MOBIUS Policy on Subject Cataloging

Developed by

MCDAC, reviewed May 3, 2016 by the MOBIUS Office

Date Adopted

Revision Dates

Purpose of the Policy

To satisfy the disparate needs and interests of patrons using the MOBIUS library catalogs, multiple points of retrieval must be made available in catalog records. Whether shared materials are requested by means of traditional interlibrary loan, direct patron borrowing through the MOBIUS union catalog, or via electronic databases, MOBIUS catalog records must be indexed to promote acquisition of needed information and to provide full access options.

Policy Type

Cataloging

Replaces

MOBIUS Subject Cataloging Policy (09/08/2000)

Original Policy Document

Minutes for Eresources committee_March_2020.doc

All properly formulated and properly applied subject headings on cataloging records incoming from the national cataloging utilities will be retained by catalogers in MOBIUS member libraries. Subject headings not used by a library shall not be removed. The following 6xx fields will be retained:

600 - Personal Name
610 - Corporate Name
611 - Meeting Name
630 - Uniform Title
650 - Topical Term
651 - Geographic Name
653 - Uncontrolled Term
654 - Faceted Topical Term
655 - Genre/Form
656 - Occupation
657 - Function
658 - Curriculum Objective

For original cataloging purposes, MOBIUS catalogers are instructed to compose entries in 600-630 and 651 MARC fields according to AACR2 and Library of Congress practices. For entries in other 6xx fields, the appropriate thesaurus shall be followed. All first indicators in 6xx fields shall be retained. Second indicators shall be retained for the following subject authorities:

Indicator Subject Authority
0 Library of Congress
1 LC Subject Headings for Children's Literature
2 National Library of Medicine
3 National Agricultural Library
4 Unspecified Source
5 & 6 National Library of Canada
7 Source Specified in Subfield ¬2
8 Sears List of Subject Headings

The above policy statements are based on input standards described in the OCLC Bibliographic Formats and Standards 2nd ed.