PDA Event: Equity and Ethics in Cultural Heritage Preservation

Predominately White GLAM organizations (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) are often custodians of cultural heritage collections belonging to minoritized racial and ethnic communities. While organizational custodians typically maintain policy statements and undertake digital projects supporting access to cultural heritage materials, there remain concerns about the gatekeeping of materials and information. Crucial steps to transforming cultural heritage collections work in predominantly White GLAM organizations is to learn about how current LIS practices impact different communities and work to identify and address the inequities and ethical concerns within their own collection policies and practices. Join a panel of leading experts to discuss inequities and ethical considerations relating to policy and praxis pertaining to the collection and management of cultural heritage materials among predominately White institutions.

Webinar attendees will: 

• Learn about collection development and management concerns affecting different communities from community-based experts; 
• Understand how oppression and injustice appears in our everyday work through policy and practices that negatively impact marginalized communities; 
• Apply concepts, information, and resources to begin examining collections, policies, and practices in their own institutions. 

This program will begin with presentations from Dr. Nicole N. Aljoe, Sharon M. Burney, and Dr. Jennifer R. O'Neal followed by a facilitated discussion between the panelists and moderator and a Q&A with attendees. 

Presenters

Sharon M. Burney is a program officer with the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), where she manages the Recordings at Risk, Digitizing Hidden Collections: Amplifying Unheard Voices, and Digitizing Hidden Special Collections grant programs. Sharon specializes in academic, cultural heritage, community, and institutional support systems, navigating administrative policy adherence with an interpersonal connection that promotes community building. She is the host and co-producer of the award-winning HBCU Library Alliance Tour, season three of CLIR’s Material Memory podcast. Prior to joining CLIR, Sharon spent 15 years providing program support to the University of Florida African American Studies Program, where she was instrumental in advancing the curriculum from certificate program to premiere degree program. Sharon loves to embrace the infinite historical contributions of the African diaspora, and blends them with contemporary civil rights, activism, and social issues in her poetry. Her passion for public service, education, and humanity is exemplified in every aspect of her life, and when in rest mode you can find her enjoying the simple moments with her daughters and pets.

Jennifer R. O'Neal is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies at the University of Oregon. Her interdisciplinary research and teaching focus on the intersections of Native American and international relations history, with an emphasis on sovereignty, self-determination, cultural heritage, global Indigenous rights, activism, and legal issues. Her work is dedicated to centering Indigenous traditional knowledge, developing place-based education, and implementing guidelines for the ethical research of Native American communities and management of cultural heritage collections. Over the past fifteen years she has assisted in leading the implementation of best practices for Native American archival materials in non-tribal repositories in the United States through the collective development of the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials (2006). Prior to joining the UO, she held previous positions at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian and the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC. She is an enrolled member of The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Oregon.

Moderator

Joanna M. Fuchs is the Metadata Coordinator for the Arts and Humanities at Brandeis Library. At Brandeis, her work focuses on enhancing metadata and promoting discoverability of physical and digital collections. She is currently the Chair of the Boston Library Consortium’s Media Community of Interest. Over the years, she has organized events for the group that looked at preservation practices, copyright, and accessibility for various forms of media. Alongside her work with the Boston Library Consortium, she serves as Treasurer for the New England Technical Services Librarians (NESTL) board and has assisted in organizing the annual conference. Over the years, she has presented on metadata and discoverability, focusing on music resources, for local conferences in the New England Area. Joanna has also served as a moderator for the Fall 2023 New England Music Librarians Association meeting. Outside of the library, Joanna is a musicologist. She received her Master’s in Musicology from Brandeis University and her Bachelor’s in Music History from Youngstown State University. Her main interests include Bartok’s later works and the music of the Chaouia Berbers of Algeria.

Register to attend.

This program is organized by the BLC Media Community of Interest with financial support from the BLC Innovation Fund.