Guidelines for establishing Library of Congress subject headings on Libraries Australia

Contents


Introduction

The subject authority file on the Libraries Australia database is based on Library of Congress Subject Headings, but is not identical to LCSH. It contains additional headings and references approved by the Libraries Australia Subject Headings Review Panel.

All subject headings must be checked in the most current edition of LCSH and the list of approved subject headings available at http://www.nla.gov.au/librariesaustralia/manuals/catmang.html#G102

Free-floating subdivisions are to be checked in the most current edition of LCSH, or the LC Subject Cataloguing Manual. Most free-floating subdivisions have restrictions on their application, and must be used in accordance with certain guidelines which can be found in the scope notes given under each subdivision in LCSH, and also in the LC Subject Cataloguing Manual.

When creating authority records in Libraries Australia, the following references should be added from LCSH:

UF (input as 4XX)
RT (input as 5XX)
BT (input as 5XX)
Scope notes (input as 6XX)

The references NT and USE are not be added as these are created automatically by the system when a BT, RT or UF reference is added to the reciprocal heading

Libraries Australia encourages both Libraries Australia customers and other Australian libraries to submit proposals for subject headings for concepts that are not adequately covered by LCSH, and for additional Australian terminology references to existing headings, according to the guidelines and procedures outlined on the pages when you follow the Subject Heading proposals links.

Online forms for proposing new subject headings, and changes to existing headings can be found at http://www.nla.gov.au/librariesaustralia/sh_form.html and http://www.nla.gov.au/librariesaustralia/shchg_form.html respectively.

Once approved, proposals are transmitted to the Library of Congress, with a request to incorporate the heading or reference into LCSH

The Macquarie Dictionary has been accepted as the standard authority for the spelling of proposed subject headings and references.


Tagging of subject headings

Subject headings in Libraries Australia may be tagged as personal, corporate, family, conference or meeting name, topical, geographic, or uniform title. The 1XX number refers to the tag used in the authority record while the 6XX number is the corresponding tag used in the bibliographic record:

(100, 600) Family or personal name subject heading
(110, 610) Corporate name subject heading
(111, 611) Conference or meeting name subject heading
(130, 630) Uniform title subject heading
(150, 650) Topical subject heading
(151, 651) Geographic subject heading

See also Library of Congress Subject Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings, H405, CSB 78, p2

Subject headings that designate groups of countries or regions of the world are tagged 151. This applies to headings that represent geographically contiguous groups of countries, such as Scandinavia, Benelux countries, Slavic countries, or groups of countries that share a common political, ethnic or other trait, regardless of whether they are geographically contiguous, such as Developing countries, European Union countries, Arab countries, Communist countries, or regions that are geographically contiguous or share a common trait, Polar regions and Tropics (but not Arid regions).

An alphabetic list of ambiguous entities is maintained by the Library of Congress - http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/saco/alpha405.html


Headings not requiring SHRP approval

Commercial products

The following guidelines have been prepared for the establishment and verification of headings for all types of commercial products required as subject headings, in particular for motor vehicles, but also for aircraft, tanks, cameras, etc.

Subject headings formulated according to these guidelines do not need to be submitted to the Subject Headings Review Panel for approval.

a. Establish a heading in the following style
make model generic term
For example:

Ford Laser automobile
Canon AT1 camera

Do not include names which refer to body style, e.g. estate, hatchback, station wagon, zagota, hardtop.

Do not include designations indicating level of equipment, e.g. de luxe, standard, special.

The model name may simply be a set of alpha and/or numerical characters, e.g. HQ; 200B; V8.

If the generic term is contained in the model name, the generic term is dropped, e.g. Ford Econovan.

If the make occurs as the second element of the model name, the heading should be established as modelgeneric term only.

b. See references
Add see references from all alternative names, and different spellings of the model name. When the model name is distinctive, reference may also be made from the modelgeneric term to the established form, e.g.

150 Ford Laser automobile
450 Laser automobile

c. See also references
Always make a see also reference from the generic term, e.g.

150 Ford Laser automobile
550 Automobiles

Always make a see also reference from the make without the model name, e.g.

150 Ford Laser automobile
550 Ford automobile

Make see also references between headings for the same model produced by different firms.

Headings qualified by linguistic, national or regional terms for which a pattern is clearly established in LCSH.

