[DCRM-L] Library of Congress cataloging changes

[Manon Theroux]

Re #2 below (precoordination of subject strings), LC's report at ALA Annual
*http://www.loc.gov/ala/an-2007-update.html*
contains the folowing snippet:
**
*####################*
*Subject cataloging policy. *At the request of the Director for ABA, the
Cataloging Policy and Support Office undertook a consideration of the pros
and cons of precoordinated subject strings, defined as the combination of
subject elements in a single heading in anticipation that a search may be
performed on that combination. The CPSO report included a review of relevant
literature. On June 13, the ABA Directorate Management Team endorsed the
CPSO report's recommendation that the Library of Congress continue to apply
LCSH in a precoordinated fashion. The Management Team also accepted a suite
of recommendations aimed at making precoordinated LCSH easier to apply,
including recommendations for projects to create many more
subject-subdivision strings in order to facilitate machine validation of
headings. The Management Team will explore additional means to reduce the
cost of subject cataloging and ensure its relevance in search environments
that extend beyond library catalogs.
###############

Manon Theroux
Authority Control Librarian
Yale University Library



> > In particular, LC management is positioning itself to change its
> practices
> > in two major ways: 1) LC is moving away from its practice of requiring
> subject
> > expertise in its catalogers; and 2) it is questioning the practice of
> > creating LC Subject Headings in precoordinated subject strings (see
> pages 21-27 of
> > Mann's paper). Without precoordination, the existing cross-reference
> structure,
> > the linkages of LCSH to LC Classification, and the possibility of browse
> > displays of subdivided headings in online catalogs, would be lost.
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