CYAC cataloging varies
from standard LC subject cataloging in ways that make it more appropriate for online
catalogs used by children and young adults. The most obvious differences are
the provision of a summary and the use of Children’s Subject Headings. The CYAC program creates and mantains cataloging policies and procedures that are unique to children's and young adult cataloging. The CYAC catalgoging manual can be found at: https://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeCYAC/freecyac.html
Library of Congress standards are used for descriptive
cataloging: RDA: Resource Description and Access, LC-PCC Policy Statement , the Classification and Shelflisting
Manual (CSM), and MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data - all
available in print and through Cataloger’s Desktop.
Summaries
Summaries
are prepared for most items cataloged in the CYAC program. These notes provide
a brief, non-critical summary of the content of the work and are tagged as a
520 field in accordance with the MARC 21 bibliographic format. More information is in the document C 36 Summaries.
List of Children’s Subject
Headings
The subject headings in CYAC records are an independent vocabulary and are not linked with LCSH. Detailed information about CYAC subjects are explained in the document entitled Children’s Subject Headings (CSH).
Library of Congress Subject
Headings Manual
Historically, the subject headings used in the CYAC Program represented three categories: standard LCSH, modified LCSH, and headings established for the exclusive use in CYAC cataloging. Since the formal separation of the Children’s and Young Adults’ Subject Headings from LCSH in July 2021, all headings currently in use in CYAC subject cataloging have individual authority records and are listed in the Children’s and Young Adults’ Subject Headings.
MARC 21 Coding
All Children’s Subject Headings assigned as part of CYAC cataloging, including standard LCSH being applied as children’s subject headings, are identified in
online records by the second indicator of 1 in the 6XX fields (MARC 21 subject
tags), e.g.,
650 #1 $a Horror stories.
651 #1 $a New York (State) $x History $y 19th century $v Fiction.
