Coding of Subject Headings in the Union Catalogue
The second indicator value signifies the subject thesaurus in the following fields: 600, 610, 611, 630, 650, 651, 655.
Most of our subject headings will be coded in 650 fields with second indicator value 0, for LC subject headings.
Other possibilities are given in the table below.
| Subject heading system | 6XX 2nd indicator | Used in our catalogue | Authorities |
| LCSH | 0 | In original and derived records | Sys/Thes (008/11) value 'a' |
| Children's headings | 1 | In some derived records only; no need to delete | Sys/Thes (008/11) value 'b'
Records no longer in our authority file |
| MeSH (NLM medical headings) | 2 | In derived records for Gerstein, Mount Sinai, etc.; do not delete |
Sys/Thes (008/11) value 'c'
No records in our authority file |
| Local | 4 | Do not use | n/a |
| Canadian subject headings | 5 | Use only those where an authority record has been created |
Sys/Thes (008/11) value 'k |
| Répertoire de vedettes-matière | 6 | Do not use; delete from derived records |
Sys/Thes (008/11) value 'v'
No records in our authority file |
| Other source of subject term | 7 | Use with 655 field when coding genre terms | n/a |
Here are some reminders about our subject heading practice based on the CDC Subject Heading Guidelines originally issued in September 1995:
- Do not copy subject authority records from LC into our authority file. LCSH records are loaded weekly into our system.
- Do not create CANMARC subject authority records. Notify the CDC if you think a CANMARC heading is required.
- Delete 653 fields if the access they provide is too broad to be useful, provided there is at least one other adequate subject heading in the record.
- For locally-assigned subject headings, use the 690 field. The indicators are blank and only subfield |a is defined.
CDC
7 June 2005
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