First Roundtable on Library and Archives Collections and Services of Relevance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
State Library of South Australia, Adelaide, 4 May 1995
Library
of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
People
Giles Martin
- LCSH and Australia
- LCSH for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
- Other Issues in Applying LCSH to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
- Conclusion
- Attachment: Possible Subject Headings or the Aboriginal Peoples of Australia
- Appendix: Title Keyword Searches in ABN
LCSH and Australia
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) were developed by the Library of Congress in the United States. They are now used widely in English-speaking libraries for a variety of reasons, including the widespread use of Library of Congress catalogue records containing LCSH, and because LCSH is the most fully developed subject heading system in any language. In Australia, LCSH is used in the Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN), with some modification for Australian needs. It will be used in the future in the National Document and Information System (NDIS), which is being jointly developed by the National Libraries of Australia and New Zealand, and which will replace ABN and its New Zealand equivalent NZBN.
Although LCSH is the best subject heading system available, there are many problems with it - not the least of which is its American bias. ABN tries to cope with this bias by allowing some variations to LCSH; but these variation in their turn cause problems with the sharing of catalogue records between Australia and the rest of the world.
This is particularly a problem with the present ABN system. This treats Australian variations of Library of Congress Subject Headings as if they were true LCSH, and includes these variations in ANB records exported to the United States. This problem should become less with the development of the NDIS, as that system should for translation of headings between LCSH and ABN variants.
LCSH for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
Two major variations between strict LCSH practice and LCSH as it is implemented in ABN are:
- LC uses "Australian aborigines" and ABN uses "Aborigines,
Australian". ABN varies from LCSH in this case because Australians are more
likely to look in a catalogue under "Aborigines" for works about Aboriginal
people.
- LC uses "Tasmanian aborigines" and ABN uses "Aborigines, Tasmanian". In this case, I think that ABN varies from LCSH in order to have a similar heading to "Aborigines, Australian".
None of these headings is really satisfactory - perhaps no heading for these concepts could satisfy every one, but there are serious problems with all four headings, quite apart from the problem of the differences between LCSH and ABN. One of the problems are technical - in general, LCSH practice now avoids inverted subject headings-while another problem is the lower-case "a" for "aborigines" in both of the LCSH headings, which may be offensive as LCSH normally uses capitals for the names of ethnic groups.
There is a further problem in both LCSH and ABN practice, in that the heading indigenous peoples-Australia", which would be a good heading to use for books about both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, is not used. It is not used because it is "See reference" to "Australian aborigines--Government relations" in LCSH, and to Aborigines, Australian-Government relations" in ABN.
It was because of the problems with this current situation that I wrote my paper trying to find a solution which would be acceptable to all. That paper is open for comment now, and I would welcome both comments on the paper and suggestions on how it might be made more widely available through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
As you will see, the main recommendation that I make is:
Recommendation 1
That the preferred headings for the indigenous people of Australia be:
- Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
Tasmanian Aborigines
Torres Strait Islanders
There are difficulties with the first three of these suggested headings:
- "Aboriginal Australians" is not the most commonly used term for Aboriginal people, and would mean that both ABN and LCSH would need to change.
- "Indigenous peoples--Australia" would be a change for both ABN and LCSH - even in the direction of greater consistency with other indigenous peoples.
- "Tasmanian Aborigines" may offend those who believe that the Aboriginal people of Tasmania are the same ethnic group as the Aboriginal people of the mainland. In addition, means a change for both ABN and LCSH - for LCSH, because of the capital "A" in "Aborigines".
The only heading that seems to me non-controversial is "Torres Strait Islanders" - but even there you have the problem that more and more people use the phrase "Torres Strait Islander people".
Other Issues in Applying LCSH to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
Apart from the headings for the main groups of indigenous peoples of Australia, there are other issues which need further discussion.
