Sex and Gender in the Library of Congress Subject Headings, 1988-2003

The problem of linguistic and structural bias in the subject vocabularies used by libraries has been the subject of varying degrees of scrutiny in the cataloging literature of the past several decades. This study examines the Library of Congress subject headings involving sex and gender from 1988, 1993, and 2003. Changes to the headings are tracked and analyzed. Comparisons are made between recommendations made in the literature and changes to the subject vocabulary; the impact of the changes on the appearance of bias on the basis of sex and gender in library catalogs is discussed