Edward T. O'Neill Prepared with the assistance of the FAST Team Australian Committee on Cataloguing Seminar Sydney, Australia, January 31, 2005 FAST A Facetted LCSH-Based Subject Vocabulary

FAST Team OCLC Eric Childress, Becky Dean, Anya Dyer, Kerre Kammerer, Ed O’Neill, Diane Vizine-Goetz Library of Congress Lynn El-Hoshy ALA/SAC & Univ. of Kentucky Lois Mai Chan

Need for New Approach to Subject Vocabulary for Electronic Resources  Phenomenal growth of electronic resources,  Emergence of numerous metadata schemes,  Need for a new approach to subject access,  OCLC’s search for a subject access system for Dublin Core metadata records.

Schema Requirements  Simple in structure and syntax,  Usable by non-catalogers and in non-library environments,  Optimal access points,  Semantic interoperability to enable users to search across discipline boundaries,  Compatible with MARC, Dublin Core, and other popular metadata schemas,  Easy to maintain and amenable to automatic authority control and computer manipulation.

Options The ALA Subcommittee on Metadata and Subject Analysis( ) identified three basic approaches to selecting an indexing/subject heading schema for Internet resources:  Develop a new schema,  Use an existing schema(s),  Adapt or modify an existing schema.

Advantages of LCSH  Rich vocabulary covering all subject areas  Synonym and homograph control  Extensive hierarchical and associative references among terms  De facto standard controlled vocabulary, extensively used by libraries, contained in millions of bibliographic records.  Long and well-documented history,  Strong institutional support of the Library of Congress.

LCSH in Card Catalogues  LCSH was originally created for card catalogs—a 3x5 card environment,  Cards restricted the number of subject headings per item,  Cards required pre- coordinated vocabulary, Z693.5 Chan, Lois Mai. U6C48 Cataloging and classification: an introduction / Lois Mai Chan. -- 2nd ed. New York : McCraw-Hill, c1994. xxii, 519 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. Includes bibliographical references (p ) and index. ISBN Cataloging--United States. 2. Class- ification--Books. I. Title. Classification--Books. Z693.5 Chan, Lois Mai. U6C48 Cataloging and classification: an introduction / Lois Mai Chan. -- 2nd ed. New York : McCraw-Hill, c1994. xxii, 519 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. Includes bibliographical references (p ) and index. ISBN Cataloging--United States. 2. Class- ification--Books. I. Title. Cataloging--United States. Z693.5 Chan, Lois Mai. U6C48 Cataloging and classification: an introduction / Lois Mai Chan. -- 2nd ed. New York : McCraw-Hill, c1994. xxii, 519 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. Includes bibliographical references (p ) and index. ISBN Cataloging--United States. 2. Class- ification--Books. I. Title.

LCSH in the Electronic Environment  Syntax based on pre-coordination requires trained and skilled personnel,  Does not lend itself to automatic indexing or authority control,  Many pre-coordinated headings assigned to catalog records do not appear in the list.

Need to Fully Establish Headings Heading Selection Heading Construction

LCSH Topical WorldCat Coverage 167,015 (2%) Established 3,044,915 (36%) Multiple Assignments 5,231,613 (62%) Assigned only once

Valid But Not Established LCSH Established Main heading/free-floating subdivision(s): Burns and scalds—Patients—Family relationships Travel—Early works to 1800 Free-floating phrase headings Woodwind trios (English horn, oboes (2)) Geographic subdivisions Banks and banking—United States Multiples United States. Navy—History—War of 1812

LCSH Patterns Subdivisions Free-floating subdivisions controlled by pattern headings are one example of how an established heading can be expanded. The scope of patterns is limited to particular types (patterns) of headings. Burns and scalds $x Family relationships $x Patients By fully establishing headings such as this in FAST, the complexity of rules under which they were created is effectively hidden.

FAST schema  LCSH vocabulary  Simplified syntax  Designed for an online environment  A post-coordinated faceted vocabulary  Hierarchy is retained within facets  Retains the advantages of a controlled vocabulary

Eight Facets Topical -Sailing—Safety measures Personal Names Dewey, Melvil, Geographic New South Wales Form (Genre) Bibliography Chronological Corporate Names National Library of Australia Conference/Meetings Uniform Titles

Authority Records  FAST will use MARC 21 formats  The MARC 21 bibliographic and authority formats were revised to accommodate FAST by authorizing the x48 (Chronological) fields  Authority records will be created for all FAST headings except chronological— chronological authority record will be created only when required for references

Topical Headings Secret service Urbanization Hospitals—Administration—Data processing Cataloging—Analytical entry Photoconductivity—Measurement Woodwind trios (English horn, oboes (2)) Sailing—Safety measures

Topical Authority Record 001 fst OCoLC nneanz||babn n ana d 040 OCoLC $b eng $c OCoLC $f fast 150 Sailing $x Safety measures 688 LC usage 7 (1999) 688 WC usage 25 (1999) Sailing $0(DLC)sh

