In response to the posting of Ms. Elizabeth Edelglass, Library Director Dept. of Jewish Education of Greater New Haven, on Hasafran, dated May 18, 2005, re. the use of Jenin as a subject heading, I have been authorized to post the following response:
There are two authorized headings for two different entities: A subject heading for the refugee camp by that name Jenin (West Bank : Refugee camp) (sh2004001755) A name authority heading for the town Jenin (n 98067283) Subject Cataloging Manual (SCM), H 405 Establishing Certain Entities in the Name or Subject Authority File, lists refugee camps as one of the "Group Two- Subject Authority Group Headings," i.e., "Named entities always established according to subject cataloging conventions with authority records that reside in either the name authority file or the subject authority file." Please note that the validity of name authority headings to be used as subjects is described in Subject Cataloging Manual (SCM) H 430, and is indicated by the presence of the following values in the authority record (provided that there is no other conflict with established subject cataloging policy): 008/10 (AACR2 compatibility) c or d 008/15 (subject heading usage) a (If you need more information re. the coding in MARC 21 format, please refer to the documentation available on the web at http://www.loc.gov/marc The information re. the fixed fields is available at http://www.loc.gov/marc/authority/ecadcntr.html ) Since both headings [Jenin and Jenin (West Bank : Refugee camp)] are valid for use as subject headings, either or both headings may be assigned to a given work, depending on its focus. As geographical subject headings, they would be tagged 651 -0. These headings may be further subdivided on a free-floating basis (i.e., without being established editorially) by the subdivisions listed in SCM H 1140 Names of Places. e.g., 651 -0 $a Jenin (West Bank : Refugee camp) $x Press coverage. 651 -0 $a Jenin $x Politics and government. Furthermore, use of these headings as geographic subdivisions themselves is guided by the 781 field in each's respective authority record, which displays how the heading appears when used as a geographic subdivision: Jenin (West Bank : Refugee camp) (sh2004001755) 781: $z West Bank $z Jenin (Refugee camp) Jenin (n 98067283) 781: $z West Bank $z Jenin e.g., 650 -0 $a Palestinian Arabs $z West Bank $z Jenin (Refugee camp) $x Economic conditions. Further guidance on Geographic Subdivision Information in Name Authority Records is found in SCM H 835 and on Geographic Subdivision Information in Subject Authority Records is found in SCM H 836. Regarding the second question ("Do we ever use West Bank as a geographical heading or subheading?"), we need to refer to SCM H 980 on Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, West Bank, and Palestine" which states that "the headings Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and West Bank are established without a geographic qualifier." Also when used as geographic subdivisions, "assign Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, Jerusalem, and West Bank directly after topics without interposing the name of any larger geographic entity." e.g., 650 -0 $a Public health $z West Bank. Disclaimer: all the examples given here are purely demonstrative of the cataloging principles discussed and should not be construed as directives on what particular subject headings should be assigned to the item in hand. I hope you will find this response helpful. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly. General questions regarding Library of Congress cataloging policies should be directed to the Cataloging Policy and Support Office ( [EMAIL PROTECTED] ) and I would encourage you to visit their website at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/ All the best, - r. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Roger Kohn Cataloger, Hebraica Team Library of Congress LS/CAT/RCCD/HB (4384) LM 537 Washington, D.C. 20540-4384 (202) 707-3997 "Opinions expressed are those of the author, and are not official statements by the Library of Congress." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the AJL =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
