Submit a Suggested Term
In an effort to improve the subject terms used in TRLN’s discovery layer to better represent diverse populations, and to change existing subject terms that may be exclusionary or divisive, the Metadata Team is collecting suggestions to overlay existing problematic subject headings with alternative vocabulary terms.
Suggest a term with the form (link will open in new window).
Contact metadata@trln.org with any questions about this program.
About the Process
The TRLN Discovery Metadata Team reviews, researches, and documents decisions made for each suggested term. A public list of requests and the status of review by the team is available at https://bit.ly/trlnsubjects. Some terms have been extensively discussed in broader communities and we can point to this work when making our recommendations, but some suggestions may require collaboration with the TRLN Metadata Interest Group, subject matter experts, and other stakeholders to determine whether a term should be remapped as part of this program and what is the preferred term.
Ultimately, the TRLN Discovery product owners review the recommended terms to remap and if they approve, the terms are added to the configuration file and visible to end users.
New, In Progress, and Completed Requests
- Submit a new request.
- Review requests the Metadata Team is currently processing.
- Access the full list of remapped subject headings.
How does subject remapping work?
Remapping a subject heading does not change the MARC record data or search results, but rather changes subject data that displays to the end user. Additionally, remapped headings must be specified at the whole subdivision level. This requires some repetition in the configuration file, but this also accommodates nuance in the remappings. If a user searches for “illegal aliens”, they will return results using this term; however the subject facet and the item record’s subject will display “Undocumented immigrants”. The remapping only applies to subject headings. If “Illegal aliens” displays elsewhere, such as title, then this information will not be overlaid with “Undocumented immigrants”.
Presentations about subject remapping
- OCLC Cataloging Community Meeting, Second Session (recording)
- Remapping LC Subject Headings in TRLN Discovery (slides) for RUSA Decolonizing the Catalog: Anti-Racist Description Practices from Authority Records to Discovery Layers