Annotated Bibliography: Diversity And Design

Dali, K., & Caidi, N. (2017) Diversity and Design. Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy. 87(2), 88-98.

This article makes the case that the elements of diversity and inclusion are foundational to both practice and scholarship in library and information science. The article begins by discussing the lack of diversity in the workforce, and citing anecdotes about the difficulties faced in trying to incorporate diversity education into a field that has traditionally considered it subsidiary to more ‘important’ principles of librarianship. The article contains an outline of their idea of the elements of achieving diversity by design, and a description of what comprises a ‘diversity mind-set.’ Compiling a list of the numerous ways that

By connecting the concept of diversity to such fundamental library values as intellectual freedom, accessibility, and serving diverse communities, the authors reframe diversity as something so foundational that its absence in any one of the aforementioned areas would compromise the basic values of librarianship. This article is persuasively if sometimes emotionally written, and would be useful for someone who wants a more thorough treatment of the ways that making diversity a priority can support the goals of their organization. Keren Dali is an assistant professor of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta, Canada, and holds awards of excellence in both teaching and research. Nadia Caidi is an associate professor at the University of Toronto,

The authors provide statistics to back up this assertion, but are careful to note the lack of data about other underrepresented populations not related to race or ethnicity as well as the fact that ‘diversity initiatives’ often focus solely on racially or ethnically diverse individuals. The article goes on to describe potential impacts of the low levels of diversity reflected in the profession. The authors discuss in detail the ways that opportunities for diversity research are plentiful in and of themselves, and also how diversity and inclusion research can be folded in when researching wider topics. In this way the article makes it clear that the issue is not in a lack of opportunity, but rather in a lack of LIS professionals willing to devote themselves to this research. The authors also discuss the benefits of bringing more attention to the subject. The article makes a compelling and data-driven case for bringing focus to all types of diversity in LIS, and would also be useful for someone looking for ways to incorporate diversity research into their intended or existing projects. Paul Jaeger is an assistant professor and director of the Center for Information Policy and Electronic Government at the College of Information Studies, University of Maryland. John Carlo Bertot is also a professor at