OCLC/LC Fiction Project

The OCLC/LC Fiction Project is a cooperative venture with the Library of Congress, OCLC, and six U.S. academic and public libraries to provide subject access to works of fiction by adding subject and genre headings to LC bibliographic records.

Additionally, Fiction Project participants may choose to submit subject proposals to LC through OCLC for fictitious characters, imaginary places, and other types of headings found in works of fiction.

Since the inception of the OCLC/LC Fiction Project in 1991, participants have enriched over 14,000 bibliographic records, and over 916 new and changed subject headings have been approved and added to LCSH.

In 1990, ALA published the Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, Etc. The Fiction Project has served as a test for the implementation of these guidelines and of the list of form/genre headings therein. The code $2 gsafd in a 655 field refers to this form/genre list.

There is currently an ALA ALCTS CCS SAC subcommittee editing a revision of the original guidelines. Some of the genre terms need refinement and further definition. The subcommittee invites interest, comments and suggestions regarding the guidelines and the genre headings. The subcommittee fostered the MARBI proposal to define a MARC authority format for the 155 field. A cross-reference structure will greatly enhance the usefulness of the genre headings, especially with the addition of on-line scope notes in the public access catalogs.

For further information, please contact:

Susan Westberg
OCLC, Inc.
6565 Frantz Road
Dublin, OH 43017-3395
phone: 800.848.5878
e-mail:westbers@oclc.org

Pat Thomas
Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library
605 North El Dorado Street
Stockton, CA 95202
phone: 209.937.8306
e-mail:pmt@stockton.lib.ca.us,