Examining the Subject Heading Illegal aliens

This presentation will report on the process and discussions of the CaMMS Subject Analysis Committee working group charged with investigating the Library of Congress Subject Heading Illegal aliens, including thought-provoking dilemmas and difficult questions encountered. Given the peculiarity of intense focus on single subject heading and other highly unusual circumstances (such as attempted legal intervention by members of Congress), the presentation will consider what aspects of the saga of the subject heading Illegal aliens might be relevant in future efforts to address problems with LCSH

Naming and Reframing: A Taxonomy of Attacks on Knowledge Organization

Most knowledge organization practices have opinionated detractors. Some criticisms are informed and serious, but unsubstantiated assertions and fatuous dismissals are so commonplace that practitioners grow weary of the perpetual need to refute them. Many have had the experience of conducting and publishing research that contradicts a popular misguided claim, and then seeing this evidence have little effect on the continued repetition of the claim. This paper (which is part polemical essay) will attempt to contribute another tool for tackling this problem: a taxonomy of attacks on knowledge organization. Categorizing and devising names for the major strains of deprecation of knowledge organization, cataloging, and metadata will not defeat those arguments, but identifying and reframing them might strengthen the knowledge organization community’s resolve to take them on. Warning: there might be neologisms

What Have We Got to Lose? The Effect of Controlled Vocabulary on Keyword Searching Results

Using controlled vocabulary in the creation and searching of library catalogs has evoked much debate, because it is expensive to provide. Leading to this study were suggestions that because most users seem to search by keyword, subject headings could be removed from catalog records to save space and cost. This study asked, “What proportion of records retrieved by a keyword search has a keyword only in a subject heading field and thus would not be retrieved if there were no subject headings?” It was found that more than one third of records retrieved by successful keyword searches would be lost if subject headings were not present, and many individual cases exist in which 80%, 90%, and even 100% of the retrieved records would not be retrieved in the absence of subject headings

Authority Work as Outreach

Authority control in libraries has always been a collaborative effort, but that collaboration has usually been among librarians. Librarians have considered themselves the experts on forming data strings that hewed to an exacting set of standards opaque to all but a small number of gatekeepers who have been through NACO training. In the process of creating personal name authority records, NACO participants usually do not attempt to contact people for whom authorized names are being established, even when the person is known to be alive and contact information is readily available. The exception is when additional information (such as year of birth or middle initial) is needed to differentiate that person from others with the same name. Sending such a query to a creator requires providing a basic explanation of authority control, so NACO participants often develop scripts or templates for this purpose. This chapter looks at existing practices of contacting creators and the outcomes of these practices, and argues that attempting to consult with individuals about their authorized name and data in their authority record should become a standard part of the name authority control process for personal names. The chapter goes on to explore contacting creators not only as a way to ensure the authenticity of the data in the authority file, but as a rare opportunity to highlight the efforts of technical services librarians. The act of explaining authority control principles and asking for creators’ assistance in ensuring accurate information should be viewed as outreach, demonstrating how the work of libraries benefits creators by representing them accurately and facilitating access to their work. Regarding authority work as a collaborative partnership, both in advocacy to creators and managing their identity along with them, will reframe our practice as one of a truly collective process. Approaching personal name authority work as a partnership in which libraries collaborate with creators to promote and implement sound identity management practices will help to us address one of the main ethical questions in name authority control

Search Terms Up for Debate: The Politics and Purpose of Library Subject Headings

The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) are used by most libraries in the United States to help users find resources in their collections. For the last century, librarians have worked to make LCSH more inclusive and accurate by replacing offensive or racist terms with language that more fully reflects the identities and experiences of diverse populations. This article explains the purpose and function of subject headings and discusses the process by which they are continually updated. The main emphasis of the article is the history of debates and advocacy associated with that process, with a particular focus on the long campaign to change the former subject heading "Illegal aliens.

At Lightning Speed? The Recent Surge of Long-Needed Changes to LCSH

In the past few years, changes to longstanding problematic (dehumanizing, pejorative, marginalizing) Library of Congress Subject Headings are being made at an unprecedented rate. Particularly since the "lightning rod" of the urgency of changing the subject heading "Illegal aliens" galvanized the library world in 2016, so many have been changed recently that it's actually hard to keep up! This presentation gives a quick overview of newly created & changed subject headings, subject headings are still unchanged & needed headings that are still lacking, and changes currently in progress (as of March 2023)

Still a Lot to Lose: The Role of Controlled Vocabulary in Keyword Searching

In their 2005 study, Gross and Taylor found that more than a third of records retrieved by keyword searches would be lost without subject headings. A review of the literature since then shows that numerous studies, in various disciplines, have found that a quarter to a third of records returned in a keyword search would be lost without controlled vocabulary. Other writers, though, have continued to suggest that controlled vocabulary be discontinued. Addressing criticisms of the Gross/Taylor study, this study replicates the search process in the same online catalog, but after the addition of automated enriched metadata such as tables of contents and summaries. The proportion of results that would be lost remains high