The Issues of Chronology in Cataloging Chinese Archaeological Reports and Related Materials: An Investigation of the Cultural Bias in the Library of Congress Classification and Subject Headings

Authors

Junli Diao, CUNY York CollegeFollow
Haiyun Cao, York University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-30-2016

Abstract

This article discusses peculiarities of Chinese chronology in cataloging Chinese archaeological reports and related materials. It first examines cultural limitations embedded in the Eurocentric Library of Congress Classification (LCC) and calls for catalogers’ sensitivity to authors’ cultural background while cataloging the Bronze China archaeological materials. It then discusses the ambiguity in Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) Manual H1225 and presents a debate on the necessity of including Chinese dynastic information in constructing subject headings through the comparison of facets extracted in this manual and elements derived from title patterns of Chinese archaeological reports. Furthermore, this article elaborates the significance of the chronological issue from three different perspectives in library systems: FAST headings, local library users’ need, and next-generation catalogs. It ends with a conclusion that chronological information either in the LCSH or FAST headings will facilitate the discoverability and accessibility of such materials in a faceted library catalog to a group of targeted users.

Comments

This is the accepted manuscript of an article originally published in Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, available at https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2016.1150931.