Ideology, Policy, and Practice: Structural Barriers to Collections Diversity in Research and College Libraries

• Authors: Lori Jahnke, Emory University; Kyle Tanaka, Emory University; Christopher Palazzolo, Emory University
• Journal Title: COLLEGE & RESEARCH LIBRARIES
• Publisher: Association of College and Research Libraries | 2021
• Type of Work: Article | Post-print: After Peer Review
• Subjects: Library Science; Literature, General
• Keywords: Library Collections; Literature; Barriers; Metadata practices; Historically marginalized groups; User discovery; use statistics; inequality

Abstract

Beginning with a discussion of how collections diversity has been conceptualized and assessed within the literature, we then analyze four areas in which professional practices and modes of thinking create barriers to collecting materials from historically marginalized voices. Specifically, we discuss how metadata practices can obscure these materials from acquisitions workflows and user discovery, how relying on use statistics can reinforce existing inequalities, and finally, we discuss how understaffing in key areas and budgetary constraints impede libraries from recognizing and addressing the full scope of the problem.