The first issue is the headings for the smaller groups of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - such as the Awabakal who come from the area where I live. Included with this problem are the headings for Australian languages, as often the groups of people are based on language. This issue has been of some concern to ABN, as it can be difficult to decide which name to use for a group of people or for a language, when there many variant forms including different spellings of the same word
What is needed is an authoritative source, which would give us both the preferred form of name for the group of people or for the language, preferably with all the other names other spellings that have been used for the same group or language. It had been hoped that The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia would be such a source, but while work is of some use in establishing the preferred form, it does not help us establishing variant forms of names from which we need to make "See" references.
One way to obtain such an authoritative source would be to fund a research project to establish what names have been used for groups of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and for Australian languages, and to decide which forms are used most commonly are preferred by the people involved.
The second issue is the headings for other concepts associated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I have been doing some work at the University of Newcastle Library, looking at unsuccessful subject searches in our catalogue. Among those unsuccessful searches are many concerned with such subjects as "Aboriginal customary law", "Aboriginal resistance" and "Aboriginal trade routes".
There are works on these subjects, such as:
The Recognition of Aboriginal Customary Laws, by the Australian
Law Reform Commission;
The Other Side of the Frontier: Aboriginal Resistance to the European
Invasion of Australia, by Henry Reynolds;
Rainbow Serpent, Episode 1, Trade Routes.
For these concepts as expressed in these works, the best headings in ABN that I could find are "Customary law--Australia", "Aborigines, Australian--Wars", and "Aborigines, Australian--Commerce" - none of them precisely matching the concept involved. "Customary law" can include the English common law, which applies in Australia; "Wars" better describes events in North America than events in Australia; and "Commerce" is a much broader concept than trade routes.
In this area, the Aboriginal Thesaurus that Alana Garwood had just described may be useful, in providing us with headings that may be used either as Australian variations to LCSH, or proposed to the Library of Congress for inclusion in LCSH.
Conclusion
What would I like to see coming out of this? I hesitate to put up formal recommendations, but this is what I believe is needed:
- Resolution of the differences between ABN and LCSH in the headings the Aboriginal people of Australia.
- Establishment of an authoritative list of names for groups of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and for Australian languages, including preferred forms and variant forms, for use with such bibliographic systems as LCSH and the NDIS.
- Establishment of appropriate headings for concepts in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture, technology and sociology, for use in the NDIS.
Attachment: Possible Subject Headings or the Aboriginal Peoples of Australia
This paper is an attempt to find generally acceptable subject headings for the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. It is written in view of the need for closer agreement on cataloguing standards between Australian libraries (particularly the Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN)) and the United States Library of Congress (LC). At present ABN, and therefore most Australian libraries, use the subject heading "Aborigines, Australian" and LC uses "Australian aborigines". This difference (like other differences in cataloguing standards) makes it difficult for each of ABN and LC to use catalogue records created by the other.
Earlier versions of this paper were distributed earlier this year, including a copy that was distributed with the papers for the September 1994 meeting of the ABN Standards Committee.
The paper has been revised in the light of various comments made both before the ABN Standards Committee meeting and at the meeting. In particular, I have been helped by some detailed criticisms by Heather Moorcroft, of the Northern Territory University, who directed my attention to an article she wrote on subject headings for Aboriginal people Moorcroft (1992). I have also corrected an error that I made about what is the authorised heading in ABN for Tasmanian Aborigines.
The ABN Standards Committee endorsed my paper as a discussion document, to be used as the basis for consultation with relevant groups. There will be consultation on the specific recommendations given at the end of the paper before they are finally decided on and implemented in ABN.
In particular, there will need to be consultation with:
- The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community
- Australian libraries
- The Library of Congress.
If a decision is made to change some subject headings, then the implementation would wait until ABN has been redeveloped as the NDIS, probably in 1996. It will then be much easier for ABN to change the hundreds of existing subject headings affected by any change.
1. What Topics are We Describing?
In a library catalogue, and in a bibliographic database like ABN, subject headings are used bring together in the catalogue (or database) books and other library material on a topic. This is done by choosing a word or phrase for the topic, and using that word or phrase as the subject heading.
