s. at the same time, sarah also commented upon the expectations placed upon her as a woman by the family structure: so it’s like a culture thing since everybody [who] has come to the u.s., their minds have opened up a little bit, i guess. being introduced or exposed to new stuff that happens here. but in nepal most people are hindu and, in the hindu religion, husbands are treated as gods, i guess, like some of the culture is not about religion some of it is just culture. like giving food to husband before the wives eat. those kinds of things, so basically the guys are the sole provider while the girls are supposed to be housewives. those kinds of set ups, those kind of mindset. basically, at home and stuff too, like i’m supposed to be the girl who is just in my parents’ house as a guest. i’m gonna marry someone and leave so i shouldn't be someone to depend on, that kind of mindset and stuff. sarah’s critique of traditional nepali cultural practices continued to include gender discrimination when it came to education, briefly mentioning her mother’s experience and how gender norms have been reinforced through other relatives: so most part of nepal or india, yeah even it’s till now, they have this mindset of taking the boys to school while the girls stay at home and help with the chores. that’s what happened to my mom too. i know it was because she was the eldest but at the same time she was the girl so she had to send her brothers and little sisters to school while she stayed at home and helped mom, so it was like that. so, most of my parents and my grandparents had this mindset that i would [pause] that my education is useless because i would just marry someone and be a housewife. so like what’s the point of education for them, but i feel like, now that i’m going to college, my cousins are going to college, 98 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 like more girls are going to college, that their minds are i guess being exposed to that. but most of their mindset is some of that stuff, like guys should be treated… for example, they would say they guys get the good food, girls you can eat whatever's left over. like that kind of mindset use to be like in our family but i guess now we are separated from that. sarah’s analysis illustrates the prescriptive norms that are imparted on her by her gender and how “marriage” and “education” separate her, thereby preventing her from being fully integrated into the family structure. sarah further mentioned, “yeah i don't feel appreciated basically or that i belong anywhere because at home you’re just there because you are going to get married and as the daughter, you’re like is this my home or not? for example, they put that in my mindset that yeah.” to contextualize sarah’s mention of “limited space,” she was referring to her childhood, growing up until age 11 in a refugee camp in rural nepal. sarah’s conceptualization of a physical space as being limited maps onto the sense of traditional nepali gender role restrictions and how she felt those gender role restrictions loosening and even “opening up” the more time she spent in the u.s. more strikingly in terms of challenging limitations, sarah elaborated: basically i say i am independent i guess, because i used to think i should have my limits, like i should follow whatever my parents want. i should know where i am going or shouldn’t do this or do that, this is for them this is not for me. i felt like i had too many limitations to even like go out, that’s why i feel like that’s why i’m too in. but like coming to college, like being in rotc [reserve officer training corps]. i know helped a lot, being in a dense group stuff like that that made me open up to a new world that makes me feel more comfortable to be “i can be whoever i want” so stuff like that. speaking to how the refugee label impacts her perception of herself as a woman, flower stated: i'm still african, for me i don’t know but the people who are my friends they identify me as african and a tough woman a very tough and very ambitious i don't let people walk over and i’m very friendly but don't get on my bad side. in contrast to flower’s meaning-making associated with the refugee woman label and how it applies to her, sarah looked at the label as informing her trajectory into an imagined future: whenever i think about refugee, how when someone asks me that question they are thinking about something poor or poverty or unhappy people, i know like that’s what comes to their minds because when i ask them the same question they say those, but for me being a refugee i would never trade that for anything to be honest. because if i didn’t have that experience i wouldn't be who i am today. for leyla, the refugee label was much less contentious. in her interview, leyla only mentioned her status as a refugee as a footnote in her overall narrative and said the term when talking about her family’s migration from iraq. thus, she said, “we are considered as refugees because our country of origin is in war so we are considered as refugees, but as i said we were lucky enough for my dad to leave before there was any serious damage or anything would have happened.” when asked during our interview what she thinks life would be like if her family did not leave before the situation happened in iraq, leyla stated, “i hate to say this but, i would probably not be outspoken, especially because i feel like women are treated as if they’re 99 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 diamonds back home.” she further contextualized her response by referencing her extended family in the united arab emirates. for leyla, her imagined future is informed by a sense of autonomous independence in the u.s., in contrast to what she imagines her future would look like had she not been forced to move to the u.s.: the thing is, girls over there they don't see it, they don't want that [independence]. like when i tell them i want to work, over here you are independent, i think every society likes the way they live, so i don't blame girls back there that like that lifestyle it’s just i don't think it’s for me i could never depend on anybody i want to be able to do what i want, like leave the house whenever i want, like little things like that. by transforming the refugee label from one that marks sarah, flower, and leyla as vulnerable and powerless, they expand and perhaps arguably transform the label into a unique marker of their experiences as individuals. whether the label in the contemporary moment is perceived as “not a good term,” not “who i am today,” or simply a neutral part of a larger experience, it is under the rightful ownership of each woman to interpret for herself. furthermore, as vigil and abidi (2018) state, refugees must seek an inclusive participatory sociocultural and political process to dissolve the distinctions that separate them from those who are normative in the nation state (p. 54). even given these restrictions, it is important to note that both the refugee label and the labels attached to women offer sarah, leyla, and flower a range of meaningmaking opportunities in relation to their past, present, and future. role of english language acquisition has been strongly related to the acculturation of refugee and migrant groups. as such, language acquisition has strongly influenced a sense of belonging and legitimacy. while speaking about their relationship with the english language, flower, sarah, and leyla each positioned the importance and validity of english alongside, rather than above, their native languages. this is critical given the article’s argument that our informants engaged in meaningmaking practices that yielded empowering narratives. at the same time, all three informants still perceive english as important in their new context. as such, they each emphasized that english shapes some part of their imagined futures. furthermore, english was established in each woman's reconstructed past as relational memories to larger experiences that inform how they perceive and use english in the present moment. in these narrative reconstructions, each woman recounted what her relationship with english was prior to resettling in the u.s., and how the language was introduced. for sarah and leyla, english was less conspicuous in their preresettlement experiences, while flower explicitly associated english with trauma experienced through bullying and xenophobic attitudes while in south africa. flower mentioned her experiences regarding the interplay of english language learning and otherness during her time in south africa: when we migrated to south africa, they had to put me back, because i was nine years old and was supposed to be in grade four. yeah, so they had to put me all the way back to grade three and so that i can learn english. they told me that i need to know english to be in their schools ‘cause [sic] english is their first language there. that would change every aspect of my life because i was the tallest in the class, [pause] it was cause the school i was in was a private school it was not a lot of people that looked like me, like every person was white and i was bullied; me and my brother we were bullied. 100 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 flower’s experience offers insight into how the place of a language can create a sense of unbelonging and of not being “legitimate” in certain educational and social spaces. thereafter, these educational and social spaces where english is the mode of currency can become transformed into spaces where notions of otherness are reinforced. flower further mentioned how these events in her past influenced her fear of public speaking and her relatively shy persona in her university classes: in my speech class, my fundamentals of speech i find it very difficult and very hard to get in front of and do speech. like the last speech i did i got very nervous and then my accent became very strong and i cried after it. i was like i hate my accent like i don’t want to have this accent. and i always sit by myself in every, all my classes i sit in the front by myself and when they ever say to get in groups, i find it very difficult to talk to someone. i be like if i talk to this person they might make fun of me. so i wait for the professor to put me into a group. while flower’s formative introduction to english was fraught, prendergast (2008) observed that the currency of english can act as a “lubricant” for the mobility of people (p. 127). this mobility can be understood in terms of informants being able to view their futures as more expansive and filled with more possibilities. this new space is one of reconciliation and identification that is constructed in and by each person. moreover, this space is also shaped by mundane struggles throughout the sociocultural and political processes that go hand-in-hand with the refugee label, including the struggles involving english language acquisition. these spaces of mobility are evident in flower’s account as she uses english and her other spoken languages (swahili, lingala, french, and english) to transform and create new spaces of empowerment. one powerful example for flower includes using her multilingualism to interpret on behalf of her family (“[laughter] i’m always their interpreter”). similarly, she uses language to co-create new spaces with other refugee/immigrant and local students at her university: “i’m very close to moussa, he is from ivory coast, i even call him my best friend because we really get each other. i’m close to wilky who is from haiti… [further mentioning other relationships] he became my friend then that led to a relationship. yes he's white and he’s been very supportive [referencing her romantic relationship].” in positioning themselves in shifting situations, and sometimes in new spaces, english becomes de-territorialized as a means of exclusion in each woman’s narrative. particularly in their sense of future plans, the language is framed more as a positive and empowering tool. unlike flower and leyla, who resettled in the u.s. late in their teenage and young adult years, sarah resettled in lancaster at age 11. thus, sarah presented english language learning as being pivotal to much of her formative adolescent years, as she had been placed in english as a second language (esl) classes until age 15, then continued to navigate secondary and post-secondary educational institutions [high school and university]. the role of english is therefore more salient and integral to her imagined future than that of our other participants. sarah mentioned her aspirations of teaching and doing advocacy work, and cited the link between her language learning experience and her background as a refugee: basically, i don't know if you know but my major is esl as well because my first esl teacher she was an old lady who retired the next year after i took her class but she was like the best teacher i had. she knew that i didn't know anything at all about the language 101 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 or about the culture, so adjusting-wise, she helped a lot. so to give you an example she would set up appointments for me because i didn't know how to do that. she helped me with my personal life as well as like teaching so yeah . . . so, for now i’m doing social work and esl communication so my plan is to go to those countries that do not have a good education system and teach english in that system and if i do that for long then that what i want to do but if that doesn't work then my main goal is to help refugees and be an advocate for them. english for sarah has been negotiated and integrated into her present identity, which allows her to project herself into the future and away from the present limited social and cultural spaces. in that future space, she can become a refugee who uses english to advocate for other refugees. aside from considering how english serves to transform our informants’ sense of the future, it is interesting to examine how meaning-making practices can involve choosing when to engage with english. throughout leyla’s narrative, experiences with preconceived notions of her spoken english language ability and experiences with esl courses during her secondary education informed her desire or need to speak english. leyla candidly critiqued the esl courses she was subjected to, and clearly stated her relationship to her native language when asked “have you ever felt like you couldn't speak your mother tongue in public spaces?” my mom had to teach it to us, there was this thing called esl, but it honestly was a bunch of crap. it was teaching a bunch of 14-, 15-, and 16-year-olds abcs it was a joke, it was infuriating because they're teaching us as if we were first graders, you can't teach 16year-olds abcs like that like you have to take a different approach. it was so bad, i hated it because for the most part i was not paying attention, but my mom and dad taught me. well let me tell you something, i’m not a good representation of that question because i don’t really care, i’m less sensitized to people’s opinions i didn't know if it's because of education or just because, it’s because at a certain point in your life you’ve seen it so much, you . . ., it’s just like whatever. leyla’s choice not to engage or be concerned regarding opinions about her english could perhaps be indicative of her class standing, which offers a more readily apparent option of living outside of the u.s.in the united arab emirates, where she does not view english as necessary. in comparison, choosing to engage in english was and is not optional for flower and sarah. in their cases, there is no readily available alternative that would allow them to disregard english and engage in another spoken language. because of this, there is more of a push on the part of sarah and flower to integrate english in their meaning-making systems than in leyla’s case. as sarah and flower have found their senses of where they fit in and how they envision their futures, their use of english and other languages has also changed. for flower, this has meant actively forming fictive kinships with other immigrant/refugee students, as well as acting as a translator for her family. for sarah, her relationship to english has been deep enough to shape her educational interests. conclusion while trauma inevitably figures in refugee narratives, the informants featured in this article demonstrate a range of meaning-making practices that include traumatic elements, but also include a strong sense of hope and of moving forward in a way that would allow them to grow as women and to imagine themselves into a projected future. in terms of that movement from a 102 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 “limited space” to a “wider future,” we see the greatest change in sarah and flower, in contrast to leyla whose refugee past and present were distinct from that of the others in a number of ways. as a wealthy iraqi refugee, leyla did not have the same sense of needing more space to become the woman she wanted to become. she had not lived in a cramped refugee camp or relocated from one location to another, seeking refugee status in both. for sarah and flower, there is a sense that the meaning-making in which they engaged provided them a way to push against the constraints in their lives towards a wider future. in flower’s case, the dominant culture of where she resettled functioned as a constraint. for sarah, the constraints were more internally oriented toward her culture of origin. but both found ways to push against those constraints and present narratives where they emerged as more empowered women than the girls whom they presented grappling with the harsh realities of forced migration. thus, the most significant meaning-making practices that were featured in our informants’ narrative strategies, those that pushed into “a much wider future,” were marked by a sense of empowerment. this was especially the case in terms of how they presented their refugee identities. through their narratives, our informants shared what it means to be a refugee woman, and what it means to negotiate this identity in a variety of ways. by engaging with meaningmaking practices to reconcile situational discrepancies with their global understandings, our informants found space for becoming who they want to be in an imagined future. for sarah, that imagined future has been shaped to a large degree by english, while the same could not be argued for flower and leyla. nonetheless, flower’s command of various languages due to her resettlement path meant the opportunity to create new communities that further allowed her to see herself as a “strong woman” while continuing to grapple with the legacy of “xenophobia” and racism from her time in south africa. for leyla, english does not figure as strongly in her narrative, perhaps in the same way that the refugee label does not resonate as strongly with her given that she has had more options around language use and around resettlement. it is through their unique approaches to meaning-making that our informants create new narratives, challenging the very word “refugee,” and what that label means about the spaces that they can occupy. despite the depth and detail of these interviews, flower’s question (“you didn’t know that did you?”) seems apt given how much these women have had to do and process in their relatively young lives. in that moment, she was referring to a lack of understanding on the part of her parents to her experiences with trauma. thus, the statement seems to imply layers of intimacy as well as a sense of distance. despite our informants’ willingness to share vulnerable aspects of their lives, we as researchers have not lived those experiences, and there is so much that we cannot know. that these young women have found ways to communicate their stories so as to empower themselves and find more space to become who they would like to be seems to be a testament both to them and to the power of constructing narratives that can reconcile what would otherwise seem irreconcilable. 103 about:blank from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 appendix questionnaire 1. how old are you? 2. where are you from? 3. what was your childhood like? 4. what was the reason for your migration/resettlement? 5. what languages do you speak? 6. what was your relationship with english before resettling in the united states? 7. when did you and your family resettle in the united states before coming? 8. what were your thoughts about the united states before coming? 9. did your thoughts change once you and your family arrived? 10. why did you come to millersville? how did that process happen? 11. how do you identify yourself? 12. what does the term “refugee” mean to you? 13. if you had a chance to return to your home country, would you? 14. did you have any issues when you came to the united states? did you take an esl (english as a second language) course/courses? do you feel like they helped with your understanding of english? acknowledgements many thanks to our informants and to the refugee communities of lancaster who make this community incomparably strong. references bonini baldini, s. (2019). narrative capability: self-recognition and mutual recognition in refugees’ storytelling. journal of information policy, 9, 132-147. https://doi.org/10.5325/jinfopoli.9.2019.0132 104 about:blank https://doi.org/10.5325/jinfopoli.9.2019.0132 from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 campbell, m. o. (2016). interpreters of occupation: gender and the politics of belonging in an iraqi refugee network. syracuse university press. d’andrade, r. (1991). the identification of schemas in naturalistic data. in m. j. horowitz (ed.), person schemas and maladaptive interpersonal patterns (pp. 279-301). university of chicago press. darling-wolf, f. (2003). negotiation and position: on the need and difficulty of developing "thicker descriptions.” in p. murphy & m. kraidy (eds.), global media studies: ethnographic perspectives (pp. 109-124). routledge. de haas, h., castles, s., & miller, m. j. (2020). the age of migration: international population movements in the modern world (6th ed.). guilford press. dixon, r. (2008, may 20). the world; migrants burned alive in s. africa; at least 22 die in 10 days as anger toward foreigners explodes in crowded shantytowns. thousands have fled. los angeles times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-20-fgrampage20-story.html fazel, m., wheeler, j., & danesh, j. (2005). prevalence of serious mental disorder in 7000 refugees resettled in western countries: a systematic review. the lancet, 365(9467), 1309-1314. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(05)61027-6 fontanari, e. (2019). lives in transit: an ethnographic study of refugees' subjectivity across european borders. routledge. gangamma, r. (2018). a phenomenological study of family experiences of resettled iraqi refugees. journal of marital and family therapy, 44(2), 323-335. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12251 geertz, c. (1983). local knowledge. basic books. georgiou, m., & zaborowski, r. (2017). media coverage of the “refugee crisis”: a cross european perspective (report no. dg1(2017)03). https://rm.coe.int/1680706b00 city of lancaster. (n.d.). history. http://cityoflancasterpa.com/visitor/history jeffries, a. (2017, february 1). where the refugees go. the outline. https://theoutline.com/post/985/where-the-refugees-go-lancaster-pennsylvaniaimmigration?zd=2&zi=dcjhnayq johnson, h. (2011). click to donate: visual images, constructing victims and imagining the female refugee. third world quarterly, 32(6), 1015-1037. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2011.586235 labys, c. a., dreyer, c., & burns, j. k. (2017). at zero and turning in circles: refugee experiences and coping in durban, south africa. transcultural psychiatry, 54(5-6), 696714. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461517705570 levine, n. (1987). caste, state, and ethnic boundaries in nepal. journal of asian studies, 105 about:blank https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-20-fg-rampage20-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-20-fg-rampage20-story.html https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(05)61027-6 https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12251 https://rm.coe.int/1680706b00 http://cityoflancasterpa.com/visitor/history https://theoutline.com/post/985/where-the-refugees-go-lancaster-pennsylvania-immigration?zd=2&zi=dcjhnayq https://theoutline.com/post/985/where-the-refugees-go-lancaster-pennsylvania-immigration?zd=2&zi=dcjhnayq https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2011.586235 https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461517705570 from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 46(1), 71-88. https://doi.org/10.2307/2056667 levine, n., matos, l., indart, m., park, c., & leal, i. p. (2018). meaning-making and psychological adjustment following refugee trauma. http://repositorio.ispa.pt/handle/10400.12/6211 martone, g. (2006). life with dignity: what is the minimum standard? in a. bayefsky (ed.), human rights and refugees, internally displaced persons and migrant workers : essays in memory of joan fitzpatrick and arthur helton (vol. 10), (pp. 127-144). brill nijhoff publishers. moore, d. c. (1994). anthropology is dead, long live anthro(a)pology: poststructuralism, literary studies, and anthropology's "nervous present." journal of anthropological research, 50(4), 345-365. https://doi.org/10.1086/jar.50.4.3630558 park, c. l. (2013) the meaning making model: a framework for understanding meaning, spirituality, and stress-related growth in health psychology. the european health psychologist 15(2), 40-47. https://www.ehps.net/ehp/index.php/contents/article/view/ehp.v15.i2.p40 prendergast, c. (2008). buying into english: language and investment in the new capitalist world. university of pittsburgh press. rogers, k. (2020, january, 21). trump considering an expansion of his 2017 travel ban. the new york times, p. 18. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/us/politics/trumptravel-ban.html ryan, g. w., & bernard, h. r. (2003). techniques to identify themes. field methods, 15(1), 85109. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822x02239569 rosenthal, g. (1991). german war memories: narrability and the biographical and social functions of remembering. oral history, 19(2), 34-41. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40179226?seq=1 ryu, m., & tuvilla, m. r. s. (2018). resettled refugee youths’ stories of migration, schooling, and future: challenging dominant narratives about refugees. the urban review: issues and ideas in education, 50(4), 539-558. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-018-0455-z shapiro, s. (2018). familial capital, narratives of agency, and the college transition process for refugee-background youth. equity & excellence in education, 51(3-4), 332-346. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2018.1546151 strasser, f. (producer). (2017, january 27). lancaster, pennsylvania: america’s refugee capital [video file]. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-38776233/lancasterpennsylvania-america-s-refugee-capital united states census bureau. (n.d.). city and town population totals: 2010-2019. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/tables/20102019/cities/totals/sub-ip-est2019-annres-42.xlsx 106 about:blank https://doi.org/10.2307/2056667 http://repositorio.ispa.pt/handle/10400.12/6211 https://doi.org/10.1086/jar.50.4.3630558 https://www.ehps.net/ehp/index.php/contents/article/view/ehp.v15.i2.p40 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/us/politics/trump-travel-ban.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/us/politics/trump-travel-ban.html https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822x02239569 https://www.jstor.org/stable/40179226?seq=1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-018-0455-z https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2018.1546151 https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-38776233/lancaster-pennsylvania-america-s-refugee-capital https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-38776233/lancaster-pennsylvania-america-s-refugee-capital https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/tables/2010-2019/cities/totals/sub-ip-est2019-annres-42.xlsx https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/tables/2010-2019/cities/totals/sub-ip-est2019-annres-42.xlsx from “a limited space” to a much wider future the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.33635 vidal-ortiz, s. (2008). people of color. in r.t. schaefer (ed.), encyclopedia of race, ethnicity, and society (vol. 1, pp. 1037-1039). sage publications. vigil, y. n., & abidi, c. b. (2018). “we” the refugees: reflections on refugee labels and identities. refuge: canada’s journal on refugees, 34(2), 52-60. https://doi.org/10.7202/1055576ar vogl, a. (2013). telling stories from start to finish: exploring the demand for narrative in refugee testimony. griffith law review, 22(1), 63-86. https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2013.10854767 wachter, k., & gulbas, l. e. (2018). social support under siege: an analysis of forced migration among women from the democratic republic of congo. social science & medicine, 208, 107-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.04.056 white, p. (2009). reducing de facto statelessness in nepal. forced migration review, 32, 2829. https://refugeeresearch.net/rrn_node/reducing-de-facto-statelessness-in-nepal/ wong, d. (1991). asylum as a relationship of otherness: a study of asylum holders in nuremberg, germany. journal of refugee studies, 4(2), 150-163. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/4.2.150 zetter, r. (2007). more labels, fewer refugees: remaking the refugee label in an era of globalization. journal of refugee studies, 20(2), 172-192. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fem011 caseem luck (caseemcluck@gmail.com) is a recent graduate of millersville university and a current graduate student at temple university’s master’s program in globalization and development communication under the klein college of media and communication. he is a skilled ethnographer and oral historian who has contributed to the mcnairy library’s oral history collection and to the mcnairy library’s research fellows programs as a latino/a studies research fellow. michele santamaria (msantamaria@millersville.edu) is an assistant professor and learning design librarian at millersville university. her research interests include metacognition, autoethnography, critical race theory, and affect studies. her most recent publication, “concealing white supremacy through fantasies of the library: economies of affect at work” will appear in the library trends winter 2020 issue on affect studies 107 about:blank https://doi.org/10.7202/1055576ar https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2013.10854767 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.04.056 https://refugeeresearch.net/rrn_node/reducing-de-facto-statelessness-in-nepal/ https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/4.2.150 https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fem011 about:blank about:blank introduction literature review refugees, labels and dominant narratives refugees and narrative processes refugees’ meaning-making, global and situational the nepali context for the refugee experience the democratic republic of congo and the refugee experience iraqi context for refugee experience methods setting recruitment positionality and reflexivity instrument procedure analysis making meaning around perceptions of refugees roles of women role of english conclusion appendix acknowledgements references making miami’s history and present more accessible the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38943 making miami’s history and present more accessible katie l. coldiron, florida international university, usa julio capó, jr., ph.d., florida international university, usa abstract this is a work-in-progress report of miami studies, a curricular, research, and collections-focused initiative housed at the wolfsonian public humanities lab (wphl) at florida international university (fiu). miami studies represents a unique approach to latina/o/x studies in the greater miami region and at one of the country's largest hispanic-serving institutions (hsi). the rationale, framework, and historical context for a miami studies school of urbanism are described in detail. this is followed by an explanation of the wphl’s digitally focused initiatives: the digitization of a now-defunct newspaper titled miami life and the mellon foundation-funded community data curation post-custodial project. also referenced is the díaz ayala collection of cuban and latin american popular music, housed at fiu libraries. keywords: community partnerships; digital humanities; latinx; miami; post-custodial archiving publication type: special section publication introduction long with several other programs at florida international university (fiu) and in collaboration with numerous community partners, the wolfsonian public humanities lab (wphl) is working to build a robust program in miami studies. the wphl is fiu’s hub for humanistic inquiry that bridges the scholarship and resources of the university to the broader south florida community and beyond. designated a carnegie mellon r1-rated research institution, fiu is miami’s only public research university, and, with nearly 60,000 students enrolled, it is also one of the largest hispanic-serving institutions (hsi) in the united states. although over 60% of fiu’s student body is hispanic or latina/o/x, the university does not currently house a program distinctly dedicated to understanding the latina/o/x experience in the united states. thus, the need for a miami studies program—especially one housed in the city’s public research university—is dire. incorporated as a city in 1896, miami is one of the most influential cities in the united states and the americas. its history, culture, politics, and overall significance, however, are still largely caricatured through myth, stigma, and hyperbole, all of which are deeply rooted in the region’s layered past and relationship to colonial processes and empire (capó & friedman, 2021; read, 2009). for example, it is still common for people’s general knowledge of the region or its past to be drawn from representations in popular culture and media. from the glamor presented in scripted tv shows like nip/tuck or reality tv shows like the real housewives of miami, or even the ubiquitous “florida man” headlines found in newspapers across the county, representations of miami, its past, and the people who call it home are far too often superficial, reductive, or altogether inaccurate.1 for instance, many people’s understandings of the mariel boatlift of 1980 a https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi making miami’s history and present more accessible the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38943 and the thousands of cubans who entered the united states during one of the most controversial episodes of u.s. immigration history often originate from fictional retellings and misinformation, such as the storyline of the 1983 film scarface that starred al pacino as cuban mafioso tony montana. while the film itself acknowledges in one of the opening scenes that the majority of cubans who entered the united states during this period were not criminals, montana’s violent storyline helped perpetuate the myths of criminality, deviancy, and undesirability that many people still associate with this episode in cuba-u.s. history—one that is still frequently cited as one of the united states’ most notorious immigration blunders (de palma, 1983; bustamante & manzor, 2021). although the city remains seriously understudied and poorly understood, recent years have seen a significant push in scholarly work and attention on the region.2 as those and countless community-based works demonstrate, miami’s geography, culture, and history have critically shaped national and international conversations for decades. the greater miami area has been influential, if not centrally embroiled, in many of the nation’s most significant and often controversial issues. this runs the gamut from determining presidential elections (e.g., the 2000 election; sutton, 2000); setting the tone for foreign policy (e.g., opposition to latin american and caribbean authoritarian regimes, such as venezuelan president nicolás maduro; cbs miami, 2019); seeing the growth of mass incarceration (e.g., miami-dade corrections and rehabilitation department currently operates the eighth largest jail system in the united states; pérez, 2016); institutionalizing anti-black violence (e.g., miami police chief walter headley’s influential mandate from 1967: “when the looting starts, the shooting starts;” capó, 2020); reporting and containing outbreaks and disease (e.g., reports that florida gov. ron desantis’s administration misled the public on data about covid-19; ariza et al., 2020); recovering from and responding to natural disasters (e.g., the devastating effects on the region of category 5 hurricane andrew in 1992; feito, 2022); experiencing the results of climate crises (e.g., the climate gentrification of miami’s little haiti, where elevation is substantially higher than other areas; green, 2019); spurring debates on immigration and detention (e.g., the mariel boatlift of 1980 and the forprofit homestead temporary shelter for unaccompanied children that closed in 2019; burnett, 2019); and so many others. as more people look to miami to better understand these and many other pivotal contemporary issues, a new school of urban thought seems in order. indeed, much like the formation of a chicago school in the early 20th century and a los angeles school in the late 20th century, this work envisions a miami school of urbanism that is specifically designed for a multicultural city of the americas. a brief genealogy of schools of urbanism is helpful here. the chicago school represented the work of social scientists in the early 20th century based out of the university of chicago, which helped create new methods and paradigms of applied research in urban studies by viewing the city of chicago as a social laboratory that could help us understand and explore social and cultural responses to the urban environment (turner, 1998). architects, urban planners, and others inched away from modernism, as with the controversial 1972 publication of learning from las vegas, which seriously assessed the las vegas strip on its own terms and sought to take the general public’s tastes and desires in urban spaces more acutely into account (venturi et al., 1972). indeed, by the 1980s, the los angeles school had emerged, encompassing several scholars whose research focused on southern california, especially los angeles and its social and economic underpinnings. it represented a shift from an ordered and modernist city (e.g., chicago) to the los angeles urban studies paradigm, which was at once postmodern in its conception and reflective of a more fragmented and decentralized form of urban planning and growth (caves, 2004). by the late 1980s, a new urbanism had developed too, one that sought to 85 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index making miami’s history and present more accessible the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38943 break “from both the modern and postmodern principles of design and planning,” in effect “[r]ejecting the sterility of the one and the relativism of the other” (beauregard, 2002, p. 182). miami studies builds on these and other urban paradigms, drawing inspiration from models that cross physical and disciplinary boundaries. indeed, inspired by what sassen has called the “global city” (2002, xix), miami studies also looks to the rise of global studies urban programs (e.g., global urban studies programs at rutgers university and michigan state university) and projects (e.g., the global urban history project) that have made clear the need for global, transnational, and translocal methods and analysis—ones that transcend traditional boundaries, including municipal, national, and disciplinarian—to better study and improve the lived experiences within built environments.3 in addition to size, diversity, and complexity, a global city “makes new norms” (larsen, 2010). as sassen detailed in her 2010 interview with foreign policy, where she discussed miami’s apparent status as a global city: …[shifts in international trade and real estate development] coincided with the opening of latin america. in the 1990s and early 2000s, firms from all over the world—the taiwanese, italians, korean, french, all over—set up regional headquarters in miami. in the 1990s, there was also deregulation, so miami became the banking center for central america. then the art circuit, the designers’ circuit, and other things began to come into the city. large international corporations began to locate branches there, forging a strong bridge with europe that doesn’t run through new york. that mix of cultures—in such a concentrated space, and covering so many different sectors—created remarkable diversity and complexity. of course, the miami case is rather exceptional (larsen, 2010). indeed, miami is a city not only of and by “the americas,” but one with distinct socio-economic histories. it was never foundationally planned for significant industrialization, for instance. it aggressively turned its attention to latin america and the caribbean for its economic success, most concertedly so by the 1970s. similarly, from its earliest days to the present, the city grew almost instantaneously, explaining how it received its moniker of the “magic city” in the early 20th century, recognizing how the city had a distinct power, as if by magic, to transform overnight. in broad strokes, rather than “mature” over time, its growth often occurred exponentially in spurts, especially in population, texture, and world renown. its economic structures and patterns are similarly indicative of this. this includes the city powerbrokers’ successful push in the late 1970s to pressure the state of florida and others to change banking laws to accept foreign deposits to the much more recent claim in 2021 by miami mayor francis suarez that he would accept his salary paid in bitcoin (crooks & mills, 2022). so too, is the international art fair and extravaganza known as art basel, which has become a symbol for the city in many ways since its introduction there in 2002. for as much as it takes its lead from urban studies, miami studies is also heavily inspired by and draws knowledge from the formation and development of ethnic studies programs in the united states, formally since the 1960s. inspired by and a manifestation and product of the transformative movements of the era—especially movements for the rights and liberation of black, women, chicanx and latinx, asian american, indigenous, lgbtq, and other communities, as well as broader anti-war and anti-imperialist sentiments—the formal academic and curricular establishment of ethnic studies occurred in 1968. that’s when a coalition of students of color and ethnic studies groups in higher education staged a student strike demanding courses that reflected their lived experiences and provided more diverse perspectives than the dominant white and eurocentric narrative they found in their classrooms. while the formation of ethnic 86 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index making miami’s history and present more accessible the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38943 studies began in what is today san francisco state university and the berkeley and santa barbara campuses at the university of california, these student-led efforts quickly inspired the establishment of such programs across the nation (hu-dehart, 1993). while there have been countless attacks on ethnic studies and programs over the decades—from arizona’s 2010 ban on tucson’s mexican american studies program (gonzález v. douglas, 2017) to attacks on the new racial boogeyman broadly construed as “critical race theory” in multiple states throughout the country—demand for such curriculum and community engagement remains high, especially with renewed calls for black liberation (e.g., including the black lives matter movement) following high-profile murders of black women and men at the hands of police, such as george floyd in 2020. in this vein, miami studies pushes traditional disciplinary boundaries and helps prepare students for today’s job market by emphasizing several competencies and skills that can serve the community: digital mapping to oral history, to podcasting and exhibition curation. miami studies critically engages in urban studies, cultural studies, black studies, indigenous studies, latina/o/x studies, ethnic studies, digital studies, and feminist, gender, and queer studies to make a unique program that reflects the multicultural and multilingual experiences, values, and histories of our south florida community. without a standalone program of latina/o/x studies at fiu, miami studies is designed to push the boundaries of what constitutes traditional latina/o/x studies by centrally integrating ethnoracial communities—inclusive of native and indigenous communities—that traverse this land. by engaging the transcultural experiences of race, ethnicity, nationality, and class in greater miami, this school of urbanism is also thoughtful of integrating diasporic communities that are not traditionally represented or included in latina/o/x studies, such as haitians, bahamians, jamaicans, and brazilians, for example. today, south florida houses the largest diasporic communities in the united states of haitian americans, nicaraguan americans, cuban americans, bahamian americans, and venezuelan americans. the region also boasts large and increasing populations of uruguayan americans, colombian americans, argentine americans, jamaican americans, and brazilian americans. miami studies does not observe the strict borders of fields and disciplines and rejects narrow and strict municipal, regional, and national borders. exploring “miami” as a conceptual modality requires that we zoom out and be inclusive of the histories and experiences in neighboring counties, such as those in neighboring broward county (e.g., fort lauderdale), as well as the interconnected and transnational experiences of latin america and the caribbean, such as those in haiti, cuba, nicaragua, panama, colombia, venezuela, and beyond. this unique approach to a latina/o/x studies curriculum benefitted from multiple initiatives to build physical collections and research depositories and enhance the reach and breadth of digital humanities scholarship at fiu, south florida, and across many borders. this involves numerous processes and decolonial methods in digital archiving, including post-custodial methods that allow communities to keep and steward their archives rather than have them taken to fiu or institutions like galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (glam). the society of american archivists defines post-custodial archiving as those collaborative archival initiatives in which creators maintain custody of their records. in contrast, archivists provide management oversight (society of american archivists, 2022). over the past decade, especially, for example, multiple collaborative initiatives have sought to collect oral histories of latina/o/x individuals and communities, which are then stored in digital archives. some of these initiatives include the voces oral history center (university of texas at austin), the 100 puerto ricans oral history project (centro de estudios puertorriqueños, hunter college), and recovering the hispanic research collection (university of houston), among several others. fiu is also moving in this direction. it 87 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index making miami’s history and present more accessible the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38943 counts among its collections select oral histories with cubans who entered the united states in the early 1960s through the u.s. governmentand catholic church-sponsored operación pedro pan, or operation peter pan (fiu libraries, 2022b). similarly, over the past decade, multiple collaborative initiatives between u.s.-based entities, particularly universities and partners in latin america and the caribbean, have blossomed to preserve and digitize archival materials. this includes the latin american digital initiatives (ladi) project (university of texas libraries), the international digital ephemera project (university of california, los angeles library), and multiple initiatives of the digital library of the caribbean (dloc) (fiu and the university of florida). while all these initiatives are integral to shaping miami studies, there remains much work to be done to preserve the varied stories of south florida’s many communities and their role in shaping the region and its history. with all this in mind, below we briefly introduce three other initiatives at fiu (two specifically initiated by wphl staff) that broadly speak to these methods and the overall vision for miami studies. the three initiatives include the recovery and digitization of a now-defunct newspaper miami life; the cataloging, archiving, and digitization of one of the largest collections of caribbean and latin american popular music at fiu libraries; and a partnership with eight local cultural institutions called community data curation that collaboratively preserves, creates, and narrates community stories from historically underrepresented or marginalized voices. miami life and the díaz ayala cuban and latin american popular music collection partially funded by a community grant from florida humanities, the wphl and fiu libraries’ digital collections center completed the digitization of special issues of miami life in the summer of 2021. for decades, this alternative weekly newspaper had been thought entirely lost to researchers. over a decade ago, while researching miami’s lgbtq past, julio capó, jr. tracked down a descendant of the newspaper’s last known owner, reubin clein. that process, in part, helped capó complete his first book, welcome to fairyland: queer miami before 1940 (2017). select bound copies of the newspaper were in the descendant’s possession and have since been digitized through this initiative. they have been made text-searchable with optical character recognition (ocr). the following issues are now freely available on fiu libraries’ public-facing digital repository, dpanther: january–december 1927; january 1928–october 1929; september 1934–september 1935; and january–december 1949. since its digitization and promotion, new leads from community members have emerged, which we hope will lead to the recovery, preservation, and accessibility of even more issues of this once-thought-lost newspaper. the digitization of special issues of miami life has led to significant community discussions about the city’s past and present. as an alternative press that highlighted its editor’s perspective and tabloid that often experimented with stylistic devices such as jokes, poems, and rumors, these issues of miami life often convey a greater sense of the city’s pulse during the first few decades of its existence. these issues, often inadvertently, touch on a wide range of topics, including economic downturn and recovery, immigration, anti-semitism, anti-blackness, and gender and sexual politics. according to clein family lore, jewish pugilist reubin clein won the weekly miami life during a game of cards in 1931 (while that is most questionable, it too has become part of the source’s mythic lure). clein used miami life to challenge or reaffirm existing power structures in florida. while stylized as a beacon of honesty, clein also regularly adhered to some of the era’s long-held beliefs of anti-blackness (especially racial segregation), xenophobia, and homophobia. among many things, the newspaper is a snapshot of life in the jim crow u.s. south. 88 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpanther/home making miami’s history and present more accessible the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38943 in march of 2022, the wphl hosted its inaugural miami studies symposium. these were among the central topics and themes of the day’s panels, which included one on the recovery and retelling of complex and often violent stories from the city’s past, as well as the long history of community-based efforts to preserve the city’s black history and sites of memory and significance. as this might suggest, even just a cursory search of the digital collection reveals what these issues of miami life may yield in our collective understanding of the city’s changing urban cultural landscape, including the experiences and contributions of its racial and ethnic minorities. for example, in addition to its feature stories on residents or visitors, advertisements for local nightclubs and revue shows regularly spotlighted latin american and caribbeandescended musicians, performers, and entertainers. these advertisements reveal musical and cultural shifts and changes in urban culture and demographics. these miami life advertisements publicized acts by well-known musicians, such as xavier cugat, and those lesser known today, such as the decastro sisters and alzira camargo. the digitized issues of miami life will likely offer new insight into how ethno-racial identities were constructed in the new south city of miami. influenced by the prevalence of jim crow laws, especially racial segregation, one report published in the december 1949 issue of miami life, for instance, tells the story of a mixed-race woman named mildred williams who was arrested for vagrancy for working “in a negro bar” (bond, 1949, p. 3). because she was light-skinned, the arresting police officer believed she was white and deemed her workplace “no place for a white woman” (bond, 1949, p. 3). williams, however, stood before a judge at the court of crimes and explained that she was also black. the news feature editorialized that williams “could easily have been regarded as a latin or a white person. but there was the tinge of negro blood” (bond, 1949, p. 3). similarly, other so-called “vagrants” and people who were criminalized under this system were thus being adjudicated by a miami judge for petty crimes—a common occurrence for black and brown people in jim crow miami. while three “trespassers from puerto rico” received fifteen days in prison, “eight negroes were dismissed...on claims of loitering” (bond, 1949, p. 3). while the fiu libraries have been active in promoting digital scholarship via digital humanities workshops, comprehensive libguides for digital scholarship, and a readily available digital scholars studio for student and faculty use with software and other equipment for digital humanities work, miami studies has the potential to merge technical skills with historical methods and practice. imagine the possibilities for recovering the lived experiences of miami’s black, indigenous, latina/o/x and other communities if even fragmental knowledge yielded from miami life were corroborated with, or complemented by, other readily available primary resources. for example, fiu’s green library houses one of the world's most substantial collections of caribbean and latin american music, with a particular strength on music and culture from cuba. donated in 2001 by author, collector, and producer cristóbal díaz ayala, the díaz ayala cuban and latin american popular music collection consist of roughly 150,000 items. this includes 45,000 lps; 15,000 78 rpms; 5,000 pieces of sheet music; 4,500 cassettes of radio interviews and programs, music, and other material; and thousands of cds, photographs, videocassettes, and paper files (fiu libraries, 2022a). select images and word-searchable metadata for this massive collection have also been added to dpanther. in 2016, the latin grammy cultural foundation funded a project to preserve and provide controlled access to select 78 rpm sound recordings 89 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index making miami’s history and present more accessible the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38943 from the díaz ayala collection. in 2021, the council on library and information resources (clir) awarded one of their “recordings at risk” audio preservation grants to fiu libraries to digitize and migrate to digital formats, create metadata, and provide access via dpanther to materials from the díaz ayala collection originally recorded as 78 rpms and stored on cassettes. efforts to enhance digital access to the díaz ayala collection are currently spearheaded by verónica gonzález and ximena valdivia of fiu libraries. figure 1. machito and graciela performed at the glen island casino in new york in july 1947 (gottlieb, 1947). these materials can also help researchers better understand the experiences of racial and ethnic minorities in the united states and abroad. for instance, the lyrics of “miami beach rhumba,” released in the 1940s by famed bandleader and artist xavier cugat speak toward a u.s.-cuban experience. with lyrics such as “i found the charm of old havana in a rhumba at miami beach” the song reminded his audience that a version of cuba existed in miami—long before the cuban revolution of 1959 and the exile of thousands of cubans who fled the island, most of whom settled in miami (xavier cugat and his orchestra, 1958). cugat’s bilingual 1941 song “¡viva roosevelt!” assured spanish-speakers that u.s. president franklin d. roosevelt “es nuestro amigo” (“is our friend”) (cugat et al., 1941). while rallying the troops for world war ii, even before the japanese attack on pearl harbor, the song implored cugat’s primary audience, clearly imagined as latina/o/xs, to “get in the conga line of defense!” (cugat et al.,1941). from the images featured in the sheet music to the song’s bilingual lyrics to the same musical performance, this source yields essential insight into latina/o/x contributions to war and american society, political and cultural citizenship, and even latin american-u.s. foreign relations (e.g., the good neighbor policy). similarly, a wealth of resources in these archives allows a deep analytical comparison of the varying experiences of commercial appeal and success of artists such as cugat, who was white and born in spain, and other musicians, such as afro90 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index making miami’s history and present more accessible the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38943 cuban jazz artist machito or his stepsister graciela. indeed, the díaz ayala cuban and latin american popular music collection at fiu is doing critical work in digitizing and preserving this rare and fragile material, much of which is not readily available elsewhere. building digital collections in miami studies through post-custodial initiatives: community data curation since the miami studies initiative is built on amplifying diverse, marginalized, and forgotten or erased voices, it should be no surprise that its collection approach is rooted in non-extractive and decolonial methodology. we similarly recognize that the cultural heritage field is increasingly entering the digital space, thus democratizing access to materials and ensuring that physical materials are not pressured into leaving their places of origin. the collection-building efforts, including the digitization of miami life, have been mainly post-custodial and digital. executed by the wphl in collaboration with eight community partners around south florida, “community data curation: preserving, creating, and narrating everyday stories,” represents a large-scale, local, and post-custodial digital initiative that we hope inspires new works in the public humanities at large. in 2020, the mellon foundation awarded the wphl a three-year, $1 million grant to support oral history collection, digitization of archives, and capacity building in partnership with eight community partner organizations across miami-dade and broward counties. the project is spearheaded by rebecca friedman, julio capó, jr., katie coldiron, and enrique rosell. it is inspired by deep engagement and discussions with hadassah st. hubert, a historian and former postdoctoral researcher at fiu, dloc and current program officer at the national endowment for the humanities (neh). the initiative’s eight partner cultural institutions include the jewish museum of florida-fiu (miami beach), sant la haitian neighborhood center (north miami), historic hampton house museum & cultural center (brownsville-miami), museum of graffiti (wynwood-miami), african american research library and cultural center (aarlcc), broward county library (fort lauderdale), stonewall national museum & archives (fort lauderdale), world aids museum and educational center (fort lauderdale), and vizcaya museum & gardens (miami). all but one of the community partners are glam institutions. the other, sant la, functions primarily as a social service center for haitians and haitian americans in south florida. the partners represent a mosaic of south florida voices, with a keen eye to voices traditionally absent from the historical record. additionally, the partners had different experiences and ambitions for digitization and oral history collection. aarlcc and vizcaya, for example, had already been digitizing paper materials and operating their digital repositories. therefore, they have used the resources made available through this grant to support their internal projects. in the case of aarlcc, this has included collecting oral histories focused on black voices in broward county, as well as digitizing the papers of south florida’s dr. niara sudarkasa, a significant figure, scholar, and educator who became the first black professor in the university of michigan department of anthropology. meanwhile, vizcaya had focused on researching the indigenous origins of the land that their museum and gardens sit on, with the hopes of creating an institutional land acknowledgment statement and expanding the well-known history of vizcaya to include the indigenous stewards of the land long before the tycoon james deering built the famous estate in the 1910s. launched simultaneously with the neh-funded miami studies program, at its core, this work represents a non-extractive collaboration and redistribution of community and public resources. 91 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index making miami’s history and present more accessible the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38943 among the resources the grant funnels to each institutional partner is institutional compensation for the labor of communicating with fiu and working with trained student interns, new technologies for digitization and oral history collection, a public programming budget, and a paid and trained student intern from fiu. the key deliverables of the grant are 10-12 oral histories from each partner, which will be stored on fiu libraries’ dpanther repository and, collectively, provide a kaleidoscope of south florida voices and experiences at the intersection of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, age, and ability. additionally, all partners are given access to additional space on dpanther to store digital materials from their existing collections should they elect to do so. the partners work with the digital archivist (coldiron) and the program manager (rosell), who was hired with grant funds to work on this project. the digital archivist works with partners at whatever stage they are at in the digitization process, including but not limited to, ordering digitization equipment and training interns and other personnel on how to use it, consulting on metadata creation for digital materials, and ultimately coordinating the ingest of materials into dpanther with fiu digital collections staff. the program manager’s duties include coordinating the fiu student interns, payment for institutional liaisons, public programming and communications, and much of the day-to-day operation of the grant. rosell also uses his extensive background in audiovisual production to aid partner institutions in recording oral histories and other such needs. as of this writing, all partners, represented as different thumbnails, have been set up on the dpanther homepage. two of the eight partners have already contributed some digital content that is live on dpanther. all eight partners have elected to utilize the additional dpanther space to store some of their digital materials for various reasons. some have expressed that they prefer to avoid managing their public-facing digital repository, while others have cited its high cost. others have noted that appearing in the publicly accessible dpanther depository at fiu could expand their reach and audience. regardless of their decisions, we support our partners in implementing or further implementing sustainable processes that will live beyond the grant's lifetime. these future deliverables include documentation of digitization and oral history collecting processes created by the digital archivist, program manager, and fiu digital collections staff that will be compiled into an all-encompassing manual, as well as offering support to see partners create an internal system that works for them to manage the digital content they are creating or stewarding. we are also creating training videos for our partners on using oral history and digitization equipment, with two already live on youtube and archived in a wphl-specific collection in the fiu digital commons. similarly, coinciding with the miami studies program, regular workshops are offered that discuss theory, methods, and practice for a wide range of relevant skills and competencies, from conducting oral histories to curation to archiving. in this vein, the vision of a community-driven and communitycurated method in public humanities insists on non-extractive and decolonial practices (caswell et al., 2021). as to be expected, many of the collections of the community partners are direct reflections of the diversity and texture of south florida. this includes latino/a/x voices from within the miami community, such as that of pedro zamora, a cuban-born immigrant who settled in miami during the mariel boatlift and later starred in mtv’s the real world as an openly gay and hivpositive man. in these and many other capacities, zamora dedicated much of his short life to advocating for people with hiv/aids and other important causes (gave, 2022). the world aids museum recently hosted an exhibition of materials related to zamora’s life and activism. it worked with the zamora family to digitize these materials, hoping to make them available through dpanther. 92 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index making miami’s history and present more accessible the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38943 two other community partners, the historic hampton house museum & cultural center and the jewish museum of florida-fiu, have already conducted and uploaded oral histories to dpanther. the historic hampton house was a key site featured in the negro motorist green book, the guidebook first published by a black postal worker and writer named victor hugo green, who listed safe, or safer, places for black people to eat and sleep in the face of racial segregation and violence. today it is a museum and community space, saved from demolition in the early 2000s by the efforts of dr. enid pinkney, the first black president of the dade heritage trust, and other community members who shared her vision for preserving the site and the stories and lessons cemented into its structure. more recently, the historic site has garnered new attention with the success of the regina king-directed 2020 film one night in miami, which narrates a fictional meeting of malcolm x, cassius clay (later muhammad ali), jim brown, and sam cooke in one of the motel’s rooms. to commemorate clay's infamous win over sonny liston on february 25, 1964, the historic hampton house teamed up with the wphl for the multi-day “the greatest weekend” that included panels, performances, reflections, and other community-oriented events held in february 2022. as part of this, we welcomed photojournalist bob gomel, who captured the iconic photographs of malcolm x taking a photo of clay and others sitting at a counter in the hampton house hotel. the team recorded an oral history of gomel recounting his experiences at the site as a life magazine photographer. he described how he found a ride from miami beach, where the heavyweight fight took place, to brownsville, where the hampton house hotel was located, and remembered how he had to stand on the counter of the hotel café to capture some of those famous images (gomel, 2022). also contributing an oral history at this event was dr. khalilah camacho ali, the former wife of the late muhammad ali. in her testimony, she recounted her time spent as a guest with ali and their children at the hampton house hotel and villas, which was documented in a photo spread in the april 1969 issue of ebony magazine (camacho ali, 2022). the jewish museum of florida-fiu launched a project to collect oral histories from south florida’s jewish community and its experiences with the covid-19 pandemic. with the support of the council of american jewish museums (cajm), museum educator luna goldberg and gabriela garcia acevedo, an fiu student intern, collected powerful stories about how people navigated different aspects of their identities during the covid-19 pandemic. for example, fiu student brian garcía (2020) discussed his family’s background, which includes spanish and moroccan jews who then “sort of mingled in venezuela” before coming to south florida (garcía, 2020, 00:00:49). as an enrolled undergraduate student when the pandemic started, he relayed how he was on a birthright trip to israel when news reports began to emerge about the outbreak in china, and how the pandemic ultimately rendered most of his undergraduate career as taking place off campus (garcía, 2020).4 while only these two partners have uploaded oral histories to dpanther as of this writing, the next few months will no doubt yield more critical stories at the intersection of south florida’s many communities and experiences. conclusion preserving individual voices and lived experiences helps provide the rich texture needed to understand better the entangled ways that race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, age, and ability have historically coalesced—and often continue to do so—in this urban space and, indeed, beyond. these digital contributions to the public humanities are necessary for moving us forward, healing, and shifting course. 