Summer Meeting 2021

The first all-virtual Orbis Cascade Alliance Summer Meeting took place July 13 – 15, 2021.

The theme of the 2021 Summer Meeting was Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). 

Recordings and Slides

July 13, 2021

Presenters
  • Isaac Gilman (Pacific University)
  • Kim Armstrong (Orbis Cascade Alliance)
  • Trevor Dawes (University of Delaware)
Slides
Recordings
Description

Isaac Gilman & Kim Armstrong welcome participants to the Summer Meeting.

In his talk, Dawes will examine how libraries have described their diversity efforts as well as how they have lived up to the promises.

Bio

Trevor A. Dawes has worked in the academic library sector for over 20 years developing and providing a range of service enhancing training and professional development opportunities that positively impact library-wide projects and programs. Dawes also facilitates workshops on leadership development and diversity, improving the knowledge, skills, competencies, and abilities of librarians and library workers. A published author and presenter, Dawes has written or edited books, book chapters, and articles, and presented on a variety of topics at local, national, and international conferences. Dawes earned his Master of Library Science from Rutgers University and has two additional Master’s Degrees in Educational Leadership and Educational Administration from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Presenters
  • Blake Galbreath (Washington State University)
  • Junghae Lee (University of Washington)
  • Suzanne Sager (Portland State University)
Slides
Recordings
Description

Terms such as “illegal aliens” can have negative impacts on our user community, and our users might incorrectly presume that the subject terminology in our library discovery systems that includes these terms is a deliberate choice made by library staff. Orbis Cascade Alliance libraries support and commit to the widely-accepted practice of implementing alternative headings locally at the consortium level to provide more inclusive terminology in our library catalogs. This presentation will describe the Norm Rules Standing Group’s implementation of norm rule changes regarding the LCSH “Illegal liens” in PBO and plan to implement the rule changes in Primo VE.

This workshop was not recorded.

Presenter
  • Sofia Leung (Do Better, Be Better)
Description

This one-hour introductory workshop will explore how our biases show up in some of our hiring processes and practices. We will discuss how we can start to recognize how and where our biases are present and strategies to prevent our biases from working in conjunction with systems of white supremacy and racism. This workshop will be capped at 50 attendees.

Presenters
  • Drew Jackson (Pacific University)
  • Justyne Triest (Pacific University)
  • Meagan Button (Pacific University)
Slides
Recordings
Description

Since June 2020, members of Pacific University Library’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee have been hosting regular “coffee breaks” over Zoom, where staff can discuss EDI issues and topics in an informal, conversational setting. This setting creates a space where participants feel more comfortable sharing personal experiences with EDI issues and where staff who work remotely or on different campuses can connect. We will discuss the advantages and challenges of these meetings, lessons learned in the past year, and strategies for others interested in implementing this program at their own institutions.

Presenters
  • Carleigh E. Hill (Whitworth University)
  • Rick Stoddart (University of Oregon)
  • Rayne Vieger (University of Oregon)
Slides
Recordings
Description

Many library consortia and college campuses are integrating library services into larger affordability initiatives to more equitably support students. Libraries offer a constellation of services and resources that support educational equity. These services can include course reserves, textbook libraries, multi-use ebook licensing, and curriculum-driven collection development, among others.

Library Open Educational Resources (OER) efforts continue to shine brightly in this equity constellation and remain an essential library effort tied to student success. However, the good work of OER advocacy, adoption, and development should not happen in isolation. Engaging more directly with educational equity efforts can empower and energize OER efforts to garner more support and potentially have a wider impact. This session will share suggestions, examples, and strategies of how libraries are actively engaged with affordability and equity efforts on their campuses and with their library consortia.

Presenters
  • Charity Braceros-Simon (Willamette University)
  • Keith Palmateer (Portland Community College)
  • Tess Prow (Washington State University)
  • Christopher Wiley (University of Portland)
Slides
Materials
Recordings
Description

A training session for those who are interested in understanding how to create OCR documents, best practices or tips and tricks as well as a discussion of why this matters for Accessibility. EDI importance: People who need OCR documents don’t always ask for them so learning to use OCR tools is key to inclusivity for people of low vision or who use screen readers.

