You are cordially invited to join us for the dissertation defense of Wan-Chen Lee, to be held on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, via Zoom from 10 a.m.-noon PDT.

Operationalizing Cultural Warrant in Knowledge Organization

Abstract: 

Data representation of diverse cultures, perspectives, and identities has stepped to the fore in society, especially with the academy’s increasing attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The failure to provide descriptions that are inclusive to diverse cultures and perspectives can hinder information access and raise ethical concerns. Information scientists and information professionals have identified problematic data representations and have advocated for changes to include diverse cultures, perspectives, and identities. Scholars have recognized various ways culture can manifest in knowledge organization (KO), such as through classifications, categories, and subjects. Previous studies use the concept of warrant, the justifications for classificatory decisions, to discuss the rationales for developing and applying KO standards. Cultural warrant is one of these warrants, and it is an approach to consciously account for culture in classification. In this dissertation, I expand the application of warrants from classificatory decisions to knowledge organization decisions writ large, including cataloging and data description. Through case studies of three KO standards developed at different times, in different languages, and regions, and through prolonged ethnographic fieldwork, observing cataloging practices, I present concrete examples from literature, standards, and practices about how culture is woven into multiple aspects of data representations and KO. Ultimately, this dissertation presents a literature-informed discussion  highlighting specific dimensions of culture that are relevant to cultural warrant, an inventory of sources of cultural influences in KO, a list of manifestations of cultural warrant, and an explanation of how they play out. By advancing our understanding of cultural warrant in KO, we gain insight into how and where to change our practices and standards in order to improve cultural inclusivity and create ethical data representations and KO systems.

Zoom link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/93384133754?pwd=S0FrcDU1MDc5bFBCVWd6VEtWL24xQT09

Meeting ID: 933 8413 3754

Passcode: 486911

Committee members:

• Joseph T. Tennis (Chair)
• Carole Palmer
• Nicholas Weber 
• Sally Wescott McCoy (GSR)