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----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Susan Lentz made a number of good points in her response to Sherman's original posting. I apologize for taking so long to respond, but I'd still like to because I think this discussion raises a broader issue about how we assign subject headings to classes of persons. (The following comments are limited to subject heading concerning art works; they do not pertain to biographical works, dictionaries, etc., which was part of the issue Sherman raised in his original posting.) While we have specific subjects headings for many classes of persons why do have related headings for the artworks themselves only for some of those classes? Examples might make this distinction clearer. We have related headings such as Afro-American art as well as Afro-American artists but we only have the heading Women artists (not Women art, or Female art or whatever). This raises the question, is there such a thing as "Afro-American art" or is there only art produced by "Afro-American artists?" If the answer is the latter, then the situation raised by Sherman becomes clearer. Yes we do have exhibitions of works by Women artists or Afro-American artists with subject headings such as: Women artists-United States-Exhibitions Afro-American artists-Exhibitions But then why do we need a separate heading for Afro-American art at all? What strikes us as strange about Sherman's original example: Painters-United States-Exhibitions is that "Painters" is being used when we expect the heading to be "Painting." The heading that has been applied in the past is the one representing the work, not the artist, namely "Painting, American." This then leads us to the underlying problem. Specific headings for classes of persons are assigned only when the class does not consist of white males. If subject headings were applied according to the current rules, but without bias we would always have pairs of headings: one expressing the race/class/gender of the artist and the other expressing the geographical/national category: Women artists-France-Exhibitions Art, French-Exhibitions Afro-American artists-Exhibitions Art, American--Exhibitions While male artists-Italy-Exhibitions Art, Italian-Exhibitions The only exception would be when all races and genders are included. In that case, and only that case, we would have a single heading such as: Art, American-Exhibitions. Daniel Starr Chief Librarian, Technical Services and Planning Museum of Modern Art Library 11 W. 53 Street New York, NY 10019 212-708-9440 [log in to unmask] > -----Original Message----- > From: Susan Lentz [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2000 3:55 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: exhibiting classes of persons > > ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- > Dear Sherman and fellow catalogers, > I think you're right about the uneasy pairing of Form heading and > Subdivision. But I also think that the larger world of exhibitions versus > art exhibitions is a more important distinction. An exhibition about > doctors wouldn't raise the question, because it would be about their lives > and activities. An art exhibition however will usually emphasize their > art output perhaps in the context of their lives, that is, the paintings > are being exhibited not the painters. I'm not sure I'm making myself > clear, but I do feel H1593 is written with the larger world of exhibitions > in mind. If you look under H1250, there are no examples using Painters or > Artists, etc., so I think art subjects as format not as person producing > the > format is appropriate for use with "exhibitions", "catalogs", etc. for the > preponderance of this material. (There is always the possibility of an > exhibit with the emphasis on the lives and interaction of the artists > rather than the art produced?) > From a purely practical standpoint, I think having both Painters and > Painting as subject headings would be redundant, rather like going back to > the days of Paintings and Painting. (Has anyone else been around > long enough to remember that situation?) > > Susan Lentz > Arts Library > University of Calif. > Santa Barbara, CA 93106 > > On Mon, 31 Jan 2000, Sherman Clarke wrote: > > > ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- > > Dear colleagues, > > > > When cataloging a book not so long ago, I came across a heading like > "Painters > > -- United States -- Exhibitions" and I adjusted the last subdivision to > > something else, probably "-- Biography." This I did under the assumption > that > > usually painters are not exhibited, paintings are. There are exceptions, > e.g. > > portraits of painters, Gilbert and George. For the former I would > probably use > > "Painters -- Portraits -- Exhibitions." > > > > I then checked the Subject Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings memo H > 1593 on > > the subdivision and saw that it explicitly stated that the subdivision > could > > be used under classes of persons, as well as names of persons, ethnic > groups, > > corporate bodies, literary works, place names, disciplines, and types of > > objects. Does anyone else wonder if we should be dividing classes of > persons > > by "-- Exhibitions" and similar headings like "-- Catalogs"? > > > > This may be one of those circumstances where the form subdivision fits a > > little uneasily under the topical heading. That is, if one had a form > heading > > for "Exhibition catalogs" separate from the topical, etc. subject > analysis, > > the combination of "Painters -- United States" and "Exhibition catalogs" > would > > result without the disjuncture of painters being exhibited. > > > > Sherman Clarke > > NYU > > [log in to unmask] > > > > __________________________________________________________________ > > Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] > > Administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) > > to [log in to unmask] > > ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: > > http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html > > Questions may be addressed to list owner at: [log in to unmask] > > > > __________________________________________________________________ > Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] > Administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) > to [log in to unmask] > ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: > http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html > Questions may be addressed to list owner at: [log in to unmask] __________________________________________________________________ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] Administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may be addressed to list owner at: [log in to unmask]