Wk.+10+Practice+Subject+Headings


 * SUBJECT HEADINGS PRACTICE **




 * READ **
 * Chapter 5 - SUBJECT HEADINGS (skip pages 65-67. 73-81)
 * For a discussion about subject heading ** s ** look at Follett's discussion of subject headings: "Tag of the Month Bibliographic Archives" [] NOTE: There is a different 6XX tag depending on whether the subject of the item is a person, a corporate name, a topic, or a geographic place. The most common subjects that you will use:

>>
 * ** 600 $a - Subject is a person **
 * ** 610 $a - Subject is a corporate name **
 * ** 650 $a - Subject is a topic **
 * ** 651 $a - Subject is geographic **
 * Keep in mind that subjects are built with subfields and the information that goes in the subfield is quite specific. By adding subfields the cataloger makes the subject entry more specific. Here are the most common subfields with examples
 * 6XX (subject access entries)
 * $v - (form subdivision - specific kind or genre of material)
 * $x - (general or topical subdivision - specific information that doesn't fit the other three subdivisions)
 * $y - (chronological subdivision - period of time)
 * $z - (geographic subdivision - place, location - not used when the main subject is 651)
 * EXAMPLES
 * 600 $a Jobs, Steve $d 1955-2011 (person)
 * 610 $a Apple Computer $x History (corporation)
 * 650 $a War and emergency legislation $z United States $v Biography (topic)
 * 651 $a United States $x History $y Civil War, 1861-1865 (geographic)

Poppino, Catherine. "ABLE 6 - Introduction to Subject Headings." Idaho Commission for Libraries. Idaho Commission for Libraries, 2010. Web. 23 Aug. 2013. <[]>. You will need to take the little internal quizzes along the way in order to finish this unit. It will take about an hour to go through the discussion. The focus of this presentation is Library of Congress Subject Headings which is not what we will use but the concepts discussed in the presentation are fundamental to cataloging in general.
 * WATCH **

**LC or Sears?** Is there anything more important than getting the correct subject headings for a catalog record? How else will our students get to the information your have so carefully selected? Although you will use the //Sears List of Subject Headings// in your library, for the purposes of this course we will use whatever subject headings you can get your hands on. The Library of Congress subject headings are longer and more detailed than //Sears// but I'm not requiring you to purchase //Sears// and the LC subject headings are available on the Web. I'm not convinced that it makes a lot of difference which set of subject headings you use, other than you should strive to be consistent. (Having said that, you will purchase your MARC records and there will be inconsistencies in the records that you will need to correct.)

**Lots of subject tracings!** I personally come from the school of thought that more is better because our students are used to searching on the Web and getting millions of hits. If they are searching in the school's catalog they are getting VERY few hits for what they are looking for because it is such a small database. We need to make sure that we give the students every opportunity to find the valuable resources that we have collected -- and that means making sure we have good subject headings.

**//Sears List of Subject Headings//.** After having read (and absorbed!) the information in chapter five you are ready to start assigning subject headings. Normally, LMSs use //Sears List of Subject Headings// as a guide for uniform subject headings. If you have access to a copy (cf. your friendly school librarian!) by all means use it. There are other ways to make sure you are assigning legitimate subject headings (we're not tagging here, remember). The most current version of //Sears List of Subject Headings// is the 21st edition and it came out in 2014. It is published by H.W. Wilson and costs $165.00


 * JCKL database. ** As students at UCM you have access to the //Sears List of Subject Headings// database through the UCM JCK Library. Unfortunately, I have found it to be pretty unhelpful, but I encourage you to give it a try and see if your results differ. The main thing – **do not make up subject headings.** The point of a carefully created catalog is that the subject headings follow logic and a procedure. If you make up the subject headings, you are venturing into tagging territory – which, as an adjunct to carefully crafted subject tracings is something a lot libraries are experimenting with.

Page 71 discusses how to go about starting to assign subject headings. If you are cataloging from scratch this is how you will have to do it. More often than not you will try and find the catalog record from another site in order to not have to catalog from the beginning.


 * SOURCES FOR SUBJECT HEADINGS **

>
 * ** MOST OBVIOUS SOURCE: ** Your own copy of //Sears List of Subject Headings//
 * **Bookmark this PDF FILE:** //Sears List of Subject Headings,// 19th edition, 2007, H. W. Wilson http://api.ning.com/files/UosqTfXFuFGPXsobch1cYPy1fqCkxEMS2rNTmSJbmtEDpdlYmpS2yGRCzN9hB8heaIggxr1rtuLCqVtZedFqbywMWUhAn55r/sears_19th_edition.pdf
 * If you don't have access to a current copy of //Sears// you can certainly use this PDF file.
 * What I do is download the file to my desktop for easier searching through a PDF reader rather than going through a browser.
 * Remember **Command (or Control)-F** is your friend in searching huge files.

