As part of our mission, Biddle Law Library endeavors to make our materials as accessible as possible while ensuring that the descriptions are respectful of the individuals and communities who use, create, and are represented in our collections. To ensure we are meeting the standards of the shared records we work with, we follow a national framework established by the Library of Congress which includes the use of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). We recognize that some of the terms used in this framework may be harmful, biased, or outdated, and that the process to update these terms is a slow one. Despite this, we are making concerted efforts to address these issues and to begin to repair this harmful work within our collections by:
Creating workflows to address harmful language cohesively and retrospectively.
Engaging in projects that provide additional description beyond Library of Congress practices.
Staying informed on updates to descriptive practices.
Creating a working group to generate a report that identifies historical shortfalls in library and archival collections.
We acknowledge that we are often describing communities of which we are not a part. We recognize our responsibility to describe our resources and their creators respectfully and carefully. We also recognize that we may sometimes fail and are dedicated to a process of constant reflection and improvement.
If you discover harmful or offensive language in catalog records, please use this form to report it and suggest alternative language. Our staff will review the description and update it accordingly, whether that revision entails providing additional context or replacing problematic terminology. We greatly appreciate your help in making our collections more accessible and inclusive.