Scope: This document outlines preferred practices for cataloging fiction.
Contact: Laura Daniels
Unit: Cataloging & Metadata Services
Date created: May 12, 2026
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At Cornell University Library, while we accept cataloging decisions in records created by other institutions, when we are performing cataloging for fiction in general collections, we adhere to the practices outlined in the LC Subject Heading Manual H 1790 (Literature: Fiction), section 4:
4. Individual works of fiction. Bring out topic(s) only for the following types of individual works of fiction: a. Biographical fiction. Assign the heading [name of biographee]–Fiction. b. Historical fiction. Assign headings for specific historical events, periods, etc., with the subdivision –Fiction, e.g. World War, 1939-1945–Fiction; San Francisco Earthquake, Calif., 1906–Fiction. Do not assign a heading of this type when the event or period is merely the backdrop to a story. Assign it only when the event or period is the principal focus of the work. Interpret the term historical fiction broadly to include works about entities such as movements, corporate bodies other than jurisdictions, camps, parks, structures, geographical features other than regions, ethnic groups, disasters, categories of events, etc. c. Animal stories. Assign the heading Animals–Fiction to individual novels or stories about animals in general. For a work about a specific type of animal, assign a heading for the type of animal with the subdivision –Fiction, e.g. Horses–Fiction. |
Exceptions: subject headings should be assigned to children’s fiction and may be assigned as deemed appropriate for rare materials.
Genre/form terms should be assigned as appropriate to all types of literature.
Rationale for this policy:
The Special Provisions for Increased Subject Access to Fiction, state that “The assignment of subject headings to individual works of fiction is intended to provide the average public library user with an additional method of selecting recreational reading.” The CUL general collections are not primarily intended for recreational reading; we should not devote resources to assigning subjects to literature outside the categories outlined above.