Headings

FAST headings

There has been significant conversation on several cataloging discussion lists about FAST headings. Many catalogers feel they duplicate Library of Congress Subject Headings and “dumb down” the catalog. Love them or hate them, it is helpful to understand why they might be useful.
OCLC describes FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology) as “an enumerative, faceted subject heading schema derived from the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH).” FAST headings are designed for easy application; they represent post-coordinated subject assignment in contrast to LCSH’s complicated pre-coordinated system. FAST headings
exemplify linked data in bibliographic records though use of $0 in the MARC field. For example, the LCSH term Constitutional law maps to 650 7 $aConstitutional law$0(OCoLC)fst00875797.

The numerical text in $0 is part of a URI (id.worldcat.org/fast/875797) for the concept. Additionally, FAST headings enable faceted searching in discovery layers like Blacklight.

A detailed explanation of FAST is available at oclc.org/research/activities/fast.html?urlm=159754.