[DCRM-L] statements on harmful language or catalog remediation

[Jane Stemp Wickenden]

The Australian War Memorial has a pop-up statement which shows on first entering the site via a PC or laptop - but not on my Android smartphone.

https://www.awm.gov.au

Once that is closed, at the foot of the scrolled-down front page is an "Acknowledgement of traditional custodians."

Regards,

Jane Wickenden

On 10 December 2020 23:42:17 GMT, "Ann K.D. Myers" <akdmyers at stanford.edu> wrote:
>Francis,
>
>Stanford's statement can be found here:
>https://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-our-collections/stanford-special-collections-and-university-archives-statement-potentially
>
>and includes the following, which is almost but not quite about
>transcription:
>
>*   We carefully consider potentially offensive or harmful language in
>our own descriptions, as well as in the materials we are describing.
>
>*   We do not censor the materials in our care, but when they touch on
>potentially harmful subjects or use potentially harmful language, we
>work to provide historical context.
>
>*   We aim to clarify when language is provided from another source,
>including description or folder titles provided by the donor, creator,
>collector, vendor, or another source, via use of quotation marks around
>the language, and/or providing additional context.
>
>We have been discussing ways to incorporate this or other statements
>within our catalog interface. We are particularly interested in
>providing some additional context to digital objects that contain
>potentially offensive imagery. In our current display, the images
>appear on the screen before users see any of the metadata about the
>images, so we've been exploring whether there's a way to add a banner
>message or something. I think currently we are leaning towards some
>kind of link to our statement and/or related policy at the top of every
>catalog record, so that we do not get into the business of judging when
>warnings are warranted or not on a case by case basis. But we have not
>implemented anything yet.
>
>Very interested to see others' solutions! Thanks for bringing this up.
>
>--Ann
>
>
>Ann K.D. Myers
>
>Rare Books Cataloger
>
>Stanford Libraries
>
>Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives
>
>415 Broadway, Floor 1, 8406
>
>Redwood City, CA 94063
>
>650-723-0123
>
>akdmyers at stanford.edu
>
>she/her/hers
>
>________________________________
>From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> on behalf of Lapka, Francis
><francis.lapka at yale.edu>
>Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2020 10:42 AM
>To: 'dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu' <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
>Subject: [DCRM-L] statements on harmful language or catalog remediation
>
>
>A colleague has brought my attention to this admirable statement on
>cataloging<https://clarklibrary.ucla.edu/research/statementoncataloging/>
>at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. I believe this is the
>central idea (but I encourage folks to read the entirety):
>
>
>
>The Clark Library is revising our cataloging practices, checking
>records for accuracy and to eliminate, whenever possible, language that
>is biased or racist. We are updating metadata especially in instances
>when the historical narrative needs to be challenged or when greater
>social context needs to be included.
>
>
>
>I believe a lot of institution are drafting similar language. At Yale,
>we have (so far) a Statement on Harmful Language in Archival
>Description<https://guides.library.yale.edu/specialcollections/statementondescription>,
>which includes mention of our efforts in reparative work.
>
>
>
>In light of statements such as this, I wonder:
>
>
>
>1.  Has anyone undertaken a statement that acknowledges the difficulty
>presented by harmful language in transcribed fields, especially in
>historical special collections material?
>
>
>
>1.  The statements that I’ve encountered so far all exist outside of
>the catalog proper. Are there any such statements within a catalog
>interface, e.g. in a footer or other boilerplate? Has anyone considered
>adding explanatory statements directly to a catalog record that has
>particularly harmful language (presumably transcribed)?
>
>
>
>Francis
>
>
>
>
>
>Francis Lapka
>
>Senior Catalogue Librarian
>
>Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts
>
>Yale Center for British Art
>
>203-432-9672  ·  francis.lapka at yale.edu<mailto:francis.lapka at yale.edu>

-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
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