Team Links
Form/genre terms
Very briefly: Subject headings describe what the item is about; form/genre headings describe what the item is. A Tourist map, for example, isn’t about tourist maps; it is a tourist map. The new system is a more accurate way of representing this concept, which is useful, albeit sometimes confusing.
Why are they important?
Recent and ongoing rule changes to LCSH by the Library of Congress have altered certain cartographic subheadings such that old forms won’t link via OCLC’s control headings command, because rule changes have resulted in the authority records changing. Controlling the headings, in case you’ve forgotten, is a good thing.
Basic procedure
Briefly, for affected terms, apply the generic subfield $v Maps to the subject heading and add a 655 for the new form of the term.
Ye olde style:
650 _0 Pennsylvania $v Maps, Tourist.
Newfangled method:
650 _0 Pennsylvania $v Maps.
655 _0 Tourist maps.
What records are affected?
Any time you create a new record, you *must* use the new forms. Likewise, all BIBCO records will require the new form to validate. Generally, when copy cataloging, finding an old style heading will be cause to enhance. Thus, you should use the new form in essentially every case. There may be exceptions. This shouldn’t change cataloging decisions – once a tourist map, always a tourist map - but it should change how these items are cataloged.
Other considerations
Implement these procedures immediately for all cartographic materials processed by the Team. We will need to seriously consider how to approach a retrospective conversion of the existing terms in our database. We plan on discussing these changes with the Authority Control Librarian to consider our options. We also do not know if OCLC has plans to update their headings; there may come a point when OCLC records have been magically corrected. Until that time, Enhance copy to reflect current practice so that headings can be controlled.
Short list of common terms
Extracted below are some common terms affected by this rule change. Instructions for accessing the comprehensive list are detailed below. Essentially, if you try to control headings and a heading won’t create a control link, it may be because of changes to the authority record resulting from the rule change. You can search the authority file in OCLC to see newly-minted 155 records for these terms.
Aeronautical charts
Atlases
Globes
Index maps
Nautical charts
Outline maps
Pictorial maps
Remote-sensing images
Topographic maps
Tourist maps
World maps
To find the “official” list, browse LC Subject Headings for the term Cartographic materials in Class Web. The NT (narrower terms) under this heading all have lists of valid terms. Every term on each list is affected.
Joel Hahn’s list includes option terms that would be helpful as 655s, although they don’t require manipulating any subject headings:
http://www.hahnlibrary.net/libraries/formgenre-categorized.html#maps
For example, the term “Roads maps” is valid for use as a 655, but the 650 for “Roads – [place name] -- Maps” is still valid, so in this case the 655 can be considered optional, but desirable, and we encourage use of these terms.