93 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index making miami’s history and present more accessible the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38943 endnotes 1 see capó (2022) and capó & gillespie (2022). 2 for examples, see capó (2017), castillo (2022), connolly (2014), green (2017), mas (2022), peña (2013), and rose (2015) among several others. 3also see portes (2020). 4 the jewish museum of florida-fiu also stewards collections related to cuban jews in south florida and beyond. for more on this topic, see levine (1993) and behar (2009). acknowledgments we wish to thank our other colleagues at the wphl: rebecca friedman and enrique rosell. we also wish to thank jamie rogers, rebecca bakker, kelly rowan of the fiu digital collections center, and isabel brador of the wolfsonian museum-fiu. most importantly, this work is only possible with the many individuals and community partners who generously welcomed us and trusted us with this work. we also wish to thank gayle williams, the latin american and caribbean studies librarian at fiu libraries, whose insights from her time at fiu and in latin american and caribbean librarianship have been extremely valuable. we are forever grateful to hadassah st. hubert, whose voice and vision for digital scholarship, community engagement, and collaboration fuel many of the wphl’s ongoing projects. references ariza, m., fleshler, d., & krischer goodman, c. 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(1941) ¡viva roosevelt! [song]. columbia. retrieved from http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpanther/items/itemdetail?bibid=fida007104&vid=00001 de palma, brian. (1983). scarface. universal pictures. feito, m. (2022, september 1). hurricane andrew changed preparedness forever. wlrn. https://www.wlrn.org/news/2022-09-01/hurricane-andrew-changed-preparednessforever fiu libraries. (2022a). the díaz-ayala cuban and latin american popular music collection. https://diazayalacollection.fiu.edu/ fiu libraries. (2022b). operation pedro pan. https://library.fiu.edu/c.php?g=160117&p=1048033 garcía, b. (2020, october 13). oral history interview with brian garcia. interviewed by goldberg, l. dpanther digital collections repository; jewish museum of florida. http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpservice/dppurlservice/purl/fi22032101/00023 gave, m. (2022, april 26). call me peter: 50 years of pedro zamora at world aids museum. outclique. https://www.outclique.com/call-me-peter-50-years-of-pedro-zamora-atworld-aids-museum/ gomel, b. (2022, february 25). oral history interview with bob gomel. interviewed by colyer, j. dpanther digital collections repository; the historic hampton house museum and cultural center. http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpservice/dppurlservice/purl/fi22051200/00001 gonzález v. douglas, 269f.supp.3d 948, (d. ariz. 2017). https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/23/us/document-gonzalez-vdouglas.html gottlieb, w. p. (1947, july). portrait of machito and graciella grillio, glen island casino, new york, n.y., ca july 1947 [photograph]. library of congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/gottlieb.13791/ green, n. (2019, november 4). as seas rise, miami’s black communities fear displacement from the high ground. wlrn. https://www.wlrn.org/news/2019-11-04/as-seas-rise-miamisblack-communities-fear-displacement-from-the-high-ground green, s. (2017, january 30). tracing black racial and spatial politics in south florida via memory. journal of urban history, 44(6), 1176-1196. https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144216688467 hu-dehart, e. (1993, september). the history, development, and future of ethnic studies. the phi delta kappan, 75(1), 50–54. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20405023 96 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpanther/items/itemdetail?bibid=fida007104&vid=00001 https://www.wlrn.org/news/2022-09-01/hurricane-andrew-changed-preparedness-forever https://www.wlrn.org/news/2022-09-01/hurricane-andrew-changed-preparedness-forever https://diazayalacollection.fiu.edu/ https://library.fiu.edu/c.php?g=160117&p=1048033 http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpservice/dppurlservice/purl/fi22032101/00023 https://www.outclique.com/call-me-peter-50-years-of-pedro-zamora-at-world-aids-museum/ https://www.outclique.com/call-me-peter-50-years-of-pedro-zamora-at-world-aids-museum/ http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpservice/dppurlservice/purl/fi22051200/00001 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/23/us/document-gonzalez-v-douglas.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/23/us/document-gonzalez-v-douglas.html https://www.loc.gov/item/gottlieb.13791/ https://www.wlrn.org/news/2019-11-04/as-seas-rise-miamis-black-communities-fear-displacement-from-the-high-ground https://www.wlrn.org/news/2019-11-04/as-seas-rise-miamis-black-communities-fear-displacement-from-the-high-ground https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144216688467 https://www.jstor.org/stable/20405023 making miami’s history and present more accessible the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38943 larsen, c. (2010, august 27). swoons over miami. foreign policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/08/27/swoons-over-miami/ levine, r. m. (1993). tropical diaspora: the jewish experience in cuba. university press of florida. mas, c. (2022). culture in the clinic: miami and the making of modern medicine. the university of north carolina press. peña, s. (2013). ¡oye loca!: from the mariel boatlift to gay cuban miami. university of minnesota press. pérez, f. m. (2016, december 11). the crucifixion of colored town: mass incarceration in miami [video]. youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8oirysjaco portes, a. (2020, october 16). a tale of three cities: the rise of dubai, singapore, and miami compared. sustainability, 12(20), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208566 read, g. (2009). many miamis: the theatre of public space. in a. t. shulman. (ed.), miami modern metropolis: paradise and paradox in midcentury architecture and planning, (pp. 103–123). balcony press. rose, c. n. (2015). the struggle for black freedom in miami: civil rights and america's tourist paradise, 1896–1968. louisiana state university press. sassen, s. (2002). the global city: new york, london, tokyo (2nd ed.). princeton university press. society of american archivists. (n.d.). postcustodial. in dictionary of archives terminology. retrieved august 20, 2022 from https://dictionary.archivists.org/entry/postcustodial.html sutton, j. (2000, november 22). miami-dade narrows hand recount in presidential election. cnn. https://www.cnn.com/2000/allpolitics/stories/11/22/election.miami.reut/index.ht mlh turner, j. (1988). the mixed legacy of the chicago school of sociology. sociological perspectives, 31(3), 325-338. https://doi.org/10.2307/1389202 venturi. r., scott brown, d., & izenour, s. (1972). learning from las vegas. mit press. xavier cugat and his orchestra. (1958). miami beach rumba [song]. on cugat cavalcade. columbia. 97 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/08/27/swoons-over-miami/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8oirysjaco https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208566 https://dictionary.archivists.org/entry/postcustodial.html https://www.cnn.com/2000/allpolitics/stories/11/22/election.miami.reut/index.htmlh https://www.cnn.com/2000/allpolitics/stories/11/22/election.miami.reut/index.htmlh https://doi.org/10.2307/1389202 making miami’s history and present more accessible the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38943 katie l. coldiron (kcoldiro@fiu.edu) is the digital archivist of the wolfsonian public humanities lab at florida international university. she holds an m.s. in information studies from the university of texas at austin and an m.a. in latin american studies from the university of florida. her research and professional interests include latin america and the caribbean (with emphasis on cuba and colombia), south florida, digital humanities, public-facing scholarship, and postcustodial partnerships. she is also a phd student in fiu’s department of history. julio capó, jr., ph.d. (jcapo@fiu.edu) is deputy director of the wolfsonian public humanities lab and associate professor of history at florida international university. he is a transnational historian with a distinct emphasis on the united states’ relationship with the caribbean and latin america. capó’s publications, grant-funded projects, curated exhibitions, and other publicfacing works heavily focus on recovering voices and stories that have, by design, been systematically erased or marginalized. his first book, welcome to fairyland: queer miami before 1940 (unc press, 2017), received five book awards. it highlights how transnational forces— especially migration, trade, and tourism to and from the caribbean—shaped miami’s queer past. a former journalist, his work has also appeared in time, cnn, and the washington post, where he now serves as an editor for its made by history section. 98 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:kcoldiro@fiu.edu mailto:jcapo@fiu.edu https://www.uncpress.org/book/9781469635200/welcome-to-fairyland/ https://www.uncpress.org/book/9781469635200/welcome-to-fairyland/ introduction miami life and the díaz ayala cuban and latin american popular music collection building digital collections in miami studies through post-custodial initiatives: community data curation conclusion endnotes acknowledgments references “she started wearing men’s clothes and acting more masculine”: queering historical knowledge, gendered identity making, and trans potentialities in visual information the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 “she started wearing men’s clothes and acting more masculine”: queering historical knowledge, gendered identity making, and trans potentialities in visual information travis l. wagner university of south carolina, usa abstract this paper examines two examples of archival visual information with potentially transgender and non-binary representation to interrogate the descriptive challenges latent within such materials. by using gender theory and queer historiography, this paper deploys a critical case study to consider the particularities of naming gender when contextual evidence provides little to no authoritative guidance. by talking through the way gender makes itself visible within visual information, the paper guides readers through the way transgender or non-binary identity might exist within both pieces of visual information. the paper then provides suggestions on how to provide respectful and inclusive descriptive records that attend to the complexities of a stillevolving queer history. by offering both a statement on the impossibility of naming identity within intersecting forms of queer embodiment alongside reference points for methods of discussing potential gendered identities, the paper offers practical approaches to describing transgender and non-binary identities for information professionals. keywords: archival description; cataloging; critical information studies; queer theory; transgender identity publication type: research article introduction hile transgender and gender non-binary persons have long existed, their visibility within public discourse remains relatively new. given how this population challenges once rigid, socially constructed notions of gender requires both theoretical and practical answers about how to best describe, affirm, and represent their narratives within the appropriate historical and cultural contexts. almost all practices of description rely upon verbal affirmations of identity, wherein the naming of gender requires locating discursive markers to confirm a person's given identity. such affirmations can come from the individual in question, but it is often equally plausible that those descriptions emerge through others' perceptions. simply, if a person does not say their gender then it is up to the person describing a piece of information to interpret it. however, for information such as moving images or photographs whose existence is primarily non-textual, the practice of interpreting and labelling gender identity proves more complicated. further, visual non-textual information representing humans from early years may or may not w https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 match up with how we identify and make assumptions about humans today. suppose the visual information is older, such as the mid-19th century daguerreotype. does the gender expression represent a trans masculine identity or an aesthetics of such as stone butch lesbianism? this paper considers how representations of potentially transgender or gender non-binary identities within visual information exist as a form of inherent queerness. this paper employs a case study of two disparate archival images of queer embodiment at the intersection of transgender and non-binary gender identity to attend to these challenges. by analyzing how each image takes up the representation of transgender and non-binary identities, how each makes this representation visible, and how each interrogates the naming of public and private transgender embodiment, the paper offers tenuous but forward-looking suggestions on descriptive practice. alongside this analysis, the paper considers how the materials make visible gender in both subversive and normative ways by considering how each item exists in decidedly different spaces, and advocates for how information professionals can participate in the building, defining, and understanding of transgender visual information history. literature review this literature review situates critical ideas within this case study by first understanding contemporary debates around gender identity, particularly highlighting what modern queer theory understands as the performative elements of gender. this discussion then considers the role of queerness as both an identity and a politics of practice, examining how queer identity exists to disrupt and challenge normative ideologies, here with a particular focus placed on normative gender ideologies. the discussion then emphasizes relationship between cultural heritage institutions (libraries, archives, museums, etc.) and queer embodiment before shifting to how these same institutions approach gender within descriptive practices. gender as performance judith butler (1990) decentralizes gender as a rigid identity tied to sex-assigned-at-birth by moving its function from the factual to the performative. she notes that "the presumption of a non-binary gender system implicitly retains a belief in a mimetic relation of gender to sex whereby gender mirrors sex or is otherwise restricted by it.” (p. 6). butler notes that historically the ideas of masculinity presumed an inherent linkage to maleness, whereas to be a woman presumed one's existence singularly within the realm of the feminine. butler’s ideas raised two concerns: our notion of gender has nothing to do with our sex-assigned-at-birth and second, that gender, even if it is a deeply ritualized experience, remains better understood as deeply individualized phenomena. to this end, there exist myriad gender identities both within and beyond a binary. further, regulatory mechanisms within society award individuals for performing a gender identity that aligns with their sex-assigned-at-birth. attending to butler's work, others expand on the complexities around seeing and doing gender within a cisnormative (presuming that all persons possess a gender identity that matches their sex assigned at birth) society. transgender activist and theorist, kate bornstein (1994) described gender as akin to one's fashion, noting that her "identity becomes [her] body which becomes [her] fashion." (p. 1). such a framing of gender echoes how one performs gender, but it specifically prioritizes individual agency within one’s gender. as bornstein further clarifies, this means not only that she, as a transgender woman, engages in a unique relationship with femininity but that any person who expresses and does femininity does so individually. 22 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 jack halberstam (1998) expands on bornstein by identifying dominant ideologies that provide a normative presumption around what gender can and should be. halberstam deconstructs “heroic masculinity” to illuminate how a limited and restrictive notion of what masculinity looks like and who has access to this masculinity prioritizes and centers patriarchal values centered on cisgender, heterosexual white men. halberstam asserts that such normalizing power works not only to render alternative masculinities (transgender or otherwise) invisible but assumes them a joke. deftly, halberstam takes up this presumption and argues that if such versions of masculinity are themselves a parody than so too is cisgender masculinity, halberstam queers the very notion of gender as a performance. this notion of queer as a verb opens possibilities concerning how one might understand the imperatives to describe gender beyond a binary. the act of queering queering as a verb challenges perceptions of normalcy and interrogates the presumptions latent within (dilley, 1999). the act of queering and doing queerness operates to unsettle the notion of a binarized and essentialized way of thinking. taking up debates around normativity and any notion of natural sexuality, queering works to locate how both an identity and its antonymic relationship (i.e., ab/normal or un/natural) might benefit from critical examination. such examinations show how binaries often operate discursively through shared social ideologies with little grounding in truth (jagose, 1996). queering challenges not merely what is different but also what is similar. one such widespread uptake of queer theory centers around the debate of one's queer identity as being a product of either nature or nurture. scholars note that while there are likely some genetic explanations around one's potential queer identity (including sexual orientations and gender identity), it is equally likely that one's social environments inform queer identity. queering then becomes at once an action (to make something queer), an identification (to find queerness in contexts), and a thing to celebrate (to evoke moments of queerness throughout history). in each instantiation, queerness intends to disrupt systems and logics in ways that often seem chaotic and fractured but prove quite agentic and deliberate. queerness in institutions perhaps most integral to queer theory and its informing of cultural heritage institutions' work is the unsettling of a rigid notion of fact and fiction. such a destabilization responds to the historical erasure of queer history. examples of this erasure: the avoidance of calling gay men gay by instead evoking terms like a bachelor (madden, 2019) or through the inability to deploy terms consistent with historical moments when trans identity might be present in a historical figure’s life (wagner, 2019). in both examples, the idea of fact or even truth remains limited by the language of a moment. in response to such limits, queerness asks questions of to whom a person is normal and how such normalcy becomes contingent on the space and time of the person in question and who is viewing them. since much of the engagement with queering happens at the level of individual encounters, the binary of user and subject becomes complicated. to see a figure in history as queer requires one to be critical of histories of normativity in the first place, an action often informed by one's queerness. this need for queer-identification is likely because bodies within modern western thought must become oriented towards other bodies phenomenologically using identification practices to make meaning of oneself as situated against the other (ahmed, 2006). one's desire 23 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 to see their queerness manifest within contemporary spaces often results in their seeking out potential versions of this from the past to normalize their identity in the present. while anachronistic, this action works to produce a version of queer history that is self-affirming. queer historical maneuvers also mean that the queer subject is always in the present. heather love (2007) identifies this project as an affective endeavor. for love and those seeking a queer history, it is both a project of individual meaning-making and imagining the possibility of queerness as existing throughout time despite attempts by institutions to delegitimize, ignore, and even destroy such histories. as such, the role of personal history-making against institutional malevolence marks a particular feature of the visual information record of transgender and nonbinary persons. such an individually driven approach to history building helps explain the impetus by many queer communities to build their own archival spaces. the othering of queerness against heteronormativity and cisnormativity meant that their histories were at best ignored and at worst deliberately destroyed. further, questions like consent within traditional archival practice become central to lgbtqia+ communities as outness in private spaces does not always equate to outness within public spaces wherein one’s job security, health and well-being, and emotional support are all subject to threats from persistent anti-lgbtqia+ sentiments. queer oriented cultural heritage spaces and queer archives prioritize the safety of community as a response. gina watts (2018) brilliantly chronicles these systemic exclusions and the radical practices undertaken by queer archives to do justice to queer history, noting that they run parallel to existing archival practices, while also offering new inroads for such spaces to better attend to their queer collections and users. in turn, the photographs and moving images discussed later become further complex as they represent stories whose narratives may exist within traditional institutions, as well as those very same spaces wherein alternative, community-protective history making occurs. one exists in a historical archive where concern for authentic representation of the potentially queer identities was never prioritized, and its impact reflects the current challenges such spaces are facing with amending such exclusions. another shows the approach given to gender diversity within a queer-oriented archive, illuminating how similar questions are framed at community-protection and affirmation. yet, both represent a larger concern for how to attend to queer historiography at the intersection of an action done by the society often reified at institutional levels such as a cataloger's desk. the cataloger/archivist as gendering agent in 1982 susan martin discussed the role of authority standards within librarianship and information organization as a “set of procedures which determines consistent names and terminology in the face of...changing names; changing subject terminology; and changing relationships between and among scholarly disciplines, corporate bodies and governmental agencies” (p. 2). an initial reading invites optimism regarding information organization as profoundly malleable or as a set of standards willing to shift for the sake of inclusivity. however, what martin makes less clear is that the word central to authority standards is not one of change but consistency. like predecessors of information organization like melvil dewey (1899) and s.r. ranganathan (1937), martin’s version of authority control relies on universality, an authority tasked with naming all bodies. as melissa adler (2017) deftly states, "the library inhibits intersectionality and intertextuality by reducing bodies of literature to disciplined, discrete subjects distributed across the library.” (p. xii). of course, the library is an institution within which individuals work, suggesting that the cataloger is complicit within the description of 24 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 information. yet the position of the cataloger is one rarely explored, especially within critical contexts. in a similar vein, archives have been theorized as sites of authority for history, though oft challenged by critical theorists such as michel foucault (1969) and jacques derrida (1996). within the realm of information professionals their deemed them sites of neutral truth telling. in particular, the archive became an evidentiary institution operating as a site of historical truth, even as that truth would eventually be a contested one (cook, 1997). in particular, practitioner scholars like verne harris (2002) argued that institutional archives, especially those operating on behalf of governments, work to both directly and passively destroy histories which render them in negative lights, particularly with regards to systemic oppressions. while harris refers specifically to apartheid within south africa, his concerns extended beyond racism and invited theorizing around similar exclusions at the site of gender and sexuality as well. as note, the emergence of alternative archives for queer history was in response to this failed neutrality and such spaces operate as a direct challenge to this falsely held concept of neutral record keeping. in fact, k.j. rawson (2015) makes this point in his introduction to the transgender studies quarterly special issue on archives. noting that the emergence of transgender as a term is not indicative of an absence of such persons within history, but a new moment in which visibility and demand for historical recognition has produced the bodies of transgender persons within community and traditional archives as sites of “political change” (p. 548). specifically, the reality that gender non-binary within archives whose gender identities challenges cisnormativity and its production of the site of gender as a normative identity. the duality of transgender historiography and transgender subjectivity did not politicize archives, but merely made abundantly clear what was already politicized by refusing space to render such identities visible to begin with. further, as aaron devor (2014) notes, it was trans identity which specifically destabilized archival praxis for queer history making, asserting that this identity and the complexities around its visibility and description, impacted both activists and historians alike. further, attendant to this journal’s international scope and the aforementioned work of verne harris, the political work of making transgender identity visible often happens at the intersections of colonialism and racism, as evidenced by the emergence of transgender archives within sub-saharan africa rooted in the region’s own political queer activism (theron & kgositau, 2015). in turn, these types of politicized realities inform not only cataloging, but how gender is described and perceived of within the records of such bodies. cataloger’s judgment stands in as a framing device for the positionality of the cataloger in describing a piece of information. while theorized as a method to understanding the onus placed upon catalogers to make available and accessible as possible a piece of information. the idea as currently utilized situates the practitioner as a descriptive agent of information from a vantage point of neutrality. most scholarship asks the cataloger to think critically of their role in making information available to users, while never noting how the identities of those users and catalogers inform descriptive presumptions (diao, 2018). latent here is that a cataloger, on behalf of their respective institution, can imagine all potential user needs or can see all potential representations within a given piece of information. from an ethical standpoint such presumptions fail to attend, first to the systemic exclusions observed by adler and others, while also assuming that cataloger’s identities are simultaneously cohesive enough and diverse enough to prepare, with proper education, a record for access. fox and reece (2012) extend this issue by arguing that the notion of a cataloging ethics exists without any central theoretical framework from which to orient ethical practice meaning that concepts such as minimal bias and neutrality exist without considering in what ways an information professional might be biased, driven by 25 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 identarian blindsight or otherwise. in response, fox (2016) asserts that one such method of integrating positionality into cataloging would be through the framework of intersectionality, understanding that one’s lived identities (race, class, gender, sexuality) work to afford access or produce barriers to social spaces and services. understanding this concept, fox argues, will allow for catalogers to examine how their own identities exist situationally to cataloging as practice and the ethical choices made in their work, thus resulting in better work judging the content they describe not for neutral access, but from how it works to undo regimes of oppression. in response, the following discussion explores how cataloging produces notions of queerness and ascribes queerness to bodies in ways that reproduce normativity. adler, as well as critical treatises by sanford berman (1971) and hope olson (2002), notes the challenges of naming queer bodies. contemporary complexities regarding transgender and nonbinary bodies came to light when the information organization standard resource description and access (rda) sought to provide users with an easy way to describe gender. to provide users with a means to describe gender in all types of information resources, rda prioritized traditional print materials. those describing resources were initially only given the categorical options of male and female. following the advocacy of biiley et al. (2014) rda now allows for any gender option. however, rda still stipulates that such prescriptions of gender come from declarations made by the person within the piece of information. while alleviating some immediate issues concerning the misgendering of individuals within materials from a metatheoretical level, it still assumes a coherent shared queer body of knowledge. such insistence upon consistency, for this type of organizational framework, relies on some point of initial reference, resulting in yet other examples of problematic queer description. this has led to the design and implementation of alternative authority standards such as the homosaurus, which aims to, like queer archives, prioritize the community representation of lgbtqia+ identity, as opposed to assuming that a current standard can appropriately exist as inclusive of such identities. as will be discussed, the homosaurus works to imagine multiple ways of being queer and affording descriptions space to exhaustively name these iterations of identity rather than merely picking the most relevant term at the cost of essentializing one’s identity. this demand for consistency becomes a challenge when dealing with predominantly non-textual and visual information (wagner, 2019). visual information requires contextual specifics, noting not only what one sees but the informational contexts of the item and, crucially, who is sharing and using the piece of visual information. when practitioners have tackled the question of gender diverse representation with cataloging, it is through advocating a refusal to rely on library of congress entirely (roberto, 2011) or to use the failures of the inability to name gender identity in diverse ways as a point of dialogic inquiry between patrons and practitioners (drabisnki, 2013). indeed, the consensus across literature for practitioner approaches is to utilize emergent technologies and site-specific practices attendant to the case-specific needs of a collection and its investment in gender diversity (johnson, 2010). in turn, very little exists around a cohesive “what to do” when it comes to gender non-binary identities within cataloging and even less so when it refers to visual information, suggesting a chronic necessity for such exploration. in response, this paper's remainder approaches these complexities of the competing ideas of consistency and contextuality by offering a nuanced case study of potentially transgender and gender non-binary identity in visual information. however, before engaging with this case study, the methodological choices behind the visual resources and their intended focus require clarification. 26 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 methods this paper deploys a case study methodology by highlighting two curated images (one a film of newsreel outtakes the other a photograph from a drag performance) that focus on transgender embodiment. the case study takes an approach through what robert e. stake (1995, p. 44) defines as “critical uniqueness.” this case study highlights challenges, issues, and contexts relevant to naming and affirming gender diversity when encountered in visual information cataloging. the critical part here, like the earlier discussed archiving and cataloging practices produced by queer communities also centers queerness as a preeminent concern within the case studies, approaching examples “with queer concerns and experiences at the forefront of the logic” (decamp, 2020, p. 10). in particular, the images picked for the case study highlight a century of visual information related to transgender and gender non-binary identity, focusing on the historical impetus for how information professionals might understand the gender identities in question. further, the items discussed work to highlight the respective conduits through which individuals share and engage with queer visual information, including items encountered in differing contexts. these differing contexts produce a binary of institutional and communal archives while understanding this binary to itself be antithetical to queer methods, however, attending to what tom boellstorff (2016) defines as “surfing binarisms” these examples contextualize similar challenges across both types of cultural heritage institution, while providing insight into overlapping and divergent practices (p. 222). each item considers the degrees of visibility provided to a given gender identity, including moments evoking transgender identity in hyper-scientific contexts to moments where non-binary identity exists figuratively, but not through literally visualizing these bodies. following the analysis of each piece of visual information, the paper considers possible descriptive approaches followed then by a loose, albeit contextually specific method of transgender visual information description. limitations while the images discussed represent and engage with divergent issues around the representation of transgender and non-binary bodies within visual information, their use as case study examples does not come without limitations. the case study prioritizes my interests as a scholar of queer embodiment within archives. as such, the examples do not address all issues concerning queer identities within visual information. further, the examples given their visibility within queer media history reify issues around homonormativity (duggan, 2003). all the shown subjects appear to be white and likely of higher socioeconomic classes. this acknowledgment means that while this is about transgender and non-binary embodiment and how to approach description from a visual information perspective, it is decidedly not about how to tackle the equally complex topic of naming race within similar examples. the geographic scope of the samples generally resides within the united states. further, each example also considers material whose origins revolve around the american south and the suggestions following each case study might need nuance and alteration to better attend to global and even regional challenges. finally, the items discussed prioritize content over practice and serve not as a perfect representation of how to deal with transgender embodiment across all cultural institutions or within specific cataloging rules or standards, but merely survey issues that cut across these particularities. the idea here is not to offer up criticism or failure but instead to open outwards towards potential solutions. 27 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 case study 1: jazz wedding—outtakes the first piece of footage titled jazz wedding--outtakes (1928) is a fox movietone newsreel outtake held at the university of south carolina's moving image research collection and represents footage whose use exists as ephemera to newsreel footage of the early 20th century. the footage depicts a group of individuals who are dressed in clothing indicative of both brides and grooms processing down an outdoor courtyard with arms interlocking. leading the group is a person in a suit holding a book while raising their hand. the footage then cuts to multiple scenes of brides and grooms kissing (see fig. 1). figure 1. fox mews story c3252: jazz wedding-outtakes, fox movietone news collection. reproduced by permission of the moving image research collection, the university of south carolina. the moving image’s description places both “bride” and “groomsmen” in quotation likely due to the footage’s ties to the then women’s college brenau university. the presumption that all persons were performing possibly explains the inclusion of subject headings such as "male impersonator" and the decidedly more dated "transvestism.” 1it is also critical to note here that this example is profoundly contextual and represents the particular knowledge of a set of archivists and/or catalogers at a particular location. it is equally plausible that were there knowledgeable information professionals at this site, they would have contextualized the uses of the terms in the subject headings or been keenly aware of the way that this potentially one-time 28 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 event at a women's college were not actual engagements in male impersonation as a form of identity-making (see fig. 2). content description girls of brenau college hold a jazz wedding to depict the spirit of modern times. women dress up as both sides of the bridal party, the ceremony is performed and the bride and groom kiss, dancing all the while. scene of the "bride" dancing with "groomsmen." geographic location gainesville (ga.) subject transvestism. male impersonators. women college students. dance--united states weddings. theater. costume. figure 2. the content description, geographic location, and subject terms for jazz wedding--outtakes provided by the moving image research collection. (converted to text for accessibility). while we cannot presume these to be actual images of transgender men or non-binary persons exploring their identity, we equally cannot assume them to be lesbians. this challenge becomes magnified by the footage's long-term intentions, many of which may not have been known by the students at the time of the recording. this issue is both descriptive and ethical. the question of whether the acts should be digitally visible to begin with, their content reflecting “negotiated intimacy” between students who may never have imagined such acts becoming public and, as such, ask questions about how they might want such things contextualized, let alone defined into a historical record. (cowan & rault, 2018, p. 124). the footage is silent and does not suggest the existence of a transgender identity; however, given that the use of women juxtaposed with the deployment of multiple gendered clothing styles does offer up the potential for gender to be queered and for the "groomsmen" to be trans men. this possibility would be historically unprecedented given the 1928 recording date of the footage, a precedent even more unusual given the footage’s georgia location. the challenges of describing this content then emerge from a lack of appropriate terms for the historical version of gender expression occurring in the footage. it is not to say that viewers are not looking at the presence of trans men or even genderfluid individuals, but that these were not the terms afforded to the persons in the footage. however, this does not deny information professionals the ability to identify and label the content as something akin to contemporary notions of transgender and gender non-binary identities. such reclamation is the move made by the creators of the hit amazon studies show transparent, who used the footage in the opening credits of their show focused on a trans woman's daily life. to navigate how one might understand alternative descriptive practices for this piece of footage, one must first attend to a few points about how it engages with transgender identity and its existence within a historical record. the primary challenge resides because no form of contemporary terminology accurately reflects what identities the participants present and identify within jazz wedding--outtakes. 29 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 again, while there existed both trans men and butch lesbians within this historical moment, the lack of an affirmative statement on the part of the individuals shown in the footage prevents any method on the part of information professionals to assert transgender embodiment authoritatively. wagner (2018) observes the limitations of schemas like rda when attempting to assert language used to describe moments of gender non-binary identity face scrutiny due to an overreliance on textual affirmation. in the case of this footage, camera operators (who were almost exclusively cisgender, straight white men) failed to label and identify these individuals as anything more than women playing dress-up. so, for the most queerly astute and forwardthinking individuals cataloging the record, the rules of organizational practice do not allow for asserting a transgender identity upon the subject. further, the content itself evokes an ongoing challenge around two dueling ideologies of queer history-making (between trans men and/or butch lesbians). each side entrenches itself in the project of laying claim to what seemingly few historical queer figures exist. rarely, if ever, do the two communities within the subset of the lgbtqia+ umbrella concede to sharing figures, likely due to a larger struggle to seek out and gain recognition within a queer history that overemphasizes the narratives of gay, cisgender, white men (duggan, 2003). subsets of queer identity seek out any representations that will help make legitimate identity, even if it means denying another identity in the process. the question almost always becomes an either/or identity instead of offering up the potential of a this/and identity description. undoing this need for uniformity might liberate the transgender image within visual information. the challenge of naming a queer identity within jazz wedding--outtakes only exacerbates given that the footage in question exists as outtakes of newsreel footage, much of which exists on the periphery of media history content that never made it to theatrical release (chambers et al., 2018). the lack of theatrical context makes it impossible to codify jazz wedding moments-outtakes into any particular genre. so too, does the non-public nature of it make the footage's intentions challenging to understand. further, the outtakes represent repeated actions intended to be re-edited and cut together into linear narrative cohesion. a viewer of jazz wedding-outtakes sees the group processing through a courtyard multiple times, just as they see the images of participants kissing through multiple takes, including the one used in transparent. further, if the viewer were to take the provided description as truth, then it is women, some in drag, performing a wedding ceremony. such an additional layer invites new ways of thinking about the sexuality of the footage, never mind its overt confrontation with gender. despite the issues mentioned above between histories of transgender masculinity and stone butch lesbianism, footage like jazz wedding--outtakes allows for a space for both histories and further quite evocatively affirms their presence in early twentieth-century queer history. this subversive representation provides a useful connecting point for an equally subversive, yet far more direct representation of transgender embodiment. the question then becomes how might a cataloger or archivist tentatively consider describing this item within their workflow? the following is an attempt to provide a checklist of potential approaches. embrace ambiguity given the contentions around jazz wedding—outtakes as a historical representation of queerness at the intersection of transgender and lesbian identity, a cataloger might benefit from simply allowing both identities to exist in conversation. since the library of congress offers no way to name queerness as an identity within a group, alternative approaches remain necessary. evoking 30 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 these identities as potential standouts affords a cataloger the ability to do their due diligence as an information professional while also not avoiding naming identities because there exist no perfect means to do so. in this case, the embrace of dual identities as a potential becomes almost obligatory. terms worth deploying include the already existing "male impersonators," as well as potentially "transgender people," and even "lesbians." though "transgender men" exists as an option, this inability to affirm that the individuals shown did indeed identify as trans men or transmasculine remains a challenge. the much more open heading of "transgender people" affords a degree of openness to this uncertainty. additionally, emerging subject headings around things like "gender nonconformity" might also open potential avenues to talk about the footage's complications without naming gender specifically. such a heading would allow viewers to note that both masculinity and femininity are being performed in the context of the wedding. it is worth remembering here, however, that choices such as these could be misinterpreted as ontological claims, so an information professional should do their best to provide notes and clarifications to the contexts behind such subject headings and their ethical reasons for providing these terms (fox & reece, 2012). the work of the cataloger or archivists here becomes about their own positionality in the work and what they understand the context to be, but at no point should this understanding be interpreted at definitive truth. this emphasis on providing specifics within a descriptive framework also provides insight into an additional approach that adheres to context-driven rather than factual description. describe gendered ways of being and not the gender an equally legitimate approach to this content would be to avoid the gender-specific tags such as "transgender men" or "male impersonators" and keep something like "gender nonconformity" and then use the space of the content description to describe the particularities of how the clip challenges gender. instead of describing things like "women dress up as both sides of the bridal party", a description could read as a site of expression. the cataloger might write something like, "group of people at women's college don bridal gowns and tuxedos to recreate a wedding." note the almost subtle shift of language that confirms what is, ultimately, an unknowable gender identity (save for actual affirmation from the person in the footage). here details are left to researcher conjecturing or laying claim to queer identities. opening the description here also helps legitimize the performance of gender happening by the individuals being read as cisgender women in dresses. though it does not outright offer a naming of it, such an approach expands the footage's potential to be also understood as either genderqueer or genderfluid. make cautious use of preexisting descriptions jazz wedding—outtakes comes with multiple levels of description, including both the descriptions provided by the camera operators at the time of the footage's release, as well as the various interpretations of this data between catalogers over the past few decades. in each case, the person updating the description ought to have wrestled with making sense of what language best describes the persons within the footage shown. just as shifts in language around race within cataloging have shifted in the past century, too should our notions of the correct or appropriate term are for a piece of footage whose gender exploration is as rich as this. it is also equally likely that the persons describing these figures refuse to see gender identities divergent from cisgender 31 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 identity. as wagner (2020) argues this is likely the case with pioneering queer speedboat racer joe carstairs whose refusal to adhere to feminine gender conventions and identification has nonetheless faced constant misgendering not only by archival descriptions but historiographers as well. in turn, when it comes to something like the jazz wedding—outtakes footage, a cataloger researching such footage should provide equal weight to what a current gender studies scholar or queer activist has to say about the content documentation contemporary to the footage's existence. the guidance afforded by standards such as rda and the library of congress prioritize textual affirmation but provide no space for imagining how these affirmations might be products of cisnormative ignorance or, worse, deliberate queer erasure. so even as it may not be an identity spoken about by name, the expression here provides more than enough of a justification to assert its potential. examples like jazz wedding—outtakes offer information professionals an item whose emergence within their workflow ties to a pre-existing archival collection with its own rules and ideas; however, there exists an even more significant challenge when engaging with materials whose emergence occurs by happenstance. case study 2: unidentified person performs onstage at the 1997 christmas in july carnival the title of this piece of visual information, in many ways, describes as best as possible what one sees, without additional interpretation. however, a deeper description of unidentified person performs onstage at the 1997 christmas in july carnival (hereafter unidentified person performs) might expand the discussion a bit. for example, it might observe that we are seeing a person in a neon-patterned leotard, black shorts, tights, high heels, and sunglasses singing on an outdoor stage. the photograph's faded nature might even lead us to believe that it is from the late eighties or early nineties (figure 3). critically, what we do not know about the person is their gender identity and, further, what ways they might be expressing gender within or against the conventions of their sex-assigned-at-birth. however, simply saying a person performing onstage offers very little insight into what might be worthwhile or utilizable to a patron or researcher. unidentified person performs is one of the many "unidentified" photographs included within the digital transgender archive, a collection of materials focused on helping undo the "significant barriers to the accessibility of trans history" by linking up various and disparate global collections into an isolated digital repository and shifting the representation of transgender history away from being defined by "language" (overview, 2018). in particular, the digital transgender archive attempts its best to clarify that while there was rarely ever a direct naming of transgender identity within archival collections before the 1990s, there certainly exist materials whose themes, representations, and content reflect transgender potentiality. the digital transgender archive is doing the work of advocating for materials such as the aforementioned jazz wedding— outtakes being included within the still-forming transgender history. there exist works whose representations include self-defined and avowed transgender individuals. there also exist materials such as unidentified person performs, which emerge concerning identifiable transgender and nonbinary historical figures. this photograph provides an example of the potential challenges around encountering a piece of visual information with much less context than the newsreel discussed earlier. indeed, the image only has for reference points its temporal relationship to 1997, its event related to the christmas in july event, its spatial relationship to houston, texas, and its collection links to the photographic works of jd, all of which one can cull from the metadata made available within the digital transgender archive's page for the item (see fig. 4). 32 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 figure 3. the unidentified person of the unidentified person performs photograph housed within the digital transgender archive. item information identifier kw52j834d collection jd doyle photographs (1950-2000) institution jd doyle archives date created 1997 date covered 1997 genre photographs 33 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 subject(s) christmas in july carnival places texas > harris county > houston topic(s) carnivals crossdressing photography resource type still image analog format color language english rights contact host institution for more information for more information on copyright, please read our policies figure 4. the available linked metadata for unidentified person performs. (converted to text for accessibility). clicking any of the links related to the collection or the institution redirects a user to other items within the collection, but very little about the actual contexts from which the collection exists, finding that there are materials for drag shows, crossdressing, and theater more broadly. as such, this is the most one can deduce about this image given its ties to an event wherein drag likely occurred, or some variety of theater engages in gender subversion. similar to jazz wedding— outtakes, a viewer can, at best, only conjecture as to what types of gender experimentations were occurring in this particular time and space. however, this minimal context does not mean that one cannot begin to engage with the gender potentials latent within the photograph. like the previously discussed materials attempting to contextualize what it means to engage in gender non-binary expression warrants consideration. a litany of scholars, both through theory (halberstam, 2005) and qualitative study (gray, 2009), have taken it upon themselves to challenge a misperception of queer embodiment within rural spaces and, more specifically, the midwest and american south. deploying what he calls "metronormativity," halberstam argues that while we often fail to see transgender identity within rural spaces, there nonetheless existed and continue to exist unique deployments of this identity both all part of the united states. while houston, texas is by no means a rural town, its location as a city within texas offers up space wherein one presumes a lack of open and visible queer culture. the unidentified person performs photograph exists as a challenge to this misperception, even if it is impossible to name this particular moment as one of transgender embodiment. the event, for which this untitled performer is present, is one titled the christmas in july event, and digitally thumbing through other photographs in the collection allow one to discover that one of the performers here did have a name, and though not the person in the photograph her identification as crystal rae lee love, allows a researcher to explore and think about her presence within houston queer culture. one discovers love not only to be a prominent drag persona within houston from throughout the 1990s and the 2000s but the recipient of 2002's 34 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 "best drag queen," from the houston press. in the interview and description of love, she openly identifies as being a "tranny" and as somebody who practices "transvestism," two terms whose utilization, while dated, offer insight into the way drag for many performers exceeds the simplicity of performance and aligns with gender identities beyond cisgender (best drag queen, 2002). it affords a way to link up the performers to engagements which at the very least attempt to engage in gender as an identity. the simultaneous deployment of terms whose evolution now more implicitly reflects transgender identity and the site's actualities as being one that included transgender people allows for this to be a way to talk about the image. such a discussion cannot aim to name the transgender identity at play, given the uncertainty around the unidentified person in question. perhaps indicative of the thought and care placed on respect within the digital transgender archive, this photograph's metadata generally represents an appropriate approach to the content, but for purposes of imagination, treating this photograph as something one might find in a shoebox or between photographs of crystal rae lee love allows one to reflect on the particularities of describing gender. like jazz wedding—outtakes footage, there is no evocation of sex-assigned at birth here and even less to go on concerning pre-existing metadata. there is no marker akin to "women dress as both sides of the bridal party." one cannot use terms like "female impersonator" or "male impersonator" here since those rely on a transition between one identity to another. as such, it is telling that the only sort of term within the existing record here utilizes "crossdressing" as a catch-all for expressions blurring between gender identities. a person might utilize “drag shows” as a broader idea or lean into "gender nonconformity" to understand that ultimately, the image confronts cisgender logics of binary identity. in this way, it becomes more about utilizing available descriptors within the image to talk through what is shown and seen as gendered without naming gender itself. noting that the unidentified performer, for example, has a curly bob haircut/wig and cat-eye sunglasses offer up expressions more traditionally associated with femininity, but avoids naming the identity as feminine. similarly, noting the presence of high heels, a black shirt, and pantyhose invite a multitude of interpretations of femininity that allow simultaneous potentials of drag performance as well as feminine gender expression. none of these state that what viewers are looking at is that of a transgender woman. it does, however, allow a potential researcher to build connections between crystal rae lee love's hypervisibility and this unidentified performer. such an approach provides a robust, descriptive record that provides users some semblance of what the performer looks like while also remaining ambiguous enough to avoid the one thing that remains wholly uncertain within the footage; the person's gender. in turn, providing some critical points of reference for why such a description matters and justifying these descriptive practices is necessary. utilize proximate information while one can imagine unidentified person performing as a standalone item, one whose emergence comes by way of donation, it is also one whose materiality exists in proximity to other definable materials. as observed, it is part of a particular event within houston's drag culture, and these details afford it some descriptive legitimacy. while it could equally be a photograph whose inclusion in a box of materials is one of mere happenstance, such presumptions do little to aid accessibility and findability. a work such as this benefits from having terms tied to it, ones that, while they may ultimately prove incorrect, place it in front of the eyes of area experts. hypothetically, one could imagine this passing through the gaze of a researcher of texas queer history who has found materials elsewhere on the subject. they may encounter the photograph 35 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 and note that it is not from the event or part of this particular drag scene. however, in that realization, it is equally plausible that they will offer up some information on the who and what of the photograph. the value of proximate information here allows for a cataloger to make educated guesses with the materials while also offering up a way for those with information, whether from lived experience or knowledge acquisition, to engage with and add to the materials. once again, such educated guesses call attention to the lack of an objective or neutral stance in one’s work and require the cataloger to be wholly transparent about the ethical framework informing their choices. as an example, the cataloger might note that historically normative institutions have failed to adequately describe such bodies and communities. users in this case become central points of knowledge as informed by archival queer theory, which here becomes the ethical framing of the cataloger's work (watts, 2018). further, from an economic standpoint relying on user knowledge takes the onus of knowing the right thing to say or do off the information professional. ostensibly, it serves as a necessary reminder that the function of describing information, even one as contextually complex as unidentified person performing, is to make users aware of it and to engage with it. leveraging alternative text description one of the significant impetuses of accessibility within digital archival repositories focuses on utilizing alternative text to afford accessibility to users engaged with web-readers. a major challenge of alternative text description occurs around the aesthetics of an image, wherein a person might describe the colors as being nice without detailing this (ghosal et al., 2019). in this way, artificial intelligence has operated to train computers to fill in the descriptions by noting what potential colors exist within an image, allowing a user to understand these lost details better, should they need help doing so. given that gender is markedly more complex and certainly not easily learnable for ai (at least in methods not relying on conflating sex-assignedat-birth), the role of describing gender becomes the burden of a cataloger or related information professional. by leveraging cultural heritage institutions' obligation to be thoughtful about making clear and coherent descriptions available in multiple ways, the exceptionally detailed discussions around gendered expressions within unidentified person performing become not simply viable but obligatory. further, gender is an oft-avoided component of computer-driven alt-text description, suggesting it remains a particularly human-driven descriptive practice. the use of terms like "a person wearing cat-eye glasses, feminine makeup and a black skirt" serves as a two-fold way of providing a discussion for gendered components and a detailed description of the footage itself. utilize inclusion-driven organizational methods one outstanding option for addressing the complexities of gender identity within visual information remains the use and deployment of alternative schemas attuned to gender as a social construct. for example, the homosauraus, an internationally deployed, linked data system built on the iterative understanding of queer-centered descriptive frameworks offers up thoughtful and inclusive language to better recognize the historical contentions around queer identities. the homosaurus also connects identities whose meanings remain deeply contextual to other salient and intersecting identities within the lgbtqia+ community. originally designed as a horizontal organizational structure by the international homo/lesbian information center and archive, the homosaurus expanded definitions around terms like bisexuality and trans resulting in a realization that a thesaurus of queer-oriented terms would better serve as a supplement to existing organizational standards instead of a standalone framework (about, 2019). the terms 36 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 within the homosaurus, which in no way intends be an exhaustive alternative, allow for nuance around deliberate identity description related to gender without expressly naming gender. for example, noteworthy terms of inclusion might include the already existing choice of “crossdressing” to fill in for the potential of there being some subversion of gender at play. other notable terms that the homosauraus utilizes that align with this issue include "clothing", "drag community", "gender blending", "gender binary", "gender expression", "gender identity", "gender non-conforming people", "genderqueer people", "hair", "lgbtq", "lgbtq events", "lgbtq people", "lgbtq+", "lgbtqia", "queer (verb)", "queer community", "queer identity", "queer people", "queer theatre", and "subcultures." the expanse of options intends to be specific choices and a potential list of concurring terms that a record might include. if this seems like a considerable number of terms, it is partially intentional. unidentified person performing's informational potential is such that it could be about any and none of these terms, so the choice to include them embraces this duality. it also follows what bri watson (2021) identifies as a queer organizational imperative to identify and embrace the hyper specific and understand that it will help to aid the individual desires within an increasingly expanding landscape of visual media. since the existence of alternative frameworks such as the homosaurus understands terms to have deep historical and contextual components, this offers information professionals and the users alike ways to open understandings of gender within unidentified person performing. such understandings note gender here as a profoundly intimate yet, as an archival record, public encounter. perhaps more than the others suggested, this approach notes that it is not about the certainty with describing gender in visual information and remains resolutely about imagining potentials. with this in mind, the paper now turns toward a sense of collective praxis when describing the transgender body within visual information; however, it remains essential to acknowledge the case studies' limitations as delivered before doing so. implications for practitioners the prior case studies suggest considerable challenges for information professionals when it comes to meaningfully engaging with materials representing transgender and non-binary persons. while this paper cannot begin to serve as an authoritative stance on the layered issues brought forth, it can provide some suggestions regarding how best to approach one’s work. first, like any descriptive or cataloging practice, an information professional ought to do their best to contextualize their choices. while they may not know if a person within a piece of visual information is transgender or non-binary, they can do their best to situate the footage within relevant historical contexts and expand description in response. this, of course, means producing an extension of one’s labor and often providing information that might not match across similar records. for example, one record might represent a person who is resolutely a butch lesbian, while another is a transgender man, yet to a passing cataloger the individuals within the footage might appear similar. the queerness latent in such identities, both within their historical record and within contemporary contexts, make an approach to such identities as universal or essential impossible, and this impossibility is deliberate. in turn, instead of suggesting that two records are identical, an informational professional can crosswalk their decisions within available contexts and materials. if possible, information professionals can also clarify their decisions to go with an identity related to gender as opposed to sexuality, or vice versa. in doing so, this will help not only other information professionals, but the users of such materials to examine their own presumptions about the two identity categories and how each fold into one another. as such, it suggests an additional practice for information professionals to consider. 