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University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Metadata Services: Best Practices

Acquisitions & Cataloging Services

Controlled Vocabulary

A controlled vocabulary is a list of terms designed to provide more accurate retrieval of resources during searching. Controlled vocabularies can be authorized by a group of subject specialists, such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings, or they can be built locally to accommodate their specific collection. When a local controlled vocabulary is built, it must be managed and used in a consistent way to benefit the users of the collection.