Subject Heading

Subject Heading Syntax in Legal Information Retrieval

The following is a basic concept of Subject Heading Syntax in relation to information retrieval. In addition to this, Subject Heading Syntax may be applied to legal texts, including case law, legislation and scholarly works. Subject headings are the most widely-used type of pre-coordinate syntax headings in indexes and catalogs. They were developed in the 19th century to provide predictable, uniform and direct alphabetical access to topics in library catalogs, indexes, and bibliographies. Subject heading syntax consists of main headings modified by subheadings or subdivisions representing related topics, places, times, or formats and forms of treatment. There are no over-arching syntactic rules. Instead, every heading and every subheading tends to have its own rules. In the United States, the two most widely used subject heading systems are Sears list of subject headings (Sears 1997), for smaller libraries, and Library of Congress subject headings (Library of Congress 2003) for larger libraries. Specialized lists of subject headings have been developed for many subject areas, such as MeSH: Medical subject headings (National Library of Medicine 1999a).

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCHS) in Law Libraries

The follow definition of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCHS) is of use in law library research: This is a four volume set of alphabetically arranged subject headings that catalogers and indexers use to classify library materials, including books and periodicals. The LCSH will identify the correct heading to use, as well as list broader topics, narrower topics, and related topics. Knowing the correct subject heading can make subject searching more effective.

Hupper-Borchard list of subject headings for law libraries

The Hupper-Borchard list of subject headings for law libraries has been in use in some law libraries in the past (such as the Yale Law Library in the 20s and 30s). It is a very old list of subject headings, and is limited chieflly to Anglo-American law. It gives no help for foreign law, Roman law, international law, and all non-legal material. Therefore, law libraries added many new subjects, added and contained from necessity, as were printed.

Subject headings in Law Libraries

The follow definition of Subject headings is of use in law library research: words or phrases assigned to books and articles and used to index these items by topic. Determining the correct headings for a specific database or catalog is an important part of effective research. Subject headings are also known as descriptors. See also Thesaurus.