Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-4-2021
Publication Title
Library Resources and Technical Services
Publisher
American Library Association
Volume
65
Issue
3
First page number:
84
Last page number:
95
Abstract
In 2014, the Library of Congress (LC) rejected a proposal to change headings in the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) that refer to undocumented immigrants as “Illegal aliens.” Two years later, a Subject Analysis Committee (SAC) working group submitted recommendations regarding how and why LC should change the LCSH “Illegal aliens.”1 That same year, LC decided to cancel the “Illegal aliens” subject heading, which Congress subsequently sought to block.2 Congress eventually required LC “to make publicly available its process for changing or adding subject headings . . . [and use] a process to change or add subject headings that are clearly defined, transparent, and allows input from stakeholders including those in the congressional community.”3 In response, LC paused their plan to change “Illegal aliens.” In June 2019, a new SAC Working Group on Alternatives to LCSH “Illegal aliens” was convened to survey local institutions implementing changes to the subject heading and to chart a path for librarians to address the subject heading at the organizational level. At the 2020 ALA Annual Conference, the working group presented their report. This paper builds upon that report and details next steps both for the working group and library professionals who plan to implement changes at their own organizations.
Controlled Subject
Illegal aliens[obsolete]; Library of Congress; Conference papers and proceedings
Disciplines
Immigration Law | Law and Race
File Format
File Size
489 KB
Rights
IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Repository Citation
George, K.,
Grant, E.,
Kellett, C.,
Pettitt, K.
(2021).
A Path for Moving Forward With Local Changes to the Library of Congress Subject Heading “Illegal Aliens”.
Library Resources and Technical Services, 65(3),
84-95.
American Library Association.
https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/lib_articles/744