Library of Congress Subject Headings: Cornell Library Gateway Help Page

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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)

The Library of Congress Subject Headings are standardized words or phrases used to group materials on the same topic, and are found in a manual called Library of Congress Subject Headings known as "the big red books." They are located in reference collections at various Cornell libraries. You will find examples of LCSH when you look at library catalog records in "Long View."

When you search the online catalog by subject, you must use a Library of Congress Subject Heading in the correct format.

Using Library of Congress Subject Headings

Suppose that you are writing a paper about e-commerce. Look up "e-commerce" in the Library of Congress Subject Headings books, located in any reference collection. You will see the below:

E-commerce
USE Electronic commerce

USE: indicates that the appropriate form of the heading. You need to look under electronic commerce instead of e-commerce.

If you look up "electronic commerce," you will see the following.

Electronic commerce (May Subd Geog)
   [HF5548.32-HF5548.33]
     Here are entered works on the exchange of goods and services and the transfer of funds through electronic communications.
     UF    Cybercommerce
              E-business
             E-commerce
              Internet commerce
              Online commerce
     BT    Commerce
              Information superhighway
     NT   Electronic data interchange
             Internet advertising
             Internet auctions
             Internet banking
             Internet bookstores
             Internet marketing
--Law and legislation (May Subd Geog)

May subd Geog: may subdivide geographically. For example, the subject heading for "e-commerce in the United States" is: Electronic commerce--United States.

[HF5548.32-HF5548.33] indicates the call number range for materials with this subject heading.

UF: used for. These are unauthorized headings. Don't use these headings.

BT: broader term. If there are too few items under the main heading (electronic commerce in this example), try broader headings.

NT: narrower term. These are more specific topics. If there are too many items under the main heading, consider using these narrower headings.

The two dashes "--" indicate subdivisions which narrow the main topic.

Depending on the subject heading, you may also find the below:

RT: related term. Another subject heading that may be useful, but falls outside of the main term's hierarchy.

SA: see also. Explains other usages of the subject heading.

There are many different subdivisions even though you may not see them listed.

Below is an example of online catalog records with "electronic commerce" as a subject. Remember to select "Long View" in online catalog to see subject headings.

Database:               Cornell University Library
Title:                       E-commerce agents : marketplace solutions, security issues, and supply and demand / Jiming Liu, Yiming Ye (eds.).
Published:               Berlin ; new York : Springer, c2001.
Description:            vi, 346 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Electronic Access: Restricted to Springer LINK subscribers
Subject:                 Electronic commerce--Security measures.
                              Business enterprises--Computer networks--Security measures.
Other Names:         Liu, Jiming, 1962-
                              Ye, Yiming, 1963-
Series:                    Lecture notes in computer science ; 2033.
                              Lecture notes in computer science. Lecture notes in artificial intelligence.
Notes:                    Includes bibliographical references and index.
                              Also available via the World Wide Web.
ISBN:                    3540419349 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Location:                Management Library (Sage Hall)
Call Number:          HF5548.32 .E182 2001
Status:                    Not Charged

The first subject heading "Electronic commerce--Security measures" is the most relevant subject heading for this item.

Click a subject heading link in any library catalog record to find other CUL items with the same subject heading.

For more information about subject heading searches in the CUL catalog, please go to Subject Heading Searches help page.