FAST Faceted Application of Subject Terminology Overview presented at the Cataloging & Metadata meeting, October 8th, 2013

What it is Started as OCLC research project Based on LCSH, but breaks it into “facets” – Topical – Geographical – Chronological – Genre/Form – Etc.

Sample record |a Beyond discrimination : |b racial inequality in a postracist era / |c Fredrick C. Harris, Robert C. Lieberman, editors. 264 _1 |a New York : |b Russell Sage Foundation, |c [2013] 300 __ |a xiv, 361 pages ; |c 23 cm 336 __ |a text |b txt |2 rdacontent 337 __ |a unmediated |b n |2 rdamedia 338 __ |a volume |b nc |2 rdacarrier 504 __ |a Includes bibliographical references and index. 650 _0 |a Minorities |z United States |x Social conditions |y 21st century. 650 _0 |a Minorities |z United States |x Economic conditions |y 21st century. 650 _0 |a Equality |z United States. 650 _0 |a Racism |z United States. 650 _0 |a Post-racialism |z United States. 651 _0 |a United States |x Race relations. 648 _7 |a |2 fast 650 _7 |a Equality. |2 fast |0 (OCoLC)fst _7 |a Minorities |x Economic conditions. |2 fast |0 (OCoLC)fst _7 |a Minorities |x Social conditions. |2 fast |0 (OCoLC)fst _7 |a Post-racialism. |2 fast |0 (OCoLC)fst _7 |a Race relations. |2 fast |0 (OCoLC)fst _7 |a Racism. |2 fast |0 (OCoLC)fst _7 |a United States. |2 fast |0 (OCoLC)fst _ |a Harris, Fredrick C., |e author, |e editor of compilation _ |a Lieberman, Robert C., |d |e author, |e editor of compilation.

Pluses Easier to apply Better controlled – All headings have authority ID (linked data) Better suited to faceted discovery systems – Individual facets more meaningful than 6XX subfields Backwards-compatible – Can be converted from LCSH – OCLC now adding FAST

What’s in it Click links for examples: Topical headings Geographical headings Event headings Genre/form headings Chronological headings Name headings Uniform titles

Minuses Not as specific as LCSH, e.g. – “United States – Foreign relations – China” – “Hugo, Victor, – Musical settings ” Not yet officially a production service Some irregularities caused by source data Separate indexes not always intuitive to use

Where to find it Includes: – Different search tools – LCSH conversion tool / / – Linked data output – Other stuff

What can we do with it? So far these are all maybes: – Metadata projects? – Minimal level cataloguing? – Discovery system (Blacklight)? Contact: Chew Chiat Naun