For example, books about the elderly may say in their titles that they are about "the aged", "the elderly", "old people" or "senior citizens". In ABN, the term "Aged" is used for all books on the elderly, and users are directed to that heading if they choose other headings. This does not mean that other terms are "wrong". It only means that it is convenient for the user for all material to be in one place, and the technical solution to meet this need is to use a single preferred heading.
When establishing a subject heading in a system like ABN, you need first to identify the topic, and then to choose the heading for the topic. So before we look at alternative subject headings, and the advantages of each, it is necessary to clarify what topics we are trying to express in those headings.
There are four topics discussed in this paper, all of which have "literary warrant" (ie., have books written about them). This paper does not discuss other groups of Aboriginal people. such as the various language groups and communities.
1.1 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders
This is the most general concept. It includes all the indigenous people of Australia, and is a concept often used in official publications dealing with government policy on ethnic groups in Australia.
It is possible to use two separate subject headings for books about this topic - in current ABN policy, that would mean using two headings, "Aborigines, Australian" and "Torres Strait Islanders". However, that would mean that catalogue users may have some difficulty in finding books which are just about Torres Strait Islanders - when they look up the heading for Torres Strait Islanders, they will find both books on that specific topic more general books on Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (which may have very little information specifically on Torres Strait Islanders).
Neither ABN nor LC has a subject heading for this concept. If LC follow the same practice for Australia as it does for other countries, then the heading "Indigenous peoples -- Australia" would express the topic - this heading is not used by LC, however. I think that there is sufficient literary warrant for a heading to be created for this concept.
1.2 Aboriginal People of Australia
These are the largest group of the indigenous people of Australia, who have occupied the mainland of Australia for at least 40,000 years (in their own terms, since the Dreamtime).
The topic sometimes includes, and sometimes excludes, Tasmanian Aborigines. The main problem caused by this is the question of whether Tasmanian Aborigines should have their own heading, or whether they should be included with other Aboriginal people. I discuss this issue below.
Currently ABN uses the heading "Aborigines, Australian", while LC uses "Australian aborigines".
1.3 Tasmanian Aborigines
These are the indigenous people of Tasmania, who have occupied Tasmania for at least 20,000 years, and who were isolated from other human beings for between 8,000 and 12,000 years until the arrival of Europeans. As a result of this isolation they are regarded by many as distinct from the Aboriginal people of the mainland. While the last Tasmanian Aborigine (Truganini) was supposed to have died in 1876, some descendants still survive who regard themselves as Tasmanian Aborigines.
There is some controversy about how different the Aboriginal people of Tasmania are from other Aboriginal people-the differences may be less than the differences between groups of Aboriginal people from different parts of the mainland. To quote from two sources:
"The Tasmanian Aborigines are the only people known to have remained totally isolated from other human populations for 12,000 years. As a result they developed certain physical characteristics that have been used to distinguish them from mainland Aborigines ... However, these characteristics are also found in some mainland Aboriginal people ... From the greater number of similarities, however, it is clear that both groups are very closely related and had the same ancestors. Tasmanian culture is different in some ways from mainland Aboriginal culture".
Clark (1988)
"Tasmania's isolation began about 12,000 years ago. During this period of isolation Tasmanians developed slightly different characteristics from the Aboriginal people of the mainland. However, from the great number of similarities, it is clear that Tasmanians and mainlanders are very closely related. Tasmanian culture was also different in some ways from mainland culture. Certain things and ideas, which must have been introduced or invented after the Bass Plain became Bass Strait, did not reach Tasmania".
Aboriginal people of Tasmania (1992)
If Aboriginal Tasmanians were included with other Aboriginal people, the precise heading would depend on the decision about the heading for the Aboriginal people of Australia. In current ABN practice it would be "Aborigines, Australian-Tasmania".
