Cataloging and Metadata Commons^™

Words And Worldviews: Decolonizing Description, F. Tim Knight

Librarian Publications & Presentations

Recommendation #5 in the CFLA-FCAB Truth & Reconciliation Report advises that libraries address the “structural biases in existing schemes of knowledge organization and information retrieval arising from colonialism.” It suggests that one way to do this is by “integrating Indigenous epistemologies into cataloguing praxis and knowledge management.” This requires conversations and collaborations, learning and unlearning. In this panel, F. Tim Knight and Sharon Farnel will discuss their paths toward understanding the inherent differences that exist between Western and indigenous approaches to knowledge, and explore what decolonization means in the context of library resource description.