cataloging Archives | American Libraries Magazine

Library of Congress Changes Illegal Aliens Subject Heading

November 12, 2021

The American Library Association (ALA) praised the Library of Congress’s decision to update the cataloging subject headings aliens and illegal aliens. The Policy and Standards Division of the Library of Congress, which maintains Library of Congress Subject Headings, announced the decision to replace the terms with new subject headings noncitizens and illegal immigration at its … Continue reading Library of Congress Changes Illegal Aliens Subject Heading →

Text graphic showing possible changes to Library of Congress Subject Headings, such as "undocumented immigrant" for "illegal alien."

Decolonizing the Catalog

November 1, 2021

The panelists included Elizabeth Hobart, special collections cataloging librarian at Penn State University; Staci Ross, cataloging and metadata librarian at University of Pittsburgh; Michelle Cronquist, special collections cataloger at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Kelly Farrell, program officer for the Triangle Research Libraries Network, a consortium of academic libraries in North Carolina. … Continue reading Decolonizing the Catalog →

Catalog Locally, Share Globally

By James Hennelly | July 8, 2021

RDA, or Resource Description and Access, is the successor to AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, second edition), the cataloging system developed nearly 50 years ago for the creation of card catalog records of print materials. The diversity and nature of library holdings has of course evolved since then, and by the turn of the millennium there … Continue reading Catalog Locally, Share Globally →

What's in a name: LGBTQ+ and Latinx perspectives on access

What’s in a Naming Term?

By Carrie Smith | June 26, 2021

Access language—subject headings, naming terms, and search terms—reflect the values, priorities, and assumptions of their creators, and often demean or pathologize marginalized groups. The complexity of solving these issues—if they are solvable—was explored in “What’s in a name?: LGBTQ+ and Latinx perspectives on access terminology—challenges and solutions,” on Saturday, June 26, as part of the … Continue reading What’s in a Naming Term? →

Conscientious Cataloging

By Anne Ford | September 1, 2020

Tired of the delays, some librarians have taken matters into their own hands by making the change in their own catalogs, without waiting for LC to take the lead. Communicating inclusion Two early adopters of the change: Sol López, technical services manager at the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center (HSLIC) at University of New … Continue reading Conscientious Cataloging →

Honoring and Respecting Relationship: Rethinking Library Praxis

Decolonizing Knowledge

By Terra Dankowski | June 25, 2020

Camille Callison, Indigenous strategies librarian at University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, commenced the American Indian Library Association President’s Program “Honoring and Respecting Relationship: Rethinking Library Praxis” June 25 at ALA Virtual by introducing herself as member of the Tahltan Nation and recapping some of the racist and problematic actions Canada has inflicted upon Indigenous people. … Continue reading Decolonizing Knowledge →

A Librarian’s Good-Bye

By Karen Muller | June 3, 2019

In 1970, I was working in book receipts at Boston Public Library and just beginning to consider library school when I expressed an interest in cataloging during a coffee break with colleagues. Bill Crowe, who became dean of University of Kansas Libraries, suggested Cataloging USA, by Paul S. Dunkin, published by the American Library Association … Continue reading A Librarian’s Good-Bye →

Presenters at “Reclaiming Subject Access to Indigenous Knowledge,” a session during the International Federation of Library Associations’ 2016 World Library and Information Congress in Columbus, Ohio.

Removing Barriers to Indigenous Knowledge

By Terra Dankowski | August 18, 2016

Librarians from the Philippines, Canada, and the United States discussed their research on the barriers to accessing indigenous materials, ideas to modify metadata and subject headings, and obstacles to implementing new cataloging and classification systems. Cristina Villanueva, librarian at the University of the Philippines Baguio, presented her findings on classifying and indexing Philippine indigenous materials, … Continue reading Removing Barriers to Indigenous Knowledge →

A woman using the card catalog at the main reading room of the Library of Congress, circa 1940.

The Evolving Catalog

By Karen Coyle | January 4, 2016

Today when we say “technology,” it is often shorthand for “computer technology.” Of course this is not the only technology in our lives, but it is the one that defines our modern age. A century and a half ago, the defining technology was electricity and all things electric. The light bulb was literally the bright … Continue reading The Evolving Catalog →

The Last Card

By Joseph Janes | January 4, 2016

Ah, the memories that flooded back when we all heard the recent news that OCLC had printed the last run of catalog cards. If asked, I would’ve confidently assumed that had finished up long ago. An OCLC press release told us that since 1971, the company had produced 1.9 billion cards. My rough calculations give … Continue reading The Last Card →

