Metadata Dignity: Ethical Description in Community Archives

This research examines ethical metadata practices within LGBTQIA+ community archives, documenting how marginalized communities develop alternative descriptive systems that center lived experiences rather than institutional standards. Through autoethnographic methodology, the study reveals critical tensions between standardized vocabularies and community terms in representing queer histories. Initial findings inform a framework for "metadata dignity" emphasizing community agency, temporal flexibility for evolving terminology, ethical interoperability, and reflexive practice. Future research involves comparative analysis across archives, interviews with stakeholders, and controlled vocabulary analysis. This work contributes practical guidelines for improving marginalized community representation while advancing conversations about ethical metadata creation and balancing standardization with contextual specificity.