H 1330 Biography
H 1330 Page 2 Subject Headings Manual
September 2013
1. General rule. (Continued)
a. Name heading for the person. Assign the heading as established in RDA form in the
name authority file. Do not subdivide the name by –Biography.
Exception: --Biography has been established and may be used under the names of
four individuals: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616; Muh. ammad, Prophet, -632;
Jesus Christ; and Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint. Do not submit a proposal to
establish --Biography under the name of any other individual.
If the biography focuses on a specific aspect of the person's life subdivide the name
heading using the appropriate topical subdivision from H 1110, for example, BChildhood
and youth, BHealth, BDeath and burial. Assign this heading as the first heading.
Literary authors. For literary authors who write under various names and have
more than one name heading, use the heading that serves as the "base heading"
for the author, that is, the heading having the complete set of references for the
author. Free-floating use of the subdivision BBiography after headings for
individual literary authors was discontinued in 1998. The subdivision is
established under Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616, and continues to be used
under that heading as an exceptional practice.
Official name heading vs. personal name heading. For individuals who have
both an official name heading and a personal name heading, use the personal
name heading. For example, use Reagan, Ronald rather than United States.
President (1981-1989 : Reagan).
Collective biography. If the work is about two, three, or four persons, assign the
name heading for each. If the work is about more than four persons, omit the
name headings.
b. [Class of persons]
B
Biography. This heading designates the group of people to
which the biographee belongs, as discussed in the work being cataloged, for example,
Musicians, Heads of state, Football coaches, ItalyBKings and rulers, etc.
Note: This heading is assigned to individual biographies primarily for the
benefit of public library users who are seeking biographies of a particular type of
person rather than a particular individual. The heading should be selected with
that in mind. If the biographee belongs to no discernable class of persons of the
type judged likely to be sought by the typical public library user, it may be
omitted.