Challenging Content

Overview

Challenging or difficult content refers to explicit, potentially disturbing materials in a collection. This type of material can range from printed materials with graphic imagery or particularly harmful and offensive language found in letters and other documents. Challenging content may include sexually explicit content, graphic depictions of violence, racist imagery and slurs, and imagery or language surrounding controversial subjects such as abortion. Visual materials may be particularly challenging, but challenging content can be found in any genre.

Defining or identifying challenging content, however, can sometimes be problematic because it involves subjective judgment.  Our intent is simply to alert users to the presence of material that may be disturbing. 

Recommendations (with examples)

For the instances when we are identifying or describing materials that could be considered harmful or potentially disturbing, we can add a note alerting researchers to this type of content, such as in a finding aid’s scope note or series description.  This may be particularly helpful in collections or collection series where the researcher wouldn’t expect to find challenging content. For example, in the Bill Baird Papers, the finding aid’s scope note for Series II, Professional, Subseries B, Correspondence, alerts users to potentially difficult content by noting that “full-color images of aborted fetal tissue are sometimes included with this correspondence.” By making users aware of the presence of these types of materials they can better prepare themselves for viewing it.

When there are racial slurs or any type of offensive terminology within a collection, such as in a letter or diary, archivists should also add a note in the finding aid alerting researchers to the difficult and potentially harmful language within the contents of the collection.  For example in the Leonora O'Reilly Papers, the archivist noted in the scope and content note that “A letter using a racial slur with an enclosure of racist caricatures of African Americans titled, "Across the Potomac-scenes & types--'Ole Virginie,'" is also included.”  In the scope and content note for the Helen Jackson Piper Papers the archivist added that “Piper uses racial and ethnic slurs in some of her observations and descriptions.” 

The Jane Goodale papers include materials relating to her professional life as an anthropologist working with indigenous communities in the mid-twentieth century. In the scope and content note for the Jane Goodale Papers the archivist added this qualifying statement: "We recognize that western archival methods reinforce the privilege given to predominantly white, European voices and narratives in describing Indigenous cultural history. While Indigenous voices can be found within this collection, the materials reflect the perspectives and biases of western anthropological and ethnographical viewpoints. Due to the provenance and time period of this collection, outdated and potentially harmful terminology, including the term Aboriginal, may also be found throughout these papers."

The viewing of certain materials within the reading room that are visually disturbing can also be concerning and objectionable to other patrons doing research.  Library staff should be aware that the open display of some materials might be objectionable to others.  While restricting access to materials would not be ethical or appropriate, staff can offer the offended patron space at another location in the reading room. 

When significant collections with extensive amounts of sensitive materials are acquired, staff should discuss among themselves how best to approach description; when and how to describe potentially difficult content; and where to place this note in the finding aid or record. Final decisions can be documented in the processing plan. Processing staff should also be notified in advance of the nature or potential nature of a collection’s content so they could be better prepared to work with this type of content or, if possible, be given an option to decline working with the materials.