BISG WEBCAST -- BISAC Subject Headings

This BISG WEBCAST took place Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. ET To register for future BISG Webcasts, please visit: http://www.bisg.org/event-cat-6-webcasts.php This BISG Webcast was sponsored by BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 1

“Working to create a more informed, informed empowered and efficient book industry supply chain for both physical and digital products ” products. www.bisg.org b BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 2

ANGELA BOLE Deputy Executive Director, Book Industry Study Group, Inc. Director Group Inc Angela Bole is Deputy Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG). Based in New York City, BISG is an industry trade association working to create a more informed, empowered and efficient book industry supply chain for both digital and physical products. CONNIE HARBISON Director of Authority Control, Database Management, Baker & Taylor Connie has worked in the publishing industry for over 20 years. She’s been involved in the BISAC Executive Committee since 2004, when she took on the role of BISAC Subject 2004 Codes Committee Chair. She also serves as BISAC Secretary and is a member of the BISAC Metadata Committee. Connie lives in New Jersey with her husband, three children and two dogs. Ummm...not really... RENEE REGISTER Senior Product Manager, OCLC Renee and her staff are responsible for partnering with publishers, vendors and other content providers in the creation and distribution of title metadata to libraries, the publisher supply chain and end users. Prior to joining OCLC in 2005, she spent ten years with Ingram Book Group, wholesaler and data provider to retailers and libraries, first as Manager of Cataloging Services and then as Director of Classification and Bibliographic Control for the organization’s MARC and non-MARC metadata. BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 3

RENEE REGISTER Senior Product Manager Founded in 1967, OCLC is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world s information and reducing information costs. world's BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 4

 OCLC Metadata Services for Publishers Automatically adds BISAC Subject Headings to publisher data by mapping from Dewey Decimal Classification http://publishers.oclc.org BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 5

 OCLC researchers and Dewey editors are collaborating on a project to add DDC numbers to authority records for BISAC subject headings  BISAC subject headings, including usage notes, are coded according t th MARC 21 t d d di to the format for authority data  Dewey numbers f b from DDC 22, the l h latest edition of Dewey, are applied to the records by the Dewey team BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 6

 Selected fields from a BISAC authority record: ◦ 083 04 158.1 ‡2 22 ‡5 OCoLC-D ◦ 150 SELF-HELP ‡x General ◦ 680 ‡i Use subjects in this section for works on personal growth, or works aimed at helping people deal with personal problems, including mental illnesses and dependencies. For works written to help dependencies people deal with issues involving child rearing or relationships, use subjects in the ‡a FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS ‡i section For scholarly works section. works, serious lay studies, or works aimed at psychology professionals, use subjects in the ‡a PSYCHOLOGY ‡i section. section BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 7

Background and benefits… BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 8

 An industry-approved list of terms used to describe the content of a book  52 main subject areas j ◦ e.g. Computers, Family & Relationships, Juvenile Fiction and Juvenile Nonfiction, Nature  Over 3,600 distinct terms BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 9

 Developed to standardize electronic transfer of subject information  First version issued in the 1990s BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 10

 Developed to standardize electronic transfer of subject information  First version issued in the 1990s 1.0 (~1995) 2.7 (June 2003) 2.0 (Nov 1997) 2.8 (March 2004) 2.1 (May 1999) 2.9 (May 2005) 2.2 (Jan 2000) 2006 (Sept 2006) 2.3 (May 2000) 2007 (Sept 2007) 2.4 (Jan 2001) 2008 (Nov 2008) 2.5 (July 2001) 2009 (Nov 2009) BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 11

 To transmit subject information between trading partners using a consistent syntax  To provide a common language for sales g g reporting  As search terms in bibliographic databases  As access points in online search  As bricks-and-mortar shelving guides BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 12

 Major businesses within the book industry, including: ◦ Major retailers, especially those who sell online  B&N A B&N, Amazon ◦ Data aggregators  Baker & Taylor, Bowker, Ingram y , , g ◦ Increasing numbers of publishers ◦ Wholesalers ◦ Nielsen BookScan BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 13

Who sets the standard?... BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 14