37 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 since so much of the definitional work around transgender and non-binary individuals remains in flux, working with community members is another way information professionals might address descriptive challenges in such footage. this work can be as simple as networking and sharing complex materials with queer history networks via social media and listservs, wherein raising questions about collection items with a potential to be transgender or gender non-binary affords access to experts in transgender history and a potential overlap of transgender and gender nonbinary persons. in turn, these networks will be made aware of materials they likely will have interest in working with and exploring. in the process of doing so, records and appropriate definitions for identities within those records becomes a collaborative project between the institution in question and the researchers’ users working with those records. while the layered description mentioned earlier undeniably adds work to the information professional, it is far easier to see this engagement as being one that falls well within the purview of outreach, especially within the contexts of archives and museums. finally, and perhaps most importantly, this shift in work cannot happen in isolation to larger systemic exclusions within a cultural heritage institution as it relates to representing transgender and gender non-binary persons within visual information. simply, if every record is provided with the most up-to-date and nuanced terminology for the moment, yet staff routinely misgender patrons or reinscribe cisnormativity elsewhere (i.e.., bibliographic information such as abstracts) and this work becomes quite meaningless. addressing misgendering or avoiding appropriate methods of gender description within a catalog record is but one layer of the way inequity has manifest itself within cultural heritage institutions, and correcting this problem cannot be seen as a panacea for the reality that the population being discussed remains othered and invisible within such spaces beyond the materials themselves (wagner & crowley, 2020). critically, such a practice relies on cultural humility, one that understands the information professional’s role to be subject to its own criticism. in particular, work that is done in earnest to be inclusive might reproduce power inequities and one’s willingness to learn from those failures and grow, rather than refuse to accept fault becomes a means for producing an anti-oppressive institutional space. it echoes tai’s (2020) notation that such an approach embraces the iterative and cyclical nature of jessia language around inclusivity and sees the information record as a means to grow and change as necessary. the critical point here worth remembering becomes the value this has for transgender and gender non-binary inclusivity, but the endeavor has impact relevant for other systems of oppression and their role in describing identity (i.e., racial identity). as such, imagining ways of describing persons in an inclusive and respectful way becomes not merely a practice, but a project of hopefulness about the future of transgender inclusion within the profession more broadly. towards a visual information logic of trans potentiality though the examples of visual information deployed within this case study provide hyper specific contexts as to which one might encounter transgender embodiment within information organization, their particularities help define, even if loosely, the look of a visual information organization landscape of transgender potentiality. borrowing from jose esteban muñoz (2009), this logic of transgender visual information organization deploys politics of hopefulness, wherein the belief that queer representation and inclusion in all spaces necessitates a constant “anticipatory” belief in abundance and expansiveness (p. 3). using the metaphor of the horizon, muñoz advocates that there can always be more and better versions of what it means to be positively included within society. in no way is this idea assimilationist in nature as muñoz intends quite literally for this inclusion to be system-changing instead of system affirming. the 38 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 suggestions made in this case study intentionally challenge the rules for just that reason. the hope is that through exhausting the limits of current ordering that new methods of organization will emerge. as such, information professionals can help anticipate this change by allowing organizational records to be a site of expansion and inclusion instead of locations where transgender embodiment does not fit. the logics of transgender and non-binary embodiment purposefully and resolutely refuse to fit into cisnormative structures. inclusive options that exist now offer isolation (i.e., single-stall bathrooms) or case-specific rules to describe records. however, with increased visibility, acceptance of transgender individuals will shift, and the conversation from temporary salves to systemic alterations will follow in turn. information organization can anticipate this shift by appropriately affording space to explore what it means to embody transgender identity by defying structure or binarized ways of thinking within the record. each approach to describing a transgender body within visual information research, whether that transgender body is un/named or in/visible, must accept that a body cannot be seen as a thing to be corrected and defined within preexisting ideologies. instead, information professionals must see these as sites of potentiality, change, and imagination. a record for a piece of information is only as good as its engagement with users, and those users are only able to do so if they are seen and seeing themselves within those records. endnote 1 it is important to note that while writing this, the author contacted the archive and noted the potential language issues and received an email stating that they would look into the use of this term on not only this record but others still deploying the term as well. references adler, m. 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(2019). aesthetic image captioning from weakly-labelled photographs. in proceedings of the ieee/cvf international conference on computer vision workshops. 40 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1080/0740770x.2018.1473985 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2020.102553 https://doi.org/10.14321/qed.1.2.0200 https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2017.1393782 https://doi.org/10.1080/095183999235890 https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/about/overview https://doi.org/10.1086/669547 https://doi.org/10.5771/0943-7444-2012-5-377 she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 gray, m. (2009). out in the country: youth, media, and queer visibility in rural america. new york university press. halberstam, j. 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(2019). bachelor trouble, troubled bachelors: the cultural figure of the bachelor in ballybunion and mullingar. in ireland and masculinities in history (pp. 177-202). palgrave macmillan. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02638-7_9 martin, s. k. (1982). authority control: unnecessary detail or needed support. library issues, briefings for faculty and administrators, 2(2). muñoz, j.e. (2009). cruising utopia: the then and there of queer futurity. new york university press. olson, h. (2002). the power to name: locating the limits of subject representation in libraries. springer. ranganathan, s.r. (1937). prolegomena to library classification. edward golston, ltd. rawson, k.j. (2015). introduction: “an inevitably political craft.” tsq: transgender studies quarterly, 2(4), 544-552. https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-3151475 roberto, k. r. (2011). inflexible bodies: metadata for transgender identities. journal of information ethics, 20(2), 56–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.3172/jie.20.2.56 stake, r. e. (1995). the art of case study research. sage. tai, j. (2020). the power of words: cultural humility as a framework for anti-oppressive archival description. journal of critical library and information studies, 3, 1–23. 41 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02435631 https://homosaurus.org/about https://www.houstonpress.com/best-of/2002/people-and-places/best-drag-queen-6604295 https://www.houstonpress.com/best-of/2002/people-and-places/best-drag-queen-6604295 https://doi.org/10.1080/01639370903534398 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02638-7_9 https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-3151475 http://dx.doi.org/10.3172/jie.20.2.56 she started wearing men’s clothes the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.36492 theron, l., & kgositau, t. r. (2015). the emergence of a grassroots african trans archive. transgender studies quarterly, 2(4), 578-583. https://doi.org/10.1215/232892523151502 wagner, t. l., & crowley, a. (2020). why are bathrooms inclusive if the stacks exclude? systemic exclusion of trans and gender nonconforming persons in post-trump academic librarianship. reference services review, 48(1), 159–181. https://doi.org/10.1108/rsr10-2019-0072 wagner, t. l. (2019). finding ‘miss betty’ joe carstairs: the ethics of unpacking misnaming in cataloging and biographical practices. in j. sandberg (ed.), ethical questions in name authority control, (pp. 195-211). library juice press. wagner, t.l. (2018). transcribe as seen: challenging rda regarding gender in moving image materials. in c.m. angel & c. fuchs, c. (eds.), organization, representation and description through the digital age: information in libraries, archives and museums, (pp. 177-188). degruyter. watson, b. m. (2021). a finding aid to the pornographic imaginary: implications of amateur classifications on/by reddit’s nsfw411. porn studies, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2020.1830590 watts, g. (2018). queer lives in archives: intelligibility and forms of memory. disclosure: a journal of social theory, 27, 103–111. https://doi.org/10.13023/disclosure.27.15 travis l. wagner (travislwagner@gmail.com) is a ph.d. candidate in the school information science at the university of south carolina. wagner is also an instructor in usc's women’s and gender studies department. their primary research interests include critical information studies, queer archives, and social advocacy in libraries. their recent publications include articles in reference services review and open information science. they are also the co-creator of the queer cola oral history and digital archive. 42 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-3151502 https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-3151502 https://doi.org/10.1108/rsr-10-2019-0072 https://doi.org/10.1108/rsr-10-2019-0072 https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2020.1830590 https://doi.org/10.13023/disclosure.27.15 mailto:travislwagner@gmail.com introduction literature review gender as performance the act of queering queerness in institutions the cataloger/archivist as gendering agent methods limitations case study 1: jazz wedding—outtakes embrace ambiguity describe gendered ways of being and not the gender make cautious use of preexisting descriptions case study 2: unidentified person performs onstage at the 1997 christmas in july carnival utilize proximate information leveraging alternative text description utilize inclusion-driven organizational methods implications for practitioners towards a visual information logic of trans potentiality endnote references book review: ask, listen, empower: grounding your library work in community engagement. the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36670 ijidi: book review fournier, m.d., & ostman, s. (eds). (2021). ask, listen, empower: grounding your library work in community engagement. ala editions. isbn 9780838947401. 176 pp. $49.99 us. reviewer: kalina grewal, york university, canada book review editor: norda a. bell, york university, canada keywords: community engagement; empathy and listening; inclusion; programming publication type: book review n ask, listen, empower: grounding your library work in community engagement, editors mary davis fournier and sarah ostman compiled 12 chapters written by 13 librarians or specialists from across the u.s. the purpose of the book is to explore the concept of community engagement as it relates to public and academic libraries and to offer concrete examples of programs that have worked to integrate the community in library services planning and delivery. “library as catalyst” is a theme that runs through all the chapters. this is a significant shift from “library as collections” or “library as computer access” or “library as homework help central”. catalyst is the right noun: it evokes the energy of change that comes from the interaction of elements. the interactions and the elements vary from state to state and library to library, but the common denominator is the re-positioning of the library from one of assuming what the community needs to that of asking the community what it needs. the listener (the librarian or library administrator or library staff) have their ears to the ground, whether at the mall, the townhall or the foodbank. as volunteers and members of various organizations in the community, library staff come to understand the needs of the people they are serving. they become the connectors of people who can enhance the lives of all the people in the community, not just steady users of the library. most of the chapters detail programs or initiatives in the public or academic library systems in california, colorado, illinois, kansas, new york, tennessee, washington state, and wisconsin. several of the chapters report on the work of libraries or librarians nominated for the library journal’s “best small library in america award” and “mover and shaker award”, the public library association’s “upstart innovation award”, or another equally prestigious recognition or distinction. it should be noted that aspen institute’s dialogue on public libraries, harwood institute for public innovation, and ala’s center for civic life are mentioned throughout the edited volume. cindy fesemyer outlines a path to community engagement. in “partnering for greater impact,” she identifies steps that anyone can take to understand and incorporate themselves into a community. fesemyer uses the example of a liaison librarian at a university casting around for connections to the town and the local community. the librarian identifies the owner of a boardgames store as having a population of undergraduates who like hanging out there. the partnership flourishes so that games nights can happen at the library and the library can use the i https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ask, listen, empower the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36670 store to hold information sessions and focus groups. through word-of-mouth, invitations to participate in other community projects can grow. while fesemyer encourages deliberate collaboration, she cautions that sometimes the coffee date to woo a potential partner can result in a poor match. no worries! the librarian, as the nexus, can pass along the information to other potential partners. as a “promiscuous partner” the library has no problem allowing others to build their own relationships for the greater good of a strong and connected community. fesemyer writes “[w]ith partners from hospitals to financial specialists, theaters to community centers, we’re strutting our stuff all over town” (p. 45). in a real-life example of community engagement, the king county library system (kcls) in washington state developed an “economic empowerment framework” to replace the patchwork set of services, resources, and equipment formerly provided to jobseekers, entrepreneurs, and the local business community. the old way of doing things is based on what the library had to offer: the community engagement way “begins by centering the community, not the library” (p. 51). essential to this approach was that kcls “intentionally began the project by focusing only on understanding the external community, without considering its relationship to library services” (p. 51). the tools they used to consult their community were environmental scans, asset maps, and key stakeholder interviews. kcls also consulted all the staff within the library system itself by using online surveys, soar analysis with focus groups, and a racial equity assessment. after all the consultations “negocios redondos / we mean business” was launched. it serves the latinx community in specific ways: programming on saturday, not sunday; family attendance and children’s activities; elevator pitch training; business success story panel; and more. because kcls was so committed to the process of community engagement, negocios redondos / we mean business meets the needs of the latinx population of king county. in a more theoretical chapter, “ethical and inclusive community engagement,” ellen knutson and quanetta batts explore how difficult it is to put aside bias and privilege when planning services in libraries. their rubric “public involvement continuum,” can help libraries pinpoint where they are on the continuum of projecting to involving. at the most library-centric end of the spectrum, the library informs or educates its users on what the library does. at the most community-centric end of the spectrum, the “library works with community members to plan services” (p. 64). knutson and batts use the core community engagement principles outlined by “the national coalition for dialogue and deliberation.” they are: careful planning and preparation; inclusion and demographic diversity; collaboration and shared purpose; openness and learning; transparency and trust; impact and action; and sustained engagement and participatory culture. (p. 65). one of the more powerful sections of the chapter is about power and privilege and while it might make some people uncomfortable, understanding those concepts is essential to changing a libraries’ services, programs and collections (pp. 66-69). tasneem a. grace and andrea blackman co-wrote the chapter “civil rights center: community engagement and special collections,” outline the way a library can both embrace vulnerable people while challenging difficult opinions. it’s an amazing chapter. tasneem a. grace is the nashville public library’s director of community engagement. she has worked for years in journalism, nonprofits and central america as a community engagement manager. andrea blackman is its director of civil rights center (crc), special collections center, and votes for women center. blackman is also an adjunct professor. the knowledge, skills, understanding, and lived experiences of both blackman and grace make the transformative work at the crc possible. the crc’s archival collection is a starting point for extended, facilitated, awkward and hard conversations about race and injustice. grace and blackman call this “deliberate engagement” 239 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index ask, listen, empower the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(3), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36670 (p. 105) and more than 10,000 people have engaged in these guided group discussions in a fiveyear period. people are encouraged to ask really, really hard questions and the others in the session listen deeply. these questions include “what do i when i see injustice happening right in front of me?” or “what does it mean to love america but despise its history?” (p. 105). the nation’s legacy of racism, slavery, segregation, jim crow, and mass incarceration quickly surface some of the reasons for more recent events like the murder of trayvon martin (p. 101). there are no easy answers, but participants continue “with one eye still glaring at the past, and the other focused on the future” (p. 107). readers of ijidi will find the chapters inspiring and the examples of programs useful to their own work in a library or their research on diversity and inclusion in libraries. there is so much rich content for the reader: specific examples, guidelines, rubrics, and stories of success. individual chapters, and as a collection, it has a lot to offer all of us working toward meaningful, sincere, and long-lasting engagement with the communities in our catchment areas. kalina grewal (kgrewal@yorku.ca) works in the student learning and academic success department of york university libraries. she has been a librarian for over 20 years. 240 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:kgrewal@yorku.ca hackathons as instruments for settlement sector innovation the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: hackathons as instruments for settlement sector innovation eliana trinaistic, mcis language solutions, canada abstract in canada, the non-profit organizations (npo) and settlement sectors are increasingly reexamining their responsibility for service delivery and service design. with a growing interest in understanding how to include design principles and an “innovation” mindset in addressing the long-term outcomes of social services, new instruments are introduced as a way to experiment with different modes of engagement among the various stakeholders. the aim of community hackathons or civic hacks—a derivative of tech gatherings customized to fit public engagement— is to collaboratively rethink, redesign, and resolve a range of social and policy issues that communities are facing, from settlement, the environment, health, or legal services. although hackathons and civic hacks aspire to be democratic, relationship-driven instruments, aligned with non-profit principles of inclusion and diversity, they are also risky propositions from the perspective of the non-profit organizational culture in canada in that they tend to lack solid structure, clear rules, and fixed outcomes. despite the challenges, the promise of innovation is too attractive to be disregarded, and some non-profits are embarking (with or without the government’s help) on incorporating hackathons into their toolkits. this case study will present a practitioner’s perspective on the outcomes of two community hackathons, one exploring migration data sets and the other on language policy innovation, co-developed between 2016 and 2019 by mcis language solutions, a toronto based not-for-profit social enterprise, in partnership with various partners. the case study examines how the hackathon as an instrument can aid settlement sectors and governments in fostering non-profit innovation to rethinking the trajectory of taking solutions to scale. keywords: hackathon; non-profit; settlement sector; social innovation publication type: case study introduction ver the past few years, the government of canada has shown a continued interest in accelerating innovation in social and non-profit organizations (npo). from establishing the canadian social innovation and social finance strategy steering group in 2017 (employment and social development canada, 2018) to setting up a senate-appointed special committee on the charitable sector with the task of examining “the impact of federal and provincial laws and policies governing charities, non-profit organizations, and other similar groups” (blumberg, 2018), the government set up the stage with a $755m social finance fund for charitable, non-profit, and social purpose organizations, aimed at implementing “innovative ideas, and connect with non-government investors seeking to support projects that will drive positive social change” (government of canada, 2018, p. 38). the 2018 innovation, science and o https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi hackathons for innovation in settlement sector the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: economic development of canada (ised) report “building a nation of innovators” defined sector innovation as a partnership-driven approach between npos and a range of partners including the industry, post-secondary institutions, and provinces and territories. the aim is to focus on research and development (r&d) collaboration that is “larger in scale, scope, and longevity than was often the case in the past” (innovation, science and economic development canada (ised), 2019, p. 55). this surge of interest around making the case for a nationwide innovation agenda inspired some npos to test new models of engagement, often mimicking the tech sector design and prototyping, while hoping to understand the scope of innovation. broadly speaking, the scope of industry innovation is loosely defined by the oslo manual (oecd/eurostat, 2019), and includes four organizational areas: culture, resources, products/services, and processes. in january 2019, while gathering feedback on sector innovation, the insights provided were clearly articulated (senate canada, 2019). to support the culture of innovation, the sector suggested “embedding innovation” and “having the agency” of a designated role or department. data sharing was also identified as a primary innovation resource needing to be managed by public trusts, while products/services innovation was identified as ideal opportunities for participatory design and wider collaboration (e.g., implementing hackathons or similar methodologies). mcis, which stands for multicultural community interpreter services, is a service delivery driven npo that specializes in facilitating language access to critical services. their earlier attempts to bring hackathons to fruition was due to the absence of a mandate, budgetary constraints, insufficient access to partners in the civic tech community, and relevant data sets (trinaistic, 2018). the purpose of a hackathon (a portmanteau of “hacking marathon”), which has been a tool of the tech industry since the early 1990s, is to explore alternatives to existing design solutions and business as usual processes while promoting collaboration. unlike technical hackathons—seen as a recommended part of career preparation, recruitment fairs, and an exercise in demonstrated readiness of young graduates with technical backgrounds to “network” (nardi et al., 2002)— community hackathons, sometimes interchangeably used with civic hacks, are considered to be “a subset of this trend that bring together ad hoc groups under the auspices of conceiving and prototyping technologies to address social conditions and concerns” (lodato & disalvo, 2016). being less about the technology, project pitches, and semi-finished products and more about conversations and bringing together a spectrum of people with varied professional and lived experiences, these events are meant to brainstorm on and crowdsource alternative solutions and facilitate participation by making all voices count and contribute equally. the european commission’s “quality of public administration toolbox for practitioners” suggests that hackathons or civic hackings are, in effect, methodologies that aim at “quickly improving the processes and systems of local government with new tools or approaches... (and) as an act of citizenship in the belief that government can work for the people, by the people in the 21st century” (european commission, 2017, p. 50). based on the data mcis gathered through informal interviews and the survey of hackathon participants (primarily from non-profit sector across ontario) in 2019,1 it is apparent that npos are polarized in their views of hackathons/civic hacks either as “interesting” and “promising” or “confusing” and “irrelevant.” amongst reasons for such difference in responses are generational biases, swaying between reluctance in perceiving the usefulness of this model versus excited expectations around hackathon-based style of collaborative learning. also, some participants are inclined to reject disrupted project management flow while others embrace non-linear prototyping and experimenting. for some, the lack of clear outcomes is distressing. for others, 124 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hackathons for innovation in settlement sector the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: the ambiguity of “unfinished solutions” is wholeheartedly embraced as a tool of disrupting the business as usual. for these reasons, hackathons could be a disappointing experience for participants who are used to more structured engagement and support of the academia—and of students in particular—could be crucial in creating connections between more traditional, project management-fixed, and outcomes-heavy approaches and experiment-driven, agile, and flexible opportunities. migration data hackathon (migrahackto) the rationale in addition to providing services to beneficiaries, npos are chief public data harvesters. the notion of having standardized datasets for better sharing among and across sectors has been permeating the innovation discourse for a decade now (ontario nonprofit network, 2015). mowat centre reports, “bridging the gap” (cave et al., 2017) and “collaborating for better impact” (cave et al., 2018), have suggested that data sharing along with an integrated data ecosystem is what the sector needs to be able to fully understand its own context. similarly, lalande et al. (2018) notice that [t]he non-profit sector has a wealth of data on social issues such as homelessness, poverty reduction, criminal justice, and mental health, [and] it is important to acknowledge that data, by itself, is often not meaningful until it is analyzed and understood within a “data ecosystem” … processed, analyzed, contextualized, and translated so that it is useful to both policymakers and practitioners. (para 4) in the case of language services provision, for example, the data that speaks about beneficiaries— people with language barriers, customers or service providers interacting with beneficiaries, and language professionals or interpreters and translators facilitating interactions in courts, hospitals, or legal clinics—can be only understood if additional datasets about the broader services ecosystem (e.g., shelters, police, health, legal, and educational sectors) can be cross referenced (cave et al., 2018). in some respects, canada is still struggling with a lack of clear guidance on effectively using public digital infrastructure. on the one hand, pressures to innovate touts sharing as a panacea; on the other, without clear data sharing policy, npos are afraid that the digital rights of their users—newcomers and refugees in particular—will be at risk of breach and that these marginalized populations will become further marginalized. clearly, the complex constraints of the business of settlement sector innovation cannot be addressed by technology alone. in the given context, the objectives of migrahackto, the toronto version of immigration-related hackathons that were held in several american and european cities,2 were to provide a sandbox for the immigration and settlement sector to ask questions such as: how might we collaborate if we could safely share our administrative data? how might we define innovation, if the definition were to be determined by us? mcis, who spearheaded the migrahackto, was also interested in finding out whether hackathons could facilitate partnerships with academia and government agencies, as well as how evidence-based storytelling could turn the attention toward clients’ narratives. lastly, the question of whether there was a much broader role that npos could play in initiating conversations on npo innovation was also on the table. 125 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hackathons for innovation in settlement sector the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: the process migrahackto (migration hackathon toronto) took place at the mozilla office in toronto. it welcomed over 35 participants from the settlement and civic tech sectors, as well as journalists and academics. the event began with an orientation session, followed by a series of data visualization and storytelling workshops over the next couple of days, and ended with project showcases and a town hall discussion. the focus was on learning about data visualization and creating corresponding narratives with the help of facilitators. mentors from government and civic tech provided advice and support to participants while journalists advised on media framing and public relation strategies. the town hall allowed participants to highlight what worked and what did not work so well and provided substantial input on how this work can be continued. the proceedings from migrahackto were compiled into a report and subsequently published and disseminated widely (mcis language solutions, 2018). table 1. types of audiences and activities undertaken before, during and after migrahackto hackathon participants pre-event participation npos: settlement sector, shelters, npo data entry staff connect in advance in-person to introduce project and solicit data sets end users: represented by interpreters and translators invited to the roster (3000 invites) academia: student volunteers, journalists, data scientists sought academia help in soliciting government and policy makers partner civic tech community partner event day 1 day 2 day 3 evening: • orientation: purpose, objectives and outcomes morning: • workshops o infographics: data visualization and storytelling o dataviz: a practical guide to designing with data and open software o mapping/google data boot camp • forming teams morning: • continuing work on projects • optional workshops o census database for journalists o got data? requesting through the access to information act afternoon: • project show and tell • debrief 126 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hackathons for innovation in settlement sector the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: afternoon: • work on projects overseen by mentors post-event • creation of data base of data sets • creation of data base of projects • creation of final report challenges in looking back, it can be said that the greatest challenge for the migrahackto organizers was in the assumption that if the technical skillsets are addressed first, the “lived” experiences will subsequently naturally fill the gaps by informing the technology about genuine service needs. for this reason, prior preparation for participants was minimal and informal, which, in retrospect, may have hindered the ability of some participants to contribute as much as they would otherwise have. next, unlike instruments conventionally employed in the settlement sector, such as focus groups or facilitated conversations, hackathons are largely based on the model of self-learning and self-affirmation and thus perhaps better suited for those gravitating toward research and technology fields than public-facing work. to balance the self-learning component, the organizers peppered the day with story-sharing breakouts and short video segments as a means of creating more opportunities for shared reflections and conversations. the shift based on the notes taken by organizers and volunteers during the event, participants seemed to have acquired an increased confidence in interacting with—if not mastering—data visualizations, while it was clearly a cause for concern for the majority of participants at the beginning of the event. by the end of the event, the focus had clearly shifted away from acquiring technical skills and toward an involved conversation about advocacy for clients’ digital rights. the closing town hall conversations shed light on the two primary innovation drivers in the settlement sector: “respect and care for the users of services” and “advocating for justice.” in addition, the participants mentioned that having spaces for gatherings where informal temporary coalitions could be formed to focus on specific issues would help assess if either better partnerships or different policy could drive the innovation as effectively as having new technologies.3 lessons learned: 1. respecting organizational culture. npos remain people and project driven. to advance an innovation agenda and disrupt the sector’s business as usual, a better understanding of what motivates innovation is needed. if the sector perceives “space” as a key element, then the non-profit innovation policies must include “creating spaces for collaboration” alongside current suggestions such as “improving digital literacy” or “allocating a technology budget.” 2. being sensitive to nuances of adult education, maintaining flexible, human-centered 127 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hackathons for innovation in settlement sector the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: agenda and proactively managing energy in the room to maintain excitement. stepping out of one’s comfort zone can be difficult, and the role of hackathon organizers is to balance the discomfort of learning attitudes, stereotypes and biases with opportunities to nurture creativity as an ability to tolerate uncertainty in a changing social environment. 3. being an ethnographer, and not underestimating the long-term value of the seed planted. the importance of recording conversations and documenting processes and best practices will be of benefit to participants as much as to organizers. learning new skills (technical or otherwise) is just the top of the iceberg, as the ripple effects generated by migrahackto illustrated (e.g., new collaborations, emerging agendas). the rationale in 2019, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the official languages act (which established english and french as the official languages of canada), public consultations were held about modernizing the act, particularly around access to justice, technological developments, and the inclusion of indigenous languages, which were hitherto omitted from the act (office of the commissioner of official languages, 2019). in policy making, public consultations are an important tool although they tend to reveal “an imperfect, contingent set of processes... between powerful institutions and the people they affect” (johnson & howsam, 2018, p. 266). because canadian npos have been historically discouraged from advocacy-related activities while encouraged to adopt “neutrality” as a means of active political distancing, the sector envisions itself as neutral at its best or silent at its worst (mule & desantis, 2017; yundt, 2012). however, the increased pressures of fast changing demographics, migration, precarious employment markets, and worsening climate change is slowly altering the sector conviction about benefits of political neutrality while increasing its engagement with assessments of legislative or policy frameworks in respect to the needs of their users (ontario nonprofit network, 2019). in this context, policy hackathons are still viewed as a novel approach to gathering various players to talk about policy matters in an effort to compensate for inadequate consultation mechanisms. as a settlement sector agency whose work centers on language rights, mcis sought to explore the issue of language justice gaps (of those languages not being captured by the official languages act). to facilitate a broader conversation about how more inclusive and just language access infrastructure could be built whereby all languages, people, data, evidence, technology, processes, and policies could be adequately represented, mcis partnered with the policy innovation initiative, a student-run body, part of the munk school of global affairs and public policy at the university of toronto, to organize a policy hackathon. the aim of the language policy hackathon was to explore a range of issues, from “how do we engage community leaders with the health service providers to build trusted, culturally sensitive services” to “how do we increase newcomers and immigrant voter turnout” (trinaistic & shahzad, 2019). the process the language policy hackathon was attended by over 60 participants from the settlement, npo, and government sectors as well as from academia and by citizens and community champions referred by settlement agencies. the advance preparation for the event was extensive and included educational sessions about policy design and citizen participation conducted through 128 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hackathons for innovation in settlement sector the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: webinars, lunch-and-learn sessions, and a curated list of videos and reading materials. in addition, a number of assessment surveys and one-on-one interviews with service users were completed prior to the event, over a span of nine weeks. community champions as well as interpreters and translators were compensated for the time they spent in preparing for and contributing to the event. at the beginning of the hackathon, the organizers provided a short session on problem definition, along with a brief history of access to language services in canada to level the playing field and set the tone. ideation and prototyping were embedded with facilitation of the empathy journey workshop, inclusive of interactive sessions to develop personas to map a number of language barrier journeys. notetakers and facilitators were assigned to each table to capture the process and key conversations. post event survey results and summaries of the day’s proceedings were published and shared with all participants. table 2. types of audiences and activities undertaken before, during and after language policy hackathon participants • mcis staff participants • community members • language professionals (interpreters, translators) • npos – settlement sector • academia – policy students • government/ policy makers pre-event survey and workshops/webinars • good policy making • hard evidence for policy making • soft evidence for policy making • canadian language policies event morning • introduction: presentation • empathy journey: workshop • empathy journey: participation: forming teams afternoon • work on projects overseen by mentors • voting on policy solutions and wrap up post-event • post-event survey • creation of final report and recommendations the shift as mcis was contemplating the role of settlement npos in facilitating more symmetrical and reciprocal relationships with government/policy makers and the end users, the “shift” was 129 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hackathons for innovation in settlement sector the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: initially meant to help the organizers to be more cognizant of their positionality and of the importance of shared authority. indeed, as considerably more time was invested in orienting participants about the work about to be done, the participants were equally more comfortable with seeing themselves as experts with meaningful “lived experiences” that could be contributed toward larger conversation about policy improvement (for which compensation was deemed reasonable in light of their time). there was, therefore, an observable shift toward richer conversations when it came to tackling policy matters, as well as more openness when “what if” exercises were implemented. the participants explicitly shared personal excitement about being given the opportunity to engage with and provide critique on reading materials and policy documents. further, they perceived the empathy journey conducted during the event as validation of their own experiences. finally, the note takers also observed that as the hypothetical personas came fully alive, the language became more spontaneous and simplified. as one policymaker participant stated in a follow-up interview, “the language policy hackathon gave me more than i could imagine about how one accesses language services, and has changed the way i see the world.” lessons learned: 1. holding the space for relevant policy discussions; committing to civic education through participation: for the majority of the participants, the greatest value of a hackathon was in participating (“participating in political advocacy action”; “feeling more knowledgeable about policy innovation”). 2. providing spaces for creativity and hope: 39% of the participants (a percentage equally distributed across all groups) commented on the importance of “creating an atmosphere where people with different skill sets can brainstorm together, create partnerships and learn about challenges” and of “inspiring participants to consider the art of what is possible and think and imagine forward-thinking solutions.” 3. a space for self-reflection and growth: participants had the scope to reflect on citizenship, justice, and (language) access, as well as on the role—and indeed responsibility—of the npo sector in being innovative and supporting civic society at large. conclusion across canada, the different levels of government are seeking ways to harness the power of communities to innovate, transform society, and improve economic opportunities both in the local and global markets. an engagement of this scope and ambition demands that citizens be viewed as assets and resources with lived experiences and localized knowledge that can greatly contribute to improving public governance. in addition, npos that are increasingly mandated to innovate ought to be provided with the resources to do so. in an interview with baker (2018), adam kahane notes that the idea that “social innovation is primarily about thinking up something new is only occasionally true. what it’s more often about is an alliance or a group being willing to do together something that had already been thought of” (para 7). the essence of npo innovation is indeed an attempt to disrupt the way that “things are done” and remove the entry barriers for atypical participants, especially marginalized ones, when it comes to conversations about power and influence. when atypical ceases to be a novelty and even a temporary power balance is established, the space and incentive for a larger shift to happen is created—one in which participants could see themselves as an active instrument of contributing to change they 130 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index hackathons for innovation in settlement sector the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: are competent and capable of undertaking. in this sense, civic, policy, or community hackathons are both spaces and instruments of rapid and equitable innovation that leverage service users’ input with appropriate technology and that are permeated by an attitude of open mindedness, positive practicality, and radical inclusion. acknowledgements i thank mcis language solutions, particularly latha sukumar and veronica costea, for their support, including early revisions of this article. i also thank sreyoshi bose for her comments, edits and construction of tables. the assistance provided by craig carter-edwards and marco campana helped tremendously with achieving clarity about non-profit innovation. finally, i wish to extend my special thanks to prof. nadia caidi for her ongoing encouragement and support as well as edits and comments throughout. endnotes 1 for more information about interviews and survey, see for more information, see https://www.migrahackto.com for more information about interviews and survey, see https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/421/cssb/reports/cssb_report_final_e.pdf and https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_aulszdk7woj4kv088kdpmokr22b56hmhxfpwg3qrdk/ edit?usp=sharing 2 see www.migrahack.org or https://jsk.stanford.edu/news-notes/2014/claudia-nunez-breakroutine-take-the-first-step-lose-fear/ for information on its origin and context. 3 for more information, see https://el3646.wixsite.com/website. references baker, s. (2018, january 9). countless rebellions: challenging the terms of collaboration: interview with adam kahane. mcconnell foundation. https://mcconnellfoundation.ca/interview/adam-kahane/ blumberg, m. (2018, february 1). senate appoints special committee on the charitable sector to look at laws and policies and impact. global philanthropy canada. https://www.globalphilanthropy.ca/blog/senate_appoints_special_committee_on_the_ charitable_sector_to_look_at_laws cave, j., aitken, k., & lalande, l. (2017). bridging the gap: designing a canadian what works centre. mowat research, 155, 1-41. https://munkschool.utoronto.ca/mowatcentre/bridging-the-gap/ cave, j., gyateng, t., lalande, l., & lumley, t. (2018). collaborating for greater impact: building an integrated data ecosystem. mowat research 161, 1-35. https://mowatcentre.ca/collaborating-for-greater-impact/ 131 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/421/cssb/reports/cssb_report_final_e.pdf https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_aulszdk7woj4kv088kdpmokr22b56hmhxfpwg3qrdk/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_aulszdk7woj4kv088kdpmokr22b56hmhxfpwg3qrdk/edit?usp=sharing http://www.migrahack.org/ https://jsk.stanford.edu/news-notes/2014/claudia-nunez-break-routine-take-the-first-step-lose-fear/ https://jsk.stanford.edu/news-notes/2014/claudia-nunez-break-routine-take-the-first-step-lose-fear/ https://el3646.wixsite.com/website https://mcconnellfoundation.ca/interview/adam-kahane/ https://www.globalphilanthropy.ca/blog/senate_appoints_special_committee_on_the_charitable_sector_to_look_at_laws https://www.globalphilanthropy.ca/blog/senate_appoints_special_committee_on_the_charitable_sector_to_look_at_laws https://munkschool.utoronto.ca/mowatcentre/bridging-the-gap/ https://mowatcentre.ca/collaborating-for-greater-impact/ hackathons for innovation in settlement sector the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34035 employment and social development canada. (2018). inclusive innovation, new ideas and new partnerships for stronger communities, social innovation and social finance strategy co-creation steering group. https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-socialdevelopment/programs/social-innovation-social-finance/reports/recommendationswhat-we-heard.html european commission. (2017). quality of public administration a toolbox for practitioners, theme 1: policy-making, implementation and innovation. european commission. https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catid=738&langid=en&pubid=8055&type=2&furth erpubs=no government of canada. (2018). fall economic statement. https://budget.gc.ca/feseea/2018/docs/statement-enonce/toc-tdm-en.html innovation, science and economic development canada (ised). (2019). building a nation of innovators. https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/062.nsf/eng/h_00105.html johnson, g.f. & howsam, r. (2018). can consultation ever be collaborative? policy design and practice, 1(4), 253–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2018.1531583 lalande, l., lumley, t., nilson, c., hughes, j., corley, c., mcfee, d., & taylor-collins, e. (2018, november 12). supporting evidence-informed policymaking and service delivery in canada’s non-profit sector. the philanthropist. https://thephilanthropist.ca/2018/11/supporting-evidence-informed-policymakingand-service-delivery-in-canadas-non-profit-dector/ mcis language solutions. (2018). migrahackto 2018 report. https://www.mcislanguages.com/website/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/migrahacktoreport-2018-final-.pdf mule, n. j., & desantis, g. c. (eds.). (2017). the shifting terrain: nonprofit policy advocacy in canada. mcgill-queen’s university press. oecd/eurostat. (2019). oslo manual 2018: guidelines for collecting, reporting and using data on innovation. (4th ed.). oecd publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264304604-en office of the commissioner of official languages. (2019). public consultation on the modernization of the official languages act. https://www.cloocol.gc.ca/en/language-rights/act/public-consultations-modernization ontario nonprofit network. (2015). toward a data strategy for the ontario nonprofit sector. https://theonn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/towards-a-data-strategy-for-ontariononprofit-sector_onn_final_2015-07-13.pdf senate canada. (2019). catalyst for change: a roadmap to a stronger charitable sector. https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/421/cssb/reports/cssb_report_final_ e.pdf trinaistic, e. (2018, july 4). hackathons: non-profit methodology for learning and innovation. linkedin publishing. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hackathons-non-profit132 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/social-innovation-social-finance/reports/recommendations-what-we-heard.html https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/social-innovation-social-finance/reports/recommendations-what-we-heard.html https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/social-innovation-social-finance/reports/recommendations-what-we-heard.html https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catid=738&langid=en&pubid=8055&type=2&furtherpubs=no https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catid=738&langid=en&pubid=8055&type=2&furtherpubs=no https://budget.gc.ca/fes-eea/2018/docs/statement-enonce/toc-tdm-en.html https://budget.gc.ca/fes-eea/2018/docs/statement-enonce/toc-tdm-en.html https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/062.nsf/eng/h_00105.html https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2018.1531583 https://thephilanthropist.ca/2018/11/supporting-evidence-informed-policymaking-and-service-delivery-in-canadas-non-profit-dector/ https://thephilanthropist.ca/2018/11/supporting-evidence-informed-policymaking-and-service-delivery-in-canadas-non-profit-dector/ https://www.mcislanguages.com/website/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/migrahackto-report-2018-final-.pdf https://www.mcislanguages.com/website/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/migrahackto-report-2018-final-.pdf https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264304604-en https://www.clo-ocol.gc.ca/en/language-rights/act/public-consultations-modernization https://www.clo-ocol.gc.ca/en/language-rights/act/public-consultations-modernization https://theonn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/towards-a-data-strategy-for-ontario-nonprofit-sector_onn_final_2015-07-13.pdf https://theonn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/towards-a-data-strategy-for-ontario-nonprofit-sector_onn_final_2015-07-13.pdf https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/421/cssb/reports/cssb_report_final_e.pdf https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/421/cssb/reports/cssb_report_final_e.pdf https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hackathons-non-profit-methodology-learning-innovation-trinaistic hackathons for innovation in settlement sector the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(2), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i2.34035 methodology-learning-innovation-trinaistic trinaistic, e., & shahzad, n. (2019). language policy hackathon report. https://pub.lucidpress.com/languagepolicyhackathon2019/#z~1xqutrj-a2 yundt, h. (2012, october 1). the politics of advocacy: are charities apathetic or afraid? charity village. https://charityvillage.com/cms/content/topic/the_politics_of_advocacy_are_charities _apathetic_or_afraid#.xzzwpy5kiul eliana trinaistic (elianatrinaistic@gmail.com) has been in the role of social impact manager with mcis language solutions for nearly seven years. apart from working at mcis, eliana, is engaged in researching and writing about digital rights, inclusion, and purpose at work in the non-profit sector, and is involved as consultant and coach in women-led social enterprises in croatia. eliana’s prior professional experience includes work with libraries and cultural societies on oral history projects, knowledge management roles, adult education, and management of volunteers. eliana has a master’s degree in information and environmental sciences, (ischool, university of toronto) with a focus on libraries and sustainability. she is a certified executive coach and is currently focusing on research of digital cooperatives and social purpose economy. eliana has presented on issues like the role of language professionals in “smart cities,” community hackathons, and language rights advocacy at seminars and conferences across canada and internationally. she has been contributing to several community initiatives and advisory groups, addressing needs of people with language barriers, community-led archives, and collaborative technology projects. 133 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hackathons-non-profit-methodology-learning-innovation-trinaistic https://pub.lucidpress.com/languagepolicyhackathon2019/#z~1xqutrj-a2 https://charityvillage.com/cms/content/topic/the_politics_of_advocacy_are_charities_apathetic_or_afraid#.xzzwpy5kiul https://charityvillage.com/cms/content/topic/the_politics_of_advocacy_are_charities_apathetic_or_afraid#.xzzwpy5kiul mailto:elianatrinaistic@gmail.com introduction migration data hackathon (migrahackto) the rationale the process challenges the shift lessons learned: the rationale the process the shift lessons learned: conclusion acknowledgements endnotes references how the botswana international university of science and technology library engages its stakeholders in connecting information resources, services, and space the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 how the botswana international university of science and technology library engages its stakeholders in connecting information resources, services, and space ayanda agnes lebele, botswana international university of science and technology, botswana abstract in the quest to develop more innovative customer-focused library services, the botswana international university of science and technology (biust) library embarked on the development of robust initiatives that involved the engagement of various stakeholders. the emerging consultative and engaging trend is premised on the key values of facilitating access to information and demand-driven inclusive library services. the paper presents how the biust library engages stakeholders in the development of multiple and flexible opportunities to access and use information. in doing so, it describes the recreation of internal library structures, space, and processes in a way that accommodates and demonstrates the categories and functional roles of different types of library stakeholders. the paper further points to how the stakeholders’ cultures and systems create a divide or imbalance in the access and usage of library services. the paper also argues for a need to define library stakeholders and develop engagement strategies that are entity and initiative specific. keywords: biust; botswana international university of science and technology; library community engagement; library stakeholders; library users publication type: case study introduction he shared global community operates in a way in which the actions of one entity have impact on others. discrete players engage with each other in developing people-centred services. libraries, the world over, have adopted practices and processes geared towards the development of flexible access to knowledge opportunities for the communities that they serve. the resultant customer-focused services anchor on the participation of faculties and other university directorates, researchers, students, library professional bodies, and vendors of different types of library information resources and equipment. these partners can be described as entities with “interest; rights (legal or moral); ownership and contribution in the form of knowledge or support towards the activity of the library” (harland et al., 2019, p. 319). they are what the united nations (2015) describes as individuals or groups who are affected by the organisation and its activities. this definition basically implies that such entities influence the success or failures of projects and services. atkinson (2018) encourages libraries to engage stakeholders in crafting value-adding services that t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi how the biust library engages its stakeholders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 relate to educational development, research management, and empowering societies with the needed information and literacy skills. in particular, matarazzo and pearlstein (2016) call for a collaboration of complementary engagement of professions that can support libraries to navigate financial hurdles and environmental politics. such stakeholders also have to positively stir the services towards the broader organisational goals. this paper is a descriptive analysis of how the botswana international university of science and technology (biust) library engages with different stakeholders in the development and delivery of its services. it does not present any systematic approach of selecting research participants, data collection tools, procedures, and analysis. despite these noted limitations, the paper heeds eldredge’s (2004) caution that even when reporting practical cases from the industry, library and information science professionals should strive towards maintaining a case study approach for easy discussion and/or comparison with case studies from other disciplines. it is from this advice that this paper presents a case study on how the biust library engages with its stakeholders to facilitate access to multiple and flexible knowledge services. it does so by addressing the following research questions: 1. who are the library stakeholders? 2. in which activities does the library engage its stakeholders? 3. how does the library engage with its stakeholders? 4. how can the library improve the stakeholders’ engagement so as to provide a more flexible service? the discussion starts with an introduction of biust and the role of its library. it then highlights some observations from the reviewed literature on the role of library stakeholders. a discussion on the experiences of the biust stakeholders follows this section. a note on the methodology is shared to show how the data was gathered and analysed. the paper also provides a conclusion and recommendations. library services at biust biust started operating in 2012 following presidential directive cab.33(b)/2004 for the establishment of a university that forges “strong linkages with business, industry, professions and public sector; to promote dialogue, information sharing, and knowledge/skill and technology transfer” (biust, 2015). as articulated in the biust’s mission statement, the university aspires to be a premier research-based university of science, engineering, and technology, internationally recognised for the quality and excellence of its teaching and learning, research and innovation, and engagement (biust, 2015). being a public university, there is a need for it to actively and strongly engage the community. biust’s student population is just over 2000; they are high science achievers who are predominantly sponsored by the government of botswana. the two faculties of engineering and sciences boast a wide range of international experts who are engaged in teaching and research activities. the two faculties are the main library user categories. the library plays a critical role in teaching, learning, and research through the provision of 38 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how the biust library engages its stakeholders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 services and products that enhance the skills needed to enable its users to be credible members of today’s information society. it offers an environment that is intellectually stimulating through the provision of different services that aim at facilitating access to reliable and flexible information resources. a team of 17 members work round the clock to ensure effective library services and equip the users with the information literacy skills needed for participation in a knowledge-based economy. although the library engages its stakeholders in many service areas, this paper only focuses on a few activities to elaborate different thematic areas that are being discussed. this does not, in any way, elevate the importance of some activities over others. the decision to share experiences from multiple library activities supports alpi and evans’s (2019) argument that a case study is constructed through data that emerges from multiple case reports. the conclusions and recommendations are drawn from experiences reported in this paper and observations from the literature. the reviewed literature the literature reviewed for this paper aimed at contextualising the operations of biust library, not to promote any emerging model or box the observations into any existing theoretical frameworks. therefore, a comparison with cases found in the literature is purely for emphasis. the review shows a trend where data from stakeholder engagements is used to add value to the already existing models. it also demonstrates the different ways of gathering data about stakeholder engagement. according to the un (2005) manual, these variations in data collection strategies are attributed to the reality that assessment of relationships cannot be standardised through a qualitative measure. relating experience to existing frameworks the engagement of stakeholders is characterised by cyclic inter-related phases that have even more intrinsic overlaps. the stages may be broadly summed as stakeholder identification, engagement strategy formulation, and strategy implementation. the cycle goes through other stages of evaluation and redesigning of the strategies according to the scope, budget, and plan of the initiative at hand (sucozhañay et al., 2014; un, 2005). there is a need for academic libraries to dialogue on the many themes that relate to the complex interactions of different stakeholders at various stages of the cycle. this is important because stakeholders continue to evolve as the projects or services go through different phases. as noted by pinfield et al. (2017), an analysis of stakeholders in academic libraries will help in identifying their multiple attributes, documenting their experience and roles to strategically engage them when needed at different stages of the cycle. it thus emerges that the engagement of stakeholders has to be timely and strategic. the un environmental program (un, 2005) developed the stakeholder engagement manual using multiple existing stakeholder engagement standards and frameworks to gather and share experiences needed to inform sustainable engagement accountability in ecosystem programs. similarly, other cyclic engagement strategies are presented by pinfield et al. (2017) and harland et al. (2019), who share their experiences from the library perspective. in both cases, they demonstrate the complex interconnection of the multi-layered customer-oriented library service. such an inter-related relationship is demonstrated from the perspective of library 39 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how the biust library engages its stakeholders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 stakeholders by pinfield et al. (2017). the case shared by harland et al. (2019) presents the model of academic library strategic and cultural engagement with academic library stakeholders from the library director’s perspective. both models or approaches referred to above point to the cyclic nature of stakeholder engagement strategies and the efforts to be attentive to all types of stakeholders as and when their need or role emerges. the un (2005) manual states that relationships cannot necessarily be built on strict adherence to procedures or quality standard. stakeholder engagement is, in this case, seen as a multi-layered process that cannot fit into a single model with a definitive management strategy. it is, therefore, important to continually analyse the engagement process to reshape and re-position the interaction with stakeholders in both the internal and external environments. the literature reviewed for this paper aimed at contextualising the operations of the biust library, not to promote any emerging model or box the observations into any existing theoretical frameworks. therefore, a comparison with cases found in the literature is purely for emphasis. the review shows a trend where data from stakeholder engagements is used to add value to the already existing models. it also demonstrates the different ways of gathering data about stakeholder engagement. according to the un (2005) manual, these variations in data collection strategies are attributed to the reality that assessment of relationships cannot be standardised through a qualitative measure. categorisation of stakeholders the assessment and resultant categorisation of stakeholders at the various phases of engagement is done from different perspectives. for example, the un (2005) refers to categorising stakeholders according to responsibility, level of influence in driving service delivery, proximity or frequency of interaction, dependency on the service, and, at times, according to their representation in the organisation. the un guide further cautions that no stakeholder should be counted out or ignored simply because they do not strictly adhere to the category they are deemed to belong to. the manual attributes this to the fact that the roles and relationships evolve throughout the project’s life cycle. the report further observes that even at different phases of the projects, stakeholders may be brought in for different roles. harland et al. (2019) commend the continued analysis of both the role that stakeholders play and the adopted engagement strategy because such an assessment enables categorisation according to how they help the library attain its strategic goals. congruent to that, chellappandi and vijayakumar (2018) demonstrate the continued analysis and categorisation of stakeholders as both play different roles in creating an agile library team that is needed for the delivery of the set goals. in both cases, stakeholders from the internal and external environments play roles that may be summarily categorised as supportive, consultative, funding, or sponsoring in the diverse library activities. it may further be deduced that the engagement strategies for these entities vary according to the desired impact or goal of the relationship. this affirms the assertion that there is no perfect fit stakeholder engagement strategy because relationships cannot be managed uniformly (church-duran, 2017; un, 2005). assessing experiences in stakeholder engagement this paper shows that there are various ways of capturing experiences in stakeholder 40 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how the biust library engages its stakeholders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 engagement. the reviewed literature also shows that data collection for different strategic activities is diverse and characterised by fluid processes that are highly influenced by multiple contextual factors of the relationship and desired goal. for example, the un’s (2005) accountability model was informed by the data gathered through an exploratory survey of engagement approaches of over two dozen leading corporations to demonstrate how to meaningfully dialogue with stakeholders. in another case study, sucozhañay et al. (2014) share findings from qualitative data gathered through a six-year longitudinal case study to demonstrate the challenges of failing to engage stakeholders proactively and systematically. both examples demonstrate an analysis of industry practice as observed over time. similarly, schoonover et al (2019) use experiences obtained from 12 case studies related to the engagement of stakeholders in ecosystem research projects in europe. reporting on industry experiences to inform the existing stakeholder engagement models is particularly important for the library environment. as rightly pointed out by sucozhañay et al. (2014), most engagement models, which are predominantly from business arenas, apply differently. even in these noted business environments, there are readjustments of other existing models as data continues to emerge from practitioners’ perspective and practical guidance (un, 2005). it is, therefore, very important that in describing any stakeholder engagement approach, one elaborates on the type of stakeholders and contexts to help comprehension and appreciation of the emerging trends. a stakeholder engaging library team library services and the resultant workflows relate, in many ways, to the stakeholders within the organisation and those from the external environment. the value of the services is no longer pinned onto the content of the collection, but more on the quality and uniqueness of the service (church-duran, 2017). the accounts of library leaders in 15 academic libraries in pakistan by ashiq et al. (2018) demonstrate how stakeholder engagement and poor professional development of team members pose challenges to transformational library management. a sustainable engagement of stakeholders calls for a proactively innovative and dynamic library team with critical skills for transformational knowledge sharing as per the needs of the specific stakeholders (harland et al., 2019). the liaison librarian has to be assertive and proactive in proposing collaborative activities that address the users’ needs (church-duran,2017). the “agile team”, as described by harland et al. (2019, p. 5) should have enthusiasm and have the needed competences to work with stakeholders (chellappandi & vijayakumar, 2018). a case study by lefebvre (2018) demonstrates how the enthusiastic ryerson university library team worked with its stakeholders to embrace an entrepreneurial culture to creatively converge library services related to archives, special collections, and digital humanities. the activities called for what sucozhañay et al.