Inequality and the Syndetic Structure of the Authority File

Name Authority Records (NARs) can perpetuate inequity and institutionalized inequality not merely via the choice of authorized access points but in the relationship between authorized access points and references. A salient example relates to the “Lost Cause” myth of the American Civil War, a distorted, ahistorical and harmful view of the conflict. A cataloger needed an NAR for the Wilmington Light Infantry, a unit of the post-Civil War North Carolina State Guard, yet the only NAR currently in the NACO file ambiguated this corporate body with a Confederate States Army unit of the Civil War. An investigation of the historical circumstances of the corporate bodies involved revealed that the relationship between the authorized access point and the references in this NAR in effect implicitly yet strongly promoted Lost Cause ideals. This example offers useful insight for LIS educators teaching cataloging and information organization.