 Maintained by the BISG’s BISAC Subject Codes Committee  Committee consists of volunteers from BISG member organizations ◦ Members include publishers, retailers, wholesalers and d t aggregators d data t  Changes are annually reviewed and approved b th f ll BISG M b hi by the full Membership BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 15

 All requests received from the industry are discussed and considered by Committee  Creation of a Heading is based on 3 factors: g BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 16

 All requests received from the industry are discussed and considered by Committee  Creation of a Heading is based on 3 factors: g ◦ Does the suggested Heading describe the content of the book and not the audience, format or language? BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 17

 All requests received from the industry are discussed and considered by Committee  Creation of a Heading is based on 3 factors: g ◦ Does the suggested Heading describe the content of the book and not the audience, format or language? ◦ Are there at least 100 unique titles (from different publishers) in the supply chain that would have this Heading? BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 18

 All requests received from the industry are discussed and considered by Committee  Creation of a Heading is based on 3 factors: g ◦ Does the suggested Heading describe the content of the book and not the audience, format or language? ◦ Are there at least 100 unique titles (from different publishers) in the supply chain that would have this Heading? ◦ Would adding the requested Heading require extensive expansion of the list (we try to keep the number of Headings at around 3,000)? BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 19

 Minor revisions to each main subject area are made on an ongoing basis based on need and incoming requests  Major revisions to each main subject area are made on a cyclical basis  New versions of the list are released on an annual basis BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 20

 9-character alphanumeric Code in the form AAA###### and a Literal of the form SECTION NAME / Subheading (with further subheadings possible)  Examples: ◦ MAT002040 MATHEMATICS/Algebra/Intermediate l b d ◦ PET004010 PETS/Dogs/Breeds ◦ TRV028000 TRAVEL/Cruises BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 21

PET004010 PETS/Dogs/Breeds BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 22

PET004010 PETS/Dogs/Breeds  Codes C d (PET004010) are i t d d f electronic intended for l t i data interchange (EDI) BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 23

PET004010 PETS/Dogs/Breeds  Codes C d (PET004010) are i t d d f electronic intended for l t i data interchange (EDI)  Literals (PETS/Dogs/Breed) are intended f for print/display purposes BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 24

PET004010 PETS/Dogs/Breeds  Codes C d (PET004010) are i t d d f electronic intended for l t i data interchange (EDI)  Literals (PETS/Dogs/Breed) are intended f for print/display purposes  The first three characters of a code represent the main subject area BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 25

BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 26

STEP 1: Determine the main subject area BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 27

STEP 1: Determine the main subject area STEP 2: Pick the term within the main subject area that most closely fits the book’s content All done! It couldn’t be easier! BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 28

Understanding the differences between Subject Headings Headings, Merchandising Themes and Regional Themes. Themes 29

 A list of terms representing frequently requested merchandising themes and topics  Can be used in addition to subject codes to j denote: ◦ An audience to which a work may be of particular appeall ◦ A time of year or event for which a work may be especially appropriate ◦ A frequently requested topic BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 30

Although related, Subject Headings and Merchandising Themes should not be placed in the same field. BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 31

 Can be used for fiction or nonfiction to denote the regional setting or the regional focus of the title  Until early 2006, geographic regions were built into the BISAC Merchandising Themes ◦ The Committee saw need to further expand the h d f h d h regions within the Merchandising Themes ◦ Because there were so many regions to add the add, Committee decided to break them out of Merchandising Themes and develop a new list of just j t regions i BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 32

Helpful hints… BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 33

 If the title has numerous facets, it is recommended that the process be repeated for other relevant main subject areas  If possible, do a keyword search against the entire list in order to identify all main subject areas th t may be appropriate that b i t  If you cannot find a Heading for the narrowest subject, try to b b broaden the subject d h b BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 34

 When assigning multiple Headings, be logical… ◦ A title cannot have both a juvenile and an adult Heading ◦ A title cannot have both a fiction and a nonfiction Heading (this includes juvenile: JUV and JNF headings should not be mixed)  Refer to usage notes found at the beginning of each main subject area  Cross-references may point you to a similar or related main subject area j BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 35

