On Wed, 5 Dec 2007, Jonathan Rochkind wrote:
Yes, this one really bothers me. A resource about physicians from
China and also about veterinarians from Vietnam would get these LCSH
headings:
How likely is such a book to exist? It seems an unlikely combination
of topics to me, but I guess all things possible will exist
eventually. It is definitely a trade off between what is gained and
what is lost, however.
Jonathan,
While I made up my example, these kind of resources are quite common. The
easiest one to imagine of course, is an anthology of articles, essays,
etc. on different topics without an overarching theme. But it's not
uncommon at all to have subject headings with different geographic
subdivisions. Here are some I quickly found by searching for subject
keyword France and subject keyword Germany:
Women spies|zFrance|vBiography.
World War, 1914-1918|xSecret service|zGermany.
Saxons|zFrance.
Saxony (Germany)|xHistory|yTo 1423.
Wildlife art|zFrance|vExhibitions.
Art|xPrivate collections|zGermany|vExhibitions.
World War, 1939-1945|xAtrocities|zFrance.
World War, 1939-1945|xPrisoners and prisons, German.
Blacks|xNazi persecution|zFrance.
Prisoners of war|zGermany|xHistory|y20th century.
Prisoners of war|zAfrica, West|xHistory|y20th century.
Using the last example in particular, in FAST you would get something
like:
World War (1939-1945)|xAtrocities
World War (1939-1945)|xPrisoners and prisons, German
Blacks|xNazi persecution
Prisoners of war|xHistory
France
Germany
Africa, West
This one makes it more easy to sea that it's a bit hard figuring out if
the atrocities are being carried out in France, Germany, or West Africa,
where the Blacks are being persecuted, where the prisoners are from or
being held, etc.
--Adam
