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Catalogers hold very specific types of power when they describe people, families, and corporate bodies. When creating a personal name authority record, for example, catalogers determine the authorized name by which an individual will be known, then identify a few characteristics of the individual that distinguish them from others, while balancing their judgment with respect for the individual's self-concept and management of their public identity. This is a powerful position, and that power must be exercised ethically.

As name authority control moves toward an identity management model, catalogers are taking on new roles, authority data is used in innovative ways, and libraries increasingly interact with non-library datasets and name disambiguation algorithms. During this transition, it is imperative that the library community reflect on the ethical questions that arise from its historical and emerging practices.

This collection explores and develops this framework through theoretical and practice-based essays, stories, interviews, taxonomies, content analyses, and other methods. As it explores ethical questions in a variety of settings, this book will deepen readers' understanding of names, identities, and library catalogs. The chapters from this volume are intended to spark conversations among librarians, archivists, library technologists, library administrators, and library and information science students.

Jane Sandberg received her MLIS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is the Electronic Resources Librarian at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon, where she coordinates library cataloging and systems. Her research interests include linked data approaches to name authority control, queer and trans local histories, open source software in rural communities, and historical dimensions of online transgender activism.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Self-determination and Privacy

"My Zine Life is My Private Life": Reframing Authority Control from Detective Work to an Ethic of Care
Violet B. Fox and Kelly Swickard

Identity Theft: How Authority Control Undermines Women's Agency
Michelle M. Kazmer

When Public Identity Meets Personal Privacy: Ethical Considerations for the Use of Dates of Birth in Name Authority Records for Living Persons
Jennifer M. Martin

Demographic Characteristics in Personal Name Authority Records and the Ethics of a Person-Centered Approach to Name Authority Control
Thomas A. Whittaker

Impacts of Colonialism

This is the Oppressor's Language Yet I Need It to Talk to You: Native American Name Authorities at the University of Denver
Erin Elzi and Katherine M. Crowe

Cataloging Kurdistan: Imagining Liberated Geographies
Heather K. Hughes

Gender Variance and Transgender Identities

Who Asked You?: Consent, Self-Determination, and the Report of the PCC Ad Hoc Task Group on Gender in Name Authority Records
Kalani Adolpho

Free to Be... Only He or She: Overcoming Obstacles to Accurately Recording Gender Identity in a Highly-Gendered Language
Ahava Cohen

Violent Cis-tems: Identifying Transphobia in Library of Congress Name Authority Records
Hale Polebaum-Freeman

Accuracy of Identity Information and Name Authority Records
Naomi Shiraishi

Finding "Miss Betty" Joe Carstairs: The Ethics of Unpacking Misnaming in Cataloging and Biographical Practices
Travis L. Wagner

Challenges to the Digital Scholarly Record

From Personal to Corporate and from Names to Titles: the Challenges of Iranian Scholars with Scientific Publications
Sholeh Arastoopoor and Fatemeh Ahmadinasab

Barriers to Ethical Linked Data Name Authority Modeling
Ruth Kitchin Tillman

The Tale of Three Service Types for Researcher Identifiers and the Ethical Implication on Access to Information and Representation of Authors
Anchalee Punigabutra-Roberts

Emancipatory Collaborations

What's in a Name? Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia and the Impact of Names and Name Authorities in Archival Description
Alexis A. Antracoli and Katy Rawdon

Authority Work as Outreach
Tina Gross and Violet B. Fox

Creating Multilingual and Multiscript Name Authority Records: A Case Study in Meeting the Needs of Inuit Language Speakers in Nunavut
Carol Rigby and Riel Gallant

An Indigenous Global Perspective of Policy, Procedures and Best Practice
Naomi R. Caldwell

Contributor Biographies

Index

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Ethical Questions in Name Authority Control | Litwin Books & Library Juice Press

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Catalogers hold very specific types of power when they describe people, families, and corporate bodies. When creating a personal name authority record, for example, catalogers determine the authorized name by which an individual will be known, then identify a few characteristics of the individual that distinguish them from others, while balancing their judgment with ...

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Document Type

Chapter in a Book

Abstract

Authority control in libraries has always been a collaborative effort, but that collaboration has usually been among librarians. Librarians have considered themselves the experts on forming data strings that hewed to an exacting set of standards opaque to all but a small number of gatekeepers who have been through NACO training. In the process of creating personal name authority records, NACO participants usually do not attempt to contact people for whom authorized names are being established, even when the person is known to be alive and contact information is readily available. The exception is when additional information (such as year of birth or middle initial) is needed to differentiate that person from others with the same name. Sending such a query to a creator requires providing a basic explanation of authority control, so NACO participants often develop scripts or templates for this purpose. This chapter looks at existing practices of contacting creators and the outcomes of these practices, and argues that attempting to consult with individuals about their authorized name and data in their authority record should become a standard part of the name authority control process for personal names.

