PCC Resources for
February 17, 2020
PSD policy specialist responsible for this list: J. Young
CLASSIFICATION
BR65.L52-.L526
This proposal was made to add Liberatus, Archdeacon of Carthage, to the list of prominent early leaders of the early Christian church – that is, the Fathers of the Church. Although Liberatus fits the time period, he is not considered to be a Father of the Church. The work should be classed with its topic. Based on the subject headings assigned, the meeting suggests BX150-154 (Assyrian Church of the East), or BT1380 or BT1440 (Eutychians or Nestorians, respectively, in the heresies and schisms hierarchy). The proposal was not approved.
DS380.C43
This proposal may be resubmitted with a resubmitted subject proposal. See Chadhar (South Asian people) below for more information.
DS380.S93
This proposal may be resubmitted with a resubmitted subject proposal. See Swati (South Asian people) below for more information.
PC803.7.C58
The work being cataloged is a discussion of the depiction of cities and towns in both Romanian literature and art, and it should be classed in NX650.C66. The proposal was not necessary.
SB351.F58
Works on the culture of fluted pumpkins should be classed with pumpkins and squashes in SB347. The proposal was not approved.
Table KJ-KKZ1 2736
The proposal does not cite a work being cataloged. In addition, the caption being proposed would be unique in the law schedules, and does not reflect an LC subject heading. The meeting was unable to evaluate the proposal. The proposal may be resubmitted.
SUBJECT HEADINGS
Announcement: Proposals for groups of superheroes
This list included proposals for Indigenous superheroes; Indigenous women superheroes, and Women superheroes, Black. Similar proposals for subgroups of superheroes began appearing on tentative lists in November 2019.
There is an intellectual issue with all of these proposals: Superheroes represents a concept, not a class of persons, but the proposals seek to treat it as a class of persons by qualifying the base heading by ethnicity, gender, age group, etc. The heading Women superheroes, which was approved in 2012, set a precedent for that treatment. Additionally, LCSH does include numerous headings for concepts that are qualified in similar ways (e.g., African American business enterprises; Gay choirs). However, some of the proposals included two qualifiers (e.g., Indigenous women superheroes), which occurs only for classes of persons.
Five proposals that appeared on tentative lists 1911, 1912, and 2001 – African American superheroes; Child superheroes; Gay superheroes; Superheroes, Black; and Transgender superheroes – were approved. In each case, the work being cataloged was either about the depiction of those groups in comic books, or another work cited in the proposal was chiefly about the depiction of the group in comic books and could be assigned the proposed heading if it were approved. Proposals that did not include a citation to any work that would be assigned the heading, according to the rules and guidelines in the SHM, were marked not necessary.
Going forward, the meeting will consider only those proposals in which the work being cataloged should be assigned the heading, according to current rules and guidelines on LCSH assignment as stated in the SHM. If the work being cataloged would not be assigned the heading, the proposal will be marked not necessary. This is consistent with the practice for all other proposals for new terminology.
Further, only proposals for groups of superheroes qualified by a single ethnic, gender, sex, age group, etc., will be considered. Proposals that combine two or more qualifiers into a single heading will not be approved. Two headings may be assigned instead (e.g., instead of Indigenous women superheroes, Indigenous superheroes and Women superheroes would be assigned). The meeting believes that this approach balances the need for access with the desire to avoid treating the concept of superheroes as a full-fledged class of persons.
Other decisions:
Chadhar (South Asian people)
The only English-language information provided in the citation is from Facebook, which is not an authoritative source for subject proposals. Information about the Chadhar from the work being cataloged should be provided in English, along with evidence that authoritative reference sources were consulted.
The proposal may be resubmitted.
Chip ‘n’ Dale (Fictitious characters)
The meeting does not consider Chip and Dale to be a named group of fictitious characters, since the “group” name consists solely of the names of the two characters. Individual subject headings for Chip and Dale are already established and should be assigned instead. The proposal was not approved.
Komnenos family
This proposal was made to change the existing heading Comneno family. Comneno is the Italian form of the family name, and Komnenos is the Byzantine form. According to SHM H 1631 sec. 3.c, similar-sounding names from different ethnic backgrounds should be established as separate headings, connected with RTs. A proposal to establish Komnenos family as a separate heading may be resubmitted, along with a proposal to add the RT to Comneno family.
Cooking (Coconut milk)
Coconut milk must be established as a heading before it may be used as a qualifier. This proposal may be resubmitted along with a proposal for coconut milk.
Cyprus—History—Turkish Invasion, 1974
UFs for operation names are not added to headings for battles and invasions. The proposal was not approved.
Elqui River Watershed (Chile)
Only the Spanish-language title of the work being cataloged was provided to support this proposal. The proposal may be resubmitted with information in English that explains the relationship of the work to the heading being proposed.
Fort Fortín Carlos Antonio López (Paraguay)
There is some evidence on the Internet that this fort may have been an active military installation into the 20th century. If that is the case, then it should be established in the name authority file, according to SHM H 405. If that is not the case, then the proposal may be resubmitted with a citation that provides the year of its decommissioning and also one or more citations that support the proposed UFs Fortin Carlos Lopez (Paraguay) and Pitiantuta (Paraguay).
Frederiksgave Plantation and Common Heritage Site (Ghana)
The citations in the proposal indicate that this site is in the village of Sesemi. The heading and UF should therefore be qualified by Sesemi, which must be established in the name authority file. In addition, the UF provided is not supported by the citations; either a citation supporting the UF should be provided, or the UF should be removed. The proposal may be resubmitted.
