I.  General instructions:

 Assign one or more subject headings that best summarize the overall contents of the work and provide access to its most important topics (in practice the most important topics are considered to be those consisting of at least 20% of the work).

• Specificity: assign subject headings that are as specific as the topics in the work.

• Hierarchy: LC Subject headings are arranged in a hierarchy from broadest subject to narrowest subject (follow the hierarchical reference structure built into the subject headings to find as close a match as possible).

                        *If no specific subject can be found for the work, use the broader subject heading

                        *Usually don’t add narrower subjects for chapters and etc.

• Special aspects of work: bring out aspects of place, time, and form with subject headings or free–floating and special subdivisions as needed.

  • Place: geographic features or jurisdictions.

  • Time: chronological divisions

  • Form: the format of the work itself; its arrangement of data; its type

• Multi–element subjects: if the subject of the work is complex/compound and no single subject heading exists or can be constructed, assign multiple headings to bring out the separate aspect.

                         *Sometimes will need to add several subjects in a keyword fashion if no specific heading exists for the work.  

•  When using free-floating subdivisions: check for the rare exceptions to their use in the subject heading list.

            Example:         Medicine–equipment and supplies

                                    USE     Medical instruments and apparatus

                                                Medical supplies

Conventions in LCSH:

Valid subjects headings in bold

UF       (Use for reference), incorrect/older versions of subject headings

BT       Broader subject headings

RT       Related subject headings

SA       Notes about how to use the subject heading and possible subdivision use

NT       Narrower subject headings

II.  Subject sources:

• Library of Congress Subject Headings

                     Hard copy: Four red volumes

                     Or

• Free-floating subdivisions: an alphabetic list (also in Classification Web-subject headings)

• Name Authority file (for names used as subjects)

                     Online in OCLC

                     Search under author in Sierra

III.  Quick tricks for finding unfamiliar subjects:

Look for an earlier edition of the work.

 Do a keyword title search and look at similar works.

IV.  Format of Subject Headings in MARC:

For more detailed information consult Bibliographic formats and standards, 2^nd ed., print or online: http://www.oclc.org/bibformats/

•  Topical (general subjects–most common):

            650   0  Radioactive waste disposal.

• Geographical (places):

            651 _ 0  United States.

            651 _ 0  West (U.S.)

• Name (person or corporate name):

            600 1 0  Edison, Thomas A. ǂq (Thomas Alva), ǂd 1847-1931.

            610 1 0  United States. ǂb Army.

            610 2 0  Atomic Energy Commission.

                                    1^st indicator:

                                    1=jurisdiction (governments: countries, states, cities, etc.)

                                    2=corporate name in direct order

                                    0=name constructed according to LCSH and AACR2

• Local (mostly seen in Special Collections):

V. Subdivisions:

Can have more than one kind in each subject heading. The first four subdivisions are the most commonly used:

• Topical:

• Geographic:

• Form (often wrongly coded in old records as ǂx and will need to be changed to ǂv)

            650 _ 0  Cancer ǂv Popular works.

            650 _ 0  Medical instruments and apparatus ǂv Catalogs.

• Chronological (years):

• Subordinate agency:

• Dates (for persons):

            600 1 0  Shaw, Joan, ǂd 1930-                         

• Qualifiers (for persons):

            600 1 0  Edison, Thomas A., ǂq (Thomas Alva), ǂd 1847-1931.

VI.  Authority File searches:

MARC Authority record conventions:

            1xx       Accepted form of name

            4xx       Cross reference for incorrect form

            5xx       See also reference to an alternate form (often earlier/later form of name)

            6xx       Notes on usage, source, etc.

Examples of Authority Records:

110 1 _  United States. ǂb Dept. of Defense.

410 1 _  United States. ǂb Defense, Dept. of.

410 1 _  United States. ǂb Dept. of National Defense.

410 1 _  United States. ǂb Secretary of Defense.

410 1 _  United States. ǂb Defense Dept.

410 2 _  D.O.D.

510 2 _ ǂw a ǂa National Military Establishment (U.S.)

670 _ _  A study of civil defense, 1948.

Common Reasons Headings Fail to Control in OCLC

Common Mistakes that Need to be Corrected:

• The heading used is in an older form of the heading that has been changed by Library of Congress. 

• A heading has been subdivided geographically and should not have been. 

• Geographical heading is in the wrong spot.

Common Correct Headings that Won’t Control in OCLC:

• OCLC cannot control any geographic subdivision that does not have a 781 showing how to apply it as subdivision in its geographic name authority record.

• A subdivision authority record has the form Entity 1, [Entity 2, etc.] so OCLC cannot find an exact match to the manifestation in the record. 

• The subject heading is a pattern heading based on rules described in the Subject Classification Manual and are not written exactly in the subject heading list. 

Subject Headings Resources

• Classification Web: http://classificationweb.net for topical subjects and subdivisions.

• Conventions in Classweb:

                        Valid subjects headings in bold

                                    UF       (Use for reference), incorrect/older versions of subject headings

                                    BT       Broader subject headings

                                    RT       Related subject headings

                                    SA       Notes about how to use the subject heading and possible subdivision use

• Free-floating subdivisions: an alphabetic list : for subdivisions.

• Authority File: Includes subjects, subject subdivisions, names and geographical information used as subjects.  Available in for searching in OCLC or off the Library of Congress homepage.

                        MARC Authority Record conventions:

                        Fixed fields,     Geo subd: i (can be subdivided geographically), blank (can’t be subdivided geographically), or n (not applicable)  

                        1xx       Accepted form of name

                        4xx       Cross reference from an unauthorized form

                        5xx       See also reference to an alternate form (earlier/later name, splits/schisms, etc.)

                        6xx       Notes on usage, source, etc.

                        781      Subdivision usage (geographic headings only)

• OCLC “Control Headings” function: The control heading function in OCLC is a quick way to verify that all the subject headings match against the authority file. Unfortunately, there are some bugs with this so if a heading doesn’t control it does not necessarily mean it is wrong and you should check other sources to attempt to verify the heading.

• Quick review on searching the OCLC Authority File: