Unsettling the Library Catalog: A Case Study in Reducing the Presence of “Indians of North America” and Similar Subject Headings

As the University of Denver (DU) has begun to accept and wrestle with its history, the DU Libraries have looked for ways it may be perpetuating the harms done to Indigenous populations. An example of this work can be seen in the libraries’ work on changing the displayed terminology used in the Libra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Library resources & technical services 2023-04, Vol.67 (2), p.4
Main Authors: Pettitt, Karl, Elzi, Erin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic libraries
Case studies
Company systems management
Information management
Information professionals
Knowledge
Librarians
Libraries
Library associations
Library catalogs
Library catalogues
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Literature reviews
Metadata
Native Americans
Native peoples
Populations
Subject heading schemes
Subject headings
Terminology
University and college libraries
User needs
Vocabularies & taxonomies
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:As the University of Denver (DU) has begun to accept and wrestle with its history, the DU Libraries have looked for ways it may be perpetuating the harms done to Indigenous populations. An example of this work can be seen in the libraries’ work on changing the displayed terminology used in the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) to more current and appropriate headings that respect and correspond to the terminology used by the populations they are meant to represent. This article provides background for this work through a literature review and a more detailed account of how this topic is directly related to the institutional history of DU. A discussion of the specific steps and procedures taken to implement this change is followed by the obstacles encountered along the way and how they were overcome.
ISSN:2159-9610
0024-2527
2159-9610
DOI:10.5860/lrts.67n2.4