FW: Statement regarding the replacement of "Illegal aliens" in LCSH

[Dagher, Iman]

FYI. Sharing this PCC message with statement related to DEI in cataloging and description of library resources.

 

Iman

 

From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging <PCC...@LISTSERV.LOC.GOV> On Behalf Of Jennifer W. Baxmeyer
Sent: Wednesday, June 1, 2022 11:35 AM
To: PCC...@LISTSERV.LOC.GOV
Subject: [PCCLIST] Statement regarding the replacement of "Illegal aliens" in LCSH

 

Hi everyone,

 

I’m sending the following statement on behalf of the PCC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee, with the approval of the PCC Policy Committee (PoCo). Please let us know if you have questions. Thank you!

 

PCC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee:

Jennifer Baxmeyer, chair

Amber Billey

Judith Cannan

Violet Fox

Matthew Haugen 

Thomas Ma

Treshani Perera

Adolfo Tarango

Cynthia Whitacre

 

Statement regarding the replacement of "Illegal aliens" in LCSH

 

The recent revisions to the LCSH “Illegal aliens” have highlighted the challenges of the library community’s reliance on LCSH as its primary controlled vocabulary. While we join those commending the removal of that offensive subject heading, we recognize many are not satisfied with LC’s choice of replacement terminology. The continued use of “illegal” has been described as objectionable because that term has been weaponized by certain elected officials and others to connote criminality and exploit racial fear. In addition, the new headings do not adequately provide for description of the experiences of undocumented immigrants, relegating their existence to the much broader “Noncitizens” category. 

 

Beyond this set of headings, in July 2020 members of Congress asked the Librarian of Congress to revise the LCSH regarding the Armenian genocide. While it is unclear to what extent Congress might interfere with future decisions by LC, the precedent has now been solidly set. The political pressures faced by LC are significant, leading to choices which may not reflect the most appropriate terminology for many libraries in the U.S. and beyond. 

 

 Potential approaches libraries could take:

• creating or expanding non-LCSH thesauri,
• adding local terminology, 
• creating scripts for display options within discovery systems, and/or 
• investing in and implementing linked data technologies which provide various display options.

 

Libraries must work together to communicate the importance of these approaches to vendors and collaborate to seek solutions that provide greater agency for libraries large and small. While recognizing the value of a shared set of terminology, the PCC community’s commitment to DEI principles necessitates a broadening of the perspectives represented in our library catalogs. Libraries have successfully used alternative vocabularies in addition to LCSH for years, and we encourage PCC members to continue to use alternative vocabularies in shared records whenever possible.

In light of this, PCC encourages its member institutions to explore avenues for reducing reliance on a single controlled vocabulary controlled by LC.