[DCRM-L] Controlled Vocabularies updates from ALA annual

[Deborah J. Leslie]

I appreciate this conversation as it’s developing; thanks for everyone’s thoughts. We’ve gone somewhat astray of the purpose of the scope note project. To that end, I propose that this term, and perhaps the hierarchy, be excused from scope note creation until the larger questions can be addressed.

That said …

In composing the original email, I did include a sentence that invoked the subdivision ‡v Controversial literature. One problem with that phrase is that in common usage, it refers to content that sparks controversy, not necessarily to content that is itself against something. Otherwise, I agree with Richard that the genre should be seen as self-identifying; it’s no more appropriate for us to try to bury it than to give it our own label.

Several folks have made arguments that we should steer the scope away from that of having a forceful, aggressive character. Jackie can confirm this, but it seems as if the original GT folks were trying to identify precisely that in this hierarchy: literature that presents arguments or viewpoints in an aggressive, forceful way. That’s not to say that we have to maintain that identification, but I do want to pose the question: what would we gain and what would we lose by moving toward a more general inclusion of literature that presents nuanced arguments and viewpoints with calm finesse?

As I write this, I see one important gain to broadening the scope. Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Britain witnessed a good number of pamphlet wars [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamphlet_wars], and GT doesn’t provide a good way to identify these. I’ve resorted to using the—unsatisfactory—subject subdivision ‡v Pamphlets when I can (“Use as a form subdivision under 16th, 17th and 18th century period subdivisions of European and American history and under individual wars for short, separately published, usually polemical essays or treatises regarding controversial issues of contemporary interest, especially political or religious matters.”)

Narrower terms identifying particular genres of polemical literature could still be used to direct users to what they’re looking for.


From: dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] On Behalf Of Noble, Richard
Sent: Thursday, 07 July 07 2016 15:16
To: DCRM Users' Group
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] [RBMS] Controlled Vocabularies updates from ALA annual

Might our old friend "controversial literature" be useful, in combination with subject terms for the object of controversy? "Polemical" (from the Greek for War) and "Controversial" (turning against) are semi-synonyms, so to speak, the latter being perhaps better understanded of the people.

That  expression of an oppositional stance towards a body of persons for their ethnicity, ancestry, beliefs etc. is the self-proclaimed purpose of a work, as expressed in a title or summary, ought not to be buried. Our users are often looking for such things, and it's not up to us to decide that we ought not to make it too easy because we shy away from the exercise of judgment.

RICHARD NOBLE :: RARE MATERIALS CATALOGUER :: JOHN HAY LIBRARY
BROWN UNIVERSITY  ::  PROVIDENCE, R.I. 02912  ::  401-863-1187
<Richard_Noble at Br<mailto:RICHARD_NOBLE at BROWN.EDU>own.edu<http://own.edu>>

On Thu, Jul 7, 2016 at 1:58 PM, Carpenter, Jane <jfcarpenter at library.ucla.edu<mailto:jfcarpenter at library.ucla.edu>> wrote:
I suggested deleting due to lack of warrant. "Polemical literature" instead?

What about all of the terms like "Anti-clerical literature" or Anti-Masonic literature".  These terms would not be considered "prejudicial" being NTs of a term deemed "prejudicial"?

In defense of our SN, we were not saying that "all" literature opposed to a particular group was prejudicial, only that literature presenting the group with a negative intention

Jane Carpenter
Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 7, 2016, at 11:49 AM, Ryan Hildebrand <rhilde at uoregon.edu<mailto:rhilde at uoregon.edu>> wrote:
I am open to this discussion. Upon looking, I am surprised to see there isn’t much warrant for the phrase outside of the CV. I guess I’ve just grown accustomed to it. I’d be happy to work on a change request after others have had a chance to weigh in.

If we go with Polemics (Polemical literature?) I think we need to steer away from “aggressive” and “forcefully presented,” as much of this type of writing is rather nuanced and delivered with the calm finesse of a good debater. I do think “polemical” is the right word, we would just need to be very careful in the construction of the SN.


Thanks,
Ryan


Ryan Hildebrand
Authorities & Special Collections Cataloging Librarian
University of Oregon Libraries
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene OR 97403-1299
(541) 346-1844<tel:%28541%29%20346-1844>



From: dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] On Behalf Of Deborah J. Leslie
Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2016 7:55 PM
To: dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] [RBMS] Controlled Vocabularies updates from ALA annual

Amy and Ryan, & al.,

Please forgive this drive-by commenting on “Literature of prejudice,” but my time is tight, the comment involves a hierarchy instead of a single term, and the issue is important.

A number of years ago, the thesaurus team acknowledged problems with the term “literature of prejudice,” but threw up our hands on a solution and postponed consideration of the whole issue. (Possibly because there wasn’t a formal thesaurus editorial team, only an Editor, without even a scheduled meeting. We usually met for lunch after the BSC meeting on Saturday at a café or restaurant, and reported at the BSC Sunday meeting. History lesson complimentary; more details upon request. (-;)

Calling this type of literature—however hateful it is to most or all of us—“prejudicial” is a form of labelling, and therefore violates cataloger ethics. That is, we are imposing our own value judgments on the material. Who are we to say that all literature opposed to certain religious, racial, sexual, etc. groups cannot be the result of thoughtful consideration—by definition the opposite of prejudice?

I’d like to propose replacing “Literature of prejudice” with the AAT term “Polemics,” which is scoped as “Aggressive, forcefully presented arguments, often disputing a policy or opinion.” The term and scope avoids labelling with value judgments while still acknowledging the controversial, passionate, vitriolic nature of the material.


From: rbms-request at lists.ala.org<mailto:rbms-request at lists.ala.org> [mailto:rbms-request at lists.ala.org] On Behalf Of Amy Brown
Sent: Wednesday, 29 June 29 2016 9:24
To: rbms at lists.ala.org<mailto:rbms at lists.ala.org>; dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Subject: [RBMS] Controlled Vocabularies updates from ALA annual

Dear Colleagues,

The Controlled Vocabularies Community Discussion Blog (http://rbms.info/cv-comments/) has been updated with scope notes for 62 terms. These scope notes were reviewed at our committee meeting on June 25, 2015 at ALA Annual.


Due to the volume of terms for comment, the comment period for these terms has been extended. The comment period runs from June 29 to July 27, 2016.

The CV team welcomes and encourages your feedback!  Let us hear from you on our blog at http://rbms.info/cv-comments/, and many thanks to those who have contributed in the past.

With thanks,

Amy F. Brown and Ryan Hildebrand, co-chairs
RBMS Controlled Vocabularies Editorial Group






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