General Information
Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials is a stand-alone vocabulary that may be used in conjunction with any subject heading system and descriptive cataloging code. It was initially part of LCSH, but was formally separated from it in May 2011. LCGFT diverges significantly from LCSH in its scope as well as in the format and application of its terms, but it does retain a fundamental characteristic of LCSH: literary warrant. New genre/form terms, or revisions to existing terms, may be proposed as needed for new cataloging, and are based on information provided in the resources being cataloged as well as on research.
LCGFT should be used with the Genre/Form Terms Manual, which contains instructions that are essential for those who wish to understand and apply Library of Congress genre/form terms correctly. The instruction sheets comprising the Manual may be freely downloaded from LC’s web site at //www.loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeLCGFT/freelcgft.html.
Catalogers without access to the LCGFT proposal system can use the proposal form at https://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeLCGFT/lcgftproposalformnew.pdf.
The completed proposal form should be emailed to [email protected].
The Development of LCGFT
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2008
- Library of Congress to Implement Moving Image and Radio Program Genre/Form Headings in New Cataloging
- Genre/form headings for radio programs (04/09/08) 2010
- Library of Congress to Formally Separate LC Genre/Form Thesaurus from LCSH
- Library of Congress to Approve Genre/Form Headings for Cartographic Materials (04/27/10) (PDF, 18 KB)
- Library of Congress to Approve Genre/Form Terms for Law Materials (10/25/10) 2014
- Library of Congress to Approve Genre/Form Terms for Musical Works (12/11/14) 2015
- Library of Congress to Approve Genre/Form Terms for Literary Works (Updated 05/28/15)
- Library of Congress to Approve Genre/Form Terms for Religious Works (06/19/15) 2017
- Library of Congress to Approve Genre/Form Terms for Artistic and Visual Works (12/19/17)
Papers and Presentations
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2008
- Presentation at the OLAC-MOUG 2008 conference, September 26-28, 2008 (Janis Young) (PDF, 250 KB) 2009
- Discussion Paper on the Disposition of LCSH Video Recording Headings in the New Genre/Form Environment (05/15/09) (PDF, 63 KB)
- Expanding the Power of the Library's Family of Vocabularies: Genre/Form Headings (Webcast - Speaker: Janis Young; Recorded July 2, 2009; Running time: 53 minutes)
Archived Documents
- Treatment of Globes in LCSH and LCGFT to be revised (01/08/13) (PDF, 25 KB)
- Proposed Treatment of Globes in the LCGFT Environment (05/24/12) (PDF, 67 KB)
- Library of Congress to Modify Structure of Form Subdivisions used for Cartographic Materials (11/18/09) (PDF, 16 KB)
- Proposed Changes to the Structure of LCSH Subdivisons Used for Cartographic Materials (06/10/09) (PDF, 48 KB)
- Genre/Form Terms for Musical Works and Medium of Performance Thesaurus (Revised 03/25/13)
- Medium of Performance for Music: Working List of Terminology (Revised 02/22/13)
- Cancellation of LCGFT Sport-Specific Terms for Moving Images (PDF, 32 KB)
- Decision on Cancellation of LCGFT Character- and Franchise-Based Terms for Moving Images (11/23/11) (PDF, 484 KB)
- Cancellation of LCGFT Character- and Franchise-Based Terms for Moving Images: Discussion Paper (08/01/11) (PDF, 492 KB)
- Decision Regarding the Proposed Revision to the Hierarchies of Moving Image Genre/Form Headings (04/27/10) (PDF, 21 KB)
- Proposed Revision to the Hierarchies of Moving Image Genre/Form Headings (01/08/10) (PDF, 61 KB)
- Decision Regarding the Final Disposition of LCSH Headings for Video Recordings (11/12/09) (PDF, 21 KB)
