Feedback Request
Let's talk about more term changes, shall we?
Indigenous peoples
Earlier this year I'd mentioned that we'd started undertaking a project to change "Indian" related terms (not just names of Tribes/Nations). I'd originally identified over 3600 LCSH terms that included "Indian" in the 1xx or 5xx fields that might be eligible for change. Our amazing Authorities Librarian, Karen, spent the summer going through the list and suggesting changes to the terms. She also spent some time identifying possible alternatives to the names of Tribes/Nations.
After some internal review, and thinking about what would be best for our clients, we've decided that for now the names of the Tribes/Nations would be left as their more common, LCSH, version with "Indians" being changed to "people". The reasoning behind this has two parts:
1. We know that there are some ILS/Discovery layers that utilize keywords from the Bib record instead of the authority record. We didn't want drastic changes to headings with terms that may not be widely known and therefore frustrate the search needs of the users.
2. We wanted to take more time to really identify the proper preferred term of the current Tribes/Nations on the list.
This is where YOU come in! We would like your help going through the list that is specific to the names. I've created a GoogleSheet with basic instructions on the first tab and then the list of terms on the 2nd: https://bslw.it/3nwUNlc
Our intent is that in the future we will change all of our authority records to the preferred term while having a rule that will retain the original version for those who need both in their Bibs for search functionality. We will update authority records as needed when final determinations are made.
Other term changes
We are aware that there may be other term changes that you're looking into that may not be as widely discussed on the listservs. We would be interested in knowing what else you're looking at! Again, I've created another GoogleSheet for you to outline what you've been exploring so we can begin looking at options to expand our own lists/rules/authorities: https://bslw.it/3CAw6c2
We appreciate all you do!
Casey Cheney, PMP | Vice President, Authority Control
Backstage Library works | Provo, Utah & Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
801-342-5692 | ccheney(a)bslw.com<mailto:ccheney@bslw.com> | ac.bslw.com/mars<http://ac.bslw.com/mars> | How am I doing?<http://ac.bslw.com/customer_satisfaction/review.php?token=338>
