I'm resending this as some of you indicated that you could not read the
attachment I sent yesterday.

From CPSO:

         The Library of Congress requested comment on the change in
practice for the subdivision --Biography in Cataloging Service
Bulletin no. 78 (Fall 1997).  As a result of the responses received
from other libraries and from our own staff, LC decided to discontinue
the use of --Biography as a free-floating subdivision for literary
authors.  This decision was announced in CSB no. 80 (Spring 1998) and
also in the summary of decisions for subject headings weekly list 26
(June 24, 1998).  The subdivision --Biography will be retained under
names of persons only when specifically authorized by a separate
subject authority record.  Currently the subdivision --Biography is
authorized only under the following headings:  Jesus Christ; Mary,
Blessed Virgin, Saint; Muhammad, Prophet, d. 632; Shakespeare,
William, 1564-1616.
         As noted in the original announcement in CSB no. 78,  the
survey on --Biography was intended to facilitate the merger of the
free-floating subdivision lists for literary authors (H 1155.4) and
for other persons (H 1110) as given in the Subject Cataloging Manual.
The biography subdivision was one of the major differences between the
two lists.  The merger of the two lists has long been viewed as
desirable and meets one of the recommendations of the Airlie House
conference of 1991.
        The changes that appeared on weekly list 36 are part of the
changes that have been made to accomplish the merger between the
subdivisions in H 1155.4 (individual literary authors) and H 1110
(names of persons).  Other changes to the authority file have appeared
on subsequent weekly lists.
        In merging the two lists of subdivisions, each literary author
subdivision was examined.  Where practice differed from the general
persons list, a choice was made.  Some subdivisions, such as --Editors
and --Contemporary England, were cancelled.  Some subdivisions were
added to the general list as applicable to all categories of persons,
while others were added but restricted to specific categories of
persons.  Other subdivisions were changed to accomodate broader usage
or to clarify meaning in a more general list of subdivisions.  The
revised list of subdivisions for H 1110 appears in 1998 Update Number
2 for the Subject Cataloging Manual.  Instruction sheet H 1155.4 has
been deleted.
        While LC tried to retain the most useful subdivisions from the
authors list, we understand that not all libraries will agree with our
decision for each subdivision.  We expect that the simplification in
cataloging practice brought about by the merger of the two subdivision
lists and the consistency of subdivision usage for all categories of
persons will compensate for the loss of a specific subdivision in
certain cases.  LC will continue to review the subdivisions on the
general persons list to eliminate ambiguities or unnecessary
duplication.


Ana Cristan
Acting BIBCO Coordinator
Cooperative Cataloging
Regional and Cooperative Cat. Div.
Library of Congress, LM537
Washington, DC 20540-4382
(202) 707-7921 (fax): (202) 707-2824
e-mail: [log in to unmask]