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For Spring 2024, I was enrolled in LIS 5700, Organizing Information. From the catalog course description, objectives for this class were to “apply and adapt the principles and processes of organizing information for access and retrieval” and to “develop skills in cataloging and classification of library materials.”
I had previous experience with library cataloging, through working as a Library Technician. But this class gave me an opportunity to really examine some of the principles and ethics behind the work that I do.
I really found the subject fascinating, especially ethical considerations around bias on the part of the cataloger. Even when no bias is intended, I learned that every cataloger approaches their work differently and may assign different subject headings to the same piece of work.
The discoverability project, in particular, offered me a chance to apply everything I had learned toward a practical outcome: how could I make it easy for users to find a particular sub-collection of “like” materials in the library?
For this assignment, I focused on books supporting LGBTQIA+ identities. Best practices suggest that materials like these should not be shelved together in the library, but should instead be interfiled by type. With this restriction, a subject heading in-common could be a way to pull disparate materials together during a search in the catalog.
Note: The discoverability project includes a table. For viewer convenience, I have converted the document to a “pageless” view. It originally followed a “title-page” convention when I submitted it for grading.
Additional works:
April 24, 2024: Ethics in library cataloging
Feb. 21, 2024: Subjectivity of cataloging
Feb. 15, 2024: Controlled and uncontrolled vocabulary
Feb. 8, 2024: Subject analysis in cataloging
Jan. 9, 2024: Introducing myself
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