Understanding Subject Headings
A Self-Test

You have been appointed animal control officer in your small city. As the fourth such officer in two years, you suspect that having a pork chop on your person to distract unleashed Rottweilers will not be enough to ensure your longevity. You visit the library. Not knowing where to begin searching, you look in Library of Congress Subject Headings to get some ideas; you find a page with just the information you need!

Referring to the previous Web page with example subject headings from LCSH, you find that you can easily answer the following questions:

1. You can browse in the library stacks for books on the subject animal rights under what range of call numbers?

HV4701-HV4959

2. You find a See Also (SA) note for the term animal psychology. Is it reasonable to assume that you might look up cats -- psychology?

yes

3. Is animal restraint a valid subject heading?

no

4. What subject heading is used for (UF) animal liberation?
Remember that "Used For" means "Used instead of."

Animal rights

5. Find a related term (RT) for animal psychology:

Any of these terms:

• Animal behavior
• Animal intelligence
• Psychology, comparative

6. Are terms preceded by NT, RT, or BT valid terms?

yes

7. What subheading is used with the main heading animal rights?

Religious aspects

8. If you want to find information on animal rights -- law and legislation, what heading must you use?

Animal welfare -- Law and legislation

9. To clarify how the headings are used, scope notes appear directly under the terms animal rights and animal welfare. "Works on the protection and treatment of animals are entered under" what term?

Animal welfare

10. You hope that the Rottweiler who ate your pork chops last week will remember your kindness. You look under animal psychology for guidance and, mirabile dictu, find a narrower term (NT) to search in the library catalog for information about the memory of animals. The term is:

Animal memory

Here are the answers.

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