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Alma Resource Management

Working with the Metadata Editor in the Institution and Network Zones. Includes indication and normalization rules.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

IMPORTANT UPDATE: On November 12, 2021 it was announced at the Library of Congress' ;Policy and Standards Division annual meeting that the Library of Congress will replace aliens and illegal aliens subject headings with new subject headings “Noncitizens” and “Illegal immigration." The approved changes by the Library of Congress on November 12, 2021 are available in the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SUBJECT HEADINGS APPROVED MONTHLY LIST 11b.

OCLC has updated approximately 41,000 Worldcat records to reflect the Library of Congress Approved changes as of December 2021. The Library of Congress and the OCLC subject heading changes have been updated in SUNY via our daily OCLC files for updated records that contain SUNY holdings. 

On February 2, 2022, the SUNY Metadata Standard and Policy Working Group reviewed the Library of Congress and OCLC changes and voted to:

  • Accept the LOC subject heading of "noncitizens" to replace "aliens"
  • Reject the LOC subject heading for "illegal immigration" and will continue to use the SUNY local subject heading of "undocumented immigrants"

On March 14, 2022, the SLC LSP Advisory Board accepted the SUNY Metadata Standards and Policies Working Group’s recommendations. This LibGuide has been updated to reflect the changes made by the SUNY Library Consortium to updated the approved changes in Alma and Primo VE.

Change the Subject Project

In 2014, a group of Dartmouth students along with the help of a Dartmouth librarian worked to get the Library of Congress to change subject headings containing the term "illegal aliens." The Dartmouth students and librarian worked with the American Library Association (ALA) and the Library of Congress to change subject headings that contain "illegal aliens" and replace them with subject headings that remove bias and promote inclusion within library catalog records. This project highlights the importance of words and word choices within our library catalogs to either embrace or exclude users. The grassroots effort started by Dartmouth students, with the support of the ALA, to “Change the Subject” has garnered support from libraries across the country. SUNY Library Consortia is among one of a growing number of libraries acknowledging the need for and embracing the "Change the Subject Project."


Historical background: 
In March 2016 the Library of Congress announced their plan to change subject headings containing "illegal aliens" with two new headings: "Noncitizens" and "Unauthorized immigration." Republican lawmakers made several attempts to prevent the Library of Congress from making revisions to subject headings containing "illegal alien." The House proceedings for the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2017 contained language arguing against changing "illegal alien" subject headings stating the Library of Congress should retain legal terminology used in United States Code without revision, such as the subject heading “alien", for cataloging and searching purposes. The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act , 2017 passed the House of Representatives containing the provision requiring the Library of Congress to retain the subject heading "illegal alien." The final bill that was approved in Congress on May 5, 2017, H.R.244 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, does not contain language restricting the Library of Congress from changing subject headings containing "illegal alien." In an explanatory statement associated with Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 it outlines the process the Library of Congress must follow before making changes to Library of Congress subject headings. The explanatory statement on page 4033 states the Library of Congress is required to be transparent, get input from stakeholders, and consider terminology used in law, as well as, other appropriate sources before making changes to subject headings.

 On November 12, 2021 it was announced at the Library of Congress' Policy and Standards Division annual meeting that the Library of Congress will replace aliens and illegal aliens subject headings with new subject headings “Noncitizens” and “Illegal immigration." The approved changes by the Library of Congress on November 12, 2021 are available in the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SUBJECT HEADINGS APPROVED MONTHLY LIST 11b.  


Visit Darmouth's site to watch the "Change the Subject Project" film to learn more.
 

Other resources related to the "Change the Subject Project:"

List of Subject Headings Impacted by Library of Congress Changes

The following list includes subject headings that were changed by the Library of Congress (LOC) in response to Dartmouth's Change the Subject Project and by the hard work of all who were involved in making these changes happen. The list also includes SUNY local subject headings that are being used in lieu of and in additions to the LOC subject headings. 

