1. Several participants critiqued language used
in subject headings
Variety of responses to encountering and
using non-preferred language
Thanks
Many thanks to Melanie Feinberg,
Philip Doty, Kristen Hogan, Susan
Sage Heinzelman, Sarah Watkins,
Eli Clare, and the study
participants.
Findings
Amelia Koford Texas Lutheran University ● April 2013 #acrldisabilitystudies
Project
I asked disability studies
scholars about whether and
how they interact with subject
headings in library catalogs and
databases.
In the literature of knowledge
organization, critical and feminist
writers have argued that
classification systems, such as
subject headings, reflect the
biases of the cultures that
produce them (Berman, 1971;
de la tierra, 2008; Olson, 2001).
Although several writers have
documented the limitations of
subject headings in representing
marginalized topics, few have
studied how users understand,
address, and circumvent these
limitations. My research
investigates that question.
“I'm Forced to Use Those Words”:
How Disability Studies Scholars Interact with Subject Headings
Most participants rarely or never use
subject headings
• Reasons given: Too broad; haven’t found them
useful; haven’t noticed them; don’t like using
non-preferred terms
• Those in home disciplines with clearly defined
parameters and well-organized literature (law
and nursing) use subject headings the most
Methods
References
Berman, S. (1971). Prejudices
and antipathies: A tract on the
LC subject heads concerning
people. Metuchen, NJ:
Scarecrow Press.
de la tierra, t. (2008). Latina
lesbian subject headings: The
power of naming. In K. R.
Roberto (Ed.), Radical
cataloging: Essays at the front
(pp. 94–102). Jefferson, NC:
McFarland.
Olson, H. A. (2001). The power to
name: Representation in library
catalogs. Signs, 26(3), 639–
668.
Conclusions
• Research in emerging,
interdisciplinary, and identity-
based fields requires flexibility
and creativity
• Scholars are interested in
discussing political implications
of terms with librarians
• Idiosyncratic search strategies,
such as ignoring subject
headings or choosing global
search tools over specialized
databases, might be skilled
responses to the
characteristics of a field
You don’t want to leave out the words that some people
might find offensive…you might find a lot of stuff that
might be very helpful to the work you’re doing.
– History faculty member
Until we have a paradigm shift for society, you are forced to
use the language that is recognized by the librarians who
don't know what maybe is, I can't say politically correct, but
sensitive or aware...so yeah, I'm forced to use those words.
– Nursing PhD student
So I'd have to search handicapped. See, I don't ever — I forget
to do that. I think that's why I don't use subject headings very
often. I think that I've just decided it's easier to get way more
stuff than I need…than to remember to always type in these
words I don't ever use. – Feminist Studies faculty member
Screenshot
from
Sociological
Abstracts
Screenshot from Academic Search Complete
How often do you use subject headings?
Each circle represents one participant;
label indicates participant’s home discipline
Rarely
Education
Philosophy
Sociology
English
Never
English
Social work
Often
Law
Sometimes
Nursing
Feminist
studies
Participants supplement or replace
subject headings with other search
strategies
• Most common search strategy mentioned was
choosing global search tools over specialized
databases
• Discovery tools, multidisciplinary
databases, Google Scholar
• Described by six of the nine participants
• Possible reasons for using global search tool
• Serendipity
• No single database for disability studies
• Alleviate uncertainty about not finding
enough
I don’t know if I’ve ever…searched
for “hearing impaired.” I mean,
that’s just a term I don’t
like…people in disability studies
aren’t going to use that, unless they
put it in quotation marks.
– English faculty member
• Interviews with nine scholars
who consider disability studies
a primary research interest
• Six faculty members and three
PhD students from a variety of
home disciplines
held social power, it can be seen
as a marginalized area as
defined by critical knowledge
organization scholars.
Disability studies is
an interdisciplinary
field that emerged
in the 1980s.
Because it deals
with a group that
has not traditionally
International
Symbol of Access.
Image from
www.ipharmd.net