ALA Rebukes LC, Calls for Consultation with Libraries and Delay in Bibliographic Changes

-- Library Journal, 05/18/2006

The American Library Association (ALA) Executive Board has issued a strong statement criticizing a decision by the Library of Congress (LC) to stop performing series authority work for the bibliographic records it creates. The decision was announced on April 20 for implementation as of May 1, though LC has since delayed it a month. "The announcement was greeted with dismay in the library community, particularly among catalogers, in part because of the substance of the decision; in part because of the shortness of notice given; and in part because the decision was reached without sufficient consultation with the library community," ALA said.

The E-Board pointed out, "Keyword search is not an adequate substitute for authority-controlled series access, especially over time as variants and name changes proliferate, and as errors enter even the best databases." The statement also raised questions about LC's willingness to give up or radically change the use of Library of Congress Subject Headings. "These changes would also have a significant negative financial impact on the nation's libraries and their users," the statement said. "Any diminution of the quality or quantity of cataloging provided by the Library of Congress has an enormous financial impact on all of the nation's libraries, as the work that the Library of Congress had previously performed must either be taken up by individual libraries, often doing work in duplicate, or it must be abandoned altogether." The statement asked LC to "consult broadly with the library community" and warned, "It appears that the importance of Library of Congress cataloging to the nation's libraries and to the development of an educated and informed populace is not sufficiently appreciated by the Library's senior administration."