Preservation, Conservation, and Digitization DEIA Initiatives

The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) initiatives in PCD are guided by the University Libraries' DEIA Commitment Statement.

PCD's Understanding and Meaning of DEIA

Diversity

Understanding that everyone is unique and to recognize our individual differences and similarities. It encompasses acceptance and respect of differences in gender, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, family composition, education, learning styles, race, political affiliations and religion while embracing backgrounds in professional experience, skills, values and culture and social class.

Equity

Serving all users through fair and just practices and processes, recognizing and working to remedy historical, systemic and hidden inequalities by creating opportunities to achieve equality.

Inclusion

Acknowledging, welcoming, respecting, supporting and valuing the authentic participation of any individual or group. This means creating an environment that engages multiple perspectives, differing ideas and individuals from different backgrounds while providing a sense of belonging.

Accessibility

The ability of users to access any information resources, regardless of physical, mental or technical impairments; providing pathways that dismantle physical, monetary or institutional barriers to users.

PCD's Commitment to the Following Actions:

Focus on Inclusion and Diversity in our workplace

  • Create a welcoming work environment; foster teamwork; value each other’s differences; build relationships of trust and empathy.
  • Acknowledge, respect and value each employee to ensure that each feels empowered and accepted for who they are.
  • Examine biases and unintentional offensive language in everyday conversation, training and education sessions; e. g., substitute the use of “master” as in a master file or master negative.
  • Critically review documentation (web presence, instructions, signage, etc.) for potential barriers to DEIA.
  • Celebrate different cultures and significant holidays, such as Juneteenth – declare a no meeting day.

Focus on Our role to Build and Preserve Collections

  • Actively participate and offer recommendations in the selection of materials for digitization and online delivery and access to ensure all stakeholder voices are heard and considered.
  • Support through assessment, treatment, digitization, housing and exhibition the University Libraries’ subject libraries (at all locations) to acquire resources written by or about Black, Indigenous and people of color.
  • Support building digital online collections of the Center for Black Digital Research.
  • Distribute digitization broadly throughout the University Libraries system.
  • Ensure that new digital collections are made fully accessible, regardless of content or format while remediating legacy collections over time.

Focus on Our Community

  • Strengthen and deepen collaborative partnership within the region, state, nation and globally to identify collections that document historically marginalized groups for digitization, such as Cheyney University and local cultural heritage institutions.
  • Support Penn State’s land grant mission by creating a strong outreach mission by offering educational programs and training to the community, especially to underrepresented groups throughout the region and state.
  • Connect students (K-12 through college level) and interns to career opportunities in library and information science, conservation and museum studies.
  • Support local business: award business to diverse suppliers.

Focus on Our On-going Accountability

  • Include DEIA objectives as individual and departmental performance goals.
  • Include DEIA objectives when assessing the success of a digital project.
  • Review these DEI commitments and update annually.

Drafted 7/22/2020; revised 8/10/2020; adopted 8/10/2020