Examples of Library of Congress subject headings

1. Literature and folklore--Balkan Peninsula
2. Literature and globalization
3. East European literature--Bibliography
4. East European literature--Congresses
5. East European literature--Encyclopedias
6. East European literature--Women authors
7. Serbia--Politics and government
8. Serbia--Politics and government--1804-1918--Sources.
9. Bulgaria. Laws, statutes, etc. Indexes.
10. Soviet Union--History--1917-1936--Periodicals

The headings can be structured in a number of ways but some of the most common are:

SUBJECT--REGION
   [ex.:  Literature and folklore--Balkan Peninsula]

SUBJECT-CHRONOLOGICAL PERIOD--SUBDIVISION
   [ex.:  Czech literature--19th Century--History and criticism]

SUBJECT--SUBDIVISION
   [ex.: East European literature--Bibliography]

REGION--SUBJECT--DATES
   [ex.: Soviet Union--History-1917-1936]

Keyword or Subject Heading???

Why bother with subject headings in the online catalog when you can do keyword searching? It’s true that developing facility with subject headings was more critical in the era of card catalogs.  But if you limit yourself to keyword searching, you are likely to miss important material on your topic that uses other terms.  A systematic, comprehensive subject search requires searching with subject headings as well as with keywords.

The collection here is classified using the Dewey Decimal system.  In Dewey, the first three numbers indicate the main subject, and additional numbers are added after a decimal point to narrow the subject. Books and journals on literary topics are usually classified in the 800s, although much of folk literature can be 390 and the fine arts are in the 700s.

Я => IA ? Я => YA? Я =>JA?

Use the library catalog to find books, journals, films, and more.  If you are searching for materials that are in a cyrillic based language such as Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, etc., there are a few issues with the catalog you should be aware of.  First, our library, like most of the libraries in the United States uses the Library of Congress/ALA transliteration system.  You can find the transliteration tables fr most languages at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/roman.html.

For instructions on how to use the library catalog and how to request items, consult our guide to Using the Library Catalog.