The catalogues and digital collections of the ɬÀï·¬ Libraries contain millions of descriptions to help users identify and understand resources that may be relevant to their studies and research. These descriptions enter our catalogues in various ways, some of which are local to the ɬÀï·¬ Libraries and some of which are external. This statement has been developed to shed some light on how descriptions enter the catalogue, what practices govern description, and how the ɬÀï·¬ Libraries are working to incorporate inclusive principles into our catalogues. Cataloguers at the ɬÀï·¬ Libraries adhere to professional norms such as those laid out in the and attempt to employ a range of ethical descriptive practices related to subject headings, inclusive language, and cataloguing in non-Latin scripts.
Cataloguers and archivists in the ɬÀï·¬ Libraries use international standards, tools, and best practices to create metadata to describe books and other specialized library materials, including rare books and archival collections. For example, in both the catalogue Sofia and the ɬÀï·¬ Archival Collections Catalogue, Library of Congress subject headings (LCSH) are used, following standard professional practice. A subject heading is a specific word or phrase that describes the essence of an item’s topic, allowing it to be searched and retrieved by subject from a library catalogue. These standardized terms provide powerful searching for users; however, some are also widely recognized to be outdated and offensive. The ɬÀï·¬ Libraries are actively involved in efforts to improve subject headings in terms of both accuracy and inclusion and, to that end, are committed to using better equivalences to LCSH when they exist (example, Canadian Subject Headings and First Nations House of Learning subject headings used in parallel to LCSH) and to masking offensive subject headings so they no longer display in Sofia. Catalogues also contain archival finding aids that may contain language now recognized as outdated and/or harmful and offensive. The ɬÀï·¬ Libraries’ practice is to modify this terminology when found. In the interest of accountability, we also indicate in the resource description that a change to previous terminology has been made. 
Like many in the library profession, the ɬÀï·¬ Libraries are increasingly aware of the cultural biases that operate when applying professional standards and practices developed in white European contexts and knowledge frameworks, which can contribute to misrepresentation of marginalized groups as well as historical erasure. We attempt to use a range of inclusive description strategies, including:
- eliminating glorifying narratives for historical figures 
- working to give identities back to hidden or oblique archival creators 
- using anti-racist and inclusive language 
- contextualizing and describing materials with racist or problematic language or content. 
Cataloguers at the ɬÀï·¬ Libraries regularly work with non-English language materials and, in the case of new materials written in non-Latin scripts, create records with both latinized transcriptions and the original script to improve access and discoverability as well as support linguistic diversity.
The ɬÀï·¬ Libraries catalogue, which is a local instance of a shared, multi-institutional catalogue powered by the non-profit library organization OCLC, also contain records that the ɬÀï·¬ Libraries staff have little or, in some cases, no ability to change. Descriptions for certain types of library materials, such as journal articles, bibliographic databases, and electronic resources, are often provided by vendors and not created internally in the ɬÀï·¬ Libraries. Other records that may appear when searching the ɬÀï·¬ Libraries catalogue are for holdings found in other institutions, which cannot be modified locally.  
The ɬÀï·¬ Libraries are committed to fostering approaches to our work that further inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and reconciliation. We welcome feedback and reporting of language in our catalogue records, finding aids, or digital collections that are harmful or offensive at collections.library [at] mcgill.ca (collections[dot]library[at]mcgill[dot]ca)
Created 2 October 2023, revised 7 December 2023, revised May 5, 2024, revised January 13, 2025, revised March 11, 2025
Recommended by Library Cabinet: February 4, 2025
Approved by Library Council: March 28, 2025