- One of the reasons not to separate out these two types of fiction is that the way that the organization for most items in the library is by primary content of the book. This extends to fiction in that genres are pulled out. For GBLTQ fiction, this would imply a mystery with an openly gay detective is no longer a mystery. If the sexual content of a mystery so overwhelms the other elements of the story that it is no longer a mystery, then perhaps it is really a romance novel or a work of erotic fiction.
- For African American fiction, if the definition applies to works by African American authors, this would imply that for purposes of organization, the physical characteristics of the author trump the content of the book that the author wrote.
- Another question would be one of degree. If books were separated out of the mysteries and science fiction section because of gay and lesbian encounters in the book, how much of the book would need to be dedicated to those encounters before it moved from one section to the other?
- How will the cataloger know about the GBLTQ content in the book if it has been reviewed as a Fantasy novel? Likewise, how will the cataloger know about the race of the author of a fiction book?
- If an African American author markets a book as a mystery, does it still go into the African American collection?
- Are we really sure that Heat Rises was not written by an African American author?
- Can someone born outside the country to Black parents move to the US and write African American fiction? It would seem that describing a book as African American fiction would be distinguishing a book by both the race and the national origin of the author. (This would mean that the cataloger could not merely look at the picture on the back cover to determine whether a book would fit into African American fiction.) Do Black Puerto Rican authors’ books go on the African American shelf?
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Prompt Response
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You bring up some really good points. I was more concerned in my prompt by responses of the patrons. However, after reading your response I realize how difficult it would be to judge where books go. There are so many books out there that could fit into multiple categories, how would we distinguish what goes where?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that putting African American fiction in their own collections not only affects RA services but technical services as well. Many books have crossover genres and adding another genre would complicate the search for patrons.
ReplyDeleteKeith, I really like how your response emphasizes the cataloging aspects of separate locations for categories that are difficult to define. As Kathryn noted in her post, the LOC subject headings in many of these areas are not as consistent as we might wish them to be. If catalogers can't depend upon LOC for their definitions, the cataloging distinctions become very subjective, with each library choosing where to shelve items that may fit more than one category.
ReplyDeleteI too mentioned briefly the difficulty of assigning an area for certain books that cross many genres. That is why I prefer broader genre sections for shelving purposes and the reference librarians can help patrons find specific topics within that section.
ReplyDeleteMy other concern with the African American books in particular is that if the classification is based on the author, there wouldn't be a subject heading for that (as it would not be a subject of the book). Further it would not be a parallel sort of classification like Western or Science Fiction or Fantasy. Those classifications refer to the books, not the authors.
ReplyDeleteMy other concern with the African American books in particular is that if the classification is based on the author, there wouldn't be a subject heading for that (as it would not be a subject of the book). Further it would not be a parallel sort of classification like Western or Science Fiction or Fantasy. Those classifications refer to the books, not the authors.
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