Cataloging: Using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH®) in Cataloging
Module 4—Use of Topical Qualifiers (Subheadings)
page 1 of 10
Introduction
Module 1
Subject Analysis Principles
Module 2
Introduction to Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and the MeSH Browser
Module 3
Selecting the Main Concept
Module 4
Use of Topical Subheadings in MeSH
Module 5
Geographic Headings
Module 6
Publication Types
Module 7
Names as Subjects
Module 8
Deconstructed Headings vs. Subject Strings
Topical Subheadings
- Topical subheadings or qualifiers are used to narrow the specific focus of a main topical heading to a particular aspect of the subject. For example:
- The diagnosis or therapy of a disease
- The physiology or pathology of an organ
- The metabolism of a drug
- The economics of providing a service
- Currently there are 83 topical qualifiers used for indexing and cataloging
- A list of all the topical qualifiers can be found here.
- Qualifiers can also be searched and retrieved in the MeSH browser. They can be distinguished from main heading because the terms are all in lower case and have a record type of “Q”
