Rising numbers of projects investigating the application of ‘inclusive’ terminology suggest attitudes to cataloguing within UK archives are changing. The intent of this research was to investigate the origins of discourse on how LGBT+ records should be described in archive catalogues, tracing the origin of the debate around archival descriptive work and how language choices came to be contested in archival practice. How are those working in archives tackling the fluidity of LGBT+ identities within fixed catalogue records? To what extent are those working within archives being tasked with the identification of material themselves, making the invisible visible? How are these staff reckoning with the experience of facing down catalogue descriptions likely to cause offence or harm, to both staff within and researchers outwith the archive?

The results of this study are used to make the case that postmodernism has been influential in the description of LGBT+ records in UK archives. Expressed throughout the survey results was a rejection of archival neutrality and statement of the archivist as a socially engaged practitioner who creates the historical record. The study concludes that the theoretical underpinnings of postmodern approaches to archives with the practical experience of those working with these records requires the facilitation of environments in which archivists feel free to take more experimental, active approaches to records.

In this presentation I will briefly introduce the Cataloguing Code of Ethics 2021
https://sites.google.com/view/cataloging-ethics/

The Code consists of 10 brief, high level, ethical statements that can be applied in any archival cataloguing or metadata management setting.

I will illustrate how the Code can be used to advocate for the fundamental importance of the work of creating, sharing, enriching and preserving the metadata that allows our collections to be searched, discovered, accessed and managed.

Using the Codes' ethical statements I will summarise our shared ethical responsibilities, highlighting the need for us to know our current and potential audiences; identify and maximise our sectoral and business collaborations; and assess and accommodate our workforce development and education.

As Society, technology and standards continually evolve what can we do better together?

I will discuss my experiences as a volunteer editor for SNAC (Social Networks and Archival Context) through the lens of a practicing archivist with a longstanding commitment to recovering and sharing untold stories.

SNAC was conceived as a research tool intended to help “users discover biographical and historical information about persons, families, and organizations that created or are documented in historical resources . . . and their connections to one another.” The database was begun by aggregating data extracted from existing online archival finding aids. The inherent limitations of this approach were recognized. As SNAC evolves into an international cooperative, it has made it easier for archivists, librarians, scholars, and other content specialists to receive training that enables them to edit and create information in SNAC “constellations” (of persons, families, or organizations). Through the formation of working groups, such as an Indigenous Description Group, and the addition of editors drawn from a more diverse pool of archives and collecting institutions, as well as unaffiliated volunteer editors, SNAC has expanded the scope of the people represented in the database significantly.

As a micro case study, I will discuss one project to revise and expand SNAC records for women dancers associated with dance companies of iconic American dancer/choreographer Katherine Dunham, whose own contributions to dance history have been obscured. I hope to engage the audience in a broader dialogue about challenges involved in trying to remediate archival gaps and silences about individuals who are underrepresented in, or even absent from, public archival collections.