Conference Papers and Presentations

Permanent link for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/2022/586

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Geographic Splits, Mergers, and Reorganizations
(2025-12-12) Sewald, Ronda L.
This presentation walks audience members through the process of determining whether to establish geographic name headings under the Library of Congress Name Authority or Subject Authority file and how to select the proper heading when a country has undergone a series of splits and mergers. It includes helpful charts and references to specific instructions in the LC Subject Headings Manual.
Behind the Curtain: How Library of Congress Vocabulary Terms Are Created and Maintained
(2025-04-28) Sewald, Ronda L.
The Library of Congress (LC) maintains a set of controlled vocabulary terms that are used to describe and promote the discovery of materials through library catalogs and online databases around the world. But how are these terms added and maintained, and what determines which term is the “authorized” heading displayed to researchers and other users? Intended as an overview for non-librarians, this presentation attempts to remove the mystery surrounding these processes and discuss some of the current forces, such as critical cataloging, metadata remediation and the political climate, on LC vocabulary terms.
Preserving Ukraine in American Libraries through Authorized Access Points
(2025) Dantchenko, Laikin
Derussification and Reparative Cataloging of Music from the Margins of the Soviet Union
(2025) Dantchenko, Laikin; Nighan, Jack Haig
New Guidance on Gender-Sensitive Cataloging from the PCC Task Group on Gender
(2025) Dantchenko, Laikin; Levy, Morris
This presentation highlights recent advances in gender representation in the Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF), as well as metadata in bibliographic records emphasizing impacts on music cataloging practices. As understandings of gender identity and personal privacy evolve, music catalogers face new challenges in creating catalog records that are both accurate and inclusive. We will focus on guidelines proposed by the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) Task Group on Gender, with an emphasis on recommendations for creating NACO name authority records and description in bibliographic records. Through specific examples, the session will illuminate how these updates form a framework for addressing complex issues around gendered terms and representation in authority and bibliographic records. Key topics include guidelines regarding gendered occupational terms and best practices for gender-neutral terms for recording associations with corporate bodies. Additional considerations include recording former names in ways that balance historical accuracy and personal privacy and incorporation of individuals’ personal preferences in the process of creating authority records in accordance with new PCC recommendations. By engaging with these updates, music catalogers will gain practical insights into implementing gender-sensitive practices that honor inclusivity and respect and adhere to PCC’s latest guidance.
Decolonizing Ukrainian Music
(2024) Dantchenko, Laikin; Goldberg, Halina; Voloshyna, Iryna; Dobczansky, Jurij; Gleason, Scott
Russian colonization has had a lasting impact on the historiography of Ukrainian music, resulting in historical misattributions and omissions, and an overall inaccurate portrayal of Ukrainian music. This workshop initiates the process of rectifying the current situation by providing musicologists and music librarians with strategies to identify and correct inaccuracies in English-language scholarship, reference resources, and library catalogs—all interconnected information sources. Participants will explore specific strategies, such as creating and amending reference entries to ensure proper attribution of musical works, detailed bibliographic references for Ukrainian composers and performers, and accurate romanization of Ukrainian names. Additionally, the workshop emphasizes collaboration with key institutions. Engaging with librarians and professionals from the Library of Congress (LOC) and the Name Authority Cooperative (NACO) will help participants understand the processes for reclassifying and renaming authority and bibliographic records, ensuring accurate representation in library catalogs and archives. The workshop also advocates for additions and revisions of terms for controlled vocabularies by incorporating Ukrainian-specific music genres and forms, increasing visibility and accurate representation of Ukrainian music in libraries. The development of inclusive and detailed Grove Music Online entries will be encouraged, focusing on comprehensive information such as the place of birth, activity, and death of musicians, rather than solely on nationality or ethnicity. For composers known by their Russian names, variant spellings using Ukrainian romanization and Cyrillic script will be included to avoid confusion for Ukrainian-speaking users. By implementing these strategies, musicologists will be empowered to contribute to a just and accurate portrayal of Ukrainian music, rectifying historical biases and enriching the global understanding of this cultural heritage.
