Collection: Subject (LCSH)
This property is: Optional.
Definition
A single concept (keyword or subject descriptor) that is the subject of the intellectual content of the collection, or of the items in the collection.
Examples
| Value | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Electronic information resources | Subject terms for the JISC Information Environment Service Registry collection. |
| Information retrieval | |
| Machine-readable bibliographic data | |
| Archaeology | Subject terms for the Arts and Humanities Data Service collection. |
| History | |
| Performing arts | |
| Art | |
| Linguistics | |
| Literature | |
| English literature | |
| Language and languages | |
| Arts, Visual | |
| Dance | |
| Theatre | |
| Motion pictures | |
| Music | |
| Arts | Subject terms for the Copac collection. |
| Humanities | |
| Medicine | |
| Science | |
| Social sciences | |
| Technology |
Guidelines
Values for this property are defined by Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). LCSH is a thesaurus of subject headings, maintained by the United States Library of Congress, for use in bibliographic records.
If geographical subdivisions are used in a term, and if the geographical subdivision used represents the spatial coverage of the collection, then this spatial coverage should also be recorded using one of the Spatial properties: note that this geographical coverage does not have to be entered using Spatial (LCSH); any of the controlled vocabularies may be used.
If chronological subdivisions are used in a term, and if the chronological subdivision used represents the temporal coverage of the collection, then this temporal coverage should also be recorded using Temporal: note that LCSH terms can not be simply pasted into Temporal; values under Temporal must be entered in the correct format.
If form subdivisions are used in a term, and if the form subdivision used represents the form or type of the collection, then this should be recorded using Collection Type and/or Item Type.
Subject Indexing Policy
The set of terms used under each controlled vocabulary must describe the collection fully.
Do not use term(s) that only describe the type, form, spatial coverage
or temporal coverage of the collection, as the term(s) will not describe
the subject of the collection. For example, if the collection is a
database, it should not be indexed with the LCSH term Databases
,
as this describes the type of the collection only, not the
subject of the intellectual content. The type, or form, of the collection is
indexed separately under Collection Type and Item
Type. Spatial and temporal coverage are indexed separately under Spatial and Temporal.
The exception to this rule is Subject (LCSH). LCSH terms that
include this information as subdivisions may be used, for example: History--20th
century
.
Use up to three related terms which are under the same broader term. If more than three terms in the same tree are needed then use the broader term instead. The depth of analysis is at your discretion, but it is suggested that five or more subject terms are entered, unless the collection's subject coverage is very specific.
Multidisciplinary resources may be indexed using the highest level subject terms in the chosen controlled vocabulary. Do not use terms that only describe the type or form of the collection. The set of terms used must fully describe the collection. For example, a multidisciplinary collection might be indexed with the following top-level terms from Dewey:
- 000
- 100
- 200
- 300
- 400
- 500
- 600
- 700
- 800
- 900
as the intellectual content of the collection covers all of these subject areas.
If the collection is a catalogue, index or hierarchical finding aid, then the term(s) used for Subject describe the intellectual content of the collection the catalogue describes (not the intellectual content of the catalogue, index or hierarchical finding aid records themselves). For example, the Copac collection is a catalogue. Subject describes the intellectual content of the books, manuscripts etc described in Copac.
References
- [Library of Congress Cataloging Distribution Service: Tools for Authority Control--Subject Headings] http://www.loc.gov/cds/lcsh.html
Occurrence
Repeatable: there may be multiple values for this property. Enter each value into its own text box.