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The Library of Congress > Cataloging, Acquisitions > PCC > SACO > Summary of Decisions > Editorial Meeting Number 2102

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February 15, 2021

PSD policy specialist responsible for this list: J. Young

CLASSIFICATION

PN6519.P68

This classification proposal may be resubmitted with a resubmitted subject proposal. See below under Proverbs, Poṭhwārī for details.

SUBJECT HEADINGS

Subdivisions to be added to lists of free-floating subdivisions:

                        H 1150, Diseases
                                    $v Code numbers

Other decisions:

Bara Imambara (Lucknow, India)

According to the information provided, the Bara Imambara is the mausoleum of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula. Tombs and mausoleums of individual persons are not established in LCSH because the subdivision –Tombs is free-floating under names of persons. However, this tomb is also an imambara and is therefore eligible for inclusion in LCSH. The proposal should include a UF from [heading for Asaf-ud-Daula]—Tombs, but the meeting could not find a name authority record for Asaf-ud-Daula. The meeting requests that the name authority be found, or made if necessary, and that the UF be added. The proposal may be resubmitted.

Color in architectural drawing

Rather than start a pattern for Color in [specific artistic form], the meeting prefers that the headings Color in art and Architectural drawing be assigned to the work being cataloged. The proposal was not approved.

Insects—Ecology

This proposal was made to add UF and BT references to the existing heading. Insects—Ecology is a free-floating heading string, and was established only because it was needed as a BT on two other headings. SHM H 370 sec. 1.e(2)b and H 373 sec. 12 say that BTs and UFs, respectively, are not to be made when a free-floating combination has been established for hierarchical purposes. The proposal was not approved.

Male impersonators; Female impersonators

Note: The proposal to revise the heading Female impersonators to Drag queens originally appeared on Tentative List 2101 and was rescheduled for this list so it could be considered with the analogous proposal to change Male impersonators to Drag kings.

According to several sources, including Homosaurus and the glbtq archive, the terms drag queens and drag kings are not synonymous with the terms female impersonators and male impersonators, respectively. Drag queens are described as persons who perform with over-the-top female clothing and exaggerated mannerisms, whereas female impersonators are persons who dress as the opposite sex for other reasons, including playing a theatrical role, as a disguise, or as a humorous or political statement. The same distinction exists between drag kings and male impersonators.

The meeting determined that it would be useful and appropriate to have separate headings for female and male impersonators, drag queens, and drag kings. The references on Female impersonators and Male impersonators were revised and the headings are now in the Persons hierarchy, and the headings Drag kings and Drag queens were approved and added to the Entertainers hierarchy. Each heading has contrasting scope notes. The meeting also approved the derivative headings Drag queens in motion pictures and Drag queens on television, based on works in the Library of Congress’ collections.

The proposals to revise the heading Male impersonators to Drag kings and Female impersonators to Drag queens were not approved. 

 Nimar Region (India)

It seems that the Nimar Region is a former jurisdiction of India. Columbia Gazetteer indicates that Nimar district was divided into East Nimar and West Nimar districts. It further explains that Barwani district has since split off from West Nimar District, and Burhanpur district has split from East Nimar district. East and West Nimar, Barwani, and Burhanpur districts are the constituent districts of Nimar Region, according to the citations in the proposal. The heading Nimār (India : District) should be assigned to the work being cataloged (see SHM H 710 for rules on assigning headings for jurisdictions that have merged or split). The proposal was not approved.

Paraphilias

This proposal was made to add three UFs to the existing heading. The proposed UFs for kinkiness and kinks are not equivalent concepts, because not all “kinky” sexual practices are paraphilias. The UF Scene (Paraphilias) was not appropriate, either, because “scene” refers to a subculture. The proposal was not approved.

Proverbs, Poṭhwārī

This proposal included several UFs representing variant names of the language. Those UFs should be researched in authoritative sources and should be added to the heading for the dialect if they are valid. This proposal may be resubmitted with a proposal to update the heading Poṭhwārī dialect.

Racism

This proposal was made to change the scope note on the existing heading. Currently, the scope note says that the heading Racism is assigned to works about racism as an attitude or as an attitude and discriminatory behavior both (that is, general works on racism), while racism directed toward a specific group is assigned the heading for the group with an appropriate subdivision (e.g., Blacks–Social conditions, Asian Americans–Civil rights).

The proposal requested that the scope note be revised to say that Racism is assigned to general works about racism and to works about racism directed toward a specific group. Works about racism toward a specific group would also be assigned heading(s) specific to the group, as in the examples above.

If this change were approved, general works about racism would be mixed with about racism toward specific groups. The heading Racism has already been assigned to more than 8,000 bibliographic records in LC’s catalog; adding the heading to many thousands of works about racism toward specific groups would make it very difficult for users to find the general works.

The proposal is also on shaky ground from a theoretical perspective, because it would violate the principle of specificity. H 180 sec. 4 states, “Assign headings that are as specific as the topics they cover. Specificity is not a property of a given subject heading; instead, it is a relative concept that reflects the relationship between a subject heading and the work to which it is applied.”

That said, the headings used for racism against specific groups are probably not intuitive to users, who may find it difficult to find the works that interest them. Therefore, the meeting would be willing to consider well-formulated proposals for headings in the form Racism against [ethnic group], following the pattern Discrimination against [class of persons]. Such proposals should make it very clear that the intent of the work being cataloged is specifically to discuss racism against the group, and is not a more general work about the social conditions, etc., of the group.

The proposal was not approved.

Rio Grande Trail (N.M.)

The citation for the work being cataloged should include information about the location of the trail. The proposal may be resubmitted.

Television plays, Turkish

The scope note for Television plays states, “Here are entered the scripts of television plays and works about television plays. This heading is not used for produced television programs…” [emphasis added]. The work being cataloged is about television programs that have been produced, and should be assigned headings such as Heroes on television, Muslims on television, Television programs—Turkey—History, and perhaps Television programs—Religious aspects—Islam.

The proposal was not necessary.

GENRE/FORM TERMS

               Announcement
                        The draft instruction sheet for proposing and assigning art genre/form terms, J 210, has been published and is available at https://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeLCGFT/J210.pdf. Proposals for new genre/form terms in the discipline of art are now being accepted.

 Other decisions:

Haiga

This proposal was submitted before the instruction sheet governing art genre/form terms was published, and it does not conform to two of the policies laid out there. Namely, the term is too specific for LCGFT, and the work being cataloged does not appear to be an original work of art, but instead contains reproductions of haiga. The proposal was not approved.

 

STATISTICS

 

LCSH

LCGFT

LCMPT

LCDGT

Children’s

Approved*

157 (95%)

0

0

0

0

   Authority records cancelled+

22

0

0

0

0

Not necessary

1

0

0

0

0

Not approved

5

1

0

0

0

Resubmit

3

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.