Home → Cataloging in NC Cardinal → Bibliographic Cataloging → Subject and Genre/Form Headings
Last Updated 01/05/2024
Subject headings refer to what a resource is ABOUT.
Genre headings refer to what a resource IS.
Authorities Working Group Cheat Sheet
Subject headings are encoded most commonly in the 600, 650, and 651 fields, though other 6XX fields are possible. The second indicator in a subject heading specifies the subject heading vocabulary the term comes from. Common numbers include:
Genre headings are encoded in the 655 field. Genre headings should ideally come from the Library of Congress Genre/Form Thesaurus, which is coded with a second indicator of 7 and $2 lcgft (see Examples 3a and 3b below).
Delete duplicate subject and genre headings, favoring those from Library of Congress Subject Headings and Library of Congress Genre/Form Headings vocabularies, as seen in Examples 3a and 3b. However, if the duplicate subject or genre heading is from the Homosaurus thesaurus (see below), do not delete it.
As will be seen below, Cardinal recommends the sole use of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms (lcgft) when possible. However, there will be times when such headings or terms are not yet available and alternate headings and terms from other vocabulary lists must be used instead. These alternate headings and terms can be identified by the code presented in the subfield $2. They should not be deleted from a record unless appropriate Library of Congress Subject Headings and Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms already exist.
Such instances are described in greater detail below, but for ease of reference, a list of approved codes is provided here:
If catalogers find terms or headings with codes that are not included in the list above (for example, "local" or "unbist"), they should be deleted.
The Cardinal Authority Working Group recommends the sole use of LCSH in Cardinal for all adult English materials. This subject heading list is freely available from the Library of Congress, widely used world-wide and is actively maintained by the Library of Congress. All headings from other vocabulary lists should be either deleted or converted to LCSH as, and when, possible. LC’s Subject Headings Manual should be consulted as needed for guidance on the use and application of LCSH. This manual is freely available at: http://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeSHM/freeshm.html
The Cardinal Authority Working Group recommends the sole use of lcgft in Cardinal for genre/form terms with the Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, Etc. (gsafd) held in reserve for secondary use when a lcgft term is not yet available. The lcgft vocabulary list was started in 2007 by the Library of Congress in cooperation with various subject specialists and contains terms for cartographic materials, general materials (such as dictionaries), law materials, moving images (films and television programs), music, non-musical sound recordings, and religious materials in addition to literature materials. This list is actively maintained and expanded by the Library of Congress. All genre terms from other vocabulary lists should be either deleted or converted to lcgft as, and when, possible. LC’s Genre/Form Terms Manual should be consulted as needed for guidance on the use and application of lcgft. This manual is freely available at: http://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeLCGFT/freelcgft.html
Always prefer Library of Congress Subject Headings (second indicator 0) and Library of Congress Genre Form Terms (second indicator 7, $2 lcgft).
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650 0 ‡aVoyages and travels ‡vFiction.
650 0 ‡aWidowers ‡vFiction.
650 0 ‡aOrphans ‡vFiction.
650 0 ‡aKiowa Indians ‡vFiction.
651 0 ‡aUnited States ‡xHistory ‡y19th century ‡vFiction.
650 7 ‡aFICTION / Historical. ‡2bisacsh
650 7 ‡aFICTION / Literary. ‡2bisacsh
650 7 ‡aFICTION / General. ‡2bisacsh
650 7 ‡aKiowa Indians. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst00987810
650 7 ‡aOrphans. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01048433
650 7 ‡aVoyages and travels. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01169308
650 7 ‡aWidowers. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01174932
651 7 ‡aUnited States. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01204155
648 7 ‡a1800-1899 ‡2fast
655 7 ‡aHistorical fiction. ‡2lcgft
655 7 ‡aFiction. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01423787
655 7 ‡aHistorical fiction. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01726640
655 7 ‡aHistory. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01411628
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650 0 ‡aVoyages and travels ‡vFiction.
650 0 ‡aWidowers ‡vFiction.
650 0 ‡aOrphans ‡vFiction.
650 0 ‡aKiowa Indians ‡vFiction.
651 0 ‡aUnited States ‡xHistory ‡y19th century ‡vFiction.
655 7 ‡aHistorical fiction. ‡2lcgft
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For materials in all formats whose primary language is Spanish the Cardinal Authority Working Group recommends that in addition to LCSH terms, subject headings from the Bilindex vocabulary list should also be added, or at least preserved. These headings should be correctly coded as 650 -7 [Topic term] $2 bidex. The working group recommends that the consortium investigate a consortium subscription to Bilindex due to the ever-increasing population in North Carolina whose native language is Spanish. Although these subject heading terms are widely used on bib records found in OCLC and LC it would be difficult to add them to new records without access to the vocabulary list itself. However, personal, corporate and place names should continue to come from the naf and LCSH. The working group further recommends the continued observance of foreign languages and as another one becomes prominently used in the state then a controlled vocabulary list for that language should be sought. All foreign language subject terms other than those from Bilindex should be deleted.
The Authorities Working Group recommends that fast headings be deleted from the Cardinal database. Deleting these headings will reduce duplication of headings in the database.
The Authorities Working Group recommends the use of adult subject headings with the appropriate juvenile subject subdivision heading. The working group is also recommending that children’s subject headings from the lcshac list not be used. The working group is making this recommendation because children’s subject headings usually duplicate adult headings and the KPAC can be easily configured to accommodate this decision.
Genre headings should also be used and should be taken from the Library of Congress Genre and Form Thesaurus and are applied in the same manner regardless of audience age.
The Authorities Working Group recommends that adult subject headings without juvenile subject subdivisions be used for young adult materials. In addition to the subject headings, the working group encourages the use of the following genre headings when appropriate.
The Authorities Working Group recommends that the genre heading “655 -7 Graphic novels. $2 lcgft” be used for all graphic novels regardless of the age group. The reading level will be indicated by the addition of subject subdivision headings to topical subject headings as well as the Audience fixed field code and the shelving location in the library. The genre heading “Comics (Graphic works)” is a broader genre term which includes both graphic novels and comics and can be used whenever the work in hand cannot be easily placed into either category. There are currently 28 different comic genre headings that can be used as appropriate.
The subject subdivision “$v Comic books, strips, etc.” should be added to subject headings as appropriate. However, additional form subject subdivisions should not be added after this subdivision to bring out the fiction or nonfiction aspect of the work.
Though it is recommended that subject and genre headings should ideally come from the Library of Congress and others should be deleted, special consideration is given to subject and genre headings from the Homosaurus thesaurus. These headings are intended to be used when cataloging LGBTQ+ resources. The terms are coded with a second indicator of 7 and the subfield $2 homoit and should be retained if present in a MARC record.
Some examples include:
As more libraries circulate video games as part of their collections, it is recommended that catalogers utilize genre terms from the OLAC Video Game Genre Vocabulary when cataloging video games to provide more accurate descriptors for these materials in their respective records.
One such example would appear as:
655 -7 Sports video games $2 olacvggt
A list of these genre terms can be found here.