Offensive Material Practices

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Archival collections can contain language and materials from history that reference beliefs, norms, and values that are no longer (or never were) consistent with those of the University of Idaho. Spec works to describe collections in an inclusive way that is respectful to the communities they represent (created by, created for, created about) and warn users about collections containing materials that may be offensive. This is done by:

• Flagging discriminatory or offensive content included by creators
• Removing or changing discriminatory language used by previous archivists in describing collections
• Using inclusive, non-discriminatory language in our current descriptive practice
• Committing to a culture of ongoing discussion and continued learning
• Aligning our efforts with Library diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives

Users are notified when it is known that a collection contains language or imagery that may be offensive. If a collection has such materials a note will be added in the finding aid or on a digital collection’s “About” page.

Content is flagged when it contains:

• Racial slurs
• Derogatory or dehumanizing language
• Language regarding violence
• Language regarding non-consensual activity (e.g., rape)
• Sexually explicit images
• Images depicting gore, violence, or other graphic or offensive content

There is a difference between creator-supplied and archivist-supplied language. Language used by a creator is not edited in the interest of maintaining an accurate representation of the historical materials and the voices they represent. Offensive and discriminatory language used by past archivists when describing materials can and should be edited. To make this distinction clear, contextual information should be included in finding aids and digital collections explaining when such language is creator-supplied versus archivist-supplied.

When archivist-supplied language is edited, such changes should be noted in the “Processing Note” of the finding aid or on a digital collection’s home page. This is done in order to document the history of that individual finding aid or digital collection, and to document the broader history of archival descriptive practices and how they may have changed over time.

Following current descriptive best practices, newly processed collections should use inclusive and non-discriminatory language. The following priorities have been set by Spec, informed by the work of peers in the industry¹.

Footnotes