Genre Headings and Authorities in the University of Washington Libraries Catalog Adam L. Schiff Principal Cataloger University of Washington Libraries

Comments are applicable to the UW Libraries Catalog at not the WorldCat Local Beta catalog Innovative Interfaces OPAC

Three topics to consider: Genre/Form Index Genre/Form Policies Genre/Form Authorities

Genre/Form Index 655 fields Locally defined 695 field Form subdivisions ($v) from all 6XX fields

655 0 Feature films Feature films|zUnited States Biographical films.

650 0 English language|zUnited States|vDictionaries Americanisms|vDictionaries.

Genre/Form Policies 655s are accepted in copy cataloging for all resources, but we have developed specific policies for genre/form access for certain types of resources, specifically:  Artists’ Books and Miniature Books  Audiobooks  Children’s Literature  Ethnic and Special Audience Newpapers  Graphic Novels, Comics, and Cartoons  Oral History Materials  UW Theses and Dissertations and Thesis-Like Documents  Videorecordings

Sources of Genre/Form Terms for most materials, prefer terms from LCSH if appropriate terms not available in LCSH: a)propose them through SACO whenever possible, e.g. Animated videos Medical drama Anti-war television programs Miniature periodicals Car-chase films Nature videos Comedy videos Novels in verse Concert films Romantic comedy films Documentary videos Submarine films Ethnographic films Suicide victims’ writings Film excerpts Teen films Gay youths’ writings Third stream (Music) Instructional videos Thrillers (Motion pictures, television, etc.) Legal drama Underground periodicals

Sources of Genre/Form Terms if appropriate terms not available in LCSH: b) use a different controlled vocabulary if it provides needed terms, e.g. Art & Architecture Thesaurus for oral history materials Oral histories. $2 aat Transcripts. $2 aat Reminiscences. $2 aat Moving Image Materials: Genre Terms Dance. $2 mim Debates. $2 mim Plays. $2 mim Newspaper Genre List College student newspapers. $2 ngl Labor newspapers. $2 ngl

Sources of Genre/Form Terms if appropriate terms not available in LCSH: c) use local terms specified in cataloging policies, e.g.  Videorecordings Historical reenactments. $2 local Foreign language films $x Swedish. $2 local  UW theses and thesis-like documents Theses $x Anthropology. $2 local Professional papers $x Forestry. $2 local Research projects $x Music. $2 local  Children’s literature Science fiction $v Juvenile. $2 local Baseball stories $v Juvenile. $2 local Christmas plays $v Juvenile. $2 local

Genre/Form Authority Records

Genre/Form Authorities Acquired from our authorities vendor (Backstage Library Works) based on monthly processing of our bibliographic records: GSAFD, AAT GSAFD authorities are also available for free downloading – more information from alctspubsbucket/webpublications/cataloging/ marc21authorityr/marc21authority.htm

GSAFD authority record

AAT authority record

Acquired from OCLC Terminologies Services Pilot Project: Newspaper Genre List

NGL authority record

Genre/Form Authorities Modified from existing LC subject authorities Since LCSH authorities for motion picture, television, and video genres have not been available, we use the existing LCSH authorities, change the tagging, and export the records into our OPAC. We then delete the LCCN and other data that pertains only to the subject authority Once LCSH genre authorities become available, we will replace these with them

LCSH motion picture authority record in OCLC

MARC tags changed from X50 to X55

Genre authority record after fields pertaining to the subject authority record have been deleted

The authority record in action in the OPAC

Genre/Form Authorities Locally created authorities, or local modifications to national-level authority records Needed because the index contains terms from multiple thesauri for the same thing as well as conflicts between genre/form headings and subdivisions in LCSH Needed because full hierarchical relationships in some thesauri are not expressed, which is not helpful in a single, general genre index

Problems Using Multiple Thesauri in One Index LCSH:Humorous stories GSAFD: Humorous fiction LCSH: Children’s poetry LCSH form subdivision: $v Juvenile poetry Solution: provide references or links between the equivalent terms. 7XX linking entry fields in the MARC 21 authority format are available to do this, but LCSH topical and genre subject authority records don’t yet include them. Also, many systems do not use them to generate links.

Problems Using Multiple Thesauri in One Index Our solution: add 555 see also references from one term to another and create needed authority records to enable these references

Locally created genre authority for the form subdivision Juvenile poetry, with see also reference to the LCSH genre heading Children’s poetry

Problems Using Multiple Thesauri in One Index

Solution: add Newspapers as a broader term to the authority records for the NGL

Conclusion: Issues to Consider Should you create a genre index that is separate from any subject indexes you may have? If yes, what fields will you index? (e.g., just 655, or also $v from subjects?) Will you allow terms from multiple thesauri in your genre index or attempt to only use terms from a single controlled vocabulary? Which vocabulary/vocabularies will be permitted? How do you achieve this? (e.g., will catalogers have to make sure only acceptable thesauri have been used, or can your system delete unwanted headings?) Can your system be configured to limit what gets indexed? (e.g., based on second indicator value in 655 or based on source code in subfield $2) If you get authorities from a vendor, can you protect any local modifications from overlay when a change is made to the authority? If you add linking entry fields to your authorities, will your system actually use them? How can we get linking fields into national authority records, and persuade system developers to make use of them? Do you need to use locally-devised headings? How will you maintain them?

Conclusion: Issues to Consider Will you use headings from existing thesauri in non-standard ways? (e.g., subdividing literary genres with $v Juvenile for children’s materials or Foreign language films by language) Can you easily convert headings tagged 650 to 655 in your OPAC? How will you avoid converting headings on records for resources that are about the genre rather than examples of it? Are there records in your catalog to which you will retrospectively add genre headings? Can this be done using automation or batch processing? Will existing master records in OCLC be converted to the correct coding? Who will do this? If you use LCSH genre headings, will you propose new genre headings through SACO once the program allows that? Are some materials more important than others to provide genre access for your users?

Thank you!