Use this checklist to guide initial conversations with individuals who may be about to work with harmful language and content.

WHO IS THIS FOR: supervisors, project organizers

Use this form to communicate concerns about harmful language and content with a supervisor or project manager. The form is set to anonymize responses. Copy the form into your Google Drive for use.

WHO IS THIS FOR: anyone working on harmful materials (students, part or full-time staff, community members.)

The following links provide self-care suggestions specific for the harmful language and content context, as well as tips on how to advocate for oneself if they are confronted with too much harmful content.

Preparing for Working with Disturbing Material - Support Guide One 

Working with Disturbing Material - Support Guide Two

Creating a Trauma-Informed Workplace - Staff Support

WHO IS THIS FOR: anyone working with or managing harmful materials (students, part or full-time staff, community members, supervisors, project organizers.)

Below are some example scenarios of the kinds of harmful content within UTL collections and how one can manage working with them.

WHO IS THIS FOR: anyone working with or managing harmful materials (students, part or full-time staff, community members, supervisors, project organizers.)

The WITNESS collections, part of the Human Rights Documentation Initiative, contain footage where interviewees describe sexual and gender violence. Previously, these videos were reviewed to create and update existing metadata. While the collections are clear about what harmful content they contain, their viewing can still incur vicarious trauma if viewed without breaks or full agency of the metadata worker.

GUIDANCE: "Provide a place where people can go to step away from the records." (Wright and Laurent, p. 65)

The Texas Historic Topographic Maps collection contains a number of place names that contain racial slurs. A project began to identify which maps had these slurs and to apply content warnings to those issues. This work requires the repeated viewing of racial slurs. Assigning this project to a co-worker without breaks or the choice to work on other collections could incur direct or vicarious trauma, especially as such slurs could affect individuals differently based on their identity.

GUIDANCE: “Where possible, give staff choices about how and when they work on potentially traumatic collections, noting that what is traumatic for one person may not be for someone else, and adjust work practices accordingly” (Wright and Laurent, p. 66)

Below are a number of strategies to support students and staff working with harmful content in the long-term, especially if the projects involved are multi-semester.

WHO IS THIS FOR: anyone working on harmful materials (students, part or full-time staff, community members.)

• Stagger the work day with breaks

• Make time for mindful distractions, such as breathing exercises

• Have a dedicated workspace that is separate from other work

• Practice re-identifying exercises (you are not your work)

• Prepare yourself mentally for the work beforehand (consider the broader context the work fits into)

• Share your experiences with others (internally through working groups, externally through professional organizations)