Boehr D, Willis S. Cataloging News — 2015. NLM Tech Bull. 2014 Nov-Dec;(401):e7.
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) adopted the 2015 MeSH vocabulary for cataloging on November 24, 2014.
Accordingly, MeSH subject headings in LocatorPlus were changed to reflect the 2015 MeSH vocabulary and appear in that form as of November 24, 2014.
When year-end processing (YEP) activities are completed in mid-December, the NLM Catalog, MeSH database, and translation tables will be updated to reflect 2015 MeSH. Until then, note that there will be a hiatus in the addition of new and edited bibliographic records to the NLM Catalog.
The Index to the NLM Classification will not reflect 2015 MeSH changes until Spring 2015.
MeSH 2015 Changes in NLM Bibliographic Records and Cataloging Policy
In general, the Cataloging Section implemented the vocabulary changes in NLM bibliographic records for books, serials, and other materials, as they were applied for citations in MEDLINE. Below are a few highlights:
- Death vs. Mortality
New terms were created: Infant Death and Perinatal Death. These terms complement the existing MeSH terms Infant Mortality and Perinatal Mortality. Death terms are used for biological, physiological, or psychological concepts while mortality terms are used for statistical concepts. There is some overlap with the perinatal terms. Catalogers should follow the annotations carefully.
- "Social" Terms
The new term Sociological Factors, formerly an entry term (ET) to the specialty term Sociology, now serves as an overall heading for specific sociological characteristics and phenomena. Other new "social" terms include Social Theory, Social Capital, Social Norms, and Social Skills.
- Missions Terms and Religious Personnel
The 2014 MeSH Missions and Missionaries was deleted. For 2015 MeSH, the concept of missions was separated from the persons involved in missionary work. Two new terms were created: Religious Missions and Missionaries. The automated MeSH changes that took place Nov. 22-23 replaced the term Missions and Missionaries with Religious Missions. Cataloging staff will conduct additional manual processing in December to add Missionaries to the set of records that also have PT Biography, Autobiography, or Personal Narratives. Note that the existing term Medical Missions, Official is still available.
Religious Personnel was created as an overall term under which Clergy and the new terms Monks and Nuns are treed. Several ETs were created for the existing term, Clergy: Chaplains, Clerics, Deacons, Imams, Ministers, Pastors, Priests, Rabbis.
- Manufacturing Industry
The new term Manufacturing Industry, formerly an entry term (ET) to Industry, now serves as an overall heading for specific manufacturing industries.
- Publication Types (PTs) and Related Terms:
No new Publication Types were created for 2015.
- In Vitro [PT] (had the annotation: "CATALOG: do not use") has been deleted and replaced with the MeSH term In Vitro Techniques (Category E) which serves as an overall term for specific in vitro techniques. Catalogers may use In Vitro Techniques for studies of isolated (not cultured) organs and tissue. Do not use In Vitro Techniques for studies of microorganisms or for chemical studies of non-living materials.
- Dataset [PT] was created in 2014. The corresponding MeSH term was created in 2015: Datasets as Topic. The PT will probably rarely be used for cataloging except perhaps with relevant electronic resources, e.g., Scientific Data. Do not use the PT or the MeSH term for general research materials even if "dataset" is mentioned. Follow MeSH scope notes carefully.
- Change in cataloging policy not related to 2015 MeSH: Cataloging staff will no longer use the PTs Charts or Newspaper Articles for current materials.
MeSH Descriptors Not Used by Catalogers:
- New
International Planned Parenthood Federation is annotated: "CATALOG: use NAF entry." Catalogers should use the National Authority File (NAF) heading coded in MARC as 610 22 and coordinate with International Agencies, coded in MARC as 650 X2.
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Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development is annotated: "CATALOG: use NAF entry." Catalogers should use the National Authority File (NAF) heading coded in MARC as 610 22 and coordinate with International Agencies, coded in MARC as 650 X2.
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Metabolic Side Effects of Drugs and Substances is annotated: "used for searching: indexers and catalogers apply specifics; catalogers should not use this term." This is an overall term for D27 tree to cover drug actions that are related to side effects. Catalogers should only use the specific MeSH terms treed under it.
- Existing Modified
Absorption is now annotated: "beginning in 2015: used for searching; indexers and catalogers apply specifics." The physical process of absorption was separated from the physiological process of absorption by the addition of two new terms: Absorption, Physicochemical and Absorption, Physiological.
The term Absorption was retained for use in searching and should no longer be used by catalogers. This is one of the many 2015 MeSH addition/changes to cover the LADMER System: Liberation of an ingredient from the dosage form, Absorption into the systemic circulation, Distribution within the body fluids and tissues, Metabolism (activating or inactivating, biotransformation) in the body, Elimination from the body (or reabsorption), Response (therapeutic or other effect elicited by dose).
For additional information about 2015 MeSH, see the articles What's New for 2015 MeSH and MEDLINE Data Changes — 2015.
Additional Database Changes
A summary of the DTD and XML changes for the NLMCatalogRecordSet DTD and CatfilePlus and Serfile XML for 2015 is available in the August 25, 2014 announcement: 2015 DTD and XML Changes; DIRLINE and Archival International Pharmaceutical Abstracts Subset Changes; Forthcoming 2015 Baseline and Update Files; Schedule Changes; Continuing to Lease NLM Data in 2015, Section 1. B.
Cataloging News - 2015