Learning Outcomes

Attendees will have a better understanding about OCR or compatible documents and be able to articulate why they are important in library document delivery and ILL. Relevance to the Alliance: Directly relate to the Strategic Themes “Improve Access to Information” and “Equip Students for Success.”

This workshop was not recorded.

Presenters
  • Charlotte Roh (University of San Francisco)
Description

This workshop asks participants to reflect upon their own publishing goals, relationships, and authorities in order to understand better their own needs and how to go about navigating the scholarly ecosystem. We will also discuss how we are actors with agency and have the ability to enact change on the inequitable infrastructures of publishing.

July 14, 2021

Presenters
  • Ben Tucker (University of Puget Sound)
  • Hilary L Robbeloth (University of Puget Sound)
  • Jane Carlin (University of Puget Sound)
  • Peggy Burge (University of Puget Sound)
Slides
Recordings
Description

Librarians at the University of Puget Sound will give an update on their involvement with the Freedom Education Project Puget Sound, a college program for incarcerated women. We will cover our approaches to information literacy, resource-sharing, and discovery in an environment without the Internet. Our presentation hopes to spark conversation and ideas among other libraries in the region for how they can partner with prison education projects. Bringing access to higher education in prisons advances transformative learning and research and creating equity in higher education. Strategic themes: Strengthen Member Institutions; Improve Access to Information.

This discussion was not recorded.

Presenters
  • Bonnie Parks (University of Portland)
  • Lihong Zhu (Washington State University)
  • Mary Grenci (University of Oregon)
Description

The Cataloging Standing Group reached out to members of the international Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee to submit their proposal “Ethics, the catalog, and you: How the Cataloguing Code of Ethics can inform your EDI initiatives”. This session is planned as a companion/follow-up community of practice discussion to that session, led by CSG members, building on what participants learned in that session to brainstorm ways to implement or carry forward implementing the Cataloguing Code of Ethics and cataloging with a DEI framework within the Alliance and their own institutions. Along with some broad questions to guide the discussion, this session will provide space for organic conversation about reactions and takeaways from the Cataloging Code of Ethics session. This session is dependent on the Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee session being accepted. Ideally this session would be scheduled to immediately follow that session, preferably with a break in between the two sessions.

Learning Outcomes

Participants will be able to:

  • Discuss how cataloging ethics is integral to DEI initiatives
  • Reflect upon their current cataloging policies in relation to the Cataloguing Code of Ethics and DEI work
  • Formulate ideas for carrying forward cataloging with a DEI framework within the Alliance and member institutions
Presenter
  • Andrea Jamison (Illinois State University, Chair for ALA’s Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Roundtable)
Slides
Recordings
Description

This conversation will discuss re-conceptualizing diversity in order to move beyond ad hoc programs that aren’t intrinsically embedded as part of institutional core values and daily practices. The goal of the session will be to recognize the existence of diversity and reflect it in such a way that its presence is normalized in daily routines. The presenter will highlight ways to sustain inclusion efforts in the following critical areas: inclusive language, inclusive learning environments, and inclusive text selection.

Bio

Andrea Jamison is an assistant professor of teaching and learning at Illinois State University. Professor Jamison has more than 17 years of experience working in schools and libraries. She speaks internationally on issues related to creating inclusive learning spaces for youth and the interplay of race, power, and privilege in children’s books. Her current research involves examining equity issues in library services and the role that libraries play in either perpetuating or mitigating systems of inequity. Professor Jamison received her Master of Teaching from Concordia University and her Master of Library Science and Ph.D. in Information Studies from Dominican University School of Library and Information Science in River Forest, Illinois. Currently, she serves as chair for ALA’s Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Roundtable, which promotes multiculturalism in library services.

Presenters
  • Crystal Rodgers (University of Washington)
  • Erin Grant (University of Washington)
  • Gayle O’Hara (Washington State University)
  • Lauren Goss (University of Oregon)
  • Ryan Hildebrand (University of Oregon)
  • Stewart Baker (Western Oregon University)
Slides
Recordings
Description

Cross Alliance Collaboration in Service of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion brings together the chairs of the Primo Customization Standing Group and the Cataloguing Standing Group with the Chair and members of the Unique Materials in the SILS (UMSILS) Standing Group. We discuss the complexities that went into developing guidelines for description and cataloguing with regard to equity and bias in archival collections, rare books, digital objects and other unique materials. In order to craft such guidelines, it was necessary to consult and collaborate with groups with varying areas of expertise. We will introduce the guidelines and share how to implement them, including in Primo. Future directions will also be discussed.

Presenters
  • Beth Shoemaker (Emory University)
  • Diane Pennington (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow)
  • Jane Daniels (Cardiff Metropolitan University)
  • Karen Snow (Dominican University)
  • May Chan (University of Toronto)
  • Sarah Furger (Joliet Public Library)
Slides
Recordings
Description

The Cataloguing Code of Ethics, released in January 2021, is the culmination of several years of work by the Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee, in consultation with the international cataloging community. The proposed program, presented by members of the Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee, will provide participants with information about the Cataloguing Code of Ethics: the process in which it was created; its emphasis on equity, diversity, and inclusion; and the work still needed to be done to raise awareness of the Code inside and outside the cataloging community. The ethical considerations identified in the Code have a connection to each of the strategic themes of the Orbis-Cascade Alliance: Strengthen Member Institutions, Improve Access to Information, Inspire Knowledge Creation and Equip Students for Success. This presentation should help the broader library community and the Alliance in their EDI efforts, as well as serve as a bridge to the Cataloging Standing Group session on how to implement or carry forward the Cataloguing Code of Ethics and cataloging/EDI work within the Alliance.

Learning Outcomes

Participants will be able to:

  • Identify the Cataloguing Code of Ethics as a resource
  • Reflect upon their current cataloging policies in relation to the Cataloguing Code of Ethics
  • Consider the range of ethical issues in cataloging work
  • Recognize how cataloging ethics is integral to EDI initiatives
Presenters
  • Gayle O’Hara (Washington State University)
  • Ginny Norris Blackson (Linfield College)
  • John Schoppert (Oregon Institute of Technology)
  • Sarah Barbara Watstein (Seattle University)
Slides
Recordings
  • Foundations of DEI (Video, 39:30)
  • Foundations of DEI – Captioned (Video, 39:30)
Description

Concrete strategies are emerging for implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion principles in institutions and organizations. But operationalizing diversity, equity, and inclusion is not a “1-2-3 and DONE” process. A gradual process, operationalizing diversity, equity, and inclusion begins with awareness and understanding of key terms and core concepts.

Virtual round table discussions facilitated by Equity Exploratory Committee members will serve to clarify and to create a space for differing opinions on the following essential concepts – equity, diversity, inclusion, and antiracism. Breakout discussions will provide an opportunity for participants to brainstorm about how to put these concepts to use in Alliance work. We look forward to working with members of Alliance Teams or Groups, Alliance staff, Board and Council members, and member library staff to bring these concepts down from high-level logical, and at times abstract and perhaps even fuzzy, concepts into something we can actually work with and do something about.

Presenters
  • Richard Sapon-White (Oregon State University)
Slides
Recordings
Description

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) have long been the center of controversy when describing ethnic groups, genocides, sexuality, and north-south divisions. Barring acts of Congress, catalogers can and do add and change subject headings. This presentation will discuss OSU’s work over the past few years to ensure that Oregon Indian tribes are represented in LCSH, the correction or addition of subject headings for these tribes in WorldCat, and other projects that are needed to ensure that LCSH accurately reflects the diversity of the world’s peoples.

Presenter
  • Mark Puente (Purdue University)
Slides
Recordings
Description

For decades libraries, archives, and other information and cultural heritage organizations have been grappling with how to measure the success of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Questions persist about the success of these efforts at individual, organizational, and institutional levels. In the wake of increasing focus on racial equity and systemic oppression, are these efforts paying off? Is there a return on the investment that so many are making in this arena? If advances are being made, how does an individual or an organization know and how do you track progress and growth? This discussion will consider the complexities of measuring progress in DEI and contemporary views of DEI “metrics.”

