Statistical Analysis of the Association between Library of Congress Subject Headings and Their Corresponding Class Notations in Main Classes of LCC and DDC
Date
1985-05
Authors
Khosh-khui, Sam Abolghasem
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Abstract
A database consisting of 101,347 of the Library of Congress MARC records was created and the Library of Congress Classification (LCC), and Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) were analyzed to determine variations in the association between LCSHs and LCC/DDC notations with respect to the variations in the number of LCSHs per record, the order of headings in records and the sorting of entries.
The analysis showed that as the number of LCSHs per record increased, the association between LCSHs and class notations decreased. The probability of having identical class notations for identical LCSHs in single-heading records was found to be significantly higher than in multiple-headings records.
Association of LCSHs and class notations with respect to the variation in the order of LCSHs revealed that LCSHs which were listed first had a significantly higher association with class notations than the succeeding headings. The main classes within each classification system were significantly different at the 0.001 level.
The difference between associations measures in the subject catalog and the shelf list catalog was significant at the 0.001 level in bibliographic records with a different number of LCSHs per record and for LCSHs listed first, but there was not a significant difference for headings listed second or more. The difference between the association of LCSH with LCC and the association of LCSH and DDC was significant in the bibliographic records with a single LCSH and for headings listed first.
The study indicated that the class notations are not consistently assigned to subject headings: LCSH, LCC, and DDC should be improved to increase the associations between subject headings and class notations. In filing identical subject headings, it would be more logical to subarrange entries by number/order of headings in records. In developing a pattern-recognition algorithm to compute class notations or LCSHs when either one of the two is known, going from LCSHs to computer class notations is more likely recommended that the reverse approach, and LCC would be a better choice than DDC.
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Keywords
Library of Congress Subject Headings, LCSH, Library of Congress Classification, LCC, Dewey Decimal Classification, DDC
Citation
Khosh-khui, S. A. (1985). Statistical analysis of the association between Library of Congress subject headings and their corresponding class notations in main classes of LCC and DDC (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.