The Critical Catalog: Library Information Systems, Tricksterism, and Social Justice

In this paper, we describe the Critical Catalog, a grant-funded research through design project intended to investigate metadata elements, values, and organizational structures necessary to intentionally advocate for diversity and expose library users to resources from populations traditionally marginalized in literature and publishing. Drawing on principles from critical design, the prototype functions as a critical intervention intended to raise questions and stimulate debate, rather than a purely technical fix to deeply social concerns. A detailed reflective discussion of the design process reveals how existing infrastructural constraints shaped design decisions that led to increased advocacy and a stronger activist standpoint. We discuss the use of metadata as design material for social justice, the application of tricksterism in HCI, and how both practical limitations from professional contexts and imposed limitations based on identities and positions of power can lead to surprising places, meanings, and questions.