 All main subject areas have GENERAL as a second level term. This can be applied… ◦ for books covering the topic at the broadest level ◦ f books of a very narrow scope that cannot be for b k f h b better described by one of the other terms within the relevant section BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 36

 All main subject areas have GENERAL as a second level term. This can be applied… ◦ for books covering the topic at the broadest level ◦ f books of a very narrow scope that cannot be for b k f h b better described by one of the other terms within the relevant section Never use GENERAL if you’ve already identified a more specific Heading. BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 37

 NON000000 Non-Classifiable is reserved for items that have no subject content (such as blank books) BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 38

 NON000000 Non-Classifiable is reserved for items that have no subject content (such as blank books) It might be frustrating, but never default to “Non- f Classifiable” (NON) if you can’t find an appropriate Subject Heading for your book – Keep g looking! BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 39

 The category you choose should reflect the primary content of the book ◦ It should not describe the format ◦ It should not d h ld t describe th audience ib the di ◦ It should not describe the language ◦ Other fields already exist in ONIX for these BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 40

 The category you choose should reflect the primary content of the book ◦ It should not describe the format ◦ It should not d h ld t describe th audience ib the di ◦ It should not describe the language ◦ Other fields already exist in ONIX for these The BISAC Subject Heading describes desc bes what t e boo is about at the book s about. (Though all rules have exceptions….) BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 41

The exceptions to the rules… BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 42

 If the audience is grades K-12 ◦ use “Juvenile Fiction” (JUV) or “Juvenile Nonfiction” (JNF) Headings ◦ the specific grade and age can be supplied in the Audience Range Composite of the ONIX record  If the format is a graphic novel ◦ use the “Graphic Novel” (CGN) Headings ◦ or, if appropriate, the Juvenile Graphic Novel Headings BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 43

 Major changes to: ◦ SCIENCE ◦ MATH ◦ BUSINESS & ECONOMICS S SS CO O CS  A closer look at the “100 book rule”  The beginnings of: ◦ universal BIC-to-BISAC mapping pp g ◦ scope note for individual headings ◦ best practices BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org

BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org

And now for some fun… BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 46

Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel T Lif N l by Jeannette Walls After her shattering memoir, The Glass Castle, Walls novelizes th life of her li the lif f h indefatigable grandmother, who rode her pony 500 miles to her first job. ~From LJ BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 47

1.) BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs 2.) FICTION / Biographical 3.) BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women 4.) 1 4 ) "1" and "3” 3 5.) All of the above BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 48

FICTION / Biographical  It’s It’ a work of fi ti k f fiction, not nonfiction t fi ti ◦ It’s a novel based on the life of a real person ◦ A nonfiction Heading should never be mixed with a fiction Heading  Of course, every rule has an exception… ◦ Y You can mix the main subject area “Li i h i bj “Literary C ll i Collections” ” (LCO) with the main subject area “Fiction” (FIC) BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 49

The Bonobos: Ecology, B h i E l Behavior, and d Conservation by Takeshi Furuichi and Jo Thompson Once one of the least studied of the great apes, this new text f h h covers the latest research into these fascinating creatures. g ~From the publisher BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 50

1.) 1 ) SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Zoology / General 2.) SCIENCE / Life Sciences / General 3.) SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Zoology / Primatology 4.) 4 ) "1" and "2" d 5.) All of the above BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 51

SCIENCE/ Life Sciences/ Zoology/ Primatology  All Heading options were part of the same main g p p subject area, but only the most specific Heading is necessary to describe a title Never use GENERAL if you’ve already identified a more specific Heading…unless it comes from a different main subject area BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 52

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Grade 5 and Up) Billed as a story ‘for readers from ten to a hundred and f t t h d d d ten,’…the 5th entry in this series blends Harry Potter and Men in Black with results likely to please only die-head Patterson fans fans. ~From Publishers Weekly BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 53

1.) 1 ) FICTION / Science Fiction / General 2.) JUVENILE FICTION / Science Fiction 3.) FICTION / Action Adventure 4.) 4 ) "1" and "2" d 5.) "1" and "3" BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 54

