Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Date of this Version
2017
Abstract
This paper asks critical questions about the role of classification structures and descriptive systems in generating new knowledge from library and archives collections. Grounded in theories of articulation advanced by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, the authors posit that librarians and archivists might function better as translators across classifying systems, rather than as merely transcribers and builders of the systems themselves. The analysis looks to two collections of materials by and about queer artist and activist David Wojnarowicz to understand the varying ways libraries and archives construct stable articulations around shifting subjects of knowledge.