ALA Rebukes LC Over Changes
Says bibliographic work remains vital service to libraries
By Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 6/15/2006
The American Library Association (ALA) Executive Board has sharply criticized 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 then 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 Exec 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 LC Subject Headings. “These changes would also have a significant negative financial impact on the nation's libraries and their users,” the statement said, because they'd have to duplicate the work or abandon it. The Exec Board asked LC to “consult broadly with the library community” and warned that LC managers didn't sufficiently appreciate the importance of LC cataloging.