Currently, ABN uses the heading "Aborigines, Tasmanian", and LC uses the heading "Tasmanian aborigines". The ABN heading has two problems: it is in the inverted form, and most people seeking works on these people would search under "Tasmanian" rather than "Aborigines". The problem with the LC heading is that the lower case "a" on "aborigines" is not consistent with capitalisation of other ethnic groups in LC practice and may be offensive to some people. There is also the problem that there is confusion in ABN about the correct heading, so that there are works entered under "Aborigines, Australian--Tasmania", "Aborigines, Tasmanian" and "Tasmanian aborigines".
1.4. Torres Strait Islanders
These are the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are between the island of New Guinea and the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland. During the nineteenth century, the Northern border of Queensland was drawn on the northern edge of the Torres Strait, so that most of the islands are now part of Australia and the Torres Strait Islanders are Australians.
There seems to be little doubt that Torres Strait Islanders are a distinct ethnic group:
"We look different, and have a different culture and history, from the two other indigenous peoples of our region, the Aborigines to our south and the Melanesians to our north".
G. Mye in the article on "Torres Strait Islander" in The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia (1994)
Some people may not understand the meaning of this topic - it only includes the indigenous people of the islands, and does not include people of other ethnic groups presently living on the Torres Strait Islands. Failure to make this distinction led LC to change the ABN heading "Torres Strait Islander teachers" (which means teachers from the ethnic group) to the heading "Teachers--Torres Strait Islands" (which means teachers of any ethnic group living on the islands).
Currently, both ABN and LC use the heading "Torres Strait Islanders", so there is no problem with different headings here.
2. How Do We Choose a Heading for a Topic?
There are many things which may need to be considered when establishing a subject heading. The list here is of some of the things that may need to be considered when deciding what heading should be used for the Aboriginal people of Australia.
2.1. Sought by Users
The heading should be that most likely to be sought by users of a catalogue. However, this may vary between groups of users: looking for books about the Aboriginal people of Australia, people in America might look under "Australian", most people in Australia might look under "Aboriginals" or "Aborigines", while Aboriginal people in New South Wales might use the term "Koories" or "Kooris". This can be found out in some computerised catalogues by looking at what terms people search under; but that may in practice be affected by users' previous experience of that catalogue or other catalogues.
2.2 Used in the Literature
The heading should be that used in books and other material on the subject. This can be found out by doing title keyword searches in computerised catalogues (although just a keyword search would not help you decide between "Aborigines, Australian" and "Australian aborigines").
2.3 Not Offensive
The term used should not be offensive to the group involved. For example, some years LC replaced the heading "Negroes" as that term was becoming offensive to some Black people. As an outsider, I can make some informed guesses as to what Aboriginal people would find offensive, but it would be better to directly consult with the people themselves.
2.4 Not Discriminatory
Discrimination is not the same thing as offensiveness, although the concepts may overlap. For example, LC made a change recently from "Presidents' wives" to "Presidents' spouses", because the earlier heading made the discriminatory assumption that a President must be a man, and not because any wife of a President had said that she found the earlier heading offensive.
2.5 Precise and Unambiguous
A subject heading must express the desired concept precisely and unambiguously. For example, the LC subject heading "Indians" is a poor choice - it means American Indians, does not mean people from India.
Possible ambiguities can be resolved by using a qualifying term in parenthesis (e.g. "Kikuyu (African people)"), or by a note explaining the scope of the heading and when it is to be used.
2.6 Consistent with Other Practice
Subject headings have to fit into a thesaurus and should be consistent with the practice used in other headings in that thesaurus. In deciding on headings for the Aboriginal people of Australia, we need to be consistent, particularly with headings used for other ethnic groups.
In particular:
- The ABN headings "Aborigines, Australian" and "Aborigines, Tasmanian" are not consistent with present LC practice, which is to avoid inverting subject headings.
- The LC headings "Australian aborigines" and "Tasmanian aborigines" are not consistent with present LC practice, which is to use capital letters for ethnic groups.
- A heading for an ethnic group needs to have an adjectival form for the group. ABN uses the form "Aboriginal Australian ...", while LC uses the form "Australian aboriginal ...". For example, ABN uses "Aboriginal Australian literature", while LC uses "Australian aboriginal literature".
