What are Subject Headings?
Subject headings are a set of terms or phrases (known as controlled vocabulary) that classify materials. Essentially they identify and pull together under a common umbrella information about a given subject. Most online catalogs and databases use some form of subject headings, though they may also be called descriptors or keywords. The Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings (LCSH) are used to identify subjects for items in the UIUC Online Library Catalog. The UIUC Online Library Catalog also uses the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) for medical topics. They can be used as described below for LCSH.
