Page 212 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Unit 10: Subject Heading List

Notes
Among the information goals of University libraries as stated by Adio (2006) are:
To contribute to the realization of the aims of the University with regard to teaching,
learning and research, by acquisition of material (both print and non-print) necessary
to cover present day and future information needs;

To organize the material acquired in such a way that it not only permits but actively
stimulates the use of the materials;
To adapt these information resources and services to the ever-changing needs of the
University, and the society; and
To contribute to the integration of both National and International information
resources within the University.

The use of library by students in tertiary institutions is very paramount to academic
performance because library is the heart of academic excellence. User education programme
in the academic setting is a useful approach to guide all users of the library the way to use
library resources. History was made in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology during
1998/99 Harmattan semester when the curriculum on the use of library was approved by
the senate. This brought about the introduction of the course ‘termed’ library 101 (Use of
library which started in 1999 by the library Academic/professional staff. (Adio and Ajala,
ed. 2006)
As at the time of introduction of the course ‘Library 101’, it was a unit credit course, which
was later changed to zero unit course in the year 2001. Though, a zero unit course, it is a
compulsory course that all undergraduate fresh students must pass before their graduation
from the institution. It was the attitudes of the user to the use of library materials that led
to the introduction of the course as a University requirement to the situation of misuse,
mishandling and general abuse of library materials. The contents are divided into five
main chapters. Definition, registration and regulation guiding the library; library
information guides; Information Technologies (computers) in libraries; library cataloguing
and classification. All these topics give significant correlation to one another, though
written separately.

At the onset, the guide prepare for the student was a pamphlet of about ten pages. It is to
be noted however that the material used as a course guide in teaching this course has
improved tremendously into a book form called ‘library use manual’ with the latest
edition i.e. 2006 edition containing 93 pages respectively.
Questions

1. Critically analyse the above case.
2. Write down the case facts.
3. What do you infer from the case?
Source: http://www.ukrbook.net/UDC_n/st_21.pdf

10.7 Summary

Many libraries use authority for their subject headings because it is the one most commonly
used in creating the MARC records that are shared through cataloguing databases such as
OCLC.

The purpose of using a subject heading in a cataloguing record is to give the person
searching for items in the library a way to find information by the topics that are covered
in those items.

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