H 810 Qualification of Geographic Headings

BACKGROUND: Geographic headings that do not represent potential descriptive access points, including headings for geographic features, regions, parks, etc., are generally established in the subject authority file. Since 1981 the rules used by subject catalogers in formulating these names have been essentially the same as those used for establishing jurisdictional headings, that is, the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules. With the adoption of AACR2, subject cataloging practices were modified to conform with the new rules. The procedures described in this instruction sheet apply only to the choice and form of the qualifiers for geographic headings. For procedures for formulating the substantive portion of these headings, see H 690.

1. General provisions.

a. Level of qualification.

(1) General rule. Qualify subject headings representing geographic entities by the name of the country or countries in which they are located, except for the following:

Country	Level of Qualification
Australia Canada Great Britain Malaysia Serbia and Montenegro United States	state province constituent country state republic state

For a list of the political divisions of these six exceptions, and the forms to be used as qualifiers, see pp. 8-11.

Note: For entities on the continent of Antarctica or within the Antarctic regions, use (Antarctica) as the qualifier.

(2) Entities in cities. Qualify archaeological sites, parks and gardens, streets and roads, and other man-made geographic structures, by the name of the city; qualify natural features by the name of the larger jurisdiction (see sec. 2.c).

(3) Headings for non-jurisdictional islands. See H 807.

(4) Entities on islands. Qualify by the name of the island or larger jurisdiction as described in sec. 2.d.

(5) Names of extinct cities. Use the qualifier (Extinct city) (see H 715).

(6) Rivers. See H 800.

(7) Undersea features. Generally do not qualify undersea features in international waters, for example, East Pacific Rise or Aleutian Trench. If it is necessary to resolve a conflict or remove ambiguity, add the body of water as a qualifier, for example, Central Slope (Gulf of Mexico). For undersea features within territorial limits, qualify by the name of the appropriate jurisdiction, for example, Old Orchard Shoal (N.Y.) or Grand Bahama Bank (Bahamas).

b. Latest name. Use, as a geographic qualifier, only the latest form of the name of a jurisdiction, for example, (Zimbabwe) [not (Rhodesia, Southern)].

c. Form of qualifier. Qualify a geographic heading by placing the name of the appropriate jurisdiction(s) within a single set of parentheses after the substantive portion of the heading. Example:

151 ## $a Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (Hawaii)

When using the names of two jurisdictions as a qualifier, place both names within a single set of parentheses, linking them with the word and. Example:

151 ## $a Chesapeake Bay (Md. and Va.)

When qualifying by the name of a city (or at any level lower than the level specified in sec. 1.a, above), use the established heading for the city or other entity, but reformulate it by placing it within a single set of parentheses, separating the basic name from the name of the larger qualifying jurisdiction with a comma, and omitting any additional information that is part of the established heading. Examples:

Form of heading for city: Chicago (Ill.)

Form when used as qualifier: (Chicago, Ill.)

Form of heading for city: Black Creek (Wis. : Village)

Form when used as qualifier: (Black Creek, Wis.)

Form of heading for city: Veracruz (Veracruz-Llave, Mexico)

Form when used as qualifier: (Veracruz, Veracruz-Llave, Mexico)

When the jurisdiction being used as a qualifier is itself qualified by a term designating the nature of the jurisdiction, omit the latter term, and if necessary, reformulate the resulting name in the same manner as described above for cities. Examples:

Form of heading for jurisdiction: Washington (State)

Form when used as qualifier: (Wash.)

Form of heading for jurisdiction: Micronesia (Federated States)

Form when used as qualifier: (Micronesia)

Form of heading for jurisdiction: Arequipa (Peru : Dept.)

Form when used as qualifier: (Arequipa, Peru)

Abbreviations. Use the abbreviations listed on pp. 8-11. Do not abbreviate any other place names when using them as qualifiers.

2. Entities wholly within one jurisdiction.

a. General rule. Qualify by the name of the jurisdiction in which the entity is located, formulating the qualifier in accordance with the general provisions above. Examples:

151 ## $a Columbia Dam (Tenn.)

151 ## $a Great Barrier Reef (Qld.)

151 ## $a Saint Helens, Mount (Wash.)

151 ## $a Taunus (Germany)

151 ## $a Diamond Mountains (Korea)

Note: Use Korea to qualify all entities located in Korea, whether in North Korea, South Korea, or both.

151 ## $a Valdai Hills (Russia)

151 ## $a Lake District (England)

151 ## $a Cairngorms (Scotland)

b. Conflicts. If there are two or more entities with the same name in the same jurisdiction, formulate a distinctive qualifier according to the following methods:

(1) Entities of the same type. Add to the qualifier the name of the next smaller jurisdiction (county, department, province, etc.). Examples:

151 ## $a Pelican Lake (Otter Tail County, Minn.)

151 ## $a Pelican Lake (Saint Louis County, Minn.)

151 ## $a Blackwater River (Essex, England)

151 ## $a Blackwater River (Hampshire and Berkshire, England)

(2) Entities of different types. Add to the qualifier a generic term, in English, designating the type of entity. Separate this term from the geographic term within the qualifier by a space, a colon, and another space. Example:

151 ## $a Cold Lake (Alta. : Lake)

[This designation is necessary because there is also a city in Alberta with the name Cold Lake, for which the heading is Cold Lake (Alta.)]

Note: Provide information about such conflicts in 670 fields in order to justify the addition of extra names or terms in qualifiers.

c. Entities in cities.

Note: Do not use names of townships in the United States as qualifiers. Instead, qualify by the specific city, town, village, etc., within the township.

