ABSTRACT
One of the most pervasive beliefs of American subject catalogers is that the subject heading element of the dictionary catalog should be constructed on the principle of user convenience. In its narrowest sense, this means that individual subject headings should be chosen on the basis of what terms are commonly used by patrons in their subject searching. Charles A. Cutter had this in mind in his discussion of equally useful compound subject names: “When there is any decided usage (i. e. custom of the public to designate the subjects by one of the names rather than by the others) let it be followed. 2 In a broader sense the idea of user convenience means that all aspects of subject heading work—choices concerning specificity, term syntax, synonyms, etc.—should reflect the way users approach the catalog. David J. Haykin, the first chief of the Subject Cataloging Division of the Library of Congress, expressed this more comprehensive view in 1951 when he concluded that, “the reader is the focus in all cataloging principles and practice.” 3