The chapter goes on to explore contacting creators not only as a way to ensure the authenticity of the data in the authority file, but as a rare opportunity to highlight the efforts of technical services librarians. The act of explaining authority control principles and asking for creators' assistance in ensuring accurate information should be viewed as outreach, demonstrating how the work of libraries benefits creators by representing them accurately and facilitating access to their work. Regarding authority work as a collaborative partnership, both in advocacy to creators and managing their identity along with them, will reframe our practice as one of a truly collective process.

Approaching personal name authority work as a partnership in which libraries collaborate with creators to promote and implement sound identity management practices will help to us address one of the main ethical questions in name authority control.

Publication Title

Ethical Questions in Name Authority Control

Recommended Citation

Tina Gross and Violet B. Fox. "Authority Work as Outreach." In Ethical Questions in Name Authority Control, ed. Jane Sandberg, 335-348. Sacramento: Library Juice Press, 2019.

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Authority control in libraries has always been a collaborative effort, but that collaboration has usually been among librarians. Librarians have considered themselves the experts on forming data strings that hewed to an exacting set of standards opaque to all but a small number of gatekeepers who have been through NACO training.

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View of Cultural Humility as a Framework for Anti-Oppressive Archival Description

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Return to Article Details Cultural Humility as a Framework for Anti-Oppressive Archival Description

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Protecting user privacy and confidentiality has long been an integral part of the intellectual freedom mission of libraries. The right to free inquiry as assured by the First Amendment depends upon the ability to read and access information free from scrutiny by the government or other third parties. In their provision of services to library users, librarians have an ethical obligation, expressed in the Code of Ethics of the American Library Association and the Library Bill of Rights, to preserve users' right to privacy and to prevent any unauthorized use of user data. Librarians and libraries may also have a legal obligation to protect library users' data from unauthorized disclosure.

Libraries enter into licenses or agreements with third-party vendors in order to provide library service to users and to meet library operational needs. Third-party vendors include digital content providers, program facilitators, and even other libraries, such as a consortium. In the course of providing software, hardware, or services, most third-party vendors collect and use library user data for a variety of reasons, including consumer analytics and segmentation, personalization, digital rights management, and digital collection development. Libraries and vendors must work together to ensure that the contracts and licenses governing the collection, processing, disclosure, and retention of library user data reflect library ethics, policies, and legal obligations concerning user privacy and confidentiality.

Choosing a Third-Party Vendor
When libraries start the search for a product or service, there are several ways in which libraries approach vendors about their privacy practices. Libraries should include privacy requirements and questions for the vendor in their Request For Proposal (RFP) or similar bidding process. Requirements and questions can include what data is collected, how the data is collected and stored, how long data is stored with the vendor, and if and how the data is shared with other third parties.

Agreements, Ownership of User Data, and Legal Requirements
Libraries inviting bids from vendors should also ask questions throughout the search process related to both the service/product and the vendor's policies and practices around data privacy and security. If the service or product does not meet a privacy requirement listed in the RFP, libraries should ask vendors their plans in addressing that requirement. Libraries should inquire about how the vendor handles data breaches, as well as reports from libraries or users about potential service or product vulnerability.

Agreements between libraries and vendors should address appropriate restrictions on the use, aggregation, retention, and disclosure of user data, particularly information about minors. Agreements between libraries and vendors should also specify that libraries retain ownership of all user data and that the vendor agrees to observe the library's privacy policies and data retention and security policies.

Vendors are strongly encouraged to implement the principles of privacy by design, i.e. products and services should have privacy concerns "built-in, not bolted on." If currently marketed products do not take into account these privacy guidelines, vendors should incorporate them into future updates. In addition, agreements between libraries and vendors should reflect and incorporate restrictions on the potential dissemination and use of library users' records and data imposed by local, state, and federal law.

Clear Privacy Policies
The rights of minors vary from state to state, and the legal responsibilities and standing of library staff in regard to minor users differ substantially in school, academic, and public libraries. Generally, a minor's right to keep his or her library records private will be governed by a state's library confidentiality statute; however, in public educational institutions, th e Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) also determines the confidentiality and release of minors' library records.

Access to Personal Data
Vendors who allow minors under the age of 13 access to their platforms must follow the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and any other state or federal legislation regarding the collection and sharing of minors' data. Libraries should establish clear privacy policies in conjunction with local, state, and federal agencies that detail how and what data about minors is collected and shared with vendors and schools.

Privacy policies should be made readily accessible and understandable to users. Safeguarding user privacy requires that individuals know what information is gathered about them, how long it is stored, who has access to it and under what conditions, and how it is used. There should be a way to actively notify ongoing users of any changes to the vendor's privacy policies.

