Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) Harmful Content Statement

The NYC Department of Records and Information Services' (DORIS) mission is to foster civic life through the preservation and public access of New York City government records. Records may contain harmful, offensive, or outdated content especially when describing marginalized communities. DORIS does not alter language in original records as it is important to preserve historical context and be transparent about historical viewpoints.

DORIS creates records and provides access in the form of finding aids (accompanying descriptions of collections), titles, captions, subject terms, blog posts, exhibition descriptions, documentation, and more. In these instances, DORIS may reuse outdated or harmful language. DORIS is committed to balancing preservation of historical context, providing access to all users, and describing marginalized communities accurately and appropriately. DORIS will continue to update outdated language, create more inclusive descriptions, and work to prevent the reproduction of harmful language.

If you encounter harmful or outdated content, please contact DORIS.