A lesser-known trick for searching the Heythrop library catalogue is to make use of our authority files, specifically controlled names and Library of Congress Subject Headings. These standardized forms of names and subjects provide library users with access points to discover (ideally) all of the resources attached to names and subjects within the catalogue.
Subject headings
When cataloguing a book, we always make sure to include at least 2, if not 3, Library of Congress Subject Headings. These headings describe the subject matter of a book and consulting them can be a quick way for users to figure out what the book is actually about. This might determine whether it will actually be useful to read the book.
The reason that we take such care in assigning these subject headings is not only to describe a book’s written content. We want to link the book with other books in our catalogue that have the same subjects. Library of Congress Subject Headings appear as ‘Subject(s)’ in our online catalogue, accompanied by a small magnifying glass (see below image).
Each of the subjects are clickable links that lead to all the other books in our catalogue that contain the relevant subject heading. Using the example of the above book ‘Gendered violence in biblical narrative’, if a user clicked on the subject ‘Violence in the Bible’, the catalogue would pull to 27 other books that contain this subject (see image below).
If a library user were doing introductory research into a certain topic and hadn’t solidified all of their sources, subject headings would be a great way to discover additional sources.
Controlled names
Name authority files work in a similar way as subject headings, and we use Library of Congress Name Authorities. When we add a controlled name to a catalogue record, additional records containing that name are linked to that record. Controlled names are also used as subject headings. By using an authority file (see below image), all forms of a person’s name should link back to the controlled and authorised version of the name.
In the same way as subject headings, these controlled names are clickable links with a small magnifying glass. In the case of an author, the authority file would appear as ‘By: (personal name)’ (see below image).
Clicking on the controlled names would pull up the list of books that the name is associated with (see image below). In this case ‘Baldovin, John F. (John Francis), 1945-‘ is the author of 7 other books. Clicking on a controlled name is another way of exploring the full extent of an author’s body of work within the Heythrop catalogue.
It is important to note that we have recently transitioned to a new library management system and catalogue. Because of this, the authority file linking can be imperfect at times. We are constantly working to improve authorities so that books can be linked together seamlessly.
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What are your thoughts about the above?