The Equity Collection: Analysis and transformation of the Monash University Design Collection

Abstract

Collection development at Monash University Library aims to fulfil the research and curriculum needs of university staff and students. To support the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (MADA), collection development operates as a collaboration between academic faculty and the Subject Librarian. In order to further develop this collaboration and to encourage the selection and use of design resources by authors from diverse backgrounds, design lecturers and library staff have initiated The Equity Collection project. The aim of the project is to investigate the diversity of the collection in its current state and to improve its ability to reflect and extend the multicultural nature of the university community. The project includes a campaign to collect and promote books from the design world authored by under-represented groups, including Indigenous Australians, people of colour, and female and non-binary authors. This project is unique in its utilisation of the expertise of the design faculty who have extensive knowledge of authors, small publishers and less widely distributed publications.

Beyond the Diversity Audit: Uncovering Whiteness in Our Collections

“…Other challenges include the inability to define diversity in the first place (Ciszek & Young, 2010), or identify appropriate subject headings and language outside the arguably problematic and outdated Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) that center whiteness (Drabinski, 2013;Phelps, 2020;Wood, 2021). Another major challenge for audits of author identity is the high chance that authors' gender, ethnicity, race, or sexual identity could be labeled inaccurately (Manuell, McEntee, & Chester, 2019;Mortensen, 2019;Stone, 2020).…”

Representational Belonging in Collections: A Comparative Study of Leading Trade Publications in Architecture

“…42 Only one published diversity audit article targets art and design collections. 43 The study focuses on print monographs and analyzed each author's identity. Significantly, they also discuss the importance of involving faculty members and other members of the community in improving diversity of collections.…”

Whose Play Scripts Are Being Published? A Diversity Audit of One Library’s Collection in Conversation with the Broader Play Publishing World

“…While this article is now more than 20 years old, the problem still exists. One practical response to creating standard lists of diverse resources comes from Romany Manuell et al (2019) at the Monash University Library. In addition to their own research, the staff at this Art, Design, and Architecture Library reached out to faculty for recommendations of favorite books by diverse authors.…”