PCC Resources for
June 15, 2015
PSD policy specialist responsible for this list: J. Young
CLASSIFICATION
B3280.K386-.K3864
The work being cataloged is a biography of a member of the Frankfurt School of social thought, and should be classified in HM479.A-Z. The proposal was not approved.
F868.E3
The classification proposal may be resubmitted with a revised subject proposal. See below under Echo Summit (Calif.) for more information.
G156.5.M68
In agreement with the decision on Mountaineering tourism (see below), this proposal was not approved.
KZ6714.3
The classification proposal may be resubmitted with a revised subject proposal. See below under No-fly zones (International law) for details.
PN1995.9.O25
The classification proposal may be resubmitted with a revised subject proposal. See below under Object (Philosophy) in motion pictures for details.
PT151.A7
The work being cataloged appears to be a discussion of the depiction of architects in German literature since 1945. It should be classified with works on special topics in 20th century German literature, PT405. The proposal was not necessary.
P-PZ20 22.P64
The work being cataloged appears to be about the way that autobiography can be a window into the national identity and collective memory of Argentina, not about the depiction of politics in Argentine literature. The proposal was not approved.
SUBJECT HEADINGS
Subdivisions to be added to lists of free-floating subdivisions:
H 1156, Literatures
$x Palestinian Arab authors
Announcements:
Justification and research for subject heading proposals
The source citations in proposals for new and revised subject headings serve two purposes: to allow for vetting of the proposal itself during the editorial review process, and to provide a permanent reference for consultation. As SHM H 202 states,
The information recorded in the authority record serves as a record of how the cataloger decided on the terminology selected for the heading and UF references. In addition, definitions of terms that are not readily available elsewhere, information on the intended scope and usage of the proposed heading, its relationship to, and distinction from, similar existing headings, and any peculiarities or other pertinent information about the heading are recorded here. This information is used to guide the proposal through the editorial approval process. The online subject authority record serves as a permanent record for future reference and consultation.
It is important to include information that supports every aspect of a proposal, including the form of heading and any qualifier, the UFs (unless they are UFs made according to rules and not based on usage, such as an inverted reference), the BTs and RTs, and the scope note. This is typically done by quoting or paraphrasing passages from the work being cataloged, but may take the form of a cataloger-supplied summary of the work. Further, since the language of the vocabulary is English, information (other than the title of foreign-language works) should always be provided in English.
From the point of view of the editorial process, provision of full information from the work being cataloged and the reference sources consulted allows for much more expeditious review by the policy specialists. Some LC catalogers have indicated that they choose not to provide full information because they are required to send the book with their proposal; since PSD policy specialists can see the book, the reasoning goes, the “extra” work is not necessary. This view does not account for the fact that all catalogers, at LC and elsewhere, are strongly encouraged to review the Tentative Lists and provide comments on the proposals. Few if any catalogers have access to the book or reference sources, so they cannot provide effective review unless the records provide information in English. The lack of full supporting information is not only a problem with proposals that originate within LC, either. There are just as many SACO proposals submitted without full supporting citations, and since it is quite often the case that no one at LC has access to the works being cataloged, those proposals can be quite difficult to review.
The authority record is also a permanent record that indicates why the proposal was made, and why it was proposed and approved in the form that it was. Catalogers use the source citations to help them understand what a heading means and how it should be used. They also use the citations to help them know whether they need to propose another heading. Providing only a title that appears to have little or no relevance to the proposed heading is not helpful in either of these cases.
It should also be noted that citation of an “LC pattern” in a 952 field is not a substitute for source information provided in the 670 fields. Source citations provide intellectual support for the need for the heading and references, while the LC pattern justifies the form of heading and references (e.g., what the qualifier should be). Providing the pattern Short stories, English, for example, is not enough to support a proposal for Short stories, [language]. The work being cataloged and information from that work must also be submitted.
The meeting has always marked some incomplete proposals as “resubmit” and sent them back to the proposing cataloger or institution. Formerly, policy specialists would complete some of the proposals themselves, or take certain things on faith and approve them. In the current era of diminished resources and increasing workloads, however, the policy specialists do not have time to complete others’ work for them. And providing incomplete information for consultation is a disservice to current and future catalogers.
