Structuring Critical Cataloguing in Museums

A Taxonomy of Museum-Based Critical Cataloguing Project and Action Types

Abstract

In order to address the wide range of offensive, biased, and outdated language can be found in catalogue records, cultural heritage institutions are engaging in the practice of ‘critical cataloguing’, an umbrella term which refers to ways of working critically with catalogue data. Significant bodies of literature exist on critical cataloguing in libraries and archives, and much has been written about decolonization work in museums more generally, but relatively little is known about how museums are engaging in critical cataloguing. This paper brings together available information on critical cataloguing in museums for the first time, and extends this review with the findings of a series of interviews conducted with two dozen critical cataloguing practitioners in order to characterize museum-based critical cataloguing through a taxonomy of the kinds of projects and project-independent work actions that make up critical cataloguing practice in museums.