Critcatenate: #critcat in January 2022

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

#critcat in December 2021 and January 2022:

• “Decolonizing Canadiana Metadata: An Overdue Step in Removing Harmful Subject Headings” from the Canadian Research Knowledge Network. Information about replacing the LCSH “Indians of North America” with “Indigenous peoples” and replacing other “Indians” terminology. Includes a spreadsheet with a list of replacements.
• The ARLIS/NA Cataloging Advisory Committee has launched a form to propose changes to problematic/offensive art subject headings.
• “ARLIS/NA Statement on Removal of Library of Congress – Illegal Aliens – Subject Headings” expressing disappointment about LC’s change to “Illegal immigration” & lack of transparency/rationale behind their choice.
• New post: “Still Changing the Subject: Examining Library of Congress Subject Headings and Considering Options for Change” by Steph Roach at the Council of Chief Librarians California Community Colleges website. I especially appreciate the excellent list of actions on this post.
• Short twitter thread from Alissa McCulloch: “One day we will cease attempting to ‘reduce bias’ in our catalogues, and start to ‘add values’ and ‘strengthen ethics’ and ‘redistribute power’ instead.“
• Also from Alissa McCulloch: a new blog post: “Beyond ‘Ditch Dewey’ in the academic library,” on the complexity of de-Deweying the library and the need for culturally sensitive metadata.
• New blog post on the ARLIS/NA blog: “Critically Cataloging Black Arts Movement Material” by Nic Caldwell, including info about crediting (and creating authority records for) Black artists who haven’t been included in traditionally cataloged records.
• Short article: “Critical Librarianship in a Global Context” by Emily Drabinski in the Philippine Journal of Librarianship and Information Studies. Includes discussion of the D schedule in LCC as evidence of U.S. imperialism.
• New LCSH was added in December for “Palestinian Nakba, 1947-1948” which had been rejected in 2017. Other new headings of interest: “Feminism and racism,” “White feminism,” “Vaccine mandates,” and “Greenwashing.”
• New recording available: “Tackling Racism and Bias in the Library Catalog” from the Public Library Association, with staff from Brooklyn Public Library, New York Public Library, and BookOps discussing the replacements for the “Illegal aliens” headings. You may need a (free) ALA Connect login to access this content.
• New recording available: “Cataloging & Calcification: Issues & Suggestions in Applying LC Standards to Indigenous Materials” from Allison Mills (Ililiw/Cree), discussing marginalization in LCC, using alternate vocabularies, & exploring alternate classifications. Part of the session Land Acknowledgement & Beyond: Special Collections and Indigenous Communities from PACSCL (The Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries).
• New special journal issue available: Queering Information: LGBTQ+ Memory, Interpretation, Dissemination, volume 5 number 4 of The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion.  “Diversity Monitoring in the Library: Categorisation Practices and the Exclusion of LGBTQ Library Users” by Kevin Guyan may be of particular interest.
• The catalog records & subject authorities created by Sanford Berman and colleagues at Hennepin County Library are now accessible through an online system, thanks to David Lesniaski. The KOHA installation contains the bibliographic and subject authority files of the Hennepin County Library catalog from late 2001-early 2002. The main page contains a link to a document explaining various ways to search the metadata. (Hat tip to Tina Gross!)
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Upcoming:

• Wednesday February 2: “Body-Oriented Cataloging and the Future of Gender in Archives” talk by Travis Wagner, sponsored by the Center of Archival Futures.
• Tuesday March 8: “Skill-Sharing Conversation: Addressing Bias in the Library Catalog” from LibraryLinkNJ with Charles Dolan and Eileen M. Palmer.

Please get in touch if I’ve missed anything relevant, I’d be happy to add it to next month’s report!

Also: I don’t get paid for this work, so if this roundup is useful to you, please drop me a line to say thanks and/or give me a job!