Fast: a faceted Application of Subject Terminology Background Enormous volume and rapid growth of resources available on the World Wide Web

FAST: A Faceted Application of Subject Terminology

Background

• Enormous volume and rapid growth of resources available on the World Wide Web.

• Emergence of numerous metadata schemes have spurred a re-examination of the way subject data is to be provided for web resources efficiently and effectively.

Metadata

• Simplicity refers to the usability by non-catalogers to allow the creation of metadata records by persons not necessarily trained in sophisticated methods of bibliographic control.

• Semantic interoperability enables users to search across discipline boundaries and, desirably, also across information retrieval and storage systems.

ALCTS/SAC/Subcommittee: Requirements

• Be simple and easy to apply and to comprehend,

• Be intuitive so that sophisticated training in subject indexing and classification, while highly desirable, is not required in order to implement,

• Be logical so that it requires the least effort to understand and implement,

• Be scalable for implementation from the simplest to the most sophisticated.

Options for Metadata

Objective of FAST Project

Simplify the Complex Syntax and Rules

FAST Team

• Ed O’Neill, OCLC

• Diane Vizine-Goetz, OCLC

• Kerre Kammerer, OCLC

• Eric Childress, OCLC

• Rebecca Dean, OCLC

• Lois Mai Chan, University of Kentucky

• Lynn El-Hoshy, Library of Congress

Synergy

Advantages of LCSH

• Rich vocabulary covering all subject areas,

• It has the strong institutional support of the Library of Congress,

• Synonym and homograph control,

• Has been extensively used by libraries, contained in millions of bibliographic records,

• Has a long and well-documented history.

Card Format

Coverage of LCSH Topical Authority File

Coverage of Geographic Authority File

Patterns Subdivisions

Combining Pattern Subdivisions

FAST Requirements

• Usable by people with minimal training and experience,

• Enables a broad range of users to assign subject terminology to web resources:

• Bibliographers
• Faculty
• Reference staff

• Amenable to automated authority control,

• Compatibility with use as embedded metadata,

• Focus on making use of LCSH as a post-coordinate system in an online environment.

Facets

FACET: Topical

• LCSH main headings from topical headings (650),

• All associated general ($x) subdivisions from any type of LCSH heading,

• Period subdivisions containing topical aspects from any type of LCSH heading,

• All topical headings will be established in an authority file.

FAST: Topical Headings

FACET: Geographic

• Geographic name will be established and applied in indirect order, [Ohio—Columbus not Columbus (Ohio)],

• First level geographic names will be limited to names from the Geographic Area Codes table (e.g., Ohio, France, Great Lakes, etc.)

• Other names will be entered as subdivisions under the smallest first level name in which it is fully contained (North America—Maya Forest)

• Qualifiers are only be used to identify the type of geographic name (Kingdom, Satellite, Duchy, Princely State, etc.).

• All geographic headings will be established in an authority file.

Charlevoix Search Example

Charlevoix (LCSH headings)

Charlevoix (FAST headings)

FACET: Forms

• Uses table developed based on LC documentation (e.g., SCM, FFS:AAI), and independent correspondence,

• LCSH tagged headings not containing $v will be processed for correction prior to validation,

• All form headings will be established in an authority file.

Example of Forms

FACET: Period

• Chronological headings will reflect the actual time period of coverage for the resource,

• Chronological headings will be expressed as a numeric date or date range.

• Authority records will be created for period subdivision except when necessary for notes or cross-references.

Example of Faceting (DC view)

• 650 0 Slavery $z United States $v Fiction.

• Subject Slavery

• Coverage.spatial United States

• Type Fiction

Interoperability between LCSH and FAST

• Separating syntax from semantics, the syntax can be simplified while retaining the richness of vocabulary in LCSH is retained,

• FAST and LCSH can co-exist.

For more information: