An introductory talk on the ethical issues in cataloguing and classification presented by Deborah Lee, Senior Teaching Fellow at UCL. Ethical issues in cataloguing and classification are a critical area of library thinking and practice, and are high priorities for libraries seeking to make their services and collections more inclusive and diverse. Interestingly, the contemplation of the ethical dimensions of how our bibliographic resources are described and organised has a long pedigree in both theory and practice. In this talk, the ideas surrounding cataloguing ethics are introduced. First, the talk focuses on the problematic design of description and organising systems, including a broad overview of some of the research carried out in this area. Second, the talk will contemplate the ethics of cataloguing and classification practices, including topics such as codes of ethics and particular ethical issues arising from the description and classification of art materials. Third, the talk considers the wider context of introducing more ethical practices in cataloguing and classification, including the inherent tensions between designing in inclusivity in a local setting and following global practices, and the potential barriers towards changes.

1. DR DEBORAH LEE
DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION STUDIES
Cataloguing and classification ethics
Dr Deborah Lee
ARLIS cataloguing and classification committee, webinar, Friday
10th December 2021
Email: deborah.lee@ucl.ac.uk
Twitter: @debbieleecat

2. Schedule
1. An introduction to the ideas of cataloguing and classification ethics
2. Ethical issues with the design of cataloguing guidelines and classification
systems
3. Ethical issues with cataloguing, indexing and classifying
4. The wider context

3. 1. An introduction to the ideas of
cataloguing and classification ethics

4. Introducing cataloguing and
classification ethics
ethics: a sense of right or wrong; morality /
the moral dimension
Design of guidelines/
systems
Doing the cataloguing, indexing,
classification, often applying those
guidelines and systems
Cataloguing/classification ethics

5. What does ethics apply to in
cataloguing/indexing/classification?
To everything!
However, often more ethical problems for marginalised groups, e.g.
race, gender, sexuality, migration status, religion, disability, indigenous
communities, vulnerable groups, geographic regions outside of the global
North, etc.

6. What is our ethical stance?
• Neutrality or not?
• Factual (if possible, but see Snow (2015))
• Ideally, knowledge positioned in the communities in
which the knowledge is made

7. 2. Ethical issues with the design of
cataloguing guidelines and
classification systems

8. Example 1: just a few examples from the
Dewey Decimal Classification

9. What sort of ethical issues are present in
cataloguing and classification systems?
• Coverage – e.g. less marginalised groups receive more space
• Problematic terminology – e.g. offensive labels
• Problematic hierarchies – e.g. geographic subdivisions
• Cultural bias – e.g. assumption that Western systems of knowledge are
most important
• Categorisations of people – e.g. specifying gender when unnecessary in
RDA data about a person
• Othering – e.g. assuming the artist is male
• Warrant – e.g. representation is based on unethical system of knowledge
These
problems
are very
explicit to
users

10. Example 2: Cataloguing guidelines
about gender in name authority records
• Including dead-names (and other unwanted names)
• Issues with recording gender
• Rights of the authors/creators and issues of
power
• Useful resource: Fox and Swickard (2019)

11. Analysing and understanding unethical
systems
• Longstanding research area – E.g. Berman (1971)
• Deep analyses of systems – E.g. Billey, Drabinski, Roberto 2014 on
RDA 9.7; Adler (2017) on Library of Congress Classification
• Ontogeny: studying the changing treatment of a subject in
a classification scheme – E.g. Tennis (2012) on eugenics
• Theories and philosophy of ethical issues – e.g. Olson (2007) on
feminist analysis of subjects; Mai (2016) on Olson & theory of systematic bias

12. 3. Ethical issues with cataloguing,
indexing and classifying

13. Development of codes of ethics
for cataloguing
• 2005 – Bair (2005) – contains a cataloguing code of ethics. Seminal article
• 2009 – IFLA Statement of International Cataloging Principles (ICP). [2.1]
Convenience of user, [2.3] representation, [2.4] Accuracy
• 2015 – Shoemaker (2015): codes of ethics must be drawn up by groups of
librarians
• 2021 – final version of Cataloguing code of ethics. Joint initiative between
UK, USA and Canada, through CILIP, ALA and CFLA-FCAB
Who is involved in
applied ethics and
who is it for?

14. “1. We catalogue resources in our collections with the end-user in mind to
facilitate access and promote discovery.
2. We commit to describing resources without discrimination whilst
respecting the privacy and preferences of their associated agents.
3. We acknowledge that we bring our biases to the workplace; therefore,
we strive to overcome personal, institutional, and societal prejudices in
our work.
…
8. We insist on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. We
promote education, training, equitable pay, and a fair work environment
for everyone who catalogues so that they can continue to support search
and discovery.
…
10. We work with our user communities to understand their needs in order
to provide relevant and timely services.”
– Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee, 2021.