Gender-nonconforming people; Sexual minorities
These proposals sought to remove the UF Gender minorities from the heading Sexual minorities and place it on the heading Gender-nonconforming people instead, but the phrases gender-nonconforming people and gender minorities are not synonymous. The meeting acknowledges that gender minorities and sexual minorities are not synonymous concepts either, but this proposal raises numerous complex issues that cannot be quickly or easily resolved. Further, the popular terminology is in flux, and the meeting does not wish to make a decision that may have to be revisited in the near future if the terminology changes again before it stabilizes. LC will continue to monitor the situation. The proposal was not considered at this time.
Indigenous women superheroes
The proposal was not approved. See the announcement about groups of superheroes above.
Love—Comic books, strips, etc.; Romance comic books, strips, etc.
These proposals sought to remove the UF Love—Comic books, strips, etc. from the heading Romance comic books, strips, etc. and establish it as a separate heading. The work being cataloged was a comic book, to which subject headings of this type are not assigned. The proposal was not necessary.
Malo Kosovo (Kosovo : Region)
The information provided in the citations seems to indicate that Malo Kosovo, which is also called Labsko polje, is the region of the Lab River. If that is the case, then a heading for the river should be proposed, and a UF for [name of river] Region should be added to this proposal, per SHM H 760 sec. 1.e(1). If Malo Kosovo is not the region of the Lab River, then the citations should provide evidence that clarifies the situation. In addition, it appears that the generic term should be removed from the qualifier on the heading and the UFs, per H 760 sec. 1.e(2). The proposal may be resubmitted.
Oreinē (Cyprus)
The citations provided in the proposal indicate that Oreinē was a jurisdiction during Turkish and British rule. Historical jurisdictions are established in the name authority file. The proposal was not approved.
Shan (Asian people)
This proposal was made to add several UFs to the existing heading. Some of the UFs proposed are already authorized headings or UFs to other authorized headings.
The work being cataloged is about the Tai Kheon, and the UF proposed is Tai Kheon (Asian people). One of the citations states, “Shan peoples usually refer to themselves as ‘Tai,’ followed by another word, which indicates the person’s specific origin.” Therefore, it seems that Tai Kheon would be Shan (or Tai) from Kheon. It is unclear whether Tai Kheon is a synonym for Shan or is a subgroup of Shan, which would require its own heading. A proposal to add the UF Tai Kheon (Asian people) to Shan (Asian people) may be resubmitted if it can be proven that Tai Kheon is a synonym for Shan. Otherwise, a separate proposal for Tai Kheon may be resubmitted.
The proposal also raises a separate issue that the policy specialists do not have time to thoroughly investigate: if Shan call themselves Tai, as the citations in the current proposal indicate, then what is the relationship of the heading Shan (Asian people) to the heading Tai (Southeast Asian people)? Are they in fact two headings for the same ethnic group? Some of the NTs for Tai (Southeast Asian people) are very similar to the UFs, or proposed UFs, for Shan (Asian people). The geographic scope of the BTs on the headings is also similar. If anyone with expertise in Asian and Southeast Asian ethnic groups would like to take on a project to investigate these two headings, along with their UFs, NTs, and BTs, and make any necessary proposals, please contact the subject policy specialists.
Swati (South Asian people)
The citation for the work being cataloged does not provide any information in English about the Swati. Useful information would be the name of the group, any synonyms or different spellings of the name, and the geographic location of the group, as provided by the work being cataloged. The only English-language information provided in the citations was from Wikipedia, which is not considered to be authoritative for subject proposal purposes. A citation does indicate that Joshua Project was consulted without success, making it possible that Wikipedia is the best reference source available. However, without English-language information from the work being cataloged, it is impossible to confirm the accuracy of the information in Wikipedia. The proposal may be resubmitted.
Women superheroes, Black
The proposal was not approved. See the announcement about groups of superheroes above.
Wolf River Batholith (Wisc.)
The proposal does not provide any information that supports the geographic qualifier or the geographic subdivision of the BT. The meeting also requests that the qualifier be revised to reflect the LCSH abbreviation for Wisconsin, as provided in the appendix to SHM H 810. The proposal may be resubmitted with the requested revisions.
GENRE/FORM TERMS
Dark comedy plays
Instruction sheet J 120 of the draft genre/form manual states in sec. 1, “Do not generally establish genre/form terms that combine two or more already-established terms. Instead, assign the already-established terms.” Dark comedy plays should be assigned the terms Black humor and Comedy plays. The term Black humor serves to bring together all black humor, regardless of literary form. The proposal was not approved.
Satirical poetry
Instruction sheet J 120 of the draft genre/form manual states in sec. 1, “Do not generally establish genre/form terms that combine two or more already-established terms. Instead, assign the already-established terms.” Satirical poetry should be assigned the terms Humorous poetry and Satirical literature. The term Satirical literature serves to bring together all satirical literature, regardless of literary form. The terms Satirical drama and Satirical fiction, which were approved on recent lists, also combine two already-established terms and will be cancelled on a future list. The proposal was not approved.
MEDIUM OF PERFORMANCETERMS
Changes were made as indicated on the approved list.
STATISTICS
|
LCSH |
LCGFT |
LCMPT |
LCDGT |
Children’s |
Approved* |
192 (91%) |
28 (93%) |
14 |
0 |
0 |
Authority records cancelled+ |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Not necessary |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Not approved |
9 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Resubmit |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
*The number of proposals approved is approximate and may change slightly during the final processing of the Approved List.
+The number of authority records cancelled is also included in the total number of proposals approved.
