**Apologies for Cross-Posting** Subject: Call for participation in the Cultural Assessment Working Group (CAWG), part of DLF Assessment Interest Group
This email is an invitation to participate in the DLF Assessment Interest Group’s (DLF AIG) Cultural Assessment Working Group in 2021. There is more information about the group below, but first, a few words about participating in DLF AIG. The only requirement for participation in a DLF AIG working group is a willingness to dig in and devote a small part of your time contributing to the tools, methods, and body of knowledge on digital library assessment. Attendance at the DLF forum is not a requirement for participation in any of the working groups. Additionally, if your institution is not a DLF member, you can still participate. Cultural Assessment Working Group in 2021 • The charge of the Cultural Assessment Working Group is to raise awareness of cultural bias and strive for diversity, equity and inclusivity [1] in digital collection practice to create more inclusive cultures and to mitigate or expose collection bias. Where such practice is lacking, create new frameworks that uphold CAWG values. • The Cultural Assessment Working Group has four task forces: Outreach, Selection, Digitization Selection, and Inclusive Metadata. • In 2020, o Digitization Selection Task Force articulated questions and scenarios related to digitization, defining digitization within contexts. o Inclusive Metadata Task Force read and discussed outputs produced by other groups (for example, Metadata Benchmarks Survey White Paper Draft, Selection Framework Draft, Cataloging Code of Ethics Draft, Change the Subject documentary, harmful language statements, and more) to inform our creation of a list of questions and eventual toolkit. • Learn more about what we do on our Cultural Assessment Working Group wiki page. Cultural Assessment Working Group Goals for 2021 • The Selection Task Force seeks a greater understanding of the practices and policies that organizations use to build community archives or libraries, especially with regards to how materials are selected. • Outreach Task Force is a newer group that seeks to make CAWG outcomes more visible to the DLF Community and provide professional development opportunities relating to EDI and Digital Collections. • Building on the Selection Task Forces’ work, the Digitization Selection Task Force will focus on selection practices for digitization. The group will identify the unique challenges impacting EDI related to digitization selection, and develop a way to mitigate or address those issues. • The Inclusive Metadata Task Force discusses readings each month and collects questions that come up in our own work to inform our creation of a publicly-shared Toolkit document that will support folks who want to promote inclusive metadata practices. • Develop collaborations with AIG groups and task forces How can you participate? • Sign up for the CAWG Google Group indicating your interests and drop in on any of our open meetings (details via Google Calendar). You may also email the co-facilitators indicating your interest. • If you’re interested in supporting the group and would love to try out event planning and/or marketing in a low-stakes environment, think about joining the Outreach Task Force! • Our first CAWG All Hands meeting of the year will be Monday, February 8 at 1 EST/12 CST/11 MST/10 PST. We hope to greet new members and share what the task forces have been doing and their goals for 2021. • In March, we plan to have a group viewing and discussion of the DLF Forum 2020 keynote address by Stacey Patton. Stay tuned for the date and time. • You can participate in any and all of the task forces. Check the Google Calendar for meeting times. CAWG Co-Facilitators: Hannah Scates Kettler [email protected] and Jenny Bradshaw [email protected] For questions about the larger DLF Assessment Interest Group, contact the DLF AIG co-leaders, Sara Rubinow [email protected] and Santi Thompson [email protected]. Thank you for participating in the DLF AIG!