2.7 Used in other Thesauri
The term used should if possible be that found in other thesauri. For example, the Medica1 Subject Headings (MeSH) used by the United States National Library of Medicine "Aborigines" plus "Australoid Race" plus "Australia" for Australian Aborigines as a racial group, and uses "Aborigines" plus "Australia" for Australian Aborigines as an ethnic group. In this case, other considerations may make it impossible to follow MeSH practice.
2.8. Short
Everything else being equal, a short beading is better than a longer one - for one thing, it will require less typing for cataloguers and for users of catalogues. This is why "United States" is used instead of "United States of America".
3. Alternative Possible Headings
I have listed here some of the possible headings which might be used for the ethnic groups listed in part 1 above, together with a commentary on their advantages and disadvantages. All the terms are listed in one alphabetic list, even though they may express different concepts, as some are ambiguous and might refer to several different concepts.
Although the present ABN heading is "Aborigines, Australian", I have not included it in this list in the belief that an inverted heading like this is not likely to be acceptable to LC. There are other ways of getting a heading starting with "Aboriginal/Aborigine".
If a term is not used as a heading, it might be used as a See reference to the preferred leading, particularly if some catalogue users might look under the non-preferred term.
3.1 Aboriginal Australians
This term has many advantages: it starts with a word likely to be sought by users, it is unambiguous, and it has an adjectival form "Aboriginal Australian ...". (This is the adjectival form currently used by ABN). The main disadvantage is that the phrase is not he most widely used - it would be chosen to fit into a subject thesaurus rather than to reflect the most commonly used term. It also has tlhe disadvantage that it is not a term referred by many Aboriginal people, who wish to use a word from one of their own languages, such as 'Kooris" or "Murris".
3.2 Aboriginal people of Australia
This is an increasingly popular phrase which has many advantages. Its chief disadvantages are that it is fairly long, and that it does not easily convert into an adjectival form.
3.3 Aboriginals
This term is offensive to some, particularly as it does not distinguish the Aboriginal people of Australia from other indigenous people:
"The worst thing about the use of "Aboriginal" is that it places us into the category of being a non-existent people, thus sustaining (as is no doubt intended), the "legality" or TERRA NULLIUS annexation of our land".
Fesl (1990)
In any case, in a thesaurus used world-wide, this cannot stand by itself - it would need be qualified as "Aboriginals (Australian people)". Equally, the adjectival form would need to be qualified, and this would lead to a cumbersome heading like "Aboriginal Australian) literature".
3.4 Aborigines
There would be similar objections to "Aborigines" as there are to "Aboriginals".
In LC subject headings, this is a See reference to "Indigenous peoples", so it would need to be qualified as "Aborigines (Australian people)". Again, the adjectival form would d to a heading like "Aboriginal (Australian) literature".
3.5 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders
This seems to be the preferred official name for the group considered together, although people outside Australia might need some help in finding it. The adjectival form, if needed, would be "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ...". Some scope notes and See also references would be needed to help both cataloguers and catalogue users.
3.6 A.T.S.I.
This (and "A.& T.S.I.") might be needed as a See reference, as they are found in the literature. They would not be used widely enough to be preferred as a heading.
3.7 Australian Aboriginals
If a heading starting with "Australian" is wanted, then "Australian Aborigines" is much more common in titles. However, this may be useful as a See reference, although it would file next to "Australian Aborigines".
3.8 Australian Aborigines
This (except for capitalisation) is the heading currently used by LC. In the United States, users would be more likely to search under "Australian" than in Australia, where catalogues will have many more subject headings starting with "Australian". It would be more acceptable if LC capitalised the word "Aborigines", and if adopted would mean that in practice only ABN and Australian libraries would have to make a large change, so it would be less disruptive for libraries outside Australia.
3.9 Black Australians
Aboriginal people of Australia are sometimes referred to as "Black Australians", so that See references need to be created from "Black Australians".