Decolonizing Ukrainian Music in Library Catalogs and Music Resources
(2024) Dantchenko, Laikin
Decolonization of Ukrainian music in library catalogs, reference resources, and scholarship involves addressing the deep-rooted effects of historical suppression, misrepresentation, and cultural erasure, while striving to provide a more accurate and inclusive portrayal of Ukraine's musical heritage. Catalog metadata plays a crucial role in this effort, as it not only reflects but actively shapes the way musicians and musical traditions are represented in research tools like Grove, RILM, and MGG. The way we catalog and classify significantly influences the visibility and accuracy of cultural narratives, while also depending on the scholarly resources available. This interconnected relationship is especially clear in the case of Ukrainian music, which has long been marginalized, misrepresented, and even erased under Russian colonization.
Harmonizing the Legacy: Challenges and Strategies in Processing the Ella Fitzgerald Collection
(2024) Dantchenko, Laikin; Walker, Jared DeShawn
The Ella Fitzgerald Collection at Indiana University represents a vital repository of materials that document the life and career of one of the most iconic jazz vocalists of the 20th century. However, the collection's potential has been historically undermined by its fragmented nature, split and dispersed among multiple archives within the university. Over the years, various departments and archives within the university independently acquired portions of the collection, resulting in a lack of cohesion and comprehensive documentation. The absence of a centralized catalog exacerbated the problem, making it arduous to locate and integrate related materials. Additionally, inconsistencies in preservation practices and metadata standards across the different archives further complicated the processing task. This presentation will delve into the challenges encountered during the processing of this incomplete collection and detail our approach for enhancing its usability and accessibility. Additionally, it will examine the critical issues of representation of creative output related to Ella Fitzgerald and various other jazz composers, lyricists, and musicians within United States cataloging practices. By investigating how historical and systemic biases have influenced cataloging practices, the presentation will reveal the marginalization and misrepresentation of key jazz figures. Through specific case studies, including Fitzgerald's underrecognized contributions as a composer and lyricist, as well as the works of lesser-known jazz artists, the presentation highlights discrepancies in recognition and documentation. Furthermore, it critiques the methodologies used in categorizing jazz works, proposing more inclusive and accurate approaches. Ultimately, this discussion aims to shed light on the cultural and scholarly implications of these practices and advocate for reforms that honor the rich and diverse legacy of American jazz.
Protecting Musical Heritage: Reparative Cataloging of Ukrainian Music Resources at Indiana University
(2024) Dantchenko, Laikin; Nighan, Jack Haig
The ongoing war of aggression by Russia in Ukraine has brought international attention to the conflation of Ukrainian and Russian cultures and identities. Such conflation exists in various forms, at its most dangerous in weaponized distortions of history and pretexts for violence such as Vladimir Putin’s essay “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” which served as a preamble to the 2022 invasion. These two distinct cultures can also be misunderstood unintentionally in ways that appear harmless, even in music libraries. However, in any form, failure to identify and appreciate the independence of Ukraine's cultural identity contributes to erasure and the perpetuation of historical and political conflict. Cataloging the Ukrainian music materials contained within the Margarita Mazo Collection at the Cook Music Library at Indiana University has necessitated a thoughtful examination including the historical relationships in general and the influence of the Soviet Union on music publications in particular. In describing the contents of the Mazo Collection and highlighting the significance of Ukrainian music in libraries, we suggest measures to ensure accurate and inclusive representation. Best practices for catalogers, such as appropriate use of controlled vocabularies and accurate transcription of text, are expanded upon to promote understanding and appreciation of Ukrainian music and to ensure access to users who search in the Ukrainian language—perhaps the users for whom these materials are most vital. Librarians must be critical and well-informed to understand Soviet publications of Ukrainian music, intrinsic to which are state control, censorship, and the manipulation of cultural expression for ideological purposes. The content and language of these resources were always impacted by contradictory demands to which Ukrainian musicians were subject: to conform to Soviet norms while preserving their artistic identity. One form of erasure was the Soviet publication of Ukrainian music resources by Ukrainian creators only in the Russian language. Here lies a crucial opportunity for reparative cataloging, as further research often reveals the original Ukrainian names of individuals, musical works, and even medium of performance terms and genre/form terms, which afford authentic representation in authority records. This presentation will provide insights into the cultural differences between Russia and Ukraine, the complexities of Soviet music publications, and our power as librarians to either defend or hinder the authentic representation of Ukrainian music and creators in library catalogs. Librarians navigating these issues with cultural sensitivity can demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine and contribute to cross-cultural understanding. We hope that the reparative description of these materials might serve as a model to anyone tasked with representing a culture or musical tradition that has been conflated with others in harmful ways.
