Video Presentation from Library of Congress: “Enhancing Access to the Library’s Collections”

Embedded below is a recording of an August 8, 2012 presentation by Janis Young (Senior Cataloging Policy Specialist, Policy and Standards Division, Library of Congress) that LC made available on their YouTube channel yesterday.

Summary

Since early 2007, the Library of Congress and several partner organizations have worked to create a thesaurus of genre/form terms (MARC 21 tag 155), that describe what a work is, as opposed to what it is about. Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials (LCGFT) now includes over 700 terms in four disciplines; hundreds more terms, representing literature, music, religion, and non-disciplinary materials (such as dictionaries and bibliographies), are now being actively developed. The use of genre/form terms has a positive effect on both cataloging and reference services, and this effect will be magnified as terms for more disciplines are implemented throughout the Library. This presentation emphasizes the principles of LCGFT development and rules for the practical application of the terms. An update on the status of each of the projects, including tentative timelines where applicable, will also be provided.

See Also:  Frequently Asked Questions about  Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials (LCGFT)
20 pages; PDF.
See Also: Library of Congress to Formally Separate LC Genre/Form Thesaurus from LCSH (June 17, 2010)

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