Subject headings - Buswell Memorial Library

Guide to Subject Headings

This guide is intended for use with the Buswell catalog, I-Share, and WorldCat.

What are subject headings?

A subject heading is a word or phrase that describes what a book, video, or other library material is about. Librarians assign one or more subject headings to each item listed in the library catalog. This enables you to search the catalog by subject and find resources to match your need.

To find subject headings relevant to your topic:

Go to the Quick Reference Shelf in Buswell, where you will find a set of large red volumes entitled Library of Congress Subject Headings. Check these volumes for words or phrases that describe your topic as accurately as possible. If there is no entry for the word or phrase you think of first, try searching for a synonym or closely related concept.

Tip: Personal names do not appear in the red books, but any personal name can be used as a subject heading in the library catalog.

If you look up the word marriage in the red books, for example, you will find the following entry (it is reproduced here in condensed form):

Marriage
UF    Married life

   Matrimony

   Wedlock

BT    Love

   Sacraments

RT    Betrothal

   Courtship

   Family

   Home

NT    Arranged marriage

   Common law marriage

   Communication in marriage

   Divorce

   Remarriage

   -- Annulment

UF    Annulment of marriage

   Nullity of marriage

BT    Marriage law

This entry tells you that marriage is an authorized subject heading.

The abbreviations UF, BT, RT, and NT are explained as follows:

UF means "used for." Married life, matrimony, and wedlock are not used as subject headings. If you enter these words in a subject search in the catalog you will get no results. You must use marriage instead.

BT means "broader term." Use a broader term instead if it more nearly describes the scope of your topic.

RT means "related term." Related terms are other subject headings that you may want to consider.

NT means "narrower term." Use a narrower term instead if it more nearly describes the scope of your topic.

Tip: Librarians catalog books under the most specific subject heading available. Books cataloged under the narrower term will not also appear under the broader term.

Tip: If a broader, narrower, or related term looks promising, check its own entry in the red books. That entry may lead you to other useful headings.

Sub-headings, preceded by dashes, (in this example, --annulment), are words or phrases you can add to main heading (in this example, marriage). If you search the catalog for marriage annulment (leaving out the dashes), you will retrieve results that are about marriage annulment specifically, not about marriage in general.

Another means of finding subject headings, although less systematic, is to search by title or subject keyword in the library catalog until you find a book that is relevant to your topic, and then look at the record to see what subject headings have been used. Subject headings appear in catalog records as hypertext, so you can click on a heading to go to other records that use that heading also.

For more information, please contact:
Reference Librarian
(630) 752-5169
Reference@wheaton.edu