The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has announced two important actions to support increased diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in its work and its community. Following Board approval of the NISO DEI Policy in January, a full DEI Committee has now been formed. The Committee will be led by NISO Board member Maria Stanton, who is Director of Production at Atla. Later this year, NISO will be hosting a workshop on DEI and standards, organized by the Committee, to help identify and prioritize key areas of opportunity and development.
The DEI Committee comprises 15 members from four countries, spanning all areas of NISO’s work — libraries, publishers, research infrastructure, services providers, and other representatives of the information community. They are charged with championing NISO’s DEI Policy to help achieve the organization’s goal of social justice in all its activities, including establishing priorities, identifying assessment criteria, and regularly monitoring and reporting on progress. The Committee will also serve as a resource to the NISO community, providing guidance on DEI issues and advocating for under-represented groups.
One of the Committee’s first tasks is to plan and implement the workshop on DEI and standards — a result of the recent NISO Plus 2021 conference. Several sessions at the conference focused specifically on DEI issues, and the topic was also raised in numerous other sessions, especially with regard to the need for improvements to metadata standards. To ensure global participation, the workshop will be held in at least two major time zones. The findings will be shared publicly for community feedback.
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