Madeline writes \”Joan K. Marshall who worked in the Technical
Services deparment at Brooklyn College from
the mid 60\’s until her retirement in 1988
died on Tuesday, July 22, 2003.
Joan is best known for her book:
On Equal Terms: A Thesaurus for Nonsexist
Indexing and Cataloging
which was published in 1977 by Neal Schulman.
The book:
Provides background on the development of the thesaurus. In 1974 a Committee on Sexism in Subject Headings was formed under the sponsorship of the American Library Association\’s SRRT Task Force on Women to address bias in LCSH.
The Committee identified five categories of problems: \”the Man/Woman generic problem, subsuming terminology, the modifier tactic, separate and unequal treatment, and omissions.\”
Although some changes were made by LC in response to the Committee\’s report, problems remained. The Committee determined that a reevaluation of the principles used in establishing LCSH subject headings was required. Principles for the establishment of nonbiased subject headings relating to people and peoples were developed and accepted for use, where appropriate, by LC. A third stage in the Committee\’s work involved an examination of LC\’s collection and cataloging of relevant materials. Miscataloging or undercataloging was noted and subject heading needs identified. Although the thesaurus was originally only intended to provide \”indexing terms for materials, by , about, or of concern to women,\” its scope was broadened and suggestions for other changes included in an effort to \”unbias the catalog\” and improve access.
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