When PLAFSEP magazine asked its readers to nominate the silliest library subject heading, the hands-down winner was BUTTOCKS (IN RELIGION, FOLK-LORE, ETC.).
Other highlights, gathered by columnist John R. Likins:
- AMERICAN GIANT CHECKERED RABBIT
- BANKRUPTCY–POPULAR WORKS
- CATASTROPHICAL, THE, see also COMIC, THE
- CHILD ABUSE–STUDY AND TEACHING
- CONTANGO AND BACKWARDATION
- DENTISTS IN ART
- FANTASTIC TELEVISION PROGRAMS
- FOOD, JUNK
- GHOSTS–PICTORIAL WORKS
- GOD–ADDRESSES, ESSAYS, LECTURES
- HEMORRHOIDS–POPULAR WORKS
- JESUS CHRIST–PERSON AND OFFICES
- LABORATORY ANIMALS–CONGRESSES
- LOVE NESTS–DIRECTORIES
- MANURE HANDLING
- MUD LUMPS
- ODORS IN THE BIBLE
- PRAYERS FOR ANIMALS
- SICK–FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
- URINARY DIVERSIONS, see also URINE DANCE
- WASPS (PERSONS)
That’s from Likins’ article “Subject Headings, Silly, American–20th Century–Complications and Sequelae–Addresses, Essays, Lectures,” in Technical Services Quarterly, vol. 2, no. 1/2, Fall/Winter 1984, using data from the Library of Congress and Cataloging in Publication.
In The Library at Night (2006), Alberto Manguel gives these:
- Banana research
- Bat binding
- Boots and shoes in art
- Chickens in religion and folklore
- Sewage: collected works
- Sex: cause and determination
- Tic: see also toc
And the Whole Library Handbook (1991) offers these, collected by the Library of Congress Professional Association:
- Adult children
- Beehives; see Bee–Housing
- Diving for men
- Drug abuse — Programmed instruction
- Feet in the Bible
- Hand — Surgery — Juvenile literature
- Lord’s Supper — Reservation
- Low German wit and humor
- Monotone operators
- Running races in rabbinical literature
- Standing on one foot; see One-leg resting position
- Stupidity; see Inefficiency, Intellectual
I think some of these may now be out of date, but there’s certainly no shortage of curious headings — in doing research for this site I recently ran across “Raccoon — Biography.”
