Institutional practices in gender recording: an analysis of National Libraries

The representation of gender metadata in personal name authority records maintained by national libraries in the Americas and Europe is the central focus of this study. Anchored in contemporary discussions on descriptive practices and standards, the research investigates the application of frameworks such as RDA, alongside metadata encoding formats like MARC21, UNIMARC, and INTERMARC, in the inclusion and treatment of gender-related information. Adopting a descriptive and exploratory methodology, the study examines public authority catalogues and analyses institutional responses to identify how gender is recorded, made visible, or omitted. The findings reveal substantial variation across institutions: while some adopt binary classification models, others employ more inclusive and expanded vocabularies, and certain libraries opt to suppress gender data from public access. The analysis further highlights the potential of semantic web technologies and linked data as ethical and sustainable alternatives, enabling the connection of authority records to external sources such as VIAF, Wikidata, and ORCID. The study concludes that, when managed with responsibility and transparency, gender metadata not only supports academic research and improves data quality but also enhances the visibility of diverse contributions to cultural and scientific production.