The University of Oklahoma Libraries is committed to describing collection materials in collaboration with communities who create, use, and are represented in our collections. The following are some reasons why researchers might still encounter outdated and/or inaccurate language in our online catalog, digital repositories, and collections:

• Some descriptive information does not make sense to change (names, place names, journal & article titles), or requires changes to national-level standards to do so (subject headings).
• When original folder titles exist, it is common practice to maintain those titles in description, to reflect the intentions of the creator and to better facilitate access to the materials.
• The descriptive language used in our platforms was created by archivists and librarians over many decades, and it takes time to review and update decades of work.

University Libraries strives to create contextually and factually accurate metadata and consult a range of professional and community sources to ensure accurate descriptions of our collection resources. We invite users to contact University Libraries with suggestions for improving our collection descriptions.