JUVENILE FICTION / Science Fiction  Although it’s marketed for all ages, it’s a YA novel  A juvenile main subject area (JUV or JNF) should never be mixed with an adult main subject area ◦ I th world of S bj t H di In the ld f Subject Headings, a b k i either written book is ith itt for adults or it’s written for juveniles BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 55

JUVENILE FICTION / Science Fiction  The exception to the rule… ◦ Some graphic novels written for juveniles are coded as “Comics & Comics Graphic Novels” (CGN) rather than “Juvenile Fiction” (JUV) or “Juvenile Nonfiction” (JNF) if they contain very mature content But you still wouldn’t mix a juvenile Heading with an adult Heading! BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 56

In the Graveyard of Empires: America’s War in Afghanistan by Seth G Jones G. Jones traces the steady resurgence of the Taliban and its allies, facilitated by US neglect and a weak government in Kabul, after a deceptively easy overthrow of the Taliban government in 2001.2001 BISG WEBCAST ~From Booklist www.bisg.org 57

1.) 1) HISTORY / United States / 21st Century 2.) HISTORY / Military / Afghan War (2001 - ) 3.) POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Freedom & Security / Terrorism 4.) 4) HISTORY / United States / General 5.) "1" and "2" and "3" BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 58

HISTORY / United States / 21st Century HISTORY / Military / Afghan War (2001 - ) POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Freedom & Security / Terrorism  You don’t have to confine yourself to one Heading to describe your title ◦ All the suggested Headings above described the book’s subject book s matter without overlap BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 59

HISTORY / United States / 21st Century HISTORY / Military / Afghan War (2001 - ) POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Freedom & Security / Terrorism  That said, never use GENERAL if you’ve already identified a more specific Heading…unless it comes from a different main subject area HISTORY / United States / General HISTORY / U i d S United States / 21 C 21st Century BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 60

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan This widely acclaimed bestseller spans two countries and two generations, following a group of Chinese women who meet to play mah jong, invest money and tell the secret stories of their lives. They call their gathering the Joy Luck Club. ~From the publisher BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 61

1.) 1 ) FICTION / Literary 2.) FICTON / Sagas 3.) FICTION / Cultural Heritage 4.) 4) All of the above BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 62

FICTION / Literary FICTION / Sagas FICTION / Cultural Heritage  “Fiction” (FIC) Headings can (and should) be mixed to better describe a book BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 63

FICTION / Literary FICTION / Sagas FICTION / Cultural Heritage  “Fiction” (FIC) Headings can (and should) be mixed to better describe a book Use discretion when using “FICTION / FICTION Literary” – it’s NOT interchangeable with “FICTION / General” “FICTION / Literary” should always be used with more specific FIC Headings whenever possible BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 64

El Simbolo Perdido by Dan Brown ( (Translated to Spanish) p ) Da Vinci Code symbologist, Robert Langdon, returns in Dan Brown s Brown's highly anticipated new thriller, “The Lost Symbol”. ~From the publisher BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 65

1.) 1) FICTION / Thrillers 2.) FICTION / General 3.) FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY / Spanish 4.) 4) LITERARY COLLECTIONS / C ibb Caribbean & L ti A Latin American i 5.) "1" and "3" BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 66

FICTION / Thrillers  It s stand alone It’s a stand-alone work of fiction, not a “Literary Literary Collection”  Specifically, it’s a “thriller” FICTION / General FICTION / Thrillers BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 67

FICTION / Thrillers  Also, books should be classified based on their subject content without regard to the language in which they’re written o “F “Foreign L i Language St d ” (FOR) i used f works about Study” is d for k b t languages o There already exists a language composite in the ONIX record to specif the lang age of the work specify language ork BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 68

We’ll now take questions... BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 69

Connie Harbison Connie.Harbison@baker‐taylor.com http://www.btol.com/ http://www btol com/ Ummm....not really.... Renee Register g register@oclc.org www.oclc.org Angela Bole angela@bisg.org www.bisg.org BISG WEBCAST www.bisg.org 70

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BISG WEBCAST -- BISAC Subject Headings

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