Going forward, the meeting will return any incomplete proposals for revision. Although this action will constitute extra work on the policy specialists’ part, the hope is that it will be short-term pain for long-term gain: catalogers, once reminded, will submit more complete proposals from the outset. For most proposals, the extra time required will be negligible but will cumulatively save a significant amount of the policy specialists’ time, as well as that of current and future generations of catalogers.
In a further effort to increase the number of complete proposals, policy specialists will revise SHM H 202 and H 203. The guidance on source citations will be updated, and examples with full source citations will be included. The revisions will be available later this summer.
Other decisions:
Castello di Torniella (Torniella, Italy)
The location of the castello was not provided in the source citation provided. The proposal may be resubmitted.
Circuito di Posillipo (Naples, Italy)
The location and the type of the building were not included in the source citation provided. The proposal may be resubmitted.
Cypress in art
The only evidence provided in support of this proposal was the title of the work being cataloged, which is in romanized Persian. Since there was no information provided in English, the meeting was unable to evaluate the proposal. The proposal may be resubmitted with a full source citation, which includes information from the work being cataloged (translated into English if necessary).
Buddhism—Korea—History—1910-1945; Buddhism—Korea—History—1945-
These proposals are apparently based on the time period breakdowns in the classification schedules, but the chronological subdivisions for the history of Buddhism in Korea are not required to match the classification breakdowns. Chronological subdivisions in subject headings are based on significant events in the history of the topic, while the classification breakdowns are more often made to break up large files, etc. The end of World War II indisputably marks a significant date in Korean history, but the proposal provided no evidence that 1945 marks a significant change in the practice of Buddhism. Research should be done to determine whether that was the case.
There also was no BFM reported with this proposal. All of the records assigned the heading Buddhism—Korea—History—20th century should be examined to determine whether Buddhism—Korea—History—1910-1945 or Buddhism—Korea—History—1945- , or both, should be assigned to those bibliographic records.
The meeting suggests that the cataloger could either provide research to support the fact that 1945 is a significant date in the history of the Korean practice of Buddhism, or consider that it might be better to continue to assign Buddhism—History—Korea—20th century.
The proposals may be submitted with BFM if desired.
Canadian-American Border Region
The work being cataloged is not about the border region in general, but about the portion of it around Lake Huron. It may be assigned the headings Huron, Lake, Region (Mich. and Ont.), United States—Boundaries—Canada, and Canada—Boundaries—United States.
The meeting notes that the titles of two other works were provided as justification for the proposal. The first, The Rise of Canadian American Border Region, is an electronic resource and could cover either some or all of the border; the second, Borderlands: essays in Canadian- American relations, could be about the actual border region (in whole or in part), or the word borderlands could be used metaphorically. Since neither citation included information from the work in a $b subfield, the meeting was unable to use those citations to evaluate the proposal. If either or both of these resources are about the entire Canadian-American border region as a physical entity, the proposal may be resubmitted with information from those resources. Otherwise, the proposal is not necessary.
Dzvonyk family
The name of the family was not included in the source citation. The proposal may be resubmitted.
Echo Summit (Calif.)
SHM H 690 indicates that GNIS should be consulted when making proposals for geographic features in the United States. GNIS was cited in this proposal, but the citation was incorrectly formulated as “GeoNames [algorithmically matched $b gap; 38°48ʹ47ʺN 120°01ʹ49ʺW).”
Citations such as that are common in both name and subject authority records. They were added during a project to programmatically populate the authority records with 034 fields (Coded Cartographic Mathematical Data). The phrase “algorithmically matched” means that data already in the record was computer-matched against GeoNames. Catalogers should not input citations of that type.
Citations to GNIS – or GNS, for foreign names – should include the date searched, the authorized form of name of the feature, the feature’s location, the feature type, any variant names listed, and also the feature’s coordinates (multiple sets of coordinates may be provided for some features, such as rivers and mountain chains; only one of them must be recorded in the proposal). The citations should also include an indication of conflict, if there is one.
The proposal may be resubmitted.
Fascism and medicine
The heading being proposed should be used for works that are about the effect that fascism has on medicine, as well as the effect that medicine has on fascism (see the background statement in SHM H 310). The work being cataloged, on the other hand, is an analysis of the policies about mental illness in fascist Italy, and the way that diagnosis and treatment of mental illness were used to neutralize opponents of the regime. It may be cataloged with the headings Mental illness—Political aspects—Italy—History—20th century; Psychiatry—Political aspects—Italy—History—20th century; Dissenters—Italy—
Psychology; Fascism—Italy—History. The proposal was not necessary.
