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Statement on Potentially Harmful Language in Archival and Digital Object Description

UNLV Special Collections and Archives staff acknowledges that the creation, application, and management of archival description is not a neutral activity. We aim to use language and description that is inclusive, respectful, and representative of the communities that create, use, and engage with the materials held in our care. If you discover harmful or offensive language in finding aids, descriptive metadata for digitized items, or other content created by UNLV Special Collections and Archives, please contact special.collections@unlv.edu. We welcome your feedback. In some instances, we will supplement but not replace the offensive terms that come from authorized sources as terms assigned may comply with standards still in use for searching.

Descriptions may contain language and/or imagery that are offensive because of content relating to: ability, gender, race, religion, sexuality/sexual orientation, and other categories. These documents, images, publications, and other materials have been preserved in order to present the materials in their original state and context, and do not reflect the values of UNLV Special Collections and Archives. Library descriptive practices have changed over time and many of our finding aids and inventories may contain outdated or harmful language that does not align with our current values or meet professional archival descriptive best practices. We use the Library of Congress Subject Headings, Library of Congress Name Authority File, and Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST) for standardized searching in our finding aids and digital object descriptions available in the online catalog and SCA search portal that may contain offensive or harmful language. We are actively working to address this problem and support efforts in the library community to update or change terms. We are committed to correcting mistakes and past practices that harm our communities and users. 

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