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If a change is made to a Library of Congress subject heading in a bibliographic record, will the corresponding FAST heading be corrected via automation?

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Answer

OCLC adds FAST headings to WorldCat bibliographic records that have no current FAST headings based on the Library of Congress subject headings present in the record. After the initial loading of FAST headings to the record, the FAST headings are treated as an independent subject heading set. OCLC does not update the FAST headings to strictly follow changes to the LCSH or LCGFT headings present in the bibliographic record.

When a cataloger adds, modifies, or deletes an existing LCSH or LCGFT heading in a bibliographic record, this does not activate an automatic update to the FAST headings in the bibliographic record. OCLC recommends that catalogers delete and add FAST headings as needed when making corresponding changes to LCSH headings.

FAST headings are represented by authority records and controlled. When the authorized form of a FAST heading changes, the corresponding bibliographic records are changed.

What should I do if...

I added a new LCSH heading to the bibliographic record that already contains other LCSH and FAST headings?
  1. Use the FAST Converter (http://fast.oclc.org/lcsh2fast/) to get the FAST array for a given LCSH heading.
  2. Review the results to determine if the headings in the array are already present in the bibliographic record.
    1. If yes, the FAST heading does not need to be added (you are good to go).
    2. If no, search for the FAST heading(s) in Record Manager or Search FAST (https://fast.oclc.org/searchfast/) and add the appropriate heading(s) to the bibliographic record.
I added an LCSH heading to a bibliographic record that only contains FAST headings?
  1. Use the FAST Converter (http://fast.oclc.org/lcsh2fast/) to get the FAST array for a given LCSH heading.
  2. Review the results to determine if the headings in the array are already present in the bibliographic record.
    1. If yes, the FAST heading does not need to be added (you are good to go).
    2. If no, search for the FAST heading(s) in Record Manager or Search FAST (https://fast.oclc.org/searchfast/) and add the appropriate heading(s) to the bibliographic record.
  3. Evaluate the FAST headings already present in the bibliographic record to ensure they are appropriate for the item.
  4. If in doubt, follow BFAS, Chapter 5, Quality Assurance (https://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en/about/quality.html), and leave the FAST headings in the bibliographic record.
I added an LCSH or LCGFT heading to a bibliographic record that contained no LCSH headings, but it contains headings from other vocabularies, including FAST?
  1. Use the FAST Converter (http://fast.oclc.org/lcsh2fast/) to get the FAST array for a given LCSH heading.
  2. Review the results to determine if the headings in the array are already present in the bibliographic record.
    1. If yes, the FAST heading does not need to be added (you are good to go).
    2. If no, search for the FAST heading(s) in Record Manager or Search FAST (https://fast.oclc.org/searchfast/) and add the appropriate heading(s) to the bibliographic record.
I find that there is a disparity in meaning between a FAST and LCSH or LCGFT heading present in the record?
  1. Evaluate both the FAST and LCSH or LCGFT headings that are present.
  2. Focus on the LCSH headings to ensure that the expected headings are represented. Use the FAST Converter (http://fast.oclc.org/lcsh2fast/) to get the FAST array for a given LCSH or LCGFT heading.
    1. If yes, the FAST heading does not need to be added (you are good to go).
    2. If no, search for the FAST heading(s) in Record Manager or Search FAST (https://fast.oclc.org/searchfast/) and add the appropriate heading(s) to the bibliographic record.
  3. Evaluate the FAST headings already present in the bibliographic record to ensure they are appropriate for the item.
  4. If in doubt, follow BFAS, Chapter 5, Quality Assurance (https://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en/about/quality.html), and leave the FAST headings in the bibliographic record.
I find that the LCSH heading is incorrect, and there are also FAST terms present?
  1. Before deleting an incorrect LCSH heading, use the FAST Converter (http://fast.oclc.org/lcsh2fast/) to identify incorrectly assigned FAST headings that are associated with the incorrect LCSH or LCGFT heading.
  2. Remove incorrect LCSH or LCGFT and FAST headings, ensuring conformance to BFAS, Chapter 5, Quality Assurance (https://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en/about/quality.html).
  3. If an LCSH or LCGFT heading is added, use the FAST Converter (http://fast.oclc.org/lcsh2fast/), to get the FAST array for a given LCSH heading.
  4. Review the results to determine if the headings in the array are already present in the bibliographic record.
    1. If yes, the FAST heading does not need to be added (you are good to go).
    2. If no, search for the FAST heading(s) in Record Manager or Search FAST (https://fast.oclc.org/searchfast/) and add the appropriate heading(s) to the bibliographic record.
I replaced an incorrect LCSH or LCGFT heading, but I do not want to add a new FAST heading because my library doesn't use them?

Delete all the FAST headings so that a new array of FAST headings will be added to the bibliographic record.

I added LCSH or LCGFT headings to a bibliographic record that contained no LCSH, LCGFT, or FAST headings?

The FAST headings will be added automatically so there is no need for you to add them.