NIKLA-ANCLA
National Indigenous Knowledge & Language Alliance / Alliance nationale des connaissances et des langues autochtones

Part of the 2026 Ripples of Connection Webinar, this webinar is co-hosted by the Respectful Terminology Platform Project & Master of Information Program, Dalhousie University Title: Accountability Beyond the Stacks: Indigenous Knowledge Sovereignty in Academic Libraries Presented by: Kayla Lar-Son, Indigenous Programs & Services Librarian, X̱wi7x̱wa Library at the University of British Columbia Date: March 19, 2026

Part of the 2026 Ripples of Connection Webinar, this webinar is co-hosted by the Respectful Terminology Platform Project & Master of Information Program, Dalhousie University Title: Classify, Communicate, Enforce: Territorializing Strategies to Support Indigenous Data Governance Presented by: Dr. Danica Pawlick-Potts, Assistant Professor, York University Date: Monday March 12, 2026.

Recap of the inaugural RTPP Foundational Gathering, hosted by the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) at The Gathering Place on their Chilliwack Campus, located on S'olh Temex, the unceded traditional territory of the Stó:lō peoples. With support from the Mellon Foundation, we brought together Elders, the RTPP Core Team, the Indigenous Advisory Circle, and the Technical Working Group to chart the project's future.

Title: Community-building through international collaboration on multilingual LOD vocabulary: Nomenclature for Museum Cataloging Presented by: Nathalie Guénette and Trang Dang, Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) Date: Monday November 4, 2024. Abstract - The Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) will present the Nomenclature for Museum Cataloging project, a LOD vocabulary used by museums to index and access their collections. We will describe how Nomenclature has leveraged LOD to enhance the dataset through co-referencing with other LOD vocabularies, and has developed LOD features to make it easier for museums to implement the vocabulary within their collections management systems. Development is driven by the museum community, with Nomenclature users continuously making submissions to the Nomenclature Committee for the addition of new terms and alterations to existing terms. We will describe the community-building aspects of this multilingual, international project: the governance, and how the various committees and language communities work together to include terminology in Spanish, French, Inuktitut (an Inuit language), and Canadian regional terms. Nomenclature will continue to respond to the needs of the community, through terminology review, modernized conventions, technological improvements, and inclusion of terms for Indigenous concepts and in Indigenous languages. Speaker Bios: Nathalie Guénette obtained her diploma in Museology Techniques from Montmorency College in Laval in 1997. She worked at the Cinémathèque québécoise, where she documented and digitized photographs, posters and archive records. In 1999, she joined the Canadian Museum of Civilization (now the Canadian Museum of History), where she held various positions in photographic archives and documentation of objects. There, she developed her expertise in cataloguing and in developing documentation standards. She joined the Canadian Heritage Information Network in 2017. Previously, she was responsible for the French translation of the Spectrum 5.0 standard. She is also the Chair of the Canadian for Nomenclature and the Senior Editor of the Nomenclature for Museum Cataloging standard. Trang Dang holds a Bachelor of Applied Finance from Macquarie University (Australia) and a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of British Columbia. Before joining the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), she was an intern in the Department of Collection and Content Management Systems of the J. Paul Getty Trust. During this time, she developed a keen interest in information architecture and data management in the cultural heritage sector. Since she joined CHIN in 2020, her work has mainly focused on the documentation, technology and implementation of a semantic model for cultural heritage data.

Title: Using Linked Data to Improve LGBTQ+ Description. Date: Tuesday November 19, 2024 Presented by: Bri Watson and K.J. Rawson, Homosaurus Abstract: In this lightning talk, K.J. Rawson and Bri Watson will introduce the Homosaurus: An LGBTQ+ Linked Data Vocabulary. They will share a brief history of the vocabulary, explain how the project is run, and showcase how it can be used to supplement broader thesauri, such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings. Speaker Bios: B.M. Watson (@brimwats) is a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar and fourth-year PhD. Candidate at University of British Columbia’s iSchool. Their research focuses on the multiple histories of information and the contemporary practices of equitable cataloging in galleries, libraries, archives, museums, and special collections. Watson is a cofounder and the coordinator for the Trans Metadata Collective (transmetadatacollective.org) and Queer Metadata Collective (queermetadatacollective.org) and serve on the editorial board of Homosaurus (homosaurus.org), an international linked data vocabulary for queer terminology. Watson has authored nearly 20 peer-reviewed publications, including as the editor of the recently-released Ethics in Linked Data (Litwin Books, 2023). Their current project seeks to establish a new field of cultural heritage research by bringing together a diverse group of authors in a collection tentatively titled Towards Special Collections Studies. K.J. Rawson works at the intersections of the Digital Humanities and Rhetoric, LGBTQ+, and Feminist Studies. Focusing on archives as key sites of cultural power, he studies the rhetorical work of queer and transgender archival collections in brick-and-mortar and digital spaces. Rawson is founder and director of the Digital Transgender Archive, an award-winning collection of trans-related historical materials, and he chairs the editorial board of the Homosaurus, an LGBTQ+ linked data vocabulary.

