English-Arabic Thesaurus Based on Linked Data: Tool for decolonization
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Date
2023-04-27
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Abstract
The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) is the primary tool used to assign subject headings for all library materials, including those published in non-Roman scripts, such as Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and so forth. Although the LCSH is a comprehensive tool, it falls short in providing in-depth description of cultural phenomena for those regions of the world that publish in scripts other than the Roman. Assigning subjects headings in the script and language of the publication is the optimal solution to this problem. Adding the Arabic, Japanese or Chinese language subject terms to catalog records will enable the academics to conduct research in those languages and gain access to materials previously unavailable to them. Communication among culturally and linguistically diverse communities is hampered by unequal access to educational opportunities and information sources. In the field of library science, access to information is controlled to large degree by the way libraries classify knowledge and the terms that are used to describe subject categories. Studies of the LCSH indicate that the database does not sufficiently represent the cultures of underrepresented and marginalized communities. Several years ago, the Ohio State University Library has undertaken the task of expanding access to its non-Roman collections by introducing subject terms in the language of the script. In this presentation will describe the project, the reasons, the pilot, and the experience of subject searching of non-Roman script materials using either the LCSH English language terms, or their equivalents in non-Roman script languages. Ensuing discussion will be focused on how the MARC21 record can be utilized to display non-Roman script subject terms in the ILS. I will conclude with a demonstration of a non-Roman script search from the Ohio State University Library catalog.
Description
MELCom International (Middle East Libraries Committee) 44th annual conference, organized by Koç University, Suna Kıraç Library, Tuesday 25th to Thursday 27th April 2023 at the Koç University AKMED Library in Antalya, Turkey.
Keywords
English-Arabic Thesaurus, Linked Data, Decolonization subject access