(2014) describe as transformational library management and leadership. sucozhañay et al. document the experiences of three latin american library managers observed through a six-year longitudinal qualitative study to demonstrate how a lack of stakeholder engagement can inhibit transformation in libraries. in advocating for transformational leadership, their case study presents a distinction between library management as having skills to direct adequate service performance, while leadership is about “setting, motivating and aligning people with a new direction”(p. 57). seemingly in agreement with this distinction between leadership and management, matarazzo and pearlstein (2016) call for a 41 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how the biust library engages its stakeholders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 complementary application of managerial skills to direct the services, while sustaining the library staff’s motivation towards the institutional goals. this inevitably calls for continued capacity building and team building activities. it further concurs with harland et al.’s (2019) call for libraries to continue restructuring and re-positioning both staff and services through an entrepreneurial approach that is characterised by liaison librarians that have the needed skills to sustainably engage relationships with stakeholders. on the other hand, ashiq et al. (2018) demonstrate how participating pakistan academic libraries encountered challenges in ensuring a creative collaborative culture in cases where the teams were not that agile and eager to learn. methodological note an assessment of the approaches in the literature shows a predominance of a qualitatively deduced data from stakeholders based on their lived experiences. similarly, this paper presents stakeholders’ engagement in activities and projects carried out by the biust library. all the stakeholders for the different projects and the library team are viewed as participants, who have been observed in their natural setting. the reporting is done by the author, who as part of the library leadership, had an inherent responsibility of observing, managing, and ensuring value-adding stakeholder engagement. despite the absence of a systematic research method, this paper gathered highly valued learning points from the reviewed literature. for example, it applauds sucozhañay et al.’s (2014) approach of augmenting data collected through six-year long observations with that from interviews and an in-depth analysis of project-related documents. similarly, ashiq et al.’s (2018) qualitative study on common challenges in academic library leadership gathered data through structured in-depth and recorded interviews of 15 participants in lahore city, in the province of punjab, pakistan. additionally, the study had a strength of collecting experiences from different types of university library leaders to demonstrate that “collaborations and establishments of mutually beneficial working relationships” (p. 31) was amongst the challenges faced by academic libraries in pakistan. church-duran (2017) also surveys liaison approaches of 56 academic and research library members to demonstrate that engagement is essential to continued growth of the library services. the sharing of experiences from multiple activities supports alpi and evans’s (2019) assertion that a case study is constructed through data that emerges from multiple case reports. the present paper shares experiences from one university, biust. these experiences are shared through cross-referencing with the participants, other related incidents, and observations from the literature in no specific sequential order, but according to the relevance to a particular observation. the learning points emerge as the data or facts about different events unfold. theory, as such, emerges from the multi-layered experiences of the players in their unique contexts. in the reviewed literature, dobson (2002) and maxwell (2013) commend such flexible interpretive construction of reality to understand the context and to find progressive service improvement solutions. this paper does not list supportive documents like change process plans and reports because they do not exist. it also does not have any interview recordings nor formal observation map. it is, however, important to add that although the paper does not present any systematic research methodology, the shared experiences may be conveniently viewed as both the data collection and analysis phases. for example, later in the discussion on stakeholder engagement in library 42 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how the biust library engages its stakeholders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 space utility, it emerges that a successful usage of space for a specific library event helped in attracting other stakeholders for yet another library activity. this example demonstrates how the qualitative analysis of experiences and the findings from other events informed the progression of the next initiative. the literature reviewed for this paper helped with thematic descriptions that can be used for the categorisation of both the library experiences and its stakeholders. such categorisation of stakeholders and their experiences may be viewed as theoretical coding. this is a procedure also observed in the case of ashiq et al. (2018), where the emerging challenges were coded and analysed through nvivo, a data analysis software. the continued interpretation of the events in the present study may also be taken as an on-going analysis of data to deduce meaning. this supports thornberg’s (2012) contention that preexisting research and theories help to enhance the theoretical sensitivity of the experiences that are being documented. as demonstrated by church-duran (2017), the existing library faculty liaison frameworks are analysed to demonstrate the emerging trend of relationship-centred library service delivery. the just noted author however, cautions the researchers to avoid forcing reality into the already existing codes. the biust library experiences the biust library engaged various stakeholders from both the internal and external environments to play different roles that can be generalised as supportive, consultative, funding, or sponsoring in line with the broad categories observed in the reviewed literature (un, 2005; chellappandi & vijayakumar, 2018; harland et al., 2019). the engagement strategies for these entities vary according to the desired impact or goal. in alignment with harlan, et. al’s (2019 definition, biust stakeholders include the university executive, the teaching and non-teaching staff, students, researchers, and various communities of practice that relate to the university in different ways. the ensuing discussion, however, is not guided by stakeholder categories, but by the experiences from the different library initiatives. the narrative shares experiences that demonstrate or accentuate thematic areas that have been noted from the reviewed literature. purpose drives the stakeholder engagement approach an introspective review of the biust library activities shows that partnerships were forged to address a need that was brought on by the drive towards some set goal. some stakeholders were engaged for consultative purposes. others played an influential role as budget holders, while some became partners with equal interest in the success of the set initiative. internal stakeholders, like the university management and different directorates of the university, were mainly engaged for consultative purposes and approval of initiatives that included entities who were not necessarily what the un (2005) refers to as proximity or frequency of interaction stakeholders. a good example of this is when the library sought authorisation and guidance from the vice chancellor’s office on protocols for hosting botswana’s first lady during the commemoration of the 2019 international women’s day. other stakeholders for this purpose were internal and external security service providers, different media houses, and the ministry of nationality, immigration and gender affairs, who continued to give guidance in their respective fields. 43 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how the biust library engages its stakeholders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 the library also received some guidance from stakeholders when it solicited the support of the association of african universities (aau) for capacity building in creating visibility of institutional research output. the university management was consulted for permission and sponsorship of the initiative. the working relationship with aau grew to a stage where it collaborated with the library to host a training workshop for many other researchers and librarians. for the workshop, the aau was no longer only a consultative stakeholder, but also a partner in realising the workshop’s goals. the association also sponsored some workshop activities. the process of crafting strategic initiatives for the 2018/2019 annual performance plan engaged internal stakeholders for their different complementary roles in achieving some of the library objectives. the internal ones, like the directorate of quality assurance and the directorate of institutional planning, supported and guided the processes through both formal and informal meetings. delivering on the set initiatives also brought in many other stakeholders. for example, those in information and communication technology (ict) became partners in delivering different initiatives that aimed at enhancing access to e-resources and in developing information technology (it) enabled learning platforms. in some cases, working relationships that were developed for a set goal broaden the library’s stakeholder base. for example, members of the civil society that participated at the library’s commemoration of the 2019 international women’s day advocated for the continued collaboration in efforts to support women in development. through this event, the library also contributed towards the strategic efforts to shift the users’ perception from a library as a place of discoveries and consumption of information, to the place of production and sharing of knowledge. purpose influences engagement approaches the engagement of stakeholders took different forms and levels depending on the intended goal of the engagement. for example, in planning for the aau workshop, internal stakeholders were engaged through the on-site meeting, while the department of immigration in the ministry of nationality, immigration and gender affairs gave guidance on visa arrangements for international delegations through e-mails and telephone calls. the engagement of aau also transformed from online consultation to on-site workshop planning and delivery. it is important to highlight that although the library did not have a defined stakeholder engagement strategy, the operations with stakeholders for visa processes were guided by the existing national immigration protocols, while for the workshop it drew from both the aau and biust governing processes. although in the cited case, such pre-set organisational protocols were supportive, there were cases where the culture of stakeholders hampered the delivery of library services. a typical example is when the library sensed some form of resistance from stakeholders in embracing an initiative such as the commemoration of the international woman’s day. the university had never hosted such an event. some directorates were, therefore, slow to support it. similarly, efforts to engage the non-teaching biust staff as library users proved to be difficult because of the general perception of viewing the library as a reading space for students. as observed by ashiq et al. (2018), some existing cultures, especially when stakeholders do not appreciate the trends in librarianship, may hamper progressive library services. 44 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how the biust library engages its stakeholders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 some stakeholder resistance was also experienced when the library did not allow the users to bring food into the library discussion rooms. this met opposition because these users, who were mainly biust staff, did not appreciate the library’s view that food and beverages were harmful to the library collections. another case of how poor uptake or engagement by one stakeholder influenced others may be seen in the fact that although the library teaches the student user community how to access and use the available electronic resources, uptake is relatively slow because most lecturers still prefer recommending and prescribing the print information resources. some purpose-driven stakeholder engagements were initiated and managed by the library, while others were managed at the institutional level. for example, a strong working relationship with the botswana defence force (bdf) library services had the benefit of being managed by both the bdf and biust. consequently, the two libraries shared experiences through meetings, benchmarking visits and tours, which were well sponsored by their institutions. the robust interaction was made possible through the existing memorandum of understanding between the two parent bodies. the bdf also became a partner in building a biust library special collection section dubbed the presidential collection@biust. this is an initiative that triangulates a concept of libraries, museums, and archives to incubate the concept of a presidential library in botswana. a contrasting example is where the library team that was tasked to develop both the institutional repository (ir) and the libguides sought guidance and support from local and international experts through emails, online tutorials, and skype conversations, as the library could not afford engagement through physical meetings. in another example, different student groups were engaged through approaches that varied according to the intent of the relationship. for instance, a select group of students, who served as library ambassadors, had some responsibilities in promoting the use of library services. these students had scheduled meetings with a designated librarian and had a dedicated whatsapp chat group. they also had tailor made user education programs that were arranged and delivered by e-resource service providers. in some cases, the library proactively forged engagements with relevant stakeholders. for example, it created a forum of librarians in and around palapye so they can serve as a link with the outer community. some other relationships were, however, built as a reactive response. the dealings with the aau came as a response to an observed need for capacity building in developing an institutional repository. the engagement of external stakeholders from the national libraries, museums, and archives to guide in the development of presidential collection@biust was also a reactive stakeholder engagement. the library had observed a need for engaging these entities as consultative stakeholders. inter-related library stakeholders as observed by lefebvre (2018), incremental success in one stakeholder engagement program provides leverage for further recognition by other partners. for example, the processes of collection development had the multiple layers of the user community, and the vendors of information resources interacting in different ways. at some stage, the library engaged the internal security personnel and botswana police services as consultant stakeholders in building on library-related security issues. in the process, the library learnt about the botswana women police officers group, which later became very valuable guests during the commemoration of the 2019 international women’s day. 45 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how the biust library engages its stakeholders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 bringing in new computers to the library also attracted the support from the directorate of physical planning and campus facilities (ppcf) to revamp space that was designated to be used as the learning commons. recognition of the noted space followed yet another successful hosting of a high-level cocktail party to launch 14 books published by biust teaching and research staff. this was a collaborative effort of the library, researchers or authors, and the university management. the event further improved visibility of library services to more sets of stakeholders like the university’s student representative council (src) and media. this resonates with observations from the case of the ryerson university library team, which demonstrates how enhancement and revitalisation of the library space gave it a good facelift and effectively promoted the virtues of a library as a learning organisation (lefebvre, 2018). the inter-related demand-driven collection development process is characterised by multiple stakeholders with different roles that are broadly guided by the library collection development policy. the biust’s community drives the collection growth in line with learning, teaching, and research needs. the information resource vendors have also been seen to play multiple roles of training users, sponsoring some events, and even engaging with the library through other stakeholders like the botswana library consortium. other libraries can also assume different collection development stakeholder responsibilities. for example, the university of botswana library is a customer for inter-library loans, while also serving as consultative stakeholders and a consortium partner for the collective acquisition of resources. the library also engaged with alternative partners through strategies that were already set by other stakeholders. for example, all first year students were engaged through a pre-arranged timetable that was owned and managed by the centre for management, entrepreneurship and general education. in this case, the library reached out to the students, as stakeholders, through yet another level of stakeholder engagement. although the library does not have a clear set engagement strategy, it seemingly keeps the inter-connectivity through an underlying desire to deliver the best library services to all. recommendations the conclusions and recommendations, as drawn from the library’s experiences and the reviewed literature, are shared to contribute data or experiences needed to inform the existing stakeholder engagement strategies, and, most importantly, help enhance the provision of library services. this is presented in line with the earlier adopted research questions. question 1: who are the library stakeholders? the library has multiple stakeholders, who play inter-related roles in shaping the delivery of services. despite the universal acknowledgment that there is neither a perfect fit strategy nor a water-tight categorisation approach, church-duran (2017) and the un (2005) observe that stakeholders can be broadly categorised as coming from internal and external environments for different roles. the assessment of the biust’s library stakeholder engagement has enabled a clearer understanding of its stakeholders, who can be broadly grouped into four general categories, as shown in table 1: categories of biust library stakeholders. 46 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how the biust library engages its stakeholders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 table 1. categories of the biust library stakeholders category of stakeholder example of activity example of stakeholder community partners collection development academic staff; researchers, students, information resource supply agencies sponsor partners marketing library services bdf and biust management information resource vendors project partners developing institutional repository developing presidential collection@biust civil society guests and protocol offices association of african universities the bdf and national libraries, museums and archives these stakeholders are multi-layered and inter-related in a way that inevitably leads to a situation where the description of one category refers to another. for example, when sharing the experiences of engaging academic staff through the authorship awards ceremony, the discussion brings in the support of other stakeholders to creatively transform the event venue. as alpi and evans (2019) observe, data about one case helps to construct assessment of the role of another stakeholder. the presented biust case is, therefore, based on multiple case reports of stakeholder experiences. it further relates to the earlier observation on the methodological note of this paper that experiences are presented through cross-referencing stakeholders as participants, with events and observations from the literature. question 2: in which activities does the library engage its stakeholders? the shared experiences demonstrate the interaction of an agile library team with stakeholders that collectively add value towards the delivery of institutional aspiration of academic quality and student reputation, research and innovation excellence, and improving institutional capabilities (biust strategic goals 1, 2 and 7 respectively). the interrelated activities range from engagement of stakeholders in the improvement of services to the marketing of accessible information resources. this tallies with church-duran’s (2017) call for libraries to engage with communities in a way that supports organisational strategy, structure, and culture. question 3: how does the library engage with the identified stakeholders? different stakeholders were engaged in line with the role they play towards the goal that the library wishes to attain. the noted absence of a clearly defined stakeholder engagement strategy leads to a trend described by sucozhañay et al. (2014) as being “reactive and unsystematic”. an analysis of the biust library case, therefore, shows that the engagements were not handled as a project with a well-articulated engagement problem or case to be addressed with clear milestones. there is also a paucity of a systematic stakeholder activity documentation. in most 47 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how the biust library engages its stakeholders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 cases, the existing operational frameworks or protocols guided the collaborations. meetings and communications with different stakeholders also varied with many factors ranging from the budget, proximity, and the purpose of the engagement. for instance, some working relationships have been characterised by physical meetings, while others relied on virtual communication through e-mails, telephone conversations, or any other form of electronic media of communication. an effective stakeholder engagement demanded transformational leadership and a flexible library team with the ability to continually share knowledge in a way that ushered learning opportunities for all. this corroborates harland et al.’s (2019) presentation of a library as a learning organisation that draws collective aspiration of library staff and stakeholders. the transformational approach further translated into a continued skills development and realignment of both the library team members and the stakeholders with functional roles. question 4: how can the library improve the stakeholders’ engagement to provide a more flexible service? the response to this question summarises the recommendations drawn from this paper. the paper neither prescribes any library stakeholder engagement strategy, nor any systematic method of researching the experiences of library stakeholder engagement. practitioners are, instead, advised to use these concluding learning points for adding value to the existing models. recommendations are presented in bullet form below: • the library has to familiarise itself with the existing stakeholder engagement frameworks to inform the development and operationalisation of one that would guide partnerships in line with the scope, budget of the planned initiative. • there is a need for the analysis and categorisation of library stakeholders. such an analysis should be attentive to stakeholder perspectives, and must also include what lefebvre (2018) refers to as impact narrative that is characterised by qualitative and quantitative data. • the library should consider having a projects liaison librarian or designate the responsibility to the library administrator. conclusion the introspective discussion of stakeholder engagement in this paper affirms that both the university and the library are community orientated. the engagement has to be systematically strengthened. it also has to be acknowledged that sharing these experiences also energises the library team that is eager to continually recreate itself so as to improve service provision. references alpi, k. m., & evans, j. j. (2019). distinguishing case study as a research method from case 48 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index how the biust library engages its stakeholders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 reports as a publication type. journal of the medical library association, 107(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2019.615 atkinson, p. j. (2018). collaboration and the academic library. chandos publishing. botswana international university of science and technology. (2015). university strategy map 2016/172022/23. internal biust report: unpublished. ashiq, m., rehman, s. u., & batool, s. h. (2018). academic library leaders’ challenges, difficulties and skills: an analysis of common experiences. libri, 68(4), 301–313. https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2018-0063 chellappandi, p., & vijayakumar, c. s. (2018). bibliometrics, scientometrics, webometrics/ cybermetrics, informetrics, and altmetrics – an emerging field in library and information science research. shanlax international journal of education, 7(1), 5–8. http://www.shanlaxjournals.in/journals/index.php/education/article/view/270 church-duran, j. (2017). distinctive roles: engagement, innovation, and the liaison model. portal: libraries and the academy, 17(2), 257–271. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2017.0015 dobson, p. j. (2002) critical realism and information systems research: why bother with philosophy? information research: an international electronic journal, 7(2). https://doaj.org/article/ef9bcd98d9d84d38ac2388523bc9d82e eldredge, j. d. (2004). inventory of research methods for librarianship and informatics. journal of the medical library association, 92(1), 83–90. http://search.proquest.com/docview/203521455/ harland, f., stewart, g., & bruce, c. (2019). leading the academic library in strategic engagement with stakeholders: a constructivist grounded theory. college & research libraries. 80(3), 319–339. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.80.3.319 lefebvre, m. (2018) the library at ryerson university: a case study in relationship-building and academic collaboration. new review of academic librarianship: positioning the academic library within the institution: structures and challenges, 24(3–4), 468–484. https://doi.org/10.1080/13614533.2018.1487869 matarazzo, j.m., & pearlstein, t. (2016). leadership in disruptive times. international federation of library association journal, 42(3), 162-178. https://doi.org/10.1177/0340035216658911 maxwell, j.a. (2013). qualitative research design: an interactive approach to applied social research methods (3rd ed.). sage publication. pinfield, s., cox, a. & rutter, s. (2017). mapping the future of academic libraries: a report for sconul. society of college, national and university libraries (sconul). http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/125508/1/sconul%20report%20mapping%20the%20futu re%20of%20academic%20libraries%20-%20published%20version.pdf 49 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2019.615 https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2018-0063 http://www.shanlaxjournals.in/journals/index.php/education/article/view/270 https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2017.0015 https://doaj.org/article/ef9bcd98d9d84d38ac2388523bc9d82e http://search.proquest.com/docview/203521455/ https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.80.3.319 https://doi.org/10.1080/13614533.2018.1487869 https://doi.org/10.1177/0340035216658911 http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/125508/1/sconul%20report%20mapping%20the%20future%20of%20academic%20libraries%20-%20published%20version.pdf http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/125508/1/sconul%20report%20mapping%20the%20future%20of%20academic%20libraries%20-%20published%20version.pdf how the biust library engages its stakeholders the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 4(3/4), 2020 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v4i3/4.33568 schoonover, h. a. a., grêt-regamey, m. j., metzger, a., ruiz-frau, m., santos-reis, m., scholte, s., walz, a., nicholas, k.a. (2019). creating space, aligning motivations, and building trust: a practical framework for stakeholder engagement based on experience in 12 ecosystem services case studies. ecology and society 24(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.5751/es-10061-240111 sucozhañay, d., siguenza-guzman, l., zhimnay, c., cattrysse, d., wyseure, g., de witte, k., euwema, m., & sucozhanay, d. (2014). transformational leadership and stakeholder management in library change. liber quarterly : the journal of european research libraries, 24(2), 55–83. http://doi.org/10.18352/lq.9583 thornberg, r. (2012). informed grounded theory. scandinavian journal of educational research, 56(3), 243–259. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2011.581686 the united nations environment programme, and stakeholder research associates. (2015). the stakeholder engagement manual volume 2: the practitioner's handbook on stakeholder engagement. https://ccednet-rcdec.ca/sites/ccednetrcdec.ca/files/the_stakeholder_engagement_manual_-_volume_2.pdf ayanda a. b. lebele (lebelea@biust.ac.bw) holds a phd (library and information science) from unisa and has two master’s degrees in library and information science and another in development studies. she has made a professional footprint in school, public, special, and academic libraries of different sizes and administrative make up. she served as a subject librarian at the university of botswana, where she was responsible for the coordination and teaching of information literacy skills and the library staff in-service programs. as a qualified and experienced teacher, both roles were a perfect fit for her. dr. lebele’s leadership style, especially in academic libraries, has been shaped by her experiences, qualifications, natural people skills, and most importantly, her passion for continued individual professional development. 50 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.5751/es-10061-240111 http://doi.org/10.18352/lq.9583 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2011.581686 https://ccednet-rcdec.ca/sites/ccednet-rcdec.ca/files/the_stakeholder_engagement_manual_-_volume_2.pdf https://ccednet-rcdec.ca/sites/ccednet-rcdec.ca/files/the_stakeholder_engagement_manual_-_volume_2.pdf mailto:lebelea@biust.ac.bw introduction library services at biust the reviewed literature relating experience to existing frameworks categorisation of stakeholders assessing experiences in stakeholder engagement a stakeholder engaging library team methodological note the biust library experiences purpose drives the stakeholder engagement approach purpose influences engagement approaches inter-related library stakeholders recommendations question 1: who are the library stakeholders? question 2: in which activities does the library engage its stakeholders? question 3: how does the library engage with the identified stakeholders? question 4: how can the library improve the stakeholders’ engagement to provide a more flexible service? conclusion references libraries & sustainability: programs and practices for community impact the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38792 ijidi: book review tanner, r., ho, a. k., antonelli, m., & aldrich, r. s. (2021). libraries & sustainability: programs and practices for community impact. ala editions. isbn-13: 978-0-8389-3794-5 (paperback). 176 pp. $49.99 us. reviewer: erin renee wahl, new mexico state university library, usa book review editors: halie kerns, suny canton, usa stephanie robertson, brigham young university—hawaii, usa keywords: leadership; planning; programming; sustainability; transformation publication type: book review the newest offering from rené tanner, adrian k. ho, monika antonelli, and rebekkah smith aldrich, libraries & sustainability: programs and practices for community impact (2021), is a clever, practical continuation of the conversation around applying sustainability to libraries. tanner et al. have included something for everyone within the text no matter where their library is in the conversation of sustainability. built on the sustainability definition of the triple-bottom-line (environmentally sound, socially equitable, and economically feasible) officially adopted by the american library association (ala) (p. x), the book is divided into four sections of focus which are leadership, planning, programming, and transformation. aldrich’s introduction is a strong setup for the rest of the text, providing background information of how sustainability in the american library world rose from conversations in the new york library association (nyla) to become one of ala’s core values of librarianship. in her introduction, aldrich sets the tone for the book, that she and her coauthors’: [h]ope is that what you read in this book is not just interesting to you, not just food for thought, but content that helps you actively reimagine your role in the library profession to one as an ardent advocate interested in joining us in the work to not only help libraries step into the necessary role as leaders on the topic of sustainability, but to transform the world in a way that combats climate change and builds community resilience. (p. xii) tanner et al. have been key players in leading the charge for su stainability in america’s libraries, and, per their introduction, have tapped other leading voices for the pages of this text, making it an excellent book for diving into the multi-faceted arena of sustainability. the changes the contributors and editors decided to highlight show the breadth of ways that sustainability can be applied in libraries . t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index libraries & sustainability 91 leadership there were some creative choices in part one of this text. davis, ferriss, and kropp’s chapter, focusing on how these libraries have continued sustainability practices postcertification, was written almost as if in an interview style, which made it an engaging alternative to the typical chapter format. in one paragraph, davis noted that, “the certification process provided us with a whole new way to look at just about everything we do. from policy writing and staffing to building use/design and programming the decisions we make are always with our commitment to sustainable practices in the forefront” (p. 11). stricker’s chapter dealing with the intersection of rapid library disaster response and recovery and community resilience offers useful and practical advice for facing a disaster holistically. however, it largely fails to deliver on connecting the practical portions of disaster planning to what it promises: community resilience, which is suggested to be a key portion of the chapter by the title and introduction. similarly, though other claims for sustainability could be made throughout the chapter, the readers are left to connect these dots and come to their own conclusions. overall, this chapter could do with more explanation of some of the key portions of disaster response and recovery that she is covering, such as, “a seat at the table document” and “librarians as community preparedness facilitato rs tabletop exercises.” a chapter appendix with some sample documents, and extra allotted space to tackle some of the details and connections that were lacking would have served this chapter well. this is not to say that this chapter has no value however, because the skills in disaster response and recovery are imperative for a library, and not all libraries have as detailed of an approach as stricker is recommending. kaufman, cohen, and eller describe the problem with information-based campaigns that led them to choose a different approach, noting that “information-based campaigns make the erroneous assumption that if one knows more, one will care more, and if one cares more, one will do more. both of these lines of thinking are fallacies” (p. 29). instead, they used community-based social marketing to lead the change of behavior in their library. their outline of the concepts of community based social marketing is detailed and provides relevant, usable examples. by sharing the failures and successes of their library’s wellness and sustainability committee, they have provided a roadmap to similar adoption of sustainability efforts. this section is an excellent launchpad into the rest of the book. planning griffith’s contribution, with its focus on small libraries, and its practical-meets-theory approach to sustainability for those who may be limited on time, focuses on pulling permaculture into libraries in a refreshing path to sustainability. griffith notes how “the principles of permaculture provide a scalable, intentional approach that can be used to reframe how libraries can shape operations, providing a model both for other organizations as well as for individuals” (p. 61), sharing how the library’s commitment to change had inspired community members to take steps in their own lives as well. meszaros and goodsett’s chapter, outlining considerations for sustainable event planning, is a strong finish and launch into the next section. containing an overview of in-person event sustainability and touching upon the opportunities for more sustainable programming through online events, this chapter includes a plethora of facets to consider. its section on setting ground rules for sustainability in the library brings the conversation into the sphere the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38792 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index libraries & sustainability 92 of the resilience of this planning, by suggesting (amongst other things) integrating sustainability into the library’s mission, policies, and even designating a sustainability officer within the staff to help coordinate future efforts. programming the section on programming connects sustainability directly to larger community resilience. griffis’ chapter on integrating repair events into library programming shows how repairing broken items encourages sustainability and community. according to griffis, “repair events change peoples’ relationships to their neighbors and to one another, by seeing the beauty in repairing that which is broken. ultimately, if culture is defined by the customs and practice of a people, each repair and repair event teaches individuals, especially young people, a way of being that honors the inherent value of all things and all life” (p. 81). the next chapter by clotildes starts off with practical advice for working with families, specifically in taking children’s programming work already done in libr aries and shifting the priorities but fails to connect later ideas like collection development back to these groups. however, with ideas like turning waste management from children’s programs into a learning opportunity and broadening the definition of lib rary space to encourage programming beyond the library’s physical walls, clotildes shows how simple and effective thinking sustainably can be. transformation the transformation section of this book stretches the practical aspects of the previous sections, injecting more discussion into how these can be changes made for the long term. elzi’s chapter explores the intersection of sustainability and racism in libraries through the four i’s of oppression (ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and internali zed), which “show how power and privilege come into play and overlap in the ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized domains” (p. 108). while acknowledging that her chapter is merely an introduction to the framework, elzi moves through truths that may be difficult for some to read, ending with suggestions for moving forward thoughtfully and meaningfully. jeng on the other hand, offers a vision of community-based librarianship meant as both a starting point, and a path towards something more resilient. jeng argues that “an asset-based, rather than need-based, community development approach recognizes community members to be resourceful and to utilize their own assets on the principle of regenerating new resources to contribute back into the same community where the resources come from” (p. 120), which requires community input, participation, cooperation, action, and buy-in to the process. the final chapter, delivered by antonelli, tanner, aldrich, and ho, considers how doughnut economics can be applied to sustainability and libraries to create the mind shift necessary to prioritize sustainability. conclusion this book does an excellent job of showing its audience that sustainability is not just recycling, planting trees, and electric cars; it is a model for how we approach the world on a larger scale. however, the largely environmental focus of the book outweighed the other aspects of sustainability, missing some opportunity for a more nuanced conversation on what it could mean for libraries if we took the initiative to embrace sustainability more fully as a core value of our individual institutions. this reflects the difficulty of tackling the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38792 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index libraries & sustainability 93 sustainability’s more encompassing definition overall —a common problem. it is not until the final section that some of the deeper conversations around equity and sustainability occur. in the end, tanner, ho, antonelli, and aldrich’s newest endeavor is a solid and engaging contribution to the literature of sustainability in libraries, and a gr eat addition to any library looking to shift their narrative to align with one of ala’s newest core values. erin renee wahl’s (she/her) (erinwahl@gmail.com) work has appeared in both creative and scholarly publications. an eco-writer and academic, she lives on hiking trails and works as a librarian at new mexico state university. the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(3), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i3.38792 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:erinwahl@gmail.com contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38774 t contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca anita huízar-hernández, arizona state university, usa angela corsa, university of arizona, usa alejandra encinas garcía, university of arizona, usa carmen lucia rivero, university of arizona, usa ashley ávila, university of arizona, usa abstract this work-in-progress report presents the bilingual mapping project “decolonizing the narrative of cabeza de vaca/descolonizar la relación de cabeza de vaca,” an interdisciplinary undergraduate, graduate, and faculty digital humanities collaboration that aims to educate users about the impacts of spanish colonization and its ramifications on the creation and evolution of latinidades in the americas by recovering the history of that colonization within latin america as well as what became the united states; analyzing how and by whom that history has been narrated, and considering what impact those narratives have on society today. written in spanish, la relación precedes english-language accounts that describe what is now the united states, thus providing necessary historical context for the centuries-long development of transborder latinidades throughout the hemisphere. at the same time, the fact that la relación was not written in english does not mean the text is not eurocentric. on the contrary, fully apprehending la relación and its impact requires a decolonial approach that decenters cabeza de vaca and his limited perspective. by visualizing this spanish colonial narrative, this project provides not just a window into what became the pre-anglophone southern and southwestern united states, but also brings into sharp relief the complexities of the overlapping colonialities these lands have experienced, as well as the way the interplay among those colonialities has shaped u.s. latinx communities and their relationship to hemispheric latinidades. keywords: álvar núñez cabeza de vaca; coloniality; decolonizing methodology; digital humanities; mapping publication type: special section publication (work-in-progress report) introduction his work-in-progress report presents the bilingual mapping project “decolonizing the narrative of cabeza de vaca/descolonizar la relación de cabeza de vaca,” an interdisciplinary undergraduate, graduate, and faculty digital humanities collaboration that aims to educate users about the impacts of spanish colonization and its ramifications on the creation and evolution of latinidades in the americas by recovering the history of that colonization within what became latin america and the united states, analyzing how and by whom that history has been narrated, and considering what impact those narratives have on society today.1 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi 121 contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38774 in 1542, álvar núñez cabeza de vaca published a detailed account of his eight-year journey, focusing primarily on his travels between present-day florida to the borderlands of the u.s. southwest and northern mexico. cabeza de vaca was part of the failed pánfilo de narváez expedition, which began in spain in 1527 with over 600 people and ended in northern mexico in 1536 with only four survivors: cabeza de vaca, two other spaniards, and an enslaved moroccan man they called estevanico. in the nearly 500 years since the first publication of cabeza de vaca’s portrayal of their harrowing struggle for survival, his vivid descriptions of the people and places that he and the other survivors encountered have become canonical reading for students and scholars of european colonization of the americas. written in spanish, la relación precedes english-language accounts that describe what is now the united states, providing necessary historical context for the centuries-long development of transborder latinidades throughout the hemisphere. though la relación challenges anglocentric accounts that have invisibilized transborder latinidades, it is still a eurocentric text told from a spanish colonial perspective. fully apprehending la relación and its impact, therefore, requires a decolonial approach that decenters cabeza de vaca’s perspective. by visualizing this spanish colonial narrative, this project provides not just a window into what became the pre-anglophone southern and southwestern united states, but also brings into sharp relief the complexities of the overlapping colonialities these lands have experienced, as well as the way the interplay among those colonialities has shaped u.s. latinx communities and their relationship to hemispheric latinidades. once completed, the interactive map of cabeza de vaca’s narrative will allow users to follow his approximate route and explore thematic filters that contrast his descriptions of peoples and places with historical and contemporary primary and secondary sources that demonstrate the limitations of his colonial perspective. for example, users will be able to compare cabeza de vaca’s descriptions of the flora and fauna he encounters alongside indigenous perspectives on the landscape’s medicinal, cultural, and culinary value, as well as contemporary data from the u.s. environmental protection agency about environmental degradation in the region. by bringing together multiple perspectives and temporalities, the project foregrounds the short and long-term effects of colonial power relations across the centuries in the americas. this work-in-progress report focuses on the first step in the map’s creation, which was the process of representing a colonial narrative as spatial data. as tuck and yang (2012) emphasize, land is at the center of decolonization, and it is land that cabeza de vaca attempts to control through his narration. of key concern for this project is how to make visible the ways that cabeza de vaca’s text and the larger colonial project of which it was a part made claims to land and foreground other possibilities beyond the colonial structure. for the project team, this means making clear that the narrative is unreliable both in terms of accuracy (the narrator was lost for most of the text) and motivation (the narrator was incentivized to portray himself and his actions in a positive light). to discuss our process up to this point, in this report we: frame how the project was conceived and how our team came together; define the key terms and theoretical underpinnings that drove our work together; describe the project team’s work to collect, clean, and input data into a digital map; and discuss preliminary conclusions and next steps. this digital humanities project builds on the substantial work of scholars in the spatial humanities and historical geographic information systems (gis) who have explored how gis technology can deepen our understanding of the spatiality of place. “decolonizing the narrative/descolonizar la relación” asks how gis can be used to destabilize colonial land claims through emphasizing https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 122 contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38774 the biases inherent within colonial narratives that have nonetheless shaped the way countless centuries of readers continue to see the world. why map cabeza de vaca’s relación? the impetus for this project came from the classroom experiences of anita huízar-hernández, who regularly includes cabeza de vaca’s relación in her courses on the literatures and cultures of the u.s.-mexico borderlands. as a chicana from the u.s. southwest teaching courses in spanish, anita huízar-hernández includes the text in her courses to demonstrate the ways that spanish colonial texts have played a central role in otherizing non-european communities and naturalizing european settler colonial land claims on both sides of the contemporary u.s.mexico border. nevertheless, this decolonial analysis was often forestalled because students faced difficulties following the geographic and temporal trajectories of the 16th century narrative. regarding geography, students struggled to locate cabeza de vaca’s often vague descriptions within their own mental maps of the contemporary americas. the edition of the narrative that huízarhernández uses in the classroom, rolena adorno and patrick charles pautz’s (1999) side-by-side spanish transcription and english translation, includes rigorously researched footnotes to help orient the reader to cabeza de vaca’s approximate location. yet, students had difficulty toggling between the narration, which is itself dense, and the footnotes, leading huízar-hernández to wonder how to help students better grasp the text’s geography. regarding the text’s temporality, students also struggled to follow the order of events since cabeza de vaca does not tell his story chronologically. as an instructor, huízar-hernández knew that if she could help students more easily comprehend what the text said, they could shift their attention to the more important work of analyzing both how and why the text said what it did. what if a digital platform could be built that would not only help support basic comprehension of cabeza de vaca’s relación but also foreground the colonial context from which the narrative emerged? huízar-hernández began to imagine a multi-layered interactive map that would juxtapose cabeza de vaca’s descriptions of the people and places he encountered alongside the perspectives of those people, as well as how those places have changed in the 500 years since cabeza de vaca wrote his relación. the first step would be to gather a team to help comb through the narrative and code the various data points it contained according to type (location, date, and theme). with a faculty seed grant from the office for research, innovation, and impact at the university of arizona, huízar-hernández gathered a team of undergraduate and graduate student researchers to begin the work. the authors of this article, which include alejandra encinas garcía as well as the undergraduate and graduate researchers that were part of the project for its entire duration (march–december 2021), were each drawn to the decolonial possibilities of a digital platform that explicitly questioned the authority of cabeza de vaca’s text and other spanish colonial documents like it to control the narrative of who belonged in the americas in general, and the u.s.-mexico borderlands in particular. after sending out a broad call for applicants and conducting a series of interviews, huízar-hernández assembled a team of interdisciplinary researchers, all of whom had cultural or academic ties to the borderlands and were fluent in both english and spanish. for senior alejandra encinas garcía, who was majoring in spanish and law and minoring in anthropology, this project was an opportunity to demystify colonial literature and reclaim an alternate history of the americas in a public-facing, accessible format. sophomore carmen rivero, who was majoring in english literature and political science, echoed the emphasis on accessibility, noting that she was excited to draw upon her own bilingual and cultural heritage https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 123 contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38774 in an academic research project that would be geared toward students and community members like herself. sophomore ashley ávila, who was majoring in sustainable built environment and minoring in spanish, likewise emphasized her interest in the project’s connection to decolonization, land-back movements, and indigenous sovereignty, as well as the related focus on climate change within the areas described. phd candidate angela, who is a historian of latin america, was drawn to the project not only for its subject but also its collaborative approach. as someone who came to the borderlands from the midwest, this project offered her a new way to engage with the land she was inhabiting, as well as an opportunity to work alongside and learn from people who had very different relationships to the land and its history. toward a decolonial digital humanities this mapping project fits into existing scholarship which seeks to use digital tools to decolonize physical space, challenging the biases and priorities that are embedded in colonial descriptions and depictions of the americas. as a project within the field of digital humanities, this effort to decolonize the narrative of cabeza de vaca/la relación de cabeza de vaca is uniquely poised to confront the biases that shaped the author’s descriptions of people, places, plants, and animals in the americas by using gis and digital mapping to engage with these colonial processes. in doing so, this project represents an exercise in deep mapping and renders these biases visible, thus decentering the limited eurocentric perspective in favor of bringing forth the complex systems of life that have existed in these spaces since the 16th century. colonization is deeply relevant to the way in which we perceive the u.s.-mexico borderlands. as noted by historian raymond b. craib (2017), it has impacted both the physical space as well as the minds in the way that it inscribed itself onto the land and the people who lived on it. as such, it is also embedded in colonial and post-colonial maps which exhibit continuities drawing on the knowledge and conventions associated with cartographic practices (craib, 2017; schulten, 2001). additionally, elizabeth losh and jacqueline wernimont (2019), both scholars of the digital humanities, have addressed the ways that spatial arrangements can communicate value and establish barriers, arguing for the necessary incorporation of intersectional feminism—which acknowledges the interactions of various power structures—into practices associated with the digital humanities to facilitate one and combat the other. through digital humanities and the creation of digital maps, scholars have created a new means to challenge perspectives of the u.s.-mexico border that neglect these complex realities by creating a means to think about these territories as dynamic, fluid spaces (álvarez & fernández quintanilla, 2022). in this cabeza de vaca mapping project, the authors similarly seek to address these complex systems of power through a decolonial approach. broadly, decolonial theory seeks to undo the hegemony of european settler colonialism, both recognizing the impacts of colonialism and directly challenging its naturalized ubiquity and concrete consequences. this work necessarily engages with the past, as martiniquan theorist frantz fanon asserts in his seminal text the wretched of the earth when he writes, “decolonization, as we know, is a historical process: that is to say it cannot be understood, it cannot become intelligible nor clear to itself except in the exact measure that we can discern the movements which give it historical form and content” (1963, p. 36). as the authors began to work out the process of mapping cabeza de vaca’s text they kept at the forefront the goal of making discernable the movements fanon describes. monolithic expressions of identity and history built by empire and conveyed through materials like maps especially belie both the complex histories and contemporary realities of lands https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 124 contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38774 characterized by complex social systems shaped by people, plants, and animals that inhabit these spaces.2 we challenge this by addressing these realities through both clarifying and confronting the western systems and ideologies present in the lands traversed by álvar núñez cabeza de vaca. as noted by margaret kovach (2021) and linda tuhiwai smith (2021), both scholars of indigenous education and research methodologies, one way in which we might approach decolonization is through the engagement with indigenous methodologies that, in part, highlight the importance of recognizing indigenous epistemologies that emphasize a holistic approach, which includes the recognition of the relationality between self and place (and time and the rest of the non-human-centric world). in the case of this project, we are careful to center indigenous actors as central protagonists in the “story” of our map and incorporate relevant secondary source materials that engage with indigenous epistemologies in the study of the borderlands. the digital map’s structure foregrounds the significance of indigenous knowledge of seasonal resource availability and the layout of the land itself, challenging the narrative’s biases by highlighting how the expedition appropriated this knowledge to enable their survival. as a result, this shaped the path that cabeza de vaca and others would take. digital humanities projects such as this also offer a particular opportunity for engaging in decolonial scholarship. roopika risam (2018), a scholar of both digital and postcolonial humanities, has emphasized the importance of decolonization within the digital humanities specifically, asserting that therein lies significant potential for the democratization of knowledge. this project, in addition to its engagement in decolonial methodologies and digital cartographies, joins other projects in democratizing access to cabeza de vaca’s narrative by placing historical and cultural resources online and outside of any paywall, and offering interpretive framing that makes the content more approachable to various audiences. this includes the wittliff collections at texas state university’s cabeza de vaca digitization project which both made the 1555 edition of his narrative available online, as well as offered additional resources through learning and teaching tools. it also joins andrés reséndez’s a land so strange (2007), which offers to readers a vivid retelling of the narrative paired with endnotes informed both by la relación and the joint report. however, even as we expand access to materials that might otherwise be out of reach for those outside of the academy through making content such as la relación de cabeza de vaca more available and approachable, we do so in a way that resists replicating colonial structures of power. to this end, this project also aims to do as risam describes and engage with the use of new tools and methods to “dismantle the master’s house,”3 even as we reflect on the way in which the field has already contributed to colonial and neo colonial epistemic violence (risam, 2018, p. 81). finally, “decolonizing the narrative/descolonizar la relación” employs the digital humanities method of deep mapping by challenging traditional cartographic approaches which create illusions of authority and objectivity. deep mapping seeks to do what intersectionality did to decolonize space within the context of the digital humanities by simultaneously engaging with different methods to better understand the complex systems of affect between people and space and to resist reductionism (harris, 2021). trevor m. harris (2021) highlights the way in which deep maps function mostly as a vision of “what could be,” rather than a concrete framework (p. 112–113). this belief in the possibilities created by this approach is something echoed by david j. bodenhamer (2021), who sees the construction of deep maps through gis as having “the potential…to revolutionize the role of place in the humanities by moving beyond the two dimensional map to explore dynamic representations and interactive systems that will prompt an experimental, as well as rational, knowledge base,” as well as john corrigan (2021) who addresses the nature of a deep map as an “assemblage” that, when valuable, engages with https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 125 contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38774 different types of knowledge, highlights the fluidity and multilayered nature of territory, and facilities the navigation of that territory (p. 4; pp. 162–163). in order to disrupt the narrative’s authority, this project engages different types of media to change the way users interact with the borderlands narrative. the interactive map invites users to explore multiple perspectives and temporalities through thematic filters focusing on chronology, flora, fauna, the location of spanish members of the expedition, the indigenous communities they encounter, and the travel of estevan (an enslaved moroccan man who was among the final four survivors). each of these filters includes quotations from cabeza de vaca’s narrative and information from additional primary and secondary sources in the form of both text and images that refer to different ways of knowing and relating to the land he describes. lastly, the process through which this digital map was created involved collaboration between people from diverse academic backgrounds, as well as with varying ties to the borderlands through their own cultural heritage. turning a colonial narrative into spatial data the “decolonizing the narrative/descolonizar la relación” project team gathered together on march 11, 2021 to begin mapping cabeza de vaca’s text. the initial group consisted of five undergraduate students, one graduate student, and one faculty member. after meeting as a group and discussing our goals for the project, we divided into three pairs, each tasked with analyzing a different aspect of the narrative: thematic filters (mentions of estevan4 an enslaved man who traveled with the spanish expedition, as well as descriptions of flora and fauna), location, and time. together we read through adorno and pautz’s (1999) transcription and translation of cabeza de vaca’s 1542 relación in english and spanish and met to discuss overall impressions of the text. many of the key themes that emerged during that initial discussion, from the geographic inexactitude of the descriptions of the landscape to the unreliability and eurocentrism of the narrative voice, were topics that we returned to repeatedly throughout the process of data collection, which is outlined below. we discussed strategies to deal with these challenges and any areas of confusion during our weekly group meetings. the forms and spreadsheets used for managing data from the narrative were all centralized within the open science framework (osf). each team of two had its own google form used for collecting data from the text that included fields such as page number, quotation, name of data creator, relevance to assigned aspect of the text (thematic filter, location, or time), and notes. each google form then auto populated a google sheet. once each pair had completed data collection for the entire text, we then began the process of data cleaning. pairs compared their responses, deleting duplicates and combining any relevant notes that they made to contextualize the data. to collect and clean the data, each individual team member developed their own process but worked first with their partner and then with the whole team, which is detailed below. location tagging the narrative with specific locations was a fundamental yet paradoxical task for our team. on the one hand, creating a map necessitated some sort of geospatial specificity, which required us to look to cabeza de vaca’s descriptions. on the other hand, the entire point of the project was to decenter cabeza de vaca’s claim to the land, which required us to look past his descriptions to other kinds of information. as such, the team logging location data was constantly https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 126 contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38774 reflecting on the attitudes and assumptions that undergirded what information to include in their spreadsheets. as corsa explains, our team was forced to confront right away the extent to which cabeza de vaca’s own goals for personal enrichment shaped what we knew about the land and those living there. some of our decision making was practical; we wanted the map to be clear and we also had a finite amount of time and number of team members. so, we needed to establish criteria for what to log and a consistent method of logging that information. this meant that we learned to take careful notes of our thought processes and engaged with each other regularly to share our questions, concerns, and reflections. as encinas garcía affirms, “the mapping of coordinates required building heavily upon each other teammate’s work.” an important part of digitizing the narrative map was taking the approximations of a nearly 500 year-old text and concretizing them to the point of selecting gps coordinates. for rivero, the best process was to work in sections in which she could track movement across specific regions and then cross-check with other project team members. she writes, i would choose to highlight text that demonstrated movement across valleys, rivers, camps, and outright mentions of change in location. this data ranged from movement of one point to another, such as ‘we departed from there and arrived at santiago,’ as well as quotations that were not as specific but mentioned a range of movement in the group. encinas garcía also incorporated historical contextual information into her estimations, including: the equivalent to a spanish league, how long can a people walk in a day, as well as the footnotes in the book. moreover, i made sure to compare my estimations with sources describing the ancestral territories of the indigenous groups mentioned in the narrative. corsa notes, i found myself heavily relying on footnote information and the maps included in the book, as well as going back and forth between the text and google maps as i considered both the transformation of the landscape and what rough approximations we might make based on the passage of time during a given segment of cabeza de vaca’s journey. those of us working on this task discussed how uncomfortable we were with the data demands of the maps; for example, there were plenty of moments where coordinates/points seemed to only be useful to demonstrate westward (or some other directional) movement, with no other claim to accuracy. confronting this discomfort proved useful in thinking about how we might use technology to work in our favor (such as through the creation of a ‘pop-up’ disclaimer or the incorporation of shaded regions to indicate general estimations of locations). it also helped us think about future companion teaching materials that we might create to help those engaging with our map to confront both the biases of cabeza de vaca, as well as to understand the kinds of ‘hidden’ decisions that shape the creation of all maps that viewers might otherwise see as representing some kind of ‘objective truth.’ https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 127 contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38774 relatedly, we discussed at length how to represent the lacunae within cabeza de vaca’s knowledge regarding indigenous communities. corsa continues, we wanted to emphasize the presence and knowledge of indigenous communities that cabeza de vaca encountered during his wanderings. we carefully noted any mention of indigenous peoples and discussed ways to ensure that they were protagonists in the map, even (and especially) when they weren’t in cabeza de vaca’s own narrative. for example, we noted any stop in the journey where cabeza de vaca described seeing constructed settlements, regardless of whether the place had a name that he was aware of, or the constructions seemed ‘permanent’ to him. while most of these places have no footnote information regarding location, indicating the difficulty of asserting exactly where they were, it was important to account for them. this allowed for another method for decentering the members of the nárvaez expedition and their associated settlements (both ‘temporary’ and ‘long-standing’), as well as emphasizing the significance of spaces that may not have been described with the same level of detail as others. time like location, the data related to time in cabeza de vaca’s narrative is highly unreliable, as someone writing about an eight-year journey could not be expected to recall with any specificity where they were on any given day. as ávila explains, though “the first few chapters had more outright depictions of the date, once the spaniards became stranded, any mentions of dates stray from what they likely were and occur less frequently.” in the face of such uncertainty, collaboration among team members was once again key, as encinas garcía reiterates, “collecting time data implied coming to a consensus of how we were interpreting time in the narrative.” for now, we decided to only represent in the map broad periods such as years and seasons. in the future, however, we also plan to include contrasting ways of marking time that differentiate the spaniards from the indigenous communities they encounter. cabeza de vaca, for example, tends to mark time through catholic holidays or days of observation, whereas indigenous communities in the text often mark time in relation to changes in nature, such as blooming, planting, or harvesting seasons. thematic filters (flora and fauna) finally, project team members also identified themes as they came up in the text. rivero worked on flora and fauna, which she found: much easier to identify than location, because the content was more straightforward. with location, i wanted to ensure i collected all mentions of movement in case any quote might be relevant to pinpointing another location or providing context on how the individuals moved throughout the area. flora and fauna involved less cross referencing, at least at first. however, team members soon realized that it would be helpful to tag the mentions of flora and fauna according to broad categories to make the map more navigable. encinas garcía found this to be one of “the most interesting challenges” as “we had many conversations amongst ourselves” regarding how to structure the tags, including how “to distinguish and understand how flora and fauna were involved in cross-cultural trade, in the creation of materials, and for nourishment.” https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 128 contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38774 mentions of flora and fauna in the text also often involved circumstances “in which indigenous communities taught the spaniards how to interact with their new environment.” flora and fauna, then, offered an especially productive entry point into decolonizing the narrative overall through laying bare the spaniards’ deep misunderstanding and misuse of the land, pointing to the hollowness of their claim. map the tech core team at the university of arizona constructed the digital map. tech core is a program that allows undergraduate students, working alongside administrative staff and faculty, to apply their learning to the exploration, development, and integration of technology into various projects, giving them paid job experience. the authors were able to work with various team members over the course of this project and two members, victoria ogino (project coordinator) and raphaelle guinanao (developer), were both consistently and closely involved with the core project team. together, they worked to convert an existing gis application that had previously been created to display ancient greek narratives to an application that worked for our project. both ogino and guinanao from tech core offered their reflections on the experience of taking a preexisting narrative gis application and converting it to a more complex and generalized application. in terms of challenges, they both described the complexity of creating the digital infrastructure for a deep map. they noted the difficulty of creating a tagging system that could express a greater variety of relationships between data. said guinanao, initially, tags had a single broad implementation where events would be connected through shared tags. now there can be two different kinds of tags: filters and routes, which display events and tagged relationships very differently. either one of these tags can also be nested, which adds another layer of complexity and degree of detail to the display. her perspective working on the code behind the map seemed to echo the project team’s own challenges as they sought to convert cabeza de vaca’s imaginary cartography into a visual representation that could still convey information about both time and space. preliminary conclusions and next steps as this works-in-progress report has indicated, much work remains to be done to continue the project of representing cabeza de vaca’s narrative from a decolonial perspective. in addition to further research, team members have considered the possibility of migrating to a different platform that would allow for greater flexibility to include other kinds of information. an application such as arcgis, for example, could afford the deep mapping the project team has envisioned, allowing for multiple layers of contrasting perspectives. conversely, team members have also considered how to engage the principles of minimal computing, specifically non proprietary applications, to ensure greater participation in the project beyond university students and professors. though it is beyond the purview of this report, another takeaway from the project up to this point has been the benefits of bringing together undergraduate, graduate, and faculty researchers across disciplines in a deeply collaborative humanistic research setting. the pi and https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index 129 contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38774 the graduate student researcher, who come from the disciplines of literary criticism and history respectively, both expressed excitement about the undergraduate researchers’ enthusiasm towards closely analyzing a 16th century text. from the undergraduate researchers’ remarks, much of that excitement stemmed from the opportunity to work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary setting. ávila noted, while my main academic interests lie in urban planning, i wanted to work with spanish language texts, not to mention there was a strong connection to place-making and maps in this project… working with the rest of the team, we were all able to contribute our own perspectives, be they literary, historical, linguistic, or technologically focused. encinas garcía added, having the opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary team allowed me to understand and adopt new ways of thinking. the task of taking a colonial text and adapting it to modern technology was laborious, yet i believe that the diversity of our team helped us adapt through creative thinking and solutions, and by the encouragement to be critical towards the data sources we had. rivero concluded, although i had very limited experience with data cleaning or input, i felt i could greatly contribute to the literary and linguistic portion of the project. this was one of the best aspects of the project itself. despite everyone’s different academic backgrounds and interests, the project required everyone’s prior knowledge to evolve and succeed the way it did. all involved said this project was one of the most transformative experiences of their educational careers. endnotes 1 this article is co-authored by the pi, graduate student, and undergraduate students who were part of the project for its entire duration. additional undergraduate students who worked on this project at various points include: zcheecid aguirre, nayleth ramírez duarte, joelle pantea, and henry harms. the platform used for the project was created by tech core, a collective of student developers housed in the university of arizona college of management. the two main contacts within tech core for this project were victoria ogino (project coordinator) and raphaelle guinanao (developer). the funding source for this project was the university of arizona office of research, innovation & impact. 2 one already existing example of projects centered around the u.s.-mexico borderlands which addresses the decolonization of space through the digital humanities includes the borderlands archives cartography (www.bacartography.org), an archival project which uses a digital map to display “a us-mexico border newspaper cartography” (álvarez & fernández, 2022a) locating 19th https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://www.bacartography.org/ 130 contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38774 and 20th-century periodicals. another example, united fronteras (https://unitedfronteras.github.io/), is a larger digital project seeking to feature a variety of digital humanities projects to document the borderlands from diverse disciplinary and temporal perspectives, as well as works originating from universities, communities, and individual collaborations. 3 see also: lorde, a. (2018). the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. penguin classics. 4 although the relación refers to estevan as estevanico, on our site, we use estevan to reject the power dynamics implied by the use of the diminutive -ico. references adorno, r., & pautz, p. c. (1999). álvar núñez cabeza de vaca: his account, his life, and the expedition of pánfilo de narváez, vols.1–3. university of nebraska press. álvarez, m & fernández, s. (2022a). about. borderlands archives cartography. https://www.bacartography.org/autoras álvarez, m. e., & fernández quintailla, s. (2022b). borderlands archives and cartography: bridging personal, political, and geographical borderlands. in d. fiormonte, s. chaudhuri, & p. ricaurte (eds.), global debates in the digital humanities (pp. 253– 263). university of minnesota press. bodenhamer, d. j. (2021). the varieties of deep maps. in d. j. bodenhamer, j. corrigan, & t. m. harris (eds.), making deep maps: foundations, approaches, and methods (pp. 1–16). taylor & francis. corrigan, j. (2021). the inexactitude of science: deep mapping and scholarship. in d. j. bodenhamer, j. corrigan, & t. m. harris (eds.), making deep maps: foundations, approaches, and methods (pp. 162–174). taylor & francis. craib, r. b. (2017). cartography and decolonization. in j. r. akerman (ed.), decolonizing the map: cartography from colony to nation (pp. 11–71). university of chicago press. fanon, f. (1963). the wretched of the earth. grove. harris, t. m. (2021). deep mapping the lived world: immersive geographies, agency, and the virtual umwelt. in d. j. bodenhamer, j. corrigan, & t. m. harris (eds.), making deep maps: foundations, approaches, and methods (pp. 112–131). taylor & francis. kovach, m. (2021). indigenous methodologies: characteristics, conversations, and contexts. university of toronto press. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.bacartography.org/autoras 131 contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38774 losh, e., & wernimont, j. (2019). bodies of information: intersectional feminism and the digital humanities. university of minnesota press. reséndez, a. (2007). a land so strange: the epic journey of cabeza de vaca. basic books. risam, r. (2018). decolonizing the digital humanities in theory and practice. in j. sayers (ed.), the routledge companion to media studies and digital humanities (pp. 78–86). taylor & francis. schulten, s. (2001). the geographical imagination in america, 1880–1950. university of chicago press. tuck, e. & yang, k. w. (2012). decolonization is not a metaphor. decolonization: indigeneity, education & society, 1(1), 1-40. tuhiwai smith, l. (2021). decolonizing methodologies: research and indigenous peoples. bloomsbury publishing. anita huízar-hernández (ahuizarh@asu.edu) is an associate professor of spanish in the school of international letters and cultures at arizona state university. born and raised in arizona, huizarhernández's teaching and research focus on the literatures and cultures of the u.s.-mexico borderlands and investigate the ways that stories—past, present, and future—shape our ability to cultivate just and inclusive communities within the borderlands. angela corsa (acorsa@arizona.edu) is a ph.d. candidate in the department of history at the university of arizona, where she also works as a graduate instructor teaching courses focused on the history of women and gender, as well as race and class, in latin america. for her dissertation, she is currently exploring childhood and indigenous child labor concepts in the ecuadorian highlands during the 20th century. prior to this, she received her ma from the university of chicago in latin american and caribbean studies and her ba in history, spanish, and english from augustana college in rock island, illinois. alejandra encinas garcía (aencinasg13@arizona.edu) was born in hermosillo, sonora, and migrated with her family to the united states in 2013. she currently resides in occupied o'odham land and has been active in organizing the community around social justice and migrant justice issues, as well as in creating spaces and resources for migrant families. alejandra’s research interests include topics on migrant issues, immigration enforcement, decolonization, and borderlands music culture. she has participated as a research assistant in several projects at the university of arizona with the mexican american studies department, the spanish and portuguese department, and the school of geography. she believes in radical friendship and in the creation of networks that dismantle the barriers in higher education accessibility and hopes to continue working towards creating knowledge that is available to all impacted communities. carmen lucia rivero (carmenrivero@arizona.edu) was raised in tucson, arizona and is currently a rising senior at the university of arizona. at the university, carmen studies english and political science with an emphasis in international relations. carmen has been a part of the cabeza de vaca project since january of 2021 and was able to experience the different aspects of the project that have contributed to the map’s present state. she is grateful to have worked with https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:ahuizarh@asu.edu mailto:acorsa@arizona.edu mailto:aencinasg13@arizona.edu mailto:carmenrivero@arizona.edu 132 contingent colonialities: mapping la relación de álvar núñez cabeza de vaca the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38774 such an incredible group of women in academia and for the opportunity to have collaborated on the project as a whole. she would also like to thank dr. huízar-hernández for her continuous leadership and guidance throughout the project. ashley ávila (avila01@arizona.edu) is a university of arizona junior majoring in sustainable built environments with a minor in spanish. she was born and raised in nogales, arizona. growing up in a small border town led to her interests in urban design, sustainable communities, and urban history in cities, especially those with large latino populations. she joined the cabeza de vaca mapping project to better understand how historic literature can help cultivate our understanding of place. this project was her first introduction to combing through old texts and using various data entry tools. being a part of this project has been a wonderful experience and working with dr. huizar-hernández and the rest of the cabeza de vaca mapping project team has been so much fun. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:avila01@arizona.edu violeta miqueli's direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: violeta miqueli's direct action against state violence montse feu, sam houston state university, usa abstract violeta miqueli mayoz de gonzález (key west, 1891– new jersey, 1972) was an educator and an active member of cuban-american, spanish-american, and anarchist groups in the united states. she organized direct action and wrote for spanish-language periodicals in key west, tampa, new york, mexico city, buenos aires, and barcelona. miqueli addressed the state’s systemic violence against workers in her writing: difficult access to education and healthcare, prosecution of dissenters, and disadvantaged legal defense for the poor. like other anarcha-feminists of her time, she developed strategies of care to protect the people when the state did not. she contributed to workers' dignified education and health care and fostered solidarity among state prisoners. she also provided alternative sources of information to fight the state’s systematic oppression through her publications in the anarchist press. this essay accompanies miqueli’s digital exhibit in “fighting fascist spain—the exhibits” (ffste)1 but further interprets her direct action by building on archival, anarchist, and feminist historiography. it explores how anarchafeminists disseminated alternative visions of society using the state’s tools of freedom of association and the free press to fight against the state's structural top-down violence. keywords: anarcha-feminism; direct action; state violence; u.s. latina; u.s. periodicals publication type: research article methodology: post-custodial management of an anarcha-feminist’s direct action he emergence of a self-identified and transnational anarchist movement in the second half of the 19th century was a philosophical, humanitarian ideal for an egalitarian society against authoritarian governments and laws, monarchies, and social and economic inequalities. from the creation of the international workingmen’s association (iwa) in 1864, anarchists created personal and transnational networks that facilitated the self-organized direct action that brought tangible changes in people’s lives without the mediation of the state.2 although anarchism has co-existed with other anti-systemic movements in their rejection of domination, anarchists’ preference for direct action, horizontal organization, disinterest in pursuing power within the state structure, and sophisticated global print culture have distinguished their practice and culture. by publishing in alternative periodicals, engaging in local and transnational activities, and traveling extensively, anarcha-feminists contested the gender norms of the 20th century. applying transnational methodologies, scholars have found traces of miqueli’s anarcha-feminist contemporaries in anarchist periodicals. for instance, see the recent publications on puerto rican, luisa capetillo; uruguayan, virginia bolten; mexican, caritina piña; and reynalda gonzález parra, or the argentinian editors of la voz de la mujer (castañeda, 2023; fernández cordero, 2014; lomas, 1993; guzzo, 2014; hernández, 2021). t https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 however, women's archives and their published works are not always available, as nicolás kanellos (2013) warns, “still missing, for instance, are the periodicals of puerto rican luisa capetillo (la mujer); mexicans andrea villarreal (la mujer moderna), teresa villarreal (el obrero) and sara estela ramírez (la corregidora); cuban american violeta miqueli (alpha); as well as most of the issues of mexican isidra t. de cárdenas (la voz de la mujer) and colombian blanca de moncaleano (pluma roja)” (p. 588). the first article i read by violeta miqueli was published in the antifascist periodical españa libre (new york, 1939–1977). she asked women readers to boycott u.s. businesses selling products from fascist regimes. as a recovery scholar aware of the importance of piecing together scattered records like miqueli’s, i posted queries about her antifascist call to action on social media, and her grandson, tomás gonzález, reached out to me. gonzález shared his grandmother’s archive, consisting of 30 newspaper clippings from u.s. hispanic periodicals, which will be preserved by the recovering the u.s. hispanic literary heritage program (recovery) at the university of houston. a digital exhibit about miqueli is also accessible at the open-source digital project ffste housed in recovery’s digital collections.3 the interpretative exhibit contextualizes the family clippings while this article examines miqueli’s other articles preserved in several digital periodical databases to piece together her surviving print material and develop a timeline of her activist writings.4 miqueli’s legacy is explored in three main sections devoted to her biographical information, anarcha-feminism, and direct action against the democratic and the fascist state. biography violeta miqueli mayoz de gonzález was the daughter of cuban cigar workers with spanish ancestors. the beginning of the ten years' war brought cigar factory owners escaping conflict to the united states, mainly to tampa, key west, and new york (tinajero, 2010). as the southernmost port of the united states, key west had great importance during this time and was considered one of the most productive cigar towns in the world. this booming industry also brought to key west labor activists and anarchists who radicalized workers in the cigar factories and helped organize strikes. during his campaign for cuba's independence, revolutionary josé martí also visited key west on december 25, 1891 (stebbins, 2007). miqueli was born into this revolutionary context, which facilitated her involvement, as a young woman, in associations and periodicals with cuban, spanish, and anarchist ties. beginning in 1907, violeta miqueli wrote for several periodicals in key west: cubana, ¡despertad!, el arte, el centinela, el hogar, el internacional, el popular, and pinos nuevos (miqueli, n.d.-c). her family archive includes four hogar clippings dating from 1907 to 1909. these seem to be the first writings of young miqueli because she confessed to being nervous about sending her contributions to hogar (miqueli, 1907). this response might have been expected in her patriarchal circles; however, she accepted the invitation to send contributions. in those early years, miqueli published a regular column illustrated with birds on pages three or five of the weekly cubana. she seemed to have been well-known, and she had admirers. for example, under the pen name el corresponsal, an unknown author lauded miqueli as an educator in the postal de key west (n.d.). in response, miqueli crossed out three words from el corresponsal’s article and wrote "total nonsense" in the margin, providing a glimpse of her strong personality. in the same article, miqueli also crossed out the word “latina” and wrote “española,” possibly because she was the granddaughter of spanish migrants to cuba. her written reference to her spanish ancestors and her participation in cuban american and spanish american organizations show her diverse background.5 in 1915, el corresponsal again complimented the 33 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 "young teacher" because of her enthusiasm for literature, perseverance, intelligence, and journalism; it predicted a fantastic future for her (el corresponsal, 1915). along with covering women’s news, miqueli wrote about education throughout her life. access to secular, accessible, and quality education was challenging for working-class families like hers. anarchists believed education was a revolutionary tool and invested in critical pedagogy that provided educational alternatives to religious or state schools. anarchists aimed to raise literacy among workers with affordable periodicals available to them in worker's associations, educational talks, lectures and plays in their ateneos, and lectores read texts to them in factories. anarchist periodicals reprinted literary classics in installments because anarchists believed in the power of fiction, foregrounding new perceptions of the world.6 these were noninstitutional educational practices that educated workers and globally disseminated anarchist thought during the 20th century. in "páginas femeninas" in cubana, miqueli (n.d.-b) expressed her progressive pedagogical views. for example, she sadly acknowledged that children tend to lose their happiness and joy when they lose their innocence. she cited mark twain and invoked laughter as a remedy: "if we are condemned to live in such a mean world, we can continue with the ever-going mascaraed carnival of feelings, or we can loudly laugh at humanity's miseries, and like the celebrated mark twain's laughter, ours can be of indifference, contempt, or sadness” (miqueli, n.d.-b, p. 3). grounded in the anarchist tradition, miqueli prefigures a world in which sharing and harnessing affective experiences through literature and humor help us recognize each other in critical and practical dimensions of everyday pleasure and joy. miqueli earned a bachelor's degree from havana university and a master's degree in education from the florida state college for women in tallahassee and taught english at the san carlos institute in key west.7 the institute was well known for being an educational cuban civic center, and the location where josé martí launched the final phase of his campaign for cuban independence (miqueli, n.d.-c; kanellos, 2014). her talks and her family efforts were lauded: "ms. miqueli is the daughter of poor workers, which has been no hindrance to her parents, who willingly sacrificed for the education of violeta” (el corresponsal, n.d., para. 6). miqueli, like other anarchists of her time, often exhorted workers to learn and to "break the walls of ignorance; only this way can we win, and we, enthusiasts of progress, will make ourselves worthy of our century” (miqueli, 1907, para. 8). similarly, in her weekly woman's column "consciencia femenina" in tampa's periodical nueva vida, miqueli invited workers to nueva vida headquarters. those who wished to read and learn would find newspapers, magazines, and books at their disposal (miqueli, 1924). once in new york in the 1930s, miqueli announced similar educational talks organized by the centro de estudios sociales at 198 lenox avenue in harlem. aware of the united states' neglect of its linguistic and cultural diversity at the time, miqueli taught spanish at the centro.8 the harlem centro's activities—conferences, dances, lunches, and assemblies— were regularly announced in anarchist periodicals. her daughter, violet gonzález continued her educational activities in the nueva vida group in new york.9 besides literature, anarchist education emphasized a scientific and rationalist education. with her civic involvement, miqueli contested state linguistic and educational discrimination and provided access to bilingual education for working-class families. 34 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 anarcha-feminism marriage as an economic arrangement was a common and global concern among anarchafeminists. one of the most circulated anarchist objections to marriage as an economic arrangement was the seminal work of emma goldman's (1910) "marriage and love" in anarchism and other essays. earlier periodical texts also elaborated on the subjugation of women by matrimonial state laws and the church. for example, feminist ana maría mozzoni’s (1884) talk “alle fanciulle che studiano” (“to the young women who study”) was translated and published in six installments in the anarchist periodical el corsario (a coruña, spain) in 1894, and in anarcha-feminist periodicals la voz de la mujer in 1922 (buenos aires) and nuestra tribuna in 1896 (buenos aires). mozzoni (1884) condemned matrimony because it forever kept women as slaves of men; the feminist author called for “sowing the seeds of justice and freedom” while encouraging women to organize (as cited in ledesma prietto, 2017, p. 11). mozzoni’s talk was also well-known in anarchist paterson, new jersey (guglielmo, 2010). the calls made by juana rouco buela, a spanish-argentine anarcha-feminist and the founder of nuestra tribuna, are among the many indications of the international circulation of feminist ideas. in 1924, rouco buela asked her "sisters" to get "anarchist wings to reach the life they deserved" (as cited in ledesma prietto, 2017, p. 115). in other words, anarchist periodicals facilitated the global circulation of feminist ideas among workers, like the contestation of marriage laws that subjugated women at the time. miqueli's feminist voice also developed in the "comités de damas" in florida's cultural and mutual aid societies advocating for women’s education and freedom. in 1913, she started her crónicas sociales" in the periodicals arte and anagrama, as well as part of her column "páginas femeninas," in cubana.10 miqueli engaged in the rich exchange of ideas in the available print media; for instance, cuban and spanish feminist authors’ reprints were often disseminated in u.s.-hispanic periodicals.11 an undated clipping reviews miqueli’s talk "mujer antigua y mujer moderna” at one of these events. she cultivated this topic throughout the years and ultimately published a monograph, la mujer en la mitología y en la historia (miqueli, 1962). the book had two editions in english and was reviewed in the english-language press.12 miqueli’s conference and book overlap ideologically with spanish philosopher maria zambrano’s (1940) conference, “la mujer y sus formas de expression en occidente,” further demonstrating the circulation of feminist ideas in the gulf through the decades. recalling governments' constant invocation of freedom, miqueli contended that "to reach this prized goal, an overlooked requisite is crucial: the enlightenment of women in the same way as men. if people disagree on this requirement; if not turned into law, human misery and shame will continue to be our only accomplishment” (miqueli, 1914a, p. 6). miqueli blamed the catholic church for the subjugation of women, too. instead of being under "the obscurantism of the confessionary," (miqueli, 1914a, p.6) she advocated for women to be free of the shackles of marriage and the violence of men. women's liberation began in the domestic sphere: "why wreck a precious life? why put up with the disdain of an ungrateful man? do men, by any chance, forgive a mean partner?" she asked (miqueli, 1914a, p.6). miqueli condemned marriage as a commercial transaction: "compra-venta" (miqueli, 1914a, p.6). an expression reminiscent of puerto rican anarcha-feminist luisa capetillo's interpretation of marriage as a business. coincidently, capetillo visited anarchist circles in tampa and key west in january 1914 to promote the second edition of her book mi opinión sobre las libertades, derechos y deberes de la mujeres (1913) (meléndez-badillo, 2021). capetillo, like miqueli, was a cigar worker, educator, anarchist, and feminist, and her work and deeds were covered in the hispanic and mainstream press (castañeda, 35 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 2023). capetillo also published in the new york anarchist periodicals cultura obrera and fuerza consciente on women’s rights between 1913 and 1914, further showing the circulation of u.s.hispanic feminist ideas across states. however, writing about feminism was not easy. a defeated miqueli confessed, "it is time for me to write my column, but i have nothing because feminism is dead” (miqueli, n.d.-b, p. 3).13 she laments how she cannot talk about the spanish author emilia pardo bazán or the italian author matilde serao because key west male workers were not interested in feminism. however, miqueli reminded her readers that ultimately women endure the consequences of any "masculine" actions. her reference to women authors from two countries shows that she built her persona as a writer in conversation with classical reprints and radical texts accessible to her in spanishlanguage periodicals. miqueli wrote about her anarchist activities as well. the anarchist paper nueva vida was coedited by herminio gonzález (her husband) and rogelio miqueli (her brother). the weekly was published in english, italian, and spanish to "extend the reach of anarchist propaganda" among the torcedores (cigar rollers) in tampa and “to amend errors done in the past; the greatest of all consisted in giving more importance to coercive forces than to the free-thinking of the people" (“como pensamos”, 1924, p.1).14 a frente único (united front) group was created to promote unity and collective solidarity with labor societies in cuba, such as the hermandad ferroviarria, which was being persecuted by the authorities. to encourage the collection of funds in tobacco factories and stores, nueva vida celebrated that the torcedores de la habana had raised $5,000 to help imprisoned workers. the call-for-action was successful and the frente único sent $225 to havana for attorney fees (“balances,” 1924, p. 4).15 miqueli was the secretary of the proprisoners committee and possibly wrote this regular column on behalf of the committee. another $225 was sent to boston for the defense committee of sacco and vanzetti.16 at the time, the case of sacco and vanzetti "galvanized the ybor city radical community…they collected money for defense funds, held rallies, sent telegrams and petitions, and staged protest strikes in support of two anarchists” (mormino & pozzeta, 1998, as cited in cannistraro & meyer, 2003, p. 259). sharing account statements with readers was common among anarchist periodicals for transparency and encouraging other contributions. fundraising also helped print their periodicals and support workers who had lost their jobs or needed medical assistance. miqueli was well-known for her anarchist ideals; her "marcha ascendente" was reprinted in the weekly ¡despertad! at a subscriber's request (miqueli, n.d.-a). the newspaper was "sent around the caribbean basin, where it ended up being read as far away as costa rica” (shaffer, 2020, p. 102). in her article, she claimed that the workers were "onward bound to social justice” (miqueli, n.d.-a, p. 2). the fight for civil rights, according to miqueli, would institute fraternity in the world. she proclaimed that workers had the best weapons to advance their anarchist ideal in education and the freedom of association (miqueli, n.d.-a, p.2). for her advocacy, miqueli hid from assassins in a tampa cemetery with her husband for several nights. supposedly, the assassins were hired by cigar factory owners because the couple was rallying cigar makers.17 the hitmen (or the rumor about them) might have been why they moved to new york in the 1930s, another hub of hispanic anarchists. miqueli continued organizing workers and became a community leader in new york as she had done in florida. in 1934, she claimed that spanish workers brought the anarchist ideal to the united states: "not long ago, the miners of this country had no idea of the social movement carried by the workers of the world” (miqueli, 1934, p. 958). her article “consideraciones sobre 36 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 el momento presente en norteamérica” reported on children's poverty in the pennsylvania-ohio mines due to low wages and the expensive food in the company’s shop (miqueli, 1934). another article, "en defensa de cultura proletaria," proves that she was a board member of the anarchist group cultura proletaria since the summer of 1934 (miqueli, 1935b). her response to readers' complaints attests to readers' high expectations for the periodical and the group's lack of resources (miqueli, 1935b). miqueli was also part of a committee convened to reach out to anarchists in the united states. she encouraged anarchists to join the federación de grupos anarquistas de los estados unidos (miqueli, 1935b). additionally, miqueli was a founding member of a solidaridad internacional antifascista (sia) youth group in new york. miqueli's “youth section” column for the anarchist newspaper challenge (new york 1938–1939). the author covered the activities of the sia youth group, denounced the persecution of anarchist marcus graham and his newspaper man!, and asked for u.s. visas for spanish refugees. herminio gonzález, also a member of the youth section, was invited to write on the need for antifascist unity.18 miqueli also wrote about social justice, international politics, and fascism in the anarchist weeklies cultura proletaria (1927–1953), españa libre (1939–1977), la revista blanca (1923– 1936, barcelona), and tierra y libertad (1944–1988, mexico city). these anarchist periodicals were long-running and of large format and readership. in cultura proletaria, her texts appeared on the front page, quite a feat considering the patriarchal publishing practices of most anarchist periodicals then.19 on may 25, 1940, miqueli responded to jacob siegel, who declared that goldman would fight hitlerism if she were alive. correcting the director of the jewish daily forward, miqueli pointed out that goldman had already been a warrior against hitlerism in spain and had traveled europe giving speeches and fundraising against hitler and mussolini. at 67 years of age, goldman helped the national confederation of labor and the iberian anarchist federation (cnt-fai) write letters of support to the english-speaking world in 1936. in 1939, goldman worked to secure political asylum and financial support for women and child refugees (university of california berkeley library, n.d.). miqueli suspected that goldman's heart stopped precisely because the united states did not help the antifascists in spain. dated on mother's day, miqueli's article assured that "[a] good mother is not praised with affected sentimentalism, but with the deed, respect, support, and the love she deserves. in the same manner, we cannot sadly and sorrowfully say goodbye to an anarchist woman…we must show our love through our commitment to follow her example and remember her work. this way, she will never be forgotten” (miqueli, 1940d, p. 2). miqueli taught siegel how to honor goldman, not for what she could have done, but by remembering her inspiring deeds. direct action empowered anarcha-feminists like goldman and miqueli, who took matters into their own hands and scorned men who disregarded their contributions. direct action against the democratic state german philosopher rudolf von inhering first defined the state in the late 19th century as "any institution that claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of coercive force within a given territory” (as cited in graeber & wengrow, 2021, p. 359). social scientists have defined the state as "top-down structures of command to co-ordinate everything” (graeber & wengrow, 2021, p. 359).20 david graeber and david wengrow (2021) agree that modern states have had a monopoly on violence and information control. anarchists like miqueli contested the coercive force of the state. in the spanish anarchist revista blanca (valencia), miqueli (1932) mocked the u.s. mainstream press when it called for law and order.21 37 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 a self-professed reader of goldman, miqueli built on goldman's (1911) "prisons: a social crime and failure" to demonstrate that "law and order" were, in fact, words devoid of justice when applied to the poor or to the worker, who had no social or political capital. for example, miqueli mentioned the execution of eddie marsch in milledgeville, georgia. marsch was a sixteen-yearold african american accused of killing a man. miqueli asserted that the same law that allowed for white supremacy did not feed or educate marsch and ultimately called for his execution. she provided another example: a poor mother of four in michigan who sold alcohol to sustain her family and was later sentenced to life imprisonment. it was evident to miqueli that well-to-do families did not need to risk their freedom to make alcohol; instead, they bought it from the poor. she felt embarrassed for a country that proclaimed its democracy to the world but never put it to the test. miqueli provided more examples of injustice: an italian american mother died after being evicted because lawmakers "[knew] little of and [had] never experienced the unsettling worry of a day without bread, without a future, without hope” (miqueli, 1932, p. 672). beyond the political repression or police brutality suffered by anarchists, miqueli provided examples of the state’s violence against ordinary people in the form of judges’ elitist interpretation of the law. miqueli's interest in prison reform was already present in her early articles in cubana. her "páginas femeninas" asked politicians to spend money on children’s education rather than jails (miqueli, 1914b). miqueli built on the classic deconstruction of the field of criminology by anarchist thinkers, who claimed that "capitalism was the source of crime and criminal behavior and immense human suffering” (nocella et al., p. 2).22 miqueli believed a freer society was possible with more educational policies and less repressive approaches. direct action against the fascist state not surprisingly, miqueli wrote against fascism from a global perspective in the 1930s and 1940s. she published on the intervention of fascist italy before and during the spanish civil war in spain by quoting mussolini's il popolo. this italian newspaper regularly published evidence of the official italian meddling in spain (miqueli, 1940e, p. 3). she also denounced the british foreign secretary’s endorsement of trade into franco's zone in 1937, which according to miqueli, was "a magnificent example of what patriotism means for bankers, the aristocracy, and the privileged, namely international military cooperation with nazi-fascism to exterminate european workers' hopes” (miqueli, 1940e, p. 3). miqueli showed how anarchists alerted workers about the spread of fascism. for instance, she reported on the visit to the united states of anarchists serafin aliaga and félix martí ibáñez, who represented sia at the second world youth congress held in new york (miqueli, 1938a). the congress brought together "500 delegates from 52 countries and 18 international organizations, representing more than 40 million young people worldwide" to discuss political, economic, social, and religious needs and find ways to cooperate for world peace (miqueli, 1938b, p. 4). the sia closely worked with u.s. hispanic workers' associations and mutual aid societies affiliated with sociedades hispanas confederadas (shc), which fought fascism during the spanish civil war (1936–1939) and the francisco franco dictatorship (1939–1975) through education, activism, and print culture. frente popular and españa libre published regular calls to boycott products of fascist countries and to picket u.s. businesses that sold such products.23 women were highly involved in these boycotts and refugee activism.24 miqueli was one of the leaders of this direct action. in a beckoning call to mothers in españa libre on march 15, 1940, miqueli addressed "spanish, czechoslovakia, polish and finnish mothers, all mothers who have suffered the horror 38 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 of seeing their children torn apart by the bullets of hitler, mussolini, franco, and stalin” (1940a, p.10). miqueli's call-to-action also addressed the shc’s goal of involving workers in the antifascist fight: "women can do much good when we ignore the conventions of bourgeois society and accept the responsibility of our destiny as the vanguard of the people" (miqueli, 1940a, p. 10). because of her advocacy, españa libre published numerous announcements encouraging the boycott of products from fascist spain. consequently, shc members often picketed shops that sold products from fascist countries. miqueli was careful not to identify motherhood with the sacrificial and traditional maternal experience when she asked working women to be at the vanguard of the times. instead, miqueli addressed a subversive maternal force. by appealing to this maternal connection, she shared the possibility of a habitus of resistance and solidarity among mothers. she emancipated them from patriarchal and traditional limitations, a revolutionary take on motherhood. moreover, miqueli supported the antifascist fight with articles, talks, and donations. she zealously insisted that eliminating fascism was not enough. it was necessary to establish a free society. she claimed that both the state and fascism oppressed workers who [h]ad neither certainty, tranquility, sustenance, nor life in this valley of irresponsible, vain, and cowardly people, nothing protects us—neither the state's laws nor the unconditional brotherhood of the world's workers. the state calls us "outlaws," and the unwise look at us with pity because we do not want to dig into the mess of social pestilences. (1940b, p. 2) in this respect, miqueli (1940c) contested an article published in españa libre in may 1940, defending the second spanish republic. she proclaimed that anarchist periodicals in spain were numerous and of excellent quality. these newspapers criticized the spanish republic, as they did the monarchy, for their limits on workers' aspirations and the political persecution and imprisonment of the national confederation of labor (cnt) and iberian anarchist federation (fai) members. to prove her point, she quoted spanish president niceto alcalá zamora, who stated in mexico city's la prensa (1936) that most workers distrusted the republic.25 miqueli accused the spanish second republic of funding the military and the civil guard after the workers' strikes of 1934, which would later facilitate the military uprising of 1936. in her essays published in the 1940s, she continued to criticize the state for defending the privileged. for instance, she called workers who voted for president truman “modern slaves” (miqueli, 1949, p. 1).26 on march 7, 1943, miqueli gave the talk, “reacción y libertad,” at new york’s ateneo hispano. the advertisement for her presentation stated, "[t]he indomitable independence that characterizes this intelligent woman and her fight for good causes are plenty of reasons for attending what will surely be a complete success” (“ateneo hispano,” 1943, p. 2). she began her talk by documenting the alliance of the state and the church with capitalism. miqueli argued that the vatican supported franco because the second republic eliminated the budget for the church, passed several secularizing measures, legalized divorce, and implemented free, secular, and mandatory education. also, she reported on u.s. shipments to the francoist zone despite the non-intervention act (“ateneo hispano,” 1943).27 in a press conference, president roosevelt admitted that franco's bombs in barcelona in march were probably of american origin (tierney, 2007).28 contrary to the mainstream press, miqueli denounced the support that franco received from the axis powers.29 39 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 conclusion workers' periodicals and affiliated associations provided public spaces of protest and solidarity in the united states. miqueli was an executive member of ethnic, anarchist, mutual aid, and social organizations in which local concerns were examined through geopolitical and global criteria that they learned through the anarchist press's extensive global circulation. direct action was the backbone that held workers' groups together.30 like other anarcha-feminist contemporaries, her direct action and engagement with print culture were transnational and disrupted state, gender, and language norms of the era while implementing consensus-decision making, critical pedagogy, solidarity, and mutual aid. anarcha-feminist direct action was gendered because women fought against the patriarchal society and comrades. miqueli’s anarchism helped her identify the structural inequalities that states perpetuated and created, and her feminist beliefs inserted her in a sisterhood of letters against the tyranny of patriarchy. miqueli was concerned with different forms of state violence. she demanded workers' access to education and universal health care and discussed gender issues, criminal justice reform, and the political freedom of workers. the anarchist periodicals in which miqueli published her writing reached readers in the united states, latin america, and spain. as an author and journalist, she reported on themes that affected women workers, wrote calls to action, and encouraged workers to speak up, organize, study, and act politically and freely. her obituary in españa libre remembered her as a "teacher, linguist, writer, known for her work. she wrote for important publications of the americas…she devoted many years to helping the victims of repression as secretaria del comité pro presos. violeta…was a brilliant speaker and an intelligent warrior of the freedoms and rights of women” (“violeta miqueli,” 1972, p. 2). by writing about education, feminism, anarchism, and against fascism, miqueli fought for a fair world and continuously encouraged workers to do the same. workers and ethnic headquarters often suffered from precarious conditions, lacked the funds to preserve their archives, and their members often suffered persecution; consequently, documents were destroyed to avoid incrimination or were lost for lack of means or institutional support. despite having an archive with many gaps, miqueli’s legacy is reconstituted here. the remaining biographical information and print production are contextualized, preserved in a digital exhibit, and examined in more detail in this article.31 observing her relatively small archival record, we can acknowledge the striking contrast between miqueli’s tenacious anarcha-feminist life and her damaged clippings, surviving glued in a few yellowed papers. emulating miqueli’s defense of goldman’s direct action, this article demonstrates her revolutionary deeds in fighting structural violence against workers in democratic states and denouncing their diplomatic relations with fascist ones. her anarcha-feminist legacy of protecting and educating workers, particularly women workers, cannot be written out of the historiography and periodical studies. endnotes 1 see, http://usldhrecovery.uh.edu/exhibits/show/fighting-fascist-spain--theex/extraordinary-communities-/radical-women/miqueli 40 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://usldhrecovery.uh.edu/exhibits/show/fighting-fascist-spain--the-ex/extraordinary-communities-/radical-women/miqueli http://usldhrecovery.uh.edu/exhibits/show/fighting-fascist-spain--the-ex/extraordinary-communities-/radical-women/miqueli violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 2 see, graeber, d. (2011). direct action: an ethnography. ak press. (original work published in 2009). 3 utilizing the omeka platform, the post-custodial management of ffste allows for the online circulation of u.s.-hispanic history and culture. post-custodial management has been a paradigm shift in archival theory and practice traditionally designed to manage paper records (suárez, 2021). the fast award from the shsu office of research and sponsored programs provided the funding for the exhibit configuration, with the assistance of undergraduate researcher abigail schafer. see,http://usldhrecovery.uh.edu/exhibits/show/fighting-fascistspain--the-ex/extraordinary-communities-/radical-women/miqueli 4 the archives consulted are arte público historical collections, biblioteca nacional de españa, and recovering the u.s. hispanic literary heritage. i thank tomás gonzález for sharing the family archive. i also thank spence beswick, nicolás kanellos, and amanda gailey for their helpful comments on my draft. all errors are mine. 5 not all clippings provide enough information to identify the newspapers they belong to, except that most were spanish-language publications. according to the tampa tribune, el arte was launched in march 1912 (“especial notice”). el internacional, with an oversized format, was the official journal of the local unions of tampa cigarmakers international union of america, a bilingual weekly with a circulation of 5,000 copies. the periodical title, pinos nuevos, referred to josé martí’s speech on november 27, 1891, in the liceo cubano de tampa. martí compared the cigar workers with new pines that survived a recent fire in ybor city. these “new pines” would fight for the independence of cuba. i thank kenya dworkin for this reference and her feedback on my draft. 6 see, cohn, j. (2014). underground passages: anarchist resistance culture, 1848–2011. ak press. 7 dates unknown. 8 she signed as “secretaria” of the new york anarchist cultura proletaria group. her night courses for children were advertised in cultura proletaria on march 16, 1935. 9 for instance, on march 23, 1935, the group visited the american museum of natural history. the article is signed by violet gonzález. i think the author is her daughter, but it could be miqueli using a married americanized name (miqueli, 1935a). both have the feminist name violet. 10 the clippings show reviews of events, news about fundraisers, and plays organized by women members of the centro asturiano of key west and sociedad cuba and presided over the "comité de damas dolores maig." 11 see kirwin shaffer (2020) on cuban anarcha-feminists, jorell meléndez-badillo (2021) on puerto rican anarcha-feminists, and sonia hernández (2021) on mexican anarcha-feminists. 12 miqueli died without finishing a second manuscript on an unknown topic. 13 miqueli also published the weekly woman's column, "consciencia femenina" in nueva vida (ybor city, 1924), which kept close ties with cuba, and edited alpha in tampa, but no copy of this periodical has been found yet (kanellos, 2014). 14 “el conceder más valor a la fuerza coercitiva que al libre desenvolvimiento del sentir popular.” translations are mine. the ancestry database shows that herminio was born in spain in 1888. the spouses americanized their names in u.s. directories: hernan and violet. according to the news of the launch of nueva vida in gaceta de tampa on april 7, 1924. i thank ana varela for the reference and her feedback on my draft. 15 namely by vergara y. and pimienta c. i thank carolina villarroel, brown foundation director of research of the recovering the u.s. hispanic literary heritage program, for access to the copies of this periodical. 41 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://usldhrecovery.uh.edu/exhibits/show/fighting-fascist-spain--the-ex/extraordinary-communities-/radical-women/miqueli http://usldhrecovery.uh.edu/exhibits/show/fighting-fascist-spain--the-ex/extraordinary-communities-/radical-women/miqueli violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 16 however, the financial report does not list this collection by the nueva vida group and periodical. sacco-vanzetti defense committee, & sacco-vanzetti new trial league. (1925). financial report of the sacco-vanzetti defense committee: from the date of organization, may 5, 1920, to july 31, 1925. the century press. 17 herminio gonzález edited the iww el obrero industrial in tampa (shaffer, 2020). 18 solidaridad internacional antifascista (sia) started as a solidarity branch of cnt and fai in 1937. in exile, sia continued in france, britain, and the united states. miqueli’s grandson thinks she is using a married americanized name. morris brodie thinks it could be her daughter violet gonzález. i thank morris brodie for sharing his archive on challenge. brodie (2020) has recently published about sia in transatlantic anarchism during the spanish civil war and revolution, 1936–1939. 19like her comrades, miqueli, had limited representation in the anarchist press. according to gloria espigado, who studied 57 anarchist publications between 1868 and 1939 in spain, women authors had an increasing appearance in anarchist periodicals but only reached 44% of the articles published (espigado tocino, 2002). 20 this definition has often been attributed to max weber (graeber & wengrow, 2021). 21 her article, placed next to one by a prominent figure of spanish anarchism, germinal esgleas, shows she garnered the respect of her peers in spain too. 22 for instance, anarchist voltairine de cleyre's "crime and punishment" (1903) delved into the social construction of crime and raised funds for the legal defense of her assailant. 23 these businesses were called out in frente popular on april 8, 1938: exporters: emilio gonzález, julio rojo fabián, ramón garrido, policarpo gómez; shop owners: carmen moneo, casa vittori, la bodega de paco, juan gallego, garcía y díaz, doctor castro viejo, moure, torres perona, juan b. castro, máximo calvo, lagueras, alonso, joaquín quirons, ulloa; and performers and empresarios: hermanos iturbi, andres segovia, benito collada. 24 violeta’s brother, rogelio (roy) miqueli, was a regular actor in the shc antifascist plays. 25 in an earlier article, she claimed that the second republic intended to change the spanish agricultural oligarchy to provide workers with proper working conditions while fascist leaders defended the privileged life of the "grandes de españa” (the spanish nobility) (miqueli, 1939a). 26 the context for this statement was the 1948 presidential election, which caused a political fissure in the congress of industrial organizations. its president, philip murray, cemented an alliance between the industrial unions and the democratic party and expelled those who supported the progressive party candidacy of henry wallace by accusing them of communist influences (freeman, 2019). 27 she assured that 7,000 tons of iron were sent from new jersey on december 21, 1937; the ship dafgred sailed from new jersey with studebaker trucks on september 21, 1937; a german ship sailed from carney’s point, n. j. with 20,000 bombs in may 1938; chemicals were sent from baltimore on september 18, 1938. miqueli also denounced similar shipments that were sent to italy and germany (“ateneo hispano,” 1943). in challenge, she reported that norwegian sailors in baltimore refused to load a ship with cargo for the francoist forces to spain (miqueli, 1938b). 28 i thank andreu espasa for the reference. 29 some possible sources are found in martínez ruiz, e. (2006). guerra civil, comercio y capital extranjero. el sector exterior de la economía española (1936–1939). estudios de historia económica, 49, 5–105. 30 sia and united libertarian organizations (ulo) associations also worked through direct action. the sia had 80 groups in the united states, and their activities were published in cultura proletaria. the most prominent spanish-language periodical, cultura proletaria, and 42 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 the cnt-fai, a confederation of anarcho-syndicalist unions and affinity groups, founded the ulo. the ulo’s main activity was the publication of the periodical spanish revolution (1936– 1938). 31see, http://usldhrecovery.uh.edu/exhibits/show/fighting-fascist-spain--theex/extraordinary-communities-/radical-women/miqueli references ateneo hispano. (1943, march 12). españa libre, 2. balances. (1924, july 3). nueva vida, 4. cannistraro, p. v., & meyer, g. (2003). the lost world of italian american radicalism: politics, labor, and culture. praeger. castañeda, c. (2023). luisa capetillo, free love and the falda-pantalón. in m. feu and padilla (eds.), latina histories and cultures: feminist readings and recoveries of archival knowledge. arte público press. como pensamos. (1924, july 3). nueva vida, 1. de cleyre, v. (1903). crime and punishment. the anarchist black cross. https://azinelibrary.org/approved/crime-and-punishment-1.pdf. el corresponsal. (n.d.). violeta miqueli. postal de key west. el corresponsal. (1915). flores de la emigración. postal de key west. especial notice. (1912, march 16). tampa tribune. espigado tocino, g. (2002). las mujeres en el anarquismo español (1869–1939). ayer, 45(1), 39– 72. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41324839 fernández cordero, l. (2014, spring). historiografía del anarquismo en argentina. notas para debatir una nueva lectura. contracorriente, 11(3), 41–67. https://acontracorriente.chass.ncsu.edu/index.php/acontracorriente/article/view/830 freeman, j. b. (2019). here comes the cio. in j. b. freeman (ed.), city of workers, city of struggle: how labor movements changed new york (pp. 106–105). columbia university press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/free19192.1 graeber, d., & wengrow d. (2021). the dawn of everything: a new history of humanity. farrar. 43 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index http://usldhrecovery.uh.edu/exhibits/show/fighting-fascist-spain--the-ex/extraordinary-communities-/radical-women/miqueli http://usldhrecovery.uh.edu/exhibits/show/fighting-fascist-spain--the-ex/extraordinary-communities-/radical-women/miqueli https://azinelibrary.org/approved/crime-and-punishment-1.pdf https://www.jstor.org/stable/41324839 https://acontracorriente.chass.ncsu.edu/index.php/acontracorriente/article/view/830 https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/free19192.1 violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 guglielmo, j. (2010, spring). transnational feminism’s radical past: lessons from italian immigrant women anarchists in industrializing america. journal of women’s history, 22(1), 10–33. https://doi.org/10.1353/jowh.0.0129 guzzo, c. (2014). libertarias en america del sur. de la a a la z. libros de anarres. hernández, s. (2021). for a just and better world: engendering anarchism in the mexican borderlands, 1900–1938. university of illinois press. lomas, c. (1993). the articulation of gender in the mexican borderlands, 1900–1915. in r. gutiérrez & g. padilla (eds.), recovering the u.s. hispanic literary heritage: volume i (pp. 293–308). arte público press. kanellos, n. (2013, january). an early feminist call to action: “manifiesto a la mujer,” by blanca de moncaleano. latino studies, 11(4), 587–597. https://doi.org/10.1057/lst.2013.35 kanellos, n. (2014). spanish-language anarchist periodicals in early twentieth-century united states. in j. l. baughman, j. ratner-rosenhagen, & j. p. danky (eds.), protest on the page: essays on print and the culture of dissident since 1865 (pp. 59–84). the university of wisconsin press. ledesma prietto, n. (2017, july). anarquismo(s) y feminismo(s). reflexiones a partir de las intervenciones de las mujeres anarquistas, buenos aires (1896–1947). izquierdas, (34), 105–124. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/s0718-50492017000300105 meléndez-badillo, j. a. (2021). luisa capetillo en la habana: sus escritos en la prensa anarquista cubana, 1910–1914. in j. ramos (ed.), amor y anarquía: los escritos de luisa capetillo (pp. 214–222). editora educación emergente. miqueli, v. (n.d.-a). marcha ascendente. ¡despertad! miqueli, v. (n.d.-b). páginas femeninas. cubana. miqueli, v. (n.d.-c). por la mujer. pinos nuevos. miqueli, v. (1907). pereza. hogar. miqueli, v. (1914a, june 13). páginas femeninas. cubana. miqueli, v. (1914b, june 20). páginas femeninas. cubana. miqueli, v. (1924, july 3). consciencia femenina. nueva vida, 1. miqueli, v. (1932, april 1). horrores sociales. revista blanca. miqueli, v. (1934, november. 30). consideraciones sobre el momento presente en norteamérica. revista blanca, 672. miqueli v. (1935a, march 23). iniciativas del grupo nueva vida. cultura proletaria, 958. 44 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1353/jowh.0.0129 https://doi.org/10.1057/lst.2013.35 http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/s0718-50492017000300105 violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 miqueli, v. (1935b, august 24). en defensa de cultura proletaria. cultura proletaria, 2. miqueli, v. (1938a, august 13). félix martí ibáñez. cultura proletaria, 1. miqueli, v. (1938b, september 24). youth section. challenge, 3. miqueli, v. (1939a, april 15). la aristocracia y el militarismo en españa. cultura proletaria, 4. miqueli, v. (1940a, march 15). distintas clases de antifascistas. españa libre, 2. miqueli, v. (1940b, march 23). la verdad no se viste. cultura proletaria, 2. miqueli, v. (1940c, may 11). respetuosos con la verdad. cultura proletaria, 2. miqueli, v. (1940d, may 25). una mujer anarquista. cultura proletaria, 2. miqueli, v. (1940e, june 29). lo que dijo bernard fay. cultura obrera, 3. miqueli, v. (1949, march 5). aspectos sociales. cultura proletaria, 2. miqueli, v. (1962). la mujer en la mitología y en la historia. vantage press, inc. nocella, a. j., seis, m., & shantz, j. (eds.). (2020). classic writing in anarchist criminology. a historical dismantling of punishment and domination. ak press. shaffer, k. r. (2020). anarchists of the caribbean: countercultural politics and transnational networks in the age of us expansion. cambridge university press. stebbins, c. (2007). city of intrigue, nest of revolution: a documentary history of key west in the nineteenth century. university press of florida. suárez, a. (2021, march 22). diversifying the archives. this side of metadata. https://blogs.princeton.edu/techsvs/2021/03/22/diversifying-the-archives/ tierney, d. (2007). fdr and the spanish civil war: neutrality and commitment in the struggle that divided america. duke university press. tinajero, a. (2010). el lector: a history of the cigar factory workers (j. e. grasbery, trans.). university of texas press. university of california berkeley library. (n.d.). the emma goldman papers. https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/goldman/meetemmagoldman/emmagoldmanandthespa nishcivilwar.html violeta miqueli. (1972, july–august). españa libre, 2. zambrano, m. (1940). la mujer y sus formas de expresión en occidente. ultra, 45–46. 45 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://blogs.princeton.edu/techsvs/2021/03/22/diversifying-the-archives/ https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/goldman/meetemmagoldman/emmagoldmanandthespanishcivilwar.html https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/goldman/meetemmagoldman/emmagoldmanandthespanishcivilwar.html violeta miqueli’s direct action against state violence the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 6(4), 2022 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v6i4.38690 montse feu (mmf017@shsu.edu) is an associate professor of spanish and integrated studies at sam houston state university. she researches historical u.s.-hispanic antifascism and u.s.hispanic periodicals at large. she is the author of peer-reviewed articles and books, the antifascist chronicles of aurelio pego. a critical anthology (2021); fighting fascist spain. worker protest from the printing press (2020); and correspondencia personal y política de un anarcosindicalista exiliado: jesús gonzález malo (1943-1965) (universidad de cantabria). feu has co-edited serving refugee children: listening to stories of detention in the usa (2021) and writing revolution: hispanic anarchism in the united states (2019). she is the curator of fighting fascist spain—the exhibits, an interpretative digital archive and collection with the mission to curate, interpret, and make accessible u.s.-hispanic antifascist print culture. she is a board member of recovering the u.s. hispanic literary heritage, research society for american periodicals, international editorial advisory, migraciones & exilios. cuadernos de aemic, grupo de estudios del exilio literario (gexel), and manchester university press contemporary anarchist studies book series. 46 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index mailto:mmf017@shsu.edu https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/53dtw3qx9780252043246.html methodology: post-custodial management of an anarcha-feminist’s direct action biography anarcha-feminism direct action against the democratic state direct action against the fascist state conclusion endnotes references diversity, equity and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture: a patchwork quilt the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: t diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture: a patchwork quilt dr. bobby thomas cameron, university of prince edward island, canada dr. lisa chilton, university of prince edward island, canada dr. ziad ghaith university of prince edward island, canada abstract this study explores canadian agriculture's diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) policy texts from a policy-as-information perspective. public policy is a powerful form of information in shaping citizenship behaviour and identity. borrowing theory from social constructionism and using “policy texts” as data, this article enables us to understand the discursive framework constructing under-represented groups in agriculture. the article finds a patchwork quilt approach with dei agricultural policy in canada: federal, provincial and territorial governments and non-governmental organizations are individually pursuing dei agendas. the conclusion calls for future information research on dei agricultural policy in canada, with contributions from academics, practitioners, policymakers, industry, and farmers. the contribution of this article is twofold: it provides policy practitioners with a snapshot of current dei policies in agriculture across canada, and it attempts to stimulate research and discussion among policy scholars through suggestions for future research. keywords: agriculture; canada; diversity; equity; inclusion; policy publication type: research article introduction he experience of under-represented groups1 in canadian agriculture has recently gained attention from mainstream and agriculture-based media. media outlets have featured stories that have called on industry to address sexism and racism (e.g., gowriluk & konschuh, 2021; lammers-helps, 2021), increase diversity on agricultural boards (hannam, n.d.), and address barriers to promote inclusion for under-represented groups (lammers-helps, 2017), such as black people, indigenous peoples, and people of colour (abduli, 2021; cbc london, 2020; clark, 2020a, 2020b; jiang, 2021). articles have focused on the racialization of temporary foreign work and food insecurity (fraser, 2020), the precarious legal status of migrant farmworkers (cameron, 2020), and the discursive intersections of rurality, race, and agriculture (alonso, 2020). in canada, the media has provided a means for farm women to speak out against the patriarchal structure of farming (nichols, 2020), with articles noting the barriers women face in the industry (brekveid, 2020; clark, 2021; russell, 2020), the importance of increasing opportunities for female family members to contribute to farms (wright, 2020) and instances where women succeeded with increasing industry leadership roles (rogers, 2019). articles on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (lgbtq+)2 farmers (e.g., white, 2018) have reiterated the 2 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: importance of providing space for lgbtq+ narratives in canadian agriculture (latimer, 2020). research also shows how queer farmers must “remain strong” in the face of adversity (hatley & birnbaum, 2014), aided by the support of formal networks to support one another, overcome feelings of isolation (macarthur, 2017), and ultimately remain in the agriculture industry (shergill, 2021). similarly, attention has been paid to the absence of indigenous3 agricultural history in mainstream discourses (noakes, 2021), the impact of canada’s colonial legacy on indigenous agricultural traditions (carreiro, 2017; fawcett-atkinson, 2020), first nations projects to self-determine agricultural priorities (lee-young, 2019) and the contributions of black farmers to canadian agriculture (hunter, 2020; issa, 2021; ito, 2009). this insertion of the agricultural experiences of under-represented groups into public discourses is part of a much more significant shift in the canadian agriculture policy landscape. media attention reflects how indigenous peoples, women, newcomers4, disabled people5, people of colour, and lgbtq+ people are traditionally under-represented in their participation in agriculture and cultural imaginings of what constitutes a farmer. researchers have cited that colonial logic, which maintains racially ordered narratives in canadian agriculture (perry, 2012; rotz, 2017; rotz et al., 2019), has promoted the idea of the white and heterosexual family farm, effectively excluding under-represented groups (linton, 2020a, 2020b). while food sovereignty has emerged as a counter-narrative in canadian agriculture—promoting social justice and diversity with the ultimate goal of an equitable food system (desmarais & wittman, 2014)—the fact remains that statistics show the canadian agricultural sector is comprised of a population that is, in many ways, demographically homogenous. recently, however, a confluence of factors has led to increased calls for more diversity, equity, and inclusion in canada’s agriculture sector. mainstream discussions about equity (strategies and actions to compensate for disadvantages) and equality (equal outcomes for all) have undoubtedly encouraged social movements such as me too and black lives matter. these movements have made government, industry groups, and canadian citizenry more seriously consider the equity dimensions of agriculture. the covid-19 pandemic has exposed inequities in canada’s food system (larue, 2021; haley et al., 2020). at the same time, canada’s longstanding agriculture labour shortage has meant that agricultural employers are being encouraged to recruit from “non-traditional” labour sources to ensure the sustainability of their industries (canadian agricultural human resource council, n.d.). currently, what is emerging are uncoordinated but intentional policy-level efforts among governments, industry groups, and other stakeholders promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) in agriculture. it is essential to understand how policy has responded to recent public discourses advocating for more dei in canadian agriculture. agriculture is a shared jurisdiction between federal, provincial, and territorial governments in canada. furthermore, canada has a multifaceted network of agricultural non-governmental organizations that create information and public policies for their respective members and influence canada’s public policy agenda for agriculture. as such, documenting the public policies “policy texts” that national governments and non-governmental organizations (ngos) have in place for dei in agriculture provides insight into the collective response of the state and how information theory is manifested in the field. this article serves as a foundation for future critical analysis of the canadian state’s response to dei in agriculture. it addresses an information problem in that there is information missing on the general structure and nature of dei policy in agriculture in canada. this gap is filled by the study’s systematic review of dei policy texts. 3 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: this article begins by providing an overview of the participation of under-represented groups in canadian agriculture by articulating key findings from scholarly research. it then documents and describes key government and ngo policies that address dei in agriculture. the article concludes with recommendations for future critical analysis of dei policy in agriculture. this article’s contribution is twofold: 1) it provides practitioners with a snapshot of current dei policies in agriculture across canada, and 2) it attempts to stimulate research and discussion among policy scholars. the article may serve as a resource for future research and policy development. under-represented groups in canadian agriculture statistics show that the structure of agriculture in canada has changed significantly over the past several decades.6 the number of farms, the farm population, and the number of operators tended to decrease between 1996 and 2016. in 1996, there were 276,548 farms; this number dropped to 193,492 farms in 2016, a reduction of approximately 30% (statistics canada, 2012a). the reasons for this substantial decline may be attributed to technological advances, off-farm economic opportunities, the increasing amount of land operated by large farms, and the rise in corporate farming7 (goddard et al., 1993). there were similar declining trends in the farm population8 and the number of operators.9 between 1996 and 2016, the farm population in canada decreased by 30.4%, falling from 851,410 to 592,975 persons. over that same period, farm operators decreased from 385,610 to 271,935 (statistics canada, 2018a; statistics canada, 2018b; statistics canada, 2003). table 1 summarizes national demographic data for canadian agriculture in 1996 and 2016. table 1. canadian national demographic data for canadian agriculture (1996 and 2016) indicator 1996 2016 percentage change total population 29,569,875 36,052,413 21.92 population 15 years and over 22,959,500 29,587,100 28.87 female population 15 years and over 11,704,000 15,011,400 28.26 male population 15 years and over 11,255,500 14,575,700 29.50 farm population 851,410 592,975 -30.35 farm operators 385,610 271,935 -29.48 labour force (total) 14,848,500 19,440,500 30.93 female labour force 6,725,700 9,198,800 36.77 male labour force 8,122,800 10,241,700 26.09 source: statistics canada (1996; 2016) 4 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: analysis of canadian national data on under-represented groups’ participation in agriculture indicates a modest increase in participation levels between 1996 and 2016 (see table 2). while the overall number of farms and operators decreased by 30 and 29.5%, respectively, the proportion of farm operators who are women increased from 25.2 to 28.6% (note that the absolute number of female farm operators decreased from 97,345 to 77,970) (statistics canada, 2018d). although the number of female farm operators increased, men are still statistically over represented in the agricultural industry, comprising approximately three-quarters of total farm operators. similarly, the total number of indigenous farm operators noticeably increased over that same period: 3,357 in 1996 (0.87%) to 5,160 in 2016 (1.9%). this increase could be the result of an overall rise in indigenous peoples in the agricultural population (21.4% higher in 2016 than in 1996). statistics canada cited three factors behind the increase in the number of indigenous peoples in the agricultural population: more have chosen agricultural careers, there has been a higher natural growth rate in the indigenous population, and more people have self-identified as indigenous in the census of population (statistics canada, 2019b). data on immigrants as farm operators show an opposite trend. while immigrants represented 10.2% (39,620 operators) of total canadian farm operators in 1996, they represented 8.6% (23,440 operators) in 2016. data further reveals a significant shift in countries of birth of canadian immigrant farm operators over time, which gradually moved from european countries to the united states and china (statistics canada, 2019c). by comparison, between 1996 and 2016, the overall number of farm operators decreased by 29.5%. in contrast, immigrant farm operators decreased by 41% over that same period, thus experiencing a steeper decline. table 2. percentage of under-represented groups of total farm operators (1996 and 2016) group 1996 2016 percentage change women 25.24 28.67 3.43 men 74.76 71.33 -3.43 indigenous 0.87 1.90 1.03 immigrants 10.27 8.62 -1.65 source: statistics canada (1996; 2016) taking a more holistic perspective beyond farm population and operators, we see that women are under-represented in industry leadership roles in canadian agriculture. in 2015, a survey conducted by the canadian agricultural human resource council showed that only 28% of 65 agricultural associations surveyed had at least one woman who sat on their board of directors. in contrast, only eight had a woman in the role of board chair or president (canadian agricultural human resource council, 2015). examining available demographic data and statistics on under-represented groups’ participation in canadian agriculture shows that although women and indigenous peoples’ participation in agriculture have improved over the past 20 years, they are still under-represented in their respective proportions of the labor force and population. in 2016, although women represented 47.3% of the total labour force, they only accounted for 28.67% of all farm operators. indigenous 5 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: peoples accounted for 2.7% (15,765) of the total farm population but represented 1.9% of total farm operators in that same year. overall, nominal data shows an improvement in the participation of women and indigenous peoples in canadian agriculture. finally, data revealing participation for disabled people, lgbtq+ people, and people of colour is incomplete or unavailable. historical context: a literature review information about the experiences of under-represented groups on canadian farms and in the food system more broadly can be gleaned from an interdisciplinary body of literature. overall, research on the experiences of indigenous peoples, women, disabled people, newcomers, people of colour, and lgbtq+ people in canadian agriculture is limited. the body of research shows a history of significant structural barriers to the entire social, economic, political, and cultural participation of under-represented groups in canadian agriculture. a noteworthy exception is the relatively recent local food movement. concerning the local food and food sovereignty space movements, the literature includes examples of where wild food procurement can work towards improving indigenous peoples’ food security (wesche et al., 2016). additionally, community gardening has been used to empower racialized people (datta, 2019a; 2019b), help to improve the food security of immigrant and refugee families (eggert et al., 2015; lucas & li, 2020), and foster a sense of connection among newcomers (shan & walter, 2014; jacob & rocha, 2021).10 the following is a cursory synthesis of the history of under-represented groups’ experiences in canadian agriculture. it provides background to the description of policies, programs, and projects for under-represented groups. indigenous peoples although the history of indigenous peoples and agriculture is often overlooked (carter, 1993), farming practices among first nations societies predates the arrival of european settlers by several hundred years (dawson, 2003). evidence shows that some first nation societies lived in agricultural settlements, cultivated land, and effectively farmed (boyd et al., 2014; carter, 2014). here, research shows the historical and contemporary importance of companion planting the complementary crops of corn, beans, and squash—the “three sisters” (e.g., bodirsky & johnson, 2008; ngapo et al., 2021; norman, 2015). research has shown that indigenous farmers today are often qualitatively “othered” through racially ordered narratives among the dominant farming population (rotz, 2017). these narratives are reinforced by and result from a long history of structural indigenous exclusion from equal participation in the canadian agriculture industry.11 sommerville (2021) and mrazek (2017) both posit that settler societies employed eurocentric agricultural methods as a civilizing apparatus. sommerville stated that “[a]griculture would nurture industry and diligence, lifting first nations above primitive, pre-capitalist ways into economic rationality whether first nations struggled or succeeded at farming arbitrated on the intransigence of their essential character” (2021, p. 648). eventually, the reliance on first nations’ labour to fill jobs in the agriculture industry would be eclipsed by policies to employ temporary foreign nationals (rotz et al., 2019). 6 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: efforts to counteract indigenous exclusion from agriculture have included partnerships between investment firms and first nation bands. training programs and jobs were explicitly created for indigenous peoples, in part through attracting private sector investments (magnan, 2012; sommerville, 2021). formed in 1867, the six nations agricultural society in ontario was the first indigenous agricultural society in canada. its activities to explore the needs of indigenous agriculture and hold exhibitions continue to the present day (norman, 2015). others, such as arcand et al. (2020), argue that increasing indigenous control of land may lead to the greater involvement of indigenous peoples in agriculture and ultimately improve economic outcomes. nevertheless, today first nation farmers encounter significant barriers when attempting to gain a foothold in canadian agriculture: financial constraints, lack of access to farming technology, and a lack of an agricultural land base are some of the factors cited (nickels, 2014). women the real and potential contributions of women to agriculture has been undervalued in canada since the earliest days of organized national land settlement (binnie-clark, 1914; carter, 2016; corman, 2005). the gendered nature of farm work means that women are often excluded from agricultural resources and therefore do not benefit from the business of farming as do men (leckie, 2010). even in sub-sectors such as organic agriculture, which is argued to be more inclusive of alternate ways of thinking about agriculture, it has been found that gender issues have been largely ignored (sumner & llewelyn, 2011). rural networks for farm women created by women are evidence of attempts to overcome a marginalized status in the industry (teather, 1996) and increase the recognition of female farm labour (shortfall, 1994). the increasing percentage of female farmers in developed countries (ball, 2020) is perhaps indicative that barriers from limited resources, lack of access to agricultural information and inheritances, and harmful narratives about the place of women on the farm (leckie, 1993 1996) are slowly being undone and overcome. newcomers throughout the first century of canada’s national history, policymakers worked with the assumption that farmers would be of european ancestry (chilton, 2013a; kelley & trebilcock, 2010). canada was founded on the assumption that immigrants would be recruited to settle and farmlands from which indigenous populations would be removed. approaches in recruiting agriculturalists have changed over time according to which political party is in power and to the orientations and understandings of key policymakers12. at the federal and provincial levels of government, attracting and holding onto capable agriculturalists has been an ongoing concern since at least the middle of the nineteenth century, with competition between regions for farmers and agricultural laborers sometimes becoming heated. collaboration between government and transportation companies has been an essential factor in recruiting and managing agriculturally destined newcomers since the late nineteenth century, with mixed results for migrants’ rights and land development (chilton, 2013b). while there is a body of research on the history of immigrants’ contributions to, and interactions with, canadian agriculture (e.g., loewen, 2002), less is known about the experiences of contemporary newcomers. a notable exception is temporary foreign or migrant workers, who have been comparatively well studied. temporary foreign agricultural workers fill positions that many canadian nationals choose to avoid (perry, 2012). they have a precarious residency status, which limits their access to legal frameworks to protect their rights (gabriel & macdonald, 2019). 7 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: hennebry (2021) writes that the immigration and legal structure within which foreign workers exist is complex and underpinned by racialization and a preoccupation with filling labour gaps as opposed to honouring the human rights and wellbeing of the workers. foreign farmworkers are often racialized and othered in day-to-day farm business and mainstream agricultural narratives (rotz, 2017). within the agrarian farmworker population, female migrant agricultural workers face additional challenges, particularly related to health and safety. there is relatively little formal research on the health needs of temporary foreign workers who are women in canada. migrant farm women have reported being subjected to intense surveillance and sexual harassment (cohen & caxaj, 2018), making them a particularly vulnerable sub-population within the already marginalized group of foreign workers. the efforts of support networks for tfws often fall short, as the systemic barriers to their full participation in canadian agriculture (and life) are cited as being insurmountable (caxaj & cohen, 2020). some have argued for dismantling the temporary foreign worker program (binford 2019; kanchana 2019). conversely, others have cautioned against dismantlement as the temporary foreign worker program provides workers with opportunities for economic development that may not be achievable in their home countries (ramsaroop, 2019; weiler & mclaughlin, 2019). appeals have been made to provide agricultural foreign workers with permanent residency (otero, 2019), citizenship (bauder, 2012), and to improve employer adherence to legislation protecting agricultural labour (preibisch & otero, 2014). others have pointed to the importance of unionization as a mechanism to allow foreign workers to contest both their employers and the state (vonk & holmes, 2019; hanley et al., 2020). disabled people the experience of disabled people who work in agriculture is understudied (friesen et al., 2010b). farmers with disabilities have unique health care needs and face additional financial and economic issues to work productively on the farm (friesen et al., 2010a). as such, researchers have argued that government funding structures, and entitlements to such funding, are extremely important for farmers with a disability (molyneaux-smith et al., 2011). people of colour non-white individuals and communities in canada have long experienced discrimination at the hands of predominantly white settlers. there is a well-documented history of purposeful exclusion by the canadian state of american black farmers from the state of oklahoma in the united states, who sought to settle in the prairie provinces in the early twentieth century. the oklahoma case highlighted the racist underpinnings of state agendas in relation to land settlement (kelley & trebilcock, 2010; shepard, 1983). like other groups discussed previously, the body of scholarly work on people of colour in canadian agriculture remains underdeveloped. lgbtq+ people unlike u.s. scholarship, where there is empirical research on the experience of lgbtq+ farmers (e.g., brewer, 2018; dentzman et al., 2021; hoffelmeyer, 2021; leslie, 2019; wypler, 2019; wypler & hoffelmeyer, 2020), the experience of canadian lgbtq+-identified farmers is understudied. scholars have argued that lgbtq+ farmers in canada challenge historical and contemporary heteronormative and masculine assumptions that underpin the agriculture system 8 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: in canada (edward, 2018; korinek, 2018a, 2018b) as well as the belief that lgbtq+ people would prefer to live in cities as opposed to rural areas (baker, 2016). 9 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: methodology the dei policy landscape in agriculture was examined using information from policy texts available on government and ngo websites. ‘policy’ was considered to be the result of choices of actors—in this case, governments and ngos—to respond to problems (yildiz et al., 2011). policy texts included written statements such as policy positions, program descriptions, and organizational vision and mission statements. this type of information embodies authority and the attempts of actors to define how issues are to be understood, debated, questioned and solved (woodside-jiron, 2004). as a form of information, policy texts enable organizational responses to problems through information transmission and signaling (stewart, 2013). therefore, they are essential data sources to understand the general landscape of a policy domain or issue. furthermore, as part of a larger discursive framework, policy texts and other policy-related information influence how an individual’s identity is constructed. here, policy texts are viewed as a form of information (stewart, 2013) and are found to be instrumental in socially constructing target populations. policy texts also impact a range of phenomena, including agenda setting, legislation, policy design, conceptions of citizenship (schneider & ingram, 1993), and the public’s policy preferences towards the deservingness of target groups (bell, 2019). some strands of social constructionism espouse that while individual actors have the agency to have unique interpretations, these interpretations are conditioned by socially constructed rules, ideas, language, and institutions that collectively provide a “social force”, “norm circle”, or “structure”, which often elicits common patterns of behaviour (elder-vass, 2012; engelke, 2009). as such, a primary assumption of this research was that policy-as-information contributes to social forces, norm circles and structures. they also indicate institutional decisions and are powerful in shaping the identity of under-represented groups. policy texts were identified through internet searches in english in march of 2021. the following key terms were used in various combinations to identify relevant policy texts for inclusion: “diversity” or “equit*” or “inclusion” and “agriculture” or “farming” and canada. the websites for major national, regional, and provincial agriculture organizations13 were also mined for relevant policy texts, using the following search operator: “diversity” or “inclusion” or “equit*” and “site:[organization’s website]”. other keyword terms used in combination with “agriculture” or “farm*” and “canada” during searches included “indigenous”, “first nations”, “aboriginal” “racial*”, “bipoc”, “gender”, “women”, “disability”, “lgbt*”, “gay”, “queer”, “black”, “black lives matter”, “newcomer”, “immigrant”, “disability”, “homophobia”, “transphobia”, “heterosexism”, “racism”, “sexism”, and “ableism”. in addition to google, these same search terms were entered into agpal, an online database listing agriculture programs and services across canada (http://www.agpal.ca). for the study, agriculture was defined as a network to mean a complex system of practices and activities related to the cultivation, processing, transportation, marketing and distribution of plants and livestock (food). policy texts were included in the sample when they were found to include substantive, explicit messages regarding dei or a particular under-represented group. texts were excluded when they were found not to be communicating a substantive policy message about dei or an under-represented group. for example, policy texts related to dei training offered by an organization, conferences, or texts that employed the term ‘diversity’ outside of the context of equity and inclusion were excluded. also excluded were online forums, such as facebook groups, that had been developed to provide a space for discussions regarding dei in agriculture. 10 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: policy texts included in the sample were categorized in excel by geographic location (national, region, or province or territory), organization type (i.e., government, crown corporation or ngo), and document type (i.e., policy, program or project). the target group of each policy text was also captured. the categories were indigenous peoples, women, person with a disability, newcomers/immigrants, lgbtq+ people, and people of colour. these demographic groups were chosen as categories since academic, policy, and media discourses have recently focused on these identity characteristics in agriculture. other demographic groups that could be included in the future are identities constructed from religious belief, educational background, and socio economic status. a “general” category was also created for those policy texts that did not focus on a specific under-represented group but communicated broad statements on equity, diversity or inclusion. this categorization allowed the entire corpus of data to be viewed as a whole and by specific variables such as location or target group. limitations the methodology used data that was available online. as such, there may be dei policies that were not included in the sample. only data available in english were included. therefore, the methodology was limited in its access to texts published in french or, for example, ethno-cultural organizations that publish information in languages other than english. the degree to which this limitation impacts the results is unknown, as there may be texts published in different languages that were missed. the authors recognize that this may be seen as problematic for an article that is examining inclusion policies. as such, a primary recommendation is that methods capable of accessing data in multiple languages should be used in the future. furthermore, the methodology was limited to identifying only those dei texts that explicitly used one or more keyword search terms. implicit policy decisions, for example, the choices of organizations to fund one group over another, were therefore not able to be accessed using the methodology adopted by the study. to reduce this limitation, interviews with members of organizations and other groups should be considered in the future. finally, since agriculture is a shared jurisdiction between federal, provincial, and territorial governments, the methodology excluded policies, programs, and initiatives that may be in place at the municipal level of government in canada. therefore, this article does not claim to be encompassing of all evidence that would be required to fully understand the canadian state’s response to dei in agriculture. results: the current policy landscape after applying the various search parameters, search operators, and inclusion criteria, 57 policy texts from 39 organizations were included in the sample (shown in the appendix). organizations that were found to have dei policy texts are: national organizations: • ag women's network • agriculture and agri-food canada • agriculture in the classroom • agri-food innovation council 11 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: • canadian agricultural economics society • canadian agricultural human resource council • canadian agricultural safety association • canadian centre for food integrity • canadian farmers with disability registry • canadian federation of agriculture • equestrian canada • farm credit canada • farmers for climate solutions • national farmers union • rainbow chard collective • united food and commercial workers union provincial and territorial organizations14: • ministry of agriculture, food, and fisheries (bc) • young agrarians (bc) • ag women manitoba (mb) • women in agriculture and food (mb) • department of agriculture, aquaculture, and fisheries (nb) • beef farmers (on) • black creek community farm (on) • black farmers and food growers collective • ecological farmers association (on) • grain farmers (on) • growing in the margins (on) • indian agriculture program (on) 12 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: • marchés d'ottawa markets (on) • six nations agricultural society (on) • cooper institute (pe) • department of agriculture and land (pe) • women’s institute (pe) • agricultural society for indigenous food products (qc and on) • fierté agricole (qc) • agricultural producers (sk) • ministry of agriculture (sk) • agricultural association (yk) collectively, these organizations have transmitted information to canadian society in the form of dei policy texts. through describing these policy texts, we can begin to understand the discursive framework constructing indigenous people, women, newcomers, disabled people, people of colour and lgbtq+ people in canadian agriculture. general diversity, equity and inclusion policy the federal department of agriculture and agri-food canada maintains policies and programs that promote dei. agriculture and agri-food canada’s diversity and inclusiveness policy statement confirms the organization’s support for encouraging “the participation of under-represented groups in the agricultural field” (agriculture and agri-food canada, 2019a). the government of canada (2021) affirmed that advancing diversity and inclusion in the agricultural sector remains a priority, and the government continues to explore ways to enhance diversity by supporting under represented groups’ participation across the agricultural value chain. to do so, the government is working to better understand the participation, barriers, and opportunities that under-represented groups face in the sector. (p. 9) the federal minister of agriculture has stated that “diversity and inclusion are integral to creating an economy that works for everyone” (agriculture and agri-food canada, 2019b). the federal government’s food policy for canada is explicit in its intention to make decisions related to food “after considering diverse interests and perspectives” and in a way that recognizes the country’s “distinct cultural preferences and norms” (agriculture and agri-food canada, 2020c). agriculture and agri-food canada’s agridiversity program provides funding to groups to support their farming and business ventures in agriculture. the program aims to incorporate “the views of a more diverse set of industry players” (agriculture and agri-food canada, 2020a). farm credit canada (fcc), a federal crown corporation, has also established programs to provide financial support to organizations that promote diversity (fcc, n.d.a; n.d.b). 13 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: at the provincial and territorial level of government in canada, some fewer policies and programs promote dei broadly across the industry. the prince edward island department of agriculture and land’s (prince edward island department of agriculture and land) gender, diversity and inclusion policy is perhaps the most comprehensive dei policy statement from a provincial department of agriculture in canada. the policy statement reads: gender, diversity, and inclusion (gdi) are important for the department. the inclusion of diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and identities in decision-making can increase opportunities for creativity and innovation, which are important for solving complex problems. activities aimed at increasing the participation of under-represented groups in industry are important for equality, equity, and labour. the department is committed to a principled approach to promoting gdi activities within the department and across industries and sectors. this will be accomplished through dialogue, thoughtful inquiry, and the performance monitoring of commitments. (prince edward island department of agriculture and land, 2020) the department also maintains the community food security and agriculture awareness program, which provides funding to organizations to connect under-represented groups to the food system (prince edward island department of agriculture and land, n.d.). this outreach is in addition to other dei initiatives included in its public-facing gender, diversity and inclusion report (prince edward island department of agriculture and land, 2020). among national, regional, provincial, and territorial ngos in canada, the following organizations have policies that promote dei broadly: united food and commercial workers union, the canadian centre for food integrity, the agri-food innovation council, agriculture in the classroom, the canadian agricultural human resource council, the ag women’s network, the canadian agricultural economics society, farmers for climate solutions, the agricultural producers association of saskatchewan, beef farmers of ontario, young agrarians (british columbia), and the black creek community farm ontario. for example, the canadian centre for food integrity’s 2020 policy “foster[s] an inclusive canadian food system through listening, learning, communicating, and championing” (para. 2). the canadian agricultural human resource council policy states that they “will set an industry standard that values inclusiveness and diversity to ensure that the sector realizes its full potentials” (2019a, para. 21). beef farmers of ontario commits to being “an ally against discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, and ability (visible and invisible), as well as linguistic discrimination” (n.d., para. 1). the agri-food innovation council’s policy position is that “equality be fostered in the sector through continuing discussions and research. diversity in farms, labs, academia, and boardrooms must be promoted and encouraged” (2021). policy developed by farmers for climate solutions includes “solutions that reduce barriers for bipoc, youth, women, 2slgbtq+ [two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer/questioning, and other identities] farmers and ranchers are essential to the future of the sector and the vibrancy of rural communities and landscapes” (n.d.). finally, the black creek community farm’s vision is “an urban agricultural centre that engages, educates, and empowers diverse communities, through sustainable food” (2021, para. 5). 14 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: indigenous peoples there are public policies, programs, and projects led by the federal government, provincial and territorial governments, and ngos that aim to increase the participation of indigenous peoples in canadian agriculture and support indigenous peoples with remaining in the industry. agriculture and agri-food canada’s food policy for canada recognize that first nations, inuit and métis communities have “distinct food systems” (agriculture and agri-food canada, 2020c). the agriculture and agri-food canada’s indigenous agriculture and food systems initiative and indigenous pathfinder service assists indigenous entrepreneurs in implementing agriculture and food projects (agriculture and agri-food canada, 2019a; 2021b). during the covid-19 pandemic, agriculture and agri-food canada provided increased funding to indigenous-owned farms through the emergency on-farm support fund (agriculture and agri-food canada, 2021a). provincially, the saskatchewan ministry of agriculture states that “indigenous voices … around the table [are] key to indigenous engagement and relationship strengthening and building” (indecdevadmin, 2020). in british columbia, the ministry of agriculture completed 47 meetings with first nations to identify indigenous priorities for agriculture development (british columbia ministry of agriculture, n.d.a). the provincial departments of agriculture in new brunswick and british columbia both maintain an indigenous agriculture development program (new brunswick department of agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries, n.d.; british columbia ministry of agriculture, food, and fisheries, n.d.; british columbia ministry of agriculture, n.d.b). the programs provide financial assistance to indigenous clients to support agricultural projects. there are also policies, programs, and projects for indigenous agriculture maintained by canada’s ngo sector. for example, the agricultural society for indigenous food products works to promote products from indigenous lands and provides assistance to indigenous farmers (http://asifp.ca/). the canadian agricultural human resource council has undertaken projects to explore ways to increase the participation of indigenous peoples in agriculture (canadian agricultural human resource council, 2019b). according to the agricultural and horticultural organizations act, the six nations agricultural society in ontario aims to encourage an awareness of agriculture and promote improvements in the quality of life of agriculturalists (https://www.snfallfair.com/). the indian agriculture program of ontario (http://indianag.on.ca), ecological farmers of ontario (https://efao.ca/), and marchés d'ottawa markets (2021) in ontario provide various services for indigenous agriculture, ranging from financing and advisory services to mentorship and online discussion forums. furthermore, first nations communities have established various types of plans to pursue self determined objectives for agriculture. the lil’wat first nation agricultural plan in british columbia aims to protect and enhance farmland, increase agricultural land, improve agricultural skills, support existing farming operations and develop agricultural planning capacity (zbeetnoff & mcphee, 2014). the squamish valley agricultural plan in british columbia promotes traditional and innovative practices to help ensure knowledge transfer of indigenous agriculture between generations (district of squamish & squamish-lillooet district, 2020). women when looking at policies, programs, and projects specifically for women in agriculture, there are federal and ngo-based policies, programs and projects, and few provincial and territorial initiatives. agriculture and agri-food canada has committed to the “greater inclusion of women http://asifp.ca/) http://www.snfallfair.com/) http://www.snfallfair.com/) http://www.snfallfair.com/) 15 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: in the agriculture and agri-food sector” (agriculture and agri-food canada, 2020). the fcc has planned for $500 million in expenditures to support lending to women and developing resources for women in agriculture to begin or enhance their agri-businesses (fcc, n.d.c). its policy commits the organization to “empowering women in agriculture, agribusiness and food” (fcc, n.d.c). organizations such as the ag women’s network focuses on connecting women in agriculture (https://www.agwomensnetwork.com), as does the manitoba women in agriculture and food (https://www.mwaf.ca/), and ag women manitoba (http://agwomenmanitoba.com/). the canadian agricultural human resource council’s (2019) agriwomen policy includes that “women play an important role in canadian agriculture, but they are still underutilized. the canadian agricultural human resource council supports women in agriculture by connecting them to career resources, sponsoring original research, and producing profiles and case studies to highlight the significant contribution women make to the sector.” the national farmers union has a relatively long history of advocating for women in agriculture (e.g., desmarais, 2005), and maintaining a policy promoting their participation, which includes a women’s advisory committee (national farmers union, n.d.). finally, in prince edward island, as per legislation, the women’s institute’s purpose includes “stimulat[ing] and develop[ing] leadership” and “promot[ing] a greater understanding and appreciation of the social and economic problems, influence and importance of farmers and the agricultural industry in the province” (women’s institute act, 2012). also, in this province, the community food security and agriculture awareness program funds projects that aim to promote the inclusion of women in the food system (prince edward island department of agriculture and land, n.d.; 2019). newcomers there are comparatively very few policies, programs and projects devoted specifically to newcomers to canada in agriculture. this observation holds when looking at federal and provincial governments and ngos at the national, regional, and local levels. a resolution from the canadian federation of agriculture (2019) communicated that agriculture’s ability to attract and retain new canadians is paramount to the long-term vibrancy of rural communities and canada’s immigration must be flexible enough to accommodate the diverse and unique skill sets required by canadian producers. be it resolved that cfa, in collaboration with cahrc, work with the federal government to establish an agriculture and agri-food skills development and training program for in demand upskilling and career opportunities, and that the program be available and promoted to citizens and new canadians. work completed under the canadian agricultural human resource council’s agridiversity initiative has included commissioning studies and developing reports on options for attracting newcomers to the agriculture industry (canadian agricultural human resource council, 2019a). disabled people there are few policies, programs, or projects specifically for disabled people in agriculture compared to the other groups reviewed here. the canadian agricultural human resource council’s agridiversity policy states that “attracting and retaining non-traditional labour sources http://www.mwaf.ca/) http://www.mwaf.ca/) http://www.mwaf.ca/) http://agwomenmanitoba.com/) 16 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: including … persons with disabilities is critical to ensuring that the sector can meet its labour needs” (2019a). the organization’s research agenda also included studying barriers and enablers to increasing the participation of disabled people. the canadian farmers with a disability registry provides a network for farmers living with disabilities or illnesses (http://wethrive.info). the organization aims to “connect all disabled farmers across canada.” the canadian agricultural safety association provides financial grants to farmers with a disability to purchase specialized equipment that will allow them to return to work. finally, smaller initiatives, such as growing in the margins (https://www.sundanceharvestfarm.com/gitm) and marchés d'ottawa markets (2021) in ontario, provide examples of local ngo efforts to support disabled people to participate in canadian agriculture. people of colour in the sample, there were fewer policies, programs, and projects aimed at people of colour. at the federal level of government, the emergency on-farm support fund provided increased funding to operations owned by “visible minorities” to lessen the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic on farms (agriculture and agri-food canada, 2021a). among ngos, farmers for climate solutions (n.d.) aims to reduce barriers for bipoc to participate in agriculture. as expressed in their “anti-racism in farming” statement, the ecological farmers of ontario (2021) explicitly name ‘bipoc’ as a target group and commit to pursuing activities to meet their needs in agriculture. the group provides an online platform for racialized farmers to connect and network. other local ngo initiatives in ontario include growing on the margins, which offers agricultural mentorship to bipoc youth, marchés d'ottawa markets, which provides support to bipoc vendors; and black farmers and food growers collective, which “seeks to foster sustainable community development by improving community lead [sic] initiatives and supporting local farmers and products” (n.d.). lgbtq+ people finally, farmers for climate solutions (n.d.) has adopted principles to reduce barriers for lgbtq+ people to participate in agriculture. the united food and commercial workers union “has worked diligently to support lgbtqi2s inclusion” and “ensures its lgbtqi2s awareness strategy is aligned across jurisdictions” (2021). growing on the margins supports lgbtq+ youth through agricultural mentorship. the rainbow chard collective in british columbia and fierté agricole, (n.d.) in quebec both operate to provide a forum for queer farmers to connect and increase awareness of lgbtq+ farmers in the industry. discussion and conclusion: future critical research and policy development from an information perspective, the collection of dei policies in agriculture across canada reflects what has been described in the literature on the information and policy process. dei policies demonstrate information as a constitutive force in society, as discussed by braman (1989) and rowley (1998). in this way, canada's dei agricultural policies are embedded within and maintain a structure that frames under-represented groups as a target audience. in this sense, under-represented groups are socially constructed by dei policy in a way that “impact the lives, identity and perceptions of the group” (schneider & ingram, 2017). dei policies in canadian agriculture reflect stewart’s (2013) interpretation of public policy as information: it conveys authority, creates contexts and practices and institutional pattern-making. here, the messages http://www.sundanceharvestfarm.com/gitm) http://www.sundanceharvestfarm.com/gitm) http://www.sundanceharvestfarm.com/gitm) 17 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: embedded within policy information are received by citizens and ultimately affect how they participate in society (schneider & ingram, 1993). more research is needed to determine if a coordinating body or a central forum is needed to address dei in canadian agriculture collectively. on the one hand, such a centralized body could assist with collecting and distributing necessary resources and information to address structural barriers to increasing the representation of under-represented groups. on the other hand, there will likely always be a need for community-level dei approaches that are responsive to the local context. furthermore, centralizing dei through institutionalization may risk obfuscating significant social justice efforts, as corporate interests can conflict with this type of work (cukier et al., 2017). in addition, this article identified that no studies exist on the collective impact of dei agricultural policies across canada, in terms of the collective impact of policy to increase the representation of under-represented groups or address root-case issues. the following offers preliminary considerations for dei policy research and practice in canadian agriculture. in the future, critical research of the dei agricultural policy landscape is needed. such research is needed to identify the explicit and underlying motivations and goals driving dei policy development in agriculture. this research should also look at how current dei policies in agriculture construct and impact under-represented groups: what are the structural barriers that are preventing certain groups from entering and remaining within the industry to begin with? are dei policies in agriculture making a difference in increasing the representation of under represented groups? do dei policies create unintended or contradictory outcomes and, if yes, for whom? researchers can draw on a body of work critiquing dei policies in fields such as education and management to deconstruct dei policy in agriculture. for example, key terms and concepts related to dei are often fluid and have been invoked to signal an organization’s change with a specific practice, to larger and more complex transformation pertaining to philosophy and values (artiles et al., 2006; see also köllen et al., 2018). wrench (2005) notes that institutions can leverage dei discourses and policy to avoid making difficult choices regarding root-cause and structural issues related to racism and discrimination. empirical research has also shown that discourses of dei policy can benefit corporate interests more than the individuals who are the intended benefactors of such policies (cukier et al., 2017). in the educational setting, diversity policy has been found to have a powerful impact on how marginalized groups are constructed, namely as outsiders, at-risk victims, commodities and change agents (iverson, 2007). the idea of promoting discourses of diversity and “harnessing difference” automatically leads to equality without structural change has been questioned (bagshaw, 2004; tomlinson & egan, 2002). furthermore, some have argued that organizational diversity initiatives can make discrimination more challenging to identify since it becomes hidden under discourses of equality, equity, fairness, and the like (dover et al., 2020). to be effective, meaningful yet complex change needs to be made at the individual, organizational, and societal levels. jayne and dipboye (2004) posit that this includes ensuring that senior management commits to diversity interventions, understands the local context through needs assessments (which includes identifying “subtle and systemic issues”), connects diversity strategy to business goals, emphasizes that team-building is important, and establishes a framework with metrics to monitor diversity interventions (p. 416). 18 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: in summary, to ensure a permanent change in agriculture, the focus of policy practitioners and researchers should be inclusive of the impact of dei policies, as opposed to merely policy objectives (see moysiuk, 2019). discourses of dei in agriculture may indeed “be constructed within a powerful othering framework”, as has been found in other studies of inclusion (dunne, 2009, p. 52). more research and analysis are needed. researchers can help practitioners understand the impact of their dei policy work in canadian agriculture by drawing on schneider and ingram’s (e.g., 1993; 2017) theories of the social construction of target populations. in answering these questions, there is a role for academics, practitioners, policy-makers, industry and marginalized farmers. academics can contribute to this area of research by applying theories, concepts and models to critically investigate dei policy. practitioners, particularly evaluation practitioners, are needed to assess dei policies' performance, relevance, and impact. policy-makers can be interviewed to learn more about the dei policy development process in agriculture in canada. industry has a critical role in developing dei policy for their industries and collaborating with academics and practitioners to better understand barriers and enablers for increasing the representation of under-represented groups. future qualitative research and policy development for dei in agriculture should seek to include the perspectives of under-represented groups. interviews with indigenous peoples, women, newcomers, disabled people, people of colour, and lgbtq+ people can be used to understand the experience of individuals currently working in the industry as well as the experience of those who attempted unsuccessfully to enter the industry. such research is a complex undertaking. many factors need to be considered, including researchers’ own biases and assumptions and positionality in relation to marginalized people (moree, 2018). furthermore, the extent to which “under-represented groups” is a useful analytical category needs to be questioned. there is a broad range of diversity among and within the identities often included in the under-represented category. here, intersectionality draws our attention to the social location of an individual and how this interacts with various systems of inequality, subjective experiences, and multi dimensional situations based on identity (clarke et al., 2017; mckinzie & richards, 2019). it leads to qualitative research questions such as, how do multiple identity factors, in combination, inform individuals’ experiences within the agricultural sector in canada? in what ways do systems of oppression and inequality impact this experience? in what context and under what circumstances? it is a more complex and nuanced way of understanding the human experience and oppression. research and policies need to be conscious of the inherent diversity, intersectionality, and exceptionalism associated with an individual’s experience and the problematic nature of generalization. finally, interviews with farmers who belong to the representative population can be used to investigate discourses and assumptions regarding barriers and enablers to increased dei in agriculture. policy practitioners need to be conscious that policy texts as data reflect a theory that these texts, made available by organizations to the public vis-à-vis websites, socially constructs under represented groups as “target populations” (schnieder & ingram, 1993). schnieder and ingram point out that “[t]he agenda, tools, and rationales of policy impart messages to target populations that inform them of their status as citizens and how they and people like themselves are likely to be treated” (1993, p. 340). policy texts communicate messages to the public and ultimately shape and organize society (wedel et al., 2005; woodside-jiron, 2004). they represent “artifacts” with underlying values and beliefs (yanow, 1996, p. 10). as a form of rhetoric, policy texts express “principles and 19 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: priorities, hopes and ideals, and beliefs about citizens’ responsibilities to each other” (asen, 2010, p. 127). at the same time, organizations use these types of texts strategically to influence outcomes and, as cheney et al. (2004) state, “the rhetorical situations they might face …. by influencing popular attitudes and public policies” (p. 88). thus, it follows that increasing policy practitioners’ awareness of the unintended impacts of dei policy texts will lead to more effective public policies. for academics involved in researching dei in agriculture, it is important to note that policy texts alone do not provide a complete picture of an organization’s position towards a particular issue. policy texts can be interpreted differently by readers, the meaning of such texts can shift depending on the context, and the same policy text can have different meanings within and outside an organization (ball, 2006). therefore, dei policy texts in agriculture are only one element of a larger discursive framework that is keen for future critical analysis. we have reviewed the current dei agricultural policy landscape among governments and ngos in canada and have found that there is essentially a “patchwork quilt” approach to dei; uncoordinated decision-making is occurring with respect to dei: federal, provincial, and territorial governments and ngos are individually pursuing dei agendas. in doing so, an information gap has been lessened, namely that we now know more about the general structure and nature of dei policy in agriculture in canada. this article identifies future research questions for academics and provides practitioners with a snapshot of the current policy landscape. endnotes 1 the authors have extended their best efforts to write about individuals and groups in an inclusive manner. the inherent problems associated with universalizing labels— limiting discussions of intersectionality and individual experiences— and the material consequences of the former are recognized (see addy, 2015). 2 in this article, ‘lgbtq+’ is used acknowledging that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, queer, intersex, pansexual, two-spirit (2s), androgynous and asexual people have different individual and group identities and, therefore, different experiences in the world. 3 ‘indigenous’ is used in this article as a universal term, inclusive of first nations (status and non status, on and off-reserve), métis and inuit. 4 in this article, ‘newcomer’ and ‘immigrant’ are used interchangeably. 5 dunn and andrews (2015) write that “disability culture advocates and disability studies scholars have challenged the exclusive use of person-first language. they recommend also using identity first language (i.e., “disabled person,” “amputee”) to characterize disability and to refer to people with disabilities” (p. 256). essentially, this “identity-first” terminology falls within what has been called the “minority model” or “diversity model”, whereby disability is recognized as a diverse cultural, social and political experience which better prevents disability from being overlooked as such (dunn and andrews 2015). 6 it is important to note that these statistics do not account for the entire contribution that all individuals in canada make to agriculture. 7 in 1996, 87.8 per cent of agricultural operations in canada were reported as sole proprietorships or partnerships (with or without a written agreement). corporations (family or non-family) 20 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: represented 11.8 per cent of agricultural operations. in 2016, sole proprietorships and partnerships in canada (with or without a written agreement) accounted for 73.6 percent of all agricultural operations, while agricultural operations corporations (family or non-family) increased to represent 25.8 per cent of total agricultural operations (statistics canada, 2012b). 8 ‘farm population’ consists of farm operators and other people in their households (statistics canada, 2020). 9 ‘farm operators’ are defined as individuals involved in day-to-day management decisions in operating a census farm (statistics canada, 2018c). the canadian labour force increased by 30.93 per cent from 1996 to 2016 (statistics canada, 2019a). 10 however, it is important to note that burt et al.’s (2020) systematic review of community gardening research found that the effectiveness of community gardening in working towards an equitable food system “remains unclear” and lowan-trudeau et al. (2020) found that community gardens in calgary were located in neighborhoods with fewer racialized people. 11 see carter 1989, for a review of the peasant farming system imposed on first nations in the later part of the 19th century; see laliberte & satzewich, 1999, laliberte, 2006 and regular, 2009 for the history of first nations agricultural labour in alberta; see also eyford, 2016. 12 the turn-of-the-twentieth century was particularly notable for the strong differences of opinion amongst ministers responsible for immigration and land settlement on how to approach this subject. minister for the interior clifford sifton established a large-scale program of recruitment from central and eastern europe, and frank oliver immediately reoriented the program to favour british immigrants when he took over the portfolio a few years later. 13 this included, but was not limited to: the canadian federation of agriculture, agricultural alliance of new brunswick, agricultural producers association of saskatchewan, alberta federation of agriculture, british columbia agriculture council, canadian young farmer’s forum, equestrian canada, keystone agricultural producers (manitoba), newfoundland and labrador federation of agriculture, nova scotia federation of agriculture, ontario federation of agriculture, prince edward island federation of agriculture, yukon agricultural association and others. 14 provincial abbreviations are used as follows: bc british columbia; nb new brunswick; mb manitoba; on ontario; pe prince edward island; qc quebec; sk saskatchewan; yk yukon appendices table 3. federal government public policies organization source group(s) description agriculture and agri-food canada diversity and inclusiveness all agriculture and agri-food canada is strongly committed to diversity and inclusion and continues to support the participation of under-represented groups in the agricultural field. 21 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: agriculture and agri-food canada food policy for canada all all people living in canada are able to be part of an ongoing dialogue on food issues. decisions are made after gathering and considering diverse interests and perspectives. culturally diverse approaches to food and nutrition are important in recognizing our distinct cultural preferences and norms. farm credit canada (federal crown corporation) corporate social responsibility report / corporate plan summary all fcc will continue to support the government of canada’s focus on diversity and inclusion by increasing its commitment to under-represented groups in canadian agriculture. agriculture and agri-food canada food policy for canada indigenous first nations, inuit and métis communities in canada have distinct food systems that have been nurtured and developed over many generations. reconciliation begins by acknowledging how historic government policies have disrupted these food systems. farm credit canada (federal crown corporation) women entrepreneur program women fcc is committed to empowering women in agriculture, agribusiness and food. table 4. federal government initiatives, programs and projects organization source group(s) description agriculture and agri-food canada agridiversity program all the program will strengthen the sector and build its capacity by helping diverse groups to take a greater leadership role, building the entrepreneurial capacity and business skills of under represented groups, facilitating the sharing of industry experience, best practices and 22 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: knowledge, help under represented groups to manage transformation, and strengthen the sector by incorporating the views of a more diverse set of industry players. farm credit canada (federal crown corporation) corporate social responsibility report / corporate plan summary all fcc provides financial support to organizations that promote diversity. agriculture and agri-food canada indigenous pathfinder service indigenous an agriculture and agri-food canada advisor will provide help to navigate information, tools and supports. agriculture and agri-food canada indigenous agriculture and food systems initiative indigenous agriculture and agri-food canada will support indigenous communities and entrepreneurs who are ready to launch agriculture and food systems projects. agriculture and agri-food canada emergency on-farm support fund indigenous women racialized disability youth the fund provides $35 million to increase protections for domestic and temporary foreign workers and address covid-19 outbreaks on farms. for farms owned primarily by women, indigenous peoples, visible minorities, persons with disabilities and youth owners, the federal government will cover 60% of the costs, with the applicant providing the remainder. farm credit canada (federal crown corporation) women entrepreneur program women fcc has dedicated $500 million over the next three years in lending, enhancing events and creating resources specifically for women entrepreneurs to start or grow their businesses. 23 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: table 5. provincial and territorial public policies organization source group(s) description department of agr. and land (pe) gender, diversity and inclusion initiatives report and plan all gender, diversity, and inclusion (gdi) are important for the department. the inclusion of diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and identities in decision-making can increase opportunities for creativity and innovation, which are important for solving complex problems. activities aimed at increasing the participation of under represented groups in industry are important for equality, equity, and labour. the department is committed to a principled approach to promoting gdi activities within the department and across industries and sectors. this will be accomplished through dialogue, thoughtful inquiry, and the performance monitoring of commitments. ministry of agr. saskatchewan creating opportunities in the saskatchewan agriculture sector indigenous inviting indigenous voices is key to indigenous engagement and relationship strengthening and building. table 6. provincial and territorial initiatives, programs and projects organization source group(s) description department of agr. and land (pe) community food security and agr. awareness all provides funding to projects aimed at including under represented groups in the food system. 24 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: department of agr., aqua. and fisheries (new brunswick) indigenous agriculture development program indigenous supports the development of new and existing markets by providing financial assistance to indigenous clients with viable agriculture projects. ministry of agr., food and fisheries (british columbia) indigenous agriculture development program indigenous services include providing indigenous peoples with feasibility analysis, financial and business planning and skills development for agriculture and food production and processing activities, including for community food security. ministry of agriculture (british columbia) first nations agriculture needs assessment indigenous a record of process and responses provided by first nations in british columbia indicating needs to support first nations agriculture business development. ministry of agriculture (british columbia) planning for agriculture in first nations communities indigenous a resource to assist communities to plan for current and future use of agricultural land. table 7. national ngo public policies organization source group(s) description ag women's network what is the awn? all vision is an inclusive agriculture industry which celebrates diversity and allows individuals to reach their full potential. a goal is to attract and retain top talent with the skills required to advance the agriculture industry. agri-food innovation council equality, equity and inclusiveness all the agri-food innovation council is recommending that equality be fostered in the sector through continuing discussions and research. diversity in farms, labs, academia and boardrooms must be promoted and encouraged. 25 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: canadian agricultural economics society presidential address all it is important to foster a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the canadian agricultural economics profession. the society will benefit from integrating equity, diversity and inclusion into its core mission and key activities. canadian agricultural human resource council a way forward on diversity and inclusion in agriculture all by working together, we will create a skilled, diverse and inclusive workforce with the experience and capabilities to meet workforce needs in the future. we are committed to working together to build a modern workforce with the capacity to meet the needs of a growing world. we will set an industry standard that values inclusivity and diversity to ensure that the sector realizes its full potential. equestrian canada diversity, inclusion and equality community feedback forums all equestrian canada aims to become a more diverse, inclusive and equitable organization, with the long-term goal of fully integrating these values into canadian equestrian sport at large. united food and commercial workers union human rights, equity and diversity (hred) at united food and commercial workers union canada all at united food and commercial workers union canada human rights, equity and diversity is about empowering by creating space. it’s about valuing diverse viewpoints and actions. advancing an agenda that promotes human rights, equity and diversity means incorporating the distinct needs of each equity-seeking group into our union’s structure and mission. 26 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: canadian agricultural human resource council agridiversity indigenous women newcomers disability key policy statement includes: women play an important role in canadian agriculture, but they are still underutilized; increase indigenous participation in the agriculture population; attracting and retaining non-traditional labour sources, including immigrants, and persons with disabilities, is critical to ensuring that the sector can meet its labour needs. farmers for climate solutions short-term recommendati ons toward long-term resilience in canadian agriculture indigenous black women racialized lgbtq+ solutions that reduce barriers for bipoc, youth, women, 2slgbtq+ farmers and ranchers are essential to the future of the sector and the vibrancy of rural communities and landscapes. national farmers union women’s advisory committee women women are active and equal participants in the national farmers union, supporting each other, organizing, formulating and articulating policy and serving as elected officers. canadian agricultural safety association back to ag program back to ag program provides financial assistance to farmers with a disability to purchase specialized equipment to allow them to return to work. canadian farmers with disability registry vision disability goal is to provide a support system for farmers living with disability or illness. canadian federation of agriculture funding for disabled farmers of canada disability be it resolved that the canadian federation of agriculture assist the disabled farmers association in obtaining full funding in order 27 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: to continue providing services to farmers and farm families dealing with physical and mental health issues arising from injury. canadian federation of agriculture international labour newcomers agriculture’s ability to attract and retain new canadians is paramount to the long-term vibrancy of rural communities and canada’s immigration must flexible enough to accommodate the diverse and unique skill sets required by canadian producers. be it resolved that the canadian federation of agriculture, in collaboration with cahrc, work with the federal government to establish an agriculture and agri food skills development and training program for in-demand upskilling and career opportunities, and that the program be available and promoted to citizens and new canadians. canadian federation of agriculture temporary foreign worker program newcomers be it resolved that the canadian federation of agriculture support the creation of a single office within the federal government dedicated to processing agricultural immigration applications and coordinating the promotion of canadian agriculture and maple production as a source of employment for new immigrants. united food and commercial workers union supporting lgbtqi2s rights lgbtq+ united food and commercial workers union canada has worked diligently to support lgbtqi2s inclusion in our union. we stand strongly with lgbtqi2s members in eliminating workplace discrimination. 