I suppose it would be helpful to actually know the problem that is
trying to be solved here (I mean, a lot of people, including myself,
are throwing out solutions to a problem that's never been actually
defined).

Ethan, what, exactly, are you trying to do?  Do you want authorized
headings?  Or do you want LCSH that appears in the wild?

-Ross.

On Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 10:35 AM, Ed Summers <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 10:16 AM, Karen Coyle <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Couple of things: first, what we have at id.loc.gov is NOT LCSH, but a copy
>> of the LC subject authority file. The entries in this file form the basis
>> for subject headings, most of which add "facets" to the authority entry when
>> forming the subject heading. One could do a left-anchored match against
>> actual headings, and that might provide some interesting statistics.
>
> Yes, using the actual headings extracted from bibliographic data seems
> to be a better approach. It's easier to rank them, and as Karen points
> out you get the actual post-coordinated headings, not just the
> headings LC has decided to establish authority records for.
>
> //Ed
>