Professor to Co-Lead Study Aimed at Making Library Catalogs More Inclusive

Dr. Karen Snow, professor and PhD program director in Dominican University’s School of Information Studies, will help lead a research study aimed at better meeting the needs of LGBTQ+ library patrons and removing barriers to library catalog usage.

The study, made possible through a three-year, $400,000 applied research grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services, is part of efforts to make online library catalogs more user friendly through changes in metadata, the descriptive information that helps patrons find materials based on catalog searches. The study looks to identify changes that better reflect the language, needs and uses of LGBTQ+ library users, the study’s proposal says.

To accomplish this, Snow and researchers from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the University of Missouri will conduct interviews with Illinois residents who identify as LGBTQ+ to determine the language and terms they use to search for library materials and resources related to their identity.

“We’re hoping to find terminology that would be better suited for this particular demographic,” Snow said. “We want to find new ways to approach terminology so libraries can then utilize it in their local catalog to make it easier for this population to search.”

Terminology currently used by libraries largely comes from subject headings established by the Library of Congress, Snow said. But this doesn’t always reflect terms used by library users, particularly those from minority or marginalized communities. For example, “sexual minorities” is the subject term for topics related to LGBTQ+ issues, but for most people, that’s not a term they would think to use, Snow noted.

The researchers also acknowledge that while libraries strive to provide information and materials to a diverse population of users, “a robust understanding of the barriers to [library] use for a number of marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ individuals, is lacking at present,” and library catalog metadata “has been slow to reflect LGBTQ+ identifies,” according to the grant application.

The user studies are anticipated to take place through next summer. An analysis of the findings and focus groups with librarians and library users of Illinois libraries will follow.

Ultimately, guidelines will be established for language that libraries can choose to incorporate into their catalogs.

The project will be led by Dr. Brian Dobreski of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with co-leads Snow and Dr. Heather Moulaison-Sandy of the University of Missouri. Student research assistants will also take part, and Dominican’s portion of the grant totals $80,000.

All three professors are founding members of the Inclusive Catalog Use Lab, a research-based initiative to expand catalog usability and access.

“This has been one of my passion projects,” Snow said. “I’m very interested in ethical metadata and making our library catalogs and libraries more inclusive and inviting for everyone—including populations who have not always felt welcome in the library space.”

The research Snow will conduct is unique because it involves speaking directly with a specific group of library users in order to understand and meet their needs, she said.

“This is a user-based study, and unfortunately, these are not done as often as they should be,” Snow acknowledged. “So, this is an important study and hopefully it can be replicated with other user groups, other minority groups, so they will view the catalog as useful and not as a barrier to what they are looking for.”