Commonly Used Subdivisions

The following lists contain some common topical and geographic subdivisions useful for describing our archival collections. See H 1151 Pattern Headings: Individual Educational Institutions for a list of subdivisions that may be used under the heading Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For a more detailed list of free-floating subdivisions, see H 1095 Free-Floating Subdivisions.

Topical Subdivisions

[Main heading] — Alumni and alumnae

(May Subd Geog) Further subdivide by subdivisions used under classes of persons. Use as a topical subdivision under names of individual educational institutions and types of educational institutions.

[Main heading] — Biography

Use as a topical subdivision under names of countries, cities, etc., names of individual corporate bodies, uniform titles of sacred works, and under classes of persons, ethnic groups, types of animals, and historic events for works about collective or individual biography.

[Main heading] — Curricula

(May Subd Geog) Do not subdivide geographically under names of individual educational institutions.

Use as a topical subdivision under names of individual educational institutions and under types of education and educational institutions for works on courses offered at those institutions or in those fields. Use — Study and teaching under topics of study.

[Main heading] — Design and construction

Use the free-floating subdivision — Design and construction under Examinations and under headings for types of tests and individual examinations for works on methods of designing and constructing tests. Also use under types of structures, machines, equipment, etc., for works discussing their engineering and/or construction.

Use the free-floating subdivision — Design under other topics where the use of — Design and construction would not be appropriate.

See H 1532 Design and Construction for further guidance.

 [Main heading] — Economic conditions

Use the free-floating subdivision — Economic conditions under names of regions, countries, cities, etc.; under names of ethnic groups; and under classes of persons, including occupational groups, for works discussing the economic history or economic conditions in general of a place, ethnic group, or class of persons. Use — Economic conditions under headings for specific occupational groups, when appropriate.

See H 1578 Economic Conditions for further guidance.

[Main heading] — Education (Higher)

Use the free-floating subdivision — Education (May Subd Geog) under classes of persons and ethnic groups for works on education provided for these persons or groups. Use — Education (Higher) for works on college or graduate education.

Under occupational groups and types of employees use — Education only for works on the general education of these groups or on education in special subjects not related to their occupation.

See H 1579 Education for further guidance.

[Main heading] — Employment

(May Subd Geog) Use as a topical subdivision under classes of persons and ethnic groups.

[Main heading] — Faculty

Further subdivide by subdivisions used under classes of persons. Use as a topical subdivision under names of individual educational institutions and types of educational institutions.

[Main heading] — History

The subdivision — History may be used under most headings to designate a historical treatment of the topic in question. Use as a topical subdivision under names of countries, cities, etc., and individual corporate bodies, uniform titles of sacred works, and under classes of persons, ethnic groups, and topical headings to designate works of history or historiography (secondary sources). Do not use — History to designate historical materials (primary sources).

Use — History further subdivided by chronological subdivisions for specific time periods where they are established under headings for topics and places.

See H 1647 History for further guidance.

[Main heading] — International cooperation

Use as a topical subdivision under topical headings.

[Main heading] — Patents

Use as a topical subdivision under disciplines and under types of articles and processes patented for works about patents.

[Main heading] — Planning

Use under names of individual corporate bodies and under types of activities, facilities, industries, services, undertakings, etc., for works that describe or discuss the planning process.

Use as a topical subdivision under names of individual corporate bodies and under types of activities, facilities, industries, services, undertakings, etc., for works that describe or discuss the planning process

[Main heading] — Political activity

Assign the free-floating subdivision — Political activity (May Subd Geog) under classes of persons, types of corporate bodies, names of individual corporate bodies, persons, families, individual military services, and Christian denominations for works on the political participation of these persons or organizations.

See H 1942 Politics and Government for further guidance.

[Main heading] — Politics and government 

The free-floating subdivision — Politics and government is assigned to works that discuss the theory, practice, and history of politics and government and citizen participation in the political process.

Assign the free-floating subdivision — Politics and government under names of countries, cities, etc., to works on the history of political events and/or the history, description, or critical analysis of governmental and political institutions, parties, organizations, etc., treated collectively.

Assign the free-floating subdivision — Politics and government under individual ethnic groups for works on the group's self-government and/or the political activity of the group or its individual members.

See H 1942 Politics and Government for further guidance.

[Main heading] — Presidents

Use as a topical subdivision under names of individual corporate bodies.

[Main heading] — Protest movements

(May Subd Geog) Use as a topical subdivision under individual wars.

[Main heading] — Research

Use the free-floating subdivision — Research (May Subd Geog) under names of countries, cities, etc., individual corporate bodies, and classes of persons, ethnic groups, and topical headings.

[Main heading] — Safety measures

Use as a topical subdivision under individual military services and under topical headings.

[Main heading] — Scholarships, fellowships, etc.

(May Subd Geog) Use as a topical subdivision under classes of persons, ethnic groups, and fields of study.

[Main heading] — Science

Use as a topical subdivision under ethnic groups and individual wars.

[Main heading] — Social aspects

(May Subd Geog) Use as a topical subdivision under topical headings for works on the effect of the item, activity, discipline, etc., and society on each other.

[Main heading] — Social conditions

Use the free-floating subdivision — Social conditions under names of regions, countries, cities, etc.; under names of ethnic groups; and under classes of persons, including occupational groups.  Use the subdivision for works discussing the social history or sociology of a place, ethnic group, or class of persons, including such subtopics of sociology as social problems, stability, change, interaction, adjustment, structure, social institutions, etc. 

See H 2055 Social Conditions for further guidance.

[Main heading] — Societies, etc.

Use as a topical subdivision under names of individual persons, families, and corporate bodies, and under classes of persons, ethnic groups, uniform titles of sacred works, and topical headings for works discussing two or more societies or institutions related to those subjects. Do not use under classes of persons if the corresponding heading for the discipline can be assigned.

See H 2060 Societies for further guidance.

[Main heading] — Study and teaching

(May Subd Geog) Use as a topical subdivision under subjects for works on the study and teaching of those subjects, including methods, institutions, facilities, programs, courses, funding, etc. Use the free-floating subdivision — Study and teaching (Higher) for collections dealing with the study and teaching of those subjects at the undergraduate level and above.

See H 2110 Study and Teaching for further guidance.

[Main heading] — Study and teaching (Higher)

Assign the free-floating subdivision — Study and teaching (Higher) (May Subd Geog) under names of individual persons, corporate bodies, and places, and under classes of persons, ethnic groups, and topical headings for works on study and teaching about these subjects. This subdivision will generally apply to any archival collections of faculty papers that include teaching materials like lecture notes, etc.

See H 2110 Study and Teaching for further guidance.

Geographic Subdivisions

Geographic subdivisions are used to limit a topic to a specific place where it occurs. The pattern [Topic] — [Place] can be taken to mean [Topic] in [Place]. For example: a book titled Songs and dances in Quebec would have the heading Folk music — Quebec (Province).

For national groups outside their own country, however, assign headings to bring out both localities (this would apply to headings for Cuban Americans or other U.S. ethnic groups). For example:

Title: A Colorado Dutch hop sampler

German Americans — Colorado — Music

Folk music — Colorado

Folk music — Germany

The following list reflects some of the most common geographic subdivisions in our collections:

[Main heading] — Massachusetts

[Main heading] — Massachusetts — Cambridge

[Main heading] — Massachusetts — Boston

[Main heading] — United States