LTI Webinar Wrap-up: Navigating the Intersection of Data Science and Indigenous Studies

Videos, resources, and tips!

Posted on December 17, 2025 in Webinars

How can academic libraries navigate the meeting point between “data” and Indigenous studies, each an area with distinct priorities, methodologies, and cultural contexts? The relationship between the two is not straightforward: practices of data collection, organization, and sharing have often reflected colonial frameworks, privileging standardization and openness over community-specific values such as sovereignty, consent, and cultural protocols. At the same time, Indigenous studies emphasize the priority of protection, representation, and governance of Indigenous knowledges, which can clash with dominant approaches to research data and metadata.

Expect to learn more about

• Cataloging and metadata
• Leading projects in Indigenous-focused roles
• Contributing meaningfully in non-Indigenous-focused roles

Stay tuned until the end to listen to the audience Q&A!

🎥 Watch now

🕚 Timestamps

• 03:22: Speaker introductions
• 04:01: Kaia – Cataloging and metadata: approaches to integrating Indigenous world views and community-specific protocols into data description and discovery
• 16:34: Rachel – Indigenous-focused roles: considerations for leading projects that respect Indigenous sovereignty, community priorities, and cultural context
• 36:01: Bronte – Non-Indigenous–focused roles: strategies for contributing meaningfully to ethical data practices, even when Indigenous studies are not a primary responsibility
• 49:11: Audience Q&A

📄 Resources

View the presentation slides

🗣️ Speakers

Kaia MacLeod

Indigenous Cataloguing Librarian, University of Calgary

Kaia MacLeod, a member of the James Smith Cree Nation, is the University of Calgary’s Indigenous Cataloguing Librarian. She has received a bachelor of arts majoring in film studies, which she calls a degree in movie watching, as well as a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of Alberta. In her tenure-track position at the University of Calgary, she works on various projects, including giving art tours, coding diverse YA books, and reading up on the profession. Her interests in librarianship include LIS education, book reviews, and subject headings.

Rachel Chong

Indigenous Engagement and Subject Liaison Librarian, Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Rachel Chong is a Métis citizen through her maternal grandfather, originally from St. Boniface Manitoba. She currently works at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (Surrey, British Columbia) as the Indigenous Engagement and Subject Liaison Librarian on the unceded traditional and ancestral First Nations territories of the Musqueam, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Tsawwassen, Qayqayt, and Kwikwetlem; and the lands of the Kwantlen First Nation which gifted it’s name to Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Rachel has worked on a number of projects including the χʷəχʷéy̓əm Indigenous Collection, which features Indigenous authors organized via a localized Brian Deer Classification system. She also wrote the Indigenous Information Literacy Press Book open education resource to support students and faculty learning about Indigenous topics. In her free time, Rachel enjoys beading, canning, and gardening.

Bronte Chiang

Digital Literacy Librarian, University of Calgary

Bronte Chiang is the Digital Literacy Librarian at the University of Calgary, with work centered on fostering responsible, reflective engagement with knowledge through technology stewardship. She holds an MLIS with a First Nation Curriculum Concentration focus from the University of British Columbia, and a BA in political science from the University of Montana. In her current position, she is the chair of the University of Calgary’s Libraries & Cultural Resources Indigenous Strategies Working Group, a member of the COPPUL Indigenous Knowledges Standing Committee, and subject liaison librarian to the Faculty of Science.

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