Core Metadata and Collections Section Subject Analysis Committee
2024 Annual Meeting
July 15-17, 2024

Report by Janelle West, Chair, Vocabularies Subcommittee, and MLA liaison to SAC

The ALA Core Subject Analysis Committee (SAC) met virtually July 15-17, 2024. The first two days consisted primarily of liaison reports, leaving the final day for continued discussion, follow-up on old business, and new business as needed. Excerpts from the meeting are highlighted below.

Paul Frank, liaison from the Library of Congress Policy, Training, and Cooperative Programs Division (PTCP), addressed the recent shift of the LC Subject Editorial Meetings from a monthly to quarterly format. Frank emphasized that the meetings are still open, and the change was not intended to prevent outside contributions but as an interim measure to help offset heavy workloads. More information and the schedule of meetings may be found in the LC Subject Editorial Meeting description and calendar for 2024.

Frank also highlighted the recent change regarding the Subject Headings Manual, section H1160 (Musical Compositions), based on the recommendation of the Music Division; namely, that List 1 free-floating subdivisions may be used with all headings for forms of music, regardless of whether or not they include medium of performance.

On the RDA front, Frank reported that changes to Metadata Guidance Documentation (MGDs) and policy statements are being wrapped up, and Phase 1 of the new PCC Introductory RDA Training has been issued. The training, comprised of a series of 11 webinars, is freely available through the LC Catalogers Learning Workshop.

On behalf of the Homosaurus Editorial Board, Adrian Williams reported that the first public draft of the Homosaurus Spanish version was released in the spring. Ongoing feedback is welcomed.

In the joint report of the DDC Editorial Policy Committee and OCLC-Dewey Decimal Classification, liaisons shared that OCLC will soon launch DDC as linked data. Additionally, the Editorial Policy Committee is looking at a more equitable arrangement of topics in religion (220-290) to allow for better representation of non-Christian religions such as Islam.

From OCLC, Michael Phillips spoke of bridging the divide between MARC and linked data to make transitioning to linked data easier. Efforts to that end include updates to Record Manager that provide tools for working seamlessly between linked data and traditional cataloging.

Margaret Joyce reported on behalf of the Devaluation of Cataloging Working Group that they continue to work on resources to promote the value of cataloging. The resources are linked in their report, and each is targeted toward a specific group such as students, administrators, and cataloging/metadata workers. Since the topic of cataloging work transcends subject analysis alone, the Metadata and Collections Section of Core is considering elevating the work to the section level.

During the new business portion of the meeting, the revised Subject Editorial Meeting schedule was once again discussed, and the question arose of whether the changes warranted a response from SAC. It was pointed out that a number of SACO Funnel coordinators had already issued an open letter expressing their concerns, and a motion was introduced to endorse the letter. The motion passed, and chair Amanda Ros subsequently signed the letter on behalf of SAC.

These are but a few of the updates to emerge from the Subject Analysis Committee Annual Meeting. For greater detail, see links to the full reports below.

Written reports
FAST Policy and Outreach Committee (Joan Wang) [SAC24-AN-FAST]
Library of Congress Policy, Training, and Cooperative Programs Division (Paul Frank) [SAC24-AN-LC]
Library of Congress Children’s and Young Adults’ Cataloging Program (Stacey Devine) [SAC24-AN-CYAC]
Getty Vocabulary Program (Jonathan Ward) [SAC24-AN-GETTY]
Homosaurus Editorial Board (Adrian Williams) [SAC24-AN-HOMOSAURUS]
MARC Advisory Committee (Peter Fletcher) [SAC24-AN-MAC]
SAC Subcommittee on Faceted Vocabularies (Sarah Hovde) [SAC24-AN-SSFV]
National Library of Medicine (Barbara Bushman) [SAC24-AN-NLM]
Dewey Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee and OCLC-Dewey Decimal Classification (Jo Williams and Alex Kyrios) [SAC24-AN-DDC_EPC]
Library of Congress Dewey Program (Camilla Williams) [SAC24-AN-DDC_LC]
OCLC (Michael Phillips) [SAC24-AN-OCLC]
ACRL RBMS Controlled Vocabularies Editorial Group (Rebecca Flore)
[SAC24-AN-RBMS]
American Association of Law Libraries (Cate Kellett) [NO REPORT]
Online Audiovisual Catalogers, Inc. (Michelle Cronquist) [NO REPORT]
Art Libraries Society of North America (Sherman Clarke) [NO REPORT]
Music Library Association (Janelle West) [SAC24-AN-MLA]
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (Amanda Ros) [SAC24-AN-IFLA]
Committee on Cataloging: Description & Access (Daniel Jergovic) [SAC24-AN-CCDA]
Working Group on the Devaluation of Cataloging (Margaret Joyce)
Report of the chair of SAC (Amanda Ros) [SAC24-AN-Chair]