LCCN, October 11, 2012
ISSN 2324-6464
*South Sudan: a new country, a new subject*
By Tom Yee
**
Ever wonder what effect current events have on library work? A prime
example of this impact of international news on cataloging was the
recent establishment of a new independent country and the effects that
had on the /Library of Congress Subject Headings/ (LCSH) and /Library of
Congress Classification/ (LCC). South Sudan was declared an independent
country on July 9, 2011
<http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2011/07/south-sudan-and-the-law-library/>, and
the Policy and Standards Division promptly undertook a project a month
later to update /LCSH/ and /LCC/ to reflect its existence.
This can be a bigger project than it might appear at first glance. Of
the over 300 subject headings for historical time periods, ethnic
groups, indigenous languages and literatures, geographic features (e.g.,
rivers), and man-made structures (e.g., bridges) in Sudan, approximately
200 had to be revised. New subject headings, including *South
Sudan---Politics and government---2005-2011*, *South Sudan---Politics
and government---2011-* , *South Sudanese*, and *South Sudanese
Americans*, were also established. The revisions and several new
headings first appeared on an online tentative list that was issued in
September for review and comment. After an editorial review and
consideration of any comments received in PSD, the revised and new
headings were approved on Monthly List 25 on October 14, 2011
<http://classificationweb.net/approved-subjects/1125.html>.
Bibliographic records were updated to reflect revised subject headings.
Revisions to the LC classification schedules were also approved on that
date. A new span for South Sudan, DT159.915-159.978, now exists, and
revisions to the schedule for Sudan (DT154.1-159.9) were also necessary.
Cutters for ethnic groups whose traditional homelands were in Sudan but
are now in South Sudan have been cancelled and parenthesized, and the
captions for the general and local histories of the country have also
been revised.
Was it necessary to do it so fast? Well, at this time, only a little
over a year later we already have over sixty items in the collection
that are using that heading. Here you have a glimpse of one of the first
items that came into our collection from that country.
<http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2011/08/our-first-copy-of-south-sudanese-law/>
So clearly, there was a need and we leapt to fulfill it.
Do things normally get done that fast? Well, no. Subject cataloging
rarely needs to respond that fast. It takes time for resources to be
written, published, and acquired. The process of creating the subject
headings and classification numbers is usually triggered by an item in
hand. But neither do we ignore what's going on in the world around us,
and when it is necessary, we can act fast.
Tom Yee is the assistant chief of the Policy and Standards Division and
currently the head of the Asian and Middle Eastern Division. He also
serves as a member of the LCCN Editorial Board.
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