Article about the X̱wi7x̱wa library at UBC and their approach to classification
The way that I conceptualize the topic of classification in libraries is that a physical resource needs to sit somewhere on a shelf or in some other type of container and the "place where it sits" needs to be assigned some sort of code that makes the item discoverable and retrievable. The items can be discoverable either by searching in the library's discovery service or catalogue or by browsing around the shelves. The items are retrievable when the patron is able to find a record for the item in the catalogue, makes note of the classification code assigned to it and then uses that code to retrieve items from the shelves. I once worked in a library that used accession numbers to organize their films and art catalogues on the shelf. With accession numbers, the first item added to the collection has the lowest number and the most recent one has the highest. The numbers have little to no meaning in themselves except to indicate whether the item was added to the collection recently or a very long time ago. The collections in question were closed collections and patrons browsed through a paper catalogue to make requests for the films or catalogues they wanted. All they needed to do was to supply library staff with the access number for the resource they wanted to use and it was easy for staff to retrieve whatever was needed. The accession numbers worked fine for this purpose. However, with larger collections shelved in open stacks, the idea of a classification number of some sort such those assigned according to Dewey Decimal Classification DDC or Library of Congress Classification LCC is desirable. DDC and LCC are primarily organized by classes of subjects and then further broken down, depending on the classification area, by other facets such as geographical location, time period, musical genre, scientific discipline, etc. For patrons who wish to browse through the shelves, this type of classification can be very useful because it tends to bring together, or colocate, like resources. Also, when a patron is searching the shelves for a known item, the nature of the classification system makes it possible to make serendipitous discoveries of other useful resources. Because of the convenience that classification systems create for both library staff and patrons, the use of a classification system in libraries is ubiquitous with DDC being the most common in school and public libraries and LCC being the most common in academic and research libraries.
As someone who spent a number of years doing both reference and cataloguing work, I've seen the other, darker side, of classification systems. The most pedestrian of "problems" with classification systems is that a resource can be "about" many different topics but it can only sit on one location on the shelf. Working at the reference desk, I was keenly aware that I had to do a good catalogue search when a patron wanted extensive coverage on a topic because I knew that not everything they wanted may be placed in the same classification number area because of this limitation. It was not unusual for patrons to report book that was "misshelved" or "has the wrong call number" because it was not classified in the way that the patron might have expected. While mistakes were occasionally made, for the most part, the assigned classification number was essentially correct although, the item could also have been classified in other areas of the collection as well. As a cataloguing librarian, copy cataloguers often presented problematic classification situations where, for example, a liaison librarian or faculty member wanted a book classified in a certain LC area while the CIP (Cataloging in Publication) data and World Cat indicated that it should be classified in another area. There were a few times when the reverse sort of situation occurred. This is where a liaison librarian was "not happy" that a certain book was classified in their collection area.... Or, there would be the situations where liaison librarians would like lists of all of the books in a certain LC range so that they would know what books are in their subject area. Many times I explained that a more helpful report may be of books that have certain subject headings but I was never successful in convincing anyone that lists of books in LC areas might not truly catch all of the resources useful to their clients.
So, when I discuss these issues with LCC and DDC, they might be a headache for library workers on occasion but not really anything that is too serious. But, what if the classification system makes no sense to you at all? What if it implies something negative about your language, your culture, your religion and your world view? Certainly, the way we make sense of things is rooted in our world view. Our world view makes some things seem natural and logical while blinding us to other things. LCC and DDC are deeply rooted in an Anglo-American, Eurocentric world view which has traditionally held the cultures it colonized as being outdated, superstitious, irrelevant, etc. In recent years, the dominant culture in North America has begun to recognize the negative impact of colonization. While government initiatives such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission TRC have focused on specific forms of colonization, namely the residential schools, there has been growing recognition that colonization has been damaging to the fabric of society. As we know better, we try to do better. So, what does a cataloguer do when they are faced with the strongly biased worldview and the language they encounter in LCC and DCC as well as LC Subject Headings LCSH or even some of the Canadian Subject Headings CSH? For myself, I have actually felt shame about not being able to find more respectful classification numbers and subject headings for indigenous topics. Resolving this is going to take a lot of time and effort. Ultimately, we need to start somewhere and, I guess, that recognizing the problem is the first step.
So, for today's post I thought at I would share an article from a 2019 issue of Yes magazine on what the X̱wi7x̱wa library at UBC has been doing to address the issue of reflecting indigenous cultures and world views in library classification. I first heard about the X̱wi7x̱wa library about 10 years ago and enjoy hearing about their initiatives. I felt that this article does a good job of talking about what they have done, why they decided to do things the way that they have and how the library is received locally.
Enjoy:
Comments
Post a Comment