Headings for Tomorrow: Public Access Display of Subject Headings

Intended to aid librarians interacting with systems designers in making decisions about the design of displays of more than one subject heading, this book maps out a complex territory. Subject headings derived from the Library of Congress Subject Headings were used, although the principles explored would be applicable to similar lists of highly structured subject heading strings. The project began with a survey of existing systems and the material presented is based on the theory that in designing displays, one should never assume library patrons know the subject heading they need prior to the search - systems should be designed to encourage exploration and to teach structure by example. This work makes recommendations where there seems to be little question about the most desirable way to solve a problem; in other cases, it presents pro and con arguments on each issue. Detailed listings describe screen design throughout.