Brainstorm Document
Brainstorm Document: http://tiny.cc/Sheth
Critical Race Theory Subject Headings
Our library uses Library of Congress Subject Headings in catalog records to organize items that are similar in subject. This creates a shared vocabulary among libraries and helps students find additional sources related to their topic.
It is important to keep in mind that these vocabularies are a product of society and a historically white profession. Librarians are working to disband and contextualize outdated and offensive terms (for one example see here), but many remain within our systems.
Take Dr. Sheth's book Toward a Political Philosophy of Race. It is indexed under the following subject headings:
- Race discrimination -- United States
- Racism
- United States -- Race relations
- Race discrimination -- United States -- Philosophy
While the first three are quite general, the last one is worthy of note. Clicking on it will bring up many additional sources on the philosophy of race and critical race theory more broadly.
Books to Search
Click on one of the books below that you are reading this semester. Find the subject headings in the book's record. Explore one or two headings to report back to the class. Would you use them? Do you think they are accurate? Why or why not?
