I wonder what lies behind subject headings like "fingerprints," "fireworks," or "forestry."
This brings to mind Timothy Shipe’s thought-provoking article, "The Librarian and the Artist's Book: Notes on the Subversive Art of Cataloging." In the article, Shipe recounts the misclassification of Ed Ruscha’s artist's book, “Real Estate Opportunities” (1970). At that time—over a decade before the Library of Congress officially recognized the term “Artists’ Books” as a subject heading—Ruscha's work, which consists of photographs of lots for sale in Southern California, was incorrectly categorized under the subject heading “Real Estate Business.” Although Shipe considers this an “understandable mistake” that was eventually corrected, he offers a different perspective on this unintentional act. One key characteristic of avant-garde art is its ability to challenge, disappoint, or subvert audience [readers/viewers] expectations, rather than simply fulfill them.
Thank you. Subject Headings are fascinating, and often reveal how unaware we are of the ways they pre-organize our knowledge. In this regard, I recommend the film Change the Subject, produced at Dartmouth College.
A cataloger from the Library of Congress introduced me to this film during a discussion about the challenges of cataloging artists' books, or, more accurately, the difficulties that artists' books pose to cataloging efforts.
If you ever visit a library that uses the Library of Congress classification scheme (many British university libraries do) ask whether they still have printed copies of the "schedules", possibly the most entertaining and educational volumes I have ever had the pleasure to use... Pretty much everything is in there, like an inventory of human knowledge, constantly expanding with new stuff slotted into convenient (but not necessarily logical) gaps. All the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order...
This is wonderful. From finance to folklore by way of fools. Today I've just been writing a piece about wanderings and classifications, from a visit to the births, marriages and deaths records when they used to be in Islington.
I wonder what lies behind subject headings like "fingerprints," "fireworks," or "forestry."
This brings to mind Timothy Shipe’s thought-provoking article, "The Librarian and the Artist's Book: Notes on the Subversive Art of Cataloging." In the article, Shipe recounts the misclassification of Ed Ruscha’s artist's book, “Real Estate Opportunities” (1970). At that time—over a decade before the Library of Congress officially recognized the term “Artists’ Books” as a subject heading—Ruscha's work, which consists of photographs of lots for sale in Southern California, was incorrectly categorized under the subject heading “Real Estate Business.” Although Shipe considers this an “understandable mistake” that was eventually corrected, he offers a different perspective on this unintentional act. One key characteristic of avant-garde art is its ability to challenge, disappoint, or subvert audience [readers/viewers] expectations, rather than simply fulfill them.
Relatedly, this is great … https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/pmla/article/abs/on-decimals-catalogs-and-racial-imaginaries-of-reading/B20252CDDD8F5C881884EEF4B8F4D066
Thank you. Subject Headings are fascinating, and often reveal how unaware we are of the ways they pre-organize our knowledge. In this regard, I recommend the film Change the Subject, produced at Dartmouth College.
https://collections.dartmouth.edu/archive/object/change-subject/change-subject-film
A cataloger from the Library of Congress introduced me to this film during a discussion about the challenges of cataloging artists' books, or, more accurately, the difficulties that artists' books pose to cataloging efforts.
Thanks so much for this. I didn’t know that article by Shipe but will definitely check it out!
If you ever visit a library that uses the Library of Congress classification scheme (many British university libraries do) ask whether they still have printed copies of the "schedules", possibly the most entertaining and educational volumes I have ever had the pleasure to use... Pretty much everything is in there, like an inventory of human knowledge, constantly expanding with new stuff slotted into convenient (but not necessarily logical) gaps. All the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order...
This is wonderful. From finance to folklore by way of fools. Today I've just been writing a piece about wanderings and classifications, from a visit to the births, marriages and deaths records when they used to be in Islington.