Using Sear's Subject Headings (course notes)

When Applying Sears

1. Determine subject (s) of item by examine its subject-rich element (title, table of contents or menu, preface, summary, index); consider these from a user’s viewpoint.

2. Write the subject(s) down in your own words.

3. Match each subject listed with heading in Sears list, assign the heading authorized for use that most closely represent it.

4. Assign up to three subject headings. If an item covers more than three subjects, assign a broader heading that includes them (I item covers cultivation of lemons, bananas, avocado assign the three heading, If it lists more fruit assign Fruit Culture.

In addition, consider the following in selecting subject headings:

1. Choose the most specific heading available.
2. Give the most specific heading directly, not as a subdivision of a broader heading
3. Consider items already in the collection relating to the subject of the item being catalogue and try to collocate it with these items.
4. Treat items first by topic, then by geographical focus or by form, unless Sear’s scope notes instruct doing otherwise.
5. Be “format-blind” in subject cataloguing. Treat materials other than books in the same way books are treated.
6. Consult Sears’s prefatory pages for specific subject cataloguing treatment of biographies, nationalities, literature, and wars and events.

Sears is effective because it give users enough “hits” to find an item without overwhelming or disappoint them. It terminology is simpler and less sophisticated than LCSH and enables young searchers to understand them better.