Ethical Considerations and Social Responsibility in Library Catalogues

Abstract

Subject cataloguing is the most important part of resource description and knowledge representation in library catalogues. Subject headings provide direct access to subjects within all types of resources (physical or digital) in library collections. Subject headings should be added to a resource without personal views of librarians/subject cataloguers interfering in the process of assigning and choosing “right”/appropriate terms. By using outdated subject headings systems or letting personal feelings and views towards certain topics interfere with the process of assigning terms to a resource, one can be (falsely) accused for hiding or misrepresenting “the truth” written in the described resource. This research explores how different types of collections/libraries deal with “problematic” topics and whether subject cataloguers can really be seen as biased while applying chosen subject headings to a certain (“problematic”) resources or topics. These examples include (but are not limited to): homosexuality, human reproduction / in vitro fertilization (IVF), people with mental illness and drugs (marijuana). The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent a subject headings system can limit (or create misconceptions about) the access to potentially controversial and/or taboo topics. This research analyses subject headings created around chosen topics, and the application of those subject headings to a sample of book titles from a library catalogue. This research answers to following research questions: 1. How are “problematic” / controversial topics represented in the chosen library catalogues? 2. Which titles have underrepresented or non-represented topics in subject access points? The method used in this research was content analysis of subject headings from the catalogue records.