Войны Для Воинов: The Far-reaching Poetics of 1980’s Soviet Punk Music and Political Dissent in the Lavrov Collection at Indiana University Cook Music Library
(2023) Dantchenko, Laikin
Punk music came to fruition in Soviet-Russia roughly ten years later than Western parts of the world, but kept much of the same themes--short, fast-paced songs with hard-driving melodies and vocal declamation, minimal instrumentation, and often shouted political, anti-establishment lyrics. The genre embraced the do-it-yourself ethic that includes self-produced recordings, distributed through independent record labels. Fedor Lavrov and his home-studio of Begemotion Records in Leningrad created the few records still in existence from the early 1980s Soviet Union. As stated by Lavrov, “Abort [Lavrov’s first album, 1982] was recorded in two sessions… in the original location of Begemotion studio, my [Fedor Lavrov’s] bedroom in a Soviet family apartment in Leningrad, USSR.” Fedor Lavrov smuggled his work out of Russia and donated recordings and ephemera to the Indiana University Cook Music Library as his bands had been banned by the KGB, and he had personally been summoned by the KGB. Fedor’s music—its themes, influences, and styles—are still as relevant today as they were in the 1980s. This is even more true with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and he remastered some of his band’s music and rereleased it as a single, Военная Монархия (Military Monarchy) with music performed by his KGB-banned band Отдел Самоискоренения (Department of Self-eradication) produced through his new label FLOOR IS LAVA, in solidarity with the war in Ukraine. This paper outlines the provenance, arrangement, description of, and access to the collection. It also discusses the processing of the collection in a non-archival institution in collaboration with a living donor (currently in asylum) and the far-reaching and timely themes of the materials.
Nurturing Inclusivity: Empowering Patrons and Creators in Library Collections
(2023) Dantchenko, Laikin; McClanahan, Allison
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility (DEIJA) have been prominent concepts discussed at the national level for years, sometimes serving as mere trends or buzzwords. However, it is crucial to explore how we can genuinely embrace, employ, and demonstrate inclusivity in representing individuals within our collections, whether as creators, cultures represented (with varying degrees of accuracy), or users seeking relevant materials. As information professionals, we grapple with prescribed practices that may either facilitate or impede our commitment to respectfully representing diverse groups and individuals. In this conference presentation, two librarians from Indiana University, who specialize in recorded sound collections, delve into the local-level implementation and adaptation of these practices and professional norms within their respective collections. We will introduce innovative approaches and current practices that empower patrons and creators to assert their agency regarding their diverse identities and cultures. Key initiatives include soliciting input from individual creators and community members, incorporating inclusive practices in authority records and subject headings, and enhancing bibliographic description. By sharing our experiences, we aim to inspire others and provide practical guidance for fostering inclusivity and agency within their own institutions. This presentation emphasizes actionable steps that can be taken at both local and institutional levels to enable patrons and creators to actively participate in shaping their representation and access to information.
Opportunities and Challenges Of Cataloging Soviet Materials Of the Margarita Mazo Collection
(2023) Dantchenko, Laikin; Nighan, Jack Haig
Cook Music Library at Indiana University recently acquired the collection of internationally known Russian ethnomusicologist Margarita Mazo, professor emerita at Ohio State University and renowned scholar of vernacular traditions, classical music, and musical life in the Soviet Union. Her collection comprises 1,350 books and 350 music scores—most of which were published in the U.S.S.R. between 1950 and 1990—and includes many unique items. Processing this collection has entailed searching, enhancing, and creating bibliographic and authority records as well as proposing Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms and LC Medium of Performance Terms. We have identified recurring issues in the bibliographic records of materials published in languages spoken in the Soviet Union such as improperly applied subject headings, genre/form terms, LC call numbers, Romanization practices, and understanding the format of materials. We will discuss the opportunities and challenges we have encountered while cataloging this collection.
