The process of indexing consisted of two phases: firstly, to identify and represent the intellectual contents of a document; and secondly, the translation of the subject analysis into a specified languague, with the aid of subject headings. At the Instituto de Doenças do Tórax da UFRJ medical library, the indexing of biomedical journals and theses was performed through a controlled vocabulary - the DeCS (Subject Headings on Health Sciences). The purpose of this study was to identify if the authors of Master Degree thesis on respiratory diseases were using the DeCS for indexing. The subject headings of 29 Master theses from 1990 through 1996 were studied. The data collection showed that 29 authors employed 101 subject headings (3,48 headings/author). Four (14%) of authors utilized adequate subject headings from the DeCS. In conclusion: fourteen per cent of authors of Master theses on respiratory diseases employed correctly the subject headings.
Abstracting and indexing; Vocabulary, controlled; Subject Headings; Dissertations, academic; Respiratory tract diseases