List of Library of Congress Subject headings changes: https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/BKkawJjhs1nsD1ADdJi7nhs3

SUNY Local Subject Heading Initiative

  • In January 2020, the SUNY Library Consortium proposed and accepted an initiative to change Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) containing the terms "illegal aliens" and "aliens" to "undocumented immigrants." 
  • On March 14, 2022, the SLC LSP Advisory Board accepted the SUNY Metadata Standards and Policies Working Group’s recommendation to:
    • Accept using the Library of Congress subject heading of “noncitizens” for “aliens”
    • Reject the Library of Congress subject heading for "illegal immigration" and continue to use the SUNY local subject heading of "undocumented immigrants"

 

SUNY Library Consortium Announcement/Communication

Updates Made by SUNY to the Change the Subject Project

The following changes will be made to implement the approved changed to the SUNY Change the Subject Project will:

  1. Update the Primo VE Display norm rule in the:
    1. Network - impacts all physical and electronic bibliographic records in the Network Zone (NZ) that display in Primo VE
    2. All SUNY Alma instances (Institution Zone) - impacts all physical and electronic bibliographic records that are not linked to the Network Zone (NZ) that display in Primo VE
  2. Update the Alma normalization rules
    1. Network - Impacts all physical bibs records that are linked to the Network Zone (NZ)
    2. All SUNY Alma instances (Institution Zone) - impacts institution only physical bibliographic record (not linked to the NZ)
  3. Use two SUNY local subject authority records in Alma
    1. Network - local subject headings will be automatically applied to physical bibliographic records in the Network zone that use the SUNY local subject heading 
    2. All SUNY Alma instances (Institution Zone) - local subject headings will be automatically applied to institution-only physical bibliographic records that use the SUNY local subject heading (not linked to the NZ)
       

IMPORTANT NOTE: On Marc 28, 2022, case #06316722 has been opened with Ex Libris because there is a defect that is preventing the local authority records from searching the non-preferred subject headings (MARC 450s) in Primo VE. Ex Libris is working to resolve the issue. Once the issue has been resolved, the SLS will have Ex Libris re-index all records in the Network and SUNY institutions that were impacted by the Change the Subject Project. Re-indexing the records will allow non-preferred local subject headings to be searched. 

Display Normalization Rules for PrimoVE Display

IMPORTANT: Implemented March 2022!

PrimoVE "subject" display normalization rules have been updated for MARC fields 600 and 650 to adhere to the approved changes to the SUNY Change the Subject Project on March 14, 2022 by the SLC LSP Advisory Board. The update display norm rules:

  • Change the display of "illegal immigration" to "undocumented immigrants"
  • "Aliens" subject headings will continue to be omitted from display because some non-Library of Congress subject headings continue to use "aliens" to mean extraterrestrials
  • Display 650 _7 and 650 _0 with $2 Change the Subject Project to display for non-Library of Congress Subject headings in the full record display 
    • 650 _0 $2 Changed the Subject Project will display for SUNY local subject headings for "undocumented immigrants" and "undocumented immigrants in literature"


NOTE: Resources in PrimoVE with non-Library of Congress subject headings or Community Zone e-resources that contain "illegal aliens" and "aliens" will still be required to be searched by those subject headings. The records will not display subject headings containing "illegal aliens" or "aliens" due to display normalization rules that prevent them from displaying.

 

NOTE: The subject heading "aliens" has been omitted from displaying due to the complexity of discerning which records use "aliens" as a subject heading to reference extraterrestrials or for human beings.  
 
Display Normalization Rules script is available below:

CDI Records Display in PrimoVE

CDI is the Central Discovery Index that PrimoVE uses to index ebooks and ejournals. This indexing allows eresources to be searched in PrimoVE at the title, chapter, and article level. CDI bibliographic records are not impacted by Alma normalization or PrimoVE display norm rules. Records coming from the CDI will continue to display subject headings containing "illegal aliens" and "aliens."

