DEI Initiative Support

1. Question: Why should I consider introducing inclusive terms?

Answer:

2. Question: What terms should I consider addressing?

Answer:

Prior to December 2021 one of the major sets of terms that institutions were addressing internally were ways that Noncitizens were being described. The Library of Congress was finally able to make a change to describe Noncitizens in a less offensive way, however, some institutions do not fully approve the result. Some institutions are still incorporating their own local practice to remove the term “illegal” from the remaining LC Headings.

There have been multiple requests across the country (and globally) to better represent Indigenous peoples as well. There is a push to “decolonize” the catalog by removing/changing terms that were originally assigned by the colonizers.

There has been a sharp increase in interest in also incorporating terms for the LGBTQ+ community. LC’s authority file is quite limited when it comes to providing terms to better describe the community; Homosaurus is a vocabulary that is gaining popularity within the cataloging community to help improve discovery of pertinent collections.

As time goes on, there will likely be more and more term-sets that institutions continue to change to better serve their patrons through inclusivity and more comprehensive search options.

3. Question: What are the mechanics that some institutions are using to enact the change?

Answer:

• Batch editing tools: Some institutions utilize tools like MarcEdit or perhaps OpenRefine to replace the problematic terms.
• Custom processing rules: Within Backstage’s Authority Control process is the ability to create custom rules. For smaller term-sets it might make sense to use a custom rule to enact the change of terminology. This process could look at all potential 6XX fields instead of just LC coded terms. Backstage has created a custom processing rule for adding Homosaurus terms based on the original LCSH when one is available.
• Locally created authority records: Some institutions are creating their own local authority records with the LC term in a 4XX in order to change the heading to their preferred term. These authorities are then loaded into your own system and are also provided to the Vendor for loading into their system.
• Backstage created authority records: For those institutions that do not wish to create their own local authority records, Backstage will be able to create them for you while using the LC Authority record as a “base”. The LC 1XX will be moved to a 4XX and your preferred term will be added to a 1XX. We can either keep or remove all other references to LC, if desired. The records will be loaded into the Vendor’s system and will be delivered to you for loading into you own. Backstage has an Indigenous authority file as well as an Undocumented immigrant/Noncitizen authority file that deviates from LC’s new approach that may be used by any institution.

4. Question: What options do I have of changing the terms once I decide how to change them?

Answer:

• Add a new 6XX field: Batch editing tools and custom processing rules can easily help you add a NEW 6XX field with your preferred term. This will allow the LC coded heading to remain in the record for URI Enrichment/Linked Data purposes while still allowing you to have your preferred term visible and searchable. Alternatively, you could MOVE your LC coded heading to another field to keep it from public display. However, adding additional fields may end up causing an issue with record size if they’re being added to an already large record and your system has size limitations.
• Replace existing 6XX field: Another option is to completely replace the existing insensitive term with that of your preferred term. Completely replacing the term will 1) easily remove the display of insensitive terms and 2) remove any size restrictions you may have on MARC records within your system. However, with the removal of the LC Heading, there is no longer a URI to insert into the field for Linked Data purposes.

5. Question: If I have future authority control processing, will my new preferred terms be overwritten?

Answer:

No! If a new term is ADDED to your record, you could code the field (or the indicators) in such a way to omit them for Authority Control processing. If you are REPLACING the original term with the use of a Local Authority Record, your authority control vendor will be sure to keep this “local” file as the first source for searching which will bypass any searching against LC. Additionally, these will also receive an indicator change to denote them as “local”.

6. Question: If an LC Authority record is used to build the local authority record, will I receive those updates?

Answer:

This is our ultimate desire but we’re not quite there! With Backstage’s current Indigenous file, yes, you will receive updates that we create. Backstage is working on a process to be able to pull in the updates that LC issues while retaining your preferred terms within the Local authority.

7. Question: How can Backstage help me start thinking about which terms to change within a specific problematic group?

Answer:
Backstage has two spreadsheets to inform you of our recommended changes for Indigenous peoples as well as Undocumented immigrants/Noncitizens. These spreadsheets contain the LCCN + the LC Heading. If you would like to make your own changes to these spreadsheets prior to conversion, you may download them and add or remove terms as you see fit; just provide us with the same information plus your preferred terms. If you have other term-sets you’d like to change, let us know and we’ll see what we can do about coming up with a spreadsheet of recommendations. Or, if you have your own, please feel free to provide it! 

8. Question: When determining preferred terms for Indigenous Peoples, is anyone working directly with the tribes/nations to determine what the preferred term should be?

Answer:

This really is a wonderful idea, and we hope that eventually Backstage and its library partners can move into a second phase of the initiative to do this. However, due to timing, we have focused phase one on going through and creating a list of potential community names – we’d like to have a “starting place” for our clients, and our Authorities Librarian has put a lot of effort into creating this foundation. We recognize that the time needed to identify contact information for all parties will be immense. If anyone wants to participate in helping identify and making contact to better the fidelity of these terms, we’d be more than happy to have the help! We have a Google Sheet with some instructions and the foundational list. To collaborate in this way, please message us via our Contact Us page and we can share our progress.