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The Glasgow School of Art Library aims to describe and present materials in a manner that is accurate, respectful, and responsive to the communities who create, use, and are represented in its collections. We acknowledge that institutions are not neutral, and that their structures and methods are rooted in colonial and imperial histories. We are engaged in ongoing efforts to revise and decolonise our practices. This includes, but is not limited to, the review of inappropriate, problematic, or discriminatory language within our catalogues, improving the ways that our users can provide feedback, and creating contextual information that mitigates the negative impacts of dehumanising, discriminatory, or distressing materials. From July-August 2022, we worked with an external consultant on a 5-week Inclusive Description review to support these aims.

When you are searching the library catalogue you might notice records that we have not yet updated to reflect inclusive descriptive practices. If you come across language or content in our catalogue that is harmful or discriminatory please email library@gsa.ac.uk with:

• the resource title
• a brief description of why the language used to describe the resource is harmful or discriminatory
• a link to catalogue record (click the permalink button on the catalogue record as below instead of copying the URL from the top bar)    

What will happen next:

Your report will be directed to our Librarians who will decide on a course of action, referring to the guidelines produced during the Inclusive Description review and the Library's Inclusivity Group. This may result in the updating of outdated or harmful language, or the adding of contextual information so that Library users can make informed decisions about the resource in future. Once the record has been reviewed, we will update you with any changes that we have made.

You can find out more about our approach to this work in our Statement on Harmful Materials (links to external website)