Call for Papers — Open Sessions
Subject Analysis and Access Section
- 6 April 2023, 11:58
Theme: "Identifiers for identities: Rectifying the (mis)representation of demographic groups"
CFP for SAA’s Open Session at the WLIC 2023 in Rotterdam
The IFLA Subject Analysis and Access Section is seeking proposals for papers to be presented at their Open Session at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2023 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Considerations will also be given to proposals for presentations without full papers.
Each knowledge organisation system (KOS) comes with its own cultural perspective, its worldview, and its unique way of putting concepts into structure. Working with vocabularies, thesauri, and classification systems requires an understanding of their respective cultural backgrounds and recognizing the power of standardised language to ascribe identities.
In recent years, knowledge organisation systems have been criticised as to how they represent marginalized groups, be they defined by ethnicity, socio-economic status, ability, sexual orientation, or gender. The cultural competence of any given KOS must be questioned in order to avoid repeating discriminatory stereotypes and misrepresentations. What labels do KOS provide for different groups? Under which generic terms are they grouped? What is the cultural context of the given name and what implications arise from the heading/name chosen or its position within a semantic hierarchy? Can there ever be a neutral representation?
In our open session we want to highlight projects that rectify some of the misrepresentations, eliminating the prejudices (or biases) of the past and embrace greater inclusivity in KOS.
This session will focus on ongoing KOS projects which, motivated by cultural humility, address the representation of demographic groups and offer innovative ideas for change.
We would like to invite papers or presentations on the following sub-themes:
- Changes in KOS relating to demographic group naming, subjects, and classification.
- Changes in metadata policies for identity terms.
- Lessons learned from related projects (changes in editorial processes and/or practices, change management, management of legacy data, reclassification, and other relevant projects)
- Impact from the implementation of KOS changes to editorial processes and metadata creation workflows.
- Impact from the implementation of KOS changes to users of metadata and access to information resources.
- On a meta-level: thoughts on the “standardisability” of names for specific demographic groups in KOS: Have we reached the end of standardisability?
- KOS editorial process: Integration of individual demographic groups in the review and development of related KOS and KOS concepts.
Each presentation will be no longer than 15 minutes and in English. Time for Q&A will be scheduled after the paper presentations.
Proposals must be submitted in an electronic format and must include the following information:
- Name, title, institution, country, and email of speaker(s)
- Brief biographical statement about each speaker (max 100 words)
- Title of proposed presentation
- Abstract of presentation (300-500 words)
- Willingness to comply with IFLA’s Authors’ Permission (Papers / Slides will be published in IFLA’s online Repository following the conference)
- Confirmation that at least one of the authors can attend the IFLA Congress and present in-person if accepted.
All proposals should be submitted by email to both of the following contacts. Send proposal abstracts (500 words or less) by 1 May 2023, to:
Athena Salaba
Chair, Subject Analysis and Access Section
Drahomira Cupar
Information Coordinator, Subject Analysis and Access Section
Important dates:
1 May, 2023 — Deadline for proposal submission
25 May, 2023 — Notification of acceptance
25 July, 2023 – Paper, Presentation slides, and Author Permission form submission deadline
21-25 August, 2023 — WLIC
Please note:
SAA Open Session organisers will give priority to in-person presentations. At least one of the paper’s authors is strongly encouraged to be present to deliver a summary of the paper during the Open Session in Rotterdam. In exceptional cases, a pre-recorded presentation may be accepted.
The paper, if supplied, must be an original submission not presented or published elsewhere. All papers that are presented at the WLIC 2023 will be made available online via the IFLA Repository under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
Authors of accepted papers must complete the IFLA Authors’ Permission Form.
All expenses for attending the Open Session (including conference attendance fees, travel, accommodation, etc.) are the responsibility of the authors/presenters. No financial support can be provided by IFLA.
Congress participation Grants:
List of opportunities for support is available on the Apply for Grants & Awards webpage.