The semester is finally coming to an end, and I feel almost as confused as I did at the beginning. This month we learned LCSH. Subject headings are NOT fun. Well...Let me re-phrase that..Subject headings are only fun when they make sense. I have to admit I do a little dance when I figure out a subject heading using the LCSH and I am right. Wondering what the LCSH is that I keep referring to? Library of Congress is one of three different Authority controls that help decide what the subject heading for a book will be so that it is easier to search for books. At the moment we are ONLY using Library of Congress authority controls (thank God!). The website that has become one of my best friends recently is here. Subject headings alone are not so bad. After I made it past the first few lectures in the first section along with the first practice, I thought, "Man, I got this in the bag!" And then it was time to move on to advanced topics and these mysterious little items and words called 'free floating subdivisions'. I like to picture these little creatures and a fly. They always appear randomly and annoy you like crazy, but if you try to catch them (to kill them, but in this case to add them) they squirm away...and it takes forever to finally pin them down! eww..I do NOT like flies--OR free floating subdivisions.
After finishing practice 2 and the graded homework (and then going over the millions of discussions that went with our homework) I am feeling a littler more confident. We will see how long that confidence lasts after we get our grades back. I felt the same way when I submitted DDC work, but my grade proved otherwise! eeeK!
I'd like to say that LCSH has been the most challenging thing this month, but MTSU/D2L is sure giving it a run for its money! I have never yelled more at a computer than I have this week...especially last night with D2L when it decided to turn off right in the middle of working on my homework.
To sum everything up, the cute little picture at the top of this post does a great job of depicting my life right now! Whew-wee! I cannot wait until everything is worked out and cataloging as a whole starts to become natural to me!
