Library of Congress Subject Heading LCSH Subject Heading Choice, Forms, Subdivisions.

2. CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• SUBJECT HEADING
• LCSH
• CHOICE OF HEADINGS
• FORMS OF MAIN HEADING
• SUBDIVISIONS
• CONCLUSIONS

3. INTRODUCTION
• LCSH first appeared in year 1898, a year later to the publication of
Library of Congress Classification(1897).
• The Library of Congress (LC) decided that its card catalogue
should be in dictionary form in which author, title, and subject entries
were organized in alphabetical order.
• For the topical entries in the catalogue, the Library began to work
on a list of preferred terms to be used as subject heading.
• In 1914, this was published under the title Subject Headings Used
in the Library of Congress.

4. WHAT IS SUBJECT HEADING ?
SUBJECT: What the book is about ? It can be any place, individual,
group, people.
SUBJECT HEADING: The most specific word or phrase that
describes the subject of a work selected from a list of prefererred
terms (controlled vocabulary) and assigned as an added entry in
the bibliographic record to serve as an access point in the library
catalogue.

5. SUBJECT- a car, an automobile,
a motor vehicle
SUBJECT HEADING- Automobile

6. • The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) comprise a
thesaurus of subject headings, maintained by the United States
Library of Congress for use in bibliographic records.
• LCSHs are applied to every item within a library’s collection,
and facilitate a user’s access to items in the catalogue that
related to similar subject matter.
• Purpose of LCSH is providing subject access points to the
bibliographic records contained in the Library of Congress
catalogues.
Library of Congress Subject Headings

7. • Choice among synonymous Terms
• Choice between Variant Spellings
• Choice between Scientific (or Technical) and
Popular Terms
• Choice between Obsolete and Current Terms
Choice of heading in different aspect

8. Choice among synonymous Terms
• In choosing between two names not exactly synonymous,
consider whether there is difference enough to require
separate entry; if not, treat them as synonymous.
• Eg. Theological education is treated as a synonym of
Religious education, and Freedom is treated as a
synonym of Liberty.

9. Choice between Variant Spellings
• If one or more spellings of the same word are
equally current, the one most familiar to the largest
numbers of users, based on reference sources, is
chosen.
• for example, Labor instead of Labour ;Catalog
instead of Catalogue.

10. • In LCSH popular terms are generally used if they are
in common use and unambiguous.
• Eg: Cockroaches instead of Blattaria; Lizards
instead of Lacertilia.
Choice between Scientific and Popular Terms

11. • A new invention or concept is sometimes called different
names by different people, and the cataloger is in the
position of having to choose among several possible
names without much help or guidance from outside
sources.
• One example was the choice of Electronic-calculating-
machines as the heading for computers when they first
appeared, a heading that was later replaced by Computers.
Choice between Obsolete and Current Terms

12. FORMS OF MAIN HEADINGS
• Main headings used in the Library of Congress (LC) subject
headings system fall into two main categories: topical/form
headings and name headings.
• Most headings in the first category represent objects or
concepts; a small number of them represent forms or genres.
• Headings containing proper names, on the other hand, may
also be assigned as subject headings to works discussing
individual persons, corporate bodies, places and other entities
bearing proper names.

13. SUBDIVISIONS
• In the Library of Congress subject headings system,
a main heading may be subdivided by one or more
elements called subdivisions.
• There are four types of subdivisions in the Library of
Congress subject headings system.
1) Geographical Subdivision 2) Form Subdivision
3) Chronological Subdivision 4) Topical Subdivision

14. Geographical Subdivision
• When a geographic aspect of the subject is of
significance, geographic(also called place or local)
subdivisions are often used.
• E.g. Catholic Church – Belgium

15. Form Subdivision
• Form subdivisions may be defined as the extension
of a subject heading based on the form or
arrangement of the subject matter in the book.
• Form subdivision include those that indicate either
the physical or the bibliographical form of a work.
• E.g. India-map

16. Chronological Subdivision
• A chronological subdivision brings out the time period
of the subject represented by the main headings.
• Chronological Subdivision may follow the main
heading directly or appear after another subdivision.
• E.g. Public libraries- Kerala- 1970

17. Topical Subdivision
• A topical subdivision represents an aspect of the
main heading other than space, time, or form.
• E.g. Auditions-Standards Cats-Behavior therapy

18. Conclusion
• LCSH is comparatively simple to use.
• The rules and principles are fairly explicit in their
directions, containing scope notes and specific
instructions for their use.
• If followed consistently, LCSH will provide useful
reference guide for the user and also to the library
reference staff.

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