BCC2004/SAS/1
Subject Analysis Committee
ALA Midwinter Conference, San Diego, CA, January 11-12, 2004
Reported by Mark McKnight, Chair, Subcommittee on Subject Access
The following report represents selected coverage of topics from the
SAC meetings in San Diego, January 11-12, 2004.
LC Report (Lynn El-Hoshy)
National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (NAVCC) at Culpeper
Plans are underway for construction of the National Audio-Visual
Conservation Center (NAVCC) in Culpeper, Va. This new center is being built in cooperation with the Packard Humanities
Institute. Phase 1 of the projection will be completed in June 2005. At this time recorded sound, videotape, and safety
film collections from the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division will be relocated to the new facility.
March 2006 is the scheduled date for the completion of Phase 2 of the project, which will include at new conservation
building and nitrate film vaults. MBRS staff and the nitrate film holdings will be relocated to the new facility at this
time.
LC ILS (Integrated Library System)
The ILS office has expanded access to the Integrated Library System
(ILS), which now has the capability for five hundred simultaneous OPAC users. A second copy of the OPAC on a new, more
powerful server that handles incoming Z39.50 traffic makes this possible.
MARC Distribution Service
The Cataloging Distribution Service plans to offer all of its MARC
Distribution Services (MDS) in MARC XML beginning this month. These files are offered in addition to the MARC 21 files
currently available. For information on obtaining these files go to
http://www.loc.gov/cds/mds.html#test.
Cataloger’s Desktop
A new Web-based course that covers the most important features,
contents, and functions of Cataloger’s Desktop is now available at no charge. It is found at
http://www.loc.gov/cds/desktop-training. A web-based version of
Cataloger’s Desktop is also being developed by CDS. It is expected to be available in June 2004 as a fee-for-service
product.
LCSH
Library of Congress Subject Headings, 26th ed., was
published in the summer of 2003. It is now in five volumes and includes a new introductory section that lists all of the
free-floating subdivisions with usage notes. This information is derived from the subdivision authority records that have
been created over the past few years to control the approximately 3,250 free-floating subdivisions. The cumulative
microfiche edition of LCSH ceased with the December 2002 issue.
Subject Heading Changes
In consultation with the National Library of Australia, LC changed the
subject headings “Australian aborigines” and “Tasmanian aborigines” to “Aboriginal
Australians” and “Aboriginal Tasmanians”. These changes also included related headings associated with
these forms. Approximately 90 authority records and 4500 bibliographic records were changed.
Classification
The Cataloging and Distribution Service’s Classification Web,
introduced in June 2002, now has 1300 subscribers. Annual subscription rates begin at $375, but 30-day trial accounts
are available at no charge. Plans are also underway to provide a link to the LC OPAC as part of Class Web.
Recently it was announced that OCLC will also give WebDewey customer access to correlations between DDC numbers and LC
class numbers and/or subject headings. Later in 2004 CDS plans to provide name authority records to Class Web as an
optional feature at an additional price.
The seventh edition of LC Classification Outline is now
available, replacing the 1990 sixth edition. The web version of the Outline is available at no charge at
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html.
The Library has introduced a new method of displaying optional numbers
in the Library of Congress Classification Schedules. Optional numbers are those that are not used by LC but are provided
for libraries that wish to follow an arrangement different from LC practice. These numbers, like obsolete numbers, have
been presented in the schedules in parentheses; they are now differentiated from obsolete numbers by being displayed in
angle brackets. These changes are already implemented in Classification Web and appear in new printed editions of
the schedules beginning with 2003 editions. Also, instructions in the schedules of the type, “Divide like,”
“Subdivide like,” and “Subarrange like” have been replaced with external tables that can be used with
the enhanced and hierarchy browsers of Classification Web to calculate the appropriate numbers.
The FAST Project
A brief report was made on the FAST Project. FAST stands for Faceted
Application of Subject Terminology. It is a new subject heading schema, derived from the Library of Congress Subject
Headings (LCSH), that uses a simplified syntax while retaining LCSH vocabulary. The idea behind FAST is that it can be
used by personnel without extensive training. FAST headings can easily be converted from LC subject headings. There are
eight distinct facets within FAST: Topical, Geographic, Personal Name, Corporate Name, Form (Type, Genre), Chronological,
Title, and Meeting Name. FAST is being developed by a team based in the OCLC Office of Research with support from the
Library of Congress. The project is expected to be completed by Summer 2004. All versions are considered alpha versions
and are not synchronized with the latest version of LCSH, but resynchronization is expected to take place later in 2004.
Personal and corporate name facets do not include name-title entries. The latest version of the FAST authorities can be
accessed at http://fast.oclc.org.
Sears List of Subject Headings
The new, 18th edition of the Sears List of Subject Headings is now
published. The headings are in accordance with the latest Abridged Dewey Decimal Classification, which has also just
appeared.
Dewey Decimal Classification Division Reports
The 22nd edition of Dewey Decimal Classification was published in July
2003, and the 14th Abridged Edition will appear in January 2004. DDC 22 is currently available on WebDewey. An ALA
Preconference on Dewey 22 was held in Toronto on June 20, 2003.
Subcommittees
The Subject Analysis Committee has a number of subcommittees working on
projects. These include the Subcommittees on Semantic Interoperability, Subject Analysis Training Materials, Subject
Reference Structures in Automated Systems, as well as a Task Force on Building Names.
Upcoming Programs: ALA Annual Conference, Orlando, Fla., June 24-30
SAC plans to present a Pre-Conference before the 2004 ALA Annual
Conference in Orlando. This two-day workshop is entitled “Effective Cataloging with LCSH: An ALCTS/PCC Workshop”
and will be held on Thursday and Friday, June 24-25. Featured speakers will be Lori Robare, University of Oregon; Daniel
Lovins, Yale University; Adam Schiff, University of Washington; and William Garrison, Syracuse University.
The SAC Subcommittee on Semantic Interoperability will offer a program
jointly with the ALCTS Metadata Enrichment Task Force (cosponsored by CCS SAC, LITA, RUSA/MOUSS, CCS CC:DA) entitled
“Enriching Subject Access.” It will be presented on Saturday, June 26. Scheduled speakers include Judith
Ahronheim, University of Michigan; Michael Kaplan, Ex Libris; Deb Bendig, OCLC; Steve Nielsen, Dynix; Lois Mai Chan,
University of Kentucky; Jean-Frederic Jauslin, Swiss National Library; Pat Kuhr, Wilson Company; and Dian Vizine-Goetz,
OCLC.
SAC and REFORMA plan a program, “SALSA de Topicos = Subjects in
SALSA: Spanish and Latin American Subject Access,” on Saturday, June 26. The program will offer a “dynamic look
at the subject analysis and classification for Spanish-speaking library patrons, with an emphasis on the fluid boundary
between the ‘domestic’ and the ‘international.’ Many libraries have built valuable collections of Spanish-language
materials, but catalog access is hindered by English-only subject headings. The program will feature initiatives to
provide culturally appropriate access, and will stimulate thought about what librarians can do to better serve their
patrons.” Speakers include Vivian Pisano, San Francisco Public Library; Maria Chavez-Hernandez, Florida State
University; and Filberto Felipe Martinez Arellano, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
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Last updated February 28, 2004