Exploring Bias and Library of Congress Subject Headings

Exploring Bias and Library of Congress Subject Headings

I am currently wrapping up my first year as an MLS student at Emporia State University, with a concentration in archives. A sense of curiosity, a love of learning, and a passion for research led me to libraries and archives as a career. I am drawn to the idea of working for universal access to information and knowledge, and I intend to work to disrupt systems of oppression in our institutions. In Spring of 2021, I took a required course in my program that introduces students to basic concepts in cataloging and classification. While I had already chosen a concentration that fills most of my elective credits, I wanted to learn more about cataloging. The cataloging project, part of the
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives’ 50th Anniversary Internship program
, was the perfect opportunity to further develop my knowledge of descriptive work, while incorporating ethics of social justice.
For this project, I had the pleasure of working with Heidy Berthoud, Head of Resource Description, and Amanda Landis, Library Technician. We started with materials relating to ideas of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) within Smithsonian Libraries and Archives library collections and examined the
Library of Congress Subject Headings
(LCSH) being used for those materials in library catalogs.
We then considered where there were gaps in the assigned headings which did not fully convey the meaning of these works, or where subject headings being used were inappropriate or outdated. We would then draft proposals for new subject headings, with the goal of improving accuracy and inclusivity within LCSH.
People working in Card Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. [Between 1900 and 1920] [Photograph].
Library of Congress
.
As intern for this project, I conducted research needed to justify proposals and provided an additional critical eye as we searched for issues. I took particular interest in issues of gender and sexuality within LCSH, performing research to determine the relationships between terms as the hierarchy of LCSH exists at present. This led me to discover that a common sexual orientation, pansexuality, is currently absent from LCSH. I performed the research to draft a proposal for pansexuality as a new heading. I also performed research to support a change in the heading “sexual minority culture,” hoping to update it to “queer culture” (this heading exists in addition to “gay culture” and “lesbian culture”).
Mapping sexuality terms as present in LCSH [screenshot]. River Freemont.
Through this project, I learned a lot about the process and politics of proposing headings. There are an extensive number of complicated rules for constructing proposals, but it is also important to be mindful of how LC prefers things to be done, even if they are not requirements. Consistency within LCSH is a common factor in rejections, as well as the impact a change would have on the larger s…