Skip to main content

Local Subject Headings

Subject headings for local authors and collections of special interest may be added at the discretion of owning libraries. 

Special collections subject headings

Local subject headings for special collections are coded in the 690 field.  The 690 is a protected "Local" field in the Symphony database and will be preserved when a bibliographic record is overlaid. 

Please let SWAN know of any local subjects you currently use or wish to add to the bibliographic database. The Bibliographic Services team can also assist with adding local subject fields to a large batch of records if necessary. 

For example:

690 _ _  Oak Park Multicultural Collection

Dyslexia-friendly books

This is a local subject heading that can be used for materials that are printed in dyslexia-friendly font. This information can appear in marketing from the vendor or somewhere within the item in-hand. If you see this on an item and would like to make it more accessible in the catalog, please feel free to add the following field to the record:

690 _ _ Dyslexia-friendly books.

Local author subject headings

Subject headings for local authors will be written to a 655 _7 tag and conclude with a "|2 local" subfield. Headings can either indicate that the author is local to Illinois or drill further down to a region or town: 

       655 _7 Local author|zIllinois.|2local

       655 _7 Local author|zIllinois|zGlen Ellyn.|2local

Please note that "Local author" is singular and geographic designations are coded in |z. 

Book awards

SWAN uses local subjects to indicate book award winners and nominees for several local awards. SWAN Bibliographic Services will add these headings as appropriate when lists are released, but member libraries should feel free to add these during the pre-cat and cataloging process as well. The awards and heading formats are: 

690 _ _ Abraham Lincoln Book Award, 2022|xNominee. 

690 _ _ Monarch Award, 2022|xNominee. 

690 _ _ Bluestem Award, 2022|xNominee. 

690 _ _ Rebecca Caudill Award, 2022|xNominee. 

We will update the |xNominee subheading to |xWinner for the appropriate titles when winners are announced.

While SWAN Bibliographic Services will not add headings for other awards, having consistent headings across all records will provide the most access to our patrons and colleagues looking for these materials. For libraries wishing to add Caldecott and Newbery information, please use the following headings, updating the year as needed:

690 _ _ Caldecott Medal, 2026.

690 _ _ Caldecott Honor Book, 2026.

690 _ _ Newbery Medal, 2026.

690 _ _ Newbery Honor Book, 2026.

Cataloging