Problematic subject headings:Making our catalogue more equitable, diverse and inclusive at the University of Bristol

Subject headings have increasingly been the focus of attention from students, researchers and librarians, particularly in relation to headings which causes distress and offence. By using the Locally Preferred Subjects feature of OCLC’s Worldshare Management Services library services platform currently in use at the University of Bristol, we were able to plan and implement a procedure to analyse and replace where necessary harmful subject headings. We describe the workflows and processes associated with this project, focusing on the technical and organisational challenges that we encountered and the solutions we found, and how we will maintain and progress the project in future.<br/><br/>Special thanks and acknowledgement to OCLC for their support of WorldCat, and its associated products and services. OCLC® and WorldCat® are registered trademarks/service marks of OCLC, Inc. All rights are reserved by them.

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Publication Details

Journal
Bristol Research (University of Bristol)
Published
2025-03-17
Primary Topic
Library Science and Information Systems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Problematic subject headings:Making our catalogue more equitable, diverse and inclusive at the University of Bristol

Damien McManus, Liz C C Cooper
Bristol Research (University of Bristol)
Library Science and Information Systems
article

Problematic subject headings:Making our catalogue more equitable, diverse and inclusive at the University of Bristol

Damien McManus, Liz C C Cooper
article en

Abstract

Subject headings have increasingly been the focus of attention from students, researchers and librarians, particularly in relation to headings which causes distress and offence. By using the Locally Preferred Subjects feature of OCLC’s Worldshare Management Services library services platform currently in use at the University of Bristol, we were able to plan and implement a procedure to analyse and replace where necessary harmful subject headings. We describe the workflows and processes associated with this project, focusing on the technical and organisational challenges that we encountered and the solutions we found, and how we will maintain and progress the project in future.<br/><br/>Special thanks and acknowledgement to OCLC for their support of WorldCat, and its associated products and services. OCLC® and WorldCat® are registered trademarks/service marks of OCLC, Inc. All rights are reserved by them.

Bristol Research (University of Bristol)
Newburgh Free Library (US)
Quality Education
Openalex Percentile: Top 12%
Library Science and Information Systems
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