Female-dominated professions; Men in female-dominated professions
The work being cataloged is about men in early childhood education, not about female-dominated professions – or the men practicing them – in general. It can be cataloged using the existing heading Male early childhood teachers, with subdivisions as appropriate. The proposal was not necessary.
Hafodunos Hall (Llangernyw, Wales)
The location of the hall was not provided in the source citation provided. In addition to the location, the source citation should also indicate whether the hall is a building or a building feature (i.e., a hallway). The proposal may be resubmitted.
Hawarden Masonic Hall
The heading must be qualified with its location per H 1334, but no indication of the location of the building was provided. The proposal may be resubmitted.
Indian gay men
The only evidence provided in support of this proposal was the title of the work being cataloged, Halfbreed’s rise. Since there is not a clear relationship between the title and the proposed heading, the meeting was unable to evaluate the proposal. The proposal may be resubmitted with a full source citation, which includes information from the work being cataloged.
Indian tribal museums
The work being cataloged is a history of a specific museum, not Indian tribal museums in general. It can be assigned the name heading of the museum, along with the heading Osage Indians—Museums, if desired.
The second citation, for a work by Glenda Galvan, may be about Indian tribal museums in general. Only the title was provided, however, and it may or may not be indicative of the work’s coverage. The wording of the scope note also was not supported by a source citation.
The proposal was not necessary for the work being cataloged. If the proposal was necessary for the work by Galvan, it may be resubmitted with complete citations.
Lerma River Valley, Battle of, 1817
The proposal for this battle provides no evidence of research in English-language reference sources, which is necessary to determine whether the battle has a conventional English name. Merely translating the Spanish name is not sufficient. Any resources consulted without success should be noted in a 675 field. If an English-language name cannot be found, then the battle should be proposed as Valle de Lerma, Battle of, [location], 1817. The source citations should also include the name of the war of which this battle is a part, and whether the battle occurred in a city or town (to support the choice of geographic qualifier; see H 1285). The proposal may be resubmitted.
Lullabies, Lü
This proposal included no information in English, and the meeting therefore could not evaluate it. The proposal may be resubmitted.
Mice—Control
This proposal was made to add several UFs and a BT to the existing heading. The BT chosen, Rodents—Control, is prohibited by H 370 sec. 1.a(2), which states that a BT is not made from one heading with a subdivision to a narrower heading with the same subdivision. Furthermore, the [heading]—[subdivision] combination is free-floating, and as such it should not include a BT at all (see SHM H 370 sec. 1.e(2)).
There has also been an unwritten policy within PSD that UFs should not be added to free-floating combinations that are editorially established in LCSH (with the exception of subdivisions established under pattern headings). The meeting has decided that it will make the unwritten policy official by revising H 373 to include the prohibition.
The proposal was not approved.
Mixed-orientation marriage
This proposal raised several questions. First, the scope note states that mixed-orientation marriage exists when one partner is straight and the other, gay or lesbian. The meeting wonders whether the definition should be expanded to include marriages in which one person is a bisexual, and those in which the spouses are of different orientations, and neither is heterosexual.
Second, the existing heading Intermarriage refers to marriage between people of different religions, religious denominations, races, or ethnicities. Is the word intermarriage used to refer to marriage between those of different genders? If so, the existing heading should be revised and Intermarriage should be the BT of the current proposal.
The proposal may be resubmitted.
Motion picture plays, Egyptian
The scope note on the heading Egyptian literature indicates that the heading is used for literature in the ancient Egyptian language. As the scope note further indicates, the correct heading for the work being cataloged, an analysis of Arabic motion picture plays from Egypt is Motion picture plays, Arabic—Egypt—History and criticism. The proposal was not necessary.
Mountaineering tourism
LCSH does not include a precedent for tourism based on sports, and the meeting does not wish to set one. Instead, the heading Sports tourism (which will be approved on this list) should be assigned, along with Mountaineering. The proposal was not approved.
Muscles—Physiology
This heading is a free-floating combination, and should not therefore have a BT or UFs. In addition, SHM H 1146 states that subdivisions that are not appropriate for use under a pattern heading may to be included in the pattern. Since –Muscles cannot be used under Heart, the subdivision –Muscles—Physiology cannot be included in the pattern for organs and regions of the body. The proposal was not approved.
