My LISDIS 2015 talk on how the Dewey Decimal Classification and Library of Congress Subject Headings represent and impact Women's Studies collections.

1. Wine, Witchcraft, Women, Wool:
Classifying Women's Studies Collections
Sarah Hume
#LISDIS
sarahfhume

2. Anyone who genuinely thinks that
cataloging tools and copy are okay
probably has not looked at them lately
Sanford Berman, “Cataloging Tools and ‘Copy’: The Myth of Acceptability ­ a Public
Librarian’s Viewpoint,” in Cataloging Heresy: Challenging the Standard Bibliographic
Product, ed. Bella Hass Weinberg (Medford: Learned Information Inc., 1992), 36.
Sanford Berman:

3. Facets of a self
You are your
gender, race,
ethnicity,
class,
sexuality,
health...

4. METHODOLOGY
300 word taxonomy
Terms selected after consulting
multiple introductory Women's
Studies texts and previous feminist
and Women's Studies thesauri

5. METHODOLOGY
Each term mapped to DDC number - as
accurately as possible - and an LCSH -
a single heading per term, as many
institutions limit the number of LCSH
per record.

6. METHODOLOGY
Results analysed
3 categories identified - simple one to
one mapping, a more complex
mapping, or no mapping possible

7. DDC

8. DDC
One to one mapping - 48%

9. DDC
One to one mapping - 48%
Includes medical and legal concepts
Abortion law, rights and medical
procedure.
Equal pay laws and anti-
discrimination measures

10. DDC
Complex mapping - 8%

11. DDC
Complex mapping - 8%
Compound terms, inappropriate contexts
Women in Shakespeare isn't possible,
only general criticisms of Shakespeare
Adding -082 to a number means 'women
and x' AND 'feminist x'

12. DDC
No mapping - 44%

13. DDC
No mapping - 44%
Important subject terms have no DDC
number.
Types of feminism, motherhood, the
patriarchy, violence against women,
women of colour...

14. LCSH

15. LCSH
One to one mapping - 63%

16. LCSH
One to one mapping - 63%
Medical and legal concepts
Colloquial phrases - stay at home mother,
glass ceiling
WOMEN--HISTORY exists but is huge...

17. LCSH
Complex mapping - 11%

18. LCSH
Complex mapping - 11%
Outdated language - REFORMATORIES FOR
WOMEN still in use in place of women's prisons
Women treated as a subgroup -
ASSERTIVENESS IN WOMEN, IN CHILDREN,
IN ADOLESCENCE - but not men.

19. LCSH
No mapping - 26%

20. LCSH
No mapping - 26%
Strict gender binary in place, impacting
gender and sexuality
Tokenism and intersectionality absent
Types of feminism (Marxist, radical, etc)
absent

21. Conclusions

22. Conclusions
DDC is not suitable for a stand
alone Women's Studies collection
The hierarchical nature forces the
cataloguer to chose - is race most
important? Class? Sexuality?
Number building is restricted, making
intersectionality impossible.

23. Conclusions
LCSH is slightly more suitable for a
Women's Studies collection
There are inconsistencies, and clear
patterns of response to specific
criticism.
But there's no attempt to reassess
similar material at the same time.

24. Conclusions
Stand alone Women's Studies
collections are rare
Material usually seen in general
collections, so specialised
classification unlikely - so you
can't avoid DDC and LCSH

25. The way forward?

26. The way forward?
Structural changes
The least likely option!
A systematic overhaul of both schemes
It would take years, but biases could be
removed, and systems put in place to
allow for future changes

27. The way forward?
Institutional policies
To sit over and alongside DDC and LCSH
Adapted to specific collections and user
groups

28. The way forward?
Proactive cataloguing
The most likely option
Each cataloguer being aware of their
own privileges
Fully examining each item and
creating the fullest record possible

29. All images from Gratisography,
Unsplash and Morguefile,
Creative Commons Zero
sarahfhume
slideshare.net/sarahfhume
THANK YOU!