Library of Congress Subject Headings

n. (LCSH, abbr.)A controlled vocabulary typically used to provide topical access points for catalog records.

Notes

LCSH is published by the Library of Congress. The Library stresses that the subject headings reflect its collections, rather than serving as a general tool for all collections. However, the breadth of the Library's collections, and consequentially LCSH, has made it useful to many libraries and archives. LCSH is intended to be used in conjunction with the Subject Cataloging Manual, which provides instructions for establishing precoordinated subheadings for greater specificity.