[Libs-Or] The strange case of Congress and the confounding (re)classifications

[Diedre Conkling]

http://www.districtdispatch.org/2016/05/strange-case-congress-confounding-reclassifications/

The strange case of Congress and the confounding (re)classifications

Posted by: Adam Eisgrau
<http://www.districtdispatch.org/author/adameisgrau/> May 5, 2016 in
Legislation <http://www.districtdispatch.org/category/legislation/>

You wouldn’t think that a decision by the Library of Congress about what
subject headings libraries generally should use in, for example, an online
catalog would create a political flap. Then again, in Washington – like the
world on the other side of Alice’s looking glass – the usual rules of,
well, almost anything tend not to apply. Here’s the strange tale . . .


In late March of this year, after an extensive process consistent with
long-standing library principles and practice, the Library of Congress
routinely proposed updating almost a hundred out-moded subject headings.
Two announced changes would replace the subject heading classification
“Aliens” with “Noncitizens,” and “Illegal aliens” with two headings:
“Noncitizens” and/or “Unauthorized immigration.” Similar, but not
identical, changes previously had beenrequested by Dartmouth College
<http://thedartmouth.com/2016/03/29/library-of-congress-to-replace-term-illegal-aliens/>
 and also were endorsed by a formal ALA resolution
<https://alair.ala.org/bitstream/handle/11213/1301/%2001-12-16-CD34.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y>
 adopted at the 2016 Midwinter Meeting in Boston.

In mid-April, however, third-term Tennessee Representative Diane Black
(R-TN6) introduced a bill that would bar the Library from making those
specific changes. No reason was given, but the bill’s title provides a clue.
 H.R. 4926 <https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/4926/>,
the “Stopping Partisan Policy at the Library of Congress Act,” had 20
cosponsors on introduction and they now number 33. All are Members of the
House majority. None sit on the Committee on House Administration, to which
the bill was referred. The bill also has the backing of the Federation for
American Immigration Reform
<http://www.fairus.org/_blog/take-action/post/stop-the-library-of-congress-from-pandering-to-pro-amnesty-groups/>
 (F.A.I.R.), which described the Library’s reclassification proposal as
“blatant capitulation to political correctness” and “pandering to
pro-amnesty groups.”

Four days after H.R. 4926’s introduction, the Legislative Branch
Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee adopted language on
April 17 that would, in effect, countermand the Library’s professional
judgments and interdict the proposed reclassifications noted above. (The
Report adopted by the Subcommittee states: “To the extent practicable, the
Committee instructs the Library to maintain certain subject headings that
reflect terminology used in title 8, United States Code.”) The full House
Appropriations Committee will meet in mid-May and has the power to undo the
Subcommittee’s action.

On April 28, the Presidents of ALA and ALCTS (ALA’s division of members
expert in cataloging and classification) wrote to the Committee’s leaders
and members
<http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/advleg/federallegislation/04-28-16%20Letter%20to%20House%20Appropriations%20Committee%20Requesting%20Removal%20of%20LC%20Classification%20Language.pdf>
 asking that they do so. They emphasized that the Library’s
reclassification proposals were solidly grounded
<http://www.districtdispatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/04-29-16-LC-Appropriations-Issue-Talking-Points.pdf>
 in long-standing principles and practices of professional cataloging,
recent history, and were manifestly non-political. Accordingly, the
presidents called upon Committee members to remove the Subcommittee’s
language above from any Legislative Branch appropriations bill that they
consider when the House returns from recess next week. The Committee could
meet as early as May 17 to consider the bill and this issue.

http://www.districtdispatch.org/2016/05/strange-case-congress-confounding-reclassifications/

*TAKE ACTION*: Go to  http://cqrcengage.com/ala/home  and send an email to
Congress.



-- 
*Diedre Conkling*




*Lincoln County Library DistrictP.O. Box 2027Newport, OR 97365Phone & Fax:
541-265-3066Work email**: **diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org*
<diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org>
*Home email: **diedre08 at gmail.com* <diedre08 at gmail.com>

“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change
your attitude.”―Maya Angelou
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/libs-or/attachments/20160513/b4441788/attachment.html>