Tulane Archivists Publish New Inclusive and Reparative Guidelines

It is with great excitement that Tulane University Libraries announces the publication of its Guide to Inclusive and Reparative Archival Description, written by staff at Tulane University Special Collections and Newcomb Archives and Vorhoff Collection. This document provides guidance on applying inclusive and equitable descriptions to archival materials and ensuring that descriptions are accessible to all users.  

What is inclusive and reparative description? When archivists process an archival collection (meaning, when they prepare a collection for access) they create original description of its contents for the public in the library’s catalog. Archivists follow professional standards to create this description. With this new publication, Tulane archivists now have a local guide and platform to ensure the library’s archival description is inclusive and accessible, prioritizes facts over editorializing language, includes input from communities about how they want to be represented, and is transparent in its practices.  

In this guide, Tulane archivists acknowledge Tulane’s role as a predominantly white academic institution. Tulane’s archival repositories have historically created archival description that championed people and institutions with political, social, and economic power while omitting or suppressing descriptions of those that do not hold the same privileges. Inclusive and reparative descriptive practices highlight a greater range of identities within the collections Tulane archivists care for, and correct inaccurate, outdated, and harmful language used by archivists in the past to describe them.  

This publication is a living document. Tulane archivists will continue to enhance and edit it as they learn more and as the archives field progresses. To access the complete Guide, please visit the following link: https://libguides.tulane.edu/inclusive-reparative-guide. If you have questions or comments, Tulane archivists would love to hear from you! You can find a feedback form in the Library Guide. 

To learn more about Tulane University Special Collections, visit the TUSC website at library.tulane.edu/tusc, email specialcollections@tulane.edu, and follow them on Facebook and Instagram. To learn more about Newcomb Archives and Vorhoff Collection, visit their website at https://newcomb.tulane.edu/archives and their digital repository at https://newcomb.saas.dgicloud.com/, or email Newcomb Communications at newcombcommunications@tulane.edu, and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. 

5/28/2024