Ethical and Inclusive Descriptive Practices Statement

We believe that our collection should be critically and ethically described, and we strive to be transparent in our decision-making. Throughout this process, we are committed to iterative reflection, continual learning, and ongoing discussions. Our aim is to respect everyone who creates, uses, and is represented in our collections by adhering to principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion when we create our finding aids, catalog records, and other descriptive metadata.

In the interest of research, exploration, and interpretation, CAC will continue (unless prevented by ethical or legal obligations) to provide access to its full collection of materials, whether in-person, online via our website, or through our reference services. In order to preserve and accurately present historical materials, and to ensure that attitudes and viewpoints of the past are not erased from the historical record, curators and catalogers will preserve transcribed titles, captions, full-text documents, and inscriptions.

In addition, we are attempting to accelerate research into collection items related to underrepresented cultures, groups, and individuals. Our goal is to improve access to these works by enhancing their descriptions in a sensitive, respectful, and accurate manner.

CAC’s Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion initiatives, which include our ethical descriptive practices, are a work in progress, and we welcome feedback. If you encounter any insensitive, offensive, outdated, or inaccurate language in CAC’s collection descriptions, please contact us at collections@corita.org