Abstract:
Following the establishment of “Manga” as a subject and genre in November 2022, the GNCRT Metadata and Cataloging Committee approached the Library of Congress about proposing terms for manga subgenres, to continue improving patron access to this comics format. The Library of Congress was willing to receive and consider a report and proposals for various terms but had some reservations about the inclusion of manga subgenres in the LCGFT vocabulary, addressed here.
Description:
Library of Congress Genre/Form Manual instruction J 120 directs catalogers to establish new terms for “definable and identifiable genres and forms for resources being cataloged.” These terms “may describe the purpose, structure, content, and/or themes of resources” including “common rhetorical devices” combining various elements such as “plot, settings, character types, etc.” Typically, genres are based on current American usage and understanding but may be established using non-English terminology if “no English term for the concept exists and the concept is normally expressed in foreign terms even in English-language works and reference sources.” These instructions would appear to support creating and using manga subgenre terms, if they can be readily identified.