Page 167 - DLIS402_INFORMATION_ANALYSIS_AND_REPACKAGING

Information Analysis and Repackaging

Notes The complete Subject Cataloguing Manual used by LC subject cataloguing staff is in four parts,
each consisting of individual instruction sheets that are assigned alphanumeric codes. The four
categories of instruction sheets and their corresponding code letters, are as follows:
D General cataloguing Procedures
F Classification
G Shelflisting
H Subject Headings
The manual begins with a historical note on the Library of Congress Classification that includes a
listing of the dates of the original editions of the schedules. This historical information is followed
by the individual instruction sheets that are listed in the table of contents in the order of the code
number assigned. Gaps have been left between many numbers, allowing other topics to be added
as necessary.
A typical instruction sheet consists of a background statement that provides historical perspective
or theoretical considerations, followed by a list of procedures to be carried out when dealing with a
particular situation or topic. As an aid to better understanding the procedures, examples are
frequently provided of actual titles selected from the MARC bibliographic data base or invented to
illustrate the point. An alphabetically arranged index is located at the end of the manual.

9.4 Subject Headings

Even with the help of thesauri the assignment of subject headings remains the most difficult task in a
library and requires much knowledge and experience. As it is assumed the target group of this manual
does not yet have the training and experience in documentation work which are indispensable
requirements for an accurate use of subject headings, we do not recommend the setting-up of a subject
heading catalogue from the very beginning. But you may, of course, consider establishing a subject
heading catalogue after having gained some experience and as the need arises.
On the question whether to use subject headings for information processing, Herbert H. Hoffman
remarks: “... the assignment of subject headings to publications is very difficult work. Like
classification, it requires a thorough understanding of the field of knowledge represented by the
library’s collection. There is no shortcut possible because the task requires two fundamental steps
that cannot be simplified. They are,
1. an examination of the publication to determine what it is about (which takes knowledge
and experience), and
2. the selection of suitable terms to express the subject content in such a way that all publications
dealing in a similar way with the same topics will always carry the same subject headings
(which takes more knowledge, experience, and a thorough familiarity with the schedule of
headings used as well as with the collection).

If the cataloguer lacks the subject knowledge and/or necessary experience and cannot
enlist the help of an expert it is far better to defer the making of subject added entries,
or even abandon the project altogether, than to waste time and energy on the childish
exercise of listing a book in a medical library, entitled ‘Introduction to Medicine’,
under the subject heading Medicine . . .!

Far better not to have a subject catalogue than a poorly done subject catalogue that will describe
books under topics and aspects that they don’t really deal with, or fail to describe important
publications under the key subjects that they do deal with.. .”

162 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY