MIT to host workshop on accessibility, diversity, and inclusion in library systems

Project is supported by an IMLS National Leadership Grant


MIT has received a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to convene a workshop that will advance the design of information systems that better address needs for accessibility, diversity, and inclusion.

Co-organized by MIT Libraries Director Chris Bourg and Director of Research Micah Altman, the workshop will consider how best to provide library systems that are accessible to communities with a range of abilities and viewpoints. Invited experts will identify gaps, opportunities, and emerging practices for designing library information systems that can incorporate local knowledge; accommodate different modes of learning and cognition; support evaluation of algorithmic bias; and foster diverse approaches to organizing information.

The workshop is expected to take place in the summer of 2018. The proceedings’ transcriptions and resulting white paper will be shared for public comment on PubPub, an open access publishing platform managed by the MIT Media Lab.

IMLS’ National Leadership Grants for Libraries support projects that address challenges faced by the library and archives fields and that have the potential to advance library and archival practice with new tools, research findings, models, services, or alliances that can be widely replicated.

 

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