The following types of headings can be established directly on Libraries Australia:

Headings qualified by linguistic, national, or regional terms for which a pattern is clearly established in LCSH.

For these types of headings, follow the instructions in Section H320 of the Library of Congress subject cataloging manual for the reference structure, for example:

150 Women poets, Australian
450 Australian women poets

150 Travelers' writings, Australian
450 Australian travelers' writings

150 Astrology, Khmer
450 Khmer astrology
450 Astrology, Cambodian
   

Subdivision practice for Australia

Indirect local subdivision

When subdividing topics by Australian geographic places, subdivide directly through the relevant state or territory. Do not follow the Library of Congress practice of subdividing topics through Australia.

Libraries Australia practice is to include Australia in the countries which are subdivided by first order political division.

The following is a list of the countries that are subdivided by first order political division.

Country Divisions
Australia States or territories
Canada Provinces
Great Britain Constituent counties
United States States

Include Australia with the other three countries listed wherever these exceptions are applied in the LC Subject Cataloguing Manual.

Period subdivisions for Australia, Australian states, territories and capital cities.

Free floating subdivisions used under place--special application

When subdivisions from the subset of free floating subdivisions:
--Church history
--Civilization
--Economic conditions
--Economic policy
--Foreign relations
--History
--History, Military
--Politics and government
--Social conditions
--Social life and customs

are used under Australia and Australian states, territories and Australian capital cities the followng period subdivisions can be applied. These period subdivisions differ from LC as they have been constructed to suit Australian circumstances and history.

Australia

Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales

To 1788
1788-1851
1788-1900
1851-1891
1851-1901
1891-1901
20th century
1901-1914
1901-1922
1901-1945
1914-1918
1918-1922
1922-1929
1922-1945
1929-1939
1939-1945
1945-
1945-1965
1965-
1965-1972
1972-1975
1976-1990
1990-2001
2001-

Northern Territory

To 1824
1824-1851
1824-1900
1851-1891
1851-1901
1891-1901
20th century
1901-1914
1901-1922
1902-1945
1914-1918
1918-1922
1922-1929
1922-1945
1929-1939
1939-1945
1945-
1945-1965
1965-
1965-1972
1972-1975
1976-1990
1990-2001
2001-

Western Australia

To 1829
1829-1851
1829-1900
1851-1891
1851-1901
1891-1901
20th century
1901-1914
1901-1922
1901-1945
1914-1918
1918-1922
1922-1929
1922-1945
1929-1939
1939-1945
1945-
1945-1965
1965-
1965-1972
1972-1975
1976-1990
1990-2001
2001-

Queensland

To 1824
1824-1851
1824-1900
1851-1891
1851-1901
1891-1901
20th century
1901-1914
1901-1922
1901-1945
1914-1918
1918-1922
1922-1929
1922-1945
1929-1939
1939-1945
1945-
1945-1965
1965-
1965-1972
1972-1975
1976-1990
1990-2001
2001-

South Australia

To 1836
1836-1851
1836-1900
1851-1891
1851-1901
1891-1901
20th century
1901-1914
1901-1922
1901-1945
1914-1918
1918-1922
1922-1929
1922-1945
1929-1939
1939-1945
1945-
1945-1965
1965-
1965-1972
1972-1975
1976-1990
1990-2001
2001-

Tasmania

To 1803
1803-1851
1803-1900
1851-1891
1851-1901
1891-1901
20th century
1901-1914
1901-1922
1901-1945
1914-1918
1918-1922
1922-1929
1922-1945
1929-1939
1939-1945
1945-
1945-1965
1965-
1965-1972
1972-1975
1976-1990
1990-2001
2001-

Victoria

To 1834
1834-1851
1834-1900
1851-1891
1851-1901
1891-1901
20th century
1901-1914
1901-1922
1901-1945
1914-1918
1918-1922
1922-1929
1922-1945
1929-1939
1939-1945
1945-
1945-1965
1965-
1965-1972
1972-1975
1976-1990
1990-2001
2001-

NB:These period subdivisions cannot be applied to regions of Australia, e.g. Australia, Central

Period subdivisions used under '--Description and travel',

The use of period subdivisions under '--Description and travel' was cancelled in 1994. For further information see Subject Cataloguing Manual H1530 or Cataloguing Service Bulletin No. 63 Winter 1994