IDS4
930:
5 F
ebru
ary
2013Subject Headings &
ClassificationOr, why catalogers don’t seem to think like normal people
Phot
o cr
edit:
And
y W
oo (h
ttp:/
/ww
w.fl
ickr
.com
/pho
tos/
woo
andy
/) R
edist
ribut
ed u
nder
Cre
ative
Com
mon
s Attr
ibuti
on-N
onCo
mm
erci
al-S
har
eAlik
e 2.
0 Ge
neric
Lic
ense
Got collections?
Phot
o cr
edit:
sind
esig
n (h
ttp:/
/ww
w.fl
ickr
.com
/pho
tos/
sinde
sign/
) Re
dist
ribut
ed u
nder
Cre
ative
Com
mo
ns A
ttrib
ution
-Sha
reAl
ike
2.0
Gene
ric li
cens
e
At some point, a system is needed…
Subject Headings
“The LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings) were created by thousands of catalogers over the course of 100 years using a strict set of ever-changing rules.”
-- Heidi Lee HoermanSchool of Library and Information Science,U. of South Carolina.
http://bit.ly/YR02My
Subject Headings• Can be• Ideas/concepts• Events• Places (even imaginary ones)• People (even imaginary ones)
Narrowing It Down• Subdivisions can be• Geographic (United States, Florida, etc.)• Chronology (dates; these are NOT the same for all headings)• Form (what kind of a thing it is: Periodicals, Dictionaries, Blogs,
etc.)• Topic (Religious aspects, economic aspects)
Imag
e so
urce
: http
://p
ixab
ay.c
om/
en/u
sers
/Han
s/ (P
ublic
dom
ain
imag
e)
What is This?
LCSH
sugg
estio
ns co
urte
sy o
f Chr
isto
pher
Wal
ker,
The
Penn
sylv
ania
St
ate
Uni
vers
ity
Why???
Parsnip, but also Philodrendrons!Working class women was established about 1985, Working class men in 2005!Neighbors was not a subject heading until 2006Mosquito nets was not a subject heading until 2008 – and this term was requested and created by a cataloger at UF. Often, but NOT always, scientific names are used for plants and animals. If your research involves the sciences, use the authority file to find the correct LCSH. It will save much trouble.
LCSH
sugg
estio
n co
urte
sy o
f Kev
in
Furn
iss, T
ulan
e U
nive
rsity
And some are just … odd…
Library of Congress Classification
Get the big picture:
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/
Clip
art
sour
ce: M
icro
soft
So What Do You Do?• Search keywords, but
then look at the whole record and click the subject heading that matches your idea• Check your subject or
name at http://authorities.loc.gov
Yes, We Have Fiction in West!• Not the same amount or kind as the public library, but we do.
Here are some of the secret tips:• Authors are sorted by nationality and/or language; British authors
and American authors are in different classes. • You can often find criticism of important books near that book, or
near the end of all books by the author. • Look around. You may discover authors who were popular in your
parents’, grandparents’, or great-grandparents’ time, but have fallen out of favor.
Some Numbers: American AuthorsDashiell Hammett: PS3515.A4347Shirley Jackson: PS3519.A392James Weldon Johnson: PS3519.O2625-----Mary Higgins Clark: PS3553.L287Stephen King: PS3561.I483 Barbara Kingsolver: PS3561.I496Amy Tan: PS3570.A48
Some Numbers: British Authors• Agatha Christie: PR6005.H66• Mary Renault: PR6035.E55• J.R.R. Tolkien: PR6039.O32• Evelyn Waugh: PR6045.A9• P.G. Wodehouse: PR6045.O53• ------• Douglas Adams: PR6051.D3352• Ian Fleming: PR6056.L4• P.D. James: PR6060.A467
Cove
r im
age
sour
ce: G
oodr
eads
PZ
We also have the PZ call number for many items.
Clip
art
sour
ce: M
icro
soft
Click icon to add picture
Please Ask!
Naomi YoungPrincipal Serials [email protected]
See a mistake in the UF or union catalog? (Typos, the wrong contents note, something obvious like that? )[email protected]