Page 91 - DLIS103_LIBRARY_CLASSIFICATION_AND_CATALOGUING_THEORY

Library Classification and Cataloguing Theory

Notes vice versa, has never been settled, and Haykin suggests that it may never be. Studies by Patricia B.
Knapp and Eloise Rue indicate that present practices are not precisely in agreement with habits of
catalogue users. Mrs. Knapp has observed that people tend to look under subject for materials
having a local or national focus, but under place for those with a nonlocal or foreign focus. The
implication in this observation is that standard lists must be so constructed as to allow for this
variation from library to library. Thus, a catalogue in Greensboro, Developments in Subject
Cataloguing North Carolina, would use the entries “Education-Greensboro, N.C.” and “Cleveland,
O.-Education,” while the Cleveland Public Library would simply reverse them. Another feature of
general subject heading lists about which there has been extended discussion is the defining of
terms. Bishop calls attention to its essentiality in his manual, and Haykin’s suggests that it is
required when general dictionaries and dictionaries in special subject fields do not agree and
when usage does not offer a sufficiently precise definition of a subject. Many lists, both general and
special, include definitions, and H.L.J. Voigt's list of headings for physics provides a good
demonstration of their value. From the attention devoted to the need for more of them it appears
that the practice in supplying them has not been in line with Haykin's statement as to when they
should be given. One of the assumptions in subject cataloguing has always been that a special
library which concentrates on a particular subject field, or which tries to render more specialized
services than a general library does, will require a particular list of subject headings, and perhaps
even a special classification system, in order to meet the needs of its clientele. Doris Bolef's study
of subject cataloguing practices in a number of special libraries in the New York City area, and her
evaluation of a number of special subject heading lists, has led her to the conclusion that a special
library ordinarily does need a subject heading list incorporating more specific and detailed headings
than those employed in a general library. H . T. Black, in turn, has pointed to the need for more
special lists and has attested to their usefulness even in general libraries.
Some indication of the number of special subject heading schemes available may be derived from
the following statistics. In 1940, Black enumerated forty-four in his checklist; in 1952, the Committee
on Subject Headings of the A.L.A. Division of Cataloguing and classification identified forty-eight
compiled between 1938 and 1952. Of these forty-eight, only two appeared in the previous count.
Thus at least ninety special lists have been developed, mostly since 1916. Table 13.1 compares their
distribution by broad subjects. While the social sciences still boast the largest number, the increase
for scientific and technological subjects during the past fourteen years testifies to the greater
interest in these areas in the war and postwar periods.

Table. 13.1
Table-13.1
Special subject heading list
Subject Area Black,1940 A.L.A.,1952 Total
Social Science 32 16 48
Science and Technology 6 26 32
Art, Music, Theology 6 4 10

Another indication of the need for special subject heading schemes is the interest shown by
various groups of specialists. In particular that of the medical profession should be noted. Since
1948 the Welch Medical Library at John Hopkins University has been making an intensive study of
medical indexing under the terms of a research project sponsored by the Armed Forces Medical
Library. Established to examine the problems in indexing medical literature, to explore the theory
and practice of subject headings and classification as they relate to medical literature, and to
consider existing and projected machine methods applicable to medical bibliography, the
undertaking has made considerable review of various lists of subject headings pertaining to
medical literature.

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