The Metadata Inclusivity Steering Group was formed at Northwestern Libraries (Northwestern) to address offensive language in metadata. There are a few reasons why problematic words appear in metadata. For instance, the resources can be problematic, or the records might be old and have out-of-date terms.
Moreover, Northwestern is part of a shared international cataloging ecosystem. There are many benefits to this system, particularly in saving staff time. It also means the libraries share standards and vocabularies with various institutions. Working in a shared environment means there is a tradeoff between efficiency and customization.
There are many barriers to change. As a step forward, Northwestern has created a Statement on Bias in Library Description and form, which users could use to submit concerns about the metadata.
Metadata creators, too, can do a lot to mitigate the problems. For instance, they can use a variety of subject vocabularies, propose revisions to Library of Congress subject heading terms, and utilize technology to make changes. All these efforts and proposals are part of a broader movement to remediate issues with metadata used to describe Northwestern’s collection.
In an extensive collection like Northwestern's, tracking the problematic language in the records can be challenging. Therefore, users, too, can help. If they see problematic terms in the catalog, they can submit their questions or concerns by email to Jamie Carlstone, Authority Metadata Librarian, at jamie.carlstone@northwestern.edu.
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