Effects of Subject Specificity: Part II: Relationship of LC Subject Headings Specificity and Class Notation Length

Abstract

Subject headings and class notations in 7,834 LC bibliographic records were analyzed to determine if there was a correlation between the degree of subject specificity and class notation length, and if there was a relationship between the number of subject headings per bibliographic record and class notation length. The findings of the study indicated that as the degree of specificity of subject increased, the length of both LCC and DDC notations increased. However, the difference between class notation lengths corresponding to subject headings with a different level of specificity was not statistically significant. There was not a statistically meaningful association between the number of subject headings per bibliographic record and class notation length.