3.10 Blacks-Australia
While this heading would be theoretically legitimate in LC practice, it has not been used . ABN. If it were, it would appear not to not include Aboriginal people-it would only include people of African descent. LC practice seems to be to use the headings "Black race" and "Blacks" primarily to refer to Black people originating in Africa, including their descendants in North and South America, and not to the indigenous people of Australia, the Pacific Region, or South Asia. In case of any possible confusion, there may need to be a scope note or a See reference at the heading "Blacks--Australia".
3.11 Indigenous Australians
This term is used occasionally in titles, and would be useful as a See reference for that reason.
3.12 Indigenous peoples-Australia
The LC subject heading "Indigenous peoples" has a scope note saying, in part:
"Here are entered works on the aboriginal inhabitants either of colonial areas or of modem states where the aboriginal peoples are not in control of the government, as well as works on the position of these peoples in society and their relations with the governing authorities".
Unfortunately, in spite of this, the heading "Indigenous peoples--Australia" is not available for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, as LC has a See reference from that heading to "Australian aborigines--Government relations". That heading is different in scope from the rejected heading "Indigenous peoples--Australia" in two ways: firstly, it does not include the position of Aboriginal people in Australian society; and secondly, it does not include Torres Strait Islanders.
One possible solution would be to allow the heading "Indigenous peoples-Australia" with See reference to it from "Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders". This would be consistent with how LC has treated other indigenous peoples.
3.13 Koories / Kooris
Both spellings are widely used, but both The Australian National Dictionary and The Macquarie Dictionary prefer "Koori" as the spelling for the singular form.
This term has been suggested for use, as it is the term used by Aboriginal people. For example, Eve Fesl said:
"Just as the English, Dutch and French are referred to by the specific names of their groups, we should be demanding that the nondescript terms applied to us by speakers of the English language, be dropped and that the names which we use to describe ourselves and others of our race be used. Koorie is the name by which those of us living in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania refer to ourselves and others of our race. It does not mean a specific group. Murri is the Queensland term. Nyunga is southern Western Australia; Nyungga in Southern Australians and so on. LEARN THEM ALL and USE THEM appropriately!"
Fesl (1990)
There are several problems with using "Koories" or "Kooris" as a heading:
- It is not likely to be the term sought by non-Koories.
- It is not accepted nationally by all Aboriginal people.
- It is ambiguous - does it means just those people who call themselves Kooris, or does it mean all Aboriginal people?
- It is an Awabakal word meaning "men", and may have some sexually discriminatory overtones.
3.14 Murries / Murris
The word Murri, with two different plural forms, is used by some Aboriginal people, particularly in Queensland. It is less widely used than Koori. As its use is not general, it could not be used as the preferred term.
3.15 Native Australians
This term is sometimes used, either to refer to Aboriginal people only, or to refer to both Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. It has the advantage of paralleling the increasingly popular terms "Native Americans" and "Native Canadians". However, I don't think it is used commonly enough to be the preferred term.
3.16 Original Australians
This term is occasionally used to refer either to Aboriginal people or to Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. It should be considered for use as a See reference.
3.17 Tasmanian Aborigines
The heading currently used by LC is "Tasmanian aborigines" should be changed to Tasmanian Aborigines". In addition, there needs to be thought given to whether non-Tasmanian Aboriginal people living in Tasmania need to be treated better in subject heading practice. LC has a See reference from "Australian aborigines--Australia- Tasmania" to "Tasmanian aborigines". In ABN, the heading "Aborigines, Australia- Tasmania" has been used - usually when "Tasmanian aborigines" would have been more appropriate, but sometimes to refer to non-Tasmanian Aboriginal people. This conflict needs to be sorted out.
3.18 Tasmanians
This term is sometimes used to refer to the Tasmanian Aborigines, but can also refer to all people living in Tasmania. LC currently has a See reference from "Tasmanians (Native people)" to "Tasmanian aborigines" - this is a reasonable solution.
3.19 Torres Strait Islanders
There is no conflict here between ABN practice, LC practice and common usage. However, this heading should have a scope note, explaining that it only refers to the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, and there may need to be a See also reference from "Indigenous peoples--Australia"
20. T.S.I.
This term might be useful as a See reference to "Torres Strait Islanders".