 Geographic names will be established and applied in indirect order, [ New South Wales—Sydney not Sydney— New South Wales]  First level geographic names will be limited to names from the Geographic Area Codes table (e.g., Ohio, Victoria, Great Lakes, etc.) Other names will be entered as subdivisions under the smallest first level name in which it is fully contained [Australia—Great Dividing Range]  Geographic Area Codes are included in all authority records for geographic names FACET: Geographic

Geographic Headings Great Lakes [nl] Queensland [u-at-qn] Mars [zma] Northern Territory—Darwin [u-at-no] Maryland—Worcester County [n-us-md] Slovenia—Maribor [e-xv] Victoria—Melbourne Metropolitan Area [u-at-vi] England—Chilton (Oxfordshire) [e-uk-en] India—Limbdi (Princely State) [a-ii] New South Wales—Sydney—Bondi [u-at-ne] Alaska—Rowan Bay (Bay) [n-us-ak]

Geographic Authority Record OCoLC nneanz||babn n ana d 040 OCoLC $b eng $c OCoLC $f fast 043 n-us-ak 151 Alaska $z Rowan Bay (Bay) 670 GNIS, Feb. 10, 2004 $b (Rowan Bay; bay; 7 mi. N of Tebenkof Bay, on W coast of Kuiu I., Alex. Arch.; Wrangell- Petersburg Census Area, Alaska; 56º40'02" N, 134º14'34" W; another Rowan Bay, pop. place in Wrangell- Petersburg Census Area) Rowan Bay (Alaska : Bay) $0 (DLC)sh

Form (Genre) Case studies Abstracts Census Rules Dictionaries Folklore Bibliography—Catalogs Periodicals Guidebooks

Form Authority Record 001 fst OCoLC nneanz||babn n ana d 040 OCoLC $b eng $c OCoLC $f fast 155 Guidebooks 455 Guides 455 Identification 455 Outdoor books 688 LC usage 69,842 (2004) 688 WC usage 335,129 (2004) Guidebooks $0 (DLC) sh

Personal and Corporate Names Headings for persons: Woodward, Bob Dewey, Melvil, Kennedy family Edward II, King of England, Headings for corporate bodies: OCLC Bayerische Motoren Werke United States. Coast Guard National Library of Australia

Chronological (Period)  FAST chronological headings consist of only a single date or a date range  Limited to a single chronological heading per bibliographic record  Authority records will only be established when needed for references or linkages  Headings consist of either a single date or a starting and ending date but will be formatted for display:  1945  1942 – 1945  Since 1987  221 B.C A.D.  From 500 to 570 million years ago [Cambrian]

Chronological Events Subdivisions In LCSH, it is common to include topical information in chronological ($y) subdivisions: Buffalo (N.Y.) $x History $y Civil War, Grenada $x History $y American Invasion, 1983 For these subdivisions, a FAST topical heading is also created: Civil War American Invasion

Faceting of LCSH FAST American loyalists 650 Revolution 650 Secret service 650 Painters 651 England 651 United States 651 Great Britain 655 Biography 655 History 650 American loyalists $z England. 651 United States $x History $y Revolution, $v Biography. 650 Secret service $z Great Britain. 650 Painters $z United States. LCSH

Authority Control: FAST vs. LCSH  LCSH: while many headings are established, most assigned headings are synthesized by catalogers based on rules  FAST: all headings (except chronological) are established and only established headings can be assigned

Authority Control: FAST vs. LCSH LCSHFAST Many headings are established; most assigned headings are synthesized by catalogers based on rules All headings (except chronological) are established Very large number (billions plus) of possible headings Faceting limits the number of possible headings to a few million Most headings are distinct (based on NACO normalization rules*); some conflicts occur particularly with $x & $v All headings are distinct; tagging and subfield coding provides no unique information *

Database: fast.oclc.org**  Available as an OCLC SiteSearch database  The authority file is currently an beta version  The database may be unavailable for extended periods  The current version of FAST is being applied and evaluated in a few applications  The American Library Association established a FAST subcommittee to provide guidance and evaluation

Current FAST Datebase Personal name headings 510,095 Corporate name headings276,322 Topical headings404,849 Geographic name headings142,777 Form headings 638 Reference records 8,758* Total FAST authorities 1,343,439 *not publicly available on web site

Future Development Plans  Update and resynchronize all FAST headings with LCSH  Develop the conference/meetings facet  Develop the uniform titles facet  Expand the geographic names based on usage data  Add information from the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)  Revise and expand the form (genre) facet

Advantages of FAST  Simple syntax  A tiered approach to allow different levels of subject representation  Accommodate different retrieval models  Able to accommodate both precoordinate and postcoordinate indexing and retrieval  More amenable to computer-assisted indexing  Facilitate computer-assisted authority control  Easier and more economical to maintain than a highly enumerated vocabulary  Facilitate mapping of subject data and cross-domain searching  Facets are independent  Good source for Picklists

Summary  LCSH Vocabulary  Faceted  Hierarchical  Fully established  Compatible with LCSH

Questions?