Rooted in the Past: Use of "East Indians" in Library of Congress Subject Headings

This article argues that the use of the Library of Congress subject heading "East Indians" in reference to individuals from India represents not only a problematic vestige of colonialism, but also a failure of the principle of literary warrant. It provides an overview of the term's hi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCataloging & classification quarterly Vol. 56; no. 1; pp. 1 - 18
Main Author Biswas, Paromita
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Routledge 02.01.2018
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
colonial bias
East Indians
Indians (India)
Library of Congress Subject Headings
literary warrant
Terminology
India
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN0163-9374
1544-4554
DOI10.1080/01639374.2017.1386253

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Summary:This article argues that the use of the Library of Congress subject heading "East Indians" in reference to individuals from India represents not only a problematic vestige of colonialism, but also a failure of the principle of literary warrant. It provides an overview of the term's historical roots and then examines whether the term is still widely used in published resources. Although assigning a subject heading is not easy and can involve a choice between contested realities of diverse peoples, the author contends that a rejection of outdated terminology is central to providing any culturally sensitive tool for resource organization.
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ISSN:0163-9374
1544-4554
DOI:10.1080/01639374.2017.1386253