Data Integrity and Security
The vendor should give users options as to how much personal information is collected from them and how it may be used. Users should have the choice to opt-in to any data collection that is not essential to library operations and the opportunity to opt-out again at any future time. All nonessential data collection should be turned off by default. In all areas of librarianship, best practice leaves users in control of as many choices as possible regarding their privacy.

Users should have the right to access their own personal information and correct incorrect information. Verifying accuracy helps ensure that vendor services that rely on personal user information can function properly. Guidance on how the user can access their personal data should be clear and easy to find. Users should also have the ability to download their personal data into an open file format such as CSV for their own use.

Access to personal information should be restricted to the user, vendor, and library workers as required for the provision of services and administration of the library and must conform to the applicable state laws addressing the confidentiality of library records as well as other applicable local, state, and federal law.

Vendors should have a practice in place to delete user data upon request. Data should be purged from hard drives and servers, not just hidden from view.

Whenever user data is collected, libraries, vendors, and any subcontractors must take reasonable steps to ensure integrity and security, including compliance with applicable statutory requirements.

Security: Security involves both managerial and technical measures to protect against loss and unauthorized access, destruction, use, or disclosure of data. Security measures should be integrated into the design, implementation, and day-to-day practices of the vendor's entire operating environment as part of its continuing commitment to risk management. The vendor should seek compliance with published cybersecurity standards from organizations such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Encryption: The use of data encryption helps enhance security. All online transactions between client applications (web browsers, mobile apps, etc.) and server applications should be encrypted. In addition, any user data housed by the vendor off-site (cloud-based infrastructure, tape backups, etc.) should use encrypted storage.

Data Minimization: Vendors and libraries should only collect, process, retain, or disclose user data sufficient for a specific process or task. Excessive data collection and/or retention puts users at an increased risk in the case of a data breach.

Anonymization: Data used for customer analytics and other types of analysis should be anonymized by removing or encrypting personally identifiable information. While data anonymization is a good practice, it is not foolproof.

Retention: User data should not be retained in perpetuity. Vendors and libraries should establish policies for how long to retain different types of data and methods for securely destroying data that is no longer needed. For example, accounts that are expired or inactive for a certain amount of time should be purged. Retention policies should also cover archival copies and backups. Libraries should refer to record retention laws and policies of governing bodies.

Library's Ongoing Relationship with a Third-Party
Data Sharing: User data should not be shared with additional third-party vendors or other business associates without user consent. Most state statutes on the confidentiality of library records do not permit the release of library users' personally identifiable information or data about their use of library resources and services without user consent or a court order.

Ending the Library-Vendor Relationship
Government Requests: Vendors and libraries should develop and implement procedures for dealing with government and law enforcement requests for library users' personally identifiable information and use data. Vendors and libraries should consider a government or law enforcement request only if it is issued by a court of competent jurisdiction that shows good cause and is in proper form. Vendors should inform and consult with the library when it believes it is obligated to release library users' information unless prevented from doing so by the operation of law. The vendor should also inform users through its privacy policies about the legal conditions under which it might be required to release personally identifiable information.
The "Library Privacy Checklist for E-Book Lending and Digital Content Vendors" is intended to help libraries of all capacities take practical steps to implement the principles that are laid out in this guideline. Approved June 29, 2015 by the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the American Library Association under previous title "Library Privacy Guidelines for E-book Lending and Digital Content Vendors"; revised January 26, 2020.
Company Sale, Merger, or Bankruptcy: In the event that a vendor is sold to another company, merges with another company, or is dissolved through bankruptcy, all personally identifiable information should be held under the same privacy policy or securely destroyed. Libraries and their users should be notified and provided a method to request that their data be securely destroyed or exported.

Privacy protections for library users' personally identifiable information and usage data should extend to the user's device, including the web browser or any applications provided by the vendor. All communications between the user's device and the vendor's services should be encrypted. If the vendor wishes to employ personalization technology such as persistent cookies on its website or allows third-party web tracking, it should notify the user and give them the chance to opt-in before initiating these features for the user. Users should be aware that enhanced experiences from vendors may require the disclosure of additional personal data.

If a vendor-provided application stores personally identifiable information or use data on the user's device, it should be encrypted. The user should be able to remove a vendor-provided application and delete any data stored on the device.

Audit and Notification Vendors should establish and maintain effective mechanisms to enforce their privacy policies. They should conduct regular privacy audits to ensure that all operations and services comply with these policies. The results of these audits should be made available upon request to libraries that are customers or potential customers.

Incident Response A vendor that experiences a data breach in its security policies must notify the affected libraries and users about this matter as soon as the vendor is aware of the data breach. The notification timeline, along with what to include in the notification to libraries and library users, differs from state to state, and it is the responsibility of vendors to comply with state data breach notification regulations. Libraries and vendors should plan the incident response procedure and this plan should be included in the vendor contract.

