Exploring the Library of Congress’s categorization system has been a useful experience for me. What has and has not changed in the past decade tells a lot about the priorities of the archivists and the volume of information moving through the Library of Congress. I initially thought to look into Private Military Security Companies (PMSCs) since the practice has seen significant continuing evolution in recent years, but it turned out (to my surprise) that the Library of Congress had made no changes in the period of 2012 – 2022.
Curiously, however, I noticed that not far away, “privateering” of all things had seen revisions. Compared to the 2012 version, the 2022 entry had added a section on privately operated prisons, created a new subheading on the legal status of privateering, and altered the heading on “pirates” to instead reference “piracy.”
2012 entry on Privateering.
2022 entry on Privateering.
After this, I turned my attention towards my Late Antique work. For the most part, little had changed. Merovingian Period history is not prone to updates and had not undergone any revisions when I checked into the dynasty or its principal sources. While looking into Gregory, Bishop of Tours, however, I found that the entry for Tours itself had undergone some revision and expansion. This was not focused on the city, but rather on types of tours available for the public, with the concept of “ghost tours” being added in the 2022 version.
2012 entry on Tours.
2022 entry on Tours.
While my specific areas of study appear to have been little altered in the past decade, the entries around them have undergone changes. I found the change from “pirates” to “piracy” particularly insightful, indicating a shift from group focus (piracy as an occupation) to activity focus (piracy as an act).