Research Guides: WGS 107b: Native American &amp; Indigenous Women, Gender(s), and Dance: Library of Congress Subject Headings

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Subjects: Anthropology, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies, Sociology, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

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The contents of this page have been reused and adapted from a library guide on Native American Literature, produced at Franklin Pierce University.

Library of Congress and Colonial History

The Library of Congress uses controlled vocabularies and subject headings to classify materials. These subject headings are standardized, and they are difficult to change. Problematically, the United States' colonial history is evident in the way the Library of Congress has historically classified certain topics. This issue is nowhere more apparent than in its classification of issues surrounding Native American, First Nations', and indigenous peoples' history and culture.

Currently, the Library of Congress still uses outdated terminology to classify Native American people, topics, and issues. In particular, the word "Indian" is still widely used. Subject headings include:

Slowly over time, advocates have been petitioning the Library of Congress to update its controlled subject heading vocabulary to provide an authentic representation of Native Americans' lived experiences. As the transition from older to newer terminology is accomplished, we find many resources have a blend of older and newer subject headings. Newer subject headings include:

Decolonizing the Library of Congress

For more information about how librarians and information professionals struggle with the Library of Congress's problematic subject headings, check out the featured articles listed below.

X̱wi7x̱wa library in British Columbia Takes an Indigenous Approach to Categorizing Books
This library is working to decolonize the way libraries organize information. Books on Indigenous communities often get looped into the history section. As a result, information on Native peoples literally gets left in the past. X̱wi7x̱wa Library (pronounced whei-wha) at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada aims to counter Western, colonial bias and better reflect the knowledge of Indigenous peoples. By offering an alternative to the widely used Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress classification systems, this library aims to take steps toward decolonizing the way information is sorted, cataloged, and shared.
Modifications to the Library of Congress of Subject Headings for use by Manitoba archives
The Association for Manitoba Archives has created a database where their members can deposit archival descriptions, in order to provide a central search mechanism for users. The Library ofCongress Subject Headings were also added, to provide the members with a controlled subject vocabulary to use in their descriptions. The AMA was quickly notified that the LCSH terminology relating to Indigenous peoples is antiquated and inappropriate in a Canadian and Manitoban context.
Decolonizing Cataloging and Classication
This slideshow was presented by Kalani Adolpho, Diversity Resident Librarian at University of Wisconsin Madison, for the 2018 Peer Council. The slides explore issues of diversity and whiteness in librarianship, the impact of Library of Congress Classification, and decolonizing libraries.
The Language of Cataloguing: Deconstructing and Decolonizing Systems of Organization in Libraries
As society, politics, and economies change, so too does the language of representation. Therefore, the Library of Congress subject headings (LCSH) as a system of categorization is only as effective as the language that is used to define what is and what is not. Moreover, those who control the language of categorization control access to the information categorized within that system. Consequently, librarians must always be critical of the language they are using in their information organization systems
Decolonizing the Way Libraries Organize
The purpose of this paper is to question the cultural suitability of the systems and procedures libraries have in place to organize materials. When librarians talk about changes to codes and standards that are currently in use, it is often at the micro-level. ... What may be needed are not these micro-level changes, but changes at the macrolevel. Librarians need to feel empowered to go beyond the Euro American models of library cataloging work, without feeling that they are violating the integrity of their relationships with networks and consortia