Engaging Diverse Voices through Research & Resources

Welcome to the Engaging Diverse Voices through Research & Resources Guide. This guide is designed to provide tools and background information to better navigate library systems in which you may encounter offensive or outdated terminology.  

As stated in the University Library’s Harmful Language Statement, 

“The University Library recognizes that the language and standards used to describe its resources are not neutral - nor are we - and that past practices have led to biased and harmful descriptions across collections. Additionally, some materials, which have been preserved and made available for their historical significance, may include offensive and outdated terminology and depict or describe graphic, hateful, and disturbing content. Our stewardship of these materials does not constitute support of their content or perspectives.”

Our Terminology Information and Trigger Warning page explains how harmful language will be handled and presented in this guide and offers resources at CSUN if needed.  

In alignment with this statement, this guide is organized by identities which have been traditionally underrepresented and/or harmfully depicted by language and society, including library systems and descriptions.  Each page contains sections on:

• Definitions of the category drawn from CSUN reference sources,

• Historical context based on census data,

• Keyword suggestions compiled from subject headings and common keywords to search with notations about harmful or outdated terms, which might still be used to organize information or found in historical primary source documents, 

• Reference books on the section topic. 

Depending on your topic, you might use more than one of the pages in this guide to address the intersectional identities.  To learn more about intersectionality, watch the video below.  

First and foremost, this guide assists researchers in understanding why they may encounter harmful or outdated language as a researcher. The guide reflects the University Library’s commitment to, as CSUN’s Road Map to the Future states, disrupting systemic inequalities in the pursuit of academic excellence by creating transparency around the history of harmful language.   Moreover, in alignment to Institutional Learning Outcome 6: Information Literacy/Competency, we are committed to assisting all in being able to locate and evaluate a variety of sources and to use information ethically. Finally, this guide intends to help our community of researchers be successful in practicing inclusive research, raising awareness about how diversity is represented in the scholarship we choose to cite and the importance of the role of language use in being inclusive in our contributions to scholarly conversations. The pages in the guide aim to create transparency around the relationship between oppression/liberation, language, and library systems.  

To learn more about inclusive description visit Inclusive Description Task Force website.  To learn more about inclusive citation, please visit Citation Justice - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Research - Research Guides at University of Maryland Libraries