National characteristics, Angolan
The only evidence provided in support of this proposal was the title of the work being cataloged, O carvalho e a mulemba. Since there is not a clear relationship between the title and the proposed heading, the meeting was unable to evaluate the proposal. The proposal may be resubmitted with a full source citation, which includes information from the work being cataloged.
No-fly zones (International law)
A concept must be established in LCSH before it can be qualified by a type of law. A proposal for No-fly zones as a heading may be resubmitted with the current proposal for No-fly zones (International law).
Object (Philosophy) in motion pictures
The only evidence provided in support of this proposal was the title of the work being cataloged, La mela di Cézanne e l'accendino di Hitchcock. Since there is not a clear relationship between the title and the proposed heading, the meeting was unable to evaluate the proposal. The proposal may be resubmitted with a full source citation, which includes information from the work being cataloged.
San Luis Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Colo.)
National wildlife refuge complexes should be established in the name authority file (see the Summary of Decisions for List 5 (2015)). The proposal was not approved.
Sextantio (Extinct city)
There was no indication of the location of Sextantio provided in the source citations. The proposal may be resubmitted.
Silahtarağa Elektrik Sentralı (Istanbul, Turkey)
The source citation did not provide the location of this entity, nor did it indicate in English what type of entity it is. The type of entity is particularly important in this case so that the meeting can determine whether it should be a subject or a name heading. The proposal may be resubmitted.
SouthGate (Bath, England)
A cataloger’s note in the proposal questioned whether this entity should be proposed as a shopping center, or as an archaeological site. Since the work being cataloged is about an archaeological site on the property of a shopping center, the archaeological site should be proposed. LC catalogers who are unsure which type of heading to propose are encouraged to contact a PSD policy specialist first, while catalogers in SACO institutions are encouraged to contact [email protected]. The proposal may be resubmitted.
Suicide—Law and legislation
This proposal included no information in English, and the meeting therefore could not evaluate it. The proposal may be resubmitted.
Teatro Garibaldi (Padua, Italy)
There is not any support for the qualifier in the source citation. The citation includes a “no publs. in LC” statement, which is pertinent for name authorities, not subjects. Further, the wording of the citation makes it difficult to determine which of the several names listed there are the earlier ones. The current (or latest) name of the theater should be proposed as the heading, with UFs from all of the earlier forms. The proposal may be resubmitted.
Theatre on the Bay (Camps Bay, Cape Town, South Africa)
The source citation in this proposal is unclear as to which names refer to this specific building. The current (or latest) name of the theater building should be proposed as the heading, with UFs from all of the earlier forms. Also, since qualifiers are provided only to the city level, Camps Bay (a city section) should be removed. The proposal may be resubmitted.
Cao family
Chinese family names are not routinely converted from the Wade-Giles to the Pinyin transliterated form because of the inherent complexities in a Western presentation of Chinese surnames. The older established names were transliterated according to Wade-Giles and ordinarily will not be changed to Pinyin form. The Pinyin form of the family name may be added as a variant to the authority record for the Wade-Giles form of the name. Newer family names will be established according to the Pinyin system, and a UF in the Wade-Giles form may be added as appropriate. Since there is little possibility of a successful change in this area, and such a change would cause a large amount of chaos for little benefit, the existing headings will be retained.
A variant Cao family will be added to the existing heading. The proposal was not approved.
GENRE/FORM TERMS
Announcement
In September 2015 the meeting will approve approximately 40 genre/form terms for religious materials. The proposals appear on Tentative List 1518, which may be accessed at http://classificationweb.net/tentative-subjects/1518.html. PSD is requesting comments on the proposals; please email Janis L. Young at [email protected] through August 31, 2015.
The religion genre/form project is a collaboration of PSD and the American Theological Library Association, which coordinated with the Association of Jewish Libraries, the Catholic Library Association, and the Council on East Asian Libraries. PSD thanks all those who worked to develop the list of terms, which includes terms pertinent to several religious traditions.
Other decisions:
Trigger films
Some trigger films may depict surgeries, etc., and are therefore not intended for social guidance. This proposal to add the BT Social guidance films to the existing term was not approved.
