Advanced Catalog Searching at Hunter Library: About us

Library resources are organized using descriptive standards that often reflect intrinsic biases. At Western Carolina University’s Hunter Library, we are dedicated to incorporating ethical, critical, and anti-racist cataloging principles into our work. Ethical cataloging improves the inclusivity and accessibility of our library systems. We recognize that bias and systemic racism impact the way information is organized. The work of metadata creation is informed by our unconscious or conscious personal biases, and the standards and controlled vocabularies* we use to describe and organize resources often reflect outdated and problematic concepts.

As cataloging and metadata professionals, our work entails examining the inherent biases built into the codified practices that we use to organize information resources. To this end, we strive to remediate harmful and unethical viewpoints that are embedded in information organization standards. Over time, authorized controlled vocabularies such as subject headings are updated to reflect changes in language and to improve the accuracy and relevance of the vocabulary terms. These changes include improving upon the historical misrepresentation of some people, places, and concepts. For example, in 2011, the pejorative slur that was historically used to refer to Romani people (G*psies) was updated to “Romanies” in Library of Congress Subject Headings. Similarly, the subject heading “Blacks” was updated to the less dehumanizing term “Black people” in 2022.

Changing controlled vocabularies is a slow process that requires a lot of work, research, and advocacy. While we anticipate changes to controlled vocabularies and classification systems, we are committed to remediating harmful, outdated, and unethical language in metadata records by:

• locally replacing problematic Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSHs) and advocating for changes to problematic and outdated language used in controlled vocabularies,
• reclassifying library materials to better comply with updates made to Library of Congress Classification (LCC) and advocating for the replacement of problematic and outdated terminology in the LCC classification system, and
• conducting an audit for equitable metadata in our digital collections to ensure metadata records use language that is respectful, inclusive, and authentically representative of the people and cultures we are describing. 

*Controlled vocabularies are standardized vocabulary terms and phrases that provide consistent terminology for the purpose of subject indexing in information organization systems. Learn more about controlled vocabularies on the Library of Congress website.

Resources

• Core Values of Librarianship | American Library Association (ALA)
• Cataloging Code of Ethics | Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee
• Equitable Metadata Practices Related to Gender, Race, and Culture | North Carolina Digital Heritage Center