Can I suggest that colleagues look at Library of Congress Subject Headings? I rejected UNESCO because I would have to 'invent' all my own terms, which would lead to all the problems Carl foresees.
LCSH isn't a thesaurus, a bit like topsy, it just grew, based on the 'literary warrant' of the LC holdings and what other people have put in to it. None the less, it's been going for over 100 years and has had lots of $$$$ spent on it, improving it. One big drawback from the UK point of view is the imposition of American spelling (in my context, labor, not labour) but I think it's worth putting up with that in exchange for the monitoring work that goes on. I've been amazed at the detailed level of entries available to me, all in a controlled vocabulary so that researchers don't have to check in three different places. Moreover LC is prepared to accept new entries, so if what you want isn't there, you can ask for it to go in.
In brief, something that works already exists, and it is prepared to change to accommodate demand, and someone else is paying for it!
Mrs Christine Woodland
Archivist, Modern Records Centre
University Library
University of Warwick
Coventry
CV4 7AL
tel. (024) 7652 4219
email [log in to unmask]
http://modernrecords.warwick.ac.uk
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