Essential Library of Congress Subject Headings

About this book

LCSH are increasingly seen as 'the' English language controlled vocabulary, despite their lack of a theoretical foundation, and their evident US bias. In mapping exercises between national subject heading lists, and in exercises in digital resource organization and management, LCSH are often chosen because of the lack of any other widely accepted English language standard for subject cataloguing.

This practical guide to LCSH features topics including the background and history, subject heading lists and LCSH in the online environment. There is a strong emphasis throughout on worked examples and practical exercises in the application of the scheme, and a full glossary of terms is supplied. No prior knowledge or experience of subject cataloguing is assumed.

Contents

Background and history of LCSH
Subject heading lists
Structure and display in LCSH
Form of entry
Application of LCSH
Document analysis
Main headings
Topical, geographical and free-floating sub-divisions
Building compound headings
Name headings
Headings for literature, art, music, history and law
LCSH in the online environment.

Customer Reviews

Biography

Vanda Broughton MA DipLib is Programme Director for the Diploma/MA in Library and Information Studies at the School of Library, Archive and Information Studies, University College London. She has taught, written and led training courses on classification for many years. She is joint editor of the new edition of the Bliss Bibliographic Classification scheme, is a member of the UDC revision working group, and also of the UK Classification Research Group.