28 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: table 8. national ngo initiatives, programs and projects organization source group(s) description canadian agricultural human resource council indigenous agriculture indigenous activities include exploring with the indigenous community ways to increase indigenous participation in the agriculture. canadian agricultural human resource council non traditional agricultural labour sources indigenous newcomer s disability a series of research reports that examine the potential of non traditional labour sources, which include aboriginal people, immigrants, and persons with disabilities. ag women's network what is the awn? women a forum for members to share their experiences and learn from one another, thereby fostering relationships and empowering women to push themselves further. canadian agricultural human resource council agriwomen women supports women in agriculture by connecting them to career resources. canadian farmers with disability registry national disabled farmers entrepreneurs hip and leadership network disability the network is designed to allow persons with a disability the opportunity to find support from other disabled farmers across canada. table 9. regional and provincial and territorial ngo public policies organization source group(s) description agricultural producers (saskatchewan) about us all the organization commits to conducting itself in an inclusive manner that is respectful of diversity. 29 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: beef farmers (ontario) diversity, equity and inclusion statement all the ontario beef industry is an ally against discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, and ability (visible and invisible), as well as linguistic discrimination. we recognize that we are not always a diverse industry, but we believe in fighting racism and discrimination in all its forms. black creek community farm (ontario) vision all an urban agricultural centre that engages, educates, and empowers diverse communities, through sustainable food. black farmers and food growers collective about / our story all individual choices are affected by socioeconomic factors, which are an important aspect of environmental sustainability. environmental issues are directly related to inequality and social justice concerns. therefore, community empowerment strategies should be put in practice in order to address more effectively these matters. grain farmers (ontario) twitter thread all grain farmers strategic plan includes inclusiveness and diversity. young agrarians (british columbia) focus areas all agro-ecology, capacity building, collaboration, community, diversity, equity, food sovereignty, inclusion, workers & migrant rights, land-access, mentorship, participatory frameworks, reconciliation, support for start-ups six nations agricultural society (ontario) about indigenous the objects of an agricultural society are to encourage an awareness of agriculture and to promote improvements in the quality of life of persons in an agricultural community (e.g., researching needs, holding 30 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: agricultural exhibitions, promoting conservation, encouraging beatification, enriching rural life, and conducting/promoting horse races). agricultural association (yk) mission statement indigenous foster the involvement of yukon first nations in agriculture. ecological farmers association (ontario) indigenous radicalized board and staff are committed to increasing their understanding around anti-racism towards black, indigenous, and people of colour (bipoc), and to better meeting the needs of farmers and members who are currently under-represented in the organization and the ecological farming movement at large. ag women (mb) mission statement women connecting, supporting, and fostering growth of all women in manitoba’s diverse agricultural community. women in agr. and food (mb) mission statement women to inspire and support women to achieve their career and business aspirations. table 10. regional and provincial and territorials ngo initiatives, programs and projects organization source group(s) description agricultural society for indigenous food products (quebec and ontario) about anti racism in farming indigenous promote the products of indigenous land from their own processing plants and to provide assistance to future indigenous farmers and harvesters in quebec and ontario. indian agr. program (ontario) about us indigenous assistance with financing, advisory services, training, and workshops (includes first nations 4-h). 31 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: ecological farmers of ontario (ontario) bipoc farmer network indigenous racialized online forum for racialized farmers to connect with one another and receive updates on meet-ups and events. growing in the margins (ontario) mentorship program indigenous racialized disability lgbtq+ mentorship is provided for bipoc, lgbtq+ youth (18-25) and youth with a disability who would like to start their own urban farm. marchés d'ottawa markets (ontario) bipoc farmers’ initiative indigenous racialized disability lgbtq+ provides access and support for vendors of black and indigenous descent as well as people of colour including those who identify as trans, disabled, queer, and/or have marginalized religious identities women’s institute (pe) object of the institute women goals include: stimulating and developing leadership; promoting a greater understanding and appreciation of the social and economic problems, influencing the importance of farmers and the agricultural industry in the province. cooper institute (pe) migrant worker program newcomers activities include education and advocacy for migrant workers. fierté agricole (quebec) mission statement lgbtq+ goal is to promote a better knowledge of lgbtq+ realities in agricultural areas and facilitate the integration of people of gender and sexual diversity who share an interest in agriculture. rainbow chard collective about lgbtq+ exists to build community and create awareness of queer farmers. 32 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(2004). language, power, and participation: using critical discourse analysis to make sense of public policy. in r. rogers (ed.), an introduction to critical discourse analysis in education (pp. 173-205). lawrence elbaum associates, publishers. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08109028.2013.763630 http://www.ufcw.ca/index.php?itemid=654&lang=en&option=com_content&view=artic http://www.producer.com/farmliving/farmer-advocates-gayhttp://www.producer.com/farmliving/farmer-advocates-gayhttp://www.producer.com/farmliving/farmer-advocates-gayhttp://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/legislation/womens-institute-act http://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/legislation/womens-institute-act http://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/legislation/womens-institute-act 47 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: wrench, j. (2005). diversity management can be bad for you. race & class, 46(3), 73-84. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396805050019 wright, j. (2020, april 30). equal, and equitable too. countryguide. https://www.country guide.ca/guide-business/equal-and-equitable-too/ wypler, j. (2019). lesbian and queer sustainable farmer networks in the midwest. society & natural resources, 32(8), 947-964. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2019.1584834 wypler, j. & hoffelmeyer, m. (2020). lgbtq+ farmer health in covid-19. journal of agromedicine, 25(4), 370-373. https://doi.org/10.1080/1059924x.2020.1814923 yanow, d. (1996). how does a policy mean? interpreting policy and organizational actions. georgetown university press. yildiz, m., demircioğlu, m. & babaoğlu, c. (2011). teaching public policy to undergraduate students: issues, experiences, and lessons in turkey. journal of public affairs education, 17(3), 343-365. zbeetnoff, d. & mcphee, m. (2014). lil’wat first nation agricultural plan: phase 3 report. https://lilwat.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/lr-on-reseve-agricultural-plan final.pdf 48 diversity, equity, and inclusion policy texts in canadian agriculture the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: dr. bobby thomas cameron (trcameron@upei.ca) is currently adjunct faculty with the university of prince edward island’s applied communication, leadership and culture program. he holds a phd in policy studies and a master of arts degree in public policy from ryerson university, and a bachelor of arts degree in history and political studies from the university of prince edward island. his doctoral research focused on policy capacity and policy work in the bureaucracy. scholarly publications have included contributions on policy capacity in small places, human resource programs for policy capacity and migration policy. dr. lisa chilton (lchilton@upei.ca) is a full professor in the history department, a member of the graduate faculty of the master of arts in island studies, and the director of the applied communication, leadership, and culture program in the faculty of arts at the university of prince edward island. her research interests include international migrations and british imperialism, especially as they relate to the history of canada. her publications include agents of empire: british female migration to canada and australia, 1860s-1930 (university of toronto press, 2007), articles and chapters in multiple journals and edited collections, and a cha booklet in the immigration and ethnicity in canada series, titled: receiving canada’s immigrants: the work of the state before 1930 (2016). chilton was the founding chair of the canadian committee of migration, ethnicity and transnationalism in 2009. dr. ziad ghaith (zghaith@gov.pe.ca) is an economist and sessional lecturer in the department of economics, university of prince edward island, a member of the global trade analysis project, and an external reviewer with palestine economic policy research institute. dr. ghaith received his ph.d. from the university of saskatchewan, his research interests include international trade, computable general equilibrium modeling and time series analysis. dr. ghaith has published in multiple journals, authored a book chapter and several reports and studies, and served as a reviewer for economic journals and conferences bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions marc miquel ribé, wikimedia foundation, usa andreas kaltenbrunner, isi foundation, italy jeffrey m. keefer, new york university, usa abstract in the past several years, the wikimedia movement has become more aware of the lack of representation of specific communities, that is, content gaps. next to geographical and genderrelated initiatives, the lgbt+ wikimedia community has organized to create lgbt+ content encompassing (among other topics) biographies, events, and culture. in this paper, we present a computational approach to collecting and analyzing lgbt+ articles. we selected 14 wikipedia language editions to study the coverage of lgbt+ content in general, its visibility in the list of featured articles, and its overlap with the local content of the wikipedia language editions. results show that a considerable part of potentially lgbt+ related content exists across wikipedia language editions; however, this relation is not evident in each language edition. in this sense, closing the lgbt+ content gap is about creating articles and making connection to the topic visible in already existing articles. we also analyze the frequency of biographies of persons with non-heterosexual sexual orientations. we find that even though they represent only a small share of all biographies, they are a bit more frequent among the featured articles. when taking into account all the lgbt+ biographies of the different languages, english context celebrities are the most visible. while part of the lgbt+ content is related to each language edition's local context, it tends to be less contextualized than the entire language editions. this indicates the possibility of growing lgbt+ content in each wikipedia language edition by representing its most immediate lgbt+ local context. we propose a dashboard tool to find relevant lgbt+ articles across language editions and start bridging the gaps. finally, we conclude this study by presenting recommendations for the next steps amongst the wikipedia communities to fill some of these gaps. keywords: content diversity; lgbt+; online communities; wikipedia publication type: research article introduction lgbt+ information online ver the past decades, there has been a growth of lgbt+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual, and other sexual identities) presence online. social networks, and more generally online spaces, have become opportunities to self-express lgbt+ identities (cooper & dzara, 2010; pullen & cooper, 2010; blackwell et al., 2016), as well as valuable tools to promote lgbt+ agendas by circumventing cultural and social barriers and overcoming o https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 geographic distances (ayoub & brzezińska, 2016; soriano, 2014). in addition, the appearance of online spaces has been useful to the lgbt+ community to support their activism and the generation, archiving, and access to information of interest (cocciolo, 2017). the online space wikipedia has compiled one of the largest knowledge repositories on the internet. by giving free access to "the sum of human knowledge", volunteers create articles about any topic. while libraries present social opportunities locally (mehra & srinivasan, 2007), wikipedia has become an essential information resource open to everyone and available in more than 300 language editions. it is used in fact-checking, education, and news sources, among many other contexts (okoli et al., 2014). rather than a substitute for libraries, wikipedia is a general source of information that traditional knowledge-based institutions can nurture (doyle, 2018; phetteplace; 2015). as several authors point out wikipedia can also be used to enhance the visibility of digitized archival assets (szajewski, 2013; galloway & dellacorte, 2014; cooban, 2017). librarians and information professionals have an essential role in creating and expanding the articles and increasing the number of citations. campaigns like the glam (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums') (wikipedia contributors, 2021a) initiative help cultural institutions in sharing their collections with the world through collaborative projects with seasoned wikipedia editors. for the case of lgbt+ information, wexelbaum (2019) examined the under-representation of librarians in global lgbt+ wikipedia engagement efforts and wikipedia initiatives in general, as well as the barriers that librarians face in becoming active wikipedians (i.e., the volunteers who contribute to wikipedia by editing its pages) (wikipedia contributors, 2021b). wikipedia has gained much attention in medical studies (herbert et al., 2015). traditional highimpact medical and multidisciplinary journals are extensively cited in wikipedia medical articles, indicating that the articles have robust underpinnings (jemielniak et al., 2019). in addition, wikipedia health-related articles can support decision-making by lgbt+ youth, given that some youth-oriented lgbt+ online communities and websites may provide inaccurate health information about the risks of infection and time for hiv seroconversion (hawkins & watson, 2017). wikipedia is often the first source readers access to get information, and in some contexts, it is the only source consulted for lgbt+ topics (wexelbaum et al., 2015). for this reason, engaging information professionals who have expertise in topics related to lgbt+ and helping them become wikipedians should be a priority. but how do the communities of the different wikipedia language editions organize around creating lgbt+ information? how do they engage librarians and archivists, among others, to contribute to it? wikimedia lgbt+ to foster participation and be more effective at creating content, wikipedians organize themselves around online and offline spaces with different levels of formality that range from time-bound events like edit-a-thons and contests to spaces like wikiprojects and organizations (affiliates). for example, the first organized space to create lgbt-related articles in wikipedia was the wikiproject "lgbt studies" (wikipedia contributors, 2021c) in the english wikipedia, created in 2006 to identify, categorize, and create new lgbt queer articles on wikipedia. 91 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 wikiprojects are spaces of coordination within wikipedia where editors can list articles to be created. wikipedians categorize entries, review them, and identify potential new "stubs" that would require more work. for example, the "lgbt studies" wikiproject exists in 28 wikipedia language editions. in english, the showcase of articles created through the coordination of the project includes 400 "good articles" and 100 "featured articles,” which have been through a review process to receive such distinctions (see appendix a for more explanations on some of the wikipedia specific terms used in this article). differently from a wikiproject, an edit-a-thon is an activity that gathers several wikipedians together in a physical or online place intending to create articles on a specific topic within a set period of time. these often occur in relation to cultural institutions or around set themes. for example, edit-a-thons have been organized in libraries, archives, and museums to leverage their collections and digitize lgbt+ cultural heritage to wikipedia (wexelbaum et al., 2015). edit-a-thons to improve the lgbt+ content in several wikipedia language editions are usually organized by wikimedia movement affiliates. these are typically independent non-profit organizations that can use wikipedia trademarks publicly and receive funding to organize events. the wikimedia movement is the totality of people, activities, and values which revolve around wikimedia projects like wikipedia (“wikimedia movement,” 2021). since 2014, an affiliate named "wikimedia lgbt+" has aimed to support the lgbt+ community and represent lgbt+ content across wikimedia projects. its mission is to "create and expand the content of interest to lgbt+ communities on wikimedia projects, and to increase the overall quality of such content in all languages." while wikimedia lgbt+ is the only affiliate that focuses on lgbt+ content, and its working language is english, there are ten affiliates to bridge the gender gap in 4 different languages (french, english, spanish, and italian). affiliates like "whose knowledge?" support intersectional participation and content in wikipedia engagement and promote those who identify as women, lgbt+, people from the global south, and all those interested in addressing systemic bias on wikimedia projects. affiliates like wikimedia lgbt+ are a stable infrastructure to support the continuity of certain events and contests over time. for example, on a global scale, "wiki loves pride" is a yearly campaign that started in 2014 to expand and improve lgbt+ content across several wikimedia projects and organizes meetups and edit-a-thons in many countries. most activities of wiki loves pride take place between june and october, traditionally the months when lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities worldwide celebrate lgbt+ culture and history. in 2021, wikimedia lgbt+ has also organized the online conference "queering wikipedia 2021 user group working days" to discuss internal operations and their participation in the wikimedia movement strategy conversations. the importance of these conversations is critical, as it is the venue where wikipedians decide on the priorities for the movement with the 2030 horizon. one of the strategic goals defined in these conversations is "knowledge equity" (strategy/wikimedia movement/2017/direction, 2021), which calls to "counteract structural inequalities to ensure a just representation of knowledge and people in the wikimedia movement." concerning this goal, the wikimedia foundation, the main organization in the wikimedia movement, has approved a universal code of conduct, aiming to guarantee the safety of wikipedians. safety is an important aspect, considering lgbt+ wikipedia volunteers may not feel 92 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 safe in their communities, especially in countries where lgbt+ content is taboo or banned, and it is not allowed or difficult to express an lgbt+ identity openly (wexelbaum et al., 2015). creating such code and past board resolutions against homophobia shows that safety is crucial for the wikimedia foundation. furthermore, it communicates the importance of wikipedia spaces becoming more welcoming to the lgbt+ community. measuring the lgbt+ content gaps lgbt+ content is the product of many online and offline activities organized by wikiprojects, wikimedia affiliates, and the wikimedia foundation. however, to date, there is no precise counting of the available lgbt+ content in each wikipedia language edition. instead, editors choose new topics based on what they observe in wikipedia and without knowing whether there are enough articles on a topic or not. therefore, we can say that detecting potential content gaps related to lgbt+ after browsing the different categories occurs manually. in contrast, for the gender gap, there exist tools that allow a user to quantify the number of women in relation to the total number of biographies in a wikipedia language edition, accumulated or created in a specific period (konieczny & klein, 2018). while the proportion of women is far from parity (usually ranges from 15% to 20%), having a number encourages the different affiliates and groups of editors that prioritize closing this gap to keep working. similarly, other content gaps like the culture gap and the geography gap have also been measured and monitored in dashboards (miquel-ribé & laniado, 2020; redi et al., 2020). the creation of metrics to measure the lgbt+ gap has been claimed as a priority to the wikimedia lgbt+ affiliate (wikimedia lgbt+/portal, 2021). according to its page, one of the two ways in which it will fulfill its mission is to "create, collect, process, and present the sorts of metrics which describe usage statistics and quality of the content of lgbt+ interest on wikimedia projects." however, differently from other content gaps such as the gender or geography gaps, lgbt+ wikipedians need to consider one extra dimension: not only it is important to have articles dedicated to topics of interest to or about lgbt+ people, but also that they are presented publicly as related to lgbt+. by taking a look at the lgbt+ portal (wikipedia contributors, 2021d) and at the wikiproject "lgbt studies," we rapidly see that the scope of topics that can relate to lgbt+ is wide: history of the lgbt+ rights, social attitudes, lgbt+ culture including movies, literature, art, health, among others. in fact, one can see different degrees in which articles can relate to lgbt+. for some topics, lgbt+ is a central element and is visible in its title or first paragraphs (e.g., "lgbt rights in france"). to others, its relation may be less obvious and still appear in a subsection of an image (e.g., in the article "boston," there are different mentions of the gay parade, including a photo). in table 1, we can see a list of different types of lgbt+ articles and some examples that we mention in this study. lgbt+ content includes a wide variety of topics, even broader than this shortlist. still, these are common types of articles: terms, lgbt+ culture, biographies, organizations and people, places, and cultural creations (movies, literature, sculpture, music, etc.). 93 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 table 1. list of types of lgbt+ articles and examples for each according to their appearance in the study type of lgbt+ article examples terms lgbt, homosexuality, gender dysphoria, sexual minority, and queer. lgbt+ culture fag hag, rainbow flag (lgbt), and lgbt culture. biographies david bowie, freddie mercury, andy warhol, and alan turing, organizations and people european parliament intergroup on lgbt rights, lgbt community, list of lgbt sportspeople, and arcigay. places lgbt rights in saudi arabia, lgbt culture in paris, lgbt rights in italy, and lgbt rights in france. cultural creations (movies, literature, comics, music, etc.) lgbt music, queer lion, call me by your name, white crane journal, death in venice (film), and in italia sono tutti maschi. as said, lgbt+ editors are not only interested.1 for example, wexelbaum (2019) says that for articles about countries and cities in particular, it is important that there are mentions of lgbt+ rights or events that relate to it. those articles dealing with scientific or medical information that impacts the lgbt+ community are especially important, and those on public figures and cultures in connection to an lgbt+ identity should also have their information added to their corresponding articles. wikipedia categories are a different type of data point employed to express the relationship between an article and a topic. categorizing articles as related to lgbt is not the same for all topics and in all wikipedia language editions. for example, the wikipedia category "lgbt" exists in 94 wikipedia language editions, which is comparable to the category "jews'' in the number of languages in which it exists (105 wikipedia language editions), but far from "american people" (143 wikipedia language editions) or biology (237 wikipedia language editions). wikipedia article categories are useful to classify content. every wikipedia language community decides whether to create them or not, which means that, in this case, the rest of wikipedia language editions have not created the “lgbt” category either because of a lack of will or capacity. considering that lgbt+ topics are still taboo in many societies, we could think that it is very likely that some articles exist in certain languages but are not labeled as such. as an example, the article dedicated to the musician david bowie in the english and spanish wikipedia is categorized with using categories related to his music style and albums published, but also as "bisexual men", "bisexual musician”, "lgbt musician from england”, and "lgbt songwriters”. in serbian and icelandic languages, for example, their versions of the article do not contain any section or links pointing at his sexual orientation—which is a relevant aspect of his public persona as an artist, especially during the 1980s interviews he gave explaining his sexuality (mirror.co.uk, 2016)—and neither do these two versions of the article belong to any lgbt-related category. 94 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 for biographies, there also exist additional challenges in categorizing them as lgbt+. some people might not want to have gender and sexuality categorization on wikipedia because of privacy or concern. on wikipedia, the person task force is described as “a working group of members of the lgbt studies wikiproject dedicated to ensuring quality and coverage of biography articles of confirmed lgbt persons” (wikipedia, “person task force,” 2021). their action is guided by only labeling someone as non-heterosexual when they have come out publicly: "living persons who have come out, and of deceased persons whose sexuality is not in doubt" (wikipedia contributors, 2021e). a deceased person might be categorized and identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual if they had documented noteworthy relationships with persons of the same sex or other sexes, such as marlon brando. there exists an lgbt+ wikiproject for working on wikidata and introducing lgbt+ data points on its items. wikidata is a "common source of open data that wikimedia projects such as wikipedia can use”, and that is especially useful to update infoboxes in wikipedia articles automatically. there is a wikidata qitem for every wikipedia article. when two or more languages have an article in common, this relates to a single qitem (appendix a provides more details on qitems). this way, the data points introduced or revised in wikidata qitems flow automatically to the different wikipedia language editions that are connected to it. the lgbt+ wikiproject calls to add information on the properties sexual orientation (wikidata property p91), sex or gender (wikidata property p21), and also to create items about lgbt+ associations (national or local), pride parades, lgbt choruses, bars, film festivals, podcasts, fictional lgbt characters, video games, etcetera. research questions we identified four research questions to explore in this project, which we describe in what follows: rq1. what is the existing lgbt+ content, and how is it explicitly characterized as such in the selected wikipedia language editions? to measure the lgbt+ content gap, we need to consider the missing articles, that is, an lgbt+ article that exists in one language but not in others, and the missing data points (categories and links) that frame an article and include the lgbt+ points of view. for example, we need to differentiate lgbt+ articles like david bowie, which is explicitly related to lgbt+ in some languages but not annotated as such in other wikipedia language editions. rq2. what is the share of lgbt+ content in the selected wikipedia language editions? similarly, based on their experience as editors, lgbt+ wikipedians acknowledge the disparity in coverage of lgbt+ content across language editions. lgbt+ content coverage is a strategic discussion of the conference queering wikipedia (grants: conference/kawayashu/queering wikipedia, 2021). they argue that "while some languages have a good covering of basic lgbt+ related content, others have little to nothing available." we may also wonder if it is a matter of size, in other words, if larger wikipedia language editions pay more attention to lgbt+ content, or simply they create more content. 95 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 rq3. what is the visibility of lgbt+ biographies in wikipedia language editions' featured articles? "featured articles are considered to be some of the best articles wikipedia has to offer, as determined by wikipedia's editors" (wikipedia contributors, 2021f). for an article to have such distinction, they need to be reviewed according to accuracy, neutrality, and completeness criteria. as of june 2021, there are 5,927 featured articles in english wikipedia, 100 of which are related to lgbt+ and have been improved thanks to the coordination and support of the english version of the wikiproject "lgbt+ studies". warncke et al. (2015) took the featured articles from english wikipedia and observed that lgbt+ biographies were overrepresented among those articles with lower quality articles but with high demand by readers. rq4. what is the coincidence between lgbt+ content and local content in the selected wikipedia language editions? miquel-ribé and laniado (2018) found that a quarter of the articles of the largest 40 wikipedia language editions is dedicated to their cultural context. in other words, every wikipedia language edition contains a considerable amount of content about the territories where the language is spoken, or biographies, traditions, events, and organizations (among other topics) related to those territories. lgbt+ wikipedians call to create content on topics that could be considered of global interest (e.g., health) but also more localized (e.g., lgbt rights in a specific territory). for example, the wikipedians houssem from tunisia (knowledge_equity_calendar/15/en, 2021) and bojan from serbia (knowledge_equity_calendar/1/en, 2021) have organized edit-a-thons in their respective countries to create basic articles around lgbt+ topics, some of which are specifically localized. while bojan partners with local entities to organize events, houssem recognizes the difficulties of accessing lgbt+ partners and information (history, arts, etc.). generally, we can say that even though lgbt+ content is potentially contextual, we do not know how many lgbt+ articles relate to the editors’ local context. in this paper, we answer these questions by measuring different facets of the lgbt+ content in the different wikipedia language editions. first, we distinguish between biographies of people with an lgbt+ sexual orientation and others that relate to lgbt+ culture (e.g., music, cinema, activism, etc.). we propose a computational approach to select articles considered as part of lgbt+ content, and we will build upon the existing framework of the wikipedia diversity observatory. this research project addresses the need to measure, characterize, and monitor the coverage of topics using computational methods (miquel-ribé & laniado, 2020). once we have obtained the lgbt+ articles, we propose building a simple dashboard tool to retrieve lgbt+ articles from any wikipedia language edition according to specific features and examine their availability in other language editions. this way, we expect to encourage the exchange and creation of lgbt+ articles across languages. the rest of the paper is organized as follows. in the following section, we explain the approach to collect the lgbt+ content. we answer the four different questions in four dedicated subsections to availability and categorization, share, visibility, and local content. next, we present the lgbt+ gap tool, which will allow any wikipedian to look for valuable articles. 96 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 finally, we draw conclusions by mentioning the limitations of the study, explaining the implications for the wikimedia movement, and proposing some recommendations. methods in this section, we first describe the methods we employ to collect lgbt+ articles for all wikipedia language editions. the understanding of this section may require a very basic understanding of the machine learning terminology. see appendix b for additional explanations on some of those terms used in this section). our approach builds on top of the existing framework of the project wikipedia diversity observatory (wikipedia diversity observatory, 2021a), which collects, measures, and characterizes the gender and culture gap. the code deployed in python3 is made available, as well as the resulting databases (marcmiquel/wdo, 2021). finally, in the next section (data and selection of languages), we describe our data source, additional article descriptors used in this study, and the selection of language editions we primarily focus on to answer the research questions. how to determine if an article is lgbt+? to answer the rq1 on what is the existing lgbt+ content and its characterization in each wikipedia language edition, we want to obtain both (1) a list of lgbt+ articles that can be considered lgbt+ content by only taking into account the data points in the language edition articles, and (2) a longer list with all the existing lgbt+ articles in each language edition, even though they may not contain enough data points within a specific language edition to consider them so. to generate the selections of lgbt+ articles, we propose a computational approach based on five different steps (see figure 1). we apply the first three steps of this approach independently in 94 language editions.2 1. generation of a positive ground truth3 in every language edition using specific qitems from wikidata and the occurrence of the “lgbt” keyword in the article title. 2. extraction of a set of candidate articles with the potential to be considered lgbt+ based on a set of specific data points. 3. train and apply a machine learning classifier to determine if the candidate articles can be considered lgbt+ or not based on the language edition’s positive ground truths, negative sampling, and the values of types of data points of the candidate articles. 4. merge all the ground truth and then classify articles of all the 94 language editions into a global list of unique lgbt+ articles. 5. based on this list, we go back to each language edition and select the list of existing lgbt+ articles using the interwiki links that show us the available articles. 97 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 figure 1. diagram of the process of multiple steps to obtain lgbt+ articles in every wikipedia language edition data points for the ground truth and the candidate articles the machine learning classifier takes into account different types of data points listed in table 2. this approach is similar to the process of collecting "local content" (miquel-ribé & laniado, 2020). some data points, when containing a reference to lgbt+, allow us to make a straight decision and classify the article as lgbt+. for example, this would be the case of certain wikidata properties like sexual orientation or the appearance of some words in the title of an article. articles obtained through these data points become the ground-truth articles (the positive training set the classifier will use to compare the candidate articles with and evaluate whether they should be part of the lgbt+ content). other data points like the article categories and the article links (i.e., the articles linked in the text of an article) indicate a certain degree of relationship to the topic, but not necessarily conclusive to consider it lgbt+ content. articles that contain these other data points are candidate articles for the selection of lgbt+ articles. step 1: ground truth articles two types of data points allow us to reliably label wikipedia articles as lgbt+ articles and construct the ground truth: wikidata properties and the article page titles. 98 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 table 2. list of data points and examples of articles and their values data points description example articles ground truth wikidata properties articles-qitems containing wd property sexual orientation (p91) or alternatively properties such as spouse (p26) or partner (p451). andy warhol (q6636), alan turing (q6636), drew barrymore (q43200). keyword articles containing the “lgbt” term in their titles. value is binary (0 or 1). lgbt in islam, list of lgbt rights organizations, lgbt community. candidate articles category crawling level articles whose category is in a category tree whose top category contains the term “lgbt” in its title. value is the distance from the top. korybantes (3), fag hag (1), gender dysphoria. inlinks from (number and percentage) an article’s number of incoming links (inlinks) from lgbt+ articles from the ground-truth and percentage of these inlinks in relation to all the incoming links. european parliament intergroup on lgbt rights (76, 0.93), lgbt rights in saudi arabia (502, 0.807), lgbt community (117, 0.117). outlinks to (number and percentage) an article’s number of outgoing links (outlinks) to lgbt+ articles from the ground-truth and percentage of these outlinks in relation to all the outgoing links in the article’s text. list of lgbt sportspeople (164, 0.220), lgbt music (41, 0.188), lgbt culture in paris (36, 0.192). wikidata properties as said in the previous section, wikidata is a shared structured database used by many wikipedia language editions to centralize some specific facts that are later retrieved and used in wikipedia articles, as in, for example, the infoboxes. to follow the same example, the wikidata qitem of the singer david bowie contains information relative to his name, gender, profession, and birthdate, among other aspects. when he passed away, the property “date of death” was introduced on the wikidata qitem page. this fact appeared in the david bowie biography in those wikipedia language editions whose “infoboxes” are connected to wikidata. to examine the relationship between wikipedia articles and lgbt+, we retrieved the values for three wikidata properties: p91 (sexual orientation), p26 (spouse), and p451 (unmarried partner). sexual orientation contains different possible values, including homosexuality, heterosexuality, bisexuality, among others. this is our main approach, and we assume that any value different 99 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 from heterosexuality in the sexual orientation property value implies that a biography that is lgbt+. however, since this property is sometimes not used, to increase our selection we have a secondary approach: we use the other two properties: spouse and partner, which indicate the name of the partner when the property’s sexual orientation is not used. by examining the gender(s) of the person's partner(s), we assume that the person is homosexual (same gender), bisexual (more than one partner and from different genders), or heterosexual (only partners from the other gender). following the same example, david bowie's sexual orientation property states he was bisexual, even though he had two spouses of the female gender. in this case, sexual orientation is derived directly from the sexual orientation property. but on the contrary, the russian mathematician pavel alexandrov's sexual orientation property is empty; while the spouse and unmarried partner properties are filled with the names of a woman and a man, respectively, therefore it can be assumed that his sexual orientation is bisexuality. assuming sexual orientations out of the partners/spouses could be contested, as someone may consider this different from "coming out", since sexual orientations may change over time, and it may be difficult to assume one sexual orientation or another without understanding the personal circumstances. for example, we could mislabel a biography as heterosexual when in fact, it could be that the person had not come out, or as bisexual if the person has come out after having a partner of another gender. nonetheless, these are very few cases. another shortcoming of this second approach to obtaining lgbt+ biographies would be the fact that the sexual orientations can only be inferred from binary genders (again, we would only miss a few cases which would not have been already considered as lgbt+ through the sexual orientation property). however, even though we acknowledge these limitations, we think in terms of cost-benefit, and it is helpful to increase the number of lgbt+ biographies in this way. for example, as of july 2021, the number of lgbt+ articles that have been identified using all three mentioned properties and that exist in the english wikipedia was a total of 3,235, of which 790 (24.42%) have been identified using the partner/spouse properties, given that the sexual orientation property was empty. in most languages, the spouse/partners wikidata values are exposed in the article infobox, and for this reason, we consider that wikidata values are in-article data points. this, for example, is the case of freddie mercury’s english wikipedia article infobox, which includes partners mary austin (1970–1976) and jim hutton (1985–1991). page titles article page titles are a concise description of the topic of an article, whether it is a single concept, a relationship between two, or a knowledge domain. therefore, by looking at article titles and checking whether they contain the keyword “lgbt” in that particular language edition, we can ascertain whether an article belongs to the lgbt+ content. we choose “lgbt” instead of lgbtq, lgbt+, or any other acronym since lgbt is a common subset of these other terms. 100 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 hence, we first create a dictionary of the term lgbt in as many wikipedia language editions as possible by taking the “lgbt” article in the english wikipedia and then obtaining its equivalent title in all the other wikipedia language editions where there is an equivalent (this is the case for 87 languages). then, we retrieve all the articles that contain this term in their title, assuming that their content will be closely related to the topic (e.g., in the english wikipedia, there are articles as varied as “lgbt music," "rainbow flag (lgbt)," and "lgbt rights in france"). while in principle we could use the same techniques with other terms, we limit it to only lgbt, considering that it is a unique combination that is unlikely to retrieve articles not related to the topic. step 2: candidate articles articles retrieved using the above-mentioned wikidata properties and article titles are reliably part of the lgbt+ content and constitute our ground truth. to expand this selection of articles, we examine the data points “article categories" and the article’s inand out-links and vectorize them into a vector of five different features, which we later feed into the classifier. the features in detail are: feature 1: category crawling levels the first feature is derived from the categories which are given to wikipedia articles. we use the same dictionary we have created for the term "lgbt" in the 87 wikipedia languages to retrieve a set of categories containing the term in their titles. in the english wikipedia, with this method we retrieve the category "lgbt" and many other combinations, including "lgbt culture," "lgbt people", etc. some languages have richer categorization systems than others, being more specific or more structured, and at the same time open and supporting the categorization of lgbt+ content. others do not even have the main category "lgbt". as of october 2020, when the data was retrieved, there were 87 language editions with this category. in wikipedia, articles are categorized according to one or more categories, but categories are also contained in each other, in the form of a treelike graph structure, becoming more and more specialized as we explore the structure level by level. so, in the english wikipedia, the category "lgbt" contains articles such as "sexual minority”, but also, other categories such as queer or “homosexuality", which in turn contain other categories like "homosexuality and bisexuality deities". while the treelike structure is generally becoming more specific, it also contains some circular paths and sometimes unconnected categories that have little relationship with the others. by crawling the category graph, we can collect the articles that are directly categorized under the category "lgbt", and also all the other articles at each level of subcategorization. the further from the top level, the less related the articles are to the lgbt+ topic. for all the articles that were categorized at one level or another, we store the number of jumps from the top level, using it as an indicator of proximity to the lgbt+ topic. given that the wikipedia categorization system tends to be wide and articles usually belong to more than one category, we take the shortest number of jumps to the top level, which contains a category with "lgbt" in its title. since the categorization is usually exhaustive, this method is useful to obtain almost all the articles that relate to the category title. the first two levels usually include articles that are core to the topic, but sometimes, starting at levels 5-10 from the top, articles become unrelated 101 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 to lgbt+ due to an unrelated category that has been placed in the category tree. for this reason, one cannot assume that all the articles obtained through the category crawling are lgbt+ content. the category crawling feature is useful as it quantifies the distance between the article topic and that of the category with the “lgbt” term in its title. features 2-5: inlinks from / outlinks to the second set of features aims at quantifying articles according to their incoming and outgoing links, starting from the assumption that concepts that relate to an lgbt+ topic are more likely to be linked to one another. we distinguish between inlink-based features (two and three) and outlink-based features (four and five). features 2 and 3: for each article, we counted the number of links (feature two) coming from other articles we already considered as part of lgbt+ content (our ground truth: non-heterosexual biographies and articles containing lgbt+ in their title) and computed the percentage (feature three) in relation to all the incoming links as a proxy for relatedness to lgbt+. the number of incoming links (inlinks) is a clear indicator of relevance because it implies that this article is needed to explain something in the other article which links to it. features 4 and 5: the outgoing links that are placed in the text of wikipedia articles and point at other articles. since wikipedia articles contain links spread over all the text, this collection of links tends to reflect all the different topics relatable to an article relates. likewise, for each article, we count the number of links (feature four) pointing to other articles that are already qualified as lgbt+ content. an article with a high percentage of outlinks (feature five) to lgbt+ content relates to the topic, and therefore it is potentially a good candidate to be part of that selection. for example, the article "white crane journal" from the english wikipedia is about a gay journal published in san francisco, and 50% of its outlinks point to other lgbt+ articles. step 3: machine learning classification training and testing the previously described five features are used to vectorize all the articles from each wikipedia language edition and to feed a classifier that expands the reliable collection of lgbt+ content. the features used to vectorize the articles are thus: category crawling level, number of outlinks to lgbt, percentage of outlinks to lgbt, number of inlinks from lgbt, and percentage of inlinks from lgbt. the scikit4 library implementation of the machine learning classifier5 random forest (pedregosa et al., 2021) is used with 100 estimators in this feature space, following the approach by miquel-ribé & laniado (2020). to train the classifier, we have the positive ground truth: the articles we consider reliably belonging to the lgbt+ topic. since we do not have a set of articles of which we know are not lgbt+ content, we employ a negative sampling process (dyer, 2014). articles that are not in the positive ground truth are retrieved and introduced in this sampling process. we then use this set to extract five times a set of equal size as the positive ground truth. by using this approach, the 102 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 classifier is trained to distinguish positive articles from random articles which are not in the ground truth. in table three, we can see the number of articles in the positive ground truth and in the full training set, which ranges from 1,626 (serbian) to 21,306 (english). as candidate articles, we use all the articles not belonging to the positive ground truth without excluding any article. the accuracy provided by the classifier is 0.95. the category crawling level in the category tree (feature two) emerged as the most relevant feature. manual assessment in order to evaluate the quality of the selection of lgbt+ articles, two raters perform a manual assessment test in a process similar to the one followed by miquel-ribé and laniado (2018) to evaluate the selection of local content in wikipedia. for the assessment, we randomly picked 100 articles classified by the algorithm as positive (lgbt+ content) and 100 articles classified as negative (non-lgbt+ content). each rater manually assigns these articles to be lgbt+ related or not. then, we compute the f1-score to assess the accuracy of the selection based on the average of the two ratings. the results are presented in table three, which also details the percentage of false positives (fp) and false negatives (fn) and the precision and recall for each language edition. the assessment finds on average 6.14% false positives and 0.6% false negatives. the average value of f1 is 0.965. table 3. list of data points and examples of articles and their values iso code language positive ground truth full training set fp % fn % precision recall f1 ar arabic 950 5700 7.5 0 0.92 1 0.961 en english 3551 21306 10 0 0.9 1 0.947 fr french 1400 8400 2.5 0 0.975 1 0.987 es spanish 1496 8976 1.5 0 0.985 1 0.992 de german 1407 8442 3.5 0.5 0.96 0.995 0.98 it italian 1461 8766 3 0 0.97 1 0.985 ja japanese 710 4260 5.5 0 0.945 1 0.972 pl polish 961 5766 5.5 0.5 0.945 0.995 0.969 pt portuguese 1020 6120 5 0 0.95 1 0.974 ro romanian 311 1866 6 1.5 0.94 0.984 0.962 ru russian 1090 6540 7.5 2.5 0.925 0.974 0.949 sr serbian 271 1626 11 2 0.89 0.978 0.932 103 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 uk ukrainian 655 3930 5 1.5 0.95 0.984 0.967 zh chinese 710 4260 12.5 0 0.875 1 0.933 data and selection of languages wikimedia foundation dumps to extract the data points for the articles of each wikipedia language edition, we employ the dumps (wikidata, page titles, categories, and links) the wikimedia foundation produces on a monthly basis (wikimedia foundation, 2021). for the current selection of lgbt+ content, we retrieved those generated in october 2020 for all wikipedia language editions. additional article descriptors since this work expands on previous work at the wikipedia diversity observatory (wikipedia diversity observatory, 2021a), we use the available data provided by the project. we use additional article descriptors to characterize the article topic and relevance. in regards to the topic, we use the “featured articles” (wikipedia contributors, 2021g) descriptor created from the wikipedia category, a gender descriptor based on the wikidata property gender, and a “local content” binary which indicates whether an article belongs to the wikipedia language edition geographical and cultural context (miquel-ribé & laniado, 2019). in regards to the article relevance descriptors, we take the article creation date, number of bytes, number of discussions, number of editors, number of edits, number of inlinks, number of inlinks from local content, number of interwiki links, number of outlinks, number of outlinks to local content, number of pageviews, number of references, and the number of wikidata properties. article topic features are used to answer some research questions, and article relevance descriptors are used in the lgbt+ gap tool to rank and filter articles (see section four). selection of languages in order to answer the research questions, out of the 87 wikipedia language editions which contain the "lgbt" category, we select a manageable group of wikipedia language editions that can facilitate the analyses. this group is composed according to two different main criteria: geographical proximity and geographical spread. by choosing languages from the same geographical context, we want to be able to see if there are noticeable differences between them that we can attribute to their sociocultural factors. in this case, we chose five eastern european languages: polish (pl), romanian (ro), russian (ru), serbian (sr), and ukrainian (uk). however, in order to have robust conclusions on the state of lgbt+ content in wikipedia, we also want to have languages that are spread and whose wikipedia language editions have at least 1 million articles. in this case, we chose arabic (ar), chinese (zh), 104 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 english (en), german (de), french (fr), italian (it), japanese (jp), portuguese (pt), and spanish (es). results in this section, we provide the answer to the four research questions of the study. for each research question, we illustrate our findings with visualizations and describe the results. rq1. existence of lgbt+ content across wikipedia language editions with the collection of lgbt+ content described in the methods section, we can answer the first research question (rq1) on the existence of lgbt+ content in the different wikipedia language editions. figure 2a gives an overview of the total amount of lgbt+ content available across all wikipedia language editions. we find in total 181,250 articles, of which the majority are biographies. only 41.69% of these articles do not belong to this type. the majority of the biographies (62.6%, 36.5% of all lgbt+ articles) do not have a specific sexual orientation assigned, while 24.8% (14.5% of all lgbt+ articles) correspond to heterosexual orientation and 9.6% (5.6% of all lgbt+ articles) to homosexuality. the remaining 2.9% (1.7% of all lgbt+ articles) are assigned to a bisexual orientation. while figure2a counts all the occurrences of an article in multiple language editions, in figure 2b we count multiple occurrences only once and see the number of distinct articles across all wikipedia language editions. this list of unique lgbt+ articles contains 43,827 articles or wikidata qitems. we find a larger share of articles that are not biographies (46.2%), as well a larger proportion of biography articles (40.85%) with no specific sexual orientation. on the contrary, the proportion of distinct biographies of heterosexual people is much smaller (6.36%), indicating that this category seems to be containing over-proportionally more articles that are more frequently appearing in many language editions. conversely, the proportion of biographies about persons with a homosexual or bisexual orientation in the global list of unique lgbt+ articles remains quite similar to figure2a (5.28% and 1.25%, 2,135 and 548 biographies correspondingly). the proportion of other non-heterosexual biographies is small, 0.39% (only 172 articles). 105 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 figure 2. the number of lgbt+ articles for each of the selected wikipedia language editions in colour, sexual orientation in case of biography and other lgbt+ content in gray. in (a), aggregated for all the wikipedia language editions, in (b) for unique wikidata qitems, and in (c) for the selected wikipedia language editions. (d): proportion of ml-classified lgbt+ articles in the 14 wikipedia language editions in relation to all the existing lgbt+ articles of panel c in those wikipedia language editions. 106 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 figure 2c shows the number and the composition of the lgbt+ articles in the selected 14 wikipedia language editions analyzed in more detail in this study. as expected, english is the wikipedia language edition that contains the largest amount of lgbt+ content (39,759 articles, which corresponds to 90.71% of the number of global unique lgbt+ articles of figure 2b). in english wikipedia, 44.79% of the available lgbt+ articles are not biographies. in general, the classification algorithm collected many biographies of heterosexual and people of undetermined sexual orientation who may have been an activist or supporter of lgbt rights (between 30 and 46% depending on the language edition), and in all cases, non-heterosexual biographies correspond to between 6 and 10% of all content that may be related to lgbt+. the proportions between lgbt+ biographies are quite similar across languages regardless of their total number of lgbt+ articles (homosexuality is between 4.31% and 6.42%, bisexuality between 1.31% and 2.22%, and other non-heterosexual orientations between 0.40% and 0.71%). finally, figure 2d shows the actual percentage of the articles that are ml-classified as lgbt+ articles thanks to the data points in the 14 wikipedia language editions (i.e., article titles, article categories and links) in relation to all the existing lgbt+ articles in those wikipedia language editions shown in 2c. english, arabic, chinese, french, italian and spanish in descending order are the languages with the largest proportion being classified by the ml-algorithm, having all of them a proportion larger than 30%. this means that in these languages it is more common to provide lgbt+ information in the articles which have some relation to lgbt+. in addition to having more lgbt+ articles—from the global selection of unique lgbt+ articles—than the others, english wikipedia also stands out as the language, which has more lgbt+ articles that have been classified as such thanks to the data points in relation to them. rq2. share of lgbt+ content in wikipedia language editions the second research question (rq2) inquiries on the share of lgbt+ articles. when analyzing the share of lgbt+ content in the selected wikipedia language editions, we first look at the share of biographies with sexual orientation data points that is available in the 14 selected wikipedia language editions (shown in figure 3a). the proportion lies between 17.79% for the biographies in the romanian wikipedia and 4.18% in the english wikipedia, which is, in general, a low percentage given the relevance of the characteristic. furthermore, this percentage includes those qitems with the sexual orientation property or with spouse/partner properties. this percentage is low, especially if we compare it with the proportion of biographies with a gender assigned, which stands above the 99% of biography qitems in wikidata. the fact that the english wikipedia has the lowest percentage, but still in absolute numbers the highest number of biographies with sexual orientation data points, while on the contrary serbian and romanian have the lowest absolute numbers but the highest percentage, might mean that the editors of the english wikipedia create more biographies but do not populate the corresponding information in the wikidata properties at the same rate. in contrast, in the case of the other two language editions, they create them when they already exist in other languages and therefore are already more complete in wikidata. in figure 3b, we can observe the proportion of non-heterosexual orientations among the biographies with sexual orientation data points. the values lie between 4.4% for arabic as the highest and 2.9% for japanese as the lowest. interestingly, this 3.5% in the english wikipedia is in agreement with the percentage of people in the us who self-identify as lgbt (gates, 2011; gates, 2017). it seems, however, that the share of bisexuals is underrepresented in relation to 107 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 the homosexual orientation, at least in relation to self-identification (where roughly the same amount identifies as either homoor bisexual). although, we should state here that it is difficult to compare these numbers directly to statistics of currently living people, as biographies involve many people from periods in history where non-heterosexual orientations were less socially accepted and thus not acknowledged publicly in many cases. at the same time, we should mention that comparing the proportion of non-heterosexual biographies to the total number of biographies with sexual orientation data points might not reflect the proportion of lgbt+ biographies, given that the percentage of usage of the sexual orientation data points is low. it could well be that sexual orientation data points (i.e., properties) are not introduced because heterosexuality is considered the expected answer. at the same time, the interest in having this information public is higher by part of the lgbt+ community, who wants to give visibility to all people who have already "come out".6 for this reason, we estimate that the real percentage of lgbt+ biographies might be somewhere between the percentages shown in figure 3b and those of figure 3c, which are computed in relation to all the biographies. there, we appreciate that the range of non-heterosexual orientation biographies is between 0.18% in english and 0.61% in the serbian wikipedia. figure 3. biographies and sexual orientation. (a): number and percentage of biographies with sexual orientation-related properties (wikidata) for the selected wikipedia language edition. (b): percentage of biographies with sexual orientation-related properties of homosexuality, bisexuality, and other nonheterosexual orientations among all the biographies with sexual orientation-related properties. (c): the percentage of non-heterosexual biographies calculated with respect to the total number of biographies. 108 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 finally, in figure 4, we analyze the actual share of lgbt+ articles in the selected language editions and obtain an answer to rq2. the figure compares this share (in %, x-axis) with the total number of articles in the selected wikipedia language edition (y-axis). we observe no clear relation between the two quantities. portuguese is the language where it has the largest share (1.4% of all its articles contain lgbt+ content), followed by romanian and arabic, spanish and italian. on the lower end, we find german, serbian and english. the latter has a share of only 0.71%. this may be surprising, given that english has the largest number of lgbt+ related articles (as shown in figure 2). however, since the english wikipedia already covers nearly all distinct lgbt+ articles, there seems to be little room for improvement left. this limitation, however, is not the case, for example, in the german or french wikipedia, which cover 40.57% and 45.56% of all the global unique lgbt+ articles (shown in figure 2c), and whose share in relation to their total number of articles is 0.71% and 0.88%. we can generalize that covering more lgbt+ articles does not correlate with a higher share. in fact, one might erroneously assume that a higher share is indicative of more interest in the topic. however, even though there exist important efforts by groups of lgbt+ wikimedians creating content or introducing references to the topic, the overall creation of articles in wikipedia language editions happen in general in a distributed and spontaneous fashion according to the interests of different profiles of editors. for this reason, from the wikimedians point of view, it seems more valuable to use the proportion of coverage or the overall number of existing lgbt+ articles in a language edition (as shown in figure 2) to track progress towards the goal of increasing lgbt+ information in each language edition. 109 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 figure 4. absolute number vs share of lgbt+ articles. (y-axis) the number of lgbt+ articles in the selected wikipedia language editions, and (x-axis) the percentage of share according to their total number of articles. below the name of the wikipedia language edition, we can see the number of existing lgbt+ articles. rq3. visibility of lgbt+ biographies in featured articles the third research question (rq3) inquiries about the visibility of lgbt+ articles, more precisely of lgbt+ biographies. to study it, we observe their proportion among the biographies which are included in the category “featured articles”. we analyze these biographies by sexual orientation and gender. this is depicted in figure 5a, which gives an inconclusive picture. while for some wikipedia language editions, the share of non-heterosexuality in “featured articles” biographies is larger than if all biographies are considered (as had been done in figure 3), other languages do not have a single featured biography with a non-heterosexual orientation. in particular, this is observed for chinese, japanese, and serbian. however, it should also be stated that the total number of featured biographies in these language editions is very small, in the order of 10 or less. in regard to the gender distribution, we first observe that as of the moment this article was written, there only exist biographies with one of the two binary genders in featured articles. in english wikipedia, we can see for both males and females that the proportion of nonheterosexual biographies in featured articles is larger than the proportion of non-heterosexual biographies taking into account all biographies. non-heterosexual males have a share of 9.5% of 110 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 featured biographies, which increases to 15.2% if we include the ones with a not-specified sexual orientation. for females, these shares are a bit smaller, with 8.6% and 13.9%, respectively. instead, for other languages like german, the non-heterosexual females have a greater percentage than non-heterosexual males (25% with respect to 10%). the shares are also exceptionally high in the spanish and portuguese language editions. in figure 5b, we see the number of articles for males and for females in featured biographies, which shows that the gender gap is also present in this group of articles. if we compare it with current gender gap data from humaniki’s dashboard (humaniki | wikimedia diversity dashboard tool, 2021), we see that, for example, in english wikipedia, there exist only 18.94% female biographies, which relaxes to 37.91% in featured biographies. the same happens in nine other languages: arabic (16.22% and 24.14%), chinese (18.98% and 33.33%), german (16.55% to 19.35%), polish (16.65% and 34.78%), portuguese (19.00% and 31.37%), romanian (18.45% and 58.82%), serbian (18.98% and 71.43%), and ukrainian (16.70% and 33.33%). romanian and serbian even reverse the gender balance and go beyond parity in featured articles. on the contrary, the french and italian editions have the biggest imbalance in the number and proportion of featured biographies (only 6.45% and 9.09%, compared to 18.82% and 15.96% among the total number of biographies). those two language editions have a noteworthy proportion of non-heterosexual biographies, only among male biographies. another interesting gender-related trend we observe is that the share of bisexual featured biographies is higher for females than males in seven languages out of eight which feature at least one bisexual biography (the exception is the french wikipedia). in most cases, the proportion of female bisexual biographies is several times higher than male's (e.g., 16.67% bisexual female in german for 4% of bisexual males, or 5.17% bisexual female in english for 2.11% of bisexual male). while it is hard to find a rationale to explain why some genders or languages give more visibility to non-heterosexual biographies in their featured articles, we must acknowledge that this compensates for the low proportion of biographies overall we have seen in the previous figures. in this sense, working on featured biographies seems a more attainable goal for an organized group of wikimedians like wikimedia lgbt+, focusing on quality rather than plain quantity. 111 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 figure 5. featured articles (fa) biographies by sexual orientation. (a), percentage of featured articles "biographies" by sexual orientation for the available genders. (b), number and percentage of featured article biographies by gender. 112 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 figure 6. network graph generated with the links between the wikipedia articles that are lgbt+ biographies from the 14 wikipedia language editions. 