Reparative and Inclusive Description Initiatives
As expressed in Columbia University Libraries' Strategic Directions and Statement on Inclusive Editing of Harmful Language in Library and Archival Descriptions, Cataloging and Metadata Services at Columbia University Libraries are committed to inclusion and have undertaken efforts to revise and recontextualize library resource descriptions containing harmful language. We have also established technical solutions that enable the display of more respectful, accurate, and inclusive terminology in place of problematic terminology in some resource descriptions. CUL staff also advocate for more inclusive cataloging and archival description practices at a national and international level through active participation in professional committees and conferences, presentations and publications, subject heading revision proposals, and similar efforts.
You can learn more about those initiatives here.
Columbia University Libraries Initiatives:
Columbia University Libraries Statement on Inclusive Editing of Harmful Language in Library and Archival Descriptions (April 5, 2023)
"On Outdated and Harmful Language in Library of Congress Subject Headings" RBML blog post by Celeste Brewer (October 19, 2021)
"Eleanor Roosevelt Speaks for Herself: Identifying 1,257 Married Women by Their Full Name" RBML blog post by Celeste Brewer (September 9, 2020)
Remapping Harmful Terminology (CLIO release v9.2.1, March 10, 2021): Displays local terminology in place of certain harmful Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) in CLIO, as shown in the list below. Though the Library of Congress has since revised many of these terms as well, we continue to replace them when they appear in older records, in other vocabularies besides LCSH, and in catalog records from outside sources that we cannot edit directly.
Reports of harmful language and suggestions of alternative terminology can be brought to our attention by using the Suggestions & Feedback option in the Feedback/Help menu in CLIO, or by emailing cliofeedback@library.columbia.edu.
| Locally Displayed Term | Original LCSH Term |
|---|---|
| Noncitizens | Aliens |
| Undocumented immigrants | Illegal aliens |
| Undocumented immigration | Illegal immigration |
| Children of undocumented immigrants | Children of illegal aliens |
| Undocumented immigrant children | Illegal alien children |
| Undocumented immigration in literature | Illegal immigration in literature |
| Undocumented immigrants in literature | Illegal aliens in literature |
| Women undocumented immigrants | Women illegal aliens |
| Noncitizen criminals | Alien criminals |
| Noncitizens in motion pictures | Aliens in motion pictures |
| Church work with noncitizens | Church work with aliens |
| Noncitizens in literature | Aliens in literature |
| Noncitizens in art | Aliens in art |
| Noncitizens in mass media | Aliens in mass media |
| Foreign property | Alien property |
| Foreign property (Greek law) | Alien property (Greek law) |
| Foreign property (Islamic law) | Alien property (Islamic law) |
| Foreign property (Jewish law) | Alien property (Jewish law) |
| Foreign property (Roman law) | Alien property (Roman law) |
| Noncitizen labor | Foreign workers |
| Children of noncitizen laborers | Children of foreign workers |
| Noncitizen labor certification | Foreign worker certification |
| Women noncitizen laborers | Women foreign workers |
| Noncitizen laborers' families | Foreign workers' families |
| --Officials and employees, Noncitizen [subdivision] | --Officials and employees, Alien |
Other Initiatives and Resources:
Anti-Racist Description Resources. Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia, 2019.
Cataloging Code of Ethics. January 2021.
Change the Subject. Documentary, Directed by Jill Baron and Sawyer Broadley. 2019. Via YouTube
Inclusive Metadata and Conscious Editing Resources. Sunshine State Digital Network, October 2020.
List of Statements on Bias in Library and Archives Description. - Violet B. Fox, Cataloging Lab
Library of Congress - Evaluation of Headings for Indigenous Peoples (March 27, 2023)
OCLC Reimagine Descriptive Workflows - Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Initiatives
Program for Cooperative Cataloging - Advisory Committee on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Accessibility (EDIBA)
Program for Cooperative Cataloging - Guiding Principles for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Metadata Creation (January 19, 2023)
Program for Cooperative Cataloging - Task Group on Gender
Society of American Archivists - Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives