About the SACO Workshops

Since 1997, the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) has sponsored workshops at ALA conferences in support of SACO, the Subject Authority Cooperative Project of the PCC. LC Cooperative Cataloging Team members and/or subject policy specialists from the Library of Congress Cataloging Policy and Support Office (CPSO) have presented the concepts and practical aspects of creating and changing subject authority headings for inclusion in the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) list.

The SACO Workshops offered at ALA typically include a basic workshop giving the fundamentals of constructing and submitting subject proposals on any topic and an advanced workshop treating the special techniques for particular topics. Recent topics of advanced workshops include languages and related literature, geographic headings, historical events, and art. Participants have expressed strong interest in future topics, e.g., religion, technology, and a repeat of geographic headings.

For some participants, the SACO workshop is their first introduction to formal training for a PCC program. Attending SACO workshops gives new participants a glimpse into the role they may play in cooperative cataloging activities. Scheduling a SACO workshop during ALA opens the opportunity to more potential participants.

Other attendees are among the most prolific contributors of new proposals to SACO, and are members also of NACO and BIBCO, two other PCC programs. Participation in SACO enables catalogers to develop appropriate subject headings to suit the collections of their institutions, while also enhancing the national subject authority file.

The PCC is committed to offering SACO workshops in conjunction with future library conferences to encourage institutions to explore and expand SACO participation. Visit the PCC SACO home page for announcements and registration information about upcoming SACO workshops at ALA.

The PCC, in conjunction with ALCTS, has created an introductory course in subject cataloging called "Basic Subject Cataloging using LCSH". This course will be available through the Library of Congress' Cataloging Distribution Service. The materials are modeled after those used in the SCCTP workshops used by CONSER participants