Title: Revising Legacy Vocabulary: Interim updates to Indigenous related terminology in the Canadiana Collections. Date: Monday December 2, 11:00 am PDT/3:00 pm ADT Abstract: CRKN is a proud supporter of the ongoing work of the Respectful Terminology Platform Project. In the interim, CRKN has removed some outdated and racist language from subject headings within Canadiana. Please join Natalie and Jason as they share updates that have been made to Indigenous related terminology found in the Canadiana collections. They will highlight the successes and challenges related to updating subject headings, adding content warnings, and creating alternate titles. Presenters: Jason Friedman has a BA in History from George Washington University and a Master's in History from McGill as well as a Master of Information Studies from University of Ottawa. He has worked at CRKN since 2016 and currently serves as Senior Manager, Heritage Services. In his role, he is the lead for the development of the Canadiana collections and ensures that digitization, metadata, and access services meet the needs of members and stakeholders. Natalie MacDonald has worked at CRKN since 2019 and is currently their Senior Metadata Analyst. She is involved with most things metadata related at CRKN, including their Canadiana collections. She thoroughly enjoys technical problem solving and helping her colleagues. She is a strong believer in taking steps towards equality, whether it be related to accessibility, content, description, or vocabulary. In 2019 she began making interim changes to CRKN's subject headings to remove inaccurate descriptions.

Title - Learning from Indigenous Voices Speaker Bio - Sadie Anderson is a Cree woman from Peepeekisis Cree Nation in Treaty Four territory. As the Indigenous Library Services Coordinator for the Provincial Library and Literacy Office of Saskatchewan, she also served as the Chair of the Outreach Committee for the Saskatchewan Indigenous Subject Headings Project. Sadie is also a member of the Respectful Terminology Platform Project - Technical Working Group. Abstract - This prerecorded webinar provides an overview of the Provincial Library and Literary Office of Saskatchewan Indigenous subject headings project. It focusses on the outreach and engagement process that focused on uplifting Indigenous Voices, and touches on various aspects of the project conception, implementation and continuation.

Title: Subject-headings describing Indigenous Peoples in the RVM: a tailor-made methodology, an extraordinary project Date: Friday October 25, 2024 Abstract - Decolonization in libraries involves, among other things, subject headings. At RVM, we've started to revise disrespectful subject headings, and we'd like to tell you about our project. The presentation will begin with a brief introduction to RVM and its particularities, for the benefit of participants less familiar with this tool, which has been the Canadian standard for indexing in French for 50 years. Then, we will discuss the specific methodology developed for this project, based on co-creation with Indigenous Peoples. The main changes made to date will be explained, so that participants can fully understand the links between these changes, and CSH and LCSH, and their impact on research and results display for library users. Finally, the various decolonization projects in which the RVM is involved will be discussed, with a view to sharing the results obtained. Speaker bio- Susanne Brillant. Répertoire de Vedettes-Matière, Université Laval Susanne Brillant began her career as a reference librarian at the Assemblée nationale du Québec from 2001 to 2011. Head of the user services section at the Bibliothèque de l'Université Laval for the next ten years, she now holds a position as controlled vocabulary librarian on the Répertoire des vedettes-matière team.

On May 2, 2022 NIKLA hosted Respectful Terminology, a national event, centered on identifying the next steps to develop a framework for respectful terminology. This session is now available to watch for those who could not attend live. NIKLA aims to bring the communities together to walk the path of creating a national Indigenous-led framework for respectful terminology.