Page 202 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Unit 10: Subject Heading List

10.3 Problems Notes

Some of the problems related to subject heading list are as follows:
1. The list of LC subject headings is not comprehensive: It is based on “literary warrant” —
i.e., based on headings that have actually been used to reflect topics in works catalogued
at LC or at libraries where SACO proposals for new subject headings have been submitted,
then accepted at LC. You may continually run up against the problem of not finding a
heading for a major topic that the work covers. (Our trained original cataloguers sometimes
submit SACO proposals for new subjects.)
2. The choice and form of headings are not necessarily current: The LCSH terms have evolved
over time, but they can never be totally up to date. Although LC has made considerable
efforts to keep up to date in its subject terminology, you will still find terms that sound
archaic or that diverge from common terms (e.g., the subdivision “$x Antiquities”).
Currently, weekly lists with updated, new, or deleted terms are issued; quarterly lists are
printed in issues of the LC Cataloguing Service Bulletin (CSBs) with new headings that LC
thinks may be particularly timely.

Example:
Recent heading (Fall 2002): 650 0 Marine ecotourism
Recent heading (January 2007): 650 0 Asian American women in motion pictures
3. The meaning and usage of a term in LCSH may not be what we might expect from its use
in regular spoken English. You sometimes need to consult scope notes and/or bib records
to figure out what the term really means in LCSH.

Example:

650 0 Archaeology $z Mexico — refers to the discipline of archaeology, Mexican
archaeologists, etc.

651 0 Mexico $x Antiquities — refers to archaeological sites, artefacts, etc.
4. The form of a subject heading or subject string is not always easy to predict. Plans are in
the process of being implemented to update and simplify patterns of subject heading
construction. For example, more phrase headings now appear in direct rather than inverted
order.

Example:
Women, Deaf is now obsolete; switched to: 650 0 Deaf women
Societies, Primitive is now obsolete; switched to: 650 0 Primitive societies

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:

7. The list of LC subject headings is comprehensive.
8. The choice and form of headings are necessarily current.
9. The form of a subject heading or subject string is not always easy to predict.

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