Library of congress subject heading for library and information science group

2. Prepared By:
Saraswati Koirala Ashadeep Chaudahari
Ganesh Baitha Birendra Kumar Yadav
Arjun Niraula Sabina Ghimire
Arun Kumar Rai Uma Regmi
Gobinda Raj Dahal Mahendra P. Adhikari
Ramila Shrestha Dinesh Subedi
Sunita Sen
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

3. Library of Congress (LC)
• De facto National
Library
• Began as Legislative
Library in 1800
• Collections totaling
more than 100 million
items
• Librarian of Congress
appointed by President
(now James H. Billington)
• Serves as:
– research library
for Congress
– US copyright
center
– Library for all
three branches of
government
– Largest public
library
– Materials in over
450 languages
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

4. History of LCSH Timeline
• 1897 –LC moves to new
Thomas Jefferson Building
• 1898 –LC introduces dictionary
catalog; first subject headings
from ALA list
• 1902 –LC begins Card
Distribution Service
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

5. LCSH Timeline
• 1909 to 1914 –LC publishes Subject
Headings Used in the Dictionary
Catalogues of the Library of
Congress
• 1975 –8th edition (2 volumes)
published under title Library of
Congress Headings
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

6. LCSH Timeline
• 1992 –Subject Authority Control
Program (SACO) established
• 1998 – LCSH’s 100th Anniversary
http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9808/lcsh-
cel.html
• 2007 – 30th edition of LCSH
published; 5 volumes contain over
280,000 subject headings
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

7. Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

8. What is the LCSH?
–Controlled vocabulary
–access points to bibliographic
records
–standardized records for libraries
and databases
–the most widely used subject
access system in the world
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

9. What is the LCSH? (cont)
• A tool to facilitate finding similar
items
• Concise, precise, and specific
– Answers the question:
“What is this item about?”
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

10. Who and Why?
• Libraries
– standardization
• Catalogers and Indexers
– Categorization of materials
• Researchers
– all materials on a topic (BT, NT, UF)
• Patrons
– way to search (cross-referencing)
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

11. LCSH Construction
Provides three relational directions
between terms (thesaurus format):
– Equivalence (USE/UF)
– Hierarchical (BT, NT)
– Associative (RT, SA)
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

12. LCSH Construction (cont)
Main heading
– topical
– form or genre
– names
• personal, corporate, geographic
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

13. LCSH Construction (cont)
Subdivisions
– topical
– form or document type
– chronological
– geographical
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

14. LCSH Construction (cont)
Free-floating subdivisions
• Pattern headings
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

15. LCSH Construction (cont)
• Syntax and form can vary greatly
• Highly ordered and precise, but...
– User vs. consistency principles
– Stability principle
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

16. Issues
• Difficult to locate information
• No natural-language searches
• No browsing
• Slow to add/change headings
• Adaptability/Flexibility
• Bias reflected in headings
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

17. LCSH Bias
●
Cutter's Rules
● Literary Warrant
●
●
National and international
reinforcement of U.S. Status quo
Gender/Culture/…
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

18. LCSH as Thesaurus
● Definition of thesaurus
● a list of words or group of words that can be
used as subject headings or descriptors in a
particular database, catalog, or index.…
● Controversy over hierarchy
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

19. LCSH Across Languages
● LCSH becoming internationalized
● Positive implications
-global access
-multilingual access
● Negative implications
-English centric
-Underrepresentation
-SHs lacking equivilancy
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

20. LCSH in Online Catalogs
• Progress
• Adeleine, canyou fillthisin?
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing

21. Future of LCSH?
• Possibilities
– Social collaboration
– Tagging/folksonomies (PennTags)
– Combination LCSH
– Wiki use in libraries (Ohio U. library)
– Natural language processing
– Ontologies
– Faceted Navigation
Tribhuvan
University
Department:
Library
&
Information
Science
M.L.I.Sc.
Subject
Cataloguing