Sustainably Critical Cataloging: Maximizing the Impact of Term Funding with the Black Bibliography Project

Abstract

In a political and funding climate increasingly hostile to DEI initiatives in academic institutions, private or external funding may offer important, though time-bound pathways for institutional change. As an academic project housed in special collections libraries and funded largely through private grants, the Black Bibliography Project (BBP) offers a case study in leveraging term-based project funding to embed lasting critical cataloging practices into technical services workflows. This essay outlines four strategies employed by BBP project staff to ensure that the valuable DEI considerations shaping special collections metadata creation and stewardship within the project extend beyond the confines of the project staff and grant duration: 1. expanding criteria for performing authority work; 2. prioritizing collections within a processing backlog; 3. proposing and conducting large-scale reviews of existing catalog records; and 4. convening communities of practice around metadata remediation events. Together, these strategies serve to maximize the value of grant-funded projects to library staff and users, while minimizing barriers raised by institutional politics.