Transcript Library of Congress

Subject Analysis
By: Emily Oumano, Elizabeth
Jaworski and Stacy Tomasko
ILS 506-01 Spring 2012
Subject Analysis and
“Aboutness”
• Subject analysis is the part of cataloging that deals
•
with determining what the intellectual content of an
item is “about,” translating that “aboutness” into the
conceptual framework of the classification or subject
heading system being used, and then translating the
conceptual framework into the specific classificatory
symbols or specific terminology used in the
classification or subject heading system.
(Taylor, 301)
“Aboutness” -> Sears or DDC or LCC standards->
catalog record and call number
Basic Degrees of Analysis
• Depth Indexing
All the main concepts included in an item
are considered
• Summarization
The more traditional level of subject
analysis, summarization only takes into
account the overall theme of a work.
Subject Analysis = Subject
Access
• A study by Tina Gross and Arlene G. Taylor
•
suggest almost 36% of results retrieved from
keyword searches of catalogs are found because
of their subject headings
This means that without subject analysis (and
subject headings), more than 1/3 of potentially
relevant items in catalog databases would not
be recovered via keyword search.
What is this about?
• It’s the cataloger’s responsibility to decide what an item is
about, how their definition fits into the cataloging system
they’re using, and what subject heading to assign.
• There is no official way to determine what an item is
about, though there are some texts offering advice on the
subject:
• Arlene G. Taylor’s The Organization of Information
• The International Organization for Standardization’s
publication entitled Documentation: Methods for Examining
Documents, Determining Their Subjects and Selecting
Indexing Terms
• D.W. Langridge’s Subject Analysis: Principles and
Procedures
• https://courses.washington.edu/is530/win08/LIS%20530%
20Readings/TaylorOrganiz.PDF
Library of Congress Subject
Headings
History
• The Library of Congress catalogers decided to
•
•
•
use the ALA List of Subject Headings for Use in
Dictionary Catalogs in 1909.
The list was adopted from Charles A. Cutter's
Rules for a Dictionary Catalog which was
published in 1876.
Since then the list has been continuously edited
and supplemented with new words.
The goal was to guess what the reader would
look under and use it.
Topical Subject Headings
Topics are constructed using
•Single nouns: (e.g. skiing)
–Articles may be in front of the noun for older headings
–Some headings may be plural
•Adjectival Headings: (e.g. Digital Camera)
–Modifier followed by noun or noun phrase
•Conjunctive Phrase Headings: (e.g. Right and Wrong)
–Connected by and or ending in etc.
–This means the work focuses on the relationship
•Prepositional Phrase Headings: (e.g. Police officers in schools)
–Includes a preposition in order to express a complex relationship
–Used only when another term is not available
•Parenthetical Qualifiers: (e.g. Excavations (Archeology))
–No longer used in most situations
–Used only when heading is not clear on it’s own due to multiple meanings
Topical Subject Headings cont.
• Large subjects are often organized by
place
– e.g. Fables, Hungarian
• Some subjects are put together to create
complex subjects
– e.g. Lumber--Drying
650 Field
• A name does have to be listed in the to be
used in these fields.
• Indicator 1
– Subject Level
• Primary vs. Secondary
• Indicator 2 indicates the subject heading
system being used.
– 0 Library of Congress
– 1 LC subject heading for children's literature
Proper Name Headings: 600, 610.
611, 630 and 651 fields
600: Personal Name
• A name doesn’t have to
610: Corporate Name
•
611: Meeting Name
630 : Uniform Title
651: Geographic Name
be listed to be used in
these fields.
Indicator 1 varies
– 600: forename, surname or
family name
– 610/611: Order of Name
– 630: Nonfiling characters
– 651: Undefined
• Indicator 2 indicates the
subject heading system
being used.
Print Format
Primary subject terms and
those with subdivisions
appear in boldface type
UF= Used For
BT= Broader Term
RT= Related Term
NT= Narrower Term
SA= See Also
Some headings are inverted
so that like items are
listed together (e.g.
Dollar, American)
Online Format
• The Library of
• http://id.loc.gov/
Congress Authorities
and Vocabularies
page has subject
headings online.
Complaints about the system
• It’s not comprehensive, so items are
added as needed
• Changes are hard to make
– Some words may now be offensive or simply
no longer in use
• Some terms are not commonly used words
– E.g. Heart attack=Myocardial infarction
Sears List of Subject Headings
(Sears)
Introduction
• Created by Minnie Earl Sears (first 3 ed.)
• Created specifically for use in small libraries
– “Minnie Earl Sears prepared the first edition of this work in
response to demands for a list of subject headings that was
better suited to the needs of the small library than the existing
American Library Association and Library of Congress lists”
(Taylor, 355).
• Based on the headings used by 9 small libraries of the time
•
•
•
that were known to be well cataloged.
Language is simplified, i.e. Sears tries to refrain from using
technical or scientific terms
First editions followed LCSH closely, but later editions became
more independent.
Now in it’s 20th edition.
Taylor, A. G. (2006). Introduction to Cataloging and Classification.
Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Philosophy
• Philosophy can be broken into two phrases: principle
•
of specific entry and the principle of unique entry.
Principle of specific entry:
– Specific heading is preferred to a general one.
– i.e. the subject heading “dogs” is preferred to “domestic
pets.”
– Cataloger must be familiar with the collection of the library
and it’s emphasis.
• Principle of unique entry:
– One subject heading, only, should be chosen for all items
on that subject.
– Principles to apply when using this principle:
• Use English word or phrase unless it is better expressed in a
•
•
foreign language
Use terms that are used in other libraries
Use terms that will cover the field
Taylor, A. G. (2006). Introduction to Cataloging and Classification.
Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
References
• Sears contains three main categories:
– See, See Also and general references
• References carry the same designations as
LCSH:
– USE, UF, SA, BT, NT, and RT
Taylor, A. G. (2006). Introduction to Cataloging and Classification.
Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Subdivisions
• Several types of subdivisions including topical,
•
geographical, chronological, and form subdivisions.
Form subdivisions
– Used to indicate the physical or philosophical form of the
work (i.e. bibliography or research).
• Chronological Subdivisions
– Identify a specific chronology of the primary topic.
– Used most frequently for history
• Geographical Subdivisions
– Two forms:
• Area-subject (i.e. Chicago (Ill.) – Census)
• Subject-area (i.e. Geology – Bolivia)
Taylor, A. G. (2006). Introduction to Cataloging and Classification.
Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Physical Characteristics
Taylor, A. G. (2006). Introduction to Cataloging and Classification.
Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Conclusion
“The assigning of subject headings is a discipline that inevitably seems
complicated and bewildering to the neophyte cataloger. Unlike other
cataloging disciplines, it has no logical progression other than the
linguistic development of knowledge itself. Even the assigning of a
classification number to a book is less forbidding, for the novice usually
has some sort of previous orientation to the Dewey system and can see, if
dimly, the divisions of knowledge and why they should exist. Subject
headings are, however, not difficult once the cataloger learns to handle
them. Both Sears and LCSH are quite explicit in their directions; both
contain lists of general subdivisions with specific instructions for their use.
If followed consistently, they will provide useful reference guides for the
user, including the reference librarian.” (Taylor, 367)
Taylor, A. G. (2006). Introduction to Cataloging and Classification.
Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.