Update on Genre/Form Projects at the

Library of Congress

Janis L. Young

Cataloging Policy and Support Office

Library of Congress

January 2008

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Agenda

• Achievements of the moving image project

• Issues and problems encountered

• Future steps

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Achievements

• Records: Approximately 200 records have been approved and released since September 2007

• Policy: H 1913, Moving Image Genre/Form Headings, has been drafted, revised, and published

• Positive feedback about the amount and quality of information dissemination and opportunities for comment

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Resolved issues:Moving images

• Moving image works for the hearing and sight impaired– Reinstatement of headings Video recordings

for the hearing impaired and Video recordings for people with visual disabilities

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Resolved issues: Moving images

• Geographic subdivision– Arguments against: not part of the genre or the

form; country of production elsewhere in record; possible misinterpretation of meaning

– Arguments for: system limitations; co-produced works may be hard to find; evidence that users utilize geographic subdivision

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Resolved issues: Moving images

• Geographic subdivision– Proposed change in policy: Geographic

subdivision of moving image genre/form headings will be permitted, to denote the country of production

– LC may not apply geographic subdivisions– Should not be interpreted as a precedent for

genre/form headings for other disciplines

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Resolved issues: Moving images

• Headings for language(e.g., Spanish language films; [. . .] films—Spanish)

– Arguments against: not part of the genre or the form of a work; language(s) of work available elsewhere in record

– Arguments for: system limitations; users may find it easier to find works in a specific language by using a heading, rather than limiting a search

– Recommended Policy: There will be no provision for the language of a work

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Moving image issues to be resolved

• “Crossover” terms– The projects are incremental, and LCSH is very

interconnected– When should headings that belong to more than

one discipline be created (e.g., Opera films)?– How far should the BT/NT/RT chains be

followed (e.g., Television adaptations: BT is Television scripts, a literary heading)?

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Moving image issues to be resolved

• Should topical form headings, coded 150, continue to be subdivided in all cases?

Current practice:650 Horror films—History and criticism.655 Horror films.

Future practice?650 Horror films.655 Horror films.

– If change is made, huge database maintenance and training issues will result

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Overarching issue

• Development being done in a live database– Policies may appear to be more stable than they

in fact are, and changes sometimes lead to confusion

– But, allows for community involvement and provides many opportunities for feedback and collaboration, two goals of the project

– Thank you for your patience!

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Future directions• Moving images

– More headings will be submitted and approved

– Revision to H 1913, Moving Image Genre/Form headings, will be released in Update package 1, 2008

• Non-musical sound recordings– SCM memo for radio programs is being drafted and

will be posted for comment

– Headings based on the Radio Form/Genre Terms Guide (RADFG) are being created

• Future projects?

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Future directions

• SACO genre/form proposals are not being accepted yet– 100+ additional headings being prepared in

CPSO– SACO libraries may continue to submit

headings coded 150, and CPSO will create additional genre/form authority records as appropriate