FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology)

Background

FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology) is a fully enumerative faceted subject heading schema derived from the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), a widely-used subject-access vocabulary published and maintained by the Library of Congress. The development of FAST has been a collaboration of OCLC and the Library of Congress with advice from members of the ALA Core Subject Analysis Committee.

FAST Headings can be in the form of 600 (personal name, uniform name title), 610 (corporate name), 611 (meeting name, named event), 630 (uniform title), 647 (named event), 648 (chronological), 650 (topic), 651 (place name) and 655 (genre/form). All FAST Headings have second indicator "7" with "ǂ2 fast" and "ǂ0 (OCoLC)fst" 

Examples of FAST Headings from WorldCat #818953763

  • 600 17 Obama, Barack. ǂ2 fast ǂ0 (OCoLC)fst00348231

  • 600 17 Romney, Mitt. ǂ2 fast ǂ0 (OCoLC)fst00355923

  • 650 7 Presidential candidates. ǂ2 fast ǂ0 (OCoLC)fst01075708

  • 650 7 Presidents ǂx Election. ǂ2 fast ǂ0 (OCoLC)fst01075747

  • 651 7 United States. ǂ2 fast ǂ0 (OCoLC)fst01204155

  • 648 7 2012 ǂ2 fast 

For more information about FAST, click here.

 

YUL Local Workflow on FAST Headings

FAST Headings enter the local library catalog via record loads from vendors and/or records imported from OCLC. 

  • Retain all FAST Headings in the bibliographic record. Do Not Delete.

  • Retain Library of Congress Subject Headings (6xx _0), Medical Subject Headings (6xx _2), and Genre/Form terms (655 _7) from English-language thesauri (ǂ2 lcgft, ǂ2 gmgpc, ǂ2 aat, etc.)

  • Do not manually add FAST Headings in the bibliographic record. It is OK to overlay Voyager records with OCLC records that have been enhanced with FAST Headings.

  • Individual units decide whether to add Library of Congress Subject Headings, Medical Subject Headings, or Genre/Form terms to records that contain only FAST Headings. Check with your supervisor, if you're not sure of your unit's policy.

The Backstage Library Works Automation Service, our vendor for MARS processing, also retains FAST Headings in our bibliographic records, as per our profile.

 

For information on other Yale cataloging policies and procedures, go to: Cataloging at Yale