"This chapter will argue for the need for special collections and archives to proactively collect, catalog, and promote materials that support social justice, inclusivity, and diverse narratives. We will discuss some of the challenges librarians face in acquiring and describing materials from underrepresented communities, particularly in light of the non-traditional publishing and distribution methods contemporary creators are using. We will conclude by discussing opportunities for applying concepts of collective collecting across institutions. Advocating for academic libraries, and special collections in particular, to collect in underrepresented areas can ensure greater visibility for comics artists whose work is often left out of the canon."

"For decades, library collections have been influenced by systems designed by and for those from privileged backgrounds. Historically, only the white male perspective has been considered, translating into a narrowed perspective within research, literature, and history. The structure of large institutions, in particular, has created workflows, policies, and procedures which best serve the white (and often male) majority (Brook, Ellenwood, & Lazzaro, 2015). Many libraries are making the effort to gather more works by underrepresented groups, but continue to utilize the same systems. If libraries are indeed unbiased
institutions that strive to provide a welcoming atmosphere for all patrons, regardless of background, then our collections should reflect those principles."

"This article raises questions about what the word 'knowledge' refers to. Drawn from some 40 years of collaborative work on knowledge democracy, the authors suggest that higher education institutions today are working with a very small part of the extensive and diverse knowledge systems in the world. Following from de Sousa Santos, they illustrate how Western knowledge has been engaged in epistemicide, or the killing of other knowledge systems. Community-based participatory research is about knowledge as an action strategy for change and about the rendering visible of the excluded knowledges of our remarkable planet. Knowledge stories, theoretical dimensions of knowledge democracy and the evolution of community-based participatory research partnerships are highlighted."

"In this article we provide a structural critique of attribution as it is figured in colonial practices and ongoing settler-colonial logics that form the basis for creating, circulating, and sharing knowledge through research practices, methods, and platforms. Settler colonialism is a tradition, and as such, it has habits. One of these habits is to hide specific tactics and practices in operationalizing dispossession. Attribution is one of these tactics. Attribution functions as a key mechanism within a copyright/author/archive matrix which maintains hierarchies of knowledge production by reducing Indigenous and non-European subjectivity and legitimating the ongoing appropriation of Indigenous cultural material by non-Indigenous authors. The colonial force of attribution and its practices of exclusion are hidden in the stacks and how they are populated; in the rights fields of databases and how they are cited; in archival processes of selection, appraisal, and accessioning; and through efforts to digitize content and collections in order to make them open without acknowledgment and ongoing relationships. We argue that one mode of decolonizing practices for libraries and archives is through remaking, reframing, and refiguring attribution through ongoing Indigenous connections to land and knowledge."

"The purpose of this paper is to question the cultural suitability of the systems and procedures libraries have in place to organize materials. As stated by Berman, the systems and approaches that catalogers adhere to are “so slavish” (Berman & Gross, 2017). When librarians talk about changes to codes and standards that are currently in use, it is often at the micro-level. These micro-level changes include submitting a term addition or term change request to the Library of Congress Subject Headings; or adding/revising a rule to Resource Description and Access. What may be needed are not these micro-level changes, but changes at the macrolevel. Librarians need to feel empowered to go beyond the Euro-American models of library cataloging work, without feeling that they are violating the integrity of their relationships with networks and consortia. Structures need to be in place to allow libraries and catalogers to vary the way they apply the necessary guidelines. Specific examples—with an emphasis on Southeast Asia -- is presented to argue these points."

"This paper aims to examine the methods of diversity-related collection assessment useful for large academic libraries."

"The UC Berkeley Library aims to digitize and share all 200 million items in its special collections. In 2016, the Library shared digital copies of ethnographic documents that include information on the cultural lessons, ceremonies, medicines, and sacred sites of Native California tribes — information that many consider to be private, sensitive, and, in the wrong hands, harmful. Following community pain and backlash, the materials were taken down. In the years since, the Library has rebuilt its digitization program on a foundation of transparency, inclusivity, and respect. This past spring, the Library released a draft of policies and practices to guide the digitization and takedown of Indigenous materials, in close collaboration with tribal members. But this is just a start. Here, community members reflect on the Library’s ethical duties as a steward of Native American collections, and how the university can better serve the communities these materials represent."

"In her presentation, Dr. Christen addressed the concept that library and archive practices are neutral and non-biased, traced the often violent histories of collecting and the construction of the public domain, unpacked their connections to the foundations of libraries and archives, and opened a space to provide a framework for ethical engagements and reciprocal practices through culturally responsive tools and engagements. The event was held at OCLC’s global headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, and live-streamed to virtual attendees."