I totally agree with Joan, but ironically have found the separation useful.
We get students coming in with a description of their assignment that
usually goes something like "I need a book on Eskimo art." Since I
went "shopping" in the general stacks and brought the E98-99s down to
the art library, I just point to the right set of shelves. The only
time I ask the catalogers to change the call number if it is about
work of a 20th century artist that was cataloged before LC started
seeing them as people.
For a short time I was working with the slides. I thought it would be
useful to have the Native American stuff under artist when it was
known, because for example, if I wanted an example of one of
Nampeyo's pots, I'd want to see it under her name. The faculty member
in this area was totally against that - she saw it more from a tribal
viewpoint.
So even though I agree with Joan, we have to be aware of how the
faculty/students will ask for things over what we think is
politically correct.
csj
At 4:56 PM -0700 7/31/03, Joan Benedetti wrote:
>Dear Leslie:
>
>Congratulations! You have fallen down the rabbit's hole into the Wonderland
>of cataloging 21st (and 20th) century materials using the 19th century
>systems that we have available! When I was the solo librarian (and
>cataloger and book buyer, etc.) at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los
>Angeles I pretty much gave up trying to make sense of it all and began to
>think of the classification number simply as an "address" that could have
>almost as easily been an accession number. Then I focused really hard on
>making my subject headings (and cross references) as inclusive as possible
>and would always urge newcomers to the library to spend more time searching
>the catalog than searching the shelves. Of course everyone likes to browse
>(even scholars) and it can be helpful, even serendipitous, but in order to
>actually find everything you are looking for in a library you have to master
>the catalog whether it be the electronic or the card variety. This means
>making note, as you search the catalog, of all the possible class nos. as
>well as all the possible subject headings (and keywords) that may be
>relevant to your search and continuing to search and search again until you
>have located all the possible permutations of a particular subject. And
>know that there may be idiosyncrasies in every catalog (and I don't just
>mean differences in the OPAC software--though that can be a factor also!).
>Even under the most ideal circumstances (staff that are adequate in number,
>knowledge, and caring), it is almost impossible to rid a catalog completely
>of errors and historical anomalies.
>
>As far as Native American art is concerned--especially CONTEMPORARY Native
>American art--don't get me started! LC does use N6538.A4 for a lot of
>contemporary Native American exhibition catalogs. But mostly all the
>"Indian" titles go into the E78-98 range. Why? For the same reason that
>most Native American art (including contemporary art) is usually found at
>the city "natural history" museum instead of the city art museum. And then
>that precedence (both in museums and in library cataloging) is used to
>justify a continuation of the policy ad infinitum.
>
>If you have the time, this can be the beginning of a fascinating (and
>revolting) journey on which you will encounter every shade of racism and
>stereotyping--and ignorance. Unfortunately--or fortunately--most librarians
>don't have the time to even explore this rabbit hole's labyrinths, let alone
>"fix" them. But we can, from time to time, express our frustration and
>confusion, as you have so clearly. At least you have noticed the problem
>and can begin to do some "damage control" in terms of assisting your
>students and other catalog users in negotiating our Anglo American catalogs
>from a non-Western perspective.
>
>Good luck!
>
>Joan M. Benedetti
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Leslie Andersen" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2003 2:26 PM
>Subject: [ARLIS-L] Native American art?
>
>
>Hi - As a rather new *art* librarian (not new to librarianship but new
>to collection development in art) I am puzzled as to why books on Native
>American art and artists are classed in E 98 instead of the N's. I
>notice that no other ethnicities (such as Asian-American art,
>African-American art, etc.) are classed there. Can anyone shed some
>light on this for me? I'm concerned that my students are never going to
>find biographical information on Native-Americans there. Thanks very much -
>
>Leslie
>
>--
>¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤
>Leslie Andersen
>Arts Librarian
>California State University, Long Beach
>1250 Bellflower Blvd.
>Long Beach, CA 90840-1901
>562-985-5529 (voice)
>562-985-1703 (FAX)
>[log in to unmask]
>To schedule a lecture:
>http://scheduler.library.csulb.edu/LibInstrSessRequest.asp
>
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__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
For information about joining ARLIS/NA see:
http://www.arlisna.org//membership.html
Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
to [log in to unmask]
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