Welcome to the info page for the Medical Subject Funnel! This project is based on the Subject Authority Cooperative’s funnel program, bringing together library workers to improve subject headings. The Medical Subject Funnel is more expansive than other funnels because we will be working to improve not only Library of Congress vocabularies (like the Library of Congress Subject Headings) but also the National Library of Medicine’s Medical Subject Headings. There’s no prerequisite for participating in the funnel or attending meetings—if this is an area of interest for you, please plan on dropping in! You can reach the co-chairs at medicalsubjectheadings@gmail.com with any questions.
The Medical Subject Funnel meets on the third Thursday of every month at 4 pm Eastern, 3 pm Central, 2 pm Mountain, 1 pm Pacific. Interested in learning more? Check out our Trello board, which includes links to our documentation, to-do lists, etc. Interested in attending meetings? Just subscribe to our email list to get a calendar invite to all our meetings! Find the Medical Subject Funnel email list archives at: LISTSERV – MEDICALFUNNEL Archives – LISTSERV.IT.NORTHWESTERN.EDU. You can subscribe from that page by clicking the “register” or “log in” options (click the menu button on the right side of the page). Or feel free to just email medicalsubjectheadings@gmail.com and asked to be added to the list.
Medical Subject Funnel mission statement:
The members of the Medical Subject Funnel work to improve medical and health sciences headings in libraries, including medical-related headings used in Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and in the National Library of Medicine’s Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). The funnel’s objective is accurate, up-to-date, culturally sensitive, and respectful terminology within the controlled vocabularies used by libraries, in the service of enhancing access to library resources. Medical Subject Funnel members strive to center the voices of marginalized and underserved users through their work to improve medical and health sciences-related headings. The funnel co-chairs welcome participation from library workers with a range of work and life experiences, including newer members of the profession and those without medical backgrounds.
Work on the Medical Subject Headings Funnel began in early 2023. If you would like to participate or have questions about the funnel, please email medicalsubjectheadings@gmail.com.
Co-chairs:
Violet Fox
Cataloging & Metadata Librarian
Galter Health Sciences Library, Northwestern University
Kat Balek
Technical Services Librarian
Mayo Clinic Libraries