No One Can Whistle a Symphony: Seeking a Catalogers’ Code of Ethics

Shoemaker, Elizabeth

doi:10.5771/0943-7444-2015-5-353

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…While cataloging researchers and practitioners have been contemplating cataloging ethics for decades (e.g., Berman, 1971; Olson, 2002), social justice movements and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in the last 10 years have yielded greater awareness of ethical issues in cataloging and an increase in the number of research studies and initiatives exploring ethics in cataloging work. Recent research literature on cataloging ethics has focused on topics such as the need for a cataloging code of ethics, as well as ethical issues related to subject vocabularies and classification systems, descriptive cataloging and authority work, and cataloging for specific topics, audiences, and materials (e.g., Shoemaker, 2015; Watson, 2020; Billey, Drabinski, Roberto, 2014; Lee, Nam, & Nam, 2013; Dobreski, Snow, & Moulaison‐Sandy, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Evidence‐Based Cataloging Ethics: Research, Practice and Training in Knowledge Organization

McAdie,

Lee,

Snow

et al. 2023

Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Tech

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This panel considers the bridge between research and practice in cataloging ethics. Cataloging ethics – including indexing and classification – is an important part of practice, yet cataloging ethics research and practice are not always clearly connected. The purpose of this panel is to build towards more evidence‐based cataloging ethics practice. Two main areas will be considered. The Cataloging Code of Ethics (2021) is a vital part of these discussions: this major codification of cataloging ethics was the result of both practitioner input and much research. This panel will discuss ways in which the Code can lead to more research‐informed practices. Teaching and training is a crucial – and under‐discussed – aspect of cataloging ethics, both within library and information science education and workplace training. Therefore, the panel will contemplate how training and teaching can germinate research‐based practices. The panel will be in three parts: a panel presentation about cataloging ethics, including each member's perspectives and experiences on teaching and training in cataloging ethics; small group discussions about real world cataloging ethics scenarios, utilizing the Code to generate discussion; and feedback to the whole group with a closing discussion about strengthening the relationship between practice and research in cataloging ethics.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Evidence‐Based Cataloging Ethics: Research, Practice and Training in Knowledge Organization

McAdie,

Lee,

Snow

et al. 2023

Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Tech

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“…Knowledge organization (KO) discourse about ethical responsibility shows how the act of classifying and cataloging a document has an ethical dimension (for example, Bair 2005, Shoemaker 2015, Snow 2015). An important aspect of this research has been to consider the ethics of dealing with works which are in some way deceptive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The applied ethics of constructing metadata includes a variety of different approaches. For example, some works focus on codes and guidelines for doing ethical KO in practice (for instance, Shoemaker 2015, Bair 2005; others focus on specific scenarios or types of material, such as ethical issues in authority control for zine authors (Fox and Swickard 2019) or dealing with so-called "bad books" (Homan 2012). Therefore, this article utilizes the KO applied ethics literature which discusses ethical codes and guidelines, yet uses it to discuss a very specific scenario involving art documentation.…”

Section: Introducing Applied Ethics Literature In Knowledge Organizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bair's (2005) seminal article discusses the principles pertaining to ethical responsibilities for catalogers and she introduces a code of ethics specifically for catalogers. However, this code was not adopted by the community; Shoemaker (2015) suggests that one reason for this is that it is the creation of an individual rather than a collection of librarians. Fox and Reece (2012) also present a set of ethical guidelines which examines what is meant by morality in KO.…”

Section: Introducing Applied Ethics Literature In Knowledge Organizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reality, Unreality, and Artistic Deception: The Ethical Dimensions of the Knowledge Organization of Art Documentation

Lee¹

2020

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The ethics of describing and indexing works which have an element of deception is an important topic within the arena of knowledge organization (KO). However, what happens if the unreal element is for artistic purposes and is part of the experience of the document? The focus of this article is on the KO of art documentation. It considers art documents where unreality and mistruth are part of a document’s creative and artistic purpose. Three examples of exhibition documentation for contemporary art are explored. These illuminate the KO implications of unreal elements in artworks, exhibitions and documents, and the interplay between them. Three models are then presented relating to the KO of unreality. Model one shows how the wishes of the creator are a significant part of ethical KO for art and the ethical KO decisions which result from the performative and experiential aspects of art documentation. Model two illustrates how the placement of the unreality in relation to metadata creation can have a critical impact on ethical decisions in KO. Model three posits unreal-ness as a novel type of information about metadata creation, introducing categories such as motive for the deception. It shows how this original way of contemplating applied ethics in KO is vital for all ethically challenging works. Ultimately, considering the KO ethics of art documentation extends our thinking about how to deal with deception and unreality and adds an important aesthetic-ethical dimension to the corpus of work on KO ethics.

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“…Antes de apresentar exemplos de problemas relacionados às biases nos sistemas de organização do conhecimento, é importante lembrar que existem algumas presunções na organização do conhecimento que vêm sendo tomadas como verdades inquestionáveis e que poderiam causar danos às comunidades de usuários. Algumas dessas presunções são: universalidade (OLSON, 2002), bibliocentrismo (SMIRAGLIA, 2009;, neutralidade (MAI, 2013;MILANI, 2014;SHOEMAKER, 2015) e imparcialidade das categorias mutuamente exclusivas (FOX, 2015). Apesar de pouco abordadas, essas presunções vêm sendo mencionadas de maneira implícita pela literatura especializada, em que prevalecem as críticas relacionadas aos sistemas de organização do conhecimento, mais especificamente as listas de cabeçalhos de assunto.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Problemas relacionados a Biases em Sistemas de Organização do Conhecimento: perspectivas para a Representação de Assunto

Milani

Guimarães

2018

IRIS Rev. Inf. Mem. Tecnol.

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Para atribuir notações de classificação e termos de indexação aos documentos, os bibliotecários valem-se do processo de representação de assunto e de sistemas de organização do conhecimento, tais como esquemas de classificação, linguagens de indexação etc. Quando a representação de assunto não é realizada de uma forma defensável, pode-se promover, censurar, omitir e distorcer informações. Nesse contexto, o bibliotecário terá que considerar valores éticos e barreiras culturais e linguísticas e, portanto, estará diante de dilemas que exigirão tomadas de decisão éticas. A partir do momento em que o bibliotecário reconhece o fato de que dilemas éticos não resolvidos podem causar danos às comunidades de usuários, sua postura perante tal circunstância deverá ser respeitosa. Nesse sentido, com base em relatos de artigos extraídos da literatura internacional especializada em organização do conhecimento, o presente artigo propõe uma reflexão sobre a forma pela qual os sistemas de organização do conhecimento podem fomentar dilemas éticos na atuação do bibliotecário. Esse estudo, de caráter exploratório e aplicado, vale-se de uma abordagem qualitativa e bibliográfica e tem como objetivo apresentar exemplos para discussão desse tema em disciplinas relacionadas à organização do conhecimento, assim como em outros espaços abertos a reflexões éticas.

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No One Can Whistle a Symphony: Seeking a Catalogers’ Code of Ethics

Abstract: and a Doctor of Music from the University of Oregon. Her interests include cataloging ethics, academic integrity, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Cited by 7 publications

References 9 publications

Toward Evidence‐Based Cataloging Ethics: Research, Practice and Training in Knowledge Organization

Toward Evidence‐Based Cataloging Ethics: Research, Practice and Training in Knowledge Organization

Reality, Unreality, and Artistic Deception: The Ethical Dimensions of the Knowledge Organization of Art Documentation

Problemas relacionados a Biases em Sistemas de Organização do Conhecimento: perspectivas para a Representação de Assunto

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