Cataloging and Metadata Commons^™

Toward Inclusive Description: Reparations Through Community-Driven Metadata, Jillian M. Ewalt

Marian Library Faculty Publications

This case study covers the process and policies involved in creating accurate and inclusive metadata for a historically marginalized community. The Japanese American Digitization Project was a consortial, collaborative digitization project with the goal of unifying and providing online access to tens of thousands of archival materials documenting the Japanese American experience. Traditionally, the Japanese American experience, particularly the internment during World War II, has been laden with euphemistic language. This article outlines community-driven metadata development, implementing an inclusive controlled vocabulary, and thinking about archival metadata as a process that can contribute to reparations.