Language and the Description of Libraries Materials
Penn State University Libraries is committed to the timely and efficient description of materials while maintaining an awareness of the effect that language reflecting outdated, biased, offensive, and possibly violent views and opinions may have on researchers. When describing resources, we strive to help people find the resources that they seek. It is often necessary to describe communities of which our employees are not members, and we acknowledge that mistakes may occur. The University Libraries welcomes feedback on the description of library materials from all library users so improvements can be made to the catalog and content management systems wherever and whenever such changes are warranted and feasible.
As language and description continues to evolve, ongoing reviews of guidelines are required. Penn State University Libraries is committed to continuous learning and will revise guidelines as needed.
Why might I find outdated or inaccurate language used in the description of materials?
- Librarians and archivists often re-use language provided by creators or former owners of the material. This can provide important context but can also reflect biases and prejudices.
- Some information, such as titles or names, are transcribed directly as they appear on the resource. If a title or an organization’s name contains an outdated or offensive term, our organization may retain it in the description.
- Librarians and archivists often use a standardized set of terms, such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings, to describe materials. Some of these terms are outdated, offensive, or insensitive.
- The Penn State catalog and other discovery systems have existed for over 100 years, originating in paper forms and later migrating to online discovery systems. Since language and usage have changed over time, some terms that were once common have become outdated and, in some cases, are now deemed pejorative or demeaning.
- Most catalog records originate with other libraries, publishers, or third-party vendors, and are batch loaded using automated processes. The size of the Penn State University Libraries' collection -- millions of volumes -- makes the manual examination of every record infeasible.
- Librarians and archivists sometimes make mistakes or use poor judgment.
- Penn State University Libraries is committed to working with its partners to assess and update descriptions as needed. See below for reporting potentially outdated or harmful language in material descriptions.
How is the University Libraries working to address the problem of outdated language in the description of materials?
Examples include:
- Working directly with misrepresented and underrepresented communities to improve the ways they are represented.
- Informing users about the presence and origin of harmful language.
- Revising descriptions and standardized sets of descriptive terms, supplementing description with more respectful terms, or creating new standardized terms to describe materials.
- Submitting requests to the Library of Congress for new or updated topical terms when existing terminology is found to be outdated, harmful, or both.
- Researching the problem, listening to users, experimenting with solutions, and sharing our findings with each other.
- Evaluating existing policies for exclusionary practices and institutional biases that prioritize one culture and/or group over another.
- Collaborating with other institutions and organizations engaged in this work to broaden the reach of our efforts.
- Making an institutional commitment to DEIAB (diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging).
How can I suggest modifications to description?
Penn State University Libraries regularly updates information, fixes errors, and improves phrasing based on feedback. Your response will be reviewed and sent to the librarian(s) and archivist(s) who are responsible for the description and make it available through the University Libraries’ website and associated webpages. Penn State University Libraries will weigh requests for modifications to description against considerations such as accurate preservation of the historical record, professional best practices, and allocation of scarce resources. These considerations will assist in determining whether to change or remove the content.
To request changes to description in our Catalog, use the red “Report an Issue” button in the top right corner of any catalog record's page to send a comment about how that record might be improved. Please include your email if you would like a response.
It is the position of Penn State University Libraries that civil, rigorous, academic discussion and the exchange of ideas and viewpoints are the essence of what is protected as academic freedom. Penn State University Libraries weigh potential harm against considerations such as accurate preservation of the historical record, professional best practices, and allocation of scarce resources.
Acknowledgements
This statement has been adapted from Digital Public Library of America’s Statement on Potentially Harmful Content. In addition, the University Libraries acknowledges the Cataloging Lab and its extremely useful list of examples of harmful language statements from other libraries’ catalogs. The University Libraries also thanks several of our peer institutions, whose harmful language statements have guided us in crafting our own, specifically the Emory Libraries, Michigan State University Libraries, the Penn Libraries, Temple University Libraries, UCLA Library, University of Maryland Libraries, University of Michigan Library, University of Virginia Library, and the University of Washington Libraries.
Ad hoc improvement of our materials description has always been a part of our work, but in 2019, we began a more systematic approach to assessing and updating language, including topical terms, notes, and other places where we are able to replace the language. Our work to identify and remediate potentially harmful language in our catalog is in line with the Cataloging Code of Ethics.
For information on our archival collections, see also Statement on More Inclusive Archival Collections.