Dear Susan and Leslie:
Of course we have to be aware of how
faculty/students will ask for things. That's why I ended my posting to
Leslie by saying: "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." My response was primarily to Leslie's question about the
logical basis for the L.C. classification system--or rather, her presumption
that it was a logical system. I was merely pointing out some intrinsic
flaws, principal among which is that it (as well as the DDC) originated in the
19th century and that even with the many revisions that have ensued, it
still reflects a view of the world that is, not surprisingly, Anglo
American. That art history (and anthropology) are still being taught from
that perspective is also not surprising.
As librarians we are stuck with these
systems. I pointed out that one way I was able to "live" with the flaws
was to change my attitude about what the numbers actually meant and (not always,
but sometimes) think of them more as addresses, rather than as
"homes." But in order to to better serve all of our clientele, it behooves
us to not only learn the prevailing systems--and the world views behind
them--but also to understand that we will (now more
frequently) encounter different world views and that part of our job will
be to mediate those views in order to show the users of our catalogs and our
collections the range of materials available to them. Inotherwords--even
though we have to use a system, we don't have to defend it; we only have to
explain it. Is this "political correctness"? I don't know.
I've never really understood the term. I've noticed that it is often
used by those who want to disparage attempts to use language based in
reality rather than tradition. It is hardly ever used in a positive sense,
so I admit to feeling a bit defensive when it is applied to something I've
said. I hope that the above clarifies my first posting.
Joan