113 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 in figure 6, links are only drawn if they exist in at least 2 of these language editions. following a standard convention in graph representation, edges are drawn curved clockwise to indicate directionality. colours are assigned according to the clusters identified by an automatic clustering algorithm (the louvain method) to highlight groups of lgbt+ biographies that are more connected between each other. node size is proportional to the page rank of the biography in the network. only the giant connected component is shown. finally, to navigate another aspect of the visibility of the lgbt+ biographies in the wikipedia language editions, we considered the number of incoming links for each biography in each languages' existing lgbt+ articles. figure 6 depicts the giant connected component of the resulting network, considering only links that appear in at least 2 of the 14 analyzed language editions. this network has been created following a standard convention in graph representation. edges are curved and drawn in the clockwise direction to indicate directionality. colours are assigned according to the clusters identified by an automatic clustering algorithm, the louvain method (blondel et al., 2008), to highlight groups of lgbt+ biographies that are more connected to each other. node size indicates the importance (centrality) of the biography in the network, measured through its page rank value. by taking a quick look at this figure, we can see that the network is dominated by artists and writers mostly from the anglo-saxon cultural sphere of influence. still, it also shows some interesting communities of athletes. less expected clusters are some fictional characters from the universes of marvel and dc comics, a group of porn actresses, and greek mythological figures. on the bottom right of the figure, we can see the entire legend listing all the different clusters we manually identified and named according to the profession or background of the most prominent nodes in each cluster. rq4. coincidence between lgbt+ content and local content the fourth and last research question (rq4) inquiries on the degree of coincidence between the existing lgbt+ articles in each wikipedia language edition and their share of articles that are considered "local content". a previous study by miquel-ribé and laniado (2018) found that "local content" (denominated cultural context content by the authors) is a considerable proportion of all articles in each language edition, encompassing a wide variety of topics especially related to geography, people and language. in order to link our results with the previous study, we analyze the share of lgbt+ articles in each language edition that is also part of their share of "local content". given that an important part of the lgbt+ content is contextual (e.g., people, rights, events, etc.), we expected an important coincidence. figure 7 depicts the corresponding results. its top panel (figure 7a) shows in dark grey the percentage of lgbt+ content that relates to the language's "local content", which is usually below 10%. 114 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 figure 7. lgbt+ content and local content overlap. (a): share of the wikipedia language edition's "local content" (in dark grey) among the lgbt+ selection articles. vertical dark line shows the overall percentage of local content in the corresponding wikipedia language edition. (b): percentage of each wikipedia language’s lgbt+ content which is local content from a specific wikipedia language edition. (c): percentage of the list of unique lgbt+ articles (wikidata qitems) which is local content from a specific wikipedia language edition. the vertical dark line depicts the percentage of local content computed in relation to the entire wikipedia language edition’s articles. this shows that the percentage of "local content" among the lgbt+ articles is lower than in the whole wikipedia language edition except for the english 115 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 wikipedia (where we find 61.82% lgbt+ local content with respect to 44.25% general share of local content). on the one hand, the second language edition whose lgbt+ content has a substantial share of "local content" is the german wikipedia (14.65%, compared to 31.84% of "local content" in the entire german language edition). on the other hand, the absolute distance between the shares of lgbt+ "local content" and "local content" in general in the japanese wikipedia is the largest (10.40% vs 49.56%). for russian, romanian, serbian, ukrainian, and polish, the lgbt+ "local content" share is as low as approximately 3%, which probably indicates that many lgbt+ articles about rights, activists, movies, books, and so forth, local to these countries or language communities, may not exist yet. the proportion of "local content" among every wikipedia language edition's lgbt+ articles might be larger if we take into account the lgbt+ articles classified in each language edition rather than all the existing lgbt+ articles. in figure 7b, we enrich the previous analysis and show the percentage of each wikipedia language’s lgbt+ content that is local content to a specific language edition. we observe that english lgbt+ local content (orange bars) is a very important part of all the other language edition's lgbt+ content analyzed here. german (light blue) and french (turquoise) local content also takes an important proportion of the other language edition's lgbt+ content. the part that does not relate to any of the 14 languages' local content corresponds to only between 20% and 30% of the content (depicted as "other lang" in brown, but as well includes in gray content that cannot be considered local in any specific language edition). however, in other language editions, the share of their local content is considerably smaller, which means there is a margin for growing their lgbt+ content by creating more articles that relate to their most immediate geographical and cultural background. finally, in figure 7c, we depict the percentage of unique lgbt+ articles (wikidata qitems) which are local content from a specific wikipedia language edition. while english lgbt+ local content makes up 50.31% of the unique lgbt+ articles, the distribution is very similar to the ones we saw in the wikipedia language editions. finally, in figure 8, one can see two network graphs analogous to the one presented in figure 6. in this case, rather than taking all the biographies from the 14 selected languages, we focused on the biographies of the spanish (panel a) and french (panel b) lgbt+ local content. the graphs have been generated using the same convention, but using only the articles that exist in this language edition. figure 8a shows the clusters from spanish local lgbt+ biographies, which includes the contexts relative to all the south american spanish-speaking countries as well as spain. on a first look, we can see that most clusters are dominated by actors and activists, followed by writers, politicians and designers. 116 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 figure 8. network graphs generated with the links between the wikipedia articles that are local lgbt+ biographies in spanish (panel a) and french wikipedia (panel b) 117 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 in figure 8b, we can see the graph generated for the french lgbt+ local content, which is mainly spread over france and canada, with no public figures from the rest of the francophonie this includes all the countries where french is lingua franca and is especially present in africa. on a first look at the graph, we see the influence of thinkers like michel foucault and daniel defert (turquoise cluster) and writers like jean cocteau and colette (orange). while the french lgbt+ biographies also include actors, activists, and politicians, we see a wider variety of profiles in the larger number of clusters. in general, these biographies are related to profiles in which public appearances are important and reinforce their professional opportunities, whether they are in writing, performative arts, acting, or politics. the graphs reflect the social nature of these professions, with groups of professionals who share some traits, styles, or influence one another. one might think that these are lgbt+ related professions, but in fact, a wikidata query on the number of qitems by profession (property p106) shows that these professions are very common for biographies in general. lgbt+ gap tool in this section, we address the research objective of building a simple tool to assist in bridging the lgbt+ content gaps, which we named "lgbt+ articles dashboard" (wikipedia diversity observatory, 2021b) and is hosted along with other dashboards of the wikipedia diversity observatory. as stated in the introduction, the main requirement for the tool is to retrieve lgbt+ articles from any wikipedia language edition filtered and ranked according to specific features, and to indicate their existence in other language editions. therefore, it shows valuable articles and encourages editors to take immediate action and bridge the gaps when these are not available in other wikipedia language editions. in this sense, it is similar to other tools like the gap finder (wulczyn et al., 2016), but focused on lgbt+. the tool allows through a simple graphical interface to choose one "source language" to retrieve articles from one or more "target languages" to verify the existence of the corresponding equivalents to the qitems of these retrieved articles in them. for example, in figure 9 we can see the resulting list of articles from a query on the italian wikipedia with their titles in the third column and in the target langs. column, we see the availability in a few selected languages for this specific query (english, romanian, japanese, and french) with their langcode. the rightmost column shows the title in the first selected target language, in this case, in english. in order to prioritize among the 17,526 existing lgbt+ articles in italian wikipedia, we needed to set some criteria to limit this scope by filtering and ranking them. in this case, the articles were retrieved with a filter that limits the results to "local content without biographies". this filter can be selected at query time in a dropdown list of different topics. because of this intersection between "local content without biographies" and lgbt+, we see many cultural creations in the list titles, including movies like "call me by your name (film)" and "death in venice (film)", graphic novels like "in italia sono tutti maschi", and more contextual articles like "lgbt rights in italy" and "homosexuality in ancient rome". while all these exist in the english wikipedia, we see notable gaps in japanese and romanian. 118 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 in fact, to see the gaps more clearly, we can use the dropdown menu "show the gaps" and select one of the options "only gaps", "at least one gap", or "no language gaps". the first one is useful in order to find articles missing in all the selected target languages. however, the most usual case may be using a single target language, since wikipedians most usually focus their activity on one project only. the other two options may give a sense of which articles are partially missing and totally covered. to rank the results, we employed a newly created feature ("lgbt+ indicator"), which counts the number of language editions an article has been classified as lgbt+ in. this is a proxy for the interlanguage agreement on how much an article is perceived as belonging to the topic— being its value one when it is only selected as lgbt+ in one language edition, and 94 at maximum (all the languages in which there was the "lgbt+" category). in the table, we see that the first result is the film "call me by your name," which has an lgbt+ indicator of value 12, and it has 45 interwiki links, which means that it exists in this number of language editions. the distance between these two numbers implies that the data points (the categories or the links to and from it) in the article versions of 33 language editions were insufficient for the ml-classifier to label it as lgbt+ content. the value of the lgbt+ indicator is a clear absolute reference to find a valuable gap because it implies that the article contains references to the lgbt+ topic in many languages. figure 9. results from the wikipedia diversity observatory dashboard "lgbt+ articles" (wikipedia diversity observatory, 2021b) for a query to italian wikipedia lgbt+ articles and their availability in a few selected languages for this specific query (english, romanian, japanese, and french) articles in figure 9 are filtered by "local content without biographies" and ranked in descending order by the number of languages in which they are classified as lgbt+ (lgbt indicator column). 119 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 middle columns show some relevant features (e.g., editors, edits, pageviews, interwiki links, size in bytes, and creation date). the right-most column shows the title in the first selected target language (in this case, english). in addition to the lgbt+ indicator, the tool also allows using other features to sort the articles and adds them to the table of results as additional columns. in figure 9, we can see six features that explain very different aspects that characterize a content gap: engagement (number of editors and number of edits), popularity (number of page views), multilingual spread (number of interwiki links), length (number of bytes), and time (creation date). additional features can also be found in the dropdown menu "order by feature”.7 all in all, having lists of valuable articles about any topic is a very wikipedian way to identify and coordinate to fill content gaps. "vital articles" (wikipedia contributors, 2021h), "list of articles every wikipedia should have", (“list of articles every wikipedia should have,” 2021), and "wiki99" (“wiki99,” 2021) are examples of this consensus-based approach with different levels of popularity across wikipedia language editions. the wikimedia lgbt+ affiliate has prepared one wiki99 for lgbt+ topics, including articles on concepts, violence, sex and health, activism, and biographies. we believe that by using the lgbt+ articles dashboard, editors will be able to expand their lists, filtering with some topics and ranking them by the different available features. conclusions while social media has been useful to the lgbt+ community to self-express their identities and promote activism, wikipedia provides the opportunity to gather all the relevant lgbt+ information that any person might need in more than 309 language editions that are spread over the entire globe. in order to create the articles, wikipedians access all kinds of online sources and at the same time partner and engage with glam professionals to help them share the information. in fact, creating articles or doing simple edits can be relatively easy, but covering entire topics requires more structured work. to this purpose, wikipedians create wikiprojects to list pending articles and organize edit-a-thons to devirtualize and create articles, and very often close partnership deals to incorporate a public institution database. in this sense, wikimedia affiliates are an essential infrastructure to work at this strategic level and cover those content gaps that are more difficult to fill with spontaneous edits. the lgbt+ community is spread over multiple languages and spaces with different levels of organization and engagement at both local and global scales, and even though there is an explicit recognition that metrics are necessary for strategic reasons, there are currently none available. to fill this need, we have presented a computational approach to collect lgbt+ articles in wikipedia language editions along with four research questions to understand the nature of the lgbt+ content gap. to answer them, we selected 14 language editions to study lgbt+ articles and their coverage, share, visibility in featured articles, and overlap with language editions' local content. the research conducted in this paper builds on the previous literature on measuring and monitoring content gaps (miquel-ribé & laniado, 2020; redi et al., 2020) by specifically addressing the lgbt+ content gap. its insights contribute to a better understanding of the 120 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 currently available lgbt+ content in wikipedia language editions, which we believe is necessary to both create tools that allow regular monitoring of the gaps as well as to design and improve the strategies for content creation. in the following subsections, we will highlight the main findings of this research study, we will explain the limitations of our approach as well as future lines of research, and finally, we will make some recommendations to the wikimedia lgbt+ community and its collaborators in the glam. bridging lgbt+ content gap to answer the first research question (rq1) about the existence of lgbt+ content, we collected a global list of unique lgbt+ articles by generating first a set of lgbt+ articles for each wikipedia language edition with machine learning algorithms. then we merged these sets and examined the availability of this global list in each language edition. for the machine learning classifiers, we employed features derived from wikidata properties (sexual orientation and partners), article titles, wikipedia categories, and article links. the result showed that as of october 2020, a considerable part of the lgbt+ content (43,827 distinct articles) exists across wikipedia language editions, being covered best by the english wikipedia. the lgbt+ articles that exist in each language edition are considerably more than those the classifiers actually classify as such. this means that for a given language, there are many articles whose versions in other languages allow them to be classified as lgbt+ articles but do not form part of any lgbt-related category or do not contain sufficient links to other lgbt+ articles in this specific language version. an examination of the share of lgbt+ content in each language edition (rq2) shows us that even though the list of existing lgbt+ articles contains a wide variety of subtopics, it only accounts for 0.5 to 1% of all the content in the 14 examined wikipedia language editions. for a wikipedia language edition, covering more lgbt+ articles does not correlate with it having a higher share among all the articles in that language edition. we also found that the share of lgbt+ biographies is around 4% of all the biographies with sexual orientation property in wikidata and 0.5% of all biographies. by taking a look at biographies with different non-heterosexual orientations, we saw that even though they are a small share of all the biographies, they are especially visible in the featured articles. in several language editions, the proportion of non-heterosexual biographies in featured articles is larger than the proportion of non-heterosexual biographies when we take into account all the biographies or those with sexual orientation property in wikidata (rq3). among featured articles biographies, the proportion of homosexual biographies is larger in males than in females, and the proportion of bisexual biographies is actually larger in females than in males. leaving featured biographies aside, we took all the lgbt+ biographies in all languages and looked at how they link to one another in order to find tighter connected subgroups and those biographies more central in the resulting network. we found anglo-saxon pop stars, writers, and film actors to be among the most prominent. an analysis of the coincidence between each wikipedia language edition's local content and lgbt+ articles has revealed that in general, the proportion of local content among lgbt+ content is lower than among the entire number of articles of the wikipedia language editions (rq4). these are surprising results given that many of the lgbt+ articles are related to geography, social events, or biographies. however, the only exception of a language with a higher amount of local content among lgbt+ articles was english (61.82% with respect to 44.25% of share among 121 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 the entire wikipedia language edition). results allow us to suggest the existence of a considerable margin to create local lgbt+ content in the other language editions. lastly, we created a dashboard tool to help in the retrieval and identification of lgbt+ content gaps ("lgbt+ articles dashboard"). even though it is still at an initial stage (alpha development), it allows already searching for lgbt+ articles in one language edition according to different criteria. with this tool, we addressed the research objective of providing immediate steps to bridge the gaps. limitations and future lines of work through the selection of articles that compose lgbt+ content, we investigated different aspects of it, with the premise that not only it is desirable for a wikipedia language edition to contain lgbt+ articles, but also that these are framed from this perspective; in other words, that they contain explicit references to the topic. firstly, our approach is good to select many articles that relate to lgbt+, but sometimes also catches articles in which this relation is not perceivable. on the one hand, our manual assessment showed more false positives than false negatives for the classified lgbt+ articles in each wikipedia language edition (average 7.2% false positives and 1.3% false negatives), which means that it is likely there is a similar percentage of false positives in this global list of unique articles and that, in reality, there could be fewer lgbt+ articles than we have collected. adding more features to the classifier, especially ones that consider the text and the occurrence of certain terms (e.g., "gay," "lesbian," etc.), would possibly improve the accuracy of the classifier. on the other hand, the selection of the global list of unique lgbt+ articles was limited to the 87 wikipedia language editions with the "lgbt" wikipedia category. this means that there potentially exist unique lgbt+ articles in the rest of the wikipedia language editions, even though they do not contain an lgbt category. this, however, makes it unlikely that these articles are numerous. secondly, we must acknowledge that the selection of lgbt+ articles contains a wide variety of topics and subtopics, some of which relate directly to lgbt+, while others may refer to it in a very tangential way. once we have collected the lgbt+ articles, it would be interesting to cluster the different types of lgbt+ articles according to their relevance to the topic. this could be tackled using some of the different types of features than the ones we have used, but also, we would benefit from using the entire text of the article to identify the weight of lgbt in it, generally, and very especially in the first paragraph of the article. thirdly, the study of content gaps like lgbt+, gender, or geography benefit greatly those editors who are unaware of their existence, but also those who are working on reducing them and now have indicators that can help them redefine their priorities or reason their actions according to robust data. in this sense, we believe that in an open environment like wikimedia, the results of a study should be transparent and communicated to the stakeholders as early as they are available and aim at providing real-time tools to continue observing them. in the future, we expect we can create more interactive tools like the dashboard we have shown, maybe also focusing on following the evolution of the lgbt+ content gap.8 recommendations for the wikimedia lgbt+ community 122 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 in this last subsection, based on the research results from this study and our knowledge of the wikimedia movement, we want to suggest three recommendations for the wikimedia lgbt+ community. 1. there should be a wikiproject, campaign, or event dedicated to completing or extending each type of data point we took advantage of for the selection of articles. firstly, creating the "lgbt" category is something that only needs to be done once, even though in some communities, this idea may meet some resistance. for this reason, a global campaign and preparing local support in advance could be helpful. secondly, adding information on the sexual orientation and partner/spouse properties in wikidata is important as it gives clarity. the wikidata "wikiproject lgbt" coordinates this work and should encourage wikimedia movement chapters to collaborate. thirdly, introducing links to "lgbt" in sections of geographical articles to explain the situation in terms of rights or in any general topic to include the lgbt perspective is something that is already tackled and suggested in previous research (wexelbaum, 2019). fourthly and lastly, the creation of articles with the term "lgbt" in the title is crucial for two reasons. it gives the reader a valuable summary of how lgbt relates to another topic. it encourages the creation of more related articles since articles containing the term “lgbt” in the title usually list so many relevant subtopics within them. 2. lgbt+ articles are visible in the lists of featured articles, but the main page is also a relevant space where they should be displayed. the articles that appear on the main page receive additional page views (thij et al., 2019), basically because the main page is among the most visited pages on wikipedia in every language edition. for this reason, there are campaigns led by gender gap groups of editors (e.g., in spanish wikipedia, there is "mujeres en portada") (“wikiproyecto: mujeres en portada”, 2021) to fight for more parity in the number of biographies. which articles appear on the main page is variable on the language community, and some decide that manually, with the help of algorithms that use specific features or combinations of both. in the dashboard "home page gender visibility" from the wikipedia diversity observatory, there is a graph showing the number of men and women who appear on the main page of the 308 wikipedia language editions on a daily basis. the lgbt+ community could push for the lgbt+ featured articles to appear on the main page more often so that the topics that provide important information get more attention than one or two appearances due to the international day of the gay pride (wikipedia contributors, 2021i) or the death of a renowned lgbt celebrity. 3. the creation of lgbt+ articles that involve local content should become an invitation to geographical affiliates (wikimedia chapters) and glam. the creation of more local lgbt+ content emerged as a future priority of the results, given that the share of local content in each language edition's lgbt+ articles is rather low, and that local content is constantly growing in each wikipedia language (miquelribé and laniado, 2018). in this sense, we must recognize that while some local lgbt+ information may be available, other more specific information may require access to specific databases and the collaboration of glam partners. the affiliate wikimedia lgbt+ includes in its mission (1) to encourage creating partnerships with lgbt+ cultural 123 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 organizations, (2) to promote wikimedia projects, and (3) to expand and create content of lgbt+ interest. while this is perfectly aligned with local content creation, it may be difficult for a single affiliate to plan and execute strategies for every wikipedia language edition, given that the scope is possibly too wide. for this reason, we think that growing local lgbt+ content should be among the goals of the wikimedia chapters that are spread geographically around the globe. these chapters are in a better position to establish collaborations with lgbt+ and glam institutions that are an essential piece in the creation, storage, and dissemination of knowledge of interest to the lgbt+ community. the role of wikimedia lgbt+ can be that of a supporter, providing guidance, designing strategies, and at the same time monitoring content growth with the content gaps tools and dashboards that might be derived from the results of this research. endnotes 1 wexelbaum (2019) referred to this as “queering” straight content. 2 we can only do this selection of the lgbt+ articles in the 94 wikipedia language editions which contain the “lgbt” category. instead, the final selection of existing lgbt+ articles is computed for every language edition. 3 the ground truth selection of articles is composed of articles that we assume are undoubtedly related to lgbt+. 4 scikit provides open-source python-based tools for predictive data analysis, available at https://www.scikit-learn.org. 5 in this document we sometimes refer to it as ml-classifier or ml-algorithms interchangeably. 6 in the description of the property p91 sexual orientation warns that “the sexual orientation of the person — use if and only if they have stated it themselves, unambiguously, or it has been widely agreed upon by historians after their death.” https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/property:p91 7 creation date, number of bytes, number of discussions, number of editors, number of edits, number of inlinks, number of inlinks from ccc, number of interwiki links, number of outlinks, number of outlinks to ccc, number of pageviews, number of references, number of wikidata properties, and lgbt indicator. 8 a preliminary version including visualizations to depict share of lgbt+ content (and of lgbt+ biographies) in october 2020 can be seen at the wikipedia diversity observatory webpage: https://wdo.wmcloud.org/lgbt+_gap/ acknowledgements andreas kaltenbrunner acknowledges support from intesa sanpaolo innovation center. the funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. 124 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.scikit-learn.org/ https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/property:p91 https://wdo.wmcloud.org/lgbt+_gap/ bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 appendix a. additional explanations of wikimedia terms in this section, we provide a short glossary with some wikimedia-related terms and concepts we used throughout the study. edit-a-thon: an edit-a-thon (sometimes written editathon) is an event where editors of online communities such as wikipedia improve a specific topic. the events typically include basic editing training for new editors and may be combined with a more general social meetup. glam: the glam-wiki initiative ("galleries, libraries, archives, and museums" with wikipedia; also including botanic gardens and zoos) helps cultural institutions share their resources with the world through collaborative projects with experienced wikipedia editors. humaniki: humaniki is a project that extracts and visualizes data about gender, date of birth, place of birth about humans in all wikimedia projects, typically wikipedia biography articles. qitem: qitems are wikidata items are also unique. each item should represent a clearly identifiable concept or object. there is a wikidata qitem for every wikipedia article, and when two or more languages have an article in common, this relates to a single qitem. wikidata: “wikidata is a free and open knowledge base that can be read and edited by both humans and machines. wikidata acts as central storage for the structured data of its wikimedia sister projects, including wikipedia, wikivoyage, wiktionary, wikisource, and others” (source: wikidata as a linked data platform. https://kspurgin.github.io/presentation-20190306-wikidatawilson-learning-forum/) wikiproject: “a wikiproject is a group of contributors who want to work together as a team to improve wikipedia. these groups often focus on a specific topic area (for example, wikiproject mathematics or wikiproject india), a specific part of the encyclopedia (for example, wikiproject disambiguation), or a specific kind of task (for example, checking newly created pages)” (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedia:wikiproject). wikimedia affiliates: wikimedia foundation board of trustees recognizes models of affiliation within the wikimedia movement – chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups. “wikimedia movement affiliates exist to further the goals of wikimedia. depending on their affiliation model, they do so by engaging in a wide range of activities” (from wikipedia:wikiproject wikipedia. (source: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/wikimedia_movement_affiliates/frequently_asked_question s). wikimedia foundation: the wikimedia foundation (wmf) is an american non-profit and charitable organization that supports and participates in the wikimedia movement, owning the internet domain names of its projects and hosting its websites. wikimedia lgbt+: wikimedia lgbt+ is a wikimedia user group that promotes the development of content on wikimedia projects which are of interest to lgbt+ communities. the wikimedia lgbt+ user group was approved by the affiliations committee in september 2014. 125 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://kspurgin.github.io/presentation-20190306-wikidata-wilson-learning-forum/ https://kspurgin.github.io/presentation-20190306-wikidata-wilson-learning-forum/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedia:wikiproject https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/wikimedia_movement_affiliates/frequently_asked_questions https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/wikimedia_movement_affiliates/frequently_asked_questions bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 wikipedia diversity observatory: the wikipedia diversity observatory (wdo) is a space to study diversity in wikipedia's content and communities, identify and discuss needs and gaps, and propose and develop solutions to bridge them. appendix b. additional explanations of some methodological terms in this section, we provide short explanations of some terms and concepts related to the methodology we used throughout the study. ground-truth: ground truth is a term used in various fields to refer to information that is known to be real or true, provided by definitions, user annotations, or measurements. in machine learning, it is the ideal expected result. f1-score: the f1-score or f-measure is a measure of a test's accuracy. it is the harmonic mean of the precision and recall of the test, where the precision is the number of true positive results divided by the number of all positive results, including those not identified correctly, and the recall is the number of true positive results divided by the number of all samples that should have been identified as positive. louvain method: the louvain method for community detection is a method to extract communities from large networks created by blondel et al. from the university of louvain (the source of this method's name). machine learning classifier: machine learning (ml) is the study of computer algorithms that improve automatically through experience and by the use of data. it is seen as a part of artificial intelligence. machine learning algorithms build a model based on sample data, known as "training data," in order to make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed to do so. positive training set: a positive training set is a data set of positive examples used during the learning process and is used to fit the parameters (e.g., weights) of, for example, a classifier. in a binary classifier, there is usually a positive and a negative training set. references ayoub, p. m., & brzezińska, o. 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(2011). scikit-learn: machine learning in python. the journal of machine learning research, 12, 2825-2830. https://arxiv.org/abs/1201.0490 person task force. (2021, november 23). in wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedia:wikiproject_lgbt_studies/task_forces/perso n phetteplace, e. (2015). accidental technologist: how can libraries improve wikipedia? reference & user services quarterly, 55(2), 109. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/rusq.55n2.109 portal: lgbt. (2021d, october 22). in wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=portal:lgbt&oldid=1051300274 pullen, c., & cooper, m. (eds.). (2010). lgbt identity and online new media. routledge. redi, m., gerlach, m., johnson, i., morgan, j., & zia, l. (2020). a taxonomy of knowledge gaps for wikimedia projects (second draft). arxiv preprint. https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.12314 soriano, c. r. r. (2014). constructing collectivity in diversity: online political mobilization of a national lgbt political party. media, culture & society, 36(1), 20-36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443713507812 stewart, b., & kendrick, k. d. (2019). "hard to find": information barriers among lgbt college students. aslib journal of information management, 71(5), 601-617. https://doi.org/10.1108/ajim-02-2019-0040 strategy/wikimedia movement/2017/direction. (2021). in meta, discussion about wikimedia projects. https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=strategy/wikimedia_movement/2017/ direction&oldid=21540194 szajewski, m. (2013). using wikipedia to enhance the visibility of digitized archival assets. dlib magazine, 19(3). https://doi.org/10.1045/march2013-szajewski thij, m., kaltenbrunner, a., laniado, d., & volkovich, y. (2019). collective attention patterns under controlled conditions. online social networks and media, 13, 100047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.osnem.2019.07.003 warncke-wang, m., ranjan, v., terveen, l., & hecht, b. (2015, april). misalignment between supply and demand of quality content in peer production communities. in proceedings of the international aaai conference on web and social media (vol. 9, no. 1). https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/icwsm/article/view/14631 wexelbaum, r. (2019). coming out of the closet: librarian advocacy to advance lgbtq+ wikipedia engagement. in lgbtq+ librarianship in the 21st century: emerging directions of advocacy and community engagement in diverse information 129 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://arxiv.org/abs/1201.0490 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedia:wikiproject_lgbt_studies/task_forces/person https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedia:wikiproject_lgbt_studies/task_forces/person https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=portal:lgbt&oldid=1051300274 https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.12314 https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443713507812 https://doi.org/10.1108/ajim-02-2019-0040 https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=strategy/wikimedia_movement/2017/direction&oldid=21540194 https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=strategy/wikimedia_movement/2017/direction&oldid=21540194 https://doi.org/10.1045/march2013-szajewski https://doi.org/10.1016/j.osnem.2019.07.003 https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/icwsm/article/view/14631 bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 environments (advances in librarianship, vol. 45), emerald publishing limited, bingley, pp. 115-139. https://doi.org/10.1108/s0065-283020190000045011 wexelbaum, r., herzog, k., & rasberry, l. (2015). queering wikipedia. in r. wexelbaum (ed.), queers online: lgbt digital practices in libraries, archives, and museums (pp. 61–80). litwin books. wiki99. (2021, july 6). in meta, discussion about wikimedia projects. https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=wiki99&oldid=21702112 wikimedia foundation. (2021). wikimedia downloads. https://dumps.wikimedia.org/ wikimedia lgbt+/portal. (2021, october 24). in meta, discussion about wikimedia projects. https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikimedia_lgbt%2b/portal&oldid=222 33292 wikimedia movement. (2021). in meta, discussion about wikimedia projects. https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikimedia_movement&oldid=22035811 wikipedia contributors. (2021a). wikipedia: glam. in wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. retrieved 09:28, october 27, 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:glam&oldid=1026460753 wikipedia diversity observatory. (2021, august 2). in meta, discussion about wikimedia projects. https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia_diversity_observatory&oldid =21827818 wikipedia: categorization/ethnicity, gender, religion, and sexuality. (2021e, october 13). in wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:categorization/ethnicity,_gend er,_religion_and_sexuality&oldid=1049779586 wikipedia: featured articles. (2021f, october 27). in wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:featured_articles&oldid=105203 5729 wikipedia: featured articles. (2021g, october 27).in wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:featured_articles&oldid=105203 5729 wikipedia: vital articles. (2021h, october 27).in wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:vital_articles&oldid=105208022 4 wikipedia: wikipedians (2021b, september 28). in wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:wikipedians&oldid=1047027878 wikipedia: wikiproject lgbt studies. (2021c, september 21). in wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 130 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/10.1108/s0065-283020190000045011 https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=wiki99&oldid=21702112 https://dumps.wikimedia.org/ https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikimedia_lgbt%2b/portal&oldid=22233292 https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikimedia_lgbt%2b/portal&oldid=22233292 https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikimedia_movement&oldid=22035811 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:glam&oldid=1026460753 https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia_diversity_observatory&oldid=21827818 https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia_diversity_observatory&oldid=21827818 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:categorization/ethnicity,_gender,_religion_and_sexuality&oldid=1049779586 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:categorization/ethnicity,_gender,_religion_and_sexuality&oldid=1049779586 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:featured_articles&oldid=1052035729 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:featured_articles&oldid=1052035729 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:featured_articles&oldid=1052035729 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:featured_articles&oldid=1052035729 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:vital_articles&oldid=1052080224 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:vital_articles&oldid=1052080224 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:wikipedians&oldid=1047027878 bridging lgbt+ content gaps across wikipedia language editions the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(4), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37270 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:wikiproject_lgbt_studies&oldi d=1044119150 wikiproyecto: mujeres en portada. (2021, february 7). in wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre.https://es.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikiproyecto:mujeres_en_portada&o ldid=133029869 wulczyn, e., west, r., zia, l., & leskovec, j. (2016, april). growing wikipedia across languages via recommendation. in proceedings of the 25th international conference on world wide web (pp. 975-985). marc miquel-ribé (mmiquel-ctr@wikimedia.org) is a university professor and phd researcher based in barcelona (catalonia). he teaches user experience at the universitat pompeu fabra (upf) tecnocampus and does research on content diversity and editor engagement in online communities. he has been a member of amical wikimedia (catalan wikipedia) since 2011. additionally, he's been one of the lead writers of the wikimedia strategy 2030 plan and helped shape the narrative to prioritize equity and inclusion in future movement projects. he is currently working in the wikimedia foundation research team on the project knowledge gaps index and in partnership with the eurecat foundation in a project named wikipedia community health metrics. andreas kaltenbrunner (kaltenbrunner@gmail.com) is senior research scientist at the isi foundation in turin. he holds a phd in computer science and digital communication obtained in 2008 from the upf in barcelona. afterwards, he has worked at the technology centre barcelona media where he co-founded the social media research line and led it from may 2013 onwards. between june 2015 and august 2017, he was scientific director of the digital humanities research unit at the technology centre eurecat. in september 2017 he joined ntent as director of data analytics, until joining isi foundation in october 2020. andreas is also teaching a master course on data based social analytics at universitat pompeu fabra (upf) in barcelona and is involved in research activities centred on computational social science, social media and social network analysis. he has co-authored more than 70 publications in these areas. jeffrey m. keefer (jk904@nyu.edu) is an open learning and non-profit capacity building consultant, educational and institutional researcher, professor, and wikimedian. he has worked in higher education and organizational learning for nearly two decades, and helps people navigate their learning needs and take informed action. 131 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:wikiproject_lgbt_studies&oldid=1044119150 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikipedia:wikiproject_lgbt_studies&oldid=1044119150 https://es.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikiproyecto:mujeres_en_portada&oldid=133029869 https://es.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=wikiproyecto:mujeres_en_portada&oldid=133029869 mailto:mmiquel-ctr@wikimedia.org mailto:kaltenbrunner@gmail.com mailto:jk904@nyu.edu introduction lgbt+ information online measuring the lgbt+ content gaps research questions rq1. what is the existing lgbt+ content, and how is it explicitly characterized as such in the selected wikipedia language editions? rq2. what is the share of lgbt+ content in the selected wikipedia language editions? rq3. what is the visibility of lgbt+ biographies in wikipedia language editions' featured articles? rq4. what is the coincidence between lgbt+ content and local content in the selected wikipedia language editions? methods how to determine if an article is lgbt+? data points for the ground truth and the candidate articles step 1: ground truth articles wikidata properties page titles step 2: candidate articles feature 1: category crawling levels features 2-5: inlinks from / outlinks to features 2 and 3: features 4 and 5: step 3: machine learning classification training and testing manual assessment data and selection of languages wikimedia foundation dumps additional article descriptors selection of languages results rq1. existence of lgbt+ content across wikipedia language editions rq2. share of lgbt+ content in wikipedia language editions rq3. visibility of lgbt+ biographies in featured articles rq4. coincidence between lgbt+ content and local content lgbt+ gap tool conclusions bridging lgbt+ content gap limitations and future lines of work recommendations for the wikimedia lgbt+ community endnotes acknowledgements appendix a. additional explanations of wikimedia terms appendix b. additional explanations of some methodological terms references diversity committees during the era of social justice: where do we go from here? the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37145 diversity committees during the era of social justice: where do we go from here? gilbert singletary, chamberlain university, usa kenneth royal, north carolina state university, usa kathy purnell, walden university, usa abstract the deaths of george floyd and other african american men and women in 2020 awakened the consciousness of americans and social justice advocates across the world. the chants of “black lives matter!” echoed from the streets of minneapolis – all the way to the shores of cape town, south africa. immense pressure from protestors and community organizers caused those in education and traditional business sectors to evaluate their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei). many organizations responded by releasing statements in support of minoritized groups, often including the hashtags #blm or #naacp1. however, despite support offered via social media, consumers and social justice advocates demanded more than just words. to that end, many institutions began to establish diversity book clubs, while others created dei committees, and/or appointed a chief diversity officer to guide dei initiatives across the institution (byrd et al., 2021). constructing and operating a diverse dei committee presents significant challenges. in addition to the barriers associated with assembling diverse members, there are also methodological constraints as there is a dearth of empirical research within the extant literature that provides guidance in constructing and evaluating the effectiveness of dei committees. to that end, the purpose of this article is three-fold: (1) to discuss the necessity of dei committees in higher education and corporate settings; (2) to explain why dei committees sometimes fail; and (3) to offer some suggestions for addressing ways to improve their overall effectiveness. keywords: diversity committees; diversity, equity, and inclusion in education; making diversity committees effective; the role of diversity committees; starting a diversity committee publication type: special section publication introduction illiams (2013) argued that diversity committees are essential for higher education institutions, and should be regarded as a significant element in advancing those institutions’ missions, visions, and goals. williams continued by defining diversity committees as “a group of diverse stakeholders who have formally joined forces to shape, and in some instances implement, a shared plan” in a particular organizational context (p. 409). by and large, higher education institutions have responded to the need to develop strategies to demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion by creating dei committees (leon w https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi diversity committees the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37145 49 & williams, 2016). those committees may present themselves as a council, task force, or commission (leon & williams, 2016). a diversity committee provides an important path for such institutions, as it tells unique stories, identifies strategies and objectives, and expresses how organizations plan to implement overall diversity-related goals (leon & williams, 2016). diversity committees can function as an organizational think tank where diversity goals are not only operationalized but actualized through collective efforts (figure 1). figure 1. responsibilities of the dei committee the value of diverse committee members research suggests that to be effective, dei committees should strive to develop a team-based approach predicated on the diverse demographical characteristics of the community or organization (harper & hurtado, 2007). invitees should be given careful consideration for input as the diversity committee is developed; committee development must convey an intentional process that includes a diverse group of stakeholders who are representative of the environment (harper & hurtado, 2007). in an educational setting, members should include students, faculty, staff, leadership, and a cross-section of the collegiate body. williams (2013) suggested 10 to 15 members as the optimal size for a diversity committee. further, as noted by maltbia and power (2009), the committee’s structure depends on the group's purpose, and the goals it seeks to accomplish. for example leon and williams (2016) posited that larger committees might be more effective for fostering inclusivity and building community in places where diversity, equity, and https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity committees the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37145 50 inclusion concepts are novel. conversely, smaller committees may work well in more advanced institutions that are more progressive and have greater diversity. committees must exceed the boundaries of race and must be inclusive of all forms of diversity. notwithstanding the committee's size, failure to ensure an inclusive and equitable selection process may lead to a lack of collective trust in that process and may ultimately compromise future initiatives (dobbin & kalev, 2016). as a result, dei committees may encounter sustainability issues and sometimes fail to achieve their desired purpose in the absence of a collective and well-crafted strategic action plan (atcheson, 2020). therefore, when determining committee size, serious consideration must also be given to the role, scope, purpose, and mission of the committee. the challenges faced by diversity committees there are several challenges inherent to the development of dei committees; issues range from the consideration of individuals invited to serve on the committee to the structure and process in articulating the committee’s purpose and goals (maltbia & power 2009). however, experience suggests that the two most daunting tasks germane to the development of dei committees are establishing bylaws and positioning the committee within appropriate proximity to functional leaders and administrators. for a dei committee to be effective, it must have the support of organizational leadership. advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion must go beyond mere diversity statements; to be successful, its elements must permeate the institution’s strategic plans, and the fruits of its labor must be evident and measurable (figure 2). figure 2. dei committee basics moreover, advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion must not rest solely on the shoulders of marginalized committee members. in effective committees, every participant embraces the https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity committees the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37145 51 challenge of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. in a recent study of diversity experts, participants used the american idiom “preaching to the choir” as a metaphor to highlight shared similarities in race, gender, and partnerships made through diversity committee work (anderson, 2020). anderson described the different challenges related to committee work as a burden, whereby chief diversity officers often reported feeling dissatisfied and even marginalized due to a lack of adequate support and institutional resources. anderson (2020) also noted the frustration expressed by many minority committee members who reported feeling that they were tasked with teaching other non-minority committee members how to demonstrate appropriate cultural norms and how to engage with cultural humility.2 such complexity is not only unfair to minority committee members; these problems also pose a tangible risk to the committee’s sustainability as well as its ability to execute its strategic goals. committee composition matters diversity committee composition matters. similar to the effects of a clinical trial in medicine that only involves patients of a specific demographic, the inferential constraints of a minoritymajority dei committee will also be limited. therefore, committees must be comprised of diverse members and perspectives that span all members of a community population. this diversity of thought helps us learn from one another, educate others, and make decisions that are in the best interest of our communities. although it may seem counterintuitive, a committee consisting of a majority of minority members has the potential to perpetuate and create further division among other members of the larger community (leon & williams, 2016). to that end, maintaining a minority member-only committee can create an “us vs. them” climate, which is the opposite of that committee's goals (leon & williams, 2016). as a result, members of the majority group may feel threatened and possibly excluded from efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (plaut, 2014). further, excluding majority members may be perceived as “prescribing the symptoms” by way of committee members engaging in similar behaviors as those they expressly oppose. this double message may serve to normalize the behaviors and interactions of the majority, which is antithetical to the committee’s overall goals. in addition, a committee consisting primarily of members of the minority group may increase the potential for its members to feel as if they are the center of others’ attention. this minority spotlight effect, defined by crosby et al. (2014) is what occurs when a remark or other actions cause individuals “to feel as though all eyes are upon them” as well as a sudden and unwelcome responsibility to respond on behalf of their group” (p. 1). in some cases, members may also feel that the spotlight effect draws unwanted, negative attention to themselves, possibly in the form of microaggressions which can negatively impact morale, productivity, and job satisfaction (place, 2020). members may also feel specific attributes are being imposed upon them and their collective group identity (positive stereotyping) (siy & cheryan, 2013). others may even feel excluded from another group identity (identity denial) entirely (cheryan & monin, 2005). moreover, the substance of the committee’s work may suffer from an “echo chamber effect” in which the perspectives shared by members are too similar, consequently resulting in less diversity of thought and opinion (smith & roberts, 2007). finally, dei committees overrepresented by minority group members, risk alienating members of the majority group who may be willing to champion the committee’s objectives (smith & roberts, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity committees the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37145 52 2007). to increase the effectiveness of these committees, it is imperative that the committee's goals not only reflect the interest of the minority group, but also the organization or institution as a whole. a diverse workplace with a collegial climate benefits all employees and sectors of the institution. the collaborative effort of majority and minority group membership alike has the potential to build community, cooperation, empowerment, and lasting change. the purpose and scope of dei committees the overall purpose of a dei committee is multifaceted. however, its goal is to develop comprehensive strategies that cultivate cultural and ethical changes essential to advancing an institution’s mission, values, and goals (atcheson, 2020). this approach includes efforts to ensure accountability, and a focus on equitable policy and procedure enactment throughout the corporation or institution (stroman, 2020). the overarching objective is to create a community in which all individuals feel heard, seen, acknowledged, valued, and represented at all levels of the corporation or institution. when developing a dei committee, several factors must be taken into consideration, including: 1. identification of key stakeholders based on unique experiences and potential contributions to the committee; 2. a comprehensive needs assessment to determine the need for change; 3. development of a customized strategy based on the results of the needs assessment to create measurable goals and objectives; 4. implementation of strategic action plans; 5. evaluation and continuing audit of the action plan; and 6. follow-up with key stakeholders and institution or corporate leaders. figure 3. core elements of an effective dei committee as figure 3 illustrates, building an effective dei committee is iteratively conceived and activated https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity committees the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37145 53 over time. although challenges might arise, it is very conceivable to construct a dei committee with diverse members. in the same way that representative samples eliminate bias from populations in research studies, efforts to increase proportional representation could equally affect committee composition. hypothetically speaking, if a minority group consisted of a significant portion of an organization or community (30% or more), it may be helpful to use a stratified sampling approach in which characteristics of committee members are proportionally allocated to be representative of those from the larger community population. for instances in which minority groups comprise a smaller portion of the community (less than 30%), a slightly larger proportion of minority members may be necessary to maximize the input from that minority. evaluating diversity committees while dei committees seek to ensure viable strategies to create a specific vision, mission, and goals, it is equally important to consider ongoing evaluative assessment measures. dei efforts should be assessed and tracked as a continuous component of the evaluative process (anwah, 2021b). many dei efforts focus their appraisal measures on performance and what the diversity committee can achieve through hiring, programming, and its overall commitment to diversity. while this method is often embraced by many organizations and institutes of higher education, scant information speaks to the developmental phases of the dei committees. some organizations take steps to measure and evaluate diversity efforts with the added step of publishing feedback via a scorecard (ricci, 2021). a personalized accountability system is highly recommended, allowing for ongoing evaluation and assessment of the organization’s commitment to creating diversity, equity, and inclusion measures (anwah, 2021a; hayton, 2021). these measures should review tasks achieved and how the committee functions within its assigned roles and responsibilities. in conversation with dr. yvonne murray larrier, author of “digging deeper into dei” (personal communication, august 2, 2021), she provided the following recommendations to aid in the assessment of effective dei committee work: 1. self-assess: it is essential to encourage committee members to assess their own contributions to the committee. for example, each person should ask themselves if their efforts are bringing the committee closer to its collective stated goals. 2. assign measurable tasks: assign individual members tasks and hold them accountable by requiring an official (visual) update for the committee members. 3. reflection: provide space for individual and group reflections of committee actions. members should be able to discuss specific insights and impacts authentically. 4. create an assessment: potential assessment tool categories could include: a. participation; b. responsiveness and timeliness; c. flexibility and adaptability; d. innovation/creativity; https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index diversity committees the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37145 54 e. collaboration; f. communication skills; and g. social-emotional awareness skills. the process of assessing the effectiveness of dei committee work is just as important as evaluating committee outcomes. in determining the effectiveness of the process, one must consider the factors above. conclusion it is laudable that many colleges, universities, and corporations are now interested in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. although many initiatives may have launched without a clear vision and mission, dei groups deserve merit for ways in which they have responded to justiceoriented discourse that has been the center of the mood of the global public sphere in recent years. positive dei actions must be considered beyond the present, and the merits of these actions must include a long-term review. we must ensure that these initiatives are proactive rather than reactive, well-thought-out, and built for scale and purpose. these actions cannot be the result of an expedient course of action. to be productive, diversity, equity, and inclusion must be embedded in the dna of the long-term strategic visions and plans and must be reflected and modeled at all levels, from the president to the maintenance staff. finally, diversity committee composition matters. with a finite number of seats and members eligible to serve on the committee, establishing a concise value proposition for each member becomes critically important. overrepresentation by a minority committee structure may result in some unintended negative consequences that could adversely impact the overall goals and sustainability of the committee. diverse committees provide greater opportunities to foster cohesive environments, making it easier to champion diversity efforts by elevating all constituents' voices, thus forging allyships with minoritized and majority groups. endnotes 1 these are the twitter designations for black lives matter and the national association for the advancement of colored people, respectively. 2 the national institutes of health defines cultural humility as “a lifelong process of selfreflection and self-critique whereby the individual not only learns about another's culture, but one starts with an examination of her/his own beliefs and cultural identities” (yeager & bauerwu, 2013). references anderson, r. k. (2020). preaching to the choir: university diversity committees as affective communities. anthropology & education quarterly, 51(1), 47-65. https://doi.org/gqg6 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/gqg6 diversity committees the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37145 55 anwah, g. s. (2021a, february 8). what does diversity mean to small businesses? definition and examples of how diversity improves businesses. https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-diversity-means-to-small-businesses-5104921 anwah, s. g. (2021b, may 3). how to write a statement of commitment and inclusion (dei). the balance small business. https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-to-write-a-statementof-commitment-to-diversity-and-inclusion-5181844 atcheson, s. 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(2021, january 20). how to measure diversity, equity, and inclusion. ideal. https://ideal.com/measure-diversity-equity-inclusion/ https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-diversity-means-to-small-businesses-5104921 https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-to-write-a-statement-of-commitment-to-diversity-and-inclusion-5181844 https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-to-write-a-statement-of-commitment-to-diversity-and-inclusion-5181844 https://www.forbes.com/sites/shereeatcheson/2020/12/02/what-is-a-diversity-council--how-do-you-make-it-a-success/?sh=4521fc2d7a19 https://www.forbes.com/sites/shereeatcheson/2020/12/02/what-is-a-diversity-council--how-do-you-make-it-a-success/?sh=4521fc2d7a19 https://doi.org/gg3k9f https://doi.org/fvj5dv https://doi.org/dwf2 https://stratserv.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/why-diversity-programs-fail.pdf https://stratserv.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/why-diversity-programs-fail.pdf https://doi.org/d9x4tp https://harver.com/blog/diversity-inclusion-metrics/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-016-9357-8 https://www.benefitnews.com/news/committing-to-diversity-and-inclusion-means-addressing-common-microaggressions https://www.benefitnews.com/news/committing-to-diversity-and-inclusion-means-addressing-common-microaggressions https://doi.org/gqhb https://ideal.com/measure-diversity-equity-inclusion/ diversity committees the international journal of information, diversity, & inclusion, 5(5), 2021 issn 2574-3430, jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index doi: 10.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37145 56 siy, j., & cheryan, s. (2013). when compliments fail to flatter: american individualism and responses to positive stereotypes. journal of personality and social psychology, 104(1), 87-102. https://doi.org/f4kk47 smith, l. a., & roberts, t. l. (2007). the journey to inclusion: the role of diversity committees in schools of social work . . . a cautionary tale. journal of human behavior in the social environment, 15(1), 121-133. https://doi.org/bqs4q3 stroman, d. (2020, november 29). the gift that won’t stop giving: the onslaught of diversity committees and task forces. medium. https://drstroman.medium.com/the-gift-thatwont-stop-giving-the-onslaught-of-diversity-committees-and-task-forces-647933fd088f williams, d. a. (2013). strategic diversity leadership: activating change and transformation in higher education. stylus. yeager, k. a., & bauer-wu, s. (2013). cultural humility: essential foundation for clinical researchers. applied nursing research, 26(4), 251–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2013.06.008 gilbert (gil) singletary (gsingletary@chamberlain.edu) is the chair of the diversity and inclusion council and the senior director of the college of health professions at chamberlain university. in addition, gil is a researcher and scholar practitioner with over 20-years of experience in postsecondary education. kenneth (kenny) royal (kdroyal2@ncsu.edu) is an associate professor, educational assessment & outcomes at north carolina state university. kenny is an accomplished researcher with over 20 years of teaching and research experience in post-secondary education. kathy purnell (kafanei@gmail.com) is a core faculty member at walden university in the department of social work. she has over 27 years of experience as an educator, national diversity trainer/consultant, and a human services/social work practitioner. dr. purnell's research interests include diversity & multicultural competence education in social work education & the academy. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/index https://doi.org/f4kk47 https://doi.org/bqs4q3 https://drstroman.medium.com/the-gift-that-wont-stop-giving-the-onslaught-of-diversity-committees-and-task-forces-647933fd088f https://drstroman.medium.com/the-gift-that-wont-stop-giving-the-onslaught-of-diversity-committees-and-task-forces-647933fd088f https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2013.06.008 mailto:gsingletary@chamberlain.edu mailto:kdroyal2@ncsu.edu mailto:kafanei@gmail.com introduction the value of diverse committee members the challenges faced by diversity committees committee composition matters the purpose and scope of dei committees evaluating diversity committees conclusion endnotes references