Michelle,

 

Thanks.   I did have the “Special Provisions” in mind when thinking about my question.  As you say, they are much looser than section 4 of H 1790, and certainly seem to me to allow the use of a topical heading for Christmas in a record for a novel about Christmas.  It seems to me that if “Christmas – Fiction” would be allowed by these provisions, the preferred “Christmas stories” ought to be acceptable in its place.

 

Pete Wilson

Vanderbilt University

 

 

I think the “SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR INCREASED SUBJECT ACCESS TO FICTION” at the end of H 1790 are actually the current guidelines for applying subject headings to fiction, which are much more permissive than the section 4 that Mike references below.

 

 

 

H 1790 section 4 does put fairly strict limits on SH for individual works of fiction. (Only used for biographical and historical fiction, basically.) The “Special provisions” at the end of H 1790 still refer to GSAFD headings, so IMO the section needs updating.

 

But per H 1790 section 4, you still only use very specific 650s. So “650 Deer hunting – Fiction” is ok, but “Hunting—Fiction” is too general. 655s are generally fine. If I understand H 1790.