This section was known as the Classification and Indexing Section until August 2016.

The Subject Analysis and Access (SAA) Section focuses on knowledge organization systems (KOS) representing subject domains used in bibliographic description to provide subject access to bibliographic resources. The Section serves as a forum for creators of KOS, creators of bibliographic data and subject metadata, indexing and retrieval system designers, terminology services, and scholars and information professionals working in the area of subject representation, analysis, and access.

SAA promotes standardization and uniform application of subject metadata by bibliographic institutions and other users of bibliographic data. It participates in the development of international guidelines, conceptual models, and best practices, it initiates research and gives advice about research in the subject approach to information, and it disseminates the results through open meetings and publications. It is interested in the provision of subject access in libraries and information services of all types, regardless format or platform.

SAA works closely with the other IFLA sections and units relating to metadata, including the Cataloguing (CAT) and Bibliography (BIB) Sections, the Advisory Committee on Standards, its Linked Data Technical Sub-Committee (LIDATEC), and the Bibliographic Conceptual Models (BCM) and ISBD Review Groups.

This unit is part of the Professional Division H.