What it is: A subject authority that stands for Faceted Application of Subject Terminology created in 1998 under the Library of Congress after being inpsired by the Dublin Core Metadate Schema. It was created in the hopes of devloping a subject vocabulary that would be easily used by users and librarians, but would still use the rich voabulary of the Library of Congress's Subject Headings ("Fast", 2013). The end result incoporated LCSH, newly created headings from OCLC WorldCat database, and completely new headings that were not in LCSH. This system is made to be MARC compatible and used primarily online (Intner & Weihs, 2015).
How it Works: FAST headings are organized into eights facets: 1) Topic 2) Place 3) Time 4) Event 5) Person 6) Corporate Body 7) Title 8) Form/Genre
Facets are separate and not coordinated with anything when they are ssigned, though headings are pre-coordinated into a facet. There can be subdivision within the facets, but the main heading and subdivision(s) have to belong to the same facet. So, for example, there cannot be a time facet that has a topical subdivision. Facets can only be subdivided within themselves, for example, topical main headings must have topicl subdivisions (Intner & Weihs, 2015).
Advantages:
The syntax is easy and flexible
Enables computerized indexing and authority control
Database is maintained by OCLC
Can be used by people who are less experienced and have not had much training
(Intner & Weihs, 2015)
Additional Resources for LC FAST
FAST can be found through OCLC. They have a page on their website explaining the system, how it works, and additional resources.