Definition

A name, title, term, or phrase used as a subject access point.

Subject access points are assigned to a bibliographic record to provide access according to established subject cataloging principles and guidelines. Use to describe the content of the cataloged resource. Genre/form terms describe what a cataloged resource is, not what it is about.

Refer to Personal Names--General Information for information about personal name subject access points; refer to Corporate Names--General Information for information about corporate name subject access points; refer to Meeting Names--General Information for information about meeting name subject access points; refer to Preferred Titles--General Information for information about preferred title subject access points.

OCLC also makes available nonstandard MARC fields to use for additional subject access points not supported by cataloging rules. Enter information in fields 696, 697, 698, or 699 as you would in corresponding standard MARC fields. These fields do not remain in the WorldCat record. They are retained in the record displayed during the editing session, the exported record, and records delivered via other services.

For information about 6xx fields not covered on this page, refer to field 653 for information about uncontrolled index terms; refer to field 655 for information about genre/form index terms; refer to field 656 for information about occupation index terms; refer to field 657 for information about function index terms; refer to field 658 for information about curriculum objective index terms.

For information on punctuation, see the Punctuation section below.

Guidelines

Use the 6xx fields to provide subject access entries and terms. Most of the 6xx fields contain subject added entries or access terms based on the authority files or lists identified in the 2nd indicator or in subfield ǂ2.

If you are creating full-level records, add subject access points for resources that normally require subject access points. If you are inputting minimal-level records, optionally add subject access points. You are encouraged to enter at least one subject access point.

The Library of Congress has established guidelines for tagging certain corporate bodies and preferred titles. These guidelines and lists of problematic access points are occasionally updated and are available in MARC 21, Appendix E - Alphabetical List of Ambiguous Headings. Consult these guidelines when constructing these access points.

Special geographic guidelines:

• The terms Developing countries and Developed countries are treated as geographic names under Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and as topical terms under Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

  651

  0

  Developing countries ǂx Economic conditions

  650

  2

  Developing countries ǂx economics

• A geographic name based on a corporate name is treated as a geographic subdivision coded subfield ǂz when used as a subject subdivision

  610

  2

  0

  European Free Trade Association

  651

  0

  European Free Trade Association countries

  650

  0

  Agriculture ǂx Economic aspects ǂz European Free Trade Association countries

For subfields ǂv, ǂx, ǂy, and ǂz use the following guidelines:

• Treat the word States as a general subdivision coded subfield ǂx

  650

  0

  Finance, Public ǂz United States ǂx States

• Chronological subdivisions qualify a subject in terms of time. You may use dates as a subdivision for this purpose. However, if you use dates to identify a specific occurrence of an event and do not qualify the subject in terms of time, treat the subdivision as a general subdivision coded subfield ǂx instead.

  610

  1

  0

  United States. ǂb Army ǂx History ǂy Civil War, 1861-1865

  651

  0

  Oregon (Ill.) ǂx Census, 1990

• Treat subdivisions that qualify a subject in terms of the time in which items were written as form subdivisions coded subfield ǂv. Chronological subdivisions coded subfield ǂy apply to the subject itself. In the following examples, the first entry applies to items written before 1800 about art of any period. The second entry applies to works 17th century art whenever they were written.

  650

  0

  Art ǂv Early works to 1800

  650

  0

  Art, Modern ǂy 17th century ǂx History

Usual practice is to spell out all subject entries; however, you should not spell out the following subject entries:

• Certain names used as parenthetical qualifiers following corporate names

  610

  2

  0

  National Research Council (U.S.)

• Abbreviations that are integral parts of corporate names

  610

  2

  0

  U.S.-Ukraine Foundation

• Certain jurisdictional names following geographic place names

  651

  0

  Houston (Tex.)

See the LC Subject Headings Manual for more information about abbreviations.

1st Indicator

The definition of the 1st indicator position is specific to each field.

Undefined. The 1st indicator position is undefined and contains a blank.

Level of subject. The level of the subject entry. Use the 1st indicator to distinguish primary and secondary descriptors.

2nd Indicator

The definition of the 2nd indicator position is specific to each field.

Undefined. The 2nd indicator position is undefined and contains a blank.

Thesaurus. The thesaurus or subject heading system used in constructing the subject heading.

Subfields

Punctuation

For more information on punctuation, including OCLC policy, see section 2.8, Punctuation.

Indexing

For indexing and searching information, see Searching WorldCat Indexes, 6xx fields.

MARC 21

For more information, including content designator history, see MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data, 6xx.