National Library of Australia - Gateways

ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 60 | December 2002


Kinetica: Subject Headings Review Panel Update

 

Jenny Kerry
Jenny Kerry

Kinetica’s Subject Headings Review Panel (SHRP) primary focus this year was on implementing terms for names of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their languages from the unpublished SLASH thesaurus (List of Australian Subject Headings, 2nd edition).

The main activity was proposing Aboriginal language names to the Library of Congress for inclusion in the Library of Congress Subject Heading list (LCSH), which is used extensively in Australian libraries. Once these terms are accepted within LCSH they are formally implemented on the National Bibliographic Database (NBD) for use in both national and local catalogues.

To assist in this process, Ms Jenny Kerry from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Library joined the group as the AIATSIS representative replacing Ms Alana Garwood-Houng. In order to broaden the base of linguistic advice and consultation on terms for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and languages, the SHRP secretariat also liaised with nominated AIATSIS linguists and corresponded with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library and Information Resources Network (ATSILIRN).

The following Aboriginal language subject heading proposals were submitted to the Library of Congress’ Subject Authority Control Office (SACO) with two of these terms, ‘Awabakal’ and ‘Yuin-Kuric’ already accepted into LCSH:

Awabakal language
Yuin-Kuric languages
Pama-Nyungan languages
Ngawun language
Dhuwal language
Djapu language
Anguthimri language
Kunbarlang language
Warumungu language
Margany language

Given the complexity of establishing terms for these languages, the headings are being submitted in order of complexity from the least to the most complex headings. The least complex headings are generally terms that are new to LCSH, have agreement in spelling and form across primary reference sources such as the Ethnologue and AIATSIS thesauri, and have sound literary warrant as they appear consistently in published works. The more complex terms are typically headings that differ from an existing LCSH term, are spelled or constructed differently across major reference sources, can conflict where the same heading describes two different languages, and if they do appear in published materials they are inconsistently used, spelled and so on.

In addition to submitting Aboriginal language proposals, work also progressed on subject heading policy in general. Three new but long awaited LCSH terms were established on the NBD for ‘Native Title (Australia)’, ‘East Timor’ and ‘People with disabilities’. In addition to implementing these new terms, Kinetica staff also performed extensive changes on the NBD indexes to correct those headings that adhered to the older form—for example, changing ‘Timor Timur (Indonesia)’ to ‘East Timor’ and ‘Physically handicapped’ to ‘People with disabilities’.

The SHRP also considered a recommendation to close the period subdivisions that are used for Australia, Australian States, Territories and capital cities. There was general agreement within the panel that the current period subdivision ‘1990–’ should be closed off at 2001, e.g. ‘—1990–2001’ and a new open subdivision ‘2001–’ be established. After a period of consultation with the Australian library community this recommendation was implemented.

There are still 77 additional headings  to submit for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, and this will occupy the SHRP for the next six months. Other activities on the panel’s agenda include the submission of headings for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the revision of headings and subdivisions conforming to the pattern ‘Aborigines, Australian’.

Though the panel does not routinely consider individual headings, Kinetica staff can submit individual subject heading proposals to be included in LCSH and this is done on behalf of all Australian libraries. Libraries can use the online forms available at www.nla.gov.au/kinetica/sh_form.html to submit new subject heading proposals or www.nla.gov.au/kinetica/shchg_form.html to submit change proposals for existing LCSH terms.

To learn more about the work of the SHRP, please visit the web site at www.nla.gov.au/kinetica/subjhead.html.
—Bemal Rajapatirana

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