"Aliens" vs. Catalogers: Bias in the Library of Congress Subject Heading

Aliens: It is the subject of conspiracy theories and nightmares, the name of a blockbuster science fiction/horror movie franchise, and also how the de facto national library of the United States refers to "persons who are not citizens of the country in which they reside." In 2016, the Libr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inLegal reference services quarterly Vol. 38; no. 4; pp. 170 - 196
Main Author Lo, Grace
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Philadelphia Routledge 02.10.2019
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
bias
cataloging
critical librarianship
immigration
Librarians
Libraries
Library cataloging
Library of Congress
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Noncitizens
United States > US
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN0270-319X
1540-949X
DOI10.1080/0270319X.2019.1696069

Cover

Abstract Aliens: It is the subject of conspiracy theories and nightmares, the name of a blockbuster science fiction/horror movie franchise, and also how the de facto national library of the United States refers to "persons who are not citizens of the country in which they reside." In 2016, the Library of Congress announced that it would reconsider the usage of "Aliens" and its related terms in the Library of Congress Subject Headings, following a student-led movement to change the pejorative term "Illegal Aliens." Yet, three years on, these terms remain in the LCSH. Using the "Illegal Aliens" controversy as a case study, this article explores how the LCSH works, its role in research, and its vulnerabilities to bias, and offers proposals for how librarians can help improve the situation.
AbstractList Aliens: It is the subject of conspiracy theories and nightmares, the name of a blockbuster science fiction/horror movie franchise, and also how the de facto national library of the United States refers to "persons who are not citizens of the country in which they reside." In 2016, the Library of Congress announced that it would reconsider the usage of "Aliens" and its related terms in the Library of Congress Subject Headings, following a student-led movement to change the pejorative term "Illegal Aliens." Yet, three years on, these terms remain in the LCSH. Using the "Illegal Aliens" controversy as a case study, this article explores how the LCSH works, its role in research, and its vulnerabilities to bias, and offers proposals for how librarians can help improve the situation.
Author Lo, Grace
Author_xml – sequence: 1
  givenname: Grace
  surname: Lo
  fullname: Lo, Grace
  email: gracelo@law.stanford.edu
  organization: Robert Crown Law Library, Stanford Law School
BookMark eNqFkE1LAzEURYMoWKs_QQh1PTUvmUlndKMWtULBhQrdhUw-asqYaJIq_nunVDcudPU299zHPQdo1wdvEDoGMgZSk1NCJ4RBsxhTAs0YeMMJb3bQAKqSFE3ZLHbRYJMpNqF9dJDSihCoeT0ZoNnosnPGpxF-T2M8lVl2YWliOsNXTibsPM7PBs9dG2X8xMHiafDLaFLCD-t2ZVTGMyO188tDtGdll8zR9x2ip5vrx-msmN_f3k0v54WiFcsFZUxbAKVpCy1RmtRaWapYWzJOoJrYCqTmJRiuS2OoKlWpLYcaLGgNkrMhOtn2vsbwtjYpi1VYR9-_FJTRmvXrKe1T1TalYkgpGiteo3vpJwggYiNN_EgTG2niW1rPnf_ilMsyu-BzlK77l77Y0s7bEF_kR4idFll-diHaKL1ySbC_K74AxuaGcg
CitedBy_id crossref_primary_10_5433_1981_8920_2023v28n2p298
crossref_primary_10_29173_istl2813
crossref_primary_10_1086_731837
crossref_primary_10_22237_tiwj_1693353780
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_acalib_2024_102943
ContentType Journal Article
Copyright 2019 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 2019
2019 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Copyright_xml – notice: 2019 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 2019
– notice: 2019 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
DBID AAYXX
CITATION
E3H
F2A
DOI 10.1080/0270319X.2019.1696069
DatabaseName CrossRef
Library & Information Sciences Abstracts (LISA)
Library & Information Science Abstracts (LISA)
DatabaseTitle CrossRef
Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA)
DatabaseTitleList
Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA)
DeliveryMethod fulltext_linktorsrc
Discipline Library & Information Science
Law
EISSN 1540-949X
EndPage 196
ExternalDocumentID 10_1080_0270319X_2019_1696069
1696069
Genre Article
GeographicLocations United States--US
GeographicLocations_xml – name: United States--US
GroupedDBID -~X
.7I
.QK
0BK
0R~
4.4
5GY
77K
AAMFJ
AAMIU
AAPUL
AATTQ
AAZMC
ABCCY
ABFIM
ABJNI
ABLIJ
ABPEM
ABTAI
ABXUL
ABXYU
ACGFS
ACTIO
ACTOA
ADAHI
ADCVX
ADKVQ
ADUOI
AECIN
AEISY
AEKEX
AEMXT
AEYOC
AEZRU
AFSUE
AGDLA
AGMYJ
AGRBW
AHDZW
AIJEM
AKBVH
ALMA_UNASSIGNED_HOLDINGS
ALQZU
AVBZW
AWYRJ
BEJHT
BLEHA
BMOTO
BOHLJ
CCCUG
CQ1
CS3
DGFLZ
DKSSO
EBS
EKAWT
E~B
E~C
F5P
G-F
GTTXZ
H13
HF~
HISYW
HZ~
IPNFZ
J.O
KYCEM
LJTGL
M4Z
NA5
NY.
