[Apologies in advance for any cross-posting]
Hello everyone,
Our names are Soojeong Herring, the Metadata Manager at Northeastern University, and Tiffany Henry, the Metadata & Institutional Repository Librarian at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. We are working on a research project to explore how recent political legislation and policy shifts within the U.S. regarding DEI (equity, diversity, & inclusion) in higher education are impacting DEI reparative metadata/cataloging efforts in academic libraries and archives in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico. Examples of reparative work in cataloging or metadata include, but not limited to, remediation of subject headings for resources or creation of harmful language statements for library collections.
Your participation in this research will help illuminate how the current political climate in the U.S. in 2025 impacts the efforts of reparative cataloging and metadata work in academic libraries. The results of this study can help inform the practice of other information professionals specializing in cataloging/metadata and archival description.
The survey for this study is hosted on Qualtrics and should take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Participation is voluntary, and you can choose to withdraw at any time. Your responses will remain confidential. Data will be reported only in the aggregate.
Who can participate in this survey?
- Information workers in academic libraries and archives in the U.S., Canada, & Mexico
- 50% of allocated work time dedicated to copy cataloging, complex copy cataloging, original cataloging, or descriptive metadata creation for cataloging/metadata workers
- Primary or key job duty of description of archival materials or digital materials for information workers in archives or digital collections
If you would like to participate, please click here for the survey. Before beginning, you will be presented with a letter of informed consent. The survey will remain available until November 26, 2025.
Please contact the primary investigators, Soojeong Herring (s.herring@northeastern.edu) and Tiffany Henry (tnhenry@uncg.edu) by email if you have any questions or want more information about the study.
This study has been reviewed, marked exempt, and approved by both the Northeastern Institutional Review Board (IRB#: 25-10-07) and the UNC Greensboro Institutional Review Board (IRB #: IRB-FY26-20)
URL for survey to copy/paste into internet browser: https://uncg.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2aWPL8rUKFQzuiG
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Soojeong Herring & Tiffany Henry
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Soojeong Herring (she/her)
Metadata Manager
Northeastern University Library
360 Huntington Avenue
260 Snell Library
Boston, MA 02115
(617) 373-3919
s.herring@northeastern.edu------------------------------