Reparative and Inclusive Cataloging and Metadata Projects
The following campus projects were reported by respondents of The following information was collected via a survey conducted by the Ethical & Inclusive Metadata Practices in UC Library Search Project Team that ran in April and May, 2023. These lists are not comprehensive but rather, represent what survey participants chose to report.
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Reparative and Inclusive Cataloging and Metadata Projects
Change Racist Cutter Numbers / UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Library
This project involved changing two LC Cutter Numbers
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The project was immensely successful. In the process of changing the aforementioned call numbers, more accurate subject headings were added to add granularity to the bibliographic records. For example, where "Asian Americans" was the de facto broad subject heading applied, it appearw the works were actually about a segment of said population -- Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Korean Americans, Filipino Americans, etc. This pattern extended to Hispanic Americans as well -- Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, etc., illustrating the diversity within diversity of cultures and communities within these United States.
Evaluating and Upgrading Archival Finding Aids to Include Male Creators' Wives / UC Los Angeles Clark Library
This was the project of an individual who noted that many archival collections are often described as being the papers of a man, though they often include papers and other materials produced by spouses and other family members.
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There are eight 20th century fine printing collections to be reassessed remaining. The outcome of the project is more accurate information for researchers, a more accurate description of what the collections contain, and a more accurate view of the lives of the people involved. For an example of an archival finding aid with upgraded description notes, see Landacre (Paul) Collection.
Pilot to Explore Alternatives to LCSH for Student-Created Zines Focused on Social Justice Topics / UC Santa Barbara
This project involved the creation of a new collection within the library focused on zines about social justice topics and zines created by students, beginning with about 75 titles.
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The project was successful in getting catalogers to see the importance of not always going with LCSH and learning some alternative ways to do that without breaking cataloging rules or removing “correct” terms from existing records.
Recataloging of Spanish-language Colonial Mexican manuscripts / UC Los Angeles Clark Library
A collection previously referred to as “The Mexican Manuscripts” was completely reprocessed by a library school student employee with bilingual fluency in Spanish and English. The reprocessing included the correction of the previous description for accuracy and ethical language, the creation of descriptive notes and metadata for an OAC finding aid, and the creation of access points for the native people described by the colonizers in the papers.
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With accurate and complete information about the material described in the collection, the project is considered a success. The description which now centers both the native peoples described by the collection instead of just the Spanish colonizers writing the documents provides a more nuanced, accurate, and compassionate description for users. The creation of an online finding aid makes the collection discoverable. Additionally, through outreach, this collection at UCLA is now reconnected with a larger collection established by Mexican scholar Federico Gomez de Orozco, the original collector of this material.
Removal of “Illegal aliens” Subject Headings in the Pre-SILS Catalog / UC San Diego
The harmful LCSH “Illegal aliens” was replaced with “Undocumented immigrants” in bibliographic record subject headings. Other related terms (e.g., “Aliens”) were also replaced. The project required creating local authority records and doing monthly checks to see that the undesired terms had not “snuck back in” through vendor record loads.
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Documentation in the form of a list of the changed terms and a MARC file of the local authority records can be shared upon request.
Reparative Archival Description Project / UC Santa Cruz Special Collections & Archives
This project was a two-year long effort to audit and revise the archival description in UCSC Library’s finding aids to identify, contextualize, and remediate language that is racist, oppressive, culturally insensitive, outdated, or coded in ways that harm or obscure marginalized people and communities. The project consisted of the following steps:
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The project resulted in expanded skills and knowledge of reparative and anti-oppressive archival description practice, updated finding aids, and a published statement contextualizing harmful language in archival description. The Reparative Archival Description Project Assessment Report is available online.
Reparative Cataloging / UC Los Angeles Clark Library
As problematic language in either the description or subject headings is discovered, the Clark Library is revising the description or adding context when necessary. For problematic subject headings, the library either chooses a different vocabulary or makes subject heading change proposals of the Library of Congress.
This ongoing project has resulted in the ability to change a heading quickly and address concerns of faculty members. Project documentation is available.
Reparative Description / UC Riverside
This project involves the survey and review of metadata within the Special Collections and University Archives materials that primarily displays in finding aids (on OAC) and metadata for digitized materials. The main goal to date has been revision of legacy finding aids that included harmful, derogatory, and/or racist language and place names; providing contextual notes and revising language (when it can be identified that it was not put in place by a collection creator). This is an ongoing and collaborative project between the metadata, digitization services, and special collections departments.
Review and Revision of Legacy Finding Aids and Digital Collections Metadata / UC San Diego
This ongoing project involves a review of metadata that displays in Special Collections and University Archives finding aids on the Online Archive of California as well as a review of metadata for digitized materials. The work to revise finding aids is a collaboration between the metadata, digitization services, and special collections departments. Work includes the revision of harmful, derogatory, and racist language and place names (when not put in place by a collection creator) and contextualizing harmful language that cannot be changed.
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The project was successful in that participants learned a lot about making SACO proposals. The proposals are documented at Lengua LCSH Project.
Updating Racist Cutter Number (.Nx) / UC Berkeley
This project involved reclassifying and relabeling approximately 3500 items with obsolete .Nx Cutter numbers (for “Negroes”) with new .Bx Cutter numbers (for “Blacks”). The project consisted of the following steps:
Identifying affected items using an Alma Analytics query
Pull items with a canceled class number from the shelves
Update the canceled class number with the updated class number in the Alma holdings record
Verify that the new call number is not a duplicate
Print and apply a new spine label
Reshelve the items based on their new call number
Shift stacks as needed
Statements on Harmful Language and Commitment to Ethical Description
UCSC Special Collections & Archives Statement on Harmful Language in Archival Description
UCSC Special Collections & Archives Statement Example for Digital Collection Contents
Non-LC Controlled Vocabularies Used
AAT - Art & Architecture Thesaurus, maintained by the Getty Institute
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VIAF - Virtual International Authority File
Tools Used for
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Non-English Metadata
Backstage Library Works vendor for the addition of Non-Latin scripts
UCSC Library List of Reparative Description Style Guides and Community Thesauri
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