Justine Maeda LIS 610 April 29, 2013

Sanford Berman the Outspoken, Radical Library Cataloger who Challenged the LCSH

The Library of Congress Subject Headings has come under scrutiny by librarians ever since its publication in 1909 as Subject Headings Used in the Dictionary Catalogues of the Library of Congress. Librarian critics have raised concerns regarding the choice of terms, the syndetic structure, and the inconsistency with which subject headings are formulated. However, none of these oppositions have prevented the LCSH from becoming a widely acceptable primary thesaurus for controlled vocabulary searching. Its dominance within libraries in America, along with the spread of OPAC technology to libraries around the world, has led to the implementation of LCSH in libraries internationally. With the increasing usage of LCSH, librarians continue to raise concerns regarding bias in subject headings. Critics have asserted that certain subject headings, particularly those used to identify groups of people, extend the exclusionary cultural supremacy of the mainstream patriarchal, Euro-settler culture, utilizing language that demonstrates a prejudice toward particular points of view. The origins of such bias lie in the LCSHs operational principles. In 1951, David J. Haykin, who was Chief of the Library of Congress Subject Cataloging Division, stated in Subject Headings: A Practical Guide, The heading should be that which the reader will seek in the catalog, if we know or can presume what the reader will look under. Regardless of the notion of universal bibliographic control, subject headings should be what a library patron would be likely to search under. Critics have found it to be a challenge to identify the average reader -

identified as American/Western European, Christian, white, heterosexual, and male. This is not surprising since it reflects the point of view that has been dominant in our society for awhile - but it does not represent our world very accurately. By utilizing the language of a specified group of readers, rather than seeking a more neutral set of terms, LCSH makes finding materials more difficult for other users, stigmatizing certain groups of people with inaccurate or demeaning labels, creating the impression that certain points of view are normal and others unusual. As LCSH has spread across the globe, objections to this bias have been stated from librarians. And these objections led to change. Sanford Berman, the head cataloger at Hennepin County Library in Minnesota, did something librarians rarely do: He started making up his own subject headings. He protested against the LCSH's archaic, institutionalized and sometimes offensive terms and sparked a radical movement determined to ease LC's federal grip over the catalog. For example, he discarded the term "Aged" in favor of "Seniors," and introduced new, previously unauthorized terms into his catalog like "Gay Rights," "Apartheid," "Chinese New Year" and "Punk Rock Music" - subject headings that Berman used freely in his catalog years even before they were eventually integrated into the official LC system. In 1980, the Library of Congress convened a Racism and Sexism in Subject Analysis Subcommittee, which reported a number of recommendations (Beall 1980). The advent of a computerized catalog in 1986 made the process of changing headings much simpler, while the pace at which biased headings were changed suddenly quickened. Sanford also wrote a book entitled, Prejudice and Antipathies, which called into question certain LCSH subject headings. He proposed alterations, additions, and

deletions of headings and cross-references to reflect the language used in addressing certain topics, to correct bias, and to better guide librarians and patrons to desired materials. Prejudice and Antipathies was received with mixed reviews in the library press. Some reviewers praised it as being a scholarly, fascinating, upsetting analysis of bias (Musser 1972) and a substantial contribution to the understanding of these problems, and a good precedent for the criticism of LC subject headings which I hope will be followed by more such undertakings (Son 1972). Others, however, expressed misgivings about the proposed changes, on the grounds that the subject catalog is only an auxiliary tool to the much more sophisticated subject bibliographies (Nitecki 1972). A number of writers objected to the strong language Berman used, calling him emotional, bitter and misplaced when he attaches to a technical cataloging question some sinister political significance. (Lubetzky 1972). Such persistent objections led to changes being made to LCSH. Of the 225 headings Berman suggested changes in, 88 (or 39%) have been changed almost exactly as he suggested, while 54 (or 24%) have been changed in ways that partially reflect Bermans suggestions. For example: YELLOW PERIL and JEWISH QUESTION have been removed, and RACE RELATIONS replaced RACE QUESTION. Yet, in the 1993 release of Prejudices and Antithapies, Berman notes many areas that are unchanged. DRAG QUEEN, FAMILY PLANNING, CLASSISIM, and even a subject as culturally established as REGENCY NOVELS, still did not exist as headings. TRADE UNIONS was preferred over LABOR UNIONS, GYPSIES was preferred over ROMANIES (or ROMA), and was still cross-listed with the offensive rogues and vagabonds. Berman has called attention these and dozens of other inappropriate or needed headings in the

form of petitions at the beginning of the 1993 edition of his book. He still actively seeks change in LCSH. As he said in his 1971 introduction to the book, The cry to tell it like it is currently echoes, justifiably, around the globe. Granted, being fallible, we dont always know precisely what it is or how to tell it. Still, simple honesty and our own professional commitment to elemental decency require that we try. Bermans mark in the LCSH world has clearly been felt, made a difference, and gained such a following among other catalogers that his tags gained widespread adoption in libraries all over the country, threatening LC's monopoly on classification. Today, concentrated attention to the issue of bias in LCSH has borne fruit in the thirty years since the publication of Prejudice and Antipathies. The library community can point to such a precedent as hopeful mileposts in the persisting effort to provide equal access to all users, as similar proposals by other libraries have been made. With the advent of the Internet, a new form of democracy, where anyone can publish and anyone can retrieve, has been developed, and a hierarchical, institutional approach to subject analysis might seem out of place. New alternatives to subject headings such as tagging, are now being widely implemented. Yet, even with such variability taking place at rapid speed, and even with his assertively spoken misgivings, Berman himself has been clear on his stance regarding the necessity of the LCSH There can be no quarrel about the practical necessity for such a labor-saving, worry-reducing work, norabstractlyabout its value as a global standardizing agent, a means for achieving some uniformity in an area that would otherwise be chaotic. (Berman 1973.) With this thought in mind, we as librarians can march forward in a responsible but radical way.

References: Berman, Sanford. 1971. Prejudice and Antipathies: A Tract on the LC Subject Heads Concerning People. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. Beall, Julliane. 1980. Racism and Sexism in Subject Analysis Subcommittee. Library of Congress Information Bulletin 39:103. Haykin, David Judson. 1951. Subject Headings: A Practical Guide. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. Lubetzky, Seymour. 1972. Politics and romance in subject cataloging. Library Journal 97:658-659. Musser, Nancy. 1972. Prejudices and Antipathies: A Tract on the LC Subject Heads Concerning People (book review). Synergy 37:37. Nitecki, Joseph Z. 1972. Prejudices and Antipathies: A Tract on the LC Subject Heads Concerning People (book review). Library Quarterly 42:355-357. Son, Kyung W. 1972. Prejudices and Antipathies: A Tract on the LC Subject Heads Concerning People (book review). Canadian Library Journal 29:427. Stone, Alva T. 2000. The LCSH century: A brief history of the Library of Congress Subject Headings. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 29 (1/2):1-15.