Subject Access Points: 6xxs Fields (RDA 23, RDA 23.4)

Subject: “A term, phrase, classification number, etc., that indicates what the work is about” RDA 23.1.3.

Access point: “A name, term, code, etc., representing a specific entity” RDA 23.1.4.

Authorized access point: A standardized access point representing an entity … . The authorized access point representing a subject of work may be a controlled subject term or combination of terms, or a classification number, as specified in an identifiable subject system” RDA 23.1.4.

For more information see OCLC Bibliographic Formats and Standards: 6xx fields or Library of Congress MARC Bibliographic 6XX - Subject Access Field

Common 6xx Fields

600 Subject Added Entry–Personal Name
610 Subject Added Entry–Corporate Name
611 Subject Added Entry–Meeting Name
650 Subject Added Entry–Topical Term
651 Subject Added Entry–Geographic Name
655 Index Term–Genre/Form

Common Subfields

ǂa Topical term, Personal, corporate, meeting, or geographic name
ǂx General Subdivision
ǂy Chronological Subdivision
ǂz Geographical Subdivision
ǂv Form subdivision

Examples:

650 _0 Determinism (Philosophy)
651 _0 Atlanta (Ga.)
600 10 Mitchell, Margaret, ǂd 1900-1949.
600 10 O'Hara, Scarlett (Fictitious character)
610 20 Microsoft Corporation.
650 _0 Animals ǂz Africa ǂv Juvenile fiction.
650 _0 Women ǂz Georgia ǂv Biography.
651 _0 United States ǂx History ǂy Civil War, 1861-1865 ǂv Fiction.

Don’t apply some topical subject headings (e.g. American fiction, American poetry) to a single author’s work. Use 380s (Form of Work) instead. For a single author’s work, find more specific topics and use $v to bring out the genre.

Examples:

650 _0 Nature ǂv Poetry.
650 _0 Christian life ǂv Fiction.

Coding 2nd indicator 1 defines the thesaurus as the Library of Congress Children’s Subject Headings. Use of the term Juvenile in the ǂv is unnecessary.

See Introduction to Children's Subject Headings and Children's Subject Headings for more information and a list of headings.

Examples:

650 _1 Imagination ǂv Fiction.
650 _1 Frontier and pioneer life ǂv Fiction.
650 _1 Animals ǂz Africa ǂv Fiction.

“A term indicating the form, genre, and/or physical characteristics of the materials being described. Genre terms for textual materials designate specific kinds of materials distinguished by the style or technique of their intellectual content (e.g., biographies, catechisms, essays, hymns, or reviews)” Bibliographic Formats and Standards: 655 Index Term--Genre/Form

Give source of term in ǂ2 (See Library of Congress Genre/Form Code and Term Source Codes)

Examples:

655 _7 Suspense fiction. ǂ2 gsafd

From Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, Etc. (GSAFD), note ǂ2

655 _7 College stories. ǂ2 lcgft