How to Identify a Record's Source:

  • How to view the Source Record Id, Display CTO and Show PNX
  • CDI Records may have the vendor name as the Source in the full record display. If they have no Source in the full record display, it is safe to assume it is coming from the CDI
    CDI Source

    Source Omitted is a CDI Record
  • IZ, NZ, and CZ records will display Library Catalog as the Source in the full record displayIZ, NZ, and CZ Source

 

Normalization Rules Applied to Physical Bibliographic Records

IMPORTANT: Implemented March 2022!

Normalization rules will continue to be applied to all existing physical bibliographic records in Alma at both the Institution (IZ) and Network (NZ) Zones and IZ only electronic records that contain LCSH with "illegal aliens" and "aliens." The same normalization rules will be applied to all Import and Integration Profiles that are being used for IZ-only physical and electronic bibliographic records and for NZ linked physical bibliographic records.

Local Subject Heading (LSH) Initiative normalization rules in Alma will:

  • Change the second indicator for non-Library of Congress Subject Headings containing "illegal aliens" or "aliens" in MARC 650 to "7" 
  • Add $2 Change the Subject Project. $2 Change the Subject Project allows the user to identify the bibliographic records that have been modified by the SUNY LSH Initiative normalization rules in Alma. $2 Change the Subject Project will be added to:
    • MARC 650 _7 where the subject heading has been changed by the normalization rule
    • MARC 650 _0 where normalization replaces the Library of Congress Subject heading with one of the two the SUNY local subject heading

 

IZ-only records will need to be searched in PrimoVE using the following SUNY local subject headings when doing a subject search:

* - Uses the SUNY Local Subject Authority Records. IZ only records containing "undocumented immigrant" and/or "undocumented immigrants in literature can be searched by the authorized (MARC 150) and varying forms (MARC 450)of the subject heading found in the SUNY local subject authority file.

Please note
: The term "aliens" has not been impacted by normalization rules due to the inability to distinguish when the term is being use to describe human beings or extraterrestrials. Non-Library of Congress subject headings still use "aliens" to represent extraterrestrials. The "subject" display normalization rules omit non-Library of Congress "aliens subject heading and Library of Congress "aliens" subject heading in Community Zone and CDI records from displaying in the full record view in PrimoVE.

The Local Subject Normalization Rule is available to view below:

The SUNY Normalization Rule for Import and Integration Profiles impacting physical bibliographic records in Alma is available to view below:

Bibliographic record before Change the Subject Project normalization rules have been applied:
Subject headings before norm rules are applied to change them

 

Bibliographic record after the Change the Subject Project normalization rules have been applied:
Subject headings after the Change the Subject Project Norm Rule is Applied


Display in PrimoVE:
Display of the Change the Subject Project Subject Headings in Primo VE

SUNY Local Subject Authority Records

IMPORTANT: Implemented March 2022!

Two SUNY local subject headings will be created in the Network and each SUNY Alma instance to support searching subject headings in Primo VE. The two SUNY local subject headings are:

  1. Undocumented immigrants - replaces the Library of Congress subject heading for "illegal immigration"
  2. Undocumented immigrants in literature - replaces the Library of Congress subject heading for "illegal immigration in literature"

The SUNY Local subject headings will allow users in Primo VE to be able to search for the non-authorized subject heading and still retrieve results when searching for previously authorized subject headings. It will also allow the user to retrieve eresource records whose subject headings have not been updated and still contain the non-authorized subject heading.

  • Example, the user can do an advanced subject search for "illegal immigration" and retrieve results for bibliographic records containing the SUNY local subject heading of "undocumented immigrants"


Recording of how SUNY local subject headings work in Primo VE: https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/MMqpJyE2ozcdw3y53aqYrNan
 

IMPORTANT NOTE: On Marc 28, 2022, case #06316722 has been opened with Ex Libris because there is a defect that is preventing the local authority records from searching the non-preferred subject headings (MARC 450s) in Primo VE. Ex Libris is working to resolve the issue. Once the issue has been resolved, the SLS will have Ex Libris re-index all records in the Network and SUNY institutions that were impacted by the Change the Subject Project. Re-indexing the records will allow non-preferred local subject headings to be searched.