The Implementation of Inclusive Description Standards in Cultural Heritage Organizations

Taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, and other formalized descriptive standards enable efficient, interoperable description and discovery of materials across disciplines and platforms. However, standards often reflect the cultural landscapes in which they are developed and implemented. They reflect a worldview that determines what does and does not warrant description, what concepts are synonymous, and what terminology best captures ideas, to align with the understanding of "the reader." As Joan Marshall notes, this reader is assumed to be "white, Christian (often specifically Protestant,), male, and straight (heterosexual.)" (Marshall, 1972). Calls for greater inclusivity in metadata and descriptive practices are not new. Dorothy Burnett, librarian at Howard University, noted that during the 1930s in the Dewey Decimal System, books both by and about African Americans were organized under either Slavery or Colonization, a practice which she referred to as "stupid to me," and which subsequently led to her implementing a new model at Howard (Madison & Wesley, 1995). Berman's Prejudices and Antipathies: A Tract on the LC Subject Heads Concerning People, first published in 1971, noted "the humanity-degrading, intellect-constricting rubbish that litters" Library of Congress headings, highlighting problematic practices ranging from headings such as "the Jewish Question" and "the Race Question" to the cross-referencing of "Sexual perversion" with both "Homosexuality" and "Lesbianism" (Berman, 1993). These calls for greater inclusivity have manifested both as the implementation of changes within existing standards, and the development of new standards to better reflect the diverse communities creating and accessing materials. However, despite the development of new standards, questions remain regarding the extent to which these new standards are broadly adopted, and what barriers or facilitators may be present. This scoping review aims to address the following research questions: 1. What formalized standards for reparative descriptive (e.g., controlled vocabularies, taxonomies) are being adopted in cultural heritage organizations worldwide (e.g., libraries, archives, museums, and galleries)? 2. What types of materials and collections are the subject of these initiatives? 3. What barriers or facilitators to adoption have been described?