Subject Heading Patterns in OCLC Monographic Records. Research Report

Abstract

An analysis of a sample of 33,455 monographic records taken from the OCLC (Ohio College Library Center) database found that 94 percent of the sample's 50,213 subject headings were Library of Congress (LC) subject headings. Each record had an average of 1.4 LC subject headings; however, 18.6 percent of the records had no LC subject headings assigned to them. Topical subject headings accounted for 70 percent of all LC subject headings, and 62 percent of all records contained at least one LC topical subject heading. Geographic subject headings accounted for 15 percent of the records. Each LC subject heading had an average of 0.78 subdivisions associated with it. Form divisions were the most common type found, followed closely by place and topical subdivisions. Period subdivisions were used relatively infrequently. (Author)