Decolonizing LIS Journal Publishing: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, Development in International Context

In moving beyond words and taking action on diversity in the library and information field globally, efforts need to engage equity, inclusion, accessibility and sustainable development. Diversity has been espoused to address inequality in our field including the lack of diverse representation in our professional and faculty ranks; women, ehtnoracial minorities and developing nations being disadvantaged in science publishing; BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) voices not represented in our collections; and discrimination, harrassment and lack of accommodation in the workplace and in education. Inequality is experienced globally and has been created and maintained by systems and structures that advantage and privilege some (mainstream society or majority culture) and discriminate against others. More recently there have been calls to decolonize knowledge and the academy as a strategy that recognizes systemic barriers, and critically engages and deconstructs inequitable structures in knowledge systems. What implications does decolonizing journal publishing in library and information science (LIS) have and how do we go about doing this in an international context?

This learning lab will focus on examining ways to decolonize LIS journal publishing internationally, in content and practice, through bearing witness to publishing injustice, identification of factors that create inequalities in publishing, and development of strategies to decolonize LIS journal publishing. A panel will set the context, engaging the participants in critical discussion of bias in LIS journal publishing that will challenge them to consider solutions, which will be followed by an interactive exercise to set an agenda of personal and collective action to decolonize LIS journal publishing globally. The learning lab will be co-facilitated by the co-editors of Library Trends, and the panel will be constituted by editors and authors who will bear witness and share their expertise.

Editors, authors, readers and other stakeholders in LIS publishing are invited to engage in collaborative learning in this learning lab to understand past injustices, acknowledge current systemic inequalities, spell out ways to decolonize LIS journal publishing and participate in setting an action agenda where LIS journal publishing is a generative and transformative space that embraces multiple ways of knowing and counters suppression, subversion, resistance and silencing of non-Western epistemologies, non-scientific methods, and other modes of knowledge production.

Co-facilitators/Content Leaders:
Clara M. Chu, Director and Mortenson Distinguished Professor, Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Jaya Raju, Professor and Head of the Department of Knowledge and Information Stewardship, University of Cape Town

Panelists (including facilitators):
Kendra S. Albright, Goodyear Endowed Professor in Knowledge Management, School of Information, Kent State University
Bharat Mehra, EBSCO Endowed Chair in Social Justice & Professor, School of Library & Information Studies, University of Alabama
Reggie Raju, Director, Research and Learning Services, University of Cape Town (UCT) Libraries