A conversation about semantic censorship-NISO Plus

This session will cover the implications of choosing – or not choosing – taxonomy terms viewed through the lens of censorship. This quirk of appelomancy (the wizardry of naming things) came to light during the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus was called by many different names through the course of the pandemic, some very scientific, and others casual even to the point of pejorative. Margie will address the pros and cons of including various terms within a taxonomy.

The NISO Plus conference brings people together from across the global information community to share updates and participate in conversations about our shared challenges and opportunities. The focus is on identifying concrete next steps to improve information flow and interoperability, and help solve existing and potential future problems. Please join us to help address the key issues facing our community of librarians, publishers, researchers, and more — today and tomorrow!

Angela Cochran is the Vice President of Publishing for the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Previously, she was Managing Director and Publisher at the American Society of Civil Engineers in Reston, Virginia. She has served in the roles of Associate Publisher, Journals Director, Production Director, and Journals Production Manager for ASCE. She was a Managing Editor at the American Cancer Society and a Production Editor for Appleton & Lange and at Pearson Education. She is past-president of the Society for Scholarly Publishing and the Council of Science Editors. She is a regular contributor of The Scholarly Kitchen.

An expert in taxonomies, metadata, and data science, Margie is a pioneer in databases and search. Margie’s work has been acknowledged through numerous awards, including ASIS&T’s Watson Davis award, the SLA John Cotton Dana and SLA President’s Award, recognition as an SLA Fellow, and as an Albuquerque Business First Woman of Influence for Technology. In February of 2014 she received the Miles Conrad lectureship for NFAIS. In November 2014, she received the ASIS&T Award of Merit. She was elected to the Hubbell Hall of Fame in June 2019.

Shelly Ray is Principal Transportation Planner for Research and Records Information Management at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). She supports the development and integration of Electronic Records Management Systems, including Board Meeting and Agenda management systems, Taxonomy/Ontology systems, Public Records Requests systems, Federated Search, and others, with the goal of creating an integrated knowledge network that makes Metro more transparent internally and to the public. Prior to Metro, she worked as an Independent Information Professional specializing in Database Development for six years, after honing skills from consulting in Digital Asset Management and eLearning Systems Design. She earned her MLIS with a specialization in Informatics from UCLA, and a BA in English and Religion from La Salle University.