O9-
OXC
P2P
RHO
RIG
RNANH
ROSJB
RSYQP
S-F
STATR
TBQAZ
TDBHL
TFH
TFL
TFW
TGZ
TNTFI
TRJHH
TUROJ
UT5
UT9
VAE
~01
~S~
AAGDL
AAHIA
AAYXX
ADYSH
AEFOU
AFRVT
AIYEW
AMPGV
CITATION
E3H
F2A
TASJS
ID FETCH-LOGICAL-c253t-233df11cd2b1b0cd08dcf2c3b4360157f51ad641e6d4ee2c4c4df6181f1dd1a63
ISSN 0270-319X
IngestDate Mon Jul 14 10:35:40 EDT 2025
Tue Jul 01 01:59:03 EDT 2025
Thu Apr 24 23:11:52 EDT 2025
Wed Dec 25 09:07:34 EST 2024
IsPeerReviewed true
IsScholarly true
Issue 4
Language English
LinkModel OpenURL
MergedId FETCHMERGED-LOGICAL-c253t-233df11cd2b1b0cd08dcf2c3b4360157f51ad641e6d4ee2c4c4df6181f1dd1a63
Notes ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
PQID 2328369622
PQPubID 53046
PageCount 27
ParticipantIDs crossref_citationtrail_10_1080_0270319X_2019_1696069
crossref_primary_10_1080_0270319X_2019_1696069
proquest_journals_2328369622
informaworld_taylorfrancis_310_1080_0270319X_2019_1696069
ProviderPackageCode CITATION
AAYXX
PublicationCentury 2000
PublicationDate 2019-10-02
PublicationDateYYYYMMDD 2019-10-02
PublicationDate_xml – month: 10
  year: 2019
  text: 2019-10-02
  day: 02
PublicationDecade 2010
PublicationPlace Philadelphia
PublicationPlace_xml – name: Philadelphia
PublicationTitle Legal reference services quarterly
PublicationYear 2019
Publisher Routledge
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Publisher_xml – name: Routledge
– name: Taylor & Francis Ltd
SSID ssj0018687
Score 2.0974815
Snippet Aliens: It is the subject of conspiracy theories and nightmares, the name of a blockbuster science fiction/horror movie franchise, and also how the de facto...
SourceID proquest
crossref
informaworld
SourceType Aggregation Database
Enrichment Source
Index Database
Publisher
StartPage 170
SubjectTerms bias
cataloging
critical librarianship
immigration
Librarians
Libraries
Library cataloging
Library of Congress
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Noncitizens
Title "Aliens" vs. Catalogers: Bias in the Library of Congress Subject Heading
URI https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0270319X.2019.1696069
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2328369622
Volume 38
hasFullText 1
inHoldings 1
isFullTextHit
isPrint
link http://utb.