| Abstract: | Pauline Cochrane and Monika Kirtland's "Critical Views of LCSH-Library of Congress Subject Headings: A Bibliographic and Bibliometric Essay" published in Cataloging & Classification Quarterly v.1 (2/3) 1982, pp. 71-93 has been widely cited as a source for discussion and complaints about Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Cochrane and Kirtland cover the literature from 1944 to 1979. The present work provides a critique of the Cochrane/Kirtland study and a survey of the literature concerning the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) during the 1980. The classified bibliography is arranged according to the format of the Cochrane/Kirtland study to facilitate comparison. Criticism of LCSH reiterates the same points over and over again, whether it is sparseness, bias or currency of the subject headings. Significant trends which emerged in the 1980s include an increased emphasis on the use of LCSH as an online searching tool, concern for the syndetic structure of LCSH and the role of subdivisions, as well as repeated calls for the development of coherent standards to ensure LCSH evolves and is applied in a consistent manner. |
