4) Artifact name: LI804: Race and the US Census Bureau: Still Using Racial Color Crayons?

[Semester research paper, individual assignment] Type: Manuscript MLS Outcome: P.O. 1, P.O. 4, P.O. 5, P.O. 6 MLS Values: P.V. 1, P.V. 2, P.V. 3 Reflective Statement The LI804 syllabus for Spring 2012 states the purpose of the course:
This course provides an introduction to the individual, social, and institutional perspectives of organizing information. Students examine the assumptions, practices and issues of commonly used subject analysis and classification systems in various types of information agencies, with an emphasis on the impact of various approaches on accessing information in United States libraries.

The part I liked most about the LI804 course was the history of how people through centuries have attempted to classify information. Of course, the focus quickly narrowed to how libraries tried to develop classification systems based upon how librarians not the rest of the world - organized information, while the poor user was left to deal with it. It was only recently (one hundred years or so) that libraries began to make information seeking user- based. I learned that the LI804 course start with organization schemes as old as Aristotle, then goes rather quickly to the eighteenth-century scientist, Linnaeus, who tried to classify plants and animals. I did not realized this was the first time that anyone classified anything by shared, common attributes, instead of what purpose or function the entity served, albeit this how the ancients classified objects in their world. More things learned: Throughout the nineteenth century, Panizzi, Cutter, M. Dewey, Ranganathan (Abbas, 2010), and Library of Congress (LC), brought forth their own classification schemes. I was pleased to see that LC even had its own favorite critic, Sandford Berman, who took it to task for subject headings that were neither appropriate nor inclusive. This artifact, a research paper on how the U.S. Census collects and uses race data first looked at how the concept of race originated as a classification of people in colonial and later times by color (either White or Black). This color scheme is in stark contrast with how people today

view themselves. What color are you? is not being answered with a crayon, but as how they self identify, or reveal heritage. While the race question has multiple category choices, using these race responses for data purposes becomes even more problematic. A classic example of failure to get at race is shown in how Hispanics see themselves as an ethnic group, but not as a race. Since they do not know what to put, they often leave the response to the race question blank. Although the US Census Bureau would like Hispanics to report White, but this is not successful. The paper also looks at those who think race is irrelevant and unnecessary to ask. In doing research for this paper, I used the knowledge I gained while employed as an Oregon state research analyst in vital statistics. For example, I knew the US Census was a choice for a topic, because they have been the most comprehensive and steady collectors of national data since the beginning our history. Who else knows better how to classify information about US citizens that is extremely valuable for almost every field of science, social science, industry, business, and other governmental agencies? The answer still is no one. On other thing I found was how many times race categories have changed over the years. This makes over-time comparability virtually impossible. At present, with the many single and multiple categories, I question how useful those data are and wonder if race is has been so over-classified that its only purpose is for self identification. The course outcomes in the Spring 2012 LI804 were:
1. Discuss information access systems and how they reflect the world view of the people devising them. 2. Explain and provide examples of systems that have been developed to make sense of collections of information. 3. Explain how theories of organization can be applied to the design of information retrieval systems. 4. Identify appropriate approaches to the organization of information materials and resources in various situations and environments. 5. Demonstrate relationships between information packages and collections, and theories and practices of their organization.

After this course, I came to understand how human beings are driven to classify information so they can make sense of it and to see how things

are related to each other. For example, the Census Bureau paper shows how the census questions asked are organized into useful information many entities use for their own purposes. Libraries do try to organize information to be more locatable for users. However, libraries must work to improve their search capabilities (not be so bibliographic or librariancentered), so users do not continue to bypass the classic catalog for easier-to-use search engines such as Google or Amazon. This artifact provides evidence that I know and understand a variety of ways to organize information. References Abbas, J.(2010). Structures for Organizing Knowledge. New York:NealSchumann. American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author. ONeil, A. and Seavey, C. (2012). LI 804XU Organization of Information. Kansas: Emporia State University SLIM Program. U.S. Census Bureau (2010). Census 2010 Briefs and Reports. Retrieved from http://2010.census.gov/2010census/