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwpV3da9RAEF9s--KL1KpY28pS1BfJcfuRzca3Kkoo1Qe5wr2FzX5IQXLFiwr-9e5sJskdLdSPl3Dk2L1jf7_Mzmxm5kfIC8OEUoUJmZbMZFL7eVaapsy8zl3RMGVDUi35-ElVl_J8mS8n4cRUXdI1M_vr1rqSf0E13ou4QpXsXyA7ThpvxM8R33iNCMfrH2H8kvOz6EOCK8xf_1jPoJ4PDmNAxyFG-m-vzHrIY8T6hJR9sWpTkA1GA05hoBRp3MGG0mj_JXX8H7vQokmBIsztJNCLVV_qYpAieILAypSLNsWb26lHvenhBVjnJHIbdwk0jTLiKPEe2k6hNzgiNwwh6-VAcE9lvWrtDXON-Y0cmuiXS0i0K2dMQVBVTvvTmDWI3-yQPV4U8E5-b_H5vKrGl0ZaJT3E8c8PBVvQSv22n9hyRbYa1d7YmJO3sdgnDzBMoGc95g_JPd8ekJ0L8_OAnCCU9BXFWjIgGEUj_YhUpz0nTmlkBJ0Y8YYCH-hVSyMf6DDJKtCBDxT5QJEPj8nlh_eLd1WGehmZ5bnoMi6EC4xZxxvWzK2ba2cDt6KRIobdeRFyZpySzCsnvedWWumCii5eYM4xo8QTstuuWv-UUFF44bTTwjROMu51nMWwuXEM2gmZ_JDIYelqi83kQdPka82GnrO44jWseI0rfkhm47DrvpvKXQPKTVzqLh1jhV5zphZ3jD0eQKzxoV3XMYDQIGHJ-bP_mPqI3J8epGOy23377k-ic9o1z5GUvwFYfYT9
linkProvider Taylor & Francis
linkToHtml http://utb.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwpV1LT9wwEB6V5UAv5VlBWYqFELeE9SNep7ftqiiFhQNapL1Zjh8SAmURG1qpv7524iAeQhw4RzNK_Jj5ZjLzDcChwpTzoXKJYFglTNhBkqsyT6zIzLDEXLtmasn5BS-u2Oksmz3phQlllSGGdi1RRGOrw-UOyeiuJO7Yh1Kh-WYWKrPyFPOAwvMlWM5y7w57sDy9PC2Kx38Jgjdj8oJQEqS6Pp63FD3zUM_4S1_Z68YJnayC7l6_rT25SR_qMtX_XjA7fuz71uBLxKho1B6qdfhkqw1Ymqi_G7AX-xzQEYqNTGFjUbQQm1AcjDyorRYH6M8iReM2N-QR5g_081ot0HWFPOBEnZK5Q-N51UT8yFuwkBJCRVvVvwVXJ7-m4yKJwxoSTTJaJ4RS4zDWhpS4HGgzEEY7omnJqI_5sqHLsDKcYcsNs5Zopplx3OMLh43BitOv0Kvmld0GRIeWGmEEVaVhmFjhtSg8UAYHLhuV7QDrNkjqyGQeBmrcStwRnsYFlGEBZVzAHUgfxe5aKo_3BPKnuy_rJofi2oEnkr4j2--OioxWYSE9ehVhfiIh3z6geh9Wiun5RE5-X5ztwufwqKkuJH3o1fcPds-jpLr8Hq_Bf_sEAkM
linkToPdf http://utb.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwpV1ba9RAFD7YLYgvtlbFaluHIr4l7lwyO-lbu3WJay0iLfRtmCsUJVtMquCv70wyWbqK9GGfwzkkcznzncl3vgPwTmHK-UT5TDCsMibcOCuVLjMnCjvRmBvfdS35cs6rSza_KgY2YZNolTGH9r1QRBer4-a-sX5gxH0ImVSsvbmKxKwyxzyC8HIDNnmsGh3B5sW3eVUtfyUI3nXJi0ZZtBrKeP7naOWAWpEv_Sdcd2fQbAv08PY99eR7ftvq3Pz5S9hxrc_bhqcJoaLjfkk9g0eu3oGNM_V7B_ZTlQN6j1IZU5xWlOLDc6gOjwOkrZtD9KvJ0bS_GQr48gidXKsGXdcowE00OFl4NF3UXb6PQvyKF0Ko6jn9L-By9vFiWmWpVUNmSEHbjFBqPcbGEo312NixsMYTQzWjIeMrJr7AynKGHbfMOWKYYdbzgC48thYrTl_CqF7U7hUgOnHUCiuo0pZh4kTwovBYWRyVbFSxC2yYH2mSjnlsp_FD4kHuNA2gjAMo0wDuQr40u-mFPB4yKO9Pvmy7GxTftzuR9AHbvWGlyBQTGhmwq4jdEwl5vYbrt_D46-lMnn06__wGnsQnHbWQ7MGo_Xnr9gNEavVB2gR3u7MA5w
openUrl ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=%22Aliens%22+vs.+Catalogers%3A+Bias+in+the+Library+of+Congress+Subject+Heading&rft.jtitle=Legal+reference+services+quarterly&rft.au=Lo%2C+Grace&rft.date=2019-10-02&rft.pub=Routledge&rft.issn=0270-319X&rft.eissn=1540-949X&rft.volume=38&rft.issue=4&rft.spage=170&rft.epage=196&rft_id=info:doi/10.1080%2F0270319X.2019.1696069&rft.externalDocID=1696069
thumbnail_l http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/lc.gif&issn=0270-319X&client=summon
thumbnail_m http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/mc.gif&issn=0270-319X&client=summon
thumbnail_s http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/sc.gif&issn=0270-319X&client=summon