Bio

Mark A. Puente is Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Organizational Development, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies (LSIS). He began this role in August of 2020 after having served for over eleven years as the Director of Diversity and Leadership Programs at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). At Purdue, Puente is leading the formation and implementation of an organization development strategy designed through an equity lens. He has a broad range and depth of experience designing and managing programs focused on diversity recruitment and retention within libraries and archives, assessing and improving organizational climate, leadership development, racial equity, and numerous other topics. He is on the faculty or serves on advisory groups to numerous leadership development programs such as the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries’ Leadership Fellows Program, ARL’s Leadership and Career Development Program (LCDP), and the ARL Leadership Fellows Program. A frequent clinician, speaker, facilitator, and writer, Puente also works with numerous organizations (i.e. library, archive, museum, K-12 education) on issues of racial equity, strategies for accelerating change in organizational culture, inclusion and belonging in the workplace, strategic planning, and numerous other topics. Puente has worked extensively with organizations and institutions across the United States and Canada and has presented internationally.

Puente is a graduate of the Knowledge River Program at the University of Arizona’s iSchool and a former American Library Association (ALA) Spectrum Scholar. He has worked at a number of academic libraries including the University of Arizona, the University of North Texas, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

July 15, 2021

Presenters
  • Andy Andrews (University of Washington)
  • Emily Pearson (Whitman College)
  • Faye Christenberry (University of Washington)
  • Jill Emery (Portland State University)
  • Karen Kunz (Oregon Institute of Technology)
Slides
Recordings
Description

The SCTS E-Content Group and the DUX Accessibility Standing Group will share our work and findings in best practices for accessibility licensing principles and assessing the accessibility of resources. Following short presentations about the work already achieved by both groups, we’d like to lead a discussion with Alliance members. The focus of the discussion would be on what gaps we may have between the two groups, ways in which we bridge those gaps, and what future concerns have not been identified. The overall result of the discussion is to leverage the Alliance’s ability to emphasize accessibility in our shared collections & to help individual institutions advance their own accessibility work.

Presenter
  • Elaine Westbrooks (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Slides
Recordings
Description

Staff, faculty, and administrators who make up libraries have been discussing how much we value diversity, equity, and inclusion, yet we have consistently fallen short of these ideals. Given the past year of racial reckoning, brought on by the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, we have a responsibility to examine our library systems, define inclusive leadership, and then dismantle the systems of oppression in our organizations. Westbrooks will talk about what this responsibility looks like and share what we can do, regardless of our role in our organizations, to reckon with our past and create a more just and equitable organization so that everyone is free.

Bio

Since August 2017, Elaine L. Westbrooks has been the Vice Provost of University Libraries and University Librarian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is responsible for the leadership and general administration of the University Libraries which includes 9 libraries with approximately 275 librarians, archivists, and staff. Westbrooks is a member of the Association of Research Libraries Scholars and Scholarship Committee, the Executive Committee of Triangle Research Libraries Network, the Digital Public Library of America Board of Directors, Center for Open Science Board of Directors, and the HathiTrust Board of Governors. She co-edited Academic Library Management: Case Studies with Tammy Nickelson Dearie and Michael Meth in 2017. Because of Westbrooks expertise and leadership in scholarly communications and the crisis of academic publishing, she has been interviewed by numerous media outlets, including Vox, Inside Higher Education, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Westbrooks has also emerged as a leading thinker on issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice in academic Libraries. She has a B.A. in Linguistics and a MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh.

Presenters
  • Mark Puente (Purdue University)
Slides
Recordings
Description

Institutions of higher learning use a variety of approaches to measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Some approach the work with a broad-based strategy, measuring things such as engagement or perceived levels of belonging, while others may look for specific measures related to climate and the experiences of employees from historically marginalized communities. This program will provide an overview of approaches to assessing DEI efforts and touch on some promising frameworks to help guide organizational and institutional progress in this arena.

