Virginia's Academic Library Consortium

Jeremy Bartczak

Metadata and Discovery Services Manager

University of Virginia Library

Indexing Inclusion: Updating Subject Headings in the

University of Virginia Library's Catalog

Jeremy Bartczak is the Manager for Metadata and Discovery Services at the University of Virginia Library. The MDS team is responsible for original description, authority work, and digital asset description at the University’s main library. He co-chairs the Library’s Subject Access Enhancement Working Group to remove bias from local subject headings, and serves on the Digital Virginias regional Digital Public Library of America service hub strategy team. He is interested in metadata standards, new cataloging methods and approaches, and the use of technology to improve resource description workflows.

David Heilbrun

Metadata Librarian

George Mason University

Reparative Description: A Collaborative Approach

at George Mason University Libraries

David Heilbrun is a Metadata Librarian at George Mason University Libraries, where they have been working since 2019 after receiving their M.L.I.S. from Simmons University. Their research interests include reparative cataloging and the intersection between metadata and resource discovery.

Merrilee Proffitt

OCLC 

Reimagine Descriptive Workflows: A Community-Informed Agenda

for Reparative and Inclusive Descriptive Practice

Merrilee works in OCLC Research and provides project management skills and expert support to institutions within the OCLC Research Library Partnership. Merrilee has authored or co-authored articles, guidelines, and reports for a variety organizations and professional journals. She is frequently an invited speaker at international professional conferences and workshops on topics relating to Wikimedia project, digital libraries and special collections, and DEI in libraries. In 2014, Merrilee was elected as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists, the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and awarded for outstanding contributions to the archival profession. She is passionate about forging connections between Wikimedia projects and cultural heritage institutions. She is the editor of Leveraging Wikipedia: Connecting Communities of Knowledge (ALA Editions, 2018) as well as a co-author of Reimagine Descriptive Workflows: A Community-informed Agenda for Reparative and Inclusive Descriptive Practice (OCLC Research, 2022). Her current projects and interests include: supporting the work of unique and distinctive collections, and developing more inclusive library practices.