What’s new in Open Shelf: November 2018
This month we have a special issue on language and power. Co-curated by Jennifer Brown, Tracy Munusami and John Pateman, this collection of stories…
Carro, transporta libros or book truck: Navigating library stacks in two languages
For those of our colleagues with another first language, learning library jargon in English can sometimes mean getting disconnected from your mother tongue.
Dreeni Geer
Dreeni Geer is the director of human rights and equity at Lakehead University. A lawyer by education, she has supported human rights realization in…
Political correctness and society—have we really gone mad?
It seems entirely proper that people about whom the words are used can also have a say in how they like to be described and referred to.
Making room for diverse voices in our schools
It can be easy to say that our school library learning commons is a safe space [but] simply saying something out loud does not make it true.
Language and power in the academic library classroom
Language is an enactment of power. What it means to make choices on what I say and how I say it, affects those in the classrooms I teach in.
UNESCO Year of Indigenous languages: What are you doing?
We at Open Shelf want to learn more about how Ontario libraries will honour Indigenous languages in 2019.
Super Conference 2019: Unleash your inner editor
We all have something to say but not always the opportunity, experience or technical expertise to share our ideas out to the OLA community.
Sharing our words, transforming our relationships
As members of the OLA Cultural Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, we choose our words carefully.
What the … [add library superlative language here]?
Humans have created numerous theoretical lenses to give order to and make sense of the world.
Racialized is the new Black, and Brown and …
When I think back to my early understandings of race, I recall being five years old and passing some older boys who spat on me ...
Inclusive librarianship: On whiteness
As for librarians of colour, a focus on whiteness is very beneficial. I found this true for myself and I got a great response from librarians of colour.
Words matter
Words can be both very precise and interpreted widely. As such there is no single authoritative definition of anything.