In May 2025, the Subject Analysis Committee’s Scope Notes Working Group met for the first time and discussed identifying LCSH headings that could benefit from scope notes. This will include gaining insights from the cataloging community on headings that they find particularly confusing or see misapplied. The group will draft scope notes for some of these headings in accordance with Library of Congress procedures and submit them.

A fundamental purpose of scope notes is to limit the usage of a heading. Scope notes should define the term where the term itself is not clear, even with the use of a qualifier. They should also explain the meaning of the term and point to more specific terminology. When there are two or more headings that are similar in meaning, then a scope note should be added to clarify the purpose of each term. Some scope notes give specific instructions on how to handle a topic.

The Subject Analysis Committee (SAC) determined that a working group would be beneficial in highlighting subject headings that need scope notes added to them or editing existing scope notes for clarity. Margaret Joyce is the current chair of the Subject Analysis Committee and of this working group. She is an original cataloger at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

The working group is currently collecting problem subject headings. Dr. Pamela Thomas, Bibliographic Grant Manager of the Cataloging Maintenance Center (CMC), is a member of the working group. If you are aware of any subject headings that are confusing or are habitually misapplied, please send them to Dr. Pamela Thomas.