Genre headings can be very useful in library catalogs in order to let patrons search for particular types of items. In May of this year, the Library of Congress changed how its genre headings are handled, separating them from subject headings and establishing a separate thesaurus, the Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials (LCGFT). In this session, Emily Nimsakont, the NLC’s Cataloging Librarian, will give an overview of how genre headings are used and discuss the effects of this decision by the Library of Congress.

1. What’s Happening with Genre Headings? Emily Dust Nimsakont Nebraska Library Commission NCompass Live August 3, 2011 Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thisisbossi/5677064277/

2. 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.

3. Genre heading vs. Subject heading A genre heading describes what something is. A subject heading describes what something is about.

4. The same terms can be used as both subject headings and genre headings. Examples: The Animated Movie Guide WALL-E

5. 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

6. Genre + Form Together Action and adventure films Genre Form

7. 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

8. Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials (LCGFT)

9. LCGFT Established June 2010 Appeared in print in 32nd edition of LCSH New authority records issued May 24, 2011

11. MARC for Genre Headings Subject heading: 650 Genre heading: 655

12. Old: 655 _0 $a Comedy films. New: 655 _7 $a Comedy films. $2 lcgft

13. Genre/Form Codes http://www.loc.gov/standards/sourcelist/genre-form.html

14. Which disciplines have genre headings?

15. Law materials Treaties Casebooks Law reviews Executive orders Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seychelles88/351409399/

16. Cartographic materials Globes Maps Relief models Astronomical models Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/normanbleventhalmapcenter/3855456215/

17. Sound recordings Jazz radio programs Oral histories Sports radio news programs Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bmcirillo/56359459/

18. Television programs Domestic comedy television programs Religious television programs Reality television programs Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/abcarchives/4293749371/

19. Motion pictures Action and adventure films Documentary films Propaganda films Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcbeth/22544207/

20. Video recordings Video recordings for the hearing impaired Music videos Stock footage Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vancouverfilmschool/4974084289/

21. Motion pictures vs. video recordings

22. Others in progress Music Religion Literature Photo credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhdesign/1114848610/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ettervor/2347757170/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/brody/4483246/

23. You can use subject terms for disciplines that don’t have genre terms.

24. Reference Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction 650 _0 $a Detective and mystery stories.

25. The Maltese Falcon 655 _0 $a Detective and mystery stories.

26. Do genre terms replace form subdivisions?

27. Usually, no. 650 _0 $a Thieves $v Drama. 650 _0 $a Gold theft $v Drama. 655 _7 $a Caper films. $2 lcgft 655 _7 $a Crime films. $2 lcgft

28. 651 _0 $a Nebraska $v Maps, Topographic. is replaced by 651 _0 $a Nebraska $v Maps. 655 _7 $a Topographic maps. $2 lcgft

29. 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

30. LCSH Soils -- Nebraska -- Maps. NOT Soils. Nebraska. Maps.

31. LCGFT Sports films. Comedy films. Feature films. NOT Sports feature films.

34. Where can you find genre headings?

35. Print Version

36. OCLC Connexion

37. http://authorities.loc.gov

38. How can we make use of genre headings?

39. Keyword searching

40. Indexed with subject terms

41. Indexed separately

42. Indexed separately

43. Facets

45. Other Vocabularies Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bean/322616749/

46. 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/

47. 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

48. 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

49. Resources http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/genreformgeneral.html

50. Resources http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/genre_form_faq.pdf

51. Resources http://www.oclc.org/us/en/connexion/overview/websessions.htm

52. Thank you! Emily Dust Nimsakont Cataloging Librarian Nebraska Library Commission emily.dust.nimsakont@nebraska.gov 800-307-2665 www.delicious.com/NLC_Reference/ncompasslive+genre www.slideshare.net/nebraskaccess