Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Library and Information Science Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Library and Information Science

Gender As An 'Interplay Of Rules': Detecting Epistemic Interplay Of Medical And Legal Discourse With Sex And Gender Classification In Four Editions Of The Dewey Decimal Classification, Melodie J. Fox May 2015

Gender As An 'Interplay Of Rules': Detecting Epistemic Interplay Of Medical And Legal Discourse With Sex And Gender Classification In Four Editions Of The Dewey Decimal Classification, Melodie J. Fox

Theses and Dissertations

When groups of people are represented in classification systems, potential exists for them to be structurally or linguistically subordinated, erased or otherwise misrepresented (Olson & Schlegl, 2001). As Bowker & Star (1999) have shown, the real-world application of classification to people can have legal, economic, medical, social, and educational consequences. The purpose of this research is to contribute to knowledge organization by showing how the epistemological stance underlying specific classificatory discourses interactively participates in the formation of concepts. The medical and legal discourses in three timeframes are examined using Foucauldian genealogical discourse analysis to investigate how their depictions of gender …


Culture And Classification: An Introduction To Thinking About Ethical Issues Of Adopting Global Classification Standards To Local Environments, Wan-Chen Lee Jan 2015

Culture And Classification: An Introduction To Thinking About Ethical Issues Of Adopting Global Classification Standards To Local Environments, Wan-Chen Lee

School of Information Studies Faculty Articles

Ethical issues arise from adapting standardized classification schemes to local environments. Research affirms mutual influences between culture and classification schemes, however, there are various conceptions of culture. Before diving deeper into discussions on designing a culturally sensitive model of classification and providing ethical information services, it is critical to clarify how culture is defined in the literature. In order to gain a deeper understanding of how scholars view the concept of culture, we review, compare, and aggregate discussions on culture from two bodies of literature: knowledge organization and anthropology. Based on the review, we then propose a working definition of …