Do Librarians Understand the Subject Headings in Library Catalogs

"Understanding Subject Headings in Library Catalogs" is the first large-scale study of understanding of subject headings. Its objectives were to determine the extent to which library users and librarians understood subdivided subject headings and to suggest approaches to improving subject-heading understanding. The impetus for the large-scale study was a recommendation of the Library of Congress (LC) Subject Subdivisions Conference that suggested standardizing the order of subject subdivisions for the purpose of simplifying subject cataloging. Here we focus on study findings about subject heading understanding and reference and technical services librarians. Not only did the study provide data and analyses to determine whether standardizing subdivision order would adversely affect understanding of subject headings, it examined whether reference librarians understood subject headings better than technical services librarians, whether subject heading context had an impact on understanding, and how the incorrect meanings librarians assigned to subject headings deviated from an expert's meanings. Based on the study's findings, the researchers challenge the library community to make major changes to the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) system, expand exposure to LCSH in library school programs, and improve the tools that technical services librarians use in applying subject headings to library catalog records.