William & Mary Libraries’ archival, digital and physical collections may contain content with harmful language or difficult subject matters. We strive for transparency in making these materials available for teaching and research, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices or behaviors found within them.
William & Mary Libraries’ perspective on harmful content and language aligns with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and university libraries around the world. We have adopted these organizations’ definitions and explanations as stated below.
What harmful or difficult content may be found in the William & Mary Libraries collections and descriptions of materials?
When we talk about harmful or difficult content, we mean materials and/or the language describing the materials that may:
- Reflect racist, sexist, ableist, misogynistic/misogynoir and xenophobic opinions and attitudes.
- Be discriminatory towards or exclude diverse views on sexuality, gender, religion and more.
- Include graphic content of historical events such as violent death, medical procedures, crime, wars and terrorist acts, natural disasters and more.
- Demonstrate bias and exclusion in institutional collecting and digitization policies.
Why does William & Mary Libraries make potentially harmful content available?
As a library and archive, we collect and provide access to materials from many cultures and time periods as part of the historic record. We preserve and make available these records to support research and to create programs and exhibits that educate and tell our human stories. Librarians and archivists work to balance the preservation of this history with sensitivity to how the materials are presented and perceived.
How is this material described, and why are some of the terms used in the descriptions harmful?
Librarians and archivists choose what language to use when describing not just books, articles, manuscripts and other materials, but also the people and organizations who created and/or are represented in them. Some of these descriptions were written many years ago, using language and standards that were accepted at the time but which we now know are problematic.
We use a variety of library and archives standards for describing materials including:
- Describing Archives: a Content Standard (DACS)
- Resource Description and Access (RDA)
- Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)
- Library of Congress Classification (LCC)
Some of these standards, such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings, contain terms that are outdated, offensive or inaccurate. We may also re-use language provided by the creators and owners of the materials, or that is transcribed directly from their source. This practice can provide important context and information about the time period and the people who created it, but can also reflect biases and prejudices.
As a profession, we are working to address problematic language and change practices where possible.
How are librarians and archivists working to address this problem and help users better understand such content?
William & Mary Libraries strives to describe materials in a manner that is accurate and respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use and are represented by the collections we manage. While some descriptions are written by staff, others reflect language used by the people and organizations that created the material. When we encounter problematic language that we believe staff created in the past, we change it. Language that comes from the original material, however, is not censored because it provides historical context for understanding the era, attitudes and opinions of its creators. In such cases, we leave the original language but provide additional context. We are working to update existing description of materials and recognize that efforts to create respectful and inclusive description must be ongoing.
How can I report harmful content?
If you encounter a problematic description, please email us.