LA Autry Blog

A subject heading, assigned to an item in a library, is a sort of guide to resources on a topic. When searched, it brings together items about that topic. If you don’t know the title or author, subject headings are great signposts on your research journey. Recently, a question about terminology and word choice was posed on a catalogers’ mailing list. The question concerned adding the subject heading “stereotypes” when cataloging a work that featured extremely prominent examples. Since the Autry National Center is very concerned with confronting, understanding, and challenging historical and current stereotypes, I was interested in the discussions that followed.

An important accepted cataloging principle is to be as objective as possible. The items below are about the Battle of Little Big Horn. Pluck and Luck: The Boy Prairie Courier, or, General Custer’s Youngest Aide: A True Story of the Battle of Little Bighorn is a 1905 dime novel, and as is typical in these magazines, the story portrays both the characters and the action in dramatic and stereotypical fashion designed to attract readers. The 2006 publication, Remember Little Bighorn: Indians Soldiers and Scouts Tell Their Stories, is a work of nonfiction, yet both are assigned the subject heading “Little Bighorn, Battle of the, Mont., 1876.”

Dime Novel, The Boy Prairie Courier, or, General Custer’s Youngest Aide: A True Story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Feb. 1, 1905, Autry National Center; 88.211.8.

Remember Little Bighorn: Indians, Soldiers, and Scouts Tell Their Stories, National Geographic, 2006, Autry Library, Autry National Center.

Hopefully, it is obvious to twenty-first-century readers that the dime novel is full of stereotypes. So, why doesn’t the cataloger add a subject heading to the library record that indicates the item contains stereotypes? Part of the answer is the cataloger’s goal to create an objective record and leave the interpretation in the hands of the researcher. This is an extremely important issue and the best practice for leading patrons to the resources they need.

“Do not catalog what is not there” is another important cataloging principle. In other words, catalogers must ask if the content warrants a subject heading. In the case of the dime novel, the cataloger will ask herself if the item addresses the subject of stereotypes in any way. Is there a chapter or appendix that discusses the presence of certain stereotypical representation or does the author offer an aside apologizing for using stereotypes? If there is no discussion about stereotypes in the work, then the book is not about stereotypes, although it contains them.

What subject heading do you think this famous anti-pollution advertisement from the late 1960s needs? Think about the content and what the poster is about. We’d love to see your replies.

Poster, Keep America Beautiful, circa 1969, Autry National Center, 88.287.28.