Link to the University of Pittsburgh Homepage
Link to the University Library System Homepage Link to the Contact Us Form

Black Subject Headings in LCSH: Successes and Challenges of the African American Subject Funnel Project

Ross, Staci and Cronquist, Michelle (2021) Black Subject Headings in LCSH: Successes and Challenges of the African American Subject Funnel Project. In: Core Virtual Interest Group Week, Virtual.

[img]
Preview
PDF
Available under License : See the attached license file.

Download (699kB) | Preview
[img] Plain Text (licence)
Available under License : See the attached license file.

Download (1kB)

Abstract

The African American Subject Funnel Project was recently revitalized and is actively contributing new and improved terminology related to the African American experience to the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Our membership includes a diverse mix of catalogers and subject specialists who work collaboratively on subject heading proposals. Historically, only a small group of catalogers have felt empowered to contribute to LCSH, but we have worked to democratize participation in the Subject Authority Cooperative Program (SACO) through training and mentorship of Funnel members. Including the perspective of subject experts, public service librarians, and staff of diverse institutions greatly improves LCSH for everyone. We will discuss our successes as well as the challenges that arise when trying to update a very old controlled vocabulary to align with our antiracist goals. LCSH generally centers whiteness and marginalizes the experiences of people of color. It is often shockingly lacking in concepts related to the Black experience, even those that are well-documented in library materials. Existing language in LCSH often needs to be updated to be more inclusive. And in some cases, existing subject heading policy actually hides materials about racism. We will discuss how the Funnel has successfully introduced new terminology that provides a broader look at Black and African American experiences, and how we have proposed changes to existing terminology which empowers contemporary users to confidently employ LCSH in their information needs.


Share

Citation/Export:
Social Networking:
Share |

Details

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Ross, StaciSTR51@pitt.eduSTR510000-0002-2389-1817
Cronquist, Michelle
Date: 28 July 2021
Date Type: Publication
Event Title: Core Virtual Interest Group Week
Schools and Programs: University libraries > University Library System
Refereed: No
Date Deposited: 30 Sep 2021 13:02
Last Modified: 02 Oct 2021 04:55
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/41826

Metrics

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics


Actions (login required)

View Item View Item