15. Example 3. Cataloguing, indexing and
classifying “bad” works
• Works which support or legitimise what we consider to be
unsavoury and unethical subject areas
• Cataloguing ethics issues: neutrality (or not) of the cataloguer;
responsibilities of the library catalogue
• Literature: Homan (2012)

16. Example 4. Cataloguing unreal works
• Works which pretend something is real which isn’t real, but the
deception is for creative purposes
• Cataloguing ethics issues: creator’s wishes vs users’ needs;
truthfulness; unreal-ness as a type of information
• Literature: Lee (2020)

17. 4. The wider context of cataloguing
and classification ethics

18. What is the impact of unethical
cataloguing/classification
• Marginalises communities
• Users disengaged, disenfranchised from
institution
• Misleading and loss of neutrality (???) of
library/catalogue
• Could contravene policies of institution
So, why don’t we “do something”???

19. Barriers to ethical cataloguing, indexing
and classification
• Resources needed to change the
guidelines/classifications
• Resources needed within libraries to act on changes,
e.g. challenges of reclassification projects
• Political obstacles (national + institution)
• Global vs. local needs
• Need for efficiency / lack of resources

20. Some examples of positive directions

21. Concluding points
1. Ethics in systems/guidelines or in dealing with a specific
resource/collection/library
2. There is rarely a straight-forward answer to an ethical problem
3. Changes and mitigations often have wider consequences
4. To be part of the changes, I would argue, we are best armed when
we understand the past, the conceptual background/mechanics, and
the potential impacts
Look out for ARLIS events on cataloguing/classification ethics
projects …. Spring 2022!

22. References
• Adler, M. (2016). The case for taxonomic reparations. Knowledge Organization, 43(8), pp. 630-640.
• Bair, S. (2005). Toward a code of ethics for cataloging. Technical Services Quarterly, 23(1), pp. 13-26.
• Berman, S. (1971). Prejudices and antipathies: a tract on the LC Subjects Heads concerning people.
Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.
• Billey, A., Drabinski, E., & Roberto, K. R. (2014). What’s Gender Got to Do with It? A Critique of RDA 9.7.
Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 52(4), 412–421. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2014.882465
• Fox, M. & Reece, A. (2012). Which ethics? Whose morality? An analysis of ethical standards for information
organization. Knowledge Organization, 39(5), pp. 377-383.
• Fox, V. and Swickard, K. (2019). “’My zine life is my private life’: reframing authority control from detective
work to an ethics of care. In Ethical questions in name authority control, J. Sandberg (Ed.) Sacramento:
Library Juice Press.
• Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee. (2021). Cataloguing Code of Ethics.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IBz7nXQPfr3U1P6Xiar9cLAkzoNX_P9fq7eHvzfSlZ0/edit#
• Galeffi, A. et al. (2017). Statement of International Cataloguing Principles (ICP). [2016 edition with minor
corrections]. Den Haag: IFLA. https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/cataloguing/icp/icp_2016-en.pdf.

23. References
• Homan, P. A. (2012). “Library Catalog Notes for "Bad Books": Ethics vs. Responsibilities.” Knowledge
Organization, 39(5), pp. 347-55.
• Lee, D. (2020). Reality, Unreality, and Artistic Deception: The Ethical Dimensions of the Knowledge
Organization of Art Documentation. Knowledge Organization, 47(8), 631–645. https://doi.org/10.5771/0943-
7444-2020-8-631
• Mai, J.-E. (2011). The modernity of classification. Journal of Documentation, 67(4), pp. 710-730. doi:
10.1108/00220411111145061.
• Mai, J.E. (2016). Marginalization and exclusion: unravelling systematic bias in classification. Knowledge
Organization, 43(5), pp. 324-330.
• Olson, H. (2007). How we construct subjects: a feminist analysis. Library Trends, 56, pp. 509-541.
• Shoemaker, B. (2015). No one can whistle a symphony: Seeking a catalogers’ code of ethics. Knowledge
Organization, 42(5), pp. 353-357.
• Snow, K. (2015). An examination of the practical and ethical issues surrounding false memoirs in cataloging
practice. Cataloging & classification quarterly, 53(8), pp. 927-947.
• Tennis, J. (2012). The strange case of eugenics: a subject's ontogeny in a long-lived classification scheme
and the question of collocative integrity. Journal of the American Society for Information Science &
Technology, 63(7), pp. 1350-1359.

24. Hints for accessing
cataloguing/classification literature
What do you do if your workplace doesn’t have access to journals etc. in this
area?
• Open access journals, e.g. Catalogue and Index
• Some are not OA but many issues made available, e.g. Knowledge
Organization from 2017 and older through nomos e-library
https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/zeitschrift/0943-7444
• No access to LISA/LISTA? Try ISKO’s KO literature abstracts:
https://www.isko.org/lit.html (warning: not up to date or complete)
• Look in institutional repositories
• Email/DM the author – they will usually love to share their work!

25. Recommended bibliographies/overviews
to explore
• Reading list from Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bHtghhSL54PFlekIwnmHpF9O_2KR
_GMq5GWIBgNLKDg/edit
• Overview article in CCQ (from 2021): Martin, J. M. (2021). Records,
Responsibility, and Power: An Overview of Cataloging Ethics. Cataloging &
Classification Quarterly, 1–36.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2020.1871458
• Social justice in cataloguing annotated bibliography (updated July 2021):
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/fpml/141/