[Libs-Or] The strange case of Congress and the confounding (re)classifications

[Diedre Conkling]

Here is a more direct take action link:
http://cqrcengage.com/ala/app/make-a-call?2&engagementId=204394

On Fri, May 13, 2016 at 1:13 PM, Diedre Conkling <diedre08 at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> http://www.districtdispatch.org/2016/05/strange-case-congress-confounding-reclassifications/
>
> The strange case of Congress and the confounding (re)classifications
>
> Posted by: Adam Eisgrau
> <http://www.districtdispatch.org/author/adameisgrau/> May 5, 2016 in
> Legislation <http://www.districtdispatch.org/category/legislation/>
>
> You wouldn’t think that a decision by the Library of Congress about what
> subject headings libraries generally should use in, for example, an online
> catalog would create a political flap. Then again, in Washington – like the
> world on the other side of Alice’s looking glass – the usual rules of,
> well, almost anything tend not to apply. Here’s the strange tale . . .
>
>
> In late March of this year, after an extensive process consistent with
> long-standing library principles and practice, the Library of Congress
> routinely proposed updating almost a hundred out-moded subject headings.
> Two announced changes would replace the subject heading classification
> “Aliens” with “Noncitizens,” and “Illegal aliens” with two headings:
> “Noncitizens” and/or “Unauthorized immigration.” Similar, but not
> identical, changes previously had beenrequested by Dartmouth College
> <http://thedartmouth.com/2016/03/29/library-of-congress-to-replace-term-illegal-aliens/>
>  and also were endorsed by a formal ALA resolution
> <https://alair.ala.org/bitstream/handle/11213/1301/%2001-12-16-CD34.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y>
>  adopted at the 2016 Midwinter Meeting in Boston.
>
> In mid-April, however, third-term Tennessee Representative Diane Black
> (R-TN6) introduced a bill that would bar the Library from making those
> specific changes. No reason was given, but the bill’s title provides a clue.
>  H.R. 4926 <https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/4926/>,
> the “Stopping Partisan Policy at the Library of Congress Act,” had 20
> cosponsors on introduction and they now number 33. All are Members of the
> House majority. None sit on the Committee on House Administration, to which
> the bill was referred. The bill also has the backing of the Federation
> for American Immigration Reform
> <http://www.fairus.org/_blog/take-action/post/stop-the-library-of-congress-from-pandering-to-pro-amnesty-groups/>
>  (F.A.I.R.), which described the Library’s reclassification proposal as
> “blatant capitulation to political correctness” and “pandering to
> pro-amnesty groups.”
>
> Four days after H.R. 4926’s introduction, the Legislative Branch
> Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee adopted language on
> April 17 that would, in effect, countermand the Library’s professional
> judgments and interdict the proposed reclassifications noted above. (The
> Report adopted by the Subcommittee states: “To the extent practicable, the
> Committee instructs the Library to maintain certain subject headings that
> reflect terminology used in title 8, United States Code.”) The full House
> Appropriations Committee will meet in mid-May and has the power to undo the
> Subcommittee’s action.
>
> On April 28, the Presidents of ALA and ALCTS (ALA’s division of members
> expert in cataloging and classification) wrote to the Committee’s leaders
> and members
> <http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/advleg/federallegislation/04-28-16%20Letter%20to%20House%20Appropriations%20Committee%20Requesting%20Removal%20of%20LC%20Classification%20Language.pdf>
>  asking that they do so. They emphasized that the Library’s
> reclassification proposals were solidly grounded
> <http://www.districtdispatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/04-29-16-LC-Appropriations-Issue-Talking-Points.pdf>
>  in long-standing principles and practices of professional cataloging,
> recent history, and were manifestly non-political. Accordingly, the
> presidents called upon Committee members to remove the Subcommittee’s
> language above from any Legislative Branch appropriations bill that they
> consider when the House returns from recess next week. The Committee could
> meet as early as May 17 to consider the bill and this issue.
>
>
> http://www.districtdispatch.org/2016/05/strange-case-congress-confounding-reclassifications/
>
> *TAKE ACTION*: Go to  http://cqrcengage.com/ala/home  and send an email
> to Congress.
>
>
>
> --
> *Diedre Conkling*
>
>
>
>
> *Lincoln County Library DistrictP.O. Box 2027Newport, OR 97365Phone & Fax:
> 541-265-3066 <541-265-3066>Work email**: *
> *diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org* <diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org>
> *Home email: **diedre08 at gmail.com* <diedre08 at gmail.com>
>
> “If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change
> your attitude.”―Maya Angelou
>



-- 
*Diedre Conkling*




*Lincoln County Library DistrictP.O. Box 2027Newport, OR 97365Phone & Fax:
541-265-3066Work email**: **diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org*
<diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org>
*Home email: **diedre08 at gmail.com* <diedre08 at gmail.com>

“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change
your attitude.”―Maya Angelou
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/libs-or/attachments/20160513/3b24e730/attachment.html>