When I was a new librarian, a long-time colleague told me that a lot of
the first publications on Native Americans were considered part of
American history, thus classifed in "E" by Lib. of Congress. Many of
these early publications concern what is now considered native American
"art" but were originally seen as historical/anthropological (e.g. the
Smithsonian series). Perhaps since the "E" classification held most of the
early material, LC just kept putting putting things in that class without
bothering to create a new number in the "N" class. It may also have
something to do with the question/concern/argument about artifacts being
seen as "art" by outsiders while the creators of them see them as
spiritual or utilitarian objects. The latter view would be appropriate for
the "E" class. Of course that doesn't account for modern art created by
Native Americans for exhibit/sale in the modern American art scene. And
the LC classification system, has plenty of quirks that defy explanation,
as all systems do. Your students will have to search the catalog or
consult a librarian (gasp!) and not rely only on browsing the stacks.
In my library, many books on ancient Hawaii are in the "DU" class (Pacific
region) and include lots of items westerners consider "art" but were
created for spiritual or utilitarian purposes. Books on modern art made by
native Hawaiians are in "N" and books on specific crafts are in other classes
(e.g. musical instuments=M; lei making=T). Aloha.
|((| Ellen Chapman
|))| Archivist, Senator Spark M. Matsunaga Papers
|((| Hawaii Congressional Papers Collection
|))| http://libweb.hawaii.edu/libdept/congressional/
|((| University of Hawaii at Manoa Library
On Wed, 30 Jul 2003, Leslie Andersen wrote:
> 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)
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