What’s Happening with Genre Headings?
Emily Dust NimsakontNebraska Library CommissionNCompass LiveAugust 3, 2011
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thisisbossi/5677064277/
What is a genre heading?
A genre is “a category that is identifiable by some of the following characteristics:
style, plot, device, mood or tone, character type, and theme.”
Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, etc. American Library Association,
2000.
Genre heading vs. Subject heading
A genre heading describes what something is.
A subject heading describes what something is about.
The same terms can be used as both subject headings and genre headings.
Examples:
The Animated Movie GuideWALL-E
Genre vs. Form
Genre = category of content
Action and adventure films
Jazz radio programs
Detective and mystery films
Form = format or purpose
Globes
Feature films
Video recordings for the hearing impaired
Genre + Form Together
Action and adventure films
Genre
Form
History of LC & Genres
• 2003 - MBRS asked if MIGFG could be merged with LCSH
• January 2009 - terms for moving images and recorded sound issued
• June 2010 - separate vocabulary created
• September 2010 - terms for cartographic materials issued
• June 2011 - terms for law materials issued
Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival
Materials
(LCGFT)
LCGFT
Established June 2010
Appeared in print in 32nd edition of LCSH
New authority recordsissued May 24, 2011
MARC for Genre Headings
Subject heading: 650
Genre heading: 655
Old:655 _0 $a Comedy films.
New:655 _7 $a Comedy films. $2
lcgft
Genre/Form Codes
http://www.loc.gov/standards/sourcelist/genre-form.html
Which disciplines have genre headings?
Law materials
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TreatiesCasebooksLaw reviewsExecutive orders
Cartographic materials
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/normanbleventhalmapcenter/3855456215/
GlobesMapsRelief modelsAstronomical models
Sound recordings
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bmcirillo/56359459/
Jazz radio programsOral historiesSports radio news programs
Television programs
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/abcarchives/4293749371/
Domestic comedy television programsReligious television programsReality television programs
Motion pictures
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcbeth/22544207/
Action and adventure filmsDocumentary filmsPropaganda films
Video recordings
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vancouverfilmschool/4974084289/
Video recordings for the hearing impairedMusic videosStock footage
Motion pictures vs. video recordings
Others in progress
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Music
Religion
Literature
You can use subject terms for disciplines that don’t have genre
terms.
Reference Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction
650 _0 $a Detective and mystery stories.
The Maltese Falcon
655 _0 $a Detective and mystery stories.
Do genre terms replace form subdivisions?
Usually, no.
650 _0 $a Thieves $v Drama.650 _0 $a Gold theft $v Drama.655 _7 $a Caper films. $2 lcgft655 _7 $a Crime films. $2 lcgft
651 _0 $a Nebraska $v Maps, Topographic.
is replaced by
651 _0 $a Nebraska $v Maps.655 _7 $a Topographic maps. $2
lcgft
LCGFT and Facets
A facet is “any of the definable aspects that make up a subject.”http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/facet
Faceting is “coding single terms or phrases, representing individual
concepts, separately in the bibliographic record.”
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/genre_form_faq.pdf
LCSH
Soils -- Nebraska -- Maps.
NOTSoils.Nebraska.Maps.
LCGFT
Sports films.Comedy films.Feature films.
NOTSports feature films.
Where can you find genre headings?
Print Version
OCLC Connexion
http://authorities.loc.gov
How can we make use of genre headings?
Keyword searching
Indexed with subject terms
Indexed separately
Indexed separately
Facets
Other Vocabularies
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Other Vocabularies
Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, etc. (GSAFD) http://alcme.oclc.org/gsafd/
Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (TGM) http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/tgm/
Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabularies/aat
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/
Other Vocabularies
Moving Image Materials: Genre Terms (MIM) http://www.loc.gov/rr/mopic/migintro.html
Radio Form-Genre Guide (RADFG) http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/frmgen.html
Genre Terms: A Thesaurus for Use in Rare Book and Special Collections Cataloging http://www.rbms.info/committees/bibliographic_standards/controlled_vocabularies/genre/alphabetical_list.htm
Managing multiple thesauri
• Do all 655s get indexed?• Watch for conflicts between terms in
different thesauri• Authority records for all terms
• University of Washington genre headings: http://faculty.washington.edu/aschiff/GenreHeadings.ppt
Resources
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/genreformgeneral.html
Resources
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/genre_form_faq.pdf
Resources
http://www.oclc.org/us/en/connexion/overview/websessions.htm
Thank you!
Emily Dust NimsakontCataloging Librarian
Nebraska Library Commission
www.delicious.com/NLC_Reference/ncompasslive+genre
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