Harmful Language in Bibliographic Records
The Jerome Hall Law Library's bibliographic records in IUCAT may contain harmful language. Although our staff strives to use inclusive language to describe library materials, researchers may nonetheless encounter harmful language in our online catalog (IUCAT) and when searching and accessing various research collections. Despite our best efforts, such language might appear in subject headings as well as titles, subtitles, or other information transcribed directly from library materials.
Harmful language may appear for several reasons, including:
- national and international cataloging standards: some of these standards uphold systemic oppression when it comes to recommended terms/vocabulary/headings, and these standards are slow to change;
- age: many of the bibliographic and descriptive records within IUCAT were created years or decades ago; much of that language may be outdated or offensive today;
- historical context: at times, we may choose not to censor harmful words because this content provides historical context for understanding the era, attitudes, and opinions of their creators.
If you encounter harmful or offensive language in the bibliographic records of items in the Jerome Hall Law Library collections, please let us know your concerns by emailing liblaw@iu.edu.