Cook Music Library Audio Rapid Cataloging Project
(2023) Dantchenko, Laikin; Peters, Charles
Resources for Representation: Supporting Discovery of Gender Diverse Creators in Music
(2022) Cole, Freja; Dantchenko, Laikin
Many users of the Cook Music Library come to browse the stacks for new music to perform, but the collections they browse there are not complete. In addition to three floors of open stacks, the Cook Music Library hosts a large collection of non-browsable scores, books, and sound recordings in the frontlog. To support the Cook Music Library’s vision to “improve access to and discovery of the collections” and to commit to Indiana University Libraries’ foundational value of diversity, we consider how to facilitate better access to the library’s non-browsable materials and highlight diverse and underrepresented composers and performers. A collaboration between technical and public services, this project first prioritizes works of trans and gender-diverse people. We take into consideration recent recommendations for recording gender in personal name authority records–consider the problems with and identities excluded from current description practices–and examine how they affect discovery of these materials. We present our progress and reflect on the significant challenges in developing services that supplement the catalog, compensate for areas where current cataloging practices might fall short of supporting user searches, and improve access to non-browsable materials at the Cook Music Library.
Fatness, Belonging, and Solidarity in Library Work
(2025-08-12) Galasso, Meg
Fat folks working in libraries face challenges that are both ubiquitous in a broader culture of anti-fatness and unique in our roles as knowledge workers, service providers, and community representatives. Based on interviews with fat librarians, experiences in librarianship, and relevant scholarship, this presentation will address the ways in which fatness and anti-fat bias affect and inform library work. In addition to discussing how library workers and users experience anti-fatness, this presentation will focus on the distinctive role that fat librarians play in creating better libraries, particularly when they identify as part of the fat community. Participants will be invited to consider how centering fat perspectives can contribute to more inclusive and welcoming libraries by dismantling oppressive hierarchies, fostering belonging, and cultivating solidarity.
Diversity Residencies: Making the Most of It
(2025-07-25) Abdelrahim, Nada; Norris, Haley
Make it Visual: Infographics as an Outreach and Advocacy Tool
(2025) Miller, Nicole; Nay, Leanne
This poster will focus on the importance of creating an infographic annual report for your makerspace/lab. We will have several examples from each open access lab at Indiana University. Having several examples will help illustrate that these kinds of visual aids work well to quickly convey information and understanding. These visual reports can illustrate available space, staffing, resources and equipment quickly and easily. These visual reports can serve to inform across diverse groups ranging from everyday users to administration and donors. The benefit of a visual report like this is the ease of information access. No one has to read a lengthy narrative to understand the scope of reach or lack of support. Creating an annual report can show positive impact and expansion but also can alert upper administration to understaffing, inequity and need for resources and funding. This kind of visual aid serves to quickly convey information. There is also a sharable template that can be downloaded via QR codes and used by anyone for their space.
Friendly, radical, ambivalent: Fat librarians and professional identity
(2025-05-14) Galasso, Meg
This session explores the ways in which fatness informs the professional identities of librarians who do public-facing work based on interviews with an intentionally diverse sample of thirty-one fat librarians from a range of institution types in the United States. While some findings from this study have been reported in other venues, this is the first in-depth exploration of the extent to which fatness affects how these interviewees think about and perform their professional identities. We discuss how fatness influences librarians’ entry to and promotion within the field, as well as how our bodies may complicate or enhance relationships with library users and communities. A particular focus of this discussion is the intersectional complexities of identity formation and performance for fat librarians who embody multiple marginalized identities. Beyond sharing study results, this session aims to center the voices and experiences of fat people working in libraries so that we may see ourselves represented in library scholarship, examine the extent to which the profession engages in hegemonic anti-fatness, and advocate for more inclusive libraries. View recording on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wd5ShWO6umI?si=oCp4kGtE2FkEFTtP
Challenges to cataloging with Japanese romanization: history, literature and data analysis
(2025-05-16) Reichert, Kumiko
Art is Good For Your Day Job
(2025-04-25) Kardos, Ann; Atwood, Thea
In this 3 hour workshop, librarians Ann Kardos and Thea Atwood will introduce their research on creativity and how practicing art, even for 20 minutes once a week, changes your brain and allows you to approach problem-solving in new ways. In particular, the ability to create and think imaginatively with library workers in different roles will be highlighted. Workshop participants will then practice being creative on their own: both through a community-created project and with small individual projects, using common (and inexpensive) tools (cardstock, butcher block paper, markers, crayons, colored pencils, watercolor, tempura paint sticks). Activities are meant to be welcoming and foster our innate creativity. Participants will take home a small set of supplies to help foster collaboration and creativity at work.

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