Issue 32

SCIS Subject Headings has a new look!

The SCIS cataloguing agencies and the unit at Curriculum Corporation worked around the clock to complete work on SCIS Subject Headings Fourth Edition. This newly revised tool was released in November 1999.

Work on a revision such as this is a painstaking task. The list had to be first extracted from the Voyager database, and then each entry had to be manipulated to conform to the newly chosen format. The addition of new terms to the list and the deletion of dated terms is normally undertaken by means of a process of research paper preparation by individual agencies, followed by teleconferences at which consensus on each change is sought. However, in recent months, to meet the publication deadline, emails between the agencies have been flying backwards and forwards, with many heated debates and discussions about individual headings and subject indexing policies.

The new format uses the symbols USE/UF, BT, NT and RT which replace the former x, See, See also and xx. A footer on each page explains the meanings of these new symbols. With this new format, the references to and from associated allowed headings are precisely labelled as Broader, Narrower or Related. While it has been possible to check and review a percentage of these with respect to the appropriateness of the given hierarchies, the staff involved accepts that the refining of these relationships will be an ongoing task.

Another laborious task in a revision process such as this is the careful checking of the reciprocal references for both the USE references and for each of the Broader, Narrower and Related terms under each of the approximately 6,000 allowed headings. The richness of the English language ensures that there are many different ways of expressing a given concept and the number of possible associations between concepts is enormous. A heading such as Cookery in the list has eight synonymous 'non-allowed' headings from which references need to be made to Cookery; under the heading Psychology 45 narrower headings are listed. Each of these has to be checked in its alphabetically filed position to make sure that it in its turn has Psychology as its broader term.A key feature of this edition has been the revision of the headings for Aboriginal peoples. This has been undertaken in consultation with the Aboriginal Studies Consultants in each state, and the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group. The heading Aborigines has been replaced by the more acceptable phrase Aboriginal peoples. New headings include Aboriginal communities, Aboriginal law, Aboriginal peoples -Dreaming and Aboriginal resistance.

Other areas for which new headings have been developed include information technology, the Internet, and sound and video recordings. In addition some dated headings have been replaced, for example, Eskimos has been replaced by Inuit, and Negroes by Blacks. Headings in the area of popular music have been revised and the standard subdivision History may now be further subdivided by century.

With respect to headings to be devised and added by the cataloguer, policy in the new edition is to provide at least one example in each allowable category, for example, Nolan, Sidney, Sir is given as an example of Painters, Australian; Bus drivers and Law are given as an example of careers and I.B.M. (Computer) as an example of Computers. The list contains a large number of country and place names. This is an area that requires ongoing revision and it is felt to be useful to include as many of these as possible.

In the new edition many notes have been reworded and clarified. For example, at Biography, guidelines for the use of the heading have been considerably expanded. As in the past, the Introduction includes detailed explanations of the symbols and conventions used. Listings are provided of new, replaced and cancelled headings, categories for which headings are to be added by the cataloguer, and standard subdivisions.

As with the third edition the filing of the list is generally alphabetically word by word, with hyphenated words filed as if they were two separate words. However in the fourth edition a heading and all of its subdivisions (i.e. headings after the long dash) are filed together. Inverted and phrase headings follow the heading and its subdivisions, but are interfiled alphabetically as before. This arrangement will make it easier to identify those headings which have a pattern of subdivisions that may be applied to other similar headings, for example the subdivisions at the headings Bible and Shakespeare, William. This filing will not affect the filing in the library catalogue.

This edition has established the new format and made a number of important revisions. It provides a snap shot of headings at a given point in time, but many areas have been signalled for ongoing and further review. Over time the list will benefit enormously from ever-increasing dialogue between the cataloguing agencies and Teacher Librarians. This two-way communication process is steadily being enhanced by information technologies both in schools and in the SCIS agencies. The dialogue will help to ensure that the list serves the needs of Teacher Librarians and students in our fast-changing educational environment.