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Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings

The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) provides an alphabetical listing of authorized or preferred terms established by the Library of Congress since 1898. These "official" terms should be used when doing Subject searches in Colorado State University's online catalog (SAGE). LCSH is published in large volumes with red covers. Copies are kept in the Reference and EIC Areas.

Many names of places and people (i.e., proper nouns) are not listed in LCSH, however, they may be used as subject headings.

USE REFERENCES

USE references are made FROM an unauthorized or non-preferred term TO an authorized or preferred term. They are made for synonyms and for older and variant forms of headings. For example,

    Child raising
      USE Child rearing
    Stained glass
      USE Glass Staining and painting

COMPONENTS OF LCSH ENTRIES

Subject heading is in boldface.

CODE (May Subd Geog) or (Not Subd Geog) (in italics) indicates whether or not the heading can be subdivided geographically.

LC class numbers are given when there is a close correspondence between the subject heading and the LC classification. (Approximately 36% of headings have class numbers.)

Scope note gives guidance in the meaning or application of the heading. (Approximately 4000 scope notes appear in LCSH.)

References express the relationship between terms:

    UF Use For (equivalency)
    BT Broader Terms (hierarchical)
    NT
    Narrower Terms (hierarcical)
    RT Related Terms (associative)
    SA See Also (a general reference to an entire group of headings or subdivisions
    rather than to individual headings or subdivisions.)
    Dog Breeds
    SA names of specific breeds, e.g. Bloodhounds, Collies

Example LCSH entry:

    Glass painting and staining Subject heading
    (May Subd Geog) Code
    [NK5300-5410] LC class
    UF Glass, Stained Use For
    Stained glass
    BT Art Broader Terms
    Glass craft
    RT Glass, Colored Related Term
    NT Glass painters Narrower Term
    ---Patterns Topical subdivision

SUBDIVISIONS

Subdivisions combine a number of different concepts into a single subject heading. Only a fraction of all possible heading and subdivision combinations are listed in LCSH. Most subdivisions are indicated by a general reference under the heading that is the same as the subdivision as in the following example:

    Periodicals

    SA subdivision Periodicals under specific subjects, e.g. Engineering--Periodicals;
    United--States--History--Periodicals

There are four types of subdivisions:

Topical: Corn--Harvesting
Form: Corn--Dictionaries
Chronological: Corn--To 221 B.C.
Geographic: Corn--Iowa

For details on what subdivisions are used for literary authors, look up the pattern heading "Shakespeare, William" for possibilities (some of the subdivisions don't make sense in the context of Shakespeare, but using only one author saves a lot of space).

See the "Table of Pattern Headings" for other terms used as patterns for possible subdivisions. (Found in introductory information for the LCSH in Vol. 1.)

CHOICE OF TERMS IN LCSH

Frequently, LC subject headings are not the terms most commonly used. Examples of how different the terms are follow:

    Your terms
    Black drama (American)
    Communes
    Movies
    LCSH
    American drama--Afro-American authors
    Communal living
    Motion Pictures


In using the online catalog (SAGE), LC Subject Headings are listed under "SUBJECTS" in the full record of the item. When you find a useful item, do additional searches for subjects you find listed there.

SEARCHING SAGE

To search for items in SAGE using the LCSH term, type S from the main menu and then type in the term(s). From SAGE on the web, select "LC Subjects" and then type in your term(s).

    S
    S     		Glass, colored
    Child rearing

How to do Research

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Content: Naomi Lederer