With the confirmed knowledge that our collections were in line with the needs of our community, our Selection and Technical Services Teams collaborated with our Race/Social Equity and LGBTQIA+ teams to develop an agreed upon common vocabulary for enhancing incoming bibliographic records, emphasizing the concept of ‘OwnVoices.' This vocabulary was then integrated into all relevant new acquisitions via local subject headings. Similarly, established bibliographic records will be retroactively enhanced as deemed necessary.

Though our selection team has for years made purchases with an eye towards promoting diversity and inclusion, this initiative has required a complete paradigm/workflow shift in terms of how we select materials, as well as how we catalog and classify them for use in order to facilitate discoverability by our customers. Effective and ongoing communication between Materials Management sub-departments and library work teams has been and will continue to be vital to the overall success of this initiative.

This initiative is intended as a key component of our system’s larger commitment to better serving all in our community, providing a concrete measure of that commitment via greater visibility. Improving the accessibility of our collections using the established common vocabulary sends the message that all are welcome and respected at PGCMLS. Our customers will benefit from the cataloging enhancements by making these materials and this content easier to locate and improve overall discoverability.