SAC Report (Feb. 1997)

SUBJECT ANALYSIS COMMITTEE MEETINGS
ALA Mid-Winter, 1997
Washington, DC

submitted by Harriette Hemmasi
Rutgers University

Meeting 1: 2/16/97

• for comments about MARBI, see Karen Little's MARBI report
• response from Beacher Wiggins, LC acting director for cataloging, regarding the final report from the SAC Subcommittee on the Order of Subdivisions in LC subject strings:
  • LC accepts the basic finding of the Subcommittee that many of the goals of the Airlie House Conference cannot be met by a total implementation of the order proposed in the conference's first recommendation; instead, LC is attempting to standardize subdivision order and to rationalize and simplify subdivision usage when possible
  • the proposed changes regarding art subject headings, the coding of the subdivision --HISTORY AND CRITICISM as a form subdivision and use of the subdivision --HISTORY have been referred to LC's Music Cataloging Advisory Group and LC's Form/Genre Working Group
  • the Subcommittee's endorsement of the retention of form subdivsions in subject heading strings, even in the event of more widespread use of the 655 field, has been conveyed to the LC Form/Genre Working Group
  • LC will continue coding subdivisions that represent first order political divisions of countries as topical subdivisions
  • CPSO is currently developing plans to create authority records to control free-floating subdivisions
  • LC agrees that it is useful to clarify and document practice for situations where topical subdivisions are not to be subdivided geographically
  • LC agrees that some level of default order is possible if several broad areas of exceptions are identified and specified; LC is encouraged that research in user understanding of subject headings is continuing
• question was raised of when subject heading terms are treated differently in different disciplines (citation order, implication of term, in classification schemes, etc.); response was that maybe this would be a good topic for a future ALA program
• 16th edition of SEARS List of Subject Headings will be distributed 6/97
• LC report
  • LC has newly a designed home page with enhanced searching capabilities to its catalogs: word search, browse search, command search and a new experimental search system that supports relevancy-ranked searching of catalog records
  • LC is in beginning stages of acquiring a commercial integrated library system; RFP is expected to be issued in March, with plans to test in 1998 and implement in 1999
  • from 4-11/96, 1548 items, including music scores and sound recordings, were cataloged as core level bibliographic records; the experiment showed that in more than half the time core level cataloging represents savings over full level
  • over 106,000 new name authority records were added to the national authority file by NACO contributors; for the 1st time, participating libraries added more new headings to the file than LC catalogers
  • SACO has over 70 members; they proposed 2,026 new headings, 616 changes to existing reocrds, 780 new class numbers and 51 changes to existing numbers; a form for making classification proposals along with guidelines for its completion are available on the PCC home page
  • CPSO expects to have a home page for its official cataloging documentation and announcements by spring 1997; the page will also include LC Subject Headings Weekly Lists that are currently mounted on LC MARVEL; CPSO will continue to issue paper updates and to publish the CSB
  • 5th edition of the Subject Cataloging Manual has been published; it is in 4 smaller volumes and contains a glossary that defines technical terms; many instruction sheets are expanded, reorganizaed and rewritten for greater clarity; there are several new instruction sheets on chronological headings and subdivisions and the subdivision --SONGS AND MUSIC, as well as instruction sheets providing summaries of cataloging procedures in music and literature
  • a report on the changes that have taken place in subdivision practice in LCSH since the Airlie House conference is available on LC MARVEL and accessible through the Cataloging Directorate home page
  • LC Form/Genre Working Group continues to review form/genre headings and subdivisions for possible use in the 655 field and subfield $v; CPSO expects that new data elements for subject authorities will be implemented in 1997; LC will create records for free-floating form subdivisions first so that subfield $v can begin to be applied in bibliographic and authority records; the fluid area of computer files and works about computer files has been identified as a fruitful area for experimentation; lessons learned from this area could smooth the way for implementation for greater use of form/genre fields in other areas
  • the M schedule has been converted and should be available in Classification Plus later this year
  • proposals for changes in LC's treatment of series and multipart items were circulated in 8/96; current LC policy states:
    • alternate class number might not be provided if classification development work is needed
    • the cataloger has the option to omit the alternate class number any time too much work would be involved
    • LC prefers separate classification but allows the cataloger to decide on a case by case basis to classify as a collection if the scope of the series is narrow
    • a collected set record will continue to be made whenever a series is classified as a collection
• there will be a SAC pre-conference, 6/26-27, to the ALA annual meeting in San Francisco, entitled: DEMYSTIFYING SUBJECT CATALOGING OF ELECTRONIC RESOURCES; there will be places for 80 participants
• Dewey for windows was released 8/96; an electronic book on how to use Dewey for windows is on DDC home page; file on DDC home page demonstrates how new LC headings can be applied to DDC; there is a Russian and Chinese translation of edition 21
• Subcommittee appointed to review DDC cuttering proposal (OCLC project), with report due by 3/30/97; charge: comment on the expansion of the tables, cuttering of numbers and Roman numerals, treatment of biographies, series and editions, the addition of subject cutters and questions on workmarks

Meeting 2: 2/17/97

• report of Subcommittee on Subject Relationships/Reference Structures: group reviewed subject relationships in selected LC headings with attention to what alternative ways relationships might be grouped or characterized; subcommittee will review display issues and possibilities, along with coding requirements
• report of Subcommittee on Subject Authority File Recommendations: is investigating ways of recording the history of heading changes in authority records and identifing changes to authority records for main headings and subdivisions needed to accommodate coding that will allow automatic validation of heading-subdivision combinations
• report of Subcommittee on Form Headings/Subdivision Implementation: sponsored an open session, based on results from questionnaires sent to thesaurus builders and vendors; information shared but few suggestions on how vendors might handle this information in online catalogs were offered; group will construct possible screen displays (query examples/results) and try to collect information on if and how users search by form
• report of Subcommittee to Review Principles Underlying Subject Heading Languages: is reviewing IFLA document (Principles underlying subject heading languauges) and is preparing report to SAC to be considered by the Working Group of the IFLA Section on Classification and Indexing
• discussion of possible themes for SAC-sponsored program for 1998; suggestion: difference in perspectives on classification and LC headings according to discipline
• addendum to LC Report: in spite of 300 miles of shelving available at LC, by year 2000 there will not be enough space; questions have been raised about the purpose of classification versus fixed location

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Last updated April 18, 2000