[DCRM-L] Comments please: Subfield $5

[Richard Noble]

At 1/9/2007    12:25 PM, Bob Maxwell wrote:
>Under Deborah's recommendation would there then be any reason for 
>subfield $5 in 6XX other than 655? How could you have a heading that 
>was *about* a manifestation of a work (i.e. the level of our catalog 
>records) that was local, i.e., only *about* it at BYU but not about 
>it at Yale? (As opposed to a heading that is narrower than most 
>other libraries would like in their catalog but is nonetheless about 
>some aspect of the manifestation.)

Bob-- Narrowness is the principal issue in 6XX. We may well need a 
subject heading so narrow (relevant to a good bit less than  20% of 
the content of a manifestation--or of an expression or a work, for 
that matter) that it would be positively undesirable in any other 
catalogue (i.e. making for a false hit in that context). A $5 in a 
650 field is the only way for us to add a heading, yet signal to 
alert copy cataloguers (a rare species?) that they probably want to delete it.

PS: Perhaps Deborah is morally correct in saying "I'd prefer that $5 
not even be used for headings that are of interest to a particular 
institution, if the headings apply to common elements", even though 
the subfield is currently defined for both purposes. In this case, 
what is legal may be nevertheless a sin? - Richard


RICHARD NOBLE : RARE BOOKS CATALOGER : JOHN HAY LIBRARY : BROWN UNIVERSITY
PROVIDENCE, RI 02912 : 401-863-1187/FAX 863-2093 : RICHARD_NOBLE at BROWN.EDU