Birth of a Subject Heading

This paper illustrates the process by which a subject heading is created within the controlled vocabulary of the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). The author details the steps involved in proposing a subject heading for inclusion in the Subject Authority File at the Library of Congress using two case studies as examples, one in which the subject heading was accepted into the LCSH system and one in which the subject heading was rejected despite being revised and resubmitted.