Radical Cataloging

This collection of critical and scholarly essays addresses the state of cataloging in the world of librarianship. The contributors, including Sanford Berman, Thomas Mann, and numerous front-line library workers, address topics ranging from criticisms of the state of the profession and traditional Library of Congress cataloging to methods of making cataloging more inclusive and helpful to library users.
Other essay topics include historical overviews of cataloging practices and the literature they generate, first-person discussions of library workers’ experiences with cataloging or metadata work, and the implications behind what materials get cataloged, who catalogs them, and how. Several essays provide a critical overview of innovative cataloging practices and the ways that such practices have been successfully integrated in many of the nation’s leading libraries.
Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

K.R. Roberto is the serials/electronic resources librarian at the University of Denver. Roberto is the co-editor of Revolting Librarians Redux: Radical Librarians Speak Out (2003).

Edited by K.R. Roberto
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 321
Bibliographic Info: 8 photos, notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2008
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3543-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0512-8
Imprint: McFarland

Preface: What Does “Radical Cataloging” Mean, Anyway?       1

K. R. ROBERTO

Introduction: Cataloging Reform, LC, and Me      5

SANFORD BERMAN

I. CATALOGING IN CONTEXT

The Existential Crisis of a Cataloger      13

BETH THORNTON

A Hidden History of Queer Subject Access      18

MATT JOHNSON

Cataloging in Non-Roman Scripts: From Radical to Mainstream Practice      28

BELLA HASS WEINBERG

Ubiquitous Cataloging      40

BRADLEY DILGER and WILLIAM THOMPSON

The Genre Jungle: Organizing Pop Music Recordings      53

MICHAEL SUMMERS

Playing Fast and Loose with the Rules: Metadata Cataloging for Digital

Library Projects      69

JEN WOLFE

This Subfield Kills Fascists: A Highly Selective, Slightly Irreverent Trip Down Radical Cataloging Literature Lane      75

BRIAN HASENSTAB

II. WE CRITICIZE BECAUSE WE CARE

Ranganathan’s Forgotten Law: Save the Time of the Cataloger      83

JENNIFER YOUNG

OCLC: A Review      85

JEFFREY BEALL

Latina Lesbian Subject Headings: The Power of Naming      94

TATIANA DE LA TIERRA

Swine—Juvenile Literature?: Good Cataloging vs. Good Public Service      103

JOHN SANDSTROM

Cults, New Religious Movements, and Bias in LC Subject Headings      106

TRACY NECTOUX

(The English Word) That Dares Not Seek Its Name      110

CAROL REID

Folk Art Terminology Revisited: Why It (Still) Matters      112

JOAN M. BENEDETTI

Rearranging the Deck Chairs on the Titanic: A Drowning Cataloger’s Call to Stop Churning the Subject Headings      126

CHRISTOPHER H. WALKER

Who Moved My Pinakes? Cataloging and Change      141

TINA GROSS

The End of Prohibition      148

CAROL REID

North American Indian Personal Names in National Bibliographies      150

FRANK EXNER, LITTLE BEAR

Useful Cataloging      165

CHRIS DODGE

What Is Going on at the Library of Congress?      170

THOMAS MANN

III. INNOVATIVE PRACTICES

Don’t Class Me in Antiquities! Giving Voice to Native American Materials      189

KELLY WEBSTER and ANN DOYLE

Teaching the Radical Catalog      198

EMILY DRABINSKI

Browsing Bergman, Finding Fellini, Cataloging Kurosawa: Alternative Approaches to Cataloging Foreign Language Films in Academic Libraries      206

MICHELLE EMANUEL and SUSANNAH BENEDETTI

User-Centered Serials Cataloging      214

WENDY BAIA

“Why Isn’t My Book on the Shelf?” and Other Mysteries of the Library      228

ROBIN FAY

AACR2—Bendable but Not Flexible: Cataloging Zines at Barnard College      231

JENNA FREEDMAN

CE-MARC: The Educator’s Library “Receipt”      241

TOM ADAMICH

Dr. Strangecataloger: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Tag      246

JENNIFER ERICA SWEDA

Drawing Reference Librarians into the Fold      251

DANA M. CAUDLE and CECILIA M. SCHMITZ

MARC: It’s Not Just for Cataloging Anymore      255

DANA M. CAUDLE and CECILIA M. SCHMITZ

“Respect My Authoritah”: Eric Cartman and Enhanced Subject Access      265

DANIEL CANNCASCIATO

High-Speed Cataloging Without Sacrificing Subject Access or Authority

Control: A Case Study      269

CARRIE PRESTON

Monographic Collections Structure and Layout Revisions: Or, How to

Tweak LC Call Numbers for the Good of Your Users      277

BRIAN R. THOMPSON

Cataloging Heresy      291

A. ARRO SMITH

Talkin’ the Cataloging Blues: The Poetry of Albert Huffstickler      300

SYLVIA MANNING

About the Contributors      305

Index      309

“interesting historical overview…offers practical recommendations”—Booklist; “doesn’t disappoint”—American Libraries; “every voice in this volume is valuable. Some essays are funny, some filled with righteous outrage, but each is a learning experience…will help catalogers discover, or nurture, their radical side”—Technicalities; “a good book that feeds the fire of the revolutionary cataloger…a must-read”—Library Collections, Acquisitions, & Technical Services; “W&L urges readers to ensure their institutional librarians consider purchasing [this] book. It includes many items of interest to librarians and all of us interested in how knowledge and points of view will or won’t be preserved or discoverable, if preserved”—Women and Language.