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In honor of Juneteenth

Black Lives Matter

The Library of Congress Subject Heading -- “Black lives matter movement” (May subdivide geographically) -- was added to the authoritative list in 2016. The movement came into being, and the hashtag #Black Lives Matter was created, during protests following the 2013 acquittal of the shooter in the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012. 

[Photo from NY Amsterdam News.]

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In fall 2019, Deborah Tomaras of Marist College (Poughkeepsie, New York) urged us to oppose the cancellation of the subject heading “Sex--Comic books, strips, etc.” 

There are multiple graphic novels on the topic of sex that are not erotic or pornographic in nature, of course. But LC says that the heading is covered by the two subject headings: “Erotic comic books, strips, etc.” and “Pornographic comic books, strips, etc.” We disagree! Above is an illustration from  Drawn to sex: the basics, by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan.

See also Turnover: a collection of HIV prevention comics, ed. by Jaime Cortez; Couch tag, by Jesse Reklaw; Fruit of knowledge: the vulva vs. the patriarchy, by Liv Stromquist; etc., etc. 

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Happy New Year!

There are 6 Library of Congress Subject Headings that begin with the words New Year:

New Year (May subdivide geographically)

New Year cards (May subd geog)

New Year decorations, etc. (May subd geog)

New Year in literature (May subd geog)

New Year music

New Year sermons (May subd geog)

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We helped bring this documentary about Dartmouth activists and the Library of Congress Subject Heading “Illegal aliens” to the Documentaries@Doe series. Everyone was  fired up!

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Here is a fine quiz for testing your LC Subject Heading acumen!

It was created by Emily Temple, an editor at Lit Hub.

Be sure to read her instructions on where to place your cursor to reveal the answers. 

... A hint to Question 1′s answer is in the illustration below.

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Kudos to our colleagues, Sine Hwang Jensen, Melissa S. Stoner, and Lillian Castillo-Speed for blogging about the ACRL President’s Program on metadata justice!

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Still no change for Illegal Aliens

Once again we’re here, talking about the Library of Congress Subject Heading,  “Illegal aliens.” It is frustrating that it’s been 3 years, and yet we’re still here, still unable to correct this offensive terminology.

Way back in May 2016, we blogged the post below.

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!!! EXTRA !!!

Quixotic Calculating Committee Curtails Catalogers: “Clearly Crazy” Conjecture Concerned Constituents – Jane and Jean Join In

Last week the Library of Congress and Republicans in the House Appropriations Committee battled over one of our favorite things, a LC Subject Heading of Interest. Diamond in the Fog blog is joining in the eternal contretemps between sanity and ridiculousness. 

LC proposes that the outdated subject heading “Aliens” be revised to “Noncitizens,” and that “Illegal aliens” be covered by two headings, 1) “Noncitizens,” and 2) “Unauthorized immigration.”

Join your cataloger sisters and brothers by reading the LC policy statement that we link to below, and completing the survey. 

LC Policy Statement: 

https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/illegal-aliens-decision.pdf

Survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/responses-to-illegal-aliens-proposal

Another link:

http://www.districtdispatch.org/2016/05/strange-case-congress-confounding-reclassifications/

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Dorothy Porter, Cataloger-Heroine

Jane and Jean are currently immersed in fascinating, sometimes frustrating, discussions with colleagues (both catalogers and non-catalogers) about inherent, intrinsic (etc.) bias in subject headings and metadata, and we were thrilled to find this, just new this week from the Smithsonian.

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On the occasion of his birthday, from fans at Diamond in the Fog.

Especially of note : The fifth item down -- Thos. Jefferson’s classification scheme.

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Happy Birthday Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson gave his personal library of about 6,500 books to the Library of Congress after the British destroyed the original collection in 1814.

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Sorry it’s been a while since we’ve blogged (because we are so terribly busy doing important cataloging and professional work), but now we’re back, and happy to be here with you.

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One of us gave a paper at IFLA during the gap, and that’s here:

It was in Session 098, “Challenging Society and Naming Identity: Subject Access and Bibliography in a Multicultural World” - sponsored by the Bibliography Section and Subject Analysis and Access Section. 

http://www.professionalabstracts.com/iflawlic2017/iplanner/#/grid

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The other one of us became a departmental team leader and is running ... some things ... 

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Ominous video inspired by one of the below seven headings we chose from the cool book, Library of Congress Subject Headings: Significant Changes, 1974-1988, by Teresa Hensley Burgett and Catherine W. Roberts (1988).

Beds and bedsteads became Beds. ... Jean thinks this could also fit in with the video above, if they were the flying kind (See also Bedknobs and Broomsticks.)

Flying saucers became Unidentified flying objects.

Hillbilly musicians became Country musicians.

Lippizaner horse became Lipizzaner horse.

Mouth organ became Harmonica.

Spanish missions of [Place] became Spanish mission buildings -- [Place]. Jane thinks this is a poignant and telling commentary on California history: the bold Spanish initiative, settling the first Europeans on this land, and now the remnants of its colonialist ambitions. 

Tree dwellings became Tree houses.

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Bibframe?

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Great article by Jeff Edmunds of Penn State.

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Library of Congress Subject Headings of Interest  

January 6, 2017  

Library of Congress Subject Headings continue to change and evolve, sometimes in most interesting ways. New subject headings are published monthly, and they often serve as social commentary, historical milestones, and, sometimes, entertainment. Here are a few that have academic or everyday uses. We will continue to share more with you as we collect them. We hope you enjoy these.

Building, Ice and snow (May Subdivide Geographically)

Chillblains (May Subdivide Geographically)

Depth hoar (May Subdivide Geographically)

Fur garments (May Subdivide Geographically)

Snowdomes (May Subdivide Geographically)

Winter Island (Calif.) *

* in Suisun Bay, Bay Area delta