The Metadata & Discovery Group in Scotland invites you to a seminar on FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology) and how it is being used in the UK. We are very lucky to have speakers from the British Library, BDS (Bibliographic Data Services), and the Universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews.
This will be an afternoon in-person event held at CILIP Scotland in the centre of Glasgow. Light refreshments will be provided.
About FAST
FAST is the Faceted Application of Subject Terminology, a general use controlled vocabulary developed by OCLC in collaboration with the Library of Congress and based on Library of Congress Subject Headings. This modern, easy-to-use subject schema has become widely used within different library and metadata settings. The seminar will provide background to FAST, its structure and principles, how FAST is being used in libraries, including examples of facets and MARC coding. Speakers will also give practical use cases on how FAST is used by vendors, and why, and the pros and cons of FAST in library catalogues and their use in discovery.
Speakers
We are delighted to welcome our speakers:
Thurstan Young (Collection Metadata Standards Manager at the British Library)
Jenny Wright (Chief Metadata Officer at BDS (Bibliographic Data Services))
Alasdair MacDonald (Metadata and University Collections Facility Manager at Edinburgh University Library)
Iain Veitch (Collections Data and Discovery Manager, University of St. Andrews)
Tickets
This event is charged at:
MDG / MDGS members: £48 (plus Eventbrite fees)
non-members: £60 (plus Eventbrite fees)
This is set to be a fascinating insight on the development and use of FAST – please come along to learn more about this modern subject schema, designed for ease of use and integration with the modern information landscape and linked data. Discover how you might implement FAST in your own catalogue, if you have not already done so, and learn how other libraries are using it!
Date / location
· Date: 23rd September, 2025
· Time: 1:30-4:30
· Venue: CILIP Scotland
Robertson House
152 Bath Street
Glasgow
G2 4TB
