Sage Library Consortium Cataloging Subjects and Genres

Subject Headings = Personal Name as Subject =610 2\$a Corporate (or Gov’t) name “ =650 \0 Topical Term“ =651 \0 Geographic Term“ Subfields used: $a Main Subject $x General/topical subdivision $y Chronologic subdivision (date/era) $z Geographic location $v Format/Genre

Examples: = $a Baker, Edward D., $d $x Military service $z Mexico. =610 2\$a United States. $b Army $x Civil War, $x Campaigns $z Virginia. =650 \0 $a Cowboys $x Social life and customs $z Oregon $y $v Pictorial works. =651 \0 $a Oregon $z Zumwalt Prairie $x Ecology.

Notes on 6xx fields:  600/610 fields also use subfields found in 100/110, e.g. $d [dates of birth/death](Name = Author vs. Name = Subject).  Date of historic events (see prev. slide) often included in $x, rather than $x [name of event] + $y [date of event].  Topics by time period do use $x +$y [Example: $a Engineering $x History $y 17 th century]  Always check to make sure you are using the proper term! (e.g. “Horsemanship” not “Horseback riding.”)

Subject Heading Notes:  All nonfiction should have appropriate subject headings.  “$v Fiction” required for all novels, etc. if not present in imported record. e.g. =650 $a Police officers $z Los Angeles $v Fiction. =650 $a Vampires $v Fiction.  Acceptable to note fictitious status in 650 for works of fiction or nonfiction – 600/651 for real persons/places ONLY. e.g. =650 $a Wiggin, Ender (Fictitious character) $v Fiction =650 $a Middle-earth (Imaginary place) $v Atlases.

Genre/Form Headings: =655\7$a Genre/form of a work.  Adventure fiction  Historical fiction  Love stories  Graphic novels  Spy stories  Animated films  Mystery and detective stories  Horror fiction  Film noir  Western stories  Science fiction  Christian fiction  War stories  ETC., ETC., ETC. !! Like subject headings, genre headings use a controlled vocabulary maintained by Library of Congress. Check existing headings in the Sage catalog! A partial list of genre terms can be found at: Or search here: Forms.html Forms.html

Genre/Form Notes:  Items with genre spine labels should have appropriate 655 in catalog as well! E.g. Mysteries, Westerns, Romance, Sci-Fi.  Assign multiple genres if necessary; specific genre terms are preferred. (Example: “Occult fiction” + “Love stories” acceptable, “Paranormal romance” preferable.)  Note that genre/form means terms may change by format, e.g. “Western stories” for print vs. “Westerns (films)” for VHS/DVD. Check Sage catalog and online resources for appropriate terminology!

Subject/Genre Terms:  Subject and Genre terms use controlled vocabulary – specific words/phrases that can be cross-referenced.  The LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings) is one such. Like most public libraries, the Sage catalog uses this vocabulary in its MARC records.  Other controlled vocabularies are found in imported MARC records. They can be identified by format, and by subfield $2.

BISAC: Example: =650 \7 $a SPORTS & RECREATION $2 bisacsh BISAC subject headings BISAC subject headings are in all capital letters and include a subfield $2 “bisacsh”. This is a classification scheme created for businesses by the Book Industry Study Group. Booksellers use these headings to organize and display books. They are too broad to be useful for research. Please remove these subject headings from imported records. Dewey Decimal shelving already groups books into location by subject area.

Sears: Examples: =650 \7 $a Children’s parties. $2 sears =650 \7 $a Classical mythology. $2 sears =650 \7 $a Cooking $x Bananas. $2 sears The Sears List of subject headings was created by Minnie Earl Sears as a simplified version of LCSH, for small libraries. In the Sage catalog, Sears headings often duplicate LOC headings. If the identical subject term appears twice in the record, please remove the instance with $2 sears present. =650 \7 $a Children’s parties. $2 sears [Delete] =650 \0 $a Children’s parties.

LOC Children’s headings The Library of Congress Subject Headings for Children’s Literature look like regular LCSH except that the second indicator is a 1 instead of a 0, e.g. 650 \1 $a Imaginary playmates $v Fiction.Library of Congress Subject Headings for Children’s Literature Our catalog does not use these indicators to sort its 6xx fields. Please use $v Juvenile fiction or $v Juvenile literature (nonfiction) when appropriate.

MeSH: $2 mesh identifies Medical Subject Headings, which are controlled by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). They are also identified by indicators of [ = ].Medical Subject Headings This vocabulary is used in records imported and/or created by the Planetree Health Resource Center, a Sage member library. DO NOT delete or alter these subject headings when found in a record.

Genre Terms: Many genre terms are classified either as: Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms [ $2 lcgft ], or as: Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, Etc. [ $2 gsafd ] Both are acceptable in Sage records. However, the GSAFD Index is no longer online – Search LCGFT instead to assign genre terms.

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