FAQ

Library of Congress Subject Headings, Dewey Decimal Classification and the Ambiguity of Subject Representation of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe in American Knowledge Organization Systems

Publication date: 21.11.2024

Central European and Balkan Studies, 2024, Volume XXXIII, pp. 9 - 19

https://doi.org/10.4467/2543733XSSB.24.001.20025

Authors

Marek Sroka
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, Illinois,, United States of America
All publications →

Titles

Library of Congress Subject Headings, Dewey Decimal Classification and the Ambiguity of Subject Representation of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe in American Knowledge Organization Systems

Abstract

The paper examines the classification and subject representation of the concepts of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe in the context of the knowledge organization, especially historical information, in American research and academic libraries during the Cold War and post-Cold War era. The author argues that classification and subject schemes such as Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) and Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) have reflected the concept of the region, generally referred to as Eastern Europe, as an intellectual and political invention, with its historical biases and ambiguous representation. As will be demonstrated, despite the emergence of new nation states and the expansion of the European Union, the concepts of Central and Eastern Europe as separate entities are still alive as if the Cold War’s East-West division had never ended. The paper concludes with the analysis of the latest changes to DDC and LCSH (or lack thereof) to reflect current conditions in the region.

References

Download references

Allen D., The Oder-Neisse Line, Praeger, Westport, Conn., 2003.

Atlas of Eastern Europe, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, D. C., 1990.

Broughton V., Essential Library of Congress Subject Headings, Facet Publishing, London, 2012.

Carra R., DJK: (Re)Inventing Eastern Europe in the Library of Congress Classification, “Slavic and East European Information Resources” 2021, vol. 22, iss.1, pp. 6–31, DOI: 10.1080/15228886.2021.1874291.

Churchill W., “Iron Curtain” speech, 5 March 1946. The National Archives, UK , https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/cold-war-on-file/iron-curtainspeech/ (date accessed: 27.07.2023).

Connelly J., From Peoples into Nations: A History of Eastern Europe, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 2020.

Dewey M., Decimal Classification and Relativ Index: Fourteenth Edition, C. Mazney (ed.), Forest Press, Lake Placid Club, N. Y., 1942.

Dewey M., Dewey Decimal Classification and Relative Index: Sixteenth Edition, B. Custer (ed.), Forest Press, Lake Placid Club, N. Y., 1958.

Dewey M., Dewey Decimal Classification and Relative Index: Nineteenth Edition, B. Custer (ed.), Forest Press, Lake Placid Club, N. Y., 1979.

Dewey M., Dewey Decimal Classification and Relative Index: Twenty-first Edition, J. Mitchell (ed.), Forest Press, Albany, N. Y., 1996.

Dewey M., Dewey Decimal Classification and Relative Index: Twenty-Third Edition, J. Mitchell (ed.), Online Computer Library Center, Dublin, Ohio, 2011.

Górny M., Concept of Mitteleuropa, in: 1914–1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, U. Daniel (ed.), Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2015, DOI: 10.15463/ie1418.10729 (date accessed: 27.07.2024).

Horak S., Russia, the USSR, and Eastern Europe, Libraries Unlimited, Littleton, Colorado, 1987.

Introduction to Library of Congress Subject Headings, https://loc.gov/aba/publications/Free-LCSH/LCSH44-Main-intro.pdf (date accessed: 24.08.2023).

Library of Congress, Jefferson’s Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congresshttps://loc.gov/loc/legacy/bldgs.html (date accessed: 22.08.2023).

Library of Congress Authorities, Balkan Peninsulahttps://lccn.loc.gov/sh85011191 (date accessed: 31.10.2023).

Library of Congress Authorities, Europe, Easternhttps://lccn.loc.gov/sh85045765 (date accessed: 31.10.2023).

Library of Congress Subject Headings: Ninth Edition, Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., 1980.

Library of Congress Subject Headings: Thirteenth Edition, Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., 1990.

Library of Congress Subject Headings: Forty-Fourth Edition, Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., 2022.

Revised Headings, “Cataloging Service” 1976, no. 116, p. 3.

Subject Headings Used in the Dictionary Catalogs of the Library of Congress: Fifth Edition, N. Martin (ed.), Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., 1948.

Subject Headings Used in the Dictionary Catalogs of the Library of Congress: Sixth Edition, M. Quattlebaum (ed.), Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., 1957.

Subject Headings Used in the Dictionary Catalogs of the Library of Congress: Seventh Edition, M. Quattlebaum (ed.), Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., 1966.

Todorova M., Imagining the Balkans, Oxford University Press, New York, 1997.

U.S. Department of State, Countries and Areas, Polandhttps://state.gov/countries-areas/poland/ (date accessed: 23.10.2023).

United States. Office of Geography, Poland: Official Standard Names Approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, C., 1955.

University of Illinois Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center, Mission and Historyhttps://reeec.illinois.edu/mission-and-history (date accessed: 6.12.2023).

Wolff L., Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment, Stanford University Press, Stanford 1994.

Wolff L., Idea Europy Środkowej: z perspektywy amerykańskiego dziecka zimnej wojny, “Kwartalnik Historyczny” 2013, vol. 120, iss. 4, pp. 903–909.

Information

Information: Central European and Balkan Studies, 2024, Volume XXXIII, pp. 9 - 19

Article type: Original article

Titles:

English: Library of Congress Subject Headings, Dewey Decimal Classification and the Ambiguity of Subject Representation of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe in American Knowledge Organization Systems

Authors

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, Illinois,, United States of America

Published at: 21.11.2024

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY  licence icon

Percentage share of authors:

Marek Sroka (Author) - 100%

Information about author:

Marek Sroka is Andrew S.G. Turyn Professor and Central European Studies Librarian at the University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests include the post-World War II reconstruction of libraries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Cold War history of American and British book collections in Poland.

Article corrections:

-

Publication languages:

English