RR LCSH party

The Radical Reference Subject Heading Blog-a-Thon got a little write up in Library Journal. Yay!

Here is a response from Anthony R.D. Franks Team Leader, Cooperative Cataloging Team Library of Congress, published with his permission (links added and typos fixed):

Thank you for your recent e-mail about the Blog-a-Thon. It will be interesting to see what your group comes up with next time. To facilitate matters, please let me know ahead of time. As we usually identify proposals by institution and not by group, it's always a good idea to include a note in the 952 field--perhaps "Blogathon returns!"

Do subject headings still matter? We say they do.

Does the Library of Congress always identify accessible and appropriately named headings and implement them in a timely manner? We say not always. All you have to do is spend one day behind a reference desk to see examples of biased, non-inclusive, and counterintuitive classifications that slow down, misdirect, or even obscure information from library users. As librarians and library workers, providing access to information is important-and classifying it in ways that are inclusive and intuitive strengthens our egalitarian mission.

Between now and Sunday, April 27, Radical Reference invites you to suggest subject headings and/or cross-references which will then be compiled and sent to the Library of Congress. You can either choose one previously suggested by Sandy Berman (pdf or spreadsheet) or propose your own.

This is a chance to positively impact the catalog of the de facto national library of the United States, which also impacts cataloging all over the world! Here's how...

This post is part of the Radical Reference Library of Congress Subject Heading Suggestion Blog-a-Thon.

FOLKSONOMY was first proposed to the Cataloging Policy & Support Office in September 2007 by Sanford Berman.