3.4.4a Genre/Form and Subject Access to Moving Image Materials

I. OBJECTIVE

This policy delineates cataloging practice at BYU for subject and genre/form access to films and television programs in the Harold B. Lee Library collection, in order to provide predictable, consistent access to types of films and television programs. This policy is for cataloging of the films or television programs as such, not books and other materials about films and film making.

II. INSTRUCTIONS

All records for moving image materials should contain access by genre/form. Most moving image material records will also contain access by topical subject. BYU generally follows the OLAC Best Practices Document, found at http://olacinc.org/drupal/capc_files/LCGFTbestpractices.pdf.

Assign, as appropriate, genre/form terms for the form of the film (655 field).

1. Access to the resource’s genre

A. Fiction or nonfiction. If possible, assign one of the following terms to the resource:

Fiction films
Nonfiction films
Fiction television programs
Nonfiction television programs

B. Duration. Assign one of the following terms to both fiction and nonfiction films that have been or were originally intended to be exhibited theatrically or otherwise shown publicly, such as at a film festival. Use judgment in applying these terms. Do not use with educational films or videos made for classroom use or instructional videos.

Feature films [films with a running time of 40 minutes or more]
Short films [films with a running time of less than 40 minutes]

C. Accessibility. Assign, if appropriate, one of the following terms to the resource, whether television or film:

Video recordings for people with visual disabilities
[films produced with captions or sign language for viewing by the hearing impaired]

Video recordings for the hearing impaired
[films with additional audio description provided for people with visual disabilities]

D. Basic broader terms. Whenever applicable, assign one or more of these terms:

Children’s films
Children’s television programs
Documentary films
Documentary television programs
Made-for-TV movies
Silent films

E. Narrower terms. As appropriate, assign one or more narrower genre terms from LCGFT, e.g. “Animated films”, “Comedy films,” etc. Do not subdivide narrower terms.

The film “Shine”:

655 7 Biographical films. $2 lcgft

The film “Jakob the Liar”:

655 7 War films. $2 lcgft

Local terms may also be assigned, e.g.

655 7 Anime (Motion pictures) $2 local

A current list of genre/form terms related to moving image materials is found here http://www.lib.byu.edu/~catalog/people/rlm/Filmformterms.htm. If new terms are needed, we can make a proposal to add a term to LCGFT via the SACO program.

F. Access to the language of the resource. For non-English language resources, assign at least one term for the language of the original sound track(s) in the form “… language films” or “… language television programs”. Apply this policy to musical films with a discernable language, e.g. an opera sung in Italian. Generally do not assign this type of term to English-language films.

These are to be coded as local terms, e.g.

655 7 French language films. $2 local

655 7 Spanish language television programs. $2 local

Access may be given to dialects. If so, also give access to the parent language, e.g.:

655 7 Mandarin dialect films. $2 local
655 7 Chinese language films. $2 local

For films that include of dubbing or an alternate sound track in a language other than the language of the original sound track, give access following this pattern:

655 7 Spanish language films (Alternate sound track) $2 local

Do not assign a term for the language of subtitles.

Exception: If English is one of two or more languages involved (e.g. on different sound tracks, or the film is in a mixture of languages), assign an English-language term in combination with terms for the other languages. For example:

655 7 German language films. $2 local
655 7 English language films. $2 local
655 7 Spanish language films. $2 local

Exception: Give an English-language term for an opera, operetta, or musical sung in English.

655 0 Operas.
655 7 Filmed operas. $2 lcgft
655 7 English language films. $2 local

Do not use the LCGFT term “Foreign films” in a 655 field. LC considers this a valid form term, but it is not being used at BYU.

G. Access to the primary country of the film production company. For resources produced by non-U.S. film production companies, assign at least one term for the primary country of the film production company or companies in the form “Motion pictures $z [country].” This is the country where the company has its principal offices, or in the absence of a company, where the individual producer of the resource is located. These terms are to be coded as local terms, e.g.

655 7 Motion pictures $z Argentina. $2 local

655 7 Television programs $z Canada. $2 local

Use Great Britain for English production companies.

655 7 Television programs $z Great Britain. $2 local

Do not use the terms “Motion pictures” or “Television programs” alone without subdivision.

NEW: Additionally, include a 257 field in the record for the country of the producing entity for all moving image resources, including U.S. productions. Use the form of the name of the country found in the LC/NACO authority file.

A U.S. production:

257 United States $2 naf

A production by a Brazilian film company:

257 Brazil $2 naf

A French/German/Italian co-production:

257 France $a Germany $a Italy $2 naf

2. Access to the resource’s physical form

Assign one or more terms for the physical format of the item, e.g. “DVDs,” “Videocassettes,” “Videodiscs,” “Streaming video,” etc.

655 0 DVDs.

Note: the term “Videodiscs” should not be applied in a 655 to DVDs, even though the word is used in the 300 field to describe them. “Videodiscs” as a form term in the 655 field is only applied to 12-inch laserdiscs.

3. Subject access (600, 610, 611, 630, 651 fields)

Assign, as appropriate, subject headings for the topic of the film. (See SCM H2230 for complete details.)