Bio

Mark A. Puente is Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Organizational Development, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies (LSIS). He began this role in August of 2020 after having served for over eleven years as the Director of Diversity and Leadership Programs at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). At Purdue, Puente is leading the formation and implementation of an organization development strategy designed through an equity lens. He has a broad range and depth of experience designing and managing programs focused on diversity recruitment and retention within libraries and archives, assessing and improving organizational climate, leadership development, racial equity, and numerous other topics. He is on the faculty or serves on advisory groups to numerous leadership development programs such as the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries’ Leadership Fellows Program, ARL’s Leadership and Career Development Program (LCDP), and the ARL Leadership Fellows Program. A frequent clinician, speaker, facilitator, and writer, Puente also works with numerous organizations (i.e. library, archive, museum, K-12 education) on issues of racial equity, strategies for accelerating change in organizational culture, inclusion and belonging in the workplace, strategic planning, and numerous other topics. Puente has worked extensively with organizations and institutions across the United States and Canada and has presented internationally.

Puente is a graduate of the Knowledge River Program at the University of Arizona’s iSchool and a former American Library Association (ALA) Spectrum Scholar. He has worked at a number of academic libraries including the University of Arizona, the University of North Texas, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

This presentation was not recorded.

Presenters
  • Anne Osterman (VIVA)
  • Genya O’Gara (VIVA)
Slides
Description

VIVA is working to infuse EDI principles throughout its initiatives and programs, from including relevant criteria in our VIVA Open Grants program to starting an Anti-Racism Webinar Series to constructing EDI metrics for evaluating our shared collections. We will share these diverse initiatives and hope to spark a discussion about this topic among attendees.

Bios

Anne Osterman is Director of VIVA, the consortium of the 71 nonprofit college and university libraries within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Her scholarship focuses on collaborative collection development and the resource management workflows and systems that underpin this work. She has a Master’s in Library Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master’s in Statistics from American University.

Genya O’Gara is Deputy Director of VIVA. She publishes and presents on emerging models of content development and assessment, with a focus on digital collections, scholarly publishing, and collaborative collection development. She holds a master’s degree in Library Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a bachelor’s degree from the Evergreen State College.

Presenters
  • Ginny Norris Blackson (Linfield University)
Slides
Recordings
Description

The MAC Reads community reading program is a long-time partnership between Linfield University Libraries, McMinnville Public Library, and Third Street Books store. Over the past years, many organizations have issued statements in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement and condemning racism. The MAC Reads partners decide to take direct action to address racism in our community. MAC Reads 2021 Becoming an Anti-Racist combined books, films, and virtual lectures to engage our community in the proactive work of anti-racism and challenging white supremacy.

Presenters
  • Connor Cantrell (Clark College)
  • Amanda Brown (Clark College)
Slides
Recordings
Description

Since Fall 2019, Clark College Libraries’ Access Services Team has instituted a social equity training program comprised of weekly readings and reflection questions for the student employees we supervise. This has resulted in improved student employee retention and circulation procedures updated to intervene in bias-based behavior. The presentation will cover our design and implementation process as well as ideas for future work to dismantle white supremacy in the library.

Presenters
  • Robert Perret (University of Idaho)
Slides
Recordings
Description

The DUX Team will give a brief description of what digital User Experience (UX) research is, share their new User Experience Consultancy project, and invite members to participate. Attendees will achieve an increased understanding of UX and have the opportunity to submit a study for consultancy. Our presentation will highlight things to consider when designing a user experience study. Understanding UX benefits participants in advancing transformative learning and research. UX is a form of inclusion. By improving our user experience we are better able to serve the needs of our diverse population. Strategic themes: Strengthen Member Institutions; Improve Access to Information.

Committee Members

  • Josie Ragolia, Pacific University, Chair
  • Margaret Alexander, University of Oregon
  • Shelley Carr, University of Idaho
  • Hannah Crummé, Lewis & Clark College
  • Mary Grenci, University of Oregon
  • Robert Perrett, University of Idaho