Library Systems Report 2014

By Marshall Breeding | April 15, 2014

This phase of the industry offers many choices, including both proprietary and open source license options, some based on cloud technologies and others that continue to rely on local hardware. Though a new generation of library services platforms has entered a phase of early adoption, the integrated library system remains viable, especially when extended to … Continue reading Library Systems Report 2014 →

Organizing Content

By Karen Muller | January 23, 2014

Five years ago, ALA’s Presidential Task Force on Library Education specified eight areas of core knowledge for librarians. The third area, titled “Organization of Recorded Knowledge and Information,” details how librarians provide library users access to materials. It defined three specific competences related to recorded knowledge and info: Organization and representation; Developmental, descriptive, and evaluative … Continue reading Organizing Content →

Latest Library Links

10h

Sallyann Price writes: “Actor and comedian Molly Shannon is perhaps best known for the larger-than-life characters she created over six seasons as a Saturday Night Live cast member. She talked about the vulnerability that forged those characters—and the real-life personalities that populate her forthcoming memoir Hello, Molly! (Ecco, April)—at the American Library Association’s LibLearnX conference on January 23 in conversation with author Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney. ‘I have so much respect for what you do and for writers in general,’ Shannon told Sweeney. ‘I think it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, ever. Way harder than performing.’ “

AL: The Scoop, Jan. 23
11h

Sanhita SinhaRoy writes: “How do you address low morale at your organization? What can you do to foster more diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in recruitment and retention? In her 15-minute ShopTalk session, “3 Reasons Your DEI Programs Are Not Working,” Elaina Norlin presented research and anecdotes from consulting on DEI issues to attendees of ALA’s LibLearnX virtual conference on January 23. Norlin, author of The Six-Step Guide to Library Worker Engagement (ALA Editions, 2021) and professional development and DEI program coordinator for the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries, said that recent studies show 92% of DEI trainings fail on multiple levels and can create more harm than good.”
12h

The American Library Association has selected The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu (Little, Brown and Company) by Tom Lin as the winner of the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance (Random House) by Hanif Abdurraqib as the winner of the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. The selections were announced during ALA’s inaugural LibLearnX conference January 23 at the Reference and User Services Association’s Book and Media Awards virtual event. “Congratulations to both medalists for gifting readers with essential antidotes to the polarizing challenges we continue to face,” said Terry Hong, chair of the selection committee for the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence.”

AL: The Scoop, Jan. 23
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Terra Dankowski writes: “If you’ve ever wondered if your library should be doing more to support independent and self-published authors—such as holding book festivals featuring their work or including more of their titles on your shelves—Tejas Desai and Kacper Jarecki of Queens (N.Y.) Public Library (QPL) think the answer is yes. At ‘Supporting Indie Authors,’ an educational session at the American Library Association’s LibLearnX conference on January 22, Desai and Jarecki discussed how libraries can be a lifeline for independent and self-published authors and their readers—especially those who live in the communities they serve. ‘We’re firmly committed to the idea that everyone has a story,’ said Desai, assistant manager and supervising librarian at QPL’s Cambria Heights branch.”

AL: The Scoop, Jan. 22
16h

Carrie Smith writes: “As attention on trauma-informed care for library patrons grew, Karen Fisher, professor at University of Washington School of Information, began to wonder whether equal attention should be turned toward library workers. ‘We had a long list, pages and pages of incidents that we had been gathering from the media, all the types of stresses coming into library workplaces,’ said Fisher during the January 22 session ‘Trauma in the Library’ at ALA’s LibLearnX virtual conference. ‘We really wanted to turn it more inward and ask, What is the impact on staff?'”

AL: The Scoop, Jan. 22
17h

Chase Ollis writes: “The American Library Association (ALA) presented its annual I Love My Librarian Awards in a livestreamed ceremony at the inaugural LibLearnX event on January 22. The awards honor 10 librarians per year for outstanding service. This year’s recipients include three academic librarians, three school librarians, and four public librarians, including one prison librarian. ‘These 10 honorees are inspiring examples of what is possible in our profession,’ said ALA President Patricia ‘Patty’ M. Wong during the ceremony’s opening remarks. ‘Their stories are a testament to the profound leadership, compassion, and expertise of our nation’s librarians.’ “

AL: The Scoop, Jan. 22, Jan. 10
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Sanhita SinhaRoy writes: “As US demographics change and as the push to become a more inclusive and equitable society grows, libraries must follow suit. That was the message at ‘Advancing Race and Social Equity in Library Communications,’ a January 22 session at ALA’s LibLearnX virtual conference. Three members of Prince George’s County (Md.) Memorial Library System (PGCMLS) discussed the library’s ongoing antiracism and social equity work, how that work is reflected in its communications, and how it has strengthened the library’s role in the local and statewide community.”

AL: The Scoop, Jan. 22

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