Sears 16 Sears List of Subject Headings a Practical Introduction for Indian Students

The Sears is a long list as well as mechine to coin subject headings. Learning to deftly operate the machine makes the SH work stimulating and intellectually challenging. Therefore, the book aims at the working cataloguers to explore the hidden vast capacity to turn out subject headings; and to explain the subtleties and nuances of the system. It might encourage the cataloguers from non-western cultures to explore and adapt Sears to coin headings suited to their culture and literature. At the same time the Sears systems has many inconsistencies and omissions. Many clarifications are explicitly needed. For example, are the topical subdivisions applicable to the narrower terms or the headings derived according to SA instructions? There is no explicit statement to make a language family name a subject heading. Above all, just like any other subject analysis tool the Sears is inherently biased towards Western (dominantly American), Christian and capitalistic culture. For example, heading for Unmarried mothers/fathers, Single Parent family, or Children of divorced parents are there, for which no literature is available in India. But child marriage, which is a current concern in India finds no mention in the list. This workbook with so many explanations and illustrations aims to help the cataloguers and students to have a joyous times working with the Sears to analyse and represent knowledge and appreciate its flexibility to coin standard subject headings for Indian libraries.

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