You Want Me to Catalog What? Practical Strategies for Cataloging Insensitive/Offensive Material

As an experienced original serials cataloger with the Cooperative Serials Program of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (CONSER), one who works extensively with special collections materials, I have often been asked to catalog materials replete with content many would deem offensive. These materials include magazines featuring sexually explicit text and images, as well as propaganda published by hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and other American Nazi organizations. I have had to establish practices for handling these materials that minimize my colleagues’ exposure to them and protect my own emotional health.