Fiction films. As with works of literature, not all films have a “topic” and so may not have a subject heading. If possible, however, at least one subject heading should be assigned. The form subdivision “$v Drama” is usually appropriate for fiction films, e.g.:

The film “Shine”:

650 0 Pianists $z Australia $v Drama.

The film “Jakob the Liar”:

650 0 World War, 1939-1945 $x Jewish resistance $z Poland $v Drama.

If the geographic setting of the film is thought important, or it is thought people might want to access the film by geographic setting (e.g., films set in France), either use a geographic subdivision (as in the two examples above) and make a heading such as the following:

The film “Du rififi chez les hommes”:

651 0 France, $e setting.

Nonfiction films. Nonfiction (including documentary) films do not include the subdivision $v Drama with their subject headings:

The film “A great day in Harlem”:

650 0 Jazz musicians $z New York (State) $z New York.
650 0 Jazz $y 1951-1960 $x History and criticism.
600 10 Gillespie, Dizzy, $d 1917-

Other available subdivisions The following form subdivisions may be used in subject strings with any film as appropriate:

$v Juvenile films
$v Films for foreign speakers
$v Films for French [Spanish, etc.] speakers

III. CATALOGED EXAMPLES (SIMPLIFIED):

U.S. feature film

245 00 Shine / $c Fine Line Features presents a Momentum Films production ; story by Scott Hicks ; screenplay by Jan Sardi ; produced by Jane Scott ; directed by Scott Hicks.
260 [New York] : $b New Line Home Video, $c 1997.
300 1 videodisc (approximately 105 min.) : $b sound, color ; $c 4 3/4 in.
336 two-dimensional moving image $2 rdacontent
337 video $2 rdamedia
338 videodisc $2 rdacarrier
[several notes omitted]
546 Closed-captioned.
600 10 Helfgott, David $v Drama.
650 0 Pianists $z Australia $v Drama.
655 7 Fiction films. $2 lcgft
655 7 Feature films. $2 lcgft
655 7 Biographical films. $2 lcgft
655 7 Video recordings for the hearing impaired. $2 lcgft
655 0 DVDs.
[added access points for actors, directors, producers, etc., omitted]

Foreign language film

245 00 I have found it = $b Kandukondain kandukondain / $c Sri Surya Films, a film by Rajiv Menon ; produced by Kalaippuli S. Thanu ; written and directed by Rajiv Menon.
250 Letterbox edition.
260 New York, NY : $b Kino on Video, $c [2005]
300 1 videodisc (150 min.) : $b sound, color ; $c 4 3/4 in.
336 two-dimensional moving image $2 rdacontent
337 video $2 rdamedia
338 videodisc $2 rdacarrier
546 Tamil dialogue with English subtitles.
[several notes omitted]
650 0 Sisters $z India $z Drama.
650 0 Love $z India $z Drama.
655 7 Fiction films. $2 lcgft
655 7 Feature films. $2 lcgft
655 7 Romance films. $2 lcgft
655 7 Tamil language films. $2 local
655 7 Motion pictures $z India. $2 local
655 0 DVDs.
[added access points for actors, directors, producers, etc., omitted]

Documentary film

245 00 Market day / $c by Jacqueline Veuve.
246 3 Jour de marché
260 Watertown, Massachusetts : $b Documentary Educational Resources, $c 2002.
300 1 online resource (90 min.)
336 two-dimensional moving image $2 rdacontent
337 computer $2 rdamedia
338 online resource $2 rdacarrier
[several notes omitted]
650 0 Fairs $z Switzerland $z Vevey.
655 7 Nonfiction films. $2 lcgft
655 7 Documentary films. $2 lcgft
655 7 French language films. $2 local
655 7 Motion pictures $z Switzerland. $2 local
655 0 Streaming video.
[added access points for actors, directors, producers, etc., and URL omitted]

IV. INSTRUCTIONS FOR CREATION OF LOCAL AUTHORITY RECORDS

Local authority records for the language of the resource should be based on LCSH for the name of the language and variant forms for the name of the language. Follow this pattern:

155 Panjabi language films. $2 local
455 Foreign language films
455 Motion pictures, Panjabi
455 Panjabi motion pictures
455 Punjabi language films [variant form of the language name found in LCSH]

155 Italian language television programs. $2 local
455 Foreign language television programs
455 Television programs, Italian
455 Italian television programs

Local authority records for dialects follow this pattern:

155 Pidgin English films. $2 local
455 Foreign language films
455 Motion pictures, Pidgin English
455 Pidgin English motion pictures
455 Pigeon English films [variant form of the language name found in LCSH]
555 $w g $a English language films

155 Mandarin dialect television programs. $2 local
455 Foreign language television programs
455 Television programs, Mandarin
455 Mandarin television programs
555 $w g $a Chinese language television programs

Local authority records for the primary country of the production company follow this pattern:

155 Motion pictures $z Great Britain. $2 local
455 Foreign films
455 Motion pictures, British
455 British motion pictures

155 Television programs $z Brazil. $2 local
455 Foreign television programs
455 Brazilian television programs

Maintained by: Bob Maxwell

Last Updated: March 2012