Critcatenate: #critcat in March 2024

Critcatenate is an effort to keep folks up to date on critcat efforts with a monthly-ish roundup of news. Critcat is short for critical cataloging, focusing on the ethical implications of library metadata, cataloging, and classification practice, standards, and infrastructure.

#critcat in March 2024:

Thanks to Carissa Chew of the Chew Inclusive Terminology Glossary for generous sharing of information!

Interesting discussion at MAC (the MARC Advisory Committee) in January, featuring a discussion paper (that is, an early, draft-ish proposal) to consider adding a new subfield i to the 245 field, which would “indicate the source of a transcribed title when that title contains harmful language and the title is from a source not readily apparent to general users.” So, for example, if there were offensive words in the transcribed title of a work, the subfield i could read “Title from item.” MAC had a whole lot of issues with this approach, and requested another discussion paper for their next meeting in June 2024; hopefully the Bibliographic Standards Committee of ALA’s Rare Book and Manuscripts Section can find ways to address those issues. Find the full discussion paper (2024-DP02) and recording (about an hour was spent on this topic).

I’m doing a brief review of the new LCSH lists for headings that might be of interest to readers of Critcatenate. LCSH list numbers consist of a two-digit number for the year and a two-digit number for the month the headings were approved (for example, headings on list 2311 were approved in November 2023).

New LC headings of note on list 2311:

  • New LCSH: Hispanic-serving institutions
  • New LCSH: Internalized racism 
  • New LCSH: Librarians, Black
  • New UFs added on existing LCSH: Race discrimination
  • New LCSH: White American criminals
  • New LCSH: White Americans

Also check out the LCSH additions and revisions on special list 2311a relating to Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and Neurodivergent people.

Upcoming:

Please let me know if there’s anything else coming up!

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