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

Wed Dec 16 11:41:02 MST 2020

Dear Francis,

At the Folger, we've just posted our own Statement on Potentially Harmful Language in Collection Description: https://hamnet.folger.edu/other/statement.htm. The second bullet point in the list is about transcribed vocabulary: "We do not censor the materials in our care, but we aim to clarify instances where original language is retained by using quotation marks and/or by providing additional historical context."

We are currently linking to this statement at the footer of the catalog search results display and the display of individual catalog records. E.g., see the footer of this record: http://hamnet.folger.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=18283.

(I will admit, as the person ultimately responsible for the ILS, that this is not particularly obvious, nor is our catalog interface particularly up to date. We are planning for an upgrade. In the meantime, we will work with what we have, so the statement is there.)

We are also linking to this in our digital assets system, in the footer under the Creative Commons statement: https://luna.folger.edu.

We have not integrated this into our finding aids yet, but will have a link to the statement appear in the footer there as well.

We decided to put the statement in the footer rather than in the body of the records or finding aids because we are taking finding aids and records as descriptions of collections items, while this statement is about the way we describe collections items, not about the individual items themselves. I would be more likely to include such a statement in a record or finding aid if the statement were specifically about that particular record or finding aid. However, I also recognize that many institutions cannot change the footer in this fashion; I used to work in a large consortium catalog where such changes required moving mountains. So, it may be necessary to link to such statements in the record or finding aid itself and I support that practice as well.

We have not rolled out this statement with any publicity. It's certainly worthy of a Collation post (https://collation.folger.edu/) or inclusion in Folgerpedia (https://folgerpedia.folger.edu/).  However, our institution wishes to coordinate publicity around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, so we are just doing a soft launch now and we'll write more about it later.

I also want to take the opportunity to thank the institutions and people that paved the way. We adopted much of the language and ideas from similar statements at other institutions, and I am grateful for everyone who did that work and every institution that supported it.

Best wishes,

Julie

Julie C. Swierczek (SWER-check) |  Associate Librarian for Collection Description and Imaging  |  Folger Shakespeare Library  |  201 E. Capitol St. SE, Washington, DC, 20003  | jswierczek at folger.edu<https://webmail.folger.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=djqxoXFu7GkYW0gLOBfOQ_4TmtwcI-uuWAQE_4FqnRo3Qz-5xIrWCA..&URL=mailto%3ajswierczek%40folger.edu>  |  www.folger.edu<https://webmail.folger.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=If2QojXiPOiXSmlhvRuBQEPaKY0z8g7d61eCivbg0qE3Qz-5xIrWCA..&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.folger.edu%2f> | she/her/hers

From: Lapka, Francis <francis.lapka at yale.edu>
Sent: Monday, December 14, 2020 8:44 AM
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] statements on harmful language or catalog remediation

Thank you Erin, Ryan, Gabriela, Matthew, Maria, Ann, Jane, and Paloma, for your replies. All are quite helpful for our local discussions.

Francis

From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu>> On Behalf Of Graciani Picardo, Paloma
Sent: Friday, December 11, 2020 10:43 AM
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] statements on harmful language or catalog remediation

Thanks for bringing up this question, Francis.

At the Ransom Center there is a group working on a similar Statement on Language in Descriptive Records. Links to this statement are going to be added programmatically to all finding aids with a <processinfo> tag, and I was wondering as well whether institutions are adding this type of statement to the bibliographic records (since adding it to the catalog interface is not an option for us).

Really interested in hearing what others are doing. Thanks for sharing!

Paloma

Paloma Graciani Picardo| Metadata Librarian and Head, Printed & Published Media
Harry Ransom Center | The University of Texas at Austin | www.hrc.utexas.edu<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/SB_WC5ywNMCYNrntyOuTr?domain=nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com>
Zoom @ https://utexas.zoom.us/my/paloma.graciani<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/kPHiC68xOMtlw43h5UbOI?domain=utexas.zoom.us> | she, her, hers

From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu>> On Behalf Of Lapka, Francis
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2020 12:42 PM
To: 'dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu' <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto: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://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/zqh_C73yPMHj7BPCqW_0r?domain=nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com> 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://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/yiCoC82zQgi84yJiwnGqL?domain=guides.library.yale.edu>, 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>

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