Table of Contents
Introduction
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In the course of developing these guidelines we have sought out, learned from, and referenced work on inclusive, respectful, and reparative description by colleagues of many different identities from a variety of institutions. We thank our archival colleagues who have been doing this work for a long time and whose work has given us an opportunity to learn. The guidelines are accompanied by citations that point to an annotated list of Works Cited and Additional Resources. They are also grounded in and directly support the missions and values of our local Longwood community (see the Community Mission & Values section for details).
Social contexts, individual and institutional biases, and structures of power influence how records are created, maintained, represented, and interpreted. Archival description plays a role in the representation of records – it shapes whether and how collections are discovered, navigated, and understood. Archivists decide, for example, which names and subjects will be included or omitted in description, and what language is used to represent and contextualize those subjects.
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This is a living document that we will update annually to reflect increasing awareness about how to describe our collections with greater conscientiousness for greater inclusivity. Significant changes made over time are documented in the Revision Log.
Contributors
Amber LaFountain (2020-)
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As an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota he had a polio-like illness that required the use of a wheelchair. (Robert A. Good papers, processed by Bryan Sutherland and Christina M. Thompson, "required the use of a wheelchair" replaces the term "wheelchair-bound")
The subseries also contains records of people in custody and correspondence related to their activities and evaluations. (Albert Warren Stearns papers, processed by Bryan Sutherland; "people in custody" replaces the term "inmates")
A self-described "mid-century gentleman butch," Wolfe's lesbian relationships with women were tumultuous. (Jean Elizabeth Wolfe papers, processed by Jessica Tanny, Schlesinger Library; Wolfe did not want to be identified as a lesbian.) (Peimer)
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It is the Center's standard descriptive practice to include historical medical terminology along with any equivalent contemporary terms in archival description of collections in order to support researcher discovery. However, given the [harmful, racist, etc] nature of the term "[XXXX]", the archivist has chosen to omit this term from the archival description in favor of the contemporary preferred term "[XXXX]". Please note that the term "[XXXX]" will appear in creator-supplied folder titles transcribed in this finding aid and in the papers themselves to refer to [list parallel terms]. Please contact chm@hms.harvard.edu with any questions or concerns.
Example:
From Biographical Note: His research interests included Down syndrome, congenital hypothyroidism, intellectual disabilities, neuropathology, and existential psychology and psychiatry. (Clemens E. Benda papers, revised by Charlotte Lellman)
In Processing Note: It is the Center's standard descriptive practice to include historical medical terminology along with any equivalent contemporary terms in archival description of collections in order to support researcher discovery. However, given the racist and ableist nature of the terms "mongolism," "cretinism," and "mental retardation," the archivist has chosen to omit these terms from the archival description in favor of the contemporary preferred terms "Down syndrome," "congenital hypothyroidism," and "intellectual disabilities," respectively. Please note that the terms "mongolism," "cretinism," and "mental retardation" will appear in creator-supplied folder titles transcribed in this finding aid and in the papers themselves to refer to Down syndrome, congenital hypothyroidism, and intellectual disabilities, respectively. Please contact chm@hms.harvard.edu with any questions or concerns.
Exceptions to this practice:
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If you encounter harmful terms in LCSH that do not have modern non-harmful equivalents, please take the following steps to encourage revision of those terms:
1) Report term to the Harvard Libraries SACO EDIBA Task Group for review. Instructions for doing so can be found at https://wikiharvardwiki.harvardatlassian.edunet/confluencewiki/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=26625328458595782.
2) Report term directly to SACO (Library of Congress's Subject Authority Cooperative Program) through its proposal system. An overview of proposal workflow, and a link to the proposal system, can be found at https://www.loc.gov/aba/pcc/saco/SACOWorkflow.html.
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“Harvard School of Dental Medicine Community Mission, Vision, and Values.” Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Accessed 14 May 2020. https://hsdm.harvard.edu/overview-0 mission-vision-and-values
That compassion, fairness, and trust are fundamental values that enable our individual and collective well-being
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Peimer, Laura. “Gender and Sexual Identities (LGBTQ+).” Schlesinger Library Collection Services Inclusive and Reparative Language GuideDRAFT, 2023, https://wikiharvardwiki.harvardatlassian.edunet/confluencewiki/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=30041749339395025.
This is an inclusive description guide from another Harvard Library, the Harvard Radcliffe Institute Schlesinger Library. As a library focused on the history of women, Schlesinger’s guidelines are robust with respect to gender and sexual identity and include multiple examples from their collections.
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Baksik, Corinna and Jennifer Koerber. “Guide to Entering Combining Diacritics and Symbols in Alma." Alma Wiki, May 28, 2019. https://wikiharvardwiki.harvardatlassian.edunet/confluencewiki/display/LibraryStaffDoc/Guide+to+Entering+Combining+Diacritics+and+Symbols+in+Alma
- Contains lists of diacritics that can be copied and pasted into Alma.
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Koerber, Jennifer. “Non-Latin Scripts in the Metadata Editor.” Alma Wiki, May 28, 2019. https://wikiharvardwiki.harvardatlassian.edunet/confluencewiki/display/LibraryStaffDoc/Non-Latin+Scripts+in+the+Metadata+Editor
- This article provides guidance for cataloging with non-Latin scripts in the Alma metadata editor.
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Lellman, Charlotte, et al. "Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description." Center for the History of Medicine: Policies and Procedures Manual (May 2020). Center for the History of Medicine, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston, Mass. https://wikiharvardwiki.harvardatlassian.edunet/confluencewiki/display/hmschommanual/Guidelines+for+Inclusive+and+Conscientious+Description.
We also encourage you to go directly to the sources we have cited.
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