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 * **// Library of Congress Authorities //** site [|http://authorities.loc.gov]
 * o This will obviously give you the Library of Congress subject heading. This is my last choice as it is difficult to search for the subject headings because keyword subject searches are not permitted. You have to know the leftmost word of the subject heading in order to bring it up. If you want an eight-minute tutorial on using the subjects database in authorities this is helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVPcnystR9I
 * ** Your favorite copy cataloging source ** http://5270orginfo.wikispaces.com/Copy+Cataloging+Sources Look up books with similar subjects and titles and see what subject headings have been assigned to those titles.

Read the chapter and look at the examples as they are discussed throughout the chapter.
 * PRACTICE FOR THE WEEK **

**1. 5A (pp. 80-81)** -- This will show you the differences and similarities between using Sears and LC subject headings. Work your way through the rest of the examples at the end of the chapter. If you get frustrated, you can always look at the answers at the end of the book. This is purely an exercise to get you used to thinking in terms of subject headings and their formation. (Practice not turned in.)
 * Open your word processor and compare the Library of Congress subject headings (which are what are listed in each of the examples in the text) to Sears subject headings.
 * § Go to //Sears// database at JCKL and search for “Common fallacies.” You will note that nothing comes up in //Sears//. Your next step is to try part of the subject heading and see if that gives you what you want. In this case try “fallacies” and that brings up “Errors” in //Sears// that is what you would use in a school situation if you are using the //Sears// headings. Keep in mind that //Sears// is a simpler version often of the LC subject heading and one way to try and find the appropriate heading is to use part of the terms of the LC heading.
 * PROBLEM: The //Sears// database does not break down the subfields in the subject headings. You will have to go to a catalog (such as Library of Congress, etc.) to see how the subject heading is built. You will need to know how to build a subject for the exercise to be posted to Blackboard.
 * In your real-life situation you will often go to a copy cataloging source and use the record wholesale if you can find the record.
 * Keep in mind that you can always add a geographic subdivision to almost any subject heading.
 * Keep in mind that names of people, businesses, etc. can be subject headings and names will not be found in //Sears.//
 * Continue with the rest of the listings on pp. 80-81 and compare the LC subject headings to what you can find in //Sears.//

// Omit Exercises 5B-5E (unless you want to do them on your own.) //

**2. 5F (pp. 85-87)** – For this exercise, use any tool you would like. You can try the JCKL //Sears// database but I would probably start with the PDF file listed above. This will give you a real experience of working with //Sears// in applying subject headings. Also try looking at other catalogs using the COPY CATALOGING link in the wiki as your guide. For example, try looking up “chocolate recipes” (without the quotes) in the MOBIUS catalog. That would give you great subject headings. []. (Practice not turned in.)

**3. Assign headings**. Below are 5 items that I want you to give at least **3 subject headings** to. (The subjects do not have to be all different tags as in the example below -- all of your 6XX tracings might be 600 tags, for example -- although I would think most of you would want at least one 650 tag.)

In assigning subject headings you need to read through a book to get an understanding what it is about. The same is true with anything -- look through the slide presentation or watch part of the video -- don't just go by the title. Remember -- the chief source of information is from the item 'in hand' rather than inferring information from an external source. (Practice turned in on Blackboard.)


 * (Book) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland []
 * (Book) Tom of the Raiders []
 * (Slide Presentation) Library Catalogs []
 * (Streaming video) “How Obama Won Using Digital and Social Media” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFB5FtMfwNo
 * (Streaming video) “Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne and Luciano Pavarotti in Recital” []

EXAMPLE OF WHAT YOU NEED TO DO FOR PRACTICE 3: For each of the five items above, use this format below. Pay attention to capitalization and subfields, if there are any. For example, if you had been assigned the book //Gettysburg and Lincoln// your response would be: 245 $a Gettysburg and Lincoln //[title of the item]// 600 $a Lincoln, Abraham $d 1809-1865 //[600 - subject is a person]// 610 $a Soldiers’ National Cemetery (Gettysburg, Pa.) //[610 - subject is an organization or group of persons]// 650 $a Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863 //[650 - general subject -- most commonly used]//

When you get through, post your answers on Blackboard and compare your answers to others in the class. Discuss any questions or comments about any of the practice exercises for this week. CORRECT each other's work if you see errors. Do not automatically assume that your classmate has posted the correct version of a subject heading. //Are we having fun yet?//

= How I check your subject headings =

Screencast: http://screencast.com/t/67SIHA9u2Ra6

I generally to go MOBIUS, OhioLink, or Library of Congress to check the formation of and the accuracy of your subject headings. The screencast above shows you how I go about it.