LC Policy and Standards Division to authorize use of the subdivision --Law
and legislation under LCSH headings for crimes.
April 24, 2013
BACKGROUND
In 2008 the Library of Congress' Policy and Standards Division (PSD) devised
a plan to identify headings that were considered to be "inherently legal" by
the addition of a UF [heading]--Law and legislation on each of the headings.
The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) was consulted, and the
policy change was implemented. Since that time, new concepts that are
inherently legal have been added to LCSH with the addition of the UF
[heading]--Law and legislation.
The "inherently legal" decision exempted headings for crimes because they
were considered to be obviously "inherently legal." No UF [crime]--Law and
legislation was added to those headings.
POLICY CHANGE
PSD now wishes to change the treatment of headings for crimes in order to
allow the subdivision --Law and legislation to be established and used under
these headings. This change in policy reflects PSD's commitment to subject
headings that explicitly express their meaning and to the intuitive
construction and standard application of common subdivisions.
DISCUSSION
Clearly, headings for crimes are "inherently legal." However, it is often
difficult to determine if a heading represents a crime without looking at
the reference structure of the heading. For example, Cyberbullying is in
the Computer crimes hierarchy, but Bullying is not in a crimes hierarchy.
According to current policy, Cyberbullying would not be authorized for
subdivision by --Law and legislation, but Bullying would be. Under the new
policy, both headings will be established with the subdivision:
Cyberbullying--Law and legislation and Bullying--Law and legislation.
Another drawback of the existing policy for crime headings is that a crime
in one jurisdiction may not be a crime in another. Both jurisdictions would
have the heading [crime]--[jurisdiction]. To identify which work is a
discussion of the law, the user might need to know the legal status of the
crime in the jurisdiction. Under the new policy, the subject heading with
the subdivision --Law and legislation--[jurisdiction] will indicate
explicitly that the work is about the law in a specific jurisdiction, for
example: Prostitution--Law and legislation--Nevada.
Additionally, crimes are frequently discussed in the literature in terms of
their sociological, psychological, economic, etc., aspects. It is important
to be able to specifically identify that a work is about a law by the
assigning the heading [crime]--Law and legislation.
Furthermore, general discussions of all aspects of the crime would be listed
under the heading for the crime without subdivision, and under existing
policy, they are indistinguishable from works about the law. Under the new
policy, if a work contains a discussion of the law, the heading [crime]--Law
and legislation would be assigned. Together the changes make identification
of legal works easier for users.
For headings that use specific legal terminology for a crime, such as
Murder, the new policy will allow the heading to be subdivided by --Law and
legislation. A UF for the legal term with the subdivision string --Law and
legislation--Criminal provisions will be added.
Example:
Murder--Law and legislation
UF Murder--Law and
legislation--Criminal provisions
The subdivision --Law and legislation will also be authorized for use under
headings for groups of crimes.
Examples:
Commercial crimes--Law and legislation
Computer crimes--Law and legislation
Hate crimes--Law and legislation
Under the new policy, as under the old one, each new use of the subdivision
--Law and legislation will be established editorially (as instructed in
Subject Headings Manual H 1705). Proposals that are submitted for new uses
of [crime]--Law and legislation [May Subd Geog] will be checked for
technical correctness and will achieve approval easily because they can be
identified as belonging to the category "crimes."
REQUEST FOR AALL ASSISTANCE
PSD would like to request the assistance of AALL with identifying all of the
crime headings in LCSH that should have the new heading established. A list
of such headings would be sufficient. The list should be sent to Libby
Dechman ([email protected]) by May 22, 2013.
PROJECT TO IMPLEMENT NEW POLICY
PSD will undertake the project to add headings for currently defined crimes
with the subdivision --Law and legislation, to revise existing headings as
necessary, and to revise bibliographic records. While the project is in
progress, if a concept or term for a crime that is new to LCSH, as well as
an accompanying heading of the type [new concept or term crime heading]--Law
and legislation, may be proposed.
The instruction sheet Subject Headings Manual (SHM) H 1705 will be revised
in 2013 Update no. 2 (Fall).
The project to add [crime]--Law and legislation headings will begin during
the week of May 27, 2013, and should be completed within four to six months.
New headings that are a product of this project will appear on a single
monthly list. Announcement of the project's completion will appear in the
Summary of Decisions, after which proposals may be submitted for individual
headings that have been omitted inadvertently. The bibliographic file
revision will continue as necessary until complete.
Questions or comments about this policy change should be sent to: Libby
Dechman ([email protected]).
Libby Dechman
Senior Subject Policy Specialist for Law
Policy and Standards Division
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C. 20540