4. Recommendations
These recommendations are provisional only-they will need to be revised in the light of wider consultation. So that they might be more easily understood by non-cataloguers, I have arranged them the way that catalogue users would see. The internal format would be different.
- Recommendation 1
- That the preferred headings for the indigenous people of Australia
be:
- Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
Tasmanian Aborigines Torres Strait Islanders
- Aboriginal Australians
- Recommendation 2
- That the adjectival forms of the first, third and fourth headings
above be:
- Aboriginal Australian ...
Tasmanian Aboriginal ...
Torres Strait Islander ...
- Aboriginal Australian ...
- Recommendation 3
That the scope notes and references be:
-
Aboriginal Australians
- Here are entered works on the Aboriginal people of Australia.
See also:
Indigenous peoples--Australia
Tasmanian Aborigines
Torres Strait Islanders
- Here are entered works on Aboriginal people who are descended
from people from other parts of Australia and who live in Tasmania.
See also:
Tasmanian Aborigines
Aboriginal people of Australia
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
- See:
Tasmanian Aborigines
Aboriginals (Australian people)
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
Torres Strait Islanders
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
Torres Strait Islanders
Australian Aboriginal people
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
Australian Aboriginals
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
Australian Aborigines
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
Blacks--Australia
Indigenous peoples--Australia
- Here are entered works on Black people of African descent,
including Afro-Americans, living in Australia.
See also:
Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
- See also:
Aboriginal Australians
Tasmanian Aborigines
Torres Strait Islanders
- See:
Indigenous peoples--Australia
Indigenous peoples--Australia
- Here are entered works on all the indigenous peoples of
Australia treated collectively, including works on their position in Australian
society and works on their relations with the governing authorities.
See also:
Aboriginal Australians
Tasmanian Aborigines
Torres Strait Islanders
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
Murries
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
- See:
Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
- Here are entered works on the Aboriginal people of Tasmania.
See also:
Aboriginal Australians--Tasmania
- See:
Tasmanian Aborigines
- Here are entered works on the indigenous people of the Torres
Strait Islands.
See also.
Aboriginal Australians
Indigenous peoples--Australia
T.S.I.
- See:
Torres Strait Islanders
- Here are entered works on the Aboriginal people of Australia.
Appendix: Title Keyword Searches in ABN
This is a list of title keyword searches on terms relevant to the Aboriginal people of Australia in ABN on 28th June 1994.
Aboriginal 9136 Aboriginal Australians 125 Aboriginal people 349 Aboriginals 438 Aborigine 134 Aborigines 2816 Australian Aboriginals 101 Australian Aborigines 680 Indigenous Australians 25 Koori 61 Koorie 55 Koories 13 Kooris 4 Murri 21 Murries 4 Murris 2 Tasmanian Aboriginals 3 Tasmanian Aborigines 61 Torres Strait Islanders 158 Torres Strait Islanders and Aborigines 93
References
Aboriginal people of Tasmania /
produced in co-operation by the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Commission. Canberra, 1992.
ISBN 0 644
24277 9.
Clark, J. "Tasmanian Aborigines", in The Australian people
/ general editor, James Jupp. North Ryde, NSW: Angus & Robertson, 1988.
ISBN 0 207 15427 9. p. 140-144.
The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia /
David Horton, general editor. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 1994.
ISBN 0 85575 234 3.
Fesl, Eve. "How the English language is used to put Koories down and deny us rights". Social alternatives, v. 9, no. 3 (1990), p. 35-37.
Moorcroft, Heather. "Ethnocentrism in subject headings". Australian library journal, v. 41 no. 2 (Feb. 1992), p. 4046.
Return to the Aboriginal Roundtable
Giles Martin, 7th November 1994
Last updated 12 June 198
| About This Site | Copyright | Privacy | Accessibility | Site Map | Site Search | Content A-Z | Contact Us |