(1) Parks and gardens. Qualify by the name of the city, formulating the qualifier according to the general provisions above. Example:

151 ## $a Central Park (New York, N.Y.)

151 ## $a Jardin du Luxembourg (Paris, France)

(2) Streets and roads, and other man-made geographic structures. Qualify by the name of the city. See H 2098, sec. 2.b.

(3) Archaeological sites. Qualify by the name of the city.

(4) Natural features. Do not qualify lakes, hills, etc. within cities by the name of the city except to resolve conflicts. Qualify by the name of the larger jurisdiction, in accordance with the general rule for qualification of entities wholly within a single jurisdiction.

(5) Buildings and structures. See H 1334.

d. Entities on islands.

(1) Islands established as name headings without qualifiers. Qualify the entity on the island by the name of the island as established.

Island	Entity on the Island
Taiwan	Tan-shui River (Taiwan)
Greenland	Disko Bay (Greenland)

(2) Islands established as name or subject headings with qualifiers for larger jurisdictions. Qualify the entity on the island by the name of the larger jurisdiction, not by the island name.

Island	Entity on the Island
Sicily (Italy)	Etna, Mount (Italy)
Crete (Greece)	Kommos Site (Greece)

Exception: Use the specific island name when necessary to resolve conflicts. Example:

151 ## $a Kailua Bay (Oahu, Hawaii)

151 ## $a Kailua Bay (Hawaii Island, Hawaii)

(3) Entities on islands that comprise more than one jurisdiction. Qualify the entity on the island by the name of the jurisdiction in which the entity is located. For example, use the qualifier (Haiti) rather than (Hispaniola) for an entity in Haiti.

3. Entities in two jurisdictions. Qualify by the names of both jurisdictions in which the entity is located, formulating the qualifier in accordance with the general provisions above.

As a general rule, put the names of the two jurisdictions in alphabetical order. However, if the entity is located primarily in one of the two, put the name of that jurisdiction first. For special provisions applicable to the qualification of rivers in two jurisdictions, see H 800.

Examples:

151 ## $a Somport Pass (France and Spain)

151 ## $a Chesapeake Bay (Md. and Va.)

151 ## $a Bull Shoals Lake (Ark. and Mo.)

151 ## $a White Mountains (N.H. and Me.)

4. Entities in more than two jurisdictions. Use no qualifier unless it is necessary to distinguish between two entities by the same name or to clarify an ambiguous term.

Examples:

151 ## $a Euphrates River

151 ## $a Middle East

151 ## $a Mediterranean Sea

151 ## $a Atlas Mountains

151 ## $a Southern States

151 ## $a Hudson Bay

151 ## $a Great Dividing Range

151 ## $a West (U.S.)

Qualification of such entities to resolve conflicts occurs most frequently with rivers. For special provisions applicable to this situation, see H 800.

International bodies of water. Do not qualify bodies of water touching two or more countries and open to the sea except to resolve a conflict. In accordance with this rule, headings such as English Channel and Bering Sea are established without qualifiers.

Apply the standard provisions for geographic qualification, as presented in this instruction sheet and in H 800, to inland bodies of water such as lakes and rivers (associated watersheds, estuaries, etc.), as well as for bodies of water touching two or more jurisdictions below the country level.

First Order Political Divisions of the Exceptional Countries

	First Order Division	Form in Qualifier
Australia
	Australian Capital Territory New South Wales Northern Territory Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia	(A.C.T.) (N.S.W.) (N.T.) (Qld.) (S. Aust.) (Tas.) (Vic.) (W.A.)
Canada
	Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavut Ontario Prince Edward Island Québec (Province) Saskatchewan Yukon Territory	(Alta.) (B.C.) (Man.) (N.B.) (N.L.) (N.W.T.) (N.S.) (Nunavut) (Ont.) (P.E.I.) (Québec) (Sask.) (Yukon)
Great Britain
	England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales	(England) (Northern Ireland) (Scotland) (Wales)
Malaysia
	Johor Kedah Kelantan Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) Malacca (State) Negeri Sembilan Pahang Pinang Perak Perlis Sabah Sarawak Selangor Terengganu	(Johor) (Kedah) (Kelantan) (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) (Malacca) (Negeri Sembilan) (Pahang) (Pinang) (Perak) (Perlis) (Sabah) (Sarawak) (Selangor) (Terengganu)
Serbia and Montenegro
	Montenegro Serbia	(Montenegro) (Serbia)
United States
	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticu Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York (State) North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington (State) West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming	(Ala.) (Alaska) (Ariz.) (Ark.) (Calif.) (Colo.) (Conn.) (Del.) (Fla.) (Ga.) (Hawaii) (Idaho) (Ill.) (Ind.) (Iowa) (Kan.) (Ky.) (La.) (Me.) (Md.) (Mass.) (Mich.) (Minn.) (Miss.) (Mo.) (Mont.) (Neb.) (Nev.) (N.H.) (N.J.) (N.M.) (N.Y.) (N.C.) (N.D.) (Ohio) (Okla.) (Or.) (Pa.) (R.I.) (S.C.) (S.D.) (Tenn.) (Tex.) (Utah) (Vt.) (Va.) (Wash.) (W. Va.) (Wis.) (Wyo.)
Yugoslavia, see Serbia and Montenegro

Other Jurisdictions That Are Abbreviated When Used as Qualifiers

Jurisdiction	Form in Qualifier
British Virgin Islands New Zealand Puerto Rico United States Virgin Islands of the United States	(V.I.) (N.Z.) (P.R.) (U.S.) (V.I.)