Core Metadata and Collections Section Subject Analysis Committee
2023 Annual Meeting
June 14-16, 2023
reported by Janelle West, Vocabularies Subcommittee chair and liaison to SAC

The Subject Analysis Committee (SAC) met virtually on June 14-16, 2023. The first two meetings consisted of brief reports by the various liaisons and committee members, with the final day primarily reserved for follow-up on old business and the introduction of new business.

A common thread throughout the meeting continues to be ongoing efforts to address prejudicial, racist, and otherwise derogatory and offensive classifications and vocabularies relating to Indigenous peoples, enslaved people, and other areas of DEI work. Other select points of note are presented below, and full details on committee and liaison updates may be viewed in the written reports linked at the end.

FAST Policy and Outreach Committee (FPOC)

• FPOC members who are users of Classification Web have noted that LCSH strings are still necessary for assigning LC classification numbers, as faceted headings are not sufficient for that purpose.
• FAST headings will soon be controllable in Record Manager.

Library of Congress Policy, Training, and Cooperative Programs Division

• Headings containing the word Gays are being changed to Gay people.
• Experiment to issue “expedited lists” for certain categories of proposals that require limited review was discontinued, as it proved not to be time efficient as a monthly process.
• Recently published paper on the current state of pre-coordinated vs. post-coordinated subject cataloging: Nancy Cooey & Amy Phillips (2023) Library of Congress Subject Headings: A Post-Coordinated Future, Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, DOI: 10.1080/01639374.2023.2193584
• In an effort to better adapt LCSH to the linked data environment, LC will experiment with ceasing use of LCSH form subdivisions (e.g., $v Songs and music) in favor of full implementation of LCGFT. This announcement drew mixed and strong reactions at the meeting, warranting further attention in the “continued discussion” portion of the meeting.
• An internal LC group working to evaluate and write more instruction sheets for the LC Genre/Form Terms Manual will be assisted by an external advisory group that is in the process of being formed.
• PCC Task Group to Test the Official RDA Toolkit presented its preliminary report on the test conducted Oct. 2022-Jan. 2023 and will issue a final report along with recommendations in September.

Homosaurus Editorial Board

• Homosaurus version 3.4 will be released in June and will be available at https://homosaurus.org/release.
• Editorial Board released the final draft of documentation on Homosaurus’ implementation and use with a deadline of July 7, 2023, for feedback from the community group (HomoITCommunity).

ACRL RBMS Controlled Vocabularies Editorial Group

• Controlled Vocabulary for Rare Materials Cataloging (CVRMC) launched at id.loc.gov in March. When used in a MARC record, these terms should be accompanied by code $2 rbmscv.

Working group on the Devaluation of Cataloging

• Have created and expanded an annotated bibliography of resources on topics including the role of catalogers, cataloging ethics, the job market, the future of cataloging, academic libraries, education, DEI work/reparative description, and catalogers’ views.

Discussion of Liaison Report Criteria

• SAC voted to approve the formation of a working group to create guidance for liaisons. Violet Fox, Deborah Rose-Lefmann, and Janelle West volunteered to serve on the working group.

Written reports

Note: all reports available through the Core Subject Analysis Committee Public Space on ALA Connect
Library and Archives Canada (Annie Wolfe) [SAC23-AN-LAC]
FAST Policy and Outreach Committee (Matthew Wise) [SAC23-AN-FAST]
Library of Congress Policy, Training, and Cooperative Programs Division (Paul Frank) [SAC23-AN-LC]
Library of Congress Children’s and Young Adults’ Cataloging Program (Stacey Devine) [SAC23-AN-CYAC]
Getty Vocabulary Program (Jonathan Ward) [SAC23-AN-GETTY]
Homosaurus Editorial Board (Adrian Williams) [SAC23-AN-HOMOSAURUS]
MARC Advisory Committee (Adam Schiff) [SAC23-AN-MAC]
SAC Subcommittee on Faceted Vocabularies (Mingyan Li) [SAC23-AN-SSFV]
Classification Editorial Policy Committee and OCLC-Dewey Decimal Classification (Jo Williams and Alex Kyrios) [SAC23-AN-DDC_EPC]
Library of Congress Dewey Program (Camilla Williams) [SAC23-AN-DDC_LC]
National Library of Medicine (Barbara Bushman) [SAC23-AN-NLM]
OCLC (Michael Phillips) [SAC23-AN-OCLC]
Committee on Cataloging: Description & Access (Daniel Jergovic) [SAC23-AN-CCDA]
ACRL RBMS Controlled Vocabularies Editorial Group (Rebecca Flore) [SAC23-AN-RBMS]
Art Libraries Society of North America (Sherman Clarke) [SAC23-AN-ARLIS_NA]
Music Library Association (Janelle West) [SAC23-AN-MLA]
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (Judy Jeng) [SAC23-AN-IFLA]
Working Group on the Devaluation of Cataloging (Margaret Joyce)
Report of the chair of SAC (Candy Riley) [SAC23-AN-chair]