Libraries that choose not to renew a vendor service or product should work with the vendor to ensure personally identifiable library user data is deleted from the vendor's systems, including data in backups, archived copies, and system logs.

Vendors that have services or products that allow for user-generated content should allow for library users to export their data in a portable format.

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Introduction Protecting user privacy and confidentiality has long been an integral part of the intellectual freedom mission of libraries. The right to free inquiry as assured by the First Amendment depends upon the ability to read and access information free from scrutiny by the government or other third parties.

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Fred Hay and Isabel Quintana speaking to us about how to "call out" the racist and otherwise nationalistic works in our catalogs -- how to communicate with our patrons about the known problematic works held in our collections

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Fred Hay and Isabel Quintana speaking to us about how to "call out" the racist and otherwise nationalistic works in our catalogs -- how to communicate with our patrons about the known problematic works held in our collections

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Report of the SAC Working Group on Alternatives to LCSH "Illegal aliens"

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Report of the SAC Working Group on Alternatives to LCSH "Illegal aliens"

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https://alair.ala.org/handle/11213/14582

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Statements on Bias in Library and Archives Description

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Statements on Bias in Library and Archives Description

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A compilation of statements from libraries and archives on harmful or offensive language in description and bias in cataloging. This list includes statements about problematic language in both description and resources themselves, as statements about resources will frequently discuss the description of those resources.
last updated October 5 2020
For additional information and resources, see Tuft's bibliography: Additional Reading: Potentially Harmful Language in Archival Description or Harvard Center for the History of Medicine's Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description

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List of statements on bias in library and archives description

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A compilation of statements from libraries and archives on harmful or offensive language in description and bias in cataloging. This list includes statements about problematic language in both description and resources themselves, as statements about resources will frequently discuss the description of those resources.

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Report of the PCC Ad Hoc Task Group on Gender in Name Authority Records

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Report of the PCC Ad Hoc Task Group on Gender in Name Authority Records

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Homosaurus: An International LGBTQ Linked Data Vocabulary

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Homosaurus: An International LGBTQ Linked Data Vocabulary

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Welcome to the Homosaurus! The Homosaurus is an international linked data vocabulary of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) terms. This vocabulary is intended to function as a companion to broad subject term vocabularies, such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings. Libraries, archives, museums, and other institutions are encouraged to use the Homosaurus to support LGBTQ research by enhancing the discoverability of their LGBTQ resources.

If you are interested in purchasing some Homosaurus swag, please visit our online shop. All proceeds are used to support the project or are donated to LGBTQ+ organizations.

If you are using the Homosaurus, we want to hear from you! Please contact us to let us know how you are using this vocabulary and share any feedback you might have. One can also join our Google Group community at: https://groups.google.com/g/homoitcommunity

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Welcome to the Homosaurus! The Homosaurus is an international linked data vocabulary of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) terms. This vocabulary is intended to function as a companion to broad subject term vocabularies, such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings.

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Replace .N3-5 cutter for Negro discussion page

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Replace .N3-5 cutter for Negro discussion page

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This will be a difficult proposal. LC has a policy of not changing LC classes, and they argue it will be too laborious to change all the classmarks. I argue that this change is worth the labor for the humanity and dignity of our users who see themselves represented in our collections and catalogs through our classification schemes.

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UVA SC suggested descriptions corrections form

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UVA SC suggested descriptions corrections form

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Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

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Collections, services, branches, and contact information.

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Metadata Departments Mission Statements

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A compilation of mission, vision, and/or value statements from libraries and archives metadata/catalogingdepartments. Statements from technical services departments in general are also included if they include info about resource description.
last updated October 9 2020

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List of metadata departments mission statements

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A compilation of mission, vision, and/or value statements from libraries and archives metadata/catalogingdepartments. Statements from technical services departments in general are also included if they include info about resource description. last updated October 9 2020

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"We need to own up to our history" - Heidy Berthoud -- Our history as a country, as a culture, and also as a profession and the choices made within our individual institutions

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"We need to own up to our history" - Heidy Berthoud -- Our history as a country, as a culture, and also as a profession and the choices made within our individual institutions

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With great digital freedom comes great digital responsibility

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With great digital freedom comes great digital responsibility

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From the chat, a link to the "Change the subject" documentary: https://sites.dartmouth.edu/changethesubject/

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From the chat, a link to the "Change the subject" documentary: https://sites.dartmouth.edu/changethesubject/

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"Your library's catalog represents your library" - Violet Fox -- an important thing for all of us to remember when looking at the work we need to do!

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"Your library's catalog represents your library" - Violet Fox -- an important thing for all of us to remember when looking at the work we need to do!

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Today's first session: Critical cataloging power hour!

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Today's first session: Critical cataloging power hour!

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Please feel free to post any thoughts or comments you have throughout the day!

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Please feel free to post any thoughts or comments you have throughout the day!